While it is not political news, I thought Prince's pre-Super Bowl press conference on Thursday was pretty excellent: he announced the conference to the collected media, and when they all showed up, he and his band wailed on three songs for about ten minutes and then took off. Prince should consider hiring himself to do a similar service to federal government press briefings.

From the Department of "Say What?" - Rick Perry signed an executive order today requiring that girls attending Texas schools be vaccinated against HPV with Gardasil.

Since Mayor Laura Miller announced in July of last year that she wouldn't be seeking re-election this May, candidates to replace her have been plentiful. The usual campaign tactic for the crop of around 20 candidates has been to criticize the current mayor while explaining their own business successes as credentials for city leadership. If you thought the Democratic field of Presidential contenders was large and complex, wait until you see this.

Steven Bollinger, past president of Texas Young Democrats and well-known progressive hero, celebrated the finalization of his divorce in Denton County last night. The event was roundly categorized as a rousing success. Incredibly, production continues unabated this morning at the Texas Blue.

There is no bigger story in Texas politics today than the death of Molly Ivins. Although I did not know her beyond meeting her a time or two, I'm willing to bet she would agree that the news waits for no man, so we might as well talk about it.

There's a lot of this sort of thing going around - Defense Secretary Robert Gates took a page out of the 2003 playbook when he said that the proposed Senate resolution against the troop surge in Iraq "emboldens the enemy." Lest anyone thought he would truly be any different than Rumsfeld, I say he wouldn't have gotten the job if that were the case.

State Representative Mark Strama and State Senator Rodney Ellis are teaming up on legislation that would require cars in Texas to meet more stringent emissions standards with legislation similar to California state law.

January is the slowest month of the session, so the fact that the Speaker's Race and how it played out is still holding sway over much of the machinations in the Capital doesn't seem unusual. The Democrats for Reform, also known as the Democrats who supported Craddick in the Speaker's Race, want to use their positions of (relative) power to push the Democratic agenda, to which they swear they are committed.

I didn't cover it when it first came out, mostly because I wanted an opportunity to call around a little and see if there was any truth to it at all, which there doesn't seem to be: Charles Kuffner had this about a rumor that Kinky Friedman might run for Senate as a major party candidate.

Today we are pleased to offer our latest feature article, an essay on the Iraq War and its implications by Barbara Ann Radnofsky, the 2006 Democratic nominee for US Senate. Also new today, an article from staff writer Angela Brewer on how civics and political education (or the lack thereof) is leading to generational voter apathy. Check them out and tell your friends.