QT sunspot and solar wind update:
81 and 783,400 mph.
Hey, anyone have topical phase transitions in the office pool?
News Item: “. . . Topological phase transitions in condensed matter systems accompany emerging singularities of the electronic wavefunction, often manifested by gap-closing points in momentum space. . . .”
As we might have expected.
La Maison du Whopper
News Headline: “Americans threaten to boycott Burger King over Canadian ‘tax dodge’ merger.”
Gary Duffala, a Rio Rancho, N.M., reader writes:
“So if corporations are people, tax-inversion corporations are foreign nationals and aren’t allowed to donate to political campaigns. Unless of course they have a green card. No?”
An interesting point.
The whole business seems suspicious in these dangerous times.
Homeland Security may want to put all Burger King executives on the no-fly list until this is sorted out.
WRITE TO QT: qt@zaysmith.com
And fries with that
News Headline: “Should McDonald’s buy Chipotle?”
Globalization has its points.
But are we ready for the McBurrito?
News Headline: “Cambodian rat meat: A growing export market.”
And there remains the case for isolationism.
Faith-based initiatives
News Headline: “ISIS: ‘We are soldiers of the Caliphate state and we are coming.’ ”
Speaking of religion:
When did the opiate of the masses become acid in combination with crystal meth?
QT Labor Day countdown update
Cisco, which gave CEO John Chambers an 80 percent raise last year, is laying off 6,000 workers as part of a restructuring to save money.
QT Yellowstone Caldera (the eruptions of which can be violent enough to send a layer of ash six feet deep as far away as Chicago and which erupts every 600,000 or so years and last erupted 640,000 years ago) update
News Headline: “Earthquakes shake Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano.”
This should be watched closely.
The volcano has been known to explode with 20 times force of Mount St. Helens.
Which was. . . about 1/1,000th the force of Yellowstone’s last eruption.
So then again, never mind.
Status update
News Headline: “Class action against Facebook for privacy violations attracts 60,000 users.”
Like.
Where to start?
News Headline: “Iraq crisis: U.N. warns of fresh massacre threat.”
QT sometimes watches the news with its dog.
It is not easy explaining humanity to a dog.
QT Labor Day countdown update
News Headline: “Dramatic downturn in Gulf oyster harvests since BP oil spill.”
News Headline: “Causes of fish lesions ruled out, except for BP oil spill.”
News Headline: “Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival poised for 79th year.”
Well. Maybe with a few minor changes. . . .