Will you have to pay taxes on your medicine, milk?

From car washes to tattoos to bottled water, the list of items and services exempt from the sales tax totals $30 billion in forgone revenue — a tempting target for some lawmakers as the state faces a budget gap as big as $18 billion.

It's past time for a state income tax. Use it to fund public education.

Disgraced Hildago County Commissioner says it wasn't her fault

When pigs fly.

From the day she was led in front of a federal judge last year in handcuffs, former Hidalgo county commissioner Sylvia Handy has denied knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants in either her home or her government office.

Even as she resigned her position and pleaded guilty to tax fraud and conspiracy charges, she insisted she broke the law unintentionally.

But now, a group of Handy’s former domestic servants and county employees are calling her a liar.

Cameron County DA says he wants to remove Brownsville Mayor

Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos seeks to remove Brownsville Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. from office, according to a written statement given to The Brownsville Herald.

Villalobos began looking into the possibility of removing Ahumada after the mayor was arrested earlier this month on a charge of driving while intoxicated, the statement said.

It's memorial day

Today is a time for all of us to reflect on the sacrifices of our military and to pay tribute to those who gave it all. Thank you.

It's Monday TPA blog roundup time!

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

This week on Left of College Station Teddy asks if Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell could be coming to an end, and Left of College Station covers the week in headlines. Teddy at will be looking back this week at highlights from Left of College Station’s first two years of blogging, and will be taking the month of June off from blogging. Look for more in depth coverage of politics and social commentary in July, including extensive research and investigations. Thanks to the Texas Progressive Alliance for supporting political and social thought to the Left of College Station.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out that even though there's been another audit of TxDOT, nothing will change until Texas gets a new governor, TxDOT's management audit, we've heard it all before.

Harris County is considering creating an elections administration department, with a non-partisan unelected appointee at the helm. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs is in favor of it, but irregular contributor OpenSourceDem is not.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is tired of racist, republican fear mongers driving poor policy decisions on the border.

Off the Kuff took a close look at the UT/Texas Trib poll of the Governor's race.

WhosPlayin hopes everyone has a nice Memorial Day, and has a message of gratitude and remembrance of those who have fallen in the service of our country.

A Houston right wing talk show host and former City Council Member calls for bombing of a Mosque. Bay Area Houston has an opinion. Imagine that.

Asian American Action Fund Blog's Justin invites everyone to Houston to attend the OCA National Convention June 17-20. Festivities include panel discussions, awards gala, and free Starry Night Market and Film Festival. Eric Byler and Coffee Party founder Annabel Park's immigration documentary 9500 Liberty will be shown.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw helps us understand Rick Perry's complaints about the EPA taking over the permitting process from the toothless, Minerals Management Service, I mean the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Surprisingly enough, Mr. "Act of God" is upset he can't continue his business first, second and always approach to enviornmental regulations. Take at look at Governor Perry to the EPA: Back Off.

Neil at Texas Liberal offered up a 58 second video where he listed eight points about democracy while standing in front of a car demolition lot near the Houston Ship Channel. Everyplace is the right place to talk about freedom.

Exhibit A: The unraveling of public education in Texas

Republicans are driving us to a third-world class system as quickly as they can do it.

Galveston County school administrators have resigned themselves to the fact their districts will not receive more money from the state Legislature, so they’re seeking alternative ways to balance budgets

State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, sent requests to superintendents in his district to identify mandates — funded or unfunded by the state — they would like to have repealed.

Those 'mandates', like student teach ratios, are meant to improve education. 22 students per teacher becomes 30 then 50 then 100 then no teachers.

Democrats want an educated, functioning citizenry while republicans want to feel superior to somebody. Anybody.

Del Rio Mayor wants more boots on the ground

No, no. Not military boots.

Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez says the state border regions need more customs agents and money for equipment and infrastructure at ports of entry.

Valdez, who is chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, a group of border mayors, county judges and economic development commissions who regularly address border issues, made his comments Tuesday after an announcement by the White House that 1,200 National Guard troops will be dispatched to the nation’s southwest border.

BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf is nothing like Bush's Katrina

Here's why. Bush had 5 days or more to prepare for the event. Bush could have focused on the impending disaster by settling chain of command issues,aligning resources and executing before Katrina hit. Bush was warned before his inauguration about the Al-Qaeda threat. Bush was specifically warned about an impending attack the month before 9/11. Bush did nothing in either case.

Obama had no advance warning about the oil rig disaster. You could argue that Obama should have done a full review and clean up of all agencies after 8 years of Bush's incompetence and deliberate efforts to sabotage government regulation and oversight. Obama had 16 months or so to do that.

Lets hope one lesson in this mess is a focus on cleaning out the Bush incompetence and sabotage from all government agencies. Obama's job is to getting them running as efficiently and effectively as they can be run.

Don Hutto detention center in trouble over sexual assault accusations

Whose idea was it to privatize detention centers and prisons? Crony loving republicans.

Several women who were held at T. Don Hutto detention facility in Taylor, Texas, were groped while being patted down and at least one was propositioned for sex, ICE said.

“We understand that this employee was able to commit these alleged crimes because ICE-mandated transport policies and procedures were not followed,” David Sanders, the Homeland Security Department’s contracting officer said in a letter to Corrections Corporation of America obtained by The Associated Press.

ICE has ordered Corrections Corporation of America to make changes, including not allowing male guards to be alone with female detainees.

Hudspeth County likes Arizona's racist new law

Jim Ed Miller, a member of the Hudspeth County Commissioners Court, wants to legalize drugs, send troops to the border and roundup brown people.

A self-proclaimed “smart-ass,” Miller is an elected member of rural Hudspeth County’s court of commissioners. Given that the king position isn't exactly open, he did something else he hopes will get his point across: sponsored a resolution that the commissioner’s court passed this month supporting Arizona’s new immigration law. Officials in big cities across Texas — El Paso, Austin, San Antonio — lambasted Arizona’s move to crackdown on illegal immigration, and some even passed measures to boycott products from there. Here in Hudspeth County, where immigration issues are the stuff of daily life rather than political rhetoric, about 3,000 residents live just across the border from one of the most murderous regions of Mexico. The commissioner’s court and many local residents say they understand Arizona’s frustration. Yet others here yearn for the idyllic old days, when they regularly crossed the border to see family members, to play against local Mexican baseball teams or to party in the plaza. And they worry that racial tension is destroying a binational culture they’ve cherished for generations. “All it has done is raise some serious concerns,” says Wayne West, the one county commissioner who voted against the Arizona resolution.

The legalize drugs part is good, anyway.

Border security, drugs all tied up in republican racism

Richard Nixon won via the Southern Strategy, i.e. appeal to the racists in the South. Ronald Reagan cemented the Southern Strategy by courting the crazies in religion. George Bush made the head of the neocons, Dick Cheney, king. The republican party is now coalescing as the fringe elements of racism, religion and thuggery. What a party.

Here's what I don't understand. Why listen to the batsh*t crazy crowd for solutions when you know that those solutions are based on failed ideology, racism and fear? When you begin to think logically, then the obvious appears: Legalize drugs. Take away the profit motive. Provide the safest drugs you can and tax them. Offer rehab.

Drug cartels are awash in money and they know how to use that money to cement their power and control. It may already be too late in some respects. The drug cartels have a big head start in financing whatever endeavors they like.

John D. Negroponte, a Bush I era official, says patience. Why? Haven't we already had more than enough patience for a failed policy?

A former U.S. ambassador to Mexico said Thursday in Washington, D.C., that it will take 10 years for Mexico to break free from the violence that has taken hold and killed about 23,000 people.

Not everybody likes the idea of troops on the border.

About 100 people protested President Barack Obama’s plan to deploy about 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border Thursday morning.

At the El Paso County courthouse, protesters lined up with handmade signs and chanted in English and Spanish, shouting “No National Guard on the border, no need to bring more disorder.”

That d*mn fence and troops are tools of the racist thugs. Lets try common sense.

Perry sides with polluting cronies against breathing Texans

Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday that a move by federal environmental officials to regulate pollution from Texas refineries is another step in the Obama administration's "campaign to harm our economy."

And, by our economy, Perry means the pocketbooks of his polluting cronies.

Who knew that cronies had to follow the law?

Texas has “weeks, not years” to show it is willing to comply with the Clean Air Act or face the prospect of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency taking over its entire air-pollution permitting program, EPA's regional administrator said Wednesday.

“We have to get good air quality permits issued in Texas, and either the state of Texas does it, or I'll have to,” Al Armendariz said, adding, “I'm hopeful that the state will correct the deficiencies and stay as the permitting authority in the state of Texas.”

Bluedaze has more on the cozy cronyism of Rick Perry's TCEQ.

