Oh No, Oberg! Mike Royko and Falkenberg!

KTRK-TV’s Ted Oberg tweeted the following yesterday:

Ted Oberg @tedoberg 15h15 hours ago
Need Help – I would love to see invites for recent Houston city council/mayoral fundraisers. Got one? Send it to me: ted.oberg@abc.com

Oh no! Who is next on the list? What is the next big City contract coming around the bend? Who will be the next to return their campaign donations? Who will be the next insider to rat on a competitor – ALLEGEDLY? Who can you trust these days over at City Hall? Another Oberg investigation!

I am thinking that maybe our State Legislators ought to add H-Town City Hall lobbyists to the list of those that couldn’t Open Carry under the bill that is on its way to the House Floor.

Commentary remembers the days when the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce gatherings were a safe place for GOP candidates for president. Those days are long gone. Here is how a Politico article starts today:

In past years, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hasn’t had much trouble getting Republican presidential prospects to address its annual legislative summit.

But none came this year.

It is immigration reform, STUPID!

Here is the entire Politico piece on the GOP candidates dodging Latino business leaders:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/hispanic-business-gop-2016-chamber-commerce-116443.html?hp=r2_3.

Commentary said this on the last day of 2014 about Lisa Falkenberg: “I am thinking Falkenberg will get some major accolades for her great work.”

I am thinking that next time I run into the Chron’s Lisa Falkenberg, I am going to have to snap up a selfie with her before she becomes too famous. I tweeted this yesterday afternoon:

Marc Campos ‏@MarcCommentary 6m6 minutes ago
Way to go @ChronFalkenberg a “powerful voice” for winning Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing http://asne.org/blog_home.asp?Display=1896 …

The award is from the American Society of News Editors. Here is from their website:

Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing

Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle will receive $2,500 for winning the Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing, which recognizes excellence in writing by an individual that expresses a personal point of view. The award is sponsored by the Chicago Tribune in memory of legendary Chicago columnist Mike Royko, who died in 1997.

From the judges:

“With clear, compelling prose and a finely honed sense of outrage, Lisa Falkenberg is a powerful voice for justice and transparency in her Houston community. With painstaking reporting and skillful storytelling, she detailed in a series of columns how Alfred Dewayne Brown, an illiterate black man, was wrongfully convicted of killing a Houston police officer through a series of stunning miscarriages of justice.”

Finalists:
 Petula Dvorak, The Washington Post
 Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press

You got it: “Lisa Falkenberg is a powerful voice for justice and transparency in her Houston community.” You can say that again! Nice job Falkenberg!

FYI: Mike Royko was a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist from Chicago who in 1971 also wrote “Boss”, an unauthorized biography of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. “Boss” was required reading back in the old days. Royko left us way too early.

Craig Biggio has been the Opening Day starting second baseman for the ‘Stros fourteen times. Name the two ‘Stros second basemen that were our Opening Day starting second basemen eight times each?

The NCAA South Regional starts this evening over at NRG in case you care. Tickets are still available. Of the four teams, I don’t know anyone that went to Gonzaga but I think it is located in the state of Washington. I don’t know anyone that went to Utah but Dante’s family has a home out there that they go stay in during vacations. My old friend Ambassador Bob Krueger picked up a graduate degree at Duke and also taught there for a bit. KHOU-TV anchor Lisa Hernandez is a UCLA Bruin and that’s all I have.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner will officially kick-off his campaign tomorrow at The Yard. I wonder if they will be having dollar dogs.

Joe Morgan and Bill Doran of course have been our Opening Day starting second basemen eight different times each.

The player we picked with the first draft choice last year but didn’t sign ended up having a dinged up pitching arm. We still didn’t do our homework and lost out on the top pick.

The ‘Stros return to The Yard one week from this evening to take on last season’s AL Champs – the Royals.

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Here and There Politics

Bill King had a reception last night at the Cadillac Bar and it was well attended. There was a ton of enthusiasm in the room.

This from the Chron about The Dean’s SB 135:

Texas senators on Monday unanimously voted to scrap the state’s controversial “pick-a-pal” method of selecting grand jurors, a sweeping reform for a system plagued for years by complaints of favoritism and manipulation.

If The Dean’s bill passes the House and reaches the Governor’s desk, I wonder if Lisa Falkenberg will be invited to the bill signing. After all, she got the discussion going.

I said this yesterday: Everybody knows that Jeff Bagwell was our Opening Day starting first baseman from 1991-2005. In all but two (1991 and 1994) of those Opening Days he batted third. Who batted third in the 1991 and 1994 Opening Days?

