Hummings of a Happy Hurkle

A friend asked recommendations for a no frills handheld GPS, for rural use rather than nivigation.

I have a Garmin GPS60. It’s simple, rugged and very accurate. It has a USB computer connection, so you can easily upload and download data to the computer.

(more…)

Those interested in solar thermal clean power might be interested in this article.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/14/solar_electric_thermal/

The raw numbers suggest it might have significant advantages over wind power in many parts of Australia, but it’s not cheap.

Based on the Cloncurry model:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloncurry_solar_power_station

To supply 10% of Australia’s power would take something like 150 sq km of
desert and cost around $25 billion. The running costs are very low — break
even in 10 years or so.

Friend of mine has started up a business installing solar photo-voltaic power systems. Here is the Web site.

http://www.solar-designs.com.au/promotion.shtml

Tell ’em a little hurkle sent you!

Australia has had 15 years of economic growth. How come?

Was it:

1. superb economic management by JH?
2. hard work and greater productivity?
3. free trade?
4. China and the commodity boom?
5. none of the above?

And of course the answer is (5). We have just been through the longest, uninterrupted period of debt-funded economic expansion of all time. The entire boom is built on a mountain of debt — the biggest ever.

(more…)

There is a non-zero possibility that, within the next 3-12 months, the international credit crunch will hit Australia. If so, the consequences could be:

For banks and other lenders:

1. They are unable to roll over their debt facilities, or the terms are much worse.
2. Some fail or are bailed out, and the entire sector becomes a disaster area.
3. Survivors cut their dividends, and share prices dive.
4. They sharply revise their lending criteria, demanding higher security and better borrowers.
5. They discount housing valuations, lending smaller amounts than previously.

The consequences for real estate would be:

1. Purchasers would need to be highly creditworthy. Many would be refused.
2. Purchasers would have to put up a minimum of 20% cash deposit, with no second mortgages or mortgage insurance.
3. In combination with discounted valuations, purchasers would find difficulty in borrowing more than 60-70% at current valuations.

And the final result:

1. A sharp correction in the housing market, of at least 20%.
2. A lot of foreclosures and bankruptcies.
3. A lot of wealth evaporated into thin air.

Anyone affected by that scenario?

For a long time the US constitution was interpreted to ensure a right to ingest whatever you like. Nixon was the first to be explicit about banning drugs: the “War on Drugs”.

Interestingly, many US states actually sell tax stamps with specific tax rates for all kinds of illegal drugs. If you sell drugs on which you haven’t paid the tax, you may get a criminal charge but on top of that you get done for tax evasion. They lock you up and they take all your money.

More info here:
http://www.drugstamps.com/
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6670

If you try to buy the stamps, you have a different kind of problem…

There is a widespread and deep assumption that domestic violence means men beating up women. The reality is that violence by women against men is about as common as the other way around. And although men may do more physical damage, the system is more likely to punish men than women, no matter who was the perpetrator.

(more…)

Have you ever seen an Iridium flare? It’s amazing how many people have never even heard of them, but they are amongst the easiest and most impressive man-made celestial phenomena. And anyone can see them with the information on this site.

http://www.heavens-above.com/

(more…)

Have we been conned about cholesterol?
by MALCOLM KENDRICK

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_articl
e_id=430682&in_page_id=1774&in_page_id=1774&expand=true

A leading researcher at Harvard Medical School has found that women don’t benefit from taking statins at all, nor do men over 69 who haven’t already had a heart attack.

(more…)

Just to emphasise the point that much of the world is undernourished, I ran
across this article.

http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=172&a=5326

There are lots of factors, but capitalism, unsustainable agriculture, droughts,
energy shortages and ethanol production are all contributors. Global warming
is probably not an important factor so far.

This is one of the reasons I worry less about climate change in 50 years, when
half the world could be starving in less than 20.