Steve's Soapbox: February 2006

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Brownwood: It's all local ! Isn't it ?

What's behind pastor's anti-gay messages ?
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
February 28, 2006

Allow me to share with you an epiphany. I think Fred Phelps is gay.
Not that I'd have any way to know for sure, and not that there's anything wrong with that. But it seems obvious to me that Freddie has spent a little time up on ''Brokeback Mountain,'' if you catch my drift. I'm thinking he's secretly into show tunes, interior decorating and man-sized love.
Granted, that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about the Fredster, who is defined by an apparently pathological hatred of all things homosexual. Perhaps you remember how his followers desecrated the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten and left to die on a prairie fence in Wyoming eight years ago. They showed up at the funeral bearing signs that said, ''God Hates Fags.''
Now Phelps has updated his act. His ''thinking,'' if you want to use that word, is that the casualties of the Iraq war are divine retribution for this country's tolerance of homosexuality. So, he says, thank God for the IEDs, improvised explosive devices, that have sent so many American soldiers home dead or in broken pieces.
Phelps' followers - he pastors a church in Topeka, Kan., where most of the congregants are members of his family - have been showing up at military funerals to express this view. Picture it: as your son, sister, wife, brother is being consigned to the soil, these idiots pop up with signs, loudly celebrating his or her death.
Small wonder the state of Wisconsin enacted a law last week banning protests at military funerals. Or that more than a dozen other states are moving in the same direction.
Phelps has vowed to fight the restrictions on First Amendment grounds and the unfortunate truth is that he has a point. His message is bizarre, grotesque and calculated to hurt, yes. But the Constitution carves out no exception for messages that are bizarre, grotesque and calculated to hurt. The right to freedom of speech is a precious thing that extends even here.
At this point, you're probably saying to yourself that next to this guy, Pat Robertson is a model of statesmanlike restraint. You probably think he's crazy. And not ordinary crazy, mind you, but 20 pages, typewritten, single-space, both sides of the page with scribbles in the margins crazy.
Well, I don't think he's as crazy as he seems. Heck, nobody could be. No, he's not disturbed. He's just gay.
Hear me out. How often have we seen public moralists railing against that which they themselves secretly indulge? Think Jimmy Swaggart with his prostitute. Think Dr. Laura's pose in the nude. And for goodness' sake, how many times have we seen homosexuality condemned by those who turned out to be closeted themselves? There was Pat Robertson biographer-turned-gay activist Mel White, Spokane Mayor James West who spent his days opposing gay rights and his nights in gay chat rooms, and Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, who founded a group that purported to cure people of homosexuality, but gave it up when they fell in love with each other.
Consider all that, and then consider the sick ferocity of Phelps' attack:
God hates ''fags.''
Gays are vomit-eating dogs.
Gays are ''worthy of death.''
Can you say ''self-hatred,'' boys and girls? Come on, isn't it obvious? The poor fellow is gayer than a Bette Midler AIDS benefit. In San Francisco.
He needs not our condemnation but our understanding. Maybe someday he'll find the strength to stop living this lie. He might just go on to be the greatest gay-rights activist this country has ever known. Maybe then, in the arms of the right man, he'll stop hurting.
Kind of chokes me up to think about it.
Of course, the Fredster will deny all this. He might even call me unpleasant names. Hey, that's his right. We may not see eye to eye on much, but on one thing, we agree.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him at (888) 251-4407 or via e-mail at lpitts@herald.com.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7981_4501275,00.html

Who's " Selling off America " ?

Published on Monday, February 27, 2006 by CommonDreams.org

When Americans No Longer Own America
by Thom Hartmann

The Dubai Ports World deal is waking Americans up to a painful reality: So-called "conservatives" and "flat world" globalists have bankrupted our nation for their own bag of silver, and in the process are selling off America.
Through a combination of the "Fast Track" authority pushed for by Reagan and GHW Bush, sweetheart trade deals involving "most favored nation status" for dictatorships like China, and Clinton pushing us into NAFTA and the WTO (via GATT), we've abandoned the principles of tariff-based trade that built American industry and kept us strong for over 200 years.
The old concept was that if there was a dollar's worth of labor in a pair of shoes made in the USA, and somebody wanted to import shoes from China where there may only be ten cents worth of labor in those shoes, we'd level the playing field for labor by putting a 90-cent import tariff on each pair of shoes. Companies could choose to make their products here or overseas, but the ultimate cost of labor would be the same.
Then came the flat-worlders, led by misguided true believers and promoted by multinational corporations. Do away with those tariffs, they said, because they "restrain trade." Let everything in, and tax nothing. The result has been an explosion of cheap goods coming into our nation, and the loss of millions of good manufacturing jobs and thousands of manufacturing companies. Entire industry sectors have been wiped out.
These policies have kneecapped the American middle class. Our nation's largest employer has gone from being the unionized General Motors to the poverty-wages Wal-Mart. Americans have gone from having a net savings rate around 10 percent in the 1970s to a minus .5 percent in 2005 - meaning that they're going into debt or selling off their assets just to maintain their lifestyle.
At the same time, federal policy has been to do the same thing at a national level. Because our so-called "free trade" policies have left us with an over $700 billion annual trade deficit, other countries are sitting on huge piles of the dollars we gave them to buy their stuff (via Wal-Mart and other "low cost" retailers). But we no longer manufacture anything they want to buy with those dollars.
So instead of buying our manufactured goods, they are doing what we used to do with Third World nations - they are buying us, the USA, chunk by chunk. In particular, they want to buy things in America that will continue to produce profits, and then to take those profits overseas where they're invested to make other nations strong. The "things" they're buying are, by and large, corporations, utilities, and natural resources.
Back in the pre-Reagan days, American companies made profits that were distributed among Americans. They used their profits to build more factories, or diversify into other businesses. The profits stayed in America.
Today, foreigners awash with our consumer dollars are on a two-decades-long buying spree. The UK's BP bought Amoco for $48 billion - now Amoco's profits go to England. Deutsche Telekom bought VoiceStream Wireless, so their profits go to Germany, which is where most of the profits from Random House, Allied Signal, Chrysler, Doubleday, Cyprus Amax's US Coal Mining Operations, GTE/Sylvania, and Westinghouse's Power Generation profits go as well. Ralston Purina's profits go to Switzerland, along with Gerber's; TransAmerica's profits go to The Netherlands, while John Hancock Insurance's profits go to Canada. Even American Bankers Insurance Group is owned now by Fortis AG in Belgium.
Foreign companies are buying up our water systems, our power generating systems, our mines, and our few remaining factories. All because "flat world" so-called "free trade" policies have turned us from a nation of wealthy producers into a nation of indebted consumers, leaving the world awash in dollars that are most easily used to buy off big chunks of America. As www.economyincrisis.com notes, US Government statistics indicate the following percentages of foreign ownership of American industry:

· Sound recording industries - 97%
· Commodity contracts dealing and brokerage - 79%
· Motion picture and sound recording industries - 75%
· Metal ore mining - 65%
· Motion picture and video industries - 64%
· Wineries and distilleries - 64%
· Database, directory, and other publishers - 63%
· Book publishers - 63%
· Cement, concrete, lime, and gypsum product - 62%
· Engine, turbine and power transmission equipment - 57%
· Rubber product - 53%
· Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing - 53%
· Plastics and rubber products manufacturing - 52%
· Plastics product - 51%
· Other insurance related activities - 51%
· Boiler, tank, and shipping container - 50%
· Glass and glass product - 48%
· Coal mining - 48%
· Sugar and confectionery product - 48%
· Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying - 47%
· Advertising and related services - 41%
· Pharmaceutical and medicine - 40%
· Clay, refractory, and other nonmetallic mineral products - 40%
· Securities brokerage - 38%
· Other general purpose machinery - 37%
· Audio and video equipment mfg and reproducing magnetic and optical media - 36%
· Support activities for mining - 36%
· Soap, cleaning compound, and toilet preparation - 32%
· Chemical manufacturing - 30%
· Industrial machinery - 30%
· Securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and related activities - 30%
· Other food - 29%
· Motor vehicles and parts - 29%
· Machinery manufacturing - 28%
· Other electrical equipment and component - 28%
· Securities and commodity exchanges and other financial investment activities - 27%
· Architectural, engineering, and related services - 26%
· Credit card issuing and other consumer credit - 26%
· Petroleum refineries (including integrated) - 25%
· Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments - 25%
· Petroleum and coal products manufacturing - 25%
· Transportation equipment manufacturing - 25%
· Commercial and service industry machinery - 25%
· Basic chemical - 24%
· Investment banking and securities dealing - 24%
· Semiconductor and other electronic component - 23%
· Paint, coating, and adhesive - 22%
· Printing and related support activities - 21%
· Chemical product and preparation - 20%
· Iron, steel mills, and steel products - 20%
· Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery - 20%
· Publishing industries - 20%
· Medical equipment and supplies - 20%

Thus it shouldn't surprise us that the cons have sold off our ports as well, and will defend it to the bitter end. They truly believe that a "New World Order" with multinational corporations in charge instead of sovereign governments will be the answer to the problem of world instability. And therefore they must do away with quaint things like unions, a healthy middle class, and, ultimately, democracy.
The "security" implications of turning our ports over to the UAE are just the latest nail in what the cons hope will be the coffin of American democracy and the American middle class. Today's conservatives believe in rule by inherited wealth and an internationalist corporate elite, and things like a politically aroused citizenry and a healthy democracy are pesky distractions.
Everything today is driven by profits for multinationals, supported by the lawmaking power of the WTO. Thus, parts for our missiles are now made in China, a country that last year threatened us with nuclear weapons. Our oil comes from a country that birthed a Wahabist movement that ultimately led to 14 Saudi citizens flying jetliners into the World Trade buildings and the Pentagon. Germans now own the Chrysler auto assembly lines that turned out tanks to use against Germany in WWII. And the price of labor in America is being held down by over ten million illegal workers, a situation that was impossible twenty-five years ago when unions were the first bulwark against dilution of the American labor force.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote of King George III in the Declaration of Independence, "He has combined with others to subject
us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation…" he just as easily could have been writing of the World Trade Organization, which now has the legal authority to force the United States to overturn laws passed at both local, state, and federal levels with dictates devised by tribunals made up of representatives of multinational corporations. If Dubai loses in the American Congress, their next stop will almost certainly be the WTO.
As Simon Romero and Heather Timmons noted in The New York Times on 24 February 2006, "the international shipping business has evolved in recent years to include many more containers with consumer goods, in addition to old-fashioned bulk commodities, and that has helped lift profit margins to 30 percent, from the single digits. These smartly managed foreign operators now manage about 80 percent of port terminals in the United States."
And those 30 percent profits from American port operations now going to Great Britain will probably soon go to the United Arab Emirates, a nation with tight interconnections to both the Bush administration and the Bush family.
Ultimately, it's not about security -- it's about money. In the multinational corporatocracy's "flat world," money trumps the national good, community concerns, labor interests, and the environment. NAFTA, CAFTA, and WTO tribunals can - and regularly do - strike down local and national laws. Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" are replaced by Antonin Scalia's "Rights of Corporate Persons."
Profits even trump the desire for good enough port security to avoid disasters that may lead to war. After all, as Judith Miller wrote in The New York Times on January 30, 1991, quoting a local in Saudi Arabia: "War is good for business."
Thom Hartmann is a Project Censored Award-winning best-selling author of over a dozen books and the host of a nationally syndicated noon-3pm ET daily progressive talk show syndicated by Air America Radio. www.thomhartmann.com His most recent books are "What Would Jefferson Do?" and Ultimate Sacrifice.

source: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0227-20.htm
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Monday, February 27, 2006

Dubai is now trying to censor CNN's Lou Dobbs
by John in DC - 2/27/2006 11:18:00 PM

I'm not kidding.

The Dubai state-owned company that wants to get control of 6 key US ports is now trying to silence CNN's Lou Dobbs. Apparently Dobbs' coverage of the port deal struck too close to home, so now Dubai is trying to force CNN to shut him up.

Well, here's a little advice for Dubai: In developed democracies the government doesn't get to tell the media to shut up or else. Sure, your good buddy George Bush has tried to censor the US media for years, but he's a failed president and an idiot and as a result is now at 34% in the polls. You've picked the wrong role model.

Dubai just proved once and for all how undemocratic and not-ready-for-prime-time it is. Scratch just a little bit and you uncover just another two-bit despot. But in this case, the two-bit despot has a checkered past with terrorism and wants to control the port of New York City.

You're doing a heck of a job, Dubie.
source: americablog.org
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From the Dallas Morning News

Nancy Kruh: Pundits have worries, but Dubai Ports isn't the main one

05:28 AM CST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The proposed sale of six U.S. port operations to a United Arab Emirates company has put pundits' reflexes to the test, with most exhibiting a healthy ability to knee-jerk one way or the other. But an outpouring of less-spontaneous commentary is now beginning to crest, and it's placing the controversy in the context of bigger-picture issues.
Balance of Opinion
In addition to the syndicated national columnists who regularly appear on Viewpoints, we are offering readers more voices in this twice-weekly roundup, on Tuesdays and Fridays, of comments from the country's leading political commentators.

Read the complete columns
Columns by writers of The New York Times require registration.
Trudy Rubin is among a small band of columnists less concerned about the sale than about port security in general.
"The irony of this tale is that there is a real threat to port safety, but it isn't Dubai Ports World," the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist writes. Now she hopes that "the ... flap may finally give the issue of port security the attention it deserves."
The federal government has allocated $18 billion to airport security since 9/11, Ms. Rubin points out, but just $630 million has gone to protect ports in the same time frame. "Only around 6 percent of the 6 million shipping containers that arrive annually are inspected," she writes.
"The problem is how to figure which containers ... might have had a dirty bomb inserted en route ...
"Should such a bomb explode, says maritime security expert Carl Benzel, it could shut down the country's ports and smash the 30 percent of the U.S. economy that relies on retail trade. Yet the system to prevent this from happening is rickety."
Nicholas Kristof and Rich Lowry pinpoint foreign ports as the larger security risk. "The key step" to smuggling a bomb into a U.S. port, Mr. Kristof writes in The New York Times, is "hiding the materials in the shipping container of a well-known and trusted exporter. If the container were shipped out of Rotterdam and seemed to contain Lego toys, for example, U.S. customs officials (who are now also based abroad) might not bother to examine it."
Mr. Lowry imagines a similar nightmare scenario. "More resources," he urges in the National Review, "should be poured into detection technology deployed overseas and in the United States, where only 37 percent of containers go through radiation detectors."
Looking through an economic lens, John Judis and David Ignatius both consider the trade implications of the proposed sale.
Mr. Judis wonders whether President Bush's "intransigence" has something to do with a UAE deal last November to purchase 42 Boeing jets for $9.7 billion with an option to buy 20 more.
"That is one of the largest purchases of commercial aircraft ever," he writes in the New Republic, "and it may have been the most important foreign sale made by an American company last year ...
"Bush officials have probably pressured Dubai's leaders to buy Boeing. That needs to be kept in mind as the administration continues to resist calls to rescind the port deal. Banning Dubai World Ports could have adverse consequences ... for Boeing and for America's trade balance."
For Mr. Ignatius, "the real absurdity here is that Congress doesn't seem to realize that an Arab-owned company's management of America's ports is just a taste of what is coming. ... Fiscal policies have sucked in imports so fast that the nation is nearing a trillion-dollar annual trade deficit."
The Washington Post columnist quotes economist Nouriel Roubini, who believes that "if we continue with our current patterns of spending above our incomes, by 2013 the U.S. foreign liabilities could be as high as 75 percent of GDP."
Far worse than the port-operations sale, Mr. Ignatius writes, would be for other "foreign investors to take us at our xenophobic word and decide that America doesn't really want foreign investment. If they pulled out their money, U.S. financial markets would plummet in a crash that might make 1929 look like a sleigh ride."
Where Congress should be putting its energies now, the columnist adds, is in "changing the fiscal policies that are transforming the United States into a ward of the world."
Balance of Opinion is a roundup of commentary published in addition to the syndicated columns that regularly appear on Viewpoints. Nancy Kruh is a freelance writer in Dallas; her e-mail address is nancykruh@swbell.net.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/balance/stories/DN-balance_28edi.ART.State.Edition1.e329fbb.html
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From the Abilene Reporter News

U.S. for sale
February 28, 2006

It's funny, a few years ago when I wrote my first letter against George Bush, people came out of the woodwork to tell me how wrong I was. But these days I see a bit of a flip flop. More and more people are getting fed up with the way your president is treating his own country. Now he wants to sell six major shipping ports to the Arabs. Why not just tell them to go ahead and drop a bomb on us? How hard would it be for a container coming into an Arab-owned port to make its way in to our country, only to contain an atomic bomb? Why not just cut through all the red tape, Mr. President, and simply put up a For Sale sign. For Sale, Slightly Used but going broke. The United States of America, sold to the highest bidder.

David Gann
Abilene
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_4501278,00.html

Monday, February 27, 2006

What the Brownwood Republicans & Their "Talking Heads" are "NOT" talking about on KXYL !

Bush Policies Weakening Guard, Governors Say

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 27, 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — Governors of both parties said Sunday that Bush administration policies were stripping the National Guard of equipment and personnel needed to respond to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires and other emergencies.
Tens of thousands of National Guard members have been sent to Iraq, along with much of the equipment needed to deal with natural disasters and terrorist threats in the United States, the governors said here at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
The National Guard, which traces its roots to the colonial militia, has a dual federal-state role. Governors normally command the Guard in their states, but Guard members deployed overseas in support of a federal mission are under the control of the president.
The governors said they would present their concerns to President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Monday. In a preview of their message, all 50 governors signed a letter to the president opposing any cuts in the size of the National Guard.
"Unfortunately," the letter said, "when our National Guard men and women return from being deployed in foreign theaters, much of their equipment remains behind." The governors said the White House must immediately re-equip Guard units "to carry out their homeland security and domestic disaster duties."
Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Republican and chairman of the governors association, said: "The National Guard plays an incredibly valuable role in the states. What we are concerned about, as governors, is that when our troops are deployed for long periods of time, and their equipment goes with them but does not come back, the troops are very strained, and they no longer have the equipment they were trained to use."
Nearly one-third of the American ground forces in Iraq are members of the Army National Guard.
This month the Pentagon backed away from a budget proposal to reduce the authorized strength of the National Guard to 330,000 soldiers, from 350,000.
"We have no intention of cutting the number of Guard or Reserve brigades, reducing the number of Guard or Reserve soldiers, or cutting the level of Guard or Reserve funding," said the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker.
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a Republican, said Sunday that he was still "very concerned." The administration may have set aside the proposal on authorized strength, but it has not restored money to the budget to pay for 350,000 Guard members, he said.
In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said that "extensive use of the Guard's equipment overseas has significantly reduced the amount of equipment available to governors for domestic needs."
Since 2003, the report said, the Army National Guard has left more than 64,000 pieces of equipment, valued at more than $1.2 billion, in Iraq. The Army has not kept track of most of this equipment and has no firm plans to replace it, the report said.
Governor Kempthorne said the National Guard was bearing "a totally disproportionate share" of proposed cuts in the growth of the Army's budget over the next five years, even as the Guard's responsibilities at home were increasing.
Governors of both parties said a Pentagon plan to reorganize the Army National Guard would significantly weaken its ability to save lives and property at home.
After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, more than 40,000 Guard members helped evacuate storm victims, distributed food and water, provided emergency medical care, repaired homes and restored power.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, a Democrat, said: "The Guard played an awesome role. We should be increasing the number of National Guard combat brigades, not reducing it."
Two other Democrats, Govs. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, said the strength and resources of Guard units in their states were being depleted.
"We are not only missing National Guard personnel," Ms. Sebelius said. "We are also missing a lot of the equipment that's used to deal with situations at home, day in and day out."
Despite assurances from top administration officials, Mr. Vilsack said, "many of us are very concerned about what we're hearing, that the Pentagon, the administration, might reduce the resources for the National Guard so they can redirect resources to pay for more boots on the ground, more full-time military."
David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, who heads the Government Accountability Office, said the governors had some basis for their concerns.
"The Army cannot account for over half the equipment that Army National Guard units have left overseas," Mr. Walker said. "And it has not developed replacement plans for the equipment, as Defense Department policy requires."

More Articles in Washington >
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/politics/27govs.html?hp&ex=1141016400&en=242a634368d8b1a1&ei=5094&partner=homepage
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William F. Buckey: Our mission in Iraq has failed
by John in DC - 2/27/2006 10:28:00 AM

"[the] mission has failed....different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgment of defeat." - William F. Buckley, Jr., The National Review
It's over, folks. Cong. Murtha's "extreme" position of only some three months ago is now mainstream conservative conventional wisdown. Only time will tell if the rest of the Dems join in, or whether the conservatives will get credit for "saving us" from Iraq. And only time will tell if the Dems are smart enough and crafty enough to label the Republicans as abject failures.

If Iraq was key to the war on terror, as Bush has said so many times, then his failure there has put our country at even more risk. Just like the Dubai ports deal, George Bush is making life in America and this world more dangerous by the day. It's not clear America can afford three more years of a failed presidency.

Finally, as E&P notes, now that Buckley recognizes we've failed, when will the New York Times (and the Washington Post) admit the same?
source: http://americablog.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 24, 2006

Does "Brownwood's Morality" Get Greener ?

OTHER VOICES
Morality gets greener
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Monday, February 13, 2006

Love of God, love of neighbor and the demands of stewardship compelled 86 evangelical Christian leaders to call for U.S. laws to slow climate change Wednesday.
They joined the legion of scientists, business leaders, environmentalists and government officials, here and abroad, who support mandatory reductions in the carbon emissions believed to be warming the globe.
President Bush, who has hardened his heart on this issue, shouldn't play Pharaoh once again.
Like many others, these evangelicals worry about the consequences of rising temperatures, melting glaciers and higher seas. They fear, as their statement put it, that "hungry children will get hungrier, droughts drier, floods fiercer, hurricanes harsher, and health concerns like malaria more menacing."
The Bush administration has supported climate change research, but backs only weak, voluntary measures to cut greenhouse gases emitted from power plants, factories and vehicles.
Though it acknowledges National Academy of Sciences and international reports confirming the human contribution to global warming, the administration still publicly questions the conclusions of a large majority of climate scientists.
But this new plea from the kind of fellow believers who populate his political base will be hard for the president to ignore.
Beyond scientific persuasion, the Evangelical Climate Initiative mounts an admirable moral case for action, saying:
The Earth is God's world, and any damage humans do to it is an offense against God himself. Christians are called to love their neighbors and to care for "the least among us."
These evangelical leaders see global warming as an extension of their work against famine, genocide and AIDS.
People of faith now stand before the president, warning him of a growing plague. He has ignored similar warnings before. Perhaps this time, he'll listen.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer

source: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/02/13Climate_edit.html
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Kinky Friedman: Getting his grub steak

Getting his grub steak
11:27 AM CST on Friday, February 24, 2006
GETTING HIS GRUB STEAK: Kinky Friedman may be a political novice, but the would-be governor does know the golden rule of Texas campaigning: Dallas is where the money is. The Kinkster will sweep into town (again) for a dinner Monday night at Bob's Steak & Chop House. About 30 people will pay $500 a plate – the proletarian version of George W.'s $100,000 Pioneers.
Like all things Kinky, his campaign for governor has people laughing. But Rick "The Haircut" Perry's popularity is mired in the Cheney Zone. The Dems have two stiffs no one's ever heard of and Carole Strayhorn is the answer to the trivia question "Who thinks Carole Strayhorn can be elected governor?"
Now that he's raised $1.5 million, Kinky's "Why the hell not?" slogan isn't such a joke.
SMOKE IF YOU GOT 'EM: Dallas businessmen Gary Corona and Fred Baker are organizing the Kinky dinner with Bob's owner Bob Sambol (right). Maybe it's the candidate's omnipresent cigar that Bob likes. The restaurateur could have been the model for the politically neutral Rick in Casablanca who said to the Gestapo major, "Your business is politics. Mine is running a saloon."
But Dallas' ordinance against smoking in restaurants still rankles Bob, who caters to people who like to light up with their steak and $500 wine.
As this is a private event, will Bob let Kinky light that cigar?
"Yes," Bob says emphatically.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/columnists/apeppard/stories/DN-OTTpeppard_0224gl.ART0.State.Edition1.1db31cbb.html

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Texas Ports being "mostly overlooked" by Brownwoodians ?

UAE Would Also Control Shipments of Military Equipment For The U.S. Army
There is bipartisan concern about the Bush administration’s decision to outsource the operation of six of the nation’s largest ports to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of that nation’s troubling ties to international terrorism. The sale of P&O to Dubai World Ports would give the state-owned company control of “the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.”

A major part of the story, however, has been mostly overlooked. The company, Dubai Ports World, would also control the movement of military equipment on behalf of the U.S. Army through two other ports. From today’s edition of the British paper Lloyd’s List:

[P&O] has just renewed a contract with the United States Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to provide stevedoring [loading and unloading] of military equipment at the Texan ports of Beaumont and Corpus Christi through 2010.

According to the journal Army Logistician “Almost 40 percent of the Army cargo deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom flows through these two ports.”

Thus, the sale would give a country that has been “a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia” direct control over substantial quantities U.S. military equipment.

Filed under: Homeland Security
Posted by Judd February 20, 2006 7:53 pm
Permalink | Comment (197)
source: rawstory.org via thinkprogress

Follow the Bouncing Ball !

Listen to Willie Nelson Here...

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

"The Steves" Wolfcreek Colorado Snow/Ski Update

"The Steves" Colorado Ski/Snow Update
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

January 13, 2007 8:00:14 AM CST
Summit Base Depth : 77 inches
Midway Base Depth : 70 inches
New Snowfall : 22 inches
Latest Storm : 24 inches
Year To Date : 226 inches

For The Comprehensive Ski Report
Visit The Wolf Creek Web Site @ http://www.wolfcreekski.com/

Saturday, February 18, 2006

In the News....Republican Sues Bush Administration and Google Rejects Bush's Justice Dept. Bid !

Republican Sues Bush, Cheney, NSA, TSA for Illegal Surveillance, Wiretapping

By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

Scott Tooley, a Republican, and former Congressional aide and law school graduate, educated at renowned Christian universities, has filed suit against the President, Vice President and relevant federal agencies for their illegal surveillance programs.
According to the complaint, the Bush-Cheney Administration initiated numerous illegal and perpetual surveillance methods on Mr. Tooley and his family after he was incorrectly placed on the TSA's "selectee" or watch list.
Mr. Tooley's case is unique because the suit alleges the Bush Administration has used additional illegal surveillance methods on him in addition to the illegal wiretapping. Mr. Tooley is also the first Republican to file suit with regard to the Bush Administration's surveillance programs.
The suit alleges that RFID tags "that monitor their vehicle movements" were placed on his wife's car.
Prior to filing suit, Mr. Tooley says he asked federal agencies for the removal of his name from the TSA's watch list and any documents relating to the matter. He says he was stonewalled and told that the agencies could neither confirm nor deny that his name was placed on multiple watch lists.
The complaint was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, February 17, 2006. Mr. Tooley is represented by Larry Klayman, former Chairman of Judicial Watch and former U.S. Senate candidate from Florida. Mr. Klayman is now in private practice in Miami and Washington, D.C.
source: http://www.rawstory.org/
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Google rejects Justice Dept. bid for search info

By Eric Auchard Fri Feb 17, 8:26 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. on Friday formally rejected the U.S. Justice Department's subpoena of data from the Web search leader, arguing the demand violated the privacy of users' Web searches and its own trade secrets.
Responding to a motion by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Google also said in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California the government demand to disclose Web search data was impractical.
The Bush administration is seeking to compel Google to hand over Web search data as part of a bid by the Justice Department to appeal a 2004 Supreme Court injunction of a law to penalize Web site operators who allow children to view pornography.
Google is going it alone in opposing the U.S. government request. Rivals Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) are among the companies that have complied with the Justice Department demand for data to be used to make its case.
Google's lawyers said the company shares the government's concern with materials harmful to minors but argued that the request for its data was irrelevant. They offered a series of technical arguments why this data was not useful.
The Mountain View, California-based company said that complying with the U.S. government's request for "untold millions of search queries" would put an undue burden on the company, including a "week of engineer time to complete."
"Algorithms regularly change. The identical search query submitted today may yield a different result than the identical search conducted yesterday," attorneys from Perkins Coie LLP, the company's external legal counsel, argue in the filing.
Complying with the Justice Department request would also force Google to reveal how its Web search technology works -- something it jealously guards as a trade secret, the company argued. It refuses to disclose even the total number of searches conducted each day.
Google's resistance contrasts with a deal the company has struck with the Chinese government to censor some searches on a new site in China, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from members of the U.S. Congress and human rights activists.
"Google users trust that when they enter a search query into a Google search box ... that Google will keep private whatever information users communicate absent a compelling reason," attorneys for Google said in the filing.
The legal spat also comes amid heightened sensitivity to privacy issues by the company as it recently began offering a new version of its Google Desktop service that vacuums up data stored on user PCs and makes it accessible on the users' other computers. For customers who consent to the service, copies of their data are stored on Google's central computers.
Privacy activists have rallied to the defense of Google for fighting the U.S. government request while some conservative and religious organizations have criticized the company for failing to help the government combat child pornography.
The American Civil Liberties Union, with other civil rights groups, bookstores and alternative media outlets filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of Google.
The hearing on the Justice Department motion to compel Google to divulge the search data is scheduled to take place on March 13 in San Jose before U.S. District Judge James Ware.
"The government must show that this request is the most relevant way to accomplish its goal," said Perry Aftab, an attorney, privacy activist and executive director of WiredSafety.org, a popular online child safety site.
"Why would Google or anyone else turn over data that might create further risks for their customers? The public policy gains don't outweigh the risks," she said.
source: http://www.rawstory.org/

Brownwood Meth: What do you think ?

Brownwood's Drug Discussion

Bi-partisan Texas Political Prostitution: I agree with Letter Writer B.W. Jaster.

House candidate who worked as prostitute staying in race

Dallas' largest gay, lesbian political group rescinds endorsement
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 18, 2006
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News
Tom Malin has vowed to continue his campaign for the Texas House, but his support has dwindled amid revelations that he once worked as a prostitute.
On Friday, the local Stonewall Democrats, the largest gay and lesbian political group in Dallas, rescinded its endorsement of Mr. Malin's candidacy in the Democratic primary on March 7.
"It's not because of him being in recovery or having a past as an escort," said Michael Moon, president of the Stonewall Democrats. "The main reason is because he lied about it all."
The Texas Tejano Democrats also are expected to set aside their endorsement of Mr. Malin when the executive board has a chance to meet, said Domingo Garcia, chairman of the Hispanic group.
And The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board has removed its recommendation of Mr. Malin. An explanation can be found in today's opinion section.
Mr. Malin could not be reached for comment Friday.
He is running for the Democratic nomination in House District 108, which covers much of central Dallas and the Park Cities. It's his first run for public office, though he's served on at least two city boards.
Mr. Malin acknowledges that he once worked as an escort using the name "Todd Sharpe." He said he no longer works as a prostitute.
Rumors of his past surfaced when he began his campaign for the House seat currently held by Republican Dan Branch.
Some Democrats knew about his past. Others had heard rumors and asked him directly.
"We pulled him from our first [endorsement] ad because of the rumors," Mr. Moon said. "We asked him whether it was true and he said 'no.' "
Democrats have fielded their largest slate of candidates in years, hoping that demographic shifts in Dallas County will bring them victories in November.
Several gay and lesbian candidates, including Mr. Malin, are running for various posts.
"If you're not truthful, you lose the public trust," Mr. Moon said. "He has hurt our reputation, and he has hurt the gay and lesbian community."
The board of the Stonewall Democrats made the decision to rescind the endorsement of Mr. Malin. The full body will meet Tuesday to ratify the decision.
Mr. Malin, a member of the group, would be allowed to argue that the endorsement should remain in place.
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com

source: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-malin_18met.ART.North.Edition2.22d44353.html
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Hits and Misses from the Dallas Morning News Editorial Page

Tom Malin recommendation ? We think not
F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong: There are, in fact, second acts in American lives. No one should begrudge Democratic state House candidate Tom Malin the opportunity to redeem himself from his past life as a male prostitute. He says God spoke to him and convinced him to change his ways. That's between him and the Lord, and we wish him every success. But it's hard to see Dallas Democrats nominating a former hooker to represent District 108 in Austin – and if they do, it will be without the recommendation of The Dallas Morning News, which we hereby withdraw. Mr. Malin's opponent in the March 7 primary, Jack Borden, offers no serious rationale for his candidacy; we will not shift our recommendation to Team Borden. What a mess! And what a shame for Democrats.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-hitsandmisses_18edi.ART.State.Edition1.22d26f6d.html
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Letter to the Editor Dallas Morning News

Folks, he looks qualified
Re: "Candidate worked as prostitute," yesterday's news story.

So Tom Malin worked as a prostitute in a prior life. Is that not the perfect prerequisite for politics? I nominate him for governor.

B.W. Jaster, Dallas
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/letters/stories/DN-satletters_0218edi.ART.State.Edition1.22d98951.html
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Tom Malin's Website http://www.tommalin.com/bio.htm
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So are the Brownwood Republicans still avoiding discussing "their guy" Jeff Gannon/Guckert ? Wonder how much coverage the Dallas Morning News gave to the Jeff Gannon White House Affair ?

Who is Jeff you ask ? Do your own research, just google Jeff Gannon Texas. Maybe that's why the Bush Administration wants the Google records ?

