Interesting Concrete Perspective on Emissions

I have been stressing the point, that carbon emissions reduction is a blatant attack on growing economies. The main reason, is that growing economies depend on increasing energy supplies, and most of our power plants are dependent on fossil fuels. There's been a lot of hype on developing alternative and renewable energy sources, but most of those technologies are not as efficient in the power output to land-use or cost ratios. Nuclear power is hamstrung by environmental regulation. So, how about letting industry be more energy efficient as a means to cutting carbon emissions? A novel approach is discussed in this LiveScience article: reducing the energy required to make cement, by replacing calcium with magnesium. Since a cement structure with magnesium requires less heat to manufacture than the usual lime and clay matrix, energy use, and costs, go down. Unfortunately, magnesium is an earth metal, which means it is highly reactive and must be handled as a hazardous substance. Poor concrete manufacture could have magnesium seeping into the ground, and then we would have health concerns like we do over mercury and lead. Also, I wish the writer of the article would cite where he got the figure that cement manufacturing accounts for ten percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Seems like too round of a figure. If a safer metal can be used to replace calcium, this idea might have legs, otherwise, it's just another dream to be put aside with the new industry that buries carbon dioxide under the ocean floor.

British Health Care Doesn't Want to Pay for Braces

The stereotype of bad British teeth has been around for a long time, made light of in the Austin Powers movies, and kept alive by stories of superstitious Brits who campaign against putting poison in the water supply (fluoride). But when the Brits went to socialized health care, some Brits decided to make the state pay for orthodontia. With the current state of dental health, I'm sure the controllers of the health care system saw that as a downhill trip to bankruptcy. So, as any other advocacy group would do, they funded a study to see whether straight teeth improve self-esteem. Guess which way the study answered that question. "Nah, you don't need braces, because they won't make you happy anyhow. Plus, you'll look like some damn Aussie with your straight teeth and brilliant smile. You don't want to stand out, do you?"

Which Countries Are Most Susceptible...

...to superstition and junk science? That wasn't the point of this bit of push-polling propaganda spew on anthropogenic global warming, but that's the question that got answered for me. According to the article, people in "Latin America were most worried" while those in the United States were the least. Also, the countries most prone to natural disasters rated global warming as "very serious." As developing nations move away from animistic traditions that not even forced Christianization has removed, the need to attribute events outside of human control to the "gods" or "spirits" is slowly being culturally transferred to governments and multi-national corporations.

What about the junk science side of the coin? China is a key part of the story, whose government is responsible for the worst air pollution and most questionable land-use policies in the last 50 years. Eastern europeans, still cleaning up their environmental disasters from years of communist bloc resource management, were quick to attribute human activity to global warming, just like to the Chinese. Grouping all environmental issues together is a natural response, but specious reasoning, of which junk science proponents and propagandists heartily take advantage.

Glaringly, there were no characterizations of the opinions of western europeans. What do the regular people of Britain and Old Europe think of man-made global warming, when their politically correct minders are not around? Could it be this political push to rush into harsh economic constraints, when we're not sure that anything we do will actually accomplish anything, really does not have the backing of the people?

Dunk the Donuts for that Extra Buzz

Now I know this energy-fortified craze is getting out of hand when we have people figuring out how to infuse donuts with caffeine. The punchline: "Each piece of pastry is the equivalent of about two cups of coffee." Just what the heck is going on down there in Durham, North Carolina?

The Taxman Cometh

I started receiving my tax information this week from my various banks and other revenue streams, so that means I'll have to start signing various documents and talking with my accountant. Of course, I won't follow any of the following suggestions, particularly describing my occupation as "pimp," although my previous job has been called "floor supervisor" at other plants.

"That sounds like hocus pocus mumbo jumbo funny talk if you ask me."

Fit the Facts to the Policy

In a logical world, governing bodies would create and enforce policy based on reality and facts, but in the real world, perception and biases highlight or emphasize only certain facts or phenomena to fit a worldview. It happens all the time, and is the very key to propaganda campaigns. But since the Enlightenment, Science has held the rubric that it's conclusions, principles, and laws are based solely on reality, anything less is speculation, hypothesis, or theory. But one thing Scientists could always agree on, is that the facts were the same, which is why reproduceable results in experimentation is part of the peer review process.

