Monthly Archives: May 2005

Who killed HB166?

Posted on May 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

In one of my previous posts lamenting the sorry state of the House Elections Committee and its overlord, Mary Denny, I talked about how they could be a force for good if they chose by considering bills that would add … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Casey on HB789

Posted on May 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Hotshot Casey takes a look at HB789 (though he doesn’t specify it by bill number) and points out many of the bad things about it. Nothing new there to those who have been following this, and I do wish he’d … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Base closings

Posted on May 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have too much to say about the proposals to close and/or consolidate miltary bases around the country. It’s hard to find a NIMBYer topic than this, other than maybe the location of halfway houses for sex offenders. In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

Hearing on Monday for HB789

Posted on May 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, HB789 but not HB3179 was stripped out of the must-pass PUC sunset bill SB408 on Friday, according to Save Muni Wireless. HB789 is not dead yet, though – there’s a Monday 8 AM hearing scheduled for it. Check out … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on Hearing on Monday for HB789

Visit Houston

Posted on May 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the Art Car Parade is history, would you like to know what else there is to do in Houston? The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau has a resource for you. The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 5 Comments

Mustache restored

Posted on May 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall the case of the painted mustache, in which The Virtuoso, a statue by David Adickes of Giant Presidential Heads fame was painted without his permission. Via blogHOUSTON, it appears that Adickes has taken matters into his own … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Art Car Parade today

Posted on May 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still time for you to head over to Allen Parkway and see the Art Car Parade. We’ll be passing on it this year, since Olivia’s too young to appreciate it (and will probably need a nap before it’s over … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Art Car Parade today

Radio rerun

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Carter & Carter show on BizRadio 1320 for tomorrow morning is a rerun, so Kevin and I will get the day off. As a consolation, I’ve finally gotten around to uploading the MP3s from the past two weeks. Here’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Onward from Ardmore

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I somehow managed to forget to note that yesterday was the two year anniversary of the Ardmore walkout. Aaron Pena, who was one of the quorum-busting reps, remembers with a link to this DMN story (generously excerpted by Save Texas … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Killer D's | Comments Off on Onward from Ardmore

Juanita’s back

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Been meaning to mention that Juanita is back in business out in Fort Bend after a couple of months’ hiatus. She’s clearly in fine form, so drop by and catch up on the latest from the World’s Most Dangerous Beauty … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 2 Comments

Chris Bell conference call

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As you may have read by now on various other blogs, we had a blogger conference call with Chris Bell last night. You can read about what we talked about and people’s reactions to it at the following locations: The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

The Greatest American

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if you’ve heard about the Discovery Channel special which asks the question “who is the greatest American ever?”, but apparently part of the process with the show is a national tour as a way of getting people … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 6 Comments

New Wallace and Gromit coming

Posted on May 13, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. Monty Python star John Cleese is writing the next feature film for Aardman Animations, the makers of Wallace and Gromit have announced. Aardman co-founder Peter Lord said the Fawlty Towers actor was currently writing the “pre-historic comedy”. […] “It … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | 3 Comments

Points of order kill two bad bills

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes it’s the little things in life…Points of order were deadly to two bills which frankly deserved to die. The first was HB1167, first noted here, which was killed by a really tiny mistake. Affordable-housing advocates expressed relief Wednesday after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 3 Comments

Still working on that budget

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate has come to an agreement amongst themselves on a framework for a tax plan, and they’re busy debating a school finance plan. You can read the articles to get the flavor of it, but the key point is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Still working on that budget

Judge to rule in June on TRMPAC dismissal request

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

State District Judge Bob Perkins has heard the arguments from lawyers for Jim Ellis and John Colyandro that charges against them stemming from the TRMPAC corporate fundraising of 2002 should be dismissed, and will issue his ruling on June 27. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Another poll on Perry

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

On the heels of Survey USA comes the quarterly Texas Poll, which contains better but still not good news for Rick Perry. Gov. Rick Perry’s job approval rating, after rebounding earlier this year, slipped to 45 percent in a new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments

Perry and Schubert

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Was the poor showing by Carroll Schubert in the San Antonio mayoral election a repudiation of Governor Perry? The Jeffersonian considers the question. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2005 | 1 Comment

Jack!

