Monthly Archives: May 2004

A few new voices

Posted on May 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a new lefty political blog from Austin for you to check out: The View from the Left. He’s got an RSS feed, so a subscription to same can be found in my Bloglines blogs. Other recently-added subscriptions include: – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Texas Roadhouse blues

Posted on May 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So there’s a national franchise called the “Texas Roadhouse”, and there’s a privately owned watering hole in La Vernia called the True Blue Texas Roadhouse. Put ’em together and what do you get? Right. A lawsuit. The Kentucky-based Texas Roadhouse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 13 Comments

3-2-9

Posted on May 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Even in Little League, I wouldn’t expect to ever see a play like this. The infield fly rule is a subtle thing. Via Nail-Tinted Glasses, who also points out this excellent Legomation re-enactment for those who need a visual. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on 3-2-9

Some background on Strayhorn and the Unitarians

Posted on May 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s a little late getting into the Strayhorn/Unitarian game, but their belated effort is pretty good. It’s a concise rundown of the history of this controversy, and it provides some context. In particular, there’s a quote attributed to Strayhorn … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

Today Philly, tomorrow Houston?

Posted on May 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So now that Phoenix has passed (or is on the brink of passing) Philadekphia to become America’s fifth-most populous city, how long until they catch up to Houston for #4? During the 1990s, Phoenix grew by 34 percent, or 340,000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 5 Comments

Another Texan on the ballot

Posted on May 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Via MyDD, I see that the Libertarian Party has chosen to nominate some Texan no one has ever heard of for President instead of the charismatic and buzz-inducing Hollywood producer Aaron Russo. So much for them having an impact on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment

More on the “Great Divide”

Posted on May 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s installment 3 of Bill Bishop’s series on the evolution of polarization in American society (noted previously here). This one is about how gerrymandered districts reflect the self-gerrymandered tastes of its constituents by producing more extreme winners in party primaries. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on More on the “Great Divide”

The wounded

Posted on May 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a moving account of four soldiers wounded in Iraq, now recovering in San Antonio at Brooke Army Medical Center. No politics, just a story of four men trying to put their lives back together. For whatever reason, the article’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | Comments Off on The wounded

Wythe on Frost

Posted on May 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing his What They Need To Do To Win series, Greg Wythe lays it out for Rep. Martin Frost. Great stuff, and I hope after he’s done with the incumbents he’ll do the same for the other two Texas Tuesday-supported … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Wythe on Frost

If they don’t have to drive, they don’t need to park

Posted on May 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Just west of the Rice University campus is the Rice Village, a collection of shops and eateries that’s been there for a few decades now. It’s grown in popularity, and the surrounding area has seen a lot of new high-density … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 4 Comments

Chip design breakthrough at UT

Posted on May 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Via Tom Kirkland, a team at the University of Texas is working on a prototype computer chip that can change its function according to the task at hand and in doing so achieve incredible speed. If the chip works as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 2 Comments

Jackson v. Perry

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

UT law professor Mitchell Berman makes the case in this op-ed that SCOTUS will use the Texas redistricting lawsuit Jackson v. Perry to do what it chose not to do in Vieth v. Jubelirir and set a judiciable standard for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

The undecideds

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Electablog puts the rest of the Presidential campaign in context. How could anyone be undecided about anything or anyone at this point? The true believers were decided at birth. The believers have been decided since Florida. The sort of believers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on The undecideds

“The Day After Tomorrow”

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

There are two op-eds in today’s Chron doing some kind of point-counterpoint about the “science” of the movie The Day After Tomorrow. Two. Freaking. Op-eds. People. Listen to me. This movie was written and directed by the same guy who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 1 Comment

Texas political briefs

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Checking around the Texas blogs for (mostly) political news and notes in our state: Greg will be looking at the electoral maps for each of the endangered Texas Democratic Congressional incumbents and from that he’ll project the outcomes they’ll need … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

Totally tubular

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like there will be ideal conditions for tubing on the rivers this weekend. NEW BRAUNFELS — With excellent tubing flows expected on both the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, tourism officials are expecting business to boom this weekend as tens … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

The Bush twins

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m with Ted here. I see nothing good, politically or morally, coming out of an attack on Jenna and Barbara Bush. Yes, I know, they’re adults now, and they’ve done a few things to make themselves inviting targets. They’re also … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 4 Comments

