We overlook the long-range importance of time-wasting technology in several ways. In 1994, the economists Sue Bowden and Avner Offer studied how various 20th-century technologies had spread among households. They concluded that “time using” technologies (for example, TV and radio) diffused faster than “time saving” technologies (vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines).From the paywalled Atlantic here.
“This yard is participating in NO MOW MONTH to support pollinator habitat.”
Actually I'm for this idea. It avoids significant work and gets more bugs and weeds (Save the Planet!).
But, despite citing a couple of Midwestern academics — who probably have disgracefully shaggy lawns themselves — this whole Washington Post piece sounds cluelessly coastal to me,
“At the end of the day, what we really need is to change the American mind-set about having a perfect lawn,” [Smithsonian Gardens horticulturalist] Whicher says, “and that’s tough to do.”
Ya think?
They waited, well into the early hours of the morning – before finally getting an email from the US State Department. The message amounted to, “Oh yay, US embassy staff has been evacuated. Private citizens should not expect help,” Welker said.
Working on a way to help people leave overland, says U.S. Secretary of State Blinken.
ADD: New York Times reports:
NAIROBI, Kenya — A convoy of buses carrying about 300 Americans left the war-torn capital of Sudan late Friday, starting a 525-mile journey to the Red Sea that was the United States’ first organized effort to evacuate its citizens from the country.
April 28, 2023Updated 4:34 p.m. ET
Policymakers believe that the labor market, in which there are far more available jobs than workers to fill them, is pushing up pay at an unsustainable rate, contributing to inflation.
Work just causes trouble for everybody: Avoid it.
Already the norm for film sets and commercial spaces, fake books are becoming common fixtures in homes, but if you see one, you might never know.
And what would be a wall covered with Kindles?
I subscribed to the New York Times a couple of weeks ago and clicked the box that said Send Me Notifications of Breaking News.
So that's what they're doing. Sending me breaking news. And the breaking news is, almost every time…
Another guy my age just dropped dead.
Come on, NYTimes! Get a life!
Errr…
Most carmakers have pledged to stick with the classic AM/FM options, but the few planning to do away with the AM wavelength say that electric vehicles generate more electromagnetic interference than gas-powered cars, disrupting the reception of AM signals and causing static, noise and a high-frequency hum.
Historically, methods of transportation create pollution. With horses it was city streets ankle deep in manure, not to mention dead animals scattered about. With internal combustion it's been carbon-laden emissions that produce damaging smog and, we're told, a global warming trend. Electric vehicles will, for the foreseeable future, still produce carbon emissions, just in another place,
And now, hum. The planet is already blanketed by electromagnetic hum in a low register — electric cars bid to contribute a higher note to the chorus.
I don't mean to be an alarmist…
"Biden certainly has negatives. But Trump has a lot more — all way more dire."
The quote is from Gail Collins, a NYTimes opinion columnist. The sinking feeling is all mine.
The last Presidential candidate I got excited about was George McGovern, who ran in 1972 and lost in 49 states. So you can see how that turned out.
Since then it's largely been an exercise in picking the least worst prospect, and that's getting old.
Joe Biden is widely expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow, and the other so-far leading candidate is too grim to contemplate. Still, the day is young.
It's a long time until the next Presidential election.
I can wait.
