A Late Post

I'm sorry I wasn't able to post earlier today. I'm going to blame Southwest Airlines. I had to catch a flight after work, and wound up spending much of the night waiting for Southwest to cure some mechanical problems and get a plane to Amarillo. By the time I got to my destination, it was too late to do anything.

My destination was Austin. That's one of the perks of my job -- they send me to Austin every now and then. I do love Austin. I believe it's one of the best cities in the country. The bloggers attending Netroots Nation next summer are going to find that out for themselves. I'll bet most of them will want to come back. Austin has that effect on many people.

I had some great Mexican food after work today. The truth is that you can find great Mexican food nearly anywhere in Texas. But for some reason, it just seems to taste better in Austin. Must be the ambiance.

But I do have one complaint for you Austinites -- your traffic. It seems to get worse every time I come. You have the traffic problems of a much larger city. As much as I love Austin, I must admit the awful traffic is starting to detract from the city's magic.

I hope you find a solution to this problem soon. But who the hell convinced you that toll roads were a solution? Whoever it was, you should run him out of town.

Senate Butchers Energy Bill

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a decent energy bill. It would mandate an increase in auto fuel efficiency, and also force utility companies to generate 15% of their power with renewable energy sources. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good start on solving our energy and pollution problems.

But Bush and the Republicans did not like the bill. They thought the bill was too hard on the poor utility companies. Bush threatened a veto, and Republicans killed the bill in the Senate.

Now it looks like the Democrats are getting ready to give in to the Republicans one more time. This is getting old. Why don't they stand up to Bush and the Republicans?

But they're not going to do it. They are getting ready to bring the bill back, only without the provision relating to the electric utilities and renewable energy. It looks like they believe a bad bill is better than no bill at all. I disagree.

They need to stick to their guns. If the Republicans kill or veto the good bill, don't give in and let them have a bad one they like. Take the matter to the voters in the upcoming election, and tell the voters you're tired of giving in to Bush and you're not going to do it anymore.

If Democrats would just stand up for what they believe, I think they'd find the voters would appreciate it and get rid of some of the obstructionist Republicans.

The reason voters rate Congress so low in the polls is because they don't like what the Republicans have done, and they don't like the Democrats for continuing to give in to them.

Come on Democrats -- show the voters you have a spine!

The Criminal Side Of KBR/Halliburton

It's been obvious for a while now that many corporations don't care about people, laws or anything else -- except money. That is especially true of Halliburton and its subsidiaries like KBR. Halliburton got a sweetheart deal from the White House to reap windfall profits from the Iraq war, and they're not about to let anyone or anything interfere with those profits.

In 2005, a young lady from Conroe, Jamie Leigh Jones, was working for KBR in Iraq. At that time, KBR was still a subsidiariy of Halliburton. In July of that year, Ms. Jones was drugged and raped repeatedly by a group of KBR and Halliburton firefighters.

When she tried to go to the authorities, the company locked her in a shipping container without food, water or medical help. Who knows what would have happened to her if one of the company guards hadn't felt sorry for her and let her use his cell phone.

She called her father, who called his congressman, Ted Poe. Poe called the State Department and demanded they rescue her. The State Department sent investigators, who rescued her and got her medical treatment, where a doctor verified she had been raped.

Now, Halliburton could have done the right thing. They could have reported the crime and gotten Ms. Jones medical help. They could have seen the rapists were apprehended and punished. But they chose not to do that. They were afraid that might interfere with their windfall profits.

In May, Ms. Jones filed a federal lawsuit against Halliburton and KBR. These companies are still acting to protect their unending supply of government money. They are now trying to force her to submit to a secret arbitration hearing, rather than an open trial in federal court. They claim her contract calls for arbitration. I have a feeling that arbitration for was civil disputes with the company -- not criminal action by the company.

I hope Ms. Jones has an excellent attorney. An attorney good enough to get this case into open court where the truth can be heard, and where she can be adequately compensated by a jury for the companies' actions.

And where has the federal government been for the last two years? They know who the rapists are, so why haven't they been arrested and punished? The companies are also guilty of crimes -- kidnapping and trying to cover up a crime. Why hasn't the government taken action against Halliburton and KBR?

Is the Bush administration trying to protect Halliburton and KBR?

NFL / Cable Dispute Goes To Austin

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took their dispute with the cable companies to Austin yesterday. They appeared before the legislature's Regulated Industries Committee, and asked that the state step in and settle this dispute.

