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Texans #1 .... in greenhouse
pollution
Once again, Texas has been singled
out at the most polluting state in the nation.
According to new federal data, Texas
generated 294 million tons of greenhouse gas
emissions in 2010, greater than the next two
states - Pennsylvania and Florida - combined.
Texas, home to just under 25 million
people in a world of 6 billion, contributes
about 1% of total global pollution. Coal-fired
power plants in Texas accounted for 61 percent
of total GHG emissions in 2010, while oil refineries
added 15 percent. Chemical producers added 13
percent.
Getting the military out of Texas
schools
Texans for Peace has joined with
a group of concerned north Texans - Peaceful
Vocations - to request that the State
Board of Education (SBOE) put an end to the
U.S. military access to student records and
required military testing of students.
As part of the National
Coalition to Protect Student Privacy,
we continue to insist that schools withhold
personal information about students and cannot
require children to take the Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (IASVAB)
test. Many schools require students
to take this test, even without a parent's permission.
Schools also regularly release personal information
and student records to the U.S. Department of
Defense.
It is the position of Texans for
Peace that children should be allowed to attend
school without being accosted by military propaganda
and certainly all personal student records should
be maintained and secured locally...not handed
over to a federal government agency.
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Already against the next war
- Iran
Not content to waste trillions
of dollars on wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Central
America and Afghanistan, the military-political-media-industrial
complex is frothing at the mouth to start a
war with Iran and push the us towards WWIII.
As we stand on the brink of another
global conflagration, the question becomes "why
do Texans, especially those who oppose waste
of federal tax dollars, continue to support
such nonsense wars?"
Before we march
off to another war, perhaps Texas schools
should be required to educate our citizens accurately
about the history of U.S. warmongering since
the end of WWII. Ignorance can no longer be
used as an excuse.
1% "more equal" than
others when it comes to appraisals
The Travis County (Austin) property
Appraisal District has long published tax appraisal
records online in order to aid government transparency.
However, it appears that some citizens get to
play by other rules and have their records omitted
from the database.
The Austin Bulldog reports that
a
handful of wealthy home owners like Michael
Dell, Sen. John Cornyn, actor Sandra Bullock
and others mostly in the "1%" category
are able to suppress their records.
Appraisal records are public records that qualify
for full and complete disclosure under the Texas
Public Information Act unless a property owner
meets the lawful requirement for confidentiality.
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