Brains and Eggs

• Gordon Quan may take on Emmett

  Miya Shay breaks ...
  
  Former City Council Member Gordon Quan is THISCLOSE to throwing his hat in the ring for Harris County Judge. I heard the rumors a few days ago, but confirmed with Quan this morning...
  
  When we spoke earlier today, I asked him what prompted [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:10pm EST
  

• The Weekly Wrangle

  The Texas Progressive Alliance welcomes everyone back from the Thanksgiving holiday with these highlights from the blogs.
  
  TXsharon has arranged by area 60 TCEQ fugitive emission videos obtained via the Texas Public Information Act. The videos were taken throughout the Barnett Shale area using a GasFindIR (Infrared) camera. [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 2:00pm EST
  

• Vote today in Houston

  You can actually vote any day all week at the usual early voting locations. Why not get it done and get back to your Black Monday shopping?
  
  After failing to appear at the televised mayoral debate, Gene Locke went there over the holiday weekend --"there" [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 7:10am EST
  

• Press names 39% Turkey of the Year

  Tough call.
  
  Last year Rick Perry won the Turkey Politician of the Year award for his prissy response to Mayor Bill White's cursing incident during Ike; this year he takes the whole turkey enchilada for a stunningly entertaining and embarrassing string of events that brought applause from the [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 10:45am EST
  

• Sunday Funnies

  
  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 9:55am EST
  

• Maybe they can manufacture Republic of Texas trucks

  That's harsh, and it's from a commenter on this news item:
  
  The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 8:21am EST
  

• Be safe today

  No matter whether you're driving, flying, eating, drinking, cooking, cleaning, relaxing, working, shopping, or just trying to stay alive.
  
  ' [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 8:00am EST
  

• Sesame Street's "Pox News" debuts Spill O'Reilly

  Republished in full.
  
  

  Earlier this month we reported on a minor controversy that arose after PBS re-aired a two-year-old episode of “Sesame Street” that parodied Fox News. Last night, in an effort to make light of that episode, a Sesame Workshop executive went on Fox News’ [...]

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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 7:35am EST
  

• Dueling styles

  The incomparable Nick Anderson at the Houston Chronicle.
  
  
  Another funny found on Facebook: Farouk Shami for Hair Care Commissioner. [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 12:37pm EST
  

• Happy Day Before T-Bird Day

  -- If you are considering putting something besides the swollen, roasted carcass of a domesticated animal in the middle of your table tomorrow, Grist has some options. One of them -- not the Tofurkey but the Quorn -- sounds like it might even taste good. (We'll be hitting the' [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 6:45am EST
  

• The sum of conservative logic on healthcare

  [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:30pm EST
  

• More on White and the battle for governor

  Still digesting yesterday's news and reading the tea leaves and (insert your own favorite cliche'). For now I'll excerpt what I find and emphasize the most interesting. First, this HouChron story doesn't tell us much new beyond sandwiches served at Sunday afternoon's meeting between Tom Schieffer and Bill White.[...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 8:00am EST
  

• White "considering"

  Fresh from KHOU at White's press conference about two hours ago.
  
  Houston Mayor Bill White says he is considering dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate and instead making a bid for the Governor's office, he said in a news conference Monday.
  
  "Since Friday a week" [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:15pm EST
  

• Schieffer leaves Democratic field *update* And White joins

  "He just couldn't put it together".
  
  Word is that Democrat Tom Schieffer is quitting his bid for governor of Texas. Some Texas Democrats have never warmed to Schieffer because of his long-time ties to George W. Bush. Schieffer was a partner with Bush with the Texas Rangers.' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:20am EST
  

• The Weekly Wrangle

  The turkeys and hogs might be a little nervous, but the blogs of the Texas Progressive Alliance stride fearlessly toward the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend with this round-up of the best postings from last week.
  
  The Texas Cloverleaf clues you in on why you can't breathe in Denton' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:20am EST
  

• Sunday Sorta Funnies

  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:45am EST
  

• KBH versus Perry spotlights GOP in a tug-a-war

  Sam Merten in the Houston Press:
  
  At stake is more than just the governor's mansion. It's a pitched battle for the soul of the Republican Party not only statewide but nationally as the GOP tries to figure out how to keep itself relevant in the age of Obama. [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:15am EST
  

• And starring Blanche Lincoln as Olympia Snowe

  The gentlewoman from Arkansas Walmart Big Pharma takes center stage in advance of Joe Lieberman's second act ...
  
