A history lesson.

America in 1879: Whale blubber is seemingly entering the end of its useful life as a primary source of fuel.

Result: Thomas Edison invents the incandescent light bulb


America in 2008: Oil and gas are seemingly entering the end of there useful lives as primary sources of fuel.

Solution: Calls to nationalize oil companies and gasoline rationing.






How far the mighty have fallen.

De-deregulate that tuition will ya?

The movement is growing...

(from Jeannie Kever of the Chron)

One by one, representatives of the state's universities were called before a Senate subcommittee Wednesday to explain why they have raised tuition 50 percent or more during the past five years.

"It was done after much anguish," said Welcome Wilson Sr., chairman of the University of Houston's board of regents, of the decision earlier this month to increase tuition by almost 6 percent.

Senators weren't moved, suggesting legislators have grown weary of ever-rising costs in the years since they gave regents the power to set tuition and raising the question of another way to pay for higher education.

Wilson and representatives of eight other universities — including the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State University, Texas Southern University and Texas Tech — appeared before the Senate Finance Higher Education Subcommittee to discuss the issue and possible solutions.

"I supported (deregulation)," said Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. "I still do. ... But I get concerned that boards of regents, in justifying their increases, say the Legislature has not kept up. I don't think that's fair."

State spending on higher education has increased. But it hasn't kept pace with inflation and growing enrollment, so per-student state spending has dropped. Regents across the state say that has forced them to increase tuition.

Wilson was peppered with questions, and Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, noted that the latest UH tuition increase was roundly criticized by Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat.

Whitmire said UH regents should have waited until January and asked the Legislature for more money.

Wilson said he had spoken with Whitmire. "We're faced with the reality of dealing with costs," he said, and weren't willing to consider such cost-cutting measures as withholding faculty raises.

"We are trying to attract the best and brightest from all over the world," Wilson said.

Everyone agreed with the need to recruit top faculty. But that may require new funding sources, said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.

He suggested a local sales tax. Another option could be to require universities with endowments of at least $5 million to spend some of that money to keep costs in check.

Spend money to keep costs in check? Huh?

And so it goes in the bizarro world of school finance. Where cost structures grow exponentially over time and revenue needs are never ending. We've allowed our education system to become a ravenous beast with an insatiable appetite for money, with no restrictions on how said money is spent.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm all for increased funding for education. I'm also all for exhaustive audits of said educational institutions to ensure the money is being spent wisely. Such is the cost of increased government funding: Increased oversight. I want to make sure that I'm getting the best educational bang for my tax buck that's possible in this system. If that means stepping on some useless research programs then so be it. If that means that a new building isn't constructed every year, tough. If that means that some Universities have to eliminate some low-enrollment degree programs? Yeah, that's the price you pay.

Universities need to specialize, and get better at their core competencies. That's a radical idea I know, but it might be what saves our institutions of higher learning. Streamline and re-deploy assets to what you do best.

That's a pretty successful business model.

A member of the blogosphere shot down?

Dwight reports to us today that a local partisan blogger was suspended from their job at Johnson Space Center for violations of the Hatch act....

More from Dwight...

Employees who spend time sitting in front of an Internet-connected computer all have a multitude of temptations before them. If they're jacked into the Net, they're linked to the world, and all that's in it. Supposedly, this connectivity is there to help them do their jobs. Quite often, though, it's also put to personal use.

Some employers look the other way, allowing their workers to use the Net for personal matters, so long as it doesn't interfere with getting the job done. Others are stricter, and may ban all personal Internet use. But in both scenarios, the type of personal activity an employee does online makes a difference. A tolerant employer can suddenly become very intolerant if someone's doing something they shouldn't on the company dime, such as breaking federal laws.

FCW.com, the Web site for Federal Computer Week magazine, reports that a Johnson Space Center employee was suspended for partisan blogging:

A NASA employee has been suspended for soliciting donations and writing politically partisan blog posts and sending e-mail messages while at work, violations of the Hatch Act.

Office of the Special Counsel officials said a Johnson Space Center employee promoted local and state political candidates in 2006 and 2007 through his Internet writings.

The officials also found the employee solicited small campaign donations two times in 2006 through blogs.

The employee has been suspended for 180 days without pay. The suspension started March 30.

Most, if not all of my blogging is done from home, or during my lunch break. I'm also very careful to NOT write anything that might reflect poorly on my employer.

I've got a good idea who the blogger in question might be, and I wish them the best.


And to all of the other bloggers out there, watch your butts.

Much ado....

1. Scott McClellan drops a bomb on the Bush White House (yes, that's right, THAT Scott McClellan).

(from Edwin Chen and Holly Rosenkrantz of Bloomberg)

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan says in a memoir that President George W. Bush manipulated public opinion through a ``political propaganda campaign'' to justify going to war in Iraq.

McClellan, a longtime Bush loyalist from his Texas days, also writes that the news media largely failed to critically examine the administration's justifications for invading Iraq, according to a copy of the book obtained by Bloomberg News. The book is scheduled to be sold in bookstores next week.

2. The White House responds with a form letter*

(from Jennifer Loven of the AP via Chron.com)

White House aides seemed stunned by the scathing tone of the book, and Bush press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement that was highly critical of their former colleague.

"Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House," she said. "For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad — this is not the Scott we knew."

Perino said the reports on the book had been described to Bush, and that she did not expect him to comment. "He has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers," she said.

The book provoked strong reactions from former staffers as well.

"For him to do this now strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional," Fran Townsend, former head of the White House-based counterterrorism office, told CNN.

Said former top aide Karl Rove, in an interview with Fox News Channel, "If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them. And frankly I don't remember him speaking up about these things. I don't remember a single word."

And so it goes in another round of political he said/she said that will change no minds and do nothing more than further polarize two sides that are already far, far apart on the Iraqi war with little hope for an adult-style compromise.

What amazes me is that people are shocked at the charges in this book. It's long been known that the Bush administration ignored certain facts and advisors in the run-up to the war, and that he chose to believe a version of the truth that turned out to not be true at all. If you haven't seen the (misleading) "Bush lied people died" bumper stickers around, then you haven't been paying attention.

I've always stated (here and elsewhere) that I didn't believe that Bush lied in the run up to the war. (a lie being defined as knowing what you are saying is false) But I do believe that he chose to believe intelligence that turned out to be false, and that he ignored all evidence to the contrary. He truly believed what he was saying, but what he was saying was 99% wrong. Subsequent events have flushed out the facts, and they don't align with what Bush believed at the time of the invasion. That's not a lie, its an error. A terrible error yes, but one with which the next American President must reconcile lest Iraq turn into another Vietnam. (no, it's not there yet)

The biggest difference between Vietnam and Iraq is that American CAN WIN in Iraq, they could never hope to do so in Vietnam to the satisfaction of most Americans. A stable Iraq that runs independent of its neighbors is attainable, IF the Iraqis decide that is what they want. If 50%+1 decide they want rule by fundamentalist Islam, then so be it. It will still be viewed as a "loss" by America, but if the people of Iraq choose then it really won't be.

The entire justification of the war was built on the cracked foundation of weapons of mass destruction. The justification of the occupation after the war is being built on self-rule, yet certain members of the "wrong" political factions are being excluded from the elections. Let everbody in, and then let the Iraqi people vote.


If they vote against America's interests then so be it. That's the price you pay for "self rule" isn't it?

Democracy in action is an American "win" in this situation.




And McClelland can get over it.



*Kudos to chron.com DC Staffer Richard Dunham who demonstrated an acute sense of political spin.

Chris Bell?

Polls or no polls, I think Chris Bell is grasping at straws in the race to replace State Sen. Kyle Janek...

(from Rick Casey of the Chron)

Now a group of trial lawyers who provide considerable Democratic funding is pushing former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell to run.

The group funded a poll of the district a couple of weeks ago which provided some enticing numbers in a race between Bell and Furse, whom the poll identified as a conservative Houston businessman who served as a policy advisor to the first President Bush.

The poll results: Bell 43, Furse 29.

Furse's dismal showing is partly the result of lack of name recognition, which would be cured by a well-funded campaign. If the trial lawyers generously funded Bell, the business community, including Texans for Lawsuit Reform, could be counted on to be at least as generous for Furse, or for some other Republican on the ballot.

Bell says he is looking closely at the race.

He would have the advantage of being the only Democrat on a ballot in which several Republicans would split their vote. (It's not a matter of Democratic party discipline, traditionally an oxymoron, but because Democrats know their only shot in a district still clearly Republican is to have only one candidate on the ballot.)

But Bell is justifiably concerned that another loss would end any political ambitions he has.

"You only get so many shots," he said.

It won't take much of a campaign to knock those Bell numbers down to unelectibility if history is any indicator. After all, we're talking about a politician who couldn't outdraw a corpse (by his definition) in the 2006 Gubernatorial election.

If the Democrats are really serious about this race they would press Scott Hochberg to run for the seat. He would have a good chance of winning. Bell is a disaster.

White in 2010

Well, its mainstream now...

(from Carolyn Feibel and Matthew Tresaugue of the Chron)

In his third and last term, White has backed up his eco-friendly rhetoric by purchasing wind-powered electricity, weatherizing old homes and adding hybrids to the city fleet.

White also has used the bully pulpit to confront the chemical industry over its emissions of cancer-causing air pollutants, such as benzene. All of which has earned high marks from environmental groups and some business leaders.

"To me it's a public health issue and also an ethical issue of stewardship of our national resources," White says.

Some critics, however, suggest White has a different goal in mind: furthering his political career, possibly with a run for governor in 2010. Despite all the mayor's talk about global warming and green space, it is easy to point out that the city's curbside recycling program does not even reach every house or apartment.

White typically acts as environmental pitchman, setting examples across the city and asking others to follow suit. He had lower-energy light-emitting diodes installed in traffic lights, for example.

But on air quality he has been aggressive, leading to confrontations with the chemical industry and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which regulates air pollution.

White said last week that he planned to challenge the permits of nearby plants to force the TCEQ to limit the levels of benzene. He previously had threatened to fine plants outside Houston up to $2,000 a day for emitting the pollutant into the city's air.

White's saber-rattling has been more about political points than true progress, say lawyers for some of the chemical companies, who refused to be named because of business pending before the city. But environmentalists and public officials say he has brought urgent, much-needed attention to the issue.

The argument of his supporters would be "so what, at least he's talking about it. Does it really matter what his end-game is?"

Detractors would respond with "Yes, it does, because he really doesn't want a fix, just something to campaign on."



