What I've Been Reading, May 2019

May was a busy month between stacking up 10 cords of firewood for next winter and getting started on gardening, so I didn't do as much reading, or writing, as I would have liked.

Links

Miscellaneous

• Abortion is an Economic Issue, by Hanna Brooks Olsen, Medium—Economy
• Why I Left the Pro-Life Movement , by Sarah Olson, Medium—Human Parts
  "I protested abortion for years. But when I saw how the movement’s beliefs harm women, I realized I had to get out."
• The Debate of the Century or a Waste of Time? by Jackie Thornhill, Medium
  "Everything you need to know about today’s debate between Jordan Peterson and Slavoj Žižek"
  Well, maybe not everything. But apparently Žižek mopped the floor with Peterson, and that is good news.
  "Hopefully Jordan Peterson learned the most important lesson — he may have a devoted fan base and legions of followers, but he’s not the heavyweight public intellectual he pretends to be. Perhaps next time Peterson will think twice before challenging someone like Žižek."

Collapse

• (Why) American Collapse is Extraordinary, by Umair Haque, Medium—Eudaimonia
  Of course some will say that what Mr. Haque calls collapse is just change, albeit for the worse. But slow collapse is made up of many such changes.
  Others will say that his use of the word "fascist" is imprecise and inaccurate. Looking back, a few decades from now, I think those same people will have to admit while twenty first century American "fascist" may not have fitted a precise academic definition, they eventually had much the same effect as twentieth century fascists.
• Civilisational collapse has a bright past – but a dark future, by Luke Kemp, Aeon
• Civilisation peaked in 1940 and will collapse by 2040: the data-based predictions of 1973, from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News, via Aeon

Peak Oil

• Oil is the Economy: #FuturesRadio, podcast with Art Berman
  Direct link to podcast audio.
• Greens call for ban on foreign oil imports, using Alberta oil instead, by Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press—Yahoo News
  Something surprising from Elizabeth May, the leader of Canada's Green Party.

Climate Change

• Names and Locations of the Top 100 People Killing the Planet, by Jordan Engel, Portside
• Greenwashing the Climate Catastrophe, by Kenn Orphan, Wrong Kind of Green

Economic Contraction

• The Economy Continues To Deteriorate, by Investment Research Dynamics
  This article is right about the state of the economy, but it doesn't go deep enough when it talks about the causes. Why is the economy contracting and why is debt being used to keep it going? Clearly, decreasing surplus energy is the underlying cause.

Energy

• Food or energy? The battle over the future of Australia's prime agricultural land, by Eliza Beck, ABC News

Hazard and Risk

• Odds of Dying: What You Should Really Worry About, by Robert Roy Britt, Medium—Luminate

Agriculture

• Farm Babe: Hey Natalie Portman, here’s why your term ‘factory farm’ is so offensive, by Michelle Miller, Farm Babe, AG DAily

Genetic Engineering

Before jumping to the erroneous conclusion that this section was paid for by Monsanto, stop for a moment and understand that organic agriculture/food is a multi-billion dollar per year industry that relies on fear to get people to buy its product. Millions of dollars are spent to convince you that non-organic food is dangerous. In fact both conventionally grown and organic foods are equally safe. Sadly neither method of agriculture is even remotely substainable.

• Do GMO Opponents Have a Problem with Cheese?, by Kevin Bonham, Scientific American

Practical Skills

• Medieval wood riving – An attempt to recreate craftsmanship, Örebro läns museum

Debunking Resources

These are of such importance that I've decide to leave them here on an ongoing basis.

• Debunking, Wikipedia
• Pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• Rational Wiki
• Science Based Medecine
• Quackwatch
• Snopes, debunks or validates urban legends
• Bad Astronomy
• The Skeptics Society

Science Based Medicine

• Moms Across America sells product linked to cancer and kidney failure, by Stephan Neidenbach, Medium
• Dangerous DIY Sunscreen Recipes Are Spreading on Pinterest, by Angela Lashbrook, Medium—OneZero

There is No God, and Thou Shall Have No Other Gods

I don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I am an atheist, but I may not have made it clear that I think any sort of worship is a bad thing and that believing in things is to be avoided whenever possible. Indeed, I do not believe in belief itself. That's what the "Thou shall have no other gods" is about—it's not enough to quit believing in whatever God or Gods you were raised to believe in, but also we must avoid other gods, including material wealth, power and fame.

