Monthly Archives: October 2002

Enron canary prepares to sing

Posted on October 18, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Former Enron energy trader Tim Belden, who just pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, is preparing to give prosecuters an earful regarding the company’s malfeasance and general naughtiness during the California energy crisis last year. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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GOP activist says “Don’t vote straight”

Posted on October 18, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Local GOP activist Dave Wilson is sending an automated telephone message to Republican voters urging them not to vote a straight ticket because a down-ballot GOP candidate is (shudder) gay. The target of Wilson’s attack is Alex Wathen, a Republican … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 9 Comments

Jake Young

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

One of the people who was killed by the terrorist bomb in Bali was a lawyer and family man originally from Houston named Jake Young. He was an All-America center for Nebraska in the late 1980s, and was the brother-in-law … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Jake Young

Running on at the blog

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Kevin Drum, who’s about to jet off to Italy, has a chart that gives average word count for several bloggers. I’m moderately surprised to see that I’m #8 on the wordiness list. I suspect part of the reason is my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Einhorn guilty

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Ira Einhorn has been convicted of murdering Holly Maddux. Good. May he rot in jail. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on Einhorn guilty

In related news

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Dynegy, which once considered buying out Enron before the full extent of the fraud was known, is getting out of energy trading and preparing layoffs. With their stock at 81 cents, though, the question may just be when to call … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on In related news

Another Enron guilty plea

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Timonty Belden, former head of trading in Enron’s Portland, Oregon office, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As with Michael Kopper, he may have a deal in the works for his future testimony. Belden … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Chron sorta interviews Ron Kirk

Posted on October 17, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Ron Kirk was in town to give an interview to the Houston Chronicle editorial board, and in the resulting story, the Chron spends as much time quoting a John Cornyn spokesman as they do Kirk himself. What’s up with that? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 2 Comments

A solution to that nasty Iraq issue

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Numerous people have joked about how Saddam Hussein’s campaign song, which is apparently getting a lot of airplay in Baghdad these days, is Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. However, so far no one has seen that this is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on A solution to that nasty Iraq issue

The link love that dare not speak its name

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I use this link to read TAPped on the American Prospect‘s web page. They have a “work in progress” blogroll down at the bottom which contains all of four links. Today I stumbled across this alternate link to TAPped in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | 2 Comments

Quiz time

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Who said the following? “If you’re going to go in and try to topple Saddam Hussein, you have to go to Baghdad. Once you’ve got Baghdad, it’s not clear what you do with it. It’s not clear what kind of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The homestretch

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Coming into the final weeks of the campaign, John Cornyn has a lot more cash on hand than Ron Kirk does. I’m sure he’ll get money from the national party, but you can help, too, if you want. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 2 Comments

We don’t need your federal dollars, thanks

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

It’s stories like this one that make you want to pull your hair out. Texas, like all states, gets federal money to help pay for health care for uninsured children (Children’s Health Insurance Program, called CHIP). This year, Texas is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 6 Comments

Thunder Ranch

Posted on October 16, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting article in today’s Chron about the Thunder Ranch, a high-end firearms training facility in West Texas that has been very popular with law enforcement groups. Heidi Smith, wife of Thunder Ranch President Clint Smith, said she has been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

How not to do it

Posted on October 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Many people have raised their voices thoughtfully, eloquently, and forcefully against the pending invasion of Iraq. They have made many cogent arguments why this is a bad idea, and they have made may people at least think about why they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Get off my lawn!

