sastyk

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December 16, 2009
I'm doing the laundry! - The Tick A new reader, Karen, (yay, new readers!) writes: I really want to use less energy because my husband is out of work and I care about the planet - can you write about how you do it? We try and conserve, but our utility bills tell me we're not doing that great a…
December 15, 2009
The seed is starting to take shape as the site and symbol of freedom in the age of manipulation and monopoly of life. The seed is not big and powerful, but can become alive as a sign of resistance and creativity in th smallest of huts or gardens and the poorest of families. In smallness lies power…
December 15, 2009
I made myself swear that I would not argue with any of my fellow Science bloggers for one full week after my arrival here, no matter what. Fortunately, my first week wound up yesterday, and with the arrival of Greg Laden's essay on the political and intellectual dangers of relocalization, I've…
December 14, 2009
The son seems to have taken a prior (and extremely common) teenage interest in "agriculture" and turned it into an actual interest in agriculture. I suppose you could see it as sinister, but I don't - I think anyone who wants to grow things, even pot, bad enough to move out to the desert and live…
December 10, 2009
The IEA has pretty much conceeded peak oil, announcing that growth to meet demand in the coming decades will come from entirely mythical sources. Ok, they didn't say that, what they said in the latest World Energy Outlook was that the majority of oil production by 2030 will be coming from "fields…
December 10, 2009
There's an old Far Side cartoon, with a split panel, one side showing St. Peter greeting people passing the pearly gates, saying "Welcome to Heaven, here's your harp." On the other panel, the Devil greets folks at the gates of Hell, saying "Welcome to Hell, here's your accordion." My guess is…
December 9, 2009
I realize this has nothing to do with energy, food or environment, but it amuses me, so a brief hiatus from relevance will be taken. As y'all know (or don't) Chanukah starts this weekend, and the household is awash in preparations, many of them involving glue sticks and song. During the course of…
December 8, 2009
We're just about at the one year anniversary of the Northeastern power outage that had many people out this way out for a week or two last year, and what's the forecast up at our place? Snow, followed by sleet and icy rain and more ice. This seems like a recipe for trouble. Being of a vaguely…
December 8, 2009
I was about to post the Chocolate-Banana Bread Pudding recipe that I left out of my food waste post, when I found myself worrying a little bit about whether posting recipes is appropriate for my new forum. You see, I tend to think of Scienceblogs with the first syllable pronounced just like Thomas…
December 8, 2009
Last year I was invited to speak at a Green Energy Event in the West. Most such events make their actual money from their vendor halls, and this one had as one of its focal events the premier of the new Ford Hybrid, which was just being released. Thus, there were many Ford executives at the event…
December 7, 2009
Ok, those of you who know me know that I am not much of a consumer. If I can buy it used, make it myself, or make do with something I've already got, I'm pretty good. I hate the frenzy of shopping that accompanies the "Holiday" season, and I think the most awesome thing about being Jewish is that…
December 4, 2009
The subject of food waste is not sexy. Anyone faced with the statistic that we waste 40% of our food in America is almost certainly appalled - for a second or two. But they also probably stop thinking about it just a tiny second later, probably after a moment of thinking "not us, though." And…
December 3, 2009
I may be a happily married woman, but I'm not immune to seduction - who is? So when a lovely woman named Erin came around offering to fulfill my wildest fantasies, I was intrigued, if a little nervous. She promised me the moon, deep stimulation, plenty of aroused excitement, the full range of…