Medicaid is a boon for the uninsured and for Texas

Health care reform good. Republican jackassery, bad.

Texas, which has joined a lawsuit to block the new federal health care law, stands to gain by far the most federal dollars from a rush by poor adults to enroll in Medicaid, a new study shows.

Estimates that the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured released Wednesday say Texas would reap nearly $53 billion in federal match money, and possibly more, between 2014, when the adults must be enrolled, and 2019.

Are you ready for a hurricane? Houston, Galveston may not be

The study issued Wednesday by the Rice University-based Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center (SSPEED) shows that even a category 4 or 5 storm could devastate Houston's petrochemical industry.

Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast in Sept. 2008 It was a category 2 storm, but the storm surge proved much worse.

We don't need another Gulf disaster. NOAA is predicting 8 Atlantic hurricanes this season.

Interim El Paso medical examiner has disciplinary record

El Paso fires a guy whose résumés lied and whose testimony caused problems. Now what do they have?

The doctor who will temporarily handle autopsies and testify about them has a history of disciplinary actions against him, both by professional licensing authorities and by the county government.

The County Commissioners Court will rely on Dr. Juan Contín to act as medical examiner after it fired Dr. Paul Shrode.

Shrode, terminated Monday, for years had claimed professional credentials he did not have, and his testimony might have improperly sent an Ohio man to death row.

Contín, 74, was El Paso County's medical examiner from 1978 until his firing in 2000 by the Commissioners Court. Since then he has performed autopsies and testified in court on a contract basis.

Who hired these people?

The National Guard won't be shooting people at the border

I'm sure the republicans are upset about that.

The National Guard troops President Barack Obama will send to the border won't be able to patrol it, arrest people or use deadly force, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes said.

The Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law, prohibits federal military forces from doing law enforcement work. Instead, they will watch the border, repair vehicles and assist with communications and intelligence.

Reyes, D-Texas, said he talked to officials in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday about how the troops might be supervised.

"We need to have assurances that these National Guard units are going to be out there at the request and under the supervision of the Border Patrol," he said.

The republicans wanted more troops sent, but that won't happen at this point. What did the republicans think these extra troops would do, besides make it harder to assimilate the first installment of troops?

Nueces County DA faces her worst nightmare in November - an honest, competent man

Anna Jimenez started her Rick Perry DA's office appointment like she inherited the kingdom. Good people were fired or demoted while she brought in her royal court to surround her. Next she issued a royal proclamation stating only her royal highness herself could run for DA in the fall. All other subordinates would be fired if they filed.

Nueces County residents have a clear choice in November:

• Mark Skurka, an honest, decent man with loads of experience or
  
• Anna Jimenez, a power hungry, crony loving Republican
  

The EPA kicks TCEQ aside in Corpus Christi

In others words, the EPA decides to enforce the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken over the operating permit of a local refinery, saying it violates the federal Clean Air Act.

The EPA said in a letter dated Tuesday to Flint Hills Resources that it is barring the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from issuing its permit. To continue operating, Flint Hills East Refinery must submit a permit application to the federal agency by Sept. 15 or face potential fines, the letter said.

The federal agency said its decision was unprecedented, because it removes from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality a power traditionally granted to state regulators. It comes after months of unsuccessful talks between the EPA and the state over how Texas issues permits that stipulate how companies should measure pollution from refineries and other petrochemical plants.

Warning shot to TCEQ, do your job or we'll do it for you. Way to go!

Republicans love them a war at the border

Racism, fear and thuggery - a Republican dream. No better way to show off your basic values than to send the military to scare those brown people. Why is it Republicans can think of no other way to address a problem except force? Force abortions. Forced ideology in schools including forced prayer. Wars of choice like Iraq.

Obama is a fool for heeding the Republican calls for the military at the border. The Republicans love the imagery. Aside from that, what do we gain?

State and local leaders had mixed reactions Tuesday after federal officials said President Barack Obama would deploy 1,200 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and request and an additional $500 million in funding for border protection and law enforcement activities in the area.

Don't worry your pretty little head about Rick Perry's cronies draining your watershed

During a press conference in Mission recently, Gov. Rick Perry referred to the issue of ground water extraction from the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer by Clayton Williams’ company, Fort Stockton Holdings.

A proposed plan to transport water via aqua ducts to the Midland-Odessa and San Angelo metropolitan areas is an issue requiring “the wisdom of Solomon,” Perry said, in a humorous reference to a prayer meeting he had just attended.

South Texas political leaders along the Rio Grande have joined their counterparts in the Fort Stockton area in requesting a moratorium on the water extraction plans of some 41,000,000 gallons per day for the next 30 years until an independent hydro-geological study can be completed. They want assurances that the extractions would not compromise the flow of the Pecos River into the Rio Grande, an estimated flow at the confluence of some 80,000,000 gallons per day.

The border leaders have nothing to worry about, hydro geologist, Mike Thornhill told the Guardian. Based in Round Rock, Texas, Thornhill has been contracted by Fort Stockton Holdings, a Clayton Williams Company, to conduct a two-year comprehensive study to determine if the amounts requested in a Fort Stockton Holdings permit would be “in compliance” with the rules and management plan of the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District.

Houston Community College police officer accused of racial profiling

More than three months after a Houston Community College student accused a campus police officer of racial profiling, 11 News has obtained a document suggesting the university knew about the officer’s alleged problems months before the incident took place.

“I think HCC let me down,” said Thalia Vouchides. “I think they failed to protect me.”

More La Marque city council drama

The months of fighting between city council members hit a new low Monday after a former councilman was escorted out of a council meeting by police. That was followed by the majority of the council, the city manager and the city attorney walking out.

The hysteria came as council members bickered about the mayor’s push to repeal the council’s decision to create the position of public safety director.

Despite the council’s split vote two weeks ago to approve the public safety position and give Police Chief Randall Aragon added supervisory duties over the fire chief, Mayor Geraldine Sam continued her campaign against the measure. In an effort to repeal the decision, Sam argued while the council could create the post, Aragon was not eligible for the job.

El Paso Republican commissioner says Mexican-American bar association is a form of racial profiling

Those Republicans just get all of the nuances of discrimination. What empathy they all have.

Republican County Commissioner Dan Haggerty got an earful Monday for saying the Mexican-American Bar Association was a form of racial profiling.

Haggerty, though, seemed not to care.

Max Muñoz, an El Paso municipal court judge and president-elect of the association, gave a presentation to Haggerty and his colleagues on the County Commissioners Court. Haggerty made the racial profiling comment earlier this month, when the court debated a resolution condemning a controversial Arizona immigration law.

"The Mexican-American Bar Association?" Haggerty said at the time. "Ouch. Where's the White-American Bar Association?"

UT El Paso student killed in Juárez

Juárez has had over 1000 murders so far this year. Can you imagine 1000 murders in your home town?

A UTEP student was one of two men killed in a roadway shooting south of Juárez during the weekend, a university spokeswoman confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the University of Texas at El Paso on Monday identified the men as current student Alejandro Ruiz Salazar and former student Jorge Pedro Gonzalez Quintero.

It's time to legalize drugs. Take away the profit motive. Tax the drugs. Make the drugs as safe as possible. Offer rehab.

El Paso medical examiner fired.

Better late than never.

A majority of the County Commissioners Court stuck by Chief Medical Examiner Paul Shrode through three conflicting résumés and more than two years of questions about his credibility. All that changed Monday when court members fired Shrode on a 3-1 vote.

They acted after the Ohio Parole Board voted 4-3 last week to recommend clemency for a death-row inmate, citing problems with testimony Shrode gave against him in 1997.

Corpus Christi ISD police officer threatens to kill family, let out on $1k bond

You are kidding right? $1k bond? He only had to come up with a hundred dollars to get out of jail? Who thinks his family is safe?

Just three months after getting a job as a CCISD officer, 27 year old Pedro Cavazos found himself on the other side of the law.

Family members say Cavazos stopped by his estranged wife's home Sunday night in the 3700 Block of Sarita Street.

Witnesses say he told everyone inside he was going to start shooting them, including his nine year old daughter.

Does the judge think that what Cavazos did was of little consequence? That bail looks like it.

More Kemp's ridley turtle nests

Five more Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nests were found Monday bringing the year’s total to 82, according the Padre Island National Seashore officials.

Last year we had 195 for the season that lasts until July.

Schools are key to a good quality of life

Why are Republicans trying to kill public education? San Antonio's Trinity Project aims to bolster public schools. What a concept.

The problem with trying to revitalize an area without addressing school quality has always been easiest to see through newcomers' eyes. Those with children aren't likely to settle around schools with dwindling populations and lousy reputations

Disgraced former Pharr assistant police chief files suit against city

Pharr city officials bullied a former assistant police chief into leaving his post and sullied his reputation with false accusations, a lawsuit filed this month alleges.

Javier Perez, a 20-year veteran of the Pharr Police Department, retired in July 2008 after the agency placed him under investigation for allegedly making thousands of dollars by selling vehicle crash reports to a lawyer and chiropractors. He was never formally charged.

AG's charges against Hidalgo politiqueras dismissed

What the hey. Abbott got his publicity, what does he care? He's a Republican, so using the government to further his own political ends rather than obtaining justice, is just fine and dandy.

In 2005, [Maria Helena] Belasquez and seven other politiqueras — operatives paid by campaigns to collect votes — were indicted on charges they mishandled ballots of elderly and disabled voters during their work on the McAllen mayoral race earlier that year.

At the time, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, described the case as yet another reminder that “voter fraud is occurring on a large scale when viewed statewide, and consequently, our state elections are significantly impacted.”

Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra, a Democrat, cautioned local politicians that the indictments should serve as a warning to all those who thought they could get away with tampering with local elections.

But despite the fanfare, nearly all the charges have been dismissed five years later.

Just in case any Republican made it this far in my post, Voter ID laws have no effect on fraud associated with mail in ballots. Voter ID is only applicable to voting in person at a polling location.

La Marque mayor doesn't like outcome of vote

Just two weeks after council members approved naming Police Chief Randall Aragon public safety director and giving him supervisory responsibilities over the fire chief, the mayor is pushing to have that vote repealed.

The measure, which passed in a split vote, was publicized by supporters as a temporary measure to “provide a buffer” as grievances filed by the fire chief against the city manger are worked out, but the ordinance never included a time limit.

The mayor doesn't like it because the city manager wanted it. More on their fight here.

Why does El Paso want a medical examiner who lied?

Court cases have been questioned because of Paul Shrode.

Shrode, 60, has been under pressure in El Paso for almost three years because of inaccurate claims on his résumé. He listed a law degree on at least two separate résumés, but does not hold that degree.

Shrode admitted under oath during cross-examination by attorney Theresa Caballero in August 2007 that he did not have the law degree he had claimed on his résumé. Even so, the commissioners court voted in November 2007 to retain him.

...

The medical board still has not ruled, but the commissioners could vote today on whether Shrode will continue in his $254,000-a-year job.

[Commissioner Veronica] Escobar has put two items regarding Shrode on the agenda. The first calls for the commissioners to discuss him in closed session. A second item permits the court to take action on Shrode in the public meeting.

Maybe now that Escobar is running for county judge, she will do the right thing and fire him.

Kemp's ridley turtles dodging oil. For now.

"We’re a little ahead of schedule, considering the nesting season started two weeks later than normal," zoologist Adrienne McCracken said.

The good news is that none of the nesting turtles were covered with oil from the ongoing spill off the coast of Louisiana.

Texas Youth Prison improves slightly from absolute horror

And for the first time since the Justice Department began its twice-yearly audits of [Evins Regional Juvenile Facility], reports of abuse and misconduct dropped during the first quarter of the 2010 fiscal year, which ended in November.

That's good news. Will Republican budget cuts change the arc of this story? WCNews wonders about Perry, Dewhurst and Straus' intentions after the November election.

With an election coming up those things are “politically unpalatable”, but once they’re safely reelected they will be their first best option. We’re already seeing headlines like these, UTMB to lay off 363 prison health care workers (which could land the state in court), and , 122 laid off so far, and scores more at risk.

It's Monday TPA blog roundup time!

The Texas Progressive Alliance is enjoying the last week of school before summer vacation as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

WhosPlayin notes that the Dallas Fort Worth area has once again failed to meet its 8 hour ozone attainment, forcing TCEQ to implement contingency measures. Have you had your two teaspoons of ozone today?

Rand Paul explains why Texas Republicans don't mind pollution notes CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme.

Off the Kuff kicks off the official countdown to KBH's 2012 re-election announcement.

Gas and Greed Divide Neighbors in Argyle, TX. A tale of greed, lies and corruption and civil disobedience in the Barnett Shale brought to you by TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Bay Area Houston will be attending the Sunset Commission review of the Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday.

There's a common thread of arrogant ignorance that runs between Rand Paul and the Texas SBOE, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs pulls the string.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson shows that the "big 3" get skittish on certain budget cuts, that won't be the case after the election, Perry, Dewhurst, Straus playing politics with budget cuts.

Libby Shaw says Thank You Rand Paul. The bash talking ideologue has broken the rightwing's first rule - don't tell'me what you really think. See more at TexasKaos.

Neil at Texas Liberal reflected on how glad he is that we have a well-armed Federal Government from freedom-snatching folks like Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Bill White reminds us that Rick Perry is responsible for the SBOE agenda

The governor selects the chair and the chair is the only one allowed to set the agenda. We can all thank Rick Perry for making Texas a laughingstock on the news networks. And, we can all thank Rick Perry for the damage he and his party have done to public education. It isn't just the ideology and the propaganda. It's the underfunding and disrespect shown.

Joe Straus shows his Republican stripes

Republicans govern like they're kings. Authority belongs to them and to hell with the people and their representatives.

"Speaker Straus pledged inclusiveness when he became Speaker," said House Democratic Caucus Leader Jessica Farrar. "He has ignored the Democrats that helped elect him and has stacked the Sunset Commission with conservative Republicans. Democrats hold only one of the five House appointments to the commission.

He's a Republican. Doing the right thing isn't important. Seizing power is.

Portland says 'No!' to Las Brisas permit

The Portland city council voted unanimously for a resolution asking the TCEQ to revisit the Las Brisas permit. Good for them. Nice to see a city council looking out for the citizens. Corpus Christi on the other hand? A crony lovers delight.

Portland Mayor David Krebs told the crowd that he came into the meeting 100 percent against the resolution, but by the time the vote occurred, he and the others fully supported it.

Democracy in action.

Cornyn doesn't want to return money from company accused of bilking taxpayers

Ethics smethics. John Cornyn, best known as one of the 40 white male Republican senators who voted to enable rapists, is hardly the first person to look to when there is a question of ethics.

Sen. John Cornyn is undecided about whether to return contributions to his campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee from a Texas firm under scrutiny for allegedly bilking taxpayers.

Cornyn is the head of the GOP's Senate campaign arm.

The Houston-based company at the heart of a deceptive practices lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott this month contributed thousands to the NRSC.

For Cornyn, power and money count. Citizens? Who cares.

Henry Cuellar wants to start with Juarez

Discussions over the specifics of Beyond Merida are still in the preliminary phases, in particular in regard to funding of the broad-based initiative whose four pillars include 1) military forces, arms and strategic equipment, 2) initiatives to develop the rule of law in the border region through professionalization of the police force and judicial system of Mexico; 3) the modernization of customs and security inspections to allow the free flow of legitimate trade; and 4) the development of infrastructure—meaningful jobs, housing, health care facilities, schools, parks and roads to remove the economic need for criminal activity.

“While all the numbers might not be available yet, Ciudad Juarez is definitely the place to test out the initiatives because it is the most difficult of all (the targeted Border cities) in looking at effectively stopping organized crime,” Cuellar said.

The batsh*t crazies win propaganda battle at SBOE

Why bother with textbooks at all. Why not just pray at school all day? Cynthia Dunbar, a leading light of the batsh*t crazies, says prayer keeps us safe. No need to worry about tornadoes, hurricanes, swine flu or nuclear warheads. Dunbar, as you may recall, doesn't believe in public education.

She calls public education a "subtly deceptive tool of perversion." The establishment of public schools is unconstitutional and even "tyrannical," she writes in the book, because it threatens the authority of families, granted by God through Scripture, to direct the instruction of their children.

So, what has the Texas State Board of Education done? Created a non-subtle tool of perversion.

Approval came after the GOP-dominated board approved a new curriculum standard that would encourage high school students to question the legal doctrine of church-state separation - a sore point for social conservative groups who disagree with court decisions that have affirmed the doctrine, including the ban on school-sponsored prayer.

Before the final vote on the lengthy list of standards, the board’s five Democrats criticized the Republican majority - primarily social conservatives - for injecting their political and religious views into the standards and giving short shrift to important minority figures in history.

Forced prayer and white supremacy.

Angry minority members of the board reacted harshly, claiming the standards glorify Anglos' role in history while avoiding the issues of discrimination against minorities.

Sounds like the 'modern' Republican party to me.

More here and here.

Texas shadow government 'officials' busted

A local father and son facing criminal charges related to their status as Republic of Texas officials contend they're being illegally persecuted for their politics.

Prosecutors say they're merely upholding the laws of the state of Texas.

Charles Tiller IV, 41, is accused of falsely identifying himself as a peace officer for having an emblem on his vehicle that featured a star and the words “Bexar County Sheriff's Department” and “Republic of Texas.”

Who liked Calderón’s speech?

Border officials. You know, people who live and work to protect people on the border. People in the real world trying to solve the real problems.

Border leaders reacted positively to Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s speech Thursday before a joint meeting of Congress.

In his speech, Calderón called on Congress to restore a ban on the assault weapons often used by drug traffickers.

In addition to drug cartel violence and organized criminal activity, Calderón spoke about his country’s economic state, immigration and the dynamics of trade between both countries. Click here to read the New York Times’ account of Calderón’s speech.

U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, praised Calderón for pointing out that the challenge to Mexico’s security has roots in both countries and that Mexico and the U.S. must work together to stop the criminal activity.

Corpus Christi refinery pollution seeping towards I37

Rand Paul would say 'too bad'.

'[Executive director of Citizens for Environmental Justice Suzie] Canales said a 2009 groundwater report shows contamination is moving south toward Interstate 37. She says the shift is proof that remediation is ineffective.

But officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state regulatory agency, said the programs are working and the report, released Friday, indicates no shift. Officials attribute the change in the contamination boundary to data from a refiner that did not participate in a voluntary data-collecting effort in a 2006, to which the most recent data is being compared.

Do you trust the Republican controlled TCEQ?

More here.

Tim Smith has lived near refinery row for 45 years.

He claims contamination from the refineries kills his plants and trees and even caused him to have health problems.

He said, "30 years I wasn't aware I'm just inhaling and inhaling thinking I'm doing something good and all the time I'm dying."

Environmentalist Suzie Canales says she's putting up a fight for people like Tim Smith.

Rand Paul would say 'too bad'.

Drug and immigration cases straining system

Federal court officials along the U.S.-Mexico border are seeing a sharp jump in criminal prosecutions for drug offenses, which analysts said are straining a justice system already burdened by a rise in immigration cases.

Take away the drug cases by legalizing drugs. No profit, no motive for the drug cartels. Legal drugs can be regulated to be safer and taxed - sorry Rand Paul. Taxes can be used to provide and promote rehab.

Immigration reform can take care of the other court capacity problem if reform is done in a humane, logical way.

What we don't need is racism and fear provoking policies and actions Dick Cheney would love.

If you travel to or from the Valley, better get buff now

A full-body scanner that can see through clothing and help security officials find bombs and other weapons will soon greet passengers at Brownsville South Padre International Airport and all the other airports in the Valley.

Something to do with drugs and gun smuggling maybe?

Rand Paul wants to finish trashing the American brand

George Bush did a great job of removing industry regulation or oversight. Polluters could pollute. Labor lost protections. Companies were allowed to take all kinds of short cuts. Americans were left with dirty air, dirty water, dangerous food, unsafe consumer products and unsafe working conditions. Rand Paul wants to take deregulation to the ultimate end - no government control of private businesses. That's what the recent talk about his opposition to the civil rights act was all about. Not racism or specifically denying blacks or other minorities. Rand Paul was opposed to the part of the Civil Rights Act that stopped private business owners from serving whites only. Rand Paul's hands off idea means at least the following:

• No building or fire codes for any home or business
• No product safety codes for cars or any other consumer product
  
• No health inspections at restaurants or food product businesses
• No inspections of scales or gas pump volume delivery
  
• No pollution controls for homes or businesses
• No business safety codes
• Discrimination at work based on race, gender, religion or whatever suits the boss
• Denial of accommodations based on whatever
• Permanent economic uncertainty without financial regulations
  

As soon as you partake of a business product, you have no idea and no guarantees about what that product is, contains or does. You just thought you were buying 16 oz of beef. Instead you got 14 oz. Or, 16 oz of sawdust and goat. Every product is buyer beware. Even if you do not buy the product, you are still subjected to the pollution it causes and collateral safety damage from others who do. 'Hands off business' is a basic, fundamental tenet of the Libertarian belief system. Rand Paul's statements about the Civil Rights Act are important to note.

'Hands off business' means America loses its sense of brand. 'Made in America' then implies 'buyer beware instead' of wholesome and safe.

Note: Rand Paul makes my point with this interview.

Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Gulf oil spill Friday as putting “his boot heel on the throat of BP” and “really un-American.”

Paul's defense of the oil company came during an interview in which he tried to explain his controversial take on civil rights law, an issue that has overtaken his campaign since his victory in Tuesday's GOP primary.

Of course, Paul's comment on BP came up during his discussion of his Civil Rights Act position. They are the same - 'hands off business'. Look for more BP disasters with Rand Paul politicians in office.

Brownsville joins cities condemning Arizona's SB 1070

Bishop Daniel E. Flores renewed the call for national immigration reform, while the Brownsville City Commission condemned the recent legislation passed in Arizona targeting undocumented immigrants.

The Texas Border Coalition isn't happy about racial profiling, either.

The Texas Border Coalition has come out strongly against the new Arizona immigration law.

In a statement, the TBC’s chair, Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez said the nation’s “broken immigration system” does not justify “violating the principles of justice on which our nation was founded.”

Missouri City council member wants to punish publication that exposed him

Missouri City At-Large Position 1 Councilman Jerry Wyatt, who kept his seat in the May 8 election, has urged Missouri City residents to boycott advertisers on FortBendNow after audio clips of Wyatt were published in which he accused mayoral candidate and District B Councilwoman Cynthia Lenton-Gary of “using black people.”

Boo hoo. Man up to what you said.

Eliot Shapleigh takes on El Paso ISD

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh opposes a tax increase for the El Paso Independent School District, saying its leadership is inefficient, central administration salaries are bloated, and Bowie High School has violated the civil rights of students.

Tell us what you really think, Senator.

Local GOP endorses crackpot for Nueces County DA

What can I say. Republicans like someone who comes in and trashes the place. Take George Bush for just one example.

District Attorney Anna Jimenez will be the Republican Party candidate for the same position in November after winning a Wednesday night vote of Nueces County GOP executive officers.

Who knew you couldn't share porn on Bexar County computers?

These folks, apparently,

On Monday, the employees — including several supervisors from the Infrastructure Services Department — received letters informing them they have 10 days to present arguments why they should not be terminated, said department head Joe Aceves.

I just don't get this. Why do you have watch porn so bad you'd use a publicly owned computer? Maybe they should all just get iPads. Psst. Don't they have enough work to do? If they're fired, I'm wondering if anyone will miss them.

Arizona makes immigration more important than drug war

As always, the irrational feelings of the right wing push the public agenda this way and that. Racism and fear are the main tools of the Republican manipulators. Look here! Brown people! Ever since the civil rights legislation of the 60's pushed the racists and all of the bible belt wackos into the corporatist, neocon Republican party there has been nothing but the crazy. We are seeing 'live by the wedge issue, die by the wedge issue'.

Immigration issues will dominate a two-day visit by Mexican President Felipe Calderón to Washington, D.C., while the war on drugs may take a back seat.

...

Calderón is expected to address Congress on Thursday and will probably speak in opposition to a tough immigration law adopted in Arizona in April. The law gives law enforcement officials the legal authority to ask the immigration status of a person if the officer has a "reasonable suspicion" the person is in the country illegally.

Originally, when the White House announced the visit of Calderón, he and Obama were to discuss cooperation on border security and the battle against organized crime. It became a top topic in mid-March when an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Juárez and her husband, both U.S. citizens, were killed after a children's birthday party in Juárez.

Prosecutors want Handy to go to jail

I do, too.

Former Hidalgo County Commissioner Sylvia Handy could spend up to six years in federal prison if prosecutors have their way at her sentencing hearing next month.

Government attorneys argue that the erstwhile elected official should be punished harshly for allegedly using her office to abuse the public’s trust, trying to obstruct the ongoing investigation into her crimes and inducing several other county employees to break the law.

Read more about Handy here.

Who owns your medical data?

The state traded baby blood taken in mandatory new born screening for lab equipment. Do want drug companies to know your personal business?

The vendor that Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. uses has been criticized for sharing patient data with drug companies. The vendor that Fort Worth's Cook Children's Health Care System uses is considering offering physician customers discounts for sharing patient data.

The US Congress needs to weigh in on this to ban the practice of using patient data for uses other than those needed for proper medical treatment of that patient.

Another day, another Texas college raising rates

Victoria College's per semester hour rate goes up 10% from $20 to $22.

Tuition and fees currently sit at $852 for 12 hours per semester among in-county residents, and $1,392 for area residents who live outside Victoria County.

Texas doctors dropping Medicare patients

It's time for Congress to pay fair rates.

Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.

Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren't taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year.

Republicans would like nothing more than to kill Medicare and Social Security. Under paying is just a slow death.

Hispanic dropouts don't get GEDs

Hispanic high school dropouts are far less likely to receive a GED than their white or black counterparts, according to a report released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The study’s statistics, which detail the low levels of education attainment for Latinos, are grim news for the nation’s largest minority group. They also are particularly pertinent to the Rio Grande Valley, where linguistic barriers deter hundreds from attaining the General Educational Development (GED) credential, higher education experts said.

Education is too important to miss in today's world. Some educators have set their sights higher.

The strong collaboration between South Texas College and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD is going to do wonders for the prosperity of the Rio Grande Valley, believes STC President Shirley Reed.

In a speech PSJA’s brand new Kennedy Middle School in Pharr last Thursday, Reed said STC has the exact same vision that Dr. Danny King, superintendent of PSJA, has – college for all.

“We believe that everyone can and needs to attend college. It needs to be affordable. It needs to be accessible and we need to have the highest expectations for the success of every student,” Reed said.

Guess who's #1 in safety violations?

A Washington-based research group says two BP refineries in the U.S. account for 97 percent of "egregious willful" violations given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

If business people make deliberate decisions to cut corners and those decisions result in death and destruction, those individuals should go to jail and lose the money they profited and more. Why aren't more people charged with negligent homicide? Really. Why?

San Antonio Express News slams certain city council members

David Medina gets kudos for improving while others get lashes. John Clamp is dinged for being illogical. Philip Corte is not very effective. Jennifer Ramos is 'shocked' to learn she, herself, misused city and campaign funds. Mary Alice Cisneros is painted as lazy and boring.

Fine bunch of folks.

Republicans successful in creating a permanent Hispanic underclass

If the American Dream is upward economic mobility and arrival in the middle class, the grim statistics show only a small percentage of Texas Hispanics are on the road to it.

If current trends of the state's expanding Hispanic population hold over the next two decades, Texas is in danger of developing what one academic describes as a “permanent underclass.” Widespread poverty could pull down the standard of living for all Texans.

Why are Republicans so insecure? Why must they feel superior to someone? Life isn't a zero sum game. People are meant to work together for the enrichment of all. Too bad Republican ego gets in the way. Cutting your nose off to spite your face isn't very useful. Public education, health care and other investments into people help everyone.

Brownsville Mayor has 3 DWI charges

One previous DWI charge was dismissed and one resulted in a conviction.

However, [Pat] Ahumada —who just two months ago was acquitted of theft charges in a check scandal — is facing the legal realities of a third DWI charge, and his effectiveness as a city leader and his political credibility are hanging in the balance.

This mayor has real problems.

It's TPA blog rounup time.

The Texas Progressive Alliance is somewhat distracted this week by the upcoming series finale of "Lost", but managed to stay on task long enough to bring you the blog roundup.

This week at Left of College Station, the spring semester ends at Teddy has made it through another twelve hours of classes. However, Teddy does take a look at the developments in the campaign for TX17, and how the Republicans are attempting to nationalize the midterm elections.

TXsharon took some EPA officials from D.C. on a Barnett Shale tour last week.

Bay Area Houston says Arizona's Governor Brewer is the new Face of the GOP.

Off the Kuff interviewed Democratic candidate for Lt. Gov. Linda Chavez-Thompson about Arizona's immigration law and what comprehensive immigration reform would look like.

WhosPlayin has the final results from the Texas DSHS investigation of blood and urine for residents of Dish, TX; the conclusions are not by any means an exoneration for the industry because of significant limitations to the investigation.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes the futility of Cornyn and Perry saying they want the Hispanic vote while Republicans simultaneously rev up the Tea Party racists.

Sarah Palin decides to release another book and McBlogger had just a few comments.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw has a question: Is Rick Perry's 2006 Business Tax an Income Tax? According to a pretty sharp legal student, the answer is yes. Who would have thought it, Rick Perry pulling a fast one so he could continue his lower property tax bait and switch scam.....

Announcing the planned City of Houston budget for the year ahead Houston Mayor Annise Parker said Houston has an economy "better than that in any other part of the country." She said this despite Houston's high poverty rate, high dropout rate and large number of people without health insurance. These issues, however, don't seem to be part of Mayor Parker's agenda for the future of Houston.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson As taxes receipts ebb and budget troubles hit Williamson County the poor and middle class are likely to pay for it, Changes to indigent health care in Williamson County.

A slow post week at Brains and Eggs as PDiddie slid out to Sin City to help his nephew celebrate his 21st birthday. There's a great old pic of the Golden Nugget -- now under the ownership of Tilman Fertitta -- from 1946, when PDiddie's grandfather used to frequent the gambling hall.

Even Republicans aren't all out keen on Nueces County DA train wreck

Nueces County Republican Party precinct chairs are expected to pick either District Attorney Anna Jimenez or former Nueces County Assistant District Attorney James Sales as their district attorney candidate Wednesday.

Anna Jimenez, recently appointed by Perry, immediately fired and demoted those who might run against her for DA. Jimenez brought in her less qualified cronies and acts like she personally owns the place. Gee, Republicans usually like that kind of behavior.

Historians for the Memorial Coliseum

Corpus Christi city council apparently thinks profit is more important than pride for veterans.

The application nominating Memorial Coliseum to the National Register of Historic Places received unanimous support from the state review board, despite demolition work that continues.

That designation doesn’t prevent demolition.

Neither does a judge's injunction.

Should businesses surround themselves with 7K volt fences?

Ouch. That doesn't seem same for the people or the wildlife. What about the kids?

Do powerful electric fences have a place within El Paso's city limits, near residential developments?

Security companies want to be able to install battery-powered electric fences around El Paso businesses, but the city government's staff is skeptical, Mayor John Cook said Friday. The City Council will debate the issue Tuesday.

The fences are intended to deter intruders from warehouses, garages, freight yards and the like.

What does that d*mn fence, Arizona's SB 1070, and military operations on our border have in common?

Yes, they're all illogical reactions to stoke the racism and fear of the Republican base. Will a drone work to spot illegal activity on the border?

An unarmed surveillance drone will soon be monitoring the borderland for criminals and illegal activity.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it authorized a drone to fly back and forth between Fort Huachuca, an Army installation near Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Big Bend National Park beginning June 1, said Vincent Perez, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

A dirt bag is selling a Memorial Coliseum brick on eBay

That's not the worst of it. The dirt bag is claiming to give 10% of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. That was news to the American Cancer Society.

Brownsville businesses suffer

It isn't easy being near the border these days. If it isn't actual violence, it's the talk of violence.

It was difficult for storeowners in Brownsville’s downtown shops to determine whether a boycott staged by Mexican chambers of commerce was the reason for Thursday’s slow business. That’s because business has been slow for weeks, if not months, and some fledgling business owners are already considering calling it quits.

"It’s a ghost town," said Helena Trejo, the owner of Helena’s Gift Gallery on E. Washington St.

Trejo says that, over the past few months, business at her small shop has plummeted, from an average of 25 customers each day to a scant three.

It's past time to legalize drugs. Prohibition does not work. Tax the drugs. Make them as safe as possible. Offer rehab. Start with marijuana, if you won't do it all at once.

What's the cure for racism? Time, education and policies that encourage diversity. More about the Mexican Chamber of Commerce boycott of US businesses here and here.

John Cornyn goes after Hispanic vote

Oh, please. I saw you at the Sonia Sotomayor hearings.

Sen. John Cornyn and a group of local Hispanic leaders are gathering in Dallas on Friday to push for the appointment of Sarah Saldaña as the next federal prosecutor for the Dallas-anchored northern district of Texas.

Who would believe a rapist enabler like Cornyn anyway? Cornyn was one of 40 white male REPUBLICAN senators who voted to deny women who are raped justice in our courts.

Rick Perry tries to woo Hispanic vote

Ut oh. The batsh*t crazy racist base won't like that.

"He's trying to walk that tightrope between the hard-core base of his party, which probably does support the Arizona model, with one eye toward not alienating the Latino vote," said Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Do the Sugar Land police have something to hide?

According to the e-mails obtained by FortBendNow, at this point the Sugar Land communications department began working with Police Chief Doug Brinkley on how to make crime information less accessible to the media, without compromising the usefulness of publicity that was beneficial or helpful to the city.

Sun light is a great disinfectant. Does Sugar Land need one?

Corpus Christi gives Judge Klager the finger

Demolition crews ripped off the facade of Memorial Coliseum and its exterior walls Thursday, beginning the first steps of demolition.

The building will be gone in 45 to 50 days, A&R Demolition project manager Vernon Carr said.

Judge Klager said his injunction against this destruction was still in effect.

Former Hidalgo County District Clerk charged with harassment

Former Hidalgo County district clerk Omar Guerrero was formally charged with harassment, a Class B misdemeanor, during an arraignment hearing Wednesday in Mission Municipal Court. Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister set bond at $3,000.

Guerrero’s attorney, Ciro Ochoa, declined to comment on the case. His client was banned during Wednesday’s hearing from contacting the purported victim.

According to a police affidavit in the case, the woman said she began receiving calls from Guerrero on Saturday morning, shortly after midnight. He allegedly flirted with her and talked about her previous marriage, telling her that her current husband was cheating on her with other women.

At one point, he told the woman that he watched her while she went jogging in the morning, according to the affidavit.

That's creepy. But, then, Guerrero is creepy.

League City Council takes an opportunity to humiliate former city manager in front of his children

How did the council allow this to happen?

With family and friends by his side, Reed attended Tuesday’ city council meeting expecting to receive a proclamation naming Tuesday “Chris Reed Day.”

Instead, the city council voted to table Councilman Jim Nelson’s proclamation in a 4-1 vote.

Reed last month subdued a man accused of beating his girlfriend in the parking lot at Best Buy, 2510 Interstate 45.

Reed in June resigned under pressure from the city council after he and Mayor Toni Randall clashed professionally. He now is city manager of Nassau Bay.

...

Reed’s wife took their children outside once the council began arguing about the proclamation.

Brownsville mayor says he won't resign over DWI arrest

"I’m entitled to the same rights afforded everyone. Just because you get arrested doesn’t mean you are guilty," the mayor told The Herald Wednesday. "Citizens need to give me that opportunity."

He didn't resign when a $26K check that didn't belong to him got deposited into his account. Somehow the jury acquitted him over that.

The Brownsville Herald got videos of the arrest and booking.

Mexico may boycott US products

Why is it right wingers fear a Mexican getting US health care, but don't think at all about the good Mexican workers do or the money Mexicans spend here?

Mexican business leaders are calling for a boycott of U.S. goods and to avoid crossing the border today as a way of showing their protest against Arizona Senate Bill 1070.

If the US continues to show hate to people with brown skin, why should people with brown skin support the US economy? Targeted boycotts would be better, but a broader boycott may get the attention of sane US adults.

Problems with Texas workers' comp

With Republicans wanting workers to be treated like tissue paper - use'em up then throw them away - who's surprised?

On a brisk day in mid-February, state fraud enforcement attorney Cathy Lockhart got a terse memo from the human resources department at the Texas Department of Insurance and an escort out the door. She had been put on "emergency leave." A few weeks later, the department officially terminated her, citing “secret and clandestine” activity — namely, that she researched how much money had been spent on medical fraud investigations that her supervisor had abruptly spiked.

...

The broken enforcement system, the former employees say, stems from Bordelon's insistence on putting the due process rights of accused doctors ahead of the rights of their allegedly abused patients. That misplaced focus, the employees believe, results in part from political pressure on Bordelon. They cite the example of state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, who stepped in to quash an investigation targeting one of his campaign contributors, Tyler physician Aaron Caldoney. Campaign finance records show that Calodney has given $3,000 to Berman’s campaigns since 2006. The doctor billed insurers $1.9 million in workers’ compensation claims over a two-year period, division records show.

For Republicans, it's about about serving their cronies. Texas citizens? Not so much.

San Antonio school teacher accused of making racist comments in class

If true, what was she doing teaching class in San Antonio?

A Jefferson High School teacher has been removed from the classroom after a student complained of racist remarks.

...

She proceeded to single him out repeatedly, Ortiz said, pointing at him as she made comments like, “The Mexicans with their attitudes are the racist ones.”

Continuing to point at Ortiz, she allegedly told the class that Mexicans always “expect handouts” and “soon it's going to be the United States of Mexico,” according to Ortiz.

Texas border congressional reps call out Rick Perry on use of Homeland Security money

In a statement issued Tuesday, the congressmen say an average $125 million in Department of Homeland Security funding has been sent to Texas annually since 2006. They claim that Perry has consistently sent less than 10 percent of those funds to border law enforcement agencies. It is the border where the funds are most needed, the congressmen argue.

“Governor Perry’s own rhetoric indicates that he considers the border a critically sensitive area. We agree. Yet, Governor Rick Perry has disputed some clear-cut facts about border security funding,” the five congressmen said, in a statement issued Tuesday.

Facts are just so inconvenient for Republicans. That's why they like their politics faith-based.

Teacher fired after video revealed beating

But Isaiah Reagins, a sixth-grader at Jamie's House Charter School in north Harris County, had good reason to ask. According to his mom and a cell phone video that apparently captured the incident, a female science teacher dragged him by the legs across the floor, slapped his face repeatedly, kicked his back at least twice and slammed his head against a wall.

...

School officials said Tuesday that they fired 40-year-old Sheri Lynn Davis. She had worked at the school, which serves about 100 at-risk students, for three years and never had any complaints against her, according to a Jamie's House spokeswoman.

Cell phones can change life in Houston as well as Iran. Sounds like this teacher passed her breaking point.

Border Sheriffs want money to fight border violence

Of course they do. Here's a better idea. Legalize drugs. Make the drugs safer and tax them. Provide rehab. Take away the profit motive for drug lords and the problem goes away. Obama's new drug policy announced yesterday seems like a step in the right direction, but comes up short in the budget.

"Despite promising statements by the new administration and Director Kerlikowske, the FY 2010 Budget does not reflect a changed approach to fighting drug abuse," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), chair of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "While there is an increased emphasis on treatment programs, the spending allocated to supply-side initiatives still vastly outweighs the demand-side programs."

More here.

Lets defund the drug lord before their network is too big to break. Who among us thinks that US politicians can't be bought or intimidated?

El Paso needs to work on public transportation, car pooling

More workers in El Paso have abandoned car pools than in any other large city in America, a national study has found.

The study by the Brookings Institution also found that El Paso had the third-largest increase in people in a metropolitan area who drove alone to work.

Rockport says there is no racial profiling

"We document the traffic stops in writing, we record video on our traffic stops on our vehicle and in person," said Lt. James Wilson, an officer participating in the Stonegarden program.

For those who claim there's racial profiling, documents we obtained show that last year 73 white people were searched and only 24 Hispanic by the Aransas County Sheriff's Office. Total arrests made were 90 for white people and 24 Hispanic.

Others disagree. Don't you just love cop car video cams? They tell the truth not matter which side.

Corpus Christi city council weasels on Las Brisas

Crony capitalism beats Corpus Christi citizen health and well being, but Corpus Christi council members want to look like they didn't do it. At least, not on the record. Too bad anyone with an IQ of 5 can see through their weaselness.

The City Council gave the city manager final authority in negotiations to provide water to Las Brisas Energy Center, a proposed $3 billion plant that would add as much as 12 percent to the city's water demand.

The 5-2 decision came after three hours of discussion Tuesday in which 45 residents addressed the council. The standing-room-only crowd was split with some wearing pro- or anti-Las Brisas T-shirts and buttons.

Thank you Nelda Martinez and Priscilla Leal for voting no.

Brownsville Mayor in trouble again, arrested for DWI

He needn't worry though. The police have got his back.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Brownsville Police Department had not released the dashboard camera recording of the early morning DWI arrest of Mayor Pat. M. Ahumada Jr.

Police Chief Carlos Garcia said officers are having trouble retrieving a copy of the recording from a new recording system.

The dog ate my homework. Ahumada escaped jail time when a jury acquitted him of felony theft. A $26K check made out to someone else mysterious made it into Ahumada's checking account, apparently deposited by someone looking just like Ahumada.

See previous posts.

Racial profiling alleged in Rockport

Some police may not wait for an Arizona hate law of their own.

One man we talked to, who doesn't want to be identified, claims that he was stopped only because of the color of his skin. The first question Rockport Police asked him was," If I'm an American citizen."

"The fact pattern appears to be that people are pulled over in Rockport for traffic violations, they're not issued tickets, they say they're not speeding, I don't know. It's something that we are monitoring," said Debra Rodriguez, an immigration attorney.

Some are surprised that the wave of racist hate spewing from the right wingers is causing Hispanics of all persuasions to unite.Why the surprise? The hate targets all people of color.

Context Matters: Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement in Nine U.S. Cities, by the Project on Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars reveals that all these harsh legislative actions have created stronger ties between U.S. Latino citizens and the legal and undocumented immigrants.

Something that wasn't the norm before the spate of anti-Latino immigrant fervor.

Racial profiling targets you based on your skin color not your immigration or citizenship status. That is not a mistake or an unintended consequence of the racism behind these immigration laws. That is the point.

Obama talking a minor step in right direction in drug war

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a revised approach to "confronting the complex challenge of drug use and its consequences," putting more resources into drug prevention and treatment.

Ok. Why not couple this idea with legalizing drugs? Make the drugs safer. Tax them to help pay for rehab and prevention.