  
  Her clear warning that she would oppose the Democratic plan in its current form is certain to keep her squarely at the center of the' [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:55am EST
  

• Friday Funnies (Rogue to the White House edition)

  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:06pm EST
  

• The latest on the mayor's race, and more statewide

  -- Annise Parker and Gene Locke have made plenty of headlines as the Houston mayoral contest moves closer to the December runoff date. In the wake of an internal poll showing Parker at the cusp of victory, Locke continues to try to distance himself from the gay-baiting and [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:17am EST
  

• Texas Democratic candidate updates

  -- Farouk Shami is a candidate to dye for, according to the Texas Tribune. His recent political contributions are what stand out to me, however ...
  
  Shami's (hair care products) business, founded in 1986, took off when he signed a distribution deal with Austin-based Armstrong McCall. John' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:07am EST
  

• Welcome back to Houston, Dick

  
  No Kay tonight with you, it looks like ...
  
  Few events have been more important to (Hutchison's gubernatorial) campaign than Cheney's endorsement. And while there were indications Monday that a Senate vote that would cause her to miss the Houston event would be [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:25am EST
  

• Radnofsky for Attorney General announcement tour

  BAR gets ready to crank up her campaign ...
  
  Barbara Radnofsky will formally announce her candidacy for Texas Attorney General and her December 3 filing for the March 2010 primary election in a five-city tour.
  
  The kick-off event will be a meet and greet for Republicans, [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:00am EST
  

• She said it

  "She is not here. She is campaigning all over Texas. But she is taking her pay from the taxpayers ... I don’t consider that integrity, and I don’t consider it leadership."
  
  -- Kay Bailey Hutchison, about her opponent, Harris County treasurer Nikki Van Hightower, in their 1990 run [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:02pm EST
  

• The Weekly Wrangle

  The Texas Progressive Alliance is starting to feel an odd craving for can-shaped servings of cranberry sauce as it brings you this week's highlights from the blogs.
  
  TXsharon continues to follow the abuses of Aruba Petroleum in a Barnett Shale backyard and Wednesday the Wise County Messenger picked [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:35pm EST
  

• Sunday Not Very Funnies

  
  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 8:15am EST
  

• Pacquiao - Cotto quite not one for the ages

  Thrilling but one-sided.
  
  (Manny) Pacquiao knocked (Miguel) Cotto down once in the third round and again in the fourth, pummeled him repeatedly and easily lifted the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt from the Puerto Rican with a 12th-round stoppage. The time was 55 seconds [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 7:30am EST
  

• Kay Bailey dithers on being with Dick next week

  The woman just has not made a promise she can keep. Never made a commitment she hasn't waffled on.
  
  U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said in Galveston today that she hasn’t yet determined whether she’ll be able to make a Tuesday appearance and fundraiser in Houston with former' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 5:12pm EST
  

• Gene Locke plays the hate card

  I told you he wasn't a Democrat.
  
  A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian, according to multiple ministers and conservatives involved in the effort.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:45am EST
  

• Crazy talk good for ten points in the past month

  Secession, "Willingham was a monster", Washington DC is a disaster, we have a senator who is AWOL, Ill Eagles, blah blah blah.
  
  And he's added ten points to his polling in the past thirty days among GOP primary voters.
  
  
  Who is it that's [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:05am EST
  

• Schechter announces for Harris County Clerk

  From her press release ...
  
  Sue Smith Schechter today officially announced her plans to run as a candidate for the position of Harris County Clerk in the Democratic Primary in 2010.
  
  ...
  
  Schechter, an attorney, has been involved in politics for more than 20 years. She [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:30pm EST
  

• Kay Bailey now says she'll sit tight until after primary

  From Quorum Report this afternoon, Kay Bailey has announced she will not resign from the Senate until after the March 2010 primary.
  
  In a written statement, KBH said: "These issues are too important to leave the fight to a newly appointed freshman senator“A newly appointed senator would be" [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:12pm EST
  

• Rasmussen confirms Tribune's GOP polling: Perry leads 46-35

  Evan Smith would have to be feeling quite a bit better after seeing this:
  
  Rasmussen Reports this morning is reporting a new poll showing Gov. Rick Perry leading U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 46 percent to 35 percent in the Texas GOP primary for governor. Activist Debra [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 11:50am EST
  

• Sweet Lou preps a run for Prez

  My wife laughs every time I call him that; he has set off my gaydar for years. I think he's just a bitter old queen. Anyway, he fancies himself as a Ross Perot or Pat Buchanan ...
  
