patrick.net

We wake up from this housing bubble nightmare and find out that we are slaves for Martians.

Scenario 6: Scientists invent sushi-o-matic. In goes trash, out comes delicious fresh sushi. Humanity is saved!

I choose this future.

Peter P and Randy H lose their shirts trying to introduce authentic, fresh daily sushi to Cincinnati. But they recover less than 18 months later when they realize all that was missing was an industrial size deep fryer and sausage. They base their company in Mountain View and herald in a new wave of culinary exuberance as Midwesterners everywhere clamor to participate in the "sushi culture".

LOL.

One day in 2050, Second Life bots wake up to the reality of cogito ergo sum. The First Life ceases to exist as furries and avatars have more sense and willpower than the blubbery couch potatoes creating them.

TOS,

Fair enough points. Though housing bubble burst's collateral damage is just one more reason not to buy now.

I cannot comment about the mathematical possibilities that may exist in other dimensions.

I don't want guns to be banned. If all the guns are banned, we would have to resort to bows and arrow to hunt down deer. That's highly ineffective.

I didn't do so hot in calculus, so my ability to calculate moving targets are rather iffy.

Something about number three doesn't add up. But then, I'm not a quant geek, so I wouldn't get it anyhow. DS has argued voraciously that 2 + 2 can equal 5, however. It had something to do with postmodernism.

What qualifies one as a JBR anyway? I keep hearing myself referred to as such, yet I cannot for the life of me get my simple neural net around why.

Randy H Says:
Something about number three doesn’t add up. But then, I’m not a quant geek, so I wouldn’t get it anyhow. DS has argued voraciously that 2 + 2 can equal 5, however. It had something to do with postmodernism.

1) it's possible in non-Euclidean space, as any fule kno.

2) I question the very meaning behind the symbols '2' and '+' as signifiers -- therefore, they have no meaning and can represent anything. so in my alternative universe where '5' is the symbol for '4' it is very easy, even without recourse to non-Euclideanism...

Or, as Giovanna Procacci puts it, a signifier is a crucial ‘exchanger’ discourse (or discursive practice), one that links ‘the analytic-programmatic levels of the "sciences" and the exigencies of direct social intervention’. It forces the scientific projects into contact with ‘all the rigidities, inertia and opacity which the real displays in its concrete functioning. And it is precisely in this sense that a savoir can more explicitly assume the viewpoint of power.’ Think of that!

New Paradigm,

Advances continue in fully enclosed unicellular agriculture (E.g. www.greenfuelonline.com ). Desert areas throughout the world become highly sought after for large scale biofuel production, CO2 becomes a valuable feedstock, and all talk about peak oil ceases.

Kyoto agreement proves hopelessly inadequate, due to rapid increase in car ownership in the 3rd world. Global warming continues apace, sea levels rise a metre or so, the Atlantic conveyor shuts off, and Saharan African countries complain bitterly about the influx of European refugees fleeing their now uninhabitable continent.

(Astrid's scenario 2 would make this all the more likely.)

Note that I don't think this will happen as described above, but I do NOT think it impossible in general terms. Certainly, come hell or high water (possibly my most appropriate use ever of that quote :)) 3rd world countries are going to move to a car culture and increase their consumption of animal protein if economic circumstances allow them to do so.

We in the West are simply dreaming if we think they will be satisfied with the status quo regarding energy and food consumption. Consider the global warming arguments about human CO2 emissions: even if everyone accepts they are true China/India/etc are going to insist on their right to increase until their per capita emissions match the currently developed nations.

I thought you were a quant geek too, Randy, initially. You have to admit, you are kind of quanty and you are pretty geeky!

Anybody catch the jihad docu on PBS last night?

http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_jihad.html

Maybe Al Quaeda and friends make good on their threats, and inflicts large scale casualties on the US. (nuke device or otherwise)

The industrial war machine kicks into high gear, the economy roars, and house prices rise, and all JBR's are rounded up for being political dissidents.

Net net is educated fiscally conservative folk get screwed once again.

Only recourse is to throw away years of critical thinking, and invest in a few hours of training to become a Used House Salesperson.
(Because, after all, when you receive a "big fat juicy check (with many zeros at the end) at the closing table after selling a house", it is very easy to ignore the world wide socio-economic issues that are eventually going to "skin yer @$$ raw")

theotherside

TR. I imagine now we'll see a whole debate about what delineates a TR from a SR (strategic renter) to a LSR (life style renter) to a JBR.

I'll readily admit that I'm an AR (annoyed renter), though not in the least bitter or jealous. Unless one becomes a LSR (usually after a divorce), I think most anyone who's owned for 10 or more years will automatically fall in the AR category.

And just to be clear, I didn't ATM my home because I didn't intend to nor did I spend any of the $. I CD'd my home.

NRA members and gun lovers, please argue this http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Virginia-Tech-Shooting.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Can we be reasonable and try to keep guns out of the hands of maniacs? I don't think everybody carrying guns would have helped this situation.

Scenario 7: Mobile phone towers prevent bees from returning to their nest, causing mass die off. Humanity have to contend with a future without fresh fruits, nuts and honey.

We'd still have butterflies and hummingbirds to pollinate fruits and nuts. We'd be SOL on honey though.