It's almost as if the Chron's new stories on White are job applications for his campaign public relations teams:

White's love for nature goes back to his childhood near San Antonio. "My idea of relaxation was to go riding, fishing, hunting in the wilderness all up and down, from the Big Bend to the Rocky Mountains," White says. "That is like a church to me."

Once he became mayor, White had the power to act on his beliefs. His administration has purchased 435 hybrid cars, with the goal of having half the non-emergency fleet be hybrid by 2010. The city requires its new building projects to use environmentally sensitive design principles, while existing buildings now have motion sensors and energy-efficient lightbulbs.

The city's electrical usage has dropped almost 6 percent since he took office.

White has fought battles, too. He pushed through an ordinance that requires developers to set aside funds for open space. He tightened the energy code for commercial buildings, and plans to do the same for residential homes.

and his favorite color is green....


Whether or not he decides to run for Governor (I think he will) there are large holes in his resume that are going to make his electibility questionable if properly exploited by his political opposites. I'm not going to do the oppo research for Republicans on this one, but just know that the gaps in the resume are there for the finding should they so desire.

2010 seems like a long way away, but the campaign will begin in earnest in 2009 which is barely over six months away from today.


Don't say I didn't warn you.

In related news, the sky is blue (part IV)

Here's a shocker...

(from Liz Austin Peterson of the Chron)

Commercial property values in Harris County increased an average of 34 percent this year amid a strong local economy and pressure from the state comptroller to increase appraisals, Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said Tuesday.

The average appraised value of commercial property increased from about $981,000 to a little more than $1.3 million, Bettencourt said. Ten ZIP codes, including all of downtown Houston, saw average appraisal increases of more than 50 percent.

Bettencourt called it the highest one-year increase in at least a decade and said the cost will be passed on to consumers as businesses raise their prices to pay the bills.

Yes, it will. Increased business taxes are shouldered by consumers because businesses view them as an increased cost. They are factored into the profit matrix and the necessary adjustments are made. Typically the poor and middle class are affected the most by these increases because they make up a higher percentage of income.

Such is the cost of electing officials to Government who promise to "tax the other guy". You end up paying more in the end.

Eat! Drink! Kayak! (don't drown)

A little blog time off while I'm off trying to keep my head above water.

(OK, I'll be on a river but you know)


Maybe an update here and there, if our mobile Wi-Fi experience works out.

Hypocrisy on Hypocrisy

Good ol' Mrs. White, never one to let bold faced hypocrisy get in the way of a good rant...

For the first time Congress has a good chance of passing legislation to permit the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

One of the major components of bills moving forward in the House and Senate is a ban on flavored cigarettes, which attract young people to an addictive habit that will damage their health and shorten their lives.

The most widely sold flavored cigarettes are those containing menthol. Its minty taste and soothing effect mask the bitter edge of tobacco for neophyte users. Menthol is the choice of 75 percent of African-American smokers. The lung cancer rate among black males who smoke is 50 percent higher than in their white counterparts. In addition, research indicates that the additive, which is used in a quarter of all cigarettes sold in the United States, might result in deeper penetration of carcinogenic smoke into the lungs, and makes it harder for users to quit.

Given those facts, one would expect menthol cigarettes to be a prime target of the proposed legislation. Instead, they are exempted from the ban, a testimonial to the power of the tobacco lobby and the industry's hold on legislators from tobacco-producing states. Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-New Jersey, recognized the obvious inconsistency in targeting all flavorings but the one that has a chokehold on the cigarette market and offered an amendment to include menthol. It was defeated. The judgment of the legislation's authors was that tobacco regulation could not pass unless menthol was exempted.

(snip)

Arguing that a substance with a proven public health risk is best left unregulated by the government is a puzzling line of reasoning. Just as off-target is the claim by opponents of the legislation that the FDA is already overtaxed. In fact, the agency would be expanded to carry out its new duties through fees paid by tobacco companies.

Even with its defects, the legislation will break significant ground. It will give the FDA more authority in packaging of products and eliminate efforts to portray "lite" cigarettes as less harmful. It would establish a tobacco products scientific advisory committee and standards to protect public health.

As hypocritical as the tobacco companies arguments are, its just as hypocritical to lambaste an industry for producing a product that is a health danger and then, in the same arguement, rely on said health risk to fund the public largesse.

Sadly, there's a lot of that going around now, especially in Gov't. Our prevailing thought seems to be that, if we hate something with enough strength, then taxing it into oblivion to fund the things we really like (or in the case of some, find cool) is somehow ok. It's base, selfish thinking that doesn't provide any long-term solutions to problems, and only compounds them as we come to rely on revenue from activities we are trying to abate. See: Gas Company Tax, State Lotteries, Gas-guzzler tax, et al.

This is what happens when the chattering class makes observations based on illogical, emotional arguments designed to impact the marginally cohenrent who were elected by revealing to the citizenry one card in a legalized game of three-card monte.

Shifting the tax burden

At a snail's pace...

(from Liz Austin Peterson of the Chron)

Companies that build environmentally friendly facilities in Harris County could get a sizable property tax break under a proposal to be considered by Commissioners Court today.

The plan would offer up to a 100 percent tax abatement for 10 years on whatever amount a builder spends to become certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program.

It's one of two significant changes included in the latest version of the county's tax abatement guidelines, which the court must adopt every two years.

The plan also calls for an abatement of up to 80 percent for companies that build facilities in certain low-income areas and hire people who live there.

Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said the county really wants to encourage "green" building.

"Providing the incentive will go a long way to get more people on board with doing more that's environmentally friendly and more efficient for everyone," Garcia said Monday.

The environmental tax abatement would apply only to new commercial construction that meets the national green building council's certification standards. It is meant to compensate companies for the added cost of meeting those standards.

You tell me, does this seem worth it?

For example, a $10 million new building that was built to platinum standards would be eligible for a $1 million tax abatement, he said. At the county's current property tax rate, that could save $6,300 per year.

"If a company spent an extra million dollars to make a building green, then we feel that they should not have to pay taxes on that million dollars," said David Turkel, director of the Harris County Community Services Department.

So, a "non-green" building will cost $9 Million, and a "green" building will run $10 Million, give or take a hundage or two right? The average annual savings is expected to be $6,300. At that rate it will take almost 159 years for the extra investment to "pay off". (those calculations don't include inflation and appraisal creep, which could knock the time in half)

Still, you're looking at 70 years before you could potentially begin to see a ROI on a $1 Million dollar investment. That's money that could be spent in R&D, Marketing, and a host of other costs (extra employees) that could help grow a stable business.


Any takers?

Staying classy

You know they're all thinking it...

(from Harvey Rice of the Chron)

A former city councilwoman was jeered Monday after she criticized the voters who unseated her May 10 for defying them by voting for the largest development ever proposed for Galveston Island.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for four newly elected council members, defeated incumbent Dianna Puccetti said, "When I was growing up, my dad commented on more than one occasion, Galveston always shoots itself in the foot. Well daddy, I know you're listening, they did it again."

Her remarks were greeted with a loud chorus of groans and hoots, forcing Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas to call for order.

Puccetti abstained when the old council was asked to vote to confirm the election results before the new council members swore their oath of office.

Wow.

I would argue that, with her attitude, it was far and away time that Puccetti vacate the premises. Unfortunately that type of hubris isn't always on the surface. Most of the time its more nuanced.

When I was elected to the Houston City Council in 2001, I took this knowledge with me and continued to pursue the bridge. Through this entire process, Rep. Green and his office kept the project alive.

A couple of Saturdays ago, with the assistance of federal and state funds, Rep. Green, the neighborhood's residents and I cut the ribbon to the bridge to Manchester.

What would have happened if my Manchester bridge project had started when I took office six years ago? I didn't have the knowledge of processes when I took over office. Manchester would have been short-changed by term limits.

It's really just the same message, just worded better.


Yet the latter's continued election to public office will be greeted with thunderous applause instead of a chorus of boos because the PR was a little better.

The Government we deserve.

Why not just let him write them for you?

(Thanks, Kuff)

Ladies and gentlemen, the epitome of a "softball" question...

(from the "Dean Becker" interview of C.O. Bradford)

Dean Becker: You know the crime lab here has been shut down for the fourth time in six years for incompetence, corruption, you name it, and you were police chief during one of those shut downs but you're not some CSI scientist and by virtue of the fact that it keeps on failing long after you left I'm not assigning blame to you. My good friend Attorney Jeff Blackburn and his Texas Innocence Project keep getting people released from prison because of bad lab work done all over this state. And I'm asking you, sir, what can we do to protect the innocent from false evidence and lazy dry labbing techniques?

Clarence Bradford: Thank you. When I became police chief, Mayor Bob Lanier appointed me police chief in 1996, I continued to rely on the same crime lab, the DNA section supervisor who two previous police chiefs have relied on because I don't have a science or biology degree, so I relied on that person. Now we've learned subsequently that that person had been doing a poor job all along and was doing a poor job then. The crime lab has been a problem, it has been documented since 1980. It continues to be a problem today, in my view, and it will continue to be a problem until we establish an independent process, a process that the crime lab is independent of the police department, independent of the district attorney's office and where scientists are allowed to do their work and evidence speaks for itself. It must be independent, in short, for this reason. To get the proper resources that are needed for the crime lab and the proper scientific oversight, we need to have a laboratory that is independent of the police department and the district attorney's office.

Quite possibly the most poorly framed question in Houston political history.

nEw York

Good riddance...

(from Ford Gunter of Houston Business Journal)

Two of the big "E" logos from Enron Corp. are heading for the Big Apple.

An anonymous New York buyer has purchased them for an undisclosed sum from Lou Congelio, who bought the iconic letters in 2002 at Enron's bankruptcy auction.

Each logo, which feature an E angled backward, first stood for prosperity and growth in Houston, then as a symbol of corporate scandal at its worst.

Congelio displayed the logos as decorative art work in the offices of StanandLou Advertising, a Houston-based firm he co-founded in 1988.

"This was a unique opportunity to own a piece of pop culture during one of the most turbulent times in our city's history," Congelio said. "The 'crooked E' became an instant symbol of corporate greed and corruption."

The letters will be shipped the week of May 19.

Sha-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye.


Does New York wanting something from Houston mean we are finally "world class"?

It's all because of that pocket park I'm sure.

Remember the Wolf Development/pocket park scandal?

Sure you do.

That development is paying off in Spades for Wolf...

