Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round-Up With Bat Photo

Below is the most recent Texas Progressive Alliance blog round-up—

The photo above is of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat. This bat is the state flying mammal of Texas. Here is information about this creature.

The round-up—

The city of DISH, TX is one of several municipalities that have already adopted a resolution calling for the repeal of Big Oil’s exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act. TXsharon gives DISH a high-five and hopes your group, organization, club, city or county will do the same, at Bluedaze.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is glad the internets have Texas Progressive Alliance! The Republicans have their house of cards and a batsh*t crazy base.

BossKitty at TruthHugger sees danger in the watered down, dumbed down attempt to educate students by committee. Sanitized History, Truth or Consequences is an example of why education needs serious attention.

Houston political reporter Jane Ely passed away this week. PDiddie collected some recollections of her life at Brains and Eggs.

I’ve Joined Democratic Women Of Denton County, Texas

I’m glad to announce I have joined the online group Democratic Women of Denton County.

This is a Facebook group run by the Denton County political activist and leader Judith Ford.

Above is my photo for when the annual handbook and yearbook of this group is published.

I’m radiant today.

Ms. Ford is my blogger friend and comrade. Some day she will visit Houston or I will visit Denton County and we will finally meet in-person.

Ms. Ford runs a blog serving her precinct —Precinct 224—and her county called Castle Hills Democrats.

Denton County is in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and has more than 600,000 people.

Here is information about Denton County.

Here is the link to the Denton County Democratic Party.

This will surprise you, but I am also a member of the Executive Women’s Golf Association of Seattle.

I’m a member of Chicago Women In Publishing.

I’m a member of Rural Women in New Zealand.

From the New Zealand group— 

“Rural Women New Zealand serves women of all ages who share an interest in rural life. We offer support and friendship for women with an interest in the land and rural issues. Rural Women New Zealand  is a leading voice for rural women and we make submissions on a wide range of topics affecting the rural sector. Rural Women New Zealand is an organisation with an impressive history of making a difference in rural communities. We are constantly moving forward with new initiatives to suit women of all ages.”

I’m a member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. 

And, of course, I’m an Alpha Kappa Alpha.

(Below–Wilberforce chapter of AKA from 1922.)

Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

Above is the city flag of Corpus Christi. I like it because it has a sea bird on the flag. Corpus Christi is a great place to spend a weekend. Here is a link to all the many things you can do in Corpus Christi.  

Below is the most recent weekly round-up of Texas Progressive Alliance blogs.

How would Republicanshandle a pandemic? CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme knows. They’d hunker down. Get out their guns and shoot anybody with a runny nose.

After a record 3 weeks without a post in his six years of blogging, Easter Lemming has a very brief round-up of the Pasadena elections.

Off the Kuff writes about the resolution to impeach Judge Sharon Kelleras submitted by Rep. Lon Burnam, which received a committee hearing last week.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells the sad story of how a fundamentalist “historian” and evangelist who believes that hurricanes are God’s punishment on society for tolerating gay citizens will guide the writing of Texas’ new social studies standards. If you thought Darwin versus Don McLeroy was a train wreck, wait until it is the treatment of American Indians, what labor unions have done for America, Islam, women’s suffrage, 9/11, the free enterprise system, and the civil rights movement versus David Barton. First one who catches one of the new “experts” complaining about too much information about minorities in textbooks wins a prize!

WCNews at Eye On Williamsonposted this week on the latest transportation funding scheme the Lege came up with … a “transportation bank”: Texas Transportation Revolving Fund?.

