(Keith Hampton is a widely respected attorney in Texas seeking a seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals. He's running against presiding Judge Sharon Keller. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
For over a year, I have worked tirelessly to persuade Republican Judge Larry Meyers to become the first statewide Republican to switch parties. I was so convinced he would run against Presiding Judge Sharon Keller as a Democrat, I decided to run in an open seat to ensure we had a Democratic candidate in each race. But after weeks of meetings at Texas Democratic Party offices, it recently became clear that Judge Meyers would remain a Republican. Under these circumstances, I have decided to run against the incumbent most deserving a challenger, Presiding Judge Keller.
I thank each of you who has worked to collect signatures. I must now collect those same signatures more quickly than ever to be on the ballot for Place 1 against Judge Keller. In my efforts to switch a Republican-to-Democrat I lost weeks of time, leaving me only 60 days to file the petitions necessary for me to be the only Democrat on the ballot for a statwide judicial race. Please sign up now to help collect petitions.
I thank you again for helping my campaign for this judicial office, and I thank you for caring about the state of justice in Texas. It matters.
(Last day to comment on this crucial issue, y'all! Also check out the awesome "Built to Spill" poster below the jump. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
The State Department is currently considering TransCanada's application for a Presidential Permit to build and operate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. This massive pipeline would be the third and largest dedicated tar sands pipeline running between Canada and the US, and would deliver up to 900,000 barrels a day of this toxic oil from Canada to Texas.
Allowing TransCanada, a foreign company, to profit from a dirty and dangerous tar sands oil pipeline at the expense of of Americans' drinking water, food supply and economy is not in our national interest. Please stand up for our clean energy future and submit your public comment today.
Here's just a few reasons to oppose KXL:
Producing tar sands oil creates 3x more carbon pollution than conventional oil and will push our climate system past the tipping point. Also, the refining of tar sands oil will further threaten the public health of communities in Houston and Port Arthur.
Regarding water security, the first Keystone tar sands pipeline has already spilled 12 times in its first 12 months, and a recent study concludes this new KXL pipeline poses a major threat to our water supply, especially the Ogallala and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers.
In addition to being bad environmental policy, there appears to be a conflict of interest between some officials in the State Department and TransCanada lobbyists and consultants. According to the New York Times, "The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects."
There are many problems with bringing Canada's dirty oil to Texas, but we can still stop this mistake before it's too late.
A fire at the Magnablend Chemical Company is burning out of control today near Dallas in Joe Barton’s Congressional District. Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 4, Congressman Barton of Ennis is holding an Energy and Environment Subcommittee Hearing: Quality Science for Quality Air.
“A major chemical plant fire near Dallas at the Magnablend Chemical Company demonstrates the critical need for a strong Clean Air Act to protect public health from extraordinarily large volumes of toxic air pollution when accidents like this occur,” stated Dr. Neil Carman, clean air program director for the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter. “Most industrial accidents such as this one are preventable according to investigations of other chemical plant accidents. Congressman Joe ‘McCarthy’ Barton of Ennis should not hold hearings to attack the US EPA at a time when the agency provides a critical life-supporting role in the nation and when his own district is on fire with toxic air pollution spewing into the air,” Carman emphasized.
The Magnablend Chemical Co. operates specialty chemical blending services.
For more information, contact Dr. Neil Carman, 512-288-5772
Is Immigration About Jobs, Humans Or Business? - We asked a panel of professionals from different walks of life about the varied colors of the immigration issue, from a business, political and humanitarian standpoint.
Juggling Optimism & Pessimism In U.S.-Mexico Relations - A discussion of pessimism and optimism revolving around the U.S.-Mexico relations in Texas, as well as interviews with Laredo Mayor Raúl G. Salinas and El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar.
Latina Volunteerism Often Manifests Off The Beaten Path - A recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Latinos volunteer at lower rates than other ethnic groups but Laura Donnelly Gonzalez, co-founder Latinitas, tells us that Latinas not only "get" volunteerism, but have taken ownership of their volunteerism in ways that will immensely benefit the U.S.
