Brains and Eggs

More evidence attack ads work

2008-08-20T09:42:00.002-05:00

While voters constantly complain about negative ads, campaigns use them because they work. A new LA Times national poll shows that a month of ads attacking Obama as a lightweight unready to lead have erased his lead nationally. The two are in a statistical tie. Obama's advantage in the electoral college has also vanished. If you compare the 2008 electoral college graph with the 2004 one, the parallels are striking. Kerry led throughout the summer until the Swift Boat ad kicked in, and it was downhill from there. Kerry never recovered.
It will be interesting to see if Obama has studied the 2004 campaign and goes negative himself. He has three possible themes. First, he can paint McCain as out of touch with how many Americans are struggling economically. If he wants to get personal (as McCain has), he can depict McCain as the man with $520 Italian shoes, half a dozen houses, a wife worth $100 million and the view that someone making $4 million a year is not rich. There is some evidence that he will continue to run a positive national campaign but start hitting McCain on the economy in specific media markets. For example, in Ohio he's hitting McCain because Rick Davis (McCain's campaign manager) helped broker a deal to move 8000 jobs from Ohio to Kentucky. A second theme is that McCain is an honorable man but at 71 is losing his marbles (can't tell a Sunni from a Shi'ite, thinks Czechoslovakia is still a country, etc.). A third plausible theme is that McCain used to be a maverick but in his pandering to the base has now repudiated everything he used to stand for (was against, now for Bush tax cuts; was for, now against his own immigration bill; was against, now for torture, etc.). In at least one way, Republicans are much smarter than Democrats: they fully realize that the way to win is to attack your opponent relentlessly, preferable on a single topic. This year's topic is Obama's lack of experience.

Obama's vice-presidential selection is unlikely to enthuse the Democratic grassroots base. He may get a small convention bounce that will almost surely be mitigated by McCain's efforts to thwart it. announcing his own veep pick the day after Obama's coronation before 75,000 in Denver's football stadium. The still-presumptive nominee will lead a not-so-unified party out of the convention, with the intractable, bitter PUMAs and other disaffected but less neurotic Clinton supporters diminishing his campaign's excitement.

He now must go on the attack against McCain -- and the sooner the better, or risk the same fate as John Kerry; losing an election that should be easily won, failing to respond quickly and forcefully in the face of reprehensible and scurrilous personal attacks.

This is the sorry state of presidential politics in America. If Obama refuses to get into a street fight with McCain and the second-generation Roves, he will lose the presidency. And he had better not wait much longer to start fighting.

In more encouraging developments, Toby Keith says he likes Obama, and outs himself as a Democra t:

"So as far as leadership and patriotism goes, I think it's really important that those things have to take place. And I think he's the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton. And that's coming from a Democrat."

Something for all the rednecks to ponder as they drive around in their F-350's, with "Beer for my Horses" playing in the CD.

Gov. White, meet Mayor White. Bill, you know Mark ...?

2008-08-19T19:08:00.001-05:00

Two Whites want to trade jobs:

Former Texas Gov. Mark W. White is considering whether to run for mayor of Houston in 2009.
"It's a prospect," he said in telephone interview today.

The Democratic businessman, who grew up in Houston and served as governor from 1983 to 1987, added, "I have talked to a number of people (about running) and have been very pleased by their response."

Mayor Bill White, no relation to the former governor, cannot seek re-election because of term limits. The election 15 months from now will produce his successor.
Councilman and architect Peter Brown already has announced his candidacy for mayor. Lawyer and former Kemah Mayor Bill King is considered a likely candidate for the Houston job. Controller Annise Parker is expected to run for mayor, too.

Since King -- former Giuliani and now McCain supporter -- was the featured speaker at a Meyerland Democrats meeting last night, and since Brown -- previously known as both a staunch and progressive Democrat -- was spotted at last week's Karl Rove fundraiser, it sure would be nice if Houston had somebody running for mayor who knew which side of the street he was supposed to be working.

That is no slam against you either, Annise.

Biden? Portman? No, Maddow

2008-08-19T18:06:00.000-05:00

I don't really care now whom the presidential candidataes pick; Rachel Maddow is getting her own show on MSNBC, right after Keith Olbermann:

Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the long-time host –- and one-time general manager of the network — Dan Abrams from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has emerged as a favored political commentator for the all-news cable channel.

The moves, which were confirmed by MSNBC executives Tuesday, are expected to be finalized by Wednesday, with Mr. Abrams’s last program on Thursday. After MSNBC’s extensive coverage of the two political conventions during the next two weeks, Ms. Maddow will begin her program on Sept. 8.

MSNBC is highlighting the date, 9/8/08, connecting it to the start of the Olympics on 8/8/08, as a way to signal what the network’s president, Phil Griffin, said “will be the final leg of the political race this year.” He added, “We're making that Rachel’s debut.”

Hallelujah. This is hands down the best news of the week.

The Weekly Wrangle

2008-08-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

Time again for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up. And the TPA is pleased to unveil its newly redesigned website, where you can connect with the Alliance and our member bloggers via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, DFA, Party Builder, Ning and other social networking tools.

Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm looks at a week's worth of opinion columns from the San Antonio Express-News and determines there is a nearly three-to-one imbalance of conservative/Republican columns compared to liberal/Democratic ones.

On Bluedaze, TXsharon busts the myths that natural gas is cleaner, that shale drilling will make us safer, and that domestic drilling can make us energy independent.

There was no attempt of a citizens' arrest of Karl Rove while he visited Houston last week, raising money for Texas House Republicans. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs hoped it would happen, to no avail.

WhosPlayin is concerned about operators wanting to drill for gas in Lewisville's urban forest area near Central Park.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why sexual assault equates to perjury -- wink, wink -- if you're a person of power in Texas.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on HD-52 Democratic candidate Diana Maldonado's opponent Bryan Daniel sharing his campaign office with a local charity: IRS Complaint Filed Against Round Rock Charity.

Off the Kuff takes a look at the possible effect Libertarian candidates may have on some close State House races.

Texas Liberal uses the ancient epic Gilgamesh to discuss reactions to vulnerability and innocence in both the ancient and modern world.

McBlogger takes a look at the latest Republican fundraising pitch and finds that it's only appealing to the same geriatric patients who are McThuselah's base. And those elephants are very tacky.

This week jobsanger is outraged by an Arkansas city that's trashing the Constitution and a small Texas country school that's allowing teachers to carry guns.

refinish69 awards the Infamous Cheese Tray Awards over at Doing My Part For The Left.

Mean Rachel supports Obama but argues against Maureen Dowd's assertion that Hillary Clinton's appearance in Denver will "dampen the dreams of our daughters."

Libby Shaw puts the pieces together over at TexasKos in Military Contractors Charge U.S. Taxpayers $85 Billion. Not only are we NOT saving money by outsourcing military support functions, we are pissing off people worldwide. Worst of all? Eisenhower's worst fear has come to pass: the military-industrial complex is real, alive and in control ...

Justin at Asian-American Action Fund Blog marvels at the coming Charlie Wilson Chair at UT, which will become the first Pakistan studies endowment in the nation.

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at a scandal that links state Sen. John Carona (D-Dallas) to a condo development in Houston that is falling apart.

Don't forget to check out the other TPA member blogs for the latest news on Texas and national politics: The Agonist, B & B, Bay Area Houston, Beginning to Wonder, BlueBloggin, Burnt Orange Report, The Caucus Blog, Common Sense, Dallas South, Dig Deeper Texas, Dos Centavos, Easter Lemming Liberal News, Feet To Fire, Grassroots News U Can Use, Half Empty, In The Pink Texas, Latina Lista, Lubbock Left, Marc's Miscellany, MindSpeak, MOMocrats, Musings, North Texas Liberal, Para Justicia y Libertad, The Red State, Rhetoric & Rhythm, Same Blog, Different Day, South Texas Chisme, StoutDemBlog, The Texas Blue, The Texas Cloverleaf, Texas Education, Texas Truth Serum, There... Already, Three Wise Men, TruthHugger, and Xpatriated Texan.

