Vincent Carroll had a wonderful opinion piece in the March 17, 2013 Denver Post about the powerful organization’s adamant resistance to doing anything to change Social Security. I suggest you read the entire article. It was inspired by the flood of radio ads bought by AARP to oppose a suggested change in the way cost-of-living increases are calculated. Mr. Carroll points out that the change would have reduced the growth of a $1,000/month benefit that began in 2002 from the current total of $1,309/month to $1,263. Continue reading
Author Archives: RF_Alum
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
This is another book recommended to me by my wife. Her recommendation once again led me to read a fascinating book. However, she continues to recommend books that don’t have a happy story or ending.
This book by Rebecca Skloot introduced me to a subject I hadn’t read about before. The book begins by describing how a doctor treating Henrietta’s cervical cancer shaved samples from cancerous and noncancerous areas. He gave the samples to George Gey, who had built a laboratory out of spare parts and had worked unsuccessfully for years to grow malignant cells outside the body. The cells were taken without Henrietta Lacks knowledge or permission and were labeled “HeLa.” Cells from the cancerous tumor began to replicate at an enormously rapid rate. When Gey finally determined that his lab had grown the “first immortal human cells” he began sharing samples with colleagues. The word spread and Gey was sending samples all over the country and then the world. A huge medical research industry was developed to grow cells and use them in experimentation that has resulted in the cure to many diseases. There is no way of knowing how many of Henrietta’s cells have been grown but it is estimated that there are several tens of metric tons. Continue reading
Raise Cain
The Phrase Finder explains that the expression means to cause trouble or create an uproar. The verb “to raise” has been used to mean “to conjure up and to cause a spirit to appear.” If you are making trouble you are raising or conjuring up “…the accursed spirit of Cain” who had murdered his brother Abel.
Carbon Dioxide Concentrations in the Atmosphere
Those who advocate that there is global warming caused by the activities of man are eager to find any measurement that gives them hope their ideas are correct. There were news reports that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere “surged” from 2011 to 2012. Carbon dioxide concentrations did increase 2.42 parts per million to just under 395 parts per million by the end of 2012/ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that increase was the highest since 1998, “…which saw a rise of 2.93 ppm.”
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/global-carbon-dioxide-levels-show-biggest-spike-15-131534825.html
The inference is that we are on a destructive path to global warming because of man’s insistence on burning fossil fuels. There are so many misleading aspects that it is difficult to know where to begin. Meteorologist Bill Collins warned against taking too much from the recent data. He gave some facts that would give hope to global warming advocates, such as his acknowledgment that 2012 was a “hot year.” He then observed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is strongly influenced by plant activity, since plants use carbon dioxide as a food. He wrote that “…year to year variability is often caused by uptake of plants and trees.” Continue reading
Killing Kennedy
This is the second book written by the Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard duo. Both of the books are worth reading. I thought “Killing Lincoln” was the better of the two books but my wife thinks “Killing Kennedy” was better.
The subtitle of this book is “The End of Camelot,” which refers to the assassination of Kennedy. However, I thought the best parts were and the insights given into the Kennedy clan (including all of the men being serial adulters), Jackie Kennedy (who was a secret chain smoker), and the many people in and out of government around them. The political trials faced by Kennedy, to include the Bay of Pigs fiasco and civil rights, make interesting reading. Kennedy made many enemies, including members of the mafia, some of which appear to have had good relations with the Kennedys before JFK was elected to be President. Continue reading
Continental Breakfast
One answer on the Fun Trivia site says that a full “English” breakfast was expected to include fried eggs, sausage, ham and tomato. Countries in continental Europe typically served much lighter breakfasts with cereal, cheese, and a pastry. That description closely matches what has evolved into what is expected when someone sees that a hotel or motel will serve a Continental breakfast.