Headlines and Comments for Today

Blood Doping scandal hits Tour again

Andrea Yates Trial continues... Will not comment on this

Rep Culberson strikes again... this time at sanctuary cities

Today is the last day to pay late taxes before we sic him on you

World Cup Quarter Finals Start today

Rockets start off season planning

HISD Trustees Say No to Tax increase.

It is good to see the trustees of a tax entity as large as HISD say no to increasing taxes. However some of the comments and programs that the 1.4 Billion (Yes Billion) Dollar budget have in it are highly questionable. First comments from the Superintendent.

"In the long run, it's a budget I can work with," Saavedra said after the lively three-hour meeting

Then there was this on the "tax relief bill".

"The taxpayers deserve that we have a plan," board President Diana Davila said."We didn't get the right answers."
The property tax relief bill, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, gives all of the state's 1,040 school districts the discretion to raise taxes by 4 cents over the next two years. The state even agreed to match part of the increase.

I have a question, how can legislation be called a tax relief bill if it all but encourages school districts to RAISE TAX RATES.

The 4-cent increase would have meant $32 million in local property tax revenue and $12 million in matching state money.
For HISD, Some districts, such as Dallas, Spring and Clear Creek, have vowed to decline the money so that property tax relief is passed on to property owners.
Others, including Humble, jumped at the chance to receive matching state money.
"Though I certainly can understand wanting to explore the option of a lower tax rate, it would cause us to make cuts that would dramatically impact students and learning," said Humble Superintendent Guy Sconzo, whose board agreed Thursday to a budget predicated on the full 4-cent increase.
Saavedra also had pressed his district to approve the rate hike, saying that HISD spends just $8,546 a year on each student, $370 less than the state average and several thousand less than some area suburban districts.

OK, 4 cents would bring in 44 million more in revenue. To go where? Then this nearly floored me...HISD is "Spending" JUST $8,546 per child? If that is so then why am I sending my kids to private school and paying about that much as well? I'll tell you why, WASTEFUL Spending.

Though union leaders said they're glad teachers got their raises, they said they're disappointed that trustees didn't vote to increase taxes to pay for much-needed technology and building repairs.
"They made an irresponsible vote," said Andy Dewey, vice president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. "The board did not show that they were friends of teachers or students tonight."

Then of course the unions have to chime in about not getting enough at the expense of the citizens of the district.

Bravo to the Board for now bowing down to the lure of free money and have decided to work with the funds that are now available.

Headlines and Comments for Today

Brittney pregnant and posing nude. -- Oops she did it again.... pop diva's career is over

Local football team scores 132 points in game - bigger slaughter that the last 2 games I saw

Katy agrees to build road to improve access to city - Gives city access on west side of town

Arkansas court backs gay foster parents funny to see this in a bible belt state

Economy grows faster than expected jsut part of the yo-yo that is going on in the US economy

Richard Justice agrees with Rockets Draft moves -- They are trying to win now.. Not later. good move

Harris county GOP needs to make sure it's facts are straight

I just recieved this e-mail from the Harris County GOP... my response is at the top.

Jared,
Please get your facts straight. The 4 cents is what is allowed by HB3 which was supposed to cut our taxes. The portion of the bill which would trigger an electionis if the appraisal rate increases beyond a certain growth rate the district has to lower it's tax rate to get below that rate or have an election. This is a direct result of the new business tax plan that our republican governor signed.....
Bill Weldon

-----Original Message-----From: Chairman Jared Woodfill

Sent: Jun 28, 2006 3:10 PM

To: me of course

Subject: HISD Tax Hike? Take Action Today!

Harris County Republican Party

Proposed HISD Tax Hike

Immediate Action Needed
Here we go again...local officials are attempting to raise our taxes. HISD Superintendent Dr. Abelardo Saavedra is trying to convince school trustees to raisethe tax rate by 4 cents. This would bring an additional $43.5 million (of your money) into the HISD coffers.
Why did Dr. Saavedra choose the 4 cent figure? Because conveniently, this isthe highest rate increase allowed without triggering an election. In other words,you'll have no vote concerning this unbelievable tax hike
The trustee vote is taking place tomorrow, so please call HISD board servicesat 713-556-6121 and tell them to vote NO on this tax increase.
Thank you for your action,
Jared Woodfill
Chairman, Harris County Republican Party

Now this is not meant to be a slight on Jared, who is doing an fine job as head of the Harris county GOP, however he is drinking the kool-aid here. This tax increase is well within the rights of the HISD, simply because our RINO Governor and Lt. Governor, have allowed it in the "Tax cut" legislation. If Jared wants to mobilize the base he needs to get behind the CLOUT Lawsuit, and start holding those elected officials feet to the fire. The sad thing is our governor is becoming about as important as a 1 legged man in a but kicking contest, as proof check out this spoof.

Who said the Brits are stuffy.

Found this article about the World Cup and I just hit the floor laughing. I mean this just completely shatters the image of the stuffy Brit, and shows that the Germans do not have the corner on beer hounds...

ENGLAND's massive army of World Cup fans is drinking Germany dry, it emerged yesterday.
Breweries warned beer could run out before the final because of huge demand from our supporters.
In Nuremberg, organisers revealed 70,000 England fans who flooded the city drank 1.2MILLION pints of beer - an average of 17 pints each.
Astonished bar keeper Herrmann Murr said: "Never have I seen so many drink so much in such little time."

Well if this is what the majority of the fans look like then I would wonder... But if they look like this....

His bar at a fans' tent in the city ran out after they drained all 32 of his 50-litre (11 gallon) barrels.
Herr Murr calculated Britons were shifting beer at a staggering rate of 200 pints per minute.
City official Peter Murrmann said: "The English proved themselves world champs. They practically drank us dry."
In Cologne, where England drew with Sweden, bottles and barrels of the local K?lsch beer ran out because so many English took them to campsites and parties.

So the Brits are singlehandely( or maybe ) double fisted bringing the German brewmasters to their knees.

The Veltins brewery also revealed it has produced a record 418,000 gallons in a bid to keep up with demand.

A spokesman said: "It is incredible how much is being drunk but the hardest thing for the breweries is keeping up with the thirst of the English."

In Dortmund, where most fans for England's Gelsenkirchen clash against Portugal on Saturday are staying, the giant DAB brewery is bracing itself by ferrying in extra supplies to boost production.

God Save the Queen, and where are the port-a-johns.....

Quality of Television today.

There is very little on television these days that catches my attention, let alone keeps it. However AMC and BBC have a series that has me tuning in every week. Hustle., is the story of a group of grifters who play the long con. The stories are original, and fun. The show moves along at a good pace, and it builds the suspense up to the very end where you see the final results. This show also does not portray the characters as supermen, one has been shot, one beaten brutally, and two have had to deal with ex-spouses. Real people with some real emotions. The Chronicle has a good story about Robert Vaughn who plays the senior member of the group Albert Stroller .

