Today in Texas History – January 12

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From the Annals of the Blue Northers –   In 1988, the Schoolhouse Blizzard roared through Texas after blanketing the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The blizzard resulted from the collision of a massive Artic cold front with warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico.   The rapid temperature drop of almost 40 degrees in some places caused high winds and heavy snow.  The speeding storm struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, moved on to the Dakota Territory and reached Nebraska by mid-afternoon.

The storm caused an estimated 235 deaths.  The storm hit during mid-day and had been preceded by a short period of warmer weather. The strong winds and powdery snow caused a white-out on the open plains.  The thousands of people who were caught unawares outside were in immediate danger.   The blizzard’s name came from the fact that most teachers wisely kept children safely in their schoolrooms.

Red’s NFL Picks – Playoffs Round 2

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Red has now seen every Texans playoff victory in person as he had the good sense to be in New Mexico for last year’s 30-0 buttwhipping at the hand of the Chiefs. He would dearly love to be in Arlington on Sunday afternoon but will have to settle for hearing about the Cowboys game after playing golf (or possibly at the turn).

For Wildcard Week Red was 2-2. Only Red would pick a team that hasn’t won a playoff game on the road since 1957.  That would be the Lions if you weren’t paying attention.  Picking the Giants turned out to be a less than smart move.  Red will not dis A-Rodg again.  Onward and sideways.

Sure Bet Pick of the Week – Stealers slap Chiefs.    What in God’s name was Ben still doing in the game on the second-to-last play of the game?  The Stealers were lucky that BR was not seriously injured (and by Rotlessburger standards that means not in a coma or on life support in the ICU).   The Stealers simply manhandled an inferior Dolphins squad as expected.  The Chiefs will be a different story, but the ending looks the same.  As one site puts it, the Stealers “look mean as hell” right now.  Look at former Stealers linebacker and current assistant coach Joey Porter who was arrested for assault when he attached a doorman at a bar and topped that off with an aggravated assault charge when he got huffy with an arresting officer. When did the Chiefs last have a coach in a bar fight much less getting arrested?  The Stealers are getting 2 in most lines.  If that goes to 3, jump in with both feet.  The O/U at 51.5 is somewhat surprising.  Red likes the under here.  Enjoy your NFL game of the week.   Pittsburgh 27 Kansas City 20.

Underdog Pick of the Week – Falcons f#©k Seahawks. Matt “No One is Going to Mistake Me for Johnny Unitas” Ryan has one thing going for him this weekend.  He knows how to beat the Seahawks in the playoffs.  That is exactly what he did in 2012. Unfortunately for Mr. Mr. that’s the only thing he knows how to do.  That’s his only postseason win ever. We do have a bit of recent history here as the Seahawks beat the Falcons (Red loves him and all-avian playoff matchup) 26-24 back in October.  But Ryan threw 3 touchdowns against a much better secondary than the Seahawks are putting on the field right now.  The Seahawks missing Earl Thomas is like Red going hog hunting with a BB gun instead of his 7mm mag.   You might remember that just last week, Red made fun of Seahawks running back Thomas “Lou” Rawls and his season total of 349 yards rushing. After torching the Lions for 4332 yards or roughly 2.5 miles, Red takes it  all back.  All Hail, Mr. Rawls – last seen still shedding Lions tacklers somewhere near Butte, Montana.  The Seahawks best hail Mr. Rawls because it’s hard to see them winning this one without a similar performance this week. , Red wants some of what Mr. Rawls is smoking or at least a contact high.  Detroit 21 Seattle 20.

 

Texas Franchise Pick of the Week – Packers pucker up Cowboys.   Speaking of teams playing “mean as hell” consider the Packers.  They lose their best non-quarterback player and big time playmaker (J. Nelson) to a cheapshot and still cruise to an easy win over the best all around defense in the league.  Nelson claims he is going to play Sunday – fractured ribs and all.  The Pack still have the best player in the game right now in Aaron Rodgers – and here Red must again eat crow.  Rodgers was phenomenal last week.  He should fare just as well against  Red once pulled an interstitial muscle in his rib cage mowing the lawn and couldn’t get out of bed for a week.  Red doesn’t belong in the NFL.  Jordy Nelson does.  Meanwhile in the Metroplex, the Cowboys have pretty much stuffed all comers not named the New York Football Giants this season with a rookie QB at the helm.  A rookie QB that was the 113th quarterback taken in the 2016 draft –  okay he was really the 15th.  And to think it could have been Johnny Football.  But Red digresses.  Rookie quarterbacks typically have a hard time in playoff games.  Dom Capers is no dumbass and he will make life difficult for Dak Prescott.  Red predicts that before the game is over – Tony Romo attempts to ride to the rescue and fails miserably. Green Bay 37 Arlington 20.

 

Prime Time Pick of the Week – Patriots punish Texans.   Okay by now you have heard that this is the biggest point spread since David v. Goliath (Red had David at 5-1 just in case you were wondering).  Only around six times in the modern NFL era has a playoff team been disfavored by such a large spread.  One of those times was in 1979 when the Oilers were huge dogs to the Chargers because they were missing Dante Pastorini, Earl Campbell and Kenny Burroughs.  Guess what, they blasted Air Coryell and advanced to the AFC Championship game.  It’s probably the second biggest upset in modern NFL Playoff history.  Unfortunately for Houston fans it seems like no such surprise is in the works Saturday night.  The Texans are 1-7 lifetime against the Patriots.  Red was at the only Texans victory in the last game of the 2009 season and the Texans barely won even though by halftime Tom Brady was sipping a Crown and Coke in a Barcalounger on the sideline and some guy named Brian Hoyer was under center for the Pats.  It still took a fumble recovery in the end zone by Bernard Pollard and three 4th quarter touchdowns for the Texans to pull off a win in what was a meaningless game for the Pats.  It’s not like the Texans haven’t been competitive against the Pats at times.  The Lost 34-31 in December of 2013 at Foxboro and in the first meeting ever on a Sunday night in 2003, Brady had to rally the Pats to tie the game with 40 seconds left before winning 23-20 in OT.  But in the NFL, all of that is ancient history.  The Pats have simply demolished the Texans the last two seasons.  Are the Texans a different team than the one that got slobberknockered in September.  Yes.  But so are the Patriots – they have that guy Tom Brady – you know the one who sells magic pajamas (see above) and has a garage full of trophies. The Texans only win with at least 17 points scored or set up by defense and special teams, one long TD drive and one 75+ yard TD.  If those things happen – and they won’t – the Texans have a chance.  All that said, Red expects the Texans defense to keep it close for a while.  But if it goes according to form, Red will be able to switch over and watch Have Gun Will Travel reruns by the middle of the third quarter.  There are worse ways to spend a Saturday night.  New England 24 Houston 11.

 

Today in Texas History – Jan 11

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From the Annals of Criminal Justice    In 1954, the landmark appeal styled Hernández v. the State of Texas was brought before the United States Supreme Court.  Hernandez is considered to be the only Mexican-American civil rights case decided by the Court in the post-war era.

Pedro Hernandez, a Mexican-American agricultural worker, was convicted by an all-white jury in Jackson County for the 1950 murder of Joe Espinosa. Hernandez’s pro bono legal team, led by Gustavo C. Garcia,  wanted to use Hernandez’s conviction as a test case to challenge “the systematic exclusion of persons of Mexican origin from all types of jury duty in at least seventy counties in Texas.”  The appeal was based on the established practice of systematically excluding Mexican Americans, a recognized minority in Texas, from service on grand juries and juries.  The evidence showed that although numerous Mexican Americans were citizens and had otherwise qualified for jury duty in Jackson County, during the previous 25 years no Mexican Americans were among the 6,000 persons chosen to serve on juries.  This was a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as juries were restricted by ethnicity.  The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Hernandez, and required he be retried by a jury composed without discrimination against Mexican Americans. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment protects persons beyond the racial classes and applies to discrimination based on nationality groups as well.

Photo of Pedro Hernandez with his attorneys Gustavo Garcia and Johnny Herrera.

 

The Official Vision of Texas

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The other day Red had occasion to visit the “official website” of the State of Texas  which is at www.texas.gov.    Red can’t seem to copy the background photo here, but you should check it out.  Red thinks it is remarkably emblematic of the state after more than 30 years of almost complete control of the reins of power by the incompetent fools in the Texas GOP.

The photo shows a worn and rusted cheap sheet metal barn with a faded Texas flag painted on the side.  Remember when the state used to erect great buildings like the Capitol or the UT Tower.  Now the only great buildings are the football stadiums.  Most government offices look like Class C commercial space even when brand new.  Off to the side is a rusted and broken down pickup truck.  Remember when we used to have great roads and highways that were the envy of the nation.  You’re lucky if you don’t bust a rim every couple of months now and the cumulative toll on your suspension (not to mention yourself) is considerable.  In the foreground is a patch of dead grass with cedar trees popping up.  Remember when we cared about soil conservation and taking care of our public lands.  Go to a State Park now and see how pathetic the facilities have become.  Also off to the side is an abandoned silo complex.  Remember when small towns were vibrant and farmers could make a decent living.

Red remembers a lot of things.  Not all of them good.  He remembers when the only black people he ever saw were women dressed in white waiting for the bus after working as domestics all day.  He remembers when his classmates referred to the occasional Hispanics at school as “Messkins.” He remembers dirty air and foul water.  He also remembers that our state government used to aspire to something other than hatred and fear-mongering.  But with folks like Our Poor Idiot Governor and homophobe Dan Patrick in charge, all we can really expect is third-rate leadership focused on important issues like telling women what to do with their bodies and policing who can pee where and making sure that poor kids keep attending crappy schools.

At least Red can look to the federal government for better leadership and focus on issues that really matter.  Oh wait a galldurned minute!

Trump’s Broken Promises

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In the first of what likely will be a long line of broken promises from the Trump administration, comes news that Mexico will not be paying for the “beautiful wall” after all.  Instead, Trump and his feckless Republican allies will rely on a previous authorization from the W. Bush era which provided for construction of a fence – not a wall.  The GOP will seek to add funding for the fence to an omnibus budget bill to lessen the chance of opposition.

Now as you know, Red fully supports the Trump/GOP agenda under the theory that America voted for these clowns and deserves to get the just desserts of its choice.  Which means that Red fully supports a beautiful wall  (not a fence) paid for by our good amigos in Mexico.  After all, what were the two most prominent items that DJ Trump kept promising over and over at his massive rallies?  It’s seems so long ago, but Red vaguely remembers that Hillary was going to prison and that Mexico was paying for the wall.  Remember “Lock her up!” and “Who’s going to pay for it?”  Guess what saps?  Hillary is going nowhere and you are paying for the wall.

 

 

Today in Texas History – January 6

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From the Annals of Conquistadors –  In 1540, the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, appointed Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to lead an expedition in search of the Seven Cities of Cíbola also known as the Seven Cities of Gold. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca had described Cibola in his 1536 report after finding his way back to New Spain following his arduous journey from Galveston where he was shipwrecked. The disreputable Marcos de Niza had confirmed Cabeza de Vaca’s report based on his own travels in 1539. Coronado and 1,000 men set out from Culiacán in late April. There was no gold at Cíbola (the Zuñi villages in western New Mexico), but he was led on by stories told by the captive El Turco of great rewards to be found in Quivira, a region on the Great Plains far to the east.  Coronado wandered around the Great Plains for another 2 years finding nothing but poor Indian villages. When he returned to Mexico he was subjected to an official examination of his conduct as leader of the expedition and as governor of Nueva Galicia. He was cleared of charges in connection with the expedition.

Today in Texas History – Jan 5

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From the Annals of Depredations –  In 1865, a band of about 100 Indians raided a new settlement in Cooke County near the border with the Indian Territory. The war party killed nine people and rode off with numerous stolen horses.  The raid is considered to be the last Indian raid in Cooke County.

Is Trump Mobbed Up (cont.)?

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YahooNews reports that convicted felon and rumored former Mafioso Joe Cinque presented a gaudy statue to Trump at his New Year’s Eve bash in Florida.

When Donald Trump addressed revelers at the annual New Year’s Eve bar at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Saturday, he was standing next to Joe Cinque, a convicted felon with rumored Mafia ties. Video published by the Palm Beach Daily News showed Cinque beaming as the president-elect gave brief remarks about his agenda.

“Your taxes are coming down, regulations are coming off, we’re going to get rid of Obamacare,” Trump said as Cinque pumped his fists in the air.

Cinque is the president and CEO of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, an organization that hands out Star Diamond awards to restaurants, hotels and businesses. The organization has extensive links to Trump.

According to the AAHS Facebook page, Cinque was at Mar-a-Lago to present Trump with “a One-of-a-Kind bronze Eagle award.” Pictures on the group’s page showed Trump being given a large statue of a flying eagle as Cinque stood by his side.

Prior to his work in the hospitality industry, Cinque had colorful past. In 1995, he was profiled by New York magazine. That article, which was written by John Connolly, said that Cinque had been “shot three times and left for dead” in 1980, in an incident Cinque described as a “robbery.” In the story, Connolly wrote that unnamed officials said it was “more likely a hit.” Connolly also noted that Cinque “used to be friends with John Gotti” and was known by the nicknames “Joey No Socks” and “the Preppy Don.” The New York article also chronicled how, in 1989, “Cinque was arrested on felony charges; police had retrieved a gallery’s worth of stolen art from his apartment.” Cinque later pleaded guilty to felony charges in that case. Cinque was also accused of criminal behavior in excerpts of a rambling, novelistic memoir published on a personal website by Richard Lawrence Dombroff, a former high profile plastic surgeon who was convicted of defrauding patients in 1987 and was convicted on fraud charges again in 2003 for allegedly operating a financial scam.

Is Trump Mobbed Up?

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Red has suspected that Donald Trump’s affinity for all things Russian and Vlad Putin in particular may stem from his prior dealings with the Russian mob.  Is it possible that Trump is deeply in debt to the Russian mob?  It is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility given the far flung reach of the Trump brand.  And what else explains his man crush on Putin or his apparent desire to placate the Russian strongman?  Did Trump turn to the Russians when other financing was unavailable?  We don’t know and probably never will unless Trump comes clean on his financial dealings for the last 30 years.  The tax returns would go a long way towards unraveling the many strands of the Trump empire to determine who Trump might need to favor.  And we will get those as soon as the IRS finishes the audit. Right!

Meanwhile, Trump’s proximity to former mob figures at home is easier to trace.  Convicted felon and rumored Mafioso Joe Cinque presented Trump with a bronze eagle statue at his New Year’s Eve bash in Florida.  Yahoo News has the full story.

 

 

Texans Need Access to Government Contracts

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The Texas Freedom of Information Act is full of holes.  Companies contracting with local and state government can avoid disclosure of their deals by saying a few magic words like “trade secret.”  Two state lawmakers are trying to fix that.  The Texas Tribune reports on their efforts.

A pair of Texas lawmakers have filed legislation aiming to plug what they called major “loopholes” in public records law that have left taxpayers in the dark about key details of some contracts involving public funds.

“We are here today because I think some things have been broken – particularly in transparency and the Public Information Act,” state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, said at a press conference Tuesday.

He teamed up with state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, to file legislation — two bills in each chamber — pushing back against a pair of recent controversial Texas Supreme Court rulings that immediately made it easier for those involved with government contracts with private companies to shield parts of what those contracts say.

Following those 2015 rulings, government entities have withheld a wide range of information from government contracts that had long been considered public. Such secrets include how much the City of McAllen paid pop star Enrique Iglesias to sing at a holiday parade, how many driver permits Houston had issued to the ride-hailing giant Uber and details of a Kaufman County school district’s food service deal.

“Those were big steps away from that very important ideal that the public will have the information they need to hold government accountable,” Watson said of the Supreme Court rulings. “The public has the right to know what it’s paying.”

In June 2015, the justices ordered Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block the release of information in a lease between Boeing and the Port Authority of San Antonio because the aerospace manufacturer said making the details public could tip off its competitors.

That ruling expanded the secrecy of government contracts in two key ways, experts say: by broadening an exemption in public records law used to protect the government’s competitive interests and by affirming that businesses could invoke it, too.