Monthly Archives: September 2003

Freeway blogging

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Like a number of other lefty bloggers, I’ve been receiving mail from a fellow who calls himself the Scarlet Pimpernel lately. SP has been sending links to photos of snarky anti-Bush messages that have been showing up on the highways … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Best sports blogs

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Check out Forbes Magazine’s list of the Best Sports Blogs, in which the estimable Off Wing Opinion came in at #2 overall. Congrats to Eric for some well-deserved recognition! If you like sports, you should be reading Off Wing. (Note … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Berry backs Sanchez

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Former mayoral candidate Michael Berry has given his endorsement to Orlando Sanchez. The endorsement is expected to solidify Sanchez’s standing among conservative voters who supported him in a 2001 runoff loss to Mayor Lee Brown but had shifted toward Berry … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | 2 Comments

All swirly and bad

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Andrew Northrup sums up some conservative reaction to the Plame Affair. Standard beverage warning applies. Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | Comments Off on All swirly and bad

We’re number one!

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Just not in a good way. One out of every four Texans lacks health insurance, the highest percentage of uninsured residents in any state in the nation, according to new Census Bureau figures. The findings are part of a report … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

If you look up “quid pro quo” in the dictionary…

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

This is pretty much all you need to know about how government works around here. Less than one month after receiving $100,000 from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, Gov. Rick Perry (no relation to Bob – ed) named a top executive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

GOP wheels and deals in West Texas

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Republicans involved in redistricting spent much of yesterday trying to come to an agreement on how to divvy up West Texas, and while it appears they have a plan for Midland and Lubbock, I can’t tell if they’re really … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on GOP wheels and deals in West Texas

Wellstone World Music Day

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

My buddy Ron sent me a note last week telling me about Wellstone World Music Day, which will be October 25, the first anniversary of the plane crash that killed Paul, Sheila, and Marcia Markuson Wellstone along with campaign aides … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 1 Comment

SEC targeting Kenny Boy?

Posted on September 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

What could be sweeter than the prospect of Karl Rove doing the frog march? How about Ken Lay doing the perp walk? Federal regulators have asked a federal court to force former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay to hand over … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | 6 Comments

If you’re going to delude yourself, you may as well dream big

Posted on September 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Super Bowl Fever means different things to different people, especially people who hope to earn a few grand by renting out their houses during Super Bowl Week. With the $6,900 a day she hopes to get renting out her southwest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Sanchez overview

Posted on September 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron did the first of three promised candidate overviews yesterday with this entry on Orlando Sanchez. It’s a decent enough effort, and struck me as being reasonably fair to its subject. I thought this was pretty damning, though: “If … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | 1 Comment

Please don’t feed the alligators

Posted on September 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

There are certain things in this life that you wouldn’t think should require an external disincentive to keep people from doing them. Feeding wild alligators, for example. Feed an alligator, face a fine. That wasn’t the case until this month. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 8 Comments

Houston’s urbanity

Posted on September 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

This great op-ed piece in today’s Chron makes a good economic argument for rail, and also puts its finger on something that I’d peripherally thought about but hadn’t quite formed into a real idea yet. Let’s start with his case … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Houston’s urbanity

RIP, Althea Gibson

Posted on September 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Althea Gibson, the pioneering women’s tennis player who won two Wimbledon titles in the 1950s, died today at the age of 76. Gibson was the first black to compete in the U.S. championships, in 1950, and at Wimbledon, in 1951. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Greg’s opinion of city races

Posted on September 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Wythe gives a fascinating (to Houston political junkies, anyway) overview of the Republican/Democrat breakdown in the upcoming city election. Basically, if things break right, Houston could go from an 8-8 balance of city offices to a 12-4 advantage for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | 1 Comment

Unbelievable

Posted on September 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I second everything Calpundit says about the amazing revelation that the Valerie Plame story is true. At CIA Director George J. Tenet’s request, the Justice Department is looking into an allegation that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 6 Comments

Do the conference shuffle

Posted on September 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Doug proposes a let’s-do-it-and-get-it-over-with mega-conference realignment for college football that would get every Division 1A school into one of ten reasonably suitable groups, and throws in a possible playoff structure as a bonus. It’ll never happen, of course, since college … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 5 Comments

The home stretch

Posted on September 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Thus sayeth Gov. Perry: The magic date for the redistricters is October 6. “We start running into some time restraints. The 6th (of October) is somewhat of a drop dead date from the standpoint of getting some work done,” said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

Fill ‘er up!

