What I've Been Reading, February 2018

Links

These links appear in the order I read them. You may find some of the best ones are near the bottom—it varies from month to month. Last month I started a section at the bottom of the links on a subject that particularly interested me. This month I've added two more.

• Teachers Are Being Trained to Shoot Their Students, by Patricia J. Williams, The Nation.
  Within the first 23 days of 2018, there were 11 school shootings in the United States. In lieu of any serious discussion about gun control, there has been instead a proliferation of laws and bills that would arm teachers, and train them to be able to kill.
• Phobic Christian, While You’ve Been Busy Bothering LGBTQ People…, by John Pavlovitz, johnpavlovitz.com
• The Science of Happiness, created by Happify, at happfiy.com
  
• Honeybees Help Farmers, But They Don't Help The Environment, by Dan Charles, NPR, The Salt—What's on your plate.
• Flu and fish-mato., by mem_somerville, Medium—The Method
  Conspiracy theories have real public health consequences. Stop it.
• How Will the World Feed Itself in 2050?, by NT Franklin, Medium—The Method
  "The Method" refers, of course, to the scientific method, and the writers under this banner are taking a reality based approach—just the sort of thing I'm looking for.
• Farmers are Environmentalists, by NT Franklin, Medium—The Method
  Some interesting discussion in the comments on this one, but unfortunately, you have to be a Medium member to access it.
• 2017 flu vaccine effectiveness—getting the facts straight, by Skeptical Raptor , skepticalraptor.com
• Heat Down, by RE, Doomstead Diner
  
• Linguists Discover Previously Unidentified Language In Malaysia, by Camila Domonoske, NPr, The Two-Way
• Food Insecurity and Rice, by NT, Medium
  
• What are the liberals' main gripe with the conservatives? , a question on Quora which got 49 answers (so far).
  The second one, by TJ Fuller is my favourite.
• The CANADALAND Guide to Jordan B. Peterson, a Canadaland podcast with Jesse Brown.
  Why did an obscure Canadian psychology prof suddenly become an international media star? It’s a much better question than “is he right or wrong?”
• Funnily? Really?, by Dictionary Eyes
  Because funnily is a word that people use and have been using for quite some time, it goes in the dictionary, and quite rightly so. That does not mean, however, that it is satisfactory. Presence in the dictionary is not a free pass out of dictionary eyes jail. Not all words are equal, and not all them should receive the same score. I have long been a believer that all words in the dictionary should be accompanied by a score from 0–6 that evaluates what people will think of you if you use them. It’s a public service. Funnily receives a 0.7.
• Why People Keep Misunderstanding the 'Connection' Between Race and IQ, by Brink Lindsey, The Atlantic
  Jason Richwine's IQ-based argument that American Hispanics are less intelligent than native-born whites has been called racist. It's also wrong.
• Cryptocurrencies don't make sense, by Jon Danielsson, VOX, CEPR's Policy Portal
  Cryptocurrencies are supposedly a new and superior form of money and investments – the way of the future. The author of this column, however, does not see the point of cryptocurrencies, finding them no better than existing fiat money or good investments.
• Survivor Libary, by Rocky Rawlins, Survivor Library
  or... how to survive and prosper without modern technology.
• Yes, we do have tomatoes – but not GM ones – says riled bio-blogger, by Bob Edlin, AgScience, The NZIAHS blog
  Pointing out the kind of outright lies I've come to expect from many of the anti-GMO folks.
• Godless yet good, by Troy Jollimore, Aeon
  There’s something in religious tradition that helps people be ethical. But it isn’t actually their belief in God.
• Genetically modified organisms can help with food security, by Sami Zaatari, Staff Reporter, Gulf News—Environment.
  Reporting on a talk by Nina Fedoroff.
• Why We’re Underestimating American Collapse, by Umair Haque, Medium—Eudaimonia & Co.
  The Strange New Pathologies of the World’s First Rich Failed State
• Photographer visits lost Mongolian tribe, captures stunning photos of their life and culture, by Jenny Brown, Shareably
• Islands Not sinking: Climate Change Demonstrated to Be a Hoax, by Ugo Bardi, Cassandra's Legacy
  Have you ever wondered how it is possible that coral islands lie flat just a little above the sea level? It is not a coincidence, the coral reef that forms the islands is alive and it can adapt to variations of the sea level. According to some people, that demonstrates that climate change is a hoax (??).
• Glyphosate Vs. Caffeine: Acute and Chronic Toxicity Assessments Explained, by Alison Bernstein, PhD, Food and Farm Discussion Lab
  A good discussion of chronic toxicity.
  "...caffeine is 40 times more toxic than glyphosate. However, this is only a useful number if we know our typical exposures. The exposure numbers above show that we don’t give a second thought to consuming caffeine at levels hundreds of times higher than the oral RfD, but are simultaneously worried about exposures to glyphosate that are 100 times lower than the RfD. In discussions of toxicity, we must use the correct data to back up our points to step outside the cycle of misinformation."
• How do North and South Korea's Footprints compare?, by Global Footprint Network on YouTube
• Can You Make a Wind Turbine Without Fossil Fuels?, by Robert Wilson, The Energy Collective
• Community Resilience in an Era of Upheaval
  This is a recording of a webinar I sat inn the other say, featuring Richard Heinberg and Rebecca Wodder
  Good stuff!