This is why I am dismayed, but not surprised, to learn from Climate Audit,that the 4th IPCC assessment has these backward procedures for recommending policy to international groups: "Changes (other than grammatical or minor editorial changes) made after acceptance by the Working Group or the Panel shall be those necessary to ensure consistency with the Summary for Policymakers or the Overview Chapter." Executive summaries of findings are supposed to be edited for consistency with the findings, not the findings edited to fit the summary. Some of the comments point this out to be conspiracy by the 600 or so scientists working on the IPCC assessment, but others quickly suggest the correct term: charade.

On a side note, commenter Steve Sadlov introduces a term for envirobats that I should have seen before, since I've already made the connection of communism as the basis for almost all Green politics and activism. "Hard core Gaia worshippers and radical environmentalists are watermelons. Green on the outside and red on the inside." I say I should have seen that before because I came from a school with a large asian minority, so encountering eggs (white on the outside, yellow on the inside) or bananas/twinkies (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) in dating situations was quite common. But watermelon! That's awesome and a keeper!

Ambush Interview Rescue

I know what you're thinking, and I hate those ambush interview tactics that are pretty popular for TV news magazines, documentaries, and now webisodes. But in the Halo world, it means something totally different. Help, Solid Gold Elite Dancers!

"Here to save yo' ass!"

Here Comes the Latest Boycott

I usually don't do the "political" thing here, but after seeing this story about a rude response to a soldier's inquiry about shipping to APO addresses, I had to remind people that anyone who says they don't support the war (whichever war), but supports the troops, is a liar. Especially politicians who promise to cut funding. The time to express disagreement is before the military action is taken, but once the military mobilizes, support the war, the troops, and the funding. The quicker the action is over, the more troops who can come home. But undercutting military operations, be it politically, by pulling appropriations, or blaming the soldiers for doing their jobs, does not "support" the troops. It makes their jobs tougher, can hurt morale, and makes it more likely that more young men and women will get hurt or die. So the next time you see a bumper sticker that says, "Support the Troops, Not the War," you'll know exactly what that person driving the car thinks of the military and the people in its ranks. So, Discount-Mats.com, you will never get my business, and I hope people reading this will share my sentiment.

via Instapundit

Technical difficulties? I should hope so.

Now That's Just Wrong

A pet shop owner has just marketed something new for rich Fido companions: beer for dogs. There are three things that concern me with this product: 1) We are not given the alcohol content, so we're not sure just how drunk little Spot is going to get from sharing a bowl with the leash holder, which could lead to abuse charges in animal rights friendly Europe. 2) The "beer" is fit for human consumption, to which I retort, "Nu-uh!" And 3) the doggie hooch costs 4 times as much as a "people" beer. What's to stop me from helping my four-legged best friend to one of my own bottles? Like I said, "That's just wrong."

Back to Normal...

...Whatever that means. I'm guessing I missed a lot of interesting tech, science, and odd news over the last few days, so instead of trying to catch up, I'll start fresh tomorrow. Also, I owe you guys a Helmety Goodness contribution, so look out for two posts this week. Now, I understand there are some interesting games happening in this "foot-ball" sport of ours. I'm going to do some "field research." Thank you all, again, for the kind words, thoughts, prayers, and condolences during this brief break.

Light Blogging

There has been a death among my close circle of friends, so I'll be helping out where I can during the rest of the week. I'll update when I can.

Lame Coffee Joke

Yeah, so lame, I had to post it:

Spouse #1: Honey, this coffee tastes like dirt.
Spouse #2: That’s not surprising, dear, it was just ground this morning.

Which reminds me, I need another cup...

(via Coffee City Blog)

Burgers Came from Connecticut; Bush Too

Heh. "Get over it, Texas."

The Basics of Non-Consensus on Warming Debate

Roger Pielke, in criticising a New York Times story on how the global warming debate is "over," offers an excellent summary on the sticking points of anthropogenic global warming being tied directly to carbon dioxide emissions. Four basic points are:

• It is true that if ONLY the radiative effect of added CO2 were considered, the lower atmosphere would warm. However, the radiative effect of added CO2 is only one factor that humans influence the climate system, as shown, for example, in the 2005 National Research Council report, “Radiative Forcing of Climate Change: Expanding the Concept and Addressing Uncertainties” [...] The effect of the human input of CO2 into the climate system needs to be considered together with the entire spectrum of diverse human- and natural-climate forcings and feedbacks.
• These [IPCC] assessment reports [...] are managed by only a small subset of climate scientists, who often use a platform as Lead Author to promote their research and their particular perspective. The authorship is hardly “an enormous international network of experts”.
• [The reporter] has ignored peer reviewed research that has shown a wide range of problems with the surface temperature records including a significant warm bias in the minimum temperatures over land. Contrary to his claim, most of the increase in temperature has actually been in the minimum temperatures at the higher latitudes. The temperature trends for the oceans and land have not been parallel.
• The data up through December 2006 show that actual global stratospheric temperatures after cooling from the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the early 1990s, have remained more-or-less constant since then. With added CO2, the stratosphere should be continuing to cool; a [sic] issue that the article chose not to mention.