The NFL wants the cable companies to put the NFL Channel on its basic cable tier and pay them 70 cents per subscriber. The cable companies want to put the channel on a sports tier and sell it only to customers that want it. It all boils down to an argument over which side gets to keep the bulk of the consumers' money.

It has already resulted in 65% of the country's viewers missing the big game between Dallas and Green Bay, and it looks like we consumers may miss a lot more games before this gets settled.

After listening to both sides for four hours, the committee refused to get involved. Chairman Phil King (R-Weatherford) said, "I'm still of the opinion that Texas doesn't have legal juristiction over this matter."

This matter put our state Republican leadership in a quandry. If this was just a corporation against consumers, they would have handled it in a heartbeat. They absolutely love to side with corporations against the consumers. But this was corporation against corporation, and they didn't know how to handle it. How could these corporate lovers pick one corporation over another?

I don't know which side will finally win this argument. I just know that the consumer will probably lose either way. There was only one person speaking for the consumer during the hearing -- Rep. Rene Oliveira (D-Brownsville). He wants the games to go back to free TV.

But that makes too much sense, and making sense is simply something the Republicans and the corporations cannot do.

Perino Ordered To Keep Quiet About CIA Tapes

Back in 2005, two tapes were destroyed that showed CIA interrogators using "enhanced interrogation tactics" (torture) on suspected terrorists. Recently, this became public knowledge, and many in both parties would like to know why the tapes were destroyed.

Republican John McCain said of the tapes' destruction, "The actions, I think, were absolutely wrong. There will be skepticism and cynicism all over the world about how we treat prisoners and whether we practice torture or not." Republican Mike Huckabee was even clearer, saying the tapes were destroyed "to cover somebody's rear end."

The CIA says the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of the CIA interrogators. But if these identities were so secret, why were the tapes made in the first place? It seems like an incredibly dumb thing to do.

It seems far more likely that the tapes were destroyed to protect the Bush administration. That was a time when the administration was trying to deny that they were using torture against terror suspects. The tapes would have shown conclusively that the administration was lying.

Democrats are demanding an investigation into the destruction of the tapes. What is the response of the Bush administration? It looks like they're going to try and stonewall this one. Dana Perino, Bush's press secretary, has been ordered not to answer any questions on the subject.

This is a pretty common action of this administration. When lying about a matter no longer works, they resort to "faulty memory" or stonewalling tactics. After the embarrassment of Alberto Gonzales' incredibly faulty memory, it looks like they've chosen the stonewalling option this time.

I think they'd be better off just admitting they were wrong and screwed up, but telling the truth is not something this administration is capable of -- even when it's the best option.

Descendents Denied Access To Black Cemetery

Love Cemetery lies outside the town of Scottsville in Harrison County, Texas. The cemetery is historically a burial ground for African-Americans, with some of the graves dating back to well before the Civil War. Recently, the cemetery has been untended and has become overgrown with chest-high weeds.

The reason the cemetery has become overgrown with weeds is because the descendents of those buried there have been denied access to the site. They say the logging company that owns the land adjacent to the cemetary (Snider Industries) will not let them cross it's land to get to the cemetery.

The company says it is just thinking of the safety of the visitors. They say they will allow access if the visitors will purchase insurance -- insurance that would cost them $34,000 a year. Until the insurance is purchased, visitors will be arrested for trespassing.

It sounds like the company is thinking less about visitor safety and more about their own personal liability. There is a state law that says access to a cemetery must be granted, but it is one of those laws that is rarely enforced.

It may be time for the state to step into this disagreement and enforce it's law. It's simply wrong to deny these people access to the burial place of their descendents.

Will Led Zeppelin Tour Again ?

Everone has heard of them and their music is still being played on rock stations all over the country, but most of today's concert-goers have never had chance to see Led Zeppelin perform in person. They were the premier rock band of the sixties and seventies (at least they were my favorite), but broke up after the death of drummer John Bonham.

However, today they will play a reunion concert in London. Original members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones will be joined by Bonham's son, Jason. If the London concert goes well, there is a chance that they will do a new concert tour.

It looks like there is a good chance of this happening. When they got together to practice for the London concert, they were very pleased with the results. Jimmy Page said the practices were "so exhilarating and fun that I did feel I would like to do more."

I can only hope that things go so well that an American tour will be planned. I've only seen Zeppelin four times. I would love to make it five.

ATT Plays "Grinch" For Soldier's Family

A few months ago, Christopher Morse joined the Army saying, "It's time for me to do something for my country." He became a member of the 101st Airborne, and is now in Iraq. But before he left, Christopher and his mother Dee decided he needed a way to keep in touch with his friends and family.

