Reefer Gladness?

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Under current Texas law, possession of small amounts of marijuana can result in up to $2,000 in fines, up to 180 days of jail time, and a conviction of a Class B Misdemeanor on your record just for the first offense.  And the law is used to disproportionately punish minority offenders.  When was the last time you heard about an upper-middle class white kid going to jail for holding a joint?

But now, the Texas Legislature is awash with bills to change the current laws on marijuana possession.  They range from complete decriminalization to making possession of small quantities essentially equivalent to a traffic violation.  Progress Texas gives an outline of the essential features of each bill.

Rep. Joe Moody’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 507

  • The most effective civil penalties bill filed
  • Changes possession of less than one ounce of marijuana to a civil penalty – similar to jaywalking or not wearing a seat belt
  • Anything over one ounce of marijuana remains a class B misdemeanor

Rep. Harold Dutton’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 414

  • Would change any marijuana possession less than one ounce to a Class C Misdemeanor
  • Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
  • Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Gene Wu’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 325

  • Possession of less than .35 ounces of marijuana becomes a Class C Misdemeanor
  • Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
  • Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 1115

  • Rather than potentially being arrested when carrying up to four ounces of marijuana an officer will only give a citation; However, the person charged is still responsible for appearing in court at a later date.
  • Does not reduce the penalty of marijuana possession (Class A or B misdemeanor), which can still result in jail time.

Today in Texas History – April 9

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From the Annals of the Iceman –  In 1978, George Gervin scored 63 points for the San Antonio Spurs in the final game of the regular season to edge out the Denver Nuggets’ David Thompson for the NBA scoring title.  It was one of the closest contests for the NBA scoring crown ever.  Gervin was unstoppable for the Spurs against the New Orleans Jazz.  But Thompson did not go down without a fight as earlier that same day he scored 73 points against the Detroit Pistons. for the season, Gervin averaged 27.22 points per game to Thompson’s 27.15.

Gervin would lead the league again in 1979, 1980 and 1982, making him one of just three NBA players to ever capture  at least four scoring titles.  Only Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan have claimed more scoring titles.  Gervin  ended his career with nine NBA All-Star and three ABA All-Star appearances and scored  26,595 points over his NBA/ABA career with a scoring average of 26.2 points per game.

Illegal Use of Sausage

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In a most disturbing story, the Dallas Observer reports that six people including five volunteer firefighters from Ellis County have been arrested for sexually assaulting a new trainee with a link of chorizo sausage.  The Texas Rangers were called into investigate after the victim reported the assault.  According to reports, the six idiots first considered using a broomstick to anally rape the victim, but changed their minds and used chorizo instead.

The trainee was bent over the couch while Tucker and Stafford held him down and the sausage was inserted into his anus, the Rangers say. Then Wisakowsky cut the sausage out of the package and attempted to reinsert it, but the sausage broke up.

The trainee told the Rangers he was then released and he crawled into the nearby restroom with “smashed up sausage still between his butt cheeks.” He removed the sausage, threw up and took a shower to clean up. While he was showering, he says, someone took his clothes from the restroom. He came out of the restroom in a towel to look for his clothes. When he did, he says, Tucker took his towel. The man covered his genitals with his hands and ran to his truck to get some shorts, he says.

One can only wonder how these morons ever became volunteer firefighters.

Don’t Mess with Borris

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The Texas Tribune reports on a dust up between Rep. Borris Miles and a DPS trooper assigned to protect Attorney General Ken Paxton at the Vince Young Steakhouse in Austin.  Miles apparently wanted to speak with Paxton who was having dinner with state representatives and others in a private room at the restaurant when he was stopped by the officer.  Profanity ensued.

Miles claimed the plain clothes trooper did not identify himself until after he had placed his hands on the lawmaker.

 “A white man just walks up to me and starts grabbing me,” Miles said. “What do you do?” 

The DPS report confirms at least part of Miles’s story.

“When I saw Rep. Miles make a move for the door, I stood up, grabbed his arm to divert his attention to me and told him he was not allowed to go into the room.  . . I then positioned myself between him and the door. At this point, Rep. Miles became belligerent with me, using excessive profanity.”

Today in Texas History – April 8

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From the Annals of the Beachcombers –  In 1968, First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson officially dedicated the Padre Island National Seashore.  Attempts to establish a Texas state park on Padre Island had been underway and unsuccessful since at least 1936.  Ongoing struggles between private and public interests foiled any state effort to protect the island from further development.  However, in 1958 Sen. Ralph Yarborough introduced a bill to establish a national park on the island.  The bill was finally passed in 1962 and a five year process of condemnation of private holdings began.  The Park Service bills the result as the “longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world.”   The Seashore separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre, one of a few hypersaline lagoons in the world.   The park is a popular tourist destination featuring wide beaches for swimming and fishing and stark natural beauty. The park also provides a safe nesting ground for the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and a haven for 380 bird species.  It also has a rich history as the location of several Spanish shipwrecks and Native American encampments.