The Chron E-Board kind of put it on Sen. Ted Cruz today. Here are some lines:

We’re not so happy about his disdain for 30 million Texans he was elected to represent just a couple of years ago.

And:

Unlike Kay Bailey Hutchison, his predecessor in the Senate, Cruz isn’t in Washington to get things done for his state. He’s not there to govern. He sees himself as an agitator, a disruptive force who disdains crafting solutions to problems or compromising with his colleagues toward a pragmatic end.

Here is the entire E-Board take on Cruz: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Open-secret-6153711.php.

Of course, Sen. Cruz doesn’t give a rat’s arse what the E-Board thinks.

I try to stay away from Middle East issues, but I saw this tweet yesterday:

Bill Kelly retweeted
Edward-Isaac Dovere ‏@IsaacDovere 46m46 minutes ago
James Baker joins the White House in calling out Netanyahu http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/james-baker-blasts-benjamin-netanyahu-116338.html …

Here is a bit from Politico:

It’s not just Democrats and White House officials who’ve got problems with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blasting “diplomatic missteps and political gamesmanship,” former Secretary of State James Baker laid in hard to the Israeli prime minister on Monday evening, criticizing him for an insufficient commitment to peace and an absolutist opposition to the Iran nuclear talks.

Here is the Politico story:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/james-baker-blasts-benjamin-netanyahu-116338.html?hp=r1_3_b2.

On foreign policy, Secretary Baker certainly has respect. PBS is airing a show on Secretary Baker this evening. Did you know that Baker was the GOP nominee for Texas AG back in 1978 and was defeated by Mark White? Now you do.

Well, another day, another Dome deal. This one comes in at $242 million. All I can say is sell this version to the community. Here is the Chron story: http://www.chron.com/houston/article/New-Urban-Land-Institute-plan-for-Astrodome-calls-6153207.php.

Craig Biggio of course was the number three hitter on Opening Day of 1991 and 1994.

Thirteen Days until Opening Day!

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A Little Kindness

Lisa Falkenberg tweeted this Sunday and it kind of made my day:

Lisa Falkenberg @ChronFalkenberg • Dec 14
There are still honest people in the world. A guy found my wallet on street outside my house, and he just knocked on my door to return it.

May I suggest you check out her column in today’s Chron. It is about the wallet and an encounter in an elevator. It will make you go “awwwwww!”

Here is a Falkenberg tweet from this morning:

Lisa Falkenberg ‏@ChronFalkenberg 3m3 minutes ago
Column: warm fuzzy for a cold day. Shout to 2 strangers whose kindness awoke my Christmas spirit http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/falkenberg/article/The-kindness-of-strangers-gives-the-festive-5961411.php?t=0918a118b9ad6264fa&cmpid=twitter-premium … via @HoustonChron

Christmas Eve is one week from today and are you ready? As we get closer to Christmas, things kind of shut down so there is less to say – sort of.

This morning Cuba released an American citizen they had been holding in prison for the past five years. Now the President is going to announce later on today a change in our policy on Cuba which will probably pi__off far fight GOPers which means it is probably good policy.

Here is the latest CNN tweet:

CNN Breaking News ‏@cnnbrk 12m12 minutes ago
Officials: U.S. will move toward diplomatic ties with Cuba, make it easier for Americans do business with Cubans. http://cnn.it/1BXNItD

It is about time and long overdue.

Chris Carter led the ‘Stros in RBIs last season with 88. When was the last time a ‘Stro had 100 or more RBIs in a season?

Some folks were not too happy with the 2014 Texas Monthly Bum Steer Award going to Team Davis. Texas Monthly’s Erica Grieder kind of ‘splains their rationale for giving the award here: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog.

Get over it folks. They got scoreboard!

I am thinking the Chron E-Board has had it with all this border security mumbo jumbo coming out of the Lone Star State Capitol. Here is how they end their border security take today:

We are weary of seeing our state’s leaders resort to cheap demagoguery about the border.

We would urge them to replace it with fact-based reason, which might result in constructive policy instead of silly symbolic gestures that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Here is the entire E-Board take: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Symbolic-gestures-5961470.php.

The Coogs signed up a new head football coach yesterday. Once he gets the team back into the rankings he’ll be gone to a Top 5 conference school. It is what it is.

Carlos Lee of course had 102 RBIs for the ‘Stros in 2009.

And here is a Footnote tweet about the ‘Stros:

Alyson Footer ‏@alysonfooter 1m1 minute ago
I haven’t said this in about a decade. The Astros have had a good offseason.

We will see.

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