The Texas Observer

Dialogue

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Political Intelligence

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A recent meeting of the House State Affairs Committee in Austin served as a forum for immigrant-bashing by some of the statehouses most prominent wingnuts, who are still peeved that Speaker Tom Craddick and cohorts quashed anti-immigrant legislation last session.

Systemic Neglect

Dave Mann — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Those charged with caring for mentally retarded patients in state institutions are victimizing them. But within these facilitieswhere stories are rarely as simple as they first appear the reality is more complex. Yes, there are abuses of the mentally retarded in Texas public institutions, but these isolated cases of cruelty are just the beginning of the problem.

The Oil Conundrum

Robert Bryce — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In this excerpt from Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence," Robert Bryce discusses the demise of the United States oil industry as the dominant global player and analyzes efforts to use energy more efficiently.

Freebies, Failures, and Delusions

Jim Hightower — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Last Pig Standing

John MacCormack — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

It feels like time stopped in 1963 at the faded old Pig Stand restaurant on lower Broadway in San Antonio. The restaurant is a uniquely Texan gastronomical shrine, the last of the fabled Pig Stand restaurants, where the celebration of old cars, vintage rock and roll, and throwback fare like pork sandwiches never dies.

Logical Conclusions

C.B. Evans — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In World Made By Hand, James Howard Kunstler moves beyond the realm of hypothesis and abstraction, conveying his vision of a post-oil society through a richly descriptive narrative.

King for a Day

Steve McVicker — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Investigative journalist Steve McVicker remembers his longtime friend, acclaimed and troubled independent filmmaker Eagle Pennell, who lived on and off the streets for the last years of his life. McVicker blends his memories with musings on The King of Texas, a recent documentary that records the poignant story of Pennells brilliant but largely wasted life.

Editorial

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The soon-to-be longest-serving governor in Texas history had declared he will campaign for another term. In his last election, Rick Perry won only 39 percent of the vote against a lackluster field of opponents. The competition in 2010 will presumably be more robust.

Dialogue

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Editorial

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Recent court decisions have carved a path for corporate money in Texas elections that reform-minded Texas have tried to keep closed for more than a century. Its time for a strong, clear, enforceable campaign finance law to stem the flow once and for all.

Political Intelligence

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Texas House Speaker Tom Craddicks investment portfolio appreciated an enviable 92 percent over the past four years. County assessors estimated that the value of Craddicks oil properties almost doubled in this period, from $537,130 to more than $1 million.

Vote by Mail, Go to Jail

Steven Rosenfeld — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Since 2005, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, has been prosecuting Democratic Party activists, almost all minorities, as part of an effort to eradicate what hes described as an epidemic of voter fraud in Texas.

Unconventional Wisdom

Texas Observer Staff — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

With record-breaking Democratic turnout for Texas caucuses have come unprecedented headaches, and opportunity. About 100,000 Lone Star Democrats participated in the second step in Texas three-part caucus to determine how 67 delegates will be apportioned between Democratic presidential aspirants Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Creosote Blues Revisited

Paul Sweeney — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Before he died, cancer had eaten away Don Hightowers face. A few years earlier, Hightower had won a mediation settlement against his employer, BNSF Railway Co., North Americas second-largest railroad, for disfigurement.

Hidden Facts, Apocryphal Tales

Jim Hightower — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Serendipity Wrangler

Stayton Bonner — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Almost 22 years ago, Bill Wittliff parlayed a windfall purchase of J. Frank Dobies archives into the beginning of The Southwestern Writers Collection, which holds papers and artifacts of regional writers, filmmakers, musicians, and photographers.

A Novelist in Full

Azita Osanloo — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Within the first three pages of Susan Chois hypnotically absorbing new novel, A Person of Interest, a mail bomb blows up in the office of a brilliant young computer science professor. Review by Azita Osanloo.

Politics & Prose with Elizabeth Hailey

Robert Leleux — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Robert Leleux discusses his recent conversation with Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of the trailblazing A Woman of Independent Means. Hailey reveals that shes recently devoted herself to anti-war work, declaring, Like a lot of women my age, I missed the 60s because I was at home raising my daughters. But now that Im in my 60s, Im ready for the front lines.

Dialogue

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Editorial

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Political Intelligence

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

There are seven religious fundamentalists on the 15-member State Board of Education. That means Texas schools are one seat away from being forced to promote creationism and abstinence-only sex education.

Good to Glow

Forrest Wilder — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As the president of Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists says in this latest Observer expos, if a radioactive dump cant be approved in Texas, it probably cant be approved anywhere in the nation.

Bite Back!

