Texas
updated
9:24 a.m.
AP article has pretty much the same stuff that EVERY SINGLE CAMPAIGN Chet Edwards runs talks about. It's always a fight, he always says he's independent, the opponents always talk about his liberal agenda, and the articles always talk about the votes he didn't do with the Democrats. I wish just once there would be an article that would taken on the pros and cons including whether ...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
From reader Dear Friends, Big news: GASLAND is coming to a theater near you, and we want you to be a part of it. As our HBO run comes to a close, we face our biggest challenge: Opening the film in movie theaters across the nation for longer runs. We don't have a huge company backing the run and we don't have a huge advertising budget, but we have the ...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
Raining. Thundering. It's GREAT!!!!! With the info about the Paluxy and that little boy from Arlington, nice to read this about the Brazos river Made me laugh but it is RUDE (you've been warned) How Sexist Do You Want Your Newscasters? Ooo. Are public school districts disguising some dropouts by calling them home schoolers? All that stuff about Palin's clothin...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
The other day the news came out (NO SURPRISE) that former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman is gay. I mean, Who did not know that? The Republican party has been, at least since I've been paying attention, the party that closeted gays flock to. From Atlantic. The presence of the top two party political strategists at a gay Republican event means that both men do not believe the criticism th...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
Time to revamp the office and responsibilities by Peter Stern Yes, Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White is correct. Limit the terms of the Governor. If you can't do the job in 2 terms you shouldn't remain Governor. Along with limitations on the terms of Governor, we should take it a step further and include limitation...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
Normally, I would put an article like this in Ruminations of the Easily Amused but REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING? “Boynton is becoming a nation unto itself,” Pearson said. And I should mention that the county attorney AND district attorney are investigating. That's refreshing to read. ...
Somervell County Salon - 9:24 a.m.
When a couple of U.S. Marines assaulted and knocked out a gay man in downtown Savannah, Georgia they were arrested. What they were charged with is the subject of a growing controversy . Asked why these two soldiers knocked Kieran Daly to the sidewalk, they gave as their motivation that they though he winked at them. So a wink is reason to slug somebody? Aside from the trivial a...
Dungeon Diary - 9:23 a.m.
Copyright Dave Jurasevich (Mount Wilson Observatory) I always love checking the NASA cool pick of the day . This one is of the Bubble Nebula, a little speck about 11,000 light years away. It is actually the remnants of an explosion of a star, and you can see the light from that explosion illuminating the clouds of dust and gas surrounding it. Looking at these images...
Dungeon Diary - 9:23 a.m.
Labor Day for 2010 is Monday, September 6. All work merits respect. We should treat other working people with respect. How we treat other working people is a mirror of the extent to which we respect ourselves. ( The picture above was taken by Danny Cornelissen for the portpictures.nl website.) Here is a history of Labor Day from the U.S. Department [...] ...
TexasLiberal - 8:06 a.m.
Artists' Studio Bringing Culture to B-CS By Cassie Smith From the Bryan-College Station Eagle It's not just a studio where art is created or a gallery for visitors to stroll through. Downtown Bryan's new artBAC is a working artist studio. An assortment of artwork hangs from the walls while artists carry out their craft. People pop in and out of the gallery to buy, observe and learn. Col...
Left of College Station - 5:06 a.m. - 3 clicks 
Perry has nothing to stand on, so he literally stood on a chair in a restaurant. He cannot defend what he and his insurance buddies did with insurance rates in Texas. He promised less regulation of his insurance industry would lead to more competition and lower rates. Instead we now pay the 2nd highest rates in the nation. (last year we were number 1). Notice how Perry ducks (not chickens) ...
Bay Area Houston Blog - 2:42 a.m. - 4 clicks
I'm writing from Berlin, which I'm finding to be just a fabulous city, but while I'm waiting on the missus this morning I thought I'd share with Grits readers a conversation I had yesterday with a German cop about DWIs. There's a LOT of drinking in Berlin, where locals and tourists alike definitely enjoy their beer, generally a half-liter at a time. But according to the officer I spoke to, t...
Grits for Breakfast - 12:44 a.m. - 4 clicks
' Several Public Corruption Indictments Expected Today ' At least 10 indictments are expected to be announced on Thursday as part of the ongoing federal public corruption investigation of elected officials in El Paso. Authorities wouldn't confirm the indictments, but sources close to the the public corruption investigation confirmed to ABC-7 that the new indictments are coming and will include cu...
South Texas Chisme - 12:04 a.m. - 4 clicks
Anybody in the center or farther left of American voters who honestly listens to Sarah Palin, aka The Quitter with a Twitter™, knows she's not that smart. But, not all of said people may yet realize how pretentious she is. How emotionally and psychologically, as well as intellectually, shallow she is. How "entitled" she can be, including in how she treats the "ordinarly people" she claims to repre...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 10:47 p.m. - 3 clicks
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with the economic news that corporate executive salaries and compensation are way out of line, especially when compared to the salaries of workers in the same company. And it does not seem to matter whether those executives are successful or not. Those who oversee company failures make millions of dollars -- even the ones who ...
jobsanger - Wed 10:47 p.m. - 3 clicks
If the Democrats were smart this would be one of the main campaign issues. From the site of Pavlovian Obeisance. ...
jobsanger - Wed 10:47 p.m.
Don’t you wish that some of our fellow working people in this country spent as much time and effort fighting for their rights and fighting together as brothers and sisters, as they do tailgating each other on our highways? What is wrong with some people? Why the anger at others who have to use the [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Wed 10:02 p.m.
Could getting a mild case of Type 2 Diabetes, while something anybody would want to avoid, actually be a blessing in disguise for some people? It looks like it could be true, especially for people with a family history of cancer. This story hits home with me, because I'm one of those people. For those of you that don't know me, I'm an older guy. Like a lot of other people my age, I le...
jobsanger - Wed 10:02 p.m.
[Better late than....] The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week's blog roundup. Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with State Reps. Armando Walle, Ellen Cohen, and Kristi Thibaut. Meet Jeff "The Trucker" Evans, an unemployed 49-year-old whose unemployment benefits were ...
Texas Kaos - Wed 9:21 p.m. - 5 clicks
The video prominently features a quote from Perry where he says that someone just "reached up to the air" to come up with the $18 billion number. PolitiFact Texas took on Rick Perry's claim that the $18 billion budget gap was something that someone "just reached up to the air and grabbed" -- it was False. A new campaign spot from the folks at Bill White for Texas addresses a very large bu...
Local Texans - Wed 8:05 p.m. - 4 clicks
Michael Sneed has not yet come to court on his indictment for attempted sexual assault. Recently one of the commenters on this site asked about whether Michael Sneed had listed his previous felony conviction of child abuse/neglect in the state of Nebraska . I have a copy of his job application for Somervell County and posting it here . The only place I can see that makes reference to the felo...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 5:42 p.m.
It’s not what you say, but what you do that counts. A friend told me that recently and its truth keeps on echoing around me. In the last legislative session, the State House and State Senate, in reacting to the tragic loss of life when a Beaumont chartered school bus overturned on the way to a soccer match, passed a law that allocated $10 million to reimburse school districts who pay for th...
Half Empty - Wed 4:43 p.m. - 5 clicks
I am amazed, but I just watched the head of preparedness for Cape Hatteras on the Weather Chanel hum and haw about the evacuation order for the barrier islands. He said the "official" evacuation order would not be until tomorrow. That is 24 hours from possible landfall for the category 3 hurricane. Am I crazy or are these folks underestimating the possibility of a disaster? I ce...
