We were pointed towards these two news items today:

- The Republicans in the House are determined to pass a bill in the lame duck session that will determine when fetuses feel pain. There's no way the Senate will pass the bill, so it's basically just a waste of tax money to send a message to "pro-abortion" Democrats. The message we take from it: the Republicans are sore losers. [CNN] (Thanks, CR)

- Conservative "pro-life" Christian leaders are going after Pastor Ted Warren since he invited Obama to come speak at a global summit on AIDS at Warren's church. They are angry that a pro-choice Democrat was invited, even though the abortion issue has nothing to do with Obama's visit. [AP on Yahoo!]

It makes Texas' Legislature seem like a brain trust. A new law in Ohio allows pet owners to establish a trust so that in the event of their death, their pet will be taken care of in perpetuity.

In other Ohio news, apparently every single issue has been resolved. The state's budget overflows, the education system is ranked number one, there is no poverty and all potholes have been filled.

May we suggest this as Warren Chisum's next cause celebre? [AndrewSullivan]

Because we've expanded this blog to cover more than just crazy-ass Texas politics we'd like to take a moment and provide a statement on exactly what Pinkdome will write about, won't write about, and how often we will write about it.

The answer is:
We'll write about whatever the hell we feel like writing about, whenever and however often we're sober enough to login and post. We hope this clears up any questions you may have about the focus of this blog. Thank you. Also, we'd like to remind you that your tips really save us a lot of trouble of having to read the news ourselves (we're quite busy). Please email us tips, things you'd like us to comment on, or dirty pictures of you doing naughty things to pinkdomenewsAt(gmail)d.ot.com (Like how we tried to fool the email spider search things that send us spam?)

Middle names are important to Republicans.

A high school student has a question about the TAKS test. If you are someone that knows about the TAKS test and works in the education community could you please email me [subject: TAKS Test] for details so we may answer this question for real? Thanks!

In light of the new Ethics Commission *cough*bullshit useless state agency*cough* ruling that state legislators may accept gifts of currency and are not required to detail the amount of said currency, we at Pinkdome would like to invite you, too, to provide us gifts of currency.

And, by currency, we mean Thai hookers and smack. Kidding, we prefer cash. We don't trust you to choose our hooker.

"Withdrawal" = a cowardly, cut and run approach only considered by pussies.
"Pullback" = a sensible, well-thought out decision made by adults.

So, gentlemen, the pullback method it is.

The runoff in District 23 is causing a stir over exactly when early voting will or will not start. The Bexar County elections administrator had attempted to add a few extra days of early voting, but promptly got a smackdown from the Secretary of State's office. (By the way, where I'm from we called them registrars instead of 'elections administrator' - is there a difference?)

The registrar said, “We were hoping to give voters more time to go to the polls, but of course we will follow the law to the letter" and by that she meant, "You're an asshole Mr. Secretary of State." To which everyone agreed.

Actually, we aren't sure about this whole 'early voting' scam anyway. Maybe if you can't get your lazy ass to the polls on election day you shouldn't get to vote, but what do we know.

As the Christian Coalition struggles to retain relevance, the newly elected president apparently mutually agreed to not take office. The Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of a nondenominational megachurch in Longwood, Fla., said he resigned as the coalition's incoming president because its board of directors disagreed with his plan to broaden the organization's agenda. Hunter believed that Christians ought to take on the issues of global warming, increasing the minimum wage and fighting global HIV/AIDS, but the Christian Coalition is really just focused on abortion and the gays so they told him to piss off. In pissing off, he simply said, "WWJD?" [WaPo]

- Crushing all of our hopes, (soon-to-be former) Sen. Bill Frist will not be running for President in 2008. It's alright to cry, y'all. [AP on Yahoo!]

