Disinformation » Texas

The Police-ification Of Schools

JacobSloan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:08:02 +0000

The Guardian reports on the new public education model in Texas, in which police officers patrol school hallways, giving out hundreds of thousands of tickets to children each year and making arrests for criminal behavior such as leaving crumbs in the cafeteria, wearing inappropriate clothing, spraying perfume, and making sarcastic remarks in class. Poor children whose families are unable to pay the fines may be jailed for the nonpayment once they turn 17:

More and more US schools have police patrolling the corridors. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the canteen floor. Why is the state criminalising normal childhood behaviour?

The charge on the police docket was “disrupting class”. But that’s not how 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes saw her arrest for spraying two bursts of perfume on her neck in class because other children were bullying her with taunts of “you smell”.

“I’m weird. Other kids don’t like me,” said Sarah, who has been diagnosed with attention-deficit and bipolar disorders and who is conscious of being overweight. “They were picking on me. So I sprayed myself with perfume. Then the teacher called the police.”

The policeman didn’t have far to come. He patrols the corridors of Sarah’s school, Fulmore Middle in Austin, Texas. Like hundreds of schools in the state, and across large parts of the rest of the US, Fulmore Middle has its own police force with officers in uniform who carry guns to keep order in the canteens, playgrounds and lessons. Sarah was taken from class, charged with a criminal misdemeanour and ordered to appear in court.

Each day, hundreds of schoolchildren appear before courts in Texas charged with offences such as swearing, misbehaving on the school bus or getting in to a punch-up in the playground. Children have been arrested for possessing cigarettes, wearing “inappropriate” clothes and being late for school.

In 2010, the police gave close to 300,000 “Class C misdemeanour” tickets to children as young as six in Texas for offences in and out of school, which result in fines, community service and even prison time. What was once handled with a telling-off by the teacher or a call to parents can now result in arrest and a record that may cost a young person a place in college or a job years later.

“We’ve taken childhood behaviour and made it criminal,” said Kady Simpkins, a lawyer who represented Sarah Bustamantes. “They’re kids. Disruption of class? Every time I look at this law I think: good lord, I never would have made it in school in the US. I grew up in Australia and it’s just rowdy there. I don’t know how these kids do it, how they go to school every day without breaking these laws.”

The emphasis on law and order in the classroom parallels more than two decades of rapid expansion of all areas of policing in Texas in response to misplaced fears across the US in the 1980s of a looming crime wave stoked by the crack epidemic, alarmist academic studies and the media.

“Zero tolerance started out as a term that was used in combating drug trafficking and it became a term that is now used widely when you’re referring to some very punitive school discipline measures. Those two policy worlds became conflated with each other,” said Fowler.

The very young are not spared. According to Appleseed, Texas records show more than 1,000 tickets were issued to primary schoolchildren over the past six years (although these have no legal force at that age). Appleseed said that “several districts ticketed a six-year-old at least once in the last five years”.

Fines run up to $500. For poorer parents, the cost can be crippling. Some parents and students ignore the financial penalty, but that can have consequences years down the road. Schoolchildren with outstanding fines are regularly jailed in an adult prison for non-payment once they turn 17. Stumping up the fine is not an end to the offending student’s problems either. A class-C misdemeanour is a criminal offence.

Texas GOP Representative Declares ‘War On Birth Control’

JacobSloan — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:01:48 +0000

The Texas Republican Party is engaged in a far-reaching and sustained “war on birth control”. No, that’s not the teaser from a Planned Parenthood press release — it’s the pronouncement of (aptly named) state legislator Wayne Christian. Creepiest war ever. Via Think Progress:

When The Texas Tribune asked state Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Nacogdoches), a supporter of the family planning cuts, if this was a war on birth control, he said “yes.”

“Well of course this is a war on birth control and abortions and everything, that’s what family planning is supposed to be about,” Christian said.

While disturbing, Christian’s honesty is a refreshing change from Republicans’ more common defense that cuts to women’s health care will save money. As NPR notes, the state estimates that 300,000 women will lose access to family planning services because of these cuts, resulting in roughly 20,000 additional unplanned births. “Texas already spends $1.3 billion on teen pregnancies — more than any other state.”

