Painless Environmentalism

Those who have spoken with me about environmentalism are probably quite fed up with my seemingly endless supply of faith in the markets to solve environmental problems. And, while I'm not ready to say that government and regulation have no role, I steadfastly insist that it hardly matters, and usually makes things worse.

As Ronald Reagan said in his 1986 State of the Union address, "[G]overnment's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

So, I've got a chance to crow, and I'll take it. This is from the Economist, one of my favorite magazines:

"Lots of firms are growing healthily on the back of America's sudden enthusiasm for alternative energy. Americans invested almost $30 billion in the sector in 2006, according to New Energy Finance, a research firm. American venture capitalists lavish seven times more on greenery than their counterparts in Europe. Ethanol production was expected to double in the next few years, even before the latest boost from Mr Bush. Wind and solar power are also booming. And the bigger green firms become the more influence they will have over politicians."

Also, Martin Eberhard, the CEO of Tesla Motors, a maker of electric automobiles, had this to say about President Bush's recent State of the Union:

"[A]s much as I would dearly love a similar research grant for Tesla Motors, I am not enthusiastic about government spending on battery research. Much better would be incentives that encourage consumers to buy an electric car. ... I actually don’t have a good suggestion about how to encourage consumers to make fuel efficient choices other than to make great electric cars."

Exactly. When the technology is profitable, when it makes sense, when the tipping point is reached, things happen. I personally can't wait to drive a high-performance, high-efficiency, low-cost electric car.

Two Ball, Four Ball, My Ball, Your Ball

Luckily for us, this winter has been very pleasant, with only a few "cold" days (meaning a high in the 60's). And even better, the cold days have been weekdays, but the weekends have been really nice. This will be the second week in a row where the best weather day of the week falls on a weekend.

So, what to do with a beautiful day? Golf! And I did.

But this time, I finally convinced our little foursome to try out match play. If you've ever seen the Ryder cup on TV you'll know what I'm talking about. Match play, or a form of it, is when there are teams of two, and the team members alternate drives and alternate shots.

It looked like fun, but we in America are all about four ball courses, which means there are always four balls in play. Usually this is four individuals all playing their own ball. If you have less than four players you tend to wait around a bit because everyone else has four, and so they generally move along at a slower pace. Match play in general is a two ball game, with two teams playing one ball each.

But we're an inventive lot, so we played teams of two, alternating drives and alternating shots, BUT we each took two strokes every time, and only played the better of the two shots. That way we got in the right number of strokes to equate with four ball golf.

I have to say it was pretty fun. For one thing, my team won on the last hole after mounting a big comeback. But also because when you've only got to shoot every other shot and your teammate is also making mistakes, you don't beat yourself up as much. Yet at the same time, each shot is more significant, because you hold your teammate's fate in your hands as well as your own.

More pressure, more fun, what's not to love?

Algebra as Community Service

Recently I agreed to try tutoring at University High School, which is where I attended high school and graduated in 1997. I was told that I might be teaching anything, and especially kids who are in serious jeopardy of failing in one way or another.

I was also told that motivating the student was probably going to be the most important and hardest thing to do, and that many of the students would probably rather not have a tutor, and that I should go for an entire semester even if I hated it after the first try, because a lot of these kids have been abandoned or let down by adults in their lives.

Add to that the normal stereo-types of high school that are presented in the media, the fact that there was a fatal stabbing at UHS recently, and my own memories of insecurity and inadequacy from high school, and you end up with a mix of thoughts and emotions similar, I would think, to walking a plank on the high seas. You'd rather not, it won't be pleasant, but you're there and all there is to do is jump.

So, jump.

I found the cafeteria where the displaced Algebra II class was currently meeting. Turns out, the class was honors, and the student was very sharp, he'd just been away from school for about a week and needed to catch up. We did polynomial division. We factored. We solved an open-ended puzzle type problem. And then I left.

