Category Archives: Society and cultcha

I’ve blogged before about the Amethyst Initiative, and the arguments for and against their efforts to lower the minimum legal drinking age from 21 to 18 to combat what they call “a culture of dangerous binge drinking” on college campuses. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m rather surprised I haven’t seen more of these stories lately, since the genre seems to be a media favorite. When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From my friend Stephanie: The Texans are hosting a blood drive at all Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center neighborhood locations from December 2-4th. There are additional locations that will be hosting the blood drive until the 9th. If you donate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This doesn’t really come as a surprise to me, but it’s still nice to see it backed up by some data. The MacArthur Foundation has a message for parents worried about their children’s use of the Internet: Chill out. A … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is America Recycles Day. Some people think this is the wrong idea. Treehugger.com makes the case for emphasizing reusable packaging instead of recyclable. I don’t particularly care for the way they frame this, but I think they make a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You can add this to the List Of Ways I Can Tell I’m Old: I had no idea the kids were hot for Polaroid cameras these days. Polaroid’s teenage acolytes so love the clunky cameras, which went out of production … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve mentioned the Amethyst Initiative and its efforts to lower the drinking age, which is something that I think has merit. Let me now present this op-ed by Robert Nash Parker, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Presley … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There are many experiences I look forward to sharing with my girls as they grow up. Homework is not one of them. I’m kind of hoping for this attitude to catch on. The Spring Branch school board has ordered a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Even as I’ve reached advanced decrepitude a more mature age, I’ve never been one of those people who believes that kids today are somehow more apathetic/less engaged than they were in my day. I mean, I was there in my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I somehow pictured John weeping softly into his morning coffee as he read this story. The road rash on his left elbow was the mark of multi-tasking gone awry. With a phone in hand and a skateboard underfoot, 15-year-old Kenny … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Do you have a teenager at home? If so, he or she probably isn’t exercising enough. One of the largest studies of its kind shows just how sluggish American children become once they hit the teen years: While 90 percent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I just can’t get too worked up about this sort of thing. Most young people know the basics of landing a job: Prepare a résumé, compile references and dress up for the interview. But a handful of 20-somethings got a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You’ve met “free-range kids”. Now meet their nemesis: “Helicopter parents”. It begins innocently enough. When our children are infants and toddlers, they need us to protect them at every turn. Babies are just walking (or crawling) catastrophes, and danger lurks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m currently serving on a committee for my 20-year college reunion, which is an event I’ve been looking forward to for some time now. So when I see articles like this one in which the author speculates that Facebook will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ever wonder why your feet hurt? Apparently, shoes are the problem. Not just stiletto heels, mind you – pretty much all shoes, including and especially shoes designed to cushion the feet, are problematic. Last year, researchers at the University of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So I’ve been thinking about this whole “free-range kids” thing – see the Newsweek column that started it all, and the accompanying blog for background – and I think there’s nothing shocking about it. As I think back on it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Would someone please explain to me what’s wrong with a silent protest? In Clear Creek, staff members have been fielding calls and e-mails from parents concerned about students taking a silent vow in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The beginning of this article about the state of the seven-figures housing market in Houston fascinated me. When Ronald and Paige Wardell began shopping for a house inside the Loop, they figured they could find everything they wanted for $750,000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Was the epidemic of carpal tunnel syndrome overstated? “At its height of diagnosis, anybody showing up at a doctor’s office with wrist pain or hand pain was being diagnosed with carpal tunnel,” said Carol Harnett, vice president of insurer Hartford … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Giving “Made in India” a whole new meaning. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe, as word spreads of India’s mix of skilled medical professionals, relatively … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’re all familiar with the national Do Not Call registry, right? Well, now some people want there to be a similar thing for snail mail. Vermont legislator Chris Pearson had a sense that the people were with him when he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know those little white-on-black car window stickers that say “W The President”? They were a great achievement in iconography – elegant, eye-catching, and for awhile at least, ubiquitous – whose success is marked by the many imitations (Kinky Friedman’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I confess, I had no idea so many people hated talking on the phone like this. It’s a little weird for me, because much of my professional career has involved phone work – tech support for a software company, followed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yeesh. Researchers have uncovered another damaging consequence of spanking: risky sexual behaviors, or even sexual deviancy, when the child grows up. “This adds one more harmful side effect to spanking,” said Murray Straus, a spanking expert who was expected to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The urge to conserve goes mainstream. Headlines like that are weird to me, because it’s always seemed mainstream to me. A growing acceptance of human-induced climate change and the link between energy and national security has pushed conservation into the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The day in which our nation’s youth will completely fail to grasp the whole Superman/phone booth thing draws ever closer. AT&T Inc. plans to exit the pay-phone business by the end of 2008, company officials said Monday. The largest telephone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Looking for a special gift for that devout atheist in your life? It might be harder than you think to find something appropriate. According to Greg Beato, atheists are way behind the entrepreneurial curve. Look for atheist perfume, and you’ll … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Are plastic bags evil? Some places think so. In recent years, countries from Ireland to Australia have passed laws to cut use of plastic bags. But the movement only recently gained momentum in the U.S. While plastic bags were not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is a worthy project. A local animal welfare group today will launch an ambitious effort to stop the euthanasia of dogs and cats at area shelters by the end of 2013. Sean Hawkins, president of Saving Animals Across Borders, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

sigh Why must the Chron mess with my comics? The good news is that, Monday through Saturday, one page of comics will be printed in color. The bad news is that, Monday through Saturday, the number of pages devoted to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Happy Halloween, everyone! We’re going to be up to our clavicles in Trick or Treaters this evening – I’ll post some pictures like I did last year to give you a feel for how busy it gets. But before that, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Oh my God. This story of the incredibly messy, vicious, and tawdry divorce fight between right-wing sugar daddy Richard Mellon Scaife and his second wife Margaret Ritchie Scaife, is the guiltiest pleasure I’ve had in awhile. Just read this bit, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Bummer. The messages in fortune cookies are typically vague, banal and optimistic. But some cookies are now serving up some surprisingly downbeat advice. “Today is a disastrous day. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” reads one fortune showing up … Continue reading → Continue reading →