- Now Colin Powell thinks that what's going on in Iraq is civil war. NBC, Colin Powell, who's next? [Think Progress]

- The Bush twins were not asked to leave Argentina, or says the U. S. Embassy there. [Reuters]

- The Supreme Court is looking into the so-called "global warming" which our Fearless Leader tells us is a lie made-up by Al Gore. [Forbes]

- The savior of the Democratic party is making his first visit to New Hampshire since kinda saying that he might maybe possibly run for Prez. [Concord Monitor]

...is not the soundbyte of a true statesman. We haven't followed any of the Pelosi handing out chairmanships news, but this did catch our eye. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) was not named as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee. His comment to the media was, "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet."

Proving that, indeed, he is not qualified in intelligence in any way.

I stumbled across a pretty cool new website last night. BillHop.com effectively serves as a wiki dedicated to all the amazing legislation that's sure to be filed this session.

Take, for example, the Blogger Libel Bill, HB 129. You can read a description of this abortion of legislation, view talking points, and leave comments. Here, I've got one: rumor has it Rep. Truitt shaves her back with a rusty Bic. A little more about the site:

Each state (and Congress) has its own wiki-reference pages for bills and issues related to its legislation. On the front page of each state's main page you will be able to see the last six issue pages updated on the site. On the right, there is a menu (which requires Flash Player to view) that allows you to view the most favorable, unfavorable, liberal, conservative bills as rated by BillHop users, in addition to the bill pages that have most recently been updated.

All content on the BillHop website is contributed by its registered users. Some information may be supplied by advocacy organizations who follow certain issues. Some info may be contributed by legislative staffers or policy analysts. Still some may be the contribution of ordinary concerned citizens who have personal experience in the issue they're writing on. It is hoped that this amalgamation of perspectives will result in a body of information that accurately reflects reality.

The Middle East is a big ol' mess, ain't it? It's real hard to figure out what sort of policy the United States and our allies ought to have in the exhausting conflict over there. We aren't just talking about Iraq, but many countries in that region. Nobody is advocating a 'cut and run' over there, what people are advocating is a change in policy that is most assuredly not working.

When the subject of civil war breakouts in the region, Rush Limbaugh said on his show,

"All right, well, let's just have them. Let's just have the civil wars and let the crumbs crumble and the cookie crumble where -- because I'm fed up with this." and "Fine, just blow the place up. Just let these natural forces take place over there instead of trying to stop them, instead of trying to use -- I just -- sometimes natural force is going to happen. You're going to have to let it take place."

We don't pretend to have any idea how to fix the mess that is the Middle East--at least we don't pretend to until we have had a few martinis--but we do know one thing, we are sick and tired of redneck foreign policy that thinks blowing shit up is the answer to every conflict.

Go back to fifth grade, Rush. You and your thoughtless remarks are really what's bad for America. [HuffPo]

According to the AP, Democratic Republican Congressman Henry Cuellar is backing Ciro Rodriguez in his quest to unseat Republican Henry Bonilla.

Former GOP rival backs Democrat in Dist. 23 runoff

Rep. Joe Picket (D-El Paso) has written a children's book called, "Margo! the Weird Cat!" Why we have not received a copy we'll never know. The superfluous use of exclamation points surely indicate its literary contribution to the children's book genre.

Of course, it's no steamy romance novel a la Susan Combs, but we can't all be Danielle Steele.

Bastrop County workers got caught dumping a diesel/oil mixture and paint cans into a hole in the ground, and TCEQ is apparently investigating the incident. County Commissioner David Goertz's explanation is golden:

"I told them we needed to dispose of the paint," Goertz said. "And somewhere in that conversation, it got in the hole."

Given TCEQ's track record, we can expect the results of the investigation to be released six months from now, a minimal fine imposed, and that fine later reduced to a strongly-worded letter and three hours of detention.

If you're looking for a great way to put some of your skills to use in ways that you don't in your job and you're looking for a way to become more involved in the community, check out Board Place. You can apply to help organizations through strategic volunteer opportunities and perhaps a seat on their board. If you're a non-profit organization and want to be a part of this placement program you can also apply on the site to become a member.

