Tag Archives: Texas News

So Much for Local Control

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The Texas Tea Party likes to shout local control and government overreach from the rooftops when it fears the federal government stepping on Texans’ toes.  But when it comes to serving the interests of big oil, the Tea Partisans cannot fall over themselves fast enough to do its bidding.  This time it comes in the form of a bill passed by the Senate and House which will prevent Texas municipalities from banning fracking within their city limits.  But the bill, which emerged as a response to a hydraulic fracking ban passed by Denton voters in November, goes well beyond just fracking and leaves municipalities powerless to regulate any oil and gas practices that do not involve surface operations.

The bill emerged as legislative backlash to a hydraulic fracturing ban passed by Denton voters in November.  The legislation also prevents cities from passing ordinances addressing underground activity, including disposal wells, which have been linked to earthquakes, and pre-empt any ordinance deemed not “commercially reasonable.”

Now Red appreciates the need for uniform rules on drilling practices, but the hypocrisy of the Tea Partisans is just plain shocking.  They insist that the federal government cannot dictate to Texas – but then have Texas turn around and dictate to local government.

Tradition Schmadition

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The Texas A&M University Board of Regents has voted to change the University seal. According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle the vote was held without discussion and was unanimous. The 52 year-old  Star-T pattern is out – to be replaced with the block TAM (or ATM depending on your point of view) familiar to fans of Fighting Texas Aggie Band.

System Chancellor John Sharp approved of the change, “When you talk about brand identity, having that ‘Block TAM’ is something that brings it all together. That change makes it very obvious when you see it, where you are and what you’re talking about, that it’s Texas A&M.”

The change may not go over well at the tradition-bound school.  The seal change has already provoked negative online reception, including a petition on change.org asking to return the seal to its original state.

Red wonders what’s next – Marijuana leaf garlands?

Let the Gays Marry and There Will Be Rioting in the Streets

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Raw Story reports that Texas Rep. Bill Flores (TP- Bryan) has linked the rioting in Baltimore to the trend in favor of gay marriage.

On the Wednesday edition of the Family Research Council’s Washington Watch radio program, Flores told FRC President Tony Perkins that crowds of conservatives were showing up at the U.S. Supreme Court to urge justices to support the “rights of tradition marriage.”

Perkins suggested that the government was just creating more problems for itself as courts throughout the nation continued to rule that LGBT people should have equal marriage rights.

“A lot of these problems are created by the breakdown of the family, which the redefinition of would only accelerate,” Perkins opined.

“You’re exactly right, Tony,” Flores agreed. “Let’s talk about poverty for instance… The single best indicator of whether or not a child is going to be in poverty or not is whether or not they were raised by a two-parent household or a single-parent household. And so the breakdown of the family has contributed to poverty.”

“You look at what’s going on in Baltimore today, you know, you see issues that are raised there,” the congressman continued. “And healthy marriages are the ones between a man and a woman because they can have a healthy family and they can raise children in the way that’s best for their future, not only socially but psychologically, economically, from a health perspective.”

“There’s just nothing like traditional marriage that does that.”

Red doubts that Flores intended for this to sound as stupid as it does.

Abbott Kowtows to Paranoid Fringe of the Tea Party

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Gov. Greg Abbott is sending Texas Guard troops to “monitor” a U.S. Armed Forces training exercise being conducted in Texas.  Abbott is apparently listening and responding to the paranoid fringe of the Tea Party who fear that the Feds are coming to take over the state.  Remember the days when the so-called conservatives supported our military?  It seems so long ago.  What changed? Oh yeah, a black man became President.  The Dallas Morning News reports on the Abbott’s latest attempt to assuage the Tea Party and provides some details on the planned operation.

The operation causing rampant suspicions is a new kind of exercise involving elite teams such as the SEALs and Green Berets from four military branches training over several states from July 15 to Sept. 15

Called Jade Helm 15, the exercise is one of the largest training operations done by the military in response to what it calls the evolving nature of warfare. About 1,200 special operations personnel will be involved and move covertly among the public. They will use military equipment to travel between seven Southwestern states from Texas to California.

On Monday, command spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria attended a Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting to answer community questions and was met with hostile fire. Lastoria, in response to some of the questions from the 150 who attended, sought to dispel fears that foreign fighters from the Islamic State were being brought in or that Texans’ guns would be confiscated, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman.