Yates house sold

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The house in Clear Lake where Andrea Yates lived has been sold. After being on the market for almost six months, the house where Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub has been sold. Real estate agent Mike … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 4 Comments

Link dump

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of good stuff out there… Al Gore’s speech. ‘Nuff said. Kash mentions a scary word from the late 70s. Dwight Meredith pokes a hole in the Governator’s proposal to tax punitive damage awards. Ryan Lizza discovers that those 4 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 3 Comments

Road watch

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Boy, that spiffy new Westpark Tollway is something else, isn’t it? Now they’ve had to close the exit ramp to the Southwest Freeway because it’s a safety hazard. The Harris County Toll Road Authority closed the eastbound exit from the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

Another Bacardi-DeLay overview

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The weekly San Antonio Current gives a brief overview of the Bacardi/DeLay story, which in their case now has the local angle of involvement from Reps. Lamar Smith and Henry Bonilla, both of whom are just shocked that anyone would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Another Bacardi-DeLay overview

DTripTV

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I know, it’s a silly little time-waster – then again, what on the Internet isn’t? – but I enjoyed the “Republican Survivor” trailer at DTripTV, and I signed up to watch the whole thing and participate in the voting. I’m … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Morrison on TV

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I may have mentioned this before, but a reminder never hurts: Richard Morrison will be on TV tonight in the Houston area (checking around, I see that this was originally scheduled for last week). Here are the details, via an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Morrison on TV

Pizza rules

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Strict rules set for pizza-making ROME — Pizza-makers beware: Italy has issued strict guidelines to protect the real Neapolitan pizza from bogus copies. The regulations touch on everything from size to ingredients to the type of oven — and rule-abiding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | 6 Comments

Morrison one of the dKOS 8

Posted on May 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Richard Morrison campaign ought to get a decent fundraising boost out of being named one of the eight highlighted races at Daily Kos. There are some interesting comments in this thread, with this one being easily the most noticeable. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Morrison one of the dKOS 8

Tom Clancy on Iraq

Posted on May 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So, you know that Tom Clancy is the coauthor with Gen. Anthony Zinni of the new book “Battle Ready”, in which Gen. Zinni is highly critical of the Bush administration for its invasion and occupation of Iraq. Here’s what Clancy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 3 Comments

Charlie Cook on the races

Posted on May 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

In case you’re wondering why so many of us have been pounding the Texas Tuesdays concept these past few weeks, check out what Charlie Cook has to say (PDF) about (among others) the Texas Congressional races. All the races highlighted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

Texas Tuesday wrapup: Max Sandlin

Posted on May 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks for another successful Texas Tuesday, featuring Rep. Max Sandlin this week. We hope you enjoy reading about the candidates and getting the chance to help them out. We were asked in the comments yesterday about an RSS feed. This … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Texas Tuesdays | 1 Comment

Free bikes

Posted on May 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Say what you will about the Harris County GOP, they’ve got a lot of money and they’re not afraid to spend it. The Harris County Republican Party took a marketing strategy successfully used by Coca-Cola and Nike to the East … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 7 Comments

Panhandle Truth Squad

Posted on May 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Via Byron, I’m pleased to discover a blog called the Panhandle Truth Squad, run by three liberal types out in West Texas. The Texas Political Bloggers list is pretty much dominated by Houston, Austin, and Dallas. I’d love to see … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

More on Max Sandlin

Posted on May 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still Tuesday, so there’s still time to participate in Texas Tuesdays and lend a hand to Rep. Max Sandlin. Check out what Gary has posted about him, and do what you can to make a difference in this tight … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Texas Tuesdays | Comments Off on More on Max Sandlin

Oval Office Space

Posted on May 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

This re-interpretation of Office Space is pretty damn funny. Long, but funny. Check it out. Via The Gadflyer. Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 1 Comment

Texas Tuesdays: Max Sandlin

Posted on May 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of a late start today, but that’s OK because today’s featured candidate, Rep. Max Sandlin, is worth waiting for. He’s got a spiffy new website and another cookie-cutter redistricting-abetted opponent, so hop on over, check him out, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Texas Tuesdays | Comments Off on Texas Tuesdays: Max Sandlin

527

Posted on May 25, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Man, Julia really is something else when she gets on a roll, isn’t she? Marvelous. One thing to note, from this WhiteHouseForSale post that she quotes: The Associated Press reports that while Democratic-leaning 527 groups are receiving in large contributions, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 7 Comments