…is the new sixty.
I’m glad that I don’t feel my age. I was having some new lower-back pain, probably sciatica, in the spring, that I was afraid was going to be a permanent feature of life, but it seems to have healed.
Category Archives: Science And Society
Cats
How they domesticated humans thousands of years ago.
[Update a few minutes later]
Another take on the same subject.
The #JourneyToMars
…seems to be pretty much dead.
#JourneyToMars was never alive.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) June 20, 2017
Cancer Metastasis
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have figured out how to slow it, with existing approved drugs.
Faster, please.
BMI
We could save lives by getting rid of it.
Like calorie counting, low fat, and cholesterol, BMI is junks science.
Our Failed Political Class And “Elites”
Some links and thoughts from Instapundit:
We need to take a serious look at how we select these people. Our current method is not working.
Well, it’s working for them. For now.
[Update a few minutes later]
OK, Bob Mueller is looking worse and worse:
Four top lawyers hired by Mueller have contributed tens of thousands of dollars over the years to the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates, including former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.
One of the hires, Jeannie Rhee, also worked as a lawyer for the Clinton Foundation and helped persuade a federal judge to block a conservative activist’s attempts to force Bill and Hillary Clinton to answer questions under oath about operations of the family-run charity.
Campaign-finance reports show that Rhee gave Clinton the maximum contributions of $2,700 in 2015 and again last year to support her presidential campaign. She also donated $2,300 to Obama in 2008 and $2,500 in 2011. While still at the Justice Department, she gave $250 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corp.
Rhee also has contributed to a trio of Democratic senators: Mark Udall of New Mexico, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Congress should ask him to testify about this.
A Stupid Quiz
This is stupid. Ignores issue of where to get power for electric cars, and that a plant-based diet isn't healthy. https://t.co/AGZzNG3Xmv
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) June 12, 2017
It also assumes that the only potential future energy sources are solar or wind. Completely ignores nuclear.
Private Space Exploration
There was an interesting conference in New York last week (that I would have liked to attend if it had been in my budget). It’s still hard to raise money for it, because modern philanthropists don’t know the history
[Update a while later]
Sorry, added missing link.
Sigmund Freud
I hadn’t realized what a piece of work he was.
Paris Agreement Advocates
Glenn Reynolds says they should practice what they preach, by government force if necessary:
First, we need to tax the “blue zones.” That is, we need to impose steep taxes on property in coastal areas that will be flooded by the sea-level increases that global warming is supposed to bring. By discouraging people from living or building there now, we’ll save ourselves from big problems in the future. Sure it’ll drive down property values, but those values should go down — they’re values for property that’s going to be flooded anyway, remember?
Second, we need to ban taxpayer-funded air travel to conferences. State legislatures could ban reimbursement for travel outside their states; Congress could require that no federal grant money be spent on air travel to conferences and similar events. A lot of academic conferences would fail, but that’s a small price to pay for saving the planet. And besides, it will encourage the development of Internet-based conference alternatives. A whole new industry might result: Green jobs!
Donald Trump can strengthen America by dumping Paris agreement: Sen. Inhofe
Third, we need to ban private jet travel. At first I thought about just taxing it heavily, but with the planet at stake, that might not be enough. It’s nice that John Travolta can have his own Boeing 707, or that Leonardo DiCaprio can jet around the world speaking against climate change, but the carbon emissions involved set a bad example that outweighs anything he might say. So no more private jets. Bigshots will just have to fly commercial like everyone else, the way they did in the 1950s. (And sorry, Leo, but massive yachts have to go, too). Politicians, too, should have to fly commercial. No more government-funded “executive jets” for them.Fourth, we need a luxury tax on mansions. Any home more than twice the size of the average American home should be taxed at 25% of its value per year. Celebrities and the rich enjoy great powers of persuasion — but with great power comes great responsibility, and they have a great responsibility to set a good example for the rest of us on climate change!
As he says, it seems like a modest proposal.