Report: Widespread Abuse By Patrol Agents Along Border - The group No More Deaths released a report detailing widespread abuses by Border Patrol agents of people in their custody. The report, "A Culture of Cruelty," includes information gathered over two-and-a-half years from over 12,000 individuals in more than 4,100 interviews conducted on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, and concludes that there exists "an institutional culture of abuse within Border Patrol."
One Immigrant Son Tries To Be A Border Patrolman, Is Rejected - A story from Brownsville about a young man, the son of an undocumented mother, who graduated from college and then entered the Border Patrol to provide for the rest of his family. Ultimately, though, he found out the Border Patrol was not for him.
(Great BOR reader diary about family planning. It's clear that these cuts aren't about saving money, but rather harming women and families. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
While Texas has some of the nation's toughest restrictions on reproductive health care, it has also drastically cut funding to family planning centers. At the same time the state has increased funding to so-called crisis pregnancy centers (CPC), which has decreased the access women have to reproductive health care in the state. In Rick Perry's Texas, women are not trusted to make their own reproductive health care decisions.
"We The People" United States citizens who reside in the state of Texas, make a plea to the Honorable Barack Obama President to declare a State of Emergency and remove Texas Governor Rick Perry from office based on Insanity and/or Mental Incompetency.
Sign We The People Petition: http://wh.gov/4C1
The Governor is so far removed by distance, suffers from an Elite Class Delusional Cyber- Universe, and grandiose dreams of becoming the next President of the United States of America; he has attacked his own people with federal funding and Military Aircraft while ignoring a State of emergency concerning brutal killings and torture in the bordering Districts of Texas.
The Texas Governor is internationally known as the "Backbone of Anti-American Human Rights Resentment” created by his dangerous rhetoric and total disregard of executive orders of both President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and the International Community.
President Bush Instructed the Governor of Texas State Courts to give 51 Mexican Nationals facing the Death Penalty new hearings that never happened! Governor Rick Perry formed the backbone of Anti-American Resentment within months of becoming Governor of Texas replacing George Bush after his election to the President of The United States in the year 2000.
Blame is now unduly placed on Internet postings by brave concerned citizens of Mexico and Texas residents of bordering districts of the Republic of Mexico, begging for aid and assistance by blog postings which have become the only means of contemporary communications to report the brutal atrocities of innocent people of both nations. The FBI office is swamped with telephone calls and the Internet has become the only way to protect ourselves. Now is a good time to test FEMA! Is the 911 Act "Keeping Us Safer?"
He has forced legislation to defend his own right “to keep and bear arms” with bizarre rodeo media ads, that have in fact forced the people of Texas to disarm themselves for fear of a Perry Police State unwarranted wiretapping [Hacking] that have been known to trigger a search and sizer of weapons legally registered by Texas residents to protect their families, themselves, and property [Reported to Congressman Henry Cuellar District 28th].
