April 2004 Archives
30 April 2004
A New One
Well, even though I'm a political type, I have to admit that I hadn't seen THIS argument against property tax reform in Texas before tonight:
Many teachers have kidney and bladder problems because we cannot leave our classrooms for a basic human function, especially when restrooms are few and far away.By all means, count me as formally opposed to the Omnibus Property Tax Reformers Against Teachers Peeing Act Of 2004 if/when it comes to a vote.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/04 23:14 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
Float Trip
The email invite/reminder/pestering for my annual Memorial Day float trip in OK just got sent out tonight.
If I somehow missed you and this interests, please send an email my way. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/04 23:00 | Outdoors | Technorati | Comments (0)
Surf Stomp 2004
My friends over at the Surfrider Foundation are putting on their annual Surf Stomp bash tomorrow.
There will be live music and goodness knows what else (it is the Last Concert Cafe, after all) starting at 5pm Saturday on 1403 Nance.
I don't know any of the bands but the Mandy Smith Group, but Mandy's crew is worth the $10 admission by themselves.
More info on the Surfrider website. Enjoy!
(04-21-2004) They may have to rename the thing Mud Stomp 2004. I don't know if the Surfrider guys have a contingency plan for rain, but if this weather keeps up, you may want to call Last Concert before heading over there.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/04 19:40 | Outdoors | Technorati | Comments (0)
World Class Bowling!
A couple of weeks ago, Dave H. sent me this bit of news from the Tulsa World:
Groundbreaking set for Owasso bowling centerDamn you, Lee Brown! We spent all that money on the Danger Train so we could be "world class," when we could have just built some bowling alleys.
By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
4/16/2004OWASSO -- City leaders will break ground Friday on a $4 million-plus bowling center, said Rickey Hayes, director of economic development.
Located at 10301 N. Owasso Expressway, a service road off U.S. 169, the 32-lane center will be called The Lanes at Coffee Creek and could be completed in late October or early November, said Joe Sparks Jr., the facility's owner.
"It's another component in making Owasso a world-class city," Hayes said. "It's a recreational opportunity that the city has been lacking. This whole part of the state is underserved in recreational opportunities."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/04 18:00 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
29 April 2004
Tilman's Sweetheart Deals
Richard Connelly's wondering about Tillman Fertita's sweetheart deals with the city:
If you're looking for tips on how to piss away a million bucks, look no further than the City of Houston. And as a bonus, it involves yet another sweetheart deal for the Donald Trump of the local restaurant scene, Tilman Fertitta.Too much city business gets done this way.Step 1 -- Offer up the strategically located old Downtown Fire Station to Fertitta.
Step 2 -- Move firefighters across downtown to temporary digs that look like they were purchased from Sheds-While-U-Wait.
Step 3 -- Pay more in rent than you're getting from Fertitta: $270,000 a year to his $120,000. Make sure your lease increases your rent by $2K a month after three years, even though Fertitta is locked into a fixed 40-year lease.
Step 4 (Very Important) -- Do nothing.
Step 5 -- After two years and eight months, have HFD finally bring its recommendation for a new fire station site. Make sure the proposed site has toxic contamination that neither the owner nor city wants to pay to clean up.
Step 6 -- Start looking for another site.
Step 7 -- Repeat the Very Important Step 4, as often as necessary.
Meanwhile, firefighters in the temporary building would "prefer to be in a better situation," District Fire Chief Jack Williams says. Not in the least because their cars keep getting broken into.
They shouldn't worry -- a new building is no more than two or three years away. Probably.
"Bottom line, they need to keep moving forward quickly," says union chief Steve Williams. Who we sincerely hope is not holding his breath.
Maybe instead of trying to balance the city's budget by going after the pension plans of municipal workers, Mayor White ought to be concentrating on some of these sorts of issues.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 22:45 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Sloppy. Comical.
Does the Comical have any editors?
I know I'm beating that question to death. But there's just no excuse for the kinds of errors that constantly appear in that paper (the bias is another story).
Here's the lead paragraph in a story by Dan Feldstein about the pension controversy:
The estimated amount of Houston's main municipal pension funding shortfall could go up substantially within the next two weeks, after the pension board voted Wednesday to let its new actuarial consultant take into account a significant employee-enrollment trend that had been previously ignored.Problem: the trend wasn't ignored. The Comical admits this later in the story:
When the pension improvements were pending before the Legislature in 2001, the 14 percent prediction assumed that no workers would switch plans. In a subsequent estimate, the actuary duly noted that many employees had switched plans in the previous year -- helping drive up the shortfall -- but never predicted that employees would continue to switch.So if the actuary duly noted the trend, the trend was NOT previously ignored! Assumptions made about the trend may have been in error (as hindsight shows) or even criminal (which I doubt, but which gives Chuck Rosenthal some free positive publicity when he could use some), but that's not quite the same as ignoring the trend.
This article is not internally consistent.
Furthermore, the author constantly refers to "a new state law" that locks in pension benefits. It's not a new state law. It's a revision to the state constitution that was approved by voters.
Sloppy. Comical.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 22:40 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
BlogAds
As you can tell, I've decided to experiment with BlogAds.
This experiment may or may not last.
One thing that annoys me is that for some reason, the javascript code causes my nice blue border on the far left to disappear in Mozilla Firefox sporadically.
Blar.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 22:17 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (3)
Dirty Thirty
John Nova Lomax is a busy man for the Houston Press this week.
He has a fun little column on the Thirty Worst Songs Of All Time From Texas.
Okay, I have to admit. I like some of these songs, and some of his criticism seems kinda harsh.
However, some of it does not:
15. Barbara Mandrell, "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." Actually, Barbara, you were never either country or cool.Heh.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 22:14 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
Queer Eye For The Country Guy
John Nova Lomax pens an amusing article about just how metrosexual Kenny Chesney, Tim McGray, and Pat Green have become these days.
He contrasts them with ol' reliable, George Strait.
I think Lomax is a bit off, actually. It's not about their metrosexuality. It's about selling tampons.
Kenny, Tim, and maybe even Pat "Hootie" Green (*sigh*) seem ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that manufacturers of tampons don't have excess inventory wasting away in their warehouse.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 22:04 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
More Attention For The Comical
Well, how about this?
The Sandoval family is on MSNBC's Scarborough Country pounding the Comical for Lucas Wall's recent editorializing.
So now the story has gotten attention from Scarborough, Bill O'Reilly, and Laura Ingraham.
Does that sort of national media attention make our little newspaper world class?
As usual, the Comical declined to send a representative to the show to defend their newspaper.
Invisible Man James T. Campbell must have been too busy.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 21:50 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
Stupid Comical
This may be the strangest column I've seen in the Comical in quite a while.
Half of the article by Rad Sallee is devoted to a detailed discussion of Houston's air quality, and the fact that our air is of much better quality than most people think in terms of particulates, and that the real problem is ozone. Here's a representative excerpt:
Dr. Nicola Hanania, a pulmonary specialist at Baylor College of Medicine and director of its asthma center, said the low levels of particulate pollution were surprisingly good news.Seems like pretty good stuff."You would think that with all the exhaust fumes, highways and the petrochemical industry, there would be more," Hanania said. "The sources of particulates are very similar to those of ozone."
But John D. Wilson, executive director of the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, said these differences may be explained in part by Houston's typical shifting air patterns and its dominant industry.
"Our main sources of pollution, petrochemical emissions and byproducts, react very quickly in the atmosphere and do not form particulates," he said. Also, he said, "We kind of clean out our air every day and start with a new batch."
By contrast, he said, "In Los Angeles you have mountains and valleys where the pollution accumulates for days."
The second half of the article seems to verge into nonsensical MeMo territory, as the column takes up the topic of Houston barbecue:
At lunchtime Wednesday, diners in some of the barbecue restaurants around town were willing to risk the smoke for a tender slice of brisket. While difficult for some Texans to admit, barbecuing does contribute to air pollution, albeit slightly.What the hell?!"There's not enough of (the smoke) to make a significant difference, and Mother Nature has a way of taking care of things," said former Houstonian Paul Marks, working on his platter at Luling City Market.
"Even if barbecuing causes a little pollution, I wouldn't give up barbecue. I'd give up grilled fish, but not barbecue," said Marks, who now lives in Birmingham, Ala.
Rick Frazier, who manages the restaurant on Richmond near the Galleria, said his cooks toss post oak on the fire and start smoking briskets in the morning.
"If you look out, there is a lot of smoke coming out," he acknowledged. "But it dissipates quickly. And it smells so good."
