July 2005 Archives
30 July 2005
Okemah And The Melody Of Riot
Melody Riot (Jac Chebatoris, Newsweek)
After seven years, during which [Jay] Farrar recorded three of his own albums, Son Volt is back with “Okemah and the Melody of Riot”--which pairs Farrar's warm voice with jangly guitars and up-tempo melodies not heard in their previous efforts....NEWSWEEK: You married your high-school sweetheart and you have two kids. Did that play a part in your sort of taking a break from it all?
Jay Farrar: It did. I really did want to spend more time with them and watch them grow. I knew that I wasn’t going to have a chance to do that again--at least I didn’t foresee that--so I wanted to scale back a little bit.
What’s the latest between you and Jeff Tweedy? It's been 10 years.
The latest is not much. Immediately after Uncle Tupelo, we both made some efforts to stay in touch. Occasionally we went to each other’s shows and sound checks. We kind of, subsequently, drifted farther and farther apart, I think.
Are you bitter at all about the success that he’s had?
I’m not. I mean, his success has certainly added to the drama of the whole thing, but I feel good about the way I’ve approached it all, which is, that it’s not a competition. I think in the long run, that’s the right way.
What is the title “Okemah and the Melody of Riot” about?
Buy this CD!Okemah is the town in Oklahoma where Woody Guthrie was born so it’s just acknowledging his influence over the years on my music. I think his influence overall was major as it trickled down to people like Bob Dylan or Townes Van Zandt. So I’m just kind of acknowledging that. And the “Melody of Riot” is essentially just acknowledging where I was finding inspiration for this record, which was in writing melodic, up-tempo songs, which was a contrast to the last studio solo record, which was more acoustic based.
Finally, a Newsweek article worth reading. I've excerpted liberally, but good music fans should read the whole thing.
I'm off to Cactus in a bit to pick up the master's newest CD. And it looks like I'll have to head to Austin or Dallas in September, since we can't manage to get a Son Volt show in Houston.
UPDATE: The CD has been worth a seven-year wait. Wow. I can't wait to see the reconstituted version of this band (especially since I never saw the original).
UPDATE 2: From the Son Volt site:
On Okemah and the Melody of Riot, says Farrar, he aimed to create "a live feel, just trying to capture the moment when all the players are firing on all cylinders and the songs come together. So many records now are made with an artist, an engineer and a computer. I wanted this record to be the antithesis of that."Farrar asked a lot from his new recruits to the group – particularly in their flexibility and adaptability in a live setting. Okemah and the Melody of Riot veers from the flat-out ringing rock of "Afterglow 61" to the luscious layers of organ and harmony on the shuffling "Gramophone" to the somber smoky reflections of "Ipecac." He lays much of the results in getting it right to the band that he assembled.
"They all brought a considerable amount of musical experience with them," says Farrar. "We did a lot of live tracking, which can be difficult, but their familiarity with the process and confidence in their abilities made it happen."
What a concept, playing music that way! Good gawd, it's easy to understand why this guy inspired so many alt-country artists. It's even easier after listening to this CD. I can't get enough of the song "Atmosphere."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/05 14:48 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
The Dems' Long Summer
Senate approves bill protecting gun businesses (Carl Hulse, NY Times)
The Senate agreed to shield gun manufacturers and dealers from liability lawsuits on Friday, as Congress broke for a monthlong recess after sending President Bush energy and transportation bills that had been years in the making.
Long sought by the gun lobby, the Senate measure - approved 65 to 31 - would prohibit lawsuits against gun makers and distributors for misuse of their products during the commission of a crime. Senate supporters said the plan was needed to protect the domestic firearms industry from a rash of lawsuits that threatened its economic future.
[snip]
The gun measure was just one of the significant pieces of legislation to advance as Congress cleared its plate for a fall that will initially be consumed, in the Senate at least, by consideration of a Supreme Court nominee. Before leaving, Senate Republicans and Democrats also agreed on the schedule for confirmation hearings.
Ending a long policy struggle, the Senate passed and sent to Mr. Bush a broad piece of energy legislation, fulfilling an early domestic policy goal of his administration.
After extinguishing one last policy flare-up, the House and Senate also gave final approval to a $286.4 billion highway measure stuffed with special projects for virtually every Congressional district in the nation. Congress also finished its first two spending bills of the year, delivering $1.5 billion in emergency money to cover a shortfall in spending on veterans' health care.
And in an unexpected development, the Senate renewed its version of the antiterror USA Patriot Act.
It was a blistering pace compared to the usual level of legislative activity.
The Administration also won approval of CAFTA.
U.S. economic expansion shows steady strength (Bill Sing, LA Times)
The U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.4% annualized rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday in a report suggesting that output and job creation would speed up as businesses replenished depleted inventories of goods.
The government's initial estimate of growth in gross domestic product met economists' expectations but fell short of the first quarter's 3.8% pace and the revised 4.2% growth posted for all of last year.
But it was the ninth straight quarter the economy exceeded its long-term growth rate of about 3%. And although the nation can't match China's gazelle-like 9.5% clip, it is outperforming most other industrialized nations and topping average growth during the booming 1990s.
Note that Sing couldn't resist two not-so-subtle efforts to downplay the strong economic growth.
Bush Plans to Bypass Senate, Appoint Bolton (Warren Vieth and Sonni Efron, LA Times)
President Bush will sidestep Democratic opposition to his nomination of John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by making a recess appointment not subject to Senate confirmation, a senior administration official said Friday.
The appointment, which is likely to further roil relations with congressional Democrats....
If the Dems refuse to allow a vote, then the President will exercise his constitutional authority and sidestep them.
Dunce of the Week: Nancy Pelosi (Forbes)
This week our dunce's cap gets passed to Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader, U.S. House of Representatives. In coming out against the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which passed the House this week, Pelosi made the familiar (and disingenuous) left-wing case: CAFTA, written by greedy capitalists, fails to include protections for labor and the environment. Otherwise she'd have voted for it.
Yeah, right. Over John Sweeney's dead body you would.
The Dems aren't even obstructing all that effectively these days. But you get the sense from them that if they can just take down a White House aide (Karl Rove) that most of the electorate doesn't know, all will be right with their party.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/05 14:33 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Rolling Back The Progressive Administrative/Redistributive State
What kind of justice will we get? (Charles Krauthammer, Town Hall)
In the absence of a record, there has been a search for scraps, such as a five-paragraph dissent on the case of the arroyo toad. It's a federalism case in which Roberts dissented from the opinion that the Endangered Species Act allows the federal government to prohibit a developer from putting up a fence that would impede the movements of said toad.
[snip]
This is a thin reed on which to hang a constitutional philosophy. But it's about all we got. Does this portend a justice who will demolish the underpinnings of the regulatory state and seven decades of commerce clause precedent?
Who knows. But I doubt it.
Vision and Philantrophy (pdf) (Steven Hayward, Hudson Institute)
Liberalism as a programmatic ideology derives much of its energy and legitimacy with the public by assuming to be the prime force of human progress. In practical terms “progress” means the continual—and in principle unlimited—expansion of government. This is why more and more spheres of economic and social life end up being politicized despite our best efforts, and is also why today’s liberals slide naturally into calling themselves “progressives” to avoid the unpopularity associated with the “liberal” label. Public opinion remains vulnerable to liberal/progressive appeals, which is why narrow cost/benefit analysis and similar approaches are not sufficient to turn back liberalism. Right now the conservative movement does not explicitly contest the Left over the terms of how human progress is understood.
As a historical matter, it was during the “Progressive Era” 100 years ago that both the intellectual foundations of modern liberalism, and the corruption of American constitutionalism, were set in place. The ideas spawned during the Progressive Era established the foundations of both the welfare state and the regulatory state. Progressive liberalism began as a broad-based intellectual movement, comprising economists, lawyers, political scientists, historians, journalists, and practical politicians. In the space of a generation this movement reshaped our understanding of our political system. It requires an equally vigorous and broad-based intellectual movement to reverse this.
In other words, we should seek to roll back the Progressive Era.
The crisis of democracy in America (Gara LaMarche, OpenDemocracy.net)
In the last few years, radical-right political leaders have moved from the fringe essentially to control much of the national and many state governments. They, the fundamentalist clerics and their followers who comprise the “base” to which they feel most accountable, and the network of think-tanks and attack media which support them, make clear their intent to roll back the Great Society and the cultural, social and political gains of the 1960s. Now, with fights over social security and the courts, they are targeting the New Deal.
