Now we can add a new kind of economic stimulus to the list of benefits of making one's home into an energy efficient one. According to an article in Washington Post, homeowners who invest to make their homes more energy efficient turn out to be better credit risk for banks to lend money. According to this article: A new study by the University of North Carolina suggests that the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Using a massive sample of 71,000 home loans from across the country tha... [More]

We are bombarded by all kinds of news from seemingly infinite number of sources - ranging from world is going to end due to budget gridlock in the US to Euro crisis to emerging battle lines between Japan and China to follies of movie stars and so on and on. Amidst all these noise, really important news tend to get lost: one such gem is the announcement by Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg: the two billionaires/philanathropists have joined forces to put out a plan to eradicate polio worldwide. Eff... [More]

We wanted to wish all the best to our clients and readers as we start the first full week of 2013.  As with any situation, one can look at the current state of affairs and see the glass as being half full or half empty. I was reminded of this looking at the comics page at today's paper. There was one strip that pointed out that we can look forward to 52 weeks with Friday 13th this year! On the other hand, my favorite comic strip - Classic Peanuts - captured the right spirt like show below ... [More]

Opening our local paper [aka The Washington Post] while imbibing a leisurely cup of java, I came across the Op-Ed piece that began thusly: “There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.” There is no way to ignore a piece with such a heady lede. So, I had to read the whole piece and turns out there is a burgeoning trend in this great land of ours to fry a whole turkey for this national holiday - as to be expected, this trend is led ... [More]

We digress from our usual coverage of energy industry to highlight the tragic effect of stone age abortion laws in Ireland that recently led to the death of a young doctor because the hospital she was admitted to would not perform an abortion. The Roman Catholic Church dominated politcal system did not permit doctors to perform abortion even when there is no hope of saving the fetus and when the mother's life was serious danger.  The mother had been admtted to the hospital in Dublin s... [More]