St Swithin's Day

(For the non-Californians: Prop 86 proposes a hefty tax increase on tobacco with 100% of the raised money going to various health concerns, and Prop 87 proposes a $4bn tax on oil companies to fund alternative fuel development. The oil companies are not allowed to pass the tax on to…

Back from Montreal. It was hot! Over 30C (that's 90F) and humid with it. But we spent most of the time indoors in the air conditioning, or out and about at night when it was a little cooler. It was a productive trip, and I got a spare half hour…

If there’s a silver lining to the current financial crisis, it’s that I prefer the “market down” music on NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report to the “market up” music. Markets are up: they play We’re in the Money Markets are down: they play Stormy Weather Markets are a mixture: they play…