You just never know who's behind the " anonymous " emails and online posts !

Officer admits sending profane e-mail to activist

05:15 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2006
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TV

There's a new development today in the harassing e-mail mystery at the Dallas Police Department.
News Eight has learned that a Dallas Police sergeant has confessed to sending the profanity-laced computer message to a well-known neighborhood activist.
Lower Greenville Avenue watchdog Avi Adelman says he's floored that so much anger could flow from a cop he doesn't even know.
"It's even more surprising and shocking that somebody I don't know would go to the effort and trouble and grief to do this."
Sgt Ray Gonzales has confessed to sending a profane e-mail two weekends ago to Adelman.
Posing as a civilian, the sender of the e-mail taunted Adelman over a ticket he'd just been issued for making a false 911 call.
That ticket was quickly dismissed.
An upset Adelman traced the e-mail back to Police Central Patrol headquarters.
It read "heard you got a citation for abusing 911. You deserve the ticket you self-serving, expletive. Have a nice day."
Adelman now fears that there may be more officers who feel the same way.
"It says to me that this feeling, this heat is not just one sergeant, that other sergeants and other officers are part of this. This is not a one man issue," he said.
Adelman has been a lightning rod for controversy on Lower Greenville, especially after assisting News Eight in an investigation into allegations of excessive force by police using their pepper ball guns on bar patrons.
At the center of that investigation, Sgt. Michael Smith who has since been removed from the Lower Greenville beat pending an internal investigation.
News Eight has also learned that Sgt. Smith's replacement on Lower Greenville Avenue is none other than the man behind the e-mails, Sgt. Gonzales.
Sgt. Smith's disciplinary history with DPD is nominal.
He's been commended 46 times.
This has a lot of folks scratching their heads as to why a sergeant would risk his career to taunt a civilian.
He has declined to comment.
At this point police officials are not commenting on what may happen with Sgt. Gonzales.

source: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060531_lj_shipp.3f3be598.html

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UPDATE

Five Dallas officers fired in major shake-up
04:19 PM CDT on Friday, June 2, 2006
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV

Five Dallas police officers were fired Friday in a major department shake-up.
Chief David Kunkle called an emergency 9 a.m. meeting with police union leaders to discuss the unprecedented action. That was followed by disciplinary hearings with the five employees.
No one at police headquarters could remember when a Dallas chief terminated as many officers in a single day.
Chief Kunkle said he would not tolerate inappropriate or illegal behavior.
"We've got problems that we've got to address, and they have to be addressed organically from within the department," Chief Kunkle said. "But I think it does help to point out the contrast—which I think the reporters see every day—between the two faces of the department: The relatively few people who get in trouble but tend to define us as opposed to these men and women who are extraordinarily brave, and do a good job day after day."
Sources told News 8 the police employees being terminated include:
• Officers Edward Saenz and Michael Contreras, who are accused of official oppression for retaliating against a wrecker driver who towed Contreras' personal car last month.
• Sgt. Ramon Gonzalez, for sending a profane and unsigned e-mail message to community activist Avi Adelman after Adelman filed a complaint against excessive noise along Lower Greenville Avenue.
• Officer Zenoc Castro, who threatened retaliation against a local TV reporter after her expose on Love Field officers.
• Sgt. Richard Garcia for failing to report Officer Castro's threats to superiors.
All of those affected did have the opportunity to present their sides of the story to a group of commanding officers at a series of disciplinary hearings at police headquarters on Friday.
The chief also announced major changes to the department's chase policy, designed to put limits on when officers can pursue fleeing suspects. The new policy reportedly permits involvement in a chase only when:
• Offender is suspected of a violent felony
• Information about the suspect is factual and not assumed
Dallas officers will be allowed to participate in police pursuits outside the city limits only if there is suspicion of a violent felony.
As part of the major changes on Friday, Chief Kunkle also promoted 25 sergeants.
WFAA-TV reporter Cynthia Vega and The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.
E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com
source: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060602_wz_dpdshakeup.474702f3.html
------------------
Police Suspended Over MySpace Comments

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Three police officers were suspended over Web site comments about their jobs and derogatory language about gays and the mentally disabled.
The suspensions came after two other officers were suspended in June over comments and photos posted on the same site, MySpace.com.
In the latest case, the Fayette Urban County Council approved a recommendation on Thursday to suspend Aaron Noel, Richard Sisk and Paul Stewart on administrative charges of conduct unbecoming of an officer. Each was suspended for 80 hours without pay and was ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
The police department began investigating the Web sites in March after they were discovered by another officer.
Last month, officers Gene Haynes and Adam O'Quinn were suspended over postings about an officer who had arrested country singer John Michael Montgomery in February on a charge of drunken driving.
Haynes posted an altered photograph of Montgomery and a fan, in which the arresting officer's face was placed on the fan's body.

source: http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fpageoneq.com%2Frssfeedstuff%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D8085

Brown County Texas: Supporting Our Troops ?

Monday May 29, 2006
News
Drive for veterans’ vans $35,000 short

By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin

Volunteers with the Veterans Memorial Clinic are $35,000 short of the necessary funds needed to purchase two shuttle vans used to transport disabled veterans.
A campaign begun in March has so far raised about $10,000, but, by latest estimates, at least $45,000 is needed for two multi-passenger vans.
“If we cannot raise the money, really, very soon,” said Cookie James, the volunteer shuttle coordinator for the Brownwood VA clinic, “we may have to do without, and I just don’t know how that’s going to be possible.”
James said the shuttle vans are in operation Monday through Friday, departing from the clinic at 7:30 each morning and transporting disabled veterans to the Temple and Waco VA hospitals for their appointments. Volunteers make the daily drives.
Each month, the vans are driven 8,100 miles and transport approximately 220 patients. The vans currently in use are 5 and 6 years old, respectively, had have 215,000 and 193,000 miles on them. James said the veterans administration does not provide the vans, but does provide all the maintenance, insurance, rules, safety measures and fuel.
“Once the vans get as high mileage as the two we have, then the maintenance costs start to go up,” James said. “The VA is currently running on a $35,000 deficit and the budget cuts are expected to continue.
“The elimination of services, such as the shuttle, would only alleviate a small part of the budget crisis,” James said, “but just the same it’s understandable the VA won’t or can’t pay for new vans.”
So many veterans depend on the shuttle, James said, that she feels if more people understood the urgency, the money could be raised.
“A lot of our veterans are under doctor’s orders not to drive. We take some to the clinic who are on chemo, and maybe going there they’ll seem OK, but coming back they’re very sick. Some of the ones who use the shuttle are not supposed to drive at all because their diabetes is out of control,” James said.
“Yellow ribbons and prayer vigils show we love and support our veterans, but if these vans could be made a priority, that’s really proving to them that we do appreciate what they have done for our country.”
James said that once the vans are purchased, they will be signed over to the veterans administration so they can be insured, maintained and operated. The VA decides when it’s time for replacement, and that time “has arrived,” she said.
An account has been set up at the local Bank of America, located at 1 Center Ave. in Brownwood. James said if a donor needs to have a 501 3-C charitable deduction, checks should be made payable to the VFW Shuttle Fund. Otherwise checks can be written to Veterans’ Shuttle Fund.
Those wishing to mail their donations can send them (attention Cookie James) to the Brown County VA Clinic, 2600 Memorial Park Dr., Brownwood, TX 76801.
For more information, call James at the volunteer office, 641-0568 (Ext. 58614) or at 642-4264.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/29/news/news01.txt

Ben Barnes to be signing "Barn Burning Barn Building" in Brownwood soon !

Barn Burning Barn Building

---------------
Sunday June 4, 2006
News
Ben Barnes examines politics then and now in his new book
By Curtis Elliott — Brownwood Bulletin

Ben Barnes shares a laugh last week at a book-signing. His tour took him to Abilene and Comanche. Photo contributed
Ben Barnes, once this area’s representative in the Texas House, who was then elected lieutenant governor before losing a bid for governor, revisits his experiences in a book he has been promoting this month.
Barnes held book-signings in Abilene and Comanche last week on tour to promote the book, “Barn Burning Barn Building: Tales of a Political Life, from LBJ to George W. Bush and Beyond.” Barnes wrote the book with Lisa Dickey.
After a fast start up the political ladder in the 1960s, Barnes found himself a member of the Texas House of Representatives at 22, the youngest speaker of the House at 26, and then lieutenant governor at 30. Even though some say Barnes was a prospect for the presidency, the life-long Democrat had another goal.
“I didn’t think about the presidency,” Barnes said in a phone interview. “People around me talked about it, but I refused to seriously think about it. I had my eyes on the governorship of Texas.”
After Barnes left public office, he returned to Brownwood and became a partner of Herman Bennett, who died April 7.
“I feel fortunate that I was able to help with bringing in the Kohler and 3M plants,” Barnes said. 3M celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, Kohler announced its plans for a plant in the early 1970s.
“Brownwood has accomplished so much. There’s a lot about Brownwood in my book.”
Faced with the controversy of the Vietnam War, the decade of the 1960s was a challenging time for many politicians. President Lyndon Johnson, one of Barnes’ mentors, announced he would not run for re-election in 1968, a decision made in large part because of the war’s unpopularity. The presidency seemed wide open before Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, Barnes said.
“Robert Kennedy would not have had war on his campaign, but I don’t know if he would’ve won,” Barnes said. “He still had to carry Texas to beat (Richard) Nixon.”
Nixon won the presidency that year, and, despite failing to get the country out of Vietnam during his first term, won re-election in 1972.
“Nixon didn’t have a strong opponent for his second term,” Barnes said. “He only had George McGovern, and McGovern was a weak candidate. He only won one state.”
In his book, Barnes claims that Nixon’s White House destroyed him. Nixon, along with the political fallout from the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal, combined to defeat him in the governor’s race.
“I recovered some tapes of Nixon talking to (U.S. Attorney General John) Mitchell in 1972 in which they talked about me,” Barnes said. Mitchell was the first U.S. attorney general to be convicted, in 1975, of illegal activities and imprisoned — all in connection with the Watergate break-in and cover-up.
“Nixon was afraid of me,” Barnes said. “The Republicans wanted to discredit me as much as they could.”
Barnes made national headlines in 2004 when he announced during the presidential campaign that he got George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam era, alllowing him to avoid serving overseas.
“I made a call for Bush,” Barnes said. “But I also made calls for a lot of other young men. I regret those calls. I am ashamed of what I have done.”
Two other concerns that Barnes addresses in his book are bipartisanship and young people in politics.
“Very bitter partisanship has grabbed a hold of government,” Barnes said.
“We need better cooperation. If the United States falls, it won’t be the enemy outside, it will be from within.”
Barnes said objectivity is very important in a political campaign, and referred to former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who died May 23 and whose funeral Barnes attended.
“Bentsen is a great case of bipartisanship. I encouraged him to run for U.S. senator,” Barnes said.
Barnes said he also feels that young people are not very interested in becoming Democrats.
“We need more young people in the Democratic Party,” he said. “We have not done an adequate job in recruiting them. Some have turned to the Republican Party.”
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/06/04/news/news04.txt

Brownwood Bluegrass

Texas State Bluegrass Festival

Sounds local !

Posted on Sun, May. 28, 2006

Quitting over Rice's speech
By STEVE ALMOND
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM

The Associated Press/Chitose Suzuki
Faculty members march into the 130th commencement at Boston College in Boston on May 22 as they protest Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who delivered the commencement address.
SOMERVILLE, Mass. --Two weeks ago, I resigned my position as an adjunct professor at Boston College in an open letter published by The Boston Globe.
I felt it was wrong for Boston College to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be this year's commencement speaker, given that she has lied to the American people repeatedly in an effort to justify the Bush administration's disastrous foreign policy.
My decision was a simple act of conscience.
Soon after my letter of resignation was published, my e-mail box began to fill with notes from outraged citizens accusing me of being (among other things) a Communist, a pansy and a traitor.
This was only the beginning.
During the next few days, I received harassing phone calls at home, was maligned by a host of media demagogues and even had someone calling radio stations pretending to be me.
Call it my unofficial introduction to the politics of personal destruction.
This, I'm sorry to say, is the modus operandi of today's conservative movement. Its members have no coherent political or moral philosophy, and no way of defending President Bush's disastrous record, so they appeal to the public's primal negative emotions: hate, fear and grievance.
I realize that some of you reading this -- and the letter that follows -- will react with precisely these feelings. That's your right as an American, just as it is my right to speak out against an administration that has misled this country into an unconscionable war, amassed an unprecedented debt by sopping billionaires and oil barons, and ignored the science of our own environmental ruin.
It's called democracy.
Here's a copy of the letter, which was printed May 12 in the Boston Globe:

An open letter to William P. Leahy, S.J., president of Boston College

Dear Father Leahy,
I am writing to resign my post as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College.
I am doing so -- after five years at BC, and with tremendous regret -- as a direct result of your decision to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be the commencement speaker at this year's graduation.
Many members of the faculty and student body already have voiced their objection to the invitation, arguing that Rice's actions as secretary of state are inconsistent with the broader humanistic values of the university and the Catholic and Jesuit traditions from which those values derive.
But I am not writing this letter simply because of an objection to the war against Iraq. My concern is more fundamental. Simply put, Rice is a liar.
She has lied to the American people knowingly, repeatedly, often extravagantly over the past five years, in an effort to justify a pathologically misguided foreign policy.
The public record of her deceits is extensive. During the ramp-up to the Iraq war, she made 29 false or misleading public statements concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to al Qaeda, according to a congressional investigation by the House Committee on Government Reform.
To cite one example:
In an effort to build the case for war, then-National Security Adviser Rice repeatedly asserted that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear weapon, and specifically seeking uranium in Africa.
In July of 2003, after these claims were disproved, Rice said: "Now if there were doubts about the underlying intelligence ... those doubts were not communicated to the president, the vice president, or to me."
Rice's own deputy, Stephen Hadley, later admitted that the CIA had sent her a memo eight months earlier warning against the use of this claim.
In the three years since the war began, Rice has continued to misrepresent or simply ignore the truth about our deadly adventure in Iraq.
Like the president whom she serves so faithfully, she refuses to recognize her errors or the tragic consequences of those errors to the young soldiers and civilians dying in Iraq. She is a diplomat whose central allegiance is not to the democratic cause of this nation, but absolute power.
This is the woman to whom you will be bestowing an honorary degree, along with the privilege of addressing the graduating class of 2006.
It is this last notion I find most reprehensible: that Boston College would entrust to Rice the role of moral exemplar.
To be clear: I am not questioning her intellectual gifts or academic accomplishments. Nor her potentially inspiring role as a powerful woman of color.
But these are not the factors by which a commencement speaker should be judged. It is the content of one's character that matters here -- the reverence for truth and knowledge that Boston College purports to champion.
Rice does not personify these values; she repudiates them. Whatever inspiring rhetoric she might present to the graduating class, her actions as a citizen and politician tell a different story.
Honestly, Father Leahy, what lessons do you expect her to impart to impressionable seniors?
That hard work in the corporate sector might gain them a spot on the board of Chevron? That they, too, might someday have an oil tanker named after them? That it is acceptable to lie to the American people for political gain?
Given the widespread objection to inviting Rice, I would like to think you will rescind the offer. But that is clearly not going to happen.
Like the administration in Washington, you appear too proud to admit to your mistake. Instead, you will mouth a bunch of platitudes, all of which boil down to: You don't want to lose face.
In this sense, you leave me no choice.
I cannot, in good conscience, exhort my students to pursue truth and knowledge, then collect a paycheck from an institution that displays such flagrant disregard for both.
I would like to apologize to my students and prospective students. I would also urge them to investigate the words and actions of Rice, and to exercise their own First Amendment rights at her speech.
Steve Almond is a writer and former reporter for the El Paso Times.
Steve Almond is the author of the story collections "The Evil B. B. Chow" and "My Life in Heavy Metal."

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/14682499.htm
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Texas Author Series heats up with political scandal book
By Glenn Dromgoole
May 28, 2006

Ben Barnes will discuss his book, ''Barn Building, Barn Burning,'' at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Abilene Public Library as part of the Texas Author Series, sponsored by the Friends of the Abilene Public Library and the Abilene Reporter-News. The session is free. Sandwiches available for $3 while they last.
Ben Barnes book sheds light on Texas politics
Ben Barnes stunned Texas political observers by winning a seat in the Texas House of Representatives at age 22. He became the youngest speaker of the House at just 26 and lieutenant governor at 30.
Lyndon Johnson publicly predicted in 1970 that Barnes would someday be president. But in 1972, political fallout from the Sharpstown scandal led to Barnes' defeat in the governor's race, even though Barnes himself was not implicated in the case. At 34, his promising political career was over.
Since then, Barnes has worked behind the scenes as a businessman and lobbyist. He made and lost a fortune in the Austin real estate boom and bust of the 1980s, then turned his keen political instincts to consulting, lobbying and fund-raising.
Barnes tells about his rise and fall in Texas politics in his new book, ''Barn Burning, Barn Building: Tales of a Political Life, from LBJ to George W. Bush and Beyond'' (Bright Sky Press, $24.95 hardcover). Barnes, now 68, came to power in the 1960s in a state that was controlled by the Democratic Party. Back then, conservative and liberal wings of the party typically fought it out in the primaries, then came together to win the general election. Barnes was firmly entrenched in what he calls the moderate-conservative wing that had strong support from the business community but also championed progressive legislation. Former President Johnson and former Gov. John Connally were two of his mentors. Today, of course, Texas is as solidly Republican as it once was solidly Democrat.
According to Barnes, Connally played a key role in the Bush family's rise to political prominence. Late in 1970, Barnes says, he was at Connally's ranch when President Nixon called for Connally. He wanted the former governor to be treasury secretary, the only Democrat in his cabinet.
Connally, who later became a Republican, insisted that he couldn't consider the offer unless Nixon also found a place for George H. W. Bush, who had just lost a Senate race to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen.
''Connally's insistence finally brought Nixon around,'' Barnes writes, ''and he ultimately made Bush the ambassador to the United Nation.
''If it weren't for Connally's pull with Nixon, Bush would have been left twisting in the wind and would never have continued to ascend the party's ladder to the vice presidency, then the presidency. In turn, his son George W. Bush would almost certainly never have been president.''
Barnes said he regrets using his influence as speaker of the House to help get George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard so he wouldn't be drafted during the Vietnam War.
''I thought at the time that I was simply doing political favors,'' he writes, ''but as I got older, I came to realize I'd been playing God. For every privileged boy like George W. Bush that I helped, another young man was shipped to Vietnam.''
In the final chapter, ''Where We Go from Here,'' Barnes discusses the ''culture of incivility'' in politics today, which he traces back to Nixon, and offers suggestions for the Democratic Party to regain influence and strength in Texas and nationally. These include:
Shift the focus away from single-issue politics.
Reclaim a place in the national discussion on religion and morality.
Bring back the culture of bipartisanship, volunteerism, and service.
Find a way for moderation to prevail.
Cultivate leaders who stand for honest political ideals.
Cultivate a business community that has a longer-term vision than the next quarterly report.
Reclaim public service as an honorable profession.
Lead rather than follow, being proactive rather than reactive.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/et_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7910_4732648,00.html
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Barnes bemoans trends in politics
Former lieutenant governor promoting book

By Ken Ellsworth / ellsworthk@reporternews.com
May 28, 2006
Before arriving in Abilene Tuesday for a speaking engagement, former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes will be a pallbearer at Lloyd Bentsen's funeral.
The former U.S. senator, treasury secretary, and vice presidential candidate died May 23. Being asked to serve as a pallbearer at Bentsen's funeral illustrates just how highly Barnes, a once rising political star, is still thought of in certain circles.
Barnes, 68, will speak at the Abilene Public Library at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to promote his new book ''Barn Burning Barn Building.'' (Note: Time was changed from noon because of Bentsen's funeral.)
The Abilene stop will come after serving as a pallbearer Tuesday morning.
''Right after that I'll get on a plane and be in Abilene as close to noon as I can make it,'' Barnes said in a telephone interview from Austin.
Barnes' political ambitions were dashed by a loan and stock scandal in 1971 when Barnes was the lieutenant governor of Texas.
The Comanche County native and Democrat remains a powerful force in Texas and national politics as a political consultant, fundraiser and lobbyist. Barnes founded and leads the Austin-based consulting firm, EntreCorps.
Barnes noted the death of the gentlemanly, dignified Bentsen.
''He was a very good friend,'' Barnes said.
He said Bentsen was a moderate Democrat who could put aside partisan politics and ''work across the aisle'' for the good of the nation, an issue that Barnes said he addresses in his book.
''Severe partisanship has brought Washington to a standstill,'' Barnes said, adding that it has also hurt Texas. ''I'm hungry for the days of the likes of Lloyd Bentsen, John Tower and Charlie Stenholm.''
He said he resents the politics of people like Tom DeLay, whose redistricting tactics cost Texas the seats of several high-ranking members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Barnes predicted Democrats could make a comeback in November and make a serious run for the White House in 2008.
He said he has no ambitions to run for political office.
''But I'd bet some people are speculating that I do, because of this book tour which will have me speaking in a lot of places,'' he said. ''No, I don't have any ambitions for myself, but I've got a lot of ambitions for Texas.
His book, he said, is partially aimed at young people who feel alienated by today's political climate.
''I'd like them to read the book and to get interested in politics,'' Barnes said.
Barnes was quite young when his own political ambitions blossomed. Born in 1938, he won a seat in the Texas House when he was 22 and a law student at the University of Texas in Austin. In 1965, he was elected speaker.
At age 30, Barnes was elected lieutenant governor and served from 1970 to 1974. The late President Lyndon B. Johnson called Barnes the ''next president from Texas.''
However, Barnes was defeated in his bid for re-election as lieutenant governor in the wake of the Sharpstown scandal of 1971. The banking, loan and stock purchasing scandal involved several of Barnes' fellow Texas Democrats in Austin.
He was never directly implicated, but Sharpstown cost Barnes and others their jobs and the scandal became the beginning of the end of Democratic dominance in Austin.
In 2004, Barnes was a major fundraiser in Sen. John Kerry's run against President George W. Bush. In that same year, Barnes stepped back briefly into the national political limelight by claiming on national television that as Speaker of the House in 1968, he used his political weight to help get the youthful Bush into the Texas Air National Guard, allowing Bush to avoid serving in Vietnam.
The claim was disputed by many, but Barnes makes the claim again in ''Barn Burning.''
''It was wrong for me as a young man to have that much power, to make life and death decisions,'' Barnes said. ''I'm ashamed of what I did.''

If you go:
What: Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes to speak in Abilene
When: 12:30 p.m. Tuesday (Note: Time was changed from noon.)
Where: Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St.
Subject: Barnes' new book, ''Barn Burning Barn Building,'' published by Bright Sky Press of Albany, $24.95
Details: The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Abilene Public Library and the Abilene Reporter-News. Limited number of sack lunches available, $3; drinks free.

More information:
Barnes will be also have a book signing from 3-3:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Texas Star Trading Co., 326 Cypress St.
Barnes will be featured in a live radio interview at 4 p.m. Tuesday on KWKC-AM (1340)
source : http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_4733305,00.html

How are we treating our soldiers ?

Father upset that Army son must buy own uniform
07:24 PM CDT on Monday, May 29, 2006
Americans everywhere paused to honor fallen heroes Monday.
But a father in Wright City is questioning the Army's treatment of those who put their lives on the line for our country.
Bob Simmons wears a shirt that proudly shows his son defends freedom.
Jebadiah, 19, serves in the army and will soon be headed to Bosnia, minus a little extra of his spending money.
"About a week and a half two weeks ago he found out the army’s changing over to the new uniforms and they're going to make them buy them themselves and I was astounded," said Simmons.
What do you think?
The Army changed to new, lighter uniforms in April.
The cost for the uniforms is about $200.
Workers at Uncle Sam's, which sells the uniforms, say other solders have lamented about paying for their uniforms as well.
Bob Simmons even contacted various elected officials about the matter.
"The contacts to Senator Bond and Rep. Hulshof, although its a holiday weekend and I understand people go out of town, but I haven’t heard from either of them," said Simmons.
On this Memorial Day Bob Simmons says he can’t help but recall his own days in the Army. He was drafted in 1970 during the Vietnam War and says he did not have to pay for his own uniform.
And says this father, if he didn't have to, why should his son?
"These people are doing a great job. They’re making a big sacrifice and now the Army wants to charge them for their uniform. Next they'll charge them for bullets and their food. Its unbelievable," Simmons added.
Despite the uniform controversy, service to our country runs in that family.
Simmons has another son in the process of enlisting in the Army.
source: http://www.kmov.com/localnews/stories/kmov_localnews_060529_uniforms.357773f0.html
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Monday May 29, 2006
News
Drive for veterans’ vans $35,000 short
By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin

Volunteers with the Veterans Memorial Clinic are $35,000 short of the necessary funds needed to purchase two shuttle vans used to transport disabled veterans.
A campaign begun in March has so far raised about $10,000, but, by latest estimates, at least $45,000 is needed for two multi-passenger vans.
“If we cannot raise the money, really, very soon,” said Cookie James, the volunteer shuttle coordinator for the Brownwood VA clinic, “we may have to do without, and I just don’t know how that’s going to be possible.”
James said the shuttle vans are in operation Monday through Friday, departing from the clinic at 7:30 each morning and transporting disabled veterans to the Temple and Waco VA hospitals for their appointments. Volunteers make the daily drives.
Each month, the vans are driven 8,100 miles and transport approximately 220 patients. The vans currently in use are 5 and 6 years old, respectively, had have 215,000 and 193,000 miles on them. James said the veterans administration does not provide the vans, but does provide all the maintenance, insurance, rules, safety measures and fuel.
“Once the vans get as high mileage as the two we have, then the maintenance costs start to go up,” James said. “The VA is currently running on a $35,000 deficit and the budget cuts are expected to continue.
“The elimination of services, such as the shuttle, would only alleviate a small part of the budget crisis,” James said, “but just the same it’s understandable the VA won’t or can’t pay for new vans.”
So many veterans depend on the shuttle, James said, that she feels if more people understood the urgency, the money could be raised.
“A lot of our veterans are under doctor’s orders not to drive. We take some to the clinic who are on chemo, and maybe going there they’ll seem OK, but coming back they’re very sick. Some of the ones who use the shuttle are not supposed to drive at all because their diabetes is out of control,” James said.
“Yellow ribbons and prayer vigils show we love and support our veterans, but if these vans could be made a priority, that’s really proving to them that we do appreciate what they have done for our country.”
James said that once the vans are purchased, they will be signed over to the veterans administration so they can be insured, maintained and operated. The VA decides when it’s time for replacement, and that time “has arrived,” she said.
An account has been set up at the local Bank of America, located at 1 Center Ave. in Brownwood. James said if a donor needs to have a 501 3-C charitable deduction, checks should be made payable to the VFW Shuttle Fund. Otherwise checks can be written to Veterans’ Shuttle Fund.
Those wishing to mail their donations can send them (attention Cookie James) to the Brown County VA Clinic, 2600 Memorial Park Dr., Brownwood, TX 76801.
For more information, call James at the volunteer office, 641-0568 (Ext. 58614) or at 642-4264.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/29/news/news01.txt
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http://www.optruth.org/index.php

Was it God who was silent or was it God's people who remained silent ?

