The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Copenhagen climate summit: Al Gore condemned over Arctic ice melting prediction – Speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, Mr Gore said new computer modelling suggests there is a 75 per cent chance of the entire polar ice cap melting during the summertime by 2014. However, he faced embarrassment last night after Dr Wieslav Maslowski, the climatologist whose work the prediction was based on, refuted his claims.

In This Fight, the Loser is California – The venue that snares the March boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will add millions to the host city’s bottom line. Count California cities out. The reason? Taxes.

That Health-Care Tax Pledge - ‘If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.” So spoke Barack Obama at his first address to Congress in February. We’re about to find out if the President cares about that promise as much he does passing a health-care bill.

Scientists crack ‘entire genetic code’ of cancer – Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers – skin and lung – a move they say could revolutionise cancer care.

The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S. – Despite its spending more money per capita, period, than almost any city in the nation, San Francisco has poorly managed, budget-busting capital projects, overlapping social programs no one is certain are working, and a transportation system where the only thing ….

Hide the Decline – Why government-funded scientists should release their documents – In this country, even a global warming denialist with a carbon fetish and bad intentions has the right to see the inner workings of government.

Bill would give undocumented legal status – Lawmakers pushing for immigration reform say job losses and a sluggish economy should not deter legislation legalizing illegal immigrants.

Obama Gives Himself a ‘Solid B-Plus’ – So what grade does President Obama give himself after nearly a year in office? “A good solid B-plus,” he said, answering a question from Oprah Winfrey during a television special that aired on Sunday evening.

Economic advisers’ mixed messages – Two of President Barack Obama’s top economic advisers disagreed Sunday about whether the recession had ended.

Government salaries soar in bad times – a USA Today investigative report published last week that found “federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.” In other words, bad times for the rest of us are good times for the federal establishment.

The Droid You Are Looking For: Droid Knocks the iPhone from Time’s Top Spot – Earlier this week, Time Magazine announced their yearly Top Ten lists, and at the head of the gadget pack was quite a surprise. The Motorola/Verizon Droid was crowned as Top Gadget of the Year….

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

B e a c o n o m i c s – A quarterly economic forecast for the U.S. & California from Beacon Economics

Green fantasies / Governor ignores anti-AB 32 evidence – Every now and then, rapid-fire developments serve to bring clarity to a big problem. This happened in a 24-hour stretch earlier this week. The topic: why California’s rotten economy is likely to remain rotten.

More Bay Area and California residents stay local as out-of-state migration slows – The “migration bubble” that swept people out of coastal California has ended — at least for now, said William Frey, a demographer with the Washington, D.C.-based research organization.

Lawrence Solomon: The gas of life – Plants evolved when CO2 levels in the atmosphere stood at a healthy 1000 parts per million, two-to-three times today’s paltry level of about 380 parts per million.

Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges – According to the organisers, the eleven-day conference, including the participants’ travel, will create a total of 41,000 tonnes of “carbon dioxide equivalent”, equal to the amount produced over the same period by a city the size of Middlesbrough.

Bush closes the gap – Perhaps the greatest measure of Obama’s declining support is that just 50% of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they’d rather have his predecessor.

McAfee’s The Twelve Scams of Christmas – As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season.

California Legislator Voting Record – For the first time, you can look up the voting record of every state legislator in California. Wondering how often your legislator broke party ranks, abstained or switched sides?

California Group Pushes for Pension Reforms – A group of California taxpayer advocates is aiming to turn a bad run of news for public retirement plans into a pension reform movement in the nation’s biggest state.

Editorial: California shows the way – down – Once the envy of the other 49 states, California has become the measure of failure. Historically a trend-setter, once again, as California goes, so may go the nation.

The end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 are just a few weeks away.This will be a moment that marks the close of a decade which began with fears of Y2K and ended with a global recession. Talk about an uplifting way to begin the 21st century. In the last Sunday Reading of 2009, I give you some of the better moments of 2009 and the big ideas and trends that will move us into 2010.

