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.

Things Mike Pence was Surprised to Learn

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Poor old Mike Pence seems to be out of the loop on most everything that happens in the Trump Administration.  Red has been keeping track of just a few of the things that the Vice-President has seemed to be the last one to know.

  1. That Michael Flynn had met with the Russians on several occasions about loosening sanctions and failed to disclose that to the FBI.
  2. That Michael Flynn had lobbied for the Turkish government.
  3. That Trump wanted to fire James Comey at least in part because of the FBI investigation into the Trump Campaign’s collusion with Russia.
  4. That Rob Porter was a known wife beater.
  5. That Donald Trump is largely bald because of bad hair surgery
  6. That Mike is actually short for Michael.
  7. That he was once elected governor of an actual state.
  8. That some men have dined with women other than there wives and have not gone to Hell.
  9. That dinosaurs actually existed.
  10. That tacos are considered Mexican food.

Today in Texas History – February 9

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From the Annals of the U.S. Wars of Choice –  In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent a Marine Corps Hawk air defense missile battalion to Da Nang, South Vietnam.  The troops were deployed to provide protection for the key U.S. airbase there.  This was the first deployment of U.S. combat troops to South Vietnam.  The move provoked strong reactions to an apparent new level of involvement in the Vietnamese conflict.  Communist China and the Soviet Union threatened to intervene if the U.S. continued military support of the South Vietnamese regime.  The U.S. Embassy in Moscow was attacked by demonstrators (including Vietnamese and Chinese students) in a move orchestrated by the Kremlin.  Britain and Australia supported the U.S. action, but France called for negotiations.

LBJ had little appreciation of the horrors of war as he had avoided any real combat action in WWII and he was known throughout his life as being an intense physical coward.  He showed no hesitation in sending others off to die in his foolish war. The escalation of U.S. involvement in what had been essentially a civil war was now official and the mistaken judgment of LBJ in blundering into the Vietnam War would not end until more than 58,000 U.S. servicemen and women had lost their lives in the futile struggle.

Quote for the Day

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“If you say, ‘Well, I don’t have any symptoms of the flu,’ well, great! That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Just keeping saying that. ‘I’ll never have the flu. I’ll never have the flu.’ Inoculate yourself with the word of God.”

Texas Televangelist Kelly Copeland.

Red would like to inoculate himself with something that would make it impossible for him to hear or read the words of crazy TV beggar preachers.

Today in Texas History – February 8

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Dallas Texans Logo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

From the Annals of Professional Football – In 1963, Lamar Hunt moved the Dallas Texans to Kansas City and renamed the team the Chiefs.  Hunt owned the AFL’s Dallas franchise which began playing , owner of the American Football League franchise in Dallas, TX, moved the operation to Kansas City. The new team was named the Chiefs.  It started operations in 1960, the first AFL season and the same year as the Dallas Cowboys. The team immediately faced serious competition from a new franchise in the older more established league.  The Texans had a strong home-state identity with quarterback Cotton Davidson (Baylor), fullback Jack Spikes (TCU), and running back Abner Haynes (North Texas State). Haynes, was named the league’s Player of the Year after leading the AFL with 875 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns. The Texans were an offense-centric, high scoring team, but three closes losses kept them from challenging for the division title.  They finished the 1960 season in second place in the West with an 8-6 record.  The Texans averaged 24,500 for their home games at the Cotton Bowl, the highest average in the league. Hunt is considered to be the founding father of the AFL and one of the main reasons the league was able to survive until it merged with NFL in the Super Bowl era.

Hunt’s team is not to be confused with the 1952 incarnation of the Dallas Texans.  That was an NFL team which was a transplanted version of the New York Yanks.  The team lasted only one season in Dallas and was the last NFL franchise to fold up shop when owner Giles Miller sold the ailing franchise back to the league.

Red desperately wants a Dallas Texans t-shirt with that logo.

Texas High Speed Rail Terminal Planned for Houston Mall Site

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Developers of a high-speed rail line hope to turn Houston's aging Northwest Mall into that city's bullet train station.

Texas Central Partners – the outfit that is attempting to bring high-speed rail to Texas –  has identified the site Northwest Mall in Houston as the likely location for its Houston station.  Northwest Mall is about eight miles from downtown Houston and sits near the intersection of the 610 West Loop and US 290.  That location is one of three sites that TCP was considering for its Houston terminus.  One major problem is that Houston Metro Rail has no plans for lines in that area and it would seem that a hook up to the local rail system would be an essential ingredient for success.

TCP plans to run high-speed trains (up to 205 mph) between Dallas and Houston with an average travel time of about 90 minutes.  The project is expected to cost about $15 billion and is to be completed without state or federal funding.

Red can’t really imagine how the economics of this work but he sure would love to take the train instead of heading to the airport to spend 3 plus hours for a 40 minute flight.

Today in Texas History – February 7

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From the Annals of the Code Duello – In 1837, to Generals of the Texas Army faced off in a duel for command of the Army. Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston was wounded in the pelvis by Brig. Gen. Felix Huston.  President Sam Houston had ordered Johnston to replace Huston as commander of the Texas Army.  Huston had attracted a large group of adventurers and undisciplined troops to the Army and Sam Houston believed that under his command the Army would not be able to repel the seemingly imminent invasion from Mexico.  Huston was offended by the lack of confidence in his leadership.  Even though he professed admiration for ASJ, he felt compelled to challenge him to a duel.  Observers claimed that Johnston refused to fire. Johnston’s wound was so severe that he was unable to take command.  Some believe that his wound in the duel caused nerve damage such that he was unable to detect that he had been shot during the Battle of Shiloh.  ASJ died after the battle from loss of blood – his wound had not been fatal.  Huston eventually moved to New Orleans where he opened a law practice and became an ardent secessionist.

Kathleen Hartnett White Will Not be Leading the Council on Environmental Quality

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The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump has withdrawn its rather controversial nominee to head the Council on Environmental Quality after even Senate Republicans began questioning her expertise regarding environmental matters.  This was seen as good news by most concerned scientists.

Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called her a “remarkably poor choice” for such a consequential environmental post.“A while ago, I wrote that many Trump appointees to science-based positions could be considered to either have deep conflicts of interest, to be fundamentally opposed to the mission of the agency they were to lead or totally unqualified. Hartnett-White was all three — a trifecta,” he said.

The bad news is that Kathleen Hartnett White will be staying in Texas.  KHW has proved to be a useful tool of science deniers and enamored with carbon in all its forms.  With respect to concerns about increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, Hartnett has suggested that:

“Carbon dioxide has none of the characteristics of a pollutant that could harm human health. Our flesh, blood and bones are built of carbon. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the gas of life on this planet, an essential nutrient for plant growth on which human life depends.”

That’s a special kind of stupid.  She should volunteer to sit in an enclosed chamber with about a 95% concentration of CO2 to demonstrate the beneficial effects on her flesh, blood and bones.  Where does he find these people?

 

Today in Texas History – February 6

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From the Annals of the Bohemians –  In 1879, E. J. Glueckman published the first issue of the Texan.   This was the first Czech newspaper in Texas.  The paper lasted about decade focusing on Czech culture in Texas and catering to the many Czech immigrants who came to Texas beginning in the early 1850s.  Czech immigrants established settlements primarily in Austin, Fayette, Lavaca, and Washington counties.  The Texan was just the first of many such periodicals which celebrated the rich contribution of Czechs to Texas.  By the end of the twentieth century, more than thirty Czech newspapers and periodicals had been published.  Today Czech traditions are still alive in Texas music, food, beer, community groups and festivals.

Today in Texas History – February 5

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From the Annals of the Highways –  In 1844, the Congress of the Republic of Texas authorized a commission to oversee the construction of the Central National Road. The CNR was planned to run from the Elm Fork of the Trinity River to Kiomatia Crossing on the Red River in far northeast Texas.  It was intended to become part of a larger international highway ultimately connecting San Antonio to St. Louis.  The Congress provided that the CNR was to be at least 30 feet wide with no tree stumps taller than 12 inches from the ground.  Bridges were to be at least 15 feet wide and built of good substantial materials.  The project was to be paid for with public land grants to contractors building the road. The rate was to be 160 acres of land for every mile constructed.

The commissioners chose George Stell of Paris, Texas, as surveyor for the project.  Surveying work began in April 1844. Stell and his assistant traveled northeast, measuring and marking the exact route, which passed through the present counties of Dallas, Rockwall, Collin, Hunt, Fannin, Lamar and Red River. The route largely  utilized existing prairies and natural stream crossings – avoiding densely wooded areas and river crossing requiring bridges.  It is unclear if construction was ever completed.  The CNR appears to have been short-lived and was replaced by the Preston Road and other early routes.

 

Quote for the Day

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“I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him. I don’t think I’ve ever met him. And he actually said he was a very low-level member of I think a committee for a short period of time. I don’t think I ever met him. Now, it’s possible that I walked into a room and he was sitting there, but I don’t think I ever met him.”

Donald Trump on Carter Page.  Yet somehow, the widely discredited Nunes memo concerning the FBI’s supposedly questionable  surveillance of Page completely vindicates Trump?  Please explain!