Sunday, September 04, 2005

Texas What the state of Texas has done and is doing in the wake of this catastrophe is really remarkable. It's not hard to have had a low opinion of Texas politics -- from Lyndon Johnson to Dubya to executing children and the retarded, to creationism, to gun nuttery, etc., etc., etc. -- I've always had a dim view of the state. (On the other hand, the state that gave us Kinky Friedman, Bruce Sterling, Lewis Shiner, Bob Wills, Lyndon Johnson ((yes, he's a mixed bag)), and Larry McMurtry has always been kind of special, too.) But when you see the way the current governor stepped up to the plate, and the way Texans have taken in 250,000 people, well, that's just very impressive, and is the kind of spirit we should all be proud of. Bill Clinton said it, when he said, "there's nothing wrong with this country that can't be fixed by what's right with this country." 6:34:29 PM    comment []

Looters Chris Nolan: There was looting after 9/11. It was reported, too by William Langewiesche in The Atlantic Monthly. He wrote about stacks of blue jeans - lifted from the retail shops below the World Trade Center - found sitting in fire trucks. His account was greeted with outrage. The firefighters of New York, led by the widow of biologist and media darling Stephen Jay Gould shouted Langewiesche down. The nice hardworking, near starving black folks of New Orleans don't have any a well-connected widow to speak for them. So lots of us white folks are sitting and "wondering" why New Orlean is "filled" with looters and New York -- and its white, unionized fire fighters -- are all shining heroes. (Via EdCone.com.) 5:54:10 PM    comment []

PocketMod: The Free Disposable Personal Organizer This is a very nice little Flash tool for creating little pocket booklets. Folding, for me was the challenge, and presents a barrier to entry. Still I made one, we'll see how useful it is. (Via http://www.boingboing.net/) 3:23:41 PM    comment []

Stephen Hawking reduced to blinking (BBC) ... Stephen Hawking reduced to blinking (BBC) (Via robot wisdom weblog.) 12:43:28 PM    comment []

Op-Ed Contributor: Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans? Why a city we were happy to visit was slow to get help. (Via The New York Times > Most E-mailed Articles.) 12:42:41 PM    comment []

The hero of New Orleans Well, according to these nuts, Bush is the hero of New Orleans, for taking time off his golf game to call for the evacuation of New Orleans, all the stuff we've seen since that is the fault of the mainstream media. Yes, all has gone according to plan, and it's all a conspiracy between the Democratic party and the press! 11:28:35 AM    comment []

The Pacific Northwest tree octopus Intelligent design may be the best explanation for the existence of the Pacific Northwest tree octopus. (Via Improbable Research -- What's New.) 12:12:09 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Steve Michel. Last update: 10/1/2005; 12:08:10 AM.