I’m reading the somewhat disappointing book Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 by Michael Beschloss. I’ll have to do a complete review, but in brief, the disappointing part is that in most episodes, I get to the end and think “Oh, it’s over.” Somehow it reads a bit like a core […]
Do Social Drinkers Really Earn More?
According to a recent study, social drinkers earn more — lots more. Drinking alone at home doesn’t count. Barhopping without drinking apparently doesn’t count either. What’s really interesting here, though, is not that this study may lack rigor, but who wants you to know that social drinkers may earn more. Having been alerted by Paul […]
Waste is Food (book: Cradle to Cradle)
Every so often I come across a book that makes it onto my “must read” list. It’s been a while, but William McDonough and Michael Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things is one of those books. For people unfamiliar with McDonough’s work, he is an environmentalist, architect and designer who has […]
Bowling Deaths Double
This is an earlier draft of an essay that appears in my collection of essays which you should, of course, own right? Why? Well, let me tell you why you should buy the Raised by Turtles book. Rise of extreme bowling blamed by industry Consumer protection advocates have released a study today showing that bowling-related […]
Switzerland declares neutrality on Sweden
In a move that shocked the international diplomatic community, Switzerland today declared neutrality on Sweden. The small land-locked European nation is best known for declaring neutrality on Nazi German during World War II and on Turkey during the latter nation’s struggle with Kurdish separatists. A small group of neo-con scholars thinkers commentators have long noticed […]
Era of Change Upon Us Again
Nation of Sheep (book)
In the summer of 1959 there occurred a series of events which demonstrated our national ignorance in a shameful and nearly fatal manner. Briefly, the United States threatened intervention in a foreign country for reasons which, it turned out, had no basis in fact… Our Secretary of State called the situation grave; our ambassador to […]
Wal-mart is not the Problem
Terrorism, Sex, Inequality and UFOs — Turtle Index, January 2006
In the tradition of the Harper’s Index, here’s the first ever Turtle Index, a compendium of numerical one-liners mostly based on polls. What percentage of American cell phone users have stopped having sex to answer the phone? How does that compare to Italians? It’s all in here as well as a few odd facts about […]
Intelligent Design vs Calvin’s Doctrine of Accommodation
Intelligent Design is a smokescreen that purports to be based on rigorous science, but is simply an attempt to squeeze neo-creationism in the back door. In fact, NPR reported that according to evidence presented as part of the case that was settled today in Pennsylvania prohibiting the teaching of Intelligent Design in school, the original manuscript […]