Monthly Archives: February 2003

Why they bother

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on Why they bother

With friends like these…

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

You know, for all of the crabbing by some conservatives about Martha Burk and her quest to get the Augusta National Golf Club to admit women, I think I’d rather be on her side of the issue than a Ku … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

Poor folks don’t need health care

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s edition of Worst Case Budget Scenarios is what the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid look like after a 12.5% budget cut as mandated by Governor Goodhair. It ain’t pretty. The worst-case-scenario budget that reduces funding 12.5 percent for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Poor folks don’t need health care

Another bloody anniversary

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Man, the last week of February really sucked in 1993, didn’t it? Today is the 10th anniversary of the BATF raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, a raid that left four agents and six Davidians dead, and which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Another bloody anniversary

A little something silly

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Scott points me to this excellent photo of poker-playing snowmen. Now all they need is someone to paint the whole scene on black velvet. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on A little something silly

Now that’s a double latte!

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on Now that’s a double latte!

Batter up!

Posted on February 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The team practice last night was at an indoor batting cage. I’d made the decision to do that instead of work out on the regular field because of the recent nasty weather which forced the cancellation of our last practice. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | Comments Off on Batter up!

The Veterans Committee

Posted on February 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the reconstituted Veterans’ Committee failed to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. While I think there were a couple of worthy candidates, I’d rather get this outcome than the enshrinement of a “who’s that?” by the former committee, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

Yet another budget in distress

Posted on February 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority is $20 million poorer than it expected to be due to missed financial projections. By this time, after the Christmas shopping season, Metro officials expected the transit agency’s 1-cent sales tax to have generated $175.3 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Yet another budget in distress

Slay no more

Posted on February 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I thought it was pretty clear from the plotline, but just in case there was any doubt, Sarah Michelle Gellar says that this is the last season for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Well, in its present form, anyway: But the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Comments Off on Slay no more

RIP, Mister Rogers

Posted on February 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a sad day in the neighborhood: PITTSBURGH – Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions of children to be his neighbor as host of the public television show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” for more than 30 years, died of cancer early … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on RIP, Mister Rogers

The torture never ends

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know how they’re going to do it – I’m afraid to even think about it – but Fox is preparing another Joe Millionaire. Not that I’ll watch anyway, but I confess the speculation interests me. One of NBC’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Comments Off on The torture never ends

Strange Bedfellows Dept.

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an anti-abortion/pro-tort reform smackdown! Historically, social conservatives have stood beside business interests pushing what proponents call tort reform — damage caps and other limitations on lawsuits. Tort reform advocates say ambulance-chasing lawyers have fed a growth in frivolous lawsuits, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Comments Off on Strange Bedfellows Dept.

Ten years ago

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Ten years ago today the World Trade Center was bombed by terrorists who hoped to bring the Towers down. Looking back on it, we never really realized it for what it was: a declaration of war. Pretty easy to see … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Ten years ago

And it’s 1,2,3, what are we debating anti-war resolutions for?

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like the two proposed anti-war resolutions before the Houston City Council will meet the same fate as the slavery reparations resolution did. Though I thought the whole thing was a waste of the Council’s time, I do want to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 3 Comments

Telemarketers gain upper hand in technology

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Uh oh, telemarketers now have a way to defeat privacy tools like the TeleZapper and SBC’s Privacy Manager. Castel, a maker of automated dialing technology, boasts that its DirectQuest software is immune to the TeleZapper, a $40 gadget designed to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 3 Comments

Blood and oil

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I haven’t seen anyone blog about this Salon article, which rather surprises me. The article discusses why Big Oil really doesn’t want war with Iraq, at least not now. A lot of the points this article makes are quite sensible … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 5 Comments

Rainout

Posted on February 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I cancelled team practice today because of the nasty weather today. We’ll try again on Thursday. I’m going to try to find an indoor batting cage that we can use as a backup in case the weather doesn’t cooperate then. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | Comments Off on Rainout

Not such a sure thing after all

Posted on February 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Would you believe that one cause of our recent economic downturn is because not enough people are dying? NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stewart Enterprises Inc., America’s No. 3 funeral home and cemetery operator, cut its earnings estimate for the year, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Comments Off on Not such a sure thing after all

