Headline in current Time Magazine – HEALTH: BOTTOMS UP. NEW STUDY FINDS THAT HEAVY DRINKERS OUTLIVE TEETOTALERS AND MODERATE DRINKERS LIVE ONGEST OF ALL. First, Time published a retraction (apparently online only) that the study does not include any teetotalers (excluded), but that “abstainers” refers to people who said they were no longer drinking (20 years ago). Next, when they control for a number of co-variates, the statistical significance is greatly reduced. Makes you wonder what if they had identified more co-variates. (more…)
September 12, 2010
September 9, 2010
Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the 1930s
Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the 1930s by Jeffrey Record, Ph.D., Monograph published by the Strategic Studies Institute, United States Army College. The author is on the faculty of the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama.
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub622.pdf
June 25, 2010
I am a co-complainant to the U.N. Human Rights Council
I am a signatory and co-complainant in a formal complaint to the United Nations. We are waiting to receive a full response. (more…)
June 13, 2010
A 50th High School Reunion
Fifty years ago I graduated from Mount Hermon, a preparatory boarding school in the middle of nowhere in northwestern MA. They have since combined with their sister school across the Connecticut River, Northfield School, to form Northfield Mount Hermon. (more…)
May 19, 2010
Blumenthal’s dubious “Vietnam Service” political campaign
I posted the following Comment in the NYTimes in response to the Senate candidate’s misleading speeches (“lies” may be too strong a word for it) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/nyregion/19veterans.html regarding service in Vietnam:
What bothers me even more than his inferences of having served in Vietnam is that Blumenthal’s Vietnam campaign strategy works directly against the nation’s welfare today, as he tries to generate anger over Vietnam so as to garner veterans’ votes. (more…)
April 10, 2010
Jury duty – a meaningful four-day experience
Although I often get called to report for jury duty, this week was the first time I have been selected to serve. Usually they are not interested in me; search Jury Duty on this site for possible reasons. This time I was selected even though I wore a button that said Wage Peace next to the button that said Juror and had indicated on a questionnaire that I could not promise to follow the judge’s instructions. My thinking on this issue is that I would have to follow my conscience first, if there were a conflict between conscience and the law. I am pleased that I was found suitable for jury duty. Things might have been different in a murder trial, because I cannot support capital punishment. It is appropriate to remove from society people who are a danger to others, but I wish to leave open the possibility of rehabilitation. The trial lasted four days, and to learn about the trial itself, read… (more…)
April 9, 2010
Why I love/hate Wright’s Fallingwater
It’s a fascinating structure, folks fawn over it, but there is a dark side.
April 3, 2010
Easter Anniversary of MLKing’s speech at Riverside Church, NYC.
On April 4 1967 at Riverside Church, MLKing delivered Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. This was a moment of great moral courage. History now honors the man but not the message (something similar to Christianity going on here?). The speech was not just about Vietnam, but called for changes to insure a world with true peace and justice for all BEYOND Vietnam. Exactly one year later, he was killed. I have no doubt that the majority of Americans, although shocked at his death, were also relieved. At that time many Americans felt the need for a black American hero (to counter all the white ones), a black who was non-violent (to counter societal fears), but did not want to hear what he said would be required for a world with peace and justice. Denial of his message seems to be as true today as then. Happy Easter.
March 17, 2010
Student suicides in academe (NYTimes 3/17/10))
My published comment (#253) in response to this article on an apparent spate of suicides at Cornell is attached as a Comment. Many of the other comments related to the rigor of academic programs and the time that faculty spend with students. My response to this is as follows: (more…)
March 11, 2010
Mother Nature never sleeps.
The first week of March we spent a few days at Lake Nockamixon State Park while Villanova was on break. Hiking through the wintry snow was a lot of fun, particularly considering that this time we had rented a little cabin With Heat. We were the only ones there. We are amateur mycologists, and I was amazed to find a group of very fresh jelly-like mushrooms growing on a log almost buried in snow. Mushrooms can sprout and thrive at all times of the year, even in snowy winter. What a tribute to how Mother Nature never truly sleeps, but each species has its own time. How much fun, and how encouraging, to experience this on a wintry hike!