Monthly Archives: February 2004

One billion dollars

Posted on February 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. The city of Houston’s main pension program has a billion-dollar funding shortfall because benefits have been boosted so high that many employees will earn more in retirement than they received while working, according to a report obtained by the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 7 Comments

Draft Day

Posted on February 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Thursday night was the draft for the Timbergrove Little League, so barring anyone coming or going, the rosters are now set. Quite a bit happened that night, starting with the fact that I am no longer the head coach of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | 2 Comments

Perry questions Earle

Posted on February 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

This is the clearest sign I’ve seen yet that Travis County DA Ronnie Earle is getting close to something in his investigation of the Texas Association of Business and Texans for a Republican Majority: Governor Perry is attacking him. Gov. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Perry questions Earle

A funny definition of “indecency”

Posted on February 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So the evil conglomerate Clear Channel is waging war against indecency – they’ve dropped Howard Stern from the 0.5% of their member stations who were running his show, they’ve fired Bubba the Love Sponge, whose antics in Tampa they were … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 19 Comments

The first female trail boss of the HLSR

Posted on February 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Cheri Hambrick, the first female trail boss in the history of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. “She runs a very clean operation and makes it easier on the committee,” said Yance Montalbano, chairman of the Trail Ride Committee. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Local Voter

Posted on February 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I want to take a moment an plug a pretty cool site that I’ve been fooling around with lately, LocalVoter. It’s a one-stop shop for what you need to know about elections and elected offices – who your incumbents are, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Local Voter

Mayor White makes moves

Posted on February 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Bill White, continuing with his Gather No Moss philosophy early on in his tenure, gave his first State of the City address yesterday. He touched on the usual quality-of-life highlights, like regional health care and mobility, and also called … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

RIP, Bart Howard

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Bart Howard, who wrote the song “Fly Me To The Moon”, died earlier this week at the age of 88. FMTTM was the first-dance song at our wedding (we did a foxtrot, for those who care about such things), and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 8 Comments

Those Perry rumors

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I presume by now that everyone has heard the rumors about Gov. Perry and the Big News that was supposed to break about his personal life Any Day Now. I never wrote anything about it because I never really believed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 5 Comments

Baseball go boom

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Cubs fans. What can you say? If a curse can somehow live in the intricate windings of cork, rubber, yarn and cowhide that make up a baseball, then the Chicago Cubs can look forward to a luckier future. The team’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment

The other edge

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve spoken about how blogs can benefit Democratic candidates, and while I firmly believe that this is and will continue to be true, it’s not a freebie. As Stephanie Herseth is surely learning, the blogreading public is very much in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

Subpoenas target DeLay

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Another batch of subpoenas in the ongoin TRM investigation was made public by Travis County DA Ronnie Earle yesterday, and they are all about Tom DeLay in one way or another. Nearly 50 subpoenas — some issued Tuesday and others … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Subpoenas target DeLay

Clear Channel drops Howard Stern

Posted on February 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

There are a number of interesting things to contemplate in Clear Channel’s announcement that they would drop Howard Stern from their member stations, but before I get into that, I have to marvel at their official statement. “Clear Channel drew … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Chevron buys Enron building

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

ChevronTexaco will buy that grand monument of riches-to-rags excess, the new Enron building. They’ll move some 500 non-Houstonians (from New Orleans, Midland, and San Ramon) into it, as well as employees from their other downtown locations. A couple of points … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | 9 Comments

And the beat goes on

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like just about everyone close to Tom DeLay is being investigated for some allegation of malfeasance or another. He may have to franchise himself at this rate. In the Travis County hot seat today is DeLay aide Jim Ellis. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Almost a good idea

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Clear Channel has adopted a zero tolerance policy for indecency in order to ensure that none of its DJs expose one of Janet Jackson’s breasts on the air, or something like that. “Clear Channel is serious about helping address the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 4 Comments

Kronberg on TRM

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Harvey Kronberg of the Quorum Report did some analysis of the TRM investigation for his weekly bit on Austin’s Channel 8. Not much new, but a fairly concise summary of what’s gone on and why there’s been such a flurry … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Kronberg on TRM

