Rapid Eye Movement (09/30/08)

The Beltway Crash [WSJ] - Our Congress (and, by extension Pelosi) is terrible.

Loose Money and the Roots of the Crisis. [Judy Shelton, WSJ] - The first (serious) call that I've seen for a "one world currency". The "universal reserve asset" Cue the black-helicopter brigade.

How the Sun Shone [WSJ] - I wonder if the Chronicle will receive such a glowing eulogy?

Debates don't reveal character [Taylor B. Stockdale] - From the son of Adm. James Stockdale, a good man who had a very bad debate.

Obama's Leftism [Joshua Muravchick, WSJ] - For some reason I don't think the "leftist" boogeyman is going to work this time.

A failure to convince the American People [Dennis Byrne, RCP]

The Bailout Defeat: A Political Credibility Crisis.[Michael Scherer, Time.com]

No one's clean in this mess [Jonah Goldberg, LA Times]

When Madmen Reign [Bob Herbert, New York Times] - Interesting partisan piece. Not entirely factual, or complete, but highly partisan and interesting because it sets the Democratic framework for the rest of the election.

Bear Market for Personal Responsibility [Michael Graham, Boston Herald] - Read this, and then read it again. Now use the points in here to challenge those who say that we need the Government as Nanny to control our finances.

The Sarah Palin Pity Party.[Rebacca Traister, Salon.com] - Bash, bash, bash...wait, people don't like it? Whine, whine, whine.

Convict, Bush, McCain and GOP for economy [Marie Cocco, RCP] - One Sided Drivel (D)

ACORN, Obama and the mortgage mess [Mona Charen, RCP] - One Sided Drivel (R)

The Green Bubble Bursts [Los Angeles Times] - Imagine that, an energy policy that focuses on making things cheaper, rather than punishing oil companies and making that more expensive. The LA Times sees the light.

Deregulation didn't cause the financial Crisis [Peter J. Wallison, Bloomberg] - If the 2005 Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac legislative battles ever go mainstream, Obama is in a lot of trouble.

College Football Week 5 review: I blame Ike

Ouch. Took one on the chin this week:

1. UH 41 ECU 24

My Pick: ECU 42 UH 14 - See, it was Ike. Those 100 mph winds blew my scores. I meant UH 42 ECU 14...no really.


2. Rice 77 UNT 20

My Pick: Rice 38 UNT 3 - Congrats to Clements and Dillard for becoming the most prolific QB/WR tandem in like...ever.


3. Texas 52 Arkansas 10

My Pick: UT 32 Ark 7 - In answer to the "is Arkansas really that bad?" question: Yes they are.


4. aTm 21 Army 17

My Pick: aTm 28 Army 17 - A win is a win is a win.


5. Auburn 14 Tennessee 12

My Pick: UA 27 UT 10 - Auburn's offense is almost as bad as Fullmer's coaching.


6. Oklahoma 35 TCU 10

My Pick:OU 42 TCU 10 - Introducing your new #1 in all the land....


7. Penn St. 38 Illinois 24

My Pick: Ill 24 PSU 21 - Just because JoPa doesn't understand the offense doesn't mean its bad.


8. Michigan 27 Wisconsin 25

My Pick: Whisky 48 Mich 14 - Who'd of thunk it? Certainly not me, and not any of the other prognosticators either. Go BIG BLUE!!!

9. Central Michigan 27 Buffalo 25

My Pick: UCM 28 Buff 21 - Same state, same scores, different stakes. Still a good game as I predicted.

10. North Carolina 28 Miami 24

My Pick: UNC 27 Miami 24: Butch Davis > Randy Shannon. Even without a D-1 level QB.

11. Alabama 41 Georgia 30

My Pick: UGA 17 Ala 14 - In answer to last week's question: The Tide are that good. What should scare the bejeebus out of the rest of the league is that Saban is doing all of this with mainly Freshman and Sophomores.


This week: 7-4 Overall 25-10 (71% correct)

See you tomorrow for this weekends' picks and pans.

Houston Asides (09/30/08)

White takes on Lyondell [Matthew Tresague, Chron.com] Novel approach. Do Pasadena and other area municipalities have a say, or is this just White and Houston on their own?

HISD takes no action on Saavedra's job contract [Ericka Mellon, Chron.com] - If the best defense supporters can muster is that the "timing" is wrong, there might be something there.

Mold has gotten a head start [Lisa Falkenberg, Chron.com] - More opinion posing as news from the Chron's former teen columnist. The question is: With no power, water to clean, or health services how would these people have been able to do anything HAD they been allowed to return?

HPD Crime Lab asks for $1.25 Million [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - The black hole that is the crime lab continues to grow, sucking up much needed City dollars along the way.

Galveston County approves water, sewer rate hikes. [Harvey Rice, Chron.com] - Such is the price of living in a coastal area. I'm dreadfully sorry to those folks who lost it all, but what else is Galveston supposed to do?

The Chronicle does NOT have a hidden agenda to promote Islam [Steve Jetton, about.chron] - The agenda is pretty out in the open if you ask me....(kidding, calm down people)

The Culberson/McCain divide [Alan Bernstien, blogs.chron.com/houstonpolitics] - Culberson should be worrying about the (very real) political race he's in. Skelley supporters were block walking Saturday, came by my house. All I've received from Culberson is robo-calls. I hate robo-calls during dinner. Just sayin'

How about we cut Kubiak some slack on the fake punt? [Richard Justice, blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice] - Mr. Justice opening up a case of "yeah, I'm wrong all the time as well" sympathy.

Of civil liberties.

Ellen Goodman calls for shared responsibility....

[Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe]

I expect that there will be little salary caps put on the heads of CEOs, and taxpayers will get some equity in companies. We will get tighter regulations in return for our $700 billion. And some change . . . of rhetoric.

"People today are more concerned about big insecurity than big government," says Hacker.

The ownership society is quickly becoming the security society. But the money that should go to funding our future? It's on a mission to rescue our economy from the reckless ideologues of "personal responsibility."

The idea being that its up to the Government to regulate our financial health, and our rights to choose how we spend and invest our money, all in the name of protecting the greater good.

Odd that the same voices who railed against Bush for the attacks on civil liberties in the wake of 9/11 (rightly so) are now calling for reducing financial civil liberties to protect us from enemies to our pocketbooks. Whether its terrorists or corporatists, when an enemy presents itself one of the two parenthetical letter parties will ALWAYS default to the government as the cure for our ills. All that will be required is that we give up some of our liberties for the sake of "safety".

After the terrorists attacks of 9/11 the government voted itself broad, sweeping powers over the private lives of American citizens in the name of 'safety'. The Democrats howled, protested, Ellen Goodman decried it nothing less than an assault on the American fabric. Now she's calling for an assault on our financial way of life, just a little "tweaking", letting Government in your checkbook you understand, nothing that won't hurt (more than a little).

To make my point I'll quote Goodman:

Legislate in haste and repent in leisure"

And then scoff as scores of politicians and journalists scream and holler for legislation in haste, to give the Government powers over our pocketbooks that we might repent later.


Here's a better quote:

Those Who Would Sacrifice Liberty for Security Deserve Neither." - Ben Franklin

What does America deserve?

Rapid Eye Movement (09/30/08)

Dow plunges after bailout deal falls apart. [AP, Chron.com] - What a mess.

Oil falls $10/bbl on economic fears [AP, Chron.com] - At least gas prices will trend lower.

Citigroup will Take Over Wachovia [AP, Chron.com] - If things are so bad, why are people still buying these distressed assets?

OMG! Is it about to get worse? [MeMo, Chron.com] - It's not pretty when the children venture out of the kiddie pool is it?

Now things may start to get REALLY ugly [Loren Steffy, Chron.com] - There will be a shake out, but the well capitalized companies will be fine, and as we've seen, there are companies out there in a position to succeed, even without a bailout.

Gore's Rebellion [WSJ] - The economy is sputtering and Al Gore wants to shut it ALL the way down by depriving many of their sole source of power. All to increase profits in his carbon-credits businesses. (Oh, you thought he was about saving the 'planet'? Silly you)

Credit Markets and the REAL economy [Michael T. Darda, WSJ] - A tax increase would be a killer.

Mukasey appoints special prosecutor [Carrie Johnson, Washington Post] - Meanwhile, our dysfunctional government continues to malfunction.

Barack Obama and John McCain Target Battleground States. [Maeve Reston, Seema Metha, Los Angeles Times] - About the only thing our government can do right any more is campaign. After that...

Houston Asides (09/30/08)

I figured by now that other events besides Ike warrant attention...

Centerpoint misses goals for power line repair [Lynn Cook, Chron.com] - Meanwhile the much harder hit Entergy is 100% up and running. It's fair to ask Centerpoint...why?

Social Services agencies call for hike in spending [Janet Elliot, Chron.com] - As the economy gets worse the problem will get worse. I'd like to see these agencies speak more about efficiencies and cost shaving, and THEN come to us with their budget needs.

4 On School Board Push Bible Cirriculum [Gary Scharrer, Chron.com] - As a small part of a overall historical literacy class? OK. But as part of a class devoted soley to the Bible? Let's leave that to the Churches.

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion cancels year's remaining shows due to Ike. [Gregg Barr, Houston Business Journal] - Ouch.

99 cents Only leaving Houston. [Allison Wollam, Houston Business Journal] - I didn't know they were still here?

School Board to debate Dr. Saavedra's performance. [Erika Mellon, Chron.com] - Dr. Saavedra's come under fire for several of his decisions, he's had successes and failures. Sadly his performance review is being muddled by false charge of racism by groups who are more concerned with skin color than the children.

Upset!

Oh how the mighty have fallen....

[Chronicle News Services]

In Texas, he was known as “Mr. Touchdown” after setting the high school state record for touchdowns in a career last season.

In California, they might be calling Jacquizz Rodgers “Mr. Knockout” after his performance Thursday night, when he rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns to help Oregon State shock top-ranked Southern California 27-21, ending the Trojans’ dreams of an undefeated season and perhaps knocking them out of the national title picture.

“I’m beside myself,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “They didn’t hide what they were doing; they just did it. We couldn’t stop it. We couldn’t tackle.”

The 5-6 Rodgers, the Chronicle’s Greater Houston most valuable player last season at Lamar Consolidated, finished his high school career as the state’s sixth-leading rusher with 8,246 career yards, which also ranks 20th nationally. His state record of 136 touchdowns earned him the nickname of “Mr. Touchdown” from high school coach, Lydell Wilson.

Rodgers’ 186 rushing yards were the most by a Trojans opponent since Vince Young ran for 200 for Texas in the BCS national championship game in 2006.

Unmentioned in the article is the total lack of respect that Jacquizz Rodgers received from the local football "insiders" following his record-breaking Sr. Year.

Touchdown Club of Houston? - Didn't have him as a finalist for their "Local Player of the Year" award. (An award BTW that's more political in nature now than anything else and has become, sadly, meaningless.)

aTm? - According to Lance Zierlein on 1560 "The Game" this morning Dennis Francione refused to even look at Jacquizz Rodgers because of his height (5'6"). Which gives you a pretty good idea why he's gone now.

University of Houston? - Again, from Mr. Zierlein it was reported that Art Briles had no interest in Jacquizz despite the fact that he was pushed heavily to recruit him by some staff members. Of course, Briles was probably already considering jumping ship so why should he waste time on, you know, recruiting?

So Jacquizz was overlooked, and he escaped the State and relocated to Corvallis, Oregon where he's setting up shop as one of the premier Freshman Running Backs in the Nation.

Houston High School football pumps out dozens of good players every year that don't get a serious look from local "pundits" because they happened to grow up in the wrong zip code. Had Rodgers and his brother grown up in Memorial, or Katy or the Woodlands, they would have been all-everything and played College in Texas.

Unfortunately for the USC Trojans they didn't, and now my B(C)S Championship Game Prediction is on life support.

Rapid Eye Movement (09/26/08)

The Public Deserves a Better Deal. [WSJ] - Considering our voter participation rates, do we really?

Party of One [Peggy Noonan, WSJ] - McCains movements during the crisis have been puzzling, but does Obama's feaux-change-politics, banter actually hurt him?

Competing Narratives. [William Tucker, WSJ] - Race is not the overriding issue of this campaign, despite Democratic protests to the contrary.

Main Street Needs the Treasury Plan.[Kenneth D. Lewis, WSJ] - Act now or we'll all be living in vans, down by the river!!!!

How to Pay Less for Distressed Assets. [Lucian Bebchuck, WSJ] - Calm down, we're not all going to be living in vans, down by the river.

How to Fix Wall Street.[Arthur Levitt, Jr and Lynn Turner, WSJ] - If mark-to-market accounting is the "key" then why didn't these two require it when they were in charge of the SEC?

A Bailout for all our Bad Decisions. [Mark Sanford, Washington Post] - If you only read one article here, make it this one.

Where are the Grown-ups [Paul Krugman, New York Times] - I can tell you where they're not, writing this petty, partisan column that's for sure.

McCain 'blew up' Negotiations. [E.J. Dionne, The New Republic] - Dionne has no proof of that accusation mind you, just the wrong parenthetical letter behind McCain's name. (Hint: Conservative Republicans blew up the negotiations, and rightly so)

The NEXT big bailout?

On the heels of the meltdown of the financial markets, the CO2 credit market opened up in Wall Street yesterday...

[Karen Matthews, AP via Chron.com]

Greenhouse gases went on sale Thursday as 10 Northeastern states held the nation's first auction of pollution credits aimed at curbing global warming.

"It is time really to turn the tide on global warming," said New York Gov. David Paterson, who opened the auction by ringing the ceremonial bell at the New York Mercantile Exchange. "And we hope that we've done this today."

The program puts a price on carbon dioxide pollution, giving power plants a financial incentive to cut emissions.

Auction proceeds will go toward energy conservation and renewable energy programs in each of the 10 participating states: New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The program aims to hold carbon dioxide emissions steady through 2014 and then gradually reduce them; it is widely viewed as a model for future programs nationally and around the globe.

"It's historic," said Lance Pierce, climate program director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The carbon markets have arrived in the United States. And carbon markets, if designed correctly, hold the promise for development of cleaner energy ... and reductions in global warming pollution that benefit consumers, businesses and the environment, as well."

The Northeast effort, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, limits the total amount of carbon that power plants in the 10 states can pump out of their smokestacks at the current level — 188 million tons.

So, we have a highly speculative market that's set up to trade a commodity with an implied (but no actual) value, traded on a market with little regulation and even less oversight.

Yup, we'll be bailing out over-valued carbon credits in 20 years.

Meanwhile, not one less ounce of CO2 will be omitted today than was omitted yesterday. Al Gore however will make Billions through his carbon-credits trading companies.

WaMu not giving any more "woo-hoo"

If you banked at Washington Mutual (as did I), you are now a JP Morgan-Chase customer....

[Madlen Read, AP via Chron.com]

As the debate over a $700 billion bank bailout rages on in Washington, one of the nation's largest banks — Washington Mutual Inc. — has collapsed under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the mortgage market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized WaMu on Thursday, and then sold the thrift's banking assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion.

Seattle-based WaMu, which was founded in 1889, is the largest bank to fail by far in the country's history. Its $307 billion in assets eclipse the $40 billion of Continental Illinois National Bank, which failed in 1984, and the $32 billion of IndyMac, which the government seized in July.

One positive is that the sale of WaMu's assets to JPMorgan Chase prevents the thrift's collapse from depleting the FDIC's insurance fund. But that detail is likely to give only marginal solace to Americans facing tighter lending and watching their stock portfolios plunge in the wake of the nation's most momentous financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Because of WaMu's souring mortgages and other risky debt, JPMorgan plans to write down WaMu's loan portfolio by about $31 billion — a figure that could change if the government goes through with its bailout plan and JPMorgan decides to take advantage of it.

"We're in favor of what the government is doing, but we're not relying on what the government is doing. We would've done it anyway," JPMorgan's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in a conference call Thursday night, referring to the acquisition. Dimon said he does not know if JPMorgan will take advantage of the bailout.

WaMu is JPMorgan Chase's second acquisition this year of a major financial institution hobbled by losing bets on mortgages. In March, JPMorgan bought the investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. for about $1.4 billion, plus another $900 million in stock ahead of the deal to secure it.

Somewhere some politician woke up this morning and relized that there just might be something to this whole "concern about the mortgage crisis" thing he's been hearing other politicians talk about. Probably an economist as well. One will write a paper, the other will give a speech. Just you wait.

Of course, all of this is happening in front of the upcoming elections, which means that the party perceived to be in power (the Republicans) are going to take the lion's share of the beating in the press and from politicians. While the Republicans cavalier attitude towards regulating the financial markets was certainly a driver of this, so was the Democratic dogmatism about providing people the "dream of home ownership" who would have been better off renting.

In other words this is a problem that goes back over 20 years, starting with the Reagan administration, the Clinton presidency, and through the Bush Presidency into today. It's also not unprecedented, despite what the media and political pundits would have you believe.

Banks have had solubility fears before (The Great Depression) the Gov't has bought bad assets before (the Savings and Loan mess) and credit has been tight before (the 1970's), automaker's have been in trouble (pretty much every year since 1985, and consumer spending has slowed (every year, at January). Granted, none of these things has happened at the same time, but they all have happened before. Just like any other financial crisis the prescription is to tighten belts and ride it out.

Yes, there are going to be some outright losers in this mess. There are going to be some people who lose their jobs, their homes, and that's going to be hard. Trying to artificially forestall the shake-out through a Federal bail-out is just going to make things more difficult during the next melt-down.

All that being said, even in a worse-case scenario the American economy is not going to die. There will still be demands for goods and services, and there will still be suppliers for said goods and services. Getting rid of most of the mystery money that circulates underneath the tactile economy might not be a bad thing. Downsizing our consumption patterns might be a good thing as well.

I just hope that my current check pattern is still usable at Chase Bank, being a creature of habit and all.

Ike Asides (09/26/08)

Centerpoint promises action in hard-hit areas [Lynn Cook and Brett Clanton, Chron.com] - They should have had a better plan for Houston's NorthWest Side from the beginning. It almost seems like they are surprised people live out there.

