Cowboys send last years starting QB packing
(Lowly) MPs blamed for Abu Ghraib abuse "..not at the behest of their superiors.."
Another look at Abu Ghraib abuses 'There are some serious unanswered questions,' says Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon is stalling on several investigations, and congressional inquiries have ground to a halt. The foot-dragging is astonishing..."
Released Brits claim Guantanamo abuse
Old data, new credibility issues for Administration The White House's failure to make it clear that the information that led to Sunday's dramatic terrorism alert predated the 9/11 attacks is a case study in the difficulty of managing such warnings for the administration.
D.C. officials complain about security measures
Brooklyn drivers sit and stew
DUI defendant shows up in court drunk
Tattoo ink makers sued over lead content
Texas researcher links Gulf War Syndrome and brain damage Robert Haley, from the University of Texas, told the independent Gulf War Illnesses inquiry in London that his findings were the first sign of physical injury associated with the syndrome.

Teacher imprisoned 7 years for sex with boy is freed A small crowd gathered outside the prison gates ... some rowdy teenage boys flaunting signs that said "I'm 18, Baby" and "Take Me Home" for the TV cameras.
RICK CASEY Armbrister's law protects polluters It is no accident that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has neither the aggressive culture nor the resources to enforce air-pollution laws.
Austin student may be king of the spammers ... spam now accounts for 85 percent of all e-mail traffic

Leash Girl was clerk, not supposed to be in Abu Ghraib prison area where abuse took place
Swift boat vets who hit Kerry weren't on his boat
Associated Press --- A group of Vietnam veterans who served on swiftboats alongside John Kerry's naval craft accuse the Democratic presidential nominee of lying about his military record in a television ad set to air Thursday in three competitive states ... Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The ad shows footage of Kerry in Vietnam while 13 veterans question Kerry's account of his service that led to a Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. The men criticizing Kerry served on swiftboats but not on Kerry's boat.
Veteran Jack Chenoweth says, "His account of what happened and what actually happened are the difference between night and day." Adds retired Adm. Roy Hoffman: "John Kerry has not been honest," before another veteran, Adrian Lonsdale, finishes the thought, saying: "And, he lacks the capacity to lead."
Three banks robbed during Kerry and Bush Iowa visit
UT, A&M join in effort to build the world's largest telescope
Saudis were #1 gift-giver to White House
Texas Foster kids lived outdoors 3 years

iraq...

US judges getting disclosure data deleted Nearly 600 times in recent years, a judicial committee acting in private has stripped information from reports intended to alert the public to conflicts of interest involving federal judges.
Prankster told cruise ship passengers to abandon ship

Tropical storms brewing
Wild weather is brewing, but an incoming cool front could keep Bonnie away from Texas
• Tracking map and full tropical weather coverage

9 die at Hidalgo eluding Border Patrol
Pilot's joy ride lands him 6 years in prison
Galveston Flagship Hotel broke, Landry's takeover held up
Seized videotape shows Austin, Houston, Dallas "the possibility of a terrorist threat."
TSA to screen helicopter tourists
Fighting rages in Najaf cemetery
Housecat in cockpit forces airliner emergency landing
DNA clears Louisiana man of murder
FDA study confirms antidepressant risks
Hot sauce as kid punishment Some parents apply hot sauce to a child's tongue as punishment. The practice has some experts burning.

I'm pleased that Ricci Ware, Carl Wiglesworth and my old mentor the late Herb Humphries are among the folks scheduled to join me in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame later this year. The induction ceremony will be October 30, 2004 at the San Antonio Radisson Hill Country Resort. Brad Messer 2002 Charter Inducted Member Texas Radio hall of Fame

San Antonio Express-News
Future of Toyota expansion could depend on a compromise The city has a problem. It says it made a good-faith promise to Toyota that it might not be able to keep. A promise to try to prevent dense housing from being developed within three miles of the truck plant.
Barbecue king's heirs make things hot for city
Commentary: Toyota Promises Bin Laden hints major assassination intelligence officials say a high-profile political assassination, triggered by the public release of a new message from Osama bin Laden, will lead off the next major al Qaeda terrorist attack
Blockbuster to enter rent-by-mail business
Fire retardant traces found in farmed and wild salmon
Complaint filed against Swift Boat Veterans' ads
Man tells Austin paper Pakistani was videotaping tourist spots
Dallas council may halt big-box store development
Los Angeles council puts brakes on big-box stores, but no ban
CAPPS II airport screening plan supposedly canned
Iraq...

US plans assault in Najaf
US drains Iraqi swamp - of sewage
Abu Ghraib Intelligence officers implicated
Report questions 40% of Halliburton's billing for Iraq, Kuwait

Witnesses say Mike Wallace didn't do anything to get arrested
Wedding guest killed, roasted, eaten
Fake Ringo fooled Florida

Fat?
Try all these schemes, lose nothing but money
QuackWatch.org

ACLU sues to make Texas voting officials hold open meetings
SAHA is ripped over lead-poison testing San Antonio Housing Authority, looked for a cause of the lead poisoning and tried to keep what it found from the family and neighbors for months. How in the world does ANYONE at SAHA keep his job?
Websites poke fun at liberals and conservatives
Toys R Us, without toys?
Big box stores on hold in Dallas 60-day building freeze
New twist in the Wal-Mart wars Los Angeles will make it much harder for 'big box' stores to expand.

Iraq...
Army hires private base guards The military is criticized for risking security at bases and for a process that awarded $1 billion in contracts without competitive bidding.
3,000 Texans on way to Iraq "..largest combat mobilization of Texas Army National Guard troops since World War II.."
Iraq temps pushing 130, some heatstroke evacuations
US and Iraq forces move on Najaf shrine and cemetery Battle nears mosque, home of cleric al-Sadr

Feds' Detroit terror case may be crumbling Feds admit that witness came forward after trial to undercut a key piece of video evidence.

Air marshals cover only a few flights Federal air marshals protect less than 5 percent of daily U.S. flights, and the numbers are declining, despite assurances by the federal government that most planes would be protected
Air Marshals ordered to wear suits, ties Marshals, who have been feuding with management over the practice of wearing "professional attire" even when traveling to vacation cities such as Orlando or Las Vegas, fear terrorist hijackers will target conspicuous-looking air marshals to get their loaded handguns during a flight.
Iraq...

Human shields await troops and tanks in Najaf With his militants and human shields holed up inside one of Shi'ite Islam's most sacred shrines, radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is playing a shrewd waiting game before an expected American-led offensive.
Iraq evicts reporters from Najaf Iraqi police ordered all journalists to leave the holy city of Najaf on Sunday, just as a new U.S. offensive against militants hiding out in a revered shrine there began.
Shia backlash wrecks US strategy When troopers of the US 101st Airborne Division first entered the Iraqi city of Najaf 17 months ago, they were greeted by huge and welcoming crowds chanting "Die Saddam, die".
Iraqi conference on election plan sinks into chaos The conference was thrown into disorder by delegates staging protests against the U.S.-led military operation in Najaf.
Pakistan: bin Laden's trail still cold Despite a surge in arrests of al-Qaida suspects, investigators still don't have sight of their target.

AUSTIN --- To reduce the budget of the governor's office, Gov. Rick Perry transferred the salaries of two maids, a cook and a porter at the Governor's Mansion to a state agency while continuing their duties. Perry's office also reassigned the salaries of five other staffers [who remain assigned to the governor's office]... to the Texas Building and Procurement Commission. Last year, Perry ordered state agencies to reduce their budgets 7 percent, promising he would cut his own office 14 percent.
Salaries of the transferred personnel, amounting to $300,000 annually, were part of the equation the governor used in January to achieve his 14 percent "cost savings."

Anti-fishing billboard coming down
Link from PETA site: Fish do feel pain, scientists say

Brad's Ten-Foot Poll on PETA --- RESULT

posted 915a-1115p Tue 8/17/2004 Should display of the "hooked dog" billboard be allowed? Yes 157 47% No 177 53% Total votes 334

 

Thieves plunder in Charley's aftermath "..regular reports of looting from residents of the area's many storm-wrecked neighborhoods ... officers are responding when able, but they are saddled with more pressing demands, such as caring for survivors."
Big box store test marketing little boxes Costco Wholesale Corp., better known for bulk chicken and cases of soda, started test marketing caskets along side mattresses at a North Side Chicago store.
Air Marshals supplemented by other federal agents on flights
Cement shortage affecting US construction

Lubbock's "Windy Man" highway sculpture defaced
'Veep's a coward,' senator bristles Ex-Navy fighter pilot Sen. Tom Harkin called Vice President Cheney a coward who dodged military service but is willing to be tough "with someone else's kid's blood."

August 18 Wednesday 8

Iraqi cops threaten to kill every journalist in Najaf
Still defiant, Sadr gains stature with Iraq masses
Florida vows to punish frauds, gougers
Albany terror evidence may be flawed
Bandido sought in slaying of ex-boxer Quiroga
EDITORIAL Texas health care problems not all fixed, appear to be self-inflicted
EDITORIAL Interrogating protesters has a chilling effect
Mileage numbers fail to add up Fuel-economy estimates posted on new cars and trucks are based on 30-year-old tests and driving conditions. Toyota, bolder than most, candidly says its vehicles get 10% to 15% less than the EPA estimates in real-world use.
"I was standing out in the water when I suddenly felt something moving in my pants."
Thief challenges dose of shame as punishment
Corpus Christi council bans Padre Island vinyl siding

August 19 Thursday 8

Brad's Ten-Foot Poll on Garza vs. Millers --- RESULT

posted 825am-1130pm Thur 8/19/2004 Mayor Garza is attacking the Bill Miller BBQ family's perfectly-legal plan to develop houses on its land near the Toyota plant. Who do you back? The mayor 23 5% The Millers 434 95% Total votes 457

Mayor says Millers have legal right to develop their land but he will fight against allowing them to build houses, and is not willing to negotiate
San Antonio Express-News story
Hackworth Once more, a nation divided Kerry' service shouldnít be diminished by the same despicable, politically motivated tactics visited upon Sens. John McCain in South Carolina and Max Cleland in Georgia, also Viet vets.
Records counter a critic of Kerry Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events.
Was Kerry in combat on Dec. 2, 1968? The question is not whether Mr. Kerry was sufficiently wounded on Dec. 2. The question is: Was Mr. Kerry actually involved in combat that night?
1 POLL: Foreign policy attitudes now driven by 9/11 and Iraq
2 Voters worried about America's global image
Government's increased emphasis on secrecy snares reporters US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson on Wednesday held five reporters in contempt and fined each of them $500 a day until they reveal their sources
Deputy logged Gov. Blow-Dry speeding on his Harley
Gore gets speeding ticket while traveling in Oregon
Congressman splits with GOP, calls war 'mistake' A top Republican congressman has broken from his party in the final days of his House career, saying he believes the U.S. military assault on Iraq was unjustified and the situation there has deteriorated into "a dangerous, costly mess."

August 20 Friday 8

Bush trailing in electoral votes
$8-billion-plus missing in Iraq
Many still believe false claims about Iraq such as WMDs President Bush consistently equates the war on terrorism with the war in Iraq, though he has replaced his claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction with claims that Iraq had the "capability" of building such weapons.
Venezuela shows e-voting hazards for US Secure paper trail and safeguards against hacking needed, experience in recall election shows
Plan to allow more snowmobiles 720 snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone and 140 a day into Grand Teton
Abu Ghraib probe points to top brass
Pavarotti brings own kitchen to hotel
New overtime rules kick in Monday

August 23 Monday 8

Brad's Ten-Foot Poll on Swift Boats---RESULT

posted 12am - 1115pm Mon 8/23/2004 These Vietnam swift boat stories are starting to get good! 169 42% are an instant tuneout. 233 58% Vote total 402

August 24 Tuesday 1

Brad's Ten-Foot Poll on SOB Tax --- RESULT

posted 12am-1110pm Tue 8/24/2004 San Antonio's idea to make strippers pay a fee to work is government gone tax crazy & power mad 439 87% an idea whose time has come 66 13% Total votes 505 Note: The story I read said the stripper fee was $375. That's wrong. The club fee would be 375 and the stripper fee would be $50 a year.

Teens abused at Abu Ghraib Military intelligence soldiers kept multiple detainees off the record books and hid them from international humanitarian organizations -- MPs were using their dogs to make juveniles urinate on themselves as part of a competition.
EPA issues initial report on deadly train wreck
Border security weak, agents say
2 Border Patrol union survey finds job discontent
Pakistani videotaper indicted but charges not related to terrorism Had video of Austin, Houston, other southern cities
Bodies of WWI soldiers found in glacier
Viacom cans Austin TV anchor over muttered F word
Red pens are too scary for many of today's students Thus, more teachers are correcting papers with purple pens. "If you see a whole paper of red, it looks pretty frightening," says one teacher. "Purple stands out, but it doesn't look as scary as red."
Sandra Bullock house suit goes to court "This is a lawsuit about a house," said Judge Paul Davis. "Everybody calm down."
Image: Sandra in her famous see-thru dress

August 26 Wednesday 8

Judge frees suspects, blasts terror case Two Islamic men accused of supporting terrorism after their arrest in an FBI sting operation were ordered released from jail yesterday by a judge who blasted the government's case by saying there is no evidence they have any links to terrorists.
Judge sets bail, citing 'serious questions' (a more detailed story)
Unit's 1969 report supports Kerry's version
PARIS HILTON CALLS FOR END TO SWIFT BOAT FLAP Distracting Attention Away From Her, Heiress Says
SAHA says boy never had high level of lead
Cheney on gay marriage: freedom "is for everyone"
Insurer profits up; Texas homeowners could get rate cuts
Terrorism considered in crashes of two Russian airliners
Undecided voters are mostly women Polls say they care more about the economy and health care than defense
RICK CASEYTWO POSSIBILITIES An innocent man has been in [a Texas] prison for 17 years for raping a 14-year-old girl and has 43 years left on his sentence.
Another bad sign: Marines cutting training
Prison abuse panel faults top Defense officials
Trail of 'major failures' leads to Defense Secretary's office In tracing responsibility for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, a panel drew a line that extended to Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Hogzilla will go to the fair

August 31 Tuesday 1

Brad's Ten-Foot Poll on Mayor Garza --- RESULT

posted 1120p Mon 8/30/2004 - 1110p Tue 8/31/2004 Which best describes how Mayor Ed Garza has handled the issue of whether to fire the City Manager? Very professionally 6 1% Fairly well 6 1% A little bumbling 15 3% Circus clown act 252 57% Split personality mental case 160 36% Total votes 439