GOP Debate Audience Cheers Texas’s 234 Executions

JacobSloan — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:57:08 +0000

“I think Americans understand justice…In the state of Texas…you will face the ultimate justice.”

The biggest positive response at last night’s Republican presidential debate may have occurred when moderator Brian Williams, addressing Rick Perry, began, “Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times,” at which point he was interrupted as the crowd spontaneously broke into rapturous applause.

The Death Penalty Information Center lists nine people executed by Texas in recent years who were likely innocent.

Rick Perry Is a Socialist

Good German — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:34:06 +0000

The Washington Post reports:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has leapfrogged to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates largely on the strength of one compelling fact: During more than a decade as governor, his state created more than 1 million jobs, while the nation as a whole lost 1.4 million jobs.

Perry says the “Texas miracle” rests on conservative pillars that he would bring to the White House: minimal regulation and government, low taxes and a determination to limit the reach of Uncle Sam.

What he does not say is that much of that job growth has come because of government, not in spite of it.

With a young and fast-growing population, a large and expanding military presence and an influx of federal stimulus money, the number of government jobs in Texas has grown at more than double the rate of private-sector employment during Perry’s tenure.

The disparity has grown sharper since the national recession hit. Between December 2007 and last June, private-sector employment in Texas declined by 0.6 percent while public-sector jobs increased by 6.4 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, government employees account for about one-sixth of the workforce in Texas.

The significant role of government in Texas’s relative prosperity stands in stark contrast to the “go-it-alone” image cultivated by Perry, who credits a lack of government interference for fostering a business-friendly environment in Texas.

Rick Perry’s “Response” Prayer At Reliant Stadium

JacobSloan — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:11:00 +0000

George W. Bush redux? In case you missed it, here is Texas Governor and possible next president Perry laying it on thick at his massive prayer meet, dubbed “The Response”, on August 6 in Houston. He wants you to know that he has determined the cause of all of the United States’ current economic, social, and political woes: “As a nation we have forgotten who made us, who blesses us.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry Joins Presidential Race

TunaGhost — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:28:08 +0000

Texas governor Rick “I-Have-A-Terrific-Haircut” Perry joins the race for the Republican nomination. Another conservative Christian candidate? What’s the difference between him and Michele Bachmann, aside from genitalia and Bachmann’s crazy-eyes? Arlette Saenz reports on ABC News:

After months of speculation and prodding by Republicans, Texas Governor Rick Perry has officially entered the 2012 race. His spokesman, Mark Miner confirmed that Perry is running for president.

Perry will deliver a speech at the RedState.com Gathering in Charleston, S.C. Saturday. The speech was originally billed as an address that would make clear his intentions regarding a run for the presidency, but now it has turned official.

The Texas Governor will swing through three key early states – South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa – this weekend. Following his speech in Charleston, he will meet with S.C. Republican officials before heading to a house party in Greenland, New Hampshire where he will meet with Granite State voters.

Sunday, he will speak at the Black Hawk GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner Fundraiser in Waterloo, Iowa. Earlier today, Michele Bachmann, who was born in Waterloo, announced she will also speak at the dinner. Perry, the longest serving governor in the country, has never lost a race during his nearly three decades in public office.

Texas Town To Convert Urine Into Drinking Water

JacobSloan — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:53:04 +0000

There’s a metaphor in there somewhere. Discovery writes:

The drought in Texas has gotten so severe municipal water managers have turned to a once untenable idea: recycling sewage water.

“When you talk about toilet-to-(water) tank it makes a lot of people nervous and grossed out,” says Terri Telchik, who works in the city manager’s office in Big Spring, Texas.

Less than 0.1 inches of rain has fallen on West Texas for months. Normally, the region gets more than 7 inches of rain this time of year. This week’s Department of Agriculture Drought Monitor map shows 75 percent of Texas is in “exceptional” drought stages.

