Category Archives: Texas News

Thanks for Nothing Katie Lang

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Hood County Clerk and Tea Party favorite Katie Lang explains why she cannot fulfill the duties of her office because of her religious beliefs.  If that is the case, she needs to step aside and let someone who actually can perform one of the essential duties of the office take over.

Oh, and by the way, Lang’s religious beliefs ended up costing Hood County $44,000 in her failed attempt to deny a marriage license to Joe Stapleton and Jim Cato.  In fairness, Hood was led astray by that paragon of legal virtue – Attorney General Ken Paxton – who encouraged Texas civil servants to violate the law.  Off the Kuff has the details on how the taxpayers of Hood County took it in the shorts because of Lang.

Dipped, Battered, Fried, Re-dipped, Battered, Re-Fried, Coated with Sugar and Dipped in Chocolate

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KSWO in Wichita Falls  reports on the finalists for the new food to showcased at the Texas State Fair in October.  And as a big surprise, various fried delicacies are included.  The winners will be chosen by a panel of celebrity judges in a cook off on August 30.

The . . . finalist foods include fried cowboy corn crunch, with sweet corn, jalapeno, cream cheese and a hint of smoky bacon.

Fernie’s holy moly carrot cake roly has carrot cake coated with cream cheese.

The Lone star pork handle includes a marinated chop, dipped in batter and deep fried.

Pretzel-crusted pollo queso features shredded chicken, cheese and bacon rolled into a ball, crusted with pretzel breading and fried.

The smoky bacon margarita – is self-explanatory.

Somewhere Sid Miller is smiling.

Sid Miller Formulates Foreign Policy

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Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is wandering far afield during his current junket to China.  Miller is supposed to be promoting Texas agricultural products, but took time out to share the following post on Facebook.

Sid Miller's Sunday night Facebook post.

So we now have an Agriculture Commissioner who is in favor of nuclear war with the “Muslim World.”  That’s over one billion people at last count.  That’s a lot of bombs.  Sid, when we want your opinion on foreign policy matters, we will ask for it.  Don’t hold your breath.

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.

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.

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.

 

Judge Orders Man to Get Married or Go to Jail – Red Wonders if There is Really Any Difference?

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Smith County Judge Randall Rogers has taken judicial activism to a new level.  Joosten Bundy was arrested following an altercation with his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.  Rogers ordered Bundy to either get married to his girlfriend or face two weeks in jail.  Raw Story reports on the unusual (and probably illegal) ruling.

Bundy said that he got into the fight because her ex was being “disrespectful” to her, telling the judge, “I took matters into my own hands and I know that’s wrong.I know I was raised better, but it happened.”

“Is she worth it?” Judge Rogers asked Bundy, according to court transcripts.

“I said, well to be honest, sir, I was raised with four sisters and if any man was talking to a woman like that,” Bundy stated, “I’d probably do the same thing.”

That was when Rogers laid down the terms of his release.

“You know, as a part of my probation, you’re going to have to marry her within 30 days.” the judge said, telling him the alternative was 15 days in jail.

“He offered me fifteen days in jail and that would have been fine and I asked if I could call my job [to let them know],” said Bundy. “The judge told me ‘nope, that’s not how this works.’”

According to Jaynes, who was in the courtroom at the time, the judge then embarrassed her by making her stand up.

“My face was so red, people behind me were laughing,” said Jaynes. “[The judge] made me stand up in court.”

“It just felt like we weren’t going to be able to have the wedding we wanted,” she explained. “It was just going to be kind of pieced together, I didn’t even have a white dress.”

The couple got a marriage license and were married by a justice of the peace, but Bundy was unhappy because the impromptu wedding meant many in is his family couldn’t attend, and Jaynes father criticized the judge for forcing the wedding on the young couple.

“[I felt] anger; I was mad. [The judge] can’t do this by court ordering somebody to be married,” said Kenneth Jaynes. “I contacted a couple of lawyers but they told me someone was trying to pull my leg…that judges don’t court order somebody to get married.”

According to a local attorney, Rogers’ ruling was illegal.

Hold Your Horses – Literally

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A dispute amongst factions of the Texas GOP will result in a shut-down of Texas horse racing this week.  Although, the Texas racing industry has never taken off as envisaged in the 80’s, this internecine dispute will disrupt legal horse racing in Texas.  The Texas Racing Commission does not have funding to continue in operation and Texas law requires Racing Commission supervision at all tracks in the state.  The Houston Chronicle explains the root cause behind the shut down.

Texas Racing Commission officials have stopped signing off on new races and started warning that the agency will shutter by the end of the month unless the Legislative Budget Board approves a funding request.

“Absent the necessary approvals from the LBB, the agency will no longer be able to pay its employees or its rent and will close by the end of the day on August 31, 2015,” commission executive director Chuck Trout told a lawyer representing the tracks in a letter last Friday, adding that, “if the agency closes, all racing will also stop.”

Commission officials believe the board controlled by lawmakers will ultimately approve the money if they repeal a controversial new racing game, but the warning nevertheless has plunged Harris County’s Sam Houston Race Park and others around the state into unexpected uncertainty. State law requires commission staff to attend each race, so closure could leave the tracks unable to operate.

The tumult marks a dramatic escalation in a year-long battle between the commission and some lawmakers over the new game, known as “historical racing.”

Also known as “instant racing,” the game allows players to bet on previously-run races that have been stripped of identifications. It is seen by the tracks as a necessary innovation to help them to keep up with states where more betting is allowed, but it has drawn opposition from critics who say the terminals resemble slot machines and would expand gambling here while hurting charitable bingo groups.

The commission approved historical racing last summer over the objection of Senate Republicans, who sent a letter saying the agency did not have the authority to make such an authorization unilaterally.

Photo from www.bloodhorse.com