URLs du Jour

2006-02-03

  • Meme Watch Department: The Google reports a measly 177 hits for "shadeggelic," up only 29 since we looked on January 21. Since Congressman Shadegg lost the race for Majority Leader, I suppose we're looking at a Failed Meme, at least for now.

    The "Oprahfication of America" meme is also looking pretty peaked: only 267 hits, an increase of 33 from January 20. We'll continue to track it, though.

  • Time to bloviate on the Muhammad cartoon issue. Let's stipulate the following:

    1. Freedom of expression is a Good Thing.

    2. Gratuitously insulting someone else's religion/race/culture is (at worst) an Impolite Thing.

    3. Threatening (let alone comitting) violence against those you think have insulted your religion/race/culture is a Really Bad Thing.

    That's where I'm coming from, anyway. Free speech can be offensive to some; those who get violent or coercive against free-speakers should be slapped down, hard. The only alternative grants censorious power to the easily offended; applying that censorious power will engender endless rancour; the final result will be tyrannical.

    So: I'm dismayed by the State Department; I think Hugh makes some good points but is basically misguided.

  • Eric Raymond says: The Cheesecake Factory Must Die. I'm in heartfelt agreement. We wanted to go to the one in Providence RI a couple years back. Their website "helpfully" pointed to a MapQuest map that put us in the middle of a Providence neighborhood that might be most charitably described as "in decline".

    Eventually we found it. Once we got there, however, service was poor and the food, including the cheesecake, was mediocre.

    Also on my must-die list: Ruby Tuesday. Tried twice, once in Portland ME, once in Orlando FL. Same crappy service and less-than-mediocre food in both locations; that's enough for me to give up.


Last Modified 2006-02-08 2:22 PM EDT