"I was initially drawn to Crawford, because I'd been effectively duped. I didn't know that Bush wasn't from Crawford."...

I wonder: why wouldn’t the APD drug cop and the data miner want the world to know what they’re up to? They’re heroes, after all! Cleansing our streets of the dreaded indoor weed farmer. They should be proud. They're like The Punisher and Microchip....

CNN today announced that Campbell Brown, NBC News' White House correspondent during President George W. Bush's first term and host of a new prime-time news program that's set to debut this month, will anchor next Thursday's debate. CNN chief national correspondent John King and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will serve as panelists asking questions of the candidates during the debate....

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Barack Obama win South Carolina. Like most Americans, I like Barack Obama. And, like most Americans, I'm not sure why....

Comic from ToothPasteForDinner.com State science curriculum director Chris Comer says she was forced to resign today according to the Austin-American Statesman. She walked away from her nine-year career with the Texas Education Agency amid accusations of insubordination and misconduct, both of which appear to be connected with her apparent bias against the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution. The senior adviser on statewide initiatives, Lizzette Reynolds, who previously served......

Some would rather vote for a yellow dog. Image from DemocraticStuff.com Lou Dubose presents Bill Of WrongsTuesday, November 27BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, Starts at 7pm[info] Fiery Austin columnist Molly Ivins was once described to us as "equal parts sugar, spice, piss, and vinegar" by friend and fellow yellow-dog-democrat Bob Mann. To this day we still can't think of a better way to describe her. Her death last January left a deafening silence — gone was......

Senator Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech to thousands of die-hard supporters this past Saturday at the Backyard, touching on just about every hot issue at the core of next year's election debates. Pledging to shut down Guantanamo, restore habeas corpus, and renew the hunt for Al Qaeda, Obama stressed the need for a stronger international agenda and quoted Kennedy's famous inaugural address—"Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear......

Still from The District! The DistrictNovember 16-222110 South Lamar (2110 S. Lamar)Various Showtimes, $8.25[info]We heard a lot of good things about Áron Gauder's one-of-a-kind animated gem The District! during Fantastic Fest last year, but we hadn't had a chance to see it until recently. It's a Hungarian Hip-Hop / time travel / gangster odyssey set in Budapest's notorious 8th district, where rival crime families feud like Montagues and Capulets. That is, until their kids fall......

There will always be chatter about Austin's changing landscape, much as there will always be supporters for both developers and the environment. We want the privilege of taking a dip in a glistening spring-fed pool, but we also want to have a robust economy that allows us to continue working and living in this city. Some would argue that the two desires aren't mutually exclusive, but we all know that it's a sticky subject.......

Just a short time before George W. announced his intentions to run for King of Amurca, the New Haven-born hopeful bought a ranch in tiny Crawford, Texas. From this suitably folksy pulpit, he engineered that down-home, aw-shucks presidential campaign persona that captivated/divided the nation, and then there were those hanging chads and...well, you know the rest. Who Is Crawford Texas follows, through the eyes of the Crawford citizenry themselves, the crazy arc that accompanied two......

After more than six years with our country hog-tied by George W. Bush and his Texas neo-con cronies, it is not hard to feel a nostalgic pull to the nineties. We may not be longing for rap-rock, JNCO jeans or Pauly Shore, but the roaring nineties and their dot-com excess did have some bright spots. Like a good president. (Though even Warren G. Harding looks pretty good right now.) If you are looking for......

Ah, the verbal blunder. The slip o’ the tongue. The stutter, the stumble, the embarrassing gaffe at the company Christmas party. You’ve been using language practically all your life, so why does your tongue continue to betray you so? The truth is, for just about every person on the planet, verbal blunders are unavoidable. We like to test ourselves with tongue twisters (why does Sally keep selling those seashells by the seashore? It can’t......

Separated at birth?Two weeks ago, the Statesman's new-ish resident fashion fella, Marques G. Harper, wrote an innocent little style article in which he happened to compare the president's recent vacation attire as "more like 'Walker, Texas Ranger' than a sweaty, tough ranch hand." OMGWTF, screamed an outraged White House, which promptly contacted Harper several days later. Evidently, Dubya—who seems to care little about his sub-30% approval rating—"read" the article and was, according to the Washington......

The latest project by the Super!Alright! guys is a viral video for Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), which will attempt to answer that nagging question in the back of everyone's mind: What if, instead of going into politics, George W. Bush had pursued his love of Arena Rock? In order to make this work, they need extras for the "backstage" segment of the video, to be shot in a certain parking lot in South Austin. People are......

Costa Rica SA | Costa Rica, Inc. (Costa Rica) Hideout Theater, 11 AM The film explores with satirical black humor some absurd aspects of the Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA); such as the inclusion of war weapons as objects of commerce for Costa Rica, a country without an army, or the incorporation of Central American undersea resources as part of the United States’ definition of territory. Costa Rica, Inc. was......

Nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, political reporter, and beloved Austinite Molly Ivins passed away in her home yesterday at the age of 62. In a remarkable career that spanned nearly four decades, Ivins commanded the respect and admiration of a devoted national readership, who rallied around her unapologetically liberal, often satirical, and always insightful coverage of the Texas "Lege" and our leaders in Washington. Among various and sundry positions held, Ivins served as co-editor of the......

