Blu-Ray? How about Bug-Ray?

News in Science - DVD uses bug protein to store data - 07/07/2006

DVDs coated with a layer of protein could one day hold so much information that storing data on your computer hard drive will be obsolete, says a US-based researcher.

An entire generation will have no frame of reference for Dan Aykroyd's character in Trading Places

Starting a New Era at Goldman and Morgan - NYTimes.com

The transformation of Wall Street picked up pace on Monday as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last big independent investment banks, moved to restructure into larger, less risk-taking organizations that will be subject to far greater regulation by the Federal Reserve.

No purses in class.

Indiana school bans purses in the classroom - ParentDish

In an effort to keep kids as safe as possible, many schools have banned backpacks in the classroom, forcing students to keep them in their lockers instead. But an Indiana high school is taking that idea one step further, telling female students that they can't carry their purses either. And that new rule has girls and parents alike upset.

Dropout statistics

Visit LeaderTalk: Dropped Out or Pushed Out? to get the citation sources for each statistic.

Every nine seconds a student becomes a drop-out [1].

Of those who graduate from high school, the completion rate is 72% for females and 64% for males [2].

Among ethnic groups: African-Americans have a 50% graduation rate; Latinos - 53%; Asian/Pacific Islanders - 77%; and Whites - 75% [3].

Students from low-income families drop-out at six times the rate of higher-income families [4].

75% of inmates in state prisons are drop-outs. 59% of inmates in Federal prisons are drop-outs [5].

55% of drop-outs are employed [6].

The U.S. death rate for people with less than 12 years of education is 2.5 times higher than those with 13 or more years of education [7].

The cost to the public for crime and welfare involving drop-outs is $24 BILLION annually [8].

There are 3.5 million drop-outs between the ages of 16 - 25 [9].

Total combined loss of income and taxes in one year due to drop-outs equals $192 BILLION (1.6% of the Gross Domestic Product) [10].

Arguments about our pluralistic attempt to educate all children notwithstanding - graduations rates around the world include the following: Denmark - 96%; Japan - 93%; Poland - 92%; Italy 79%; and the U.S. - 70% [11].

Smithsonian online coming soon - cool!

Smithsonian will digitize its full collection - USATODAY.com

The Smithsonian Institution will work to digitize its collections to make science, history and cultural artifacts accessible online and dramatically expand its outreach to schools, the museum complex's new chief said Monday.

Methane - 20 times more potent than CO2

Melting Arctic Permafrost Is Releasing a Global Warming Timebomb | Environment | AlterNet

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

Tax Plans: Obama vs. McCain

Take a look at the graphics below and notice the differences at the top and bottom income levels.

At first glance, you see that the Obama plan benefits the most Americans. The number of taxpayers who get a tax break is greatest with the Obama plan.

On the other hand, McCain proposes huge tax breaks for the wealthy. This is just more of the same Republican trickle-down economics which led to skyrocketing national deficits and failed to balance the budget in the Reagan and Bush administrations.

McCain (net worth 21-45 million) gives ultra-rich folks the greatest tax breaks while cutting taxes on the poorest Americans by less than one-fifth of one percent. Obama (net worth less than 1 million) only raises taxes on folks who make over $600,000 per year.

Are you reading my blog and making over 600K? If so, that puts you in the top 1% of American taxpayers!!! You top 1% have been getting huge tax breaks for years and Obama's plan simply asks you to pay your fair share.

Are you reading my blog and making less than $110,000 per year? Probably, because that is well over 60% of American taxpayers. You will get more tax relief with Obama's plan.

Don't be distracted by campaign rhetoric, the numbers are clear. Obama has the only rational tax plan to stimulate our economy and balance the budget.

TaxProf Blog: Comparison of the McCain and Obama Tax Plans

The Obama tax plan would make the tax system significantly more progressive by providing large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners. The McCain tax plan would make the tax system more regressive, even compared with a system in which the 2001–06 tax cuts are made permanent.

The Washington Post ran a story using this data and published this chart:


And CNN breaks it down this way:

McCain: The average taxpayer in every income group would see a lower tax bill, but high-income taxpayers would benefit more than everyone else.

Obama: High-income taxpayers would pay more in taxes, while everyone else's tax bill would be reduced. Those who benefit the most - in terms of reducing their taxes as a percentage of after-tax income - are in the lowest income groups.