Some of these figures and institutions wish explicitly to return United States government, and its relationship to its citizens, to what it was before the Progressive Era.
Our view of the constitutional underpinnings of the Republic was transformed radically as a result of the Progressives -- and I would argue that we've only recently begun to recognize that transformation, thanks to various revisionist works that have come out (and that break the monopoly of the Progressive historians who effectively wrote the history of their victory, and the neo-Progressive historians they trained, who were responsible for at least the second and third waves of historiography of the period).
I'm not especially looking to Justice Roberts to be a foot soldier in Hayward's suggested rollback, but it would surely be pleasant if he turned out to move commerce-clause jurisprudence in that direction. I have smaller (more realistic) goals than Hayward.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/05 14:07 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Why You Should Never Fully Trust Offseason BS
Allen misses first practice; Burnett signs (Matt Mosley, Dallas Morning News)
As practice begain at 9 a.m., Allen stood alone in shorts and a T-shirt on a vacant practice field as his teammates went through drills. He was the only player who failed the conditioning test according to club officials. Allen, whom coaches had praised for having an excellent off-season, could end up on the team's physically-unable-to-perform list. Coach Bill Parcells, who will hold his daily news conference today at 1:30 p.m. (CT), said Friday that he didn't want any "Korey Stringer situations" alluding to the late Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who collapsed and died during the team's training camp in 2001. So, apparently all the BS during the offseason about Allen's excellent work was just that. Thank goodness training camp is here. The BS from coaches and PR people on various NFL teams ought to drowned out by some actual news. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/05 13:24 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0) I'm always on the lookout for streaming radio stations that play 80s/90s harder rock (not necessarily metal, but definitely harder-edged rock). The old KLOL-101 played a lot of what I'm talking about before it flipped formats. I honestly can't say if KIOL plays that kind of stuff or not, as I can't get a good signal in the parts of town I'm in most of the time (central Houston and Galleria) and they didn't have a net stream last time I bothered to look. I have stumbled across Netrock101 online, though, and so far it's been offering up a good mix of the sort of music I've been wanting. I found it via Shoutcast. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/05 12:42 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1) Army man wins G Bissau election (BBC News) Guinea-Bissau's former military ruler Joao Bernardo Vieira has won run-off presidential elections, the electoral commission has announced. Mr Vieira, known as Nino, came to power in a coup and ruled for 18 years until overthrown in 1999 by the armed forces. [snip] The election is intended to end years of coups and political instability. [Right!] During his campaign, Mr Vieira described himself as a gift of God to the people of Guinea-Bissau coming back to once again lead them to development and prosperity. If Governor Perry once again proves unable to get any movement on school finance, perhaps he can simply run on the notion that he is a gift of God to the people of Texas. Some people might say that's about all he HAS been doing. :) Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/05 08:46 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1) The last sentence here. I'm not going to excerpt it because that would spoil the effect. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 22:52 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0) Pelosi steps up & demands accountability (Sirotablog, via Houston Democrats) Roll Call has a new report up about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) holding an emergency meeting of the House Democratic Steering Committee tonight to discuss formal sanctions against the 15 Democrats who sold out their party and voted for the corporate-written Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Pelosi raised "the likelihood that defectors' committee assignments would be reviewed at tonight’s meeting of the Steering Committee." That's absolutely necessary - why should Democrats who undermine their party be given plum committee assignments over other, far more loyal and principled Democrats? Pelosi should be commended for her courage - and now she needs to back up her words with action. The Democratic Party no longer supports free trade. There's really no way to spin it otherwise. UPDATE (07-29-2005): Applauding the CAFTA 15 (New York Times) Trade votes are always cliffhangers, and Cafta was no exception. The vote, which started just after 11 p.m., took almost an hour as some Republicans, many from textile states, jockeyed over who would be allowed to vote against the bill and save face back home. But the Republicans who voted for Cafta at least did so knowing that they were ensuring for themselves the approval of their party leaders, including President Bush. Many of the Democrats who voted for the pact knew that they were practically guaranteeing themselves a primary fight come next election. Indeed, organized labor was already talking yesterday morning about extracting revenge. "Punish the Cafta 15" was a headline in Working Life, a pro-labor blog. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 21:15 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (5) The Note: Tough Duck (ABC News) If the Bush White House weren't so completely distracted by the Wilson leak investigation, perhaps the President would be able to actually get something done — besides sign CAFTA, the highway bill, and the energy bill into law; read all the improving economic figures; celebrate his still-bullet-proof Supreme Court nomination; and continue along semi-stealthily on 2006 fundraising and candidate recruitment. And if the Democrats weren't so sure that a one-sentence party platform ("Karl Rove should be in jail.") was a sure winner, perhaps they would Notice that the Republican majority is likely to get at least some credit with voters for passing these laws; that the Bill Clinton Democratic Party of free trade just might have been dead and buried shortly after midnight; and that the AFL thing — along with the America Coming Together thing, along with the DNC thing — leaves the party with some serious money and organization questions. And/but there's still the Iraq war and Social Security for the White House to deal with, but does anyone think Democrats are scoring political points galore on those? And/but perhaps Democrats will be able to convince the country by votin' time that Washington is a corrupt, Republican-dominated cesspool of special interest greed and that the macro economic numbers mean nothing. (Just like in 2002 and 2004. . .) So completes our snap-shot summary of everything you have to know about American politics in fewer than 250 words. Ouch. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 21:00 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0) Durbin was source for column about Roberts (Charles Hurt, Washington Times) Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin acknowledged yesterday that he was the source for a newspaper column that reported earlier this week that Judge John G. Roberts Jr. said he could not rule in a Supreme Court case where U.S. law might conflict with Catholic teaching. But the Illinois Democrat maintains that the column by George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley incorrectly captured the private conversation that the senator had with Judge Roberts in his Capitol office Friday. When the column appeared Monday, Mr. Durbin's office clarified that "Judge Roberts said repeatedly that he would follow the rule of law." Spokesman Joe Shoemaker also said he did not know who Mr. Turley's source was, although only a handful of people were in the room at the time. "Whoever the source was either got it wrong or Jonathan Turley got it wrong," Mr. Shoemaker said Monday. Yesterday, Mr. Shoemaker said the source was Mr. Durbin. Mr. Durbin certainly has had a bad run of late. It's really going to be hard to take anything he might say about the Plame/Wilson/Beltway Media Insiders story seriously at this point. But that surely won't stop him! Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 20:57 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0) John Gaver has updated his crash log with new information from METRO, and before today the count seemed to be 103 (not 102 as I previously had guessed). There were two more collisions today: A pedestrian was taken by ambulance to Ben Taub Hospital after a MetroRail train struck her at Main and McGowen in Midtown. It was the second MetroRail accident today. Metropolitan Transit Authority Spokesman George Smalley said the northbound light rail train was stopped at the intersection when it received a signal to proceed and started forward. Witnesses said the pedestrian, identified only as a woman who appeared to be in her 40s, was crossing Main from east to west and was struck by the right front corner of the train, Smalley said. "Some reports said she was running," he said. The woman was knocked to the side of the train and into the intersection, but was conscious when placed on the ambulance, Smalley said. The Houston Fire Department said they could not identify the woman because of federal privacy regulations. The accident was the 99th since the light rail trains began running in November 2003, and the seventh involving a pedestrian. One accident involved a man in a wheelchair. No. 98 occurred at 9:15 a.m. today, when a southbound train on Fannin struck a vehicle eastbound on Binz. There were no injuries. The motorist, who lives in Georgia, was ticketed for allegedly running a red light. Sallee's numbers are inaccurate, and should be diregarded in favor of John Gaver's database. I thought MayorWhiteChiefHurtt had the Renegade Downtown Jaywalking problem under control with their redeployment of manpower? Apparently not. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 20:06 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1) House Approves Free Trade Pact (Edmund L. Andrews, NY Times) The House of Representatives narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement early Thursday, allowing President Bush to put his signature to the nation's biggest reduction of trade barriers in more than 10 years. [snip] The vote, 217 to 215, came almost a month after the Senate approved the trade pact and gave Mr. Bush a crucial victory that had seemed in doubt a few days ago. As recently as Tuesday, fewer than half of Republican lawmakers had publicly endorsed the pact and almost all Democrats were planning to vote against it. [snip] The treaty has also been the focus of a power struggle between Mr. Bush, who championed it as a model for expanding free trade, and Democratic lawmakers who argued that it would encourage American companies to shift jobs out of this country while doing little to elevate the working standards of Central Americans. All but a handful of Democrats, including many who voted in 1994 for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which covered the far bigger trading partners of Mexico and Canada, voted against the Central American agreement even though many issues are the same. The issues are the same. The views of many Democrats on trade have changed. Hastert, DeLay, Blunt, and crew deserve credit for delivering another victory for the Bush Administration. MORE: Ah well, we're all Americans (Orrin Judd) There are perfectly coherent explanations for why you would vote against CAFTA if you're a Democrat, but the argument they've offered repeatedly tonight is hilarious: We have a constitutional duty to examine this treaty and upon that examination I have determined that it will not enhance and enforce labor laws in the Central American signatories so I have to oppose it. One wonders what nation's constitutional republic it is they think they're supposed to be defending? Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 08:06 | International | Technorati | Comments (0) Cattle Rustling, a Situation That Just Got a Whole Lot Worse (Sylvester Onyang, AllAfrica.com) According to the warriors who survived the bloody incident, the disagreement started at midday on July 10. Warriors from the Bokara ethnic group have been attacking the Pian and have stolen thousands of cattle in the last three months. In an effort to recover their cattle, the Pian tried to track the thieves who had stolen their cattle but failed. As a sort of compensation for themselves, they stole nine goats. A number of soldiers tried to track the footmarks of the thieves and arrived in Kosike village. "Fighting ensued when the soldiers attempted to drive the cattle out of the homesteads," said one of the survivors, Ekone a Koriang. Gunfire was exchanged between the two groups throughout Wednesday and into Thursday as UPDF soldiers were reinforcing troops and superior equipment like Mambas and Armoured Personnel Carriers. Warriors also attracted intervention from civilians from Lolachat sub-county and Pokot warriors also amassed in large numbers from the kraals to help their kin. "How can we lose thousands of heads of cattle to the Bokora and the army reacts just because of nine goats stolen from the Bokora?" asked one elder. It is one of many strange quirks of my personality that I have been following Ugandan cattle rustling for many years. Thanks for indulging me. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/27/05 22:55 | International | Technorati | Comments (0) House rejects school finance, tax bills (AP) You might call it chaos. Confusion. Fatigue. Certainly you can call it a stalled special legislative session after the Texas House voted down its own multibillion-dollar school funding bill and property tax relief measure today. The moves appeared to spell trouble for the latest 30-day special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry to change the Texas school funding system and reduce property taxes. But other bills on those subjects still could be considered. GOP House Speaker Tom Craddick said the session isn't necessarily doomed, but he did say legislators — who have spent two regular sessions and three special sessions tackling school finance — are tired. They managed to boost their own benefits. What more could anyone want? Poor things are worn out. So, the minority party remains mostly irrelevant. There is no conservative leadership among Republicans. And there is not much leadership among the RINO contingent. Dysfunctionality, baby, Texas style! Even for someone who generally doesn't WANT the silly SOBs to get much done, this is kind of brutal to watch. Thankfully, NFL training camps are opening and more interesting fare is on its way. UPDATE: Now here's the kind of analysis I wish I could have mustered. But like Speaker Craddick, I'm just too tired. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/05 22:36 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (5) KRIV-26 reports a Danger Train collision today, near the Medical Center. The best guess at the moment is that it was Collision #102. I'll post a link if anybody else covers it. UPDATE (07-27-2005): Callie posts the link to the Chronicle (yeah, that Chronicle) coverage: A MetroRail train and a private ambulance collided at 4:44 p.m. Tuesday in the Texas Medical Center, the transit authority said today. It was the 97th light rail collision since the trains began running in November 2003. Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Ken Connaughton said there were no injuries. He said the driver of the ambulance was cited for making an illegal left turn into the path of the train. No, it wasn't the 97th collision. Best estimate is that it was #102. At least medical personnel were quickly on the scene this time. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/05 22:09 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (2) In recent Danger Train collision posts, I've mentioned that there are probably crashes that haven't been covered by local media, and we'd just have to wait for Tom Bazan's regular request of METRO collision data to be sure. Bazan recently got the newest list, although some of the incidents METRO supplied seem not to have been actual crashes. John Gaver has some preliminary analysis, and is following up with METRO. Still, it seems highly likely that we've already passed Danger Train Collision #100. It's not very world class of METRO to keep crash data from a public that wants to give #100 a proper celebration! Bah. Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/05 20:40 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0) Lending a Hand to Argentina's Protesters: Foreign Volunteers Glean Perspective On Globalization (Monte Reel, Washington Post) It's not the usual sort of vacation destination, hidden away among crumbling brick bungalows on a rutted mud road. Accommodation is a bunk in an unheated room. Days are spent working without pay in a neighborhood bakery, or marching in street protests. But for hundreds of young American and European activists, the new way to spend summer break is living and working among Argentina's piqueteros, or picketers -- the protest marchers who have filled the streets of many cities and towns since the country's massive economic collapse in 2001. In this ragged neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the college-age visitors say, globalization is more than a vague concept to be criticized from abroad. Here, they say, it has caused real problems and sparked creative solutions. "In the U.S., you might have a big protest of 200,000 people in Washington, and then everything just goes away," said Tessa Lee, 20, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "But I heard that here in Argentina, they were getting things done. That's why I came." Wait until Tessa Lee gets back to school and adds the Blogger Conference Call to her political activism toolbox! Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/05 06:25 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2) America's economic nationalists find new anxieties to feed on (Ronald Brownstein, LA Times) After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the economic nationalists faced an even larger problem: Their arguments about America's economic security were almost entirely drowned out by the focus on the nation's military security. But in the 2004 presidential race, the wind shifted. While Bush staunchly defended free trade, all of the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination expressed far more skepticism toward open markets than Clinton had. The same drift has continued this year. CAFTA squeezed through the Senate, 54 to 45. That's seven fewer votes than NAFTA won 12 years ago. In 1993, half of Senate Democrats voted for NAFTA. Less than one-fourth of Senate Democrats supported CAFTA. Brownstein neglected to add that not one viable 2008 Democratic Presidential contender in the Senate supported CAFTA (nor does former Senator and likely 2008 candidate John Edwards). Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/05 22:32 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0) Dien Bien Phooey (Spengler, Asia Times)Streaming Rock
29 July 2005
Will It Work In Texas?
28 July 2005
Blog Line Of The Week
A Pro-Trade Party No Longer (cont'd)
An American Politics Snapshot In 250 Words
Keep Him Talking!
Danger Train: Collisions #104 and 105
The House Delivers On Trade
27 July 2005
The Ugandan Cattle Rustling Files
26 July 2005
Benefits Boosted. Mission Accomplished?
Danger Train: Collision #102?
We May Have Missed #100
Protesting 101: Part of any good college education
25 July 2005
The return of the economic nationalists
Spengler analyzes coalition/Iraq casualties
At the beginning of 2005, the monthly rate of Iraqi casualties was the same as coalition casualties. Since then coalition casualties have fallen by half while Iraqi casualties have tripled. There is no reason for these trends to change
Iraq's military and police forces well may become an instrument of Kurdish and Shi'ite domination of the Sunni minority. Assuming the putative worst case, namely that Shi'ites increasingly wage civil war against a Sunni resistance, their young men will continue to fill uniforms even if casualty rates rise drastically. Iraq's Shi'ites have no choice about it. The alternative would be to capitulate to a combination of Ba'athist remnants and Islamists whose agenda would be to restore the Sunni dominance of the status quo ante.
"Iraqification" bears no resemblance to "Vietnamization".
Spengler tends to get things right.
If anything, the penultimate paragraph suggests (as Orrin Judd has argued for some time) that one major mistake in Iraq has been moving too slowly in turning the country over to Iraqis. All I would add to Spenger's commentary is this: not only are Shiites NOT going to capitulate to Baathists and Islamists, they might well prove more effective in neutralizing the threat (by refusing to limit themselves to Western notions of decency, and simply getting the job done).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/05 22:21 | International | Technorati | Comments (0)
From the "It's good to be in the majority" files
AFL-CIO Splinters, Spooking Some Democrats (Ron Fournier, AP)
The future of the labor movement could be greatly affected by the success or failure of Stern's effort to build a coalition outside the AFL-CIO that dedicates more money and manpower to recruiting union members while adjusting to demands of the global economy.
His Change to Win Coalition consists of seven unions, four of which boycotted the AFL-CIO convention: The SEIU, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile, hotel and restaurant employees.
Labor officials expect the UFCW and UNITE HERE to leave the AFL-CIO later.
