Earthquakes shorten our days

Wow. I never realized that this happened.

The Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shortened the length of each Earth day … by about 1.26 microseconds. Source: NASA – Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days.

What does this mean? Is the earth is spinning faster? Some answers are around on the web, but not many.

A shortened day could mean sunlight shines on a spot for less time, and darkness would cover an area for less time too. I think what it would affect more than the clock though. I think gravity, surface temperature, climate, the moon’s orbit, satellites’ orbits, would be affected to name a few. Only (a shortened) time will tell.

Performance Rights Act and Radio Freedom Act

I heard about this today. From the http://www.noperformancetax.org/ website:

There are currently two bills pending in Congress that would levy a performance tax on local radio – H.R.848, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (MI-14) and S.379, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT). Your members of Congress need to hear that you strongly oppose these bills.

Additionally, anti-performance tax resolutions have been introduced in the House and Senate in support of local radio. In the Senate, Sens. Blanche Lincoln (AR) and John Barrasso (WY) introduced S. Con. Res. 14, and in the House, Reps. Gene Green (TX-29) and Mike Conaway (TX-11) introduced H. Con. Res. 49. Both are known as the Local Radio Freedom Act. Many members of Congress already support local radio and resolutions against the performance tax. Others still need to hear your voice.

Take action now!

Neither Texas senator supports S. Con. Res. 14, the Local Radio Freedom Act. Tell them how you feel.

• Sen. John Cornyn (R)
• Sen. Kay Hutchison (R)

The following Texas representatives support H. Con. Res. 49, the Local Radio Freedom Act:

• Brady, Kevin
• Burgess, Michael
• Conaway, Mike
• Carter, John
• Culberson, John
• Cuellar, Henry
• Edwards, Chet
• Granger, Kay
• Green, Al
• Green, Gene
• Hinojosa, Rubén
• Hall, Ralph
• Marchant, Kenny
• McCaul, Michael
• Neugebauer, Randy
• Olson, Pete
• Ortiz, Solomon
• Paul, Ron
• Poe, Ted
• Reyes, Silvestre
• Sessions, Pete
• Thornberry, Mac

Social Media Bursting Bubbles

From Business Insider, an online news site, an article titled “This Guy Represents The Biggest Bubble Yet” talks about how Keith McCullough, CEO of Hedgeye, thinks politics is the next bubble.

The story is really shallow, but it made me think of the bigger picture. If there is a bubble it’s actually part of a transparency bubble that exists in every private and public sector. If it bursts it will be because the sector didn’t share the truth with their customers or constituents. This is a growing concept in social media and it pervades the latest generation(s) of workers/voters. Basically the concept says, “if you can’t converse with me and be honest then I don’t want to be your friend and you can’t follow me.”

Doing a Google search for this topic I found a note-page on Facebook that was written by Keith McCullough that talks about the bubble of U.S. politics.

2010 Election Information for Central Texas

Since today, February 15, is the start of early voting in the Texas Primary, I thought I would list the candidates so I know who is running and who to vote for. The following is the most current information I could find as of January 30, 2010.

Texas Secretary of State website lists Important Dates for 2010 Elections in Texas:

• Primary election day: March 2, 2010
• Primary runoff day: April 13, 2010
• May uniform election date: May 8, 2010
• November uniform election date: November 2, 2010

The Secretary’s website also lists What is on the ballot.

U.S. Congress:

First, look at the congressional district map for Texas. I live in the 17th congressional district for the U. S. House of Representatives; south central Texas including Waco and Bryan.

Senators:

• Sen. John Cornyn (R) Next Election: 2014
• Sen. Kay Hutchison (R) Next Election: 2012

Representatives (District 17):

• Rep. Chet Edwards (D) Next Election: 2010

Election Candidates:

• Chet Edwards (D)
• Rob Curnock (R)
• Timothy Delasandro (R)
• Bill Flores (R)
• Dave McIntyre (R)
• Chuck Wilson (R)
• Richard B. Kelly (L)

Texas Legislature:

I live in the Senate’s 5th district and House’s 14th district.

