Monthly Archives: April 2008

Death by blogging

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose I should say something about this story, in which we learn about the high-stress lifestyle of people who get paid to blog. So I will: This is my hobby. I spend a decent amount of time at it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

Texas blog roundup for the week of April 7

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

How about those Kansas Jayhawks? I’d show you some video of last night’s game, but I don’t have it and I’d get my butt sued off if I did. So, since we can’t have basketball highlights, how about some blog … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Texas blog roundup for the week of April 7

Hakeem in the Hall

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Hot dog! What was improbable on the day he stepped off the plane from Nigeria and inevitable by the time his glorious 18-year NBA career ended, became official when Hakeem Olajuwon was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Blockwalking With Richard Morrison

Posted on April 7, 2008 by admin

I had terrific experience on Saturday, block walking with Richard Morrison who is in a runoff for Fort Bend County Commissioner, Precinct 1 (see map here of Precinct 1). Election Day is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 8th. We walked in Greatwood, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Discovery Green set to open

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Discovery Green, the new urban park in east Downtown, gets a nice writeup on the verge of its grand opening. Discovery Green, the 12-acre, $122 million park that opens April 13, represents Houston’s changing self-image as its leaders embrace the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Overview of Railroad Commissioner runoff

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If you can call it that – there’s not much to or in this article. Henry had a career as a petroleum engineer, working in this country and the Middle East for several oil-drilling and field-service companies. He also worked … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Overview of Railroad Commissioner runoff

Pizza dot com

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’m fascinated by this. Fourteen years ago, Chris Clark shelled out 20 bucks to register the domain name “pizza.com.” This afternoon, he sold it for $2.6 million. “It’s crazy, it’s just crazy,” he said somewhat giddily yesterday morning from his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Pizza dot com

Bill James speaks

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Nice little Q&A with baseball stats legend Bill James. Here’s a question he could have written a book about: Q: Who are ten players in the Hall Of Fame that do not deserve to be there? A: Fred Lindstrom, Jesse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Bill James speaks

Rice to hire Cal’s Braun as basketball coach

Posted on April 6, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Meet the new coach. Three weeks after dismissing the winningest men’s basketball coach in program history, Rice stands poised to hire former Cal coach Ben Braun as successor to Willis Wilson. According to an NCAA official, Braun will be introduced … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The high cost of getting tuff on crime

Posted on April 6, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Great article in the Chron about the decline of personal recognizance bonds in Harris County and the effect it has on the local jail population. You need to read the whole thing, as it really adds a lot to the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on The high cost of getting tuff on crime

TexBlog PAC: We did it!

Posted on April 6, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

All right! after our five-day campaign, the TexBlog PAC wound up with more than 50 donors, and more than $2000 raised, which surpassed both of our goals. On behalf of the PAC board, I thank everyone who contributed to this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on TexBlog PAC: We did it!

Toll road cameras expand in scope

Posted on April 6, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

In December of 2006, we heard about how the Harris County Toll Road Authority was using cameras stationed at toll lanes to identify and nab serial toll-skippers. The Chron story at the time also said that “the technology [is] useful … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

Whither carpal tunnel syndrome?

Posted on April 6, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Was the epidemic of carpal tunnel syndrome overstated? “At its height of diagnosis, anybody showing up at a doctor’s office with wrist pain or hand pain was being diagnosed with carpal tunnel,” said Carol Harnett, vice president of insurer Hartford … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 2 Comments

Commissioners Court to study public defenders office

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This is encouraging. Commissioners Court is expected Tuesday to approve a study of whether Harris County should create a public defenders office. Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said that after the study is completed, she likely will press colleagues to create the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 4 Comments

Early voting totals

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Not exactly a big excitement generator. More than 22,000 people voted early for Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff elections in Harris County, about a third of the number who voted early for the March 4 primary. On the Democratic side, where … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

TexBlog PAC: One down, one to go

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’m very glad to say that the TexBlog PAC has surpassed its goal of $1500 raised; as of late last night, we were at $1875, which gives us more than $10,000 cash on hand and puts us in a position … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on TexBlog PAC: One down, one to go

Whitmire: Abolish the TYC

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I think there’s a lot of merit to this. The Texas Senate’s leader on prison policy has a novel idea for the state’s $235-million-a year system of juvenile corrections: Abolish it. John Whitmire, a Democrat from Houston who chairs the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 2 Comments

Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup April 26

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

From the office of Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson: The 22nd annual Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup will take place Saturday, April 26th at eight sites in the Houston area. The all-volunteer is coordinated through the Adopt-A-Beach Program of the Texas General Land … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup April 26

AT&T responds to the West U cellphone ordinance

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I received the following email from AT&T spokesman Kerry Hibbs in response to this post about their opposition to the West U school-zone cellphone ban ordinance: Just to clarify our position on wireless safety, AT&T has begun working with legislators … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on AT&T responds to the West U cellphone ordinance

Friday random ten: Genealogy time

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Is it Friday already? Why, yes, it is. Time for some random music! 1. “I’m My Own Grandpa” – Asylum Street Spankers. I was musing about whether this was a song that came from someone’s actual real-life experience, or if … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 1 Comment

City wins another round in revenue caps lawsuit

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

In the ongoing battle over revenue cap referenda, the city scored a victory in the courts yesterday. Anti-tax activist Bruce Hotze lost a legal battle with the city on Thursday, but said he will continue to fight for a cap … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on City wins another round in revenue caps lawsuit

Last day of early runoff voting today

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Have you cast your vote in the primary runoffs yet? If you have, you’re in select company. And you have until 7 PM today to join that select company, plus Tuesday the 8th, at the limited number of locations that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Last day of early runoff voting today

AT&T pushes back on West U school-zone cellphone ban

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The West University Place no cellphones in school zones ordinance has attracted some organized opposition. AT&T is reaching out and touching the West U City Council over its vote to prohibit cell phones in the city’s only school zone. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Judy Norsigian in town

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

One of the fine people I met at my precinct convention on March 4 was a woman named Cathy who served as the convention secretary. She sent me the following information about an upcoming appearance by Judy Norsigian that I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Comments Off on Judy Norsigian in town

TexBlog PAC

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks to a couple of generous contributions, the TexBlog PAC is more than halfway to meeting its $1500 financial goal, which will enable us to start helping candidates immediately. We’d still like to get a total of fifty donors regardless … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on TexBlog PAC

If the law is in your way, ignore it

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Outrageous. Texas border land owners, mayors and wildlife groups blasted the Bush administration’s sweeping plan to waive nearly three dozen federal laws to speed construction of a border fence by year’s end. Using authority granted by Congress, the Department of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on If the law is in your way, ignore it

County disputes Kelly’s fee demand

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County has responded to Lloyd Kelly’s request for $4.4 million in fees for work relating to the Ibarra lawsuit against Sheriff Tommy Thomas. Their response, in brief: No effing way! “Lloyd Kelley’s request for attorneys’ fees is excessive,” said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

Runoff early voting so far

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

So I did my civic duty for the runoff on my way home from work yesterday, casting my ballots for Dale Henry and Larry Weiman. Not too surprisingly, there wasn’t any line at the Metro Multi-Service Center on West Gray … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 2 Comments

Has anyone registered the “sucks” variant yet?

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The posts, they write themselves. At one time, the Bush Library Foundation owned the easiest Web site to remember: www.GeorgeWBushLibrary.com. But whether on purpose or because of an oversight — foundation spokesman Taylor Griffin wasn’t sure — it lost that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Comments Off on Has anyone registered the “sucks” variant yet?

“It’s the end of the world.” “Again!?!”

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

What do you do when you think someone may bring about the ultimate destruction of the earth and possibly the universe as we know it? File suit and hope for the best. More fighting in Iraq. Somalia in chaos. People … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 3 Comments

A Republican runoff to watch

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Paul Burka has a useful overview of the Republican runoffs for State House seats. There are no such Democratic runoffs; despite numerous primary challenges, there were only two open seats on the Dem side, one of which was ceded to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

A Catastrophic beginning

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The Catastrophic Theater, which had its mighty fun launch party last weekend, is set to debut its first show this Friday. When Catastrophic Theatre sets sail Friday with the area premiere of Big Death and Little Death, you can expect … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on A Catastrophic beginning

The jail chronicles

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This is fitting, isn’t it? The Harris County Jail held about 10,400 inmates — 1,000 beyond its capacity — Tuesday, the same day the Texas Commission on Jail Standards carried out its annual inspection of the lockup. The figures appear … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on The jail chronicles

Reliant regional finals get kudos

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

They may not have gotten any sellouts, but the folks at Reliant Stadium got some kind words from the NCAA about the games that were played there over the weekend. When it was all said and done, the first NCAA … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 2 Comments