Dungeon Diary - Wed 4:43 p.m.
The Republican Party of Texas is making it their mission for Republicans to hide from voters and refuse to debate. We know all about Rick Chicken Perry -- take a look at all the ads around BOR if you don't. But Republicans have decided to refuse to debate up and down the ticket now, only ensuring that their candidates will be seen as cowards who are unwilling to face the voters an...
Burnt Orange Report - Wed 4:42 p.m. - 3 clicks
This week on Biased Transmission our studio guest is Cody Marx Bailey, the co-founder of SMUT: Subversive Manifesto for Underground Technology. Our topics of conversation will include the genesis of SMUT, upcoming speakers at SMUT (including our own Michael Alvard and Srikanth Sastry), and the future of SMUT. Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday on 89.1FM KEOS College Station-Bryan f...
Left of College Station - Wed 4:01 p.m. - 6 clicks
They want your money. At the box office. For the cost of just one theater ticket, oh and some popcorn and Coke for 8 bucks, you can go and see I Want Your Money at the picture show this fall. Just in time for mid-term elections. Gee, do you think they had that planned? The movie is written and directed by Ray Griggs, apparently Teabagger’s answer to Michael...
Half Empty - Wed 4:01 p.m.
Don’t forget about Paris Hilton . The poor girl got herself locked up in the slammer in Vegas for cocaine possession. Her lawyer even anticipated human interest and advised fans not to jump to conclusions. Nope, not me. No jumpin’ goin’ on here. ...
Half Empty - Wed 3:48 p.m.
I saw this at the Town Council meeting this last week but because no one said exactly what the grant was for, I thought it might have been the pool grant, but wasn't sure. I saw in the Reporter today that it was the swimming pool grant and someone else also told me (I wish the town council would assume that people in the audience need to know exactly what they're talking about and be in...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 11:45 a.m. - 4 clicks
I'm sure all Texas readers in particular have read about what US House Rep E B Johnson did by giving scholarships to her kin , while at the same time dissing her constituency as perhaps not being as deserving as her relatives . What she did was very obviously wrong. You can't be an elected official and use the office to benefit you and your family. Not only is that favortism, but it&#...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 11:02 a.m. - 7 clicks
Click here to watch a video of a new song about the case of Todd Willingham by Luke Powers. Luke Powers is not your ordinary Nashville songwriter. With a PhD in English from Vanderbilt University, he writes in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and sings like William Faulkner.HWY 100 is available on I-TUNES and CDBaby.com. Free downloads (mp3s, music videos) and information about th...
Texas Moratorium Network - Wed 10:43 a.m.
Approximately four years ago lax insurance legislation coupled with Gov. Rick Perry, then TDI Commissioner Jose Montemayor and elected officials looking the other way, the insurance industry overnight doubled home insurance premiums to over-compensate for previous years of a soft market. While I personally dislike most government interference into our daily lives, ...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 10:26 a.m. - 7 clicks
Here's background on that., remember? From June 7th 2010. From the FW Star-Telegram today Among the violations, the commission said, was the failure by Enterprise Products Operating Llc. of Houston to adequately mark the path of the buried 36-inch pipeline to ensure that no excavator would damage it and risk triggering an explosion. Fines could be $10,000 per day per v...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 10:26 a.m. - 6 clicks
Already September, where's the year going? It is again a nice cool morning and the plants in my yard are actually beginning to bloom on their own-the butterfly bush has purple flowers on it. Time to get out the catalog and order bluebonnett seeds! I got a book called Awkward Famly Photos from my mom. Totally hilarious. Air Evac had another helicopter crash in Arkansas. Haven't...
Somervell County Salon - Wed 10:26 a.m.
To: Rick Perry From: Your Fundraising Team Governor, since you continue to struggle in your fundraising efforts against the superior fundraising prowess of Bill White, let's explore this idea . ...
Letters From Texas - Wed 6:46 a.m. - 9 clicks
You know the world is changing when Fidel Castro is apologizing for something . Castro, now in poor health and 84 has said it was his fault that the wave of anti-gay persecution that oppressed the LGBT community in Cuba in the 1960's. Gays were rounded up and imprisoned in labor camps, accused as "counter revolutionaries". Now Fidel says it was his distraction by the cold war th...
Dungeon Diary - Wed 6:45 a.m. - 2 clicks
Dirty dealings , but punishment comes too little and too late. A Travis County judge ordered the Republican Governors Association to pay Chris Bell, the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, $2 million because of campaign finance violations. ...
South Texas Chisme - Wed 4:29 a.m. - 10 clicks
At first the reports read that Obama, while visitng El Paso's Fort Bliss yesterday, had turned down Perry's request to meet the president and discuss border security... The Republican governor's spokeswoman said Perry's request for a presidential meeting to discuss border security was rebuffed. According to Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger, White House aides said the president would not...
Brains and Eggs - Wed 4:28 a.m. - 6 clicks
Federal environmental regulators took aim at Texas' rules for air pollution for the third time in five months Tuesday, saying some aspects violate the Clean Air Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected pieces of a program known as New Source Review, which dictates when industrial plants must implement additional pollution controls. Under federal guidelines, expanding industrial pl...
South Texas Chisme - Wed 4:04 a.m. - 7 clicks
What? Theocracy and small mindedness rules . The constitution? Not so much. “Yesterday the hotel management in Midland notified us that they were forced to cancel our contract and our convention,” a message posted on the Texas Passion Events website said. “The district attorney had paid them a visit and then they received notice from their corporate (office) that we were no longer w...
South Texas Chisme - Wed 4:04 a.m. - 28 clicks
Nothing has happened in science lately, right? The far right doesn't think anything has happened in science since Jesus was a boy. Thousands of new textbooks and a steroid-testing program for high school athletes would be among the casualties if the Texas Education Agency is forced to cut its budget by 10 percent over the next two years, according to its newly released budget plan. State...
South Texas Chisme - Wed 4:04 a.m. - 6 clicks
Hey, when you act dirty you hurt lots of innocent people. The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation will investigate its scholarship program after Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, admitted that she wrongly steered scholarships to her relatives and the children of a staff member, the attorney for the tax-exempt group said Tuesday. "I never dreamed such a thing would have occurred," said Amy...
South Texas Chisme - Wed 4:04 a.m. - 4 clicks
Film Presents Case for Innocence of Texas Death Row Inmate Rodney Reed The documentary film “State vs. Reed”, directed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz, will be screened at Cherrywood Coffeehouse, 1400 E. 38 ½ Street in Austin, on Friday September 3 at 8 PM. The 60-minute film documents the questionable murder conviction of Bastrop resident Rodney Reed for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stit...
Texas Moratorium Network - Wed 2:08 a.m. - 8 clicks
OK, I earlier blogged about Danish climate change denialist extraordinaire Bjorn Lomborg has apparently repented of his earlier ideas. (I)n a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change. "Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this ...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 12:50 a.m. - 3 clicks
No, this is NOT, not an environmentalist April Fool's Day joke. Danish climate change denialist extraordinaire Bjorn Lomborg has apparently repented . (I)n a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change. "Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by ...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 12:29 a.m. - 2 clicks
Here's the skinny on Talking Points Memo publisher Josh Marshall's latest case of Obama suck-up-itis: (O)nce you get past the simple fact that the terrible unemployment rate has a lot to do with the Dems' awful electoral prospects, it's very hard to make any definitive statements about why they're struggling. There are numerous theories, many of which are plausible, but very few of which have...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 12:29 a.m. - 7 clicks
Republican State Rep. David Swinford, House District 87 representative from the Texas Panhandle, had already announced that he would not run for re-election. He did not run in his party's primary last Spring and was set to retire when his term expired in January. He will be replaced by either Democrat Abel Bosquez, Republican Walter Price IV, or Libertarian James Hudspeth. But those doll...
jobsanger - Wed 12:29 a.m. - 5 clicks
What the hell is going on in the Congressional Black Caucus these days? It seems like some of them have decided that if White Republicans in Congress can enrich themselves in ethically dubious schemes, then so can they. It started with Rep. Charles Rangel (D- New York) receiving corporate gifts (and performing other ethically-challenged maneuvers). Then we had Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif...
jobsanger - Wed 12:29 a.m.