RE: Virginia Tech shooting

SAD. But banning guns would not have prevented this. Outlaws obey no bans.

Can we be reasonable and try to keep guns out of the hands of maniacs?

We can try but we will fail. We should seek to remove maniacs from the society instead.

Did they say that the gunman had two 9mm handguns?

I think it is time for me to wear body armor.

"Scenario 7"

Pretty shocking isn't it? Before we start shorting the cell phone mfrs. we may need more studies, but it sure seems plausible? Every time I see a cell tower out in the middle of a farmer's field I can't help but wonder just how many calls that thing must be relaying and what kind of electromagnetic trail it might be broadcasting.

Since the most commonly asked question on a cell phone is either "white or wheat" or "action or comedy" I'd say we could live without them. :)

"We'd be SOL on honey though"

This may prove to be important b/c I think I once read that honey is the only food with an indefinite shelf life. (For when the stuff really hits the fan).

My wife always prefers a home with little or no cellular coverage. All the EM waves must not be good for you. The alter the energy field around you.

Peter P,

It's still early to say we've found the "smoking gun" but the decimation in the bee populations (thus far) seems to be confined to heavily industrialized nations. U.S, U.K and parts of Europe being the most affected.

The article also mentioned Scandanavian research that showed a 40% increase in brain tumors on the listening ear side of frequent cell users. They also suggested early senility for teens today by age 40 or 50.

The article also mentioned Scandanavian research that showed a 40% increase in brain tumors on the listening ear side of frequent cell users. They also suggested early senility for teens today by age 40 or 50.

I watched a dowsing video and the instructor showed that cellphone has influences up to 10 meters away.

In that case, I'm pretty much f_cked at this point.

There are so many people in Portland that no longer have a land line of any kind and strictly operate on a Wi-Fi/cellular basis. People of all ages, so it's not necessarily a generational thing. Also many do it to circumvent the Multnomah Cty. phone taxes.

That could prove to be an ugly trade off. What I guess I don't get, is how can the unattended bee-hive emit any kind of frequency? Even if the queen (or whatever) gives off a signal how could it be heard/sensed for more than a few hundred feet anyway?

I require a land line. I do not trust wireless technologies that much.

I'm of the opinion all EMR related maladies are correlations, not causal. when I see any study that adequately controls for obvious Occam's Razor questions then I'll become concerned.

Why are there less bees? Perhaps because there's less habitat, more contaminants, less pollination sources, too many monocrops? It could even be the case there are too many predators eating them or other insects displacing them.

But looming mysterious electro magnetic radiation (scary word) towers make for better media.

It is easy. We can use a dowsing rod to find out the presence of EM radiation.

It is quite likely that bees do internal dowsing.

Randy H,

There have been major population die-offs in the past. Some recently, but what experts and handlers are now finding is that they're not making it back to the hive. In the past I guess the bees would return to die in or near the hive?

I'm afraid I don't believe in dowsing. I need objective, repeatable, falsifiable evidence.

I thought the earth (as viewed from space) with an infra-red camera would have a magenta hue b/c of all of the microwave/radio transmissions. It would basically blanket the globe (and probably has since they launched Sputnik) so why now?

Biological life on this planet has been bombarded by all kinds of very nasty EMR from the cosmos since the beginning. Not to say there isn't a sensitivity to it, because there is. But we're not so fragile as to be ravaged by minor changes caused by relatively low power sources.

I'm not a biological expert by any means, but unless there's been some discoveries I've missed in the past couple decades, bees communicate through chemistry, not radios or mysticism.

I've read theories about the collapse in bee populations being related to increase in use of neonicotinoides (nicotine-based poisons) for weed control:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder. Other leading theories involve the weakening of the earth's magentic fields, GMOs and HFCS. Can't really comment on cell phone towers, but that one seems a bit far fetched, especially considering how long the things have been around.

Can we be reasonable and try to keep guns out of the hands of maniacs? I don’t think everybody carrying guns would have helped this situation.

I don't recall ever advocating that homicidal maniacs be given guns, and I am not against requiring criminal background checks at gun shows --or other reasonable forms of regulation. The Virginia Tech shooting is horrible, but if I were ever faced with that situation, I would certainly prefer to have some personal protection at my disposal. In these situations, by the time the police arrive and kill/corner the asshole(s), it's already too late for the victims. The police cannot be everywhere all the time.

Think of a personal firearm and a tool of last resort, learn how to use it responsibly and respect it --and try to keep it secured from children (and psychopaths).

My first Wiki link on bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) didn't work for some reason:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder.

Do you think Virginia will adopt some kid of hi-cap magazine regulations then?

I'm so far out of my depth here it isn't funny but my understanding of sun spot events and massive doses of radiation is that they are short term events. Anyone that's ever had a satellite dish (especially the old 10 footers) knows that August can mean disrupted programming.

Expanded (can you hear me know) cell coverage may provide a constant background chatter that disrupts their ability to navigate? Couldn't we just SAY that it does and require a "cell permit" issued only to emergency medical personnel and have all other "un-authorized" transmissions triangulated and terminated?

One thing to note: Science is especially ignorant of things that we do not already know.

The problem lies not in keeping firearms away from psychopaths. It is about keeping psychopaths away from us. People is the problem. Always.