Category Archives: Society and cultcha

Ginger reports on being a mole at a pro-life rally last night. For the record, I’m the unnamed friend who accompanied her. I have just a few things to add to her excellent account of the event: The politician from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This article talks about how various cities have cut back or cut out holiday celebrations like tree-lighting ceremonies in recent years due to budget crunches. Houston, despite its own fiscal woes, hasn’t done any such thing, but what I’ve noticed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As promised, Opus has returned to the Sunday comics page. You’ll have to find a dead-tree version of it to see for yourself, as I can’t seem to locate one online, but I’m looking forward to future installments. There’s good … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Byron points to this update on the construction of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin: It’s going forward, with Planned Parenthood of Austin acting as their own general contractors. Good to know that Chris Danze and his harassment campaign … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This story really makes me mad. Construction on Planned Parenthood’s South Austin clinic took a hard hit this week when the project’s general contractor walked away because of intense pressure from abortion opponents. Planned Parenthood officials said Browning Construction — … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s another Baby Boomers Discover The Secret To A Happier Life story. They’ve determined that if they work less, they have more time to do things that aren’t work. John de Graaf, 57, a Seattle freelance television producer and writer, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Meant to do this Saturday but was too busy with other stuff…How popular was National Talk Like A Pirate Day? Here are the most frequent search engine terms that referred people to my blog on Friday: #reqs: search term —–: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Avast, ye scurvy dogs! Once again, it’s time for National Talk Like A Pirate Day. There must be a lot of interest in this holiday because I’m getting a pirate-shipload of Google referrals for last year’s post on the topic, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Several people have noted this Salon interview with Tucker Carlson, mostly for his unflattering words about Karen Hughes. Reading through the interview for myself this morning, I was struck by a comment that I haven’t seen anyone else mention so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hot dog! Berke Breathed will bring Opus back to life in a new Sunday comic starting November 23. The Washington Post Writers Group, which will syndicate the strip, is expected to officially announce Breathed’s return this Sunday. The reclusive Breathed, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we reach the end of August, be sure to mark your calendar for that all-important September holiday, National Talk Like A Pirate Day, coming at you in less than three weeks, on the nineteenth. Dave Barry plugs it in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yeah, I know, John Hawkins put up the list on Tuesday. I overslept, OK? Here’s my list, with explanations: John Wilkes Booth, Charles Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz, Lee Harvey Oswald – Killing a President makes you a bad American. Anthony Comstock … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The National Council of La Raza is holding its annual convention in Austin this weekend, and up to 20,000 attendees are expected. They’ve got some pretty high-profile speakers lined up to address them: Latino leaders and activists will attend workshops … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having written about the potential of a newfangled form of mass communication, I feel compelled to cite this article about an old-fashioned form, the ham radio. I love this quote: “The Internet is cool and all, but the last two … Continue reading → Continue reading →

O-Dub points to this column by Ron Brownstein which suggests that blogs are (or are about to be) to liberals as talk radio is to conservatives. It’s difficult to compare the audience of talk radio and the Internet. The largest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Stuyvesant High School, my alma mater, will be celebrating its centennial in 2004. Apparently, there’s a minor kerfuffle brewing over who the commencement speaker for the Class of 2004 should be. Class leaders have panned the idea of asking the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Beato has some fun with the Greg Packer story and the unholy troika of Coulter, Kaus, and Reynolds, who are bound and determined to find a Liberal Media Conspiracy in there somewhere. In case you haven’t heard of this, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hey, cool. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is talking about printing some more $2 bills. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing may print 121.6 million new $2 bills in fiscal year 2004, which starts Oct. 1, said BEP spokeswoman … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Mark Evanier comes this feature article about Bloom County creator Berke Breathed, who appears to be inclined to get back into doing a weekly strip. “I can’t say it wouldn’t be appealing to bring back Opus to the Sunday … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Paul Frankenstein, I came across this funny story about what can happen when you mistranslate something. This has never happened to me – sadly, I’m insufficiently mulitlingual to be in this position in the first place – but my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jesse points to this interesting article which indicates that the specter of liberal-themed talk radio may be more than just vaporware: At a Saturday talk radio industry event put on by Talkers Magazine, Gabe Hobbs, Clear Channel Radio’s vice president … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A few years back, I was visiting the family in New York. While there, I had the opportunity to attend a Yankees game, along with my sister and her then-boyfriend. We scored some tickets from my dad’s old law firm, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s an interesting discussion going on in the comments to this post about St. Patrick’s Day. Reader alkali pointed out this article (warning: page includes music) by historian Richard Jensen, which claims that the legendary “No Irish Need Apply” signs … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So today is Saint Patrick’s Day, a day for the wearin’ of the green, when people say things like “Begorrah!” and “Erin go bragh!” (whatever they mean) and the general spirit is that Everyone Is Irish On Saint Patrick’s Day. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kevin Drum, in commenting on this entry about zapping the TeleZapper, asked a very reasonable question: Sarcasm aside, why do they want to defeat devices like the TeleZapper? Surely anyone willing to spend $40 and expend the effort to install … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I feel the need to drive some new Google searches to this site, so I’m happy to point out that Playboy will be photographing the Women of Starbucks later this year. As a dedicated non-drinker of coffee, let me say … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting article in the NYT about how colleges are starting to accomodate the growing number of students who’ve never shared a room with anyone and don’t want to start now. Colleges have always offered single rooms, and students have long … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Since we’re debating comics, I find it timely that Mark Evanier has a bit about Seduction of the Innocent, a 1954 book by Fredric Wertham which was about the allegedly pernicious influence of comic books on children. Wertham’s books led … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Teresa posted from Luke 2:1-14 on Christmas Eve. I’ve always thought these were some of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. You’ll recognize the last three paragraphs as the explanation Linus gives for “what Christmas is all about” to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It just isn’t Christmas any more without Dave Barry’s Gift Guide. I told Tiffany I plan on getting her one of the Duct Tape Purses next year (here’s a picture). She was duly impressed. Continue reading →

Ted Barlow has a fascinating post about the mating strategies of straight vs. gay male transsexuals. Go check it out. Continue reading →

Julian Sanchez has a thoughtful piece about gay marriage and why arguments against it fall by their own logic. Recommended reading. Via Jim Henley. Continue reading →

First, there was cow poetry: [Nathan] Banks, a 22-year-old student at Purchase College, painted single words (from “a” to “existential”) on the flanks of about 60 cows near his upstate New York home, then let them wander around to see … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday which celebrates and remembers the dead. Here’s a nice overview of the holiday and its traditions. Go to the first URL above and follow some links there for lots of pictures. Continue reading →