Monthly Archives: July 2004

Greenpass

Posted on July 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Ezra gives a recommendation for Greenpass, a new blog by Zoe VanderWolk, who had interned with the Gadflyer. Some good stuff there, mostly from the convention. I strongly agree with what she says about tending the netroots. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Greenpass

The bounce

Posted on July 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Poll time. In interviews on Thursday, July 29-before the Kerry nomination acceptance speech-Kerry/Edwards received the support of 47 percent of registered voters, Bush/Cheney 45 percent and Nader/Camejo 2 percent, according to the Newsweek Poll. In Friday interviews after the speech, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 2 Comments

Hormigas caliente

Posted on July 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The dreaded fire ant may have finally met its match. B lamed for everything from starting fires to ravaging crops, delivering painful multiple bites and decimating wildlife, imported red fire ants — Solenopsis invicta — are the ants from hell. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

Changing the tone

Posted on July 31, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

From John Kerry’s acceptance speech: “I want to address these next words directly to President Bush: In the weeks ahead, let’s be optimists, not just opponents. Let’s build unity in the American family, not angry division.” Headline in today’s Chron: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 8 Comments

How to get more people to watch the convention

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

If the networks are really concerned about dwindling ratings for the national conventions (something which, frankly, they themselves must take some blame for, as they do a better job of anti-marketing them than Beelzebud Selig did with MLB before the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | 3 Comments

Trimming the fat and the budget

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Who could find fault in the new state policy that bans fast food from Texas schools? Would you believe PTOs? When school opens across the state next month, Chick-fil-A, Pizza Hut and other popular fast food vendors will no longer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

Another Enron guilty plea

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Welcome to Club Fed, Ken Rice! Ken Rice, the former head of Enron’s broadband Internet business, became the 11th person to plead guilty to an Enron-related crime when he admitted to a single count of securities fraud this morning before … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Another Enron guilty plea

$15K in 14 days

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The State Democratic Party is attempting to raise $15K over the next two weeks in order to get a copy of the DNC’s “Demzilla” file for State House candidates. Democrats who say their No. 1 goal is to take back … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

Cisneros not running in 06

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

For all the talk of who is or might be running for this or that in 2006, here’s one person who’ll be sitting it out: Henry Cisneros. “I have no plans to run for office in 2006,” said Cisneros, 57. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

Barbara Radnofsky

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Who is Barbara Radnofsky, you ask? Possibly the next Democratic candidate for the Senate, that’s who. Radnofsky has never run for office and says that her only political involvement up until recently has been holding fundraisers for friends running in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 7 Comments

Kerry’s speech

Posted on July 30, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

So I didn’t actually watch Kerry’s speech last night. I’m not a big speech-watching person, and hey, it’s not like he has to convince me that he’d make a fine President. With one notable exception, the lefty bloggers seem to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on Kerry’s speech

“And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead”

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I do believe that Byron has found the dumbest convention story yet. MIA at the DNC The Democrats best known to the most Texans aren’t at the Boston Hilton this week. They aren’t delegates, so they’re on vacation or back … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on “And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead”

The closest the Chron has come to understanding blogs

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story on the bloggers at the Democratic Convention may come a bit late in the game (not exactly atypical for our hometown paper, of course), but it has the virtue of being non-condescending. It even contains a decent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Congressional news

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Reps. Martin Frost and Pete Sessions will debate each other five times between Labor Day and Election Day. Those who can’t tell the difference between them by November have no one to blame for it but themselves. (via) Max Sandlin … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

Are you better off now?

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Economic conditions took turn for worse, Fed says The Federal Reserve found that economic conditions around the country worsened in June and early July, while the Commerce Department said orders for big-ticket manufactured goods managed only a 0.7 percent rise … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

2004 vs 2003

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Josh Marshall perfectly captures the difference between the Democratic mood and tone in 2003 and now. Check it out. UPDATE: Atrios agrees, and adds a few thoughts. Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on 2004 vs 2003

Not how it was, but how it should have been

Posted on July 29, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Tonight on the 6 PM news, KHOU-11 did a story about how the Texas delegation is getting disrespected at the Democratic convention. I didn’t pay much attention to it – Tiffany likes watching the local news, but it usually gives … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 4 Comments

