Category: My Work

  • The Solar Eclipse as Seen from Philly

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    Brendan Barry
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    As my last two posts pointed out, yesterday was the Solar Eclipse. It certainly garnered media attention as a news helicopter hovered over my building during the height of the eclipse. Very peaceful indeed. But, knowing that my smartphone would not be able to take the best photos of the eclipse, even with a solar filter,…

  • A Throwback to Prior Kenyan Elections

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    Brendan Barry
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    Kenya presently waits for the results of its presidential election, one that pitted incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta against Raila Odinga, a many ran but never won candidate. Now, if you will indulge me, the Kenyan elections have interested me since December 2007, which if you recall provoked sectarian violence to break out across the country. At…

  • Not Alone for Trivia

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    Brendan Barry
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    Well after the last two weeks of recording solo trivia performances, I decided that this week I would showcase a team effort. And we finally placed, ending the performance tied for first place. But if you look closely you will see the final score has us at second. Why when we were tied with the…

  • Another Solo Pub Trivia Performance

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    Brendan Barry
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    This past Wednesday I once again ended up playing trivia at the pub solo. Once again, I decided over the final pint that I would attempt to visualise my performance. One thing to keep in mind is that on Wednesday there were fewer teams competing—five instead of nine. And while I never placed higher than…

  • Pub Trivia Performance

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    Brendan Barry
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    Wednesday night I had the dubious honour of playing the weekly pub trivia solo. Accordingly my team name was Hats Solo. (After I opted not to wear my fedora one night, another regular team called itself Where’s Your Hat?) I started strong, had a second wind, but still faded to a seventh place (of nine)…

  • Energy Production in Pennsylvania

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    Brendan Barry
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    Pennsylvania was the country’s first state to operate a nuclear power plant for electricity generation and is today the second-largest nuclear-generated electricity state after Illinois. But in recent years the triple threat of the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale natural gas boom, wind power subsidies, and solar power subsidies have hit the state’s nuclear industry hard. Consequently the…

  • US Steel Imports

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    Brendan Barry
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    On Thursday President Trump announced that the Commerce Department would investigate imports of steel to the United States. This falls under the Buy American campaign pledge. A lot of talk in the media is, of course, about the threat of Chinese steel to the United States. So I dug into the Census Bureau’s website and…

  • The Mother Of All Bombs

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    Brendan Barry
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    Yesterday the United States dropped a GBU.43 on a cave complex in eastern Afghanistan. The bomb is better known by its nickname MOAB, Mother Of All Bombs. But just how does the GBU.43 compare to some of the more common—and not so common—weapons in the US arsenal? What we do know is that yesterday was…

  • An Update on Trump-Russia Ties

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    Brendan Barry
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    Between travelling and being ill, I apologise for a lack of posting the last week or two. But as promised, we are back with a small update to the Trump–Russia ties. It turns out that shortly before the Syria air strikes, news broke that Jared Kushner omitted dozens of contacts with foreigners on his security…

  • Prince, Prince, Goose?

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    Brendan Barry
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    Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting to post today. But that’s okay, because it’s big news all the same and allows me to get my hands dirty. Yesterday the Washington Post broke news that the United Arab Emirates, specifically Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the UAE’s national security advisor, arranged a meeting between…