We think this is awesome. We have a lot of talents that go wasted and why not channel them into something respectable? (SHUT UP!)

Everyone is jumping on the sex tape bandwagon these days. First Pamela and Tommy Lee, then Paris and whatshisface and now rumors about Britney and K-Fed.

A judge has ruled that the Capitol tape showing the hallway behind the House should be released. The Texas Observer made the public information request to do a great big expose on all the people being hassled during the voucher debate. I think they're looking to see who all got a hummer or reach-around before the vote. I just hope it's not in that crappy night vision style like the Paris Hilton tape, that was really bad quality.

I don't know why but this headline made me think naughty thoughts very early in the morning.

Tax shift bumping into spending cap

Rowr, Statesman.

NY police shot an unarmed groom and his bachelor party as they were leaving a club in the early morning hours Friday night/Saturday. It is unclear if the undercover policemen identified themselves as police before they opened fire on the group of men. The report says that over 50 bullets were fired at the group of unarmed men.

Just curious...do you really think firing fifty times at a group of unarmed men is warranted? First of all, you've got to be a lousy shot (I mean it only took the old coot Dick Cheney one shot to hit his friend in the face) and second of all, after you fire maybe three times and no one fires back couldn't you assume you'd won? [source]

In awarding Shelley Sekula-Gibbs the Turkey of the Year award, the Houston Press has the fucking best write-in during her recent electoral loss:

The name "Sekula" was spelled as Sektula, Sukla, Sequila, Sedoko and Sedoka (by puzzle fans?), Meklua, Sekluda and Shecola.

One voter couldn't be bothered, just putting in SSG. (It counted.) Another, for some reason, entered Sekula Smith.

Another voter entered "Shelle Sekula Fibbs," which might have been a hidden political message. Not so hidden, but counted as a vote just the same, was "Shelly DraculaCunt Gibs." (We like to imagine the bipartisan discussion on that entry: "Well, they misspelled the first and last name, but that's definitely a Shelley vote.")

[via McBlogger]

Senators John Edwards and Barack Obama are touring the country promoting books and being coy about whether they are running for president. They do this while we all roll our eyes because we happen to know the Edwards camp is already hiring advance staff for election.

Obama's book, ''The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream,'' is a story about fixing a political process that's become mired in partisanship and left behind those lofty goals of helping Americans attain the American Dream. Edwards' book is a coffee-table book full of pictures of people in their childhood homes. Quaint.

Your guess on which one seems like it comes from a person with the potential to be a serious leader in serious times.

Seen today: A big honkin' Christmas tree parked on a flatbed on the South side of the Capitol. If you're interested, you can wander over to the South steps in 30 minutes and see it get pulled the 200 feet up to the Capitol in a horse drawn carriage.

There are two schools of thought on the Republican losses and the Democratic victories during the last election cycle. The first one is that the Republicans hard turn to the right on issues and fiscal irresponsibility cost them votes. The scandals, hubris and disregard for any agenda other than rigid idealogy was what contributed to their losses.

The second school of thought is that Republican voters punished Republicans for not being Republican enough. The scandals, the spending and the failure to push through some social reform issues caused voters to send them a message. (This is the school of thought for retards.)

The Texas Republican Party has a lot of thinking to do. Recognize the desires of voters nationwide and respond accordingly or continue to see brutal politics duking it out in Texas year after year. It is not a concession to 'move to the middle' in politics. The middle is what America is built upon. Compromise and working together for the common good, not working against for the good of a few.

We hope the TX GOP will take that step toward restoring civility and bipartisanship in the legislature. The first thing they ought to do is buy Dan Patrick a muzzle, because that man doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. [Chron]

Maher later said that the footage of Ben Bentzin had to be cut due to time constraints. And the fact that he was never elected.

