Author Archives: Red from Texas

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About Red from Texas

I'm proud to be Red. I have lived most of my life in Texas and I love this place. Here are a few things you should know about me. 1. I am happily married and intend to stay so. 2. I live in a house that is older than you, unless you are really old. 3. I own 2 rifles and a shotgun. I think handguns are just trouble. 4. I have never killed a man, but have taken out some deer and hogs. 5. I was a good student, but never close to being valedictorian. 6. In no particular order I like the Houston Texans, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Astros, FC Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Texas Longhorns and Houston Dynamo. 7. I hate Dallas but always have a good time when I go there. 8. I was a Dallas Cowboys fan for 26 years but declared that I was no longer a fan during the 1987 strike. 9. I don't own any pets. I like cats, and a good dog and I have met at least 3 of them in my lifetime. 10. I think the best part of Texas is west of I-35. 11. I own two pairs of cowboy boots, but don't wear them very often. 12. I don't have a pronounced Texas accent, but can affect one when needed. 13. My last meal would be fried shrimp with tartar sauce, a baked potato with all the fixins', a dinner salad with 1000 Island dressing, yeast rolls and chocolate fudge pie for dessert. 14. I'm an old Dad, but my children are none of your business. 15. I have two degrees from UT-Austin and somehow managed to fall in love with and marry an Aggie. 16. Most of my family are right-wing nut jobs but I love them anyway. 17. When I get to play golf on a regular basis, I shoot in the low 80's. 18. I don't get to play golf on a regular basis. 19. I think Fort Worth is the best town in Texas by a long shot. 20. I have a mean herb garden. Regards, Red P.S. Remember it's not a color, it's a state of mind.

Open Carry for All

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A group of New Black Panthers staged a protest in front of the Waller County Jail in  Hempstead.  The protestors were exercising their Second Amendment rights and their rights under Texas law and were armed with shotguns, hunting rifles and assault weapons. In an apparent panic of seeing black men legally armed in their streets, Waller County authorities called Harris County for support.  Harris County sent 75 deputies and a plane to monitor the entirely legal protest by the 15 NBP’s.  Fortunately, there were no incidents and no one was arrested or injured.  Red wonders what the reaction of the Waller County authorities would have been to a similar group of armed Rednecks marching in their fair community demanding a return of Jim Crow.  For the Redneck spin on the protest see Breitbart.

Today in Texas History – August 13

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From the Annals of Discrimination –  In 1906, an alleged attack by soldiers from the  black  25th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Brown resulted in the largest summary dismissals US Army history.  The troops fresh from duty in the Phillippines arrived in Brownsville on July 28.  . The First Battalion, minus Headquarters and Company A, arrived at Brownsville.  The town greeted them racial hostility and discrimination with many local businesses refusing to serve them.  After reports of an attack on a white woman on the night of August 12,  Maj. Charles W. Penrose, after consultation with Mayor Frederick Combe, declared an early curfew the following day to avoid trouble with the increasing tension.  Sometime around midnight, a locol bartender was killed in a shootout that also critically wounded a police officer.   Some townspeople blamed the troops and made unverified claims that the soldiers were running through the streets shooting.

A series of investigations followed, but no individual soldiers were ever identified as having committed criminal acts.  Maj. Augustus P. Blocksom, of the army’s Southwestern Division, found that the soldiers were uncooperative and recommended dismissal. The troops for their part denied any knowledge of the shooting. Texas Ranger Cap. William J. McDonald arrested 12 men but none were ever indicted. Inspector General Ernest A. Garlington claimed there was a “conspiracy of silence”  and urged dismissal of the men. On November 5 President Theodore Roosevelt summarily discharged “without honor” all 167 enlisted men who had been stationed at Fort Brown.

A Senate investigation of the matter instigated by Roosevelt rival Sen. Joseph B. Foraker (R-Ohio) resulted in conflicting majority and minority reports and no action for the men who had been summarily dismissed.   When some of the men reapplied for enlistment, Roosevelt was forced to appoint a board of retired army officers to review the applications. After interviewing about half the applicants, the Court of Military Inquiry approved only fourteen of the men for re-enlistment.

