Category:commentary

It’s finally been released, and I had a chance to play the new game with some friends recently who bought a copy. Following-up from my previous post, thankfully the publishers didn’t totally bork the game. The balance of the game is still good because all they did to update to ‘here and now’ was to …
Continue reading here and now – monopoly updated: follow-up

Ars Technica had an article recently [arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061020-8041.html] discussing the prevalent issue of plagiarism amongst students, especially those in college. And a question was raised concerning authority in electronic resources. This is an issue I have had to deal with in the past, though I have found it somewhat amusing to hear teachers discuss authority in …
Continue reading authority issues online

It may be a component, but it’s not the panacea many proclaim it to be. Every means of transit I am aware of has good applications. They all get you from point A to point B – though some regulate where A & B must be. Biking, for example, is a very cheap means of …
Continue reading public transit isn’t the answer

More proof the American Civil Liberties Union is on crack: they are supporting a lawsuit filed by inmates to revert a recent decision made by Indiana’s Department of Corrections to ban sexually explicit magazines, letters, etc (CNN story). Fortunately Java Ahmed from the IDoC isn’t just bowing to the lawsuit: “We don’t have any current …
Continue reading what rights?

The International Herald Tribune had an editorial recently on Iran and the current United States’ administration’s use of preemptive strikes. [original story] In general, I would say that it is wrong to start wars. However, the IHT article seems to go along well with the post I wrote about nuclear proliferation and the dangers of …
Continue reading do not attack iran – and see what happens

According to Wikipedia, either a senator or a representative to the United States House of Representatives is paid an annual salary of $165,200. This year, the United States Senate was scheduled to be out of session for over 5 months. Even assuming they worked an above-average number of hours each week (and we’ve all seen …
Continue reading government excess

Yesterday was the self-proclaimed ‘Day Without Immigrants’ – in which many immigrants, especially of the hispanic and latin persuasion, marched to show support for immigration reform. I have met many immigrants, all of whom have come to this country legally, and they are all working hard to make a living for themselves, and to get …
Continue reading a day without immigrants?

At least they’re honest. They don’t care if they offend anyone. Political correctness has no place in their minds – beyond ridicule. They’re not African-American or black, they’re niggers. They’re not Caucasian or white, they’re crackers. Racists will talk about slant-eyes, towel-heads, white trash, blackanese, honkies, red necks, wops, guineas, polacks, red men, 8 balls, …
Continue reading God bless the racists

From CNN: “Monopoly rolls dice, changes look. The legendary game, out since 1935, will have a new, contemporary version this fall.” [original story | related site] Apparently, Hasbro has gotten tired of all the special editions, the collector’s sets, agreements with Franklin Mint, and just making a bundle of money on a popular, fun, and …
Continue reading here and now – monopoly updated

From CNN: “Airbus offers standing room ‘seats’ Report: Airbus in discussion with Asian airlines to offer padded backboards to have flyers stand, increasing capacity of largest jet to 853 passengers.” [original story] Here’s an interesting idea from our European friends: take a plane that will hold 500+ people seated, and install them all in a …
Continue reading standing room only?

First of all, I don’t think the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons is a bad thing. Nuclear power is nearly fool-proof, runs a long time on very little fuel, and is cheap to maintain. There are potential issues with disposing of the waste from the plants, and if a catastrophe does occur, it could be …
Continue reading nuclear proliferation

In my recent northward foray over Easter weekend, I had an opportunity to go handgun shooting with friends, and I discovered a couple things. First, I don’t like the Smith & Wesson Sigma model. It has a two-stage trigger, so the trigger is the safety (like Glock uses), and I don’t like it. It also …
Continue reading handgun experiences

I subscribe to a slew of RSS feeds on a couple different sites, from technology to world news, sports to medicine, there’s a bunch of really cool benefits to getting news feeds. This morning I noticed an item on Wired about technology’s impact on baseball (original story). In it, Tony Long shares his love and …
Continue reading technology and baseball