Those four unions represent one-third of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members. The SEIU and Teamsters alone account for more than $20 million of an estimated $120 million AFL-CIO budget.
Much of that money goes to Democratic candidates and to political operations that benefit the Democratic Party. Stern, Hoffa and their colleagues in the Change to Win Coalition pushed the AFL-CIO to shift focus from such political activity to recruiting new union members, contending that a growing union movement would naturally increase its political and bargaining power.
"They said no," Hoffa said at a coalition news conference held a few blocks from the AFL-CIO convention site. "Their idea is to keep throwing money at politicians."
Democratic politicians catch most of the AFL-CIO donations, one reason why party leaders worry about a weakened federation. The AFL-CIO also spends millions of dollars on programs that help get Democratic voters to turn out on Election Day.
Democrats can't be happy to see such dissension among one of their most important constituencies.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/05 22:08 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 July 2005
A new type of METRO collision!
(Image borrowed from Lone Star Times)
Every time there's a Danger Train collision, we hear the METRO boosters talk about how bad Houston drivers are.
Now that there's been a collision between two METRO buses, I wonder what they'll have to say.
Like the Danger Train, METRO buses have also tasted blood. We may need the equivalent of Dr. Loomis to stop them from killing again.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/05 23:11 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
A Straussian Cabal?
Getting on the same page (Washington Whispers, US News & World Report)
Wanna read the books the White House reads? It's simple--pick up the smartly conservative Claremont Review of Books . Insiders say the White House orders over two dozen of each issue of the quarterly journal, and for good reason. The Review focuses on conservative politics, news, and ideas familiar to the White House.
The silly left has really dropped the ball. They're expending all that energy trying to take down Karl Rove when the real enemy is Leo Strauss. Tsk tsk.
The online version of CRoB is here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/05 22:15 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
What Nathaniel Branden Might Have Been...
A church that packs them in, 16,000 at a time (John LeLand, NY Times)
Mr. Osteen, 43, a personable Texan with soap-opera features and wavy, gelled hair, did not go to seminary and dropped out of college after a year. But since he inherited the church from his father in 1999, he has been on a roll, spreading a simple self-help message that congregants say is both uplifting and accessible. God, Mr. Osteen preaches, does not want to see people suffering and poor; he wants them to be healthy, wealthy and wise.This message, along with Mr. Osteen's boyish appeal and media savvy, has produced the popular television ministry, a best-selling book, national arena appearances by Mr. Osteen (including two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden last year and another date scheduled for October) and a congregation that has quadrupled in six years. The choir alone has 500 members.
To his flock, Mr. Osteen is to varying degrees spiritual leader, motivational speaker and celebrity. Congregants line up for his autograph after services. His publisher, Warner Faith, provided a private jet for his tour to promote the book, "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential," which has 2.8 million copies in print. With the book's success, Mr. Osteen said he has forgone his $200,000 salary from the church this year.
Joel Osteen, self-help guru (Michelle Cottle, BeliefNet)
Now, no one is suggesting that Christianity should be a perpetual downer, wallowing in pain, suffering, guilt, original sin, and endless repentance. Then again, should religion really be all about making people feel super-de-duper about themselves? I thought that was what self-help gurus were for. Osteen apparently disagrees, boasting to the Times about the beautiful simplicity of his message: "If you give, you will be blessed. I talk about things for everyday life. I don't get deep and theological." But on some level, shouldn't one's defining belief system have some deeper element to it than "If you pray and tithe, God will make you successful"?
Moreover, this isn't just about keeping things easy to understand. There seems something distasteful, if not spiritually hazardous, about a man of God peddling the notion that, with enough faith, members of their flock should expect to receive all manner of earthly blessings, including a nice car, a good job, a hot wife, a healthy body, etc. (Osteen apparently likes to open his sermons "with anecdotes from his own life, about how through faith, he received a house, a parking space, a happy marriage.") First off, this just isn't true. Lots of devout, God-fearing folks wind up with really terrible lives. Are we to assume that God loves them less? That they didn't pray long enough, or hard enough, or in an appropriately upbeat fashion? With his shiny, happy sermons, Osteen seems to be sowing some potentially destructive theological weeds.
Smooth Jazz: Heeding the Siren Song of Joel Osteen (Slampo's Place)
But Joel Osteen is different. Yes, we like his message: No judgment, no condemnation. A mother-in-law joke to warm things up. Some feel-good therapy, a little self-help, a few gentle admonitions about personal responsibility, He’s still clinging to The Book, it’s true, but he also stresses good works. His is a modern, inclusive faith, one that subsumes so many church traditions and schools of American thought that it makes our head swim.
Ayn Rand considered using a priest in her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged, but ultimately dropped the character because she couldn't make him at all believable. I sort of think of Joel Osteen as the character who was almost included in Atlas Shrugged -- ultimately unbelievable as a priest, but a pretty cool character other than that.
Cottle calls what Osteen does theological. When I saw his service televised in its new home recently, I laughed out loud at the spinning globe behind the man (where the hoop used to be!), but no sign of a cross in sight. Quite a number of folks find comfort in what the man does, although I tend to think of it more as psychology than theology. But hey, folks who want to call it Christianity and get in good with Joel and the Lord can knock themselves out and call it whatever they'd like. And as Sedosi says, enjoy those Noah's Nachos and Jesus Dogs, and Holy Soda Water at the concession stands while you're feeling GOOD about yourself!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/05 21:44 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)
23 July 2005
The Bad Time Is Nearly Over
Jones: Cowboys can't waste time (Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Morning News)
The Cowboys report to Oxnard, Calif., an hour north of Los Angeles, on Thursday, and go through their first practice Saturday.
It's almost here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/05 22:21 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)
Danger Train: Collisions 96, 97, 98 Reported
Following the roadtrip to Gruene, I got buried at work all day yesterday well into the evening, and thus have neglected posting here and at blogHOUSTON.
Fortunately, both Anne Linehan and Tom Bazan alerted me to the latest Danger Train collisions:
MetroRail logged its third collision in four days Friday, making 29 this year and 96 since fall 2003, when testing of the rail line began.
Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Ken Connaughton said a motorist heading west on Wichita ran a red light and struck a light rail train headed south on Fannin.
In the earlier incidents, Connaughton said, shortly after noon Wednesday a 37-year-old woman drove out of a private driveway on Fannin and collided with a southbound train. He said the woman was cited for failure to yield right of way.
And at 10:05 a.m. Tuesday, a car driven by a 48-year-old man collided with a train as the car turned left against a traffic light while both were headed south on Greenbriar. The motorist was ticketed for an illegal turn, Connaughton said.
The Wednesday accident was previously blogged here as Collision #96.
The additional two accidents makes 98 total collisions by my count (not 96 as reported by the Chronicle), but only 26 for the year (not 29 as reported by the Chronicle), with one death.
Since the local media do not regularly report these accidents and they are not reported on METRO's website, it's very easy for the numbers to get out of sync.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/05 10:46 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (4)
21 July 2005
These Midweek Roadtrips Just Kill Me
I'm about to embark on an over-and-back roadtrip to New Braunfels/Gruene, where my Dead End Angels buddies are playing kind of a different gig.
Since the guys haven't been playing much due to new arrivals in the families of various band members and they aren't set to play much until this fall, I'm stuck roadtripping over to see 'em for the first time in ages.
Still, the ACL exhibit looks pretty cool. That seems worth doing for anybody who has an interest in Texas music and will be in the area.
I'm sure I'll regret this when I MUST be at the office early Friday, but what the hell... I'm outta here shortly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/21/05 14:27 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (5)
20 July 2005
Become A Precinct Chair, Run For US Senate
Our friends on the Left are holding Precinct Chair training.
If you're of that political persuasion, I encourage you to go get the training. Goodness knows those sorry members of the Stupid Party parading about Austin desperately need some competition (or maybe just a good swift kick in the arse).
And who knows, in a very short time, that Dem precinct chairmanship could be a springboard to a Senate candidacy!
BTW, I have a little over-under on the Hutchison/Radnofsky race going over at the newly expanded Perry vs World (Evan is now commenting on Texas politics beyond the governor's race). Feel free to add your over-under pick.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/05 20:42 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
At Least The Minority Is Competing For Something
The Stakes in Roberts's Nomination (Bruce Shapiro, The Nation, via Brothers Judd)
To understand Judge Roberts's unique appeal, forget for a moment "conservative," "textualist," "original intent" and the other shorthand with which get-ahead Republican law school grads watermark their résumés. Look instead at a single case decided by Judge Roberts and two other members of the DC Court of Appeals less than a week ago. As it happened, the day before that ruling was released, President Bush interviewed Judge Roberts at the White House. Judge Roberts, it is widely reported, aced his interview; but his appeals court decision due for publication just twenty-four hours later--about the rights of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay--was, in effect, the essay question.
