World Politics

Rick Perry May Be Speaking Softly but Wielding a Veto Pen This Session

The excitement was palpable as Governor Rick Perry strode into the House chamber just over two years ago to make his State of the State speech. Months before the four-term Republican governor declared his run for president, Capitol observers were parsing his every phrase and praising his uncanny po ... More >>

Are You There, Senate? It's Me, the National Rifle Association's Legislative Dude

Figuring that the pen is mightier than the, uh, firearm, the National Rifle Association's legislative director has sent an open letter to the U.S. Senate, stating the association's stance against a Senate bill that would regulate private gun transfers and expand background checks. Senate Bill 649, ... More >>

2012 Turkeys of the Year

Puffed up, plucked and ready for roasting, here's this year's best of the worst.

Feds Toss Out Texas's Redistricting Maps: Biased Against Minorities, Panel Says

The Texas GOP's lengthy effort to create redistricting maps that federal judges say don't discriminate against minorities hit another snag today when a three-judge panel in D.C. threw out the latest plan. The judges said the proposed maps failed to meet fairness standards using various tests and an ... More >>

One Year Ago, Rick Perry Entered The Presidential Race. How'd That Go?

It seems like several lifetimes ago, but in fact it was exactly one year ago today that the world got its first full day of Rick Perry, presidential candidate. With all the pomp, not to mention circumstance, attendant on such an august occasion, the governor of Texas deigned to allow voters to elev ... More >>

Stuart Neville: Ratlines

10 Rock Stars the GOP Should Nominate for President

As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the GOP is serious about wresti ... More >>

Comment of the Day: A Rick Perry Supporter Baffled By Whole "Sarcasm" Concept

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 involving wit ... More >>

Rocks Off Picks The GOP Theme Songs

​Now that the Iowa Caucus has narrowed down the field a bit, we would like to take this opportunity to offer some advice to the remaining candidates for the Republican nomination to vie with president Obama in the November election. What you guys need is some catchy theme songs, and we have so ... More >>

Occupy Wall Street: 99 Percent Protesters March to City Hall for Occupy Houston

See lots more pics of the protest in our slideshow. Joining a movement of protests across the country, several hundred Houstonians gathered at Market Square Park this morning to march to Hermann Square in front of City Hall, which they plan to occupy indefinitely in solidarity with the Occupy Wall ... More >>

Five Reasons Why Perry's Attempt to Block Negative Social Media Content Is a Bad Idea

Controlling negative publicity is tough business in the modern world. Virtually everything is caught on tape -- good and bad -- and the Internet provides the ideal place for opposition. From anonymous commenters to bloggers to people on social networking sites, it is impossible to prevent negative c ... More >>

Rebecca Forest: Tea Party Leader Tells Austin Rally There's Too Many Hispanics in Legislature

This weekend saw another thrilling right-wing rally in Austin, and in this one Rebecca Forest, a co-founder of an immigration group called Women on the Wall, offered a unique take on why Texas can't get hard-core legislation passed like Arizona and Alabama. If you want to know why we can't pass leg ... More >>

Sonogram Bill Signed: Three White Guys Sitting Around Talking

Sid Miller knows best.​Texas, you may now consider yourself even more safe when it comes to women abortin' babies just `cause they feel like it. Governor Rick Perry, in a big ceremonial show, signed into law the bill that mandates women seeking abortions must undergo sonograms. His official ... More >>

75 MPH Speed Limit Passes: Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

The Texas Senate has sent to the governor's desk a bill allowing 75 mph speed limits in semi-deserted parts of Texas. Assuming that the Tea Party is not against, Rick Perry is expected to sign it. So get ready to put the pedal to the metal, Texas, and try to imagine what it must have been like in t ... More >>

Rick Perry Wades into Foreign Policy

But he can't see Russia from his front porch.​Governor Rick Perry has told reporters he's too busy with the legislative session to think about running for the presidency, but luckily -- news flash!! -- the legislative session is dealing with American foreign policy. Apparently. Perry's office ... More >>

Cactus Poaching

The Whipping Boy

How did class size limits become the symbol of an unnecessary luxury in our schools?

The Texas Lege: Five Crazy Things It Will Debate In 2010

Come for the budget-cutting, stay for the insanity​We regret to inform you that 2011 is one of those godforsaken years when the Texas Legislature will be in session. We further regret to inform you that Republicans have a supermajority in the House, and almost half of those GOPers are proud m ... More >>

Return to Sender

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

Rep. Aaron Pena: GOP Gets Its Supermajority In Texas House: Now It Begins

It's a stampede!!​The upcoming legislative session in Austin might get pretty wild and entertaining -- if not beneficial to anyone who fears the GOP/Tea Party agenda -- thanks to a move today. State Rep. Aaron Pena, a Democrat from Edinburg, is about to announce he is now Aaron Pena, Republic ... 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.

King Street Patriots Ready To Go National

The King Street Patriots have plans. Big plans. ​At a King Street Patriots meeting Monday night, the group proved, at least for one week, that it's doing what Democrats and liberals couldn't after riding a wave of emotion to Election Day victories in 2008: still showing up. The group's founder, Ca ... More >>

GOP Is the New Black, Billboard Wrongly Claims

How much more hip can the GOP get?​Raging Elephants, the cutting-edge black Republican group that gets invited to all the best Tea Party events, and will no doubt be shown on camera often during speech cutaways at the 2012 GOP Convention, is proudly proclaiming conservative hipness on a South Loop ... More >>

Rick Perry & Bill White: Midnight Is Nigh In The Great (And Silly) Deadline For Debates

Debates over debates are so fun​The finger-pointing continued Wednesday as the great gubernatorial debate over who's at fault for not having a gubernatorial debate came to Houston.Republican Governor Rick Perry has given Democrat candidate Bill White until midnight tonight to release tax returns f ... More >>

1 In 5 Texas Republicans Support Secession; 1 In 5 Texans Support Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens: Texas does not have your back​Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that recently did a survey on the governor's race and other political matters.They threw in some other questions, too, and found some intriguing results. A full 21 percent of Texas Republicans support secession, ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Unlike refugees from other troubled countries, only a fraction of Mexicans seeking U.S. asylum are accepted – no matter how horrible their wounds or their stories.

New Anti-Perry Ad: Can The Return Of The Chicken Suit Be Far Behind?

Subtle.​Back to Basics, a PAC supporting Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White, has unleashed a new anti-Rick Perry ad. We're not sure, but we think they're questioning the current governor's manhood. Tell Rick Perry to stop cowering and face Texans like a man. White's supporters are cont ... More >>

Seized

Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Badlands

From Ground Zero of the immigration crisis along the Mexican border

A Day At Discovery Green With The Tea Partiers

Photo by Marc Brubaker​The noise leading into the November election is only getting louder, as the dissent on the right side of the nation grows deafening. Yesterday on Discovery Green, a group of at least 1,000 Houston Tea Party supporters and some from other spaces in Texas converged to hold a T ... More >>

Kinky Friedman

Marriage and...what else? Illegal Immigration...again!

A Darker Look at Che's Revolution

After Guevara destroyed his family and his fortune, Gustavo Villoldo hunted the revolutionary leader to his grave.

Continental Airlines Manages To Piss Off India

Continental Airlines is having a tough stretch -- its CEO quit, its recently announced earnings are dismaying Wall Street (What do those two things have in common? Hmmm....), its laying off a bunch of workers, and now it's got the parliament of India all in an uproar.Indian politicians are shocked, ... More >>

Crooked Fences: Border Realities

Web exclusive!

Representative Al Green Fights His Own Vietnam War

The DREAM Act Might Be Dead, But These Kids' Hopes Are Not

They are American in everything but name. They can go to college in Texas and improve themselves. Doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they're just illegal immigrants without social security numbers or futures.

John W. Dean

Former Nixon White House counsel calls out Bush … yup, you heard that right

Straight Talk with World Net Daily

Border Fence May Destroy Wildlife Habitat

U.S. Fish and Wildlife services spent $80 million to reclaim wildlife habitat in South Texas. Now Homeland Security is ready to wipe that out.

Karachi Rock

Haven't heard of Junoon? They've sold 20 million albums, and they're at the Meridian this week.

The Chef Who Almost Wasn't

Zumm Escudier has put the Angelika Cafe back on track, but her path has been long and winding

Shore Thing

Plus: Driving Us Nuts, Cheap Thrills, Gong Wrongs

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

Low Fidel-ity

There's more than just the Gulf of Mexico between musicians in Cuba and those from Cuba

Cry for It, Argentina

Evita boils down the complexity of its title character to a series of impressive leg kicks

The Insider

What's Driving Miss Shelia?

With her frenetic grandstanding, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has irritated her staff, her colleagues, and even the president. she says she speaks for her constituents. But will anyone listen?

Letters

The Poison Connection

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