Sunday Funnies ("grandson of a millworker" edition)

2008-08-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

EV 8/17: under 270

2008-08-17T10:00:00.001-05:00

Give CO and NV to McCain this week. Obama is now under the victory threshold for the first time since this projection began here. He was clipping along at 300 EV or better just a few weeks ago.

We will likely see a vice-president pick this week, which may -- or may not -- stop the slippage. I would still like to see it be Dodd or Biden; Biden and Kaine appear to be the front-runners. The bad news? Chet Edwards is still being seriously mentioned. It may be good for a few downballot Texans but it would be a net negative for the nation (and the Texas Congressional delegation, where Edwards would likely be replaced by a genuine Republican).

&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/'&amp;amp;gt;Electoral College Prediction Map&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt; - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;

George Bush's drunken Asian vacation

2008-08-17T09:30:00.002-05:00

While Georgians died by the thousands, mind you:

One worth seeing enlarged:

Condi's summer vacation couldn't be interrupted either.

What can Christians do to accelerate global warming so Jesus comes back quicker?

2008-08-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

In honor of The Lord's intervention in the trial of Victoria Osteen, as well as Rick Warren's Faith Forum last night (for which true believers paid between $500 and $2000 to attend) ...

As True Bible believing Christians™, we have a much better understanding about the fate of this planet than any Biologist, Environmentalist, or so-called scientist because we have a personal relationship with the Fellow who created this whole place to begin with! Friends, as True Christians™ then, being familiar with the Holy Bible gives you more authority than anyone who holds a post-graduate degree! That's something to be proud of - don't wince about it! And don't let people call you crazy! God's Holy Scriptures give the poorest farmer's servant in our congregation the power to win an argument with a Bio-Chemist, or a Nuclear Physicist -- without even knowing a lick about what them folks studied in their fancy secular universities! What these ignorant unsaved, over-educated folks don't understand is that they can gather all the data, all the research and present all the facts they care to collect about any subject under the sun - but when you hold it next to child-like faith in the Almighty God, the most learned Evolutionist or Environmentalist, will widen their blind eyes in awe, and cower in fear at the truth of God's Word! Praise Jesus! For the simple truth, we need only look to our old children's Sunday School song, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands!" Oh, GLORY!

Full sermon available at Landover Baptist.

Sunday Funnies (some funnier than others)

2008-08-17T08:45:00.000-05:00

Harris County candidates forum on criminal justice and behavioral health

2008-08-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

Now this looks like something rife with explosive opportunity. I'll be attending (and blogging):

WHEN SYSTEMS COLLIDE:

HARRIS COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS

One Voice and The Network of Behavioral Health Providers invite you to a Candidates' Forum at which candidates for key Harris County offices will offer their views on how the office for which they are running and the county can have an impact to ensure that the adult criminal justice system is not the community behavioral health treatment system "safety net".

It is a well known fact that nation-wide the failure to provide adequate community behavioral health services impacts a community's criminal justice system. In Harris County , much attention and effort have been paid to providing county inmates needed behavioral health treatment.

But should the Harris County Jail be the largest mental health facility in the state of Texas ?

DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

RECEPTION: 5:00 - 6:00 pm

CANDIDATES' FORUM: 6:00 - 8:00 pm

LOCATION: United Way of Greater Houston

50 Waugh Drive

Houston, Texas 77007

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS:

(listed alphabetically under office)

CANDIDATES FOR HARRIS COUNTY JUDGE

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett

Mr. David Mincberg

CANDIDATES FOR HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Mr. C.O. "Brad" Bradford

Ms. Pat Lykos

CANDIDATES FOR HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF

City of Houston Council Member Adrian Garcia

Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas (Not Confirmed)

Please RSVP by Wednesday, August 20th to:

onevoice@ghcf.org or 713.333.2215

Perhaps some citizen will try to arrest Rove while he's in town today

2008-08-12T06:37:00.000-05:00

They have tried to do so before, after all.

Here is the itinerary for today's Fugitive Fundraiser Tour. He's raising money for Terrified Texas House Republicans.

What is the nature of Karl Rove's security detail when he attends these things? Is it more than the local police? Contracted bodyguards? Blackwater?

Who's paying for it? He's not a government employee any longer, after all. Why are local police and taxpayer funds used to pay for the protection of a man who is in comtempt of Congress, among his many other crimes?

Disavow yourself of the notion that any Texas Republican wouldn't sell his daughter into white slavery just for the opportunity to stand next to Herr General Rove. The local right-wing freaks live for this shit.

Do you think they run people through metal detectors at the downtown Aquarium?

Isaac Hayes 1943 - 2008

2008-08-12T06:20:00.001-05:00

With his lascivious bass-baritone and flamboyant wardrobe, Hayes developed a musical persona that was an embodiment of the hyper-masculine, street-savvy characters of the so-called blaxploitation films of the era. In his theme song to Gordon Parks’s “Shaft” from 1971, the title character is summed up in a line that has become a classic of kitsch: “Who’s a black private dick/Who’s a sex machine to all the chicks?”
(Furthermore: “He’s a complicated man/But no one understands him but his woman.”)
The “Shaft” theme won an Academy Award and has become one of his best-known songs. But Hayes’s career stretched far beyond soundtracks. For much of the 1960s and into the ’70s he was one of the principal songwriters and performers for Stax Records, the trailblazing Memphis R&B label, and in the 1990s he revived his career by providing the voice for the amorous and wise Chef on the cable television show “South Park.”

"Chocolate Salty Balls", also on the South Park Christmas CD ...

He penned soul classics like ''Hold On I'm Comin''' for Sam & Dave, helped usher in the era of disco and was a goldmine for countless hip-hop and R&B artists who used his illustrious arrangements as the focal point for their songs decades later. ...

His influence also extended beyond music. His trademarked bald head, full beard and muscular frame, often adorned with a multitude of gold chains, made him a fashion trendsetter at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting blowout Afros. He was also a symbol of black pride, and an activist for civil rights. ...

Hayes also acted in movies including ''Tough Guys,'' ''I'm Gonna Get You Sucka'' and ''Hustle & Flow.'' He had recently completed the movie ''Soul Men,'' in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia.

I wou;d really like to have the rest of the week off from posting obituaries.

The Weekly Wrangle

2008-08-11T05:04:00.002-05:00

Here's the TPA Blog Round-up for the week just passed, and check out The Truth About Texas Republicans, a new blogger-powered website designed to expose the real truth about GOP Texas legislators. The opening posts look at the stuff state representatives Dwayne Bohac, Betty Brown, John Davis, Bill Zedler and State Sen. Mike Jackson don't want you to see.

refinish69 was happy to introduce a real progressive Democrat to the readers of Doing My Part For The Left a few weeks ago, but has to wonder how to describe Michael Skelly: Democrat or Republican Lite?

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the Texas State Teacher's Association lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency for giving public funds to private institutions.

Irony Alert: Mary McDaniels, Manager - Pipeline Safety, Texas Railroad Commission, lied on camera about the Atmos Energy gas pipeline couplings. She spoke in Fort Worth about pipeline safety, inspections, and regulations for Chesapeake Energy's Barnett Shale pipeline, says TXsharon at Bluedaze.

Julie Pippert at MOMocrats asked: "Offshore drilling -- whose issue is it anyway? The people's? Or the politician's?"

Women who enter the military know they may encounter danger along the way, just as their male counterparts do. Diarist Liberal Texas at Texas Kaos highlights an additional danger they face in Assault on Women in the Military, and calls on all of us to ensure that our fighting women are protected against sexual assault from the companions they should be able to trust.

WhosPlayin used to think John McCain was worthy of respect, even if he was wrong on issues. But mocking conservation and lying about Obama raising taxes demonstrate who John McCain really is.

jobsanger thinks Democrats should let Clinton's backers have their vote at the convention, and believes Barack Obama has a chance to win Texas this November.

Neil at Texas Liberal talks about AIDS and black people.

Due to the purchase of McBlogger by a rival blogging firm, the regular writers are on strike. This week we'd like to introduce you to a new McBlogger, Rose Petal.

North Texas Liberal remarks on John McCain's anti-Obama ad comparing the Democratic nominee to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and also includes Hilton's response ad. Still waiting on Britney's energy policy...

