Tag: General nonsense

I was reading a story about Iraqi insurgents, and how they often wear ski masks to avoid identification. This made me wonder, who was the genius entrepreneur who decided to sell ski masks in the desert? Man, talk about your “outside the box” thinking. Be honest, how many of you,…

Today I turned 50. It’s an odd thing. I sure don’t feel 50. I’m in perfect health. Apparently that mumbo jumbo about good diet and exercise actually works. Today the radio and newspapers will report my age as if it is news. Throughout the weekend, strangers will see me from…

Mice keep yanking my chain. Today was a perfect example. The headline said scientists produced mouse stem cells from mouse skin cells. This could be a huge breakthrough, both ethically and medically. The only problem is that the method used on the mice would cause cancer in humans. Fuck you,…

Successful groups, whether they are Al-Qaeda or the Founding Fathers of the United States, tend to start out with brilliant people who have clear objectives. Those brilliant people attract other smart people by the power of their arguments. But as an organization grows, you rapidly run out of bright people….

If you love it when I admit I was wrong, you’ll enjoy this post. I used to think America needed to change its foreign policy if it had any hope of ending terrorism. That sort of opinion is never better than a reasonable guess about what is most likely. But…

I have a theory that you can predict how happy people are – and perhaps how successful – by their ability to tolerate imperfection. The Golden Happiness Ratio is about 4/5ths right, also known as “good enough.” Once you achieve about 80% rightness, any extra effort is rarely worth the…

What do you think about when you pet a dog or cat? There are three typical categories: 1. You imagine how it feels for the animal so you can maximize its pleasure. 2. You think about how it feels to you and your hand. 3. You think about whatever you…

I’m so jealous of Switzerland. Those neutral bastards found the perfect scam to avoid being attacked. Terrorists and dictators don’t even consider attacking Switzerland because that country is famous for being, well, the country you don’t consider attacking. That’s what I call good homeland defense. It’s too late for America…

People mock me for referring to my athletic footwear as “sneakers.” Apparently that is an old fashioned term. I am told the correct term is “tennis shoes” even if the athletic shoes in question are not designed for use on a tennis court. This seems wrong. If my athletic shoes…

Did you hear about the former head of China’s food and drug administration? He took bribes to approve bogus pharmaceuticals, some of which killed people. China just sentenced Zheng to death. Now THAT is a country that’s serious about quality control. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/health/main2860989.shtml [no longer available] It looks like the main…

Peer review in science is a good thing, in the sense that it works better than any other process you can think of. But how well does it work? Dilbert Blog reader Jeff points to this link about the limits of peer review. http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band88/b88-4.html [no longer available] The article fits…

People keep asking me to blog about global warming. I have so far avoided the topic for four reasons: 1. My profound ignorance on the topic.2. My inability to evaluate the claims on both sides.3. My preference of not being scared shitless about drowning.4. My observation that scary predictions about…

I didn’t anticipate the volume of suggestions I’d get to yesterday’s post about my restaurants. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’ve yet to meet a human being who isn’t a restaurant expert by virtue of his or her experience at eating. I’m actually going to read all the…

I can’t help noticing that the comments on this blog are like a giant virtual brain. It’s hard to imagine any question I could ask that would stump you, collectively. You might say Google is like a giant brain too, but it’s missing something. While Google’s algorithms are impressive, sometimes…

I once had a boss who shared his theory for seducing a woman. I’m not sure if it was genius or insanity. His theory is so simple it has to be one or the other. His two step secret to seduction: 1. Take her to your place.2. Get her to…