Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Outlaw Josie Wales Calls For Elimnation Of City Manager Position

In the recent televised debate between the four candidates running for Mayor of Corpus Christi the best idea came from the least likely to win the office. The man known as the Outlaw Josie Wales called for the elimination of the city manager position and its supporting staff and a switch to a strong mayor type of city government. This is a good idea. Corpus Christi has a long and sorry history of hiring terrible city managers. Click on pic for larger image

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Blake Farenthold, Working For The Man; Rose Meza Harrison; Turning 27 Blue

Blake Farenthold defeated long time District 27 Congressman Solomon Ortiz. His first term has been spent working for "the man" as a rubber stamp for the Tea Party.
 
Harrison wants to turn District 27 blue once again.

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Friday, September 21, 2012

Perry Panders To The Evangelicals

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Rick Perry is once again throwing the U.S. Constitution under the bus to pander to the right wing religious extremists.
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Texas Governor Rick Perry made some startling remarks Tuesday, Sept. 18, as he addressed a conference call to a meeting of Christian conservatives. His remarks displayed an utter disregard for the concepts outlined in the U.S. Constitution, American and Texas history and indicated he had no interest in other Christian faiths, other religions or people who had no religion. He knows which side his bread is buttered on.
Below is a good summary in an article by Christy Hoppe of the Dallas News.
Rick Perry, speaking on a conference call with Christian conservatives Tuesday, called the separation between church and state a false premise that is advanced by the devil.
He also said that the Obama Administration and court system are working to remove religious references from the American way of life and that is it up to “Christian warriors, Christian soldiers,” to prevent it from  happening.
Since his presidential campaign, Perry has been publicly outspoken about what he sees as the strong role of religion in public service, but the statements and audio, posted by Right Wing Watch, are among his most strident.
Perry was participating in conservative pastor Rick Scarborough’s “40 Days to Save America,” which calls for prayer and fasting that seeks God’s intervention for the nation and leading up to the November election.
Perry told listeners that instead of staying away from the political fray, people of faith have, “a Biblical responsibility to be involved in the public arena proclaiming God’s truth,” Perry said.
He said it is particularly true on the abortion issues, where it’s “important that we as Christians put legislation into place, that we elect women and men that defend life.”
“Satan runs across the world with his doubt and with his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there that is driven is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena,” Perry said.
Perry also struck a theme he used frequently on the presidential campaign that the Obama Administration has declared a war on religion, mostly citing a decision that health insurance policies include coverage for contraceptives.
“The American family is under siege, traditional values are somehow exclusionary, a simple prayer in our public schools is the basis for these secular attacks,” Perry said, calling it “spiritual warfare.”
“It falls on us, we truly are Christian warriors, Christian soldiers, and for us as Americans to stand our ground and to firmly send a message to Washington that our nation is about more than just some secular laws,” Perry said.

 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Outlaw Josey Wales To Run For Mayor Of Corpus Christi

From today's Corpus Christi Caller/Times:
 
—Outlaw Josey Wales IV has filed for mayor in the November race for City Council.
Wales, who legally changed his name to the 1976 western film starring Clint Eastwood, runs a professional wrestling business in Corpus Christi. He has run twice for mayor in Houston, once in 1999 and again in 2007. He retired as a contract engineer from the oil and gas industry and settled in Corpus Christi about three years ago.
He is in the running against District 4 Councilwoman Chris Adler, at-large Councilwoman Nelda Martinez and local photographer Reynaldo "Ray" Madrigal. The election is Nov. 6.
The mayor serves a two-year term and is paid $9,000 annually.
BIO
Name: Josey Wales
Age: 64
Occupation: owner of Corpus Christi Wrestling Association and retired contract engineer from the oil and gas industry.
Reason for seeking election: Wales said if elected he will establish a strong mayor form of government and fire City Manager Ron Olson and his four assistants to save taxpayers money. He believes the city is not doing enough to attract tourism through conventions and sporting events, including competitive ballroom dancing and high school football playoffs.
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Thursday, August 02, 2012

Paul Sadler Faces Lonely, Uphill Struggle Against Ted Cruz For Texas Senate Seat

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Texas and National political junkies may be forgiven, (somewhat) for thinking the race to fill the soon to be vacated U.S. Senate seat of Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison is over already.
Yesterday's GOP primary saw Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst go down in flames to newcomer Ted Cruz. Cruz was well backed by The Tea Party and right wing politiicans, 
Now the general asumption is that's it, game over and that is probably right. It is true Sadler has virtually zero name recognition but why is that? Did state newspapers ever mention the Democratic race? Have you ever even seen a picture of Paul Sadler in print? ...On Television?
It is bad enough the Republicans have taken over state government but it seems they dominate the state press as well.

