November 30, 2007
No. Not him either.
Recently we wrote about the Republicans being talked about as possible Goob candidates in 2010. They're all a mostly worthless bunch. Now comes word from Kuff that Lance Armstrong is also being talked about as a candidate.
If we're going to start pulling in athletes, I'd like to ask Mary Lou Retton to move to Texas and run. At least she won a gold medal. And she could give the State of the State speech while walking a balance beam. That would be more than 39% has done in his over 6 years as Governor.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cheap bastards
A new group, made up of a bunch of total assholes who claim to speak for Texas businesses, has started up a campaign to overturn the new business tax which replaced the useless franchise tax. The same business tax that the state hasn't even started to collect.
Radio ads in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston draw on tidal waves and scary movies to make a point about something they paint as just as frightening: Texas' new business tax."It's the difference between a tiny drop and a tidal wave. Because of the new Texas Margins Tax, small-business owners may see a slight drop in property taxes, but their business tax will increase up to 1,000 percent," says the script for one of the ads by the National Federation of Independent Business.
Well, holy fucking shit! Consider this... most companies get abatements and don't own property. They lease it. Most of those don't even pay franchise tax. Which means they functionally pay DICKALL to help support the state. Oh, they'll use the free roads and hire people educated in our schools and demand the police and fire dept. protect them. But pay for those services? Fuck no. That's for us regular schmucks.
Architects of the new tax, which won't be collected until May, say they need to see how it works before making more changes. Lawmakers aren't due back in regular session until January 2009, so Gov. Rick Perry — a champion of the tax package — would have to call a special session for them to consider changing the law before then.The new business tax, which replaced the franchise tax, is based on gross receipts — either 1 percent or half a percent, depending on the type of business — with deductions for cost of goods sold or employee benefits.
Backers say the new tax is fairer, bringing businesses into the system that weren't paying. They say companies that will owe higher business taxes must also look at whether that's offset by lower local school tax rates. They cite adjustments made this year meant to benefit smaller businesses.
"The goal ... is to keep Texas business-friendly," said Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. "We certainly in the Legislature strove to protect small business."
Keffer bristles at the ads, contending that NFIB/Texas "did not come and really try to work with us on any of this. Pretty much they were against the whole process."
You fucking people have no political power and all you're doing is whining about paying ANY taxes. Fuck y'all. Be happy no one's asking you to pay what you SHOULD be paying. Just wait until citizens start boycotting ANY business that participates in this retarded campaign.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Britney's got smells
No. No, I can't leave the bitch alone, mostly because she keeps doing dumb shit like making music and babies. And now, in cooperation with someone clearly crazy at Elizabeth Arden, perfume.
$10 says that one or both of these scents smells like her nasty cooter. After Kevin's... well, you get the idea.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Draining the life out of us
Two posts caught my eye and both are interrelated. One was from BlueBloggin' detailing the rise in oil prices as a function of commodities traders. Most of you know already that there is a substantial amount of the price of oil that has been increased by speculation. The author is right in that there there is no theoretical limit to how high oil can go with speculators in control.
There's only one problem... speculators NEVER remain permanently in control. They will always lose eventually and the trade will go in the opposite direction. The only question is whether or not the economy and the middle class can endure until that breakdown occurs. Which is where this post from Eye on Williamson comes in. The middle class in the US has been under attack for 30 years, coincidental with the rise of the Republican 'conservative' movement that is anything but. Though the author of the piece doesn't talk about it, the middle class is itself in part to blame. They've kept electing these people cycle after cycle even though the economics work better for the rich than they do for the middle class.
The sad reality is that the Democratic party and it's image consultants over the last 30 years are also to blame because for a time they abdicated the mantle of protectors of the middle class to the Republicans by allowing them to paint themselves as better on economic issues. That's starting to change which is why the polls look sooo bad for Republicans.
It's about time people finally realized their economic well being and security is more important than whether or not the gays and lesbians can marry. And the price of oil is the most obvious indicator.
Posted by mcblogger at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2007
Iowa and New Hampshire toss up
According to McClatchy News (via Jobsanger), there isn't a clear choice among either the Democrats or the Republicans. What will be really funny is watching the effect the imported celebrities will have.
Speaking for myself, I'd only be interested if they fought in some kind of a cage match. And my money would totally be on Oprah.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
DNA and racism, the new frontier...
Some scientists have noticed that certain genetic markers for intelligence seem to be more frequent in people of European and Asian descent. So, a blogger in NY used that to softpeddle racism...
Nonscientists are already beginning to stitch together highly speculative conclusions about the historically charged subject of race and intelligence from the new biological data. Last month, a blogger in Manhattan described a recently published study that linked several snippets of DNA to high I.Q. An online genetic database used by medical researchers, he told readers, showed that two of the snippets were found more often in Europeans and Asians than in Africans.No matter that the link between I.Q. and those particular bits of DNA was unconfirmed, or that other high I.Q. snippets are more common in Africans, or that hundreds or thousands of others may also affect intelligence, or that their combined influence might be dwarfed by environmental factors. Just the existence of such genetic differences between races, proclaimed the author of the Half Sigma blog, a 40-year-old software developer, means “the egalitarian theory,” that all races are equal, “is proven false.”
Of course, the blogger conveintiently failed to mention that other genetic markers for high intelligence are found more frequently in those of African descent than this those of Asian and European descent.
The reality is that not all races and not all people are gifted equally. However, it does not mean that all races and people should not be treated equally. At the end of the day, you can do a lot with poor genetics. Just look at how well Connecticut native George W. Bush has done.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Striving for relevance, or, What Karl's Doing These Days
It's just sad as hell when you see a puppy run over on the side of the road. It's almost as heartbreaking as seeing a buttertroll working so hard to get the attention and admiration of others. Tuesday, Karl was in Tyler talking to some folks about issues like immigration, immigration and immigration. Specifically, he talked about the OTM's. What are they? Why they are the people crossing the border OTHER THAN MEXICANS. Get it? Karl's a master at creating stupid acronyms. He's also a master at calling everyone from a country south of the US border a Mexican. I wonder what Guatemalans think about all that?
No, y'all, I wasn't in the room. But I had a bunch of friends there. That's how I know y'all on the other side are having some fundraising problems.
Karl's also busy with his new gig at Newsweek where he took time to talk about how to beat Hillary. In it, he tells a story about some mirror in his office that he 'inherited' from Hillary Clinton. I wonder if the shine off his forehead ever blinded him when he looked into it to see his ever expanding gut. The story's mundane as hell and nothing more than him blaming Hillary for his own vanity (dude... we remember the way Hillary looked in the 90's. It was DAMN obvious she didn't have access to a mirror). His advice for beating Hillary is call her brittle. I think that will only make her hit back harder. Karl's got a pudgy belly which makes me think it will hurt. Of course, I'll laugh (so will you) when he's doubled over in pain.
Finally, there was his recent appearance on Charlie Rose during which he blamed Congress for Iraq. No, it wasn't part of some elaborate joke. Just more creative story telling from a master. The folks at HuffPo, via PRoS, have more on the bald lie that Karl told.
Posted by mcblogger at 11:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Celebrity station wagon
Years ago (1999) I had this insane idea for a television show called Chevrolet Celebrity Station Wagon. It was a show about a Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon that would be driven from NYC to LA one week and then vice versa. The car would be driven by 5 VERY B list celeb's, for example Rosanne Barr, Judd Hirsch, Kathy Griffen, Patrick Duffy and Mandy Patinkin. If Mandy was unavailable, we'd substitute the corpse of Telly Savalas. The celebrities would be forced to basically live in the car (they could take showers every two days at truck stops). The next week, there'd be a new group of celebrilosers who would drive the car back to NYC.
The show would be sponsored by Chrysler.
Flash forward to last year when I told a friend who was doing some work on a television show about the idea. We were drinking and talking about stupid things (like television shows filmed in a station wagon). Last night I ran into him and he told me that three producers are working on similar shows.
I guarantee none of them will do it right. No way Hollywood bitches will understand the comedic genius of show in a station wagon. With a dead body in it.
THIS station wagon.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign...
You know it's primary season when you start to see the political signs being put out all around town. Especially around Randall's where smart people go to early vote. And buy cigarettes.
I know it's just around the corner and frankly, I'm ready. I love candidate signs, even ones like Red Tag Betty's and those stupid, skinny Gammage signs. What I don't love is seeing them too early. One candidate, Carlos Barerra , already has some of his signs up. Only problem is, TXDOT says you can't do that. Not until December 4th.
Remind me...aren't judges supposed to, and please correct me if I'm reaching here, know the law?
Posted by mcblogger at 01:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The end of the strike...
No, not that one...
Striking Broadway Stagehands and Theater Producers Reach a Tentative SettlementThe 19-day strike by stagehands that had closed most Broadway
theaters ended late tonight as a tentative agreement was
struck.An announcement came at about 10:30p.m. The negotiations
between the League of American Theaters and Producers and
Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees had begun at 10 a.m., the third marathon session of
the week.
Via the NYT
Posted by mcblogger at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 28, 2007
Seriously...WTF!?
I have one question...what is the point of a public university system that costs more to attend than Harvard?
You think I'm joking? Under the proposed tuition hikes, it will cost more for a non-resident to attend UT Law than Harvard. Here are the numbers:
Harvard Law Tuition................$38,490 per year.
Yale Law Tuition.....................$40,900 per year.
Recommended UT Tuition
Non-resident Law '08-'09........$39,130 per year.
Non-resident Law '09-'10........$44,214 per year.
Now, here is what you get for your money.
Harvard
Average first year class size - 80.
Student to faculty ratio - 10.5 to 1.
Yale
Average first year class size - 62.
Student to faculty ratio - 7.3 to 1.
UT Austin
Average first year class size - 112.
Student to faculty ratio -14 to 1.
Considering these factors, UT should cost 55% less, since the class sizes are 55% bigger than Yale.
Therefore, the max tuition should be $40,900*.55= $22,495!!!
I could go on and on, but I guess this really is a society lacking equality. Maybe the idea of having balanced power is driving those in power to stifle the education of pretty much anyone not filthy rich.
Education should be available to anyone who wants it, and our states' failure to make education universally available clearly demonstrates a critically confused value system. "Republicans are the value party," my Ass!
OK, I'm stopping or else this will quickly deteriorate into an ugly rant.
So like I said, Seriously - WHAT THE FUCK!?
"For the people my ass!"
-Closet Purist
Posted by Closet Purist at 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another look at reality in Iraq
While the Republicans crow about success (because they're mooks and they think THEY are the ones actually fighting), there's another take on the decreasing violence. Part of it is how many members of the warring factions have been killed off as part of a civil war. The other, as NTL reveals, is how much we're spending to bribe them.
Fun, isn't it? And don't forget, our troops are still in the middle of this crap.
Posted by mcblogger at 04:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Q : "How do you know when you're done killing something?"
A : "When yo man pick you up at the clinic and take you drinkin' at the club."
via Drawn Together
Posted by mcblogger at 03:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New group formed to fuck up mass transit
As if Cap Metro didn't have enough problems...
