Author Archives: alan

What might NuScale’s cancellation mean for Ghana and other nuclear aspirants?

Source: What might NuScale’s cancellation mean for Ghana and other nuclear aspirants?

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John Clauser won a Nobel Prize. Then he started denying climate change. – The Washington Post

Source: John Clauser won a Nobel Prize. Then he started denying climate change. – The Washington Post

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Can Solar and Wind Suffice? 

This update of David MacKay’s numbers suggests that it may be possible to eliminate CO2 emissions (at least in the UK) without relying on an extended period of nuclear power use. But on the other side of the coin we have … Continue reading

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Secularism in Iran 

I agree that Secularism in Iran is not just a form of Western ‘imperialism’, but was surprised to see no mention in that Aeon Essay of what I would consider to be the indigenous Iranian analogues (and precursors!) of “Western” … Continue reading

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Those Damned Chinese!

When we get tired of complaining about their coal-fired electric plants we can always turn to the fact that China’s Spending on Green Energy Is Causing a Global Glut – WSJ

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Misunderstanding Concentration of Wealth

In How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Fame, the editors of The Economist  (of all people!) display a complete misunderstanding of the economics of wealth concentration. In particular, they allege that “. . the famous folk complaining the loudest about the new … Continue reading

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What is a ‘fair’ carbon-price approach?

The principle of a universal Carbon tax should never have been violated and any weakening of its application invites others to follow. The debacle caused by the Liberal government’s bizarre introduction of a partial exemption could have easily been avoided … Continue reading

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A Nasty Thought

I don’t know whether or not AOC really accused the US of testing chemical weapons for Israel, or whether such an accusation would be anti-semitic, or whether or not it’s true. But it did occur to me that when dealing … Continue reading

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Anti-Jewish Bias in University Culture?

The claim in this recent Globe&Mail article that “EDI administrators do not categorize Jews as a racialized minority” does need to be investigated. And if it’s true, then that situation should be corrected. And if “a deeply engrained culture of … Continue reading

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Where’s the line?

The extent to which lab-grown models of embryos increasingly resemble the real thing confirms my expectation that we’ll eventually discover how any human cell has the potential for becoming, with the appropriate stimulus and environment, first a stem cell, then a … Continue reading

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The Economist

Source: The Economist

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Perspective on Moving

A Quora question asks: From your own perspective, frame of reference, if you are not accelerating, are you not moving at all? Perhaps the reason people find this difficult to grasp is because of the ambiguous and unnecessary words “at … Continue reading

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SuperMisleading Graph

I’ve got nothing against home schooling and in fact seriously considered it for our own children, but the Washington Post is presenting what may be good news in a very misleading manner. Source: How many kids are homeschooled in the … Continue reading

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Another Silly “Pro-Life” Question

Source: (1000) Alan Cooper’s answer to Those of you who are “pro-choice” when it comes to abortion: Are you also pro-choice when it comes to allowing pro-life people to vote their conscience at the ballot box? – Quora I was … Continue reading

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The Honest(?) Broker

Roger Pielke Jr. belies his blog title with his claim in this recent post that the IPCC has concluded that connections of carbon dioxide emissions and most types of extreme weather are “in a state of high uncertainty, doubt, or incompleteness.” The … Continue reading

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Cleverly Dishonest Reporting

I was going to upvote this, but then I read the actual statement from Marit Stiles (which was posted but cleverly NOT read out in the video) and it turns out that there is nothing in it that expresses any … Continue reading

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The Inequity that Matters is not Income but Wealth 

In the Oct 20 issue of The Economist, global business correspondent Tom Lee-Devlin wonders at ‘The eye-watering pay of American bosses‘, but it’s not the disproportionately high compensation of some workers (whether they be CEOs, actors, or athletes) that bothers … Continue reading

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 Canadian Publishers’ “Shamelessly Orwellian” Claims Exposed

It’s good to find that Andrew Coyne has been paying attention to my rants at the screen (and whoever else is in the room) whenever this issue comes up in the news. The stupid claims underlying Bill C-18 are indeed … Continue reading

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There IS a ‘Market Solution’

…but it’s not ‘Cap&Trade’ or any other kind of payment for ‘Carbon Offsets’. Source: Carbon offsets don’t work, and that’s not news | Climate & Capitalism The only real way to stop CO2 emissions (or any other environmental damage) is … Continue reading

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Mathematical Darwinism and Automatic Proof Systems

I applaud and encourage anyone who is interested in entering the field of mathematical biology, and in particular the mathematically rigorous formulation and elaboration of Darwin’s ideas about evolving populations. But I am more sanguine about the prospects for using … Continue reading

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