2 Weeks in the dark hit small businesses hard. [Bill Murphy, Chron.com] - And low-wage earners who work for small businesses hardest.

Paul votes against FEMA aid for coast. [Julie Mason, Chron.com] - Considering FEMA's performance record, can you really blame him?

FEMA gets mixed reviews on aid response. [Mike Snyder, Chron.com] - Ahhh FEMA.

Houston, CenterPoint point fingers over fallen tree [Lynn Cook, Chron.com]

Trivia Time

Let them eat...Osso Bucco? [Claudia Feldman, Chron.com]


This article was intended to....


A.) Provide a thoughtful look into the post-hurricane Ike lives of Houstonians.

B.) Offer information regarding services after Hurrican Ike.

C.) Illustrate a short-coming in the post Ike rebuilding.

D.) Enrage and outrage the populace through use of loaded language and symbolism and encourage class warfare.



Extra Credit: (Short Answer)

What would you call an editorial staff that approved this article for publication with over 500,000 Houstonians still without power and critical services?

Rapid Eye Movement (09/25/08)

Biden's Coal Slaw [WSJ] - Joe Biden lets slip a clue about the utter disaster the "Al Gore" energy plan embraced by Democrats will be for the middle class and working poor.

Let's keep people in their homes. [Hillary Rodham Clinton, WSJ] - The call for the socialization of the American economy moves into private home ownership.

The Paulson Plan will make Money for Taxpayers[Andy Kessler, WSJ]

Bush warns of "financial panic" if deal fails [Montgomery & Kane, Washington Post]

Playing Chicken with the U.S. Economy [Debra Saunders, RCP]

A Presidential McCain [William Kristol, Weekly Standard] - McCain is a Genius!

A Transparent Ploy. [Harold Meyerson, Washington Post] - McCain is an idiot!

When Campaigns lie, What should the voters do? [Stuart Rothenberg, RCP] - I guess what they have been doing for years now, tuning out politics.

Racial Bigotry won't be Obama's undoing. [Arnold Trebach, Seattle PI]

Dr. Frankenstein's Wall Street. [Victor Davis Hanson] - Nice review, although most people will think Hanson is talking about everyone else but them...

Psst....

Slampo's back...

He promises semi-reguarly.


The Houston blogosphere just got whole again with the return of its best blog.

Chronicle decides to put opinion content on Front Page.

For a long time the Front page of the Newspaper was where you went for hard news. If a so-called "line of demarcation" between the editorial content and news writing of a newspaper existed, the front page was it.

Not any longer...

[Steve Jetton, About.chron]

On another topic, here's a question in a comment from ImaRabbit:

I have a question....already posted about it under Lisa Faulkenberg's blog but she probably won't see it. Today's print edition had her column about the people who were standing in line for food stamps. I was surprised that on the front page of the Chronicle, they allowed editorializing. She referred to herself in the article ("he told me") and then she makes a statement about a child's adorable dimples. It just struck me as very odd, I have never seen the Chronicle allow editorial on the front page. I hve never seen any other major newspaper do it either. Is it because of Ike, that the Chronicle is loosening up a bit?

The Chronicle is "loosening up a bit," but not because of Ike. The editors started putting the occasional column on the front page months ago. The thinking is that one of the things that distinguishes the Chronicle from other media is the depth of quality content that is available in its pages. By putting a column that "rises to the occasion" on page one, you draw attention to that fact. It's important to lay the page out in such a way that a reader can easily determine what is news copy and what is opinion.

I'd seen the rare opinion piece on the front of the hard copy edition once or twice, and it struck me as odd but for one reason or another I never brought it to light here. Because of my scattershot blogging, I've been "scooped" by ImaRabbit. It's ok, I'll get over it. Congrats to a sharp-eyed commenter however for noticing something that, heretofore, has been inviolate in the printed media: Mixing opinion with "hard" news.

Since the revelation of the (now-infamous) MetroRail memo the Chronicle has faced accusations that their hard news gathering organization is compromised by the editorial leanings of Jeff Cohen and the rest of the editorial staff. Printing catty, clumsy, politically charged blogs by "news" editors did very little to change that image. Once the Chronicle decided to almost totally convert its on-line resource to reader generated content, the transformation from news-gathering entity to gossip-rag was all but complete.

By moving opinion into prime real estate for hard news the Chron takes just one more step in its evolution from a news daily, to an opinion daily with a small amount of news sprinkled in. It's a recipe for disaster because of the time-span limitations forced on them by their chosen media.

In other words, there are other resources (especially on-line) that do opinion just as good, if not better. As a news-gathering, reporting entity traditional media outlets have no peer. There's no possible way that the blogosphere or any other Internet medium (whether amateur or professional) can match the media in terms of potential news gathered. As such, there's no way the Chron (or even Chron.com) can match the speed that the blogosphere can ramp out opinion. Not the opinion of journalists mind you, but opinion from people just like the person sitting in the cubicle next to you, or the person banging away on their keyboard at the coffee shop. This opinion may be blatently partisan, or it could be more nuanced, the fact is its often written by citizen organizers, the poltically active, or experts in a field. The Chron's opinion pieces are written by journalists, whose expertise involves writing about a particular event, not the event itself.

All that being said Newspaper editorials and opinion columns have a long, distinguished role in the newsmaking process. That role is best served however, safely tucked away in the opinion section and not co-mingled with hard, straight news.

Bill Heard Chevrolet downsizes

Drastically....

[David Kaplan, Chron.com]

Bill Heard Enterprises said in a news release Wednesday it was closing its 13 dealerships nationwide, but one of its two locations in the Houston area remained open.

Bill Heard Chevrolet in Sugar Land was selling vehicles into the night and will stay in business, said Linda Patterson, operations manager for the dealership at 13115 Southwest Freeway. She did not give further details to the Chronicle.

However, Landmark Chevrolet at 9111 North Freeway was closed until further notice, according to a receptionist answering the phone there. No managers were available.

Last year, Landmark was ranked seventh in area vehicle sales by InfoNation, a Houston auto market report, and Bill Heard Chevrolet was eighth. They were the top two Chevy dealers.

Bill Heard Enterprises has been the nation's single largest chain of Chevy dealerships, said Terry Rhadigan, a spokesman for the General Motors brand.

In a written statement, Bill Heard Enterprises attributed the closings to rising fuel prices, an inventory too focused on heavy trucks and SUVs and the U.S. economic slowdown.

The parent company, whose officials were not available for comment, has had other challenges.

The economic slowdown is a handy excuse for the cruel reality that GM has totally missed the market trend. While Japanese automakers have been introducing more fuel-efficient vehicles to the market GM, Ford and Chrysler have been busy seeing who can pump the market full of the biggest, baddest, ugliest vehicles faster. The writing was on the wall when GM announced It's Volt electric car would sell for $40-$50K instead of around the $20-$30K price tag of Japanese hybrids. Compound that with Ford's dumb decision to not introduce the ECOnetic line in the States, and Chrysler's inability to make anything small and attractive and you have a disaster in the making for the U.S. Auto industry.

Bill Heard was the largest network of Chevy dealerships in the Country, now they're down to one dealership. There was a time that Yenko dealerships were at the pinnacle as well, now people are paying top dollars for their after-market muscle cars at auction. Sadly I don't think Chevy has anything outside of the Corvette that will draw top dollar at classic car sales in the future.

Hopefully all of the families that now find themselves short on income can land on their feet.

Ike Asides (09/25/08)

Customers get power bill relief [Tom Fowler, Chron.com] - Not "relief" per se, but easier payment plan set-up and no disconnections for a while. Oh, and they can estimate your bill now. If my September bill is higher than my August bill, we riot.

Undocumented immigrants will be rebuilding lynchpin [Jenalia Moreno and Susan Carroll, Chron.com] - Already there's language about "giving them first crack" at reconstruction jobs. I'm expecting a protest of some sort from KSEV soon.

Federal Relief coming to Texas, but is it enough? [Bennett Roth & Stewart M. Powell, Chron.com] - A better question: Is it EVER enough when it comes to matching funds for Houston? Not for some.

Gaveston City Council declares one year disaster declaration. [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - Then proceeds to get petty over the Mayor doing what executives are supposed to do in a crisis: take charge. There's nothing more dangerous to local government than when little fish in smaller ponds have their egos hurt.

29 Oil platforms severely damaged [Kristen Hays, Chron.com] - "Nearly 30" the Chron exclaims breathlessly, out of around 3800. That's .07% for those of you keeping score. Hardly catastrophic.

Giving cars the boot [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] - A small piece of regulation for Houston's catch as catch can downtown parking system. Amazingly, parking lot owners balked at being forced to maintain lots, and paint parking stripes. No word on parking magnate Hakeem Olajuwan's stance on the issue.

It's Best of Houston time.

Houston's Alt-media weekly "we like you, we really, really like you" list is out today.

Just in case you need to know where to pick up an eight ball of crack, where to buy sex toys or where to see naked people getting it on at a club, this would be the issue for you.


Alternatively, if you just want a laugh check it out. It's a tongue-in-cheek romp through what passes for Houston's "alternative" (read: soy-milk in their Starbucks instead of half & half) counter-culture.

Rapid Eye Movement (09/24/08)

Bankruptcy Ploy [WSJ] - Chris Dodd is making Finance policy in D.C....Chris {expletive} Dodd???

Lots of people could use a cash infusion [Tom Brokaw, WSJ] - Micro examples often make Macro plans sound silly.

Let's Get the Bank Rescue Right [Hubbard, Scott and Zingales, WSJ] - Deal. First step, shoot all of the economists.

Moral hazard is hazardous. [David Wrighton, London Times] - But...but... Chris Bell told us that budgets are moral documents....Such is the hazard of emotionalizing spending priorities.

More Government is not the answer. [Ron Paul, CNN] - Paul has a very valid point. Too bad he's frittered away his credibility during the election.

The power of Negative thinking [Barbera Ehrenreich, NYT] - Sometimes its best to leave the important issues to the grown ups. mmm..k? I wonder if they're related? (Wink and a nod: Kevin)

Bailout must address the foreclosure crisis [Bruce Marks, Boston Globe] - Keeping people in homes they cannot afford is NOT the answer. Or, at least, it shouldn't be the answer.

Credit is not a civil right. [McQ, QandO blog].

Count me out of the bailout. [Jonah Goldberg, National Review]

Our Federal Economy [George Will, RCP]

Why the bailout is a strikeout. [Loren Steffy, Chron.com] - Running on the presumption that something IS going to happen, a very reasonable column from Steffy. (FWIW: I'm afraid something IS going to happen)

How the Democrats created the current financial mess [Kevin Hassett, WSJ] - If this received wider media attention the election would be over tomorrow.

Luv Ya Blue!

Battle Red? Eh...Not so much...

(From John McClain of the Chron)

Some Texans fans who made the trip from Houston to Nashville for Sunday’s game asked me why they don’t feel the same loyalty and passion for the Texans they felt for the Oilers.

Well, it’s simple: Loyalty and passion aren’t given; they’re earned.

The Oilers played in Houston for 36 years. They won two AFL championships and lost a third title game. They came within one victory of the Super Bowl two times during the Luv Ya Blue era. They made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons in the run-and-shoot era.

There also was a lot of losing. They were the worst team in the NFL three times.

Overall, there was a lot of agony and ecstasy, but through the decades their fans became loyal and passionate.

(snip)

Two games into the Texans’ seventh season, other than defeating the Cowboys in the first game in franchise history, what have they done to make you passionate about them?

The Texans haven’t been in a playoff race. They’ve created some excitement from time to time, but to earn loyalty and to develop the type of unwavering passion fans want to have, they need to do something special.

And this is the time for the Texans to do it because fans are angry, frustrated and impatient. And they deserve to be.

Last week when I was talking to my new Brother-in-law the topic of the Houstons (other parts of Texas want their name back) came up. We discussed what they were, what they weren't and why we just couldn't get real excited or upset when they won or lost.

"They're not the Oilers" he said. A very valid point.

Growing up (and remaining) a San Francisco 49'ers fan I'll be honest when I say that following the Houstons is more of a I-live-in-Houston-so-I-feel-obligated interest than it is any deep passion for the team. Factor in the NFL's silly television policy, and you're stuck watching the Houstons flail uslessly every week whether you like it or not.

At least with the Oilers there was some excitement. The Luv Ya' Blue era was before my, Houston, time but I did live here during the Jack Pardee et. all Run N' Shoot era, and I remember caring when the Oilers blew the Playoff lead to the Bills. I remember enjoying watching the Oilers play and wishing them well.

I cannot think of a time that I've enjoyed watching the Houstons play football. Usually I have them on in the background, I'm cleaning house or doing something else, or I just leave the house all together and wait for the Sunday late games to start. (Which is usually the Cowboys, who I don't like but who are fun to watch).

The hard reality is that the Houstons are now the worst expansion team ever. That's right, ever. Even Tampa Bay had a winning season in their first six years, something the Houstons couldn't pull off despite having a relatively easy schedule last season.

I've got a lot of friends who consider themselves "die-hard" Houstons fans. I don't think you can really be "die-hard" until you've followed a team for over 20 years, but hey, in Houston you take what you can get right? For their sake I sincerely hope the Houstons do well. A selfish part of me however wouldn't shed a tear if attendance dropped off, the team relocated to Oklahoma City and Houston joined Los Angeles as another big metropolitan area that gets to see the BEST NFL matchups every week.

People act like Houston was a football wasteland once the Oilers left. The truth is, from a televison perspective, we never had it better. If the Houstons keep playing glorified D-1AA College ball on an NFL field then I suspect that more and more people will start yearning for a return to the days when there was GOOD football on Sunday afternoons.


Of course, it could be worse, we could all live in Detroit.

Ike Asides (09/24/08)

Centerpoint falls short of goals. [Lynn Cook and Brett Clanton, Chron.com] - I wonder if this means they'll "fall short" of their predicted energy bill increases as well? Nah...thought not. On a serious note: Be kind to your Lineman.

Intersection fixes to run into November [Dane Schiller, Chron.com]- Yuck. I'd say something about how public works just hasn't been a priority in Houston since before the Brown administration but then, if you read this blog, you know that already.

Debris Removal at 10,000 Truckloads, and counting. [Chron.com] - Staggering the amount of debris.

Mayor White's dirty word [Rick Casey, Chron.com] - White has done a spectacular job during Ike, look for the Chron to submit his fast-track for diefication to Cardinal DiNardo soon. I would say something about the danger's of political cults of personality but, if you read this blog, you know that already.

Senate approves tax bill. [David Ivanovich, Chron.com] - Look for hordes of angry lawmakers on the airwaves when these new taxes hit and the price of gas rises as businesses pass the increased cost of doing business to the consumer. They will all, of course, deny that their legislation had anything to do with it. Meanwhile, our Nation travels closer to the edge of the rabbit hole that is wind power. You know, because T. Boone Pickens said so.

Pollution caused by Ike not major [Matthew Tesague, Chron.com] - But, but....well that just doesn't follow the 'destroying the planet' script now does it?

College Football Week 5 Pick 'em.

Fresh back from Ike it's time to dig back into a fresh steamin' pile of Football. BIG game this week on Saturday evening as the SEC starts to get into the meat of its schedule.

Of local interest:

Houston @ East Carolina(23) - ECU is coming off a loss to NC State while Coach Sumlin's boys are struggling to get a grasp on the 4-3 defense. It's going to take Sumlin a couple of years to recruit some talent on defense....until then? Eh....

Pick: ECU 42 UH 14

North Texas @ Rice - After Texas, NORTH Texas is going to seem like they're moving in s.l.o.w. m.o.t.i.o.n. Look for the Clements/Dillard connection to have a field day.

Pick: Rice 38 North Texas 3

Arkansas @ Texas(7) - Either Arkansas is REALLY BAD, or Alabama is REALLY good. We'll find out the answer to that this week, although, probably not in THIS game.

Pick: Texas 32 Ark 7

Army @ Texas A&M - Two of the bottom dwellers in the football bowl subdivision D-1A battle it out for bragging rights.

Pick: aTm 28 Army 17

National Games:

Tennessee @ Auburn(15) - Auburn is coming off a TOUGH loss at home to LSU, and Tennessee just took a whuppin' from the fighting Tebow's. Philip Fullmer is one of the worst coaches in the SEC.

Pick: Auburn 27 UT 10

TCU(24) @ Oklahoma (2) - Competition for the Sooners picks up a little bit this week. TCU beat OU a few years back in Norman. Stoops hasn't forgotten that I guarantee you.

Pick: OU 42 TCU 10

Illinois(22) @ Penn State(12) - Now that Ohio State has been shown as vulnerable, this could be Penn State's coming out party as the class of the Big Tenleven. Or not.

Pick: Illinois 24 Penn State 21

Wisconsin(9) @ Michigan - It's going to get ugly in the Big House before it gets better. In two years Coach Rodriguez has a quarterback it will be "Hail to the Victors" once again. This year, against Wisky, not so much....

Pick: Wisky 48 Mich 14

Buffalo @ Central Michigan - One of those "under the radar" early season games where the two best MAC conference teams meet up after taking whuppins' from the Big Tenleven. Buffalo is a team on the come under Turner Gill, Central Michigan is a team that's already there.

Pick: UCM 28 Buffalo 21

North Carolina @ Miami - Butch Davis travels to his former home to take on a raw(but athletic) Hurricane team. North Carolina is improved, as is Miami. This is another "sleeper" game between two teams that are just outside the Top 25.

Pick: UNC 27 Miami 24

Alabama(8) @ Georgia(3) - Very easily the game of the week and, with the rise of Alabama, possibly as big as Ohio State @ USC two weeks prior. The funny thing is this is just another game on the brutal SEC schedule. Georgia looked good against Ariz. State last week, Alabama looked unbeatable against Arkansas. Georgia's defense will be a VERY stiff test for Alabama's high powered offense. Knowshawn Moreno is the best running back in the Country.

Pick: UGA 17 Ala 14


Season Record: 18-6.

Things get tougher this week however as conference play kicks into high gear.

