I usually try to avoid outright partisan battles here on Windypundit, but with all the complaining people are doing about the state of the country today, I was struck by a recent tweet by Roger Ebert: Say, how d'ya think we'd be doing about now with McCain and Palin? Yes, let's try to imagine what life in this country would be like if the country had been run by these … [Read more...] about What If McCain and Palin Had Won?
I Must Have Missed That Class
In graduate school I had the most trouble staying awake in finance lectures. I always thought finance had to be just about the most boring topic ever.French MEP Rachida Dati, when discussing finance in France, recently said:I see some [foreign investment funds] looking for returns of 20 or 25% at a time when fellatio is close to zero.I guess I was just doing finance wrong. … [Read more...] about I Must Have Missed That Class
Why Philosophers Shouldn’t Argue Physics with Stephen Hawking
The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Roger Scruton, an English philosopher, titled "Memo to Hawking: There's Still Room for God". (Sorry, it's behind a paywall.) He attempts to refute Hawking's premise that no God is needed to create a universe from nothing.Immanuel Kant, who believed that Newton's laws of gravity are not merely true but necessarily true, … [Read more...] about Why Philosophers Shouldn’t Argue Physics with Stephen Hawking
Powers of Ten
I first saw the Powers of Ten short on Carl Sagan's Cosmos. (If you don't know who Carl Sagan was, please don't tell me. It will just make me feel terribly old and sad.) Way back in the ancient mists of time the Museum of Science and Industry setup a kiosk looping the video and I stood watching it over and over for as long as I could. That video had a big impact on how I viewed … [Read more...] about Powers of Ten
Bite me, Bambi!
Or, How Eating Habanero Peppers Proves I'm Smarter Than Other Mammals. It's chili pepper harvesting time again! While most Chicagoans seem enamored with growing tomato plants, I think habanero peppers should be the crop of choice. OK, to be honest, I'm actually too lazy to grow my own, but I have a couple of friends and a neighbor who go through the effort and I reap the … [Read more...] about Bite me, Bambi!