John Green explains why.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via upworthy)
Obamacare slightly improves the suckiness, but not much.
Category: economics
Does cosmic radiation account for Earth’s climate swings?
It looks a lot more convincing than the CO2 theory.
Danish Physicist Henric Svensmark has offered a cosmic theory for Earth’s primary climate swings through history.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Svensmark’s had trouble getting anyone to pay his data serious attention.
Here’s a more detailed documentary on his findings.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Both videos linked from wattsupwiththat.com.
I thank Brian for the link. Long a “global warming” skeptic, cosmic radiation theory is my new default explanation for the long series of ice ages and warmings we’ve experienced for millions of years.
NEXT?
Can we somehow harness cosmic radiation for energy?
Whether or not Petroleum products are warming the Earth, they’ll run out soon.
only 20% of people married with children
A graph of 40 years of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, shows that fewer American households are comprised of married couples with children. …
strike Syria?
The best summary of the Obama dilemma was posted on Economist.
Fight this war, not the last one
Economist concludes that the USA should give Assad one more chance to admit to using chemical weapons. ” … if he demurs, hit him hard …”
It’s a compelling argument. But I disagree.
The USA should begin to phase out it’s role as unappreciated Policeman to the World, even if it means innocents in other nations suffer.
The American President should learn not to make threats he’s not willing to make good on. The American taxpayers do not want to pay for yet another expensive, ultimately useless intervention.
Is Obama embarrassed right now?
He’s a proud man. I’m sure he is.
Take it on the chin. And move on.
By the way, I am talking about this War. It would be an entirely different matter if this was a nuclear power like Pakistan, Iran or even North Korea.
flee to Belize
I have reasonably wealthy American friends who just bought retirement property in Belize.
Something like this …
Like many wealthy Americans, they are disappointed with Obama’s Presidency. Worried about the future.
They’ve done the right thing, I feel.
Anyone with means in the USA should look to paying their own retirement. Putting together an escape plan.
Things are going to get worse in the States before they get better.
English is the language of Belize. That helps.
Lonely Planet soon DEAD to me?
I love Lonely Planet.
But not — perhaps — for much longer.
The end of guide books? Lonely Planet lays off one-third of editorial staff
Venerable travel guide brand Lonely Planet, which has bounced from owner to owner in recent years, just announced some bad news: They’re slashing staff on three continents and getting rid of much of their content staff. Almost 100 jobs were slashed in Melbourne, Australia alone, and additional layoffs were made at Lonely Planet’s London and Oakland offices. …
Update: According to an email from a Lonely Planet publicist, “Print will continue to be part of the mix” for the company.
They say they’ll switch to more digital format, more user generated content.
The time’s not right. Yet.
Show me a worthy digital alternative to a Lonely Planet guidebook?
America’s idiotic War on Drugs
The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki, is a 2012 documentary film about the War on Drugs in the United States.
The documentary has been well received. Among the review aggregators, Rotten Tomatoes gave it 95% based on 55 reviews …
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
In the USA you can watch it on YouTube for free.
Here are some other places you can get it.
The Wire on HBO really got me thinking about this issue again. I’m wondering if there are any more expensive, less effective strategies than that used by the U.S. government.
Must be … But I can’t think how.
on 401(k) fees …
For my American friends.
Question: How much money are you paying in 401(k) fees?
Answer: Have you thought about buying a home lately?That’s right. According to Robert Hiltonsmith at Demos, a New York based think tank, we could purchase a residence with the amount of money the financial services and retirement industries siphon out of our 401(k) savings over the course of our careers. His recently released report, The Retirement Savings Drain, calculates that the average household will pay almost $155,000 over the course of a lifetime for the privilege of saving their own money, just slightly under the median price of a previously occupied home in the United States, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“There is ample evidence that these fees are excessive,” Hiltonsmith writes. His evidence: The costs of running a traditional pension is significantly less than that of administering a 401(k). …
Forbes – More Bad News About 401(k) Fees
One example …
via Frontline – The Retirement Gamble.
AIDS in South Africa
… South Africa is believed to have more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world.
The 2007 UNAIDS report estimated that 5,700,000 South Africans had HIV/AIDS, or just under 12% of South Africa’s population …
The other top five countries with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence are all neighbours of South Africa. …
The four main HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in South Africa are Khomanani (funded by the government), LoveLife (primarily privately funded), Soul City (a television drama for adults) and Soul Buddyz (a television series for teenagers).
Soul City and Soul Buddyz are the most successful campaigns although both campaigns experienced a slight loss of effectiveness between 2005 and 2008. Khomanani is the least successful campaign, although its effectiveness has increased by more than 50% between 2005 and 2008.
The dubious quality of condoms which are distributed is a setback to these efforts. In 2007, the government recalled more than 20 million locally manufactured condoms which were defective. …
One local told me that there are some poor South Africans not worried to get AIDS so they can go on benefits.
Some of those, of course, are pregnant.
loved by Albertans, hated by Eastern creeps and bums
Ralph. Ralph. Ralph.
I liked him as Mayor of Calgary. And mostly liked him as Premier of Alberta.
Sure he had his faults. OK, many faults.
But ran consistent, increasing surplus budgets.
Politicians are trustees of other people’s money.
I wish he was still running the show. We’d be in much healthier shape than with Stelmach or Redford.
The best summing up I’ve read is in Macleans by Colby Cosh – Ralph Klein, R.I.P.: the deceptive shape of a shadow