Metro's incompetence, your commute

BlogHouston wonders what could happen when Ed Emmett decides he's had enough of the traffic snarls that have plagued Houston since Yesterday and decides that "something, must be done".....

(from Kevin Whited of Blog Houston)

Mayor White, who seems to fancy himself an urban General Patton (really!), might consider directing a profanity or two towards METRO regarding their poor planning at some point. Or perhaps Judge Emmett could be dispatched simply to fix things; he seems actually to get results.

"something, must be done"...

(from Richard Connelly of the Houston Press)

County Judge Ed Emmett apparently has the same thought.

At 1 p.m. he opened a meeting with county, city, Metro and TxDOT officials hoping to find a way to solve the traffic mess.

His spokesman Joe Stinebaker tells Hair Balls:

The judge is hoping to get Metro to open HOV lanes, to speed up work on broken street lights, to get extra law-enforcement from all available agencies at heavily congested feeder intersections with broken street lights and to implement whatever other actions can be taken to reduce or eliminate the heavy congestion that has arisen yesterday and today. In terms of timing, the individual agencies would probably have to speak to what their reactions have been so far, but this was the first opportunity the judge had to get everybody together since the situation first became apparent yesterday.

We'll see what comes of it. Moments after that message, Stinebaker claimed at least partial victory: "Apparently the meeting has already done some good, because I just found out Metro is skedding a newser at 2:30 for an announcement on their HOV lanes."

I wonder if any dirty words were used?

More importantly, who's that milquetoast, pretty-boy Perry going to apologize to THIS time?

At the end of all of this mess I'm going to give out grades. If Mayor White and Ed Emmett are at the top of the class then Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert and Rick Perry are duking it out for the bottom rung of the ladder as we speak.

Hey Lambert: What part of "disaster recovery plan" do you not understand?

The New Necessities: (Part 2)

Alternatively Titled: Screw You overpriced iPhone:




The T-Mobile G1 with Android operating system.

$179.99 From T-Mobile

Important bits: (released today)

- $25/mo unlimited Internet plan (limited messaging)
- $35/mo unlimited Internet plan (unlimited messaging0
- Ties to T-mobile's 3rd generation 3g network (backward compatible)
- Wi-fi capable.


Hmmm....won't get the buzz because of lack of a "fanboy" population (or tech writers overly impressed by Apple's hip marketing) but lower priced (with a better data plan) than AT&T's iPhone and better features to boot.

Yup, need that.

OTHER EYES:

Dwight @ the Chron - No opinion (yet) but has some more information, including a snippit that if you're an existing T-mobile customer not eligible for an upgrade you'll have to pay $299. (The same dumb move that AT&T made with the iPhone) Will cell phone companies ever learn?

Rapid Eye Movement (09/23/2008)

Out of control Dairy system in China [Tini Tran, AP] - Yet another (very sad) example that Government should have a strong regulatory role in some instances.

Palin denies media access [Sarah Kugler, AP] - Slowly giving back any bounce she provided McCain through her self-created media shroud.

Obama pulling ahead in "battleground" States. [Sara Murray, WSJ] - See above. Add Palin's dissapearing act to the economic bailout and the election could be all but over by October 5.

Blame Fannie Mae and Congress for Mortgage Mess [Calomiris and Wallison, WSJ] - I agree to a point, but you also have to blame business for losing track of any sense of long-term perspective. The Government didn't regulate, but accountants didn't practice the principle of conservatism either.

How to campaign in a financial Crisis [Kimberly Strassel, WSJ] - Wise words on how McCain could capitalize on this mess, were he a conservative candidate that is. (hint: he's not) No bailout would be better than a bailout, but I'm running on the premise that's not going to happen.

The $700 Billion Dollar Question [Kashyap and Stein, NYT] - Because it will happen, then it better be done correctly or we'll be in an even worse fix. (This is Government we're talking about, what are the odds it won't be done correctly?)

Sarah Palin: Mean Girl [David Talbot, Salon.com] - Salon continues their smear campaign against Palin. Another unsubstantiated rumor from a beaten political foe in the past.

Will Schumer get Democrats to 60 seats? [Stuart Rothenberg, RCP] - An important election question that hasn't received much play. Control of the White House, Congress and a supermajority in the Senate is something the Republicans could never muster. If the Democrats get all of this America will be unrecognizable from the Country it is today in no time. I'm not suggesting that's either bad or good, only that its a fact. You can make up your own mind which way that moves the country.

The Harris County Office of Public Defense (Part, the first)

Despite Ike, The County's business moves on...

(from Liz Austin Peterson of the Chron)

A public defenders office would represent some indigent defendants in four criminal district courts and one juvenile court under a proposal to be presented to Commissioners Court today.

Public defenders also would be assigned to some defendants with mental retardation or significant mental illnesses in the four district courts and all 15 county criminal courts under the plan crafted by the county's budget and management services office.

The plan, submitted as part of the court's annual mid-year budget review, offers a long-awaited but early look at the kind of system Harris County could adopt. A final vote is not expected until shortly before the court adopts the 2009-10 budget in March.

It remains unclear if supporters of the proposal could muster enough support on the five-member board to prevail.

The only step court members are expected to take today is authorizing further studies by a team of representatives from county and district courts, the county attorney's office, each Commissioners Court member's office, the criminal defense bar, the Texas Fair Defense Project and the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense.

The team would evaluate how the office should be structured and what it would cost. It also would review proposals from outside groups interested in running all or part of the office for the county.

Commissioners Court would have to approve any of the team's recommendations.

Harris County is the largest urban area in the nation without a public defenders office. Instead, judges develop a list of independent lawyers who can represent indigent defendants.

Critics of the current system say judges too frequently assign cases to friends, political supporters or attorneys they know will clear the docket quickly.

Texas has 15 public defender offices. Some operate at all criminal levels and others specialize in appeals or juvenile cases.

We need to be sure that the push to establish this office isn't being done because of the part I emphesized by bolding. You see, Harris County and, by extension, Houston, have a bad case of everyone else syndrome. Well, everyone else is doing it, so it must need to be done.

The problem with this thinking is that a lot of the municipalities that are lumped into everyone else have problems that are far worse than Houston's in some areas. Dallas' PD office is currently struggling to keep staff, gutting what is being held up as a "model organization" for Houston follow. Houston's current leadership has a bad case of envy when it comes to other cities' programs and problems.

"Municipal Wi Fi" - Houston HAD to have it. For no other reason (it seemed) that other cities had it and Houston didn't want to be somehow "left behind". What Houston got was a broken deal with a new defunct arm of a company and a $6 Million dollar payback with no clear accounting of how much money was spent in planning and preparation.

"Downtown Hotel" - Because we HAD to be "world class" and posess the ability to get conventions on a Las Vegas or Orlando scale Houston had to have a Downtown hotel. Nevermind that the occupancy projections were overly optimistic, and that the City is now trying to sell its stake in the first hotel (unbelivebly, to finance the construction of a SECOND underperforming hotel, based again on glowing occupancy projections from PKF consulting) Houston had to have those conventions. Conventions that never came.

"MetroRail" - Houston HAD to have some kind of light rail system to compete with Dallas. Oh sure, they'll tell you that mobility was the key and it was all about "moving Houstonians" but we all know that the REAL reason for MetroRail was to keep up with Dallas. Oh yeah, and we REALLY wanted the Olympics. Which we didn't get, so now we're stuck with a 7.5 mile trolley system that's ineffective at reducing congestion and which was unable to rapidly return to service after a natural disaster.


None of this is to say that Harris County shouldn't have a PD's office to provide for representation for those unable to procure Rusty Hardin or any of the other high-profile attorneys in the area. Quite the contrary. If there is a chance of increasing the people's right to access an attorney, if there is a chance of increasing the people's ability to mount a credible defense, if there is a chance of ending the "Peter principle" when it comes to selecting defense attorneys, and all of this can be accomplished at, or near, the current cost structure, then it should be strongly considered.

Let's just make sure we're not doing this because of everyone else syndrome. We've suffered enough from that disease as it is.

So Goes the Free Market (Part II)

Paulson and Bernacke urge "speed"...

(from Julie Hirschfield Davis and Jeannine Aversa of the AP via the Chron)

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged Congress today to quickly pass a $700 billion financial bailout, warning that letting problems persist would have dire consequences for the national economy.

The nation's top two economic leaders made the assertions in prepared remarks to be given later today to the Senate Banking Committee. Their latest take on the financial crisis came as the Bush administration and lawmakers scramble to forge an agreement on a plan that could be the biggest such bailout in U.S. history.

"If financial conditions fail to improve for a protracted period, the implications for the broader economy could be quite adverse," Bernanke said in his prepared for the panel.

Paulson's written testimony struck a similarly grave note.

"We must do so in order to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets that threaten the well-being of American families' financial well-being, the viability of businesses both small and large and the very health of our economy," Paulson said.

I would urge caution over "speed" in this case, considering the scope of the bailout, and the fact that poorly thought out Government policy often causes more pain that it cures. In this case Loren Steffy points out something very scary in the language of the law:

For that price, we not only get to take on billions in toxic debt that no one wants or can even value, but we also get to elevate the Treasury Secretary to demi-god status. Consider Section 8:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

In other words, we're handing Paulson a blank check.

There HAS to be some organization of official review over this mess, lest we run the risk of handing over our entire economy to the whims of one man.

An unelected beauracrat at that.


Scary.

Ike Asides (09/23/08)

Arrests down during period after Ike. [Mike Glenn, Chron.com] - Hmmm, officer visibility out patrolling neighborhoods, and crime goes down....who'd a thunk it?

Damaged Billboards can't be rebuilt.[Mary Flood, Chron.com] - No confirmation on rumors that anti-billboard groups are secretly praying for another Hurricane.

Not all Welfare recipients are lazy [Lisa Falkenberg, Chron.com] - I don't think all welfare associates are lazy even during normal times, but using a disaster as proof of case is juvenile.

Mayor White's Words [Bradley Olsen, Chron.com] - Huzzah to Mayor White. Those two Georgia Forestry Service employees should be glad they weren't dropped off at the site where people had been waiting for 12 hours for them to get off their incompetent asses and deliver supplies. And who is Rick Perry to 'apologize' on White's behalf? As a matter of fact, where WAS Rick Perry during all of this? Note to FEMA, don't put two Georgia Forestry Service employees with no logistics experience in charge of the staging area. That this is even an issue tells you just what a soft Nation we've become. Suck it up and deliver the {expletive} provisions Nancy.

Perry defends PUC [R.G. Ratcliffe and Clay Robison, Chron.com] - Yes, there's no way you can make the system 100% secure "by fiat" from Austin, but you sure can require some basic standards be met. Perry just keeps looking more and more clueless.

The Palin Paranoria churns on.

Start with a Salon.com article quoting "Valley activist" and a "pro gay rights" American Baptist Minister and you have all you need for a smear campaign on the most hated VP candidate ever...

(from David Talbot of Salon.com)

And after she became mayor of Wasilla, according to Bess, Sarah Palin tried to get rid of his book from the local library. Palin now denies that she wanted to censor library books, but Bess insists that his book was on a "hit list" targeted by Palin. "I'm as certain of that as I am that I'm sitting here. This is a small town, we all know each other. People in city government have confirmed to me what Sarah was trying to do."

Soon after the book controversy, Bess found himself again at odds with Palin and her fellow evangelicals. In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital's community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.

At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie's office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer's Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician's practice that day was Sarah Palin.

Another valley activist, Philip Munger, says that Palin also helped push the evangelical drive to take over the Mat-Su Borough school board. "She wanted to get people who believed in creationism on the board," said Munger, a music composer and teacher. "I bumped into her once after my band played at a graduation ceremony at the Assembly of God. I said, 'Sarah, how can you believe in creationism -- your father's a science teacher.' And she said, 'We don't have to agree on everything.'

"I pushed her on the earth's creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she'd seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them."

Munger also asked Palin if she truly believed in the End of Days, the doomsday scenario when the Messiah will return. "She looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.'"

Now, all of this must be taken with a grain of salt. Namely because the resource is Salon.com, a Liberal news outlet in the same vein that NewsMax.com is a Conservative media outlet. Sorry folks, that's just the hard truth. In no credible media center would the words of two former (highly partisan) political operatives even be printed, much less presented as fact regarding the personal religious beliefs of a Candidate.

Still, based on the comments on this Chron.localpolitics posting it doesn't take much to sway the opinions of those who place two much stock in the paranthetical letters behind each candidates name...

(from various comments)

Maybe she can read the wikipedia article on hurricanes, and then explain to us how it was a "Cape-Verde-Style" hurricane that formed from tropical waves coming off the African savannah. Which, of course, happens as a result of a vengeful God's wrath at America for teaching evolution, tolerating homosexuals and allowing legal abortions.

*****
Sarah Palin thinks the Earth is only 5000 years old.

*****
Please replace 'thinks' with 'believes' to make it more believable. For all we know, there are flat-earthers still around and, speaking of around, there may even be those who believe the earth is a cube.

*****

(my favorite)
think Ms Palin has been given an unfair hiding for one of her responses to Charlie Gibson. He asked about "The Bush Doctrine." Ms Palid seemed flummoxed. "Bush Doctrine?" Her confusion was more than justified. George the W has had at least 5 "Bush Doctrine(s)" since he was appointed President by the 5 Supremes. He may have had as many as 7 "Bush Doctrine(s)" since he assumed office. So, for Ms Palin to be confused by the question posed by Mr. Gibson was perfectly understandable. Mr. Gibson should have chosen one or two doctrines for Ms. Palin's consideration. I don't think she could have handled three (being female)

A quick perusal through the InterLeft reveals more of the same. Many of the attacks on Palin's character are made without benefit of questionable testimony and seem to entirely rely on Affirming the consequent or the Fallacy of many questions.

Ergo:

Palin is an evangelical Christian.
Some evengelical Christians believe in Young Earth Creationism.
Sarah Palin believes in Young Earth Creationism.

Or:

If you're a Christian, then you hate Gays.
Sarah Palin is a Christian so she hates Gays.


Some of the logic they are using REALLY is that wrong.

Can you imagine if the steaks were turned around, and Barack Obama's race was used as the basis of these logical fallacies?


This is not to say that Sarah Palin does not believe in Young Earth creationism. For all I know she might. If she does, fine. For those who defended Obama's relationship with Rev. Wright's anti-American rhetoric a simple belief in the age of the Earth doesn't seem so stunning.

Sarah Palin may also be Anti-gay. I don't know this, nor do I find any legislative or verifiable proof that she is. All we have are ancedotal stories told by scorned political opposites. If that's the bar for accepting fact in today's political parties then we have more problems then we want to admit.


Still unreported however is changing of the election dynamic from McCain vs. Obama to Obama vs. Palin. Through all of this Obama is having his record compared not to McCain, but to a VP candidate with similar experience to his that supporters are now saying is unqualified to hold the post of Vice-President.

Were I a Republican strategist I'd be all over that. Were I a Democratic strategist I'd be fighting to get the focus back on Obama vs. McCain.

Were I a Democratic organizer I'd be trying to get the InterLeft to knock it off. Those type of attacks are a.)Damaging your candidate and b.)ruining the Democrats reputation (media perceived) as the party of the intellectual, logical voter who seriously studies the issues. It's the Republicans that are supposed to have to result to personal attacks. At least, that's what you've been telling us (in every blog, everywhere.)


Sheesh.

The New Necessities:

(Alternatively titled: I NEED this)




$29.95 @ REI.

Details:

Versatile power options include full-time power via hand crank, solar panel and rechargeable NiMH battery pack

Built-in cell-phone charger breathes life into most brands of cell phone batteries
Internal rechargeable NiMH battery pack stores power generated from dynamo hand crank, solar panel or USB port (USB cord not included)

Handy flashlight features 3 bright white LEDs for a dependable source of light when the power is out

One-eighth-inch (3.5mm) earphone jack allows easy private listening with headphones (headphones not included)

FM/AM radio receiver can also tune in weather, FCC and EAS public alert broadcasts
Telescoping antenna for FM reception; internal ferrite antenna for AM reception
Analog tuning knobs on side offer smooth dialing to zero-in finicky signals; full-range monophonic front speaker serves up clear sound reproduction

Includes emergency preparedness guide with important steps to take for preparedness before and during a disaster

Also includes Red Cross disaster preparedness tips, owner's manual and cell phone charging cord

Yup, need that.

Repeat: No bailout for automakers!

Dumbest. Idea. Ever....

(From David Kiley of BusinessWeek via Yahoo!)

ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor, known widely for lumbering gas hogs.

Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe.

Seems the problem is that the car runs on diesel and Ford doesn't think Americans will buy a diesel powered automobile that gets 65 miles per gallon....


Yeah....let them lie in the bed they made for themselves.

Rapid Eye Movement (09/22/08)

Expect to have higher energy bills in the future [Lynn Cook, Chron.com] - Yet another wonderful side effect of the ill-advised State Republican plan to deregulate electricity.

H.E.B. to provide relief to Fifth Ward/Acres Homes Residents [Mike Madere, Chron.com] - The best relief from this storm has come from private agencies....while FEMA has egg on their faces, again.

METRORail returning to service on Monday [Chron.com] - Meanwhile, unsexy bus service has been running for days.

Ike blows away trash politics [Alan Bernstein, Chron.com] - Although I've seen Mincberg ads still showing up everywhere despite howls of protest from local Dems that John Cornyn had three out of 50 stations not pull his ads as requested. I'm sure there's a technical difference that any idiot could understand explaining this.

Ike Renews debate over coastal development [Matthew Tresague, Chron.com] - Yet another local debate that deserves serious consideration that will be, sadly, polarized and made overly partisan by those who pay too much attention to letters in parentheses behind a candidates name.

(From Friday) Port of Houston resumes operations. [Houston Business Journal] - A big event that warrented bigger coverage.

The last investment banks change status. [Martin Crutsinger, Yahoo! News] - Bringing to an end an era of American finance that will be debated for a long time.

A Prescription for Recovery. [Robert Drugger, Washington Post]

The Great Confidence Game. [Robert Samuleson, RCP]

The Shadow Banking System is Unravelling. [Nouriel Robini, Financial Times] - Lesson learned? Large amounts of money + no regulation = recipe for disaster...

