Green Bloggers Digest

Some Resources for Jailbreaking Copyright

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 23:48:33 +0000

Academic books and journals -- Library Genesis

Newspaper and magazine articles -- Archive.org

Movies -- BFlix

Where to Find Me

Sat, 27 May 2023 21:23:22 +0000

This blog has been inactive for a long time -- I'm just leaving it up for the archives.

But you can find most of my writing catalogued either at my main website, my Academia.edu page, or my C4SS archives. I'm also on Twitter, Facebook, and Mastodon.

And of course, if you value my writing and care to do so, you can support me on Patreon or make a one-time contribution via Paypal.

Envision Solar Hires Veterans for Made-In-America Clean Energy Products

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 02:13:40 +0000

Envision Solar, which manufacturers solar-powered electric vehicle chargers and portable “solar tree” arrays in the U.S., works with advocacy groups to increase veteran hires.

Why California Must Continue To Conserve Water

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 02:03:09 +0000

This summer, California Gov. Jerry Brown lifted mandatory water restrictions following higher rainfall this spring. But the state isn't out of the woods yet.

Donald Trump Revives the Wind Energy ‘Bird Death Conspiracy’

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:46:46 +0000

Donald Trump gave his supporters yet another conspiracy theory, claiming that environmentalists are covering up bird deaths linked to wind turbines.

Data Communications and The Revolution in the U.S. Electric Grid

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:29:26 +0000

A revolution is underfoot in which each utility customer has the potential to become its own mini-power plant and a supplier of electricity.

The Full Picture: Investor Relations Meets Sustainability

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:09:16 +0000

The communication gap between investor relations and sustainability departments is leaving investors without a full picture of corporate performance and unable to fully integrate environmental, social and governance factors into decision-making.

Maine Fisheries’ Latest Sustainable Catch: Kelp!

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 00:59:13 +0000

“Fishermen know the water, they have boats, and they are business-minded,” said Dick Clime, a project developer for the Fisheries Project at Coastal Enterprises. “Those qualities make them the perfect fit to start kelp farming.”

Inclusionary Pioneers: Making the Case for Diversity in the American Workforce

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 00:51:23 +0000

What makes a diversity leader? We spoke with two highly successful consultants about what shaped their decision to become "diversity pioneers" and the message that is now defining today's businesses.

Startling Map Shows True Extent of America’s Landfill Problem

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 16:01:23 +0000

This visualization from SaveOnEnergy shows how quickly landfills have boomed across the country, particularly in the past 30 years.

Twitter Struggles as Trolling Continues to Turn Users Away

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 00:04:30 +0000

Twitter established a policy on reporting abuse several years ago. But the trolling keeps getting uglier, and more prominent users are closing their accounts. The result is a long-term threat to Twitter's business viability.

Report: Progress Slow On Conflict Minerals

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:47:04 +0000

Most companies still cannot determine if their supply chains are conflict-mineral free.

Israel, the Water Superpower

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:16:28 +0000

With advances in desalination, irrigation and water recycling, Israel has arguably become the global water superpower.

A Critical Juncture in Capital Markets History

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:01:57 +0000

A recent SEC move could allow for transformative embedding of sustainability information in capital markets.

Marketplace Lending: More Than Personal Finance

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 22:52:23 +0000

Some observers question the viability of the marketplace lending business model and predict that Lending Club’s trouble marks the beginning of an end. But while it may be under fire in the personal finance space, marketplace lending is stronger than ever in sectors like commercial solar that have stagnated due to limited access to capital.

Gen Z: Fashion, Technology and the Sharing Economy

Sun, 07 Aug 2016 19:22:48 +0000

This emerging generation brings a new worldview and different expectations as citizens, employees and consumers -- and they're trending toward sharing and buying used over mass consumption.

Desktop Regulatory State -- Now in Print!

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 01:12:45 +0000

The book I've been working on for almost five years, The Desktop Regulatory State: The Countervailing Power of Individuals and Networks, is now in print. Here's the page at Amazon.