Finishing up a meal at Pappas Bar-B-Q near the Pierce Elevated, Ross Knight scoffed at the idea that barbecue restaurants and backyard grilling are big contributors to the city's pollution.
"It's like the talk about lawn mowers," Knight said. "Weren't they talking about banning lawn mowers in California? These discussions are pretty ridiculous."
It's like some editor (Miss MeMo?) spliced in a feature on how Houstonians feel about barbecue (answer: We like it! A lot). Nonsensical.
At the bottom of the story is this disclaimer:
Chronicle reporter Bill Murphy contributed to this story.Really? Hmm, I wonder if he's the one responsible for the Houston Barbecue Beat these days? I would have guessed that was Blinebury's responsibility.
Seriously, does anyone edit that rag?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/04 21:23 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 April 2004
Someone, Anyone, Please Make It Stop
One good thing that will come of the Lakers finishing off the Rockets: Cynthia Cooper will go do something besides halftime commentary.
Watching/listening to her is just brutal.
(04-29-2004 Update) Problem solved.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/04 22:43 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chick Alt-Rockers
My friend (and former Pawhuskan) Dave H. sent along this bit of news about Caitlin Cary a while back, and I don't think I ever got around to posting it.
She's working on a new chick alt-country/folk project:
Former Whiskeytown mainstay Caitlin Cary has temporarily stepped aside from her solo career to concentrate on another project, the harmony-rich, all-female folk-rock trio Tres Chicas. The group's debut album, Sweetwater, arrives June 29th from North Carolina-based independent label, Yep Roc Records, home to Cary's three solo releases.I really like Caitlin Cary's solo stuff, and I'm disappointed that her brilliant keyboardist/vocalist Jen Gunderman isn't part of this chick collaboration. Still, it sounds interesting. Hope they make it to town this summer.Joining Cary in Tres Chicas is Lynn Blakey, from Eighties college-rock group Let's Active and Oh-OK, and Tonya Lamm, from the late-Nineties alt-country outfit Hazeldine. The lineup also includes drummer Skillet Gilmore, Cary's husband and another former member of Whiskeytown, the defunct band fronted by Ryan Adams.
Elsewhere, two other chicks have a cool debut upcoming. Bonnie (Whitmore) and (Jamie) Blythe are having their CD release party over at Tavern in the Gruene on Friday.
I need to make it over there and see those two, but I don't know if there's gonna be time or energy. We'll see.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/04 22:25 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
Small World
It doesn't get much more rural than Pawhuska, OK where I grew up.
Therefore, when I have an opportunity to point to former Pawhuska classmates doing well, I have to take the opportunity.
Check out Lyndall Stout, a Pawhuskan (even if she doesn't admit it) who graduated Pawhuska High School a few years after I did.
Lead anchor. Nice job, Lyndall!
Thanks to my mom for calling attention to this bit of local news. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/04 22:18 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
I'm Voting No On Proposition 1 (or, Houston's Pension Controversy, Part 7)
Early voting has started for the May 15 pension-plan opt-out election in Houston.
I don't make voting recommendations or endorsements here in any specific sense, but Mayor White has failed to win me over to his position (despite a mailer that I received on Monday from the Mayor's PAC, which has raised nearly a million bucks for this effort). I will not be supporting the opt-out vote.
The Mayor's mailer suggests he needs the opt-out vote to negotiate in good faith. That's not quite honest. He needs the opt-out vote for leverage to reduce benefits already promised. To get my vote, he needed to explain the urgency and his proposed cuts in greater detail. He also needed to explain how he planned to make up the difference to employees who switched from the free Group B pension plan to the Group A pension plan (that requires contributions from employees, with the promise of a greater return at the end). Otherwise, it looks very much like the city suckered city employees into switching over to a pension plan that requires more contributions from them (Group A) but may not, when the Mayor is done, actually be much more beneficial to them than the original free plan (Group B). That's not honest either.
I'll be voting No in the election.
(04-29-2004 Update) Greg Wythe will be voting Yes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/04 06:59 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
27 April 2004
Coogs 10, SHSU 5
UH pounded Sam Houston State tonight in baseball 10-5, in a game that wasn't even as close as that lopsided score would indicate.
That moves them to one game below .500 for the season, with a tough road trip coming up this weekend (to East Carolina).
Farrington and Vaclavik both pitched very well for the Coogs tonight, the defense was sharp, and the hitters did a nice job. They're rounding into form, as Noble teams always do. Seven wins in a row now. Gotta keep it going this weekend.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/27/04 22:03 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Safety For Dummies
Chris Elam has been a regular commenter here for a little while.
As it turns out, he's been having so much fun on local blogs that he's gone and started his own: Safety for Dummies.
It looks to be a mix of commentary on national politics, local stories, and a bit of sports. The design is nice and crisp too. In short, it's my kind of blog.
Be sure and go say "Howdy!" to him.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/27/04 08:52 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 April 2004
Astros Tickets For Continental Miles
You Houstonians who fly Continental regularly may want to consider redeeming some of those frequent flyer miles for Astros tickets.
I just got an email from the hometown airline, and it strikes me that 50 miles for a mezzanine ticket is not a bad deal at all, but 50 miles for a view deck ticket is not as exciting.
It's not clear to me that you know which one you get until you fork over the miles, so bidder beware.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/04 22:22 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
International Festival Postmortem
The International Festival concluded this weekend.
From the sounds of various reports, attendance was down. The organizers will be able to blame the weather, and surely that had an impact, but I can say that I had made up my mind not to go well beforehand and it had nothing to do with the weather.
Rather, it had more to do with the reasons outlined by John Nova Lomax prior to the festivities:
All in all, that's not a bad lineup, so if iFest fails at the new site, it won't be because of the music. It could happen because of the ticket price -- $12 for adults, which is anybody over ten. Or because of the $7 parking fee. The soullessness of South Main is a threat, as is the possibility that it will somehow be ten degrees hotter here than it was downtown. Or maybe none of that will happen and iFest will thrive in the new digs.
For me, the price was too high, the venue was too silly, and while Lomax is technically right about the lineup not being bad, it was scaled down by an entire stage. Michael Clark noted this in his tepid review of things:
It doesn't help that the festival has trimmed from four to three major music stages at a time when it needs to fill a much bigger space.No, it didn't.
Really, it's still just a puzzle to me why our city leaders and the promoter of one of Houston's best festivals couldn't come together and keep this thing downtown, where it belongs. I don't get it. We spend hundreds of millions on choo-choos and sports venues and downtown beautification, and we let a great international festival head out to the concrete and mud of the Reliant "complex" instead of showing off our great downtown.
Definitely not world class.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/04 20:56 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Memo To Tulsans Who Are Transferring To Houston
Citgo finally ended all of the public waffling today and announced it will be relocating its Tulsa headquarters to Houston.
The move makes sense for all sorts of reasons. Houston is the energy capital of this hemisphere and serious players should have a presence here.
But it really is a blow to a struggling Tulsa/Oklahoma economy.
Anyway, consider this some free advice to you Tulsans who think Houston is a hellhole and are worried about transferring. It's really not a hellhole.
No, it doesn't have your rolling hills and your wonderful lakes and rivers for outdoors recreation, and yes, the humidity really IS that bad. But Houston also doesn't have your deteriorating freeways (thanks to TXDOT -- Lee Brown couldn't destroy those), or your North Tulsa nightly gang killings that your police seem disinterested in solving (although our Danger Train is, well, dangerous), or your state's income tax. And we do have the great amenities of an international city (whether it's an international airport where the best carrier in the US is headquartered or the arts or major league sports or great restaurants or ... well, you get the idea). There are pluses and minuses, to be sure, but there really are pluses. Some of us think they are considerable.
And even though Houston seems outrageously huge if you drive the place from end to end, nobody does that. There's no need. Most everything you need is in individual neighborhoods (thanks in part to no zoning), so you rarely have to make that trek of 30 miles to another part of town. Trust me, we all dread having to make such treks. But not as much as I dread trying to get to Woodland Hills Mall in your city at a busy time of day!
Anyway, all of this is just to say that I hope some of you who have the option to move to our fine Bayou City will give it a chance. It really is a great place.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/04 18:17 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)
The Bias Files - Cont'd
Sherry Sylvester, the tireless head of Texas Media Watch has posted (and emailed) an interesting set of recommendations for the Dallas Morning News (which recently admitted it needed to work harder to ensure balanced coverage of news) and other major media in Texas.
Instead of posting silly op-eds that try for humor (and instead are insulting to intelligent readers), the Comical editorial board could certainly stand to print out her email and paste it all over the newsroom.
