Islamofascist terrorist groups must be getting desperate if they’re using attackers of this pathetic caliber:

In the other attack — the first in living memory by women in Egypt — the two veiled women opened fire on the bus in southern Cairo but missed, Cairo’s Security Director Nabil el-Azabi said.

They missed a bus. Further reports suggest the terrorists cancelled plans to attack the broad side of a barn.

Why can’t misfortune like this ever happen to Big Ten football referees?

Robert Hoyzer had already lost his reputation, his job, his friends and his girlfriend. On Friday he lost any hope of a career as a referee in Germany.

Banned for life by the German Football Association (DFB), Hoyzer is the disgraced referee at the centre of the country’s worst match-rigging scandal in three decades, a saga that has embarrassed the hosts before next year’s World Cup finals.

Even though the DFB dropped a 50,000-euro ($64,620) fine imposed on Hoyzer because of his co-operation with state prosecutors and DFB investigators, the 25-year-old may still face much higher civil claims for damages from clubs and fans.

The godless repressive Beijing government has declared Rockets star Yao Ming a "model worker," just in time for May Day:

"Before, I thought model workers only recognized ordinary people who worked tirelessly and without asking for anything in return," the 24-year-old Yao said through his agent. "Now the award also includes someone like me, a special kind of migrant worker. That’s a sign of progress."

Yao went on to say, "There, I said it. Now please don’t execute my family."

Now let’s hear from average folks in that enlightened workers’ paradise:

"What’s the point of understanding it? They will never pick one of us," said Wei Yanzhou, 42, a welder from Hubei province who is helping to build what is expected to be the tallest building in Beijing.

Wei works about 12 hours a day, seven days a week for about $100 a month. If he takes a sick day, the boss deducts the day’s wage from his pay.

Wei considers himself lucky. Many migrant workers receive no wages at all from employers who claim to be bankrupt or disappear with laborers’ hard-earned money.

At the end of the day, workers like Wei are shuttled back to factory dorms where they sleep more than a dozen to a small room. There is no hot running water, no heat or ventilation and little food.

"We eat cabbage three times a day. Sometimes the rice has sand in it," said bricklayer Zhu Zhou, who looks a decade older than his 40 years. "We see meat maybe twice a week. We don’t even get enough drinking water, never mind a shower."

Happy May Day.

[Hat-tip: Kevin Whited]

Just when you thought airport security couldn’t get any more absurd:

Penguins walk through a metal detector. Friggin’ penguins.

A pair of penguins from Sea World in San Antonio were traveling with their handler through the Denver airport. Security personnel made the handler remove the potential Antarctic al-Qaeda operatives from their carrying case and walk them through the metal detectors, holding up the line of human passengers.

A few questions immediately spring to mind:

1. Why wouldn’t you just check the penguins as baggage? It’s not like they’re going to freeze in the cargo hold.
2. What did the TSA geniuses think they were going to do if the penguins set off the alarm? "Sir, could you please remove the tuxedo and waddle through the metal detector again?"
3. Aren’t these birds on the No Fly List?

Meanwhile, your friendly neighborhood TSA troglodytes let Homo sapiens passengers slide through security with guns.

COURREGES ADDS: Matt, I wouldn’t be so trusting with penguins. They could be the minions of a certain Batman villain:

Just sayin’.

Click pic for story.

This is one seriously screwed-up kid:

A third-grader stuck 19 schoolmates with her mother’s diabetes blood-testing needle this week, and one pricked student tested positive for HIV on a preliminary test, officials said.

Wow. But it might not be as bad as it looks:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of HIV infection after a needle stick is low, with an average of one in 300 cases leading to infection.

Just one in 300? So I guess a needle-exchange program won’t really stop the scourge of AIDS, will it? Hmmm?

Here is some disturbing news from an Orlando, Florida abortion clinic. A woman claims to have gone to the Epoc Clinic and Family Planning Center during the fifth month of her pregnancy for an abortion, and instead gave birth to the child in the bathroom of the facility. In a complaint lodged with the state, the woman claims that the facility’s employees failed to seek medical attention for herself and her baby, resulting in the child’s death.

Pro-life groups are calling for an investigation:

"Here her child is in the bathroom, looking up at her, and forgive me for being so frank, in a toilet," Christian Defense Coalition Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney said. "She is hysterical, begging the health care providers to call 911 and they refuse to do it."

