News and Views

It was interesting in Thailand to note the prevalence of mixed relationships, almost always male Caucasians with female Asians. Walking down the street in Chiang Mai, especially, it seemed that white men were more likely to be with an Asian woman than with a white woman. There seem to be mixed feelings about these mixed […]

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Today is the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution that guarantee us most of the civil rights we enjoy. I think most of us take these rights for granted, somehow thinking that even without the Bill of Rights we would probably still have most […]

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… the non-expert is probably wise to withhold opinion, or at least not be too dogmatic about it. Economics is the first thing that comes to mind. Maybe Keynes is right, maybe Friedman, maybe neither. I tend to lean towards Keynes, but with all the disagreement between the experts, I have to confess that I […]

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I didn’t do or read of any surveys, but based on the discussions and questions, I brought back the following impressions from the Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas. The focus on the meeting was “Science, Skepticism and Critical Thinking”. Many different topics were discussed, but the beliefs of the participants probably roughly went this way, […]

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I’m in Las Vegas this weekend at The Amazing Meeting. The Amazing Meeting is sponsored by The Amazing Randi. Randi has been a magician for over 50 years, and like Houdini before him has devoted the later years of his life to debunking psychics, faith healers and other scams. There are over 1600 people at […]

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The Economist published a poll a couple of days ago that asked (among other things): “Do you think that Muslims have a constitutional right to build a mosque … near the World Trade Center site?” The question wasn’t “Is it wise?” or “Does it make you uncomfortable?”, or “Do you hate the idea, and hate […]

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I just finally watched the Ken Burns documentary, “The Civil War”. I think I was out of the country the first time it ran. I remember hearing rave reviews, but I didn’t see how 12 or so hours on a war could hold one’s attention. Boy, was I wrong. It is probably the best documentary […]

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I watched the early rounds of American Idol this year, and was struck by how many people think they are good singers, so good that they have a chance in the American Idol competition. But in many cases the people who hear them sing think they are so bad that they laugh about it. It […]

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I do have opinions about tolerating people’s differences, but that’s not what this post is about. I’m talking about building up a tolerance to substances or environmental factors. For example, some people can tolerate much spicier food than others, or drink more alcohol without feeling drunk, or drink lots of strong coffee. It’s not surprising […]

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Have you ever thought about the long instructions you get when you reach the voice mail for a mobile phone? “The number you have dialed, 480 555-1234 is not available. You can leave a message after the tone. After leaving your message, you can hang up, or press pound for other options. To leave a […]

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