Posted on October 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Today, October 15, is National Grouch Day. I’d wish you a Happy National Grouch Day, but somehow that just doesn’t seem right. Sadly, there is no unusual observance on February 19, which is my birthday. I am somewhat heartened to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | 1 Comment

It’s all California all the time

Posted on October 15, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Congrats to the Giants for winning the pennant and sending Barry Bonds to his first World Series. Both pennant winners are wild card teams, which was enough to make King Kaufman rethink his dislike of the wild card. See, King? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on It’s all California all the time

RIP, Ann Carasaniti Abbruzza Visco

Posted on October 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

My maternal grandmother passed away last night. She was 85 years old. It’s amazing that she’d lived that long; she’d survived lung cancer (she was a nonsmoker) that cost her part of a lung over two decades ago, and she’d … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 19 Comments

Beans Barton

Posted on October 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Nice article today on Beans Barton, local artist/musician/eccentric who’s currently busy painting a bigass dinosaur mural on the walls of our neighborhood elementary school. You can see a picture of the artist at work here. If you’re a fan of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Beans Barton

Everybody loves you now

Posted on October 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Houston is apparently the place to be for Texas politicians searching for votes. We’ve always been big, but we’ve never been popular. What’s different this year? But Houston has been the biggest voter-trove for years without getting as much attention. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on Everybody loves you now

Congrats to the Angels

Posted on October 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Congrats to the Anaheim Angels on their first-ever trip to the World Series. I could really feel the excitement the locals had about this while we were there. The games were on TV everywhere you went. Displays on buses alternated … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Congrats to the Angels

And we’re back

Posted on October 14, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Got back from California yesterday afternoon, in time to do the week’s laundry. Had a bit of jet lag, which only ever seems to affect me on the trip home regardless of which direction I’m travelling, but eventually got to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on And we’re back

Ginger’s back

Posted on October 13, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Ginger is back from hiatus and she’s moved to a new directory. Update your blogrolls and give her a warm welcome back. May as well mention the recent updates and additions while I’m here. Surely by now you know that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Ginger’s back

The Chron on the Senate

Posted on October 13, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A fairly boilerplate treatment of the several close Senate races nationwide in today’s Chron, along with some “independent polling” numbers that are sadly not included in the online edition. (Yes, that’s our daily fishwrap for you.) Anyone who’s a regular … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 5 Comments

Goin’ to Disneyland

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Just got out of my last MEC session. T and I will hang out today, and tomorrow we’re off to Disneyland. I’m off the air until I return to Houston. See you Monday! Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | 1 Comment

Myths, heroes, and lies

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Alex Frantz ties together some recent threads on those who lionize Ollie North and throws in a mess of pointers to those who compound the sin by falsely villainizing Al Gore in the process. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Myths, heroes, and lies

No Marshall Plan here

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Morrow has some data about the relative value of the Marshall Plan versus what we are doing in Afghanistan. It’s another reason why so many of us are so suspicious about Iraq invasion plans: We don’t believe that Team … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Six Republicans against

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Alex Whitlock has some good information on the six House Republicans who voted against the Iraq resolution. Check it out. Continue reading →

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Thanks!

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my plea to support Ron Kirk. My mail server is not responding right now, and I don’t know how much longer CommNet will be available to me, so I’ll take this opportunity to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on Thanks!

MEC wrapup

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Only managed to sit in on two lectures, both in the morning, yesterday. I finally spent some time in the vendor area and had my suspicion confirmed that there were far fewer freebies out for grabs than in prior years. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on MEC wrapup

International Powers of Ten Day

Posted on October 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Today is International Powers of Ten Day, fitting enough for 10/10/02. Larry pointed it out to me and also got into the spirit of things as only he can. Here’s a fun fact about the number one billion, which is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on International Powers of Ten Day

Ron Kirk for Senate

Posted on October 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The liberal part of the blogosphere has been doing its part for some important Democratic candidates, most notably Bill McBride and now Tom Strickland. I’d like to implore people to consider giving the same kind of support – even if … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 7 Comments

Another convert

Posted on October 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Fat Guy has gone Movable Typing, complete with a nifty new template. Have a look and give him some advice on the various MT goodies. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Another convert

Montgomery County (TX) update

Posted on October 10, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Rob has the latest on the censorship battle in Montgomery County (TX). Check it out. Continue reading →

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