Obama, not McCain, Shows Steady Hand in Crises [Abert Hunt, Bloomberg.com] - I remember after Allison that then-Mayor Lee. P. Brown was praised for being clueless "calm" as well.

Obama Closing the Whopper Gap [Ruth Marcus, Washington Post] - They're politicians, they lie and will say anything to get elected. We should not be surprised by this. (Unless we swear fealty to one party that is)

So goes the free market.

When I have had time to look at the news outside of the bubble of Ike, I've been monitoring the clamor around the AIG and Freddie/Fannie bailouts with much interest.

That said, the broader financial bailout, to my thinking, is the beginning of the end of the American economic model of the second half of the 20th Century....

(From David M. Herszenhorn, Stephen Labaton and Mark Landler of the New York Times)

Congressional Democrats began to set their own terms on Sunday for a plan to rescue the nation’s financial institutions, including greater legislative oversight of the Treasury Department, more direct assistance for homeowners and limits on the pay of top executives whose firms seek help.

The Democrats’ demands came as Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. blanketed the Sunday talk shows to promote the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout package, emphasizing that it was needed not just for Wall Street, but for all Americans. He urged Congress to move swiftly to approve a “clean” rescue plan without tacking on extra programs.

“I hate the fact that we have to do it, but it’s better than the alternative,” Mr. Paulson said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Bush administration proposal could be the largest government bailout of private industry in the nation’s history, and it calls for nearly unfettered powers to the Treasury secretary. There is intense pressure to pass a rescue measure quickly because the markets remain jittery.

Still, competing interests were already complicating the negotiations, as Democrats pushed for assistance for distressed homeowners and for oversight authority of the bailout program. Some lawmakers also said they did not want to be rushed into approving extraordinary new powers for the Treasury secretary and the government without full consideration of the consequences.

IF there is a bailout, and FWIW I think there will be, then I'm siding with the Democrats in that there can not be a "blank check" written to Wall Street that allows them to continue on as if nothing happened, leading America down the same road to pay the same piper even more money from the same, taxpayer funded, till that could be even MORE detrimental to the American economy.

Perhaps the "best" of the bad solutions would be to allow the markets to shake themselves out, and for all of those Multi-Million dollar CEO's at the head of failing ships to take hard falls, allowing the market to shake out that way. IF the Government decides to issues pardons to companies for acquiring too much debt, then how in the WORLD can the same companies turn around to the consumer and demand payment?

Why should I, as a taxpayer, pay back student loans when the Government is willing to forgive Billions more in loans that were made on far shakier principles?

That being said, I'll continue to pay my student loans, my mortgage and my one credit card because I believe in satisfying my debts.

Despite the fact that all of the financial lessons regarding getting ahead say that you should not.


If we ARE going to bail out stupid businesses, then I think its very reasonable of the Democrats to ask for oversight, control and salary caps on executives if they seek Government help.

They always have the option of denying the help and trying to make it (or fail) on their own. Until we get to the point that the Government decides "voluntary" bailouts aren't good enough and starts Nationalizing the banking, energy, and finance industries that is. (which is coming sooner than you might think I'm afraid).

The irony of all of this is that a Republican President started us along the path. Somewhere Democrats are dancing in the aisles.

A note on buried powerlines

Lately almost every political, and non-political talker has been championing the joys and benefits of "buried" power lines.

This being Houston and the debates being "accept this or you are an idiot" I'm sure there won't be any serious honest discussion on the matter. In fact, since Mayoral wanna-be and perpetual planner Peter Brown has forwarded the motion and Mrs. White has added her enthusiastic second, all that's left is for the "world class" crew to jump on the 7.5 mile "World Class" train and propel Houston toward a $50 Billion dollar expenditure with dubious results.

Want proof on a Micro level?

My neighborhood is one of the few in the area WITH buried power lines and we were among the last in the ZIP code to get power. The neighborhood next to us with above-ground power lines had power three days before us.

That being said, downtown Houston never lost power on a prolonged basis, and all of their power lines are buried. However, the layout of downtown is much different from the layouts of Houston neighborhoods.

That won't deter Brown however, who BlogHouston points out have been on the "anti-powerline" rampage for quite some time. Of course, "beauty" was his rationale before, he's just found something he thinks will appeal to the masses, and he's striking while the iron is hot, while people still remember (or are still going through) massive power loss.

All of this are the hallmarks of politicking by a skilled politician, but it shouldn't be the basis for passing public policy. If you doubt that then think about Houston's "World Class" light rail system. You know, the light rail that was rendered useless during the entirety of Ike and its aftermath while bus service ran in the interim.

With the amount of money that's on the line and the potential impact to all Houston area residents, one would hope this debate is held on more serious footing than was the transportation debate. Having only the "Peter Brown create a plan" option or the "do nothing" option is a false choice.


Then again, this IS Houston, so I'm betting the choice will end up being a false one.

Rapid Eye Movement (09/21/2008)

Democrats promise quick action on rescue legislation. [Stern & Brinsley, Bloomberg.com] - Of course they do, we're talking about spending a medium-sized industrial countries' worth of taxpayer dollars. Someday I'll have a post on how America destroyed the free market. Or not.

13,000 Children sick in tainted milk scare. [Dan Martin, YahooNews]

Racism among White Democrats could cost Obama the election.[Ron Fournier and Trevor Thompson, Yahoo!News] - Waitaminnut? Racist Democrats??? But they told us that was impossible....

Vandy Ranked for the First Time in 24 Years [Yahoo! Sports] -Is there any doubt the SEC is the best conference in all the land?

Obama pulls campaign out of North Dakota [USA Today] - Could Texas be next? And how about that "50 State strategy?"

Bubblenomics [David Leonheart, NYT]

The drilling bill that bans drilling [Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe] - It would be better for the debate if the Dems would just be intellectually honest and admit they want no new drilling. Instead they offer up this sham of a drilling bill.

Automakers don't deserve bailout [George Will, RCP] - And neither do the airlines for that matter, but I'm betting both are going to get them (again) to pander to the Union vote.

We had ourselves a hitchin'

The wedding was held in my parents living-room, by candlelight. A cell phone provided the reading light for the minister (also my Uncle) to administer the vows. The bride came up the makeshift aisle to the acapella strains of "Halleluja" sang by the attendees of the wedding.

On Saturday, September 13th @ 7:00PM Casey Evan Loring and Tana Lynn Crow were joined together in the bonds of matrimony in Willis, TX in the presence of a small gathering of friends and family.

It was quite possibly the prettiest wedding I've ever attended.



Take that Ike.

Ike Asides 09/21/08

We have POWER!!!

At 7:14 PM CST power was restored to the Crow compound. The good news: AC is humming away. The bad news: We lost a refrigerator somewhere in the mess. The lights are on, but the generator conked out somewhere in the interim. Ah well, if that's the worst thing that happens I'll consider myself blessed through all of this. We have spare unit in the garage that we kept excess in, so we'll just clean that up and run with one for a while.

If you add the cost of the refrigeration unit to the food we lost and home repair I'm guessing our total Ike tab is somewhere around $2,000. I'm not holding my breath for any FEMA assistance.


There are a lot of issues post Ike that need addressing. I might or might not address them here. After taking some time off from the blogosphere I'm wondering if its really worth it to keep banging away at a system that doesn't want to get better. Almost one year ago I raised the question of public infrastructure expenditures. In the previous year nothing much has happened. Houston Government (and local political bloggers) have spent much of that year giving atta-boys to, or deriding, local politicians for funding trinket after trinket at the expense of the basics. Now that its time to pay the piper, the usual suspects are coming out of the wood work with newly found infrastructure hard-ons and multi-billion dollar plans that will only hit "the other guy" or...the tax bracket that's exactly one above yours.

Hell, during Ike there were some bloggers who thought that partisan politics should be the order of the day, or personal grudges.

In short, its quite possible that there's nothing in the blogosphere worth arguing about any more.

Will my blog stop?

No. Because I never wrote it for anyone else for myself. I'll still post, but I'm considering changing focus, quitting local politics and media commentary and focusing on more important matters....like football, trips to London, and news on a macro-level. I'll leave the interviews and name-calling to those who have designs on being the name-callers of the future. I'll leave Houston to itself, and the Houston Chronicle to spiral into oblivion on its own.

They say changing your life-style changes you. It definitely changed me. Whether or not its for the better is for you to decide....

Ike Asides 09/18/08

Back at work this morning as "critical personnel". In other words I have stuff to do that's on a hard deadline, so I'm here working while Supervisors and Managers are sitting at home sipping 'Ritas.


The good news is that I have AC (yeah!) and full access to the Internet, including a full-sized, ergonomically correct computer keyboard. Now, if I could just remember how to type.....

Did I mention access to the Internet? Yup. Taking advantage of some slack time while the ol' computer processes and getting a chance to catch up on my reading. Here are some links for good measure:

Thomas vs. Galveston [Langford & Wise, Chron.com] - You have to feel sorry for Mayor Thomas. She's stuck with an Island that's been totally devestated and a media who's in love with Houston's Mayor. Next to that she's got no chance. Now it seems that City Council is turning against her as well.

Fed Injects another $55 Billion into finance system [AP via Chron.com] - Meanwhile, back in the modern world, years of lax lending and even more lax oversight are starting to demand payment. When we dig out of this mess we're going to be facing a pretty tough financial reality.

Houstonians "screaming" at CenterPoint workers [Schiller- Chron.com] - All of this raises the question: Is Houston really this bad? Or is the Chron making a mountain out of a molehill in an attempt to pump up circulation and web-hits from around the World? (fair question)

Friction after Ike [Falkenberg, Chron.com] - There's no bigger Monday morning Quarterback in Houston than the former teen columnist. It's very easy to have 20/20 vision when you're constantly reviewing things after the fact.

Look and Leave policy a blunder [Mrs. White - Chron.com] - Well, almost no bigger of a Monday morning Quarterback. Can you imagine the mess if the Chron's teen columnist and editorial board were in charge of the rebuilding?


I'm finishing up here and then hitting the road searching for some propane, some dog food and a place to do laundry. Then I'm inviting several neighbors over for dinner. I'm seen more of the "good" in Houston through all of this than the "bad" that the Chron seems to want to focus on.

Information, information, information please. Save us the editorialzing for later. There will be plenty to gripe about and evaluate once everyone gets their lights on and shelters over their heads.

9/17/08 Ike Asides

Heard a call from a Post Office employee on the radio last night....apparrently all of the branches fueled up their tricks and blanketed the area, distributing........bulk mail. It seems that little to no mail is coming in, so the upper management types in D.C. decided that it was a critical need to deliver to citizens unsolicited advertisements for them to throw away....


Also heard that the FEMA staging center was't staffed with anyone possessing advanced logistics experience. County Judge Emmett had to drive over there and get the trucks running on time, so to speak. If FEMA would just let Mayor White and Judge Emmett handle this we'd all be better off.

......and these are the people some want running our healthcare system?

If that were the case all of us would get Federally mandated nose jobs to treat cancer except that there would be no licenced surgeons staffed to perform the operations....


The ever ready management at the Chron decided to bundle three to four days worth of papers into the first editions delivered after Ike. So all subscribers basically recieved infirmation that was up to three days in arrears insted of having their accounts credited for days missed and recieving the service they should have. It was a cheap, cost-driven move by the newspaper of record in Houston.


If you added them to the health care management team then the nose jobs would also be given to people who have been dead for less than three days.....



Hang in there y'all.

Back (sorta)

Made it through Ike relatively unscathed. Have a full tank of gas, a camp stove, grill, and ice and food. Going to do my best over the next couple of days to provide updates on supplies on the Northwest side.

Gas

Chevron- hwy 6 & W. Little York

Kroger- W. Little York & Fry

Ice

Kroger- W. Little York & Fry

Food Town - W. Little York & Hwy 6



Most of the grocery stores up here have some food, including some with perishables such as meats and charcoal.

I'm going to drive around and look some more tomorrow for residents on the Northwest side. There are currently no FEMA pods in this area that I am aware of.


Hang in there Houston.



*sorry about any misspellings or typos on these posts. Hard to proof in the dark when typing on my cellphone keyboard

Ike'd Out.

Due to Ike, resulting pressures at the PAYING job, and the (increasingly unlikely) Little Sister's wedding on Saturday, there will be no blogging for the next few days, possibly well into next week.

Until then everyone stay safe, dry, and keep checking Eric Berger for updates.

See everyone on the other side and I hope you all make it through with little drama.

Ah Geez

Things like this are never good...

(from David Ivanovich of the Chron)

A "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" existed in the federal agency that handles royalty payments from oil companies, including sexual encounters between government employees and industry representatives, according to a memorandum released today.

The Interior Department's Inspector General, who has been investigating the U.S. Minerals Management Service's Royalty-In-Kind program, said government employees who were supposed to be regulating the oil companies were engaging in drug use and having sex with industry contacts.

"Several staff admitted to illegal drug use as well as illicit sexual encounters," Inspector General Earl Devaney wrote in a Sept. 9 memo to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne released today.

Devaney pointed to one supervisor in the Royalty-In-Kind program — under which oil companies are allowed to pay royalties owed to the federal government in actual oil rather than cash — who "engaged in illegal drug use and had sexual relations with subordinates, and in consort with industry."

The unfortunate bit about all of this is that all of the blame for the goings on will be placed square on the shoulders of the Oil Industry. While I'm certainly not suggesting that they aren't to blame, it should be noted that it takes two to tango, and that proper Government oversight is key to any program working. Who watches the watchmen if you will.

One thing that's not clear in this story is whether or not the shortages resulted in incorrect oil amounts being delivered or no. Typically this type of exchange is handled at the pipeline and administered by a third party. My guess is that the oil deliveries were unaffected, and that this is just an audit and control problem that the Government has.

In a case like this the priority should be to reform the program, and keep it from distracting the Nation from its energy priorities.

Fat chance in an election year I know, where finger-pointing by partisans will outweigh the needs of Americans, but one can always hope.

Rapid Eye Movement (9/10/08)

The "sinus infection" version...

More of Gulf May Open [David Ivanovich, Chron] - subtitle: Pelosi is only trying to save "part" of the planet, her job (and leadership position) comes first.

The Spending Explosion [WSJ]

Running Alaska [WSJ]

McCain Bounce has Democrats off-Balance [Wallston and Hook, LA Times] - Need proof of this? The election has morphed to Obama vs. Palin, and he's losing to HER.

World's Verdict will be Harsh if U.S. Rejects Obama [Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian] - Eh, they'll get over it.

The fallacy of 'Green Jobs' [Johnathan Stossel, RCP]

Tom Craddick's former assistant parliamentarian REVEALED [Burnt Orange Report] - another skin on the wall for the BoR staff.

That's it, I'm back to bed.

Smash and Dash

$3.8 Billion Dollars, and still no flying cars...

(From Alexander Higgins of the A.P. via the Chron)

Scientists fired the first beam of protons around a 17-mile tunnel today in science's next great step to understand the makeup of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider — built since 2003 at a cost of $3.8 billion — will provide scientists with much greater power than ever before to smash the components of atoms in a bid to see how they are made.

Project leader Lyn Evans gave the go-ahead to send the protons into the accelerator below the Swiss-French border.

The startup — eagerly awaited by 9,000 physicists around the world who will conduct experiments here — comes over the objections of some skeptics who fear the collisions of protons could eventually imperil the earth.

The skeptics theorize that a byproduct of the collisions could be micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.

"It's nonsense," said James Gillies, chief spokesman for CERN, the host European Organization for Nuclear Research, before early today's start.CERN is backed by leading scientists like Britain's Stephen Hawking in dismissing the fears and declaring the experiments to be absolutely safe.

Of course, this is the same Stephen Hawking who recently admitted that everything he theorized about black holes was probably wrong so is he really the guy to be giving 'atta-boys' to the idea of safety? Of course, no one has been proven wrong yet, as there haven't been any "collisions" as of yet. They sent the beam of protons in a single direction. So the idea that the nay-sayers have been "proven wrong" is a little ridiculous. That being said, if the nay-sayers are correct, then there won't be an AP around to report it anyway making all of this a moot point.

I'm still fascinated by particle science, despite the fact that it has been, so-far, unable to make real the great scientific promise of the '60's and '70's, the flying car. I want my flying car, and I'm not sure how this $10 Billion dollar monstrosity is going to move us further down the line?

Yes, colliding protons are cool, like a sub-atomic NASCAR crack up, and if we can get a black hole or two out of it to suck up France's ego, hey. All the better. And then when we're done with that can we get back on the whole "flying car" project?

Please?

Oh, and if there's any way NOT to destroy the World as we know it...yeah, that'd be appreciated as well.


OTHER EYES:

Mrs. White is ticked that it could have been Texas' taxpayer catapult that was used.

OPEC Nations protect own interests, Americans stunned

Why would they take steps to bolster their economies?

(from the AP via the Chron)

OPEC oil ministers agreed today to trim overall output by more than 500,000 barrels a day in a compromise meant to avoid new turmoil in crude markets while seeking to bolster falling prices.

Crude prices were stable this morning though. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 8 cents to $103.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The OPEC announcement reflected the organization's efforts to cover all bases in an oil market that saw prices spike to a record high just short of $150 a barrel in July, only to shed nearly 30 percent off those peaks in subsequent months.

(snip)

OPEC overall regularly churns out oil above the organization's overall quota, last set in November at 27.3 million barrels a day, and it remained unclear whether group members would abide by the decision to keep to their limits.

Still, the decision could have the psychological effect of steadying eroding prices at or above the $100 mark — the red line for many OPEC nations concerned about their rapid loss of revenue in recent months.

(snip)

Some observers said Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies in the Middle East also do not want OPEC to become more of a target for American consumers fuming over historically high fuel prices in a highly charged presidential election season.

The impact of Wednesday's compromise remains to be seen.

The half a million barrels OPEC said it will shave from the market is similar to the amount of additional crude Saudi Arabia unilaterally promised to pour onto the market over the summer when prices were setting new weekly, if not daily, highs.