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward......

Paul Burka, Senior Executive Editor of Texas Monthly, reports on his latest blog that plans for a George W. Bush Presidential Library on the SMU campus are meeting some serious resistance. Burka writes, “A letter, dated December 16, from ‘Faculty, Administrators, & Staff’ of the Perkins School of Theology to R. Gerald Turner, president of the Board of Trustees, is now circulating not only on the SMU campus but also among a wider academic community,......

President Bush has been assasinated! That is the premise behind Gabriel Range’s new film Death of a President. The film blends archival footage with narrative elements to form a fake documentary look at the supposed events surrounding the assassination of President George W. Bush. “It's a striking premise which may be seen as highly controversial," said Range. “But it's a serious film which I hope will open up the debate on where current US foreign......

Attempting to understand what makes middle-America tick - what motivates their purchasing and voting decisions, as well as how everyday Americans form their political and consumer allegiances - former political consultants Douglas Sosnik (Clinton administration) and Matthew Dowd (Bush administration) teamed up with former AP political reporter Ron Fournier to pen Applebee’s America. The bi-partisan trio set out to uncover what factors influenced major socio-political phenomena over the past 15 years. How did Bill Clinton......

*This post comes from Guest Contributor Kerry Skemp* Beyond a vague yet fascinating physical resemblance (no, really), George W. Bush and Norman Mailer have little in common. The former represents all that is evil in the world (or all that is good, depending on who you talk to), and the latter represents the fact that our country used to offer journalistic investigations of a type that didn’t begin and end at Gawker.com. If you want......

In the words of our close friend Stephen Colbert, "George W. Bush: Great President, or The Greatest President?" Exactly. According to Google, the answer, apparently, is neither. We're not sure how long this will remain the case, but if you go to Google right now and search "failure," you will get a link to the government page for the White House and W. Guess the cat's finally out of the bag. And we have......

The chairman of the UT Board of Regents is recommending the formation of a task force of university and community leaders to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the future use and development of 345 acres along Town Lake west of MoPac. The land currently hosts the Colorado and Brackenridge student housing complexes, the Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Lions Municipal Golf Course, a Randall's and some other tenants. The Brackenridge Field Labaratory, of course, is well......

Three weeks after serving the president the most satisfyingly brazen smack-down ever to grace C-SPAN (not that that's saying a lot), Stephen Colbert has some big-time bragging rights: an audio version of his skewering of George W. hit number one on iTunes. Despite being dismissed by much of the mainstream media, which was also targeted by Colbert's rapier comments, his speech, delivered in mock admiration of the president, has spread virally with a vengence. 40......

In case you've missed it, there's a comedy revolution brewing in New York right now. Comics like Todd Barry, Demitri Martin, and Aziz Ansari have been drawing huge audiences of hipsters and regular folk alike with satire that owes far more to the silliness and irony of Steve Martin and Eddie Izzard than to the lowbrow Comedy Central/Def Comedy Jam nonsense that's infested comedy clubs for a decade. Among the brightest lights of the......

FRIDAY [12] [art] The Furman Collective presents "Taking Back the West" at Bolm Studios (Opening 7-11pm, Through Sunday) (link) [music] Paul Green School of Rock - Austin Presents Funk and Reggae at RedRum ($10, 7pm) (link) [music] Blood on the Wall, Psychic Ills, My Education, Ume at Emo's (link) [music] Zykos, Quien Es Boom!, The Lemurs at The Parish Room (link) [music] Alejandro Escovedo at Waterloo (Free, 5pm) (link) [music] Steve Arceri CD release at......

MONDAY [8] [music] Art Brut, Birdmonster, The Robocop Kraus at Emo's (link) [music] She Wants Revenge and OKGO at Stubb's (link) [music] The Lashes at Waterloo (Free, 5pm) (link) [film] Amelie (with FREE crème brulee) at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] L.A. Confidential at Austin Java (8pm, FREE) (link) [film] Anime Monday at Ventana del Sol (7:30pm, FREE) (link) [film] Wet Hot American Summer at Rounders Pizzeria (6pm, FREE) (link) [film] School of Rock at......

Last night, City Council told us that it was cool if we took our dogs out to eat with us on those outdoor patios. America is hypocritical? No. Bush's proposed nuclear deal with India isn't without criticism. His visit was unwelcome by many and led to protests and rioting causing at least one fatality. Some information has been released detailing the fact that George W. was warned of the pending threat of Hurricane Katrina......

The SWAT standoff off of Riverside yesterday ended in the arrest of a 19-year old who allegedly shot two people overnight-injuries were minor. George W. Bush's visit to India-in hopes of congealing some kind of partnership with the country-is laughable. His next stop is Pakistan where, ironically, he has been deemed as The Most Hated Man. If only we had his confidence, after a 5 year search, Bush insists that Osama Bin Laden will......

Because, in their own words, "there are no amendments banning same-sex comedy," the Dallas-based sketch comedy group Queertown is rolling into Austin tomorrow night only (8:00 pm) at Esther's Follies. The group, comprised of some of "Dallas’ most gifted straight and gay comic actors," covers such treacherously delightful ground as "Gay Trekkies, what REALLY goes on in those gay recovery meetings and some good old fashioned fun with George W." The show includes a......