Be Green or Be Sustainable?

This is very interesting. The EU, bless their enlightened hearts, are considering passing a law that would ensure that 10% of transport fuel should come by biofuel by the year 2020.

Sounds good. The resistance came from an unexpected side: Environmental activists and sustainability-minded organizations. They're thinking about the bigger picture, and I for one am impressed.

The claim: While biofuel is great, it has to come from someplace. More demand for biofuels means somebody will have to grow more corn (or soy, or what not), and that has social, economic, and environmental reprecussions, some of which can be negative. So, ironically, increasing the demand for biofuel without making sure that producers don't start planting it where other carbon-eliminating vegetation was can cause a net worsening of the situation, rather than an improvement.

At least, that's what the EU Observer says that Friends of the Earth and others are saying (which means that, by the time You're reading this here, it's pretty much a third-hand account).

Still, I'm impressed with the complexity of these questions, and really glad that some people out there are thinking about the big picture.

Morning games

Morning. Woke up after a night filled with strange, unpleasant dreams.

Hanging out in bed, letting my mind wonder. I become aware of the fact that I'm grimacing - scrounging up my face and biting down on my own teeth. Tension. The grey morning light is bright in my room, and maybe that's why I'm narrowing my eyes. But why the teeth?

I breathe and relax my face, lie back again, arms crossed behind my head, letting my mind wander. After a moment, I become aware of the fact that the big toes of my two feet are hooked together, holding on to one another. Tension. I breathe and relax my toes, my calves, my legs. They relax, but I can feel the internal protest. They want to be tense now.

This continues for a while: I'm lying in bed, letting my mind go where it may, and then become aware of the tension that creeped into my body, and relax it. My own version of playing hide-and-seek with myself. :-) And perhaps a friendly reminder from my body that there's just a little bit too much going on at once right now.

Actively procrastinating

These are two bizarre, amazing pieces.

 

Microsoft's online Santa started talking about oral sex.

 

A British guy invented a drug, and then got a bunch of celebrities and politicians to lecture the public about its dangers, including saying "This is a made up drug!"

 

Hysterical. Oh, I love procrastinating. :-)

Scrabulous under attack from the original Scrabble people

This is very, very interesting: The company that created the original Scrabble board game is going after the people who created Scrabulous , the Facebook application that LOTS of people like to play, and that rakes in a fair (although not mind-boggling) amount of money in advertisements.

 

As usual, my favorite part is the discussion that follows the news (the comments get good around #20 or so). Some people say that the company should just buy out Scrabulous, some say they should be grateful (since perhaps it's making Scrabble more popular), some are saying that intellectual property is not to be ignored (even on the Web) and that the Scrabble people are totally in the right.

Promising weight-loss drug

So, it looks like taranabant (sounds like a dinosaur's name, no?) is really doing well in FDA tests. People are less hungry, losing weight, increasing metabolism...

 

Makes me wonder. Let's pretend for a second that there are no downsides whatsoever - does it then seem appropriate to regulate our appetite by using medication? Is that different from regulating our appetite by using foods mindfully, eating complex carbohydrates at certain times of the day, etc.?

Cocaine blocker

People working on an antagonist to the active ingredient of cocaine, which would block the "high" that results from use - same idea as the "alcohol blocker" (disulfiram).

Of course, people would still have to take the drug in advance...

Incidentally, a list of various "blockers" and other interesting drug treatment facts can be found here.

Happy 2008! :-)

Signed and dated my first "08" today (at Safeway, of all places).

 

I remember that switching to the new year (when writing letters, or signing things, etc.) used to be harder in previous years. I'd still be writing the last year a few months into the new one, and would constantly get confused.

 

It's easier now. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I accidentally signed something "08" even before the year was out. I don't think this ever happened before.

 

I can think of two reasons for why the switching is getting easier:

 

1) I have more practice at switching years.

2) I'm living in the future more.

 

Can't really tell. But hey, whatever the reason:

 

Have a happy 2008. :-)