They went to their local metroplex ATT store and purchased a data card for his laptop. The ATT clerk promised him he was getting a special deal for soldiers going overseas -- an unlimited data plan for only $79.99 a month. When he got overseas, he began to use the data card, and even let some of his Army buddies use it because of the great deal ATT had given him.

Things seemed great -- that is, until his mother received the first bill in November. The bill was for $4953.15. She was shocked and tried to call ATT. The first person she called said he would check into it and call her back. He didn't.

She called again a week later, and was told the bill was correct and she must pay it. It seems that ATT doesn't have a special unlimited plan for soldiers going overseas -- at least not to Iraq or Kuwait. She asked to talk with a supervisor. The supervisor also said she would call her back, and didn't.

That's when the mother's attorney called Dave Lieber of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Lieber called ATT and suddenly things began to magically happen. It's amazing how fast a corporation can act when they're looking at some bad publicity.

Someone from the president's office at ATT called the mother. They cancelled the debt, waived the disconnect fee and sent her two pre-paid phone cards so her son could call home for the holidays. They also told Lieber they had talked with the store clerk.

That sounded good, but when Lieber called some other ATT locations he found other clerks trying to sell the same "soldier's special" for unlimited data. It makes me wonder how many other soldiers have been taken in with this scam, and had their families saddled with huge bills.

I'd think with all the money these communications companies are making off the rest of us, that they should really give our soldiers a break. Personally, I think they ought to offer free service to the soldiers serving in a war zone. If not, then at least a real cut-rate plan.

But it seems that instead, they look on the war as just another opportunity to charge exorbitant rates. Sad.

Euless Trinity Makes State Semi-Finals

Most of you readers know I am a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, but there is another team I am a big fan of also. Before I moved to the Panhandle recently, I lived in Euless for about twenty years. Both of my children attended and graduated from Trinity High School in Euless.

That makes me a huge fan of the Trinity Trojans. The Trojans won the state football championship a couple of years ago, and it looks like they might be able to do it again this year. They are currently 13-1.

The only team to defeat them this year was Odessa Permian, before district play began. Two Saturdays ago, they avenged that defeat. They beat Permian 38-14 and knocked them out of the play-offs. Yesterday, they beat Arlington Bowie and advanced to the state semi-finals.

Next Saturday, they will play Plano (also 13-1) at Texas Stadium at 7:00pm. The winner will play for the state championship in 5-A Division I. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday at 8:30am at Trinity High and Pennington Field.

GO TRINITY TROJANS!

Songs That Still Kick Ass

Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Romney Speaks Nonsense

Romney made his big "Kennedy" speech yesterday. It was supposed to convince voters that it doesn't matter that he's a Mormon. I doubt that he succeeded, but I really don't care about his Mormonism. One christian cult is the same as another to me.

What bothered me was something else he threw in the speech to appeal to the right-wing religious nuts. I'm sure it sounded good to the very religious, but it made absolutely no sense to me. Here is what he said:

"Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."

I can understand the "religion requires freedom" part, especially if you have a religion different from the majority. History is rife with instances of the majority trying to force everyone to worship as they do. Without freedom, a minor religion may not even be allowed to exist.

But the "freedom requires religion" part is just so much happy horse crap. Does he truly believe you cannot have a free society without believing in some religious myth? Does he really believe that atheists and agnostics cannot believe in and practice the ideals of a free society?

A truly free society must allow the belief in religious myths, but it must also allow others to not believe in those myths. Those who believe in a god or gods are no more capable of embracing the principles of freedom than those who don't. In fact, the ability to reason is far more important to freedom than faith in a religion.

I know he probably just said it to appeal to the religious majority, but it's still a ridiculous and nonsensical statement.

Cornyn Is Chertoff's "Messenger Boy"

John Cornyn has always been George Bush's lapdog, but now it looks like he's extending his repertoire. Now he's acting as a "messenger boy" for Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff. It seems that Chertoff is unhappy with the opposition to the Republican's border fence here in Texas, so he's sent Cornyn to deliver a "get tough" message.

There are slightly more than 400 landowners on the Texas border that the federal government must deal with to build the ridiculous fence. The government says 110 of these landowners have refused to respond to government inquiries or have yet to be located. Another 40 have adamantly refused to give the government permission to set foot on their land.

Cornyn, who voted for the fence, is in Texas to threaten those landowners. He says that Chertoff is ready to get tough with the holdouts, and is preparing to go to federal court to force these landowners to comply -- probably by using the government's right of imminent domain. In other words, if these landowners won't give them the rights, they'll take the land by force.

