A Blogger with a Mission

Another Blow to Liberal Biased TV News

...The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) is the eighth-largest network of television stations, based on revenues, and the nation's largest independent group owner of stations, according to Broadcasting & Cable....

...Headquartered in the suburbs of Baltimore, it owns or manages 62 television stations in 39 markets - giving the network coverage of 25 percent of the nation's television audience...

...In October 2002, the network created a news feed for its stations and affiliates called "News Central" – a 17 minute national and international news report. Anchored by veteran TV news journalist Morris Jones, the News Central is part of the local news program for many of Sinclair's stations. The Sinclair affiliates break seamlessly from local news anchors to News Central for Jones' rundown of the significant national and world events, then return to local news...

..."Basically, [we're] in the red states," says Sinclair's Vice President for Corporate Affairs Mark Hyman in a NewsMax interview, referring to the markets SBG serves -- mostly in "red" states George Bush won in the 2000 election....

A job for me...

That's what I like about Houston....

Employee of the Month
Craig Dickson

Drivers who can't resist the urge to make an illegal left-hand turn across the light-rail tracks should avoid the stretches of Main and Fannin where the tracks are laid.

World-Class

In fact, Houston is bigger, but not especially uglier, than many other cities in Texas, where developers tend to be unfettered by niceties such as zoning laws and a tradition of urban planning.

This town -- chronically the butt of jokes for its traffic, tangy air and curious lack of zoning that allows barbecue restaurants to sit next door to taxidermy shops -- has been scrubbed clean, instructed to sit up straight, mind its manners and smile for the company. And, in a flourish of well-deserved civic pride swirled with classic Texas provincialism, it is going completely bonkers for a football game and the extravagant nonsense surrounding it.

One of the centerpieces of Houston's efforts to get ready to host Super Bowl XXXVIII has been the city's shiny new 7.5-mile Metro light-rail transit system. It runs from downtown to Reliant Stadium, where the game will be played Sunday.

But early snags have taken a little of the luster off the showcase system. One problem has been collisions between cars and trains. The system's tracks run at street level alongside vehicle traffic, and a number of accidents have occurred when motorists tried to cross tracks illegally or otherwise bumped into the trains.

But in a world where style often goes further than substance, it will take an awful lot of beaming faces to cover up Houston's flaws: The city is in many ways, well, ugly.

Who's That??

Clanging Trolleys, Belching Buses and the Toy Train

All six current Metropolitan Transit Authority trolley routes serving downtown will be eliminated Feb. 15 as Metro changes dozens of bus routes to tie into the new Main Street light rail line. Three new trolley routes will serve rail stations at the Downtown Transit Center, Bell and Preston, ferrying train riders east and west from the north-south rail line......

.....Edna Ramos, president of the Downtown and Midtown Residents Association, said many of her neighbors will drive to work instead of waiting for the bus.

"Metro's lack of response to critics will undo progress in convincing hundreds of people to leave their cars and use mass transit to get to work and school," she told the board.

Vote as I say!

Welcome our Guest Blogger

Dean Leads.... But Who's Counting?

Also, a thanks to Rob for the invitation to be a guest blogger.

Read the bold parts in the quote

Transit officials say nothing could have prevented Tuesday's crash. Not only did Quyen Lu ignore two 'no left turn' signs, said Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert, he failed to yield while making the turn and drove straight into the train's path.

Lambert and other transit authority executives said, however, they have asked their engineers to examine signals in the Museum District, where turns are generally permitted except when signs illuminate. Several drivers complained Tuesday that the illuminated signs can be hard to see, especially when the sun is shining bright. Also, the signs are positioned over the center lane, not the left lane where motorists are supposed to turn from.

Tom DeLay - Not too sexy for his shirt

"I get involved in many different things," DeLay said. "I do things that aren’t so sexy," he said in reference to work he has done for the Port of Houston.

CD02 Candidate Profiles

METRO Light Rail - 9
Houston Drivers - 0

A MetroRail train slammed into a car that turned across the railroad tracks this afternoon in the Museum District, sending the car's driver to the hospital and damaging the train.