Off the Kuff takes a look at The Queue behind KBH for her maybe-to-be-abandoned Senate seat.

YaGottaLoveIt of South Texas Chisme urges Barack Obama to have a fundraiser for money that stays in Texas while urging Hillary Clinton to campaign for Rick Noriega in south Texas.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the Williamson County DA's unwillingness to test DNA evidence in a 30-year-old unsolved murder case in Lawsuit Filed Against County For New DNA, Fingerprint Tests.

Tropical Storm Edouard was more like a decent rainstorm, but that didn't stop the media -- old as well as new, including madcap reporter/Congressman John Culberson -- from building it up to a height it could no more sustain than its winds. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the roundup of the hyperventilating in Houston.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is concerned about the economy in "Purses Tighten, Small Business Suffers, Families Budget".

nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders, as the Georgian-Russian war continues and Bush plays with U.S. athletes at the Olympics ... Could The U.S. Get Pulled Into Georgia’s War?

XicanoPwr discusses the immigration survey that was sent to presidential candidates Obama and McCain put together by The Sanctuary, a web-based grassroots community of pro-migrant, human rights, and civil-rights bloggers.

Late Edition Funnies

2008-08-10T16:15:00.000-05:00

EV 8/10: Attack ads work

2008-08-10T11:38:00.001-05:00

Let's give the Sunshine State back to McBush, but no other changes from last week.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/'&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Electoral College Prediction Map&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

McInsane went into the gutter, and it appears to have worked for him. Whooda thunk?

This in spite of a raft of data denouncing the ads.

So the question begged is: who's telling the truth? The people who say the ads aren't working, or the people being polled?

Here's my humble O: the attack ads are working, and they work particularly well on a portion of the electorate that wants to vote for McCain if he gives them a good enough reason to do so, i.e. the former GOP base who has been disillusioned by Bush, the wars, gasoline prices, the value of their suburban tract home (if they are still in possession of it), etc. and so on. These people despise Obama and the Democrats even more than they do all of those things, but are likely to sit this election out unless they see a Republican party willing to go on the offense against him (and them).

Voters are motivated by a politician -- a political party -- that will fight. Wonder if the Democrats have ever considered that strategy?

Solzhenitsyn, McCullough, and shortly, Newman

2008-08-10T10:20:00.003-05:00

Far, far too much sad news this past week:

There remains among Western commentators a surprisingly persistent mythology of Soviet rule. This depicts Stalin as the usurper of Lenin's revolutionary asceticism, with Khrushchev and his successors tempering the bloodiest excesses. In reality, the grey bureaucracy of Khrushchev and Brezhnev laid claim to the individual mind. It defined political difference as mental illness.
On being released from the camps, Solzhenitsyn became the voice and dramatist of the zeks, the prisoners who languished in a system where the merest idiosyncrasy was an antisocial act. He became, with the dissidents Andrei Sakharov and Anatoli Scharansky, a towering moral witness against this system. And he was fearless.

I am reminded of that tiresome conservative canard about liberalism being a mental disorder as I read that last sentence in the first paragraph.

Bernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian, in films including the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and his acclaimed sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show."
Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal -- befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley; squeaky-clean Red Skelton, but also the raw Redd Foxx.

Saturday before last my wife and I attended a funeral service for a friend from college -- heart attack at 47 -- who was so much like Bernie Mac it was scary. Terrific smile, wonderful person, gone too soon. Fabulously funny, loved a good party, lived life to the max. Too many more parallels to iterate. His passing last week is magnified by Bernie Mac's this one.

Paul Newman has finished chemotherapy and has told his family he wants to die at home. ...

Yesterday, it was reported in America that Newman, 83, had only weeks to live and had returned home to his wife, Joanne Woodward.

"Paul didn't want to die in the hospital," a source said. "Joanne and his daughters are beside themselves with grief."

The source, described as a close family friend, said that the star had spent the past few weeks getting his affairs in order.

Never Forget: Bush gave up golf because it "just sends the wrong signal"

2008-08-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

Three men to help him up, while his wife and daughter avoid even looking.

