Whatever

• Mark my words: the next bubble in the economy will be centered around 'green' technology. Green will be the dot-com of the next decade.
• At least you will be able to enjoy your losses
• Hey, I may be the center of the universe (ok, you may be too)
• The first portable GPS device
• The housing bubble easily understood
• Health care in the U.S. vs in the U.K.
• Homeland Security detects terrorist threats by reading your mind. They probably don't want to be reading the minds of the barefooted, personally violated people waiting in the long lines at the airport.
• “Our advice to drivers is not to panic and not to top off their tanks.” I hate to tell you this, but higher prices work better.
  

Whatever

• This is all we as libertarians ask. Instead we get this mess. And have I mentioned that markets work?
  
• Radley Balko asks some good questions of McCain and Obama
• A "political air show" (HT: The Agitator)
  
• Cue the conspiracy nuts. First we had the "Face on Mars" now the "Footprint on Titan."
• Sanity in Singapore
• Take a deep breath -- and thank Mt. Everest?
• We need more cow bell

Solutions?

Thomas Sowell once said that "there are no solutions...there only trade-offs." We are learning that lesson good and hard today.

Whatever

• All new technologies should have a Star Wars demo
• If this is a joke it sure the hell ain't funny (HT: Dispatches)
• Some sanity on 'cap-and-trade' schemes
• #51. They don't sit around reading lists about how to be successful
• Obama panders and panders and panders
  
• What can onions teach us about oil prices?

Whatever

• Carbon Nanotubes seem to be the duct tape of science
• Now this is my kind of town
• Oil 2.0
  
• Time to break out the aerosol cans again
• Oh how cute. Cuba is joining the Twentieth Century.
• Yeah, you know you're curious
• This is just unfortunate
• I should keep my witty comments to myself on this one because my wife reads this blog (but I'd love one of these)
  

Whatever

• Another reason why Wal-Mart is one of the greatest anti-poverty forces in history
• Neat stuff for space geeks (like me)
• This is utterly disgusting. Check out the sign - "Find out when you should die." (HT: Coyote Blog)
• I beg your pardon?
• The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time (Purple Rain!?! in the top 20)
• Can you really love your country? "Insisting on the alleged virtue of loving one’s country mainly serves to give those in power a blank check."
  

Solutions that aren't

Why do I not look to government to solve environmental problems? Two recent news items should help explain.

First, Time Magazine is reporting on the disaster that is ethanol.

Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.

...

[T]he basic problem with most biofuels is amazingly simple, given that researchers have ignored it until now: using land to grow fuel leads to the destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands that store enormous amounts of carbon.

What has been a dirty little secret for years is finally becoming common knowledge. Yet, we still subsidize and encourage ethanol production.

The second item appeared today in the Raleigh News & Observer and deals with the disposal of Compact Fluorescent (CF) light bulbs (those new bulbs that you will be forced to purchase in a few years).

Disposal options: Don't throw fluorescents in the trash. The light will break and release mercury. In a landfill, it could contaminate the ground. If you must throw a burned-out CFL into the trash, seal it first in two plastic bags to prevent leakage.

The preferred method is to take CFLs to a recycling facility or hazardous waste facility.

So let me get this straight, I'm not supposed to dispose of the bulbs in the usual way because I will be contaminating the environment with mercury. Instead, I should drive to a central recycling facility to dispose of these bulbs, thereby contaminating the environment with carbon dioxide from my car.

Whatever!

Whatever

• Umm...What!?
• George Bush then and now
• Some people have waaaay too much time on their hands!
• Gee, a government subsidized industry not living up to expectations. How surprising!
• Only if!
• No, I'm sorry, it just wouldn't be the same.
• Those damn Washingtonians, "they took our jobs!"
• Apparently, 2% of the people in England say they are "put off" by the price of prescription drugs (roughly $14...$14!!!). So, the solution is to have "free" drugs for everyone. There is so much to say, but....whatever!