Month: September 2007

When you publish your e-mail address, you hear from a lot of interesting people. Some time ago I got a message from a guy who said something about having a four-sentence proof of God. I must have replied that I’d like to see it. Anyway, he sent it. I deleted…

After my recent post on Bill Maher’s show Real Time, and his interview with the author of the book “Cool It,” Bjorn Lomborg, I got a lot of interesting reactions. But first, some corrections. I referred to Lomborg as an economist because that’s how he was introduced on Real Time….

Yesterday I asked you to suggest a punch line for a Dilbert comic that was better than “Sometimes the best you can do is move the turd to another pocket.” I promised I’d tell you what I had come up with on my own, so you can compare your entries…

Anything you learn changes your brain. That’s the point of learning. And different types of learning strengthen different parts of your brain. For example, learning math changes your brain in a different way from learning art, or learning to juggle. I studied economics in college. One thing I’ve noticed is…

I was reading an article about the little hobbit-like creatures discovered in Indonesia. I couldn’t help notice that the article uses the abbreviation “H. Erectus” instead of the full name Homo Erectus. This is presumably to prevent jokes about why we don’t see any of them around these days. http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1230409.htm…

Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went to Columbia University and asked Israel to bomb his country. At least that’s how it sounded to me. Meanwhile, the President of Columbia hurled personal insults at the leader of a soon-to-be-nuclear power and strengthened their reasons for wanting us dead. I wonder if…

This post will come off sounding argumentative, but I don’t intend it that way. It’s based on a genuine curiosity. After reading the comments to my posts for the past few days, it’s clear that people fall into some interesting categories. This made me wonder who gets to decide when…

In reading the comments to my post yesterday, I see that many of you were confused about my positions. Evidently all of you are brilliant, so I assume the problem is on my end. With your indulgence, allow me to clarify. 1. I am not happy that Hitler killed your…

I was happy to hear that NYC didn’t allow Iranian President Ahmadinejadto place a wreath at the WTC site. And I was happy that ColumbiaUniversity is rescinding the offer to let him speak. If you let a guy likethat express his views, before long the entire world will want freedomof…

Readers have complained that I keep posting on stories involving penises. Apparently that is not highbrow enough for some of you. Well, unlike some authors, I listen to my readers. So today I am elevating the discussion. Did you hear that scientists discovered a new use for men’s balls? Apparently…

In the news, firefighters in Lansing, Michigan used a forklift to remove a 900-pound man from his home. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14147898/detail.html [no longer available] First, let me say I have a policy against making fun of overweight people. I am not superstitious, and do not believe in will power. Every moist robot…

Did you ever wonder why movies are too long? I’ve heard the theory that it’s because directors have too much power compared to the past, when the studio could order them to edit a movie. A top director these days has the contractual right to final edit, and the director…

Did you read about the Nebraska state senator who is suing God to make a point about frivolous lawsuits? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20827350/ [no longer available] Your first reaction might be that God has infinite resources and could mount a perfect defense. But I think God would stay out of the details, as…

In the news, O.J. Simpson is in jail for trying to reclaim some items in Las Vegas that an alleged thief stole from him. If O.J. is found guilty of asking a thief to return his belongings, he could go to jail for 30 years. I assume O.J. is kicking…