How the O Lordy Curve Got Its Name

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 17:17:24 +0000

Driving through the Boston Mountains for Thanksgiving dinner, I decided to relate an old family story about that route while there's still someone alive to remember it.

The seventeen miles from Winslow to Mountainburg is very crooked and steep, and my family calls the sharpest curve the O Lordy Curve.

It got its name back in the '50s when my Aunt Alma and Uncle Ivan went down to Ft. Chaffee to bring my Uncle Dale up to Springdale on leave from the Army. The road was narrower and more dangerous back then, and Uncle Ivan drove pretty fast and recklessly. Alma was a large bosomy woman, and Ivan was a lanky man with bony elbows. Dale sat in the middle, and kept getting tossed back and forth against Alma and Ivan as the latter whipped around the curves.

Every time Ivan sped around a bad curve, Alma would moan "O Lordy, Ivan, you're going to kill us all!" And when they went around the sharpest S-curve on the route, Alma started hollering "O Lordy O Lordy O Lordy O Lordy!"

That's how the O Lordy Curve got its name.

Buy The Bar Code Tattoo Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:45:10 +0000

Lactic Acid 70% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional)

Description of Lactic Acid 70% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional)

Product Description

Lactic works on the surface of the skin to treat tone, texture, and pigmentation.

Lactic's unique ability to draw moisture toward the surface of the skin makes it ideal for individuals whose skin dries out easily.

This treatment also effectively combats acne, leaving a wonderfully smooth and clear complexion. With continued use as directed the skin will look more youthful and vibrant.

The Lactic 30ml and 100ml are ideal for full facial applications.

For specific areas, or spot treatments, the Lactic 50 Roll-on would be best.

Choosing the Best Peel: Skin Laboratory offers different types of chemical peels to help with things like exfoliating the skin and smoothing fine lines and wrinkles. If you are looking for the BEST peel for your condition, the following list will help you select it. The peels effectiveness is not limited to these conditions:

Glycolic: Eczema & Dermatitis, Fine Lines & Wrinkles, Razor Bumps, Stretch Marks and General Toning & Texture

Lactic: Actinic Keratosis, Dark Circles Under Eyes, Dry Skin, Eczema & Dermatitis, Melasma, Psoriasis, Razor Bumps, Scarring, Sensitive Skin, Stretch Marks, Sun Damage and General Toning & Texture

Salicylic: Acne, Acne Scars, Adolescent Skin, Large Pores & Blackheads, Oily Skin, Psoriasis, Razor Bumps and Warts

BHA+: Acne, Adolescent Skin, Large Pores & Blackheads, Oily Skin, Psoriasis and Warts

HQ+: Acne Scars, Actinic Keratosis, Melasma, Oily Skin and Scarring

Details of Lactic Acid 70% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional)

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #76287 in Beauty
Size: 30ml
Brand: Skin Laboratory
Ingredients: Lactic Acid, deionized water, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, propylene glycol. No Animal Testing. Made in the USA
Dimensions: 4.00" h x 2.00" w x 6.00" l,

Features

Medical Strength Professional Peel; approx. 15 full facial peels per bottle
Ideal for acne, hyperpigmentation and premature aging
Effectively treats stubborn skin conditions, such as psoriasis and environmental/sun damage
Evens skin tone and minimizing areas of discoloration for all skin types
Cumulative benefits and optimal results with weekly treatments

This Page is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.comCERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.

Buy Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 4 Month Supply Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:27 +0000

Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional)

A singular of the own products have been present adorn the sidereal day - your sidereal day. Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) is one ware the is very restricted. The process of market demand that much, it might make Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) will quickly sold out. Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) is engineered with the full items for your gismo in use. A unit that has a lofty taste perception , so you will be relaxed in using it. Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) I highly highly recommend, and some competitors also strongly recommend .