Any time OPEC acts I'm constantly amazed by the chorus of American whining that arises and drowns out every other, reasonable, voice regarding the oil markets. Democrats have done a better job of tapping into that ignorance on foreign oil markets than have Republicans, but neither Party has done a good job leveraging the reality of a Global energy market to craft meaningful energy legislation.

Given that a majority of American's knowledge of the oil industry begins and ends at the gas pump, there's a fertile ground of public support that could be mined based on ignorance alone. When you see comments to stories like these suggesting that a Country taking steps to prop up the price of the driver of its economy is "out to get America" then you know that there's a serious disconnect between perception and reality. "No more foreign oil" is ridiculous as well. Considering our voracious appetite for energy in America, there's no way we can survive without OPEC petroleum, but that doesn't mean they it has to dominate energy conversation as it currently does.

Somewhere between "Drill here, drill now, pay less" and "Windfall taxes on American Oil Companies" is a fertile land of long-term balanced energy policy that's largely been un-tilled, and no, I'm not referring to T. Boone Pickens' plea to bail him out of his faulty wind investment. What I'm referring to are projects designed to remove our automotive fleet from gasoline, from clean-coal technologies that have promise, but hit road-blocks from know-nothing environmental groups, I'm referring to using nuclear, wind and geothermal to power a portion of our cities, and natural gasoline to handle the rest.

Into the gaps fall oil, both domestic and foreign. Yes, there will always be foreign oil, and America will always import it to handle our energy needs. What we don't need to do is totally rely on any one energy source to fuel our country as we do now. The way to avoid this is through a well thought out, long-term energy policy crafted by Congress.

Yes, I understand that this means we are screwed.

So, we'll continue to get more of this:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Economic Warfare. Just when the price of oil starts to drop back into the "reasonable" range for Americans, OPEC will adjust outputs to dry up supply, causing price to rise into the range they think is appropriate. We are watching firsthand the largest transfer of wealth the world has ever seen...to the middle east.
This push to drive up the price is nothing more than a veiled attempt to make the USA financially insignificant globally.

Uh-huh.

Media pecking order.

Yes, its true, things haven't been going well for print media of late, heck, its common knowledge things haven't been going well for quite some time. Periodicals are doing worse...if you can imagine that.

Still, Isn't this akin to kicking a newspaper of record when they are down?

(from Paul Burka of Texas Monthly)

The TV-radio folks had the run of the place. They had their own booths. The dailies had three sections of the arena with flat surfaces on which to put their laptops.

Amazingly, periodicals were treated worse...

Periodical press had nonreserved seating in one section for which there were many more passes than seats. I never bothered to go there. We could get one-hour floor passes, but if you didn’t bring yours back on time, you wouldn’t get another one. Or so they said. I didn’t test them.

Soon the print reporters are going to be sitting in worse digs than the bloggers.

Talk about your bottom of the barrel.

Rapid Eye Movement (09/09/08)

Do lying and fear mongering work? Absolutely! [Gimme Some Truth] - Democrats are well-rounded, open-minded, logical people. Republicans are poorly-educated, close-minded, irrational people who can only get votes by unfairly catagorizing Democrats as poorly-educated, close-minded irrational peop....wait. Crap!

1984? [Something Different] - Nothing different about partisan attacks. Sorry, there's just not.

Palin is our voice [Right Wing Sparkle]I'm sorry, this just makes no sense whatsoever:

What many women like me love about Palin is that she represents not only what we believe to be true about the equality of women, but also the gift of being a woman. We know that it isn't the same as being a man. We know that there are different gifts.

Just how is it the Government could come in and take your guns? [Texas Liberal] - Houston's best comedy blogger strikes again. Had me fooled, at first I thought this guy was serious.

Fannie Mae's Patron Saint [WSJ]

ObamaTax 3.0 [WSJ] - Rick Noriega obviously didn't get the memo.

The GOP should kiss gay bashing goodbye [James Kirshick, WSJ]

McPalin rattles Team Obama [Jonah Goldberg, LA Times] - need proof of that? The debate of late has centered on Obama vs. Palin.

Bristol's choice [Dahlia Lithwick, Newsweek] - Amazing how Lithwick knows the inner workings of a private family decision is it not?

Palin is the same as Muslim Fundamentalists. [Juan Cole, Salon] - desperate times call for desperate measures. This is the most desperate yet. Wow.

TX Senate: A battle over funding education.

Noriega says States should pay, Cornyn says Feds should reimburse...

(from R.G. Ratcliffe of the Chron)

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega said Monday he would not support any effort to require the federal government to reimburse the states for the cost of educating the children of undocumented immigrants.

Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn supports such reimbursements, a spokesman said.

A report from the state comptroller's office in 2005 estimated the annual cost of a public education for an estimated 151,000 undocumented children in Texas schools was $957 million for the 2004-05 school year.

Noriega noted that federal law requires the state to educate all children regardless of immigration status. He said while the children have an impact on local schools, many of the districts receive additional funding that is available for children who live in poverty or have special needs.

Noriega said he believes the best way to deal with the cost of undocumented immigrant children is to fix the national immigration system.

"They're not mutually exclusive: the need to have immigration reform and to have education reform," Noriega said.

(snip)

Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said the state's junior senator has supported efforts in the past to reimburse state and local governments for the cost of illegal immigration. McLaughlin said Cornyn would support a federal reimbursement for school districts.

"The federal government is not living up to its end of the bargain," McLaughlin said. "Texas taxpayers should not be left footing the bill."

Noriega made his comments while unveiling a federal education plan full of new spending proposals but lacking a tally of how much they would cost. Noriega said he did not know what his plan would cost but described it as an investment in the future.

Yet another public mis-step in a Noriega campaign that's rapidly degenerating into comedic theatre. Far from being fiscally prudent, this plan would bleed dry State coffers at the expense of the Federal budget, and then would increase the debt load of the Federal Government (unless taxes were drastically increased) in order to pay for these programs. Nowhere was an inkling of an idea how to pay for any of it, how to "comprehensively fix" the immigration system, or how States are supposed to afford picking up the total bill for extra education costs created by a failed Federal immigration system. Oh, add to that an unknown cost burden and you have an education plan destined for File 13.

Is this a desperate, mud against the wall, gambit by an underfunded candidate whose political inexperience is being exposed during the course of the campaign? It's possible. One has to wonder whose advice Noriega is accepting right now, because it sure isn't the advice of someone who understands how to win a State-wide campaign.


OTHER EYES:

Lone Star Times

Houston Still Paying Price for Brown Administration

Municipal court system in shambles, vendor agrees to settlement.

(from Matt Stiles of the Chron)

The city will receive $5 million in a settlement with the company that designed a problem-plagued computer system at Municipal Courts, according to a copy of the deal.

Maximus Inc. also has agreed to waive millions more in support and maintenance costs over the next two years, says a proposal the City Council is set to consider Wednesday.

The settlement marks a turning point for city officials, who have considered litigation against the company while watching it struggle to implement a complicated, paperless case-management system.

Now, it appears the city could look to a new vendor to build a different system, but will continue using Maximus for as long as three to four years, according to the agreement.

(snip)

The settlement also means Maximus, whose spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment, will waive some $1.7 million in fees for work already performed.

It also grants the city three years of free technical support, a potential savings of $2.7 million.

The city still will pay as much as $4.4 million over the next two years to operate the system, according to a memo given to council members.

(snip)

The City Council first approved a $9 million deal with Maximus in 2003, but the system was delayed several times.

It was unclear Monday how much the city has spent on the system to date.

(snip)

We can't go back to the old system," Green said. "We have to use this system for the next three years. That's how long it's going to take to design and implement a new system, really."

Green should also add the caveat that there's no telling how much a second system is going to cost. While cost estimates on what the City spent are "unknown" (where's the Controller on this one?) We do know that the original contract was for $9 Million. Assuming that's been paid then what this amounts to is a refund of just over half of the original contract, and free tech support while the City works to design a system that works. Then there's the matter of the $4.4 Million of maintenance that the city will still have to pay (Presumeably to Maximus)for maintenance etc. during the transition period.

Based on that rough sketch of charges (assuming everything is paid in full) the City is still going to pay out around $5.7 Million on a system that doesn't work. This all ignores the fact that the price of poker has gone up in terms of automated "paperless" document systems, and the City still needs to design and implement a new system. My "rough" guess would be that the price range for a new system (that works) is going to be in the $16-$20 Million dollar range, no counting technical support and maintenance contracts, billable overtime for installations, you name it.

Did we mention that what we have now works worse than what was in place before?


When all is said and done the total cost to the City for the Lee P. Brown administration is going to be staggaring, and could potentially set the City back decades as it attempts to modernize and fund basic services. In the place of those things we got a shiny new football stadium with a bad team, a downtown promenade that floods in two inches of fain, and.....not much else. Again, I've got nothing against trinket governance in small doses, AFTER the basics are taken care of. The results of these priorites being out of whack are happening right in front of our eyes. It's an expensive lesson.

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

SD17: Bell loses lawsuit, nefarious Republican plot "proven"...

Just the man trying (unsuccessfully) to beat the man...

(from Janet Elliot of the Chron Austin Bureau)

Democrat Chris Bell today lost his attempt to remove another Democratic opponent from the ballot in the November special election for the District 17 Texas Senate seat.

State District Judge Scott Jenkins said Bell had failed to prove that Missouri City attorney Stephanie Simmons, who filed at the last minute, had not lived in the district for the required year.

Bell said he was unlikely to appeal, but added that he had proved his point that Simmons' filing was a ``Republican dirty trick.'' He based that statement on Simmons' testimony that former Democratic State Rep. Ron Wilson of Houston, a sometimes ally of Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, was among those who encouraged Simmons to run.

Oh those mean Republicans, using a minority Democrat to keep a White Democrat down.


Bell says he won't appeal. Either he doesn't think he can win now that he's seen the evidence or he doesn't want to force his supporters into another round of name calling based on technicalities.

That's OK, listening to his campaign and supporters his is a Name ID, candidate advantage anyway and has NOTHING to do with the strategy of being a lone Democrat thrown against a quartet of Republican Lions.

NFL Analysis...

Stephanie Stradley 1

Richard Justice 0...


Or, the amateur writer has the knowledge of the game to see that Richard's "Man crush" is wearing out his welcome in Tennessee. Justice, on the other hand, fails to realize that Mario's two sacks BOTH came on missed assignments. He did not, as characterized, "dominate" his opposition.


If nothing else this will be a fun football season.

For a better analysis of Mario's play on Chron.com go here...

(from Lance Z writing for the Chron)

* Mario Williams was good on Sunday. Every time the Browns tried to block him with a FB in the running game, he stuffed the FB and made the tackle. LT Marvel Smith did as good as he could on Mario but Mario was pretty good at putting pressure on QB Roethlisberger with the limited passing that Pittsburgh did. Both sacks the Steelers gave up were on busted assignments so Mario didn't have to do too much to get to the QB. He is light years ahead of anyone else on that line.

Well of course they support it...

From the "duh" files of economic reporting: Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac bondholders and investors support Federal Bailout"

(from Pierre Paulden of Bloomberg)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson won endorsements from some of the world's biggest investors for his decision to seize control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, said Paulson took ``necessary steps'' to put the companies into a government-operated conservatorship. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Paulson ``did the exact right thing,'' while central bankers in Asia, among the largest buyers of Fannie and Freddie debt, said they supported the decision.

I'd support the bailout as well if the Fed had just announced they were going to subsidize my dodgy investment decision with taxpayer funds. I'm willing to bet they think its news that the highly invested in wind energy T. Boone Pickens supports subsidies for infrastructure development and highly invested in carbon credits trading Al Gore is a big proponent of Government investment in carbon exchange markets. Curiously these all go underreported, or are reported as positives, by what passes today for financial reporters.

Also underreported is the fact that when markets fail, they fail for a REASON. Propping them up with Government debt just prolongs the misery. Best to allow the market to fail and clean up the mess afterward.

Will it be pretty? Nope, but it will be a hell of a lot shorter than the prolonged life support that the housing industry finds itself on now. The Airline industry anyone?

Rapid Eye Movement

Tax increases needed for social safety net and infrastructure [Ajay Mehrota Ft. Worth Star-Telegram] - In typical egg-head fashion the choice is cast in "either/or" terms. Spending cuts anyone?

Texas Death Penalty: Procedure is crucial [Ft. Worth Star-Telegram] - Nice to see a balanced Death Penalty editorial rather than the anti-DP spin found in the Chron.

Weekend at Henry's [WSJ]

We Need Fundamental Mortgage Reform [Bert Ely, WSJ]

Russia's BP 'Signal' [WSJ-Europe]

A Feminist's Argument for Palin [Tammy Bruce, RCP]

Why McCain is Running Against the News Media. [Paul Brown, WSJ]

Weekend Football Wrap-up

OUCH...6-10 seems optimistic at this point. Thank God for College Football.

At what point is the local media going to admit that this is a bad team, with questionable leadership that doesn't seem to have the tools to get the job done?


College Football Pick 'em results:

1. OSU 56 UH 37 My Pick: OSU 35 UH 27 - Thought this one might be closer. UH had better find a defense soon.

2. Rice 42 Memphis 35 My Pick: Rice 27 Memphis 24 - One of the best games of the weekend that no one saw.

3. Texas 42 UTEP 13 My Pick: UT 64 UTEP 0 - The Horns turned in ON in the second half. Shouldn't have been this close.

4. Texas A&M 28 New Mexico 22 My Pick: New Mex 24 aTm 7 - Maybe game one was just jitters for the Ags? No idea what to expect from this team, but I'll still be surprised if they qualify for a bowl.

5. Texas Tech 35 Nevada 19 My Pick: Tech 49 Nev 27 - No surprises here. Think the Houstons cold use Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree?

6. Baylor 51 Northwestern St 6 My Pick: Baylor 42 NW St 10 - At UH Briles could beat up on bad teams, but never really could beat good teams.

7. Arizona State 41 Stanford 17 My Pick: Az St 42 Stanford 17 - Stanford was a trendy pick because they upset Oregon State. The difference was the Sun Devils are a good team.

8. Pittsburgh 27 Buffalo 16 My Pick: Buffalo 24 Pitt 21 - It's rare that a Dave Wannstadt coached team offers up a pleasant surprise for the faithful. But, obviously, it can happen.

9. Vanderbilt 24 South Carolina 17 My Pick: SC 20 Vandy 3 - The ol' ball coach has zilch at QB. How much longer will he want to stay at SC?

10. Oklahoma 52 Cincinatti 26 My Pick: OU 45 Cincy 14 - Cincy was a good team, but still...26 points....at Norman? Wouldn't want to be the OU defense during film sessions.

11. East Carolina 24 West Virginia 3 My Pick: WVU 30 ECU 27 - Never again will I underestimate the Pirates this year. Physically they look like an SEC team and they could be the best non-B(C)S team in the Country.

12. Florida 26 Miami 3 My Pick: FU 35 Miami 10 - I still think Tebow and the Gators are overrated, but the tropical storms weren't the team to expose that.




This week: 8-4

Overall: 18-6

Took it on the chin a little this week, but I still did better than the Houstons.

See you Wednesday with a fresh new stack of picks.

Mrs. White on UH-D

OK, so, its been bandied around that The University of Houston-Downtown is considering a name change. Seems that there's a small identity problem with people assuming UH-D is the same as The University of Houston. Considering the proxemity of the two campuses to one another and the similarity of names, that makes sense. That UH-D wishes to distinguish itself from UH makes sense as well.

What doesn't make sense is tying this all to the Lege's failure to properly fund higher education...

(from Mrs. White (of course) of the Chron)

Ever since it became a separate, stand-alone university almost 35 years ago, the University of Houston — Downtown has suffered a chronic identity challenge. To this day, many Houstonians think UH-Downtown is a branch campus of the University of Houston, which it once was.

The confusion, UHD President Max Castillo said, is a real problem that inhibits fundraising and interferes with the university's plans to attract more students and expand its degree programs. None of the money given by philanthropists and businesses to the University of Houston makes its way to UHD, yet donors feel they have already given to UH and don't need to give a second time when UHD comes calling.

Some students apply to UH-Downtown thinking they are applying to the central campus.

(snip)

At bottom, the problems of UH-Downtown and the other institutions of the University of Houston System arise from the Legislature's failure to adequately support higher education in Texas, particularly in the state's largest metropolis and most important center of trade, commerce, medicine and aerospace research.

Despite public resentment of tuition hikes necessitated by stingy state support, the Legislature does not appear ready to reverse its shortsighted policy. Meanwhile, even more than they need a new brand, UH-Downtown and its sister institutions in the UH System need to acquaint the city with the crying need to increase the number of college graduates, and with the distinct missions each university pursues toward that end.

There are a lot of reasons to be critical of the Lege's failure to properly fund higher education in Texas. There are many things they could (and should) do better. I had conversations with educators this weekend regarding the same.

For instance, California has seven Tier One research institutions, Texas has two. The UT-Austin, aTm-College Station parochialism in State higher education is stunning, and the single greatest limiting factor in suppressing educational improvement. There should be a Tier-One research campus in every major metropolitan area and every major region of Texas. Instead of funding to these ends (and allocating the Permanent Univerity Fund in an equitable manner) the focus is on increasing reliance on Jr. Colleges and gearing Texas higher education to the least common denominator, while resources for the "higher" in higher education starve.

At a minimum, Texas Tech, The University of Houston, UT-San Antonio and UT-Arlington
should be considered for Tier One funding. If you really want to be serious about it then UT-El Paso should be considred as well. There should be better structure and interaction within the Texas State University system. (Texas State-San Marcos, Sam Houston et al.)

All of these are key points to re-tooling Texas' Secondary education system to educate the workers that will be needed to fuel the economy.

None of them have anything to do with UH-D's current identity crises.

Muddying the water to take political shots does nothing to forward the debate. If anything it lessens the impact of legitimate arguments for higher education reform by placing them in the realm of the absurd.

An interesting sighting during Saturday's fights...

Anyone catch the Rocky Juarez and Juan Diaz fight card on Saturday evening? More specifically, did you catch the HBO broadcast of the same? And, if so, did you happen to notice who was seated next to (fight promoter) Oscar de la Hoya?