Ah, sweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found you

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

All right, enough with all this gay marriage stuff. Let’s look at something of real importance. Princeton physicist Paul Chaikin’s passion for M&M candies was so well known that his students played a sweet practical joke on him by leaving … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on Ah, sweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found you

Priorities

Posted on February 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Front page headline in today’s Chron: Al Qaeda Still Poses Threat. Despite U.S. success in attacking al-Qaida’s hierarchy, the terrorist network is still capable of “catastrophic attacks” against the United States, CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

Gay marriage

Posted on February 24, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m trying, I’m really trying, to make sense of the idea that anyone, let alone the President, could think that amending the Constitution for the purposes of restricting the rights of a subgroup of citizens is somehow good public policy. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 11 Comments

Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather

Posted on February 24, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t claim to be the world’s biggest fan of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, mostly because you never can fully take the New York out of the boy, but I’m always fascinated by the trail riders who come … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather

Don’t it turn my red states blue

Posted on February 24, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The goal: Defeating President Bush in November. The requirement: Turning at least one Red state from 2000 into a Blue state. How are we doing on that front? Well, John Kerry and John Edwards are both leading George Bush in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment

CD09 update

Posted on February 24, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

With early voting for the March 9 primary underway as of yesterday, the race in CD09 has gotten spirited. Candidates Al Green and Rep. Chris Bell both landed some high profile endorsements for the home stretch. Former Houston Justice of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

Defining terrorist down

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Remember when no one paid any attention to Rod Paige? Boy, weren’t those the days. Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation’s largest teachers union a “terrorist organization” today, taking on the 2.7-million-member National Education Association early in the presidential … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 4 Comments

There’s recruiting and then there’s recruiting

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Buried near the bottom of this rather pedestrian story about sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ stuff on the Bigtime College Athletics Recruiting Trail is a fairly sensible suggestion, made by UT Coach Mack Brown. UT and A&M are in unusual positions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 2 Comments

Making BlogAds work for future candidates

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen the Wired article on BlogAds and their role in helping Ben Chandler get elected to Congress by now. It’s good coverage of the story and provides a good view from inside the Chandler campaign of the ads’ … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a WiFi-enabled bus

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

This is downright cool – it’s a project to bring Internet access to remote locations by means of solar power, wireless access points, and data transmissions via buses or motorcycles. Here’s a press release from one of their projects in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on Never underestimate the bandwidth of a WiFi-enabled bus

Fill ‘er up!

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

My, my. The TRMPAC scandal investigation continues to expand, as Travis County DA Ronnie Earle’s office sends out dozens of subpoenas over the next few days. Nine subpoenas were officially filed Friday. They went to House Speaker Tom Craddick and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Another race to watch

Posted on February 22, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one statewide race this year, for Railroad Commissioner. The incumbent, Victor Carrillo, was appointed by Rick Perry to finish out Tony Garza’s term. He’s now facing opposition in the Republican primary, and the GOP establishment is going all out … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

So that’s where they’re hiding!

Posted on February 22, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Headline in today’s Chron: Volunteer discovers a new asteroid on Internet. I must confess, I never would have thought to look there myself. Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Comments Off on So that’s where they’re hiding!

Buy Girl Scout cookies!

Posted on February 21, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Is there no end to what some people will politicize? People in Waco were more than a bit taken aback after turning on a Christian radio station and hearing a community leader call for a boycott of Thin Mints and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 9 Comments

Checking out the talent

Posted on February 21, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Today was tryout day for the Timbergrove Little League. Unlike last year, when I was called in to coach an already-formed team, I had the opportunity to observe and participate in a brief workout of the new and returning players … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | 2 Comments

Keeping an eye on the candidates

Posted on February 21, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

It goes without saying that the upcoming election is vital, and I consider it a top priority to help every good candidate that I can to win. I’m going to highlight a few of these candidates here, and will continue … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 3 Comments

More rail studies in Sugar Land

Posted on February 21, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I guess this is progress. A commuter rail along the U.S. 90A corridor is a workable transportation option for passengers commuting from Fort Bend County to Houston, according to a feasibility study released Friday. “The future of Fort Bend County … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment