Today’s newspaper ran this AP story under the headline, “Mutant pointy boots create a craze.” When I first saw the headline, I thought, “well, so what’s new? I’ve seen lots of pointy boots on the dance floor, at country dances.” Uh, well, no. Those, my friend, are Pointy Boots. Those are “you’ll poke your eye… Continue reading Pointy Boots
Category: Society & Culture
The sources of Midland County’s net gain in population
Forbes Magazine has created an interactive graphic showing population movements into and out of every county in the United States in 2008, based on federal income tax-related data provided by the IRS. A mouse click on each county reveals lines emanating from that county to every other county where people moved to or from, and… Continue reading The sources of Midland County’s net gain in population
Characterizing the Earth’s Population
National Geographic has analyzed certain characteristics of the Earth’s approximately 7 billion human inhabitants and offers up some interesting statistics in six categories: Language: 13% speak Mandarin as their first language, vs. 5% Spanish and 5% English Nationality: 19% are Chinese, 17% Indian, 4% American Religion: 33% are Christian, 21% Muslim, 13% Hindu Livelihood: 40%… Continue reading Characterizing the Earth’s Population
Citizen reporting of bad driving: What could possibly go wrong?
Anyone driving slower than me is an idiot.Anyone driving faster than me is a jerk. —Unknown The preceding observation is perhaps the best reason that the proposal to create a 24-hour hotline that allows Texans to report bad drivers is a bad idea. I fear that many of us lack the objectivity and discipline to distinguish… Continue reading Citizen reporting of bad driving: What could possibly go wrong?
Remembering LaLanne and “Trimnastics”
The web is abuzz today about the passing of Jack LaLanne at age 96. The guy was the human equivalent of the Energizer bunny, and he’s probably doing jumping jacks in his specially-modified jumpsuit (slits for angel wings, right?) as I type this. In memory of the world’s first “fitness guru,” here’s a YouTube video… Continue reading Remembering LaLanne and “Trimnastics”
Clueless Participant in Aggie Football History
The year was 1970. I was a freshman at Texas A&M, a clarinet player in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, a member of the Corps of Cadets, and the epitome of cluelessness long before that term had become entrenched in our cultural vocabulary. There was nothing about being at A&M, in the band, in the… Continue reading Clueless Participant in Aggie Football History
Amazon reluctantly does the right thing
Amazon.com’s “commitment to principle” lasted about twelve hours, and then it showed that it’s still in the business of turning a profit and dependent on the good graces of its customers to do so. In pulling from its virtual bookshelf the disgusting The Pedophile’s Guide To Love & Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct, Amazon… Continue reading Amazon reluctantly does the right thing
Lessons from a Class Reunion
We attended our 40th high school reunion in Fort Stockton last weekend, and while it was a very enjoyable time, it was also confirmation that in some ways, you really can’t go home again. A couple of lessons were learned. Lesson #1: Boys will be boys. I’ll never understand the attraction of breaking out a… Continue reading Lessons from a Class Reunion
Measuring “Religious Knowledge”
Remember my mild rant about the lack of critical thinking skills among students? It’s not just students who are falling short in this area; some newspaper reporters appear to be challenged in this regard. Here’s a quote from a story in the Los Angeles Times about the results of this survey (link to a PDF… Continue reading Measuring “Religious Knowledge”
The Statistics of Dead Voters
According to this article, Texas has twelve counties where there are more registered voters than the voting age population. This is hardly news, as certain areas of Texas – especially in deep South Texas – have had a hallowed tradition of allowing dead people to vote. And it’s not a practice that’s limited to Texas.… Continue reading The Statistics of Dead Voters