Indeed, here's some advice directly relevant to today's Comical:
Four, look at the public policy issues your paper has examined in the last year and make sure you have included the views of conservative as well as liberal experts in your coverage. If you find reporters have not detailed the conservative position as well as the liberal side, correct the imbalance.Bill Murphy's "coverage" of the local weekend abortion rally might be a good place to start:
A steady downpour kept the turnout low for a pro-choice rally Sunday at Hermann Park but did not detract from the determination of supporters to preserve a woman's right to choose.I'm all for choice. The more choices, the better. I like choice in grocery stores, choice in newspapers (no luck in this town), choice in Chinese take-out.
But this article isn't about any of those things. It's about abortion. The lead paragraph should have mentioned that, instead of slanting the coverage in favor of those with a certain position.
And really, does Mr. Murphy have a "determination meter?" Is he a mind-reader? Why is this subjective assessment of the protestors in the opening paragraph? Why can't he stick to facts?
For that matter, shouldn't he have stated the turnout was low and let readers figure out for themselves why that might be? It's almost as if he's making excuses for the low turnout. That's not his job as a reporter.
The rest of the story is simply quotes from people who are enthusiastic about preserving abortion rights. There's not a single quote from anyone opposed to abortion, and not a single quote to offset the quotes that imply the President is out to restrict women's rights. All of the quotes are slanted in favor of the pro-choice position.
The Comical needs to do better than this.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/04 17:49 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (12)
Dumb Comical
Laurence Simon points out that the Comical's use of the term "reminisce" about an event that hasn't yet happened isn't quite right.
He's right, of course.
It appears that nobody edits that rag (the editors are too busy transforming nonsensical staff memos into "blog" posts), and so you get truly unfortunate word choices from writers that somehow creep into the final edition all the time.
My favorite is still the double-edged litmus test.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/04 11:08 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
25 April 2004
Long Term Bill
Randy Galloway puts the Cowboys' trading out of the first round of yesterday's NFL draft in perspective:
Late Saturday evening at Valley Ranch, following the first three rounds of the draft, Parcells spoke to the media after 109 days of self-imposed silence.The Cowboys probably don't have enough talent to win it all in 2004, so trading down in order to fill more needs makes sense. But two first-round picks in the next draft will help them fill big needs after next season, and by that time, Drew Henson may well be the franchise quarterback. Year Three of Bill will probably be the most realistic time to start thinking about competing for the big game."In my heart, I have to approach this from a long-range standpoint if I am going to be honest and forthright with the Jones family," he said, and then cited his experience as a former general manager in the league, adding, "I have a great appreciation" of the big-picture building process.
Parcells wouldn't comment directly on whether he had plans to stay beyond those three years left on his contract, but based on this off-season, what else needs to be said?
Now, about that Saturday trade.
It was a bold move. An excellent move. Generating future No. 1s, particularly a No. 1 owned by a team that will be fortunate to see 8-8 next season, is the smart way to do business.
But, of course, the careers of Steven Jackson, Kevin Jones, etc. will now be closely watched locally. If one of those backs becomes big-time, the Cowboys will be constantly reminded.
Parcells, however, was playing the percentages, as he admitted.
The running back position, in his estimation, produces more first-round draft busts than any position.
"But it's never easy to drop out of the first round," said Parcells.
In the Cowboys' case, however, there was a need at running back, and based on draft evaluation from most everyone, not a vast difference in the top five or six candidates.
The surprise was when both Jackson and Kevin Jones were still available at No. 22.
But Parcells said if the Buffalo trade hadn't been made not to assume the Cowboys would have taken a running back. He indicated they probably wouldn't have.
Plus, Parcells said when Julius Jones made his Valley Ranch visit last month, he was told to "stay alert" if he was still available in the second round.
Jackson went to the Rams at No. 24, Perry to the Bengals at No. 26 and Kevin Jones to the Lions at No. 30. In the second round, Denver took Tatum Bell of Oklahoma State two picks before the Cowboys picked Julius Jones.
That meant five running backs went within 20 picks at the end of the first round and the start of the second round. It indicates most teams had the RBs rated almost equally, which suggests that trading down, particularly for a first-round pick, was easily the right move.
But it was certainly not a win-now decision in a win-now league.
"It's long-range," said Parcells.
Those might simply be the words of a coach who knows his team is not ready to win in 2004.
But it's certainly not what was once expected from Parcells, which is also a positive.
The longer Big Bill plans on being around, the better.
Still, I can't wait for THIS season. The running back they drafted in the second round (Julius Jones) looks to be a big upgrade over Troy "Feet of Concrete" Hambrick, and Big Bill did once manage to find a pretty decent running back in the THIRD ROUND (some guy named Curtis Martin). So, we'll see.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/04 10:27 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 April 2004
Wet Goofy Houston Nights
Callie and I are definitely UH baseball fans.
We thought the game tonight would be rained out. So we gathered up my parents and her mom, and had a fine evening at our favorite Greek restaurant in town.
We got home to discover (via the internet) that the Coogs were still playing, thanks to several rain delays.
But the skies had finally cleared, and it was a beautiful evening. We had no choice -- we roadtripped over to catch the last 3 innings of a Coog victory.
There were still 100 fans there. People looked at us strangely as we strolled in at 10:30, when the game should have been over.
Go Coogs!
(Update) I should have mentioned that UH won. I guess I was doing my Comical impersonation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/04 23:58 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
Brain Drain
First, a nonsensical "blog" written by someone who just moved to Houston.
Now, a "shopping" column.
This passes as cutting edge at Houston's only daily newspaper.
How Comical. How world class!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/04 13:13 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Muster
Like many Texans, I occasionally poke fun at Texas A&M and various Aggie traditions.
However, Aggie Muster is one such tradition that I won't poke fun at, and Jason Spencer has done a nice little feature on the tradition for the Comical.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/04 11:47 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
23 April 2004
The Weekend Starts (A Bit Early)
My parents are in for the weekend, so posting will be lighter than usual (I know, I say this every weekend lately).
We plan on taking in some college baseball, taking advantage of good Tex-Mex, visiting a certain Icehouse, and generally hanging out.
A question for you readers in the meantime.
I've long refused to put up a tipjar and beg for money for readers. Just a personal thing, nothing against those who do it.
But I am considering running BlogAds on the right sidebar, below the substantive material but above the blogroll. I don't have any illusions that I'll be raking in tons of money, but maybe enough per month to cover hosting (and the occasional donation to the developers of the open-source software that powers the site). How do you readers feel about that? Would it annoy you? Would I be selling out? Do you wish I'd just stop with this navel-gazing and do whatever?
Please leave a comment if you're so inclined. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/23/04 13:01 | Other | Technorati | Comments (5)
Things That Puzzle Me
You work at a big company.
You get a new President/COO.
He schedules breakout meetings of moderately sized groups (40-50 at a time) for discussion of his "vision" and such.
To look good for your new Prez, you:
A) Go for the quiet, attentive approach.
B) Ask good questions of the new Prez
C) Stand and jingle change in your pocket the whole time the man is talking.
Yes, kids, I just got out of a meeting (which begins my weekend, because I'm taking the rest of the day off) in which (C) just happened.
Actually, about 4/5 of the way through the meeting, a young lady finally turned around, pointed at him, and mouthed the words "WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP DOING THAT?!"
He did.
Personally, I think the change-jingling dude should apply for a job with METRO. He'd be a good fit.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/23/04 12:01 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
The Angstiest Astro
I've commented on Jeff Bagwell and his seeming angst here before.
Well, I just couldn't resist doing the same over at the Astro In Exile blog, and I was amused by Rafe's response to my comment.
I'm hoping Cathy will be less mad at me for having a little fun at Jeffy's expense on someone else's blog. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/23/04 08:06 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 April 2004
Fluff Hits The Oklahoman Sports Page
Folks know I'm a big Sooner football fan, but this column by Daily Oklahoman Jenni Carlson is just silly.
Here's an excerpt:
A few days before the annual NFL meat market, and some folks are wondering whether Tommie Harris and Derrick Strait are prime cuts.Bah. Spirit?!Defensive stars at Oklahoma, both are expected to be drafted in the first round Saturday. Yet some draft gurus are suggesting Harris and Strait might fall a few spots on draft day. They say Harris fits the mold at defensive tackle but doesn’t always make plays, while Strait makes plays but doesn’t fit the mold of a cornerback.
These teams are reportedly looking hard at taking a cornerback with their first picks. According to several draft projections, Strait ranks anywhere from third to 10th among available cornerbacks; he could be taken late in the first round but is more likely to go in the second round.