CAMPO has decided to involve itself in mass transit by creating a new 'working group' composed of mostly retards so full of themselves and their stupid ideas that it's pretty clear no one takes the issue of moving Central Texans around seriously. Honestly, out of the names announced in Wear's article, only Wynn stands out as someone who could get things done, though we've recently been kind of shocked by his capitulation to The Evil. Honestly, if you wanted to do something to accelerate the development of mass transit in Austin metro, these are not the fuckos you'd task with the job:
Other than that, Kirk's not a bad guy. He just shouldn't be doing this. He should be working with Democrats in the House to get a good transportation funding bill ready for the 2009 Session.
Travis County Pct. 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty - Fuckall. This 'tard hates public transport more than he hates the 'goddamn commies' who he thinks we're still fighting. He's another political dead man walking... Daugherty wouldn't be missed if he lost his re-election next year which he probably will as part of a project to beautify the Commissioner's Court by removing him from it. Gerry, why don't you follow Mikey's lead and retire. God knows, it'll cause some tears. OF JOY. Seriously, you people never thought about tasking Capital Metro with developing it's own working group from stakeholders and letting them develop a plan that addresses the needs of the citizens of Central Texas? If funding is the issue, then why the hell was everyone so excited about all the new funding that would come into Cap Metro from CAMPO's new toll roads?
At a recent Keep Austin Blue meeting on transportation issues, someone brought up just this very thing. It's obvious that all the stakeholders need to come together and get something done. Cap Metro, given it's task of operating mass transit systems (including rail) should lead that effort. Not people like Brewster and Gerry The Ogre.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Frustrated douche to leave Bush Administration
Al Hubbard, director of President George W. Bush's National Economic Council for almost three years, will step down by the end of the year and be replaced with Hubbard's top aide, Keith Hennessey.``Al came to the White House after spending nearly 30 years as a successful entrepreneur and business leader,'' Bush said in a statement. ``He brought to the White House his capacity for hard work and creative thinking, and fostered an open, cooperative working environment.''
Wait. This guy has been present for the creation of the problems currently leading us into recession? WOW. Sounds like getting rid of him isn't such a bad thing. 30 years as a successful entrepreneur? The guy ran a chemical company in Indiana. Other than that, it appears that damn near every one of his jobs has been related to politics. Which gives him a similar career track to the massively incompetent Dick Cheney. He also went to Harvard with W. What the hell? Was it just an extraordinarily bad year?
Hubbard informed Bush of his plans this morning, press secretary Dana Perino told reporters at the White House. Hennessey, the current deputy director of the National Economic Council, is ``as prepared for the challenge of this job as anyone could possibly be,'' Perino said.
'... As prepared for the challenge...' Well, that inspires a great deal of confidence. I'm sure Mr. Hennessey will be as much of a loser as Mr. Hubbard. He'll likely spend hours staring at charts trying to figure out how their brill economic strategies forced the country off the rails. They'll blame the Democratic controlled Congress who, though in power for less than a year, have clearly 'fucked everything up'. Except for the economy and, well, everything else.
So why is Hubbard leaving? Apparently, he doesn't like not be able to get his way anymore...
Hubbard expressed ``huge frustration'' with the Democrat- controlled Congress last month, saying lawmakers were resisting Bush initiatives that would help the economy. `I came out of the private sector, I'll go back to the private sector, and my orientation is getting things done and Washington is really gridlocked,'' he said in a Nov. 13 interview.Hubbard also said ``there would be a lot more cooperation with the Democratic Congress and unfortunately, the Democrats -- who control Congress -- have not been oriented towards getting things done.''
Democrats were resisting Bush's stupid plans? Holy shit! You mean they are DOING WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HIRED THEM TO DO??!?!?? Why, that's unheard of! During Hubbard's time in government, the American economy saw massive stratification and little real growth. Wages stagnated and inflation is once again a top concern of Americans. Great job there, pal.
On last thing caught my eye...
Before coming to the White House in 2002, Hennessey was a top budget aide to Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi and also was an aide on the Senate Budget Committee, Perino said.
He worked for Lott? And Lott is also retiring? Interesting... maybe they were both involved in the same scandal. Or maybe they were LOVERS?!?!?!?!
I know, sometimes I gross even myself out.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
All Around the TPA 2
It's time for another Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round Up, once again compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.
Dealing with recalled toys that contain lead is putting a damper on charities' holiday toy drive efforts. Muse discovers some charities are not accepting toys or are throwing donations away.
Despite the Dallas Morning News article claiming the Texas Railroad Commission is stepping up Barnett Shale inspections, an injection well in N. TX remains seriously out of compliance. TXsharon has pictures, history and solutions at Bluedaze.
Who wont be President in 2009? John Coby at Bay Area Houston compiles an obvious list of Who wont be President in 2009 Any Republican candidate. The Republican party must have worked overtime to find this bunch of losers for President. White. Old. Dull.
McBlogger takes a brief look at the concerns of a Republican Bexar County Commissioner who doesn't realize the Republican Party of Texas is already known as the Tolling Party of Texas.
North Texas Liberal reports on President Bush's loss of an ally in staunch conservative PM John Howard of Australia, whose Liberal Party lost handily to the Labor opposition in Saturday's elections.
The Texas Cloverleaf visited Capitol Annex for Thanksgiving with a guest blog about Turkey, Football, and JFK. Oh my!
Off the Kuff looks at mass transit versus highways for dealing with traffic congestion.
Vince at Capitol Annex reprises his holiday tradition begun last year by reprising his Laws of Thanksgiving--with a 2007 update.