For anyone interested here is a link to Sadler's web site.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Ted Cruz Wins GOP Primary Runoff For US Senator From Texas

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Tea Party darling Ted Cruz yesterday defeated Texas Lieuteneant Governor David Dewhurst for the Texas GOP nomination in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison. Cruz, who is affiliated with many far right extremist groups, chastized Dewhurst during the campaign for being a "moderate!"

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Texas Supremes Overturn Severance; Guts Open Beaches Act

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

City Council's "War Room"
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Monday, April 02, 2012

Texas Supreme Court Upholds Severance!


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By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:36 p.m. Friday, March 30, 2012

Affirming the private-property rights of shoreline landowners, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the public's right of access to state beaches cannot be guaranteed when hurricanes or storms reshape the coast.
The sharply divided ruling will limit the state's ability to enforce the Open Beaches Act, a 53-year-old law that had been used to force landowners to raze or move structures that intrude on the public right of way because of storm erosion.
Writing for the 5-3 majority, Justice Dale Wainwright said the easement that preserves public access to Gulf of Mexico beaches cannot suddenly jump many feet inland after a storm, encroaching on private property where no easement previously existed.
"On one hand, the public has an important interest in the enjoyment of the public beaches. But on the other hand, the right to exclude others from privately owned realty is among the most valuable and fundamental of rights possessed by private property owners," Wainwright wrote.
The court had come to essentially the same conclusion in the same case in 2010 — prompting loud protests from state officials, Gulf of Mexico communities and beach advocates — before agreeing last year to reconsider its ruling.
Writing in dissent, Justice David Medina said Friday's ruling will probably embroil the state in litigation and costly efforts to re-establish public beach access after every hurricane.
"The Texas coastline is constantly changing and the risks of purchasing property abutting the ocean are well known," Medina wrote. "It is unreasonable, however, to require the state and its taxpayers to shoulder the burden of these risks."
In a separate dissent, Justice Debra Lehrmann said the ruling will probably produce continued degradation of Texas beaches.
The Texas Constitution bans the use of public money for private benefit, Lehrmann said, noting that the court's earlier Open Beaches Act ruling led to the cancellation of a $40 million beach restoration program for Galveston. State officials determined that the project would have benefited beaches from which the public could be excluded, she said.
According to the General Land Office, the ruling also will jeopardize state-financed debris-cleanup efforts after hurricanes.
The issue before the court revolved around the dividing line between public and private beachfront.
Public land, owned by the state, runs from the high tide mark to the water and is known as the "wet beach." Friday's ruling did not change this concept.
Instead, the ruling focused on the "dry beach," which runs from the high tide mark to the vegetation line and may be privately owned.
Under the Open Beaches Act, the dry beach also is typically subject to an easement that keeps it open to the public.
The present controversy began with a lawsuit by Carol Severance, who bought several beachfront homes on Galveston Island's West Beach in 2005.
Five months later, Hurricane Rita moved the vegetation line behind Severance's properties, and state officials ordered her to move or raze the structures.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the public beach easement can subtly shift to follow natural patterns of erosion. It cannot, however, jump to encompass previously private property after a storm, the court said.
Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson did not participate in the case, Severance v. Patterson, 09-0387.
Contact Chuck Lindell at 912-2569

Friday, March 23, 2012


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Governor Rick Perry and the Texas GOP continue their war on Planned Parenthood and health care for poor Texas women.

Below: A blog post from today's Chron.com

Patricia Kilday Hart, Chron.com blog, 3, 23 2012

Last week, Gov. Rick Perry employed texts, Twitter and his official website to condemn what he called the Obama administration's "plans to cancel funding for a long-standing and cost-effective health and wellness program for more than 100,000 Texas women."
Perry further warned that "this move will cut off access to screenings for breast and cervical cancer, hypertension and diabetes, STD testing and family planning services for Texas women who otherwise could not afford them."
Our governor's defense of the Texas Medicaid Women's Health Program was a ringing endorsement of "cost-effective" government-sponsored contraception. And it was about 10 months too late.
Last spring, I watched with dismay as the Texas House, led by Republican lawmakers, slashed - from $111 million to only $38 million - the only other program providing contraception for poor Texas women, administered by the Department of State Health Services.
Perry stood by silently as GOP lawmakers took the ax to the program, despite budget analysts reporting that the program would save the state millions of dollars by preventing unwanted children who would be delivered into this world on Medicaid's dime.
As I pointed out in a column last spring, Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, touted "research" that he claimed proved that contraception leads to abortion.
Citing a 2002 study by the Guttmacher Institutute, Weber told the Texas House, "It actually shows that the highest abortion rate is among women actively using contraception and … among the poor."
Rep Mike Villareal, D-San Antonio, was the only person who questioned this outlandish claim. "You think contraception doesn't work?" he asked Weber.
"Not for those that get pregnant," Weber replied, inciting raucous laughter.
But the joke is on Texas taxpayers: Weber's assessment of the Guttmacher study was wildly inaccurate. It proved just the opposite: Women who got abortions didn't use contraceptives, or used them only sporadically.
Widespread ignorance
Guttmacher also had more current research estimating that government programs paying for contraception prevent almost 2 million unintended pregnancies each year. "Without these services, the number of unintended pregnancies and abortion among poor women in the United States would nearly double," the institute found.
Weber wasn't alone in his ignorance on the subject of contraception. In one committee meeting, Rep. Jody Laubenberg, R-Parker, fumed that the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Board was using "government math" in calculating the savings produced by contraception programs.
"We're going to save on the non-babies that are being born? We're going to prevent baby births?" said Laubenberg, incredulously. "This has got to be government math, …basing it (the estimated savings) on the speculation that you're going to save money by non-babies, by non-Medicaid baby births."
No real Perry epiphany
A patient health department staff person tried to explain it to her: "The more women we get in the program, the more births we avert."
"You speculate that," Laubenberg said.
"We measure that," the staff member replied.
Perry hasn't really had an epiphany that contraception for the poor is a worthwhile, even "cost-effective," program. He's warring with President Barack Obama because the federal government won't go along with his administration's attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in the program.
"Why would the Obama Administration take away access to health care for low-income Texas women?" Perry asks on his website. "Because this administration puts funding for abortion providers and affiliates ahead of funding for women's cancer screenings and other preventative health care."
He conveniently fails to mention that no money that goes to Planned Parenthood can be used to provide abortions. It's already illegal.
Policy costly for Texas
The money pays only for cancer screenings and contraception that poor women need. But Perry, the governor who is against the government picking your health care provider, has decided he gets to pick the health care provider for poor women.
Now, however, Perry wants to cast himself as the savior for women's health, offering to "find the money" in the state budget to continue the Women's Health Program, without having to follow long-established rules allowing equal participation among health care providers. Here's what Perry's illogical war on Planned Parenthood costs Texas: a $9 federal match for every $1 the state spends.
As Villareal noted late last week, "The idea that Texas Republicans have supported the Women's Health Program is laughable. It has no connection to reality. Anyone who paid attention to the last legislative session knows that Texas Republicans consistently demonstrated their hostility towards the Women's Health Program and other family planning programs."
Where was Rick Perry's outrage then?
patti.hart@chron.com

Monday, March 12, 2012

City Council Develops Yet Another Bay Front Plan!

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Friday, March 02, 2012

Sheriff's Department Requests $250,000 "Command" Vehicle!

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Following in the footsteps of former Sheriff James Hickey the Nueces County Sheriff's Department wants to spend $250,000 on a "command center" vehicle, complete with coffee makers, microwave, satellite TV and more, to be paid for from the $900,000 drug forfeiture fund. Hickey used this money as his own personal slush fund in his day. Hopefully the County Commissioners Court will think twice about it this time.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Developers Still Hungry For Padre Island


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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Blake Farenthold Votes Against Payroll Tax Reduction

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Another Day, Another Upside Down SUV!

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In today's TV news there is yet another story about an upside down SUV. This is an almost daily occurrence and some days there are multiple examples. These poorly conceived and designed vehicles have been foisted on the public as something demanded as necessary to proclaim higher status.

Saturday, January 28, 2012