On the outside chance you haven’t already heard, General Motors today announced than in 2011 the company earned a profit of $7.6 billion, up 62% from 2010. Its hourly workers will be getting profit-sharing bonus checks of up to $7000 … Continue reading
Or misconceptions about animals, anyway: by … Continue reading
The premise of this film doesn’t sound very appealing: A supervillain’s heart is changed when he adopts three adorable little girls. Gack. But amazingly, it turns out to be a real delight. This is a very international production, written by … Continue reading
A research paper recently made available on line makes an interesting point about belief in conspiracy theories: In a pair of studies, willingness to credit one such theory appears to correlate with a willingness to believe another, even when the … Continue reading
Rare color photographs taken by Life magazine photographer Frank Scherschel in mid-1944 have recently been made public. They show American troops preparing for the D-day invasion, the war’s devastation to a French city, and celebrations of victory. You can see … Continue reading
It’s been a while since I referenced one of Talking Points Memo’s frequently amusing “The Day in 100 Seconds” videos. Today’s is worth passing on: The “Severely” in the video’s title was inspired by Mitt Romney’s insisting that he was … Continue reading
This is absolutely true: A few months ago in the wee hours of the morning I was sitting on the edge of my bed reading, and as I closed the book and was just about to lie down, I heard … Continue reading
I previously posted a link to the Scale of the Universe web page where you can interactively explore the cosmos from the smallest to the largest and click on objects for more information about them. Commentator ixtrix points out a … Continue reading
Washington state Representative Maureen Walsh (R-Walla Walla) delivers a brief speech in defense of the right to marry that’s sincere and quietly emotional (and at times funny). Unlike most legislative speeches very much worth four minutes of your time: If … Continue reading
Owen Wilson is a very successful Hollywood screenwriter who looks on what he does as lucrative hackwork. While full of self-doubt, he’s been working on a serious novel he hopes might prove to be good. His gorgeous fiancée (Rachel McAdams) … Continue reading