Politics & Policy
September 30, 2008
The Drill Team
Is the answer to our energy crisis really offshore?
2008 – Page 6 of 19
Editor's Letter
September 30, 2008
Onward
I can’t say I wasn’t warned. In November 1991, not long after I’d announced to my bosses at a big magazine company in New York that I would soon be quitting to take a job with Texas Monthly, one of the company’s officers, a hulking man with a thick German
Contributors
September 30, 2008
Contributors
Jill Greenberg, Dwight Romanovicz, and Katy Vine.
Music Review
September 30, 2008
The Stand Ins
Cut Will Sheff and he bleeds words: big, lofty, expository words—and more than enough of them in the case of the 2007 recording sessions with his Austin band Okkervil River, which resulted in an extra album of songs. The Stand Ins (Jagjaguwar) is billed as a sequel to
Music Review
September 30, 2008
Earfood
Waco-born trumpeter Roy Hargrove began recording as a bandleader back in 1990, though as a sideman his forceful yet crystalline tones had caught jazz fans’ ears even earlier. When he signed with Verve Records, in 1993, he became a bit of a dabbler: He did an all-star tenor saxophone
Music Review
September 30, 2008
Oh Skies of Grey
Dana Falconberry came to Austin from Michigan by way of Hendrix College, in Conway, Arkansas, but you’d be hard-pressed to detect any geographic traces in her music. Like other new singers with an old-world charm (Jolie Holland, Jenny Owen Youngs), Falconberry makes music that seems to spring from an
Politics & Policy
September 30, 2008
Inflexible Fliers
Both parties have wrapped themselves in the mantle of change this year. Only one appears capable of making it happen.
Book Review
September 30, 2008
Nine Kinds of Naked
One can almost smell the patchouli wafting off the pages of Nine Kinds of Naked, a neopsychedelic satire from recently transplanted Austinite Tony Vigorito. Channeling the spirited humor of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, Vigorito suspends the rules of time and space to create
Book Review
September 30, 2008
Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus
Life has taken some interesting turns for Diane Wilson, whose metamorphosis from shrimp boat captain to environmental activist was documented in Texas Gold, a multiple-award-winning documentary based on An Unreasonable Woman, her 2005 memoir. Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How
Book Review
September 30, 2008
The Whiskey Rebels
San Antonio resident David Liss dives headlong into the capital of post-Revolutionary America—Philadelphia circa 1792—and emerges with a pearl of a thriller in The Whiskey Rebels. It’s a two-headed narrative told by Ethan Saunders, an ex-spy who has become a drunkard after being cashiered for allegedly passing secrets
Author Interview
September 30, 2008
Darlene Harbour Unrue
The professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has written and edited several books about the work and life of Texas literary talent Katherine Anne Porter, who died in 1980. Unrue just edited Porter: Collected Stories and Other Writings, an augmented reprint of the landmark volume that
Sarah Bird
September 30, 2008
Hard Knocks
Introducing the Dean of Doors, in all his doorificence.
Film & TV
September 30, 2008
Dude!
Yes, yes, new baby and new movie—but what Matthew McConaughey really wants to talk about is the cushion of the flip-flop, the skooching of hoodie sleeves, the proper thickness of koozies, and his coming career as the arbiter of redneck-Buddha chic.
Arts & Entertainment
September 30, 2008
Bob Schieffer
“I still think there’s a place for the evening news.”
Eat My Words
September 30, 2008
Support Your Local Restaurants on Wednesday
As far as I’m concerned, any day is the right day to eat out, but tomorrow–Wednesday, October 1–is especially right. Why? Because some of your dining dollars may help a food bank in your city. The gig is the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up, a charitable event sponsored by the Texas
Politics & Policy
September 29, 2008
Where is Tom Craddick when you need him?
Note to President Bush: If you want to pass the bailout bill, I suggest that you call Tom Craddick. He knows how to pass bills. The first thing he’ll do is tell all the Republicans that if they don’t vote for the bill, they won’t get another dime in election
Politics & Policy
September 28, 2008
Who won the debate?
Can I vote "present?" It was hard to score. One of the factors in a presidential debate is gaffes. There were none. Another is body language. (Remember Al Gore's eye-rolling performance in the first debate of 2000.) Both candidates maintained their discipline, McCain moreso than Obama, who was too visibly
Politics & Policy
September 28, 2008
New York Times polling standards
We have had an ongoing discussion on this blog about polling methods. I was looking at the Times’ electoral map this morning and came across the Times’ statement about which polling methods meet their standards for publication. It follows below. Or you can read it in full here.
