Monthly Archives: July 2002

Speaking of alternate means of publishing

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Press has a story about a different form of do-it-yourself publishing called print-on-demand, or POD, which has attracted a number of wannabe authors in Houston. It may be another form of “vanity publishing”, as newspaper book editors are wont … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Blogging and journalism: Incompatible?

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Ginger points to this story about a Houston Chronicle reporter who ran a blog on the side under a pseudonym. He was eventually outed and ordered to shut his site down by the Chron‘s new managing editor, Jeff Cohen. For … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Blogging and journalism: Incompatible?

In case you hadn’t noticed

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

That new git-tuff-on-corporate-crime bill that Dubya signed and is shamelessly claiming cedit for despite opposing it every step of the way? It was supposed to contain full protection for corporate whistle-blowers, the people who will call attention to the future … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on In case you hadn’t noticed

Stupid employee tricks

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I promised yesterday that I’d write about some of the more interesting things I’ve seen on the job. Sit back and relax as I tell you about the Horny Employee and the Network Printer. About a year and a half … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 1 Comment

Count me out

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

God grant my City Council the courage to change the things they can, the serenity to accept the things they can’t, and the wisdom to know the difference. So what’s on the agenda for our City Council these days? The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 5 Comments

Perry ad followup

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday I wrote about an ad that Governor Goodhair is running which attempts to link Democratic candidate Tony Sanchez to drug money. Today, the federal judge in the case that Perry’s ad cites specifically repudiated Perry’s charges. A senior federal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 2 Comments

Bork in a dress

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Via Joe Conanson comes this FindLaw column that lays out further the case against Priscilla Owen, Judicial Activist. Cragg Hines stays on it as well. Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Bork in a dress

Buckner, Rose, and Coulter

Posted on July 31, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting piece in Salon today by Keith Olbermann about understanding the consequences of one’s actions. Here’s the part that got me: It will never occur to [Ann] Coulter that in the vast crowd of us who appeared on television … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Buckner, Rose, and Coulter

True Tales from the Jobsite

Posted on July 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

TTLB and Chad Orzel have talked about a desire to see more diversity in blogging; more stuff about what people do and less armchair punditry. I find that I’m slowing down a bit on general purpose punditry these days. There’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 1 Comment

Right on schedule

Posted on July 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Like clockwork, Clymer Wright breaks out the Crayolas and sends a letter to the editor (scroll down) about John Williams’ column from Monday, which suggested that his beloved term limits might be wearing out their welcome. Here’s my favorite bit: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

One way to find out

Posted on July 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Are you going to heaven or hell? There’s gotta be a better way than this to find out: An argument over who was going to heaven and who was going to hell ended with one Texas man shooting another to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 5 Comments

Now it’s really getting nasty

Posted on July 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Governor Goodhair has fired back in his campaign for reelection by running ads that allege that Tony Sanchez’s bank was involved in drug-related money laundering. The commercial focuses on $25 million in Mexican drug cartel money that flowed through Sanchez’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 2 Comments

No matter what goes right

Posted on July 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Chron baseball writer Richard Justice has a regular Baseball Notebook column that runs every Sunday during the season. This Sunday’s effort talked about the labor issues and was surprisingly fair to the players’ union. Still, he couldn’t quite overcome his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on No matter what goes right

How not to market your product

Posted on July 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Jeff Cooper writes of a longtime Mets fan site which has received a cease-and-desist order from Major League Baseball. He looks at from the viewpoint of trademark law and the doctrine of “laches”, which I need to go and look … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

Term limits sanity

Posted on July 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A local conservative Republican activist is seeing a change in attitude towards the idea of term limits. Term limits had been a rallying cry for GOP activists in the early to mid 1990s, but even then some people questioned their … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 4 Comments

You sure this is a good idea?

Posted on July 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

You’re the President of the most powerful nation in the world. You’re being blamed for the current economic turmoil, while your Treasury Secretary is busy making a fool of himself. Your business experience, a cornerstone of your campaign, is being … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 4 Comments

Getting their story straight

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Charles Dodgson does some pundit watching, and it’s not pretty: In the conservative Weekly Standard, two scholars from the American Enterprise Institute argue that the prospect of further regulation, such as the bill that recently passed through Congress on stiffening … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

What’s the smallest line you can read?

