What should a government do if science shows that its policies are misguided? Why, fire the scientists of course! Professor Nutt was the British government’s chief advisor on the harm caused by illegal drugs and he wrote a paper showing … Continue reading →

FrumForum (formerly New Majority) has an article comparing the Republicans circa 2009 with Michael Foot’s Labour party. There are a lot of parallels. In the wake of Labour’s 1979 election defeat, the party entered into a period of prolonged crisis, … Continue reading →

Back in the old days, we used to play a game on the internet called “web that smut”. The basic idea was that you’d pick a page – say, the home page of Nike – and your opponent would say … Continue reading →

We live less than 1/2 a mile and two tiny streets away from the 9 year old’s school and she asked if it would be OK for her to walk to school on her own. I asked The Google what … Continue reading →

When I haven’t blogged for a while I get a pent up desire to blog something of significance. The more thought I put into that significant blog the less likely I am to actually write it. Which makes me less … Continue reading →

Paul Krugman: I was startled last week when Mr. Obama, in an interview with Bloomberg News, questioned the case for limiting financial-sector pay: “Why is it,” he asked, “that we’re going to cap executive compensation for Wall Street bankers but … Continue reading →

So how well do incentives work?

One thousand years later, beer is still excellent and the song is still fantastic. Continue reading →

I have been a Rhapsody subscriber for several years. The service they provide is fantastic: Think of a song. Any song. Play it. I suspect that people who suggest “try Pandora” (and there are many of you) probably don’t get … Continue reading →