January 2006 Archives

CNET has a piece on Congress people who have blogs.

I didn't realize that a few of them have blogs which allow comments. Too bad Frist or Delay aren't among them; that would be kind of fun.

Heh.

I'm assuming if I win the lottery (a pretty big assumption since I don't play), I'm going to give some of the money to the needy and not blow it all on sports gambling. How's that for a humanitarian stand?

When photographs magically disappear.

Heh.

Phyllis Schlafly "explains" why males aren't going to college.

I believe the argument is that because feminists have scaled back macho sports, males simply don't want to go to school any more.

I like this line

It's too bad that male sports are being eliminated on most college campuses. Except for Texas, USC, and a few other places, radical feminism rules in the athletic departments at the expense of popular male sports.

It's true that at many schools male athletic departments have been scaled back to comply with gender equality rules. But by and large, just how "popular' are these casualties?

I don't have hard data for this, but I'd be willing to bet that here at the University of Tennessee, for example, they could eliminate every male athletic program besides football and basketball, and 90% of the public wouldn't even notice. And even among those potential male students who did notice, would that really be a determining factor as to whether or not they go to school?

How many high school students do you believe sit around thinking: Boy, I'd like to go to UT, but since they don't have a soccer team, I think I'll go to ITT Tech instead? [We know, thanks to Iraq, that they haven't been joining the military]. Not very many, I suspect.

One always loves these heart-warming tales of the human spirit overcoming adversity.

"Face Transplant Patient Smokes Again"

Another activist judge strikes.

Also, our fair and balanced network analyzes the Alito hearings.

Today was great (for January) with a high in the low 60s. I got in 22 miles of comfortable cycling down by the river. But for true cycling in paradise, I'm stuck with vicarious escapades here, here, and here.

A couple weeks ago, H & R Block mailed me an unsolicited free copy of their TaxCut software. Included amid a string of 40 characters on the mailing label is my Social Security number. Nice.

Not to worry, however. In a subsequent apology letter, the company says that notwithstanding the fact that the SSN is the only such numerical block in the string, I'm the only person who would recognize it. And that I'm the only one who would be exposed to it. After all, no one ever sees items traveling through the mail, right?

Thanks, H & R Block.

You can tell you're getting there when you don't remember how old you are:

It's unsustainable growth, because a lot of people like me are getting ready to retire. (Laughter.) In my case, I turn 60 in 2008 -- that's a convenient date for me -- (laughter) -- 62 in 2008; 60 this year, unfortunately.

Bush's speechwriters better include that joke on the teleprompter and not leave it to chance again.

Wow:

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

So much for that pesky First Amendment. The purported statutory prohibition:

Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

I'm gonna need to check the legislative history on this, but I bet it has something to do with winning the "War on Terror," eh? After all, "the enemy" has stated that it wants to kill millions of us. Our government needs to protect us.

Via Atrios.

Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Vic-tor-y!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!

Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! -- let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on 'til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!

Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Vic-tor-y!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!