If you answered "Tillman Fertita" head to the front of the class.



Now, the real question: Did you, like me, wonder if this means that there are preliminary talks underway regarding naming rights to the new Dynamo stadium?

Landry's Stadium?

Granted, Oscar is nothing more than a minority-share owner and a media front, but placing those two together at a prominent event couldn't have been just coincidental. Having Tillman's support certainly couldn't hurt.

Bizarre ethics

County Attorney's opinion just makes things murkier...

(from Liz Austin Peterson of the Chron)

Commissioners Court would not need legislative permission to create a board to investigate ethics complaints involving some county offices, but the panel would lack power over many high-profile departments, the county attorney's office said.

Establishing the ethics board was one of the top recommendations from a five-member ethics reform task force appointed by County Judge Ed Emmett in February as a wave of controversies in county government became an issue in his heated primary battle.

The task force envisioned a board that would participate in the investigation and resolution of major ethics cases, in conjunction with the county and district attorneys' offices.

But the county attorney's office told Emmett last week that the board could not have authority over the employees of independently elected officials, such as the sheriff and district attorney, or those in departments governed by a separate board, such as the Juvenile Probation Department and the Harris County Hospital District. The office still was studying Friday whether the board would have any power over Commissioners Court members and their staffs.

(snip)

The task force's two other major proposals — requiring lobbyists to register and making former county employees wait a year before benefiting financially from a county contract — could not be adopted without legislative changes, according to a letter from the county attorney's office.

(snip)

Emmett, who is facing criticism from his Democratic opponent over his handling of ethics reform, said he would like to adopt all of the recommendations approved by the county attorney and would like to lobby for the legislative changes needed to implement the others. "I'll put it on the agenda at the earliest opportunity," he said.

The issue probably will not be addressed until early October. He said the county attorney's guidance came too late to move forward with the plan at Tuesday's meeting, and the Sept. 23 meeting largely will be devoted to the county's mid-year budget review.

David Mincberg, Emmett's opponent in November, said the reforms are long overdue.

It's not clear to me what "reform" is accomplished by seating a commission whose scope is severely limited by legislative structure. Since "ethics" in Government are typically only addressed once, declared fixed, and then placed on the back-burner until the next media scandal, it would make sense to ensure that its done right the first time. If that means waiting for the State Lege to convene in 2009, pass the required legislation, and then set the board...so be it. Mincberg is correct in saying that the reforms are "long overdue" but he's erring if he thinks that just throwing mud up agains a wall and hoping some sticks is the best way to bring about reform.

Mincberg isn't alone in this type of thinking however. Ethics reform by scandal is always a bad way to try and bring about change. What would be better is to enact the changes that are currently doable, take steps to make sure the process is as transparent as possible, and then lobby the Lege to pass the bills that would make it possible to seat an ethics board with teeth.

I realize this doesn't mesh well with candidate talking points, and it doesn't do much to forward the agenda of whatever parenthetical letter following said candidates names that most subscribe to, but when something as serious as Gov't ethics is on the table the debate really should rise beyond campaign soundbytes and "You're unmentionables are dirtier than my unmentionables" partisan rhetoric.

Here's an idea: Let's fix it right the first time. Measure twice and cut once.

Mayor White's ego

I know, I know, 87% re-election rate, a woman who loves him and all that, but this is getting out of hand...

(from Jeff McShan of Channel 11)

“Nobody has been more upset than I, behind closed doors about the numbers of dismissals,” said Houston Mayor Bill White. “I'm pretty god at problem solving,

Wow.....



(for those of you with faulty radars, its a joke. It's Saturday, lighten up)

Just sayin'

If you're so offended about the "Obamassiah" stuff...Stop comparing yourself to actual messiah.....


Thank you, we now return you to your weekend....

Continental joins race to the bottom of the barrel.

(Image courtesy of the Airline World Blog and the Christian Science Monitor)

Yuck...

Continental Airlines, falling in line with most of its rivals, said today it will charge many economy-class domestic customers $15 each way for the first bag they check.

As with several of its competitors, Houston-based Continental will not charge the fee to elite-level frequent fliers or customers traveling on full-fare refundable tickets. Continental also said it won't charge military personnel and their families traveling on official orders.

(snip)

Also, Continental reduced mileage bonuses for elite frequent fliers in its OnePass program. Effective March 1, so-called "Platinum Elite" customers will earn a 100 percent bonus (down from 125 percent) and "Silver Elite" members will get a 25 percent bonus (down from 50 percent).

The "Gold Elite" bonus of 100 percent remains in effect.

The carrier further said it will stop awarding a minimum of 500 frequent flier miles per trip even if the distance traveled is less. Actual flight miles will start being awarded for tickets purchased Nov. 15 and beyond for travel on or after Jan. 1.

Basically, Continental internalized every bad idea previously adopted by its soon to be Star Alliance partners.

These actions fundamentally defeat the rationale behind staying loyal to any one specific airline. Before these changes I would default to Continental as my airline of choice due to the fact I received attractived milage bonuses and other perks in return for customer loyalty. Take those away and its open season. Customer loyalty is a fickle thing, and making something a price only commodity can backfire in the end.

Tackling the Texans

Tom has the best season preview of the Houston Texans you are likely to find locally. The Chron's coverage is likely to be boosterism with some wild inconsistencies thrown in for good measure.

That's OK, because the Lose an Eye football staff has spent literally minutes thinking about the Texans this year and is ready to provide you with all you need to know.

OFFENSE

Quarterback - Matt Schaub is a better Quarterback than David Carr. Maybe coming out of College that wasn't the case, but Dom Capers and Charlie Casserley ruined Carr by placing him behind one of the weakest offensive lines in history and beating any semblance of a professional footabll player out of him. This year Kubiak Inc. is placing Schaub behind a rookie left tackle and a rebuilt O-line. Yeesh. Schaub is a little more fragile than was Carr (you have to hand it to Carr for his toughness) so the escapability of backup Sage Rosenfels could be the key to the season.

Prediction: Schaub lasts 5 games and then gets blown up by a blitzing linebacker from the weak side after Slaton misses a block.


Running Back - Forget about Ahman Green for a moment (it's ok if you don't, he'll be one the shelf within the first three games) and lets focus on Slaton. Steve Slaton was a very good running back at West Virginia, he should be a very good running back for the Texans. As Tom pointed out he should be able to pick up the Texans blocking scheme fairly rapidly, unfortunately for Schaub I think game 5 will be when it clicks. Look for Slaton to have a 1000 yard rushing season.

Wide Receiver - Throw the ball to Andre Johnson. That is all.

Offensive Line - Part of the Reason the Texans have had no success is due to the fact that they have been utterly unable to contstruct an average O-line at any point in their history. With the additon of the Rookie Brown the Texans are going to line 'em up and try again, this time with a mixture of Denver Bronco's cast-offs, draft picks and veterans signed off the street. Look, the line is still not going to be any good, but with Eric Winston and the aforementioned Brown acting as anchors, they have a chance to grow into a solid line.


DEFENSE

Defensive Line - Mario Williams was the most controversial sports figure in Houston two years ago. I'll admit that I wasn't in favor of drafting him. I'll also admit that I was wrong. Mario is growing into a beast of a defensive end and just needs to play like he did in the second half of last season for an entire season in order for his maturation to be complete. Amobi Okoye should improve this year based on the "Sophomore" principle, and the Texans are, for the first time, fairly deep in terms of bodies that they can rotate in to keep fresh legs rushing the opposing team's quarterback. Whather they get there or not is another issue altogether.

Linebackers - Here's where the defense starts to get dicey. DeMeco Ryans is a good linebacker and team leader. The rest of the Linebacking corps? Not so much. Zac Diles and Morlon Greenwood are negative speed players, especially getting to the ball. Xavier Adibi has potential, but he's young and probably needs a year or two to learn the pro game.

Secondary - Jacques Reeves, a Dallas Cowboys castoff, is the starting cornerback. That's all you need to know about the Texans secondary. Fred Bennett has potential, but he's young. There's no depth, very little speed and the Texans can't cover if you hand them a blanket. There's also no guarantee that plus cornerback Dunte Robinson will play this year, at all. If the O-line continues to not get pressure on the opposint quarterback then this could be a long, long year for the DBs.(and, by extension, Texans fans)

Special Teams

Chris Brown is one of the better place kickers in the league (and he's dreamy according to some of my female friends) Matt Turk is a plus punter and the returners have speed. Andre Davis has shown himself to be competent returning kickoffs, and Jacoby Jones is potential wrapped in a physical package that hasn't lived up to the hype. For the Texans to contend this year Jones HAS to have a breakout season.



PREDICTION: This is a team that I see going 6-10, 7-9 if they get lucky in a game or two. The early schedule is brutal, but if they can survive that with minimal injuries then they should make a run toward respectability in the second half of the season. Some say this team is better than last year, but could have a worse record. I think they are about the same as last year, and will have a worse record because the schedule is tougher.

At least the election is entertaining....

I'll admit it. Pre-Sarah Palin the 2008 Presidential election was relatively boring. Oh sure there was the occasional dust-up over Obama's brother, something about someone being offended when McCain told a joke, the occasional race-baiting, pretty standard political boiler-plate.

Nothing to make you sit up and say "hey, now THIS is funny". Enter Sarah Palin, whip-smart, good public speaker, (very) attractive, female, and (oh yeah) very conservative (cue scarey music)...and now watch self professed "feminists" fall all over themselves justifying why getting angry over the Democratic snub of Hillary was "principle" (and they really weren't too upset about that anyway, going to support Obama all the time you know) but why the Republicans nominating a female for VP is somehow.....wrong.

Exhibit A

Immune, but angry, and nowhere near calm enough to abstain from hurling insults. Mean, personal insults that Palin is "a mean girl". Not that her policy is off, not that she is ideologically opposed to her but that Palin is, at the end of it all, mean. Mean and lacking a sense of humor, and irrational. Not oppositions based on policy, but on personality traits that are designed to dehumanize Palin, make her seem less "feminine". It's a form of mental gymnastics that people have to complete in order to convince themselves they really ARE following some archaic code of moderation in thier politics, that their world view is based on rationalization, not on anger and emotion. That they don't really have a personal, emotional, stake in seeing the "other" side lose.

All in all this has been the best political meltdown since 2000, when Al Gore disciples came to the stunning realization that it was over, and pictures of George W. Bush as a monkey or the devil began to enter the popular mainstream.

Political disagreement is one thing, the need to demonize your opponent (by calling Obama the Messiah for example) because of said disagreement is a sign that Americans may be starting to take their politics a wee bit too personal. Where once an election was viewed as a forum for public policy (with a firm underpinning of personal, nasty attacks) its now morphed into a forum where insecure journalists and bloggers can give their self-esteem a soft stroking by having "their" candidates accepted by an adoring public. Voting for Obama/Biden or McCain Palin is more than just accepting a Party's platform in today's personalized world of politics. Your vote is either a tacit approval or rejection of the personal choices made by insecure bloggers around the World. Blogs are nothing more than ego strokes, political blogs are increasingly becoming manifestos of the lonely.

Palin's selection has brought all of this out into the open, even moreso than it was previously. The modern-feminist movement has, in the eyes of many, moved from its roots in a Marxist direction, eschewing the democratic process for forced complianace, quota systems and a big helping of anti-male sentiment. If Sarah Palin succeeds in her bid to be elected Vice President, if she should some day ascend to the Presidency itself, then the democratic process will be justified and the authoritarianism that modern-day feminism has embraced will be proven obsolete.

That's not to say that women should vote for Palin because she is a woman, far from it. Women should vote for the candidate that most closely reflects their views on the issues. All voters should vote using that criteria. What we can do without in todays political system is the naivite that convinces us its somehow about our egos and whether or not America's vote is a confirmation of that or no.

In other words, at the end of it all the Baby Boom generation has removed the focus of the election from the Nation as a whole and has tried to make it a personal referendum that's really all about......us.


Sad? Yes. Fun? Oh hell yeah. Metldowns are ALWAYS fun to watch.

More on spay/neuter mania

Ordinance madness runs amok in Houston...

(from Bradley Olson of the Chron)

Don't look now, but the Houston City Council is starting to sound a lot like Bob Barker.

Goaded into action by community outrage after at least six dogs died from exposure to excessive heat in a city animal care vehicle last week, some council members have embraced the mantra of the retired game show host, who closed every broadcast of The Price is Right by urging viewers to "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered."

Some, including Mayor Bill White, have floated the possibility of following in the footsteps of Los Angeles, which passed a law in February ordering its 3.8 million citizens to spay and neuter their pets or face repeated fines and criminal charges.

It is an open question whether such a law would be feasible in Houston when the city spends so much less than other areas on animal care and struggles to enforce ordinances dealing with pets already on the books, such as licensing requirements.

"We have a lot of uncared for animals in our community, and we need to be thinking about doing something different if we expect there to be a different result," White said. He added that he was sensitive about not being "too intrusive" in people's lives, but said the council and Houstonians should consider the idea.

"I don't think any solution should be off the table."

White pledged in recent days to conduct a "national search" for a new director of the city's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control, move ahead with plans to build a $4 million kennel and adoption center and launch an education and awareness campaign on "adoption and the responsibilities of animal owners."

But some are not sure that will do it.

Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said "it's time to start the discussion" about whether the city should require all domestic pets to be spayed or neutered. Too many animals are euthanized in shelters, she said, adding, "It's heartbreaking."

Nevermind that the "solution" being floated for this problem is the epitome of the nanny state, nevermind that its probably unenforceable. Nope, the real question is: would this "solution" even solve the problem?

Responsible pet owners, unless they are breeders, have already taken the steps to have their pets spayed/neutered. What's left are those that are poor, and those that are irresponsible or just apathetic.

Do you really think an ordinance requiring them to pay money to care for their animals is going to be met with willing compliance? Apparantly, the City of Houston Council is starting to believe in the power of their pen. Believing that passing ordinances equates to "solving the problem" all while ignoring the reality of life on the street. The real problem is that BARC wasn't well funded enough to properly maintenance their vehicles. We are dealing with an agency that's currently without a director you realize. Rumors are the previous director left because the department wasn't a City priority.

It's far more politically advantageous to spend Millions on Downtown Parks and sports stadiums for the rich than it is to handle simple, basic, infrastructure needs.

It's Trinket Government carried to excess, at the expense of day to day quality of life. Houston City Government currently seems to be focusing on Trinkets at the expense of day to day needs. The Police Department is taking on water, Public works seems to be barely sputtering along, BARC is a shambles, all are underfunded and understaffed.

So, to fix all that, YOU! over there! Go get your pet fixed! Houston really needs to money to pay for the new Dynamo stadium.

SD 17: Tales of the Weird (UPDATED)

Poor Chris Bell, he of the presumed easy road to special election victory in SD 17. Listening to supporters, all Bell had to do was sit back, watch the Republicans beat each other up and sweep up the nomination.

Whoops...

(from Clay Robison of the Chron: Texas politics blog)

Democrat Chris Bell filed a lawsuit in state district court in Austin today against the Texas Secretary of State and Stephanie E. Simmons, the last-minute candidate who filed against him as a Democrat in the special election for state Senate District 17.

The Bell campaign contends Simmons is a "stalking horse" whose candidacy is designed to draw Democratic voters from Bell. The other four candidates for the Nov. 4 election to replace former Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, are Republicans -- Austen Furse, Grant Harpold, Joan Huffman and Ken Sherman.

All candidates will be on the same ballot, and if no one wins a majority, there will be a runoff between the top two vote-getters.

Bell's chances of winning the seat, which has been in Republican hands for several years, would be enhanced if he were the only Democrat on the ballot.

Let's think about this...No one has ever heard of Stephanie Simmons, there's even doubt she's a Democrat...Yet Bell feels the need to file suit to kick this interloper off the ballot? What about that name ID advantage? What about those big money supporters that are supposed to help out this time?

What about characterizations from supporters that courtroom maneuvering to win by lawsuit is well....bad?

I'm sure we're in for a stunning round of commentary about how Bell's technicality is infinitely more worthy of a lawsuit than Brimer's technicality. It's coming, just you wait.

And Chris "Perennial Candidate" Bell proves once again why he's destined to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.

All he had to do was sit back and let the Republicans tear themselves apart and probably win on name ID alone. Mr. Punching Bag can't even get that right.

Is there still any question why this guy couldn't outdraw a corpse?...Sheesh.

UPDATE: See. Ballot lawsuits iz gud. (when the candidate is on the correct side that is.)

Oh, and file this under the FWIW department because the argument will be ignored: Winning or losing a ballot decision isn't the sole barometer of the suits worth. Had Brimer won and say, Bell loses his suit then our pachyderm friends would be decrying Bell for filing a "frivolous" suit in an attempt to rig the election, so it really all just depends on who's filing the suit and the letter hyphenated behind their name in terms of Internet outrage.

IMO both candidates had a right to file the suit, whether they won or lost. But Bell's unwillingness to face even a token Democratic candidate undercuts his contention that he's planning his strategy around his name ID and record and not a "generic" Democratic wave.


UPDATE: The Future resorts to past tactics by calling names when his "technicality" argument fails...

I should note, by the way, that I haven't mentioned the Kim Brimer lawsuits before now because I figured any idiot could see a distinction between an incumbent who filed (or had surrogates file) multiple lawsuits and pursued multiple appeals over the course of several months, and a candidate who's filed one suit because he didn't have the opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal with the Secretary of State because the filing he's challenged came in and was certified right at the deadline. But it seems I misunderestimated about that.

Obviously, in the future, non-sequiter personal attacks take the place of consistency and spirited debate.

Of course, if the "incumbent" in question had a certain letter behind his (or her) name, the future would probably be all too forgiving. What'd I tell you about technicalities?

Next up will be accusations of partisanship, ignoring the fact that I've been all over the Republican incompetence in this race as well.

Just wait.

Rapid Eye Movement

Easiest Task for Palin May have been speech. [Adam Nagourney NYT] - News analysis?

McCain, Bush and the Dollar. [Opinion Journal] - Bush's monetary policy has been non-existent at best. The next President had better have a plan for fixing that mess.

