A little context: The following piece was written to be performed in the March 26, 2011 edition of The Paper Machete, a weekly showcase for Chicago journalists, comedians, and other writers, hosted by Christopher Piatt. The Paper Machete has posted the audio of the performance as a podcast. You can listen to it here: The […]
Entries Tagged as 'Energy'
Not Zero: The Fukushima Litotes
April 1st, 2011 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Chicago, Climate Change, Culture, Energy, Environment, Essays, Fringe, Journalism, Language, Media, News, Nuclear Power, Performance, Politics, Science, Writing
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Another Talking Point Deflated
August 5th, 2008 · 3 Comments · Energy, News, Politics, Science, Tech
TIME says Obama is right: keeping tires properly inflated can save more oil than offshore drilling would produce. And it would do it immediately, rather than taking till 2030 to have any substantial effect. How out of touch is Barack Obama? He’s so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their […]
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Mr. Fish on Obama-Wright, That Ad, and the Big Gas Tax Swindle
May 5th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Comics, Culture, Energy, Foreign Policy, Infrastructure, News, Politics, The Economy, Stupid, Video
The brilliance of Mr. Fish! I really need to start including him in my cartoon roundups. His take on Obama v. Wright is especially trenchant. I’m not necessarily saying that I absolutely agree with the cartoon’s comically reductive expression of certain religious beliefs, but its portrayal of the double standard regarding what’s considered fair game […]
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Roundup: Pink Elephant Edition
September 10th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Peace, Performance, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, Theater
General Petraeus says that “victory” in Iraq will require 9-10 more years. I’m trying to imagine how ten more years of bloody occupation can possibly work out to a victory. More on that subject here. A bill has been introduced in Venezuela to restrict baby names to a list of 100 approved choices. “The bill’s […]
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Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition
August 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition · Activism, Advertising, Comics, Culture, Doctor Who, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Human Rights, Law, LGBT, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
Scary stuff: There’s a lot of buzz and speculation that starting just after Labor Day, the Bush administration is going to be rolling out a major PR campaign to pave the way for war with Iran. See here and here for starters. Grand Moff Texan at DKos says the Bushies will be using the same […]
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Roundup: Fantasy History Edition
August 23rd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Blogs, Books, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Food, Foreign Policy, Health, History, LGBT, Macintosh, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, TV
Bush has suddenly decided that the Iraq occupation is kinda like Vietnam after all, but of course he’s careful to draw the wrong conclusions from the comparison. The article quotes American University historian Allan Lichtman as saying that Bush’s spin on the situation “is not revisionist history. It is fantasy history.” On a related note, […]
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Roundup: Still Life with Salmon Edition
June 28th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Apple, Comics, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, iTunes, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech
POLITICS: The Washington Post brings us the fascinating story of how Cheney’s quest to undermine environmental science for political purposes led to a humongous pile of rotting dead fish. “… Because of Cheney’s intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was […]
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The Cheney Presidency
June 28th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Energy, News, Politics
Via Tom Tomorrow, Digby once again displays her talent for perfectly articulating what the rest of us are thinking: I know that I sound like a character in an Oliver Stone movie, (â€one pristine bullet? That dog don’t hunt!†) but I have never been sanguine about the fact that all the big money boyz […]
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Roundup: Carrot Whittling Edition
May 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Politics, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
White light, green heat: LEDS aren’t just for clock radios any more. In fact, LED lightbulbs may turn out to be the bulb of the future instead of compact fluorescents. Thanks to a breakthrough in the 90s, modern LEDs can emit white light instead of just red or green. They last up to five times […]
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Converting the Local Sealife to Slurry
May 10th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Chicago, Energy, Nature, Science
Aaron administers a much-deserved rhetorical thrashing to Mr. Burns’ real-life analog at a certain local power company, who thinks lethally scalding the local fish (and other aquatic life) by expelling 100-degree water into the Chicago and Lower Des Plaines rivers is the most efficient way to cool the companies’ coal-fired power plants. This process, called […]
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The Deep Dish Approach to Solar Power
March 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Deep Dish Approach to Solar Power · Climate Change, Energy, News, Politics, Science, Tech
Here comes the sun: Sicily is building the world’s first solar power plant! According to a deal signed by the Italian government this week, the plant should by operational by 2009: The project is named Archimedes, after the famous resident of the nearby city of Syracuse. The existing gas-fired power plant on the site will […]
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