This fine John Noble Wilford/NY Times article on the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik sattelite is a timely prompt to pass along the trailer for Ron Howard’s widely-anticpated documentary In the Shadow of the Moon, which opened last week in Houston at the Angelika and the Greenway theaters.
Has it really been 50 years since the University of Texas hired Darrell Royal to revive its flagging football program?
University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee provides common sense advice on sellling a house:
So by being hung up about whether your condominium will sell for what you paid for it, you arenít just driving yourself crazy trying to get a buyer. You may be threatening the very performance of the economy and driving up the unemployment rate ó provided that many others behave in a similar way.
What is to be done? Well, if you are holding out for an above-market price to recoup your losses, perhaps you would do well to hear the advice that Professor [Christopher] Mayer gives his own family members.
ìIf you want to sell your house then you list it at the market price and you sell it,î he said. ìIf you donít really want to sell then donít put it on the market. But donít say you want to sell and then set the price so high that you spend the year cleaning up every morning, having people walk through your living room and look in your medicine cabinets and reject you. Thatís just painful ó and expensive.î
His research offers a simple lesson for everyone out there waiting for a high price to push them back into the black: Get real.
The folks over at Political Calculations take Goolsbee’s advice one step further and provide a handy calculator for determining the true value of a house.
Ben Worthen’s WSJ Business Tech blog post channels Warren Meyer’s opinion of Windows Vista:
Microsoft started selling Vista, the latest version of its Windows operating system, to businesses last November. And despite the fact that over 90% of businesses run Windows, only 7% of large companies plan to switch to Vista this year, according to this Journal article. The article touches on all the reasons that companies are delaying the switch: Some of the security software isnít ready; problems with special software called ìdriversî that run printers and other devices; the fact that most companies run software that may not work with the new operating system.
This blog thinks it all suggests one thing: Companies donít need Vista yet. In the past, Microsoft was replacing a version of Windows with known flaws or introducing a new version with a lot more capabilities. But XP, the version of Windows that was released in 2002, works great ñ or at least good enough for businesses.
The Chronicle’s best columnist — technology expert Dwight Silverman — also contributes his thoughts on Vista.
(AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
Colts 30 Texans 24
Amidst the wide-eyed wonderment that a few wins by the Texans (2-1) evokes from Houston Chronicle sportswriters, the Colts (3-0) systematically build a 27-10 lead after three quarters and then cruised to the victory (previous weekly summaries here). Texans RB Ahman Green was injured on his first rushing attempt of the game and the Texans were never able to mount any meaningful running attack against the Colts. By the way, my annual preview of the Texans’ season contained the following point about Coach Kubiak’s decision to sign Green:
An example of the dubious decision-making regarding offensive personnel is the signing of RB Ahman Green, formerly of Green Bay. Green was a great running back in his prime with the Pack, but he has averaged less than four yards per carry for the past two seasons. Inasmuch as the Texans agreed to pay Green $23 million over four years ($8 million guaranteed in the first season), the chances that the 30-year old Green will be worth the value of this contract this season are tenuous, at best. The chances of him still being worth the contract a couple of years from now are so speculative to be off the charts.
So, let’s hold off on christening of Kubiak as the next Bill Walsh just yet. The Texans go to Atlanta (0-3) next Sunday before returning home the following week to face Miami (0-3).
Oh, my.
This one was not as “close” as the final score indicates as UM (3-1) shoved the hapless Aggies (3-1) all over the field. The Aggies’ model of controlling the ball with their strong rushing attack generally allows them to stay in games so long as they don’t turn the ball over, but that’s precisely what they did against the Hurricanes. Unfortunately, fat guy up the gut, busted option play and an incomplete pass pretty much sums up most Aggie offensive series after they fall behind by a couple of scores. The Ags get Baylor (2-2) and Oklahoma State (2-2/1-0) at home the next two weeks before a the brutal part of their schedule begins in three weeks at Texas Tech (3-1/0-1). Coach Franchione’s fate appears to be hanging by a thread.
Houston Cougars 38 Colorado State 27
After spotting CSU (0-3) a 17-3 halftime lead, the Cougars (2-1) trailed CSU (0-3) 24-10 with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter and faced a 4th down and 10 situation at the Rams’ 27 yard line. About 30 seconds later, after a TD pass and an ensuing fumble return for a TD, the Coogs had tied the game at 24. The Cougars tacked on a couple of TD’s in the final period to pull out a win that probably established redshirt freshman QB Case Keenum as the successor to Kevin Kolb. The Cougars take on East Carolina (1-3) next Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
The Longhorns (4-0) rolled in this glorified scrimmage against the hapless Owls (0-4), but still showed little to lead anyone to think that they have much of a chance against Oklahoma the week after next. But at least no Longhorns were arrested on Saturday night after the game celebrating the win. As for Rice, at least the Marching Owl Band got in a few good licks.
With Texas leading 41-7 at intermission, the suspense at Royal-Memorial Stadium actually peaked when the teams left the field.
That’s when the Rice Marching Owl Band ó the notorious MOB ó commenced its halftime show.
Known for its biting spoofs, the 80-piece MOB opened with the “Dragnet Theme.” Wearing dark sunglasses and suit coats bearing the Rice crest, the musicians formed the Texas “T” near the south end zone, just as the Longhorn band does before games.
Then their fun started.
Three “Longhorns” in burnt orange shirts and white helmets scampered downfield. Three cardboard black-and-white “police” cars gave chase.
Announcer William Price, a sousaphone player in the MOB, narrated: “In the two years since the MOB last visited Austin, your team’s demeanor ó and misdemeanor ó has changed. Buy a program at today’s game. It includes Mack Brown’s wrist-slap Top 10 and a photo guide to the next episode of ‘America’s Most Wanted.’ ”
The skit was a nod to the Longhorns’ recent experiences with the law-enforcement community in Austin. It could’ve been worse.
“The idea is to entertain people,” explained Rice band director Chuck Throckmorton. “People aren’t entertained when they’re mad.” [. . .]
After their show, the musicians enjoyed a standing ovation from much of the crowd.The Horns tune up for OU weekend next Saturday in a “payback game” against Kansas State (2-1) (who upset the Horns and began their late-season swoon last year), while the Owls have an open date next weekend before going on the road to meet Southen Miss (2-1).
In the magnificent penultimate scene in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film, Amistad, John Quincy Adams (played brilliantly by Anthony Hopkins) concludes his oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court with the following abnomition regarding the curse of slavery that is a central issue in the case::
“We desperately need your strength and wisdom to triumph over our fears, our prejudices, ourselves. Give us the courage to do what is right. And if it means civil war, then let it come. And when it does, may it be, finally, the last battle of the American Revolution.”
“That’s all I have to say.”
Harry V. Jaffa, a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute and the author of the well-known study of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates (University of Chicago Press, 1959) pens this interesting blog post in which he makes the following observation about President Bush’s goal of eliminating tyranny in the world:
. . . [T]he president has . . . [declared] that it is our intention to eliminate tyranny from the world. These pronouncements show a profound ignorance, both of history and of political philosophy.
Our own government, by constitutional majorities, became possible only when sectarian religious differences were removed from the political process. The Constitution declares in Article VI that ìno religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.î Such a provision could not be found in any instrument of government in all of human history. (The Toleration Act of 1689 in England was full of religious tests.) In the aftermath of the religious wars in Europe, in which Protestants and Catholics slaughtered each other without restraint, our Founding Fathers recognized that majority rule was not possible if Protestants could thereby determine the religion of Catholics, or Catholics of Protestants, or Christians of Jews, or Jews of Christians. Government by majority rule ódemocracy in any sense ó is not possible unless sectarian religious differences are kept out of the political process. But in Iraq, in the Middle East generally, there are no political differences that are not sectarian.
