Monthly Archives: June 2002

Some flak

Posted on June 18, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve gotten some flak in the comments on this post regarding US Christian conservatives and their newfound alliances with fundamentalist Muslim nations over questions of abortion and homosexuality. That probably means I didn’t do a good job of expressing why … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Some flak

Wait till next year

Posted on June 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Sadly, Rice’s season has come to an end, thanks to a ninth-inning rally by Notre Dame. Congrats to the Irish for the hard-fought win. This was a great season for Rice baseball, and it’s a little hard to take its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Wait till next year

Quality Entertainment Dept.

Posted on June 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Britney Spears will star in a NASCAR-themed movie, which is currently in development. Here’s all you need to know: “Britney herself has a lot of the values that represent NASCAR and her dad is a big NASCAR fan,” said [NASCAR … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Comments Off on Quality Entertainment Dept.

Travel update, volume 1

Posted on June 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

We’re here at my brother and sister-in-law’s house on Whidbey Island. We landed in Seattle yesterday, hung out there and stayed overnight with a friend in Bellevue, then drove out here this morning. Our rent car has a Magellan “Never … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on Travel update, volume 1

Disgusting

Posted on June 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Conservative Christian organizations, with the support of the Bush administration, have hopped into the sack with theocratic and despotic Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq (two-thirds of the Axis of Evil, for those keeping score at home) to halt the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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On the road again

Posted on June 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Tiffany and I are leaving this morning for a week in the Pacific Northwest to visit family and attend a wedding. I will have some access to a computer during this time, but expect posting to be light for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on On the road again

The hard way

Posted on June 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Texas defeated Rice 2-1 yesterday, which means the Owls will have to survive the losers’ bracket for a shot at the College World Series championship. They play Notre Dame, a 4-3 loser to Stanford, on Monday for the right to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on The hard way

It’s a horse race

Posted on June 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Clay Robison discusses the Kirk-Cornyn matchup, for which early polls show a tight race. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on It’s a horse race

Go, Chron, go!

Posted on June 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Even the Chron takes a shot at the NYT for the Houston hit piece. The Chron is routinely derided for its Houston cheerleading, but they got it right in this piece. I like they way they wrapped it up, too: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Go, Chron, go!

No preference

Posted on June 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A new survey shows that the number of people who express no religious preference doubled to 14% during the 1990s. The increase comes from people who do have religious faith, but who may be turned off by the link between … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on No preference

Now it’s the Dems’ turn

Posted on June 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The state Democratic convention is underway this weekend in El Paso. Gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez fired a few choice shots at Governor Goodhair: “I am going to restore respect, integrity, honesty and decency to the governor’s office,” Sanchez told the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on Now it’s the Dems’ turn

Whatever you say, dude

Posted on June 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever you say, dude Apparently, I made some “ignorant claims” (scroll down, his permalinks don’t work) when I wrote about the NYT’s recent Houston hit piece. The gentleman in question doesn’t bother to specify which of my claims may have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Whatever you say, dude

Incompetence and punishment

Posted on June 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Chicago Boy Jonathan Gewirtz quotes Robert L. Bartley in Monday’s Wall Street Journal: When the government fails in its most basic functions — say, protecting our citizens from foreign enemies — no one at the FBI or CIA loses his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Incompetence and punishment

Airport security update

Posted on June 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Al Gore was twice pulled aside for random security checks while flying Midwest Airlines between Washington and Milwaukee. Gore apparently took the indignity with good patience. Via my buddy Drew on the RoundTable list. I saw him drop a hint … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Airport security update

MLB contraction update

Posted on June 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Rob Neyer does the math and concludes that contraction in 2003 or beyond is increasingly unlikely. Continue reading →

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Junius asks

Posted on June 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

why no one in blogdom has commented on the new visa rules, in which people from certain countries, but not Saudi Arabia, have to get fingerprinted and interrogated in order to enter the US. He wonders if it’s because Robert … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Junius asks

Think he could room with Salman Rushdie?

Posted on June 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t imagine I could feel anything other than contempt for the so-called “artist” Eminem, but if this report is true, then he will have my sympathy: Metro Detroit hip-hop artist Eminem (news – web sites) has reportedly received threats … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Think he could room with Salman Rushdie?