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

When all-you-can-eat promotions go bad: DES MOINES, Iowa — Darden Restaurants said this week it had replaced the head of Red Lobster, its biggest chain, after an all-you-can-eat crab promotion went awry. Darden President and Chief Operating Officer Dick Rivera … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | 2 Comments

What’s next for women’s soccer?

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Via Eric McErlain comes this article by Allen Barra about WUSA’a demise. Barra makes a pretty good point in that in terms of league building, the WUSA was putting the cart before the horse. Lamenting the closure of the WUSA … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 6 Comments

Brazoria County Democrats

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

If you had asked me which local Democratic organization would be the first to get themselves a blog, I would not have guessed it would be the Brazoria County Democrats. And I would have been wrong, for there it is. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

Court hangs up do-not-call again

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Argh! Just when Congress was moving to fix the problems in the original legislation that created the national Do Not Call list, another federal judge has put the kibosh on it by ruling it in violation of the First Amendment … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 4 Comments

Off to committee

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

As expected, the job of drawing a new Congressional map has landed in the lap of a joint House-Senate committee, and they’re pretty much starting from scratch. “When I’m walking in, I think everything is on the table,” said Rep. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

Best Local Blog

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations to Kevin Whited for winning the first Best Local Blog award from the Houston Press! Way to go, dude. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

The best laid plans

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Your football team is 0-3, and you’re on the road for a tough game. The good news is that you’ve won the last two times you’ve played there, you’ve got some injured players coming back, and you’re staying at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Stupid Young Conservative Tricks

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

There’s not really much you can say about the affirmative action bake sale put on at SMU by a chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas once you get past the basic responses of “dumber than a box of hair” … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 9 Comments

Metro update

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news on the rail front: Metro has jumped through the latest hoop by voting to change the ballot language in a way that satisfies Rep. John Culberson, and the Federal Transit Administration has accepted the change. Assuming that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment

What a tangled web

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall how a wacky group called Texas Citizens’ Action Network (TexCAN) recently accused MoveOn supporters of being Commies because the Communist Party of America (cpusa.org) web page links to MoveOn.org. Well, the Austin Chronicle had the same reaction … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Maryland shrugs off Diebold problems

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably already read this scary Salon article about the easily-compromised Diebold voting machines. According to that article, the state of Maryland ordered a review of its purchase of the Diebold machines. Well, guess what? Turns out the state of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Perry promotes Texas economy

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Our only Governor is up in New York talking up the Texas business climate. Perry, addressing the Governor’s Summit on Economic Development and Tourism, said the trip is part of an “aggressive” new $5 million marketing campaign called Texas One … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Perry promotes Texas economy

Republican infighting

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Remember Thomas Whaley, the State Republican Executive Board member who came under fire for allegations that he had secretly taped SREC meetings which contained embarrassing statements by the GOP leadership and gave the tapes to the Houston Chronicle? Well, we … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Republican infighting

Do Not Call on hold

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

This is annoying – a federal judge has ruled that the FTC lacks the authority to enforce the national do-not-call registry. FTC chairman Timothy Muris said the agency disputed the court decision, arguing that the do-not-call registry was created as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 4 Comments

CDs vs. DVDs

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve written before about why I think the music industry is in such disarray, and yesterday I came across this Denver Post article (link via Brad deLong) which sums it up as well as anything I’ve seen, starting with the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 1 Comment

Senate approves Staples map

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been under the weather the past two days, so I don’t quite have the energy to do my usual thing on this, but late last night the Senate approved a slightly modified version of the Staples map by an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on Senate approves Staples map