Monthly Archives: December 2011

When it comes to our resolutions for the coming year, most of us add tasks. We know from experience this doesn’t work so well! Exhausted by the extra labor, we give up after a month or two at most. So … Continue reading →

“When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging.” – Will Rogers Prior to arriving in Washington in the 1980’s, I’d led a sheltered life and never heard this expression. But I hadn’t been here long before a friend laughed … Continue reading →

On Christmas Eve, Justin Gillis published an interesting article in the New York Times entitled: Harsh Political Reality Slows Climate Studies Despite Extreme Year. He recounted weather’s large toll on life, property damage and business disruption in 2011. He interviewed … Continue reading →

Terrible tragedy has struck the Philippines. Typhoon Washi hit Mindanao this week. As of this writing, the death toll stands at over 1000. An equal number have gone missing. So far we know that 10,000 homes have been damaged and … Continue reading →

Climate change is real. Human beings – our numbers, and our activities – drive much of this change. The climate change underway poses substantial risks. To me, the evidence for these three statements is compelling. It seems I’m in good … Continue reading →

Ever heard of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity? Neither had I, until this morning. But on the front page of today’s Washington Post, we find this headline; “Scientists asked to withhold details of lab-created flu.” Turns out that … Continue reading →

Lots of ideas and food for thought put forth at Tuesday’s opening session of Weather Ready Nation: A Vital Conversation – a three-day workshop held here in Norman at the National Weather Center. With nearly two hundred people present, you’d … Continue reading →

When you’re among the logistics-impaired, sometimes you fail to reserve a rental car in advance for your travel. No worries, right? There are always cars. And at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers Airport, this again proved to be the rule. There … Continue reading →

This and every Christmas, our attention eventually turns to our true love, and his/her gift of seven-swans-a-swimming (along with six geese-a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, and all that other kit). Here are seven Black Swans that figure in … Continue reading →