Former Hidalgo Sheriff's deputy goes to prison

The drug war has been a success for private prisons, racists and drug lords. Everybody else has lost big time.

Flipping on Heriberto Diaz, 43, a former investigator himself serving an 11-year sentence for the crime, led Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa to sentence [Omar] Salazar to two-and-a-half years in prison — less than half the typical minimum sentence for a marijuana conspiracy case.

It is past time to legalize drugs. Lets start with marijuana.

It's TPA blog post roundup time

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that early voting for the 2012 primaries continues through Friday as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff sincerely hopes there's am an uprising among parents and educators over the way public education was treated last session, but he's still waiting for the campaign rhetoric to match the reporting about it.

BossKitty at TruthHugger was moved by an award winning documentary and saw the connection to the current state of mental health in Texas, and everywhere else. Here are Lessons of The Weeping Camel for Texas.

BlueBloggin had not anticipated how long America would engage in war. Enough men and women have been exposed to combat, cruelty and death, to populate a small country. Americans must be prepared for When They Come Home – Critical Update.

There aren't many Democrats earning the endorsement of PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, but the most important one of the 2012 primary cycle in Harris County is Lissa Squiers for Congress. And Sean Hubbard for US Senate. Oh, and Rachel Van Os for state party chair (election to be held at the state convention in Houston in June). And maybe a few more coming in the week before Election Day.

This week in GOP infighting. Should Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst win his bid for the US Senate, picking his replacement will be a proxy war between Gov. Perry and Speaker Straus. WCNews at Eye On Williamson has the rest of the story, The tie-breaker.

Libby Shaw puts Repug redistricting in prospective in her latest posting: The Gerrymander Cowards. Check it out at TexasKaos.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted a picture of a cigarette machine that he saw last week in Houston. If you can imagine, the cigarettes cost $10 a pack in this machine.

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog strongly supports Gene Wu in the race to succeed Scott Hochberg in HD-137.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that Texas is #1 - in workplace discrimination complaints.

Francisco Canseco sponsors bill to let homeland security run wild 100 miles from border

Isn't wonderful that an Hispanic republican carries racist water for the republican party while encouraging enormous damage to the constituents he purports to represent.

Just a few days earlier, HR 1505, the misnamed National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, was introduced onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Rob Bishop, R-Utah. Aimed at stopping the flood of immigrants that Pew found are, in fact, not pouring over our borders, this bill waives 36 laws on all federal lands within 100 miles of both the northern and southern U.S. borders for any Border Patrol activity. Forward operating bases, roads, and even more border walls could tear through national parks from Glacier to Olympic to Big Bend, as well as national forests, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas with no concern for the laws that protect natural ecosystems or human communities.

RIP Ernestine Glossbrenner

A big loss.

Longtime state Rep. Ernestine Glossbrenner, from Alice, died on Sunday morning at Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline.

She was 79.

Care for a little uranium in your ground water?

It might make it easier to find your kids in the dark.

A uranium company must clean more groundwater but will be allowed to resume mining in a certain area of Kleberg County, a judge ruled Friday.

The ruling brings a close to a five-month trial. It also is a climax in the decades-long, politically charged debate about the mining of uranium ore, the raw material for nuclear fuel, in a geologic formation known as the Kingsville Dome southeast of the city.

Texas leads the nation in workplace discrimination complaints

Texas gets another negative #1. Thanks, republicans.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received more complaints of workplace discrimination from workers in Texas than from any other state last year, with 10 percent of all complaints filed there, according to a report made public by the agency on Monday.

During the 2011 fiscal year, nearly 10,000 of the record 99,947 federal charges of workplace discrimination received by the EEOC were filed in Texas, according to the report. The most common complaints within the state were "retaliatory charges," or those alleging that the employer fired, demoted or otherwise retaliated against an employee because he or she fought against discrimination in some way, such as going to the EEOC.

republicans like workers to be subservient, compliant and without recourse.

You knew they would raise your windstorm insurance rates didn't you?

Bend over.

Some property owners in Texas' coastal areas will see a 5 percent increase on their insurance bills next year.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's board of directors approved the increase Tuesday. The board also delayed a decision on whether to enact an additional increase that would depend on how far a property is from the shore. That decision will be discussed at an Aug. 7 meeting in Galveston.