Hanover Co. plans to break ground this fall on a high-rise apartment building in Wulfe & Co.'s new BLVD Place development in the Galleria area.

Hanover made the project official this week after Wulfe President Ed Wulfe said in September 2007 that it was "pretty definite" that the Houston-based company would be the project's residential developer.

Hanover and equity partner MetLife Inc. purchased 1.5 acres in Wulfe's 21-acre mixed-use development at Post Oak and San Felipe for the luxury project.

It's who you know.

Hey, he said it...

So much for neutral reporting...

(from Rad Sallee of the Chron)

Talking about Metro's proposed "consent agreement" with the Chron...

•The agreement is to be in effect until Metro "abandons" the project. That's a grim thought, but I guess they have to cover all the bases.

It's a grim thought unless you're not a fan of light rail, then it's a happy thought.


I wonder how that's addressed in the much-ballyhooed Chronicle style manual?

Build it and they "won't" come?

That seems to be the case for the new Port of Houston ship terminal...

(from Bill Hansel Jr. of the Chron)

The gleaming new $81 million cruise terminal at the Port of Houston will open soon, but don't expect throngs of passengers, streamers or cracking champagne bottles.

Or a ship, for that matter.

Port officials haven't yet secured a deal with any cruise operators, and officials say ships probably won't start setting sail from the Bayport berth until fall 2009, even though the facility should be finished by the end of this summer.

"That is the primary next season we are looking at, although there is a chance of a vessel earlier," said Wade Battles, managing director of the Port of Houston Authority.

Nice, one year of costs with no revenues.


Maybe a demand analysis BEFORE constructing the thing would have been in order?

A bad week for the Least Common Denominator

First its oil prices now they turn their attetion to messing up our food commodities as well...

(from David S. Herszenhorn and David Stout of the NY Times)

The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a five-year, $307 billion farm bill, sending it to President Bush for what is expected to be his futile veto.

The 81-to-15 Senate vote, like the 318-to-106 House vote on Wednesday, attracted broad bipartisan support and received far more than the two-thirds that would be needed to override Mr. Bush’s veto, should he keep his pledge to wield his pen.

(snip)

In the House chamber on Wednesday, longtime critics of farm subsidies in both parties echoed Mr. Bush’s complaints about the current bill.

“Where’s the beef?” asked Representative Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, standing in the House floor next to a poster showing sharp increases in commodity prices — 126 percent for wheat, 57 percent for soybeans, 45 percent for corn. “Where’s the real reform?” he said.

Some critics have also pointed to earmarks in the bill, including a tax break for racehorse owners added by the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and $170 million to benefit the salmon industry inserted by House Democrats from the West Coast.


(snip)

Although the legislation is universally known as the farm bill, it actually directs far more money to feeding the poor than it does to helping farmers — about $209 billion for nutrition programs like food stamps, according to the Congressional Budget Office, compared with $35 billion for agricultural commodity programs.

(snip)

“With this legislation we will help families facing high food prices,” she[Pelosi -ed.] said.

No, it won't help families facing high food prices, at least not working families and members of the middle class. You know, that group that's called "wealthy by some of the Least Common Denominator because they earn a salary and own a home?

That's right...Anyone making above the cut-off level for food-stamps (currently the limit is around 26K for a family of four) doesn't get any help at all. In case you're wondering that would be two parents working 40 hours per week at $6.25/hour. So we're now excluding homes that have two wage earners earning the minimum wage.

That's correct, if parent one makes $10 and parent two makes $8 per hour and they both work 40 hours per week, and assuming they have two kids, none of whom work to provide income for the family, then they don't qualify.

According to the Least Common Denominator they are "too rich" to need to worry about high food prices. They're also not a part of the newly minted "hard-working families" class of people that we've been told are the "true America".


Meanwhile we continue to dedicate increasing amounts of our foodstocks to biofuels at the expense of our nutritional needs. Commodity prices continue to rise, and we continue to funnel Billions of dollars to farmers to not plant crops or subsidize them during a time of windfall profits.


Hmmm...sounds like someone else the Government is trying to tax into submission does it not? Watchout American Farmer, you're next.




We get the Government we deserve.


And no, I'm not singling out one party over another. Both parties are doing this to us.

Blame the Polar Bears

The next time oil prices go up...

(From Yareth Rosen via Reuters)

Oil drilling in the Arctic may need to slow down, now that polar bears, iconic symbols of global warming, are headed for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, experts said.

U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne this week added polar bears to the list of threatened animals under the act because their sea ice habitat is rapidly melting -- a move that comes just as the oil industry is pushing into offshore Arctic Alaska frontiers.

Experts said the additional protections for the bears will reduce the chances oil companies will be allowed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dimming hopes that the oil-rich wilderness would help the United States curb its dependence on energy imports.

It could also mean new buffer zones in the Arctic to protect nursing mother bears and cubs from deafening seismic testing, revamped oil spill contingency plans and the delay of future lease sales for energy exploration, the experts said.

"There will be additional permitting hoops that industry will have to go through," said Marilyn Crockett, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. "These have the potential to slow projects down. But I think the big hurdle out there is the lawsuits that are likely to be filed."

Add to that the decrease in exploration and production that you will see when windfall profits taxes are enacted and America could easily be looking down the barrel of $10 per gallon oil in three years.

Even the most optimistic projections place us 5 to 10 years away from meaningful renewable energy generation.


$10 dollar gas.


The only way out of it will be to issue price controls, which will mean that rationing will have to take place, which will mean that the Government will have to Nationalize the oil and gas industry. Either that or it will collapse under the weight of an impossible cost structure.


Brilliant plan.

Still more fallout from the Texas Democrats poorly run primary

At least the lawyers are cashing in...

(from R.G. Ratcliffe of the Chron Austin Bureau)

Despite a record number of delegate challenges filed with the state Democratic Party for its June convention, a major change is unlikely to occur in how many Texas delegates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have for their party's presidential nomination.

A Houston Chronicle review of more than 120 challenges on file with the state party found that most are attempts to change senatorial district convention delegate allocations but are not intended to create a wholesale turnover of the state convention delegates that Obama and Clinton will receive.

The party will apportion 67 delegates to the national convention based on the attendance of Obama and Clinton delegates at the state convention June 6-7 in Austin.

Some challenges are as simple as a single delegate feeling unfairly excluded from attending the state convention.

Others contend that their district conventions did not follow party rules and ask the state party to reallocate delegates to the state convention.

Former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, chairman of Clinton's campaign in the state, said the delegate challenges are important for protecting the "integrity of the process." But Mauro said at most about 200 of the state convention's 7,650 delegates are being challenged. "If both sides won all of their challenges, it would probably be a wash, or we might come out 50 votes ahead, or he might come out with 20," Mauro said. "So there's not a whole lot at stake here."

This election is going to have to go down as one of the worst administrated primary elections in Texas, ever. Not only have their been bruised egos on both sides, but a big chance to expand the voting base and capture a ton of first time voters has been squandered by the gang who couldn't shoot straight.

If Democrats don't gain control of the Lege and many local offices in Texas in 2008 then they only have themselves to blame.

Not the best of excuses...

David Mincberg questions Ed Emmett on the passed deadline for the ethics committee report and Emmett punts...

(from Liz Peterson of the Chron Local Politics blog)

Emmett did not specifically remember setting a 90-day deadline, but he acknowledged he may have said that at the press conference. Still, he did not sound concerned about the delay.

"I have purposely set up the task force to go do their work without interference from me or any other politician," he said.

Emmett spokesman Joe Stinebaker said the panel is working on a broad outline of changes they'd like to see, such as what should be disclosed, who they can require to disclose it and who they actually want to require to disclose it. The recommendations should be ready by the end of the summer, he said.

Emmett supporters will no doubt point to the last paragraph with glee, pointing out (correctly) that real reform takes time. Mincberg supports will point out (correctly) that a deadline was set and missed, with no explenation as to why.

Both sides are correct, but I'm betting Mincberg has the better argument here with the public. We are a soundbyte society that wants results. now. without delay.

And "I don't remember" is becoming the political equivilent of "I'm guilty" in the court of public opinion.


Point for Mincberg.


OTHER EYES:

Off the Kuff

Best team in Houston?

(Thanks Tom...)

While poking around the Internet I discovered this Glenn Davis column regarding the "best sports teams in Houston" discussions that pop up from time to time in local media.

Yes, there's the obligatory prostituting for the stadium in there (which Tom addresses accordingly) but I want to focus on why the Dynamo are not included in "the best sports teams" conversations....

First, Glenn Davis provides the "pro" argument:

In sports talk, radio hosts tend to stick to subjects they know best. In Houston, that is baseball, basketball and football. But when it comes time to ask which pro franchise in Houston is best, the Dynamo need to be included in the conversation.

Here is why:

The club has won back-to-back Major League Soccer championships, and, in only its third year, has branded itself successfully. Take a look around town, and you'll see fans wearing the distinctive Dynamo orange jerseys and T-shirts.

For any new sports franchise, getting off to a good start is critical. The Dynamo have done that and in the process created a relationship with both the hard-core soccer fan and the casual sports fan.

The base of loyal Dynamo fans is at least 15,000 strong and reflects the diversity of our city. These fans don't come to Robertson Stadium for the concessions, and they don't need to be prompted to cheer. They are the liveliest, most active fans in Houston and create at the games a "global" atmosphere that includes an assault on the senses of sound and sight.

Fair enough, all good points, but they fail to address the reality of why the Dynamo are not taken in consideration during legitimate conversation....

1. It's Minor League Soccer. - Yes the championships are great and the fan base (more on that later) is crazy mad but, at the end of the day, we are still talking about a Minor League in the grand scheme of things. MLS is where young, underexposed players go to build their game and where older, over the hill players from the Major Leagues go for one last paycheck. David Beckham is a force in this league for goodness sake. C'mon.

2. They have a strong fan base of 15,000 fans.- Uh huh, and so does UH, and they're considered one of the weaker college teams (in terms of fan support) in the Country. Yes, the Dynamo fans are rabid, they love their little guys in orange and they are loud, but that doesn't mean the franchise is among the City's "best". It's an economy of scale and the Millions of fans that the Astros, Rockets and Texans have require a large following to enter that exclusive club.

3. They are renting. - Yes, I realize that I've not been a fan of a downtown soccer stadium, but that doesn't mean that I'm opposed to a soccer stadium for the Dynamo. I just don't think this stadium is a good idea. That being said if you don't have your own playpen, you don't belong in the conversation. The Houston Aeros were the Champions of the AHL and consistently reach the playoffs, they're minor league hockey and don't get a seat at the table. There's the Texas Copperheads, Mattress Mac's Pro Team Tennis fiasco and a host of other "professional" teams that call, or have called Houston home, but only the big three are given serious run when conversations turn to who is "the best".


