Here are some news items that caught my attention over the weekend:
Yet again, Amanda Yeager with the Patuxent News Media Group writes that Howard County ranks second in the Country in median household income at $108,844.
The Washington Post reports that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a 2,000 page report finding that "'it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant
cause' of global warming since 1950 and warned of more rapid ice melt
and rising seas if governments do not aggressively act to reduce the
pace of greenhouse gas emissions." I found these two paragraphs instructive on the state of debate over climate change:
Scientists arrived at their conclusions by drawing on more than 9,000
publications. They considered more than 54,000 comments from about
1,050 people in 52 nations.
Yet the summary did little to dissuade
a small but forceful chorus of scholars who deny that humans cause
significant global warming or that Earth is suffering from warming
effects.
On Friday, the Washington Post published a "must read" piece about a federal employee who sent a letter to Congress inviting them to fire him and all of his co-workers by closing the Denali Commission, an agency that may have outlived its usefulness.
The WaPo also had a great piece over the weekend about the consequences of "use it or lose it" budgeting, prompting agencies across the federal government to flush out their accounts to avoid cuts to future budgets.
Dan Rodricks takes a harsh tone to Governor O'Malley's public safety tactics, but otherwise does a fair job summarizing the "arrest-fest" approach to crime reduction, how it dances the line of civil rights abuse, and places a long-term burden on state resources.
Featured Blog Post of the Day: Claire laments the reintroduction of stink-bugs to our peaceful abodes...shoes...window sills...pantries...
That's all for today! Have a great Monday doing what you love!