Best of 2009 (and the decade):

• Pop Culture Moments: Once again, a year of Comedy Central and the Internet. (Wired)
• Top TV Shows: Half of them actually started in the 90s and are now dead, leaving plenty of room in the future for Modern Family. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Best Websites and Blogs: My how Facebook has fallen. (Time)
• Stages of the Hipster: Are you a stereotype? (Paste)
• Biggest Thinkers: Money, crystal balls and the environment. (Foreign Policy)
• Mrs. Obama in Pictures: A new kind of First Lady. (The Daily Beast)
• Best Movies of the Year and the Decade: Proof that public opinion is funny sometimes, because some were clearly missed. (Rotten Tomatoes, Paste)
• Best Gadgets: I want one. (Gizmodo)
• Awesome Albums of the Year and the Decade: 2009 was a great year for American music. (Spin, Paste)
• Best places to Live: Hint, you won’t find Atwater Hall A or B on this list..or Dubai for that matter. (Business Week)

Trends for 2010:

• MUSIC: Google + Apple + Lala = No downloands. No synching. The most comprehensive music experience yet.
• PRINT: Interactive Tablets (pioneered by Sports Illustrated) and skimmable online interfaces for mags and online news.
• FASHION: New books, art, Tom Ford, Web 2.0 and underwear.
• ENVIRONMENT: Traces of Copenhagen.
• STANDARDIZED TESTING: Bye Bye SAT?
• TV: Soon, TV will be everywhere.
• JOBS: Technology Technology Technology.
• MOVIES: The 80s are going to rein.
• MUSIC: Editors, OK Go, Beastie Boys, Cake, Meatloaf, No Doubt…the year of “sophomore” debuts.
• POLITICS: To be a Republican, you’ll have to pass a (purity) test.
• PRENUPS: Everyone wants to be Tiger Woods
• MAUREEN DOWD: First she plagiarized, then she wrote today’s op-ed. What will she insinuate next?

Website of the Year: Google Zeitgeist. The biggest trends, words, ideas of 2009 tracked city by city, topic by topic. See how big Michael Jackson really was…and just how much Google knows. Entertain yourself.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Put aside six minutes and watch this piece. ESPN’s reporter Shelley Smith and cameras tell the story of Jake Olson, a 12-year-old who lost his eyesight to cancer but who, in the weeks before surgery to remove his second eye, was granted inside access to his favorite team, soaking in the sights while he still could. Chillingly, Smith interviewed Olson both before and after surgery.

The Meaning of Motley CRU – Climate skeptics are having a field day in the blogosphere, celebrating the firestorm of controversy that has surrounded the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU).

Budget-busting pension costs: Is there a fix? – Contra Costa County is projecting that annual pension costs for its employees will soar from about $140 million currently to $250 million in six years, a 77 percent increase.

L.A. Dem may become Assembly’s 1st gay speaker – Los Angeles Democratic Assemblyman John Pérez appears to be in line to become the next speaker of the state Assembly – and the body’s first openly gay chief.

California property taxes to fall slightly – For the first time since Proposition 13 passed in 1978, property taxes are going to drop in California, though not by very much.

Rep. Issa Questions Plan to Pay Government Workers for Government Property - A top House Republican is taking a hard look at a program in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing that would give hundreds of senior employees $75 gift cards in exchange for their printers, which the government already owns.

She Wants to Reboot California – Ms. Fiorina is not shy in pointing out what’s to blame. “The high tax, big government, regulatory regime we see in California is the current course and speed for where the nation is headed,” she warns. “California is a great test case, a factual demonstration that those programs don’t work.”

CBO report predicts hike in insurance costs – Individual insurance premiums would increase by an average of 10 percent or more, according to an analysis of the Senate healthcare bill.

Tiny magnetic discs could kill cancer cells: study – Tiny magnetic discs just a millionth of a metre in diameter could be used to used to kill cancer cells, according to a study published on Sunday.

Climate change data dumped – SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.