John Culberson Mention

Houston built a $324 million light-rail system that was supposed to serve its Olympic bid but now is a Super Bowl vessel, humming 7.5 miles between downtown and the new stadium. Rep. John Culberson, who opposed the train because Houston's traffic problems are outside, not inside, the downtown corridor, called it 'primarily a real-estate development operation rather than a people mover.'

A Cry for Help

What part of the Constitution don't you understand?

When the Downtown Entertainment District Alliance invited Jeff Towns and other art car owners to park their art on wheels on Main Street Friday, no one expected any hassles.

Instead, Towns was wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and detained by police officers who were unaware he had permission to park on Main Street.

[snip]

Metro Sgt. Curtis Holloway said he knew about the art car event, but had not briefed officers.

"I probably should have informed (the officer)," Holloway said. "(Towns) could have avoided it by simply providing his ID and permits to be there. That would have been the end of the situation. I'm certain of that."

Song of the Day Quandry

Do a little dance,
make a little love,
get down tonight

White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own

Black man gotta lot a problems
But they don't mind throwing a brick
White people go to school
Where they teach you how to be thick

An' everybody's doing
Just what they're told to
An' nobody wants
To go to jail!

All the power's in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it

Everybody's doing
Just what they're told to
Nobody wants
To go to jail!

Are you taking over
or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?

The driver of a pickup truck was injured this morning when his vehicle collided with a MetroRail train near the Reliant Astrodome.

[snip]

The train's front wheels were knocked off the tracks by the impact, and the bottom front part of the engine was damaged. The windshield was broken in a starburst pattern, but it's unclear if the train's driver was injured.

Behold the power of the blog!

Hard Work Pays Off

Hatchet Job

According to sources -- two of whom say they are eyewitnesses -- the skeleton in the candidate's closet may be a dramatic apology they say he delivered in the late '80s at an evening meeting at the Kingwood Church of Christ. According to some of the congregation, Poe had been threatened with expulsion by elders after they caught him having an extramarital affair with an unmarried female church member. They demanded their own version of shame sentencing: public self-flagellation in front of congregants.

[snip]

The pulpit minister of Kingwood Church of Christ at the time was Carl Power.

He disputed the accounts of Poe's making a public apology.

"I don't have any recollection of it," Power told The Insider. "I know of no such meeting with the elders, and I'm sure I would have known."

Russian Oil News

Until you are shocked by a piercing alarm in the middle of the night and met in your kitchen by a masked invader as your children shudder in their beds, until you confront that very real nightmare, please don't suggest that some village trustee knows better and he/she can effectively task the police to protect your family from the miscreants that this society has produced.

Floating in a beam of light with you...

Mental note to self...

All My Friends Are No Longer Strangers

What part of being safe don't you understand?

A man turned his sport utility vehicle left into a Metro train Monday in the Texas Medical Center, the second collision since light rail passenger service began Jan. 1.

Democrats Gone Wild!

India has signed deal to purchase an aircraft carrier and 12 fighter jets from Russia, after nearly a decade of negotiations. The deal also comes as India strengthens ties with the United States.

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes hailed the $1.6 billion deal as a momentous step in India's long relationship with Russia. 'This is a historic occasion, which,' he said, 'constitutes a major landmark in India-Russia cooperation, in the military-technical field, and a reaffirmation of our strategic relations.'

Under the deal, India is buying the Admiral Gorshkov, a refurbished Russian aircraft carrier, and 12 MiG 29-K fighter jets. India will take delivery of the aircraft carrier by 2008.

There's your problem right there....

A dramatic home stretch, and vivid stylistic contrasts among the main contenders, prompted Iowans to turn out in large numbers. With most of the vote counted, party officials said they had counted 122,000 caucus-goers, double the amount of four years ago but just shy of the 1988 Democratic record.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Dean Panics, Gets Angry

Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean denied that he ever suffered from "panic attacks" during a Monday morning interview with Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends," insisting that neither he nor a reporter who recently interviewed him had used that term to describe an episode where he hyperventilated upon taking office as Vermont governor in 1991.

