Thu - August 30, 2007

Vacuous Financial News



I saw this summary of financial news this morning:

 

It a good example of stupid reporting. On most days you can read reports along the lines of "stocks up/down because of X" where there isn't really any evidence presented that X has anything top do with the day's stock market changes. It's just reporters providing filler. Much like today.

Posted at 12:57 PM    

Thu - June 21, 2007

Vaclav Klaus



This article shows refreshing clear thinking from President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus. Here's an excerpt:
Vaclav Klaus: I ask myself several questions [about climate change]. Let’s put them in the proper sequence:
• Is global warming a reality?
• If it is a reality, is it man-made?
• If it is a reality, is it a problem? Will the people in the world, and now I have to say “globally”, better-off or worse-off due to small increases of global temperature?
• If it is a reality, and if it is a problem, can men prevent it or stop it? Can any reasonable cost-benefit analysis justify anything – within the range of current proposals – to be done just now?
Surprisingly, we can say yes – with some degree of probability – only to the first question. To the remaining three my answer is no. And I am not alone in saying that. We are, however, still more or less the silent or silenced majority.
The climate has varied greatly over the last few billion years on this planet. It will continue to do so in the future regardless of human action. Lucky for us, we human have proven adept at adapting to it.

Posted at 09:28 AM    

Wed - November 8, 2006

Election 2006



This year’s election was a bit of a downer for me, but I note a few things:

Although the Democrats have the majority in the House and probably in the Senate for the next two years, the margins are fairly narrow and certainly not veto proof. So I'm reassured that the amount of havoc they can wreak is minimal.

President Bush is still our President and he still lists the War on Terror as his #1 priority. Regardless of cabinet shuffling, he will continue to fight the good fight no matter where it takes us. There is nothing more important to the future of our country.

And finally I note that Republican’s know how to lose like adults. No baseless accusations of “stolen” elections or legions of lawyers unleashed to fight it out in court. We are not sore losers.

“We’ll be back” -- said by a character played by California Gov. Schwarzenegger (R), who happened to be re-elected last night

Posted at 10:23 PM    

Wed - October 4, 2006

A Booming Economy, but it's hard to tell from reading about it



Most of the economic reporting this fall is so gloomy. As an example, here's a quick glance at Reuters (via Yahoo) today:



Sounds worrisome doesn't it.

Yet the markets are booming. Yesterday, the Dow closed higher than it ever has in it's history. It's up again today:



Over at the Sensible Mom blog, there is a interesting post about this seeming disconnect between how the economy is actually doing and how it's being reporting in much of the media. This post contrasts the reporting of the Chicago Tribune today and back during the dot com bubble. Back then the Dow was setting new highs too. Funny how the reporting changes with who's in power...

Posted at 03:27 PM    

Fri - September 29, 2006

Well said Mr. President



"You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism, if that ever becomes the mind-set of the policymakers in Washington, it means we'll go back to the old days of waiting to be attacked -- and then respond."

George W. Bush, September 29, 2006

Posted at 09:27 PM    

Wed - July 5, 2006

STS-121 Liftoff





The shuttle Discovery returned to space yesterday (July 4th) for its 32nd flight into orbit. A fitting day for the fireworks that a shuttle liftoff brings.

The shuttle is still an impressive machine after all these years, but it's really time to move on to newer approaches.

Posted at 09:25 AM    

Thu - April 6, 2006

FedEx Logo





I never realized that the "new" (well, it's been more than 10 years...) FedEx logo contained a subtle design element: a white arrow formed by the junction of the final E and x. Now that I see it, it seems rather obvious.

According to this article the arrow was carefully designed into the logo by Lindon Leader of Leader Creative in Park City, Utah. Nice work.

Posted at 04:43 PM    

Sat - February 11, 2006

Guanlong wucaii





Discovered in 2002 (reported last week in the Journal Nature) in Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, China, the Gobi Desert, this is the earliest know example of a tyrannosaur type dinosaur. Notice the feathers in this artists rendering - paleontologists now hypothisize that this family of dinosaurs were covered by feathers. (There is a higher resolution version of this picture here)

Posted at 10:03 AM    

©