U.S. House of Representatives

Tribal Chiefs Walk Out of Keystone Talks, Demand Presidential Meeting

If you're the leader of a sovereign nation meeting with another sovereign nation to discuss a pipeline that will tote thick, sticky tar sands oil through your land if the project is approved, you might be just a little put out when the head of the other nation doesn't make time to sit down and talk ... More >>

State Rep Wants to Force Universities to Allow Faculty to Research Intelligent Design, Thousand-Head Giants, and Earth-Creating Ravens

The current legislative session has been, as far as we can tell at Hair Balls, a series of marginal victories for the state's education system. The voucher system State Sen. Dan Patrick attempted to instill -- the same kind that's beset Georgia in corrupt conflicts; the same sort that's hollowed Lou ... More >>

Six HPD Officers To Be Honored By Governor For Above-And-Beyond Services Rendered

Governor Rick Perry will honor six Houston police officers tomorrow for the service they gave the public, service that left them wounded from gunshots or other actions. The officers will receive the Star of Texas Award, which "were created to honor and commemorate selected first responders who made ... More >>

Louisiana Senate Votes to Beg Roger Goodell to Unsuspend Saints Players and Coaches

Let me preface what I am about to say by noting that I love the State of Louisiana. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip to the state. It's one of my favorite places to visit, complete with otherworldly cuisine, ultra-accessible alcohol and gambling, and unintentional comedy galore. In short, I a ... More >>

Cornbreadd Goes To Washington: Maurice Duhon Talks U.S. House Campaign

Cornbreadd - make that Maurice Duhon Jr. - is, to use a term of the trade, good copy. He's articulate, opinionated and effervescent, a tireless self-promoter with a genuine concern for and interest in the welfare of others - first his fans as the rapping front man of Houston Press Music Award winne ... More >>

Brinson's "Tebowin'" Puts Christianity Under Center

Rocks Off is fascinated by Tim Tebow for the simple fact that he is one of the most divisive figures we have seen in the last decade. He parts the Red Sea of public opinion, like Obama does the U.S. House of Representatives.  One doesn't need to live in Denver to understand this. Simply, scro ... More >>

Funny HPMA Nomination Ballot Fails

​It does Rocks Off's heart good to see that our Music Award nominations have stirred up so much debate. As we mentioned Tuesday, according to our Web people, there were some 9,000 nominations submitted across our 43 categories. Of course there's no way for us to really know, but as far as we ... More >>

8 Memories from Congressional Page Land: Sandwiches with the Speaker, Shaking Bill Clinton's Hand and Stealing KFC Decals

Qui-Gon in your room?​Today, it was announced that the House of Representatives Page Program, a program both steeped in history and marred by scandal, is coming to an end. According to USA Today, House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cited the $5 million annual expenditu ... More >>

It's Pi Day, Pi Day, Gotta Get Down on Pi Day

​In keeping with Rocks Off's latest obsession, compiling soundtracks for oddball holidays, we were tickled pink as a chorus girl's nipple to learn that this Friday is Pi Approximation Day. The holiday was first in 1988 by a physicist named Larry Shaw, who made everyone march in a circle then ... More >>

You Won't Have Ron Paul to Kick Around Anymore (Unless He Wins the White House)

Ron, we hardly knew ye.​Will the U.S. be able to survive without Ron Paul in the House of Representatives? We're about to find out. Paul's district newspaper, the Brazosport Facts, reports today that Paul will not seek re-election after almost a quarter-century in Congress. Instead, the 75-y ... More >>

10 Politician Photos Sexier Than Anthony Weiner's Shots (NSFW)

If you've ever had any curiosity about how photogenic Anthony Weiner's crotch is, you're having a great week or so. (The answer, by the way, is "Not one-on hundredth as photogenic as he seems to think it is.") Weiner, who's taken a leave of absence from the U.S. House of Representatives to deal wit ... More >>

Life After Rock Stardom: 7 Artists' Post-Musical Careers

naylandhouse.comFuture ordained minister MC Hammer wasn't kidding on his 1990 hit single "Pray."​Let's face it. Not everyone is cut out for - or interested in - being a sixtysomething rock star. But what type of careers awaits a retired musician? Many rock stars stay in the music industry real ... More >>

Legislature Makes Western Swing Official Texas Music

News Flash: Hank Williams still not a Texan nodepression.comBob "Willis" & His Texas Playboys​It appears Rocks Off's efforts of a few weeks ago were all for naught. Despite presenting what we thought was a fairly persuasive San Jacinto Day argument to the contrary, earlier today the Texas L ... More >>

Legislative Victory for Texas Beer

kMatherlyCheers indeed. Local breweries celebrate a win in the House of Representatives.Just as we were bemoaning the huge, wet bite the IRS took out of our savings account, along comes an example of tax dollars being put to good use. On April 21 the office of State Representative Jessica Farrar (D, ... More >>

Scott Hochberg: Politically Extinct Due To Redistricting?