A little levity to break the cycle

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Global WarmingGate: What Does It Mean? - Late on the night of of November 19, news broke on PJM and elsewhere that a large amount of data had been stolen from one of the major climate research institutions by an unknown hacker and made available on the Internet.

State Feels Heat of Local Budget Woes – California’s upcoming budget battle will be as much about politics as money and San Francisco’s property tax woes show why.

California population growth estimated at 1% a year – The state’s population will grow by at least 1 percent a year, according to the LAO, even with the recession and high housing prices. That growth promises to follow long-term trends in births, deaths and migration.

Toyota Said to Plan Moving Some Jobs From California – Toyota Motor Corp. may move some U.S. jobs out of California to cheaper states as declining sales force the world’s biggest carmaker to cut costs and reorganize operations, two people familiar with the plan said.

Time’s Up, Big Daddy – A South Carolina senator has introduced a constitutional amendment that would set congressional term limits.

Green totalitarianism – Lord Lawson was right to call in today’s Times for an inquiry into the global warming scandal.

How do you know everyone’s ready for a break? When it takes Liebowitz 3 tries to get the links right in an email update about the college finances and someone produces a song called “MiddKid (ft. Jay-Z)” that goes viral faster than H1N1. Here are some links to get you through whatever else ridiculous will happen between now and Tuesday.

• EUROPE: Sure, America has its first black president, but, this week, the EU got its first president ever. This is huge. History happening while we munched on paninis in Proctor. His name is Herman Van Rompuy (pronounced Rom-pooie) and he writes haikus.
• OPRAH: Oprah announced this week that her show will be ending in 2011, which means that a certain professor may be out of a job.
• APOLOGIES: Goldman Sachs apologized this week for its contributions to the financial crisis…and forked over a half a billion dollars. Daily Beast thinks its too little, too late. Someone bring in SIM to sing “Apologize”.
• TATTOOS: We’ve heard people say their body is a canvas. But what about their body is a screen? With new LED technology that creates tattoos that only appear when stimulated by desire, this is now possible. Wawaweewa.
• TUITION: Students at UC Santa Cruz staged a protest this week because their tuition in the next year will be increased to…wait for it…$10,302.
• GOOGLE: As if Google hasn’t taken over our lives already…this week the internet behemoth officially announced the release of the Chrome operating system that they always said they weren’t trying to develop.
• ENVIRONMENT: Bill McKibben has an op-ed in WaPo today critiquing Obama’s progress (or lack thereof) on climate change. Also, he didn’t get his email hacked.
• COFFEE: If you read nothing else arts related today, check out WSJ’s interesting profile on the rise and fall of the coffeehouse. It’ll make you for more war-torn, revolutionary times when everything was much less politically correct.

Video of the Week: “Must be Santa” by Bob Dylan. Because it’s almost Thanksgiving, that means it’s almost Christmas which means playing Christmas songs is totally legit. Especially if Bob Dylan is somehow involved.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Toys Under $20 – Top 20 To Buy Now

The History of the Internet in a Nutshell - If you’re reading this article, it’s likely that you spend a fair amount of time online. However, considering how much of an influence the Internet has in our daily lives, how many of us actually know the story of how it got its start?

California’s Suicide – California’s slide into fiscal oblivion continues, with no end in sight. Despite lots of budget cuts this year, a $21 billion deficit looms.

The Singularity Is Coming—Now What? – For some time now, futurists have been talking about a concept called the Singularity, a technological jump so big that society will be transformed.

More than $98 billion in taxpayer dollars spent by government agencies was wasted, much of it on questionable claims for tax credits and Medicare benefits, representing an increase of $26 billion from the previous year.

What would marijuana legalization look like? – With multiple initiatives in circulation and an Assembly bill gathering headlines, discussions about legalizing marijuana have become part of California’s political discourse.

Years of budget deficits predicted for California – California faces annual budget deficits of $20 billion even while assuming state employees would receive no salary increases through 2014-15, according to a forecast issued today by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Census: Small Cities Losing Their Appeal – Small cities between 20,000 and 50,000 residents are losing their appeal to the demographic of those seeking wholesome neighborhoods, a stable economy and affordable living.

