Links for 9/14/11

First of all, I would commend to everybody last week's post on the Archdruid Report, Invasion of the Space Bats, and more specifically John Michael Greer's challenge to all writers (or aspiring writers):

I propose that as many of you as are willing write a short story set in the future in the wake of peak oil, and put it on the internet. (If you don’t have a site, Blogspot and Wordpress both offer free blogging space that you can use for the purpose.) When it’s up, post a link to it on the comments page of this post. Meanwhile, I’m going to sound out some publishers, and see if I can find one willing to bring out the world’s first anthology of peak oil-related short stories; if that happens, I’ll pick the best dozen or so stories, add an introduction, and get the collection into print. If any money comes out of it—there probably won’t be much—it will be split between the contributors or, if they agree, donated to a peak oil nonprofit.

Here are the submission requirements for the contest:

• Stories should be between 2500 and 7500 words in length;
• They should be in English, with correct spelling, grammar and punctuation;
• They should be stories—narratives with a plot and characters—and not simply a guided tour of some corner of the future as the author imagines it;
• They should be set in our future, not in an alternate history or on some other planet;
• They should be works of realistic fiction or science fiction, not fantasy—that is, the setting should follow the laws of nature as those are presently understood;
• They should deal directly with the impact of peak oil, and the limits to growth in general, on the future; and...
• There must be a complete and utter shortage of alien space bats.

My submission will hopefully be appearing in this space soon, assuming that I can find enough time to write it. Since even finding time to post regularly in this blog is proving somewhat challenging, I make no promises regarding schedule.

Other links of recent interest:

The Rise of Localist Politics (The New Atlantis, h/t Front Porch Republic)

U.S. measures to reduce teenage smoking deemed WTO violation (Public Citizen, h/t Naked Capitalism)

Germany and Greece flirt with mutual assured destruction (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph) This is one of many news items this week describing the ongoing trainwreck in Europe.

Study: Tolls would drive away half of Hwy. 520 traffic (Seattle Times)