• If God Is Dead, Your Time Is Everything, by James Wood, The New Yorker
  A lengthy look at various views of what it means to be secular, as opposed to religious. Concentrating in particular on Martin Hägglund’s view, as articulated in his book This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom.
• The Cult of the Good Christian Woman, by Sarah Olson, Medium—Human Parts
  "The community that raised me is pushing an ideal for women that is repressive and damaging."

Poverty, Homeless People, Minimum Wage, UBI, Health Care, Housing

• 'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness, by Jon Henley, The Guardian
• Why should governments give cash-handouts before providing free, quality public services to all? UBI without quality public services is a neo-liberal paradise., by Rosa Pavanelli , Open Democracy
  "What the studies do demonstrate is that giving cash payments to the poorest helps improve their lives and does not increase wasteful spending or laziness as many right wing politicians would have us believe. "
  "When we manage to build the political will to raise the substantial extra funds required to fight inequality – then surely funding public health, transport, housing and education would be our key priority?"

Autonomous Vehicles and Artificial Intelligence

• 10 Surprising Things About Riding in a Self-Driving Taxi, by Hope King, Medium—Cheddar

Books

Fiction

• Dead Water, by Ann Cleeves, book 5 in the Shetland Series
• Against A Dark Background, by Iain M. Banks
• The Protectors War, by S. M. Stirling

Non-Fiction

• The Cancer Chronicles, by George Johnson
  "Unlocking Medicine's deepest mystery."
  An excellent reality based survey of what we know, and can do, about cancer.

What I've Been Reading, April 2019

Links

Miscellaneous

• The Barely Hidden Flaws in Jordan Peterson’s Scholarship, by Emily Pothast, Medium—Culture
  "Peterson’s philosophy, while it may inspire motivation at the individual level, is a deadly engine of status quo maintenance and self-justification at the cultural level. It is an ideology that denies it is ideology, hissing insults and flinging lawsuits at those who challenge its god-like powers of complacency."

Collapse

• The end of industrial civilization, by Nils, Small Precautions
• In Defence of Inaction, by Dave Pollard, guest post on Damn the Matrix
• NASA Study Concludes When Civilization Will End, And It's Not Looking Good for Us, by Tom MacKay, Mic.com
• , by Nafeez Ahmed, The Guardian
• , by John Beddington CMG FRS, Government Office for Science (in the UK)
  "It is predicted that by 2030 the world will need to produce around 50 per cent more food and energy, together with 30 per cent more fresh water, whilst mitigating and adapting to climate change. This threatens to create a ‘perfect storm’ of global events (Figure 7). The key questions for policy makers and scientists are these:
  • Can 9 billion people be fed equitably, healthily and sustainably?
  • Can we cope with the future demands on water?
  • Can we provide enough energy to supply the growing population coming out of poverty?
  • Can we do all this whilst mitigating and adapting to climate change?"
  To me, it seems extremely improbable that we will succeed n all these efforts. And collapse seems inevitable.

Responding to Collapse,

• A Palliative Approach to the End of the World, by Eric Demore, Medium—Human Parts
• C5’s Incredibly Boring Food Storage, by C5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
  Boring, maybe. Practical, very.
• C5 Gets His Final Apocalyptic Wood- P-II and 2/3, by C5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
• C5 Says, If I Cant Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Apocalypse, by C5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
• C5 Says, If You Don’t Like Bicycles, Just Try Walking To Town- Part I, by C5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre

Peak Oil

• The true feasibility of moving away from fossil fuels, by Gail Tverberg, OLur Finite World
• Oil Prices Rise as U.S. Allows Iran Waivers to Expire, by Nick Cunningham, The Fuse
• The biggest Saudi oil field is fading faster than anyone guessed, by Javier Blas, Bloomberg, MSN

Climate Change

• PBO: Most Canadians To Get More From Rebate Than They Pay In Carbon Tax, byMia Rabson, Canadian Press, Huffington Post
• Climate change deniers are increasingly angry and hostile, by Michael Barnard, Medium
  "Cognitive dissonance at being forced off of position after position is leading to anger "
• Why desperation could be the key to tackling climate change, by Cam Fenton, Open Democracy
  Extinction Rebellion, student strikes and the Green New Deal show that desperation is starting to define climate politics. This could be a game changer.
• We Can Limit Human-Induced Global Warming to 1.5℃, but It Will Be Painful, by Keith Shine, The Wire
  "The report is sensitive to the fact that changes required to meet 1.5℃ must be consistent with the UN’s wider sustainable development goals. Limiting climate change will help meet goals associated with health, clean energy, cities and oceans. But there are potential negative impacts on others (poverty, hunger, water, energy access) “if not carefully managed."
  And that's about the most you're going to find anywhere in the climate change discussion about the consequences of doing something about climate change. I would say we really need to face up to how very painful it is going to be, that the idea that we can maintain and even increase prosperity while solving climate change is bizarre. But realizing at the same time that if we do nothing, it will be even worse.