An Independent Democrat [Opinion Journal] - Take it a step further, both moderate Democrats and Moderate Republicans have been abandoned by their respective parties. Moderate is akin to a dirty word among "true believers".

MSNBC Moves to the Left, will advertisers go along?[Brian Stetler - Int. Herald Tribune] - "Air America" hasn't done well, is promoting one of its hosts to Prime Time marketable?

French 35 hour work week ends. [Greg Keller, AP] - Protests to follow. Hey, it's France.

Few minorities on RNC platform [Nancy Benac AP] - More in the continuing series of AP editorials masquarading as "news" items. FWIW here's the prime-time marquee line-ups as scheduled:

Clinton-Clinton-Biden-Obama
Thompson-Guiliani-Palin-McCain

Outside of Obama the meme doesn't fit.

Plea deal will result in Resignation of Detroit Mayor [NYT] - Ahhh Detroit, that one City that makes where you live look not quite as bad.

The Palin Speech (Updated with even more reaction)

I'll admit last night that I didn't watch the Sarah Palin "Hello America!" speech as did most other political bloggers. Two reasons:

1. As I stated before, I'm not all that into National Conventions. They're boring, scripted events typically full of windbaggery and mindless bloviating. Heck, I get enough of that just reading my own blog.

2. On Dinner: Impossible last night pork fat devotee Michael Symon was forced to cook a Kosher Passover Seder meal. Infinitely more fun.

What I am interested in however are the reactions, from both the left and the right of a strong, female nominee for Veep on the Republican ticket. Democrats swear six ways to Sunday that Palin is no threat. Yet the attacks continue. Sexist, vile, mean, personal attacks, the kind they typically accuse Republicans of committing. (and, in return, the Republicans say the Democrats do it worse) American politics have, again, become the child's playground where skinned knees are viewed as the epitome of damage. Oh the humanity.

That being said, after the speech I saw snippets of it and read the transcript.

It was a good speech. Palin fulfilled her attack-dog role well, and was very effective getting her story out to the public, a story that Democrats have been trying to suppress under a wall of noise. Democrats will deny this until they are blue in the face, but Palin is a legitimate threat.

That being said, here's the daily roundup of responses:

Gimme some truth: Palin like a re-run of Fargo - The biggest critic of Republican smear attacks, pens a smear attack of his own.

Something Different: All sizzle, no steak - The gripe being that the speech was scripted. Have you ever heard Obama without the aid of a tele-prompt-er? (Hint: it ain't pretty).

Chronically Right: Palin hits a home-run and a couple of more! - Whoa, whoa, whoa. Good speech, not a "paradigm shifter" however. Let's see what the polls say before we anoint her Ronald Reagan in a skirt.

Brains and Eggs: Of lipsticks and pigs - Interesting tack, calling her a pig for her "Hockey mom/Pit Bull joke" I do agree with the caucasian-who-stole-his-nom-de-plume-from-a-rapper-who-stole-his-melodies-from-pretty-much-everyone when he says the Right is ecstatic, the left, repulsed. (except I would substitue worried for repulsed).

Chron.commons: Blue Team: I'm a community orgainizer - And obviously not fit to be elected to dog catcher because of your testiness and inability to not personalize general speeches. Thanks for making the "Obama's experience is no good" case for Ms. Palin.

Chron.commons: Red Team: I'm in (political) love - Palin has done her job, she's fired up the Republican base. Whether or not McCain can fire of independents and moderates will determine the outcome of this election.

Palin Draws Cheers, Respect, Fear. [Doug Feaver - WaPo] - Perhaps the best commentary on the reaction of the Left toward Palin today. Pre-speech rhetoric was that she would self-destruct the ticket, post-speech rhetoric is that she's a "vicious attack dog". Advantage: Palin.

Texas Liberal: John McCain, Pack Mule for the Right - The Palin pick has really annoyed the "all people matter" guy, reducing his blogging to a constant run of name-calling and general nastiness. Point proven - "Which flag does she salute?" Seriously? Must be the Zebra mollusks talking to him.

MeMo: Piper Palin's Night [Chron.com] - Wow, the Chron's resident feminist (sorta, if feminism means all of the opportunity and none of the responsibility) "features" editor type person is really, really angry about this. She even goes so far to take a backhand shot at the baby....wow.

Palin: Wrong Woman, Wrong Message [Gloria Steinem - LA Times] - Steinem, the Grand Lioness of the modern feminist movement, rightly sees her irrelevence should McCain/Palin win. "Hurry ladies, we must protect our phony baloney jobs!!" (apologies to Mel Brooks)

Palin's Social Views Hurt Ticket [Froma Harrop, RCP] - No one has more dinners with more "Republican leaning Independents" than Ms. Harrop. Oooh...and a shot at the supposedly "off limits" daughter as well:

But all she could now see was that picture of Palin's pregnant 17-year-old looking defiant and stupid as she held mom's fifth baby.

Having a baby is "defiant and stupid" remember that meme and see if its repeated.


Palin and the narcissistic Left [James Lewis, RCP] - Lewis sees the future on this issue.

Sarah Palin gets the spiteful Thatcher Treatment [Janet Daley -UK Telegraph] - Wouldn't you know it...British feminists understand what overly partisan feminists in America just can't grasp.....


The last question to be answered coming out of this convention now is the "bounce". Obama's bounce was (to me) surprisingly small. Some polls show around 3.5 points. That could either mean that America wasn't enthused, in which case the Republican bounce could be big, or that America is pretty firmly entrenched, in which case the Republican bounce will also be small. Were I a betting man I'd place my marker on the latter, and then wait for the polling results with some confidence.

Again tonight I won't be watching the McCain speech...there's football being played.

Historic Drainage Fund, well...sorta.

Woo hoo! Look at us!! (just don't look too closely)

(From Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

The Houston City Council created a special fund to finance flooding and drainage projects on Wednesday and placed more than $13 million in it.

Mayor Bill White called the move a "historic step," but City Controller Annise Parker disagreed, saying the creation of the fund was "nothing more than a statement of principle."

"It was really hyped a lot, and they patted each other on the back," Parker said of the council members. "But it doesn't bind future councils, and it hasn't put new money into drainage expenditures."

The ordinance stipulates that any money put into the fund cannot be used for any purpose other than drainage infrastructure work to alleviate flooding. But there is no mechanism to guarantee that future administrations or councils will continue to place money into the fund each year, admitted Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.

"It established a dedicated fund, which is different from a dedicated revenue source," Clutterbuck said. "Hopefully, future councils will continue our lead."

If you're basing future progress on "hopefully".....

It's very unusual to see a member of City Government so openly criticize a policy initiative that Mayor White has termed "historic". Usually all disagreements are hashed out in back rooms, and the City presents a unified front. That's been Mayor White's modus operendi, and the hammer that an 87% re-election percentage has given him over the rest of the City Government.

I'm not sure if this is indicative of his "lame duck" status, or if Ms. Parker is just sowing some Mayoral seeds with White's blessing (it's not unheard of for such a thing to happen) or even if this is groundwork for a more sweeping ordinance that requires funds be deposited into the fund during a hoped-for "Parker Mayorship" but at least its a vocal public dissention.

There's been far to little dissention, or even questioning, of some of the policies Mayor White has championed, leading to a view that this Council is nothing more than a rubber stamp for Mayor White's Gubernatorial election drive in 2010.

Around a year ago I predicted that flood control would be the next big public policy question facing the City of Houston. Since then its been broached in fits and starts, but there hasn't been a sustained effort to keep it in the public eye.

Hopefully, with this public airing of dirty laundry, that can change.

A City Government Organization has problems...

Houston residents targeted by City Council....

(from Bill Murphy and Bradley Olson of the Chron)

Mayor Bill White and City Council members voiced outrage over the deaths and strongly hinted that disciplinary action for Tucker loomed following an investigation. Prodded by more than 20 activists at Wednesday's council meeting, they also promised major reforms for BARC.


Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck floated the idea that owners should be required to have their pets spayed or neutered, an option White urged the council to consider even as he pledged to proceed with plans to build a new $4 million animal care facility.

It's a well known fact that current, and recent, manifestations of Houston City Council honestly believe that ordinances placing additional burdens on Houstonians are the desired first response to any failue in City Government to provide a service or fulfill their mission. Police Department unable to get a handle on copper theives? Place costly standards on scrap dealers. Police Department unable to curb neighborhood crime? Require convenience stores to install cameras and "Adult businesses" to relocate or shut down.

Typically these restrictions are roundly praised by the opinion-makers of Houston's only newspaper of record. Mrs. White rarely meets an additional cost to citizen's that she doesn't approve of, especially when floated by her man. With Mayor White supporting the (costly) idea of requiring all pet owners to have their pets spayed or neutered, its only a matter of time before this proposal is lauded for being imminently reasonable by Mrs. White, another in a long line of Ready! Fire! Aim! policies railroaded through Council with very little thought to enforcement, or how the additional cost requirements are going to affect the Poor, or actually alleviate the situation.

Let's assume this passes. Here's the thought process: Requiring citizens to spay and neuter their pets will reduce the excess animal population, leading to less strays and less burden on a BARC system that's stretched to the breaking point.

OK, except that you are ignoring the fact that several poor families, faced with the choice of spending $50-$100 to fix Fido, will instead either release the animal into the wild, or drop it off at BARC's door. Don't think so? Ask animal control experts how many strays are just left at the door of their shelters. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Animal control is increasingly a messy issue in large cities as the growing "animal rights" movement places pressure on City departments to eliminate the single most effective method of population control available, human destruction. As a triple-dog owner myself, I don't want to see animals put to sleep anymore than I want to see them hurt on the side of the road. Were this a perfect world all animals would be well cared for, have loving homes, and would be spayed or neutered based on the abilities of the owners. Requiring owners to spend not inconsiderable amounts of money to "fix" a problem that won't go away is not only akin to whistling past the graveyard, it's also a violation of the same "animal rights" that activists claim to be protecting.

Think about it: would you want to be drugged, gelded, and then returned to your home with no chance of procreation?

Let's discuss the issue like adults, take steps to properly fund BARC, and then look at ways to reduce the excess population that isn't a financial burden on the poor. Unfortunately, if that means putting some unadoptable or sick dogs down, all options should remain on the table.

Regulations on puppy mills and a prohibition against chaining would do more good than a blanket ordinance with no teeth.

I don't believe this floor is entirely stable....

What started as the fluttering of butterfly wings is threatening to grow into a tsunami...

(from John Royal of the Houston Press "Ballz" blog)

The fun came in the comments. Specifically, a comment made by one Stephanie Stradley. Stradley used to do the Texans Chick blog for the Chron, and she’s now a blogger over at AOL Fanhouse. I read the AOL Fanhouse blog, but truth is, I don’t read Stradley’s posts because she mainly writes about the Texans, and I go over to Fanhouse for more national oriented stuff. So that’s why I didn’t see any of this last week.

Anyway, Stradley wanted to know why Justice was calling out Gibbs, especially when the culture of the football coach seems to be one of yelling. Justice, as he is wont to do when challenged, responded by insulting Stradley. Stradley then sent another comment to Justice, which he posted, and which he then responded to by issuing further insults. Now, I would link to those comments over at Chron.com, but as Justice is also wont to do, he deleted Stradley’s comments – Stradley saved them, however, good for her. If you read the rest of what is now on Chron.com, you’ll read several people getting on Justice for his conduct and demanding that he apologize. Justice, being the grown-up that he is, refuses to apologize, but decides to keep insulting Stradley –at one point he compares her to Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction. And supposedly, he’s been repeating the same comments on his radio show.

Go read Stephanie's blog for the entire deal, and check out Richard's blog (in metered doses, because any more is risking insanity) for more background (what hasn't been deleted or altered that is)

At some point something is going to have to happen on this, its just hard to tell what considering the uneven record the Chron has regarding employee discipline I guess it depends on whether or not Justice is considered a sacred cow or not.

So far 1560 The Game is keeping quiet about the matter, despite reports RJ has repeated his statements regarding Ms. Stradley on their airwaves, which Tom Kirkendall could (not has, could...very important distinction) open up some liability issues were Stradley decide to pursue a defamation case. It certainly seems that punitive intent is present in those comments.


To borrow some 60's camp:


Will Stephanie Stradley escape the clutches of the evil Mr. Bald?

Will Richard Justice forget to stop staring at himself on TV?

Can MeMo escape from the railroad tracks before Evil Dwight runs her over with blogging deadlines? (whoops, sorry...carried away there)


Stay tuned blogging fans....Same blog time...same blog address....



*You need to get out more if you don't catch the softball pop culture reference in the title.....

A call for change?

Or just more of the same?

Mrs. White waxes poetic on Regional Transit:

Amid the debate over the routes for extensions of Metro's light rail system, an inconvenient truth is seldom noted: Upon the extensions' completion in 2012, Houstonians will still lack a reliable, affordable public transit option to get to the region's two major airports. Such links are a primary function of commuter rail in other cities.

Rising fuel costs are igniting demand in suburbs outside Houston for mass transit links to city workplaces. But Metro's authority does not extend beyond Harris County, and even there it is limited to areas in which residents voted to tax themselves in exchange for transit service. Long-distance commuter rail lines could relieve growing traffic congestion on area freeways, but there is no single agency empowered to plan and build them. Some major roadway projects, such as the recent Katy Freeway expansion, include no provision for future rail systems.

The Chronicle's Rad Sallee explored the growing suburban interest in public transit in an article Tuesday that pointed up the difficulties in creating a regional transit solution without a regional authority to plan and build it. There seems little support for an expansion of Metro's scope, so alternative ways to bridge governmental divisions are needed. Metro President Frank Wilson cited as a model Caltrain, an alliance of three San Francisco Bay area counties that contracted with Amtrak for passenger rail services.

I'll join Mrs. White in the call for serious, comprehensive, regional transportation discussions. However, my fault with this editorial falls along the same lines as my disagreements yesterday, namely, that the choices being offered up are false options, smoke and mirrors designed to use the current energy market as a hammer to extend a system that's lacking in flexibility and capacity to "far flung" areas of the County....say...Intercontinental Airport. (the limits of civilization according to "some" that live Inside the Loop.)

The core problem will still exist however: Moving large numbers of suburban residents who are priced out of the Inner Loop real estate market into job centers located in a variety of geographic locations. That has to be completed rapidly, and efficiently while still providing for transit's core demograpic....the working poor who rely on transit for their day to day commutes.

Oh, and contrary to the chatter of some, there will still be a large number of individual motor vehicles occupying road space in 10-15 years. It's just what powers them that's open to debate, not that they will exist. Therefore road maintenance and construction have to be a part of the plan.

Wink and a nod to Rorschach for the head's up.

College Footbal Week 2 Pick 'em

Always a thin schedule for week 2...

Of local interest:

Houston @ Oklahoma State. - Houston looked strong last week against Southern, but OSU looked good against tougher opposition. T. Boone Pickens University is a tough place to play. Gundy hasn't hit meltdown quota for season as of yet.

OSU 35 UH 27

Rice @ Memphis - Rice beat up on a down SMU team while Memphis played Ole Miss tough...for one half. Even in C-USA winning a conference game is tough on the road. I think Rice barely pulls this one out.

Rice 27 Memphis 24

Texas @ UTEP - UTEP is terrible, they got blown out by bowl championship subdivision D-1A bottom dweller Buffalo last week 42-17. Yes, with Turner Gill as head coach Buffalo is improved, but still....

Texas 64 UTEP (can you score in the negatives?) 0

Texas A&M @ New Mexico - How can you pick the Aggies coming off a loss, at home, against Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas St.? Answer: Against a pretty tough New Mexico team in a tough stadium to play in, you can't.

New Mexico 24 aTm 7

Texas Tech(12) @ Nevada - Pretty much the only non-conference "test" that the Red Raiders face in a non-conference run that has Bill Snyder blushing. Tough place to play, we'll find out if the vaunted Tech defense is improved to a level that allows them to make a run.

Tech 49 Nevada 24

Northwestern State @ Baylor - If the Briles Bears can't beat these guys, at home, then you might as well mail in the rest of the season.

Baylor 42 NW St 10


Of National Interest: (tough one this week)

Stanford @ Arizona State(15) - Interesting home test for a team that some (not me) are claiming have a chance to challenge USC for the Pac-10 championship.

Az St. 42 Stanford 17

Buffalo @ Pittsburgh - The worst coach in College football (Wannstadt) attempts to rile up his humbled team to play a team coached by one of the best young coaches in College football (Gill)

Buffalo 24 Pitt 21

South Carolina(24) @ Vanderbilt - This will be competative if Spurrier's QB's forget (again) who they're supposed to throw the ball to. That SC defense is spectacular however.

SC 20 Vandy 3

Cincinatti @ Oklahoma - Viewed by many as "OU's first real game" the Bearkats will at least be able to fog a mirror against Stoop's Sooners. Unless they get knifed at an after hours club in Norman pre-kickoff that is....

OU 45 Cincy 14

West Virginia(8) @ East Carolina - Defense and special teams make East Carolina scary. Speed and athletic talent make West Virginia the winner (barely)

WV 30 ECU 27

Miami @ Florida(5) - Ah the good ol' days, when Miami was a power and this game was an early season battle of heavyweights....so much for that.

FU 35 Mia 10


So, there it is, 12 fresh picks for College Football week 2. As a reminder I'm 10-2 heading into this week, how are your picks progressing?

The attacks on Palin increase (UPDATED)

(Now with even MORE red meat)

Gimme Some Truth: Obama more experienced than Palin - Is using Palin, who you're claiming is inexperienced, as a measuring stick for Obama really wise?

Gimme Some Truth: Palin: Iraq and pipeline "God's Plan" - So Rev. Wright, saying "God Damn America" is "taken out of context" but the same contextual applications (Palin was speaking to a Christian group) should not be applied? I never read much into the Rev. Wright allegations against Obama, I don't read much into these.

Burnt Orange Report: Palin no more qualified than City Councilman from Fredericksberg - Again, do Democrats REALLY want to pull the experience card?