Citing a recent interview he gave to People magazine, Dean complained to "Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy, "I think if you read People magazine it says no such thing. The quote that you just read, it didn't say anything about a panic attack."

People's interviewer did, however, twice ask Dean about past "anxiety attacks," prompting the former Vermont governor to detail his hyperventilation experience.

Noted People's Ann Driscoll, "It sounds as if you had a little bit of an anxiety attack when you got the word that you were now governor."

"I did," responded Dean. "I hyperventilated and I started hyperventilating and I thought, You better stop that or you won't be much good to anybody. . . . To suddenly get told that you have responsibility for 600,000 people — it provokes a little anxiety.

At an event meant to mark the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a stern if not angry Howard Dean, told the media to “get a new life.”

With the start of the Iowa Caucus only hours away, the former Vermont governor arrived at the Iowa Historical Museum for the State of Iowa King remembrance.

Dean, who was not scheduled as one of the speakers, arrived with the national and local media waiting. The event had been posted on the media roster by his campaign.

Tens of Thousands?

For the first four days of 2004, tens of thousands of people flocked to downtown Houston and lined up for more than an hour to ride the city's new light-rail line.

Send Rep. Flake a check!

Republican Rep. Jeff Flake got elected to Congress after promising to fight wasteful spending, impose a six-year term limit on himself and vote his conscience. Now, with fewer than four years on the job, Flake is being challenged for re-election by a lobbyist and former state legislator who is outraged with Flake for making a bunch of unrealistically high-minded promises to the voters of his district - then keeping them.

Fire Ant Eradication

Song of the Day: Jail Guitar Doors by The Clash

Let me tell you 'bout Wayne and his deals of cocaine
A little more every day
Holding for a friend till the band do well
Then the D.E.A. locked him away

Clang clang, go the jail guitar doors
Bang bang, go the boots on the floor
Cry cry, for your lonely mother's son
Clang clang, go the jail guitar doors

An' I'll tell you 'bout Pete, didn't want no fame
Gave all his money away
"Well there's something wrong, it'll be good for you, son"
And so they certified him insane

And then there's Keith, waiting for trial
Twenty-five thousand bail
If he goes down you won't hear his sound
But his friends carry on anyway

Attention Super Bowl Visitors to Houston

Finally Filing's Finished

Welcome Aboard

By Mary Madewell
The Paris News
Published January 16, 2004

Two suburban Republican contenders who had lined up to run for the 4th Congressional District have bowed out in support of a new party member, incumbent U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall.

Bob Collins of Farmersville and Steve Clark of Rockwall both told Hall this week that they would withdraw from the campaign to support the senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Welcome Super Bowl Visitors!

This is complicated...

Curses, Foiled Again

Welcome Jon Matthews Searchers

Former radio talk show host Jon Matthews appeared before District Judge Brady Elliott on Friday with his attorney Steve Dogget. Matt-hews pleaded not guilty to the charges of alleged indecency with a child. His next court appearance is set for Feb. 2.

Crack for the Political Junkies

Brenham Paper Gets the Scoop

The staff of Teresa Doggett Taylor of Austin, who had said she would seek the seat, has resigned.

Taylor, a mortgage banker, made an unsuccessful bid for Texas Comptroller in 1996.

Adam Mitchell, who had been Taylor's field director/press secretary, said her staff had resigned 'as of today.'

'She's having a problem raising funds for the campaign,' said Mitchell. 'Nothing against Teresa. She's a good woman. But if you can't raise any money, it's hard to win an election.'

Script Kiddies Get New Toys for Christmas

The strategy of using a Trojan program to retrieve the new virus is unorthodox, and may be intended to circumvent antivirus products that have already been updated to spot the new versions of Mimail, she says.

Crack for the Intel Junkies

CD31 Watch

Mark Goldberg Watch

Houston's elected leaders are being offered a fat pay raise, but Mayor Bill White and most council members say they will decline it as the city faces another lean budget.

[snip]

Other council members who do not hold second jobs are Carol Alvarado and Pam Holm, who declined the raise. Also declining it were Ronald Green, a lawyer, Addie Wiseman, who owns a landscaping company, and M.J. Khan, who has real estate holdings. Mark Goldberg, who took the raise, also is a lawyer.

Words out of my mouth...

I believed then -- and I believe now -- that it is necessary to master the language of a foreign culture in order to be a qualified foreign-language and area specialist in the full sense of the word. I also thought -- and still think -- that university-based language and area-studies programs have a place in meeting the country's needs. But it was also clear to me -- and it is clear to me today -- that without a steady hand on the keel, Title VI will continue to come up short.

CD09 Watch: What the Lampson?!

CD09 Watch: Edwards Running?

The filing period for new congressional districts continues through Friday, so the pool of candidates could grow. In fact, Houston Councilwoman Ada Edwards may also join the race for the 9th district.

Another, Houston City Councilwoman Ada Edwards, ruled out her bid Tuesday. "I think I can be more effective staying right where I am," she said.

Rob Booth, a "libertarian Republican" (<--an oxymoron, if you ask me)

Respect My Authority!

CD09 Watch

Some candidates better get cracking...

Of Steak and VegiMite

The Democratic Candidates Are So Bad....

How bad are they?

WaPo: O'Neill Says He Did Not Believe Documents Under Scrutiny Were Secret

Appearing on NBC's 'Today' show, O'Neill did not dispute any of the quotes critical of the Bush administration attributed to him in the book, including the characterization of Bush as 'a blind man in a room full of deaf people.'

But he said, 'I used some vivid language that if I could take it back, I'd take that back, because it's become the controversial centerpiece. And I am afraid that it will cause people to have an impression without actually reading the book. I hope people will read the book.'

O'Neill also said he would still vote for Bush.

HCRP Executive Committee Meeting

CD09 Watch

Arlette Molina files: RPT: Candidate Filing 2004

Her site is very slow.

Counting Chickens?

MySA.com: Remap row may be over already

'Yes, there is no question at all. Of course we overreached,' San Antonio Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth said.

'Just do the math: 56 percent of the vote translates into an 18-14 Republican majority, not a 22-10 majority,' Wentworth said. 'Unfortunately, this just proves a reality of political human nature: Grab as much as you can, while you can. That's wrong. I don't approve of that.'

2004 Republican National Convention

No Vegamite

Last night the missus and I went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Good food, great service, no wait for a smoking table.

I've never been to Australia, but what the heck does this place have to do with Australia?

BBC NEWS: 'Chemical weapons' found in Iraq

Danish troops have found dozens of mortar shells in southern Iraq which could contain chemical weapons according to initial tests.

The 36 120mm mortar rounds appeared to have been buried for at least 10 years, the army said.

Kuff got me thinking..

Remember Lily and the story of how she came to us?

She's grown a little, see?

Mason's still the king of the house, though....

HoustonChronicle :
2 hurt in accident between car, light rail train

A driver trying to make an illegal left turn in the Museum District was struck by a MetroRail train this morning, the first accident reported since the official start of the light rail line.

Maybe I missed something?

Yahoo! News: Bush Plans to Send Americans to Moon, on to Mars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Buoyed by a successful landing on Mars by a robot explorer, President Bush plans a major announcement on space policy next week that envisions sending Americans back to the moon and ultimately to Mars, officials and congressional aides said on Thursday.

CD09 Watch: Bell Gets a Dem Opponent

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for stories of the race for Texas Congressional District 9, my new district. CD09 is a redraw of the old CD25, which is represented by the evil Chris Bell, a flaming jerk who brought up Congressman Culberson's family in a debate on light rail. Really, he brought up the Congressman's wife and daughter and the fact that they live in a leased house in suburban Virginia. Because of that, Slightly Rough hereby endorses anyone but Chris Bell.

Al Green to enter race for new 9th District

Justice of the Peace Al Green, former president of the Houston NAACP, announced Thursday that he will run for the new 9th Congressional District -- giving himself a jump on at least one other prospective candidate, City Councilwoman Ada Edwards.

At a hastily arranged news conference, Green, a JP for 26 years, said he will resign that position next week and file in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat.

