I’ve posted some biographical information here.

With all the talk of global warming, this seems counter-intuitive. But according to a recent Guardian piece, some researchers claim the earth has received a declining amount of sunlight the past few decades:

Records show that over the past 50 years the average amount of sunlight reaching the ground has gone down by almost 3% a decade. It’s too small an effect to see with the naked eye, but it has implications for everything from climate change to solar power and even the future sustainability of plant photosynthesis.
. . .
[T]he scientific record now shows several other research papers published during the 1990s on the subject, all finding that light levels were falling significantly. Among them they reported that sunshine in Ireland was on the wane, that both the Arctic and the Antarctic were getting darker and that light in Japan, the supposed land of the rising sun, was actually falling. Most startling of all was the discovery that levels of solar radiation reaching parts of the former Soviet Union had gone down almost 20% between 1960 and 1987.

What might explain this? The amount of solar radiation hitting the earth is the same; but some of the light may be bounced away by the atmosphere. The theory, as I understand it, is that small particles of pollution promote cloud formation and make clouds darker by reflecting sunlight.
To “cloud” the picture even further (so to speak), one study suggests the global dimming trend may have reversed–or at least leveled off–during the 1990s.
I’m not sure how much to make of this theory, but it’s an interesting claim.

Initial disaster casualty figures often vary widely. The New York Times cites an Iranian official placing the death toll from the earthquake that leveled Bam at 5,000-6,000+; meanwhile, Reuters estimates it at over 20,000.
By any measure, it’s devastating. Notably, however, in terms of strength the Iranian earthquake was roughly the same magnitude as one which hit California earlier this week, killing only three. I understand the latter hit a largely rural area, so the situations aren’t exactly parallel. But I think the comparison does illustrate the gap in technology and housing standards between wealthy and poor nations. American homes made of wood, brick, steel, and concrete may or may not withstand stress. Clearly Iranian homes of mud and brick don’t.
For all the fuss about evil government regulations, they do serve a useful purpose.

I’m still trying to sort through the story behind the six canceled Air France flights. The perceived risk was purportedly specific enough for authorities to hone in on these flights, yet publicly no would-be suspects have been apprehended:

French security officials said Thursday that they had found no terrorist links among the people booked for the six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles that were canceled on Wednesday as a result of warnings from American officials.
But American government officials said the United States was still investigating people who had reserved seats on the planes but never showed up for the flights.
Administration officials said potential attackers might have been tipped off by news reports earlier in the week that included vague references to American concerns about France.
But they would not say whether any of the no-shows were on a list of suspected terrorists that Americans supplied the French this week. Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, quoted an antiterrorist investigator as saying that one person on the American list was a Tunisian passenger with a pilot’s license and possible links to Al Qaeda. But the news agency said the man was in Tunis, not France, at the time of the flights. The French air and border police would not comment.

Incidentally, U.S. government officials currently have considerable access to information regarding the passengers on foreign flights:

The American secret service has, for the moment, the free access to the computer files of the European airline companies. Name, addresses, telephone number, addresses courriel, number of credit card, preferences food, medical information, hiring of vehicles, people accompanying the passenger during his last voyages, etc, nothing does not escape the American authorities. March 5, 2003, a provisional agreement, signed by the European Commission, but “attentatoire with the life deprived” according to the national Commission of data processing and freedoms, had constrained the companies to deliver their files. With defect, they risk a fine of 6 000 dollars per passenger and the loss of the rights of landing.
A new agreement – which must still be approved by the European Parliament – was reached in December. It envisages to limit to 35 the number of personal information transmitted by passenger, excluding for example the legal history. But the data-processing filters could be installed only in the current of the year 2004.

The Washington Post reports terrorists may have their sights on an airplane strike on Las Vegas. Then again, the next strike may not involve an airplane at all:

Moreover, U.S. officials said intelligence indicators suggest that al Qaeda might have set other terrorist operations in motion that do not involve aviation and are not centered in California. As on other occasions when terrorist fears are heightened, U.S. officials said their main concern is that al Qaeda might use a chemical or biological weapon, or a radiological “dirty” bomb.
“Our fear is that other things are going on” that have nothing to do with jetliner flights in or out of U.S. airports, said one U.S. official briefed on high-level intelligence. “The concern is that there still could be a lot of activity that was underway.”

Plenty of soft targets remain. If I was an al Qaeda planner, I’d be looking to strike one of those.

If you had a hard time relating to the Reason for the Season this week, perhaps you should spend some time in the slammer:

Gov. Jeb Bush told nearly 800 prisoners Wednesday that religion can help lead them to a better life as he dedicated the nation’s first faith-based prison � an institution officials hope will lead to fewer repeat offenders.
. . .
“You don’t have to be here, you’ve chosen to be here. It’s no different, from what I’ve been told, from the other correction facilities. You still have to work, you still have to follow the rules, but you’ve committed yourself to a higher authority,” Bush said.
. . .
While religious activities are available seven days a week, participation is voluntary. Prisoners must stay out of trouble for at least a year to transfer to Lawtey and they will transferred out if they have discipline problems.
. . .
During the dedication ceremony, many of the prisoners jumped to their feet, smiled brightly and clapped in rhythm as a gospel singer sang “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” Some shouted “Sing it!” and “Amen!”
Later, Bush told the inmates “I can’t think of a better place to reflect on the awesome love of our lord Jesus than to be here at Lawtey Correctional. God bless you.”

I support granting prisoners the same freedom to worship that I enjoy. But this appears to go a step beyond that. This article doesn’t lay out exactly how Lawtey differs from other prisons, but it appears the facility isn’t just accommodating religious belief, it’s promoting it. And that’s not a business the government should be in.
Via TalkLeft.