According to Abraham Lincoln, ìThe principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.î By this he meant the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. It was fidelity to these principles that led Lincoln in ìthe great secession winterî of 1860 and 1861 to refuse any compromise that permitted the extension of slavery. Compromises are possible only among those who share principles more fundamental than the interests they are asked to compromise. As a practical historical fact, when compromises are not possible war is the alternative, as it was in our Civil War. John Stuart Mill, an admirer of Lincoln, declared that ìDespotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians.î The dominant forms of political life throughout the Middle East are, with only one exception, as barbaric as those of Europe during the wars of religion. Only a despotism, as benign as we can find, and one that can begin turning people away from sectarian fanaticism, will answer our purpose. Otherwise, they will have to fight it out among themselves, as we did.
The New York Times travel section reviews Houston’s Hotel ZaZa (formerly known as “The Warwick” to us oldtimers) and likes what it experiences.
Frankly, given the hotel’s excellent location in the Museum District between downtown and the Texas Medical Center near Rice University and Hermann Park, what’s not to like?
In mid-December of last year, with two games to play in the 2006 NFL season, the Texans looked deader than a doornail and not like a particularly well-coached team. The Texans closed the season by upsetting the Colts and beating a bad Browns team to finish with a 6-10 record.
After wins against a bad Chiefs team and a decent Carolina team to open the 2007 season, one of the Texans’ leading cheerleaders — Chronicle columnist John McClain — is acting as if the Texans game today with the Colts is a playoff game. In this breathless piece, McClain is ready to anoint Texans head coach Gary Kubiak as the next Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh:
In 2000 and 2005, I sat in Denver coach Mike Shanahan’s office at the team’s practice facility and the subject of conversation was the same each time.
I asked Shanahan what he thought about his offensive coordinator as a head coaching candidate. On both occasions, Shanahan responded like a Washington power broker pushing a candidate for national office.
“I’m telling you, Gary’s going to make a great head coach, and teams that pass him up are going to regret it,” Shanahan said of Gary Kubiak. “I know what I’m talking about. I’ve watched him at every level. I’ve been around him since 1984.” [. . .]
“Gary communicates well with his players and coaches. He knows how to get a point across. He’s demanding. He’s tough when he needs to be. Players want to play for him because they respect him. If a team has an opening, and they don’t go after Gary, they’re making a big mistake.”
Shanahan was right.
Texans owner Bob McNair passed up Kubiak as the franchise’s first coach. He didn’t want to make that mistake again.
McNair hired Kubiak for Sundays like this one. And Kubiak came back home for weekends like this.
See Richard Justice’s equally breathless column about the Texans here. This reminds me of the similar columns that McClain and Justice often wrote about Texans GM Charlie Casserly and head coach Dom Capers before the Texans’ disastrous 2-14 record in Year 4 of the franchise. Maybe McClain is right about Kubiak. I hope he is. But at least make him earn the accolades first.
Stuart M. Rees of Stu’s Views nails it again in depicting the true thoughts of most juries.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper of Dallas may have oversold the benefits of aerobic exercise, but will the same be true for his new real estate venture?:
Dr. Cooper is developing a $2 billion residential wellness community here called Cooper Life at Craig Ranch that is going up on the first 51 of an eventual 151 acres on the Texas plains, north of Dallas.
Taking the concept of spa real estate into the medical realm, Dr. Cooperís community promises home buyers a life that sounds equal parts Norman Rockwell and Olympic village: a small town where doctors will make house calls and where every resident has a bevy of experts close at hand for keeping in tiptop shape.
It appears to be the first of its kind. . . .
Included in the monthly residential fee ($1,041 for an individual to $2,181 for a family of six) will be an annual physical and a six-month follow-up, which Dr. Cooper calls key to his utopian vision of a place where everyone can live in peak health. The fee also includes home doctor visits, a fitness center membership, concierge services and exterior home maintenance, lectures and social activities.
While a diverse mix of ages and fitness levels are welcome, Dr. Cooper admits that many prospective residents may well be baby boomers with cushy bank accounts. ìTheyíve got the money,î Dr. Cooper said, ìnow they want to live long enough to enjoy it.î
I get exhausted just thinking about the thought of living there. ;^)