What's in a trillion? A look at Bush's US budget
WASHINGTON - A person given $1 million a year to spend would need three million years to blow $3 trillion. The United States, a government of sizable financial appetite, can do it in one.
Three trillion dollars is about what the U.S. federal government will spend this year for domestic and defence programs and benefit entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, according to President George W. Bush's latest federal budget proposal Monday.
A trillion is a figure more commonly used when talking about outer space. A light year, the distance that light travels in a vacuum in a year, is about 9.6 trillion kilometres.
Written out, a trillion is a one followed by 12 zeros, or 1,000,000,000,000. That's a million times one million, or a thousand times one billion.
There are about 6.8 billion people in the world, meaning that every living person would get $441 if the U.S. government's budget was divided up. If the money was split among the 300 million Americans, everyone would take home $10,000.
Counting to three trillion at a rate of one number a second would take almost 95,000 years.
Looking at it another way, one would have to circumnavigate the globe 120 million times to travel three trillion miles - or 4.8 trillion kilometres. Similarly, that would be some 17,000 round trips to the sun. The universe, 15 billion years old at the outside, would need another 200 such lifetimes to reach three trillion years.
blogged by Chris at 10:43 PM | comments (1)I am a scientist. My job is to view the facts, cold and dispassionately, and come up with logical, rational explanations.
I watched this. I was uncontrollably shaking afterwards. I think that any rational human being that watches this will probably feel the same way.
Do me a favor - grab a drink. Go to this website. Watch this movie. It's two hours. It will change how you see the world.
http://zeitgeistmovie.com
Alright Dad. I was in tears writing the last entry, so I'm posting this to make you laugh.
blogged by Chris at 05:55 PM | comments (0)My Dad is officially retired after a long career as a firefighter. Last week was his last shift on the front lines. I wish I could have been there to congratulate him on a career full of courage, grit, determination and skill.
What can I say about my Dad without getting choked up? For as long as I can remember, Dad has been my hero. He was the Dad that every kid on the block wanted as a Dad. After working a double shift fighting fires and then painting during the day, he would typically come home to clean up the house, have dinner on the table, and have time to take me to hockey practice. I seriously don't know how he did it. And you would think that after 30 years of that he would get tired of it, but you know it never seemed that he did. Sure he would collapse after a shift like that, but he never let on that he was annoyed with his life or with all the jobs that he had to do. He just did it. That is my Dad.
What can I say about his career? Dad was the firefighter that everyone looked up to at the fire department and easily called "chief." He looked after his men as if they were his sons - cooking meals for them, helping them with their issues at work, and above all protecting them from danger. Even when my Dad was chief, he was usually the first guy to break down the door to a burning building to save the people inside. He had a "the buck stops here" policy when dealing with things - like me, he took on a lot of responsibility, and usually took the fall when something went wrong. Unlike me, things rarely went wrong for Dad. There are countless stories of the lives he has saved. I remember as a kid people coming up to my Dad and thanking him for being a firefighter and a hero. That is what he is and what he will always be to me.
So it's a bittersweet entry today about the end of a great career, but I want you to know Dad that I am proud of you - as proud as I could be about another human being. With your selfless acts over the years, you have inspired and shaped the lives of so many people. I know that you will continue to do the things that you love that make you happy. You will still make breakfasts for the homeless, feeding hundreds in a single day. You will still tell stories to others about firefighting, and stay involved with your colleagues. Maybe you will even take them up on the offer to teach one day. I don't want you to feel that this is the end, for in my eyes you still are a hero for the countless acts of kindness that you do everyday.
Take a rest, Dad. You deserve it.
Love, with pride and admiration,
Your son
blogged by Chris at 05:51 PM | comments (1)Hi all:
I know, it's been a long time since I posted anything here. One of the reasons why is that I don't want this place to be a haven of negativity. I've come to the realization over the last year that I'm just not happy anymore. It's not a thing that just passes over me from time to time. It's not a phase or a period of the dumps. It's just plain unhappiness - it's constant, it's there, and I don't know how to shake it.
Fortunately for me, I know where the source comes from. And I think that anyone that reads this probably knows too. I'm doing something about it this year and I hope that by this time next year I can write about happier things. All that I can do now is keep my chin up and keep on going.
So, to write about happier things:
(1) Angela and I painted the house over the holidays. We also redid the blinds and lighting in the house. She's much happier now ;)
(2) I think that Jason and Val are pregnant again. Wonderful news!
