Speaking of the C Word

 Entertainment, Politics  No Responses »
Jun 152006
 

I watched the Tonight Show last night. The sparks I anticipated didn’t appear. Carlin did a long riff when he came out. It was impressive, but ultimately unsatisfying. He made a few references to religion, bombs and a slightly incorrect version of the old european heaven and hell joke. Coulter followed him and, other than a lame joke about the first time he’d moved to the right, he and Jay both let her spout her usual crap. She made a comment about how no one who had edited or proofread the book had any problem with the 9/11 widows section or any other part for that matter.

Crooks and Liars has some post-appearance commentary and Rude Pundit is claiming that Coulters book is full of unattributed borrowing. Pharyngula has a flurry of posts on Coulter, echoing some of the bits in Crooks and Liars, mentioning the plagiarism and countering her views on evolution.

[tags]anncoulter, pharyngula, plagiarism, evolution, georgecarlin, tonightshow, jayleno[/tags]

 Posted by on June 15, 2006 at 1:07 pm

Traffic/Construction Bright Spots

 Uncategorized  4 Responses »
Jun 152006
 

22697108_bfdd86a97e.jpgSome people’s commutes are about to get easier. News8Austin and others are reporting that the 45th street construction that started a little over a year ago is complete. The entire length of 45th from Mopac to Airport Blvd got some new sidewalks and water/wastewater lines. It was completed a month early and funded by a 1998 bond issuance, something to keep in mind when the bond elections come up this November. The Chronicle has details and opinions about what’ll be included in that package.

I also saw last week that the work on 183 between I-35 and Springdale/290 is nearly completed and expected to open by the end of the month, a welcome relief for me as the diversion onto the service road and the light at Cameron Road adds at least 10 minutes to my morning commute. The stretch of 183 between I-35 and Ben White is to become a toll road once more improvements are made. I’m unsure of the timeline on that, but now that I said toll road, this post is sure to get some comments. Toll road, toll road, toll road.

 Posted by on June 15, 2006 at 8:39 am

Austin ER Gets Props

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Jun 152006
 

A series of reports by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine is making news across the country. NPR did a story on it this morning and the Statesman ran one today as well. The reports highlight the dismal state of health care in this country and warns that the hospital and EMS infrastructure in most cities would be unable to handle crises like an outbreak of avian flu or terrorist attack.

The report did give examples of systems that had better coordination and gave Austin/Travis County’s emergency medical system props for being a good example. While a lot of this has to be done at the local level, it’s a symptom of a much larger problem with healthcare in this country. I sure am glad that our congresscritters and leadership in Washington are spending time protecting my marriage instead of addressing frivolous things like my family’s health.

You can read the reports for yourself at the Institute of Medicine website.

Update (2006.06.15 12:02 CDT): Mahablog comments on the Washington Post article on these reports and expands (as usual) better than I ever could. This all reminded me of a couple of posts by Malcolm Gladwell earlier this year.

 Posted by on June 15, 2006 at 8:17 am