Interesting Gorbachev Article

                  It has been about twenty years since the demise of the Soviet Union.  The January 9/16 issue of Nation magazine marks this occasion with a set of three brief articles:  The first is by Mikhail Gorbachev, entitled “Is The World Really Safer Without The Soviet Union?”  The second is by American historian and Russian Studies expert Stephen F. Cohen, entitled, “The Soviet Union’s Afterlife.”  And the third is by American educated Russian journalist Vadim Nitikin, entitled “Back in the USSR.”  I recommend all of these articles, particularly the one by Gorbachev.

Whole Genome Sequence for $1,000?

    According to an article in the Jan 10 issue of Wall Street Journal,  Life Technologies Corp is introducing a machine in the coming year which it claims can provide a whole genome sequence for any individual who wants one--for about $1,000.   And it can do it in a day.   A genome read out that quick and cheap could allow genetic sequencing to be used as a routine medical screening.  And as the price drops even further, such tests would be available to the entire population in most developed countries.
     The advantages would be: first, individuals could discover early in life whether they are particularly at risk for certain diseases, and take preventative action. Second, this information could guide therapists in tailoring treatments to the individual. And third, it could allow drug companies to develop specific drugs for different genetic types.  And forth, it would make it more practical for drug companies to develop drugs to mitigate the effects of certain genetic diseases, particularly those caused by a single mutation, by identifying the pool of individuals who might benefit from them.
     Of course, there could be a downside.   Once such information exists, it's only a matter of time before some of it falls into the hands of those who might use it to our disadvantage.  And eventually, such use might even be legal and institutionalized.  Have you seen the movie GATTACA?

Does Skyscraper Boom Predict Recession?

     According to an AP article in Jan 11, 2012 Waterloo Courier,  Barclays Capital has issued a report claiming that it has uncovered an "unhealthy correlation" between skyscraper construction and recession, that goes back 140 years. Building booms are a sign of excess credit, and skyscraper construction coincides  with easy credit, rising land prices, and excessive optimism.  But these are the same factors which produce speculative bubbles which result in a crash.  So by the time the skyscraper is finished, the economy has slipped into recession.  Right now China and India are having a skyscraper boom, which could mean their economies are heading for a crash.

Cheap Sugar From Cellulose.

    According to the January 3 issue of Wall Street Journal,  German chemical giant BASF is investing 30 million dollars in a plant in Pennsylvania that will produce cheap sugar from hardwood cellulose.  The sugar is not intended for human consumption,  but to be used as a chemical feed stock for producing acrylic plastic.  This plastic is now made from Brazilian cane sugar.

Quote of the Day, Jan 1, 2012

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell,  a hell of heaven."
................Milton

Runcible Cat's Best Posts of 2011

( To retrieve any of these articles, just note the exact date it was posted and click on the appropriate month in the Blog Archive on the left.  Then scroll through the month.)

BEST BOOK REVIEW:

            Neanderthals—The Humans Who Went Extinct.   Why Neanderthals died out and we survived.    By Clive Finlayson     Posted Jan 28

EDUCATION:

            Should Education Be Sold as Job Training?    Posted Apr 1

THE NATURAL WORLD:

            Beaver Shots—Life, the Universe, and Beaver Engineering.   Posted May 15

ECONOMICS:

            Does Keynesian Policy Still Work?  Posted Jul 5

            Why Supply side Economics Doesn’t Work.  Posted Aug 8

            Would Keynes Like the Deficit?  Posted Oct 19

LANGUAGE AND LIT:

            What Does Rhyme Do?  Posted Aug 13

            Conversion of a Spelling Reformer.  Posted Aug 19

BEST PICTORIAL:

            More Old Steam Engines.  Posted Sept 7

BEST RANT:

            Listen Up, Libertarians!   Posted Sept, 22

Limericks--Year End Re-cap, 2011

There once was a mean old assessor,

Whose freezer required a compressor.

He petitioned his God,

And though this may seem odd,

He appealed to Saint James the Lesser.

