February 2008
44 posts
1 tag
Mr. Nader's Unforgivable Wrong →
Ralph Nader’s 2000 candidacy threw the presidential election to Bush. At the time, he saw a bright side to a Bush victory. In hindsight, I don’t see any bright side. Now, Nader seems to be up to his same old tricks by running again in 2008. The Republicans should pay him to run.
1 tag
1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars →
3 tags
Movie and Its Spinoff are Released at the Same... →
Get Smart will premiere in theaters in June, the same month as its spinoff Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control releases on DVD. This may make for an interesting new business model. (from Sci Fi Wire)
1 tag
Auras
The first time I experienced a migraine “aura” was about a year ago. It was a visual distortion that appeared on the ceiling - almost like the room had a halo. Ironically, it was at the end of a weekend monastic retreat so I wasn’t under much stress, and it seemed odd that I would get a headache at all. Auras precede migraine headaches. Not all migraine sufferers get them, but...
“Congress…. should insist that borrowers be given a chance to modify their...”
– New York Times
Talking With Children About Sex and AIDS →
How about starting the discussion at age 4?
Homo Loving Mormons Forced Out
... →
I visited Utah last week and met a lot of gay, former Mormons. It made me really sad how those Mormons treat their gay sons and daughters. In the aforelinked article, you can see that the pro-gay, straight Mormons don’t fare much better.
1 tag
Virgin Births in the Animal Kingdom →
“The diversity of reproductive strategies seen in animals staggers the imagination,” so how can we claim certain categories of human sexuality to be natural while others aren’t?
“Criminalization of sex work forces both minors and adults who do it into the...”
– Sienna Baskin, a Legal Fellow at the Sex Workers Project in a letter to the editor of the New York Times
Your Publicist Should Call My Publicist →
Now, more ‘Lala’ than ever in ‘Lala Land’
Reinventing Date Night →
Switch it up every once in a while to keep the love lights burning…
1 tag
Karel Funk
My friend Paul E. turned me on to Mr. Funk. His photorealist paintings are very “boy culture” and look like they belong on the cover of a Pet Shop Boys CD. This piece, Untitled #23 (2006), is from his 10 March 2007 exhibit at Gallery 303, New York. The New York Times calls his work “suffused with an unexpected spirituality.”
1 tag
“Since 1945, there have been 11 recessions lasting an average of 10 months each....”
– Rich Greifner in Are We Headed For a Recession? Who Cares?
Toshiba to exit HD DVD →
The high-def format war ended Saturday when it was announced that Toshiba, the main proponent of the HD DVD format, would exit the business. Sony Corp’s Blu-Ray format has won.
A Rip-Off by Health Insurers? →
Major insurance companies rig the database that determines how much they pay out to doctors — and how much we, the medical consumers, need to pay.
1 tag
I love you Toyota!
Toyota really gets “design.” My Camry wouldn’t let me lock the door. I couldn’t figure out why. Then, I realized that I had left my keys in the ignition. (It happens!) I was happy as a clam that my car stopped me from locking myself out. Design is just how things look. It’s how things work. I wish all manufacturers would get that.
Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge? →
What drives me crazy is the belief that everything is a matter of opinion. It’s most evident in the news media.
Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered →
More evidence that we may not be alone in the universe.
Totally Spent →
Economist Robert Reich suggests that our growing economy may be at its end.
1 tag
Losing Your Senses →
An article about the business of floatation centers with a quote from yours truly
Netflix chooses Blu-ray format over HD DVD →
Another nail in the coffin of HD DVD…
1 tag
So Relaxing They Named It Twice.
The Relaxman Relaxation Capsule — from Switzerland! — is for sale on Amazon for just $39,995. The customer reviews are hilarious! Captain Tetanus writes:Before I got this, I’d just been locking myself into the trunk of my car with my ipod and some essential oils. TrekChick warns:I have contacted customer service several times requesting my free neutering kit to turn my Relaxman...
1 tag
"Put Things Off" Reviews Software to Get Things... →
In 2008, there are a lot of new projects I want to take on so there’s a lot of stuff in my head. “Put Things Off,” the laid-back productivity blog, reviewed four task managers. Based on their reviews, I’m going to try out Things from Cultured Code and OmniFocus from the Omni Group. (FYI: This review mentions “Getting Things Done” or GTD for short, which is a...
“[These clothes are so tiny that] you might as well save money and just go over...”
– Long Nguyen of Flaunt magazine, referring to the preference for skinniness in male fashion in “The Vanishing Point” Of course, now that the New York Times has discovered this trend, it may be officially declared dead.
1 tag
Six Degrees Could Change the World →
See the scary consequences of global warming in “Six Degrees Could Change the World” Sunday February 10 at 8pm Eastern/ 9pm Pacific on the National Geographic Channel.
1 tag
News Flash: Dan Savage and Boyfriend are Scheduled... →
1 tag
“Can we kill the idea that fidelity = monogamy? I don’t give a damn if my...”
– “Gitai” in the comments for Savage Disagrees With Sullivan
1 tag
1996: The Year Death was Passed Down to a New...
After receiving an off-topic, mailing list announcement of a new gay men’s barebacking social network site, I just woke up to a snarky reply decrying it. My heart goes out to ”Gay Phoenix KC” in his grief. He writes:I just got home from a memorial service of a dear, dear friend who died of complications due to AIDS. Hmmm… Seems AIDS isn’t as manageable as diabetes...
Another Country May Fall to Global Censorship of... →
Now, Australia may implement government-imposed Internet censorship. Why are people so willing to give up their freedoms for something that will do little or no good? The conservative politicians who implement this censorship are the definition of ”banality of evil.”
1 tag
Greed is Not Good →
Sorry Gordon Gecko, greed is not good. Motley Fool reminds us that greed is bad for your investment portfolio if it means you change it a lot. Chasing the latest hot stock or fund will backfire in the long run. It’s investing 101 but a good thing to keep in mind.
2 tags
I just saved $700 off my cable bill.
I just called Comcast to cancel the television service but keep the Internet.
I got something even better. They slashed my bill in half, left the T.V. service, and increased my channels to the Digital Preferred tier. It just saved me $700 a year.
They were willing to negotiate with me because I was “laid off” (in truth I quit), my account is in good standing, and I’ve paid the...
Homo History →
An interesting collection of personal memories and gay histories — that is until 2001. After you read the piece on the year 2001, you can skip the rest. It’s true that we need a distance before writing history. (Illustration: Danny Hellman, The Stranger)
“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
– Publilius Syrus, Roman slave, first century B.C. in “The Autumn of the Multitaskers”
Why deconstruction still matters →
I used to be a Structuralist, but now I’m not Saussure.
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags →
Ireland has dramatically reduced use of plastic bags. It may do the same with A.T.M. receipts, gum left on the sidewalk, and incandescent light bulbs.
“At home in Romania in 1980, [Nadia Comaneci] parked her car so crooked that it...”
– Nadia Comaneci after winning a perfect 10.0 in gymastics in the 1976 Olympics. As quoted in Perfection Is Afterthought, Perfect Examples Say
“Forensic signal processing can help art historians… identify which strokes...”
– Cornell Chronicle: CU Engineer Helps Art Historians Authenticate Paintings