Specialization is for Insects

My Uncle Dave recently posted the following query on Facebook:
“Why was gambling illegal in the United States (except in Nevada) until the 1970s? When I was growing up all forms of gambling were illegal (except in Nevada) and had been for as long anyone then alive could remember. How did that situation come about? I need some guesses and assumptions about that to quote in a blog entry I am writing. Don’t do any research, just answer off the top of your head.”

What an interesting question. Sorry, but the idea that I’m not going to do research before talking about an issue like this is just crazy talk.

Also, I hope writing a blog post about this isn’t somehow stealing my uncle’s thunder. I’m quite sure that his blog post will have a completely different take on this issue.
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The big news in Chicago today was that we will not be hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. What shocks people so much isn’t that we lost out to Rio, but that we were eliminated in the first round of voting.
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My brother Mark gave me a book for Christmas: Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Yes, I know, Christmas was 4 months ago. I just read the book last weekend. I could claim I’m super busy (and I often do make that claim) but the truth is I just don’t read much anymore. Not books, anyway. After reading Freakonomics, I think maybe I should read books more often.
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My uncle Dave pointed out a blog about people who go into bookstores and move books about “intelligent design” out the science section and into the religion section.

These guys need a more constructive hobby.

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Recently a Ford Fusion, totally modified to run on hydrogen, went over 200 mph at a test track in Utah. The Chicago Tribune had a very short blurb about it in today’s paper, so I checked it out on the web. The best description seems to be here.

I think this is both really cool, and somewhat discouraging. It’s really cool that there are groups working on this sort of technology. But when you look at the details, it’s discouraging to realize how far hydrogen powered cars still need to come before they are a viable alternative to gasoline powered cars.

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I am not a big Hillary Clinton fan, but I have to applaud her for taking a bold stand against demagoguery at the YearlyKos Presidential Leadership Forum yesterday. (Watch the exchange on YouTube)

John Edwards makes the demagogic claim that Americans are disenchanted and cynical about American politics because of lobbyists, and he proposes fixing this by pledging not to accept money from lobbyists. Clinton correctly sees this as absurd.

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There’s an article in today’s Chicago Tribune that really raised my libertarian hackles.

The makers of Equal think Splenda’s slogan “Made from Sugar, So It Tastes Like Sugar” is false advertising. Equal is suing Splenda for $176,100,000 in lost business. (That figure is almost a year’s worth of sales for Splenda.) The crux of their claim is that consumers are deceived into thinking that a product “made from sugar” actually contains sugar. This “deception” is costing them money: Equal has lost market share, Splenda has gained market share.

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