Category Archives: Texas News

Robert Jeffress says to almost everyone, “You’re going to Hell! Red says to Robert Jeffress, “If the likes of you are going to be in Heaven, Red will gladly go to Hell!”

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Baptist Super-Preacher and Tea Party Icon Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas was chosen by Trump to speak at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Red sees this as a fitting choice because Jeffress has a mainline with God who apparently has let RJ in on the big secret of who is and isn’t heading to burn for all of eternity in the lake of fire.

According to Saint Jeffress, any non-Christian has one foot on a banana peel and one foot in the River Styx:

“God sends good people to Hell. Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism — not only do they lead people away from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in Hell.”

But it does not stop with non-Christians.  All you supposedly God-fearing Papists better watch out as well. According to his Holiness the Divine Jeffress, Catholics are also on a greased skid headed for Satan’s realm.

“Today the Roman Catholic Church is the result of that corruption. Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn’t come from God’s word. It comes from this cultlike pagan religion. You say, ‘Well now pastor how can you say such a thing? That is such an indictment of the Catholic Church.’ After all, the Catholic Church talks about God and the Bible and Jesus and the blood of Christ and salvation. Isn’t that the genius of Satan?

If you want to counterfeit a dollar bill, you don’t do it with purple paper and red ink, you’re not going to fool anybody with that. But if you want to counterfeit money, what you do is make it look closely related to the real thing as possible.

And that’s what Satan does with counterfeit religion. He uses, he steals, he appropriates all of the symbols of true biblical Christianity, and he changes it just enough in order to cause people to miss eternal life.”

Oh, and let’s not forget about the Christians who support Clinton.  If the Eternal Arbiter Jeffress is right, they might as well give in and start worshipping Satan now – it might get them a better deal in the outer circles of Hell because there is a special place reserved for those Democrats.

“The other choice was Hillary Clinton, and although my friend Juan describes her as kind of St. Hillary of Chappaqua, she’s hardly a bastion of virtue herself. If I am going to hell, Juan — like you say I am for supporting Donald Trump — then that means you’re going to be a hundred floors below me for supporting Hillary Clinton.”

And so, RJ is of course the perfect choice to say some prayers for our good Jewish friends (who still are headed for the jaws of Satan in the RJ version of events) when the U.S. opens its new provocative embassy in Jerusalem today.  He’s just the kind of preacher that Trump likes, a bombastic bullying sack of horseshit cloaked in false religiosity who worship the true Trumpian god of Money.

Red for one can’t wait to meet up with all the “good people” in Hell.  Especially if the likes of Jeffress are populating the streets of Heaven.

 

 

Jade Helm Russian Hoax Fools Our Poor Idiot Governor

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Almost every day Red wonders – is Our Poor Idiot Governor really the pathetic and pitiable idiot constantly pandering to the GOP’s basest denizens that he appears to be?  The answer turns out to be yes.

Long time readers will remember the public freakout over the routine military exercise dubbed Jade Helm 15 that was displayed by such apparently all-too-easily fooled notables of the Texas GOP establishment such as OPIG, Lyin’ Ted Cruz,  the moronic Louie “Kablooie” Gohmert and the always disappointing John “Pandermaster” Cornyn.  At the urging of them and a host of fanatic right wingers convinced that jackbooted federal troops under the command of that Muslim Kenyan terrorist (who somehow managed to win the presidency in a landslide) were coming to Texas to take away their women, children and most importantly guns, OPIG called out the Texas National Guard to keep an eye on our heretofore most worshipful military.  Well, it turns out that much of the Jade Helm hype was the work of – wait for it – Russian trolls and bots.  So yes, OPIG is just that – a pitiful excuse for a state leader. The Texas Observer has the full story.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s willingness to pander to the manic extremism broadcast through AM radio airwaves and streamed on the margins of YouTube apparently has him playing right into the hands of Russian disinformation campaigns.

At least that’s what former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden said on a “Morning Joe” podcast about the governor’s decision in 2015 to deploy the Texas State Guard to monitor federal troops.  Hayden said, “There was an exercise in Texas called Jade Helm 15 that Russian bots in the American alt-right media convinced most — many — Texans was an Obama plan to round up political dissidents.”

Abbott fell right into the trap, Hayden said, by legitimizing conspiracy theories with official state action. “At that point, I’m figuring the Russians are saying, ‘We can go big time,’ and at that point I think they said ‘We’re going to play in the electoral process.’”

If Hayden’s report is right, then the governor of Texas was fooled into siccing the Texas State Guard on U.S. troops by Russia.

Interstate 14 to San Angelo and Beyond?

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The yellow line represents the current designated route

San Angelo really wants an Interstate Highway running through its front yard (with apologies to John Mellencamp). Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) has introduced legislation to the House of Representatives that supports expanding Interstate 14 through Midland and San Angelo. The expanded route would begin at I-20 outside of Midland and run through San Angelo to meet the planned route of I-14 at Brady, with another spur connecting to I-10  near Junction.

The most likely method for getting approval would come if the planned expansion could be attached to a major infrastructure bill such as that languishing in Congress with scant attention from the Trump administration. Although it would be nice to have a clearer shot at heading to parts west, Red isn’t holding his breath while waiting for this one.

UT-Houston Vanishes

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The powers that be at University of Houston, Our Poor Idiot Governor and whining Sen. John Whitmire got their way.  Instead of another academic flagship coming to the drastically underserved higher education market in Houston, The University of Texas system has put the 300 acres it bought near the South Loop on the market.  Red can’t decide who he is more disappointed in – the Houston powers that were so interested in protecting their little fiefdom of higher ed that they could not see the incredible benefits (jobs, opportunity, research, further real estate development and educational symbiosis) that another major university would bring to Houston – or The UT System for caving in and abandoning the State’s largest city because of some poorly-based opposition.  Whatever.  It is done for a generation and it is doubtful that an opportunity to build a campus so close in to the city center will ever arise again.  This is an incredible loss to Houston and to the state.

And Whining John – not satisfied with having screwed up the opportunity of a lifetime has to then kick UT in the nuts on the way out the door.  Whitmire now gloats as he claims that UT overpaid for the parcel and will have trouble getting its money back.

Red is officially endorsing both Damian Lacroix and Hank Segelke in the Democratic Primary to unseat Whitmire from his Senate seat that he has obviously held for way too long at this point.  Whitmire needs to go!

Among the Good News from Primary Night – This Gun Worshipping Gal Lost

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GOP Candidate Totes Assault-Style Weapon In Campaign ...

No Texas candidate for Congress wrapped themselves in the groping arms of Donald Trump more than Republican Kathaleen Wall in her race for the Second Congressional District.  Wall spent over $6 million of her own money in an effort to pander to the lowest common denominator as shown by ads such as this one.   Wall liked to paint herself as having pulled herself up out of poverty by her own bootstraps.  She also wore her version of Christianity on her sleeve as if somehow Jesus was a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and against any government welfare programs.  Red doesn’t know much about Wall’s background other than she is married to a rich older man.  What Red does know is that she blew $6 million on a losing campaign.  Alas, she will have to travel to DC on her own dime in order to feel the warm embrace of the real Donald.  There is some light at the end of the tunnel.

A Justice for Sale in Austin?

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A Republican candidate for the Third Court of Appeals in Austin is stretching what are traditionally considered the limits for appropriate campaigning.  Mike Toth a card carrying Tea Party member and protégé of embattled AG Ken Paxton is embracing Donald Trump and conservative identity politics in his campaign for a seat on the influential Austin Court of Appeals.  Despite being in Austin, the Court is firmly in Republican hands because it covers a 28 county area stretching all the way to San Angelo.  Toth is also accepting contributions in excess of the standard $5000 limit.  Judicial candidates in Texas typically pledge to not accept contributions over $5000 as anything more than that gives the appearance of buying justice.  Toth is apparently blowing through that limit and accepting gifts of money for the education of his children from a Florida lawyer, as well as embracing our Realty TV Show President.  The Texas Tribune has more.

Candidate Michael Toth, a special counsel in the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton, has pulled in $151,000 so far in the 3rd Court of Appeals GOP primary contest, and more than a third of it comes from out of state, records show.

[O]ne of Toth’s major non-Texas donors, former hedge fund manager John Thaler of Greenwich, Connecticut, has notified the Texas Ethics Commission that he plans to exceed a $5,000 expenditure cap the candidates agreed to; that allows Toth’s opponents to ignore donation and expenditure limits.

Toth isn’t shy about touting his Tea Party bonafides and running on the same issues that non-judicial candidates use to attract Republican primary voters. In one mailer, Toth brags that he fought for “tougher border security, defended President Trump’s travel ban, sued to crack down on sanctuary cities” and “supported extreme vetting of refugees.”

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Tom Phillips, a Republican, said he’d “never seen anything quite like” the mailer Toth sent out.

“I’m concerned anytime a judicial candidate suggests, even indirectly, that his or her election will lead to a particular policy outcome,” Phillips said. “To conduct a campaign based on your view of hot-button political issues confuses rather than than enlightens the electorate.”

Catholic Bishops Cut Ties with Texas Right to Life

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The Greenwich Time reports that last week the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops formally cut ties with the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life.  The TCCB is the church authority that sets policy for parishes which serve approximately 8.3 million Texas Catholics.

Texas Right to Life is the oldest and probably most influential anti-abortion group in Texas and is primarily funded by big time GOP donors.  TRL largely functions as a wing of the Texas GOP and its endorsements carry a lot of weight in the Republican primary.

 The bishops’ directive stated that Texas Right to Life has engaged in misleading attacks against political candidates, lied about the Catholic church’s position on state legislation and argued that church-supported bills don’t do enough to limit abortions.

“We’ve asked our pastors, parishes and Catholic schools to refrain from asking (Texas Right to Life representatives) to come onto our premises because their teachings don’t always align with what the Catholic Church teaches regarding certain life issues,” said Bishop Joe Vasquez, head of the 25-county Austin Diocese.

It’s a bad sign when you are so radical in promoting the anti-abortion agenda that the Catholic Church gets fed up with you.

Wild Cat in Neighborhood Turns out to be Mountain Lion

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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a mountain lion was captured in a Laredo subdivision on February 25.  The secretive cats are rarely seen in the wild – much less observed in urban areas.  The lion was tranquilized after being located in the Santa Rita subdivision.  The cat has been turned over to the State Game Warden who will assess its condition and likely release it back into the wild in a more remote location.

Photo from the Laredo PD’s facebook page.  Nice of them to cover the lion’s head to protect its privacy rights.

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.

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?