Foolish is the NFL team that believes the doubts and passes on these two Sooners.
They are going to be great pros, and it’s not just because of their skill or their ability. Both are wildly talented, Harris winning the Lombardi Award last season, Strait taking the Jim Thorpe Award, but what will set these two apart is their spirit.
Both are fighters.
Neither got to this point without battling and struggling. That mentality doesn’t disappear when you reach the threshold of your dreams. If anything, the fight grows.
Harris and Strait are more than ready to get after it.
This isn't the cheerleading squad. This is the NFL.
What a bunch of fluff.
The upcoming draft is a bigger puzzle than in recent years. I don't think most people have a good sense where players are going to go, or if teams are going to trade up/down and screw up all the pre-draft projections. And Harris and Strait have some question marks. All of that makes for interesting speculation.
But the lady telling the NFL scouts they should draft the local boys because they're "fighters" with "spirit" does not. It's just goofy.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/22/04 20:05 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
METRO's Arrogance
So, Mayor Pothole succeded.
Houston really is world class!
What should we do about this?The collision rate for MetroRail trains during the first quarter of this year is about 25 times the national average for light rail systems, according to data from the Federal Transit Administration.
MetroRail's crash total reached 36 on Wednesday after a driver in a Pontiac Grand Am turned into a train shortly before 5 p.m. near Reliant Park, then hit a sport utility vehicle.
With 26 collisions in the first quarter of 2004, MetroRail is on pace for 104 wrecks in its first year, which would represent a crash rate of 13.87 per route mile. That is 25 times the national average of 0.55, based on 2001 data the FTA collected from 17 cities operating light rail.
Surely we should stop and consider just what went wrong in the planning of the Main Street rail line, right?
Oh no. That would make too much sense.
Instead, it's full speed ahead!
Metro has taken a significant step toward the construction of Houston's next four light rail lines.The board of directors today authorized signing a five-year contract estimated at $60 million with STV Inc. of New York, the same consortium that shepherded development of the Main Street line that opened Jan. 1.
STV's project-management tasks will include oversight of planning, design, construction and initial operation of light rail extensions for the North, Southeast, Harrisburg, and Westpark corridors. Those segments, estimated to cost $1.7 billion, make up the first phase of the 22-year Metro Solutions expansion plan that voters approved in November. All four lines are projected to have trains running by 2013 and will be paid for with $640 million in bonds and expected federal matching funds.Six firms competed for the massive deal, which includes options for two, two-year extensions through 2013. Dennis Hough, the Metropolitan Transit Authority's director of contracts, said STV and its 16 subcontractors stood out as the most qualified companies to continue oversight of light rail construction in Houston. .
"They are the guys who made this thing happen on time," Hough said in reference to the New Year's Day opening of the Main Street line, achieved 10 months earlier than originally planned. "They were clearly head and shoulders above the other firms."
The arrogance and audacity of METRO are just stunning.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/22/04 19:41 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)
Dumb Houston Criminals
KPRC-2 here in Houston highlights a couple of really dumb criminals today:
First, the case of the guy who decided to break into his uncle's home, and got himself killed courtesy of uncle's shotgun:
A southeast Houston homeowner shot and killed his nephew, thinking he was an intruder early Thursday, police told News2Houston.It's liable to make the next family reunion a bit tense, one imagines.James Mayfield, 68, was sleeping in his house in the 3700 block of Yellowstone when he was awakened by a loud noise and the sound of glass breaking around midnight.
The homeowner grabbed his shotgun and saw someone entering the house, according to police.
"(Mayfield) came out into the living room area where the man was, told him to get out. The man continued to come toward him and he fired one time, striking him in the head," said detective Mike Walker, with the Houston Police Department.
"I kept telling him to get back. 'Get out or I'm going to shoot you.' Well, he kept on coming, so I shot," Mayfield said.
He had no idea that the man he killed was a relative.
"I thought it was somebody breaking in, you know, a burglar. I didn't know it was my nephew," Mayfield said.
Mayfield did not realize it was his relative until he called his sister to tell her about her son's death. At the same time, she was in the process of calling him to tell her that her son was shot to death. They did not know the connection until they called the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.
In the next instance, a lady definitely picked the WRONG identity to steal:
An identity theft suspect picked the wrong victim to steal from -- Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, News2Houston reported in an exclusive story Wednesday. It was a mistake that got her arrested.Err, yeah, Chuck. I'm sure, though, that your assistant DAs will be well aware of whom they're prosecuting when the trial comes.Rosenthal said nearly $8,000 was stolen from his account before it was discovered.
"It wasn't anything that we did wrong," Rosenthal said. "There was an overdraft notice for a check that I think was like $1,070. And I knew that I didn't write the check and found out that my wife didn't write the check."
Rosenthal immediately closed the account.
"There was not a person named Kathy Rosenthal who was authorized to sign on that account," he said.
When one of the checks was cashed, the suspect left behind an important clue -- a fingerprint.
"It matched somebody that had a criminal history," Rosenthal said.
He said it traced back to 29-year-old Sharon Denise Durbin. She was charged with felony forgery. She is free on bond.
"I went to court once charges were filed and recused myself and my office from that case," Rosenthal said.
Bad judgment, folks. Really bad judgment.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/22/04 18:47 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
Happy Earth Day
It only seems fitting on this day to turn to Steve Hayward's annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators to see how we're doing.
Hayward is an old buddy of my boss. I've actually knocked down some brews at a Reckless Kelly show with the man, and he enjoyed our hick-rockers. In addition to being able to turn a nice phrase (and knowing quite a bit about Progressive constitutionalism), the guy has good taste in music to boot.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/22/04 09:20 | Outdoors | Technorati | Comments (2)
21 April 2004
Danger Train: Collision #36
We've had our 36th incident involving a collision with the Danger Train:
One wonders if the sign was actually working, and about its placement (is it easy to see and understand?).A 26-year old woman was taken to a hospital today after the car she was driving ran into the side of a MetroRail train near Reliant Park, the transit authority said.
No information was available about Yadira Bravo's condition. Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said no injuries were reported among the estimated 50 passengers on the train and the driver of a Ford Expedition that the car struck after hitting the train.
Train 112 was northbound approaching Reliant Park Station when the southbound Grand Am, attempting to enter Reliant Park via Holly Hall, made a right turn from Fannin, Connaughton said.
Metropolitan Transit Authority police are trying to determine whether Bravo saw the "no right turn" sign that is supposed to illuminate as a train approaches the intersection, he said.
Kudos to Lucas Wall, who did not inject political views on the Iraq War into his coverage of the Danger Train. :) It's the Comical; baby steps should be celebrated.
One of these days, probably after college baseball season, I'm going to travel the line some Saturday, and take photos of some of the confusing signage and dangerous intersections. The endeavor may well involve stopping at some pubs along the way.
"May well" hell. Of course it will!
Anybody else wants to make a party out of the effort, please leave a comment and I'll let you know beforehand.
It will be world class!
(04-22-2004 Update) After reading Larry's post, I decided I let Lucas Wall off too easy.
Note in the first cited paragraph, Wall writes that the driver of the car was taken to the hospital.
In the next paragraph, he writes that no injuries were reported among the choo choo passengers or the driver.
Isn't it possible that the driver couldn't ring up Lucas Wall and report her condition because she was, say, undergoing treatment and observation at the hospital?! At the very least, she was taken in because paramedics suspected possible injuries.
Stupid. Comical.
Actually, stupid me, as pointed out in the comments. Unlike the Comical, however, we do correct ourselves here. :)
(04-22-2004 Update 2) Friend Rob Booth thinks I may have been too easy on Lucas Wall for a different reason. He writes that Wall's account left out key details of the crash that Houston's other news outlets reported. Is this the Comical's pro-rail bias at work, or just sloppy reporting? Go read Rob's post and decide for yourself.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 19:04 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (8)
Trouble At New Times?
The Brazosport News writes that things are a bit unsettled at New Times (owners of the Houston Press and other alt-rags) these days:
New Times, the publisher of 11 "alternative" weekly newspapers from San Francisco to Miami, including The Houston Press, has terminated the employment of 38 workers across the country, leading to further speculation about the financial health of the Phoenix-based chain.Go read the whole thing, especially the speculation about potential suitors.
Clear Channel and alt-weekly rags? Sadly, I don't know if that would make it much more generic than some of these rags have become. Should they even still be called alternative press? Do you get to keep the designation so long as a certain percentage of your advertising is sexual aids, escorts, and phone services?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 18:43 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)
LJ Feed
For those of you who prefer the LiveJournal approach to the web (gawd forbid), you'll note a new purple and grey LiveLournal button down towards the bottom of the right sidebar.