Water for the town’s 27,000 residents comes through the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which has broken ground on a plant to capture treated wastewater for recycling.

ACLU Plans ‘Family, Faith & Freedom’ Event To Counter Gov. Perry’s Prayer Rally

Pelliciari — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:38:52 +0000

Photo: eschipul (CC)

The Washington Independent reports:

Billed as an “alternative” to Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fast event “The Response,” the ACLU of Texas and Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced today they will be hosting a gathering of their own the evening before Perry’s, to promote the diversity they say is missing from the Christian-based prayer event.

“Gov. Perry’s decision to sponsor a ‘Christians-only’ prayer rally is bad enough. That he turned to an array of intolerant religious extremists to put it on for him is even worse,” Americans United for Separation of Church and State director Barry Lynn said in a statement. “This event unites us in our conviction that government should have no favorite theology and that it must always strive to ensure that all citizens — Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and others — are full and equal partners in the public square.”

Called “Faith, Family and Freedom,” the Aug. 5 event is scheduled to feature religious and non-religious leaders from the Houston community and is intended to celebrate “diversity, inclusion, and unity” — qualities the civil liberties and watchdog groups say are lacking from the prayer rally.

Continues at Washington Independent]

Texas Board Of Education Unanimously Rejects Creationist Textbooks

JacobSloan — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:16:52 +0000

In a shocking turn of events, creationism’s great white hope, Texas, has decided to continue teaching basic biology and natural history in its public school system. The National Center for Science Education writes:

The Texas Board of Education has unanimously come down on the side of evolution. In 14-0 vote, the board today approved scientifically accurate high school biology textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers–and did not approve the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC.

Dr. Eugenie Scott, NCSE’s Executive Director is celebrating the decision. “These supplements reflect the overwhelming scientific consensus that evolution is the core of modern biology, and is a central and vital concept in any biology class. That these supplements were adopted unanimously reflects a long overdue change in the board. I commend the board for its refusal to politicize science education.”

Texas Man Buys A $300,000 House For $16

BananaFamine — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:23:45 +0000

Reports KENS5 San Antonio:

Atheist Group Sues to Block Texas Governor Rick Perry From Prayer Rally

bluemana — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:44:06 +0000

Mike Tolson writes in the Houston Chronicle:

A group that has already criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his involvement with a Christian prayer rally scheduled for Reliant Stadium next month went a step further Wednesday and filed a federal lawsuit in Houston to stop him from promoting it.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation claims Perry’s association with the “The Response: A Call to Prayer for a National in Crisis” breaches the separation of church and state.

The complaint, filed in the Southern District on behalf of five named individuals who live in Houston, notes the plaintiffs are “nonbelievers who support the free exercise of religion, but strongly oppose the governmental establishment and endorsement of religion ….”

The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Perry’s official involvement. A Perry spokesman said he won’t back away from the event.

Ron Paul Won’t Seek Congressional Term In 2012

BananaFamine — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:51:06 +0000

Ron Paul has declared that he’s all-in for his presidential bid. (Judging by a recent survey, he may very well stand a chance). John Tompkins writes for The Facts:

After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts exclusively this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat.

Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012. “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul said. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”

His announcement will give enough time for anyone with aspirations for his seat to think about running, he said. Paul didn’t want to wait for filing in the 2012 primary to let people know he wasn’t seeking reelection.

“I didn’t want to hold off until in December,” he said. “I thought it shouldn’t be any later than now.” Paul has served 12 terms in Congress. District 14 encompasses a 10-county area along the Gulf Coast. “The people in the area have supported me for many years,” he said.

Before turning to politics, Paul was an obstetrician based in Lake Jackson. The Pennsylvania native served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force before moving to the area to start his practice.

For more information, see original article.

Texas Governor Organizes Statewide Prayer To Jesus

JacobSloan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:50:06 +0000

Watch the batshit insanity unfold as Texas governor Rick Perry proclaims a statewide day of fasting and prayer to Jesus to solve “economic collapse, natural disaster, terrorism” and your “troubles paying your bills” — all things that the governor says are “spiritual issues.”

