That’ll Leave a Mark

I haven't posted in quite a while, but I will try to do better. George Will wrote a blistering column today about Fred Thompson which, for me, summed up many of the things I don't like about Thompson. First on the list is that he's a protege of John McCain and was involved with that awful campaign finance legislation. ...

After a Great Deal of Delay, I’m Back

I wish I had something of more substance to post on, but I'm rusty and just thought I would bring attention to this piece by CNN: With the aviation industry currently in the spotlight over its impact on the environment, Boeing has been keen to play up the 787's green credentials. Lighter than other planes of is size and powered by ...

Evolution Yet Again

One of the dangers of blogging infrequently is that you only post when you're angry. Such is my dilemma. I'm generally OK with religious people, but it makes me fume when I think of what they will do to the nation if the latest nonsense against evolution actually succeeds:I recently addressed a group of French engineering graduate students who were ...

September 11th, A Short Remembrance

I've written about this numerous times on my old site, but I thought I would share a bit on the new site. On September 11th, I worked in the suburbs of Chicago and left my townhome at 7:45am CT. At the time, I left for work thinking that it was a small commercial airliner that hit the towers. How ...

Non-Monetary Endowments

Megan McArdle had a good post the other day pointing out the inconsistency of those who want to tax income at a higher rate because the rich supposedly get utility from spite. That is, the rich are made to feel better than people who have less money because of their relative positions. She used peoples' natural endowments for beauty and ...

My First Original Reporting

As the OTB Roving Correspondent for New Orleans, I actually ran into George Stephanopoulos at the Acme Oyster House. Of course, it wasn't a professional run-in: I'm not a professional. Nevertheless, I met him and he's in NOLA to do a story tomorrow. I was discreet and didn't want to disturb him too much. I said: "You look ...

Weirdness Finally Costs Tom Cruise Money

Hmm. I've wondered when this might happen. It's been building for a while, since they cut his budget a few months ago. The latest:Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone said his company's Paramount Pictures is terminating its 14-year relationship with actor Tom Cruise's production company, citing the actor's controversial and sometimes erratic behavior of the past year. Mr. Cruise, ...

Why Is AI Surprised?

I'm not sure why Amnesty International would find it surprising that civilians died in large numbers when Israel is fighting a bunch of skulkers:Amnesty International says attacks on civilian targets by Israeli military forces during the recently ended fighting in Lebanon look like deliberate war crimes. In a report released on Wednesday, the London-based human rights organisation argues that the destruction ...

The Female Brain

In spite of what happened to Larry Summers, research into the differences between male and female brains seems to be all the rage these days. And the conclusions are fascinating:Brizendine uses those differences to explain everything from why teenage girls feverishly swap text messages during class, to why women fake orgasms to why menopausal women leave their husbands. So the ...

Permanent Income and Voting Patterns

Perhaps Democrats should consider permanent income -- or peoples' average incomes over several years -- when considering how people might vote. Briefly, the idea is that people base their current period's consumption on their permanent income rather than that period's income. There is some support for this and it makes sense if people are forward looking. In my masters ...

Sexual Repression, Political Repression and Violence

Martin Scorsese could have a field day with this, al la Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. It's not entirely surprising that a repressed view of sexuality might spawn violence, given that they seem to be revulsed by their feelings:Wright draws a fascinating picture of Sayyid Qutb, the font of modern Islamic fundamentalism, a frail, middle-aged writer who found himself, ...

Ana Marie Cox To Be Time’s Washington Editor

This is more than a little distressing (WSJ, $): Time Inc. hired former Wonkette blogger Ana Marie Cox to be Washington editor of Time.com. In her new role, Ms. Cox will head the Web site's political coverage and produce stories for the print and online editions of the magazine. Ms. Cox joined Time magazine as a contributing writer in March. Previously, ...

Sequestering CO2

In earlier posts I mentioned the use of geoengineering as a way of dealing with excess CO2 emissions. One such method is called carbon sequestration and generally means pumping CO2 emissions into the ground for storage. The Economist has a report on one early attempt: But few studies have looked at what happens once the gas is in the ...

Shaving and Dating

It seems to be in fashion to link to Craig's list lately, so I'll follow suit. There's an interesting "best of" about the rules of dating that is downright hilarious. Among other things, the writer says, in a note to his roommate: PAY ATTENTION TO THE CONVERSATION. You always complain about uncomfortable silences. Well, d*ckhead, what is it that you're talking ...

The Truth About Sushi

A hilarious video about sushi and how the Japanese played us for fools. Really great. (h/t Volokh)