Available now at affordable price, special discounts and super shipping. I'm quite happy with their qualities and recommend it to all people hunting for a good item with the useful features at an affordable. You can read review from buyers to find out more through their experience. Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) has worked beneficial for me and I wish it would do wonders on you too. So why spend much more time? Enjoy yourself, you understand where you can buy the best ones.

Most of the customer reviews speak that the Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) are splendid luggage. Also, It Is a pretty well product for the price. Its great for colony on a tight budget. Weve found pros and cons on this type of product. But overall, Its a supreme product and we are well recommend it! When you however want to know more details on this product, so read the reports of those who have already used it.

Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) is my personal favorite goods issued this workweek. By boosting its alone excogitation , changed and suited about for your own benefit . And now there has been a wide variety of wares it's possible to get. The whole entire product or service is made currency peculiar materials that actually have great and style . Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) is a pet choice us . Or even I RECENTLY fervently strongly suggest it. With the international quality touchstones, therefore pulling in this product a classy and as you can imagine lasting . While most of united states really like the Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) as a multitude of variations of colourings, types , stuffs.

All of this is while most suggested related to Lactic Acid 50% Gel Peel, 30m

Buy Fan Brush Boar 8" Glycolic Lactic TCA Serum Mask Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:17 +0000

Fan Brush Boar 8" Glycolic Lactic TCA Serum Mask

Description of Fan Brush Boar 8" Glycolic Lactic TCA Serum Mask

Product Description

Spread those peels and treatment products around evenly! This 8" brush is made from boar hair, aluminum, and wood and is sturdy enough to handle a variety of applications.

Details of Fan Brush Boar 8" Glycolic Lactic TCA Serum Mask

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #851 in Beauty
Size: 8"
Brand: CosChemSupply
Model: FBB-8
Number of items: 1

Features

Made from Boar Hair, Aluminum, and Wood
Great for Glycolic, Lactic, and TCA Peels
Also Great for Masks and Serum Application
8" Long and 1.75" Wide. Bristle Length 1.25"

Buy Ink Vaporizer Tattoo Fading Light Neo Mag Light, Acne Reduction Light, Stretch Mark Reduction Light Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:16 +0000

Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Description of Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Product Description

"Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal Fading System 2 Month Supply. The Tat B Gone system is the simplest, most affordable and most convenient of any tattoo removal method available. Compared to other tattoo removal techniques, the revolutionary Tat B Gone system helps fade away your tattoo artwork or permanent cosmetics, easily, effectively, and comfortably. Traditional laser tattoo removal procedures typically are painful, time consuming and expensive. The cost can run into thousands of dollars and the process can take years. Surgical tattoo removal methods or sanding often leave scars and can lead to other complications. Tat B Gone helps your tattoo fade gently away. In the privacy of your own home, our affordable products will help your tattoo fade without scabbing or scarring, without long hours spent in a doctorâ€TMs office, and without pain! Our effective products are a part of a 2-step system that was developed in the Norwegian clinic of Doctor Jahn Ericson (and now formulated in a FDA licensed lab). The system is clinically tested and approved, safe and simple to use.

Details of Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #87988 in Health and Beauty
Brand: Tat B Gone

Buy TATTOO NUMB Ointment Topical Anaesthetic Cream Red Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:13 +0000

Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Description of Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Product Description

HUSH GELHUSH an-es-the-tic [hush-an-uhs-thet-ik] HUSH Tattoo Numbing Gel is a clear, non-oily gel that helps relieve pain associated with tattooing, tattoo removal, and body piercing by 80-90%.HUSH Gel is specially formulated to be used before a tattoo procedure and is safe for use in all areas of the body. It has a unique blend of botanical extracts including aloe, which helps reduce skin inflammation and redness during and after a procedure. HUSH Gel does not affect any color ink, promotes great healing, and is safe on sensitive skin.Application during Tattooing:GEL- After the skin is broken, apply an extremely thick layer of hush in the area to be tattooed, there will be an itial sting as HUSH contains asurgical grade alcohol but it will go away in a few minutes. Do not rub HUSH into the skin; instead spread the gel evenly with one or twofingers. Wrap the area with plastic wrap and allow 30 minutes for absorption.Remove the wrap and wipe off all of the excess gel with a paper towel until the skin is dry.Continue the Tattooing process.

Details of Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #10934 in Health and Beauty
Brand: HUSH anesthetic

Features

Get Tattoos pain-free for up to 4 hours
Effective for Tattooing, Tattoo removal, Piercing, Waxing, Electrolysis, Laser Hair Removal, Permanent Makeup, and many more
FDA compliant
Will not affect any ink or the healing process, Does NOT contain Epinephrine
Promotes Fast / Great Healing

Buy HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:11 +0000

HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream

$17.00

One of a typical wares have been todays adorn the day - your day . HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream is one product the specific is restricted . The process of market requirement that much, it will certainly make HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream will cursorily sold out. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream is manufactured with the full particulars for your gizmo in use. A component that has a lofty taste sensation , so you will be secure in using it. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream I extremely can't help but recommend , and some players also recommend .

Available now at cheap price, special discounts and super shipping. I'm really pleased with its qualities and recommend it to someone hunting for a high quality item with the latest specifications at an reasonable. You can read testimony from buyers to find out more from their experience. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream has worked wonders for me and I wish it will do wonders on you too. So why spend much more time? Enjoy yourself, you know where you can purchase the best ones.

Some people reviews speak that the HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream are splendid luggage. Also, It Is a pretty well product for the price. Its great for colony on a tight budget. Weve found pros and cons on this type of product. But overall, Its a supreme product and we are well recommend it! When you however want to know more details on this product, so read the reports of those who have already used it.

Buy Acid Neutralizer Skin pH Balance - Helps Balance the Ph of Your Skin for the Safe and Effective Neutralization After Peeling 2oz. 60ml Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:00 +0000

Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Description of Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Product Description

Details of Tat B Gone Tattoo Removal System 2 Month Supply 4pack (29.6) grams

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #87988 in Health and Beauty
Brand: Tat B Gone

Buy TATTOO NUMB Ointment Topical Anaesthetic Cream Red Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:43:58 +0000

Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Description of Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Product Description

Details of Hush Anesthetic Numbing Gel 4 Oz Bottle

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #10934 in Health and Beauty
Brand: HUSH anesthetic

Features

Get Tattoos pain-free for up to 4 hours
Effective for Tattooing, Tattoo removal, Piercing, Waxing, Electrolysis, Laser Hair Removal, Permanent Makeup, and many more
FDA compliant
Will not affect any ink or the healing process, Does NOT contain Epinephrine
Promotes Fast / Great Healing

Buy HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream Reviws

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:43:56 +0000

HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream

$17.00

One of a typical merchandise have been present adorn the day - your day . HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream is one merchandise that is not a lot of . The process of market place requirement that much, it definitely will make HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream will cursorily sold out. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream is engineered with a complete details for your contraption in use. A device that has a lofty taste perception , so you will be more comfortable in using it. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream I highly recommend , and some participants as well strongly recommend .

Available now at affordable price, special discounts and super shipping. I'm quite pleased with their features and highly recommend it to anyone searching for a good product with the latest features at an affordable. You can read testimony from customers to find out more through their experience. HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream has worked beneficial for me and I hope it would do wonders on you too. So why waste much more time? Enjoy it, you understand where to purchase the best ones.

Some of the customer reviews speak that the HUSH anesthetic - Tattoo Numbing Gel (60 grams) 2oz. - More Powerful than Numbing Cream are splendid luggage. Also, It Is a pretty well product for the price. Its great for colony on a tight budget. Weve found pros and cons on this type of product. But overall, Its a supreme product and we are well recommend it! When you however want to know more details on this product, so read the reports of those who have already used it.

Would you pay this much out of pocket for office supplies?

Sat, 17 May 2014 14:17:10 +0000

Image via Pinterest

My Pins.

On C4SS and the "Cultural Left"

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:13:02 +0000

[I use Grammarly's plagiarism check because I fuck up enough other stuff as it is.]

On C4SS's "outreach mission": Today @C4SSdotorg came under fire for throwing away its anarchist outreach mission in order to promote "bargain basement content" like social justice and other trivial "PC" concerns. Our goal is to promote left-market anarchism to a broad, mainstream audience.

If our mission is "outreach," as he says, it obviously means reaching out to people who don't already believe as we do. It means saying unpopular things to people who are offended by them. He apparently doesn't object to all the right-wingers like Walter Block who are pissed off about our anti-capitalism and class struggle stuff. So basically he must be saying the class war aspects of left-libertarianism and anarchism are worth taking a stand on even at the expense of pissing some people off, because getting the workerist and anti-corporate types on our side is worth it, even if it means treating the concerns of PoC, women and LGBT people as marginal trivia and throwing them under the bus. But taking a stand on the concerns of the latter from a libertarian standpoint is bad because those people aren't important -- but the workerist dudebro types and their hurt feelings are.

Shorter version: Anti-empire and class stuff is important, "real" anarchism; people who are fucked over by social forms of domination aren't. The people who get offended by calling them out on racism, homophobia, etc. are vital to our outreach mission. The PoC, women, gays, trans ppl, etc., who have felt excluded from a white middle-class and culturally right-wing movement for years, and dismissed libertarianism as irrelevant, are entirely expendable.

GOP Slams ‘Imperial’ Obama After Fewest Executive Orders In 100 Years (CHART)

Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:24:32 +0000

Image via Pinterest

My Pins.

State of Conflict: North Carolina

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 17:39:41 +0000

Image via Pinterest

My Pins.

Sat, 14 Dec 2013 05:49:22 +0000

Jeff Graubart. AFFEERCE: A Business Plan to Save the United States and Then the World(Second draft -- 2013).

[Disclaimer. This is a paid review. I was assured by Jeff Graubart that negative reviews were fine – he expected only honesty. And I received 40% of the payment up front, with the rest to come after writing the review.]

Graubart's vision of a future society, like the whole of Gaul, is divided into three parts:

We need free markets on steroids and we need universal entitlement on steroids. If you can’t see past what appears to be an absurd contradiction, then you haven’t put that together with the third thing that is essential for the survival of the planet: reproductive control: parents must pay for their child’s entitlements before they are allowed to give birth or adopt. These are outlined in the fundamental relations.

For Graubart, these three basic features of his proposed society are a three-legged stool. Without all three of them, it won't stand. Remove any one, he warns, and the result will be barbarism.

The first feature, the free market itself—the maximum possible degree of economic freedom—is a goal for Graubart in it's own right. But without a universal entitlement, a totally free and unregulated market will lead to barbarism through the concentration of capital, technological unemployment and mass impoverishment, and eventually class war and revolution. And without reproductive control, the universal entitlement will lead to an underclass breeding out of control for the sake of the additional entitlement money their kids will bring into the household, and eventually to mass impoverishment and social bankruptcy from overpopulation.

I don't see either of these outcomes as necessary or inevitable absent his proposed remedy, and therefore for me the chain of logic by which the three parts of his agenda cohere into a whole is weak (as I will explain later in this review).

Graubart explains the basic principles in more detail with the acronym AFFEERCE, with AF standing forAlternative Family, FE for Free Enterprise, E for (Universal) Entitlement, RC for Reproductive Control and E for Enlightenment.

Alternative Family does not mean you have to run off and join a commune or have a 5-way sexual relationship. You have every right to structure your family on 1 man + 1 woman + children. Or you can choose to live alone....

Free Enterprise means laissez-faire. It means government keeps its hands off business. It means no minimum wage and no inflation. It means no corporate income tax of any kind. It means the marketplace will determine if monopolies should form and the effectiveness of collusion. It also means no civil rights protection and no right to a job....

Universal Entitlement – ...Entitlement is not based on need. A billionaire receives the same entitlement for food and housing as a pauper. Each person in a family of 50 receives the same dollar
amount for food and housing as a person who lives alone.

Personal entitlements include nutritious food, safe shelter, unlimited free education, and quality medical....

Reproductive Control – Families must pay the present value for a lifetime of entitlements before they are allowed to adopt or raise a child. This is approximately $600,000 but it is tax free. However, this goal might not be met for a century or more. In the beginning, families might pay only half the cost of entitlement or $300,000 before being allowed to adopt or raise a child. Even this amount might be phased in over 100 or more years.... Regardless of cost, if the parents cannot pay, the child will be placed with a family that can afford the child....

Enlightenment – In a free society, all religions, spiritualties, beliefs or lack thereof, are welcome. The AFFEERCE enlightenment is a reliance of the truths in nature following the deconstruction of postmodernism....

The postmodern age will lead to the synthesis between objectivism and subjectivism; an age of the union of science with spirituality, of mind and body, of freedom and entitlement, of Eros and Agape.

About the last item, Enlightenment, I have little to say, because metaphysics and epistemology are pretty far outside the subject matter I feel competent to discuss. Before I finish up with a detailed critique of the logical connections between the three major parts of Graubart's agenda, though, I will take some time to comment on the other individual components of AFFEERCE with my own positive and negative observations.

Graubart's Alternative Families are quite similar to what I've written about elsewhere as “primary social units.” Rather than “Alternative Families,” I think “households” might be a more apt description, since many of them bear a closer resemblance to what we would think of as multi-family cohousing projects. They exist mainly as economic expedients for pooling incomes and risks, and reducing costs of living by minimizing the unused spare capacity of housing and household capital goods that normally exists when separate nuclear family households predominate. Of course large Alternative Families can also function as polyamorous sexual units or group child-rearing institutions, but they don't have to. And people can still form families based on one couple with children, but the economic incentives in Graubart's society would be strongly in favor of larger household units.

Graubart's picture of how a Free Enterprise economy would work is, in my opinion, one of the weaker parts of his book.

The main way his Free Enterprise economy deviates from the real article is the VOS:

In AFFEERCE, a government agency, The Bureau of Standards, through volunteer standards groups, wil coordinate industry standards, and require that industries either adopt the standards of the industry, or display in a consistent way across all industries, those standards that are violated, the VOS. Omission of violated standards from the VOS and failure to properly display or get customer sign-off on the VOS constitutes fraud. The VOS is a legal document that protects against liability, so businesses will pay inspection agencies to certify their VOS.

* * *

Once you have properly revealed how your entity deviates from acceptable standards, you no longer are liable for that deviation.

* * *

Each category of enterprise has an associated set of standards determined by volunteer consumer and business standard’s groups (VSG’s) whose members are members of these enterprises or engage in the marketplace with these enterprises. The Bureau of Standards coordinates these VSG’s, and makes suggestions for consistency across types of enterprises, but does not control the set of standards.

* * *

Secondly, any business that does pollute would have to indicate the extent of its pollution on its VOS. Should the pollution markedly exceed the amount disclosed, that would likely constitute fraud. The VOS is a public document that limits liability. There are no officials to bribe or arcane EPA regulations to hide behind.

This strikes me as a poor alternative to the use of a fully liberated tort law and a wide variety of self-organized reputational systems for punishing corporate malfeasors. But Graubart's attitude toward such approaches is quite dismissive.

The point is that there are literally billions of cases where fraud is ambiguous. Certainly an industry can collude on a set of standards, and even display an “Underwriter’s laboratory” type of seal, but there is nothing to prevent another business, or even one of the companies from producing the product at less cost by violating those standards and selling to customers who have neither the time nor energy nor inclination to study labels.

* * *

The argument that bad practices will quickly destroy a business is false. Companies change names. People are mobile and do not spend their time researching companies. Even major news exposés can be lost amongst the information overload....

