Category Archives: Blog stuff

On dealing with horrible bosses, in Hollywood and elsewhere. We’re using less gasoline. This is a good thing. “I have a friend who is a police officer and he never watches police procedurals. Even in the years when the Law … Continue reading →

News flash: “Reality” TV is heavily scripted and directed. Film at 11. A look at the extremely warped world of marriage counseling and advice columns of the pre-feminist era. “The prohibition against clause-final prepositions is considered a superstition even by … Continue reading →

A psychic tour of lower Manhattan. “Today the media are covering the next part of this story, the inevitable outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, mostly among children who have not been vaccinated.” Congratulations to Irish teenagers Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey and … Continue reading →

Immunization rates in the toniest LA preschools are in line with immunization rates in developing countries like Chad and South Sudan. “In short, mainstream economics – and the concept of homo economicus – recognizes only half of what makes us … Continue reading →

I once had “equinox” played against me in a Scrabble game. On a triple word score square. Needless to say, I lost that game. How to find your tribe, in one easy step. “Rigorous studies tend to find that wellness … Continue reading →

“But if policymakers really want to clean up the tax code, they need to look at tax breaks that are embedded in our system. And the best place to start is with some of the most regressive ones: taxes breaks … Continue reading →

Ten things college professors hate. I’m going to guess teachers at other levels don’t like most of those things, too. Some employers are still being jerks about contraceptive coverage. “If we want to write Ulysses, our generation may not be … Continue reading →

The Ice Bucket Challenge has been a nice little windfall for the ALS Association, but what they really need – what we as a country really need – is a greater public investment in medical and scientific research. Thanks to … Continue reading →

Have you ever said to yourself “What the world really needs is a Tumblr of motivational cat posters with Samuel Beckett quotations“? Well my friend, you are in luck. Sometimes life really does hand you lemons. “Several new apps offer … Continue reading →

“Late last year, scientists unveiled the complete genome of a female Neanderthal whose 130,000-year-old toe bone had been found in a cave in Siberia. As it turned out, her sequence of some 3 billion DNA letters was not all that … Continue reading →

Now Republicans would like for you to believe that “reproductive health” and “women’s health” are two different things. Don’t trust USB devices. Like, at all. This guy hates being stuck in traffic more than you do. “The [Harry] Potter books … Continue reading →

An older link, but since I’ve been seeing the question come up, here’s why grocery store rotisserie chickens are cheaper than uncooked chickens. A little mockery can go a long way. The state of California is doing just fine, thanks … Continue reading →

We have nothing to fear but people who fear inflation itself. Take a tennis ball and a soccer ball and blow the mind of some little kids. Three words: Aerosol cake batter. And you “bake” it in the microwave. Or … Continue reading →

“And that means that the Koch brothers, who spent an estimated $30 million on ads opposing Obamacare, might have actually had a hand in getting people signed up for insurance coverage.” Reading the polls is a little trickier than usual … Continue reading →

Same-sex marriage may soon be the law of the land, but you can still be fired for being gay, and you can still be discriminated against in a lot of other ways, too. Ted Cruz lies every time he opens … Continue reading →

News flash: Spending a lot of time on your butt watching TV may be bad for your health. If you’re going to take money from the devil, you really need to do some serious good with it. “How did you … Continue reading →

From the You Keep Using That Word – I Don’t Think It Means What You Think It Means department. These are the people you should sit next to if you don’t want to get bitten by mosquitoes. “If bad behavior—using … Continue reading →