Quips: Quick commentary on politics, technology and life, I think.

Wednesday, February 25

What is marriage

A Yale law school professor contends that a constitutional amendment to "protect" marriage could instead lead states to scrap civil marriage altogether.

Over time, acceptance of same-sex unions grows as does the idea that civic unions are the proper purview of the state and marriages the purview of the various churches.

Seems like a reasonable way to go.

Oh, and if you'd like a primer on consitutional amending...
  Thanks to Buzzworthy.

Posted by jb, 6:02 PM :: :: #

Matters of God

Gotta give a shout out to the BBC and it's programme What the World Thinks of God. Specifically I saw an item called How religion defines America. Unfortunately written by a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, but it's interesting none the less.
  Other segments of the series that look interesting:

• Can religion be blamed for war?
• What God thinks of the world
• Why Britain doesn't go to church
• And, for some background, there's the BBC's guide to the main faiths

Posted by jb, 3:46 PM :: :: #

Tuesday, February 24

In the papers, semi-local edition

The paper has been doing a special report about school discipline. Today's headline: Black students disciplined more. The story has some good quotes and this fact: in Cincinnati public schools 64 percent of teachers are white, while 71 percent of students are black.
  And a couple of other headlines that caught my eye:

• Police cameras prone to errors
• City won't hire outside
• Democrats set sights on Ohio, if not on Cincinnati

A friend at the office send me this link, Baseball springs eternal, which includes these gems:

• MINNESOTA: ... The state legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill that would finance a new baseball stadium by making Wisconsin residents pay for it ...
• TORONTO: New Canadian prime minister Paul Martin sided with the Separatist movement that seeks to break the Blue Jays off from the AL East and form their own division with Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Detroit ...
• CINCINNATI: ... Pete Rose has volunteered to run the Reds NCAA tournament pool ...
• MILWAUKEE: Still seeking a buyer for the team, Bud Selig pleaded for Comcast to make a hostile takeover bid ... The Italian and Polish Sausages haven't reported to camp yet, citing visa problems ...
• ST. LOUIS: Under terms of the Cardinals' new $100 million contract with 1B Albert Pujols, Rangers owner Tom Hicks will pay $47 million ...
• SAN DIEGO: Responding to angry feedback from fans, the Padres announced they will change the official name of their new stadium to "Sycuan Presents Petco Stadium at Qualcomm Fields, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Halliburton Powered by Intel and Supported by Lucent.'' ...

And a quick look at some national headlines:

• Bush Calls for Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: Congress Is Urged to Begin Process to Amend Constitution
• European Mission Hunts a Comet
• C.I.A. Was Given Data on Hijacker Long Before 9/11

Posted by jb, 4:12 PM :: :: #

Monday, February 23

Choosing your words carefully, if not your enemies

Sometimes, the photo wire is a good place to find news: Paige denounces teachers' union: Education secretary calls NEA "a terrorist organization."
  You'd think people, especially those in the highest levels of government, wouldn't throw that word around lightly. And you'd be wrong.

And, the headlines that caught my eye, for various reasons:

• Nader Urges Democrats to 'Relax' as Run for President Begins
• Trillin: Quayle, Reconsidered
• Herbert: Theory vs. Reality
• CD Sales Rise, but Industry Is Still Wary: Sales of new music have been strong lately, so why are so few people in the music world ready to celebrate an industry comeback?
• Britons Conceive New Paper

Posted by jb, 7:37 PM :: :: #

Thursday, February 19

In the Times: Fat Americans and other sciences

• Painting Rooms With Lights

  "The Europeans don't have this mentality. There's more a culture of the enjoyment of food, not just the amount of food. The problem is that behind whatever diet is in ascent in this country, the background noise is one and the same: a license to gluttony."
    — Greg Critser, author of "Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World."

• Low-Carb Boom Isn't Just for Dieters Anymore

• Scientists Say Administration Distorts Facts
• Bush Climate Plan Rated Somewhat Improved

Posted by jb, 4:05 PM :: :: #

Thursday, February 12

Of the Times

With the usual nod to the headline writers:

• State of the Art: For iPod, 6 Flavors of Flattery
• Jockey Mourned 2 Victories Short of a Milestone : It happened nearby.
• Justice Dept. Seeks Hospitals' Records of Some Abortions : Hmm. Medical records are private? Yeah, I thought so too.
• For the urban designer in me, and hopefully you: In Middle Age, the Suburbs of Long Island Show Wear
• F.C.C. Begins Rewriting Rules on Delivery of the Internet : Quick, somebody read this and tell me if I need to care.
• Disney Deal Suggests Content Is No Longer King : Oh the myriad ways to build an audience.

Posted by jb, 6:01 PM :: :: #

So many things to link to, so little time

• Wings' pain continues — In the first game after Dominik Hasek practically re-retired because of his groin injury, Curtis Joseph hurts his ankle again. But Steve Yzerman came back from some dental work to score two goals.
• The Morning News has an interesting piece on the prospects of uprooting a Brooklyn neighborhood to build a new stadium for the NBA's Nets.
• Susan Ager: Gay magazine gets scoop on Christian pilot
• Perverted (and vigilante) Justice: Cops say reports, Web predator fighters don't help.
• And the Pen was busy yesterday. Good posts on the seeds of democracy and one of its pills - attack campaign ads.

Posted by jb, 9:40 AM :: :: #

Tuesday, February 10

In the papers

• U-M sees dive in minority applications — And they're not the only ones. Michigan State and Ohio State also report declines in applications.
• Liberals, conservatives united in belief that SacBee has an agenda (via Romenesko) "I doubt that most readers would like their news completely devoid of context - and that's usually where the conflict comes in. ... One reader's conception of context is another reader's cheap shot," Sacramento Bee ombudsman Tony Marcano.
• And two from yesterday: NHL is turning back the goals and Bush states his case early

Posted by jb, 9:16 AM :: :: #

Saturday, February 7

In the papers: Weekend edition

Sorry, supposed to be working but I found too many interesting things on NYT's home page. So here are the headlines so you can read them now and I can get to them later.

• Political Memo: Gore's Seal of Approval
• Week in Review: Can the North Rise Again? and Red State, Blue State
• Homosexuality in Animals: Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name
• The Pornography Industry vs. Digital Pirates
• Conservatives Use Gay Union as Rallying Cry
• Report Questions Bush Plan for Hydrogen-Fueled Cars

And thanks to Blogger's Blogs of Note, I've run across Knight Ridder's "Hot Off The Trail" blog experiment. I like it. Especially the posts that identify the originating reporter and paper.

Posted by jb, 6:34 PM :: :: #

Friday, February 6

In the papers: Campaign edition

Sometimes you can't win even if you're the only to show up. Just ask Sharpton.

So Michigan Mom, let's vote for a focus on our issues. A vote for Sharpton will mean that whoever becomes president must listen to our issues. And that's a vote well spent.
  — Rochelle Riley

Among other observations: I think Dean is done (stop running to the next place), Edwards needs to get out of his comfort region and Clark just needs to be coherent for a while (you know what he means, but sometimes just barely).

Posted by jb, 9:49 AM :: :: #

Thursday, February 5

Naked music education for president (sort of)

A quick note to acknowledge two columnists and two presidential posts from an old pal.

• Susan Ager: Naked truth for bettering America — Anymore, clothing counts for nothing, neither the cut of a suit nor the ply of a cashmere sweater nor the logo on a teenager's fleece. The rich will not know who to look down on, and the poor will not know who to resent.
• Desiree Cooper: Vandals' acts hit a low note in frustration — A study of 25,000 students in a U.S. Department of Education database revealed that students with high levels of arts participation outperform "arts-poor" students by virtually every measure. In fact, high arts participation made a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than students from wealthier socioeconomic groups.

And Woods takes a look at the rise of Kerry and the decline of Dean.

Posted by jb, 8:37 AM :: :: #

Wednesday, February 4

Over-gadgeted? No such thing.

Some of you already know I got an iPod for Christmas. A friend pointed me to an FM transmitter to safely play the tunes in the car. Then he found a text-syncing, rss reader (news feeds and movie times in my hand). And after that I had to get some speakers to improve sound quality in the office. (Yes, usually headphones are a prerequisite, but not always.) I think that's what put me in the lead in the office gadget race.

Posted by jb, 10:23 AM :: :: #

Tuesday, February 3

In the papers

In my drive to spotlight interesting nuggets of information, it's time to start rewarding the headline writers that get me to click. So I'm going to try to link more regularly to the things I'm reading. If I fall into ruts, please point out other good stuff. Thanks.
  And now, a few recent headlines:

• One Person, One Vote - Or More? Why, mathematically, the desire of the electorate might be better represented by allowing people to vote for more than one candidate.
• HEAD OF HIS CLASS: Igor Larionov - the Professor - gives high grades to his career as it winds down
• And, not so much a paper, but John Kerry strips from the Doonesbury archives. (via TMN)

Posted by jb, 8:12 AM :: :: #

 More in the archives.

 j b 7 n e t [ a t ] e x c i t e [ d o t ] c o m