Minimum Wage

• Alberta hasn’t suffered for raising the minimum wage, by Ian Hussey, The Globe and Mail
  The problem for critics of minimum-wage increases is that history doesn't back up their sky-is-falling claims.
• Why a $15 minimum wage is good for business, by Armine Yalnizyan, Macleans
  Boost the minimum wage and you boost the economy from the bottom up, writes economist Armine Yalnizyan. That means more demand for what businesses have to sell.

Homelessness

• Stop Lying to Yourself: When You Snub Panhandlers, It’s Not “For Their Own Good”, by Tim Wise, Medium
  "This idea that the poor should enjoy no indulgence, exhibit no vice, and partake in no pleasurable diversion whatsoever — be it a drink, a cigarette, or a cell phone — while still expecting our sympathy, comes very near the definition of sadism."
• Why the ‘Housing Crisis’ Is Really About Globalization, by William E. Rees, TheTyee.ca
  Free-flowing capital breaks the link between prices and local incomes — and most of us are shut out.
• I’ve been homeless 3 times. The problem isn’t drugs or mental illness — it’s poverty , by Veronica Harnish, Vox
  A rising economic tide doesn't lift all boats — it merely drowns the poor.
• Poverty is Policy-Based, by Veronica Harnish, Car Living When There's No Other Choice
• What To Do & Who To Contact If You Are Homeless Right Now—Or About To Be, by Veronica Harnish, Car Living When There's No Other Choice
• San Francisco’s ‘Diseased Streets’ Are Being Compared to Some of Worst Slums in the World, by Joe Seyton, The Western Journal
• As homeless camps explode in L.A. suburbs, residents fear they will become permanent, by Melissa Etehad, Los Angeles Times
  
• Making It Illegal to Sleep in Cars and RVs, by John Vibes, The Mind Unleashed, Anti Media
  
• Cold comfort: U.S. homeless shelters overwhelmed in brutal weather, by Scott Malone, Reuters
  
• Los Angeles Blames Wildfire on Homeless, But Evicting Them Won’t Solve the Real Problems: Climate Change and Urban Sprawl, by Alleen Brown, Eric Preven, Joshua Preven, The Intercept
  "Indeed, in a world increasingly altered by climate change and minimally controlled development, the rush in L.A. to blame a population of vulnerable people for a phenomenon that challenges the very way we live on the land may be a sign of what’s to come."
• San Diego mayor outlines impending crackdown on homeless, by Meenakshi Jagadeesan, World Socialist Website
• Homeless deaths skyrocket in major Canadian cities, by Janet Browning, World Socialist Website
• Oregon woman evicted from senior housing for $328 in late rent freezes to death in parking garage, by Admin, Bloomsmag
• Visible Homeless in Tokyo, Japan, by Life Where I'm From, YouTube
  
• Why Japan's Homeless are Different from North America's (Part 1), Life Where I'm From, YouTube
• Who are Japan's Homeless? (Part 2), Life Where I'm From, YouTube
• Housing Japan's Homeless (Part 3), Life Where I'm From, YouTube
• Meeting and Helping Japan's Homeless (Part 4), Life Where I'm From, YouTube
  
• Why Are There Still 5,534 Homeless People in Japan? (Part 5) , Life Where I'm From, YouTube
  

Puerto Rico

• Maria’s Bodies, by Mattathias Schwartz, Photographs by Matt Black, New York Magazine
  The hurricane in Puerto Rico has become a man-made disaster, with a death toll threatening to eclipse Katrina’s.
• I Won’t Leave Puerto Rico in the Dark, by Mónica Feliú-Mójer, Medium—Bright
  
• The Media Really Has Neglected Puerto Rico, by Dhrumil Mehta, FiveThirtyEight
• The Military Was Ready in Texas and Florida. What Went Wrong in Puerto Rico?, by Richard Parker, Politico Magazine
  When Hurricane Maria struck, the U.S. military called off the huge resources it had mustered for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
• Puerto Rico pays taxes. The US is obligated to help it just as much as Texas and Florida, by Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox
  FEMA is required to treat the territory like any other state.
• How Low Will Puerto Rico’s Population Go?, by Lyman Stone, Medium—in a state of migration
• Behind the Scenes— Hurricane Recovery in Puerto Rico, by Senator Chris Murphy, Medium
• Puerto Rican Governor calls for the closing of a quarter of the island’s public schools, by Rafael Azul, World Socialist Website
• FEMA Contract Called for 30 Million Meals for Puerto Ricans. 50,000 Were Delivered., by Patricia Mazzei and Agustin Armendariz, The New York Times

Books

Fiction

• Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey
  
• Convergence, by C. J. Cherryh
  

Non-Fiction

• Surviving the Future, by David Fleming
  "Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy"
  An absolutely brilliant book that is unfortunately sprinkle throughout with little nuggets (turds) of crunchy nonsense.

