Category: news

I talked with Roxanne on Friday, and she tells me that Brian’s funeral is being held sometime on Tuesday in his hometown of Hershey, PA. I’ll be flying into Pittsburgh, and driving to Hershey from there. That way, I’ll be able to see my folks for a few days as well.

My flights are:

Sun July 28: 12:25pm - 6:10pm, Dallas to Pittsburgh, on Vanguard Airlines via Kansas City (flight numbers 404 and 508).

Sat Aug 2: 7:00pm - 11:15pm, Pittsburgh to Dallas, on Vanguard Airlines via Kansas City (flight numbers 777 and 259).

If you’re also attending the funeral, or if you need to contact me while I’m gone, my cell number is 469-569-7421. Of course, I’ll also be checking e-mail through Sunday morning.

This morning, I woke up and thought to myself, “Thank goodness all that ‘Crash of 2002’ stuff was just a dream.” *boggle*

And, in other news, Wall Street Suffers Worst Setback Since Yesterday:

Stocks took another beating yesterday in what analysts are now calling the worst day on Wall Street since the day before yesterday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a record low, while the Nasdaq plunged even further. The last time either average visited these levels, George W. Bush was president, Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve, and “Malcolm in the Middle” was still on television. […]

HHOS?

CNN/Money has an article today “The crash of 2002” with the sub-title “Stocks’ four-month slide has left investors battered and bloodied. How bad will it get”. According to the article, we may not be in for good financial times ahead:

Ten trading days, 1,360 points off the Dow. Let's start calling the “sell off” what it is. Let's call it a panic. Let's call it a crash.

Indeed, after rallying following Sept. 11, the markets topped out in March, and have been careening downward ever since: The Dow is down 25 percent since then; the S&P 500 is down 27 percent, and the Nasdaq is down 32 percent. […]

I can’t say that I’m terribly surprised by their assessment, but I would have preferred better news. Still I was amused by this bit:

In Mar. 2000, 500 shares of JDSU would’ve bought a Porsche 911 Carrera. Today, they’ll buy a 1990 Dodge Omni Hatchback with 100,000 miles (no a/c).

Could the Second Law of Thermodynamics become the Second Hunch of Thermodynamics?

Scientists at the Australian National University (ANU) have carried out an experiment involving lasers and microscopic beads that disobeys the so-called Second Law of Thermodynamics, something many scientists had considered impossible. […]

“Ah, it’s your standard airport vehicle / food processing conglomerate.” Still, my favorite of the mega-conglomerates is your everyday underwear/bakery-product conglomerate.