Pope asks why God 'tolerated' Holocaust
VICTOR L. SIMPSON
Associated Press
OSWIECIM, Poland - Pope Benedict XVI visited the Auschwitz concentration camp as "a son of the German people" Sunday and asked God why he remained silent during the "unprecedented mass crimes" of the Holocaust.
Benedict walked along the row of plaques at the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex's memorial, one in the language of each nationality whose members died there. As he stopped to pray, a light rain stopped and a brilliant rainbow appeared over the camp.
"To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible - and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a pope from Germany," he said later.
"In a place like this, words fail; in the end, there can be only a dread silence, a silence which itself is a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?"
Benedict said that just as his predecessor, John Paul II visited the camp as a Pole in 10979, he came as "a son of the German people."
"The rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people, to cancel it from the register of the peoples of the Earth," he said, standing near the demolished crematoriums where the Nazis burned the bodies of their victims.
"By destroying Israel with the Shoah, they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention."
Shoah is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, during which the Nazis killed 6 million Jews.
As many as 1.5 million people, most of them Jews, died at Auschwitz and Birkenau, neighboring camps built by the German occupiers near the Polish town of Oswiecim - Auschwitz in German. Others who died there included Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma - or Gypsies, and political opponents of the Nazis.
Benedict did not refer to collective guilt of the German people but instead focused on the Nazi regime. He said he was "a son of that people over which a ring of criminals rose to power by false promises of future greatness."
He also did not mention the controversy over the wartime role of Pope Pius XII, who some say did not do all in his power to prevent Jews from being deported to concentration camps. The Vatican rejects that accusation.
Typically, Benedict did not mention his own personal experiences during the war. Raised by his anti-Nazi father, Benedict was enrolled in the Hitler Youth as a teenager against his will and then was drafted into the German army in the last months of the war.
He wrote in his memoirs that he decided to desert in the war's last days in 1945 and returned to his home in Traunstein in Bavaria, risking summary execution if caught. In the book, he recounted his terror at being briefly stopped by two soldiers.
He was then held for several weeks as a prisoner of war by U.S. forces who occupied his hometown.
Earlier, the white-clad Benedict walked alone under the camp gate containing the notorious words: "Arbeit Macht Frei," or "Work Sets You Free."
He stopped for a full minute before the Wall of Death, where the Nazis killed thousands of prisoners. He was handed a lighted candle, which he placed before the wall.
At the Wall of Death, a line of 32 elderly camp survivors awaited Benedict, most of them Catholic. He moved slowly down the line, stopping to talk with each, taking one woman's face in his hands and kissing one of the men on both cheeks.
Benedict then visited the dark cell in the basement of one of the buildings, the place where St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar, was executed after voluntarily taking the place of a condemned prisoner with a large family in 1941. Kolbe was canonized by John Paul II in 1982.
Benedict stopped to pray again in the cell, standing before a candle placed there by John Paul during his 1979 visit.
The visit is heavy with significance for Roman Catholic-Jewish relations, a favorite theme for Benedict and John Paul.
This was the third time Benedict has visited Auschwitz and the neighboring camp at Birkenau. The first was in 1979, when he accompanied John Paul, and in 1980, when he came with a group of German bishops while he was archbishop of Munich.
Benedict's stop at Auschwitz - his last before he left for Rome - was a somber close to a four-day trip that was otherwise upbeat, with some 900,000 people turning out for his Sunday mass in a meadow in Krakow, the city where John Paul II once served as archbishop.
Earlier, he urged 900,000 singing, clapping Poles gathered in a rain-soaked field to share their faith with other countries, saying it was the best way to honor their beloved John Paul.
The enormous, exuberant crowd chanted "Benedetto! Benedetto!" and sang "Sto Lat," or "A Hundred Years," wishing him a long life.
"I ask you, finally, to share with the other peoples of Europe and the world the treasure of your faith, not least as a way of honoring the memory of your countryman, who, as the successor of St. Peter, did this with extraordinary power and effectiveness," Benedict said as he concluded his homily during the Mass in the Blonia meadow.
"I ask you to stand firm in your faith! Stand firm in your hope! Stand firm in your love! Amen!" he concluded, speaking in Polish on the last day of his trip.
Predominantly Roman Catholic Poland joined the European Union only two years ago, 15 years after the collapse of communist rule.
"He told us that we should remain ourselves, that we should stay as we were before, attached to our traditions and Christian values," said Jacek Radon, 37, a Krakow businessman. "We should carry into the European Union our attachment to faith and to Christ."
A shadow was cast over the papal visit by Saturday's attack on Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, who was to say Kaddish, or the Jewish prayer for the dead, during the ceremony led by the pope.
Schudrich told The Associated Press he was attacked in central Warsaw after confronting a man who shouted at him, "Poland for Poles!" The rabbi said the unidentified man punched him in the chest and sprayed him with what appeared to be pepper spray. He was not injured.
Police said they were treating the incident as a possible anti-Semitic attack.
Schudrich, said the most important part of Benedict's message "was his physical presence at Auschwitz" but that some Jews wished he had gone further by directly addressing anti-Semitism.
"It was a very powerful statement and the words that we heard were powerful, but I'm sure some felt a glaring omission ... on the question of anti-Semitism. Jews are very sensitive to that and we are used to hearing the words of John Paul II."
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Los Angeles, California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Associated Press that Benedict's presence at the camp and his remarks were firm reminders that Holocaust deniers were not speaking the truth.
"He wore the uniform of the Hitler Youth. For him to now go there as the pope and acknowledge the horrors the Holocaust visited on the Jewish people and all mankind is important," he said.
Benedict, 79, has reached out to Poles by delivering parts of his speeches and homilies in Polish and by retracing beloved native son John Paul II's steps. He visited John Paul's birthplace, Wadowice, and Sunday's Mass was held on the same spot where John Paul also drew large crowds on his return trips to Krakow.
Benedict has been applauded during his visit to Poland for encouraging prayers for John Paul's canonization as a saint and for saying he hopes it will happen "in the near future."
source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/14690454.htm

Andy Rooney's: "A Memorial Day Worth Celebrating"

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Brownwood & Brown County Texas Voting Survey

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Steves' Market & Deli 2000: All Rejas & Loft Living Is Local !

Steves' Market & Deli: All Rejas Is Local !
Originally uploaded by photosteve.

Kinky Friedman Salsa @ Steves' Market and Deli @ Brownwood Texas

Kinky Friedman Salsa @ Steves' Market and Deli @ Brownwood Texas
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Iraq Reality: " Iraqis shot 'for wearing shorts' "

The men were stopped in their vehicle in southern Baghdad
The coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.
Coach Hussein Ahmed Rashid and players Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda were killed in the al-Saidiya district of the capital.
Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.
Other Iraqi athletes have been targeted in recent incidents.
In this case, according to accounts, the men dropped off laundry and were then stopped in their vehicle by gunmen.
Leaflets
Two of the athletes stepped out of the car and were shot in the head, said one witness. The third was shot dead in the vehicle.
"The gunman took the body out of the car and threw it on top of the other two bodies before stealing the car," said the witness, who requested anonymity.
He said leaflets had been recently distributed in the area warning residents not to wear shorts.
Last week, 15 members of Iraq's taekwondo team were kidnapped between Falluja and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, said a member of the Iraqi Olympic Committee. The kidnappers have demanded $100,000 for their release.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5020804.stm
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Would this have taken place in Brownwood ?

COMMENTARY
Stein: An atheist and a pastor walk into a movie . . .
Joel Stein, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Friday, May 26, 2006
There are two types of Christians: Those who will let us dance and those who won't. Admittedly, much of my theology comes from "Footloose."
So, while some ministers planned protests outside theaters showing "The Da Vinci Code," senior pastor Ken Baugh of Coast Hills Community Church in Orange County, Calif., appeared on the "Today" show to encourage people to investigate the movie's claims themselves. When I found out he was considering giving congregants tickets and Starbucks gift cards so they could bring a non-church-going friend to discuss the film, I immediately thought: free nonfat venti chai.
Not only was Baugh willing to see the movie with me on Friday, he mailed me one of the 352 free iPod Shuffles he packed with his eight-part sermon about the inaccuracies in Dan Brown's bestselling book. It was the yuppie version of missionaries bribing their way into Africa.
At the Edwards Aliso Viejo Stadium 20, Baugh and I got huge sodas and buckets of popcorn and scored two of the few remaining seats at the 3:30 p.m. show. In case you ever happen to be in a similar situation, you should know that Baugh is a bit of a talker during a movie. He leaned over not just to correct historical inaccuracies but to tell me that Ian McKellen was a good actor, that the poison put into a flask was "some bad whiskey" and that he'd like to walk around Paris and take digital photos.
When we got to Starbucks after the movie, I learned that even though I'm a Jewish atheist, Baugh and I didn't think all that differently. We both found the movie slow, Tom Hanks miscast and Audrey Tautou hard to understand. Baugh found the cinematography "great," while I thought the grainy, black-and-white flashbacks were a little overused by Ron Howard, and eventually Baugh agreed.
Our conversation was far more interesting than the movie. This was undoubtedly because we were hopped up on giant Cokes and venti caffeinated beverages. We easily could have spent the hour in a raving ontological debate about Robin Williams' movie "RV."
It took Baugh only a few minutes to convince me that Brown's conspiracy theory was bunk because I was already disinclined to believe someone who tried to impress me by having a professor of "symbology" riddle out the tricky Fibonacci sequence.
I like how open Baugh was to my questions and how eager he was to check out opposing opinions. Deep into a discussion about grace, Baugh said, "Joel, you understand more about Christianity than most Christians do." I protested, and he said, "Dude, you do." It felt wonderfully Californian to be addressed by a preacher as "dude."
In the end, Baugh felt the anti-Christianity of the book was way watered down for the film and that the movie would do less damage than the Christians who protested it. "I think it reinforces the worst stereotypes about Christianity that we have opinions about things without researching them ourselves," he said. "Their way of speaking the truth is like the Crusaders: to hold a gun to your head and say, 'This is what you believe in.' "
In addition to his "Da Vinci Code" sermons, available on CD or podcast, his church is making short films and has just completed "pub evangelism" by singing Christian rock in pubs in Ireland. This is clearly the church for me, other than the Christ part.
As we finished our second enormous sugary beverages of the day, I told Baugh the film did not shake my nonbelief. He countered by noting that I had sought him out after spending the previous week investigating a Christian video game for a column. "I think God's doing something in your life, and I'm glad to be a small part of it," he said. I liked that thought a lot because it meant that God was paying attention to me. Still, I had to tell him that it wasn't enough to get me to believe. "You are one of the most honest atheists I've ever met," he said. "Most of them come with a lot of anger."
Baugh promised to stay in touch and continue our dialogue. And I really wanted to because it was nice to be reminded that people who believe in Jesus aren't simpletons impressed by magic tricks. And that, as a fourth-generation atheist, my beliefs are just as inherited as anyone's. And that if more people in the world were like Baugh, that wouldn't be a problem.
source: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/05/26stein_edit.html

The "Big Box Branding" of Brownwood Texas !

RETAILING
For retailers, the big box is part of the brand
Distinctive building designs inside and out create identities that help to hook shoppers.
By Joan Verdon
THE RECORD
Sunday, May 28, 2006

HACKENSACK, N.J. — A neon orange awning. A bright blue wedge jutting out of a storefront. A red stripe around a building. For retailers, these are signs of the times.
As retail corridors grow more crowded and municipalities clamp down on the number and size of the signs that stores use to draw shoppers, "branding the big box" has become a top concern of retailers and their architects.
Furniture retailer IKEA covers its buildings in blue and yellow, the colors of the flag of Sweden, where the company was founded. Unlike other big retailers, IKEA is unwilling to compromise on its design.
Visual cues — such as the bright orange favored by Home Depot or the red bulls-eye circle Target logo — stamp a store's identity on the mind even when no sign is visible. Those elements can turn a big box into a virtual billboard, without violating any sign ordinances.
"Branding the box, and creating an icon for the box itself, certainly is a trend," said Barry Seifer, a principal with Cubellis Marco Retail, a leading retail design firm in Michigan.
Retailers are following in the branding footsteps of McDonald's, which made its golden arches synonymous with burgers and fries decades ago. While fast-food chains need good highway visibility to drive impulse purchases, retailers are looking for ways to stand out in a landscape cluttered with otherwise indistinguishable big boxes.
The Target store planned for the Bergen Town Center complex in Paramus, N.J., will have subtle details, such as the logo cut into the facade and the use of red bands on the building, to brand it from all angles as a Target.
A giant file folder
OfficeMax has a new prototype store designed to look like a giant file folder, with a yellow tab jutting up from the building and the tab motif repeated inside the store and in all advertising.
And Babies "R" Us is making the color purple a key design element in its new stores.
Retailers strive to make their stores as recognizable as big-box leaders Home Depot or Best Buy. Best Buy's design, with a blue wedge shaped like a corner, can be applied to most storefronts without triggering zoning board or developer objections. The blue panel allows Best Buy to use relatively small signs, yet still send the message that a Best Buy is nearby.
"You recognize the blue of a Best Buy even if it is outside of your 60-degree cone of vision," said Navid Maqami, a principal in the Manhattan office of GreenbergFarrow, an architecture and engineering firm. "You know you saw it somewhere — it was that Best Buy blue — and then you turn around because your brain sort of gives you that signal that it's out there."
Retail design specialist Andrew McQuilkin thinks that branding big boxes is good for a retailer's bottom line. "I have a theory: Those who have the more iconic storefronts are more successful."
McQuilkin is vice president of design for FRCH Design Worldwide in Cincinnati, which created the OfficeMax prototype. He also led the team that created an experimental design for Linens 'n Things. FRCH cut a wavy line into the facade of the building and lighted it so the top of the building resembles a billowing white sheet. The "wave" image is repeated inside through signs and curtains hung to conceal stacked merchandise.
McQuilkin thinks retailers need to brand their stores with colors, shapes or a combination of both — images that become so linked in consumers' minds with a retailer that the retailer comes to "own" those images.
"It's easier to own a shape than it is to own a color," McQuilkin said. "If you can own both, even better. Best Buy owns a shape and a color. Home Depot owns orange. The biggest challenge in the world is red." That's because many retailers already use it. But McQuilkin thinks Target is beating the competition for ownership of that color.
Office supply chain Staples is identified by its corrugated red awning with horizontal stripes. OfficeMax recently ceded the battle for red "ownership" to Staples, and in the future wants people to think of OfficeMax when they see yellow and black.
Facing restrictions
Retailers aren't always allowed to build the iconic, branded big boxes of their dreams. Often, a developer gets approval for a shopping center, with restrictions on allowable colors and signs, before the tenants are on board. So a retailer that wants a red stripe around a building may be required to stick to the shopping center's color scheme.
Retailers start out asking to create their "A" storefront — their full prototype store with the colors, shapes and signs they want on all sides of the building, McQuilkin said.
A "B" level design lets retailers control the appearance of the entrance. A "C" level store lets them use their brand color on the building. And in a "D" level store, the only element they control is their logo on the building.
"A lot of times . . . you're stuck with what the developer has already committed to," McQuilkin said. That's why you can find Targets without a square inch of red, or a Staples without the red awning.
Architect Michael LeFande, a principal at SBLM Architects PC, said materials are another way retailers brand their stores. Home furnishings retailer IKEA uses a shiny metal paneling for its exterior; Urban Outfitters uses textured glass with a shattered appearance.
The company often cited as the most successful at branding its big box is IKEA, which covers its stores entirely in royal blue and yellow, the colors of the flag of Sweden, where the company was born.
Joseph Roth, director of public affairs for IKEA USA, said the company is upfront in telling municipal boards that its color scheme is nonnegotiable: "We're pretty straightforward: We build blue stores with yellow accents."
IKEA, however, is not yet trying to squeeze into the types of city streets and suburban centers that have caused big-box branding kings Wal-Mart and Home Depot to be more flexible.
Trying to blend in
When Home Depot converted a landmark cast-iron building in New York into its first Manhattan store, it was so sensitive to the fact that New Yorkers didn't want a garish orange box that it directed IBEX Construction to use white construction barricades instead of the planned orange ones.
Wal-Mart, which led the way in big-box branding, now has so many stores that it is re-branding itself as a company that wants its stores to blend in rather than stand out too much.
"In the past, our stores were always battleship blue and you could always tell a Wal-Mart miles and miles away," said spokeswoman Mia Masten.
"We don't build those boxes any more," Masten said. "We're dealing more with earth tones, the browns, the greens." They're also trying different styles that mirror communities.
source: http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/05/28retailsigns.html

Do you "Support the Troops" or do you "Support all the Troops" ? I "Support all the Troops" !

Top Veteran Official Joins Pentacle Debate
By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press Writer
RENO, Nev. — Over the years, families have used religious symbols such as the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross and the Islamic crescent and star to honor their loved ones on headstones and markers. For Sgt. Patrick Stewart's family, the symbol of choice was also from his religion: the Wiccan pentacle.
But of all the symbols and faiths recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Wicca and its emblem — a circle around a five-pointed star — are not among them.
Roberta Stewart looks at the Northern Nevada Veterans memorial wall where her husband's name would have been placed, in Fernley, Nev., in this March 1, 2006, file photo. Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in September and his widow is still fighting to have their religion, Wicca, recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs for use on his memorial plaque. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review Journal, Cathleen Allison)
The department is reviewing a request to include the symbol, but when a decision will come is unclear.
That has angered many. The state's top veterans official, Tim Tetz, said he was "diligently pursuing" the matter with Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
"Sergeant Stewart and his family deserve recognition for their contributions to our country," said Tetz, executive director of the Nevada Office of Veterans Services.
"It's unfortunate the process is taking so long, but I am certain Sgt. Patrick will ultimately receive his marker with the Wiccan symbol," he said Thursday.
Stewart, 34, had enlisted in the Army after he graduated from Reno's Wooster High School in 1989 and served in Desert Storm.
After completing his active duty, Stewart enlisted in the Nevada Army National Guard in 2005 and went to Afghanistan. He was killed there last September when the helicopter he was in was shot down.
Stewart, of Fernley, who was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was a follower of Wicca. Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.
The Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration allows only approved emblems of religious beliefs on government headstones.
Over the years, it has approved more than 30, including symbols for the Tenrikyo Church, United Moravian Church and Sikhs. There is also one for atheists.
Stewart's widow said she's hopeful she will receive permission for the Wiccan pentacle.
While Memorial Day services are scheduled Monday at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Roberta Stewart plans an alternative service at Fernley's Out of Town Park. She's calling it the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service.
"This is discrimination against our religion," Roberta Stewart said.
"The least his country can do is give him the symbol of faith as he would have wished," she recently told the Daily Sparks Tribune.
The Rev. Selena Fox, senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., is among those who have been pushing the federal government to adopt the emblem.
Fox said Veterans Affairs has been considering such requests for nearly nine years with no decision.
"While this stonewalling continues, families of soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice are still waiting for equal rights," Fox said.
"Sgt. Stewart was shot down by terrorists. He deserves to be recognized," she said.
Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Jo Schuda in Washington, D.C., said Friday the request was under review and she did not know when a decision would be made.

source: http://www.wacotrib.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Wiccan_Soldier.html

Is he (Bush) still making "Mistakes" ?

Fallen Troops' Families Split on Bush Talk
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press Writer
SAVANNAH, Ga. — It's been 10 months since a roadside bomb in Iraq killed Cathy Brunson's son and three fellow Georgia National Guardsmen — not long enough to heal, she says, and too late to take much comfort in President Bush's admission he's made mistakes in conducting the war.
"No matter what is said or done now, it's not going to bring back the 2,000-plus soldiers that were killed," Brunson of Sylvester, Ga., said Friday, a day after Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered sobering acknowledgments of missteps in their handling of Iraq.
John Prazynski holds a collage of his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, in this Tuesday, April 25, 2006 file photo, in his office in Fairfield, Ohio. Taylor Prazynski, 20, died in a hospital in Iraq from combat wounds on May 9, 2005. The admission on Thursday, May 25, 2006 by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony of missteps in their handling of Iraq Blair drew strong, and divided, responses from families of soldiers killed in Iraq. Prazynski of Fairfield, Ohio, refuses to judge Bush a year after his son died from shrapnel flung by an exploding mortar shell. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Her son, 30-year-old Spc. Jacques "Gus" Brunson, a former prison guard, was among 11 Georgia citizen-soldiers killed over 11 days when the National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade deployed to Iraq last year.
"For the families who have lost their sons, brothers, husbands, it is kind of late now to acknowledge that 'OK, we did make mistakes,'" said Brunson, who keeps a photo of her son on her desk at the tax assessor's office in south Georgia's rural Worth County.
The admissions by Bush and Blair drew strong, and divided, responses from families of soldiers killed in Iraq. More than 2,460 U.S. service members have died in the war since it began in March 2003.
Blair, calling the violence in Iraq "ghastly," acknowledged underestimating the insurgency's determination. Bush said he regretted some of his "tough talk" — such as saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."
Some family members criticized Bush for owning up to mistakes only after his poll numbers and public support for the war have reached all-time lows. Others said they forgave the president and continue to support the goal of establishing a stable Iraqi democracy.
Eddie Mae Owens of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., lost her nephew, Sgt. 1st Class Brett Eugene Walden, 40, last August in Iraq when a civilian fuel truck crashed into his Army vehicle. She says she still backs Bush's tough stance.
"I would rather have a president that's tough than trying to placate our enemy," Owens said. "You can always do Monday morning quarterbacking. You can always say you would have done things different if you knew what the outcome would have been."
Arnold Tyrrell, a machine operator in Polo, Ill., said Bush and his allies "are doing the best they can, for better or for worse." Tyrrell's 21-year-old son, Army Pvt. Scott Matthew Tyrrell, died in November 2003 from burns he suffered in Iraq.
"I feel the administration did the best they could with what information they had and they acted on it," Tyrrell said. "They're saying, 'OK, so we're not perfect.' You've got to jump sometimes and look back later."
John Adams of La Mesa, Calif., isn't as forgiving. His 27-year-old son, Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, was killed in the war's opening days when two Navy helicopters collided.
"There has been a horrific mismanagement of the whole operation" in Iraq, Adams said. "It might be a small step for someone who has demonstrated extreme arrogance to acknowledge there were miscues."
He added: "It's sort of like trying to unring a bell. It can't really be done."
John Prazynski of Fairfield, Ohio, refuses to judge Bush a year after his son, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, died from shrapnel flung by an exploding mortar shell.
Prazynski has stayed active in support-the-troops efforts since his son's death. He joined Bush and two wounded soldiers on opening day of the Cincinnati Reds' baseball season for pregame ceremonies last month.
"I'm certainly not going to pass judgment," Prazynski said. "If you say, 'Oh, gosh, now it's hard, let's quit,' that would make us losers."
Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia has become a peace activist since her 30-year-old son, Army Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed by an explosion in Baghdad while deployed with the Pennsylvania National Guard.
She said she was pleased to hear Bush sounding "somewhat contrite."
"But I can't help but remember all the arrogance that has come before this day," said Zappala, who attended another soldier's funeral this week at Arlington National Cemetery. "I'm still really appalled that (Donald) Rumsfeld is still the secretary of defense. How many mistakes do you have to make before you step aside?"
The Rev. Marc Unger of Exeter Baptist Church in Exeter, Calif., mourned the second anniversary Thursday of the rocket attack that killed his son, 19-year-old Army Spec. Daniel Unger. They had been exceptionally close, playing together on the church band, ministering to inmates at the local juvenile hall, and even practicing karate — both were black belts.
Despite his grief, Unger remains as supportive of the war, and of the president, as his son was when he died.
"Bush is a good president, a good man trying to do the right thing," Unger said. "He really cares. He has our absolute support."
Carol McKeever of Buffalo, N.Y., supported the war early on, but now she says Bush made a huge error by not pulling out of Iraq after Saddam Hussein's capture. It's a mistake, she says, that cost her 25-year-old son his life. Army Sgt. David McKeever was weeks away from returning to his wife and baby son when he was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad.
"If he (Bush) acknowledged that he made mistakes, well then that's a good thing. Better late than never, as long as they learn from it," McKeever said. "I mean, everybody makes mistakes but these are costly ones. These are really costly ones."

source: http://www.wacotrib.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Military_Families_Mistakes.html
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How much time will Bush, and his administration, spend in the Brig for his/their mistakes ?
Here's (below link) just one example of what happens when a small town soldier from a County which supported Bush and his Republican Party (80+%) makes a "mistake" ( except I don't think that this soldiers decision was a mistake ! ) !

click here

Trust in your leaders: What about Brownwood residents ?

U.S. residents don't trust leaders

UTICA, N.Y., May 25 (UPI) -- A Zogby Interactive poll finds that U.S. voters are more distrustful than ever of political and corporate leaders.
Only 3 percent believe Congress is trustworthy; 7 percent think business leaders are; 24 percent say President George W. Bush can be trusted; and 29 percent trust the courts.
The poll was commissioned by Jim Lichtman, an ethics specialist whose latest book is "What Do You Stand For?"
Three out of four respondents said they trust politicians less than they did five years ago.
Seventy-five percent of those polled said their friends, neighbors and co-workers are trustworthy, and an overwhelming majority -- 97 percent -- described themselves as trustworthy.

source: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060525-110248-6585r

From your Brownwood light meter to Governor Perry's Coffers

“ Ever wonder why the average Texan's electric bill has gone up nearly 80% under Governor Perry ? Or why the state's largest power company is also the state's second-largest lobbyist ? Texas has some of the highest energy costs—not to mention the dirtiest air—in the country because we have some of the dirtiest government in the country. Simple as that. ”
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As the summer goes on, you'll be hearing more and more about energy. Americans' wallets are hurting and the career politicians have run out of good ideas. In D.C., all they can propose are paper solutions like a $100 check to make up for $3/gallon gas. Here at home the only solution they have to rolling blackouts in April (April!) is fast-tracking seven new pollution-belching power plants—instead of taking advantage of God-given, non-polluting energy sources like wind and solar and biomass.

