Gun Rights Advocates Quick to Exploit Tragic Death on UT Campus

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Students for Concealed Carry quickly moved to exploit the tragic death of a UT Co-ed on campus last week.  UT-Austin is apparently one of the safest places on earth since there had not been a murder on campus in the almost 50 years since the UT Tower tragedy. For some the answer is no guns, for some the answer is always more guns.  Red lets you decide if the following makes any sense.  It seems so full of holes to Red, that commentary is unnecessary.

Imagine that you’re a 22-year-old woman walking back to your car after studying late at the UT library. As you reach for your car door, a man lunges from the shadows and grabs your other arm. Your adrenaline surges, and your mind goes to the concealed handgun tucked into your waistband. As the man twists your arm and tries to force you to the ground, your free hand grabs the gun. You draw it just as his free hand draws a knife from his pocket. You point the gun at your assailant, squeeze the trigger, and…CLICK. Per UT-Austin’s campus carry policy, your gun’s chamber is empty. Even if you had an extra second to chamber a round, you’d need both hands free to do so.

Now imagine that you’re a female university employee walking through that same garage when a man with a knife steps out in front of you. Your first instinct is to reach for the secret handgun pocket built into the side of your purse, but it’s empty. Because you’re never sure when your job will require you to visit an office that the occupant has declared “gun-free,” you’re seldom able to carry your gun on campus. According to state law, you have the right to carry a concealed handgun on campus, but thanks to university policy, you enjoy that right in name only.

The recent tragedy at UT-Austin should serve as a wakeup call to university administrators who seek to handicap LTC holders on campus.

 

Today in Texas History – April 12

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From the Annals of Fine Art –   In 1924, the Houston  Museum of Fine Arts opened to the public. The MFA claims to be the oldest art museum in the state of Texas.  That claim is disputed by the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art.  The museum site was dedicated in 1917 by the Houston Public School Art League (later the Houston Art League) with the intention of becoming a public art museum. The original neo-classical building was designed in phases by architect William Ward Watkin. The original Caroline Wiess Law building was opened in 1924 and the east and west wing were added in 1926. The museum has continually expanded over the years with the addition of the Robert Lee Blaffer Memorial Wing in 1953, Cullinan Hall in 1958 and the Brown Pavilion in 1974.  The Brown Pavilion is the only Mies van der Rohe museum building in the U.S.  IN 2000, the MFA expanded dramatically with the addition of the Audrey Jones Beck Building which added 158,000 feet of exhibition space for major traveling exhibits.

More Trouble for Ken Paxton

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Texas Attorney General and Tea Party Hero Ken Paxton faces additional legal troubles.  Numerous outlets are reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Paxton with misleading investors in a technology company.   The SEC filed the charges Monday in federal court in Sherman. The allegations are similar to those Paxton faces in a  indictment in Collin County.

Paxton is named in the SEC’s complaint along with William Mapp who founded Servergy Inc.   The SEC claims that Paxton raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Servergy without disclosing that he was earning a commission.  According to the SEC complaint, Paxton persuaded five investors to put $840,000 into Servergy.  One month later, Paxton received 100,000 shares of stock in the company. Paxton’s story is that the shares were a gift from Mapp and not a commission.

And this is the chief legal official of our great state.

The End of the Bromance between “Lyin’ Ted” and “The Donald”

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The Texas Tribune adeptly chronicles the rise and fall of the bromance between Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) and Donald Trump.

Nine months ago,  Ted Cruz called Donald Trump “terrific.” Two weeks ago, he called the real estate mogul “a sniveling coward.”

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, with Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, initially distinguishing himself last summer as the only candidate to fully embrace Trump’s unexpected bid for the White House. 

As other contenders fell by the wayside, the pair’s friendship first fractured and then died, only to be quickly replaced with an intense hostility.

In the words of Willie Nelson, “There’s nothing cold as ashes after the fire is gone.”

Today in Texas History – April 11

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From the Annals of the Rivers –  In 1838, the keelboat David Crockett, arrived at the head of the raft on the Colorado River.  The “raft” was an enormous logjam caused by the river’s slow current and meandering course.   By the late 1830s, the raft blocked the river ten miles above its mouth at Matagorda. The Crockett, reputed to be the largest craft to attempt to navigate the Colorado, had averaged more than sixty miles a day, but was forced to stop  at the head of the raft, where its cargo of cotton was unloaded and carried by wagon to Matagorda.  Incredibly, the raft remained in place until the 1920s.  Removal of the log jam  caused the development of an enormous delta that reached across Matagorda Bay to the Matagorda Peninsula. In 1936 engineers dug a channel through the delta, but Matagorda gradually became landlocked.

Why Red Plays Golf and Other Thoughts on Life (cont.)

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Red played on Saturday with a gentleman about Red’s age and two young studs who both thought they were pretty hot shit.  It gave Red enormous pleasure to beat the studs on several holes.  No doubt they bested Red on the final score card (thanks to a few rather errant shots to the green), but on any given hole Red could compete with these young Adoni.  Which at Red’s advanced age is a reason to keep going out there.

And a special note to the player who decided it was too much trouble to rake the trap on the Par-3 15th hole where Red’s ball landed right in the depression in the sand where you took your shot –  You Suck!  I hope your next ball buries in the lip.

Ted Cruz Speaks – Red Translates

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Red loves his weekly email from Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas).  When “Lyin’ Ted” writes, hilarity ensues.  As always, Red translates for you – so you don’t have to.

Greetings,

This week, I continued to push back (disguised cleverly as flailing about helplessly and flapping my gums)  against President Obama’s unconstitutional (because only I can divine the mysterious intent of the founding fathers – so just trust me on this)  executive amnesty. Texans have witnessed the harmful effects of an unsecure border (made somehow less secure by the record number of interdictions and deportations carried out by the Obama administration – but those are merely inconvenient things called facts – wise folks would rather hear me make shit up, wouldn’t you?), which endanger the lives of citizens (who might have to clean their own bathrooms – full of germs I hear) and pose risks to American families (or horror of horrors – mow their own yard). The Obama administration  (terrorist sympathizing Muslim communists) must adhere to and respect the rule of law (just wait until I’m president and need to do something), rather than the personal views of the President (clearly a Commie) and what he thinks the law should be (because after all he was only Editor of the Harvard Law Review and a constitutional law professor and not a Supreme Court clerk like me – take that loser).

In an attempt to rein in the lawless actions (I hear it’s like Dodge City in the 1870’s inside the White House) of the Obama administration, the State of Texas (soon to be a sovereign nation if my supporters have anything to say about it) has championed the fight against the Administration’s 2014 executive amnesty (even though I was curiously quiet when W. Bush was trampling on the Constitution), and I am proud (a deadly but really satisfying sin when you have an ego that won’t fit into Capitol rotunda) to continue leading efforts (by running my mouth, calling my colleagues liars and alienating pretty much every other Senator so that they really don’t pay attention to anything I say) against the President’s lawlessness.

Please keep reading for an update on the latest in the Senate (if you have masochistic tendencies).

Keep Texas Strong (Your Canadian Pal),

Ted Cruz

 

Today in Texas History – April 8

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From the Annals of the National Treasures –   In 1968, Lady Bird Johnson dedicated Padre Island National Seashore.  Padre Island is the largest barrier island in the U.S. and  PINS is the longest seashore in the national park system.  Protecting this precious resource was not easy.  Texas attempted to establish a state park on Padre Island beginning in 1936.  The effort failed in a contentious struggle between public and private interests over ownership of the land. In 1958, Sen. Ralph Yarborough (D-Texas)  introduced a bill to establish a national park on the island, and the proposal was finally signed into law in 1962. The dedication of the park followed five years of condemnation proceedings.

The Dentist Index Predicts Hard Times

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Red’s Dentist, Root Canal Rodney, swears by his self-styled Dentist Index as a leading indicator of economic activity and job growth.   As RCR explained to Red the other day while inflicting pain, he is absolutely swamped right now and that means bad times are here to stay for a while.  This is because everyone that is getting laid off in the oil and gas industry is in a rush to get work done before their dental insurance benefits go away.  The second round will be when other businesses start to contract as a result of the O&G downturn.