Politics and Dharma

Observations on Texas Politics and Grassroots Action

Archive for the 'Current Events' Category


Who Judges the Judges?

Friday, July 4th, 2008
Current Events, Law and Culture, Prisons, Texas Politics | No Comments »

It’s no secret that Texas criminal law has a heavy hand, and that innocent people are frequently sucked into the system by elected judges who want to appear ‘tuff on crime’. There’s been some house cleaning statewide, but especially in Dallas County since they got a new DA, Craig Watkins. I can’t find any reliable [...]

The Other Side of the Coin

Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Current Events, Democratic Party, Politics, Texas Politics | 3 Comments »

Folks will probably think I’ve been snacking on the crazy cake, but I’ve got a strong feeling that Texas goes blue this year. Here are some select quotes from delegates to this year’s Texas GOP convention:

But, Etzel said, “I don’t think anybody is all that enthusiastic” about McCain’s candidacy. “McCain is not a [...]

The Democratic Surge

Monday, June 9th, 2008
Convention Politics, Current Events, Democratic Party, Politics | 1 Comment »

This interactive election guide from NYT is a great resource because they also show the relative results of the last eight presidential contests for each state. I like to think that the way to read this as the effects of having a particularly charismatic figure running for office. The effect of having a Reagan or [...]

Getting Hit By a Truck

Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Convention Politics, Current Events, Democratic Party, Politics Action, Texas Politics | No Comments »

After arriving home a couple of hours earlier than expected this afternoon, I showered and relaxed into my office chair to catch up on the world. Fifteen minutes later, when I stood up again, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Every muscle is sore from tip to tail. Even those little [...]

My Day in the Circus (pt. 1)

Friday, June 6th, 2008
Convention Politics, Current Events, Democratic Party, Politics Action, Texas Politics | No Comments »

Ugh! These dogs are tired. And my feet hurt, too.
Caucusing is a long and painful process in the best of worlds. What we’re seeing in the Democratic State Convention this weekend is the party for the first time actually having to function on the scale at which it was intended. For several decades, the party [...]

FLDS Aftermath

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Current Events, FLDS, Law and Culture, Texas Politics | No Comments »

The children have finally been allowed to return home to their mothers and their fathers. The state Supreme Court determined that CPS had no basis for taking the children as they did. My current favorite CPS rumor is that everyone in-house is told to save everything for when, not if, they get sued.
This brightly shining [...]

Prison Ready

Friday, May 30th, 2008
Current Events | 12 Comments »

I already have a very low opinion of public school. It did me no favors and does not appear to have improved — perversely, there seems to be a systemic effort to relieve all public schools of the need to teach anything of value.
Sometimes, in isolation, I’ll allow myself to warm up to the [...]

So much less to love

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Current Events | 14 Comments »

The State’s case against the YFZ rancheros crumbles like a talc cliff. Now, the CPS has admitted in court that 9 of the disputed 27 “underage pregnant girls” were actually older, it turns out that the 14-year-old in the group isn’t actually pregnant.
Super-Kudos to Scott Henson for really staying on top of this whole [...]

Closed economy

Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Current Events | 6 Comments »

One of the great things about the Eldorado scandal is that the nation gets an opportunity to really look at the Mormons. , in a recent post, calls the Mormons “America’s Holy Warriors”. They see America as their holy land and are supremely patriotic, says he.
Authorities, however, are still fishing for something to pin on [...]

New Math

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Current Events | 10 Comments »

A recent AP article on FLDS has something very peculiar — it has some numbers! In addition to trumpeting the “31 underage moms” in a way that makes me think that they don’t really have any pregnant girls under 16, they have an actual breakdown of children and ages.
Of the 463 children, 250 are girls [...]