It was 83 years ago yesterday when Martin Luther King, Jr. was born into a nation where simply his skin color alone was enough to designate him a second class citizen and prevent him and his family from enjoying such basic human dignities as living, eating, or travelling where they want, or voting for elected representatives without encumbrance or limitation. It can be difficult sometimes for modern Americans who weren't born or didn't live during the civil rights era to comprehend the gross inequalities and devastating economic and social racism that was encoded into our very laws throughout America just 50 years ago. more ›

Republicans have controlled the Texas Senate since 1997, and the Senate Committee on Education has reflected that one party's vision of education in our state through budgeting and mandates for at least twelve years. With the end of the fall semester upon us and all our students receiving grades for their work in the classrooms, it seems appropriate to grade the Texas Legislature's performance, and by association the Texas Republican Party's performance, on education over the past twelve years. more ›

On the campaign trail so far, Gov. Rick Perry has been openly hostile to the federal government and the role it plays in support of American citizens and the states in which we live. But when the wildfires began destroying homes in Bastrop county this week, it was the government that Texas citizens turned to, not a corporation. more ›

The Daily Texan has announced its list of endorsed candidates, with one glaring omission. more ›

Former Westlake High teacher resigns to teach at a lower-income school; less than pleased, Eanes school district attempts to get him suspended A UT journalism student has a nice chat with Dan Rather during a morning Jet Blue flight from Austin to New York City A routine traffic stop in Hunt County turns up two dozen embalmed human heads in the back of a tractor-trailer A woman in the Dallas/Fort Worth area comes forward with... more ›

Austin city leaders announced late Friday afternoon that the U.S. Department of Justice is starting an investigation into the Austin Police Department and its use of force, specifically when dealing with minorities. "We are obliged to determine whether APD is systemically violating the Constitution of the United States," read the letter sent to the city from the Justice Department. In 2004, the Austin American-Statesman analyzed police data from 1998 to 2003, revealing that Austin police... more ›

The Austin American-Statesman stated in its Opinion section Thursday that the debate over the future of Tamara Hoover should be centered on moral propriety and not on constitutional rights... more ›

With increasing frequency, state houses around the country are fingering video games for a variety of societal ills. The most popular complaint is that violent games cause violent bahavior. While evidence of such claims is dubious, speaking out against games seems to be a popular pursuit, particularly for the more conservatively inclined among us. At least one student at North Greenville College, a South Carolina Southern Baptist liberal arts college dedicated to a "biblically sound,... more ›

It appears the federal prison system can put that large order of Consort Hair Spray on hold, as the 3rd Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of the conspiracy to make an illegal campaign contribution charge in the former exterminator's case. Apparently, DeLay's sleazeball antics were still legal while he was doing them, so he did not exactly violate the election code and can not be held accountable to the current letter of... more ›

Daily Texan writer Eric Seufert has a bone to pick with the liberal media. And hipsters. And Democrats. Seufert is a senior at UT majoring in finance, with an apparent minor in either satire or unsubstantiated hate. Or so it seems. We were on the Dillo riding to work this morning when we came across his Opinion piece in the Daily Texan. The headline: SXSW: Liberal menace. The piece goes off on several tangents,... more ›

We at the Austinist aren't the only ones who have pointed out Tom DeLay's ethical lapses. The Public Campaign Action Fund, will be running two television ads in Sugar Land (DeLay's district) and Washington DC denouncing him, according to the Associated Press. (And y'all? Molly Ivins has something to say about it too.) The PCAF is going one step further than most of DeLay's critics and are calling for his resignation. The Austinist is amazed... more ›