Legs spread wide, bouncing his knees, casting his eyes around, slapping his miniature American flag against his knee.

I have a feeling George, Jr. was the "Are we there yet?" kid.

Sunday Funnies (GOP slime edition)

2008-08-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

John Edwards screwed the pooch

2008-08-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

Sure I'm a little disappointed. Well more than a little. But there's shinola to be discerned ...

-- Don't you think he could've done better than this? Seriously? Christ, she looks like Eileen Smith. (That wasn't too screechy, was it?)

-- Now that the National Enquirer is reputable journalism, when do you think the traditional corporate media will begin reporting on Bush's alcoholism? And what it could mean for the next war he intends to start?

-- McBlogger picked a SCAB, and now it's bleeding.

-- Martha is posting peevishly, but the MOMocrats have a cooler head. So does Digby.

-- Who's going to keynote the Johnson-Rayburn-Richards dinner?

-- Sorry if I missed it; did somebody die as a result of John Edwards' lies? Is he still serving in the United States Senate? Introducing legislation such as the Marriage Protection Amendment?

Back in a moment to our regularly scheduled media frenzies, like the Olympics and the brand-new war between Russia and Georgia.

Olympic news

2008-08-08T04:05:00.001-05:00

-- Pollution shrouds Beijing as opening ceremonies set

The wall of gray haze around the National Stadium and across the city cut visibility down to a mile. On the eve of opening ceremonies, Beijing’s polluted air took center stage Thursday as the most visibly pressing problem for Olympic organizers who had promised to clean up the Chinese capital. ...

The notoriously dirty air in this megacity of 17 million has been a leading concern since Beijing won the bid for the Olympics in 2001. China has poured 140 billion yuan—$20 billion—into “greening” the city, including doubling the number of subway lines, retrofitting factories with cleaner technology and building urban parks. But environmental efforts have often been outpaced by constant construction and increased traffic.
To help ensure clean air for the Olympics, Beijing officials imposed drastic measures in mid-July, including pulling half the city’s 3.3 million vehicles off the roads, halting most construction and closing dozens of factories.

-- Islamic group issues new threat

Police shut down the bustling bazaar in the capital of China’s restive Muslim region of Xinjiang on Friday amid threats from an Islamic group that attackers might target buses, trains and planes during the Olympics.

A sign at the entrance of the bazaar in Urumqi did not explain why the area, surrounded by mosques with minarets, was off limits as the country prepared to kick off the Summer Games thousands of miles away in Beijing.

Even a KFC restaurant in the shopping area—filled with touristy shops selling carpets and jade—was closed, and a guard sitting on the steps shooed people away.

The sprawling, far-flung western region of Xinjiang has long been a source of trouble for China’s communist government. The rugged, mineral-rich territory is populated by the Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority that has had tense relations with the Chinese. Many Uighurs favor independence or greater autonomy for Xinjiang, which takes up one-sixth of China’s land mass and borders eight Central Asian countries.

-- Bush dedicates new embassy, scolds Chinese on free speech

Speaking on China’s turf the very day it hosted the opening of the Olympic Games, President Bush on Friday prodded the communist country to lessen repression and “let people say what they think.”
The president’s challenge, issued as he dedicated a massive new U.S. embassy in Beijing, capped a volley of sharp exchanges between the two nations this week about China’s human rights record. ...
Bush came to Beijing mainly to watch U.S. athletes compete and enjoy the spectacle of the summer games, but a round of political one-upmanship has heavily defined his trip to Asia. He bluntly criticized China’s human rights record in a speech in Thailand, which prompted China to warn the U.S. president to stop meddling in its business.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang admonished Bush just before he got to China.

“We firmly oppose any words or acts that interfere in other countries internal affairs, using human rights and religion and other issues,” he said. The spokesman added that “Chinese citizens have freedom of religion. These are indisputable facts.”

-- Human rights protests in Hong Kong

A British man was taken away after unfurling banners that denounced China’s human rights record on a major bridge in Hong Kong ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony Friday. ...

Matt Pearce, a longtime Hong Kong resident from Bristol, England, hung two banners on road signs on Hong Kong’s Tsing Ma Bridge that said, “We want human rights and democracy” and “The people of China want freedom from oppression.” ...