It's LJ's aggregation of the RSS feed here, and can be added to your friends list.
Two RSS feeds, an Atom feed, and an LJ feed. We do try to take care of you kind readers. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 18:27 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (2)
Mayor White Wins Passage Of Water Tax Increase
Mayor White won approval today for his big water tax increase:
It will soon cost more to use water in Houston. City Council Wednesday approved a flood-control plan that will impose an average 9.7 percent increase in water and sewer rates.That's just too much.The new rates take effect when the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
The vote for Mayor Bill White's proposal was 13 to 2, with council members Michael Berry and Addie Wiseman voting against it.
Wiseman was particularly upset over the increase.
"I'm adamantly opposed to this water and sewer rate increase and cannot begin to express my outrage. It is unconscionable," she said. "I've been trying desperately to find rate relief for my constituents in Kingwood, whose rates have gone up over the years."
The rate hike will mean a 9 percent increase in the average monthly residential water and sewer bill. Apartment dwellers' rates are expected to go up by an average of 14.6 percent.
I realize former Mayor Pothole left the city in an absolute mess (thanks again, all you Dems who kept re-electing him), but this Mayor ran on his business record and financial expertise, and intimated he would be able to find creative solutions to the city's problems.
Tax and spend isn't creative, Mayor White. It's tired.
Kudos to Berry and Wiseman for declining to rubberstamp the Mayor's tax increase.
More coverage from KHOU-11 and the Comical.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 18:01 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
TP: California Pizza Kitchen
There's a new restaurant review up at Trivial Pursuits.
This time, TP pays a visit to the California Pizza Kitchen located in the Galleria area.
I like the traditional American pizza well enough (although I share his distaste of pizza swimming in red sauce), but I also like the pizza he describes. In fact, I'm sitting here long after a light, healthy lunch thinking that the VERY pizza he describes sounds excellent. Stomach-growling excellent, even.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 17:50 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
More Attention For Our Newspaper
Word is that Dan Patrick of KSEV radio will be on Scarborough Country tonight to talk about Houston's (mis)Leading Information Source (the Leroy Sandoval matter specifically, one imagines).
Earlier, the station was saying that someone from the Comical will also appear. The newspaper declined an invitation to appear when O'Reilly picked up the story on his Fox News television show.
This could be interesting.
(Update) Patrick has been moved to Thursday night's program. Sorry for the confusion.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/04 14:05 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
20 April 2004
Turning It Around
The baseball Coogs got a road win they badly needed today at UTSA.
It may not sound like much, but they are so depleted right now by injuries that it's a good win for this team.
They need to have a good series this weekend against Cincy. With the record at 17-22 now, getting to .500 by the end of the season is still a possibility, if they can just somehow fight through the injuries. A good showing in the conference tourney and a record above .500 would probably be good enough to make a regional given their brutal schedule and recent performance in super-regionals (losing to the eventual national champion the last two years, unfortunately). But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. This has been a fun season regardless now that they've straightened out some of the early problems, and Rayner Noble seems to be putting together one hell of a recruiting class for next year. Go Coogs!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 22:57 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (5)
Major Transit Changes Planned For May 30
All of you people who think Owen Courreges and I are just being alarmists when we say that Houston's bus services will be cut back in inconvenient ways to accommodate the rail mentality may want to read this:
At the first of METRO's public hearings, Cristobol Patino was not too optimistic that his input with have any affect on what bus routes and trolley's METRO will choose to cut out.Convenience is not what this is about. It's about forcing people onto the pretty choo choo and cutting costs elsewhere (buses) to help pay for the boondoggle.Laid out in the presentation are pages with maps of transit services that will be eliminated, or modified so that the routes feed into the METRO rail.
"The plan is designed to integrate the rail system with the overall transit system, to make the maximum use of both buses and rail," said METRO spokesperson Ken Connaughton.
Part of the plan is to eliminate all of the routes of the downtown trolleys.
"In fact, the trolley sometimes do have a tendency to get there quicker than the actual rail," said Patino.
How much time these changes will add to people's travels was one of the biggest concerns. Another was the inconvenience of having fewer bus stops, which in some cases means having to take much longer walks. Representatives say that's a problem for employees of the Texas Medical Center.
Douglas Able, government relations for the Texas Medical Center says, "We're concerned that when you take one of these buses, there are only four direct buses into the Medical Center, one of those is going to go away. Another one is going to be merged into the rail. And the question is, what kind of impact is that going to have on transit ridership of TMC employees?"
Being world class doesn't come cheap, you see.
Might have been nice if METRO had been a bit more forthcoming early on though, eh?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 21:55 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (12)
Perry, That Woman With Lots Of Names, And Bettencourt
The Comical has fallen all over itself to cover the dueling estimates of Robin Hood finance alternatives coming from the Governor's office and the Comptroller's office.
I don't put much faith in the comptroller's numbers, given her prior history, and I can't really figure out her agenda. But she does seem determined to be a pain in our Governor's backside.
Anyway, an alternative to Robin Hood may not emerge in the session(s), but it seems likely (to me) that some relief for the appraisal creep of recent years will be a slam dunk.
Interestingly, today's Comical coverage doesn't mention Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt at all, despite his testimony in Austin and a detailed powerpoint presentation he's made available (click here to download, but it's big). Is it really that hard for a Comical reporter to pick up the phone? I know they ran an op-ed by Bettencourt several weeks ago, but I would think the reporters might want to talk to a guy who's compiled what seems to be a pretty good set of numbers on the state's property tax issues.
So far as I can tell, News-24 is the only local outlet that bothered to track down Bettencourt.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 21:39 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
DMN On Bias
A friend sent along this surprising admission on the Dallas Morning News editorial page:
It's time that we in the Fourth Estate admit that liberal media bias isn't a figment of Rush Limbaugh's imagination. Studies by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Knight Foundation have shown that, on average, journalists are much more politically and culturally liberal and secular than their readers.That's a pretty frank statement from a newspaper, and even more refreshing when compared to the Comical's denials of bias or its "equal-time" caricatures of conservatives.Given such a wide disparity in worldview, it's unsurprising that readers and viewers – that is to say, customers – find our products to be a less reliable guide to political and cultural reality than we do. We must do a better job of providing balanced coverage and analysis.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 20:52 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
They Just Can't Help Themselves
From the subtle bias files, here's an interesting line from a Clay Robison column posted in the Comical's metro/state section (not the opinion section):
Even Gov. Rick Perry, who hates the thought of raising taxes so much that he forced cuts last year in health care and other vital services, admits now that some state taxes are going to have to be increased if Robin Hood is to be banished.
Vital? Vital to whom? Vital for what?
The state budget was cut, yes.
And it's obvious what Robison thinks of the cuts.
Whether or not those cuts were a good thing, however, is a political judgment that ought not be made in a news column.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 20:42 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
Beldar Corrects The Comical
Beldar writes that the Comical mangled its reporting of the Supreme Court's most recent decision regarding Texas redistricting:
In the space of a two-sentence lede in a story tonight headlined "U.S. Supreme Court hands defeat to Texas Democrats," the Houston Chronicle's R.G. Ratcliffe managed both to demonstrate his liberal bias and to completely misreport what the Court did today about Texas redistricting....He goes on to make a convincing case that the article is both biased and factually inaccurate.
That newspaper is just an ongoing mess.
At least bloggers and talk radio are starting to notice. That's a (small) step in the right direction.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/04 07:37 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
19 April 2004
Rockets-Lakers
Hmm.... getting very sleepy.
If I had any confidence the Rockets could find a way to win on the road in the playoffs, I'd be tempted to stay up for it.
But I just don't think they're clutch enough to do it yet... decisions, decisions.
(04-20-2004 Update) Lakers win, 98-84. Looks like I made the right decision in crashing before the end. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 23:30 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
The Sinking Ship
No wonder the Comical doesn't have time to practice good journalism.
They're too busy reading staff memos full of gibberish and, according to the Brazosport News, attending sexual harassment seminars:
It could just be a coincidence that the Houston Chronicle decided to haul in its employees for a refresher course on sexual harassment right after the newsroom was all atwitter & buzzing over an allegation of female on male sexual misbehavin'.My, my.But it's not being viewed as a coincidence by those in the know.
The sexual harassment allegations concern a female scribe who apparently is having a problem or obsession with one of the swashbuckling young men on the staff who evidently complained to management that her overtures were getting to be a pain in the ass.
