Monthly Archives: August 2008

(Community Matters) Kathy Griffin, Britney Spears, Adnan Ghalib and John McCain here

Who’ll do almost anything to get a little attention and loving?

(Community Matters) Have to admit, I’m underwhelmed, though intrigued by the fund to help states and municipalities meet existing obligations for infrastructure, health & human services. I’m even less enthusiastic about (read: against) a windfall profits tax.

Much prefer we talk about rolling back unnecessarily generous depletion allowances and tax credits enacted when the price of oil was so low and oil companies argued both were necessary to prevent abandoning of all domestic exploration. Also, overheard someone using the argument that we should be happy oil companies are making $12B per quarter since they pay 50% of it in taxes. First, I’m not unhappy that they are making $12B per quarter, and I definitely would be thrilled if they were paying even 32% in taxes. Have these folks been looking at the deferred tax liability (i.e., the delta between what public financial statements show as federal tax on earnings and their actual tax liability under the separate set of tax financials)?

(Community Matters) This (NYT editorial) is what I meant by why we shouldn’t rely on federal safety inspections here.

(Community Matters) Looks as if the Austin American Statesman deleted this blog posting off their site here. Is dildo an unacceptable term? Seriously? Or is it simply the use of dildo and Texas GOP in the same sentence?

(Community Matters) Deciding how much I like PublicSchoolIntelligentsia blog, formerly HeyBeUs

(Community Matters) Towleroad includes a photo expose on country boys.

here

(Community Matters) I haven’t seen David Mixner in years. I believe he was Bill Clinton’s Oxford roommate and certainly was the most visible, out gay man in Bill Clinton’s first campaign – a close friend to Bill & Hillary. I met him through Tom & Michael. Recently he was in the Obama headquarters and blogged about what he saw, about how this campaign is very different. here

(Community Matters) My dearest friend Michael Mitchell who’s currently battling cancer had a dream last nights about rioting in the streets because healthcare is available only to the rich, or through gangs who demand loyalty, a la Hamas. here Just a dream, or prophetic?

(Community Matters) AAS: AUSTIN — A federal appeals court turned down Attorney General Greg Abbott’s attempt to reinstate a ban on the sale and marketing of sex toys Friday, upholding its previous ruling that the prohibition violated Texans’ right to privacy. here

(Community Matters) You gotta be kidding me

(Community Matters)
Smithville is quaint. Unleaded plus $3.88/gal at Bastrop HEB ($3.99/gal yesterday at Valero on Guadalupe). Posted from my blackberry

(Community Matters) Just when I was beginning to ease up on Wal-Mart given their progress offering more & better health insurance to employees and their customer discounted prescription drug programs, they go and start scaring their 180,000+ plus employees, manipulating them in the presidential election here. Gloves off – this company out of control and perhaps Theodore Roosevelt time again.