Despite staff and spending cuts, post office lost $3.8 billion last year – The loss was $1 billion more than the year before despite job cuts and other efforts designed to save billions of dollars, postal officials said Monday.

Apple patents anti-user attention-complianceware – Apple’s filed a patent on a design for a device that won’t let its owner use it unless that person demonstrates that she has complied with an advertiser’s demands by paying attention to an ad and taking some action indicating her dutiful attention.

When I started the job search this fall, I knew it was important to be prepared. Be prepared to ask questions. Be prepared to be flexible, etc. I’ve spent the last few months doing just that. After a recent series of interviews, however, I came to the realization that there was one major “prepared” factor that I have over looked: Be prepared to know who you are. If you don’t really know who you are, how can you give an honest interview? How can you know what next steps to take, where to look after the job you have is gone? Part of this last preparedness factor is knowing your favorite music, when you have to go to bed and how many friends you can reasonably entertain for dinner. But part of it is more. Hence, the subject of today’s Sunday Reading. This isn’t meant to be a career guide, just a different take on what many are going through now blended with this week’s news.

• PASSION: To know who you are, it helps to know your passion, what puts that fire inside you and makes your brain more perceptive.
• MIXING INTERESTS: Lance Armstrong loves tequila, bikes, art and fighting cancer. Now that he’s blended all his interests together, he’s doing better than ever.
• LEADERSHIP: It took Drew Faust years to hone her leadership style, but, now she’s found that balance between listening, searching and communicating and is President of Harvard.
• PLACE: Different people thrive in different environments. For some, it’s as large scale as a specific countries, others, as small scale as interior decorating. For Apple, it’s about publicity stunts.
• QUITTING: Lou Dobbs knows his limits. Or maybe it’s his producers that do. Either way, he’s leaving CNN.
• PROBLEM SOLVING: Venice’s population is declining at a faster pace than most other places in Europe. And the city’s sinking. Those who love the city most have taken problem solving to an all-new level of creativity. Some, however, are questioning their timing.
• STYLE: I’m a firm believer that, once you’ve figured out who you are, how you express that is incredibly important. Use your passion to define your style. The (finally launched) Art of the Trench by Burberry can help.
• PORTFOLIO: A portfolio of yourself, whether in your head, in a binder to give to prospective employers or like Roald Dahl’s, is a great way to help keep your answers to all the previous questions in mind.

Website of the Week: O*NET OnLine. Once you know who you are, it’s helpful to be able to look for jobs from all directions. CSO is great, but you search jobs via there by career. Not skills. Or interests. Or values. O*NET, however, does. I honestly don’t know whether or not it’s a successful site; I just found it this morning. But a fresh perspective new hurts.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Report: 10 states face looming budget disasters – In Arizona, the budget has grown so gloomy that lawmakers are considering mortgaging Capitol buildings.

Women on pace to be majority of union workers – Women are on track to become a majority of unionized workers in the next 10 years, signaling their growing clout in the labor movement.

Report shows stability in local home price – Home value depreciation in the nine-county Bay Area has slowed down in yet another apparent sign of a stabilizing real estate market, according to report released Monday.

NASA on a crusade to debunk 2012 apocalypse myths – The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fuelled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie.

For the nation as a whole, it was the third coolest October on record.

Corruption Costs $1.6 Trillion Per Year – How much do crooked politicians and others steal every year? Nobody really knows, of course, but as the BBC reports today, the UN estimates that $1.6 trillion each year is stolen each year and moved across national borders. Tragically, much of this money is stolen from poor countries. It is bread taken out of the mouths of the poor.

Taxing our credulity - The state of California began withholding more taxes from paychecks last week. And don’t believe it if you hear this isn’t a tax increase.

Why the U.S. Needs Nuclear Power – Other clean energy sources can’t meet the needs of a growing economy.