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

You know how I’ve been grumbling about the utter lack of variety, innovation, and trust in the intelligence of the listeners among radio stations? Well, via Michael Croft, it appears that hope is on the way. The sleek electronic device … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 6 Comments

Accenture looking for real estate in Austin

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Time for another update on THHSC outsourcing…Father John notes that Accenture, the winner of the multimillion dollar call center sweepstakes (pending the lawuit, of course), is looking for office space in Austin. Sources pinpoint the 141,900-square-foot Southfield office building in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

HB789 rears its ugly head again

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Having been stymied in the Senate, Rep. Phil King has turned to trickery to force through the telco-friendly bills HB789 and HB3179. He’s attached them as amendments to the must-pass SB408, a bill about the Public Utilities Commission which has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Updated Chron blogs make their debut

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As promised yesterday, check out the new TechBlog and MeMo (who’s apparently a little resistant to the change – Kyrie, speaking as a ten-year veteran of customer service work, I have bad news for you: It really is always the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 3 Comments

Perry’s pathetic poll numbers

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know why this hasn’t gotten any news coverage yet, but the latest approval numbers for Rick Perry (via Andrew D and Political Wire) are just unbelievably awful. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Rick Perry is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

Colyandro and Ellis ask for dismissal of charges

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

DeLay associates John Colyandro and Jim Ellis are in court to ask that charges against them be dismissed. DeLay associates John Colyandro and Jim Ellis are scheduled to ask state District Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, to throw out the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

MegaMillions update

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Mega Millions, the bigass multistate lottery that Texas joined in 2003, is tinkering with its system. — Players will choose five numbers from 1 to 56 and then a Mega Ball number from a second field of 1 to 46. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Jackpot! | 1 Comment

An interview with Nick Lampson

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As everyone now knows, Nick Lampson has declared himself a candidate for the Democratic nomination in CD22 for 2006. Lampson had served for eight years as the Congressman from the former CD09, taking office in 1997 after doing America a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 6 Comments

HB1212

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via Lyn, I see that HB1212 is the bill du jour today, and it’s another in a long line of bills this session whose purpose is to define morality for the public. The Dallas Morning News objected to its divisive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Chron blog changes coming

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Dwight Silverman says to look for a new look for the Chron’s blogs soon: We’ll be moving the TechBlog, MeMo and Richard Justice’s blog to new software designed specifically for blogging. It will allow readers to post comments, and will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

Still having budget woes in the Senate

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Legislative Budget Board has released its analysis of the Senate budget plan, and whatever improvements said budget may contain over the House plan, the same basic flaws still exist: it’s a tax cut for a few, and a tax … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 2 Comments

We’re Number 5!

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

In average rush hour delays. The annual Urban Mobility Report by traffic researchers at Texas A&M University also says Houston, with the nation’s 11th largest metro area population, ranked fifth in annual delay per traveler — 63 hours in 2003, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Van Gundy has beem punished enough, says Stern

Posted on May 9, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Rockets’s season may be over, but at least they don’t have to worry about their coach being on double secret probation any longer. A week after NBA commissioner David Stern hit Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy with the largest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 6 Comments

Microsoft Car 1.0

Posted on May 9, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

What would you say to a car that doesn’t crash? Would you say the same thing if you heard it was powered by Microsoft? Microsoft Corp. mogul Bill Gates and the leader of Ford Motor Co. outlined a future Friday … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 10 Comments

Enron Broadband: The technology fell short

Posted on May 9, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The prosecution is still presenting its case in the Enron Broadband trial. Their last witness for the week was a techie who testified that EBS was going to have to rely on other companies’ networks to deliver what it was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | 1 Comment

Fjetland’s challenge

Posted on May 9, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I had a chance to chat with Michael Fjetland (who’s started a blog about his potential primary challenge to Tom DeLay) on Friday. He’s an interesting guy, and I enjoyed the conversation. In talking about what Pete McCloskey has in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 5 Comments