Vaughn was born in New York City in 1932 to father Walter, a top radio actor in the 1940s, and mother Marcella, a stage actress, but "after six months they dissolved their union, and she took me back to Minneapolis where she had been raised," he says. "She stayed there with me until I started school at the age of 5, left me there to be raised by my grandparents, went back (to New York) and got remarried, to my stepfather," whom Vaughn idolized, but whose alcoholism helped lead to his death in 1950 at age 39. At that point Vaughn left the University of Minneapolis, where he'd studied journalism for a year, and moved with his widowed mother to Los Angeles.
He pursued acting at Los Angeles City College, where he earned a master's degree. He debuted on screen in an episode of the TV series Medic in 1955, and broke into film as an extra in The Ten Commandments (1956). Along with the scene of the golden calf, "I played a guy in the first chariot behind Yul Brynner," Vaughn says, "which I told Brynner when we did The Magnificent Seven. And for some reason he didn't remember me. I don't know why!" he jokes. A lucrative contract with actor Burt Lancaster's production company eventually followed, and Vaughn has stayed busy ever since. He was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1960 for The Young Philadelphians.
After U.N.C.L.E., he even returned to college, getting a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Southern California in 1970. G.P. Putnam's Sons published his critically lauded dissertation, Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting, released as a paperback by Limelight in 1996

He had taken the role of master grifter Albert Stroller on Hustle (which returns to AMC tonight) when the premiere episode was already six days into production.
"So I said, 'Let's construct something as we sit here. Suppose (U.N.C.L.E.'s) Napoleon Solo retired at the end of his years in the worldwide secret-agent business, living on his government pension, deciding he can't really live this way. He'd had girls, cars, money, fine hotels, first-class travel, and now it's not happening. What could he do that was worthwhile in terms of using his knowledge? He should become a con man. And he changes his name to Albert Stroller.'
"I made this up as I went along," Vaughn, 73, says genially. "From that point on, it's been repeated over and over again. That's how it happened," he says, smiling the smile of a born raconteur.

One can't help but wonder how a guy so smart and successful — who with his wife adopted two kids and moved to Connecticut to raise them with non-Hollywood values — could have appeared in so many movies that he admits were "not so great. Of 120 (films and TV movies), I'd say maybe 10 were OK." So why ... ?
"They pay!" he says, smiling. "That's it. They pay the same thing as the big ones. I don't turn down movies. Well, I've turned down movies for reasons that have nothing to do with money — things I just thought were terrible movies. Many of the ones I've been in are terrible movies," he concedes, "but I thought they'd be good."
And Hustle, as it happens, actually is. Maybe Stroller and Solo are the same guy, maybe not. But the inveterately open Robert Vaughn, in the best sense of the phrase, isn't conning anybody.

To be perfectly honest this is simply one of my favorite non sci-fi shows on TV today.

good comics for today..

Rules of Life - according to Bill

There are some basic rules of life and living that everyone experiences as both a child and adult. Some of the rules are rules of nature, some are rules of society, some are rules of evolution. So without further delay here are some of the Rules of Life - according to me

1) Life is not always fair - Despite the overwelming desire to believe that you will always get a fair shake, that is not true.

2) An individual can be smart, People as a whole are no better than cattle. - It is the herd mentality and it showes up everywhere.

3) no matter what you do, people will compete against each other - you can not keep score, or say it is only for fun, but the desire to be the best is so ingrained in humanity that it cannot be eliminated.

4) Not everyone will like you, nor will you like everyone - enough said

5) Not everyone is worthy of your respect - jsut a sad fact

6) everyone will be screwed out of something that at some time in their life, it is what they do after that happens which will determine their course of life

7) most people will only do the minimum to get by. The secret to suceess is to find those that have the drive to over achieve

8) people that preach about something in a loud and overbearing manner are usually trying to hide something else.

9) you will always have to deal with idiots in your life. The only thing you can do is protect yourself from the backlash of their actions.

As more come to me I'll post them

Why I love and hate the comics in the chronicle

Example 1 This comic is talking about something and making fun of it with out a serious political spin. But it is sports and should be a-political. Funny strip none the less

Example 2. Here is a direct shot at Ann Coulter, from a strip that has a definate pro-illegal immigration stand as well as other issues. However unlike Dunesbury this strip does not deny it's political views.

Example 3. Then we have Mallard .... the token conservative comic, and I love to see him show the liberal "logic" for what it really is..

Things that liberals hate

I was listening to the Jerry Doyle show on Monday and the guest host asked for the callers to add to the list he had of the things that liberals hate. His list included the following
Fathers Day
Mothers Day
Free Speech
Self Defense
Low Taxes
Strong Military
Any Religion

some of the other things I have come to conclude that liberals hate are the following.

Smaller government
Personal accountabilty
Morality
individual wealth (unless it is their own)


Then there are the things that liberals are un able to do:
discuss anything with out refering to party talking points
accept that others will not agree with every single thing they say or feel
make a decision based upon cold hard facts
accept someone elses point of view without resorting to personal attacks

I have some friends who tease me about my political activist bend, however, much like Dan Patrick, I am a Christain first, a Conservative second and a party member IF the party platform is one that allows me to be the first 2 with out comprimise. Other wise I will always be a conservative independent.

8 cities to get most bang for buck

This article should be interesting to pull apart.... more as I read it.

Should I Run or not

I have been making noise over the past few months about how sick and tired I am of my state Representative. Bill Callegari, and that I have been thinking about running in 2007 for the Texas House of Representatives. During those times many people have asked me what my campaign platform would be. Well it is time for me to start working on it. I believe in the following.
My basic platform would consist of the following
I want to

• to lower taxes.
• to reduce government spending
• to improve public education
• eliminate unfunded mandates from the state for counties and cities
• resolve the illiegal immigrant issue
• eliminate sanctuary cities in Texas
• improve accountability for education at the local level
• continue to find better financing options for state construction projects
• improved accountability and responsibility of METRO
• evaluate property tax vs sales tax issue and work to develop a more reasonable form of state and local revenue stream
• REPEAL HB3 and the current franchise tax as part of tax reform
• change apprasial rules. single static appraisal for all property
• find ways to assist border patrol and immigration enforcement

Some Details:
1) The value of someones home for tax purposes should be based upon the appraised value at the time of purchase. For new construction, this would be the appraised value provided at the time of sale. For a resale it should be what ever the purchase price of the home is.
2) Any person over the age of 65 should have all of their taxes frozen, both rate and appraised value.
3) Teachers are still under paid and over worked across the state. The state mandate of 22-1 in elementary school should be extended to Middle School and High School, however it should be no more than 25 to 1 in the upper grades.
4) The TACKS Test will be eliminated. The TEAKS which are the core curriculum guidelines will be basis for any state wide testing. The test would not be anything more than what the Stanford Achievement Test is. Which tests to see how far along the education process they are.
5) ESL is an unproductive waste of time and money, Any student who cannot pass a class where only english is spoken will be assisted with tutors to help assimilate them into the mainstream of education.
6)The Border must be closed/secured. I will declare a state of emergency along all Texas border counties and send National Guard troops there to assist the Border Patrol until such time as all non-traditional points of entry are fenced off.
7) I would propose legislation that makes it a state fellony to employ illegal resident, and would empower the Texas Rangers to assist in the tracking and capture of anyone providing transport or employment to illegals.
8)I would relieve the counties of the mandate to care for uninsured illegal aliens.
9) I would encourage cities to NOT be sanctuary cities.
10) I would work to repeal HB3 and work to find a better system to fund education.

FIFA President critical of officials

And he should be after the train wreck of a game yesterday. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, was very critical of the officals in some of the games so far in the world cup. I mean 16 f'n yellow cards and 4 Reds. Get real the official was in way over his head and lost control of the match and probably blew any chance of retuning to even the next World cup.

This is the description of the game from ESPN.com

A game containing everything good in the game, and plenty of the bad, was settled by Maniche's first-half strike. By the time it ended, under-pressure Russian referee Valentin Ivanov had produced an incredible 16 yellow cards - equalling the all-time tournament record - plus four reds and been forced to intervene in countless minor skirmishes which did little to foster the spirit of friendship FIFA are so keen to promote

And these comments

Russian referee Valentin Ivanov was given a resounding vote of no confidence by players, coaches and even FIFA president Sepp Blatter after he lost control of Portugal's 1-0 win over Netherlands on Sunday.
Ivanov produced his yellow card 16 times and his red card four times as both teams were reduced to nine men in their second round clash - a record for any World Cup.

Let us hope that this game does not cause a ripple effect and us end up with even worse officiating through out the rest of the tournament.

Supreme court votes in favor of Death Penalty

This case is one more reason that we need more conservative judges on Federal courts.