Texas Senate (District 5):

• Steve Ogden (R) Next Election: 2010

Election Candidates:

• Steve Ogden (R)
• Ben Bius (R)
• Stephen M. Wyman (D)

Texas House (District 14):

• Brown, Fred (R) Next Election: 2010

Election Candidates:

• Fred Brown (R)
• Rick Davis (R)
• Gerald “Buddy” Winn (R)
• Blanche Brick (R)

Texas Governor:

Rick Perry (R) Next Election: 2010

Election Candidates:

• Rick Perry (R)
• Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)
• Debra Medina (R)
• Larry Kilgore (R)
• Bill Lawrence (R)
• Koo-Hyun “John” Kim (R)
• Felix Alvarado (D)
• Bill Dear (D)
• Farouk Shami (D)
• Bill White (D)
• Alma Ludivina Aguado (D)
• Clement E. Glenn (D)
• Star Locke (D)
• Jeff Daiell (Libertarian)
• Kenneth Griffin (Libertarian)
• Steve Nichols (Libertarian)
• Fran Cavanaugh (Independent)
• Les Sanderfer (Independent)
• Kevin Still (Independent)
• Clement Glenn (Independent)
• M.J. “Smitty” Smith (Libertarian)
• Ed Tidwell (Libertarian)
• David Carpenter (Independent)
• Curtis “Tank” Hartfield (Independent)
• Kenneth Richardson (Independent)
• John Roland Ross (Independent)

Here is some interesting news. Texas Senator Steve Ogden (R-District 5) is Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. This position has an automatic seat on the Legislative Budget Board (LBB). The LBB decides, among other things, the State’s support to public universities. So, one of the people that lowered property taxes (temporarily) and raised cigarette taxes (permanently) in the name of education* will help decide how that money is spent. It’s good to be in Finance.

* From Steve Ogden’s website, I’m Proud of What We Accomplished in the Special Session: ”Other tax changes included revising the calculation of sales tax on used cars and raising the cigarette tax by $1 per pack effective January 1, 2007.At the end of the day,this means state tax revenues will now fund about half of public education, up from approximately 38 percent today.”

Obama a lame duck in less than a year

Tomorrow, January 21, is Obama’s first anniversary as president. Last night Massachusetts elected a Republican senator to replace Democrat Ted Kennedy after he left office in August for health reasons. This gives Republicans the necessary 41 votes to kill any legislation in the Senate. In one quick and decisive move the GOP has rendered Obama a lame duck less than one year after he took office.

Who would have thought that Teddy Kennedy would be succeeded in the U.S. Senate by a Republican? The GOP now has the necessary 41 votes to block anything that the Democratic Senate majority wants to do, from passing legislation to confirming judges. The White House has been very slow to fill judicial and U.S. attorney slots and have squandered that opportunity. The Democrats have achieved NOTHING, and now they can’t do anything without Republican votes. George W. Bush became a lame duck with two years to go when the Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2006 midterms. Obama may have become a lame duck for the remainder of his term. Source: Unhappy anniversary | BurkaBlog.

The health care bill that was before the senate seems all but doomed to fail in light of this election. Time will tell, but I don’t expect any helpful legislation coming from Washington any time soon.

Budget cuts for Texas’ universities

In 2009 I said the recession isn’t over. I guess it needs to be said again – for future reference: history repeats itself! This is the third time I’ve gone through a recession or slow-down or bubble-burst in the 15 years that I’ve lived in Texas. In the public sector, especially higher education, I think the recession doesn’t really hit until 2 years after the worst of it hits the rest of the world. If we say the recession started in 2008, it was at its worst in 2009, then higher education can expect the worst (at least in Texas) in 2010-11. It’s no coincidence that the Texas legislature is deciding the biennial budget for 2010-11, and universities are facing huge budget cuts – some as much as $14 Million each year. The worst is still to come.

Texas A&M may have to cut $28 million out of its budget over two years. Source: Texas A&M looking for funds to cut after state mandate | The Eagle.

What does it mean to be the worst for an institute of higher education? It means the legislature cuts state monies going to the university systems. In Texas there are at least 6 major university systems: University of Houston System, University of North Texas System, University of Texas System, Texas A&M University System, Texas State University System, Texas Tech University System.

Texas A&M-College Station is in the early stages of identifying potential cuts. Officials have asked departments to prioritize projects in case the state doesn’t provide all the requested funding. Source: Texas universities to cut back after endowments hit | Dallas Morning News.

Second verse same as the first

Back before Thanksgiving I said Texas gubernatorial race is like musical chairs. Well, here’s the second (or third or fourth) verse. It’s the same as the first. On November 23, Houston Mayor, Bill White held a press conference to announce he will announce his decision to run for governor by December 4. As promised he announced yesterday that he will run for governor. After he made that announcement, Hank Gilbert dropped out of the race and endorsed Farouk Shami.

