Enlarge photo by: Caleb Bryant Miller

Evan Smith converses with filmmakers Lawrence Wright and Alex Gibney after the Texas premiere of "My Trip to Al-Qaeda" at the Blanton Museum.

Last week, the Trib presented the Texas premiere of My Trip to Al-Qaeda, a new documentary that aired on HBO tonight. After the screening, I interviewed the filmmakers, director Alex Gibney and author and journalist (and Austinite) Lawrence Wright.

Your afternoon reading.

And now for something completely different: Rick Perry and Bill White are virtually tied in the race for governor, according to a poll done for Texas Watch by Republican pollster Hill Research Consultants.

Starting today, you may a little less lonely while kvetching about politics.

Forecasters say incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry has an 83.5 percent chance of a defeating Democratic challenger Bill White in November.

After a 2006 bus accident in Beaumont that killed two students and injured several more, parents and legislators successfully demanded the state finance seat belts in school buses. Today, four years later, the Legislative Budget Board finally gave approval for a grant program — but the rules the board set likely will exclude the Beaumont area from getting the money, even though the grassroots movement started there. 

Your afternoon reading.

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign hit the trail with his challenger, Bill White, and captured what it considers to be humorous moments for a new web video posted today.

Adding to the still-escalating drama, an ultimatum was issued in the governor's race Thursday.

Eighteen Democrats in the Texas House have asked President Obama to send U.S. surveillance aircraft from Iraq to Texas to help guard the state's border with Mexico.

Gov. Rick Perry delivered an ultimatum to his leading challenger, Bill White: Release your tax returns by Sept. 15 or "the people of Texas will not get the opportunity to see the candidates debate."

Gubernatorial candidate Bill White unveiled a border security plan today and chided Gov. Rick Perry over border cameras and his "unauthorized" spending of security money.

Your afternoon reading.

Another oil rig — owned by a Houston-based company — has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

The ethics bug is back.