Tuesday, October 31, 2017

some interesting results from basic income test in Finland

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/31/finland-universal-basic-income

"So what accounted for his change? Certainly not the UBI money. In Finland, €560 is less than a fifth of average private-sector income. 'You have to be a magician to survive on such money,' Järvinen says. Over and over, he baldly describes himself as 'poor'.
His liberation came in the lack of conditions attached to the money. If they so wish, Finns on UBI can bank the cash and do nothing else. But, in Järvinen’s case at least, the sum has removed the fear of utter destitution, freeing him to do work he finds meaningful.
It sounds simple. It is simple. But to this visitor from Austerity Britain, with its inglorious panoply of welfare scandals stretching from universal credit to Concentrix to Atos, it was almost fantastical."

I think this is a 2 year experiment. I'm looking forward to other interesting results.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

rice that grows in salt water; huge breakthrough

https://nextshark.com/china-invents-rice-can-grow-salt-water-can-feed-200-million-people/

"Researchers initially expected an output of around 4.5 tons per hectare, but surprised themselves when four types registered 6.5 to 9.3 tons per hectare."

not much information but lots of photos. Hopefully this will lead to a new source of food. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

How to fix income inequality in the US? Math has the answer

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwge9a/math-suggests-inequality-can-be-fixed-with-wealth-redistribution-not-tax-cuts

"According to a new report published today by the New England Complex Systems Institute, mathematics can indeed be used to find a solution to income inequality. And as it turns out, the math points to targeted programs that redistribute wealth to the poor as the way to close the inequality gap and improve the health of the economy as a whole.
'We need a very measured, but definite shift in direction that will address the economic problems and also address economic inequality problems,' Yaneer Bar-Yam, a physicist and the founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute, told me. 'We went too far with Reaganomics and now we have to go back in order to have healthy economic growth.'"

Another point for universal basic income?

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

the green way to slow global warming

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/17/regreening-the-planet-could-cut-as-much-carbon-as-halting-oil-use-report

"Natural climate solutions, also including protection of carbon-storing peatlands and better management of soils and grasslands, could account for 37% of all actions needed by 2030 under the 195-nation Paris plan, it said.
Combined, the suggested 'regreening of the planet' would be equivalent to halting all burning of oil worldwide, it said.
'Better stewardship of the land could have a bigger role in fighting climate change than previously thought,' the international team of scientists said of findings published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The estimates for nature’s potential, led by planting forests, were up to 30% higher than those envisaged by a UN panel of climate scientists in a 2014 report, it said"

Saturday, October 14, 2017

shipping container tiny homes delivered to your... er... door

https://www.modsinternational.com/faqs/

Yes, you’ve heard right, we now offer tiny homes on the Amazon marketplace. To be realistic, it’s not like shipping a TV set or a toaster. Some planning is involved and these units require site preparation. They should be placed on either a full slab, a frost wall or sonotube foundation. There is one connection on the bottom for the sewer (we’ll show you where it needs to be located) and one simple plug and play side connection for water and electric. You can add internet too. These basic living units are fully furnished.
Contact us with any questions you may have about our tiny homes, larger custom homes, restaurants, shops or portable trade show displays.
MODS units can also be used for military bases, man camps, equipment storage, data-centers, you name it, we can build it.
Read more about this interesting trending topic at Curbed: https://www.curbed.com/2017/10/5/16432426/shipping-container-house-amazon-for-sale

Monday, October 2, 2017

Cities ignore housing needs of the lower classes

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/02/rise-of-the-yimbys-angry-millennials-radical-housing-solution

"The birthplace of the yimby movement, the San Francisco Bay Area, has among the highest rents in America. It added 307,000 jobs between 2010 and 2013, but built fewer than 40,000 new housing units, according to state of California estimates.
'It’s clear that this is a housing shortage – and the answer is to build housing,' says Laura Foote Clark, who heads San Francisco-based Yimby Action. 'You generate policy by yelling about things.'
Clark and other members of yimby groups consider themselves progressives and environmentalists, but they’re not afraid to throw the occasional firebomb into the usual liberal alliances. They frequently take aim at space-hogging, single-family homeowners and confound anti-capitalist groups by daring to take the side of developers, even luxury condo developers. They have started a 'sue the suburbs' campaign that targets cities that don’t approve big housing projects and have even attempted to take over the board of the local Sierra Club."

Cities need to keep all their citizens in mind during planning, not just the wealthy.