He was forced to rebut that martial law was underfoot and said misinformation has been spread by those with a “personal agenda.  You may have issues with the administration. So be it. But this institution right here has been with you for over 200 years,” he was quoted as saying. “I’ve worn this uniform across five different administrations for 27 years.”

Radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been sending out warnings for weeks regarding the exercise, saying it is the U.S. military positioning itself to take over the states and declare martial law.

Abbott apparently has heard the concern and ordered the Guard to monitor the training and U.S. military personnel.

“To address concerns of Texas citizens and ensure that Texas communities remain safe, secure and informed about military procedures occurring in their vicinity, I am directing the Texas State Guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15,” Abbott wrote in his letter to the commander of the Texas Guard.

Naked and Unafraid at Texas State

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A Texas State University student sat nearly naked on the steps of the Allkek Library for almost an hour as part of an art project and protest about the objectification of the female body.  The San Antonio Express-News reports that the senior art student was overall pleased with the results of the performance art piece.

Monika Rostvold, who quickly became the talk of campus, said in a phone interview that the 45-minute demonstration was for an art project that focused on fellow students’ reactions and objectification of the female body, said Rostvold, a fine arts senior.

“I wanted people to view my body as beauty and power and not a sexual object,” said Rostvold, a fine arts senior. “The fact that it is Sexual Assault Awareness Month I wanted to create a piece about the standards that exist in our society. Being a victim and having friends who are victims of sexual assault I wanted to take control of my body by eliminating my presence and exposing myself.” 

Red holds this out to be an almost totally SFW blog – so no photos here.

The National Teacher of the Year is From Amarillo

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Shanna Peeples was named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of State School Officials.     Peeples is the first teacher from Texas to win the award since 1957.  myhighplains.com reports that Peeples is more than deserving of the award.

Peeples teaches at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas, where she spends half of her day as a high school English teacher and the other half mentoring, coaching and challenging her colleagues to grow in the teaching profession.

At Palo Duro High School, her students come from many different backgrounds. Amarillo is one of several cities in the United States that helps refugees find new paths in life and gain access to critical resources. As a result, Peeples works with many students who speak English as a second language or recently entered the United States from another country.

“My students, survivors of deep and debilitating trauma, have shaped the kind of teacher I am,” she says. “They have taught me to never make a promise I can’t keep because so many already have learned to see the world through suspicious eyes. To be the best teacher to them, I have to remember this and honor their background. I remember so I can gain their trust because I want them to read and write their way out of where they are,” said Peeples.

As the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, Shanna is shaping the conversation in this country about working with students in poverty, and those who have already faced extreme challenges in their young lives. Through a variety of teaching methods, Peeples reaches her students and helps them achieve their full potential far beyond her classroom walls.

On a personal note, the 1957 recipient of the award was Guy Bizzell who taught Red in high school but not in the 50’s.

Conundrum of the Day – Abortion and Bowling?

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Red was running some errands on Saturday when he happened to drive by several anti-abortion protestors in front of the local bowling alley.  They were holding up the usual gruesome photos of aborted fetuses at various stages of gestation.  Red admits to being rather torn up on the abortion issue.  On a personal level, Red would never encourage any woman to have an abortion absent some extraordinary circumstances and does not think abortion should be used as birth control.  On the other hand, Red supports making abortifacients easily available.  And on his hypothetical third hand, Red doesn’t really see that criminalizing and further restricting abortion would accomplish much of anything except to allow for the wealthy to travel to countries where abortion is legal and force other women to resort to dangerous alternatives if they are desperate to get an abortion.  And Red will never understand why the anti-abortion forces are also typically against easy availability of birth control and against sex education except for the demonstrably ineffective “abstinence only” ruse.  All in all, a real conundrum.

But given all that, Red is still wondering about the connection between an anti-abortion protest and bowling.  Can anyone explain?

Sid Miller – Tool of the Deep Fat Fryer Lobby?

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Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (TP-Stephenville) likes to take on the important issues facing our state – like making sure Texas students have better access to deep fat fried foods and sodas.  As if our young ones did not have enough opportunity to consume heavily fried treats  and high fructose sugar drinks at McDonalds, Whataburger, KFC and elsewhere, Miller is committed to allowing Texas schools to once again help students become even bigger lard-asses.  Miller claims that this is not about fried food but freedom.  Curiously, Miller had also been busy trying to secure more money for the chronically underfunded Texas Department of Agriculture.  Funny how once he was in charge, the former legislator (and alleged fiscal conservative) found that his department couldn’t do its job.  But in his latest buffoonish move, Miller’s true colors show through.  The Texas Tribune reports:

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, the cowboy-hat-wearing champion of local control, is looking to buck a decade-old statewide ban on deep fat fryers in public schools. Putting decision-making back into the hands of Texas school districts, he says, “isn’t about french fries, it’s about freedom.”

Within the next couple of months, the Texas Department of Agriculture could be poised to repeal a state policy that bans deep fat fryers and soda machines on school campuses and places limits on the time and place that junk food can be sold there. In addition, Miller is proposing an increase in the number of allowed fundraiser days – when cupcakes and other sugary, fatty foods can be sold during the school day – from one to six per school year. 

The deep fat fryer and soda machine ban are the last of strict nutritional policies introduced by former Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs. In 2004, in addition to those bans, Combs introduced the more comprehensive Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, which banned foods with high levels of sugar and fats in public schools. The policy was repealed last year, when Todd Staples was commissioner, and Miller has consistently expressed his support for less regulation of food in schools. 

In January, Miller granted amnesty to cupcakes during his first act as commissioner in an attempt to reassure Texas parents that cupcakes and other treats would be allowed in schools under his administration, which he promised would increase local control of decision-making processes and protect the rights of parents.

“This is coming from when he was on the campaign trail,” said Bryan Black, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Agriculture, referring to the proposed changes. “He heard it repeatedly, when it came to cupcakes and other things. People were asking why local communities shouldn’t have a say.”

But for many parents and nutritionists, that reasoning doesn’t square with reality. In 2013, 16 percent of high school students in Texas were obese, up from 14 percent in 2005. Only Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama reported higher rates. Nationwide, child obesity rates have jumped from 7 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 2012. Among minorities, the rates for children and adolescents were significantly higher, with Hispanics at 22 percent and non-Hispanic black youth at 20 percent.

The Tea Party Believes in Freedom – Unless You’re Gay – Then Not So Much

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The Texas Tribune reports that a House committee has approved a bill to further restrict gay marriage – even though it is already illegal in Texas.  The Tea Party bulldozer continues sweep aside any chance that Texas will treat all of its citizens fairly.

Texas House committee on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriages, even though the state already bans such unions. 

The measure is one of several proposals at the Texas Capitol targeting same-sex marriage and the first one that has cleared a legislative committee this session, according to the Texas Freedom Network, which describes itself as fighting initiatives backed by the state’s religious right.

The State Affairs Committee passed House Bill 4105, which would forbid the use of state or local funds for issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The 7-3 vote was along party lines, with only Republicans supporting the measure. The proposal now heads to a committee that schedules legislation for debate by the full House.

“The intent is to assert the sovereign rights of Texas and of the citizens of Texas,” said Rep. Cecil Bell [TP-Magnolia], the bill’s author. “I believe it is a bipartisan issue — our social rights and our traditional values.”

You sir, are a bigot.

Fat, Drunk and Stupid is No Way to Go Through College Son

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Cody Nichols, a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity at Texas State University, is reported to have paid over $1,200 for a cab ride from New Orleans to the fraternity house in San Marcos this past weekend.  Nichols reported a story to Total Frat Move  (who knew?) in which he was drinking on Bourbon Street when he got separated from his date and his group, then lost his phone in a fight in front of his hotel, jumped in a cab to avoid arrest and told the driver to take him to his frat house.  The driver balked telling Nichols that it would cost over $700, but Nichols pulled out his credit card and off they went.  Nichols apparently was very confused as he thought he was on 6th Street in Austin.  A $1200 cab ride later, he was back in San Marcos.  But Nichols wasn’t through yet.  He allegedly spent another $400 to fly back to New Orleans to meet back up with his disgusted date and the rest of the group for the bus ride back to San Marcos.

The parents must be very proud.  Red is the first to admit that he did a few things in his younger days that might not look so good on the resume, but nothing like this. Red also has to admit that Nichols is not fat.