Gongol.com Archives: August 2009
Brian Gongol


August 13, 2009

Health What doctors are looking for when they palpate the abdomen
And in more from the Department of Random Questions, the BBC has answers to 10 awkward children's questions and the reason why flamingoes stand on one leg.

The American Way How to become a micro-lender
Micro-credit is an excellent market-friendly way of helping people out of poverty -- and the Internet makes it possible to do so through sites like Kiva

News The case for sunset provisions in law
Every piece of law ought to be tied to a sunset provision -- an effective expiration date that keeps the government accountable for evaluating whether the law ought to remain in place. A cyclist in the UK has been sent to prison for accidentally killing a pedestrian, using a law passed in 1861. The cyclist certainly should have been held accountable for the death, but that it happened due to a law from 1861 suggests that someone should've reviewed the validity of the law in the meantime.

Science and Technology How flowers have evolved to keep pollen from getting wet
Perhaps some of these things should've seemed obvious long before 2009, but on the other hand, maybe that just tells us how much we have yet to understand about the natural world

News Carp that was caught and returned to an English lake 63 times finally dies

Humor and Good News Who put Aretha Franklin in the same concert as Metallica?

Water News Restaurants and cities enter conflict over grease

Recent radio podcasts