There is still a runoff for Congressional District 23 on December 12 and the special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Glenda Dawson has been called for December 19. (Early voting starts on the 11th)

Wow, that's not confusing. At. All. You have really got to love to vote to do it two weeks in a row!

Background articles are fun because there's always the chance you'll find out something awesome/gross/awesome. This time, it's the Statesman and Dan Patrick:

He has a knack for promotion - his critics would say self-promotion. For example, Patrick got worldwide publicity in 1994 for having his vasectomy performed on his show.

Although news reports have yet to officially confirm it, it appears that former state senator Frank Madla died tragically in a fire at his home last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Update: the San Antonio Express-News confirms it was Sen. Madla that died.

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are spending time with your loved ones or your family, whichever the case may be.

This year, we are thankful for a lot of things. None of which we feel like sharing right now.

The acting director of the White House Travel Office was attacked and robbed by three men. Greg Pitts was accompanying the president on the return from Asia. While Bush was at the Air Force base, the staff and pool reporters were kicking up their heels in Waikiki...well until the mugging.

Perhaps the Travel Office should know the seedy parts of town so as to not direct presidential staff into a bad part of town...I mean even my travel agent knows not to send me anywhere near potential violence. [source]

Granted, this is an old picture, but Bush is once again issuing the Presidential pardon to two turkeys today. I'm not sure if the pics that will follow will be as good as this one, so let's just roll with the old stuff.

What in the hell is this firestorm over Shelly Sekula-Gibbs? We don't get it. The staff of Tom DeLay walked out en masse on her. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Shouldn't they be the ones everyone calls names instead of this woman that's getting her fifteen minutes in what's got to be the slimy former office of Tom?

Man, if we had a month in Congress! Just think! The pages! The fact-finding trips we could get a lobbyist to pay for! (We're desperate to prove something about hookers) And can you imagine the great parking you'd get if you were in Congress? I bet you could sell the space for the month and take home a nice chunk of change.

Oh, we'd go to some meetings and shit like that, too. It can't all be raping the voters.

When asked how the new crop of freshman will fit in with the legislature, Austin consultant Bill Miller said, "It's an environment where smart and hardworking pay off."

Thanks for the laugh, Bill. Those of that have ever set foot in the Capitol know that smarts and hard work rarely pay off and quite frankly it was the most insulting thing we read all weekend. We don't know who Bill consults for, but whoever it is they need to give him a lesson in politics.

Politics is about booze and hookers. Well, maybe not hookers but impressionable and idealistic youth...same thing.

The Bush Administration spying on Americans isn't new in our country...or hell, even our city. A Texas Observer story details how the UT Campus Police were spying on their students in the 1960's. In retrospect, it almost has a naive sweetness to it when you read the UT cops were worried about Janis Joplin. Aww, how cute. These days the UT police have much bigger fish to fry...you know, with all the murders that took place around campus last year and all. ZING!

Dallas reports they cannot keep up with the demand for rehab beds for children as young as 11 addicted to heroin. Uhm, 11? When we were 11 we were high on too much sugar in the red Kool-Aid.

Times have changed, though. Kids grow up so fast these days. If only we'd gotten the addict and rehab out of the way by the time we were 12, we'd maybe not have so many fuzzy memories of college.

Always a favorite at the end of Vanity Fair. This month it's Rep. John Murtha.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Incompetence.

Now it's your turn....Answer these in the comments. PD answers the full Proust Questionnaire in the permalink.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?

What is your motto?

From today's Washington Post:

... That combination plan, which one defense official called "Go Big but Short While Transitioning to Go Long," could backfire if Iraqis suspect it is really a way for the United States to moonwalk out of Iraq -- that is, to imitate singer Michael Jackson's trademark move of appearing to move forward while actually sliding backward. "If we commit to that concept, we have to accept upfront that it might result in the opposite of what we want," the official said.

