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If God is supreme over everything, does my vote really count?
The talker of the day is this story by the American-Statesman’s Claire Osborn about a woman named Kay Hill who was asked by poll workers in Williamson County to cover her T-shirt because it said “Vote...
View ArticleLive blogging the election
Please join me tonight as I follow election developments, starting around 5:30. I’ll be watching the presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, of course, but also select national and...
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Election reaction: Tell them to kiss Nate Silver's nerdy little behind
The New York Times’ Nate Silver is being hailed has a prognosticating hero following President Barack Obama’s re-election Tuesday. Silver’s political forecasts, based on complicated calculations and...
View ArticleElection reaction: The demographic tide; plus odds and ends
The focus has been on Hispanic voters since President Obama’s re-election Tuesday. Hispanic support for Obama was overwhelming - 71 percent, compared with 27 percent for Mitt Romney, according to exit...
View ArticleKountze update: Lions close season on a losing streak, finish 5-5
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the controversy surrounding the Scripture-themed banners Kountze High School cheerleaders were putting together for their school’s football games. Whatever...
View ArticleAffordable housing's uncertain future
I wrote a column for today’s American-Statesman about last week’s defeat of Proposition 15, the bond measure that would have provided $78.3 million for affordable housing. There were seven Austin bond...
View Article'He's a master at going faster'
Dear Reader, if only you knew how remarkably restrained I’ve been about one of my favorite subjects: The Beatles. I’ve written about them only once on this blog. You’re welcome. Indulge me today,...
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Leonard Lundgren and the Sellstrom house
I wrote a column for Sunday’s American-Statesman about Ashley Amini’s fight to prevent the city from declaring a 1961 house she bought in June a historic landmark, but thought I’d add more details...
View ArticleGuest list for tonight's State of the Union
Ronald Reagan introduced human props to the State of the Union in 1982 and though the practice began modestly with a single guest and with good intentions, it had, by the end of Reagan’s presidency,...
View ArticleTed Cruz finds the spotlight
Ted Cruz has been the subject of what by now are countless news stories, columns and blog entries since his upset of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in last year’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and...
View ArticleAre we eating what we think we're eating?
I was enjoying a nice salad of kale, chard and spinach, with a handful of almonds set aside for a snack, when I read about the new study that links a Mediterranean diet to a significantly reduced risk...
View ArticleIraq, 10 years after
The 10th anniversary this month of the American invasion of Iraq put Iraq temporarily back in the news. Temporarily and barely. Few people pay attention to Iraq these days. Unless you happen to see it...
View ArticleBoston Marathon bombing, and a few notes on an extraordinary week
Last week was an extraordinary week. The Boston Marathon bombing and the explosion of the West fertilizer plant naturally dominated the news and pushed aside several stories that otherwise would have...
View ArticleTerrorists are criminals, too
Vanity Fair magazine contributor and former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald condemns the Republican response to the Boston Marathon bombing in a sharply worded critique posted April 26 on...
View ArticleHolding up the deeply indebted as a model of fiscal responsibility
It’s one of the most persistent and yet one of the most inaccurate and useless comparisons in politics, the declaration that the government should act like families and spend only the money it has...
View Article'The Daily Show': Texas edition
It was sort of a special Texas edition of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” last night. First up was a segment about Sen. Ted Cruz and the not-so-favorable reputation he has aggressively earned after...
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Wayne LaPierre's dystopic gun defense
The National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre conjured another dystopic vision of America when he spoke last weekend in Houston during his group’s annual convention: “Lying in wait is a terrorist, a...
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The sweat- and bloodshops of Bangladesh
Eventually the death toll from the collapsed garment factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, will stop climbing because eventually there will be no more bodies to pull from the rubble of what was an...
View ArticleLooking for meaning, patterns in Austin school bond vote
Voters on Saturday rendered a spilt decision on the Austin school district’s $892 million bond proposal, approving Propositions 1 and 3 while rejecting their even-numbered counterparts, Propositions 2...
View ArticleCharlatans and peacocks
I’m sure I wasn’t the only person whose immediate reaction to Gov. Rick Perry’s reference to “charlatans and peacocks” in an email to four University of Texas regents was, “Well, he should know.”...
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Does a big-city population make Austin a big city?
The May 23 Census Bureau report of Austin’s ascent to No. 11 on the list of most populous American cities appeared as I was heading to Annapolis, Md., for my nephew’s graduation from the Naval Academy...
View ArticleNational Archives launches Founders Online
The National Archives today launched Founders Online, which collects the papers of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin - about...
View ArticleRick Perry's legacy, and future
Imperial trumpets greeted Rick Perry as he stepped forward Monday afternoon to announce he wouldn’t seek a fourth full term as governor. Perry touts the state’s economy as his primary success as Texas’...
View ArticleJust one more thing about Rick Perry's future ...
In the various looks ahead to whether Gov. Rick Perry makes another run for the White House, several observers noted that he may have blown his best shot at the Republican nomination by performing so...
View ArticleThis blog has moved!
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