climate, photos, miscellany
As with other high-risk activities, I think gambling on climate change is irresponsible and reckless, even if the people making that bet turn out to be right. If a person runs across a minefield in order to experience the thrill of danger, few people are likely to congratulate them for their bold choice in the [...]
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I saw Margin Call yesterday – an interesting fictionalized depiction of the start of the mortgage-backed security meltdown of 2008. The film depicts one fundamental cause effectively enough, namely models that understimated the level of risk associated with mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations, though what I have read about the crisis suggests that this may not [...]
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No matter what else we achieve, if the generations alive now fail to prevent catastrophic climate change we will be seen as failures by the generations that will suffer after us. We will be remembered as the people who had all the knowledge and technology required to preserve a habitable Earth, but who were too [...]
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Recently, I suggested that perhaps there is a division between ethical questions that are hard to answer and those where the answers are merely deeply inconvenient. Something a bit similar is probably true of climate change policies. There are a few things we should obviously do, but many large questions outstanding. Something clear: carbon pricing [...]
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Three years ago, a discussion began on this site about which investments might do the best job of growing faster than the rate of inflation. It’s a pretty important question for anyone who hopes to attain a reasonable degree of financial security. Bank accounts, government bonds, and GICs all pay well below the rate of [...]
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Recently, the Mondaine watch I got at the Museum of Modern Art in New York stopped working. It was under warranty, so I sent it to the address listed on the warranty card as an expedited parcel. It was returned to me as undeliverable. While I am figuring out how to convey it to them, [...]
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As a child, I visited Vancouver’s Science World on what was probably a monthly basis. I knew most of the stage shows by heart (‘Arcs and sparks’ was the most energetic, complete with exploding pickle), along with the dramatic vocal introduction at the OMNIMAX theatre. One display I remember well was located in the main [...]
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Earlier, I wrote about whether the phrase ‘greenhouse gas pollution’ is accurate, and whether it might be useful for building political will to do something about climate change. The phrase is accurate – CO2 is an unwanted by-product of various processes and it does harm to people all over the world – and it may [...]
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A pattern seems to have developed in the legislative politics of a certain northern country. The people in power boast that they are going to do something dramatic but somewhat foolhardy: “Watch! I am going to hammer this tent peg up your nose!” or “Let’s make the census optional!” or “Let’s throw people in jail [...]
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The way you treat different denominations of currency probably says something about both your temperament and about the relative values of different currency units. When I get pennies, for example, I discard them at the first opportunity. Pennies just aren’t worth carrying around. Dimes and nickels, I put in a big glass jar. In times [...]
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