Shush, -The New Password

ESTIMATES OF THE intelligence of the average American ral~ge from very low to a little higher than very low, depending upon the amount of cynicism or the rosiness of the rose-colored glasses of the person computing the averages. These surveys may be well founded or they may be final semester theses knocked out by advanced students in pursuit of masters\u27 degrees in psychology. In either case, and in direct and naive opposition to these averages, I am sometimes quite well impressed that the average American is rather intelligent and strives to keep himself well in formed..

The Passing of Aseli

Short story about the repercussions of the death of the a former villager

Degradation of Dispersants and Dispersed Oil

Chemical oil dispersants are proprietary mixtures of surfactants and solvents which are directly applied to a spill in order to reduce the natural attractive forces of the oil. When oil treated with dispersants is exposed to mixing energy, typically from wind and wave action, it is broken up into small droplets which may then become entrained in the water column (Li et al., 2009a; Li et al., 2009b; Li, 2008; Lunel, 1995). Many of these droplets are small enough to be neutrally buoyant, and therefore, advection and diffusion forces dilute the plume and transport the droplets far from the site of the original spill. As compared to a surface oil slick or larger and more buoyant physically dispersed oil droplets, these chemically dispersed droplets are much easier for oil-degrading bacteria to colonize and break down (Venosa and Holder, 2007; Venosa and Zhu, 2003). In addition, small droplets enhance dissolution of soluble and semi-volatile compounds into surrounding waters, wherein biodegradation is carried out by aqueous phase microbes. Under these conditions, oil concentration are effectively reduced below toxicity threshold limits, and biodegradation becomes the most important process in reducing the total mass of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment. By enabling rapid dispersion and biodegradation of surface oil slicks at sea, the use of chemical oil dispersants can be effective in preventing heavy oiling of sensitive coastal environments such as beaches and wetlands, and consequently mitigates risk associated with marine and terrestrial wildlife coming into direct contact with a slick

The world economy [March 2003]

All the major economies grew more strongly in the first three quarters of 2002 compared to 2001 but growth slowed in the last quarter of 2002. At the beginning of 2002 the outlook for the world economy was marginally weaker than in the third quarter. The uncertainty over geopolitical tensions has had a substantial effect on equity markets. The UK FTSE 100 is close to an 8 year low; the Dax is now close to 2,200 points, which suggests that this is more severe in relative terms than the Great Depression in Germany during the 1930s. In Tokyo the Nikkei is near a 20 year low and only the Dow and the Nasdaq remain above crisis levels. Equity markets have lost 15 per cent of their value in the third quarter of 2002. The markets urgently require an injection of confidence but this will only happen when the situation in Iraq is resolved. Oil prices are also suffering from the heightened uncertainty and oil prices are being squeezed upwards. The outlook for the world economy is that recover y will be led by the US in 2003, followed by the Euro Area. Both domestic demand and external demand are likely to strengthen while world trade is forecast to grow significantly. Growth is forecast to be stronger in 2004 as economic activity strengthens across the globe