  According to these sources, Dobbs has increasingly been feeling the pressure' [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 7:15am EST
  

• So Long, Lou

  Don't let the door hitcha where the Good Lord splitcha.

  Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, plans to announce Wednesday that he is leaving the network, two network employees said.

  A CNN executive confirmed that Mr. Dobbs will announce' [...]

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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 6:35pm EST
  

• Vets Day toons

  
  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:11am EST
  

• A sadder Veterans' Day today

  The slain soldiers at Fort Hood add a greater degree of self-reflection on the sacrifice our veterans make today.
  
  
  
  An Army major trained in psychiatry -- a counselor to wounded veterans returning from battle -- who didn't want to deploy to the battle' [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 6:40am EST
  

• A conservative in Maine gives thanks

  
  He may be a Democrat, he may be a Republican, but he is certainly a conservative. [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 4:48pm EST
  

• Responses from Evan Smith and Miya Shay

  I posted about the Texas Tribune's wacky poll last week, and had a conversation with Tribune CEO Evan Smith yesterday afternoon prompted by it.
  
  First, a correction: Farouk Shami was not included in their list of Democratic gubernatorial candidates, as I wrote. The candidates they DID' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 2:00pm EST
  

• The Weekly Wrangle

  The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone had a happy Election Day last week, and is already looking forward to the next one. Here are this week's highlights.
  
  TXsharon continues to report from a backyard in the Barnett Shale. Despite all the local and national press on drilling related toxins,' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 7:30am EST
  

• FOX News election night coverage

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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 3:00pm EST
  

• Sunday Funnies

  
  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 7:15am EST
  

• Kaufman's apprentice gets boost for Clerk

  I speculated previously about two people working for Beverly Kaufman who might be line up to run for her position in 2010 but Miya Shay found the true teacher's pet:
  
  When (Kaufman) announced her retirement, I assumed there would be a jockeying of candidates from both Democrats' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 2:20pm EST
  

• Bachmann Teabagger Overdrive

  Brad Friedman (he coined the header used here) and Richard Blair link to the photo at yesterday's latest protest against health care, where this poster appeared ...
  
  
  
  The red lettering in the photo reads: "National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany –'" [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 6:32am EST
  

• That wacky Texas Tribune poll

  The one with Rick Perry ahead of Kay Bailey 42-30? Not just obviously flawed, not simply bogus, but a whiff of deception on the part of the Texas political sphere's shiny new model.
  
  First of all, Polling Point simply doesn't have the chops to to perform [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:25am EST
  

• Two outta three ain't bad for the Right

  But they still lost a seat in Congress they had held for over a hundred years:
  
  President Barack Obama's decision in June to appoint a Republican congressman to a Pentagon post has paid dividends in November now that Democrats have gained the House seat by capitalizing on a' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:30am EST
  

• Three point two million down the drain

  All that money and he barely outdrew Roy Morales.
  
  The unpredictable and unorthodox race for Houston mayor narrowed Tuesday to a choice between a veteran City Hall insider trying to become Houston's first openly gay leader and a former civil rights activist hoping to become only the second' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:10am EST
  

• Ten things to watch tonight in the returns

  My poll duty completed, I'll excerpt and link this from Richard Dunham in the Chron's DC bureau regarding election results this evening. (It leans a little too much to the right, but -- as we always do in Houston, a blue city inside a purple county in the middle [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  

• Election Day Wrangle

  The day before, anyway. The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you to -- wherever in Texas (or elsewhere) you happen to be -- get out and vote tomorrow. Here are this week's highlights.
  
  Aruba Petroleum is drilling a Barnett Shale gas well in the backyard of Tim and Christine. Their' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:47am EST
  

• Sunday Funnies

  
  
  
  
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 11:25am EST
  

• Some good news for newspapers

  Via Socratic Gadfly, there remain some optimists among industry observers.
  
  Each time another report surfaces about the decline of newspapers, I feel like a death-row inmate counting the warden's footsteps.

  The latest echo of doom arrived a few days ago: U.S. newspaper circulation dropped 10 [...]

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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 9:00am EST
  

• The White (Haunted) House

  
  Two thousand children rang the bell at 1600 Pennsylvania last night:
  
  Dressed as superheroes, pirates, fairies and skeletons, the kids came in with their parents from Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., and lined up on the orange-lit White House driveway. ...
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 7:33am EST