Former Jeff Gannon publisher running for Vice Chair of Texas GOP
Ron Brynaert

The GOP operative and conservative website owner who hired a onetime prostitute to cover the White House has decided to run for the vice chairmanship of the Republican Party of Texas, RAW STORY has learned.
Jeff Gannon, a $200-an-hour gay male escort, resigned from Eberle’s Talon News last February after pictures and emerged which revealed that he once toiled as a gay male prostitute. Eberle shut down the news site shortly thereafter, although his satellite Website GOPUSA.com remains active.
The little known "news organization" first attracted attention after Media Matters reported that a softball question Gannon asked of President Bush at a press conference had been lifted from a skit aired on Rush Limbaugh's radio show.

source:http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Former_Jeff_Gannon_publisher_running_for_1222.html

Dear Ralph, I've always enjoyed listening to your "kind of singin" ! Regards, Steve Harris

Ralph Stanley says faith makes it better

12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 18, 2006
By DANIEL and BILLI GRAY / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

A national treasure will be coming to Dallas. But you won't find this piece of history in a museum. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley will be playing at the Granada Theater with his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys.
The 78-year-old singer and banjo player, who hails from the hills of Appalachia, has been a performing musician for six decades. Through his long and varied career, he's performed duets with the Who's Who of Americana: Bob Dylan, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs and Joan Baez.
He also appeared on the O, Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack playing his own stark version of "O, Death" while the Soggy Bottom Boys borrowed Mr. Stanley's classic song, "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow."
A belated surge of recognition has come upon Mr. Stanley. Although he hasn't changed his style in 40 years – he shifted from rollicking bluegrass to a darker, less adorned sound that he calls "old-time country music" after his brother died in 1966 – he's found himself in the national spotlight only recently.
Since 2000, he has become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, been recognized as a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, and won three Grammy awards. The Virginia Press Association chose him as "Virginian of the Year" in 2004.
Mr. Stanley has played on more than 170 albums and estimates that 35 to 40 percent of his songs are "gospel" songs.
"I like gospel better than anything else," he said in a recent phone interview.
Mr. Stanley, who has been part of the Primitive Baptist Universalist Church since childhood, considers faith to be an element that enhances his music, particularly his gospel songs.
"I've always enjoyed singin' that kind of singin', and usually if you feel it – you got faith, you know, in your church and everything – you sing it better and you enjoy it better," Mr. Stanley said.
Daniel and Billi Gray, Dallas-area freelance writers, can be reached at heigray@yahoo.com.

DETAILS: Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys will perform with special guests Two High String Band at 8 p.m. Friday at the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., Dallas. Tickets: $25 to $30; call 214-824-9933 or visit www.granada-theater.com.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/arts/stories/DN-artmattersstanley_18rel.ART.State.Edition1.22cc89ed.html

All Hatred is Local (and Home-grown) !

Dallas Morning News Letter to the Editor

Home-grown hatred
Re: "Struggling to Save History's Truths," Religion, Feb. 11
It isn't just the president of Iran who has denied the Holocaust. Here in America, we've had quite a few of our own – and more than a few famous citizens who were virulent in their anti-Semiticism.
Charles Lindbergh was a strong supporter of Hitler in the late 1930s and early '40s – as was Henry Ford. Joe Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy, despised the Jews. Prescott Bush, the grandfather of the current president, made a fortune doing business with the Nazis.
Also, Mel Gibson's father made a statement denying the Holocaust before the release of The Passion of the Christ.
So, it isn't only radicals in the Middle East.
Also, with all due respect to the Jewish people, quite a number of others were also imprisoned and executed by the Nazis: gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Freemasons, union leaders, Russian and Polish prisoners of war, and some Catholic and Protestant clergymen.
Thank you for the well-written article.
John T. Patterson, Mansfield

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/opinion/stories/021806dnrelletters.1fc2a862.html

Kinky's donors hardly typical

Exclusive: Most are new to political giving, bought fan items online
09:29 PM CST on Friday, February 17, 2006
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Kinky Friedman's campaign donors have one thing in common – they aren't your typical political contributors.
More than 70 percent of the donors backing Mr. Friedman's bid for governor are political newcomers with no history of giving money to statewide candidates in the last five years, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state.
A review of Mr. Friedman's latest campaign report found that of 151 donors giving $500 or more to his campaign, 112 are first-time givers in statewide politics, according to records.
Plus, the vast majority of the $1.5 million he raised came from what his campaign manager calls "a new universe" of donors – direct contributors and hundreds of Friedman fans who have purchased T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items from the campaign Web site. The purchases are considered contributions under state law.
Overall, Mr. Friedman reported donations from about 5,000 contributors. Most of those made small merchandise purchases, so standard donations of larger amounts accounted for the bulk of his campaign funds.
Together, the contributions constitute a campaign-funding model unprecedented in Texas. And Mr. Friedman's campaign aides hope the experience in drawing new donors will help them energize new voters, too.
The author/musician has said that to get elected, he must reach the millions of Texans who did not vote in the 2002 governor's race, persuading them to sign petitions to put him on the ballot and to vote for him in November.
"We tried courting traditional givers, I'll be honest with you," said campaign manager Dean Barkley. "We met with them and talked to them and tried to convince them to give us money. But quite frankly, they've been reluctant."
Mr. Friedman's campaign contributors say they're attracted by the candidate's direct, uninhibited style and his independence from traditional Texas politics. With his iconic black hat and ever-present cigar, the singer-turned-politico launched his unorthodox bid for governor with the slogan, "How Hard Could It Be?"
"He doesn't owe anybody anything. He's not in anybody's pocket," said Cris Rullo, a moving company owner in San Antonio who contributed $1,000. "He would rattle things up, and that's what this state needs."
Mr. Friedman is running as an independent, as is Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Each must gather 54,450 signatures to get on the November ballot. Republican Gov. Rick Perry is expected to win the GOP primary, and Democrats Chris Bell and Bob Gammage are vying for their party's nomination.
A review of Mr. Friedman's latest report, covering six months of fundraising ending in January, indicates that more than one-third of his donations – $576,000 in contributions and donated office space – have come from one person: Dripping Springs hair products executive John McCall, a longtime Friedman friend.
Mr. McCall said he last voted in 1992 for Dallas billionaire Ross Perot for president. Until this year, he had given nothing to any statewide candidate, according to computerized state finance records of donations since 2000.
Of the rest of Mr. Friedman's money, about 55 percent has come from individual donations and 45 percent from sales of campaign paraphernalia, including $100 autographed Kinky Friedman action figures, $20 T-shirts and $15 bumper stickers.
"They're basically new to the political process," said Mr. Barkley, who ran former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura's successful campaign for governor of Minnesota.
"The only way Kinky is going to win this race is to motivate nontraditional people who normally do not get involved in politics or vote," Mr. Barkley said.
In contrast, the campaign reports of Mr. Friedman's rivals indicate they are depending heavily on perennial contributors from past Texas races.
Tom Vick, a Weatherford lawyer who sent $500 to Mr. Friedman's campaign, said he's disappointed with both political parties.
"There are a lot of people who aren't big players who kind of feel the same way I do," he said. "They're frustrated and think it's time to shake some things up down there."
Dennis Laviage, a Houston scrap metal recycler, said he's known Mr. Friedman since 1963 when the future gubernatorial candidate was his camp counselor.
"There are some things about him that you're not going to find in other politicians, and one of them is that he's as honest as you can get," said Mr. Laviage, who contributed $1,600. "I personally feel that if somebody's honest, it might not be a bad deal for us."
Roger Gary of San Antonio, a former officer of the Republic of Texas, which believes that Texas should be its own nation, gave $1,000. He said Mr. Friedman is the first political candidate he's ever supported with a contribution.
"He's for the dewussification of Texas," said Mr. Gary, quoting one of Mr. Friedman's campaign quips. "It just chaps my fanny that everybody in this state wants to become like New York."
Thomas Overland, a retired lawyer from California who moved to Texas 10 years ago, said he gave $1,500 to Mr. Friedman because "he's not a politician, not beholden to people in there." But he said Mr. Friedman needs to move his message beyond witty one-liners if he hopes to win in November.
Nearly 90 percent of Mr. Friedman's money has come from Texas donors, but he has received contributions from every state and several foreign countries.
Mr. Barkley said his goal is to raise $8 million to mount a television ad campaign for the fall. He said he anticipates that fundraising will pick up once Mr. Friedman officially gets on the ballot.
Future efforts to boost the campaign treasury will include everything from appealing to new donors, asking existing ones to give again, selling bobble-head dolls and conducting fundraisers featuring Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Billy Joe Shaver.
"We can't run this like a Democrat or a Republican campaign," Mr. Barkley said. "If we did this the traditional way, we'd be dead in the water."
E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021806dntexkinky.2195c13c.html

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Will Brownwoodians tune in to "GO KINKY" on CMT ?

February 17, 2006
Following a Candidate Named Kinky

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
EVERY journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance," goes the wisdom of Kinky Friedman as he hits the campaign trail for governor of Texas — the only Jewish, country-singing, mystery-writing independent candidate with a Palestinian barber/campaign manager and a coin box at the end of the bar.
It's an unconventional bid for sure, on view tonight in the first two half-hour episodes of "Go Kinky" on Country Music Television.
Talk about a reality show, even if there may not be much suspense over the political survival prospects of someone who adorned a recent cover of Texas Monthly dressed in drag as Queen Elizabeth II making a rude gesture and who says things like "There's a fine line between fiction and nonfiction, and I believe I snorted it in 1976."
Can the 61-year-old Richard (Kinky) Friedman — "I'm too young for Medicare and too old for women to care," he says — rally enough disaffected Texans to become the first independent governor of the Lone Star State since Sam Houston in 1859? Or trailed by CMT's relentless cameras, will he vote himself out through outrageous antics, politically incorrect jokes and off-color asides? At a campaign rally, he really does exhort the crowd with "If you don't love Jesus, go to hell." And he tells fondly of his "Yom Kippur Clipper — my Cadillac that stops on a dime, and picks it up."
Mr. Friedman said he did not censor CMT. "We let them shoot what they wanted to shoot," he said by phone from Aspen, Colo., where he was performing at a benefit for the United Jewish Appeal.
He insisted he was not worried about scandalizing a Bible Belt electorate. "This is going to be a pretty young audience; I don't think the old-timers will be watching much," he said. But he conceded, "It may be a little too much for some people — let's see how it plays." Will Rogers, he said, had it right when he called politicians "the greatest comedians of them all: every time they make a joke it becomes a law and every time they make a law it becomes a joke."
He was in good company, said Mr. Friedman, who called himself a Judeo-Christian: Jesus and Moses too got crosswise with the government and died homeless and broke. Jesus would be sympathetic, he maintained: "My Jesus is warm and loving and has a sense of humor."
On the show, he agonizes that he may be too smart to be governor of a large Southern state, but then again how wise is it to muse publicly about suicide, hit on attractive women ("You've got first lady written all over you"), toss away a speech ("Who wrote this crap?") and storm out of a strategy session on the campaign bus, complaining: "I got to sit and listen to this" — the next word is bleeped — "all day?" His first rule as governor, he vows, will be "no meetings."
He makes many other pledges. He wants to change the Ten Commandments to the Ten Suggestions. He will name his pal Willie Nelson to head the Texas Rangers, and his Palestinian adviser and hairdresser, Farouk Shami, who coifs the once-bushy but now alarmingly thinning Kinky tonsure, as Texas's first ambassador to Israel. He will work tirelessly through the campaign: "I can sleep when I'm governor." And he promises, "I'll never leave the governor's mansion — except to go to Vegas."
The Republican incumbent in Austin, a frequent foil, is hardly spared. Mr. Friedman confides that he hired a private investigator "to dig up some dirt on Rick Perry."
"He was unable to," Mr. Friedman reports. "He did, however, find a considerable amount of dust."
The Perry campaign, in turn, has rejected Mr. Friedman's demand for "unconditional surrender," retorting, "The Democrats are not the only ones smoking something."
Mr. Friedman has no problem with recognition. His worn, goateed visage, trademark black garb and ever-present cigar make him instantly identifiable in the remotest corners of Texas, where cars sport bumper stickers reading, "He Ain't Kinky, He's My Governor." (He wears black, he explains, "as a great sacrifice for the people of Texas," and adds, "Anyone stupid enough to wear a black outfit to a Fourth of July picnic is a perfect governor of Texas.")
But to get on the ballot in November, Mr. Friedman has only from March to May to gather 45,000 signatures from independent voters who did not cast ballots in the Republican or Democratic primaries. And then he would face a crowded field of partisan candidates and another maverick running as an independent: the Texas comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, apostate Republican and mother of President Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan.
But winning may be beside the point, as the CMT show suggests. This is performance art of a high order, with Mr. Friedman bumbling across the landscape, frequently lost, pledging allegiance to "the little fellas, not the Rockefellers" and spouting one-liners like "I'm not pro-choice, I'm not pro-life, I'm pro-football."
He ponders the honor of being asked to head a big parade. "It requires great skill, ability and focus to be a grand marshal," he declares, only to be informed, "You're not the grand marshal."
He assures one follower, "You're the son I never had," drawing a hurt protest from another: "I thought I was the son you never had."
"You're also the son I never had," Mr. Friedman mollifies him.
He's thinks gays should be allowed to marry: "They have every right to be as miserable as the rest of us."
Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies come to mind.
Although he tested the waters as far back as 2003 with a slogan inspired by his columnist friend Molly Ivins, "Why the hell not?," he officially threw his black hat into the ring in February 2005, declaring his candidacy on the radio and television program of Don Imus (another friend) while standing in front of — what else? — the Alamo.
The choice facing Texans, he declared, went beyond paper or plastic. Here, he said, was a chance to recreate the glory days of the Old West, when the cowboys all sang and the horses were smart.
Clearly he is putting us on, for behind the buffoonish facade is an inspired satirist, which has long been evident from his 1970's country troupe Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys and their classic "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore" — a crie de coeur against bigotry — as well as his several dozen mystery novels starring, naturally, himself, with titles like "The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover."
There may be little hope — or risk — of a Kinky governorship at this crucial juncture in Texas history, with the state staring down the barrel of a judge's order to reform its collapsing educational financing system, Republican leaders at swords' points and citizens regularly ranking near the national bottom in social indicators, from high school graduates to children with health insurance.
To which Mr. Friedman has a ready answer. Considering his predecessors, he asks: "How hard could it be?
"I can't screw things up worse than they already are."
"Go Kinky" has its premiere tonight on Country Music Television at 11 and 11:30 Eastern and Pacific time, 10 and 10:30 Central.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/arts/television/17kink.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Pourous Borders + Bush's Port Deal ='s Cheney's Prediction ?

Note from Steve, And the Republicans (ala Karl Rove ?) campaigned on Securing the United States and keeping you safe on the homefront by fighting the terrorists "over there" so we won't have to fight them "over here" ! Is anyone else smelling a big ole fresh pile of Turd Blossoms ? And, by the way, Securing the Borders and Ports is NOT Isolationist ! So what are you ? Take the quiz

here...

and find out who you are !
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Cheney: Future attack on U.S. 'almost certain'

May 20, 2002 Posted: 3:58 AM EDT (0758 GMT)
Cheney: "Not a matter of if, but when."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It is "almost certain" that the United States will again be attacked by terrorists, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.
Recent reports of increased communications among suspected al Qaeda operatives are reminders that the war against terrorism remains in high gear, Cheney said.
"In my opinion, prospect of a future attack against the United States is almost certain," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We don't know if it's going to be tomorrow or next week or next year." He added that it was "not a matter of if, but when."

source: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/20/cheney.terrorism/index.html
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February 15, 2006 Edition / Opinion

Peril in Port

By FRANK J. GAFFNEY JR.
February 15, 2006

How would you feel if, in the aftermath of September 11, the U.S. government had decided to contract out airport security to the United Arab Emirates, the country where most of the operational planning and financing of the attacks occurred? My guess is that you, like most Americans, would think it a lunatic idea, one that could clear the way for still more terror in this country. You probably would want to know who on earth approved such a plan - and be determined to prevent it from happening.
Of course, no such thing occurred after September 11, 2001. In fact, the job of keeping our planes and the flying public secure was deemed to be so important that the government itself took it over from private contractors seen as insufficiently rigorous in executing that responsibility.
Now, however, four-and-a-half years later, a secretive government committee has decided to turn over the management of six of the nation's most important ports - in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore, and New Orleans - to Dubai Ports World, following the UAE company's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which previously had the contract.
This is not the first time this interagency panel - called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States - has made an astounding call about the transfer of control of strategically sensitive U.S. assets to questionable purchasers. In fact, as of last summer, CFIUS had, since its creation in 1988, formally rejected only one of 1,530 transactions submitted for its review.
Such a record is hardly surprising given that the committee is chaired by the Treasury Department, whose institutional responsibilities include promoting foreign investment in the United States. Treasury has rarely seen a foreign purchase of American assets that it did not like. And this bias on the part of the chairman of CFIUS has consistently skewed the results of the panel's deliberations in favor of approving deals, even those opposed by other, more national security-minded departments. Thanks to the secrecy with which CFIUS operates, it is not clear at this writing whether any such objection was heard with respect to the idea of contracting out management of six of our country's most important ports to a UAE company. There would certainly appear to be a number of grounds for rejecting this initiative, however:
* America's seaports have long been recognized by homeland security experts as among our most vulnerable targets. Huge quantities of cargo move through them every day, much of it of uncertain character and provenance, nearly all of it inadequately monitored. Matters can only be made worse by port managers who might conspire to bring in dangerous containers, or simply look the other way when they arrive.
* Entrusting information about key U.S. ports - including, presumably, government-approved plans for securing them, to say nothing of the responsibility for controlling physical access to these facilities, to a country known to have been penetrated by terrorists is not just irresponsible. It is recklessly so.
* At the risk of being politically incorrect, the proposed new management will also complicate the job of assuring that the personnel working in these ports pose no threat to their operations - or to the rest of us. To the extent that we must remain particularly vigilant about young male Arab nationals as potential terrorists, it makes no sense to provide legitimate grounds for such individuals to be in and around some of this country's most important strategic assets.
* Of particular concern must be the implications for energy security as a very large proportion of the nation's oil imports come through the Atlantic and Gulf State ports that the UAE company hopes to take over. For example, Philadelphia alone handles some 85% of the oil coming into the East Coast; New Orleans is responsible for one-seventh of all of our imported energy.
Given such considerations, the question occurs: How could even a stacked deck like the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States find it possible to approve the Dubai Ports World's transaction?
Could it have been influenced by the fact that a former senior official of the UAE company, David Sanborn, was recently named the new administrator of the Transportation Department's Maritime Administration? Until recently, Mr. Sanborn was DP World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America.
Or is it because the U.S. government views - and is determined to portray - the United Arab Emirates as a vital ally in this war for the Free World? A similar determination has long caused Washington to treat Saudi Arabia as a valued friend, even as the Saudis continue playing a double game whereby they work simultaneously to repress terrorism at home and abet it abroad.
Whatever the explanation, the nation can simply no longer afford to have the disposition of strategic assets - including those that have a military or homeland security dimension - determined by a Treasury-dominated panel whose deliberations and decisions are made in secret without congressional oversight.
Either the president or Congress should see to it that the United Arab Emirates is not entrusted with the operation of any American ports, and that the Treasury Department is stripped of the lead role in evaluating such dubious foreign investments in the United States.
Mr. Gaffney is president of the Center for Security Policy (www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org) and lead author of "War Footing: Ten Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World."
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US lawmakers urge review of Dubai Ports deal

Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:43 PM ET

By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government should urgently review the security implications of a $6.8 billion deal granting a Dubai-based company management over key ports including New York, U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday, citing terrorism concerns.
Analysts and port sources doubted the takeover of British company P&O by Dubai Ports World would have any impact on security. They cited multiple layers of screening and protection involved in global shipping, particularly among such major operators.
P&O shareholders voted on Monday in favor of the multibillion-dollar bid, giving the United Arab Emirates-backed firm control over the management of P&O's global operations, including in the major U.S. ports of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
The deal makes Dubai Ports World the world's third largest ports group.
"Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with a dubious record on terrorism is a homeland security and commerce accident waiting to happen," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the 12-agency Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, chaired by Treasury Secretary John Snow, had reviewed the transaction and did not object.
Snow is a former chairman of freight rail company CSX Corp., which sold its global port assets to Dubai Ports World for $1.15 billion in 2004 -- the year after Snow had left the company for the Bush administration.
Stewart Baker, assistant secretary of policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said Dubai Ports World had a solid security record.
"We could not find anything concrete that led us to believe that the transaction ought to be stopped for national security reasons," Baker told Reuters.
LAWMAKERS WORRIED
A number of Republican and Democratic members of Congress urged the government to review the deal more carefully and scrutinize all security issues before Dubai Ports assumes management of U.S. ports.
The lawmakers voiced concern that the UAE served as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by terrorist financiers.
U.S. officials have said money for the September 11 attacks was wired through the United Arab Emirates' banking system. Two of the September 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.
"Six of our largest commercial ports are being handed over to a country that is seeking to be Iran's free-trade partner and has been linked to the funding and planning of 9/11," said Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican.
Foley and Schumer were among seven lawmakers who wrote to Snow expressing concern that the Bush administration was not giving the case appropriate attention and urging him to make the Committee on Foreign Investments undertake a full 45-day investigation.
"Our ports are our most vulnerable targets for terrorist attack," the letter said.
Homeland Security's Baker said that while these issues could not be ignored, "there's no country that hasn't had terrorists or other problems inside its borders and it would be very difficult to operate economically in this world if you said we're not going to do business with people who come from countries that have had transshipment or other issues."
A number of port analysts and port authority officials shrugged off the lawmakers' concerns.
"This does appear to be a very paranoid and knee-jerk reaction and lacks any real understanding of how ports operate on the ground," said Neil Davidson a ports analyst with Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.
"These are businessmen. They're not here to insert terrorists into the country. They're about making a profit on their investment," said Brooks Royster, executive director of the Port of Baltimore. "I don't have a concern in that regard."
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival.
(Additional reporting by Stefano Ambrogi in London and John Crawley in Washington)
source: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-02-16T214339Z_01_N16375949_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-USA-DUBAI.xml&rpc=22
---------------
Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal
Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:21 PM ET

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Democratic senators said on Friday they would introduce legislation aimed at blocking Dubai Ports World from buying a company that operates several U.S. shipping ports because of security concerns.
Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Clinton of New York said they would offer a measure to ban companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from acquiring U.S. port operations.
"We wouldn't turn the border patrol or the customs service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either," Menendez said in a statement. The Senate Banking Committee also plans to hold a hearing on the issue later this month.
P&O, the company Dubai Ports World plans to buy for $6.8 billion, is already foreign-owned, by the British, but the concern is that the purchaser is backed by the United Arab Emirates government.
The UAE company would gain control over the management of major U.S. ports in New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami and that has sparked national security concerns among lawmakers.
"I will be working with Senator Menendez to introduce legislation that will prohibit the sale of ports to foreign governments," Clinton said in a statement.
A Dubai Ports World spokesman said ports managed by the company met international security standards and that it had received all the necessary U.S. regulatory approvals.
"All Dubai Ports World ports are ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security) certified as are the P&O ports in the U.S.," the spokesman told Reuters in Dubai.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews security implications of foreign takeovers of strategic assets, already reviewed the transaction and did not object.
Despite that review, some Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress urged the Bush administration to conduct a more rigorous review. They expressed fears that the UAE was used as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by financiers with possible links to terrorist organizations.
The Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a hearing the week of February 27 on the P&O sale and the U.S. government review process, according to a panel spokesman.
"Clearly in our opinion there's some dysfunction in how the (CFIUS) process works in terms of transparency and whether national security concerns are being properly weighed in the decision," said committee spokesman Andrew Gray.
U.S. officials have said the UAE has been a solid and cooperative partner in the fight against terrorism, and have praised the UAE for steps to protect its booming financial sector against abuse by terrorism financiers.
Money for the September 11 attacks was wired through the UAE's banking system, according to U.S. officials. Two of the September 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year, but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival.
Similar concerns were raised when a China state-controlled oil company tried to acquire the U.S. oil company Unocal. After pressure from U.S. lawmakers, the foreign company eventually dropped its bid.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Drees in Washington and Dayan Candappa in Dubai)

source: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-02-17T192108Z_01_N17197464_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-CONGRESS-PORTS.xml&rpc=22

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Perry Politiking With Texas Border !

Posted on Sat, Feb. 11, 2006
Deputies are spread thin along border
By Bud Kennedy
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Texas is finally spending state money on law enforcement along the Mexico border.

What took so long?
True, in the past two months we've committed to sending almost $10 million to pay county deputies more and buy more patrol cars. But when public safety in counties along the border depends on a few loyal deputies who face down drug dealers but collect puny paychecks of $20,800 a year, every penny from Austin helps.
"We have been neglected forever down here," said Sheriff Sigi Gonzalez Jr. of Zapata County, south of Laredo.
"The counties can't afford to hire more people or pay well. We've been pleading for help for years. Until now, our calls went unheeded."
Coincidentally -- or maybe not -- Gov. Rick Perry took a sudden, deep interest in border law enforcement when it looked as if he would have a tight re-election race in the March primary.
In December, the governor directed $6 million in federal grants to county agencies along the border. After a Mexican drug gang confronted Hudspeth County deputies, this month he kicked in $3.8 million in state money. He also ordered state troopers and game wardens to help enforce the law and protect public safety.
Texas can't take over the U.S. Border Patrol's job. But our troopers and our dollars can help local deputies protect Texans' public safety and property along the border and maybe discourage drug gangs from brazenly crossing the Rio Grande.
"It's been so depressing along the border," said Steve Westbrook, a former East Texas sheriff and now director of the Sheriffs Association of Texas professional organization. "The counties are completely understaffed. They've always been financially strapped.
"And they're up against some drug gangs across the border that are playing for keeps. It's just nearly impossible to hire somebody to do a border deputy's job for so little money."
Politicians talk a lot about fences and troops to secure the border.
But they rarely talk about spending more money on the simplest and first line of defense: the underpaid, overstressed deputies driving long, lonely patrol shifts for border law-enforcement agencies.
Deputies in Hudspeth County, east and south of El Paso, have been on TV a lot lately.
They chased and confronted a drug gang crossing the Rio Grande armed with military-style weapons and dressed in fatigues. This week, the chief deputy said one deputy's wife was approached and warned that officers should "stay off the river."
The news reports rarely mention how many deputies Hudspeth County has. Or what they're paid.
Hudspeth County has 12 patrol deputies.
Counting days off and vacations, that's three deputies per shift to cover an area about four-fifths the size of Connecticut.
Hudspeth County has 113 miles of international border.
The starting salary: $20,800 a year.
To face armed drug gangs.
"We do what we can afford," County Judge Becky Dean Walker, a rancher, said by phone from the county seat, Sierra Blanca. "We try to have enough people to keep the roads safe and patrol the county. We have trouble keeping people."
No wonder.
In Gonzalez's county, his deputies keep the peace for 13,000 residents plus visitors to Falcon Lake.
Using the usual rule of thumb promoted by police associations -- three law-enforcement officers per 1,000 residents or tourists -- Zapata County should have 39 patrol deputies.
Gonzalez has 26.
The starting pay: $23,175.
"The Laredo police pay decent, but otherwise, the local law-enforcement agencies along the border are some of the lowest-paid," Gonzalez said. "We wind up training a lot of people; then they go on to jobs with the Border Patrol or Customs."
The worst-paid officers wind up with the toughest jobs in Texas: investigating burglaries, break-ins and violent crimes along a much-traveled border.
"People think the border is patrolled by airplanes and heat sensors," Gonzalez said. "All you have to do is come down here and look. We're the ones on the front line."
He talked bitterly about how federal Homeland Security dollars have been spent mostly in heartland American towns, buying gear such as a defibrillator for a high school basketball gym in Tennessee.
"They think the terrorists are going to attack the basketball game?" he said.
"To me, that's money ill-spent."
He hesitated when I asked whether border counties are neglected because they're mostly Democratic.
"We've just been neglected, that's all," he said. "Gov. Perry is showing that he's concerned with the border now."
The first grants sent about $367,000 to each county. Hudspeth County, for example, bought two off-road four-wheel utility trucks for deputies and increased overtime pay.
Unlike governors in Arizona and New Mexico, Perry did not declare a state of emergency to leverage more federal money.
The Brownsville Herald quoted Perry as saying, "I don't think the people of Texas need to have a declaration to know that what's happening along the border is an emergency."
Every Texan can see the emergency for deputies along the border.

The question is whether our leaders in Austin will still see it after the November election.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. (817) 390-7538 bud @budkennedy.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/13848539.htm

Brokeback Mountain: Brownwood to Wichita Falls Texas

Fans cite merits of the 'cowboy way'
By Bud Kennedy
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

WICHITA FALLS -- In the sparse country where Larry McMurtry has been spinning award-winning cowboy stories for 45 years, a burly oilfield worker knew right away that he shouldn't have gone to see McMurtry's new Brokeback Mountain.
Or at least not in an indigo-blue denim shirt and black cowboy hat.
"Guess I wore the wrong outfit," joked Eddie Zinni, 54, of Wichita Falls, taking off his hat and looking inside the band, as if he might have picked up Jack Twist's by mistake.
Zinni was dressed just like one of the movie's lovesick ranch hands. But that was his only concern as he and a date left the local premiere Friday night at the Cinemark Wichita Falls.
"I always like McMurtry's stuff," he said.
"This was good. It was just -- different."
Twenty miles from McMurtry's hometown of Archer City, his newest cowboy screenplay rode into town Friday night, and by now everybody knows that this Western is different.
It's a movie about two men who long for each other during a 20-year affair, and the resulting toll: betrayal, a heartbroken spouse, neglected children and the anguish of living with a secret the size of a Wyoming mountain.
The local premiere drew a near-sellout crowd, defying a prediction by at least one theater executive.
Jerry Pokorski, the buyer for California-based Pacific Theatres, told the Los Angeles Times last month that Brokeback would be the "must-see" movie of the year, but "maybe in Wichita Falls it will be a different story."
Ingrid Sinclair, 60, of Wichita Falls grew up nearby. She recognized the "cowboy way" of ignoring sexual behavior of any kind, no matter the sex or marital status of those involved. Cowboys invented the idea of don't ask, don't tell.
"I thought it portrayed cowboys pretty well," she said.
"In a small town, things are just kept secret. You know what goes on. You just don't talk about it."
Between the late-night TV jokes, Brokeback has been criticized as a gay-advocacy movie. Yet writer Annie Proulx's original story, shaped into a movie by McMurtry, also fairly depicts the damaged marriage of Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar and the self-centered roaming of Childress tractor salesman Twist.
Like in any movie these days, there's a sex scene. It isn't particularly vivid.
"I didn't expect to see that, ever," said Beverly Nesbitt, 51, of Wichita Falls, the blond date clutching Zinni's denim sleeve.
"But I liked the movie."
One young moviegoer came out crying.
"It's just a sad love story," said Christine Eisenmann, 21, of Wichita Falls.
She'd never heard of McMurtry.
"It's like any romance," said her friend Kari Leslie, 32. "But we never thought this movie would ever come to Wichita Falls."
The crowd laughed loudly when Del Mar told his wife that he and Twist were just "fishin' buddies."
But mostly, the moviegoers sat in mesmerized silence, either to hear the ranch hands' mumbled, terse dialogue or at the widescreen views of snowy mountain scenery.
Nobody walked out early, and hardly a whisper could be heard the entire showing.
A theater manager said Monday that Brokeback was a box-office hit last weekend, along with Glory Road, a new movie about a national-championship college-basketball team from Texas.
"I think this was a classic McMurtry movie," said C.D. Sinclair, Ingrid's husband and a sales manager for a conveyor-belt-equipment company.
At 60, he is nine years younger than McMurtry. Sinclair was 15 in 1961, when Texans first took note of a young Archer City novelist named McMurtry and his first book, Horseman, Pass By, later made into the movie Hud.
Sinclair said he has read all of McMurtry's 40-plus books and seen all 18 movies, including such classics as The Last Picture Show and the Emmy-winning TV drama Lonesome Dove.
"This fits his work well," Sinclair said. "He's known for writing books with strong women characters. This time, both the romantic leads happened to be men. But they were typical strong McMurtry characters."
Even though he's a McMurtry fan, Sinclair conceded that the movie has "uncomfortable" scenes.
"It's something that you don't see every day," he said. "But it's a very good movie. We would have gone to Dallas to see it."
High praise, coming from someone from Wichita Falls.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. (817) 390-7538 bud@budkennedy.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/13698866.htm

An Arrogance of Power

By David Ignatius
Wednesday, February 15, 2006; Page A21

There is a temptation that seeps into the souls of even the most righteous politicians and leads them to bend the rules, and eventually the truth, to suit the political needs of the moment. That arrogance of power is on display with the Bush administration.

The most vivid example is the long delay in informing the country that Vice President Cheney had accidentally shot a man last Saturday while hunting in Texas. For a White House that informs us about the smallest bumps and scrapes suffered by the president and vice president, the lag is inexplicable. But let us assume the obvious: It was an attempt to delay and perhaps suppress embarrassing news. We will never know whether the vice president's office would have announced the incident at all if the host of the hunting party, Katharine Armstrong, hadn't made her own decision Sunday morning to inform her local paper.

Nobody died at Armstrong Ranch, but this incident reminds me a bit of Sen. Edward Kennedy's delay in informing Massachusetts authorities about his role in the fatal automobile accident at Chappaquiddick in 1969. That story, and dozens of others about the Kennedy family, illustrates how wealthy, powerful people can behave as if they are above the law. For my generation, the fall of Richard Nixon is the ultimate allegory about how power can corrupt and destroy. It begins not with venality but with a sense of God-given mission.

I would be inclined to leave Cheney to the mercy of Jon Stewart and Jay Leno if it weren't for other signs that this administration has jumped the tracks. What worries me most is the administration's misuse of intelligence information to advance its political agenda. For a country at war, this is truly dangerous.

The most recent example of politicized intelligence was President Bush's statement on Feb. 9 that the United States had "derailed" a 2002 plot to fly a plane into the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles. Bush spoke about four al Qaeda plotters who had planned to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door. But a foreign official with detailed knowledge of the intelligence scoffed at Bush's account, saying that the information obtained from Khalid Sheik Mohammed and an Indonesian operative known as Hambali was not an operational plan so much as an aspiration to destroy the tallest building on the West Coast. When I asked a former high-level U.S. intelligence official about Bush's comment, he agreed that Bush had overstated the intelligence.

Perhaps the most outrageous example of misusing intelligence has been the administration's attempt to undercut Paul Pillar and other former CIA officials who tried to warn about the dangers ahead in Iraq. I'm not talking about the agency's botched job on weapons of mass destruction but about its warnings that postwar Iraq would be chaotic and dangerous. Pillar said so privately before the war, and he helped draft an August 2004 national intelligence estimate warning, correctly, that the situation in Iraq was deteriorating and heading for "tenuous stability" at best.

