On this one day when I finally managed to escape the office by 6, the BART station was closed. A sea of commuters hovered around the entrance to BART, with some walking down to check out the fully shut steel gate and then returning upstairs. “The BART station is closed,” I heard somebody say. My
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White Christmas-After
The 4.5-day weekend turned into a 5.5-day weekend when the historical storm struck the New York region. Some areas near us reportedly got 32 inches of accumulation in less than a day. I cursed at the people who asked for a white Christmas, although didn’t mind the notice about office closing on Monday. Hong wasn’t
How Likely Will Your Car Be Recalled?
Over the past year, the word “motor vehicle recall” and “Toyota” seemed to have some strong correlation, including the headline news last week. They sure screwed up with corporate response for that incident, but that by no means suggest that Toyota is the only manufacturer that makes bad cars. “Good” cars get recalled all the
McDonald’s vs. Life Expectancy
McDonald’s has been given so much bad publicity in recent years, based on biased and scientifically unsound claims. I’m not a hardcore fan trying to defend the corporation, but as an analytical bystander I feel the need to bring about some justice. Introducing: the correlation between McDonald’s historical growth and improvement in life expectancy. Credible
Water Park
New Jersey is a fairly watery state. On a normal day, it’s filled with rivers, lakes, and swamps. When it rains, well, those bodies of water reclaim their territories from men. Newark, the shitty town where I work, gets flooded easily. You’d expect that of a port city, I suppose, but based on people’s gossip,
Snow Storm NYC
After record-breaking storms visiting all those regions surrounding us, New York finally got a sizable one this winter. The District of Columbia needs to learn the spirit from the Big Apple: this city never sleeps, not even at 1AM in a freaking storm. Armies of workers managed the streets with plows, blowers, and shovels of
Stick Figure Outcry
I find this story highly amusing. Teacher asked class to draw something that “reminds them of Christmas”. Second grade kid drew dead Jesus on the cross (and told teacher it was himself). Teacher, concerned about the kid’s underlying violent tendencies, sent him for psychiatric evaluation. Community got furious, labeling it as an antichrist execution of the
What’s With Our Country?
Two of the hottest current headlines: people oppose the use of public or private insurance funds to kill embryo cells, yet get upset that doctors may no longer recommend an ineffective and potentially harmful procedure for women. Although the majority of our society isn’t about making sense, people should realize that our tax dollars are already used
Actuarial Drama
It’s a well known fact that actuaries are dull people, so the term “actuarial drama” is nearly as much an oxymoron as “business ethics”. Well, guess what? We’ve got one. Bruce Schobel, arguably one of the most well-known and respected senior actuaries in the circle, had recently been removed as the president-elect from the American
That’s Why I Don’t Buy Organic
WSJ: Review Finds No Nutritional Benefit to Organic Food. And that’s not all… according to my forestry professors: Farming chemicals (pesticides, etc) are very easy to wash off You probably should wash your food anyway Some plants without external pesticide protection can develop similar chemicals internally to fend off attackers (bugs, people); you can’t wash that