It’s dubbed The Response, and involves Texans simultaneously praying on August 6 so as to “make a sound that will be heard in the heavens,” with a football stadium in Houston as the focal point. Also, it’s kind of a response to New York’s legalization of gay marriage, and other governors are invited:

Would You Buy A License Plate With A Confederate Flag On It?

majestic — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:09:55 +0000

If you live in Texas, you might have that choice quite soon. CBSDFW.com reports:

Would you buy a license plate with a Confederate flag on it? State officials are looking at possibly launching a new Texas state license plate honoring veterans of the War Between the States.

Mr. Hilary Shelton, with the NAACP in Washington, D.C., said that the Civil War may not be something we want to celebrate.

“When many look at that history, we think about it in terms of secession, that is we were seceding from the Union in the southern parts of the country,” explained Shelton. “Many would view that, quite frankly, as treason, because they meant to actually destroy the existing governmental structure. But when we dig deeper, the issue becomes even more offensive to many African Americans and those that sought freedom for those of darker skin in our country.”

“When you understand the Confederate history, and what it stood for,” said Dallas resident Mark Jones, “it’s directly slapping African Americans in the face.”

In terms of the Civil War, Shelton said that the Confederate flag was actually very un-American. “It was the flag that was flown during a war to actually tear the nation apart,” Shelton explained.

“I don’t think that this will unify us,” said Carrollton resident Carolina Arreola. “Our patriotism is to the Unites States flag.”

But the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans have renewed their push for a Texas license plate that includes the rebel flag in its design…

[continues at CBSDFW.com]

Two Men Run Wild In An Empty Terminal At Dallas Forth-Worth Airport

Pelliciari — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:13:16 +0000

There has been a video floating around the internet of photographer Joe Ayala and friend Larry Chen stranded at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport after their connecting flight was canceled one night. When it appeared there was no one else in the terminal, the two decide to make the most of the situation and goof around in wheelchair races and enjoying themselves to some free beer. The incident was seen on security cameras, but no personnel seem to be in the terminal. Aviation security experts don’t believe it to be too much of a security risk because the men were ticketed passengers who had already been through TSA screenings, but not everyone agrees.

DFW airport board member Betty Culbreath says while it may have been a prank, it sent the wrong message. “It’s not funny. It’s not going to happen again as far as I’m concerned. It should not have happened because it gives the perception the airport is sitting out there unguarded and that’s why I was concerned, and am still concerned.”

Psychic Fiasco: Texas Mass Murder Raid a Hoax

BananaFamine — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:52:05 +0000

Benjamin Radford writes in Discovery News:

A psychic called police on Monday night, describing a horrific scene of mass murder: 25 to 30 dismembered bodies near an unassuming ranch house about an hour outside of Houston, Texas. There were rotting limbs, headless corpses, and, chillingly, many were children.

Deputies from the Liberty County Sheriff’s office went to investigate but didn’t see anything amiss.

The psychic called a second time the next day, insisting that her visions were true. She provided more detailed information about the home and urged the police to return to a different part of the property. This time detectives called for backup and soon dozens of officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the FBI, and the Texas Rangers were on the scene — not to mention cadaver dogs, news helicopters, and gawkers.

Police investigated, and it all turned out to be a false alarm. There were no dead bodies; the psychic was wrong (or lying).

How could one anonymous psychic have been taken so seriously by the police, FBI, and Texas Rangers? According to an Associated Press story…

For more information, see original article.