Politics & Policy
September 25, 2008
Lunacy or genius II
Here is a blog post from my favorite national web site, politicalwire.com, which includes cqpolitics.com, on the subject of McCain’s intentions. The conclusion is the same as in my previous post (McCain’s strategy: luncacy or genius?): that McCain is getting ready to vote against the bill and distance
Politics & Policy
September 25, 2008
McCain’s strategy: lunacy or genius?
My first reaction to McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign and forego the debate due to the economic meltdown was that it was an awful move. My second reaction was the same. The country is facing a crisis and McCain, who just ran a TV spot saying, “I’ve tackled tougher
Eat My Words
September 22, 2008
Eat Out, Be Happy, Do Good
I love this idea: Go out to eat on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and be a do-gooder without even breaking a sweat. A whole slew of Texas restaurants are part of the first-ever statewide dine-out day next week. If you visit them on Oct. 1, you’ll be promoting Texas foods and
Politics & Policy
September 21, 2008
The Brimer-Davis lawsuit takes a strange turn
That was one strange story. Two day before the Fort Worth court of appeals was scheduled to hear oral arguments in Kim Brimer’s lawsuit seeking to have Wendy Davis declared ineligible to run for the state Senate, John Cayce, the chief justice of the Second Court of Appeals
Politics & Policy
September 18, 2008
Clarification
In my post yesterday about whether windstorm insurance should cover losses from flooding as well as losses from wind and wind-driven rain, I referred to a bill that had been filed by State Senator Rodney Ellis that would have required exactly that. The senator’s office asked me to clarify that
Politics & Policy
September 18, 2008
Red Indiana, Blue Indiana
The most interesting news from the campaign battlefield yesterday was the Indianapolis Star/WTHR poll showing Barack Obama leading John McCain by 3 points, 47-44. One-fourth of Indiana voters said that they could change their minds. This is a state that has been reliably Republican in presidential elections since
Politics & Policy
September 17, 2008
Storm brewing over hurricane insurance
Texas Watch today wrote coastal and Harris County legislators and members of the appropriate legislative committees asking lawmakers to consider a proposal by state Senator Rodney Ellis to “explicitly direct insurers to cover storm surge losses.” This came after the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) annnounced earlier today that it
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2008
More on Ike and electric dereg
David Guenther at the Texas Public Policy Foundation passed along my post about the performance of Houston’s electric utilities to various folks at TPPF. He sent me some comments by Talmadge Heflin: During the height of the storm, CenterPoint lost 100% of its service. As the storm subsided, one ping
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2008
Damage report on Galveston’s historic treasures
This e-mail was forwarded to me by my colleague Mimi Swartz. It is from Preservation Texas, and it contains an evaluation of the damage to important historical places and things by the Galveston Historical Foundation. The Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) announced today a preliminary assessment of the damage to its
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2008
Dramatic photos of Bolivar Peninsula
This is awful. Bolivar was Beaumont’s Riviera.
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2008
Entergy lags far behind in electric connections
After writing about CenterPoint Energy’s connection rate (31% in three days), I also checked Entergy’s. Yikes! Just 2% in the same time period.
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2008
Report from Galveston
I will be flying over the Galveston area tomorrow. This report is from a telephone conversation with Rep. Craig Eiland. This is what I knew before I talked to Craig: As has been widely reported, the major problem in Galveston is lack of infrastructure. He told me that some water
Politics & Policy
September 15, 2008
A question about Houston’s loss of electricity
Just wondering … During the debate over deregulation of electricity some, oh, ten years ago now, opponents raised the question of whether service would be diminished under deregulation. One of the issues was what might happen in case a major hurricane hit Houston. Under regulation, the old Houston Lighting and
Politics & Policy
September 13, 2008
2:30 a.m. update
I am continuing to monitor the National Hurricane Center web site. This is the latest: RADAR DATA AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT THE CENTER OF IKE MADE LANDFALL AT GALVESTON TEXAS AT ABOUT 210 AM CDT.
