This isn’t my normal blogging fare, but I’m annoyed and who else should share in my annoyance but you, a random reader? Here’s a little conversation I had with a seller on Amazon.com. This guy had listed his book as being “Like New.†It seemed cheap, and the book was fairly old, so I asked […]
Author Archive | weeklyrob
Kash for Kidneys
Apparently, if you need a new kidney, Iran is the place to be. There’s no waiting list, because donors are at the ready. In Iran, donors get paid about a third of the average national annual salary to donate. Iran says: 1. In the chain of people helping to get a kidney from donor to […]
I Shouldn’t, But Sometimes I Do
I shouldn’t put a piece of candy, or a bite of chocolate bar, in my mouth, just before I walk into a public restroom. I should eat the candy either before entering the restroom, or after leaving it. Why can’t I remember this? [End of Post]
Keeping the Streets Safe
If you’re concerned about adware and pop-ups on the Internet, it may be time to move from concerned to scared. Julie Amero is facing up to 40 years in prison for exposing her 7th grade class to a barrage of porn pop-ups. (Link) The charge is “impairing the morals of a child.†It’s a shame […]
Jews!
I was reading an article about fundamentalist religion in America, and I came upon the statistic that there are about six million Jews in the United States, give or take a bit. I don’t know about everyone else, but the number six million is permanently burned into my brain as the approximate number of Jews […]
Weekly Rob Goes Audio
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this week’s post is an audio file. I don’t think I’ll make a habit out of this, but I told someone recently how easy it is to make a podcast and I thought that I’d better actually try it myself. So listen to this bad boy and tell me what’s wrong […]
Latest Salvo in Dogs vs. Cats
Owning a dog is better for you. (Link) [Endof Post]
More Libertarian Paternalism
A while back, I posted about Libertarian Paternalism, as espoused by Cass Sunstein, professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School. Well, there’s a bit of a debate going on, for anyone who’s interested in this kind of thing. (Am I the only one?) First, Becker and Posner (an economist and a judge, […]
Parents Who REALLY Want to be Grandparents
In Israel, courts just allowed parents to use their dead son’s sperm to impregnate a woman he never met. (Link) In short, the soldier died, and the parents had his sperm extracted from his dead body. They then advertised to attract women who might want to be impregnated by this sperm. They found one, and […]
Gattaca
The President calls for a ban on genetic discrimination. (Link) I betcha this will be a very important topic of our future world. As the (very short) article says, banning this kind of discrimination would have at least two effects: 1. It would eliminate the fear that people might have about getting checked for possible […]