Article Archive

For all of you out there waiting for George W. Bush to fire Karl Rove: Don’t hold your breath.

Forget the Arab “street.” America’s problem in the Arab world may lie with the taxi drivers. During an early May trip to Israel and Palestine, I asked every taxi driver I met the same question: Why did America invade Iraq?

An odd new alliance has formed between environmental groups, labor groups and pro-Iraq war neoconservatives.

It would be easy to blame it on Richard Nixon. He started blathering about “energy independence” shortly after the Arab oil producers raised prices and launched an embargo against the U.S. in October of 1973. Within weeks, oil prices quintupled and the American economy went into seizures.

The March 15 meeting of the OPEC ministers in Isfahan, Iran, will be remembered as a tipping point in the history of the energy business.

Four years ago, the analysts at John S. Herold Inc. were the first to call bullshit on Enron. On Feb. 21, 2001, three Herold analysts issued a report that said Enron’s profit margins were shriveling, the company had too few hard assets, and its stock price was way too high. Less than ten months later, Enron filed for bankruptcy.

Now that the cash-strapped Pentagon has announced plans to cancel much of the F-22 fighter program, it should take the opportunity to kill another gold-plated albatross: the V-22, the tilt-rotor aircraft built by Bell Helicopter and Boeing.

The more things change, the more they don’t. The very first issue of the Texas Observer broke a story which, given the details, might have occurred just last week.

With the reelection of George W. Bush, the Texanization of American politics is virtually complete. Ever since 1845, when the state was annexed by the United States, the Lone Star State and what it represents have been controversial.

A $1,000 expenditure by a state agency might not sound like much particularly when you consider that the state of Texas will spend about $58 billion this year.

For me, Election Day is like a church gathering for the neighborhood. Like a Sunday visit to church, the journey to the poll at the school near my house gives me a physical connection to a very specific group of people  many of whom share my beliefs and concerns.

For most of the last five years, the Texas Funeral Service Commission has been battling with the world’s largest funeral services company, Houston-based Service Corporation International , over allegations that the company violated numerous state regulations in the late 1990s.

The induction of George W. Bush into the Texas crony network can be traced to a precise date: June 6, 1962. On that date, the gregarious 15-year-old went to work in the mailroom of Houston’s oldest and most prestigious law firm, Baker Botts.

Political speeches are always light on specifics and heavy on catch phrases. But John Kerry’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was remarkable for its near-total disregard for the harsh realities of America’s current energy predicament.