We request the State of Texas to arm its own citizens at the states expense and provide training for self-defense just as the President of Mexico has instructed his defense department. Time line of Governor Rick Perry Destructive Behavior [which is not all inclusive or does this list include the illegal use of Private Security Firms "Hackers" in years prior to April 2009]
Mexicans on Death Row to Get Hearings: Bush Tells Texas Courts to Review Cases of 51 Denied Consular Aid By Charles Lane Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, March 8, 2005 "The Bush administration has announced that it will attempt to defuse a long- simmering international dispute over the death penalty by instructing Texas state courts to give 51 Mexicans facing the death penalty new hearings on their claims that they were denied meetings with diplomats from their nation, in violation of international law." Citation http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/foreign-nationals-news-and-developments-previous-years-mark-warren-human-rights-watch
Texas 2002 Governor Richard James Perry
Death Penalty Information Center Foreign Nationals News and Developments - Previous Years (by Mark Warren of Human Rights Watch) Mexico Mobilizes to Oppose Texas Execution (July, 2002) "The ministry's chief legal adviser, Juan Manuel Gomez, said that all ordinary legal means to halt the execution of Suarez, now 33, were exhausted at the end of June. That leaves the possibility of persuading Texas Gov. Rick Perry to grant clemency, something Gomez admitted was unlikely. But he said Mexico would try to find ways to reopen the case under the argument that Texas authorities violated international law by failing to inform Suarez of his right to get help from the Mexican consulate when he was detained. Suarez is set to die Aug. 14. This argument, the official said, was the basis of a recent ruling in Oklahoma in favor of Gerardo Valdez, another Mexican sentenced to death. It would also form the backbone of a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights." Citation http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/foreign-nationals-news-and-developments-previous-years-mark-warren-human-rights-watch
Texas 2004 Governor Richard James Perry
US told to review 51 death row cases Associated Press April 01, 2004 "The State Department has not responded to the ruling, and officials in Oklahoma and Texas, where three of the Mexican inmates are on death row, said no immediate action was being taken in those cases." "It was the second time that the highest United Nations court has ruled that the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which protects foreigners accused of serious crimes. In 2001, Arizona ignored a court order to stay the execution of a German citizen." "Although the court dealt specifically with the cases of 52 Mexicans, it cautioned the principle should apply to all foreigners imprisoned for serious crimes. There are 121 foreign citizens on death row in the United States, 55 of whom are Mexican, according to the Death Penalty Information Center."
Texas 2005 Governor Richard James Perry
Mexicans on Death Row to Get Hearings: Bush Tells Texas Courts to Review Cases of 51 Denied Consular Aid By Charles Lane Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Texas 2009 Governor Richard James Perry
International Death Penalty Debate February 11, 2009 7:43 PM By Bootie Cosgrove-Mather "About 6,000 Americans are arrested or detained each year in other countries and need consular help to navigate and understand an unfamiliar, and perhaps hostile, legal system," justices were told by a coalition of former diplomatic leaders and nonpartisan groups. They said Americans would suffer if the United States does not set a good example." Citation: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/10/supremecourt/main660414.shtml
Texas 2011 Governor Richard James Perry
The U.N.'s top human rights official says the U.S. breached international law when it executed a Mexican citizen. GENEVA (AP)July 8, 2011 Associated Press "U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Friday the Texas execution of Humberto Leal "raises particular legal concerns," including whether he had access to consular services and a fair trial." "Pillay also cited a 2004 International Court of Justice ruling saying the U.S. must review and reconsider the cases of 51 Mexican nationals sentenced to death, including Leal's — But, she said, that never happened." Citation: http://news.yahoo.com/un-official-us-execution-leal-broke-intl-law-160400028.html
Dear White House Administration and those with disabilities in Higher Education - What positive changes have taken place sense fall 2008?
I have never returned to any campus for fear of retaliation. Is it safe to return and can I bring my guns back to my farm so the police cannot make an excuse for "due cause?"
Unlike our Governor Rick Perry who has 24/7 armed security protection paid for by the state, we really do have a Coyote infestation and an occasional rabid animal. A three foot copper head just bit my dog on the nose yesterday before I step on it! Once in a while we have a Private Security Firm creeping around in the dark like lone wolves of terrorism!
Speak Up or Forever Hold Your Peace! Letters to the White House Administration [edited] by G N O'Dell 04/15/2010
Higher Education ADA regulations have become so overwhelming burdensome that they no longer aid the disabled student with equal access to colleges and universities, which is the original ADA Act legislative intent enforced by the Office of Civil Rights.
If you have had the misfortune of participation in the process, you will have experience retaliation not only from the school that you filed against but the Office of Civil Rights.
If you have the misfortune of living in a succession philosophy state such as Texas, and file a grievance, you will be targeted by Private Security firms funded by the 911 Patriot act for terrorism, and will be investigated as if you are an enemy of the State. The Office of Civil Rights as well, will use of the 911 Patriot Act against you and is an unnecessary expense- a wasteful burden on tax payer. Do I need to mention the consequences of the poor student who is attacked by this type of retaliation for filing an ADA grievance?