In disagreeing with the line, "Almost everyone in the field says the consequences can essentially be reduced to a formula: More CO2 = warmer world = less ice = higher seas," Prof. Pielke responded, "I assume I must fit outside of his category of “almost everyone." Me too.

Steal WiFi? Break the Law.

At least in Singapore, where the first criminal to be prosecuted under a new law prohibiting accessing wireless networks without permission. Here in America, we just shrug and think: "Dude, at least 64-bit encrypt and get a firewall, duh!" But I guess that's just too much work for those poor Singaporeans.

Nigerian President Blames Deforestation for Climate Change

In a striking breath of fresh air, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called on his neighbors to follow international accords on climate change, emphasizing land use policy as the main culprit for regional drought. Here is the crux of his speech:

He said deforestation was having a detrimental effect on the continent's ecology and called for urgent action to prevent Lake Chad, a shallow lake providing water to millions of people in several African countries, from drying up.

"We have to do something about the lake so that about 10 million people will not be out of water," Obasanjo warned.

Lake Chad borders Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. Water levels have been falling in recent years due to climate change and increased human usage.

Deforestation is something both sides of the global warming debate can agree on: changing the environment radically, especially clear-cutting what was once forest, will increase the average temperature for the habitat, and the surrounding habitats. This is a well-known effect, and is something that is entirely correctable. Unfortunately, the solution will also take decades to reverse the warming trend around Lake Chad, but adhering to international protocols and treaties will be a big step in reversing that trend. Bonus point: not one mention of CO2 or global warming.

Out of the mouths of Shar Pei mixes...

Sage, Satchel, sage.

 

 

Cat Stuck in Doggy Door

AP Photo/The Oregonian, Benjamin Brink

Now that's a big kitty! He got stuck trying to steal some dog food while his owner was out of town. Owner and BIG KITTY have since been reunited. Hey! Does this count as Friday cat-blogging?

Helmety Holidays

Yes, it might be a little late to be posting this, but making fun of politically correct greetings during the Christmas season never gets old for me. So, be prepared for Red vs. Blue's hexadecimal, nonemotional, end of the year message. Also, this little vid contains the finest collection of Sargeisms concentrated in a 20 second burst.

 

"I'm going to rip off his partridge and kick him in the pear trees!"

 

Caffeine Helps Muscle Soreness

The bro sent me a link to a story about how coffee taken before a workout helps suppress pain, which is something that cyclists have known about for decades. The story even acknowledges that fact here: "Past studies have shown it also boosts endurance, and one experiment found caffeine reduces pain during moderate-intensity cycling." However, too much caffeine can be a bad thing, as I proved to myself on a Jitter Java Tour last year. I certainly didn't suffer from any soreness, but I did have to make more frequent pit stops, and I had the dreaded caffeine spazz-out. Not good when your average heart rate was about 175 bpm. That's normal cruising rate for me, so don't get too worried, and yes, I am a hummingbird.

El Niño Weakening

In a bit of good news for drought-suffering Australia, recent data show that the current El Niño is beginning to weaken, and drought conditions would dissipate over the next few months. But always eager to tie anything to global warming, the story included this line: "Earlier this month the weather bureau said Australia appeared to be suffering from accelerated greenhouse warming, meaning El Nino may occur more frequently and with more intensity as surface water in the central Pacific steadily warmed." But the weather bureau doesn't say that global warming may also weaken and decrease the El Niño and La Niña cycle, depending on which climate model you use. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the relationship between El Niño and global warming is unknown:

We don't know the answer to this question. It is certainly a plausible hypothesis that global warming may affect El Niño, since both phenomena involve large changes in the earth's heat balance. However, computer climate models, one of the primary research tools for studies of global warming, are hampered by inadequate representation of many key physical processes (such as the effects of clouds on climate and the role of the ocean). Also, no computer model yet can reliably simulate BOTH El Niño AND greenhouse gas warming together. So, depending on which model you choose to believe, you can get different answers. For example, some scientists have speculated that a warmer atmosphere is likely to produce stronger or more frequent El Niños, based on trends observed over the past 25 years. However, some computer models indicate El Niños may actually be weaker in a warmer climate. This is a very complicated (but very important!) issue that will require further research to arrive at a convincing answer.[emph. added]

"Depending on which climate model you choose to believe." Wait, believing that people are causing global warming and can reverse it depends on choosing a specific climate model? It's a matter of faith? Mother Gaia will be pleased.

Dune Universe Slowly Becoming Reality

Glenn Reynolds shows off his Geek-cred, again, by making a Dune reference.

Dell Goes Green, But Displays Warmening Bias

At the CES, Dell unveiled a better recycling program for all those old and used electronics consumers don't need anymore when they buy that new computer or printer. However, by signing on to the Plant a Tree for Me program, the corporation shows that some of its motivation is a PR ploy to woo other global warmening dupes, and to shield itself from environmental activists groups. Planting trees to offset logging is fine, but tying trees to "offset emissions" when research has shown that forests are not carbon sinks, and at best, are only carbon neutral. It was also sad to see Dr. Evil (aka Mike Meyers) add to the patter by saying: "We can't destroy the planet, otherwise I have nothing to take over." Puh-lease. When Dr. Evil holds the planet ransom for ooone biiillliion dollars by threatening to set off a nuke, I doubt the character cares very much about carbon dioxide in the troposphere.

Japanese School Seeks to Preserve Heritage

And how, exactly, will this new Japanese school select elite students? By testing them on their chopstick skills. With how quickly Japanese pop culture takes on new trends, it seems understandable there would be a cultural heritage movement. Otherwise, how would the rest of the world know that Tokyo doesn't survive radioactive monster attacks three times a year, or that their young people actually don't have pink or blue hair, or eyes as big as half their faces?

 

What? Japanese girls don't look or dress like this? Aaagh! Paradigm shift!

 

Ohio County Braces for Prison Riots

Wait, that wasn't the headline for the news story? Oh, my bad. It was actually Ohio County Cuts Doughnuts for Inmates. Maybe this trans-fat ban craze is getting out of hand.

Help Wanted Sign for Global Warmening Shill

The head UN official in charge of fooling people that industry is responsible for global warming, and that wealth redistribution through carbon credits and climate impact funds is the way to save us from ourselves, is feeling "helpless" that his agency and the media haven't totally fooled a world leader enough to galvanize the worldwide hoax. Was that characterization a little strong? The media has bought into the hoax, according to Yvo de Boer:

"Just opening a newspaper" shows evidence of this sea change in people's attitudes toward climate change, de Boer told The Associated Press during a visit to Paris, where he was attending a conference on illegal logging. He noted that global warming has become a key campaign issue in elections from Australia to Canada.

And he adds this:

"We are at the stage where we need a mandate from the level of heads of state to get the climate change negotiations moving again," de Boer said.

So, fooling the media and activist groups isn't enough, since no world leader has taken the time to push for stopping global industry in its tracks. Maybe that global war on terrorism and security issues might be taking up most of the G-8's leaders' attention? You know, a real problem, and something they can do something about, instead of fanciful notions of stopping people from breathing, cutting back on cattle farts, and preventing forests from composting.

Why...? Lake-Effect.

Local Chicago weatherguys crack me up. Why? Because of one word they use to explain every new change in the weather: Lake-effect.

It's About Time!

We should be getting more sources of viable energy from Alaska, as the Bush administration lifted bans on energy exploration at the request of local and state officials. As oil prices keep dropping to the "normal" price of 35 dollars a barrel (still above 50 right now), rumors of Iran drying up from its own domestic usage, and OPEC cutting production to prop up oil speculation prices, US sources of oil and natural gas will become more important in the next few years. Especially with how much electricity we use today, especially with all those nice gadgets we all "need" being introduced at the CES.

