Blog 2.1

How jumpy have the people of Kansas City become? This jumpy. At least, unlike those in Boston, Kansas City officials aren’t trying to sue the manufacturers of the box or perhaps jail whoever left it as suspected terrorists.

You’ve no doubt been hearing a lot lately about a survey presented by the Union of Concerned Scientists - the news media has been having a great time reporting that the White House has been pressuring many (sometimes reported as 60% of) scientists to alter their results to hide any indication of global warming.

George Mason University STATS took a closer look at the reporting and the survey itself… turns out it may have been the reporters, not the White House, that were “cooking the books.”

Brain Terminal has a snarky post today about the emerging nanny state in the United States. I’ll be investing in bubble wrap companies.

CNN is reporting on the cold snap in California and how it is affecting the agriculture business in the state. Despite the crisis-like tone of the reporting, I don’t really see how this is going to hurt anyone significantly (except the migrant workers who nomally harvest and package the produce). The farmers will be bailed out by insurance or the government, which only leaves the plight of the “average Californian,” personified in this article by Joseph Vasquez:

“Avocados are expensive enough as it is,” the 32-year-old Pasadena school teacher said. “We may have to do without guacamole for a while. And we may be drinking our Coronas without limes.”

Oh, the horror!

According to an article in Kansas City InfoZine, Missourians can look forward to smoother roads and fatter wallets:

“The Missouri Department of Transportation today announced plans to improve the remainder of the state’s 5,600 miles of major highways over the next five years. These busy highways will receive wider stripes and rumble stripes, brighter signs, paved shoulders and smooth pavement that will bring 85 percent of Missouri’s major highway system up to good condition by the end of 2011.”

“Smooth roads save fuel, too - a 2.4 percent improvement in fuel economy, to be exact. With all the miles traveled each day on these roads, that works out to $100 million a year in fuel savings - that money goes right back into motorists’ pockets. It’s also estimated that rough roads cost the average driver $275 a year in increased maintenance costs - that’s more money that will be saved when the roads are better.”

Maybe we’ll have to start calling them “greentop” roads…