“Simpsons” goes gay

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Do I really need to tell you that when a character on The Simpsons is going to be coming out of the closet, your first stop for exhaustive speculation as to who that character might be should be A Perfectly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 3 Comments

Morrison poll numbers

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Hard not to get at least a little excited at these poll numbers. Beattie Hamilton & Staff for the DCCC. Poll details unknown. DeLay (R) 49 Morrison (D) 39 Fjetland (I) 7 DeLay is running 11 points behind Bush/Cheney (which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 8 Comments

Comment problem fixed (again)

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, I had a repeat of the webhost problem which gave “permission denied” errors when commenting, and which also prevented me from posting before now. I saved a few things in draft and have now published them. Dreamhost has assured … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | Comments Off on Comment problem fixed (again)

Where’d I put those backups?

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you’ve seen the story of Florida’s latest voting woes by now. A computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County’s first widespread use of touchscreen voting machines, raising again the specter of elections troubles in Florida, where the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

Popup redux

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Awhile back, I bashed the GOP for including pop-up ads as part of its Internet outreach strategy. I stand by my assertion that pop-ups are a stupid way to reach consumers, especially considering their looming obsolescence thanks to pop-up-blocking technology, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on Popup redux

That’s why they call it “parody”

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

You’d think that with all of the scandals and investigations surrounding him that Tom DeLay wouldn’t have a whole lot of free time for frivolity, but apparently you’d be wrong. A super-sized Statue of Liberty, holding aloft an order of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 3 Comments

My $0.02 on convention blogging

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

If I were there, I’d probably spend my time finding people to talk to, and blogging about that. That’s just me, of course – your mileage may vary and all that. That said, Byron’s conversation with Kucinich delegates is the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

School finance lawsuit to proceed

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The elephant in the room during the whole school finance reform mess has been a lawsuit by a bunch of school districts, HISD included, which charges the state with not meeting its funding obligations. Today a motion by the state … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on School finance lawsuit to proceed

Bell’s doing well

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

All things considered, it’s not so bad to be Chris Bell right about now. Since filing an ethics complaint against the House Republican leader from Sugar Land last month, Bell has become a darling of the Democrats. Texan delegates to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Bell’s doing well

Anyone But Craddick

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Dave McNeely notes that the Democrats in the State House are aiming to elect a different speaker in 2005. The Democrats, with large eyes, think they they might be able to beat six or seven incumbent Republicans, including two in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

Byron gets it right

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Regarding last night’s speeches, I think Byron nails this: The only way that Hillary will win the Democratic nomination in 2008 will be if Democrats across the country are fully convinced that she did everything in her power to get … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 11 Comments

Timing is everything

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Two headlines from yesterday’s Chron: Google stock will start at $108-$135 a share Web worm slows search sites Not that it really mattered, but the second headline appeared later in the day than the first one. Probably just as well … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Timing is everything

Atrios unveiled

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

By now you’ve probably heard the news that Atrios is psuedonymous no more. His name is Duncan Black – it now says “Eschaton — a weblog by d u n c a n b l a c k” at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Texas Tuesdays: Kelly White

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I know everyone’s eyes are focused on Boston right now, but back here in Austin we’ve got another fine Texas Tuesdays candidate for your approval in Kelly White, former executive director of SafePlace. Though this is her first run at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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What’s in a name?

Posted on July 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

We picked the name Olivia partly because we liked how it sounded, partly because we didn’t know any other Olivias, and partly because it wasn’t an excessively popular name. It turns out we were wrong about that last reason – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 23 Comments

All my friends know the Low Rider

Posted on July 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not even a car person, but I’m sorry I missed the Lowrider Evolution Tour yesterday. “It’s just what I love; I love old cars,” said a beaming O’Brien Longoria, of Conroe, as he explained why he spent three years … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 2 Comments

WaPo Best Blogs contest

Posted on July 26, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not as prestigious as the Koufax Awards, but I imagine this will get some publicity: the Washington Post is holding a Best Blogs contest, and they’re taking nominations in ten categories between now and September 3 (voting begins September … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment