Greg's Opinion

You know the drill. The day before Thanksgiving, you eat something very different than the Turkey you're going to have for days afterward. Similar thing for the 4th of July, I propose. Since it's more of a cultural thing, here's some very un-American culture for the day. Enjoy ...

And just in case my patriotism comes into question, some good old fashioned American culture to lead into the holiday ...

Keep Canada Weird!

After scoring on a 21-yard pass to put Toronto ahead 6-0, Bruce removed his helmet, shoulder pads and uniform top, then laid down in the end zone.

Bruce said he was honoring the memory of Jackson by pretending to be buried.

I don't know that it's necessary for me to review how many things are wrong with this scene, but that shan't stop me from doing so anyway. Item the first: wouldn't a moonwalk really be more appropriate? Secondly, the guy's not even buried yet! And third, are we absolutely certain that this wasn't an homage to Farrah Fawcett? ... or a prediction of Karl Malden?

The player was fined by the Canadian Football League for "excessive actions." Confusing, more like it.

In a series of four speeches, Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, spells out what reform means in the Obama administration. I'm a little skeptical of the desire to re-authorize NCLB, even in modified form. It's not so much what the administration would like a new NCLB to be, so much as the reality that any route through Congress will inevitably throw in a few foul ingredients - usually for the sake of protecting an underperforming district or a state that insists on guarding low standards. There's just no place to go but down once the amendments start popping up.

Likewise, the second speech on standards is a very different read for my part. I'd been skeptical of the Hunt-Romer-Riley push for national standards. In the past, it seemed the route to standardization relied too much on getting a pre-NCLB federal government to drive that process. Duncan sounds as if he's trying to re-route it through the states. It's not immediately clear how feasible that is, but it's at least optimistic to see some effort to devolve that process outside of the post-NCLB federal government.

For the most part, Duncan's speeches are music to my ears. A few excerpts from each speech below:

1. Creating data systems that follow the progress of students from pre-K through college.

Today, many states are well along the path to having good data systems. Today, nearly every district has an information system that stores data about students and more teachers have access to these systems than ever before.

In Garden Grove, California, teachers administer quarterly assessments aligned with California State standards. Results are available the next day.

In Long Beach, teachers see benchmark assessments, attendance and behavior. They meet regularly together to review data, monitor student progress, and plan strategies for at-risk students. In addition, the high school students monitor their own progress. How is that for motivation? We need more and more districts using this kind of technology to help them improve.

The Data Quality Campaign, DQC, lists ten elements of a good data system. Six states, Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, and Utah have all ten elements. Other states are also making progress. For example, Arkansas has a data warehouse that integrates school fiscal information, teacher credentials, and student coursework, assessments, and even extracurricular activities.

The system has allowed for better student tracking to enable the state to identify double-count enrollments and is saving them more than $2 million in its first year.

We want to see more states building comprehensive systems that track students from pre-K through college and then link school data to workforce data. We want to know whether Johnny participated in an early learning program and completed college on time and whether those things have any bearing on his earnings as an adult.

2. Adopting higher standards and creating high-quality assessments.

And in reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the administration will work with you and with Congress to change the law so that it rewards states for raising standards instead of encouraging states to lower them.

I always give NCLB credit for exposing the achievement gap but the central flaw in the law is that it was too loose about the goals and too tight about how to get there.

As states come together around higher common standards, I want to flip it - and be tighter about the goals - but more flexible in how you can meet them.

I trust states and districts to find the way - and I don't trust Washington to tell you how to do it. You have the ideas, the leadership, and the ability. I'm here to support you.

And then our next step is to work together to find a better way to measure success - and that brings me to the real point of this speech - which is the assessments.

Once new standards are set and adopted you need to create new tests that measure whether students are meeting those standards. Tonight -- I am announcing that the Obama administration will help pay for the costs of developing those tests.

As you know, we have $5 billion dollars in competitive grant funding under the Recovery Act to help advance these four reforms.

3. Turning around our most troubled schools.

Turnarounds aren't easy. It requires you to build trust with parents. The way it plays in the media can polarize people. Some adults are still protesting me back in Chicago for closing schools - but it was the right thing to do.

The parents in these turnaround schools now talk about their kids "looking forward to school for the first time," - coming home and "talking about their teachers." They say it's "a totally different atmosphere" - even though it's the same schools, with the same kids, and the same socioeconomic conditions.

It gives you hope that anything is possible with enough effort and determination and the right people. That's what we need in schools all over America. The fact is there are still way too many schools that don't pass the, "would we send our own kids there?" test.

And some of them, by the way, are charter schools. The charter movement is one of the most profound changes in American education - bringing new options to underserved communities and introducing competition and innovation into the education system.

All across America we see great charter schools, from Noble Street in Chicago to IDEA Academy in Texas, Inner-City Education Foundation and Partnerships to Uplift Communities in Los Angeles and Friendship Public Charter Schools in D.C.

What I like most about our best charters is that they think differently.

4. The quality of the education workforce.

I told the charter schools they need to police themselves or their progress will be stalled. I told the school boards that if they can't improve student achievement--they have a moral obligation to consider mayoral control.

And I'm telling you as well--that when inflexible seniority and rigid tenure rules that we designed put adults ahead of children--then we are not only putting kids at risk--we're putting the entire education system at risk. We're inviting the attack of parents and the public--and that is not good for any of us.

