Author Archives: Hadwin Partize

5 Ways Biotech Is Changing Our Pets and Wildlife

by Hadwin Partize Posted on April 8, 2013

Mother Jones

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Ever since humans first tamed a friendly wolf, we’ve been shaping animals to conform to our needs and wants. Just look at a Siberian husky next to a poofy, orange Pomeranian. Science journalist Emily Anthes’ new book, Frankenstein’s Cat, explores animals created by molecular genetics or wired up to electronics, but, she says, the ethical questions that come along with these futuristic critters are not completely new.

Anthes considers herself an animal lover— she shares her author photo with her pooch, Milo—and the book works through her thoughts on animal welfare and science.

From pretty glow-in-the-dark pet fish to goats that make anti-diarrhea milk, biotech animals cover an incredibly broad range. “Biotechnology sometimes get talked about as if it’s this monolithic entity that only has one meaning, like all genetic engineering is ethically the same,” she says, “We really need to start looking at individual cases and applications and highlight them.” So Anthes and I talked about some animals that may soon be found (and in some cases are already found) in pet shops, grocery stores, and research labs near you.

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5 Ways Biotech Is Changing Our Pets and Wildlife

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Japan Vows to Give the Expectations Channel a Workout

by Hadwin Partize Posted on April 4, 2013

Mother Jones

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Japan has been suffering from deflation for most of the past decade, and prime minister Shinzo Abe ran last year on a platform of turning this around. Today, the incoming head of the Bank of Japan announced its new monetary policy:

Following his inaugural policy board meeting, Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank is pulling out all the stops to get the economy out of deflation, referring to the nine-member panel’s unanimous decision to vastly expand government bond purchases, including buying longer-term debt. The BOJ also tossed aside some self-imposed limits that previous leadership had stuck to.

I will not use my fighting power in an incremental manner,” Mr. Kuroda told a news conference following the two-day meeting, one of the most closely watched in the central bank’s recent history. “Our stance is to take all the policy measures imaginable at this point to achieve the 2% price stability target in two years.”

….”I’d give it a 100 on a scale of one to 100, or actually 120,” said Dai Sato, a senior dealer at Mizuho Corporate Bank. “In all aspects, the BOJ exceeded our expectations,” he said.

There’s more in this vein, but the bottom line is simple: Kuroda has made it absolutely clear that BOJ is willing to do anything, and for as long as it takes, to get inflation back up to 2 percent. He’s committed to doubling the money supply, and will do even more if that’s not enough.

This is a fascinating experiment. One of the cornerstones of the MMT theorists who believe the Fed should target NGDP levels—i.e., that it should commit to keeping nominal GDP growing at a preset rate, and should play catch-up if it doesn’t—is that the simple act of making that commitment will raise inflation. This is the “expectations channel” of monetary policy.

Well, BOJ has now put the expectations channel into play in about the most dramatic way possible. Its announcement was surprisingly strong, it was unequivocal, it was credible, and it clearly has strong political support. If it doesn’t work, it will demonstrate serious limitations for managing monetary policy via expectations. If it does work, it will give a boost to the NGDP crowd. It won’t be a decisive demonstration either way, since there’s more going on than just expectations, but it will definitely be a strong data point. It should be interesting to watch.

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Japan Vows to Give the Expectations Channel a Workout

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There are even more dead pigs in a Chinese river

by Hadwin Partize Posted on March 25, 2013

There are even more dead pigs in a Chinese river

By Susie Cagle

Reuters

In the week and a half since we first brought you the all-important details on those dead pigs filling the Huangpu River in China, officials have raised the body count to more than 16,000.

On Sunday, the government said the pulling-dead-pigs-out-of-the-water operation was “basically finished.” Chinese official media reports that some of the dead animals were traced by their ear tags to pig farms in Shaoxing, and their owners have been prosecuted. Farmers in Shaoxing have recently been charged with selling meat from diseased animals.

The New York Times points out the silver lining of the porcine flotilla: At least the diseased pigs aren’t ending up on dinner plates. As the government cracks down on contaminated meat, the only place to put them is in the river. Three cheers for food safety!

“Dead pigs have always ended up in Shanghai. This time they just went there by river, instead of by truck,” a Shaoxing pig farmer told The Guardian.

A Zhejiang environmental protection report in 2011 found that 7.7 million pigs were being farmed in Shaoxing. On average 2% to 4% will die, which means between 150,000 and 300,000 corpses need to be disposed of.

