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[Scene opens: a middle-aged coach paces slowly in front of gathered children, shout-talking in General Patton style.] OK, children! Listen up! I understand that most of you are here not because you want to be, but because your parents or teachers told you you had to be. But regardless, you're here, and we are having a race: a competition. This is where 7-year-old strives against 7-year-old, and abilities are tested. This is where heroes are born. ...

The way many health studies are done makes them not very useful. The way they are reported on is even worse. You see this nearly every day, then you never hear about it again. Ok, you will hear about those studies again on the Dr Oz show because he blows, but generally the study behind the news headline "It's official: Bacon is good for you!" will not hold up for long. That's partially because a lot of these studies depend on self-reported data. ...

Here, I fight the power of anecdotes with… an anecdote? Ok, it sounds silly, but bear with me… ...

I hope this is my last word on the Chick-fil-A issue, but I doubt it will be (see the previous article). I want to let it drop, but I keep seeing people who misrepresent the issue pretty badly. Many claim to want to find "the middle ground", and who basically say "let everyone be". That isn't really possible. ...

Just so I'm not misunderstood or misrepresented on this issue, I thought I'd write it out in a full-length article rather than be limited to a "pithy" Facebook status. ...

Back when I had cable, about once every few weeks I'd put it on MTV2 or Fuse and watch the top video countdown. It was one way I tried not losing complete touch with "kids today". Since I ditched cable, I am left with listening to the local alternative radio station. So I'm not at a complete loss, but there are many pop songs people talk about which I have never heard. So, in an attempt to keep with the times, I decided that I'd start watching the top music videos on Youtube. I grabbed a few double-shots of bourbon (neat, just how the kids like to do it) and got to watching… ...

After quitting my job to stay at home with my daughter, we lost our medical benefits. The insurance plan we had through work was OK, I guess, but it still cost hundreds a month just for having the plan, and there were still plenty of small and large payments we had to make after doctors visits and the few ER/hospital trips we had to make over the years. So it was never great, and now that I don't have the company's group rate helping out, it's much worse. ...

I often find myself in an awkward situation. Awkward to me anyway. Ok, I find myself in many awkward situations: it's kind of my thing. But this specific kind of awkward situation happens when I find out the person I have been agreeing with for the past hour/month/year has gone way too far down the rabbit hole. I don't mean they are crazy, just that they have some ideas or theories which they hold dear and which I find completely unsupportable. Though it can and does happen in many area of life, I'll pick an example from the world of medical beliefs, because I run into those quite frequently, and I find them the most frustrating. ...

From now on, I will assert anything I want. When asked for evidence, I can point to this graph. It clearly illustrates my point, whatever my point may be… ...

I've noticed this ever since our daughter was born. Many times when I try to do a little research on any parenting topic or visit any parenting forum, it's assumed the reader is the mom. This became even more apparent with my recent decisions. In doing (secular) homeschool research, there's a pattern I see many times: It's simply assumed that the stay-at-home parent is the mom. It's assumed that the mom does the homeschooling. It's assumed that the dad doesn't clean, cook, or do laundry, etc. It's assumed that the mom cares and the dad dismisses. It's assumed that the dad doesn't help out with the kids, or if he does, it's in some trivial way or it's some sort of minor aberration to a universal rule. ...

Over the past 3 years, I've slowly reduced my weight by about 50 pounds. About 20 of it was in the first year, and after that my weight gradually shifted down to my current (still a ways over-) weight. What's that? Oh thanks, I do look awesome! How'd I do it, you ask? ...

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