No nuclear watermelons

Posted on June 13, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a good post on the costs of nuclear power by J Bowen of No Watermelons. Via Ted Barlow. Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on No nuclear watermelons

When dumpster diving is outlawed, only outlaws will dumpster dive

Posted on June 13, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston City Council followed through on its intentions to outlaw dumpster diving as well as “aggressive panhandling” downtown. Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on When dumpster diving is outlawed, only outlaws will dumpster dive

Has Salon fired all their editors?

Posted on June 13, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Today on Salon there’s a story which attempts to debunk the “psychic” John Edwards. Author Shari Waxman makes a good case of pointing out how Edwards manipulates the audience and works the odds in his favor, but nearly made me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Skepticism | Comments Off on Has Salon fired all their editors?

Sex talk

Posted on June 12, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Charles Murtaugh answers the question that InstantMan asks and Den Beste fumbles, namely why is it that so many sex-advice columnists are female. Murtaugh groks the real reasons: The reason women succeed as sex columnists is because lustful guys like … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on Sex talk

Thom Marshall admits he’s an idiot

Posted on June 12, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron‘s least useful columnist cops to laziness in a correction in today’s paper regarding his uncritical belief in the Valentine Foundation, which Houston Press readers knew is run by convicted grifter Whitney Broach. Thanks to Kevin for helping to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 2 Comments

One EggMcSpam to go, please

Posted on June 12, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Mac points to this article about McDonald’s in Hawaii testing a breakfast meal that contains Spam. I sent this link to the RoundTable mailing list, and was promptly informed that this sort of regional adaptaion is quite common for McDonald’s. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on One EggMcSpam to go, please

Machiavellian Whores Online?

Posted on June 12, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Avedon has a good conspiracy theory going today, in which the mysterious founder of Media Whores Online is in reality Jennifer Liberto. The hatchet job was done to throw everyone off the scent. Works for me! Continue reading →

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National Bloggerhood Week

Posted on June 12, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Meryl gets in a musical mood over the NYT blogger rivalry article. Hmmm, maybe I can help here… National Bloggerhood Week, with sincere apologies to Tom Lehrer Oh, the war blogs hate the tech blogs And the tech blogs hate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Comments Off on National Bloggerhood Week

Link update time

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Congrats to Karin for her new blog location. Update those links, people. And help her figure out a movie made recently that was about women, but which was not also a “disgusting, sappy, Hollywood chick flick?” Can’t help you there, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Link update time

Good Taste Dept.

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The redoutable Jack Cluth has named me the People’s Republic of Seabrook Site of the Day, which puts me in good company. Thanks, Jack! Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Good Taste Dept.

Nader update

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The NYT’s Harvey Araton shoots down Risible Ralphie’s silly charges about fixed refereeing. Via Ken Layne. Oh, and for those who like to bemoan the lack of competitive balance in baseball, check out this Jayson Stark column which talks about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on Nader update

NYT Hatchet Job Update

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

NYT Hatchet Job Update Chron columnist Ken Hoffman gets a little snarky without actually crossing over into scorn. Well, Texas is a friendly state, after all. Larry has been keeping track of local bloggers’ responses to this piece of shinola. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on NYT Hatchet Job Update

Religious tolerance update

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I see that the story of the Texas GOP and its broadly inclusive platform have been fairly widely noticed in the blogosphere. Today, state Democratic chair Molly Beth Malcolm fires back: State Democratic Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm on Monday said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on Religious tolerance update

Energy Deregulation Update

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

NewPower, the erstwhile Enron subsidiary, is pulling out of the Texas market, sending 80,000 customers back to Reliant and TXU while making some people ask if this whole deregulation thing is going to work. Pending regulator approval, Dallas-based TXU Energy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

A legal viewpoint

Posted on June 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Recently I posted about a change to Harvard’s sexual assault policy, which would now require “corroborating evidence” for an official school inquiry. My father read this story and was rather appalled by it. Here’s the feedback he sent me, from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on A legal viewpoint

What were your credentials again?

Posted on June 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Poor Man points me to this post in Quark Soup which discusses why you shouldn’t rely too strongly on political writers for environmental policy: “There is no democracy in physics,” the physicist Luis Alvarez once said. “We can’t say … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on What were your credentials again?

I love stories like this

Posted on June 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A five-year old bulldog in Minnesota has become a local celebrity for his habit of picking up plastic recyclable bottles while out for walkies. Harry, of course, is a minor celebrity around here, but he only picks up things that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on I love stories like this