Jan
31
2010
In his state of the union address, President Obama said that
“Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. (Applause.) Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected. But all other discretionary government programs will. Like any cash-strapped family, we [...]
Jan
21
2010
A beautiful press release from NASA just appeared which concisely and directly summarizes the analysis of global temperature since 1880 using three data sources. Find the article here: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/temp-analysis-2009.html. I particularly like that they make a clear distinction between short-term local effects (El Nino, La Nina), short-term cyclic effects (solar irradiance), and long term global [...]
Jan
18
2010
On this day remembering the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , I performed my annual ritual of listening to his “I Have a Dream” speech. This year, I tried for focus my attention on one of the early themes of the speech: the bad check. King wrote and said,
“In a sense [...]
Jan
09
2010
In a lifetime, your chance of dying from heart disease is 1 in 5. Your chance of dying in a car accident is 1 in 272. Your chance of dying while walking is 1 in 623. Your chance of dying due to drowning or accidental submersion is 1 in 1073. Your chance of dying due [...]