Cab Thoughts 5/21/14

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Orcas, the "bringer of death" killer whales, live 50-60 years and swim 100 miles a day. In Sea World they die before 20. Orcas born in captivity usually die before age 5.

University presses are under terrific financial pressure. The advent of e-books, the changing reading habits of scholars (many of whom want access to a wide range of digital tools as well as the old-fashioned print monograph), Open Access-- all of this has put enormous strain on university presses. A further source of anxiety has been the steady decline in sales of new course books, as college students increasingly buy used books on the web.



Condos all have maintenance costs. If those costs are not paid by an owner, it must be made up by others. Some condos in Florida have 15% of their assessments unpaid. The other 85% must make up the difference.

In 1295, the Republic of Venice was more than eight centuries old, and the Council of Ten had over the years imposed very precise sumptuary laws prescribing for its citizens appropriate dress for different classes, commending modest attire, decreeing short hair and prohibiting extravagant or colourful clothes except on special occasions.



In a botched execution, wouldn't you expect the criminal to live?

The fossils of a huge dinosaur has been found in Argentina. At 77 tons, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tons heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus. 120 feet long and as tall as a 7 story building. Scientists believe it is a new species of titanosaur - an enormous herbivore dating from the Late Cretaceous period.



Who is... Thomas Andrews?



One of the components of the NYT getting rid of Abramson was she discovered that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor were considerably less than the pay and pension benefits of Bill Keller, the male editor whom she replaced in both jobs. “She confronted the top brass,” one close associate said, and this may have fed into the management’s defensive narrative that she was “pushy,” i.e. a bitch. Delicious.

In a large international survey, less than half of respondents (48 percent) under age 35 knew about the Holocaust.

China already emits almost twice the CO2 as either the United States or Europe although its economy is half the size of either. Every 18 months, its emissions grow enough to replace the emissions savings the U.S. will accomplish hitting the president's 15 year target.
Other countries, like India, are similarly adding to the problem; however, China accounts for about 85% of the annual rise in global CO2 emissions. Interestingly, carbon sanctions in the U.S. and Europe result in industrial displacement to China, which raises the CO2 production.



Golden Oldie:
http://steeleydock.blogspot.com/2010/01/palin-tology.html




If someone bought forty dollars of Coca-Cola when it went public in 1919, after dividends, stock splits, and patient reinvestment,  would now have more than $5 million.  



After the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the US was entirely reliant on Russian rockets – specifically Soyuz rockets, descendants of those used in the 1975 mission – to get its astronauts to and from the space station.Last week, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, said that Moscow was "very concerned about continuing to develop hi-tech projects with such an unreliable partner as the United States", and declared that the country would reject US plans to use the ISS beyond the station's planned "retirement" in 2020. Ah, international cooperation.

At the beginning of WW1 the Empress Alexandra of Russia created a hospital for wounded officers. It had 50 beds. The first year Russian casualties were 4 million.



Sumptuary law: any law designed to restrict excessive personal expenditures in the interest of preventing extravagance and luxury. The term denotes regulations restricting extravagance in food, drink, dress, and household equipment, usually on religious or moral grounds. They pop up everywhere, Sparta, Ancient Rome, Japan. Islam has used such laws as dictated by the Quran. Sometimes they were used restrictively to define certain groups. Eventually this morphed into a type of branding. For example, in many Islamic states, Christians and Jews were required to wear special emblems on their clothes. The yellow badge was first introduced by a caliph in Baghdad in the 9th century and spread to the West in medieval times. In public baths, non-Muslims had to wear medallions suspended from cords around their necks, so no one would mistake them for Muslims. In 1005 the Jews of Fatimid Egypt were ordered to wear bells on their garments.In the early years of the 21st century the Taliban in Afghanistan required Afghan Hindus to wear yellow badges.

The 2009 Federal Business Investment Tax Credit Act has been extended to Dec. 31, 2016. This allows a business to receive a 30% tax credit for solar installations. The tax credit has no ceiling.

AAAAaaaannnnnnnddddddd......an illustrated picture of the former size champion, Argentinosaurus