As for the violence, the only way to stop the drug lords is to remove the profit motive.

John Cornyn goes after Obama's court pick

You knew he would. He's a Republican and they're out to stop anything Obama wants to do to help our country. If it's good for the country, they're against it because they don't want Obama to succeed. Even if Obama's success means American success.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn sharply criticized Supreme Court nominee Solicitor General Elena Kagan today -- hinting strongly that her lack of judicial experience, privileged background and role in Harvard’s efforts to bar military recruiters make it unlikely he will support her confirmation.

Translation: Oh, my God, she's only 50 years old!

Cornyn is best remembered as one of the 40 Republican, white males who voted in the Senate to enable rapists. No Republican female voted with these enablers. Just the men. Do you trust anything this man has to say about anything? I wouldn't.

Video of Houston charter school teacher hitting kid

At least, the teacher is going to be fired and the parents are pressing charges.

As Texas schools cheating by claiming dropouts are home schooled?

More than 22,620 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state's dropout statistics because administrators said they were being home-schooled, according to Texas Education Agency figures.

But that's where the scrutiny of this growing population seems to end, leaving some experts convinced that schools are disguising thousands of middle and high school dropouts in this hands-off category.

While home-schooling's popularity has increased, the rate of growth concentrated in Texas' high school population is off the chart: It's nearly tripled in the last decade, including a 24 percent jump in a single year.

Republicans don't care. They don't like public education, because, you know, it educates the public.

Las Brisas would effect the quality of life in more ways than one in Corpus Christi

Too much air pollution invokes Federal rules requiring actions in other areas like car inspections. Then, there's the problem of - TOO MUCH AIR POLLUTION.

Opponents of Las Brisas spoke at a forum specifically about the affects the plant would have on our air quality.

Las Brisas would become the largest polluter in Nueces County according to the Clean Economy Coalition.

What does that mean for us?

Our air quality is so bad that we could go into non-attainment which means we fail to meet the federal standards for air quality.

Crony capitalism is alive and well. Let the little people gasp for breath.

We the People has more - here and here.

Corpus Christi demolishing Memorial Coliseum despite injunction against doing so

The city is run by Republicans. When a Republican is in office, they become royalty in their minds. They are above the law.

The city of Corpus Christi is moving forward with the demolition of Memorial Coliseum despite a judge’s statement Monday that an injunction still is in effect.

County Court-at-Law Judge James Klager said his order halting demolition remains valid until the 13th Court of Appeals issues a mandate.

When crony capitalist money is to be made, why waste time on trinkets like a war memorial? Carlos Valdez sells out again.

Perry wants Texas to be the country's radioactive waste dump

What is wrong with Republicans? Education, health care, and the environment are of no concern. Just saber rattling and cronies 24/7.

A commission run jointly by Texas and Vermont, with a membership made up mostly of Gov. Rick Perry's appointees, could decide this summer to make Texas the potential resting place for radioactive waste from 36 states.

Was there an election for a new state rep or not?

Mabrie Jackson beat Van Taylor who was previously declared the winner by secretary of state Hope Andrade. The problem? Jackson withdrew too late to be removed from the ballot, but Andrade actions should have stopped the vote. Collin County held the election anyway. Oops. Now what?

Republicans have a new line of attack against public education

Dan Patrick and his gang would like to increase the number of students in a classroom. I can see where this going. From 22 to 30. From 30 to 40. From 40 to 150. Until there is only 1 public school teacher in the state of Texas. Then, none.

More Kemp's ridley turtle nests

23 found so far. Last year we had 195 for the season that lasts until July.

BP counts its costs. Who cares about yours.

$350M for BP - incalculable loss for the rest of us.

BP PLC said Monday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has cost the company $350 million so far as it outlined renewed efforts to contain the leak.

See, that's the problem we have had all along. BP doesn't care about anything except its own costs. How do you think we wound up in this situation in the first place?

It's time for the TPA blog roundup!

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone had a lovely Mother's Day as it reviews the highlights from the blogs.

WhosPlayin has election results and commentary for Lewisville, Lewisville ISD, and Flower Mound.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted a picture of the Mayflower landing in West Texas. Under Texas State Board of Education guidelines, you can teach kids just about anything as long as it is false.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme applauds South Texas for supporting their schools. Tea Party tax brats take note.

Indemnification language exposes industry known threats to safety, public health and environment from hydraulic fracture. On Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Bay Area Houston posted Governor Rick Perry's personal offering on National Prayer Day, Let Us Prey.

Off the Kuff reminds us of the cost of Rick Perry's rejection of stimulus funds for unemployment insurance.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson states that the 2003 Texas GOP/DeLay redistricting scheme continues to cost Texas dearly The perils at the national level of being a majority minority-party state.

Rick Perry's ad attacked Bill White's ad this past week, and Rick Perry's ad lost. Not because it was filled with lies and mischaracterizations, and not because it used Yao Ming in a weirdly inappropriate way. No, Rick Perry's ad got kicked because Rick Perry is man so terrified of everything in his life that even laser sights and hollow points aren't enough to comfort him. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has "Perry v. White over the air", a fight which resembled Mayweather-Mosely in its one-sided outcome.

At TexasKaos, JRBehrman poses three questions about the BP oil spill and gives useful perspective on their answers... Check it out : Three Questions Hint: no quick fixes here!

Why does the SBOE want to pay charter school rent with our permanent school fund?

You knew it was all about the crony capitalism, didn't you?

A State Board of Education committee is considering allocating about $100 million of the $22.1 billion Permanent School Fund to invest in new buildings for charter schools that often set up classrooms in old shopping centers because they get no money for facilities.

Clinton era tax breaks make hedge fund owners investors in charter schools where their money can double in 7 years.

The result is, you can put in ten million dollars and in seven years double your money. The problem is, that the charter schools end up paying in rents, the debt service on these loans and so now, a lot of the charter schools in Albany are straining paying their debt service--their rent has gone up from $170,000 to $500,000 in a year or--huge increases in their rents as they strain to pay off these loans, these construction loans. The rents are eating-up huge portions of their total cost. And, of course, the money is coming from the state.

Victoria's DA Hissy Fit spends $42K on useless chief of staff

Steve Tyler is a real piece of work. What is he up to now?

District Attorney Steve Tyler's office manager is on indefinite administrative leave with full pay and benefits.

The manager, Sam Eyre, is named in a lawsuit a federal judge deemed will go to trial in February.

Is it a payoff? I hope we find out.

Alton mayoral candidate has too many 'roommates'

A small house tucked away at the end of a dead-end street is at question in a residency controversy that engulfed this city in the week leading up to today’s election.

The house at 619 N. Eagle Pass St. is the home address of Jose Picasso, a chiropractor and candidate for Alton mayor. It’s also the listed address for 23 other registered voters, most of whom changed their registration to the house in the two months leading up to the election.

Well, doesn't that just stink to high heaven. An, no, right wing wackos, voter id cards would not help in this situation.

Lawyer says BP is violating probation

Brent Coon, lead lawyer in the BP Texas refinery explosion, notes that BP violated the terms of its probation with its Gulf rig disaster.

Meanwhile, the press says lobbyists are to blame for lax regulations.

Citing high costs of safety precautions and low risks of spills, energy industry lobbyists and their allies in Washington have molded federal laws and regulations over two decades in ways that may have ultimately proved costly in lives and economic damages.

What about the lawmakers who weaken or stop laws to protect us? What about the Bush administration which ignored whatever rules were in place? What about the Republican philosophy implemented starting in the Reagan years that believes corporations above all should run our country?

I blame Republicans and the corporate owned Democrats who were bought off, scared off or drank the kool aid.

Who wants to go after the benefits of disabled veterans?

When stories like the following begin to appear, I suspect a Republican think tank has been spinning sh*t to the press.

Some of the state's largest cities and counties are losing millions of dollars in tax revenue because of new exemptions for disabled veterans.

Voters in 2007 approved a constitutional amendment to allow a complete property tax exemption for veterans deemed 100-percent disabled. Last year, lawmakers approved legislation to enact the exemption, and thousands of veterans have since applied. Lawmakers also increased exemptions for veterans with disability ratings of 30 percent, 50 percent or 70 percent.

Cities and counties that depend heavily on property tax revenue are still trying to figure out the impact the exemption will have on budgets that have already been hard hit by an economic downturn.

Nueces County DA tries new witch hunt tactic

First Anna Jimenez demoted staff and replaced them with less qualified cronies. Then, she fired someone, because somebody else released a copy of an embarrassing memo Jimenez wrote. What is she up to now?

Officials are investigating allegations that a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office had an unspecified relationship with a defendant that may have affected how cases were handled, according to a motion filed by District Attorney Anna Jimenez on Friday.

Jimenez asked that her office be recused from any investigation in the matter. She asked that a district attorney pro tem be appointed.

Let Republican hack Greg Abbott do Republican hack Anna Jimenez's dirty work. Something stinks really badly at the DA's office.

Texas voters approve increased taxes for education

Put that in your Tea pot and smoke it!

Nueces County area went 2/1 for schools.

Voters in four area independent school districts -- Kingsville, Mathis, Robstown and Taft -- approved millions in bonds to improve schools and build new facilities while voters in Alice and Odem-Edroy ISDs defeated bond measures.

Odem-Edroy ISD vote was close while Alice is the only area dofus. There's more.

Residents in Bishop, Driscoll and Petronila overwhelmingly supported creating a district to pay for ambulance service in the rural areas of southwest Nueces County.

Bexar County voters said yes passing Northside ISD , South San Antonio ISD, Alamo Heights ISD, Somerset ISD, Olmos Park and Universal City bonds.

Lavaca said yes to school bonds.

In El Paso, the few people who bothered to vote preferred their wallets to supporting education.

Voters in the Ysleta Independent School District rejected a $160 million bond issue Saturday.

The bond contained a variety of projects, including measures that would have built two new elementary schools and renovated some high schools.

The district's leadership split the bond election into five separate initiatives. Voters rejected them all.

Galveston voters did turn down the building of a new sports stadium, but I'd count that as a win for sensible allocation of tax funds.

Voters Saturday resoundingly rejected issuing as much as $35 million in bond debt for Galveston school district’s proposed multipurpose stadium.

But as stadium opponents were celebrating their landslide victory, supporters of the bond issue already were promising to work to bring a new stadium proposal back to voters.

Apparently, they won't take a 'resounding' no for an answer.

Santa Fe said no to a new police station.

Despite support from city leaders, voters again Saturday rejected a bond referendum that would have raised taxes to build a $4.82 million police station.

Although disappointed, Santa Fe Police Chief Kenneth Campbell said his staff was committed to its duties and oath and would continue to provide the best service and protection to residents as they’ve done for many years.

How nice that the police chief says he'll continue to do his job and not have a vengeful temper tantrum.

McAllen said no to tennis and parks.

South Texas school district bonds vote 'for' 9/3 excluding the Galveston sports stadium vote. 3 to 1 for schools! Other bond issues went 'for' 2/2.

La Joya School Board president accused of trading jobs for votes

La Joya School Board President Adolfo “Fito” Salinas has used his elected position to bully and bribe those who could endanger victory for his allies in today’s city elections, a series of audio recordings obtained by The Monitor suggests.

Sounds like a peach of a guy.

Dirty El Paso judge catches a break in nepotism case

Just sentenced to 5 years in prison for taking bribes, Manuel Barrazo gets his nepotism charge dismissed.

District Attorney Jaime Esparza said Friday that he has dropped a nepotism charge against former District Judge Manuel Barraza because of his federal conviction and sentencing.

Barraza, 55, had been scheduled to go to trial Monday in the 41st District Court on the charge. Court officials said Friday morning that the trial had been canceled by Judge John Creuzot, a visiting judge from Dallas who had been appointed to hear the case.

Esparza said he dismissed the charge "in light of the conviction in federal court and the five-year prison sentence imposed (Thursday)."

I don't understand. If he did it, he did it. Why not go after him?

Meanwhile, Barraza's brothers are accused of intimidation and assault in the court room during Manuel's sentencing hearing. John was said to have threatened a federal prosecutor and Paul is said to have hit a photographer. Nice.

Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum soon will be gone

Don't ya' just love crony capitalism?

Demolition crews started working at Memorial Coliseum Friday morning, hours after the city learned that the 13th Court of Appeals reversed a court order blocking demolition.

The new ruling, issued by Justice Dori Contreras Garza, cleared the way for work stalled since March 12, when two groups filed lawsuits seeking to preserve the coliseum.

Need for increased security at the border has consequences

But the closure of the livestock inspection ports is a "concrete example" that border violence is impeding trade between the United States and Mexico, said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who joined other border lawmakers in a meeting this week with high-ranking U.S. and Mexican security officials.

"It affects livelihoods if we don’t open up those livestock inspection ports," said Cuellar, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee. "Ranchers, farmers and cattle owners are all affected by (border security) when you close the inspections across from Pharr."

It's a good idea to check and upgrade security from time to time. Panic upgrades not so much. Here's an idea. Legalize drugs and stop the drug war. It's that simple. Make drugs as safe as they can be. Offer rehab. Tax the drugs. There you go. No drug violence problem.

Pentagon says public doesn't have the need to know about Gitmo trials

I don't see any other way to view the Pentagon's actions. I guess that's better than shooting them dead. Many, many journalists have died, since Bush led us into multiple wars.

The Pentagon Thursday banned four reporters, including one from McClatchy Newspapers, from covering future military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, charging that they'd violated ground rules by publishing the name of a former Army interrogator who was a witness at a hearing there this week.

The news organizations — McClatchy, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Globe and Mail and CanWest Newspapers of Canada — said they'd appeal the Pentagon's decision and that their reporters hadn't violated the ground rules.

Read more:

McClatchy, formerly Knight Ridder, was the only news service actually delivering news during the Bush war years.

Why does an El Paso representative drive without a license?

[Northeast City rep. Carl] Robinson admitted failing to get a Texas driver's license, saying " ...was an oversight on my part, a mistake that I made."

Robinson wouldn't answer if he has a valid driver's license or if he owns a car.

He did tell ABC-7 he has a friend who drives him around and said he'll explain why he doesn't have a Texas license at an appropriate time but wouldn't say when that time would be.

That leaves us lots of room to speculate. Are drivers licenses the mark of the devil? Is Robinson an anarchist? Is Robinson mentally incapable of getting a license? Or, does Robinson think that laws apply to everyone but him? For now, I'll go with the latter.

Dirty El Paso judge gets 5 years

State Judge Manuel Barraza, convicted of three felonies during a judicial term that lasted just three months, received a five-year prison sentence Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo handed down the punishment after a four-hour hearing. Montalvo elected not to fine Barraza, telling him he should use his money to support his wife and teenage son while he is in prison.

Barraza asked the judge to consider his family. Barraza should have thought about that when he was asking for money and sex from a defendant. Barraza faces nepotism charges in another case.

See previous posts.

Here's a question you might not expect to see

'In marriage cases, how should sex be determined?'

A Hudspeth county couple tied the knot in San Antonio. One, born intersexed, was raised as a male. His birth certificate listed him as a male, but he determined later in life that certificate was in error. Now, as a female, she married her female partner. What does Texas law say about that?

First, under a 1999 Texas appeals court decision, [Sabrina Jeanne] Hill is legally considered a man, [County Attorney Jo Anne ] Bernal said in her letter to [Texas Attorney General Greg] Abbott.

"Hill's 'true and accurate birth certificate' identifies him as a male. Based on (court precedent), Hill is immutably and irrevocably a male, and under Texas law can marry a female," Bernal wrote.

Second, a 2009 change to Texas law lists 19 documents that can be used to prove age and identity to obtain a marriage license, including an original birth certificate, another state's driver's license or a court order relating to a name or sex change, all of which Hill submitted.

What silly lengths homophobes will go. We haven't even mentioned the dilemma about gay married in another state, but unable to divorce anywhere.

Another day, another fuel catastrophe

City officials expressed relief Wednesday after firefighters subdued a blaze at a Southeast Side refinery before it could ignite a dozen nearby fuel tanks holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of explosive jet fuel.

The midday blaze turned the city's eyes skyward as billowing plumes of smoke drifted overhead, causing mass evacuations and snarling traffic for miles in every direction.

At least one refinery worker was critically injured.

An accident waiting to happen, did.

AGE Refining, the scene of an explosion that released dense black smoke from its South Presa Street plant Wednesday, was fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 13 serious violations in spring 2008.

OSHA, which cited AGE for not instituting a number of safety procedures, fined the refiner $25,750 for the violations.

AGE improperly allowed vehicles to pass near processing equipment, OSHA said, noting that “may increase the potential for ignition of flammable vapors that can be released” at the plant.

This mess could have been very, very bad.

El Paso city rep likes to drive, but doesn't have a license

City Rep. Carl Robinson, who was cited Monday for driving without a driver's license, does not have a driver's license and was convicted in 2008 of driving without a valid license, documents show.

Robinson, who said Monday he did have a license, was also cited for having an expired registration sticker.

Robinson was convicted on Oct. 9, 2008, of driving without a license, according to records from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The conviction stems from a citation Robinson received on Murphy Street on Dec. 2, 2007, according to court records.

Strange man. What other government licenses or permits is he missing?