Obeying the unwritten law that no good deed goes unpunished, at 8:45 p.m. the day Paris launched its fleet of 250 all-electric vehicles, one of them ran down a woman who didn’t hear it coming. The mayor’s office hurriedly assured Agence France Presse, “It is a road accident like many that sometimes happen in Paris, but at this stage no link can be made between the accident and the fact that the car was noiseless.” Peut- être, peut-être pas, but the incident added, if not fuel then certainly electricity, to concerns about noiseless vehicles. As Eric Bridges, the director of ... Read More
The FCC and Indecency: Here We Go Again
December 29, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
“It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time. It is also a violation of federal law to air indecent programming or profane language during certain hours...The courts have held that indecent material is protected by the First Amendment and cannot be banned entirely. It may, however, be restricted in order to avoid its broadcast during times of the day when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.” — The Federal Communications Commission In 1973, a public radio station in New York City broadcast comedian George Carlin’s “Seven ... Read More
Bad Credit Reports Put Job Seekers in Catch-22
June 3, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22 ... Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle." — Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Heller's famous conundrum is often ... Read More
Clean Stoves for the Third World
April 4, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
When the United Nations, Hillary Clinton and Glenn Beck are exercised over the same idea, something must be cooking. Bad pun aside, that's what it is — cook stoves for the Third World that protect life, health and the environment, while answering the age-old question of what's for dinner. In September, the U.N. General Assembly kicked off the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a part of the Clinton Global Initiative promoted by the U.N. Foundation. As for Beck, the Fox News Channel talk show host who is neither for nor against the stoves, he sees Clinton's spending $50 million on ... Read More
ABCs of the Queue
February 20, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Why do certain things bother you but not others? Like getting in line: When you have to, do you snap and snarl or do you queue up casually with no complaints? Why is that? Kurt Carlson knows. A professor of marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Carlson and his researchers regularly turn up all sorts of interesting and often surprising information on how and why we make decisions. Take getting in line. “Why," he asks, “do people stand in line for so long at Georgetown Cupcake?” referring to a hugely popular sweets shop in Washington, D.C. “And ... Read More