Obama Folks Bring The Permanent Campaign To Texas

Below is an e-mail I got from the Obama folks about two weeks ago—

My name is Luke Hayes, and I’m the new Texas State Director for Organizing for America. Since Inauguration Day, Organizing for America has been dedicated to making real the change we fought for during the election. But to be successful, we need to hear from you — your effort and commitment are the backbone of this movement and this organization. That’s why I’m so excited to announce that we’re back on the ground in Texas and, starting this week, we’ll be hosting Listening Tour Town Halls across the state. Will you make your voice heard and join us on the Listening Tour? At Listening Tour meetings, you’ll get a chance to meet new state staff members, hear about some lessons learned during the general election, and offer your thoughts on how we can organize Texas going forward. Your ideas will be used to write a Texas-specific plan for Organizing for America in 2009 and beyond. The campaign brought an unprecedented number of new voices into the process — we need to make sure those voices remain at the center of the debate as the President and Congress work on providing solutions for our economy. But these meetings are not just for folks who were involved in the campaign — we’re hopeful that every Texan will get involved. We can’t stop growing our movement now. We’ve never had a better opportunity to shape our future — and just like during the election, we’ll do it from the bottom up.

Sign up now to attend a Listening Tour event:

http://tx.barackobama.com/ListeningTourTX

Luke Hayes
Texas State Director
Organizing for America

(I don’t have a picture of Luke Hayes. So above please find a picture the late Irish folk singer Luke Kelly. Mr. Kelly passed on in 1984, but you can see him here on YouTube.) 

Luke Hayes worked on the Obama campaign in Nevada and Virginia. 

On one hand, I’m glad the Obama folks think Texas may merit effort and resources.  Texas is a big state and it would be great if Mr. Obama could win Texas in 2012.

On the other hand, it’s all part of a permanent campaign which just means more obscene amounts of fundraising and more all-around bullshit from all sides.

I looked up when the first events  on the listening tour in Houston would be held They were booked up. This was just hours after I got the e-mail. I wish they had found a bigger hall. The listing at the Obama web page said that 60 people was all one event could hold while the other could only accommodate 50. Don’t you wager that people who got tickets were people who were well-connected in some way?

I’m (mostly) all for President Obama and I understand the Obama folks want to get a sense if Texas will be viable in 2012. But it’s not really a listening tour. A listening tour would involve a big room and plenty of advance notice in many media outlets. 

I’m sure Mr. Hayes is an energetic and loyal soul with an endless capacity to stay at La Quintas. He’ll report up to the mothership if Planet Texas warrants more of a landing party as 2012 approaches.

I find this stuff exhausting in many ways. The 2008 campaign went on forever. It seems the 2012 campaign is now under way  in 2009.

Despite Seccession Talk, Texas Governor Perry Asks For Federal Help On Swine Flu

Despite talk of secession, Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked for flu medicine  from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He wants these drugs to help deal with possible Swine Flu cases from Texas. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention are part of the federal government.

What? The Republic of Texas does not have thousands of doses of this medicine on hand in its science labs?

(Here is an explanation of Swine Flu with handwashing tips.) 

From the Associated Press—

Gov. Rick Perry has asked for 37,430 courses of anti-viral medicine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of the swine flu outbreak…..“As a precautionary measure, I have requested that medication be on hand in Texas to help curb the spread of swine flu by helping those with both confirmed and suspected cases of this swine flu virus, as well as health care providers who may have come in contact with these patients,” Perry said in a prepared statement.”

Here is what the Governor said two weeks ago—

“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” Perry said. “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that

Governor Perry knows that in the end there are many issues that only the federal government of the United States of America has the ability to address.

48% Of Texas Republicans Say Texas Would Be Better Off As An Independent Nation

A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll reports that 48% of Texas Republicans believe Texas would be better of as an independent nation  rather than remaining part of the United States. 35% of all Texans hold this view.

Please click here for the full poll.

Another result is that Texans disapprove of Barack Obama by a 53%–45% margin. If they don’t like him now when he has a national 64% approval rating, it seems an uphill climb to win the state in 2012.

(Texas is one of four states with a majority-minority population. Most of those minorities are Democrats as are a substantial portion of white voters.  Where are these folks? Are they illegals? Do they only have cell phones and can’t be reached for surveys? Are they citizens who don’t vote? I’m sure it’s a little bit of all that. In any case, it’s frustrating.)