I believe that teacher unions are at a crossroads. These policies were created over the past century to protect the rights of teachers but they have produced an industrial factory model of education that treats all teachers like interchangeable widgets.

A recent report from the New Teacher Project found that almost all teachers are rated the same. Who in their right mind really believes that? We need to work together to change this.

Now let's talk about data. I understand that word can make people nervous but I see data first and foremost as a barometer. It tells us what is happening. Used properly, it can help teachers better understand the needs of their students. Too often, teachers don't have good data to inform instruction and help raise student achievement.

Data can also help identify and support teachers who are struggling. And it can help evaluate them. The problem is that some states prohibit linking student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

I understand that tests are far from perfect and that it is unfair to reduce the complex, nuanced work of teaching to a simple multiple choice exam. Test scores alone should never drive evaluation, compensation or tenure decisions. That would never make sense. But to remove student achievement entirely from evaluation is illogical and indefensible.

It's time we all admit that just as our testing system is deeply flawed--so is our teacher evaluation system--and the losers are not just the children. When great teachers are unrecognized and unrewarded--when struggling teachers are unsupported--and when failing teachers are unaddressed--the teaching profession is damaged.

We need to work together to fix this and I will meet you more than halfway. I will demand the same of every principal, administrator, school board member, elected official and parent. I ask only the same of you that I ask of myself and others.

» NYT: U.S. Marines Try to Retake Afghan Valley ... More than an exercise of new troops added to the region, this looks like a new approach that's well overdue. Case in point ...

The British have had too few troops to conduct full-scale counterinsurgency operations and have often relied on heavy aerial weapons, including bombs and helicopter gunships, to attack suspected fighters and their hide-outs. The strategy has alienated much of the population because of the potential for civilian deaths.

Now, the Marines say their new mission, called Operation Khanjar, will include more troops and resources than ever before, as well as a commitment by the troops to live and patrol near population centers to ensure that residents are protected. More than 600 Afghan soldiers and police officers are also involved.

"What makes Operation Khanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert, and the fact that where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," the Marine commander in Helmand Province, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, said in a statement released after the operation began.

The Marines will be pushing into areas where NATO and Afghan troops have not previously established a permanent presence. As part of the counterinsurgency strategy, the troops will meet with local leaders, help determine their needs and take a variety of actions to make towns and villages more secure, said Capt. Bill Pelletier, a spokesman for the Marines, according to The A.P.

» NYT: U.S. Faces Resentment in Afghan Region ... meanwhile, Carlotta Gall reports on the other front we're up against in Afghanistan.

» NYT: In Refugee Aid, Pakistan's War Has New Front ... as does Jane Perlez in Pakistan.

» National Journal: Deeds Offers GOP Ideal Sparring Partner ... I never thought I'd say this, but Larry Sabato makes a good point:

By far the most effective way for Republicans to return to power is to regain the upper hand in the suburbs -- in Virginia and across the country -- a risky strategy that could alienate their rural base. McDonnell, whose base includes Virginia's two biggest suburbs (Fairfax County and Virginia Beach), needs to establish himself as the favored candidate of those vote-rich regions while he paints Deeds as an outsider.

"Deeds, like many of these rural Democrats, is not particularly good on TV. These guys are rural for a reason. They grew up in rural areas. They have rural twangs and mannerisms," the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato said recently. "The vast majority of voters, in Virginia and elsewhere, are in suburbs, and they don't always identify with rural interests."

Now, switch gears with me to Texas. It has been a staple of times past, that the most electable Democrats we could put forth for statewide office were moderate-to-conservative types who play well in the rural swing-vote areas (East Texas most recently; Coastal Bend in times past; and a few other points here and there during the 70s and 80s). I'm obviously not one to be dismissive of candidates who play within the 45-yard lines. But the twang of years past doesn't quite play well in an era where suburban growth has gone well past the tipping point. In Virginia, they'll have their own hurdles to clear in figuring out how to make Creigh Deeds appealing in Lowndes County. Here in Texas, there's two hurdles in front of Dems: learning how to appeal to voters in the suburbs; and unlearning how to chase the rabbit on the guard rail that leads to fewer and fewer rural swing votes.

» This sure brings back some memories: another City Councilmember eying a seat on Commissioners Court. In this case, it's Toni Lawrence who's doing the name-float, and Jerry Eversole as the presumptive lame duck. Miya drops a few other names in the hat, including Dan Disciple, Court Koenning and Jon Lindsay's kid, Larry Lindsay. Of course, as Miya goes on to note, it's not entirely a given that Eversole doesn't seek re-election. So maybe this gets real interesting even before the filing deadline in January. The other two names haven't run for office before, so Toni's got one thing going for her. Unfortunately, District A does not cover a lot of the territory she'll have to run in ... and there's still this pesky factor about how not-so-well received COH electeds are in some of the turf she's going to be asking for GOP primary votes in. Then again, what might be peskier is her actual residence. Since the "moving deadline" for 2010 is effectively this week, maybe she'll be cozy enough in that shack.

Precisely why talking points are evil ...

Just say the words, watch the tribe swoon, and count the votes.

» Chron: Hampton starting to look like a sound investment (Richard Justice)

Astros pitcher, Mike Hampton, turning things around ...

He'd won two of his nine starts for the Astros, and his ERA was 5.62. Since then it's been a turn-back-the-clock stretch including Tuesday night's six innings and one run allowed against the Padres.