George Bush, with his policy of accelerated Reaganomics, made a real mess of the United States economy before he left office. It was not bad enough that he presided over a massive outsourcing of good American jobs, but his deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, and deficit spending created the worst income distribution since the 1920s and kicked off a serious recession resulting in the loss of...
jobsanger - Wed 12:29 a.m. - 2 clicks
The traditional story has been that Iran's 1953 prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was overthrown by a CIA coup after beginning to nationalize foreign oil companies. Not so fast. In Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited, Darioush Bayandor says Shi'ite clerics, including the mentor of the future Ayatollah Ruhollah Khoumeni, were responsible. On August 15, 1953, the CIA did, indeed...
SocraticGadfly - Tue 10:40 p.m. - 5 clicks
Among the issues that voters are concerned about during the midterm elections, energy may not be a deciding factor in how they cast their votes. However, energy is often considered to be a component of the economy, and the economy will easily be the most important issue during the midterm elections. According to a recent Gallup poll, 30% of those survey said that the "economy in general" is the mo...
Texas Kaos - Tue 8:40 p.m.
Here is a posting offered up by Harris County, Texas Judge Executive Ed Emmett on his campaign related Facebook page yesterday evening— “Early voting starts in just 9 weeks. Bev Kaufman, our County Clerk, and her staff are doing a great job responding to the disaster of losing our voting machines in a fire. Too [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Tue 8:22 p.m. - 7 clicks
Among the issues that voters are concerned about during the midterm elections, energy may not be a deciding factor in how they cast their votes. However, energy is often considered to be a component of the economy, and the economy will easily be the most important issue during the midterm elections. According to a recent Gallup poll , 30% of those survey said that the “economy in general” is the ...
Left of College Station - Tue 8:07 p.m. - 2 clicks
I want to encourage readers to vote on the PPP website for them to poll Texas this week. http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/ Thanks ...
Local Texans - Tue 7:24 p.m. - 7 clicks
Let's take a moment on this day that President Obama declares an end to military action, to remember what George W. Bush's " comma " looks like: 4,420 Number of American soldiers killed 31,926 Number of American soldiers wounded 100,000 Number of Iraqi citizens killed 2,255,000 Number of Iraqi citizens displaced $900 Billion Cost of Iraq war as of July 2010 0 Number of weapons of mass destructio...
Bay Area Houston Blog - Tue 5:23 p.m. - 2 clicks
Tomorrow (Sep. 1, 2010), the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) will present its Legislative Appropriations Request for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 to the Budget, Planning and Policy Division of the Governor's Office and to the Legislative Budget Board. The Hearing will take place from 9:00 am - 10:30 am in the Capitol Extension, Room E2.028 . Public comments will be permitted. ...
Grits for Breakfast - Tue 4:00 p.m.
A state appeals court in Dallas has rejected a lower court’s decision that two gay men who married in Massachusetts had the right to divorce in Texas. In October 2009, state District Judge Tena Callahan ruled that the men could legally end their marriage and that the state’s prohibition against same-sex marriage violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection. But today, the ...
Brains and Eggs - Tue 3:22 p.m. - 4 clicks
Recently, I learned about a good website that tracks the flow of corporate energy money in Congress. The website is a great tool for someone who is interested in knowing who gets what from who and if you are a Texan you will get to see your state initials in many places in the website. [...] ...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Tue 2:45 p.m. - 4 clicks
Thank you, Judy Nawrocki! Audio Part 1 Audio Part 2 Agenda here Minutes Commissioners’ Court of Somervell County met in a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. on the above date with all Commissioners present. County Judge Walter Maynard presided. The Court recessed immediately and reconvened at 1:30 p.m. CITIZENS COMMENTS: None. DISCUSSIO...
Somervell County Salon - Tue 2:08 p.m. - 2 clicks
From reader S D Thought I'd send this to you for your online newspaper. Sad news to say the least: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/st I agree. Very sad, about a little boy who was swimming in the Paluxy at Dinosaur Valley State Park, and got an infection. No one else in his family got it,. ...
Somervell County Salon - Tue 2:08 p.m. - 7 clicks
Part I addressed the invasive and dangerous power and influence of billionaires Charles and David Koch and Rupert Murdoch and their powerful grip on the GOP, especially its tea party wing. As we have learned from recent national media reports, barring Fox cable TV "news" of course, self-serving billionaires have invested millions of dollars in a single minded effort to support right wing c...
Texas Kaos - Tue 12:26 p.m.
From the campaign: A solution to excessive centralization, special interest power in Austin HOUSTON -- Bill White today called for gubernatorial term limits. "Texas needs term limits to avoid excessive centralization of power in Austin and the use of power by special interests to entrench a governor in office," said Bill White, in supporting a referendum on whether to limit the governor...
Local Texans - Tue 12:11 p.m. - 6 clicks
We've already talked here about how the City of Glen Rose exercised (at least so far) a double standard concerning how Cindy King was treated when she was fired. That is, since Dwain Whitfield, as a peer to Cindy King, both reporting to Ronald Bruce, was given an executive session to plead his case before city council, why wasn't Cindy King? I certainly don't have all the facts ab...
Somervell County Salon - Tue 12:11 p.m. - 6 clicks
I was out and about this morning and heard a couple of feral hog stories. Doesn't sound like there are a lot yet but those hogs are huge. Have you seen any? Have you eaten any and were they good to eat? (I'm anticipating if I find one and we shoot it whether it would be good for barbecue! ...
Somervell County Salon - Tue 12:11 p.m. - 2 clicks
The polling firm Public Policy Polling is taking a survey of where their readers would like to have a new poll -- and Texas is one of them. We've been inundated with Rasmussen polls for months. Let's get some more diverse information on the state of the Governor's race in Texas -- vote here to cast your vote for a new poll in Texas ! ...
Burnt Orange Report - Tue 10:44 a.m. - 6 clicks
The Koch brothers. A work in bloated and unbridled greed. And anarchist wannabees. I betcha that except for GOP minority leaders and Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and FOX Fake News, most members of the Republican tea party wing has no clue that it has major billionaire exploiters, puppeteers and ventriloquists that pull its strings, yank its chains and grows "frogs" called ...
Burnt Orange Report - Tue 10:44 a.m. - 6 clicks
Looks like Hurricane Earl may indeed graze the Atlantic Seaboard. The current computer models show it delivering a glancing blow to North Carolina, Virginia and the DC area then moving north to cross near Long Island and into the New England coastal regions. If Earl does hit Long Island it will be the first since Hurricane Bob back in 1991. This site has lots of interesting fac...
Dungeon Diary - Tue 9:25 a.m. - 2 clicks
Ed. note: For those who are interested, the Bill White campaign will be hosting an ethics-filled, anti-lobbyist ball next Thursday at the same time of Perry's fundraiser. If you're here in Austin, sign-up online -- it will be Thursday, September 2, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the same campaign headquarters where the chicken suit first debuted . Bill White called for gubern...