"If I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth north and south, I won't have to talk no more!" (Cat Stevens)"
The way it once worked, and it did work much more efficiently, was the right for a student to declare a Handicap to his classroom professor before, or the first few days of class, then the professor could make an assessment concerning the disability and try to find a way the student could complete all the tasks and be honored with the same credit value after completion of the course just like any other student.
Example: A student with an amputated foot should have the right to approach the professor of Physical Education Class and declare his/her handicap and the professor can make an informal assessment by understanding the students impairment and modify the curriculum in a way that would demand more or equal participation that would satisfy the course just as any student with both feet.
After successful completion of the course by the disabled student, credit for the course would hold the same value as any other student.
The way it works now [Fall 2008], the student must register with the department of disabilities, and once that is done, given a visa as if to walk the campus or attend a class, the disabled student is treated as if a foreign national that must show his visa on demand. Prior to 2008, and it may still be a practice, all disabled students registered with the department of disability were considered having a mental illness, even if the disability was/is an amputated foot.
Students should have an opportunity to opt out of college disability registration and declare a handicap with the professor of a particular class without any formalities or repercussions and ensures that the disabled student's diploma at the end of the 4-8 year process has the same value as any other student.
Certainly, there are many cases were the student is dependent on the services of the campus disability office and should use those services and be free to file an ADA grievance, just as a student that has disclosed an informal handicap request to his professor without the fear of retaliation!
The biggest problem that we have seen is there are some students that are severely mentally impaired and could be a danger on campus. There is only one way to solve this problem and that is that every student (each and every one) are required to submit a mental health certification at the time of registration. If birds that do not have wings cannot fly, then it is just a fact of life that those that suffer from mental illness that could be a danger to others should not be registered on a college campus in the first place.
Lastly, a student should be able to by-pass disability campus registration with the disability office by declaring themselves with a handicap and make minor reasonable request such as a chair or those things that are not an overwhelmingly burdensome on the school.
Any person that believes the disabled are protected by the ADA act as if they are no longer mistreated, abused, raped, killed, retaliated, discriminated against, and protected by law are complete fools and I believe the money invested in the DOJ Office of Civil Rights Disability office is a complete waste of funding because it is totally ineffective [As of Fall 2008].
Why do I believe that the DOJ Office of Civil Rights is ineffective [April 2010]? The principles and ideologies where set into place to win the election of George Bush Senior without the consultation of those that are disabled and the appointments to that office and workers should be those suffering by a disabling condition who are by-far the experts in the knowledge of what the DOJ should base their founding principles and ideologies.
Further, the hiring of disabled experts in management positions of the DOJ can rewrite and rebuild a better cost effective program that works and the attorneys assigned to enforce the law would actually represent (work for) the disabled and would be chastised or terminated for trading personal political favors to play down important cases that would make the ADA work like it should.
This same approach can be applied to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; however, I never see anyone with a disability working in these offices; especially in a management or chief directive office of these departments.[In Texas we have one exception but he is an elected official, Greg Abbot Texas Attorney General]
If you cannot get a job in the government organization that writes the laws of affirmative action, how can you expect the private sector to hire the disabled if our government officials do not take the lead and hire these highly qualified experts in the area of the disability concerns, that far exceeds the criteria that is used to hire or appoint to these offices.
A critique to the public concerning trash left behind after visiting Old Pue Road River Access where the Medina River meets West 1604, in South West Bexar County. I was a part of a group of South Side Fisherman who made a plea to Texas Senator Hutchinson concerning the difficulties to access large tracks of land owned by the public such as Niches of Nature created by the construction of bridges;specifically, the 1604 Medina River crossing on the west side of Bexar County also serving the North Side of Atascosa County and West Side Medina County.
There are three high schools in this area, and many of these children never spend time in the outdoors because most land in Texas is privately owned and accessible to only the wealthy few who pay a lower tax rate than anyone else; however, enjoy more Civil Liberties than the Majority of Texans.