I’ve addressed the disloyal comments of Texas Governor Rick Perry and Congressman Ron Paul a couple of times this week here at the blog. Regular readers may note that this is more often than I generally acknowledge the existence of the Republican Party.

I think criticizing the same people time after time is a waste of time and effort. Life is short and there are so many other things to address. I don’t think repeating the same thing over and over changes people’s minds.

But I feel the point should be made that these folks are so extreme. Can you even imagine that the comments of Governor Perry have made secession something we are talking about? How can real progress ever be made in this state when the governing party consists of people who hold these views?

In Washington, we see a Republican Party that seems to have learned nothing from the failures of the last 8 years. In Texas, we see this extremism in its full flowering.

It seems clear that the main loyalties of the American right are concentrated on anger and grievance and not directed towards our nation and its people.

Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up With Bonus Jobsanger Link

Below is the weekly Texas Progressive Alliance blogger round-up with a bonus link to the great Texas blog Jobsanger. 

Above is a picture of Downtown Tyler, Texas. Please click here to learn more about Tyler.

They grow a lot of roses in Tyler.

The round-up—

BossKitty at TruthHugger finds Texas Agencies ‘undersight’ totally unacceptable. Texas Agencies that toss ‘seemingly viable’ programs to the wind and provide no follow up to insure integrity are the fault of Texas legislators. Consolidation of some Agencies, specifically Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR), eliminated follow up after merging with Department of Aging and Disability Services. Follow the bread crumbs: Texas To Students With Disabilities, Educate Yourself or Become Slave Labor.

The House passed its budget! Somewhat surprisingly, as Off the Kuff notes, it doesn’t suck.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that the Obama administration is doing the hard work to solve problems at our border. The right wingers, on the other hand, see only brown and white.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson points to the most recent nonsense from our member of Congress in TX-31, John Carter and right-wing extremists.

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog explores the possible Rice ­-Baylor College of Medicine merger.

Infestation?!—Zebra Mussel Found In Lake Texoma

The Texas Parks And Wildlife Department reports that a single Zebra Mussel has been found in Lake Texoma.

One Zebra Mussel can lead to millions of Zebra Mussels and to big trouble. They started in Russia and have spread throughout the world clogging up pipes and valves and sticking to things. Below you see a picture from Lake Michigan of  just what I’m saying.

Lake Texoma, a big reservoir, is partially in Texas and partially in Oklahoma.

From the TPWD release—For the fifth time in four years, an alert citizen has assisted Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) in their efforts to keep zebra mussels from invading Lake Texoma. On April 3 Brent Taylor, an employee of a private landowner on the south shore of Lake Texoma, reported to TPWD Inland Fisheries biologist Bruce Hysmith that he had found a suspected zebra mussel on a boathouse communication line under water. The find marks the first time the dangerous exotic species has been found living in Lake Texoma. It is known to occur at several other sites in Oklahoma. TPWD personnel confirmed the identification and inspected the boathouse but found no additional specimens. Hysmith immediately notified the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Tishomingo, Oklahoma; local game wardens and area marinas to be on the alert.

Here is the full release.

I’ve written about zebra mussels before at this blog. Please click here for some more information and links on this topic.

Below is a picture of Lake Texoma and the Oklahoma shoreline side of the lake. I know it looks like any other lake in that picture, but I’m certain it is a nice place to visit.  Many people make use of the lake.

Lake Texoma is in a very Republican part of the country. Yet the lake was built by the Army Corps of Engineers and it will be government taking a lead role in fighting the further infestation of the lake by Zebra Mussels.

Am I A Real Texan? What Makes Someone A Texan?

In addition to this blog you’re reading, I’m also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle. At that space, I’ve often been criticized by readers for not being a native Texan. They say I’m a carpetbagging Yankee.

