In case you didn’t already read this news back in early February, tests conducted by the state of New York found that very few herbal supplements they tested contained any at all of what they claimed to contain. This brief … Continue reading
John Oliver once again tackles an important subject with intelligence and humor. This time the target is standardized testing, something kids are apparently now subjected to literally every few weeks. As he points out, in theory it makes a great … Continue reading
Something I just read pointed me to an interesting opinion piece by New York Times columnist David Brooks published in early February under the title “Building Better Secularists” (link). In it, Brooks favorably remarks on a book by Pitzer College … Continue reading
A number of independent opinion polls conducted over the past several decades have noted a significant increase in the fraction of adult Americans who don’t consider themselves members of any religion. For example, in 2014 the nonreligious accounted for 21 … Continue reading
A piece from Talking Points Memo (link) gives reason to think that an ill-considered pre-emptive police action helped provoke the violence and destruction seen in Baltimore. Quoting: … The police assumed that black youth in local gangs were targeting them … Continue reading
My brother Tom recommended that I watch last night’s episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and he was right; it was definitely worth seeing. I can’t embed the whole episode here, but you can watch it on the … Continue reading
Nothing profound or original here, just a few observations: It appears that quite large peaceful protests were largely ignored by the news media, especially outside the local area. Only when they turned violent and destructive did they excite much attention. … Continue reading
Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases concerning same-sex marriage. You can find summaries and analyses and readings of entrails all over the place, so I’ll just briefly mention that there are two principal questions before the Court: … Continue reading
John Oliver and HBO’s Last Week Tonight take on another important subject, this time patent trolls. These are outfits that buy up patents (often overly broad ones handed out too carelessly by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). Patent trolls … Continue reading
Once again John Oliver and the staff of HBO’s Last Week Tonight offer up a segment that’s entertaining, informative, and even important. This time he talks about the Internal Revenue Service, the part of the federal government tasked with enforcing … Continue reading