Bush was unhappy at this naysaying, just as he has grumbled about pessimistic reports from the CIA station in Baghdad. When Pillar made similar warnings about Iraq at a private dinner in September 2004, the White House went ballistic -- seeing Pillar as part of a CIA conspiracy to undermine the president's policies. Soon after, Bush installed a former Republican congressman, Porter Goss, who began a purge at the agency that has driven out a generation of senior managers. Pillar and many, many others have retired, leaving the nation without some of its best intelligence officers when we need them most.

Bush and Cheney are in the bunker. That's the only way I can make sense of their actions. They are steaming in a broth of daily intelligence reports that highlight the grim terrorist threats facing America. They have sworn blood oaths that they will defend the United States from its adversaries -- no matter what . They have blown past the usual rules and restraints into territory where few presidents have ventured -- a region where the president conducts warrantless wiretaps against Americans in violation of a federal statute, where he authorizes harsh interrogation methods that amount to torture.

When critics question the legality of the administration's actions, Bush and Cheney assert the commander in chief's power under Article II of the Constitution. When Congress passes a law forbidding torture, the White House appends a signing statement insisting that Article II -- the power of the commander in chief -- trumps everything else. When the administration's Republican friends suggest amending the wiretapping law to make its program legal, the administration refuses. Let's say it plainly: This is the arrogance of power, and it has gone too far in the Bush White House.

davidignatius@washpost.com
source:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/14/AR2006021401783.html?sub=AR

NY Times Investigative Reporter On Todays Oprah

" Kurt Eichenwald, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, was on the Internet researching a story on fraud. The last thing he expected was information regarding a child pornography website. Its star was a young boy named Justin. Kurt says it was "a moment of horror. … I knew this was a kid who was in enormous danger," he says.
Kurt read more of the online discussions and discovered that these men were talking about where Justin was, where he had been and what he had done…they were completely involved in Justin's life, Kurt says. He decided that someone needed to help Justin."

City Officials (Adults) Changing the rules to protect who ?

Did Wills Point change law to hush accusations ?

Some have said city officials at Wills Point prepared for weeks for a confrontation between one of their council members and a man who has accused him of molestation. A city law was changed only a week prior to the confrontation at a Wills Point council meeting, and some said it was in an attempt to halt James Lunsford.
source: http://www.wfaa.com/topstories/
-------------
Background information:

Alleged victim lashes out against former fire chief

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8
RICHARDSON, Texas - A man who said he was molested by the former Richardson fire chief lashed out at city leaders and told them the former fire chief does not deserve enhanced pension benefits.
Last month, the City of Richardson briefly rehired the controversial former fire chief Mike Jones so that he could receive his pension benefits.
However, James Lunsford, who said Jones abused him when he was a teenager, confronted city officials about giving the former fire chief the benefits.
"Exactly what forum is the right forum?" asked Lunsford after the council told him the council meeting was not the place to air his grievances. "Tell me exactly what is the right forum?"
One year ago, Jones resigned just hours after Lunsford brought forth his allegations.
Jones had also been investigated around the same time after firefighters accused him of repeatedly watching them as they showered.
"Monday through fire, [on] a daily basis," said Billy Whitson, Firefighter Union president. "Every shift had a problem with it."
Jones quit just days before coming eligible for enhanced pension benefits, but in December he was rehired and once again was eligible.
The mayor of Richardson said he was unaware of Jones' past. However, he said he didn't think the allegations should have been brought up at the council meeting.
"Mr. Lunsford, I don't think, I appreciate your issues [but] I really don't want to hear this at this meeting..." said Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel.
The city manager, Bill Keffler, who made the controversial decision to allow Jones back on the payroll, defended his decision.
"He needed an additional credit to complete his pension," Keffler said. "The facts of this issue need to be addressed in a court of law whether it is civil or criminal. The Richardson City Council cannot affect an outcome for Mr. Lunsford."
"I've waited a long time for this and you put me here," Lunsford said. "You are going to hear it. You are going to hear this. You are going to hear every bit of it."
Jones continues to serve as a city councilman in Wills Point.
source: wfaa.com
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Firefighters had complained about former chief
01:08 AM CST on Friday, February 18, 2005
By DAN RONAN / WFAA-TV
On Wednesday, a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict former Richardson Fire Chief Mike Jones for allegedly tampering with government records.
But following allegations of molestation first uncovered by News 8, now Jones faces other unrelated accusations by a number of firefighters who say they've complained about the former chief's behavior for years.
24 hours a day, firefighters live and work in very close quarters, resulting in few secrets around a firehouse. But now, numerous firefighters are painting a troubling picture about the former chief's behavior - and the city's response.
Also Online
Video: Dan Ronan reports
2/16/05: Former fire chief accused of sex abuse
During the two years Jones was fire chief in Richardson, several firefighters came forward to say Jones regularly sexually harassed them. Among them was firefighter and union president Billy Whitson.
When asked about when the alleged behavior occurred, Whitson said, "Monday through Friday - (on a) daily basis."
Multiple firefighters told News 8 that Jones would stand just outside the showers at the main fire station, and "eyeball" or "leer" at them as they showered.
"Every shift had a problem," Whitson said.
Jones' alleged behavior occurred while he attempted to talk with the men about department business as they stood naked.
One firefighter, who asked not to be identified, also said it was a regular problem.
"At first, it became the station joke, and they were making public address announcements that it was 'shower time,'" he said. "(But) the firefighters got more uncomfortable and changed their routines."
This went on until January 2004, when several firefighters took their allegations to the City of Richardson's human resources department.
"Once it became evident that they were going to be watched, a few just had enough and came forward," the firefighter said.
Eventually, the firefighter's union said 25 men complained, providing dates, times and specific details. Richardson City Manager Bill Keffler said the actual number was 14 firefighters.
On the topic of sexual harassment, the city's personnel manual devotes four pages, specifically discussing "prolonged staring" or "leering" and creating a "hostile" or "offensive" work environment.
The human resources department investigated, determining two months later that Jones' alleged behavior "did not rise to the level of sexual harassment."
Documents obtained by News 8 showed Jones was told to discontinue practices that "created an uncomfortable work environment."
The city manager also told Jones to stay out of the showers and use his private bathroom.
"If it made people uncomfortable, it should be discontinued," Keffler said. "That was asked of the chief, and to the best of my knowledge, that was what the end result was."

Mike Jones
Once the city's investigation concluded, the city manager also had workers install shower curtains in the locker room.
"Frankly, I thought that demonstrated very good faith to insure that, whether it was Chief Jones' concerns, or anybody else's concerns," Keffler said. said.
The firefighters who made the formal complaint, however, said Jones got away with a slap on the wrist.
"We felt the reputation of the city was more protected than the integrity of the complaint," the unidentified firefighter said.
Jones resigned on February 1, less than two months before his 25th anniversary with the city, when he would be eligible for a significant increase in pension benefits.
All this comes as the Van Zandt County District attorney was talking directly with James Lunsford, 31, who claims Jones regularly molested him and possibly other teens in the late 80s and early 90s.
On February 1, an investigator with the Van Zandt DA's office sent Lunsford's statement to Richardson police.
"Tuesday morning I gave permission, and by that afternoon Jones had resigned," Lunsford said.
Richardson city officials insist Jones quit without pressure.
"Chief Jones resigned for personal reasons, and signed a document accordingly," Keffler said. "You'll have to ask him what the personal reasons were."
Mike Jones remains a member of the Wills Point City Council in Van Zandt County. Through his attorney, he declined News 8's requests to be interviewed, and denies any wrongdoing. Jones insists he does not remember ever meeting James Lunsford.
It's now been one year and one month since firefighters filed their human resources complaint. Many said they remain stunned by Mike Jones' alleged behavior and what they claim was the city's "weak" response, and by Jones' recent departure from the Richardson Fire Department.
"We have a rank structure, a chain of command among the fire department - and we are talking about our leader," Whitson said.
Richardson's city manager has appointed an interim fire chief to oversee the department; the search for a permanent replacement is under way.
Van Zandt County officials said they continue to look for other young men who may claim to have been molested by Jones.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/dronan/stories/wfaa050217_am_firechief2.ba4a9056.html
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Former fire chief accused of sex abuse
06:39 AM CST on Thursday, February 17, 2005
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TV
When Richardson Fire Chief Mike Jones suddenly resigned two weeks ago, he said it was for personal reasons.

Mike Jones
But now, serious allegations are starting to emerge that Jones had engaged in improper and possibly illegal acts, including sexual abuse of a minor.
On Wednesday, a Dallas County grand jury cleared Jones of charges that he had destroyed public records, but News 8 has confirmed Jones is being investigated by the Van Zandt County District Attorney for allegedly molesting at least one teenager back in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

One of his alleged victims tells a story of abuse, and how adults may have helped cover it up.

Jones is a respected longtime resident and city council member in the quiet East Texas town of Wills Point. But, the town now finds itself split after a young man named James Lunsford came forward with allegations about Jones.
Lunsford provided investigators with a sworn statement, peppered with graphic allegations of years of sexual abuse by the former Richardson fire chief. Lunsford, who now lives in California, said he was 13 when the abuse began - but said shame and pain has inhabited his heart for years.
"A lot of emotional problems and issues that I've had to deal with today all lead back there," Lunsford said.
James Lunsford said he was molested by former Richardson fire chief Mike Jones for four years, starting when Lunsford was 13.
Those memories lead back to his poor neighborhood, and to a convenience store then operated by Jones, a young firefighter who Lunsford said befriended him.
"He told me he was a fireman," Lunsford said. "I was like, 'oh cool,' and invited me to his house. So we went to his house, and he showed me his uniform and then we just kinda ..."
Lunsford said what happened in that house for the next four years was something he saw only as casual sex. He still believes he wasn't the only teen who Jones had abused.
"There was a kid up the street who saw us together and he asked me if we were having sex," Lunsford said. "I was like, 'yeah,' and he said, 'oh yeah, we've had sex too.'"
Lunsford said he reported his alleged victimization to a number of adults at the time he was assaulted, most of them teachers and one of them a high-ranking school official. While they all showed sympathy, he said none of them did anything to stop the abuse.
News 8 asked Lunsford if anyone indicated to him during that time that Jones was breaking the law when he was allegedly molesting him.
"No, no one ever said molested," Lunsford said. "I don't even think I used the word until a month ago, to tell you the truth."
Jones, who still serves as a Wills Point council member, declined to speak with News 8 following the council's meeting on Monday night. In fact, Jones was able to avoid a News 8 camera by sending a decoy in a hooded jacket out the back door of City Hall. When News 8 photographer William Hicks attempted to ask questions, he was assaulted; meanwhile, Jones made his way out another exit.
Also Online
Video: Brett Shipp reports
James Lunsford believes it's that same protection of Jones that motivates former teachers who still correspond with him not to speak out.
One recently wrote him saying, "you must stop and think about what you are doing and the people you will be hurting."
Another wrote, "we stepped in to do what we could to support you; what happened to letting go, letting healing begin and moving on?"
And still another said, "I didn't take it to higher authorities and I should have."
"It's been a burden for all of us, for them not coming forward and saying something to the authorities, (and) me fearing that he's probably continuing to do it and that it's going to screw up more people," Lunsford said.
Jones' attorney Howard Shapiro said his client denies abusing anyone, and that he doesn't even remember James Lunsford. Shapiro also said the Van Zandt County District Attorney has indicated to him that the statute of limitations has expired on Lunsford's claims.
Even if that is the case, several Richardson firefighters said Jones has sexually harassed them in the recent past. Thursday night at 10, News 8's Dan Ronan will have that report.
E-mail bshipp@wfaa.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/bshipp/stories/wfaa050216_am_richardsonchief.b5cf459c.html

Man who thought he was soliciting prostitute for son gets probation

By Tommy Witherspoon, Tribune-Herald staff writer
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A McGregor man who thought he was soliciting a prostitute on behalf of his “highly frustrated” teenage son was placed on felony probation Tuesday on a charge of compelling prostitution.
Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court sentenced James Monroe Ballard Jr., 58, a retired military man who owns a lawn service, to 10 years felony probation after Ballard's guilty plea to the second-degree felony.
Ballard, who was accompanied to court by his wife, declined comment after he was sentenced.
As part of his plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three felony theft charges and a misdemeanor assault charge against Ballard. The assault charge related to a physical altercation last year between Ballard and his older son, according to court records.
Ballard was arrested May 20 after he agreed to pay a woman $20 to have sex with his younger son, according to police reports filed in the case. The woman, who turned out to be an undercover Waco police officer, approached Ballard and his son at the corner of North 15th Street and Blair Avenue and asked Ballard's son what he wanted.
Ballard's son said that he “would take anything,” the officer wrote in her report, adding that she asked if they wanted sex. “Just for him,” the officer reported Ballard responded.
After his arrest, Ballard's son and his red Dodge pickup truck were released to Ballard's wife and Ballard went to the McLennan County Jail.
Later, Ballard told the Waco officers that he had caught his son looking at adult magazines and accessing pornographic Web sites, adding that “he found that his son was highly frustrated.”
Ballard told the officer that his own father had taken him to a “house known for prostitution” in Austin when he was about his son's age.
“James Ballard Jr. reiterated several times that he had made a mistake and was sorry for his actions,” an officer noted in police reports.
The state jail felony theft cases that were dismissed involved the theft of more than $1,500 in lawn equipment from Rolling Oaks Country Club in July 2004, prosecutor Jason Darling said. Ballard reportedly had stored the stolen items at a storage shed and a Ballard family member tipped police to their whereabouts, Darling said.
That was after Ballard was arrested for allegedly assaulting his older son last year, Darling said. That misdemeanor charge also will not be pursued.
“The goal of this case was for Mr. Ballard to take responsibility for his actions through this plea deal,” Darling said. “He has taken responsibility and we believe justice was served.”
Ballard faced up to 20 years in prison on the compelling prostitution charge.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com
757-5737
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/02/15/20060215wactrial.html

Country icon Willie Nelson sings gay cowboy song

Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:21 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It turns out the makers of "Brokeback Mountain" are not the only ones who think "Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other" -- country music icon Willie Nelson has recorded a song with that title.
With lyrics like "What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" the song may raise the hackles of those who see cowboys as the iconic American heterosexual male.
The song was written more than 20 years ago by songwriter Ned Sublette but was largely unknown until Nelson, who contributed a song to the "Brokeback Mountain" soundtrack, decided to release it this week for download on iTunes.
"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," Nelson said in a statement. "The timing's right for it to come out."
Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," the story of two ranch hands in Wyoming who fall in love, has won a string of awards and is a front-runner for the best film Oscar next month.
Nelson, whose hits include "Always on My Mind" and "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," sings in the new song: "A small town don't like it when a cowboy has feelings for men," and "I believe to my soul that inside every man there's the feminine."
Another verse goes as follows: "The cowboy may brag about things that he's done with his woman. But the ones who brag loudest are the ones who are most likely queer."
The Dallas Morning News said the song had a personal connection for Nelson because his longtime tour manager, David Anderson, revealed his homosexuality to Nelson two years ago.
source: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=musicNews&storyID=2006-02-15T172018Z_01_N15209036_RTRIDST_0_MUSIC-LEISURE-COWBOYS-DC.XML
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Willie Nelson's Gay Cowboy

February 14, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET

(Nashville, Tennessee) Willie Nelson is strummin' the love of gay cowboys in his newest recording. The country music star on Tuesday released "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)".
The song debuted on Howard Stern's satellite radio show.
“There’s many a strange impulse out on the plains of West Texas,” Nelson sings.
“There’s many a young boy who feels things he don’t comprehend. Well, the small town don’t like it when somebody falls between sexes. No, the small town don’t like it when a cowboy has feelings for men.”
"Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)" isn't available in record stores, but it can be downloaded as an MP3 from Apple’s iTunes music Web site.
Whether it will get airplay on the nation's country stations remains to be seen. Frequently the stations have shied away from controversial songs - even by singers of the caliber of Nelson.
iTunes says a video for the song should be available in the spring. Last weekend about two dozen dancers turned out at Dallas' gay cowboy bar, the Round Up Saloon, to shoot the video.
"Since everyone is talking about the acclaimed film Brokeback Mountain and its Academy Award nominations, Valentine's Day seemed like the right time to let [the song] be heard," Nelson's publicist said.
Nelson also contributed a song to the soundtrack of the film with his rendition of "He Was A Friend Of Mine".
But "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)" actually predates the movie. It was written in 1981 by Texas-born, NYC resident musician/songwriter Ned Sublette.
Sublette, 54, says the song is based on his own experiences growing up in the small town of Portales, N.M. He says he gave Nelson a cassette of the song and "Willie took if from there".
The song was originally recorded by the gay group Pansy Division in 1995 for their album Pileup.

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/02/021406nelson.htm

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S...

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Brownwood Flooding: What's being written !

Sunday February 12, 2006
Op Ed: Letters To The Editor Brownwood Bulletin Where will the flood runoff go ?

To the editor:

The Brownwood Bulletin said that the City of Brownwood is allowing Gary Davis to build the Market Place Apartments in a flood zone over by Home Depot. To do that he will bring in 20,000 yards of fill dirt. The city is paying $89,000 of the $130,250 cost for that fill as an incentive to promote the project.
That is quite interesting considering that I have been told that I — or anyone around the lake for that matter — cannnot move a speck of dirt in a flood plain, either in or out, without permission from the “Queen of Flood Plain Permits and Septic Systems” at the courthouse, and if you do, you get fined hundreds of dollars. So how does the City of Brownwood get around this ?
Where is all the water going that is displaced because of 20,000 yards of fill? The water was just one parking lot away from the courthouse in the last three 500-year floods we’ve had in the last 15 years. Will that displacement push the water into the courthouse or downtown next time?

Tommy Davis
Lake Brownwood

1st Bulletin Hounshell Story

1st Bulletin Hounshell Story
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

This is the first reporting of the Jacob Hounshell story from the Brownwood Bulletin. AWOL but not a mere mention of PTSD !

The answer is YES to the last question in this story !

Nurse Investigated for 'Sedition' After Writing Letter to Editor

By E&P Staff

Published: February 11, 2006 9:00 PM ET
NEW YORK Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson for a thorough inquiry of his agency's investigation into whether a V.A. nurse's letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration amounted to "sedition."
Merely opposing government policies and expressing a desire to change course "does not provide reason to believe that a person is involved in illegal subversive activity," he said. Bingaman said such investigations raise "a very real possibility of chilling legitimate political speech."
Laura Berg, a clinical nurse specialist for 15 years, wrote a letter in September to a weekly Albuquerque newspaper criticizing how the administration handled Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq Wwr. She urged people to "act forcefully" by bringing criminal charges against top administration officials, including the president, to remove them from power because they played games of "vicious deceit." She added: "This country needs to get out of Iraq now and return to our original vision and priorities of caring for land and people and resources rather than killing for oil....Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times."
The agency seized her office computer and launched an investigation. Berg is not talking to the press, but reportedly fears losing her job.
Bingaman wrote: "In a democracy, expressing disagreement with the government's actions does not amount to sedition or insurrection. It is, and must remain, protected speech. Although it may be permissible to implement restrictions regarding a government employee's political activities during work hours or on government premises, such employees do not surrender their right to freedom of speech when they enlist in government service."
He said he wants the matter investigated so V.A. officials will have guidance about handling similar situations in the future.
Berg signed the letter as a private citizen, and the V.A. had no reason to suspect she used government resources to write it, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which last week asked the government to apologize to Berg for seizing her computer and investigating her.
V.A. human resources chief Mel Hooker had said in a Nov. 9 letter that his agency was obligated to investigate "any act which potentially represents sedition," the ACLU said.
Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico, told The Progressive magazine: "We were shocked to see the word 'sedition' used. Sedition? That's like something out of the history books."
In a press release, Simonson also said:

"Is this government so jealous of its power, so fearful of dissent, that it needs to threaten people who openly oppose its policies with charges of 'sedition'?"

source: http://rawstory.org/

PTSD: Four letters the Brownwood Bulletin fails to grasp !

Note from Steve, I believe the Brownwood Bulletin and staff have been AWOL on this story from the very beginning. They were approached for help and refused to report the story. Fortunately, the Ft Worth Star Telegram and the Abilene Reporter News found the story of PTSD important enough to cover. Guess it's "Ironic" that the first story coming from the AWOL Brownwood Bulletin on Jacob would focus on his being AWOL and not a mention of his diagnosis of PTSD.
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Soldier who went AWOL surrenders

By CHRIS VAUGHN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Jacob Hounshell called Thursday afternoon on a cellphone, the sound of the road in the background.
"I'm heading down to Fort Hood," he said.
Nine months after going absent without leave following a yearlong deployment to Iraq, Hounshell, a private first class, was returning to his unit in the 1st Cavalry Division.
His mother, Bobbie, dropped him off at the gate Thursday evening, and military police officers picked him up and took him to his command, said division spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.
"It's time to go before I get arrested with a warrant," Hounshell said in the phone conversation to the Star-Telegram. "It's better to turn myself in and get it over with."
Hounshell, 20, had been living and working in Brownwood since May when he went on leave and never returned.
In a profile last June in the Star-Telegram, Hounshell said he was suicidal, having anxiety attacks and nightmares, and exploding in rage at the slightest provocation because of what he experienced on the combat deployment in Iraq.
He served with a scout unit in Baghdad, honorably and with commendations, according to his records and a fellow soldier quoted in the story.
Hounshell went AWOL, he said, because he believed that his unit's leaders were indifferent to his adjustment problems. Bleichwehl said then that Hounshell's leaders were doing everything they could to get him help before he went AWOL.
Hounshell said Thursday that he learned that a federal warrant was about to be issued, prompting him to return to Fort Hood. He said he has been doing much better with his problems in recent months, but he still hopes to be discharged from the Army.
"It was definitely the right thing to do," Bleichwehl said of Hounshell's return to the installation. "He had to have this resolved."
Somewhat bizarrely, Hounshell was working for a manufacturing plant in Brownwood that makes uniforms for the Army.
Hounshell reported to his command at 4th Battalion, 9th Cavalry and was assigned a noncommissioned officer to help him with his needs, Bleichwehl said. He will live in the barracks, Bleichwehl said.
He will have the opportunity next week to seek mental health counseling and to ask for a lawyer if he wishes, Bleichwehl said.
"What happens next is not known," he said. "The commander has different options," including administrative punishment, criminal charges and discharge from the service.

Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547 cvaughn@star-telegram.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/13848513.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
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Soldier who went AWOL surrenders at Ft. Hood
Brownwood's Hounshell turned himself in before federal warrant could be issued

By Celinda Emison
February 12, 2006

The fate of an AWOL soldier from Brownwood who has been dealing with mental health issues is in the hands of his superiors after the private turned himself in.
Pfc. Jake Hounshell, 20, returned Thursday to his unit in the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood because he had learned a federal warrant was about to be issued for him, his family said.
Hounshell's grandmother, Shirley Fletcher of Brownwood, said her grandson told her by phone Saturday that he was not under arrest and was in his barracks.
Hounshell's mother, Bobbie Hounshell of Brownwood, took her son to Fort Hood Thursday evening but was not allowed to go on base, Fletcher said.
The family is praying that the military will give Hounshell a medical discharge so he can retain his medical benefits and get treatment.
''No matter what they do, he has got to have medical help,'' Fletcher said. ''He will need help for the rest of his life.''
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a division spokesman at Fort Hood, said Hounshell's unit commander will decide whether Hounshell will receive administrative punishment, face charges or be discharged.
Hounshell's grandmother said the family is hoping for the best.
''We're hoping they will not press any hard charges against him,'' Fletcher said.
Fletcher urged Hounshell late last year to turn himself in for being absent without leave.
''Jake felt that if he turned himself in, he was turning his back on all the young men and women of the military who are facing these problems,'' Fletcher said. ''He was doing this for everyone.''
In June of 2004, Hounshell began a 14-month tour of duty with the Army, first to Kuwait and then to Baghdad, Iraq.
Hounshell served as a driver and a scout in the first platoon of the 9th Cavalry Division of the First Cavalry. He earned a commendation for finding makeshift bombs in a vehicle and arresting two insurgents during a routine checkpoint stop. His story was in the military's newspaper, Stars and Stripes.
But when Hounshell got home, it was different. He threatened to drive his truck into an 18-wheeler. His mother and dad stayed up with him on stormy nights because he believed he was being shot at. His parents sought help for their son but to no avail.
''He has never been treated medically,'' Fletcher, his grandmother, said.
For several months, Hounshell suffered continually with bouts of depression and what the Army diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder. His grandmother said he had been getting better after finally getting a job, ironically at a Brownwood business that manufactures uniforms for the military.
Fletcher said no matter what, the family is proud of him for his courage to stand up for what he believes is a problem that many returning soldiers face.
''We want him to know that whatever he does and whatever happens, he will always have us,'' Fletcher said. ''We love him no matter what.''

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

Keeping Track: Jake Hounshell

Background: Pfc. Hounshell, after a 14-month tour of duty, went AWOL while dealing with mental health issues.
What's new: Hounshell turned himself in Thursday at Fort Hood.
What's next: He could face administrative punishment, charges or be discharged.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_4460880,00.html
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see the Brownwood Bulletin's first Jacob Hounshell story here...

note: this story was not posted on the Brownwood Bulletin
's website !
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and then Bulletin "Reporter" Steve Nash writes this story ....

Tuesday February 14, 2006
News

Glitch in paperwork stopped police from arresting AWOL soldier
By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood police nearly arrested AWOL Army soldier Jacob Hounshell last Thursday when he went to the police department to make a complaint about his ex-girlfriend.
Police Lt. John Harper said police didn’t arrest Hounshell, a private first class, because of a glitch in Army paperwork that would’ve directed civil authorities to arrest him. Harper said he advised Hounshell to turn himself in to the Army, and Hounshell’s mother drove him to Fort Hood later that day.
Harper said police placed Hounshell in handcuffs after running his name and learning he was listed as “AWOL/deserter” from the military.
Hounshell, who was accompanied by his father, Larry, was detained in handcuffs for about 10 minutes after the two arrived at the police department at 11 a.m., Harper said. The Fort Hood official told police to release Hounshell because of incomplete paperwork on the Army’s part, he said.
“I suggested to him strongly that he turn himself in,” Harper said. “I told him ‘it’s time to take care of business.’ His daddy said he would take him” to Fort Hood.
Hounshell, a 20-year-old May High School graduate, served in Iraq and was later assigned to Fort Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division. Hounshell went AWOL in May.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in June that Hounshell said he was suicidal and having other problems because of his combat experiences. He went AWOL because he believed he was not getting help from the Army, the newspaper reported.
After Hounshell made the complaint against his ex-girlfriend, police issued a criminal trespass warning against her for the Hounshell home in Brownwood, where Jacob Hounshell had been living, Hounshell said.
Harper described Hounshell as “just a young kid” with a small goatee. “I wouldn’t have known he was in the military if he hadn’t told me,” Harper said.
He said Hounshell was “amiable” and told him “he was having trouble dealing with what he had faced while he was over there.”
Hounshell’s grandmother, Shirley Fletcher, said on Monday that the family is awaiting word on what the Army will do in her grandson’s case. She said options include charging him or giving him a medical or dishonorable discharge.
“Right now it’s in their ball court,” Fletcher said. “He’s just in, what you would call, a waiting period, so to speak.”
She said Hounshell’s mother, Bobbie, returned to Fort Hood Saturday and was allowed to spend the day with him.
“He’s hanging in there,” Fletcher said.
Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl of the 1st Division said Hounshell is “returned to duty. There’s a process that has to be gone through... In the course of the very near future, his disposition will be determined.”
When asked to comment on Hounshell’s activities since returning to Fort Hood, Bleichwehl said he is not giving “an hour-by-hour, day-by-day accounting” of how the soldier spends his days.
Bleichwehl said Hounshell will receive counseling as to his legal options and is eligible for medical services.
“He’s still an American citizen. He’s still got all those rights,” Bleichwehl said.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/news03.txt

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Note from Steve, What's the policy of the Brownwood Police Department of handcuffing citizens who have no warrants against them ? What's the policy of the Brownwood Bulletin of printing citizens names who have not been arrested on charges ? Does anyone else see a pattern or spin with the Bulletin Reports of avoiding the term PTSD and slanting the stories to the AWOL angle ?
-----------
Here's a letter to the editor that appeared in the Brownwood Bulletin

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Stories ignore post-traumatic stress disorder

To the
editor:

Last Sunday’s front page story, “Family praying a lot as AWOL soldier returns to Fort Hood,” was apparently meant as a narrowly focused local human interest story. While obviously well-intentioned, it did not put the story in its broader context, or help readers understand a growing problem we are facing as a society — veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Inexplicably, the article failed to even mention PTSD, though PFC Hounshell’s suicidal impulses, anxiety attacks and explosive rage are obvious symptoms of the disorder. Instead, the article gave me the impression that Hounshell’s was a sad, but isolated case of merely having difficulty “coping with what he saw in Iraq.” The military, on the other hand, is acutely aware of the scale of this problem. The Veterans Administration (VA) cites research (based on surveys of returning veterans) that estimates the risk for PTSD from service in Iraq at 18 percent, and from service in Afghanistan at 11 percent (Hoge et al., 2004).

It has long been known that participation in combat can lead to chronic mental health problems. The VA created the National Center for PTSD in 1989, “to advance the clinical care and social welfare of America’s veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders.”

Recognizing the importance of early intervention, the military has sent “combat stress” teams to the front lines in Iraq to identify and treat soldiers’ symptoms immediately, and to try to keep them fighting. Still, only half of the soldiers reporting symptoms say they will seek help, and of those who would seek help, even fewer actually receive it. The stigma against warriors having or showing bad feelings about warfare is still a powerful deterrent.

And are returning vets like Hounshell getting the help they need? Sunday’s article does not indicate that the military had any awareness of, let alone response to, Hounshell’s PTSD, which was the underlying cause of his going AWOL in the first place. Adding insult to injury, legislation supporting the VA’s entry-point for vets with PTSD, the Vet Centers, faces an uphill battle in congress. Senate Bill 716, the Vet Center Enhancement Act of 2005, passed the Senate last December, but is now stalled in the House, with passage appearing unlikely.

We now know that we were misled regarding the premises, duration and costs of the current war. Omitting this important background and context from your article further perpetuates a misleading underestimation of the full costs of war, and with no end in sight, we can expect to hear many more stories like Hounshell’s.

Tuesday’s follow-up article was no better than Sunday’s emphasizing Hounshell’s AWOL status without even mentioning PTSD.

Daniel Graham

Brownwood

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/02/16/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Bush Lied ? No Way !

Published on Saturday, February 11, 2006 by the lndependent/UK

Bush Lied Over Katrina, Sacked Head of Disaster Agency Says
by Rupert Cornwell in Washington

Michael Brown, head of the federal disaster agency at the time of Hurricane Katrina, has reopened a painful wound for President George Bush, charging that the White House knew New Orleans' protective levees had broken far earlier than it had acknowledged.
Former FEMA director Michael Brown responds to questioning during a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina repsonse on Capitol Hill, February 10, 2006. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Testifying to a Senate committee yesterday, Mr Brown said that by the evening of Monday 29 August, his FEMA agency had reported to superiors that catastrophic floodwaters were pouring into the city, that fires were breaking out and large numbers of people were stranded.
Conditions, a FEMA message said that evening, were "far more serious" than media reports suggested. Nonetheless the following morning, Mr Bush told the country from his ranch in Texas that New Orleans had "dodged the bullet".
Mr Brown quickly became the designated scapegoat for the Katrina debacle. A fortnight after the hurricane struck, he was forced to step down as FEMA's director amid public ridicule, with Mr Bush's famous utterance of "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" ringing in his ears.
In his testimony, Mr Brown placed the bulk of the blame for the administration's botched response on a "dysfunctional" Department of Homeland Security. Its obsession with terrorism, he said, had reduced natural disaster relief to the status of "stepchild" of the DHS, set up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Mr Brown's appearance before the Senate's Homeland Security Committee came on a day when the administration's credibility came under fire on a host of fronts - from its rationale for going to war against Iraq, to its disclosure of a foiled terrorist attack on Los Angeles and Mr Bush's links with the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
On Thursday Mr Bush revealed details of al-Qa'ida's alleged plot to fly a plane into an LA skyscraper in 2002. But the city's mayor was furious he had not been told personally of what the President was going to say, while Democrats accused Mr Bush of resurrecting an affair he first mentioned in late 2005 to deflect attention from the row over eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.
Even as it was defending itself on that front, the White House came under unprecedented attack from a top former CIA official for its misuse of intelligence to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The accusations by Paul Pillar, the intelligence agency's top Middle East specialist until he resigned in 2005, are not in themselves new. Never before however has so senior a CIA official so bluntly charged that the Bush White House had made up its mind to attack Iraq long beforehand, and was only interested in intelligence that supported that decision.
"Official intelligence was not relied upon in making even the most significant national security decisions," Mr Pillar writes in the new issue of the prestigious journal Foreign Affairs. "Intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made ... and the intelligence community's own work was politicized."
Further evidence that the administration had manipulated intelligence came in documents showing that Lewis Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, told prosecutors he had been "authorized by superiors" to leak classified intelligence to reporters in the early summer of 2003, as it became increasingly evident that contrary to White House claims, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
There is no suggestion of wrong doing by Mr Libby, who is facing perjury charges in the affair of the leak of the identity of the covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. But the "superiors" in question can only be Mr Cheney himself.
The revelations thus open the White House to charges of hypocrisy - that it was railing against the leak that the NSA, supposed to deal exclusively with foreign intelligence, had a secret domestic spying programme, but had blithely encouraged intelligence leaks that suited its purposes.
In a separate embarrassment, the lobbyist Jack Abramoff has claimed that he met Mr Bush "almost a dozen times", and had even been invited in 2003 to the President's ranch in Texas for a thank-you meeting for campaign contributors. If true, the claim would cast doubt on Mr Bush's insistence that he cannot remember meeting the lobbyist, who is at the centre of a spreading corruption and influence-peddling scandal.
to read the entire article please visit http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0211-04.htm

Who's Afraid of the Light ? Enviromental Issues and Faith !

How did the settlement between city of Waco and dairies become sealed ?