As long as our elected officials ignore the chance to innovate, Texans will never be truly independent. As soon as we elect someone with the courage to lead Texas into the future, we will. Click on the link below to donate to Kinky and help bring Clean Energy/Clean Government back to the Lone Star State. ”

source of above quotes: www.kinkyfriedman.com

“ Kinky knows clean, affordable energy will only come from clean government. ”

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Note from Steve Harris:

Brownwood, remember this as you open your light bill or when you see Republican Rick Perry's mug on your TV screen trying to sell you his “Proud of Texas, How about you” BS !

Did Home Depot's Nardelli send Brownwood a " Thank You Card " ?

Monday, May 22, 2006

Home Depot CEO Builds Huge Nest Egg
I own some Home Depot stock, so I'll be casting 30 of the 2.1 billion votes at the 2006 annual meeting Thursday. The proposals are usually dull, but there's a nice snarky one this year about excessive executive compensation that blasts company CEO Robert Nardelli:
In our view, senior executive compensation at Home Depot has been excessive in recent years. In each of the last three years, CEO Robert Nardelli has been paid a base salary of more than $1,800,000, well in excess of the IRS cap for deductibility of non-performance-based compensation. His bonus in each of those years has been at least $4,000,000, and he was awarded restricted stock valued at over $8,000,000 in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Mr. Nardelli has also received a disturbingly large amount of compensation in form of "loan forgiveness" and tax gross-ups related to that forgiveness, which totaled over $3,000,000 in each of the past three years.
We believe that the current rules governing senior executive compensation do not give stockholders enough influence over pay practices. In the United Kingdom, public companies allow stockholders to cast an advisory vote on the "directors remuneration report." Such a vote isn't binding, but allows stockholders a clear voice which could help reduce excessive pay. U.S. stock exchange listing standards do require shareholder approval of equity-based compensation plans; those plans, however, set general parameters and accord the compensation committee substantial discretion in making awards and establishing performance thresholds for a particular year. Stockholders do not have any mechanism for providing ongoing input on the application of those general standards to individual pay packages. (See Lucian Bebchuk & Jesse Fried, Pay Without Performance 49 (2004))
During the six years Nardelli has led Home Depot, he's earned $154.3 million plus millions more in stock options. The company's stock price dropped 6 percent last year and is lower than when he arrived in 2000, while in the same period, Lowe's delivered 200 percent return for its shareholders. "The board at Home Depot has rewarded Nardelli for mediocre to poor performance," Paul Lapides, director of the corporate governance center at Kennesaw State University, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "The pay for Lowe's former chairman is a quarter of Nardelli's annual pay, and Lowe's has outperformed Home Depot in the last six years."
Home Depot stacks the deck against shareholder proposals by obscuring the identity of the proponent, and the board of directors recommends a vote for or against each one. (They're against more scrutiny of executive compensation.)
One of the company's largest shareholders, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, came out in favor of this proposal last week.
A second proposal's even more blunt about Nardelli, calling for the company to stop letting one person serve as CEO and chairman of the board:
The pay-for-failure, pay-for-success, pay-for-anything-at-all attitude displayed by our board calls into serious question its effectiveness. ...
It is well to remember that at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and other legends of mis-management and/or corruption, the Chairman also served as CEO.

click here to read/make comments

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Nardelli, Home Depot under fire for 'excessive' compensation packages
Atlanta Business Chronicle - May 18, 2006

One of The Home Depot Inc.'s biggest shareholders wants to have more of a say in executive pay, noting the home improvement retailer's executive compensation has been "excessive" and that part of Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation package is "disturbingly large."
On Thursday, The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) came out in support of a proposal that will be presented at the Home Depot (NYSE: HD) annual shareholders meeting on May 25 that would give company shareholders the opportunity at each annual meeting to vote on an advisory resolution to approve the report of the company's Compensation Committee. Such an advisory vote will "allow shareowners to have a voice" in Home Depot's executive compensation practices "while not directly affecting the board's ability to set compensation policy."
Sacramento, Calif.-based CalPERS noted investment research and proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. are recommending shareholders support this proposal.
"CalPERS believes that a shareowner advisory vote of the annual compensation committee report is an effective mechanism to enhance transparency in setting executive pay, improve accountability to shareowners, and to more effectively link pay and performance," CalPERS said. "We believe such a vote may compel the board to reexamine its compensation practices and act accordingly in cases where Home Depot's compensation packages may be excessive."
As Atlanta Business Chronicle reported May 12, Nardelli was Atlanta's highest-paid CEO in 2005, making more than $100,000 a day for a total annual compensation package worth $38.1 million.
"In our view, senior executive compensation at Home Depot has been excessive in recent years." CalPERS said. "In each of the last three years, CEO Robert Nardelli has been paid a base salary of more than $1.8 million, well in excess of the IRS cap for deductibility of non-performance-based compensation. His bonus in each of those years has been at least $4 million, and he was awarded restricted stock valued at over $8 million in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Mr. Nardelli has also received a disturbingly large amount of compensation in form of 'loan forgiveness' and tax gross-ups related to that forgiveness, which totaled over $3 million in each of the past three years."
Atlanta-based Home Depot reported May 16 it had a profit of $1.5 billion on $21.5 billion in sales for the first quarter. While its profit increased, analysts were disappointed in its sales performance.
source:http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/othercities/atlanta/stories/2006/05/15/daily30.html
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Brownwood city sales tax receipts fall

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

After months of strong-to-moderate growth in sales tax receipts, the City of Brownwood saw the number go negative in May.
Brownwood’s allocations from the state this month was $520,407, a 19 percent drop from May 2005, according to Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s office. May allocation reflects March sales.
Year-to-date allocation for Brownwood was $2.25 million, a 1.4 percent drop from 2005’s year-to-date of $2.28 million.
City Finance Director Walter Middleton said he suspects the May 2005 allocation — which reflected March 2005 sales — was spiked by the economic energy of Home Depot’s opening. “Maybe the anomaly was May ’05,” Middleton said.
May 2005’s allocation was nearly 30 percent higher than May 2004, Middleton said, and the May 2006 allocation was 14 percent higher than May 2004.
He said he thinks the sales tax allocations will stabilize and begin coming back up again. He said while he suspects last year’s numbers were spiked by Home Depot, the decrease still makes him nervous. “We don’t know for sure why it’s down.
City Manager Kevin Carruth said he concurred with Middleton’s idea that Home Depot’s opening last year had raised the numbers for that month. “There are probably multiple things going on but it was the first month of Home Depot,” Carruth said. “I wouldn’t be freaked out by it yet.”
Early had a 2.85 percent increase from May 2005 to May 2006. May’s sales tax payment was $105,407, compared with $102,861 in May 2005, a 2.85 percent increase. The year-to-date payment was $514,445, compared with $363,938 in 2005, a 41 percent increase.
Bangs’ payment for May was $8,434, a 20 percent increase over May 2005’s amount of $7,023. Year-to-date for 2006 was $28,699, compared with $21,971 for the same period in 2005, a 30 percent increase.
Blanket’s payment for May was $1,941, compared with $1,807 in May 2005, a 7.4 percent increase. Year-to-date for 2006 was $5,194, compared with $4,965 for the same period in 2005, a 4.6 percent increase.
The total amount of sales tax payments to all four Brown County municipalities in May was $636,581, compared with $732,418, a 13 percent drop. The year-to-date total was $2.8 million, a 4.7 increase over last year’s year-to-date of $2.67 million.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/25/news/news01.txt
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All Corporate Welfare is local !

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All Tattoophobia is Local !

Getting inked: Students learn art of, reasons for tattoos in America

March 31, 2005
By STEPHANIE HUTSON, reporter

A self-described "Baylor blonde" stands in the Dream Connection tattoo parlor late one night watching a young girl get her lower stomach and hips tattooed with angel wings.
Houston sophomore Stephanie Baker watched the scene as part of a requirement for her cultural anthropology project.
When she asked the girl her reason for getting "inked," she said she had a tough week, and the tattoo reminds her that everything turns out OK.
Professor Garrett Cook is challenging his undergraduate anthropology students by requiring them to step outside of their comfort zones and the Baylor Bubble to encounter foreign cultures in the Waco community.
"The goal is to design a whole cultural environment," Cook said. "Students do exactly what an anthropologist could do in the Kalahari Desert, but right here in town."
Cook and Sara Alexander, an associate professor in the environmental studies department, introduced the project several years ago and originally did not require students to travel off campus to participate.
"The reports weren't all that interesting," Cook said. "It didn't seem like they were getting inside the culture. I came to realize that if you are trying to describe a culture you already know about, it is hard to do because you already know it, it seems like common sense, and you can't think of anything to say."
Looking for 'alien culture'
Many students would observe student culture at the local coffee house, cafeteria or in the library. Cook found a need to expand the project and require students to observe a foreign culture outside of the Baylor community.
"When we do field work, we're encountering an unusual alien culture and trying to understand it," Cook said. "I felt the best way to get the students to do this was to try to get them to encounter something different."
Many times, students will try to find an idea that they consider exotic or highly unusual. Cook tries to emphasize that any culture they are unfamiliar with can be exciting.
"Students always want to do something exotic or bizarre," Cook said. "Anything you don't know about can be exotic, and it doesn't have to be romanticized on television."
Through the years, Cook has seen groups do projects on topics ranging from high school students cruising Valley Mills Drive to observations of old men stink bait fishing on the Brazos River.
Baker and Brownwood sophomore Jill Roby are conducting their field study in local tattoo parlors.
"We attend the parlor about four times in the course of the project for two or three hours at a time to observe and ask questions to both the tattoo artists and those receiving tattoos," Baker said. "Our group goal is primarily to find out more about the culture of tattoo artists, their motivations, their feelings and attachments to their art, as well as their own tattoos they might have."
The project may pose a moral dilemma for some students; the observation process may require students to observe practices some students are against, like pagan religious ceremonies or alcohol use.
Wanted: Openmindedness
Cook stresses the need for students to approach the project with an open mind, because he says that is the best way to learn.
"This can be a challenge to Baylor students who may not approve of some practices. To learn, they must participate and be empathetic and open in a respectful way," Cook said. "Don't stand back and be judgmental; instead, try to see the culture from the inside."
Roby admitted she had preexisting ideas about the types of people who receive tattoos and the artists that design them. Some of her ideas were correct, but many individuals within the culture shattered her stereotypical views.
"There were several interesting artists who are proud of their work, and it means a lot to them that people are walking around with their artwork on their bodies," Roby said.
The students operate primarily through participant observation. Cook encourages students to find a mentor within the culture that will trust them and be willing to show them the culture. The students learn through observation and in-depth interviewing.
"For anthropology students, if they are doing their work right, it works out like an apprenticeship," Cook said. "The key is finding someone who will be their teacher to teach them about the culture."
Finding similar differences
Apart from the goal of teaching anthropology students the process of observing a culture and producing a report, called an ethnography, Cook said he hopes his students will leave the experience with a grander understanding of how others live.
"The other goal I think is important for all of us is to have an encounter with people who are apparently different than us, and then you get to know them and you recognize that there is a common humanity that underlies everything," Cook said.
Both Baker and Roby were surprised and interested by people's motivations for getting tattoos. Baker said she has learned it is easier for people to open up and talk to her if she first tells them a little about herself.
"People have stories behind the tattoos they choose," Roby said. "It may be a soldier who has returned home and is getting a tattoo to symbolize some military experience. Others want something that will represent their personality."
According to Cook, many students who traveled to Belize and Guatemala with him to study the Mayan culture had life-changing experiences.
Cook also says he sees those kinds of reactions among his students conducting observations in the Waco area, especially those studying the homeless.
"Our goal is to learn about their culture," Cook said. "In the process of doing that, we unavoidably form relationships with the people who are teaching us, and sometimes that has a transformative effect on a person. It is a real growth experience, and I want that for my students."

source: http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=23325
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Tattoo artist seeks alliance to make tattooing, piercing safer
Much to consider for those in tattoo industry

Monday, May 22, 2006
By Cindy V. Culp
Tribune-Herald staff writer

As someone who prides himself on being a professional artist, Zac Colbert hates that 40 percent of the tattooing he does involves fixing someone else’s shoddy work. Adding insult to injury, he said, is that many of those same customers also have a staph infection or some other medical problem because of their botched ink.
The public deserves better, Colbert said. That’s why he is trying to form a professional association that would hold local tattoo artists to high standards and help the public know which shops are reputable.
“I have so many people come in here that I truly feel bad for,” said Colbert, who owns Southern Culture Kustom Tattoo in Waco. “This is still kind of a taboo industry, so a lot of times people don’t want to ask questions or they don’t know what questions to ask, and then they end up with something bad.”
The group, which Colbert plans to call the Waco Alliance of Professional Tattoo Artists and Body Piercers, would be open to all local artists who meet minimum criteria. For starters, they would have to have at least four years of professional experience, a portfolio of high-quality work and references in the field, Colbert said.
But they also would have to pass a drug test and show that they have adequate knowledge of sterilization techniques and blood-borne pathogens, Colbert said. In addition, they would have to agree to attend regular meetings where members would get updates about the latest developments in the field, he said.
Those who meet the standards would be given certification papers to display at their work stations, Colbert said. Also, cooperating shops would get a logo to put on the front of their business, he said.
Centralizing information
In addition, the names of alliance members would be placed on a list made available to the public, Colbert said. That way, people interested in getting a tattoo would know which places are safe to go, he said.
“There is so much to doing this job right that people don’t know about,” said Colbert, 29. “This would be a central source of information.”
Although participating shops or artists could potentially get more business because of the alliance, Colbert said that is not his motivation. His shop has just about as much business as it can handle, he said.
Rather, Colbert said, he is forming the alliance because of a recent proliferation of tattoo and piercing businesses in the area. Within the past few years, the county has gone from having just a couple of shops to eight. Some of the newer businesses operate legally and cleanly, he said, but others are a threat to both customers and the industry as a whole.
For example, one of the newer shops Colbert visited recently wasn’t licensed, didn’t have proper sterilization equipment and was just generally filthy, he said.
“It was the most appalling thing I could imagine,” Colbert said of the shop. “The guys said blatantly to my face that they were just scratchers, that they were learning on the public.”
T.J. Strey, owner of Big Daddy’s Tattoo Studio in Waco, agreed that something needs to be done to protect the public from substandard shops. Although the state has a licensing process, it’s weak for several reasons, he said.
For one thing, licenses are given to shops, not individual artists, Strey said. So once a studio is approved, the state has no say in who is hired or whether they are competent.
Even worse, Strey said, is that the state does virtually no enforcement. Most shops see an inspector once a year, if that, he said.
“(The alliance) is a wonderful idea,” Strey said. “Whoever is in the industry needs to know what they are doing.”
Not everyone is as supportive of the idea, however. Woody, a manager at Dream Connection Tattoos and Body Piercing who goes by his first name only professionally, said he has no problem drug-testing artists or having them pass proficiency tests. But he does take issue with the experience requirement.
“I’ve seen work from new artists that is cleaner than from someone who has done it for 14, 15 years,” said Woody, 35.
Shawn Watson, a manager at Steel Concepts Tattoo & Body Piercing Studio in Waco, also has doubts about Colbert’s plan. Like Woody, he dislikes the fact that new artists couldn’t join the alliance.
“That’s kind of putting people who have been around for a while on a pedestal,” said the 33-year-old Watson.
Cramping their style?
Watson said he also thinks many tattoo artists and piercers would balk at the idea of drug testing for privacy reasons. Plus, he worries that a drug-testing requirement could make artists look like “goody-two-shoes.”
“People come to tattoo shops to go visit the wild and unusual,” Watson said. “They don’t go to tattoo shops to see preppy Baylor guys get Polo tattoos.”
Colbert, however, said he thinks most customers would want to know whether the person using a needle on them is sober. He added that he wouldn’t want anyone under the influence working on him.
As for the experience requirement, Colbert said new artists would be welcome to participate in the alliance while they wait to become full members. For example, they could take the safety tests and use the fact that they passed to bolster their business. They just wouldn’t be included on the list of members given to the public, he said.
Colbert said he wants to get the alliance started as soon as possible. Once a few artists have been certified, he will start putting out information about the alliance via brochures and fliers at participating shops and other places.
Eventually, Colbert said, he would like the alliance to hold public awareness meetings, possibly in conjunction with city officials. At such meetings, people could ask questions about tattooing or piercing and get information about local shops. Such sessions would be particularly beneficial for parents who have concerns about their children getting tattooed or pierced, he said.
“It will take the cooperation not only of the shops but also of the public wanting to be aware,” Colbert said.
For more information about the alliance proposal or to volunteer to help with the effort, call Colbert at 757-1903.
cculp@wacotrib.com

757-5744
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/22/05222006wactattoos.html
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Who in Brownwood is prejudiced against those who wear tatoos ? Who in Brownwood tries to demonize those who wear tatoos ? What reporter uses "tatoo man" over and over again (negative word association?) in his reporting of a altercation ?
Hint:
Displaying 1-1 of 1 result(s) found.
Police lecture on use of bad language slow to sink in
A Brownwood police officer lectured a man about offending people by his use of bad language, and asked the man if he had anything to say. The man told Sgt. Vince Ariaz he didn t have any (expletive) thing to say, Ariaz report states. I told him he...
2.7K - Dec. 19, 2005; scored 1000.0
source: brownwood bulletin

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Who in Brownwood treats tatoo wearers with disrespect, prejudice, and religious based/inspired intolerance ? Tatoo prejudice, a learned bahaviour !
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"The Army is America. We are America's sons and daughters. America's sons and daughters are getting tattoos. That means that American soldiers are getting tattoos," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.

Army relaxes tattoo rules to attract recruits
Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:27 AM ET
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, which missed its recruiting goal last year, has relaxed its policy banning certain types of tattoos in a bid to attract new soldiers who otherwise would have been barred from serving.
The Army will now allow new recruits and all its current soldiers to have tattoos on their hands and back of their necks as long as they are not "extremist, indecent, sexist or racist," Army officials said on Wednesday.
The Army said it continues to prohibit tattoos anywhere on the head, face or throat area.
But it will allow women recruits and soldiers to sport "permanent makeup" in the form of indelible eye-liner, eyebrows and lip makeup. The Army said this permanent makeup "should be conservative and complement the uniform and complexion in both style and color, and will not be trendy."
Officials said the policy change was made because the Army understands that the number of young men and women with tattoos or permanent makeup has grown in recent years.
"The Army is America. We are America's sons and daughters. America's sons and daughters are getting tattoos. That means that American soldiers are getting tattoos," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
"The Army is continuing to update our personnel policies. We have people who are otherwise qualified who want to serve and who have answered the call to duty," Hilferty added, and it made no sense to continue to bar them from serving.
"Clearly, if you have a sexist, a racist or a gang tattoo, you are unfit for duty -- you have been and you continue to be," Hilferty said.
The tattoo policy marks the latest move by the Army to try to boost its ability to attract recruits. The Army has raised the maximum age for enlistment, offered a series of financial incentives for signing up, increased the number of recruiters and hired a new advertising agency.
The Army missed by about 7,000 its goal of recruiting 80,000 in fiscal year 2005, which ended on October 1. It was one of the toughest recruiting years since the all-volunteer military was created in 1973.
Army officials have attributed last year's shortfall in part to wariness among young people about volunteering to serve during the Iraq war. While the Army has achieved its monthly recruiting goals in fiscal 2006, it continues to lag behind the number of recruits netted compared to last year at the same time.
The Army cited a 2003 survey of 1,010 people conducted at the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University that found that roughly 30 percent of U.S. adults under age 35 have tattoos, and that the U.S. post-baby boom generations are more than three times as likely as the baby boom generation to have tattoos.
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Kinky Friedman Letters to the Editor

Vote for Kinky! (Seriously)

Star-Telegram Letters to the Editor Monday May 22, 2006

I'd like to respond to Cathryn Sykes, who chastised her friend for supporting Kinky Friedman's run for governor. (See Thursday letter "Get serious!")
Sykes wrote that her friend should consider a "serious" candidate. Exactly this kind of thinking has Texans and Americans alike voting for self-serving windbags who are in bed with business and business interests. (I refer to both Republicans and Democrats.)
With representation like this, how can the true interests of the people be tended to?
To return the state and federal governments to the people, we need men and women with Friedman's spirit in our political leadership. We aren't all blue-blooded, groomed-from-birth, partisan politicians, and I don't believe that any law mandates that our elected officials have to be.
Maybe Sykes should look at Friedman's Web site and see that he not only has clear, solid stances on the important issues facing the state and nation but that his overwhelming base of support is proof that he's a "serious" candidate and will be a major contender in the November election.

Bobby Don Taylor, North Richland Hills
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Although Sykes' friend may not know Friedman's position on the issues, some people are serious about voting for him and do know his positions.
I have to admit that I wasn't 100 percent sure of Friedman's stances on some of the issues that Sykes raised. So I looked on his Web site and found answers.
Friedman says that he's for the people of Texas, not big donors or lobbyists. He wants to make Texas "a leader in renewable energy industries."
One of Friedman's ideas for border security entails working with the governors of New Mexico and Arizona to develop a border security plan that benefits all the states. His plans for education are too numerous to mention.
Perhaps Sykes should look at Friedman's Web site. Yes, there are one-liners, but also answers. I am serious, and I'm voting for Kinky Friedman for governor.

Diane Turner, Arlington
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Sykes' letter was exactly what Friedman's campaign is about.
It's about not being "serious" like the other candidates, the ones who take enormous amounts of cash from corporations and then take directions from professional lobbyists.
If Sykes would follow the money on the Texas Ethics Commission Web site and study the legislation, she would see how it has affected her life. Attending a few bill hearings in Austin would erase all doubt as to who controls our state.
Contrary to Sykes' statements, Friedman's Web site has position statements covering most issues. Apparently she relies mostly on corporate media outlets for information, rather than primary sources of information.
This is the type of voter whom "serious" politicians want -- ones who receive carefully packaged snips of information and then repeat it as truth and reality.
Friedman wants us to think and then work at taking our government back. It's not that hard. An organized people's lobby may someday challenge the hostile corporate takeover of our state government.
Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to say one day that it was a Jewish provocateur (Kinky Friedman, not Jesus) who threw the money changers out of the Capitol.

Jim Bates, Watauga
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Sykes faulted her "intelligent" friend for supporting Friedman and suggested it would be a waste to vote for a "comedian" rather than "serious" candidates.
I submit that "intelligent" people are those who refuse to accept the status quo. What intelligence is involved in re-electing those who repeat the same mistakes over and over? That seems unintelligent to me.

Moksha Todd, Arlington
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As a longtime subscriber, I'd appreciate some balance to the anti-Kinky crowd epistles.
If they think that a professional comedian would automatically be less qualified for Texas governor, they haven't been paying attention to the devastation left by the last two amateur clowns who've held that office.
Let's give a populist nonpolitician a chance to find real solutions to carefully defined real problems instead of those who use backdoor legislation to line their fat-cat supporters' pockets.

Daniel R. Stoller, Fort Worth
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I disagree with a letter writer's disparagement of her "intelligent" friend for "throwing her vote away" on a mere comedian, Kinky Friedman.
Kinky isn't just a comedian. He's also an accomplished writer, musician and philosopher. Other candidates can claim no distinction other than being "mere" politicians.
I welcome the opportunity to put my trust in a comedian rather than a mere politician. This sort of opportunity comes only rarely.
We've endured a governor who's a joke. Now let's elect a professional !

George Staples, Hurst
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And now let us present Sykes’ Letter (below) that the above letters referenced.....

Get serious !
A person I normally think of as intelligent told me the other day that she was thinking of voting for Kinky Friedman for governor.
I resisted an impulse to call her an idiot. I just asked her what Friedman's position was on water conservation. On utility regulation? Taxes? Education? Government corruption and campaign reform? Border security? Health coverage? Agriculture? Energy?
Of course, she had no answers because Friedman has no answers -- only clever one-liners.
You don't address the serious issues affecting people's lives with one-liners. And you shouldn't waste your vote on someone whose governmental "skills" consist of cracking jokes and chomping on cigars!
Enjoy Kinky's "campaign." Laugh at his jokes. But for God's sake, don't hand the governorship of Texas to a comedian.
We have some serious candidates. Check their Web sites to learn their positions on the issues that will affect us all for the next four years. Watch their speeches on TV. Read what they say in the newspaper.
Then, for God's sake, get serious when you walk into that voters' booth in November.
Cathryn Sykes, Springtown
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No more joke than foes

Re: "Friedman is just a joke," by A.E. Douglas, Tuesday Letters.
Which of the other candidates are not jokes?
There's Rick Perry, who, after many years as governor, makes a poor attempt at an 11th-hour stay of execution of our public schools. Or the tough grandma, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who won't give any answers to Texas' problems, serious or comical.
And we have the token Democrat ... what's his name again?
Kinky has given plenty of good ideas to many of Texas' problems. And unlike most politicians, he admits not knowing everything and vows to consult others.
Yes, he's unconventional, but where has conventional gotten us?
Joey Grissaffi, Tyler

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/letters/stories/DN-2pletters_0521edi.ART.State.Edition1.8b6d46e.html

Perry's Boots were made for walkin: Right out of the Gov's Mansion !