Hazard and Risk

• How Marketers Use Fear Of Chemicals For Profit: 3 Easy Steps, by Alison Bernstein and Kavin Senapathy, Forbes
• Risk Assessment Methodologies Part 1: Understanding de minimis risk, by A Chemist in Langley
• Risk Assessment Methodologies Part 2: Understanding “Acceptable Risk”, by A Chemist in Langley
• Risk Assessment Methodologies Part 3: the Risk Assessment Process, by A Chemist in Langley
• Risk Assessment Epilogue: Have a bad case of Anecdotes? Better call an Epidemiologist, by A Chemist in Langley

Agriculture

Before jumping to the erroneous conclusion that this section was paid for by Monsanto, stop for a moment and understand that organic agriculture/food is a multi-billion dollar per year industry that relies on fear to get people to buy its product. Millions of dollars are being spent to convince you that non-organic food is dangerous. In fact both conventionally grown and organic foods are equally safe. Sadly neither method of agriculture is even remotely substainable.

• Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture, by Christie Wilcox, Scientific American
• Farming First: A Recipe to Feed a Crowded World, by Timothy A. Wise, Medium—Heated
• On Green Dread and Agricultural Technology, by Andrew C. Revkin ,The New York Times
• Farm Babe: Hey Natalie Portman, here’s why your term ‘factory farm’ is so offensive, by Michelle Miller, Farm Babe, AGDaily
• Farm Babe: Liquor store stands with farmers while refusing to stock ‘non-GMO’ Smirnoff vodka, by Michelle Miller, Farm Babe, AG Daily,

Practical Skills

• Net Making, by Johnny Debt, YouTube
• Net Making—another way to tie the knots, by Gunner17722, YouTube

Debunking Resources

These are of such importance that I've decide to leave them here on an ongoing basis.

• Debunking, Wikipedia
• Pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• Rational Wiki
• Science Based Medecine
• Quackwatch
• Snopes, debunks or validates urban legends
• Bad Astronomy
• The Skeptics Society

Science Based Medicine

• The Scientific Truth About Toxins, by Kate Morgan, Medium Elemental
  "Your body doesn’t need as much help removing them as you might think"
• Fish And Chips Aren’t Giving You The Flu, by Gid M-K; Health Nerd, Medium

Lacking an Owner's Manual

The human body/mind/spirit doesn't come with an owner's manual, and we continually struggle to figure out how best to operate them.

• How Inuit Parents Teach Kids To Control Their Anger, by Michaeleen Doucleff and Jane Greenhalgh, NPR
• Stop Telling People They Need to Wake Up Earlier, by Birttany C., Medium—Self

Gender and Sexuality

• Why the church’s teachings on same-sex relationships are profoundly flawed, by Charles Fensham, Open Democracy
  "On what basis do Christians believe they have a right to do things that harm others to the point of suicide?"

There is No God, and Thou Shall Have No Other Gods

I don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I am an atheist, but I may not have made it clear that I think any sort of worship is a bad thing and that believing in things is to be avoided whenever possible. Indeed, I do not believe in belief itself. That's what the "Thou shall have no other gods" is about—it's not enough to quit believing in whatever God or Gods you were raised to believe in, but also we must avoid other gods, including material wealth, power and fame.

• On Losing My Religion, by Rebekah Hayden, Medium—Spirituality
• Is God Really That Shallow?, by Donald Unger, Medium—Religion
• It’s Time to Start Calling Evangelicals What They Are: The American Taliban, by J. C. Weatherby, Church and State

Refugees and Migration

• Building walls to keep climate refugees out, DW.com

Puerto Rico, Venezuela

• Living Off the Grid and Safe From Hurricanes in Puerto Rico, by,
  "In this jungle community, self-sustaining homes are built from trash and can withstand the deadliest storms."

