Month: December 2007

  • Is plastic flotsam good for the environment?

    The latest environmental “crisis” is the floating garbage polluting the world’s oceans, which is said to be killing “more than a million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles each year.” But does this number really mean anything? The number of animals killed alone is meaningless without context. Understanding why requires a little ecological intuition.…

  • The war on drugs: US vs Netherlands

    Social Indicator USA   Netherlands   Lifetime prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) 36.9% 1 17.0% 2 Past month prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) 5.4% 1 3.0% 2 Lifetime prevalence of heroin use (ages 12+) 1.4% 1 0.4% 2 Incarceration Rate per 100,000 population 701 3 100 4 Per capita spending on criminal justice system (in…

  • First-person video from a radio-controlled airplane

    I would love to find this under my tree:

  • Thought crime in America

    What thoughts will be against the law tomorrow?

  • Broken promises

    LIMA — Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back. Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima…

  • Humans, global warming vindicated as mammoth killers

    The global extinction of megafauna –giant mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, and giant sloths has been one of the great mysteries of paleontology. The classical suspects have been global warming (the end of the Ice Age) and over-hunting by humans. These causes are suspect as complete explanations for a variety of reasons, such…

  • Wild about Mint.com

    I just signed up with Mint.com, a free personal finance management site. You provide your banking and credit card login information, and it provides detailed analysis and alerts regarding your financial situation.  I’ve never used personal finance software before, but this seems like a terrifically useful application, especially for anyone who wants to stick to…

  • Real entrepreneurs don’t take bribes from the state

    The Israeli government is trying to lure back some of the hundreds of thousands of Israeli expatriates with “tax breaks, employment and small business loans.”  The campaign is set to cost $36 million a year.  Israeli politicians must realize on some level that their best and brightest citizens are leaving in growing numbers because their…

  • Genetic discrimination saves lives

    Thanks to recent technological innovations, companies like 23andme are now able to offer comprehensive genetic profiles that can reveal predispositions towards certain health problems, and allow patients to take proactive measures to prevent them. Unfortunately, this potentially lifesaving diagnosis will not be available to most individuals because of so-called “genetic privacy” laws, such as the…

  • Christmas Was Secular Before Your Righteous Indignation Was In Your Mommy's Sacred Womb

    I know no one likes a history lesson, but my point here isn’t that your Christmas shouldn’t be about Christ. I don’t care what you do on Christmas. But when you get on television and complain that your kids wanting a Nintendo Wii is a vast departure from the “real” meaning of Christmas, you are…