Monthly Archives: July 2003

A two-blog newspaper

Posted on July 31, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Not content to let the artsy types be the only bloggers on their block, the Austin American-Statesman now also has a political blog called The Lasso. It’s a one-person blog that appears to be mostly a news-roundup kind of thing. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on A two-blog newspaper

Being Insane

Posted on July 31, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’m fairly sure that this is a weblog unlike any other you’re used to reading. It’s by a college classmate of mine, Arthur Diggins, who is…well, I’ll let him explain it: OK, to be totally honest, I’m not technically Schizophrenic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | 3 Comments

Cold feet in the County Commissioners’ Court?

Posted on July 31, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

That $244 million projected cost overrun on the Katy Freeway expansion seems to have spooked our venerable County Commissioners’ Court. Commissioner Steve Radack sent a letter Wednesday to Art Storey, Harris County public infrastructure director, asking him to meet with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Beats all you never saw

Posted on July 31, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: the title (now corrected, thanks to Omar in the comments) is a hat tip to Angry Bear, who recasts the Democrats’ getaway as a Dukes of Hazzard episode. I can’t tell you how disquieting it is to realize that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 6 Comments

Barry vs. the Babe

Posted on July 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Barry Bonds, whose many skills do not include tact, generated some controversy at the All-Star Game when he talked about eclipsing Babe Ruth. The San Francisco slugger leads the majors with 30 home runs at the All-Star break and has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 90 Comments

Katy Freeway cost overrun

Posted on July 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve barely begun to move dirt and already the cost estimates for the massive boondoggle-ish expansion of the Katy Freeway have been increased by 17%. That’s $244 million, for those who prefer real numbers. “We’re concerned that perhaps some of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 10 Comments

New Mexican Standoff, day 2

Posted on July 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: the subject is cribbed from a commenter on Atrios or Daily Kos, I can’t remember which at this point. Someone other than me came up with it and I thought it was funny.) Rob has a decent answer to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 6 Comments

Just an observation

Posted on July 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve heard it said many times that the Congressional redistricting performed by the Texas Lege in 1991 was a masterful job of gerrymandering by the Democrats. After the 1992 election, the first one held following that session, the Texas Congressional … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 7 Comments

Redistricting passes House

Posted on July 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

According to Byron, the State House has apparently managed to scrape up a quorum, and almost immediately afterwards passed redistricting bill HB1 (2) by a 75-26 margin, with one member voting “present”. I suppose this has to be the same … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 3 Comments

Those wacky librarians

Posted on July 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

And now for a short break from the re-redistricting follies to catch up on some other wacky zealotry, this time up in Montgomery County, which is north of Houston. Some of you may recall the efforts of a group called … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 3 Comments

Morning roundup

Posted on July 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

As everyone knows by now, the “Texas 11” Democratic State Senators are holed up in Albuquerque, thus denying the Senate a quorum and scuttling (for now) the second special session which was called yesterday afternoon, immediately after the first session … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 4 Comments

Early coverage

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Some of these are AP wire reports, but they’re all different, so here you go: Statesman Morning News Star-Telegram Express-News Chron More tomorrow. Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

Going, going…

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The special session is ending a day early, with another to start almost immediately afterwards. However, it may be a moot point, for it appears that 11 Democratic Senators have left town. One Democratic senator who asked not to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 17 Comments

Darned Good Questions Dept.

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Stephen Bates, in the comments to this post, asks a couple of darned good questions about electronic voting machines: [W]hat compelling argument can any corporation offer that its vote-counting software should be proprietary? What gives any nonpublic entity the right … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 3 Comments

Blogging: Not just for Dallas any more

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

You know that the Dallas Morning News has a Corner-style political blog written by its editorial board, but did you know that the Austin American-Statesman has an arts and entertainment blog written by its arts and entertainment staff? It made … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

If you love something, set it free

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

On Saturday, I discovered Tiffany sitting at the computer, logged into a webpage called BookCrossing, which is some kind of crunchy-granola peer-to-peer book swapping network. (My first question to her: Does the RIAA know about this?) She was busily entering … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 2 Comments

100,000

Posted on July 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

One of the effects of adding Sitemeter code to my archive pages was to move up by about a month the date on which my 100,000th Sitemeter hit would arrive. Counting the roughly 18,500 hits I got on my old … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Traffic Reports | Comments Off on 100,000