Texas Proposes ‘Anti-Groping’ Law Against TSA, Feds Threaten To Ground All Flights

Pelliciari — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:33:01 +0000

Texas has been the first state to propose a bill that will disallow TSA agents from groping passengers. The federal government stated that if the state were to approve such a bill, the TSA would be forced to ground all flights. Makes me think of something Thomas Jefferson stated, "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." Via The Raw Story:

A bill that would criminalize TSA agents who conduct airport patdown searches was scuttled Tuesday night after the federal government threatened to ground all flights out of Texas. The proposed law would have levied misdemeanor charges against security agents who "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly [touch] the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of the other person, including touching through clothing, or touching the other person in a manner that would be offensive to a reasonable person." An earlier version of House Bill 1937 would have made such action a felony. [Story continues]

Fox 7 reports:

Texas Teacher To 9th Grade Student: “I Bet You’re Grieving About Your Uncle (Bin Laden)”

BananaFamine — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:16:03 +0000

ABC 13 reports:

HOUSTON (KTRK) — The death of Osama bin Laden is related to an investigation of a teacher at Clear Brook High School. The teacher is accused of making a racially insensitive comment to a student in front of the entire class.

A Friendswood mom says she was offended by what her daughter says happened Monday in ninth grade algebra.

She said, “The teacher told the student that ‘I bet you’re grieving.’ And she basically looked at him and said what are you talking about? And he said I heard about your uncle’s death and she said wow, because she understood that he was referring about Osama bin Laden being killed and was racially profiling her.”

The remark was made to a classmate, an American-born girl of Muslim faith. It happened at Clear Brook High School in the Clear Creek Independent School District. The mom wanted to speak out about the incident but wanted us to protect her identity, saying she doesn’t want any retaliation against her daughter or the girl who experienced the inappropriate comment.

For more information, see original article.

As Texas Burns From Worst Wildfires In History, State Government Organizes Rain Prayers

JacobSloan — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:10:44 +0000

Wildfire is ravaging the Texas landscape on a never-before-seen scale which will shatter previous records.

Governor Rick Perry’s response? He has commanded residents to pray for rain. No, not in a passing remark in a speech, but with an official decree designating “Days of Prayer for Rain” on which Texans will “offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land and the restoration of our normal way of life” and “to humbly seek an end to these dangerous wildfires.” No further comment needed.

Texas Blocked From Debuting Controversial New Lethal-Injection Cocktail

JacobSloan — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:53:57 +0000

The state of Texas will have to wait until another day to try out a newly formulated death-inducing mixture which critics say could cause agonizing suffering. Cleve Foster, a Desert Storm veteran convicted of the murder of a woman he’d met in a bar, was scheduled to be executed tonight; this afternoon the Supreme Court blocked his execution for reasons including “questions related to his guilt.” The Atlantic Wire elaborates:

Foster has maintained his innocence for years, writing that he is “on death row waiting to die for a crime another man has confessed to.” He’s referring to Sheldon Ward, who was convicted alongside Foster in 2004 and has since died in prison of a brain tumor.

The drugs the state would have used to execute Foster–a cocktail of pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride–have never been used in a Texas execution before.

If the cocktail doesn’t work properly, says Stafford Smith, director of the human-rights organization Reprieve, then during his execution, Foster will experience “excruciating pain that has been likened to having one’s veins set on fire.”

You Have No Legal Right to Sex, and Never Had

bluemana — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:09:08 +0000

François-Rolland Elluin, Gli abitanti di Sodoma provocano l'ira divina. (1789).

Really interesting article from Paul R. Abramson and L.J. Williamson in LA Weekly:

In fact, in case you haven’t heard, Texas Republicans want sodomy to be a crime again. Last June, the Texas Republican Party embraced a political platform that opposed the legalization of sodomy.

To be clear, sodomy law refers to either oral or anal sex. It would be a bleak day if Congress made the eradication of the backdoor and the blow job a priority over war, economic upheaval and environmental disasters, but that’s beside the point. The bigger question is, does sex, sodomy included, warrant constitutional protection?

The answer is no. You have only a “right to privacy,” and in 1965, when that right first came into being, anyone who wasn’t married missed the boat. Privacy rights are more inclusive now, but they’re still only tangential to sex; they’re more akin to a cone of silence than an affirmative right to sexual activity.

Atheist Students Group Offers Porn For Bibles

bluemana — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:41:05 +0000

Via WOAI San Antonio:

SAN ANTONIO — An atheist student group at UTSA is again offering to trade porn for bibles.