Politics & Policy
September 13, 2008
From the 12 a.m. advisory (and 2 a.m. as well)
COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF UP TO 20 FEET…WITH NEAR 25 FEET IN SOME AREAS…ABOVE NORMAL TIDES ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES…CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER OF IKE MAKES LANDFALL. THE SURGE EXTENDS A GREATER THAN USUAL DISTANCE FROM THE CENTER
Politics & Policy
September 12, 2008
Recommended hurricane reading
A reader suggested this web site in a comment on Thursday, and I have been following it ever since. Some interesting current information (11:44 p.m.) WATER LEVEL IN GALVESTON. The water level stopped rising at 2 pm because the tide began going out. When high tide comes back
Politics & Policy
September 12, 2008
Pray for Galveston
This statement was issued by the Galveston National Weather Service office on Thursday: All neighborhoods… and possibly entire coastal communities… will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on
Politics & Policy
September 12, 2008
Sarah Palin: A foreign policy expert’s view
Norm Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a respected voice in foreign policy issues and is regarded as a bipartisan centrist at the conservative-leaning think tank. Thanks to my former Texas Monthly colleague, Griffin Smith, now editor of the (Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, for
Politics & Policy
September 11, 2008
Ike: “Could be Armageddon for Texas”
This was the assessment of an official familiar with the state’s complicated mechanism for insuring hurricane damage in the state. The current track, making landfall near Freeport, with Galveston and Houston bearing the brunt of the storm, is the worst case scenario for property loss. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
Politics & Policy
September 11, 2008
Confession
All right. I admit it. I’m a sexist. I am guilty because I have used the expression “lipstick on a pig.” This has to be the silliest, dumbest political flap of all time. “Lipstick on a pig” is a common political expression. It is commonly used in debate in the
Politics & Policy
September 9, 2008
[Burnt Orange] Report from New Hampshire
Phillip Martin of Burnt Orange Report posted this comment to my last report from the Republican convention. Martin, of course, is a devoted Democrat. I think his concern about the Democrats running a lackluster campaign thus far is right on target: Since I’m living in Boston, I get
Politics & Policy
September 9, 2008
More turmoil at Texas A&M — and it’s not about football
Texas A&M is experiencing some interesting times. The June 27 firing of Dean Bresciani, the popular vice-president for student affairs, and the subsequent hiring of retired Marine Corps general Joe Weber (Former Perry roommate hired as vice-president of student affairs at Texas A&M) intensified the concern on the
Eat My Words
September 8, 2008
An Icon of Texas Barbecue Has Passed: RIP Bobby Mueller
Bobby Mueller, the owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, is dead at the age of 69. His son Wayne Mueller, vows to carry on his dad’s tradition. Bobby–who was the son of Louie, who founded the sprawling barbecue restaurant in 1949–died in his sleep on Saturday morning. The death
Politics & Policy
September 7, 2008
The Republican Convention — Wrapping Up
This was the first national political convention that I have attended. What was it like? Equal parts pep rally, class reunion, and off-Broadway play — off-Broadway because some of the performances were less than sterling, including that of the male lead. I quickly realized that the floor of the convention
Politics & Policy
September 5, 2008
The Republican Convention — Day 4
Let me start out by saying that I like John McCain as a politician. How can you not admire someone whose mantra is that he does what he thinks is right? He stands up when nobody else will — for the surge, against torture, for election reform, against earmarks. He
Politics & Policy
September 4, 2008
The Republican Convention — Day 3
THE PRELIMINARIES “Tonight is the night. All over America people are going to be sitting in front of their TV sets, men as well as women. They will be making up their minds about her. It’s all tonight. Tomorrow night doesn’t matter.” This was a Texas delegate’s assessment of the
Politics & Policy
September 4, 2008
The Republican Convention — Local Color
Hey, all you folks back in Texas: it’s 60 degrees here. Eat your heart out. Overlooked tidbits from yesterday: * Seen outside the convention center: Two people wearing Bush and Cheney masks, wearing striped prison uniforms, being led around in chains outside the secured area. This being a Republican convention,
Politics & Policy
September 3, 2008
On Mic
Live from the Twin Cities, Burka engages in underwater reporting. Or else that’s just a really bad excuse for substandard recording equipment but his points come through LOUD and CLEAR. Check out the video before you watch Palin’s speech tonight, if only to see what Jake and I
Politics & Policy
September 3, 2008
The Republican Convention — Day 2
THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK A McCain campaign official told me that the final two candidates for VP were Palin and Pawlenty. One of the first people to suggest Pawlenty was Mark McKinnon, Bush’s media consultant, around two months ago. Although Kay Bailey Hutchison’s name was floated late in the game,
Politics & Policy
September 2, 2008
The Republican Convention — Day 1
Sorry, I can’t tell you anything about the parties. I told Eileen she should go in my place. I did read in Politico’s “Shennanigans” blog that Tom DeLay was seen at a gathering that featured a band called “Smashmouth.” Whose mouth, I wonder. The same blog insensitively quoted
Eat My Words
September 2, 2008
End of an Era: Austin’s Las Manitas: “Closed.”
When I arrived at work today (the Tuesday after Labor Day), the first words out of editor Evan Smith’s mouth were, “Las Manitas is closed. They’ve hauling the furniture and fixtures out the back and there’s a big sign on the front door that says, Closed Forever.” Forget the Republican
Energy
September 1, 2008
There Will Be Boone
Our most iconic oil and gas man, lately a water marauder and now a celebrated windcatter, has saved himself a couple of times in his eighty glorious years. Who’s to say he can’t save America?