Despite being removed from office, Tom DeLay is up to his old tricks: comparing Democrats to Nazis; comparing himself to the Duke students falsely accused of rape; proclaiming that if the liberals can take down Don Imus, the conservatives can get Rosie O’Donnell off the air; and now this, the most egregious of his statements. In what is one of the most disturbing things we have heard in the wake of the shootings at Virginia......

Movie critics, quilters, environmentalists, these types. The blog landscape is packed with these niche bloggers. Well, you can add former exterminators cum failed politicians with dubious pasts to the long list of those on the internets. Former US Representative Tom DeLay has started a blog. Glory be! Finally the voice of reason comes to Al Gore’s invention. [excerpted TomDelay.com]Over the course of my political life I have learned many things, one of which is that......

If you're hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs "so are you nakie" to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

Remember Puppet Government, last year's Frontera Fest success that went on to wow audiences at this past summer's New York International Fringe Festival? The gang's gettin' together one last time at Ventanna Del Sol's upstairs auditorium to raise money for John Courage, a former teacher, vet, and Democractic congressional candidate for Texas' 21st district. From the Puppet Gov folk: John is a honorable, genuine guy, and also very, very smart. And he's not a......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay just won't go away. The former bug exterminator fired his latest salvo in the "culture war" recently, and this one's a doozy. Apparently the loathsome deposed Congressman has begun what we assume will be his natural next career move: consulting. In an email to his conservative constituency, DeLay urged his supporters to vote for Sara Evans. Congressional candidate? No. School board candidate? Nope. Sugarland city council? Guess again. Sara......

We are saddened by the report that goober candidate Carole Cougar Keeton Strayhorn has decided to relinquish her fight to get her nickname on the Nov. ballot. Mrs. Cougar will always be a "grandma" in our eyes and probably in the eyes of her grandchildren. In other goober news: Democratic candidate Chris Bell is calling UberGoober Rick Perry out on his lack of efforts to fund our state parks. Texas ranks near the bottom......

Independent goober candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn Rylander Cougar Mellencamp is suing the Texas secretary of state over his refusal to let her use "Grandma" on the Nov. 7 ballot. We're pretty sure the filing of a frivolous lawsuit will do very little to help Carole Cougar gain new supporters. It seems Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is reluctant to release information about his investigation of Tom DeLay. In fact, he is suing the......

LOCAL: The NAACP of Austin and the Texas Civil Rights project have sued the state and Travis County over electronic voting machines. They claim that E-Slate voting machines violate the state election code because they don't provide a paper record of the vote transaction. STATE: A federal judge has ruled that former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay must remain on the ballot for the 22nd Congressional District race. It seems DeLay's little scheme to temporarily......

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: DCist revels in The University of Maryland's basketball triumphs, marvels at Metro's security strategy, and applauds DC local Katie Couric's new gig. Bostonist has the best local papers! While The Globe reports on a baby shower gone bad, the 'Herald coins a gruesome new term. They put down the paper long enough to comment on an election that has gone to the dogs, and,......

Rep. Tom DeLay is apparently pulling out of the race for re-election to his House seat. CNN has reported that, just minutes ago, DeLay completed a conference call with the Texas delegation to the House, announcing his plans. In order to field a Republican candidate for the general election, there will be a special election for DeLay's place on the ballot. The Mayor of Sugarland is expected to be one of the candidates running.......

Continuing her rampage against government-affiliated organizations deemed corrupt, State Comptroller and indepedent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn directed her latest assault against Texas lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates. The private firm, which deals with members of Congress, the White House, and a smattering of other higher-ups in Washington, previously held a lucrative $15,000/mo agreement with Texas, in exchange for which it was expected to obtain a maximum of federal funding for various state-funded programs.......

We went to Carnaval. And loved it. SXSW full list of bands and movies updated. Cat Power backs out of SXSW and cancels tour. Ausitn art goes green. Tired of run-of-the-mill valentine's day activities? We got you covered. We reviewed the new documentary The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat and Beers. And laughed our asses off. For about $600 in fees, your band can play a showcase at Waterloo Records during SXSW. The week in interviews:......

Despite his ongoing legal quagmire, it seems that Tom DeLay has been surprisingly active in some very important committees in these past few months. Delay has been given a seat on the Appropriations Committee, as well as on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department. We'd like to point out that this same subcommittee is investigating the Jack Abramoff scandal. In other words, you can bet that the investigation is going to grind to a......

Austinist presents our "Peg Your Clique Quiz" ... and we're still embarrassed by our score Additional SXSW bands were announced (Platinum Pass for auction!), and we finally saw the first week of great music releases for 2006 Reviews: Waterloo and Veronica (books); Danceworks Laboratory's latest works-in-progress showing (dance) Here's to getting past the most depressing day of the year. Thankfully, Carnivale's just a few days away! Is our fair city getting its own Central......

E-mail messages (dated 7/17/02) from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, obtained by the Justice Department and Senate investigators, show that he told an Indian tribe client that he was being pressured by U.S. Rep. Tom Delay for a $25,000 political donation. This is significant because the e-mail messages are the first evidence to demonstrate that Abramoff cited personal pressure from DeLay in trying to persuade political donations. Previous ties between Abramoff and DeLay have centered around......

