I write this before the final Iowa results but it is never more clear than now that Tim Pawlenty made a ridiculous decision to drop out of the race earlier this year.  He could have played the exact same game that Santorum played and potentially ended up in a much stronger… Read full post »

I had about 75 kids come to my house this year for Halloween.  Most were wearing standard fare kind of costumes: super heroes, princesses, a few witches, a few zombies, one pair of super-mario brothers, and a few who appeared like they could afford costumes but were too lazy to go… Read full post »

It's normally easy to get a feel for the mood of the country from watching comedy shows.  I've been regularly watching Jon Stewart for a few months (I used to never watch).  And, I've watched Saturday Night Live since the new season started.

Given how miserable the economy is and how… Read full post »

I have not been paying much attention to the 9/11 anniversary reports on TV or in the papers.  I recall the day well enough and media hype and repetition is not interesting to me.  I had expected to treat the day as many others.

But, this Saturday morning (9/10), I grab… Read full post »

It is sometimes amazing the stickers you can see on the back of cars.  In this case, a truck here in Houston had the following: 

Yep, there is a "Secede" Texas flag sticker on the driver's side and a boy praying before a crescent on the passenger side.

Options?… Read full post »

I had the good fortune to attend a venture capital forum recently and thought I would share what that cabal of capitalists is cooking up.  This particular forum was focused on medical start-ups.  The event consisted of very young companies doing presentations to some well-established ventur/… Read full post »

You have probably never heard of her but she and her late husband have helped hundreds of thousands of people fight poverty by starting micro-businesses.

Mildred Robbins Leet, one of the co-founders of Trickle Up, passed away yesterday, May 3.

 Trickle Up was founded in… Read full post »

Republicans winning 60+ seats is a blow-out.  It should be and is a repudiation of Obama and his ultra-left, big government policies that took a divided country and turned it into one far less divided.  There is now quite a bit of unity that what this guy is selling ain't what… Read full post »

Melancholy pop music is one of the greatest inventions of mankind.  It takes your frustration and sadness and turns it into transcendent joy.  Now that I have created the pressure to deliver something that justifies a statement like that, I bring you Dan Mangan’s “Robots.”/… Read full post »

Jimmy Hendrix once asked, “Are you Experienced?”  Coming forward in time 40+ years, we can now ask “Are you Synergized?”

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, USS for short, is a two man band performing grungy, drum and bass dance music.  I don’t normally like electronic d/… Read full post »

Lately, I’ve been listening to live albums from the 1970’s.  It seems like the decade was the heyday of the live album, but not because of “Frampton Comes Alive.”  I am considering doing a separate post to explore this idea.  But today, I am going to focus on on… Read full post »

Most Americans had probably never heard of Wasilla, Alaska until Sarah Palin was picked as John McCain’s running mate.  Music fans though had other reasons to know it.  Wasilla is the home town of “Portugal. The Man” a relatively young but prolific indie band.

There… Read full post »

Another day, another blatant example of political hyopcrisy. We have been hearing from environmentalists and liberals for years that we need renewable energy such as solar and wind.

As described in the New York Times, Senator Dianne Feinstein is opposing the building of 13 solar and wind powe… Read full post »

Well, the national media have a taken a minor interest on the outcome of the Houston Mayor’s race.  The headline is easy.  Houston is largest city in the US to elect an openly gay mayor.

For anyone who read my posts on this race (here, here, here, and here), you/… Read full post »

With less than a week until the run-off election, the Houston Mayor’s race is still tracking overall as I predicted (here, here, and here).  But, it is getting there in a different way than I thought.

The two remaining candidates are Annise Parker and Gene Locke, both Democrats (the… Read full post »

The Berlin Wall had existed for my entire life.  It was a symbol of failure for communism.  It was a symbol of evil.

The 1960's View 

As a kid, I learned of it from my older brother in only that way that older brothers can teach you something.  He elaborately described… Read full post »

I've been listening exclusively to the XM radio reggae station in the car for the last week or so.  Two days ago, a dancehall song called "Hold My Hand" came on by Sean Paul (again, reggae, not the rapper).

Here it is with lyrics.

Now, let's see how long… Read full post »

A new poll provides some evidence that my analysis of the 2009 Houston Mayor’s race was in the ballpark.

• “Don’t Know/Undecided” continues in first place at 36%.  This is down from an early high of 70% and a more recent 40%.  As I wrote before, it would be nice/
… Read full post »

Houston mayors serve two year terms and the job is term limited to three terms.  So, once someone gets elected, all they have to do is not commit a crime and they stand a good chance of not getting too much opposition leading to two reelections and effectively a six year… Read full post »

The mind works in strange ways.  My work is very busy and stressful right now and while feeling exhausted and somewhat depressed, my mind flashed on "Give up!"... which means that this was quickly followed by an earworm from a song from the 1980's that represents some common OS themes… Read full post »

Don Rich wrote an interesting post about how the broadening of the global economy could lead to greater potential for major wars.  I added comments that my optimistic side hoped for continued Indian progress toward having an open, entrepreneurial economy as a complement to the US so that th… Read full post »

Roky Erickson is a music legend from Texas you have probably never heard of.  He was born 62 years ago today (assuming I get this posted by Midnight Eastern time on July 15.

He influenced 60’s psychedelia with his band the 13^th Floor Elevators.

He… Read full post »