By J.B. Smith Tribune-Herald staff writer
Saturday, February 11, 2006

The city of Waco's unusual secret settlement with six upstream dairies raises the question of whether the city illegally bargained away the public's right to know.
City officials say they cannot discuss the settlement they reached last month with the dairies they sued under the Clean Water Act, because U.S. District Judge Walter Smith ordered the agreements sealed.
City Attorney Art Pertile acknowledged that state law considers city settlements to be public information, but he said state law doesn't necessarily bind the federal judge who made the decision.
“We didn't want it,” he said. “We didn't request to have it. ... We knew it was going to be a decision where the federal judge's order would supersede state law. I'm not sure whether the state law is going to apply to a federal judge.”
Pertile said he is seeking a state attorney general's opinion on the Public Information Act request the Tribune-Herald made last week for the settlement terms.
The six dairies in the sealed settlement are among 14 dairies the city sued in 2004, alleging that they had polluted the North Bosque River watershed with manure. The other eight dairies previously accepted settlements that were made public. The city reports that it has spent more than $3 million on the 14 lawsuits.
Pertile said he has never known the city to withhold settlement information, and the city did not consent to seal this one.
“No, but we knew the judge was going to seal it, because they (the dairies) wanted it sealed,” he said. He said the city's attorneys made their opposition to a confidential settlement clear, but didn't “kick and scream or march out of there.”
A defense attorney for the dairies, Jim Bradbury of Fort Worth, said the judge's order does not allow him to discuss who asked for the seal or whether the city agreed to it. U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey C. Manske, who mediated the settlement, said he was forbidden to talk about it.
But a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of Dairymen, which was not part of the suit but raised money for the defense, said it appears the city effectively agreed to a sealed deal.
“If the city said they knew the settlement would be sealed before they signed it, then in essence by signing it they agreed to the sealing,” spokeswoman Kirsten Voinis said.
The Texas Public Information Act, Section 552.022, states that “a settlement agreement to which a governmental body is a party” is considered public information, and that “a court in this state” may not order a governmental body to withhold public information.
Whether in federal or state court, the city would have no right to agree to a confidential settlement, said Texas Freedom of Information Foundation director Joel White, a Houston attorney.
“Its settlements are public,” he said. “It can't agree otherwise.”
White said federal judges technically are not bound by the state Public Information Act, but they are expected to follow state law. He said his group has persuaded federal judges to unseal documents on that basis.
Pertile said the state attorney general could rule that the information must be released and direct the city and the dairies to go back to the judge and ask to unseal the settlement.
“The issue comes down to whether a federal court can seal a document,” Pertile said. “We know what the law says. We deal with the law every day. Under the law, that question will be answered.”
The agreement was signed by City Manager Larry Groth, who said he relied on Pertile's legal advice.
Councilwoman Robin McDurham said she hasn't seen the settlements, and she doesn't believe the council was consulted about making them confidential.
“It appears what we need to do is to go back and say, ‘This is not legal,'” she said.
Councilman Randy Riggs said he was surprised when he heard the settlement was sealed, because the city is usually open about sharing information.
“People should have access to the operations of the city,” he said.
Councilman Jim Bush said he doesn't believe the city staff would have agreed to that sealing the settlement as a way to break a stalemate in negotiations.
“It's always important for the public to know what's going on,” he said.

jbsmith@wacotrib.com
757-5752
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/02/11/20060211wacdairysettlement.html

From the Waco tribune Herald Editorial: Peace on Bosque Sunday, January 22, 2006

It hasn't been pretty: the “battle of the Bosque.” Then again, neither were stretches of the North Bosque River.
They were being choked off by pollution – high levels of fecal matter and contagions like fecal coliform. They were heavy also in nutrients like phosphorus.
It is true that many sources have contributed to the nutrient-loading in the river – like fertilized row crops and water treatment plants. But only dairies could contribute the gunk that river users near Iredell and Hico were seeing 10 years ago.
This alarming development ultimately came into play in Waco, where the city's water source, Lake Waco, was having more than the standard “taste and odor event” that used to happen when the lake “turned over.” This chronic new problem was because of high nutrient levels causing algae to grow like mad.
The problem wasn't the lake. It was the river. And the chief contributing factor over that time was an influx of dairies upstream in Erath and Comanche counties.
This week the city of Waco settled six suits filed against several dairies in the watershed, an end to a long skirmish in this battle.
Dairies are on notice that water users will go to court if necessary to have suspect environmental practices vetted. And some of the practices were much worse than “suspect.” City fly-overs a few years ago saw collection ponds of dairy waste bleeding directly into tributaries. Excessive application of liquid from those had saturated some fields to an extent that they probably should have no more of that applied for a generation.
We've come to understand that even with the best practices, a certain percentage of the waste from large dairy operations ends up in the environment. An impaired watershed can withstand only so many cows.
There's also the problem that waste removed from one location could be trucked to another in the watershed, with no benefit in sum.
The legal battle waged by the city has been for the right cause. Now we hope that all factors – state monitoring, city diligence and responsible behavior by operators – will merge to make this less of a story.
We must have hand-in-glove cooperation between those who use the water and those who use the land upstream.
This editorial board has disagreed often with John Cowan, president of the Texas Association of Dairymen. But we can agree with and salute these comments from him:
“By working together – instead of facing each other across a courtroom – I believe we can make sure that all Central Texans have clean water to drink.”
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/
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Note how the Texas Observer was at the forefront of covering this story ? All issues are local and have local implications !

Comanche Enviromentalist...

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Strange bedfellows - Evangelical Christians, FORTUNE 500 execs and environmentalists band together to curb global warming.

By Marc Gunther, FORTUNE senior writer
February 8, 2006: 2:46 PM EST

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - An unlikely coalition of evangelical Christians, FORTUNE 500 executives and environmentalists is coming together to press the U.S. government to take action to curb global warming.
The latest example: Evangelical leaders Wednesday announced a "call to action" asking government and business leaders to agree to "cost-effective, market-based" regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which are mostly caused by burning fossil fuels.
The new initiative, two years in the making, includes modest buys of print, radio and TV ads, with an initial budget of about $200,000. The TV commercial, which will run on Fox News, CNN and local stations, shows images of hybrid cars and windmills and says: "We can stop global warming for our kids, our world and for our Lord." Radio ads will run on stations owned by Salem Communications (Research), a Christian firm.
Among the 86 leaders who signed on to what is being called the Evangelical Climate Initiative include Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life"; the leaders of the Salvation Army and World Vision, two big Christian charities; and about 40 college and seminar presidents including Duane Litfin, the president of Wheaton College, which has been dubbed the evangelical Harvard.
"We will see tens of millions of evangelicals engaged in the work we are talking about today," said the Rev. Dr. Leith Anderson, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of a Minnesota megachurch.
In its statement on climate change (available at www.christiansandclimate.org) the evangelical group went out of its way to praise big companies such as BP (Research), Shell, General Electric (Research), Cinergy (Research), Duke Energy (Research) and DuPont (Research) which, it said, "have moved ahead of the pace of government action" and "offered timely leadership." In response, Chad Holliday, the president and CEO of DuPont, congratulated the evangelical leaders "for adding their voice to calls for concerted global action on climate change."
The Rev. Jim Ball, who is executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, said a conference of business people and evangelicals will be held this fall at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. "We're going to be all about building relationships," he said.
There will be plenty to talk about. Business and environmental leaders, for example, have voiced concern about the growing cost of natural disasters.
Swiss Re, the world's second largest global reinsurer, is among the sponsors of a big coalition of institutional investors, called the Carbon Disclosure Project, that seeks to identify the business risks of global warming to investors. This month, the coalition (www.cdproject.net) of more than 200 institutions with assets of $28.9 trillion under management wrote to 1,800 of the largest quoted companies in the world by market capitalization, asking for the disclosure of investment-relevant information concerning their greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, W. Todd Bassett, the commander of the Salvation Army, said hurricanes in the Southeast, tornadoes in the Midwest and fires in the West have put enormous pressure on his organization, which is America's biggest charity. "Few doubt that there has been a significant increase in natural disasters, not just in the U.S. but around the world," Bassett said.
Much of this is designed to turn up the heat -- no pun intended -- on President Bush, who is both an evangelical Christian and an ally of business. So far, the Bush administration has resisted calls for government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Of course, neither big business nor evangelical Christians are united on the issue. ExxonMobil (Research), the world's biggest oil company, has opposed government rules to control carbon emissions. So have some, but not all, coal-burning utility companies.
About 20 prominent, politically-active evangelical Christian leaders -- including Charles Colson, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention -- recently urged the National Association of Evangelicals to stay out of the global warming debate. They wrote: "There should be room for Bible-believing evangelicals to disagree about the cause, severity and solutions to the global warming issue."
But with publications ranging from The Economist to Christianity Today urging action to curb global warming, there's little doubt about which way the winds are blowing, in both the business and evangelical worlds.
source: http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/08/news/pluggedin_fortune/?cnn=yes
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Note from Steve, The above stories make the Brownwood Talk Radio Participants/Hosts very nervous. I guess they must be the Dobson , Land types ! Reasons for the nervousness ? Guess that's what happens when they've invested so much of their time making fun of, castigating, and demonizing those folks who have worked to protect the enviroment. "By working together" seems to be a threatening phrase for those on the Hard-Right side of the aisle !

QUOTE

"I didn't vote for Mr. Bush. Let's just leave it at that" ~Music Legend Johnny Cash

Escaping the attention of the Brownwood Bulletin too ? You can count on that !

Friday, February 10, 2006

One-Third of Iraq Vets Suffer From Post-Traumatic Stress

Escaping the attention of the mainstream media at the end of January was a panel held by mental-health professionals at the National Press Club in Washington, in which it was revealed that up to one-third of Iraq war Veterans will suffer from some degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Speaking on the panel was Antonette Zeiss, deputy chief consultant for mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, who said that up to 40,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan show symptoms of PTSD.
Zeiss said 120,000 soldiers have sought health care, and that 31 percent of them are being reviewed for possible mental health disorders, with the prevailing diagnosis being PTSD. A big difference from previous wars, she said, is that 13 percent of those soldiers are women.
PTSD, which commonly arises from prolonged exposure to combat and the ongoing threat of death or serious injury, is characterized by recurrent thoughts of trauma, reduced involvement in work or outside interests, hyper alertness, anxiety and irritability. Alcoholism and drug abuse are also common among Veterans suffering from PTSD.
Complicating matters is that improved technology and better medical techniques are now resulting in returning Veterans having survived harrowing wounds that might have killed them in previous wars and having to deal with both physical and emotional trauma upon returning home.
Brad Blog did an excellent job covering the sad tale of Douglas Barber, a 35-year-old Iraq war Veteran, who shot and killed himself on January 16 with a shotgun.
“All is not okay or right for those of us who return home alive and supposedly well. What looks like normalcy and readjustment is only an illusion to be revealed by time and torment,” wrote Barber, in an e-mail about a year before his death and published on Brad Blog. “Some soldiers come home missing limbs and other parts of their bodies. Still others will live with permanent scars from horrific events that no one other than those who served will ever understand.”
And there are many other Veterans like Douglas Barber.
A Brief Primer on the Mental Health Impact of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by the National Center for PTSD, reports that “the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are the most sustained combat operations since the Vietnam War, and initial signs imply that these ongoing wars are likely to produce a new generation of veterans with chronic mental health problems associated with participation in combat.”
“Initial evidence indicates that combat operations in Iraq are very intense,” says the report. “Soldiers in Iraq are at risk for being killed or wounded themselves, are likely to have witnessed the suffering of others, and may have participated in killing or wounding others as part of combat operations.”
The National Center for PTSD also reports the following alarming statistics that map directly to increased rates of PTSD among Iraq war Veterans:
94 percent of soldiers in Iraq reported receiving small-arms fire
86 percent reported knowing someone who was seriously injured or killed
68 percent reported seeing dead or seriously injured Americans
51percent reported handling or uncovering human remains
In addition, over three-quarters of soldiers deployed to Iraq reported shooting or directing fire at the enemy, 48 percent reported being responsible for the death of an enemy combatant and 28 percent reported being responsible for the death of a noncombatant.
Finally, the report concludes that the Iraq war will create a whole new generation of mental health problems in America due to the unique conditions of this war – including that much of the conflict in Iraq, particularly since George W. Bush made his false claim that major combat operations had ended, has involved guerilla warfare and terrorist actions from ambiguous and unknown civilian threats.
“In this context, there is no safe place and no safe role. Soldiers are required to maintain an unprecedented degree of vigilance and to respond cautiously to threats,” said the report.
Meanwhile, most of these revelations receive absolutely no publicity in the mainstream media and, if you do a search on Google News, you’ll find that the Washington panel on January 27 received almost no coverage.
Which makes this all the more distressing and sad. In addition to the horrible toll that Bush’s war is exerting on America’s military people – and it is a toll that will last a lifetime – these brave people bear the additional burden of returning to a country that seems destined to remain ignorant about the true magnitude of their sacrifice.
source: www.bobgeiger.com

Brownwood "Christian realism" ?

Niebuhr's 'Christian realism'
02:44 PM CST on Friday, February 10, 2006
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
Where would Reinhold Niebuhr stand on the Iraq War?
It's an interesting question, since Niebuhr, a major figure in 20th-century theology, was a leading proponent of "Christian realism." That school of thought holds that Christians must be tough-minded – but also humble – in trying to bring about a more just world.
He was born in Missouri in 1892, the son of a German immigrant pastor. Both he and his younger brother Richard would attend Yale University and become esteemed theologians.
Reinhold Niebuhr was a pastor in Detroit before joining the faculty at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Through his speaking and writing there, he influenced Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., and others. He died in 1971.
It's not widely known, but Niebuhr also wrote the famous Serenity Prayer ("God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed ..."), adapted by Alcoholics Anonymous.
Robin Lovin of Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology will lead a seminar on Niebuhr in downtown Dallas on Wednesday. Dr. Lovin, the author of Reinhold Niebuhr and Christian Realism, published by Cambridge University Press, was interviewed via e-mail by Staff Writer Sam Hodges. Here are excerpts.
What was Niebuhr's path to Christian realism, and how is that term best defined?
Niebuhr was part of a generation that was deeply troubled by the failure of Christian idealism to prevent World War I and to solve the international conflicts that grew up afterwards. He was a pastor in Detroit in the 1920s, so he also experienced the racial tensions and labor conflicts in American cities. He started to speak about the need for "Christian realism" that would recognize the persistence of sin, self-interest and power, especially in large social conflicts.
What Niebuhr meant by Christian realism was that instead of just exhorting people to be generous, loving and Christian, we should create systems of justice that keep power in check and enable the poor to make their own claims on society. He also insisted that even those who want to do justice are subject to self-interest and self-righteousness.
Niebuhr was not the only theologian at the time who spoke about "biblical realism" or "realistic Christianity," but he put the message more sharply, especially the part about remembering our own tendency to self-righteousness.
Was it just his nature to be concerned about political and social problems, or did he find a Christian imperative to speak out?
For Niebuhr, the heart of biblical faith was a prophetic tradition that is never afraid to proclaim God's judgment, even to those who seem to be most powerful or most holy. Christians could never rest content with the justice their society has achieved. They have to be ready to demand more, not just on the edges of society where the evils and injustices are obvious, but at the centers of power where people are too confident of their own moral authority.
Niebuhr saw Jesus as the high point of this biblical faith, but he insisted that the tradition was deeply rooted in the Hebrew prophets. For that reason, he thought Christians and Jews share the same imperatives when it comes to working for justice. If alive today, he would be pushing for all three of the Abrahamic faiths to make that prophetic tradition relevant on a global scale.
He managed to confound both liberals and conservatives at times.
Niebuhr infuriated anybody who was convinced that they were completely right and their opponents were completely wrong.
He told the auto executives in Detroit that they were wrong to oppose the unions, but then he would tell the unions that they were just protecting their own interests against other workers who were poorer and less organized than they were. Even in the middle of the Cold War, when he was strongly anti-Communist, he insisted that the Western democracies had to recognize an element of truth in Communist claims that capitalism and colonialism were the cause of many evils in the world.
What would Niebuhr say about our current foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq?
This is a disputed question among those of us who study Niebuhr. He was never a pacifist, and he argued that Christians sometimes have to support the use of force to restrain evil and prevent greater injustices. But he also warned against overestimating our capacity to do good. Later in his life, he was particularly alert to what he called "the irony of history," the fact that when we try to do things without full knowledge and without awareness of our limitations, we often get the opposite of the results we intend. I think that's what would worry him most about what America is doing in Iraq.
What other political or social issues of the 21st century would prompt him to speak out?
"Globalization" would fascinate and worry him in equal measure. No doubt questions about worker rights and global commerce would remind him of the struggles that American workers faced in the early days of the union movement. I think he would be paying equal attention to the power that trans-national corporations and worldwide cultural movements have to shape our lives.
Any "public theologian" today who has Niebuhr's stature?
Niebuhr has no real successor in America today. Our most public religious voices are sometimes so concerned to stake out a "Christian" position against what they see as "secularism" that Christianity comes across as just another group protecting its own interests.
On the world scene, however, there are people like Archbishop [Desmond] Tutu who can lead a struggle for justice and then become a voice for reconciliation.
What is your favorite Niebuhr quotation?
The Serenity Prayer is a great summary of Niebuhr's realism. It talks about having the courage to change what we can change, the serenity to accept what we cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference. Niebuhr sought that kind of courage, serenity and wisdom in public life as well as in personal struggles.
But my favorite Niebuhr quotation is from The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness: "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible. Man's tendency to injustice makes democracy necessary."
Which book by Niebuhr should a layperson start with and why?
The indispensable guide to his thought is The Nature and Destiny of Man, a two-volume work based on lectures he delivered just as World War II was beginning. There is a collection of shorter writings called Love and Justice that shows how he dealt with many practical and political questions. Beyond Tragedy is a collection of essays based on his sermons. It shows the influence of the Bible on his thinking.
E-mail samhodges@dallasnews.com
DETAILS: Robin Lovin's seminar, "Realism Precedes Hope," will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Sammons Hall of Thanks-Giving Square, 1627 Pacific Ave. Admission is $5, or $10 with lunch. Call 214-969-1977.
SERENITY PRAYER
The Internet is full of speculation that Reinhold Niebuhr adapted the "Serenity Prayer" from a prayer or prayers that go back centuries. But his daughter, publishing executive Elisabeth Sifton, asserts in her 2003 book The Serenity Prayer that the prayer is original to Niebuhr, and that he wrote it in 1943 for a church service in Heath, Mass. She notes that it was soon adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous.
"I think Elisabeth Sifton's account is now generally accepted," said Robin Lovin, a professor at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology and an authority on Niebuhr. "People keep coming up with alternative versions of the `Serenity Prayer' or alternative accounts of where it came from, but there seems little doubt that the prayer now used by Alcoholics Anonymous came originally from Reinhold Niebuhr."
Below, in order, are Niebuhr's prayer; a version adopted with Niebuhr's permission by Alcoholics Anonymous (often used to open or close meetings); and a longer, widely reprinted version whose origins aren't clear.
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things
that cannot be changed, courage to change the things
that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
•
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
•
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with him forever in the next.
Sam Hodges

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/021106dnrelQALovin.133b5313.html

Brownwood Asbestos: Who's keeping the News from you ?

" Texas leads the nation in asbestos- or silica-related lawsuits filed since 1988."

source: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/Archives/Arch05/w031005a.htm
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Google Brownwood Asbestos to better understand the Politics of Asbestos !

There's a whole lot of * "Bending over Backwards" by Republicans in Brownwood Texas !

Trade gap hits record
Increased imports from China fueled soaring U.S. deficit in '05
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 11, 2006
By KATHERINE YUNG / The Dallas Morning News
American consumers and businesses are growing increasingly reliant on Chinese-made goods, helping drive the U.S. deficit to an all-time high last year.
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services soared to $726 billion, up 17.5 percent from 2004 levels, according to figures released Friday by the Department of Commerce.
As in previous years, trade with China played a key role in creating the imbalance.
Last year, the U.S. bought a record $202 billion more in goods from China than it sold to the Asian powerhouse, up from $162 billion in 2004.
"Ultimately, it is something people should be concerned about," said Nicholas Lardy, a China expert and senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington.
"We don't save enough. I don't think the current trajectory is sustainable."
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-tradegap_11bus.ART.State.Edition2.16b1b665.html
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Government announces $1.6B settlement with AIG
11:46 AM CST on Thursday, February 9, 2006
Associated Press
NEW YORK - In one of the largest regulatory settlements ever, American International Group Inc. has agreed to pay $1.64 billion to resolve allegations that it used deceptive accounting practices to mislead investors and regulators.
The deal announced Thursday also requires the New York-based company, one of the world's largest insurers, to adopt changes in its business practices that will ensure proper accounting procedures in the future.
The pact settles a civil suit filed last May by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer with backing from the New York State Insurance Department and the U.S. Justice Department. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which also worked with Spitzer on the investigation, filed and settled allegations of accounting fraud with the company simultaneously.
The settlement does not cover Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the company's former chairman and chief executive who was named in the suit but has pledged to fight it in court.
Spitzer told The Associated Press in an interview, "This is a company that didn't have to cheat. But once they began, they found it hard to stop. And like an addict, they grew dependent on financial gamesmanship that could ultimately destroy the company."
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/021006dnbusaig.e1d62ce.html
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American International Group

Insurance Company Acquires Privately Owned Water Utility

New York City-based American International Group (AIG) is one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world, with revenues of $100 billion in 2004 alone. On May 18, 2005 the company announced that it will control through purchase the water and wastewater services of small communities throughout 17 states.
The company has been plagued with allegations of widespread scandals and fraud, including:
The SEC and the Justice Department are investigating an AIG practice of providing “loss mitigation insurance” to companies. It appears as though AIG sells this service to help distressed corporations hide their losses from federal regulators. In November 2004, AIG paid $126 million to settle allegations it provided these illegal services to two companies, PNC and Brightpoint.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued the insurance company Marsh & McLennan on charges of widespread bid-rigging; AIG is named as a co-conspirator.
Both Spitzer and the SEC are investigating allegations that AIG cooked its own books by hiding transactions and debt with other large insurance companies.

AIG has contributed over $3 million to federal election campaigns since 2001, with 60% of that total going to Republicans.

In recent years, AIG—like other large financial firms—has been purchasing energy assets, inexpensively, from energy companies in financial distress. In just the last couple of years, AIG has acquired ownership stakes in 2,535 megawatts (MW) of power plants in the United States, and 100% ownership of the Southern Star Central natural gas pipeline, which runs from Texas to Wyoming.
In May 2005, AIG announced the purchase of a water utility, Utilities, Inc., whose customer base is primarily spread throughout small rural and suburban communities in 17 states. Though small by comparison to water industry giants such as Veolia, United Water, American Water or Aqua America, Utilities, Inc. claims it is the largest privately held water utility in the country. With AIG’s acquisition, water and wastewater service in the small communities served by Utilities, Inc. will no longer be owned by a privately held company but by a publicly traded corporation under market performance pressures.

Utilities, Inc. has roughly 300,000 customers:

Arizona: Bermuda Water Co.; 5,450 customers.
Florida: Alafaya Utilities; Bayside Utility Services; Cypress Lakes Utilities; Eastlake Water Service; Lake Groves Utilities; Lake Placid Utilities; Lake Utility Services; Mid-County Services; Miles Grant Water & Sewer; Pebble Creek Utilities; Sandy Creek Utility Service; Sanlando Utilities; South Gate Utilities; Tierra Verde Utilities; Utilities, Inc. of Florida; Wedgefield Utilities; 81,000 customers.
Georgia: Utilities, Inc. of Georgia; 11,200 customers.
Illinois: Camelot Utilities; Cedar Bluff Utilities; Charmar Water Co; Cherry Hill Water Co; Clarendon Water Co; Del Mar Water Co; Ferson Creek Utilities; Galena Territory Utilities; Great Northern Utilities; Harbor Ridge Utilities; Holiday Hills Utilities; Killarney Water Co; Lake Holiday Utilities; Lake Marian Water Corp; Lake Wildwood Utilities; Medina Utilities; Northern Hills Water & Sewer; Valentine Water Service; Walk Up Woods Water Co; Westlake Utilities; Whispering Hills Water Co; Wildwood Water Service Co.; 17,400 customers.
Indiana: Twin Lakes Utilities; Water Service Co. of Indiana.; 8,300 customers.
Kentucky: Water Service Corp. of Kentucky, 7,000 customers.
Louisiana: Louisiana Water Service; Utilities, Inc. of Louisiana; 17,100 customers.
Maryland: Green Ridge Utilities; Maryland Water Services; Provinces Utilities; Utilities, Inc. of Maryland.; 7,000 customers.
Mississippi: Charleston Utilities; 1,800 customers.
Nevada: Sky Ranch Water Service Corp; Spring Creek Utilities; Utilities, Inc. of Nevada; 12,800 customers.
New Jersey: Montague Water & Sewer Co.; 1,100 customers.
North Carolina: Bradfield Farms Water Co; CWS Systems, Inc; Carolina Water Service.; 61,100 customers.
Ohio: Holiday Service Corp.; 1,100 customers.
Pennsylvania: Penn Estates Utilities; Utilities, Inc. of Pennsylvania; 5,500 customers.
Tennessee: Tennessee Water Service.; 500 customers.
South Carolina: Carolina Water Service; Salem Church Road Utilities; South Carolina Utilities; Southland Utilities; Tega Cay Water Service; United Utility Companies.; 31,900 customers.
Virginia: Utilities, Inc. of Virginia; 5,200 customers.
Below are the details of AIG’s current energy assets.

POWER PLANTS:
1. Dartmouth, Massachusetts 68 MW natural gas power plant. AIG owns 100%.
2. Front Range, a 480 MW natural gas plant outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. It’s a 50/50 venture with AIG and Colorado Springs Utilities.
3. Vandolah, a 680 MW natural gas power plant located in Hardee County, Florida. AIG is the sole owner.
4. MassPower 258 MW natural gas power plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. AIG owns 33.7%, John Hancock Insurance owns 17.5%, ArcLight (an affiliate of John Hancock) owns 17.5%, Goldman Sachs owns 14.7%, United States Power Fund owns 12.5% and El Paso Corp. owns 4.1%.
5. Cambria 98 MW coal power plant in Edensburg, Pennsylvania. AIG is the sole owner.
6. Gilberton 82 MW coal power plant in Frackville, Pennsylvania. AIG owns 25%, Goldman Sachs owns 19.6%, , FPL owns 5.4% and RI-CORP owns 50%.
7. Panther Creek 83 MW coal power plant in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, a joint venture of Goldman Sachs and AIG.
8. Mt. Poso 58 MW coal power plant in Bakersfield, California. AIG owns 16%.
9. ACE 102 MW coal power plant in Trona, California. AIG owns 13%.
10. Orlando, Florida 114.5 MW natural gas power plant. A joint venture between AIG and ArcLight.
11. Colver, Pennsylvania 106 MW power plant. AIG owns 27.5%.
12. Bonneville 85 MW power plant in Las Vegas. AIG owns half.
13. Orange 104 MW natural gas power plant in Bartow, Florida. The power plant is a 50/50 partnership between AIG and the Wall Street investment bank Bear Sterns.
14. Mulberry 120 MW natural gas power plant in Bartow, Florida. AIG owns 46.75%, General Electric owns 7.5% and Bear Stearns owns 45.75%.
15. AIG owns 22.4% of SEMASS, a 78 MW waste-to-energy plant in Rochester, Massachusetts. DLJ Merchant Banking Partners is the other stakeholder.
16. AIG owns 24.9% of American Ref-Fuel Company of Southeastern Connecticut, which operates an 18 MW waste-to-energy power facility in Preston, Connecticut. DLJ Merchant Banking Partners is the other stakeholder.
NATURAL GAS
AIG owns 100% of the Southern Star Central natural gas pipeline, running through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
source: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/general/majorwater/aig/
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Note from Steve: You should go rent the Enron Movie at Hastings ! ....and the Republicans want to preach about Morality, Ethics and Integrity ! Beware the Wolves !
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Abramoff's `Equal Money' Went Mostly to Republicans (Update1)

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush calls indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff ``an equal money dispenser'' who helped politicians of both parties. Campaign donation records show Republicans were a lot more equal than Democrats.
Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show. At the same time, his Indian clients were the only ones among the top 10 tribal donors in the U.S. to donate more money to Republicans than Democrats.
Bush's comment about Abramoff in a Dec. 14 Fox News interview was aimed at countering Democratic accusations that Republicans have brought a ``culture of corruption'' to Washington. Even so, the numbers show that ``Abramoff's big connections were with the Republicans,'' said Larry Noble, the former top lawyer for the Federal Election Commission, who directs the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.
``It is somewhat unusual in that most lobbyists try to work with both Republicans and Democrats, but we're already seeing that Jack Abramoff doesn't seem to be a usual lobbyist,'' Noble said.
Abramoff, 46, is under investigation by a Justice Department-led task force; he has already been indicted in Florida in a separate case involving the purchase of a casino boat company.
Abramoff is talking with prosecutors about providing testimony against former political and business associates in exchange for a reduced sentence, the New York Times reported today, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the case.
`Glass Houses'
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has set up a Web page, dubbed ``Glass Houses,'' featuring pictures of Democratic senators and a tally of funds they took from Abramoff or his associates.
In the last week, two Democrats have said they're returning donations from Indian tribes represented by Abramoff and from his associates. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota -- the top Democrat on a committee investigating the lobbyist -- gave back $67,000. Senator Max Baucus of Montana is returning $18,893.
Mostly Republicans
Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff joined with his former partner, Michael Scanlon, and tribal clients to give money to a third of the members of Congress, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, according to records of the Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service. At least 171 lawmakers got $1.4 million in campaign donations from the group. Republicans took in most of the money, with 110 lawmakers getting $942,275, or 66 percent of the total.
Of the top 10 political donors among Indian tribes in that period, three are former clients of Abramoff and Scanlon: the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California. All three gave most of their donations to Republicans -- by margins of 30 percentage points or more -- while the rest favored Democrats.
Abramoff faces allegations that he bilked the casino-owning tribes out of millions of dollars and attempted to corrupt public officials. E-mails released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during a year of hearings offer evidence that he directed the tribes to donate funds to specific lawmakers.
Continued to Give
Abramoff's tribal clients continued to give money to Democrats even after he began representing them, although in smaller percentages than in the past.
The Saginaw Chippewas gave $500,500 to Republicans between 2001 and 2004 and $277,210 to Democrats, according to a review of data compiled by Dwight L. Morris & Associates, a Bristow, Virginia-based company that tracks campaign-finance reports. Between 1997 and 2000, the tribe gave just $158,000 to Republicans and $279,000 to Democrats.
The Republican senatorial committee is sending information out to state campaigns and to all Republican press secretaries on Capitol Hill about the Democrat-Abramoff connections, spokesman Brian Nick said. The cover sheet asks, ``They Don't Know Jack???'' in red ink and features a picture of Abramoff surrounded by Democrats including Dorgan and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Reid's Response
Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said the senator is still considering whether to return the $60,000 in donations he received from Abramoff associates and clients. The money includes contributions that came from Abramoff's former employer, Greenberg Traurig LLP, a lobbying and law firm with multiple issues in Congress.
Bush, in the Fox News interview, said of Abramoff: ``It seems to me that he was an equal money dispenser, that he was giving money to people in both political parties.''
White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said yesterday that Bush was making the point that Abramoff's links weren't exclusively Republican. ``The president was referring to press reports showing Mr. Abramoff, his clients and associates have contributed to both Democrats and Republicans alike,'' Healy said.

* ``Republicans are bending over backwards to exaggerate the links'' between Democrats and Abramoff, said Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ``This is a Republican scandal that involves Republican lawmakers doing favors for a Republican lobbyist.''

`Representative No. 1'
Scanlon, Abramoff's former partner, has pleaded guilty to attempted fraud and corruption of public officials and is cooperating with the Justice Department's investigation. His plea agreement refers to efforts to corrupt U.S. lawmakers, including a ``Representative No. 1,'' identified by lawyers in the case as Ohio Republican Robert Ney.
The other names most frequently mentioned in connection with Abramoff are both Republicans: DeLay, a one-time friend who has cut off contact with the lobbyist, and Senator Conrad Burns of Montana. Burns, who is facing criticism in his home state for being the top recipient of Abramoff-related donations, said on Dec. 16 he planned to give back to the tribes about $150,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his associates and tribal clients.
In the Florida case, in which Abramoff has already been indicted, prosecutors allege that he and partner Adam Kidan conspired to defraud lenders when buying SunCruz Casino Ltd. in 2000. Kidan pleaded guilty Dec. 15, and his lawyer said he's willing to testify against Abramoff.

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=arVHles5cKJc&refer=us
----------------
Three More GOP members tied to Abramoff
by Joe in DC - 2/11/2006 01:24:00 PM

Court filings show the roll of Abramoff-linked GOPers continues to grow. Add LaTourette from Ohio, Young from Alaska and Capito from West Virginia:
Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office.

LaTourette maintains he did nothing improper by advocating special opportunities for certain small businesses in areas known as HUBzones, or Historically Underutilized Business zones. His spokeswoman, Deborah Setliff, said that the letter was reviewed by Young's chief of staff and counsel and that it did not advocate any particular business over another.

A spokesman for Young did not return telephone calls.

Friday's filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school.

Capito claims to know nothing about the effort. "The action taken by her former chief of staff was done without her knowledge, approval or consent," said her spokesman, Joel Brubaker. "She was not aware of any contact with GSA of any type on this matter."
source: http://americablog.blogspot.com/
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From the Dallas Morning News Business Section page 2d 2.11.2006

Farmers' incomes expected to decline
Farmers will see their incomes plunge in 2006 coming off two years of unusually high prices and record crops, the Agriculture Department said Friday.
Rising energy costs and interest rates are gobbling up the bottom line for farmers, analysts said.
On average, net income for a farmer should be $48,600 in this year, down from $ 68,300 last year, according to forecasts from the department. The average was $ 52,500 from 2000 through 2005.
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Saturday February 11, 2006 Op Ed: Letters To The Editor The Brownwood Bulletin

Fascism raising its head in the United States

To the editor:
The word fascism seems to be raising its murderous head here in the good old U.S.A.
Why you might ask could I make such an unlikely statement?
Please allow me to answer without trying to insult anyone’s intelligence.
The big book, The Oxford Universal Dictionary, first published in the year 1933, universally accepted by the most learned among us states as follows!
Fascist — formed in 1919 by none other than Benito Mussolini.
Read on: Next we have the American Heritage Dictionary accepted by the U.S. Library of Congress.
States: Fascism — a government system that exercises a extreme right control. Typically through the merging of state and business leadership with a belligerent nationalism.
Could this type of system be compared to our present two houses of Congress? After all, each member of both houses no longer truly write our bills of law.
It is admitted by even the old retired member that this statement is true.
Does this place the lobbyist of large dominant wealthy corporations in this dictatorial power? Think!
Furthermore, is our present executive branch of government in any way obligated and or tied to the power of big money — corporations?
Finally, please don’t let me stir the fire of possible extreme right believers of this, our country. I only hope to offer a country boy’s picture of the other side of the story. God bless each of you and our dear country.

