art The Road Goes On Forever and the Potty Never Ends "There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos"... and apparently a black crapper with blue LED lighting.
US History What Kind of an American Are You? "Trump’s anger is not likely to be constrained by a courtroom. He will send emails to supporters, many of whom struggle to pay their own bills, begging to give him money because he’s a victim. They will send their cash and credit card payments to a man who claims to be among the world’s richest."
International Politics My Melancholy Bibi I have lost a couple of Palestinian friends due to what they perceive as my Israeli bias. I will no doubt see the opposite effect among my Jewish friends. But politics is politics, here or there.
climate change Haunted by Waters Every new home is another straw sipping from the reservoirs, which, increasingly in the added heat of climate change, have turned into what a Texas drought expert refers to as “giant evaporation ponds.” Evaporation rates of surface water in the Hill Country are approximately 57 inches per year.
Science The Sun is in Tune If you monitored social media and certain "news" sources, you might have thought that Jesus was spontaneously planning the eclipse as a bit of divine retribution. Or if you listened to certain MAGAts, it was some kind of globalist conspiracy.
Journalism The Tragedy of Sky Queen 28-year-old Karen Key was shining up a star for herself in the competitive business of TV news. Key was the first female helicopter news pilot in TV journalism. She could fly a Bell Jet Ranger and talk into the camera with the Rockies as a backdrop - her career was ascending as fast as her takeoffs.
national politics Alternate Facts, Yeah, That's the Ticket. It seems the lies don't matter if it's your guy or gal. It has ever been thus. Add a polarized press to the mix and you have a recipe for some really lousy goulash.
national politics Cracks in the American Mosaic I brought the contradictions up with Geiorge W. Bush during an off-camera interview in 2004 and asked him how he could reconcile the inherent meanness of the strategy with who he was as a person, and all he said was, “It’s just politics, Jimmy.”
Trump Happy Easter and Vote for Me Come unto me all ye who travail and are heavy laden, and I'll relieve you of the weight of all that money.
Trump Make the Bible Great Again Your "God Bless the USA Bible" will ship with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, AND the Pledge of Allegiance! You will never have to worry about the separation of church and state again!
media Balance? We Don’t Need no Stinking Balance. We Need Truth Our political system is now a kaleidoscope of normalized destructive lies because of misguided editorial decisions to seek balance vs truth.
Immigration The Art of Hypocrisy Not being White and living on the border, which is more than 90 percent of the population, became an even greater liability when Abbott and the Texas legislature passed a law to give state and local officers the power to arrest illegal immigrants.
national politics Congress: Delta House Without the Fun "Every fall the trees are filled with underwear, every spring the toilets explode."
Natural World Racing the Sun "An eclipse, like all of nature’s majestic endeavors, can fill a soul with edifying conclusions. Eclipses are rare and those with totality are even more scant and scattered across history’s timeline."
Travel Can We All Take a Break and Be Irish for a Moment? Come on, give politics a rest and be happy for one day. On Monday, it's a handful of Advils and politics as usual.
Trump We Need a Break from Spring Break Paxton's droopy eyelid isn't the only thing limp at home. Could the Texas Porn boycott be driving the lecherous Attorney General into the arms of another mistress?
personal stories Independence Way I understood that there were economic and educational forces at work that made our lives abundantly different. My mother carried burgers and open-faced sandwiches as a waitress at a short-order restaurant. My father lifted bumpers out of a metal press for delivery to the assembly line.
Economy A Broken Land We are convinced the only two kinds of people in this nation are millionaires and those who will very soon be millionaires. There is little accommodation for failure. You are expected to pull yourself up by your bootstraps even if you were born into a family that cannot afford boots.
Texas Politics Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain In terms of issues on America's plate, there is more than Ukraine and Gaza to worry about. And Yass is just one of the many who have amassed a ton of cash and aren't afraid to spend it. In Texas, Three West Texas billionaires have quietly taken over Republican politics in the state.
Texas Politics I Find Your Lack of Imagination Disturbing Texas keeps turning ever rightward, and this last set of primary elections continues the trend. It would be nice to keep public education, but it's not a given. Imagine turning off Friday Night Lights in Texas.
Trump The Borderlord: Chapter Two Abbott is brazen about using state resources to promote his political agenda, and nothing is more important to him than the border. He has no desire to solve the immigration problem. Instead, he has created a multi-billion $ issues platform to raise his profile, and Texans are paying for it.
Trump We've Been Here Before "The fear of speaking ill of Putin is so great that when Vlad killed his chief critic, Alexei Navalny, the only mention from Donald J. Trump was to compare his legal troubles to Navalny. One more reminder, Mr. President, Navalny is, uh, dead."
national politics The Burning Man “Free Palestine, free Palestine,” he screamed as the fire brought him down. Colleagues who knew him in the military described him as kind, soft-hearted, and caring, the diametric opposite of the angry radical that he is being portrayed in widespread reporting.
Baseball A Young Man's Fancy and An Old Man's Disdain It's a tale of possibly the greatest baseball player to have ever picked up a bat, ball, and glove, and he came from an obscure little spot in a bend of a Texas river. Or we could just talk politics...
national politics When Life is Like a Story in the Onion "The party that once called the President a fascist and dictator, now wants him to solve the border crisis by Presidential decree. The folks who were adamant they needed a border bill, now say, Joe could have solved this all by himself."