Generally Miscellaneous (and a correction)

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So my laptop should be delivered today. UPS tried to drop it off yesterday, but no one was at home. With that and the cell phone I got last year and the digital camera I bought the year before that, I should be caught up to at least the year 2000. I’ll have to wait until next year to join the 21st century and upgrade to a camera phone and a GPS unit for the laptop. Well, I’ll add it to the gift list, so it can get ignored with all the rest. 🙂

Meanwhile, a source told me a protesting high schooler in Dallas got hit by a bus. Damn, I didn’t know Metro ran up there. I think the story got garbled (or there’s two incidents), because that’s not what I found upon searching. Continue reading →

SEIU Tries Again

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So I arrived at work this morning to find this in my mailbox:

Today, a majority of city employees are moving forward with efforts to build a strong, new union with SEIU.

City employees united in SEIU will submit more than 6,700 petition signatures to the city at 4 pm on Tuesday, March 28, at City Hall, 900 Bagby. Together, we’re seeking a union election so that all of us can vote and decide for ourselves whether we want to form a union. SEIU is the ONLY union to file petition signatures with the city to date and the only city employee union with a track record of success.

To learn more about how SEIU members are winning improvements in Texas, including wage improvements of 4.5 to 12 percent and a freeze on health care cost increases for San Antonio city employees, visit us online at http://www.seiutx.org

They’re really proud of what they did in San Antonio. Apparently it’s their only success to date, since they keep harping on it. So, anyway, since they failed last January, they went out and got some more signatures; enough to be a majority according to the Legal Department’s response. Also note the dig at the AFSCME NOW folks: “SEIU is the ONLY union to file petition signatures with the city to date and the only city employee union with a track record of success. ” Of course, AFSCME NOW disagrees, since both unions are taking credit for holding the line on our healthcare costs. I’m more inclined to believe AFSCME over this one. It’s hard to credit SEIU with being that influential yet, even given their politicking to date.

Oh, and I was slightly amused by this:

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT FORWARD THIS MESSAGE FROM YOUR WORK EMAIL ACCOUNT. It is against City of Houston policy to forward non-work related emails.

Rats. Does this count? (FYI, my work shift doesn’t begin for another 10 minutes or so. Pbbbbbbbt.)

Alvarado: The History

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The Chronicle does a nice bit of reporting on council member Carol Alvarado, detailing her beginning in politics, her longtime political alliances, and her history of misteps. I’m not certain how to characterize this article. It’s either fairly balanced, or somewhat negative towards Ms. Alvarado. It could be that after so much of Ms. White’s whitewashing its favorite people, we just can’t recongize balanced reporting about them. To figure out which it was, I compared it to articles written about Tom DeLay or Dan Patrick.

Ok, it’s balanced. Doesn’t hold a candle to Chronically Biased coverage of either of those guys.

While it discusses her early achievements as a UH student, and words of praise from Gene Green, it doesn’t hesitate to include an opposing viewpoint from fellow Hispanic Gabriel Vasquez:

But former Councilman Gabriel Vasquez, who represented the adjoining District H, believes Alvarado is not up to higher and more demanding public office.

“She’s good at relationships and constituent services,” Vasquez says. “But in terms of the functional responsibility of managing the budget, preparing the budget and understanding the whole function of being a mayor-in-training, she’s not so good.”

While on council, Vasquez sparred publicly and privately with Alvarado, one of a group of politicians born of Houston’s historical Hispanic leadership. Vasquez calls their style of politics the “Chicago ward-boss model.”

“It’s about power, authority and control,” he says.
(Emphasis added.)

We know about politicians and their penchant for control around here, don’t we? But the finishing touch for me was this:

Alvarado has taken well to the more rewarding side of public service. Beyond her $50,000-plus annual council salary, she supplements her income with consulting fees primarily for advising out-of-town Hispanic-owned businesses on the how-tos of seeking public contracts.

She lives in a chic apartment in Post Rice Lofts downtown, and is often spotted dining at see-and-be-seen La Griglia and other stylish eateries.

Consulting fees, eh? A girl’s got to have her priorities, after all.

Edit: I think I need to make that clearer: She’s accepting fees for advising businesses on the how-tos of seeking public contracts in Houston. Contracts on which she will later be voting. Nice business…. if you can get elected to it.

From the Controller’s Office

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Oh, ye of little faith! I said I’d be back with the local happenings, didn’t I? City Controller Annise Parker has spoken out to answer some questions about the Bonusgate scandals. Hat tip to Insite. Although he states there is more on the City of Houston website, he didn’t directly link his source. After searching the site, I cannot locate the article he’s referencing. (Maybe he got an advance copy?) But what he does have quoted on his site has a few items of note.

How do council budgets differ?
Council members have control over their individual budgets and are expected to keep them in balance. But for reporting purposes all 14 offices, plus the Mayor Pro Tem Office, are shown in the aggregate. A council office might be under or (temporarily) over budget, but the total remains in balance.F&A monitors each office and keeps the council member or designee informed, providing a monthly record of available funds, amount spent to date, and amounts remaining by spending category. Problems seldom occur except when a council member leaves office at the end of a term, which falls in the middle of the fiscal year, and unexpected bills surface.

Like bills for I-love-me publications? And from a question about council office budgets:

Each council member is, in effect, director of a small city department, and the bonuses they grant are co-signed by the mayor pro tem.

I think we see now why the DA widened the investigation. Rosie, et.al. could have been signing for anyone to get bonuses. Continue reading →

Say It’s So, Joe! Say It’s So!

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Dr. Heinous writes to alert me to this story (original story here), bubbling away quietly in the Austin tech community. Or not quietly, any more. Oh, I can only hope.

It’s no secret that things at Sony Online Entertainment haven’t been gumdrops and lollypops. While EverQuest has been a bonafide success, Star Wars Galaxies has been an enormous screw up. The massively-multiplayer online version of the popular George Lucas films has been a fiasco, costing SOE players and money.

A mole sends us word that Raph Koster has left the SOE to start up a new games studio. Cindy Armstrong, head of Business Development, has taken an offer to become the new USA honcho for Webzen. Moreover, Lucas Arts is not extending their Star Wars license. Yikes.

The rot has started to set in, and the mole implies that it’s only a matter of time before SOE’s prez. John Smedley is sent packing. “Place has been falling apart for a while,� writes our mole. “Smedley is not long in his job.� May the force be with you, John.

This should come as no surprise if you’re a fan of the game or read this blog almost a year ago. (The two linked articles were on the old Post-Nuke version 1.0 of the website, and have been copied verbatim to the new version for linking.)

As Dr. Heinous says: “It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.” Of course, his definition of “nicer” is “more deserving.”

Finally, to everyone wondering where their metro news and commentary went, don’t worry, it will be back! It’s just a brief phase I’m going through. 🙂

Cheesecake wars? But I Already Imitated the French!

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Steven DenBeste thinks I’m picking on him? 😕

20060326.1730: Ubu Roi has a review up of the first DVD of Maburaho. I haven’t managed to watch it yet, but he used it as an opportunity to register his latest salvo in the “cheesecake frame grabs” challenge against me. (What did I do to deserve this?)

Maybe I should resort to nukes? NSFW ecchi bath scenes from Popotan? Or I should get my tail in gear and watch the first DVD of Divergence Eve and post some frame grabs from it. I dunno about this. Why is he picking this fight with little old ME? (Go pick on someone your own size!)

Sheesh, my own size would be someone with a tenth of that anime collection! Besides which, I surrendered after the UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie posts — that stuff’s further out than I’d post (my blog is read by too many people at work), and I can’t beat it short of hentai!

Update 2: And SDB counters with UFO Ultramaiden Princess Valkyrie. (Scroll down, then go to next page.) Sigh, I know when I’m whupped, I’m not topping that cheesecake short of hentai. And I don’t have any. (Wouldn’t post it if I did.)

(And by the way, since I buried it in the third update to the Godanner shots, thanks for the help in fixing my capture problems, Steven!)

Of course if you really want to post ecchi, don’t let a little thing like my surrender stop you — just warn us of the NSFW stuff. 🙂

More Cheesecake–Maburaho Review

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Well, I was stuck at home tonight, so I decided to work up some more anime cheesecake to post, with a bit of a review to go with it. I had some more trouble with the aspect ratio, despite Steven denBeste’s help (see Update 3; it was just my own lack of attention that caused it. I spent an hour taking new shots and they came out much better.

Unfortunately, they don’t come out perfect. For that, I blame ADV, the American distributor. I hadn’t really noticed it until I started taking snapshots, but the transfer has issues with rainbowing, aliasing, and cross-coloration. It’s some of the worst I’ve ever seen. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll see in pictures.

Speaking of which, lets get on to it. Warning, spoilers ahead! (The worst of the spoilers are blacked out, but I can’t get it to work perfectly; going to have to read up on styles a bit. Edit: finally got it to work. Highlight with your mouse to read them.) Continue reading →

Subpoenas? Yawn. Graffiti Solution? Same.

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It’s just the civil service hearings for the Fab Four.

Mayor Bill White and City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado are among those subpoenaed Friday for a Civil Service hearing in the City Hall bonus scandal.

The first of four hearings is scheduled for April 4. The four employees who were fired after receiving unapproved bonuses are fighting to get their jobs back.

Unfortunately, if I recall, the first two stages aren’t open record. But that doesn’t mean that one party with an interest in opening it up can’t do so.

Meanwhile, some overenthusiastic council members want to make it nearly impossible for art and hardware stores to do any business.

The proposed amendments would outlaw the possession of graffiti implements by youngsters under 17 at schools and on private property unless a parent or guardian gives consent.

It would also outlaw selling spray paint or broad tipped markers to anybody under 17 — at least, without a parent’s permission.

And it would require store owners to put spray paint and broad-tipped markers in non-public areas, such as behind counters or under lock and key.

“If you have the items under lock and key, then it forces the sales person to engage you,� said Houston City Councilmember Adrian Garcia. “And then it requires that sales person to become much more diligent about who they sell those products to.�

No, it forces the sales person to become that much more harried and probably rude. And it forces me to wait for assistance instead of just buying the spray paint I need for my little project and being about my business. Further, it’s frigging useless, because all that will happen is they’ll buy a small (quart) can, and a throwaway cheap brush. (What, we’re going to have the crime lab start taking fingerprints from the discards? Yeah, send them to the FBI!) It won’t be as quick or as easy, but as the elaborate graffiti we see every day shows, these perpetrators have no fear of being caught; late at night while the police are busy with drunk drivers, they have as long as they need. It already takes an act of congress to buy some simple painkillers. Can anyone show that it’s done anything to slow down the meth labs?

Hey wait, don’t we have a curfew anyway? That’s working out so well to prevent late night grafitti . . . . just ask Stafford.

Update: I thought we officially were not blaming the refugees for the crime increase? That makes two articles in one day linking crime and our “friends” from New Orleans.

Did Mrs. White get mugged last week or something?

Parking Authority II

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Well, it’s a good thing BlogHouston is on the job, becasue I’ve been a little busy with the cheesecake the last couple of nights. A guy’s gotta have his priorities, you know. Anyhoo, the city’s finally gotten with the program and released the names of all the appointees. There were a few small surprises in there, things that I predicted differently or missed..

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Roundup: Suspensions, Investigations, and Bonuses

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In what has to be the worst editing I’ve seen on a major station’s website, Jeff McShan said:

At least 11 HPD officers have received suspensions without pa and one was fired.

“We are appealing his firing on the basis that there is no just cause and this is a fine officer. One of Houston’s finest,” said his attorney, Robert Fuentes. officers One was fired.

I shouldn’t complain becuase I spot errors in my own stuff all the time. But it’s so hard to pass up a chance to point out how well all those layers of editors and such work.

What he’s talking about is the fact that the city didn’t have the common sense to think ahead and hire only police and 911 operators that had absolutely no reason to take off if the city had to be evacuated, or make arrangements for them. Now we’re working out a three tier system to ensure our office stays manned and people have some time prior to a hurricane to board up. We’re even looking at stockpiling food and water so employees and even their kids/family can shelter with us. (We already have an emergency generator).
Continue reading →

So It’s Cheesecake You Want? (updated)

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I’m way overdue for an anime post, and there’s nothing better to break the monotony of more stories on corrupt city government than to indulge in a little cheesecake. So when I saw that Steven Den Beste had decided to post a bunch of pictures from the Ah! My Goddess! TV series featuring Urd, I figured, what the heck, I’ll see your goddess and raise you a bunch of robot pilots! I was going to save this for a week, but when isn’t it a good time for fanservice?

http://houblog.com/wp/
View site »

Urd, Belldandy\'s half-sister. Ok, here’s the goddess: Urd, Belldandy’s half-sister. She’s got the enthusiasm to go with that outfit. (Oh fudge, I just realized he used that shot… I need another.)

Robot Pilot Babes below the fold . . .
Continue reading →

Alvarado Under Investigation

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KPRC-2 led off the 6 p.m. broadcast with a story that Alvarado herself is now under investigation. Apparently, one of those four employees did sing. . . . and the song is “we performed non-city work for Ms. Alvarado.” The DA’s office is being fairly tight-lipped about what and when, and exactly what employee is making the allegations.

However they did mention that they’d found some “peculiar” papers among the thousands seized last week, including a list of what all the council member’s favorite gifts to recieve were.

Gee, I suppose that could be for Christmas shopping, but wouldn’t that be among her personal papers, then?

Edit: Their story is up on the website now; I added the link above.

District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal told KPRC Local 2 that there are questions about whether Alvarado asked her employees to perform tasks unrelated to city business. The exact nature of the jobs was not disclosed, but it could be illegal if the tasks were carried out while the employees were on the clock for the city.

Oddly, they do not repeat the part about the gift list in the article

Happy Birthday to Us!

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Isolated Desolation is celebrating it’s first anniversery today. Congratulations!

Reading that made made me think however… didn’t I start in March also, with v.1 of the site? I went looking, and sure enough — my three year anniversery was yesterday! Yes, it’s the “first post” despite being ID#3, because the first two were tests to see if I had the system working, after which I let the blog sit for a few months. I don’t count them.

Damnation, I should’ve had something to celebrate. Like a blonde.

(Observant and/or really bored people who read through the entire original post will notice I say something about which I changed my mind later.)

Update:It’s a race! Houblog’s birthday presents both shipped today:

  1. PIII-750 Compaq laptop with CD and wireless network card — yay wireless blogging! A steal at only $270 with the shipping. Battery’s not guaranteed, but cables are included and a new battery for that model would run me $50 with shipping. Still a deal.
  2. My latest order of Anime! Stratos 4 boxed set, Godannar vol. 4, and Martian Successor Nadesico vol. 5. I can finally finish that series off (I have held back from viewing vol. 6).

Of course, they’d feel more like b-day presents if I hadn’t bought them myself. . . .

Parking Commission Membership (updated)

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As noted over on Blog Houston, yet another unelected panel is being set up to govern an aspect of our life in the big city. I did a little Googling on the names of the board members, and thought I’d share what I found about the cocktail party circuit. As of posting, this search is not complete; a few members are still absent. I will work on it some more this evening (by which time, they’ll all be officially appointed.)

(Ok, I’m done updating for tonight. 10:30)
(Oops, I lied. Added a bit more analysis & more links.)

Edit: Most interesting website I found while doing this search: Would you call these people skyscraper groupies?

Please excuse the lack of formatting, especially the links, but I don’t have time to clean it up right now–work calls. I certainly don’t warrent this information to be complete or correct; it’s just what I found online, with a few observations.

Charles D. Reedstrom, CAPP
Parking industry mover and shaker. Yes, there is such a thing as a parking industry.
Strategic Revenue Systems Manager, Carter & Burgess, Inc.
Board of Advisors, International Parking Institute

Gerald Torres
Former State Representative (D), part of the Anglo-Hispanic power core that has dominated Houston politics for the last decade.
“Friend of Bill White�
Board Member, Lawndale Art Center
Supports Ana Hernandez for SR 143
Employed by Reliant Energy
Manager Legislative Affairs, Greater Houston Partnership

Mary Jo McFadden
Donated trees to a Precinct 3 park.
No other mention found

Marcus L. Davis
Two different white pages listings come up without the middle initial, both on Briar Forest. One is near Kirkwood, one is near Hwy 6. Might be the Marcus Davis mentioned in this newsletter from Prairie View A&M. I’d bet that it is, and he’s also the recipiant of this Leadership Endowment award. He’s probably not on this team despite the name.

M. Marvin Katz
Big time lawyer
Longtime and well-connected attorney (partner) with Mayer, Brown, Rowe, and Maw. Specialties: Real Estate; Estate Planning; Probate; Corporate. Handled this large commercial purchase:
Sponsorship Vice Chair, Urban Land Institute (Houston District Executive Council)
Former chair of the Houston Planning Commission, now member ex officio

Michelle Colvard
Women’s wheelchair athlete and Chair, City of Houston Commission on Disabilities

Joe R. Martin
Lives on Riptide in zip 77072.
Edit: commenter Royko from BlogHouston provides this link to Martin’s internet service business.
Also owns M Bar & El Centro Restaurant. Chair of DEDA (see Robert Eury, below.)

Andrew F. Icken
Texas Medical Center, possibly hotel industry executive?
Board member, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Listed as Executive Vice President, Texas Medical Center, and board member of the Rice Design Alliance.
Board of Directors, Houston Minority Business Council (page only available in Google cache now—membership listing removed from HMBC website)
Houston Architecture Info Forum, 2004 panelist

Evalyn Laing Krudy
Chair, Boulavard Oaks Civic Association
University Place Superneighborhood board member, and authored this report on neighborhood tree pruning in the BOCA newsletter. Their newsletter looks so much more professional than the photocopies we get in the mail. Oh that’s right, I don’t live in an exclusive superneighborhood. Silly me.
Placed 26th in the female 40-49 category for the Lake 5K Run on 4/30/05.
Member Old Braeswood Kirby Taskforce, 2003, formed to successfully lobbied for retention of the esplanades on Kirby near Braeswood. It’s a very peaceful neighborhood. And she keeps an eye on the construction (see page 5). I’m trying to think of the last time a government explained a construction project in my neighborhood. In such detail. . . . still trying. . . .
Involved in this 2001 candidate forum (contact person).

(still adding to this list!)
Robert Eury
Lives in the exclusive neighborhood between Kirby and Shephard, just north of Westheimer Any further north and you’re in River Oaks itself.
Executive committe member (sometimes listed as President and CEO) of Central Houston, Inc. Nice picture of him with Carol Alvarado at that link.
Steering Committee member of the Downtown Entertainment District Alliance (DEDA). Oh, and look who is the Honorary Chair: Carol Alvarado! And the actual chair is our good friend Joe R. Martin! Such small circles we move in. . .
Member, Houston Downtown Management District
Member, Board of Directors of the Houston Downtown Alliance. Oh, along with, who else? The Honorable Carol Alvarado, City of Houston council member. Oh, and there’s Joe Martin again. They need to watch this menage’a trois stuff, or folks are going to gossip.
He used to like Tom DeLay and Bob Carr.
There’s the “board member, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau” listing. (He’s managed to solo this one, without Joe and Carol.)
Chairman of Blueprint Houston. Don’t forget, this April 6th, all hail the chair! Ask him when the cameras will be installed while you’re there.
Unsurprisingly, he was involved in the Main Street Square project.
Member, Board of Directors of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. They’re the ones pushing the idea of turning Houston’s version of a flood plain into a park. (This page is a bit dated, it still shows John Vanden Bosch as the PW&E director.)
Was on this public policy panel. Unsurprisingly, pro rail.
Member, advisory group of Framework Houston, a project of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County. “An initiative of the Public Art and Urban Design Program of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County (CACHH), the Houston Framework offers the tools, identifies the demonstration projects, and outlines the administrative structure needed to provide Houston and Harris County with civic art and design that will enhance the local environment.” In other words, they’re reponsible for the crap that passes as art in modern parks. Is there any wonder people like to go to older parks where they put, you know, ART, instead of this stuff that makes you go “WTF? Artist on acid trip, mabye?”

Edit/Update: There are 15 members, but five were previously appointed, and I don’t have their names at the moment. Only nine can actually vote; the others are three”civic representatives” and one each representing the City, Metro, and Harris County. My (not at all expert) read on this list is that Katz, Martin, Eury, Icken, and Reedstrom are the heavyweights and almost certain to be voting members, while the remainders are “designated roleplayers:”

Torres — Possibly token Hispanic, possibly voting member.
McFadden — Housewife, a throwaway appointment to appease the peasants? Or possibly the Metro/County rep?
Davis — Token black entrepreneur.
Colvard — Token disabled person.
Krudy — Neighborhood busybody who can be counted on to work with the big boys.

Katz is chairman and Eury may be the city’s non-voting representative. The panel is heavily weighted with pro-rail technocrats, so we can generally count on whatever the Authority does to be unfriendly to personal vehicles. Anyone surprised?

Thought not.