Columnists

There’s a growing consensus that the great recession is over, but the pace of U.S. recovery will be slow. Meanwhile, China’s economy is speeding up. A comparison of economic policies in the two countries indicates the White House must be more aggressive. -more-

They only hold the summer Olympics every four years and 2009 wasn’t the year for them. But they do hold the International Association of Athletics Federations world athletic championships every odd year, which is not quite the same thing, but close. This summer they were held in Berlin, and there were some absolutely memorable moments for those who love watching track and field competition on the world stage. -more-

Along with the migrant songbirds (the recent tanager, a female black-headed grosbeak, and a couple of yellow warblers, among others), I’ve been seeing a steady trickle of monarch butterflies in the neighborhood. Whether western monarchs actually migrate or not is a point of controversy. UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor Adrian Wenner has argued that what we have here is more of a range expansion and contraction between wintering roosts along the Central Coast and interior breeding areas. Unlike eastern monarchs, the western population doesn’t all wind up in the same place. -more-

Periodically I see something that is so stupid that I have to reset my stupid gauge, re-evaluate the relative stupidity of all the other things I see, and give all the other builders, handy-folk and homeowners a little more slack because they didn’t perform this particularly odious act. As you may have surmised, I was recently privy to such an act and it is both fascinating and incredibly stupid. So without further ado, I present for you the mysterious, eternally exploding water heater. -more-