Charles Rangel on the draft

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Charlie Rangel is a long-serving member of the House of Representatives – his district is in Harlem. He will be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (dealing with finances). He is a major league blowhard. Rangel was on Face the Nation this weekend, where he resurrected his idea to re-establish the draft. Here’s … Read more

Latest Read: “Murder 101”

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All right. I have to admit that I haven’t read any murder mysteries in a few decades. I think I read a few Agatha Christie’s quite a while ago, and enjoyed them, but that’s about it. So why would I read a murder mystery by a new author? Well duh, because I know the author! … Read more

A little on Milton Friedman

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Unless you are interested in economics, you probably never heard of Milton Friedman, who died a few days ago at the age of 94. He was a guy who combined genius with common sense. If not the most influential American economist of the last half of the 20th century, certainly in the top two or … Read more

Latest read: “Simple and Direct

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A couple of months ago I saw a reference to a book entitled Simple and Direct, sub-titled "A Rhetoric for Writers". The book aimed to improve one’s writing style. After reading a couple of reviews, and seeing that it had gone through four editions since first being published in 1975, I sprang for it (second … Read more

Exercise for your brain

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Here’s a Wall Street Journal article that AOL is featuring, so you don’t have to be an online suscriber to the Journal to access it. Interested in slowing down your loss of brain function as you age? The evidence is piling up that you do it through physical exercise (mainly aerobic) rather than mental gymnastics. … Read more

Heart disease and angioplasty treatment

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Angioplasty is of course a common procedure for people who’ve had heart attacks or are at risk of one. Here’s a surprising study that is a bit counter-intuitive. Study Says Late Angioplasty Seems Futile – washingtonpost.com New research has overturned one of the most fundamental beliefs among doctors treating heart attacks: that opening a blocked … Read more

Some great rugby

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The "fall internationals" are in full swing in Europe, as national teams from outside take on the teams of England, France, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. This past weekend there were two outstanding games as Ireland played South Africa, and the two top-ranked countries squared off – New Zealand v. France. The visiting New Zealand All … Read more

Global Warming Update #4

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A week ago I linked to part 1 of a two part series in the U.K. Telegraph Tom Faranda’s Folly: Global Warming update #3 which eviscerated some of the standard studies on Global Warming. Here is the part 2 of the series: Telegraph | News | Wrong problem, wrong solution In the climate change debate, … Read more

Free Hugs Campaign

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This was sent to me from England by my sister-in-law Libby. I don’t want to be the only person to not post this youtube offering (it’s been viewed over 6 million times), so here it is. Doesn’t the guy look a bit like John Lennon? YouTube – Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick … Read more