Events

Today is Parker's: it's his 4th birthday. Happy birthday puppy!

After a Strategy exam, Finance exam, Strategy team paper, project estimate for work, and...well, that's really all I did the last four days, come to think of it...I'm more or less back. Herewith a quorum of things I noticed but didn't have time to note: The Washington Post reported yesterday that MC 900 Ft. Jesus—sorry, I meant an actual 30 m statue of Jesus—got struck by lightning Monday night and burned to the ground. Signpost to Armageddon? Probably not, but it has an element of Apocalyptic whimsy to...

Tomorrow morning's sunrise is the earliest of the year in Chicago. This bit of useless information was brought to you by the letter Q and the number 5.

My laptop screen saver showed this photo, so I decided, why not take a moment from writing a strategy paper and post it? Half Moon Bay, Calif., 24 December 2009.

Exelon Corp. is preparing to dismantle the Zion Nuclear Power Plant just north of Chicago: Although the timetable hasn't been set, more than about 500,000 cubic feet of material will be moved, everything from concrete walls, pipes, wiring, machinery, even desks and chairs. Much of it is contaminated with low-level radiation. Enough to fill roughly 80 rail cars, it will be transported to EnergySolutions' site 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. It's easier and cheaper than separating the contaminated...

Terry Barr, president of Colorado-based Samson Oil and Gas, wrote in to the Wall Street Journal today explaining point by point how BP personnel, not BP equipment, caused the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history: Mr. Hayward and BP have taken the position that this tragedy is all about a fail-safe blow-out preventer (BOP) failing, but in reality the BOP is really the backup system, and yes we expect that it will work. However, all of the industry practice and construction systems are aimed at...

It turns out, BP's estimates of the oil billowing into the gulf may have been off by a factor of two, or greater: The new calculation suggested that an amount of oil equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could have been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every 8 to 10 days. This assessment, based on measurements taken before BP cut the riser pipe of the leaking well on June 3 to cap some of the flow, showed that approximately 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil could have been gushing into the Gulf each day....

Via Talking Points Memo:

Via Bruce Schneier, an interesting experiment at Wharton School of Business showed students have a bias towards short-term gain—even in the face of certain disaster: It’s not like the students don’t know what’s coming, either. When asked if they understand what’s going on, they always say, yeah, they get it: they’re about to get hit by an earthquake. So if it’s not stupidity or ignorance, why do the students keep losing? Kunreuther and Meyer believe the game demonstrates a psychological bias toward...

From Slate, The Only Political Article You'll Ever Have To Read: Obama now faces some of the most difficult challenges of his young presidency: the ongoing oil spill, the Gaza flotilla disaster, and revelations about possibly inappropriate conversations between the White House and candidates for federal office. But while these narratives may affect fleeting public perceptions, Americans will ultimately judge Obama on the crude economic fundamentals of jobs numbers and GDP. Chief among the criticisms of...