TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalIt Looks Like Texas Sent Planes to Spy on Mexico
Former Governor Rick Perry vowed to “fill in the gap left by the federal government” in 2009 when he formed special teams of Texas Rangers to secure the Texas-Mexico border. But in an effort to keep things safe north of the Rio Grande, it looks as if they may have overstepped.
According to a report by the Austin-American Statesman, elite units of Texas Rangers flew high-tech planes along the border in 2010, collecting intelligence on cartels operating in northern Mexico. The report included a note that reads, “Need to be careful here as we are admitting to spying on Mexico.”
For their part, Texas Department of Public Safety officials have kept pretty quiet on the matter: they say the aerial surveillance did not look into the interior of Mexico, and focused on the Rio Grande. But some experts are worried that Texas may have violated international law.
Since the report was obtained by the Statesman, many questions remain unanswered, including specifics on whether or not the planes entered Mexico’s airspace, and how long these missions lasted.
Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/shows/current/it-looks-like-texas-sent-planes-to-spy-on-mexico/
Wait, What’s Indicted Rick Perry Doing About 2016?
All the political news you can use these last few weeks has been about Republican candidates not named Governor Goodhair. Very swiftly, the media focus has centered around Cruz, Paul, Rubio, and Bush (in that order). Earlier this year, Rick Perry was making all sorts of visible rounds.
Well, he’s still making the rounds, except with fewer eyes on him. When Hillary announced on Sunday, Perry tweeted a petition to ‘Stop Hillary’…and sign up for his RickPAC email list. Not very substantive, and he didn’t get into news reports about Republican responses to the announcement. Odd for an allegedly important presidential candidate, right?
On Friday, he told the National Republican Convention Leadership Forum that “{i}t’s going to be a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ election where voters look past what you say to what you’ve done. On Thursday, Perry visited the Iowa State Capitol to meet lawmakers (politicking in state grounds?) whose endorsement he inevitably will hope for. He met some homeschoolers because “{t}here’s nothing more precious to people than their time, and where they spend their time is where their heart is.” Those homeschoolers also went on something called a “prayer walk,” whatever that is.
This is Governor Gone Mild, boilerplate news about a Republican presidential candidate. However, the reason he’s so invisible right now is that no one seems to care about Rick Perry at the moment – there’s not even speculation on when he will announce, and he’s mentioned only lightly in early analyses of the race. But maybe there’s something else at work, at least until the race heats up around Labor Day.
Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/29984/wait-whats-federally-indicted-rick-perry-doing-about-2016
Cross-posted in the Politics 2015 forum.
Wait, What’s Indicted Rick Perry Doing About 2016?
All the political news you can use these last few weeks has been about Republican candidates not named Governor Goodhair. Very swiftly, the media focus has centered around Cruz, Paul, Rubio, and Bush (in that order). Earlier this year, Rick Perry was making all sorts of visible rounds.
Well, he’s still making the rounds, except with fewer eyes on him. When Hillary announced on Sunday, Perry tweeted a petition to ‘Stop Hillary’…and sign up for his RickPAC email list. Not very substantive, and he didn’t get into news reports about Republican responses to the announcement. Odd for an allegedly important presidential candidate, right?
On Friday, he told the National Republican Convention Leadership Forum that “{i}t’s going to be a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ election where voters look past what you say to what you’ve done. On Thursday, Perry visited the Iowa State Capitol to meet lawmakers (politicking in state grounds?) whose endorsement he inevitably will hope for. He met some homeschoolers because “{t}here’s nothing more precious to people than their time, and where they spend their time is where their heart is.” Those homeschoolers also went on something called a “prayer walk,” whatever that is.
This is Governor Gone Mild, boilerplate news about a Republican presidential candidate. However, the reason he’s so invisible right now is that no one seems to care about Rick Perry at the moment – there’s not even speculation on when he will announce, and he’s mentioned only lightly in early analyses of the race. But maybe there’s something else at work, at least until the race heats up around Labor Day.
Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/29984/wait-whats-federally-indicted-rick-perry-doing-about-2016
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
League City considers paying $450,000 to keep chemical company in town
LEAGUE CITY - In an effort to keep a company and its 225 employees in town, the city is considering a proposal to pay that company $450,000 over the next five years.
Chemical company INEOS USA leases 60,000 square feet of office space in an office complex at South Shore Harbour. Last year, the company told city officials that another city made a pitch to have the company move to where a new office building is being constructed.
Read more: http://www.galvnews.com/news/article_a34e92de-e26a-11e4-b1d3-9bca546ceaf1.html (subscription required)
[font color=green]Corporate extortion has become part of capitalism.[/font]
Texas House mandates EKG tests for high school athletes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas House has preliminarily approved requiring high school athletes to undergo electrocardiogram testing for possible degenerative heart problems before participating in campus sports.
Representatives voted 86-57 Monday to make EKG testing mandatory as part of physicals taken to participate in all University Interscholastic League activities.
They did so while Scott Stephens whose son Cody was a high school football player but died in 2012 of sudden cardiac arrest just before graduating watched from the gallery.