The Astros had gambled he still had something in the tank last winter even though Hampton had made just four starts during a hellish four-year period in which he suffered injuries to his elbow, groin, chest, etc.

...

The Astros entered Tuesday's game having won 17 of 27 since Hampton's solid start, and pitching has led the way. The Astros have the National League's fourth-best ERA in June, and as manager Cecil Cooper said, "I can't remember the last time a starter didn't pitch well."

Astros starters had a 2.37 ERA in the nine games before Tuesday, and with the bullpen continuing to perform well, there's a growing sense of optimism around the club.

As for Hampton, his last three starts have been everything the Astros could have hoped for. He has allowed five earned runs in his last 19 innings and lowered his ERA from 5.62 to 4.70.

In the old days, the fun thing about a Hampton game was that he made it hard to hit anything other than a groundball. Not a lot of flashy 100mph strikeouts ... just a well-played game of defense involving all nine guys on the field. From the look of recent results, it might be time to take in another Hampton-pitched game.

The ERA is actually down to 4.44 after his last outing. His last 10 outtings are as follows:

DATE   OPP   W   L   ERA   SV   IP    H  ER  BB  SO   
04/25  MIL   0   0   3.86   0   6.0   8   4   3   4   
05/01 @ATL   0   1   4.88   0   4.1   5   5   2   0   
05/06  CHC   0   1   4.91   0   5.1   7   3   4   4   
05/13 @COL   1   0   5.31   0   6.0   7   5   2   3   
05/19  MIL   0   0   5.23   0   4.0   3   2   3   4   
05/24  TEX   0   1   5.63   0   5.0   8   5   1   0   
05/31 @PIT   1   0   5.07   0   7.0   3   1   1   3   
06/05  PIT   1   0   4.65   0   7.0   5   1   0   5   
06/12 @ARI   0   1   4.70   0   5.0   8   3   5   2   
06/30 @SD    0   0   4.44   0   6.0   4   1   1   6

» FWST: North Richland Hills and other DFW suburbs aim to fend off blight

Not yer grand-dad's suburbs anymore ...

North Richland Hills is proposing the largest push in its history to address aging housing, hopefully before it becomes a blight, officials say.

"Deteriorating housing is like a cancer in a city," said Mayor Oscar Trevino. "It spreads. How goes the oldest parts of a city, goes the entire city."

This Northeast Tarrant County city of 66,000 proposes adding programs that for the first time include financial incentives for homeowners to make improvements. The incentives include a city matching grant -- already offered to some businesses that renovate -- to help homeowners finance small projects, such as painting or porch repairs.

Several more-aggressive programs are also being considered, including city inspections of rented single-family homes, stricter controls on fencing quality and a crackdown on substandard sheds.

The city also plans to expand a volunteer program that helps with yard cleanup and minor repairs for residents who are physically or financially unable to do the work themselves.

New stuff doesn't stay new forever.

There's a few other tangents in the article that are worth a full read for. In particular, the importance of commuter rail to town and the differences between newer and older parts of the town.

Sylvester Turner will not run for mayor this year. I'm sure he appreciates the attention, however.

Just as well ... I'm still in the "Lean Gene" category.

Meanwhile, in the "Has my life really devolved to the point where I'm quoting Burt Levine articles?" category, the answer seems to be "Yes, it has." Emphasis mine for the sake of noting new names in the mix ...

African Americans Rozy Shorter and Andrew Burks are considering contesting Sue Lovell for at large 2.

Green Party gay activist Alfred Molison has filed his treasurer designation to oppose District C City Council Member Anne Clutterbuck.

African American former assistant Texas Attorney General Lewis Cook has designated his treasurer to run for the District F seat MJ Khan is leaving and Richard Sedita has designated his treasurer for District G, the seat Pam Holm is leaving.

Nothing terribly major in that list unless both Burks and Shorter run against Sue. The District F candidate list may have a handful of names in it by the time E-day comes around. Cook looks like a decent guy, but I think I'll stick with Mike Laster's track record in the district.

Chuck Todd on judicial activism.

I'm still trying to determine how anyone of any political stripe thinks that a written test is the definitive best way of determining rank for public safety. Just throwin' this out there, but I'd have to think "ability to use a fire hose effectively" probably ought to rank at least as high in this instance.

Then again, maybe we should give written test for political candidates. That could sure get entertaining!

Wedding march to your own hit song ... check. Wedding held on your own 7-acre, Studio City mansion ... check. Wedding attire consisting of untucked shirts and flip-flops ... check.

Credit where it's due: Eddie Van Halen is still cooler than everyone else combined.

Guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen is no longer a solo: Saturday night he married Janie Liszewski, his girlfriend of three years.

The ceremony took place in the garden of his seven-acre estate in the hills above Studio City, Calif., starting at 7 p.m., when Liszewski walked down the aisle to Van Halen's "When It's Love," performed by the Sonus Quartet.

The 54-year-old groom's 18-year-old son, Wolfgang, served as best man, while brother Alex Van Halen, an ordained minister, officiated at the 20-minute, nondenominational service. Among the 100 guests: Van Halen's ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli (they divorced in 2006, after 25 years of marriage.)

The bride, 39, was given away by her mother under the watchful eye of Kano, the 15-year-old Pomeranian who walked Liszewski down the aisle. This was her first marriage and Van Halen's second.

