First World War and Imperialism. Dr. Jacques Pauwels
First World War and Imperialism. Dr. Jacques Pauwels Imperialism, the worldwide expansion of capitalism, motivated by the lust for raw materials such as petroleum, markets and cheap labour, involved fierce competition among great powers such as the British Empire, czarist Russia, and the German Reich, and thus led to the Great War of 1914–1918, later […]
A ‘plague’ comes before the fall: lessons from Roman history
A ‘plague’ comes before the fall: lessons from Roman history The ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. Credit: Livioandronico2013. CC BY-SA 4.0. The Pax Romana—the 200-year “golden age” of the Roman Empire—was a marvel of diversity, connectivity, and unchallenged hegemony. By the middle of the second century AD, imperial Rome ruled territory across three different continents. […]
Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models
Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models Draft script: From Popular Mechanics comes this headline on 22 April 2024: Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models. The story begins with three bullet points: (1) While the world’s soils are home to lots of organic carbon—such as leaf litter and animal […]
Gresham’s Law Comes for Science
Gresham’s Law Comes for Science Yves here. KLG below describes how science publications have become much less reliable over time, with the proliferation of “open access” journals part of the problem. As he said via e-mail: As science has hypertrophied, the bad is supplanted the good as spurious quantification of scientific research has come to […]
Foreign Pollen Follies
Foreign Pollen Follies Autumn crop breeding update Originally, I planned to complete preliminary work on a bunch of different new crops that I began breeding seriously this year so I could write up one big article on each species, but I think progressive updates on all of them is a more useful way to show […]
A Lawless World Driven to Brink of War and Political Assassinations. “Signs of Endgame Collapse”
A Lawless World Driven to Brink of War and Political Assassinations. “Signs of Endgame Collapse” On Monday May 20th, with the UN’s International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant along with three Hamas leaders for war crimes, and President Joe Biden again repeating, “What’s happening is not genocide. We […]
Insane Footage Shows Tornado Destroying Wind Farm In Iowa
Insane Footage Shows Tornado Destroying Wind Farm In Iowa Shocking footage from Iowa this evening shows multiple tornadoes wreaking havoc on massive wind turbines. This is yet another reminder that wind is not a reliable power source. Here’s the aftermath. Two months ago, a solar farm in Texas with hundreds of acres of ground-based panels was destroyed by a hail […]
Menace on the Menu: The Financialisation of Farmland and the War on Food and Farming
Menace on the Menu: The Financialisation of Farmland and the War on Food and Farming Between 2008 and 2022, land prices nearly doubled throughout the world and tripled in Central-Eastern Europe. In the UK, an influx of investment from pension funds and private wealth contributed to a doubling of farmland prices from 2010-2015. Land prices in the US agricultural […]
The “Old Money” Secret to Wealth
The “Old Money” Secret to Wealth I believe that we’re heading for another liquidity crisis or financial crisis. That doesn’t mean it’ll happen tomorrow, but there are disturbing signs that it might not be too far off. It doesn’t mean the world’s going to end. But investors who aren’t prepared could see large portions of […]
Russia Discovers Massive Oil and Gas Reserves in British Antarctic Territory
Russia Discovers Massive Oil and Gas Reserves in British Antarctic Territory Russia’s Rosgeo uncovered oil and gas reserves in British Antarctic territory, estimated at around 511 billion barrels. The discovery poses environmental risks and challenges the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which prohibits oil developments in the region. Geopolitical tensions rise as Russia’s activities in Antarctica are […]
How Might We Undermine the PMC?
How Might We Undermine the PMC? Fourteen years ago, I wrote a very long article that became the lion’s share of Chapter Two of Keith Farnish’s book Underminers. My article was about the Tools of Disconnection — the cultural mechanisms by which we became disconnected from each other and the more-than-human world, and hence willing and able […]
The Blood-Red Sunset of the West. Strengthening of the Sino-Russian Relations
The Blood-Red Sunset of the West. Strengthening of the Sino-Russian Relations On President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping’s invitation, President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to China. It is not a formal act, but a further step in strengthening economic, political, and military relations between the two countries. China produces a third of the world’s […]
Science Snippets: Expect Extreme Weather Events
Science Snippets: Expect Extreme Weather Events Draft script: From Scientific American on 27 March 2024 comes this headline: Global Warming Is Slowing the Earth’s Rotation. Here’s the subtitle: “Drastic polar ice melt is slowing Earth’s rotation, counteracting a speedup from the planet’s liquid outer core. The upshot is that we might need to subtract a leap […]
California Governor Escalates the War on Gasoline Impacting Neighboring States
California Governor Escalates the War on Gasoline Impacting Neighboring States Prepare to pay another $1 per gallon in California with higher prices in Nevada and Arizona too. The War on Gasoline a Gift to Trump The Wall Street Journal says Gavin Newsom’s War on Gasoline Is a Gift to Donald Trump. California’s prices are the highest […]
An Empire Self-Destructs
An Empire Self-Destructs Empires are built through the creation or acquisition of wealth. The Roman Empire came about through the productivity of its people and its subsequent acquisition of wealth from those that it invaded. The Spanish Empire began with productivity and expanded through the use of its large armada of ships, looting the New […]