In "Giving Thanks for the Corporations", PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has a few choice words from David Van Os, Jeff Cohen, and John Edwards.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson notices the conspicuous absence of Rep. Mike Krusee since a rumor surfaced that he may be retiring in Where's Krusee?
CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes Lyndon Johnson was right, but demographics are having the last laugh.
Posted by mcblogger at 01:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Shut up, Will
You know, normally I'd find this funny. Then I realized he's just being a titty baby. In the end, he didn't solve the problem and instead just wasted time acting like an asshole. Get back in your car, Will. Endure shitty traffic like the rest of us.
Especially since you are one of the people pushing for (and benifitting from) all the construction that's causing our current traffic problems.
(h/t to Pink Dome)
Posted by mcblogger at 12:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 27, 2007
Don’t come to my window, Melissa
No, not that one. The one in question is Melissa Goodwin, who Governor 39% appointed as judge of the newly created 427th District Court in Travis County, and sacrificial lamb in next’s year election.
Actually, we should thank Perry because she will get whipped like she did in last year’s JP race when Susan Steeg humiliated her. Why did she lose? Largely, Steeg was smarter, more experienced, better organized, and has great ideas on conducting court business. Goodwin’s part in defeat – well, she thinks she’s special.
Last Saturday, the Statesman’s fluff piece about her reminds you of a Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce press release to the Austin Business Journal, or at least an affirmation piece in the Hyde Park Baptist Sunday bulletin. Seriously, is the Statesman hiring grads from Liberty or Regent?
Goodwin says, “I don’t like to ask for help.” Her mother talks about her daughter’s independence coming from her European immigrant grandparents. Whatever.
That 39% lifted her from the political garbage heap speaks volume about her “independence”. What do you expect from conservatives? The same old baloney – Everybody has to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, except them because there is always some special circumstance.
Enjoy the sweetness, Melissa. By this time next year, you’ll be back on the heap.
Posted by Captain Kroc at 05:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
How do you file a complaint against the ethics commission?
That dipshit John Davis, who was all the time using campaign contributions for personal expenses, was fined by the ethics commission. The fine amounts to a slap on the wrist.
State Representative John Davis (HD 129) was slapped on the wrist again for spending approximately $13,000 of his donors money for personal use. In a sworn complaint posted on the Texas Ethics Commission website, Davis was fined only $500.After KHOU highlighted $100,000 in expenditures paid simply to American Express, and his reimbursement to himself from his campaign funds, he had to itemize every purchase exposing his gasoline purchases, eating habits, and his use of his donors money for personal use.
Mad props to Bay Area Houston
Posted by mcblogger at 03:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Changes at the TTC and in WillCo
I've long thought that anyone who'd commit the State of Texas by signing one of those awful toll privatization agreements, selling out our infrastructure, was either stupid or criminal. And that, plus Mike Krusee's poor chances at re-election, are driving his decision to retire while fueling speculation about a possible move to a State transportation post once the shit hits the fan for one or more members of the TTC. At least, that's the rumor floating around... no one's making specific accusations, only repeating 'what they've been told' about wrongdoing involving certain interested parties who are all about tolling our roads. Don't read too much into it as it may just be the typical Austin bullshit that floats into Lake Lady Bird every now and then.
Of course, it may not.
It's no secret these toll roads deals aren't a good deal for the citizens of Texas. The people of Texas have realized it, which is why the word TOLL was not used once to sell those bonds to the voters of Texas at beginning of November. What people didn't know, because the DMN, Star T and Houston Chronicle didn't tell them, is that those bonds can be paid back in a number of ways. One of those ways is with tolls on public, taxpayer funded roads.
The cool thing about all this is that the R's will try to replace Krusee with Round Rock Mayor Nyle Maxwell, who is about as popular in the district as a child molester at one of John Walsh's parties. So who does that leave? Well, frankly, no one. Which makes things really nice for a certain Democrat named Maldonado who is running to represent the people of southern WillCo.
Whatever happens, two things are sure... tolling as the SOLE way of financing infrastructure in Texas is dead as Britney's career and Mikey won't be in the House. We at McBlogger would like to wish him only the best. As long as his next job has nothing to do with public service or lobbying.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Juxtaposing
I have very rarely watched the Sundance channel. In the past, I've caught movies like 'Dogville' but I've never been a real fan. However, when the first season of Iconoclasts came on, I made it a point to tune in and check it out. It wasn't long before I gave up. It took a near-Herculean level of endurance for the tedious and
mundane. Oh, and at one point, Michael Stipe. I just did not have it in me. I have not attempted it since. In fact, when I was channel surfing with McBlogger last weekend, he queried about it. I told him that it is a show about someone you don't care about meeting with someone you care about even less.
However, like Baby's father in 'Dirty Dancing', when I am wrong, I say I'm wrong. On further investigation, it appears that they have had some fairly interesting people and pairings. They are currently wrapping up Season 3. Frankly, I have no idea what Madeleine Albright has to say to Ashley Judd, but I fully intend to find out. What the hell!
Posted by barfly at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Verizon to allow 'any old thing' on network in '08
Verizon, in an attempt to draw third party developers to make crap for it's subscribers, will allow almost anything on it's network that conforms to certain 'standards'.
Oh... and just a smidge of exhaustive testing.
In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.
So, no, the DIY rotary cell phone you painstakingly put together a year ago will not work on the network. Your friends were right. You were a total nerd for making that thing.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The new logo
Yeah, it's just a rehash... just wanted to see what y'all thought.
Posted by mcblogger at 08:53 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 26, 2007
BP broke law at Texas City plant, lawyers say
Remember that Texas City refinery that BP owns and operates? You know, the one that blew up in March, 2005 killing 15 workers and injuring hundreds? Apparently, it shouldn't have even been operating...
