Mike Wolf

Here are two good links for better understanding of climate issues.

The first is a discussion/debate between two well-credentialed climate scientists: John Christy of the University of Alabama and Kerry Emanuel of MIT.

Christy takes what I would characterize as a “rational conservative” view, sufficiently consistent with the more rational parts ofthe Republican mainstream that he’s frequently called to testify before Congress.  Emanuel, who says he has been a lifelong Republican has broken with the party over climate. He takes what I would characterize as a “rational liberal” view–very different from the Democrats–and the Republicans.

The second is a talk given by Kerry Emanuel at the MIT Club of California,  elaborating his view of “What We KNOW About Climate Change.”

Everyone knows that one way to get more money is by working harder. But there’s another, easier way. I can prove it, mathematically.

The definition of power, from physics is:

power = work/time

Since we know that knowledge is power and time is money, we can substitute:

knowledge = work/money

Solving this equation for money we get:

money = work/knowledge

So you can get more money by more work, given constant knowledge.  You already know that, so I don’t claim anything for telling you that.

But what you probably didn’t know is that you can get more money by doing the same amount of work while knowing less.

Just by reading this you know less than when you started, so you should get more money any time soon.  As soon as you get it I get 10% for this tip.

You are not obliged to send me the money, but here is a story to encourage you: AJ from North Dakota (not his real initials) read this several times each time becoming less knowledgeable. Shortly afterward he got an unexpected $100,000. He did not send me my 10%, and shortly after that he got sick and died. Don’t be like AJ. Send me my 10% as soon as your extra money comes in.

Doing it will make you even stupider, and you’ll get even more money!

PPS: I’m sure this explains some of the dysfunctions of government, society, or the market, depending on what hobby-horse you like to ride. I like riding them all, and choose my steed depending on whoever is riding a different one.

Charles Stross, a science fiction writer, makes an interesting argument in his blog about the conditions under which we are living.

Among his observations:

We’re living in an era of increasing automation. And it’s trivially clear that the adoption of automation privileges capital over labour (because capital can be substituted for labour, and the profit from its deployment thereby accrues to capital rather than being shared evenly across society).

A side-effect of the rise of capital is the financialization of everything…

Since the collapse of the USSR and the rise of post-Tiananmen China it has become glaringly obvious that capitalism does not require democracy. Or even benefit from it. Capitalism as a system may well work best in the absence of democracy.

The iron law of bureaucracy states that for all organizations, most of their activity will be devoted to the perpetuation of the organization, not to the pursuit of its ostensible objective. (This emerges organically from the needs of the organization’s employees.)fought for control of our societies by opposing forces that are increasingly more powerful than we are.

The original article is here, and well worth reading.