Today in Texas History – July 23

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From the Annals of the Outlaws –   In 1877, Texas Rangers captured outlaw John Wesley Hardin in Pensacola, Florida. The Rangers finally caught up with Hardin when an undercover ranger intercepted a letter that was sent to Hardin’s father-in-law by his brother-in-law, the outlaw Joshua Robert “Brown” Bowen. The letter disclosed that Hardin was hiding out on the Alabama-Florida border under the assumed name of “James W. Swain”.  When Hardin realized he was in danger of capture, he attempted to draw a gun, but got it caught in his suspenders He was brought back to Texas and  tried at Comanche for the murder of Charles Webb and was sentenced to 25 years in Huntsville prison. Hardin served 17 years and was released at the age of 40.  He obtained a pardon, passed the bar and obtained a law license.  He practiced law in Gonzales for a time.  He moved to El Paso where he was shot dead in a bar in Constable John Selman, Sr. after a dispute over the arrest of Hardin’s friend and part-time prostitute the Widow M’Rose.

Jade Helm 15 Update, Cont.

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Red is really starting to wonder if he’s been lied to.  Obama’s jack-booted thugs have had several opportunities to swoop in and start taking away our women, children and most importantly guns, but Red has yet to hear a credible report.  Yeah, Joe Frank’s wife Yvonne has been missing for a couple of days, but last time this happened they found her in Lake Charles begging for bus fare to get back home after having run through the savings account playing 3 Card Poker.  Red has made road trips the last two weekends and has yet to see anything suspicious on the road – not even a Blue Bell truck.  But Red will reserve judgment.  He has another road trip coming up on Friday and surely will see something to confirm that JH15 is the giant ruse that it is.

Vigilantly yours,

Red

We Knew There was a Lot of Bull on Campus

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The San Antonio Express-News reports that a bull was sighted on the Texas State Campus in San Marcos.

Students at Texas State University were surprised by an emergency alert that appeared on campus computer screens, in text messages and emails on Wednesday morning.

The alert warned students and faculty of a bull on the loose near the campus’ family and consumer sciences building, which is adjacent from the student rec center.

Today in Texas History – July 22

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From the Annals of Discrimination – In 1944, Lawrence Aaron Nixon, black physician and voting-rights advocate, was given a ballot to vote in the Democratic Party primary.  In that day, the Democratic nominee was all but assured of election and thus, the Democratic primary was the “real” election.  Nixon had become involved in the civil rights movement after seeing the disgusting number of lynchings of black men in Texas, one of which occurred in Cameron where Nixon was practicing at the time.   He moved to El Paso, established a successful medical practice, helped organize a Methodist congregation, voted in Democratic primary and general elections, and in 1914 helped to organize the local chapter of the NAACP.  But in 1923 the Texas legislature passed a law prohibiting blacks from voting in Democratic primaries. In 1924, with the sponsorship of the NAACP, Nixon took his poll-tax receipt to a Democratic primary polling place and was refused a ballot. This began a twenty-year legal fight.  Nixon and his attorney, Fred C. Knollenberg, twice prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in their quest to secure voting rights for blacks. The Nixon decisions were major steps toward voting rights, but Texas and the dominant Democratic Party employed a number of legal maneuvers to continue to deny primary votes to blacks.  Only after the decision in Smith v. Allwright ended the white primary system, did blacks have a clear right to vote.

Photo from http://www.blackpast.org

Eating Out is Fun?

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Red always thought that the Texas Restaurant Association had the best slogan/motto ever created.  Well, because eating out is in fact usually fun.  Or at least it was when eating out was not something that you did every day and was something of a special treat.  The slogan was apparently first used by the National Restaurant Association in 1947 and later used by the TRA from 1956 onwards.  It does seem to have faded from use.

Well Austin has taken the TRA mantra to heart.  When Red was recently in Austin, there appeared to be a restaurant every 75 feet.  Red has been unable to get a fix on exactly how many restaurants there are in Austin, but the number seems to be extraordinary.  Driving down lower South Lamar alone, Red counted over 50 restaurants in what used to be essentially a dry gulch.  In order to sustain the number of dining establishments observed, everyone in Austin must eat out at least 7 times a week. Is eating out still fun?

Jade Helm Update, Cont.

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Red and Mrs. Red were watching an X-Files rerun last night which got Red to thinking about how much the Feds are hiding from us.  That dang Muldar and Scully could never quite get the goods on the massive cover-ups of the alien invasion and other well-documented bizarre phenomena.  So what chance do the rest of us have?  And while there have been some photos of JH15 operations out there, Red hasn’t heard one single credible report of the jack-booted thugs of the Obamaocracy coming to take away or women, children and most importantly guns.  Of course, this is all very disappointing.  But rest assured it only means that the sneak attack on our way of life will be even more – well, sneaky.  If you have any reports of abductions by the JH15 commies, please let Red know so that he can tell the world all about it.

Vigilantly yours,

Red

Sales Tax Revenue Declines

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For the first time in 5 years, Texas sales tax revenue has declined.  Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar thinks that it is a mere dip and does not presage a continuing drop. Matthew Waller of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times has more.

Glenn Hegar announced he was distributing $610 million in monthly sales taxes, which year over year is a 1.2 percent increase.

However, Texas’ chief financial office said that state sales revenue in June was $2.2 billion, a 1.4 percent decrease compared to June of last year.

“This slight decline was expected due to the slowdown in the oil and gas mining sector, and is in line with the biennial revenue estimate presented in January,” Hegar said in a release. “Receipts from the construction, information, restaurant and services sectors continued to grow, however, which is a testament to Texas’ diverse and dynamic economy.”

Vance Ginn, an economist with the free-market Austin think tank called the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said this isn’t an indictment against the “Texas Model,” reasonable regulations, low taxes, low government spending, not conducive to frivolous lawsuits, and so on.

“Part of that (decline) is just going to be the natural slowdown,” Ginn said. “A lot of this was already forecast, budgeted in.”

The incident is “more of a short-term blip,” he said. “We definitely had slower job creation from the drop of the oil price.”

Today in Texas History – July 21

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From the Annals of the Civil War –  In 1861, Gen. Irwin McDowell began a premature offensive into northern Virginia.  The overconfident McDowell let 34,000 largely inexperienced and poorly trained troops in a search for the main body of the Army of Northern Virginia.  Learning of the Union advance, General P.G.T. Beauregard massed some 20,000 troops at Manassas where he was joined by General Joseph Johnston’s 9,000 troops.

McDowell had initial success when three Union divisions crossed the Bull Run stream driving the  Confederate flank back to Henry House Hill. Beauregard had established a strong defensive line at the hill anchored by a brigade of Virginia infantry under General Thomas J. Jackson whose men repulsed a series of Federal charges.  Gen. Barnard Elliot Bee, Jr. allegedly shouted an order to his men to “Rally behind the Virginians! There stands Jackson like a stone wall!” No-one knows if this was meant to be complimentary or an insult regarding Jackson’s men not advancing. Bee then began to advance at the head of his brigade and fell mortally wounded. He died the next day 22nd July 1861.

The battle turned when Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart captured the Union artillery.  Beauregard ordered a counterattack. With the soon to be famous “rebel yell” the confederate charged down Henry House Hill breaking the Union line and forcing a retreat across Bull Run. The retreat quickly disintegrated into an unorganized flight back to D.C.

Union forces endured a loss of 3,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in action while the Confederates suffered 2,000 casualties.  Such casualties were unheard of in previous American combat and foreshadowed the long violent struggle to come.

Photo of B.E. Bee from http://www.nps.gov