Kinky forces infiltrate Capitol; no one booted
Perry gracious in face of three Friedman visitors.
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Strange: Kinky Friedman's campaign director and another Kinky loyalist dallied with Gov. Rick Perry on Monday and even walked off with a pair of Perry's boots.
Stranger: No one brought up Friedman hoping to boot Perry from power.
Gov. Rick Perry didn't seem to mind that Dean Barkley, left, Kinky Friedman's campaign director, and another Kinky supporter won his boots. The money will go to the Texas Disaster Relief Fund.
Paul Hines of San Antonio, a Friedman supporter, won the gubernatorial invite by bidding $4,050 in an online auction for two pairs of boots, one owned by Perry and the other by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with proceeds benefitting the Texas Disaster Relief Fund.
The hand-crafted boots were donated in a Rose Bowl wager.
Dean Barkley, Friedman's campaign director, was Hines' silent bidding partner. Hines' son, Sam, 13, wearing a Friedman shirt under his duds, also made the trip to the Capitol.
Barkley says he told the governor: "There's a lot of people wanting to fill your shoes. This is a quick and cheap way of doing it."
Perry let that slide.
"The governor is very gracious," gubernatorial spokeswoman Kathy Walt said. "It was an auction for a good cause. It doesn't matter where the dollars came from."
Sam Hines gets to wear Perry's boots this week "so he can be a chick magnet," said Barkely, who plans to keep the boots after that. "Those are going to be my good luck boots."

source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/23kinky.html
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Perry does a quickstep as rival camp takes spotlight
Friedman aide, backer win governors' boots at storm victim benefit
06:34 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 23, 2006
By PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – When the winners of a hurricane-relief auction showed up to claim two pairs of autographed gubernatorial cowboy boots, Gov. Rick Perry took a kick in the shins.
One of the boot buyers turned out to be Dean Barkley, campaign manager of independent gubernatorial candidate and Perry opponent Kinky Friedman. For $4,050, he and a fellow Friedman supporter took home the shiny, new Perry boots, size 13, and a used pair donated by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The governor cracked a couple of jokes about sweaty feet and holes in socks and wrapped up a packed news conference in under 45 seconds, with no mention of hurricane relief or the Rose Bowl wager that led to the auction.
"Thank you. We appreciate you guys," he said, tossing a pointed farewell over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "So long."
Mr. Barkley, a self-described memorabilia junkie, said there was no political dirty trickery intended, no aim to hijack the governor's feel-good media event – just the signed, black Justin calfskins.
"We're respectful, but it was a nice chance to fill the governor's boots – early," said Mr. Barkley. "I am going to put them on my mantel and look at them every day."
Before running the election effort of Mr. Friedman, a songwriter-turned-author-turned-politician, Mr. Barkley oversaw the successful 1998 campaign of Minnesota wrester-turned-mayor-turned-governor Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
His fellow purchaser and Friedman supporter, telecommunications executive Paul Hines, beat out five other bidders, using the eBay handle "wrapitup-and-chargit." Mr. Hines, president of San Antonio Telephone Co. Inc., said he'll give his 13-year-old son, Sam, the slightly worn, size-13 crocodile kicks donated by Mr. Schwarzenegger.
The boots were the subject of a friendly wager between the governors over the outcome of the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl won by the University of Texas Longhorns over the University of Southern California Trojans. The state leaders agreed they would be auctioned together to benefit the winning governor's designated charity.
Mr. Perry established the Texas Disaster Relief Fund in September to help citizens and communities in need after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
E-mail pslover@dallasnews.com

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-boot_23tex.ART.State.Edition1.13048302.html

--------------
Note from Steve: Surprised Perry didn't pull a JBL ! Who's JBL ? Jest ask KXYL's JC Mclain to tell you about JBL buying his own donated boots at the ACU fundraiser !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Layfield

" Perry's retaliation " : Oh, so that's how Perry got his School Finance Bill passed !

Tentative education bill isn't satisfactory to everyone
By Dave McNeely
May 21, 2006

Your job, Mr. Sharp - should you choose to accept it - is to devise a school finance tax restructuring plan that can pass a divided Texas Legislature that's tried and failed five times in three years, whose leaders don't much like each other.
This tape will self-destruct only slightly faster than previous attempts at tax reform.
* * *
John Sharp, the former state comptroller, chose to accept it. After all, the Democrat had proposed the idea to his former Aggie buddy Rick Perry, who'd beaten Sharp for lieutenant governor in 1998 and became governor when George W. Bush became president.
The challenge: Cut local property taxes by a third. Put Robin Hood out to pasture. Replace the money by switching from the loophole-ridden franchise tax to a broader business tax many more pay.
It took 29 of the 30 days in a special session to do it. But Perry, House Speaker Tom Craddick and the Texas Senate's presiding officer, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, called it a landmark victory - especially with a June 1 court deadline looming to fix the system.
How about school policy?
Just the tax plan, Perry told Sharp. Leave any education changes, including teacher pay, for others to deal with, later.
The session had its critics. A handful of Democratic House members claimed credit for forcing the $2,000 teacher salary hike - $500 of it a reinstatement of an insurance stipend removed earlier - but said it should have been double or triple that. Earmarking the business tax solely for property tax reduction, with nothing for schools, is folly. And the tax package shifts tax burdens from those making well over $100,000 a year to those making less.
Democrats, led by Reps. Jim Dunnam of Waco, Pete Gallego of Alpine,and Garnet Coleman and Scott Hochberg of Houston, said the package also will dig the state into a $25 billion hole over the next five years, requiring either spending cuts or tax increases before long.
They were joined in that prediction by the Loud Grandma, State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state's tax collector who's running for governor as an independent, but also the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank - and even the Legislature's own Legislative Budget Board.
Strayhorn challenged Perry to veto the bill. Perry said he would eagerly sign it, essentially saying the criticisms are questionable.

Getting the legislation through was a mixture of cooperating and co-opting. Perry handpicked the commission. Sharp took it around the state for public hearings. He and Perry cut deals with powerful lobby groups like the Realtors, car dealers and doctors, to get them to endorse the package even before all details were final. Other lobby groups, fearing Perry's retaliation, fell in line.

The share-the-wealth system set up in 1993 to achieve equal spending per student had richer districts sending money to poorer ones.
The state's share of public school funding gradually slipped to about 38 percent. But the tax rate had hit the cap of $1.50 per $100 valuation in hundreds of school districts. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that those school districts no longer had any leeway to set their tax rate, amounting to an unconstitutional statewide property tax.
Even opponents say the court will probably approve the plan, though there may be appeals to the court to amplify its earlier finding that the state should spend more on schools, and have a long-term plan.
Sharp and Perry claimed mission accomplished. But Dunnam said it has about as much meaning as President Bush's claim three years ago about the war in Iraq.
Dunnam, several other Democrats, and several lobbyists predict plenty of efforts to revise the package, when the Legislature returns in January for its 140-day regular session. The battle between tax cuts and more money for schools goes on.


Contact McNeely at dmcneely@austin.rr.com or (512) 458-2963.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_7981_4715015,00.html

QUOTE

" I congratulate Leininger, He wanted to buy the reins of state government. And by God, he got them . "

Texas Democrat John Sharp comments on Republican Governor Rick Perry's "Sugar Daddy" Dr. James Leininger.

Read more

Here

about the Leininger/Perry connection. And you've/we've been told that "prostitution in Texas" is illegal !

Brownwood mosquitos: Do " People need to know if West Nile has been found in their community." ?

West Nile virus gets early start
By BILL HANNA
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
With the West Nile virus already showing up in Dallas and Houston, Texas health officials are wondering if there could be another major outbreak this summer.
But they aren't sure if the two early cases are anything to be worried about.
"Whether this bodes badly for the state is a crapshoot," said Jim Schuermann, a staff epidemiologist for the Texas Department of Health.
That sentiment was echoed by David Jefferson, a division manager of environmental health for Tarrant County Public Health.
"Is this something to be 'Oh my God' about? I don't think so," Jefferson said. "These two cases could be just anomalies or they could indicate an earlier start to the season. We really can't say anything other than it's piqued our interest."
The season normally starts in June and peaks in August.
West Nile first appeared in Texas in 2002. Humans are infected by mosquitos carrying the virus, but about 80 percent of those bitten never get sick.
Trapping and testing mosquitoes has already begun in the Houston area and will begin next week in Tarrant County.
"We found West Nile in 12 different ZIP codes around the Houston area, which is what we would have expected to find," Schuermann said. "Right now, we're still thinking this is going to be a normal year with 100 to 150 cases or slightly less."

IN THE KNOW
West Nile virus
Human infections in Texas
2002: 202 cases, 12 fatalities
2003: 439 cases, 40 fatalities
2004:119 cases, 8 fatalities
2005: 125 cases, 11 fatalities
How to avoid West Nile virus
Wear loose clothing with long sleeves outdoors.
Drain standing water near homes.
Cover trash cans.
Apply insect repellent that contains DEET.
Stay indoors at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

SOURCE: Texas Department of Health
Bill Hanna, (817) 390-7698 billhanna@star-telegram.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14628035.htm
-------------------
Note from Steve Harris,

Does Brownwood have a WNV risk map ?

Does this apply to Brownwood people too ? "People need to know if West Nile has been found in their community."

read more here

--------------
Wonder what a current (updated) map would show ? Or is there a current map ?

here's the 4/22/03 map

Brownwood Puppies, are they sold this way too ?

3 are treated for rabies exposure
By TRACI SHURLEY
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

STAR-TELEGRAM
Map: Rabid puppy
A pit bull puppy that was sold out of the back of a pickup in a Decatur parking lot about three weeks ago had rabies, and three people are now being treated for rabies exposure, the Wise County Sheriff's Department said Friday.
Authorities are looking for the person who was selling puppies in the parking lot of either the Wal-Mart Supercenter on U.S. 287 South or the nearby Tractor Supply Co. The buyer doesn't remember the exact date, but it was in late April or early May, according to a news release.
The infected dog bit its new owner and his 17-year-old sister this week. The two, along with a toddler who was exposed to the puppy's saliva, are being treated for rabies exposure, said Sgt. Cathy Sides, the Wise County animal control officer.
The buyer did not get the seller's name or where he lives, Sides said. The buyer did see the man sell at least one other dog, she said.
The pickup is a late 1980s or early 1990s model Ford that may be dark blue and is rusted.
The puppy probably contracted rabies from a skunk, Sides said. Infected skunks are known to attack litters of puppies or kittens, she said.
Authorities don't know whether the puppy was infected before or after it was sold.
"That's why we're trying to find these people," Sides said.
The puppy's new owner took it to a veterinarian this week when it began behaving strangely.
Rabies was suspected, and the puppy was euthanized Thursday, Sides said. Its head was shipped to the Department of State Health Services in Austin for testing.
The positive results came back Friday, Sides said.
The new owner, his sister and the toddler will begin a series of shots immediately. That treatment includes one injection of rabies immune globulin and five injections of rabies vaccine, said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the state Health Department. The doses are injected into a patient's arm over 28 days, he said.
A Houston teenager died last week of rabies contracted from a bat that flew into his bedroom.
Doctors believe he was bitten several weeks before he showed symptoms, according to news reports.
The typical incubation period for rabies is three to eight weeks, McBride said.
Sides said officials recommend that buyers of any animal get contact information from the seller and immunization records for the animal.
Help find puppy-seller

Anyone with information about the puppy-seller or the whereabouts of other puppies he sold is asked to call the Wise County Sheriff's Department at (940) 627-5971.
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/14628200.htm

Puppies and PTSD: What's up with the misinformation coming from KXYL talking heads ?

Note from Steve:

Was listening to KXYL Friday morning and heard talking heads ( JC and Jessee w/Griffs help! ) discussing the recent Brown/Comanche puppy rescue (see story below) and was surprised to hear that the Brown County Humane Society Shelter was a "No Kill" facility ( I've been told they euthenize (kill) over 200 animals a month at the Brownwood facility! ). Apparently KXYL's JC McClain had a concern that "outsiders" would come to this area and participate in this action. Fortunately, a female caller (cary), called in and corrected the misinformation coming out over the airwaves of KXYL. She also spoke to

these issues

This incident reminded me of the misinformation being put out over the airwaves of KXYL recently when the talking heads, with Griff's help, said that the injured Brownwood soldier (see below) "must not be too bad since he's not listed as a patient at Brownwood Regional Hospital". ( note: He was airlifted to San Angelo's Shannon Hospital ! ) This is the same show where the two KXYL talking heads substituted "PT Jim Beam" for PTSD noted in the news story on the front page article of the Brownwood Bulletin.
-------------------
Austin animal workers rescue 30 dogs
11:39 PM CDT on Saturday, May 13, 2006
By SHELTON GREEN / KVUE News
The Humane society said the more than 30 dogs they rescued Friday will be ready for adoption in two days.
Animal groups returned to Austin Friday afternoon after rescuing about 30 daschunds.

KVUE News
Workers say the dogs were kept in squalid conditions.
The Austin Humane Society and All Texas Daschund Rescue say the animals were being bred and housed in a cramped and dirty home in a town about three hours north of Austin.
The Comanche County Animal Rescue Society in Brownwood, Texas sent out an e-mail alert. Animal workers claim the woman there was raising more than 100 dogs -- most of them daschsunds, a few boxers and a few chihuahas.
The woman was selling the dogs for profit outside of a Brownwood donut shop. That is not against the law in Comanche County.
The problems, say rescuers, is the fact that the animals were not registered and were found in a horrible environment.
"These conditions are deplorable and there are physically disabled animals that need treatment," said Barbara Lewis, All Texas Daschund Rescue, in a release. "When I went into this house it was unbelievable."
Most of the dogs in the home were dacshunds.
The dogs will undergo medical treatment in Austin and hopefully find new homes.
The Austin Humane Society has a no kill policy, and they say that's one reason they helped rescue the animals, because they believe that they will all eventually be adopted.
KVUE Online Video
KVUE's Shelton Green reports
They still need a couple of days before they're ready or adoption.
For more information, go to www.austinhumanesociety.org or call 512-837-7985.
source: http://www.kvue.com/news/green/stories/051206kvuedogrescue-cb.3590ba3a.html
----------------------------
Man injured after jumping from pickup on overpass
A 23-year-old passenger was injured when he jumped or climbed out of a pickup as it was driven across the Truman Harlow Overpass early Sunday morning, police said. Samuel Juarez Jr. was taken to the Brownwood Regional Medical Center emergency room af...
3.2K - Mar. 14, 2006; scored 775.0
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/shared-content/search/index.php?search=go&o=0&l=20&s=relevance&r=Subject%2CAuthor%2CContent&d1=05-06-2005&d2=05-20-2006&q=overpass
-----------------

follow the puppy trail here

and here

The Politics of Lake Brownwood State Park and her conditions !

Parks officials say money not keeping up with needs
Needs in equipment, repairs, personnel.
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, May 20, 2006

Texas parks officials said Friday that they need about 38 percent more money per year to pay for day-to-day operations at state parks.
In addition, figures presented to the department's State Park Advisory Committee called for millions more for equipment, major repairs and road repairs.
"In order to pay for the base bills, we have had to stop buying equipment; basically, we have had to stop doing minor repairs," said Scott Boruff, deputy executive director of operations at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Parks officials have warned in recent months that they have no money to acquire new parks or repair and improve the roughly 120 parks and historic sites already in the system. They're looking for ways to persuade the Legislature to increase their funding during the 2007 session.
Officials say they have about $49.5 million to operate the parks this year, compared with $50.1 million in 2002.
During that time, they say, annually recurring operating costs have increased $6 million, and they estimate that they could use about $18.8 million more for daily operating expenses such as small repairs, hiring of new employees and new materials.
Texas state parks are funded primarily by a statewide sales tax on sporting goods, which generates about $105 million a year. The share for parks, however, has been capped by the Texas Legislature at less than one-third of that so the rest can be used for general state spending.
A subcommittee of the Park Advisory panel spelled out some of the parks' needs Friday. Beyond the additional money for daily operations, the subcommittee called for $25 million in major repairs, $15 million in road repairs and $6.6 million for equipment.
As of 2003, the most recent year available, Texas ranked 49th among states in per capita spending on state parks and recreation, said John Crompton of the Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Department at Texas A&M University.
Voters approved $101.5 million in bonds for Parks and Wildlife programs in 2001, and about $46 million of that has not yet been issued.
Over the next couple months, parks officials and the advisory committee will work on strategies, including making their case to lawmakers as they head into the 2007 legislative session.
Advisory Committee Chairman John Montford, a former chairman of the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, said he understands as well as anybody that lawmakers must pay for many services, such as education and health care.
"I hope we can be part of some creative ideas to help the (Parks and Wildlife) Commission and the Legislature solve some of these problems," Montford said.

jembry@statesman.com; 445-3654
source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/20parks.html
-------------
Note from Steve Harris, I recently spoke with Republican State Representative Jim Keffer (Brownwood Rep.) on the airwaves of KXYL 96.9 FM (Brownwood Talk Radio) regarding this issue. Keffer was a call-in guest on the topic of school financing and mentioned the 8.2 billion budget surplus. I requested that Keffer and his peers in the Capitol (including Brownwood's Republican Senator Troy Frasier) consider replacing the monies that were stripped away from the state parks since a portion of that surplus was made from the deep cuts to our State Park System. I also asked Mr Keffer how many State Parks he had in his district. He said 2 that he could think of but that he knew he had more than that. Here is a list of the State Parks in Mr Keffers district:

Acton SHS
Fort Griffin SP & SHS
Lake Brownwood SP
Lake Mineral Wells Trailway (part)
Possum Kingdom SP
----------------------
Side note from Steve: I wonder how many of our elected officials visit our State Park System (as consumers) or support the system by purchasing this

Texas State Parks Pass

?

source: http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:XzegEazwDncJ:houston.sierraclub.org/news/2006/0404a.pdf+jim+keffer+state+parks&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=safari

Do Brownwoodians agree with Stenholm or Kinky Friedman on Texas Horse Slaughter ?

House Votes to Stop Horse Slaughter
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER , 05.19.2006, 04:55 PM

Lawmakers are again trying to stop horses from being slaughtered and sent abroad for food.
The House adopted a provision Thursday that would prohibit the Bureau of Land Management from selling wild horses and burros to slaughterhouses. By voice vote, the amendment was attached to a spending bill for the Department of the Interior, the BLM's parent agency.
American horse meat is sold mostly for consumption in Europe and Asia, though some goes to U.S. zoos.
"Horses are icons in American culture," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. "They took us into battle, provided us with transportation and even carried our mail."
"They shouldn't be sent to slaughter to be dismembered for overseas consumers," Pacelle said.
Defenders of the practice said slaughter is more humane than allowing wild horses to die of starvation.
"When you talk about a horse dying a natural death on the range, it's not a pretty picture," said former Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Texas, a consultant to the slaughter plants. "Having a coyote or wolf eating a dying horse is not a pretty picture."
There are more than 32,000 free-roaming horses and burros on public lands - about 4,000 more horses than those lands can support, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
"The people who voted for that amendment, they are not thinking about what happens to the horses if they don't go to slaughter," Stenholm said.
Congress has tried to address the issue in the past. Lawmakers eliminated money in this year's federal budget for the salaries and expenses of horse meat inspectors in the Agriculture Department. In response, three slaughter plants, two in Texas and one in Illinois, worked with the Agriculture Department to establish a fee system financed by the companies.
The Humane Society filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying that Congress had intended to ban horse slaughtering. But a federal judge ruled in March that the slaughtering can continue.
Pacelle argued that horses can be skittish, making them prone to thrash about when they are frightened.
"They see other horses that are being slaughtered and they are terrified," Pacelle said.
Stenholm said horses are treated better than other animals, such as cattle and chickens, at slaughter plants.

" We do a pretty darn good job regarding the welfare of the animals that are going to be slaughtered, " Stenholm said.

Horse meat is a small business compared with the beef, pork and poultry industries. Plants slaughtered about 88,000 horses, mules and other equines last year, according to the USDA.
source: http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/05/19/ap2760096.html
------------------
Note from Steve Harris, after following the reality link below, you decide for yourself if " we do a pretty darn good job regarding the welfare of the animals that are going to be slaughtered " ! Maybe Republican Softball Reporter Jeff Gannon will get to the bottom of this ! Has anyone heard what Brownwood's Republican Leaders think of this issue ? Their silence speaks volumes !

reality

---------------------

Just one more reason why I'm supporting Kinky Friedman for Texas Governor

-----------------
Saturday May 20, 2006

News
Deputies seize 11 horses after warrant served

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Eleven underweight horses including a colt are being cared for in pens outside the Brown County Sheriff’s Office after deputies served a seizure warrant Wednesday on the animals.
Additionally, sheriff’s officials investigated two complaints Friday of malnourished cattle.
Jose Luis Martinez, 52, was charged with cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor, in connection with the horses, Brown County Court-at-Law documents state. Martinez turned himself in to the Brown County Jail and was released on a public recognizance bond, records state.
Martinez could not be reached for comment.
Deputies seized the horses from a pasture off FM 3100 near the Salt Creek community after a hearing before Justice of the Peace Bob Wall, who ordered that the horses be taken.
Court documents allege that Martinez “did not provide adequate food or pasturing” for the horses.
Sheriff’s officials began an investigation in mid-March, according to a sheriff’s office press release. “The animals on the property were in poor condition, being underweight and malnourished,” the release said.
Sheriff’s investigator John Moody said sheriff’s officials will keep the horses pending an appeal by the owner. If the seizure is upheld, the horses will be sold, Moody said.
He said the horses are improving and are eating constantly. The animals could be seen eating hay almost non-stop Friday morning, and Moody said they are being given protein supplements.
The horses will be taken to a veterinarian for examination today or Monday, Moody said.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/20/news/news01.txt

Who's read "Animal Farm" in the Big Country ?

Abilene Reporter News

Stand up to Bush
Letter to the Editor

May 20, 2006

I'm glad to see all the Bush-loving that goes on in Texas. Why not, he's from Texas right? We need to support our president, right? Wrong! We need to stand up to this tyrant and put an end to his rule. Some of you are probably saying ''tyrant, pretty harsh.'' But if you would take a second to look up some facts, you would see for yourself. Just compare Bush to another 'Decider' (whoops, I mean Dictator) Adolph Hitler.
''Wait a minute you can't compare Bush and Hitler.''
Watch me.
Both used a government-sponsored terrorism to strike fear in the people and strip them of their civil liberties.
Both used a preemptive basis for invading foreign countries.
Both refused to abide by international treaties.
Both started warfare with one country and then progressed to others.
Both use detention/concentration camps to hold enemies.
Both claimed to be Christian.
I could go on forever, but no need. Some of you will read this, go look up these men and find the similarities for yourself. The rest will attack me and try to rationalize the Bush family becoming wealthy, thanks to Adolph Hitler (just look up Prescott Bush).

Isaac Cantu
Abilene
---------------------------
Are we watching 'Animal Farm' or Bush government?
Letter to the Editor

May 20, 2006

In George Orwell's dystopian novel ''Animal Farm'' (a must-read), he shows the dangers of totalitarianism, capitalism and disinformation.
We see this playing out in our lives today. The Bush administration has taken the face of the Pigs in Animal Farm. They used government-sponsored terrorism to promote fear in the American people. The Pigs used the falling of a windmill as a way to keep the animals in check and to scare them into thinking there was an immediate threat, much the way Bush used 9-11. The falling buildings on 9-11 were Bush's windmill. His propaganda machine (Squealer) told us it was Osama Bin Laden and he was partners with Saddam Hussein. Then we had to go to war because he had weapons of mass destruction.
Now we have to be sacrificed while they are fattening their pockets. Can we not see that pigs have made their way into our government?

Thomas Anderson
Abilene
---------------------------
Republicans must be source of 'liberalism'
Letter to the Editor

May 18, 2006

You have to admire the persistence of our conservative friends like Rick Edgar (May 3) who blame the ruin of America on ''liberalism.''
Where is this alleged ''liberalism''? Our county judge is a Republican. Our commissioners court is 3-1 Republican. In Abilene, both justices of the peace, three of four district judges and two county court at law judges are all Republicans.
If Mr. Edgar loses a trial in Taylor County, he would appeal to Eastland, a threejudge Republican court. If he appealed to the Texas Supreme Court or the Court of Criminal Appeals, he would find all 18 judges are Republicans. If he decided he had a federal claim, our federal district judge is a Republican. If he appealed his case to the 5th circuit in New Orleans (the federal judicial appeals circuit for Texas) he would find 14 of 19 court members are Republicans.
Laws in Texas are made by a Legislature in which both houses are controlled by Republican majorities. Laws in the United States are made by a Congress in which both houses are controlled by Republican majorities. Each statewide elected public office in Texas is held by a Republican.
Where is the ''liberalism''?
If someone is ruining America, I think I might talk to those in charge (and that would be the conservative Republicans). As George Will said in his column (paraphrasing Pat Moynihan): Mr. Edgar is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Ken Leggett Jr.
Abilene

source of letters:
http://www.reporternews.com/
----------
and this tidbit from the Ft Worth Star Telegram

Star-Telegram
Zero credibility

It's time for the voice of the people to be heard. President Bush has zero credibility, and neither of my Texas senators will listen to repeated calls for a town hall meeting to discuss the issues.

They go on as if nothing is wrong, nothing out of the ordinary. They're complicit in this travesty; they should be recalled for lack of action and for not respecting the people who elected them in the first place.

Leonard Ellis, Arlington
source:http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/local2/14628057.htm
--------------
Note from Steve: You know Bush couldn't have done it all without a helping hand !

Is " The Big Buy " Playing in Brownwood ?

Lights, Camera, Action

In Brownwood and Brown County Too ?

Posted on Thu, May. 18, 2006

Choice of speaker may be unwise
BUD KENNEDY
In My Opinion

Star-Telegram-Bud Kennedy

A Wise County Republican women's club had a special guest speaker the other day.
He was not a loyal Republican. In fact, he supports candidates running against Republicans.
He had just led a protest at President Bush's ranch.
So why in the world did the Wise Republican Women want to meet a Minuteman?
In the latest confusion over whether racism is a Republican value, the good women of Wise hosted a Boyd private investigator who patrols the Mexico border, ostensibly to protect Texas from an invasion of construction workers, restaurant cooks and hotel housekeepers.
He even opposes welcoming legal workers.
"We don't need no guest worker program," Texas Minutemen leader Shannon McGauley said, according to the Wise County Messenger.
One audience member chimed in.
"If they pass the guest workers' program, your grandchildren will be speaking Spanish," said a Newark man identified by the newspaper as Joe Greene. "I guarantee it."
Glad somebody finally got to the point.
For those who fear guest workers, the debate isn't really about lawlessness.
Dangit, if we don't shut down the border, then Texas might get more Hispanic.
Does anyone else think that sounds racist?
Does anyone else think that sounds un-Republican -- and un-American?
Marisa "Mary" Olivares Rummell of the Houston suburb of Spring is an officer in the Republican National Hispanic Assembly and a former officer of both Texas and national Republican women's clubs.
Her parents came from Queretaro and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Her father and his two brothers proudly fought for America in World War II. One uncle fought on the beaches at Normandy.
She opposes bilingual school classes. She supports making new citizens learn English.
But when someone simply fears Hispanic culture or that future Texans might speak Spanish -- "That just sounds racist to me," she said by phone Monday.
Not only that, she said, it's bad for Republicans.
"This is the kind of fear-mongering that I don't like," she said.
"Nothing will make socialism grow faster than fear-mongering and antagonistic rhetoric from our side," she said. "Do they" -- fellow Republicans -- "not see how that looks from the other side?
"The Hispanic population is young and growing. We have a chance to win new voters."
According to various polls, Bush won more than 40 percent of Hispanic votes in 2004.
In a recent poll of likely voters this fall, Hispanic voters in Texas strongly preferred Republican Gov. Rick Perry for re-election. Independent Republican Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn was running second.
Yet some Republican clubs seem bent on insulting legal Hispanic voters who might otherwise share concerns about lawless immigration.
Last month, a college Republican club at the University of Texas at Arlington hosted a debate on whether "Hispanicization" -- legal or illegal -- is bad. In the audience were Hispanic students from a demographic group that is growing three times faster than any other nationwide.
The Republican National Hispanic Assembly wants to welcome those votes.
Maybe the Wise Republican Women should find speakers there instead of among the Minutemen.
I've written about the Minutemen's inherent bigotry in this space before. Co-founder Jim Gilchrist, a third-party political candidate, spells it out on the Web site at www.minutemanproject.com.
The Minutemen want to prevent the "social mayhem" that will result from a future "tangle of rancorous, unassimilated, squabbling cultures" -- in other words, anyone who doesn't match the Minutemen's culture.
The Texas Minutemen's Web blog even includes comments from a Web bulletin board devoted to "White Pride" and white nationalism.
Wise Republican Women President Bettye Parker said she didn't think having a Minuteman guest seemed racist.
The program was "very informative," she said.
It certainly was.

