February 27, 2008

BC brings in revenue-neutral carbon tax

The revenue-neutral carbon tax: an idea whose time has come? The British Columbia government has just introduced a carbon tax, starting at $10/tonne in July 2008 and rising to $30/tonne in 2012. All revenues from the tax (close to $2 billion over three years) will be returned to taxpayers in the form of income tax cuts, reducing income and corporate taxes to the lowest levels in Canada. Details from the BC budget. Globe and Mail. [more inside]
posted by russilwvong at 10:36 PM PST - 27 comments

"Cause E's Got It All Covered"

Whew--just squeaked this post in for Black History Month. Vintage YouTubery of Richard Pryor, Jackie Robinson, Bill Cosby, and James Earl Jones, each reciting The Alphabet on Sesame Street. And then Patti LaBelle blows 'em all away with a Gospel Rendition.
posted by Kibbutz at 9:01 PM PST - 24 comments

Welcome To [insert your name here]Land!

How To Start Your Own Country In Four Easy Steps. You’ve picked out a flag, written a national anthem, even printed up money with your face on it. But what’s the next step?
posted by amyms at 8:00 PM PST - 33 comments

Do you really care about the starving children of Africa.

Development porn and Humanitarian badges. A moment of Truth
posted by Student of Man at 6:24 PM PST - 56 comments

Is your daddy the Black President?

State of the Black Union I came across a clip from this year's event and thought it was worth sharing. Dick Gregory via crooksandliars.com
posted by nola at 5:40 PM PST - 17 comments

It's The Ones Who've Cracked That The Light Shines Through

Jeffrey Lewis brings you The Complete History of Punk Rock and Its Development on the Lower East Side (1950-1975) in eight and a half minutes. [more inside]
posted by StopMakingSense at 4:50 PM PST - 24 comments

Very cool camouflage photographs

Desiree Palmen makes some really neat camouflage photographs. via
posted by cerebus19 at 4:39 PM PST - 14 comments

Negotiation stories

Do you have a good negotiating story? Tell us about it. 37signals asks for, and gets, some interesting stories.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:30 PM PST - 20 comments

He's gone Yoinz.

"With a voice beyond imitation -- a falsetto so shrill it could pierce even the din of a touchdown celebration -- Cope was a man of many words, some not in any dictionary." RIP Myron. Double Yoi!
posted by tatnasty at 4:06 PM PST - 11 comments

going forward with the "true eye of a lynx" to study the very anatomy of nature

"While we are generally horrified by monstrosities in the case of human beings, we love them in fruit" - Giovanni Battista Ferrari (naturalist, "discoverer" of the blood orange and the cure for scurvy). Illustrations in Ferrari's book Hesperides sive de Malorum Aureorum cultura (1646) are based on close collaboration with Cassiano dal Pozzo and his Paper Museum, called one man's project to "commission drawings of all known antiquities, and to attempt to systematically categorize this vast repertory of visual images." [more inside]
posted by jessamyn at 2:53 PM PST - 12 comments

lil komsomol playkit

Ready, kids! Unsatisfied with your kids slow adoption of very important homeland security adjustments? Buy them the Playmobil Security Check Point! How does this stack up against increased TSA checks of toys?
posted by yonation at 12:22 PM PST - 48 comments

Excuse me, I think my forearm is ringing.

The ultimate in nerdy tattoos? "Jim Mielke's wireless blood-fueled display is a true merging of technology and body art. At the recent Greener Gadgets Design Competition, the engineer demonstrated a subcutaneously implanted touch-screen that operates as a cell phone display, with the potential for 3G video calls that are visible just underneath the skin."
posted by tugena13 at 12:08 PM PST - 65 comments

30 day sex (or no sex) challenge

A church in Tampa, FL has issued a 30-day sex challenge: If you're married, have sex every day (PDF of daily workbook). If you're not married, don't have sex at all (PDF of daily workbook). There's a blog, there's a billboard, there's a lot of press. [more inside]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:59 AM PST - 217 comments

Ideas in the Air

To The Best Of Our Knowledge is one of the most wide-ranging and literate public radio shows in the US, a two-hour "radio salon" featuring leisurely exploration of weekly themes like No Smoking, Identity Crisis, Weekend, and The Mind, Music, and Math. Host Jim Fleming approaches these big ideas through the works of authors - journalists of all stripes, memoirists, poets, fiction writers, essayists. Five years' worth of shows are available on audio archives; you can also search the impressive list of authors by name, or subscribe to the podcast. [more inside]
posted by Miko at 9:13 AM PST - 17 comments

RIP William F. Buckley, Jr.

RIP William F. Buckley, Jr. Like him or hate him, agree or disagree, there's no doubt that he was articulate, entertaining, and influential.
posted by Class Goat at 8:36 AM PST - 228 comments

Where Can an Old Junky Get Some Good Balls These Days?

Suddenly a warm flood pulsed through his veins and broke in his head like a thousand golden speedballs. William S. Burrough's A Junky's Christmas. Warning: The color scheme will make you turn to heroin to stop the pain. [more inside]
posted by John of Michigan at 8:22 AM PST - 9 comments

Physics milestones of the past 50 years

Physical Review Letters' 50th anniversary retrospective promises to be an interesting survey of the physics landscape for the past half-century.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:28 AM PST - 6 comments

The shot not heard around the world.

Did you know that two weeks ago - last Valentine's Day - a pact was signed in Texas allowing cross-border military activity between Canada and the US? I'd supply more links but there's not much out there.
posted by stinkycheese at 7:22 AM PST - 56 comments

Water, water, anywhere?

We're making another effort to find water on the moon. Beginning in 1964 with the Ranger spacecraft, we've been lobbing things at poor old Luna. Lately we've been trying to find water there so that future explorers don't have to haul the stuff up the gravity well from Earth. [more inside]
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 6:25 AM PST - 25 comments

Gettysburg in Lego

The Battle of Gettysburg in Lego, done by 7th Graders: Day 1; Day 2; Day 3. [youtube links] Lots of blood and flying bodies. Complete with Matrix references. Soundtrack by The Eagles, Queen, and Richard Strauss. [via]
posted by marxchivist at 6:02 AM PST - 23 comments

Building big buildings. And knocking others down.

The new terminal at Beijing airport is big. No, wait, I mean it's REALLY BIG. That is, REALLY FUCKING BIG. And there's plenty of other massive construction projects underway in Beijing, many designed by European architects. Like they say, though, if you wanna make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs. And well, they seem to be doing a better job of that than these guys. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:59 AM PST - 56 comments

Article from BBC News about Quake in the UK

Earthquake? [more inside]
posted by bobbyone at 4:15 AM PST - 44 comments

The Sublime, Nihilistic Elegance of Assquatch Art

Coilhouse brings us "Assquatch Art," which they describe as "a rustic art form." Strangely, this is probably SFW.
posted by cgc373 at 1:59 AM PST - 11 comments

Righting the FAIL boat.

The Cougar Ace [previously] became an instant Internet meme when she nearly capsized while shifting ballast near Adak, Alaska. Not enough told is the story of righting her, which required incredible bravery and, sadly, the loss of one human life.
posted by pjern at 1:00 AM PST - 20 comments

when they pry it from my cold, dead hands

Net Neutrality Update: Comcast admits to paying people to stack the room in their favor at a public hearing with FCC commissioners in Boston. Via savetheinternet. Previously.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:34 AM PST - 20 comments

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