Hillary Clinton's Legacy

Good show with important context on Hillary Clinton's Legacy. Will critics listen, or prefer the soundbite of choice?

The Lord Of The Rings

Last night Eason and I finished reading The Lord of the Rings. We'll probably read the Appendices and The Silmarillion next.

You Are Going to Die

You Are Going to Die

"Pretending death can be indefinitely evaded with hot yoga or a gluten-free diet or antioxidants or just by refusing to look is craven denial."

Birthday Breakfast

The kids and I made a "surprise" breakfast for Aviva's birthday.

Fiddler On The Roof

We saw Fiddler On The Roof last night at the Westchester Broadway Theatre. The theatre was really well arranged and they served a good meal. The performance was excellent - as good as I could hope for. It was very nostalgic and left me choked up quite a bit.

500 Push-ups

We continued our push-up challenge. This time, instead of doing a set every ten minutes, we each did a set every 5 minutes. It definitely made every set more difficult, but it increased our totals overall.

In about an hour I did 11 sets (60/40/50/50/50/50/50/43/52/35/20) for a total of 500. Eason did 12 sets (30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30) for a total of 360!

Here are videos:

Our Economic Pickle

In America’s Productivity Climbs, but Wages Stagnate Steven Greenhouse talks about how the debt-ceiling is unlikely to alter one major factor contributing to income inequality: stagnant wages. How goes on to to point out that "companies can push down on wages for all workers, union and nonunion alike."

Check out the piece at The New York Times.

Writing About What Haunts Us

Writing About What Haunts Us

"the daily business of living caused my father despair. At no time did this manifest itself more powerfully than when he came home from work. A rug askew, a jacket not hung up, a window left open — all could set off a fury."

The Fallacies of Fat

In his new book Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease, endocrinologist and obesity doc Robert Lustig deconstructs the mythology of fat. He says exercise, for all its benefits, won't help you shed pounds -- and that fasting only worsens weight gain.

Neil Shubin on the Universe Within

The Leonard Lopate Show: Neil Shubin on the Universe Within - WNYC

Science writer Neil Shubin discusses a scientific mystery as big as the world itself: How are the events that formed our solar system billions of years ago embedded inside each of us? In The Universe Within, Shubin explains how fossils, the Earth’s position, and the universe’s fourteen-billion-year history can be seen in the human body.

Winter Cabin Campout

We went camping at Durland Scout Reservation for our Winter Cabin Campout. We went on a great hike to the top of the spine and around both lakes and climbed down the side of a snowy hillside.

More pictures below:

Tetraethyl Lead and Crime

On The Leonard Lopate Show Mother Jones political blogger Kevin Drum discusses what may be the hidden villain behind rampant crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic: tetraethyl lead. In his article "Criminal Element," he postulates that lead in gasoline may account for 90 percent of the fluctuations in violent crime over the last 50 years, and he shows the upside to investing in lead abatement. The article appears in the January/February issue of the magazine.