Monthly Archives: April 2004

Yellow ribbons

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Remember when we tied yellow ribbons around oak trees in support of the hostages in Iran? Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 1 Comment

The fundraising race

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Some mostly good news: Democrats are keeping pace with Republicans in fundraising for this year, at least in many individual races. Over all, the Republicans held a two-to-one financial advantage over their Democratic rivals through February, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on The fundraising race

The Chron takes yet another stab at blogging

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose one could say that MeMo, the latest attempt at “blogging” by the Chron, is a step in the right direction in that this effort, unlike earlier ones, actually has a separate link to each day’s entry and a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Bell v. Perry

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Great minds think alike – I had exactly the same reaction upon reading this op-ed by Rep. Chris Bell as Greg did, which is to say that it’s the opening shot in Bell’s 2006 run for statewide office. He’s going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Bell v. Perry

The streak

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Having entered the (for me) uncharted waters of winning a game on Tuesday, we kept on plunging forward by embarking on a winning streak – the Twins defeated the Marlins 9-2 last night for the second straight victory and a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | 4 Comments

A very bad idea

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Be very, very skeptical when you see politicians push ideas like this. Now that the dreaded deadline is past and the tax forms are in the mail, consider this question: Would you rather slog through a morass of paperwork every … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 11 Comments

You forgot the part about artificial enhancements

Posted on April 15, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

One liner of the day, from Joe Sheehan of the Baseball Prospectus: One week of baseball games, no matter the month, are a bit like Jessica Simpson. Beautiful to look at, and impossible to get any useful information from. Whoever … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

Special session blues

Posted on April 15, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I was too lazy to round up some stories on the long awaited and much dreaded special session on school finance reform from yesterday, but at least I bookmarked the relevant URLs. So let’s look at them now. Houston’s school … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Special session blues

More partisanship? Heaven forfend!

Posted on April 15, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So it looks the State House could become a more partisan place now that several Democratic legislators were ousted by primary voters for not adequately representing their views. I know, I didn’t think that was possible after the three-ring Special … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 5 Comments

Rodriguez sues

Posted on April 15, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

As expected, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez has filed suit to overturn the recount result in the CD28 Democratic primary. The suit, filed in 341st District Court on Cuellar’s home turf, alleges that there is “no ready or plausible explanation” for a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

Beer bong ban update

Posted on April 15, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

It’s time for a Beer Bong Ban Update (original post here). NEW BRAUNFELS — The City Council has taken the first step toward banning “beer bongs” on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers, instructing City Attorney Charlie Zech to draft an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 15 Comments

Comments and gadgets

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Ginger has a long and thoughtful post about the utility of having comments on one’s blog, and how that equation may change if one aspires to something other than amateur status. While I agree that comment threads at some of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 10 Comments

Those complicated comics

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Leon Hale is a bit confuzzled about a couple of comic strips. Do you read the Chronicle’s funnies? I do, sure, but sometimes I need to have them explained to me. No, I’m not kidding. Some days I just don’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 9 Comments

Casey followup

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Kevin writes that Rick Casey printed a clarification in his column today regarding his usage of WaPo reporter Dan Morgan’s story on Monday. Kevin’s not too happy with Casey’s explanation, and notes that he never got any kind of response … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Casey followup

Previewing the coming War on Naughty Pictures

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

“As the judge remarked the day that he acquitted my Aunt Hortense To be smut it must be ut-terly Without redeeming social importance” — Tom Lehrer Eugene Volokh takes a look at John Ashcroft’s forthcoming War on Smut and projects … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 7 Comments

Runoff results

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I was all set to start collecting links to round up the runoff results, but Byron‘s got it totally covered. Start here and click through the “previous” links until you’re done. It’s pretty rare for me to care one way … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

The thrill of victory

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you heard tonight had nothing to do with the Presidential press conference. That was the sound of the monkey climbing off my back in the wake of the Mustang Twins’ first win of the season, a 9-5 triumph … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Just call me Coach | 7 Comments

Check, please

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Ever wonder what kind of fact-checking the major opinion journals have in place? Ted Barlow did, and so he, um, checked it out. The result was a bit unflattering for one particular magazine. Normally, this is where I’d say “check … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Check, please

Dammit, you’re messing up my TiVo schedule!