Poverty, Homeless People, Minimum Wage, UBI, Health Care, Housing

• One in 200 people now homeless in Britain as crisis deepens, by Matthew Robinson, CNN
• Homeless activists outside Notre Dame demand ‘a roof too’, Associated Press

Autonomous Vehicles and Artificial Intelligence

• The Tesla bombshell almost nobody is talking about, by Hans van de Bruggen, Medium—Self Driving Cars
  Strikes me as extremely improbable.

Humour

• Who’s Going to Tell Trump?, by Calvin Trillin, The Nation
• Conspiracy-Theory Conspiracy Theories, by John Klossner, The New Yorker
• Controversial uncle speaks at Easter dinner, by Alex Huntley, The Beaverton

Books

Fiction

• Red Bones, by Ann Cleeves
  Book 3 in the Shetland mystery series
• Blue Lightning, by Ann Cleeves
  Book 4 in the Shetland mystery series
• Thin Air, by Richard Morgan
  Morgan's new science fiction novel, the first one in a long time, set inthe same universe as Black Man.
• Join, by Steve Toutonghi

Non-Fiction

• Team Human, by Douglas Rushkoff
  I very much on side with what Rushkoff is suggesting in this book, but I am afraid he uses a lot of outright woo to support it. A pity, since his position can easily be supported without any woo at all. I suspect this is a case of virtue signaling—saying certain things because your audience expects to hear them.
• The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould
  I almost didn't read this book, based on what Murray and Herrenstein had to say about it in the Bell Curve. But like so much of what is in the Bell Curve, their comments on The Mismeasure of Man were just plain wrong. Gould's book was definitely worth reading.

What I've Been Reading, February 2019

Links

Collapse

• Why We’re Underestimating the Risks to Human Civilization, by Umair Haque, Medium-- Eudaimonia
  " We’re Not Taking The Challenges of the 21st Century Seriously Yet. We’d Better Begin, Now."
  "I’m suggesting that a world splintered into nations that resemble a collapsed, fascist America — or maybe worse — each one bitterly contesting its share of dwindling resources, ready to do violence and commit atrocities, is going to be an age in which peace, progress, plenitude, and the survival of a whole lot of people grind to a screeching, lethal halt."
  Mr. Haque seems to think that if we just try hard enough and soon enough we can go on progressing and prospering. I disagree--he's missing the "declining surplus energy" problem, for which there is no solution. But I do think that quite a few of us might manage to survive what's coming, if we actually got to work at it.

Responding to Collapse,

A Paradise built in Hell, The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster
I'm borrowing the title of Rebecca Solnit's book for this section of links. Human beings feel, in times of crises, a deep need to come together to take care of each other. Contrary to the horrific picture of typical reactions to disaster painted by the "disaster mythology", in fact communities often come together to help themselves in the most extraordinarily positive ways.

• C5 Defines The Adapters Movement- In Four Parts. Part I--Introduction, by Category 5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
• C5 Defines The Adapters Movement- In Four Parts. Part II--Acceptance, by Category 5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
• C5 Defines The Adapters Movement- In Four Parts. Part III--Make Food First Again, by Category 5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre
• C5 Defines The Adapters Movement- In Four Parts. Part IV--Triage, by Category 5, Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Centre

Peak Oil

• Trump warns Saudi Arabia on oil prices as focus turns to re-election, by John Kemp, Reuters
• EXXONMOBIL U.S. OIL & GAS FINANCIAL TRAIN-WRECK: Producing Shale Is Destroying Its Bottom Line, by Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report
• Shale Growth Is Nearing An Inflection Point, by Nick Cunningham, oilprice.com

Climate Change

• Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can't humans see the writing on the wall?, by Megan Mayhew Bergman, The Guardian
  "People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences--and Florida’s coastal real estate may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call."

Economic Contraction

• We're Overdue for a Sell-Everything/No-Fed-Rescue Recession, by Charles Hugh Smith, of two minds.com

Food

• High fructose corn syrup--don’t be afraid, it’s just sugar, The Skeptical Raptor
  Not only is HFCS "just sugar", it's chemical makeup is very similar to honey.
• There is a simple way to improve the world’s food systems , by Peter A Coclanis, Aeon
  What he's talking about is reducing food waste. OK, but most proposals I hear to do this would means making our food systems even more complex than they already are. Usually not a good thing.
• A scientist on the myth of ugly produce and food waste, by Chavie Lieber, Vox
  "Startups Misfits Market and Imperfect Produce say they’re rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted. Sarah Taber is calling bullshit."
  I don't agree with everything in this article, but there definitely are some good points.

Politics

• This Is How the World’s High-Tax Countries Do It, by Justin Fox, Medium--Bloomberg View
  "They don’t tax wealth much, their income taxes are high but not very progressive, and they rely a lot on consumption taxes"

Dancing on Graves

• Ronald Reagan: Setting the Record Straight, by Bob Burnett, Huffington Post

The Scientific Consensus

• How to make mountains, by Marcia Bjornerud, Aeon
  "In living memory, geologists believed that the Earth was slowly shrivelling, little guessing how vibrantly alive it truly is."

Science Based Medicine

• The Risks And Benefits Of Vaccination, by Gid M-K; Health Nerd, Medium
  And why we vacinate.
• The Science Behind the Roundup Lawsuit, by Steven Novella, Science Based Medicine
  "A jury has awarded a man $289 million for allegedly contracting cancer from exposure to Roundup, but the science is not on their side."
• Glyphosate Isn’t Giving You Cancer, by Gid M-K; Health Nerd, Medium--Science
  "Why RoundUp is probably fine for your health"

Lacking an Owner's Manual

• 5 Things Every Woman Needs From Her Husband, by Michelle Wuesthoff, from her blog"Live Life Beautifully"
  We've been married for 41 (and a half) years and what Michelle is saying in this article and the one below certainly rings true to me. I had a close look around her website and yes, she is a Christian. But, in these two articles at least, she isn't letting that handicap her too much.
• 5 Things Every Man Needs From His Wife, by Michelle Wuesthoff, from her blog"Live Life Beautifully"

There is No God, and Thou Shall Have No Other Gods

I don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I am an atheist, but I may not have made it clear that I think any sort of worship is a bad thing and that believing in things is to be avoided whenever possible. Indeed, I do not believe in believe itself. That's what the "Thou shall have no other gods" is about--it's not enough to quit believing in whatever God or Gods you were raised to believe in, but also we must avoid other gods, including material wealth, power and fame.

• The Science of Miracles, by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Medium--Science
  Prayer studies are a "wild goose chase that violate everything we know about the universe," Richard Sloan, professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and author of Blind Faith, told me: "There are no plausible mechanisms that account for how somebody’s thoughts or prayers can influence the health of another person. None."
  "Consciousness is a product of brain function. Period." my comments: wishful thinking
• Why I Won’t Teach My Child to Believe in God, by Mateo Askaripour, Medium--Religion
  "My journey from undoubting faith to disbelief, in four acts."
• Reasonable Dubt-- How I Lost God, by Kiley Bense, Medium--Religion
• Atheism Is Not Faith, It’s Reason, by Thor Benson, Medium
  "Let’s not pretend there’s no reason to question if there’s a God"
• Atheism is not a belief, by Joe Nuxoll, Medium
• Unbeliever, by Joao Nascimento, Medium--Religion
  " The never-ending war between believers and Atheists — the evildoers — must stop. I am nothing more than an unbeliever, but I am an Atheist. You are no more righteous than me. Believe in that."

Poverty, Homeless People, Minimum Wage, UBI, Health Care, Housing

• We Don’t Need Private Health Insurance, by Adam Gaffney, The Nation " New single-payer plans don’t need to worry about carving out roles for health-care profiteers."
  Sound like at least some people in the U.S. are catching on.
• Finding Home in a Parking Lot, by Sarah Holder, City Lab
  "The number of unsheltered homeless living in their cars is growing. Safe Parking programs from San Diego to King County are here to help them."

Books

Fiction

• With Her Body, by Nicola Griffith
• So Lucky, by Nicola Griffith
• Alliance Rising, by C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher
• The Rise and Fall of DODO, by Neal Stepenson and Nicole Galland
• By Darkness Forged, by Nathan Lowell

Non-Fiction

February is a short month and while I have a couple of non-fiction books on the go, I didn't finish any of them this month. Maybe I was reading too much fiction... Anyway, here are some gems from my bookshelf, this time from the New Atheist section.