Global Warming as Seen From Bangladesh – When the monsoon rains come, Momota Begum and her husband and children must take turns sleeping in their tiny concrete house’s one bed to escape the waste and human excrement that can wash in from outside.

It’s been a big-event-news-worthy-week-in-not-always-a-good-way. Check it out:

• BASEBALL: The Yankees won the World Series. There’s a lot of people at Midd pretendeing baseball doesn’t exist right now.
• ARMY: The U.S. Army is kind of maybe now going to have to do something about the fact that it doesn’t have enough psychiatrists now that one has killed 13 people in Texas. And, no, you cannot pass this off as terrorism.
• WALLS: 20 years ago tomorrow, the Berlin Wall came down. (Insert moment of silence.)
• POLITICS: On Tuesday the Republican Party won back America won two gubernatorial races. Bloomberg doesn’t really count but he still has problems of his own.
• JOBS: Unemployment in America reached 10.2% in October and yet retail sales were better than they have been since April 2008. America, you are watching to much Sex and the City. You can’t shop away your sorrows.
• WALL STREET: Good news for liberal arts kids in finance — the more Harvard MBA’s there are in finance, the worse the market does. Not really what we need right now.
• HEALTHCARE: At a ridiculously late hour on Saturday night, the House passed its health care reform bill, 220-215, with only one Republican vote. Obama called it historic. Some Republicans think it will help them get re-elected. Others ask: what happens if the public actually likes it?

Website of the Week: You AUGHT to Remember. I know the year isn’t over yet, but it’s not too early to start taking stock of how the 21st century has gone so far. That’s why You AUGHT to Remember is counting down the most memborable moments so far.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks – The amount goes up 10% on Sunday as Sacramento borrows from taxpayers. Technically, it’s not an income tax increase: You’ll get the money back eventually.

Illegal immigrants will be counted in 2010 census - Illegal immigrants will continue to be counted in the U.S. Census as they always have…

California Legislature tries to block steep cut in pay and perks - The attorney general is asked to determine whether an 18% pay reduction and car allowance cuts are illegal. Capitol managers say a citizens panel that decided the reductions exceeded its authority.

The Return of the Inflation Tax – Buried in Nancy Pelosi’s health-care bill is a provision that will partially repeal tax indexing for inflation, meaning that as their earnings rise over a lifetime these youngsters can look forward to paying higher rates even if their income gains aren’t real.

Report: Calif. local governments shell out big bucks on lawsuits – Eight of California’s largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent $504.1 million on lawsuits in 2007 and 2008, a report said Thursday.

After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up – The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in February and was promised as a job saver and economy booster. Here is where some of the money went:

California Pensions Have Become the State’s Next Fiscal Crisis – At a time when the state government has reduced education spending, cut back services to the poor and implemented workplace furloughs to close a $24.6 billion deficit, California faces additional financial problems from its public pensions.

Dan Walters: Fiscal reform requires the nerve to do it – Pattison ticked off states that had improved their budget processes – and their fiscal stability – with such reforms as multi-year projections of income, weighing long-term impacts of spending proposals…

The Golden State isn’t worth it – Our high-benefit/high-tax model no longer works, especially compared with low-tax states like Texas.

The Dominoes Fall and the Next Governor Is….. – Gavin Newsom pulled out of the governor’s race and set the punditry world abuzz about the possibilities of another Democrat jumping into the June primary.

Boeing Heads South For Better Business Climate: Washington State Politicians Are Surprised? – …Boeing announced it would put a second 787 assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett, WA.

We gained an hour last night. Awesome. Despite rumors to the contrary, Hulu will (basically) not start charging in 2010. Even Better. Now if only newspapers and magazines would either stop dying or revolutionize ASAP. That would be a marvel. Here are a few others.