Still he prayed to his Lord and Creator,

And then also to Saint James the Greater.

For he’d got no compressor

From Saint James the Lesser,

So to him he would no longer cater.

If he really would like that compressor,

Then forget about Saint James the Lesser.

Never waste any hymns

On the lesser of Jims.

Just petition St. Ed the Confessor.

There once was a linguist named Cindy

Who spoke both Bengali and Hindi,

With fluency such

That she spoke them too much,

And was generally thought a bit windy.

Our posts are, alas, evanescent,

Whether written by poet or peasant.

If we post a new tune

In the full of the moon,

It’s erased e’er the light of the crescent.

Had Xerxes invented the zerk,

Grease would never have been so much work.

But ‘twas Greece and not grease,

That disturbed the man’s peace.

Oh well—He was still such a jerk.

When battling Custer, the Sioux

Attacked with their whole retinioux.

But when the Lakota

Had slaughtered their quota,

They didn’t quite know what to dioux.

If you’re feeling a touch of catarrh,

Try spending less time at the barrh.

A bit of the sauce

Makes you feel like the bauce,

But you’re better off just as you arrh.

A restaurant owned by Ann Dewey,

Sold Cajun food in Saint Lewey.

But Ann Dewey’s Andouille

Was tasteless and chouille.

Her business went busted—Aw fewey!

A spelling like “rhythm” or “rhyme,”

Confuses us thyme after thyme.

But with spellings like “rhythm,”

You’re against ‘em or whythm.

Ridiculous—yet so sublhyme.

To keep away colds, I use zinc.

It’s pretty effective, I thinc.

It’s good for the flu,

And I think it might du,

To keep away badgers and minc.

The Eighteenth Amendment banned booze,

Along with our own right to choose.

But people soon clamored

For ways to get hammered,

On any foul thing they could use.

This created a market demand,

And gangsters were quick to expand.

Any war against drugs

Gives openings to thugs,

Who soon take control of our land.

The “robbery attempt” by Paul Ryan

(Well, you can’t blame the fellow for tryin’)

Would transfer our wealth

To purveyors of “health.”

If Paul tells you different—He’s lyin’.

Lightly stirring some gin and vermouth

Makes a drink that’s exceedingly couth.

(Unlike boiler makers,

And drinks made in shakers,

And things that they’d drink in Duluth.)

A muscular fellow from Gratz,

Who had for his staffer, “the hots,”

Behaved rather wild,

And now has a child,

But suffered the loss of his shatz

A lady renowned for her vanity,

Which she drove to the point of insanity,

Used oceans of potions,

And various lotions,

But still had the skin of a manatee.

Another experience with gout.

It makes a man want to “check out.”

From dawn until dusk,

This frail human husk,

Give ever more reason to pout.

This time, it isn’t my toe,

Which causes such grief and such woe,

But my lower right thumb.

(I wish it were numb.)

Nor can it be moved to and fro.

There once was an amiable yokel,

Whose speech was entirely vocal.

This may sound like hyperbole,

But he only spoke verbally,

And his accent was markedly local.

A Japanese monster, Godzilla,

Ate ice cream—but mostly vanilla.

Not so bold or so spunky,

To try chunky-monkey,

He relished the chunky gorilla.

But the monster’s first cousin, Daiichi,

Had some flavors a little less peachy.

We’ll be eating that dust;

(California or bust!)

In time, the long isotopes reach ye.

Prince Rupert just barely protested,

As his flunkies were being arrested.

They hacked all the phones,

And bribed all the drones.

Even Scotland Yard was infested.

If you’re buying a Patek-Phillippe,

Don’t expect it to be very chippe.

If you drop down a notch

In your choice of a wotch,

You’ll find prices a little less stippe.

To learn the conventions of spelling,

(For reasons both grave and compelling,)

Can drive a man daft,

With vowels fore and aft,

And reduce us to mumbling and yelling.

The plural of spouse may be spice,

But perhaps you should stop and think twice,

And consider how Cain

Just trashed his campaign,

Before you try rolling the dice.