The Houston Dynamo are a very good MLS team. That places them at the top, of the bottom, of the soccer heirarchy. The Astros, Rockets and Texans play in leagues that epitomize the top level of competition worldwide in their respective sports.

There's your difference, and there's why you don't hear the Houston Dynamo mentioned in serious discussion among grown-ups when it comes to who has the best sports franchise in Houston.*





*The answer is the Astros, by a mile.

No consent

This is probably nothing more than a hiccup rather than a full blown work stoppage.

(from Rad Sallee of the Chron)

Metro will spend up to $300 million to move utilities and repave streets disturbed by the construction of five new light rail lines, under a draft agreement with the city to set ground rules for the projects.

The consent agreement, which would give Metro the OK to build on Houston streets, also would put the city in charge of traffic signal timing along the future lines. The Metropolitan Transit Authority would keep control of those on the existing Red Line.

The 23-page document prompted numerous questions from council members, and sometimes impassioned comments from the audience during a meeting Tuesday of City Council's Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee.

The panel was to vote on whether to send the agreement to the full council, but time ran out Tuesday. Committee Chairman Sue Lovell said the meeting will be resumed later.

Councilwoman Melissa Noriega displayed a photo of a Seattle light rail station surrounded by trees and flowers, then another showing a barren trackway through an industrial area.

How can the council be sure Metro's results will look like the first photo and not the second? she asked.

From time to time its not unusual for local pols to rise up from their light-rail induced stupor and decide that they need to play "rough" with Metro to avoid the appearance of total complicity with an organization whose making more errors of late than Carlos Lee at third base. That's what I think is going on here, City Council members trying to assure the citizenry that it (honestly) really is about their needs and not the needs of some developers who think they've found a gold mine in them thar' hills (figuratively speaking) of inner city Houston.

This will be passed, Metro will make a bunch of promises, and get exactly what they want in the end. Minus some window dressing.


This is what happens when there's no serious questioning of projects that deserve to be seriously questioned.

Oh, and here's something fun:

But Stanley "Skip" Almoney, president of Friends of Mandell Park, said Metro should create a "pedestrian corridor" by leaving only one lane of Richmond open.

Think about that come August in 100 degree heat with 90% humidity: To get down Richmond you have to walk or take the train. If I owned a business on Richmond I'd be relocating right now.

Houston Budget: 2009

Extra Credit if you correctly identify what's missing from Carolyn Feibel's Chronicle report...

Mayor Bill White unveiled a record $4 billion budget proposal Tuesday, calling for a sharp increase in spending on public safety while cutting the property tax rate by a half-cent.

The mayor's fiscal 2009 budget also would, if approved, create a dedicated set-aside of tax revenues to pay for drainage improvements, fund the addition of 150 police officers and add 50,000 homes to the curbside recycling program.

"Because we've enjoyed strong economic growth, and because we're running City Hall more efficiently, we can afford a tax rate cut of half a penny per $100 of valuation to bring our tax rate down," White said.

City revenue is projected to be $4.07 billion in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. That would be an increase of 6.7 percent over the current fiscal year.

For the first time, the general fund — the part of the budget paid for by property and sales taxes, fees and fines — will top $2 billion. The remainder of the budget is made up of user fees for water, sewer, the airports and entertainment facilities.

"It's a big budget we have, but the citizens can be sure we have gone through it with a fine-toothed comb," White said. "Wherever we can find savings, we try to squeeze out savings, which is one reason we are able to deliver far more services with a lower tax rate."

Finally, after four years of puttering around, Mayor White has decided that police staffing and flood control are important issues? Well, that's nice. While I applaud the focus on the "basics" of government as opposed to a continuing focus on trinkets, the nature of the Houston budget is such that its really a living document. I'm willing to bet you that the $15.5 Million for the land that's (not officially) set-aside for the Dynamo stadium wasn't in the 2008 budget. So, in reality, these budgets aren't worth the paper they're printed on other than to provide campaign talking points as a means for local politicians to beat their chest while kissing babies.

Now, on to your extra credit...

Can someone please tell me where the disclaimer is for the 1/2 cent tax cut?

You know, the SAME disclaimer that the Chron runs every time a politician they aren't in love with proposes a tax cut? That's right, the "average Houston family will only realize $20 per year from this cut, less if you account for appraisal increase" blurb that constantly makes it into every story about State Sen. Dan Patrick or someone else advocating a small cut?

*crickets*


Granted, it could have been that Ms. Feibel included that and it was editied out, at this point we don't know. The problem is that amateurish reporting on issues such as this are what feeds the "liberal bias" fire. You have to ignore several factors to call this liberal bias: Dan Patricks public war against the Chronicle, Mrs. White's affection for her man etc. but there's no denying that a different standard is applied to the reporting for Mayor White's proposed cut than was applied to other similar tax cut plans over the past year.


The fact is this tax cut is just as useless and symbolic as the rest of the proposals. Again, its election fodder, nothing more.

Which about sums up the entire budgetary hullabaloo doesn't it?

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

"Good Night, neighbor."

Ron Stone.

1936-2008

May the God of his family's choice provide them comfort during this time.

Election Day Snapshot.

1. Baytown: 1/4 cent sales tax increase for the funding of road repair and maintenance.

(from Kari Griffen of the Baytown Sun)

Voters elected two new faces to Baytown City Council and reauthorized a street sales tax Saturday night.

(snip)

Regardless of which district Baytonians live in, they all will be affected by the one-quarter of one-cent street sales tax voters reauthorized Saturday. Unofficially, 1087 voters favored the one quarter of a cent sales tax versus the 304 against it.

That's 78.1 percent FOR the sales tax for those of you keeping score.

2. Deer Park 1/2 cent sales tax increase for "economic development.

Defeated by 55.8 percent of the vote. This is the second time in three months that Deer Park voters have said no to this tax.


Lesson learned: Voters are OK paying tax for nuts and bolts government spending such as road repair, maintenance etc. but if a Government gets too enamoured with "trinket governance" and forgets the basics then you have a problem.

Pave the roads, staff the emergency responders, and maintain the infrastructure. Everything else is secondary.

Another refund check to not spend

This time its Allstate that could be footing the bill...

(From Travis E. Poling of the S-A Express News via the Chron)

As many as 700,000 Texans who have or had Allstate insurance on their homes could be getting a check in the mail by November as part of a $71.3 million settlement over past rate increases.

Also as part of the settlement, Allstate Insurance has agreed not to raise rates in the state until June 2009, barring any unforeseen events, such as a hurricane hitting the Texas coast.

"They finally started to put some money on the table," said Rod Bordelon of the state Office of Public Insurance Counsel. OPIC and the Texas Department of Insurance brokered the settlement of all litigation between the state and Allstate.

Allstate said the average refund and credit statewide will come to about $80 per customer, but the amount will vary depending on the consumer's level of insurance and where the insured property is in the state.

Residents in coastal areas should get refunds but may not see any rate cuts, said Allstate spokesman Joe McCormick. Coastal areas — defined as the counties along the coast and three counties inland — will see cuts of 2 percent at most, he said, and some will see rates remain flat.

McCormick said 25 to 30 percent of Allstate's business is along the coast.

Allstate, the second-largest homeowners insurance company in Texas, was embroiled in several suits with the state over rate increases beginning in late 2004 and another last year.

"We're pleased to put these issues behind us," McCormick said. "Now we can sharpen our focus on innovation and service for our customers even more."

Bordelon and the Insurance Department contended that Allstate had inappropriately high profits built into the estimated costs of covering claims.

"Our analysis of their rate was that it was excessive," Bordelon said. "I think they were overestimating losses for several years now."

Allstate has contended that its pricing was appropriate.

So you may get a refund in the mail, just deposit it and pay down some debt.


I'm curious to see how some of the more unreasonable critics of the insurance industry and Texas regulation of it will greet this news. I'm sure it won't be enough.

Of course, nothing short of running them out of business and staking their executives to large wooden crosses would be enough, but at least this is something.

Let there be light....

And Mayor White looketh down on Houston and saw that it was good (for his campaign war chest that is)

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

Downtown boosters want the city to relax its sign rules for the Houston Pavilions, a $170 million retail and entertainment complex set to open in the fall.

If approved, the change would allow brightly lit signs and heights up to 80 feet above the ground, neither of which currently is allowed through most of downtown, which is a designated "scenic district."

Beautification advocates are balking at the creation of a one-time exception for a single project, arguing the move could open the door to demands from other developers.

The City Council could vote on the change to the sign code as early as Wednesday.

The White administration backs the change, which would create signage guidelines for a special "Entertainment and Retail District" in the three blocks occupied by the Houston Pavilions. The project sits between Main, Caroline, Dallas and Polk.

Planners said the Houston Pavilions requires more visibility and branding, to better attract convention goers and to fill a pedestrian void between downtown hotels and the George R. Brown Convention Center.

"Downtown desperately needs additional retail, entertainment and dining," said Don Henderson, board president of the Downtown Management District.

Quite a change from "Mayor Beautiful" is it not? You know, Mr. Scenic Houston that had Mrs. White all but dribbling over herself in ebullient praise?

Yeah, THAT Mayor White....The one who's down with quality of life issues UNTIL they negatively impact a potential campaign donor.

Because, you know, when you're put on a pedestal by some as a God-like figure you're allowed a modicum of flexibility with the rules.


All in the name of economic development of course....


OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

Florence Shapiro waxing Senatorial

The U.S. Senate that is...

(from Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News)

State Sen. Florence Shapiro of Dallas is considering setting up an exploratory committee to run for the U.S. Senate in anticipation of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison running for governor.

Mrs. Shapiro was not available for comment but her political consultant, Bryan Eppstein, said people around the state are urging the Dallas Republican to seek the Senate if Mrs. Hutchison resigns or retires. “Right now, she’s strongly considering it,” said Mr. Eppstein.

He noted that a year ago, former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach was among those touting the idea and volunteered to help if Mrs. Shapiro ran for an open Senate seat.

Mrs. Hutchison, the state’s senior senator, has said she does not intend to run again. She has indicated she might challenge Gov. Rick Perry for reelection in 2010.

Mrs. Hutchison could either resign early or remain in the Senate while running for governor.

Should Mrs. Shapiro declare her intention to establish a federal campaign exploratory committee, it would allow her to start raising money and put her atop speculation about a possible successor to Mrs. Hutchison.

I point this out for two reasons:

1. IF she declares, she's an almost instant favorite for the position, and would certainly garner the endorsement of Kay Bailey.

2. There's a LOT of smoke this time around the election for Kay Bailey's current Senate Seat should she vacate it to run for Gov. against Rick Perry. Where there's smoke there's usually fire.

Campaign polling (TX - Senate)

With all of the dogs in ER's and other stuff going on last week I missed The Texas Senate poll Rasmussen poll results that have been firing up Noriega supporters everywhere.

(from Kuff @ Off the Kuff via Rasmussen)

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state find Cornyn leading Democratic state legislator Rick Noriega by just four percentage points, 47% to 43%.

Those numbers have been backed up by a second batch of poll numbers:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 5/5-7. Likely voters. MoE 4% (9/24-26/07 results)

Cornyn (R) 48 (51)
Noriega (D) 44 (35)

Now, it should be noted that Research 2000's test results were FOR DailyKos, which is far from neutral in its political stance, so I'd have to see more detail before I took it at face value.

Still, Rasmussen is a credible polling entity so the results cannot be ignored. (Despite the fact that many Cornyn supporters would like to) They provide some more context here...

Noreiga leads among voters earning less than $40,000 a year. Cornyn leads among those with higher incomes. Cornyn leads among Evangelical Christian voters and other Protestants. Noreiga leads among those with a different faith background. Both candidates do well within their own party and are fairly evenly matched among unaffiliated voters.

In other words, Noriega is doing well with Democrats and Cornyn is doing well with Republicans, they're still splitting independent moderates.


Now the question is as follows: Do these positive polling numbers mean that Noriega gets a bump in funding?


If the answer to that question is "yes" we have a race.
If the answer to that question is "no" then we have some neat polling numbers.

Both polls were among "likely voters" which mean people who have actively voted in recent elections (not counting the most current primaries, because those lists aren't out yet). What's going to turn this race are the "unlikely voters" those who come out during the "big" elections only.

Under the radar

You might not think of shopping cart theft as a big problem, but HPD sure does...

(from Dane Schiller of the Chron)

Poor men's pickups or desperate criminals' getaway cars?

Once they escape parking lots, shopping carts become a unique and sometimes problematic part of the urban landscape.

Some carts are abandoned near their home stores.

Others end up miles away parked outside abandoned houses, flipped in ditches or jumbled near bus stops or scrap-metal recycling companies.

"There are more shopping carts than bushes out there," said Lt. Richard Zajac of the Houston Police Department's South Central Patrol Division, which this year launched a special detail to curb cart theft in hopes of stopping more serious crime.

Plainclothes officers hit the streets to see who's pushing carts. In their first 30 shifts, a milestone hit last week, officers rounded up more than 1,000 shopping carts.

Companies don't mind customers temporarily using carts, which cost about $100 apiece. Fiesta even has a crew to retrieve them.

H-E-B and Walgreens outfitted carts with wheel locks triggered by radio waves when a cart wanders too far off. H-E-B still spends almost $300,000 a year on carts for its 67 stores in the region, said Zach Yeglin, H-E-B's customer service director for the Houston division.

"The trend has really picked up in the last six to eight months," he said of cart-napping. "People are just taking the carts home and they are not reappearing. Why they're not, I don't know."

While hunting carts, police find surprises.

In March they caught a slaying suspect hiding as a homeless person. Then there was the time in broad daylight when a drug peddler asked officers sitting in an old pickup if they wanted crack cocaine.

So, if you add up the benefits of cost control for the owners, crime prevention and neighborhood beautification you end up with a nice, tidy program that actually does something to combat crime.

All of that without an acronym. Good job HPD.

Crying Wolf?

It seems we hear this ever year does it not?...

(from Gary Scharrer of the Chron)

The school funding system approved by Texas lawmakers two years ago provides no new money to cover rising costs — especially for fuel, utilities and health insurance — and officials warn the plan's tax revenue straightjacket will allow inflation to push some school districts into bankruptcy.

At-risk districts, generally, will find a way to make it for the next school year, but many face horror situations in a few years unless legislators dramatically change the school funding system again, and soon.

Take the Houston-area Spring Branch Independent School District. Its budget projections show the district's current $58 million reserve fund will slide $68 million into the red within four years.

Unless a fix is enacted during next year's legislative session, school districts will be faced with difficult choices, including closing campuses and firing teachers, said Mike Falick, president of the Spring Branch school board.

"It's an untenable system. No business in the world would be able to survive with fuel, health insurance and salary increases and a flat revenue source," Falick said. "It's not sustainable.

Some school districts eventually will face "insolvency, some in a shorter time than others," he said.

I don't doubt that schools are facing looming funding shortfalls, the way Texas funds its school system is laughably inadequate. I also don't doubt that, for several Texans, these "doomsday prophecies" of schools going bankrupt etc. are going to start falling on deaf ears. The schools cry poor every year after all, and every year they pass more bond issues and build more schools....

Then they turn around and tell us how poor they are. Meanwhile several districts are spending money like a drunk on a two-week power binge. There's zero fiscal accountability, and even less responsibility. Opposition to ANY spending is countered by the school districts and by the teacher's union as "against the children" which stifles debate and allows weak administrators to run districts into the ground. That "business model" that they are saying is unsustainable is broken at all levels. The adminsitrative and budgetary most of all.


The bottom line is that School funding reform in Texas needs to be a three-tined pitchfork:

One tine that totally guts and reworks the taxation system.

One tine that totally guts and reworks how funds are distributed.

One tine that totally audits and evaluates how distrcts are spending the money.


Take care of those three things and school funding will work itself out. Until then we're just putting a band-aid on a cancer. Yes, Democrats and Republicans, that means YOU, and all of your 'stop-gap' funding 'solutions'....

Hurry up and wait

Congress fiddles while oil prices rise...

(from David Ivanovich of the Chron Washington Bureau)

Democrats are meeting stiff resistance to efforts to rein in speculation on the oil markets as they try to push through a broader energy package ahead of the start of summer driving season.

But pressure continues to build on Capitol Hill to force President Bush to stop the flow of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

When unveiling their latest energy package this week, Senate Democrats knew they were resurrecting a number of proposals that had died in the past — from efforts to hit up the oil companies for higher taxes to taking a largely symbolic swipe at OPEC.

But arguing that "rampant speculation" in the oil markets has helped drive up crude prices, Senate Democrats proposed a new measure that would increase the amount of money traders would have to put down when buying oil futures.

(snip)

The Democratic proposal would address the issue of traders trying to flee to other markets by barring traders of U.S. crude from routing transactions through offshore markets to circumvent the new limits.

Exchange officials question whether speculators are the negative influence so often described. They say the number of crude oil futures held by "noncommercial participants," traders with no real interest in taking actual delivery of any barrels, has declined over the last year, even as oil prices rose.

(snip)

In the House, Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, and Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, are pushing language to require the Energy Department to swap 10 percent of the light, sweet crude in the reserve for heavy oil.

Lampson argues this would not only help provide some relief to the oil markets by bolstering supplies of light, sweet crude but also raise revenue, because the light, sweet grade typically sells for about $12 more than heavy sour.

Lampson said his proposal would send a signal to speculators while also having a "positive impact on the price of oil."

(snip)

The Democratic proposal also would slap the five largest oil companies with a new 25 percent profits tax.

The Democrats don't understand the markets and the Republicans aren't sure what to do.

The "best" thing to do would be to ride it out, but politicians don't feel that they can do that because they can't be honest enough with the voters that there's just really not much that can be done in the short term.

The Government we deserve (Part 623)

And you wonder why I call the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate America's Least Common Denominator?

(from Jad Mouawad of the NY Times via the Chron)

Some of the nation's largest oil companies have agreed to pay about $423 million in cash to settle a lawsuit brought by more than a hundred public water providers, claiming water contamination from a gasoline additive.

The terms of the settlement were submitted for approval in the federal court for the Southern District of New York. Under the terms, the companies also agreed to pay 70 percent of the future cleanup costs over the next 30 years.

The defendants that agreed to the settlement included BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Marathon Oil, Valero Energy, Citgo and Sunoco. Six other companies named in the lawsuit, including Exxon Mobil, did not agree to the deal, said Scott Summy, a lawyer at Baron & Budd and a counsel for the plaintiffs.

(snip)

Since the mid-1990s, hundreds of lawsuits have been brought against oil companies for their use of the chemical. This deal, if approved, would be the largest settlement to date.

MTBE has been used since 1979 to increase octane levels in gasoline but its use became more widespread after the 1990 Clean Air Act mandated the use of an oxygenate in certain cities to reduce smog and other pollutants.

When mixed with gasoline, the additive ensured that the fuel burned more thoroughly, thereby reducing air pollution.

But after being widely adopted, it was found to corrupt groundwater. Even in small amounts, the additive makes water smell and taste like turpentine.

In 2005, some 130,000 barrels a day of MTBE were produced, involving about 1 percent of the nation's gasoline. Oil companies stopped using it in 2006.

So here you have a case where the Least Common Denominator passes something into law that it knows nothing about, finds out that they goofed in writing the law and that what they mandated has potentially hazardous consequences, and then the SAME Government files a lawsuit against the companies that it mandated use the defective product for the product being defective.


And the same party now wants BACK in power so they can "fix" even more messes. Messes that the other band of idiots partially created when THEY were in control.


If our government were a work of fiction it'd be too stupid for anyone to read. How did a Nation with such a great past come to be governed by the village idiots?

Amazing.

An interesting challenge for Joel Osteen

For perhaps the first time, he's being openly challenged to take a side on a controversial issue.

(from Claudia Feldman of the Chron)

The son of evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker Messner will spend his first Mother's Day weekend since her death in Houston, waiting to hear from Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen.

Jay Bakker, a high-profile supporter of Soulforce — a group that fights religious and political oppression of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders — wants Osteen to join the nontraditional families at a picnic Saturday and welcome them to church on Sunday.

As the tattooed and pierced Bakker spoke at a Soulforce news conference Wednesday, it was clear his mother was in his thoughts. Though she died of cancer last July, she remains a near-legend in the LGBT community.

"I want to celebrate my mother's life," said Bakker, pastor of Revolution New York City, "and help spread the message she lived and preached. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as 'us' and 'them.' We hope the families of Lakewood Church will open their hearts and minds to us and sit down and have a conversation and share a meal. ... Let's put our differences aside and share the love and hope of Christ."

Osteen has been largely silent on LGBT issues.

But for Bakker, "That's as destructive as speaking out against the LGBT community."

It's an interesting conundrum, and one that Lakewood's director of communications states quite succicntly...

"If we met to talk, would this group be satisfied if we agreed to disagree? ... Soulforce wants to use Lakewood to further their agenda."

That's a legitimate point. One that's often overlooked in the debate over how much the Church will be forced to accept the GLBT agenda. Will the definition of "tolerance" be extended to include blanket acceptance? Or is there room in there for Christian love but refusal to fully accept GLBT pastors etc?

I understand for those uneducated in Church doctrine that those concepts may be at odds with one another, but its no different than what would happen if a heterosexual applied for a leadership role in a prominent GLBT group is it not?

It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of Pastor Osteen. Not because of his political leanings, or lack of them, but mainly because I disagree with his preaching of what I call "ATM Christianity" where God is nothing more than a glorified Pez dispenser of blessings that's there if you just bow your head and pray. It's a warm and fuzzy message, but it doesn't convey the full range of what Christianity is all about.

IF Soulforce is sincere about having a discussion that recognizes where common ground is found but is intellectually honest about respecting differences then this picnic could be a good thing. But if their goal is to push an agenda or discredit someone who has real religious reasons for disagreeing with them, then Pastor Osteen would be right to stay away.

At the end of the day all of us; Christians, Athiests, Jews, Muslims, Hindu, Sikh's, Mormons, Catholics, Wiccans, Agnostics, Diests, Heterosexuals, Homosexuals, other, need to realize that differences are what make us unique. The belief (faith) in our religion is not the evil thing that modern society has made it out to be, neither is a belief that your personal God (or no God) is the "correct" God that all should follow. We're told this because we don't want to hurt people's feelings by those whose feelings seem to be constantly hurt. I would counter that if your faith is so weak that you're threatened by what others say in regards to your beliefs then you really don't believe in them anyway. In other words, I'm quite comfortable with the fact that Muslims feel I'm worshipping the wrong way because I feel the same way about them. That doesn't mean that I hate them, quite the contrary, it just means that we are all fulfilling our life's journey in different ways.

It will be interesting to see what develops.

Gun Permit requests up almost 40%

The DPS is baffled...

(from Janet Elliot of the Chron Austin Bureau)

Demand for concealed handgun licenses has risen nearly 40 percent in Texas in a year, an increase being attributed to many factors, even presidential politics.

Though the exact cause may be unclear, what's certain is that the spike in applications has caught the Department of Public Safety unprepared.

The state is taking a month longer than the 60 days allowed by law to process original applications and 80 days longer on renewals, which are supposed to be handled within 45 days.

"We're trying really hard, but there have been delays because of the tremendous increase in applications," said Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman.

(snip)

"People are not sure what's going to happen after the election," said Bransford, who owns Austin-based CHL-Texas.com. "Both Democratic candidates are anti-gun in one fashion or another."

He said Sen. Barack Obama, who is leading the race for the nomination, is a "friend of (Democratic Senator) Ted Kennedy, and that scares everybody to death."

Other instructors mentioned an increased interest from young adults after last year's Virginia Tech massacre and recent changes in Texas law about carrying concealed weapons.

Of all the reasons the "Presidential" angle seems to be the most likely to me. Anytime there's a good chance that the legislative and executive branch is going to be controlled by the Party that has an anti-gun view of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, reading instead the Amendment to apply only to the establishment of a militia, then you're going to have people purchasing more guns, getting more permits for guns, and generally trying to increase their gun holdings before they lose the right to do so.

It's much harder to take a gun from a current gun owner than it is to prevent them from buying a firearm.

Of course, all of the attention being paid to crime numbers is probably a large driver of this as well. The fact is people are not feeling very safe inside their homes. The best way to take care of this is to have a permitted gun that you know how to use.The good news is that conceal and carry licenses require the owner complete a firearms safety course.

An educated gun owner is far more desireable than an uneducated one.


OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

The trouble with TIRZ...

(with apologies to Star Trek)

The Chron's Carolyn Feibel points out an interesting factoid regarding Mayor White and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ).

Mayor Bill White has sparked a discussion of the controversial TIRZs (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones) and his concerns about them.

A TIRZ keeps a lot of the tax revenues within its boundaries -- the tax money over and above a baseline set when the TIRZ was begun. That means the taxes generated above the base are not flowing into the general fund, or to the rest of the city.

These money pools make sure money is re-invested in some needy parts of the city, such as Greenspoint and the Almeda-Old Spanish Trail area. But there's also a Downtown TIRZ and an Uptown TIRZ, and the mayor has questioned why these thriving commercial areas should get to keep all that tax money.

"I don't want a situation where there are some favored places in this city," White said.

Hmmm...Are we sure about that?

(from City Controller {and Mayoral hopeful} Anise Parker)

Mayor Bill White favors using money from the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) located just east of downtown to cover the purchase of five of the six blocks. When a TIRZ is created the city agrees to return to the zone any growth in property taxes resulting from increased development. In turn, the TIRZ can borrow against those dollars for infrastructure improvements or use those dollars for enhanced street lights, sidewalks, landscaping and other public improvements.

And again just over a month ago...

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron Houston Politics blog)

Mayor White reiterated that "the principal issue" in negotiations is his insistence that public funds for the stadium be limited to TIRZ monies or revenues directly connected to the stadium (such as a tax or fee on ticket or concession sales).

So, tell me again how Mayor White doesn't want "favored" areas in the City?

Typically Feibel has done some good work on the politics blog, but I find this story to be remarkably bad because she wrote the second quoted piece on April 2nd.

This was bound to happen.

A tragedy occurs, and you can bet your last dollar there will be an advocacy group out to exploit it.

(from Kathy Guillermo of PeTA via the Chron)

For years, on behalf of PETA, I've written polite opinion pieces urging the thoroughbred racing industry to take steps to make the sport more humane.

As someone who used to show horses, play polo, hang out at race tracks in Missouri, Ohio and California and who was at Churchill Downs when another filly, Winning Colors, raced to victory at the 1988 Kentucky Derby, I felt certain that eventually improvements would come: Synthetic tracks would replace hard dirt tracks, whipping would be banned and thoroughbred owners could be persuaded to take responsibility for their spent horses.

But after seeing Eight Belles lying in the dirt at Churchill Downs, something inside me snapped — just as surely as that beautiful filly's ankles. When a sport becomes as deadly for horses as dogfighting is for pit bulls, it's time to close it down.

Eight Belles, who now lies cold and dead in Kentucky, is just the latest in a line of thoroughbreds whose famous lineage and expensive training couldn't prevent a painful and premature end. The Triple Crown and other big races have become the graveyards of too many horses who were called champions: Go For Wand, who went down in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff — and then stumbled up and tried to keep running, her broken leg dangling. Union City, who fractured a leg in the 1993 Preakness and was destroyed. Prairie Bayou, who that same year suffered a compound fracture in the Belmont Stakes and was destroyed. George Washington, who was euthanized after breaking his leg while running the Preakness last year.

And of course Barbaro, the poster horse of the racing industry's failures and excesses, who despite heroic efforts could not be saved from the injuries he sustained during the 2006 Preakness. Those injuries were terrible — fractures of his canon bone, sesamoids and long pastern as well as the dislocation of his fetlock joint.

And here it goes. A horse dies tragically, sadly, and PeTA emerges from their dark, vegan corners and scold us all for enjoying an activity where animals are involved. Oh, and theirs the ubiquitous Michael Vick angle now. Get ready for it, because every instance where PeTA doesn't like how animals are utilized is going to be compared to Mr. Vick's dogfighting.

Eat meat? You support an industry where the cows are treated like Vick's dogs. Nevermind that its for food, and humans have been killing animals for centuries to eat. Our new-found morality won't let you do that. You're just like Michael Vick every time you sit down to eat a steak.

Let the record show that I was among Mr. Vick's harshest critics when the news broke. I'm a staunch opponent of dog fighting, cock fighting and animal abuse. I'm active in local dog rescue and am charitable to the extent of my ability to local animal shelters.

But, according to PeTA, and their self-appointed role or arbitor of all things animal, I'm "just like" Michael Vick because I enjoy horse racing.

That makes sense right? Only in the sick, twisted world of PeTA.

OH, by the by, PeTA (and Ms. Guillermo) aren't directing most of their ire at the racing industry, etc. They're going after Gabriel Saenz..

That's right. PeTA is going after the jockey, probably the one guy who could lose his home and have financial difficulties if deprived of income.


Make no mistake about it. The death of Eight Belles was a tragedy and a terrible event. My wife cried when she heard the news. She also is mature enough and intelligent enough to understand that injuries (and sadly, death) are a part of sport. Deprive these horses of their ability to race and you basically extinct the breed. There would be no financial incentive for people to own and breed them, and the American thoroughbred would fade from the planet, only to be seen in newsreels, archival footage and zoos.

Until PeTA shuts down all of the zoos.

Because that's on their agenda as well you know?


It's time we remove the folks from PeTA from the rational adult discussions that we are all having regarding animal rights.

Oh, thank you Eight Belles for a hell of a race, an exciting career and a wonderful life. We'll run the Preakness in your honor.

The patient at the hospital

Thanks to everyone who commented or e-mailed their concern and well-wishes for Duchess. Above are a couple of pictures I took of her yesterday afternoon at the Vet's office.

Hopefully, she can continue to get better and we can bring her home soon.

Oh, the green bandage on her leg is where the IV is inserted. I hear she wanted pink.

That darned surplus

Cash is king in the State budget it seems...

(from Clay Robison of the Chron)

The nation may be on the verge of a recession, but the Texas economy is doing well enough for Comptroller Susan Combs to predict Tuesday that the Legislature will have a $10.7 billion surplus when it convenes in January.

Much of the extra money can be attributed to record oil prices. While motorists are being socked with ever-increasing gasoline costs, oil and gas employment in Texas has been booming, the comptroller's office reported.

If Combs' early forecast holds up, Gov. Rick Perry would like to return part of the money to the taxpayers in the form of tax cuts or rebate checks, spokesman Robert Black said. But those steps would need legislative action.

Oil and gas employment in Texas grew by 7.5 percent between March 2007 and March 2008, leading an overall increase of 214,000 Texas jobs, comptroller's spokesman R.J. DeSilva said.

Consequently, sales tax revenue, a major source of state government income, also continues to grow.

And, DeSilva added, Texas has been insulated more than other states from the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis. Texas, he said, avoided the housing price bubbles that hurt states like California and Florida.

Combs won't make her official revenue estimate until about the time the Legislature begins in January. She made an early forecast when asked about Speaker Tom Craddick's recent prediction, in a speech in South Texas, that the surplus could be as high as $15 billion.

"Counting the Rainy Day (savings) fund, I believe we are about $10.7 (billion)," she said.

And already the "tax-relief" drums start banging. While I'm typically a fan of lower taxes I've found that, absent a holistic taxation plan, they are typically just political window dressing designed to curry favor with the base. The Republicans want "relief" while the Democrats want the poor to pay less and everyone else to pay more. Then they want to give that "more" that's paid to the poor who didn't pay much (or anything) to begin with. Give it up for both parties, they're consistent.

Closely behind the "give it back" crowd in volume will be the "give it to education" crowd, followed by the "give it to the State Parks" crowd and then every other spending priority can get in line.

The problem with all of this is that the surplus is an ethereal monster. It's there now but our politicians seem to treat it as if its some kind of birthright. In other words, putting a "surplus" of funds into recurring funding priorities such as schools and parks only will serve to exacerbate the problem down the line. When the surplus dries up, and it will, then you are left scrambling for monies that aren't there anymore. The "tax cuts" are rolled back and the calls to cut taxes for the poor and increase them on the rich are intensified.

My idea is simple: Use the entirety of the $10.7 Billion (excluding the "rainy day" fund) to set up one-time State Grants to repair roads and bridges in rural areas who lack the tax base to do so. Let's build some infrastructure in the State that's NOT the Trans-Texas Corridor or some pie-in-the sky transit project that's more of a trinket than a transit solution.

Let's repair some bridges.

Then let's reform the tax code and find something that works, long-term, for our schools and equalizes the tax burden that all of us face. Something that provides us a shared sense of ownership in the future of Texas.


OTHER EYES:

Lone Star Times

The race for Prez...Oh come on!

It's over...

(from Calvin Woodward of the AP via the Chron)

On the rebound, Barack Obama left Hillary Rodham Clinton with fast-dwindling chances Tuesday to deny him the Democratic presidential nomination after beating her in North Carolina and falling just short in an Indiana cliffhanger.

Obama was on track to climb within 200 delegates of attaining the prize, his campaign finally steadying after missteps fiercely exploited by the never-say-die Clinton.

His campaign dropped broad hints it was time for the 270 remaining unaligned party figures known as superdelegates to get off the fence and settle the nomination.

It's Obama v. McCain for the Presidency of the United States of America. Anything said to the contrary is either news agencies looking for ratings or Clinton supporters who refuse to face reality.

On a side note: You would think that the Chron DC bureau would've wanted to pen this missive? Guess not.

A family emergency

Blogging will be temporarily suspended for today while I tend to a very, very sick family member.

Last night one of our dogs (Duchess our Rhodesian Ridgeback) was stricken with acute pancreatitis and has spent all of the night at the emergency veterinarian receiving treatment and will spend all of today at our family vet receiving intreveneous fluids and medicine as we try to nurse her back to good health.

With no kids these dogs have become our de facto children, and the wife is very upset about one of her babies being so ill. And, truth be told, I'm not very happy about it either.

Anyway, keep us in your thoughts (or, for some of you, laugh silently) as we try to nurse our "baby" back to good health.


Regular blogging will resume in due time.

In related news, water is wet (Part 3)

Texas College Professors give more to Democrats than Republicans...

It's 3-1...(from Richard S. Dunham and Patrick Brendel of the Chron Washington Bureau)

Texas university professors overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates in their campaign contributions, a Houston Chronicle study of Federal Election Commission records has found.

Faculty members have contributed $406,384 to Democratic candidates or committees in the 2008 campaign season — 71 percent of their political donations. Republicans have received $135,216, or 24 percent, of donations through the end of March. University personnel gave $27,915 to nonpartisan political action committees or third party candidates.

The professors' top pick was Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. She received $129,721 in contributions, ahead of fellow Democrat Barack Obama with $104,911. Republican nominee-presumptive John McCain lagged far behind, in third place with $25,130 in college contributions.

The professors favored Democratic organizations, such as the Democratic National Committee, over Republican groups by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

Wow, stunning news.

This is the best the D.C. Bureau can dig up?


Is there any wonder that myself and others have suggested the Chron shut it down and redeploy the resources to local news gathering?

Even more on "unsexy" mass transportation.

Those Park N' Ride busses are lookng better every day...

(from Rad Sallee and Rosanna Ruiz of the Chron)

Laura Regan gave up her queen of the road status months ago for a seat on the bus.

Though the transition was less than elegant, it was simple economics: Parking fees and fuel costs, even for her hybrid sport utility vehicle, were just too high, she said.

Regan is a medical technologist and commutes to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from the Cypress Park & Ride lot. Her daily round trip is 76 miles. With gasoline prices at $3.51 a gallon — and seemingly headed for $4 — she figures she saves more than $200 a month on the bus.

"I love it," she said. "It's less stress."

Area residents, who otherwise would never part with their cars, now feel compelled by record fuel costs to look at alternatives, such as carpooling or telecommuting. Many also are turning to mass transit.

Several who were riding Metropolitan Transit Authority Park & Ride buses last week said they were saving wear and tear on their nerves at the same time. The rides are a time to escape with a book, listen to music or catch up on some Zs.

Traffic jams are other peoples' worries.

Last fall, the Chronicle examined two years' worth of monthly boarding data from Metro and monthly gasoline prices in Houston, but found no clear link between them. Both numbers went up and down, seemingly at random. That has changed.

Ridership counts for October through March are up nearly 3 percent compared to the same period 12 months earlier. Metro officials put the actual increase at more than 6 percent when adjusted to reflect more accurate counts made by sensors in the bus and train doors, starting in October.

Of course, incrased bus ridership can only mean one thing right? Reduce bus service and build more rail.


Because one takes away from the other. It's simple economics, opportunity costs and all of that, that are often overlooked in the mass transit discussion.


Buses aren't sexy, but they are working.

Try and Try Again

(Oh, and try to make it as difficult as possible to object.)

That seems to be the motto of the Lone Star College System as they gear up for district bond elction v.2.0 on Tuesday....

(from Jeannie Kever of the Chron)

Justin Palmer is no expert on infrastructure and plumbing — he's studying communications at Lone Star College's North Harris campus. But he knows one thing.

The campus restrooms need work.

Message received, according to district officials, who say renovating aging buildings, as well as adding new ones, is behind a $420 million bond election set for Saturday.

"I think they need a lot of upgrades, a lot of renovations," said Palmer, who graduated from Westfield High School last year. "A lot of the buildings are from the 1970s."

Back then, Lone Star College was known as North Harris County College. Subsequent name changes — first to North Harris Montgomery Community College and, last fall, to Lone Star College — followed as the college expanded to five campuses and several satellite centers spilling from Cy-Fair to Conroe to Splendora.

College officials say the proposed bond issue would mean new buildings on every campus and upgrades of such infrastructure as plumbing and parking garages.

Several new satellite centers are planned, as well. Those are generally small but help the college reach first-generation students, said Stephen Head, president of Lone Star College-North Harris.

"We need to be in the community, on the bus line, so they can get to college," he said.

Community colleges are booming as tuition at four-year universities keeps rising. That's been especially true in fast-growing suburban areas like those north and west of Houston.

About 50,000 people take classes for college credit at Lone Star College; 13,400 more take continuing education classes. Only community colleges in Dallas and San Antonio serve more students in Texas.

Absent from this story, on the eve of the election, is any dissenting voice that there might be regarding the bond election. Also absent is a critical examination of the decision to spend $3 Million dollars on a name change and untold Millions more in marketing fees to promote said change at a time that dollars are short.

In other words, there's no doubt that Lone Star College needs some re-working, the question is whether or not their spending priorities are in the right place to begin with. Are they foregoing building maintenance in order to promote their brand? (In a move that seems designed to push them closer to 4-year degree status btw.)

Then there's the little issue of stacking the election.

Not through illegal voting mind you, but by choosing an election date that's so far off the radar building a consensus against the bond issue is almost impossible. School districts are learning this, and more and more taxpayers are footing the bill for elections where only one issue is on the ballot.

Try to find your voting location on Harris Votes! go ahead, I'll wait.

Uh-hu. Good luck finding that information anywhere.

You can be assured however that every district employee, every contractor and most of the students of legal voting age know, in advance, where their polling place is and how to get there.

None of these questions are raised in the article, which reads more like a press release for the College and less like a piece of quality journalism, and at no point are election locations even mentioned. All of which ensures that the November 2006 bond election failure doesn't repeat itself.

The gameplan:

1. Set an election date that's obscure, and designed to get a low turnout, especially after a high-profile primary election.

Check.

2. Re-work the bond (almost doubling its size) since you now have increased chances of success, re-name, get a bunch of warm-fuzzies.

Check.

3. Get with local media and advise them to get with the program. Get some uncritical press out there.

Check.


4. If all else fails repeat constantly: "It's for the children".

Check.



Now, here's the rub. I'm really not all that opposed to the bond proposal on the ballot. I think its needed, and its a pretty tight piece of bonding legislation that addresses the growth needs of an important resource. (others disagree) But shenanigans like this make me want to cast a "no" vote as a message.

Vote your concience on this one. I'm still making up my mind.

Turning a corner

Finally, some sanity from the media on oil prices...

(from Lauren Steffy of the Chron)

Eleven billion dollars is not enough.

That, at first blush, seemed to explain how Exxon Mobil Corp. could earn that much money in three months and still see its stock fall 4 percent.

Wall Street expected more, and so did Exxon Mobil investors. At a time of record oil prices, America's biggest oil company reported an earnings increase that was the smallest among its peers.

The profit is what captures everyone's attention, but there's a bigger concern hidden amid the numbers of Exxon Mobil's earnings.

The company's worldwide oil production fell 10 percent, to just under 2.5 million barrels a day.

Some of the decline came from Exxon Mobil's dispute over the seizure of assets by the Venezuelan government, but even excluding those assets, the company's production declined. Overall production, including natural gas, fell 3 percent.

While Exxon Mobil boosted production from fields in West Africa and the North Sea, the gains weren't enough to offset declines from aging oil fields, the company said.

The company blamed the decline in part on its contracts with oil-producing countries, which allow those countries to claim a larger share of oil volumes as prices rise. In other words, the higher prices go, the less oil Exxon Mobil gets.

As those countries benefit from higher prices, living standards rise and, as I mentioned last week, their own demand for oil increases. That, in turn, means less oil for companies such as Exxon Mobil over the long term.

Go read the entire column. It's the best piece of level-headed, common-sense writing that I've seen in a while (locally) regarding rising oil prices and their effects.

Unfortunately, it might fall on deaf ears from a public that's been too brainwashed by politicians to see what's really going on.

(from chron.commenter Fabi1)

I pray that God will have mercy on your greedy souls. I hope all of the oil company execs. are really happy about what they are doing to the hard working American people. To all of our elected officials---WAY TO GO---.
This whole (so called oil crisis) makes me sick. It's all about these huge profits by the oil industry. May you all REST IN PEACE.
Have a wonderful day................:)

Ummmmm....k.

Continuing to put the Lee P. Brown disaster behind us

That's one small step for Houston and one giant leap for undoing the mistakes of the past. (with apologies to Mr. Armstrong)...

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

SimDesk Technologies, the company that provided online computer applications to Houston residents through a controversial contract with the city, has gone out of business.

The service was shut down Thursday, according to the company's Web site and an e-mail circulated to customers. No one answered the phone at the company on Thursday.

At the behest of former Mayor Lee Brown, the city awarded SimDesk a $9.5 million contract in 2002 with the hopes that the service would help bridge the "digital divide."

Residents without home computers could use SimDesk at public library computers to create and store documents online.

The Brown administration also touted the potential savings at City Hall, suggesting as many half of city work stations could be replaced with SimDesk, enabling the city to cut its computer hardware costs. Although the city had a few employees try the system, it did not work out, and no employees currently use SimDesk, according to Richard Lewis, the city's director of information technology.

I've said all along that many of the problems Mayor White is currently facing down are not of his making. The more stuff like this that goes away the better off the City of Houston will be in the future.

As time passes the Brown administration is going to be viewed as an unmitigated disaster. The question is are we still going to let our elected officials chase down additional boondoggles such as Citywide Wi-fi under the (unattainable) goal of "bridging the digital divide" or are we actually going to learn from history?

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

The air you breathe....

Isn't very clean.

(from Matthew Tresague of the Chron)

Texans cannot count on existing state and federal laws to protect them from risky concentrations of cancer-causing chemicals in the air, according to a report released Thursday.

With 14 "toxic hot spots" across the state, the report's authors, representing four environmental groups, called for lawmakers and regulators to establish stricter and more enforceable standards for those compounds known as hazardous air pollutants. What's more, they said, industry leaders should make pollution reduction their top priority.

"Solutions to the problem exist," said Ramon Alvarez, an Austin-based scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund, one of the groups participating in the report. "But we are lacking leadership."

While several industrial areas of Texas face dangerous levels of air pollutants, the report focuses on Houston, the nation's petrochemical capital. City officials recently identified 12 chemicals in the air at levels that pose a health risk, according to the report.

Houston's air is more polluted than other cities because of the dense concentration of industrial plants and traffic — a problem compounded by inadequate oversight by federal and state regulators, according to the report.

I happen to agree with Ramon Alvarez' statement that "solutions to the problem exist". Where I surmise we disagree is in how best to implement these solutions.

On one side of the ledger you have "environmentalists" who won't be happy until all of the plants are shut down and thousands of people lose their jobs. Of course, the air will be cleaner, which will be good for all of the homeless that the too-strict enforcement measures create.

On the other side you have "free market solutionists" who say that the best thing to do is to do nothing, allowing the companies to self-police. Under their scenerio the jobs market will be better, but we'll all be wearing portable air purifiers when we go outside.

I don't know about you, but neither of those options sound very appealing to me. A better solution could be to "phase in" reforms and focus on the oldest, and worst polluting sources first, and then go from there. The reality is that zero pollution is probably not going to be attainable in Houston due to our geographical location and the amount if industry that our fair City plays host to. That doesn't mean that it can't be improved, and brought down to manageable levels through smart, tough legislation.

There are groups out there that are working toward this goal, but its the fringes of the argument that are sucking up all of the oxygen.

Study reveals what the numbers don't show

If you're shocked by this, you haven't been paying attention...

(from Alan Turner of the Chron)

A new study on how race affects the way death penalty cases are handled in Harris County, the so-called "capital of capital punishment," finds that black offenders are more likely than whites to be placed on trial for their lives, even when their crimes are relatively less heinous.

In the study, to be published in the fall issue of Houston Law Journal, University of Denver sociology professor Scott Phillips concludes that black defendants are 1.75 times more likely to face the death penalty at trial and 1.49 times more likely to be sentenced to die.

Phillips also found that prosecutors were less likely to seek the death penalty in capital-eligible cases in which the victims were black.

Phillips studied 504 capital cases handled between 1992 and 1999 under the administration of former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes.

That's all fine and good, but the numbers don't back up his assertions. So in order to get the results he wanted, he used a different methodology.

There are questions regarding the methodology of the survey however:

South Texas College of Law professor Geoffrey Corn questioned Phillips' assertion that some capital murders were less heinous than others.

"If you start with the premise that some are more evil than others," he said, "the question becomes: How do we make that determination?"

Corn suggested that if statistics still reflect racial disparities even as prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries all strive to properly perform their duties, "it may reflect just a latent social bias against black defendants. How do you cure it other than by eliminating the death penalty?

"That raises a second question: If that's the cure, why limit it to the death penalty? Do we start to peel the onion? Are blacks convicted for more rapes or burglaries? The answer may be yes."

A possible solution, he said, might be to ensure that trial juries, not just jury pools, reflect a cross-section of the community.

Here's the rub: If black citizens are, in fact, being incarcerated at a level that's disproportionate to their percentage of population, and if they are more likely than other races to recieve harsher sentancing, then what is the end-game solution to that problem? And, secondarily, is a possibly flawed, highly subjective survey the best way to out this issue? One Chron opinionist says "yes"...

(from Lisa Falkenberg of the Chron)

Race is always elbowing its way into the seemingly blind judicial process.

Studies have shown that it's a key factor in choosing jurors. And researchers have well established that the death penalty is more likely to be imposed on behalf of a white victim than a black one.

But the question of whether the race of the defendant plays a role in sentencing has been answered in different ways.

A first-of-its-kind study focusing on Harris County, the death penalty capital of the world, has come to an uncommon conclusion: that black defendants in capital murder cases, at least during the years studied, 1992-1999, were more likely to get the death penalty than their white counterparts.

In the years studied, then-District Attorney Johnny Holmes sought the death penalty against 27 percent of the white defendants, 25 percent of the Hispanic defendants and 25 percent of the black defendants.

The problem, of course, are the raw numbers. Numbers that show Holmes actually sought the death penalty against a higher percentage of whites vs. other races.

To combat this, there's this:

But the study's author, Scott Phillips, a University of Denver sociology and criminology professor, then studied the nature of the crimes and controlled for other factors.

He found that even though blacks were sentenced to death at about the same rate as other groups, their murders, although horrible, tended to be less serious or heinous than those committed by whites.

It seems, as Phillips says, the DA imposed an equal punishment against unequal crimes. The result is unequal punishment.

The terms "serious" and "heinous," weren't defined by Phillips, but by the DA himself. Blacks committed fewer crimes that data showed the DA's office was more likely to seek death for — murder involving rape, a child victim, or a particularly brutal method such as stabbing or asphyxiation.

Another interesting phenomenon, which seems to support Phillips' conclusions, is that juries seemed to correct the DA when they felt he'd overreached. In death trials, juries imposed death against 80 percent of whites, but only 75 percent of blacks.

So, even when adjusting for "bias" the numbers aren't aligning with the "conclusions" that the researchers are presenting. We're being told one thing, but the study results are revealing another.

Yet, because of this, there are sure to be increased calls to fix a problem that even the raw numbers of a sutdy designed to unearth bias couldn't generate. A problem, that might not exist.

A better solution would be to look at the administration of the Death penalty without regard to race, to see if we've gone overboard in its application. Until researchers can do that, and stop chasing rabbits that aren't there down holes that don't exist, we'll never get to a point where the Death penalty is used as it was originally intended: As a means of punishment for the worst of the worst.

Until then we're stuck with a study that stretches to produce a pre-determined result that isn't consistent with the data collected. It's already convinced one Chron columnist that her pre-conceived notions regarding criminal justice are correct, how long before others weigh in based on seemingly bad conclusions?

Mrs. White, you're on the clock.

UPDATE: Mrs. White Delivers (not to be an I told you so)

Code for: "Costs more" (passed)

This came as no surprise...

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

Starting Aug. 1, new commercial buildings will have to meet energy-efficiency benchmarks through the use of "green" design, under a new energy code approved Wednesday by the City Council.

Mayor Bill White said the small upfront cost increase for builders — about 1 percent — will be paid back by utility savings that can range between 10 and 15 percent a year.

"We think those are very good returns," White said. Every property owner and resident will benefit in the long run, he added: "The less any new building consumes, the less likely it is that our power bills will go up in the future, because electricity prices are now determined by supply and demand."

The new code requires new commercial buildings to have design elements aimed at reducing energy consumption, such as heat-trapping vestibules, reflective roofs, and insulation.

The council passed the code by a 14-0 vote; councilman Mike Sullivan was out of the room at the time.

The city also is developing a new energy code for residential building. That could appear on the council agenda in a month or two.

I'm always amazed at the "return on investment" argument. If the codes in question were already a good RoI then most companies would already have implemented them into their design plans.

What these codes ignore are the fact that most builders won't own the buildings after they build them, so they won't see this supposed decrease in utilities that are being touted.

What they will see are increased construction costs, which will be passed on to the purchaser, which will be passed on to the tenets in the form of higher rents. Which won't go down, even if the purchaser realizes savings that allow them to be more profitable.

Why is the residential bit bolded you ask?

Simple. If residential homebuilders are going to be asked to increase costs to build homes then the price of said homes are going to increase to make up the short-fall. This will have the largest effect on the poor and those looking to buy entry-level homes. What good is utility savings if you can't afford the purchase price in the first place?

So now, you'll have decreased purchases of starter homes, which will lead to less of them being built while the construction of high-end homes increases leaving the poor and middle class with reduced living options in the City of Houston.


Or, maybe that's the plan?


OTHER EYES:

Off the Kuff

Mrs. White