New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito broke a tie today in a ruling that affirmed a state death penalty law and also revealed the court's deep divisions over capital punishment.
Justices split 5-4 in the term's oldest case, which was argued in December before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement.

The Kansas case was unique. The state law says juries should impose death sentences if aggravating evidence of a crime's brutality and mitigating factors explaining a defendant's actions are equal in weight.
Justice David H. Souter, writing for the liberals, said the law was "morally absurd."
But the five conservatives, including Alito, overturned a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that found the law violated the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas disputed the claim by critics that the law created "a general presumption in favor of the death penalty in the state of Kansas."
The ruling affirms the court's long-held position that states should determine how juries weigh factors presented by the prosecution and defense in capital cases.

Fifteen states filed friend-of-the-court briefs, predicting that a ruling for former death row inmate Michael Lee Marsh would have required states with capital punishment to set up systems for juries to weigh evidence at sentencing.
Souter said that "in the face of evidence of the hazards of capital prosecution," maintaining a system like the one in Kansas "is obtuse by any moral or social measure."
Marsh was convicted in the June 1996 killings of Marry Ane Pusch and her 19-month-old daughter, Marry Elizabeth. Pusch was shot, stabbed and her throat was slit. Her body was set on fire. The toddler died several days later from severe burns.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a separate opinion today to defend the death penalty and the court's ruling in the Kansas case.
"The American people have determined that the good to be derived from capital punishment — in deterrence, and perhaps most of all in the meting out of condign justice for horrible crimes — outweighs the risk of error. It is no proper part of the business of this court, or of its justices, to second-guess that judgment, much less to impugn it before the world ...," Scalia wrote.

Well I guess this should be another reason for us to get intouch with our senators and representatives and DEMAND that more of President Bush's judicial nominees are brough before the full senate for a vote.

TXU customer service non existant

Here is a letter from a friend of mine about his soon to be former power provider TXU Energy. A little background on the person who has written this tale.

Richard Phillips is a retired HPD officer and owner of his own security company. He is not one to get angry at things and for the most part is a very reasonable person as well as loyal when a company provides good service he is the first to brag about them. So here is his story.

June 23, 2006

If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I am permanently disabled after having a recent 5 level spinal fusion, and am wearing a series of braces and use a walker and/or a cane to get around. My fiancé is legally blind, and can’t drive, and was home alone when TXU turned off the power to our home, claiming the bill wasn’t paid.

An on line payment made to TXU during the week-end of June 17th or 18th. The amount due for $ 782.20 the account was clearly marked by TXU to be due by June 22, 2006, and was paid.
Payment was scheduled, and acknowledged by TXU’s system to post on Monday, June 19, 2006.

Noon on June 22, 2006 Centerpoint Energy turned off the power to my home. Disconnect notice left on front door.
Phoned TXU’s toll free number- call taker was to the point, but evasive, so I requested a supervisor.
Supervisor was extremely rude, wouldn’t acknowledge anything, and demanded a credit card for a re-instatement charge.
Gave the credit card number, which he inadvertently entered the wrong info the first attempt, the card was denied, and he was rude about it.
Once he re-entered the info correctly, the transaction cleared. I informed the supervisor that I was disabled, had recently undergone a 5- level spinal fusion, encompassing 16 screws and rods and was in a full hard shell, and couldn’t endure the 95 degrees without air conditioning.
His response was that in 24-48 hours our service would be restored. That’s a great way to treat someone who is in such a condition, especially when the account was paid in full, two days prior to this service interruption and this supervisor even acknowledged that the bill posted two days earlier. (We were debited for an additional $ 242.00 for re-connection).

I called back a few moments later, spoke with a sympathetic female who did say that she would have power restored, due to a medical emergency on my condition. My fiancé and I left for cooler conditions elsewhere, and we kept checking with our alarm system Central Station to see if the power was restored or not. Not…was the answer
This made us very uneasy. How could this happen in America?
At 3PM, I bought an emergency back up generator from Costco, had two friends go out of their way to transport it to my hone, and assemble it. I did this as I felt that I wouldn’t have power until 24-48 hours, and I didn’t want to trust this situation to TXU.
At 4 PM, I decided to call back TXU from my cell phone, and I got another gentleman, and finally I realized everyone I had talked to had an accent that was definitely not American... After 20 minutes or more of peak airtime charges on my cell phone. I asked the gentleman; where was he located, and why couldn’t he just phone someone to correct the problem. After much prodding, he finally admitted that he was at a call center outside the United States, in the Southeast part of the world, and that he was actually unable to call Dallas, TX in America for me.

I then realized that TXU outsourced my safety and security to another country, and even though I had told these people I had a medical condition, I didn’t get any help, nor could they help me as they weren’t even on our part of the globe.

I also realized that they had my social security number, debit card number, and who knows what else these people on foreign soil have. Where could all of this information end up, as America can’t control its own borders, so how is my personal information safe in another land?

We arrived home at 5 PM, and the power had restored at 4:58 PM.

My point is- Outsourced foreign labor is taking the phone calls from us American customers, and obviously TXU’s bill payment crediting system aren’t on the same page, and probably not on the same soil either. If I had a disability that entailed an oxygen machine, I would have been dead long before I got attention. Had I still been on 23 hours a day bed rest on June 22, 2006, I would have re-injured myself trying to get into an air-conditioned area, due to TXU’s negligence.

If you are a TXU customer, I highly urge you to switch providers that are more customer friendly, and wouldn’t risk your life over the almighty dollar. Plewase tell them that you are switching to make a statement for a disabled man in Katy, TX

Thank you,
Richard Phillips

The debate rages on

Today I open the paper and see this article talking about the question of weather or not Houston is a sanctuary city. I sat down and read it and am not in the least bit surprised that this argument is being twisted into defining what "Sanctuary City" is. I mean come on, either the police in Houston can enforce and verify immigration laws or they cannot. The current "police directive" is vague and needs to be eliminated and the city charter needs to define how the police can do their jobs. As it is right now if someone is in the country illegally and does not commit a felony or a high level misdemeanor they cannot be asked about their immigration status. Sorry Mayor White, but anyone who is here and breaks any law, from murder 1 down to jay-walking can and should have their status verified if there is a question. The police department should not have their hands tied with regards to this.

Insurance studies have shown that over 90% of the uninsured motorists in accidents on the streets today in the 20 largest metropolitan areas are here illegally. Can you imagine the potential savings to both the consumer and the insurance companies if you got these obviously unsafe drivers off of the streets.

Then you have the issue of crime in the Hispanic dominated neighborhoods. HPD has even admitted that the large majority of these crimes are committed by illegals.

To take a phrase from a friend of mine this is one Eskimo Pie situation. You are here illegally then you had better hope that if ICE does not track you down that you keep your nose clean and stay out of any possible trouble. Because HPD should be arresting you and helping to get you out of the country.

Time for me to get off my soap box and time for Mayor White and HPD Chief Hurtt to stop hiding behind a technicality and do the right thing.

Response from Senator Janek re CLOUT Lawsuit

Ok I sent a simple e-mail to both my state senator and representaive and this is what I got back.

Kyle Janek, District 17

June 21, 2006

Mr. Bill Weldon

By E-Mail (Reply)

Dear Mr. Weldon,

Thank you for your recent communication regarding CLOUT, the lawsuit it filed against the Governor, and the Senator's opinion of said lawsuit. Sen. Janek asked me to respond to your e-mail for him, as he has returned to his medical practice in Houston for the balance of the summer. The Senator has no comment on this or any ongoing litigation with respect to the Legislature or Texas government. As you may know, Sen. Janek voted against House Bill 3, the new business margin tax at the center of the lawsuit, when it was debated on the Senate floor back in May.