Atheist Agenda set up a booth on the UTSA campus on the Northwest Side and asked students to bring in their bibles in exchange for pornographic magazines. The event is called “Smut for Smut” and, obviously, brings with it some big controversy.

“It is to send a message that the stuff in the bible, and the Quran, and the Torah, and all that sort of thing is, in our case worse, in our opinion worse, than pornography,” explained UTSA student Kyle Bush.

“I can see that God can definitely use this for a greater purpose,” UTSA student Alex Liu
said. “And I see a lot of Christian organizations coming together, you know, to be brothers and sisters standing up for their faith.”

15,000 Gallons of Animal Fat Clog the Houston Ship Channel

Pelliciari — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:55:25 +0000

What spills threaten to contaminate our waters? Well, I bet beef fat wasn’t your first guess. 2010 ended with 100,000 gallons of raw sewage leaked into the Buffalo Bayou which was estimated to take three weeks to repair. 2011 brings animal fat. NPR reports:

Workers with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Texas General Land Office used pitchforks on Wednesday to pierce and remove chunks of beef fat clogging the Houston Ship Channel, shutting down nearly a mile of one of the nation’s busiest marine arteries.

No ship traffic is delayed, however, because the spill occurred at the end of the waterway, said Richard Brahms, a spokesman with the Coast Guard.

Some 15,000 gallons of animal fat poured into the channel through a storm drain on Tuesday after an onshore storage tank owned by agricultural company Jacob Sterns and Sons leaked 250,000 gallons of the greasy substance, Brahms said.

[Continues at NPR]

Texas May End Medicaid

JacobSloan — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:09:06 +0000

With conservative politicians riding high on their broad electoral success, red-dominated regions of the country are already considering sweeping changes: in Texas, lawmakers are debating the possibility of opting out of the federal Medicaid program. Will this mark the start of a trend of right-wing states, fed up with the federal government, seeking to withdraw and “go it alone”? From the Texas Tribune:

Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.

Far-right conservatives are offering that possibility in post-victory news conferences. Moderate Republicans are studying it behind closed doors. And the party’s advisers on health care policy say it’s being discussed more seriously than ever, though they admit it may be as much a huge in-your-face to Washington as anything else.

“With Obamacare mandates coming down, we have a situation where we cannot reduce benefits or change eligibility” to cut costs, said State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, the veteran conservative lawmaker who recently entered the race for speaker of the Texas House. “This system is bankrupting our state,” he said. “We need to get out of it. And with the budget shortfall we’re anticipating, we may have to act this year.”

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, estimates Texas could save $60 billion between 2013 and 2019 by opting out of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, dropping coverage for acute care but continuing to fund long-term care services. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which has 3.6 million children, people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, will release its own study on the effect of ending the state’s participation in the federal match program at some point between now and January.

State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, an anesthesiologist who authored the bill commissioning the Medicaid study, said early indications are that dropping out of the program would have a tremendous ripple effect monetarily. He is not ready to discount the idea, he said, but he worries about who would carry the burden of care without Medicaid’s “financial mechanism.”

“Because of the substantial amount of matching money that comes from the federal government, there’s an economic impact that comes from that,” Zerwas said. “If we start to look at what that impact is, we have to consider whether it’s feasible to not participate.”

Mr. Spock Is Now A Legal Authority in Texas

ralph — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:55:12 +0000

Wow, Texas just became a lot more … logical. And picking the best film from the original series, nice touch. (You’ll find the scene referred to in this ruling at about two minutes into the clip below.) Great find from Charlie Jane Anders on io9.com:

The wisdom of Spock has guided us all for years, but now it’s enshrined in Texas law. Ruling on the limits of police power, the Texas Supreme Court quoted from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Ruling in Robinson vs. Crown Cork Seal Company (PDF), Justice Don Willett writes:

Appropriately weighty principles guide our course. First, we recognize that police power draws from the credo that “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Second, while this maxim rings utilitarian and Dickensian (not to mention Vulcan), it is cabined by something contrarian and Texan: distrust of intrusive government and a belief that police power is justified only by urgency, not expediency.

