Interesting article in today’s The American Prospect online. A new study says the more secular residents there are in a neighborhood, the more conservative their religious neighbors become. Let’s say you’re a progressive who isn’t religious, and you aren’t afraid to say so. You’ve long since cast off the beliefs your parents held, and you [...]

So I received my 2007 Notice of Appraised Value from the Travis County Appraisal District today. The appraised value of my house more than doubled. The land the house sits on exactly doubled. And, thus, my property taxes more than doubled, with the single highest tax, of course, being for Austin ISD. But that’s not [...]

More National Guard soldiers from Austin and San Antonio shipped off for a tour in Iraq over the weekend. As sad as their departure is, I still think it’s healthy, to some degree, that our true citizen soldiers — those who are civilians most of the time and soldiers part of the time — be [...]

In all the wrong ways, once again: America may spew more greenhouse gases than any other country, but some states are astonishingly more prolific polluters than others — and it’s not always the ones you might expect. The Associated Press analyzed state-by-state emissions of carbon dioxide from 2003, the latest U.S. Energy Department numbers available. [...]

“That’s just how I roll.” – UT student Laura Ashley Hall, quoted by a witness in a police affidavit, on why she allegedly helped accused murderer Colton Pitonyak flee to Mexico. [Sept. 2 issue] I was disappointed to find that the above quote only made it to number four on The Austin Chronicle’s top ten [...]

I may not be able to say bad things about legislators, but, fortunately, McBlogger takes on my representative for me.

Well, the war in Iraq has made itself felt in Austin now. Austin has largely been immune to the reality of the wartime experience endured by those living in Killeen, Copperas Cove and other towns outside Fort Hood. Given the lack of a military presence (since Bergstrom closed) in Austin, maybe it’s good that the [...]