[via Wonkette]

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., says he'll introduce legislation to reinstate the draft. Ah, this will go over like a turd in a punchbowl. We predict a strong sense of 'isolationism' in America's future. The all volunteer military is stretched to its limits, sure, but don't we think it's failed foreign policy that's caused that and not imminent threats to the country that is the cause?

With apologies to the great Nina Simone, we are wondering if Texas is in the running to beat out Mississippi as the most racist of them all? UT had the ghetto party and we let it slide, we had a man run for governor that used racial slurs...but only as a joke, A&M students made an offensive racially charged video and then the DISD gets a smack from da judge on what we'll call the backdoor segregation. Today's AAS reports on the photo that appeared on Facebook of a white UT student in black face. In case you're confused...the year is 2006, not 1956.

We still have racial issues in this country, and we need to discuss them openly and honestly. Pinkdome is no apologist, however, and fully expects the African-American community to step up to these discussions. The African-American community does deserve some criticism, some tough love, and probably some mockery in some instances.

However, that sort of thing coming from a dumbass redneck is a little hard to swallow.

John Kerry says that his "botched joke" about Bush and Iraq won't hurt his chances of a Presidential campaign in 2008. He had no comment on the joke that is his chance of getting renominated again.

Did Principal Parker of Preston Hollow really perpetrate segregation? Dallas school officials trotted out some parents at Preston Hollow to denounce the judge's ruling that the school put white students in classes in one part of the school and all the 'coloreds' in another section. What's interesting about the article in the DMN is how it's just a given that white people take their kids out of mixed schools and never does it mention how unbelievably bad it sounds when it's 2006 and we can write a sentence like that and not immediately have to go throw up.

Former Rep. Foley sobs while giving father's eulogy

I'm sorry, I don't care who you are, leave the man alone while he's burying his father.

Looking through the prefiled bills from this past week, it seems abortion has reared its ugly little head again. Frank Corte's doing his usual run of "pro-life" legislation. There's also a trigger bill in the hopper that would immediately outlaw any type of abortion should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v Wade.

You know what irks me? Nobody likes abortion, nobody walks around hoping they can get knocked up so they can exercise their right to an abortion. I'd wager a guess that some people have abortions because they have no other options. They can't afford the time off work, they can't afford the necessary doctor visits, they can't afford the child's insurance, they can't afford the child.

Calling an abortion illegal won't stop people from terminating pregnancies. It's the same as calling an immigrant illegal, it doesn't stop the fact that people migrate to our country. Instead of cosmetic fixes that make for good headlines, why not address the root of the issue?

Let's ignore the fact that Corte has no uterus. You know what would be great? If he teamed up with someone like Jessica Farrar or Senfronia Thompson and worked to increase funding to TP-40 Pregnant Women's Medicaid, to the CHIP perinate program, and to programs that help women provide a good upbringing to a future child. In my opinion, that'd go alot farther to protecting human life that simply outlawing abortion.

Just a thought.

The way things are shaping up, Texas is going to have the burden of a huge budget surplus, somewhere around $15 billion. A decent economy and the largest tax increase in Texas history gave us 4 more years of Rick Perry, as well as the possibility of having a truckful of other people's money gathering dust in our tax vaults. If we ignore the possibility of gigantic budget shortfalls in a few years, it looks like we can actually fund some of our top priorities in the state.

What's the rub you ask? The state has a cap on spending, so we might not be able to bust our collective nut. Call it a constitutional cock block.

For better reading on the issue, check out April Castro's piece. Ross Ramsey, who does one of the better jobs of translating tax talk, also has a great piece up at Texas Weekly (subscription required). Quotes from Ogden, Pitts, Craddick and Chisum all suggest that the only way they'll bust the spending cap is for property tax relief. That's good because they aren't ruling out the possibility of actually busting the cap.

