The Overdose's absence on Friday was intentional; its absence yesterday most certainly was not. To wit: yesterday was the worst day I've had for Internet access in probably ten years--the law school, my apartment, and my preferred lunchtime watering hole all had essentially no usable access. Lame excuse, I know, but I doubt that anybody spent the whole day on the edge of his/her seat yesterday (and if you were, I strongly encourage you to get a life). --Ed.
I am not an old person, but I distinctly remember when the world population hit six billion. It wasn't that long ago--only twelve years--which makes yesterday's proclamation by the United Nations of the birth of No. 7,000,000,000 a really rather remarkable thing. The comparisons speak for themselves--there were fewer than one billion people when the United States became a nation; right at two billion when Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in a season; well under three billion when my parents were born in 1954. Even a relatively conservative estimate of the growth rate (and of my longevity) predicts that there will be over nine billion humans when I die, more than twice as many as when I was born.