New Theory on Conquistador Plague on Shaky Ground

It is pretty much historical dogma that part of what made the Old World so easily conquer the New World, and its inhabitants, was the role of Old World diseases decimating native populations even before explorers reached their villages. Even the title of Jared Diamond's book acknowledges the prominence of disease in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Now, a microbiologist, reading a translation of a doctor's eyewitness account of the third wave of plagues in Mexico, posits that this third wave, the most devastating according to Mexican historians, came from native hemmhoragic fever instead of transplanted bubonic plaque, typhoid fever, or measles. The new theory is based solely on the latin writings of the Spanish doctor, explaining that "[b]lood flowed from the ears and in many cases blood truly gushed from the nose." The vector for the hemmhoragic fever theory is rodents, which the researchers claim would not have been in contact with the Spaniards in the outlying villages, where they claim the epidemic got its start. But if this was hemmhoragic fever, that eventually got to the larger settlements, where the conquistadors were, how did the spaniards escape the ebola-like virus? The rodents may be responsible for the bringing the disease across great distances, but once it's in a major population center, the infectiousness of the virus, whether that's fluid, aerosol, or contact, takes over. And it would have to be very infectious to take out the estimated millions in the 1576 outbreak. Where were the spaniards bleeding from their ears and noses? One written account may add some confusion to the overall picture, but because one account's pathology does not match the epidimiology is not enough to revise history in this matter.

General Motors Goes Electric, Again

After the failed experiment of an all-electric car in the late 1990s, General Motors unveiled a new concept all-electric car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. According to GM, the concept could become reality if battery pack technology advances in the right direction in the next two to three years. I suddenly lost interest in the article after that misstep, and stopped reading altogether when I came to this line: "The Volt [name of concept car] is designed to run for 40 miles on pure electric power, making it marketable for everyday family use." Most Americans do not want to worry whether their car is reaching the end of battery-life like they do with their cell phones, lap-tops, or i-pods. Also, most Americans do not want to buy a car only for commuting with no deviations from the daily routine. And to top it off, the largest car market in the United States, Southern California, has average commute mileage of way more than 40 miles. Infrastructure and business incentives will be added to the marketing of this vehicle so that work-places will be encouraged to let their employees suck at the electricity teat during the work hours. They claim a higher speed than the EV1 disaster, but give no specifics.

Also, touting the pure electric route just pushes emissions liabilities on to the power plants, so it really isn't a "green" decision to drive this car. New power plants have not been built over the last 25 years because of environmental concerns, bureaucracy, and legal stalling. The new alternative renewable sources coming on-line in the next decade represent barely a drop in the bucket that current coal, oil, and nuclear plants provide. As the political climate buys in to the hoax of curbing carbon emissions, but still actively blocks nuclear solutions, choosing a boutique electric car will become an expense, not a saver. GM should concentrate on making automatic transmissions more fuel conservative than manual transmissions, that would be a good start. And they should listen to the unspoken real number one concern in their marketing surveys for consumer preferences: horsepower. Everything else but gas mileage is politically correct pablum that gets thrown by the wayside when people actually buy their cars.

Update: The bro contributes a link to a story that explains the recharging unit in better detail, which could actually make this concept a seller. The Reuters link only has this on the recharging generator: "The Volt's combustion engine is designed only as a supplement to keep its batteries charged, an innovation GM executives hope will help the automaker jump ahead of Toyota Motor Corp., which now dominates the hybrid market." Please forgive my ignorance. However, the main point still stands, none of this makes any difference until the battery technology works with the concept. If it does, then I can totally see this 1 liter hybrid actually working. But, battery tech, along with concerns of current designs over-heating, is the big "if" on this concept. We wouldn't want these new cars catching on fire in the middle of the freeway, would we?

It's Never Too Late...

...to return that overdue library book, but 47 years late? It only cost the man 171 dollars too, to assuage that guilty conscience.

Star Wars: A Clone Apart - Episode 03 (Part 2 of 3)

Since I'm late because of the recent power struggles, I'm just going to throw up the latest installment of Illusive Entertainment's A Clone Apart. Our hapless hero Danson goes planetside for the first time, disposes of local riffraff, and wonders how the empty streets of Mos Eisley could ever be called "bustling."

 

Random quote from somewhere in the middle of Episode 3:
"Golden, glowy, terrible, terrible eyes..."

 

Power Outage!

Severe wind gusts knocked out power across the Southland. Pasadena lost power around 6:45 this morning, so forgive me if I'm a little surly, but I have not had any coffee today. Power was just restored at 3:15 PM, so the first thing I did was set all the clocks, and make sure the little router that could got reconnected to the outside world. Obviously it did, because here I am. The wind is still blowing strong, but at least we have clear skies.