Burnt Orange Report - Tue 9:05 a.m. - 9 clicks
from the grnrff.org site. Sunny In The Dark Esther's Diary Carried Away Lunopolis Reach For The Sky The Granthams: An American Portrait HOLD Did you go? What were your perceptions? I think it was such a great idea to have a film festival here! ...
Somervell County Salon - Tue 8:03 a.m. - 7 clicks
A&M Gives Notices to Lecturers By Vimal Patel From the Bryan-College Station Eagle Walter Daugherity, a 24-year Texas A&M senior lecturer with a Harvard doctorate, knew his job could be cut, but it still was jarring to be called into his boss's office last week. "I assumed it would be about the budget reduction," he said about the meeting with his department head, "but it was sti...
Left of College Station - Tue 6:30 a.m. - 6 clicks
Nueces County republican DA and Sheriff look really bad. In an indictment that open government advocates call outrageous and that others believe is nothing more than retaliation, the Nueces County District Attorney charged Adan Muñoz, the executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, with two counts of misusing official information. The indictment alleges that Muñoz used his offi...
South Texas Chisme - Tue 6:30 a.m. - 7 clicks
Double crony time leaving the residents to suffer. A number of residents in West Brownsville wish the CCRMA [to abandon the idea], since the toll road would run smack through the neighborhood, on the right-of-way currently occupied by the Union Pacific railroad tracks. The tracks are slated for removal under a separate county project. Martha Marroquin, for one, said she and other West Brownsville...
South Texas Chisme - Tue 6:30 a.m. - 8 clicks
Either she cared so little about the scholarships , she paid no attention to who got them and let aides do the crony dealing. Or, she knew full well that money was going to relatives and friends. Neither answer looks good. U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded eight scholarships last year to her grandsons and a top aide's children – bringing to 23 the number of awards she handed out since 20...
South Texas Chisme - Tue 6:30 a.m. - 8 clicks
Ed. note: The following is a documented account of the Texas Youth Commission cover-up scandal that broke in 2007. On Tuesday, August 24, the Austin American-Statesman reported that sexual abuse and cover-up continue to plague the Texas Youth Commission : Nearly four years after the Texas Youth Commission was overhauled after a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, four leading adv...
Burnt Orange Report - Tue 6:29 a.m. - 7 clicks
This is disturbing. (as if torching 10,000 voting machines isn't enough) One of the groups working with our selected Harris County Voter Registrar, Leo Vasquez, to harass those who are registering voters, not only has an address which is the same as the Rick Perry Campaign, but they are now running advertisements via youtube, with doctored video. The video shows an Black lady with the sign "I...
Bay Area Houston Blog - Tue 6:29 a.m. - 10 clicks
If you've read this blog for long then you know that I don't vote for Republicans. Just like my father and grandfather, I have never voted for a Republican in my life and I expect when my life is over that could still be said about me. I certainly wouldn't mar that record by voting for a right-wing nut like Rick Perry. But that doesn't mean I have to vote for whatever candidate the Democ...
jobsanger - Mon 11:24 p.m. - 7 clicks
There's only two more months until the 2010 elections and the Republicans are still holding fast to their campaign strategy -- sabotage the economy and try to blame it on President Obama and the Democrats. They are convinced that if the recession is going strong and the economy is still in bad shape on election day, then Americans will vote against the party in power (regardless of who cause...
jobsanger - Mon 11:24 p.m. - 2 clicks
10:30 on Monday night, and the public hearing on the budget is in its 4th hour. I've been watching it live on the web, and texting some in the room. I've had it, I'm going to bed. Hundreds of employees and Tea Party members turned out to take part in the debate on employee benefits. I probably shouldn't call the hearing a hearing, or even a debate. Very few, with the notable exception of She...
The Collin County Observer - Mon 9:06 p.m. - 7 clicks
Are we all Matrix drones? Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang argues that “there is a reality where things could and should be better…In order to wake people up to that alternative reality, you need to show them that it isn't impossible.” In his new book Chang debunks the myths that people are paid what they are worth, that the "trickle down" effect of increasing wealth among the rich helps the po...
Left of College Station - Mon 8:09 p.m. - 3 clicks
I thought maybe the City would actually address, for the benefit of the public who WONDERS HOW THEIR TAX MONEY IS BEING SPENT, why Moose Whitfield and/or Ronald Bruce authorized city employees to go eat out on the taxpayers dime, what the policy was about this, and IF it changed, WHEN it changed. And maybe what, if anything, happened to those guys who, as Whitfield said, thought this was part...
Somervell County Salon - Mon 8:08 p.m. - 10 clicks
I got a safety inspection and emissions check today. The State of Texas mandates that cars get a safety inspection and that cars in high pollution counties get an emissions test. Government has the right to mandate people to do things in order to serve the public good. Government has that right even in Texas. [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Mon 8:08 p.m. - 12 clicks
The economic stimulus bill that Congress passed last year and that was signed by President Obama was very beneficial to the economy. From USA Today-– “Amid mounting signs that the economic recovery is faltering, one potential remedy seems out of the question: a booster shot of government spending.The White House says the multiyear $814 billion stimulus program [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Mon 8:08 p.m.
Going far beyond Paul Krugman's most recent column, Joan Walsh lays it on the line : The Obama team seems to think 2012 will take care of itself, as long as they burnish that shining Obama "brand," which requires reaching out to Republicans and independents and ignoring the pesky left, with its old culture-war grudges and its subversive demand for greater economic fairness. I've heard some smar...
SocraticGadfly - Mon 8:08 p.m. - 3 clicks
The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week's blog roundup. Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with State Reps. Armando Walle , Ellen Cohen , and Kristi Thibaut . Meet Jeff "The Trucker" Evans, an unemployed 49-year-old whose unemployment benefits were restored by ...
Left of College Station - Mon 7:10 p.m. - 10 clicks
I was unable to be present, so this post pieces together some eyewitness as well as media accounts of this afternoon's emergency gathering of county commissioners to address concerns surrounding the November election in the wake of last week's warehouse fire which destroyed all of the county's voting machines. The $13.6 million approved will cover 2,325 voting machines and support equipment, an...
Brains and Eggs - Mon 5:22 p.m. - 2 clicks
From the Conroe Courier News: "THE WOODLANDS - Montgomery County Democrats officially kicked off their fall 2010 election season Saturday. Democrats came together to raise funds and discuss all the poignant issues for upcoming statewide elections. “At Austin, the Republican majority is in both houses. We don’t have any Democrats,” said Adrienne Cadik, chairwoman of the Montgomery Co...
Local Texans - Mon 4:43 p.m. - 8 clicks
Retiring Collin County district clerk waits to see if she'll face criminal charges August 29, 2010 ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News Collin County District Clerk Hannah Kunkle is only four months away from retiring. But instead of easing out the door after 24 years in office, Kunkle waits to see if she'll face criminal charges. A county grand jury has indicted the incoming district clerk...
The Collin County Observer - Mon 4:43 p.m. - 7 clicks
As if I didn’t already have about 228 reasons to vote Green in 2012, and to tell other people on FB, my blog, etc. to do that, the fact that Social Security hater Alan Simpson will remain cochair of Obama's debt commission is just another. Second, the Democratic co-chair, Bowles, also wanted to partially privatize Social Security when he was the Slickster's chief of staff. Look at the other c...
SocraticGadfly - Mon 4:42 p.m. - 3 clicks
Not to be an alarmist, but Hurricane Earl (that just sounds wrong!) is on track to become a category 3 storm, a major hurricane according to the folks at NOAA . The path keeps veering further and further west and now looks like it could graze the Eastern Seaboard including South Carolina, Virginia and even New England. It has been a while since a major hurricane hit the New England st...
Dungeon Diary - Mon 3:03 p.m. - 8 clicks
The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week’s blog roundup. Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with State Reps. Armando Walle, Ellen Cohen, and Kristi Thibaut. Meet Jeff “The Trucker” Evans, an unemployed [...]...
Three Wise Men - Mon 1:42 p.m. - 7 clicks
I did not know Carla Jones but was sorry to hear of her death this last Friday. I heard, anecdotally, that she had been walking up Texas Drive towards the amphitheatre and was hit by a car. And that the person who killed her is distraught, incidentally. The thing is, a lot of people take that route for a walking path. I know of people who have gone to the soccer park behind the Expo Center and ...
Somervell County Salon - Mon 10:09 a.m. - 10 clicks
Hey everybody, Jeff Blackburn here. Scott asked me to do some guest blogging during his well-deserved vacation. This my first post. Be as hard on me as you want. On Wednesday of last week, my good friend Ana Yáñez-Correa reported on the meeting of the Task Force on Indigent Defense that had just happened. She called the meeting and what came out of it a “Great Day for Justice in Texa...
Grits for Breakfast - Mon 9:29 a.m. - 3 clicks
Some great points from the director of Environmental Defense Fund’s Texas Regional Office (and Energy Program), Jim Marston. If you’re concerned about government spending, consolidating existing efficiency programs and oversight into one agency has the potential to reduce overlap and redundancy in government and create more opportunities for consumers and businesses to save money. Appe...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Mon 9:05 a.m. - 11 clicks
The only way to pay for building a new road along part of Brownsville's Union Pacific rail corridor â” once the track is out, that is â” is to make it a toll road. That's according to David Allex, head of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, the agency behind the plan to build the proposed West Parkway tollway on an eight-mile stretch of the Union Pacific corridor. The city of Bro...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 7:02 a.m. - 10 clicks
Wouldn't that be nice. Holding people accountable for destroying lives and our environment. There's little doubt that BP and possibly other companies involved will pay billions in criminal fines for the spilled oil and injured or dead wildlife, because the applicable laws don't leave corporations much defense. Generally, if the oil is spilled in the water and it's clear where it came from, ...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 7:02 a.m. - 2 clicks
The McAllen school district violated state law when it failed to give required pay raises to many of its teachers and other employees last year, a Texas Education Agency judge ruled earlier this week. ...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 7:02 a.m. - 8 clicks
That's not a bad thing . In La Marque, three council members — Mann, Deanie Barrett and Connie Trube — are being subjected to recall, largely because they’ve asked questions about basic accountability. The more questions they’ve asked, the more it’s become obvious that the city is paying some people to do very little. Some people don’t want that to change and are working overtime to get rid of t...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 7:02 a.m. - 10 clicks
When I saw this Dallas Morning News editorial headline ' Find better ways to defang extremists ', I thought ok. I've been wondering that myself. Our political leaders used to keep the real nutcases in check. Not anymore. Any time someone tries to contradict Rush Limbaugh, there's hell to pay. The republican 'leaders' are now trying to stay ahead of the slobbering mobs. Too bad the DMN is...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 6:24 a.m. - 9 clicks
While the world was focused on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , a BP refinery here released huge amounts of toxic chemicals into the air that went unnoticed by residents until many saw their children develop respiratory problems. For 40 days after a piece of equipment critical to the refinery's operation broke down, a total of 538,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, including the carcinogen benz...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 6:24 a.m. - 2 clicks
The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week's blog roundup. (There's an emergency commissioner's meeting on the topic scheduled for this afternoon that I will attend and report on.) Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with state representatives. Armando Walle , Ellen Co...
Brains and Eggs - Mon 6:24 a.m. - 8 clicks
The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week's blog roundup. Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with State Reps. Armando Walle , Ellen Cohen , and Kristi Thibaut . Meet Jeff "The Trucker" Evans, an unemployed 49-year-old whose unemployment benefits were restored by Cong...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 5:47 a.m. - 8 clicks
Of the nearly 102,000 students who took the Algebra I test in May, for example, just 57 percent met the passing standard on the 50-question exam. Only 12 percent achieved "commended performance" for correctly answering most of the items. Results were similar on the six other end-of-course tests administered in hundreds of school districts across the state. Some that were required to give the exa...
South Texas Chisme - Mon 5:47 a.m. - 8 clicks
The nut graf of Paul Krugman's latest column isn't at the start, or even close to it; it's buried at the bottom: If I were President Obama, I’d be doing all I could to head off this prospect, offering some major new initiatives on the economic front in particular, if only to shake up the political dynamic. But my guess is that the president will continue to play it safe, all the way into catast...
SocraticGadfly - Mon 1:06 a.m. - 4 clicks
The integrity of the elections process is under attack in Harris County. Far-right Tea Party groups are harassing voter registration drives in Harris County that are looking to increase the number of voters of all kinds in Harris County. These Tea Party groups are being funded by billionaires who want to corrupt our democracy with [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Sun 11:23 p.m. - 6 clicks
I was driving around Houston a few days back when I encountered this public toilet. Maybe it was a commentary on society. Here is a website dedicated to public toilets. Here is a history of public toilets from PlumbingWorld.com. ...
TexasLiberal - Sun 11:23 p.m. - 5 clicks
Glenn Beck and the right-wingers that funded his little teabagger get-together tried real hard to keep some of the stupid out of the gathering and make it look like a huge gathering of normal Americans. They knew they couldn't let their teabagger crowd bring signs or the racism and ignorance would be quickly exposed (because all teabagger gatherings are marked by the racist and misspelled sig...
jobsanger - Sun 11:23 p.m. - 5 clicks
Normally after an Emmy Awards show I am kind of disgusted and left wondering just what the hell were the voters thinking. Surprisingly, I find myself in complete agreement with many of this year's winners. It's got me kind of worried. Is the world coming to an end? [:-)] Seriously, I was ecstatic to learn that Kyra Sedgewick (pictured) had won the award for Best Actress In A Drama S...
jobsanger - Sun 11:23 p.m. - 5 clicks
You can check out the interactive map here: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/barnettshale/bsha From Dallas Morning News: "Air-monitoring data collected by the state are now accessible on an interactive map of the Barnett Shale region. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality launched the online map Friday. It allows users to pinpoint at street le...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 8:25 p.m. - 8 clicks
Who would have ever thought that someone in this day and age would touch a Mosque? Or would stage a hate filledprotests against a Community Center, or stab a cab driver because he is a Muslim, or piss on the prayer carpets of those praying to their God. Nothing like a group of so-called Christians on crack taking advantage of incredibly stupid people to give every other Christian a bad name....
Bay Area Houston Blog - Sun 8:24 p.m. - 3 clicks
-- Five years since Katrina hit New Orleans. You can read my previous takes as the event unfolded at the top of the August 2005 archives , and from 9/05, some accounts from the Astrodome as evacuation center , Katrina's evacuees and Houston by the numbers , the days before Katrina we spent at Camp Casey , my own Astrodome volunteering experience (as well as dining at Brennan's a few days lat...
Brains and Eggs - Sun 7:05 p.m. - 14 clicks
Rick Perry’s Bomb about Bombs: Perry Lies or He Doesn’t Know Where the Border Lies – In an interview about border security, Texas Gov. Rick Perry told Fox News that bombs exploded in El Paso. “You’ve got bullets hitting the city hall in El Paso. You’ve got bombs exploding in El Paso,” said Perry. [...]...
The WAWG Blog - Sun 6:25 p.m. - 8 clicks
Rick Perry: University Regents Jobs Open to the Highest Bidders – Over the past decade, the men and women chosen by Rick Perry to serve as regents of the state’s universities have given his campaigns a total of at least $5.8 million, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. Using the Texas Tribune’s data application, [...]...
The WAWG Blog - Sun 6:08 p.m. - 8 clicks
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Carla Ann Jones, 42, a wonderful wife, mother and servant, went to be with her Lord on Friday, Aug. 27, 2010. Service: 10 a.m. Monday at the First United Methodist Church in Glen Rose. Burial: Squaw Creek Cemetery. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home..... ...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 5:45 p.m. - 11 clicks
Waco Trib Greg White, a Waco appellate attorney at Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee, who represented the state GOP on a past elections case, said Munisteri was wrong." "There's no point in that opinion where the court says under the law Birdwell is a resident of Texas or has been for the last five years," White said." Munisteri, White said, "won ...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 1:47 p.m. - 7 clicks
Quick techie note: Somervell County Salon sometimes does stuff to the pages to add features, like the avatar pics you see with comments. If you like this, you need to register, post as a registered user, and go into your profile and upload a pic. (must be appropriate of course or it will be removed). Remember when you register or login to look at your profile and make sure it displays what you ...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 1:47 p.m. - 3 clicks
"There's battle lines bein' drawn. Nobody's right if everybody's wrong. Young people speakin' their minds A-gettin' so much resistance from behind." "I think it's time we stop. Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down." For what it's worth, Buffalo Springfield, 1967 There's battle lines bein' drawn. On Monday evening at 6:00 PM the Central Jury room of the new Collin Coun...
The Collin County Observer - Sun 1:06 p.m. - 15 clicks
Link to The Texas County and District Retirement System presentation to Collin County, August 27, 2010 Public Hearings on the 2011 budget will be held at: Monday, August 30, 2010 at 6:30 PM Central Jury Room - Collin County Courthouse 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney, Texas Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 1:30 PM Central Jury Room Collin County Courthouse 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney, Texas Final...
The Collin County Observer - Sun 12:46 p.m. - 13 clicks
OK I am a Daniel Tosh fan. Yes his humor is drenched in irony and if you don't follow it closely you might take him for just a crazy white yuppie, but he is funny and often finds really great clips on the internet. This one is a political masterpiece. It is an actual anti-gay press conference in Uganda, with Tosh "gumped" into the action. The point of posting it aside from the humor, is that i...
Dungeon Diary - Sun 12:45 p.m. - 3 clicks
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c I Have a Scheme www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party Dungeon Diary ...
Dungeon Diary - Sun 12:23 p.m. - 5 clicks
The Problems are Mounting Every Day by Peter Stern Hays County is in big trouble. From daily living costs to water preservation and consumption, to developing roadways and commercial developments, to permitting the over-building of housing and residential developments. We are in big trouble and the problems are not going away. &nbs...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 10:43 a.m.
Friday saw the appearance on the Texas Tribune’s website a list of 21 state house races to watch. Ones where an incumbent was at risk to some extent or another. It’s an interesting read. It breaks down 21 races into 3 categories, one where an incumbent being beat is likely, ones where it’s a toss-up, and ones where unseating an incumbent is possible. It would seem that the governing r...
Half Empty - Sun 10:43 a.m. - 9 clicks
Above you see a picture of the offerings at the King Street Patriots Tea Party press conference that I attended two day ago. There were cookies and water. But no tea. I wish there had been a Long Island Iced Tea. I did have a cookie. I attended this press conference to learn about Tea [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Sun 9:45 a.m. - 11 clicks
My observation -- having not watched a millisecond of the teevee coverage but having read plenty of reports -- is the tent revival aspect of the gathering. Many of the attendees were Midwestern and Southern, reflecting the cross-section of Christian fundamentalism that holds up Sarah Palin as its icon. But Beck, a Mormon , was the one on stage drinking the strychnine and handling the snakes. The...
Brains and Eggs - Sun 9:45 a.m. - 4 clicks
From Time Magazine by Adam Cohen: "Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government is...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 3 clicks
I harvested the last grapes in my vineyard this morning. It was a beautiful morning, about 70 degrees, almost brisk. As I was taking down the last clusters, I had to say 'it has been a good harvest'. It struck me that my little vineyard, about 30 vines, does a good job of reminding me of the many things I have to be thankful for. I nurtured my vines, but nature did the...
Somervell County Salon - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 11 clicks
After reorganization, investigation, firing most of the staff, bringing in a 'reform minded, progressive administrator, TYC remains at the middle of a storm of controversy. Texas Youth Commission still plagued with problems, advocacy groups say In a formal complaint asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate, Texas Appleseed, Advocacy Inc., the Center for Public Representation and t...
Texas Kaos - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 8 clicks
If this is true , then shame on Eddie Bernice Johnson. Nepotism and cronyism should be called out where ever it appears. Longtime Dallas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children since 2005, using foundation funds set aside for black lawmakers' causes. The recipients were ineligible under a...
South Texas Chisme - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 13 clicks
All Rick Perry has to do is sign a pledge to give school money to the schools. That's it. Last time Perry used the Federal dollars instead of the state dollars promised to schools. What happened to the extra money meant for schools? Perry loves to give taxpayer dollars to his cronies. ...
South Texas Chisme - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 14 clicks
Bay Area Houston has a suspicion that this blaze is all too convenient for Rick Perry . The republican partisan Harris County Voter Registrar has already declared his intent to disenfranchise new voters . Now a Bill White stronghold loses all of its voting machines . A day after a fire destroyed virtually all of Harris County's electronic voting gear, officials were still determ...
South Texas Chisme - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 13 clicks
OK I am lukewarm about the Target boycott. I have spoken about this before and won't go into it again here, but this is a boycott that can really have a sweeping effect. I am talking about Glenn Beck. This demagogue is spewing hate, not even candy coated hate, just plain vile raw hatred. He does wrap it in he alleged message of "restoring honor" but everyone knows his meaning. G...
Dungeon Diary - Sun 8:06 a.m. - 4 clicks
Since Rick Perry has been in office home insurance rates have soared. Perry and State Representative Larry Taylor have carried the industry's jock strap for the last 10 years leaving us with the highest rates in the nation with little if any effective oversight. I remember when Perry issued a press release in 2002 just before the election: "In too many cases, homeowner's insurance is getting m...
Bay Area Houston Blog - Sun 8:06 a.m. - 11 clicks
From the Houston Chronicle : The fire destroyed 10,000 pieces of equipment, including voting machines and devices called judge's booth controllers that dispense four-digit access codes to voters and serve as mobile ballot boxes to tabulate the count at the end of Election Day. How Convenient. How convenient for Governor Rick Perry and the Harris County republican party. This fire wh...
Bay Area Houston Blog - Sun 6:26 a.m. - 19 clicks
Mark Ambinder rues the increasing purity demands of hardcore conservatives, and the lack of party discipline, unity and message. But, he then totally spoils his column with some crazy counservative-liberal, Republican-Democratic equivalency claim on this issue. Seriously. The never-before-elected Joe Miller, a fringe Palinite, is the same as three-term House veteran Joe Sestak? And, no, I'm not...
SocraticGadfly - Sat 11:09 p.m. - 4 clicks
At his "Reinventing Himself" rally Saturday, among other inanities, monstrosities and pomposities , Glenn Beck exhorted the crowd to: Recognize your place to the creator. Realize that he is our king. He is the one who guides and directs our life and protects us." He asked his audience to pray more. "I ask, not only if you would pray on your knees, but pray on your knees but with your door open f...
SocraticGadfly - Sat 10:49 p.m. - 4 clicks
The silly (and unconstitutional) opposition to the building of a muslim community center in New York City has been hogging the headlines for the last couple of weeks. But it is far from the only religious intolerance happening in the United States. It seems that right-wing "christians" have decided that an American citizen cannot be a good patriotic American unless he/she is a christian. ...
jobsanger - Sat 10:08 p.m. - 11 clicks
These are new over-the-top anti-religious posters actually being put up in New Zealand. Looks like they're based on the "garbage-pail kids" craze of a few years ago. I'm an atheist, but I don't know about this ad campaign. I doubt it's going to win any converts, but then atheists aren't trying to win converts. They just don't want religion forced on them or their children. ...
jobsanger - Sat 10:08 p.m. - 4 clicks
The Koch brothers. A work in bloated and unbridled greed. And anarchist wannabees. I betcha that except for GOP minority leaders and Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and FOX Fake News, most members of the Republican tea party wing has no clue that it has major billionaire exploiters, puppeteers and ventriloquists that pull its strings, yank its chains and grows "frogs" called GOP/tea party ...
Texas Kaos - Sat 8:49 p.m. - 14 clicks
MLK had a dream and he had the intelligence and charisma to carry the United States vastly closer to a day when true freedom and true justice exists amongst all the peoples of the world. Glenn Beck, on the other hand, has a self-promoting nightmare that he seems hellbent on sharing with the rest of the country. I say no. No to his sad, deluded vision of a U.S. that is subjugated by corporate powe...
Local Texans - Sat 1:45 p.m. - 10 clicks
Long thought to be the last commodity that can’t be saved for later use, large scale electrical energy storage is finally looking like a technology who’s time might have come. Recently introduced the “Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2010″ Act (S. 3617) introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden [...] ...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Sat 1:45 p.m. - 4 clicks
Depressing : A fire that destroyed nearly all Harris County's electronic voting machines Friday has election officials scrambling to re-equip the county for an election in which early voting starts in just 51 days. Even before the pre-dawn fire was out, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman pledged to hold a "timely election" on Nov. 2 but suggested the county may have to run fewer tha...
Burnt Orange Report - Sat 1:00 p.m. - 7 clicks
Well, the entirety of Harris County's voting equipment - every single e-slate and the machines that assign codes to voters - were destroyed in a fire yesterday. Ten thousand pieces of equipment worth $30 million. The genius Republicans in charge of protecting the vote had all of their election assets stored in one place, and it's all been reduced to ashes . . .and we start early voting on Oct. 18 ...
Musings - Sat 11:27 a.m. - 14 clicks
Burn up the voting machines. It really can’t get more obvious than this, can it? 52 days before Early Voting starts for this pivotal 2010 midterm election, Harris County, one of the most populous counties in the state of Texas, representing 15% of those who vote in elections, lost each and every one of their Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines in a warehouse fire on Friday . The fir...
Half Empty - Sat 10:43 a.m. - 14 clicks
I had to laugh when I read one of the comments on the "Ew!" post. I want to talk about some of the points made in that comment and anyone is free to discuss in the comments here. The commenter said, although there was nothing on that post about the termination of contract with the Reporter (reminder that WE do not work for the Reporter and do not speak for them). ...
Somervell County Salon - Sat 10:22 a.m. - 11 clicks
(Blogger’s Note—With this weekend being the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream Speech, it seems like a good time to repost this M.L. King Reading & Reference list. I update this list each year in January with new additions. Many are familiar with the Dream Speech. That’s good. But King had [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Sat 8:47 a.m.
The Texas Supreme Court was the last chance Hidalgo County voters had to be able to choose from more than a single candidate for Precinct 1 commissioner. That’s according to a brief filed on behalf of A.C. Cuellar, the man currently occupying that seat by virtue of an interim appointment to the position. But in the end, the state’s highest court did what others had done in hearing the county’s ...
South Texas Chisme - Sat 1:45 a.m. - 12 clicks
How were prison guards to know. That kind of stuff might not be covered in their training. Or, considered a priority. Three Live Oak County corrections officers were arrested on suspicion of felony sexual assault Friday, nearly a week after two female inmates accused the male guards of sexually assaulting them in jail, authorities said. The men turned themselves in and were released o...
South Texas Chisme - Sat 1:28 a.m. - 3 clicks
Crony is as crony does. Why should any republican politician be the least bit surprised? As one consultant, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, put it, "[Harris County republican party Executive Director Jeff] Yates called for the [direct mail] bids, screened them, presented them to the judges, and bid against them for the work." All with [Harris County republican chair Jared] Woodf...
South Texas Chisme - Sat 1:28 a.m. - 13 clicks
I am very interested to know. The result is voter suppression in a Bill White area of the state. "The important thing here is that the Republicans who control county government and all election administration functions do not reduce the number of polling sites or do anything that would make it harder or less convenient for Harris County voters to participate in this critical election," said...
South Texas Chisme - Sat 1:28 a.m. - 3 clicks
Rapist enabler John Cornyn has demonstrated no respect for the rights of others. Cornyn does value his own ability to stay in power. What did the polls say John? Or, did you just remember the latest demographic projections? U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Friday backed off his support of Congress taking up birthright citizenship after earlier joining prominent Republicans who have called ...
South Texas Chisme - Sat 12:41 a.m. - 21 clicks
Showing up for Glenn Beck's crapola , and trying to rope Pujols into it, denials aside ... focus on getting the Cards into the playoffs. There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Sat 12:41 a.m. - 6 clicks
oes this surprise you? Big John, the reported reasonable conservative, again got overtaken by Whack Job John, the tea party panderer type, only to now back off again . If the teabaggers maintain enough strength, he's going to get a primary challenger next time around, don't doubt it. There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Sat 12:21 a.m. - 11 clicks
Republican New Jersey Governor Lou Christie, upon hearing that his state failed to garner Race to the Top federal grants because his state did not submit an application with the required data, information on the 2008-09 school year, took the blame like a man , that “as governor, he is “ultimately responsible for everything that happens here” Then he walked that one back. No one was to bla...
Half Empty - Fri 5:03 p.m. - 5 clicks
Hello everyone! It’s Ana Yáñez-Correa again. Just wanted to share with all of you a new link we created on TCJC's Public Policy Center web page titled Legislative Budget Hearings that included some of the following below. The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) presented its Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 to the Budget...
Grits for Breakfast - Fri 5:03 p.m. - 10 clicks
Human error appears to have caused a partial shutdown last Friday at the South Texas Project, one of the state’s two nuclear plants. Last week, prices spiked in the wholesale electricity market. On Monday the 16th, wholesale electricity, which had been selling for less than $30 per megawatt-hour spiked to more than $2,000. That’s an increase [...] ...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Fri 4:10 p.m. - 7 clicks
Live downwind from the Barnett Shale ? The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality posted an interactive map of the Barnett Shale on its website that allows you to see the latest data from the various air quality monitoring sites near natural gas drilling and pipeline facilities. Be forwarned however that the information contained on this website is [...] ...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Fri 3:45 p.m. - 14 clicks
International News Pakistan Schools Cross Extremism Out Of Textbooks Foreign Policy CIA Sees Increased Threat in Yemen War & Peace Afghanistan Orders Phaseout of All Private Security Companies Veterans Issues Military Suicide Prevention Efforts Inadequate Economy New Weekly Jobless Claims Drop 31,000 Poverty Soaring Teen Unemployment Could Have Lifetime Effec...
Left of College Station - Fri 3:10 p.m. - 3 clicks
Rival press conferences were held today in Downtown Houston as details continue to emerge about what appears to be a campaign of suppression and intimidation against poor and minority voters by conservatives in Houston and Harris County, Texas. One press conference was held by the non-partisan voter registration group Houston Votes, while the other was [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Fri 3:10 p.m. - 12 clicks
A textbook photo of a hurricane, Danielle is churning out in the Atlantic and will not strike the US mainland. With sustained winds of 135 mph it is a Category 4 Hurricane. Glad it's not expected to make landfall. Dungeon Diary ...
Dungeon Diary - Fri 2:06 p.m. - 5 clicks
Bill White called for prior approval for increases in homeowners insurance rates yesterday, as he visited the homes of Texans who have seen their rates increase for years with no explanation as to why. Governor Rick Perry, when asked about his plan for homeowners insurance rates, ran away from cameras -- continuing his campaign's policy of ducking the hard questions at every turn....
Burnt Orange Report - Fri 1:08 p.m. - 7 clicks
While Rick Perry continues to duck a debate with Bill White, Greg Abbott apparently delegates those decisions to his staff. So while BAR waits for Abbott's people to decide whether he's a chicken or not, White prepares to debate the governor in absentia . The Austin American-Statesman and the state's other major newspapers will host a gubernatorial debate event this fall, even if just one c...
Brains and Eggs - Fri 11:46 a.m. - 9 clicks
Aside from rewriting history to that portion of the American public that either was home schooled or never learned anything, Glenn Beck is a publicity whore. So much so, that he is holding a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Dr. King's Speech and the first March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that really marked a high point of the struggle for civil rights ...
Dungeon Diary - Fri 11:02 a.m. - 5 clicks
Here's our open letter to Governor Perry, in which we stand by our full-page ad that ran in over 24 newspapers this week, calling him out on his cowardice in not facing Texan voters: August 26, 2010 Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Dear Governor Perry: It comes as no surprise that you chose to hide behind surrogates to respond to the ad we rec...
Burnt Orange Report - Fri 9:28 a.m. - 11 clicks
It's where the voting machines are stored . Firefighters are battling a three-alarm blaze at a northeast Houston warehouse that stores the majority of voting equipment in Houston and Harris County, according to HFD. The Harris County Election Technologies Center, located on Canino at Downey, caught fire around 4:20 this morning, quickly growing to three-alarms. The wa...
Brains and Eggs - Fri 8:48 a.m. - 14 clicks
While I've been detached from the online world, Stace Medellin and Charles Kuffner and Neil Aquino have updated this week's most significant election-related story. Stace with his dos centavos first ... Perhaps the appointed and losing candidate for Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez is doing one last favor for his Republican Party . Yes, the same Republican Party which abandoned him...
Brains and Eggs - Fri 8:48 a.m. - 13 clicks
A lesson on how to show you aren't a serious, qualified, or legitimate candidate, have your staff endorse your opponent. Apparently if you know and work with Stefani Carter, it only makes you want to support Democratic incumbent Carol Kent even more. The Dallas Morning has the blurb here . Republican Stefani Carter, a lawyer at the Sayles Werbner law firm in Dallas, won't have the ...
Burnt Orange Report - Fri 6:27 a.m. - 10 clicks
In Winter of 2008 a coal ash slurry pond in Tennessee broke its damn, contaminating miles of downstream waterways and people’s homes with deadly carcinogens and other toxic substances. At the time it was called the worst environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez and brought a wake up call to the EPA that this waste [...] ...
TexasVOX: Public Citizen - Fri 5:29 a.m. - 4 clicks
The old gray lady runs a guest op-ed by a person who, oh so innocuously, argues that the intent of the Wilderness Act was never to ban mountain bikes . His tagline? "Ted Stroll is an attorney." What the NYT doesn't tell you is that Stroll is an active, even activist, member of the International Mountain Biking Association . But, if you Google, you'll find other articles like this. Legally fl...
SocraticGadfly - Fri 12:21 a.m. - 5 clicks
Now that David Hackworth is dead, Bacevich is the dean of retired colonels who never got their stars because they refused to play Army politics and from which the rest of us benefit. And, he takes it to a whole new level with his new book, " Washington Rules ." Salon has an excerpt . There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Thu 11:46 p.m. - 5 clicks
Ron Carlson speaking to Houston media at a press conference on August 16, 2010, the day before Peter Cantu became the 463rd person executed by Texas since 1982. Cantu was executed for his part in the murders of two teenage girls, Jennifer Ertman (14) and Elizabeth Peña (16), who attended Waltrip High School in Houston and were walking home alone one night in 1993. The girls were gang raped, ...
Texas Moratorium Network - Thu 10:46 p.m. - 9 clicks
As I wrote yesterday, Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Leo Vasquez is harassing the Houston Votes voter registration drive so that many among the poor, the young, and in our Hispanic community may be denied the right to vote. Mr. Vasquez is working in tandem with local Tea Party groups. This despite the fact that [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Thu 10:23 p.m. - 11 clicks
I’ll have more to say about the AFIIG Immigration Forum on the show tomorrow, but I want to get a few thoughts down before I crash for the night. 1) Lubbock Bishop Placido Rodriguez had the words of wisdom to guide us through our immigration reform discussion: remember to put a face on it. Recognizing [...]...
Lubbock Left - Thu 10:23 p.m. - 14 clicks
OK, so the state legislature of New York has gone batty . They passed a 9 cent tax on sliced bagels. Unsliced, no tax, sliced....TAX. What the f? Seriously. They figure if it's just a bagel, it's a "grocery item", no tax, but slice it and it's "prepared food", BINGO, kaching! Oy vey! Dungeon Diary ...
Dungeon Diary - Thu 8:44 p.m. - 5 clicks
Rick Perry’s Habitual Secret Keeping – As you probably know, Texas Governor Rick Perry’s schedule for the first six months of 2010 showed an average of seven hours of state work per week and 38 weekdays with “no state scheduled events.” In the absence of such records, there’s no objective way of knowing what [...]...
The WAWG Blog - Thu 8:26 p.m. - 12 clicks
The number of the indigent patients being seen at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has been cut drastically. These cuts have been mandated by the University of Texas Board of Regents and by the Texas State Legislature. From the Houston Chronicle— “UTMB has been edging out of the charity care business for [...] ...
TexasLiberal - Thu 5:46 p.m. - 13 clicks
On August 28th it will be the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s landmark “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC in front of a throng of two hundred thousand supporters who participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. History tells us that this event was a turning point in the long climb to racial equality as it pla...
Half Empty - Thu 5:46 p.m. - 3 clicks
A couple of readers emailed from across the pond to say things appear to be blowing up yet again at the Texas Youth Commission (I can't leave you people alone for a minute!), particularly regarding alleged mistreatment of youth at units in Beaumont and Corsicana. Here are several notable MSM stories on the subject: Advocate: Abolishing TYC could be best fix , Texas Tribune Texas You...
Grits for Breakfast - Thu 4:40 p.m. - 9 clicks