BP Plc violated Texas's ``revolving door'' law in 2003 by hiring a state environmental engineer to work on the same air pollution permit he'd supervised as a regulator, lawyers suing the company claim.The permit, which governs BP's Texas City, Texas, refinery, allowed the company to operate its largest refinery without replacing outdated emissions controls, such as the one that exploded in March 2005, killing 15 workers. Texas law requires applications be rejected when the people involved worked on both sides of the permitting process.
The engineer ``changed sides and worked on the other side of this same thing for BP, representing BP against the state?'' a lawyer for some of the injured workers asked Watson Dupont, a safety manager at the Texas City plant in a Nov. 15 deposition, portions of which were made public in court filings Nov. 23.
``He worked for BP in 2003 on the third draft of the flex permit, yeah,'' Dupont replied, referring to BP Senior Air Engineer Rueben Herrera, a former permitting engineer at Texas Council for Environmental Quality. The group regulates industrial emissions.
Here's the best part...
Mark Lanier, in a Nov. 23 filing in Houston federal court, singles out Herrera's involvement on both sides of BP's air- quality permit for the Texas City refinery as proof that BP ``flagrantly violated a variety of regulatory and ethical guidelines to ensure its criminal acts could proceed apace.''``Herrera did secure the necessary permits despite the fact that such action was itself a crime,'' Lanier said in his objections to BP's plea. Lanier said the plea doesn't punish BP's ``breathtaking acts of criminality.''
...
In hearings since September 2006, BP's lawyers have repeatedly told State District Judge Susan Criss, who is overseeing the civil case, that the company didn't break any laws regarding its Texas air-quality permits. Last year, Criss ruled she would allow jurors to consider evidence that BP may have falsified documents to fraudulently obtain its permits against the company for punitive damages purposes.``Herrera testified many months ago, and it was incredible what we heard,'' Criss told civil lawyers during a Nov. 12 pretrial hearing, referencing Herrera's prior testimony on the permits. ``He indicated it was a criminal act for him to have left that agency and gone to work for BP,'' Criss said.
Gotta love that this is before Judge Criss instead of one of those Republican gas bags who'll vote with industry 84% of the time...
Posted by mcblogger at 01:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
How secure are Pakistan's nukes?
The NYT has a good time with this...
If General Musharraf is overthrown, no one is quite sure what will happen to the team he has entrusted to safeguard the arsenal. There is some hope that the military as an institution could reliably keep things under control no matter who is in charge, but that is just a hope.“It’s a very professional military,” said a senior American official who is trying to manage the crisis and insisted on anonymity because the White House has said this problem will not be discussed in public. “But the truth is, we don’t know how many of the safeguards are institutionalized, and how many are dependent on Musharraf’s guys.”
Even if it never comes to a loss of control over weapons or their components, the crisis carries another level of danger. Administration officials say privately that if the chaos in the streets worsens, or Al Qaeda exploits the moment, Pakistan’s government could become distracted from monitoring scientists, engineers and others who, out of religious zeal or plain old greed, might see a moment to sell their knowledge and technology.
Sleep well, y'all!
Posted by mcblogger at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Lott to retire
Now, both of Mississippi's Senate seats are in play...
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi plans to resign from Congress by the end of the year, a person close to Lott said.The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lott, 66, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, had stayed in office to help his state recover from Hurricane Katrina and now believes the work has progressed enough that he can leave office. Lott won a fourth term last year with 64 percent of the vote.
Lott scheduled two news conferences in his home state today to discuss his plans.
``This is no time for me or any of us to think about quitting,'' Lott said in January 2006. ``I want you to know that as long as Mississippi is hurting and needs help, I'll be there for this state.''
The lawmaker had fed speculation that he might retire by telling a local newspaper in 2005 that he needed ``a little more income'' after the hurricane destroyed his home in Pascagoula.
Lott sued his insurer, State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., to force it to pay for rebuilding after the company said Lott's policy didn't cover the damages. Lott in 2005 told the Biloxi, Mississippi, Sun Herald that the waterfront home was his ``nest egg.''
Yes, yes... I know this is Mississippi and the likelihood of those morons electing a Democrat is pretty low. Still, it would be nice if these dumb hicks would pull head out of ass and realize that they're getting screwed by the people they are electing.
Oh, and that last bit about Lott suing State Farm is quite the funny, no? After voting to cut insurance companies slack, you get caught in their trap. Nice.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
R's already push polling in Iowa
Oh, I'm sure this won't backfire at all...
Posted by mcblogger at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 25, 2007
Republicans are dropping themselves in the grease?
Larson expressed a concern that the Republican Party in Texas will become known as 'the tolling party,' and that image will damage the party's ability to win future elections. He says the vast majority of Texans disapprove of the aggressive toll road building policy promoted by Governor Perry and Texas Department of Transportation Chairman Ric Williamson.
Too late, Commissioner. Y'all are already the Tolling Party of Texas.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
All over this land
Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 24, 2007
Way to miss the point, Cal...
Cal Thomas seems to think that the President has pulled off some kind of miracle in Iraq. At least, he seems to in his column this week talking about how good the news is from Iraq and how it's all great for the GOP.
What Cal doesn't remember is that the Democrats and the American people FORCED the President to change strategy to something that might finally make things better. They also forced the Iraqi government to finally step up to the plate and get in gear. If Democrats hadn't started holding their ground on troop withdrawal in the face of patriotism-baiting attacks from the White House and Republicans, the Iraqi's would have no need to do anything other than occasionally telling Bush not to worry and asking for still more money.