Blue Team@ Chron.com: Palin, As Alaska Gov. pursued policies that benefitted Alaskans - Mayor White fights for Money for the Houston area all the time. So now this is a bad thing?

DMN Trailblazers Blog: Can Palin be a Mother AND VP? - Just a downright sexist argument that should be laughed off the serious political stage.

MeMo: This is Mama Drama - She's not going to talk about it, but....she'll talk about it, and then uses someone else's words to say....a woman with children may not be able to govern. Which she then hides behind the quote (that she didn't rebut BTW) in the comments when challenged. So, Feminism is a Democratic-only value?

Beltway Confidential: New Embarrassing Surprises! - So, a big-dollar supporter of Obama publishes a magazine. Said magazine runs a cover that's derogatory toward opponent...this is news? Still amazing to watch females in the media tear into Palin like her presence is an offense to them. (In a passive-agressive way of course) Office politics has NOTHING on angry-white-middle-aged-female journalists.


The counter-attack starts:

NYPOST: A Time Warped Sexist Assault. - Asks a good question: Where ARE the feminist movement "leaders" in responding to these attacks?



Republicans unleashed the hounds on Obama because, as the election progressed, they realized that his "Change" movement had the potential to rally the Democratic electorate and sweep them out of power. Democrats will deny this until they are blue in the face, but me thinks they doth protest too much regarding Palin. A female on the Republican ticket disrupts the "Gross Old Perverts" narrative after all.

The question is, how much attacking is too much for the stomachs of moderates and independent voters?

Novel concept

Use funds from recycling to generate.....more recycling....and they say Government wouldn't know their butts from a hole in the ground...

(from Bradley Olson of the Chron)

Houston is poised to dramatically expand its recycling programs through a variety of initiatives aimed at ending the city's reign as the most wasteful major metropolis in the country.

The stepped-up effort includes a pilot program using advanced technology that will allow participants to heave all their recyclables — paper, seven types of plastic, aluminum, even glass — into a wheeled 90-gallon bin that can be hoisted on a truck and sorted with little human effort.

The City Council is scheduled to vote today on an ordinance that will set aside $1 million of revenue from the sale of recycled commodities as a dedicated annual fund that can be used for the pilot program and a recycling education and outreach effort.

The funding and programs could push Houston's recycling rate above 30 percent in another year, city officials said, a far cry from the 2.6 percent cited in a trade magazine last year that put the city at the bottom of the 30 most populous metropolitan areas in the nation. That kind of improvement would push Houston above other large Texas cities, but still leave it far behind municipalities like Chicago and San Francisco.

Historically recycling has been viewed with disdain by locals who would rather throw things into a landfill rather than see it reused or repurposed. And yes, Houston is King when it comes to throwing away and staring new, from our trash, our buildings, you name it.

That this would be funded with recycling profits just makes sense on so many levels.


Now, if we could just get City leaders to see the wisdom of that approach in other areas (finance through usuer fees attached to ticket prices thank you) and we might be getting somewhere.

Ah...perchance to dream.

College Football - Week one aftermath

It was an introductory weekend of mild upsets, big upsets, blowouts, and blow-ups from some of the biggest names in College Football.

Enough with the silliness of politics, lets look at how I did in Week 1:

UH 55 Southern 3
My pick: UH 27 Southern 10
Kevlar's debut was spectacular and the 55-3 result was far ahead of the 27-10 prediction I had leading up to the game. I thought it would take the team at least one half of football to get used to the new system, then they'd dominate the 2nd half. I was wrong.

Still 1-0 and I was right about the Cougars physical domination.

Texas 52 Fl. Atl 10
My pick: Texas 52 Fl. Atl 3
Yes, Howard Schnellenberger was wrong to publically call out Texas for being soft, and yes, the Longhorns looked good against inferior competition. But, does anyone REALLY believe they aren't going to fade like wallflowers when OU comes calling?


Rice 56 SMU 27
My pick: Rice 77-SMU 70
Yeah, ok, I was joking about the score, but I thought SMU would have more offense than that


Wake Forest 41 Baylor 13
My pick: WF 49 BU 14
Welcome to Briles' Ball Baylor fans. Hokey, folksy statements bundled up with no defense, special teams or team discipline. Oh yeah, and you get the Stephensville fans that will tell you "all's well".

Ark. St. 18 aTm 14
My pick: aTm 35 Ark. St. 10
What? aTm beaten, at home, by Arkansas? But I thought the schedule said Arkansas STATE? Oh wait, it did. Drink up Aggie fans, its going to be a long year.

ECU 27 Va Tech 22
My pick: ECU 24 Va Tech 17
I'm not even sure you can classify this one as an "upset". Va Tech was very inexperienced and ECU is loaded this year. West Virginia better not look past the Pirates.

USC 52 UVA 7
My pick: USC 38 UVA 13
I really thought USC would pull their starters earlier than they did in order to keep everyone relatively injury free for the Ohio State showdown in two weeks.

Utah 25 Michigan 23
My pick: Utah 38 Michigan 17
As a Michigan fan I was pleasantly surpised by the final score, but not by the lack of organization that I saw from the Wolverines at several points in the game. Before the season I had Michigan pegged at 4 wins for the year. Based on this showing I'm guessing maybe 5.


LSU 41 App. State 13
My pick: LSU 42 App. State 20
I blame the early start for App. State scoring more than 15 on the Tiger's d.

Alabama 34 Clemson 10
My pick: Clemson 27 'Bama 17
Yeah, yeah, yeah...that's what I get for trusting a Bowden. New question: Either Clemson is overrated or 'Bama is that good, which is it?


Missou 52 Illinois 42
My pick: Missou 24 Illinois 3
It's Missou because the Tiger's Defense was Missing on Saturday. they're going to need a lot more of it if they expect to contend.

And finally...

Oklahoma 57 Chatt 2
My pick: Oklahoma 63 Chatt 3
The Sooners met the 50 point threshold for maintaining their position in the polls. Next week however they might actually have to break a sweat against Cincy


Final weekly result: 10-2


Other thoughts:

- How Dave Wannstadt and Phillip Fullmer are still coaching Football Bowl Subdivision Division 1-A schools, D-1a schools in B(C)S conferences for that matter, is beyond me. PITT looked horrendous against Bowling Green at home and the Volunteers lost to a UCLA team that was on its fourth string quarterback. A QB that threw 4 INT's in the first half.

- This just in: The SEC is good.

- Hard to believe the fate of the Ohio State lies in one foot does it not? That said, would YOU start Chris "Beanie" Wells against Ohio, with USC on the schedule the next week? OSU could beat Ohio with the 5th string running back, I suggest they think about it.

- Tim Tebow is still overrated, and he's an attention whore as well.

- Dr. Lou isn't as good as the pep talk, just sayin.

- Despite its flaws *cough*Herbstreet's ego*cough* College Football Game Day is still the best pre-game show on TV.

- The Bemidji State Beavers 27 Minot State 24 The Bemidji State Beavers are my new favorite team. Anyone struggling to figure out a Christmas gift for me could do worse than this:


Go Beavers!

See you tomorrow with Week two picks.

I Must Protest

You can tell a lot about a society by the level of civility within the political discourse.

America the Barbaric?

I can't find the link but the man in Denver who told protest participants that "this is what having a job looks like" probably made the political statement of the year.

Less protest, more charity.



Think about it.

Obama on Palin

Family is off-limits...


Maybe the word just hasn't filtered down to Texas yet?

Bay Area Houston

Texas Liberal

Texas Liberal (again) - That's quite a lot of harping from the "all people matter" guy.

Dos Centavos

Must be a communications error.....

I'm confused, do family politics count? Or not?

Or is it just family politics that hurt ones political opposites that count?



Someone help me out here.

RELATED:

Real Clear Politics

The Suburban Transit Myth

When talking about public transit in the suburbs there's a single theme that's often repeated. Suburban residents voted against transit in the past and are now suffering for their short-sightedness.

(from Rad Sallee of the Chron)

A perfect storm of rising fuel prices and rapid population growth beyond the Harris County line have joined to spur unprecedented suburban interest in mass transit.

Fort Bend County Commissioner James Patterson recalled recently that when he talked about the need for public transportation after being elected in 1999, "I almost got run out of town."

Now, he said, commuter buses carry 13,000 passengers a day between Sugar Land and the Galleria or Greenway Plaza, twice the number just two years ago. "Next week," he added, "we'll start a commuter service by contract with a Texas Medical Center group."

Patterson, who also chairs the Houston-Galveston Area Transportation Policy Council, said Fort Bend is hardly alone.

"Gas prices got everybody's attention."

Although transit needs are regional, the closest thing to a regional provider, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, is limited by statute to Harris County. And large parts of the county are excluded because their residents voted in 1978 to do without Metro's services and its 1-cent sales tax.

That's right, 1978.

Which makes you wonder how many of the current residents of Suburban Houston were a part of that vote? Considering the churn rate of Houston's citizens since that time I would hazard to guess the answer is "not a lot", yet Metro still persists on holding up that vote (taken at the time Metro was established) as reason to pursue transit options that are punitive to a group of people who now have little to no say about the transit choices that affect them every day.

The rebuttal to this is that they "should all move inside the loop", a solution so laughable it borders on comedy. Can you imagine the impact of an additional four Million people living inside the boundries of Loop 610? I don't know about you, but living armpit to elbow in a congested soup of humanity, angry because an insufficient, poorly desgined public transit system isn't sufficient to meet basic mobility needs hardly strikes me as the hallmark of a "world class" city. Yet that's the option that is proffered by Metro supporters as a substitute for a meaningful transit plan.

Fast forward to 2003, working in concert with inner Loop development firms and so called "Smart Growth" proponents Metro once again fowarded a transit proposal which largely ignored the suburban areas, focusing soley on service to potential development corridors inside the confines of 610, and then feigned outrage when Houston's suburban communities voted against a plan that offered them little, but required them to foot the bill equally in order to subsidize the infrastructure for builders of Million-dollar condos and flats. It was, and is, bad transportation policy for a region, something that's never discussed when suburban transportation needs are broached.

Are there mass-transit nay-sayers among us? Of course. Those who adhere to a "only build more roads" philosophy ignore the realities of urban transit, and they should be as assigned to the fringes of the debate as are the "only build trains" crowd. Unfortunately, as is often the case, they are also the loudest and most readily avaiable for quotes, so their concrete only mantra is foisted up as the mainstream opposition view, ignoring for a moment that its increasingly out of touch with the ideologies of increasingly diverse suburbs. What we're left with is a hodge-podge of sub-par coverage where a transportation system that's punitive to the dominant mode of transport in the region is viewed as an "advancement" while arguments for a balanced system that enhances transportation options is wantonly miscast as "anti-transit" or somehow "pro-automobile", this despite the fact that it supports a multi-modal model of transportation that includes cars, busses, trains, etc. while eschewing any one single mode of transportation.

If you think you've heard this rant on this blog recently, you're right. It's a common theme here, one that I feel the need to continue to repeat as a (very small) counterweight to the prevailing pro-rail bias that's created an imbalance in the transportation debate in Houston.

That's not to imply that there's no good transportation discussion going on in the City, quite the contrary. It's just that the real discussions are not taking place in the paper of record, but outside the mainstream on blogs and other alt-media forms. Tory Gattis' Houston Strategies is an on-going dialogue of all things Houston and the Weblog at The Mighty Wizard offers up some of the best transportation analysis in the Region. Tom Kirkendall's Houston's Clear Thinkers will broach tranportation issues on occasion, as will BlogHouston (although the latter, proudly, focuses more on watchdogging Metro). Even Christof Spieler, despite being somewhat of a Metro apologist at times, provides meaningful commentary often, proving that its not hard to be for Metro, but honest and relevent at the same time.

I'm sure there are a lot of other resources out there that are talking sense about Houston transportation as well, I just don't have time to list them all. If you have a good resource (or author a good resource) drop a line in the comments.

As Houstonians, we all need to have access to more, and better, transportation reporting.

Newsflash: The Dems think Palin was a bad pick.

Which probably means she was a good pick:

Obama supporter: McCain rolled dice and lost

Obama supporter: McCain did a bad job vetting Palin

Obama supporter: Palin won't last a week.

Hmmm....

McCain supporter: Biden was a "slap in face" to Catholics

McCain supporter: Biden was a weak VP pick


And on and on and on....Get the picture?

The point I'm making here is that of course partisans for either side find fault in both candidate's VP picks, that's what you're supposed to do to fulfill your role as a faithful Party attack dog. There's nothing wrong with that by the by, both parties lifeblood rely on having people who are loyal to the party line.

If you strip away the vitriol and rhetoric for a minute or two it becomes clearer why both Biden and Palin were good picks for each candidate.


The Experience Factor: Biden was picked to shore up Obama's experience with International and military affairs. Widely perceived as a "domestic issues only" candidate the Obama camp decided they needed a Veep with sufficient gravitas and experience to provide balance to a campaign that was (let's be honest) starting to leak a little oil on the International front. Biden was the man. McCain doesn't need that boost, he's got experience in excess. Palin gets away with her lack of experience because McCain has enough to go around.

The Party Base: This is where Palin shines. McCain desperately needed someone on the ticket that could whip some air into the flagging enthusiasm of the conservative base of the Republican Party. He needed a Palin who shores him up on the right without having to move there himself. Pro-gun, pro-life Palin was the best pick for that job. Obama didn't need to energize the base with Biden, they're already fired up. He needed a more practical, non-sexy pick, a policy wonk if you will. Biden anyone?

The biggest meme that you're going to see in the coming months from both parties is that each candidate is flawed. Of course they are, Veep candidates are always flawed, that's why they're not on the top of the ticket. They usually have glaring holes in their resume but are strong in certain areas in which the Presidential candidate is considered to be weak. When judged from that perspective both candidates did a good job securing the Veep that best suited their needs on the ticket. That Palin is a woman is an added bonus for the Republicans.


That the Democrats are reacting so strongly to her selection tells you that McCain hit a home run here. Rule number one in politics: Don't hit your adversary unless they are a threat. Obviously, the selection of Palin was a hit. That Republicans attacked Biden when he was named the Veep candidate tells you that Obama made contact as well.

Political sock-puppetry not-withstanding.

OK, I want to write a column, but I don't want to leave the house. (CORRECTED)

I know, I'll take a look at the chron.comments section!!!.......Brilliant!

(from Lisa Falkenberg of the Chron)

A headline in some Monday editions declared that Houston "opens its arms" to our neighbors from the east fleeing Hurricane Gustav. But it's clear, this time around, not all of us are in a welcoming mood.

Indeed, one reader commenting on the Chronicle's Web site suggested the headline should have read "Houston area, prepare to bear arms!!! Here we go again!!"

Someone questioned when Houston would have a hurricane "so we can take all our undesirables to New Orleans and leave them?"

A few readers attempted to remind the others of our humanitarian obligation to help our neighbors. But the memories, or perhaps more accurately in most cases, the perceptions, of Katrina evacuees' impact on the area are too bitterly fresh.

The anti-evacuee sentiment among many Houstonians, fed by a brief, post-Katrina crime spike largely blamed on New Orleans-area gang members and frustration over the number of Katrina evacuees still receiving public assistance three years after the storm, isn't lost on the Gustav evacuees this time around.

Now, granted, I highlight the comments from time to time, you know, for fun. Occasionally you get a real doozy that's either funny, or insightful, or just downright weird. Heck, I even had one commenter e-mail me and threaten to file a lawsuit against me because he says he didn't leave the comment that was quoted. While I'm not sure how posting an anonymous comment is "libel", I assured him that he did, in fact, leave said comment and that it was inspired. (to be fair to him, he probably didn't remember leaving it, and he didn't read the entire quote).

The point is you can't take what people write anonymously and hold it up as "evidence" that people don't want hurricane displacements from New Orleans.

All that being said, I agree with the premise that a solid majority of Houstonians have "Louisiana fatique", I just think copying anonymous comments and then going out and getting "man on the street" interviews from Louisiana residents where they say they've been "given looks" by more anonymous Houstonians is a valid tool for quantifying public perception.

Some might say (did you see what I did there?) that I'm claiming the Chron is biased, some would even go so far as to point out irrelevent examples where the Chron was biased towards my point of view. Some would be terribly wrong however.

My point isn't to argue bias, its to demand better from the Metro columnists in the newpaper of record in the 4th largest city in America. I don't care if they're biased at all, they're opinion columns for Chirssakes. What I don't want them to be is bad.

Houston deserves better.

CORRECTION: According to an e-mailer who shall remain anonymous there was, in fact, one "man on the street" interview from a Houstonian that Ms. Falkenberg included in her column. I overlooked that during my early morning read of the column.

Lose an Eye, fighting for accuracy in blogging to please my dozen-or-so daily readers.

Today's political sign the apocalypse is upon us....

Perennial candidate Chris Bell finally found a group of Republicans so bad even he has a chance to beat them.

Perennial candidate Chris Bell finally found a group of Republicans so bad even he has a chance to beat them.

Perennial candidate Chris Bell finally found a group of Republicans so bad even he has a chance to beat them.


If you can't field a candidate that can beat Mr. "Moon Shot" for education, a guy that used a punching bag as the symbol for his gubernatorial campaign, and a guy who couldn't outdraw a corpse in same gubernatorial election, then you need to take a long, hard look at your party leadership structure in the Houston region.


Just sayin'

Some Labor Day Reading...

Oil prices tumble, investors realize world isn't coming to end [AP via the Chron] - It's getting to the point that if a butterfly flutters its wings in Africa, oil prices bump up $2/bbl.

Wages down, inflation up this Labor Day. [L.M. Sixel Chron.com] - The answer, of course, is increased Government taxation and regulation. (OK, re-regulating the energy industry makes sense)

Palin the reformer [Fred Barnes WSJ] - I TOLD you Palin was a good pick, as was Biden for Obama, more on both of those later in a future post.

Big Government is a High Stakes Affair [Christian, Frenzel - WSJ]

The Challenges of eating "slow" [Bobby White - WSJ] - Finally, a much needed critique of the "slow food" movement and its practicality. In short: it's lacking a viable business plan.

Say goodbye to unlimited Internet [ABC News]