Blake Farenthold Demonstrates His Qualifications For Congress!









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Early Voting Began Today!

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I Just returned from the polling place and the liquour store. I voted for Bill White and against Rick Perry, among other votes cast. I also went to the liquor store where I bought a half gallon of cheap whiskey, Benchmark, strictly for medicinal purposes you understand. I was sober when I cast my vote.

Anna's Rival Back To Haunt Her!

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Anna Jimenez,political appointee For District Attorney for Nueces county, fired Mark Skurka when he made it known he was to run for her office. Skurka is now poised to make a strong run against her.

Mark Skurka Is The Best Choice For District Attorney

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On The Bay ...

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Out Source The City Council!




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Angel's Golden Parachute !!


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Corpus Christi City Manager Angel Escobar has announced his retirement. He will be taking with him a huge severance pay package. Of course this means the city council will now spend an exorbitant sum in a search for a replacement. In addition they are conducting a study to see how large the salary for the new city manager should be. Count on it being enough to place the lucky winner in the top percentiles of the wealthiest Americans!

Mayor Adame Tells Council Members "No More Texting During Meetings!"


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Mayor Joe Adame has resembled a junior high principal lately as he has had to admonish the kids to stop texting during city council and other official meetings. He is right. They should be paying attention during these meetings and this texting could possibly be in violation of the provisions of the state open meetings statutes.

Surveillance Drones Now Flying Out Of NAS Corpus Christi

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Joe and His Wreckin' Crew!











I'm Mayor Rappin' Joe with my wreckin' crew
You know there aint nothin' we wont do.
To make more money for "The Man"
We work real hard doin' all we can!
We tore down the coliseum with my wreckin' ball
Though not everyone wanted to see it fall.
For high priced salaries we have lots of dough
But when it comes to streets we have to say no!
If you don't like my budget selections
You'll just have to wait for the next elections!

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RTA Hires New Interim Manager For Big Bucks!

Recently the Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority, in a move seemingly very typical of local government these days, announced that they were going to fire the current interim director, Jorge Cruz-Aedo, and hire a replacement interim director. That’s a replacement interim director!
Michael Setzer will be the man in charge for the next six months until a new and “permanent” director takes over. Setzer heads a management company, Veolia Transportation, which will be paid $126,000 during that six month period.
In addition Setzer will get reimbursement for his travel expenses, he lives in Ohio and will fly home on weekends.

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Perry, Texas Gop, Funnel Money To Texas Green Party


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Rick Perry and the Texas GOP are engaging in some political sleight of hand to deceive Texas voters in the upcoming Gubernatorial election this November.
They are cynically making moves to split the ticket by helping funnel money to the Green Party and assisting them to get a spot on the ballot. They feel the Green Party will siphon off unsuspecting assorted left wing types and tree huggers and so on who might otherwise have voted for Bill White. Thus those voters will help the party most antithetical to their values.

At the moment their efforts appear to be succeeding but it aint over yet. State Dems vow further legal challenges but it will be difficult going forward. The state Supreme Court is full of Republicans, many Perry appointees.
Texas politics...sigh.

Below are press releases from the state Democratic Party.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RICHIE CALLS ON RICK PERRY To
COME CLEAN WITH TEXAS VOTERS ON
GREEN PARTY BALLOT SCAM CASE

Judge Rules that Green Party Can be Kept Off Ballot;
Source of Secret Corporate Money Tied to Former Perry Chief of Staff
(Corpus Christi, TX) – Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie called on Rick Perry to come clean with Texas voters about what role Perry’s campaign played in funneling over $500,000 in secret corporate funds to fund a Green Party petition drive to help Perry’s floundering campaign.
During testimony today, a witness testified that he was paid approximately $12,000 by Rick Perry’s close friend and former Chief of Staff, lobbyist Mike Toomey, to create a plan to gather signatures to get the Green Party of Texas on the ballot. Today, Travis County District Judge John Dietz blocked the Green Party from a spot on the November ballot for accepting illegal corporate contributions to collect the signatures.
“It is time for Rick Perry to come clean with Texas voters,” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie said. “Some of Rick Perry’s closest and most trusted political advisors played a role the effort to funnel corporate money into the illegal Green Party petition drive and Texas voters deserve to know the truth about the extent of their involvement in this illegal ballot scam.”
The involvement of Perry’s associates in this illegal scheme was revealed in sworn testimony in a Travis County District Court today.
“The involvement of Perry’s associates in this illegal scheme to tamper with Texas elections is another sign that career politician Rick Perry will do anything to save his floundering campaign and extend his corrupt political career,” Richie concluded.


FACT SHEET – GREEN PARTY BALLOT SCAM
· Today, Travis County District Judge John Dietz blocked the Green Party from a spot on the November ballot due to the use of illegal corporate contributions used to collect the signatures necessary.
During testimony, it was discovered that Mike Toomey, a close friend to Rick Perry and his former Chief of Staff, paid Garrett Mize, a University of Texas student, approximately $12,000 to convince Green Party of Texas leaders to participate in the ballot petition scam.
· Perry’s family friend, Stewart Moss, a former employee of longtime Perry speechwriter Eric Bearse, first approached Mize about collecting signatures to get the Green Party on the ballot.
Mike Toomey and Rick Perry have been described as “close friends” (Source: Texas Monthly, February 2005).
· Mike Toomey was previously implicated in the TRMPAC scandal in 2002, when secret corporate donations were used to illegally elect Republicans in Texas. According to reports from the Austin American-Statesman, the “indictments…noted that TAB board members Mike Toomey and Eric Glenn, both lobbyists, played prominent roles in soliciting money. (Source: Austin American-Statesman, September 8, 2005).

July 02, 2010
Supreme Court allows Green Party to certify ballot UPDATED
The Texas Supreme Court today stayed a district judge's order blocking the Green Party of Texas from certifying its candidates for the general election ballot.
The effect of the order was to allow the Green Party to legally establish a list of candidates for the general election. But the court also set a series of deadlines for lawyers for the Texas Democratic Party and the Green Party to argue whether a ballot petition drive illegally used corporate money.
"We get to put our candidates on the ballot today. We don't know if we get to keep them there," said Green Party lawyer David Rogers.
Rogers said the order signaled that the court wants to take its time to decide whether corporate money can be legally used by a political party for ballot initiatives. He said the court signaled that there is a real legal issue "that needs to be considered carefully and thoughtfully and not in 15 minutes."
Democratic Party lawyer Chad Dunn said he does not believe the fight is over.
"The effect of the order is to give the Supreme Court time before they open up an enormous loophole for potential election fraud," Dunn said.
UPDATE: The Texas Secretary of State reports receiving a Green Party certification for the following statewide candidates:
Deb Shafto of Houston for governor
Herb Gonzales Jr. of San Antonio for lieutenant governor
Art Browning of Cypress for railroad commissioner
Edward Lindsay of Fort Worth for state comptroller

First rain bands from Tropical Storm Alex, 10:40 am, Tuesday, June 29, 2010.

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More rain bands and more wind on Wednesday

Rick Perry: EPA Regs Don't Apply To Texas!


Texas Governor Rick Perry Seeks New Battle With Feds; EPA Standards Don't Apply To Texas Says Perry.

The Evironmental Protection Agency recently denied an operating permit from a Corpus Christi refinery saying it was in violation of the Clean Air Act.
EPA director Al Almendariz has threatened to pull permits from 39 other Texas facilities because state regulators are not enforcing strict air quality standards. For some years Texas has had the dubious distinction of having the most polluted air in the nation.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, seizing another opportunity to continue his attack on the federal governnment, has said he will defy these regulations in order to protect jobs.
“Washington just isn’t happy unless they have total control of everything,” he said.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been underfire for being too cozy with industry and not sufficiently protective of the environment. This battle has been prominent in another local Corpus Christi controversy concerning the proposal to build a large petroleum coke fired power generation plant, Las Brisas. Local opponents of the project fear the TCEQ regs will still allow unacceptable levels of polluting air emissions.

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Mark Skurka Thrown Overboard!

Cap'n Ana throws Mark Skurka off "her" ship!
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Wednesday Night Storm Smashes Through Corpus Christi Area

Click on pics for larger image Pics are from my house and my neighbors.

Wednesday night, June 2, a strong pair of storm fronts converged right over Corpus Christi bringing winds in excess of hurricane force, up to 90 mph in some areas, and driving rains. It was something of a mini hurricane which lasted for around 4 hours.

At Corpus Christi Naval air Station, near my home, RV's were blown over and six people were injured. A boat barn which had been newly completed was blown out into the Laguna Madre.

Damage was caused all over the area including roofs blown away, trees down and power was knocked out for over 67,000 people. 

As of this morning some still are waiting for power to be restored.

Perry Turns Down Chance For $700 Million In  Federal School Funds

Texas Governor Rick Perry has said that Texas will not compete in the $2 billion Race For The Top federal grants for state education. Texas schools could receive $700 million under this program. Perry says there are too many restrictions and could possibly lead to national standards for education.
That would be a setback for Perry who is more interested in setting school standards which race to the 19th century and as he swings to the right in order to ingratiate himself with Tea Party types as he eyes a run at the Presidency.

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Rick Perry: Fed Up!





Texas Governor Rick Perry has just announced plans for a new book entitled Fed Up!
The book is scheduled to be released in time for the fall election (what a coincidence!)when Perry will face Democrat Bill White. Perry has a substantial lead in the polls at present.
The book will be published by Little, Brown and Company.
Perry's plans for the future may include a run for the nomination for the Presidency of the federal government he says he hates so.
Perry's book title describes how Texans should feel about him!

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( P.S.:Pic is not a copy of book's actual cover but is, rather, my own invention.)

New Social Studies Standards Adopted For Texas School Books

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It's A Good Thing Joe Adame Isn't Mayor Of Rome!




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