The Midday Brief: January 28, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

“Maybe it's just the French queer socialist sushi-nibbling claque that I tend to hang with, but one of the more frequent questions that crops up among my coterie is a profoundly puzzled, genuinely stumped, "Does anybody actually like Rick Perry?" —How Perry Clinched the Man-Cave Vote — The Texas Observer

“More bad news about the Texas Ranger Museum’s expansion site: According to state regulators, it’s not only in a cemetery, but it’s also part of a landfill.”— State regulators say Ranger Museum's expansion site built on landfill ­— Waco Tribune-Herald

“The new Men's Zone at the H-E-B in Schertz contains 534 products, many touted to de-stress skin, anti-puff eyes, repair wrinkles, soothe scalps and keep guys smelling citrusy-fresh all day.” — H-E-B debuts aisle specifically designated for guy grooming — San Antonio Express-News

“It is very clear now that nothing Hutchison has done has moved numbers, except maybe to reduce her own. He nails her on the bailout and it sticks like flypaper. (Does flypaper still exist?) She tries to nail him on balancing the budget with stimulus dollars and creating a $4 billion hole, and poof! The charge evaporates into the air.” — Teflon — BurkaBlog

New in the Texas Tribune:

“A jury found that Skinner was so sick in love that, in a jealous rage, he strangled Busby, bashed in her head and face with an axe handle and then stabbed to death her two mentally disabled adult sons on New Years Eve 1993. He was sentenced to death for the three murders. His execution is scheduled for February 24.” — Case Open

“Electronic medical records that follow patients from doctor to doctor. Hospitals with instantaneous online access to lab results and health histories. Disease researchers with a state’s worth of field data at their fingertips. It all hinges on a single question: Can Texas physicians go paperless?” — Paperless Medicine