I think homeowner's insurance should be a government responsibility. Think about it. Disaster funds flow from the government after a disaster. FEMA aids people during disasters. Fire and police departments are government run. Zoning and the general idea of urban development are government functions. Home owners' insurance is a powerful zoning tool. Why not increase homeowner accountability and then share the risk?

What we have now is greedy corporate capitalism run amok. Why do you have to separate wind damage from water damage in a hurricane?

DA Hissy Fit's petition to remove Cameron County DA to be heard

Judge allows hearing on Villalobos removal from office.

Senior Judge J. Manuel Bañales will hold an evidentiary hearing Friday to determine if the petition in the 444th state District Court for the removal of Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos should proceed.

Harlingen attorney Juan Angel Guerra filed the petition on behalf of Trinidad Salinas.

Bañales, of Corpus Christi and appointed to hear the case, found Monday that after reviewing and considering the petition, it is in the “interest of justice” that a hearing be held.

Villalobos is charged with racketeering in Abel Limas bribery scandal.

Temporary reprieve for Corpus Christi air breathers

I don't trust the TCEQ. They're crony capitialists, aka republicans, all the way.

A letter issued Monday by a district judge could push proponents of the $3 billion Las Brisas Energy Center back to the drawing board.

The letter, issued by 345th District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky of Travis County, details his intent to send back a state-issued air quality permit to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for review.

The letter could mean the energy plant's permit will be reversed or remanded to the state.

Western District of Texas to get Villalobos case

Complications with Villalobos case.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas cannot take part in the federal case against Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos — with one exception, public records state.

This, following United States Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis’ approval of an office-wide recusal of the southern district from the Villalobos case, “based upon the appearance of a conflict of interest,” court records state.

It's time for the TPA blog roundup

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds everyone that early voting has begun as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

Off the Kuff finished his interview tour of Texas with a conversation with Domingo Garcia in CD33.

BossKitty at TruthHugger will not weigh in, whether or not the truth was actually served in court, when a black lady fired a warning shot into a wall. Firing a gun in irresponsible ways is natural in Texas. But, Florida has contradictory laws that allow courts to pick and choose who gets punished for similar irresponsible behavior. You can decide for yourself how good a job of it they do.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry came to Williamson County this week, he endorsed John Bradley for DA. WCNews at Eye On Williamson has the rest of the story, Birds of a feather.

It was a good week to be gay if you were Barack Obama and John Carona, and a bad week to be gay if you were Mitt Romney and Dan Patrick. And if you think that's confusing, wait until you read what PDiddie at Brains and Eggs said about Greg Abbott's rose petals and Joe Arpaio's pink panties.

Lewisville Texan Journal looks at Republican candidate for HD 106, Pat Fallon's residence, and addresses whether he committed voter fraud by voting from an address where he apparently did not live.

At TexasKaos, lightseeker asks Could the Education Cuts be the beginning of the End for Texas Republican? Check out the details.

Neil at Texas Liberal endorsed Sean Hubbard in the Democratic primary for the open U.S. Senate seat.

Sinton school district loses another round in wind turbine fight

Way to go in blocking effective, hands on education.

A judge dismissed a lawsuit about a Sinton wind turbine project today, saying the court doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear the case.

The ruling effectively halts the Sinton school district’s plan to build two turbines on its high school campus unless the district decides to appeal to a higher court.

Why did Hidalgo ISD employees require 'assistance' when voting in election?

Aggressively insisting on 'assisting' voters stinks.

One in five people who cast early ballots in Hidalgo’s City Council election brought someone else into the voting booth for help, Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramon said Thursday.

While Texas law allows voters to seek assistance in special circumstances, unusually high assistance rates often indicate political machines — and, critics say, voter coercion — at work. Of the 2,144 people who voted early in the Hidalgo election, 483 had help, Ramon said, about 22.5 percent of voters.

“I think a majority of the people who are being assisted are school employees at Hidalgo ISD and Valley View ISD,” said Mayor John David Franz, who said he’d heard disturbing reports of able-bodied teachers asking for assistance.

By the way, voter id laws won't help in this situation. A good DOJ, good local and state law enforcement would.