Tea Party Forum or Bar Room Brawl

For the most part, the questions asked of GOP presidential candidates at the CNN/Tea Party debate were standard, predictable fare. How to balance the budget? How to get the economy growing again? How to reduce the cost of health care? A few questions were on subjects near and dear to the Tea Party. Should the Federal Reserve be audited? Do you support the Fair Tax? Very few of the questions required the candidates to do anything but repeat well-rehearsed lines from their stump speech. So much for the value of letting audience members ask the questions.

Still the debate was entertaining and informative because of the interaction among the candidates. The grilling came from the attacks the candidates made on each other. The alternate cheers and boos from the audience added to the bar room brawl atmosphere.

After the jump, my favorite questions and answers.

Critical Modifier: Cyclically Balanced

Recently, I blogged about Richardson's proposed 2011-2012 budget and declared it not to be in balance. That is, expenditures exceeded revenues. The difference was covered by excess balances in reserve funds. Nothing wrong with doing that, I also declared.

Others were not satisfied. After the jump, new developments.

Late Summer in the Steger Garden (2011)

From Flowers

A quiet moment in the garden on 9/11/2011, remembering the events of ten years ago.

After the jump, another photo.

Southlake Carroll 20, Berkner 10

From 2011 Football

The Berkner Rams lost to perennial power Southlake Carroll 20-10 Friday night at Ram-Wildcat Stadium. The Rams held their own through much of the game, taking a 10-7 lead in the first half and holding the potent Carroll offense to just 3 points in the second half. But the Rams couldn't crack the Dragon defense. Still, it's a great time to be a Ram!

More photos from this game and all of the 2011 season, including the bands and color guards and drill teams and cheerleaders and everything else that goes into making high school football the best value in Friday night entertainment, can be found here.

Not on Perry's Reading List

How ironic was it that the GOP presidential candidates forum was held in a library -- the Reagan Library, but still. Instead of a background of books, we saw a humongous, gas-guzzling jumbo jet hovering over the proceedings. And one by one, the candidates demonstrated that reading books, at least science books, is not one of their habits as they fly back and forth across the country campaigning for president.

After the jump, what's not on Rick Perry's reading list.

Yeehaw! Perry at the Reagan Ranch

Actually, the site of the GOP presidential candidates debate wasn't the Reagan Ranch. It was the Reagan Library. But a ranch better fits the image Rick Perry wants to project and he probably hasn't been in a library in decades. So, we'll go with ranch.

The rules of the debate forbade the candidates from having notes or props on stage, but you just know that under his jacket Perry was carrying. And that he'd use it if necessary if Ron Paul persisted in pointing out that in the 1980s, while Reagan was President, Rick Perry supported Al Gore for President.

After the jump, how Perry did as the GOP frontrunner in his first scrimmage with the other candidates.

-30-

With succinct finality, Ian McCann tweeted the news that layoffs were in progress at The Dallas Morning News: -30-

He followed up later with "I appreciate the thoughts everybody. Now time to plan the next adventure, almost 12 years after the first one began."

Besides Twitter, the blog DMNcuts seems to be the best place to follow the news from the DMN newsroom. According to a document obtained by that anonymous blogger, the cuts affected 38 people, including reporters, photographers, and editors.

After the jump, my thoughts.

Open Mike, Black Hole

The Richardson City Council's Statement of Goals (pages 9-28 of this handout from the August 29 city council meeting) is full of noble ambitions, but it will be the list of near-term action items that city residents really should pay attention to. Those are the items most likely to show up on the council's meeting agenda sometime in the next two years.

After the jump, a suggestion for one easily achievable near-term action item regarding communication.

OTBR: A Wheat Field in Finland

Latitude 60.170800° N
Longitude 23.149300° E

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Richardson Eagles 37, Irving 14

From 2011 Football

In their first home game of the season, the Richardson Eagles Friday night put up a convincing 37-14 win over the Irving Tigers at Eagle-Mustang Stadium.

More photos from this game and all of the 2011 season can be found here.