Editor Jeff Cohen certainly has his share of problems.
What to do?
I know! Maybe the showboating editor could suspend Mickey Herskowitz for another month!
It has nothing to do with any of the real problems at the place, but what the heck? He can show everyone who the boss is, dangit!
Seriously, how much longer does Jeff Cohen get to play editor before Hearst brings in some grownups?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 23:09 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Danger Train (Life)Savings Time
Here's an interesting theory from the Japan Times:
Annual traffic accidents can be reduced by about 1.1 percent if Japan adopts daylight-saving time, according to projections released Monday by the Japan Productivity Center for Socioeconomic Development.If changing the clock by an hour will do all those wonderful things for Japan, I say we get serious here in Houston about our Danger Train problem.The center said the economic effect of turning the hands of the clock ahead an hour between April and October would be worth some 46 billion yen a year.
In recent years, the annual number of traffic accidents has hovered around 940,000, and police say statistics show they usually occur around dusk.
Center officials said calculations based on the percentage of accidents vis-a-vis traffic volume by time and season of occurrence show that about 10,000 accidents can be avoided by shifting to daylight-saving time.
It also said that under a daylight-saving regime, 10 percent fewer women would have their purses snatched on their way home from work and 4 percent fewer would be similarly victimized while shopping in the early evening.
That's right -- let's move the damn clocks forward 12 hours or so. Think of the crashes we'll avoid!
We'll charge METRO police chief Tom "Supercop" Lambert with issuing citations to all Houstonians who are not in compliance with Danger Train (Life)Savings Time. He seems well suited to the task.
(found the link at Brothers Judd)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 22:06 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
Dillon
It's not like the defending Super Bowl champs weren't good enough.
They're deep, talented, and... well, they're the defending champs.
And now they've added a fine running back, Corey Dillon, to the mix.
I sort of hoped that Bill Parcells would pull the trigger and get him to Dallas. But it looks like the Parcells protege just keeps beating the mentor.
I miss football season.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 21:01 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bloggers Make South Dakota Politics Interesting
There's quite a web buzz at the moment about the South Dakota Politics blog, which has uncovered some really interesting information about that state's "dean" of political journalists surreptitiously acting as a political partisan.
I'm not raising this as a political point -- gawd knows, I try to avoid that here for the most part -- but I'm actually more interested in the Blog as Local Watchdog aspect of the story.
For a while, everyone wanted to have a warblog and pontificate on global strategy and big questions of national politics and such.
Those sorts of blogs are fine. I read some of them and contribute to one.
But as it turns out, blogs may have a much bigger contribution to make at a local or regional level, acting as a watchdog for politicians (or, in some cases, for the press), or as a clearinghouse for stories that just aren't getting detailed coverage (especially a problem as more and more New Times style weekly rags are dumping investigative reporters so they can push stories more likely to sell the sex toys and services in the back), or even as a repository for local entertainment (not many of these, but there's a niche to be filled).
Blogs are evolving into much more than the stream-of-consciousness personal journals of the internet past.
They are becoming the new alternative press -- some good, some bad, but definitely breaking real news and doing real analysis and covering unexplored angles.
For someone interested in politics and journalism and the web, these are exciting times. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 20:28 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)
MeMo?
So, the Comical is taking another stab at a blog. Or at least something they call a blog.
It's called MeMo.
The proprietor is the Comical's deputy managing editor/features.
She admits to being "a recent Houston transplant," so I'm not sure she's the best choice for a Houston blog.
I couldn't really say definitively, because I just can't make it through the thing.
I do like this part, though:
This started out as my daily memo to my staff, but it simply grew and got its own peculiar voice. Blame everything else on the folks at the Web site.I guess the staff lucked out on this deal. Unless she makes them read the blog now.
It's good to know that Comical editors have so much play time on their hands. We wouldn't want anyone over there actually concentrating on the bigger issues at the newspaper.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 20:03 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (4)
Remember
On this anniversary of the horrible bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, some of you might want to take a peek at the Daily Oklahoman's archived coverage.
There's a particularly good quicktime tour of the Memorial, which is quite moving.
I have a few photos posted in the gallery from my own trips there.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/04 17:04 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
18 April 2004
Blame The Drivers? No, Blame The Politicians
The Comical's Lucas Wall notes the following in a story today:
Vehicles collided frequently along the Main Street corridor long before the MetroRail line was built, Texas Transportation Institute data show.Lambert, of course, never misses an opportunity to berate Houston's drivers rather than concede there might be problems with the light rail situation.Between 1998 and 2000, nearly 8,000 crashes were recorded along the 7 1/2-mile corridor where Metropolitan Transit Authority light rail trains now travel. Almost 2,000 were on Main and Fannin alone, two streets that make up most of today's rail route.
The pre-rail crash total averaged about 51 incidents per week, or roughly 7 1/2 per day.
Vehicles have collided with trains 35 times since the rail line was completed six months ago, a little more than one collision per week.
"The reality is, the driving public was experiencing these serious collisions before we ever put a different mode of transportation there," said Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert.
Wall, a writer who has taken the opportunity to editorialize in his news columns in the past, passes up the opportunity to point out that the decision to place the light rail along this already dangerous traffic corridor and then not to segregate it properly was a political decision that may not have weighed safety factors heavily enough.
That's the point I made recently in the comments section here, and that a reader makes in the comments section here.
Laurence brings additional wisdom to this topic.
In a related article, Lucas Wall announces:
He and other experts cite four primary reasons drivers are more likely to get into a wreck here:Wall then lists the following, and develops paragraphs around them: Sprawl, Less Investment, Less Enforcement, Motorcyle Officers, Poor Driver Education.
The astute reader will note that, in addition to being clumsy headings stylistically and substantively, there are five of them, not the announced four.
Does anybody edit that rag?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/18/04 15:42 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (2)
Hughes For Gov?
Add another potential name to the 2006 Texas Gubernatorial Sweepstakes. Here's syndicated columnist Robert Novak sharing some gossip:
Following her impressive performance on NBC's "Meet the Press" April 4, Bush adviser Karen Hughes's friends and supporters in both Washington and Texas started quietly boosting her for governor of Texas in 2006.I'm constantly seeing that "Republican insiders" are not fond of Perry, but they are never named. Whatever his faults, one wonders how GOP "insiders" so dislike a governor who held the line on taxes (see Virginia for the approach he could have taken), who engaged a difficult redistricting battle at some political cost to himself but of definite benefit to the party, and who's pushing property tax reform. I guess that's why I'm just a GOP rambler and not an "insider" eh?Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded to the governorship in 2000 when Gov. George W. Bush became president, has indicated he will seek another term. But Perry has many enemies, and the word in Texas political circles is that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison could challenge him for the Republican nomination.
Conservative activists do not consider Hughes one of them and are not talking about her for governor. However, Republican insiders who are not fond of either Perry or Hutchison are starting to promote Hughes, a former television journalist who never has run for public office.
I can't say that Karen Hughes excites me as a potential candidate, but we'll see.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/18/04 10:29 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (2)
17 April 2004
Danger Train: Collision #35
Apparently, Houston drivers are just having no part of that recent report that everything is safe and sound with Metro's little choo choo:
Two people aboard a MetroRail train were injured today when a motorist failed to stop at a red light and collided with the train, Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said.70 passengers on board?The accident occurred at 1:20 p.m. as the light rail train was southbound on Fannin with 70 passengers on board, Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said. Horacio Morales, 38, of the 5800 block of Glenmont, was westbound on Rosedale when he allegedly drove through a traffic light and collided with the train, Connaughton said.
Two people on the train complained of minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital. Morales refused medical treatment, but was cited for running a red light, Metro officials said.
It was the 35th accident involving a Metro train.
They must be kidding. The only time I've ridden the Danger Train was on a Saturday afternoon, and there were about a dozen people on board. Maybe 18 people if you count the homeless folks passed out in the damn cars. This sounds like another of METRO's unsubstantiated "estimates."
You know what I wish? That the people who do Marvin Zindler's "Slime In The Ice Machine" jingle would come up with a "We're World Class!" jingle that Shara Fryer could use for reports on the Danger Train. That would rock!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/17/04 22:39 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (5)
International Festival
So is anyone going out to the International Festival in its (retarded) new home?
I'm planning on Astros baseball today, and am getting ready to head over to spend the time beforehand poking around our thriving downtown area, where the International Festival used to take place.
Interestingly, the price to the festival is high this year, the "venue" (if Reliant's parking and grounds can be called that justly) sucks, and the amount of music has been scaled back.
I'll be interested in seeing some attendance figures.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/17/04 15:02 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 April 2004
Corrections Are Your Friend
Gawd bless the bumbling Comical:
The photo that ran on Page 2B of Wednesday's Business section of Walter van de Vijver, Royal Dutch/Shell Group's former chief of exploration and production with a story about his cooperation with investigations of Shell's reserves was, in fact, of someone else.Oops!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/16/04 23:38 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
Danger Train v. Shaq?
Dave H., longtime friend, frequent commenter, occasional guest blogger, and member of the crack PubliusTX.net journalistic virtual brain trust sends along this little snippet he picked up from ESPN's Page Two column by Bill Simmons:
14. What's the most overrated angle of any playoff preview so far?Simmons's national readers surely have no clue that the man is serious about the choo choo.Anyone excited about Shaq-Yao in Round 1. You have a better chance of seeing Shaq get struck by the Light Rail in Houston than seeing him have problems with Yao in a playoff series. Give Yao two more years, some upper-body strength and teammates who understand his strengths ... then we can talk.
Deadly serious.
Then again, the chances of being struck by the Danger Train are pretty high regardless, so this may not actually prove Simmons's point.
But we do like the fact a national columnist has taken note of our little choo choo. That makes us world class, right?
Elsewhere, Simmons offers this assessment of the state of the Rockets:
11. Why is it better for Houston if they get swept by the Lakers?I would quibble with the claim of two years being wasted, since Yao has really stepped up his game this year. At the end of last year, we were fairly sure he wasn't another Shawn Bradley, but we didn't know he was poised to become the best big man in the league over the next few years (if only because of Shaq's injuries and the fact he doesn't play the whole season). But this year has been wasted, and future years will be wasted if we can't find the right players to complement Yao. At least everyone has stopped the inane references to Stevie Franchise.Because that means they'll clean house. We have now wasted two years of Yao's career. The best passing big man in two decades ... and he's stuck playing with shoot-first guards and people who can't move without the ball. It's criminal. Do you realize that Yao finshed the season with 122 assists in 82 games? How is this even possible? Imagine him on the Kings, or even the Jazz? This is insane.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/16/04 17:37 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (2)
15 April 2004
A New METRO Chief
Lucas Wall tracks down Houston's new METRO chief in his latest column:
Wilson, reached by phone at his Los Angeles office, said he's drawn to Houston because Metro "can have a tremendous influence on how the metropolitan area grows" and said he'll strive to "make Metro into more of an asset."Well that's just great. Our new METRO chief is concerned how the mass transit authority can manage Houston's growth, instead of how it might manage, oh, say, MOBILITY. TRAFFIC. TRANSIT.
Not good.
At least Wall didn't inject his views on the Iraq war into this article. Maybe the traffic beat is about where he belongs. Or maybe the tennis beat with Dale Robertson.
Speaking of exiled Comical mediocrities, what is Blinebury doing these days? Has he had a byline recently?
(04-16-2004 Update) Speaking of Wall and the Sandoval story, I hear the family was on O'Reilly last night, and that he was not impressed with the Comical's behavior. The Comical declined to send a representative to his show. Too bad.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/04 23:14 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
Alexander The Great Greek
Those wacky Greeks at Alexander the Great Greek make some darn good Spanokopita, Tiropita, Keftethes, and Dolmades, and darn fine Greek salads and pita bread.
I don't recommend the Pastichio.
The Barefoot Merlot is a decent inexpensive wine. The Lolonis (CA, but by Greek Vintners, as highlighted on the menu) Merlot is not.
Go when there are bellydancers (fri and sat) to accompany the bouzouki player. He's very good, but when he has to sing and dance to carry a slow night, it's just not as impressive as the bellydancers. :)
The Serbian fellow who waited on us -- Ivan -- was quite friendly, and even spoke a bit of Greek. Hell, he was just inattentive enough at times to pass for a damn Greek, but not inattentive enough to offend (the girls at the table loved him).
And no, this is not a TP-style review -- a good, professional-quality review. Rather, it's more along the lines of helpful hints to have a good time at Alexander's.
Helpful hints to enjoy your time in Houston. That's what we try to provide here from time to time.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/04 22:38 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (13)
Danger Train: Follies
In addition to frequent collisions, here's another problem of not properly segregating the Danger Train from normal traffic:
MetroRail service was disrupted this afternoon by a car stalled on the railroad tracks downtown at Pierce Street.Umm, how's this for an answer -- only so long as it takes to get a wrecker there to clear the damn thing!?Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said a motorist suffering a medical problem ended up stopping on the tracks about 12:45 p.m.
The incident temporarily suspended train service downtown and left dozens of passengers stranded at downtown train stations.
Several passengers at the Preston Street Station said they had waited more than 20 minutes for a train and expressed frustration that Metro had not posted an announcement of the disruption on the electronic signs at the station.
Connaughton said he did not know long it would take to resolve the problem.
We're world class!
(Update) Somehow, I just feel as if I've let Larry down with this post. I'm certain, actually. Like Bagwell and Biggio, I just couldn't deliver in the clutch.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/04 18:29 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (2)
Reader Participation: The Pretty/Dumb Index Of Local News
I read this lead paragraph from a KHOU report on their website yesterday and shook my head:
There's a new tourist attraction being built unlike anything else in the state. It's a half-dozen replicas of old time ballparks that's being built between the Gulf Freeway and Calder Road in League City. But questions are now arising over a major shortfall in the project's price tag.Just wondering, but wouldn't a shortfall in the price tag be a GOOD THING?
I'd like to buy a home by the end of the year. When I sit down at the closing table, I'm pretty sure if the price tag comes up shorter than I thought it would, I'll be pretty happy. Right?
Now, sure, we know what KHOU meant -- the price tag has mysteriously escalated, and/or the project is short of funding.
That's just not quite what they said. Because, for the most part, KHOU is the dumb news channel in town. Pretty people, but dumb.
So that got me thinking about the 6/10 pm news teams of the stations in town (News 24 is 24 hours, so we'll use their whole stable of anchors), and how we might rank them on attractiveness and intelligence of reporting. Here's what I came up with:
KHOU-11: Very Attractive/Dumb
KTRK-13: Unattractive/Above Average
KPRC-2: Average/Average-Dumb
News24: Below Average/Dumb
Those are my rankings. Please, Houstonians, do submit your own assessments in the comments section. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/04 18:04 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (5)
Another Great Browser
I'm a technological early adopter, so long as what I'm adopting is functional (i.e. it's not just for the sake of being an early adopter).
Sometimes, I figure out that something I've adopted early isn't as functional as I would have thought, and it gets dropped. This happened with the incorporation of Technorati's link cosmos that's all the rage on MT blogs right now, and which was in operation here as far back as July 2003 (the first reference I could find). I don't remember when I got rid of it, but I did so after I found it less than useful.
Mozilla Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox, on the other hand, was adopted almost immediately as my browser of choice, replacing the less functional and less flexible dinosaur browser from Microsoft.
And now, I'm playing around with yet another browser that blows the doors off the Microsoft Dinosaur: MyIE2.
In some ways, it's better than Mozilla Firefox. In some ways, it's not. One feature I really like is that the toolbars have an autohide feature that can be enabled, maximizing space for content. Very nice touch.
One thing is for sure -- there are two excellent free alternatives to Internet Explorer these days (forget Opera's free version and its ads), and they're both very very good.
If I haven't won you over to Mozilla Firefox with my carrying on, maybe MyIE2 (which has more of an IE feel) will interest you.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/04 17:48 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)
14 April 2004
Astros Bloggery
If you Houstonians aren't reading the Astro in Exile, you really should be.
Given my posts of late, this made me laugh:
The Houston Chronicle is so retrograde that I doubt even the Platonic ideal of an Astros blogger would be brought on board to help out with their mediocre coverage of the Astros.Nah, Rafe. I think you'd be a fine addition to the place. Problem is, you're TOO good for it. We wouldn't wish that on ya.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/04 22:15 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Cecil's
I've been so preoccupied this week with "serious" stuff that I've so far neglected to mention an email I got from a most excellent reader early this week.
She tells me that Cecil's Tavern, the venerable Montrose dive that suffered an awful fire a few months ago, is apparently open again for business.
