Shakespeare, Sorkin, and The American Presidency

by L J Furman January 8, 2012

“If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, smells like a duck, and quacks …  it’s a duck” – anonymous “What’s in a name? A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet” – Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet.” “Being President of this country is entirely about character.” – Aaron Sorkin “The American [...]

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Infowar – BBC reports “Israel vows to retaliate after credit cards are hacked”

by jonathansoroko January 7, 2012

Israel has said it will respond to cyber-attacks in the same way it responds to violent “terrorist” acts after the credit card details of thousands of its citizens were published online. A hacker named OxOmar claiming to be Saudi said on Thursday he had leaked the private information. Credit card companies say at least 6,000 [...]

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Social Networks Reduce Disaster Risk

by jonathansoroko January 7, 2012

Ben Franklin is reputed to have said “we shall hang together, or we shall hang separately.” Long-time readers know that it is our firmly-held conviction that social networks matter more than any single type of preparation or cached equipment. Here is an excerpt from The Key To Disaster Survival? Pals, Neighbors broadcast on the July [...]

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Strait of Hormuz: oil supply chokepoint

by jonathansoroko January 7, 2012

Another example of the risk of petroleum supply interruption: the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. While it’s hard to imagine that United States military forces wouldn’t prevail in a conflict with Iran, that confrontation might easily escalate. Excerpted from Oil Price Would Skyrocket if Iran Closed the Strait of Hormuz by Clifford Krauss  at [...]

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Iran, Oil, & the NY Times

by jonathansoroko January 6, 2012

While Iran is threatening to block the Straits of Hormuz, and various agents are calling for military actions, the crew of an American destroyer patrolling the North Arabian Sea rescued 13 Iranian fishermen captured by Somali pirates in November, 2011. U.S. Navy Rescues Iranians Held by Pirates, 1/6/12, Robert Mackey and J. David Goodman. The [...]

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Keynes, Krugman continue to give good advice

by jonathansoroko December 31, 2011

Paul Krugman continues to be persuasive, although we worry that it’s necessary for him to make this point. Excerpted from “Keynes Was Right:” “The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.” So declared John Maynard Keynes in 1937, even as F.D.R. was about to prove him right by trying [...]

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David Levine of UCLA/”What is Game Theory?”

by jonathansoroko December 30, 2011

Professor David Levine has not a really impressive title – “John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis.” Plus – his web pages (and linked pages) on “What is Game Theory? are outstanding.

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For the 25th Anniversary of the Bruntdland Commission Report on Our Common Future

by L J Furman December 30, 2011

Let us remember the Blue Marble. There would be no food – and no life – without sunlight and clean water. The whales, and the dolphins, the deer and the polar bear, are our cousins. Let us return to the UN on March 20, May 9, June 20, September 3, and December 21 with delegations [...]

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LED Lamps – The Paradigm is Shifting

by L J Furman December 23, 2011

I just bought some LED bulbs at Home Depot. The bulbs, from Cree and Lighting Sciences, are sold under the “ecosmart” ™ brand. The Lighting Sciences bulbs will go into my bathroom.  The CREE bulbs will go into the bedrooms, family room, and the kitchen. Over their 35,000 lifespan, each LED bulb will outlast 14 [...]

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Chanukah: Festival of Lights, Conservation & Renewable Energy

by J Soroko and L Furman December 21, 2011

The Jewish celebration of Chanukah, the “Festival of Lights,” commemorates the successful struggle for freedom and independence of Israel from the Selucid Greeks,  about 2200 years ago.  At the conclusion of this war, the Macabees purified The Temple in Jerusalem and sought to relight their “Eternal Lamp.” They only had enough oil for one day. [...]

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The World Will Not End & Other Predictions for 2012

by L J Furman December 18, 2011

Here are my top 10 predictions for 2012. These are less readings of the tea leaves or the entrails of goats and chickens and more simple extrapolations of patterns in progress. Altho that may be the way effective oracles. They just masked their observations with hocus pocus, mumbo-jumbo, and guts. This list runs a gamut [...]

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Moore’s Law Applied to Solar Power

by L J Furman December 17, 2011

Does “Moore’s Law” hold for Solar Power? In New Jersey, between 2001 and 2010, we went from a total of six systems with a combined capacity of 9.0 KW to about 7000 systems with a combined capacity of 211,000 KW or 211 MW. This is illustrated below. This is the “hockey stick” curve of exponential [...]

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MIT Study suggests U.S. power grid improvements

by jonathansoroko December 7, 2011

From MIT Study: US Can Meet Power Grid Challenges of Future, by Gino Troiani, According to a recent two-year study commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s Energy Initiative, if certain measures are taken, the answer is yes. The study was composed of 13 MIT faculty members, 1 Harvard faculty member, 10 graduate students and [...]

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Measles outbreak in Europe

by jonathansoroko December 5, 2011

World Health Organization warns of measles outbreak in Europe, which has included 26,000 cases and nine deaths.

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Jeremy Grantham at Marlboro College – on Investing for Sustainability

by L J Furman December 1, 2011

Jeremy Grantham, the founder of GMO LLC, a hedge fund with $93 Billion under management, will speak Friday, 12/2/2011, at 5:00 PM at the Marlboro College Grad School, 28 Vernon Street, Brattleboro, Vermont. Grantham has written “Everything you need to know about global warming in 5 minutes,” which can be found at Think Progress and [...]

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