(3) I've been nominated for a University Teaching Award at FSU. This is based totally on unsolicited forms signed by students. When the provost gets enough nominations, you formally begin the "process" where you are evaluated. It's an honor to even be put in the same category as some of the past winners. Now to get my dossier together.
(4) New Orleans is coming up - the March Meeting. As well, I've been invited to give a talk at a Gordon Conference in June. It's awesome to be invited to play with the big hitters.
Ah, that feels a bit better. Sometimes when I am really down, I think about what makes a person go on when they experience so much defeat, stress, and bad karma. In the end, I think that how a person acts under those circumstances defines who they really are. I'd like to think that I am stoic and resolute in the face of adversity. I guess that time will tell.
2007 sucked. 2008 has to be better ;)
blogged by Chris at 08:48 PM | comments (2)Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote anything here! I have a great excuse- the hard drive died on my computer. Fortunately, as the title points out, everything else is ok.
The trip to Missouri was great. We stayed at Brad and Jen's the whole time, and we had lots of time with them and the little ones. Zoey and Sebastian are growing up so fast! It's just too much for Angela to take in sometimes. Being far away from those you care about is really tough. We got to see the whole family out west and we were happy that we made the trip.
The trip to Canada was tougher for me. The trip to Missouri was hard physically - I came down with the flu on the last day and I felt terrible that I was so out of it. The trip to Canada, in contrast, was tough emotionally and spiritually. It made me realize just how fucking home sick I really am. I know that I write about this a lot here and I apologize if I sound like a broken record. Angela thinks that I dwell too much and I should just get over it. I really can't get over where I come from and what I am. That is just too much.
Anyways... for my whole life I have struggled with the question of Canadian identity. It is not an over the top in-your-face definition, like the American identity. It is subtle, constantly changing, but at the same time resolute and proud. Many Canadians identify themselves with what they are NOT, for example. There is an old joke that goes like: "Canadians are generally indistinguishable from the Americans, and the surest way of telling the two apart is to make the observation to a Canadian."
Oddly enough, I have discovered my Canadian identity by being away from Canada. It sounds strange, but it's true. Here is what I think about what it means to be Canadian:
(1) Canadians have a survival mentality. We all are united by the fact that we can survive our fucking winters. Don't laugh - this is a tremendous source of pride. Our winters shape our consciousness - it makes us tough, resolute, and proud. It also makes us realize that people are more important than material things. What use is your fancy car when your family is freezing to death? I think that this is the reason why Canada has such a successful health care system, and such a socialist society. We care about the folks freezing their asses off next door.
(2) Canadians have a deeper connection to nature than Americans have. Hell, most of our land is not developed - we know what it means to preserve it and keep it that way. Most of us don't give two shits about the oil up north or our vast stores of lumber - well, unless you are from Calgary I suppose ;) We take care of our resources and our land, and we use it sparingly.
(3) Multiculturalism. Canadians are not a melting pot. We value other cultures and encourage them to flourish beyond our boundaries. This shapes our identity just as much as our past does.
(4) War. We are a peaceful nation. We have paid our dues in WWI and WWII, coming to Britain's aid before the Americans did. 1 out of 10 Canadians served in either war. Tens of thousands lost their lives. Ever hear of Dieppe? It was a failed attempt at scaling the French beaches near Normandy. 5000 died in one day. We were "expendable" in the eyes of Churchill.
We are not in Iraq. We do not need to flex our muscles around the world to show how strong we are. Our strength comes from within - our strength of character. When Bush urged Canada to help him in Iraq, we stood up to him and said a resounding NO. One of my proudest moments to be a Canadian.
(5) Social system. As I mentioned above, Canada is a country that cares more about other people and helping the world than making money. Polls in Canada state that nearly 70% of all Canadians are more worried about healthcare, eliminating poverty, gun control, and the environment than making money. It is not a perfect country, but it is a great sucessful socialist experiment. What if we raised taxes, but used that money to give everyone free services and take care of our country?
The experiment worked. Canada is one of the most beautiful, tolerant, polite, gentle, and loving countries in the world. We are an introverted, silent, quiet country that keeps our pride hidden from the world. But if you look around a stadium when the Canadian anthem is playing during a hockey game, I bet it would be tough to find a dry eye anywhere.
I love my country. And I miss it everyday.
blogged by Angela at 07:06 PM | comments (4)