After wondering for days where the cool mornings the weather prognosticators kept telling me about were hiding, they arrived this morning. As a native to this climate in SE Texas, I am always amazed to…

But it’s equally clear that in recent years Mr. McCain has become impish cubed — impulsive, impetuous and impatient — and those are perilous qualities in a commander in chief.(1) What we learned last week…

Traffic signals at about 1,200 Houston area intersections were not yet working Tuesday but should all have at least a flashing red light by the end of next week, said Mike Marcotte, the city’s director…

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the…

As a die hard West Wing fan I just loved this from Maureen Dowd… OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who…

After the storm, once you realize you’ve lived through another, your awareness of your surroundings is contracted. You begin by wandering around just your own little space surrounding your home…Checking for damage, fixing the immediate…

We got our power and phones back last night. The neighbors are still dark. I don’t know exactly what the it is the government learned from Katrina, but living through their opinion of a well…

This isn’t looking very good…Again. The latest 12Z (8 am EDT) computer models continue to show that Ike will track northwest into the central Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, there has been…

Deprivatization I wish people wouldn’t say that Fannie and Freddie have been “nationalized.” I mean, it’s basically accurate, but it conveys the wrong impression. The fact is that Fannie Mae was originally a government agency;…

With Hurricane Ike set to travel nearly the length of Cuba today before heading into the Gulf of Mexico, residents from Texas to Florida face another week of worrying about whether their communities will fall…

For all the Republicans who are exulting that there’s now a “rock star” on the GOP ticket (and all the Democrats who are freaking out about it), there is one minor detail that’s worth considering…

Happy Papaw with newest addition to the family tree… Cameron Jay September 5, 2008 And with beaming Grandma And shortly it’ll be back to the hospital.

I sit here this morning for the first time in months having my morning coffee with the door open and the sounds of birds and dogs and squirrels serenading me. The temperature has dipped into…

And, I think, they find her acceptably “real,” because Palin’s not intimidating, and makes it clear that she’s subordinate to a great man. That’s the worst thing a woman can be in this world, isn’t…

The drive to hire private contractors to take over duties performed by state employees in agencies under the oversight of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission — mandated by the Legislature five years ago…

It’s been quite busy the last week. Most of my online time is being spent working on updating my Genealogy Site…So here’s a couple of pictures from the weekend… And later in the day… Later…

For all of you folks up north feeling the beginnings of fall in the air, here is my morning forcast of what faces me on the way out the door… Bobby Wright, Alvin, Texas (PWS)…

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Hurricane Gustav continues plowing inland, and is now just a Category 1 hurricane. The storm surge has peaked and is falling in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast….

…Eye of Gustav nearing the Louisiana coast…hurricane force winds over portions of southeastern Louisiana… A Hurricane Warning remains in effect from just east of High Island Texas eastward to the Mississippi-Alabama border…including the city of…

Just to keep up with the updates I started with this storm…

Over the years in the convention business, I’ve spent a bit of time in the city of New Awlins. I have friends who call the city home. I have co-workers who called the city home…

It’s passing Cuba and the models are looking more and more like rain, rain, rain…Even if we miss the winds!

In 2005 the eye of Hurricane Katrina seemed to spare the low-lying neighborhoods of New Orleans as it moved to the east into Mississippi. Relief was short-lived as the backhanded surge of water from the…

I have always loved Fractals. I began playing with the earliest computer generation programs when I got my first PC. I have installed new programs on every PC I have ever owned. But I have…

Here it comes… MIAMI — Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say Gustav has again strengthened into a hurricane. At around 2:15 p.m. CDT Friday, data showed the Category 1 storm had top…

Image via Wikipedia I don’t know why these guys worry…My wife has already sent Gustav packing… Don’t freak out about the newest models, but… The latest computer models have been released and they reflect a…

I took a day off from work today…It seemed like a good investment in mental health. My wife had already scheduled the day off planning for the scheduled arrival of our latest grandson. In case…

Hurricane Rita Image by alpoma via Flickr As of this morning at 7am this was the latest on what was happening with our tropical weather As the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, federal, state…

Texas’ overall uninsured rate of 25.2 percent, and its 20.2 uninsured rate for children, continued to be the highest in the country. Nationally, the number of people without health insurance last year declined from 47…

Image via Wikipedia The weather here has been very dry…at least until the past week or so. We have been having a spring-like amount of rain. After complaining for so long about the lack, it…

In the midst of August, spring appears to have triumphantly — if temporarily — returned to Houston. Steady rainfall has delivered a blessed week of lower-than-normal temperatures, and Tuesday’s high reached only 81 degrees, which…

Anything Wendell Berry writes is worth the time it takes to digest…My recommendation is to go spend some time today with the man… The general reaction to the apparent end of the era of cheap…

This one’s for you… While reporters at The Post and The New York Times have been vetting McCain, many others give him a free pass. Their default cliché is to present him as the Old…

Up on the mountain behind my house, the wild blueberries are ripe and prolific. It’s public land, part of the Maine state-park system, so the berries are free for the picking. In a half-hour or…

This has to be one of the strangest things about Texas Republicans… When health care in Texas makes headlines, the issues raised by administrators and physicians are hardly rosy. They include overcrowded emergency rooms, mounting…

CARSON, NEW MEXICO—When the wind comes up the mesa, which it often does, there is a particular rusted-out old car nearby that whispers the same eerie, long-toned question every time: “Whoooooo?” I sometimes think: “Us.”…

Obama is the first political figure since Carter to understand the energy efficiency and conservation approach and actually try to present it to the American people. Republicans want to nip it in the bud —…

In order for the American dream to work, everyone must do their part. As you can see from this report, the majority of the corporations doing business here don’t. WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of U.S. corporations…

What do you call a Republican who is happy to lie directly to people’s faces? John W. McCain. The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan.

Leaving the house this morning the temperature was already passing 80°. August in SE Texas may not be as hot as other places in the country, but factor in the humidity and it ain’t pretty….

It just goes to show you, when the government doesn’t believe in regulations…Regulations go by the wayside and enforcement becomes mute… Whole Foods Market pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores Friday, becoming…

I am working on moving my original blog to a new home. A lot of tweaking and redoing things I forgot doing two years ago…I’ll probably be posting and polising the chrome over there for…

Why Paul Roberts’ End of Food deserves to be digested by policy makers and local-food activists alike | By Tom Philpott | Grist | Victual Reality | 08 Aug 2008 The Locavore’s Dilemma Why Paul…

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Ohio Sues Over Trouble With Voting Machines – washingtonpost.com During the May primary, Brunner said officials in Butler County, north of Cincinnati, realized that 150 votes were dropped when…

I ran across this looking for a musician referenced on Americana Roots Radio yesterday. I tried it in the sidebar but it didn’t work too well…So I’ll post it here. There are some really good…

Could McCain possibly have received a better response to his “Celebrity” ad than this? See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.comSee more funny videos at Funny or Die For…

Up early to check on the status of Edouard…Looks like a miss for my house…Heading inland already on the Louisiana border.  Should miss the majority of the Houston area, rain and moderate winds only. Sherry…

All eyes in this area are watching the developements in the Gulf. It looks like we will be feeling the effects of the approaching storm tomorrow in the early pre-dawn hours. Hopefully, the storm will…