Daily - The Austin Chronicle (2024)

Opposite Day for McCain Education Policy

Semper Paratus

Back in August and early-September of 2005, during those harrowing Katrina weeks, The Austin Chronicle desperately tried to stay on top of breaking hurricane and relief news. We cobbled together an Evacuee Services page from scraps of what our servers and personnel could handle.These days, we have blogs. Today we launch In Case of Emergency, a blog effort to stay prepared – for times in which public service cannot wait for a weekly print edition.Two days ago, the National Hurricane Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) placed serious bets on a Texas coast landfall for Hurricane Ike sometime this weekend. The projected track of the beast currently churning through Cuba, exposes a vulnerable gulf coastline, with a range of possible dangerzones stretching from Southwest Louisiana to Northern Mexico.Louisiana and Florida declared states of emergency earlier in the week, and yesterday Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration as Ike barrels northwest.Austin is situated but a few hours from the coastal region. Safely enough inland, we are a logical staging area for statewide relief efforts. On a personal level, many of us high and dry (…) in the state capital have friends and loved ones living on the coast. Coastal concerns are our concerns.Just last week, Austin opened doors to a number of facilities and resources for anticipated Hurricane Gustav evacuees. Fortunately, the fallout from Gustav was relatively minor, and evacuees made it safely back home in a matter of days. Back in 2005, Austin played a major role in providing a safety net for thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Our town came through in a pinch.Watch this space for updates as Ike inches towards the Texas coast. An access link to In Case of Emergency will appear on the front page of our website in times of need. Be sure to check out our list of Resource Links in the righthand column alongside the blog posts. Hopefully, all our efforts are pre-cautionarily for naught, and no one will ever have to actually use the resources amassed within.

Now That's Some Powerful Conflict of Interest Legislation

In a moment that will make supporters of sweeping political ethics reform both weep and cheer, intriguing news from overseas. Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej has been forced out of office because of a potential conflict of interest.So what could possibly be the major distraction from his sole and single job as PM? He is also the sometime host of Tasting and Complaining: A TV cooking show. This was apparently enough of an issue that he has had to leave office. Well, that and the fact that Sundaravej (who is seen as a cat's paw for exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra) has been the beneficary of a wildly unpopular military coup and his opponents have been seeking his impeachment for months.So while the US wrestles with the revolving door between business and elected offices, the Thai government is even keeping the rice steamer lobby at bay.

Fantastic Free!

Holy free movies online, Batman! The Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest have announced that five feature films and six shorts will be streamed online via the BSide community, in their entirety, from Sept. 14-20.This is big news. Not only did badges for this years Fantastic Fest (Sept. 18-21) completely sell out ages ago, but we've seen five of the films they'll be streaming, and they rock. Hard. Like "Why are you stalking me, Mr. Famous French Gynecologist-in-a-motel room-from-hell?"-type rocking. Seriously, this is some mindwarping stuff they're coughing up for you here.As per the official press release, you'll need to sign up as a member of the BSide to view the carnage, and, of course, you don't get free popcorn or the chance to sit near Harry Knowles, but so what? This is free, baby!Here's a drool-worthy listing of what you'll be able to watch, for free, at home, totally in the nude if you so desire, for free: Dr. Infierno, I Think We're Alone Now, La Creme, Rule of Three, South of Heaven.More info. Did we mention this was free?

Texecutioners are the Reason

It's a long way from Detroit to Austin. So when the Detroit Derby Girls came all that distance to take on the Texecutioners in their own house on Sunday, Sept. 7, they were determined to take a victory back with them.Before getting down to WFTDA-sanctioned business, there was some old-school fun: The Clash of the Midsummer Night's Dream Teams. It was a one-night-only special, with one-off teams the Holy Hand Grenades and the Mother Truckers, and brief returns from retirement for both Trouble and Voodoo Doll. But the intention was just good fun, with well-mannered brawling to boot. The 53-19 victory for the Mother Truckers wasn't for anything except entertainment (although there may be one big lesson: If there's a free draft bout like this next year, don't expect Das-It to be available for it. If she keeps improving like she has this season, she's touring-team-bound.)Speaking of the Texecutioners: With Western Regionals a month away, they were looking for a big win. Even though they had the home advantage, laurel-resting wasn't an option since Detroit didn't get that #9 ranking free in a box of Crackerjacks. After some recent shaky travel bout results, the Texecutioners would benefit from a momentum builder.

Young Cubs Rub Buds

Why kiss when you can rub beards?The Gay Place loves the work of Sean M. Johnson!

UT Stays Awake, Sober in El Paso City

The most Texas sounding of all Longhorns apologized Monday. Not for the nonexistent pass defense against lowly UTEP, but for drunken driving. "It's not how I was raised," Lamarr Houston said of the drunk driving arrest that kept him from traveling to scenic El Paso for a game that mercifully ended at 12:51pm Sunday morning with a 42-13 notch in the UT belt.When I was a kid, my brother and I would stay up until the wee small hours playing Mille Bornes, a card game about driving that only the French could come up with. Driving? Cards? No wonder these people eat snails. Anyway, I was the Mille Bornes wizard without even trying or caring. I had the French mojo. My brother's strategy for winning was to keep me playing until I was half asleep.Is that the Longhorn excuse for a game that shouldn't have been nearly as close as it was in the first half?

Gustav: Gone, But Not Forgotten

Hurricane Ike is predicted to make landfall on the Gulf Coast later this week, and even though it looks like it's heading to Texas, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has already declared a state of emergency.But it's important to remember that, just because it didn't hit New Orleans as bady as anyone feared, it doesn't mean the damage from Hurricane Gustav is all cleared up. Louisiana electricity firm Entergy reports that, as of 11am this morning, 206,080customers across the state still had no power, and some face outages until October. The Associated Press reports that demand for food and water was much higher than anticipated and Jindal has criticized (surprise, surprise) FEMA for not getting essential trucks into the region. The Red Cross is still running shelters and handing out ice in areas of New Orleans.Along the coast in Houma, which took the worst of the battering from Gustav, residents are still under an 8pm-6am curfew. It also looks the ubiquitous blue tarps will be back again.

Kirkland Knocks Out Cortes in Second Round

On an evening that saw ESPN’s Friday Night Fights come to Austin, many curious boxing fans wondered why all the hype about Austin’s own James Kirkland. He has a lofty 22 wins with 0 defeats, and 19 KO’s. As the main event neared, Kirkland could be seen in his locker room laughing and joking – he seemed relaxed. His opponent, Ricardo Cortes, is a man with a respectable 22-2 record with 15 KO’s. Before the fight, Cortes was lounging on a couch with his legs crossed. Was he nervous or was it all business?The atmosphere was electric, and the fans were on their feet. Cortes came out first, looking relaxed and bouncing on his toes. When Kirkland’s rap intro music came on the speakers, it seemed as if the roof of the Austin Music Hall was going to blow off. The pride of Austin boxing was fighting on the world stage, and he looked focus.When the bell rang, Kirkland came right after Cortes, as he usually does with any opponent. Kirkland landed several big combos early. Cortes countered with a few shots, but Kirkland landed several hard blows that made Cortes’ eye swell within the first two minutes of the fight.During round two, Cortes wasn’t so lucky.