In 2005, environmentalists got what they and former Vice-President Al Gore had lobbied for since the late 1980s; federal subsidies to commercialize biofuels. Mr. Gore later admitted that he was just endorsing biofuels to get corn belt votes for his presidential run and few academic scientists had publicly disagreed because, well, they voted for him.The result of the last corporate subsidy effort:...
read moreIndia has once again had enough of Greenpeace. They suspended froze Greenpeace India’s bank accounts and essentially labeled them fifth columnists who put a political agenda of the best interests of Indian people.If not for the rapes on buses if women are out after 9PM it sounds like they are interested in joining the developed world - science is a competitive advantage, something that...
read more"Dragon Age: Inquisition", which came out in late 2014, was not a video game I anticipated much. I had played both previous versions and their add-on content but unlike Mass Effect, by the same company, only the first Dragon Age had much re-playability and, unlike Mass Effect, they wanted you to play a new character each time. There wasn't much point in getting attached to a character. But the...
read moreFor being a fellow of above average height (<6'2" now - age will do that) traveling to Holland can be a strange experience. It seems like everyone is around my height. The men are tall, the women are tall. Netherlands has the tallest people in the world. Yet they used to be the shortest. While everyone got taller during that time, Dutch average height went up 8 inches in two...
read moreThough they are catching up nicely in obesity and heart disease rates now, historically the French have been something of a paradox; they drink a lot of booze, they eat a lot of cheese and they don't exercise, but they had lower cardiovascular disease rates than other countries despite all that. While nutritionists claimed dairy was making American people fat - it must be bad for our hearts...
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