Assorted links
1. Why don’t all peoples form neat, orderly lines?
2. Japan will label carbon footprints for many items
3. Charles Mann, on our eroding supply of dirt and the economics of soil. I am a big fan of Mann (he wrote the superb 1491) and this is one of the best magazine pieces of this year if not the best. On top of all the good economics in this piece, learn how the "black revolution" — putting carbon in the soil — may solve agricultural problems and alleviate global warming at the same time. Hat tip to Kottke.
4. The latest: "Chile’s lower house of congress has suspended plans to boost a $1,626 gasoline subsidy for each of its members."