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/14608826.htm

If it was a "Bipartisan Effort" why was Perry flanked exclusively by Republicans @ the "Ceremonial Signing" ?

Perry signs bills; promises tax cuts
By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
May 19, 2006

BROWNWOOD - Between stacks of lumber and doors, Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 3 into law Thursday during his first stop on a three-city tour.
The bill-signing took place at the McCoy's Building Supply in Brownwood. Perry moved on to Irving and San Antonio for more signings after leaving Brownwood.
During his Brownwood stop, Perry was flanked by State Rep. Jim Keffer R-Eastland, Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Marble Falls, and State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Highland Park, as he signed the franchise tax bill, which he called ''the centerpiece of the school finance plan.''
''House Bill 3 will help us lower school property taxes by 33 percent for every homeowner and every other property owner in Texas,'' Perry said.
More than 70 area residents turned out for the event and everyone was encouraged to shop a little on their way out. McCoy's President and CEO Brian McCoy introduced the governor and friends before the signing.
Perry and company made Brownwood the first stop on tour Thursday, because Keffer, who authored HB 3, represents the area.
Perry praised the leadership in both the House and Senate for getting the bill on his desk. He said the bill will provide greater fairness to employers, reliable funding for schools and revenue that will deliver a $15.7 billion property tax cut for property owners.
''This means taxes on an average home in Texas will decrease by about $2,000 over the next three years,'' Perry said.

Keffer said passage of the bill by both the House and the Senate was a bipartisan effort.
''It's the reason we have success today and we had a great team working on this,'' Keffer said.

Fraser said that before the bill was signed, only one in 16 businesses was paying the franchise tax.
''This is an issue we've worked hard on for the past two years and this is a great day for businesses, residents, school districts and students in the Big Country,'' Fraser said.
Special Session Package Details
Replace some school property taxes with $2.4 billion from budget surplus.
Cut local school property taxes 11 percent this year, 22 percent next year.
Franchise tax traded for business tax on 1 percent of most companies' gross receipts; deductions for cost of goods or payroll. Sole proprietorships and partnerships exempt. Should produce $3.4 billion.
Tax blue book value of used car sales, rather than seller declaring price.
$2,000 pay raise for teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, including $500 insurance stipend removed in 2003.
Provide state money to achieve equal spending per student, while allowing local school districts to raise taxes up to 4 cents per year for local programs.
School districts get money for merit teacher bonuses, plus $275 for each high school student
School year starts fourth Monday in August
(beginning 2007)
Cigarette tax goes from 41 cents a pack to $1.41. Expected increase: $700 million first year.
Authorize $1.8 billion in tuition revenue bonds.
Legislative Budget Board estimates annual deficits of plan at $3.5 billion for 2007, $4.6 billion for 2008.
Source: Dave McNeely, Austin freelance journalist
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_political/article/0,1874,ABIL_7971_4711017,00.html

What do you think of the Plan ?

School officials find fault with plan
By KATHERINE CROMER BROCK
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

STAR-TELEGRAM/JIM ATHERTON
CHART: Impact on local district
New legislation that overhauls the state's school finance system will not be the long-term fix schools need, area educators say.
And it could spell trouble for districts facing rapid growth.
"It doesn't do a lot for us. We still face the capacity problems that we've faced for a long time. I'm worried about how stable the funding is for this bill down the road," Birdville Superintendent Stephen Waddell said.
The special session that ended this week was called by Gov. Rick Perry in response to the Texas Supreme Court's ruling that the current method of funding public education is an unconstitutional statewide property tax. The court gave lawmakers until June 1 to fix the system or face a possible shutdown of schools.
In their sixth attempt to revamp the system, lawmakers approved House Bill 1 and other measures to address the court's concerns. It lowers local property tax rates from a cap of $1.50 to $1 over the next two years, while also providing a $2,000 raise for teachers, school nurses, counselors and librarians. Schools will receive an additional $275 per student in grades nine to 12 for programs to prevent dropouts and prepare for postsecondary education.
And all school districts will be required to start school on the fourth Monday in August, with no waivers.
How most of the new regulations will be implemented is uncertain. While Perry signed another piece of legislation Thursday that cuts property taxes and restructures the business tax to fund education, HB 1 has not been signed. But local districts have begun to try to figure out what it will mean for them.
Many have focused on the property tax reduction, touted as the largest in state history.
According to HB 1, property taxes will be reduced to a cap of $1.33 for maintenance and operations in 2007. School districts can then, at their discretion, add 4 cents to the rate without voter approval in 2007.
In 2008, the cap will be reduced to $1. In 2009, districts can add 2 more cents.
But for any property tax increase beyond that, districts must get voter approval. That concerns some districts, particularly those facing rapid growth.
Claude Cunningham, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Mansfield district, said the new money his district is projected to receive is tied up in the teacher salary increases and high school initiatives. But the 25,700-student district is projected to grow by 2,500 students this year and is opening four new schools. That growth rate is expected to continue for a decade.
"We need to hire close to 200 teachers just to take care of student growth for next year," he said. "We're not seeing the ability to use much, if any, of the funding that we're getting in a discretionary manner."
Like most districts, Mansfield will see increased utility, gasoline and food costs. Also, HB 1 requires four years of math and science for all high school students. That will mean hiring teachers and perhaps building science labs.
"What sounds like a really good thing to do on paper, it creates some issues that we're going to have to deal with," Cunningham said.
Most districts say the new legislation cannot stand on its own in the long term. Funding will be provided for the first year, in part because a portion of the state's $8.2 billion budget surplus will be used. After that, there are doubts about whether funding will be adequate.
"This bill falls short as a permanent answer to school funding," said a statement issued by the Fort Worth school district.
The statement said lawmakers are expected to tackle school funding and more education issues during the regular session, scheduled to begin in January. If they do not, voters can expect annual elections, with school districts asking for more tax revenue, just to keep up with inflation.
In Northeast Tarrant County, a number of districts that have been paying into the Robin Hood share-the-wealth system will have that annual payment cut. The Northwest school district, for example, will see its payment drop from a projected $56.8 million to $41.7 million next year.
But the success of the system as a whole can be judged only in the coming years, Northwest Superintendent Karen Rue said.
"It was a property tax reduction," Rue said. "It was not school finance reform."
Northwest is also a fast-growth district, expected to climb from 9,000 students to 44,000 students in 16 years.
"[Lawmakers] have to address long-term school finance reform, the cost of educating today's child," Rue said.
" If they don't do that, do we find ourselves over time back at the same issue that we have now ? "

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/14618689.htm
Katherine Cromer Brock, (817) 685-3813 kcromer@star-telegram.com
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As it was presented to Brownwood readers.......

Friday May 19, 2006
News

Perry signs ‘centerpiece’ of school finance reform bill
By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Texas Gov. Rick Perry signs House Bill 3, part of a school finance reform package, Thursday morning at McCoy’s Building Supply Center in Brownwood. McCoy’s employees watch as Perry, flanked by state legislators, from left, Dan Branch, Jim Keffer and Troy Fraser, and McCoy’s CEO Brian McCoy, signs the legislation. Photo by Steve Nash
Elected officials, school administrators and private citizens were among several dozen people at McCoy’s Building Supply Center in Brownwood Thursday morning as Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 3, legislation Perry said will create comprehensive business tax reform but also helps deliver the largest property tax cut in the state’s history.
Perry made stops in several cities including Brownwood to sign the bill. He said the legislation is the centerpiece of school finance reform that includes a $2,000 pay raise for teachers.
House Bill 3 is one of five bills in a package of legislation that “provide the largest property tax reduction and the most comprehensive education reforms in decades,” Perry’s office said.
Several McCoy’s employees stood line abreast behind Perry, who was accompanied at McCoy’s by state representatives Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Dan Branch, R-Dallas, and state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Marble Falls. Brian McCoy, the company’s chief executive officer, introduced Perry. McCoy said the legislation is “a great plan for Texas and a great business plan.”
“I look forward to seeing businesses like McCoy’s all across the state booming with activity once our tax relief and reform goes into place,” Perry said.
“For years, Texas has needed a comprehensive business tax reform that encourages job growth.”
Under old business tax laws, Perry said, there were loopholes that “divided people into winners and losers in our economy.”
Businesses with good accountants and good lawyers, he said, could avoid paying their fair share. At the other end were employers who “got stuck with carrying ... an unfair tax load” for financially struggling school districts.
“Homeowners have been forced to make up the difference in that funding with skyrocketing tax rates and appraisals, and as I sign this piece of legislation all that’s going to change,” Perry said.
Perry said the legislation spreads the cost of education across “a very broad spectrum” and will help generate a $15.7 billion property tax cut to Texans.
Over next three years, he said, the owner of “an average priced home” will see a $2,000 decrease in his property tax bill.
Perry credited Branch, Keffer and Fraser with helping guide the legislation to his desk. The legislators praised Perry’s leadership.
“This is a historic day, a great day ... ” said Keffer, who authored the legislation. “It made sense. (House Bill 3) is the economic engine that will generate the funds, the money for the ... goods and services that Texas will provide.”
Fraser said, “It’s an issue we worked hard on the last couple of years. It was a difficult issue but it’s also a fairness issue.”
After Perry’s remarks, Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey said in an interview that the bill is “a good piece of legislation that needed to be done.
“It puts more money in schools, and I think that’s important. And secondly ... appraisals are going up, and this is going to at least soften that blow.”
Brownwood school Superintendent Sue Jones said in an email to the Bulletin: “At this point, we are still evaluating the financial impact to the district. One of the more positive aspects of the bill is the $2,000 teacher salary increase that is anticipated to be funded by the state.
“The reduction in property tax is also very positive for local property owners and does not appear to have an adverse impact on district funding. Although final revenue numbers have not been received, we do not anticipate any increased funding to offset the increased costs of utilities and transportation. This will provide some challenges as we prepare the 2006-07 budget.
“However, we do appreciate the hard work of our legislators in meeting the June 1 deadline and insuring our public schools continue to serve the children of the state.”
Early school Superintendent Brett Koch said, “The reduction in property taxes is very positive for taxpayers throughout the state. ... I think it’s very good legislation. The bulk of it is tax legislation and what it does for taxpayers.
“ ... Many of the caveats are things we’ll work through and we’ll be fine. ... It’s very encouraging.”
According to Perry’s office, House Bill 3:
Rewards employers for creating jobs and investing in employee benefits. Every time a business hires someone, pays for health insurance or invests in a pension plan, their tax liability will go down.
Protects small employers so that they can continue to drive Texas’ economic growth.
Exempts sole proprietors and general partnerships from the tax, as well as businesses whose gross receipts total $300,000 or less, and those whose tax bill is less than $1,000.
Rewards employers that create jobs and contribute to our economy, but also mandates that. Businesses that hire illegal immigrants will pay the price with higher taxes.
School finance legislation passed by the legislature will:
Reward every Texas teacher with a $2,000 pay increase and provides the largest teacher merit pay program in the nation.
Invests millions of new dollars into dropout prevention and college readiness efforts.
Guarantees a historic level of funding equity, and significantly reduces the impact of Robin Hood.
Lowers Texans’ overall tax burden by some $7 billion.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/19/news/news02.txt
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Rick Perry's "Smoke and Mirror" Brownwood, Irving & San Antonio Fly-In: Who's plane is that ?

Where the rubber meets the road

---------------
Perry signs business tax
First piece of tax plan becomes law.
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, May 18, 2006

Gov. Rick Perry signed into law today an expansion of the state's general business tax, the centerpiece of his plan to reduce school property taxes.
Perry signed the bill at a McCoy's building supply store in Brownwood. It's the first of the five bills in his tax overhaul to get his signature, and the other four are expected to follow in the next couple of weeks.
The tax will replace the often-avoided corporate franchise tax with a new tax on gross receipts. Companies will be allowed to deduct their payroll costs or their costs of goods sold, and the tax rate will be 1 percent. The rate for wholesalers and retailers will be one half of 1 percent.
Businesses will pay the tax for the first time in May 2008. It will apply to thousands of businesses that are not subject to the current franchise tax.
"Today I am proud to sign into law landmark business tax reforms that will provide greater fairness for employers, reliable funding for our school classrooms and revenue that will help deliver a record $15.7 billion property tax cut for the people of Texas," Perry said.
The Perry plan cuts property tax rates for school operations by one third over two years. It also adds $1 per pack to the cigarette tax. The plan will cut more in taxes than it brings in, and it also includes costly increases in school spending.
During the next two-year budget, the Legislative Budget Board predicts, the property-tax cuts and school-spending measures will cost $10.5 billion more than the new revenue will bring in. That's caused some to warn that lawmakers will have to drastically cut services or raise the sales tax.
Perry says the projections do not account for the economic growth and additional tax revenue that his tax cut will trigger.

jembry@statesman.com; 445-3654
source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/19perry.html
----------------
Note from Steve Harris: DId Perry fly to Brownwood on a State of Texas plane or did he fly to Brownwood on a Corporate Plane ? After hearing Kinky Friedman's Campaign Spokesperson, Dean Barkley, on the Brownwood Talk Radio Airwaves ( KXYL FM 96.9 Thursday AM) describing how the career politicians are "bought and paid for" by the special interests (see corporations etc.), I called Perry's Scheduler in Austin and asked him who provided the plane for the trip across Texas. Perry's scheduler refused to answer the simple and direct question. Out of curiosity, who do you reckon would provide Governor Perry with a corporate plane to criss cross the state of Texas for this "smoke and mirror" and "dog and pony"
event ? The possibilities are endless !

Thursday, December 10, 1998
Meet 'God's Sugar Daddy'

By Molly Ivins

AUSTIN — Dr. James Leininger is known as the Daddy Warbucks of Texas social conservatism — or, as the San Antonio Current recently called him, “God’s Sugar Daddy.”
The 54-year-old San Antonio physician, who made a fortune estimated at more than $300 million by making extremely fancy hospital beds, is an active funder and player in right-wing causes including school vouchers, home schooling, anti-abortion, tort reform, anti-gay rights, anti-unionism, anti-environmental efforts, a right-wing Texas think tank modeled on the Heritage Foundation, and Republican political candidates.
Leininger (pronounced with a hard “g”) now has business interests that include part ownership of the San Antonio Spurs; Promised Land Dairy of Floresville, which is familiar to Texas shoppers at H-E-B, Albertson’s and Whole Foods; Kinetic Concepts International, the medical bed and supply company; and Focus Direct, a direct-mail outfit. One of Leininger’s newest business ventures is the Texas Network, TXN, which will reach an estimated 10 million Texans a day with television news programs being marketed as without political bias or interest.
Just keeping track of Leininger’s political contributions is a major chore. Samantha Smoot, director of Texas Freedom Network, said: “He tends to start political action committees and then close them down after a year. Texas Home School Coalition — now, that one you can tell what it is; he was their only funder. But the Entertainment PAC out of Los Angeles — who knew?”
Leininger tends to give his PACs and foundations innocuous names — Texans for Justice, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Texas Justice Foundation, Children’s Economic Opportunity Foundation, Texans for Governmental Integrity, the A PAC for Parental School Choice, etc. According to the Current (a weekly alternative paper), Leininger is also a major donor to, or plays a leading role in, at least a dozen major right-wing groups. Politically, he has given not only to Christian-right school board candidates and right-wing legislative candidates but also to Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Phil Gramm, and he was Rick Perry’s largest campaign contributor ($500,000) in Perry’s race for lieutenant governor.
That’s why members of the Lege are bracing for a big fight over school vouchers this year. The people of Texas are not screaming for school vouchers — the pols are in hock to Leininger.
In a recent edition of the Current is an extensive report on Leininger and his interests by Debbie Nathan — the most detailed to appear so far in any Texas publication. Nathan not only traces Leininger’s religious, philosophical and political interests but brings to light some obscure episodes worth mention.
It seems Leininger gave at least $50,000 to Triad Management Service, the mysterious Republican organization that surfaced during investigations of the 1996 campaign funding scandals. Triad set up two “social welfare organizations” that had no members; their sole purpose was to advise Republican candidates and produce television attack ads against Democrats.
According to the article, during the past decade, Leininger had given at least $1.5 million to Texas candidates and another $3.2 million to move public opinion in a conservative direction. In addition, he has given $5.6 million to politically oriented, far-right nonprofits, including the American Family Association, the Christian Pro-Life Foundation, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the Heidi Group, the Republican National Coalition for Life PAC, etc.
There’s nothing wrong with supporting groups you believe in, although I did have to laugh upon reading that Leininger had founded his Justice Foundation as “a response to the American Civil Liberties Union.” He will wind up on the same side as the ACLU in no time, as the ACLU does more to stop government interference in the lives of individuals than anyone else. (Ask Ollie North.)
But Leininger’s current leading cause, school vouchers, is simply a rotten idea. In the November issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Nick Lemann has an excellent article on what to do about failing public schools. He dismisses vouchers as an alternative because it’s a ridiculous idea.
There are 45 million students in the public schools. Total enrollment in private, nonsectarian schools where the annual tuition is more than $5,000 (what most of us mean when we think of “private school”) is about 400,000 — less than 1 percent of public school enrollment. Catholic school enrollment is 2.5 million. You figure it out.

Molly Ivins’ column regularly runs on Mondays and Thursdays.

Creators Syndicate, Inc.
source: http://www.texnews.com/1998/opinion/ivins1210.html
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The Pols He Bought

Meet the man who elected the Bush Administration

by Robert Bryce
John Sharp didn't lose to Rick Perry. Nor did Paul Hobby lose to Carole Keeton Rylander. Instead, the two Democrats lost their races to James Leininger's money. Leininger helped guarantee two loans - a $1.1 million loan to Perry on October 25 and a $950,000 loan to Rylander on October 1 - that likely made the difference in the races for lieutenant governor and comptroller, the closest races on the statewide ballot. Perry beat Sharp by 68,700 votes. Rylander beat Hobby by 20,223 votes, in one of the closest statewide races in Texas history. In each race, about 3.7 million votes were cast. Sharp lost by 1.8 percent of the vote, Hobby by 0.55 percent.

Handicapping political races is an inexact science, and there is no way to prove that Leininger's loans were the decisive factor in the two races. "It's almost impossible to narrow down the result to a single thing," says Bruce Buchanan, a professor of government at U.T.-Austin. "But when the races are as close as those two races, it's reasonable to suggest that money like that may have made the difference."

Leininger's money certainly provided critical ammunition to both Perry and Rylander:

More than 10 percent of the $10.3 million that Perry raised before the election came from the loan guaranteed by Leininger and two other businessmen.
Nearly 25 percent of the $3.85 million that Rylander raised in the year prior to the election came from the loan guaranteed by Leininger and four others.
On the same day Leininger's loan to Rylander was approved, her campaign wrote a check for $850,000 to National Media in Alexandria, Virginia, for media buys.
Within five days of getting the money from Leininger, the Perry campaign spent slightly more than $1 million on media, with the bulk of that money ($966,000) going to David Weeks, Perry's Austin-based media consultant.
Leininger's money came at critical times for both campaigns. When Rylander got the money from Leininger, she was trailing Hobby in the polls and was being outspent more than two to one. From July through September, Hobby had spent $3.7 million. Rylander had spent almost $1.7 million. In late October, when Perry got his loan, he was in a dead heat with Sharp, with polls showing both candidates with 37 percent of the vote. And Perry was being outspent by a margin of almost three to one. From July to September, Perry spent $2.3 million. Sharp spent $6.8 million.
Weeks, who made the media buys for the Perry campaign, discounts the notion that Leininger's money catapulted Perry to victory. "We stayed competitive all the way through," said Weeks. "Even without the loan, we would have been competitive."

But would Perry have won without Leininger's money? "Yeah, he would have won," said Weeks, who added that buying TV at the end of a campaign is difficult. "We did increase [TV] buys at the end of the campaign but not significantly. It was not a huge amount. We were already pretty maxed out. It's hard to plan for because you assume it's going to be sold out." Weeks conceded, however, that "every dollar helps. But it's an assumption to say [Perry and Rylander] would have lost without" Leininger's money.

Reggie Bashur, a political consultant to Rylander (and paid lobbyist for the city of Austin) refused to comment, saying he is not authorized to speak for the Rylander campaign. Messages left for Scott McClellan, Rylander's campaign manager, were not returned.

Kathy Miller, deputy director of the Texas Freedom Network, has no doubt that Leininger's loan made the difference. "When you have a race as close as the Sharp-Perry race, one or two million dollars can make one, two, or three percentage points difference," she said. And Miller argues that Leininger's activities "undermine the power of the electorate to see what they want done. It weakens Texas' democracy."

Miller's group is one of several working to counter Leininger's influence. Recently, much has been written about the reclusive San Antonio hospital bed magnate, whose net worth has been estimated at $340 million. And to be fair, he did not provide the loans to Perry and Rylander by himself. The Perry loan was co-signed by chemical company executive William McMinn of Houston and telecommunications executive James Mansour of Austin, who chairs Putting Children First, the pro-school-voucher group that Leininger funds. Leininger and McMinn also co-signed the note for Rylander, along with Harlan Crow of Dallas, Kenneth Banks of Schulenberg, and J. Virgil Waggoner of Houston. (Waggoner and McMinn have also worked with Leininger in a successful tort reform campaign that involved funding elections and hiring lobbyists.)

Although the other co-signers have deep pockets, none have the network of influence that Leininger has. And none have dumped as much money into political campaigns as has Leininger. In 1996, according to figures compiled by the Houston Chronicle, Leininger's political contributions topped $550,000. His political donations and loans in 1998 may well exceed that amount. One member of the Sharp campaign estimated that Leininger, along with other advocates of school vouchers, contributed some $700,000 to Perry's campaign. As an individual, Leininger gave Perry $56,908. In addition, three of Leininger's brothers and his mother all gave money to Perry, with contributions ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.

Perry's connections to Leininger also include stock and airplane deals. Perry made $38,000 trading stock in Leininger's hospital bed company, San Antonio-based Kinetic Concepts. In 1996, Perry's campaign bought a 10 percent interest in a 1980 Piper Cheyenne I turbo prop airplane; Leininger and his brother Peter bought the other 90 percent of the plane. In 1997, the Houston Chronicle quoted Leininger as saying that Perry convinced him to buy the plane. "Rick's the guy who talked me into getting an airplane," Leininger said. In July of 1997, the Perry campaign bought the Leiningers' 90 percent interest in the plane for $346,000 - a price that Sharp loyalists claim was far below the plane's market value. Perry's campaign manager, Jim Arnold, defended the price to the Houston Chronicle, saying the plane was worth less than planes of similar vintage because of the high number of hours on the engines.

The Leiningers also financed Perry's purchase of the plane. According to Perry's latest expense report, on December 1 the campaign paid Covenant Aircraft Investment Inc., a company run by Daniel Leininger, $3,040 for "airplane expenses." Perry's spokesman Ray Sullivan said the Perry campaign has "approximately $300,000 outstanding on the airplane loan" that was made to the campaign by Covenant. Sullivan said the Perry campaign makes regular payments to the Leiningers' company to pay off the debt on the airplane. Despite Leininger's close ties to Perry, Sullivan said that Perry "owes one group of people in Texas, and that's the citizens who put him in office and entrusted him with that office. He owes nothing to any of our donors and contributors. He owes everything to the citizens of the state."

The citizens may find reason to doubt Perry's reassurances, as Perry and Rylander are already working to stay in the good graces of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative, pro-school-voucher think tank that gets most of its financial backing from Leininger. On January 26, all the statewide elected officials including Governor Bush attended the T.P.P.F.'s tenth anniversary dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. And on February 3, perhaps as a payback to Leininger, Rylander will deliver the keynote speech at the foundation's "1999 Legislative Conference," also at the Four Seasons. Topics for discussion at the conference include "government downsizing" and "school choice."

T.P.P.F. is working hard to shape this year's legislative agenda. It is also hoping to get conservative operatives into state jobs. The Foundation recently formed a "job bank placement service." Its agenda, according to its web site, is "to help place conservatives with public policy oriented employers." Toward that end, T.P.P.F. has posted a long questionnaire on its web site (www.tppf.org), asking applicants, among other things, to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a list of statements including: "Communism has been sent to the trash can of history. There is no chance it will resurface as a serious threat to world peace." And, "Busing of school children to achieve racial balance is wrong." The application also asks applicants to rank their feelings toward individuals from a wide political spectrum, including Austin Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett, former Democratic Governor Ann Richards, and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Others listed - presumably those more appealing to T.P.P.F. - include Governor George W. Bush, Senator Jesse Helms, Rush Limbaugh - and surprise! - Rick Perry and Carole Keeton Rylander.

In a January 8 column in the San Antonio Express-News, political columnist Rick Casey quoted T.P.P.F. president Jeff Judson saying that Rylander had given the group "strong encouragement" for its job- bank effort. Speaking of the comptroller's office, Judson told Casey: "That is the one institution that will probably use this more than anybody. Over time, there will be a shift of the focus of that agency. They'll need the people who are consistent with that policy."

Two weeks after Casey's column appeared, Rylander's spokesman, Keith Elkins, wrote a letter to the paper, saying that Rylander was "informed in passing of the job bank, but at no time did she support, endorse, or make any commitments about the service."

For his part, Perry made certain that he repaid Leininger's loan. Records show that his campaign paid off the $1.1 million loan on December 17, an amazingly quick turnaround. How did he do it? In part, by pressuring lobbyists. After the election, several lobbyists who had supported Sharp were contacted by Perry's campaign and told that they were expected to help retire Perry's campaign debt. In some cases, they were given specific amounts of money to raise and/or contribute, with amounts ranging up to $50,000. Said one lobbyist who asked not to be identified, "There was no direct mention of the Leininger loan, but you don't have to do any high math to put two and two together. Most of the people who were contacted understood where that debt came from." Republican Party political director Royal Masset even circulated a memo, advising Republican statewide elected officials to tell lobbyists who supported Democratic candidates that it was now going to cost them a premium to get on the "late train" with the Republican winners.