Graubart, in critiquing the standard libertarian vision of a free market regulatory state, frequently refers to the “objectivist” position on this or that, seemingly taking the Randians as a stand-in for libertarianism in general. I get the impression that he has little exposure to the free market tradition or libertarian literature outside the Objectivist milieu, and in particular I get no indication that he's familiar with such writers on the mechanics of a free market regulatory regime as David Friedman or Morris and Linda Tannehill.

I think Graubart underestimates the extent to which a liberated tort law, in its full vigor and without liability caps and other forms of right-wing “tort reform” promoted by business lobbyists, would strike fear into the hearts of potential defrauders and malfeasants.

A genuinely libertarian common law of torts would restore the notions of liability that existed before state court judges changed the law to make it more business-friendly in the early-to-mid-19th century (as recounted by Morton Horwitz in The Transformation of American Law). Before these judge-made modifications to the classical law of torts, it wasn't necessary to prove negligence. If you did something that resulted in an unforeseen harm to your neighbor, you were liable for it, regardless of intent. And “standard business practices” weren't a defense—if a new business imposed negative externalities on neighbors who were already there, it was liable for them.

The 20th century regulatory state further weakened what civil damages were available to punish corporate wrongdoers. In many cases regulations like the EPA's environmental standards were dumbed-down, least-common-denominator standards that preempted common law standards of liability and created safe harbors against civil liability. So a company that destroys the watershed of an entire region through mountaintop removal, or poisons the air and water of surrounding communities and creates a cancer cluster by fracking, can say “Hey, we meet the EPA regulatory standard” and use that as a shield against liability in court.

I also think—something about which I'll have more to say below in my evaluation of his argument for the necessity of the Universal Entitlement—that Graubart underestimates how drastically a genuine free market economy would differ from our present one in structural terms. He seems to envision an economy still characterized by lots of corporate firms and an atomized society with lots and lots of anonymous transactions in the cash nexus.

But I believe that, absent state subsidies to long-distance transportation and economic centralization, and to large-scale enterprise and hierarchy, the pressure would be overwhelmingly toward decentralization and relocalization, and more demographically stable localities. The great bulk of manufactured items that are now imported from large factories across the United States or sweatshops in China would be produced in small garage factories with the surrounding neighborhood or community as their primary market. A great deal more—especially in the way of foodstuffs and clothing—would be produced in the informal economy of the large household itself, or informal barter and gift networks of multiple households. Rather than one-off transactions on the anonymous cash nexus, most economic exchange would overlap with the social ties of neighborhood and community, with people producing for customers they know by face and name.

In such a society, where most enterprises depended on repeat business from their neighbors, and selling dangerous or tainted goods that resulted in harm would get you assessed damages by a jury of your angry neighbors, both reputational and tort mechanisms would carry a lot more weight.

The Universal Entitlement is Graubart's version of a proposal that's been around for a long time (basic income, guaranteed minimum income, negative income tax, citizen's dividend, social credit, etc.).

And I find it attractive, at least as a transitional measure. As Graubart points out himself, a guaranteed minimum income would do away with the entire welfare state bureaucracy at federal, state and local levels, with its enormous administrative costs. But I find it far more attractive when packaged, as it is in proposals by the Geolibertarians, with a funding system based on taxing economic rents (primarily the site value of land) and negative externalities (i.e. Pigovian taxes on pollution and resource extraction). A libertarian society in which the welfare state was replaced by a universal basic income funded by a tax on unearned wealth, the regulatory state was replaced with prohibitive taxes on emissions of CO2 and toxic chemicals, and the market was otherwise completely free, would at least be a huge step in the right direction.

So I'm somewhat surprised that Graubart reinvents the wheel with a funding mechanism based on a 70% flat tax on consumption, instead of these other, more attractive funding proposals.

Of course Graubart's flat tax isn't nearly as regressive in practice as it sounds. First of all, it's a tax only on consumption spending over and above the Universal Entitlement, which is slightly over $1000 a month (and includes food, housing and healthcare among other necessities). So for those in the bottom three quintiles of the population, at least, a 70% tax on consumption over $1000 a month would probably be less than the total federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare payroll tax, and state and local sales and property taxes, that they're paying now.

And the consumption tax is only a temporary expedient for paying the Universal Entitlement while Reproductive Control (enforced by a requirement to pay the entire capitalized lifetime value of a future child's Universal Entitlement, $600,000, up front before having a child) is phased in. As Reproductive Control is implemented—Graubart proposes to gradually work up to the full $600,000 per child over many years—the consumption tax will be steadily lowered and replaced by revenue from the payment for having children.

The Universal Entitlement is deposited into an account that can be accessed for spending via a universal biometric identification system. An individual, say, buying food or clothing, or paying rent from this account simply swipes their hand, speaks or submits to a retinal scan to make a cashless payment. The Entitlement cannot be transferred from one person to another, with one big exception: between members of an Alternative Family. The Alternative Family, with its formal legal charter and bylaws, is the official building block of the AFFEERCE society, and all its members' Entitlements are shared within the family unit as a condition of membership.

The Transition. One thing I like about this book is, it's one of those visions of the future that falls within the category of (in the words of the Wobbly slogan) “building the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.

Graubart's book, first and foremost, is an appeal for investors (see his website at http://www.affeerce.org/). He intends to build lots of miniature local AFFEERCE societies as business corporations with joint land trusts as a platform for member households and business enterprises. These nuclei he calls “...AFFEERCE nations,” or “AFFEERCE enclaves that develop under the current government of the United States.”

Of course, the third and fundamental problem of all movements is how do we bring such a society about? There is only one sure way: a business plan. Relying on both the profit motive and the AFFEERCE spirit, AFFEERCE will grow into a corporation so large and powerful, it will swallow Washington whole. I promise you, when the time for capitulation comes, the people of the United States will vote nearly unanimously to turn power over to the AFFEERCE Nations. And until that fateful day, the United States Government and the AFFEERCE Nations shall coexist in complete harmony.

* * *

Keep in mind that AFFEERCE nations will form within the United States of America and be subject to its laws: most importantly, the code of the Internal Revenue Service. While our tax lawyers will utilize every loophole, and our representatives will work to make the code as favorable as possible for the AFFEERCE nations to flourish, AFFEERCE is built on honesty. The VIP will issue 1099s for every AFFEERCE citizen, and maintain automatic withholding into a dollar-denominated tax account....

...In pre-capitulation AFFEERCE, the AFFEERCE nation is a privately held corporation....

These AFFERCIANADO pioneers will form an AFFEERCE land corporation by purchasing shares and electing a board. The land corporation can buy contiguous foreign land, register it as AFFEERCE territory, optionally develop the land, and sell AFFEERCE territory to citizens (encumbered by an AFFEERCE lien).

I find this very attractive. The classic example of this approach was Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities, to be built on cheap colonized land in the countryside, and developed with funds from a land value tax on the appreciating real estate values. Dmytri Kleiner's “VentureCommunism” takes a similar approach. So does the movement in Vinay Gupta's short story “The Unplugged,” based on “buying in at the bottom” and building a comfortable subsistence lifestyle on the superior efficiency of small-scale high technology. The idea of an a

Twitter in Talks to Take Quarter of Space at 51 Astor Place

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 15:29:15 +0000

Twitter is close to anchoring the LEED Gold-hopeful 51 Astor Place by taking nearly 100,000 square feet at the trophy office tower.

Better Buildings Partnership Adds MOU, Unveils Updated Green Lease Toolkit

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:03:53 +0000

The UK's Better Buildings Partnership has released an updated version of its Green Lease Toolkit, which includes a sample Memorandum of Understanding for environmental lease objectives, and is an important addition to the growing compendium of available green leasing resources.