inthenews

Are Trains Slower Now than in the 20s?

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Slate has an interesting article about why the trains I’ll be traveling on over the next 31 days are slower than they were 100 years ago. “Weighed in terms of the congestion, carbon emissions, and comfort of other travel modes, it seems time to reach for the way-back machine.”

Swine Flu

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There’s way too much hype over the swine flu (CDC info).  The deaths are in the 100s, and mostly in Mexico.  “Every year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.” … Read more

Preamble

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Some students in NYC produce an homage to the Preamble of the United States Constitution: (HD) A More Perfect Union from Andrew Sloat on Vimeo. And you’ll have to make your own connection to how this ended up in my head… “I have to admit,” he said, “that I’m one of those people that still … Read more

NYT: Get Rich Quick, Go iPhone (Not)

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Media coverage of iPhone application development (what? why is media even covering this?!) goes in a stereo-typical cyclical pattern that is almost weekly in its oscillation.  This week chiming in is the New York Times: Hoping to Make iPhone Toys as a Full-Time Job. The Lede on this story sells the Gold Rush, no doubt leading … Read more

More on Regulating Beer Distribution

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Patrick Beach at the Austin-American Statesman ran an article on the current fight for an inch: Regulation, Legislation and Fun You Can’t Have with Texas Beer: the patchwork of Texas’ beer laws satisfies almost no one. My summary of it: beer distributers are engaging in anti-Texas behavior. Texas legislators are weak and willing to bow … Read more

McDonald’s is a Blight

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There was a brief story in the Houston Press about all the broken McDonald’s signs in Houston.

broken_mcdonaldsThere is an annoyed citizen that has taken his grip to the newest town square: Facebook. He created a Facebook Group to help people voice their shared annoyance.

I joined the group on Wednesday as the 34th member. I suspect if the group gets traction it should be over 1000 people in no time. And if other media in town mention it, it could go well above that.  (Or, if it goes no further than here, it could peak at 35 some time next week.)

I think if it gets noisy enough, we could likely get the Houston City Council to do something about it.

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