Here’s how the subject was addressed by a Chronicle  blog reader who goes by the name typical_white_man——-“TexasLiberal=Yankee nit-wit! The whole piece is worthless because as 5genTexas so aptly provided the definition for treason, which the YankeeLiberal (there is nothing Texan about this idiot!) was clueless.”

This reader was writing in response to my post that Texas Republicans are talking treason.

Am I a real Texan? What makes a real Texan?

Let’s see—

I was born in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts. I did not live there long.

Between 1968 and 1980 I lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Below you see a picture I took last year of the Providence hurricane dam. Just as I could tell you about Hurricane Ike, my father could tell you about the 1938 New England Hurricane.

While living in Rhode Island, I was a Rhode Islander.

Between 1980 and 1998 I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Below you see a picture of Cincinnati I took from a city park maybe two years ago. (Here is a story on the damage Hurricane Ike did in Cincinnati last year. My parents were without power for a time.)

While living in Ohio, I was an Ohioan.

From 1998 until the current day I’ve lived in Houston, Texas. Below is my windswept rainswept Hurricane Ike photo of a flooding Buffalo Bayou to show that I do live in Houston, Texas.

What am I while living in Texas?

You got it!— I’m a Texan!

It does not matter that I spent 13 years in New England or that I lived for 18 years in the Midwest.

All that I need to be a Texan is to live in Texas. I’ve been a Texan for 11 years.

Texas has 24 million people. No one thing defines all these people except the fact that they live in Texas. Definitions of what makes someone a “real Texan” or a “true Texan” are sure to leave many people out.

All I’ve got to do to be a Texan is live in Texas.

A better way to identify people would be to see them as individuals. This is better than creating a definition based on one’s own inevitably limited and erroneous assumptions of what defines a certain place. (Here is my autobiography in 220 words.)

If what you see below is your image of a Texan, you are free to have that thought.   But when you try to impose that notion on others, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to ride off into the sunset.

Congressman Ron Paul Is Second Elected Republican To Talk Treason

Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is the second elected Republican in the Lone Star State to talk treason in recent days. (Photo of Rep. Paul, in front of our flag, above.) (Here is a map of the areas represented by Rep. Paul.)

Here is what Rep. Paul said—

“[Perry] really stirred some of the liberal media, where they started screaming about: ‘what is going on here, this is un-American.’ I heard one individual say ‘this is treasonous to even talk about it.’ Well, they don’t know their history very well, because when you think about it… it is very American to talk about secession. That’s how we came in being. Thirteen colonies seceded from the British and established a new country. So secession is a very much American principle….”

Rep. Paul terms himself a libertarian, even as he asks for $398 million in earmarks from the most recent federal budget, but he is an elected Republican in our Congress. 

Last week Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry said Texas could consider leaving the union if it felt oppressed by the federal government. The federal government has of late been oppressing Texas with hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus funds 

Is the Republican Party of Texas loyal to our union or is it not? What do they think Ronald Reagan would have thought about this disloyal talk? 

A recent Rasmussen poll reports that 18% of Texans would vote to leave the union if they had the chance. Another 7% are not sure. That is 25% of folks in Texas would would support or consider supporting leaving the union.   

What share of Texas rank-and-file Republicans hold this view? It seems that at least 40% or so of Texas Republicans must hold this view. I doubt it is Democrats that support this position of treason and blind anger.

It’s not just Texas. National Republicans had little problem with putting secessionist Sarah Palin within close reach of the White House. 

If Republicans and conservatives want to equate our elected President Obama and our elected Democratic Congress to taxation without representation, they are free to do so.

What I will do, as will liberals and Democrats across the nation, is salute the flag of the United States of America.

 

National Republican Party leader and conservative leader Rush Limbaugh has defended Governor Perry’s views on treason.  Given Mr. Limbaugh’s wide following with conservatives, one would be fair to conclude that the option of tearing the nation apart is a mainstream Republican view. 

Ideally in our democracy, competing political parties would offer differing views on the issues before the nation and the people would decide which views they feel are best.