L. L. White
Brownwood
source: http://brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/02/11/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter02.txt

Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry had his "chance" for the last Six Years !

Dallas Morning News Editorial

Perry's Chance: Governor can shape immigration debate

09:16 AM CST on Friday, February 10, 2006
Given recent events, it's understandable why Gov. Rick Perry rolled out Operation Rio Grande yesterday. Violence along the Texas/Mexico border is troubling – really troubling. Authorities recently found caches of high-powered weapons in Laredo. Drug-thugs firestormed their way into a Nuevo Laredo newspaper Monday night. Either the Mexican military, or drug gangs dressed in Mexican military uniforms, crossed over the Texas/Mexico border last month. And those are just the latest episodes.
So Mr. Perry wants to get state and local law enforcement officers working to keep drug gangs and possible terrorists from exploiting openings along the border. His Operation Rio Grande ideas include:
•Employing a state homeland security council to use intelligence information to back up officials along the border.
•Using the Department of Public Safety to deploy a "rapid response" team to troubled areas.
•Getting more manpower and equipment to sheriffs along the border.
We can go for that. But the state can deploy all the agents, guns and cameras it wants, and it still won't solve the border problems. As President Bush keeps saying, people are doing everything possible to get here for work. Until we as a nation deal with the economic realities driving immigration, border troubles won't end.
Here's where Mr. Perry can make a difference. A huge one. As a conservative, he can get Washington's attention if he starts to speak as loudly about the economic piece as the security dimension.
He has a perfect chance to do that today, when he addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. The governor's office says he's open to a program that allows more immigrants to qualify for work visas, as long as there is a fail-safe way to identify guest workers. So, make that a part of the speech. Challenge stakeholders to embrace both ends of the solution.
Conservatives are crucial because many in the House want only to build walls and add guns. By broadening his Operation Rio Grande, Rick Perry could help guide them to a real solution.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-immigration_10edi.ART.State.Edition1.1184291c.html

Brownwood, Beware the Wolves: All Authoritive Discrimination and Corruption is Local and often carried out by "Religious" Officials !

Bush lets his conscience be not troubled

I loved the part in President Bush's speech at the Coretta Scott King funeral where he defended the people who discriminated against the Kings and racial minorities: "Yet they also knew that sheriffs, mayors and governors were not ultimately in control of events, that a greater authority was interested and very much in charge."
Apparently, he was alluding to the fact that God was in charge, so it didn't make any difference that the humans in authority assisted in the discrimination and shouldn't bother their conscience. I don't think it bothered Mr. Bush's conscience, either.

Hugh Harvey, Greenville

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/letters/stories/DN-friartletters_0210edi.ART.State.Edition1.1181aa4d.html

--------------------
And on another note,

Scandal shakes up small Arkansas town
Mayor, police chief charged in corruption probe

LONOKE, Arkansas (AP) -- The mayor was arrested in a corruption probe, the police chief is accused in a drug-making scheme, and the prosecutor says the chief's wife took prisoners from jail to have sex with them -- and more arrests could be coming.
It's a lot for a town of fewer than 4,300 residents to stomach in one day.
"We've just got a tough time ahead of us right now," said Assistant Police Chief Sean O'Nale, who is serving as interim chief while Chief Jay Campbell is suspended with pay.
The chief and his wife, the mayor and two bail bondsmen were arrested Monday and freed on bail. (Watch as the chief says he's innocent -- 2:23)
Mayor Thomas Privett continued his normal duties Tuesday and called a special city council meeting for Wednesday evening to deal with personnel issues.
Campbell said he was wrongly accused, and lawyers for the others said their clients were innocent.
Prosecutor Lona McCastlain dismissed criticism that the investigation was politically motivated and said her work isn't done.
"This investigation is ongoing and the state has not ruled out that there may be additional charges filed and that there may be additional suspects," McCastlain said.
In Lonoke, about 25 miles east of Little Rock, just about everyone knows the defendants.
"The chief and his wife have been real good to my mother, they're neighbors over there. And they haven't been anything but nice," said real estate broker Charlie Knox.
The allegations paint a different picture.
Campbell and his wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, allegedly stole antique jewelry from a home and pawned it. The chief also is accused with the bail bondsmen of taking part in a conspiracy to make methamphetamine and use it to frame someone.
Kelly Campbell faces escape-related charges for allegedly taking two inmates out of the jail to have sex with her at ballparks, the chief's office and a hotel. She also is charged with residential burglary, theft and taking prohibited items into a jail.
The mayor was charged with misdemeanor theft of services. A State Police affidavit says he used state prisoners to do work at his home, including fixing an air conditioner and hanging Christmas lights. Campbell also is alleged to have had prisoners work at his home.
Ralph Cloar of Little Rock, an attorney for the mayor, said he has known Privett for decades and called him a law-abiding citizen.
"I think when all the facts come out everyone will see that it's just a minor situation that some jury will have to determine even if it was misdemeanor criminal conduct," he said.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/08/corrupt.town.ap/index.html
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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

TOP STORY >> City corruption
BY JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer

IN SHORT: Mayor, police chief, others to be prosecuted

Lonoke residents are reeling at the news that its top gun with a reputation for being tough on meth cooks and users has himself been charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Meanwhile, his wife is charged with having sex with prisoners, and the mayor with having inmates work at his home.
Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett has called a special city council meeting for 5:30 p.m. today to discuss the future of Police Chief Jay Campbell. Privett placed Campbell on paid administrative leave after the chief was arrested Monday on conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and theft charges, among others, but some city councilmen don’t think Campbell should be paid.
Campbell, his wife and two bail bondsmen all were arrested on fel-ony drug charges and other charges Monday, and Privett was charged with a misdemeanor for having jail inmates do work around his house.
An investigation begun about six months ago into whether or not some Lonoke city officials improperly used Act 309 inmate labor to fix a boat and hang Christmas lights has resulted in the charges that Campbell conspired to manufacture methamphetamine and that his wife had sex with prisoners about two dozen times, supplying some with liquor and marijuana.
Surrender to sheriff
Chief Campbell, his wife Kelly Harrison Campbell and bail bondsmen Bobby Cox Jr. and Larry Norwood all surrendered to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office Monday on an array of felony drug, alcohol and/or theft charges and were booked and released on bond, according to Sheriff Jim Roberson.
boat and hang Christmas lights has resulted in the charges that Camp-bell conspired to manufacture meth-amphetamine and that his wife had sex with prisoners about two dozen times, supplying some with liquor and marijuana.

SURRENDER TO SHERIFF
Chief Campbell, his wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, and bail bondsmen Bobby Cox Jr. and Larry Norwood all surrendered to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office Monday on an array of felony drug, alcohol and/or theft charges and were booked and released on bond, according to Sheriff Jim Roberson.
Cox, Norwood and Chief Camp-bell each posted $50,000 bond and Kelly Campbell posted a $20,000 bond. They will be arraigned March 13.
Privett, who also surrendered, posted a $500 bond for his lone count, misdemeanor theft of services. Privett’s arraignment is set for April 3.
Several months ago, the state Corrections Department found that some Act 309 inmates— state prisoners who are moved to towns and counties to provide labor and alleviate overcrowding — were doing personal work for city officials.
The ADC decertified the city’s Act 309 program and took the inmates back to prison.

STATE INVESTIGATION
At the request of the Corrections Department, the State Police then initiated the investigation that resulted in the filing of charges by Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain.
Privett, who has said that he used inmate labor to fix his home air conditioner, to hang his Christmas lights and to mow a lot in town belonging to a friend, admits he should have known better.
He has never denied those actions. He said Tuesday that the charge brought by McCastlain was “politically motivated” and pro-mised he would mount a vigorous defense.“Ms. McCastlain has a history of using her power as prosecuting attorney to bring charges that generate headlines, but have no substance,” Privett said.
Mark Hampton, representing some of the accused, also has called the charges political.
McCastlain hasn’t announced her candidacy, but is widely believed to be seeking reelection in November.
In a brief news conference to announce the charges Tuesday, McCastlain disputed allegations that her actions were politically motivated.
“This case was investigated (by the State Police) on its merits and charged on its merits. I play the cards as dealt,” she said.
“I disagree (with paying the chief’s salary),” Alderman Michael Florence said Tuesday. He said he was not the only alderman who felt that way, and he encouraged Privett to call the special session on Wednesday.
Alderman Pat Howell said he could see paying Campbell for a while, but pointed out that court cases like these could play out for a couple of years.
Capt. Sean O’Nale has been named interim chief, a position he held for about a month last summer while an internal investigation was conducted into the allegation of abuse of inmate labor.
Privett said he would like to assure Lonoke residents that there would be “no disruption in the quality law enforcement that they are accustomed to.”

MORALE HIT
“Morale has taken a hit,” said O’Nale, but he said the officers were professionals and that residents would continue to receive high quality protection and service from the department.
Privett called the charges “a tragic endeavor to disrupt the mayor and city council in their efforts to complete the important functions of municipal government.”
Privett hired Campbell, a former Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office dep-uty, as chief in October 2003. Camp-bell now stands accused of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, two counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution, conspiracy to commit burglary, theft by receiving, theft of services and one misdemeanor, theft of property.
The conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine is punishable with a term of 6 to 30 years.

WIFE CHARGED
Kelly Campbell was charged with five counts of furnishing prohibited articles, one count of second-degree escape, one count of residential burglary, four counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit residential burglary, one count of theft of property and one misdemeanor charge, tampering.
Cox was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, intimidating a juror, a witness or an informant and terroristic threatening.
Norwood was charged with a single count of criminal conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.
The chief’s wife allegedly had sexual relations with at least two of the Act 309 inmates, according to Charles McLemore, investigator for the State Police.

SEX WITH PRISONERS
Prisoner Andrew Baker told McLemore that Kelly Campbell had a “very close relationship” with at least two Act 309 prisons, Shane Scott and Tim Ainsworth.
Scott told McLemore and Arkansas Department of Corrections officials that he had sex with Kelly Campbell 18 to 20 times in various places in the city and the county.
Among those places were the Lonoke Holiday Inn Express, at the police department, in the ball park press box, once at the Campbell home on Cherry Street and numerous times in Campbell’s Suburban in the Department of Human Services parking lot next to the jail.
Ainsworth told investigators that he had sex at least four times with the chief’s wife and then asked to return to prison for fear of getting in trouble and having to serve more time.
Officers, jailers and dispatchers confirmed the relationships and said Kelly Campbell came and went freely from the jail and that the chief would not discuss it with them.
At the instruction of their supervisor, Lisa Marty, dispatchers noted Kelly Campbell’s visits in the jail log.

CHIEF IRATE
“When the chief found out, he became irate,” reported McLemore.
The jail logs reflect some of the comings and goings in the jail, as did the security cameras, reported Mc-Lemore, but “a lightning storm ‘supposedly’ hit and knocked out the cameras destroying the video.”
McLemore’s affidavit was sworn Feb. 6.
He reported that Kelly Campbell brought vodka, gin and Crown Royal and other bottles of alcohol for Act 309 inmates.
Baker also reported that she brought marijuana into the jail for some inmates and reportedly gave Scott a cell phone with which they could communicate “regularly.”
Baker told McLemore that he had taken photographs of Kelly Campbell and Scott in various intimate poses while the prisoners were working on Chief Campbell’s party barge and motor in the Otasco building owned by Privett. Baker said she paid him $260 to keep his “mouth shut.”

DRUGS TAKEN
Kelly Campbell also is charged with breaking into a neighbor’s house and taking jewelry and prescription drugs.
The items were taken from the home of Jo Talley in March or April of 2003. Talley reported the break-in around noon, and the Lonoke police searched the house and took fingerprints at her request. Chief Campbell came by and asked if any medications were missing.
Kelly Campbell then telephoned Talley to say she had noticed the back door broken and had let herself in to make sure everything was all right, so her fingerprints would be all over the house.
The fingerprints were lost and never developed. A prescription bottle of the narcotic hydrocodone syr-up was later found to be missing.
At least three other people complained that painkilling medication was missing from their homes after a visit by Kelly Campbell.
She also is charged with stealing jewelry worth several thousand dollars and 30 gold Krugerrands worth more than $25,000.
Chief Campbell is charged with helping sell the jewelry to a pawn shop, “then calling in a panic to get it back,” according to McLemore’s affidavit.

METH CONSPIRACY
Chief Campbell also is charged with entering into a conspiracy with bail bondsmen Cox and Norwood to manufacture methamphetamine.
According to McLemore’s report, the two bondsmen needed leverage on a man named Roger Light, who could lead them to someone who skipped, leaving them potentially forfeiting a large bond to the courts.
McLemore said that with Camp-bell’s help, they told Ronald Adams they could make his drug charges in Lonoke County and Jacksonville go away if he would cook some meth, sell it to Light and let them bust Light and force him to help find the man who skipped bond.
According to McLemore’s affidavit, O’Nale, now the acting chief, actually arrested Light. Campbell and Norwood then took Adams’ meth lab and reported it to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office as “found on the road.” McLemore said the conspiracy came to light because Adams reported the incident to the State Police after nothing was done to help him out of his drug cases.
source: http://www.arkansasleader.com/2006/02/top-story-city-corruption.html
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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

TOP STORY >> Residents in Lonoke stunned by arrests
BY JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer

IN SHORT: Although many of them are not surprised about the alleged corruption in their town.

Reaction to the arrest of Lonoke Police Chief Jay Campbell, his wife and Mayor Thomas Privett on Mon-day ranged from stunned surprise to resignation for those who said it was about time.
Ex-convict Fran Lindsey expressed shock.
“Jay has stood behind me,” she said rushing to city hall when she heard the news Tuesday morning that Campbell had been arrested on drug charges.
Campbell arrested her for distribution of methamphetamine about three years ago, and when she served her time, “He got me a car and set me up with a job,” she said. “I stand behind them.”
But a pair of city councilmen said the chief’s status on paid administrative leave had to be re-examined.
“I’m comfortable with the mayor,” said councilman Michael Florence, who noted that the mayor owned up to his mistaken judgment months ago in having city prisoners do work at his house.
“We’ve got a tough time ahead of us now,” said Capt. Sean O’Nale, the acting police chief.
City Clerk Gwen Pauschert said calls to city hall from the public had been mostly supportive of the mayor.
“I was floored,” said Lloyd Whitacre, a member of the city police commission, who also expressed anger that prosecutor Lona McCastlain held her news conference in her office, where there was only room for members of the press.
Interviewed in a grocery store parking lot, a young black woman who didn’t want to be identified said, “I’ve been having less confidence in the police department. This is very sick. I think it’s all true.”
The woman, a lifelong Lonoke resident, said of the mayor, “He needs to get the hell out.”
Ellen Massey, a nurse who has lived in Lonoke for three years, said, “I think it’s a mess. I’m gld they caught them.”
Of the police chief she said, “He knows that’s not right. This is the stuff (methamphetamine) that we’re trying to keep the kids away from. They need to realize what message they are sending the kids.”
Lynn Gooden, who is moving to Lonoke from the county, said, “It’s pretty bad for the chief. He’s for the drug dealers.”
Gooden said he has a brother in prison for arson, and the family is disappointed that the city of Lonoke has been stripped of its Act 309 program, which they hoped would bring him back to town to finish his sentence working around town while being held in the city jail.
“How can you trust (Chief Campbell)?” he asked. “He stays arresting people in the black neighborhood. Every dog has their day.”
“If they are guilty, they need to pay for it,” said Rick Stevens, a post office worker. “They need to pay for it. I think they are guilty. I know old Bobby Cox (arrested for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine) and he’s the first to holler ‘justice.’”

source: http://www.arkansasleader.com/2006/02/top-story-residents-in-lonoke-stunned.html

Brownwood and Kinky Friedman: Are you one of the 71 % ?

Carolyn Barta: What are the odds ?

Only one thing's for sure in the Texas governor's race. All bets are off.
11:18 AM CST on Friday, February 10, 2006

Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn have become hot properties on national TV, but Texans have a different reason for paying attention to these independent candidates for governor.
Kinky was on CBS' 60 Minutes and NBC's Tonight Show late last month just because he's Kinky – the offbeat cowboy- musician-writer-jokester who makes outrageous comments. Ms. Strayhorn was on Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC because her son is press secretary to the president and she has separated from the Republican Party that elected her comptroller.Texans, however, ought to be taking notice of them because they change the whole equation for a governor's election.
Assuming these independents get on the ballot with a Democrat and Republican, Texas could elect a governor who gets as little as 35 percent of the vote in November. Winning by a plurality opens the door for any one of them.
The question is: Can either of the independents muster that much? If not, which major party candidate is helped by their presence?
One Tough Grandma starts out as the candidate of Democratic despair. A Democrat-turned-Republican, she's drawn money from big Demo donors. Meanwhile, Mr. Friedman has raised more than the two major Demo candidates for governor, Chris Bell and Bob Gammage.
But winning as an independent is a mountain climb. To get on the ballot, candidates must gather valid signatures of 45,000-plus registered voters who didn't vote in either the Republican or Democrat primary and do it in a 60-day window after the March 7 primaries. While Ms. Strayhorn has more dough, Kinky has the head start on organization for the petition drive.
Despite the money drain, some Democrats aren't resigned to an also-ran position. A memo sent out by Democratic consultant Dean Rindy of Austin paints a scenario where a Democrat could be elected. Here's the math:
In 1992, the elder George Bush carried Texas with 41 percent; Democrat Bill Clinton got 38 percent, and independent Ross Perot 22 percent. As Mr. Rindy sees it, 38 percent is a conservative indicator of the Democratic base vote. John Kerry got 38.2 percent in the 2004 presidential election; Al Gore got 38 percent in 2000.
In non-presidential years, Democrats have done better. In 2002, Tony Sanchez got 40 percent in the governor's election, John Sharp drew 46 percent for lieutenant governor, and Ron Kirk got 43.6 percent for U.S. Senate.
This Democratic plan is that Ms. Strayhorn sucks the air out of Kinky and emerges as the "serious" alternative candidate, which is a pretty good bet.
As an independent and not a Republican primary candidate, she has 10 months instead of two to attack Rick Perry as an ineffective governor.
She increases Mr. Perry's vulnerability, and he returns the attack. They bloody each other, while the Democrat holds his base and picks up some votes in the disillusioned center. Turnout is depressed by a nasty campaign, and the Democrat slides in.
It's an optimistic scenario, and to make it work, Democrats have to convince voters in the final days that the Democrat is more viable than the independent and raise some big money.
Another scenario is that Ms. Strayhorn straddles the line to reach out to both sides and turns off voters with nonresponsive answers on some issues, as she recently did on abortion. Meanwhile, Mr. Friedman takes weird, nonideological, independent positions – such as endorsing both prayer in schools and gay marriage – appealing to the 71 percent who didn't vote in the last governor's race and attracting young people and "crazy rednecks," as his campaign manager says.
Though possible, a win is a long shot for either of the independents. They could just cancel each other out.
Finally, even hopeful Democrats have to admit that a four-person race makes it possible for Mr. Perry to win with only 40 or 45 percent. All he has to do is maintain his base and trust that the turnout will not be depressed or pumped up by a bunch of nontraditional voters.
It's a race that bears watching – and not just for its oddity and entertainment value.
Carolyn Barta, a former political reporter and columnist, teaches journalism at Southern Methodist University and is author of a book on the 1992 Perot campaign for president. Her e-mail address is cbarta@mail.smu
Gov. Rick Perry
In a four-way race, the Republican incumbent could win with only 40 percent of the vote.
Kinky Friedman
The independent may appeal to the 71 percent who didn't vote in the last governor's race.
Carole Keeton Strayhorn
The independent is likely to emerge as the "serious alternative."
Chris Bell and Bob Gammage
Democrats are hoping a nasty Strayhorn-Perry campaign will send voters their way.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-barta_10edi.ART.State.Edition1.117d9e03.html

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Brownwood RFID & Republicans: Who's driving the RFID Train ?

Through the rest of the year, livestock identification in Texas is moving from the drawing board to field conditions to test identification devices, equipment durability and reliability. Using USDA cooperative agreement funding, the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has awarded contracts to four manufacturers of radio frequency ear tags (RFID), five makers of tag “reader” devices, four computer software providers and a data trustee to maintain the computer records.
Tag readers and computers are set up in several livestock markets, and customers of these facilities will be issued RFID ear tags for cattle that will be marketed through the livestock markets. Two cattle firms that purchase from the three markets also will be equipped to record and report movement information as cattle are sorted and shipped to feedlots in the Texas Panhandle.
About 80,000 of the radio frequency ear tags, known as RFID tags, are being provided by Allflex USA; Farnam, Temple Tag Company and Y-Tex. The tags, to be placed on cattle, sheep and domestic deer, emit a low-frequency signal that is picked up and “read” by a device as small as a handheld wand, or as large as a gate, panel or chute. Tag readers, supplied by AgInfoLink, Allflex USA, Farnam, Temple Tag Company and Y-Tex, will be tested for speed and durability in “real-life” conditions.
Computer software is needed for managing the ear tag information and movement records, services being provided by eMerge Interactive, Micro Beef Technologies, Texas Dairy Herd Improvement Association 032, and the Beef Information Exchange (BIE)/AgInfoLink. The data “trus-tee,” or company that will hold all the records is the Beef Information Exchange, and this service will be evaluated with an exercise to trace animal movement. The results of the field tests will be reported back to the committees working on the National Animal Identification System, so the glitches with computers, ear tags or readers can be fixed before they are put in use across the country.
Registering for a premises identification number is easy. To obtain a paper copy or schedule a presentation, call the TAHC at 1-800-550-8242. The TAHC’s home page at http://www.tahc.state.tx.us has a link to the premises identification application.
source: http://www.txfb.org/NewsManager/anmviewer.asp?a=585&print=yes
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Note from Steve: This discussion is going on over the airwaves of KXYL (Brownwood Talk Radio) and to this point, the callers are overwhelmingly against this program. Who in Brownwood supports this program ? Does the Texas Farm Bureau ? Do Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry ( Did he sign the Bill of approval ? ) and the other Gubanatorial Candidates approve ? Do you trust that "Checks and Balances" are in place to prevent abuse ? Were they in the Enron, AIG and Abramoff Scandals ?
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Rep. Senators Vow to Protect RFID

A task force composed of Republican U.S. Senators announced it would work to ensure that RFID technology is not burdened with premature regulations.

By Jonathan Collins

Mar. 10, 2005—A group of Republican U.S. Senators said they will work to ensure that RFID deployments stay free of regulation, according to a new policy platform that has already won the support of RFID, technology and retail organizations while drawing concern from privacy groups.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force unveiled a list of 40 policy proposals, with RFID winning a special mention in the category dealing with the group's plans for protecting privacy and e-commerce.
Sen. John Ensign
The announcement said that the Republican Senators would "protect exciting new technologies from premature regulation or legislation in search of a problem. RFID holds tremendous promise for our economy, including military logistics and commercial inventory efficiencies, and should not be saddled prematurely with regulation."
Privacy group CASPIAN reacted to the agenda by saying it was telling that the task force decided to highlight RFID as a privacy issue and not as an issue of "eliminating barriers to innovation" or "promoting education and technology"—two other categories covered in the policy proposal. CASPIAN believes the group's agenda shows a positive bias toward RFID while ignoring problems already raised regarding its implementation and consumer privacy.
"This is a very pro-industry statement, and it does raise a little concern," says Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN. "If all it said was, 'RFID should not be burdened with regulations prematurely,' that would be fine, but 'exciting new technologies' is a pretty loaded term."
The 14-member task force says it acts as a conduit for the technology industry on Capitol Hill, and its platform promotes a wide array of goals, including support for efforts to improve the federal government's IT systems and a permanent end to taxes on Internet access. Republicans currently hold majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the task force says it plans to push through Congress the agenda outlined in its platform.

to read the entire article please visit http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1440/1/1/
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You’ve been chipped: Microchips tag people under the skin

By Theresa Bradley
It took the young emergency room doctor three days to identify the unconscious El Salvadoran man wheeled into a Los Angeles hospital with his head bashed in.
Tracing trails of receipts, clothes tags and phone numbers, Dr. John Halamka got good at tracking down the names and medical histories of “John” and “Jane Doe” patients. “Arthur Conan Doyle would’ve been proud,” he recalled.
But Halamka also daydreamed of ways to make the sleuthing unnecessary, saving time and lives. When he heard of VeriChip, a computer-linked ID tag that can be implanted in the human body, he decided to test one out himself.
On his lunch break one day last December, a colleague at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where Halamka is now chief information officer, injected the tiny microchip under the skin of his right upper arm.
Halamka had been “chipped,” joining some 1,000 people implanted with the device worldwide, the chipmaker says. Implants are intended to track easily disoriented Alzheimer’s patients, give the chronically ill quick access to complex medical records and restrict entry to high-security areas.
Because it's imbedded in the flesh, the tag can't be stolen or lost. "It is always there when needed," chip designer Dr. Richard Seelig told a federal panel last January.
VeriChip is the first tag of its kind patented and marketed for use in humans. More than 8,000 have been sold to distributors since 2002, according to Florida-based Applied Digital, the parent company of VeriChip.
Doctors certified by the company purchase, resell and administer the microchips, which are the size of a grain of rice. The procedure involves a quick syringe injection and costs about $200.
The radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology that VeriChip employs has already revolutionized manufacturing, retail and security businesses.
The microchips act as wireless barcodes, receiving and transmitting data via radio waves, tracking goods from assembly line to store shelf, verifying passports and security codes, and tracing the movements of livestock and pets.
Now the chips are being used to tag humans.
To date, most of VeriChip’s customers are outside the United States, particularly from Latin America, where the chip’s tracking potential could deter kidnappings. Officials in the Mexican attorney general’s office have been implanted with the device to access high-security areas. Meanwhile, chipped VIPs at a Barcelona nightclub can pay for drinks by waving their hands under a scanner that directly bills a house account.
In the United States, the FDA approved VeriChip for medical use last October.
“This is not something the man on the street is going to walk in and say, ‘Give me a VeriChip!’” said Angela Fulcher, vice president of marketing for the firm. “But the people who need it can really perceive the advantage.”
In 2002, Jeff and Leslie Jacobs and their then-14-year-old son became the first humans ever implanted with the device.
Jacobs had been fighting Hodgkin's disease and a string of degenerative diseases for more than 25 years, trying experimental treatments, taking a dozen daily pills and making frantic trips to the emergency room.
His wife always carried a scrunched-up list of her husband’s frequently changing medications in her wallet. Soon, she said, she won’t have to worry: doctors will simply scan her husband's arm and use the ID number imbedded there to access his medical records in a VeriChip database.
“It will definitely give me peace of mind,” she said.
Still, VeriChip has yet to catch on with the general public because the infrastructure to support it is not yet in place. Maryland internist Albert Lee has 20 chips in stock at his Bethesda office, but not a single customer, he said, because most hospitals aren’t equipped to detect the device.
Human tagging raises a host of ethical qualms as well. Defenders insist the system is hard to break into, and stress that the chip is only implanted with patient consent.
But privacy advocates decry the device as a forerunner to “Big Brother,” and on the Internet, several fundamentalist Christian groups have lambasted the chip as “the mark of Satan.”
Some researchers worry the system is hackable. At the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, Dr. Avi Rubin last year led a team that cracked the security code encrypting a similar device widely used in remote-control car keys.
Rubin fears the stealthy abuse of human chipping. “Imagine you had a spouse you didn’t trust, and you managed to implant one of these in them when they were sleeping,” he said. Install a chip-scanner near where you believe your spouse is having an affair, and a pager could alert you every time your spouse appeared.
Unbeknownst to most Americans, RFID chips are already prevalent in everyday life. Some 1.8 billion tags have been sold to date; by 2015, that number will exceed 1 trillion as the cost per tag plummets from 23 cents to less than 2 cents, according to industry consultant IDTechEx.
Meanwhile, the tags have been used to speed passage through tollbooths, track inventory at Wal-Mart and take attendance at school. New U.S. passports will be chipped by next year, and some states are considering following suit with driver’s licenses. The U.S. military, which already uses RFID tags to track basics like food supplies, has talked with VeriChip about implanting dog tags under soldiers’ skin, Fulcher said.
RFID technology is poised to revolutionize the American economy even more than the Internet, said Mark Roberti, editor of the RFID Journal. Even so, he dismisses human implants. “The RFID industry in general doesn’t like the idea of tracking people with RFID tags because it raises unnecessary privacy issues and scares people,” he said.
But at Jacobi Medical Center in New York, tagged hospital bracelets already ease patient care, saving more than 10 hours of nursing time a day, according to chief information officer Dan Morreale.
“I would put a chip in myself, absolutely,” he said. “It’s a question of, ‘Does the convenience and benefit outweigh the risk?’ That’s a question you have to answer yourself.”

E-mail: tab2107@columbia.edu
source: http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-04-19/bradley-humanchips
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Two U.S. Employees Injected With RFID Microchips At Company Request
Government Contractor Adopts Controversial VeriChip Implant In Workplace

2-9-6

Cincinnati video surveillance company CityWatcher.com now requires employees to use VeriChip human implantable microchips to enter a secure data center, Network Administrator Khary Williams told Liz McIntyre by phone yesterday. McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID," contacted CityWatcher after it announced it had integrated the VeriChip VeriGuard product into its access control system.
The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated RFID tag that is injected into the flesh of the triceps area of the arm to uniquely number and identify individuals. The tag can be read through a person's clothing, silently and invisibly, by radio waves from a few inches away. The highly controversial device is being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records, and serve as a payment instrument when associated with a credit card.
According to Williams, a local doctor has already implanted two of CityWatcher's employees with the VeriChip devices. "I will eventually" receive an implant, too, he added. In the meantime, Williams accesses the data center with a VeriChip implant housed in a heart-shaped plastic casing that hangs from his keychain. He told McIntyre he had no qualms about undergoing the implantation procedure himself, and said he would receive an implant as soon as time permits.
"lt worries us that a government contractor that specializes in surveillance projects would be the first to publicly incorporate this technology in the workplace," said McIntyre. CityWatcher provides video surveillance, monitoring and video storage for government and businesses, with cameras set up on public streets throughout Cincinatti.
to read the entire article please visit http://www.rense.com/general69/twogov.htm
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January 30th, 2006

VERICHIP RFID IMPLANT HACKED !

Will Security Problems Quash IPO Plans for Controversial Company ?
The VeriChip can be hacked! This revelation along with other worrisome details could put a crimp in VeriChip Corporation’s planned initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock, say Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre.
The anti-RFID activists and authors of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID" make no bones about their objection to VeriChip’s plans to inject glass encapsulated RFID tags into people. But now they’ve discovered information that could call VeriChip’s entire business model into question.
"If you look at the VeriChip purely from the business angle, it’s a ridiculously flawed product," says McIntyre. She notes that security researcher Jonathan Westhues has shown how easy it is to clone a VeriChip implanted in a person’s arm and program a new chip with the same number.
Westhues, known for his prior work cloning RFID-based proximity cards, has posted his VeriChip cloning demo online at http://cq.cx/verichip.pl.
The VeriChip "is not good for anything," says Westhues, has absolutely no security and "solves a number of different non-problems badly."
The chip’s security issues may spell trouble for those who have had one of the microchips embedded in their flesh. These include eighteen employees in the Mexican Attorney General’s office who use an implanted chip to enter a sensitive records room, and a handful bar patrons in Europe who use the injected chips to pay for drinks. "What are these people going to do now that their chips can be cloned?" says McIntyre. "Wear tinfoil shirts or keep everyone at arm’s length?"
source: http://www.waltbren.com/blog/2006/01/30/verichip-rfid-implant-hacked/

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Brownwood Gay Bashing: Who's " Shouting the Loudest " !

Was our Ken telling it straight ?

Feb 5 2006
By Peter Tatchell, The Sunday Sun

Research by an acclaimed US psychologist suggests that 80 per cent of men who are homophobic have secret homosexual feelings.
This finding lends scientific support to the long-standing speculation that those who shout the loudest against homosexuality have something to hide.
The research results were published in the prestigious Journal of Abnormal Psychology, with the backing of the American Psychological Association.
In tests conducted by Prof. Henry E Adams of the University of Georgia, homophobic men who said they were exclusively heterosexual were shown gay sex videos.
Four out of five became sexually aroused by the homoerotic imagery, as recorded by a plethysmograph . . . a calibrated band fitted around the penis, which measures any enlargement.
Prof. Adams says his research shows that most homophobes "demonstrate significant sexual arousal to homosexual erotic stimuli" suggesting that homophobia is a form of "latent homosexuality where persons are either unaware of - or deny - their homosexual urges".
These findings prompt me to challenge this paper's columnist, Ken Oxley, to take the test. Last week Ken outed himself . . . declaring "I am homophobic".
Mind you, Ken is hardly the worst homophobe on the block. He very generously had a good word to say about me.
He also insisted he is not anti-gay; he just "feels uncomfortable" in gay people's company. But why? Ken's main gay bug-bears seem to be camp men, and seedy, hypocritical politicians.
Well, I don't have a problem with men who are by nature born effeminate. The idea that we all have to be manly is a bit out-dated and tyrannical. If men can't or won't conform to the masculine ideal, so what? I say: live and let live.
Many women seem to agree. They like men who are in touch with their feminine side; which is one reason why so many straight women enjoy the company of gay men.
Ken might, however, have a point about gay screamers like Graham Norton. Although a lovely man in private, Graham's stage persona is so cliched and stereotypical. Sometimes he comes across as a Larry Grayson mark two. Surely gay comedians can be a tad more inventive? Give me gay laugh-merchant Scott Capurro anytime. He takes gay humour in a whole new direction.
With regard to his other bugbear, Ken is right to loathe the two-faced gay MPs who sleaze around in private while publicly projecting a wholesome family-man image.
They give gay people a bad name and their dishonesty and hypocrisy corrodes public confidence in politicians. But hetero MPs are just as guilty, if not more so. Remember the scandals involving the "family values" of Tory MPs Cecil Parkinson, David Mellor and Piers Merchant?
Back to Prof. Adams. Ken Oxley's homophobic boast is now bound to result in speculation about his sexuality.
I am sure this is without foundation, but to pre-empt any innuendo, perhaps Ken should take Prof. Adams's test?
The professor's research confirms the old adage that homophobia is an expression of self-hating, repressed homosexuality.
Progressive schools of psychoanalysis have long theorised that homophobic prejudice involves the projection of fear and disgust concerning one's own homosexuality onto others. Those who cannot accept their same-sex desires, so the theory goes, vent their self-loathing through attacks on other people's homosexuality.
This homophobic defence mechanism is also often a bizarre form of over-compensation: maladjusted lesbians and gay men who feel guilty about their homosexuality become stridently anti-gay as a way of compensating emotionally for their self-shame.
In some cases, ostentatious homophobia is a deliberate ploy to deflect suspicions and rumours of homosexuality.
This ruse is based on the assumption that if someone acts homophobic other people will be less inclined to believe they are gay. Not any more, thanks to Prof. Adams.
I always make a point of referring to his research when doing talks in schools. It stops homophobic pupils in their tracks. Previously loud-mouthed bigots suddenly go quiet. What a pleasing thought. Thank you Prof. Adams.

source: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaysun/news/tm_objectid=16667347&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=was-our-ken-telling-it-straight--name_page.html
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Note from Steve, I'm surprised that the Brownwood radio station (Watts Communication KXYL FM 96.9) which made it's debut "Bashing Gays" has not seen fit to talk about this study. Guess it would/could be to close to home ! Wonder if Brownwood's Legendary Republican Spokesperson and Talk Radio Talking Head, James Williamson, has seen this study ?

