Monthly Archives: November 2003

Your regularly scheduled dose of Tomfoolery

Posted on November 21, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a letter to the editor in the Chron today about Tom DeLay and giving to charity that merits reprinting here: Politics of Tom DeLay’s charity [Regarding the Chronicle’s Nov. 14 article, Some doubt DeLay’s sincerity with charity:] U.S. Rep. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Your regularly scheduled dose of Tomfoolery

The Yellow Dog Blog

Posted on November 21, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Democratic Party has jumped into the blog pool with a new effort called the Yellow Dog Blog. As noted by Byron, who along with his coauthers at Burnt Orange helped design and build the site, the YDB will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 4 Comments

Former Air Force general backs Dean

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if this counts as a trend, but I like it anyway. Retired Gen. Merrill “Tony” McPeak, the former Air Force chief of staff who endorsed George W. Bush in 2000, has left the Republican fold and is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 21 Comments

Dewhurst still doesn’t get it

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

David Dewhurst really really doesn’t want to take his legislative fingers out of the state universities’s tuition decisions. “We’ve expected tuition increases by all of our universities and I appreciate the fact that the UT Board of Regents has held … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Dewhurst still doesn’t get it

Ratliff resigns

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. He’s departing on January 10. The Morning News answers a key question: If Mr. Ratliff resigns early, it would trigger a special election to replace him. The Legislature is not scheduled to return in regular session until January … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Ratliff resigns

A common fallacy

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Radley Balko, in writing about baseball’s legitimacy problem vis-a-vis steroid usage, falls victim to a common and annoying fallacy when discussing the effect of allegedly amped-up players on the sport’s record books. While I don’t think steroids should be illegal, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

Wait, wait, don’t tell me…

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Look at the following clip from today’s Chron and see if you can pass the pop quiz at the end: A Metro light rail car and a [vehicle] collided downtown during the train’s test run Wednesday night. Police said it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 4 Comments

Why the Astros lose

Posted on November 19, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Astros, for reasons that make sense only to themselves, have resigned 34-year-old Brad Ausmus to two a two-year contract, reported by Giff Nielson (who was so ecstatic I thought he was going to wet himself) as being $2 million … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 12 Comments

Ratliff to retire?

Posted on November 19, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Quorum Report notes a press release (Word doc) by Sen. Bill Ratliff in which he will announce his “future plans for public office” tomorrow. They obviously believe that he’s about to hang up his spikes, because they wrote an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Ratliff to retire?

Local boy makes good

Posted on November 19, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Can you imagine how proud this guy‘s parents must be? The United States National Republican Congressional Committee has selected Amit Pradhan, an ex-student of St Vincent’s School and Nowrosjee Wadia College, for its prestigious National Leadership award. Pradhan, who is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Meanwhile, in the domestic job market

Posted on November 19, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The “high tech industry” lost half a million jobs last year and will be down another 300,000 before things start to get better. About 12 percent of the nation’s high-tech jobs have evaporated during the past two years, but the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | 2 Comments

NAFTA ten years after

Posted on November 19, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a little fuel for the free-trade fires. As the North American Free Trade Agreement nears its 10th anniversary, a study from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concludes that the pact failed to generate substantial job growth in Mexico, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | 2 Comments

Susan Combs

Posted on November 18, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Greg highlights another name to watch out for in 2006, Ag Commish Susan Combs, who has some crossover appeal as well as obvious ambition. I’ll simply note that the various state Commissioner offices are pretty much the high minors for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

Thinking It Through is through

Posted on November 18, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Tom Spencer is hanging up his cleats, citing a need to spend more time on more important activities. Among other sad things, this reduces the number of Trinity bloggers that I know of to just me. Mazel tov and vaya … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Legislators (still) unclear on the concept

Posted on November 18, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The University of Texas says it still plans to exercise its newly given freedom to raise tuition, and the people that gave them that freedom still don’t get it. The legislative oversight committee will meet next month to assess how … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

Yet another DeLay fundraiser raises yet more eyebrows

Posted on November 18, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Does this guy do anything that doesn’t smell funny? AUSTIN — On the eve of the federal trial that could enhance Republican congressional power, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay plans to scoop up re-election cash at an Austin lobby … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

