Monthly Archives: June 2003

Reports from elsewhere

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Byron has his writeup of the Dallas hearing, plus a letter from a woman who attended the ill-fated Brownsville hearing. Both are full of useful information. Thanks, Byron! Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on Reports from elsewhere

Open for business

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

As the Austin American Statesman reminds us, there’s more than just redistricting going on in Austin right about now: An Austin lobbyist took a look at his calendar for the next 30 days and sent a friend a tongue-in-cheek summary: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on Open for business

Does Jell-o have the salad nature?

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Having read Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | 3 Comments

Special session starts

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Hang on to your life, liberty, and property again: the Lege has reconvened to take another shot at shoving a redistricting bill through. Before anyone asks, the reason that the Dems (almost surely) won’t walk out again is simple. In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

More Westar

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Now that they’ve discovered Westar, the Chron has finally gotten around to editorializing on it: DeLay denied any quid pro quo, and probably none was stated. But business interests focused on enriching themselves do not hand out lavish campaign donations … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

More redistricting coverage

Posted on June 30, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

A few more articles on the redistricting hearings: from the Dallas Morning News (here and here), from the Laredo Morning Times, and from the Lufkin Daily News. Via The View v.2. Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on More redistricting coverage

Cell phone spam

Posted on June 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve never been tempted to get text messaging on my cell phone, and after reading this story, I’m even less inclined to do so. Although few customers are receiving cell phone spam now, experts predict the onslaught will multiply to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 4 Comments

A trio of redistricting editorials

Posted on June 29, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Another unsigned editorial in the Chron denouncing the special session on redistricting, which begins tomorrow. They’ve been pretty consistent on this, and for a change they note that they editorialized against Democratic gerrymandering back in 1991. (No, I’m not going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 3 Comments

Report from Houston’s House redistricting hearing

Posted on June 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

This morning my friend Andrea and I spent two hours at the House redistricting committee’s public meeting. We knew it was going to be wild before we got there, and we were not disappointed. When we arrived at 8:45, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 13 Comments

Lawsuit says Chief knew about K-Mart raid

Posted on June 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Just when you thought it was safe…A federal lawsuit filed by 62 plaintiffs alleges that Chief C.O. “BAMF” Bradford knew and approved of the K-Mart raid last August. Among others, it names former Captain Mark Aguirre and Council member Michael … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in K-Mart Kiddie Roundup | 1 Comment

Texas political bloggers update

Posted on June 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve added several more blogs to the Texas Political Bloggers page. Counting the expats and myself, there’s a total of 66. A special shoutout to newcomer Appalachia Alumni Association, who has the best intro and name explanation I’ve seen in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Happy Blogiversary, Coffee Corner!

Posted on June 28, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Missed this earlier…Happy third blogiversary to Mike Tremoulet, my blogfather and the guiding voice of Coffee Corner. Yep, Mikey was blogging back in 2000, when the rest of us were still mostly depending on mainstream media sources and using the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Rice gets its parade

Posted on June 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The 2003 National Champion Rice Owls baseball team – and no, I’m not going to get tired of typing that any time soon – got a victory parade in downtown Houston yesterday along with the Calder Cup-winning Houston Aeros. What … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Rice gets its parade

Sodomy ruling reaction

Posted on June 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Ginger has some words about the local angle to the Lawrence v. Texas decision, about which Chron coverage is here, a local reaction story is here, an unsigned editorial praising the ruling here, and analysis of DA Chuck Rosenthal’s inept … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Comments Off on Sodomy ruling reaction

Redistricting hearings

Posted on June 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Byron’s on the job covering the redistricting hearings going on around the state. Be sure to read the various accounts of the brouhaha in Brownsville. I will be at the Houston hearing tomorrow morning and will report what goes on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 1 Comment

Dan Morales in the pokey

Posted on June 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

“Beyond stupid” is a pretty good description of this: Declaring Dan Morales a financial risk to the community, a federal judge on Thursday ordered the former state attorney general to remain behind bars. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks refused to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

If you only read one

Posted on June 27, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

If you only read one blog entry from yesterday’s Appropriate Michael Savage’s Name For Your Own Purposes Day extravaganza, make sure it’s this one. The standard beverage warning applies. We now return you to your regular Savage Weiner-free blog. Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Comments Off on If you only read one