As a courtesy, I have placed your email address in the active file for future updates directly from the Senator. Please contact the Senator or me if we may be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Richard Spence
Tax-Budget Legislative Assistant
Office of Honorable Kyle Janek
District 17, Texas Senate
Capitol Room 3E.16

I applaud Senator Janek and his staff for keeping up with communications with people in his district. His assistant does need to get upto date on what the lawsuit is about, but I am also glad that Senator Janek did vote against HB3, At least I know that my state senator is looking out for me and the other citizens in his district.

I call upon Representative Callegari to respond to my question.

Memo to the Democrats: WMD's do exist.

Thank goodness for Senator Rick Santorum. Here is a public servant who has been very forward about many issues and not affraid to call someone to the carpet when they are wrong. And he has done it again... I am going to just sit back and wait for the Liberal/Anti-War faction to try to put a spin on this report that we have found over 500 yes

"Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."

So WMD's did and do exist in Iraq, We were justified in going in and removing Sadam from power. Here is the declassified portion of the report.

He added that the report warns about the hazards that the chemical weapons could still pose to coalition troops in Iraq.
"The purity of the agents inside the munitions depends on many factors, including the manufacturing process, potential additives and environmental storage conditions. While agents degrade over time, chemical warfare agents remain hazardous and potentially lethal," Santorum read from the document.
"This says weapons have been discovered, more weapons exist and they state that Iraq was not a WMD-free zone, that there are continuing threats from the materials that are or may still be in Iraq," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee
The weapons are thought to be manufactured before 1991 so they would not be proof of an ongoing WMD program in the 1990s. But they do show that Saddam Hussein was lying when he said all weapons had been destroyed, and it shows that years of on-again, off-again weapons inspections did not uncover these munitions.

enough said on that

"This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991," the official said, adding the munitions "are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war."
The official said the findings did raise questions about the years of weapons inspections that had not resulted in locating the fairly sizeable stash of chemical weapons. And he noted that it may say something about Hussein's intent and desire. The report does suggest that some of the weapons were likely put on the black market and may have been used outside Iraq.
He also said that the Defense Department statement shortly after the March 2003 invasion saying that "we had all known weapons facilities secured," has proven itself to be untrue.
"It turned out the whole country was an ammo dump," he said, adding that on more than one occasion, a conventional weapons site has been uncovered and chemical weapons have been discovered mixed within them

does that really surprise anyone who has a logical thought...

"We know it was there, in place, it just wasn't operative when inspectors got there after the war, but we know what the inspectors found from talking with the scientists in Iraq that it could have been cranked up immediately, and that's what Saddam had planned to do if the sanctions against Iraq had halted and they were certainly headed in that direction," said Fred Barnes, editor of The Weekly Standard and a FOX News contributor.
"It is significant. Perhaps, the administration just, they think they weathered the debate over WMD being found there immediately and don't want to return to it again because things are otherwise going better for them, and then, I think, there's mindless resistance to releasing any classified documents from Iraq," Barnes said
The release of the declassified materials comes as the Senate debates Democratic proposals to create a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq. The debate has had the effect of creating disunity among Democrats, a majority of whom shrunk Wednesday from an amendment proposed by Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to have troops to be completely withdrawn from Iraq by the middle of next year.
At the same time, congressional Republicans have stayed highly united, rallying around a White House that has seen successes in the last couple weeks, first with the death of terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then the completion of the formation of Iraq's Cabinet and then the announcement Tuesday that another key Al Qaeda in Iraq leader, "religious emir" Mansour Suleiman Mansour Khalifi al-Mashhadani, or Sheik Mansour, was also killed in a U.S. airstrike.
Santorum pointed out that during Wednesday's debate, several Senate Democrats said that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, a claim, he said, that the declassified document proves is untrue.
"This is an incredibly — in my mind — significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false," he said.

As a result of this new information, under the aegis of his chairmanship, Hoekstra said he is going to ask for more reporting by the various intelligence agencies about weapons of mass destruction.
"We are working on the declassification of the report. We are going to do a thorough search of what additional reports exist in the intelligence community. And we are going to put additional pressure on the Department of Defense and the folks in Iraq to more fully pursue a complete investigation of what existed in Iraq before the war," Hoekstra said.

And as one comic once said "lets dig a little deeper and see what we can find". GWB was right, we were right, and the world can kiss my backside, because he Hussein was a threat and we took him out. Now we have to stay the course and FINISH the JOB of getting Iraq safe and secure.

Houston As a Sanctuary City??

In yesterday's Headlines I posted some comments on the pettition that has been started to add to the city charter language that keeps the city from ignoring immigration issues.

Today at the top of Section B the City & State is the headline "Will Houston remain a Sanctuary City? My quetstion is why was Houston ever allowed to become a sanctuary city?

The heated national debate on immigration may give a boost to the Houston group that wants local police to help crack down on illegal immigrants, but getting the proposition on the ballot still won't be easy.
"It is a lot of effort and takes a lot of volunteers to mount a campaign like this," said Bruce Hotze, who has helped organize several successful petition drives but so far is not involved in this one. "It can be done."

AMEN.... illegal is illegal, and there should not be any safe haven for people who have broken any law. Selective enforcement is not an option. Not only that but I would put good money that insurance premiums would go down as well as the crime rate if illegals knew that they could and would be detained if they are found at any time.

Protect Our Citizens director Mary Williams said the group is doing that. It was contacted Wednesday by several community leaders and residents who wanted to help with the project, she said.
"It's a very basic grass-roots type of reaction," Williams said.
Petition supporters want to change a Houston police order, which they call a "sanctuary policy," that prohibits officers from seeking information about the immigration status of people they encounter, and from detaining anyone solely for being in the country illegally.
They are allowed to inquire about the status of people arrested for other crimes.

This is back to selective enforcement. Being here illegally is still breaking a law, civil or criminal it does not matter. If I were to break a civil statute I would still be arrested.

Under federal law being in the country illegally is a civil and not a criminal offense.
The group's Web site provides a copy of the petition that supporters can download, sign and circulate. "This issue has a life of its own," Williams said. "They'll take it and run with it if they care about it."The police policy has generated vehement opposition since it was ordered in 1992, but it has strong support from many city and police officials.
Mayor Bill White said Tuesday that local law enforcement should not be responsible for upholding immigration law.
"We do not want to reduce the ability of police to investigate crimes by making them do the work of the federal authorities," he said.

I'm sorry Mayor White but your liberal colors are showing... If someone is in an auto accident and they are here illegally they should be questioned about it. Then they should be arrested, turned over to ICE, their vehicle impounded and the person and all family members here with them should be deported. Plain and simple

"Clearly we have a lot of contacts on a daily basis with people who are not here legally, but that is not to say that they are violating some city ordinance or state law. We deal with them because they are involved in accidents, or they are victims of crime," said HPD spokesman Sgt. David Crain. "If they fear that when we pull up, that we're there only trying to seek out what their status is, we will lose that trust."
Police departments in several other cities with large immigrant populations, including San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, have similar policies against checking on immigration status until after a suspect has been arrested on criminal charges.
"We let (immigration authorities) do their job, and we do ours," said Senior Cpl. Donna Hernandez, a Dallas police spokeswoman.
The position is not universal. Although the Phoenix Police Department does not enforce immigration laws, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office there does.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio permits deputies to arrest people suspected of being illegal immigrants and charge them with a felony under state law. On Wednesday, the Maricopa County Jail held 241 such suspects.
"I'm the only law enforcement officer in Arizona, probably in the whole country, arresting illegals along with the coyotes who transport them," he said. " We put 'em all in jail."

Sgt. Crain you are so full of it.. Of course those that are breaking the law are going to be afraid of contact with the police. But those legal citizens would probably not worry about contact. You are pandering to an irrational and unfounded fear. Bravo to Maricopia County Sheriff Joe Arpiao for enforcing the laws of this country.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association, a national group headed by Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, asked Congress earlier this month to consider recommendations on immigration policing, including a measure making it voluntary for local police to enforce federal law.

