Monday, April 15, 2013

Tab clearing

Ever wonder what happens to all the recycling you so dutifully do?  Most of it gets dumped.

Gasoline sales are not down to 1970s levels.  They are down 10% from the peak 10 years ago.

What does the greatest living scientist think about Global Warming?  Choice quote: “I just think they don’t understand the climate. Their computer models are full of fudge factors.”

Is al-Qaeda finished?

The best blog name ever?

What is the real plot of Cinderella?  Perhaps that's better asked what's the RealPolitik plot?

There's been a 10x increase in the number of euthanasias performed in Belgium in the last decade.  I have to confess that I feel torn here.  On the one hand, my belief is that you have the absolute right to suicide (generally a bad idea, but the right exists).  On the other hand, it's unclear what this right means to, say, and Alzheimer's.  If you bump gramps off with a pillow over his face, you're a felon.  If the National Health Service does it, you inherit.  Unsavory.


8 comments:

Ken said...

Yeah, that's not much of a slopeWHOOOOOPSZIIIIIIPBOOM!!

Anonymous said...

A helpful hint in recycling--it they are willing to pay you for the material (i.e. scrap metal), it's worth it. Otherwise you're just doing it for the warm fuzzies you may or may not justify to yourself.

SiGraybeard said...

When supplies exceed demand, prices have to decline. The Law of Supply and Demand is as close to the character of physical law as you get in the social sciences. The market is flooded with supply for recycled garbage and the demand just isn't there.

In one of the engineering magazines there was a story about this a couple of years ago. At the time, they said San Francisco’s Dept. of Waste figured it pays $4,000/ton to recycle plastic bags for which it receives $32/ton.

I sure hope they're throwing it away. At least there's some sense in that.

Old NFO said...

Yeah, that last one is a touchy one at best...

NotClauswitz said...

My friend's little MA town has a by-LAW trash separation & recycling requirement, then it's picked up and hauled to a dump where it's buried.
Complete waste of mandated effort.

ASM826 said...

Is al-Qaeda finished? No.

Unknown said...

Not the best blog name ever, but I like it.

TOTWTYTR said...

It's irrelevant if al Qaeda is finished or not. It's guiding philosophy is alive and well in Egypt, Libya, Iran, and coming soon to Syria.