The next target

Posted on June 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Fox News is suing an Austin-based novelty shop that sells Faux News T-shirts and other similar things. So far, this has been a boon for the retailer, boosting their daily page views tenfold, but as is often the case, they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 3 Comments

Supremes strike down sodomy law

Posted on June 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

About damn time: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court struck down Texas’ ban on gay sex today, ruling that the arrest of two Houston-area men having sex in their bedroom was an unconstitutional violation of privacy. The 6-3 ruling reverses course … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 3 Comments

The Savage Weiner

Posted on June 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Today is Appropriate Michael Savage’s Name For Your Own Purposes Day, and after reading Neal Pollack’s opening salvo, I just know that I can’t compete. Hell, looking at Pollack and Atrios and Blah3, I didn’t even realize that the serious … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | 4 Comments

Graduation speaker blues

Posted on June 26, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Stuyvesant High School, my alma mater, will be celebrating its centennial in 2004. Apparently, there’s a minor kerfuffle brewing over who the commencement speaker for the Class of 2004 should be. Class leaders have panned the idea of asking the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 7 Comments

The ghost of Gus Mutscher

Posted on June 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Man, I’m getting burned out (and more than a little bit bitter) about the whole special session/redistricting thing. I’ve still got one or two more substantive things to say, mostly in response to Kevin’s thoughtful post (note: “thoughtful” doesn’t mean … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | 2 Comments

More rail proposed

Posted on June 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’m pleased to report that Metro’s rail plans are not only perking along, they’re talking about doing even more, based on feedback they’ve gotten from business and citizen groups at public meetings. Today’s news is the addition of an express … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 4 Comments

More on Gregg Phillips

Posted on June 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Gunther Concept is still digging into Gregg Phillips’ background (see this post for more). He’s also still got Blogspotted links, so if this has scrolled off the top, look for the June 24 entry entitled “The Revolving Door of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Westar and Ashcroft

Posted on June 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Getting back to an old favorite for a moment here, the ongoing Westar scandal is knocking on John Ashcroft’s door: Ashcroft, meanwhile, is being asked by some liberal and Democratic groups to launch an investigation — either by the Justice … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Rice celebrates their victory

Posted on June 25, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

A big and loud crowd packed into Reckling Park last night to welcome back the National Champion Rice Owls baseball team. The Chron did not give an estimate of attendance, but the consensus on the Rice Sports Forum is about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Rice celebrates their victory

Springer interview

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a great interview with potential Senate candidate Jerry Springer up on the Political State Report. I especially urge partisan Democrats to read what he has to say. I daresay you’ll like it. I know I did. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2004 | 2 Comments

Have you voted yet?

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I voted earlier today in the MoveOn.org “primary” (registration is now closed, so if you aren’t already registered, it’s too late). Some folks have reported problems accessing the MoveOn site, but once I got the email with my voting link, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on Have you voted yet?

The ACC and the WAC

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve been following the ACC/Big East brouhaha (ably covered by Eric McErlain), the one thing that you can hang your hat on is that if and when the ACC raids the Big East for one or more teams, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 6 Comments

A request for help

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, this humble blog has been selected as a participant in Project Lafayette, about which I know little more than what’s behind that link. According to a nice note I received from one of their coordinators, they want to “[preserve] … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

Who’s next?

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

Great. Just great. President Bush last week said the rest of the world should join the United States in declaring that it “will not tolerate” nuclear weapons in Iran — a vow that most Americans appear willing to back with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq attack | 6 Comments

What they didn’t tell you

Posted on June 24, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Gunther Concept, which now has permalinks even if they are blogspotted, found a curious omission in this Sunday Chron story about Gregg Phillips, the $144K-per-year “leader of the most sweeping social services overhaul in modern Texas history”. Here’s what … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 3 Comments

Rice wins!

Posted on June 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

The Rice Owls are your 2003 National Champions of college baseball. Damn, that sounds good. Let me say it again. The Rice Owls are your 2003 National Champions of college baseball. That link has a photo gallery with it, by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 10 Comments

Subvert the dominant paradigm

Posted on June 23, 2003 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll second what Amy Sullivan says here, namely “Subvert the Dominant Paradigm!” Because the current dominant paradigm is that the feckless Democrats are a bunch of bumbling idiots who suffer from too many presidential candidates, none of whom have a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment