A little over 10 years ago I decided to deal with some unfinished business. For a brief while in college (40 years ago) I had been a Phys Ed major, but after about a year of coursework, I decided that the material was too hard, and so I switched to Economics. That led me down … Continue reading An Homage to Community Colleges →

Over the holidays, our oldest son told us about a Comedy Central show called Nathan for You, and it is one of the funniest TV series I have seen in a while. I was surprised to find out that not many people have heard of the show, and so in honor of the marketing genius … Continue reading Nathan for You →

It's been quite a while since I've responded to some of the comments and emails I get from my readers. Before the backlog gets too big, I thought I would take the time to respond to some of the ones I received. I apologize that I am unable to personally answer the thousands of emails … Continue reading Reader Comments and Questions →

The Super Bowl can be hazardous to your health - especially if you are over 65 and live in one of the two cities that are playing in that year's Super Bowl. According to new research by economists at Tulane and Cornell universities, having a team in the championship appears to increase hometown flu deaths … Continue reading Let’s Blame Everything on the Super Bowl →

Washington, D.C. is considering a proposal that would pay 50 of its most violent and likely to repeat offenders $9,000 per year to stay out of jail. In order to receive the annual payments, the individuals would also need to complete nine months of an intensive, stay-straight program of education, counseling and job training to … Continue reading Paying Criminals to Stay Out of Jail →

The answer is nothing. But that didn't stop someone from writing the following headline for a story: "The U.S. Has More Vape Shops Than Bowling Alleys" When I saw the numbers - more than 10,591 vape shops versus less than 4,000 bowling alleys - my first thought was "well that's not good". But then a … Continue reading What Do Vape Shops, Bowling Alleys, Apple Retail Stores, and Gas Stations Have in Common? →

The Wall Street Journal had a story today about the popularity of 30 day challenges. These challenges range from exercising every day, to cutting out sugar, to writing a novel. The story notes that there are more than 200 smartphone apps for Apple's iOS that have "30 day challenge" in the title, 10 times the … Continue reading Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due →

Where does courage come from? What makes one person willing to put his or her life on the line, while another person will shirk from such a responsibility? Is courage something you are born with, or is it a trait that you can develop? I found myself asking such questions after reading the sad story … Continue reading Courage, Undaunted →