Here is the question: Do the obligations of the Geneva Conventions apply to prisoners seized in Afghanistan? And can the President convene military trials, unreviewable by any courts and Congress? The case involves Salim Ahmed Hamdan, allegedly a driver for Osama bin Laden, captured on the post-9/11 battlefield and held in Camp Delta. Last year a federal judge shut down Hamdan's trial and up to a dozen other military tribunals. As convened by the Pentagon, those drumhead tribunals, wrote the lower court, amounted to a violation of the Geneva Treaty and an unconstitutional seizure of power by the President.
Whatever Judge Roberts's performance in his interview with the President, whatever his sterling report card as litigator and jurist, we can be sure there was only one acceptable answer to the Guantánamo essay question, and the judge gave it. He voted, along with his two appeals court colleagues, all three of them Reagan or Bush appointees, against Geneva Convention protections for Guantánamo captives, in scathing language ordering the military tribunals forward, empowering the President, and the President alone, to determine those prisoners' fate.
I've seen enough from local Republican types today that I feel justified in continuing to call my party the Stupid Party (as I have for some time), but if any Democrats actually try to stall the nomination of John Roberts on the basis that we're being mean to terrorists, they're going to win the title of Stupid Party hands down.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/05 20:33 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Danger Train: Collision #96?
Accident Blocks METRORail Track (KPRC-2 News)
An accident involving a METRORail train and a sport utility vehicle blocked a section of the light-rail tracks Wednesday afternoon.
Officials said the accident happened shortly after 12 p.m. on Fannin near Oakdale near downtown Houston. Details of the collision are not yet known.
By my count, that's collision #96, but we usually find out from Tom Bazan's public information requests that a few collisions in METRO records have gone unreported, so who knows.
We're getting awfully close to the big 100! That will be world class.
UPDATE: Here's KHOU-11's report:
A citation was issued to the driver of a vehicle involved in a light rail accident Wednesday.
A Metro train collided with an SUV as it pulled out of a parking lot near the intersection of Fannin and Oakdale.
One person on the train was taken to the hospital, but injuries were not considered serious.
The SUV driver was cited for not yielding the right of way.
How many cities have light rail designed so that an SUV pulling out of a parking lot can run into their multimillion dollar light rail transit backbone?!
We are definitely world class.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/05 13:27 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)
19 July 2005
The Worst Time Of Year (cont'd)
OU-Miami deal near finalization (Jenni Carlson, Daily Oklahoman)
The proposed two-game series has yet to be formalized. Contracts need to be signed, and details need to be finalized. Yet insiders say that the blockbuster deal between the powerhouse programs is almost done.The Hurricanes would come to Norman in 2007, and the Sooners would make the trip to Miami in 2009.
Not only is this the resurrection of one of the best series in all of college football — OU-Miami was the matchup of the mid-’80s — but it is also an example of how to do business. Athletic directors across the country should take note. Just because the NCAA added a 12th game to the schedule doesn’t mean it has to be a cupcake.
The Sooners are leaders in that regard. Under the direction of Joe Castiglione and Bob Stoops, they have already set up future series against Washington, Florida State, Notre Dame and LSU. A couple of those programs are down right now, but all are among the most successful in college football’s annals.
UT picked to win Big 12 south (Houston Chronicle)
The Texas Longhorns are the preseason favorites to win the Big 12 South, according to the annual preseason media poll released Monday.
The Longhorns, who return 17 starters from last year's team that went 11-1 and won the Rose Bowl, received 40 first-place votes. Defending conference champion Oklahoma was second with nine votes, followed by Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
Practice makes perfect for UT, even in the summer (Andre Shannon, Austin American Statesman)
"We know what it takes (to win). We have a whole lot expected from us this season," [Vince] Young said. "If we get out here and work like we're doing right now and get in rhythm, when two-a-days come, the coaches will be like, 'Oh man, them boys have been working hard.' So the only thing they'll have to do is just add to what we've done and work on the little things."
Young has been using the informal practice sessions to work with Texas' group of young receivers.[snip]
Young said his off-season routine has been mostly focused on learning to spread the ball around, stay poised in the pocket and release the ball in less than four seconds.
"I'm going to play V. Young's game: whatever it takes to win," Young said. "Pocket passer or mobile quarterback, that's what I want to be. I want the defensive coordinator to say, 'Is he going to run it or throw it?' I want to keep them on the edge at all times."
Young, who has been working out with UT's baseball strength coach to build his arm strength, said he has no plans to change his mechanics to answer critics of his throwing style.
"A lot of guys have their own throwing style," he said. "With mine, I like to use all motions. If you look at a lot of the NFL quarterbacks, they throw it all kinds of ways. It's just a matter of having a strong arm and getting it there."
Scouts agree UT's Young has star quality (Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle)
Young's accuracy is a concern even though he completed 60 percent of his passes the past two seasons. To correct glitches in his delivery, Young spent part of the offseason working with former NFL co-MVP and mentor Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans.
UT coach Mack Brown said Young threw with more confidence and velocity than ever in spring workouts. And some scouts want to see how Young responds to losing his best receiver (Roy Williams) and running back (Cedric Benson) in successive years.
"The criticism is not really valid that he's not a good passer," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. "When he makes some bad throws, he makes some really bad throws and is so far off target you wonder if he can play in the NFL. He has to eliminate those awful throws and questionable decisions.
"But whether he creates with his arm or legs, at the end of the day, who cares?"
Is Kiper on crack?
The criticism IS valid that he's not an accurate passer. And the fact that the guy insists he doesn't need to work on his mechanics is about par for the course. Mack Brown's program is known for recruiting talented players who don't really improve or learn that much. Chris Simms' stunted development is a case in point, as is the team's starting quarterback insisting he doesn't need to work on his mechanics, he'll just do as he pleases. Contrast the way Mack Brown wastes talent with the perennial NFL factory, Miami (the U). Sure, they get talent there, but I bet TP may chime and tell us that they coach 'em up a little bit down there in Coral Gables.
Really, this is a depressing part of the year for me. The weather in Houston is horrible, training camps haven't started, and football seems SO far off.
The good thing is, it's always a sign that we're closing in when the Shorthorns start predicting Big 12 and National Championships!
Bob Stoops owns Mack Brown. I really don't see that changing this year, even with all of the giddy Shorthorn press coverage that we're going to see for the next few weeks.
As for the Miami-Oklahoma series that's nearly finalized, that's awesome. Championship programs ought to square off against each other. Contrast that with the attitude of Mack Brown and DeLoss Dodds, who insist that even scheduling a "marquee" game against a team like Arkansas makes their schedule too tough. Brown and Dodds deserve to lose to Bob Stoops every year.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/05 22:35 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (3)
A Wild Day In Small Town Oklahoma
Hominy Diner Waitress Shot To Death (KOTV-6 News)
A gunman walks into an Osage County diner and opens fire Tuesday afternoon. A waitress is dead and the suspect is in custody. The shooting happened just after 1 PM in downtown Hominy at the Hominy Diner.
News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says the victim is 26 year old Rebecca Clements of Hominy. Residents and customers of the Hominy Diner are shocked and in grief after the shooting at the diner on Hominy’s Main Street.
Authorities say the suspect is 63 year old Roy Westbrook ... who was recently named ‘Citizen of the year’. He was arrested inside his car in front of the diner.
Authorities believe the shooting stemmed from a civil dispute.
An investigation into the shooting continues.
At the very least, he's going to have to give back the Citizen of the Year plaque.
UPDATE: Another news station reports that the dead woman was pregnant. The Osage County Sheriff should go confiscate that Citizen of the Year plaque tonight!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/05 20:35 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
Blog Line Of The Week
Evan scores, with this:
Lots of folks base their campaign plans on changing the turnout model into one more favorable to them. We generally have a name for these candidates: losers.
Okay, it's two lines, but they go together.
Ha ha ha ha.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/05 07:44 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (3)
18 July 2005
What Pledge Did The President Qualify?
Bush would fire leaker if crime committed (Jennifer Loven, AP)
President Bush qualified his pledge to dismiss any White House official found to have leaked the name of a CIA operative, saying Monday that "if someone committed a crime" he would be fired.
In September 2003, the White House had said anyone who leaked classified information in the case would be dismissed.
President Discusses Job Creation With Business Leaders (September 30, 2003)
Q Do you think that the Justice Department can conduct an impartial investigation, considering the political ramifications of the CIA leak, and why wouldn't a special counsel be better?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Let me just say something about leaks in Washington. There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.
And so I welcome the investigation. I -- I'm absolutely confident that the Justice Department will do a very good job. There's a special division of career Justice Department officials who are tasked with doing this kind of work; they have done this kind of work before in Washington this year. I have told our administration, people in my administration to be fully cooperative.
I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true and get on about the business.
We're constantly told by professional media that their editors and checks and safeguards and superior resources produce a product that is objective and unbiased, unlike the rants of bloggers.
Then they demonstrate research skills that would be considered pitiful coming from any blogger, let alone a journalist with access to Lexis Nexis.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/05 23:21 | Media Matters | Technorati | Comments (2)
We Like Trade Less Than Beating The President
Government, business officials participate in CAFTA rally (Jenna Colley, Houston Business Journal)
U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, gathered with several other local government officials and business executives on Monday at the Port of Houston Authority to rally congressional support, particularly from Houston-area representatives, for the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Already approved by the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives is likely to vote on the trade deal in the coming days. Approval in the House would send the deal to President George W. Bush's desk.
The trade pact is expected to create 3,000 new jobs for Texas during its first year and an additional 16,000 in its first decade, according to representatives from Brady's office.
In 2004, Texas was the third-largest exporter to CAFTA countries -- sending exports totaling nearly $1.7 billion.
Export goods, not people (Oscar Arias, Washington Post)
As the House of Representatives begins debate on the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which was approved by the Senate late last month, members should keep in mind that trade is essential for Central America's economies to grow and lift millions out of poverty. We ask not for charity but for enlightened self-interest from our northern neighbor, as there is no doubt that the United States is affected by the fortunes of this small isthmus, so closely tied to it by geography, by history and now by millions of Central Americans who have made their homes in the North.
A decline in illegal immigration is just one of the benefits the United States would enjoy as a result of CAFTA's impact on Central American economies. In recent years, money sent home by migrant workers has been the sole life raft of Central America's poor, a situation that is neither just nor sustainable. It would be absurd for the United States and Central America to continue to worry about illegal immigration and poverty when a mutually beneficial solution to both these problems lies close at hand.
CAFTA would allow Central America to thrive by exporting goods through trade rather than exporting people through migration. Opportunities would open for consumers to acquire better and cheaper goods; for small and medium businesses to expand and diversify; for more private investment, access to new technologies and educational opportunities; for a qualitative and quantitative improvement in the job market; and for higher economic growth, government revenue and increased social spending.
Democrat votes on NAFTA crucial (Maria Recio, Fort Worth Star Telegram)
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D- San Antonio, one of five undecided Texas Democrats, said he's torn on the issue. He's a free-trader, but he laments that Democrats had no input in the legislation.
"Conceptually and ideologically, I'm there," he said. "But why were Democrats excluded totally from the process?"
CAFTA reflects Democrats' shift from trade bills (Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) privately warned Democrats last month that a vote for CAFTA is a vote to stay in the minority.
Democrats who are there "conceptually and ideologically" should support the trade agreement. Democrats who are running for President or beholden to the House Minority Leader's view of her party will seemingly behave otherwise.
Everyone is reporting that a vote is likely next week, so Reps. Hastert, DeLay and Blunt must think they have the votes they need for passage.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/05 21:48 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Who Knew?
China imports take a dive on high prices (Platt's Oilgram News, 18 July 2005, subscription only)
China’s hunger for crude and refined products is widely seen as a key factor behind
record-beating crude prices over the past year. But traders, analysts and industry sources around Asia said July 15 the latest spike in WTI futures, to an all-time high of $62.10 July 7, may have burst the China demand bubble.Souces in China say the upward march of US oil and product futures into July, dragging up Asian benchmarks as well, created substantial pain at almost every level in China’s oil sector.
So, a country with a relatively undeveloped economy does begin to feel the pinch at a certain crude price point.
It's almost as if supply and demand apply to (new-age) Communists along with everyone else. Shocking!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/05 20:47 | International | Technorati | Comments (0)
17 July 2005
He'd Probably Be A Better Justice Than Senator
Texan With Bench Experience Wades Into Justice Fray (Carl Hulse, NY Times)
Work that has drawn praise from Republicans and conservatives has drawn scorn from Democrats and liberals who say Mr. Cornyn is in too much of a rush to pick a fight with the opposition and burnish his conservative credentials.
"I think sometimes he has been a little presumptuous," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.
Ralph Neas, head of the liberal group People for the American Way, said, "I am not sure anyone has more consistently been public on so many issues for the right as John Cornyn."
The strong conservative flavor of Mr. Cornyn's Senate career has also surprised some in Texas, where he was known more for his efforts to expand public records laws - a cause he continues to pursue in Washington in a rare bipartisan effort.
Flavor?
Have most people even heard of the guy?
Certainly he's been engaged on judicial issues, as one might expect, and the spotlight of helping shepherd a nomination is a big one (it's the President's, after all), but the guy isn't exactly someone who comes to mind as a conservative activist firebrand in the Senate. Reliably conservative, yes. Hard-charging firebrand? Not really.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/17/05 22:33 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
15 July 2005
Another New Sooner Baseball Coach
Jersey fits new OU head coach (George Schroeder, Daily Oklahoman)
This time, the jersey fit. Just maybe, because it was already his.
Oklahoma named Sunny Golloway its head baseball coach Friday afternoon, ending a search process that had morphed into a tragi-comedy.
And as Golloway slipped on the familiar No. 29, with his last name stitched across the back — the jersey Golloway wore as an assistant and as interim head coach — he made one thing clear.
"I don't plan on taking this jersey off any time soon," Golloway said.
You no doubt remember what happened the last time OU introduced a head baseball coach. On Monday, Gene Stephenson appeared uncomfortable in a Sooners jersey, and quickly shrugged it off.
Almost as quickly, Stephenson shrugged off the job and headed back to Wichita State, leaving OU with dwindling options and time.
The situation with Stephenson's hiring and announcement a few hours later that he was staying at Wichita State after all was bizarre, and the cryptic comments he made about scholarships didn't make much sense either.
In the end, I think Joe Castiglione finally got this one right. Sunny Golloway won a lot of baseball games at Oral Roberts, and this year's Sooner squad responded when he took over at the end of the season. He's earned having that interim head coach tag removed.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 23:17 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
New Logo
Rob Booth found this fun little application.
I couldn't resist using it to create a new logo for the site. You may need to refresh your browser or clear the cache to see it.
That will work until I get around to the redesign I've been tinkering with, which also involves a Texas-themed logo.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 23:02 | Announcements | Technorati | Comments (0)
Changing The Culture...
Abortions reach 30-year low (Martiga Lohn, AP, via The Shape of Days)
The number of abortions in Minnesota dropped to a 30-year low in the first full year after the state passed a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions.
[snip]
The number of abortions in 2004 dipped to 13,788, the lowest level since 1975, the first year the state Health Department started tallying the numbers. The department has been reporting annual abortion figures to the Legislature for the past five years.
[snip]
For the first time, this year's abortion report also included the number of women -- 15,859 -- who contacted doctors and got the required information about abortion.
That helps calculate a hotly debated number -- more than 2,000 women who sought abortions and apparently didn't go through with them.
Determining causation would require more sophisticated investigation, but certainly the waiting period cannot have hurt the cause of pro-life advocates.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 22:26 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
A Pro-Trade Party No Longer (Cont'd)
Lessons on CAFTA (Washington Times, via PowerLine)
The Senate's narrow approval of CAFTA represents the fifth major free-trade bill to pass the upper chamber of Congress since Bill Clinton entered the White House. The previous landmark trade bills passed by the Senate include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994, the approval of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China in 2000 and granting the president trade-promotion authority, formerly known as fast-track, in 2002.
To his credit, Mr. Clinton repeatedly spent political capital promoting the free-trade agenda. Throughout his presidency, Mr. Clinton enthusiastically embraced that agenda, despite the fact that many in the Democratic Party had become increasingly protectionist, especially in the House.
Regrettably, the recent CAFTA vote represented a major step toward protectionism within the Senate Democratic Caucus, particularly among those who aspire to become president. Only 23 percent of Senate Democrats (10 of 43) voted for CAFTA. That compares unfavorably to the 41 percent of Democrats (20 of 49) who supported giving President Bush trade-promotion authority, which he used to negotiate CAFTA; the 84 percent (37 of 44) who voted for PNTR with China; the 76 percent (41 of 54) who voted to create the WTO; and the 49 percent (27 of 55) who supported NAFTA.
None of the Senate Democrats who are frequently mentioned as presidential candidates voted for CAFTA. Joe Biden, who supported NAFTA, the WTO and PNTR with China, voted against CAFTA. Longtime, self-styled internationalist John Kerry, who voted for NAFTA, the WTO, PNTR with China and trade-promotion authority, suddenly reversed course and opposed CAFTA. Evan Bayh, who entered the Senate after the NAFTA and WTO votes, supported PNTR and trade-promotion authority but voted against CAFTA. Hillary Clinton, who has been brandishing her seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee as prima facie evidence of her internationalism and national-security credentials, voted against CAFTA and against granting Mr. Bush trade-promotion authority, which Mr. Clinton desperately wanted (and deserved to have) after it had expired in 1994.
The Washington Times and PowerLine were both behind the PubliusTX.net curve on this one. That doesn't happen very often.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 22:08 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Road House 2
My friend Dave passes along this tidbit from USA Today's Hip Clicks blog:
Even though Patrick Swayze has declined to star in Road House 2, the movie will be made anyway. I have a feeling this could be Swayze's biggest mistake since Father Hood.
Apparently, it's still Swayze's way or the highway.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 18:55 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
What's To Study?
Senate backs land-grab limits (Polly Ross Hughes, Houston Chronicle)
After a spirited, four-hour debate, the Texas Senate approved a bill Wednesday limiting state and local governments from seizing homes and other private property for economic development.
Senate Bill 62, which passed 25-4, is similar to a proposed constitutional amendment passed by the Texas House earlier this week. Now, each chamber can consider the other's legislation.
[snip]
"While most people, including me, think they knew what public use was, the Supreme Court said that public use could include things like economic development," said Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, the bill's author.
"The ownership of land is precious to the people of this state," Janek said. "I think people value those investments as much as they do anything else, perhaps maybe more than we do our pickup trucks."
[snip]
Houston Democrat Sen. John Whitmire and Janek engaged in a heated debate as Whitmire repeatedly urged lawmakers to slow down and study the issue more, pointing out that local officials wanting to pursue economic development projects are elected officials.
Eminent domain takes hit (Robert T. Garrett, Dallas Morning News)
Shouting one another down in a fight about property rights, senators approved broad restrictions Wednesday on government seizure of homes or businesses to spur economic development.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Kyle Janek of Houston, and its leading critic, Democrat John Whitmire of Houston, angrily interrupted each other as they tussled over a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such use of the government power known as eminent domain. It was an unusual brawl in the normally genteel upper chamber, known for doing its dirty work away from the floor and then staging debates full of kisses and pats on the back.
The measure, sent to the House by a vote of 25-4, would spell out the projects for which governments still may condemn land, and would forbid a taking of land for economic development by a private entity.
[snip]
"It is wrong to take a landowner's land away and give it away to a private concern," Dr. Janek said.
Mr. Whitmire objected that lawmakers are likely to harm Texas communities as they rush to join a political backlash against the court's 5-4 ruling.
"It's political expediency at the cost of economic development," he said.
[snip]
Voting against the bill were [Republican Kim] Brimer, Mr. Whitmire and his fellow Houston Democrats Rodney Ellis and Mario Gallegos.
John Whitmire's objection to state legislation beefing up private property protections following the Supreme Court's Kelo decision seems to be more substantive than technical. He seems to favor economic development over protecting private property from takings for private purposes. That's his right as an elected official, but it's a different objection than simply wanting to "study" the issue (as reported by the Chronicle).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/05 18:52 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
13 July 2005
Yearning For President Malaise
The Speech the President Should Give (Sarah Vowell, NY Times)
Then I realized I was picturing George W. Bush giving this presidential bummer speech while wearing a cardigan sweater. Which is when it hit me. I was fantasizing about Jimmy Carter. I can stop whiling away the hours writing forlorn presidential speeches in my head and look up Carter's forlorn presidential speeches instead.
Of course, my favorite is the famous "malaise" speech of 1979 (it deals with the energy crisis - but never actually uses the word malaise). Considered by some to be the worst presidential speech in history, the address asserted that our problems are "deeper than gasoline lines." And: "This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning." Then: "There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice."
Those frank words, coming out of a presidential mouth, are shocking.
They were shocking. Fortunately, we've had the good sense not to elect anyone who would utter them again as President.
It can't be a very fun time in politics for folks who actually reminisce over the glory days of President Malaise.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/13/05 23:21 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Uganda leader kicks off campaign (Will Ross, BBC News)
Uganda's president has kicked off a "Yes" campaign for the referendum on restoring multi-party politics.Since Yoweri Museveni came to power 19 years ago, Uganda has operated a unique political system which severely restricts political parties.
He introduced the so-called Movement System to prevent sectarian violence.
In a separate move, MPs voted for the second time to scrap presidential term limits to allow the president to run for a third time in 2006.
Ah, it's not a restrictive political system or a strongman political system or even an authoritarian political system.
It's unique.
Gawd bless the BBC for not being overly judgmental or anything. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/13/05 22:19 | International | Technorati | Comments (1)
12 July 2005
Nokia Face Of Africa 2005
Congratulations to Botswana's Kaone Kario, the Nokia Face of Africa 2005.
I was kind of partial to the striking two ladies from South Africa and the semi-finalist from Angola, but the winner is a truly lovely lady.
It's too bad the website isn't similarly attractive.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/12/05 17:02 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
He Sounds Like A Texan
A City's Traffic Plans Are Snarled by China's Car Culture (Howard W. French, New York Times)
To be sure, Shanghai's failure to master the challenge of the automobile reflects a mixture of forces, both economic and cultural. Foremost is the city's economic performance, which has been fast even by Chinese standards, and has outstripped even the most optimistic projections.
Add to this a flourishing consumer culture that equates car ownership, however costly, with personal freedom, prestige and success.
In this regard, Yu Qiang, a 31-year-old salesman, is a model citizen of sorts. Mr. Yu spent more than $20,000 last year to buy his first car, a Chinese-made Buick, so that he could drive to work each morning instead of relying on public transportation.
Because of heavy traffic, the seven-mile commute usually takes a full hour. It includes dropping his 5-year-old son off at kindergarten and his wife, who teaches, at her school.
"A new subway line will be completed to my neighborhood later this year, and I'm hoping many other people will ride it so that the traffic will get better," Mr. Yu said. "I'll keep driving my car, though. It's more comfortable because I can listen to music, use the air-conditioner, and it's not crowded."
Mr. Yu then made a comment that sounded like a city planner's nightmare and a car salesman's dream. "In China everybody wants to have a car, and I'm just one of them," he said. "We think of it as changing our lives." As for the traffic implications, he added, smiling, "The government has a lot to do to improve the traffic, and I believe they will do it."
Aside from the faith in government to fix things, that guy could have been an average caller to Chris Baker's show.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/12/05 14:13 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 July 2005
Who's Convinced?
New business index study messes with Texas (Bill Schadewald, Houston Business Journal)
Sad to say, an academic from the land of corn and a nonprofit on the Potomac now submit that all of these traditionally accepted indices should henceforth be considered null and void as reliable measurements of state or city growth.
Such rankings, they assert, merely reflect an agenda of low taxes, spending cuts and less regulation that may -- or may not -- necessarily represent what's good -- or bad -- for business.
Closer to home, this revelation is reinforced by a policy analyst with another nonprofit think tank in Austin.
A related news release -- cleverly embargoed to keep the startling discovery from prematurely blowing the lid off prevailing economic development beliefs -- was issued by the Center for Public Policy Priorities with the following rant from one Don Baylor Jr.
"These rankings are promoting the exact wrong formula for long-term economic growth. Instead of examining how well a state's work force can compete in a global economy, they give brownie points to states that drive down wages, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation premiums."
This policy wonk advocates the use of something known as the Assets and Opportunity Scorecard compiled by yet another nonprofit called the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
According to this particular rating system, measurement of factors such as education and poverty levels paints a much more accurate picture of a state's business climate.
And Texas ranks at the bottom of this list.
Convincing as this argument might appear, most people probably won't be moved to renounce long-fixed notions about economic growth and embrace this contrarian point of view.
It's convincing?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/11/05 23:10 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (3)
10 July 2005
OU Baseball Hires Stephenson
Stephenson accepts OU baseball coach position (George Schroeder and Carter Strickland, Daily Oklahoman)
Oklahoma's baseball coaching search is over. Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson accepted the position today. OU Athletics Director Joe Castiglione made the announcement Sunday afternoon.
The new Sooner coach will be introduced at a news conference in Norman Monday.
Stephenson, who turns 60 in August and is a Guthrie native , is one of college baseball's most legendary figures. In 28 years as Wichita State's head coach, he is 1,506-489-3. The .754 winning percentage ranks second among NCAA baseball coaches; he ranks behind only Texas' Augie Garrido in total wins (and Garrido has coached nine more seasons).
Under Stephenson, Wichita State has won one national championship (1989) and twice finished runner-up. The Shockers have made four other College World Series appearances and 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.
[snip]
Stephenson was an assistant coach at OU under former coach Enos Semore before moving to Wichita State in 1977. He considered taking OU's head position in 1990, but decided to remain at Wichita State.
I'm a little surprised by this hire, because I just assumed Sunny Golloway was going to inherit this job. But, Joe Castiglione is one of the best ADs in the business. I can't see how he could pass up hiring someone with Stephenson's track record if Stephenson really wanted the job.
Golloway is a solid coach who really ought to be running a program somewhere, though. I wonder if he'll stick around.
UPDATE (07-12-2005): After being announced as the new coach, Stephenson announced shortly afterwards that he would NOT be taking the job. More on this later.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/10/05 22:56 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (4)
09 July 2005
Slammin' Jammin'
Blog line of the week (or maybe I should just rename it Orrin line of the week):
Given that these are the folks who once ran a headline that read, "Crime Goes Down Despite Increase in Prison Population," you can imagine their bewilderment that when you punish Judith Miller other reporters are deterred from participating in crimes.
Hit tip to Anne for finding this one first.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/09/05 21:21 | Media Matters | Technorati | Comments (0)
Imagine A Society Without Football
Emirates tightens camel race laws (BBC News)
The United Arab Emirates has passed a law tightening a ban on children taking part in camel racing.
Under-18s are not to take part in camel racing "in any form", says a decree signed by the president.
Gulf states have been under fire over the sport, in which young children, many of them trafficked from South Asia, have been trained as jockeys.
Anti-slavery groups say about 3,000 boys, some as young as four, work as jockeys in the Emirates.
More child camel jockeys return (BBC News)
A second group of 86 children working as camel jockeys in the Gulf have returned to Pakistan, officials say.
The children have been repatriated under a deal between the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations.
Most are from poor families and will be accommodated at a government facility. The first batch of 22 such children returned to Pakistan last month.
Hundreds of young children from poor countries are sent to the Gulf every year to work as camel jockeys.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/09/05 11:54 | International | Technorati | Comments (0)
08 July 2005
More From The Africa Files
Sudan peace pact marks new chapter (Ishbel Matheson, BBC News)
Three-and-a-half years ago, the battle for the rich, oil reserves beneath the soil of Western Upper Nile was in full swing.
Now, the bitter enemies are setting aside their differences to sign a landmark peace deal, which should mean a fresh start.
So what brought the two sides to this historic juncture? The sustained diplomacy of the Bush administration has been crucial, particularly after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
US officials portray their government's involvement as an "honest broker". It wants to see this vast and strategically important African nation back in the fold, after Khartoum's swing towards extremism in the 1990s.
I've previously noted the Bush Administration's historic engagement with Africa.
Sudan, of course, is still pretty iffy, but one can't discount the significance of tomorrow's inaugural events.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/08/05 17:58 | International | Technorati | Comments (3)
Evil Across Our Planet
(Terror attacks by Islamic extremists since 1993, from The Online Sun)
The Sun reproduces the map above to go with a story about significant terrorist attacks by radical Islamists since 1993.
I found it at PowerLine, where the crew has more thoughts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/08/05 08:17 | International | Technorati | Comments (3)
State Department Flies Union Jack
Thursday night, in a gesture of solidarity, the U.S. State Department raised the Union Jack for the first time.
Of course, they might have raised a flag that said "We are all infidels."
But that would have been a less effective (because less self-evident) gesture of solidarity.
The State Department might also have done nothing at all.
I prefer the symbolism.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/08/05 08:02 | International | Technorati | Comments (1)
07 July 2005
Skewed Perspective
In political opinion polling, it's a well-known fact that many respondents whose answers on policy questions or past voting history would identify them as liberals nonetheless call themselves moderates rather than liberals on the ideological self-identification questions.
It would seem that the same sort of self-delusion that drives many liberals to identify themselves as moderates is on display in some recent reporting by Time magazine on the Supreme Court.
Laurence Simon has the details.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/07/05 21:40 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (5)
I Feel Threatened Anytime I'm Near Main
Metro rail rider: 'I didn't feel threatened here' (Reggie Aqui & Carolyn Campbell, KHOU-11)
Houston trains were moving as usual and news of the deadly London explosion didn't seem to stop seasoned riders.
"I didn't feel threatened here. I felt if they did anything it would be in Washington D.C. or New York," said Thaine Manske, rail rider.
Didn't feel threatened?
I guess Manske must not pay attention to our local drivers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/07/05 21:02 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)
I Wonder If His Ears Stick Out Too?
Museveni speaks on 2006 candidature (Frank Nyakairu & Emma Mutaizibwa, AllAfrica.com)
In one of the closest indications yet that he will stand for the presidency again, [Ugandan] President Yoweri Museveni yesterday told an international audience that the Movement delegates' conference will decide his fate.
[snip]
"If they do ask you to stand what would you do?" the interviewer asked him. "We shall decide that when we get to the delegates conference," Museveni replied. "Have you made your mind up yet?" he was asked again. "I do not make up my mind. It is the delegates conference which makes up its mind and then the candidates can respond to that," Museveni replied.
Museveni's just channeling Ross Perot in leaving it up to the volunteers, eh?
The party he controls hasn't altered the constitution to allow him to stand again simply because it's a fun and fulfilling experiment in self-government. Of course he will run.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/07/05 10:05 | International | Technorati | Comments (1)
Terrorist Bombings Hit London
London rocked by terror attacks (BBC News)
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "reasonably clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks.
He said it was "particularly barbaric" that it was timed to coincide with the G8 summit. He is returning to London.
An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks.
We are all Brits today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/07/05 07:37 | International | Technorati | Comments (7)
06 July 2005
A Pro-Trade Party No Longer
CAFTA reflects Democrats' shift from trade bills (Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post)
A long, slow erosion of Democratic support for trade legislation in the House is turning into a rout, as Democrats who have never voted against trade deals vow to turn their backs on CAFTA. The sea change -- driven by redistricting, mounting partisanship and real questions about the results of a decade's worth of trade liberalization -- is creating a major headache for Bush and Republican leaders as they scramble to salvage their embattled trade agreement. A trade deal that passed the Senate last Thursday, 54 to 45, with 10 Democratic votes, could very well fail in the House this month.
[snip]
"It's difficult for Democrats to get through a message that we're pro-trade when we're voting no," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), who plans to vote against a trade agreement for the first time in his nearly 20 years in the House. "That is a clear risk that we're running, but I don't think we have the opportunity to avoid it."
Cardin and other free-trade Democrats concede that many of the Democratic opponents are motivated by partisan politics: They want to see Bush lose a major legislative initiative or, at the very least, make Republicans from districts hit hard by international trade take a dangerous vote in favor of a deal their constituents oppose. Dozens of Republicans in districts dependent on the textile industry, the sugar growers or small manufacturers have already said they will vote against the bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) privately warned Democrats last month that a vote for CAFTA is a vote to stay in the minority.
[snip]
Administration officials are inoculating themselves against Democratic attacks with a letter from former president Jimmy Carter imploring support for CAFTA. "Some improvements could be made in the trade bill, particularly on the labor protection side," Carter wrote, "but, more importantly, our own national security and hemispheric influence will be enhanced" by passage.
Other Democratic supporters include a who's who list from the Clinton administration, including former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger and Cabinet members Warren M. Christopher, Henry G. Cisneros, Dan Glickman, William J. Perry and Donna E. Shalala, not to mention the presidents of the CAFTA countries.
Since Rep. Cardin doesn't want to be seen as anti-trade, he could make it much easier on himself and vote yes on the trade agreement.
I noted several days ago that every potential 2008 Democratic presidential contender in the Senate voted no on the agreement. Add Rep. Pelosi in the House to the leadership of a party that has abandoned