As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S. - WSJ.com

Uh, ok...I'll take this bet big time! Does he understand the odds he is placing on this?

As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S. - WSJ.com:

"Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire. "There's a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur....Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control."

Help for Thunder-Phobic Dogs -- Veterinarians Show Consoling Dogs Does Not Relieve Their Panic

Bonnie definitely has this problem! Fireworks are MUCH worse.

Help for Thunder-Phobic Dogs -- Veterinarians Show Consoling Dogs Does Not Relieve Their Panic:

"A new study shows that dogs can get very upset during thunderstorms, whether or not their owner holds them. The study measured the stress hormone cortisol to be up to three times normal levels while the dogs heard recordings of a thunderstorm. The company of other dogs did help, though vets say medications may be more effective."

College Students Find Comfort In Their Pets During Hard Times

Again no surprise here:

College Students Find Comfort In Their Pets During Hard Times:

"A survey of students at a large university and other adults in the area found that nearly a quarter of college students surveyed believed their pets helped them get through difficult times in life. Students who chose to live with at least one dog, one cat, or a combination of the two were less likely to report feeling lonely and depressed; something they directly attributed to their beloved pet."

Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see better | Society | The Guardian

Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see better | Society | The Guardian:

"What if it were possible, he thought, to make a pair of glasses which, instead of requiring an optician, could be 'tuned' by the wearer to correct his or her own vision? Might it be possible to bring affordable spectacles to millions who would never otherwise have them?

More than two decades after posing that question, Silver now feels he has the answer. The British inventor has embarked on a quest that is breathtakingly ambitious, but which he insists is achievable - to offer glasses to a billion of the world's poorest people by 2020."

Scientists debunk myth that most heat is lost through head | Science | The Guardian

Scientists debunk myth that most heat is lost through head | Science | The Guardian:

"The face, head and chest are more sensitive to changes in temperature than the rest of the body, making it feel as if covering them up does more to prevent heat loss. In fact, covering one part of the body has as much effect as covering any other. If the experiment had been performed with people wearing only swimming trunks, they would have lost no more than 10% of their body heat through their heads, the scientists add."

Did Early Global Warming Divert A New Glacial Age?

Did Early Global Warming Divert A New Glacial Age?:

"...gathering physical evidence, backed by powerful simulations on the world's most advanced computer climate models, is reshaping that view and lending strong support to the radical idea that human-induced climate change began not 200 years ago, but thousands of years ago with the onset of large-scale agriculture in Asia and extensive deforestation in Europe.

What's more, according to the same computer simulations, the cumulative effect of thousands of years of human influence on climate is preventing the world from entering a new glacial age"

Ken Burn's The War

Having just finished Ristening to the War, thought these links were interesting.

The PBS page on the series.

A speech by Ken Burns from 2007 on the War from American Public Media.
Word for Word: Program Archives from American Public Media