But if Americans have cause to question the loyalty of one the two main parties, and have reason to question the loyalty of the conservative movement,  then we may reach the point where Republicans and conservatives can no longer be seen as legitimate participants in the national political debate.

Texas Governor Rick Perry Talks Treason

Texas Governor Rick Perry has said Texas has the option of leaving the Union if it does not like what the federal government is doing.

He said this despite the blood shed in our Civil War to preserve the Union and to free the slaves. 

( 4/20/09 Update–Now a second Republican is talking treason.)  

( 4/24/09 Update —Half of Texas Republicans share this disloyal view.)

(Below–After Gettysburg.)

Here is what Governor Perry said—

“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” Perry said. “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.”

According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Governor Perry is wrong that Texas can leave the Union. What it can do is divide into five states. Also, an 1869 Supreme Court case denied Texas the right to secede.

Governor Perry joins Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as open to secession. 

At the same time, this Voice of America story discusses Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s report that right-wing terror groups in the United States may be on the rise.

With leading Republicans talking the hateful language of disunion, right-wing fringe groups need only look to the news of the day to find ideas and support for their actions.

Thoughts On Texas Legislator Who Suggested Asian-Americans Change Names

Republican Texas State Representative Betty Brown of Terrell has said Asian-Americans in Texas should change their names to something more easy to pronounce and understand. 

This issue has been written about by other Texas progressive bloggers and I’d planned to ignore it. It’s just so dumb and predictable from a Republican member of the malignancy known as the Texas legislature.  Blogging about it had a shooting fish in a barrel quality. 

But my friend Diane in Maryland asked that I write a post about the issue and I don’t like to disappoint the blog reading public. I guess what’s expected in Texas is not how things go in Maryland.

Representative Brown’s comments reminded me of my elementary school and middle school years in Providence, Rhode Island. This was in the 1970’s.

My last name is spelled A-Q-U-I-N-O.  It is pronounced  “A-queen-o.” It’s Italian and I’m pretty certain that people of Italian descent are the largest single ethnic group in Rhode Island. In any case, many Rhode Islanders are Italian.

At the beginning of each school year, at least a few of my new teachers would trip over my last name and ask me what kind of name it was.  While I did go to school on a side of town in Providence that had fewer Italians than other parts of the city, we were at the same time electing in Providence a Mayor named Buddy Cianci.

In the years since I left the Providence schools, I’ve looked back and wondered how these teachers could not figure out my name when I was part of the state’s largest ethnic group. Had the teachers been living on a boat out on the Atlantic and just sailed in for classes each day? Did they not grasp that they were in Providence, Rhode Island?  

Texas is one of four states in the nation with a majority-minority population. (California, New Mexico and Hawaii are the other three.) How could Ms. Brown have missed this fact? Though, more likely, what she is trying to do is wish that fact away.

There’s often a presumption by some that they are the true Americans and that others are somehow alien. Expressions of this presumption can be based on a kind of benign ignorance such as what I got from my teachers in Providence, or they can take a more malignant form when expressed in an insulting way by an elected official.  

In any case, no matter how long America draws immigrants from all over the world, this kind of thing still goes on. Sometimes it’s best ignored. Other times you have to speak out. The good news is that we have a President named Barack Obama and a younger generation that seems more open to all of America’s diversity.

The Betty Browns of Texas and these United States will never fully go away, but even they may realize, or may have already realized, that their numbers are dwindling.

Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up With Gaudalupe Peak Picture

Below is the most recent Texas Progressive Alliance weekly blog round-up. The TPA is a confederation of progressive Texas bloggers who are doing what they can to better our state.  

Pictured above is Gaudalupe Peak. This is the highest point in Texas. It reaches 8751 feet. This peak can be climbed if one wishes though I would rather read a book. 

The round-up—

Neil at Texas Liberal writes about a voting rights case in Austin-Area Voting Rights Case Headed To Supreme Court/Idea For Lawsuit Against Democratic Party and suggests another idea for a voting rights suit.

