Judge Lynn Hughes has blocked Houston from taking down their red light cameras, pending litigation from vendor American Traffic Solutions. This is after voters voted to have them taken down.
I previously covered Houston’s decision to take down red light cameras here.
For those who haven’t heard of him, Joe R. Lansdale is a friend, a mentor, and a hell of a writer. He’s also not a conservative (don’t get him started on Bush 43). But I thought you might appreciate his defense of Walmart from the perspective of someone who grew up in a small east Texas town:
If you’re poor and barely making it, or even if your income is middle-of-the-road, it’s good to get what you need at slashed prices, anytime of the day, seven days a week, in a big, ugly, over-lit store that closes only on Christmas and half a day on Christmas Eve. If you forgot to get a gift card and a six pack of tall boys, you have to think, “To hell with downtown.” What we got now in our downtown are specialty stores that provide things we can’t get at Walmart, like maybe a stuffed deer head for that special place over the mantle. The stuff we really need, hell, it’s at Walmart.
Here’s something else. With Walmart in town, lots of people can be put to work, far more than downtown ever employed. Someone has to run a 24-hour store, check people out, sack groceries, push carts, place stock, work at the McDonald’s sequestered in the back. The workers have all skin colors, not something I saw a lot of downtown, except for immigrants unloading trucks.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Sadly, Jihad doesn’t wait for American holidays, so here’s a roundup of related news:
That brings the total Republican House gains up to 63 seats.
According to the latest Gallup poll:
Americans’ support for stricter gun control laws has gradually declined over the last two decades, from 78% when this question was first asked in 1990 to 49% in 2008, and 44% in 2009 and again this year.
Also, 69% of Americans oppose an outright ban on handguns.
The fly in the ointment: 63% of Democrats want stricter gun regulations. So chances are, when a Democratic running for office says they’re in favor of Second Amendment rights, they’re most likely lying just as much as when they claim to be pro-life, and even if they aren’t, they still won’t hesitate to put gun-grabbers like Nancy Pelosi in positions of power.
(Hat tip: Alphecca.)
Two days before Thanksgiving! Here’s a swarm of links from what should be a slow news week:
Blake Farenthold is now officially the next congressman from Texas’ 27th Congressional District. That brings the Republican totals up to a 62-seat pickup for 2010, with possibly as many as 64, and at least 241 seats in the House, the most Republicans have controlled in 60 years.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
No word if any Kennedys were among the dead.
Yes, it’s a great tragedy, but this is all I could think of (NSFW):
Edit to add: Yes, that is my Fark greenlight. No, I didn’t realize this was the anniversary of the JFK assassination until somebody pointed it out. I already assumed I was getting an aisle seat on the express to Hell for making light of the tragedy anyway…
You may have noticed that the race for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is getting hot and heavy. So it’s no surprise to see current Speaker Joe Straus campaigning to retain his role. However, I must say it was something of a surprise to see him advertising (via Google ads) on Powerline. Here’s a capture of the ad I saw there (no doubt triggered by the fact my IP address is inside Texas):
The irony is that there are numerous voices in the Texas conservative blogosphere complaining that Strauss isn’t conservative enough:
Ken Paxton seems to be the choice of most conservatives who have chimed in on the race.
I was going to say that I had not studied the issue enough to be for or against Straus. But then I came across this Austin-American Statesman piece praising Straus for being “nonpartisan” and “moderate,” which is pretty much the kiss of death as far as I’m concerned, and a solid reason to vote for someone else as speaker, advertising on Powerline not withstanding.
The Bots Are Getting Smarter. (And Leon is Getting LARGER!)
November 21st, 2010(Sigh) I may have mentioned that I have to clear out a fair amount of comments spam that Akismet catches every day.
Well, whoever programs bot seemed to have figured out at least that this is a political blog, as I’ve been getting a lot of generic anti-Charlie Rangel comments on threads that have nothing to do with Charlie Rangel. Close, but no cigar bot guys. (Or, to put it in your own bot language, “Your cigar with excellent closeness you fail to reach.”)
But I can see a day when bot spam may start to mimic at least a semi-competent troll. As usual, there’s an XKCD for that:
Tags: Administrative, bot, Charlie Rangel, comment spam, Site Administration, spam, XKCD
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