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle wants a halt in the trial of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay as he intends to appeal the dismissal of conspiracy charges that accuse DeLay of conspiring to violate a law barring the use of corporate money in a political campaign. Any postponement would prevent DeLay from regaining his position as U.S. House Majority Lleader, which he can’t resume while under indictment. DeLay Lawyer Dick DeGuerin has said that......

Things have not been going too well for Tom DeLay lately. And Monday, things took another potentially disastrous turn for DeLay politically, as the US Supreme Court agreed to examine the constitutionality of congressional redistricting in Texas. You probably remember the redistricting from 2003 - you know, the election where Republicans took their seat total from 15 to 21 of the 32 state districts? Well, as it turns out, the Democrats weren’t just being......

Last week, before his show at the Parish Room, Austinist sat down for a chat with SF indie musician John Vanderslice. Famous for his attention to the finest of details and his indelible charm, John was characteristically engaging during the half hour we spoke to him. In addition to his prolific solo career, John also runs a recording studio in San Francisco called tiny telephone, which last year was voted by SF Bay Guardian......

Tom DeLay succeeded yesterday in having Judge Bob Perkins removed from his money-laundering and conspiracy case, complaining that the Democrat had donated over $5,000 to "liberal" causes since 2001. While a new judge has yet to be named, The Hammer's already working on his next weaselly tactic: having the trial moved out of Austin. Ridiculously, his indictment hearings have become something of a farce - it's hard to remember that the whole thing stems......

-The Washington Post's Terry M. Neal speculates on Miers' failed bid for the Supreme Court -The latest move in Google's quest to take over the internet: crushing eBay? -Janet Jackson has a secret kid! (Maybe) -2,000 international firms have been accused by the United Nations of paying off Saddam Hussein's regime -MSNBC explains the whole hubbub over the CIA leak story -Charles and Camilla, desperately trying to stay relevant -Another luxury condo's going up......

-A judge upheld the smoking ban put in place a few months ago, but reduced the violation fine to $500. -In his "State of Downtown" address, Mayor Will Wynn reported that roughly 17,000 jobs were created last year, and forecasts that the number of poeple living downtown will rise to 10,000 within the next three years. -Several Austin companies made Inc. and Deloitte's annual list of the fastest growing private and public companies, respectively.......

-Nearly two dozen of Austin's finest civic leaders gathered together today to declare their opposition to November 8th's Prop. 2 measure, which would effectively define marriage as solely between "one man and one woman." Among many others, Mayor Will Wynn let it be known that "a fundamental cultural characteristic of Texas is that we mind our own business" - something Great Hills Baptist Church pastor Michael Lewis was unaware of when he decried the......

For those of you who haven't yet heard, Sen. Tom DeLay (R, Sugarland), house majority leader, has been indicted under "conspiring to violate political fundraising laws." We've been waiting and waiting for this to finally happen. And it has. To wrap up, that's one indicted republican Majority Leader in the House, and soon-to-be indicted Republican Majority leader in the Senate.......

IT'S GON GET COOL Brought to you by "the black-u weather forcast" on Family Guy. We'll get some rain in the morning tomorrow, then it will seriously cool off. Not before we hit 105 today, though. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be in the low 80s. We're ready for cold weather, but nothing pisses us off like girls wearing flip flops and a coat. Are you with us, or what? Tom DeLay in the Hot......

Brownie points don't cut it FEMA Director Michael Brown stepped down from his position because, according to him, too much attention was on his leadership (or lack thereof) instead of the relief efforts. Well, Brown, maybe that's because your relief efforts sucked. But, Bush didn't think little of his appointed former horse whisperer. He's quoted as saying, "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" when he first landed on the disaster site after the storm.......

We are obviously mounted-up and riding high with the Kinky Friedman campaign for governor. (I mean, Why the Hell Not?) But we have the sneaking suspicion that this race will eventually come down to a battle between the two parties of the Establishment. With that said, the Democrats picked up a little bit of optimistic steam this morning as Chris Bell announced his candidacy for governor. In his announcement, Bell brought a breath of......

Everyone has a pretty good idea that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is a real piece of crap who has used dirty politics to get where he is and has allowed private business to bribe him. This is not news. However, now, for the first time, ">a private company has publicly confirmed that it paid DeLay's political action committe in exchange for a meeting and possible legislative help. Westar Energy of Topeka, Kansas has......

It appears as though the TRMPAC scandal isn't going to slide off of Tom DeLay as slickly as he wish it would. (He's no Reagan, folks.) Evidence (in the form of mysterious "documents") has come to light putting DeLay much closer to the ethical conflict (his reciept of $500,000 from corporate lobbyists) than his people would have you believe. From the LA Times: Watchdog groups say the documents suggest that DeLay's involvement in the......

We just can't get enough of The Hammer, and we know you can't either. But apparently Tom DeLay has had enough of legal dramas. More specifically, NBC's "Law and Order" which recently referenced him in its season finale. From the E! Online: During the episode, a police officer stymied for leads jokes to his partner, "Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt." From DeLay: "This manipulation of......