Freaky May
This wild May has blown me away. Not literally, thank goodness, but figuratively. I actually watched the Weather Channel this week for more than "Your Local Forecast." I don't remember a May with a mix of snow, 85-degree days, storm-after-storm, and a string of tornadoes. But is such weather rare? Cafe Hayek ran a great little post earlier this week that breaks down the figures. From 1940 to 1979, the number of annual American fatalities from natural disasters was 290. Over the past three decades, the average is 160 (194, if we include the Katrina deaths, which resulted largely from the levee breach). The figures surprise me, but then again, I was born in 1966. I don't have many weather memories from the pre-Reagan years. * * * * * * * Do tornadoes look eerie because of what they do (a subjective thing) or because they are objectively eerie-looking? * * * * * * * I cheated TDE readers out of Catholic Blogging Wednesday, but I think I can compensate for it with one link: The Pulp.It. I found it via NC Register. The blogger there does a great round-up, twice a day. Perhaps the best Catholic blog I've ran across in nearly two years. * * * * * * * Yesterday, The Pulp.It linked to a Christopher Dawson tribute. I read a ton of Dawson in my twenties. This makes me want to break out his Dynamics of World History. I remember that I enjoyed it, and my copy has a lot of my notes and underlinings, but I simply don't remember much about it. * * * * * * * I've been reading a little Tolstoy lately. I ran across this great quote last weekend: "The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens ... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere."
