author's blog

Be seeing you Mon, 31 May 2010 01:38:00 GMT (Thanks, Vincent. As a fan of The Prisoner, I am chagrined that I did not think of this myself.) UPDATE: some of you have asked about Twitter. I do have plans to truncate my attention span and start Twittering, gawd help me. I don't know when I'll get around to that, however. Maybe in the fall, when the new book comes out, since I'd planned to buy an iPhone -- and thereby cease to be the last journalist on Planet Earth to be without a mobile phone, an obscure title I hold with some pride.

Goodbye to all that Sun, 30 May 2010 18:24:00 GMT This is the end, as Jim Morrison sang. The end of this blog, that is. I'm hanging up my keyboard. And I'm not happy about it, I assure you. I've had a lot of fun doing this and I think we've had some good back-and-forth among thoughtful people of varying views. The problem is time. I basically volunteered to do this. When I took it on, my workload wasn't lightened proportionately, and that workload is, contrary to what some people think of the cushy life of the columnist, substantial. A good column requires significant amounts of thinking, researching, and writing. The big-name American columnists turn out two columns a week with the aid of staff and the ability to get almost anyone on the phone that comes from being a big-name American columnist. I have neither staff nor clout and I write three columns a week. In fact, since my columns are longer than most, my weekly production is almost double that of Thomas Friedman, David Brooks, or any other Big Name you care to mention. It's come to the point where, I think, both my columns and this blog were suffering, the blog in particular. At its best, a blog feels like a fabulous dinner party conversation: It's quick and light, the subject constantly shifts, people chime in with witticisms and deep thoughts and nonsense. But that requires an energetic host with undivided attention, and I haven't been that for some time. As a result, the party has become a little dull and tired. That may be acceptable for some of the regulars -- bless 'em -- but it's not good enough for me. I have standards, dammit. It's time to do the dishes and go to bed. So now, one last time, let's all sing together. Then everybody get your coat and clear out.

On the passing of the marvellous Martin Gardner Sun, 30 May 2010 16:49:00 GMT Saturday's column.

Climate change and dogmatic minds Fri, 28 May 2010 12:09:00 GMT Today's column, in which I endear myself to the nation's polysyllabic populist.

Our babies are dying!!! Thu, 27 May 2010 13:25:00 GMT This was a textbook example of how not to report statistics. Or perhaps it is a textbook example of how to report statistics in order to turn a modest story worthy of modest attention into a five-alarm fire. And this is a textbook debunking. Whack!

A story about stories Wed, 26 May 2010 13:31:00 GMT Today's column.

Evidence-based snake oil Tue, 25 May 2010 15:01:00 GMT Saturday's column, on politicians and their passionately expressed love of evidence.