Crazy Eddie's Motie News: More meditations on #sustainability

I'm going to take some liberties with the above classification. Since there are scientific and technological developments that improve sustainability that aren't directly environmental but which don't belong under economy or society, I'm going to replace the "environmental" category with a science and technology category. After all, some versions of the above diagram of sustainability use "ecologic" instead of environmental, and ecology is a science. Now, I'll just have to create my own version of that diagram with science instead of environment.

This completes this installment of meditations on sustainability.

For the sustainability news that followed that introduction, read Last week's sustainability news from Michigan's research universities plus bonus medititation on sustainability on Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Crazy Eddie's Motie News: #GrandRapids TV before and after on the fall in oil prices #peakoil

Consider this to be a follow-up to oil prices dropping 10 percent. All stories from WOOD-TV's YouTube channel.

First, the stories before the drop in oil prices last week.

Gasoline averaged around $4.29 per gallon in West Michigan on Tuesday night, but there are several ways to avoid paying the wholesale price.

( See if you notice any theme tying the rest of these videos to high gas prices. )

Now, the videos after the price dropped.

Patrick DeHaan of gasbuddy.com told 24 Hour News 8 it appears prices have peaked for the foreseeable future.

( And how has the price drop affected people's outlook about the economy? )

Above originally posted to Crazy Eddie's Motie News as Grand Rapids Sustainability Video spam courtesty of WOOD-TV.

The New York Times explains how to completely avoid the real problems of #suburbia #sustainability

Suburbia: What a Concept
By ALLISON ARIEFF

There is no more iconic suburb than Levittown, the postwar planned community built by the developer William Levitt in the late 1940s, so it is understandable that in launching Open House, a collaborative project to imagine a “future suburbia,” the Dutch design collective Droog in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro architects would make it the focus of their inquiry.

"Future Suburbia"--now, that looks promising, especially if it can solve the issues facing a car-centered way of living during a time when being car-centered is likely to be more of a liability than an asset. It would be nice if the designers came up with something that actually solved some of the real problems with suburban living during a time of resource shortage and economic contraction that was more uplifting than Kunstler's dismal vision of them being "the slums of the future" with "two or more families living in a McMansion" and "crops growing where the front lawn used to be." Unfortunately, they didn't.

But in approaching a real place as a perfect blank canvas on which to execute distinctly urban interventions, the Open House project conveniently excused itself from substantively engaging with the real issues facing suburbia’s future. Which is a pity. Because it would have been interesting to see what they’d come up with if they had.

What a wasted opportunity!

[T]he suburban existence is as exotic to them as say, Dubai, the site of Droog Lab’s first project where, says co-founder Renny Ramakers, they’d made a deliberate decision not to explore it as “a spending society — people felt we weren’t being critical enough; they couldn’t understand why. In this project I don’t want to be critical, I want to look for inspiration because in every part of the world, people are creating their own society, their own community.”

But that’s not really valid. Can we discuss the future of suburbia (or the future of anything, really) without being critical? Without talking about developing accessible transit or increasing walkability (and community) through mixed-use development, for example? This alas, is not uncommon. Addressing suburban ills requires massive change to systems, to finance, to transportation and infrastructure, and perhaps most challenging, to a culture deeply wedded to suburbia as emblematic of the American Dream.

( Ms. Arieff shows that she has a good eye for the real problems of suburbia. In fact, her list of problems, including her observation that the U.S. has become wedded to sururbia as the American Dream, makes her seem as if she's watched  )

Above originally posted to Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

New York Times staves off geek riot

Corrects source of name for Met pitcher's bat. It turns out he's a Tolkien fan. Imgur has the details.

Crossposted to fandom_lounge on JournalFen.

Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Saving the libraries

In the very first post on this blog, I wrote:

Saving civilization is about preventing libraries falling into ruin while we build sports arenas and military bases.
...

Actually, saving the libraries might strike some people as frivolous, but remember that the way the humans in the book discovered the truth about moties was by stumbling into a museum designed to speed the rise of Motie civilization after the next collapse.  Another example involves Canticle for Leibowitz, the plot of which revolves around a monastery that includes a library the mission of which is to help revive civilization after its collapse.  So, it's not as stupid an idea as it seems.  Thanks to that suggestion, you can expect posts on saving cultural institutions during collapse, not just for how to keep yourself fed and safe.

I haven't been very good about doing so (I didn't even blog about the musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra ending their strike, which fits the topic), but the Detroit Free Press has obliged me with an update.

Across metro Detroit, communities bracing for library closings

After Romulus voters rejected a 2.75-mill proposal in February, officials announced plans to close the city's library.

But members of the Friends of the Romulus Public Library hope to make a last-ditch plea to the council tonight that may keep the doors open or at worse, eliminate a permanent shutdown.

"If we close the library, we are denying people's rights," said Sylvia Makowski, president of the group. "It goes against democratic principles."

Now, that's a take on the situation that I like, and I wish to hear Ms. Makowski elaborare on that idea. Instead, the article quotes the mayor, who points out the economic benefits of the library.

"The library is not just for kids, but our seniors and those who are using online services," Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert said. "In this economy people are using the library to do their résumés and for other job services."

Remember, this article is about austerity, which means the question becomes where does one find the money. The Friends of the Romulus Public Library have an answer.

The group has a plan that includes a 0.2-mill levy, which would cost residents about $8.50 more in taxes a year.

The millage defeated in February included support for other services and would have cost residents between $150 and $300 in increased taxes.

Looks like the library was collatoral damage.

( Romulus isn't the only community where the libraries are in danger. )

Above originally posted to Crazy Eddie's Motie News as Save the libraries, save civilization on April 29, 2011.

Update to the above: Troy's City Council is meeting tonight. Millages, including one to support the library, are on the agenda.