Dr. Robert Atkins, who died last year, made a nice living promoting the effects of diet — specifically, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet — on health. According to his widow, however, Atkins’ own history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension was “completely unrelated to his diet.” Go figure . . . Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Stupidity
Market Recap for Dummies
Explanations of daily changes in aggregate stock market indices are among the most ridiculous, speculative, and uncertain causal inferences made by journalists. — Edward Tufte My son was looking over my shoulder as I checked my online portfolio tracker . . . The Dow was down, the Nasdaq was down, the S&P was down, all the stocks I own or track were down, nothing but red numbers from top to bottom. Read more →
Overheard
“I beat the traffic this morning. I got here an hour and a half early, but I only had to get up 45 minutes earlier.” “So you saved 45 minutes.” “I saved . . . let’s see . . . (looking thoughtfully skyward) . . . 45 minutes! Read more →
If a Tree Falls in the Forest . . .
If by “sound,” you mean vibrations in air pressure capable of being interpreted as sound, then yes, it does make a sound. If by “sound,” you mean CRRRRRRRRASSSSSH!, then it doesn’t. Read more →
Rent Hikes Cause Homelessness?
I read a story in Time magazine about a family in Columbus, OH, evicted from their apartment and living in a homeless shelter because they couldn’t afford a rent hike on the apartment. The husband was unemployed at the time; the wife was a pizza delivery driver. Both are high-school dropouts and they have three kids. The lesson here, according to Time: All it takes sometimes is a sudden rent hike to push a working family into a shelter. Read more →
Teachers Making a Difference
Good or bad? It doesn’t say. OC Family‘s Special Annual “10 Teachers Making a Difference” issue is out . . . Read more →
Ask HW: Why Aren’t There More Black Head Coaches in the NFL?
The conventional wisdom on this is that black coaches are hired on merit, while white coaches are hired by racists. Read more →
Lost in America
Nearly 30 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 cannot locate the Pacific Ocean on a map. You can try it yourself here. Read more →
Fat Gene
Fat Gene: It Really Exists — MSN.com I don’t believe this at all. There aren’t enough genes to cover all the human frailties we’ve blamed on genetic causes. Read more →