Jim Hightower and Susan DeMarco — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In this excerpt from Swim Against the Current, Jim Hightower and Susan DeMarco discuss how Americans can fight blind consumerism and reclaim the food they eat.

Sino Eyes

David Theis — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Under the guidance of co-founders and curators Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, FotoFest, the biennial Houston photography extravaganza has always been something of a cultural agenda-setter.

The Right Way, Reclaimed

Emily DePrang — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Great Awakening is important not only because it seeks to incite changes the nation sorely needs, but because it shows that the Bible is a sort of Rorschach test, as effective a tool for liberation as for oppression.

Remembering Joe

Michael Erard — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Michael Erard remembers a remarkable rambler and autodidact who made his way in his old age to the Cozy Courts cottages in Alpine, TX.

Organic Labor

Jim Hightower and Susan DeMarco — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

More Than One Man Can Chew

James E. McWilliams — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Big claims. Not too much support. Mostly unconvincing. Observer reviewer James McWilliams casts a critical eye on Michael Pollans most recent book, In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto.

Deep in My Heart in Texas

Fredric Alan Maxwell — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

After traveling from his home in Montana to help rebuild Louisiana, Fredric Alan Maxwell suffered a series of heart attacks. He received adequate hospital treatment, but when he was literally dumped on the street afterward, he began a highly personal study of the seriously broken Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Health Care System.

Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Political Intelligence

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Seven-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Dawnna Dukes survived charges of being cozy with Speaker Tom Craddick and taking cash from Houston developer Bob Perry to win District 46 with 61 percent of the vote.

Dialogue

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Private Trauma

Patrick Michels — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

After truck driver Preston Wheeler went to Iraq as an employee with Houston-based KBR, Inc., his convoy came under attack. Wheeler received two bullets in the arm and shoulder a gruesome spectacle he recorded on digital video and later posted to YouTube, attracting millions of viewers and landing the contract employee interviews on CNN and ABC News.

Editorial

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Iraq war is five years old. It has lasted longer than both World Wars, claimed the lives of 3,987 service men and women, and an estimated 600,000 Iraqi lives. Its time to end this unconscionable war and honor our men and women in uniform by bringing them home.

The Skins They Carried

Michael May — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

There are four basic types of military tattoos, and tattoo artist Toby Fry says he can pick a fresh recruit from a veteran based on the type of tattoo he or she chooses. Writer Michael May spent time with Fry and some of his clients in Killeen, Texas.

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Texas Observer Staff — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The presidential road show has rolled out of Texasafter its first full run in 20 years but the politicking hasnt stopped.

See No Evil

Emily DePrang — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In this disturbing expos, writer Emily DePrang reports that the Houston Police Department is failing to respond adequately to many of the approximately 36,000 domestic violence calls it receives each year.

Selective Enforcement

Melissa del Bosque — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

On January 5, 2006, President George W. Bush signed legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Yet late last year, Bushs own administration began to systematically ignore the law, according to immigration lawyers familiar with the process.

The Safe Place

Dave Mann — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The Capital City has earned a national reputation for dealing with and preventing domestic violence. These programs give victims the means and the hope to move past the violence that once overpowered their lives.

Ranch Dressing

Steven G. Kellman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

David Modiglianis new documentary, Crawford, is a cinematic portrait of a town whose population of 705 has been overshadowed by presidential entourages, outside agitators, members of the media, and curious tourists.

Editorial

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The Observer exposes gross deficiencies in how the Houston Police Department treats domestic violence cases, highlights successful efforts in Austin, and examines the Bush administrations disregard of the Violence Against Women Act.

Political Intelligence

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Americana If you think people in America should only speak English, maybe Texas isn't the state for you. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of people who reported speaking a language at home that's not English rose by 860,000 to 6.86 million.

Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Dialogue

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Tear Down the Wall

Michael Hoinski — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Consisting mostly of native Mexicans, Las Palmas updates the banda genre by using it as a platform to rail against increasing border security.

The ACLU in TexasThe Early Years

David Richards — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

On March 8, the Texas ACLU will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Its a storied history full of setbacks and improbable victories. Today, the organization is as strong as it has ever been.

Holes in the Wall

Melissa del Bosque — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Homeland Security wont say why the border wall is bypassing the wealthy and politically connected.

Back in the Saddle

Forrest Wilder and Dave Mann — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The Obama and Clinton campaigns, volunteers, and voters are dusting off the rulebooks and learning, or relearning, the peculiar ins and outs of how Texas selects Democratic presidential candidates. The Observer takes an in-depth look at how the Texas caucus system works and the impact it will have on the Democratic primary.

How the Texas Caucus Works

Forrest Wilder — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500