Scott Hochberg has a target on his back​A marathon session in the state House of Representatives has produced a proposed redistricting map, and it's bad news for two Houston Democrats: Scott Hochberg and Hubert Vo. Houston loses one district under the map, and in the game of musical chairs, i ... More >>

The ALL CAPS chicas

Sheila Jackson Lee in the Muslim Hearings: YouTube Hit

The U.S. House's bizarre hearings on Muslims (sorry, "radical" Muslims) included a noteworthy speech by Rep. Keith Ellison, the only Muslim member of Congress, who teared up while remembering a Muslim first responder who died on 9/11. And then there was Sheila Jackson Lee. Love her or hate her, she ... More >>

Lack Of Social Safety Net Tying Many Musicians To Day Jobs

"I fantasize sometimes that my musical career would hit gold and help us escape these grim realities, but it's not something I really expect to happen." ​There are few issues in the current political climate more fraught with contention than whether or not the U.S. government will take a more ... More >>

Tom DeLay Gets Jail Time

The Hammer gets the slammer​Tom DeLay's sentence has been handed out, and it's not a slap on the wrist: He's going to prison for three years with no probation on the conspiracy charges. DeLay was also sentenced by judge Pat Priest to 10 years' probation on a money-laundering charge, according ... More >>

What To Do When The Crowd Yells "Free Bird!"

​Sooooooo.... Thursday, the U.S. Constitution was read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives, an act that Rocks Off views as the government equivalent of doing your homework on the morning bus, but whatever. Just as Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. was reading the bit about the eligibi ... More >>

Top Ten Celebrities This Decade Who Crashed and Burned with Video Evidence

And a partridge in a pear tree...​Last week, we gave you our list of celebrities who manage to save their careers after difficult times. This week, we go a different direction. If we have learned anything from TMZ, it's that people love celebrity scandals and the more salacious it is, the more ... More >>

"Auld Lang Syne," In All Its Many Colors

​Harry: What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. "Should old acquaintance be forgot" - does that mean we should forget old acquaintances, or if we happen to forget them, that we should remember them, which is not possible because we've already forgotten them? ... More >>

Return to Sender

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

Just What America Needs: Four More Texas Votes In The U.S. House Of Representatives

Texas is a big winner​Republicans in the Texas Legislature have already been salivating over the opportunity to redraw Congressional districts with little to no interference from those annoying Democrats. The U.S. Census just handed them another gift: Four more seats to mess with. A 20 perce ... More >>

What's So Damn Controversial About Cleaner, Safer Food?

​The plant was filthy and infested with vermin, with holes as large as 2 ½ feet in the ceilings leaking water and runoff from the air conditioner units onto the finished product stored below. Records posted on the web by attorney Bill Marler show that executives at Peanut Corporation of Ameri ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Russell Pearce and Other Illegal-Immigration Populists Rely on Misleading, Right-Wing Reports to Scapegoat Immigrants and Terrify Penny-Pinched Americans.

DJ Premier: A Pillar Of Hip-Hop History

​Maybe it's leaving behind our twenties and embracing our thirties, but we've been so concerned with the past lately... history, that is. We've been talking to our grandmother in the last few months about her life as a young child growing up on the Texas border. You truly don't know someone b ... More >>

Beauty School Dropouts

HISD might close cosmetology program.

Greenpeace Says Dow's Freeport Chemical Plant Has Lousy Security

You won't be smiling when the leak comes​Think all those toxic chemicals stockpiled at industrial plants around Houston are safe and secure? Well, think again.According to Greenpeace, the giant holding tanks and railroad cars full full of hazardous materials are ripe for disaster -- be it by terro ... More >>

They Were Kinky Before Kinky Was Kinky: Musicians Who Have Held Public Office

From Ted Nugent to Bruce Springsteen to those adorable Dixie Chicks, "Masters of War" to "George Bush doesn't care about black people," musicians have never been shy about voicing their political opinions. But when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are and filing the necessary pape ... More >>

Out of the Past

Stuck in the asylum with Martin Scorsese — head-trip Shutter Island is the good kind of insane.

Turkeys of the Year

In a highly competitive 2009 field, Governor Rick Perry is the biggest gobbler of them all.

Stranger Musical Pairings Than Dancing With the Stars' Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke

​Dancing With the Stars announced the pairings for its upcoming season Monday - like you care - and while some out there are no doubt crunching the odds of Debi Mazar and that Russian guy squaring off with Chuck Liddell and...that Russian chick in the finals, local interest is still focused on fo ... More >>

Tom DeLay to Debut the "Bitch Slap" on Dancing With the Stars Next Month

News is leaking out of Hollywood that former U.S. House Majority Leader and mugshot model Tom DeLay will be part of the cast of next season's ABC hoofer ratings smash Dancing With the Stars. What hasn't come out yet is DeLay's plans to debut a new dance called the "Bitch Slap," an arm-movement-heav ... More >>

Ron Paul, Crusading Against All Pork But His

Photo courtesy Ron PaulOf all the Republicans in the US House of Representatives, who do you think has the most earmarks in the omnibus spending bill? Some RINO from up north?Nah. It's our own Ron Paul, stalwart criticizer of government spending (that's not in his district.)Fox News is touting the s ... More >>

Artist of the Week: The Sans-Bayonet

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. It was recently menti ... More >>

Gloom And Doom For Uninsured Texas Children

Online Fun

You, too, can patrol our borders

A Fallen Star Is Born

Tom DeLay's scandals are a gold mine for two Texas filmmakers

Rapping on Heaven's Door

Can Christian hip-hop save Enock from his demons?

Race for the House

Chris Bell finds it's lonely being white on this campaign trail

Best Role Model

Terry Hershey

Best Republican

State Representative John Culberson, winner of the GOP nomination in the Seventh Congressional District

News of the Weird

The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker

Karl Rove has masterminded all of Bush's political victories. Now he faces his toughest challenge: convincing you that the presidential front-runner owns his own soul.

Letters

Alison Cook looks back at 1997: The Year That Bit

The Wendy Card

Wendy Gramm's all-American success story is a centerpiece of her husband's fledgling presidential bid. But there's more to the story than what's being packaged and sold by the Phil Gramm campaign.

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?

Sheila Keeps Quiet