Guide to Understanding French Rudeness

Heh. Even French tourism authorities know rude Parisians hamper foreigners' vacation experience, ultimately hurting the tourism industry, so they provided a tongue-in-cheek visitors' guide. Take a look at the common Parisian rude gestures. My favorite is the Bof, the gallic shrug: "Use it to deny knowledge, agreement, or responsibility." Sounds like French foreign policy right there.

Warming Prediction to Watch: 2007 Warmest Evah!

The British Meteorological Office announced their prediction that 2007 would be the warmest year on record, even warmer than 1998. The British Office based this prediction mainly on the current El Niño, but added the "high level" of greenhouse gases. Most scientists agree that the strong El Niño of 1997-1998 made 1998 the warmest year on record, but since the policy of the British government is to throw in with all the claims made by anthropogenic greenhouse gas warming, the cyclic El Niño only adds to the man-made forcings already in evidence (their evidence, of course). And to top it off, the AP writer gets warming quotes from top Warming shill Phil Jones. There's enough british climatologists in the meteorological office who believe man-made greenhouse gases are the major forcings for warming, but the AP writer couldn't get any more statements than the press release? Sloppy, biased, agenda-driven. Everything I've come to expect from british sources reporting on climate change.

Faster Laptop Boot-ups, Slower Battery Drain

Using a combination of flash-drive technology melded with standard spinning hard-drives, this hybrid tech will speed up boot times for laptops, and increase battery life. Hopefully, this tech will be common (and cheap) by the time I buy a new laptop, oh, in about 4 and a half years, since that's how long I keep bad-ass mothers around (well, they're bad-ass for about 3 months these days).

Duh! Bad Programmers Make Bad Software

In the biggest Duh! story of the year (so far, it's only 3 days in, give it time), this article blames programmers for crash-prone, confusing software. I repeat, Duh! Who else is to blame? The story does give one good piece of advice to programmers: "YOUR. USER. IS. NOT. YOU." Now, to be fair, the reporter is absolutely biased against programmers, because there is not one quote from someone who deals with idiot customers who do not know what they want ("Can you make the font bigger? And pink?"). That being said, as a social group, software programmers are not the best representatives of people-persons, so maybe some more sit-ins with quality-assurance volunteers during the development phase of the GUI could be a good suggestion.

Glacial Retreat Slowing Down

World Climate Report has a great summary of a new report on drought conditions and glacial area in Glacier National Park. Apparently, glacial loss is showing a slowing trend from the first half of the 20th century, when the main glacier there lost over half of its area, but only 12 percent over the last 25 years. I'm not sure if area is all that great an indicator as the ice retreats to its center, since that would be where it would be thickest, because glacial volume would be the more accurate measure. However, in terms of sheer size, the thickness of a glacier is very small compared to its area, so estimating a uniform thickness still gives us a good idea of the glacial retreat. According to the data, Glacier National Park is in a wet phase, not a drought. It's always interesting to see what real evidence says when compared to the alarmist handwringing.

Voodoo Priests Afraid of Castro

Heh. Even Santeria priests are wary that a prediction of Castro's death could be construed as sedition. But since they recommend sacrificing goats to encourage "social peace," will that mean a shortage or a population glut of the horny devils?

First Female Beefeater

Babe coming soon?

I've always found it interesting to read about the procedural traditions of centuries old organizations, such as the Vatican Swiss Guard still wearing the uniforms designed by Michaelangelo; or how the Jesuits are only a Society of priests instead of an Order, which is classified as a cloistered community who take solemn vows as opposed to simple vows (nuns vs. sisters, or monks vs. brothers). So I found it very cool that the Beefeaters selected their first female member in its 522 year old history by following its ancient rules and strictures. Of course, they had to wait until the British military accepted women into its ranks. But the question I'm dying to getting answered: are they gonna put a babe on the Beefeater gin label?

Non-Transfat New York Will Make Subways More Efficient

At least, that's the connection I made when I read the report that the top illness for sick customers causing delays on public transportation was fainting from dieting. With New Yorkers going back to eating anything they want at all those famous delis and restaurants, fewer dieters will mean fewer delays. Maybe the health commission was doing the right thing when they banned trans-fat, but I can think of other reasons for abandoning personal freedom to make sure the trains run on time.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Now to settle in for the inevitable bowl game coma... aah, I can feel my brain congealing as I write this...