I haven't been over there to check things out, but I have no reason to doubt our correspondent's good news.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/04 17:40 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)
Rick Casey Clarifies
Rick Casey, whom we caught rewriting a Washington Post column by Dan Morgan and presenting it as his own, has issued a "clarification" in his column today:
Clarification: I should have been clearer in attributing the facts in a column last week about U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla's administration of a political action committee. Although the column said the story was "detailed this week on the front page of The Washington Post," an e-mail from a reader felt I was presenting the work as my own. Another reader was so enthusiastic about the facts in the story that he praised my "investigative reporting."That's probably the best to be expected from a Comical columnist, but it doesn't really explain why he thought it was okay to lift entire phrases and slightly reword whole sentences. And it never credits Dan Morgan by name for the original investigative reporting. I do love that he admits using the Post article yet STILL getting facts wrong. Pitiful.The column was almost entirely based on The Washington Post story. I could have been more precise and apologize for any confusion.
The column contained two errors. One was to attribute to the PAC's founder, Dallas businessman Marcos Rodriguez, a quote that was actually given to the Post by Bonilla. The other was that the PAC, intended to support minority Republican candidates, gave $90,000 to the Republican parties of Maine, Delaware, Florida and Arkansas, not $10,000.
Editor Jeff Cohen, who recently suspended Mickey Herskowitz for recycling HIS OWN copy, doesn't exactly come off as Mr. Consistent in this, since ripping off someone else's work is not just "bad form" (as he called Herskowitz's transgression) but plagiarism.
Reader Representative James T. Campbell never answered my original email alerting the Comical to the problem, keeping his streak of never answering such an email alive and well. Seriously, would it have been so hard to respond with something along the lines of, "Thanks for writing us. We'll investigate this." Why have a reader representative if he's not going to act as a real ombudsman who works as a reader's advocate (not to mention defender of journalistic standards)? Oh wait, it's the Comical. Never mind.
More than ever, the Comical does need such an advocate for readers and standards of journalism. That paper has some real problems.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/04 08:18 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (8)
13 April 2004
Danger Train: Collision #34
To answer Rob Booth's question from earlier -- of course this collision counts!
Here are the details from KHOU-11:
I love how KHOU notes that Metro hopes to cut down on accidents by adjusting traffic lights. How many of you kind readers have a Danger Train Traffic Light at the edge of YOUR driveway? Just curious.Metro recorded its 34th light rail accident on Monday.
A driver backing out of a private driveway in the Texas Medical Center area grazed a train.
No one was hurt and the damage was minimal.
Adjusting traffic lights is one way Metro plans to help decrease the accident rate. Metro has the highest accident rate for any rail line in the country.
The Comical has coverage buried here, and KPRC-2's coverage is here. Action America keeps track of the accidents in an amusing fashion here.
We're world class!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/13/04 22:09 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 April 2004
Rick Casey: Plagiarist, Poor Journalist, Or What?
PREFACE: The Houston Chronicle has changed the online story that is now referenced by the following post, effectively whitewashing the journalistic sins of columnist Rick Casey with NO INDICATION they've done so. The date stamp on the current version backs up my assertion, as the original column appeared days before the stamp that column is carrying. Of course, I did keep a copy of the original column, which is quoted extensively in the post that follows, and I can share it with any interested party. I felt the need to add this note because I didn't want someone coming back later and saying my blockquotes didn't match the story.
A few days ago, Charles Kuffner called attention to a Washington Post article by Dan Morgan on a Texas PAC designed to help fund minority GOP candidates. It's a fascinating, well-written and well-researched piece that does not reflect well on the PAC or on Republican U.S. Representative Henry Bonilla.
Apparently, Houston Chronicle metro/state columnist Rick Casey liked it.
So much so that he effectively rewrote the column and presented it as his own original work, save for this backhanded blanket attribution found in the fifth paragraph of Casey's column (after he had written three paragraphs using information and ideas found in the Washington Post article and presented them as his own, giving no attribution):
The rest isn't exactly history. But it is an amusing story, as detailed this week on the front page of The Washington Post.
He then goes on to reword multiple paragraphs from the Washington Post article -- sometimes only changing a word or two of the text -- again without proper attribution.
Accusations of journalistic misconduct -- specifically, plagiarism, lack of attribution, and questionable ethics -- should never be made lightly. But after a close textual analysis of both the Washington Post article and Casey's Houston Chronicle article, I think those charges are valid.
In what follows, I'm going to present Casey's article paragraph by paragraph, beginning with each of his offending paragraphs, followed by the relevant Washington Post paragraph(s), and concluding with a short comment on each.
Casey's Paragraph 1:
Dallas businessman Marcos Rodriguez had a dream that one day black children and brown children would grow up to be Republican officeholders just like white children.
Morgan's Paragraph 14:
American Dream PAC had an idealistic goal when it was launched in 1997 by Marcos Rodriguez, a wealthy, Dallas-based Hispanic American investor in radio stations....
Casey paraphrases Morgan's paragraph, colorizing the language a bit, but does not give attribution to Morgan for the idea.
Casey's Paragraph 2:
So in 1997 he established the American Dream Political Action Committee, designed to raise money to fund the campaigns of Republican candidates of color or, as he put it, "to give significant, direct financial assistance to first-rate minority GOP candidates."
Morgan's Paragraph 1:
When Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.) took charge of an independent political fund called American Dream PAC in 1999, he made clear that its mission was "to give significant, direct financial assistance to first-rate minority GOP candidates."
Casey appears to use Morgan's quotation without giving any attribution, giving the impression that Casey tracked down the quote. However, Casey verified to a third-party who emailed him at my request that the quote came from the Washington Post article.
Casey's Paragraph 3:
At first, that's what the PAC did. In the 1998 race, it distributed $30,000 to 12 minority candidates. That was about 30 percent of the fledgling PAC's revenue.
Morgan's Paragraph 16:
During the 1998 election, the PAC set up by Rodriguez contributed $30,000 (nearly a third of its revenue) to the campaigns of a dozen GOP candidates of Asian, Hispanic, Native American or black heritage.
Casey only slightly rewrites Morgan's paragraph, uses all of Morgan's facts, and again fails to give attribution.
Casey's Paragraph 4 is a transition sentence that appears to be original.
Casey's Paragraph 5 contains the columnist's (inadequate) blanket attribution of credit to the Washington Post, after his first three substantive paragraphs used Morgan's material with no attribution given.
Casey's Paragraph 6:
Bonilla, who is something of a pioneer as a Hispanic Republican congressman, has had a hard time finding (these are his words) "good, solid minority candidates to expend the funds on."
Morgan's Paragraph 5 (relevant portion highlighted):
Bonilla, one of four Hispanic American Republicans in Congress, defends his PAC's record of assisting minority candidates, saying, "We did the best we could." In all, 27 minority office-seekers, predominantly Hispanic American, received money, mostly small donations. But Bonilla said it was sometimes difficult to find "good, solid minority candidates to expend the funds on."
Casey condenses and rewords Morgan's paragraph, with no attribution. Casey appears to use Morgan's direct quotation, giving the impression that Casey tracked down the quote himself. My third party did not inquire about this quote, but given what we learned about the other quote as well as the similarities to Morgan's Paragraph 5, it seems likely Casey lifted this one as well.
Casey's Paragraph 7:
In the 2000 and 2002 elections, the PAC donated a total of $29,250 to candidates, less than 10 percent of the $318,500 the PAC took in.
Morgan's Paragraph 18:
In 2000 and 2002, donations to federal candidates dropped to $17,750 and $11,500 respectively, a small portion of the $318,500 taken in, according to federal election records.
Casey rewrites Morgan's paragraph only slightly (even maintaining the same sentence structure!), and uses Morgan's facts, with no attribution given.
Casey's Paragraphs 8 - 11:
But some of them might not have been what businessman Rodriguez pictured in his dream.
One was incumbent U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico, an Anglo. Another was veteran U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, an Anglo who received $2,500 in 2002. This ranked him second only to Bonilla himself, who received a $5,000 contribution from the PAC.
At least those two had actual opponents.
Under Bonilla, the American Dream PAC also gave $1,000 to then-U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, who wasn't seeking re-election.
Morgan's Paragraph 19:
Recipients included several well-established nonminority lawmakers, including then-Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) and Reps. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) and Steve Buyer (R-Ind.).
Casey expands upon the original work done by Morgan (without giving attribution) by listing dollar amounts, thus introducing the first new information in his column. However, Casey gives no indication of the source he used to obtain his figures.
Casey's Paragraph 12 introduces figures that are not found in Morgan's article:
But if Bonilla wasn't so good at finding qualified minority candidates, he was good at raising money. His donors included a few donors from ethnic minorities, but also the likes of conservative angel James Leininger ($5,000) and then-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling.
Casey gives no indication of the source he used to obtain these figures.
Casey's Paragraph 13 is an editorial s