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve now had two requests to bump up the font size in the blog content area, so I’ve changed it from 11px to 12px in the style sheet. I hope this is better. As always, any constructive feedback is appreciated. Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 5 Comments

I got your deficit right here

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Brad DeLong shows us an interesting memo from 1993 that measures budget deficits of the 1980s by Presidential versus Congressional component. You know how blame for the deficits in those days always seemed to go to the irresponsible, spendthrift Congress? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on I got your deficit right here

In the eye of the beholder

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Kevin had pointed awhile back to this interesting take by Jeanne D’Arc on perception and bias. Sometimes, seeing distortions and slurs in a news story says more about you than it does about the writer. Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on In the eye of the beholder

Ryan Leaf

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the funniest thing about Ryan Leaf’s announced retirement from the NFL: Leaf, who was once considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the game, threw a total of fourteen touchdown passes in his career. Walter Payton, who was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on Ryan Leaf

A real bike race

Posted on July 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations to Lance Armstrong for winning his fourth straight Tour de France. It’s an amazing accomplishment, no matter how you slice it, and despite what some dumbass sportswriters may think, makes Lance Armstrong on e of the world’s greatest athletes. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on A real bike race

Categories

Posted on July 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I had a bit of difficulty implementing categories fully. The sticking point had to do with changing the footer on my entries to contain the category name and link to that category’s archive page, as well as adding a list … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 2 Comments

Blogathon

Posted on July 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Larry and Meryl are in the second half of their 24-hour Blogathon. There’s still time to sponsor them (or others – you can see a full list of participants on the Blogathon site) if you want. They’re blogging for good … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Who writes these things?

Posted on July 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, the Chron editorial page was taken over by a Republican National Committee member with a talking points list today. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for this entry, which uses the phrase “death tax” and makes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

West Nile Virus spreads

Posted on July 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A total of ten people have contracted the West Nile Virus so far in the Houston area. I’ve been told that the virus has been discovered in our neighborhood as well – they’ve found dead birds which were contaminated. I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on West Nile Virus spreads

Whiter teeth or commie plot?

Posted on July 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

San Antonio is finally getting flouride in their drinking water, a year and a half after a proposal to do so was approved by voters. The vote was the third such initiative since 1966 and was the first to overcome … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

The funniest thing you’ll read today

Posted on July 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Andrew Northrup tells us about the top ten fashion victims of the 80s. I’ll give you now the standard warning about not consuming beverages while reading this. I think we need to pass federal legislation that orders the immediate burning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | 2 Comments

Breathing fire

Posted on July 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Man, I don’t know what Avedon has been eating for breakfast lately, but whatever it is, I want some of it. Take a look at these two entries for some really good stuff. Brava! Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Breathing fire

Where competitive balance is really needed

Posted on July 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

In the wake of the big money signings of star free agents Rick Reilly and Gary Smith, Major League Sports Magazine Commissioner Larry “Bud” Smellig has reiterated his plea for a salary cap on sports scribes. “Our industry cannot survive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Where competitive balance is really needed

Literally mopping the floor with bad guys

Posted on July 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Fritz Schranck has the goods on the next Bruce Willis action movie. I’m so there. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Literally mopping the floor with bad guys

Breathe, breathe in the air

Posted on July 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The state clean air plans for Houston-Galveston and Dallas-Fort Worth are in jeopardy as the means of funding for them has been ruled unconstitutional. Federal environmental officials are preparing to deliver a sharp warning to their Texas counterparts: Get the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

Foiling the moon rock thieves

Posted on July 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s give our thanks to Axel Emmermann, who tipped the FBI to a solicitation to buy “a rare and historically significant piece of the moon”, thus leading to the capture of the Moon Rocks Four. It’s nice to know in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 1 Comment

God bless Willie Nelson

Posted on July 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Comal River is availableto tubers again, much to the delight of residents and business owners in New Braunfels. To the cheers of area residents, the cool, clear Comal River reopened to tubers on Wednesday, but flooding continues to keep … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment