Shrubs & Sunset

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Makes Sense To Me!

In the June 2012 issue of Harper’s mag, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a bit about a shift (return?) towards near-worship by humans of other animal species.

I’ve been fumbling around for a few years thinking about possible sources of humans’ tendency to create myths and shape parallel realities that influence their primary lives.

The connection between animals and religiosity may predate fully evolved Homo sapiens. Why do humans tend to imagine that there are gods at all? According to recent research in cognitive science, there was a survival advantage in believing that every stirring in the tall grass might be a leopard closing in for an attack. These cognitive scientists believe that the human brain has what they call a “hyperactive agency detection device.” We see faces in clouds, hear denunciations in thunder, and sense transcendent beings all around us because we evolved on a densely occupied by other “agents”— that could destroy us with the slash of claw, arbitrarily and in seconds.

The question I now face, as an atheist, is this: Am I setting myself up to be blissfully unaware of the potential arbitrary slashings of claws? Can one be aware of one’s environment, be pessimistic and slightly fearful and be cautious without the employ of supernatural stories and myths?

Perhaps I should consult a priest?

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Road & Bridge Seeks New Customers

Apparently Johnson County Road and Bridge was underperforming and they’re seeking new customers.

JC Road & Bridge

This brand new sign is the first phase of the innovative R&B marketing project. “We’re gonna attract new customers from far and wide,” said nobody I interviewed on Wednesday.

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Renewable Subsidies Got Nuthin’ On Fossils

wyoming map with hypodermic needles

Mad Gimposhopping skillz

I don’t even know how to keep my head turned on straight after reading shit like this. It just blows my mind. Not much shocks me anymore. But this depth to which we’ve gone really … uhm … shocks me.

Read this pdf:

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/EPW_Act_Section_by_Section.pdf

Or just go here and read all kinds of good headache inducing stuff.

And be sure to stop by WyoFile to read how Supreme Court decisions 100 years ago, and legislation almost as old, effected/enabled Wyoming’s economic addiction (my phrase) on fossil fuels.

Posted in Climate, Life, Politics | Leave a comment

Efficiency

Does efficiency cause price increases? I’m thinking about industry level efficiencies. Super efficient cow udders, ultra-high per acre crop yields and child educating processes, for example.

Do these sorts of efficiencies have optimum levels beyond which we see diminishing returns and, perhaps, parallel unintended consequences that negate advantages gained by incresed efficiencies?

Milk production has gotten more efficient within individual animal units; pounds of milk coming out of X pounds of corn has gone up on average. Tons of corn produced on an acre of dirt has gone up on average. Acres worked per farmer has increased on average. So if you measure only these fairly significant increases in “efficiencies”, why do I pay nearly $5 for a gallon of milk and the farmers are still poor.

Because the so called efficiencies must have hidden unintended consequences. Right? Most likely there are undiscussed shifts in costs, deceiving us into thinking we’re seeing increased efficiencies when we are actually absorbing the cost somewhere else.

I think so.

Can you think of examples?

How about this blog entry? Using a very small (handheld, even!) device I was able to write most of the post before getting out of bed! So many entries per hour! Yay! I can even write on the crapper. But that just shifts the cost to the reader, doesn’t it?

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Parking Bad

To Hell With Yellow Lines. Apparently.

“I’m from Washakie County. I don’t need to park inside the lines.”

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What’s Harder?

I was looking through my uncle’s photos on blipfoto.com and really liked this one he called “sticker talk“. I have a small collection of bumper stickers myself. Love ‘em!

bumper stickers

Richard's Blipfoto called Sticker Talk

One caught my attention and made me wonder, what is more difficult, getting a building a permit or getting welfare? If getting welfare is actually easier, isn’t that really how it should be? Shouldn’t we make sure all are well before building more shitty buildings that will be pieces of ugly falling-apart crap 8 years from now anyway? Don’t we have enough buildings? I know, for indeedy-do fact, that there are more empty, for sale, for rent, houses in my community than there are homeless people.

Quit making buildings already. Let’s just make sure everyone has a meal today, whether you think they deserve it or not.

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Spring Snow 2012

Here’s a new one for my series of spring snow shots. Half the apple blossoms in the back yard were blown off yesterday. Maybe this snow will destroy the remainder.

Spring Snow on Bennett Street

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