STUPID or Not Stupid? The Age of STUPID (Worldwide event!)
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STUPID or Not Stupid? The Age of STUPID (Worldwide event!)
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 hiamps  Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0 
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As for the thought that Man can destroy the World I find that funny and rather egotistical. We definately have the ability to make the Earth not good for us for awhile and can kill off most of the life but who is say the the Earth wouldn't be better off without us? Heck a Planet already crashed into Earth to create the moon and yet the Earth kept spitting out life and always will. If the argument is about saving Mankind then I agree but when people start getting all worked up about us destroying this Planet they lose me. Too extreme for me. Calling people Stupid is also a real smart way to convince them... JMO. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound! 
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 
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As for the thought that Man can destroy the World I find that funny and rather egotistical. We definately have the ability to make the Earth not good for us for awhile and can kill off most of the life but who is say the the Earth wouldn't be better off without us? Heck a Planet already crashed into Earth to create the moon and yet the Earth kept spitting out life and always will. Is that the new strategy for the denialists? Planet Earth is better off without humans? So, let climate change exponentially increase until we force a change for all life on Earth? Perhaps we need to refocus on better care of the Earth AND Mankind (and Womankind)... So... You consider pollution not to be stupid? (Also look at the first post for this thread.) So far, I'm far from convinced for the "Not Stupid" case. Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 957760 · |
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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As for the thought that Man can destroy the World I find that funny and rather egotistical. We definately have the ability to make the Earth not good for us for awhile and can kill off most of the life but who is say the the Earth wouldn't be better off without us? Heck a Planet already crashed into Earth to create the moon and yet the Earth kept spitting out life and always will. NO, and no I don't think most people are stupid. I feel most people are like sheep and don't really think for themselves. Do I believe things are as EXTREME as you believe they are, NO. I think you are extreme in your views and will end up turning more away from your views thanyou bring around by calling them stupid is all. Then you get all these people that go to the summits wearing Masks and causing riots, Yea man that will convince people. If you want people to listen to your message you need to learn how to get it out there without offending people. Patiance and understanding go a long way but of course you want the change to happen yesterday and are all afraid you are out of time. Oil will nor last forever and people are working on changes, it takes time. I wrote Seattle Police department and asked them, next time we have a Workd meeting here to ARREST all the protesters that wear masks and parade them to the press so we can know what they have to hide. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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Martin, lets take this from a different approach. Think about it and tell us the things YOU do differently that help save the Planet. I will try and use the ones I can so I help a little. Like I said before, I would love to have cleaner air, I live in Washington State and can remember looking at Mt Rainier without the haze.... Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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... So far, I'm far from convinced for the "Not Stupid" case. In large part I agree. Unfortunately, too large a proportion of people are too easily lead or mislead... Good communication and education can help but that isn't the full story. At least climate change is now "in the news", as is also a lot of FUD and 'greenwash'... Hopefully the various activists will help to spread the word and also pull the politicians closer to reality and the people of the world. At least it does generate the sound-bites that the shallow news outlets thrive on. I don't think Copenhagen would have happened this year or even in the next decade without the activists or some dire natural disaster. I guess New Orleans is already a distant memory... Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 957859 · |
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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[quote]snip "Unfortunately, too large a proportion of people are too easily lead or mislead..." AMEN, we finally found something we can both agree on Totally. I think Bush proved it! Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Martin, lets take this from a different approach. Think about it and tell us the things YOU do differently that help save the Planet. I will try and use the ones I can so I help a little. Like I said before, I would love to have cleaner air, I live in Washington State and can remember looking at Mt Rainier without the haze.... For my part I can be quite 'virtuous' in that I changed jobs whereby I now no longer commute. As an engineer I'm also very energy conscious. My s@h output could be far higher but Boinc literally does only get spare CPU cycles. In the greater scheme of things, individuals can do their part and there are various local groups springing up around the UK and likely elsewhere to do their help. By far the biggest positive impacts have got to be lead by politics and big industry. Consumers are far too unorganised to combat directed Marketing. There also needs to be a culture shift... Short term, the biggest immediate gains can be made merely by removing particulates (soot) from vehicle, ship, and factory exhausts. Various power savings can be made initially. More difficult but potentially very big for saving the planet for mankind is to change present farming and food consumerism practices... And that can be done quickly if there is political and public backing. However, I'm very sure the big agro names will put up a ferocious fight worse than the big power companies are doing at the moment. Longer term, we need to change how we do things until we do get clean energy sources online. There's a lot of science and politics and Marketing in that lot. Quite an unholy mix. It will be interesting to see how The Age of Stupid actually does unfold... Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 957865 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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It will be interesting to see how The Age of Stupid actually does unfold... And for that, we need to act long long before the oil and coal reserves run out. There's still many thousands of years of carbon stored in the presently known fossil fuel reserves. We can't expect to burn that lot in a few decades and not notice any pollution! Stupid or what?! Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 957869 · |
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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It will be interesting to see how The Age of Stupid actually does unfold... Ignorance and disbelief and probably a mixture of overwhelm. But still feel Stupidity is too harsh, sorry. I am in the candle supplies business and I see people from all walks of life everyday. From the extremist that lives in the woods and won't use fossil fuels more than ABSOTELY necessary to the rich guy that drives the HUGE SUV and I really don't think any of them are STUPID, just different levels of understanding and acceptance. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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Martin just so you know... We have replaced every light and light fixture at home and work with flourecent. I added a 120V 4 amp fan in the attic and open the basement door in our store and didn't use A/C even once last summer. Our company car is a 2004 ML 350 which my grandfather especially mentioned in his will that he wanted my mother to buy. It now has almost 14,000 miles, I bought the house next to my store so I can walk to work. I put about 40 heavy boxes a day into the SUV to take them to the Post Office so I need a SUV but it does get 21 city and 27 highway depending on how you drive. Every one of my computers has a specific purpose and are used every day, I could save by powering down but I am selfish and won't. I have added room sensors in all rooms that don't get used much so the lights turn on when you enter and off when you leave as it kills me to waste money. We let out manager and her family move in upstairs so she no longer commutes. We only hire local. We sell lots of natural products that we hope are making a difference, and won't buy from companies that destroy the ecco-systems, palm wax is real hard to find because of that. All in all I believe we do what we can and I also believe most people also try, some more than others. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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Niko Send message Joined: 14 Dec 09 Posts: 123 Credit: 70,041 RAC: 0 
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hiamps, It's was aired on one of our Canadian networks (Global): Dirty Energy From CFL Light bulbs - There are 4 videos in the series here. Just place the cursor in the video screen to see them listed. The Global TV Network that aired the entire series is here, but I'm not sure if you can stream these videos to the USA. They are the same as the first link above. They won a Gemini award for this story: http://news.globaltv.com/story.html?id=2123986 It never ends... :-) ID: 957929 · |
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hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0
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I know about the Mercury but what the heck HAVE to lower that carbon footprint....Waiting and wishing LED would make the breakthrus needed. I'm used to it my life is a big "catch 22" I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, can't win for losin. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound!
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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For anyone that might not have noticed, there's the blockbuster film Avatar in the cinemas around some of the world at the moment. One aspect of the story is the portrayal of how part of that planet is uncompromisingly being destroyed by open cast mining for the sake of exploiting a valuable mineral... There's a good parallel to what is happening in Canada for the ever more vast and destructive exploitation of the Canadian oil sands... I wonder how many of the audience might notice? My mini-review on Avatar on another thread. The Canadian Oil Sands:  One small section of mining. It was a forest there...  Map of open cast mining: EnergyInisights Map showing main Oil Sands area in red, with Fort McMurray in green National Geographic: The Canadian Oil Boom Grenpeace: Stop the tar sands Stupid? Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 969350 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Well, despite a small glimmer of hope from two articles, the rest add up to a whole load of short-sighted senseless selfishness and self-interest. Utah delivers vote of no confidence for 'climate alarmists' The US's most Republican state passes bill disputing science of climate change, claiming emissions are 'essentially harmless' Carbon dioxide is "essentially harmless" to human beings and good for plants. So now will you stop worrying about global warming? Utah's House of Representatives apparently has at least. Officially the most Republican state in America, its political masters have adopted a resolution condemning "climate alarmists", and disputing any scientific basis for global warming. The measure, which passed by 56-17, has no legal force, though it was predictably claimed by climate change sceptics as a great victory in the wake of the controversy caused by a mistake over Himalayan glaciers in the UN's landmark report on global warming. But it does offer a view of state politicians' concerns in Utah which is a major oil and coal producing state. ... Carbon targets pledged at Copenhagen 'fail to keep temperature rise to 2C' MIT analysis shows pledges submitted to the UN falls short of reduction targets by at least 11bn tonnes of CO2 ... "The situation is serious. An increase of temperature of more than 1C above pre-industrial levels would result in the disappearance of our glaciers in the Andes, and the flooding of various islands and coastal zones," said Bolivian foreign minister minister, David Choquehuanca, responding to the US study. Scientists are agreed that an overall rise of 2C in world temperatures would be serious for food production, species loss and freshwater supplies. But anything over 3C would lead to the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, crippling water shortages across South America and Australia and the near-extinction of tropical coral reefs, they have said. Earlier this week, teams of European researchers from Ecofys, Climate Analytics and the Potsdam Institute in Germany concluded that the pledges made so far if acted upon would lead to a global temperature rising "over" 3C. ... China's fears of rich nation 'climate conspiracy' at Copenhagen revealed Rich nations furthered their "conspiracy to divide the developing world" at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen, while Canada "connived" and the EU acted "to please the United States", according to an internal document from a Chinese government thinktank obtained by the Guardian. The document, which was written in the immediate aftermath of Copenhagen but has only now come to light, provides the most candid insight yet into Chinese thinking on the fraught summit. "It was unprecedented for a conference negotiating process to be so complicated, for the arguments to be so intense, for the disputes to be so wide and for progress to be so slow," notes the special report. "There was criticism and praise from all sides, but future negotiations will be more difficult." The authors - all members of a government environmental research institute - were not part of the Chinese negotiating team, but their paper was commissioned by the environment ministry and circulated internally to the minister, vice-ministers and department chiefs in the days after the conference. The ministry currently plays only a marginal role in climate policy making but many of the paper's observations were echoed by China's chief climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, in a recent speech given at Beijing University. ... Tom Burke, the influential environmentalist and a founder of E3G consultants, said: "... Pretty well everyone in Copenhagen, not just the developed countries, complained about China's blocking tactics." The IPCC's problems have been compounded by its imperious attitude The incorrect statement in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the Himalayan glaciers could completely disappear by 2035 is remarkable in many ways. First, how could such a physically implausible claim have entered an early draft of an assessment undertaken by 'the world's leading experts', as IPCC authors are frequently described? Second, how did the claim survive several rounds of peer review from other IPCC authors and outside experts? Third, how did the claim, published in April 2007, remain unchallenged for more than two years before hitting the news headlines? But perhaps most remarkable of all was the reaction of the IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, when the results of a specially commissioned Indian study of the glaciers challenged the IPCC's claim. He dismissed the new study as "voodoo science". Pachauri's haughty attitude helps explain why the controversy surrounding the mistaken claim — which, after all, is a rather minor piece of the picture of climate change impacts — is now filling newspapers, blogs and broadcast media. Climate sceptics denounced by Brown as he launches climate change group Prime minister Gordon Brown today accused climate change sceptics of going "against the grain" of scientific evidence, as he launched a new group to raise billions of pounds for the fight against global warming. Mr Brown will co-chair the United Nations High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing with Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi. The group aims to raise $30bn (£19bn) over the next three years - rising to $100bn annually by 2020 – to help poor countries limit their contribution to global warming and adapt to its effects. Cash raised from state and private sources will fund measures to halt deforestation, encourage low-carbon development and adapt to rising sea levels, extreme weather events and higher temperatures. National Trust to cut fossil fuel use [to almost] half by 2020 The UK's largest private landowner says the move will cut emissions from energy use for heat and electricity by 45% ... The trust – the UK's largest private landowner and custodian of many of Britain's most treasured historic buildings – said the move would cut its carbon emissions from energy use for heat and electricity by 45%. ... The reduction in the use of mains electricity, gas, oil and LPG (liquid petroleum gas) would be the equivalent of removing 4,500 family cars from the road. In 2008 the trust consumed 86,193 megawatt hours of energy in its operations, generating nearly 32,000 tonnes of CO2. ... The Utah vote is a uniquely amazing self-destructive pile of blindly posturing stupidity. The whole of the USA really do need to be ashamed and dismayed. UTTERLY STUPID! Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 970064 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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A briefer summary for those unable to read more than 10 lines of text: Well, despite a small glimmer of hope from two articles, the rest add up to a whole load of short-sighted senseless selfishness and self-interest. Unbelievable! The Utah vote is a uniquely amazing self-destructive pile of blindly posturing stupidity. The whole of the USA really do need to be ashamed and dismayed. UTTERLY STUPID! Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 970065 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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For anyone that might not have noticed, there's the blockbuster film Avatar in the cinemas around some of the world at the moment. Well, it looks like Canada will go anywhere to push their dirty deeds:  Canada looks to China to exploit oil sands rejected by US The Pentagon is also scaling down its use of tar sands oil to meet a 2007 law requiring the US government to source fuels with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Major oil companies such as Shell are also coming under shareholder pressure to pull out of the Canadian projects. Earlier this year, Shell announced it was scaling back its expansion plans for the tar sands after a revolt by shareholders. Producing oil from the Alberta tar sands causes up to five times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional crude oil, according to the campaign group Greenpeace. And to think that all used to be thousands of years old forest. Stupid or not stupid? Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 970705 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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[...] Algae to solve the Pentagon's jet fuel problem ... the Pentagon says it is just months away from producing a jet fuel from algae for the same cost as its fossil-fuel equivalent. ... Darpa's research projects have already extracted oil from algal ponds at a cost of $2 per gallon. It is now on track to begin large-scale refining of that oil into jet fuel, at a cost of less than $3 a gallon... The US Air Force wants its entire fleet of jet fighters and transport aircraft to test-fly a 50-50 blend of petroleum-based fuel and other sources – including algae – by next year. The switch is partly driven by cost, but military commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq are also anxious to create a lighter, more fuel-efficient force that is less dependent on supply convoys, which are vulnerable to attack from insurgents. Give the military the capability of creating jet fuel in the field, and you would eliminate that danger, McQuiston said. "In Afghanistan, if you could be able to create jet fuel from indigenous sources and rely on that, you'd not only be able to source energy for the military, but you'd also be able to leave an infrastructure that would be more sustainable." Nicely not stupid for that one I think. Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 970722 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Which of these is Stupid or not stupid? Bolivia creates a new opportunity for climate talks that failed at Copenhagen Bolivia will host an international meeting on climate change next month because it is not prepared to 'betray its people' Copenhagen activist trial: 'I can't see what evidence there is for the charges' This comment sums up a very troublesome aspect: "The police say that they prevented anything happening by taking me in. There was no violence, and no disruption of the public infrastructure, because they'd arrested me." If true, this sounds like pre-crime. I don't care which side of the debate a person's on - this is troubling and needs to be firmly opposed. Being arrested and imprisoned for what you might do is unacceptable. (My emphasis.) It's all our planet. And it's the only one we have. Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 981640 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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A colourful local protest against one large petrochemical multinational: Climate change demo converges on Shepherd's Bush The group, led by Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide and the UK Tar Sands Network, descended on W12 to make their feelings known about BP's plans to extract oil from tar sands in Canada. They arrived just before 1pm, forcing garage staff to immediately close for business. Demonstrators mounted the roof, wrapped tape around the pumps, unveiled banners and set up a band. Police were on hand in case of trouble, but by mid afternoon the protest had turned into a carnival, with passers-by dancing to the music and car drivers tooting their horns in support. The protest lasted until about 6pm and there were no arrests. The event was part of the groups' 'BP Fortnight of Shame' demonstrations, which is designed to persuade company bosses to reverse their decision to commit to large scale oil extraction in Canada by the end of this year. [...] "To give an idea of its scale, it's the only petro-chemical project you can see from space." Stupid or not stupid? Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 988897 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Ford Turning Off PCs at Night to Save $1.2M ... According to 1E research, which helped Ford in its program, almost half of all employees who use computers at work typically do not power them down at the end of the working day. In the U.S. alone, over $2.8 billion of PC power is being wasted every year, according to 1E. Is that not also a problem of PCs taking far too long to boot up, and also due to the disruption to users to get back to where they were on the screen the previous day? I think we need a complete overhaul of IT so that we truly can have "instant on" IT systems. Why oh why do we have GHz clocked machines crippled to a slothly few minutes to start up with whatever OS and applications bloat? There is no reason why we cannot have PCs that power up from cold off and are ready for use from when you last left them in less than two seconds. ... but then again, don't we already have that with robust proven technology that has already been in use for very many decades? It is a completely 'instant-on' low power device that is called your desk. Stupid or not stupid? Regards, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 988969 · |
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