And there’s this footnote after the word Vulcan:

See STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Paramount Pictures 1982). The film references several works of classic literature, none more prominently than A Tale of Two Cities. Spock gives Admiral Kirk an antique copy as a birthday present, and the film itself is bookended with the book’s opening and closing passages. Most memorable, of course, is Spock’s famous line from his moment of sacrifice: “Don’t grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh . . .” to which Kirk replies, “the needs of the few.”

Read More from Charlie Jane Anders on io9.com

Texas Vs. New York: Whose UFOs Are Bigger?

majestic — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:43:31 +0000

How fitting that as the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers do battle in Major League Baseball’s playoffs, Texas comes up with its own set of mysterious UFOs over El Paso, right after New Yorkers spotted UFOs over Manhattan.

Texas Moves To Limit Islamic Brainwashing In Textbooks

JacobSloan — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:59:32 +0000

The Texas State Board of Education has approved a resolution condemning “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias” in public school textbooks, Texas’s KTBX reports. Why? State board candidate Randy Rives explains that Islamicists are influencing the state’s textbooks as a way to brainwash children, and ultimately to “take over America without firing a shot.”

Meet A Fourth Time Lottery Winner

Pelliciari — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:15:43 +0000

What are the odds of winning the lottery? Sufficient to say most player’s odds are slim to none. With luck like Joan Ginther, I’d be playing everyday. She recently picked up her fourth set of multi-million dollar winnings. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas gives details:

Joan R. Ginther, a native of Bishop who moved to Las Vegas, made her fourth appearance Monday at lottery headquarters in Austin to collect seven figures, lottery officials said.

Ginther, 63, won $10 million, the top prize in Texas Lottery’s $140,000,000 Extreme Payout scratch-off ticket, pushing her total wins to $20.4 million.

It was her third time to win on a ticket from a Bishop store, and second one at Times Market at 525 Highway 77 Bypass, in Bishop.

“This is a very lucky store,” said Bob Solis, store manager. The owner Sun Bae is the one with the lucky hand, Solis said. “Sun sold both the winning tickets to the woman.”

The store, which sells about 1,000 lottery tickets daily, now is eligible to receive a bonus of $10,000 for the second time, lottery officials said.

“It’s incredible for the store owner,” said Bobby Heith, spokesman for the commission. “Most of our 16,000 retail stores have never sold a winning ticket.”

In 1993 Ginther first won a $5.4 million share of an $11 million Lotto Texas jackpot for a ticket bought in Bishop. She opted for annual payments of $270,000 (excluding tax charges) for 19 years.

Texas City Reinstates Corporal Punishment In Public Schools

JacobSloan — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:32:03 +0000

If there’s one thing Texans love besides barbecue, it’s paddling their kids. From the Washington Post:

“There are times when maybe a good crack might not be a bad idea,” said Robert Pippin, a custom home builder who sports a goatee and cowboy boots. His son graduated from Temple schools several years ago.

Corporal punishment remains legal in 20 states, mostly in the South, but its use is diminishing. Ohio ended it last year, and a movement for a federal ban is afoot. Most school districts across the country banned paddling of students long ago. Texas sat that trend out.

But even by Texas standards, Temple is unusual. The city, a compact railroad hub of 60,000 people, banned the practice and then revived it at the demand of parents who longed for the orderly schools of yesteryear. Since paddling was brought back to the city’s 14 schools by a unanimous board vote in May, behavior at Temple’s single high school has changed dramatically.

Erykah Badu Strips Naked Where JFK Was Assassinated In New Music Video

ralph — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:21:51 +0000

OK folks, this is not an April Fool’s Joke. I have observed that disinfo.com readers (especially those who leave comments) enjoy the intersection of conspiracy and pop culture, however, it looks like Erykah Badu is taking it to a whole new level.

What would Crossfire author and JFK conspiracy expert Jim Marrs say? (Answer: He’s fine with it.)

(Below is a news report, not the actual video itself.)