Sometimes, encroaching development gives back to community such as the construction of the 1 mile 1604 bridge crossing replacing the Old Pue Road bridge that spans the Medina River on the west side of San Antonio. There are very few places on the South Side of San Antonio area that a family can go and harvest Texas Pecans, Texas Wild Grapes, Fish, Swim, and Hike or just kick back and reflect about the wonders of nature which is my personal passion.
Please consider the next time you visit this area to bring a trash bag with you and remove, not just items you would discard, but some of the trash that others have carelessly left behind. I know the first thing that comes to mind is River access on the North Side of Texas is always in the News and the South Side is forgotten or never mentioned. So I thought I would write something for US!
Why It Concerns Me:
a. Because Barack Obama, the President of The United States of America told me to do so via a general email to all Americans, "There are so many ways to get involved, and every American can do something. You can join me in participating in the National Day of Service by finding a service opportunity in your area on Serve.gov."
Note: I did not like the theme of the uTube video put out by the Sheriffs Association, "The President of the United States cannot tell us what to do." Oh yes he can! We are a Nation Transformed and We The People will not tolerate the insolence of a Police State any longer. You can bet your pay check I have already made that call and reported you treasonous Commies. You are starting to sound like that crazed governor of Texas playing his fiddle while Texas burns!
b. We could lose access to this area if we do not police our own behavior!
c. I am a registered Texas Horned Lizard Watch Volunteer who documents sittings of the famous near extinct Texas Horny Toad for the Texas Wildlife diversity Program 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744 www.tpwd.state.tx.us/tracker .
Since 1999, I have seen one Horny Toad on a Texas rural dirt road leading to the famous Chalk Bluff River Side park in Real County Texas.
Citation Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DM07...
d. The rare Guadalupe River Bass, mentioned in Senator Cornyn's article "Celebrating Texas' Great Outdoors" can be found in the waters below the Medina Dam in this area. Warning to fisherman - Catch and release is the only way this species will survive! Citation: http://cornyn.senate.gov/publi...
e. There are 100rds of acres of private land which belongs to the public that is blocked off to the public on the South Side of Town. Why should the State of Texas allow us our liberties to enjoy nature if we do not keep it free from human pollution by discarding our trash anywhere we please?
A group of poverty stricken South Side San Antonio fisherman, as me as their proxy, made a plea to Congressman Ciro Rodrigues via Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to reopen this Public Area approximately 15 Acers of River, Streams, Pecan Groves, trails, and Texas Wild Grapes.
You're Representatives in Congress and the U.S. Senate responded with a used car parking rail, a trash can, and the construction of a rock wire-mess wall to stop the sand from washing out the bridge.
The protective wire mess wall was designed by the Texas Highway Department in such a way that any healthy person can access the Medina River south of the Medina Dam. We thank you.
I now see children hiking with their parents in those same areas of untouched natural resources with big smiles of adventure as they prove to themselves that there is a forest beyond the tress!
I and other Texans would like to develop some of these areas with profit making concessions that will help preserve Nature and Our Right to enjoy them. Privatizing the concessions of these areas is a stroke to the heart strings of any True Texas Republican.
Tell me, how can I approach the Texas Department of Agriculture if their counter argument is that the People on the South Side of San Antonio have no respect for their natural resources? Hey, that's what they are saying about the People on the North Side - I Know We Can Do Better!
We can start by giving the Park a name such as a green highway sign that reads "The Park With No Name" or if you would like an entrepreneur like me to take ownership and responsibility with no cost to the State of Texas, you can name it after me "O'Dell Park." When you make a citizen of the State the responsible party, he/she takes ownership that will ensure access to Texas Public land and the preservation of Niches in Nature by defending Our Right to enjoy them!
God Blessed Texas with Natural Resources. Please help preserve public lands. The Best Things In Life Are Free!
Texas is in an unprecedented environmental emergency.
Eighty-one percent of the state is currently suffering exceptional drought. It’s the worst one-year drought Texas has experienced in 116 years of state records.