Where is the Brownwood Press on this issue and pending Legislation ?

Vets, victims swarm US Capitol before asbestos vote

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Military veterans and victims of asbestos-related diseases fanned out in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to plead for and against an asbestos compensation bill ahead of a Senate vote that aides said was too close to call.
For years, asbestos fibers were widely used for their insulating and fire-retardant capabilities, but they are linked to lung-scarring diseases, including cancer.
Hundreds of thousands of asbestos injury claims have been filed, helping push into bankruptcy more than 70 U.S. companies, including W.R. Grace & Co. and USG Corp. .
A sponsor of the controversial Senate measure, Arlen Specter, appealed to colleagues not to kill the bill to halt asbestos lawsuits and create a $140 billion fund for compensating asbestos victims. A key procedural vote in the Senate was set for 6 p.m ET (2300 GMT).
"I think it is an unconscionable vote to vote no," Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, declared on the Senate floor.
Aides to senators on both sides of the issue declined to predict the outcome of the vote, saying it was too close to call.
Representatives of veterans' groups told reporters that they cannot sue their former employer -- the federal government
-- over asbestos exposure that happened in military facilities. This, they said, was why they in particular needed a compensation fund.
"Veterans account for 25 percent of all current asbestos-related claims and have been waiting years in the court system for some sort of settlement," said Tom Zampieri, a member of the Blinded Veterans Association.
Elsewhere in the Capitol, victims of asbestos-related diseases said they had collected 150,000 signatures, including those of many veterans, against the bill. At a news conference organized by plaintiffs' lawyers, these victims said the fund was designed to write down the liabilities of big companies while discouraging victims from filing claims with complicated exposure requirements.
"This bill is a bail-out for greedy, irresponsible corporations, and it's the ultimate insult to their victims, who will lose their right to sue for damages," said Paul Zygielbaum, who has mesothelioma, a lethal form of cancer.
Under the bill, sponsored by Specter and Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, asbestos victims would be paid from a fund financed by asbestos defendant companies and their insurers. In exchange, the companies would no longer have to face asbestos lawsuits in court.
The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in May, but it has divided lawmakers from both parties, split industry groups and struggled to gain momentum.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, wanted the Senate to consider the asbestos bill this week, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, objected, forcing a procedural vote on Tuesday evening.
At least 60 votes are needed to go ahead with the debate, or the bill will be withdrawn. If Specter and Leahy muster the necessary support, however, the bill could still face other procedural hurdles.
In the House of Representatives, a different approach to asbestos claims is under consideration. The House bill would allow asbestos lawsuits to go forward, but only if claimants meet certain medical criteria.
Joan Claybrook, director of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, expected the Senate bill to survive the Tuesday evening vote.
"But whether the bill will pass is highly questionable," she said. "There are both Republicans and Democrats in favor and opposed."

source: http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN07239821
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Senate may halt asbestos lawsuits

Bill would set up corporate-financed fund of $140B to compensate victims; 'I can't stand this legislation,' Senate Democratic leader says.
February 7, 2006: 8:49 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate set a vote for Tuesday on whether to consider a bill to halt asbestos lawsuits as senators hurled verbal brickbats over the legislation and the intense lobbying it has engendered.
"I can't stand this legislation," fumed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who opposed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's attempt to bring the bill up for debate Monday.
Asbestos fibers are linked to lung-scarring diseases, including cancer. Hundreds of thousands of injury claims have clogged courtroom dockets and helped push into bankruptcy proceedings more than 70 U.S. companies, including W.R. Grace & Co. and USG Corp.
Reid called the plan to create a $140 billion fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases a "terrible" proposal.

He said the bill was on the Senate floor only because lobbyists representing some companies that would benefit had spent more than $144 million "lobbying to get it here."

His comments incensed the legislation's Republican sponsor, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter.
"To accuse us to have been pawns in the hands of lobbyists is beyond slander, beyond insult, beyond outrage," Specter said.
The bill, sponsored by Specter and Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, would pay victims from a $140 billion fund financed by asbestos defendant companies and their insurers.
Frist wants the Senate to consider the bill this week, but under Senate rules, if a senator objects to a bill coming up, there must be a procedural vote. At least 60 votes will be needed to go ahead with the debate. The vote was set for 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, Frist said.
Reid said the legislation did not do enough to provide for victims of asbestos-related diseases, while limiting the asbestos liabilities of a number of large corporations.
He said he does not know if he has enough votes to stop the bill, but that five Republicans have told him they would side with him. There are 55 Republicans in the 100-seat Senate.
Specter countered that a fund would help asbestos victims who were unable to collect from bankrupt companies or forced to wait months to have cases heard in court.
Specter did not say whether he thought he could muster 60 votes to keep the bill on the floor. But his Democratic co-sponsor, Leahy, urged colleagues to support the bill.
"What we have achieved is a significant and needed step toward a more efficient and more equitable method to compensate asbestos victims," Leahy said.
After speaking, Leahy left the Senate to visit a new grandchild, but an aide said he would be back for the vote Tuesday evening.
The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in May with three Democratic votes among its backers, but it has divided lawmakers from both parties, split industry groups and struggled to gain momentum.
Stocks of companies with asbestos liabilities closed lower Monday afternoon. W.R. Grace (Research) shares were down 5.41 percent to $12.77 each. USG (Research) was down 5.36 percent to $91.20.

source: http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/07/news/economy/congress_asbestos.reut/
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read below as it relates to The Brownwood Asbestos Connection..........

Lying to workers and withholding critical health information from customers, communities, and federal health officials was not limited to W.R. Grace, it was standard asbestos industry practice. Indeed, it took similar behavior at Exxon, Dow (Union Carbide), DuPont, Bendix (now Honeywell), The Travelers, Metropolitan Life, Dresser Industries (now Halliburton), National Gypsum, Owens-Corning, General Electric, Ford, and General Motors, just to name a few, to produce the ten thousand Americans currently dying each year of asbestos diseases. The list of companies that knowingly exposed their workers to deadly amounts of asbestos is a roll call of major American corporations.

No company, not a single one, acted responsibly and informed workers of the deadly hazards of asbestos at any time. Not when the first information became available beginning in the 1930's, tying asbestos to fatal and debilitating lung disease. Not in the 1940's and 50's when asbestos exposure was unambiguously linked with lung cancer, and the signature asbestos cancer of the chest lining, mesothelioma. And not in the 60's, 70's, or 80's when thousands of workers a year began to die of asbestos-caused diseases.

This deliberate concealment of critical information led to the debacle we face today, where 10,000 people a year die from asbestos disease, and thousands more are seriously disabled. This pattern of outrageous corporate misconduct is at the core of whatever success people injured by asbestos have had in the courtroom to date.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/slowdeath/part2.php

above info available at http://stevesmarketanddeli.com/2005/11/abcs-nightline-asbestos-special_04.htm
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Cheney's firm backed bill to limit asbestos liability

Friday, August 4, 2000
By ANDREW SCHNEIDER AND LISE OLSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
© 2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved.

Dick Cheney and the giant energy company he will leave to run for vice president have contributed more than $150,000 to members of Congress who sponsored legislation that would limit the ability of workers to sue companies for asbestos exposure.

The Halliburton Co., an oil-field services company based in Dallas, and its subsidiaries have had about 273,300 suits filed against them since 1976 by workers suffering from asbestos-related disease. Many of those suits were filed before Cheney became chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1995.

At the end of 1999, 107,650 suits for damages were still pending, including 46,400 new suits filed against the corporation last year, according to the firm's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cheney, 59, says he will resign Aug. 16 to concentrate on the Republican campaign.

Halliburton's political action committees and Cheney contributed $494,452 to congressional candidates from 1997 through mid-2000. Of that, $157,500 went to members of Congress who co-sponsored the asbestos legislation -- 59 Republicans and four Democrats. (See list of contributions)

Cheney, as an individual, donated $12,500 to members who sponsored or co-sponsored the asbestos bills.

The contributions from Cheney and the political action committees of Halliburton and its subsidiaries went to 49 of the 77 lawmakers who co-sponsored the Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act in the House of Representatives and 14 of 29 co-sponsors of similar legislation in the Senate.

Halliburton defended their contributions and noted that they were made in full compliance with campaign laws.

"Our PAC has made contributions without regard to the pending asbestos legislation. Any similarities between the supporters of such legislation and the recipients of contributions from our PAC is purely coincidental," Zelma Branch, a company spokeswoman, said today.

Dave Gribbins, Halliburton's vice president for government affairs, added, "We give money to candidates for a variety of reasons, usually to those who are supportive of the business agenda, the things that are important to us, like taxes, trade or something specific like this asbestos issue."

A controversial bill

The legislation is a highly controversial package promoted and financed by the GAF Corp. and others in the asbestos industry. This year, for the third straight year, the bill didn't make it to the floor for a vote.
In March, the House Judiciary Committee narrowly approved the legislation by a vote of 18-15, with most Republicans supporting it and most Democrats opposed.
But seeing dwindling support, Illinois Republican Henry Hyde, the Judiciary Committee chairman, did not send the bill to the full House for a vote.
Had the bill passed, few believed that President Clinton would have signed it.
Of the 11 committee members who received the contributions from Halliburton, 10 voted in favor of the bill. The 11th member missed the vote.
The bill calls for the establishment of an Office of Asbestos Compensation under the Justice Department. Government-approved doctors, using criteria defined in the law, would be gatekeepers, issuing a pass to qualifying victims who wished to sue or seek a government-determined settlement.
Neither side disputes there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Public-interest groups estimate that over the past 25 years, settlements have been made in more than 1 million asbestos cases industrywide, and 450,000 more may be pending.

$99 million for suits

Although Halliburton is an enormous operation with more than 100,000 employees in 120 countries, it is a relatively small player when it comes to asbestos litigation, at least when compared with W.R. Grace & Co., GAF and the Johns Manville Corp. Nevertheless, Halliburton has spent $99 million to settle or dispose of 129,650 asbestos suits, according to company records.
Asbestos was used for decades in protective clothing, insulations, pipe coatings, fireproofing and many other industrial uses. Millions of workers in hundreds of industries, including the oil business, were exposed to the deadly fibers. Fatal asbestos-related diseases often take more than 20 years after exposure to manifest themselves.
Some citizens groups were critical of the industry's efforts to push the legislation.
USAction, a health care consumer group affiliated with organizations including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Communication Workers of America; and the Service Employees International Union, opposes the legislation and didn't mince words when asked for its view.
"The Cheney-led Halliburton Co. has been an integral part of an asbestos industry which knowingly poisoned its own workers for years and is still trying to get off the hook. That industry -- which is counting on special treatment from a Bush-Cheney administration -- has publicly vowed that it will be bringing its bailout legislation back to Congress next year," said William McNary, president of USAction.
McNary said Halliburton should have settled its claims with the workers. "Instead, Cheney chose to gamble that federal legislation could be passed to allow his company to escape its responsibility to the people it harmed," McNary said.

A blizzard of suits

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court said something had to be done to break the logjam of asbestos cases clogging the court system.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist said the situation cries out for a legislative solution.
The bill's sponsors insist it will end the backup of hundreds of thousands of victims waiting for their day in court and prevent personal-injury lawyers from pocketing large chunks of the settlements.
The opposition -- mostly unions, victim groups, consumer coalitions and personal-injury lawyers -- called the legislation the "Asbestos Industry Relief Act" because it will prevent thousands of terminally ill victims from filing suit or holding the industry accountable for their asbestos-related disease.
The committee debates often turned into an angry circus, with asbestos-industry lawyers accusing the attorneys for those with asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma with being ambulance chasers who oppose the legislation because it will eliminate millions of dollars in legal fees.
The heart of the battle centered on the medical criteria that the government would use to screen applicants.
The criteria, developed for the most part by asbestos-industry consultants, was soundly criticized by nationally recognized pulmonary and cancer specialists, who called the proposed standards "antiquated," "exclusionary" and "barbaric."
Tears were shed in the committee hearing room as asbestos victims from Libby, Mont., some clutching tanks of oxygen, told how hundreds in their tiny town were killed or sickened from asbestos that contaminated the vermiculite dug from a mine owned by Grace.
Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, denounced the legislation, saying it would relieve corporations of their responsibilities to fairly compensate workers injured by their wrongdoing.
"Wait 'til next year," was the headline of a full-page ad in a Capitol Hill newspaper for lawmakers. The ad was bought by the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, a Washington-based lobbying group supporting the bill.
Borrowing the old Brooklyn Dodgers' battle cry, the coalition told lawmakers reading Roll Call last week that the industry-funded group would be back next year to push for passage of the bill.
The coalition is funded by the asbestos and construction industries, with most of its money coming from the GAF Corp., a private company owned almost entirely by Sam Heyman of Westport, Conn.
GAF Corp., which is leading the lobbying effort against the bill, has made about $178,500 through its PAC and its employees in donations to federal candidates from 1997 to the present, of which about $66,250 went to co-sponsors of the asbestos legislation. Although Grace has been the target of hundreds of thousands of suits, its political action committee donated nothing to the bill's supporters, according to Federal Elections Commission documents.
Millions were spent by both sides -- the asbestos industry and the trial lawyers -- in lobbying for and against the bill.
(For more background material, see previous P-I reports on the ongoing asbestos risk.)

TV ad campaign

The battle got down to the glitzy television ads saturating the home states of key members of Congress.
"This has been a high-profile, prolonged legislative face-off over the past year, not only in the Congress but on the airwaves in Montana, Minnesota and the metropolitan Washington area," said John Bell, a spokesman for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. "We've calculated that Sam Heyman and the asbestos industry have invested some $20 million in their campaign -- and although unsuccessful so far, they've outspent us and our allies by more than 10-to-1."
Direct donations to the bill's sponsors represent only a part of the effort to influence Congress. Far more dollars are given for lobbying expenses, and in "soft money" -- donations to party political action committees that are often funneled to campaigns. Halliburton has donated at least $282,050 in "soft money," mostly to state and federal Republican Party committees.
source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/hall04.shtml
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Asbestos fund will be $150 bln short: analysis

Reuters Wed Feb 8, 3:21 PM ET

A proposed fund to compensate people suffering from asbestos-related diseases would have at least a $150 billion shortfall, according to an analysis by Senate Budget Committee Democrats made public on Wednesday.

The committee's ranking Democrat, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, said he feared taxpayers would have to pay the shortfall if the legislation to create the fund, now pending in the Senate, is passed.

The bill calls for collecting $140 billion from asbestos defendant companies and their insurers for the proposed trust fund. But the Budget Committee's Democratic analysis said that the amount of asbestos injury claims and cost to run the fund would far exceed that amount, Conrad told reporters.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Bush's Hot Air

From the Dallas Morning News Editorial page

12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 4, 2006

Burned

If President Bush wants more kids to become scientists, as he said in his State of the Union speech, he might reconsider the wisdom of running an administration that tries to muzzle scientists who question its policies. That's what NASA's chief climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen (right) said happened after he spoke out about curbing the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Makes Mr. Bush's words look somewhat like hot air.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-hitsandmisses_04edi.ART.State.Edition1.22d40b4d.html
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You've just got to follow this........
Bad NASA science

Why do I think of Arabian horses when I read stuff like this.

Bad Astronomy:

"According to reports from many NASA scientists in the NYT article quoted above, political appointees have suppressed real science, and now one wants to teach children specific religious beliefs on the taxpayers’ dime — then tries to claim the higher moral ground. And then, after all that, he admits to the issue being religious!...read on

World O' Crap on George Deutsch:

"Anyway, it made me wonder how a recent college graduate in journalism got appointed to be a spokesman for NASA (which job seems to involve telling rocket scientists how rockets works, and the like). So, I Googled some of George's columns at the Texas A&M Battalion, and I think I have a few ideas about some of the qualities which the White House was looking for in public affairs officer...read on"

source: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/04.html#a7017

Kudo's to The Belmont's Monte Anderson: Walking the Walk !

Betting on the Belmont
Monte Anderson cut through the kudzu to show Fort Worth Avenue the path to gentrification
06:06 PM CST on Saturday, February 4, 2006
By MARIANA GREENE / The Dallas Morning News

Maybe business acumen alone was never going to inspire anyone to save the old Travelodge high above a down-at-the-heels thoroughfare in Oak Cliff. Luckily for the property, Monte Anderson also had religion.
The 47-year-old Oak Cliff businessman is an activist first, he says, and a developer second. And he vows his current real estate project, the restoration of the landmark motor lodge at Fort Worth and Sylvan avenues west of downtown, is not just another deal. It's a mission, one that came to him from God, wearing a business suit.

CHERYL DIAZ MEYER / DMN
The Belmont Hotel at the corner of Fort Worth and Sylvan avenues in Oak Cliff, overlooks the Dallas skyline.
He says the hotel's rebirth and the redevelopment of the surrounding area, which has been in decline for decades, is a divine mission that could lead to healing a city, a community and his own deep wounds. Had he refused the assignment, he believes, he would never meet the Big Suit in the Sky.
People who knew the place before the makeover would have trouble believing what the property has already become, only halfway through his plans for it.
For more than a half-century, it sat high atop a chalk rock pinnacle with unobstructed views of the downtown skyline. Although it was christened the Belmont when built in 1946, most native Dallasites recognize it as a Travelodge, its logo a drowsy bear in a sleeping cap. To children of the '50s and '60s, the motor lodge was a mysterious fortress high above old Highway 80, the sheer cliff impenetrable with curtains of kudzu vine.
Called the Belmont again, it has not yet staged a grand opening but has been booking guests since November, in rooms ranging from $125 to the $550 terrace suite. The hotel was 100 percent occupied on New Year's Eve. A Highland Park mom has reserved more than a dozen rooms for her daughter's 18th birthday slumber party. The chichi boutique hotels across the Trinity are sending guest overflow the Belmont's way.
A film crew from LA, in town to shoot a music video, discovered the hotel while scouting abandoned buildings for locations and happily moved in for their stay in Dallas. The lounge (designated a "private club" in dry Oak Cliff) is packed on Friday and Saturday nights, Mr. Anderson says.
And it wouldn't have happened, had it not been for Mr. Anderson and his mission.
Tied to Oak Cliff
It's an incredibly different situation from the first time Mr. Anderson set eyes on the property. "When I was a little kid, my dad took me to eat at the Hungry Bear," the coffee shop at the foot of the motel property, says Mr. Anderson. "We never drove up the hill. Never."
Like almost everyone else who streamed down busy Fort Worth Avenue and barely glanced up, Mr. Anderson had no way of knowing that an architectural treasure slumbered above him on the chalk cliff, camouflaged in kudzu.
The California-style "motor hotel," as it was described in newspapers when it opened in 1946, was owned by J.B. Malone of Wichita Falls and Walter R. Smith of Henderson, who also were proprietors of the Belmont Motor Hotel in Wichita Falls. The late Charles Dilbeck, acclaimed locally for his quirky, supremely livable residential designs in Oak Cliff, East Dallas and the Park Cities, designed the complex, which he described in newspaper accounts as the first of its class in the Southwest.
CHERYL DIAZ MEYER / DMN
Jackson Bailey shares a drink with his wife and a friend at the Hotel Belmont, which opened in November.
A two-story hotel and one-story "lodges" with individual garages were grouped on three levels of the elaborately landscaped five-acre plot. Rooms were "winter and summer air conditioned," with "floor-to-floor carpeting," modern, colorful furnishings, balconies and porches.
At 50 feet above the busy highway, the motor hotel also offered stunning views of the expanding Dallas skyline, with the neon light show from nightclubs, lounges, restaurants and other motor courts glittering in its wake east along the avenue.
"It's a mix of art moderne and bungalow, which was coming in style in the '40s," says Dallas architect Sally Johnson, a member of the restoration team. "For all of its sameness, the rooms are different, every last one. Dilbeck was a master at creating spaces people would relate to for all ages."
Ms. Johnson discovered the property shortly after she moved to Dallas in 1978 and imagined having her office there.
"I thought it had wonderful buildings and a wonderful site. It's such a great hill. That panorama brings out the global thinking of people. It's obvious Dilbeck sat and looked and wondered."
Whatever panorama Dilbeck saw from that promontory in the '40s, 30 years later, when Mr. Anderson was a kid growing up in south Oak Cliff, the vision was gone.
Running away
That Oak Cliff became a victim of white flight. As fear and racism drove residents away, property values and businesses suffered.
"I grew up in a perfect little neighborhood, Polk Terrace, at Polk and Camp Wisdom," says Mr. Anderson, who attended David W. Carter High School at one point. "My dad was one who stayed for a while. He said they may be a different color, but these are people just like us."
Eventually, the upheaval surrounding court-ordered school busing, including physical threats made in the classroom against two of Mr. Anderson's sisters, spurred the family to leave Oak Cliff and move as far south in Dallas County as it could go, to Cedar Hill.
The teenage Monte was angry to be uprooted from the neighborhood he loved, angry about leaving Carter High, angry at the people he blamed for forcing his family out. And the anger stayed with him long after he became a man.
He transferred to another school but "skipped school more than I went." He took up professional Motocross racing "until I got busted up enough that I quit," he says, acknowledging false teeth and a shattered left femur.
He joined his father in a construction business in 1982 and began selling real estate in the southern suburbs a few years later. He also found himself tiring of white flight – his friends', his clients' and his own.
"People were using up one place and moving to the next as soon as people of a different color moved in," he says. "I got tired of being part of that."
He became involved in southern Dallas County business and civic organizations. He founded his own commercial real estate company in 1991 at the same time the Superconducting Super Collider was under construction near Waxahachie, and real estate speculation around it boomed, then went bust, when Congress closed the project down.
He was ready to give up on the whole southern sector.
"I'm fed up," Mr. Anderson remembers saying in 1994. "I'm moving to Coppell."
And he and his wife, Rosa, began looking for a place to live in that northern suburb. At that point, however, Mr. Anderson had the revelation that set him on his life's course.
"One night I had a very vivid dream," he says.
In the dream, "I moved to Coppell, died and went to heaven. I'm a workaholic; in my mind, God's in a suit, like a businessman. And here I'm expecting this great job in heaven, because I'm a good worker."
Instead, in his dream God shook his head ruefully. "WHAT?" the real estate developer asked. And he received the answer: "When I needed you most, you bailed out. You left."
"From that day forward my options were taken away," he says. "White flight destroyed a big part of my life. For a while I was mad at black people. Today, one of my prayers is that I become color-blind. I have to put my money where my mouth is."
Taking action
Monte Anderson's expertise is in real estate – brokering, leasing, development, property management, investment. Using the skills and knowledge he has accrued, Mr. Anderson sums up the quest that began the morning after the 1994 dream: "We want to create places of natural integration." Not just in Oak Cliff, but in all of southern Dallas County. And not only between races but also between economic classes, the haves and the have-nots.
Mr. Anderson did not take on this job single-handedly, and his plate is full with other ventures, all of them in Dallas' southern sector. He holds office in chambers of commerce; raises money to restore the Texas Theater on Jefferson Boulevard, where Lee Harvey Oswald was captured; and restores buildings that are part of the historic fabric of a town or neighborhood, including the old fire station at Bishop and Davis, adjacent to Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District.
Aside from the Texas Theater, which is a nonprofit enterprise, Mr. Anderson, like any developer, does deals to make money for himself and his backers. But in focusing on southern Dallas, he's hardly chasing easy money.
It was in August 1999 that he first became connected with the Belmont. He bought four undeveloped acres behind the rundown motel, thinking the site would make a swell location for a townhome development once Trinity River improvements materialize. But he wanted nothing to do with the white elephant next door.
In October 2003, however, he spent one night at Hotel San José on Austin's South Congress Avenue. Once a down-at-the-heels midcentury motel, it was transformed into a boutique hotel that has helped revitalize South Congress. The similarities to the Belmont were not lost on him.
"I drove back to Dallas the next morning, drove straight up here and asked to speak to the owner." He left with an agreement to buy it.
Few investors, however, shared his vision.
"Nobody wanted to loan me money to do this," he says, having been turned down by about 25 lenders. One bank "wouldn't even walk across the street with me to look at it."
The First National Bank of Edinburg, Texas, did agree to the loan and were joined by the Bank of DeSoto, Texas Mezzanine Fund, Southern Dallas Development Corp., a couple of Kessler Park physicians and the Andersons' own money.
"My wife and I have to risk everything to do this. I had several nights of struggle," says Mr. Anderson.
Although Oak Cliff council members and city planning staff have been supportive, he says, there's no end to frustrations.
The feds weighed in on the invasive kudzu vine covering the cliff, warning that it could not be pulled up and dumped in a landfill, without composting it for a year. The city wouldn't allow him to burn it.
Finally he learned he could graze it to death – and hired goats. Although they were successful, the goats often escaped into the busy intersection, were stolen or were targeted for pellet gun practice.
City focus
Mr. Anderson says he deliberately hires people who live south of the river, from the project manager and landscape designer to the plumber and hotel staff. He will, he says with a smile, make exceptions for those from inner-city neighborhoods near downtown.
The values of graceful community and natural integration are central to the design of the Belmont and the adjoining property. Neighborhood residents, Oak Cliff politicians and business people are counting on it to provide the template – and impetus – for the redevelopment of Fort Worth Avenue. Many people, such as Dallas City Council member Ed Oakley, think Mr. Anderson's plans aren't just empty talk.
"I have to hand it to him, to go into a piece of property like that, to put his money where his mouth is," says Mr. Oakley, whose district includes a few blocks of Fort Worth Avenue considerably west of the Belmont. "It's exactly what we need in this city, someone taking that kind of initiative."
Mr. Oakley says he sometimes stops by the newly popular Bar Belmont in the evenings, on his way home, and he always finds Mr. Anderson leading patrons on walking tours of the property.
"Monte is a big piece of the catalyst," says the councilman, to other developments under consideration – not just along Fort Worth Avenue but also on Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas. "Other developers see this and are thinking to themselves, 'If he can do that, I can do that.' "
With the 10-month-long restoration of the Belmont structure complete, Mr. Anderson has broken ground next door on the Villas at Dilbeck Court. The 34 residences will range from $600-a-month rental lofts to $750,000 garden homes. Nine lots out of 34 are spoken for, one of them his own. He expects the first owners will be able to move in by January 2007.
Meanwhile, he is living at the hotel until operations smooth out, while his wife splits her time between the hotel and their Oak Cliff home.
He and other Oak Cliff supporters hope their efforts spur redevelopment east toward the planned Calatrava bridge and west into the residential neighborhoods. A few big projects, hints Mr. Oakley, are poised for announcement.
Mr. Anderson has enticed a Las Colinas businessman to open Spa Belmont and a Total Body Fitness health club across the hotel parking lot. He's signed up Carol McHenry, an owner of the erstwhile Rosebud restaurant in Uptown, to be food and beverage director for the old coffee shop reborn as an upscale diner. His efforts to lure conveniences such as a dry cleaners, an organic grocer or beauty salon are still a dream.
But he's not one to give up on dreams.
"The mission guides the money today," he says.
"My goal is not to be king of the world, the biggest real estate company in the United States, as it once was. I want to live as small as I can live. I want to plant as many trees on this earth as I can. I like different people, different colors, different cultures, and I want them to live around me."

E-mail mgreene@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/life/stories/020506dnlivbelmont.1f54b1c.html
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see the Belmont here...

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Alledged Gay Basher/Cop Killer Caught ?

Police investigate attack at New Bedford gay bar
By Associated Press
Thursday, February 2, 2006 - Updated: 05:55 PM EST

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A teenager dressed in all black attacked patrons of a gay nightspot here Thursday with a hatchet and a handgun, police said, wounding three of them before fleeing into the early morning darkness.
Police issued a warrant for 18-year-old Jacob D. Robida, of New Bedford, seeking to charge him with civil rights violations, as well as attempted murder and assault.
“Obviously, we have a man who’s dangerous, who’s not rational, and he has weapons,” said Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr.
The assailant walked into Puzzles Lounge, a popular gay nightspot in this historic seaport, around midnight. He was wearing a black hooded sweat shirt and black pants, said the bartender, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Phillip, because of concerns about his own safety while Robida is at large.
He flashed an apparently fake ID to the bartender and ordered a drink, Phillip said.
The man asked if it was a gay bar, and was told it was, then ordered another drink and walked to the back of the bar where two men were playing pool, the bartender said.
He shoved one of the men to the ground, said Phillip, then pulled a hatchet from his sweat shirt and began swinging it at the man’s head. The second pool player intervened, swinging at the assailant with his pool cue, but the attacker fended him off, the bartender said.
Several other patrons tried to stop him, and he was knocked off his feet, sending the hatchet flying, Phillip said.
The attacker then pulled out the handgun and shot one man, according to the bartender. He fired another bullet through the chest of a patron who was leaving the bathroom.
“He was shooting at everyone,” Phillip said.
He shoved the bartender before leaving the building and running up the street, Phillip said said. Moments later, the police arrived.
They found the hatchet on the barroom floor and a knife lying on the ground outside, though it was apparently never used in the attack.
According to a court filing attached to the arrest warrant, a woman in the bar recognized Robida as a current or former student at New Bedford High School. School officials declined to confirm whether Robida was enrolled there.
He’s also known to New Bedford police because he graduated in 2001 from the city’s Junior Police Academy, according to acting Police Chief David Provencher. The “boot camp” program is designed to teach discipline to 12- to 14-year-olds, many of whom are referrals from the juvenile courts or social services agencies.
Robida is described as a short, stocky white man with dark hair. He was last seen driving a green 1999 Pontiac Grand Am.
“He’s definitely considered armed and dangerous and has extremely violent tendencies,” said New Bedford police Capt. Richard Spirlet.
According to the police affidavit, officers went to Robida’s home and spoke to his mother, Stephanie Oliver. She said her son came home around 1 a.m., bleeding from the head, then left again.
The officers went to his bedroom and found what they described as “Nazi regalia” and anti-Semitic writings on the wall, according to the affidavit.
Oliver declined to comment Thursday to The Associated Press through a family friend who answered the door at their home.
The injured men were identified by police as Robert Perry of Dartmouth, Alex Taylor of Fairhaven, and Luis Rosado of New Bedford.
Two were taken to Boston hospitals and a third was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and later transferred to an undisclosed hospital. Police said that one of the victims was in critical condition, but would not say which one.
One man has a gunshot wound to the chest, another has a gunshot wound to the back and severe cuts to his face, and a third has multiple cuts, police said. They would not specify which man suffered which injuries.
Perry was listed in good condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Puzzles is popular with the local gay community and is listed on several Web sites offering resources to gays and lesbians. Police said they rarely respond to reports of trouble there.
“If all the bars in the city were that quiet, we’d be great,” Spirlet said.
The bar’s owner, Richard F. Macedo, said he planned to be open on Thursday night. Staying closed would amount to giving in to homophobia, he said.
Puzzles and its patrons have never previously been targeted because of their sexual orientation, he said.
“We’ve been here almost 15 years,” Macedo said. “All it takes is one bad egg.”

source: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124162&format=text
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Teen Wanted in Gay Bar Shooting Is Caught

NORFORK, Ark. - A teenager accused of going on a rampage at a Massachusetts gay bar with a hatchet and a gun was in a Missouri hospital Saturday after two shootings in northern Arkansas that resulted in the death of a police officer and a woman accompanying the wounded teen, state police said.
Jacob D. Robida, 18, was transported to a hospital at Springfield, Mo., after an exchange of gunfire with police in Norfork, according to state police spokesman Bill Sadler.
Sadler identified the slain officer as Jim Sell, a member of the Gassville police force. Sadler said he did not know the name of the woman who died in the gunfire at Norfork.
Robida was wanted in the attack Thursday at Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., that left three men wounded, one critically.
Police have labeled the attack a hate crime and said Robida would be charged with attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060204/ap_on_re_us/gay_bar_shooting
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http://www.myspace.com/jakejekyll
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From Brownwood to Gassville

Here's a letter to the editor from a Brownwood Resident

Even in Texas, Sell shooting is a shock
From Dianne Anderson
Brownwood, Texas:
I would like to send my my deepest heartfelt prayers to Officer Jim Sell's family and friends. This came as a shock to even to those of us in Texas who have lived there for years and have family still there.
My brother drove up by the Brass Door right after this happened and was in total shock as all the residents there are.
One may never know why or how come this tragic ordeal happen, but again may I say my heartfelt prayers to the family of Officer Sell and friends.

Originally published February 10, 2006
source: http://www.baxterbulletinonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/OPINION01/602100337/1014

Texas Governor Republican Rick Perry: Follow the Money !