• MODERN LOVE: In this age of online dating and Facebook statuses, love is really quite inexplicable. I contend that (500) Days of Summer is one of the best representations of how twenty-somethings love in the 21st century, but it is only a piece of the puzzle, a puzzle that includes NY Mag’s Sex Diaries as well as NYT Magazine’s stunning portrait today of how the Obama’s have amazingly managed to keep their love central to the presidency.
• FACEBOOK: The popular social networking site went from elitist to common, from trendy to trashy, from useful to, finally, academic. Someday, it may actually be a true reflection of who we are and not just a projection of who we want to be.
• MUSIC: As if Google hasn’t invaded our lives enough, it now is going to have a music service. Once it begins offering a grocery store, I will have no need to go anywhere else and small business will die. Great.
• MAPS: Throughout history, maps have been some of the most dangerous tools mankind has ever possessed because futures of entire civilizations rest on basic visual interpretations of the physical world.
• VIDEOS: Since the fate of music videos may be paralleling the fate of newspapers, (RIP, VH1 Pop-Up Video), here’s 100 of them to kill some time on this beautiful November Sunday.
• RULES: I frequently ask myself at restaurants, do I really need my server’s name written in crayon next to my plate? Short answer, no. And, finally, wonderfully, someone has come up with a rulebook for that.
• WSJ: I’m a religious reader of the WSJ, but I’m not a fan of Rupert Murdoch, mostly because he has chosen to adopt certain phrasing in his papers. However, the new effort between Unigo and the WSJ, WSJ on Campus, could be a game changer…as long as desperate high school seniors actually read it.
• EVOLUTION: You might not see it, but humans are still evolving as a species, apparently at a speed fast enough that, soon, the ultra-rich will in fact be their own species, thanks to medical accessibility and hatred of Bernie Madoff.

Video of the Week: For many of us now, Guitar Hero is not impossible. Football hero on the other hand? Good luck.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

Check your clocks this morning – Day Light savings time has ended set your clocks back an hour. Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Walking Robot

All Falling Down . . .

House health bill clocks in at 1,990 pages – The House health care bill unveiled Thursday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. With an estimated 10-year cost of $894 billion, that comes out to about $2.24 million per word.

Auto Insurance Initiative on 2010 Ballot Good for Consumers – Signature gathering begins this week on an initiative scheduled for the 2010 ballot which will fix an inconsistency in the law, expand a discount, and lower auto insurance rates for millions of California consumers who continually maintain auto insurance coverage.

‘Younger wife’ for marital bliss – The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you, say UK experts.

Homebuilding’s crash is worsening – The newest September statistic for California home starts has led the Construction Industry Research Board to again revise its 2009 forecast downward – to 37,700 new homes

Lessons from Bill Lockyer. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer generated a storm last week with his testimony before the Senate and Assembly Select Committees on Improving State Government.

There’s a growing public workforce, retiring early but living longer while drawing benefits. Do the math. This applies to California as well.

Affordable Housing: Navigating Recent Legal Developments

Online spending down as holiday season nears – Recession puts brakes on fast-paced growth of e-commerce

I’ll admit, I watched Middlebury dominate the Quidditch festivities today, but, at both breakfast and lunch today, there were more people in the dining halls wearing capes than there were people not wearing capes. Am I allowed to be weirded out by this? I think so.

• H1N1: Whether or not you believe Middlebury has cases of Swine Flu, Obama has declared it a national emergency, so, dudes, wash your hands and gargle salt water. Please. In light of this good news, the NYT has a special article on, in the event of a real pandemic, who should be saved first. Uplifting.
• HULU: In 2010, Hulu will start charging for it services. Someday, we’ll be saying “I remember when I didn’t have to pay for TV” the way our parents say “I remember I could drink when I was 18″.
• MODERN MAN: A new book, “The Science of the Inadequate Modern Male” which claims that modern man has regressed, has come out at the same time as the Shriver Report, which describes women’s progress in recent decades. Even I think that’s bad timing.
• TECHNOLOGY: Apple has a new MacBook and Barnes & Noble has a new e-reader. *Insert gadget envy*.
• HEATING: Middlebury’s biomass plant and willow growing/burning initiative are featured in Time. It’s great news, but odd that I had to go to Time to find out the cost-savings of the project.
• SHAKESPEARE: Why read Cliff’s Notes when there’s Twitterature?
• DRUGS: The Daily Beast has the latest argument for why we should legalize drugs. Their main reason? The 2016 Olympics in Rio. Anything for Michael Phelps…
• JACKSON: Michael Jackson’s concert video, This is It, that will be in theaters this coming week has…wait for it…a secret Thriller remake he’d been working on. If there’s a new dance, I’m totally going to see it.