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Which genius told the President that this was a good time for an all-too-rare news conference? The networks were scratching their heads Monday after the White House opted to schedule a primetime press conference for 8:30 p.m. ET tonight. If … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 12 Comments

Special session called

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

No turning back now, as Governor Perry has made the call for a special session to start on Tuesday, April 20. (See, I was right that it wouldn’t be for the 19th.) What happens from here is anyone’s guess, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 4 Comments

Chuck D

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

From yesterday’s Chron: a profile of Chuck D, one of the stars of Air America‘s lineup. I haven’t written about Air America so far because I’ve not listened to it, something which distinguishes me from William Raspberry. If I don’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Chuck D

Bonds ties Mays

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Congrats to Barry Bonds hitting his 660th home run yesterday, tying him with his godfather Willie Mays for third overall in career homers. (Quick trivia question: Who’s #5? Here’s the answer.) Barring injury or unforeseen dropoff in performance, he ought … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 10 Comments

Runoffs today

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Our long national nightmare of hearing Ben Streusand’s voice on the TV as he approves yet another damn advertisement of his really amazingly non-politiciany conservative credentials is finally ending today. There are four other GOP Congressional runoffs plus one for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 3 Comments

Let no one else’s work evade your eyes

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Kevin makes a detailed case that hotshot Chron columnist Rick Casey plagiarized this WaPo piece when he wrote this column. It’s clear, as Kevin demonstrates, that Casey basically just rewrote the WaPo article. Kevin is also clear that making a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 5 Comments

Bloglines update

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

First of all, Kriston Capps has moved Grammar Police off of Blogspot and onto its own MovableType-friendly domain. Among other things, this means he now has a working RSS feed. Update your blogrolls and aggregators accordingly. I’m more or less … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 1 Comment

We have the plan, now where’s the session?

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Now that Governor Perry has finally unveiled his long-awaited school finance reform plan, when is that long-awaited special session going to be called? He ain’t saying, because he’s still working on consensus. From the Bahamas to Houston, the governor has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on We have the plan, now where’s the session?

NRCC fined

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The National Republican Congressional Committee has agreed to pay a $280,000 fine for soft-money violations in 1999. The FEC has entered into a conciliation agreement with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) resulting from its 1999 transfer of $500,000 in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on NRCC fined

D-435

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

D-435 is a project to enlist a Democratic candidate in all races where there’s an unopposed Republican. Most of these would be considered longshots of varying extremity based on 2002’s returns, but a handful of them are within shouting distance … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on D-435

Mayor White: The first 100 days

Posted on April 12, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Has it been 100 days already for Mayor White? The Chron says they’ve been pretty good days for him so far, and I’m inclined to agree. Although a few question marks and “incompletes” dot his report card in the early … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Mayor White: The first 100 days

The spyware that loved me

Posted on April 11, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll second Ginger‘s recommendation of this Chron article on spyware. There’s some nasty stuff out there, and you probably don’t know about it – if you are seeing messages popping up on your screen for no apparent reason, it’s almost … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 6 Comments

March traffic report

Posted on April 11, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

There were about 33,000 hits here in March, a number that might have been a bit higher had it not been for some outages, including a major DDOS attack, on my webhost. Traffic fluctuates somewhat from week to week, with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Traffic Reports | 1 Comment

Sieve City

Posted on April 11, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest to Houstonians: Sieve City is a project by a couple of Architecture grad students at Rice who want to know how far from your house you walk. Don’t know what they ultimately plan on doing with it, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Sieve City

PDB

Posted on April 11, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone else is linking it, so for my own future reference and your enlightenment if by some chance you haven’t seen it, here’s that Presidential daily briefing you’ve heard so much about. Full text is beneath the More link. Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on PDB

The Wichita Falls Tornado

Posted on April 11, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Twenty-five years ago, a massive tornado levelled the North Texas city of Wichita Falls, killing 42 people and injuring 1700. Walking through tornado-ravaged neighborhoods after a deadly storm 25 years ago, architect Charles F. Harper saw something strange: small closets … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 5 Comments