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Link Salad
Jun. 16th, 2011 10:19 amBecause they're cluttering up my browser:
1) From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bdunbar, a fascinating pictorial spread on the DIY weapons of the Libyan rebels. Now, I'm still not in favor of our intervention, but you have to admit that the rebels have guts.
2) From various sources, an article on how cheap photovoltaic solar power has gotten. I mean dirt cheap, like $1.50 / watt. Installed systems are now around $3 / watt. Solar is right now cheaper than natural gas for peaking plants.
Now, solar can't and won't replace all power sources, but it can certainly greatly reduce fossil fuel needs and decentralize our grid. I expect that in 20 years, most if not all new roofs and many roof replacements will get a solar grid installed. After all, who wouldn't want to get some free power?
3)Now, you may have heard that sunspots or lack of same have an outsized effect on climate. Apparently, the studies that showed a correlation were seriously flawed. Once you correct the mathematical errors, the temperature / sunspot correlation goes away.
4) I hear from various conservative sources about how horrible, bad, terrible and no-good the British health care system is. Well, apparently it's so bad that the Conservative and cost-cutting British government has had to promise not to install an 'American-style" health care system in Britain.
5) ETA One of the problems with globalization is that there is a rush to countries with the lowest wage. Free-market types tell us that, as those economies improve, wages will rise and All Will Be Right With The World. Well, here comes an alligation that, if true, suggests that this might not happen. Apparently, the US government intervened in Haiti to negate an increase in minimum wage for US companies. The increase was from 24 cents to 61 cents an hour. The US got it back to 37 cents an hour.
1) From
bdunbar, a fascinating pictorial spread on the DIY weapons of the Libyan rebels. Now, I'm still not in favor of our intervention, but you have to admit that the rebels have guts.2) From various sources, an article on how cheap photovoltaic solar power has gotten. I mean dirt cheap, like $1.50 / watt. Installed systems are now around $3 / watt. Solar is right now cheaper than natural gas for peaking plants.
Now, solar can't and won't replace all power sources, but it can certainly greatly reduce fossil fuel needs and decentralize our grid. I expect that in 20 years, most if not all new roofs and many roof replacements will get a solar grid installed. After all, who wouldn't want to get some free power?
3)Now, you may have heard that sunspots or lack of same have an outsized effect on climate. Apparently, the studies that showed a correlation were seriously flawed. Once you correct the mathematical errors, the temperature / sunspot correlation goes away.
4) I hear from various conservative sources about how horrible, bad, terrible and no-good the British health care system is. Well, apparently it's so bad that the Conservative and cost-cutting British government has had to promise not to install an 'American-style" health care system in Britain.
5) ETA One of the problems with globalization is that there is a rush to countries with the lowest wage. Free-market types tell us that, as those economies improve, wages will rise and All Will Be Right With The World. Well, here comes an alligation that, if true, suggests that this might not happen. Apparently, the US government intervened in Haiti to negate an increase in minimum wage for US companies. The increase was from 24 cents to 61 cents an hour. The US got it back to 37 cents an hour.
