Category Archives: Texas News

So Much for Local Control

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The Texas Tea Party likes to shout local control and government overreach from the rooftops when it fears the federal government stepping on Texans’ toes.  But when it comes to serving the interests of big oil, the Tea Partisans cannot fall over themselves fast enough to do its bidding.  This time it comes in the form of a bill passed by the Senate and House which will prevent Texas municipalities from banning fracking within their city limits.  But the bill, which emerged as a response to a hydraulic fracking ban passed by Denton voters in November, goes well beyond just fracking and leaves municipalities powerless to regulate any oil and gas practices that do not involve surface operations.

The bill emerged as legislative backlash to a hydraulic fracturing ban passed by Denton voters in November.  The legislation also prevents cities from passing ordinances addressing underground activity, including disposal wells, which have been linked to earthquakes, and pre-empt any ordinance deemed not “commercially reasonable.”

Now Red appreciates the need for uniform rules on drilling practices, but the hypocrisy of the Tea Partisans is just plain shocking.  They insist that the federal government cannot dictate to Texas – but then have Texas turn around and dictate to local government.

Get Your Tax-Free Guns

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The Senate has approved Senate Bill 228  which designates one weekend a year where as a tax-free holiday for gun sales.  The bill sponsored by Sen. Brandon Creighton (TP-Conroe) exempts  firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies from sales tax during the last weekend in August.  Creighton calls it a Second Amendment tax holiday weekend.  Part of the rational for the sales tax exemption stems from a similar tax holiday that occurs one week earlier in Louisiana.  Proponents claim that Texas businesses near the Louisiana border lose considerable sales because of the tax disparity for that one weekend.  The Legislative Budget Board estimates that Texas will lose over $3.5 million in sales tax revenue each year if Creighton’s bill becomes law.

When Did the Right Wing Come to Hate the Military?

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Digby of Salon wonders how the Tea Party came to hate the military so much.  It is a stark contrast from the traditional right-wing support of an ever-expanding military.  Remember when it was unpatriotic to oppose continual increases in defense spending or to question whether the U.S. should be sending troops to fight overseas.  These folks couldn’t fall over themselves fast enough to support W. Bush’s foolish wars and the creation of a big brother surveillance state, and call out anyone who opposed that as practically a traitor.  “You’re either for us or against us.”  Ask yourself, what has changed?

You have probably heard these lyrics at least a thousand times at televised Republican rallies:

 And I’m proud to be an American
Where at least I know I’m free
And I won’t forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me

Those of course are the words to “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood, a song that could almost be described as the conservative national anthem. It perfectly expresses the patriotism of the Real American, the man and woman who love their country without reservation, the ones who boldly invite dissenters to “love it or leave it” and attack anyone who would dare besmirch the red, white and blue. These colors don’t run, hippie…

But something has changed. In fact, it appears that the right wing in this country has become downright hostile to the one government institution they heretofore had defended with every fiber of their being: the military. This week, members of the conservative fringe, having apparently become convinced that the army is holding a large training exercise in the American southwest in order to prepare the ground for a federal government takeover of Texas, are themselves metaphorically spitting in the face of U.S. soldiers:

“It’s the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany: You get the people used to the troops on the street, the appearance of uniformed troops and the militarization of the police,” Bastrop resident Bob Wells told the Statesman after the meeting. “They’re gathering intelligence. That’s what they’re doing. And they’re moving logistics in place for martial law. That’s my feeling. Now, I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong. I hope I’m a ‘conspiracy theorist.’”

Greg Abbott must be wondering how to quell the shit storm of adverse media coverage he has created by kowtowing to lunatics such as these.

Tradition Schmadition

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The Texas A&M University Board of Regents has voted to change the University seal. According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle the vote was held without discussion and was unanimous. The 52 year-old  Star-T pattern is out – to be replaced with the block TAM (or ATM depending on your point of view) familiar to fans of Fighting Texas Aggie Band.

System Chancellor John Sharp approved of the change, “When you talk about brand identity, having that ‘Block TAM’ is something that brings it all together. That change makes it very obvious when you see it, where you are and what you’re talking about, that it’s Texas A&M.”

The change may not go over well at the tradition-bound school.  The seal change has already provoked negative online reception, including a petition on change.org asking to return the seal to its original state.

Red wonders what’s next – Marijuana leaf garlands?

Let the Gays Marry and There Will Be Rioting in the Streets

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Raw Story reports that Texas Rep. Bill Flores (TP- Bryan) has linked the rioting in Baltimore to the trend in favor of gay marriage.

On the Wednesday edition of the Family Research Council’s Washington Watch radio program, Flores told FRC President Tony Perkins that crowds of conservatives were showing up at the U.S. Supreme Court to urge justices to support the “rights of tradition marriage.”

Perkins suggested that the government was just creating more problems for itself as courts throughout the nation continued to rule that LGBT people should have equal marriage rights.

“A lot of these problems are created by the breakdown of the family, which the redefinition of would only accelerate,” Perkins opined.

“You’re exactly right, Tony,” Flores agreed. “Let’s talk about poverty for instance… The single best indicator of whether or not a child is going to be in poverty or not is whether or not they were raised by a two-parent household or a single-parent household. And so the breakdown of the family has contributed to poverty.”

“You look at what’s going on in Baltimore today, you know, you see issues that are raised there,” the congressman continued. “And healthy marriages are the ones between a man and a woman because they can have a healthy family and they can raise children in the way that’s best for their future, not only socially but psychologically, economically, from a health perspective.”

“There’s just nothing like traditional marriage that does that.”

Red doubts that Flores intended for this to sound as stupid as it does.

Abbott Kowtows to Paranoid Fringe of the Tea Party

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Gov. Greg Abbott is sending Texas Guard troops to “monitor” a U.S. Armed Forces training exercise being conducted in Texas.  Abbott is apparently listening and responding to the paranoid fringe of the Tea Party who fear that the Feds are coming to take over the state.  Remember the days when the so-called conservatives supported our military?  It seems so long ago.  What changed? Oh yeah, a black man became President.  The Dallas Morning News reports on the Abbott’s latest attempt to assuage the Tea Party and provides some details on the planned operation.

The operation causing rampant suspicions is a new kind of exercise involving elite teams such as the SEALs and Green Berets from four military branches training over several states from July 15 to Sept. 15

Called Jade Helm 15, the exercise is one of the largest training operations done by the military in response to what it calls the evolving nature of warfare. About 1,200 special operations personnel will be involved and move covertly among the public. They will use military equipment to travel between seven Southwestern states from Texas to California.

On Monday, command spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria attended a Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting to answer community questions and was met with hostile fire. Lastoria, in response to some of the questions from the 150 who attended, sought to dispel fears that foreign fighters from the Islamic State were being brought in or that Texans’ guns would be confiscated, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman.

He was forced to rebut that martial law was underfoot and said misinformation has been spread by those with a “personal agenda.  You may have issues with the administration. So be it. But this institution right here has been with you for over 200 years,” he was quoted as saying. “I’ve worn this uniform across five different administrations for 27 years.”

Radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been sending out warnings for weeks regarding the exercise, saying it is the U.S. military positioning itself to take over the states and declare martial law.

Abbott apparently has heard the concern and ordered the Guard to monitor the training and U.S. military personnel.

“To address concerns of Texas citizens and ensure that Texas communities remain safe, secure and informed about military procedures occurring in their vicinity, I am directing the Texas State Guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15,” Abbott wrote in his letter to the commander of the Texas Guard.

Naked and Unafraid at Texas State

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A Texas State University student sat nearly naked on the steps of the Allkek Library for almost an hour as part of an art project and protest about the objectification of the female body.  The San Antonio Express-News reports that the senior art student was overall pleased with the results of the performance art piece.

Monika Rostvold, who quickly became the talk of campus, said in a phone interview that the 45-minute demonstration was for an art project that focused on fellow students’ reactions and objectification of the female body, said Rostvold, a fine arts senior.

“I wanted people to view my body as beauty and power and not a sexual object,” said Rostvold, a fine arts senior. “The fact that it is Sexual Assault Awareness Month I wanted to create a piece about the standards that exist in our society. Being a victim and having friends who are victims of sexual assault I wanted to take control of my body by eliminating my presence and exposing myself.” 

Red holds this out to be an almost totally SFW blog – so no photos here.

Texas A&M Galveston Professor Flunks Entire Class – Then Quits Class

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Professor Irwin Horwitz of Texas A&M Galveston flunked his entire management class and quit the class.  Horwitz sent an email to the students informing them of their fate.

“I am frankly and completely disgusted. You all lack the honor and maturity to live up to the standards that Texas A&M holds, and the competence and/or desire to do the quality work necessary to pass the course just on a grade level, I will no longer be teaching the course, and all are being awarded a failing grade. . . .  None of you, in my opinion, given the behavior in this class, deserve to pass, or graduate to become an Aggie, as you do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character,” 

Horwitz related numerous incidents rampant cheating, rudeness and outright disrespect from the class members.  According to Horwitz:

“Since teaching this course, I have caught and seen cheating, been told to ‘chill out,’ ‘get out of my space,’ ‘go back and teach,’ called a ‘fucking moron’ to my face, [witnessed] one student cheat by signing in for another, one student not showing up but claiming they did, listened to many hurtful and untrue rumors about myself and others, been caught between fights between students,”

A&M, for its part, has apparently rescinded the mass failure and the department head will teach the remainder of the semester.  A&M also claims it will investigate Horwitz’s allegations about the behavior of the students.

The National Teacher of the Year is From Amarillo

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Shanna Peeples was named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of State School Officials.     Peeples is the first teacher from Texas to win the award since 1957.  myhighplains.com reports that Peeples is more than deserving of the award.

Peeples teaches at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas, where she spends half of her day as a high school English teacher and the other half mentoring, coaching and challenging her colleagues to grow in the teaching profession.

At Palo Duro High School, her students come from many different backgrounds. Amarillo is one of several cities in the United States that helps refugees find new paths in life and gain access to critical resources. As a result, Peeples works with many students who speak English as a second language or recently entered the United States from another country.

“My students, survivors of deep and debilitating trauma, have shaped the kind of teacher I am,” she says. “They have taught me to never make a promise I can’t keep because so many already have learned to see the world through suspicious eyes. To be the best teacher to them, I have to remember this and honor their background. I remember so I can gain their trust because I want them to read and write their way out of where they are,” said Peeples.

As the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, Shanna is shaping the conversation in this country about working with students in poverty, and those who have already faced extreme challenges in their young lives. Through a variety of teaching methods, Peeples reaches her students and helps them achieve their full potential far beyond her classroom walls.

On a personal note, the 1957 recipient of the award was Guy Bizzell who taught Red in high school but not in the 50’s.