Texas Supreme Court Ruling shields contract details. Aman Batheja, John Thornton's Texas Tribune. - In the majority? Conservative Icon, and twitter hero, Justice Willett. That the court approved expansion of public-private partnerships is discouraging. Especially when driven by supposed free-market Republicans.
Study says concealed-carry permits don't affect crime. Jonathan Silver, John Thornton's Texas Tribune - The article claims this is proof-of-case that concealed-carry supporter's have now lost the case that this law reduces crime. It ignores the fact that concealed-carry opponents claim that the law increases crime. A better, more measured response, would be that both sides are somewhat wrong and the law is relatively benign in nature. But that doesn't forward the narrative.
Analysis: More voices, and perhaps, more headaches. Ross Ramsey, John Thornton's Texas Tribune. - Translation: Politics would be grand if it weren't for those pesky citizens. The idea that you should just "know your place" and be governed meekly is really taking hold in Austin. (It's been present in DC for a while)
Analysis: When "we" doesn't include "you". Ross Ramsey, John Thornton's Texas Tribune. - It's sad that the TLSPM has such a bad understanding of the oil and gas industry considering it's importance to Texas. Especially the concept of private royalty owners and how they are both a part of the production narrative, and impacted by industry action.
For taxicab drivers, Uber's entry latest in long struggle. E. Tammy Kim. aljazeera w/houstonchronicle.com - What Yellow cab wants, they usually get, especially from the Houston Chronicle. In this case it's a sympathetic look.
Lance Berkman makes some enemies. - The fallacy here is that all cities, even the one's without Equal Right's Ordinances, benefit from Federal protections against discrimination. The problem with HER Ordinance, is in the language, it's overly broad prosecutorial allowances and troubling items regarding gender self-identification.
Li'l Red Cherry picks the Pope's message. - Then generally gets most of it wrong, and uses it as a cudgel to beat those who disagree with her personal policy preferences over the head.
Misunderstanding (intentionally?) the Pope to take a shot at the Texas GOP is a thing with bad chron.columnists. - In reality, the Chron could save itself a lot of money by outsourcing these scribbles and hiring more reporters.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. - I wrote a full post on this, but it bears repeating. The entire legislative framework regarding business in Texas needs to be rethought and reworked.
...but the State of Texas seems to be perpetually wrong when it comes to business regulation.
Houston Union Money Blocks Pension Reform. John Cassidy, Watchdog.org
Houston cutting road repairs in '16, pensions to blame. John Cassidy, Watchdog.org
Houston's debt could lead city on path of financial ruin. Doug Miller, KHOU
It's amazing just how much media the Houston debt crisis is now receiving. Especially from members of the media (Miller) who have ignored it for so long.
Sir Adrian ran away, he bravely ran away. (With apologies to Monty Python) Some context:
More problems for Garcia (Maybe)
The thing is, I'm not sure any of this hurts a candidate who has made a career of accomplishing little while getting elected. Those who vote for Garcia are going to vote for Garcia regardless. Much like Sylvester Turner.....
Blah, blah, blah, multimodal, blah blah blah urban walkable, blah blah
Blah blah blah livable blah blah blah workforce blah
Blah blah blah haves blah blah blah have-nots blah blah livable
Increasingly, Sylvester Turner is sounding like white noise interrupted by buzz-words. He's mastered the political art of saying absolutely nothing of substance.
Parker sure is spending a lot of time defending HER Ordinance. - Which is odd when you consider she has said it's 'not a policy priority' of hers......
Anything can be done, for a price.... - The better question, and the one not really being asked, is whether or not Houston can afford trinket governance for much longer. Debt and financial crises do not happen in a vacuum, but what passes for leadership and media in Houston seem to think they do.
Speaking of vacuums.... - Projects of this type however, unlike trinkets designed to garner votes, the budget has no problem stopping.
The weird logic behind the Chrons' endorsement process. (Part I)
The weird logic behind the Chron's endorsement process (Part II)
The weird logic behind the Chron's endorsement process. (Part III)
The weird logic behind the Chron's endorsement process. (Part IV)
Following the reasoning behind what the Chron Editorial Board is thinking when they endorse is sometimes confusing. They either praise another candidate before tepidly endorsing or they choose two people who are the polar opposite. It's really a confusing mess that, to be quite honest, doesn't appear to matter any more.
The New Buffalo Bayou sounds a lot like Disco Green. But with water! and kayaks! Can't Houston do something unique and new? Or is that too much to ask?
And finally.....
The Congresswoman who made a federal case about the whiteness of Hurricane names slams the "ridiculous" Benghazi committee. - If I hadn't read it in the Chron I would have sworn that was a headline from the Onion. Not only does Jackson-Lee have no self-awareness, but it's pretty evident, many times, that she's dim as well.
WE 3> HOUSTON and promise to never rob you at gunpoint (while the Mayor is on a junket focusing with laser-like precision on the problems of the day [NOT taking a vacation at taxpayer expense mind you])
