Appeals court hears arguments in Burke case

Texas’ highest criminal court will decide if the judge in the trial in which former Beaumont police officer David Todd Burke was convicted of official oppression erred by not allowing defense attorneys to strike for cause a potential juror who indicated he might not be able to be fair.

Springsteen delivers a ‘Wrecking Ball’ to restore

Leave it to The Boss to craft a masterful musical ode to the plight of working people in a frightful economy.

Federal appeals court sides with Beaumont in Newman case

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a district judge’s ruling that the city of Beaumont should not be a defendant in the civil rights lawsuit of Derrick Newman against two police officers.

‘Zero Tolerance’ policy questioned in Newman appeal arguments

Whether a so-called “zero tolerance policy” instituted by the Beaumont Police Department in designated high-crime areas of the city led to the beating and Tasing of Derrick Newman in August 2007 was the the primary focus of oral arguments in Newman’s civil lawsuit before a federal appeals court Tuesday.

WikiLeaks’ Assange: Journalist, Source, Activist or Peter Pan?

Is Julian Assange, the co-founder and public face of the whistleblower organization/website WikiLeaks, a source for news organizations, a journalist himself, or an activist/provacateur? According to one prominent journalist who worked with him, Assange himself is seldom very sure.

Fog and explosives

This past weekend, I had to the opportunity (with several hundred others) to watch a major building in Houston be turned to dust.

2011 in review

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

TV or not TV? That is the question

I haven’t watched television with any regularity for several months now, the longest period in my life without the tube playing a major aspect of my routine since, well, forever.

Life Regrets, Nos. 90-99

Here are some random musings on things that have led me to where I am today. You may find them amusing. Or not. At any rate …

The Common Good or An Age of Selfishness?

How and whether American society can work toward the common good in an “age of selfishness” will be the core theme of the 2012 election, a leader of the progressive Christian movement told a Houston audience.