Liszewski wore a champagne and pink custom-designed Hanna Hartnell gown with matching Bulgari earrings and bracelet. Her sister, Jennifer, served as maid of honor. Eddie and Wolfie dressed casually in Sy Devore cotton pants, un-tucked buttoned-down shirts and flip-flop sandals - as did the bride and wedding attendants.

The couple wrote their vows and designed the rings - Janie's, a platinum band beside a nearly three-carat diamond engagement ring; Ed's, a gold band with yellow diamonds.

A few lengthier reads from the past week or so here.

» TNR: Who Lincoln Was (Sean Wilentz) ... Just over 25,000 words to basically conclude that Abraham was much less an American saint and far more an American politician. There are points where the review seems excessive in scope, but it's still an entertaining read. The article is intended to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth and occupies about half of the current issue of TNR. You get the impression they really wanted to emphasize the subject?

» Atlantic: The Elusive Green Economy (Joshua Green) ... standard-issue Joshua Green quality writing on how government policy affects the development of alternative energy sources in America.

» NYT Magazine: G.M., Detroit and the Fall of the Black Middle Class (Jonathan Mahler) ... for all of the macro-level analysis on the "death of Detroit", this stands as a good counter by focusing primarily on the extended Powell family's situation vis-a-vis the auto industry. Also a great read for the emphasis on the faith of Marvin Powell in the face of the industry's downturn.

Enjoy ...

Nico Pitney elaborates a bit on the exchange at HuffPo. Apparently, Milbank had some real classy things to say during the break after this segment. And I dare say that for a guy who seemed enamored about Obama in a swimsuit, I can think of a lot better names to call someone that belie much less of a freudian slip.

» Washington Monthly: Ideological Inference ... Benen breaks down an element of the Dan Froomkin departure that's worth some reflection. Namely, the assumption of ideology based on how a writer covers a President. As completely banal as the "liberal bias" mythology is, I might be more willing to just accept the point of Froomkin being some kind of liberal if the same proponents of said myth would admit the equally "logical" conclusion that Jake Tapper is conservative because of the way he covers the White House. Of course, neither point would be accurate, but the intellectual consistency on the part of the believers would be a refreshing change. Unfortunately, as we've seen, when the party labels are reversed in real life examples of faulty reporting, the failings that affect Republicans somehow mean the media is liberal, while the reverse never - and I mean never - mean that the media is conservative.

» Chron: Wild hogs wreaking havoc (Shannon Tompkins) ... Everything you ever wanted to know about feral hogs. Or, at least more than I believe to be the average of what people already know about feral hogs. There's just something about the subject that I find mildly amusing.

» NYT: Climate Change Bill May Be Election-Year Issue (Carl Hulse) ... I'm a little curious to know exactly when the concept of cap & trade became anathema to conservatives. When the concept was incorporated into the 1990 Clean Air Act (for SO2 emissions), it passed both houses with very large margins. In fact, to the point there was opposition to the idea, it came then from liberals worried that the concept allowed for legalizing pollution. Whatever, I guess. The talking points have been dispensed and the parroting class will be chirping their newfound beliefs as strongly as they will the main chorus of better-aged talking points.

» Chron: The next step in space exploration (Bob Crippen) ... the latest in NASA defenses ....

Critics may question the benefits of a strong space program, but America's space industry is a critical component of both our economy and our legacy of exploration. Wernher von Braun, who developed the Saturn V rocket that propelled Apollo to the moon, answered the critics of his day with the facts:

"The NASA budget is not being spent on the moon. It is being spent right here on Earth. It provides new jobs, new products, new processes, new companies and whole new industries."

If any part of that were true, it would be a perfect rationale for unleashing NASA to the joys of the private sector. Unfortunately, due to the vagueness of the benefits, there's no reason to take them at face value.

» NYT: Saving a Kashmiri Village After Remaking His Life ... your weekly feel-good story here. Todd Shea seems to have made a niche for himself in the world of disaster relief. That his latest finds him in what would otherwise seem to be inhospitable turf is nothing short of remarkable.

Froomkin. Out.

Can't wait to see what the next move is. One can only hope it affords him the time to dig as deep on stories as he has since starting White House Watch.

Rachel aggregates the takes on Tom Schieffer's announcement for Governor. None seem to be particularly enthralled, as mine certainly wasn't.

On a more upbeat note, K-T points out that Gardner Selby's latest contains a minor note about Ronnie Earle focusing on the possibility of a run for Governor. I don't know everything there is to know about Earle, but I'd be much more eager to hear his case now that we've all had a chance to hear Schieffer's.

Meanwhile, Burka harps on the Kirk Watson boomlet that's now up in the air since Sen. Leticia opted to not run. Watson's definitely more of a known quantity by my book. He's been around the track once in 2002 for Attorney General. He's got some obvious talent. But the big question has more to do with whether he can put all that together for leading the ticket. If he gets in, he probably starts off as the default choice for me.

SIDENOTE: Burka, much as I love to have him to kick around, offers one reminder in his Watson breakdown that we have some agreement:

Q. What is the blueprint for a Democratic victory?

A. The battleground is the suburbs. Why do people live in the suburbs? They want good schools. Perry is vulnerable on education, from inadequate funding to supporting the nutty State Board of Education. They want good roads. Perry is vulnerable for building toll roads that amount to a suburb tax. They want lower home insurance rates. Perry is vulnerable because Texas's rates are among the highest in the country. They want their kids to go to affordable state schools. Perry is vulnerable because the cost of college has gone way up during his governorship due to tuition increases. And, of course, he is vulnerable because he will have been around for just under ten years by November of 2010.

Opening credits from the pilot episode ...

One of the many ways Jacko will probably be remembered ...

» Chron: HPD officer, suspect die in shootings

A bit of sad news from the day before ...

An undercover Houston police officer was killed Tuesday night in a shootout with a man killed moments later by another officer, officials said.

The officer was identified as 42-year-old Henry Canales. He joined the Houston Police Department in 1993. The identity of the other man was not available.

Canales was part of an undercover team investigating stolen televisions when he was shot in the parking lot of a Walgreens drugstore at Hillcroft and Bellaire, officials said.

That'd be the Walgreens in my neighborhood in territory that I'm all too familiar with. Thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.

ELSEWHERE
» Chron: Feds seek status of officer's shooter
» KHOU: Family of suspect who shot cop speaks out
» KHOU: Officer Canales's friend: He was a good guy

» USA Today: Demography that threatens the GOP (Chuck Raasch)

Not yer grand-dad's suburbs anymore ...

In old and new suburbs, Democrats have capitalized on an influx of immigrants and a shifting issues set.

George W. Bush won re-election in 2004 by targeting suburban and exurban voters on personal and national security. But as security worries became economic worries, Democrats reclaimed these population growth centers.

Suburbs delivered the once-red Southern states of North Carolina and Virginia to Obama. Some predict Republican-leaning Georgia will be the next Southern shifter.

The column references some other shifts: younger voters and population gains among Hispanics, namely.

» Chron: Democrat heads for Houston in bid for governor

Schieffer's now officially in. Now someone tell him that gloom and doom is out.

"People know there is something wrong - they know that Texas is falling behind. They are worried about it," Schieffer said in an interview last week with the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle.

"They want better than what we've got now," Schieffer said. "They're worried about kind of a sense that state government is going through a know-nothing phase of you don't have to be thoughtful, you don't have to be serious, you just have to mouth the buzz words that appeal to people's prejudices and not to their hopes and dreams."

Schieffer cited concern over school dropout rates, saying young people are "going to fall behind, and they're not going to wind up being taxpayers, they're going to wind up being tax consumers."

If that continues, he said, "no level of taxes ... will support the services that you have to have in this state, and I'm afraid we're literally on the road to disaster."

Just a practical matter here, but one should really refrain from references to "road to disaster" before launching a statewide roadshow announcing your campaign for public office.

UPDATE: Something I did not know about Schieffer:

Schieffer, a Fort Worth lawyer, has three degrees from the UT and his wife, Suzanne, is the daughter of former College of Arts & Sciences Dean John Silber, who went on to Boston University and a Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign as a Democrat in 1990.

It's still a stretch to think that Schieffer's doom & gloom is reminiscent of Silber's brand of shocking wackiness. So I'll stand by my concerns over Schieffer's narrative for now. But if this increases the possibility that Silber might come to Texas and do some campaigning, I might be a lot more persuadable toward Schieffer than I was this morning.

Bear in mind that I'm probably the only person in the world that views John Silber on the stump as a positive thing. Wake me when the old man's booked for a trip to Gulfton with the aim of giving a speech on crime control.

» Chron: Rhoades can't wait to get at it

Once more, new AD equates with new spending plans ...

"If we're going to move our football program forward, we're going to need to do something to Robertson Stadium," Rhoades said. "It's in need of some TLC, that's for sure. One area that's lacking is premium-seating area. If we're going to be serious about football, we need to have the suites, the club level, those types of things. ...

"The rest of the stadium, whether it's concession stands, bathrooms, all that stuff, we need to update, upgrade, make it fan-friendly."

Hofheinz on the radar
In hopes of building enthusiasm among potential donors, UH has been showing them a prototype of a renovation of the entire stadium. The expanded renovation plan would have a price tag of about $50 million. Rhoades is quick to point out Robertson is just a starting point, that all of UH's facilities need a look. Hofheinz hasn't exactly kept up with the times, either.

"Honestly, that's a facility that needs some work as well," Rhoades said. "I think over the course of the next several years, putting together a plan as to what you do with that facility, how do you renovate it, do you renovate it ... is it better to start from scratch?"

The Robertson renovation money trap, I've made my feelings known about. Good to hear Mack add some perspective on the elements that are more aimed at the vast majority of fans, but when it's all said and done, I'd still expect the monument formerly known as the end-zone facility to be on the cover of the Media Guide.

As for the Hof, I think $50M for renovations is an even worse idea when you consider a totally new arena can be had for somewhere in the ballpark of $100M. That it makes utterly no sense to pour $50M into an arena that has a hard time pulling in 1000 fans most nights seems to make the decision even more questionable. At least with a new facility, you can think about booking shows for the arena, which the Hof used to do.

To Mack's credit, the article doesn't mention what a boon for recruiting either plan would be. Save that for when the hard sell is needed, I suppose.

Centrism, I like. Bipartisanship, I can deal with on a case-by-case basis. Burka-ism, however, is of the devil ...

Voter ID support by partisan affiliation
Republicans 86%
Independents 68%
Democrats 58%

I don't like the Voter ID proposal, but Democrats cannot hold out forever against legislation that roughly three in five of their own troops favor.

Ahem (from a different poll, but kudos to the T-Sip who thought to add this to the questioning) ...