The landowners are upset because in some cases the fence will cut through their land and leave some field's on the wrong side of the fence. In some other cases, the fence will cut them off from the river -- the only source of water for their crops and livestock.

But Chertoff, through Cornyn, makes it clear that he doesn't care about the landowners, or what the fence will do to harm Texas. These men only care about appealing to the racist base of their party. That's the only reason they're building the fence, since it will do nothing to improve the security of Texans or other Americans.

Cornyn does make a good lapdog and messenger boy, but is that really what we want from our senator? Wouldn't it be better to have a senator that will act in the best interests of the people of Texas?

There is a candidate ready to act on behalf of ordinary Texans, instead of the racists or the rich corporations. His name is Rick Noriega. Give him your serious consideration.

Craddick Actually Does Something Right !

I have never been a supporter of Speaker Craddick. In fact, I've often called for his removal from his position as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, and I still think that would be best for the citizens of Texas. But I'll have to give the devil his due.

I definitely approve of Craddick's latest move. Last week, Craddick told the House Committee on Land and Resource Management that it needs to "examine the authority of the General Land Office, the School Land Board, and similar state agencies to engage in various types of real estate transactions, and determine the appropriateness of this authority."

This examination is badly needed. The current Land Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, seems determined to sell off land owned by the state to private interests -- even when the sale is not in the best interests of the citizens of Texas.

Last year, he tried to sell land at Eagle Mountain Lake in Tarrant County to developers. The land had been designated for a public park, and only a public outcry from the people of Texas kept the sale from going through.

This year he is trying to sell land in the Christmas Mountains near Big Bend National Park, even though the land had been donated with the stipulation that it not be sold to private interests. The land was a gift to the people of Texas and was donated for public use -- not sale to a private buyer.

Patterson is not interested in keeping promises made by the state, or in being a good steward over lands owned by the state. He seems to only be interested in making real estate deals and selling off state land. Someone needs to rein him in.

That's why I applaud this move by Craddick. Hopefully, the House Committee will curb Patterson's ability to sell off state land, at least without the approval of the legislature. But there's no guarantee the legislature will do this. Speaker Craddick has surprisingly taken the first step. Now the legislature must follow through.

This is another reason why the 2008 elections are important. We must elect some representatives that will protect Texas' land and environment. The easiest way to do that is to vote Democratic.

Supreme Court Hears Plea From Guantanamo

After six years of imprisonment with no rights, no charges and no access to a court, the prisoners at Guantanamo finally get to plead for justice before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Yesterday, the Court heard arguments from attorneys for two of the Guantanamo detainees and representatives of the United States government. The Bush administration had placed the prisoners in Guantanamo believing they would have no rights since they thought the location was not United States territory.

But that argument has already been shot down and the Justices weren't interested in reviving it. A previous court has said as long as Guantanamo is subject only to American rule and authority, it is American territory -- much like an American embassy in a foreign country is considered to be American soil.

The Court now must decide whether the detainees have a right to habeas corpus (the right to demand a court give them the legal and factual basis for their imprisonment). If it is held they do have this right, then the Court must decide if the military tribunal is a reasonable alternative to civilian courts.

The government says they should not have this right, and uses the example of German prisoners in World War II who had no rights. That may sound reasonable to some, but there are some major differences between the German prisoners and the Guantanamo detainees.

The German prisoners were POWs from a specific country we were at war with, and were repatriated when that war was over. The Guantanamo detainees are from multiple countries and are victims of a nebulous war against terrorism rather than a specific country -- a war that even Bush says may never be over.

They are accused of being terrorists rather than enemy soldiers, and as such, should be charged with a crime or released. Since they are believed to be criminals rather than enemy soldiers, they should have the right of habeas corpus. Denying them this right would mean the Bush administration could hold them forever without charges.

As for the military tribunal, it is nothing more than a kangaroo court without even the illusion of fairness. Those appearing before it are not entitled to an attorney and are not entitled to know all the evidence being used against them. Even worse, the tribunal is required to assume that whatever the government says is true and accurate whether they have evidence to prove it or not.

Since none of that would be considered fair in a court of law, why would we think it was fair in a military tribunal? That is not justice -- it is a military lynching.

If we can judge by the questions they were asking, it looks like the conservatives on the Court (Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas) will side with the Bush administration, while the Court's liberals (Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer) will come down on the side of justice. That leaves Justice Kennedy as the swing vote, and he asked few questions and gave no indication which way he was leaning.

It looks like America's reputation for fairness, justice and abiding by the rule of law rests on the shoulders of one man -- Justice Kennedy. I hope he is up to the task.