Anyone who has had mice in their basements knows it’s not easy to trap a rodent. These wily creatures know how to steal the cheese without tripping the spring. One Republican Congressman from Indiana, Jim Banks is trying to snare the most famous one of all, Mickey Mouse. Until
To talk about fashion while the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages may seem insensitive, but I have a reason for doing so. As a prognosticator of the future, fashion beats astrology. For example, one persistent theory in the stock market says that when dress hemlines go up, the econo
Artificial Intelligence (AI) learns by using algorithms. Human brains learn by…? Well, that’s the problem, We don’t know. Using AI models to study how the brain functions is a problem, as a result. Both systems may arrive at the same answer to a question, but did they
The article I was reading posed the question, “Can we prove the world isn’t a simulation?” (by David J. Chalmers, Nautilus, Issue 42, pgs. 47.) It’s a tech version of a long-established philosophical conundrum, “Can you prove you’re not asleep?” After finishing the a
Unfortunately, the threat of nuclear war looms as possible today as it did when I was a child. I no longer practice hiding under my desk whenever a siren goes off, but I shudder to read Vladimir Putin’s cavalier talk about using nuclear weapons against Ukraine in his stalemated war.
The other day, I walked into an ice cream parlor for a cone. When I learned I had to pay with a credit card, I walked out. I’ve seen many people pay for coffee with a card. I admire their savvy. But I manage my finances best when I watch the money flow from my wallet rather than
Words matter, and the right words matter most of all, according to writer John Birmingham. History bears this out. During World War II, Winston Churchill’s speeches galvanized Londoners with hope despite the German Blitzkrieg. Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duties, and
Even in a time of war, there can be moments of laughter. Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert had a field day with a report about a Ukrainian grandmother who knocked down a Russian drone from her apartment balcony with a jar of tomatoes. Equally low tech but less funny was a re
As I relate in my upcoming memoir, Getting Lost to Find Home, during the rainy season in Sub-Saharan Africa deluges force creatures to rise from their holes in the earth to escape being drowned. A person out of doors at such times is likely to encounter black mambas, scorpions, flyi
Someone on Facebook wrote to ask why I didn’t believe in God. I replied belief is the wrong standard to apply to determine truth. If God exists, that existence should be provable. This blog isn’t an atheist’s rant, by the way. I use the man’s question as an example to