why I won’t fly

I don’t fly. Since the TSA put its latest set of security-theater rules in effect, I just can’t do it (or ask my family to) in good conscience. It comes down to this: I know too many people who would be traumatized by the kind of treatment the TSA has made mandatory. I can think [...]

Posted by Chris in Bummer, Crime, Family, Government, Law, Philosophy, Security Theater, Travel on January 19th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

the rule of telling children anything

I had to post this in response to the flurry of rumors around NASA’s announcement that this Thursday they will “discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.” The rule is simple: When you tell a child anything, they will ignore most of it and leave only the words [...]

Posted by Chris in Family, Space on November 30th, 2010 | Comments Off

the new broom

Sometimes it doesn’t pay to teach your child to tell time. INT. BEDROOM – DAY KAREN and CHRIS are asleep in bed. They open their eyes to find the GEEKLET standing over them, sighing loudly to catch their attention. CHRIS (blearily) Hi, sweetie. What time is it? GEEKLET It’s 9:10. CHRIS OK, we’ll be up [...]

Posted by Chris in Family, Humor on March 7th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

don’t divorce us

The Courage Campaign gives us all a simple task: “Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr’s case, and let loving, committed couples marry.” Then they offer a sampling of the 18,000 marriages that need defending: “Fidelity”: Don’t Divorce… from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Posted by Chris in Culture, Family, To Help on February 6th, 2009 | Comments Off