I did not feel inadequate, and I did not feel insecure. It wasn't hard to teach the student, and the class was taking a test and was very quiet. The lessons were not trivial. I did not feel the material had been dumbed down. It was a good thing to do.

So, after only one myopic experience, I conclude that the demise of our public schools and our teenagers is a bit overblown.

What was the "Curse"?

I received a book for Christmas from my Aunt and Uncle titled "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn. It is a very interesting survey of the theology of heaven, a subject that I have previously thought very little about.

At any rate, I am coming to notice that I have a very underdeveloped sense of what the "Curse" actually was (when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and the whole universe was "Cursed" because of it).

I'm coming at this from a sort of scientific perspective, and some thoughts I've had are entropy, chaos, moral corruption, removal of some ordering property, etc. In fact, I've noticed that I don't really even have a clear understanding of what is wrong with creation now (the world, not humanity), other than symptomatic: dirty, painful, tiring, etc. Is granite or diamond, for instance, somehow in a fallen state? Do I perceive anything wrong with flowers and trees? How about weeds?

So much of what I think of as "wrong" is just things happening globally where I think they should happen locally. As an example, weeds are fine, and some are beautiful, just not in my flower beds.

Much to think about...

Facebook faux pas

I've been scolded repeatedly by a certain person for my mishaps surrounding descriptive language of, and actual behavior on, facebook. As it would be inappropriate for me to apologize for writing on my own wall on my own wall (that would just exacerbate the crime), I will apologize here.

I won't ever write on my own wall again.

PS. I still think "Children of Men" was a pretty good movie. (And this is the correct place to say it.)

To Complete the Capitulation

I have been harassed, harangued, and bullied into joining a social networking site. I was told that blogging just, well, wasn't enough. It was time to take the next step. So, there are really only two options: facebook or myspace. It used to be I couldn't join facebook, but now that I have the choice, I think I can do without the "really cool backgrounds", and annoying music clips, and slow load times, and page loading errors, etc. of myspace.

I am now established on facebook, and to go there or add me as a friend just click the link under my picture.

I'd better be friended...

Good Wine

In answer to questions about the wine of the last post. I decided that since I was going to do some reading the other night, and because I was going to make pasta to eat, I should have a red wine. I had recently tried the Yellow Tail Shiraz-Grenache blend, and I really liked it. The Shiraz is a peppery wine, and the Grenache is a raspberry type flavor. The ratio of the Yellow Tail was 80% Shiraz, 20% Grenache.

I had tried Shiraz before, and I like that wine, but I had never had Grenache, so I went into the wine store and was searching for the Grenache section, and not finding it. An observant gentleman who worked there asked me what I was looking for, and when I said "Grenache" he said, "I know just the thing." As it turns out, he had tried a wine on Thanksgiving and had enjoyed it very much. So, he recommended it to me.

The wine is from South Australia from the d'Arenberg winery. It is called "The Stump Jump", and the label on the back says that is because in Australia they used to use a special plow that could jump over difficult to remove stumps, thus saving time. But, this wine is a blend of the following:
46% Grenache
34% Shiraz
20% Mourvedre

I don't know what Mourvedre is, but I now have something else to search for.

New Year's Flourish

My kitchen wasn't the only victim of my spare time.

I also did some reading: War and Peace, Dostoyevsky, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis, and I'm finishing a book I've had for a while Evil, Morrow.

I also started the next phase of my never ending front yard project. I am building another planting bed in the front of the house, right in front of Josh's window (that would be Jim's old window) for those familiar with the property.

I think I know why all my plants died, as well. I discovered in some disbelief that the dirt immediately in front of my house has a lot of clay in it (instead of the expected sand). As a result, poor drainage and deadly fungus. I'll have to do something about that.

I went and saw a couple of UCF basketball games, all of which we won and which we should have won.

I've been cooked for by Zach and Alison more times than I deserve in a life time, and decided that their Tristan is an acceptable addition to humanity.

Last night I discovered a new wine that like a lot.

So, now everyone is caught up.