Yes, they can! Did you know that the Pentagon has an “unmatched record in developing technologies with broad public benefits — like the Internet, jet engines and satellite navigation — and then encouraging private companies to reap the rewards.” Well, I didn’t either, but Timesman Binyamin Appelbaum pronounces it so, albeit without a shred of…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Slate’s “Best”? Are their hemispheres, you know, communicating?
I was checking out something or other on Slate, and, as has happened in the past, one of their little story-promoting boxes caught my eye. This is, apparently, their best, most popular, or (least pleasant hypothesis) most likely to appeal to Alan Vanneman: My wife’s best friend hates me I farted in front of my…
Freedoms Westerners take for granted, most of the time
Writing in the Washington Post, Ilan Grapel begins his story this way: “Five months in an Egyptian jail gives a person a lot of time to think. When you are not pacing or trying to catch an hour of afternoon sun through the barred window, there are thoughts of home, family, the freedoms Westerners take…
Harvard psychologist proves that morality is an illusion, denounces mankind for being immoral
That’s the message given by NYTimes book reviewer John Horgan in his take on Robert Trivers’ The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life. Trivers, who actually teaches at Rutgers these days, fills his book with examples of “how our genes’ relentless drive to self-replicate underpins even our most apparently magnanimous impulses,” according to…
Lana and Flip, flipping “Brilliant Corners”
Live at Joe Zawinul`s Birdland, Vienna in July 2006. Lana Cencic, vocal; Flip Philipp, vibes; Fabian Rucker, reeds; Thomas Stempkowski, bass; Wolfgang Rainer: drums. Posted by “mvojin”
Why Chris Christie should never, ever take his jacket off
Some months ago, I suggested that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was too fat to run for President, using the shot of him speaking before the flag as evidence. Well, that was then. This is now, and Chris is starting to look like human bowling ball, as illustrated by the shot of him with Romney….
David Weigel: Newt Gingrich, totally not a racist, though I went out of my way to provoke people into calling him one. Shame on them!
This is the gist of Dave’s posting, explaining, or, rather, explaining away, an earlier posting that I and others picked up on, in which a feisty Newt Gingrich told a New Hampshire crowd: “I will go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.” Well,…
Again, NTNY
New Yorker-approved humor here. “I’m sorry, Brad, but referring to me as ‘the man with the ‘stache’ in front of clients does not fall into the category of acceptable office banter.” “No, I’ve never seen ‘The Office.’ Is that that thing that you and Harold are always giggling about? It probably is.” “Well, you may…
Felix Salmon, not having much patience with fancy supply and demand curves
I read Felix Salmon’s economics blog, if not religiously then frequently, and it’s one of my favorites. But, given the perversity of human nature, I only write about Felix when it seems he’s gotten it wrong. And his recent riff on Uber, a sort of chauffeured-limo version of Zipcar, it seems that poor Felix has…
Newt Gingrich to black people: Don’t be so goddamn lazy!
“I will go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.” Yes, that’s what Newt Gingrich told the white folks in New Hampshire he would do, but he, obviously, didn’t tell the white folks in New Hampshire that they should demand paychecks instead of food…