Does this really surprise anyone...

Support the pettition go to their site Protect our Citizens and sign the pettition and help get this on the ballot.

Chronicle headlines make me wonder.

Ok, here is what I mean, these are the headlines on the City & State Section of today's Houston Chronicle.....

WILL HOUSTON REMAIN A SANCTUARY CITY?

Budget Proposal includes a tax trim

Railroad Killer found fit to die

Rustler took more than cattle

School Club joining the parade

Something in the water

I could really go to town on all of these but I'll decide which one or two are the best.

The best thing about the World Cup

The best thing about the World cup is...



All of the photos of the good looking women in attendance.

Finally Europe wakes up

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this article. I mean here are leaders of European countries coming out IN PUBLIC STATEMENTS in support of President Bush.

some examples

The summit host, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel — whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 25-nation EU — said it's best for Iran to agree to the proposal as soon as possible. "This is the carrot. Take it," Schuessel said.
On North Korea, Schuessel agreed with Bush that the communist country faces further isolation from the international community if it test fires a long-range missile believed capable of reaching U.S. soil.
"It should make people nervous when non-transparent regimes who have announced they have nuclear warheads, fire missiles," Bush said. "This is not the way you conduct business in the world."
Schuessel said Europe would support the U.S. against North Korea if it test fires the missile.
"If that happens, there will be a strong statement and a strong answer from the international community. And Europe will be part of it. There's no doubt," said Schuessel, who appeared with Bush and
European Commission'President Jose Manuel Barroso to address reporters.

Then there was this..

Bush dismissed as "absurd" a recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in which European nations said U.S. involvement in Iraq was a worse problem than Iran and its nuclear program.
While Bush scores low on popularity polls in Europe, Schuessel rose to his defense, which seemed to catch the American president by surprise.
"I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, a lot of countries," Schuessel said, adding that it was Bush who raised Guantanamo and other thorny issues.
"He came up, and he said, `Look, this is my problem. This is where we are,'" Schuessel said. "And I think we should be fair from the other side of the Atlantic. We should understand what Sept. 11 meant to the American people."

And finally moonbat mom Cindy Sheehan has moved her traitor act to Europe

Leading the students was U.S. "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq and energized the anti-war movement last summer with a protest outside Bush's Texas ranch. Demonstrators waved black flags, blew whistles, beat drums and shouted, "Hey, ho, Bush has got to go!" Others carried banners and signs that said "World's No. 1 Terrorist" and "Islam is not the enemy."

And people wonder why she is yesterday's news.

Time for another Texas Common Sence, well done to the leaders in Europe for starting to act responsible.

Headlines and Comments

Headline #1 - Ok the storm drains and flood control system is working for most of us. Good Next...

Headline #2 Nolan Ryan a victim of cattle rustlers....

Headline #3 Chris Bell takes his first shot

Headline #4 County will not sell Toll road system

Headline #5 Finally a City Council Member taking a stand on the immigration issue.

"This has gone on long enough," Sekula-Gibbs said. "It is time for Houston to stand up and assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws."
Sekula-Gibbs, who recently has tried to raise her profile on the border-security issue as she seeks to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, told the Houston Chronicle in November that she didn't have a "strong opinion" on a similar measure posed by then-Councilman Mark Ellis. He tried to force a council vote on the issue when he was seeking a Republican state Senate nomination in a conservative district.

At least she is being open about things. Then we have this bit

Sekula-Gibbs said it would be impossible to verify someone's immigration status before, for example, putting out a fire. She said she also disapproved of Ellis' tactic of trying to force a council vote on a nonbinding resolution.
A charter referendum, by contrast, would be binding on city policy.
"The city's sanctuary policy was wrong then, and it's wrong now," Sekula-Gibbs said Tuesday. "What he was trying to do was just political posturing."
After Tuesday's event, Councilwoman Carol Alvarado dismissed the petition as "pre-election politics," saying the city doesn't offer "sanctuary" to illegal immigrants.
She noted that the police department investigates the status of people arrested on serious misdemeanors and felonies, and then reports immigration violators to federal authorities.
Alvarado also said residing in the country illegally is typically treated as a civil offense, and she questioned the wisdom of getting city officers involved.
"I don't think it makes sense to take our police officers off the streets from chasing real criminals, who are committing real crimes, and send them on some witch hunt," she said.

I wonder why should federal offenses not be treated with the same level of attention as local offenses. How would Ms. Alvarado answer that question.

Finally HPD does something right

Some good news from HPD today. They announced the results of their newest crime prevention opperation. Surprise, surprise, surpris, a law enforcement agency actually trying to prevent crime instead of generate revenue.

A police crackdown that dispersed 100 officers per day to five high-risk apartment complexes has netted more than 300 arrests since the program began earlier this month, authorities said.
"Houston is not safe for criminals, and we're making it much less safe for criminals every single day," Mayor Bill White said Tuesday at a news conference to announce the preliminary results.

And of course our Mayor has to be there to help spin things.

"The overall goal of (STOP) is to direct resources where they are most needed; saturate the area; and actively engage in crime suppression, criminal apprehension and the restoration of order," said HPD Capt. M.E. Lentschke .
More than 600 criminal charges were filed since June 2, police said, when the additional contingent of HPD officers began patrolling the targeted apartment communities.

You know I thought that is what the police department was suppoesed to do, but you never know. And this from the City Council member who's district this is happening in.

Houston City Council member Anne Clutterbuck, who said her Fondren-area district has endured insufficient police coverage in the past, was encouraged by HPD's latest program to flood the area with additional officers.
"I think it's a very positive step," Clutterbuck said.
"The good police officers that serve our city are out there working very hard — trying to do their job and protect the city."

And finally here is what you want to hear from elected officials.

Houston City Council member Adrian Garcia said officers assigned to the southwest Houston efforts were doing "a phenomenal job under tough circumstances.
"But they get the job done. That's just what I would expect," said Garcia, chairman of the city council's public safety and homeland security committee.
"You give them a task (and) they are going to go out there and put their heads together and figure out the best way to do it," Garcia said.
The initiatives, though welcome, are only a temporary fix. Recruiting more officers is the long-term solution, Garcia said.
"We know what it takes to keep neighborhoods safe, and that's boots on the ground," Garcia said.
White pledged that the stepped-up police efforts would continue as long as necessary.
"Until I see the drop in the violent crime rates ... we're going to put the resources that we need to within these districts," White said. "We won't always advertise it. We want to keep the criminals guessing."

Now is the time for Mayor White and Chief Hurd to follow up on this with getting more officers on the streets.

The Democrats just don't get it.

Here I am checking out the headlines of the Houston Chronicle and what do I find, but this article talking about two separate resolutions/proposals being brought up by the Democrats with regards to the Troops in Iraq. First there is the Traitor in Chief John Kerry who wants to set a deadline for complete withdrawl of the troops by July 1, 2007.

"Setting a deadline to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq is necessary for success in Iraq," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said in remarks planned for his introduction of a proposal that would require U.S. combat forces to begin leaving the war zone immediately and be out of Iraq completely by July 1, 2007.

Then there is the Majority leader hopefull who only wants to "encourage redeployment" of the troops

They back a separate nonbinding resolution that would not set such a hard-and-fast deadline. It would simply call for — not require — the administration to begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces this year

Then as usual you have other Democrats providing their 2 cents

"It's not a cut-and-run strategy. It does not set a fixed timetable or an arbitrary deadline for the redeployment of our troops," said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan,

Oh, really Senator? Just what would you call it when you are talking about leaving BEFORE the job is done. You hear all of the talk about the failure of the military to do their job, but just like Vietnam, there are people who want to see the US fail and sadly a large group are Democrats in Washington.

And then you have John McCain thinking this debate is good....

