by Ethan Johnson
September 17, 2008

The playoffs begin tomorrow, which means I had better get this regular season attendance analysis in under the wire. Check out part one if you haven't already.

by Ethan Johnson
September 8, 2008

If nothing else came out of this year's Republican National Convention, it was the chant of "drill baby, drill!" Because nothing solves an energy crisis like drilling for a finite resource. Incredibly, a writer for The Economist agrees:

by Ethan Johnson
August 9, 2008

It's time for the "silly season" in US politics, which means this year the candidates are spewing sound bytes and similar bumper sticker-ese in hopes of swaying the voters. An example of this is direct from a recent bumper sticker sighting around town: "Drill here, drill now, pay less." Sure, maybe in 10 years, assuming that the oil/gas market mirrors current conditions, rather than being a last-ditch effort to placate "demand" with "supply". This is apparently a new Republican meme. On the "eco" side of things, which tends to skew left, a common refrain is "[whatever] will save the planet." Cut/paste/replace with any of the following: CFL bulbs, "green" grocery bags, wind power, solar power, geothermal power, SIGG™ water bottles, etc etc ad infinitum. I don't disagree with the assertions that many (and more) of these things can be good decisions, and yield positive benefits, but "save the planet"? What is this, Marvel Comics?

by Ethan Johnson
July 6, 2008

The New York Times went two-for-two this weekend with stories about high US gas prices and what is being done now to cope with them, and what could have been done to minimize their impact. Fair warning: NYT online articles tend to require free registration.

by Ethan Johnson
July 2, 2008

I have been re-discovering the local library system. Normally, I'd go to Half Price Books and buy whatever interested me relatively cheaply. But the library has better selection in some cases, and is "free". The down side is having to remember which books are due back when to which library. Plus I have to stay focused on the library books since they are transient. The books I buy aren't going anywhere - well, I hope not. Anyway, thanks to the magic of the local library system, I have two more soccer-themed books to share:

by Ethan Johnson
June 25, 2008

The 2008 WNBA season is over 25% complete, so now is a good time to take a moment to review some wonky numbers before the Rethinking Basketball blog beats me to it. Well, bookmark that site anyway because it's pretty amazing.

by Ethan Johnson
May 31, 2008

Headline of a recent Christian Science Monitor story:

Europe balks at $8 a gallon gas

They might be balking at high gas prices, but what might be worse is the sin of omission committed by the Monitor.

by Ethan Johnson
April 9, 2008

Back in the days when I had ready access to WSCR AM (Chicago), someone was about to ask Norm Van Lear (former Bulls player) about college basketball, and then stopped short, assuming that he'd only want to discuss pro teams. "Basketball's basketball," he replied, and the conversation resumed.