Eclectic Living
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The earliest version of this iteration of the Pledge of Allegiance (which incidentally didn’t include “the United States” or “under God”) was written in... Continue Reading →
A little morning uitwaiien in subzero temps Bodhi stops at a recently deposited pile and inhales deeply. But he longs to experience this more fully, so he gulps some down before his owner can yank him away. "Bad dog, that's disgusting, Bodhi!" The excrement makes its way through Bodhi's system and is eventually deposited again,... Continue Reading →
Part I And just then the boy had a sudden spasm, as if something had bitten him in the stomach, and uttered a long, shrill wail. For moments that seemed endless he stayed in a queer, contorted position, his body racked by convulsive tremors; it was as if his frail frame were bending before the... Continue Reading →
In my November 3, 2016, post, "Scientific Policy," I wrote: "It is one week from the U.S. presidential election, and Science magazine has compiled a list of six areas of science in which the new president will need to be well-versed in order to lead our country down the right path." The first area Science emphasized was pathogens. "[N]ew... Continue Reading →
Many many moons ago, I wrote my last post, which focused on my financial independence, or how I don't have to work for money anymore. Ah, what an innocent soul I was back in the halcyon days of late 2018. Little did I know then that I was about to embark on the most challenging... Continue Reading →
I am a fortunate individual. I have enjoyed a lot of freedom in my adult life, and now, at 46 years old, I'm blessed to be financially independent. Getting here has been a mixture of privilege, fortune, good decisions, and hard work (probably in about that order). Now, if you're willing to stick around for the... Continue Reading →
I recently went on a weekend golf trip to Arizona with a good group of guys. One might imagine that, in general, the demographic of guys who go on weekend golf trips would tend toward a bro-ish, self-absorbed, perpetual adolescence mindset. I hope that generalization's not true, and for our group, it wasn't. Still, I... Continue Reading →
My optimism stems largely from a belief in progress. Progress is the inevitable outcome of accumulated knowledge and enlightenment. As we understand the world better, understand ourselves better, we come to understand how to improve the world and our place in it. The Progressive approach is guided by reason and virtue. In many regards (hunger,... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/fmghBnJZTLw A few years ago I worked with some colleagues to write a paper about the potential for entomophagy to address undernutrition. We titled it, fittingly enough, "The potential for entomophagy to address undernutrition," and it was published in the Ecology of Food and Nutrition journal. Entomophagy is the fancy word for insect eating. My brother and I... Continue Reading →
It's well known that humans have had a huge impact on the world's biodiversity, with some suggesting that we have precipitated the sixth major extinction event in the Earth's history. This may also be the worst sin perpetrated in Earth's history. And it will only be accelerated and perpetuated via climate change. Shitty job, us. A lesser known... Continue Reading →
Poppa's Cottage 