Monthly Archives: August 2011

Here at the AMS Summer Community Meeting, there’s been a lot of discussion about priorities, the federal debt ceiling, and how our community should respond to threatened federal budget cuts and the like. Similar debates rage across the U.S. Every … Continue reading →

A year and one day ago, while at the 2010 AMS Summer Community Meeting in State College, I wrote a post entitled From parallel play to true collaboration. The main idea? That government, private sector, and academic members of our … Continue reading →

Why do you go to meetings? Is it to impart knowledge? Has your research, or your life experience or a project at your work taken a turn that you’re excited to share with others? Do you hope to learn? Are … Continue reading →

“What are your priorities?” Earlier today, a Senate staffer asked this question of attendees at the American Meteorological Society Summer Community Meeting. Actually, he went on to say this wasn’t just his question. He’d done his homework. He’d asked his … Continue reading →

Last year about this time, an early post on this blog described an innovative program hosted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and its Societal Impacts Program. The name of the NCAR effort? WAS*IS (Weather and Society*Integrated Studies). As … Continue reading →

Fractured: the U.S. body politic, the world economy, U.S. towns, and natural-gas-bearing rock. On Wednesday, August 4th, the New York Times headlined the story Debt Bill is Signed, Ending a Fractious Battle. It was, supposedly, the climax to a bitterly … Continue reading →

August 3 marks the first anniversary of my inaugural post on this blog. That first year? Just over 200 posts. That’s a hair under four/week. At times, it felt like more. Especially since most were written in the evening, or … Continue reading →

Here’s our situation in a nutshell. United States debt stands at $14T and is growing rapidly. The economy is in the doldrums and has been since the downturn of 2008. Both worldwide and at home, challenges are multiplying in number; … Continue reading →

Jack Marburger died Thursday, July 28, after battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma for four years. A former science advisor to President George W. Bush from 2001-2009, he also served in many positions at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. … Continue reading →

That clattering sound we all hear this morning? Congress and the President have just kicked the debt-ceiling can a little further down the road. In and of itself, this is no reason to be discouraged…in fact, it may be just … Continue reading →