Texas is literally on fire. Over 3.6 million acres have burned in wildfires topping the record 1.8 million acres burned in 2010 with less than four months left. There’ve been over 21,000 fires in Texas and wildfires in the state for 300 straight days. The Bastrop fire has been burning out of control for six days and nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed 30 miles from the state capitol leaving Austin in clouds of toxic smoke.
CLIMATE CHANGE Governor Perry has shown concern about the severe drought and wildfires. Now it’s time for Perry to stop denying the root causes of climate change and take action to address those causes.
Climate change is caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Coal plants are the largest industrial source of carbon dioxide (CO2), the chief global warming gas. Texas’ 19 coal-fired plants are the worst industrial cause of life-threatening, climate triggered perils that we are experiencing. Texas coal-fired plants emit over 150 Million Tonsof CO2 every year – over 99% of Texas coal plant air pollution — is currently unregulated. Defended by Governor Perry, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Texas Public Utility Commission, the Texas coal plants are continuing to heat our atmosphere, fueling the drought conditions leading to wildfires and putting 24 million Texans in harm’s way.
Texans’ health and lives are at risk! Governor Perry and his appointees who lead Texas state agencies must address the biggest root cause of climate change in our state – coal plant CO2 emissions.
OZONE, TOO Beside smoke from wildfires, 18 million Texans are breathing harmful ozone. Ozone is caused when nitrogen oxide emissions from factories like coal plants mix with volatile organic compounds in sunlight creating ground-level smog. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Texans have suffered 56 bad air days in 2011 when the ozone levels were unsafe.
After cutting funds by 75% from the Texas Forest Service year, Governor Perry is now calling for help to fight wildfires from the same federal government that he attacked in law suits for trying to protect Americans air from unsafe coal plant pollution. Perry enlisted the TCEQ, the Rail Road Commission, and the Texas PUC to fight new federal safeguards against both CO2 and ozone.
By fighting federal safeguards against ozone, Governor Perry and state agency leaders are denying that serious problem too. They need to wake up to the reality of our ozone problem and help, not hinder, efforts to clean up our air and cool the atmosphere.
To Governor Perry, ERCOT, and PUC, we say: Wake up!
The price tag for drought and wildfire destruction is too high. Losses to Texas’ agriculture alone were about $5.2 billion before the Labor Day weekend fires. We now face greater costs. Ignoring climate change and fighting, rather than supporting, clean energy solutions is costing Texans lives, homes, and jobs.
FIRST RESPONDERS COMMITMENT On the campaign trail, Governor Perry has repeatedly criticized public works programs like the New Deal, yet Texas firefighters fought to protect the beautiful cabins built by New Deal workers in Bastrop State Park this week.
Perry, ERCOT, and the PUC need to respond like our brave fire fighters putting out the blazing wildfires across Texas. The Governor and state leaders must recognize and extinguish the root cause of these problems – the massive burning of coal in coal-fired power plants in Texas. There’s a safer, cleaner, cheaper way, Governor, and the stakes are too high to continue to allow the burning of dirty coal.
Neil Carman, PhD Chemist, Sierra Club Clean Air Program Director, September 9, 2011
That's what's on the mind of political pundits this week as they come down off the high of the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames. With nothing to report until--well--something unpredictable happens, or until the Iowa caucuses in January, the media and blogosphere will gush with pedantics about this outsider to the GOP fratricide-fest that has been the 2012 presidential nominating process thus far.
Unless something extraordinary happens, Texas Governor Rick Perry will be the GOP and Tea Party presidential nominee in 2012. He's the darling of the extreme right and can be stomached by party moderates who know Mitt Romney has no chance of winning the top spot on the ticket without flip-flopping on nearly all of his social positions. So, no big deal, we're looking at Rick Perry.
Here is some friendly advice that an opposing campaign should follow--Republican, Democrat or Independent:
A fire at the Magnablend Chemical Company is burning out of control today near Dallas in Joe Barton’s Congressional District. Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 4, Congressman Barton of Ennis is holding an Energy and Environment Subcommittee Hearing: Quality Science for Quality Air. 
