Time Flies On Wings of Lightning

Romney’s chances would be better if Hugh Hefner were his great-grandfather

Tristan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:35:33 +0000

If Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather were Hugh Hefner, rather than Miles Park Romney, he’d have an easier time winning the Republican nomination and the White House. That’s something for voters to ponder, especially given the marital history of Romney’s chief rival, Newt Gingrich.

Hugh would be a more politically convenient forebear because Miles, unlike Hefner, was a Mormon who practiced polygamy (he had four wives). He fled to Mexico in 1885 after Utah acceded to the federal government’s demands and banned the practice.

Hefner, however, has only married his “bunnies” one at a time. Sure, the playboy lives with up to half a dozen at a time, but mere promiscuity enjoys widespread public acceptance…

Queen Elizabeth marks 60 years on throne

Tristan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:52:14 +0000

Sixty years after she ascended to the throne in an austere Britain still facing post-war rationing, Queen Elizabeth marked the milestone on Monday with a new website that showed just how much the world has changed during her reign.

The monarch’s restrained behavior and devotion to duty have endeared her to most Britons.

The queen promised on Monday to "dedicate myself anew to your service".

"I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart," she wrote to her subjects in a message.

The royal household launched a festive new website, thediamondjubilee.org, allowing users to send the queen a message, listing 60 interesting or amusing facts about her, and featuring a photo timeline of world events during her reign.

How doctors do harm

Tristan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:36:38 +0000

Dr. Otis Webb Brawley is the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, a world-renowned cancer expert and a practicing oncologist. His book, "How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America," was released January 31.

"How We Do Harm," co-authored with Paul Goldberg, describes the challenges that some ordinary Americans experience while trying to get quality health care.

The book also assesses the threat our health care system poses to the economy and offers suggestions on what needs to change. It was motivated by the ongoing debate about health care reform.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/health/how-we-do-harm-brawley/index.html?hpt=us_t4

http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Do-Harm-America/dp/0312672977

Why Educated Parents Are Turning to Home Schooling

Tristan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:05:23 +0000

We think of homeschoolers as evangelicals or off-the-gridders who spend a lot of time at kitchen tables in the countryside. And it’s true that most homeschooling parents do so for moral or religious reasons. But education observers believe that is changing.

There are an estimated 300,000 homeschooled children in America’s cities, many of them children of secular, highly educated professionals who always figured they’d send their kids to school—until they came to think, Hey, maybe we could do better.

Many of these parents feel that city schools—or any schools—don’t provide the kind of education they want for their kids. Just as much, though, their choice to homeschool is a more extreme example of a larger modern parenting ethos: that children are individuals, each deserving a uniquely curated upbringing. That peer influence can be noxious. (Bullying is no longer seen as a harmless rite of passage.) That DIY—be it gardening, knitting, or raising chickens—is something educated urbanites should embrace. That we might create a sense of security in our kids by practicing “attachment parenting,” an increasingly popular approach that involves round-the-clock physical contact with children and immediate responses to all their cues.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/29/why-urban-educated-parents-are-turning-to-diy-education.html

Adirondack bird nears the end

Tristan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:25:51 +0000

An iconic but little-known Adirondack bird is dipping toward extinction in the state and likely can only be saved by bringing birds from Canada or other states to strengthen breeding.

Seldom seen by hikers, birders or hunters, spruce grouse are a fowl, similar to a chicken, that live in bogs and wetlands within evergreen forests of spruce, tamarack and balsam fir.

At the turn of the century, the bird occupied as many as seven Adirondack counties. As recently as the 1970s, there were an estimated 300 birds, but numbers have steadily dwindled as its habitat has shrunk. The bird is now on the state endangered species list.

Solar storm, largest since 2005, causes aurora borealis over Canada, Britain

Tristan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:17:10 +0000

The largest solar storm since 2005, which hit Earth over the weekend and caused northern lights called auroras, peaked Tuesday after the Sun released a solar flare of radiation and plasma.

Fast on the heels of a solar storm that delivered a glancing blow over the weekend — triggering bright auroras in Canada and Scandinavia — the sun released an even more energetic blast of radiation and charged plasma overnight that could disrupt GPS signals and the electrical grid Tuesday, especially at high latitudes, space weather experts warned Monday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/solar-storm-largest-since-2005-causes-aurora-borealis-over-canada-britain/2012/01/24/gIQAxzdUOQ_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

Meth production filling hospitals with burn patients

Tristan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:31:44 +0000

A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it’s contributing to the closure of some burn units.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/53357741-68/meth-burn-patients-making.html.csp

Beyond the Firewall: Israel vs. the Hackers

Tristan — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:13:46 +0000

“For those of you losing sleep at night worrying about foreign agents infiltrating your country’s territory, I’ve got bad news for you. They’re already here.

“That’s right. Deep within our domain. Perhaps even inside our most sensitive installations: nuclear power plants, electric grids, air traffic control, and our food supply.

“A well-executed attack on any one of these systems, or dozens of others (even the sewage system!) could lead to chaos. Our new cyber-defenses have to be able to deal with the enemy once they are already on the inside — simply because they already are.”

Read the rest of this article by Erel Margalit in today’s Huffington Post.

Bain Capital Saved America

Tristan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:46:10 +0000

“Not only did Bain Capital save America, but no matter what turn Mitt Romney’s political career takes, Bain Capital may stand as the best of Mr. Romney’s lifetime contributions to the nation’s economic well-being. If only he’d tell the story.”

____________________________

Read this story by Daniel Henninger in the January 18 edition of the Wall Street Journal Online.

Or watch the online video here: http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf