Monthly Archives: November 2005

Colyandro dismissed from ex-candidates’ lawsuit

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

There’s so many lawsuits and investigations relating to TRMPAC’s activities from 2002 that it’s sometimes hard to keep track. John Colyandro, the indicted former executive director of TRMPAC, now has one less lawsuit to worry about. On Tuesday, a federal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Colyandro dismissed from ex-candidates’ lawsuit

Display problem seems to be fixed

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Figured out what the sidebar-display problem was about: my use of a fixed-width font in this post. I could swear that it displayed correctly on Wednesday when I posted it, but I just realized today that it was the cause … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 1 Comment

The class of 2006

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The MLB Hall of Fame ballot for 2006 has been announced, and it’s remarkable in two ways: One, there’s no slamdunk newcomer on the list, and two, it’s curtains for Pete Rose until and unless the Veterans Committee takes up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 7 Comments

Does this look funny to you?

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I installed Movable Type 3.2 over the weekend. When I came back to the office on Tuesday, I noticed that my main page displays incorrectly on my PC here. Though my stylesheet did not change, it appears that the main … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 9 Comments

Early voting begins today for Houston runoff elections

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting begins today for the City of Houston runoff elections, which will be held on Saturday, December 10. If you live in the City of Houston, you have a vote to cast, for the City Council At Large #2 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2005 | Comments Off on Early voting begins today for Houston runoff elections

Analysis of the West Orange-Cove decision

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

After I posted a roundup of reactions to the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling in the school finance lawsuit appeal (also known as Neeley et al. v. West Orange-Cove et al., No. 04-144), I received an email from one of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 3 Comments

HD48 special election set

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The special election for HD48 to replace the outgoing Todd Baxter has been set for January 17. The January race will be a prelude to the March primaries and November general election, in which voters will choose someone for a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Meet Larry Stallings

Posted on November 30, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned that a fellow named Larry Stallings has taken the task of challenging State Rep. Frank Corte in HD122. It hasn’t taken him long to get his campaign into gear. He’s also got a campaign blog up, and judging … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Meet Larry Stallings

Fighting Dem David Harris

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

David Harris made his appearance on the weekly Fighting Dems portion of Majority Report Radio tonight. Here’s the writeup from Daily Kos. There should be an audio file on the Majority Report site shortly, if you weren’t able to tune … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Fighting Dem David Harris

Another rally, another protest

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

There was another rally in support of embattled former Majority Leader Tom DeLay yesterday, and another protest outside of said rally. Two items of interest from the story: One is that you can’t actually tell from the AP wire piece, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 4 Comments

Mary Denny retiring

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Mary Denny, one of the Texas Monthly Ten Worst Legislators for 2005 and a dedicated foe of letting people vote and ensuring voting system integrity, will not run for reelection next year. The District 63 representative is not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Contingency planning

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Stakeholder notes that Tom DeLay was ready to spring into action to regain his Majority Leadership had Judge Pat Priest done what he wanted and dismissed his indictments. From a Roll Call article, which I’ve reproduced beneath the fold: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Eye Level

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Kriston Capps announces a cool thing: Eye Level, a blog about the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Capps, who does a lot of artblogging over at his Grammar Police site, is the main blogger at Eye Level as well. Don’t know … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 2 Comments

David Harris on Air America tonight

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

David Harris will get his first real national exposure tonight when he’s featured as this week’s Fighting Dem on Air America’s Majority Report. His segment is set to begin at 8:34 PM Texas time, and there’s streaming audio available, so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

Ceverha asked to resign from Employees Retirement System of Texas

Posted on November 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Remember Bill Ceverha, the onetime treasurer for TRMPAC who declared personal bankruptcy last month so he wouldn’t have to pay a portion of the plaintiffs’ legal fees as ordered by the court? Apparently, he’s on the board of the $19.9 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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“Duke” Cunningham takes a plea and resigns

Posted on November 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham of San Diego has pleaded guilty to a variety of counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004. In a statement, prosecutors said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on “Duke” Cunningham takes a plea and resigns

The circle of life in Scandalville

Posted on November 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Josh Marshall sums it up. You know that when the casino boat line SunCruz was owned by Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan, the company paid the men who blew away SunCruz founder Gus Boulis. Now it turns out they also … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Why they tell you to not touch that dial

