Monthly Archives: September 2004

AusChron reviews “50 Years of the Texas Observer”

Posted on September 9, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Thumbs up from the Austin Chronicle on Fifty Years of the Texas Observer. They even noticed the George H.W. Bush “compassionate conservatism” meme from 1964. I’m still lagging behind on finishing this book, but this is as good a time … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

TANG

Posted on September 9, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Regarding all the stuff that has now come out regarding George W. Bush’s apparent failure to fulfill his duties in the Texas Air National Guard, I refer you to what Josh says: And, finally, let’s not miss the obvious point … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 7 Comments

Either we enforce the rules or we don’t

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

OK, I’ve seen enough cheap shots at the Yankees for daring to ask Beelzebud Selig to enfore the rules of the game viz the Devil Rays not showing up on time for the scheduled doubleheader on Monday. If you’re going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 7 Comments

Poincare update

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I knew that the Poincare Conjecture had to be in the news recently because I was getting a bunch of search engine referrals for it, and here it is: Via Slashdot, a Reuters story that doesn’t really tell us anything … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on Poincare update

And where do you fit in?

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Eric Zorn asks ArchPundit Five Easy Questions, the latter of which is of interest to me: 5. In all modesty, describe your current place in the blogosphere and where you see that place and your role in the future of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on And where do you fit in?

Texas (Feels Like) Tuesday: Jim Nickerson

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Admit it – yesterday felt like Monday, right? If so, then today must be Texas Tuesday, with our special guest star Jim Nickerson, running against Ralph “I Was DINO Before DINO Was Cool” Hall in CD04. Learn more about Jim … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Texas Tuesdays | Comments Off on Texas (Feels Like) Tuesday: Jim Nickerson

Ethics complaint filed against UH-CL for DeLay appearance

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

What’s one more ethics complaint where Tom DeLay is involved? A formal complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Committee against the University of Houston-Clear Lake, because of the reception held at the university honoring House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

New DA candidates in Waller County

Posted on September 8, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

And the race for District Attorney in Waller County to replace the outgoing Oliver Kitzman is on. The Waller County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee has chosen Sylvia Cedillo, 39, a civil rights attorney who directs the Domestic Violence Project at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

The six wards of Houston

Posted on September 7, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Decent article on the six historic Wards of Houston, which were municipal government areas from the late 19th century. Unfortunately, the hardcopy Lifestyle cover, which included a map of the wards and famous places within them, doesn’t seem to appear … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 5 Comments

More on Waller County

Posted on September 7, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

If the charges in this LA Times story are true, then the problems in Waller County go way beyond whether or not Prairie View students can vote in local elections. In lawsuits, documented complaints to authorities and interviews, civic leaders … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 2 Comments

Dan on DREs

Posted on September 7, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

My buddy Dan Wallach has an op-ed in the Statesman from a few days ago about Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting systems and how they’re set up to work in Texas. Whatever one thinks about DREs versus other styles of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

A new day care dawns

Posted on September 7, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Tiffany is back at work as of today, which means that Olivia is in day care. Only part time, mind you, as Tiffany is working a half schedule through the end of the year, but today is the first day. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 3 Comments

Riding the bus with Richard Morrison

Posted on September 7, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Richard Morrison Labor Day Bus Ride got some coverage from KHOU. Fluffy coverage, but still better than no coverage. TV news is good for something, I guess. Via The Stakeholder. I note at the end of the story that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 1 Comment

War support dropping in Texas

Posted on September 6, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Some data from the latest Texas Poll: Fifty-six percent of poll respondents answered “yes” to the question of whether “the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over.” Thirty-eight percent said “no,” and 6 percent said they didn’t know … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 2 Comments

Chron on Sessions v. Frost

Posted on September 6, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like we’ll be getting a weekly dose of Congressional race reports from the Chron now – last week was Lampson v. Poe, and this week is Frost v. Sessions. Not a whole lot of new ground here if you’ve … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

A good start

Posted on September 6, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Rice 10, UH 7. Sweeeet. Shoulda been a shutout, but the Rice secondary finally got burned on the last play of the game for UH. Best defensive effort I’ve seen in a long time, and given how effective UH was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 9 Comments

More important questions

Posted on September 5, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

College football gets started a day late for me, as the Rice Owls open their season today. I surfed through a few games on TV yesterday and was reminded often that for me, in many games involving a BCS program, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 18 Comments