Rick Perry, Republicans and Eminent Domain Abuse ! Coming to a farm near you ? I wonder how many of the 371,320 Texas Farm Bureau members agree with the TFB "Political Arm" decision (see below) ? Read the TFB mission statement and other points and see if they match up with this decision. Follow the money !
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Farmers back Perry, not highway
Bureau endorses re-election bid, fights Trans-Texas Corridor
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 4, 2006
/ Associated Press
AUSTIN – The political arm of the Texas Farm Bureau has decided to endorse Gov. Rick Perry's re-election bid, even though it vigorously opposes his Trans-Texas Corridor highway plan.
"It's not just about the corridor. We will continue to oppose it, and will kill it if we can," farm bureau spokesman Gene Hall said Friday. But "the farm bureau is not a single-issue organization."
Mr. Perry, the son of West Texas tenant farmers, has worked well with the farm bureau on other issues such as water rights and government seizure of private property, Mr. Hall said.
Officially, the endorsement comes from the Texas Farm Bureau Friends of Agriculture Fund, the bureau's political action committee, which can donate money to a campaign. Mr. Hall declined to say how much the group would donate.
"There's a lot that happens [at the state Capitol], and we have a stake in most of it," Mr. Hall said. "We covet our seat at the table."
The Trans-Texas Corridor is Mr. Perry's sweeping $184 billion vision of thousands of miles of highways, railways and utilities crisscrossing the state.
Mr. Perry has said the development, a 50-year project that hinges on new privately run toll roads, is necessary for Texas to meet its future transportation needs.
International consortium Cintra-Zachry is already developing a plan for the first phase, a 600-mile traffic and trade route from Oklahoma to Mexico to run parallel to Interstate 35.
Farmers and environmentalists worry that landowners and small towns will pay the greatest cost.
The Texas Farm Bureau had resisted the corridor project because of worries that farmers could be forced to give up land without adequate compensation.
Opponents have rallied at the state Capitol. A rally in May drew one of Mr. Perry's opponents, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is running for governor as an independent.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said Mr. Perry, a former state agriculture commissioner, welcomed the endorsement and would continue to work with farmers.
"Governor Perry is someone who has a deep understanding of how important agriculture is in Texas," Mr. Black said.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-perry_04tex.ART.State.Edition2.22d88bb4.html
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From the Texas Farm Bureau Website:

FB's Mission — To be an effective organization in successfully advancing the public policy interests of farmers and ranchers and serving as the “Voice of Texas Agriculture” while providing high-value member benefits and services.

Texas Farm Bureau History

Welcome to the Texas Farm Bureau Website! It is our goal to tell not only members, but the general public, about TFB's mission and commitment to providing a voice for farmers, ranchers, rural citizens and everyone interested in preserving and protecting this way of life.
I look forward to addressing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and want our members to know that this site will remain dedicated to keeping them up-to-date on the latest issues of concern to our livelihoods.
I remember my father telling me, "You need to be involved in Farm Bureau. They’re a very good tool." I heeded his advice and, with the strength of 371,320 members, know that others share this same sentiment. Together, we can provide America with safe and wholesome food. Reap the benefits of becoming a part of the voice of Texas agriculture.

A Little History

The modern Texas Farm Bureau was founded in 1933, and grew from a fledgling organization to one of the largest groups of farmers, ranchers and rural families in the world. TFB is totally controlled by its members and financed by voluntary dues. Service companies were developed to serve members' interests, and today, members enjoy the dual benefits of political representation and solid pocketbook savings.
One of Farm Bureau's most important principles is that of grass roots policy development. Policies always originate at the member level and are debated and adopted at the county, state and national levels. Legislative staffs in Austin and Washington, D.C. work to implement Farm Bureau policy and keep lawmakers informed on agricultural and rural issues.

Where We've Been...
A few of TFB's accomplishments:
• Agricultural exemptions from ad valorem taxation
• Texas superb farm-to-market road system is a result of TFB's efforts
• Sales tax exemptions for machinery, feed, seed and fertilizer
• Refunds of state and federal taxes on farm used fuel Reform of inheritance and gift tax laws
• Protection of property rights
• Reduce regulatory burden for agriculture
• Research and implementation of animal health programs

Where We're Going...
These are some of the goals of Farm Bureau:
• Achieve an economic climate that will improve net farm income
•Enhance public perception of agriculture
• Promote free and fair trade
• Preserve individual freedoms
• A smaller, more efficient federal government
• Work for strong local and state government
• Promote a fair tax system
• Balance the federal budget

source: TFB Website - http://www.txfb.org/

Two of Texas' Republican "Elitists" that were discussed on the Brownwood airwaves of KXYL by Gubernatorial Candidate.

2 major GOP donors show rift in party

Supporters back efforts to oust moderate members of state House
12:00 AM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
ELECTIONS '06AUSTIN – The two biggest Texas Republican donors are financing efforts to replace moderate House Republicans who voted with Democrats on some major school and tax legislation with more conservative members.
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and Dr. James Leininger, a San Antonio businessman, could help blunt an offensive by education groups to recruit and support Republican legislative candidates. Dr. Leininger is an outspoken proponent of private school vouchers, while Mr. Perry said through a spokesman he mainly considers whether candidates are pro-business and support lawsuit limits.
School finance debate
Their effort to influence the March 7 primary election shows a widening rift within the GOP over how to pay for and improve the state's public schools. A special legislative session on property taxes and school finance will follow shortly after the primary, so bitter campaign battles could make it that much harder for lawmakers to strike a deal on the vexing issues.
Mr. Perry, who has given more than $8 million to Republican causes in recent years, wrote five-figure checks late last year to two conservative Republicans seeking to oust Republican Reps. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth and Delwin Jones of Lubbock.
Dr. Leininger provided poll money for an opponent of Rep. Roy Blake Jr., R-Nacogdoches. The money passed through a long-dormant political action committee, to which Dr. Leininger is the only recent giver.
One leading opponent of vouchers – and the general direction that GOP legislative leaders took on school finance last year – said that opponents will counter the millionaires' big checks with "people power": efforts by unpaid volunteers.

"If it's all about money, if our entire Texas Legislature is just kind of up for bid to who can put the most money into campaigns, that's sad," said Carolyn Boyle of the Texas Parent PAC. It was launched last summer by former PTA leaders and public school advocates.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-gopraces_03tex.ART0.State.Edition2.1daaa833.html
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Note from Steve, I agree with Carolyn.

The State of The Union !

Dallas Morning News Letters to the Editor

Letters: Cindy Sheehan's house arrest
09:13 AM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006

Associated Press
Security escorted Cindy Sheehan from the House chamber before the State of the Union address Tuesday.

She is a disgrace to her son and our troops

Re: "On the Sidelines – Sheehan is arrested, removed from gallery," Wednesday news story.
I was elated to learn Cindy Sheehan was arrested and taken out in handcuffs at President Bush's State of the Union message. She is a disgrace to her son and every brave troop fighting in Iraq.
The media never fail to give her exactly what she wants – worldwide attention – whether it be good or bad.

Jean Roberts, Addison
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The new first lady of civil rights

Re: "On the Sidelines – Sheehan is arrested, removed from gallery," Wednesday news story.
This newspaper devoted 111 words to one of the most remarkable events to take place Tuesday, more remarkable than the grandiloquent rhetoric of President Bush's address.
Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the House chamber minutes before the State of the Union address, after already being seated. She was not being disorderly. She was wearing a constitutionally protected T-shirt that read, "2245 Dead. How many more?"
Regardless of what you think of Ms. Sheehan, her free speech was abridged. Moments before the president was to deliver a speech that extolled the virtues of democracy and civil liberties, our government used Stalinist tactics to censor Ms. Sheehan.
Any American who is not outraged is not a patriot.
On Monday, the first lady of the civil rights movement died. On Tuesday, the torch was passed to Cindy Sheehan.

George Henson, Dallas
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Punitive measures are out of control

Re: "On the Sidelines – Sheehan is arrested, removed from gallery," Wednesday news story.
The arrest of "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan in the House visitors' gallery Tuesday evening represents just the latest incident in a long line of punitive measures used against anyone who dares to assert the right to freedom of speech in view of the president.
A fuller story would have included that Ms. Sheehan was assaulted, battered and handcuffed by security officer Mike Weight, although she offered no resistance and was doing nothing but sitting quietly and wearing a T-shirt with the printed words: "2245 Dead. How many more?"
Isn't this behavior exactly what the Gestapo used with anyone who criticized or opposed the Fuhrer, and what the Myanmar and Chinese regimes are doing to peaceful protesters ?

Samuel Bostaph, Arlington

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/letters/stories/DN-friartletters_0203edi.ART.State.Edition1.1daa0f19.html

Texans are Gettin "Brokebacked" by the Republicans !

Insurers still owe millions in Texas
Lawsuits, court rulings prevent policyholders from getting money
09:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 4, 2006
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – More than half a billion dollars. That's how much Texas' three largest insurers owe homeowners, state officials say.
But because of a combination of lawsuits, court rulings and various legal maneuvers, the policyholders of Allstate, Farmers and State Farm – collectively holding about 58 percent of the market – are still awaiting checks and premium reductions that regulators ordered to compensate for overcharges.
And there's no end in sight.
"When you get into court in some of these cases, it's like walking in mud," said Jim Hurley, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance.
Mr. Hurley said the agency is pursuing every avenue to get the money to its rightful owners, about 2.2 million homeowners across the state, but those efforts are now bogged down. The companies say their rates are fair, and in Farmers' case, a lawsuit by its own policyholders has delayed payments.
The various legal fights stem from regulators' efforts to force refunds after insurance costs skyrocketed because of the mold crisis of 2001-02. And since none has been resolved, the total cost of the case is piling up.
Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer group active in insurance rate issues, said State Farm and Allstate have been found by the state to be clearly overcharging their customers, with the excessive charges mounting daily. The half-billion figure is a running total of refunds ordered for the three companies combined and does not include any interest they might have to pay.
"It is past time for these companies to quit abusing their policyholders and return the money that rightfully belongs to them," he said.
Insurers made record profits in Texas in 2004, with an average loss ratio of 27.6 percent. In other words, Texas insurers paid out 27.6 percent of premiums to cover their property losses 2004.
That figure was less than half the 58.5 percent loss ratio in 2003, considered a good year for the industry. That followed two years in which companies operated in the red. No figures are available yet for 2005.
Court battles
The insurance department accused State Farm of overcharging its million customers in Texas by about 12 percent dating back to the fall of 2003. Estimates of the overcharges – or potential refunds to policyholders – have ranged to more than $350 million plus interest.
With the most money to lose, State Farm mounted a legal strategy that has held the state at bay for 2 ½ years. State Farm won the last round in state district court when a judge ruled the company was denied due process after the commissioner of insurance ordered it to cut rates 12 percent in the fall of 2003.
The attorney general's office appealed on behalf of the insurance department, and the case is now before the state's 3rd Court of Appeals.
"We believe our current rates are fair and competitive," said Sophie Harbert, a spokeswoman for State Farm Lloyds, the company's home insurance subsidiary in Texas.
"Our base rates for homeowners insurance have not changed since January of 2003," she added, pointing out that Texas is known for damaging and often catastrophic weather conditions.
Ms. Harbert said it was the insurance department that was found to be violating State Farm's legal rights in the most significant ruling so far in the case. The state was shut out on another legal front when State Farm lawyers blocked an attempt by the insurance commissioner to put the company's rates under direct state supervision.
No. 2 insurer
Allstate is fighting over a smaller amount, but the state's No. 2 insurer is just as adamant that its rates are not excessive.
"The recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast pointed out the need for adequate rates so we can maintain our obligations to our policyholders," said Joe McCormick, a spokesman for Allstate. "Our current rates are adequate, and they are also competitive across the board."
The state ordered Allstate to reduce its homeowners rates nearly 9 percent in a case that began in the fall of 2004. More than $60 million in alleged overcharges, plus interest, is at stake in a case before a state administrative law judge.
Unlike Farmers and State Farm, Allstate did not initially oppose a rate reduction order from the commissioner after the reform law went into effect. Allstate agreed to cut its rates 10 percent and consider another 8.75 percent reduction a year later. The insurer decided to issue refunds of $60 million in the fall of 2004, but balked at the second cut, appealing to a state administrative law judge to head off the reduction.
Mr. McCormick said Allstate's home insurance rates are less than they were in early 2003, before the Legislature passed a massive insurance reform law later that year.
Other agreements
Several other smaller insurers reduced their premiums under orders from the insurance commissioner, and even Farmers reached an agreement with the state in 2004.
Farmers Insurance, unlike the other two heavyweights, agreed to refund $117 million to its Texas customers in a settlement with the state, but a group of plaintiffs blocked the agreement in a case expected to be heard by the state Supreme Court. The plaintiffs contend the settlement was a bad deal for Farmers policyholders.
That settlement, which ended a 15-month standoff between Farmers and the insurance department, reduced premiums for homeowners coverage by an average 20 percent. Farmers agreed to trim rates 5 percent through mid-2006 and to give its customers an additional 15 percent when their policies came up for renewal in 2005.
But the agency came under criticism for dropping its demands that Farmers issue refunds for millions of dollars of overcharges in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Winslow said that the insurance department needs to use new powers given to it by the Legislature last year, such as assessing stiff financial penalties if a company continues to charge excessive rates.
"We still think homeowners are being charged too much in Texas," Mr. Winslow said.
WHERE THE INSURERS' CASES STAND
Here's a look at the three major pending homeowners insurance disputes:
State Farm: Sued the Texas Department of Insurance seeking to overturn a 2003 state order that the company reduce its homeowners premiums by 12 percent. State Farm won the first round, and the case is on appeal. If State Farm loses, it would be on the hook to its policyholders for more than $350 million, plus interest.
Farmers: Has agreed to refund $117 million in overcharges to its customers, but that's been frozen for three years because of a lawsuit filed by a group of Farmers policyholders who say it is a bad deal. The Texas Supreme Court is expected to hear the case.
Allstate: It's contesting a state order to reduce its rates by nearly 9 percent in a case that began in the fall of 2004. Allstate, like State Farm, disputes insurance department contentions that it is overcharging Texas customers. An estimated $60 million, plus interest, is riding on the case, now before a state administrative law judge.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/020406dntexinsure.21a3ec74.html
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http://www.publicintegrity.org/partylines/report.aspx?aid=661
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Lobby takes control of Texas government

Archive Recent Editions 2003 Editions Jan 18, 2003
Author: John Lane
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/18/03 00:00

Opinion

The headline over a recent article in the Economist proclaimed: “The Future is Texas: If you want to know where America is heading, start by studying the Lone Star State.” It went on to gush about the state’s “incredible ability to make something out of nothing,” its “openness,” (?) and its “creativity.”
It also noted that Texas “is the land of low taxes, weak trade unions, a shriveled public sector and a paltry welfare state.”
What it didn’t point out, and what it probably should have, is that the state is in the midst of taking crony capitalism to new heights because the business lobby has taken unprecedented control of state government.
Their aim is to channel more public funds into the hands of favored businesses, privatize as much wealth as possible, and give business a free rein to maim, loot, and pollute without regard to the public interest. If the Bush cartel and the Republican National Committee have their way, what is happening in Texas today could well be the future of the U.S.!
The cozy relation between state government and business has been on gaudy display since the Republican sweep of all state offices in last November’s election. As Andrew Wheat said in the Texas Observer, “rather than having corporations pay lobbyists millions of dollars to influence government, the state’s new leaders recruited some of Texas’ most powerful lobbyists to run the government directly.”
Tommy Craddick, a veteran right-wing Republican back-bencher poised to become the Speaker of the House when the legislature convened Jan. 14, appointed three business lobbyists to manage his transition team: Bill Miller, Bill Messer, and Bill Ceverha. They represent clients from the pharmaceutical, property insurance, and health insurance industries.
Gov. Rick Perry tapped Mike Toomey to be his chief of staff. Toomey is a lobbyist for, among other companies, Reliant Energy, Texas’s largest private energy company. These new public servants also represent some of the state’s major polluters: ARCO, Koch, Eastman Chemical, Rohm & Haas, and Alcoa.
This new lineup in state government has the access capitalist crowd salivating. The Texas Association of Business (TAB) recently issued its legislative agenda, which calls for more privatization of government services, an end to dues checkoff for public employees, stifling any new laws that may interfere with the right of bosses to bust unions and maintain absolute control over their workers, and no new taxes for businesses (even though Texas is facing a $5 billion to $12 billion budget dollar shortfall).
There’s a good chance that TAB may get its wish list fulfilled because its executive director, Bill Hammond, has been mentioned as Speaker Craddick’s new chief of staff.
The privatization of Texas government took another leap with the ascendancy of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. This right-wing think-tank out of San Antonio has been a major proponent of school vouchers and an opponent of the right to choose, unions, and affirmative action. It gave substantial contributions to the right-wing Republicans who now control state government. The foundation used its connections to encourage new and returning members of the legislature to attend its legislative seminar in Austin prior to the legislature’s convening. The purpose of the seminar was to build support for its agenda of no taxes for the rich, cutbacks in government services, and privatization of education and government services.
Texas has always been known as a business-friendly state. It’s a right-to-work-for-less state, it has a regressive tax structure that imposes the biggest tax burden on low- and middle-income families, it has huge loopholes that allow companies such as Dell and SBC to avoid paying any franchise taxes, and its unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation programs are among the least generous of all states. It’s hard to imagine how things could get worse, but the business lobby and their friends in public office are certainly going to give it a try!

John Lane is a writer from Austin, Tex. He can be reached at pww@pww.org
source: http://www.pww.org/article/view/2767/1/133/
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Austin American Statesman: Insurers Were TAB's Biggest Donors
Submitted by Fred on Fri, 07/22/2005 - 8:15am.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE INVESTIGATION
Study of records reveals corporations that contributed to 2002 state election efforts

By Laylan Copelin

The Texas Association of Business secretly financed its 2002 election effort largely with money from an insurance industry that was trying to fight tougher regulations at the Capitol, the Austin American-Statesman has determined after studying TAB's records.
The state's largest business organization has fought disclosing its corporate donors for almost three years, saying that would violate the companies' First Amendment rights. But among 20,000 pages of documents the business group has released, it left telltale clues that identify 18 corporations — 15 of them insurance companies — that helped finance a Republican takeover of the Legislature.
By disclosing almost two-thirds of its 30 or so corporate donors, TAB may have undercut its arguments to keep secret the other donors' names.
In 2002, insurance companies were besieged by irate ratepayers whose bills had gone up. The following spring, the Legislature approved an insurance bill that consumer groups said fell short of real reform. Lawmakers also passed a lawsuit bill that business and insurance groups had backed.
State law generally prohibits spending corporate or union money on campaign activities, but the association has argued that its mailers, which criticized Democrats and touted Republican candidates, did not advocate the election or defeat of any candidate because they avoided using words such as "support" or "oppose."
That argument has played out for almost three years as part of a grand jury investigation and at least three lawsuits that losing Democratic candidates filed against the business organization.
Last month, the Texas Supreme Court ordered that TAB must provide documents to the Democrats, but there was no requirement to disclose the corporations that contributed $1.7 million to send 4 million pieces of mail to voters in 24 pivotal legislative districts.
TAB blacked out the corporations' names and many other identifying marks but left untouched several pieces of information: original documents without the names blacked out, bank account numbers that could be compared to other checks or invoices, and some signatures left exposed.
TAB's lawyer, Andy Taylor, invited reporters to examine the pages, assuring them "nothing's there."
On Thursday, Taylor denied that TAB may have made a mistake in editing the documents, except in two or three instances when original checks or invoices were released without the corporate names adequately blacked out.
He said he had no choice but to follow the court order: "We had to give everything but the names. We didn't have the right to redact anything else."
Identities a surprise
Austin lawyer Buck Wood, who represents the Democrats suing TAB, said he will add those companies as defendants in the lawsuits.
"I was surprised there was information given to me to allow us to identify the donors," Wood said. "I think we'll get them all now."
Among the 18 identified corporate donors, only AT&T Corp., the National Federation of Independent Business and a small data company in the Rio Grande Valley are not involved directly in insurance matters. But those organizations also had an interest in controlling insurance costs and limiting lawsuits.
The insurance firms included giants such as United HealthCare, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, PacifiCare, Blue Cross of California, State Farm and Allstate.
The donations ranged from $100 to $300,000, with most of them at least $40,000 per company.
Officials with most of the corporations either declined to comment because of the threat of litigation or the criminal investigation or did not respond to inquiries from the American-Statesman.
Officials with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Allstate Insurance Co. and the business federation confirmed donating to TAB's voter effort. And they emphasized that the money was used to educate voters, not to campaign for candidates, which would be illegal.
"Our contribution to TAB was to help the business community, which we are major part of, publicize a pro-growth business agenda in Texas through a voter education project," Liberty Mutual spokesman Joe Cusolito said.
"We certainly wanted to educate voters on business issues that were important to us," Allstate spokesman Joe McCormick said. "If we wanted to contribute to a candidate, we'd do it through our PAC and not an effort like that."
Unlike the other TAB donors, which just donated money for the overall effort, NFIB designated its $1,000 for a mailer discussing the differences between Supreme Court candidate Dale Wainwright and his opponent.
"We believe we acted within all campaign finance laws," NFIB spokeswoman Nancy St. Pierre said.
Some companies, however, may have not understood the nuances of the ban on corporate money in connection with a campaign.
Allstate, for example, labeled its $20,000 donation as a "political contribution" on the check stub.
Raising larger sums
As TAB tried to elect a Republican majority in 2002, President Bill Hammond largely abandoned the traditional method of raising contributions from individuals and focused on tapping corporations because he said it was easier to raise corporate money in large sums.
Hammond found an insurance industry eager to contribute to his plan to help elect Republicans with money that would not be reported to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Homeowners and doctors were complaining of skyrocketing rates, regulators appeared to be cracking down, companies were threatening to leave the state, and candidates were promising to fix the insurance crisis.
Hammond was intent on increasing his association's influence at the Capitol through the voter education program, and its early success bred enthusiasm.
"Bill — Our first check in voter 'education.' Thought you would want to see it!!!" a TAB lobbyist wrote on a $40,000 check from Aetna.
After the 2002 election and a 2003 legislative session led by TAB-backed Republicans, the insurance industry fended off the harshest regulatory proposals. Industry critics say homeowners and doctors received little — if any — relief in rates.
"It's the insurance companies, not the consumers, the patients or even the doctors, that profit from tort reform," said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group.
Tom Bond, an Austin lawyer for many insurance companies, said the 2003 legislative session was "heavier than usual" for the insurance industry. But he said it is not unusual for the industry to participate in the political arena.
Bond, who said he did not participate in TAB's voter education program, said he has worked with the organization on various legislative issues.
"The talk at the time was that TAB was trying to provide an organized way for people to participate (in politics) instead of through their own associations," Bond said. "It was my impression they solicited the whole world, including the insurance firms."
As TAB faced criminal investigation and civil lawsuits, Taylor argued that his client, and its secret donors, have a First Amendment right to educate voters during the elections without disclosing the source of the money to the public.
TAB's critics accuse the organization of committing a felony by spending the corporate money and undermining the campaign disclosure laws.
Resisting disclosure
In November 2002, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, initiated his investigation within days of a Republican sweep at the polls after Hammond boasted about his organization's "unprecedented show of muscle."
Hammond wrote to TAB's members that they had "blown the doors off" the election by spending $2 million on pivotal legislative races.
TAB stymied Earle's investigation for a year by fighting attempts to turn over documents or have its leaders testify before the grand jury. Taylor took the fight to several appellate courts, including the state's top criminal and civil courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
He lost on all counts. TAB turned over eight boxes of documents — without the donors' names — to the grand jury, and a couple of its staffers had to testify behind closed doors.
"I think we made it very clear to our donors that we respect their right to anonymity," Taylor said. "We have fought the good fight to protect their right to confidentiality."
On another front, the defeated Democratic candidates had sued the business association and won the right to force them to surrender documents — again without the names. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately upheld that order.
On Thursday, Taylor said TAB would continue to fight to protect the identities of a handful of corporate donors that remain a mystery.
"TAB has not and will not voluntarily disclose the name of our donors," he said. "We will continue to protect their identities."
source: http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/node/view/603

" He who believes does not flee. "

Hitler critic died for his convictions
02:10 PM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006
By BRUCE TOMASO / The Dallas Morning News
Dietrich Bonhoeffer might have escaped the Nazis. But he couldn't escape his faith.
The German theologian, an early, outspoken critic of Hitler, got out of Germany right before the outbreak of World War II, taking refuge in New York City just as other dissident clergy were being rounded up and imprisoned.
Also Online
International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society Web site
PBS site on the documentary
In New York, however, he happened upon a passage from Isaiah: "He who believes does not flee." And he knew he had to go home and continue the struggle against the Reich.
The life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – he was hanged by the Nazis for his role in a plot to assassinate Hitler – are the subject of a PBS documentary on Monday, coinciding with what would have been his 100th birthday.
"He lived at a time when human nature was showing its cruelest, darkest side," said Martin Doblmeier, the film's director. "Yet he remained deeply committed to the notion of community, the notion that the church should be Christ's community on earth."
Bonhoeffer debuted in theaters in June 2003 to critical acclaim. Among other prizes, it won a 2004 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council.
The hourlong PBS show is an edited version of the original film, which ran 93 minutes. Mr. Doblmeier spoke of the editing process as one might of having a molar extracted.
"It's definitely a richer, fuller film in the 90-minute version," he said. "There is more texture. But I'm deeply grateful that PBS is making it available to a national audience." (The full-length version is available on DVD.)
The director said two powerful influences led Bonhoeffer to fight the Nazis: his family and his experiences in America.
Years before his short-lived attempt to flee to New York, he studied there, at Union Theological Seminary. One of his teachers was Reinhold Niebuhr, who introduced him to Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where civil rights activism was part of the pastoral fabric.
Bonhoeffer's brother and two brothers-in-law were also executed for plotting against Hitler. "His family's role in the resistance was deeply rooted," Mr. Doblmeier said.
Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9, 1945. By then, the war was all but over. The Allies were storming toward Berlin. Hitler would commit suicide three weeks later.
Surrender quickly followed. But not, Mr. Doblmeier said, before "they used every minute available to them to kill as many people as possibly could be killed."
E-mail btomaso@dallasnews.com
DETAILS: Bonhoeffer will air on KERA-TV (Channel 13) at 10 p.m. on Monday. For more on the documentary, go to www.journeyfilms.com.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/arts/stories/020406dnrelartmattersbonn.1f826d9c.html

" If we could ignore politicians and preachers who are building careers on dividing us "

Tom Erich: Labeling voters as 'evangelical' is easy; unfortunately, it's also meaningless
01:13 PM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006
By TOM ERICH / Special to The Dallas Morning News
It's time for an election-year primer on how to address Christians.
In the world of lazy labeling and media shorthand, terms are often assigned meanings that aren't helpful or true.
An "evangelical Christian" is assumed to be a conservative Republican who favors war, opposes abortion, loathes homosexuality, and yearns for a bygone era. He or she is most likely a white suburbanite attending an unusually large church.
So politicians who want the "evangelical Christian" vote must visit Southern Baptist and nondenominational churches, invite conservative preachers to consult on policy, and use code phrases like "pro-life," "family values," and "born again," as if "Christian" positions on critical issues were settled and clear.
"Liberals," meanwhile, are portrayed as biblically illiterate or uninterested. They're ethical modernists who ignore God's commandments. And any politician who courts the liberal vote should avoid the subjects of faith and values and talk instead about government programs.
None of this is true.
While many evangelicals do hold conservative views about theology and politics, many don't. There are millions upon millions of Americans whose faith is grounded in the Bible and the need for conversion, and they don't all come to the same conclusions about life, ethics and politics.
Instead of reading the Law of Moses and focusing on its commandments concerning, say, sexuality, they read its portrayal of a God of mercy, a God who journeys on with his people. They read the prophets who call for justice and humility, who condemn greed and hubris, and who promise a new life through new creation.
Instead of centering on Paul and his conservative views on women and sex, liberal evangelicals read the Gospels and see Jesus as moving away from the Law, grounding himself in the prophets, and behaving in ways that were breathtaking in their newness – such as embracing a role for women in his ministry.
Instead of insisting that every word of Scripture is literally true and a directive from God, liberal evangelicals study the depth, diversity, and subtlety of Scripture. They care how Scripture was formed and where meaning has been obscured by politics.
Neither camp has sole claim to truth. Faithful persons can read the Bible and come to different conclusions about virtually everything, from the nature of God to the ethics of sexuality. That shouldn't be surprising, as the Bible was written over a span of 1,300 years to express experiences ranging from the Exodus to the settling of Canaan to grappling with exile to rebuilding Jerusalem to establishing Jesus-centered communities in Jerusalem, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome.
Liberal evangelicals know their Bible as well as conservative evangelicals do. They preach from it every Sunday, study it every day. And they, too, believe that the salvation drama calls for personal conversion and being "born from above."
In fact, conservative and liberal evangelicals have a lot in common. If we could ignore politicians and preachers who are building careers on dividing us, we would discover that we are all troubled by the state of modern life, perhaps concerned to different degrees about different issues but sharing a common concern for the future of our world and nation. We would discover that we all yearn for faith, for God's tender care, for courage to face challenging days, and for community grounded in something deeper than class, greed or hatred.
We read the same Bible, sing the same hymns, recite the same creeds and want our children to know God's love. We know ourselves as sinners needing forgiveness, as exiles in a strange land, as people whom God wants to draw near.
If politicians and ambitious preachers truly cared about people, faith and nation, they would join us in that quest for common ground and stop using faith as a weapon.
Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal priest in Durham, N.C. and the author of Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask (Morehouse Publishing, $16.95). His Web site is www.onajourney.org.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/opinion/stories/020406dnrelguestcol.1f8093ee.html

President Bush's Words Ring Hollow to Soldiers' Loved Ones

Published on Friday, February 3, 2006 by the Baltimore Sun
President Bush's Words Ring Hollow to Soldiers' Loved Ones
by Elizabeth Frederick

As the partner of an Iraq War veteran, I pay attention to the news. I watched the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night hoping to hear some good news. Instead, most of what I heard made me frustrated and angry.
I trusted President Bush to make sound decisions, moral decisions that would not needlessly put my loved one in harm's way. I trusted him, as commander in chief, to have respect for the military as an institution, for the soldiers who serve and for their families who make sacrifices in the name of ideals and values more important than their personal wants and needs.
When Mr. Bush decided to wage war on Iraq, he lost my trust. As he continued to make speeches about the progress in Iraq and high morale of our troops, I heard an entirely different story from my own soldier, who was deployed in northern Iraq for most of 2005. I heard his stories of Iraqi citizens who had nothing but disdain for U.S. soldiers. I heard him tell me that morale was low, that he and others had no idea what their mission was and that their only concern was for each other and making it home alive.
I heard him express frustration that for every insurgent they arrested, two more were there to take the detainee's place. Soldiers rebuilt the same roads time and again because they kept being blown up. Troops were spending thousands of dollars of their own money on armor and equipment because it wasn't being supplied. I heard him tell me private contractors were benefiting from this war, not the Iraqi people.
Above all, I heard him tell me the military had become political, something he had never seen happen before, and that those in charge were more concerned with themselves and profiting from this war than with the soldiers whose lives they were entrusted with.
He is a soldier, not an activist. He went to Iraq thinking it was a noble cause and he could do some good. It did not take long for him to start saying that the cause was neither noble nor just. He did not believe he was doing any good in Iraq, and he began to say the troops should get out of there. For these words and stories to come from him, an experienced combat veteran who, at 26, has spent the better part of a decade in the military, said more to me than all of Mr. Bush's speeches combined.
Mr. Bush said Tuesday that there was nothing honorable about retreat. I say there is nothing honorable about waging wars of choice. There is nothing honorable about refusing to admit mistakes and covering up lies. Invading Iraq was wrong; moreover, it was immoral and irresponsible.
Rather than admit that and commit to bringing the troops home now, he calls those who disagree with him defeatists and isolationists. There is a big difference between isolationism and advocating for responsible foreign policy, a difference Mr. Bush does not seem to acknowledge. Refusing to wage unnecessary wars is not isolationism, it is common sense.
Mr. Bush also said military families have made great sacrifices. I do not need the president to remind me of this. Every day for a year, I waited and wondered if my soldier would be the next person to be killed or wounded in a war that should not have begun. Every day, I watched the news in tears and prayed that another family would not have to shoulder the burden of loss. I prayed selfishly, hoping it was not my soldier. Every day, I lived with the knowledge that I could lose the man I love in a war of choice and that his service and sacrifice to this country were being wasted and abused by this administration.
I never needed the president to tell me I had made sacrifices before, and I do not need him to now. His family is safe and sound; he never had those experiences, never made those sacrifices himself and is in no position to console me.
I am a member of Military Families Speak Out, and what I and the more than 3,000 other military families in our group need is responsible leadership - if not from the president, then from Congress. What the other families and I need is a plan to bring the troops home now.
Mr. Bush seems to think that if he continues to insult his detractors by calling them defeatists, we will go away. But he is mistaken. The longer he continues to "stay the course" in Iraq, the louder we will speak. We will stay our course, because it is a moral one.
As much as the president may wish people to forget his actions, we will not. We have earned the right, and we have the obligation to speak out against the president, to say that this war is wrong because we and our soldiers have experienced it firsthand.
Our soldiers are not putting spin on the situation in Iraq. They are simply telling loved ones honest stories about what is happening. When responsible leaders start understanding this, then we can begin picking up the pieces and paving a better path for this country.
Elizabeth Frederick is a staff assistant at American University, where she is a graduate student in public policy. Her e-mail is elizabeth.frederick@gmail.com.

source:http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0203-25.htm

Friday, February 03, 2006

Brownwood Gas: Fill up and track your dollars to the Politics !

Exxon's Contributions to Political Candidates
Exxon was among the top 100 contributors to candidates in the 1996 presidential elections, donating $593,928. 4.2%of this went towards Democratic candidates and 95.4% went to Republican candidates.
In 1998, Mobil and Exxon had the largest lobbying expenditures compared with all other oil companies. Mobil Oil came in first with $6,160,000 in 1998 with 16% going to Democrats and 84% going to Republicans. Exxon had $5,620,000 in lobbying expenditures in the same year with 12% going to Democrats and 88% going to Republicans.
(this data was obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics, cited at the end of this information sheet)
source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/SICD/ExxonMobil/exxonmobil.html
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Mr Alford was on Brownwood Talk Radio this morning demonizing the " Liberals", Democrats & Hillary Clinton " for their push for a debate on Windfall Profits. After a little checking, I better understand why Mr Alford wanted to make it a "Liberal" issue. His organization has been given money by Exxon/Mobil. Are the Republicans and Exxon calling in their "Chits" ? I took Mr Alford's words "Money talks" to heart and combined them with another great quote from another Brownwood Republican Talking Head "Follow the money". Oh, by the way, when I fill up at Exxon/Mobil stations (on occasion), I do think of these facts !
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Mr Allford's Group has received $90,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.

