Category Archives: Uncategorized

Harris County voter registration issues get national coverage

Lou Dubose, onetime editor of the Texas Observer and Tom DeLay biographer has written a story for the Washington Spectator about the shenanigans in the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office with voter registration. You can read it here (PDF), thanks … Continue reading

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An early assessment of the Mayor’s race

Marc Campos writes: H-Town’s Mayoral candidates still do not want to SHOW ME THE TV so I have to give the advantage at this time to Annise Parker. The later the ad wars get going, the better for Annise. Let’s … Continue reading

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Kirk Watson not running for Governor

Phooey. There’s been a lot of speculation about my plans for the next election. Well, I’ve decided what I’m going to do, and I want to announce it to you all first. I will run for re-election to the Texas … Continue reading

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At Large action

We’ve certainly got a fascinating Mayor’s race going on this year, with three viable candidates that can all plausibly claim a path to victory, but it seems to me that there’s a lot of interesting stuff happening in the At … Continue reading

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Lawrence looking at Commissioners Court

Something I’d realized recently is that almost everyone in city government who is or would have been term-limited out is running or has run for another office. Mayor White is running for Senate. City Controller Annise Parker is running for … Continue reading

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Strip club fee appealed to Supreme Court

As expected. The legal battles continue to spin around Texas’ so-called “pole tax,” a $5 entrance fee at strip clubs that has been ruled an unconstitutional regulation of free expression. Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Comptroller … Continue reading

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Runoff Day in District H

Today is Runoff Day for the District H special election. Polls are open from 7 AM till 7 PM. Voting locations are here; if you’re not sure what precinct you’re in, go here. Early voting was heavier than I expected … Continue reading

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Juvenile justice in Harris County

Is rather an oxymoron, it seems. Apparently, the process for certifying juveniles to be tried as adults, which according to the DA’s office is supposed to be only done on “the worst of the worst”, is a mere formality. In … Continue reading

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Shorter to challenge Lovell

Isiah Carey reports. The Insite had a brief conversation with Houstonian Rozzy ‘Roz’ Shorter. She’s not quite given up on her political career. You may remember Shorter as the local woman chosen by the Barack Obama camp to get the … Continue reading

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Son of Speaker complaining

So yes, even in the post-Craddick era, there are still complaints about the Speaker by Democrats. Some of this is to be expected: You can’t satisfy everyone. Some of it is probably the result of over-inflated expectations. And some of … Continue reading

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Swearingen gets a stay

Thank goodness. Accused killer Larry Swearingen has been granted a second stay of execution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit handed down the ruling this morning. Swearingen was set to be executed by injection on Tuesday. “We’re … Continue reading

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Not so Tolerance Bridge

Remember Tolerance Bridge? When it was first announced, a lot of people expressed ambivalence (at best) about the name. Now the city has joined in on that. “It has too many hints of negativity,” said Councilman Jarvis Johnson. “It’s like … Continue reading

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More on Larry Swearingen

I’ve blogged before about Larry Swearingen, who is on death row and is scheduled for execution on January 27 even though forensic evidence clearly demonstrates his innocence of the murder of Melissa Trotter. Multiple experts, including the Harris County medical … Continue reading

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Evolution remains legal in Texas

Whew! That was a close one. In a major defeat for evolution critics, a sharply divided State Board of Education voted Thursday to follow the advice of a panel of science educators and drop a long-time requirement that “weaknesses” in … Continue reading

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UH-Downtown to move ahead with name change

They still don’t know what they want to be called, however. School leaders are going ahead with plans to rename the University of Houston-Downtown, despite opposition from students, alumni and some faculty members. “If it has its own distinctive name, … Continue reading

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You there! Stop evolving this minute!

Someone once said that no one’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. I’d extend that observation to note that no one’s intelligence or education is safe when the SBOE is in session. For those … Continue reading

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And now the real work begins

Yesterday was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? (Well, for most of us, anyway.) I suspect there was a pretty big dip in productivity right around 11 AM at most workplaces. But now that the pomp is over, it’s time … Continue reading

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Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

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See ya, Vito

If I were still living on Staten Island, this guy would be my soon-to-be-former Congressman. Speculation on the political future of Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) is running rampant today after he acknowledged that he is the father of a … Continue reading Continue reading

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RIP, Maury Maverick, Jr.

Attorney and writer Maury Maverick, Jr., died Tuesday at the age of 82. SAN ANTONIO — Attorney Maury Maverick Jr., a descendant of early Texas settlers and known for his passionate legal defense of the downtrodden, feisty wit and unrelenting … Continue reading Continue reading

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Saying “No”

Matthew Yglesias notes that the eeeevil liberal media may be growing a backbone over Priscilla Owen, the judicial activist judge from Texas that Bush wants to install on the federal bench. May the Democrats on the judiciary committee be similarly … Continue reading Continue reading

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Operation Moon Rocks

The FBI has busted up a moon-rock-selling operation by arresting four former employees of Johnson Space Center in a sting operation. Sometimes, when the Dow is again in the crapper, and there’s not much interesting going on at work or … Continue reading Continue reading

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Take two

This is a second test to see if the blog body will increase in size. I want to get all the archive and link stuff off to the right rather than underneath. Continue reading

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Is this thing on?

This is a test of Movable Type. If this had been…oh, hell, you know the drill. Continue reading

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The Bachelor Strikes Back

Alex Rubalcava responds to my objections regarding the provocative email purportedly from Alex Michel of the ABC reality show The Bachelor. He also forwarded me the email he himself had received. I still can’t say for sure that the mail … Continue reading Continue reading

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Referrals, we get referrals

If you’ve come here via the link on Matt Welch’s Warblog, please note that his URL contains a typo, which is why you’re here at the top of the page instead of here, which is where he intended to send … Continue reading Continue reading

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