The survey found strong support (69%) for requiring voters to present a photo identification when casting their ballots. In a separate item, 42% incorrectly identified a statement that voters are currently required to present a photo ID in order to vote as "true." Conversely, 49% correctly identified the statement as false, and 9% said they didn't know.

So, assuming a clean overlap of people who a) support Voter ID and b) think it already exists ... that would mean there's a floor of 20% in this state who think that a new law is needed. I'm sure the overlap of the two isn't perfect, but I'd be willing to bet on the actual number being closer to 20% than anything called a majority.

Beyond even this calculus, it's rather pointless to suggest that an issue fought almost exclusively among party elites (legislators in the halls of power, opinion leaders in more sordid locations) is accurately captured in public polling. Talk to me after the issue has been dealt with more meaningfully in the public forum (ie - not the 10pm news). If it were to go so far as to be put up for a straight-up vote - win or lose on the whole - I'd be willing to bet big on the fact that 58% of Dems would not support such a thing.

Scott Hochberg (aka - my State Rep) makes Texas Observer's "Best" list from the past legislative session. I've noted elsewhere and will say it again, that I believe equal treatment has to be given to his GOP counterpart, Robbie Eissler. Still, it's the Texas Observer, so I guess it's pushing things to get that much GOP love on the "Best" list.

Here's their writeup ...

One look at Scott Hochberg and you can tell he's a nerd. The ruffled mop of hair, the rounded bookish glasses, the constant talk of school-funding formulas and accountability standards give it away. The man is toting around serious brainpower. He's one of about six people in the state who actually understands school finance. For years, Hochberg has used that brainpower to try to improve education in Texas. This session was no different. Hochberg was integral to ­passing two large, complicated education bills this session. One bill makes minor changes to the school-finance system. Some school districts will receive a nearly 3 percent funding increase under the bill, which also includes an $800 teacher pay raise. Hochberg also helped pass House Bill 3, which will slightly reduce Texas' reliance on standardized tests. Neither of these bills added up to comprehensive reform, and education groups were hoping for more from both. But in a legislative session in which very little got done, Hochberg was relatively productive.

Not surprisingly, the Observer's writeup is a pretty good distillation of what I like about the guy.

I can think of a lot of bad things to say about the 2002 State Rep map, but between producing districts in Harris County that saw four seats go from GOP-by-design to Dem-by-election and putting my homestead (such as it could be called that) within the boundaries of a district represented by Scott, I should probably just let that subject rest.

One other interesting note from the list is that Todd Smith makes their "Best" list. While much of their more favorable reasoning comes to the fact that Smith was one of only two GOP members to break on the Rafael Anchia high school voter registrar issue, I think there is maybe a bit more to lend to the positive side of Smith's reputation that when all is said and done ... that stupid Voter Restriction ID bill just flat out didn't pass. Maybe I'm just used to dealing with a few more shades of gray than others, but I tend to think that Smith's efforts make this a well earned honor.

Another Houston State Rep, Garnet Coleman, also gets a positive nod on the list. I like the guy, but I'll save the bragging for someone else.

John Zerwas does not make the cut, however. Call me old fashioned ... but I say if you save a guy's life, you should be an automatic.

» Chron: Pakistani official blasts strikes on Taliban

I had the good fortune of attending this event, though I don't pretend to have followed Khan in the news for very long. For starters, the headline is indeed a bit misleading since Khan is no longer an "official" - he resigned his seat in Pakistan's parliament in 2007. I don't know that I'm in agreement with much of what Khan had to say. But he did make one good point - and, as is his style, only grazed the surface of that.

The Chron report notes that Khan marks a difference between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which is accurate. But Khan also marks a difference between the Taliban and the Pashtun population that coincides geographically with their reach. The first point (Taliban/al-Qaeda) may be more newsworthy, but I think that second point (Taliban/Pashtun) is more relevant for policymaking. I don't pretend that it's an easy thing, but foreign policy that decouples ethnic/sectarian differences while still abiding by nationalistic interests is something we're still in the early stages of dealing with.

To the extent that we have done this in the past (and more imperialistic nations before us), the ethnic/sectarian differences were dealt with more-or-less independently of national interests. In other words, if you had a problem with two groups, you just re-drew a map. I'm not convinced that redrawing national boundaries is as easy, as warranted, or as desirable today.

How to enable and assist a Pashtun population to the point where it is far less reliant upon the Taliban for public safety and conflict resolution without also enabling the separatist desires within the population is something of a needle to thread. Not easy, but that's the task ahead of us. It took too long before American conventional wisdom realized that the Vietnam War was not seen in the same perspective by Americans and Vietnamese. It's taken a little less time for some conventionality to be applied to the fact that the "War on Terror" is different from "The War in Iraq." And it's time to realize that fighting al-Qaeda or the Taliban is not the same as fighting the Pashtun population. While I'm very sure that this is more readily accepted in American policy, there does seem to be much more to do to convince the population itself that we're operating in a way that understands that.

Dan Froomkin, November 30, 2006 ... well before he was fired by the Washington Post:

Mainstream-media political journalism is in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant, but not because of the Internet, or even Comedy Central. The threat comes from inside. It comes from journalists being afraid to do what journalists were put on this green earth to do...

Calling bullshit, of course, used to be central to journalism as well as to comedy. And we happen to be in a period in our history in which the substance in question is running particularly deep. Calling bullshit has never been more vital to our democracy.