TV footage showed Pearce wearing a mask of a horse’s head and a white shirt bearing the Olympic rings while carrying a guitar. His protest ended after about an hour when men in plainclothes hustled him away. ...

Olympic organizers moved the equestrian event from Beijing to the former British colony of Hong Kong because of a rash of equine diseases and substandard quarantine procedures on the mainland. Hong Kong has a prominent horse racing scene.

Oh yeah, there will be some athletic competition going on also.

TV coverage of Fast Eddie worse than the storm itself

2008-08-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

Ken Hoffman is dead solid perfect:

1. With the possible exception of the new TV commercial with Big Oil whining that they're really making very little money (yeah, right, and Hooters doesn't want you to notice their waitresses), nothing on TV is funnier than our local stations promising calm, reasoned coverage of approaching storms and hurricanes ... and then hysterically screaming, "The sky is falling! Run for your lives! Women, children and weathermen first!"
2. The 10 p.m. news: Channel 11 went to its bullpen and dusted off Dr. Neil Frank as Tropical Storm Eduardo "inches toward" the Gulf Coast. Anchorman Greg Hurst said Dr. Neil would "put everything in perspective" for us. I wonder how Channel 11's chief weatherman Gene Norman feels about Dr. Neil showing up for the big story? It's like Norman quarterbacks the team the whole season, but Dr. Neil is brought out of retirement for the Super Bowl.

3. Channel 13 weatherman Tim Heller predicted winds of 50-60 mph when Edouard touches down. During Rita, Heller looked like a kid who lost his puppy when the hurricane missed us. It would have been his first big story since arriving in Houston. So it was slightly understandable. ...

4. Whoa, Channel 2 just headlined a story "Survival Checklist." Survival? That's a little hysterical, isn't it? The weatherman said the storm surge would be 3-4 feet. That's not life-threatening, that's rad surfing, dude.

5. Do all the stations do a story from the same Home Depot, or do they spread the free plugs around?

6. I'm watching the Astros game live from Wrigley Field. The weather is much, much worse in Chicago. Lance Berkman just saw a lightning bolt and tucked tail and ran into the dugout. He'll never be a TV reporter. No guts, no ratings.

7. (11 p.m.) Channel 11's Vincente Arenas is on Galveston Island. He just held up a gizmo that measures wind speed. It said 8 mph. You know that ceiling fan at the West Alabama Ice House that gently stirs the air? That's 10 mph. ... Have you seen the billboards for McDonald's new Southern-style Chicken Sandwich? The sign says, "available seven days a week, including Sundays." Hey, if you're going to flat-out steal Chick-fil-A's sandwich, right down to the pickles, you might want to show some respect and not mock Chick-fil-A for giving its employees Sunday off.

8. (After midnight.) At the risk of making a prediction that could backfire, especially if Edouard strengthens and causes pain to our area, I'm saying the storm will be nothing but a heavy rain. I like to err on the side of danger. Caution is for amateurs. ... Why don't my neighbors turn off their sprinklers? It's going to pour buckets Tuesday.

I walked the dog about 2:30 a.m. and it was warm, muggy, and as still and quiet as you would expect it to be at two-thirty in the morning. The storm coverage anchors had all turned in at midnight -- saving their sputtering for the 4 a.m. flash report, I presume -- so there was the usual nada (infomercials) on the tube. I surfed the net until I got sleepy again at 5, sliding off comfortably in the awareness that we weren't going to be endangered no matter what the talking heads on my teevee said.

It was a nice day off. I'll take a hurricane like that any time.

Edouard "inches", "creeps", "plods", "slogs"...

2008-08-05T08:15:00.002-05:00

... even "ambles". In some places along the Texas Gulf coast (probably Jefferson County) he is "pounding" and "hitting".

