Intel pinched my cool idea

I recently proposed the idea of a "consistency checker", a computer program to compare two sets of text (e.g., Sarah Palin quotes here and here, to the New York Times, or Bin Laden quotes to the Koran). The program would report the degree of agreement between the two texts.

Well, Intel and UC Berkeley have done a pretty close approximation with "Dispute Finder". While still early days for their code, it's a great start. It's an easy Firefox add-on. Then try a search for "global warming hoax", and see how much text turns up highlighted pink in your browser.

I'll tag this post under "corruption", as I think Dispute Finder, and a thousand similar programs to come, will bring a new level of transparency in governance. Watch out you Wachovian beauty queen!

It's cheap to be green

Friends & colleagues, please read Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman's column in the NY Times today, "It's Easy Being Green."

Last June, I gave a decision tree on global warming. The distinguished economist says my numbers are wrong - that it's much cheaper to avert disaster than I had assumed. Skepticism of global warming is like smoking. It's socially unacceptable. We have to fix this earth.

If you want good news on the subject, read up on biochar. It would be cool to merge a simulation of a region's farms with a transportation problem, to see if biochar would do against petroleum, examining requirements and emissions for water, nitrate, and carbon. I bet the farmers would come out ahead from all that transportation saved. But I'm too busy with the water market work to get to it this year.

Another reason to avoid sugar drinks

Researchers at Georgia State have shown that fructose disrupts memory in rats.

Besides the obvious, another point struck me: "Fructose, unlike another sugar, glucose, is processed almost solely by the liver, and produces an excessive amount of triglycerides — fat which gets into the bloodstream. Triglycerides can interfere with insulin signaling in the brain, which plays a major role in brain cell survival and plasticity, or the ability for the brain to change based on new experiences." Whoa! Dr Atkins would be pleased.

When we think of Coca Cola, what comes to mind? It's all bikini-clad girls, dancing, sports, and good times. Fantastic marketing! What actually happens to us when we drink the stuff? We get health and brain problems, our teeth literally dissolve, we get fat, we get diabetes, we get dementia. And we've wasted a lot of money, which incentivizes environmental damage.

I've written about this problem before. If you drink sugar drinks (or worse, low-cal chemical drinks), ask yourself, "Am I suckered by the marketers? Why don't I just drink water or milk, which are cheaper and healthier?"

File this one under agriculture, corruption, diet, environment, greenwash, nutrition, and obesity. Why all those tags? Because agriculture is taking massive subsidies to give us pseudo-food that makes us sick, while the marketers do their part to hide the facts.

Dental image source.

Make money with "Google Profits"?

I don't think so!

Try a search for "Google Profits". Seems to come up heavily associated with "scam". See, for example rantrave's comment on this.

Your scammer alert system should buzz when you see articles like this one, saying "Get Google Profits, only pay the $0.99 for shipping." What is getting shipped? Google wouldn't do that - they'd give you a secure web page, as with AdSense, or a free download at worst.

"We are ungovernable"

In early July, I attended the 2nd International Conference on Water Economics, Statistics, and Finance, in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Along the way, I visited Athens with my lovely daughter, Becky.

First impressions of Greece were that it's a poor country. I live in New Zealand, which is not top of the economic heap, but it certainly feels wealthier than Greece. Why is this?

One disturbing bit of graffitti that I saw in Athens said, "We are ungovernable." I wish I'd taken a picture of it, but the Wikipedia image here gives the right impression. On a previous trip to Greece, I'd seen similar graffitti, and found that the university students are outright radical. Why is this?

To unwrap these double questions, first note Greece's relatively low standing on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Young Greeks know their country is too dishonest, and want change. Strangely, though, it is the people in power whose own corruption is the problem; these are the ones who are ungovernable.

Second, examine where rich countries get their wealth: from better institutions and governance. New Zealand is wealthier than Greece because New Zealand is more honest and has better government. Kiwi students have no desire to revolt. They want to graduate and get jobs.

As for Greek governance, if you remain ungovernable, you will remain poor.

Good news & bad

1. Bad. Best to get the bad news out of the way. Burning coal at home is making a comeback. Here is a suggestion for high school science teachers: get kids to analyze coal for its toxicity. Let them find out for themselves. From a business point of view, people are working for short term profits without thinking about the obvious mid and long-term risks.

2. Good. International law comes down on Mugabe. The rule of law is civilization's way forward. Somebody seizes power then starts stealing. Then someone else seizes power and starts stealing, plus revenge. The cycle breaks only by intervention, local or international, which installs democracy.

3. CNN has a video of a human-powered car. I've been thinking of this for ages.



Now if we can just get a cheap Chinese-made clone of it!

A final measure of justice in Rwanda

The world got some good news today, as Theoneste Bagosora was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Watch out Robert Mugabe & Kim Jong-il.

Communism of carbon

Iowa State Daily has an op-ed, "EPA proposal could cost millions". I kind of let off steam on the comments there. The article mentions Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley. I can only hope that those two men - despite their funding from Big Ag - understand the issues better the author.

"There was no running water Monday In Harare"

CNN reports on Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic. In the image here, children are carrying containers to fetch water in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

Some people read this article, and tag it with "water crisis". That would be wrong. It's a crisis of bad government. Tragically bad government.

Bottled beverages: toxic

Nestle boasts of its hard work at its improving water management, and it's clear that Nestle has improved. Nestle's report points out that people's calories from sugared drinks and alcohol has increased dramatically in recent years. It's just another reason for the obesity epidemic.

And it's a little hypocritical of Nestle to be claiming corporate social responsibility, given the amount of waste caused by the bottles. Please stop buying bottled water! Here in Christchurch, we have some of the finest water in the world, yet I see bottled water for sale everywhere.

Soft drinks are worse, in several ways. First, they are a large proportion of the waste. Second, their bottles are typically heavier than bottles for plain water. And third, the drinks - including the diet drinks - wreak havoc on human metabolism. Please stop buying soft drinks!

When I visited Puerto Escondido in 2001 and 2006, the city water supply was horrible. Indeed, most of Mexico has problems with water. Yet people spend an order of magnitude more on bottled water - produced by Coca Cola - than they would if they just got their piped supply sorted out! I can only speculate that Coke and Pepsi have the town fathers on their payrolls.