Of course, the reality of the situation in Iraq is far easier to understand when you actually look at Iraq for what it's been, not what Cal and Bush want it to be. We won the initial invasion, then screwed up the pacification (we're still screwing that up). In the meantime, a civil war started which our President refused to acknowledge and decided to keep our troops in the middle of. That war is beginning to wind down since in many cases, one side or another has been victorious. Just look at Anbar... fighting has stopped there because one side killed the other. That's the kind of success Cal calls a homerun. Only problem is, we didn't need to be there for it.
Let's not even talk about the re-Baathification of the government in which we effectively bought off the remaining members of Saddam's regime with posts in the new government. Let's never forget that it was Bush's appointee Bremer who famously de-Baathified the Iraqi government and created the initial insurgency, which would later become what Bush and others have called al Qaida in Iraq. Bush, time and time again, creates his own problems while folks like Cal Thomas cheer lead from the pages of papers across the country.
Nah, the reality here at home is that people like Cal have been so wrong, so many times, that they just can't sit still when it appears that things are going their way, even though their designs had absolutely nothing to do with it. In all honesty, we could have had this result in late 2004. Instead we had 3 wasted years of our soldier's lives and our country's treasure.
As for the notion that the Democrats are all about defeat, WE HAVEN'T BEEN DEFEATED. We never were. Our troops toppled the dictator we were told was soon to have WMD's capable of reaching the US. Every thing since has been a waste of our time.
That's what Democrats are sick of, Cal. Wasting lives, money and time on a situation which the locals have to make better for themselves. They appear to finally be doing that, if for no other reason than that the majority of people in this country finally demanded a clock be put on this thing.
And we'll not forget your part in all this, Cal. Don't ask us to take you seriously since it's frankly just not possible for us to suffer fools gladly. Especially not those dumb enough to fooled by a charlatan of a leader who happens to be our President.
Posted by mcblogger at 08:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2007
A campaign planted questions? Say it isn't so...
I'm not a terribly big fan of Hillary but is this really surprising to anyone? Not to be rude, but campaigns DO this kind of thing all the time. The Republicans are just better at it and use it more frequently.
Really, it's not that big a deal.
However, this is really fucking shitty. She can't leave her own damn tips?
Posted by mcblogger at 11:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
There aren't enough doctors? Whatdya mean?
Kuff, channeling the Observer, has more on the continued shortage of doctors in rural areas. Supposedly, that was to be cured by tort reform. The story was that rural doctors were being sued out of existence by the evil trial lawyers. As the author of the article astutely notes, that wasn't exactly true... and tort reform hasn't done a thing to bring doctors to under served rural communities.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 22, 2007
"You'll eat it and you'll like it..."
Yep, the first threat of the day has been leveled! We're all having a brill Thanksgiving. How about you?
Posted by mcblogger at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 21, 2007
And we're outta here!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by mcblogger at 06:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hyde Park Baptists eyes do not see the Glory
Speaking inclusiveness to intolerance, the 23rd Annual Austin Area Interreligious Ministries’ Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration went off spectacularly at Congregation Beth Israel. Leaders of the temple had offered the group a safe haven after Hyde Park Baptist reneged on a promise to AAIM for use of the church property named the Quarries because the gathering included Muslims. Yeah, you heard right.
First, major props to the Jewish community who stepped up by offering their temple in quick fashion to save what has evolved into one of Austin’s most significant religious events.
Though Hyde Park Baptist caused the upheaval, their decision to ban the ceremony on their property and subsequent publicity caused attendance to swell to 3 to 4 times the normal size. Over 1000 people packed the standing-room-only temple, foyers, hallways, and side rooms to pay respect to a ceremony that brings a message of peace and harmony to all persuasions.
The most enduring moment came at sundown when Muslims prayed the Maghrib in the synagogue.
After 9/11, many Muslims living in this country retreated into obscurity. As happened in many neighborhoods, Muslim families moved from mine, and I rarely encountered others in the past six years. So it was encouraging to see so many gathered in fellowship with other religions.
Sentiment from some people who attended the event sympathized for the vast majority of the church’s members who were probably embarrassed by the decision of a few. Some wondered why the evangelical church would open itself to such negative publicity.
A good number of Democratic office-holders and candidates were present. I asked Dan Grant, who is a Dem candidate for Congress, Texas District 10, for his thoughts about the celebration. He said the ceremony reminded him of the time he was in Afghanistan, and a village leader on hearing that American soldiers were looking for a place to celebrate Christmas offered up the local mosque.
Here’s my unsolicited advice to the church – if you really want to evangelize in Christ’s name, purge your leadership and replace with rational people who make decisions by wisdom and not some warped ideology. It would come as no surprise to find that the decision to withdraw their support at the last minute was hatched long ago as a deliberate and without remorse statement from a far right-wing faction within the church who have moronic misinterpretations and fantasies about caliphates and the “war on terror.” Even though a small core will coalesce around the current decision-makers and declare a stronger faith, their reputation has been wrecked and their influence will wane because of the perceived bigotry of the entire congregation.
The church has the right to their decision, but when they ask the community to be tolerant and understanding of their beliefs, then that is when they need to be called out. There is no reason to be tolerant of intolerance and bigotry. If you dig a little deeper, you might find sexism, homophobia, and racism.
Posted by Captain Kroc at 02:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Anatomy of failure
Q. What happens when you combine:
1) The unrealistic expectations of the National Reconnaissance Office in setting requirements for a new spy satellite system.
2) Competitive bidding
3) No oversight over the winning bidder, in fact, you let them write reports telling you how things are going
4) Congress sets a budget without adequately determining what the new system would realistically cost
5) Few or no people with advanced systems engineering experience?
