We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
To learn.
To show the simplicity and ease of quality technology.
To have fun.
What videos?
I’ve produced several videos of airplane flybys at the Planes of Fame museum’s airshow in Chino, California. I’ll start mentioning them on this blog.
Learning
Continue reading “Why am I posting airplane videos on this blog?”
Update: Welcome to those arriving from Million Dollar Way. Hope you enjoy the read. There are plenty of other posts here on ethanol, energy in general, and especially peak oil foolishness. (Thanks for the link!)
It doesn’t compare to forcing the poor to pay lots more so they barely have enough food to stay alive, but there is another unintended consequence directly caused by turning corn into gasoline.
The loss of grassland has reduced the number of game birds, with a resulting drop in hunting and the associated slump in economic activity.
The Dickinson Press has a report: Ethanol’s rise can mean loss of hunting lands.
It used to be that one particular motel in Fairbury, Nebraska would be packed every day of the week for the first two weeks of the pheasant season and then all weekend for several more weeks. Now, there are a few hunters that show up occasionally.
Why?
The story of how the Pilgrims went from starving to plenty that I didn’t hear in school. In William Bradford’s own words:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=66QdQErc8JQ#t=135]
Continue reading “Happy Thanksgiving! – “The true patron of this holiday feast – property rights””
More good stuff on the open frontiers – 11-27-13
Education
Via Meadia – Winter for Higher Ed– How would you handle a double-digit drop in volume over the last three years? That’s the status for one-fourth of private colleges. Add in high uncertainty whether the enrollment trends will change.
Space
11-26 – Space News – SpaceX Challenge Has Arianespace Rethinking Pricing Policies – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 11-27-13”
WPX Energy produced a 25 minute video giving background on fracking and what the industry is doing to drill safely while providing us the energy we need to live a comfortable, modern life.
The video is Down Deep: Unearthing the Truth About Hydraulic Fracturing.
The website is Down Deep.
The discussion is educational. The video is excellent. The production quality is really high. They did a good job.
A few key ideas from the video and some thoughts after watching it:
Here is my sixth list of good stuff on our surveillance society that I’d like talk about but only have time to recommend with a quick comment.
We are not the customer; we are the product. Remember that when you are using services of any large internet company that offers “free” services:
Schneier on Security – Surveillance as a Business Model – Continue reading “More good stuff on surveillance – 11-26-13”
Previous posts introduced the Cynefin framework and described a bit of how it helps make sense.
Where it gets messy
Distinguishing between the complicated and complex quadrants is the biggest challenge.
As I ponder the Cynefin framework, I realize that distinction is the cause of many heated differences of opinion.
(This series of articles is cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update. I’ll put them on this blog as well because the Cynefin Framework is quite helpful for understanding the messy world around us.)
It is also the cause of many unintended consequences. I’ve talked about that a lot on my blogs.
Applying the solutions from the complicated quadrant to issues in the complex quadrant is the conceptual cause of most of the harm from those unintended consequences.
Continue reading “Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic – a way to make sense – part 3”
I couldn’t make this up. I’m not that imaginative.
Previous post discussed the guilty plea by Duke Energy Renewables for two misdemeanor violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
In my opinion, the plea agreement signed by Duke is a superb bargain for their operation of wind farms. For only a million bucks, the Department of Justice agrees not to prosecute Duke for any other past takings of migratory birds and any future takings for the next ten years. The agreement covers all four of their wind farm operations in the state of Wyoming. The condition is they need to diligently pursue official permission to take eagles and comply with whatever plans they develop to mitigate migratory bird takings in the meantime.
Let me phrase that differently: Duke gets an official, enforceable, in-writing promise they won’t be prosecuted for taking eagles for up to 10 years. They won’t be prosecuted for slicing-and-dicing eagles, other raptors, or any migratory birds through October 2023. Or until they get official permission to do so. Whichever comes first.
Again, I’m not creative enough to make this up. Seems to me like it would make a great sub-plot to a hyper-ventilating techno-thriller novel.
Read paragraph 16, on pages 10 and 11 for yourself. You can find the document here. Since it is a public document, I’ll quote it at length, just so you don’t think it is the product of my non-fertile imagination.
From page 10, with my emphasis added: Continue reading “Non-prosecution for past and future takings of migratory birds. Let me rephrase that: a ten year permit to kill eagles that hang around slice-and-dice farms in Wyoming.”
New photos from Vern Whitten Photograph.
Energy related views: http://www.vernwhittenphotography.net/ene1013/
Duke Energy Resources pled guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the Migratory Bird Act. Duke admits it killed 163 migratory birds protected by the Act at its Campbell Hill and Top of the World wind farms. The company acknowledges it did not take all reasonable steps to reduce the slice-and-dice casualties. Well, the settlement document doesn’t actually say slice-and-dice, but you get the point.
The AP has the best article I’ve seen on the settlement: Wind farm gets fined for killing eagles. There are a lot of other articles out as well.
The article says this is the first ever prosecution of any wind farm company under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. That makes this huge news.
You can read the settlement here.
The casualties include counts self-reported by Duke Energy Renewables from 2009 through 2013.
Penalties include: Continue reading “First ever prosecution of wind farm for killing eagles and migratory birds”
That’s the calculation from Dr. David Flynn, writing at the Say Anything Blog: Williston Labor Force May Soon Be Larger Than Grand Forks.
He calculates a 2.58% growth per month over the last three years in Williston. Here are the raw numbers:
In August 2010 the labor force in Williston was 18,819, and by August 2013 it increased to 47,060.
How do you cope with that kind of growth. You can’t. No community can.
Fraud has tragic effects on innocent people who didn’t commit the fraud. The person who did the deed will pay a severe price far beyond what the judge imposes. Just like a stone thrown into a pond causes ripples all across the water, so a fraud ripples out to cause all sorts of harm.
Only 99 cents.
Available in Epub for iPad, iBooks, Nook, and Sony Reader.
Also in mobi for Kindle, PDF for desktop reading, and 5 other formats.
Newest versions can be found here.
Has been available at Amazon since February.
Continue reading “eBook ‘Tragedy of Fraud’ now available in multiple formats”
The EPA has reduced the amount of ethanol that must be used in gasoline. The federal requirement is based on absolute volume of ethanol and not the amount of gasoline sold. Thus, even though gasoline use dropped instead of rising, the amount of ethanol has to increase. This would force us to use E15, which would damage many auto engines on the road. The AAA asserts that only 5% of the light trucks on the market can use E15. That linked article also says E15 actually has twice as much corn (ethanol) as E10.
A small victory for consumers who buy gas, everyone that owns a vehicle with an engine that otherwise would be damaged, and the poor who spend a disproportionate share of their income buying artificially high-priced corn.
Other good news:
Continue reading “Reality finally impacting ethanol requirements”
That quote from George Bernard Shaw is also the title of a post pondering its meaning at Philosiblog.
The focus of the discussion is we must be willing to change our mind, especially our opinion of ourselves, if we are going to make progress toward the goals we value.
Consider this: Continue reading ““Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.””
I watch the Million Dollar Way blog closely. I’ve learned much from Mr. Bruce Oksol. Thank you sir.
In his post, Bakken Fanatics; Fasten Your Seatbelts – We’ve Not Seen Anything Yet, he mentions a Goldman Sachs study which predicts 10 years of continued growth in Bakken production. Their worst case scenario is 1.3M bopd in 2017.
More interesting is Mr. Oksol’s speculation that the state may slow things down a bit as an intentional choice. He says: Continue reading “Another prediction for oil production in North Dakota: back off the accelerator a bit”