August 2005 Archives
31 August 2005
Whatever
Texans to clean up offensive play: Carr says errors in ugly Dallas loss uncharacteristic (John McClain, Houston Chronicle)
The Texans' troika — quarterback David Carr, receiver Andre Johnson and running back Domanick Davis — insisted this week that the offensive performance at Dallas was an aberration and not an indication of what fans can expect this season.
Err, okay.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/31/05 22:00 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Jude Wanniski, RIP
Supply-side inventor Jude Wanniski dies (World New Daily)
Economist Jude Wanniski, the man who coined the term "supply-side economics," died of a heart attack earlier today at 69.
The former WND columnist was founder and chairman of Polyconomics, Inc., and author of the 1978 book "The Way the World Works," named one of the 100 most influential books of the 20th century by the editors of the National Review. At the heart of the book is his 1978 discovery of the cause of the 1929 stock market crash, a discovery that vindicates the classical economics, which had been blamed for the crash and the Great Depression.
"Jude will be greatly missed by all who knew him," said Joseph Farah, editor and founder of WND. "To me he was a curmudgeonly adviser and friend. He had a sharp and biting wit and never hesitated to say what was on his mind – whether you liked it or not."
It was during his tenure as associate editor of The Wall Street Journal – 1972 to 1978 – that he coined the phrase "supply-side economics." He was an adviser to Ronald Reagan from 1978 to 1981, and designed the Reagan tax cuts that propelled the U.S. economy out of stagflation and led to the great stock market boom that followed.
He counseled Democrats as well as Republicans in the years since, pro bono, and developed pro-growth strategies for several governments.
In recent years, he became an ardent anti-war activist.
Wanniski appeared frequently in the broadcast and print media, and also wrote weekly commentary for the Polyconomics website. He also presided over a free, virtual "Supply-side University," which has 3,000 registered students around the world. Wanniski held a B.A. in political science and an M.S. in journalism from UCLA.
I missed this on Monday. Wanniski was a keen economic thinker whose contribution to the supply side revolution (along with Art Laffer, Robert Mundell, and Robert Bartley) defied the economic orthodoxy of his time (although the contention that he coined the phrase "supply side economics" is disputed). May he rest in peace.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/31/05 13:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
30 August 2005
RR at MD
Randy Rogers played the Mucky Duck tonight.
He didn't have the full band, just his fiddle player.
It was mostly an enjoyable night. Randy's a really talented singer-songwriter, as I've been posting here for a long long time.
Unfortunately, the fact that so many of the people who pay to see a Duck-quality show (I won't call them fans) and then choose to talk loudly over it is really annoying.
Scott Miller's up next on Thursday. He usually draws better fans to his shows at the Duck.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/05 22:44 | Music | Technorati | Comments (6)
29 August 2005
A Pro-Trade Party No Longer (Cont'd)
A few words with Nick Lampson (Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff)
Lampson says he would have opposed the CAFTA bill because it was not fair to American workers' interests. "We need a fair playing field, with comparable conditions - environmental and labor - for all sides," he said. He spoke at length about shrimp fishing in the Gulf versus imported farmed shrimp from Asia as an example. Imported shrimp are supposed to be tested for certain chemicals, but often aren't because of a familiar problem - inadequate funding for the agency responsible, in this case the FDA. Make the importers play by the same rules that the Americans are subjected to and the Americans will be able to compete.
It's really hard to find a pro-trade Democrat these days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/05 22:39 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (5)
McCain Backs Arizona Gay Marriage Amendment
McCain backs ban on gay marriage (Associated Press)
More than a year before the general election, U.S. Sen. John McCain is backing an initiative that would change Arizona's Constitution to ban gay marriages and deny government benefits to unmarried couples.
The Republican senator is the most prominent Arizonan to add his voice to what has become a flurry of measures competing for a place on the state's Nov. 7, 2006, ballot.
A McCain staffer said it was the first time the senator had been formally asked to support the marriage amendment and the first chance he had to meet with supporters.
The amendment "would allow the people of Arizona to decide on the definition of marriage in our state," McCain said in a statement Thursday.
If anybody was still wondering if Sen. McCain is running for President, that question was just answered. He was already the frontrunner, but social conservatives distrust him and (as he well knows) they matter in the primaries. This may -- may -- make them less wary of him.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/05 22:35 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (5)
Sand Washes Away
Windfall stirs up beach battle: Preservation of shoreline: good sense or a perk for rich homeowners? (Kevin Moran, Houston Chronicle)
Texas is poised to receive $240 million in federal money to preserve erosion-prone parts of the state's 367-mile Gulf coastline, but some question whether it is wise to keep building and rebuilding beaches that could quickly be destroyed by a storm.
Some people involved in coastal issues say such projects make good sense because they help maintain the tourism industry, which pumps an estimated $7.5 billion a year into the economies of the state's 18 coastal counties. The supporters say the projects also promote development that boosts property-tax revenues in cash-strapped coastal cities such as Galveston and Corpus Christi.
Critics of beach building, however, say adding sand to existing beaches or renourishing eroded ones protects the property of a relative few who can afford beach homes.
"There's just a bunch of well-off people who have been very imprudent, even stupid, and they've built their buildings right next to a beach," said Orrin Pilkey, a coastal geologist and director of Duke University's Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines. "They're asking us to pay for restoring the beach when all we have to do is tell them to move their buildings and the beach will be restored."
In the end, Mother Nature is going to win, but it's worth considering sensible ways that we can work to slow erosion while protecting public access to Texas beaches.
It's surprising that Ellis Pickett, a local beach erosion expert/activist, was not quoted or mentioned in the story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/05 21:59 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 August 2005
Houston/DFW Columnists On Texans/Cowboys Stinker Bowl
Review mixed for Cowboys' "rehearsal" (Randy Galloway, FWST)
For a dress rehearsal, this was an offensive wardrobe malfunction. The Cowboys were exposed by ground and air.
Continuing with the negatives from Saturday night, mix in an assortment of special teams blunders (always a Big Bill no-no).
Not exactly in dress rehearsal form, those special teams, with two flubbed field-goal attempts and a 102-yard kickoff return for a TD by old friend Reggie Swinton.
Expect heavy growling all week from Parcells about his special teams.
But bring out the sunshine for several performances in late action mop-up time.
That would include Tyson Thompson, one of Parcells' pet rookies from training camp, and the only Cowboy ever from Irving. Thompson got a fourth-quarter showcase and passed it with 13 carries for 52 yards, including a short TD plunge.
Once Tony Romo finally appeared (Drew Henson never did, which tells you all you need to know about the No. 2 QB), he was sharp in limited attempts.
Romo went 5-for-8 for 63 yards and a TD pass to Quincy Morgan. It should have been two TD passes, however, as Morgan dropped one from Romo in the third quarter.
Afterward, Big Bill made it clear he wasn't expecting much after a short work week and limited practice time.
But when a coach stays with his first unit as long as Parcells did Saturday night, then he's obviously hoping for dress-rehearsal results.
From the defense, the Cowboys delivered.
From the offense, well, there's still the exhibition finale here Thursday night against Jacksonville.
No alibi for this one; It's UGLY (Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle)
This night, the starters were on the field for an entire half. There was even a game plan.
And the Texans were awful. They failed to score an offensive touchdown and lost to the Cowboys 21-9.
It's the kind of performance that raises larger questions about the direction of the franchise and the competence of the people running it. Preseason games don't provide answers. They offer only hints.
The Texans are no longer the young franchise getting better by the day. They've had four drafts and four cracks at free agency. They're supposed to win more games than they lose in their fourth season.
They should be playing with more continuity. They should be making more plays.
So far, they've been unable to finish games. Saturday, they never got started.
I watched much of this stinker on the ReplayTV earlier.
The Texans were simply putrid. There's not much else to say about them. The Cowboys were only a little better, although there were some bright spots. Roy Williams in particularly had a fine game after a bad game the week before, and the entire Cowboys secondary played well, in addition to the efforts singled out by Galloway.
Justice's column is typically overwrought, as the columnist sometimes can be after what he judges a bad performance by a local team or its management. But, he's right that this (fourth) regular season will be the time to start judging the management and coaching of the Texans. I've never been impressed with Chris Palmer, and I'm still not. I'm also not sure why Charlie Casserley has gotten such great press in town for his work, other than the fact that he seems to treat the press very well. But the third game of the preseason probably isn't the best time to judge their work, or that of Dom Capers. Let's see what the season holds.
Speaking of the season -- it's college football game week for OU and UH. Woo!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/05 23:57 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
Happy Birthday!
It's my dad's birthday today.
May I ask those readers who know him (especially the asparagus fans!) to send happy thoughts his way?
Thanks, all. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/05 15:40 | Other | Technorati | Comments (5)
Things You Don't Expect To Hear At A DEA Show
Here's something I never expected to hear before a show by my friends in the Dead End Angels:
Rick's not playing with us tonight. He's playing with Susan Gibson.
Okay, funny joke guys, you got me. Rick Poss can come on out and play now.
Except there was no Rickenbacker set up on stage. No electric guitar at all. They weren't kidding.
They had a couple of guest guitarists sit in, and it was a good time. It's always a good time in Gruene/New Braunfels, plus the beer was cold, we were among friends, and Scott's songs are pretty darn good played by whomever.
Apparently, there was some (major) miscommunication on scheduling. I hope. It would be a shame if Rick Poss has departed the band, as he brings a nice sound to it. I'm betting on band miscommunication and not band schism.
We'll see.
Up next: Randy Rogers on Tuesday, and Scott Miller on Thursday.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/05 15:14 | Music | Technorati | Comments (6)
27 August 2005
Team Bell: Manufacturing Grassroots Support
The Chris Bell campaign has announced the endorsement of a PAC of South Asians called Desis for Texas.
Evan at Perry vs. World notes the ties between staffers of the Bell campaign and the PAC.
If your campaign can't draw legitimate grassroots support beyond the Texas liberal "netroots," I guess manufacturing "grassroots" endorsements is the next step. That's politics.
I'd only suggest that the manufacturing process seems to have some flaws. Check out this interesting paragraph from the "endorsement":
Congressman Bell's legacy to the Houston City Council was a stronger, more efficient, more transparent and more progressive city government with property taxes. This legacy parlayed itself into his mayoral campaign, where once again, he astounded the city by backing out of a run-off race, and endorsing Lee Brown. Rather than put the city through a divisive three-way run-off, Congressman Bell decided to back out and serve elsewhere.
I left the following comment at the Burnt Orange Report:
Decision to get out of the race?
Is that what we call failing to make the runoff? :)
Nobody has responded to that comment yet. There's really no response. It's revisionist, inaccurate history to suggest that Bell backed out of "a divisive three-way run-off." The voters left him out of the runoff, with a paltry 16% of the vote (a worse showing than George Greanias in 1997).
It's pretty minor-league of Team Bell to manufacture an endorsement that contains such an embarrassing gaffe.
Burt Levine noted Bell's "courage" in endorsing Lee Brown in the runoff in an earlier BOR comment:
He did not decide out of the run-off out of the goodness of heart to save the city money. That's silly writing from whoever put that together. He would have liked to have been in the run-off w/ Lee Brown but was stuck in the middle and only endorsed Lee Brown to get the promise for Congress.
Redistricting, the marginal redistricting, added the 90 percent black precincts to what what was a marginal Republican CD-25 in 2001 making it marginally Democrat. The deal was he endorse Brown in the run-off with Sanchez and he'd get the endorsement from Brown for Congress over Carroll G. Robinson.
That's pretty much it. I guess I can understand why Team Bell would want to spin it as an act of courage (better than admitting it was an act of political ambition/viability), but to manufacture an endorsement that suggests Bell backed out of a nonsensical "three-way runoff" goes beyond spin and into comedyland.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/05 12:49 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (2)
26 August 2005
There They Go Again (Cont'd)
Poor Mack Brown.
It's August, and every August the expectations of National Championships and such just get out of control.
Now, Mack Brown's on the cover of Texas Monthly.
One had hoped that this retarded cover that pictured underachieving Mack Brown star Chris Simms with Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman (and included the story "Why UT will hook a National Championship") would have dissuaded them from ever trying to talk about football again, but apparently not.
As one might imagine, the Farkers on the Sooner fan boards have had some fun at Mack's expense. I'm not sure what the netiquette is, but I've grabbed a couple of them to post below the MORE link, because I want to have a permanent copy.
[Read More]Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/26/05 23:12 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
A Mild Surprise From Sooner Land
OU names Thompson starting quarterback (George Schroeder, Daily Oklahoman)
Oklahoma named a starting quarterback Thursday. But the competition continues.
Coach Bob Stoops announced Paul Thompson would start the season opener against TCU Sept. 3. But in a twist from earlier OU quarterback races, Stoops said Rhett Bomar will play “early in games as well as late in games.”
The indication was clear: The race, which offensive coordinator Chuck Long described as the closest he’s coached, is not over.
“The games are the final grade,” Long said. “That’s the final frontier.”
The final frontier? Err, okay Coach Long.
This comes as a mild surprise to me. I really thought that Rhett Bomar was going to get the starting nod, and I still think he'll be the starting quarterback by the end of the season.
Thompson knows the offense and will be steady, but Bomar has a chance to be special. Bob Stoops tends to put his best playmakers on the field; he's not a Parcells "bus driver" kind of coach. It won't surprise me if Bomar takes the job by the start of the Big 12 season (October 1), and it will surprise me if he doesn't claim the job by the start of the Big 12 South season for Oklahoma (October 8, against Texas). Or maybe he'll come in and lead the Sooners to victory against Texas, and claim the job that way. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/26/05 10:41 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
25 August 2005
I Could Use A Few Laughs
So, it's way off to the boonies of Laff Stop Willowbrook to catch that Baker guy.
Woo.
UPDATE: Dude is funny. So was the headliner (Rick Gutierrez).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/05 19:06 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Blog Q&A Of The Week
This comes courtesy of Devers at Lone Star Music:
Q. Can I order a Toby Keith/Hot Apple Pie/Big & Rich CD?
A. Yes. May I direct you to Wal-Mart.com?
Ha ha ha ha!
I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get myself in to Lone Star Music this weekend in Gruene, and spend way too much money (especially after seeing the note that Stoney Larue has a new one out). I took a little hiatus from following this crazy Texas music scene, but the hiatus is over.
Speaking of Stoney Larue -- does anybody have a copy of that out-of-print Downtown cd that he/she might share? I could prolly come up with some sort of live recording to exchange. Email or leave a comment if you can help me out.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/05 18:27 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
It's Hard To Argue The Point
US general sees significant withdrawal in Iraq (Peter Spiegel & Demetri Sevastopulo, FT, via Brothers Judd)
The US is expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months in spite of the continuing violence, according to the general responsible for near-term planning in the country.
Maj Gen Douglas Lute, director of operations at US Central Command, yesterday said the reductions were part of a push by Gen John Abizaid, commander of all US troops in the region, to put the burden of defending Iraq on Iraqi forces.
[snip]
“You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely western, foreign troops occupying the country.”
It's hard to argue with the general.
As friend Orrin Judd has contended for a long time, one mistake we've made is not pushing Iraqis along faster towards popular sovereignty, even if co-Presidents McCain and Hagel don't see it that way.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/05 11:00 | International | Technorati | Comments (5)
24 August 2005
The RRB Is All Grown Up
Last Friday, a crew of us braved the Firehouse Saloon for a show by the Randy Rogers Band.
It's been an unusually long time since I've seen Randy Rogers, whose Texas music career has just blown into the stratosphere since the release of his Radney Foster-produced CD (which actually appealed to me less than Like It Used To Be).
The Firehouse, which tends to draw true (insurgent) Texas country music fans, has always been a friendly venue for the RRB. And Friday, it was PACKED. That was the worst I've ever seen the place. At $15 a pop, it had to be one of the RRB's best nights ever, anywhere.
And the RRB put on a darn fine show for the fans, many of whom sang along with every song.
The band sounds tighter than ever. They've punched up the sound, and picked up the tempo a bit (perhaps taking into account Jerry Jeff Walker's notion that you put country music on your records, and play rockin' country music for live audiences). Brady Black's fiddle is prominent, and drives the sound on many sweet country songs. And of course Randy's fine country voice singing songs he's penned himself is the main attraction.
But fresh off signing their major-label deal with Mercury Nashville -- the label of Shania Twain and Terri Clark -- I think it's safe to say that the Randy Rogers band is all grown up now. There's no more insurgent country talk. No more belittling the Nashville Musical Shite Factory. No more "Kenny Chesney can kiss my ass" in the middle of the Kasey Chambers cover, now dropped from the setlist. The biggest chance he took the whole night was a "Kinky Friedman for governor" comment during "They Call It The Hill Country," which was probably enough to get him in trouble with his drummer. Oh, and he did a brief impersonation of Joel Osteen, but I'm not sure if anybody caught it (it was late in the evening).
The RRB is taking care of business. Most of the ad-libbing is gone. It's a tighter, more professional show than it used to be.
They're all grown up now.
And good for them, I guess. Only an asshole would begrudge those guys the success they're finally seeing, and I certainly don't. But it does make me appreciate some of the live recordings I have from the early days, when Randy was an up-and-coming Texas country music rebel, the band featured a sweet pedal steel guitar, and Randy could actually spend a fair part of an evening arguing about health care policy in El Campo, TX with a table of political geeks who happen to love Texas country music.
I'll be looking forward to catching them at the Mucky Duck on August 30, and maybe even getting a chance to say hello and congratulations in the absence of the Firehouse throng. I highly recommend catching him one last time in a venue the size of the Mucky Duck. I don't know that there will be many more chances.
On a slightly down note, the band that opened for the RRB (the Sidehill Gougers) did nothing for me. They're a Texas newgrass/folk outfit that plays pretty well and has gotten some decent press, but features a couple of vocalists whose sound is generously described as screeching. Worse, their front man talks WAY too much and AND he has a nervous titter that punctuates every second sentence on average. It was very unfortunate, as we've seen mostly good bands open for the RRB. Isn't it odd that about the time the RRB gets big, the openers get less big?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/05 21:49 | Music | Technorati | Comments (7)
Just About To Pop?
July new home sales rise to record (Reuters, via Brothers Judd)
Sales of new U.S. homes jumped 6.5 percent to a record high in July, defying economists' expectations for a decline, as purchases soared in the Northeast and West and median prices dropped, a government report showed on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said new single-family home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.410 million units from a downwardly revised 1.324 million unit rate in June. The July sales pace was 27.7 percent higher than a year earlier.
Economists had expected new home sales to drop to a 1.333 million unit pace from June's originally reported 1.374 million unit pace.
Folks basing hopes of a comeback for their political party on the notion of a housing bubble that eventually pops and devastates America really must be disappointed with this news.
Incidentally, I had intended a Peak Oil post after the latest round of blather from the Peak Oil enthusiasts, but the previously-linked Lou Minatti seems to have it covered for me. Friend Tom Hanna has also written about the crude bubble.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/05 20:56 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
Blogversation v. Echo Chamber
Last week, Chris Elam threw up a fun post about an email from Team Perry.
The headline should have given away the tenor of the post:
Unfortunately, one of our Friends on the Left apparently didn't bother to read the post in question, instead characterizing the email from Team Perry as Chris's view on the matter, and neglecting to provide a link to the post.
That was kind of a funny -- and revealing gaffe -- which I pointed out in a couple of comments (some comments were deleted). Apparently, some ideologues have trouble believing that a conservative and Republican might actually criticize Team Perry. Hey, if you don't take the time to read a post, it's hard to know, right?
And that's too bad, because if some of our Friends on the Left don't actually bother to read posts before they criticize, how in the world will I ever get wide acclaim for my phrase "ringleaders at the circus of incompetent assclowns."
Hee hee. Fine, I'll give credit to myself. I haven't been giving myself nearly enough credit lately.
Anyway, folks can delete relevant comments and sanitize their blogs from any challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy if they'd like, but this comment left by a Hou Dems regular strikes me as unhealthy:
You know, I always thought that this particular blogosphere, when it was invaded, was all about snot-nosed, smartass Repugs who got out of the intellectual playpen and wandered into territory inhabited by liberals who scared the bejesus out of them to the extent that they sat down in their dirty diapers and just struck out at anything that metaphorically moved or seemed to think. If I am misinformed--Intelligent Designer forbid!--I trust that one of my left-wing friends--of which there are many, all well-informed about the things that matter--will straighten me out without subjecting me to the kind of juvenile sticking out of the tongue practiced by Whited/Elam & Co., who ought to tuck their tails and go home now because their mama under the porch might be looking for them.
A comment that got deleted actually praised the commenter for her devotion to ideological segregation. Hey, at least she was honest about it!
But, that's not my view of the blogosphere at all.
I don't think of the blogosphere as a collection of disparate ideological echo chambers, in which we segregate ourselves from all but those who think like us, and sanitize everything else. Yes, the technology CAN be used that way (although a private Yahoo group is more efficient), but that's not really the BEST use of the technology. We might actually have something to learn from each other, so long as we can keep things polite and topical (yes, some people do have trouble with those last two, confusing blogging with bloodsport) and try not to assume personal motives.
If I were Jeff Effing Jarvis, I'd probably have something really evangelical to add right here, but I'm not, so this post is just gonna end.
Discuss, if you're so inclined.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/05 20:46 | Other | Technorati | Comments (11)
23 August 2005
FSU Gets Reprieve From Dumb NCAA Decision
Florida State threatened to sue over postseason ban (AP)
The NCAA will allow Florida State to use its Seminoles nickname in postseason play, removing the school from a list of colleges with American Indian nicknames that were restricted by an NCAA decision earlier this month.
The NCAA said it was recognizing the relationship Florida State has long enjoyed with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which assists the university with its pageantry and celebration of its culture and supports the school's use of its name.
"The staff review committee noted the unique relationship between the university and the Seminole Tribe of Florida as a significant factor," NCAA senior vice president Bernard Franklin said in a statement released Tuesday. "The decision of a namesake sovereign tribe, regarding when and how its name and imagery can be used, must be respected even when others may not agree."
Florida State president T.K. Wetherell had threatened to sue the NCAA immediately after its Aug. 5 announcement that the school's highly visible nickname, "Seminoles," was defined as "hostile and abusive" by a committee.
The PC decision to ban nicknames that might offend someone somewhere was a stupid enough decision by an organization that makes plenty of stupid decisions, but now we find out that the organization won't even make the elite of college sports abide by the decision.
Will the NCAA back down if smaller affected schools threaten to sue it over this issue? I'm thinking probably not.
PREVIOUSLY: Out of their minds
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/23/05 17:09 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
There They Go Again
Vince being Vince is why Texas is a title contender (Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com)
The objectives are lined up one after another like planes trying to escape Atlanta at rush hour. Conference championship, national championship, Heisman Trophy, maybe even -- dare it be said -- beating Oklahoma. Though there are many questions to be answered, Texas coach Mack Brown believes he has solved the most important puzzle before him. In order for the Longhorns to fulfill their potential, Brown must Let Vince Be Vince.
It's August, and they just can't help themselves. Talk of beating Ohio State on the road has blown up into talk of winning the Big 12 South has blown up into talk of winning the Big 12 has blown up into talk of winning the National Championship.
We'll just remind that this is not Mack Brown's most talented team at Texas. Nor is this his most talented coaching staff.
We'll also remind that Mack Brown has never won a conference championship, the entire time he's been coaching.
Finally, we'll remind that yes, the Sooners lost a bunch of players from last year's squad, but they are reloading with a whole bunch of talent, they have a running back named Adrian Peterson, and they still have that head coach who's been beating Mack Brown silly for a number of years now.
But I'll concede that the running back that UT has lining up at the quarterback position is special. After Adrian Peterson, I'd say he's the second best running back in the Big 12. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/23/05 15:03 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
Bad Football
Dallas 18, Seattle 10 (ESPN.com)
Dallas Cowboys rookie Demarcus Ware looks ready to be an NFL linebacker.
In one half, Ware forced two fumbles, recovered one, had an interception, a sack and three tackles in Dallas' 18-10 preseason victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.
Ware was pretty much the Cowboys highlight reel.
What was much more troubling is that aside from rookie Ware, the Cowboys first-team defense could do NOTHING to stop the Seahawks first-team offense, and former Sooner standout Roy Williams looked as lost in this game as he did most of last season.
Drew Henson looked terrible as the backup quarterback. It spoke volumes when Parcells forced him to take a knee about a minute before halftime, instead of letting him run the two-minute offense. Tony Romo is probably going to be the second string quarterback when the season starts.
It could be worse. The Seahawks relied on Iowa State runner/passer Seneca Wallace as their backup. He was a fine college quarterback, but at 5-11 he simply is not NFL material. He had a terrible night.
It's preseason. It doesn't mean that much, right? :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/23/05 07:58 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 August 2005
Free WiFi Sure Sounds Expensive
The Rasiej Plan to Wi-Fi NY (Advocates for Rasiej, via Off the Kuff)
How much will Wi-Fi NY cost?
• Based on the Philadelphia experience, we estimate it will cost less than $10 per New York City resident, or $80 million, to build a universal Wi-Fi system here;
$80 million?!
I thought it was "free."
Seriously, that's a lot of cash to be used to benefit relatively few people.
But polls show he has that 6% who want "free" wifi (the netroots!) locked up!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/22/05 23:19 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Texans Gearing Up For Their Super Bowl
Texans starters to play more against Cowboys (John McClain, Houston Chronicle)
The best thing about the Texans' third preseason game at Dallas on Saturday night is the starters will play more than they did in the loss to Denver or the victory over Oakland.
Of course they'll play more. Playing the Cowboys is their version of the playoffs or even Super Bowl. And likely as close as either team will come this season. :)
Tonight, the Cowboys play Seattle. Drew Henson is going to get his chance at backup quarterback. It may be his last chance for a while, as some accounts have Tony Romo as impressive as any QB the Cowboys have. Then again, that hasn't been saying much since the end of Troy Aikman's career, has it?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/22/05 07:32 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (3)
21 August 2005
Steyn Is Riled
Peace mom's marriage a metaphor for Dems (Mark Steyn, Chicago Sun-Times)
On unwatched Sunday talk shows, you can still stumble across the occasional sane, responsible Dem. But, in the absence of any serious intellectual attempt to confront their long-term decline, all the energy on the left is with the fringe. The Democratic Party is a coalition of Pat Sheehans and Cindy Sheehans, and the noisier the Cindys get the more estranged the Pats are likely to feel.
Sorry about that, but, if Mrs. Sheehan can insist her son's corpse be the determining factor in American policy on Iraq, I don't see why her marriage can't be a metaphor for the state of the Democratic Party.
Casey Sheehan was a 21-year old man when he enlisted in 2000. He re-enlisted for a second tour, and he died after volunteering for a rescue mission in Sadr City. Mrs. Sheehan says she wishes she'd driven him to Canada, though that's not what he would have wished, and it was his decision.
His mother has now left Crawford, officially because her mother has had a stroke, but promising to return. I doubt she will. Perhaps deep down she understands she's a woman whose grief curdled into a narcissistic rage, and most Americans will not follow where she's gone -- to the wilder shores of anti-Bush, anti-war, anti-Iraq, anti-Afghanistan, anti-Israel, anti-American paranoia. Casey Sheehan's service was not the act of a child. A shame you can't say the same about his mom's new friends.
Goodness, Steyn is all riled up. Maybe he was upset because he wasn't invited to participate in the blogger conference calls. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/05 22:31 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Not Quite Ready For Prime Time
Interview with Dem Precinct Chair and US Senate Candidate Barbara Radnofsky (Damon McCullar, Burnt Orange Report)
DCM: Another law that was recently passed was the Central America Free Trade Agreement. How do you see that impacting Texas and would you do anything differently?
BAR: Well, I'll give you an example of what I would do differently. The provisions in CAFTA and many of these trade agreements give an unfair leg up to foreign corporations who are allowed to escape the laws of the host state in which they function, and the only criteria by which they are judged is economic parity. In other words, you get a foreign company who wants to do business in a state that has regulations that protect their citizens, environmental regulations for example, and because they are environmental regulations the foreign company is allowed to contest the effect of those regulations if it has an economic impact. In other words, does it cause them to be at an economic disadvantage because it cost them, so they don't have to comply, or if they do have to comply they are allowed to sue and get money damages and/or relief from the trade organization. And that puts Americans and American companies at a disadvantage because that company can, in effect, escape those environmental regulations. And don't you find it ironic that those who think we ought to control litigation and not let people sue for money damages are going to allow foreign companies to sue for money damages in that context and who are going to get big dollar damages because an environmental regulation cost them money? Those kinds of provisions. Sure, it makes it easier for outsiders, but what it does is suck away our jobs, pollutes our environment, and doesn't promote fair trade.
This is but one unfortunate example of what can happen when a precinct chair is thrown into a race for the U.S. Senate.
All of those answers have to improve, or I want to lower my over/under prediction.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/05 22:25 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
The Netroots AND Hagel Advise The Prez (Updated)
Refusal to see Sheehan is second-guessed (Mike Allen, Washington Post)
Satellite trucks jockey with tractors on the narrow roads around Bush's ranch, animal-rights activists hand out grilled "meatless riblets" in 100-degree heat, and liberal radio shows hold live broadcasts.
"I'm just going to set my butt down on the ground if they tell me to go," Sheehan said on a conference call for Web loggers. When MSNBC's Keith Olbermann noted all the media attention and asked whether it was "really better if President Bush doesn't meet with you," she replied: "I would think so, yes. I think it's great."
[snip]
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said Friday on CNN that "the wise course of action, the compassionate course of action, the better course of action would have been to immediately invite her into the ranch."
When you've got the "netroots" AND Hagel criticizing you, that generally should be regarded as a sign you're doing something right.
UPDATE: 'Left of left' in Congress writes Bush on Sheehan (World Net Daily, via Brothers Judd)
Rep. John Conyers of Michigan penned a letter to Bush making that request, and it was signed by 38 other members of the House of Representatives, all of whom are Democrats with the exception of Vermont's Bernard Sanders, who is an Independent.
"We write to respectfully urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan and other relatives of fallen soldiers who request a meeting to discuss their deep concerns about the war in Iraq," Conyers writes. "We also request that you help ensure that Ms. Sheehan and her colleagues are not arrested as long as they continue to wait for a meeting with you at their location in the peaceable and legal manner that they have maintained thus far."
Among other well-known names who co-signed the letter are Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters of California.
My apologies to the Fringe Left for leaving them out earlier.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/05 22:16 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
20 August 2005
Cultivating The 35% Minority
Democrats fail to gain traction from Bush slip (Donald Lambro, Washington Times)
Democrats hoped they would be scoring political points in this year's election cycle as a result of increasing terrorist violence in Iraq and skyrocketing gasoline prices that have combined to send President Bush's job-approval ratings plunging into the low 40s.
But things are not turning out as they hoped. The Democrats are beset by internal division over the lack of an agenda, carping from liberals who say party leaders are not aggressive enough in challenging Mr. Bush's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court, bitterness among abortion rights activists after criticism by Democratic leaders that forced them to pull a TV advertisement attacking Judge Roberts, and complaints from pollsters that they have no coherent message to take into the 2006 elections.
Independent pollster John Zogby says that although Mr. Bush is not doing well in the polls, the Democrats aren't doing any better.
"The Democrats aren't scoring points in terms of landing any significant punches on Bush or in terms of saying anything meaningful to the American people," Mr. Zogby said.
In a slap at his party, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg said earlier this month that his surveys show that "one of the biggest doubts about Democrats is that they don't stand for anything."
What Democrats should be saying (David Ignatius, Washington Post)
This should be the Democrats' moment: The Bush administration is caught in an increasingly unpopular war; its plan to revamp Social Security is fading into oblivion; its deputy chief of staff is facing a grand jury probe. Though the Republicans control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, they seem to be suffering from political and intellectual exhaustion. They are better at slash-and-burn campaigning than governing.
So where are the Democrats amid this GOP disarray? Frankly, they are nowhere. They are failing utterly in the role of an opposition party, which is to provide a coherent alternative account of how the nation might solve its problems. Rather than lead a responsible examination of America's strategy for Iraq, they have handed off the debate to a distraught mother who is grieving for her lost son. Rather than address the nation's long-term fiscal problems, they have decided to play politics and let President Bush squirm on the hook of his unpopular plan to create private Social Security accounts.
Because they lack coherent plans for how to govern the country, the Democrats have become captive of the most shrill voices in the party, who seem motivated these days mainly by visceral dislike of George W. Bush. Sorry, folks, but loathing is not a strategy -- especially when much of the country finds the object of your loathing a likable guy.
Is Sheehan a spark or a flicker (Dan Froomkin, Washington Post)
Is Cindy Sheehan the spark igniting an antiwar movement that threatens the Bush presidency? Or is she just an over-hyped flicker that will be extinguished with the next turn of the news cycle?
The White House is counting on it being the latter. As the Washington Post's Jim VandeHei explained in a Live Online discussion yesterday: "The White House thinks this whole story is a silly obsession of bored reporters with nothing better to do during the slow August."
But with more than a thousand Sheehan-inspired vigils all over the country last night -- and a national conversation unleashed -- there are reasons to think the White House may be wrong.
Cindy Sheehan: 35% favorable, 38% unfavorable (Rasmussen Reports)
Cindy Sheehan's allies (Robert Novak, TownHall)
At Cindy Sheehan's side since Aug. 6 when she began her antiwar protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch have been three groups that openly support the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. troops: Code Pink-Women For Peace, United for Peace & Justice, and Veterans For Peace.
Those organizations were represented at a mock "war crimes" trial in Istanbul that on June 27 produced a joint declaration backing the insurgency. Based on the United Nations Charter, it said "the popular national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified. It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice and freedom."
The Istanbul statement also rejected U.S. efforts to leave behind a democratic government in Iraq, asserting: "Any law or institution created under the aegis of occupation is devoid of both legal and moral authority."
Cindy Sheenan: Without Internet, U.S. Would Be a “Fascist State” (Byron York, NRO)
"This is something that can't be ignored," Sheehan said during a conference call with bloggers representing sites like democrats.com, codepink4peace.org, and crooksandliars.com. "They can't ignore us, and they can't put us down. Thank God for the Internet, or we wouldn't know anything, and we would already be a fascist state."
"Our government is run by one party, every level," Sheehan continued, "and the mainstream media is a propaganda tool for the government." Sheehan also called the 2004 presidential election "the election, quote-unquote, that happened in November."
The conference call was moderated by Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who managed former Vermont governor Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2003 and 2004. It was also organized by another Democratic strategist, Bob Fertik of democrats.com. (During the conference, Fertik said that for the purposes of the call, he was representing yet another website, the antiwar site afterdowningstreet.com.) Finally, Jodie Evans of the anti-war group Code Pink also took part in running the sometimes-chaotic call. Trippi has posted a recording of the call on his own website, joetrippi.com.
After several weeks of the sort of positive coverage of Sheehan that a public relations or advertising firm couldn't deliver for millions of dollars (and during August, when the Bush Administration historically disengages because nobody is paying attention to politics), it turns out that Democrats once again seem to have hitched their wagon to a political loser (at 35%, at least Miss Sheehan's supporters can boast more support than Chris Bell in his last race).
This is what can happen when, as Ignatius puts it, Democrats are "captive of the most shrill voices in the party."
Many of the "netroots" types would probably take issue with that (it may even come up in their blogger conference calls!), which actually says quite a bit.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/05 19:48 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
Is China The New Japan (Or Germany For That Matter)?
Is China Japan All Over Again? (Amelia Newcomb, Christian Science Monitor).
No.
China has many more internal problems (and contradictions) than Japan ever had, and at some point, some other country with cheaper labor will always come along.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/05 19:11 | International | Technorati | Comments (3)
Roberts on Wacko Jacko
Roberts's rules of Decorum (Dana Milbank, Washington Post)
Last week, researchers found several memos from the summer and fall of 1984 in which future Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, working as a Reagan White House lawyer, argued against sending presidential thank-you notes to Michael Jackson for his charitable works. But it turns out this was just the beginning of what appears to be the young lawyer's concerns about the star. Three new memos uncovered by Post reporters show Roberts described Jackson as "androgynous," "mono-gloved" and a balladeer of illegitimacy.
On April 30, 1984, Roberts wrote to oppose a presidential award that was to have been given to Jackson for his efforts against drunk driving. Roberts particularly objected to award wording that described Jackson as an "outstanding example" for American youth.
Roberts wrote: "If one wants the youth of America and the world sashaying around in garish sequined costumes, hair dripping with pomade, body shot full of female hormones to prevent voice change, mono-gloved, well, then, I suppose 'Michael,' as he is affectionately known in the trade, is in fact a good example. Quite apart from the problem of appearing to endorse Jackson's androgynous life style, a Presidential award would be perceived as a shallow effort by the President to share in the constant publicity surrounding Jackson. . . . The whole episode would, in my view, be demeaning to the President."
Let's hope that Justice Roberts proves to be as far-seeing on the Supreme Court as he was in this 1984 memo.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/05 18:59 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
19 August 2005
Bumbling Britton
C-USA's bowl outlook a little soupy (Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News)
Conference USA is on the verge of losing its longest tenured bowl tie-in.
The Southeastern Conference is biding to become the lead conference for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl starting next season, conference officials said.
If that occurs, C-USA could move its conference champion to the EV1.net Houston Bowl.
Conference USA officials said an announcement could occur in a few days.
The Houston Bowl features Big 12 and SEC teams, and it could remain that way if the payout increases to between $1.5 and $1.6 million.
C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said recently he's not concerned about the Liberty Bowl possibly ending the 12-year relationship.
"We understand what's going on, but the game with our champion to play in the Liberty Bowl is set. After this year, we don't know, but we'll look at things. We are confident we can make things happen."
Yes. Unfortunately, it's usually bad things, such as teams leaving for better conferences and losing your best bowl game for Houston's pitiful bowl.
Seriously, the fact Britton Banowsky still heads C-USA is a complete, utter mystery to me.
Not being "concerned" about losing your best bowl alliance because you have the EV1.net Houston (formerly GalleryFurniture.com) Bowl waiting in the wings only adds to the mystery.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/05 13:10 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
A PubliusTX.net PSA
Cor blimey (Economist)
IT'S true. Pornography can make you blind. Look at a smutty picture and, according to research by Steven Most, of Yale University, and his colleagues, you will suffer from a temporary condition known as emotion-induced blindness.
Dr Most made this discovery while studying the rubbernecking effect (when people slow down to stare at a car accident). Rubbernecking represents a serious lapse of attention to the road, but he wondered if the initial reaction to such gory scenes could cause smaller lapses. The answer is, it does. What he found was that when people look at gory images—and also erotic ones—they fail to process what they see immediately afterwards. This period of blindness lasts between two-tenths and eight-tenths of a second. That is long enough for a driver transfixed by an erotic advert on a billboard to cause an accident.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/05 11:48 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
18 August 2005
Dead End Angels
They're alive and well and starting to play a little again.
A big web redesign is on the way, but in the meantime, there's this.
I see a Gruene trip in the near future.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/18/05 23:39 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
17 August 2005
Melody of Riot
Jay Farrar: Rising Son (Harp)
Asked about the just-announced deal with Sony/Legacy-after a rumored bidding war to distribute the new album-Farrar says it was mostly because he likes the two guys at Legacy who worked with him and Tweedy in putting out Uncle Tupelo’s recent anthology. Will the deal mean good tour support?
“Yeah! They’ll support us to a degree, but I go for more the self-sufficiency kind of touring as opposed to just taking tour support-which is essentially taking out a second mortgage out or something,” Farrar chuckles. “People don’t realize it’s all money that has to be paid back. It’s how bands dig a hole for themselves.”
What about a Wallflowers-style bus, I joke, with Son Volt painted on the side?
Buy this CD!“Probably not, no,” he says slowly, and then chuckles. “But I’d like to talk about it.”
I point out that according to myth, and a recent biography of Wilco, Farrar-unlike his previous partner-was not only disinterested in the trappings of rock stardom, he was repelled by them.
“Somewhere along the way I got the feeling we went into it for different reasons. And that’s fine. But when you come to that realization, you’ve got to do something about it. He probably had more of an unconditional ambition, and I was more ambivalent about it.”
Like the big bus used by UT during their last tour?
“It’s weird-there’s all this glamour associated with touring on a bus, and to me there’s nothing worse. It’s like being on a submarine-you can’t get off. Maybe more analogous to living in a trailer. There is a certain freedom in driving in a caravan of vans, rather than being trapped in a bus with a driver who may have...esoteric views on politics and religion?” He smiles.
Jay Farrar rocks.
I'm planning on spending a fair amount of September chasing the guy around and seeing some shows. Who knows, he may make Son Volt fans wait another seven years otherwise.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/05 23:06 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bush Envy
Russian leader flies in strategic bomber (AP)
After attending the Moscow International Air Show Tuesday, the 52-year-old Russian leader donned a black helmet and an air force jump suit, then boarded a sleek white Tu-160 bomber and took off for a training mission that included supersonic flight and launching a cruise missile over the Arctic.
Come on, any real leader would much prefer a fighter and aircraft carrier.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/05 22:57 | International | Technorati | Comments (1)
I Thought Starving To Death Was Fun And Good?
Woman ends 'right to die' food protest (Richard Savill, Telegraph, via Brothers Judd)
A 28-year-old terminally ill woman who went on hunger strike as an act of voluntary euthanasia has ended her protest after 19 days because of intense pain. [...]
Mrs Kelly ended her protest on Thursday night by eating a small amount of apple-puree baby food.
She told the Bristol Evening Post: "It has become too uncomfortable and I would not wish what I have been going through on my worst enemy.
"I feel disappointed in myself. I really wanted to die and that seemed to be my only option. I regret that I have to stop what I am doing because I still want to die. But starvation, as it turns out, is very undignified."
No kidding?
Maybe all of these holier-than-thou types should think of that next time they advocate starving someone else to death.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/05 22:53 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)
Changing The Culture
Abortion's changing landscape (Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe)
These results from a recent CBS News poll also speak to a changing abortion debate. When 1,222 adults nationwide were asked if the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade was a ''good thing" or a ''bad thing," 60 percent of all respondents said the constitutional right for women to obtain legal abortions is a ''good thing."
However, when asked to describe their personal feeling about abortion, 28 percent said abortion should be permitted in all cases; 15 percent said it should be permitted, but subject to greater restrictions; 33 percent said it should be permitted only in cases such as rape, incest, and to save a woman's life; and 15 percent said it should be permitted only to save a woman's life. Five percent said abortion should never be permitted.
Conclusion: America is pro Roe v. Wade. But what that means varies greatly; individuals draw the prochoice line in different places.
Why? Antiabortion advocates successfully altered public opinion. Science and medical technology changed it as well. Also, the women's rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s is not the driving social force it once was. And frankly, abortion rights activists cried wolf too often.
In the comment I left at Alex's place on a different topic, I referred to the abortion issue as illustrative of the typically incremental nature of change in American politics. Changing the culture takes time, but the antiabortion side has seen some success. Science and medical technology have played a key role as well, as Vennochi points out. Abortion defenders have a tough time referring to this image as simply an unfeeling clump of cells to be disposed of for the sake of convenience.
It's a further sign that the debate has changed that one candidate for Texas governor won't even talk about abortion, instead changing the topic.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/05 22:47 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 August 2005
Google WiFi?
Free Wi-Fi? Get Ready for GoogleNet (Om Malik, Business 2.0)
What if Google (GOOG) wanted to give Wi-Fi access to everyone in America?
[snip]
First it would build a national broadband network -- let's call it the GoogleNet -- massive enough to rival even the country's biggest Internet service providers. Business 2.0 has learned from telecom insiders that Google is already building such a network, though ostensibly for many reasons. For the past year, it has quietly been shopping for miles and miles of "dark," or unused, fiber-optic cable across the country from wholesalers such as New York’s AboveNet. It's also acquiring superfast connections from Cogent Communications and WilTel, among others, between East Coast cities including Atlanta, Miami, and New York. Such large-scale purchases are unprecedented for an Internet company, but Google's timing is impeccable. The rash of telecom bankruptcies has freed up a ton of bargain-priced capacity, which Google needs as it prepares to unleash a flood of new, bandwidth-hungry applications. These offerings could include everything from a digital-video database to on-demand television programming.
An even more compelling reason for Google to build its own network is that it could save the company millions of dollars a month. Here's why: Every time a user performs a search on Google, the data is transmitted over a network owned by an ISP -- say, Comcast (CMCSK) -- which links up with Google's servers via a wholesaler like AboveNet. When AboveNet bridges that gap between Google and Comcast, Google has to pay as much as $60 per megabit per second per month in IP transit fees. As Google adds bandwidth-intensive services, those costs will increase. Big networks owned by the likes of AT&T (T) get around transit fees by striking "peering" arrangements, in which the networks swap traffic and no money is exchanged. By cutting out middlemen like AboveNet, Google could share traffic directly with ISPs to avoid fees.
So once the GoogleNet is built, how would consumers connect for free access? One of the cheapest ways would be for Google to blanket major cities with Wi-Fi, and evidence gathered by Business 2.0 suggests that the company may be trying to do just that. In April it launched a Google-sponsored Wi-Fi hotspot in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district, built by a local startup called Feeva. Feeva is reportedly readying more free hotspots in California, Florida, New York, and Washington, and it's possible that Google may be involved. Feeva CEO Nitin Shah confirms that the company is working with Google but won't discuss details. Google's interest in Feeva likely stems from the startup's proprietary technology, which can determine the location of every Wi-Fi user and would allow Google to serve up advertising and maps based on real-time data.
I think I'd rather have "free" wifi powered by Google than Bill White's effort to one-up Lee Brown's SimDesk.
Here's hoping Google beats the mayor to the punch. There are more pressing priorities for the city's budget right now.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/16/05 23:50 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
15 August 2005
Barone, et al., On Social Mobility
Is Social Mobility on the Decline? (Michael Barone, RealClearPolitics)
"We cannot help noticing," Mount concludes, "that the old class system has been reconstituted into a more or less meritocratic upper tier and a lower tier which is defined principally by its failure to qualify for the upper tier."
Which is exactly what Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray predicted for America in their controversial book "The Bell Curve," published 11 years ago. Herrnstein and Murray noted that intelligence is both measurable and in some large but unquantifiable part hereditary, an unexceptionable finding for experimental psychologists but maddening to social engineers. As college education becomes open to all with the requisite intelligence, graduates will tend to marry graduates and produce children with similar intelligence, while others will tend to produce children without it.
"Unchecked, these trends," Herrnstein and Murray wrote, "will lead the U.S. toward something resembling a caste society, with the underclass mired ever more firmly at the bottom and the cognitive elite ever more firmly anchored at the top."
Which leads to the question children ask on long car trips: Are we there yet? Mount says Britain is and Parker says America may well be. And maybe so.
Barone's article is interesting, as always. I included the excerpt that I did because of its reference to that central argument of Herrnstein and Murray, since most of the frothing critics of the Bell Curve (like frothing critics generally) never really bothered to familiarize themselves with its actual argument.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/05 22:35 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
The New Mainstream = The Old Inconsistency
Announcement Speech (Chris Bell, 15 August 2005)
I’ve spent a little time in Austin. Government can’t raise your kids and it shouldn’t even try. Alison and I know, just like you do, that raising our kids is our job.
In fact, good parents matter more for kids than anything I could do as governor. We as a society have gotten so far away from the importance of parents in kids’ lives that it actually took a study by some psychologist from Notre Dame to remind the pundits and PhD’s what everyone here knows—parents matter
[snip]
You can’t have it both ways – you can’t say you’re against abortion and then work so diligently to prevent young people from having what they need to avoid getting pregnant in the first place.
If we can agree on that, then we can face the teen pregnancy crisis with an open mind and a servant’s heart. We have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.... We need to reduce the number of abortions that teen pregnancy causes by giving our kids the medically accurate, age-appropriate information they need to know so they don’t get pregnant in the first place.
Presumably, in that last excerpted paragraph, the "we" to whom candidate Bell is referring is the state (who or what else could he mean?), which of course doesn't square at all with his prior rhetoric about empowering parents and not government.
After plowing through the thing, I can't help but wonder why the campaign didn't outsource such an important speech to a professional -- or if it did, to one with keener rhetorical skills.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/05 22:05 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (1)
Hitchens On Ventriloquizing The Dead
Cindy Sheehan's Sinister Piffle: What's wrong with her Crawford protest (Christopher Hitchens, Slate)
[Cindy] Sheehan has obviously taken a short course in the Michael Moore/Ramsey Clark school of Iraq analysis and has not succeeded in making it one atom more elegant or persuasive.
[snip]
Finally, I think one must deny to anyone the right to ventriloquize the dead. Casey Sheehan joined up as a responsible adult volunteer. Are we so sure that he would have wanted to see his mother acquiring "a knack for P.R." and announcing that he was killed in a war for a Jewish cabal? This is just as objectionable, on logical as well as moral grounds, as the old pro-war argument that the dead "must not have died in vain." I distrust anyone who claims to speak for the fallen, and I distrust even more the hysterical noncombatants who exploit the grief of those who have to bury them.
Hitchens' old friends on the Left must just despise him these days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/05 21:44 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Operator, Please Connect Me... With 1994
The Gingrich Legacy (Matt Welch, Reason, via Raw360)
This passage is crucial, and points to arguably the real legacy of Gingrich's Revolution, one that is eagerly being studied and debated by Democratic Party loyalists as we speak. The Republicans located and attracted a new base of voters with bomb-throwing rhetoric that only happened to include some limited-government ideas (hardly surprising, considering the party had been out of government for so long).
The key to maintaining that base, besides the usual vote-buying that every governing party engages in, has been to keep the bombs coming, not to follow up on any of the limited-government promises (with the notable exception of welfare reform).
Even the GOP needn't be this stupid (Orrin Judd)
In 1985, five years into the soulful Reagan presidency, federal government spending was 22.9% of GDP. In 2005, five years into the soulless Bush presidency, federal government spending will be roughly 19% of GDP. Now, before we start castigating Ronald Reagan for not measuring up to his successor, it's important to recognize that the entire difference comes just in military spending, where the Gipper had to finish off a fifty year war as opposed to W's rather easier war on terror.
Leave it to Brother Orrin to go and put things in perspective.
I left some thoughts at Alex's place on misreading 1994, for anybody who might be interested.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/05 21:30 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
14 August 2005
Weekend Music
It's been a long hiatus, but I think we're finally back in the swing of live country music. This weekend, Callie and I caught a couple of good shows.
First up was No Justice opening for Max Stalling at the Firehouse.
No Justice is an Oklahoma band that's gotten some great word of mouth over the past couple of years. They don't get to Houston all that much, and I hadn't seen them before. In fact, I'd only listened to a little bit of a CD that Alex burned me ages ago (I picked up a legit copy at the show Friday, so don't anybody get bitchy with me).
All the good word of mouth those guys have been getting is legit. Although their website currently shows them as a four-piece, they're actually a five piece now. The lead vocalist plays an acoustic guitar, and he's back by two electric guitars (one of the guitarists also does harmony vocals), and the usual rhythm section (bass, drums). The fellow missing from the website is a guy named Brandon Jackson.
No Justice just plains rocks. There is a little twang to them, like some of the other Oklahoma rockers (Mike McClure, Cross Canadian Ragweed). But mostly, they just rev up those guitars and harmony vocals, and tear up the place. They definitely play with energy, and they sounded especially tight for a three guitar band that does lots of harmony vocal stuff.
We liked their original stuff, but they did two covers that were exceptional -- a tune by a Tulsa artist named Brandon Jenkins ("Finger on the Trigger" -- I'm going to have to track down the Jenkins version to compare), and a cover of Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road." That may well have been the best cover I've ever heard of "Copperhead Road," because they didn't just copy Earle the Master, as most bands do (and which is safe), but they played it No Justice style, and just tore the hell out of it with guitar riffs. Very impressive. I was kicking myself for not doing a live recording of those guys.
On Saturday night, we caught the River Road Boys over at the Sons of Hermann Lodge/Ballroom over on Yale. Those guys can play some Western Swing! And Herb Remington can certainly handle a pedal steel guitar.
The music was fun, but it was kind of unusual being the youngest people in the room. We're usually probably at least in the upper half (maybe quartile? doh!) of age groups at the live country shows we tend to see, but this was largely an older, golden crowd. We sat at a table with two extremely friendly older couples who made a fuss over us most of the night. One of the ladies was ranting about liberals early on, so she and I scared everyone else with our talk of politics (mixed in with proper appreciation for some nice pedal steel and fiddle playing).
In all, quite a good experience and a good vibe all around from the friendly folks at Sons of Hermann.
Next weekend is the Randy Rogers Band at the Firehouse. It's been WAY too long since I've seen the RRB, so that should be a treat. And a crazy affair, as Randy's really gotten popular.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/05 23:23 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
KevinWhited Laughed
Some years ago, a Texas country music artist apparently disliked something I wrote on this little ol' site.
Apparently, it festered and festered over some period of time, until finally said artist had several sad outbursts on that artist's fan message boards that involved all sorts of frothing with "KevinWhited this!" and "KevinWhited that!" (KevinWhited must be thought of as a single, profane word to capture the proper effect).
Before that little embarrassing rant, I doubt very many fans of the artist even knew the name Kevin Whited.
I always thought that it was kind of funny.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/05 23:06 | Music | Technorati | Comments (5)
Does The Left Really Want This Attention In August?
Cindy Sheenan: Without Internet, U.S. Would Be a “Fascist State” (Byron York, NRO, via Brothers Judd)
"This is something that can't be ignored," Sheehan said during a conference call with bloggers representing sites like democrats.com, codepink4peace.org, and crooksandliars.com. "They can't ignore us, and they can't put us down. Thank God for the Internet, or we wouldn't know anything, and we would already be a fascist state."
"Our government is run by one party, every level," Sheehan continued, "and the mainstream media is a propaganda tool for the government." Sheehan also called the 2004 presidential election "the election, quote-unquote, that happened in November."
The conference call was moderated by Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who managed former Vermont governor Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2003 and 2004. It was also organized by another Democratic strategist, Bob Fertik of democrats.com. (During the conference, Fertik said that for the purposes of the call, he was representing yet another website, the antiwar site afterdowningstreet.com.) Finally, Jodie Evans of the anti-war group Code Pink also took part in running the sometimes-chaotic call. Trippi has posted a recording of the call on his own website, joetrippi.com
Also taking part in the call was Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a frequent participant in progressive political conferences and anti-war events. Schakowsky took part in an unofficial Democratic hearing on the Downing Street Memo conducted last June in Washington. Sheehan testified at that hearing, giving a painful and moving account of seeing her son in his coffin.
On the call, Sheehan complained that she was suffering from a sore throat and a fever after being doused by thunderstorms. But she vowed to stay in Texas. There are only three things that would prompt her to leave, she said: "a good meeting with the president, the end of August, or I get arrested."
Ah, the blogger conference call, one of President Howard Dean's most effective campaign tools.
Err, wait, no, it really wasn't, and he isn't President Dean. But there were some cool meetups, and no doubt some relationships have endured.
I used to feel a little sorry for this poor woman. It's very unfortunate if she really is yearning to be arrested. But some of our Friends on the Left seem into martyrdom right now.
Why Cindy Sheehan is Right! (David Duke)
It's because of JOOS, says David Duke. He gives no indication whether he was in on the blogger conference call or not. It's proof that it's getting harder and harder to tell the far Left from the far Right.
My muse Orrin Judd summed up the Left's situation this way earlier:
One of the things that's killing them is that in the absence of any ideas or leaders they are subject to the whims of their most extreme elements. Pick up a paper this week and the two main stories about the American Left are NARAL having to pull its ads and Ms Sheehan's Crawford campout. Democrats can't afford to be on the abortionist and peacenik fringes, but, having ceded control of the narrative, they certainly seem to be.
It's even worse, because usually nobody is paying attention to politics in July-August. Every year about this time, the Administration has largely disengaged from politics, letting media types write about sagging poll numbers during a time when Rove and crew have obviously concluded nobody cares. This year, our Friends on the Left seem determined to make people pay attention to their extreme elements during the off period. To the extent anybody is, the resulting backlash may well produce a slight bump for the President's approval ratings, something that typically hasn't happened following his annual August disengagements.
If it does happen, watch for the frothing to get even more intense!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/05 21:45 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
40% = Minority
Marriage amendment foes have 'No Nonsense' plan (Kristen Mack, Houston Chronicle)
Opponents of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage admitted early on that they have little chance of defeating the measure on November's ballot.
But they've still organized against it, calling their campaign No Nonsense in November.
Glen Maxey, a former Democratic representative from Austin who is openly gay, is the campaign's director.
The Austin-based campaign hopes to take its message statewide, urging the amendment's opponents to donate to the cause and volunteer to help wage an aggressive, statewide voter identification and get-out-the-vote effort.
"This amendment is pure nonsense," said Maxey. "Instead of focusing on issues that really matter to Texans, like education and school finance, the Texas Legislature gives us this hateful, divisive amendment that is redundant and unnecessary."
Our Friends on the Left seem never to tire of fighting for candidates and issues that energize 40% of voters.
Run every race and all that.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/05 13:11 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
Yes
Legislative long knives in daylight (Rick Casey, Houston Chronicle)
HAVE the Democrats become so irrelevant in Texas politics that the Republicans have only themselves to fight?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/05 07:55 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (2)
13 August 2005
New Old Media-ation
The Pegasus crew posted something on citizen journalism versus mainstream media earlier this week, and called the debate "damned silly."
I agree and left a comment at their place. Go give 'em your thoughts on new journalism if this sort of thing interests you.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/13/05 17:35 | Media Matters | Technorati | Comments (0)
Blog Line Of The Week
The blog line of the week comes from Orrin:
There's a name for a political party that finds intolerable the beliefs of the mainstream: minority.
And seemingly, an increasingly raging minority.
UPDATE (08-15-2005): The email address attached to the comment on LST may have been spoofed. That's what the person with that email address claims, anyway. It doesn't change the fact that whoever left that comment was raging, though.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/13/05 17:09 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
12 August 2005
Red Dirt, No Smoke, Pedal Steel (Sorry Kyrie, I Copied)
It's a sign of getting lazy and old.
Oklahoma red-dirt band No Justice is opening for Max Stalling at the Firehouse tonight. I'm not a Stalling fan, but No Justice is a pretty interesting act. They don't get down to Houston all that often. They'll likely finish early. The place probably won't be too crowded while they're one.
Over at the Stag's Head, Lisa Novak is playing. I've heard good things about her from friends Sean R. and Gary C. She plays around town all the time. The Stag's head probably won't be so crowded, and probably won't be that smoky. Plus it's closer.
I haven't made up my mind between the two shows, but you can see what sorts of things are weighing on the decision, eh? Lazy old fart sorts of issues. I should really go see No Justice and catch Novak next time (which will come sooner).
Tomorrow night, the decision looks easier if I decide to take in some music. Sara over at Hand Stamp points to a local Western Swing band, the River Road Boys.
Steel guitar! Fiddle! Texas Swing!
But especially steel guitar. Herb Remington is legendary, but I've never SEEN the guy play. That must be rectified.
More bands should feature a pedal steel. Randy Rogers played his best stuff when his band featured a pedal steel (mind you, he draws HUGE crowds now without, and I once saw his band along with a whopping 9 fans or so on a cold night in El Campo, but trust me -- it sounded better then, and I bet at least five of those nine people would agree!).
Why has that instrument gone away?
It's a rhetorical question, but if you have a good answer for me, please do avail yourself of the commenting feature.
And here's another question -- has anybody in town been to the Sons of Hermann Ballroom on Yale here in town?
That's where the Texas swing guys are playing, and I know nothing about it. I've heard of the Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas.... which does me no good. Sara says they're recording live there, so the room must sound good. Help me out, faithful readers and Texas music fans -- what about this place?
UPDATE (08-13-2005): No Justice won out. It was a good choice. They are one HELL of a live act.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/12/05 19:55 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
Belated Addiction
I blame it on the Bravo television network.
And Patrick Ruffini.
Bravo started running the series a few months ago, and I happened to catch the early parts of it flipping channels.
And Ruffini praised the thing at some point on his blog.
See, most of the time I'm way behind the curve on most forms of pop culture (live Texas music may once have been an exception, but probably isn't any more). I watch DVDs years after people have raved about some movie. The same is true of television programs.
So I missed the West Wing when everyone was raving about it.
But after catching some of it on Bravo, I had to buy the first two seasons on DVD. Not at the same time. After blasting through the first season in about a week, I had to return to Fry's for the next season. Since then, it's been Netflix.
Callie and I just finished the first two episodes of Season Four. How does a television series get better after three seasons? Aside from the two assassination episodes, those were probably the best ones yet.
Crazy.
My name is Kevin. I am a West Wingaholic. At least through three seasons and change.
Please don't tell me it doesn't stay this good. I don't want to hear that. But it really can't, I don't think.
Incidentally, Netflix is really the way to go for stuff like this.
CORRECTION: The series is on Bravo, not A&E (as the post originally said). My bad.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/12/05 19:39 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
11 August 2005
Blog Q&A Of The Week
Sedosi Alhambra writes:
You know what that's called in the business world?
Impending Bankruptcy.
And that makes no sense unless you click on over and read the whole thing. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/05 22:52 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
A Little Inside Baseball
Apparently, one Susan Gibson just can't let the past go.
Oh sure, Mike Devers has a little fun with it.
But really, isn't it time for her to grow up and move on?
And isn't it time for her to stop putting "Wide Open Spaces" on EVERY SINGLE CD?!
Geez. Cool song, but it's time to live in 2005!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/05 22:46 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
Mmmm, Bacon
Millions wash up for Texas shoreline (Kevin Moran, Houston Chronicle)
The comprehensive energy bill signed into law this week by President Bush includes $240 million that Texas can use to fight coastal erosion and repair shoreline damaged by storms in recent years.
The money, expected to begin flowing in 2007, could pay for a new, wide beach along Galveston's Seawall Boulevard, as well as beach protection and restoration projects all along the state's 400-mile shoreline, state officials say. The Texas General Land Office and Gov. Rick Perry will decide what projects will be funded.
The money could give a big boost to efforts by coastal counties and communities to draw beachgoers and their tourism dollars. It also may be used to protect habitat for shorebirds and keep waterways open for commercial shipping and recreational boaters, officials said.
On Galveston Island, where some of the worst erosion on the Texas coast occurs, news of the appropriation, under the federal Coastal Impact Assistance Program, brings new hope that the island's 32 miles of public beach will be preserved.
"We're hoping to do real big beach-restoration projects," said Jerry Mohn, president of the West Galveston Island Property Owners Association.
No specific plan for using the money has been proposed in Texas, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. The money, expected to come in $60 million chunks over four years, can be used for projects in 18 coastal counties, including Harris, Galveston and Brazoria counties, he said.
"We're hoping to do renourishment of beaches, wildlife habitat preservation, recreational facilities and erosion control projects in bays and other waterways," Patterson said. "There's not going to be any shortage of places to spend this money."
An energy bill is funding beach nourishment?
Lovely.
Ah well, screw it. Texas doesn't get back all of its gasoline tax contributions in pork, so we might as well get it back in some other way. Yeah, that's it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/05 22:15 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
Brother Sparks At The Church Of Ely
Brother Sparks took some communion at the Church of Ely last night:
When Joe sings a song, it stays sung. There's some kind of creepy, ethereal, authority to the way he sings; and that's not to say his voice is hard-edged and brute. Rather, when you're there, 20 feet away from the guy, and he sings something, you have a hard time imagining anybody else ever singing that song again. I like Robert Earl Keen like the next guy, but, after last night, I can't imagine anyone else singing "The Road Goes on Forever," ever again.And make no mistake about two things: 1) Seeing the man do "Me and Billy the Kid," live in your face is just about one of the ten best things you can do on this earth if you're a country fan, and 2) Joel Guzman will cut the top of your head off with his accordion playing. I'm not sure I've seen anything like him, this side of Flaco Jimenez. He made that thing sound like a pedal steel, harmonica, and everything in between.
Finally, he sang the chicken fight song during his encores. I think I would have stepped over my own mother to hear that song live.
Go read all of that review. Seeing Joe put on a really good show is akin to finding religion.
It's been quite a while since I've managed to catch an Ely/Guzman show. Brother Sparks has me thinking it's about time for Rusty to get those boys scheduled at the Duck.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/05 21:43 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
Just Plain Goofy
The Right Honorable Chaffin on Kinky Friedman:
In the short run, I guess it’s kind of funny and harmless. In the long run, what worries me, is the non-stop influx of yankees who might just jump on this bandwagon with their new Tony Lamas and their Escalades and Cadillac pick-ups and actually elect this man. Mind you, I’m not up at night fretting over this bit of theatre, but stranger things have happened. We elected Ann Richards not a few years ago, didn’t we?
It's not going to happen.
Elsewhere, Rich Connelly checks in on another gubernatorial candidate. And if you want to liveblog the announcement of that candidate (despite his earlier announcement), knock yourself out. Like the old Howard Dean meetups, it might be a good chance to meet guys/gals, and just as likely to matter to anybody who votes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/05 21:33 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
10 August 2005
Taranto Underestimates The Power Of The Netroots
James Taranto's Best of the Web contained all sorts of goodness today, but this stood out:
On Monday a blogger calling himself Mr. Right (sorry, ladies, apparently there is a Mrs. Right) e-mailed us asking to link to a satirical post he'd written called "Democrats Give Up on Winning, Push for More 'Spectacular' Losses":
"Since we can't ever seem to win anymore, it has taken all the fun out of playing the game," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean in an exclusive interview with the Right Place. "That's why we have embarked upon this new strategy of trying to enjoy each and every humiliating defeat. The more spectacularly we crash and burn, the more fun we're going to have! Why do you think I go around saying all the insane things I have been saying since I got this job anyway? You didn't actually think I was that crazy, mean or stupid, did you? I mean, come on! . . ."
For evidence of this, one need look no further than last Tuesday's special election in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, where Democrat Paul Hackett lost to Republican Jean Schmidt. After the results came in, showing that another one of their candidates had gone down in flames, many liberals were ready to pop the champagne corks! . . .
To further the stated goal of losing as many elections as possible, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, publisher of the leading liberal weblog, Daily Kos, is lobbying for a position as a Democrat Party Campaign Manager.
"Kos" cited his "perfect 0-16 record" supporting Democrat candidates for elected office in recent elections as proof of his immeasurable qualification for such a position.
"It only makes sense as the next logical step," Kos said in a recent post, "After all, I couldn't be any worse than Bob Shrum."
We didn't bother linking to it, because it just seemed too absurd and over the top to be effective as satire. But then we read this in today's Los Angeles Times:
An array of liberal Internet activists is urging Democrats to vastly expand the 2006 congressional battlefield by recruiting and funding challengers in dozens of districts that have been virtually conceded to the GOP. . . .
Those calls are drawing new energy from Democrat Paul Hackett's narrow defeat this month in a special election in an Ohio district where Republicans usually romp. Hackett's showing "proved that you could build the party if you pay attention to every race," said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the popular liberal website the Daily Kos. . . .
Mark Gersh, a longtime strategist for Democrats, said the liberal websites and blogs were right that the party needed to expand the battlefield for House seats.
"But to expand it into districts where [Democrats] have no chance of winning is absolutely crazy," he said.
Turns out Mr. Right's satire wasn't absurd or over the top enough to be anything more than a description of reality.
Taranto just needs to read more Texas bloggers and he'd be hip to the power of the netroots.
Really, Mark Steyn still had the most fun with the topic.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/05 22:47 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
Danger Train: Collision #106
KPRC-2 reports a Danger Train collision earlier today:
A METRORail train was involved in an accident with a vehicle Wednesday afternoon, making it the 100th accident since the light-rail service began, Local 2 reported.
Officials said a vehicle was northbound on Fannin, in front of Texas Children's Hospital, at 2:40 p.m. when the driver turned left on a red light. The light-rail train was northbound on Fannin and hit the side of the car.
Two people on the train had minor injuries, but were not transported to a hospital.
The driver of the car was not injured. He was cited by police.
As noted previously, we passed 100 collisions a while back (since METRO is fairly secretive with the crash information). Best estimate is that this was #106. It would be nice if the mainstream media would dig a little deeper and get their numbers up to date.
UPDATE: KTRK-13 reports the accident (wrongly) as #100 also.
Rich Connelly reports for the Houston Press on the discrepancy in the reported figures, and includes a pretty lame quote from METRO's spokesman that doesn't really explain the discrepancy at all.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/05 16:14 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)
09 August 2005
Soechting Wants To Recruit Kinky Friedman?
Backers can buy Kinky as a toy — but a Democrat? (W. Gardner Selby, Austin American-Statesman, via Perry vs. World)
A Houston lawyer said he recently told Soechting that he was supporting [Kinky] Friedman and that Soechting replied: "He ought to run as a Democrat."
The lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, who backed Democratic gubernatorial choice Tony Sanchez in 2002, said Soechting seemed serious about considering Friedman.
"Politics has gotten to be such a mess," DeGuerin said. "It's gotten so polarized that someone needs to shake up the status quo. The Democrats have been in disarray. They've let the Republicans run all over them."
Soechting confirmed DeGuerin's recollection, saying he'd like to visit Friedman to gauge his Democratic Party values.
"No question he's a real smart guy; people like him," Soechting said. "A lot of people would like to see a candidate for governor appear to have a little wild man like Kinky in him. There's something to be said about being a little wild, a little unpredictable. I've been accused of that myself."
Friedman, who has previously indicated no yen for running as a Democrat, said: "I'm flattered at the possibility of being the Democratic pallbearer, I mean standard-bearer. . . . I'm open to talking to them. I don't think it's going to happen."
Kinky Friedman pretty much IS a Democrat, so why not?
The Chris Bell camp must regard it as QUITE the slap in the face for the state party chair to be recruiting independent candidates to run against a loyal Democrat who brought ethics charges against Tom DeLay after losing his Democratic Congressional primary by garnering 33% of the vote. Then again, that independent candidate has proven better at fundraising than Bell, so maybe Soechting has it right.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/05 23:04 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (2)
Fear And Loathing?
Journalism's fear and loathing of blogs (Dante Chinni, Christian Science Monitor)
But the main reason blogs can't really supplant the mainstream media is what they cover. If you go looking for blogs about national politics, foreign affairs, celebrities or (yes) the media, you won't go wanting. In fact, every one of the country's top 10 most visited blogs deals with one of these subjects, according to www.truthlaidbear.com itself a "portal to the blogosphere."
That's not really that surprising. To be a serious blogger - one who can devote his time and energy to the job - one needs to make a name for himself, sell ad space, and get paid. And to make a name, sell ad space, and get paid, one needs a national audience.
In other words, if you live in, say, Grand Rapids, Mich. and are looking for the latest developments on the construction on the nearby highway, or the city council budget, or a millage dispute - things that impact people in very real ways - you're not going to have much luck in the blogosphere.
Even large cities and state capitals, except for those that are part of