"we need this debate ... it's good and healthy for the Senate and the country." But while there is great pressure in the U.S. for a troop withdrawal, the Iraqis are not ready to stand on their own, he said.
"I understand that this is an even-numbered year, an election is coming up and all of us are for withdrawal but it's got to be how we leave, not when we leave," McCain said

Ok, Senator McCain how is debating an action that hinders our military out in the theater good and healthy for the country. I know how it is healthy for the senate, it provides all of the liberal/anti-Bush/anti-war people a platform to spout more tripe and undermine both the willpower of the citizens of both the US and Iraq as well as do more to tie the hands of the military than anything else that is done.

At least the White house is standing firm

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said that while there is "a lot of heated rhetoric in Washington," an immediate troop withdrawal "will only put our country at more risk."
"Leaders here in Washington who voted for this war have to continue to stand up and say that we're go to support these troops at the very difficult moment we're in,"

And for the most part the Republicans are standing united...

While neither Democratic proposal is expected to win enough votes to be attached as an amendment to an annual military measure pending in the Senate, both are drawing ridicule from Republicans.
They lumped Democrats into two groups — what they called the "cut and run" crowd backing the Kerry position and the "cut and jog" folks supporting the other proposal.

And Senate Majority Leader Frist is sounding like a leader for once.

"Leaving Iraq to the terrorists is simply not an option. Surrendering is not a solution," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday. "We cannot retreat. We cannot surrender. We cannot go wobbly. The price is far too high."

I am glad to see at least some Republicans/Conservatives stand up and start to fight for things instead of being the lap dogs for the moderates of both parties. Between these 2 proposals and the votes on the war last week, show that there are some people in DC who can show the public what the liberals are really about.

The Senate debate comes a week after the GOP-controlled Senate and House engineered back-to-back votes on Iraq that forced lawmakers in both parties to go on record on the war.
In the end, both chambers of Congress soundly rejected timetables for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq — foreshadowing the likely fate of the two Democratic proposals.

I will let you the reader decide what to make of this, but I see the Democratic party starting to split between the moderates and the liberals, which will eventually doom them in National elections.

Today's Headlines

Well today I will be posting some interesting headlines as I see them around the web.

Allison Actually 500 year storm?
FBISD Raises Teacher Salaries $4500
North Korea ignores French/UN Warning on missle test
CSI this is not, but things need to be done better
Time to pass the buck on immigration enforcement
One less bastion of liberal media arrogance around
Just more chaos to come at the ariports
Panda Sex verified as happening Davind Benzion thrilled
NASCAR feel good story of the year
The War of Appraisal caps has new spokesperson
Happy Birthday to all

Rick Perry, the big Tax and Spend RINO

As I sit here today the Houston Chronicle has published an article that talks about the "Tax Savings" that homeowners are supposed to be getting with the new tax bill that Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov DavidDewhurst, and Speaker Tom Craddack pushed through the special session of the Texas Legislature.

I have run the numbers with no appraisal increase for homes with appraised values of
$75,000
$100,000
$125,000
$150,000
$175,000
$200,000

And Base M&O Tax rates of
$1.50
$1.25
$1.00

In summary here is what I found...
Starting Tax rate of $1.50

Appraisal Value	Year 1 Savings	Year 2 Total Savings	Year 3 Total Savings
$75,000	$97.13	$440.94	$784.76
$100,000	$129.50	$587.92	$1,046.34
$125,000	$161.88	$734.90	$1,307.93
$150,000	$194.25	$881.88	$1,569.51
$175,000	$226.63	$1,028.86	$1,831.10
$200,000	$259.00	$1,175.84	$2,092.68

Starting Tax rate of $1.25

Appraisal Value	Year 1 Savings	Year 2 Total Savings	Year 3 Total Savings
$75,000	$75.94	$358.65	$641.36
$100,000	$101.25	$478.20	$855.15
$125,000	$126.56	$597.75	$1,068.94
$150,000	$151.88	$717.30	$1,282.73
$175,000	$177.19	$836.85	$1,496.51
$200,000	$202.50	$956.40	$1,710.30

Starting Tax rate of $1.00

Appraisal Value	Year 1 Savings	Year 2 Total Savings	Year 3 Total Savings
$75,000	$54.75	$276.36	$497.97
$100,000	$73.00	$368.48	$663.96
$125,000	$91.25	$460.60	$829.95
$150,000	$109.50	$552.72	$995.94
$175,000	$ 127.75	$644.84	$1,161.93
$200,000	$146.00	$736.96	$1,327.92

This is if there is ZERO Appraisal increases over 3 years... So yes Texas home owners can save over $2000 on their property taxes but only if.... They have a house that has a starting Value of around $200,000 and a Tax school District Tax M&O tax rate that is maxed out at $1.50 per 100.

Also if you look at the list of districts and see which ones have M&O Tax rates in each area you will see that the larger majority of districts have M&O rates of over $1.25, now granted that means that people could see some savings, however the AVERAGE appraisal increase over the past 10 years in the Greater Houston area is 7% so let's do the math on how fast that savings really is around.

Appraised Value

Year	$75,000	$100,000	$125,000
2006	$1,027.88	$1,370.50	$1,713.13
2007	$820.24	$1,093.66	$1,367.07
2008	$861.26	$1,148.34	$1,435.43
2009	$904.32	$1,205.76	$1,507.20
2010	$949.54	$1,266.05	$1,582.56
2011	$997.01	$1,329.35	$1,661.69
2012	$1,046.86	$1,395.82	$1,744.77

Year				$150,000	$175,000	$200,000
2006				$2,055.75	$2,398.38	$2,741.00
2007				$1,640.49	$1,913.90	$2,187.32
2008				$1,722.51	$2,009.60	$2,296.68
2009				$1,808.64	$2,110.08	$2,411.52
2010				$1,899.07	$2,215.58	$2,532.09
2011				$1,994.02	$2,326.36	$2,658.70
2012				$2,093.73	$2,442.68	$2,791.63

My one question to Gov. Perry is why would you use a value of savings that is inflated over what the average home in Texas is appraised at?

There you go all of Gov. Perry's Tax savings are gone about the same time he decides to leave Austin and make a run for the Senate. Lord only knows what Dewhurst and Craddick will be doing in 6 years, but I'll bet good money that they will be trying to find another way to take more money out of our pockets. It has to stop, however we right now do not have many logical/reasonable options.

I mean right now We as Texans have to choose between

Perry and his half truths, and half assed efforts to fix things.
Perry Link1
Perry Link2
Perry Link3
A grandma who cannot keep one name on her ballot
Grandma1
Grandma2

A commedian who is half liberal and half conservative
Kinky1

And Chris Bell who cannot keep an elected office for more than 1 term because of reasons to numerous to list.

There are two lessons to learn from this years Governor's race and Elections in general.

1) We need to get more rank and file - grass roots republicans in local offices, and start to fight against Washington and Austin.
2) The Conservatives need to take a page from the liberal hand book and start to play incremental governance.

What I mean by that is stop trying to eliminate government progams all at one time but set things up where over the course of 3, 5 or even 7 years the program is reduced, or made less important each time. That is what the Liberals did with Social Security, Medicare, the Income Tax system. Think about it and let me know what you think.

News I found interesting yesterday

There were so many things that I found that were interesting yesterday I could not find a single topic to post on. With the exception of the Clout Lawsuit.

Here are the links to the articles in no specific order.

Bayer
Toyota Hybrids
Ben Roethlisberger
Aggie Veteran
Immigration Raids
NewMetro Appologist
New Credit Law being Proposed
Hitler Memorialm
What the Dems really stand for
More incrementalism in our country

Big Ben Part 2

Well Ben Roethlisberger has been released from the hospital, and he will not be drinking out of a straw for 6 to 8 weeks. He might be eating a lot of soft food till his dental work is done though.

