wonque

“All politics is local.”
- Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, former U.S. Speaker of the House

Make a difference in your community: Vote! Houston Mayoral and City Council elections are this year; and Constitutional Amendments are on the ballot. Early voting is October 19-30; election day is November 3. You can find the most convenient early voting location for you here:

Thanks to @GregWythe at GregsOpinion.com for the map. View larger map here.

Early Voting is October 19-30. Hours of Operation
» 10/19 - 10/23 :: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
» 10/24 :: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
» 10/25 :: 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
» 10/26 - 10/30 :: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Election Day is November 3rd.

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As politicians have shown us time and time again, the easiest way to win votes is to prey on people’s fears: sound an alarm, then present yourself as the only one who can put out the fire. If a candidate chooses to use this tactic, however, they should take care to present the facts in a responsible, ethical manner. Fanning flames and blowing smoke to make a problem seem much larger than it truly is does nothing to serve the public. It distorts the truth.

Houston City Controller Annise Parker, in her bid to become mayor, appears to be doing just this with her pronouncement that Houston faces an enormous budget shortfall for FY2010. Houston Mayor Bill White, “told reporters that Parker is wrong to say the city  has a $103 million shortfall.  The Mayor says his estimate is closer to $25 Million” (video: http://www.click2houston.com). So why is Parker’s report so drastically higher?

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Sarah Palin gets punked when a Canadian comedy duo prank calls her pretending to be the President of France. The amazing thing is, she never gets that the joke’s on her…

Cultural translations courtesy of Ben Smith:

- The first man on the call (introducing Sarkozy) presents himself as “Frank L’Ouvrier”: Frank The Worker.

- When he talks about going hunting by helicopter, and says “like we say in French, ‘On pourrait tuer des bébés phoques aussi’: “We could kill some baby seals, too”.

- He asks her if she has met the prime minister of Quebec, “Richard Z. Sirois” (instead of Jean Charest) : Richard Z. Sirois was one of the well-known comedians of “Rock et Belles Oreilles”, a French Canadian comedy group (started in 1981, dissolved in 1995). Sirois is now co-host of the show “Les cerveaux de l’info” at that radio station.

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