Video of the Week: This 4-yr-old dances better than anyone did at the E-603/GLOW Me/Roots Concert this weekend.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

Windows 7, as seen through the eyes of Windows gurus

Following Senate Finance Committee Passage, 42% Support Health Care Reform

Census data show big differences within state

Oil soars despite fundamentals; gasoline prices might follow

Perfection may be President Obama’s biggest flaw

California sued over $2B redevelopment ‘raid’

Centrists vs. Pelosi: Blue Dog Democrats beginning to show spending fatigue

Natural Gas Changes the Energy Map

Save the planet: eat a dog?

In honor of the momentous occassion that is the release of Where the Wild Things Are in theaters, I wanted to write an erudite Sunday Reading today, I really did. But when the entire world thinks that a six-year-old boy is stuck in a weather balloon floating somewhere above the Rockies when it turns out he’s really taking a nap in his attic and his parents have a Questions box prepared for reporters, nothing’s really erudite anymore.

• BALLOON BOY: The whole story about a boy named Falcon flying away in a weather balloon is like a Disney movie gone awry, even more so now that it seems it was directed by a web entrepreneur.
• TEXAS: In 10th grade I wrote a satire piece suggesting that we let Texas secede from the Union. Who knew Rush Limbaugh and I would have something in common.
• GENES: A group of scientists have created a Marilyn Monroe gene that makes anyone (well, fruit flies at this point) absolutely irresistible to everyone else.
• PRANKS: Apparently the camaraderie that existed on the sets of all three of the Ocean movies exists in real life, because George Clooney has punked Matt Damon.
• WINE: I had a bad week so my roommates bought me a bottle of my favorite Zinfandel. Kinda wish they’d bought me a bottle of Twitter.
• PRIZES: What’s more random than Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize nine months into office? Bono using his Sunday column space in the NYT to defend and spin the choice.
• MUSIC: Ever wonder why Pandora can pinpoint your music tastes better than your boyfriend/girlfriend/roommate? The Music Genome Project.
• GOLD: One more reason to go to London — Harrod’s is now selling gold by the ounce, and not just in jewelry form. Someone call my broker.
• FOLIAGE: Speaking of gold, check out the pictures of Fall Foliage at Middlebury over at The Middlebury Landscape.

Video of the Week: Ever wondered how Google created such perfect and obscure Street Views? By using people who never learned how to ride a grown-up bike. Tri-cyclists unite.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

The Economic Recovery Is Well Underway

Gov.’s surprise bill signings: Harvey Milk recognition, paparazzi restrictions and ammo tracking

Schwarzenegger backs away from veto threat, vows to weigh bills on merits

Authorities mull raising Bay Area bridge tolls 25%

California Senate approves $10,000 tax credit for new-home buyers

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

TARP IG: Feds lied about banks being healthy last year

A New Trend: Paying for Parking … Just About Everywhere

Congressional leaders fight against posting bills online

Dan Walters: Tough budget year soon may be seen as ‘good old days’

CBO: Budget deficit hit record $1.4T in 2009

Are Casinos Coming to Contra Costa County

You know it’s Parents’ Weekend when, on campus, there are more women above the age of 50 wearing Burberry jackets than there are guys in their 20s wearing Chacos. But, hey, at least they fed us and bought us alcohol met our friends. Here are a few more things they did/could have done/should have done/will never do:

• OLYMPICS: Guess the family trip to Chicago for the Olympics is over now. That’s OK, they didn’t really want it anyway and it wouldn’t really have helped the city. But, if now you’re going to Rio, get your visa ASAP.
• FOOD: All those groceries that our parents bought for us over the weekend will help with the weight gain. But will it make us poor, too?
• COMPUTERS: Next time you ask your parents for a new computer, ask for the original ThinkPad. Trust me, they won’t say no.
• SAFETY: In case your parents don’t think Public Safety does enough, they can now hire America’s Private Police Force for all their kidnapping, surveillance and Guantanamo detainee needs.
• PRIZES: Parents of this year’s Ward Prize winners certainly had a reason to be proud this weekend, at least, as long as they don’t know if their kids went to whatever “-fest” that was in Atwater last night.
• MONEY: For parents who want their kids to make money, they should encourage them to go to all finance information sessions possible, not extort David Letterman. Fails every time.
• ANCESTORS: With the discovery that Ardi is 4.4 million years old, I don’t know if parents should be relieved or encouraged by the fact that chimps have evolved just as much as humans.
• BIDEN: Ever wonder how to answer your kid when he or she asks, “What does the Vice President do?” Well, he has lunch with troops, laughs with Clinton, meets with important diplomats and plays golf with Obama.
• DRUGS: Parents, who’s using performance enhancing drugs now? a) Your favorite baseball star b) your kids or c) their professors.

Video of the Week: While academics debate the appropriate use of the word “holocaust”, everyone should watch the only twenty-second video footage of Anne Frank that exists.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

Should California’s lawmakers be part time?

Another lawsuit coming soon over state’s taking of redevelopment funds

Has the liberal moment come and gone?

Dementia Risk Seen in Players in N.F.L. Study

A California Quake – A tax commission releases a ground-breaking plan

Last time there was a campus-wide power outage, it lasted for six hours, was Mother Nature’s fault and happened at the start of the weekend. Today, it was two hours, was not Mother Nature’s fault and happened during the hours in which everyone intended to start cramming some work in. At least the dreariness and the rain (and the Red Sox and the Redskins) made for perfect napping conditions.

• GERMANY: Angela Merkel was re-elected as Prime Minister of Germany today, forming a CDU-FDP coalition that is expected to be pro-business and pro-free markets.
• RELIGION: 25% of Americans are expected to identify as “non-religious” in the next 20 years, as opposed to 15% today. Let the polarization begin.
• TV: US households watch more TV than the rest of the world in ridiculous amounts. I don’t think it means we’re stupid. Just look at the quality of the shows…Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, The Office…
• IRAN: It turns out, Iran has been secretly enriching Uranium and building nuclear weapons. Now, they’re test firing missiles. Does anyone else find this a little disturbing?
• HIV: In more positive news, a new HIV vaccine has proved to reduce the risk of contracting HIV by 31% (in an trial conducted in Thailand). You should still, umm, go to the Health Center and get some condoms and worry about the H1N1 vaccine first.
• POLANSKI: Roman Polanski, edgiest director to ever have lived, was arrested while trying to enter Switzerland today for raping sleeping with a 13 year old girl…in the 1970s. I don’t know what’s more absurd, the fact that he escaped US authorities for 30+ years or the AP report notes leading up to the arrest.
• COCA-COLA: To benefit the victims of last Spring’s earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, high fashion designers Missoni, Versace and others designed Coke Zero bottles for the runway.
• OBAMA: Who is President Obama and why do we hate him? That’s what I want to know.

Video of the Week: Throughout last week’s G-20 Summit in Philadelphia, Obama’s shiny white smile never changed…ever.

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items they are just interesting reads.

Democrats nix putting pre-vote health bill online

Obama open to newspaper bailout bill

California Tax Plan Draws Fire

Oil Industry Sets a Brisk Pace of New Discoveries

Report says regulations hurt state’s economy

Unsold homes dwindle as California sales increase from last year

Yes, Washington did help cause the financial crisis

10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets

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sunday reading…, originally uploaded by chicwithstix.

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