In Texas, we like our illegal aliens to be poor and stupid.

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The Texas Senate is again trying to take down one of former Gov. Rick Perry’s signature accomplishments.  Yes, the Legislature is trying for the third or fourth time to undo a statute which provides in-state tuition to some undocumented students who were brought here as children.  Remarkably, Texas was the first in the nation to pass such a law, but that was in 2001 before the Tea Party all but took over the Texas GOP.

Sen. Donna Campbell (TP-New Braunfels) has introduced a bill that require Texas colleges to charge undocumented students only out-of-state tuition.  This would double the cost of a college degree for some of the poorest students.  Campbell and her supporters claim that Texas needs to focus on giving college privileges to American citizens only and that this is about fairness.  What this is about, however, is playing to the hard core anti-immigrant base of the Republican primary electorate who live in abject terror of the day when Latinos are in the majority in Texas.  So rather than help educate these kids who did not come to Texas of their own volition, the Tea Party will place every obstacle in the way of a better life for them.  Sadly, this is exactly what the base and leaders of the Texas GOP want. Campbell’s proposal is a major legislative goal for the Senate’s tea party-backed members. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made it a campaign promise in 2014 to repeal the law.  In a rare act of political courage, Perry has said recently he still supports the law.

Today in Texas History – April 7

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From the Annals of the Gunslingers –  In 1886, one of the biggest gun battles in the history of the American West occurred in Laredo – and politics was involved.  The fighting began during a celebration parade the day after city elections.  The two political factions in Laredo and Webb counties were the Botas and Guaraches. The Botas (“Boots”), led by Raymond Martin and José María Rodríguez, represented the elites in the upper class but had some support from the working class and poor. A reform group called themselves the Guaraches (“Sandals”) to symbolize the lower class, and were led by Santos Benavides.  The Guaraches won only two seats on the Laredo city council prompting the Botas to celebrate the next day. The Botas paraded the streets of Laredo promising to bury a Guarache in effigy.   The Guaraches attacked the Bota parade and a massive gun battle ensued involving as many as 250 men.  Order was only restored after two companies of the Sixteenth United States Infantry and one company of the Eighth Cavalry intervened. The official number of dead was put at 16, but some reports claimed that at least 30 were killed with more than 45 wounded. 

Opening Day 2015

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Hope springs eternal on opening day for all 30 Major League clubs.  Some, of course, are more hopeful than others.

The Houston Astros host the Cleveland Indians at 6 pm at Minute Maid Park. The Astros hope to improve on their not disgraceful 2014 showing after losing more than 100 games three seasons in a row and being unavailable on TV for a large part of the local market.  A retooled outfield with George Springer and Jake Marisnick as anchors should help as well as a bullpen that should not give away too many wins even if it is still in search of a true closer.  Starting pitching is not a joke – at least for the first 2 spots with Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh.  The big questions are Brad Peacock and Brian Oberholtzer.  The Astros must have more than 10 wins from at least one of them.  On the offense front, it’s even possible that the team will have a player with more than 40 home runs for the first time since Lance Berkman in 2006.  Look for either Springer, Evan Gattis or Chris Carter to start out hot and have a chance to hit 40 bombs.  Jose Altuve shows all the signs of being the real deal – but the team needs at least one other star.  Maybe it will be Springer or Luis Valbuena.    Red predicts the Astros will be relevant until at least mid-August and will have their first winning season in recent memory – although just barely at 82-80.

Meanwhile, in Arlington, the Rangers home opener against the Astros will be on April 10.  The Rangers might be lucky to avoid 90 losses this season.  Yu Darvish is gone for the year which is bad news for a pitching staff that had the third highest collective ERA in baseball last season.  After starters Yovani Gallardo and Derek Hollandand the bullpen is filled with holes.  The Rangers do lead the majors in having the most players named after musicians commonly known by one name  –  but beyond Prince Fielder and Elvis Andrus the everyday lineup is fairly makeshift.  Adrian Beltre and Neftali Feliz probably won’t finish the season in Rangers Red or Blue or whichever color they are wearing now.  The “Ball Park” (or whatever it is called now) is still a great place to watch a game.  Red will probably visit at least once and predicts the Rangers will go 70-92 and finish in last place in the AL West.

Death Knell for Blue Bell?

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A massive recall of Blue Bell ice cream products from its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma plant is underway.  HEB stores and Minute Maid Park are suspending sales of all Blue Bell products.  The recall follows an outbreak of Listeria at a hospital in Kansas.

“We recommend that consumers do not eat any Blue Bell brand products made at the company’s Oklahoma facility and that retailers and institutions do not sell or serve them,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late Friday.