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Kevin Drum channels Brad DeLong to recall a Calvin and Hobbes sequence in which Calvin’s dad reassures him that it’s colder in the winter because the earth is farther from the sun then than in the summer. Kevin asks for a survey to find out how many people believe that. As it happens, a small [...]
Archive for December, 2011
December 18th, 2011
Category: Elections 2010 and 2012
One of the Republican presidential candidates is headed to a victory in the 2012 Iowa Caucuses that could be historic, and I don’t mean that in a nice way. Since the Iowa caucuses became important in the 1970s, the lowest proportion of votes captured by the winning candidate in either major political party was 26%. [...]
December 18th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized
The National Enquirer is my main news source because it provides answers to my questions. Why did NBC hire Chelsea Clinton? The NE reports about a brewing “cat fight” at NBC over this weighty issue. Chelsea Clinton’s career dynamics bring me back to the topic of nepotism and connections. Can the RBC name [...]
December 18th, 2011
Category: Health and Medicine, Technology and Society
As has been discussed here before, driving while using electronic communication devices is dangerous whether you go hands free or not. Matt Richtel, who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering distracted driving (and is a very nice fellow to boot), has a piece in NYT today examining whether the reason people keep doing something so [...]
December 17th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized
Today, I spent 12 hours at a Los Angeles FLL Robots competition. My wife coached a group of “Bad News Bears” and they managed to win a couple of trophies. She won a trophy for “Rookie Coach of the Year”. I won nothing but I built up my muscles and I [...]
December 17th, 2011
Category: Mitt Romney
Next October, when Mitt Romney is campaigning as a moderate Republican,to win independent votes, do you think any journalist will remind him that now, when he’s campaigning as a wingnut to win votes from the fringe movement that is now the Republican base, he described himself as “pretty much the ideal Tea Party candidate”?
Neither do I.
December 16th, 2011
Last week, I recommended Flirting, in which sadistic masters torment the students in a boys’ school. This week, the tables are turned, as new teacher John Ebony (David Hemmings) and his wife Silvia (Carolyn Seymour) are terrorized by the fifth form from hell. The last three students on the class roll are “Unman, Wittering and [...]
December 15th, 2011
Category: Film, Psychology
In my post earlier today, I cited Paul Newman as an example of a successful artist who managed not to let all the ego-stroking go to his head. Later I remembered this very nice tribute by David Letterman that you will enjoy if you are a Newman fan. My favorite Newman quote: When he was [...]