Meanwhile, Governor Rick Perry, the longest serving governor, made his announcement for an unprecedented third term.

Like Paul Burka says, “Perry is now fighting a two-front war.” One with Democrats in the general election and one with the Republicans in the primary. While most people think the primary will be a joke, Perry still has to be careful. The issues Perry raises in the primary wont be the same as the issues in the general election.

If you’re keeping a score card:

Republicans: Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Larry Kilgore, Debra Medina

Democrats: Bill White, Kinky Friedman, Farouk Shami, Felix Alvarado

Less than a year away and the dance has begun for Texas governor

This isn’t the Texas two-step, more like musical chairs. Continuing what I wrote about having a web site to be a candidate, those web sites will come and go and they may switch focus before we vote in November 2010.

Just as soon as Tom Schieffer announced that he will not run for governor, Houston Mayor, Bill White, had a press conference to announce that he will decide by (Dec 4) if he will run for governor or stick with his original plan and run for a US Senate seat – the one presumably vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison – but White wants to hear from the people of Texas as to what he should do. You can tell him what to do at his web site.

Seeing as how KBH said she will not vacate the Senate while health care is up in the air. I don’t see White filling that seat. The others on the Republican dance card are Larry Kilgore and Debra Medina.

The Dem-dance so far includes Farouk Shami, Felix Alvarado, Kinky Friedman, Hank Gilbert.

Looking at their web sites, I want to scream, “Neeeext?!”

You aren’t in a political race until you have a web site

It seems like a truism these days: “You aren’t in a political race until you have a web site.” Looks like another gubernatorial candidate joined the World Wide Web. In addition to Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, these guys hope to make their mark as governor of Texas.

Farouk Shami fires up his campaign Web page

Hair care millionaire Farouk Shami fired up his Farouk for Governor Web page today in anticipation of his official launch Thursday into the campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Others in the race include Felix Alvarado, Kinky Friedman, Hank Gilbert and Tom Schieffer.
Source Farouk Shami fires up his campaign Web page | Texas Politics | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Obama coming to the heart of conservatisim – Aggieland

Hundreds expected to demonstrate Friday at A&M during presidential forum.

By Nathan Adkisson | statesman.com

Thursday, October 15, 2009

A&M official: “We expect our students will treat the president with respect.”

Officials say about 20 organizations have reserved space to demonstrate on campus, including several Tea Party groups, the College Democrats and the College Republicans. While Texas A&M has not prohibited any groups from protesting, university officials said they expect demonstrators to honor the Aggies’ well-known code of conduct.

It’s not students we fear. It’s the hundreds of non-Aggies being bussed in from all over Texas – Tea Party groups – that probably did not vote for Obama and probably will try to stir up trouble.

I think Friday will be a good day for everyone to stay home.

President Obama speaks at Texas A&M

UPDATE:
It wasn’t that bad. North of campus and we didn’t hear or see anything unsual – we were in the office when he arrived and at home when he left. But, Obama, Bush 41, and Gates all came to town in support of a Points of Light/Volunteer forum.

Watch Out Teacher Retirement System Might Fund Trans-Texas Corridor

Cronyism and the Corridor
Monday, October 12, 2009
posted by paulburka at 3:07 PM
Source: Burkablog: Texas Monthly.

The Statesman reported yesterday that Governor Perry is removing Linus Wright, a former Dallas school superintendent, as chair of the board that oversees the $88 billion Teacher Retirement System and will replace him with a current board member who is also a member of Perry’s campaign finance team, Dallas real estate investor R. David Kelly. (Wright succeeded Jim Lee, who was one of three co-chairs of the Perry fundraising apparatus; Lee had resigned in the wake of news reports that he had run up six-figure gambling debts in Las Vegas.)

The removal of Wright occurred just a few days after Perry had announced the death of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

In my humble opinion this is something we need to watch and keep in check. If TRS is raped to fund the TTC we loose twice.

OPED: Governor’s race costs some regents posts

Here is more mud from one of Kay’s sites: http://texans.forkay.com/news/9-10-09_ICYMI_Chron_Decries_Perry_Power_Grab

Perry is hardly unique among Texas governors in using appointments to further his ambitions. However, in the current campaign the incumbent is subordinating competent governance of public university systems to his own re-election efforts.

In doing so he only strengthens the argument of Hutchison that a decade-plus tenure as governor fosters cronyism and misuse of official powers.

Source: Primary casualties: Governor’s race costs some regents posts | Editorial | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Did you hear about “Cap and Trade”

In case you missed this one – I almost did – it sounds like the tree huggers tried to slip a fast one through congress: Senators Spend Recess Fine-Tuning Messages on Cap and Trade – NYTimes.com.

If ever there was a time to look at nuclear it is now. Actually, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved several “small” and “clean” reactor designs.

The industry has been working on something smaller, cheaper, standardized, and easy to build since construction on new plants ended nearly 20 years ago. The double digit interest rates of the 80’s combined with attitudes after Three Mile Island (TMI) crippled the nuclear industry. Clean, safe, and easy-to-build nuclear power is not only possible but essential for the future of U.S. energy need.

Politics in twitter

I was checking the followers list on twitter and look who’s following me now, @GovPerry2010. It seems Governor Rick Perry – or his campaign manager – started a new twitter account for the 2010 elections. I started following @GovernorPerry and @TeamKay a few weeks ago just to keep tabs on Rick and Kay. So, apparently, twitter is the new battle ground for politics. Can they get votes from twitterers? Will we ever use twitter polls to cast our votes? Probably not – not after the dangling chad incident and alleged Texas voting machine tampering*.

* Texas used Austin-based vendor Hart InterCivic model eSlate. A report commissioned by the State of Ohio in 2007 stated that Hart machines were vulnerable to attack (tampering).

Time for campaigns to report earnings

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry’s blind trust had capital losses of $567,529 in 2008 but still managed to provide the governor and his wife, Anita, with $28,043 in income, according to tax returns released Tuesday.

Perry has routinely released his tax returns to the news media when requested since 1998.

His Republican primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, has not yet released her returns, but her campaign has said she will do so.

via Governor’s ‘08 tax return released after extension | Top stories | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

…

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign for governor has promised to release her income tax returns later this week. We will update when they do.

via Kay Bailey Hutchison financial statements | Texas Politics | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

How Bill Clinton Stopped WWIII

Like I said in How Two Journalists Might Start WWIII if we didn’t use diplomacy, we might go to war.
This week, Bill Clinton, stepped in and got them released; no WWIII yet.

Recession Over?

Don’t you just hate it when you see something on morning news and it hasn’t made it to their website. This morning The Early Show said recession over – sortof – but I can’t find the story anywhere. Everyone else (pessimistic bloggers) is keeping it in perspective. The Daily Finance Blog and Newsweek’s letters to editor are not declaring the recession over. President Obama doesn’t want us to get too excited yet probably because he wants to see how much he can raise taxes without collapsing the fragile economy.

Side Note: Notice how the last 2 Dems will be seen as the recovery presidents and the last 2 Reps will be seen as the economy stagnating dive-bombers.

My personal opinion – and I stated it several weeks ago – we really entered recession about 10 months ago and it’s going to be at least Q4 2009 before we see signs of recovery. The indicators the average person sees lag 2 – 3 months. We don’t know it’s over until the our job (if you still have one) tells us it’s over; our taxes go up.

Texas Legislature

I love the state legislature. What a bunch of talking heads. What a cushy job. A bunch of junk flew through on the last day of regular session (June 1, 2009) and they all feel good about themselves for doing what’s right. They closed sine die and now everyone gets to sit back and watch Texas go up in smoke; perfect metaphor of the heat this summer.

It Might Become the Neda Revolution

I stand corrected. It is no longer the Masked Revolution. There is a face and she is Neda (Farsi for “the voice”). #neda is the newest hash tag on twitter to identify the #IranElection or #gr88. I guess as time passes hash tags need to be re-hased to remain fresh – so people don’t forget.

See TIME website: In Iran, One Woman’s Death May Have Many Consequences

A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman – laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face – swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran’s escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as “Neda,” Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.

Iran’s Masked Revolution

If a revolution in Iran occurs, it will probably be known as the Masked Revolution (you read it here first) or the Anonymous Revolution because during the days leading up to the revolt protesters – scared of retribution – wore masks to hide their identity.

One thing is for sure news of a revolution would travel around the globe in seconds. That is definitely different from the revolution 30 years ago. In fact, the election protests are already a global phenomenon on twitter #IranElection. Protesters are urged to mask their profile pictures with green screen, change their profile location to Tehran and change their profile timezone to GMT+3:30 in order to confuse those seeking out protestors in Tehran.

This has sparked live, grass-roots protests around the world with the tag line Green For Iran.