Posted on November 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Many years ago, I turned off a Giants football game with a few seconds left and the New Yorkers safely ahead, and headed outside to play. I got to the front yard (I left through the back door), where I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 5 Comments

The Oklahoma City Hornets

Posted on November 28, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The New Orleans Hornets are doing way better than anyone expected drawing crowds in their maybe-temporary home of Oklahoma City. After Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29 and then the levees broke and New Orleans … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 9 Comments

System upgrade

Posted on November 27, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I have just completed the long-overdue upgrade of my system to Movable Type version 3.2. Far as I can tell, everything is working, but on the not-completely-unlikely chance that you run into an odd error commenting or sending a Trackback, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 1 Comment

A short rant about “The Amazing Race”

Posted on November 27, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Has enough time passed since this past Tuesday’s The Amazing Race that I can rant about it? I think so, but just to ensure complaince with the National Anti-Spoiler Act of 1997, I’ll put the rest of this post beneath … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 12 Comments

Victor Morales???

Posted on November 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

According to The Jeffersonian, there may soon be a fourth contender in the Democratic primary for CD28 next year: once and former candidate for Senate and Congress Victor Morales. That’s based on a comment apparently left by Morales’ brother Joe, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 5 Comments

Lifetime achievement award for Ray Hill

Posted on November 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Good for you, Ray. Radio personality and political activist Ray Hill will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Houston chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday for his advocacy on behalf of prisoners and of homosexuals and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Lifetime achievement award for Ray Hill

DeLay now in the sights of Abramoff investigators

Posted on November 26, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Poor Tom DeLay. He won’t be able to blame this on Ronnie Earle. The Justice Department’s wide-reaching investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly active phase as prosecutors are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Too much football, too little time

Posted on November 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose if one must spend the day on the couch recovering from a cold, the least the universe could do for you is to provide seven hours of nonstop football to help pass the time. It’s always fun to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 7 Comments

Katy ISD kerfuffle: Not resolved

Posted on November 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, the Texas Ethics Commission’s clearing of two Katy ISD officials of charges that they used district computers to urge employees to vote for incumbents in a school board election is not the end of the story, for the Fort … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2005 | 1 Comment

“Spider-Man” busted

Posted on November 25, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

You know that any story that refers to “the French Spider-Man” is going to be worth reading, right? The man known as the French “Spiderman” was foiled in his attempt to scale a downtown high-rise just moments after he dashed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 4 Comments

“Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?”

Posted on November 24, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

One nice thing that local Classic Rock station KKRW does is play Alice’s Restaurant every Thanksgiving at noon. Since I distinctly recall San Antonio’s KZEP doing the same thing while I lived there, I got to wondering: How many other … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 6 Comments

A simple question about Thanksgiving Day parades

Posted on November 24, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Who was the genius that first decided to let Happy Talk Local News readers do the play-by-play and color commentary for Thanksgiving Day parades? If forced to watch a local news broadcast, I’ll usually choose KHOU, but Greg Hurst and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | 4 Comments

RIP, World’s Ugliest Dog

Posted on November 24, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via Amanda, the world’s ugliest dog has passed away. His story was indeed one of triumphing by wit and charm over appearance. Rest in peace, Sam the ugly dog. Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on RIP, World’s Ugliest Dog

Radio ratings tidbit

Posted on November 23, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one point of interest to me in the latest Houston radio ratings, which Banjo kindly pointed to. Look at the numbers for erstwhile rocker-turned-Latino station KLOL: Station Group Owner Format Fa04 Wi05 Sp05 Su05 Fa05 KLOL-FM Clear Channel Hispanic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Ruling reaction roundup

Posted on November 23, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s current tax system is unconstitutional but the level of funding to achieve “adequacy” in schools is okay for now, what’s next? Since nobody expects Governor Perry to call another … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Ruling reaction roundup

DeLay decisions delayed

Posted on November 23, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Judge Pat Priest did not take my advice (at least for now), and will make us all wait two more weeks for a ruling on the DeLay motion to throw out his indictments. Senior Judge Pat Priest said he had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on DeLay decisions delayed

Agonist on the air

Posted on November 23, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Sean-Paul Kelly will be guest-hosting the Jack Riccardi show on 550 KTSA Talk Radio from 7-10 pm in San Antonio tonight. Here’s the lineup: 7-730 Intro segment, introduce the night’s guests, main topic etc . . . 730-800 Comedienne Margaret … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Agonist on the air