Republicans who pushed congressional redistricting through the Legislature this year pointed to the newly drawn 9th District as one with a good chance of electing an African-American to the U.S. House. Earlier this week, a federal court panel approved the plan, rejecting Democratic arguments that it diluted minority voting strength.

[snip]

At least one Republican, former University of Houston basketball player Lyndon Rose, is considering the race. He recently was appointed to the UH board of regents.

So, on the GOP side, we ought not have contested primaries. The four or five people who can afford the time to run ought to take turns. It'll save silly little endorsement fights in a race where we don't have a chance.

Ha! Fixed it.

This article, Problems opening Word, was very helpful today.

If you are running Norton AntiVirus (NAV), or Norton SystemWorks, which incorporates NAV, there may be a conflict between the so-called Norton AntiVirus plug-in for Microsoft Office and another third party add-in that you have installed. Typically, you may get the error message: “Error VBE6.DLL”.

Nail on the Head

BeldarBlog: The blogosphere digests yesterday's court ruling upholding Texas redistricting

What's significant, as various of VodkaPundit's commenters immediately pointed out, is that the 2003 redistricting was the first successful legislative redistricting in Texas since the 2000 census. We have not violated the 'one redistricting per decade' tradition, but rather have vindicated the very important constitutional principle that it's (small-d) democratic state legislatures, rather than panels of unelected and ill-equipped federal judges, whose duty it is to do redistricting in the first place — once each decade.

Hyperbole Runs Rampant!

Pasadena Citizen: Court upholds redistricting

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting called the ruling a 'terrible decision' that will take away the votes of 1.4 million minority Texans.

But he still encouraged Democrats to bond together in opposition to 'remedy this reign of terror.'

Jack Stick Watch

AusChron: Politics: Naked City

Locally, District 50 incumbent Rep. Jack Stick, R-Austin, will face three GOP challengers in March; the winner will face a November date with Democrat Mark Strama. (Stick is reported to be considering a run for Congress in the new District 10.)

Texas Redistricting News

AusChron: The Judges Rule: Map May Not Be Wise, But It's Legal

Judge T. John Ward, the sole Democratic appointee, concurred in most of the decision, but dissented as to the changes made to District 23, represented by incumbent Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, and stretching from the Alamo City to Laredo to El Paso. District 23 was a protected district under the Voting Rights Act, but is now majority-Anglo; Bonilla has consistently lost the Hispanic vote in his district, and to protect him, the GOP mapmakers split Laredo, removing thousands of Hispanic voters and leaving those who remained in District 23 heavily outnumbered, and adding conservative Hill Country voters to make up the difference. The state argued at trial that the new minority-opportunity District 25 -- stretching from Austin to the border -- offsets the loss of District 23; Ward wrote he believes that the court majority has improperly granted too much flexibility to the Legislature in its approach to minority voting rights and that the map should be returned to the Legislature for repair. In the meantime, Ward argued, elections should be held under the old map, drawn by the same three-judge panel in 2001.

AusChron: Naked City -- More Redistricting Fallout

Another immediate beneficiary of the federal court decision to uphold the map is now-outgoing state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson, who had put all her political eggs in that basket by deciding not to refile for her House seat. Wohlgemuth plans to run for Congress, presumably against Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in the redrawn District 17, and her spokesman said, "Filing for her House seat would send the wrong message."

KGBT4: Valley Politicians React To Redistricting Ruling

Doggett is expected to run for the newly created congressional district seat. But outside the political arena, Valley reaction to the redistricting plan is null.

"It doesn't bother me. I don't really care about it," Mission resident Eric Garcia said.

"It's just all politics," McAllen resident Maria Polonski said.

FWST: Last-ditch appeal is planned on remap

But the Democrats are facing a steep uphill fight, said Nathaniel Persily, an election law expert at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

"I think [the new map] will be summarily affirmed by the Supreme Court," he said. "I'd be surprised if they stay the decision."

Persily said the Democratic plaintiffs in last month's redistricting trial in Austin were rebuffed at every turn by the three federal justices who issued their ruling Tuesday.

I missed the memo...

WaPo: BLOGGING TO VICTORY?

'President Bush's campaign has settled on a plan to run against Howard Dean that would portray him as reckless, angry and pessimistic, while framing the 2004 election as a referendum on the direction of the nation more than on the president himself, Mr. Bush's aides say...

''Voters don't normally vote for an angry, pessimistic person to be president of the country,' Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush adviser, said as he pressed the anti-Dean theme this week in an interview at Mr. Bush's re-election campaign headquarters.'

The blogger trios, whose thoughts were posted on the Dean blog, says he checked Nexis and 'the first appearance of a talking head referring to Dean as 'pessimistic' or discussing his 'pessimism' was Laura Ingraham on the Friday Dec. 19 Hardball, followed by Mary Matalin on the Sunday Dec. 21 Meet the Press. Look for it to be coming out of every Republican's mouth soon, and then it will increasingly creep into 'objective' reporting.

John Culberson in the News

HoustonChronicle.com: Democrat's challenger stays in primary

A deadline for candidates to withdraw from the March 9 party primaries passed Wednesday with all Harris County candidates staying on the ballot, including a Democratic state House candidate who had been asked by the county chairman to seek another office.

Candidates had until Wednesday to withdraw from primary races for which they had filed. One reason for doing so might have been to run in one of the redrawn congressional districts approved by a federal court Tuesday.

The congressional redistricting created several open districts, and the candidate filing deadline for those or other U.S. House seats isn't until Jan. 16.

On Tuesday, Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg started a campaign to pressure Bernardo Amadi to drop his primary race against state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston.

Birnberg asked Democrats to e-mail Amadi and ask him to run for the 7th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican opposed in his party primary by Sam Texas. So far, no Democrat has filed in that party's primary for the 7th District.

Laugh-Out-Loud Funny

Houston Press: Hair Balls - Training Day, Light rail's first day brings one high after another

10:01 With then-mayor Lee P. Brown at the controls, the first train breaks through a banner and pulls up at the dignitary-festooned station. And sits there. For several awkward minutes. Frozen behind the large glass window, waving robotically every so often to show that he is indeed alive, Brown looks like a cross between Disneyland's animatronic presidents and Lenin in his tomb.

[snip]

10:25 For eight minutes the media and lesser dignitaries have been entertained by watching the doors to the train close and then open, close and then open. After a while it takes on a hypnotic Zen-ness, inspiring serene contemplation, if not confidence in the rail system.

Thanks to Kevin for posting the link and making my day.

Captain May and Ghost Troop 3/7 Cavalry | Introduction

Right Back at Ya

Thanks to Kuff for noticing that I managed to scoop the ChronicBile. Kuff also managed to scoop our esteemed local daily on the story about the Harris County Democrat Chair's message where he urged some folks to switch races for the good of the party.

Who needs the ChronicBile when you've got us?

BeldarBlog: Texas redistricting Plan 1374C is legal, sez court in Session v. Perry -- map decisions made "in spite of, and not because of," their effects on minority voting

Merry Christmas

CD28: GOP Lambs

Seguin Gazette-Enterprise: Court OKs new redistricting map

Gabriel Perales of San Antonio declared his candidacy in mid-2003, and Seguin attorney James Hopson filed for election in December.

Both are seeking the Republican nomination.

CD25: Playing the Race Card

DMN: Marisa Trevino: Latinos, let's trust ourselves

But that kind of politics – 'Rub my back, and I'll rub yours' – is limiting our representation in Congress. It is time to realize that in this 21st century we do have people of color who are just as capable – if only they can be given the chance.


So far, the only Latino being given a chance in this race is Democratic Judge Leticia Hinojosa.

Star Telegram: Judges approve redrawn districts

The new map was drawn with the intent of creating as many as 22 congressional districts favorable to Republicans. That includes a district designed for U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall, who on Friday quit the Democratic Party and joined the GOP. His change balanced the current delegation at 16-16.

Dancing in the Streets

Gloating? Who, me? Bet your butt I am. Even if Chris Bell ends up my Congressman.

Got Root?

Geek.com: Linux 2.2, 2.4, and 2.6 kernel exploit allows root access

That's an Order

Sgt Hook says to go here, read it, and then go fill out the guestbook. Do it. Hooah.