Responds the doctor:

A spokeswoman for Dr. James Pendergraft said the incident did not happen.

"This is a very fine medical facility and Dr. Pendergraph (sic) is a very fine, board certified highly respected medical doctor," Doctor’s spokeswoman Marti Mackenzie said. "It absolutely never happened."

The “highly respected” abortionist has been in trouble with the law before, as the story states that he served several months of a four-year sentence in a fraud case.

An independent autopsy is being sought by the woman who gave birth.

The most striking feature of this sad story is the irony of investigating the death of a baby at an abortion clinic.

I’ve been taking some flak from readers for my little digs at Texas A&M. Some of it was legitimate (the cloned horse with two butts was an Aggie joke), and some were not ("What a maroon" is an old Looney Tunes insult, not a dig at Aggies). But anyway, if I’m going to get criticized, I might as well deserve it.

To that end, here’s one of the conclusions of a study of Chronicle sports reporting during 2004 done by the Rice Football Webletter:

The Chronicle is currently in love with Coach Fran and the Aggies. We were subject to countless accolades about the re-birth of the A&M program under the new coach. Mickey Herskowitz in particular seems to have a fondness for the program. Several of his columns were devoted to the maroon cause.

I love how the link to the article on the front page is titled "Chronically biased" (our old name!). Anyway, as a proud Rice alum, I felt honor-bound to report the truth here — the Chron is an Aggie-boosting publication.

I actually like homeowner’s associations as a means by which to control neighborhood development without zoning (which is the spawn of more tyrannical men than I). However, the entire system can’t function if homeowner’s associations don’t show some danged restraint now and then. This is just stepping over the line:

Pamela Bernhardt was close to completing renovations on a house she owned and hoped to sell. She had installed a new roof, new granite tops in the kitchen and new tiles in the bathroom.

Earlier this month, she arrived at the house on the 14200 block of Swallowfield in southwest Houston and found a small, yellow note stuck to the front door.

The handwritten note said that the house had been sold at a foreclosure sale seven months earlier. The local homeowners association had sold the house, valued at about $250,000, saying Bernhardt failed to pay a $420 assessment fee.

"It was so devastating," Bernhardt said. "I was just stunned."

Surely there were better ways to handle this debt than to forclose on the home, and sell it off for pennies on the dollar. And not to be an alarmist, but methinks this creates the risk that, in the future, homeowner’s agreements could be slapped down as unconscionable in the courts. I mean, how could anyone stomach this?

[Hat tip: BlogHouston]

UPDATE: Reader Bobby Warren writes:

[I]t’s obvious that none of you realize that the homeowner’s association only gets the $420 plus attorney’s fees. The woman in this story will get the balance of what the home was sold for (the story never gives us this dollar amount).

As I stated before, the main issue is whether she received notice. If she did, it’s her fault - she should have paid the bill.

If she did not receive notice, then she will get her home back and her attorney’s fees paid.

First of all, according to Bernhardt, her home was sold for $1,600 (this is what I meant by “pennies on the dollar”). If this is true, she’ll get back $1,180 on a home worth $250,000. That’s absurd.

Secondly, I understand that Bernhardt was partially to blame here. But even if she ignored the notices, it still doesn’t justify this kind of draconian remedy. There should be better ways to recoup a debt of less than $500 than ordering the sale of a $250,000 home (attaching a lien, perhaps?). And if a sale is to occur, it should be at or near the appraised value. What happened here was a farce.

When the incident of the little girl being handcuffed happened, the first question I had was, “Do standard issue police handcuffs lock down small enough to fit a five-year old, or do they have a special pair made specifically for little tots?”

This case seemed to stir the emotions of those on both sides of the issue. For those who were offended, I wonder: If the child had been restrained another way, would that be okay with them?

Could the officer have held the girl’s hands together? Could her hands have been tied together with a soft pretty silk bandanna? Is there any form of restraint that would not offend the cuff critics?

Forge Toon Archives

This is the opening sentence of today’s Chronicle editorial:

If a camel is an animal designed by a committee, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct resembles a panel designed by camels.

What?!

How about this one, written by yours truly:

If a house editorial is a column written by a committee, the Chronicle’s ability to write a decent metaphor is crap.

Well, the little pissant has written to me again. I think this could become a running feature.
(more…)

Well, it looks like our city council has finally done something right:

The Houston City Council has passed new regulations that allow librarians to kick out patrons whose "offensive bodily hygiene" is a nuisance to others.

Houston’s public libraries have a new set of rules that bans body odor, bathing in library restrooms, eating packaged food, sleeping and shaving in the city facilities.

Houston Mayor Bill White said there have been many complaints about abuse of library facilities. Critics say the regulations are aimed at keeping the homeless out of the libraries.

Well, duh.

Really, I like fetid, urine-drenched vagrants as much as the next guy. I’d just rather our public libraries not become the functional equivalent of public restrooms because your local panhandler wants to turn the library into his own personal residence. Homeless shelters aren’t exactly nice places, I know, but really I’m not up for allowing the library to become an alternative.

Those Aggies just can’t get it right, can they?

Forge Toon Archives

Here’s mine as well:

Here’s mine…

I know you’ve all been itching for your pic of the day fix. Here it is.

Click pic for story.

Click pic for story.

Click pic for story.

This is illegal discrimination, according to the ACLU.

Always in touch with the mainstream, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state of Ohio, demanding that authorities stop issuing license plates with a "Choose life" message:

Abortion advocates in Ohio filed a lawsuit seeking to stop sales of the state’s Choose Life license plate one month before they will be available to motorists. The American Civil Liberties Union claims the plates discriminate against abortion advocates because no pro-abortion version is offered.

The suit, filed in federal court in Cleveland, asserts the plates amount to "viewpoint discrimination" because they are one-sided.

Attorney John Farnan of Cleveland Right to Life, told the Associated Press the legal challenge was "a hostility both to freedom of speech and religion." He said the license plates simply promote the state’s view that life is valued.

I guess the ACLU and NARAL want a license plate that reads "Choose Death." At least that would be honest.

I’ve gotten another letter about Lawrence, in response to this post. Allow me to cite and refute:

I found your analysis almost as inaccurate as the one you suppose to correct.

First of all, to settle the matter once and for all, the case not decided under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment OR substantive due process as found in the Fifth. It was decided on the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth. Perhaps one of you would actually like to read the case?

It was an error on my part to cite the 5th instead of the 14th for substantive due process (a typo, really — I know the amendments), but it’s not of any real legal significance. Both Amendments say the same thing about due process, and both are applicable against the states (and the doctrine of substantive due process has actually been applied to both amendments). Thus I fail to see how this is a major "gotcha." My interpretation of the law was absolutely correct, because there isn’t a functional difference between the 14th and the 5th in this matter. This little pissant is just trying to condemn me on what amounts to a technicality.

Second of all, the issue of sexuality was quite important. You may or may not have noted the vast portion of the opinion dealing with the inaccuracies of Bower, a case decided exclusively upon sexuality, leading the Court to overrule it. Considering Bower was overruled, I would certainly cite sexuality as an important factor.

I too can play at this game. HA! It was Bowers, not Bower! He cited to the wrong case! Did he ever even actually read Lawrence? It cited to Bowers soooo many times! What a maroon! Ha!

See? This kind of asinine rhetoric doesn’t fly, now does it?

As for his actual point here (and I assume he means "homosexuality when he says "sexuality"), Bowers was arguing for the legality of sodomy laws as a whole — those implicating homosexuals alone and those that proscribed sodomy for heterosexuals as well — to contend with the equal protection argument. Thus it had to consider the issue of homosexuality. But since Lawrence was decided on "liberty" grounds, and not equal protection grounds the issue of homosexuality was actually quite irrelevant.

Thirdly, the Equal Protection Clause’s “strict scrutiny” test is not just for race (and to some extend, gender), it is also used as a test of discrimination on the basis of religion and national origin. It also covers “fundamental rights", such as voting, for example, as well as others.

And this is important because…? Look, I know "strict scrutiny" has been applied to a few ancillary areas similar to race (particularly ethnicity and national origin) and areas protected in other amendments to the constitution (religion and voting), although I failed to mention that. My point was that the main focus of equal protection strict scrutiny has always been race, and expanding the equal protection clause to any group you please would thus be out of step with its intended meaning. That point stands. Again, he’s trying to get me on a technicality (Bower? I’m still laughin’).

Fourthly, after declaring the decision isn’t based on sexuality, you switch back to defending the fact that homosexuality has enjoyed a negative classification in human morality for thousands of years.

Sub one, you can’t have it both ways.

Sub two, you may be thinking of sodomy (of any sexuality), that has persistantly been viewed as negative for millennia, due to the fact it is a “non-child-bearing” activity. As stated by a multitude of amici, homosexuals as a distinct class of persons did not arise until the late 19th century.

First of all, the reader brought up the equal protection argument, and I was responding to it. I wasn’t trying to have it both ways — I was responding to an argument as given.

Secondly, homosexual behavior has been singled out as morally wrong apart from heterosexual sodomy for thousands of years. The Bible certain did it, and despite what Justice Kennedy said, many of the colonies singled out homosexual activity in their laws as well. My point still stands.

Fifthly, your dig at Kennedy for using international law, if you meant that which was within the Lawrence decision, is unjustified. In Bowers, the majority opinion and concurring opinion by the Chief Justice made a statement about the history of state intervention in homosexual conduct within Western civilization. Kennedy’s citation of a European court decision is simply a response to an inaccuracy in Bowers made by Chief Justice Burger and Justice White. In short, the original and factually inaccurate citation of international law came from Bowers, Kennedy’s citation simply points this out, and it ultimately has absolutely no bearing on the determination of the actual issue at hand.

If I recall correctly, Bowers (hey, he got it right here) focused on history and the tradition of Western Civilization rather than contemporary decisions. Thus a very recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights wasn’t all that relevant. Furthermore, it’s difficult to argue that Kennedy hasn’t been making a point of citing foreign law in his decisions on social issues. He doesn’t rely on them for his holdings, necessarily, but it sends a statement that he’s taking their side in the culture wars. I consider that very relevant to "the actual issue at hand."

Every once in a while, it’s nice to take a break from political machinations for a heartwarming story:

A television, stereo and VCR were taken over the weekend from a house in the small town of Kremlin, Okla.

Niles, the Garfield County undersheriff, said the woman who lives in the house called again this week to report another break-in. But this time all her electronic gear had been returned.

The apparent crook-with-a-conscience even reconnected the wires and repaired the door jamb damaged in the original break-in. Deputies are investigating.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Online postal company Stamps.com is relaunching its "PhotoStamps" program, where customers can create their own personalized postage. The stamps are printed with a machine-readable code on the right side, allowing the U.S. Postal Service to process them like traditional stamps. You can make your own at Stamps.com, or just take a look at the one I made:

I really think this thing is going to take off.

KHOU: Safe Clear killing bill closer to passing

It was a shocker Wednesday in the state legislature.

The House gave tentative approval to a bill that would kill Houston’s Safe Clear program.

Representative Robert Talton of Pasadena brought it up for a surprise vote and it passed on the second reading.

Rep. Talton also drew the attention of the Wall Street Journal today.

Daily Press: Both Va. tax plans shift burden

RICHMOND — Republican Jerry Kilgore wants to lower property taxes, but his plan could shift more of the burden onto lower-income homeowners.

Democrat Tim Kaine has a property tax relief plan, too, but it would be expensive to fully implement and businesses could bear a greater load.

And either plan could result in higher fees or increases in other taxes as localities scramble to make up for lost cash.

Those are among the observations in a new analysis prepared for the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League that looks at the potential fallout of what has become a very popular campaign topic.

Skyrocketing assessments, particularly in urban areas, has moved local property tax relief to the forefront early in this campaign season. Kilgore and Kaine have made it a priority, and conservatives in the General Assembly are formulating their own response.

Neither VML nor VACO has taken a position on the candidates’ plans, although some mayors and county supervisors say they are wary about any changes to the local real estate tax, their No. 1 source of cash.

In my spare time, I’m a psychic. I’m getting a vision right now. I’m seeing VACO and VML doing everything they can behind the scenes to kill Rep. Kilgore’s appraisal cap bill.

No sooner had we begun to breathe a sigh of relief that Laura Ingraham’s breast-cancer surgery appears to have gone well that we learned that LoneStarTimes.com publisher (and KSEV owner) Dan Patrick would be sitting-in for her Thursday morning.

On top of that, we’ve been told that Dan’s guests will include Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senator Zell Miller.

So in a cutting-edge experiment (and shameless gimmick) designed to push the boundaries of the New Media (and try to whip up some national attention and linky-love), I am hereby announcing the start of the first ever "LoneStarTimes.com Invites the Blogosphere to Interview Bill Frist Contest".

Here’s how you play:

1. Have a blog;
2. Post about this contest and include both a link to us and our full name ("LoneStarTimes.com");
3. Include in your post the question you would most like Dan to ask Majority Leader Frist Thursday morning on the Laura Ingraham Show;
4. Leave a (short) comment on our blog letting us know that you did it;
5. We will review the blogged questions by 8 AM Houston time and pass the "best" question (or even several of the "best" questions, as defined by me) along to Dan for asking.

This might be really neat. Or it could completely suck.

But we are intrigued, and figure we might as well give it a shot.

UPDATE– "Sucked"

Residents of Dallas City Council District 13, you should be aware that your elected representative is a complete jackass:

A City Council member apologized to the father of a Boy Scout after calling the teenager "Count Dracula" for erecting bat houses in a park.

Ira Richardson said he has received an outpouring of support for his 14-year-old son, who built the houses as part of a project to earn an Eagle Scout badge.

After hearing about the project, Council Member Mitchell Rasansky voiced concerns during a neighborhood meeting. Rasansky also appeared at City Hall last week with plastic fangs and with a plastic bat attached to his suit.

In a letter of apology, Rasansky said he had "great respect and admiration for all Boy Scouts." Rasansky said he was only joking when he said the boy was from Transylvania and mentioned taking a "wooden stake and a cross" to the park.

Before you accuse me of being too hard on the jackass, it wasn’t just an off-hand joke. He either went home and raided his kids’ Halloween stuff or he went to a novelty store, and then appeared in an official capacity making fun of a Boy Scout’s service project. Class act.

The complete jackass was even given the chance to back down from his comments:

When told about the teenager’s trauma, Mr. Rasansky, a former Boy Scout, had little sympathy.

"I have enough people to take care of in my district. I don’t need a colony of bats," he said. "We want people in our parks, not flying mice."

I don’t know if I’ve made this clear, Rasansky, but you are a complete jackass.

Congratulations to this future Eagle Scout. Achieving such an honor, especially at such a young age and in the face of mindless opposition, is something to be very proud of.

It looks like the disgraced departure of Gunga Dan hasn’t helped the ratings situation at the CBS Evening News. The Black Eye Network is getting massacred in the few households where people still watch network news:

CBS’ 6.1 million average nightly viewers last week was its lowest total since record-keeping started in 1987.

Low ratings for "Evening News" are a setback for CBS, which had received plenty of critical acclaim for the Schieffer-led broadcast. Schieffer scored a notable scoop on the Minnesota school shooting story in his first week on the air, and the newscast showcased his conversational style via live Q&As with correspondents.

CBS has averaged a little more than 6.8 million viewers in Schieffer’s first six weeks at the helm, down 7% from the same period last year.

And now the spin from CBS:

"Our focus right now is on the content of the broadcast. We realize it will take time for the audience to respond to the changes we’re making," said CBS News spokeswoman Donna Dees. "The journalism is strong, the spirit is fresh, and the initial reaction has been very positive.

I’ve got two questions for this spokeschick:

1. Are you admitting that strong journalism is a change from CBS traditions?

2. In what parallel universe is a record-low ratings number seen as "very positive?"

Oh, those wacky Russians:

The tenth permanent crew of the International Space Station (ISS) today suggested space chiefs reconsider the ban on alcohol on the orbiter.

"Fifty grams of wine a day like submariners get on a long mission would make working and living on the ISS more comfortable," Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov said at the Korolyov space control center by Moscow.

The amount he proposed is roughly half a wine glass.

The ban on taking alcohol to the station is enforced by NASA but the Russian agency has been known to turn a blind eye to bottles of cognac secreted by cosmonauts for celebratory nips on holidays and birthdays.

They’ve also been known to turn a blind eye to 55-gallon drums of vodka secreted by cosmonauts for celebratory nips upon waking up, brushing their teeth, performing experiments, eating lunch, floating around, checking the time…

For another perspective on what happens when you mix rockets, Russians and rye, we turn the clock back to 1999, when the director of Russia’s mission control center was arrested in Florida:

"The man confronted the male paramedic and then kicked a female paramedic in the abdomen, knocking her through the ambulance door and to the pavement, the arrest report said.

Neither medical worker was seriously hurt, said Orlando Domingez, spokesman for Fire Rescue agency.

The arrest report indicated that alcohol may have been a factor in the incident. Sources said Lobachev’s blood-alcohol was 0.268 percent, more than three times the legal limit for alcohol impairment."

This looks worthy of your attention. (Hat-tip: Lucianne.com)

Houston blogger Greg Wythe has been arguing lately that the Chronicle’s coverage of Tom DeLay has been unjustifiably glowing, thus refuting the notion that the paper is liberal and anti-DeLay. Needless to say, I think this is wrong. Even if Greg were correct that the stories in question are pro-DeLay, it wouldn’t follow that they make up for years of anti-DeLay articles and editorials (with Cragg Hines analogizing the man to Satan himself).

But, also needless to say, I don’t think that he characterizes these articles properly. So let’s see what Greg has to say:

Well, apparently one gift from the Houston Chronicle wasn’t enough for Tom DeLay, so the Chronicle sent Eric Hanson on the beat to rustle up some positive quotes to please the ethically-challenged Majority Leader who barely hit the 55% mark in his previous election and now polls in even lower territory:

The article Greg is referring to (the "one gift") basically argues that DeLay is surviving his recent bout with activist Democrats. In that respect, the previous article was simply stating facts — DeLay seems to be weathering the storm, with President Bush just today embracing DeLay despite the scandals. Moreover, few Republicans have dared speak out against him. The Chronicle actually resorted to reporting on a "moderate" faux Republican from California speaking out against him, though nobody’s buying the idea that he’s in trouble with the GOP base [Hat tip: BlogHouston]. So DeLay seems to be doing well, and that’s just about the only story. That the Chronicle actually reported it accurately is a tad out of character, but the only justifiable result.

So now let’s deal with these pesky quotes Greg harps on, shall we?

# "If Tom DeLay for whatever reason steps down — I don’t think he will be beaten — I would go so far to say that the next congressman will be from Harris County," said Bob Stein, professor of political science at Rice University. He said the seat will most likely remain in Republican hands.

BOB STEIN? The Chronicle is supposed to be pro-DeLay for quoting Bill White-loving uber-liberal BOB STEIN? Please. Stein has every reason in the world to hope for DeLay’s defeat. That he believes DeLay will overcome the recent scandals only goes to show that DeLay is, in fact, overcoming the onslaught. If the Chron had wanted to show bias, they would have been quoting somebody conservative (and there are a couple on the political science faculty at Rice). Or they could have always just quoted a Republican operative. But Stein? Sheesh. Yeah right.

# Despite the negative headlines now swarming around DeLay, his political support remains very strong and most observers are confident he will be re-elected in 2006. [ed note - where are the so-called conservative media critics to bemoan the editorializing within a "news" story?]

It’s analysis. And as I noted above, if Bob-freakin’-Stein says that DeLay be reelected, then that’s probably the consensus of most political observers. It can’t exactly be characterized as "wishful thinking" on Stein’s part.

# Tom Bass, professor of political science at the University of St. Thomas and a former Harris County commissioner, believes DeLay will win in 2006 unless the political landscape changes drastically.

Wow. Further verification.

… and the most serious quote the Chron can muster regarding DeLay’s weakness within the district?

# Don Bankston, a Richmond attorney and longtime Democratic Party activist, believes ethics allegations and other problems will drive DeLay from office before his term is up.

"Now that he has made Doonesbury, he is in trouble," he said.

After Morrison’s miserable loss last time (and he’s quit already this time around) not too many high-profile Democrats are willing to speculate that they’ll win the seat. It’s not that surprising, especially given that even liberal political scientists in the area are throwing in the towel for DeLay.

Chronically Biased indeed!

Ah, and the obligatory slam at our fair website (using an outdated moniker). Let’s just face facts — it’s difficult to argue that the Chron is pro-DeLay, unless you’ve been locked in a closet and denied access to their reporting for the past decade.