Revenue cap, take two

Posted on September 5, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I mostly want to take the weekend off from politics, but Houstonians ought to be sure they read this article on the upcoming fight over differing revenue cap proposals. As I said before, I plan on voting against both of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Important philosophical question

Posted on September 4, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The New Improved Redesigned Style Section of the Houston Chronicle has a feature called Street Fashion which caught my eye on Thursday. Basically, they photograph a couple of women on the street and ask them about their clothes. One of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 13 Comments

Perry’s poor popularity

Posted on September 4, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Guv’s numbers are better than before, but they’re still net negative. Some 47 percent in the Scripps Howard survey rated the governor’s job performance as fair or poor, a five-point drop from last spring’s poll during a failed special … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Mike Toomey resigns

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

It was rumor and now it’s reality. Mike Toomey, a former lawmaker and lobbyist who had served as Gov. Rick Perry’s chief of staff for nearly two years and served as a chief architect of Perry’s legislative initiatives, announced today … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Mike Toomey resigns

Where The Wild Things Are

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for satire. The Texas Supreme Court ruled today in favor of the Dallas Observer and against two Denton County public officials who sued the alternative newspaper over a 1999 satire it published. The 8-0 ruling by the court … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 1 Comment

More voting controversy in Prairie View

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Another controversy in Prairie View as the Waller County Commissioners voted along racial and partisan lines to reject a second voting location on the PVAM campus. The 3-to-2 vote surprised minority leaders who thought county Judge Owen Ralston, a white … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 5 Comments

Lay says it’s about politics

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m trying to make sense of this op-ed piece which ran in the Chron and the WaPo yesterday, in which Kenny Boy Lay claims that there’s a political motive behind his criminal indictment. (It’s also now the sole content on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Lay says it’s about politics

The word spreads

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Last week I saw a neighbor wearing an It’s Worth It button. Yesterday I saw an It’s Worth It bumper sticker on a car. That’s already way more popular acceptance of any marketing scheme for the city of Houston than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 4 Comments

Dennis Hastert is making sense

Posted on September 2, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been puzzling over Speaker Hastert’s bizarre (and in a just world, libelous) claim that George Soros may have made his fortune through narcotics trafficking (see video of it here, see Soros’ response to Hastert here (PDF), and see Josh … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 6 Comments

Where’s Tom?

Posted on September 2, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Taking on Tom DeLay and The Stakeholder note that Tom DeLay has been kept very much under wraps at this year’s GOP convention, which is not how it was back in 2000. I’ll let you follow their links – here’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Where’s Tom?

Rice – The next great university?

Posted on September 2, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Brian Leiter comments on Rice’s new President and gives his thoughts on how it can beef up its humanities departments. Check it out. One comment, since I know my Rice friends will make note of this: Rice’s gross endowment ranks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Rice – The next great university?

Sadun certified

Posted on September 2, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Lorenzo Sadun is now an official write-in candidate for CD10, as the Secretary of State certified his petition signatures. He’s been challenging Mike McCaul to debate him, but so far McCaul hasn’t responded. Can’t say I blame him, since the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | Comments Off on Sadun certified

Press interviews JR Richard

Posted on September 2, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Press has a fascinating interview with former Astros great JR Richard. If what he says is true here, he really got screwed by his former team: DH: How did the Houston Astros organization help you during your recovery? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 7 Comments

The Orange Show

Posted on September 1, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

The Orange Show is doing some repairs on their headquarters and on the Beer Can House. For the Orange Show, wind and dust attack its fragile sculptures and painted surfaces constantly, while one of the wettest Junes on record compounded … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

No Nader in Texas

Posted on September 1, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Ralph Nader’s bid to overturn Texas’ ballot access laws was rejected by a federal court today, meaning that he is still not on the Texas ballot. Nader’s campaign had claimed Texas ballot access requirements for independent candidates are the toughest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 2 Comments

DeLay ducks

Posted on September 1, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still laughing at a bit in Dave McNeely’s blog, which you’ll have to scroll down to see: Choice: the Hammer or the media. No contest. When members of the Texas press were called and uninvited to a convention-eve party … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 3 Comments

Hutchison criticizes CHIP cutbacks

Posted on September 1, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

You want further evidence that KBH is looking to relocate to Austin in 2006? You got it. Renewing debate over Texas’ commitment to children’s health care, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison criticized state government Tuesday for failing to spend millions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments