Naked City

The Williamson Co. Democratic Party will celebrate the grand opening of its new office and campaign headquarters Saturday, Aug. 24, 5-8pm at 1901 Palm (Hwy. 79) Ste. 201 in Round Rock. Meet and shake hands with state and local Democratic candidates. Snacks and beverages will be served. For more info, contact Jim Stauber at 515-4086 or Jimmy Rocha at 671-VOTE (8683).

With President Bush still hanging out at his ranch, people from across Texas plan to descend on Crawford to oppose his proposed war against Iraq and the ongoing sanctions against Iraqi civilians. For more info about the protest, call 471-1990. In a quirky turn of events, last week Bush's National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal positing that an attempt to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might threaten the war on terrorism (though he didn't mention that at least that side-effect wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing) ... -- L.A.

Texas is the second-largest textbook market in the nation; next year the state will spend more than $570 million on textbooks. The folks choosing the textbooks are the state Board of Education, whose members include several friends of the Eagle Forum, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other right-wing, super-Christian organizations. The Austin chapter of the National Organization for Women will host a free presentation and panel discussion by the Texas Freedom Network on the radical right's influence on textbook adoption Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Austin History Center (Ninth and Guadalupe), 6:30-8pm.