Crime and punishment, NCAA-style, take 2

Posted on February 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Steve Smith has a followup post to his obituary of crooked Michigan booster Ed Martin, which I had commented on here. Where we disagree, I believe, is on the notion of whether there should be a statute of limitations on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on Crime and punishment, NCAA-style, take 2

The city council and the war, take 2

Posted on February 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Last week I chastised the Houston City Council for taking time away from cleaning up its perilous finances (today’s cheery news is the possibility of unpaid furloughs for city workers and even fewer services for the city’s 100,000+ mentally ill … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on The city council and the war, take 2

Will the tide finally turn against electronic-only ballots?

Posted on February 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Like many counties around the country, Santa Clara is getting ready to adopt electonic voting machines. Also like many of those counties, Santa Clara is getting warnings from computer security experts who say that machines which do not produce paper … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Will the tide finally turn against electronic-only ballots?

The methods of King George’s madness

Posted on February 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

David Pinto points to this Rob Neyer column in which Neyer defends George Steinbrenner from some recent carping. The Yankees’ busy winter, along with the Boss’ criticisms of Derek Jeter and Joe Torre, have brought out the nattering nabobs, some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

Let’s not be hasty here

Posted on February 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever else you may say about this op-ed piece in the Chron that comes to the shocking conclusion that the recent perjury prosecution of Chief C.O. “BAMF” Bradford may have been a waste of time and/or politically biased, you can’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in K-Mart Kiddie Roundup | Comments Off on Let’s not be hasty here

Why Tiffany rocks

Posted on February 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Jack points me to this ESPN.com article about how to get away with reading the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue without getting your wife or girlfriend mad at you. Well, I have an even better way: Find a wife or girlfriend … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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

It’s tax scam season again

Posted on February 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

As April 15 draws near, you will inevitably hear about all kinds of hare-brained tax avoidance schemes. Many of them, like those mentioned in this article, are scams being proffered by con artists. Quite a few of them rest on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Comments Off on It’s tax scam season again

Allison’s floods could have been worse

Posted on February 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure how useful this actually is, but this Chron article discusses some alternate scenarios to Tropical Storm Allison, which flooded out most of Houston in 2001. Apparently, we got off lighter than we had to, since the areas that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 10 Comments

The business of beating drug tests

Posted on February 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

It’s nice to know that in these tough economic times that there are still growth industries. One of them is the beat-the-drug-test business, as a simple Google search would seem to indicate. This article is about the continuous arms race … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | 1 Comment

Practice notes: Getting to know you

Posted on February 22, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

My Little League team (the Twins) had their first practice today. We’d had quite a bit of rain and nastiness in Houston over the past couple of days, so I wasn’t sure we’d be able to do much of anything, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | 3 Comments

Administrivia

Posted on February 22, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Links to the A Few Things About Me and Texas Political Blogs posts have been added to the sidebar for your convenience. There’s a total of 36 political blogs listed, though of course some are more political than others. Check … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | Comments Off on Administrivia

Explosion on Staten Island

Posted on February 21, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

There’s been a big explosion at an oil storage facility on Staten Island, my hometown. One person is confirmed dead so far, one is missing, and one is in critical condition. This facility is about as far away as you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 2 Comments

And speaking of commerials…

Posted on February 21, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I want to take this opportunity to plug the Political State Report, a collaborative effort to monitor political news and events around the country by contributors in each state. There’s always something interesting there, stuff you’re unlikely to find anywhere … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on And speaking of commerials…

A lawsuit we can all get behind

Posted on February 21, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

A Chicago teacher has filed a class action lawsuit against Loews Cineplex for all those damn ads they now show before the movie: [The lawsuit] claims the theater circuit’s policy of playing pre-film product commercials amounts to a deceptive business … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 1 Comment

Not every budget is feeling the pinch

Posted on February 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

While the City of Houston is $67 million in the hole, the County of Harris has $172 million in cash under its mattress. This, not surprisingly, has led people to grumble that the County takes in too much tax money … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 3 Comments