2003
$40,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2003 Corporate Giving Report

2004
$50,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: Exxon Giving Report 2004
source: http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=113

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Brownwood PTSD: Who's "not" wanting to talk about it ?

Published on Thursday, February 2, 2006 by the Independent / UK
'Marlboro Man' Turns Against War He Symbolised
by Andrew Buncombe

A cigarette hung from his mouth in the manner of John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart, his grime-covered face showed the exhaustion of battle.

This image of US Marine Lance-Corporal Blake Miller, taken during the battle of Fallujah, instantly captured the public imagination and for a while he was known simply as Marlboro Man.

A Los Angeles Times photographer shot Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller smoking a cigarette in Fallujah, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 after U.S. forces punched into the center of the insurgent stronghold.
But 15 months after that photograph appeared in more than 100 US newspapers, the 21-year-old is back from Iraq, back on civvy street and he is talking about the trauma of what he experienced and the scars he still bears, physical and mental. The once unquestioning Marine is now also questioning whether US forces should be in Iraq.

The mental health experts who are treating him call his condition post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but Mr Miller describes it in more immediate language: nightmares, sleeplessness and periods when he will "blank out", not knowing where he is or what he is doing. "I could tell you stories about Iraq that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck," he said. "And I could tell you things that were great over there. But that would still not tell you what it was actually like. You had to be there and go through it to really understand."

Mr Miller is not alone. The federal Veterans Affairs (VA) department revealed last week that up to a third of US troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan - about 40,000 - suffer mental health problems. It is to spend an extra $29m (£16.3m) on troops who have PTSD. Days ago, The Independent reported the suicide of another veteran of the Iraq war, Doug Barber, a National Guardsman who took his life after struggling with his experiences of the war after he returned to civilian life.

Mr Miller, who received an honourable discharge last November after military psychologists decided he would be a threat to himself or his colleagues if he continued to serve, said there remained a stigma about mental health issues. He told Knight Ridder Newspapers: "I want people to know that PTSD is not something people come down with because they are crazy. It's an anxiety disorder, where you've experienced something so traumatic that you're close to death." Mr Miller's photograph was taken in November 2004 during the battle for Fallujah, the insurgent stronghold. The two-week operation resulted in the deaths of up to 50 US troops, an estimated 1,200 insurgents and an unknown number of civilians.

The former Marine says he now questions the US tactics and believes troops should have been withdrawn some time ago. He said: "When I was in the service my opinion was whatever the Commander-in-Chief's opinion was. But after I got out, I started to think about it. The biggest question I have now is how you can make a war on an entire country when a certain group from that country is practising terrorism against you. It's as if a gang from New York went to Iraq and blew some stuff up and Iraq started a war against us because of that."

Mr Miller's image was captured by the Los Angeles Times photographer Luis Sinco. At the time, he smoked five packs a day. Now, recently married and looking to make a fresh start, he has cut down to just one.

source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0202-07.htm

Brownwood: " End of the Spear "

Gay Actor in Missionary Role Stirs Flap

By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP Religion Writer

"End of the Spear," a movie that depicts the slaying of Protestant missionaries in South America, is provoking a side debate among some religious conservatives because lead actor Chad Allen has advocated for gay causes.
"Spear" tells the true story of bush pilot Nate Saint, played by Allen, and four colleagues who were killed 50 years ago by jungle tribesmen in Ecuador whom they wanted to evangelize. The film opened at No. 10 in U.S. box office rankings, and was 14th last weekend, beating features in wider release including "King Kong."
Protests about Allen originated with sharperiron.org, the Web site of the Rev. Jason Janz, a self-described fundamentalist and assistant pastor of Red Rocks Baptist Church in Lakewood, Colo.
Janz cited the Allen fans' Web site, TV interviews and articles from gay magazines to complain that the actor is not just homosexual but an activist who advocates same-sex marriages and adoptions, produces gay films and has starred in a stage play about a gay Jesus figure.
"What were they thinking?" demanded the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
This week, Janz posted a corrected version of his protest statement after speaking with the independent film's producer, Every Tribe Entertainment. The Christian-oriented company, based in Oklahoma City, prepares inspirational fare for general commercial release.
Janz originally charged that Every Tribe purposely cast Allen as Saint despite his viewpoints and lifestyle. But he now says Every Tribe only learned those things after Allen had been offered the part, and the company decided it would be wrong to renege on the commitment.
Jim Hanon, director of the movie, confirmed in an interview that Every Tribe learned the information about Allen a week after the commitment was made in 2004.
Hanon, an evangelical Protestant, said: "We don't endorse Chad's lifestyle. We disagree with him on homosexuality, and we knew some in our audience would be sensitive to it. But we decided to proceed." Hanon said if the company had known about Allen beforehand "he probably would not have been offered the role."
A prepared statement from Every Tribe tells inquirers that the only thing it's promoting is "what it can mean to live what the Bible says is true" and "we cannot single out the personal choices of one of the cast for scrutiny."
Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based evangelical organization that strongly opposes same-sex relationships, endorsed "End of the Spear" on its media review site though it knew about Allen's activities.
Bob Waliszewski said his Focus Web site assesses the content of entertainment offerings "rather than the skeletons in the closet of every actor, producer, cameraman. We just don't go there." What matters, he said, is that "it's a wonderful story. It's well done."
The Allen flap went unnoticed in the review from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which recommended "Spear" for adults only due to violence. It far preferred Every Tribe's documentary video about the martyrdoms, "Beyond the Gates of Splendor."
___
On the Net:
Movie publicity: http://www.endofthespear.com
Janz complaint: http://www.sharperiron.org/showthread.php?t2244
___
February 2, 2006 - 4:56 p.m. CST
source: http://www.austin360.com/calendar/content/shared-gen/ap/Movies/End_of_the_Spear.html
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Chad Allen site here...

Racism in postal rampage ?

News Archive Racism in postal rampage ?

February 2, 2006
BY TIM MOLLOY

GOLETA, Calif. -- A woman wounded in a rampage by a former postal worker died Wednesday, and investigators said the assailant also killed a former neighbor just before the attack, bringing the death toll to eight.
A former postal worker said the attacker had spewed racist comments in the past, and six of the victims were minorities, but investigators have refused to discuss a motive in the slayings.
The eighth victim, Beverly Graham, 54, was found Tuesday, dead of a gunshot wound in her head, at a Santa Barbara condominium complex where former postal employee Jennifer San Marco lived until a few years ago.
Sheriff's Sgt. Erik Raney said authorities believed Graham's death was ''the beginning of this rampage.'' Investigators matched several 9mm shell casings found at Graham's condo to casings from the postal distribution center.
A neighbor of Graham's reported hearing a gunshot Monday evening, before San Marco went to the mail-processing center.
San Marco shot six postal employees to death and committed suicide in what was believed to be the nation's deadliest workplace shooting by a woman. It was also the nation's bloodiest shooting at a postal installation in nearly 20 years.
Slain workers all minorities
A postal worker who was shot in the head, Charlotte Colton, 44, died of her wounds Wednesday, said Teresa Rounds, spokeswoman for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Former plant worker Jeff Tabala recalled that San Marco, who was white, seemed particularly hostile to Asians while working for the Postal Service.
He said all of the slain postal workers were minorities: Three were black, one was Chinese-American, one was Hispanic and one was Filipino. Authorities said Graham was white.
Investigators gave no motive for the postal rampage but said San Marco had been put on medical leave in 2003 for psychological reasons and had to be removed from the building by deputies at least once.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said officers took San Marco away from the postal center on Feb. 5, 2001, because ''she was acting irrational.'' She was held for three days at a psychiatric hospital, but the sheriff did not know if any diagnosis was made.
After leaving her postal job, San Marco moved to New Mexico in late 2003 or early 2004 and lived in an isolated desert home. A deputy clerk for the city of Milan, N.M., said she once applied for a business license for a publication called the Racist Press but did not qualify.
Graham's boyfriend, Eddie Blomfield, said San Marco would often go outside singing loudly, which led to arguments between the women.

AP
source: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-post02.html

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Anybody "Skeptical of Bush Speech" in Brownwood ?

Locals skeptical of Bush speech
Not everyone watches; those who do have questions
By D.E. Smoot
Phoenix Staff Writer

President Bush gave his fifth State of the Union Address Tuesday night, trying to steer his policy agenda toward popular support. But the message, for those who bothered to watch or listen, was heavily salted by eastern Oklahomans.
Karry Kofr-Chambers, a Cherokee County artisan and singer-songwriter, said Bush brought up several good points during the traditional congressional address.
“But I can’t help but be a little skeptical,” she said. “It’s nice to see him (Bush) talk about things like reducing our dependence on foreign oil, but we should have been thinking about that a long time ago.”
Dennis Chambers, who retired after 22 years conducting aerial surveillance for the Air Force Navy of Welling said the president’s message about giving field commanders in Iraq the authority to do “what needs to be done to bring our troops home” struck a chord.
“From what I have seen, it seems like the commanders’ hands have been tied by the civilian branch of the military,” Chambers said. “We need a leader who is determined to let the military force the hands of our enemies and to seek out ... those who seek to destroy us.”
While both viewers of Tuesday night’s speech were hopeful Bush’s concern about America’s addiction to foreign oil is genuine, they were more pessimistic about the president’s declaration that “the state of our union is strong.”
“I believe Americans are tired of the media and our elected representatives trying to convince us there is nothing wrong,” Kofr-Chambers said. “We are not stupid, and we are tired of them (politicians) trying to act as if we do not know how heavy this load has become.
“Because of our dependency on foreign oil and the terrible shape of our schools, it will be hard to get back on the road toward (being a country of) new inventions and sharp minds,” she said.
But even though Bush seemed to address those concerns with his proposal to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science and advocating bringing 30,000 math and science professionals into the classrooms to teach, both were skeptical.
“If he (Bush) is serious about this, then I think it’s a great thing,” Kofr-Chambers said. “But these past few years, I have gone from being overly optimistic to becoming more of a skeptic.”
With regard to Bush’s claim that his domestic spying program is legal and necessary, Chambers said, “Too many secrets are being kept from the public.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., also weighed in on Bush’s State of the Union Address.
Boren said he was glad to hear Bush talk about improving education and health care accessibility, a concern he shares with both Chambers and Kofr-Chambers.
“The president’s programs are an important step in expanding coverage in America,” Boren said. “But we have to do more to provide quality, affordable health care in rural America.”
You can reach D.E. Smoot at 684-2903 or dsmoot@muskogeephoenix.com

source: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060201/NEWS01/60201007/1002

Here's the "State of Our Union" Under The Bush Regime !

Police Remove Protester Cindy Sheehan From State of the Union Address for Wearing Anti-War T-Shirt

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Feb 1, 2006 — Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq, wasn't the only one ejected from the House gallery during the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt with a war-related slogan that violated the rules. The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave.
Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom."
She was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.
"They said I was protesting," she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I said, "Read my shirt, it is not a protest.' They said, 'We consider that a protest.' I said, 'Then you are an idiot.'"
They told her she was being treated the same as Sheehan, a protester ejected before the speech Tuesday night for wearing a T-shirt with an antiwar slogan. Sheehan wrote in her blog Wednesday that she intends to file a First Amendment lawsuit.
"I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government," Sheehan wrote.
Capitol Police took Sheehan, invited as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., away in handcuffs and charged her with unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor. She later was released on her own recognizance.
Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said police warned her that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but Sheehan did not respond.
Woolsey gave Sheehan her only ticket earlier in the day Gallery 5, seat 7, row A while Sheehan was attending an "alternative state of the union" news conference by CODEPINK, a group pushing for an end to the Iraq war.
In her blog, Sheehan wrote that her T-shirt said, "2245 Dead. How many more?" a reference to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.

source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1565113
---------------
NBC: Charges against Sheehan to be dropped
Antiwar mom removed from State of the Union for wearing protest shirt

NBC News and news services
Updated: 5:42 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2006

WASHINGTON - Charges against antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan, who was arrested after an incident involving a T-shirt she wore to the State of the Union address, will be dropped, officials told NBC News Wednesday.
U.S. Capitol Police took Sheehan away in handcuffs and charged her with unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor, when she showed up to President Bush’s address Tuesday night wearing a shirt that read, “2245 Dead. How many more?” — a reference to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.
But Capitol Police will ask the U.S. attorney's office to drop the charges, NBC News’ Mike Viqueira reported Wednesday.
“We screwed up,” a top Capitol Police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said Sheehan didn't violate any rules or laws.
Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, was not the only one ejected from the House gallery. The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave, but she was not arrested.
Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida — chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee — was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Support the Troops — Defending Our Freedom.”
The Capitol Police official said officers never should have approached Young.
Criticism from Rep. Young
Holding up the shirt his wife wore, Rep. Young said on the House floor Wednesday morning: “Because she had on a shirt that someone didn’t like that said support our troops, she was kicked out of this gallery.”
“Shame, shame,” he scolded.
Beverly Young was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and was asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.
“They said I was protesting,” she told the St. Petersburg Times. “I said, ‘Read my shirt, it is not a protest.’ They said, ‘We consider that a protest.’ I said, ‘Then you are an idiot.”’
They told her she was being treated the same as Sheehan, who was ejected before the speech. Sheehan had wrote in her blog Wednesday that she intended to file a First Amendment lawsuit.
She did not issue an immediate response to the charges being dropped.
“I don’t want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government,” Sheehan wrote in her blog.
Sheehan was invited as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. She later was released on her own recognizance.
Told she could not wear shirt?
Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said police warned Sheehan that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but Sheehan did not respond, she said.
Sheehan, however, told a different story in her blog.
“I was never told that I couldn’t wear that shirt into the Congress,” Sheehan wrote. “I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things, ... I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later.”
She said she felt uncomfortable about attending the speech.
“I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn’t disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket,” Sheehan wrote. “I didn’t want to be disruptive out of respect for her.”
She said she had one arm out of her coat when an officer yelled, “Protester.”
“He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs,” she wrote in her blog. She was then cuffed and driven to police headquarters a few blocks away.
Sheehan was arrested in September with about 300 other anti-war activists in front of the White House after a weekend of protests against the war in Iraq. In August, she spent 26 days camped near Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he was spending a working vacation.

The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11120353/
----------
There seems to be a pattern ............

Published on Friday, October 15, 2004 by the KGW - NewsChannel 8 (Portland, Oregon)
Teachers' T-Shirts Bring Bush Speech Ouster
by kgw.com and AP Staff

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. -- Three Medford school teachers were threatened with arrest and thrown out of the President Bush rally at the Jackson County Fairgrounds Thursday night, after they showed up wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Protect our civil liberties."
Three Medford school teachers who were thrown out of a Bush rally because of their t-shirts.
Three Medford school teachers who were thrown out of a Bush rally because of their t-shirts.
All three women said they were carrying valid tickets for the event that they had received from Republican Party headquarters in Medford, which had been distributing event tickets to Bush supporters.
Teacher Janet Voorhies said she simply wanted to bring a message to President Bush, but did not intend to protest.
"I wanted to see if I would be able to make a statement that I feel is important, but not offensive, in a rally for my president," said Voorhies, 48.
The women said they were angered by reports of peaceful protesters being thrown out of previous Bush-Cheney events. They said they chose the phrase, "Protect Our Civil Liberties," because it was unconfrontational.
"We chose this phrase specifically because we didn't think it would be offensive or degrading or obscene," said Tania Tong, 34, a special education teacher.
The women got past the first and second checkpoints and were allowed into the Jackson County fairgrounds, but were asked to leave and then escorted out of the event by campaign officials who allegedly told them their T-shirts were "obscene."
Democrats were quick to pounce on the incident and claimed the GOP has routinely sought to disclude anyone from public appearances by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney who might question the administration. There was no immediate comment from Republican officials.
"Thursday's actions in Oregon set a new standard even for Bush/Cheney - removing and threatening with arrest citizens who in no way disrupt an event and wear clothing that expresses non-disruptive party-neutral viewpoints such as "Protect Our Civil Liberties," said Adam Green, a spokesman for the Oregon Democratic Party.
When Cheney visited Eugene last month, the Register-Guard newspaper reported that Perry Patterson, 54, was cited for criminal trespassing for blurting out the word "No" after Cheney claimed that the Bush administration had made the world safer.
In a separate and unrelated case Thursday, two protesters were arrested in nearby Jacksonville, outside the historic inn where President Bush was spending the night.
A few hundred people were demonstrating peacefully there, but police moved to disperse the crowd after a few protesters allegedly put their hands on police officers. City officials said police fired projectiles known as "pepper balls" -- similar to paint balls, but filled with cayenne pepper to break up the demonstrators.

source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1015-06.htm
---------------
Bush To Criminalize
Protesters Under Patriot Act

By Patriot Daily
News Clearinghouse
1-13-6

George Bush wants to create the new criminal of "disruptor" who can be jailed for the crime of "disruptive behavior." A "little-noticed provision" in the latest version of the Patriot Act will empower Secret Service to charge protesters with a new crime of "disrupting major events including political conventions and the Olympics."

The Secret Service would also be empowered to charge persons with "breaching security" and to charge for "entering a restricted area" which is "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." In short, be sure to stay in those wired, fenced containments or free speech zones.

Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse's diary:

Who is the "disruptor"? Bush Team history tells us the disruptor is an American citizen with the audacity to attend Bush events wearing a T-shirt that criticizes Bush; or a member of civil rights, environmental, anti-war or counter-recruiting groups who protest Bush policies; or a person who invades Bush's bubble by criticizing his policies. A disruptor is also a person who interferes in someone else's activity, such as interrupting Bush when he is speaking at a press conference or during an interview.

What are the parameters of the crime of "disruptive behavior"? The dictionary defines "disruptive" as "characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination." The American Medical Association defines disruptive behavior as a "style of interaction" with people that interferes with patient care, and can include behavior such as "foul language; rude, loud or offensive comments; and intimidation of patients and family members."

What are the rules of engagement for "disruptors"? Some Bush Team history of their treatment of disruptors provide some clues on how this administration will treat disruptors in the future.

(1) People perceived as disruptors may be preemptively ejected from events before engaging in any disruptive conduct.

In the beginning of this war against disruptors, Americans were ejected from taxpayer funded events where Bush was speaking. At first the events were campaign rallies during the election, and then the disruptor ejectment policy was expanded to include Bush's post election campaign-style events on public policy issues on his agenda, such as informing the public on medicare reform and the like. If people drove to the event in a car with a bumper sticker that criticized Bush's policies or wore T-shirts with similar criticism, they were disruptors who could be ejected from the taxpayer event even before they engaged in any disruptive behavior. White House press secretary McClellan defended such ejectments as a proper preemptive strike against persons who may disrupt an event: "If we think people are coming to the event to disrupt it, obviously, they're going to be asked to leave."

(2) Bush Team may check its vast array of databanks to cull out those persons who it deems having "disruptor" potential and then blacklist those persons from events.

The White House even has a list of persons it deems could be "disruptive" to an eventand then blacklists those persons from attending taxpayer funded events where Bush speaks. Sounds like Bush not only has the power to unilaterally designate people as "enemy combatants" in the global "war on terror," but to unilaterally designate Americans as "disruptive" in the domestic war against free speech.

(3) The use of surveillance, monitoring and legal actions against disruptors.

Bush's war against disruptors was then elevated to surveillance, monitoring, and legal actions against disruptor organizations. The FBI conducts political surveillance and obtains intelligence filed in its database on Bush administration critics , such as civil rights groups (e.g., ACLU), antiwar protest groups (e.g., United for Peace and Justice) and environmental groups (e.g., Greenpeace).

This surveillance of American citizens exercising their constitutional rights has been done under the pretext of counterterrorism activities surrounding protests of the Iraq war and the Republican National Convention. The FBI maintains it does not have the intent to monitor political activities and that its surveillance and intelligence gathering is "intended to prevent disruptive and criminal activity at demonstrations, not to quell free speech."

Surveillance of potential disruptors then graduated to legal actions as a preemptive strike against potential disruptive behavior at public events. In addition to monitoring and surveillance of legal groups and legal activities, the FBI issued subpoenas for members to appear before grand juries based on the FBI's "intent" to prevent "disruptive convention protests." The Justice Dept. opened a criminal investigation and subpoenaed records of Internet messages posted by Bush`s critics. And, the Justice Dept. even indicted Greenpeace for a protest that was so lame the federal judge threw out the case.

So now the Patriot Act, which was argued before enactment as a measure to fight foreign terrorists, is being amended to make clear that it also applies to American citizens who have the audacity to disrupt President Bush wherever his bubble may travel. If this provision is enacted into law, then Bush will have a law upon which to expand the type of people who constitute disruptors and the type of activities that constitute disruptive activities. And, then throw them all in jail.

Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
source: http://www.rense.com/general69/dissent.htm
----------------
Strange Bedfellows- What the ACLU and the NRA have in common

By Matt Larson | 8.4.03

America’s love affair with the homeland security state is getting a little rocky. Republican Rep. C.L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho proposed an amendment to this year’s Commerce, Justice, and State funding bill that would order law enforcement agencies to stop using delayed-notification search warrants, one of the dubious measures enshrined in the Patriot Act of 2001. The amendment passed the House on July 22 by a vote of 309-118, with 113 Republicans voting in favor. A similar measure has yet to face a Senate vote, and it’s anybody’s guess whether the change would survive a presidential veto, but the Otter Amendment signals a clear direction in the nation’s mood.
The amendment seems to follow the lead of a growing grassroots movement on both the left and right opposing the Patriot Act and the so-called Patriot Act II. (The latter has not been introduced in Congress yet, but a Justice Department document outlining provisions for a new bill was leaked on February 7, causing much alarm among defenders of civil liberties.)
Backlash against the Patriot legislation has created a fantasyland of political concord: Gun Owners of America nodding in agreement with the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), with the Green Party happily concurring. Organizations across the political spectrum, from village councils to national advocacy groups, are going on record opposing this newest potential assault on Americans’ civil liberties.
According to the 120-page Patriot II document, any suspected terrorist’s DNA would be entered into a database, even if that person had not been convicted of a crime. It also evokes memories of the infamous Operation TIPS, a program that aimed to recruit businesses and citizens to provide information on suspected terrorists, as it would relieve informers from liability if they make false claims. “It provides a legal framework for people to spy and rat on neighbors,” says Tim Edgar, a legislative counsel with the ACLU.
Patriot II would also make it legal for the government to refuse to identify, even to family members, any detainees it is holding without charges. And Patriot II would likely contain no sunset clause, unlike the original Patriot Act, which had a five-year sunset clause. If Patriot II is passed, it could be here to stay.
The first Patriot Act was whisked through Congress in the chaos following 9/11, leaving little time for organizations to educate people about the dangers posed by the legislation.
“There was no education before the law was passed,” says Rasheed Ahmed, president of the Muslim Civil Rights Center in Chicago, which has helped to organize educational forums throughout the city. “Its’ impact is a culture of secret trials, secret evidence, secret deportations, and secret law enforcement. There is no congressional oversight.”
Despite slow beginnings, public concern over the original Patriot Act is on the rise, as local and state governments, along with other organizations, have gone on record opposing the act. More recent resolutions have also included Patriot II. According to the ACLU, 143 communities have passed such resolutions in 27 states, representing almost 17 million people. In addition, the legislatures of Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont have similarly voiced their opposition. In Alaska’s Republican-controlled legislature, the resolution garnered only one vote against it.
After 9/11, citizens of Provincetown, Massachusetts, formed the Lower Cape Cod Peace and Justice Circle, with the mission of educating the local community about international and domestic events. In April, the group drew up a resolution against the Patriot Act and took it to a town meeting expecting the worst. “We expected a floor fight, and the thing passed without much discussion,” says John Hopkins, one of the group’s organizers. “We were in shock.” The resolution was one of the first of its kind on Cape Cod, and touched off a flurry of similar proclamations in surrounding towns.
Organizers are hoping that such resolutions will serve as building blocks of public opposition to the Patriot II Act.
“It’s a concern shared across the board from right to left,” says Damon Moglen of the ACLU. “You’ve got the NAACP working with the ACLU working with the NRA.”
The ACLU has taken the reins of the grassroots movement with its Safe and Free Campaign to combat the Patriot Act and Patriot II, but other groups like the League of Women Voters and Neighbors for Peace have done their part to spread the word about the Patriot II.
The Idaho Green Party launched the Paul Revere Project and is compiling an e-mail list to inform people about the status of Patriot II legislation, along with other pertinent alerts. Prominent conservatives have spoken out against the acts as well, including former NRA vice president Wayne Anthony Ross and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).
Gun Owners of America, based in Springfield, Virginia, posted an editorial opposing Patriot II on its Web site. “When I feel the heat I see the light,” says director of communications Erich Pratt. “There’s something in here to offend everybody, and I think that’s why you see such a wide coalition of diverse groups.”
source: http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=303_0_2_0_C
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Published on Thursday, February 2, 2006 by the Madison Capital-Times (Wisconsin)
Bush's War on T-Shirts
Editorial

Minutes before the U.S. president would tell Congress how much he appreciates "responsible criticism and counsel," the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was dragged from a gallery overlooking the House chamber, handcuffed and arrested for the "crime" of wearing a T-shirt that read: "2,245 dead. How many more?"

Cindy Sheehan, who had been invited to attend George Bush's State of the Union address by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the California Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, did not put the "dangerous" shirt on for the event. The woman whose protest last summer outside the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, drew international attention to the anti-war movement had been wearing it at events earlier in the day.

Indeed, as Sheehan, who had passed through Capitol security monitors without incident, noted, "I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her."

No one has suggested that Sheehan was in any way disruptive. So why was she arrested?

Because, as Sheehan recounts, she was identified as a dissident.

Before the arrest, media reports buzzed about official concern over Sheehan's presence. And, as she was being dragged from a room where Bush would shortly extol the virtues of freedom and liberty, police explicitly told Sheehan that she was being removed "because you were protesting."

Capitol Police and other security officials, whose rough treatment of Sheehan was witnessed by dozens of people who attended Bush's speech, said she was arrested for "unlawful conduct." Conveniently, she was held until after the president finished speaking. The next day. the charges were dropped.

Is there really a law against wearing a political T-shirt to the State of the Union address? No.

The Capitol Police do have protocols that are followed in order to avoid "incidents" during major events. But their own actions Tuesday night confirm that Sheehan was singled out for rough justice.

Beverly Young, the wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, showed up for the State of the Union address sporting a T-shirt that read, "Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom." When Capitol Police asked her to leave the gallery because she was wearing clothing that featured a political message, Young says, she argued loudly with officers and called one of them "an idiot."

But Young was not handcuffed. She was not dragged from the Capitol. She was not arrested. She was not jailed.

Sheehan, who caused no ruckus, was arrested not because she engaged in "unlawful conduct." Rather, by all accounts, she was arrested because of what her T-shirt said and, by extension, because of what she believes.

That makes this a most serious matter. Rep. Pete Stark, the California Democrat who is one of the senior members of the House, is right when he said that Sheehan's arrest by officers he refers to as "the president's Gestapo" tells us a lot more about George Bush and the sorry state of our basic liberties in the midst of the president's open-ended "war on terror" than anything that was said in the State of the Union address. "It shows he still has a thin skin," Stark said.

It also shows that the father of the Constitution, James Madison, was right when he warned that, in times of war, the greatest danger to America would not be foreign foes but presidents and their minions, who would abuse the powers of the executive branch with the purpose of "subduing the force of the people."

This one incident involving one T-shirt is a minor matter. But, seen in the context of the mounting evidence of constraints on legitimate protest, warrant-less wiretaps and the abuses of the Patriot Act, it reminds us of the truth of Madison's warning that "no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
source: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0202-25.htm

Lake Brownwood State Park Conditions Tied to Budget Cuts ?

Jan. 28, 2006, 11:59PM

Park enthusiasts take state to task for poor funding
Services and conditions erode at recreation areas

By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press

AUSTIN - For as long as she can remember, Beth McDonald has been a frequent visitor of Texas' state parks. Whether for camping, picnics or afternoon fishing trips, it was easy to load the family into the truck for an outdoor adventure.
"We practically raised our kids at Bastrop State Park," she said.
That's why an ongoing budget battle at the state Capitol, depleted funding and deteriorating conditions at Texas parks have her so upset.
Budget constraints have forced the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to cut hours and staff at state parks and limit maintenance.
The changes have park enthusiasts hopping mad and calling on voters to make boosting funding an election issue.
"There is a firestorm igniting that will be in full force by election time," said McDonald, 79, a retired medical assistant and hospital administrator who now serves as the president of the nonprofit Texans for State Parks group.
Formed in 1997, Texans for State Parks has about 150 members and another 35 affiliated parks groups around the state.
"We are not going to sit down idly by and watch our once beautiful parks go down the drain," McDonald said.
Like other state agencies, park operations are snared in the same budget constraints that have lawmakers juggling how to pay for schools, nursing homes and medical insurance and care for children and the poor, among other priority items.
For several years, the parks operating budget hovered around $50 million. In 2005, it was $51.5 million before the Legislature cut it back to $49.5 million this year.
Stagnant funding combined with increased inflation and cost of business left parks officials trying to cover an $8 million gap, said Mary Fields, chief financial officer for Texas Parks and Wildlife.
To do it, operating hours and staff at more than 40 parks across the state have been cut. At some parks, officials eliminated overnight camping, closed swimming pools and limited use of recreational facilities and boat ramps.
The agency also laid off 39 workers in December and left other jobs vacant. Buying new equipment has been mostly eliminated.
Park enthusiasts wonder why finances are so tight.
The state collects a sales tax on sporting goods to help raise money for parks.
It was passed in the early 1990s and designed to replace the old reliance on cigarette taxes.
State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's office estimated the sporting goods tax would generate $100.6 million in the current fiscal year.
But lawmakers capped how much parks could receive from that source at $32 million.
The rest goes into general revenue to help pay for other state services.
And parks don't even get the $32 million they're allowed. Only $20.5 million from that tax goes to state and local parks, or about 20 percent.
State Rep. Harvey Hilder- bran, R-Kerrville, an avid outdoorsman and chairman of the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism committee, tried but failed to raise the cap to $85 million last year.
He said he'll try again.
source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3619036.html
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Are these conditions a result of one Party Republican Rule ? Why not get the major Corporations to redirect their Lobbying Dollars (Millions) and Political Donations from the Republicans to our State Parks !
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Form the TPWD website:

State Parks Funding - Frequently Asked Questions - December 2005

Why has the Texas State Parks system operating budget been reduced?
Like all other state agencies, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department operating budget was reduced by five percent for the 2006-2007 biennium and we've had to make some adjustments to make ends meet. Over the last five years our state parks operating budget has eroded to the point that we do not have adequate dollars to continue operating at previous levels. While our appropriation levels have remained relatively flat, our expenses have increased.
What has TPWD done to deal with the state parks budget situation?
We've managed the shortfall for the last five years by cutting costs in several ways. We've reduced the number of employees that we've funded in our budget, and we've held open about 100 positions per year to cut down on salary costs. That means there are fewer park rangers out in the field to take care of our customers. We've also reduced the funds available for minor repairs and have almost completely eliminated capital equipment acquisitions.
We've also continued to look for every available avenue to decrease operating expenses. For example, we're moving forward with the transfer of Bright Leaf State Natural Area to the Austin Communities Foundation. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved that transfer in August and the transfer is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
We're also pursuing other opportunities to transfer sites to appropriate entities. Matagorda Island State Park will now be operated by TPWD's wildlife division. The site had been operated as a state park/wildlife management area in prior years. Now it will be solely managed as a wildlife management area but will remain available to the public for camping, wildlife viewing, fishing and public hunting.
The TPW Commission has also approved moving ahead with plans to transfer Lake Houston State Park to the City of Houston. A public hearing will be held on December 5th to gather input on the proposal before it goes back to the Commission during the January 25-26 meeting for final action.
What has been done to try to get more funding for state parks?
Texas Parks and Wildlife's priority request in the last three legislative sessions has been for state park funding. Unfortunately, the Texas Legislature had a lot of requests on the table and legislators were not able to grant every request. In our case, the request for additional state park funding was not approved.
TPWD leaders informed legislative leaders back in April that the reduced budget might mean some cutbacks for state parks. We were directed to make a special request for an additional $2 million dollar appropriation that would be considered during the budget execution process this past summer. The hurricanes hit in September and other pressing financial obligations for the state took precedence.
In the meantime, our Commission adopted the FY '06 budget for the agency at their August meeting. That budget reflects further belt tightening measures, including the elimination of more than 100 positions across the agency, including 12 positions in Austin that were occupied. Those changes took effect on September 1. Nine of those positions were in our infrastructure division, two in administrative resources and one in Communications. We have made every attempt to shield our field operations in state parks from the effects of budget cutbacks.
How is the budget situation affecting state park employees?
In order to balance the state parks budget for the 2006 fiscal year, 73 positions will be eliminated, effective January 31. Approximately 39 of those positions are occupied and all affected employees have been given a 60 days notice in order to give them as much time as possible to seek other positions. These positions are scattered throughout the state.
All of these employees will be given an opportunity to apply for other vacant TPWD positions that have been held open pending the outcome of the decisions affecting state park operations. Therefore, although we are notifying some 39 employees that their positions are being cut, it is likely that a good number of them may find work elsewhere in our agency.
How will budget-related changes affect state parks and the visiting public?
Our primary goal in making these difficult financial decisions is to keep all Texas State Parks open and available to the public. No state park will close. Operating hours are being reduced in some cases and other operational efficiencies are being made, but all Texas State Parks will remain open to the public.
Examples of the operational changes that took effect on December 1 include trimming operations at the Texas State Railroad. Effective immediately, roundtrips of the railroad will originate from Rusk only. In addition, many parks across the state will be restricting hours mid-week, when visitation is already extremely low. We've also made some fee adjustments, including implementation of a $1 fee at the San Jacinto Battleground.
How can people find out which state parks are affected and how the budget-related operating changes affect the public?
More detail on operational changes at Texas State Parks is available on our web site.
source: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/hot_topics/operational_changes/faq.phtml

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