Because Roethlisberger's multiple facial fractures, broken nose and broken upper and lower jaw are being held in place by screws and 2-inch titanium plates, he can eat soft foods -- and not be restricted to liquids -- during an estimated six-to-eight-week recovery period.
"We take a titanium plate, bend it and adapt it to the contours of the facial bones and then secure it in place with screws," surgeon Daniel Pituch said. "This kind of state-of-the-art technology allowed us to successfully treat Mr. Roethlisberger's facial fractures."
As a result, the 240-pound Roethlisberger probably won't lose as much weight as he would have on an all-liquid diet. The Steelers have not given a timetable for his return, but they are optimistic he will be ready for their Sept. 7 opener against Miami.

If you read that clip, you can come to love modern medical technology. That being said, Ben was very, very lucky not to have suffered more serious damage. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I hope Ben recovers completely, and has learned a lesson from all of this.

As it stands now Ben made several poor decisions, all of which I attribute to him being an elite athlete that some members of society are willing to empower as being above the law, and invincible. His actions and resulting accident came in spite the team's efforts to treat him like a responsible adult.

Pittsburgh Steelers officials warned quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in writing last year that he might jeopardize portions of his contract, and could suffer financial implications, if he continued to ride a motorcycle.
League and team officials confirmed for ESPN.com on Tuesday night that the Steelers last year sent a letter to Roethlisberger's representatives stating their concerns and the possibility his contract could be affected if he was injured while riding a motorcycle. Agent Leigh Steinberg confirmed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Steelers sent such a letter.
It is believed the letter was intended to serve dual purposes: To apprise Roethlisberger in writing of the team's stance on what it considered a perilous activity, and to place the club on more solid legal footing were the Steelers forced to try to recover prorated signing bonus money or even base salaries if the quarterback failed to fulfill his contract because of a motorcycle-related injury.

All that being said and the fact that in the past 3 years now we have had 3 premier athletes suffer serious injuries while riding motorcycles. It cost Jay Williams his career, it has cost Kellen Winslow 1 year off of his career and millions in lost bonuses and other money, and it will certainly will cost Ben when it comes to both his next contract as well as the amount of trust that the Steelers have in him. It is almost a guarantee that Ben's next contract will have a clause in it above and beyond the standard unsafe conduct wording and it will most likely have restrictions spelled out in detail and be very restrictive to say the least.

The contract Roethlisberger signed as the Steelers' first-round choice in the 2004 draft does not include language which specifically precludes the quarterback from riding a motorcycle. But the standard NFL contract, in general terms, prohibits players from engaging in off-field activities that pose "a significant risk of personal injury."

In the wake of the Roethlisberger accident, some league teams are likely to become more specific in contractually forbidding players from engaging in certain activities.
Buffalo Bills safety Troy Vincent, the president of the NFL Players Association, said Tuesday that the union does not oppose teams using such specific language but noted it should be done on a case-by-case basis.

It is good to see that the NFLPA agrees that protecting the players from themselves is something that is reasonable. When these young men realize that they have been given enormous responsibility in exchange for insane amounts of money, that is when those sort of contract language will not be necessary. In the meantime it will be interesting to see if Ben does learn from this, and maybe Gene Wojciechowski has hit the nail on the head for what Ben will have to do for riding with out a license

C.L.O.U.T files lawsuit in Texas District Court

CLOUT - a citizens based Tax advocacy group has filed alawsuit in Travis counties State district court against the Texas Legislature and others. Among those listed in the suit are the following

DAVID DEWHURST - Lt Governor of Texas (R)
TOM CRADDICK - Speaker of Texas House of Representatives (R)
CAROLE KEETON STRAYHORN - Comptroller of Texas ( R/I)
STATE OF TEXAS - Legislature
THE TEXAS LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD - Group of including those listed above.

The basic premise of the suit is that the Legislature and all of those that are involved in the formation of the state budget have been in violation of the state constitution since 1984

Plaintiffs are taxpayers and this suit seeks declaratory relief to stop and prevent unconstitutional and illegal spending by the Texas State government. Standing is particularly clear here because of the gravity of the injury to taxpayers caused by excessive spending. From 1984 to 2000 alone, excessive spending – the spending increases beyond the growth in the gross state product – have cost Texas families an average of $26,800. (See Exhibit A, Hartman, David, Restraining Growth of Texas State Government Spending, Lone Star Foundation, October 8, 2000.)

FACTS
13. Article VIII, Sec. 22 of the Texas Constitution provides:

(a) In no biennium shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues not dedicated by this constitution exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy. The legislature shall provide by general law procedures to implement this subsection.

(b) If the legislature by adoption of a resolution approved by a record vote of a majority of the members of each house finds that an emergency exists and identifies the nature of the emergency, the legislature may provide for appropriations in excess of the amount authorized by Subsection (a) of this section. The excess authorized under this subsection may not exceed the amount specified in the resolution.

(c) In no case shall appropriations exceed revenues as provided in Article III, Section 49a, of this constitution. Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter, amend, or repeal Article III, Section 49a, of this constitution. (Added Nov. 7, 1978.)
14. Texas Government Code Section 316.001 similarly provides:
The rate of growth of appropriations in a biennium from state tax revenues not dedicated by the constitution may not exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy.

This will be an interesting lawsuit to follow. More info will be here as comes available or on Lonestartimes

Tools for your foundation in Faith

There are ways in which I am not that different from most Christians. I was raised in a home with loving parents, attended Sunday school and church services while young. Now while I was not raised in an environment that had extremely strong evangelical background, I did develop what I would call a structure to my faith. As I went through my teenage and college years like many do, my attendance at church could be described as inconsistent, at best, non-existent in most cases. There were many times when I would be questioned by others about my faith and religion in general. My answer was always the same, “My relationship with God does not need a building or others to be complete.” In some ways I was right but in others I was way off base. Yes my relationship with Jesus Christ and God do not need a building because when I let them into my life to guide me they became part of who I am and what I do. However it is the relationship with others who have accepted Christ into their lives that is a vital part of my life that was missing.

I returned to active church attendance about 4 years ago. At that time my wife was looking for a church home with one goal in mind. That goal was to find a church home for our children, who my wife felt needed to have both some religious education, as well as another place to assist us in raising our children with a strong moral,ethical, and Christain foundation. As she was bouncing from church to church on Sundays she would come home and discuss what she had found. Most of the time she walked away with concerns about that church or simply knowing that this was not the place for us. As she was reaching the breaking point, she challenged me to find a church, “that I would be willing to join”

Well the gauntlet was laid down and I took her up on it. Suffice it to say I was successful in finding a church home for my family and am a proud and active member of that church family. That being said, as I became more active in the church, I found that my foundation in faith was woefully thin. It was not thin because of a lack of belief but thin because of a lack of education. This revelation had brought me to the current situation I have before me. Being an avid reader, if I can find something that peaks my curiosity then I will devour every thing on that topic. So I set out to find some literature on which I could expand and strengthen my foundation.

I have read many Christian books, including the Left Behind Series; however one thing that struck me was the fact that many of these books were as much about preaching as they were about teaching. Frustrated I started digging through the religion section of every bookstore I frequent, looking for the right text, the right story, the right communication. Then one day I found Sarah Arthur’s devotionals Walking with Bilbo, Walking with Frodo, Walking Through The Wardrobe. Now I have not read the first title, but the other two I have read and they are just the ticket for me. Here is an example of what I am talking about

Fantasy literature is suddenly cool, thanks to The Lord of the Rings. And we’re not talking about the fluffy stuff, either (in which Benji the Brave raises the Horn of Ippydoo to call forth the god Mork during the Age before People Knew How to Tell Time). No, we want the good stuff. We want cosmic battles between the forces of light and darkness, battles in which all the peace-loving people of the earth must band together or be lost to oblivion. We want interesting characters who face the threat of annihilation bravely—and die well. We want suspense, action, romance, and hard-won happy endings.