The matter lay dormant until 1972,  when  Rep. Augustus Hawkins (D-California) took up the cause of the wrongly dismissed soldiers. The Nixon administration concurred and awarded honorable discharges without back pay. Dorsie Willis, the only surviving veteran, received a $25,000 pension.

Cruz Going After JEB!!!!$$$$$?

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas), who has refused to criticize Donald Trump for attacking Mexicans, Gays, Weenies and  oh, my gosh Fox News, has finally found another GOP candidate that he is willing to use as a punching bag.  And it’s the doughy, sad sack, scion of the Bush dynasty – JEB!!!!$$$$$?  Cruz, who has refrained from uttering the dastardly accusation of being a RINO at JEB!!!!$$$$$?, is leaving that epithet for use by his supporters.  Cruz, however, is going after him with bacon-wrapped guns blazing. The Texas Tribune has the details.

Cruz, who wraps up his bus tour through the South today, has become increasingly critical of the former Florida governor “as a prime example of what’s ailing the GOP,” and his crowds are liking that message . . .

During campaign stops Monday and Tuesday in Tennessee and Mississippi, Cruz’s references to the former Florida governor, now a staple of the senator’s stump speech, often elicited loud booing, sometimes accompanied by scattered shouts of “Establishment!” or “RINO!” (Republican In Name Only). …

“We’re tired of losing,” Cruz said Tuesday when asked why he thought Bush’s name was drawing such strong reactions on the campaign trail. …

In an interview aboard his campaign bus Tuesday in Mississippi, Cruz praised Bush’s “candor” in a seemingly backhanded compliment.

“He has been quite candid in embracing amnesty, in embracing Common Core,” Cruz said. “Now those policy positions are dramatically out of step with Republican primary voters, but I have commended his courage of convictions that he sticks with his defense of amnesty and his defense of Common Core.”

Them’s Fighting Words.

Floods, Drought, Plague, Pestilence

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The heavy rains of late spring and early summer have been followed up by unrelenting heat and no rain.  It rained at Casa Red for the first time in over a month last night, but it was about enough to settle the dust and make it really steamy.  There’s nothing like it being 102 degrees and raining.  And it aint only Red’s begonias that are suffering – many cities in the state had a record dry July.  The Weather Channel has more.

No rain was recorded in Waco during July and this rainless streak has continued through the first 11 days of August. The last time there was measurable rainfall was June 30 when 0.01 inches fell. That makes 42 consecutive days with no rain. There are two other Julys on record with no rainfall (1993 and 1930) and the average rainfall for the month is 2.03 inches. This comes after Waco experienced their 11th wettest May, with 9.27 inches of rainfall. 

Tyler recorded its driest July on record with no measurable rainfall and no rain has been seen through August 11. At the opposite end of the spectrum May was the wettest on record with 11.83 inches recorded. It was a very wet spring as the city saw its second wettest April with 8.68 inches of rain, and second wettest March with 8.02 inches. 

It has not rained in Dallas since July 8 when 0.92 inches of rain fell making 34 consecutive days with no precipitation, making it the longest dry streak since 2000 and placing in the top-ten longest dry streaks on record. This is quite the change from this spring which saw the wettest May on record when 16.96 inches of rain drenched the city. April and June also saw above average rainfall. 

Austin-Bergstrom just saw their driest July on record with only 0.01 inches recorded, which beat the previous record of 0.02 inches set in 1994, 1986 and 1951. On the opposite end of the spectrum, May was the second wettest, courtesy of the 13.44 inches of rain that fell. Austin at Camp Mabry saw its second driest July with only a trace measured and this is after seeing their wettest May with 17.59 inches of rain recorded. No rain has been observed through August 11.

Another city that has gone from flood to drought is Houston. Only 0.61 inches of rain was measured in Houston this July, which is 3.18 inches below average. This July, in fact, was the fourth driest on record which comes after the fifth wettest May and eighth wettest June when 14.17 inches and 11.39 inches, respectively, were recorded. The end of May was also marked by extensive flooding in the Houston metro area.

West Texas Investors Club or Rattlesnake Tank?

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Red happened to stumble on a new show last week while searching for a Premier League game.  Inc.com  profiles the latest reality series from CNBC – a take off on Shark Tank called West Texas Investors Club.  The premise is the same as Shark Tank as budding entrepreneurs seek funding for their start-up – but the setting and vibe could not be more different.

CNBC’s new reality series West Texas Investors Club takes the Shark Tank model of entrepreneurs pitching business ideas and adds a crucial new ingredient: beer.

The one-hour show stars self-made millionaires Michael “Rooster” McConaughey (older brother of Matthew) and Wayne “Butch” Gilliam, two veterans of the oil-and-gas pipeline industry who listen to startup pitches mostly while drinking Miller Lite.

The first season of the show premiered on Tuesday, August 4 and will run for eight episodes.

One big difference between West Texas Investors Club and Shark Tank is how McConaughey and Gilliam test out the startup models before deciding to invest.

For example, in the show’s first episode, the pair brought entrepreneur Adam Garfield’s drink-ordering app SpeedETab to a local bar to see how it would be received by customers. 

“For every entrepreneur that comes to us, we’re going to try to figure out a way to put them in a real-life scenario,” Gilliam says. “We want to put them under the gun and see what their character is all about.”

Red may want to try to get funding for a website about Texas history, current events, politics and drinking.

Today in Texas History – August 12

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From the Annals of the Indian Wars –   In 1840, the Battle of Plum Creek was fought between a Texas army comprised of militia, Rangers and Tonkawa Indians and several allied bands of Comanches.  The battle occurred in the aftermath of the Council House Fight.  The CHF had resulted in the deaths of several Comanche chiefs who had met with Texans under a flag of truce to exchange white prisoners.  The Comanches felt betrayed and Chief Buffalo Hump organized a retaliatory raid through the Guadalupe River valley east and south of Gonzales. Hump had several hundred warriors and a band of almost one thousand including families who followed the fighting to tend to the fighters and seize plunder.  In a series of raids, the Comanches moved through the Gonzales area killing settlers, stealing horses, and making off with whatever they could carry.  One raid sacked the town of Linnville.  The Texans were led by  Gen. Felix Huston, Col. Edward Burleson and Ben McCulloch.  Much of the fight was a running battle with the Comanches.  However, when the Texans finally caught up with the Comanches on Plum Creek a showdown finally occurred.  The Comanches likely would never have been caught except for the tremendous success of the raid.  They were bogged down by attempting to herd several hundred horses and plunder laden mules back to the Llano Estacado.  The actual battle took place near present-day Lockhart and reportedly resulted in the deaths of 80 Comanches – an unusually large number for such fights.

Image from texasbeyondhistory.net.

Today in Texas History – August 11

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From the Annals of Labor Relations –  In 1994, Major League Baseball players went on strike beginning the longest work stoppage in major league history.  The strike resulting in the cancellation of the World Series – the first time the baseball season did not end with a champion in 89 years.

Major League owners had the most enduring control over their players of any American sports league.  Until 1975, the reserve clause had effectively killed any notion of free agency in baseball and kept player salaries artificially low.  By 1994, the main source of conflict was the owners’ plan  to institute a cap on player salaries.  Making unproven claims of financial hardship, owners argued that player salaries had become unsustainable.  The players, led by union head Donald Fehr, refused to agree to a cap.

The level of distrust had been exacerbated by the 1985 secret agreement of the owners to not sign one another’s players.  The pact was remarkably successful in practice as all 28 major league teams sat tight for three seasons.  When the illegal conspiracy was discovered, the players’ union sued and won a $280 million judgment. Consequently, when the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association expired in 1994 negotiations for a new deal were difficult. On August 12, the petulant and peeved owners locked the players out, and cancelled the rest of the 1994 season.

No progress during the off-season and on the eve of the new baseball season, 28 of 30 owners voted to field replacement teams.  On March 31, Judge Sonia Sontomayor stepped in, issuing an injunction against the owners. On April 2, 1995, the players returned to work.

Astros fans have long claimed that the strike robbed Jeff Bagwell of a landmark season.  Bagwell was hitting .368 with 39 home runs through the date of the strike.  But he had broken his hand on August 10 when he was hit by an Andy Benes pitch in the top of the third inning.  The real losers were the Montreal Expos who were 74-40 and cruising through the NL East at the time of the strike.  The franchise never recovered.

A Perilous Situation for Perry Probably Means Less Perry

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Multiple sources are indicating that Rick Perry’s flagging presidential campaign may not make it past the quarter pole.  On the day after missing the first GOP presidential debate, Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller told staff that they would no longer be paid.  Despite the lack of income many workers are staying with the campaign for the time being.  How long Perry can hang on without some improvement in the polls is questionable.

“Money is extremely tight,” admitted Katon Dawson, Perry’s South Carolina campaign chairman. “We all moved to volunteer status. Our team is working as hard as it was last week.”   Perry’s supposedly independent super PAC still has money in the bank, but the campaign itself is essentially broke.  Perry aides vowed that they will continue raising money to compete in the early 2016 contests, but expenditures are down to transportation, hotels and meals for Perry and his travelling staff. Perry is planning to campaign in South Carolina on Thursday and to visit Iowa next week.

IRHO, it couldn’t happen to a less qualified, superbly coifed, more self-aggrandizing, empty suit, pompous bag of wind than Rick Perry – unless of course it were Donald Trump.

 

Just How Worthless is Your College’s Football Coach?

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In most cases, pretty darn worthless it turns out.  The Count of Wall Street Journal fame has run the numbers of the coaches at the major football schools.  Rather than looking at won-loss records or conference championships, the Count analyzes exactly how well each coach did against opposing teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at game time.  This eliminates stacking of the records against lower division opponents, perennial doormats and the intra-conference weak sisters.

Who is the best college football coach?  Not surprisingly, it is the coach of defending National Champions Ohio State – Urban Meyer with a .707 mark.  The highly regarded Nick Saban is a piker by comparison with a .597 career average against quality competition.  So who is number two?  Jimbo Fisher at Florida State has racked up a .666 winning percentage in his 18 games against ranked competition.  But really, the oft-maligned Bob Stoops is likely the better coach – coming in batting .649 when going against the big boys in 77 games.

In Texas Gary Patterson at TCU is at the top of the heap with .559 winning percentage in 34 such contests.  A&M’s Kevin Sumlin is a respectable second with a .500 mark in his 20 top tier tests.  UT’s Charlie Strong (3-6) and Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury (2-7) don’t have enough games (at least 15) to make Red’s list – but neither is trending in the right direction.  And you have to wonder at UT’s hiring of Strong when he had an all-time 2-1 record in games against real teams before joining the Longhorns.

Who looks really bad?  Wunderkind Mike Leach is a pathetic .236 in 55 games against ranked competition and is fading fast having gone 1-11 at Washington State.  Kansas State’s legendary Bill Snyder is more legend than reality with a .278 record in 79 games.  Flavor of the Month Art Briles is on similar ground at .286 with all 10 of his wins over Top 25 opponents coming at Baylor.  And at the bottom of the heap is Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre who has yet to get on base (.000 in 15 games).

Who is coming on strong?  Mark Richt at Georgia racks up considerable numbers by virtue of playing in the SEC and is looking respectable at .535 in 71 games against the Beasts of the Southeast and others.  David Shaw sports an impressive .625 mark in his 24 games – all at Stanford. The only other coaches above the .500 mark are Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Les Miles (LSU), Brian Kelly (Notre Mama). Jim Mora (UCLA)  and Steve Spurrier (S. Carolina).