When President Bush says "Trust Me", do you ?

George Will: 'Trust me' isn't much of a case for Harriet Miers

04:40 AM CDT on Thursday, October 6, 2005

Senators beginning what ought to be a protracted and exacting scrutiny of Harriet Miers should be guided by three rules.
First, it is not important that she be confirmed.
Second, it might be very important that she not be.
Third, the presumption – perhaps rebuttable, but certainly in need of rebutting – should be that her nomination is not a defensible exercise of presidential discretion to which senatorial deference is due.
It is not important that she be confirmed because there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks. The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me.
There is no reason to.

to read the entire article please go to : http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-will_06edi.ART.State.Edition1.18ce14de.html
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White House Ethics, Honesty Questioned

55% in Survey Say Libby Case Signals Broader Problems
By Richard Morin and Claudia Deane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 30, 2005; Page A14

A majority of Americans say the indictment of senior White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby signals broader ethical problems in the Bush administration, and nearly half say the overall level of honesty and ethics in the federal government has fallen since President Bush took office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.
The poll, conducted Friday night and yesterday, found that 55 percent of the public believes the Libby case indicates wider problems "with ethical wrongdoing" in the White House, while 41 percent believes it was an "isolated incident." And by a 3 to 1 ratio, 46 percent to 15 percent, Americans say the level of honesty and ethics in the government has declined rather than risen under Bush.
In the aftermath of the latest crisis to confront the White House, Bush's overall job approval rating has fallen to 39 percent, the lowest of his presidency in Post-ABC polls. Barely a third of Americans -- 34 percent -- think Bush is doing a good job ensuring high ethics in government, which is slightly lower than President Bill Clinton's standing on this issue when he left office.
The survey also found that nearly seven in 10 Americans consider the charges against Libby to be serious. A majority -- 55 percent -- said the decision of Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald to bring charges against Libby was based on the facts of the case, while 30 percent said he was motivated by partisan politics.
"One thing you can't ever, ever do even if you're a regular person is lie to a grand jury," said Brad Morris, 48, a registered independent and a field representative for a lumber company who lives in Nashua, N.H. "But multiply that by a thousand times if you have power like [Libby had]. And if anybody wants to know why, ask Scooter. He's financially ruined; he'll be paying lawyers for the rest of his life."
Taken together, the findings represent a serious blow to a White House already reeling from the politically damaging effects of the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina, the continuing bloodshed in Iraq, the ongoing criticism of its since-repudiated claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and the bungled nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
The ethics findings may be particularly upsetting to a president who came to office in 2000 vowing to restore integrity and honor to a White House that he said had been tainted by the recurring scandals of the Clinton years.

to read the entire article please visit: http://www.rawstory.org/

"I'm a yellow dog Democrat, I represent Tom DeLay and I'm for Kinky -- I see no contradiction there,"

Willie Nelson hosts fund-raiser for Kinky Friedman
Monday, October 31, 2005; Posted: 4:12 a.m. EST (09:12 GMT)
Friedman with Willie Nelson, right, and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, center.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Willie Nelson opened up his central Texas ranch and private golf course Sunday, raising an estimated $170,000 for his friend Kinky Friedman, an independent candidate for Texas governor.
Friedman, an author and entertainer, will need up to $5 million just to get his name on next year's ballot, managers say.
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was elected as a member of the Reform Party, joined supporters for lunch and golf. Friedman cited Ventura's success as proof that he can become the first Texas independent governor since Sam Houston.
"Jesse is a virtual gold mine of information," Friedman said. "He's been through the fire. He knows what works and doesn't work."
Friedman dished out his signature one-liners along with a $1,000-per-person, buffet-style lunch of brisket, sausage, barbecue chicken, beans and rice. Another table offered vegan and kosher selections.
Nine contributors -- including Dick DeGuerin, an attorney for Rep. Tom DeLay -- paid $5,000 for a round of golf with Nelson, Friedman and Ventura. DeLay recently stepped down as House leader after being charged with money laundering and conspiracy.
"I'm a yellow dog Democrat, I represent Tom DeLay and I'm for Kinky -- I see no contradiction there," said DeGuerin, an unpaid adviser to Friedman.
Gov. Rick Perry is seeking re-election and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is challenging him in the GOP primary. Former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, of Houston, is the Democratic candidate.
source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/31/friedman.fundraiser.ap/

Homeland In-Security ? Does this surprise anyone ?

By Leslie Miller, Associated Press Writer | October 30, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Bush administration has missed dozens of deadlines set by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks for developing ways to protect airplanes, ships and railways from terrorists.
A plan to defend ships and ports from attack is six months overdue. Rules to protect air cargo from infiltration by terrorists are two months late. A study on the cost of giving anti-terrorism training to federal law enforcement officers who fly commercially was supposed to be done more than three years ago.
"The incompetence that we recently saw with FEMA's leadership appears to exist throughout the Homeland Security Department," said Mississippi Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Our nation is still vulnerable."
source: www.rawstory.org

Sanctity of Marriage !

A little perspective on marriage

By Terri Jo Ryan Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sunday, October 30, 2005

“Traditional marriage,” touted by social conservatives as the antidote to decades of moral decay, can mean many things, depending upon where one sets the yardstick.

Through most of Western civilization, according to Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz, matrimony has been more a matter of money, power and sheer survival than of dainty emotions. It has only been little more than 200 years since people started marrying for love.

—— The evolution of marriage: a timeline ——

Prehistoric – Marriage basically turns strangers into relatives, decreasing tribal tensions.

3,000 B.C. – Marriage first becomes the way the upper classes conclude business deals and peace treaties, cementing socio-political alliances. Ancient societies experiment with polygamy – and in the case of Egyptian royalty, incest among siblings – to forge strong bonds of civilization.

500 B.C. – Short-lived experiment in democracy in ancient Greece actually worsens the status of women. Love is honored – but among men only. In marriage, inheritance is more important than emotional bonds: A woman whose father dies without male heirs can be forced to marry her nearest male relative, even if she has to divorce her husband first.

Circa A.D. 550 – Emperor Justinian tries to enact a requirement for a wedding license, but the unpopular measure is revoked. (He, meanwhile, managed to get a law passed that allowed him to marry a “penitent” former actress, Theodora ).

A.D. 800 – Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne outlaws polygamy. Germanic warlords, even baptized Christians, still acquire wives for strategic reasons.

900 – The Roman Catholic Church tries to require people to obtain the church's blessing of sexual unions, but is reluctant to thereby create millions of “illegitimate” children whose parents don't obey the edict. The church, however, wins a battle by denying royalty the right to divorce on a whim.

1000 – Catholic clergy are no longer allowed to marry. Upper-class marriages are often arranged before the couple has met. Aristocrats believe love is incompatible with marriage and can flourish only in adultery.

1200 – Common folk in Europe now need a marriage license to wed. Ordinary people can't choose whom to marry, either. The lord of one manor decrees in 1344 that all his unmarried tenants – including the widowed – must marry spouses of his choosing. Elsewhere, peasants wishing to pick a partner must pay a fee.

1500-1600 – Protestant moralists elevate the status of marriage over the Catholic gold standard of celibacy, but enact even stricter controls over annulments.

1769 – The American colonies, basing their regulations on English common law, decree: “The very being and legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated into that of her husband under whose wing and protection she performs everything.”

1800 – Marriage for love, not for property or prestige, is gaining wider acceptance. But women are still completely subjected to male authority.

1874 – The South Carolina Supreme Court rules that men no longer may beat their wives.

1891 – England's Parliament passes a law that men cannot imprison their wives (or deny them freedom of movement from the home).

1900 – By now, every state in America has passed legislation modeled after New York's Married Women's Property Act of 1848, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

1920s – The Roaring Twenties bring about the biggest sexual revolution in marriage to-date and divorce rates triple. The Supreme Court upholds people's right to marry someone of a different religion.

1965 – In Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court overturns one of the last state laws prohibiting the prescription or use of contraceptives by married couples. Seven years later, the right to use contraceptives is extended to unmarried people.

1967 – Interracial marriage is decriminalized in all states when the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Virginia's anti-miscegenation statutes.

1968 – The Supreme Court upholds the rights of children of unmarried parents.

1969 – California adopts the nation's first “no-fault” divorce law, allowing divorce by mutual consent.

1970s – Most states overturn rules designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife.

Sources: Stephanie Coontz, “Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage”; National Women's History Project.

source:http://www.wacotrib.com/featr/content/features/stories/2005/10/30/20051030wacmarraigeevolves.html
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William McKenzie:
Republicans run a risk in pushing gay marriage ban
They could lose gay professionals - plus their families, friends
05:27 AM CST on Tuesday, November 1, 2005
It's pretty certain Texans will vote to affirm Proposition 2, the constitutional amendment on next Tuesday's ballot that bans gay marriages. This is a red state, after all. (We're not Massachusetts.)
Plenty of Texans believe marriage between one man and one woman is, well, central to civilization. They'll naturally want to codify that point, even though Texas already has a law that says marriage is between one man and one woman.
I respect their view. Traditional marriage is one of those bedrock points with which most people grow up. They never think twice about it. Plenty of my close friends see it that way, and I know how they got there.
I also understand why others are not sure what they think of gay and lesbian couples marrying. The truth is, I was relieved last year when my wife and I couldn't find a sitter after we were invited to a ceremony commemorating the union of a gay couple we know. She went; I stayed home and chased the kids around the house, fixed their dinner and read to them. That was infinitely easier than figuring out what I thought about two men in a "wedding" ceremony.
But what I don't understand is why Republicans push the gay marriage issue so hard. They obviously want to rev up their die-hards, but staunch conservatives already run things in Austin. What more fodder do they need for the next campaign trail?
In the long run, this may prove a strategic mistake. By putting this amendment on the ballot – and getting it passed – Republicans could further alienate a natural group of supporters.
Gay and lesbian couples often are prosperous professionals who value stable neighborhoods and home ownership. "Those are Republican issues," a straight GOP strategist bellowed the other day. "Why are we driving gays away?"
Log Cabin Republicans wonder that all the time. The group's members are active Republicans who happen to be gay.
They've pressed their party to think about what the anti-gay amendments do to a likely constituency, whether it's in Washington or Austin. If Republicans value free enterprise, why alienate gay business owners? If Republicans tout an "ownership society," why risk losing a large group of homeowners?
I'd add another demographic pool for Republicans to consider: Straight voters with gay family members, friends and colleagues. If Republicans value family – and heaven knows they remind us often enough – what room do they leave for straight people with gay relatives?
Thirty years ago, many straight people may not have been comfortable with a friend's or relative's openly gay lifestyle. Can that be true today, after they've seen children, friends and co-workers reveal and deal with their homosexuality?
I can't prove it, but I'd bet there are quite a few Texans in this camp. Ask around, and you'll probably find them. And if they feel the GOP's putting a target on the backs of their gay brothers, cousins, pals and officemates, they may bolt the party on Election Day.
I'd worry about these points if I were a GOP strategist. I'd particularly worry about them since Proposition 2 could undermine rights already settled for gay couples.
Supporters swear the amendment won't jeopardize, say, domestic partner benefits. Others don't see it that way because the second clause prohibits the state "from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
University of Texas Law School professor Douglas Laycock, for one, says that phrase carries too much uncertainty. A judge, he believes, could use it to throw out an existing right for gay couples, like the medical power of attorney. Even if you dislike gay marriage, what's to gain from denying gay couples the ability to make medical decisions?
Maybe Republicans feel they have this issue nailed down, but I'd think twice about being too confident.
Most people possess a spirit of fair play, and if they believe gay and lesbian couples are being targeted, they could turn against the GOP machine. I don't know exactly how I feel about gay marriage, but I'm certain I plan to vote against Proposition 2.
William McKenzie is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. His e-mail address is wmckenzie@dallasnews.com.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/all/stories/DN-mckenzie_01edi.ART.State.Edition1.1809e04e.html

Where's Brownwood's GOP Moralist, James Williamson, to spin this one for us ?

Scandal virus spreads within the GOP

BY BILL FERGUSON
Knight Ridder Newspapers

It has been said of Bill Clinton that his presidency gave us a new scandal every week. In his second term, it almost seems like George W. Bush is trying to give old Bill a run for his money.
It's getting so bad that you need a scorecard to keep track of what's gone wrong today. Who got appointed to a position they weren't qualified for? Who's been gaming the system for financial game? Who leaked information about their political rival that shouldn't have been leaked? And here we thought we had an upright bunch of folks running the show this time.
What is it about a second term that seems to undo a president? Most people believe Ronald Reagan lost a lot of steam in his second term, Clinton was constantly dodging the consequences of his personal indiscretions in his, and now W seems to be unraveling before our very eyes. Perhaps eight years is just too long for any human being to be invested with that much power without falling flat on his face.
And scandals have a way of spreading, viruslike, once they infect a party. Republican Party big shots like Bill Frist, Tom Delay, and even Dick Cheney are making headlines this year for all the wrong reasons. Republicans in Congress who are facing midterm elections are growing uneasy, and with good reason. Things are getting pretty ugly inside the Beltway.
Even local elections can be tainted by the sordid goings-on in Washington, especially if a "local boy" has spent too much time there. Take Ralph Reed, for example. (Yes, take him, please.)
Reed, erstwhile head of the Christian Coalition who once graced the cover of Time magazine with a caption that said "The Right Hand Of God," is currently up to his armpits in trouble over his association with seedy Washington power broker Jack Abramoff.
Abramoff has become the poster boy for the rampant corruption in the lobbying industry and is currently being investigated for a number of crimes. Reed, who did a lot of business with the man during his very lucrative foray into the lobbying business, is getting dragged down with him.
Even if Reed himself is never charged with a crime, his close friendship and intimate business association with a man like Abramoff is sure to tarnish his squeaky clean image.
The thing about being a beacon of moral clarity (an image Reed has carefully cultivated) is that you look especially foolish when the bubble bursts and you're left with hypocrisy all over your face.
Reed may very well still be elected to the largely ceremonial position of lieutenant governor in Georgia, largely because no one else with any name recognition is running against him and he has the official blessing of the Republican Party and all the money that goes along with it. But if he was planning to use this office as a steppingstone to higher positions, as most observers are convinced he was, those aspirations are taking a serious hit as the details of his past life as a Washington lobbyist continue to come to light.
That's the price you pay when you run with a fast crowd. As Ben Franklin said, "He who lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas." And Reed is finding out that the big dogs also have the biggest fleas, the kind that can suck your reputation dry.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Bill Ferguson is a columnist for the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. Readers may write to him at: The Macon Telegraph, 120 Broadway, Macon, Ga. 31201-3444; e-mail: fergcolumn@hotmail.com.
source: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/13020425.htm

Texas Festival Attendance: Who's counting and what methods are being employed ?

What would please you in Abilene street event?
By Janet Van Vleet
October 30, 2005

Abilene's a great place to live, with wonderful people and loads of fun events.
But Abilene event organizers say the problem is getting those wonderful people to attend.
Celinda Emison, the Reporter-News Brownwood reporter, and I recently sat down with Ruby Perez and Jackie Love from the Abilene Preservation League to discuss my column about the Brownwood Reunion (Sept. 25). Perez wanted to know how to get attendance numbers here like those that Brownwood gets for its Reunion.
The preservation league sponsors the second Abilene Founders' Day (formerly Celebration Abilene!), which comes around again April 8. This year, along with the name change, came the decision to shrink the event from three days to one to limit costs and focus on one day.
The Brownwood Reunion drew more than 20,000 people over three days. On Sept. 17 alone, the number of people topped 10,000, said Randee Green, Reunion executive director.
Attendance at Celebration Abilene in 2004 was about 7,500 for the three-day event, with 1,500 at a concert featuring country singer Tracy Lawrence, Perez said. Because there was no admission fee, the attendance numbers for this year's first Founders' Day are uncertain, although the concert featuring country acts the Eli Young Band, Tommy Alverson and Cooder Graw attracted about 1,500.
The Brownwood Reunion was the brainchild of Roy Spence Jr., a Brownwood native and founder of GSD&M marketing firm in Austin. He wanted to launch the best small-town Web site, Green said. The Reunion features live Web cams throughout the venue.
''He wanted an avenue to drive people to it, to highlight it,'' she said. ''What came out of it was a great event for the community.''
The organizers made it a truly community event. They created a group of more than 100 people affiliated with various Brownwood businesses and organizations who work on the event annually. The monthly meetings are like pep rallies, with everyone pumping each other up.
But the most important thing organizers did was involving an even larger part of the community.
The volunteers for this year numbered more than 700. The first year, the community voted on a slogan (''Brownwood, Texas, feels like home''.). This year, people voted on the main concert headliner (Gary Allan topped Jo Dee Messina). Also new this year was the Reunion Idol contest, a local talent contest a la ''American Idol.''
Because of the effort to keep the community involved, the people of Brownwood feel they own this event.
Perez would like to hear from you, the residents of Abilene. What would make Founders' Day an event not to be missed? What kind of musical acts do you want to see? The tried-and-true Big Country favorite - country music? Or maybe a rock band, classic rock or jazz and blues?
Call Perez at (325) 676-3775, Ext. 1,, drop an e-mail to perezrapl@aol.com or send a letter to P.O. Box 3451, Abilene 79604 and make Founders' Day a real Abilene event.
Contact arts/entertainment writer Janet Van Vleet at vanvleetj@reporternews.com or 676-6740.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/et_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7910_4197524,00.html
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Comparing festival #'s across the state:

read more here...

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Nations fairs seem to dip in attendance, but still find silver linings
Pam Sherborne
Amusement Today

The high price of fuel and the increase in insurance costs were issues going into the 2005 fair season.
It hasn't helped that the weather, in some cases, hasn't cooperated.
We had a complete wash-out on one day, said Peter Cappuccillia, director, New York State Fair, Syracuse. That
led to a lowest one-day record of 32,000. The New York State Fair, which ran from Aug. 25-Sept.5, reported a decrease in over-all attendance this year, from 960,145 compared to 998,000 last year. But, they weren't alone.

Of 16 of some of the nations top fairs which began their runs at the first of August, only three reported increases in
attendances. Most reported dips even though some were slight.

read the entire article here: http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:NPEw37PtO5QJ:www.amusementtoday.com/Oct_Midway_34.pdf+state+fair+of+texas+attendance+drops&hl=en&client=safari
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" Why you shouldn't rely on people with a political stake in the outcome to provide your crowd estimates. "

read more here...

Brownwood's " Blackhole " !

read about it here...

The Brownwood Story is still being written !

Clay Smith: Map of Texas Letters
Where was 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'?
06:55 AM CST on Sunday, October 30, 2005
1. ALVARADO
Terry Southern, whose erotic novel Candy accrued a cultish following
despite the fact that it was notoriously difficult to find in the U.S. after it was published in 1958, wrote the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.
DallasNews.com/extra
Your Point: If a novelist tried to write the Great Texas Novel this year, what would it be about?
Texas writers: Faces, works, e-cards
He grew up in Alvarado; he got out
as quickly as he could.
2. ARCHER CITY
Larry McMurtry has taken his revenge on a town he didn't much like growing up in. He's forced the town's economy to be centered on books, with his fascinating Booked Up bookstores on the town square here.
3. AUSTIN
Sarah Bird, the most adept social novelist writing about Texas, lives here but grew up in Albuquerque.
Austin is home to many of the state's novelists and writers (Stephen Harrigan, Lawrence Wright, Carol Dawson and H.W. Brands, to name a few), but this month, Karen Olsson published a novel, Waterloo, about Austin. Larry McMurtry calls her "the most incisive and engaging writer to hit the Texas literary scene in a long time."
Austin is the former hometown of Shelby Hearon, who grew up in Kentucky and now lives in Vermont but is claimed wholeheartedly as a Texas writer. "Shelby Hearon is to marriage as Jane Austen is to courtship," one critic has said about her work.
4. BROWNSVILLE
The birthplace of Américo Paredes in 1915. Mr. Paredes, who died in 1999, was one of the seminal scholars behind the then-novel idea that the Texas-Mexico border was something worthy of scholarship and that its residents' folklife should be archived and treasured.
5. CROSS PLAINS
Robert E. Howard, the creator of the character who eventually became known as Conan the Barbarian, lived here. At the height of his success in 1936, he killed himself after he learned that his mother would never awake from her coma. She died 30 hours after he did.
6. DALLAS
Billie Lee Brammer grew up in South Oak Cliff. His novel The Gay Pl ace, one of the great novels about Texas, which Gore Vidal called "an American classic," immortalized a famously misbehaving Texas politician modeled on Lyndon B. Johnson as well as the precursors to Austin's slacker generation.
Local writer Cristina Henríquez had a story published in The New Yorker in July. Her debut short-story collection, Come Together, Fall Apart, will be published in 2006.
Dallas is the setting for local writer Will Clarke's Lord Vishnu's Love Handles, his gonzo satire of Dallas mores (in the first chapter, the protagonist explains that he and his wife "live in a big Mission-style house on Lakewood Boulevard. I've got a green Range Rover and a hyper border collie named Max.")
Home of The Dallas Morning News, where authors Christine Wicker, Wayne Slater, Doug Swanson, Carlton Stowers, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Horace McCoy, Lon Tinkle, Howard Swindle, Bryan Woolley and A.C. Greene, among others, have worked.
7. DENTON
Literarily speaking, Denton was an exciting place to be in the '50s – Larry McMurtry and Grover Lewis, one of the most exciting talents of New Journalism, were both students at North Texas State.
8. DEVINE
The hometown of Austin writer Tom Doyal; Texas writers in the know have been waiting for some time for Mr. Doyal to finish his collection of outré, pitch-perfect stories about life in small-town South Texas (among his stories' titles are "Mambo Panties" and "Uncle Norvel Remembers Gandhi").
9. EL PASO
Robert Draper, now a writer for GQ but at the time a writer for Texas Monthly, once wrote about his attempt to track down reclusive writer Cormac McCarthy; from behind his door, Mr. McCarthy said, "Son, don't do this to yourself." Mr. Draper went home but wrote a great article about the experience.
Although Dagoberto Gilb now teaches creative writing at Texas State University in San Marcos, his sensibilities were forged here, where he used to be a carpenter. The Magic of Blood and The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña are classics of Chicano literature.
10. HOUSTON
In 1984, Don Graham, the dean of Texas lit, fired off a testy salvo by calling the faculty of the esteemed writing program at the University of Houston a "fern-bar, émigré or expatriate literary mag crowd"; his depiction still reverberates today.
Seminal postmodern writer Donald Barthelme grew up here.
Thomas Pynchon called him "one of a handful of American authors, there to make the rest of us look bad, who know instinctively how to stash the merchandise, bamboozle the inspectors and smuggle their nocturnal contraband right on past the checkpoints of daylight 'reality.' "
Alicia Erian's Towelhead, an ambitious novel set in Houston that was published by Simon & Schuster this year, pushes boundaries on several fronts. Towelhead is set in Texas, but the novelist teaches at Wellesley – is she a Texas writer?
These are the questions of geography and belonging that recently bewitched the Texas Institute of Letters.
11. HUNTSVILLE
Ben K. Green, the author of the classic Horse Tradin', spent some time in the pokey here. His name on Horse Tradin' appeared as "Ben K. Green, D.V.M.," but as A.C. Greene explains in his roundup of The Fifty Best Texas Books, the D.V.M. initials didn't appear on any of his other books; he wasn't actually a veterinarian.
12. INDIAN CREEK
Katherine Anne Porter was born and buried here, though she grew up in a nondescript home in Kyle, a tiny town near Austin. Ms. Porter's imaginative life about herself sometimes rivaled the imaginative strength she displayed in her stories – she liked to pretend that she grew up on a Southern plantation.
13. LA GRANGE
Larry L. King's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas began as an article in Playboy about the once-famous "chicken ranch" here.
14. MARFA
Edna Ferber's novel Giant, which was published in 1952, is remembered more for the iconic film that was adapted from her novel and made here.
15.SAN ANGELO
Elmer Kelton, the author of The Time
It Never Rained and one of the most respected and iconic Western writers, lives here.
16. SAN ANTONIO
Sandra Cisneros, who has won the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and is the author of The House on Mango Street and Caramelo, among other titles, generated a contentious tug of war in 1997 with the members of the San Antonio Historic Design and Review Board after she painted her house in the usually staid King William district a vibrant "periwinkle purple." "Please give me a broader palette than surrey beige, sevres blue, hawthorn green, frontier-days brown and Plymouth Rock grey," she argued. She won.
The residence of historian T.R. Fehrenbach, whose Lone Star is the principal work of Texas history.
17. SHAFTER
In the 1970s, when a group of outlaw Texas writers who called themselves the Mad Dogs showed up here in a typically boozy escapade to "buy" the town for an advertised $60,000, a city official took one look at the Mad Dogs and told them the town actually cost $600,000. "Well, ol' Molly in the office never was good with them zeros," he told them; the sale never went through.
18. SPLENDORA
Edward Swift, one of the neglected treasures of Texas lit, set his first novel, Splendora, here. Its protagonist is a young man who returns to Splendora dressed as a woman, which puts Mr. Swift in a highly selective subset of Texas lit that features men who return to their small hometowns as women after years of self-imposed exile. (In fact, there are only two works meeting the requirements, and Ed Graczyk's play Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is the other.)
19. THEON
Like Shafter, the Mad Dogs weren't allowed to buy this town either.
20. TULIA
The setting for Nate Blakeslee's engrossing Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town, the recently published account by the former Texas Observer writer of the drug bust scandal that took place here.
21. WHARTON
Residence of playwright and screenwriter (To Kill a Mockingbird) Horton Foote, whose quiet, deceptively simple plays such as A Trip to Bountiful and The Young Man from Atlanta (which won the Pulitzer in 1995) have made him one of the country's beloved dramatists.
Clay Smith is the literary director of the Texas Book Festival. His e-mail address is clay@texasbookfestival.org.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-map_30edi.ART.State.Edition1.dbae090.html

Texas Priorities ? Getting Prop 2 Passed Trumps everything else !

Texas Leads Nation in Household Hunger
Fri Oct 28,10:12 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas - A higher percentage of Texas households were at risk of going hungry over the past three years than in any other state, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Agriculture Department.
Between 2002 and 2004, more than 16 percent of Texas households at some point had trouble providing enough food for all their family members, the USDA report said.
In nearly 5 percent of Texas households, at least one family member actually went hungry at least one time during that period because the household couldn't afford enough food. That's the fourth-highest rate in the country.
Nationwide, 11.4 percent of households were at risk of going hungry during that period, and 3.6 percent of U.S. households had at least one member go hungry, the USDA said.
The latest national figures were higher than in the previous three-year period. Between 1999 and 2001, an average of 10.4 percent of households were at risk for hunger, and an average of 3.1 percent of households experienced hunger.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051029/ap_on_re_us/texas_hunger_1
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Gay marriage amendment waste of time, money
By Ty Meighan
October 30, 2005

AUSTIN - A group called ''No Nonsense in November'' is leading the fight against Proposition 2 on the Nov. 8 ballot. Unfortunately, this proposed constitutional amendment is nothing but nonsense and a waste of time and money.
Passed by state lawmakers earlier this year, the proposition is intended to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Lawmakers couldn't pass school finance and other important matters this year, but they managed to put before voters an amendment that targets gays.
Aren't we proud of our elected officials?
Many of us would agree marriage should be between a man and a woman. But that doesn't mean it belongs in the Texas Constitution. It's a feel-good issue that allows politicians to crow about doing something to promote family values.
Of course, the Texas Constitution has been amended many times over the years. But shouldn't it be amended only for important issues facing Texas? This isn't one of them.
Proposition 2 is a highly emotional and politically charged issue - and both sides are at each other full throttle in an attempt to sway voters. There have been press conferences, phone campaigns and heated debates. And it's all a waste of time because the amendment is not needed in Texas. Gay marriage is already illegal in Texas.
Don't believe proponents who say this about protecting the sanctity of marriage in Texas. Many backers of the amendment are driven by a fear and hate of people who live a different lifestyle than they do. Don't believe me? Check out this excerpt from one hate-filled flyer being distributed by amendment supporters.
''Marriage is the vehicle heterosexuals use to raise children,'' the flyer begins. ''Raising children is an extremely important job that involves a lot of time, money, effort, energy, love, blood, sweat, tears, good times and some bad times. Homosexuals, by definition, do not have or raise children yet they very arrogantly and selfishly demand the special rights, benefits and privileges of marriage.''
The flyer, which is subtitled ''Stop the Massive Power and Money Grab by Greedy Homosexuals,'' is littered with derogatory comments about gay people. This type of ignorance ignores the fact that thousands of abused and unwanted children in Texas have found love and caring in the homes of gay couples. These are children that married couples abused and neglected.
But there are other disturbing aspects of this proposition.
Not only is the proposed amendment unnecessary, it could have unintended consequences. The wording appears to outlaw any marriage because it prohibits the state from ''creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.''
Texas voters should reject this clumsily written amendment that could have unintended consequences. Of course, proponents dispute that it outlaws marriage and say no judge would interpret it that way.
When this proposed amendment was debated in the Legislature earlier this year, legal experts said the amendment would not threaten traditional or common law marriages.
''The language for Proposition 2 has been reviewed by the Legislature and some of the state's top attorneys,'' said Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, a key supporter of the amendment.
But why would voters support such a poorly worded amendment to the Texas Constitution? And why risk the possibility of this amendment having such unintended consequences?
If approved, Texas would be one of more than a dozen states to have a state constitutional ban on gay marriages. But other states have specified that the bans won't affect traditional marriage.
Early voting runs through Nov. 4 and the election is Nov. 8. Turnout for constitutional amendment elections is generally low, but Proposition 2 is certain to bring out a larger number of voters. Voters should reject this unnecessary and misguided amendment and tell lawmakers to stick to more important issues facing Texas. Trust me, there are plenty of them.
Ty Meighan is chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau and can be reached at 512-334-6640 or meighant@scripps.com

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7981_4197523,00.html
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Oct. 29, 2005, 8:00PM

It stinks when the Klan supports your amendment

By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

STATE Rep. Warren Chisum apparently was surprised when the Ku Klux Klan announced plans to hold a pre-election rally in Austin in support of his constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.
He shouldn't have been, because flies are attracted to garbage wherever they may find it.
Chisum, a Republican from Pampa, isn't a cowardly cross-burner who takes delight in bashing African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. But his sponsorship of Proposition 2 on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot offers the KKK another opportunity to do what it does best — promote prejudice and hatred, albeit of a different brand than produced the racial lynchings of not so many years ago.
I am not equating the debate over whether homosexual couples should be allowed to marry to the long, often bloody civil rights struggle of blacks and Hispanics in America.
But the effort to lock a ban on same-sex marriages into the Texas Constitution is prejudicial and hate-provoking and made worse by the fact that it springs from motivations that are primarily political, not legal.
Attracting the public, although unsolicited, endorsement of the Klan, a group synonymous with hate, speaks volumes about the proposal.
Chisum and other public officeholders promoting the proposition, including Gov. Rick Perry, contend it is necessary to "protect" the institution of traditional, heterosexual marriage in our state. Nonsense.
Traditional marriage is under attack from a host of social ills, including poverty, alcoholism, drug addiction, narcissism and plain ol' immaturity.
But it is under absolutely no danger from a gay or lesbian couple who wants their commitment to be legally recognized as a marriage.
Even if such governmental intrusion were necessary, which it isn't, Texas already has a law that recognizes only heterosexual marriages.
Adding that restriction to the constitution, which would make it harder to repeal and perhaps help protect the state policy against lawsuits, is the political equivalent of piling-on.
Rather than protecting marriage, the governor and other Proposition 2 promoters are pandering to the large number of Texans, many on the right wing of the Republican Party, who for one reason or another fear or hate homosexuality.
Many Texans who vote for Proposition 2 will be trying to impose their religious beliefs on governmental policy, which is bad enough.
But, even worse, others will be brandishing their prejudices against a minority group, participating in a form of gay-bashing that, in effect, is being sanctioned by the highest levels of state government.
Small wonder that the Klan decided to come buzzing in for an anti-homosexual marriage rally a few days before the election. Hate fests are its kind of party.
A spokesman for this particular Klan group, the Texas arm of the American White Knights, said the group doesn't wear robes or hoods in public and doesn't shout racial obscenities. No amount of prettying up, though, will remove the stench of intolerance.
Meanwhile, arms flailing in the air, Chisum is trying to put as much distance between himself and the Klan event as possible.
"I have absolutely nothing to do with it," he told Houston Chronicle reporter Polly Ross Hughes.
"I didn't ask them to come and do this, and they're doing it on their own — not with my approval."
I am sure a Klan rally was one of the last things that Chisum wanted before Election Day. But when you play footsie with prejudice, you risk stepping into something disgusting.
Robison is chief of the Chronicle's Austin Bureau. (clay.robison@chron.com)

source: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3424597

Quote

" If you can't tell the difference between your Christianity and the beliefs of the KKK, then you should reevaluate your Christianity." Pastor Jim Rigby

~ DMN 3.20.03

Subway goes after Steakways.....

Steakways and Subway: Never the names shall meet?
Chris Rhatigan, Register Staff
10/27/2005
MILFORD — In the local world of fast food sandwiches, there is a Steakways and a Subway.
But if Subway gets its way, there will be no Steakways.
The Steakways sandwich shop, owned by Brian Vowser of Orange, has run smack into the mammoth corporation because Milford-based Subway does not want what it claims is an infringement on its trademarked name.
Subway has filed for a cease and desist order against Steakways, claiming the name of the Naugatuck Avenue shop is too similar to its own. If Steakways does not comply with the order by Friday, with Vowser agreeing to change his shop’s name, the case will go to trial.
Steakways has one location, but Vowser said a second location is slated to open on East Main Street in Bridgeport.
Subway has more than 24,000 locations in 81 countries.
Vowser contends that Subway’s trademark case is bogus.
"I don’t see how the two names have any similarity," he said.
Also, while the Steakways sign has a red background with white letters, Subway has a green background with white and light-green letters.
But Subway spokesman Les Winograd, who confirmed that the company has taken legal action against Steakways, said the sandwich giant sees things differently.
"It’s a trademark issue. We want to protect our brand," he said. Winograd declined to comment further on the case.
Coincidentally, Steakways’ headquarters is across the street from Subway Corp. headquarters on Bic Drive. Vowser said he filed paperwork to trademark the Steakways name and is looking to make the business a franchise.
He said he believes Subway is trying to push him out of the market by filing the cease and desist action. While he also believes his case is strong, Subway’s deep resources could keep litigation going for a long time, he said.
"This can drag on and on and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said. "I just can’t afford that."
The other option is to change the name, and Vowser said that also would be costly, forcing him to change the name outside his shop, in advertisements and on the offices.
Additionally, he said, the name Steakways fits the concept of the business, which is serving steak sandwiches in many different ways.
Vowser said that before filing for the trademark, he did some research and found a small, Texas-based chain called Steakway. He contacted the proprietors, who had no beef with the name Steakways.
Seth Cohen, Vowser’s attorney, said the case is not a "slam dunk" for his client and Subway could prevail.
Precedent in favor of Subway’s case includes McDonald’s Corp. v. McBagels, which McDonald’s won. According to an article by Manhattan-based law firm Cowan, Liebowitz and Latman titled "Consumer Survey in Trademark Litigation," McDonald’s representatives surveyed people in New York state, asking, "Who do you think sponsors or promotes McBagels?" Thirty-seven percent of respondents responded McDonald’s.
However, Cohen said the Steakways case may never go to court, and he compared Subway to "a 600-pound gorilla throwing its weight around."
"There’s a possibility that this is just a scare tactic," he said.
Vowser said he has not decided yet how far he is willing go to keep his shop’s name.
source: http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15461371&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6
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Interesting McDonalds Background reading and history....

more here...

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more here...

Brownwood Halloween: Trick-Tract or Treat !

Some Christians using Halloween to evangelize
Some Christians evangelizing on holiday with pagan roots
12:43 PM CDT on Saturday, October 29, 2005
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
Faith Meyer gives the good stuff at Halloween – Snickers, Butterfingers and Baby Ruths. But each child who stops by her North Dallas home also gets a Gospel tract.

NATHAN HUNSINGER/DMN
Colorful booklets deliver the Christian message to trick-or-treaters.
She even has Spanish tracts, for the Hispanic families who have become common visitors in recent years.
"It's just so wonderful to be bilingual with my tracts," she said. "You'll see the child take the tract and hand it to the parent. You'll see the parent reading it, and most of the time I'll have someone turn around to me and smile."
Evangelical Christians have long debated whether to observe Halloween, with its pagan roots and witchcraft imagery. But an increasing number of evangelicals are, like Ms. Meyer, making Oct. 31 a prime time for witnessing.
They do so with colorful little booklets whose bottom line is that only those who profess Jesus as savior will go to heaven.
Come Monday night, millions of such tracts – written at a child's level, and illustrated with cartoons – will flutter into outstretched candy bags at doorsteps across the country.
Halloween night provides "the two biggest hours of the year" for delivering scriptural tracts, said Dan Southern, president of the Garland-based American Tract Society.
Big night for tracts
That organization, founded 180 years ago in New York City, sells about 3 million Halloween tracts a year to individuals and churches, who give them out for free. That's roughly 10 percent of the society's total tract sales – more than for Christmas, Easter or any other special day.
Good News Publishers, a nonprofit firm in Wheaton, Ill., sells about 20 million tracts a year, a third of them Halloween tracts.
Halloween '05
Send an e-card
Pix: Show us your costume
Area haunted houses
Candy calorie counter
More Halloween
"Our company's ministry is very dependent upon the Halloween season," said Geoffrey Dennis, executive vice president of publishing services.
Halloween occurs on the night before All Saints' Day, which is followed by All Souls' Day in the Roman Catholic calendar.
But Halloween's roots are in the pre-Christian Celtic festival Samhain (pronounced "sow-in," and rhymes with "cow -in"), marking the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. On Samhain – beginning at sundown on Oct. 31 – the spirits of the dead were said to move freely among the living.
Americans long ago adapted Halloween into a secular night for costume-clad, candy-craving kids. But many evangelicals – who insist on a "born again" Christianity and see the Bible as infallible – distrust the occasion's pagan heritage and associations.
The Internet carries postings from evangelicals arguing against observing Halloween. These days, it's common for evangelical and even mainline churches to offer a fall festival as a substitute for neighborhood trick-or-treating.
Aggressive marketing
But Christianity Today, an influential evangelical magazine, has in recent years published essays challenging the idea of sitting out Halloween. And tract sellers such as Mr. Southern and Mr. Dennis have aggressively marketed Halloween as the perfect occasion for witnessing.
"We saw this as a huge opportunity many Christians were missing," Mr. Southern said. "They were closing down and hiding out."
Jimmie Dillon of Balch Springs is among those who have been won over. She now buys about 500 Halloween tracts a year. She leaves most at her church, New Covenant Baptist in Mesquite, for fellow members to hand out on Halloween.
The rest she and husband Mike Dillon hand out themselves.
"I don't believe in Halloween, because it's a satanic holiday" she said. "But they're going to come here anyway, so why not put a piece of candy in their bag and put a tract in there? You never know."
'Redeem the time'
At Frisco Bible Church, some 300 families are lined up to hand out tracts and candy.

NATHAN HUNSINGER/DMN
Garland-based American Tract Society produces about 3 million Halloween tracts a year.
"Rather than worry about all that could be ugly or difficult about Halloween, we must redeem the time and make it positive," said Pastor Wayne Braudrick.
Frisco Bible Church is in its fifth year of officially encouraging participation in Halloween through tracts. The effectiveness of tract ministry is hard to gauge. But Mr. Braudrick said, "Every year, we've had families join the church, and be baptized as believers in Christ, all because they got that tract."
Mr. Southern said he gets a handful of complaints each year from parents who don't approve of the tracts. Mark Briskman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, has heard no objections from Jewish parents.
Proselytizing through tracts, Mr. Briskman said, "becomes problematic from the point of view of sensitivity and diversity." But he added, "From a legal point of view, they're well within their rights."
Some Halloween tracts are edgier than others. Chick Publications' tracts – drawn in comic-book style by Gospel tract legend Jack Chick – threaten eternity in hell for any child who doesn't profess Jesus as savior.
'A little extreme'
Landover Baptist, a highly irreverent Web site ( www.landoverbaptist.org) for adults, spoof Chick Publications' tracts.
"It kind of takes advantage of [children's] vulnerability," said Chis Harper, who edits the site. "I'm sure there's lots of nice tracts out there. With Chick tracts, the approach is a little extreme."
Not so, said Karen Rockney, secretary to Mr. Chick, who declined to be interviewed.
'The truth is scary'
"Mr. Chick isn't writing to scare people, but to tell the truth," she said from the company's California headquarters. "Sometimes the truth is scary if you read your Bible."
Etiquette is an issue with the handing out of Gospel tracts. Mr. Southern said a stereotype has formed of the cheapskate Christian who leaves a tract instead of a tip at restaurants.
Accordingly, Mr. Southern preaches a short sermon to his Halloween tract customers.
"Give the best candy you can afford. Go with a full-size candy bar."
E-mail samhodges@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/102905dnreltracts.706da06.html
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see landoverbaptist site here...

Amen, Amen, Amen Brother Danforth

Danforth Criticizes Christian Sway in GOP
Oct 26 8:51 PM US/Eastern
By DANIEL CONNOLLY
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK

The influence of evangelical Christians in the Republican Party hurts the organization and divides the country, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth said during a visit to the Bill Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday.
Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, met with students during a seminar and held a luncheon talk at the graduate school.
"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right," he said in an interview after his talks. "I don't think that this is a permanent condition but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."
He also said the evangelical Christian influence would be bad for the party in the long run.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracy Schmitt declined comment.
Danforth, who recently served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made similar criticism of the party in an opinion article published by the New York Times in June. In that article, he called for religious moderates to take part in public life.
People of faith have an obligation to be in politics, he said.
"I think the question arises when a political party becomes identified with one particular sectarian position and when religious people believe that they have the one answer, that they understand God's truth and they embody it politically," he said.
"Nothing is more dangerous than religion in politics and government when it becomes divisive," he said. "I'll give you examples: Iraq. Northern Ireland. Palestine."
Danforth, considered a conservative on social issues, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and served three terms. In his final term he played a key role in defending Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas against claims of sexual harassment during bitter confirmation hearings. Thomas eventually was confirmed.
Under Democratic President Bill Clinton, Danforth was appointed special counsel in an investigation of the deadly 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas.
The current President Bush appointed Danforth as special peace envoy to Sudan and later as ambassador to the United Nations.
Danforth was sworn in as ambassador in July 2004 and resigned in January. Wednesday, Danforth cited his age _ now 69 _ and his desire to move back to his St. Louis home as his reasons for leaving.
He most recently has worked for the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis. Former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark. and dean of the Clinton School for Public Service, invited him to visit the school.
The school, housed in a remodeled red brick train station on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library, opened in August and currently has 16 students enrolled in its two-year master's degree program. It is a branch of the University of Arkansas.
"I thought that the students were bright and highly motivated and it was encouraging to have the opportunity to spend some time with them," Danforth said. "I thought the physical facilities were wonderful."
The school plays an important role, he said.
"I think it's important to encourage and inspire people who have an interest in public service and to equip them for public service," he said. "But in my view more important than any particular curriculum item is to be encouraged and strengthened as somebody who wants to participate in public service."

" one's sexuality doesn't have an impact on one's bench press, 40-yard dash speed, vertical leap, fastball " ..........

Swoopes 'tired of having to pretend'
WNBA star now most prominent openly gay athlete in team sports
11:46 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 26, 2005
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON – On the morning she was to reintroduce herself to the world, Sheryl Swoopes overslept.

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN
Sheryl Swoopes says she has received support in her athletic circle, but her mother has yet to accept her relationship with Alisa Scott (right).
"It's a good thing I slept in," she said, arriving 90 minutes late for her first interview since revealing she is a lesbian. "Less time to be nervous today."
Ms. Swoopes is a daughter of small-town West Texas who grew up to lead Texas Tech to an NCAA women's basketball championship before winning three Olympic basketball gold medals as well as three WNBA Most Valuable Player awards.
"I hadn't thought about being a high-profile person," Ms. Swoopes told The Dallas Morning News. "My reason for coming out has nothing to do with throwing this in people's faces. I just wanted to breathe ... I think this will be very comforting."
Ms. Swoopes, the first female athlete to have her own signature shoe (Nike's Air Swoopes) follows in the footsteps of a handful of professional athletes who have publicly proclaimed they are gay. Tennis star Martina Navratilova and golfer Rosie Jones have stepped out of the closet. Last year, Michele Van Gorp of the Minnesota Lynx became the first active WNBA player to announce she was gay.
No active American male athlete involved in a team sport has ever publicly declared his homosexuality.
At age 34, Ms. Swoopes, a member of the Comets since the WNBA's inaugural season in 1997, intends to keep playing in the league "as long as they let me."
The reigning WNBA MVP, who has an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage, told her story as she sat alongside her partner, Alisa Scott, on a sofa in a meeting room of a posh Houston hotel.
Ms. Swoopes' day was orchestrated by a Los Angeles-based public relations firm, hired by a San Francisco-based lesbian travel tour company, Olivia, which Ms. Swoopes is set to endorse. ESPN The Magazine hit the newsstands Wednesday with a first-person story by Ms. Swoopes. People magazine's Swoopes story is set to hit later this week, complementing a whirlwind television blitz.
"If I would have felt comfortable enough five years ago, I would have done this then," said Ms. Swoopes, a native of Brownfield, Texas. "Finally, I am at a point in my life where I am content and tired of having to pretend."
Ms. Swoopes decided to publicly declare her sexual orientation sometime over the summer. She and Ms. Scott had signed up with Olivia for a fall cruise. When the chief executive officer of Olivia, Amy Errett, saw Ms. Swoopes' name on the list, she was intrigued.
Ms. Errett attended a Comets game in Los Angeles and set up dinner through a mutual acquaintance.
At the end of the meal, Ms. Errett asked Ms. Swoopes "to consider endorsing us."
The request provided the impetus Ms. Swoopes needed to "go public."
"It's been unhealthy to have to look over my shoulder for the last seven years," Ms. Swoopes said. "Think what it's like not to announce your love."
On Wednesday, Ms. Swoopes' revelation received support from the WNBA, the Comets, Nike and Marsha Sharp, her coach at Texas Tech.
"I will always love and respect Sheryl Swoopes as a player and a person," Ms. Sharp said. "She obviously has been and always will be a huge part of Lady Raider basketball. I will always be one of her biggest fans."
Ms. Swoopes said she has been surprised by the attention her revelation received since word about it began trickling out last week.
"I never had so many newspapers and TV networks calling me up asking what it's like to be an MVP," Ms. Swoopes said with a laugh.
Ms. Swoopes said her sexual orientation has been known around the WNBA. What she believes will surprise her fellow players is her willingness to talk about it. Ms. Scott, her partner of seven years, is a former assistant coach with the Comets.
"It seems to be a big issue when people discuss the WNBA," she said. "It seems like it's all people talk about. 'Is she? Or isn't she?' You could go to Major League Baseball, the NBA or the NFL, and you would find gay people. But nobody seems to care as much as they do with the WNBA."
Ms. Swoopes married her high school sweetheart, Eric Jackson, soon after leaving Texas Tech, where she and the Red Raiders won a national title in 1993. They had a son, Jordan Eric, born in 1997.
When her relationship with Mr. Jackson started to crumble and divorce became inevitable, Ms. Swoopes turned to Ms. Scott for emotional support.
"I was straight," Ms. Swoopes said. "Or at least I think I was. ... I don't know if I was born this way, but that's the way I am now."
Ms. Swoopes' anxiety Wednesday was no match for the nerves she felt five years ago when she broke the news of her relationship with "Scottie" to her mother. She prepared for the moment by earlier confiding in her older brother, James, who hugged his sister and told her he supported her.
Louise Swoopes was not as understanding. Her daughter remembers her asking, "What did I do wrong?"
Sheryl Swoopes, who has never met her father, said she told her mother, who now lives nearby in Houston, that she did nothing wrong.
"I told her she raised me to be a strong, powerful black woman who controlled my own life," Ms. Swoopes said. "I said, 'I can't help the person I fall in love with.' Everyone says it will take time for her to accept it. I don't know if there is enough time."
Ms. Swoopes and Ms. Scott began explaining their relationship to Jordan Eric, 8, soon after he asked, "Mom, is Scottie your boyfriend?"
They sat down with him again Tuesday night to prepare him for Ms. Swoopes' public revelation.
It's not her son that Ms. Swoopes remains worried about. It's other people's children.
"I don't want this to change people's perception of me," she said. "I like being a role model. I'm still a good person. This doesn't change me. It only makes me stronger."
E-mail bhorn@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102705dnsponewswoopes.9b79812.html

Swoopes is providing an opportunity
Sports has a chance, once again, to open society's doors, minds
08:31 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Who knows how long ago Sheryl Swoopes first informed a teammate or coach about her homosexuality, which, to begin with, was no one but Swoopes' business. Swoopes said her sexuality has been known around the WNBA for a number of years. That is mere historical footnote. Hopefully, her public announcement on Wednesday that she is lesbian will one day wind up to be little more than minutiae as well.
What is significant, however, is that during her now nine-year-long professional basketball career in this country, she and her Houston Comets managed to win and win big, four league championships in a row at one point.

Swoopes 'tired of having to pretend'
Blackistone: Swoopes is providing an opportunity

In 2004, 2000 and 1996, she and her Olympic teammates did the same, earning gold medals.
And in 2002, she and her U.S. World Championship teammates won it all, too.
Her homosexuality was, as it should've been, of no consequence. Swoopes' coaches and teammates, no matter their sexuality, embraced her and, given her prowess – a three-time WNBA MVP and former college player of the year at Texas Tech and South Plains Junior College – even followed her.
Women are so much more mature than men. With the exception of women like Rene Portland, Penn State women's basketball coach who suddenly is under fire from students for allegedly forcing a player off the team because Portland believed her to be lesbian, women seem much less likely to be hung up on anything that makes one person on Earth different from many of us.
That's the only unfortunate part of Wednesday's great sports revelation. It didn't come from a male athlete of Swoopes' status. As a result, a public that assumes female athletes, especially those on the basketball court, are lesbians anyway will mostly shrug off Swoopes' disclosure. Even the gay blog Queerty responded to Swoopes' announcement sarcastically: "Big shock."
But had a current star in the NBA, NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball sat down Wednesday on a couch with his lover, as Swoopes did with hers, and told the media that he was gay, the White House CIA leak, Iraq/Afghanistan, disaster relief and other current front-page stories would have become "in other news" items for a day or two.
Such a confession would force the homophobes not just in locker rooms, but elsewhere, to confront the fallacy of their fears and realize that one's sexuality doesn't have an impact on one's bench press, 40-yard dash speed, vertical leap, fastball or, for that matter, the ability to be a CEO, CFO, DDS or short-order cook.
That, after all, is one of the great gifts of sport. It can be a great destroyer of stereotypes, despite Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry's having to apologize Wednesday for repeating the tired belief that black football players equate to fast football players and, by deduction, white football players, by and large, do not.
That's the kind of thinking that years ago would've denied Michael Vick the chance to play quarterback and Tim Dwight, who is white, the chance to return kicks.
That's the kind of thinking that would've kept Ken Williams, who is black, from getting to assemble a World Series championship team as he's just about done with the Chicago White Sox as its general manager.
That's the kind of thinking that would've stopped Madeleine Albright from becoming the first woman U.S. Secretary of State.
That's the kind of thinking that would've kept Barney Frank, who is gay, from even entertaining the idea of running for the U.S. Congress.
When meritocracy is allowed to rule, that is what sports can do: broaden opportunities to all of those who are so deserving regardless of race, creed, color, religion, sex or, as Swoopes is underscoring, sexuality.
Indeed, there were gains being made in the military and the courts in breaking down segregation before Jackie Robinson was allowed to integrate modern-day baseball. But it was the success of the Robinson experiment, which the country took note of most, that hastened the string of successful legal challenges to segregation in this country in the '50s and '60s.
That Swoopes decided to go public with her sexuality is in a sense a sign of progress against sex and sexuality discrimination. She doesn't have to worry about the type of backlash Martina Navratilova felt a generation or so ago when she stopped hiding as a lesbian. Navratilova watched endorsements dry up.
Swoopes declared her homosexuality as a new paid spokesperson for a lesbian travel company that sponsors Navratilova too. Nike didn't announce it was withdrawing its longtime endorsement contract with her.
"Sheryl Swoopes is a great basketball player who has and continues to entertain our fans all over the world," WNBA president Donna Orender stated Wednesday. "We wish for her only the best."
Imagine the blow against homophobia a male Sheryl Swoopes could strike.
E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/kblackistone/stories/102705dnspoblackistonecol.aebfe08.html

" Republican Morality " ? Indictments, Indictments Everywhere ! Who's Next ?

Major Republican Donor Indicted in Ohio

By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer
TOLEDO, Ohio — A coin dealer and major GOP donor at the center of a scandal in Ohio state government was charged Thursday with illegally funneling $45,400 in contributions to President Bush's re-election bid.
Tom Noe was accused in a federal indictment of giving money directly or indirectly to 24 friends and associates, who then made the campaign contributions in their own names. In that way, he skirted the $2,000 limit on individual contributions, prosecutors said.
"It's one of the most blatant and excessive finance schemes we have encountered," said Noel Hillman, section chief of the U.S. Department of Justice's public integrity section.
Calls to the White House and Noe's attorneys were not immediately returned. Prosecutors said the Bush campaign has cooperated with their investigation.
Noe also is under investigation over an ill-fated $50 million investment in rare coins he managed for the state workers' compensation fund. Noe has acknowledged that up to $13 million is missing, and Ohio's attorney general has accused him of stealing as much as $6 million. No charges have been filed in that case, though state officials say they plan to do so.
Prosecutors would not reveal the names of the people to whom Noe gave money to contribute or say if any of them would be charged. The indictment said Noe and those who gave his money to Bush had conspired together to violate the contribution limits.
Two people who received just over $20,000 from Noe recruited others who then gave money in their own names, the indictment said.
The coin dealer personally contributed more than $105,000 to Republicans, including Bush and Gov. Bob Taft, during the last campaign.
An investigation into Noe's coin investments led to ethics charges against Taft for failing to report golf outings and other gifts. The governor pleaded no contest in August and was fined $4,000.
U.S. Attorney Gregory White said prosecutors were negotiating Noe's surrender with his lawyer.
Noe's attorney, Bill Wilkinson, said in a statement that Noe's surrender was complicated by the fact that Noe was in South Florida and that many courthouses there were still closed because of Hurricane Wilma.
If convicted, Noe faces up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $950,000.
___
October 27, 2005 - 6:26 p.m. CDT
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Coin_Dealer_Indicted.html
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go here and tell em "cockroach" sent ya: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_'culture_of_corruption'

Larry Littwin: Two Words Why Harriet Miers withdrew her name ?

NEW: Miers Withdraws Supreme Court
Nomination
Conservative Republicans were among those with concerns

Confronted with criticism from both the left and right, Harriet Miers on Thursday withdrew her
nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
source: http://www.yuricareport.com/BattleForJudiciary/Directory.html
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Duck George! Miers nomination about to hit the fan!
by Netromancer
Fri Oct 21, 2005 at 08:28:19 PM PDT

The wingers' blades are whirring for poor Harriet, and they don't seem to care at this point if Dubya takes some collateral splatter. Josh points us to the WorldNetDaily, of all places.
Miers panel to hear 'explosive testimony'? Gag order lifted for ex-lottery boss claiming Miers kept 'lid' on Bush Guard controversy Released from a gag order, Larry Littwin – the controversial former director of the Texas Lottery under Harriet Miers – is free to appear at the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings to give "potentially explosive" testimony damaging both to President Bush and his nominee, according to WND columnist Jerome Corsi.
As WorldNetDaily has reported, Littwin allegedly was fired by Miers because he wanted to investigate improper political influence-buying by lobbyists for GTECH, the firm contracted to run the lottery.

source: http://kos.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/21/232819/15
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Is Harriet Miers
'Unfit for Judging'?
October 4, 2005 - October 21, 2005
In an Explosive Series of Articles
By Jerome R. Corsi
Before Larry Littwin is subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harriet
Miers should withdraw her nomination. If she does not, the threat is that the Bush administration
may unravel before one year is complete in the second term. Larry Littwin sits at the center the
Texas Lottery Commission scandals that Harriet Miers has helped keep covered up for nearly
10 years. The moment Larry Littwin begins to testify under oath, he is going to bring forward
a volume of detail and possibly even documents that threaten to bring down the Bush presidency
itself. Make no mistake about it ? Larry Littwin is the John Dean of the George W. Bush presidency.

source: http://www.yuricareport.com/BattleForJudiciary/Directory.html
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Senate May Probe Miers' Lottery Days

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 26, 2005
(AP)

(AP) A Senate panel may seek testimony from a former Texas lottery official who claimed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers let a company keep its contract because one of its lobbyists helped President Bush get into the National Guard in the 1960s.
Miers, whose confirmation hearings begin Nov. 7, chaired the three-person Texas Lottery commission from 1995 to 2000.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Miers' nomination, recently asked GTECH Corp., the Texas lottery's main contractor, whether it would object to testimony from Lawrence Littwin about allegations in his 1998 lawsuit against the company, GTECH spokesman Bob Vincent said Wednesday.
Littwin, the lottery's second executive director, was fired in 1997 after just four months on the job. He sued GTECH, saying it took "illegal, unethical and coercive steps" to get him fired because he was asking too many questions about the company's contract with the state.
He claimed the Rhode Island-based company kept its contract in exchange for former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes' silence about how he had helped Bush get into the National Guard to avoid service in Vietnam. Barnes was a lobbyist for GTECH from 1991 until 1997.
Littwin, who signed a confidentiality agreement when he settled his lawsuit against GTECH, declined to comment other than to say he would agree to testify if subpoenaed.
Vincent said his company told the Senate committee that Littwin didn't need permission to testify because the confidentiality agreement he signed when he settled his lawsuit allowed him to discuss the issues with government authorities.
If the issues are raised at the hearings, GTECH will provide any additional information the senators need, Vincent said.
Barnes and GTECH have denied any improprieties. Barnes has not returned repeated phone calls seeking comment on the issue.
As the lottery commission's chairwoman, Miers spearheaded an investigation into GTECH's hiring practices, internal policies and views on influencing government officials amid complaints the company's relationship with top lottery officials was too cozy.
After a yearlong inquiry, the commission decided in 1998 to stick with the company, saying it couldn't find a better deal.
Before Littwin's lawsuit, Barnes, who was lieutenant governor from 1969 to 1973, said he couldn't recall helping Bush at the height of the Vietnam War. But he later testified that he'd recommended Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard at the request of a Bush family friend.
The issue re-emerged during last year's presidential race, when Barnes said at an Austin campaign rally for Democrat John Kerry that he regretted helping Bush and other wealthy young men avoid service overseas.
John Hill and Anthony Sadberry, the other two lottery commissioners who served during the GTECH controversy, have insisted Miers always acted ethically and independently.
source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/26/ap/politics/mainD8DFREKG1.shtml
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Note from Steve - I guess it didn't help the Bush Administration that the Mainstream Press ( Associated Press ) started covering this story in todays Dallas Morning News (page 8a) ! You can bet that the "Talking Heads" on Brownwood Hate Radio are shying away from this angle of the story ! Will they dare bring Brownwood's Ben Barnes on as a guest to their central Texas airwaves ? FYI- Ben was mentioned in the Dallas Morning News Article.

Brownwood Airport Fatalities: NTSB says poor lighting was a factor.

Brownwood plans to add extra safety lights to runway at airport
By Celinda Emison / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 26, 2005

BROWNWOOD - The Brownwood City Council approved a resolution Tuesday requesting a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation to add more runway lights at Brownwood Regional Airport.
The project was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, both of which cited a fatal accident on Jan. 22 that killed two Dallas doctors.
Paulose Mathai, 50, and Karl Robert Brinker, 28, were flying in a Beech 36 model single-engine plane from Dallas and approaching Brownwood Regional Airport about 7 a.m. when they crashed.
A report from National Transportation Safety Board said poor lighting was a factor in the accident.
City Manager Kevin Carruth said that the 10 percent matching grant for $166,000 will help pay for additional lights for the runway approach and ending. TxDOT estimated the cost of the project at $194,000.
The cost to the city will be about $44,000 to match the grant and to cover all costs of the project.
Carruth said the project could get under way in the 2006-07 budget year.
''These navigational aides should improve airport safety and should increase the amount of traffic at the airport,'' Carruth said.
In other business Tuesday, the council approved hiring Sharlette Bain as airport manager.
Bain will begin the job on Nov. 15 and comes to Brownwood from La Grange where she has worked as airport manager of the Fayette Regional Air Center since 2001.
Contact Brownwood staff writer Celinda Emison at (325) 641-8804 or emisonc@reporternews.com.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_4187116,00.html
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Read more here:

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more here...

Rest in Peace Rosa Parks ............

Nation mourns mother of civil rights movement
By Jannell McGrew
Montgomery Advertiser

Related Links
Parks' quiet courage helped change the world
Parks ignited movement
Multitude of things named in honor of Parks
Close friend, activist has special perspective

Rosa Parks, a woman whose single act of defiance spurred a movement and earned her iconic fame as the mother of the civil rights movement, died Monday at her home in Detroit.
She was 92.
Parks died of natural causes, Karen Morgan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., told the Associated Press on Monday. Arrangements were still in the works late Monday.
For the past several years, Parks had been in frail health and court records from a lawsuit indicated she suffered from dementia.
Officials with Parks' Detroit-based Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development are expected to release more details today. Parks, along with close friend Elaine Eason Steele, founded the institute in 1987 as a memorial to her husband, Raymond.
As news of Parks' passing spread around the world, local historians and activists mourned Parks' death.
"She's gone, but she has left her footprints on the sands of time," said local civil rights activist Johnnie Carr, a close friend of Parks, after hearing the news of her death.
The two attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school founded by white, liberal-minded Northern women. They grew up and joined a movement together.
It was on Dec. 1, 1955, that Parks took her stand by sitting down on a segregated Montgomery bus and refusing to get up and yield her seat to a white passenger. Parks was arrested and fined. Buoyed by the news and fueled by a desire to end segregated busing, more than 40,000 blacks boycotted the buses just four days after her arrest.
For 381 days, they walked. They carpooled. They refused to let Jim Crow have the last say. Parks had said no for herself and for all of them. Her answer to segregation sparked a movement.
Dignitaries the state and nation from across the nation praised Parks for her courageous stand.
"Rosa Parks will always be remembered as a courageous woman who quietly confronted injustice, and in so doing, she changed a nation," said Gov. Bob Riley in a statement Monday night.
The Rev. Robert Graetz, the only white member of the board of the Montgomery Improvement Association during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, said Monday: "I'm saddened to learn about her passing. I'll quote my youngest son, who said that 'after all these years, she deserves to have some rest'."
Graetz, whose home was bombed during the bus boycott, said, "It was her quiet, gentle, strong spirit that set the tone for the entire movement."

more here...

Brownwood: Will you be voting "yes" with the Ku Klux Klan on Texas Proposition 2 ?

"If you can't tell the difference between your Christianity and the beliefs of the KKK, then you should revaluate your Christianity." Austin Pastor Jim Rigby

City To Permit KKK Rally Against Gay Marriage

The city has given permission of the Ku Klux Klan to hold a rally on Saturday, November 5. The group says they want to have a pro-family values rally in front of City Hall that afternoon to get voters to vote against gay marriage.
The city has reserved the Austin City Hall's south plaza on Lavaca and Cesar Chavez from 1-3 pm on Saturday, November 5.
In an e-mail to the city for permission, a representative for the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan wrote: "Our speech will not be inflammatory, but we all know the reputation of the name of the KKK, so we expect anti-Klan demonstrators to be there who may become violent. We certainly don't want any of our people hurt nor any city officials. We just want to come and encourage people to vote for Christian Family Values and against legalized homosexual marriage in the state of Texas."
We'll have more on this story on KXAN NBC Austin First at Four.
source: http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=4020533
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read more here...

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Opinion
Gay marriage, big whoop
By Samantha Swindler - editor@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Proposition 2, sponsored by our District 3 Rep. Sen. Todd Staples, is a proposed Texas Constitutional amendment which states that in Texas, marriage consists only of the union between one man and one woman.
It basically backs up the Defense of Marriage Act passed by the state legislature in 2003 which banned same-sex marriage in the state of Texas. By making gay marriage unconstitutional, Texas judges cannot interpret laws to favor same-sex marriages in their own courts.
I've thought a lot this week about same-sex marriages and came to this conclusion - I don't care. What people do in the privacy of their home between consenting adults is no business of mine. Be gay, be bisexual, be straight. Whatever. As long as I don't have to see any public displays of affection from anybody, I don't care.
But for Prop. 2, Staples argued that allowing people the right to “personal affairs” without persecution is a different issue than condoning the behavior and recognizing a gay relationship as a marriage.
OK. So, who owns the idea of marriage?
I think “marriage” belongs to the church, any church, and lawmakers have no right to lay claim to it. The state should have never gotten into the business of marriages. Marriage is a union before God. It's a sacrament of the church. If a church bans or accepts gay marriages, it has a right to do that. That's something decided among church leaders and closed to government criticism. It's sort like a private club with private rules.
The government should only recognize things called “civil unions” - and that doesn't mean anything more than two people are sharing bank accounts, are entitled to health benefits, and can file income taxes jointly.
It's win-win. Marriage can belong solely to the church. Nobody feels their rights are infringed upon.
A couple can have a big white wedding in a cathedral, but it doesn't mean the government gets involved until they go down and file paperwork at the county courthouse. Other religious sacraments aren't government sanctioned. You don't file at the courthouse when you get baptized.
The only reason people register marriages is because it affects taxes, inheritance and bank accounts - civil things. It shouldn't have anything to do with the government's endorsement of Judeo-Christian values.
One argument for Prop. 2 is that this ban is “defending” the sanctity of marriage, but I can't imagine that fathers and mothers are going to abandon their families and run off to join the “Gay Circus” just because they can.
For the record, Massachusetts - home of The Original Gay Wedding - has the lowest divorce rate in the nation (Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 2004, edition.) To quote the Globe, “At latest count it had a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population, while the rate for Texas was 4.1.”
Say what you will about Massachusetts (I know, there is plenty to say), but it seems they're doing a pretty good job of defending marriage. East Texas, however, seems to have a real problem with domestic violence, adultery, child abuse and the like. There are many factors that contribute to these problems, but I seriously doubt a rise in the homosexual population has anything to do with it, nor will this defense of marriage proposition do anything to address these real issues.
There is a moral issue involved here that is the white elephant in the corner. Americans are afforded the liberty to hold to any religious belief, including the one that homosexuality is a mortal sin. But, it is a slippery slope when the state gets mixed up in moral issues. Moral issues - ones that don't involve physical or monetary harm to others - are for the church to decide. The government should stick to concerns about income tax filings, which would be a good reason to limit civil unions to being between two people, for simplicity reasons. You don't want this to get out of hand.
Religious beliefs are based on faith, something that cannot be proved or disproved with fact - that can be healthy for the soul, but not for a state legislature.
source: http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/articles/2005/10/23/opinion/opinion02.txt
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" Do you really think that the Klan just dissappeared 15 years ago about the same time the Christian Coalition started its work. ? " Austin Pastor Jim Rigby

What you're not hearing on Brownwood Talk Radio !

EDITORIAL
Tom DeLay can't have it both ways
EDITORIAL BOARD
Saturday, October 22, 2005
U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, the Sugar Land Republican, rose to power as House majority leader on his mastery of partisan warfare in the place where Americans expect such combat: election booths and the halls of Congress.
But now he and his lawyers are taking that partisan warfare into a new forum, the Texas courts. He should not be allowed to do it.
DeLay wants the courts to move his trial from Travis County because of its history of supporting Democratic candidates; he complains that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, is prosecuting him for partisan reasons; and he wants state District Judge Bob Perkins of Austin, a Democrat who is hearing the case, to turn the case over to some other judge.
There's not much DeLay can do about Earle's power to prosecute the case.
But Travis County is not as solidly Democratic as DeLay says.
The western half of the county has supported many a Republican candidate and elected several, such as state Reps. Terry Keel and Todd Baxter and County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty. In the last presidential election, Democratic candidate John Kerry won Travis County — but President Bush still drew 147,885 votes, or 42 percent.
As for removing Perkins, the public should consider whether the court system ought to start dismissing every judge accused of partisan bias, even in the absence of any evidence of it.
Perkins has made some campaign contributions to various Democratic causes and candidates, the largest apparently being $1,000 to the Travis County Democratic Party. But such contributions are not exceptional among Texas judges, who run for office as party candidates.
Despite that, judges are expected to apply the law impartially, even (especially) to members of the other political party. If they don't, their rulings are subject to judicial appeal and their jobs to official discipline.
Nevertheless, DeLay argues that, given the political nature of his alleged crime of conspiring to launder political campaign donations, Perkins should not preside over his case. Perkins has referred the request to an administrative judge, B.B. Shraub, a Seguin Republican who was re-appointed to that post by another Republican, Gov. Rick Perry, in 2002.
Should the public conclude that, as a Republican, Judge Shraub cannot be trusted to make the right decision because of his party affiliation?
If DeLay were convicted, he no doubt would appeal all the way to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Should we assume that that court's judges — all nine of whom are Republicans — would be incapable of considering this fellow Republican's appeal on nonpartisan grounds?
And if Perkins conducts the trial, it's the Court of Criminal Appeals that will be looking over his shoulder.
What we've seen so far does not indicate that Perkins would be biased against DeLay.
It was Perkins who let DeLay turn himself in for booking in Houston, rather than Austin.
The resulting mug shot of DeLay was so flattering, The New York Times reported, that his allies in Washington joked that it could be used for the Congressional Directory.
DeLay wants it both ways: bring partisan warfare to the court, then complain there's partisan warfare in the court. The courts should not allow it to happen.

source: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/22delay_edit.html

"Journalists": Brownwood's "Checks & Balances" ?

Thursday October 20, 2005
News
City fire chief Followwell to retire Friday
By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Robert Followwell will retire Friday as chief of the Brownwood Fire Department, City Manager Kevin Carruth said.
Carruth said that Followwell, who has been chief since January 1994, told him of his decision Wednesday.
“The City of Brownwood appreciates his nearly 23 years of service to the community and wishes him well in the next phase of his life,” Carruth said. “This is Robert’s decision, and we support that and can work with it. We understand why he wants to do it. He wants to move on with the next phase of his life.”
Carruth declined to comment on the abruptness of the retirement.
Followwell, 46, said from his home Wednesday night that he has no specific plans.
“I just felt like it’s time for me to go and let somebody else try it,” Followwell said, declining further comment.
Assistant Fire Chief Grady Shuey will serve as interim chief, and the city will conduct an “open search” for a new chief, Carruth said. He said the city hopes to name a chief by next February.
In a written statement, Carruth said Followwell joined the fire department in September 1983.
As chief, Followwell oversaw the improvement of equipment and operations including the addition of modern air packs, increased staffing, changing to central dispatching, performing regular hydrant maintenance and obtaining a higher fire insurance rating for the city.
Followwell also led the department to increase services to the community such by having firefighters become first responders.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/10/20/news/news01.txt
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Brownwood fire chief steps down
By Celinda Emison / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 21, 2005

BROWNWOOD - Brownwood Fire Chief Robert Followwell will retire today, City Manager Kevin Carruth announced Thursday.
According to a personnel action form obtained by the Abilene Reporter-News under the Open Records Act, Followwell, 46, was suspended with pay on Monday pending completion of an investigation on allegations regarding his conduct.
Carruth, who would not elaborate on the nature of the investigation, said Followwell informed him of the decision to retire late Wednesday. The investigation has ended, he said.
''The city appreciates Followwell's more than two decades of service to the community and wishes him and his family well in this next phase of their lives,'' Carruth said in a press release Thursday.
Followwell, would not comment on the city's investigation on Thursday, saying only that he decided to retire to ''let someone else have the position.''
Carruth said the city will begin the search for a new chief immediately and hopes to have the position filled by February 2006. Followwell's salary was just more than $4,100 per month.
Followwell joined the Brownwood Fire Department as a firefighter in 1983 and moved through the ranks until he made chief in 1994.
Assistant Fire Chief Grady Shuey will assume chief duties until a new chief is hired, Carruth said.

Contact Brownwood staff writer Celinda Emison at (325) 641-8804 or emisonc@reporternews.com.

Brownwood & Brown County Law Enforcement, Bulletin Reporter Steve Nash and Civil Rights

Thursday October 20, 2005
Brownwood Bulletin
Op Ed: Columnists

An individual’s rights are more important than any one case — Steve Nash

When Brownwood defense attorney Rudy Taylor got evidence thrown out in a drug case in another county, even his family questioned his action.
Taylor had filed court papers arguing that police had conducted an illegal search and seizure when they found drugs. A judge agreed, and the prosecution dismissed the case against the defendant — Taylor’s client — who went free.
Taylor said the questioning from his family made it a “soul-searching kind of issue” for him, but then he rephrased it as forcing him to validate the philosophy he developed in law school.
“My response is, that this is bigger than any one case,” he said. “It’s about protecting all of our rights in the long run. We’re the checks and balances to law enforcement.”
If defendants’ constitutional protections are violated, he said, “what would be the consequences to my law-abiding family?”
“If you don’t find your voice, your philosophical voice, where your heart really is ... how do you explain yourself?” Taylor asked. “How do you feel good about your job?”
Over the course a couple of weeks, I had several conversations with Taylor on this topic, and they began when he told me about his case in the other county, which is outside the 35th Judicial District.
Taylor said that one of the officers involved in that case has been a problem child who, he said, has a history of violating suspect’s constitutional rights. I asked him if he thinks law enforcement officials in Brown County violate defendants’ rights. If it happens, he said, it’s not on purpose, and it’s not systemic.
“Actually I think (law enforcement) does a good job here,” he said. “They’re not lazy. Police officers are well-trained, and they know what’s legal and what’s not. I don’t see a chronic problem of blatant civil rights violations or constitutional rights (violations). In the heat of battle, honest mistakes can be made.
“ ... They play by the rules. You can find mistakes in every case, just about. There’s usually something we can find to question that warrants further research, because (constitutional case law) is such a technical area of the law. I think (law enforcement is) ... has a real determination to provide the DA’s office with a solid case.”
Sheriff Bobby Grubbs and Brownwood Police Lt. Bill Stirman agreed that mistakes can be made during an investigation, but said their departments won’t tolerate intentional mistakes.
“Any time you’ve got the human factor involved, you’ve got the opportunity and potential for mistakes to be made,” Stirman said.
“The level of competency here (in law enforcement) is extremely high,” Assistant District Attorney Perry Sims said, noting that lawmen do their jobs “with integrity and the desire to do the right thing.”
I didn’t follow all of Taylor’s legal explanations from the case in which evidence was tossed out; after all, I am not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV).
He talked about the “plain view doctrine,” the “fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine” and the “exclusionary rule.” He referred to the Fourth Amendment and the Texas Bill of Rights, Section 9. “These two are the ones that say people shall be safe in their homes ...”
Taylor said he’s not gloating over his success in having the evidence tossed, which, in effect, freed the defendant.
He spoke carefully and deliberately when he mentioned his client. “I’ve got to be very careful here because I represent this guy ... if (police) had made a proper search warrant and proper search, he would’ve gone to prison,” Taylor said.
“My job as a criminal defense attorney is to make sure that the checks and balances set forth in the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution are applied to every case. Without that, we would revert back to the days of Nazi Germany and storm troopers who could go and kick in doors of innocent people.
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Without checks and balances, police could decide they don’t like you or me and manufacture evidence.”
Perhaps a month has elapsed since Taylor’s court victory in the suppression of evidence hearing. He said he has no regrets.
“I’m really not soft on crime. Generally speaking, we have fair laws in this country. I am a strict law advocate. On the other hand, I am a strict constitutional rights advocate. They counterbalance each other.”
Brown County has a “very tough” DA, Taylor said, but noted that Sims and District Attorney Micheal Murray “absolutely” have integrity and follow the rules.
“It is the duty of every attorney to ethically represent each client within the bounds of the law,” Sims said, referring to prosecutors and defense attorneys.
“The prosecutor’s duty is to see justice is done — not just retribution for the victim, but that laws are abided by.
“The thing that should be the determining factor should be the law and the constitution. If my client (the State of Texas) has done something I perceive to be inappropriate, I don’t proceed with the case.”
Steve Nash writes his column in the Brownwood Bulletin on Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at steve.nash@brownwoodbulletin.com .
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/10/20/op_ed/columnists/opinion05.txt
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"The Criminal Justice system in Texas is so cracked it makes an armadillo look smooth" Dallas Morning News Editorial

Note from Steve: For some people, it's "somewhere else" where civil rights violations take place !

....same hateful attitudes expressed on Brownwood's "Hate Radio" !

Macarena Hernández:
'Go back where I came from'? Hey, that's South Texas
12:01 AM CDT on Friday, October 21, 2005
Wow, who knew I had so many readers? At last count, I believe I've heard from 87 percent of you, give or take a few thousand. Many of you hated last week's column. Some of you hated me. So much for thinking that we'd always agree.
My column dealt with violence against undocumented immigrants, hinged on a brutal Georgia crime in which six men were beaten to death with aluminum bats as they were robbed.
As an aside, I noted that it doesn't help that there are people out there stirring the pot of hysteria over illegal immigration. "It is one thing to want to secure the borders and another to preach hate," I wrote, "to talk of human beings as ailments." My message: Such talk dehumanizes.
DallasNews.com/extra
10/14: America, stand up for justice and decency
When I took this job two months ago – the first Latina to write a regular editorial column at The Dallas Morning News – I imagined that it might be hard for some readers to get used to my voice and perspective. But until Bill O'Reilly denounced me on his radio and television shows Tuesday, no reader had called me a "wetback," "beaner," "spic" or "stupid Mexican."
(When I told my mother that strangers were calling me a mojada – wetback – she was quite amused.)
Thousands of e-mails and phone calls poured in. In fairness, a few were complimentary and others were critical but rational – many sharing their frustration over our government's inability to come up with a solid immigration reform plan.
Those messages were swamped by the ones radiating anger.
Some critics compared me to New York Times plagiarist Jayson Blair because I inadvertently referred to Mr. O'Reilly's nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor, by the name of his top-rated cable television show. That was a mistake – and it breaks my heart to put an error into the newspaper – but I hope you won't let that obscure my larger point.
Hey, it's not like I said we should adopt Spanish as our national language.
Ironically, many of the harsher critics hadn't even read the column they were criticizing. How do I know? This was typical: "I wouldn't read your column or newspaper, but I'm a regular viewer of The O'Reilly Factor , and ..."
One woman, who echoed the "You're biased!" sentiment of many e-mails, wrote that I should look for a job with the National Enquirer. Ouch.
"It is obvious that you are an opinion journalist," she wrote.
Well, yes, and that's probably why my column appears on a page called Viewpoints.
But really, now, to suggest that my column was evidence that The News has turned pinko-liberal? The newspaper that twice recommended George W. Bush for president? That advocates balancing the budget without raising taxes? That often sides with big business?
I have to admit, the most stinging notes came from some fellow Latinos, who offered variations of "You don't speak for me. I love Bill O'Reilly." I won't argue. I probably don't speak for you, but I do speak with you.
The ones who told me to "go back where I came from" were kind of funny. What, back to South Texas? Believe me, it crossed my mind.
Many called me "anti-American," another irony. I think of myself as the product of the American dream. My parents, like most immigrants, came here in search of the hope that eluded them at home. Today, I straddle two worlds: immigrant with a history and citizen trying to make things better. Mr. O'Reilly is the child of immigrants, too, as he likes to remind his audience.
Why can't some folks understand that I can have cariño for Mexico and also love the United States?
"Coward! Face him!" Mr. O'Reilly's fans demanded.
No, thanks. I have my own platform, and with it the responsibility to offer mis verdades, my truths. Thank God for a country where each of us – me and Mr. O'Reilly included – get to say what we think. No Jerry Springer showdowns for me.
If I could make one small suggestion: Those of you so clearly concerned about our nation's immigration policy could channel your anger toward our president and your other representatives. Turn your rage into something positive.
Much of our anti-immigrant sentiment starts with people who don't know the border or understand Latin American poverty. They don't realize that a geographical boundary will never keep out the hungry and the desperate.
When Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist visited the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time last week, he saw what you can't see from a television studio or an office on Capitol Hill.
"You see the river itself and the footprints," he told the San Antonio Express-News, "you see the humanity that that represents."
Macarena Hernández is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. Her e-mail address is mhernandez@dallasnews.com.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/all/stories/102105dnedihernandez.1d180057.html

Have you been Big Box Marted ?

jib jab...

Nailed it !

Letter to the Editor - Abilene Reporter News

Likes Molly
October 18, 2005

It is such a hoot to see the collective angst that syndicated columnists such as Molly Ivins generate among your conservative readers. Such collective self-righteous hand-wringing usually is accompanied by cries to have her silenced or ''tarred and feathered,'' a typical reaction for a group that has no tolerance for opinions other than its own.

It is so refreshing to read the comments of someone like Ivins who is concerned over the erosion of civil liberties in this country. Conversely, conservatives have so long indulged themselves in self-serving myopia that they still embrace a leadership that, among other things, led this nation to war under false pretenses. And while our economy is still sputtering after five years of aimless free spending, the rest of the free world worries about its own future as they see this country hurrying to flush itself down the toilet.

Particularly repugnant to me is conservatives' spin on religion. In my opinion, they have utterly distorted the message of the Prince of Peace so that greed has become a virtue, intolerance a celebration and self-serving interest a God-given right. I believe that in many ways conservatives more closely resemble the Taliban than they reflect Christian ideology.

Michael Tumlinson
Abilene
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_4166241,00.html

"Guest" is GOD : It's all about the Hospitality !

Hotelier honored for always having room at inn
By Jason Sheehan / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 18, 2005

Fathers pass on various lessons to their sons.
Some learn how to throw and catch. Others learn how to hunt and fish.
Jay Gangwal learned how to give and help.
As a child growing up in India, Gangwal (pronounced gang-wall) watched his father cater to businessmen who were in town for meetings. He invited the travelers into their home, treating them like members of the family.
Gangwal is now the teacher. As the owner of the Civic Plaza Hotel at 505 Pine St., Gangwal has helped victims of local and national tragedies. When fire ripped through the 21/21 Apartments complex in April 2003, Gangwal opened the doors of his hotel so the Red Cross could begin taking care of the 70 families who lost their homes.
Dena Howard, who worked as the executive director for the Big Country Chapter of the Red Cross, said she'll never forget how Gangwal helped during the 21/21 Apartments fire.
''To me, that was one of the obvious pieces of Abilene you never forget,'' said Howard, who is now the emergency services director for the Heartland Chapter of the Red Cross in Omaha, Neb. ''He was so generous.''
Howard said Red Cross organizers initially thought they would have to find immediate shelter for only 11 victims of the fire and decided to put them up in Gangwal's hotel. By the time Howard was finished, about 40 people needed the hotel, she said.
Gangwal didn't blink an eye, she said.
''He was amazing,'' she said. ''He didn't charge us for the first three nights. I just thought he went over and above what he needed to do.''
Gangwal earned a Good Neighbor Award from the Red Cross, something he said he was extremely proud of.
More recently, Gangwal provided free rooms to evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse Gangwal for the rooms, but not for the food he has been providing.
He also has helped a refugee from Liberia find a part-time job in Abilene after the man relocated here through the International Rescue Committee.
Tony McMillan, general manager at the Taylor County Expo Center, said he met Gangwal shortly after he moved here. Gangwal has helped McMillan with rooms at the hotel when events come to the Taylor County Expo Center and the two have become friends over the years.
''He's a first-class gentleman if I've seen one,'' McMillan said. ''He's the most generous man I believe I've ever met.''
Although others are quick to talk about Gangwal's eagerness to help others in times of need, he is not so enthusiastic.
Gangwal grew up in Gujarat, an Indian province on the western side of the country. His father was in the clothing business. Gangwal graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in commerce and business management and went into business for himself.
''At age 22, I had 60 people working for me,'' he said. ''I was crazy. That was the energy I had.''
But in 1977, Gangwal decided it was time to leave his roots and plant a new seed in America. At his brother's urging, Gangwal moved to the United States. The first city he landed in was Denver, joining his brother.
What a year it was in Colorado, too. The Broncos were in the midst of going to their first Super Bowl. The city was alive with the Orange Crush spirit, and Gangwal couldn't help but feel it. He fell in love with American football.
''We'd watch the Broncos every Sunday and tape them,'' he said. ''In the summer (when there was no live football), we'd still get together every Sunday and watch them.''
Gangwal said he and his wife, Harsha, still cheer for the Broncos.
During his time in Denver, Gangwal worked for a research and development company and a construction company. Then in 1987, he left Colorado for California and worked for an attorney.
In 1998, he purchased the Civic Plaza Hotel and moved to Abilene.
''The hotel business was in the back of my mind because it's hospitality,'' he said. ''I got the opportunity to purchase the property in Abilene, and that's why I did it.''
The move would prove to be a perfect fit. Gangwal returned to the business world as a hotel owner. Perhaps more importantly, he got the opportunity to practice the philosophy of the Hindu religion.
''In my country, in my religion, they teach us 'guest' is God,'' he said. ''Taking care of guests ... makes me feel good.''
Still, Gangwal doesn't like to talk about the good deeds he has done. They are expected of him, especially in a community such as the Big Country.
''I don't want to talk about it because it's bragging,'' he said. ''This is a community, and we do whatever is good for the community. When people need help and you can help that person, then you should do it.''
Besides, Gangwal said, he has a long way to go before he even comes close to his father's hospitality skills .
''I learned from my father,'' he said. ''He was a good host. He was better than I am.''
Contact staff writer Jason Sheehan at sheehanj@reporternews.com or 676-6784.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_4166320,00.html

Brownwood's KXYL Talking Heads need to get a clue !

Is Mexico turning into Colombia ?
Drug trade's shift north puts border area at risk, but some dispute threat
11:42 PM CDT on Sunday, October 16, 2005
By ALFREDO CORCHADO and TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

EL CENIZO, Texas – When he looks across the Rio Grande into Nuevo Laredo, Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores sees not the friendly Mexican border town he knew growing up, but the violent trappings of another country far to the south.
"It's a sad, scary sight," he said. "We are in the United States of America, and just across this border, the Colombianization of Mexico is slowly taking shape."
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Here's your clue KXYL Talking Heads: "It's a problem we can't simply blame on the Mexicans. At its root, it's our problem. It is the demand for drugs that causes this to happen."

source: source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101705dnintmexcolombia.81bd4ea.html

Who's profiting while you're getting screwed to the wall ?

TXU Execs Pay Angers Some Customers

Oct 6, 2005 9:18 am US/Central
Consumer Investigator: Bennett Cunningham

TXU is seeking a rate hike. If an even higher electric bill makes you angry, then you won't be happy to hear who's getting big bonuses, while customers are picking up the financial slack.
Bobbie Rice just got her TXU electric bill. She owes more than $800 dollars. “I don't know what to do. What does a person like me do?”
Now TXU wants to raise electric rates by 24 percent because as TXU Spokesperson Chris Schein explains “you can't continue to lose money and have [electricity] priced inappropriately low. That's what we asked for this at this point in time.” About 10 months ago TXU’s top executive officer took in a 1 million dollar salary plus a bonus of nearly 16 million dollars.
So to put it in perspective, we wondered what you can buy for 16 million dollars. Well we looked in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog-- and you can buy an airplane for 3.5 million dollars -- and with 16 million, that's 1 plane for almost all the top execs at TXU. Or you can buy this mansion.. Not once but 10 times over and still have enough money to pay the electric bill.
In fact, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all the top TXU executive officers received 6 figure bonuses last year. TXU's response ” it was all based on stock performance." In 2004 TXU's stock price increased 172% and that lead to the increase in pay. But Mrs. Rice told us “it’s the big people making money from the poor people.”
Rice doesn't get a bonus, she gets $1100 a month and she's on disability,. She is raising her 3 grandchildren alone because the children’s parents are in prison. Last month, the state ended a 200 million dollar low income assistance program last month that would have discounted Rice's electric bill. “My kids and I can’t afford this electric bill we live alone. Having a hard time as it is.”
TXU is discounting their rate 12 % until the end of the year. But we had one more question - are TXU execs taking a bonus this year, the answer from TXU “ The year is not over yet.”
source: http://cbs11tv.com/investigations/local_story_279102355.html
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as it relates to Brownwood..................

follow links here...

Commanche Peak: How would this be handled in Texas ?

Problem with reactor cooling system went undetected for years

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX — A potential problem with the emergency reactor core cooling system at the nation's largest nuclear power plant went undetected since it began producing power in 1986, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the plant operator confirmed Thursday.
The issue was identified when engineers at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station did an analysis after NRC inspectors raised questions at a detailed inspection early last week. The NRC was following up to see if earlier cooling system problems had been fixed.
The plant provides electricity for as many as 4 million customers in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico served by seven utility companies.
The review showed the emergency cooling system may not operate as expected to provide water to reactor cores after a small leak in the reactor cooling lines, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said.
The worst-case scenario of an emergency cooling system failure is a meltdown of the reactor core and release of radioactivity into the atmosphere. Plants have so many redundant systems, however, that many other failures would have to occur before that happened, nuclear experts said.
The design flaw put the plant outside of it licensing guidelines and operator Arizona Public Service shut down the two operating reactors immediately until a fix is put in place. The third reactor in the complex 50 miles west of Phoenix was already down for maintenance and refueling.
There's no estimate for when the plant will come back online.
Engineers are looking at reconfiguring the system or writing new manual procedures to get around the problem, plant spokesman Jim McDonald said. They also are rechecking their calculations to see if the system may actually operate as expected.
The power is cheaper than many other sources, but several power companies say it is unclear if they'll need to raise rates to recoup their losses.
The emergency cooling systems in each of the three units are designed to replace water cooling the reactor cores in unusual situations.
Earlier this year, the NRC fined the plant operator $50,000 because of another problem in a different part of the same cooling system.
In the more recent case, pumps that provide emergency cooling water may not sense that a storage tank is getting low on water and switch to another source, Dricks said.
The fact the potential problem took so long to be discovered should prompt the NRC to look at other plants and procedures, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear watchdog group.
Lochbaum said the Palo Verde plant has been a "stellar" performer until the past two years, when a series of problems have cropped up.
"It's a fairly subtle problem, and it was a good catch by the NRC," Lochbaum said of the current issue. "It just would have been a great catch sooner."
___
On the Net:
APS: http://www.aps.com
source: http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/gen/ap/AZ_Palo_Verde.html




___

October 13, 2005 - 7:07 p.m. CDT

Brownwood Autopsies ?

EDITORIAL
Glaring, public errors in autopsies finally get county's attention
Medical examiner's office must cut workload
EDITORIAL BOARD - Austin American Statesman
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Whatever problems another audit finds in the operation of the Travis County medical examiner's office, the county commissioners have to accept some of the responsibility.
Commissioners have known for years that the medical examiner's operation is not up to national standards and have, in fact, opposed efforts to bring it up to those standards. Travis was one of the counties that just last year protested attempts by the Texas Department of Public Safety to require that medical examiner's offices across the state be accredited.
Commissioners also know that the medical examiner's office, run by Dr. Roberto Bayardo, takes in autopsy work from other counties for a fee as a way to meet expenses. That is one of the reasons the county opposed seeking accreditation in the past — it would have forced the office to perform fewer autopsies each year.
Standards established by the National Association of Medical Examiners call for pathologists to perform no more than 350 autopsies annually, and in some instances, far fewer than that. Travis County's pathologists can average more than 500 a year.
About a third of the roughly 1,400 autopsies done in Bayardo's office are from outside Travis County. The outside work subsidizes the county's office and pays the pathologist performing the autopsy a $300 fee.
Burnet County commissioners, unhappy with the results of an autopsy in a criminal case last year, asked that its $1,800 fee be returned.
The review approved by the Travis County commissioners last week will analyze the actual forensic medical work done by the county's three pathologists. That charge comes after several high-profile mistakes, including the misidentified body from Burnet County and incorrect results from the autopsy of Austin police shooting victim Daniel Rocha.
An audit of Bayardo's office last summer reported that the pathologists perform too many autopsies, which can lead to mistakes.
County Judge Sam Biscoe said last month that he would like to aggressively pursue accreditation for the office, which would mean more pathologists or less outside work. Other commissioners have said that performing autopsies for other jurisdictions is not a proper way to pay for the medical examiner's office.
At least one audit and several highly publicized mistakes make it clear that something needs to change within Bayardo's operation. Everyone will be surprised if the just-approved medical review doesn't reach a similar conclusion.
The commissioners took an important step toward improving the medical examiner's office by adding money to this fiscal year's budget. They voted to add $331,000 for more personnel. Commissioners also approved hiring an office manager to improve efficiency, something recommended in the last audit. Alicia Perez, named as interim office manager, will determine who should conduct the medical review.
Commissioners now say their goal is to seek national accreditation, which will give them a blueprint for a competent, efficient medical examiner's office. If they had not opposed that in the past, they might have avoided some of their current headaches.
source: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/11bayardo_edit.html
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go here...

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go here...

The Politics of Brownwood Asbestos !

Brownwood Asbestos history...

Will the recently passed Texas Legislation wake you up ? Who are your poliitcal leaders protecting ?

Did you know this.........or did the politicians keep you busy thinking about "Gay Marriage" ?

everything is local...

Special Forces Suicides Raise Questions

October 11, 2005
Special Forces Suicides Raise Questions
By JON SARCHE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER (AP) - Chief Warrant Officer William Howell was a 15-year Army Special Forces veteran who had seen combat duty all over the world. Sgt. 1st Class Andre McDaniel was a military accountant. Spc. Jeremy Wilson repaired electronics.
They had little in common, other than having served in Iraq with the 10th Special Forces Group based at Fort Carson, Colo. They did not know each other, and they had vastly different duties.
Each, however, committed suicide shortly after returning home, all within about a 17-month period.
The Army says there appears to be no connection between the men's overseas service and their deaths, and Army investigators found no "common contributing cause" among the three. The fact they were in the same unit is only a coincidence, Special Operations Command spokeswoman Diane Grant said at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Others are not so sure. Steve Robinson, a former Army Ranger and veterans' advocate, said he suspects there were problems in the men's unit - namely, a macho refusal to acknowledge stress and seek help.
"It could be that there's a climate there that creates the stigma which prevents people from coming forward," said Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center. "The mentality of this particular group seemed to be `Ignore what you think and feel and keep doing your job and don't talk to me about that (expletive) combat stress reaction stuff.'"
Special Forces soldiers specialize in what the Army calls "unconventional warfare" - commando raids, search-and-destroy missions, intelligence gathering. They go through specialized psychological screening. They also undergo rigorous physical training and learn survival techniques and other skills, including foreign languages.
Howell, 36, a father of three, shot himself March 14, 2004 - three weeks after returning from Iraq - after hitting and threatening to kill his wife, Laura.
She said she did not see any warning signs until the night he threatened her.
"You look back every day and think what could I have done different. I can't think of anything," she said.
She said she did not know of any connection between her husband and the two other soldiers, and did not know them or their families. But she agreed with Robinson that Special Forces soldiers might have a more difficult time than other military personnel overcoming the stigma associated with seeking counseling.
"My husband would probably see getting help as a weakness," she said. "Even as mature and old and experienced as he was, he may look at it as `I can handle it, it's not that bad.'"
Special Forces officials said the Colorado-based unit experienced heavy combat in Iraq. Two members were killed in the first half of 2004 - one by a roadside bomb, another in a vehicle rollover. Another member, former Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany, was sent home and charged with cowardice when the sight of the mangled body of an Iraqi caused a panic attack and prompted him to ask for psychological help. Charges against Pogany were later dropped, and he received a medical discharge.
Staff Sgt. Kyle Cosner, spokesman for the 10th Special Forces Group, declined to comment. Grant said unit morale appears high because the unit's soldiers re-enlist at a rate that is among the highest in the command.
She also said chaplains trained in counseling and suicide intervention are available to members of the 10th Special Forces Group and their families, and every Army unit's commanders are required to provide regular suicide prevention training.
The Army says its overall suicide rate in 2003 was 12.8 per 100,000 active-duty soldiers, while the rate in the general U.S. population was 10.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Military officials contend the 2003 figure for the Army was skewed by a spike in suicides among soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait; the 2004 rate was 11 per 100,000, Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins said. An Army surgeon general's report said the suicide rate among soldiers sent to Iraq and Kuwait in 2004 was 8.5 per 100,000.
The Army has learned much about mental health in recent years and is working to improve treatment and ease soldiers' reluctance to seeking help, Robbins said.
Robinson has been pushing military leaders to stop using paper questionnaires to screen for problems among returning soldiers and switch to face-to-face meetings with mental health professionals.
"There have been improvements, but it's been like pulling teeth from a lion's mouth to get the Department of Defense to do things they're not willing to do because of the dollars," he said.
Laura Howell said she blamed Lariam, an Army-issued anti-malaria drug, for her husband's suicide. The drug's manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, says side effects can include anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucinations and psychotic behavior. Pogany, the soldier unhinged by the sight of a mangled corpse, also believes the drug played a role in his case.
Roche and the military maintain the drug is safe, and it is among the drugs recommended by the CDC for preventing and treating malaria.
Wilson, 23, hanged himself in the post barracks July 9, about a month after returning from Iraq. The Associated Press was unable to find members of his family.
McDaniel, 40, a father of two, shot himself in August 2004, six weeks after he returned from Iraq. He had recently been arrested for allegedly arranging to have sex with an undercover officer who had posed on the Internet as a 13-year-old girl.
His widow, Linda, said her husband seemed withdrawn when he returned from Iraq. He had called home around Easter 2004 and said his unit was being shelled.
"He said goodbye at that particular time because he was scared he wouldn't be coming home," she said.
---
On the Net:
Army: http://www.army.mil
National Gulf War Resource Center: http://www.ngwrc.org
source: Las Vegas Sun, Inc.

Oil Companies Experiencing Record Profits

rest of story...

Brownwood: Paper or Plastic ?

What kind of Texan are ya?...

Texas Proposition 2 Debate

EDITORIAL From The Austin American Statesman

Discrimination does nothing to 'protect' marriage

EDITORIAL BOARD
Sunday, October 09, 2005

Over the past five years in Texas, about 635,000 divorce cases have been filed in state and county courts to end a marriage between a man and woman. But Texans are being told that on Nov. 8, in a statewide election, they can defend the institution of marriage — not by banning divorce, or making it more difficult to marry in the first place, but by voting for a constitutional amendment to ban marriage between people of the same sex.
A ban on gay marriage would do nothing — nothing at all — to protect or enhance traditional marriage. We urge Texans to vote against Proposition 2, the proposed amendment, because it's true purpose is to discriminate against gay Texans.
The proof that this is really aimed at gays, not protecting traditional marriage, is that the proposed amendment would also ban the state from recognizing "any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
A case can be made that the social institution of marriage is troubled and needs help. But no case can be made that it is gay people who threaten it. Texas has never recognized marriage between people of the same sex, and state law forbids it.
By installing the existing ban on gay marriage into the state constitution, opponents of gay marriage want to make it as difficult as possible to make any change in the law, even if a majority of voters and their legislators eventually change their minds.
Any change to a constitutional ban on gay marriage would first require a two-thirds vote of both the Texas House and Senate and then go before voters, as opposed to the simple legislative majority required to change a law.
Another reason critics of gay marriage want Proposition 2 is distrust of the courts, which they fear could discover in the state constitution's guarantee of equal rights for all citizens a new right to same-sex marriage. But as a group, Texas judges are a conservative lot, and that includes the Texas Supreme Court, which is made up entirely of Republicans. And in Texas, such judges are subject to election.
Some supporters of Proposition 2 want it to pass as a message to federal judges, who are appointed, that a majority of voters oppose gay marriage. But federal law already protects states that ban gay marriage from having to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in the few states that recognize them or similar arrangements, such as civil unions.
In short, there's no pressing legal reason to pass Proposition 2. In fact, its passage would be a step backward for Texas.
Texas and the nation have made enormous progress in the past half-century in knocking down laws and social practices that excluded people from all the benefits of citizenship in a free society because they were the wrong color, the wrong sex, had physical disabilities or were gay.
But Proposition 2 would anchor in the constitution a prejudice that same-sex couples — citizens who work, pay taxes and obey the law like everyone else — are not entitled to official recognition of their intimate, committed relationships to each other. And it would make it as difficult as possible to ever obtain such recognition from the Legislature, even if a majority came to support it.
It remains a terrific irony that, even as gay Texas citizens who want to marry cannot, "straight" Texans who can marry file some 120,000 divorce actions a year. And yet voters are told that the way to "protect" marriage is to pass a constitutional amendment attacking gay Texans.
It's not needed to defend marriage, and voters should reject Proposition 2.
source:http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/9GayMarriage_edit.html
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after reading this:

anything in the name of GOD...

I better understand who Susan B Anthony was speaking of when she said: " I always distrust people who know so much about what God wants them to do to their fellows. "

I agree with State Representative Senfronia Thompson's testimony

Her words here...

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But This Is Bushland

More than any previous visit, one enters Texas aware that this is the state running the world—via that man in the White House, who will rule for another four dreadful years of war, debt, and arrogance, and cultural decline. All charms aside, this is a fact difficult to ignore. I've always adored Texas, but this paradox requires some rethinking of relationship between culture and politics.

The political culture here is dominated by white Christian males who enthusiastically voted for Bush by 75%. Add the words conservative and protestant to the mixed and you have a consensus for Bush that approaches nearly 100%. One doubts that any dictator or Pope in the history of the world enjoyed such universal uncritical support from a dominant group.
Yet in casual discussions with actual members of this group—having cleverly won their trust by being a white male myself—I found virtually no awareness of any of the basic facts concerning the ballooning budget, the chaos and bloodshed of Iraq, the vast expansion of federal power, the shredding of civil liberties, or anything else.
To speak of these matters comes across as boring and irrelevant as a lecture on the chemical properties of the rings of Saturn. All Texans know is that their man in Washington guarding their interests, slaying bad guys, and doing something to make everyone really prosperous.

The big threats they see on the horizon are gay marriage and Islam—sentiments easily manipulated by a cynical political elite.

These charming and peaceful people who go on about what the Middle East needs now are the same ones who routinely and dismissively refer to non-Texans as Yankees, with a studied indifferentism. Iraqi, Iowan, it's all the same to them. It's bad enough that the people of the state to have given the world this man and celebrated his works, but to have done so with willful ignorance of what he has done to the country and the world, and with little concern for the fate of anyone but themselves, this is really unforgivable.
source:

read entire article here...

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How will Brownwood & Brown County Vote on Prop 2 ? 90% Yes 10% No ?

more here...

What you're Not hearing on Brownwood Talk Radio !

comment | posted October 6, 2005 (October 24, 2005 issue)

Pat Tillman, Our Hero

Dave Zirin

"I don't believe it," seethed Ann Coulter.

Her contempt was directed at a September 25 San Francisco Chronicle story reporting that former NFL star and Army Ranger war hero Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan last year, believed the US war on Iraq was "f***ing illegal" and counted Noam Chomsky among his favorite authors. It must have been quite a moment for Coulter, who upon Tillman's death described him in her inimitably creepy fashion as "an American original--virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be." She tried to discredit the story as San Francisco agitprop, but this approach ran into a slight problem: The article's source was Pat Tillman's mother, Mary.

to read the entire article please visit:http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051024/zirin
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Poll: Groups Unhappy With Bush Performance

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 7, 6:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in President Bush's political coalition are worried about the direction the nation is headed and disappointed with his performance, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
That unease could be a troubling sign for a White House already struggling to keep the Republican Party base from slipping over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Gulf Coast spending projects, immigration and other issues.
"Politically, this is very serious for the president," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University. "If the base of his party has lost faith, that could spell trouble for his policy agenda and for the party generally."
for the entire article please go to: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051007/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll
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A personal message from Kinky Friedman to all the Texans (and Texans at heart) in the World:

Help! We are surrounded by crooked politicians, lobbyists, special interest groups, and possibly that greatest of all enemies of freedom - apathy. Scouting reports from all over the State indicate that we are poised to take the Governor’s Mansion, but I need your help now! Many thousands of you have enjoyed the fun spirit of this campaign, buying t-shirts, bumper stickers, and posters, and proudly displaying them at weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and minstrel shows throughout the South. Now it’s time to look deep into your souls and contribute as generously as you can to this brave battle for Texas independence.

We are fixin’ to find out how many Texans there are in the state of Texas, because that’s exactly how many it’s gonna take to change the world - one governor at a time.

Some say I have a lot of one liners. Well, what’s wrong with that? Colonel Travis only had one line at the Alamo. He drew it in the sand. That was the moment, I contend, that Texas was truly born. Now I’m drawing a line, but it’s not in the sand; it’s in your hearts. Cross that line with me, folks, and we’ll make that Lone Star shine again!

Kinky Friedman
Governor in Waiting

source: from an email from Kinky Friedman. for more information on Kinky go to www.kinkyfriedman.com
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"But yeah, I'm angry. I'm angry at politicians who use Jesus Christ as a marketing tool."

Dallas Morning News
Steve Blow:

Kinky's unorthodox campaign: Is that a bandwagon I hear?
09:06 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 4, 2005

It hit me with a surreal jolt – like that queasy moment you realize parents have sex.
In the same eerie way, it hit me: Kinky Friedman could be the next governor of Texas.
Kind of sends a shiver down your spine, doesn't it?
But is that a shiver of fear? Or excitement? I'm not sure.
I was certainly aware of Mr. Friedman's independent campaign for governor. But I thought it was strictly a stunt.
For those who don't know him, the cigar-smoking, 60-year-old Mr. Friedman is a comic fixture around the state. For years he led a country band, Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. Then he wrote a successful series of mystery novels. Until lately, Mr. Friedman had written a humor column for Texas Monthly.
All that led me to take his governor talk as mostly silliness. After all, he announced his campaign for the governor's mansion by explaining, "I need more closet space."
Then the other day I saw Mr. Friedman's first campaign cartoon, and that's when it hit me: He's serious about this.
Then came the second, more shocking realization: He could win!
If Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger can be elected governor of California, and Jesse "The Body" Ventura can be elected governor of Minnesota, there's nothing to say Kinky "The Kinkster" Friedman can't be elected governor of Texas.
Look at past results. We obviously have a sense of humor.
It may seem odd that a cartoon should spark this realization. But you need to see it. You can, at www.kinkyfriedman.com.
When one of Mr. Friedman's local fans sent me the link to "I Looove Texas," I prepared to watch a political parody in the vein of the JibJab.com cartoons.
And it is funny and irreverent. (A typical Texas politician campaigns atop a bucking oil-well pump, proclaiming "Jesus es grande!" )
But there is a moment in the cartoon – where Mr. Friedman talks about Texas and independence, with the image of Sam Houston on the screen – that you realize this is no joke.
Or at least not totally a joke. The red-white-and-blue-spewing menorah at the end is probably a joke. But Mr. Friedman is clearly trying to say something serious.
"Well, I never like to use the word 'serious,' " he deadpanned in a phone chat the other day. "But yeah, I'm angry. I'm angry at politicians who use Jesus Christ as a marketing tool."
And with that, he was off and running.... "The two political parties have let us down. The Republicans and the Democrats think they have a monopoly on democracy. And as we saw in the special sessions, the only time they get off their butts is to attack each other.
"The minute there is a real alternative on the ballot, believe me, Texans are going to take it."
So, yeah, Mr. Friedman is serious. And he said the 50,000 people who have registered as volunteers on his Web site are serious.
"The public already understands. It's really just the politicians who don't get it," he said.
But an enormous obstacle stands between Mr. Friedman and all that gubernatorial closet space: State law makes an independent candidacy nigh on to impossible.
He must get more than 45,000 registered voters' signatures on a petition in just 62 days after the March primaries. And if there's a runoff, he'll have half that time.
And petition signers must not have voted in either primary. He is urging voters to stay away from the polls with a campaign called "Save Yourself for Kinky."
Getting a bead on Mr. Friedman's politics won't be easy. He supports prayer in school, casino gambling and gay marriage. He voted for Bush and Clinton.
But he said he thinks people are less interested in issues than in knowing that a candidate will speak the plain truth and run a clean, competent government.
"I'm a Jew," he says. "I'll hire good people."
And I think he's serious.
E-mail sblow@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/100505dnmetblow.1262554f.html
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Politicians using Jesus as a marketing tool includes Brownwood ! More to come on this.........

Brownwood: it is very Red !!!!!!!!!!!!

read it here...

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Our State Reps ( Republican Jim Keffer ) position/vote...........

read it here...

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anything in the name of God.............

anything...

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" it’s kind of scary on your end of the district" quote from our Republican Congressman's ( Mike Connaway ) Chief of Staff, Jeff Burton...........

read it here...

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Brownwood: as it is..........

more here...

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Bush's Supreme Court Nominee, Harriet Miers, opinion on Civil Rights & Gays

" A questionnaire filled out in 1989 by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is being promoted as an insight into her views on gay rights and the law. In answers to a Texas gay rights group when she was running for a seat on Dallas City Council, she said she believed gay men and lesbians should have the same civil rights as straight Americans, but that she also opposed repeal of the state's sodomy law criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct."
source: http://www.cnn.com/
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What's being written......

read more here...

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As this relates to Brownwood......

more here...

Brownwood: As it is !

Brownwood: As it is !
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

Yes, even in Brownwood Texas, it's Fair Trade Month !

Fair Trade ?...

Quote

" The criminal justice system in Texas is so cracked it makes an armadillo look smooth.” Dallas Morning News Editorial, March 20, 2003.

~ DMN 3.20.03

Six Democratic War Vets Seek House Seats

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 4, 3:45 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Lawyer Patrick Murphy and five other veterans of the Iraq war are asking questions about President Bush's policies in Iraq as part of their broader Democratic campaigns to win congressional seats in next year's elections.
Given their experience in Iraq, the six Democrats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia say they are eminently qualified to pose the tough questions. Their reservations mirror public opinion, with an increasing number of Americans expressing concern about the mission and favoring a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The most recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed only 37 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq, with 62 percent disapproving.
This summer, Democrat Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran, nearly defeated Republican Jean Schmidt in a special election in an Ohio district considered a GOP stronghold. Hackett focused on his wartime experience and his opposition to Bush's policies.
On Monday, with support from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other party leaders, Hackett decided to seek a higher office, the Senate seat now held by two-term Republican Mike DeWine, said spokesman David Woodruff.
"Some guys don't think it's time to question our government, but the fact is I love my country," said Murphy, 31, who fought with the 82nd Airborne Division. "We need to have an exit strategy now."
While fighting in Iraq, a private asked then-Capt. Murphy why U.S. forces were in the Persian Gulf nation and was told it didn't matter; there was a job to do and just try to return home safely.
"That wasn't the time to question our government," Murphy recalled.
Murphy is challenging first-term Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Republican in the northern Philadelphia suburbs of the 8th District.
Another Iraq war veteran, Texas Republican Van Taylor, is also running for a House seat, but he backs President Bush.
In 1974, public outrage over the Watergate scandal and Republican President Richard M. Nixon's administration swept a class of reform-minded Democrats into office. It's too soon to measure the impact of the war on the 2006 elections, but the handful of veterans pursuing seats in the House is an early indicator.
The Democratic veterans walk a fine line as they reach out to voters who may question Bush's handling of the conflict. The task is to challenge the administration while still being seen as patriotic.
David Ashe, who spent most of 2003 working as a Marine judge advocate general in Iraq, chooses his words carefully when asked whether the United States should have invaded.
There's no reason to "Monday morning quarterback the decision," said Ashe, 36, who is trying to unseat first-term Republican Rep. Thelma Drake in Virginia's 2nd District. "I would say we're in the right position to succeed. Whether or not we're going to get that success remains to be seen."
Although they often talk tough about the Bush administration, some of the candidates don't fit the typical anti-war image, said Charles Sheehan-Miles, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense.
"They really want to help the Iraqi people and see the mission through, and they think we're losing because of stupid mistakes made at the senior leadership level," Sheehan-Miles said.
Historically, war experience has added to a candidate's credibility. As many as 70 percent of lawmakers in the 1950s were war veterans, but only about 40 percent of the members of Congress today have military experience.
During the Vietnam War, there was such a "collective funk" that veterans felt free to criticize, said John Johannes, a political science professor at Villanova University. A few, like Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., got their political start as anti-war activists.
Veterans today have an advantage because Americans have a positive feeling about soldiers, said John Allen Williams, a political scientist at Loyola University in Chicago.
"Unlike Vietnam, people who do not like the war are not blaming the veterans," Williams said.
But that will not guarantee success, contends Ed Patru, deputy communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Democratic war veterans who are seen as liberal on other issues aren't going to be popular with voters, he said.
"I think a lot of Democrats are looking at what happened in Ohio and trying to duplicate that around the country," Patru said.
Taylor, 33, a Republican businessman from West Texas, supports Bush's policies. He is a major in the Marines reserves, and, like the Democrats, cites his war experience.
"The war on terror is going to be with us for a long time and Congress is going to grapple with the war on terror," Taylor said. "We need policy-makers who know what it means to make war."
Bryan Lentz, 41, an attorney from Swarthmore, Pa., volunteered to go to Iraq at age 39 with a civil affairs unit. The Army reserves major was so disillusioned by the lack of a plan in Iraq that he decided while he was in Iraq to run for Congress.
He is trying to unseat 10-term GOP Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record), who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
"I'm not anti-war, I'm anti-failure," Lentz said. "We need to define what victory is and we need to set a plan to get there. You cannot stay the course if you do not set a course."
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051004/ap_on_go_co/congress_war_veterans;_ylt=AtTVs03oZPe6guT_8gtEmVis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

Dubya picks Harriet Miers........

Dubya, We Knew You When................

what's being written...

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what's being written...

State Fair Of Texas

Howdy Big Tex...

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Brownwood NAACP Historic Role in desegregating State Fair Midway

read about it here:

go here...

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go here...

Abilene, Brownwood & Green Roofs ?

go green...

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go green...

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go green...

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go green...

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go green...

Blogs: News, Politics, Religion, Coffee, Education & More

Best of Blogs - Web logs are today's coffee shop talks, offering another outlet for conversation

By Brian Bethel / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 2, 2005

Steve Harris of Brownwood has always been interested in what he calls ''the rest of the story.''
A subscriber to multiple newspapers, and satellite television and radio, he also visits online news sites and listens to local talk radio and regional broadcasts to find topics to share with others.
Now, the Internet has allowed him to discuss issues and events with the world beyond his daily visitors to his Brownwood business, Steves' Market and Deli.
''Our blog is a small continuation of the rich and diverse history of the role that coffee shops and small cafes have played throughout history regarding discussions and information sharing,'' he wrote in an e-mail.
Web logs - ''blogs'' as they are known - have boomed in popularity. A variety of Web sites offer space for those who want to have their own unique voice in the wilds of the World Wide Web. Topics include politics, religion, music and personal stories and struggles.
Some blogs become quite popular, such as the one belonging to Highland Church of Christ Pastor Mike Cope. It gets about 2,000 hits per day.
''I've tried to create a kind of online community - minus, of course, the important aspects of community that demand physical presence - with Highland members and much beyond that,'' he said.
Other bloggers are happy to have a place where they can be themselves.
''The basic topic/goal of my blog,'' said Candy Gilbert, 49, ''is to put into words some of the thoughts swirling around in my head. Nothing loftier than that. Sure, I kept a journal, but that was different. No one reads that. My blog is out there for all to see. It's interesting to me to see what I have the courage to put in it.''
A Nose for News
Harris said his blog, created in September 2004, specializes in current events.
''I believe that everything is local and that includes issues and injustice that some would prefer to deny or avoid discussing. Blogs are just one more avenue where these issues can be discussed,'' Harris said.
Calling his readership ''diverse and engaged,'' Harris said visitor comments vary from ''some good, some bad and some ugly.''
Recent posts included a story about coffee cups with a quote about homosexuality being pulled from Baylor University's Starbuck's coffee house; reprinted editorial pieces on politics; and commentary on recent Brownwood events.
Harris said keeping a blog has taught him about dedication.
''I'm interested in searching for what I call 'the rest of the story,' and that often takes time and dedication to search it out!'' he said.
He's found stories that he feels need to be shared with a wider audience.
''Example: It was the Brownwood chapter of the NAACP that was a major force in getting the State Fair of Texas Midway desegregated,'' he said. ''I'd say that is a pretty important Civil Rights story. Important enough to me that I've documented it on my blog.''
A Place for Politics
Plenty of blogs cater to political tastes.
Dave Haigler runs a public-policy news blog ''mainly for Democrats,'' he said. It runs heavy on reprinted news articles and opinion pieces.
''My idea is that anyone who reads (my blog) and little else would still be well-read on public policy,'' he said.
The blog replaces a Web page newsletter that took Haigler five hours to publish five pages. By using DemLog, Haigler can add a new article to his blog in five to 10 minutes.
Haigler said he likes keeping a blog because it reminds him of a desire to ''get to the bottom of things and know the facts,'' he said.
Perhaps the most fun for him is blogging a local story on friends - especially those with lots of pictures, he said.
''The way people light up when you write about them - you'd think they were being interviewed by CBS Evening News or some real professional media outfit,'' he said.
Anson Middle School teacher Mike Cable has two blogs, one devoted to music and one to Texas politics.
''As an educator, a lot of my colleagues were asking me where I was getting my information about what the Legislature was doing about education,'' he said. ''I realized that ... few (blogs) dealt with Texas politics exclusively.''
The few that did ''often contained language and vitriol that wasn't appropriate for the workplace,'' he said. ''So I decided to create a blog to link to the news articles, editorials and blog posts I was reading.''
A Melody of Music
Similarly, others asked Cable where he got some of the music he was finding on the Internet. He decided to share.
Thus, ''Killing Floor Blues'' was born, a blog devoted to MP3 audio files of ''the kind of music I like,'' Cable said.
''While it is loosely shaped around the blues, I post links to R&B, soul, jazz, bluegrass, classic country and anything else I feel like. The music I link to is probably on average as old as I am - 40 years plus.''
His music readership gets about 130 user hits per day, and he said he's surprised by the number of international users.
Cable's blog has made him consider the problems surrounding intellectual property rights.
''Unlike peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, MP3 blogs for the most part concentrate on obscure, out-of-print and copyright-expired music,'' he wrote. ''I'm not offering the entire Beatles catalog for free. I'm offering a few cuts from Bessie Smith, or maybe Dinah Washington, and encouraging the listener to buy some more.''
Blogging has allowed him to ''connect with the entire world and makes you think about how you want to make those connections,'' he wrote.
A Matter of Faith
One of the best-read local blogs, pastor Mike Cope's Web log regularly gets comments and questions.
Cope has been keeping the blog for about two years, he said.
Often, he writes his own takes on current events, with the eye of a minister. On the recent Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Cope wrote, after recalling his own trips to the Crescent City:
''Somehow, have managed in all those trips to avoid seeing the 28 percent of that great city who live below the poverty line ... . I'm mad at me. All those trips to New Orleans and I didn't see these people who matter as much to God as my own sons.''
Cope has regularly written about personal tragedies, from a January 2005 wreck that injured his son, Cody Cope, to the loss of his daughter, Megan, about 10 years ago. Matters of faith color practically every post.
But readers do get to see a large portion of his personality.
''Diet Dr Pepper is my drink addiction. If Jesus were alive today, he'd turn the water to Diet DP ... On a normal day, I can get by on one can. If I put down a second can, you can tell the stress level is high,'' Cope posted.
While not as high profile as Cope's blog, Candy Gilbert also writes about her personal faith-journey.
She said she is ''always amazed'' when someone comes up to her and says they read her blog, which began in April 2004.
''But I have very much enjoyed the camaraderie of blogging,'' she said. ''There's a whole other world out there ... . It's interesting how you can build a relationship with someone over time that may live in another country or around the world just because you read each other's blogs. I feel like I know some of these people in a deeper, different way than I know my own friends. But then you'll usually write things you won't actually say, or at least I know I'm that way.''
Gilbert said she believes people are starved for deeper communication and connection, but that they are afraid to go to those depths with people they see regularly.
''Sometimes, I'll sit down and write a post and sit back and wonder where that came from,'' she said. ''Those are my favorite ones. They're usually the ones that get the most feedback, too. That's when I know God is using my blog to possibly reach someone out there in a place they've closed off.''

Some Local / Area Blogs
DemLog: www.demlog.blogspot.com
Mike Cope's Web Log: www.mikecope.blogspot.com
Candy Gilbert's Web Log: www.candygilbert.blogspot.com
Steve Harris' Web Log: www.stevesmarketanddeli.com/blogger.htm
Killing Floor Blues: www.killingfloorblues.blogspot.com
Texas Politics: www.texaspoliticsblog.blogspot.com
Want your own blog? Try:
www.blogger.com
www.livejournal.com
www.xanga.com
www.myspace.com
Contact Wellness Writer Brian Bethel at 676-6739 or bethelb@reporternews.com.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/fe_family/article/0,1874,ABIL_10579_4125294,00.html
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History of Cafe's, Coffee & Coffee Shops

cafe society...

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devils brew !...

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Books and Biscotti
High school students are abuzz with local library coffee shops

By Sidney Levesque / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 3, 2005

Move over, Starbucks. A couple of new coffee shops are in town, and they're offering books with their biscotti.
The Abilene and Cooper high school libraries have coffee bars and hip new interiors this school year. The Barnes & Noble bookstore atmosphere is pulling students in.
''It's been going like gangbusters,'' said Cooper librarian Teresa Price. ''I can't tell you how many more kids have been in the LRC (learning resource center) who have never come in except for their freshman orientation. It's been exciting.''
The coffee bars are a hit, especially in the morning. Even teachers stop in.
Cooper sophomore Ashley McNally buys a biscotti and French vanilla coffee each morning to keep her awake for band practice. ''I love going in there,'' she said.
The best-sellers are hot chocolate and muffins.
Students can choose from two kinds of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or apple cider for $1, a muffin for 50 cents or biscotti for 75 cents. AHS culinary students make some of the muffins.
''We sell out of those every morning,'' said Lucinda Farrar, an AHS library aide.
The library sells up to 160 drinks some days at Bistro Aquila (Eagle Cafe).
''We can't stay up with it,'' said AHS librarian Mary Margaret Smith, who joked that she needed to learn how to be a restaurant manager. The Cooper coffee bar, Internet Cafe, is just as busy.
Proceeds from the coffee bars will go toward more library improvements.
Students like the new ''teen friendly'' look of the libraries. More students are stopping in to do homework and read for fun.
''It's such a good environment,'' said AHS senior Jeannie Williams.
Books were rearranged to make popular reading materials more visible. Magazines are self- serve. Before, they were closed off and had to be requested.
Students can relax in overstuffed, bright chairs or in one of the armless, legless vinyl chairs that sit on the floor. Little ''living rooms'' were arranged using the chairs, coffee tables, lamps, art work, plants and colorful throw pillows.
Stainless steel trashcans are scattered around. Soft classical and jazz music is playing.
The librarians found furniture in storage and antique stores. Both libraries are installing orange booths from the kitchen at the district's administration building on North Mockingbird Lane, which is closing so administrators can move to another building downtown.
''We're recycling as much as we can,'' said Price, the Cooper librarian. Other items were purchased with money from the student activity fund.
The library makeover has gone so well, Smith may open the AHS library for coffee house study nights. Price is considering a poetry slam contest at Cooper.

Contact Sidney Levesque at levesques@reporternews.com or 676-6721.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_ed_elem_secondary/article/0,1874,ABIL_7951_4127852,00.html

Quote

"I always distrust people who know so much about what God wants them to do to their fellows."

~Susan B. Anthony

Next time your local "Talking Head" tries to convince you of Republican Morality....

Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: October 1, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.
The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.
Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."
The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."
The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.
to read the entire article please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/politics/01educ.html?hp&ex=1128225600&en=ed2345e1f9cc06db&ei=5094&partner=homepage