If we’re honest, we want life itself to be that way. Deep down we suspect that it is. But on the surface, it looks … well... fluffy. For example, those are not Orcs approaching us in the cafeteria, telling us we’re sitting at their table. They’re just big guys in jerseys whose grandmothers probably love them dearly and wish they would brush their teeth more often. Those are not Wizards teaching our advanced algebra classes. They’re just middle-aged folks in street clothes whose biggest battle with the forces of darkness is trying to get us to memorize the quadratic formula. We ourselves are not Elves, or Dwarves, or even Hobbits (although some of us are still growing into our feet). We’re just ordinary people who want life to be more than just homework and dating and going somewhere warm for spring break.

But don’t be fooled. Life is more than fluff. Underneath the crust of our existence is a battle between the forces of good and evil, a battle that began at the dawn of time and will continue to the last age of the world...

…As Gandalf said to Pippin, "If you have walked all these days with closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now!"* Frodo is leaving the front door of Bag End. Will you walk with him

Sarah has found a way to take something that I both know and love,Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, and help me learn more both about myself and about the teachings in the Bible. The greatest irony of all of this is the fact that in high school I wrote my senior term paper on the Christian foundations of Tolkien’s LOTR.

In Walking with Frodo, Sarah takes 9 different pairs (nice LOTR parallel) and builds a compelling picture of how and where each of the characters from LOTR fits into the Christian foundation that Tolkien had built through his own faith. Sarah, takes opposite pairs and gives you the foundation from which you can make the decision as she puts it “'So each of us, like Frodo, is faced with a choice: to humbly persevere in the tasks our Savior-King has chosen for us to do, or to slowly succumb to the darkness.' "Included after the base discussion is a message for reflection and several bible verses which reinforce the theme.

For example the first pair of devotionals is about Choosing Darkness or Choosing Light. The characters that are the example set are the Balrog that the fellowship faces in Moria, and Gandalf himself. Sarah discusses the fact that despite knowing that he will most likely fall Gandalf makes the decision to step into the light and make the ultimate sacrifice

One online review comments

The book explores positive and negative choices like pride vs. humility and despair vs. hope and offers Bible verses and study questions. The writing is approachable; the lessons are backed with examples from Tolkien’s world,

Over all this book and Walking through the Wardrobe are fantastic books for someone who like myself, is either a late to life Christian or someone who is looking for some sort of way to expand upon his/her foundation of faith.

I always knew Alec Baldwin was off center.

I knew it would eventually come out. Alec Baldwin is mentaly unstable, has a tendancy to be a bit on the vengefull side and of course this

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin must face a detailed psychological examination to have any chance of winning extra custody of his daughter Ireland.

We were right. The man in not stable. I mean are these the comments of a sane person

SCREEN star Alec Baldwin claims ex-wife Kim Basinger is brain-washing their daughter with chocolate bars.
In court papers, he claims the 9 Weeks star has bars made for Ireland, 10, with messages on the wrappers.
He has sent a sample wrapper, listed as Exhibit C, to the Los Angeles judge handling their custody battle.
Baldwin, 47, claims: "The quote reads 'To my daughter Ireland, who gave me the strength, courage and tenacity to stand up for myself...Mom'."
He adds: "The false message she continues to send our daughter is that she needs protection from her father."

Then there is this.

She claims he is violating a court order banning him from speaking to the media and is threatening to sue his publisher St Martin's Press. Baldwin insists he is writing the book to educate people on divorce issues, custody battles and the legal system's bias against fathers.

We have a nice comfortable room for you Mr. Baldwin.. that and a new jacket that has extra long sleeves.....

HPD & Crime Stoppers successful again

HPD Detectives arrested another Katrina evacuee who has been responsible for multiple violent crimes

Ricardo J. Irvin, 18, was arrested June 6 in Baton Rouge. He was one of two suspects charged with capital murder in the the Feb. 6 death of Gregory Sartain at his apartment in the 8000 block of Creek Bend.

A Crime Stoppers tip led authorities to Irvin's girlfriend's house, where a Baton Rouge SWAT team arrested him.

See the sytem does work

Police have acknowledged that the influx of 150,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees has contributed to a 23 percent increase in Houston murders last year. Irvin's arrest comes four months after Houston police announced cash rewards for five Louisiana suspects charged in three separate shooting deaths since December.

It is a matter of solid enforcement and getting a conviction

Houston homicide detectives, who traveled to Louisiana to interview him, said Irvin confessed to his roles in the Sartain and New Iberia killings.

Irvin's willingness to discuss his alleged crimes is part of a promising trend for Houston police, who initially found Louisiana suspects uncooperative.

He thinks evacuees are becoming familiar with the differences between the criminal justice systems in New Orleans and Texas. New Orleans has been criticized for its courts system, which some experts say helped perpetuate crime by failing to prosecute violent suspects who repeatedly committed crimes while free on bond.
"I think what they realize is there are consequences in Texas," Harris said, adding that Houston police have seen more witness participation from evacuees and tips from people linked to Louisiana suspects.
"In some of these cases, you have FEMA money running out," Harris said. "Those are some pretty large rewards."

Gee why does this not surprise me? The free money from the government is running out and so they are looking for other sources.. GET A JOB.

Bravo to HPD and Crime Stoppers, keep up the good work.

Governors races becoming to tight to call

USA Today reports, that the Democrats are slipping in several key governors races across the country and that their plans to recapture the majority of those posts are not as solid as they once thought.

WASHINGTON — The political landscape has gotten friendlier for congressional Democrats over the past six months, but the party's prospects for scoring big gains in governors' races now look more difficult

See all is not as bad as some conservatives think.

In Michigan, Gov. Jennifer Granholm — the darling of Democrats when she was elected in 2002 — is now in a dead heat with Republican challenger Dick DeVos. A statewide poll last month by EPIC-MRA put him at 46%, her at 45%. Last fall, she had held a 23-point lead.
"Michiganders are furious at life, so they're furious at the governor," says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. DeVos, former president of Amway, has been airing TV ads since February that tap voters' discontent over the state's direction and its battered economy. The state has the nation's second-highest unemployment rate, after Mississippi.

This is a perfect example of why if we get people in races that are willing to stand up and demand that the Democrats tell us why they did/didn't do something or what they support, that they self destruct. The Democratic party has no platform any more. They are the party of the fringe, they are the party of inaction, they are the party of feel good legislation. And where might I ask you does that get us? NOWHERE!!!!!

POINTS OF INTEREST
• That stark red/blue divide between Republicans and Democrats? It's apparently not the final word in governors' races. Six states that were carried by President Bush in 2004 — Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming — are favored to re-elect Democratic governors this year. Three states that were carried by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry — Connecticut, Hawaii and Vermont — are favored to re-elect Republican governors.
• Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania and Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell are the Republican nominees in competitive races. If victorious, either would be the first African-American Republican to be elected governor in the USA.
• And women? Five female governors are seeking new terms; that's a record. Republicans Linda Lingle of Hawaii and Jodi Rell of Connecticut and Democrats Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas are favored to win their races. The fifth incumbent, Democrat Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, is in a close contest. Female candidates also have major-party nominations in Alabama, Illinois and Massachusetts. Women are seeking nominations in six other states that hold primaries later this year.
• Texas' reputation for colorful contests continues. Though Republican Gov. Rick Perry is expected to win re-election, the No. 2 finisher could well be Republican-turned-independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Strayhorn, the state comptroller, happens to be the mother of former White House press secretary Scott McClellan. She has asked to appear on the ballot as " 'Grandma' Strayhorn" (as in "One Tough Grandma"). Country-western singer and political character Richard "Kinky" Friedman also is running as an independent. One of his slogans: "How hard could it be?" The Democratic candidate is former congressman Chris Bell.

I just love how Chris Bell gets only 1 line and that is at the very end....