Rick Steves travel bloopers
We have enjoyed Rick Steves and his European tours on public TV for years. We’ve even used a Rick Steves travel guide or two to find our way around France and Italy. Only through social media, however — like the Rick Steves Facebook page and Rick Steves YouTube...Stupid Americans found to be dumb and ignorant
A March 20 Newsweek story — “How Dumb Are We? / How Ignorant Are Americans?” — found that 29 percent of us can’t name our vice president, 44 percent cannot define the Bill of Rights, and 73 percent are clueless about the core issue behind the Cold...Potassium iodide: Thyroid protection from nuclear radiation
Watching coverage of the Japan nuclear meltdown over the last couple of days — as well as the related discussion of the risk of nuclear plant meltdown here in the United States — the distribution of potassium iodide there made me wonder: What does potassium iodide...Rachel Maddow Show: ‘Shock Doctrine’ used to take over Michigan towns
Rachel Maddow Show: ‘Shock Doctrine’ used to take over Michigan towns This segment on last night’s Rachel Maddow Show regarding the Shock Doctrine and the governor of Michigan was jaw-dropping. (Read the transcript here.) Apparently, new laws...‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (movie, 2009)
We have heard about “The Continuing Mysteries of Stieg Larsson” — his untimely death at age 50 before the publication of his Millennium Trilogy, and his fourth manuscript, so far unpublished and enveloped in controversy. We are aware that Stieg...Joseph and Mary in melting snow, Racine, Wisconsin
< Previous Photos Next > Joseph and Mary in melting snow, Racine, Wisconsin Racine, Wisconsin — The heads and shoulders of Joseph and Mary emerge as snow melts around a plastic outdoor nativity set in front of a house on Pierce Boulevard on the eve of...Evolution, Genesis and creation: Snakes’ legs found
Science fans and people who study the Bible will certainly continue to debate evolution vs. creation for years to come, but for me the question is moot. As a syncretist, when I read those Bible verses in Genesis 1, I see them as a very early theory of evolution. The...NBC’s Kerry Sanders reporting live while driving
This was a very odd sight today. It’s NBC correspondent Kerry Sanders reporting live from Wellington, Florida about the dangers of teens and their “car surfing” (also known as “ghost riding”). For both the intro and outro of the story...President Obama quit smoking ‘almost a year’ ago
Barack Obama’s health initiative is reportedly a success. The president has managed to stop smoking for “almost a year” now, according to First Lady Michelle Obama. Good for him and his family. Quitting smoking has been a struggle for the president....