Saturday December 22, 2012

On this date in 1864, during the Civil War, my namesake, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman sent a message from Georgia to President Abraham Lincoln saying, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

December 17, 2012

I agree with Rep. Keith Ellison’s recent assertions about gun control:

We should reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, a law on the books until 2004 that prevented dangerous weapons from falling into the hands of violent criminals, and fully support implementation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to ensure dangerous individuals who are already barred by federal law from owning a gun cannot buy guns online or at gun shows. A strong national background check system will ensure that violent drug dealers, domestic abusers, murderers, or the criminally insane are not able to buy guns to hurt and kill others. This ban is supported by virtually every federal, state and local law enforcement agency and more than two thirds of the American people. We should also limit the amount of deadly ammunition shooters can hold in a single magazine. The shooters in Tucson and in Aurora, Colorado, used high capacity magazines that allowed them to fire for extended periods without reloading. The shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary also had high-capacity magazines. There is no justified civilian purpose for firing dozens of rounds without stopping.

In my opinion, these are minimum changes and just the beginning of what needs to be done to stop gun violence in the United States. It’s shameful what we allow. Blood is on all outr hands.

December 13, 2012

As men age, they are more likely to pass genetic mutations on to their children. By introducing change, older men's genes appear to be a major driving force in human evolution. But the mutations from a growing number of older fathers may also account for a portion of the recent increase in autism. Because the cells that give rise to sperm divide frequently--about 23 times a year—they are much more likely to accumulate genetic copying errors than the female precursor cells, oocytes, which divide only twice before becoming eggs. The mistakes add up over a lifetime, so that the older the father, the more mutations he has in his sperm. It is estimated that a 70-year-old dad passes on eight times as many mutations as does a 20-year-old. To grasp the implications, researchers compared the whole genome sequences of 78 Icelandic people diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia with the sequences of their fathers and mothers. Four times as many of the children's new genetic mutations came from their fathers as from their mothers. Similar results were announced in another study at the University of Washington in April and September that demonstrated that the mutation rate in men rises linearly with age. A father 50 or older is about twice as likely as one 29 or under to have an autistic child. A Yale University study further quantified the risk. In families that have only one autistic child, about 15 percent of the cases are linked to new mutations in sperm cells. Other studies suggest that offspring of older dads are at higher risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and epilepsy as well. Overall, advanced paternal age probably accounts for 5 percent to more than 25 percent of the risk for autism, depending on whom you ask. Because the average age of fatherhood is rising in many Western countries, more mutations are probably being passed along. Ultimately, older fathers are a double-edged sword. Most of the mutations they pass on are harmless and some are definitely beneficial, even essential to our long-term survival as a species, since a genetically varied population is the raw material of evolutionary change. So, though mutations can be dangerous for the next generation they also increase the diversity in our genome.

12.12.12

Nothing else to say. Just a perfect number.

December 4, 2012

According to Mercer's 2012 Quality of Living Index, Vienna, famous for its hundreds of museums, 2000 parks, and of course its roasted coffee, is the best place on the planet to live. This year's selection makes Vienna number one in the world for the fourth year in a row. The annual survey by the global human resources consulting firm points not just to Austria's qualities but to much of the region's virtues. Eight of the report's top 10 cities are in Europe. Zurich is the world's second most livable city while three German cities -- Munich, Dusseldorf, and Frankfurt -- follow close behind. Mercer's survey results are based on an analysis of local living conditions comprising 39 factors in 10 categories. Political considerations include government stability and crime rates. Economic factors take into account banking services and currency exchange laws. Health considerations include access to medical care and pollution levels. Transport, housing, and recreation are also taken into account. "Overall, European cities continue to have high quality of living as a result of a combination of increased stability, rising living standards, and advanced city infrastructures," said Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer. This is despite economic turmoil, political tension, and high unemployment in some European countries. Australian, New Zealand and Canadian metropolises round out the top ten list. The world's top 30 cities of the Mercer 2012 index:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Auckland, New Zealand
4. Munich, Germany
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Düsseldorf, Germany
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Bern, Switzerland
10. (tie) Sydney, Australia
12. Amsterdam, Netherlands
13. Wellington, New Zealand
14. Ottawa, Canada
15. Toronto, Canada
16. Berlin, Germany
17. Hamburg, Germany
17. Melbourne, Australia
19. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
21. Perth, Australia
22. Brussels, Belgium
23. Montreal, Canada
24. Nuremberg, Germany
25. Singapore, Singapore
26. Canberra, Australia
27. Stuttgart, Germany
28. Honolulu, Hawaii U.S.
29. Adelaide, Australia
29. (tie) Paris, France
29. (tie) San Francisco, U.S.
City scores help multinational companies calculate compensation packages for the employees they send overseas. A lower score often correlates into a better compensation package that includes hardship allowances, according to Mercer. Countries with unstable governments or undergoing civil strife tend usually to have lower scores. Eight African cities dominate the bottom ten in this year's survey. Around the word and on a regional basis, the cities that score the lowest are:
64. Belfast, Northern Ireland (Western Europe)
71. Detroit, Michigan, (United States)
207. Dushanbe, Tajikistan (Asia-Pacific)
213. Tbilisi, Georgia (Eastern Europe)
219. Port-au-Prince, Haiti (North Americas)
This year's city with the worst quality of life is Baghdad, Iraq at #221. The United States, which constantly trumpets itself as “the greatest country in the world” couldn’t even break the top 25 with Honolulu slouching in at 28 and San Francisco tied for 29^th.

Also, Transparency International has released its 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, deeming more than two-thirds of the countries surveyed as "very corrupt." The usual suspects occupied both ends of the league table. Only 53 of 176 countries surveyed attained a "passing grade" of 50 out of 100 in the annual report. Two typical trios bookended the index, with Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand all tied at 90 at the top. Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan shared the ignominious end of Transparency's table, scoring just eight. As a geographic region, Scandinavia swept the board as usual. Sweden was fourth in line after joint leaders Denmark and Finland, with Norway bagging seventh spot with a score of 85. Weak civil society and rule of law can blight lives, particularly for those who most need the protection of the state. The comprehensive new report reveals wide disparities, with parts of Asia faring quite poorly. Transparency's Managing Director Cobus de Swardt said the world's top economies should "lead by example" and ensure "their institutions are fully transparent and their leaders are held accountable." But, the world's largest economy, the US, could only manage a score of 73 - 19th in the standings, between the UK and Chile. China, meanwhile, logged only 39 points, scraping into the top half in 80th place.