Category Archives: Short piece
Public Polled on Origin of the Universe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th February 2009The report that the public favors the economic stimulus package now before the congress shows how great is the popular understanding of complex issues. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp survey A slight majority of those surveyed, 54%, favor the bill while 45% are opposed. Sixty-four percent of those polled said the current bill being…
› Read the full entry
Why Nothing Works
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th December 2008The title is a bit hyperbolic – almost nothing works. Good service usually can not be purchased at any price unless you are in the billionaire class. Why do businesses that provide only a service – like the airlines – perform so terribly? In this case (airlines) it’s our fault. We don’t want to pay…
› Read the full entry
British Men Prefer TV to Sex – Androgen Deficiency Suspected
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th February 2008A new survey finds that almost 50% of British men would forgo sex for six months in return for a 50″ plasma TV. Only a third of British women would make the trade. Remember this from a country that only has about four channels and which imposes a yearly tax on each television set. Britain…
› Read the full entry
Everything’s Got a Reason, If Only You Can Find It
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd January 2008Also in Commentary For a decade I’ve been a chairman. Last month I got a new ID card that declared I was now a chairperson. Since I believe in the inexorable march of progress I’m sure that this appellationary alteration will serve a noble end even if I’m clueless as to what it might be….
› Read the full entry
Watermarking: Is It Torture?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th January 2008“Watermarking offers copyright protection by letting a company track music that finds its way to illegal peer-to-peer networks. At its most precise, a watermark could encode a unique serial number that a music company could match to the original purchaser.” This is how Wired describes watermarking a technique that the record companies may substitute for…
› Read the full entry
Parsifal Redux
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th January 2008Some years ago I wrote about my bout with Parsifal. I had become Parsifal positive. I was only exposed once. Most people can listen to Parsifal many times without becoming positive. What bad luck. After years of treatment, I licked it and have been Parsifal negative for more than five years. Obviously, I am not…
› Read the full entry
How I Spent New Year’s Eve
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th January 2008If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free – PJ O’Rourke I hope you had fun celebrating the New Year. I was supposed to be at a gay soiree – well not gay, festive. You know what I mean. I didn’t make the party. Instead I…
› Read the full entry
