The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:A new planet has been discovered in the Goldilocks zone, not “too hot” or “too cold,” but “just right.” Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution of Washington say that, like Earth, this planet is at optimum distance from the star it orbits, maintaining the possibility of liquid water and life.  The planet circles the star Gliese 581.  The not-so-good is that the planet is about 120 trillion miles away, so getting there for a weekend at the beach may be quite difficult since a trip would take at least several generations – unless we solve the space-time continuum problem.  So I guess it’s back to the future. 

The Bad:The debate over the right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses took a new, ugly turn last week when University of Texas at Austin sophomore, Colton Tooley, fired shots across the campus before taking his own life. Tooley wrote about gun control for a freshman rhetoric class, saying that fights between his parents over guns in the house attracted his interest in the first place.  As part of his research he went to a gun show, met with NRA members, and studied the events at Virginia Tech and Columbine.

The Ugly:  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the dollar is slated to see its biggest monthly drop against the euro since 2008. The greenback has already dropped 6.7 percent against the euro this month.  On the bright side, a weaker dollar may help the U.S. compete more effectively with China. 

Kevin Fickenscher, MD

The views and opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Dell Services or its affiliates.