Monthly Archives: December 2007

Looking forward to 2008: Stace Medellin

Posted on December 23, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Stace Medellin.) For Democrats, 2008 will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Not silent enough night

Posted on December 23, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

It wouldn’t be Christmas without an accounting of Christmas songs you hate, would it? I’ll open the bidding with any version of “The Little Drummer Boy”, whose ad nauseum refrain drives me crazy every time. I’m also ready to plug … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Looking forward to 2008: Matt Glazer

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Matt Glazer.) Carl Sandburg once said, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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“Toxic Mike Jackson”

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas League of Conservation Voters: The Texas League of Conservation Voters (TLCV) announced today the release of www.toxicmike.com, a website designed to highlight State Senator Mike Jackson’s disgraceful record on clean air and other environmental issues, his ignoble … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The RPT versus Texas Monthly

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Hilarious. Texas Monthly’s Evan Smith reports that House Speaker Tom Craddick will get a Democratic challenger next year. The Midland newspaper erroneously reports that Smith had “encouraged” said challenger, former Midland city council member Bill Dingus, to make that run. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Filing news: Jaworski, Jordan, and Tison

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Joe Jaworski made his filing for SD11 today. From the press release: “Voters want positive change, not more of the same,” Jaworski said. “They know we can do better if we have more leadership and less partisanship. I’m ready to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Looking forward to 2008: Ed Davis

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Ed Davis.) In the interest of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Filing news: A small flurry of activity

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Some quick hits on the candidate filing front: – In State House news, the Democrats now have candidates for HDs 127 and 135. Joe Montemayor will run against Joe Crabb in the Kingwood-area district, while Trey Fleming, whom we’d first … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Noriega makes ActBlue’s Blue Majority page

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Tiffany Tyler

I spent all day volunteering at the Noriega campaign, and I heard this talked about, so I was excited to read it when I got home. Rick Noriega is the latest candidate added to ActBlue’s Blue Majority page. From Daily … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

One Man In Clear Lake Is Overseeing The Texas Ethics Commission

Posted on December 20, 2007 by admin

No, it’s not the head of the Texas Ethics Commission, it’s Clear Lake activist John Cobarruvias who has been the TEC watchdog for about a year and a half. Out of curiosity, he looked in the campaign spending habits of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

Looking Forward to 2008: David Baldwin

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by David Baldwin.) What a difference a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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V.O.T.E.R. meeting next week

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The following was sent to me by Andy Neill: The civic group “Volunteers Organized to Exercise Responsibility” (V.O.T.E.R.) will be holding their annual Holiday Party and Fundraiser on Friday December 28th from 8:00 – 10:30 pm at Cadillac Bar – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Burka and Kennedy on Barrett’s win

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Paul Burka admits that his earlier call about the HD97 runoff was wrong, and gives his reasons for why State Rep. Dan Barrett pulled off the win. Shelton ran a bad race. He waffled about the robo-calls. He had bad … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | 2 Comments

Filing news: Alvarado, Criss, Thompson

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

More campaign filings…First, soon-to-be-former Council Member Carol Alvarado will maker her filing for HD145 official tomorrow morning at 10:15 at HCDP headquarters. I’d excerpt the release, but that’s pretty much all it says. Next up is Judge Susan Criss, who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I’m excited about Charlie Wilson’s War

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Tiffany Tyler

It’s a story about a Texan Democrat and a Houston socialite (if that doesn’t reel you in, I don’t know what will) from 20 or so years ago, so I’m definitely jonesing to see this movie. I just finished up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 5 Comments

Looking forward to 2008: Rebecca White and Meggin Baxter

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Rebecca White and Meggin Baxter.) What … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Billboard ordinance gets put off till next year

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like that proposed new billboard ordinance is a bit more controversial than it first appeared. The battle of the billboards, slated to erupt Wednesday at City Council, probably will be pushed off until early next year. A growing outcry … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Barrett Wins! Republican Leadership Rejected

Posted on December 18, 2007 by admin

In an indictment of Craddick’s leadership, House District 97 was won today by Democrat Dan Barrett, in the special election to fill an unexpired term that opened up when Republican Anna Mowery resigned in August. Final: Barrett 52.2%, 5365 votes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Filing news: Michael Skelly in CD07

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been waiting on an announcement in CD07. Today is the day for that announcement. Wind-energy executive Michael Skelly today unveiled his Democratic candidacy against U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, and indicated he will pour a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Looking forward to 2008: Christof Spieler

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Christof Spieler.) In the world of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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A House Pick-Up On Tuesday?

Posted on December 17, 2007 by admin

December 18th is election day in Tarrant County in the runoff election to select a new member to the Texas Legislature. Democrat Dan Barrett got 31.5% of the vote in the recent special election against five Republicans. He faces Republican … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Gulf “Dead Zone” grows with corn prices

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Tiffany Tyler

The best thing about this problem is that there’s a pretty clear solution, so dealing with it is hopefully just a matter of implementation: Because of rising demand for ethanol, American farmers are growing more corn than at any time … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 2 Comments

Filing news: Mincberg for County Judge

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I know I’m on sabbatical, but I got this press release about David Mincberg‘s official filing for Harris County Judge in the mail today. The public has lost confidence in Harris County’s leadership, which is out of touch, indebted to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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A Little Time With the Family

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to be taking a bit of a break over the next week or so to spend some quality time with the family. I will still be publishing a Looking Forward To 2008 piece each day, and you can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Looking Forward to 2008: Jay Aiyer

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called “Looking Forward to 2008”. This entry was written by Jay Aiyer.) 2008 will mark the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The streak

Posted on December 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t exactly say that I hope the New England Patriots will run the table and go on to win the Super Bowl. I mean, I’ll root for them against the greater evil of the Cowboys in the unfortunate event … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

The urge to conserve

Posted on December 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The urge to conserve goes mainstream. Headlines like that are weird to me, because it’s always seemed mainstream to me. A growing acceptance of human-induced climate change and the link between energy and national security has pushed conservation into the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Stupid Filter

Posted on December 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

From the Ideas Whose Time Have Come department: A team of American scientists are developing the “StupidFilter” – an open-source filter software that will be able to detect “rampant stupidity” of web-content in written English. Similarly to the way spam … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | 1 Comment

Abbott rules for Craddick

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that Attorney General Greg Abbott had been asked for an opinion on the matter of procedures for removing the Speaker of the House. Well, late last night, Abbott delivered it. The Texas Constitution protects House Speaker Tom … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Comets to move to Reliant Arena

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t quite understand this. The Comets will leave Toyota Center and play their 2008 home games at the smaller but cozy Reliant Arena. Comets owner Hilton Koch signed a contract with Reliant earlier this week. “We are very excited … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 2 Comments

Tunnel envisioning

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like Gonzalo Camacho and his I-45 tunnel concept have gained themselves a convert in Tory Gattis. A few weeks back, Gonzalo Camacho sent me an intimidating 30-page white paper (PDF) on the tunnel option for expanding the I-45N corridor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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From the “Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” department

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I just have one thing to say about this article: Any time a reporter can work in a Wile E. Coyote reference to what you’re doing, that can’t be a good thing. Jeb Corliss wants to fly — not the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Filing news: Ronnie Earle retires

Posted on December 14, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I was going to say it was a slow week in candidate filings until this happened. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has led that office since 1977, told his staff today that he will not seek re-election. He … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Texan of the Year for 2007

Posted on December 14, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

[Today, the Texas Progressive Alliance honors its 2007 Texan of the Year. This year, the Alliance elected to recognize a number of other Texans who have contributed to Texas politics and the Progressive cause during 2007. This week, leading up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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