Monthly Archives: August 2005

Many ways to help

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve watched TV or listened to the radio at all these past couple of days, you’re probably aware of several ways in which you can do something to help (bearing in mind that donating to the Red Cross is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 2 Comments

Volunteer opportunity: Harris County Citizen Corps

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

My friend Andrea forwarded me the following email from County Judge Robert Eckels on behalf of the Harris County Citizen Corps: Harris County Citizen Corps Members, Today we are going to help those who have been impacted by Hurricane Katrina … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 2 Comments

TDCAA on the new anti-abortion law

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I noted earlier this week that the Texas District and County Attorneys Association (TDCAA) had outlined a scenario in which “Texas doctors who perform abortions without parental approval or after the third trimester could face capital murder charges” under the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Katrina fundraiser

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Before I get into today’s Katrina links, I want to pass this along to my fellow Houstonians. The Rod Ryan Show and The Buzz present the Hurricane Katrina Request-athon! Starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday, we’ll be taking song requests for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 5 Comments

Sherrie Matula in HD129

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Carl Whitmarsh is reporting to his email list that Rep. John Davis, who has gone unchallenged in each election since the 2001 State House redistricting, will not be unopposed next year. Glad to report the impending announcement of the candidacy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments

No Nonsense blog

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

No Nonsense In November has itself a blog, so you can easily keep up-to-date on what’s going on with this important campaign. Bloglines didn’t automatically pick up their RSS feed for me, so I’m giving it here in case you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2005 | Comments Off on No Nonsense blog

Abramoff pleads not guilty

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Tom DeLay’s buddy Jack Abramoff has begun one of his tours through the criminal justice system. Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key figure in ethics investigations involving U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Abramoff pleads not guilty

Real reform

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

If you haven’t yet, I commend you to read this post on the Chris Bell blog on what it means to run as a “reform” candidate. Greg and The Jeffersonian have commented on it already, and my reaction is more … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Real reform

Intermodality

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Christof Spieler of the CTC has a new blog called Intermodality that will be of interest to anyone who cares about how Houstonians move around. I found it via Tory, and I second his recommendation. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Intermodality

More new laws

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve ever wondered why there are so-called “activist” judges who “legislate from the bench”, here’s one reason. Texas doctors who perform abortions without parental approval or after the third trimester could face capital murder charges because of a new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Eyes on Katrina

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The destruction that Hurricane Katrina brought is incredible, and we’ve yet to get any real idea of how bad it is. What’s more amazing is that no matter how bad it turns out to have been, it still could have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 5 Comments

More like this, please

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Well, what do you know? Someone in the media has discovered that Kay Bailey Hutchison is not running unopposed next year. See how it’s done in this piece on base closings in Texas. The state’s losses provided Barbara Ann Radnofsky, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

The superintendents strike back

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

School superintendents from around Texas continue to fight back against some of the things said about and done to them in the wake of Special SessionPalooza. From Lufkin: Lufkin ISD’s deputy superintendent says he suspects that Gov. Rick Perry’s recent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on The superintendents strike back

Okay, I won’t fear the reaper

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I see that Dwight has called me a wuss for my embrace of old technology. OK, I confess – guilty as charged, Your Honor. I appreciate all the tips about iPods and downloading, but I have a question for all … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 9 Comments

July traffic report

Posted on August 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

July had a slight downtick to 49,000 visitors (August has already exceeded this). I continue to think that’s just randomness, mostly due to fluctuations in search engine referrals. The holiday week is also a slow time. July featured the appearance … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Traffic Reports | Comments Off on July traffic report

New laws, get yer new laws

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s almost September, and that means it’s time for all those newly enacted laws to take effect. Most of the 700-plus new state laws going into effect Thursday, products of last spring’s legislative session, will create hardly a ripple in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Is the CD dead?

