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Last night, the NBC Nightly News did a 2 minute segment examining the origins and meaning of this traditional New Years song, with its bizarre title and sometimes cryptic lyrics. (The answer: roughly "old times' sake"). Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Read Full Story

For years a 44 year old mother of two from Ohio named Donna Simpson, who  is 5' 4" and weighs 600 lbs., apparently charged men $19 a month to watch her eat via the internet. The news today HERE on MSNBC is that she has halted this endeavor and is trying to lose weight for health reasons. But the fact that this went on for years, and that men around the world paid a monthly fee to watch her eat, genuinely shocked me. Here are a few selections from this article: "The underground community... Read Full Story

  THIS article today from The New York Times analyzes in some detail the degree to which online shopping is driven by alcohol consumption, and reveals that retailers are well aware of this phenomenon. "Still, the nighttime spike requires delicacy among retailers: for reasons of propriety, they do not want to be seen as encouraging drunken shopping, and many people who inadvertently buy products in that state would most likely return them at high rates." Read Full Story

Are you among the 86% of Americans who believe that TV commercials are jarringly louder than the TV shows themselves? I wrote previously HERE about this phenomenon.  According to this segment from the NBC Nightly News , the FCC has now announced plans to curb that practice.  Finally.  Though the ban won't take effect for a year, apparently. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Read Full Story

Men's Health magazine has ranked the best and worst chain restaurants for your health. You can see the rankings HERE . The 'usual suspects' are ranked right where you would expect them to be, pretty much.  But I was shocked to see that Red Lobster was ranked 2nd best (best!) restaurant for health!  Higher than Jamba Juice !  I had no idea that fried shrimp were so healthful.  Or maybe Jamba Juice is now putting lard in their smoothies? Read Full Story

A public health watchdog group has released a list of the 10 'worst' sugar cereals for kids.  You can view a slideshow HERE . Round up the usual suspects for this rogue's gallery.  Various versions of Cap'n Crunch appear no fewer than four times, and Froot Loops account for two more. Another two are cereals that originally had 'Sugar' in their names ( Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp ).  And then there's good old Apple Jacks . The list is rounded out by a newer cereal called, descriptively... Read Full Story

THIS news story details how more people are electing to buy meals at convenience stores, especially those anchored by gas stations, than ever before. The change is apparently being driven by an upgrade in the food offered there, and by the fact that it's apparently cheaper there than at fast food restaurants like McDonald's or Taco Bell . That trend was sort of interesting to me, especially since I'd long ago written off the food at these places (except in cases of extreme emergency). But... Read Full Story

A new study of all past US Presidents has sought to determine whether being President really took years off their lives.  The fact that, in the TV age, we've been able to see Presidents age before our eyes during their terms, presumably due to the stress of the job, probably makes many of us think we already know the answer.  The results may be surprising, however, even if the explanation is simple and predictable. The CBS Evening News discussed the results briefly last night HERE in a 2... Read Full Story

Richard Nixon, then an ambitious young Congressman from California, revealed to the public on this date back in 1948 the existence of the so-called 'Pumpkin Papers,' secret State Department documents that had been stolen by employees there who were also communist sympathizers spying for Russia.  These documents (mostly photos of documents on microfilm, actually) came to be called the 'Pumpkin Papers' because the reformed former communist who led authorities to them, Whitaker Chambers, had... Read Full Story

Legendary motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel died on this date back in 2007.  You can read an excellent obituary published at the time in The Economist HERE . Given his reputation for debauched and rude behavior, on hindsight it's perhaps most surprising how financially important the line of Evel Knievel toys was to him (and to the Ideal toy company) in the 1970s, and how central they remain to his legacy today. Read Full Story