Read into those quotes what you will. We could have a budget that adequately funds HHSC, education, prisons and other neglected needs, right up to the spending limit. Then we drop a bill with a few billion in it for property tax cuts and a clause busting the spending cap. You can get political coverage for increased spending by calling it a tax cut. Or, we could drop the property tax cuts in the budget and have another session that dismantles state agencies and sells them for scraps. There's already conservatives on that bandwagon. We'll see how it shapes up.

There's also the viral push for appraisal caps. Every time this bill gets killed, it readjusts itself to it's surroundings and comes back stronger than ever (example: crazy Senator-elect radio talk show host). It's now being lauded by Rick Perry's Traveling Appraisal Cap roadshow. They'll be in Austin on Tuesday if you feel like listening to a bunch of rich white guys tell you how hard it is for them to pay their property taxes. Apparently it'll be best for them to shovel their burden on the backs of lower income folks who don't have their own commission to say that an increased sales tax will hurt them. So yeah, tax poor people, ditch local control, and tie the hands of cities and counties, thereby ensuring your reelection.

At the very least, it's always entertaining when the circus comes to town.

Houston, Texas

David Henry Tuck, 18, was convicted Thursday of aggravated sexual assault in the near-fatal attack. Witnesses testified that he hurled racial insults and shouted "white power" while sodomizing the 17-year-old victim with the plastic pole of a patio umbrella. Tuck had an abusive, absent father and was raised by a single working mother.

The last one also reminds us of the students at UCLA. In watching the video, you see a large crowd of students...watching politely. Some even took the time to film a brutal assault on a fellow student. Because the 'attackers' were in a uniform they simply watched and did not intervene. Was this an example of the fear of authority? Was it cowardice? This is an entirely different avenue, but one we are very interested in exploring.

Submit your thesis on any one of these subjects. Mourn the fact that we are all guilty for allowing brutal assaults on our fellow citizens and discuss exactly how we are all guilty of complacency and inaction.

UCLA campus cops tasered a student because he forgot his student ID at home. Yeah. Seriously. The video is on YouTube, but it's exhausting to watch so don't bother. Here's the bullet:

Sorry for the bullets, I got bored when trying to figure out how to tell you about this.

Bush just appointed the new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. This dude must really hate his new job.

Eric Keroack is a medical director at A Woman's Concern, which makes perfect sense, seeing as though he's not one. The organization is a Christian pregnancy-counseling center that regards the distribution of contraceptives as "demeaning to women." So I'm assuming that the future of any family-planning agendas coming out of HHS will look startlingly like this post on ITPT.

So sleep comfortably tonight, ladies, knowing that the Bush White House is trying to protect you from anything demeaning. Oh, and you might want to pull an Elaine and stock up on your choice of contraception.

Unionized janitors blocked an intersection in their protest in Houston yesterday. About 40 protesters were handcuffed by mounted police (work that into your next fantasy). The Houston Janitors are seeking an increase from the $5.30/hour they make now to $8.50 an hour and health benefits.

Unreasonable? Probably not. We pay the teachers more than that and you see the morons that come out of our public schools. ZING!

According to Kids Count, a national report that tracks kids' well-being, Texas teens are among the "nation's worst." And by worst, they mean best. At partying. Woo.

The Kids Count report, citing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, says that in 2005:

• 52.5 percent of Texas high schoolers had sexual intercourse, compared with 46.8 percent nationwide.
• 29.6 percent of Texas youth engaged in "episodic heavy drinking," compared with 25.5 percent nationwide.
• 15.4 percent of Texas youth drove a car under the influence of alcohol, compared with 9.9 percent nationwide.
• 37 percent of Texas youth rode with someone who had been drinking, compared with 28.5 percent nationwide.

"How to hire a chief of staff, how to hire other staff, how to stay out of jail, the usual things that congressmen need to know." --Michele Bachmann (R) Representative-Elect on what she's learned in How to be a House Member school.

The 'staying out of jail' part ought to be more than a one day seminar, don't you think?