The national nonprofit Children’s Heart Foundation says 3,600-plus Texas children born each year suffer a congenital heart defect. That predisposes them to sudden cardiac death.
Read more: http://blogs.elpasotimes.com/highschoolsports/2015/04/14/texas-house-mandates-ekg-tests-for-high-school-athletes/
Lawmakers vote out insurance over-litigation bill
AUSTIN — A bill that opponents argue will tilt the scales toward insurance companies in disaster situations, but which proponents say will stop unnecessary lawsuits, is moving to the full Texas Senate.
Senate Bill 1628 from state Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, aims to stop recent situations such as with hail storms in the last two years where public adjusters and attorneys allegedly have been soliciting people to file claims.
"The primary issue is overzealous solicitation of homeowners," said Juan Padron with independent insurance agents in the Rio Grande Valley, where hail in 2012 created mass amounts of litigation.
Padron reflected worry that the lawsuits could make insurance too expensive in his area.
Read more: http://www.caller.com/news/state/state-bureau/lawmakers-vote-out-insurance-overlitigation-bill_15163326
[font color=green]It's notable that Senator Taylor also owns an insurance agency. He also caused a controversy in 2011 when he told the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to be fair to policy holders and not "nitpick or Jew them down".[/font]
First U.S. set of all-girl quintuplets born in Houston
Another rare multiple birth has graced Houston with the birth Wednesday of the first U.S. set of all-girl quintuplets.
Danielle Busby delivered Olivia Marie, Ava Lane, Hazel Grace, Parker Kate and Riley Paige by C-section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas. It took just four minutes for the birth of all five, the hospital said.
In addition to being the first female quintuplets in the United States, the Busby babies are the first all-girl set in the world since 1969, according to Texas Woman's Hospital.
"We are so thankful and blessed," Danielle Busby said in an announcement from the hospital. "And I honestly give all the credit to my God. I am so thankful for this wonderful hospital and team of people here; they truly all are amazing."
http://www.chron.com/life/healthzone/article/First-U-S-set-of-all-girl-quintuplets-born-in-6199142.php
First U.S. set of all-girl quintuplets born in Houston
Source: Houston Chronicle
Another rare multiple birth has graced Houston with the birth Wednesday of the first U.S. set of all-girl quintuplets.
Danielle Busby delivered Olivia Marie, Ava Lane, Hazel Grace, Parker Kate and Riley Paige by C-section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas. It took just four minutes for the birth of all five, the hospital said.
In addition to being the first female quintuplets in the United States, the Busby babies are the first all-girl set in the world since 1969, according to Texas Woman's Hospital.
"We are so thankful and blessed," Danielle Busby said in an announcement from the hospital. "And I honestly give all the credit to my God. I am so thankful for this wonderful hospital and team of people here; they truly all are amazing."
Read more: http://www.chron.com/life/healthzone/article/First-U-S-set-of-all-girl-quintuplets-born-in-6199142.php
USW Members Voting on LyondellBasell Contract Today
Pasadena, Texas -- More than two months in, the United Steelworkers oil refinery strike still isn't technically over, but things could wrap up soon for the USW District 227 workers at LyondellBasell in Pasadena.
USW 227 has been on strike from the start. When USW called the strike on February 1, about 450 union workers at LyondellBasell in Pasadena were part of the first wave to actually go out on strike. By the time the action -- the first significant oil refinery strike in 30 years -- got rolling, more than 6,000 union employees at 15 plants, including 12 refineries, across the country were on strike.
After so long without a real strike, it's been a learning experience for many of the union members, USW reps say. At LyondellBasell, the employees walked the picket line and tried to wait it out. Those who come from union families know that strikes can last a long time. (The 1980 strike lasted for three months.) While officials with Royal Dutch Shell, negotiating on behalf of the oil companies, and USW, negotiating on behalf of about 30,000 workers, struggled to agree on a national contract, the striking workers were going without paychecks and health insurance.
It was tough but they managed. Only about 50 of the 450 strikers crossed the picket line and went back to work, according to USW 227. The others lived off of savings or supplements from USW, or they went and got new jobs. The union provided health insurance. The community has been helping out as well. Local restaurants send food over to the union hall about once a week. A couple of local grocery stores have been sending over soon-to-expire goods to help fill in the union food pantry, and church officials have called to remind the union that its members can make use of the church food pantries.
Read more: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/news/2015/04/usw_members_voting_on_lyondellbasell_contract_today.php
First Pluto-Charon Color Image from New Horizons
This image of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, was taken by the Ralph color imager aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on April 9 and downlinked to Earth the following day. It is the first color image ever made of the Pluto system by a spacecraft on approach. The image is a preliminary reconstruction, which will be refined later by the New Horizons science team. Clearly visible are both Pluto and the Texas-sized Charon. The image was made from a distance of about 71 million miles (115 million kilometers)-roughly the distance from the Sun to Venus. At this distance, neither Pluto nor Charon is well resolved by the color imager, but their distinctly different appearances can be seen. As New Horizons approaches its flyby of Pluto on July 14, it will deliver color images that eventually show surface features as small as a few miles across.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Science-Photos/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=175
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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