International Relations

What Did Dennis Rodman Do To Piss Off North Korea?

To say the United States' relationship with North Korea is less than cordial would be a bit of an understatement. A draconian cesspool of a society with nuclear weapons perpetually aimed our way, North Korea and its leadership (Kim Jong-un, yo!) represent the antithesis of everything the United Stat ... More >>

With Andrew WK Out, Who Can Bring the Party to the Middle East Now?

Over the weekend, the State Department shocked uptight old white people around the United States by announcing that expert on partying Andrew WK would be bringing the party to Bahrain as a cultural ambassador. In the world we live in, this shouldn't be all that shocking. President Obama is practica ... More >>

Grey Victory: A Playlist for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

In 1945, the Japanese city of Hiroshima became the first target of a nuclear weapon ever. The United States called for the unconditional surrender of the country at the end of World War II, an ultimatum that was ignored. In response, we deployed a weapon that killed between 90,000 and 166,000 Japane ... More >>

Brad Taylor: Enemy of Mine

Introducing Treaty Oak Collective, Houston's Newest Promoters

​Brandon Lemons is no stranger to the Houston music scene. If you've been around long enough, you've most likely either seen a show he's organized, or, if you're a real club junkie, sat and had a beer (or three) with the guy once or twice at a venue around town. The Silsbee, Tex. native bro ... More >>

Thank God, Ted Cruz Will Protect Texas from the U.N.

This ad for GOP primary senatorial candidate Ted Cruz has been showing up on conservative Web sites. It alerts -- thankfully, finally -- all Texans to the growing threat that the U.N. will....invade? Take over in a bloodless coup? We don't know. All we know is that the U.N. is (apparently) a grave ... More >>

Rebecca Dauler: State Says She Ran One-Woman Extortion Racket

FacebookRebecca Dauler: Take your little cease-and-desist letter and stick it, Texas Workforce Commission!​Say what you will about Rebecca Dauler, but if what the State of Texas is alleging about her is true, you can't deny that the 33-year-old Clear Lake woman has plenty of pluck and good-old ... More >>

The Keystone XL Pipeline: Houston's Cardno Entrix In The Crosshairs

Keystone XL: Coming to Texas​Houston-based Cardno Entrix is the latest target of scrutiny in the newest allegations of cronyism surrounding TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline project. A group of U.S. senators has called for an investigation into the State Department's handling of the Keystone ... More >>

Treaty Oak Platinum Rum: The Gateway Spirit?

​Before I turned it into banana-infused deliciousness, I tried Treaty Oak Platinum Rum for the first time recently. I now have a grand master plan to surreptitiously replace all the vodka in the world with this rum. The world will thank me for it. With all its talk of "double filtered" this a ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Back to the `50s, But All The Way

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Return to Sender

What Would Comprehensive Immigration Reform Look Like If the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

The James Baker Monument: Five Things It Needs

James Baker: Not related to Velvet Revolver​Finally, there will be a reason to visit downtown Houston: A statue honoring former Secretary of State James Baker will be unveiled Tuesday.Why Baker? As the monument's official website so modestly puts it, he's "A Magnificent American."Some people might ... More >>

SPECIAL LABOR DIA EDITION

La Migra, NAFTA and one piece at a time

"Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews during the Holocaust"

Photographer Norman Gershman sheds some light on an often overlooked bit of history

World Affairs Council of Houston: Who Are We to the World?

Web exclusive!

A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy

Web exclusive!

Talking About NAFTA and Mexico

A Politician's Blog Actually Worth Reading

Every politician these days is doing The Twitter, or having some unpaid intern blog for them. It's great if you're looking for the latest in boilerplate rhetoric.And then there's Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio.Check out his blog, Poli-Tex.Here's a note to former ... More >>

Hispanics Delivered by Border Midwives Are Having Trouble Getting U.S. Passports

Post-9/11 worries target South Texas

Why Are Mexicans Obsessed with Scarface?

Ambassador Schechter On Secretary Of State Clinton

With the world media coming dangerously close to announcing that Hillary Clinton plans to accept the Secretary of State position in Barack Obama’s cabinet, Hair Balls thought we’d reach out to longtime Clinton-family ally and former Ambassador to the Bahamas under President Clinton, Houston ... More >>

R.I.P. Miriam Makeba

Bayousphere

Kyoto Protocol: The View from Kyoto

Without U.S. participation, the first-ever global-warming treaty was doomed to only partial success. Will Bali be better?

It’s Mathew Knowles’s Town. We Just Live Here.

Straight Talk with World Net Daily

Hu Ha

Shorthanded

Foreign pickers aren't getting through the post-9/11 barricades to harvest U.S. crops

What on Earth?

Lost in Translation

All talk and little action, The Interpreter doesn't even make sense

Blade Runners

Hotel Rwanda finds hope amid the horrors of tribal genocide

Holiday Spirit

A real-life Christmas move in Kemah

The Power of Yes

A pair of political pranksters invent the art of "identity correction"

Well-Dressed Rebels

Revolt of the operagoing socialites

Lost & Found

One year ago, the Lost Boys of Sudan came to Houston in search of America, a future, safety and an education simple things that got somewhat complicated in the translation

Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right

No Man's Land cracks wise hoping the world will wise up

Bayou City Body Snatchers

How cold war fears fueled a hot market for Houston's human parts business.

Battle Corps

How the fine art of diplomacy dissolved into a bitter two-word war

Overthrow the Revolution

Factory Direct might be the Next Big Thing

Correct-a-mundo

Fumbling towards reality

Seek Bomb Shelter

Director Rod Lurie's nuclear debate blows up in his face

Rotation

See Juarez

From a forthcoming book by Charles Bowden and the street shooters of Ciudad Juarez The photojournalists of the border are capturing the grisly face of the future. And it's a lot closer than you think.

Brothers of the Road

'The I-69 "NAFTA Highway" is supposed to create thousands of jobs. Thanks to your tax dollars, it's already provided a very good one for the underemployed brother of Tom DeLay.

The Insider

The Brother Graham (Part II)

Once upon a time in Humble, there lived two guys named Pat and Mike. They had a way of making people believe, and those people included some of Texas' highest public officials. While it turned out that their stories usually were just too good to be true

He Spanked an American Hero

And it's not every candidate for Congress who can say that

Press Picks

Faded Love

When romance wanes, the politics can turn really personal

The Poison Connection

A "gas leak" in a Matamoros chemical plant wafts a poison and paper cloud toward a corporate office in Houston