I’ve been reading about Iraq after American combat troops were withdrawn in December 2011, and it isn’t a pleasant story. Almost 1,000 people have been killed in September 2013 in Iraq “…as car bombs have become a near daily occurrence in a country seeing its worst surge of violence in five years.” Iraqi civilians have been “…caught in a resurgence of al-Qaeda terrorism that has been growing since the United States pulled out forces two years ago.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Current Events
Arctic Ice Increases
NASA-funded National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) image taken from dailymail.co.uk
National Geographic has an extensive article titled “Rising Seas” in the September 2013 magazine. The first several pages are about the massive destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy. The article then turns to making dire predictions. “By releasing carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases into the atmosphere, we have warmed the Earth by more than a full degree Fahrenheit over the past century and raised sea level by about eight inches. Even if we stopped burning all fossil fuels tomorrow, the existing greenhouse gases will continue to warm the Earth for centuries. That report is countered by an article by David Rose that the Arctic ice cap grew by almost a million square miles and increased coverage by 60% in 2012. Continue reading
9/11 Anniversary
There are two terrorist attack anniversaries today, and the second is the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi where four Americans were killed one year ago. Several mysteries remain about that attack. One question I have had since I first heard of the attack is “Where are the pictures of the Situation Room while Consulate was being attacked by terrorists?” The picture of the Situation Room with President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a room full of other officials was spread throughout the world the night bin Laden was killed. What would a photo of the room look like the night of the several-hour terrorist attack on the Consulate? Who would have been present to hear the intelligence information and make decisions about what military assets were available to help the people under attack? Was the Situation Room even activated? If not, where was the Commander-In-Chief and what actions did he take to help the people under attack? Did he take any actions? Why weren’t we better prepared for the possibility of an attack? Continue reading
Extraordinary Accomplishments
Extraordinary accomplishments do happen. Too often, they go unreported or unremarked. If you ever feel gloomy with current events, take a moment to look at these:
The first animal ever to be resurrected from extinction was the Pyrenean ibex. Unfortunately, I use the past-tense because the cloned kids died shortly after birth. But, if anyone cares enough, with some practice on the cloning and an elegant technique to create a male fetus from the female cells scientists have, the ibex can come back. Continue reading
If It Works, Is It Okay?
Anyone who’s ever been on a diet knows the advice: don’t buy the junk food. You only need will-power for an hour while you shop, instead of every minute you are within reach of the kitchen. That’s using your own human nature to nudge yourself towards your goal.
How do you feel when the government sets up the “nudge”? Suppose it is Facebook, or your bank “helping” you? Continue reading
Oh! Never Mind!
I like to think I am a rational person and that I make decisions based on evidence. So this item by the Knight Science Journalism Tracker worried me: “Big media splash over claim of lead in rice; barely a ripple when claim is withdrawn. http://bit.ly/15F9rVg ”
From Time magazine to Science Daily, the media reported that troubling amounts of lead were found in rice. But the results could not be replicated. The original researcher found his equipment was giving bad numbers and withdrew his results (kudos to him!), hardly anyone reported that retraction. Continue reading