Dan Olner

Over 40% of corn grown in Indiana is used to make ethanol that cars burn. One acre of corn yields about 16,500 vehicle-miles per year of ethanol, which sounds high until you realize that one acre of solar yields about 2,700,000 vehicle-miles per year: 16,000% more driving for a given plot of land.

Asking people to pay for goods would kill the shoplifting industry ...

I was lucky to be there at the best moment for it, when it was full of potential. I dunno how someone starting a career now would find their audience, particularly on the liberal left.

Big presence on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 too.

first 2 of 9 frames of an illustrated guide to recognising and resisting authoritarianism 1, [a woman is having to vote under the eye of a balaclava-wearing security force officer with an automatic rifle] History has shown us that some dictators have seized countries overnight through coups, while others consolidate power over years. However they proceed, the goal is always the same: to end democracy. 2. [drawing of a general and a politician / businessman exchanging a suitcase full of cash] History has also shown us the tools authoritarians use: propaganda, surveillance, violence, purging nonloyalists from institutions and co-opting elites with promises of never-before-seen profits.

3. Same General and businessman giving the thumbs up while exchanging a briefcase full of money but he's wearing a tracksuit now] Authoritarians often justify their repression by vowing to rid the country of criminals. But authoritarians may partner with the very gangs they pledged to eliminate, as Nicolás Maduro and Nayib Bukele reportedly do. 4. [woman who looks like the same one who was voting is sitting next to a man in sunglasses on public transport who is paying close attention to her and she's thinking "Secret Police?" ] Secret police are formed that are loyal only to the authoritarian leader. They create a climate of intimidation and terror, often by blending into the population, along with informants and other civilian collaborators.

7. [a man in a tank top and shirt is saying "Relax, It'll never happen here " to a woman who looks unconvinced and behind them both are many balaclava-wearing security forces with guns] Even though authoritarians often explicitly state their intentions, many people convince themselves that "it's not that bad" and think they won't be targeted... until the state comes for them, too. When government officials in masks appear, you know that no one is safe. 8. [group of people standing united in a crowd who look resistant] The history of authoritarian rule is also the history of resistance, Around the world, people have taken to the streets, even in situations of great danger, to tell the leader and his collaborators: "We refuse your violence and corruption. We stand in solidarity with the persecuted and the silenced."

How authoritarianism creeps in
And how it can be uprooted

Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Ivan Ehlers in the Los Angeles Times Sept 7 2025

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

The Royal Society should be protecting science, not Musk The esteemed club risks becoming a bystander as reason and rationality come under attack

The always brilliant Anjana Ahuja calls out the Royal Society for failing to stand up to Elon Musk.
www.ft.com/content/d4eb...

See this FT article also - US reverses only slightly denting direction of travel (~5% dip in renewables deployment by 2030, not just US-caused; a sizeable chunk but nothing that'll stop where it's going.) www.ft.com/content/2fa6... (cough cough openversion cough archive.ph/hvKK8)

A cartoon shows two men sitting in a cozy, book-filled study. One man with glasses and a beard sits in an armchair, while the other, also wearing glasses, reads aloud from a book. The caption reads: “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.”

Hahahahaaaargh.

It breaks my mind that two British political parties have seen scenes like this and decided to try and replicate it in Britain. Thuggary, lawlessness, state brutality. Farage and Badenoch decided they liked the look of it.

House of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Administration Set Ablaze Authorities are investigating a fire at the home of a South Carolina judge who had reportedly received death threats in what could be the latest incident of political violence across the country.

Over the weekend, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller repeatedly attacked judges, calling them part of an "organized terrorist attack" on the US government....

On Saturday, the home of a judge who ruled against Trump, went up in flames

time.com/7323442/sout...

Reason #452 Labour's ID card plan is so dumb at the moment - with Reform this high in the polls, you'd help centralise personal data more? Really?

My son recently found a swastika drawn on the pavement at... The Manchester attack didn't come as a shock. The only surprise is it hasn’t happened sooner

I wrote a short piece for the Observer on the attacks in Manchester.

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Oh damn, not the Fox News DEI hire telling career military they suck at their jobs.

Denmark is becoming the new Norway!

Electric vehicles in Denmark follow a text book S-curve.

In August: 69% of new sales were full battery electric vehicles.

Source @leraffl.bsky.social

"Forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour." Oh yeah, very good point.

If she does this, the gap between her policy and Farage's will narrow considerably. Retrospective legislation is the choice of tinpot dictators and intellectual vegetables. It means no-one could take Britain's word seriously.

YouTube reversing bans on creators flagged for COVID and election misinformation YouTube will allow creators banned under its old COVID-19 and election misinformation policies to return, Alphabet said in a letter to Congress.

At a major "anti-hate" conference a few years ago I was on a panel where I lightly suggested big tech companies were faking their concerns about hate/misinfo. It didn't go over too well.

But let the record show that once again I was right. They only care about money.

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

A cartoon shows a person presenting survey results on a large screen. The chart shows 99.8% of respondents saying “Yes, I love responding to surveys” and only 0.2% saying “No, I toss them in the bin.” The presenter tells the audience, “We received 500 responses and found that people love responding to surveys.” Four people at a table look on, one saying “Hmm…” The cartoon is titled “Sampling Bias.”

...

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London: "People will be wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, successful, diverse city. It seems to me that I’m living rent free inside Donald Trump’s head."

Reform's plan for a benefit clampdown Sir, Regarding Reform's plan to ban foreigners from claiming benefits ("Farage visas would make it harder to settle in the UK", news, Sep 22; "Time's Up", leading article, Sep 23), in my small company for the past ten years we have employed, on a yearly average, 32 eastern European people, two of them in senior management positions. They all pay British taxes and have had little or no unexplained absences to date. Sick leave for them is extremely low. As far as I am aware, none of them is claiming benefits for dependants. These diligent people provide compassionate care for their clients, living with them for a few weeks at a time. During the pandemic they were responsible for ensuring zero transmission of the virus to people in their care. I feel utterly ashamed that many of them will be reading about Nigel Farage's plan on their various social media platforms this morning. Chrstina Sell Managing director, Arbour

Our politics and media have become viciously obsessed with immigration. Farage has made sure of it. And in that obsession, they’ve all lost sight of the people they target. Fellow human beings trying to live and belong somewhere.
Shame on everyone responsible for this daily inhumanity
(Letter,Times)

spokesperson for Sadiq Khan:

“We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.

“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”

Guardian headline: "pay no attention: global health agencies dismiss false trump claim on everyday painkillers."

OK, better from the Guardian.

How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me, a beginner - annie's blog “Hello! I am a developer. Here is my relevant experience: I code in Hoobijag and sometimes jabbernocks and of course ABCDE++++ (but never ABCDE+/^+ are you kidding? ha!)  and I like working with ...

"How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me, a beginner" by Annie Mueller 😅 😂 😭

anniemueller.com/posts/how-i-...

Wes Streeting quote: "I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None. In fact, a major study was done back in 2024 in Sweden, involving 2.4 million children, and it did not uphold those claims. So I would just say to people watching, don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine. In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS."

Wes Streeting actually pitching this right. Guardian/NYT fluffing it. Streeting: "There is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None." Guardian: "Highly contentious conclusions" (nope, false conclusions). NYT: "Unproven link." Sigh...

It may have something to do with this 😉

So cool they discovered the cause of autism on basically day they guessed they would. I’m also glad they are withholding this information for a few days to prep for a WrestleMania-style announcement. This is how science works.

a black and white photo of a crowd of people with a sign that says walter ALT: a black and white photo of a crowd of people with a sign that says walter

In the late 19th century, millions of migrants left Germany as a result of religious persecution, economic hardship, and political uncertainty.

Among them was Nikolaus Schrod, a cabinet maker from Frankfurt who - along with his wife Bina - moved to London to start a new life in the 1850s. 1/3

I'll have more to say on Reform's proposals to scrap ILR at some point but for now I'll just note this - anyone telling you this is a popular idea doesn't know the polling. Overwhelming majority of public back giving people who work and pay taxes most or all rights after 5 years or less