Daily Archives: February 4, 2004

Good News for Downtown Houston

Posted on by
Reply

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that New Houston Mayor Bill White has announced a delay in the Smith Street rebuilding project in downtown Houston. The downtown street rebuilding project in Houston was begun early in former Mayor Lee Brown‘s administration, and it may have been the most badly botched public works project in the city’s history. It’s a good move for Mayor White to attempt to get this mess under control before tearing up Smith Street, one of the main arteries in downtown Houston.

Another Auchwitz?

Posted on by
Reply

WaPo’s Anne Applebaum writes a troubling report on an issue that the U.S. also avoided confronting–with disastrous results–in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s

Gadzooks, Inc. files Chapter 11

Posted on by
Reply

In a development that concerns my two teenage daughters greatly, Gadzooks, Inc., a Carrollton, TX-based retailer of teenage girl’s clothing, filed a reorganization case under chapter 11 on Tuesday in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. The case landed in Bankruptcy Court of Judge Harlan D. “Cooter” Hale, who gets my vote for having the best nickname of any Bankruptcy Judge in the country. Here is the initial docket in the case and the list of 20 largest creditors.

Isn’t This an Interesting Way to Become Friends?

Posted on by
Reply

Based on this Houston Chronicle story, a budding friendship appears to be one of the results of the recent well-publicized murder trial of Robert Durst in Galveston.
Dick DeGuerin, Durst’s attorney, is another of the unusual number of excellent Houston-based criminal defense attorneys, which was also noted in this earlier post. Among the many others in that formidable Houston criminal defense bar–many of whom were mentored by Racehorse Haynes and the late Percy Foreman–are Dick’s brother, Mike DeGeurin (yes, the brothers spell their last name differently), Mike Ramsey, Jack Zimmerman, Rusty Hardin, David Berg, Joel Androphy, Robert Scardino, Mike Hinton, Dan Cogdell, Tom Hagemann and Robert Sussman. Houston’s criminal defense bar compares favorably with the criminal defense bar of any city in the country.

Sometimes They Do Get it Right

Posted on by
Reply

The U.S. intelligence community has endured much criticism since 9/11. For example, Gerald Posner’s “Why America Slept” is an excellent account of the background and result of the intelligence failures that preceded the 9/11 attacks.
However, in this clever piece from the NY Times, William Safire tells an interesting story about an intelligence operation that was a resounding success and reminds us that intelligence agencies perform an essential service. Thanks to my old friend Don Looper for the tip on Safire’s piece.

The Clark Campaign

Posted on by
Reply

This Thomas Meaney piece is an interesting perspective on the Democratic candidates to date, particularly Wesley Clark.

Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on by
Reply

Victor Davis Hanson has been one of the most insighful commentators on the Bush Administration’s policy in fighting the war against the Islamic fascists. Dr. Hanson weighs in again with another excellent piece in National Review Online that sorts out the many agendas regarding the war in Iraq.

Great Quotes

Posted on by
Reply

From Ryan Lizza’s campaign journal at The New Republic, on the difference between the Howard Dean and John Edwards’ campaigns:

“If Dean’s events sometimes look like the bar scene from Star Wars, Edwards’s traveling show has the feel of an Abercrombie and Fitch fashion shoot.”

And James T. Hamilton, describing his theory of rational ignorance in his new book, “All the News That’s Fit to Sell“:

“The logic of rational ignorance predicts that many viewers will not choose to learn about politics and government, a logic confirmed every day by the relatively low audience for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.”

Hounding Martha But Not Kenny Boy?

Posted on by
Reply

In an earlier post, I noted a report that the Justice Department is currently focusing on whether to indict former Enron Chairman and CEO Ken Lay. In a NY Times piece today, the timing of which is not good for Mr. Lay, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind –authors of the best Enron debacle book to date, “The Smartest Guys in the Room“–question why Martha Stewart is enduring a securities fraud trial over a relatively trifling matter while Mr. Lay has still not even been indicted?
The probable answer is that the criminal case against Ms. Stewart is simpler than any possible criminal case against Mr. Lay in regard to the hyper-complicated affairs of Enron. However, the more troubling issue is whether Ms. Stewart’s high profile status has generated a high publicity prosecution by the Justice Department attorneys in a case that probably would have never been prosecuted (or at least been settled quietly) had the defendant not been as high profile as Ms. Stewart.

Halftime Show Controversy

Posted on by
Reply

Author Crispin Sartwell pretty much reflects my thinking in this piece on the dreadful Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson’s show ending performance has set at least one type of record, which is described here.