I guess this and this were a waste of time. So I suppose we'll find out how you appeal a County Chair's decision on residency. Some good info from the Dallas County Dems here.

Ralph Hall (TX04) - Press Release: Ralph Hall Announces Decision to Run in the Republican Primary for Texas 4TH Congressional District

If I have made anyone unhappy in Washington D.C. – I repeat my longtime position. I’d rather be respected at home than liked in D.C. I'll be working for all of you to whom I owe so much.

Sherman Denison Herald Democrat: Rep. Hall officially resigns from the Democratic Party

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ralph Hall on Monday officially resigned from the Democratic Party, sending letters to the House leadership that cement his decision to join with Republicans when Congress convenes later this month.

Houston's Light Rail: Day Five

HoustonChronicle.com: Only a few got a ticket to ride new rail

Metro's trains were mostly empty during the first day of revenue service on the Main Street light rail line Monday, and riders encountered several bumps as they tried to navigate the tracks.

Good article on DLI here.

There is a God....

...and He's a Squeeze fan!

I shoot my mouth off about a BRAC issue over here. Bob H., go and comment!

I wonder what day three will bring....

News 24 Houston: Second day of light rail is less crowded

Light rail platforms were considerably less crowded on the second day of service. On light rail's second day in operation, riders were pleasantly surprised when they arrived at various platforms to find that there was no waiting.

More Prophetic Than I Thought

In this post, I said that rural Texas was becoming more and more Republican. Then Congressman Ralph Hall filed to run as a Republican. I guess he reads this blog [chuckle]. Welcome aboard, Rep. Hall! I think you'll feel more at home with us.

I can't claim this one as a scoop, link courtesy via QR.

Rural Texas Becoming More Republican

The Facts: GOP dominates field of hopefuls

"We have nobody," said Kay Mudd, who chairs the Democratic Party in Brazoria County. "My lady, Theresa Guidry, decided not to run. I think she took a look at the money and decided she needed to wait four more years because she was starting awfully late."

Confirmation

So, a couple of e-mails pretty much confirm the earlier post on City Council Member Mark Goldberg filing to run for Justice of the Peace. If he is successful, and I hope he isn't, he'll have to resign his City Council seat one year from now to become JP. The phone number listed on the Harris County GOP web site as being his campaign phone number is answered by Blakemore and Associates, a Houston political consulting firm.

Still nothing about it in the ChronicBile, but I'm pretty confident I've scooped them.

Always Read the Last Line in Lucas Wall's Articles

HoustonChronicle.com: New ride for the new year

Metro has buses running to shuttle people back to where they get on the trains.

Mark Goldberg Files for Justice of the Peace

Slightly Rough Exclusive

Houston City Councilmember Mark Goldberg has filed to run for Justice of the Peace Pct. 5, Place 1. This seat is currently held by Russ Ridgway, who was appointed to the bench earlier in the year. Rumors about this have been quietly swirling in west Houston for a while, and unless another person named Mark Goldberg has filed, there is a contested primary for JP in west Houston.

Slightly Rough has endorsed, and continues to endorse, Russ Ridgway.

Texas Redistricting News from McKinney

McKinney Messenger: Elections officials await ruling on GOP redistricting plan

The county's preparations for the primary, meanwhile, are at a stand-still.

Rowe said she didn't mail out voter registration cards as scheduled on Dec. 5. Instead, she said the courts stopped all counties from mailing out the cards until at least Jan. 11, helping to prevent the county from having to send out a second wave of cards with correct congressional districts listed.

2003: A Houston political odyssey

By Doug Miller

Then Congressman John Culberson -- a strident rail opponent

He was only opposed to this plan and any plan that doesn't reduce congestion.

who once bragged that he burned out the 'NO' light on his state legislature desk


Yeah! I love that story!

-- threw up another road block. Culberson thought Metro was hoodwinking voters,

And they were!

so he insisted the ballot language include detailed descriptions of every rail route. Rail supporters initially balked, then surrendered and agreed

Stop! At first they agreed, then they went back on the deal.

to offer a ballot that looked like it was written by an amateur land surveyer.