All posts by Chris

how that trillion dollars could have been spent

Economics, Government, Iraq

I’ve said this kind of thing before, but John Allen Paulos at ABC News has an interesting spin on how the $1,000,000,000,000 we’ve spent on Iraq to date could have been put to better use. For example:

The cost of the war can also be expressed as approximately 28 HS’s, where HS, the annual budget for the Department of Homeland Security, is about $35 billion. Really securing the ports and chemical plants would have only eaten up a few of these HS’s. A few more could have been usefully spent in Afghanistan.

Alternatively, if the money was spent in an even more ecumenical way and a global mailing list was available, the Treasury could have sent a check for more than $150 to every human being on earth. The lives of millions of children, who die from nothing more serious than measles, tetanus, respiratory infections and diarrhea, could be saved, since these illnesses can be prevented by $2 vaccines, $1 worth of antibiotics, or a 10-cent dose of oral rehydration salts as well as the main but still very far from prohibitive cost of people to administer the programs.

Nicely said. I sure hope we can stop being so thunderingly stupid about how we spend our money before another $1 trillion goes down the drain.

JoCo in San Diego!

Events, Fun, Music, Web 2.0

You may have noticed that little demand sticker on the sidebar here. I’ve been hoping to get Jonathan Coulton to visit our little cultural backwater for a while now, and he’s finally agreed! Details:

Who: Jonathan Coulton
When: Tuesday, 20 February at 8:00 pm
Where: House of Blues San Diego

Details at Eventful, of course. So there you have it. If you’re in San Diego that night and you like… stuff… you absolutely have to be there. I will!

eco-friendly palace?

Architecture, Environment, News

Here’s something to ponder: is an eco-friendly palace an oxymoron? From The Register:

The Prince of Wales has been given the green light to build an eco-friendly house, rumoured to be a “starter home” for Prince William once he gets married.

In a more functional than palatial move, a 200-litre rainwater reservoir will collect and recycle rainwater to the house. The house will even have an eco-friendly reed bed sewage system.

The house has been scaled down from its original 14,885 sq ft to 8,500 sq ft to make it more energy efficient but the occupants will still live in splendour. There are six reception rooms downstairs and six bedrooms upstairs – five of which are en suite.

Low energy and water saving appliances will be fitted everywhere, whilst three large recycling bins will make the best use of waste and, according to a sustainability report, make “recycling and composting easy for the occupants”.

The report, by Dr Gail Kenton, of the BP Institute in Cambridge, gives the house a “very good” rating according to the Eco Homes 2006 criteria. It misses out on an “excellent” rating predominantly because of its remote location.

So… yeah. On the one hand, it’s a model of how a large residence can be made more sustainable by combining available building techniques. On the other hand, it’s an 8500-square-foot palace, not to mention the entirely new construction in a rural area. Built for royals, no less. Hrmph.

Obi-Wan Kenobi cloak rediscovered

Film, Oddly Enough, Science fiction

[Adam says:]

Personally, I think garments’ lost travels are more interesting than the post cards you sometimes see of a garden gnome traveling the world:

The cloak worn by Sir Alec Guinness in Star Wars has been rediscovered after nearly three decades.

After Guinness wore the garment for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi, it was returned to British costume firm Bermans.  The cloak was subsequently loaned to other films including 1999′s The Mummy, and even hired out as fancy dress.

It was identified in a stock check earlier this year and now forms part of a film memorabilia exhibition at the Harrods department store in London.

carbon-neutral technology

Environment, Technology

A company called 3PAR is promoting a new idea in computer hardware. When you buy one of their products, they automatically include carbon offsets [1] for the energy it will use. The products themselves aren’t exactly everyday consumer items, but I can see this idea catching on as manufacturers realize that green values can be a differentiator.

[thanks for the link, Adam!]

[1] Wikipedia has more info on carbon offsets. They’re controversial, but I personally think they do real good and raise awareness. If people start thinking about the amount of energy something uses as an added up-front cost, it helps make efficiency part of the buying decision.