This ought to be fun

Posted on July 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

So that Ramirez cartoon which has caused such a kerfuffle is in today’s Chron. I can’t wait to see the letters to the editor. I make it even money that at least one person will write to say that he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 2 Comments

Sunday editorials

Posted on July 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I thought there’d be some editorial action regarding the effective end of this special session in the major dailies today, but pretty much all there is can be found in the Chron, with one minor exception: This Star-Telegram piece attempts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on Sunday editorials

A short rant about the National Anthem

Posted on July 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’m a season ticket holder for the Houston Comets and have been for four years now. I generally enjoy the experience – the price is right, the fans are into the action, the team is good – but there’s one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 23 Comments

WAC to expand?

Posted on July 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Western Athletic Conference, home of your 2003 National Champion Rice Owls Baseball Team, is thinking about expanding to 12 teams. Speaking at the WAC preseason football media gathering, [WAC Commissioner Karl] Benson said the league’s athletic directors expressed interest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 2 Comments

Lines in the balance

Posted on July 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Redistricting is dead…for now. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Friday declared congressional redistricting dead for the current special session but said it will pass even if it takes two more sessions. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have a new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 7 Comments

Spotlight on electronic voting flaws

Posted on July 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve not really covered the subject of electronic voting and the problems that are inherent to its implementations – several other bloggers have done yeoman’s work on the topic – but I’d still like to point out the newfound interest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 9 Comments

Payback’s a bitch

Posted on July 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Back in January, just after ‘fessing up that her projection of a $5 billion budget shortfall was off by a factor of 2, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn uttered the following words: “The last Legislature had a party and left this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

Will they stay or will they go?

Posted on July 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Despite continued wooing from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and redistricting map author Sen. Todd Staples (R, Palestine), Senate Democrats continue to make hints and allegations that they will not stick around for another, blocker-bill-free, special session. Testimony from a defense … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 7 Comments

A little blogwatching

Posted on July 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few things that caught my eye recently… Cowboy Kahlil does some electoral math. You’ve probably already seen Calpundit’s pointer to the Medpundit‘s Road to Damascus moment (scroll down to that title) regarding tort reform and malpractice insurance, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on A little blogwatching

Poll numbers for Perry

Posted on July 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Rob comes through again in the comments on this post, by finding this report on the Montgomery poll regarding redistricting and Governor Rick Perry’s popularity. It ain’t pretty: Surveyors told respondents, “Governor Perry has called an unusual special session to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

“Only get mad on purpose”

Posted on July 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

One of the interesting possibilities resulting from the House “fruitcake” flap last week involving Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (see here for some background) is that it just might give the national Democratic Party a platform on which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

Crossroads time

Posted on July 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Well, now that a map has finally passed out of the Jurisprudence Committee, we enter the next stage of the game. With a second session that will feature no blocker bill looming, what will the Democrats’ strategy be? The Republicans, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 5 Comments

Malcolm Gillis on collegiate athletics

Posted on July 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly has an article on Rice University President Malcolm Gillis (requires free registration) in which he shares his thoughts on the state of college athletics and how a school like Rice fits in. A few excerpts to whet your … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Situation normal…

Posted on July 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Haven’t seen this on any of the usual Saddam-coddling lefty sites, so I figured I’d air it here. Want to know how far off the rails things have slid at the Pentagon? Recently, the Army wanted to tally up how … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 3 Comments

Mayoral debate

Posted on July 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I missed the mayoral debate that was on PBS last night (oddly, there’s no Chron coverage of this), but thankfully Greg Wythe was paying attention. He’s got a fine overview of the candidates’ performances, and one of the better zingers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | 1 Comment

Dean, Dean, the debate-making machine

Posted on July 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

More on the is-Dean-electable debate, for the three or four of you who aren’t already obsessed with it and/or sick of it, from Teixeira, MyDD, Demosthenes, Yglesias, Democratic Underground, and a Canadian perspective from Ikram Saeed. Check them out. One … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment

Support waning?

Posted on July 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Rob Booth is off the redistricting reservation: I’ve got to say this is getting a little nuts. The last two maps from Sen. Staples (1324 and 1325) have really messed up west Houston. Putting CD 7 into any county other … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 10 Comments