Question: Santa Barbara is not the only city in the world know for its quirky parades, but its Summer Solstice Parade may be the most whimsical on Earth. (more…)
From this morning’s Daily Stoic:
Around 1998, Miep Gies supplied a small note to be appended to the end of a forthcoming biography of Anne Frank. It was completely fitting that Gies have the last word on Anne Frank, given all that she had risked and sacrificed between 1942 and 1944 to provide for and supply Frank’s family as they hid from Nazis in an attic in the Netherlands.
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Everyone in America who’s trying to pay attention to the world around him is working hard to make sense of a nonsensical situation. Current events in U.S. politics are happening so fast that none of us has the mental bandwidth to deal with every absurdity hurling at us at 150 MPH on a daily basis. (more…)
I don’t think I know anyone stupid enough to pay $160 for a device that requires a gushing stream or a stiff, steady breeze (and the time to position it properly) to do the job performed by a $25 piece of solar PV. And I’d like to keep it that way; if you bought one of these, please don’t tell me. 🙂
Those who spend days at a time exploring extremely deep caves or the arctic in the dead of winter can get a $5 hand crank charger, or $15 for a deluxe model.
Here’s a video depicting one of variations on the theme of extracting energy from ocean waves. Though I’ve seen countless numbers, I haven’t studied each of the variants thoroughly, so it’s only a guess when I say that this seems as practical and rugged as any. (more…)
The Hidden Brain is a fabulous radio program, broadcast on 900 NPR affiliates around the country. With a seemingly limitless variety of guests, host Shankar Vedantam discusses brain functions, emotional responses, and cognitive processes that happen outside of our conscious awareness, but that have a decisive effect on how we behave. (more…)
I’m not sure how many Americans heard the news that U.S. President Donald Trump announced today a new sixth branch of the military: The Space Force, which would join the Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Army and Air Force as a “separate but equal to” brother in arms. (more…)
When organizing a move, you have to multitask pretty much during the whole process, and sometimes that can be stressful and exhausting. Whether you’re downsizing or moving to a bigger place, a lot of work needs to be done, especially if you don’t have much time. (more…)
Apparently there has never been a good time to to keep one’s head down and stay out of politics, thus Plato’s famous remark: “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” (more…)
In response to my posts on geoengineering and climate change mitigation more generally, Glenn Doty writes:
There are many mitigation strategies that we agree will clearly pass the “cost effectiveness” test – insofar that investing in them will result in a net lower cost / net greater potential lifestyle for the planet. Wind power, solar power, geothermal power, efficiency upgrades, etc… all easily pass that test, while electric cars, algae products, ocean current recovery, orbital solar energy and high altitude wind energy, etc.. all clearly don’t. (more…)
