Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

I particularly appreciated the observation that the construction of new cars has an environmental impact...

I drive an old Ford Explorer. I obtained it because it was the most economical vehicle for me at the time due to a complex set of circumstances. I continue to drive it because it is comfortable and reliable after nearly 10 years on the road (although my understanding is that they don't make 'em like they used to).

In the past I've had several green leaning friends complain about it, particularly at the height of the anti-SUV backlash in 2002... before the Iraq war diverted everyone's attention away from, er, domestic issues. It always used to piss me off. I didn't buy the car because I wanted to run down poor people in the street, as Jello Biafra once suggested in a rant, and I never understood how the extreme and unnecessary expense associated with replacing it would help the environment, particularly if I resold it rather than having it turned into scrap metal. My friends were literally suggesting that I drop tens of thousands of dollars in a gesture that would largely be symbolic... on a more fashionable car which appears to be helping the environment but actually isn't. Talk about liberal bullshit.

Now, were I in the market for a new car might I consider a hybrid? Certainly. I drove a Prius recently and enjoyed it. I think Acidus's new car is very cool. There is something about early adopting and using a more efficient technology that appeals to me beyond any interest in protecting the environment. But buy a brand new car when I don't need to, simply for the sake of keeping up with some fad? Fuck that!

If you've got ten thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket and you want to spend it protecting the environment there are much better ways to spend your money.

Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

Now you can see what gas prices are around the country at a glance. Areas are color coded according to their price for the average price for regular unleaded gasoline.

USA National Gas Temperature Map

A career civil servant who had worked for six prime ministers from Mackenzie King to Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Cross watched anxiously from Parliament Hill as the drama unfolded. Wondering whether "this still could be Canada," he waited while Mr. Trudeau consulted his advisers.

"Canadians might've been accustomed to uniforms and arms during wartime, but to have them appear in peacetime gave one an uneasy feeling," Mr. Cross said decades later.

The Globe and Mail ran an obit on my Grandfather friday.

globeandmail.com: Ottawa insider was at the centre of the October Crisis of 1970

I find this very sad news.

Rattle wrote:

In the Valley's coffee community, Bill McCauley was regarded as a pleasant, popular fellow.

As well as in the Silicon Valley tech community. Several people here at MemeStreams worked for Bill back in 2000-2001.

I think Bill was more lonely then he ever let on..

I agree.

RE: R.I.P. Bill McCauley

New Nine Inch Nails album - and it's 100% free

nine inch nails: the slip

Pro-Hillary group engages in campaign to suppress black vote in NC primary. Just in case you were wondering whether Democrats also engage in this kind of activity. Listen to the voicemail.

Washington, D.C., Group Accused of High-Tech Dirty Tricks to Suppress Black Vote | Threat Level from Wired.com

lonew0lf wrote:
So today while speaking with one of my house-mates who mentioned that polar bears are becoming at risk of extinction, she made a plea that they were so cute.

Hilarious!

RE: Mother fucking bears!

The jury appears to have spoken, and clearly the consensus is that Vile should stay. If you don't agree with this consensus this is clearly a time when you should speak up, at least privately.

I did not understand, when I read Gavin's post on my cellphone, that Vile's message to him was a response to Gavin's earlier public question about Vile. I had sent Gavin a message in response to that earlier public question advising him that he shouldn't have made it public (IE don't feed the troll). Vile had a right to respond, having been called out publicly. The fact that Vile's sentiment (that this should have been a private message) echoed my own was probably the reason that Gavin thought that he might not be joking about having been "deputized" by me.

Having said that, I strongly object to those who have accused me of censorship. Vile's action in this instance was not merely expressive. I cannot have people fraudulently claiming to be an authority on this site and asking people to stop posting. That is itself an act of censorship, and its something that we cannot tolerate.

Furthermore, Vile's actions, in general, are not merely expressive. Gavin's message is not the first time that someone has told me that they feel like they have to leave MemeStreams, or that they cannot tell other people to join MemeStreams, because they feel like they are being targeted and harassed by Vile, or they feel like other people would be targeted and harassed by Vile. There is a difference between merely expressing your perspective, and harassing people with the intent of driving them away. What Vile is doing is the later, and it has hurt this community.

The reason that I haven't responded in the past is largely because I haven't had the technological capability to do so. In the past it was easier to generate accounts with full posting rights than it was to delete them. Due to the need to control SPAM, that is no longer the case. We have the capacity to prevent unwanted people from participating, but we do have to delete accounts in order to make that happen.

Could we develop an alternative technology? If we generated a "demerit" system what would the consequence be of accumulating demerits? Who would have the right to issue them? By what process?

Should I create some sort of icon that gets displayed everywhere Vile goes on the site? Something which denotes that "the administrators have determined that this person is a jackass and should be ignored?" There is some value in that idea, as new users who have no reputation can still send messages to threads and memeboxes. Ultimately we need some way to control that or it will turn into MySpace. Our system could differentiate between messages from trusted users versus new untrusted users visually more readily than we could determine with certainty that a new user was a spammer. What sort of visual representation would clearly communicate that? Maybe the color of a user's name should indicate their global reputation?

All of this is an interesting academic exercise, and I'd like feedback on it, but writing code takes time. If Vile becomes a problem that I have to respond to, I'll have to do it with the tools that I have at the time that I have to respond, rather than simply imagining a time in the future when I might have other tools at my disposal that would allow a more just response. Right now the tool that I have involves deleting accounts. I'm willing to use that tool if I have to. I will only do so against established users with the consent of the community.

RE: what?

unmanaged wrote:

For the record. I am the head of the deportment enforcement department of Industrial Memetics, www.memestreams.com chapter. I am similar to a pinkerton for the information superhighway, by trade. I am here to uphold the memestreams community. Your post lacked content. That's the sort of thing you send an email over. You posted a derogatory comment about me in this post. That is one demerit. Keep it up and you will be asked to take a break from your posting with us. Ask Tom and Nick if you have any worthwhile questions.

Tom,

I have to say what the hell is this guy talking about...? (Vile?)
And if this is true please delete my account and and the posts that go along with it. I like the memestreams design and concept but this is total bull if true and I really dont want to feel as if I wasting my time...

Gavin

Of course its not true. I will wipe his account and everything that he has ever posted as soon as I get real internet access. Unfortunately I am on the road right now and I'm posting this from my cellphone. It will probably be 24 hours before I am able to do this. Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately this is not the last we'll be hearing from this person.

RE: what?

So the Bum Bot finally made it on the colbert report. Its good stuff. Check it out.

The Bum Bot on Colbert Report