You can package it "green." You can market it as "sustainability." It is still Wal-Mart. Palin is just a wolf/pitbull/hockey mom in $150,000 worth of clothing. World Series: Phillies up one. Rove forgets his "air quotes." Toronto's hybrid buses are having some issues. Post office won't deliver to unsafe Chicago neighborhood. More crazy cat fights. (Warning: if you hate The View, do not watch this.)......

Photo courtesy Fossum Studios L Style G Style, a new gay and lesbian lifestyle magazine, hit the streets of Austin yesterday. Executed in a “two magazines in one” format, the print pub is flip-able, like the old Spiegel catalogs from back-in-the-day, with the "L" side tailored to ladies and the "G" side for the guys. “Our goal with the magazine is to offer the public a different view of the gay and lesbian community,” said......

Austin author, entertainer, and all-around Renaissance man Owen Egerton is finally receiving some formal recognition for all of his hard work and hijinks. He's one of this year's two Best of Austin "Best Authors," in no small part due to his darkly-comedic book of short stories, How To Best Avoid Dying, released earlier this year by Austin-based Dalton Publishing. Egerton tied for the prestigious award with journalist-turned-punk-rocker-Texas-Rollergirl Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan. Her bruiser of a memoir,......

Idaho's Sen. Craig may not resign after all, but should pay closer attention to what phone number he's calling. German authorities announce that they have arrested three men (trained by al Queda) who planned to target a US military base and Frankfurt airport. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, makes a trip to Sudan. Rich adventurer Steve Fossett is missing. A writer from The Simpsons shows us how 24 could get more liberal. Glamour is......

Our favorite posts by local bloggers for this first week of January: Wipeout celebrated New Year's at Emo's and has the photos to prove it. Ken (from Cheap Thoughts by Ken) tells about being towed next to DPS. I Blame the Patriarchy has Oprah all figured out. We agree with Diane Holloway. Why are people still watching Trump? We prefer to ignore him and hope he goes away. Ultra8201 looks forward to seeing The......

The Supreme Court takes up its first climate change case. Dedicate your yoga practices to swing voter Anthony Kennedy. Need more evidence that the post-Google YouTube has jumped the shark? Cops are on there now. Wal-Mart's sales fell in November for the first time in a decade. That capitalism, she's a fickle mistress. One in every 32 American adults were under law enforcement control (jail, probation, parole) last year. That's a record. Go team!......

The nasty gap in the Town Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail on either side of I-35 on the south side of the lake may finally be closed. The circle squared. The Odyssey completed. Just like we wanted! The Parks and Recreation Department and the Town Lake Trail Foundation have obtained a $250,000 pledge from Constellation Property Group, which is building the "Star Riverside" condos nearby. A suggestion: hit up Cypress Real Estate Advisors for another big......

The Austin Police Department and the party-throwers living in the campus area have always seemed to get along. If you find yourself at a party around campus and a police cruiser stops out front, no one runs--even when that sweet bubbler on the table still has smoke billowing from it--everyone just walks away calmly. APD knows they can't stop every party, arrest every weed smoker and hand out tickets to every minor, so they......

Independent Gubernatorial candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman both claim to have received the required 45,540 signatures to place themselves on the upcoming November general election ballot. And while the signatures receive meet the minimum requirement, both candidates bash on regardless, in hopes of avoiding any kind of number counting confusion or discrepancy. One of the potential issues that could arise with two candidates seeking signatures for placement on the ballot would be......

The view from the bar Six. The bar itself was unremarkable, but the view from their balcony was a very pleasant surprise. Expand-o-tron for another shot.......

If you ever have the urge to get in your car and drive the 79 miles south to San Antonio to enjoy a nice meal at The Tower of the Americas, take our advice. Don't. We are not saying don't go check the place out, we just suggest you give the restaurant a pass. The 750 foot tall tower offers a nice panoramic view of San Antonio and surrounding area, and the external glass-walled elevators......