Magnum, P.C.: PI rule for computer techs doesn't benefit public | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Last year the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring anyone who retrieves data from a computer, analyzes it and makes a report to a customer to have a private investigator's license. The law is a…
Overnight Thompson's price per kilowatt-hour went from 11.8 cents with the now-defunct retailer National Power to 31.7 cents with CPL Retail Energy. During the 19 days last month he had to wait before he was switched to a lower priced plan, he ran up a $385 bill. Top wholesale power…
Ever since Sept. 11, I have been of a contrarian. I never felt that the date had changed anything other than our own misguided perception of our own safety. A perception I did not share then. Now I read that my views are shared by, at least some of, those…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Yesterday there was an op-ed in the Times that said a lot of what I have been feeling here lately...and said it well...Go read the whole thing... Thomas L. Friedman - Anxious in America - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com “America and its political leaders, after…
The Rural Life - Editorial - Summer’s Night - Editorial - NYTimes.com The last couple of nights I’ve stood at the edge of the pasture watching the fireflies. They rise from the grass, flickering higher and higher until one of them turns into the blinking lights of a jet flying…
Looking out the french doors in the kitchen this morning as I read my email and check the news I am amazed at the difference a couple of weeks of hit and miss rain can make. Everything in view is green again. The grass is growing like it should have…
Enjoy the day...But remember the reason we celebrate. George F. Will - Independence Days - washingtonpost.com Certain politically charged rhetorical tropes were then society's common property. Writing shortly before his death, Jefferson affirmed his belief that "the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor…
Wouldn't it make a great birthday present to the country if we could get serious about Energy Independence? Yale Environment 360: As Energy Prices Rise, the Pressure to Drill Builds Perhaps we should be amazed that America’s largest protected area — the 19.2 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) —…
TED | Talks | Ron Eglash: African fractals, in buildings and braids (video) "I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof." That is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families he met while researching the fractal patterns he’d noticed in villages across the continent.
I have never felt that the Corporate pushers of GMOs were looking out for anything other than their own profits. That has led me to look on their actions in an unfavorable light. While this has always been a personal "feeling", I find my concerns expressed very well by this…
I have subscribed to Michael Pollan's website to be sent updates to what's happening in his world. I received a notice that led me to a new environmental website...If you haven't seen it before, go check it out. Yale Environment 360: Michael Pollan on What's Wrong with EnvironmentalismThere are basically…
One of the email missives I look forward to comes in on it's own schedule each month. It is from Andy Griffin of Mariquita Farm called "The Ladybug Letter". Andy tells tales of his life in agriculture on the west coast...Funny stories, ironic stories...Stories of life...Great stories... The Ladybug Letter…
David Broder has a column today that touches on a subject that has bothered me for a good while... After watching the effects of the Delay led gerrymander in Texas a few years ago I have felt that it is time for us to do something to end the safe…
From the papers and email... Paul C. Light - Can't-Do Government - washingtonpost.com The next president will inherit what Alexander Hamilton called a "government ill executed." Now that's a legacy, George... ++++++++++ $6.64 for gas? That's what $200 crude will bring, Rice U. finds | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle If…
TED | Talks | Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce (video) Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce -- and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.
A good overview of the Keith Olbermann rise in the New Yorker. It was nearly midnight before Keith Olbermann left the NBC News election studio on May 13th, having spent five hours on the air, co-anchoring coverage of the West Virginia Democratic primary. Olbermann had a short ride home from…
I saw the notice in my email first thing and as I worked my way down the list I was trying to formulate a post. Then I read John Scalzi's...If you are or were a Carlin fan go read John's short tribute. Whatever » RIP, George Carlin He was my…
Danah Boyd had an interesting comment on her blog today... In an attention economy, it's better to ignore than to critique. This drives me absolutely bloody batty. Anyone who's been online for too darn long knows has heard the expression, "don't feed the trolls." This stems from the general belief…
Ok, so it's official now...My part of the world is in severe drought conditions. I kinda' figured as much since I haven't really needed to mow in over a month. Already dealing with high fuel prices, farmers now face rare drought | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle It was only last…
Hmmm... Eat that?: Agriculture secretary's reassurance rings hollow in light of current industrial beef processing | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle "Every single carcass that's processed is inspected by a USDA inspector," Schafer told reporters in San Antonio. "That beef is stamped A-OK, and we want to assure our consumers here…
It’s easy to forget sometimes that everyone has a story to tell if we take the time to listen. We are so accustomed to hearing the stories of people in the news that we sometimes lose track of the fact that the random stranger on the bus also has a…
I wandered into this last evening... TED | Talks | Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat (video) In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too…
And be sure the VP doesn't find out, he'll want to drill there. Congress Pushes to Keep Land Untamed - washingtonpost.com INDEX, Wash. -- With little fanfare, Congress has embarked on a push to protect as many as a dozen pristine areas this year in places ranging from the glacier-fed…
Here is a "new" artist to watch. Not many singers can use their voice as another instrument. Expect to see more of her in the coming years... 2020 Update you can follow Priscilla Ahn here... https://www.instagram.com/p/CIoGP2FjfEm/
State GOP targets Obama at Houston convention (w/video) | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Cornyn was among several speakers who called the party home to its philosophical foundation and urged voters to view Obama as a near-socialist who doesn't share Texas values. The state's other senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, said Obama…
As if we needed another reason to think that this years election is as important as any in a generation, the very fact that but for an appointment to come...George W Bush would not be denied the right to imprison his perceived enemies... Eugene Robinson - A Victory for the…
As I slide down toward another weekend, my feedreader brings me this from Mark Peacock at Appalachian Treks... Appalachian Treks: Serene Majesty There is a serene and settled majesty to woodland scenery that enters into the soul and delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations. --Washington Irving…
While at work yesterday, most of the area received a good soaking rain. Not near enough to erase our deficit, it at least will prolong the time before we completely burn up. When I arrived home there was still water standing in some of the depressions about the yard...Rain puddles...Who…
And the conservative will discount the numbers because of the source...But come on, can't we expect a little bit of research from the speech writers? Fact check John McCain: Another of my disagreements with Senator Obama concerns the estate tax, which he proposes to increase to a top rate of…
Just don't let the marketing guys see the results or we'll have a ton of "Fred's Berries" coming in from out of the country... The Blue Marble: Eat Local Foods, Grow Small Farms It's not just for elites anymore. A survey of Midwesterners finds that even average food shoppers are…
