green bin
Canada
- Canadians have set a record for hiking across Antarctica. You might say moving fast in the cold is the spiritual genius of the Canadian people.
World
- Toronto has nothing to complain about. It’s -51 degrees in Alaska.
- Police in Oregon are on the lookout for a “Zombie Bandit“. That can’t be good.
- Cass Sunstein, libertarian paternalist and author of “Nudge” (which I am currently reading), has been appointed head of the United States’ Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
- An appeal for Obama to drop the “and God Bless America” from the end of official speeches.
- Yay! Massive simultaneous crop failures in 2040!
- Neocon revisionism is now in full swing: Richard Perle claims he and his buddies had “nothing to do” with the decision to invade Iraq.
Media
- All around the world, media outlets are cozying up to authoritarian regimes.
- Sarah Palin gets her whine on.
- Delete 10 Facebook friends, get a free Whopper. Wait, what?
Science & Tech
- More detailed specs on Obama’s new limo: sealed from biological/chemical attacks, doors way as much as a 757′s, and a supply of the President’s blood on board.
- A designer baby, screened for cancer genes, has been born in London.
- A group of researchers are searching for the remains of the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Darwin on his fateful trip to the Galapagoes.
- Scientists hatch plan to breed sterile “sexy” mosquitoes to destroy the mosquito population. Also: science is weird.
Pop Culture
- Greg Allman, of the Allman Brothers Band, gets robbed.
- Even Nicole Kidman can’t stand “Australia”.
- Edward Gorey’s strange book of advice for “The Recently Deflowered Girl“.
- This movie looks awesome/terrible. Also: Dragons!
- Beer is increasingly being used as a mix for cocktails. Sure beats Diet Coke.
January 9th, 2009 by graeme |
I was feeling creative and made “Beertinis” at a party once. The guests made me promise never to do it again.
What are your thoughts on Nudge? I just finished it and found it interesting, but not mind-blowing. Seems like there’s a bunch of books right now like this (inspired by Freakanomics) which construct these economic strawmen and then knock them down. Economics professors write books that assume that all economics is what you learn in your 101 class, then point out the flaws in that. Despite that, I enjoyed the book.