It also resonates with readers and viewers a lotm ore than passionless stenography I'm not sure why calling bullshit has gone out of vogue in so many newsrooms -- why, in fact, it's so often consciously avoided. There are lots of possible reasons. There's the increased corporate stultification of our industry, to the point where rocking the boat is seen as threatening rather than invigorating. There's the intense pressure to maintain access fo insider sources, even as those sources become ridiculously unrevealing and oversensitive. There's the fear of being labeled partisan if one's bullshit-calling isn't meted out in precisely equal increments along the political spectrum.

If mainstream-media political journalists don't start calling bullshit more often, then we do risk losing our primacy -- if not to the comedians then to the bloggers.

I still believe that no one is fundamentally more capable of first-rate bullshit-calling than a well-informed beat reporter - whatever their beat. We just need to get the editors, or the corporate culture, or the self-censorship -- or whatever it is -- out of the way.

Greenwald's take adds much more to the discussion, as does Atrios' short take on viewing Froomkin as "liberal."

Daily Show to the rescue ...

The overall prediction is to finish 10-2, with a trip to the Liberty Bowl. Oklahoma State and Mississippi State are the predicted losses. Just to make it abundantly clear: Dave Campbell Texas Football predicts the Coogs will defeat Texas Tech this season. Dare we dream?

I've lost my mark on where the prediction for this another tidbit of interest. But apparently, there's some chatter that after said season, Sumlin will be entertaining offers from BCS-eligible schools. Probably not the most unreasonable expectation. Whether that means he leaves UH after a very short stint, or uses the interest to get a new deal from the new AD, we'll just have to wait and see. In any event, I have a hard time seeing Sumlin lasting a decade here ... and I don't think it'll be because of Dimel-esque results on the field.

Other notes of interest ...

Coach Sumlin on the team: "We have got to grow up. We have guys who are capable of being players consistently, but we have to know what we can count on, not what they're capable of doing."

David Klingler on Case Keenum: It's the things that you can't measure that make him so good. ... Whenever things are breaking down around him, it's amazing how he escapes from pressure and makes good decision after good decision. It's just uncanny how good he is in that type of situation."

(Dad) Steve Keenum on Case Keenum: "When he was little, we used to play a game where I'd try to shoot him with Nerf arrows and he'd have to avoid them by running. I still kid him about that. Sometimes I was too tired, but he would still want to play, so I'd just sit there with one of those Nerf arrow guns and he'd try to run and avoid the arrows. And he would. He got to where he was hard to hit.""

No mention of incoming recuit AJ Dugat in the depth chart or indication of him being redshirted (which I'd be shocked to see). The recruiting sidebar indicates he'll be playing receiver instead of being moved to DB, as was once discussed. It also notes his occasional snaps at QB. Could we be in store for some Wildcat offense this season?

QB recruit, Drew Hollingshead is mentioned favorably in the recruit sidebar. Elsewhere in the magazine, there's a story about a much younger Drew meeting David Barron while Drew's dad was coach at Odessa Permian (a point I neglected to connect to my recollection of the last name). I don't want to oversell the kid, but it could be possible that even I've downplayed him?

Case's backup on the depth chart is Cotton Turner, a Sophomore from nearby Dulles HS. If Hollingshead is as good as advertised, the post-Keenum era could get real interesting.

Defense is given an optimistic, "nowhere to go but up" treatment. Not a lot of specifics to instill confidence. This probably ensures an over/under of well over 100 points for the Tech game.

UPDATE: Falkenberg offers further evidence that social media leads to an army of "gotcha" moments. Her examples seem to demonstrate a consistent level of usefulness (ie - not much). Bramanti in the comments seems to second it.

Man, what a pain, those "gotcha" bloggers! ;-)

Dave Campbell's writeup of this year's Trinity Trojan team:

With just three returning starters, '09 will see Trinity take a step or two back. That doesn't mean the Trojans won't be a force both in 5-5A and the statewide scene. This program just knows how to win, and it's partly because it gets younger players involved early on. That was definitely the case for RB Williams (194-1,167, 20TDs), who eventually emerged as the starter and go-to back. Youth, coach Lineweaver said, might continue to be athe theme for this year's team. Aside from Williams, the only offensive starter back is OL Crocker, though RB Hart (86-551, 7TDs) played a big role last year. New starters to pencil in are WR Brown (10-178, 4TDs), OL Eteaki and RB Edwards (32-195, 2TDs), while Hubbard and Carter will vie for the starting QB job; neither player attempted more than five passes. Defensively, the Trojans bring back DL Maile, DL Masumbuko, DB Smith (27 tackles), DB Charleston, DE Pauni, LB Yengo, DE Coker and LB Moeakiola (1 INT).

The count of returning starters is startlingly low: three. Campbell still has us picked to finish first in the district. But with Colleyville Heritage returning nine and LD Bell returning a key ingredient to last year's team (I'm still suspicious that he's the son of a Trinity grad), it could get tight among the top three teams. Justin Northwest is the fourth-place pick and sounds like a solid wildcard team that could catch up on Trinity if they phone in a game.

The predictions aren't optimistic - Campbell & crew pick us to rank 7th while the much more forgiving coaches pick us third, with 11 first-place votes. The Region 1 prediction, they give to Allen. That certainly strikes me as a fair continuation of the "Katy Rule." Oddly, Campbell picks the Finals game to be Dallas Skyline over SA Madison. That would mean Skyline defeating FB Hightower, while Madison would have to beat Allen. Is this the exception to the "Katy Rule"? ... always pick the obvious concensus pick to win ... unless it's the big game?

