Category: linkstream

A running log of all the links/bookmarks I share.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the crisis of the Western welfare state

A great little thought from Nils Gilman on the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union for the Western welfare state.  Broken and horrible though it was, the Soviet Union served western socialism by framing the discussion.  Losing the “hard-left” peg for our Overton Window on social programs has led the entire discussion to slide quite a bit to the right.

Little Blue Pieces of Getting Things Done

A NYT article detailing the use of stimulants in high school to enhance academic performance.  The problem of course is that they actually work.  What are the long term consequences?  Where’s the line between use and abuse?  And who really thinks it stops after the SAT and AP tests?  I wonder whether takes more than coffee to pull 80-100 hour weeks trying to make partner in the corporate litigation firms of lower Manhattan.

Uncle Ray’s Dystopia

The future we live in isn’t so far removed from the dystopian visions of Ray Bradbury or Aldous Huxley.  And yet we hardly notice, day to day.  That’s what makes them wonderful.  Orwell’s 1984 is so obviously horrible to everyone in it and reading that it can be dismissed in ways that the consensual dystopia can’t…

It is thanks to Ray Bradbury that I understand this world I grew into for what it is: a dystopian future. And it is thanks to him that we know how to conduct ourselves in such a world: arm yourself with books. Assassinate your television. Go for walks, and talk with your neighbors. Cherish beauty; defend it with your life. Become a Martian.

Rethinking the Economics of Traffic Congestion

The Atlantic Cities takes a look at the Economics of Traffic Congestion.  It turns out that congestion is positively correlated with per-capita GDP, and there’s little evidence to suggest that traffic congestion ends up inhibiting economic development significantly.  In their words it’s nothing more than a metric of how convenient it is to drive an automobile.  But many cities still insist on “Level of Service” as a metric of success in their transportation master planning process, under the assumption that congestion must necessarily be bad for the economy.

The Growing Popularity of Bus Rapid Transit

The Atlantic Cities has a piece on the growing popularity of bus rapid transit (BRT), both in the developing world and more recently cash-strapped transit authorities in the US.  When it’s done right, it’s been called a “surface subway” or “rail on rubber”.  Done half-assed, it’s just another bus line.  Let’s hope we get it right with FasTracks on US 36.

Clean energy will unfortunately be political

Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama’s clean energy strategy, as revealed by ALEC bills and other PR documents.  This morning at the World Renewable Energy Forum, in response to a (long winded) question about how we might re-frame the energy discussion in light of the unfortunate hay which was made from Solyndra’s failure, US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu re-iterated that clean energy should not be a political issue — that it’s just common sense.  That may be true, but it doesn’t mean it will remain apolitical.  As Pericles once said… “Just because you do not take an interest in politics, does not mean that politics will not take an interest in you.”  Clean energy is political, as is climate change.  Yes, it’s stupid, but that’s the way it is.  We have to deal with it.  Though, I have to admit, if prices keep dropping like they have been, it will be fun to watch the right-wing culture warriors backpedal, as massive renewable deployments become profitable without subsidies of any kind in the next decade.