Sullivan insists no fundraising quotas were given and dismisses the complaints as "sour grapes from lobbyists whose guy lost the election." Perhaps so. But questions about Leininger's influence over Perry and Rylander will undoubtedly continue, particularly as the issue of school vouchers becomes more prominent.

Sharp, an opponent of vouchers, says he has no choice but to admire Leininger's effectiveness. "I congratulate Leininger," he said. "He wanted to buy the reins of state government. And by God, he got them."

Robert Bryce is a contributing editor at the Austin Chronicle, where a version of this story first appeared.
source: http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/pols_he_bought.html
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Who'd defending the career politicians in Brownwood ? Just listen to OSN (Other Side of the News) with Republican JR Williams and Democrat Sam Coursey on KXYL 96.9 FM M-F 5-6pm.

Politics, as usual " The only time politicians get off their asses is to attack each other " Kinky Friedman

In continued displays of politics as usual, our current elected state leaders once again are working very hard.
Not to improve our public school systems or to give teachers the pay raises they were promised with the state's new tax plan.
No, our politicians are working their tails off attacking each other.
Our Comptroller of Public Accounts, Carole Strayhorn, has released multiple statements criticizing Gov. Rick Perry's tax plan. She has held press conferences and interviews in the vain hope that all of her kicking and screaming might manufacture a few
more headlines.
Meanwhile, Perry's camp is running around the state conducting press conferences to ceremoniously "sign" his tax bill into law over and over. He's found a way to pat himself on the back for passing a tax plan that will actually bring
less revenue into the state coffers to fund education over the long term. This plan, with its regressive cigarette tax and paltry teacher pay raise is, at best, horrendous fiscal policy. At worst, it is a betrayal to every child and school teacher in the state of Texas.
The governor's camp also released a statement yesterday
pointing fingers at Strayhorn because she has yet to certify the money that will provide for a "historic" tax cut (following "historic" high property taxes) and a "substantial" teacher pay raise. One has to wonder if the teachers feel it's substantial.
The tax plan signed into law yesterday by Gov. Rick Perry is not a real solution; it's another band-aid fix we've come to expect from career politicians. The attack from Strayhorn is also what we've come to expect from career politicians. The reaction to the attack from Perry's camp is... you guessed it.
That's what Texas faces in November if voters continue to elect the same politicians: more of the same.

Posted by Kinky Web on May 19, 2006 03:56 PM | Permalink

source: http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/2006/05/politics_as_usual.html

Big Country Tourism: Brownwood is in the Mix too !

Posted on Wed, May. 17, 2006

A SECOND WIND
Frontier Texas! breathed new life into old Abilene
By Art Chapman
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FRONTIER TEXAS
Frontier Texas! in Abilene has been credited with turning the stodgy old town into a tourist destination.
More photos
Two years ago, amid barbecue smoke and knee-slapping country music, Abilene put out the welcome mat for tourists with a new limestone heritage and information center that offered a history lesson on this open prairie region.
It is called Frontier Texas! and it seems to have worked.
Abilene, that once dusty oil and cattle town that we used to dismiss as a stodgy, conservative city dominated by church schools, has become the darling of West Texas.
According to state tourism officials, Abilene was the 10th most popular leisure destination in 2004. Earlier this month, The New York Times featured it in its travel section.
The Times story identified the city of 115,000 as being in "north central Texas." That's a bit of shocker for Texans; we don't identify that city by its true geographical location.
Abilene is spiritually and culturally a West Texas town.
The Times' story does go on to say, "As you stand on the edge of town, there's nothing between you and the sunburned horizon.
"It's cowboy country, where boots and hats are de rigueur and residents don't bother to take the keys out of their ignition when they park their pickup trucks."
That's West Texas for sure, except maybe for that "de rigueur" thing.
"We feel like we made the big time," Nancy Liles, executive director of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau, said of the newspaper article. "They can put us where ever they want. If they want us in North Central Texas, we'll take it. Everybody here is very excited."
Liles said she has received calls from business people in Abilene and heard from tourism officials in other parts of the state.
"Doug Harmon called me from the Fort Worth visitors and convention bureau, the day the story came out," she said.
Abilene is in full blush.
Weeks ago, the city was named by Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine as one of the 50 smartest places to live.
Last weekend, there wasn't a motel room to be had. All three universities -- Abilene Christian, McMurry and Hardin-Simmons -- held their graduations, and the Western Heritage Classic took place at the Taylor County Expo Center. Harley-Davidson owners are in town this weekend for a motorcycle rally, and again, all the hotels are booked. Liles said visitors are having to stay as far away as Albany, Cisco, Sweetwater and Baird.
It is a relatively new situation for Abilene, and many of the business and tourism people there trace the beginning of the trend to the opening of Frontier Texas!
The heritage center was designed to draw travelers off the interstate and to help make Abilene a real destination point, not just a place to get gas and go.
As The Times' story pointed out: "In the same way that Texas' early frontier forts established a protective gateway at the edge of western civilization, Frontier Texas! establishes itself as a welcoming gateway at the limits of downtown."
Other points of interest included in the story were the Abilene Zoo, The Grace Museum and the Paramount Theater. A number of restaurants made the list of high points. Joe Allen's and La Popular Bakery & Cafe among them.
Even the Abilene drag strip got a notice. Area attractions included Albany's Old Jail Art Center, and Stasney's Cook Ranch. Buffalo Gap got its measure of notice too. Perini Ranch Steak House was mentioned along with the Buffalo Gap Historic Village and the nearby Abilene State Park.
Liles said research indicates that people are taking shorter trips. No doubt gas prices have something to do with that trend.
Abilene, 150 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth, is in a good position to capitalize.
All the recent publicity is helping.

Art Chapman, (817) 390-7422 achapman@star-telegram.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14599546.htm

Brownwood's Favorite Pie ?

Posted on Wed, May. 17, 2006

Official state pie: A wedge issue ?
By Amy Culbertson
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

KRT ARCHIVES
Plenty of Texans go nuts over a good pecan pie.
In Florida, it's almost official: The state legislature has proclaimed Key lime the Florida state pie -- though not without a nasty debate in which advocates for pecan, sweet potato and strawberry pointed out that Key limes aren't grown in Florida anymore.
Still, Key lime prevailed: All that remains is for Gov. Jeb Bush to sign the bill, and Florida will become the second state to have an official pie (Vermont's is apple). Naturally, all this has gotten us to thinking whether Texas ought to have a state pie, too. If you think so, we're giving you a chance to vote for one in the online Star-Telegram ( www.star-telegram.com).
Universally, pecan seems to be the first choice that comes to mind -- "since it's the state tree," notes Brent Klett, manager of Marble Falls' Blue Bonnet Cafe, which is so noted for its country-style pies that it has a pie happy hour.
Certainly, as famed as Texas is for its peaches, we firmly believe peach ought to be in the running. But as for the other candidates, the Texas pie mavens I've been consulting aren't unanimous.
Some suggest that we should be guided by the pies that are most commonly in evidence at funeral gatherings, church suppers and potlucks, which would have to include lemon meringue, chocolate meringue and coconut.
Fort Worth's prince of pies, Mike Smith of Paris Coffee Shop, says his vote would be for coconut meringue. Followed closely by chocolate meringue, it's the top seller at his cafe, known far and wide for its pies and other desserts. Star-Telegram "Texas at Large" columnist Art Chapman notes that he uses coconut cream as his standard in judging Texas cafes. But therein lies the question: coconut cream or coconut meringue?
Moreover, Star-Telegram restaurant critic June Naylor, whose definitive Texas pie overview appeared in Texas Highways' November 2004 issue, says she can't see anything specifically Texan about coconut or chocolate meringue, popular though they may be. We tend to agree: As far as we know, neither coconuts nor cacao beans are grown in Texas.
Lemons are, though. And buttermilk -- on the state-pie short lists of Naylor, Chapman and Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy -- is available wherever there are cows.
Finally, as a dark horse, we think that chuck-wagon favorite, the fried pie -- almost always made with dried apricots -- uniquely reflects Texas' heritage.
The larger issue, perhaps, may be whether cobbler qualifies as pie, because the case could be made for cobbler as the quintessential Texas dessert. Personally, I feel that the pie family encompasses fruit cobblers, crisps, buckles, bettys, slumps, crumbles and all their siblings -- but I sense this is a debate best avoided.
Besides, then we'd have to argue blackberry (or dewberry) vs. peach, and that kind of partisanship could really get ugly. So, for the purposes of our rhetorical state pie, we're ruling out cobbler.
Here, then, are our somewhat arbitrary candidates for state-pie-hood. I wouldn't be embarrassed to have any of them representing my state.
Cast your vote at www.star-telegram.com. If you're steamed that we overlooked your favorite, e-mail me at aculbertson@star-telegram.com with your suggestion. We'll reveal the winning pie next Wednesday.

Apricot fried pie
Buttermilk pie
Lemon meringue pie
Peach pie
Pecan pie

Amy Culbertson, (817) 390-7421 aculbertson@star-telegram.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/columnists/amy_culbertson/14599481.htm

All " Back from Iraq " is local and includes Brownwood Texas !

BACK FROM IRAQ
Sunday, May 14, 2006; A01

Bad stuff happened in Iraq, stuff Adam Reuter doesn't want to talk about. Not with his friends, not with the line cooks in the burger joint where he worked when he first came home or the tenants in the apartment complex he manages now.
He doesn't even want to talk about it with his wife, who worried because he was jumping out of bed in the middle of the night.
But when he agrees to talk about the war -- really talk about it -- he goes right to how the insurgent crumpled after he pulled the trigger. How later, during the firefight, he ended up just a few feet from the corpse. Bullets buzzed by, and he was supposed to keep an eye on the alley, but he couldn't help but glance over.
"He just lay there," Reuter remembers. His eyes and mouth open. His whiskers a few days old. The bullet had gone in his neck cleanly, just to the right of his Adam's apple, but had come out ugly from the back of his head. He was maybe 25, a little older than Reuter. And his blood was pooling, thick and almost black in the darkness.
How can you describe what that was like? Who would understand it?
Nobody. So Reuter keeps his mouth shut. His army uniform is packed in a box in the garage. He hasn't looked at it in months. Instead, he kisses his baby boy every night. He gets on with his life, because that's what everyone else is doing.
At home in Newnan, Ga., there is no war.
"It doesn't cross their minds," Reuter said. "To them, everything is fine."
After three years, there are at least 550,000 veterans of the Iraq war. The Washington Post interviewed 100 of them -- many of whom were still in the service, others who weren't -- to hear about what their war was like and how the transition home has been.
Their answers were as varied as their experiences. But a constant theme through the interviews was that the American public is largely unaffected by the war, and, despite round-the-clock television and Internet exposure, doesn't understand what it's like.
You can't understand unless you were there .
It's a timeless refrain sounded by generation after generation of soldiers returning from combat. But what sets Iraq war veterans apart is not just the kind of war they are fighting but the mood of the country they are coming home to. It is not a United States unified behind the war effort, such as in World War II. There's no rationing, no sacrifice, no Rosie the Riveter urging, "We Can Do it!" Nor is it the country that protested Vietnam and derided many vets as baby killers.
The United States that Iraq veterans are returning to is relatively indifferent, many said. One that without fear of a draft seems more interested in the progression of "American Idol" than the bombings in Baghdad. Sure, there are the homecoming parades, the yellow-ribbon bumper stickers, the pats on the back -- they continue as troops arrive back home.
But for many vets, those moments of gratitude were short-lived or limited to close friends and family. Soon they were joined by bitter impressions of a society that seems to forget that it is living through the country's largest combat operation in more than 30 years.
When Army Reserve Warrant Officer Mark Rollings got home to Wylie, Tex., he didn't expect anyone to treat him any differently because he was a vet. But he couldn't help but notice that the only one to say anything about the newly installed Purple Heart license plate on his Chevy Blazer was the kid who changed his oil at the Wal-Mart.
"For having a global war on terrorism," he said, "everything looks like business as usual to me."
Coming home was like one big party.
They were welcomed with parades, with family members waving signs and flags and waiting with open arms. World War II vets greeted them at the airport, making sure to shake all of their hands. Thanking them. There were firetrucks on the tarmac, their lights twirling, a celebratory fountain spraying from their hoses.
"People cheering, handing me their cellphones and telling me to call my family," Army Capt. Fred Tanner remembered. "Random people coming up and shaking my hand."
Greg Seely came home on leave in October 2004 with 200 fellow soldiers. They were walking through the Atlanta airport, when, one by one, travelers dropped their bags and started clapping. Soon there was a spontaneous crescendo. The applause of strangers. A moment he will never forget.
"The media talked so much about how the American people don't support us," he said. "But they do."
People may not understand the war, but that doesn't mean they're not grateful, said Master Sgt. Shawn Peno of the Air National Guard. "The support, the comments," he said, "that's real."
They met generals and were thanked by congressmen. Some even shook hands with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and President Bush. Waitresses and gas station attendants refused their money.
Army Reservist Chris Bain threw out the first pitch of the Little League World Series.
On the airplane home, wearing his Navy uniform, Clint Davis sat in the same row as a 5-year-old boy who got out his crayons and drew a picture of the American flag. "It says, 'Thank you for fighting for our country,' " Davis said. "I'll hang it up on my refrigerator till I die."
They came home grateful for their country, for their freedom, for hot showers, flushing toilets and blissful quiet. When Chris Arndt's plane touched down, it was 3 in the morning. A slight drizzle was falling, and the air just felt different.
"You could smell the grass," the Army reservist said. "I hadn't smelled that smell for a year. It hit me and made me realize I was home."
When they were out of uniform, everything was different.
One day they were in a war zone. Then, suddenly, they weren't. Home for the first time in a year, Dan Ward woke up in his bed, went to the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of cereal. And that's when the Marine Reservist realized: His war was over. It was almost surreal how something so familiar could seem so strange.
"Almost the most nerve-wracking thing was how normal it was when I came back," he said. "I'd been gone for 11 months, and it's like I've been gone for 11 hours. Then it hit me: This is so normal."
They came home driving scared, scanning the interstates and the back roads of their home towns, looking for bombs that weren't there. They got jumpy in crowded public places and let the war go little by little, like muscle spasms after an intense workout.
Jeramey James "Jay" Lopez was working under the hood of his car with his dad in New Mexico when one of the noisemakers designed to scare the birds out of the nearby pecan orchard went off. It sounded "just like a round coming out of a tank," he said. Lopez's head snapped up and smacked the inside of the hood.
"My dad put his hand on my back, and he just said, 'Son, you're okay. You're home.' "
They came home bent on making good on the promises they had made while fearing death. Army medic Ernesto Haibi, in the thick of the battle of Fallujah, vowed that after he got home he was going to fulfill a childhood dream:
"I told myself, if I get back without any more holes in me, I'm buying myself a piano and learning to play," he said. "You learn what you can live with and what you can live without. And you learn to appreciate the things that are necessary."
What was necessary, he decided, was being able to play "Isn't It Romantic?" -- the first song he learned on his new piano.
They came home haunted, carrying heavy memories that will take years to sort out. "I was taken out of my normal habitat and put in a crazy dream -- a nightmare, really," said Army Spec. Cheyenne Cannaday. "I think about it every day still, and I'm not sure if it's gonna go away."
Jon Powers came home and "swore I would never go back to Iraq until they build a Disney World in Baghdad." But then he thought about how he and his soldiers used to deliver toys and clothing to the orphanage. He thought about how the children had given them something back: a respite from the war. The soldiers would take off their gear, put down their weapons and join the children's soccer matches.
Not long after coming home, the former Army captain knew his work in Iraq was not finished. So he helped start a nonprofit, War Kids Relief, that helps Iraqi children. That's his new career.
Thousands came home wounded, scars fresh; some even with shrapnel in them. Kevin Whelan, who was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded next to his Humvee, has so much metal embedded under his skin that it set off a security detector at the airport. "In case it goes off," he warned the guard, "I do have shrapnel in me." The wand beeped as it passed over his shoulder.
Nearly 400 of them returned as amputees and had to learn to open doors with metal fingers, walk on prosthetic legs. Senior Airman Brian Kolfage came home to sad, strange stares and spontaneous charity. As he sat in a wheelchair after having lost both legs and his right arm when a mortar exploded outside his tent, a stranger handed him $250 in cash.
Another just stared at him and then "just started crying right in front of me."
The questions people ask about the war usually don't probe too far, the sort that can be satisfied with rote responses that keep the truth at a safe distance.
But sometimes, people push. What was it like?
"You just try to give a softball answer," said Garett Reppenhagen, who has been out of the Army for a year. "Yeah, it was horrible -- whatever. Or you don't answer the question. You say it was hot. You don't tell them what it's like to kill a man or to have one of your buddies blown up. You just don't go there."
But if they were not sated by the polite demurral and continued to press, he would go there, sparing no detail. Then he'd look up and see an expression that made him think they didn't really want to know after all.
"The look on their face: This is not the light conversation I want to hear at a party," he said.
Sometimes people would say maddening things, antagonistic things, even if they had never set foot in Iraq or been in combat. They didn't have to leave their spouses, miss the births of their children or see their best friend blown to pieces.
Civilians. After the war, they seemed so different, no matter how many war movies or how much CNN they had watched.
Sometimes, they'd ask something so crazy there just wasn't any way to respond, such as when a friend asked Monika Dyrcakz, "Did you go clubbing in Iraq?"
"Some people have no idea," she said.
Sometimes they said: I support the troops but not the war. Or: Do you think we should be over there?
Which is such a dumb question, Tanner, the Army captain, would think. Soldiers don't make those decisions. They do what they're told. They bitch and moan, sure. But when the call comes, they pack their bags and go, knowing they may not come back.
But Tanner doesn't say all that. Instead, he responds this way: "Oh, so you were over there? Because you said, ' We .' Because, I mean, I know I was over there."
But perhaps the worst is when they don't say anything at all and just go on living their lives, oblivious to the war.
Which is exactly what Army Capt. Tyler McIntyre was trying to explain to some family members while eating at an Italian restaurant when he was home on leave a couple of years ago.
He looked across the restaurant and saw everyone stuffing their faces with pasta and drinking wine. "And everyone's kind of just sitting there doing it," he said.
Which is really sort of extraordinary, he said. The country is at war. People are fighting at this very moment. Don't these people know what's going on? Don't they care?
No, he decided. They have no appreciation for their easy, gluttonous lives and don't deserve the freedom, prosperity and contentment he was fighting to protect.
He wanted to yell, "You don't know what you have! You don't appreciate it! You don't care!"
But he didn't. He kept his mouth shut. He was only home on leave. Soon, he would be going back to the war.

This report is based on interviews conducted by staff writers Cameron W. Barr, Christian Davenport, Jennifer Frey, Sonya Geis, Bradley Graham, Mary Hadar, Rosalind S. Helderman, Pablo Izmirlian, Tamara Jones, Kari Lydersen, Renae Merle, Evelyn Nieves, Don Oldenburg, Lois Romano, Jackie Spinner, Jacqueline Trescott, Ann Scott Tyson, Jose Antonio Vargas, Jonathan Weisman, Josh White, Clarence Williams and Griff Witte. It was written by Christian Davenport.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/13/AR2006051301312_pf.html

Austin to Brownwood: All animal rescues are local !

Austin animal workers rescue 30 dogs
11:39 PM CDT on Saturday, May 13, 2006
By SHELTON GREEN / KVUE News
The Humane society said the more than 30 dogs they rescued Friday will be ready for adoption in two days.
Animal groups returned to Austin Friday afternoon after rescuing about 30 daschunds.

KVUE News
Workers say the dogs were kept in squalid conditions.
The Austin Humane Society and All Texas Daschund Rescue say the animals were being bred and housed in a cramped and dirty home in a town about three hours north of Austin.
The Comanche County Animal Rescue Society in Brownwood, Texas sent out an e-mail alert. Animal workers claim the woman there was raising more than 100 dogs -- most of them daschsunds, a few boxers and a few chihuahas.
The woman was selling the dogs for profit outside of a Brownwood donut shop. That is not against the law in Comanche County.
The problems, say rescuers, is the fact that the animals were not registered and were found in a horrible environment.
"These conditions are deplorable and there are physically disabled animals that need treatment," said Barbara Lewis, All Texas Daschund Rescue, in a release. "When I went into this house it was unbelievable."
Most of the dogs in the home were dacshunds.
The dogs will undergo medical treatment in Austin and hopefully find new homes.
The Austin Humane Society has a no kill policy, and they say that's one reason they helped rescue the animals, because they believe that they will all eventually be adopted.
They still need a couple of days before they're ready or adoption.
For more information, go to www.austinhumanesociety.org or call 512-837-7985.
source: http://www.kvue.com/news/green/stories/051206kvuedogrescue-cb.3590ba3a.html

What's going on in Brownwood ? Bad Attitudes? Voting Officials Behaviour ? Cell Phone Rules ? Reporting ? Iraq Vets & PTSD Issues?

Sunday May 14, 2006 - News

Disgruntled voter arrested after disturbance at annex

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

A disgruntled voter was arrested Saturday morning following a disturbance and a fight between the man and two police officers at the coliseum annex, police and witnesses said.
The man’s identity was unavailable from police later Saturday.
“My understanding is, someone came in and had a cell phone and was asked not to turn it on, and he put up a fight,” Police Chief Virgil Cowin said.
Elections administrator Suzy Young said people aren’t allowed to talk on cell phones in a polling place and an election judge “did his duty and asked the man to put it up.”
Young estimated that 40 to 50 voters were present as the man became agitated, and was also angry at other issues involving voting, Young said. She said she asked the man to leave and he cursed at her, and cursed at police officers when they tried to escort him away.
The man was outside when he swung at Cpl. Mitch Slaymaker, Young said. She said another officer Bryan Keith, ended up on the ground with the man on top of him.
“I was terrified he was going to get one of their weapons,” she said.
She said as Keith and Slaymaker fought with the man, her husband, Larry, asked “Ya’ll want some help? They said ‘yeah, jump in,’” Young said. “My husband had his knee in his back on top of him.
“He was quite a resister. It was quite nerve-rattling.”
Slaymaker tried to pepper-spray the man, but he moved out of the way and some of the spray appeared to hit Keith, Young said.
Young said police officers are often unappreciated and underpaid. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough to Keith for being here for traffic control, and have to go through something like that,” Young said.
She said the man was out of line in causing the disturbance. “If there is a problem (with voting), there is a time and a place to take that up,” she said.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/14/news/news03.txt
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Monday May 15, 2006 - News

As situations are resolved, police staffing improves

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

A few months ago, the Brownwood Police Department was short five officers whose jobs couldn’t be filled in their absence.
Two were on military deployments to Iraq, two were on medical leave and one was suspended while awaiting trial.
Most of those situations have either been resolved or are about to be, Police Chief Virgil Cowin said.
Lt. John Harper and patrolman Bryan Keith returned in December from Iraq deployments and are back on duty. Sgt. Dennis Watson has returned to duty from medical leave. Police officials were in the process recently of hiring an officer to replace former officer Larry Robison, who resigned as police officials prepared to terminate him after his conviction in March on two counts of tampering with a government record.
Patrolman Kenyon Black, who was injured while making an arrest, has not returned to duty.
“We’re not anywhere close to where we ought to be but we’re a lot better off today than we were four or five months ago,” Cowin said.
An applicant for patrolman was going through the hiring process recently and could be at work early next month, Cowin said.
Since Black is still recuperating from his injury, the new officer will bring the department to within one of having a full complement of officers on the job.
The department is allotted 36 officers, including 24 patrolmen.
Cowin said the department puts five patrolmen, including a sergeant and corporal, onto the streets per shift if the department is at full strength.
He said he doesn’t fault the city council for not providing funding to hire more officers. “There are ‘x’-number of dollars in that bucket,” Cowin said. “Everybody’s in need of everything.
“The council is very aware of the needs of the City of Brownwood but if the money’s not there, they can’t budget for it.”
The council approved funding in late 2003 to increase the department’s manpower allotment by three officers.
“We understand we’re talking about the taxpayers’ pockets here,” police Capt. Garry Page said.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/15/news/news03.txt
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Tuesday May 16, 2006
News

Man free on bond after incident at voting location

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

A man who was arrested following a disturbance Saturday morning at the coliseum annex as voting took place is free on bonds totaling $17,500, Brown County Jail records state.
Brownwood police identified the man as Eddie Gomez, 33. He faces two charges of assault on a public servant, failure to identify, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, jail records state.
The disturbance began when a man who was there to vote became angry over issues including being asked to turn off his cell phone, officials said.
The man was arrested after a melee involving two police officers and civilians who helped the officers, police said.
Police Cpl. Mitch Slaymaker was on patrol at 9:05 a.m. Saturday when he drove by and saw officer Bryan Keith talking with elections administrator Suzy Young outside the annex, Slaymaker’s report states.
Slaymaker stopped, and Keith told him someone inside had caused a problem and there was almost a fight, the report states. The man came outside and yelled at Young, and Keith told the man he needed to leave because he had finished voting.
The officers asked him repeatedly to leave and told him he would be arrested for trespassing if he did not, Slaymaker’s report states.
“He then looked at us from the feet up as if sizing us up and said ‘you aren’t taking me to jail,’” Slaymaker’s report states.
The man took an “aggressive stance,” then cursed when Slaymaker pulled out his pepper spray, the report states. When Keith reached for the man’s wrist and told him he was under arrest, he twisted away and Slaymaker activated the pepper spray. The man swung at Slaymaker and hit the officer in the face, the report states.
Keith took the man to the ground, and the man ended up on top of Keith with a hand around the officer’s neck, choking him, Slaymaker’s report states.
Slaymaker got the man’s hand away from Keith’s neck, and the officers subdued the man with the help of bystanders, the report states. When the officers put him in a patrol car and asked him his name, the man replied “I plead the fifth,” the report states.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/16/news/news02.txt

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Note from Steve Harris,
Do you think your getting the entire story from the above reporting ? From my experience with Brownwood Bulletin Reporter Steve Nash, I can guarentee there's a great deal that was left out and yet to be uncovered ! Stay tuned !
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Wednesday May 17, 2006

