Archive for the 'Collapse' Category
New Zealand: Ongoing Dairy Pollution of Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve
April 17th, 2017Disclosure: I am involved with the effort to bring attention to the pollution and water take issues at Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve. — Intensive dairy farming is destroying freshwater resources around New Zealand. It turns out the crown jewel of them all, a national treasure and a globally unique ecosystem is now threatened. How does […]
U.S. Electricity Demand Peaked in 2007
April 13th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — There are many likely small components of this, such as efficiency gains, small scale solar masking loads behind the meter (might explain 1% of demand decline), and high prices for electricity in some areas. But… Via: Bloomberg: Part of the reason is that a grim […]
DHS Lays Groundwork for Deportation Force
April 12th, 2017Via: U.S. News and World Report: The Trump administration is seeking ways to increase capacity within immigration enforcement agencies to create a deportation force President Donald Trump repeatedly advocated on the campaign trail. According to a document obtained by The Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security has begun the process of ramping up its […]
Ideology Test and Mobile Phone Shake Down to Visit U.S.?
April 4th, 2017Via: MarketWatch: Foreigners who want to visit the U.S., even for a short trip, could be forced to disclose contacts on their mobile phones, social-media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology, according to Trump administration officials conducting a review of vetting procedures. The administration also wants to subject more […]
A World Without Retirement
April 2nd, 2017Via: Guardian: We are entering the age of no retirement. The journey into that chilling reality is not a long one: the first generation who will experience it are now in their 40s and 50s. They grew up assuming they could expect the kind of retirement their parents enjoyed – stopping work in their mid-60s […]
‘We Are the Biological Boot-Loader for Digital Super-Intelligence’
March 27th, 2017While centered around Elon Musk, this piece also takes a broader look at where AI is headed, and some of the personalities involved. Everyone has heard of AI, but superintelligence is where the crazy comes out. If you don’t know what superintelligence is, and you like stuff that straddles the line between sci-fi and fantasy, […]
Populism Is the Result of Global Economic Failure
March 27th, 2017Via: Guardian: The rise of populism has rattled the global political establishment. Brexit came as a shock, as did the victory of Donald Trump. Much head-scratching has resulted as leaders seek to work out why large chunks of their electorates are so cross. The answer seems pretty simple. Populism is the result of economic failure. […]
Sears: Going Concern Warning
March 22nd, 2017Via: Bloomberg: Sears Holdings Corp. suffered its worst stock decline in six weeks after acknowledging “substantial doubt” about its future, raising fresh concerns about whether a company that was once the world’s largest retailer can survive. Sears added so-called going-concern language to its latest annual report filing, suggesting that weak earnings have cast a pall […]
One-Third of Americans Would Have Trouble Coming Up with $2,000 for an Emergency
March 22nd, 2017Via: MarketWatch: About a third of consumers say they would have trouble coming up with an emergency $2,000, according to a new study released Monday. The New York Fed, as part of its survey of consumer expectations, has begun releasing the answers to questions about financial fragility. The study found around 67% said they were […]
People Dropping Out of Reality to Spend Their Time in Video Games
March 20th, 2017I’ve seen this over on Twitch.tv. I watch a guy who streams a game I play. He’s 25. The only job he ever had was applying window tint to cars at his aunt’s business. Now, he and his brother live in a flop house in Long Beach and stream video games on Twitch at all […]