What I've Been Reading, January 2018

Links

These links appear in the order I read them, rather than any more refined sort of organization. You may find some of the best ones are near the bottom—it varies from month to month.

• What to know about the “raw water” trend, by Jen Kirby, Vox
  
• How a hackneyed romantic ideal is used to stigmatise polyamory, by Carrie Jenkins, Aeon
  
• Country's first biotech rice released, The Daily Star
  Bangladesh is the country referred to.
• Opinion: Non-GMO madness by Karen Caplan, Fresh Fruit Portal
  
• Countries Most Dependent On Others For Food, by Lanessa Cago, WorldAtlas.com
  Many extraneous factors such as war, drought, regional conflict, and natural disasters can affect a country's ability to feed itself.
  I found the list quite surprising.
• Why Baltimore Doesn’t Heat Its Schools, by Lester Spence, Jacobin
  In postindustrial Baltimore, low-income residents are treated as expendable — and public services are slashed accordingly.
  And thus the policies of abandonment and exterminism begin to be put into effect.
• Marketing a Mistrust of the Safest Food Supply in History” by Kevin Folta on YouTube
  Separating sense from nonsense.
• 2018: The Year of the BIG ONE? by RE, at the Doomstead Diner
  RE's year end post, looking both back and ahead. Some excellent advice on how to hedge in the light of what appears to be coming down the tubes at us.
• Old Age and Societal Decline, by Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
• The Potential Pitfalls of Electric Cars, in 5 Charts, by Jack Stewart, Wired Magazine
• Anemia Discovery Offers New Targets to Treat Fatigue in Millions, by NBCV29.com
  Lorrie Delahanty, one of the researchers mentioned in the article is a Facebook friend and fellow member of the Peak Oil Facebook group.
• A Scientist Didn’t Disclose Important Data—and Lets Everyone Believe a Popular Weedkiller Causes Cancer, by Kiera Butler, Mother Jones
  Not exactly the kind of article I would expect from Mother Jones, but good for them.
• The difference between “can” and “can”, by Tim Watkins, The Consciousness of Sheep
  Economic reasons why technically possible things can't be done.
• Would Rural Areas Be Safer In A SHTF Situation?, by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge
  
• A Gentrification Story with a Happy Ending, by Jon Michaud, The New Yorker
  Problems being solved on a local level. It can be done.
• Art Berman: Like It Or Not, The Future Remains All About Oil by Adam Taggart, Peak Properity
  Chris Martenson interviews Art Berman. Includes some excellent discussion of tight oil and gas (fracking).
• Gail Tverberg: The Coming Energy Depression, by Adam Taggart, Peak Prosperity
  Chris Martenson interviews Gail Tverberg
• Nobody Wants Old Carz, by RE at the Doomstead Diner.
  RE makes some insightful comments on the realities of car ownership.
• Beyond Leviathan's reach: On labor and freedom in humanity's deep history. A "This is Hell" Interview featuring James C. Scott, touching on the subjects covered in his new book Against The Grain.
• Guaranteed Minimum Agriculture by Simon Sarrius, Medium
  Why Basic Jobs might fare better than UBI
• Quit the Glyphosate Conspiracy Theories, by Cameron English, Real Clear Science
  
• The Great Oil Swindle by Chris Martenson, Peak Prosperity
• Composting the Permaculture Way by Mike Stasse, Damn the Matrix

Minimum Wage Increase

Here in Ontario the minimum wage increased from $11.60 to $14.00 on January 1, 2018. Next year it goes up to $15.00. Those are Canadian dollars, of course, so that's not as much money as it may seem, and it still doesn't seem like much. But percentage wise it's a big jump and, predictably, businesses are raising quite a big stink. Here are some links discussing the issue. If they seem one sided, well, OK, but the other side has already been well represented in the mass media.

• Planning for progress: Minimum wage increase is a correction long overdue, by Erica Shaker, Behind the Numbers
• A report that analyzes every minimum-wage hike since 1938 should put a bunch of nonsense ideas to rest, by Nick Hanauer, Business Insider
• If Denmark has no minimum wage laws, should Canada follow suit?, by Tom Parkin, Toronto Sun
  One doesn't expect such progressive ideas in the Sun. (Don't be mislead by the title.)

Books

Not a big month for reading—I spent too much time writing, and shoveling snow.

Fiction

• Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson
  

Non-Fiction

• There's no App for That by Richard Heinberg, The Post Carbon Institute.
  Technology and Morality in the Age of Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Biodiversity Loss. Great stuff, which I can highly recommend. Not technically a book, but I printed it out to read at my leisure rather than sitting in front of the computer.

And to fill out this month, here are some gems from my bookshelf, aimed at those of us in the northern hemisphere who can only dream about gardening at this time of year.

• The Resilient Gardenerr by Carol Deppe
  Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, including the five crops you need to survive and thrive—potatoes, corn, beans, squash and eggs.
• The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe
  Cultivating Tomatoes, Greens, Peas, Beans, Squash, Joy and Serenity.
• The Truth about Garden Remedies by Jeff Gillman
  What works and what doesn't and why.