As situations are resolved, police staffing improves

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

A few months ago, the Brownwood Police Department was short five officers whose jobs couldn’t be filled in their absence.
Two were on military deployments to Iraq, two were on medical leave and one was suspended while awaiting trial.
Most of those situations have either been resolved or are about to be, Police Chief Virgil Cowin said.
Lt. John Harper and patrolman Bryan Keith returned in December from Iraq deployments and are back on duty. Sgt. Dennis Watson has returned to duty from medical leave. Police officials were in the process recently of hiring an officer to replace former officer Larry Robison, who resigned as police officials prepared to terminate him after his conviction in March on two counts of tampering with a government record.
Patrolman Kenyon Black, who was injured while making an arrest, has not returned to duty.
“We’re not anywhere close to where we ought to be but we’re a lot better off today than we were four or five months ago,” Cowin said.
An applicant for patrolman was going through the hiring process recently and could be at work early next month, Cowin said.
Since Black is still recuperating from his injury, the new officer will bring the department to within one of having a full complement of officers on the job.
The department is allotted 36 officers, including 24 patrolmen.
Cowin said the department puts five patrolmen, including a sergeant and corporal, onto the streets per shift if the department is at full strength.
He said he doesn’t fault the city council for not providing funding to hire more officers. “There are ‘x’-number of dollars in that bucket,” Cowin said. “Everybody’s in need of everything.
“The council is very aware of the needs of the City of Brownwood but if the money’s not there, they can’t budget for it.”
The council approved funding in late 2003 to increase the department’s manpower allotment by three officers.
“We understand we’re talking about the taxpayers’ pockets here,” police Capt. Garry Page said.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/05/15/news/news03.txt

Kinky Friedman is Revolutionary ! (see Orwell's quote below)

IS KINKY SERIOUS ?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

He has been called a straight shooter and the anti-politician, but will voters actually take him seriously when they go into the voting booths in November? Independent candidate for Governor Kinky Friedman has been touring the state trying to drum up signatures to get on the ballot, and he was in Wichita Falls again today. Many people say they are behind Friedman and like his campaign, but is this just entertainment or is it the real deal?
We talked to a political science professor at MSU today who says that believe it or not, Kinky Friedman has a good shot at the Governor`s office. Friedman is not on the ballot yet, but if he gets there, many say his chances of winning are not that remote.
Kinky Friedman says he tells it like it is and he has been touring the state to try to become the first independent Governor voted into office since Sam Houston. But will voters buy it?
MSU political science professor Dr. Michael Flavin says, "The odds are heavy against him because he is not a Democrat or a Republican once he gets on the ballot, but nonetheless, he could be a revolution. There could be a revolution here in Texas."
Doctor Michael Flavin says Friedman does have at least a chance to become Governor because of appearances like the one today at MSU. Flavin says Friedman`s anti-politician attitude might pull votes across party lines from those who are fed up with business as usual in Austin. People who come to see him say it is his "tell it like it is" attitude that has won their vote.
Flavin says a large election turnout could work in Friedman`s favor, but first comes job one, getting on the ballot. Friedman says he needs about 46,000 signatures to get on the November ballot. He says he will have 100,000 by May 11th when petitions must be turned in.

source: http://www.kfdx.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=11756

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George Orwell rightly said, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
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Independents Try to Shake Up Texas Race
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
The Associated Press
Friday, May 5, 2006; 6:15 PM

AUSTIN, Texas -- In a small, windowless room in an industrial part of town, with rock music softly thumping in the background and two mirrored disco balls spinning overhead, Kelley Lowes is working for a man who hopes to be Texas' first independent governor since Sam Houston, and its first ever named Kinky.
Humorist, author and songwriter Kinky Friedman is looking to oust Republican Gov. Rick Perry, as is fellow independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state comptroller who bills herself as "one tough grandma." With 45,540 valid signatures apiece, they would set up a wild four-way race Nov. 7 in the nation's second-biggest state.
Lowes is painstakingly typing and double-checking names from handwritten petitions for Friedman, logging long hours before Thursday's deadline.
"You never quite realize how big a deal this is," said Lowes, a 20-year-old University of Texas student from Houston.
Friedman's first name alone _ no one calls him by his birth name, Richard _ is enough to make this an unusual race. It will be even more so if he and Strayhorn, mother of outgoing White House press secretary Scott McClellan, join Perry and Democratic former congressman Chris Bell on the ballot.
"We've never seen anything like this," says Gary Halter, a Texas A&M University political science professor and author of a textbook on Texas politics and government.
No independent has been elected Texas governor since state hero Houston won in 1859. Friedman and Strayhorn insist they'll have no trouble meeting the signatures threshold and scrutiny by secretary of state auditors, but both campaigns are being coy about disclosing the number of petitions they'll be submitting in the next week.
"All we're saying is we've got tens of thousands of petitions," Mark Sanders, Strayhorn's spokesman, said.
"I'm comfortable," Friedman's political consultant, Laureen Oliver, says. "He will be on the ballot."
It could take a while to find out. Although Strayhorn has sued Secretary of State Roger Williams to speed up the verification process using statistical sampling, Williams wants signatures checked one by one, a process that could take two months.
Bell is looking to rebound, having been voted out of Congress after the state's congressional districts were redrawn under a plan led by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The three challengers are targeting an incumbent who has won all seven of his previous campaigns for elected office, starting with the state House.
Perry, a 56-year-old former Democrat, went from lieutenant governor to the top job in 2000 when then-Gov. George W. Bush won the presidency, and was elected to a full term four years ago. Re-election would clear the way for him to become Texas' longest-serving governor.
His campaign started the election year with $11.5 million in the bank. Strayhorn, a 66-year-old former Democrat-turned-Republican who turned independent to avoid a likely primary loss to the incumbent, had raised $8.1 million.
Bell and Friedman were far behind. Friedman's fundraising efforts include the sale of campaign gear, with a talking Kinky Friedman action figure the biggest seller at $29.95 a pop, campaign officials say.
Halton, the Texas A&M professor, believes the race is Perry's to lose _ especially if he succeeds in an overhaul of school financing that is one of several issues over which he and Strayhorn have clashed.
The state Supreme Court has said the current school funding system amounts to an unconstitutional state property tax, and has given lawmakers until June 1 to replace it.
An ongoing special legislative session on school funding is the fourth Perry has called since 2004. The three previous sessions ended in failure, giving critics fodder for attacks on Perry's leadership.
In this special session, a Perry-backed plan that includes a property tax cut and expanded taxes on business and cigarettes cleared the Texas House. In the Senate, however, a raucous disagreement over wealth sharing Friday threatened to derail attempts to meet the court deadline.
"This proposal of his, if he gets it through, then there's not going to be the challenge to him as a do-nothing governor," Halton said.
Bell is seeking traction in a state where Republicans hold every statewide elected office and control both legislative houses.
He asked Ronnie Earle, a Democrat and the Travis County prosecutor who obtained indictments against DeLay, to begin a criminal investigation against the governor, suggesting a campaign organized to support Perry's tax plan amounted to illegal corporate campaign contributions.
"Rick Perry is taking ethics lessons from Tom DeLay," said Bell, who two years ago, in his only term in Congress, filed the first ethics complaint against DeLay.
Perry downplayed the allegation, saying, "Take the source of the complaint appropriately."
All the verbal flailing involving his rivals hasn't been lost on Friedman, who in the 1970s toured with Bob Dylan, counts Bush and former President Bill Clinton as fans of his mystery novels where he's the hero detective, and who's enlisted several veterans of former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura's successful independent run for Minnesota governor in 1998.
Always in black cowboy garb and grasping a Cuban cigar, the populist Friedman labels Republicans and Democrats the Crips and Bloods, battling in a turf war like the famous street gangs.
"I'm the only one running who has no political experience whatsoever," the 61-year-old says. "And politics is the only field in which the more experience you have, the worse you get."
___
On the Net:

Friedman campaign http://www.kinkyfriedman.com

Strayhorn campaign http://www.carolestrayhorn.com

Perry campaign http://www.rickperry.org

Bell campaign http://www.chrisbell.com

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050500916_pf.html

...and the Brownwood shearling's are aware !

Published: May 05, 2006 01:19 am

GUY HOGUE: Fleecing the shearlings

The Huntsville Item
A shearling, for you city slickers, is a young sheep that has been shorn — removed of its fleece. Well, fellow shearlings, we taxpayers are in the process of being fleeced by Republicans in the Texas Legislature.
Can you believe we have a surplus too big to count and Republicans want to raise taxes? It’s almost unbelievable! Republicans are the folks we sent to Austin to protect us from tax increases. Texas has billions of tax dollars laying around, it seems no one know just how many billions exactly. Yet Republican leaders want more. Former Democrat — Republican — Independent Carole Keeton McCallum Strayhorn (Foghorn for short) is sitting on billions of surplus taxpayer dollars but doesn’t want anyone to know just how many billions. Yesterday — Foghorn was sitting on $2.5 billion— today she sits on $8.5 billion. Nobody knows for sure just how many billions are up her bloomers; she may pull out another billion or two before November. Foghorn hopes it will all be HER billions to buy votes as the new governor of Texas.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry wants to raise taxes and blame it on businessmen. That’s OK with the businessmen. They just nod, smile, and pass it on in their price increase to the shearlings, better known as consumers, or taxpayers.
To be fair, there are a few Republicans in the legislature opposed to the tax increase. Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle of Houston doesn’t accept Perry’s tax plan. She said, “to portray the business tax as necessary to cut property taxes is nothing more than painting lipstick on a pig. On the other side, I think some folks are buying a pig in a poke.”
Republicans Perry, Craddick, Dewhurst, and their willing accomplices, hope the shearlings do not notice that their tax increase is hidden in higher prices for what the taxpayers buy. They are probably right. Obfuscation is an art long practiced by the political class to avoid transparency in taxation. Tax-and-spend politicians tell folks they just want business to pay their “fair share” of taxes. That’s called the politics of envy.
Most taxpayers are so busy working to feed and clothe their families they don’t have time to notice Republicans are now taking their hard-earned money like Democrats. As one parent works to pay their cost of living, another works to pay their taxes. They send their children to public schools that demand more of their tax money while providing less education.
Schools have well-paid lobbyists working the politicians in Austin, seeking more taxes for schools and their educrats. The lobbyists offer politicians re-election help and even campaign funds to those who deliver the pork. Educrats send teachers out in blocks to vote for their raises, but most of the money goes to the educrats, not the teachers.
Much of the surplus in the State Comptroller’s kitty came from increased valuations of property taxes. Unless the taxpayer sells his property, it is unrealized gains. It was not money the taxpayer had in his pockets to pay the tax. If property values go down before the taxpayer sells his property, the taxpayer is taxed on money he never received— money the taxpayer took from savings.
Property taxes should not be based on arbitrary valuations, they should only be based on purchase price, and they should not fund the majority of school costs.
Local property owners have little or no say in running the schools. State and federal mandates now control schools. Therefore school assessments should be entirely removed from the property tax equation. School funding should be taken out of the equation entirely. That’s a sure way to get rid of Robin Hood inequality.
No government entity should ever impose excess taxation. A surplus is only obtained by over-taxation. Government should always operate at a slight deficit and taxation should be transparent — out in the light of day so taxpayers will know how much they are paying. Any shortfall in school operating costs should only be made up with an increase in sales taxes, but only to the amount of revenue shortfall. Any tax increases should be imposed to cover operating deficits, not a projected deficits.
This fall, Republican politicians will be seeking the votes of the shearlings they have shorn in the spring. They should remember that a lot of folks are unhappy with Dubya; they shouldn’t expect him to draw Republicans to the polls. Maybe Republicans voters will just stay home and not bother to vote at all. What difference would it make if Kinky Friedman sits in the governor’s mansion and deals with Democrats who replace all those tax-raising Republicans? How much worse could things be? Does that ring a “Bell” with any Republicans?

source: http://www.itemonline.com/opinion/local_story_125011939.html?keyword=topstory

Independents' fate in Williams' hands - and so is his

In spotlight as ballot gatekeeper, secretary of state keeps future open
12:09 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 9, 2006
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Roger Williams says he's never been afraid to make decisions – not as a baseball player, a successful car dealer or a big-time Republican fundraiser.
Now as secretary of state, Mr. Williams faces his highest-profile call yet: who gets on the ballot in this year's race for governor.
This week, independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman will submit petitions to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Perry in November. Mr. Williams, a Perry appointee with political ambitions of his own, is charged with the task of ruling whether they gathered enough valid voters' signatures.
"As far as being in a hot seat," he said, "I'm in a seat that's required to rule by the election code. And that's what I'm going to do."
He's already come under fire from the candidates, who say the secretary of state is helping his political patron, Mr. Perry, by insisting on a time-consuming process to certify their petition signatures. Mr. Williams says he's just following the rules.
Mr. Williams has abandoned the past practice of conducting a statistical sample and says he intends to check every name, a process that critics say could drag into July. He says it won't take that long.
Strayhorn campaign manager Brad McClellan called Mr. Williams the governor's "hand-picked political appointee" and accused him of playing politics to benefit the GOP and feather his own political future.
"You've got a secretary of state who's looking at higher office instead of being the state's neutral elections officer," said Mr. McClellan.
Mr. Williams says he hasn't talked with Mr. Perry about the petitions or considered how his actions might boost his standing within the GOP.
"To rule by the election code is not partisanship. It's my charge," he said. "And it's what I'm doing."
Already, though, the disputes have landed in federal court and cast the spotlight upon Mr. Williams. So the 56-year-old car dealer and former baseball player, who has no experience with election law, is now the umpire who will decide Mr. Friedman's and Mrs. Strayhorn's political fates.

A salesman's bearing

Tall and telegenic, Mr. Williams has chiseled features and an aggressive bonhomie from years as a successful salesman.
As secretary of state, Mr. Williams traveled the state this year in a three-day, nine-city tour to promote the use of electronic voting machines required under a new federal law.
He established a Web site to promote voting and starred in TV ads developed through a focus group that were part of a $5 million voter-education drive in advance of the March primary.
The Strayhorn campaign has criticized his hiring of political operatives with ties to Mr. Perry to do fundraising for his office account, which pays for travel and gifts to supporters.
Mr. Williams has raised nearly $200,000 in contributions, many from donors with a history of backing Republican political candidates, including Mr. Bush.
Among his donors are businessmen Charles Wiley and Harold Simmons of Dallas, Richard Weekley of Houston, an advocate of limiting lawsuits, and longtime Bush family supporter Sig Rogich of Las Vegas.
As for the possibility he's looking to a candidacy of his own, Mr. Williams left all doors open.
"I love this job," he said. "But I also love public service."
Nationally, two recent secretaries of state – Kenneth Blackwell of Ohio and Katherine Harris of Florida – have followed election-year controversies with races for higher office. In Texas, the office has often been a springboard to higher positions. Past secretaries of state include former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk; U.S. Attorney General Al Gonzales; former Gov. Mark White; and Tony Garza, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
In the political futures market in Texas, Mr. Williams' appointment in 2004 as secretary of state puts him within an increasingly crowded field.
"I view Roger Williams as a future gubernatorial candidate – and one who will be ready the next cycle" in 2010, said Austin political consultant Bill Miller.

Baseball and Bush

It was through Mr. Bush – and baseball – that Mr. Williams got involved in politics.
He grew up as the son of a Fort Worth car dealer and played baseball at Texas Christian University – and briefly in the minor leagues – before an injury sent him back home, where he took over the family business.
In 1989, he was part of a group trying to buy the Texas Rangers. A competing investor group, headed by George W. Bush, had the winning bid.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I got to develop a wonderful friendship with him," said Mr. Williams, who says he persuaded Mr. Bush to hire Tom Schieffer, who rose to president of the Rangers and is now ambassador to Japan.
When Mr. Bush decided to run for governor, he asked Mr. Williams to help.
The car dealer hosted an early fundraiser featuring the Platters in a cow pasture on his ranch west of Fort Worth. The soul group wowed the crowd with "The Great Pretender," and the day raised $180,000 for Mr. Bush's fledgling 1994 gubernatorial campaign.
"We put up a stage in the pasture," Mr. Williams said. "It was about 120 degrees. They were all dressed in their velvet suits. It was great."
Mr. Williams collected more than $388,000 for Mr. Bush's 2000 presidential run and more than $200,000 for the 2004 re-election campaign, making him a top-tier fundraiser for the president. The effort included a pair of fundraisers headlined by Bush political guru Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney.
He keeps close ties to the administration. When a staff attorney in his office was quoted in a newspaper about whether the state's residency requirements affected Mr. Rove's ability to vote in Texas, Mr. Williams fired her, saying she shouldn't have talked to the media.
When Don King, the boxing promoter with gravity-defying hair, was stopped at the door of a major GOP fundraiser, Mr. Williams intervened to smooth the ruffled feelings.
"He and I sort of hit it off," said Mr. Williams. "We're both sort of retail guys who like to sell."
Deal Hudson, a boyhood pal who heads a conservative Catholic foundation in Washington, said he's not surprised that Mr. Williams has seized on his agency's role encouraging economic development.
"His version of public policy was business policy," said Mr. Hudson. "In other words, his entrée into the world of public policy was through what's good for business, particularly small business."
After being appointed secretary of state, Mr. Williams had cufflinks made in the shape of the Texas flag with the words "Let's Do Business" in gold – and matching lapel pins that he and members of his staff wear.
On the agency's official Web site, Mr. Williams greets visitors with a bright tone of boosterism.
"I invite you to do business with the Office of Secretary of State – an agency that carries a pro-active, customer-centric and friendly philosophy," he says in a paragraph next to his picture.
Mr. Williams said that despite the political criticism levied so far, and that yet to come, he has no doubts about the job he's doing.
"I've got two great sets of eyes watching me everyday," he said, pointing to a pair of portraits in his office.
One is of Stephen F. Austin, and the other, on loan from a nearby presidential library, is of former President George Bush.
E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com

Roger Williams
Born: Sept. 13, 1949, in Evanston, Ill.
Age: 56
Life and career: Grew up in Fort Worth. Graduate of Texas Christian University, where he played baseball and was later head baseball coach. Played in the Atlanta Braves' minor-league system. President of Roger Williams AutoMall in Weatherford; also heads financial and ranching companies. Major fundraiser for President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Became Texas' 105th secretary of state in 2005.

Family: Wife, Patty; two daughters

To make the ballot
What it takes for independent candidates for governor to get on the ballot:
At least 45,540 signatures must be collected from registered voters by Thursday.
Signatures are valid only if the voter did not participate in the Republican or Democratic primaries.
A voter may sign only one independent gubernatorial candidate's petition. If a signature appears on more than one candidate's petition, only the first signature provided will count.
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source : http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/050906dntexwilliams.12ac59c9.html
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More Kinky in the news here.......

Unfiltered Kinky
As noir novelist Friedman sets sights on statehouse, the plot quickens
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, May 7, 2006
By ED BARK / The Dallas Morning News

Amateur sleuth Kinky Friedman, creation of Richard F. "Kinky" Friedman, spent 17 novels traipsing among New York's finest tramps, thieves, murderers, vagabonds and vagaries.
Alas, the budding Texas gubernatorial candidate figured he finally had to let go while the lettin' go was good. So he abruptly killed off "The Kinkster" in last year's Ten Little New Yorkers.
The slowly recovering literary world is still a lesser place. But as Mr. Friedman cryptically wrote way back when: "The road could've ended anywhere, but it didn't. So you keep driving life's lonely DeSoto, looking ahead into the rain and darkness with the windshield wipers coming down like reaper's blades just missing your dreams."
The road to the governor's office, if that's where it leads, is paved with more lucid intentions.
"Writing is a very monastic kind of thing to be doing, and of course, campaigning is the opposite," Mr. Friedman said in a telephone interview from the campaign trail. "I knew I wouldn't have time anymore for the detective novels, and also the characters were starting to irritate me. It has pretty well run its course, I think."
In other previous lives, Mr. Friedman has been a singer of risky, ribald country songs and a columnist for Texas Monthly magazine. His dark-humored, thoroughly adult whodunits– dating to 1986's Greenwich Killing Time – are far crisper and juicier than the self-serving autobiographies and policy tomes churned out by most political candidates.
Imagine Al Gore writing, "He was lying on the floor with a cute little hole right about where his third eye should be."
Mr. Friedman has drawn bipartisan raves from both former President Bill Clinton and President Bush, who invited Mr. Friedman to read some excerpts at a 2001 White House dinner recounted in the author's nonfiction Texas Hold 'Em.
Detective Kinky lives way too hard to have lived for very long. He subsists on a steady diet of Cuban cigars, espresso, Irish whiskey and dark beer. A pet cat named Cuddles thrives on merely being left alone. And Kinky's coterie of Village Irregulars wouldn't know a Hallmark card sentiment if it kissed them full on the lips.
Mr. Friedman, running as an independent, knows that his novels provide ample ammunition for any political attack ads down the road. Simply pick an excerpt, almost any excerpt.
Carousing abounds, as do the lead character's decidedly dim views of Baptists, hunters, marriage and The Eagles, to name a few. True love pretty much rings false to the gumshoe, too, especially if it comes from a woman.
"Nobody really understood women except maybe bisexual hairdressers," detective Kinky philosophizes. "I'd often felt that a man without a woman was like a neck without a pain."
The author anticipates a "Swift Boat kind of thing" if he's seen as a serious political contender later this year. "To which we just respond, 'If you want a politically correct candidate, you've got three good choices, and I'm not one of 'em,' " he said. "It's the enemy of integrity, the enemy of artistic freedom."
His earlier detective novels were "written out of desperation, and that's the best way to write," Mr. Friedman said. "Everybody from Edgar Allen Poe to Kafka to Van Gogh to Hank Williams to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Hemingway – they were all pretty miserable in their personal lives. That's important to great writing. It also helps to be dead."
Mr. Friedman, 61, has a short book of quotes coming out soon and is striving to finish off a "very poignant, sweet story" called A Christmas Pig before the campaign really heats up. He still pecks them out on an electric typewriter, cursing the cursor and the Internet, save for a necessary campaign evil called kinkyfriedman.com.

Now he wants to write an end to it all by becoming governor.
"I suspect when we win this thing, I'll be working full-time for the people of Texas," Mr. Friedman said. "My hope is that literature's loss will be politics' gain."
E-mail ebark@dallasnews.com

source: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-kinkybooks_07tex.ART.State.Bulldog.905c379.html

Coming soon to Downtown Brownwood's RV Park !

It's official: Motor homes have arrived

Cheryl Blackerby | Cox News Service
Posted April 30, 2006
Travel books that make us want to travel

It's official: RVs are cool. Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn and Shaquille O'Neal have been turning up in magazines behind the wheel of motor homes.
And now, the movie RV, which opened Friday, is making RVs the talk of entertainment shows.
RV dealers are hoping the movie, starring Robin Williams, does for them what Sideways did for the wine industry. Not that they need any help.
Nearly one in 12 U.S. vehicle-owning households owns an RV. That's nearly 8 million households -- a 15 percent increase during 2001-2005 and a 58 percent gain during 1980-2005. RV rentals were up 36 percent in 2005.
The RV is clearly not just for seniors anymore. The typical RV owner is 49 years old, married, with an annual household income of $68,000 -- higher than the median for all households. More RVs are now owned by those ages 35 to 54 than any other group. The movie was inspired by the experiences of RV producers Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick, who packed their three young children into an RV for a long road trip.
"RV life is pretty funny because suddenly your whole family is cramped into more or less one room for however long the trip is," Wick says, "and you get to know each other in a whole different way."
The trip had a lot of potential for a comedy. "Anything that can go wrong with an RV often does," he says, including electrical and plumbing problems. "There's a big learning curve when you join the RV world."
But ultimately, his trip, and the one in the movie, was about families and friends coming together on the road.
"The idea was to take a family with all kinds of issues and problems, and let them be worked out within the intimate confines of an RV trip," he says.
Rachel Parson, spokeswoman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, thinks RV is funny, and more important, true to RV life. She and other employees of the RVIA have free access to a range of RVs, and she has made good use of this company perk.
"There are things in the movie that are worrisome for all novices, like a big scene [about] trying to empty the sewage tank. And he's [Robin Williams] driving a Type A RV, a big one, and he doesn't take a lot of time to learn how to drive it," she says, laughing. But she hopes the movie shows people what RVs are really about. "It has a big family message, and a really warm ending. They're seeing America and enjoying the family."
RVs are particularly popular for young parents, she says.
"The under-35 group has been really rising, both renting and purchasing," she says. "There's a lot of flexibility with no ties to one spot. Kids can have their own beds, their own food, and toys."
But baby boomers are the ones who have driven the RV industry, she says. They are wealthier and more nomadic than any other generation.
One of the movie's stars, Jeff Daniels, drove his own RV from his home in Michigan to Vancouver, where the movie was shot. "I've been a fan of recreational vehicles forever. I really like the idea of driving them. I've owned several and I keep upgrading them every couple of years," he says.
source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/orl-trav-motorhomes043006,0,338097.story?coll=orl-travel-headlines
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Have you seen Downtown Brownwood's RV Park ?

here's a view

"People hungry for the voice of God hear lunatics and liars"

listen and read lyrics here

The apology that will not come from Brownwood's Republican Talking Heads !