When it rains…

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

…it can take an hour and a half for what should be at most a 30-minute commute home. sigh. All things considered, though, I’ve got nothing to complain about. I just hope the predictions of more heavy rain tomorrow are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 4 Comments

Baseball on steroids

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I probably should have written about baseball’s new steroid policy last week, but I punked out on it. Honestly, I see this as more of a PR thing than anything else. Thanks to the Ken Caminitis and Jose Cansecos of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 16 Comments

SUVs and community

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

What do SUVs have in common with the Paris Hilton videos? Ginger Stampley has the scoop. Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on SUVs and community

Blogroll hacked

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve just noticed that someone has hacked my blogroll. I actually have two accounts at Blogrolling.com, and both of them – what you normally see on my index page, and what you see on my Full Blogroll page – have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 4 Comments

Lineup changes

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Ezra Klein is moving from Not Geniuses over to Pandagon. A new Not Genius named Nico Pitney is moving in to take his place, and with the hiatus-taking of Joe Rospars, who has become an official cog in the Dean … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Lineup changes

The thing about Dean

Posted on November 16, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Michael Tomasky has the first is-Dean-electable? article I’ve seen that makes some sense. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and I have to say, I think the “conventional wisdom” about Dean is a lot of crap. The reason … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 8 Comments

So many keys, so little time

Posted on November 16, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Tim Fleck has already covered the story of Hispanic voters abandoning Orlando Sanchez in favor of Bill White, and now today John Williams picks up the ball in a story entitled “Hispanic vote key to mayoral runoff victory”. Exit polling … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | 2 Comments

Dewhurst asks for lesson in basic economics

Posted on November 15, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Poor Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is dazed and confused. Stunned by higher-education tuition increases, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday he wants state universities to justify the rate hikes to lawmakers. How’s this, Dave? The state lege cut funding for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Dewhurst asks for lesson in basic economics

New sites of interest

Posted on November 15, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

A few new sites to check out: The Houston Democratic Forum, a group that is “an organization of Houston-area Democrats committed to upholding the best traditions of the Democratic party in our city, state, and nation”, has a brand-new blog. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 2 Comments

Tiger rescue

Posted on November 14, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

In the spirit of Friday cat blogging, I see that San Antonio is getting some new feline residents. The first tiger of 24 rescued from a New Jersey sanctuary greeted Texas on Thursday with a spine-tingling roar. “Stop it! Get … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 4 Comments

Tom DeLay exploits children for political contributions

Posted on November 14, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Criminy. There’s just no end to the ways that Tom DeLay will go to raise money in secret and in avoidance of campaign finance laws. Now he’s using charity as a cover. It is an unusual charity brochure: a 13-page … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 10 Comments

Break’s over

Posted on November 14, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

After a week off, Bill White and Orlando Sanchez are back on the campaign trail. There was the usual carping between camps, but the real news is here: White, meanwhile, worked on making inroads with Houston’s African-American population, which gave … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2003 | Comments Off on Break’s over

MT Blacklist enabled

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

All righty, I have installed and enabled Jay Allen’s MT Blacklist. It was easy to install and helped me find and kill an old piece of spam, so I’m a happy blogger. If for some reason you encounter any problems … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 6 Comments

Roy’s removal

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Everything you want to know about Alabama judge Roy Moore’s removal from the court can be found in the War Liberal “Get Your Moore On” archives. As the latest entry indicates, Mac is skeptical about Moore’s prospects for higher office, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 3 Comments

Meet Richard Morrison

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’d like to join with Byron and Greg in announcing the candidacy of Richard Morrison for the 22nd Congressional District. Richard will be taking on Tom DeLay in 2004, and he could surely use your support. I hope to have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 7 Comments

As God is my witness, I’ll never redistrict again!

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Well, that’s not quite what Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told the Dallas Morning News, but it’s pretty close. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst vowed Tuesday never to allow congressional redistricting to revisit the Texas Senate this decade, even if the freshly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

Matthews indicted and arrested

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The grand jury which heard evidence in the indecency with a child case against local conservative talk show host Jon Matthews returned an indictment against him. Matthews was arrested and released on a personal recognizance bond and is now awaiting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on Matthews indicted and arrested

MOB scene

Posted on November 12, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Rice MOB gets profiled by a classical music critic for the Star-Telegram, who was a member of the Baylor band 30 years ago. He did a pretty nice job of it, too, even if he didn’t include any of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 4 Comments