Evil Religion, MegaTsunamis, Peak Oil
Religion is Evil
“CrossNational Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies,” Journal of Religion and Society creighton
.. higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion ..
.. highly religious societies can be dysfunctional, whereas by comparison secular societies in which evolution is largely accepted display real social cohesion and societal well-being.
Nov. 4, 2006
The past two decades have seen a “substantial” and unexplained decrease in ..testosterone levels.. levels dropped by 1 percent a year..1,532 men from the greater Boston area..
Mega Tsunamis in the Holocene
nytimes
Holocene Impact Working Group..
..the chevron deposits contain deep ocean microfossils that are fused with a medley of metals typically formed by cosmic impacts. And all of them point toward the middle of the Indian Ocean where a newly discovered crater, 18 miles in diameter, lies 12,500 feet below the surface.
The explanation is obvious to some scientists. A large asteroid or comet, the kind that could kill a quarter of the world’s population, smashed into the Indian Ocean 4,800 years ago, producing a tsunami at least 600 feet high
energybulletin
12 Nov 2006 by Energy Bulletin. Archived on 13 Nov 2006.
Peak oil on the agenda: Notes from the Australian Institute of Energy annual forum
Chatter about energy in Australia.. nattering about 4 cylinder imported cars vs 6-8 cylinder locally made behemoths.
Car companies losing money may be the 'driving force' for change.
But so called "small" cars are absurdly greedy:
Consider the Nissan 'small car' Tiida 93kW 174Nm torque 7.6 litres/100km 1100kg
is still way too fat.
(note the Nissan page has a big lineup of much bigger vehicles)
We need 30kW 30kph 300kg cars, and we need city & suburban streets clear of giant trucks and busses so people can drive small cars in confidence.
Distant commuters can use bus lanes. George Monbiot likes bus lanes, I like rail, but our fractal dead-end suburbs will never see total rail. We need total information instead. A range of micro-electric u-drive hire cars to bus depots. If your cellphone has a constant display of accurate bus-departures the agony of waiting at a bus stop will be eliminated.
Make buses and bus-stops pleasant to the point of luxurious. It will be a net saving. The busses must stay in their special lanes, and not venture onto the 300kg/30kph roads
A range of 2 to 10 seater taxi-cabs with cell-phone negotiated pickups and routing can fill the gaps.
There is a potential conflict between the 8-10 passenger taxi-vans and the micro-cars. 10 seaters are common now in dense or poor situations, from Hong-King to Soweto. Restrictions on torque and maximum speed can make them compatible with micro cars.
Maybe they can speed-up on the freeway.
Every vehicle off the freeway limited to 30kph. Even Ambulances and firetrucks. If you dont like that, then lets go fort Hydrogen blimps. OK, hydrogen may not be appropriate for fire scenes....
30kW may be too much, particularly if electric motors give high torque. Acceleration is energy. We need slow traffic and slow starts.
It sounds shocking to a generation that has seen its fathers earn the respect of their family and peers by piloting their broods in flash cars.
My Grandfather had the first car in his village, Woodville. So my great-grandfather had none. Its not a centuries-old tradition, its a recent and toxic tide.
The entire village of Woodville used to go on picnics on a special train. Photos of a hundred or more folk on a river bank look like heaps of fun.
My non-Australian life is spent in places where no motors go. In the evening one can her the hiss of thongs on the path.
Evil Religion, MegaTsunamis, Peak Oil
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