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Posts on ‘August 12th, 2012’

Weekend link dump for August 12

Photobombed by an ostrich. If that’s not a meme, it should be. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m going to listen to music when I want to. You can’t increase your metabolism by exercising. Haven’t we all seen this movie before? Don’t rely on electric fences and supposedly bulletproof automated systems, that’s all I’m [...]

HCC board approves its bond package

More bonds for your consideration this fall. Houston Community College trustees voted Thursday to placea $425 million bond referendum on the November ballot. If approved by voters on Nov. 6, the bond would help update classroom technology, build a new medical center facility, expand campuses and boost workforce development programs. It would also phase in [...]

No, we can’t eliminate the property tax

The latest wingnut economic fantasy is that we can completely eliminate the property tax and replace it with an increased sales tax. Debra Medina was a champion of this during the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary, which should give you some idea of where this lies on the spectrum of mainstream policies. Former Deputy Comptroller Billy [...]

Who wants to sue over the HCDE election?

Depends who you ask. At a court hearing July 30, the county, both political parties and an attorney for [runoff winner Erica] Lee all said they wanted the department of education’s suit dismissed (the school board wanted it to continue). First Assistant County Attorney Terry O’Rourke said a dismissal would be the most “efficient” thing [...]

Romney-Ryan

Game on. You’ve probably read all you can stand to read about this by now since it was everywhere on the internets yesterday, but do read Charlie Pierce if you haven’t already – he’s the best cure for mainstream media stuffiness – and Michael Grunwald, who seems to have escaped the reality distortion field in [...]