A. You get the disaster known as the Future Imagery Architecture .
Oh, and there's blame to go around for this one... Democrats and Republicans.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Oh, you want it ... you want it dirty and nasty, don't you?
Apparently, another week started while we were out drinking (happens all the time). What that means for you is another week at work. For us, it's time for the pre-Thanksgiving edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's Weekly Blog Round-Up. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.
The Texas Cloverleaf examines the ongoing feud between TxDOT and NTTA -- this time the funding for the Hwy 161 project Dallas County may face its wrath. To toll or not to toll? That is TxDOT's question.
Hal at Half Empty wants to ask John Cornyn just one question: "When are you going to stop flip flopping on a border wall?"
XicanoPwr reports on the noose found hanging from a scaffolding on separate occasions over at the Exxon Mobil facility in Baytown, TX.
NYTexan at Bluebloggin discovers that some things will just never go away. Tom DeLay Will Launch Activist Group. Two stellar citizens, Tom DeLay and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell have teamed up to promote the Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM).
Kay Granger pretends to care about the environment by sponsoring an Energy Expo but TXsharon at Bluedaze points to her ZERO score on environmentally friendly votes and begs to differ.
Harris County election officials adjusted the vote at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, after Tuesday's final election results had been released to the media. The Democratic Party's observer, a long-time voting rights activist, was stunned to watch it happen. What does this mean for the integrity of electronic voting in all of Texas? PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has questions without answers.
John Coby at Bay Area Houston reminds us that Texas is #1 in sucking with tuition for Texas University up by 63% since deregulation in 2003. The high cost of college tuition deregulation. Tuition increases again.
CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme complains that Texas keeps money meant for hospitals in 'state funds'. You can hear the Republicans yammering for another tax cut.
Muse wonders why Tom DeLay can't seem to stay away from Fort Bend County when he is supposed to be a Virginia resident. His new Coalition for a Conservative Majority kicks off there and has Ken Blackwell as its chair. Yeah, that Ken Blackwell. SOS in Ohio during the 2004 elections.
Mayor McSleaze at McBlogger asks What part of "interfaith" was not clear? in his post detailing the actions of Hyde Park Baptist Church.
Why can't Rudy Giuliani talk about baseball any more without pandering? Off the Kuff takes a look at his latest shenanigans.
Vince at Capitol Annex explores Texas Congressman Ron Paul's "surge" in the polls and in online contributions and wonders why his Republican supporters haven't bothered to examine his terrible record on behalf of the middle class in Texas.
WhosPlayin brings back the Texas Dim Bulb Award for Cracker-Barrell Craddick.
On The TexasBlue, David Gurney explores the total absence of integrity displayed by the Religious Right's endorsements of Giuliani and Thompson.
Texas Toad of North Texas Liberal explains why the Chicken Pickens of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth owes Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a sum of $1 million.
Posted by mcblogger at 08:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 20, 2007
Why we can't impeach...
I was told recently by an attorney I trust that impeachment and removal from office absolves a President for crimes committed. I can't think of a better reason to wait until January 22, 2009 to bring Bush and his minions to justice.
Posted by mcblogger at 06:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Having some fun with Brownback
Greg caught a little something interesting from Sen. Brownback regarding his belief that 'conservatives' just need better messaging. No shit, he honestly thinks voters will once again be deluded into thinking they are
1) Conservative
2) Christian
3) Compassionate
Yeah, that mask has already been torn from your face, Sam. But thanks so much for trying!
Posted by mcblogger at 11:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
CD 10 : Fundraising going strong
Both Dan Grant and Larry Doherty had great fundraising reports for the 3rd quarter. Doherty announced $53,765.00
and Grant announced $45,247.00. Cash on hand, less debt, left both in a VERY good position relative to the incumbent, Mike McCaul (R - Clear Channel) who enters Q4 in the red by $45,982.98. Both Democrats show more than $70,000 in the black with Grant ahead of Doherty by a little over $1,000.
Yeah, yeah... I know I'm a little behind. However, I did notice that some endorsements are out. Radnofsky gave her coveted endorsement to Doherty. You may recall that Hank Gilbert endorsed Grant in September.
Obvs, you know which one I think is more important.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 19, 2007
I hate fetish rap
You know, I'm Christian. And I'm embarrassed for this guy.
(Much hate to the PL for digging up this POS)
Posted by mcblogger at 06:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
American honored in Russia...
... for delivering atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War 2.
On Nov. 2, the Kremlin startled Western scholars by announcing that President Vladimir V. Putin had posthumously given the highest Russian award to a Soviet agent who penetrated the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb.The announcement hailed Dr. Koval as “the only Soviet intelligence officer” to infiltrate the project’s secret plants, saying his work “helped speed up considerably the time it took for the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb of its own.”
How about a resolution in Congress condemning him? You know, if we're going to waste time condemning Turkey for something it did during a time of war, let's take a moment and condemn one of our own for giving us 50 years of the Cold War.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Level 3 assets and the SIV backup fund
Two weeks ago we talked a little about the next part of the meltdown in the credit markets, what will soon be the furor over level three assets. Now comes word that the nations big banks and investment houses have structured a fund that might actually help alleviate the problem. By creating a buyer of last resort in an illiquid market...
Officials from Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase reached agreement late Friday, settling on a more simplified structure than had been proposed, said this person, granted anonymity because he was not authorized to talk for the group.Bank participants, money market investors and even some managers of the troubled investment vehicles that would benefit most had considered previous versions of the fund to be infeasible, casting doubt over a final plan. Discussions had been taking place since early fall, when the Treasury Department convened a meeting.
Now, the proposed fund could begin operating by the end of December, this person said. The banks could begin asking roughly 60 financial institutions to contribute to the fund by Friday or early next week.
Of course, this is kind of a backdoor way for the banks to take some pressure off their balance sheets from all the level 3 assets they've been forced to salt away. Look at it this way... you have a bunch of assets you can't sell because no one wants them. So, you create a company that will buy certain of those assets, creating a market value for them. It's self dealing, analogous to what our good friends at Enron did. However, unlike Enron, this is real capital the banks are having to cough up out of their equity. Frankly, it has to work or many of our largest banks are going to have to access their lender of last resort, the Federal Reserve, to remain solvent.
Which is a nice way of saying US taxpayers.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
HR 3915 passes and other mortgage news
Yes, HR 3915 has passed the House and is off to what one can only hope will be a rocky reception in either the Senate or with, God forbid, President Bush.
Seriously, we need reform. The market needs regulation and consumers have to be protected. This doesn't do that AND it cripples the marketplace. Do you have any idea how depressing it is not only to see your party fuck up brilliantly but to be forced into agreement with douchebag's like Kenny Marchant and Patrick McHenry? I hate those guys.
Still, they were right on this one. I guess it had to happen. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
In other mortgage related news, FHA Modernization was stalled out in the Senate by Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma (doesn't that make him a double retard?)
Posted by mcblogger at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tolls : Fiesta v. TXDOT
The expansion of the Katy Freeway in Houston is causing some problems for a Fiesta that is set to lose much of it's parking lot to the expanding freeway. The State wants to give them $3mm but Fiesta says it wants $16mm. As in all eminent domain takings, the State will of course have the freeway completed before Fiesta's case even reaches a judge.
Eminent domain is a real pain in the ass.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 18, 2007
Why do you people even bother?
Austin's malevolent City Manager, Toby Futrell, has survived another attempt by some members of the City Council to usurp some of her power.
The issue was an obscure one but with obvious repercussions. Should city council members have the authority to hire the city’s attorney, who is currently appointed by… you guess it, the city manager? Lee Leffingwell and Mike Martinez said yes and suggested letting voters decide for ourselves next May. Even Jennifer Kim eventually signed on.Back in the pre-Futrell era, voters had rejected a similar proposal. But proponents were betting that Austin has had quite enough of Toby’s tyranny and that taking control over the city attorney who gives the city manager legal cover would be a good thing. You know, accountability, separation of powers, all that stuff.
But don’t count on it. Sheryl Cole sprang to life long enough to lobby for keeping things as cozy as they are. Lame ducks Will Wynn and Betty Dunkerley were in her corner. Brewster McCracken’s vote gave them the majority, and the proposal died a quiet death.
The issue was decided in a cage match that featured He Who Stands Up To Toby, fighting for his life along with the other strong council members while the weak ones (Brewster, Cole, Wynn and Red Tag Betty) caved in and were whimpering in the corner. Once the fighting was over, Brewster proudly removed one of his kidneys to present as a treat to Toby.
Posted by mcblogger at 04:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wingnut emails and the lies they tell...
I got this from my father who just loves to antagonize Barfly and I...
Just when you thought you might have some money in your 401(k)- Read the last paragraph even if you skip the rest ~ this woman is a nut case! You aren't going to believe this. Madam speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits (including Retirement fund, 401Ks and Mutual Funds! Alas, it is true - all to help the 12 Million Illegal Immigrants and other unemployed Minorities! Boy, are we in trouble... This woman is frightening. Take special note of the last paragraph. Is she really this whacked out? Nancy Pelosi condemned the new record highs of the stock market as "just another example of Bush policies helping the rich get richer". "First Bush cut taxes for the rich and the economy has rebounded with new record low unemployment rates, which only means wealthy employers are getting even wealthier at the expense of the underpaid working class". She went on to say "Despite the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq our economy is still strong and government tax revenues are at all time highs. What this really means is that business is exploiting the war effort and working Americans, just to put money in their own pockets". When questioned about recent stock market highs she responded "Only the rich benefit from these record highs. Working Americans, welfare recipients, the unemployed and minorities are not sharing in these obscene record highs". There is no question these windfall profits and income created by the Bush administration need to be taxed at 100% rate and those dollars redistributed to the poor and working class". Profits from the stock market do not reward the hard work of our working class who, by their hard work, are responsible for generating these corporate profits that create stock market profits for the rich. We in congress will need to address this issue to either tax these profits or to control the stock market to prevent this unearned income to flow to the rich." When asked about the fact that over 80% of all Americans have investments in mutual funds, retirement funds, 401Ks, and the stock market she replied "That may be true, but probably only 5% account for 90% of all these investment dollars. That's just more "trickle down" economics claiming that if a corporation is successful that everyone from the CEO to the floor sweeper benefit from higher wages and job security which is ridiculous". "How much of this 'trickle down' ever gets to the unemployed and minorities in our county? None, and that's the tragedy of these stock market highs." "We democrats are going to address this issue after the election when we take control of the congress. We will return to the 60% to 80% tax rates on the rich and we will be able to take at least 30% of all current lower income tax payers off the rolls and increase government income substantially." We need to work toward the goal of equalizing income in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the rich can invest." When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied : "We need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities. For example, we have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities. Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long ways to guarantee these people the standard of living they would like to have as 'Americans'." Send it on to your friends. I just did!!
Ah, yes... please send it on. It's all a lie and when the people you send it to discover that, you lose credibility with them on political issues.
Actually, for those of us who value stability and steady growth