Based on how exciting last year's Championship game was, I can't say I'd mind seeing a rematch of Allen & Hightower. Unless, of course, the Trojans really do have the guns to go deep in the playoffs, in which case I really hope to see Allen lose to us very badly.

The mag also has a Dream Tour listing of top games each week. No surprise to see Trinity vs Allen pegged in at Week Three. I'm still debating the trip back home to see that one.

OTHER TEAMS: Sharpstown is still predicted to win out in 4A-21. Interesting note that their QB from last season transferred into Katy ISD this year. In 4A-24, Manvel isn't predicted to finish well, but their QB is all the rage. Doesn't look bad for Coach Klingler out there.

College notes coming up later.

» USN&WR: Texas Could Soon Be a Republican Presidential Nightmare

... For a party that carries Latino voters by healthy margins, it doesn't take much to tilt a Red state into the Blue or Purple columns. Latinos comprise 21 percent of the population (and 15 percent of the vote) in purple Florida, and 37 percent of the population (and 21 percent of the vote) in blue California. Both went Democratic last year.

The real nightmare for Republican strategists, sifting through these statistics, has to be Texas--which, like California and a few others, is now a majority minority state.

According to Frey's charts, 40 percent of the population in Texas, but only 20 percent of the vote, is Latino. If Latinos continue to vote with the Democrats, and the Dems ever find a way to get them to the polls in Texas, the last of the three great Republican Sunbelt bastions could fall.

Given my own research and inclinations, I'm not one to fall into the trap of thinking that "Hispanics don't vote." Many in Texas already do, at least. But I don't think we win as many of them as we could in statewide Democratic campaigns. At least, not yet.

I do, however, totally agree that Texas should be viewed as the Republican's last gasp for relevance. Time will tell if Obama's support in Florida holds. And while I think California isn't a lock, it is fairly intransigent at the federal-race, statewide level. So what happens when the GOP loses Texas, though? It's still wish-casting for now, but I'm old enough to remember when winning California was wishcasting. In fact, one of the tenets of the DLC/PPI's "Politics of Evasion" was that waiting for California to flip wasn't wise, hence the need to sway moderate voters. Nevermind that California flipped as part of that same pitch by Clinton. And let's not even mention Indiana, shall we? I honestly thought I'd never see a Dem Presidential candidate win that state unless his name was Evan Bayh.

Texas is, for all intents and purposes, a 55-45 GOP state where no statewide candidate has dropped an eight-figure campaign budget on since 2002. It bears several similarities to Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and California in terms of political geography, demography, and/or sheer political competitiveness. The only difference is that nobody lately has decided to fund a campaign to make the state competitive by choosing to make it competitive.

(via Trailblazers)

» RCP: Al From Won (David Paul Kuhn)

As much verbage as Kuhn devotes to the topic, I really wish I could say he nails a particular point or two. Instead, the whole writeup seems to be an exercise in how fact gets muddled over time.

To an extent, there has been an amazing amount of alignment among Democratic factions since the days of Clinton (though I'd also point out that the 1988 Presidential contest saw very little divergence among Dem candidates not named Jesse Jackson). In that regard, yes. Neoliberalism has won out and we're all - more or less - kindred spirits. Sorta.

But there are still dividing points and Obama has been somewhat clear in not aligning with either faction of the previous divide. He's gone out of his way to ask the DLC to de-list him from their website and he's also penned a blog post on Daily Kos arguing that the hyper-partisan stance of Markos and his ilk were not the proper response to the Republican administration. That suggests less that Al From won (or that Markos won) the heart of Obama. The weight of evidence seems to suggest, as plain as day, that Obama is his own person.

From Friday's "protest" of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Houston, where Pelosi was described as "so far away from mainstream American that it's unbelievable".

» Chron: Amid restructuring, Wild can Aeros GM ... two tangents of this story to note: the firing of Tom Lynn and the hiring of new Wild Head Coach, Todd Richards. I can't say that I'm sorry to see what a new era of leadership might mean for the Aeros. Lynn hardly struck me as a anything less than a solid AHL GM, but the changes brought on by affiliation with the Minnesota Wild and the move to the Toyota Center were a bit much. At the end of the day, though, minor league sports is less about retaining long-term fans as they are continually developing new ones. As for Richards' hiring, I guess that extinguishes all hope that Dave Tippett might get the gig and warrant more of a rooting interest in the Wild on my part. Oh well, Tippett's quality. He'll land on his feet and probably end up winning a Cup if the situation is good enough.

» NYT: Catchers May Have Hand in Yanks' Pitching Problems ... good stat-junkie reporting here, with the disparity between Yankee pitchers throwing to Jorge Posada versus the other Yankee catchers. Oddly, the most revealing part of the article seems to be the seeming lack of curiosity on the part of Yankees GM, Brian Cashman:

"Jorge is obviously that rare combination of being a catcher and an offensive player," Cashman said Monday. "Cervelli and Molina are more one-sided, to the defensive side. I can't really say why there's a difference. It could be sample size. It could be that the other guys are just better defensive players."

Either I'm spoiled by coaches and GMs who love swimming in the statistical data of their team, or the Yankees are really just that spoiled by being able to spend their way out of any problem.

» Dave Campbell's Texas Football is on stands now. Time for me to either flip through it to see how good the writeup is for UH and Trinity High and decide whether or not to actually buy the magazine this year.