Author: Daryl

BusinessWeek Readers Run Amok

I had to reprint this gem from the Readers Report section of the November 14, 2005, issue of BusinessWeek. Yes, this man is an idiot:

How To Stop A Hurricane In Its Tracks

Noting the various schemes you mention to “tame hurricanes” (“Herding hurricanes,” Science & Technology, Oct. 24), a simpler and more practical way to deprive hurricanes of energy would be to lower the surface water temperature: Dump several thousand tons of a cryogenic liquid (e.g., liquid oxygen at -297F, or even colder liquid nitrogen or liquid hydrogen) in advance of an approaching hurricane. The U.S. Air Force has some 500 KC-135 tankers, each with a payload of some 80,000 pounds. A dozen tankers converted to carry and drop a cryogenic fluid, each flying, say, five missions, could drop 2,000 tons in front of a hurricane, significantly lowering the surface temperature of the water in its path. Depriving an advancing hurricane of its energy would also avoid the legal and political problems that could result from methods designed just to divert its direction.

William Bailey
Oakton, Va.

Blogging The West Wing

The West Wing Live Debate Tonight – right now, as a matter of fact – is the live debate on The West Wing. It’s a clever grouping of all the famous moves we’ve seen in presidential debates, from a spin-off of Governor Ronald Reagan’s “I paid for this microphone” declaration, to a very clear representation of Senator Kerry walking over to shake President Bush’s hand at his podium last fall. There has even been a small homage to the large Democratic debates from the Clinton era when every candidate talked over everyone else and the audience got very involved to the point of disruption.

There is a degree of textbook debating being displayed tonight. Rep. Santos declared that it was time up for the listing of rules at the beginning of the debate, a technique that is straight from the rule books for winning the respect of the live audience. Sen. Vinick is taking the George H. W. Bush (41) approach of starting politically correct and then eventually getting honest and frank later in the debate when it comes to the need for tax cuts and world tax relief. The audience has been on cue and quite believable in their reactions and it’s made the show very fun to watch.

It’s amazing to see this type of writing on TV, never mind live TV, and how it captures the major memories from televised debates over the past twenty five years. As long as they stay out of the Calvin Coolidge drone-style oratory, I think this will be one of the best episodes ever aired.

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The episode is over (on the east coast), and some bloggers are concerned that the average American might think the debate was real. That’s just plan funny! The presidential election was last year, people.

It was a great episode and was very well executed, despite some stutters and dropped lines. Nicely done.

Halloween Comics

Following Rebecca’s theme of a Halloween-related blog post, here are a few comics that I thought were hysterical:

Halloween Comic
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Halloween Comic
Halloween Comic

Happy Halloween!

Chairman Nominee Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke In my nerdy student-of-Economics way, I’m very excited about today’s appointment of Ben Bernanke, Ph.D., as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s replacement. Beyond his impressive C.V., Bernanke has a solid understanding of the pressures facing U.S. monetary policy, such as the need to be more transparent about setting inflation targets, and the balance between solid GDP growth and tight interest rate policies.

“Economics is a very difficult subject,” Bernanke once said. “I’ve compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running.” He is not alone in that school of thought, as I have had several Economics professors make similar statements to me. As our danger factors like the current account deficit and our core CPI and PPI figures continue to grow disparate of each other, and external pressures like oil prices and off-shore labor movements weigh on our ability to grow nominally as an economy, the need for someone who can add more clarity to our monetary policy is abundantly evident. I really hope Congress approves the appointment.