“If dumped, they cause bacterial and viral pollution, as well as 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of chemical oxygen demand,” the report said.

But, still, there are no provisions for proper disposal in place.

One big story here seems to be: Oh my god China is farming a lot of pigs. But heck, so are we. Tom Philpott at Mother Jones makes the case that U.S. factory farming of pigs and other animals is supergross too. Epic loads of pig shit contaminate our lands and waterways, even though the imagery is not quite as immediately horrifying.

And now, in the Sichuan province in central China, there’s a new, slightly different problem: The Nanhe River is clogged with about 1,000 dead ducks of unknown origin.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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There are even more dead pigs in a Chinese river

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Why Choosing The Green Energy Provider Is The Right Choice

by Hadwin Partize Posted on March 17, 2013

In this day and age, two things that definitely need improving are the economy and the environment. You can improve your personal economy and help the environment at the same time by converting many of the technologies in your home to green energy. Read on for some great advice on how to accomplish this.

Warm-air registers, radiators, and baseboard heaters need cleaning at least once per year. It is best to clean these at the beginning of the cold season so they are ready to work at top efficiency once the weather turns cold. Clean heating units will distribute the heated energy evenly.

Invest in solar power for your home. Adding a few solar panels to your roof can actually decrease the cost of heating or cooling your home by up to 50%! Talk to a professional about where best to install them on your roof, as the placement is very important to get the optimal amount of direct sunlight.

If you’ve tried compact fluorescent lightbulbs in the past, but found their light to be cold and unappealing, try one of the newer models. The newer bulbs are much improved, and even more energy efficient than earlier ones. The designs are also improved, with smaller profiles and non-twisty models for fixtures where the bulbs are visible.

Try using solar heated water in your home. Approximately 25% of yearly energy costs come from heating water. Using solar water panels is an excellent method of decreasing these costs. Because the sun’s energy is utilized to heat up the water, you will not be using as much energy in your home.

Many people believe that turning certain equipment and appliances off or unplugging them shortens the life of the said equipment and appliances. This is not true. This myth dates back to older computers, and many people carry this belief system into the current day. Turning appliances and equipment off or unplugging them cuts down on energy costs immensely and does not hurt the machinery at all.

Install a digital thermostat in your home. You can program the thermostat so that you are only using the air conditioning during times that you are home, thereby reducing your use of electricity. These thermostats are available at your local hardware store and are easy to install for most do-it-yourself individuals.

If you are in favor of using green energy to save money as well as to help the environment, try using an energy system that omits fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, as these tend to emit carbon dioxide. Instead, use a renewable energy system such as solar, wind or hydro-power.

A good green energy solution to replace cleaning products in your home is to use olive oil. By using olive to clean certain things around the home, you are avoiding the synthetic chemicals, compounds and substances that aren’t very environmentally friendly which are present in the many household cleaning products you find on the market.

So as you can see, it really is not that hard to make changes in your life that will help you take advantage of green energy. So, take that first step and see what even a small change can make. In return, you will be sure to make the world a better place for all.

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National Security Letters Have Their Day in Court — And Lose

by Hadwin Partize Posted on March 17, 2013

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You remember National Security Letters, don’t you? Those of us who are a first name basis just call them NSLs. They’ve been around for a while, but they only became famous after the PATRIOT Act vastly expanded their scope, with the FBI now issuing upwards of 25,000 NSLs a year. The key thing to know about NSLs is that (a) they don’t require a judge to sign off on them, any old FBI supervisor will do; and (b) you are forbidden to tell anyone that you have received an NSL. In 2007, the Justice Department’s inspector general found widespread abuse of the NSL process—hardly a surprise when there’s no oversight—but the number of NSLs issued has continued its steady upward rise regardless.

Yesterday, a judge finally put her foot down:

On Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco declared the letters unconstitutional, saying the secretive demands for customer data violate the First Amendment.

The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy “serve the compelling need of national security,” and the gag order creates “too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted,” U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wrote.

She ordered the FBI to stop issuing the letters, but put that order on hold for 90 days so the U.S. Department of Justice can pursue an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

This is almost certainly only temporary good news. DOJ will appeal, and I suspect it’s unlikely that Illston’s order will be allowed to stand. Still, it’s nice to see a bit of common sense over these things, even if it’s ultimately only symbolic.

Mother Jones
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National Security Letters Have Their Day in Court — And Lose

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