Some are live-blogging -- zzz -- some are Twittering (this is a sample from yesterday's rehearsal, creativity courtesy Julie P at MOMocrats):

8 AM AM
Woke to screaming wind
8:01 AM
Never mind, it was kids, not wind
8:02 AM
Kids were screaming because they heard the wind
8:05 AM
Gave kids prebought premade preservative and sugar laden scones from store.
& bottled water. B/c we dump health and eco @ first sign of mother nature
8:07 AM
Breakfast didn't last long
8:12 AM
Sugar hit, storm too. Kids and winds are engaged in howling competition
8:14 AM
Will keep you up to date until power goes ou...
10:28 AM
Power's back
11:04 AM
Fish are in the yard, and power's flick...
6:22 PM
Everyone's heading to the beer garden in Clear Lake Shores to swap downed
tree stories!

Obviously it never got this bad. Like the batteries and the MREs, we can always save it for the next one. One last thing, from Congressman John Culberson's e-mail newsletter yesterday (bold emphasis his):

Dear Friends,

Tropical Storm Edouard appears headed our way; and some predictions suggest we could start feeling the effects of the storm sometime after midnight tonight.

After the destruction of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Houstonians know that no tropical storm should be taken lightly. While the winds may not be as strong, the rain can be even more devastating.

Here are some tips I follow to keep my family and home safe during hurricane season:
...
Lie on the floor under a table or another sturdy object.

My batshit conservative Congressman, lying under a table in his house, Twittering.

I can easily picture that.

Edouard headed right at Houston

2008-08-04T07:28:00.000-05:00

The Weekly Wrangle

2008-08-04T04:36:00.000-05:00

We're making preparations for Edouard here -- a full tank of gasoline, some batteries and extra water -- but there's still time to read the Texas Progressive Alliance's Blog Round-up (for those who aren't in danger of losing their electricity) ...

Last week on Bluedaze , Big Oil threatened TXsharon. In "Big Oil" Threatens Harm to My "Lovelies" and Me she calls out the abuser and includes a new PR plan that will save Chesapeake Energy millions of dollars and help clean up Big Oil's act.

Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm is critical of a campaign to knock off Blue Dog Democrats , even if it means electing Republicans, all in an effort to punish Democrats for failing to hew the line on certain progressive issues.

refinish69 from Doing My Part For The Left has always heard that What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas or does it for Pete Sessions?

Burnt Orange Report went on strike last week to raise $1000 for Chris Bell's State Senate campaign. 12 hours later, 15 donors raised $1,075 for Bell and the BOR team is back to blogging.

jobsanger opines about the lack of Democratic leadership from Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Pelosi: Where's The Leadership?, and lets us know the Nanny State is alive and well in The "Nanny State" Strikes Again.

The Texas Cloverleaf is on a strike for change! Help raise money for selected candidates. What do we want? Donations! When do we need them? Now!

Texas Liberal suggests that life is like a harbor where ships come and go.

Off the Kuff calculates how many eligible but unregistered voters there are in Harris County, and compares it to 2004.

Obama came to Houston but only for a few high-dollar fundraisers in River Oaks, a trend sadly that is repetitive of past Democratic presidential nominees. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had the report, and the total take was $1.5 mill.

Mean Rachel gets a response from Rep. Elliott Naishtat to her modest proposal from last week, and at dinner discovers just how unwired the Yankee in the Texas House really is.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker makes the case for a Republican straight ticket ballot, and for the Democratic slate (with video)! It may be the only way to save the Republican party from its present delusional masters!

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders which will come first -- the death of the Republican Party or a full blown police state. CBT, ever the optimist, predicts the former.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones is going to run for US Senate if and when Kay Bailey Hutchison vacates her seat to run for governor.

Aimlessness at WhosPlayin got one too many email forwards about "Why Men are Republicans", and decided to retort with "Why Men Prefer Democrats".

McBlogger takes a look at the ability of DHS to snoop on you. And you thought the FISA stuff was bad...

BossKitty at TruthHugger wonders "What is Adrenarche and Why Are America’s Services Sexually Immature?"

Paris Hilton's mother (McCain maximum contributor) objects to ad

2008-08-03T17:20:00.001-05:00

Bold is mine:

It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States.

Oh, there's also this:

Kathy Hilton and her husband donated a total of $4,600 to McCain's campaign earlier this year.

Do you think his campaign will stop the slime now? Nah, I didn't think so either.