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As I read this article about the decline and eventual fall of the CD as a format for delivering recorded music, I take a moment to ponder all of the ways in which I’m becoming demographically obsolete. I like baseball. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Let the new fall seasons begin

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

How happy I am to see a story about Lost – especially one which does not involve lawsuits – in the news. How very happy I am to see that the season premier is a bit more than three weeks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 1 Comment

Katrina and Camille

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Katrina has made landfall just east of New Orleans. There’s hope that it won’t be the apocalyptic catastrophe it had (and still has) the potential to be – indeed, damage estimates are dropping – but it’s still very early. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 2 Comments

A few words with Nick Lampson

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I had the opportunity over the weekend to sit down and have a conversation with Nick Lampson at his campaign office in Clear Lake. I didn’t do this in formal interview fashion, we just shot the breeze for an hour … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Oh, those lobbyists

Posted on August 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I love this opening paragraph to today’s entry in the Why Special SessionPalooza Was A Miserable Failure sweepstakes. The Legislature’s failure to pass property tax cuts this summer was largely the result of a breakdown in behind-the-scenes negotiations among powerful … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 2 Comments

Katrina

Posted on August 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t really have much to say about Hurricane Katrina that hasn’t been said elsewhere, so let me join in with everyone else and say if you’re in that area please get out and stay safe. This is going to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Comments Off on Katrina

Blog notes

Posted on August 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

My webhost now has a blog, which strikes me as the sort of thing that webhosts in general ought to have. This post about how they deal with fraud made them worth the effort to add to my Bloglines subscriptions. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Blog notes

Why sixty-five?

Posted on August 27, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I should have guessed that the sixty-five percent solution didn’t come out of nowhere. Just like the outsourced school finance plan, the genesis of Governor Perry’s recent executive order is just more ideological nonsense which has nothing to do with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 4 Comments

Griggs retiring

Posted on August 27, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As previously rumored, State Rep. Bob Griggs is retiring at the end of his current term. Griggs’ decision was not a surprise. His open displeasure over the lack of influence he wielded in Austin on school finance sparked speculation about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Ellis announces in SD7

Posted on August 27, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

City Council member Mark Ellis, who is term-limited as of this year, has announced his intention to run for the open SD7 seat. “I’m extremely irritated at what’s going on in Austin. There are two issues that are important, school … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 4 Comments

Dance, Tom, dance!

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

You know that any article that features a photo of Tom DeLay standing next to an Elvis impersonator is going to be good reading, right? And so it is. I’ve opined before that DeLay’s actions so far indicate to me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 6 Comments

We’re Number Ten!

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The number ten national television market, that is. Houston is now officially a Top 10 television market, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday. Houston replaces Detroit, which dropped to No. 11. Nielsen lists Houston as increasing from 2,059,450 TV households to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 3 Comments

Downtown parking

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

This makes so much sense it’s hard to believe no one had thought of it before. [T]he Downtown Entertainment District Alliance, which includes downtown merchants, has come up with a parking alternative aimed at eliminating parking woes: Those going to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment

Those new speaker rumors

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

PinkDome and BOR report that rumors of a possible overthrow of State House Speaker Tom Craddick are intensifying. I don’t doubt that, though as Paul Burka says, there’s a ways to go between talk and action. There’s another possibility to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on Those new speaker rumors

Ten years of Windows 95

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Dwight gets a little nostalgic as he remembers the Windows 95 rollout a decade ago. The thing I remember is the Rice MOB doing a technology-themed show that was inspired by this. We actually set things up to be broadcast … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

More campaign announcements

Posted on August 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As Greg has noted, State Rep. Joe Nixon is now officially a candidate for the open SD7 seat, joining fellow Republican Rep. Peggy Hamric in the race. I’ve got a press release from the announcement which touts Nixon’s “11-year record” … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments

Another endorsement for Bell

Posted on August 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Desis for Texas, a political organization of South Asian citizens, has given a very enthusiastic endorsement to Chris Bell for Governor. It’s now mirrored on the Bell blog. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 6 Comments

Comment spam – Future dirty campaign trick?

Posted on August 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

PerryVsWorld recently got a bunch of Kinky Friedman-flavored comment spam. I’m sure it’s just a fluke, but the thought has occurred to me that this sort of thing could be a tempting dirty trick for some upcoming Karl Rove wannabe. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments