Interesting Links for 29-12-2017

[andrewducker]

Female grant applicants are equally successful when peer reviewers assess the science, but not when they assess the scientist

(tags: science patriarchy society women )

Callous and unemotional traits show in brain structure of boys only

(tags: boys gender brain emotion psychology caring )

Jeremy Corbyn: “We’re not advocating a second referendum”

(tags: Europe UK labour )

Britain’s power system is the fourth cleanest in Europe and the seventh cleanest in the world.

(tags: electricity environment renewables )

Campaigning for higher and fairer taxes

(tags: tax uk politics libdem )

Sometimes Star Wars fans are the best fans

(tags: StarWars IceCream fandom )

Introducing Internet-based testing for STIs doubles testing uptake

(tags: sex disease internet )

Canada spends as much on marijuana as wine

(tags: Canada marijuana legalisation )

Shenzhen electrifies massive fleet of 16,000+ electric buses

(tags: China buses transport electricity )

Amazon and Google still can't agree to share nicely

(tags: Amazon Google YouTube OhForFucksSake )

Economics in Minecraft (some amazing stories. I don't understand all of it, but it's very fun)

(tags: economics minecraft markets games )

The economics of legal pot

(tags: marijuana legalisation economics )

Comments

[agoodwinsmith]

I am looking forward to pot being legal. I intend to grow some just because. I am, however, expecting big pharma to tighten its grip on the market and mercilessly squeeze out the little guys who have kept the campaign for legalization alive through some really tough times[1]. In addition - it'll be like when the Okanangan went from soft fruit to grapes - five bazillion failing little wineries slurped up dirt cheap by big concerns. The only way for a small producer to stay in business is to create some very special organic curated artisanal rare exquisite product for the connoisseurs - and once you start chasing well-to-do fashions, you're probably doomed anyway.

[1] - this is why police forces across Canada are pursuing easy pot targets during this last year before legalization - clearing the field for big pharma - one of the rules of conviction can be that the convicted cannot buy or sell for five years or whatever - clever eh?

[nojay]

I have seen claims that some of the pressure against legalisation of cannabis in various regions has come from illegal growers fearful that entry of the Big Boys will kill their profits -- they grow what is effectively a weed on waste land and open spaces and sell it for a big markup because it is illegal. Legalisation will kill that market, force them to pay taxes and get licences to produce their product and the Big Boys will push prices down and take their customers away from them.

[agoodwinsmith]

I think that might be the case for illegal *suppliers* (getting their stock from outside the country), but illegal growers are pretty small scale (grow-ops are still only the size of a single-family house). Even clandestine fields are only going to be the size of a market garden - not big farms requiring machinery harvesting. These local growers may have opinions against legalization - but they aren't going to have the financial resources to launch a lobbying campaign. They hardly have the financial resources to defend themselves in court.

Economics of Minecraft

[birguslatro]

Alice Maz is kinda awesome. Read her take on where the internet fits into the scheme of things...

https://jacobitemag.com/2017/12/05/a-priesthood-of-programmers/

It covers way more than just what the headline suggests.

[randomdreams]

I'm having troubles finding hard numbers, but Colorado is getting $350,000 in tax revenue from recreational marijuana every single day, and has been doing so consistently for six years. That's more than an order of magnitude more than it gets in tax revenue for wine. Tax on pot's higher, but I'm pretty sure people are spending more than twice as much here on pot as they are on wine. That number might be more even with beer, though.