March 2017 Articles

WASHINGTON – Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Thursday that carbon dioxide was not a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with the global scientific consensus on climate change…

Mr. Pruitt’s statement is not consistent with scientific research on climate change. A report in 2013 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a panel of about 2,000 international scientists that reviews and summarizes climate science, found it to be “extremely likely” that more than half the global warming that occurred from 1951 to 2010 was a consequence of human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

A January report by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded, “The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.”

Mr. Pruitt’s remarks come as the Trump administration prepares to roll back President Barack Obama’s two signature global warming policies: a pair of sweeping regulations intended to curb carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles and power plant smokestacks.

Incredible. If these regulations are rolled back, I believe we are taking a step back as a global leader in lowering carbon dioxide emissions. I believe we also increase the probability of irreversible changes to both our local weather and climate and the global climate above and beyond the changes we see today.

What’s the educational case for integration?

There are three reasons: the kids, the parents and the teachers.

Kids who have big dreams and are expecting to go on to college are less likely to cause disruption, cut classes and are more likely to be academically engaged.

On average, those peers are found more often in economically mixed than in high-poverty schools.

It’s also an advantage to be in a classroom where your peers are high-achieving. For example, children of professionals have bigger vocabularies on average than low-income students, and that will rub off.

As for the parents, again, not attaching any blame, but middle-class parents are more likely to be PTA members and volunteer in class. That parental involvement benefits every child in a school.

And finally, the teachers deemed more effective are more likely to be found in economically mixed schools. That has to do with those first two factors. It’s easier to teach in a school with fewer discipline issues and with parents who are there to help out.

A friend of mine is passionate about this issue. I believe there’s something to this.

You may not be surprised to learn that pizza production at Domino’s hasn’t changed much in the 57 years since the company was founded. It’s still essentially hands on the dough and in the cheese. There’s been only one important advance: the spoodle, a ladle with a flat bottom that allows workers to spread the sauce evenly and quickly. A franchisee came up with the idea in 1985, and it’s become a restaurant industry essential…

As the company has built up its tech cred, its financial fortunes have been rising. Since the end of 2008, when Domino’s was threatened by declining sales and distressed franchisees, its share price has increased 60-fold. The company is now worth $9 billion. The second-biggest U.S. chain has also been stealing customers from rivals, notably from the biggest, Pizza Hut Inc. Domino’s went from having a 9 percent share of the pizza restaurant market in 2009 to 15 percent in 2016, according to research firm NPD Crest. Sales at established locations in the U.S. increased every year during that time, last year rising 10.5 percent, the fastest growth rate among the top 10 quick-service chains. Customer loyalty is also the highest among pizza chains, according to consultancy Brand Keys. Domino’s makes money from the royalties paid by its franchisees, who own about 97 percent of the restaurants, and from the ingredients it sells them. In 2016 global sales for the chain, including franchisees, were $10.9 billion; revenue for Domino’s itself was $2.5 billion.