In December, 1952, a dense fog descended over London, England, and suddenly people began dying. Over the course of five days, at least 4,000 people, and as many of 12,000, succumbed to breathing problems and approximately 150,000 were hospitalized. Thousands of animals also died. This disaster led to the Clean Air Act of 1956, but
When I was living in California in 1982, I could not help but follow that year’s governor’s race between Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and George Deukmejian. By election day, most polls showed Bradley with a significant lead, but after all the votes had been counted, Deukmejian had emerged the winner. Why were the polls
With all the talk about immigration concerns in this country, I ran across an interesting article on The Christian Science Monitor website entitled “Could Embracing Migrants Help Solve Italian Villages’ Aging Problem?” (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2016/1030/Could-embracing-migrants-help-solve-Italian-villages-aging-problem) In Italy, the birth rate is not high enough to prevent a shrinking population. This is especially true in Southern Italy’s villages,
Earlier I had written about a Freakonomics podcast dealing with the power of the presidency. I’ve always thought that the Founders put so many checks and balances in our system, the president is actually pretty effectively constrained. This podcast, entitled “How Much Does the U.S. Presidency Really Matter?”, supported that view. ( http://freakonomics.com/podcast/much-president-really-matter-rebroadcast/ ) Now there
As a Disneyana fan, having songs stuck in my head comes with the territory (it’s what kind of world after all?). I’ve always accepted it as part of my life. But now, thanks to some new research, there may be a scientific explanation. In a study published in the academic journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity
I’ve recently heard a radical idea: we should become a cashless society. The technology is pretty much here, with credit and debit cards, PayPal, and even Bitcoins. Other countries are moving in that direction. South Korea has established a goal of becoming a cashless society by 2020 (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2016/03/488_199146.html). India and the Scandinavian countries are also
What makes a good novel? You need a hero, a villain, and a compelling story. And for the story to be really memorable, your hero needs some flaws. That’s why there is kryptonite in the Superman sagas; invincibility makes for a very boring read. Now translate that into the very real world of politics. As
I am a veteran. I normally don’t say that very often, because my military career didn’t always go as planned, and my war was Vietnam. But today is Veteran’s Day, and many who were far more heroic than I deserve recognition. This day is even more meaningful when you realize that on this day in
Who hasn’t needed a little extra sleep? That’s why snooze buttons were invented. But what really happens if you push it? A recent post on the “Science of Us” website addresses this question. It cites a Wall Street Journal column by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely that reports using the snooze button (especially multiple times) doesn’t
What if you were a real meat-lover, and one day, after decades of eating whatever you wanted, you suddenly developed what appeared to be an allergic reaction a few hours after eating a steak? Your family physician will tell you no, you’re wrong, you can’t be allergic to meat, it must be something else (or