Doug's apology

AN APOLOGY FROM A BUSH VOTER

By Doug McIntyre
Host, McIntyre in the Morning
Talk Radio 790 KABC

There’s nothing harder in public life than admitting you’re wrong. By the way, admitting you’re wrong can be even tougher in private life. If you don’t believe me, just ask Bill Clinton or Charlie Sheen. But when you go out on the limb in public, it’s out there where everyone can see it, or in my case, hear it.
So, I’m saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case can be made that he’s the worst President, period.
In 2000, I was a McCain guy. I wasn’t sure about the Texas Governor. He had name recognition and a lot of money behind him, but other than that? What? Still, I was sick of all the Clinton shenanigans and the thought of President Gore was… unthinkable. So, GWB became my guy.
For the first few months he was just flubbing along like most new Presidents, no great shakes, but no disasters either. He cut taxes and I like tax cuts.
Then September 11th happened. September 11th changed everything for me, like it did for so many of you. After September 11th, all the intramural idiocy of American politics stopped being funny. We had been attacked by a vicious and determined enemy and it was time for all of us to row in the same direction.
And we did for the blink of an eye. I believed the President when he said we were going to hunt down Bin Laden and all those responsible for the 9-11 murders. I believed President Bush when he said we would go after the terrorists and the nations that harbored them.
I supported the President when he sent our troops into Afghanistan, after all, that’s where the Taliban was, that’s where al-Qaida trained the killers, that’s where Bin Laden was.
And I cheered when we quickly toppled the Taliban government, but winced when we let Bin Laden escape from Tora-Bora.
Then, the talk turned to Iraq and I winced again.
I thought the connection to 9-11 was sketchy at best. But Colin Powell impressed me at the UN, and Tony Blair was in, and after all, he was a Clinton guy, not a Bush guy, so I thought the case had to be strong. I was worried though, because I had read the Wolfowitz paper, “The Project for the New American Century.” It’s been around since ‘92, and it raised alarm bells because it was based on a theory, “Democratizing the Middle East” and I prefer pragmatism over theory. I was worried because Iraq was being justified on a radical new basis, “pre-emptive war.” Any time we do something without historical precedent I get nervous.
But the President shifted the argument to WMDs and the urgent threat of Iraq getting atomic weapons. The debate turned to Saddam passing nukes on to terror groups. After 9-11, the risk was too great. As the President said, “The next smoking gun might be a mushroom cloud.” At least that’s what I thought at the time.
I grew up in New York and watched them build the World Trade Center. I worked with a guy, Frank O’Brien, who put the elevators in both towers. I lost a very close friend on September 11th. 103 floor, tower one, Cantor Fitzgerald. Tim Coughlin was his name. If we had to take out Iraq to make sure something like that, or worse, never happened again, so be it. I knew the consequences. We have a soldier in our house. None of this was theoretical in my house.
But in the months and years since shock and awe I have been shocked repeatedly by a consistent litany of excuses, alibis, double-talk, inaccuracies, bogus predictions, and flat out lies. I have watched as the President and his administration changed the goals, redefined the reasons for going into Iraq, and fumbled the good will of the world and the focus necessary to catch the real killers of September 11th.
I have watched the President say the commanders on the ground will make the battlefield decisions, and the war won’t be run from Washington. Yet, politics has consistently determined what the troops can and can’t do on the ground and any commander who did not go along with the administration was sacked, and in some cases, maligned.
I watched and tried to justify the looting in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. I watched and tried to justify the dismantling of the entire Iraqi army. I tired to explain the complexities of building a functional new Iraqi army. I urged patience when no WMDs were found. Then the Vice President told us we were in the “waning days of the insurgency.” And I started wincing again. The President says we have to stay the course but what if it’s the wrong course?
It was the wrong course. All of it was wrong. We are not on the road to victory. We’re about to slink home with our tail between our legs, leaving civil war in Iraq and a nuclear armed Iran in our wake. Bali was bombed. Madrid was bombed. London was bombed. And Bin Laden is still making tapes. It’s unspeakable. The liberal media didn’t create this reality, bad policy did.
Most historians believe it takes 30-50 years before we get a reasonably accurate take on a President’s place in history. So, maybe 50 years from now Iraq will be a peaceful member of the brotherhood of nations and George W. Bush will be celebrated as a visionary genius.
But we don’t live fifty years in the future. We live now. We have to make public policy decisions now. We have to live with the consequences of the votes we cast and the leaders we chose now.
After five years of carefully watching George W. Bush I’ve reached the conclusion he’s either grossly incompetent, or a hand puppet for a gaggle of detached theorists with their own private view of how the world works. Or both.
Presidential failures. James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Jimmy Carter, Warren Harding-— the competition is fierce for the worst of the worst. Still, the damage this President has done is enormous. It will take decades to undo, and that’s assuming we do everything right from now on. His mistakes have global implications, while the other failed Presidents mostly authored domestic embarrassments.
And speaking of domestic embarrassments, let’s talk for a minute about President Bush’s domestic record. Yes, he cut taxes. But tax cuts combined with reckless spending and borrowing is criminal mismanagement of the public’s money. We’re drunk at the mall with our great grandchildren’s credit cards. Whatever happened to the party of fiscal responsibility?
Bush created a giant new entitlement, the prescription drug plan. He lied to his own party to get it passed. He lied to the country about its true cost. It was written by and for the pharmaceutical industry. It helps nobody except the multinationals that lobbied for it. So much for smaller government. In fact, virtually every tentacle of government has grown exponentially under Bush. Unless, of course, it was an agency to look after the public interest, or environmental protection, and/or worker’s rights.
I’ve talked so often about the border issue, I won’t bore you with a rehash. It’s enough to say this President has been a catastrophe for the wages of working people; he’s debased the work ethic itself. “Jobs Americans won’t do!” He doesn’t believe in the sovereign borders of the country he’s sworn to protect and defend. And his devotion to cheap labor for his corporate benefactors, along with his worship of multinational trade deals, makes an utter mockery of homeland security in a post 9-11 world. The President’s January 7th, 2004 speech on immigration, his first trial balloon on his guest worker scheme, was a deal breaker for me. I couldn’t and didn’t vote for him in 2004. And I’m glad I didn’t.
Katrina, Harriet Myers, The Dubai Port Deal, skyrocketing gas prices, shrinking wages for working people, staggering debt, astronomical foreign debt, outsourcing, open borders, contempt for the opinion of the American people, the war on science, media manipulation, faith based initives, a cavalier attitude toward fundamental freedoms-- this President has run the most arrogant and out-of-touch administration in my lifetime, perhaps, in any American’s lifetime.
You can make a case that Abraham Lincoln did what he had to do, the public be damned. If you roll the dice on your gut and you’re right, history remembers you well. But, when your gut led you from one business failure to another, when your gut told you to trade Sammy Sosa to the Cubs, and you use the same gut to send our sons and daughters to fight and die in a distraction from the real war on terror, then history will and should be unapologetic in its condemnation.
None of this, by the way, should be interpreted as an endorsement of the opposition party. The Democrats are equally bankrupt. This is the second crime of our age. Again, historically speaking, its times like these when America needs a vibrant opposition to check the power of a run-amuck majority party. It requires it. It doesn’t work without one. Like the high and low tides keep the oceans alive, a healthy, positive opposition offers a path back to the center where all healthy societies live.
Tragically, the Democrats have allowed crackpots, leftists and demagogic cowards to snipe from the sidelines while taking no responsibility for anything. In fairness, I don’t believe a Democrat president would have gone into Iraq. Unfortunately, I don’t know if President Gore would have gone into Afghanistan. And that’s one of the many problems with the Democrats.
The two party system has always been clumsy and imperfect, but it has only collapsed once, in the 1850s, and the result was civil war.
I believe, as I have said countless times, the two party system is on the brink of a second collapsed. It’s currently running on spin, anger, revenge, and pots and pots and pots of money.
We’re being governed by paper-mache patriots; brightly painted red, white and blue, but hollow to the core. Both parties have mastered the cynical arts of media manipulation and fund raising. They’ve learned the lessons of Watergate and burn the tapes. They have learned to divide the nation for their own gain. They have demonstrated the willingness to exploit any tragedy for personal advantage. The contempt they have for the American people is without parallel.
This is painful to say, and I’m sure for many of you, painful to read. But it’s impossible to heal the country until we’re willing to acknowledge the truth no matter how painful. We have to wean ourselves off sugar coated partisan lies.
With a belated tip of the cap to Ralph Nader, the system is broken, so broken, it’s almost inevitable it pukes up the Al Gores and George W. Bushes. Where are the Trumans and the Eisenhowers? Where are the men and women of vision and accomplishment? Why do we have to settle for recycled hacks and malleable ciphers? Greatness is always rare, but is basic competence and simple honesty too much to ask?
It may be decades before we have the full picture of how paranoid and contemptuous this administration has been. And I am open to the possibility that I’m all wet about everything I’ve just said. But I’m putting it out there, because I have to call it as I see it, and this is how I see it today. I don’t say any of this lightly. I’ve thought about this for months and months. But eventually, the weight of evidence takes on a gravitational force of its own.
I believe that George W. Bush has taken us down a terrible road. I don’t believe the Democrats are offering an alternative. That means we’re on our own to save this magnificent country. The United States of America is a gift to the world, but it has been badly abused and it’s rightful owners, We the People, had better step up to the plate and reclaim it before the damage becomes irreparable.
So, accept my apology for allowing partisanship to blind me to an obvious truth; our President is incapable of the tasks he is charged with. I almost feel sorry for him. He is clearly in over his head. Yet, he doesn’t generate the sympathy Warren Harding earned. Harding, a spectacular mediocrity, had the self-knowledge to tell any and all he shouldn’t be President. George W. Bush continues to act the part, but at this point whose buying the act?
Does this make me a waffler? A flip-flopper? Maybe, although I prefer to call it realism. And, for those of you who never supported Bush, its also fair to accuse me of kicking Bush while he’s down. After all, you were kicking him while he was up.
You were right, I was wrong.

source: http://www.kabc.com/mcintyre/listingsEntry.asp?ID=432586&PT=McIntyre+in+the+Morning

" Let's impeach the president for lyin' "

War and peaceniks
Neil Young's rage songs and Paul Simon's sage songs speak to the times -- the former with guitars and contempt for presidential lies, the latter with charm and sonic surprise
By Cary Darling
Star-Telegram Pop Culture Critic

A divisive American-led conflict is raging halfway across the globe, fanning the flames of pop-music protest, at least from some of those who remember the furor over the Vietnam War, even if it was just from flickering images on TV. The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam are some of the bigger names who've recently committed their anti-war passions to disc. They're joined this week by Neil Young's rousing and incendiary, if one-dimensional, Living With War, and Paul Simon's more nuanced and artful Surprise.
But it's the lack of subtlety of Living With War that's already attracting the most attention. And no wonder. It's a throwback; a wounded howl of ragged, guitar-driven political anger; an acetylene-soaked epistle not heard from a major rock figure since Rolling Stone went to glossy paper.
Young -- the 60-year-old, Canadian-born singer/songwriter who wrote the aching 1970 anti-violence anthem Ohio, became a fan of President Reagan in the '80s and wrote Let's Roll after 9-11 and in support of the War on Terror -- doesn't couch his emotions in anything resembling poetic ambiguity. If President Bush found comedian Stephen Colbert's parody at the recent White House Correspondents Association Dinner tough to swallow, then Living With War is going to require a stomach pump.
It's obvious from the first lines of the opening track, After the Garden ("Won't need no shadow man runnin' the government, won't need no stinkin' war"), that Living With War places the blame for Young's rage and feelings of political betrayal squarely on the shoulders of President Bush. And he doesn't let up. From the title track through Shock and Awe, Lookin' for a Leader and, most obviously, Let's Impeach the President, Young comes across as a man on a mission:

Let's impeach the president for lyin'
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
What if Al Quaeda blew up the levees?
Would New Orleans have been safer that way?
Sheltered by the government's protection
Or was someone just not home that day?

Reportedly recorded in just four days, the 10 tracks on Living With War sound like what they are: a spasm of rattled-cage outrage, tempered somewhat by trumpet, a 100-voice choir and Young's folky traditionalism -- Families celebrates familial bonds, and Young ends the album with a straight-up version of America the Beautiful. But make no mistake, with its raucous guitars and no-frills punch, this may be Young's fiercest rock album.
At the same time, the set of songs might be among his least complex. They don't bear much scrutiny. Stripped of their timeliness and single-minded, torch-and-pitchfork effort to drive Bush from power, they might soon just seem dated and dreary.
It's hard to imagine many stations slipping anything from Living With War in between spins of James Blunt and Dem Franchize Boyz. Unlike the '60s and '70s, when the likes of Young, Springsteen and Dylan were regulars on what was then called progressive radio, and even on Top 40, they're virtually strangers to the airwaves these days. Old-line protest-rock enthusiasts would be loath to admit it, but if the Pussycat Dolls or the Killers had recorded Let's Impeach the President, the masses beyond Young's fan base just might hear it.
Of course, Paul Simon, 64, faces a similar commercial quandary. But unlike Young, he's not writing screeds to shift political opinion. Nor is he in a particularly angry mood. On the blissful Surprise, produced with a sense of subtle sonic adventure by ambient/electronica pioneer and former Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno, Simon sings lightly in the generically anti-war Wartime Prayers, "I want to rid my heart of envy and cleanse my soul of rage." While obviously a comment on the global situation, the song hardly qualifies as a rant.
Instead, Simon tells his usual stories of character and wordplay, enhanced by Eno's restrained experimentalism. The result is Simon's most entrancing work since the African-inspired Graceland two decades ago.
It's amazing how Simon, about as far from an American Idol-style neophyte as can be imagined, takes on the musical personality of his collaborators. For Graceland, he adopted the rhythmic sound of the South African townships, and he's toyed with reggae and Latin, among many other genres, over the years.
On Surprise, he's not so much about jumping cultural barriers. Instead, he and Eno have come up with a muted yet engaging rock approach that doesn't veer wildly from what listeners expect of Simon but is different enough to be intriguing. In fact, Simon gets downright funky at times, as on the humorous Outrageous, or throws in an unexpected musical element, like the fuzzed-out guitar line that snakes through How Can You Live in the Northeast?
That's Me perhaps best sums up the appeal of Surprise. Placing typically winsome Simon lyrics ("Well, I never cared much for money and money never cared for me") and delicate guitar runs over a repetitive yet vaguely avant rhythm, it's the best of both worlds: the sly charm of vintage Simon meshed with the playfulness of eclectic Eno.
While Young's Living With War and Simon's Surprise couldn't be more different, they both show that age has little to do with pop vitality. Contemporary chart competitors 40 years their junior have a long way to equal Young's explosive emotionalism or Simon's endearing romanticism.
If it's not quite like old times, it comes pretty close.
Neil Young
Living With War
Reprise
Paul Simon
Surprise
Reprise

Cary Darling, (817) 390-7571 cdarling@star-telegram.com
source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/14523553.htm

Brownwood Native and GSD&M President "faces fight for Wal-Mart account"

GSD&M faces fight for Wal-Mart account
Account held by the Austin advertising agency since 1987 goes up for review.
By Robert Elder
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, May 05, 2006

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of Austin-based GSD&M Advertising's oldest and most valuable clients, has put its massive advertising account up for grabs.
GSD&M landed the account in 1987. Wal-Mart was one of GSD&M's first national clients, along with Southwest Airlines Co. and Coors beer (now Molson Coors Brewing Co.), and helped make the agency a national firm.

Roy Spence, president of GSD&M, says Wal-Mart's decision was 'inevitable.' photo caption

GSD&M has shared the account with Bernstein-Rein Advertising Inc., a Kansas City, Mo., agency that has had a big part of Wal-Mart's advertising business for 32 years.
Both agencies will compete for the account again, and GSD&M President Roy Spence said he expects them to have plenty of company.
Wal-Mart "will be the most high-profile pitch for the whole industry in a decade" because the advertising account hasn't been in play for so long, he said.
Wal-Mart "has not had a full agency review in more than 30 years," said Spence, a co-founder of the agency. "The bottom line is that it was inevitable . . . This is a company that is now entering a transformational period."
GSD&M, a unit of New York-based Omnicom Group, wouldn't disclose how the Wal-Mart account contributed to its estimated $110 million in revenue last year. Spence said between 30 and 50 employees make up the core team that works on the Wal-Mart account.
The Wal-Mart account is worth $578 million a year in billings in the United States, but that is just a measure of how much the company spends on its creative and media work. Ad agencies reap a small portion of total billings.
Wal-Mart recently has launched initiatives to appeal to a more upscale customer. For instance, it plans to double its organic product offerings and has been revamping its advertising, which for years focused on its low prices.
In September, the retailer advertised in Vogue for the first time, pitching a fashion line called Metro 7. GSD&M handled that campaign.
Wal-Mart has assembled a new lineup of marketers in recent months under John Fleming, who was named its chief marketing officer last year. Fleming joined Wal-Mart in 2000 after 19 years at rival Target Corp., which is known for its distinctive ads.
Fleming has hired well- regarded marketing executives from Chrysler Group and Frito-Lay.
Incumbent agencies typically win about 10 percent of the accounts their clients put up for review.
"These kind of things really challenge you and put the adrenaline in," Spence said. "It's a great account and we've had a great run, and we'll continue to have a great run. But it will be a fight."
GSD&M ranked 20th by revenue among U.S. advertising firms last year, up one spot from 2004, according to Advertising Age magazine.
The agency is currently shepherding AT&T Inc.'s ad campaign, spurred by longtime client SBC Communications Inc.'s acquisition of the former AT&T Corp.
Last year, the firm won the prized BMW of North America account.

relder@statesman.com; 4445-3671
source: http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/05/5gsdm.html

APB issued for Six Texas Republican Legislators ? Has anyone checked New Mexico or Oklahoma ?

Lawmakers leave key committee meeting
03:32 PM CDT on Friday, May 5, 2006
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Six Republican senators – led by Florence Shapiro of Plano – stormed out of a key Senate committee meeting Friday over a move by some senators to increase state aid for lower wealth school districts.
The quorum break prompted the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Republican Steve Ogden of Bryan, to direct Senate sergeants to round up the six senators in the Capitol – but none could be located.
Ms. Shapiro left the meeting after Mr. Ogden refused to recognize her for a motion to head off what she considered unfriendly amendments to her bill cutting school property taxes and implementing a teacher pay raise.
Following her out of the public hearing were Kim Brimer of Fort Worth, Bob Deuell of Greenville, Kyle Janek of Houston, Jane Nelson of Lewisville and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands.
Three years ago, Republicans scaled Democrats with criticism after they fled the state to block a Senate quorum and prevent passage of a GOP-backed congressional redistricting plan.
“The solutions being offered by some of my colleagues can best be described as a bridge to nowhere,” Ms. Shapiro said of proposed amendments to her bill that appeared to have enough votes to pass.
“They are setting bad fiscal policy for our state that benefits some schools while hurting others. The purpose of this special session is to deliver property tax reduction and address the (Supreme Court) concerns, not create a personal piggy bank for certain members.”
The senator was particularly angered over one proposal that would have taken away $300 million from her initiative to improve high schools and use that money to increase state aid for lower wealth school districts.
The proposal, sponsored by Republicans Todd Staples of Palestine and Robert Duncan of Lubbock, also would eliminate the possibility that the Dallas school district will become a “Robin Hood” district this fall, forced to give up some of its property tax revenue because of its above-average property wealth.
Committee members got a laugh when one senator, Republican Craig Estes of Wichita Falls, came into the hearing while Senate sergeants were searching the Capitol. “You got the wrong one,” Sen. John Whitmire of Houston cracked as Mr. Estes – not a committee member - walked in.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
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source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050606dntexhearing.10c6a0fb.html

“We will be on the ballot. There is no question about that,”

Independent candidates say they have the signatures to get on governor’s race ballot

Friday, May 05, 2006
By Dan Genz
Tribune-Herald staff writer

This week was expected to be the last dash before independent candidates submitted thousands of signatures to make the ballot for the Texas governor’s race in November.
But because Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and celebrity Kinky Friedman report collecting well above the required amount of 45,540 signatures, their supporters will close petition drives across Central Texas on Wednesday with a sense of anticlimactic relief.
“We’re not doing a last-day push or anything,” said Will Lowrance, the Hillsboro mayor who collected more than 200 signatures for Strayhorn. “Her numbers are so far over the top.”
Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders reported at least 145,000 total signatures, while Friedman spokeswoman Laura Stromberg would only say the humorist and musician eclipsed the target by “tens of thousands.”
“We will be on the ballot. There is no question about that,” she said.
Despite the numbers, Waco pizza parlor owner and Friedman supporter Mary Duty wondered if it was enough as she prepared to send her last batch of signatures to the campaign headquarters Thursday night.
“I feel like we got that 1,000 (local signatures) we were supposed to get,” she said. “But I have this sense of dread and worry — what if the signatures get turned down?”
Both campaigns assumed thousands of their supporters’ signatures will be disqualified for a bevy of reasons and compensated by aiming for much higher goals than just 45,540.
If Strayhorn and Friedman qualify for the ballot, the state will be in for one of its most crowded November governor’s races in history. The independents would join Democratic nominee Chris Bell in challenging Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election bid.
Lowrance and Duty said their petition drives appear successful because people in their communities are clamoring for a new leader.
“The people have just responded, they have come from all parts of Hill County saying we want to be part of ensuring that Carole gets on the ballot because we believe there has to be a change,” Lowrance said.
But Perry’s campaign called Strayhorn’s signature count underwhelming.
“Carole Strayhorn has often touted that she’s the highest vote-getter in the last couple of general elections, so I would think that anything less than 300,000 or 400,000 signatures would be a major disappointment for her,” Perry spokesman Robert Black said.

dgenz@wacotrib.com 757-5743
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/05/05052006wacsigningday.html

........... as it relates to Brownwood PTSD

Waco VA gets more funding for PTSD study

Friday, May 05, 2006
By Dan Genz
Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer

Congress is preparing to spend $3.5 million next year funding a post-traumatic stress disorder study planned at the Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital and Fort Hood.
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards said the project provides another reason to keep the embattled Waco VA Hospital operating and could help determine why the disorder devastates some soldiers and does not affect others.
“This is one more arrow in our quiver to save the Waco VA,” Edwards said. “(VA Secretary Jim Nicholson) will still make the final decision, but he doesn’t make that decision in a vacuum. I’ve been very careful not to suggest that any one step would be the key, but it’s clear we’re making a very strong case.”
Edwards’ Republican opponent, Van Taylor, said he supports the project.
“As a Marine who served in combat, we need to understand PTSD so we can cure those who suffer from it and prevent future generations from getting it,” he said.
The funding approved Thursday would pay for a second year of the PTSD study, which is set to begin later this year.
A congressional subcommittee approved the additional funding in the VA budget for 2007 after Congress approved $3 million to start the study later this year. The total $77.9 billion VA spending plan must win the full House Appropriations Committee’s support and the support of the House and Senate before final passage.
Because close to 20 percent of Iraq war combat veterans are reporting PTSD symptoms, Dr. Paul B. Hicks, with the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, said the research is timely and pivotal.
If doctors find clues in genetics, brain imaging and psychological analysis of returning soldiers, they could improve treatment and prevention measures, said Hicks, the VA region’s acting medical director for mental health and behavioral medicine.
“We don’t really know about all the biological and psychological underpinnings of PTSD, and if we can truly make some strides in understanding that, we have the potential to dramatically affect the outcome of soldiers who go through this,” he said.
Fort Hood and the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System still are awaiting the initial funding for the project but have teamed up in other ways, Hicks said.
Veterans and community advocates who have fought efforts to close or downsize the Waco VA Hospital over the past three years hailed the proposed funding.
“I really trust that this is yet one more good sign that perhaps the secretary will in short order be making a very positive announcement for Waco,” said Robert Gamboa, a veteran who has rallied support for the hospital.
Nicholson is evaluating the hospital and 16 others as part of a nationwide review and is expected to determine its fate later this year.
The VA has considered downsizing or closing expensive older facilities in overserved communities, including the Waco VA Hospital, while increasing resources in cities where growing veterans’ populations are far from the nearest VA hospitals.
Closing VA called unwise
Veteran and politicians have argued it is unwise to close a mental health hospital when thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning with PTSD symptoms.
Lawmakers have sought to bolster the Waco hospital with new programs to make it less appealing to close. Edwards added the initial $3 million study funding last year, and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, named the hospital a “center of excellence” for mental health care.
The subcommittee’s proposal also requires that the Waco VA Hospital and two others in New York and California named centers of excellence will receive additional funding, but the panel did not declare a set amount.
“This sends a clear directive — we want the centers of excellence funded. It’s not just a title with no meaning to it,” Edwards said.

dgenz@wacotrib.com 757-5743
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/05/05052006wacvaupdate.html

United States Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, died for you Brownwood !

With all the Mexican Bashing going on over the Brownwood airwaves I wanted to share this with you. Is "Michael" from Brownwood ? Sure sounds familar !

click here

Just one more example of why I'm an Independent Texan Supporting Kinky Friedman !

Strayhorn, Friedman claim signature success
As both candidates keep gathering names, one goes to court seeking faster verification.
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Mindful of a political life-or-death deadline in 10 days, independent gubernatorial hopefuls Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman each claimed Monday to have more than enough voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot — though neither intends to stop hunting autographs.
Strayhorn, the state comptroller, touted her numbers first as lawyers for her campaign implored an Austin federal district judge to order the state to speed its verification of her petitions so she can maintain credibility, raise money and plan TV ads.
Attorney Buck Wood said 21 cardboard file boxes stacked in Judge Lee Yeakel's courtroom held petitions signed by 115,000 voters. He said an additional 25,000 to 30,000 signatures await verification by the campaign.
Strayhorn and Friedman, an author and musician, must each gather 45,540 signatures to make the ballot.
Friedman's campaign declined to air a number, although Friedman said he expects to make the ballot.
He called a news conference to respond to a comment Wood made to the judge as part of his argument that the state need not spend time checking for duplicate signatures. (Voters can sign only one petition per office sought.).
Wood, suggesting there would be few voters who signed petitions for both Strayhorn and Friedman, told Yeakel: "My client is not soliciting signatures in bars and dance halls."
Friedman, speaking on the patio of a bar on West Sixth Street, suggested that Strayhorn's team was devaluing voters based on where they hang out.
"Whether a signature comes from the country club or the homeless shelter, it should count exactly the same," he said.
Brad McClellan, Strayhorn's campaign manager, deferred to Wood, who stood by his characterization: "I'm not saying that's the only place" he's raising signatures. "The fact of the matter is they're appealing to distinct groups of voters. I wasn't trying to be critical of him."
The independent candidates have until 5 p.m. May 11 to turn in petitions. Signatures must be from registered voters who did not participate in this year's party primaries or runoffs. Both could turn in their petitions now, but the secretary of state will not accept additional signatures after petitions are filed.
Strayhorn and Friedman began collecting signatures immediately after the March 7 primaries. Strayhorn's campaign said it has spent at least $500,000 on printing petitions, building databases and hiring contractors for the petition effort; Friedman estimated spending $50,000 on a petition consultant and her assistant.
"It is costly, and it takes up a lot of time," McClellan said.
Friedman and Strayhorn hope to join Democrat Chris Bell and GOP Gov. Rick Perry in what could be an unusually crowded fall fray.
Strayhorn, who declared herself an independent challenger Jan. 2, sued Secretary of State Roger Williams in March over the petition signatures. Wood asked Yeakel to direct Williams to take a statistical sampling of Strayhorn's petitions, once they're submitted, to hasten her confirmation as a candidate.
State law allows for statistical sampling, and Wood noted that the office has used sampling in the past.
Williams, a Perry appointee, has said his office will not use sampling on the petitions submitted and instead will check each signature individually — an approach expected to take six weeks or longer.
Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said Williams chose to verify every signature because it can be done faster and with greater ultimate accuracy than statistical sampling. It's also the only sure way to avoid duplications.
Yeakel said he'd act shortly.
"This is a case that needs a ruling very quickly," he said.
source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/2strayhorn.html