• Breaking the Spell, by Daniel C. Dennett
• The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
• God in Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, by Christopher Hitchens
• Did Man Create God?, by David E. Comings

What I've Been Reading, September 2018

Links

Miscellaneous

• Low much energy does it take (on average) to produce 1 kilogram of the following materials? Low-tech Magazine
• Aluminum Seen Facing ‘Doomsday’ If Rusal Sanctions Proceed, Bloomberg News
• Yellowstone's wolves are back, but they haven't restored the park's ecosystem. Here's why. By Katharine Lackey, USA Today,
• #NotInvisible: Why are Native American women vanishing? by Sharon Cohen, AP News
  From figures mentioned briefly in tis article, it seems to me that the problem is much worse, per capita, in Canada than the U.S.
• What I Do When My Students Praise Hitler, by Jessica Wildfire, Medium
  "Teachers aren’t supposed to be political, but we have to be."
• Why U.S. Electricity Sales Surged In 2018, by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge

Collapse

• 12 reasons why people refuse to address the idea that we’re headed for near-term societal collapse, by Prof. Jem Bendell, lowimpact.org
• Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy, by Professor Jem Bendell.
  Bendell covers the problems climate change is bringing our way, the various forms of denial the people engage in and what "deep adaptation" might look like. He concludes that collapse is inevitable, catastrophe is likely and extinction is possible. And when it comes to adaptation, he gives us a new version of the three r's: Resilience, Relinquishment and Restoratio. About 23 pages not counting then references at the end, but a worthwhile read.
• Fixing Infrastructure Isn't as Simple as Spending Another Trillion Dollars, by Charles Hugh Smith, of two minds

Peak Oil

• A review of EROEI-dynamics energy-transition models, by Craig D. Rye, Tim Jackson, Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey
  The need for an environmentally sustainable economy is indisputable but our understanding of the energy-economy interactions (dynamics) that will occur during the transition is insufficient. This raises fascinating questions on the future of economic growth, energy technology mix and energy availability.
• Oil could surge 30% into the mid-$90s within months, creating $4 per gallon gas: Energy expert John Kilduff, by Stephanie Landsman, CNBC

Climate Change

• Spain, Portugal struggle with extreme drought. The Straits Times.
• Easter Island is critically vulnerable to rising ocean levels. By Nicholas Casey, New York Times.
• Climate change cycles have happened throughout Earth’s history. The Earth has always been able to rebalance and repair itself. If this is true, why are we concerned about the environment?
  A Quora question well answered by a variety of authors, with not a single dud answer among them.

Economic Contraction

• Some Inconvenient Truths About Collapse Economics, by Eddie, at the Doomstead Diner
• Lies, damned lies and media economic reporting, by Tim Watkins, The Conciousness of Sheep
  It seems to me that we can generalize this from the UK to just about anywhere in the developed world.
• Why America's Sub-4% Unemployment Rate Means A Recession Is Not Far Off, by Jesse Colombo, Forbes
• "Lower For Longer": Yellen Urges Fed To Commit To "Booms" To Offset Crashes, by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge

Emergency Preparation

• The Science Behind Home Disaster Preparedness Kits Is a Disaster, by Adam Rogers, Wired

Agriculture and Food

• Reducing food waste can protect our health, as well as our planet’s, The Conversation
• The Scientific Case for Eating Bread, by Markham Heid, Medium, The Nuance
  The widespread vilification of bread isn’t supported by strong research.
  "When looking at specific sources of grains, whole-grain bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals, brown rice, and wheat bran were all associated with reduced risks."

Genetic Engineering

• Consumers Union knows this anti GMO activist is a “loon”, but keeps helping her, by Stephan Neidenbach, Medium

Lacking an Owner's Manual

The human body/mind/spirit doesn't come with an owner's manual, and we continually struggle to figure out how best to operate them.

• People Like You More Than You Know, by Susana Martinez-Conde, Scientific American
  All it takes is a little conversation.
• Talking to Strangers Is Not My Thing, by Lindsay Hunter, Medium
• Living a Minimalist Life: What I Learned From My Flatmate, by Dan Silvestre, Medium
• Stop Overlooking These Essential Skills—Do not neglect the small skills for the flashy ones , by John Mashni, Medium

Refugees and Migration

• The UN Refugee Agency—Figures at a Glance, UNHCR

Puerto Rico

• The Perfect Storm: How Climate Change and Wall Street Almost Killed Puerto Rico, by Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone

Poverty, Homelessness, Minimum Wage, UBI

• Many older Americans are living a desperate, nomadic life, by Richard Eisenberg, Market Watch

Books

Fiction

I re-read Kim Stanley Robinson's "Science in the Capital" trilogy this month.

• Forty Signs of Rain, by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Fifty Below Zero, by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Sixty Day and Counting, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Non-Fiction

• Intelligence and How To Get It, by Richard E. Nisbett.
  The book works as a solid rebuttal of the Bell Curve, and "hereditarianism" in general.