Tag Archives: linkdump

On dealing with horrible bosses, in Hollywood and elsewhere. We’re using less gasoline. This is a good thing. “I have a friend who is a police officer and he never watches police procedurals. Even in the years when the Law … Continue reading →

News flash: “Reality” TV is heavily scripted and directed. Film at 11. A look at the extremely warped world of marriage counseling and advice columns of the pre-feminist era. “The prohibition against clause-final prepositions is considered a superstition even by … Continue reading →

A psychic tour of lower Manhattan. “Today the media are covering the next part of this story, the inevitable outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, mostly among children who have not been vaccinated.” Congratulations to Irish teenagers Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey and … Continue reading →

Immunization rates in the toniest LA preschools are in line with immunization rates in developing countries like Chad and South Sudan. “In short, mainstream economics – and the concept of homo economicus – recognizes only half of what makes us … Continue reading →

I once had “equinox” played against me in a Scrabble game. On a triple word score square. Needless to say, I lost that game. How to find your tribe, in one easy step. “Rigorous studies tend to find that wellness … Continue reading →

“But if policymakers really want to clean up the tax code, they need to look at tax breaks that are embedded in our system. And the best place to start is with some of the most regressive ones: taxes breaks … Continue reading →

Ten things college professors hate. I’m going to guess teachers at other levels don’t like most of those things, too. Some employers are still being jerks about contraceptive coverage. “If we want to write Ulysses, our generation may not be … Continue reading →

The Ice Bucket Challenge has been a nice little windfall for the ALS Association, but what they really need – what we as a country really need – is a greater public investment in medical and scientific research. Thanks to … Continue reading →

Have you ever said to yourself “What the world really needs is a Tumblr of motivational cat posters with Samuel Beckett quotations“? Well my friend, you are in luck. Sometimes life really does hand you lemons. “Several new apps offer … Continue reading →

“Late last year, scientists unveiled the complete genome of a female Neanderthal whose 130,000-year-old toe bone had been found in a cave in Siberia. As it turned out, her sequence of some 3 billion DNA letters was not all that … Continue reading →

Now Republicans would like for you to believe that “reproductive health” and “women’s health” are two different things. Don’t trust USB devices. Like, at all. This guy hates being stuck in traffic more than you do. “The [Harry] Potter books … Continue reading →

An older link, but since I’ve been seeing the question come up, here’s why grocery store rotisserie chickens are cheaper than uncooked chickens. A little mockery can go a long way. The state of California is doing just fine, thanks … Continue reading →

We have nothing to fear but people who fear inflation itself. Take a tennis ball and a soccer ball and blow the mind of some little kids. Three words: Aerosol cake batter. And you “bake” it in the microwave. Or … Continue reading →

“And that means that the Koch brothers, who spent an estimated $30 million on ads opposing Obamacare, might have actually had a hand in getting people signed up for insurance coverage.” Reading the polls is a little trickier than usual … Continue reading →

Same-sex marriage may soon be the law of the land, but you can still be fired for being gay, and you can still be discriminated against in a lot of other ways, too. Ted Cruz lies every time he opens … Continue reading →

News flash: Spending a lot of time on your butt watching TV may be bad for your health. If you’re going to take money from the devil, you really need to do some serious good with it. “How did you … Continue reading →

From the You Keep Using That Word – I Don’t Think It Means What You Think It Means department. These are the people you should sit next to if you don’t want to get bitten by mosquitoes. “If bad behavior—using … Continue reading →

#OrangeIsTheNewPrisonReformHashtag. I guess that’s kind of long as hashtags go. The OJ Simpson saga cast of characters, 20 years later. “Hillary Clinton would start out as a favorite — albeit not a heavy one — over Jeb Bush or any … Continue reading →

We really shouldn’t provide tax incentives to give CEOs even higher pay than they’re already getting. If nothing else, Seattle’s $15 minimum wage will provide some objective data on the effect of such increases on employment. It’s not enough to … Continue reading →

How not to get hired by the firm that brought you in as a summer intern. “It may be too soon to know if the Affordable Care Act is making Americans healthier. But there’s a smattering of data that suggests … Continue reading →

Neil Gaiman visits a refugee camp in Jordan. You should read about it. On a completely not-coincidental note, there’s over $100 million lying idle in the campaign accounts of former members of Congress. You could feed a lot of refugees … Continue reading →

“All of which is to say: There are many different ways to measure the same data. When I was putting together this list, I had Pedro Martinez and Warren Spahn coupled in my mind. One is the ultimate example of … Continue reading →

So, what should HBO do when Game of Thrones catches up to the books? And what does an old episode of The Simpsons have to do with the civil war in Syria? “All the papers and history of singer-songwriter Willie … Continue reading →

Happy 50th birthday, BASIC. I sure hope there will be a celebration we can all GOTO. /rimshot I’ve eaten crickets before, in Japan. I’d eat cricket chips as described in that post. 17 Lies We Need to Stop Teaching Girls … Continue reading →

On Clyde Bruckman, one of the early pioneers of movie comedy. Animals Sitting On Capybaras. As Fred said, you didn’t know you wanted to see this until someone made it, and now you will realize the world needed it. “An … Continue reading →

The four levels of discrimination. Not quite the 16 Levels of Losing (see followup as well), but it’ll do. “The cities with the largest share of cyclists have the fewest cycling fatalities. And the same is true of pedestrians.” “In … Continue reading →

Personally, I think the way to deal with fans who run onto the field is to have more stadium security at the fences. Yeah, most of these guys are just drunken fools, but it only takes one evildoer to cause … Continue reading →

How to bake scientifically accurate cake planets. Because who wouldn’t want a Uranus cake for their birthday? It’s hard out here on a pregnant TV star whose character isn’t pregnant. All about Aereo in Houston. If Alfred E. Neuman were … Continue reading →

The national divorce rate is a more complicated question than you might think. Who wants to get hoaxed about marrying a prince? The best day of the week to buy groceries is Wednesday. “Put aside, for now, the shameless hypocrisy … Continue reading →

Time for Chief Wahoo to go away. The anti-social network has finally arrived. “Scientists have discovered a bizarre, bird-like dinosaur, named Anzu wyliei, that provides paleontologists with their first good look at a dinosaur group that has been shrouded in … Continue reading →

I am Locutus of WalMart. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. If you think coverage of Hillary Clinton is bad now, just wait till she actually announces her candidacy for President. Oh, and you’d better get your Hillary Clinton-related … Continue reading →

Spring break! For the kids, anyway. Blair and Tootie, together again. Wait, I thought drunk people placing ill-advised bets was Vegas’ entire business model? We really are making huge advances in the fight against HIV. Want to be a better … Continue reading →

“I don’t know about you, but the idea that every single person in America who has ever had an injection has been protected because we harvest the blood of a forgettable sea creature with a hidden chemical superpower makes me … Continue reading →

No, the Scooby Gang has nothing to do with the Five College Consortium. The credit card data theft will continue for the foreseeable future. The power of third parties compels you. Sometimes it’s better to help from a distance than … Continue reading →