Somewhat quietly, a bill that would amend Texas’ unemployment insurance laws in a way that would make them compliant with the requirements to get federal stimulus dollars passed out of a Senate committee. Off the Kuff takes a look.

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog writes about the Pew study indicating Asian-American students in Fort Bend and Pasadena ISDs face some of the highest segregation rates in the nation.

At McBlogger, we take a look at Ag Commissioner Todd Staples’ efforts to make people sick. Nice work, Todd!

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is thoroughly disgusted with the crony-loving Texas Supreme Court which is hereby officially renamed the Texas Cronies’ Protection Agency. Workers beware!

Austin Area Voting Rights Case Headed To Supreme Court/Idea For Lawsuit Against Democratic Party

A lawsuit that started in the Austin, Texas suburb of Canyon Creek and that will test the limits of the Voting Rights Act is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Please click here to read the Wall Street Journal story on the suit. 

The issue began when a man named Don Zimmerman wanted to move a polling place from one place to another place that he saw as more convenient. Mr. Zimmerman is a lifelong Republican and a fan of libertarian Congressman Ron Paul.  

Moving the polling place required federal approval because Texas is still under the provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Any change in election procedure in a VRA  jurisdiction requires federal approval.

Mr. Zimmerman is suing because he sees this oversight as unfair.

Conservatives in Texas fear losing the state to a coalition of white and minority Democrats. Who knows what they might be up to as Texas (someday soon I’m sure) changes for the better?  

( Below–Former President George W. Bush signing a reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006. Even a bad man can do a good thing.)

You can say that a black man was just elected President of the United States–But most of the places still open to enforcement of the Voting Rights Act did not vote for Mr. Obama. Many whites in these places are still not on board with our future as an open multi-ethnic society. 

These conservatives are my fellow citizens and I would not deny them any rights or legal recourse that we all share. Yet while I do view them as fellow citizens in equal standing with all others, I also see them as people you need to watch like a hawk. 

    

(Here is good information on the Red-Tailed Hawk such as you see in the picture above.)

Below is a map of places still under the jurisdiction of the Voting Rights Act.  

The Voting Rights Act was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson in 1965. Here is information on the Voting Rights Act.  Here is information on Lyndon Johnson.

Instead of a lawsuit by this Mr. Zimmerman that has the true intent of weakening the ability of our government to protect the rights of all people, I have a suggestion of my own for a lawsuit.

I propose that minority voters, liberals and all Democrats across the nation sue the Democratic Party and any number of elected Democrats for years of acquiescing, and in many cases tacitly encouraging, low minority turnout.

 The suit could charge that in cities and in majority-minority districts across the nation, the Democratic Party and its elected officials have looked the other way at officeholders racking up millions in campaign dollars from interests at odds with the core constituencies of the Democratic party and at odds with the general interests of the people of  the United States.

As these folks take in the money, they are elected year-after-year in barely contested elections while conditions in America’s cities decline.

Could this have ever been the intent or spirit of the Voting Rights Act?

( Republicans living rural areas could come up with a suit of their own along many of the the same lines.)

Mr. Zimmerman and his allies are bad actors. Yet in opposing Mr. Zimmerman’s efforts we should not lose sight of the damage done from our own side of the aisle.

Brownsville Sugar Mill Photo/Steam Turbine Painting

The photo above is of the inside of a sugar mill.

The image is from a collection of  of pictures taken along the South Texas border between 1900 and 1920. This photo was taken in Brownsville, Texas. 

Here is a link to the full collection.

The photographer was Robert Runyon.  His life story is interesting. 

Here is the proper credit for the photo —The Robert Runyon Photograph Collection, [image number, e.g., 00199], courtesy of The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Above is a picture of a machines. Below is a painting of machines. The name of the painting is Steam Turbine. It is from 1939 and was painted by Charles Sheeler.