Archived (10/28/04): It's our house

In the first election following independence in 1836, Texans voted in favor of annexation to the United States. Finally on December 29, 1845, President James K. Polk signed the Joint Resolution of the State of Texas into the Union.

Since the time Texas joined the US (and yes, I'm not forgetting Texas Civil War Succession), the WhiteHouse has been our house, belonging to each and every Texan, rich and poor. As it is every 4 years, once again it is up to Texas voters to decide which person should serve as the next President.

Two native-born Texans - Dwight D. Eisenhower (Denison) and Lydon B. Johnson (Stonewall) - have served as US Presidents in the past. Another Texan, Congressman, George H.W. Bush, recently served as president and former Texas Governor George W. Bush currently serves as the 43rd president.

Texans have always taken their politics and destiny quite seriously. From the early days of The Republic to today Texans like to lead, rather than follow, events. We're a very independent and fiesty lot as chronicled by the story of "Lady Cannoneer" Angelina Eberly, who just had a statue dedicated to her in Austin. And while Texans consider politics a "blood sport" almost as popular as High School football, in the end most real Texans are willing to put partisan politics for the public good Texans continue to have a substantial impact on national affairs as the second largest state, and as a primary source of campaign donations to national candidates of every party. The grassroots populism of Texas is well known around the country and recognized in former Governor Ann Richards, columnist Molly Ivins, activist Jim Hightower, and journalist Bill Moyers. Conservative leaders count many Texans too, including Congressman Tom Delay, presidential advisor Karl Rover, and former Senator Phil Gramm.

However, it's the 22 million people of Texas who are the real leaders. In every town, city, and county, Texans from all walks of life work to build better communities. Most of these are un-sung heros of daily life - teachers, preachers, police officers, janitors, and business persons - that are invested in their community as places where they want to live and love in peace.

This is the Texas that will go to the polls on Tuesday. See you at the house!

TX voter turnout expected to be strong

The Texas Secretary of State, Geoffrey Conno, has estimated that at least 59% of eligible Texas voters will vote next week. More than 1 million of the 13.1 million Texas have already shown up for early voting.

Texas man executed despite please

Dominique Green, 30, was the fifth Texan executed this year by Texas. He was convicted of a 1992 murder but recently given a reprieve because of questions about the evidence against him.

Despite pleas from the family of his presumed victim to spare his life, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Governor Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to stop the execution.

"Genesis Now" to be celebrated in SA

The Tri-Faith Dialogue and San Antonio PeaceCENTER will host a dinner, "Genesis Now" on November 12 in that city. The dinner will celebrate the Jewish Sabath as well as Eid al Fitr, the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Representatives of the
three Abrahamic faiths will co-host the dinner. After the meal, author Neil Douglas-Klotz will present "Genesis Meditations" which describes an experience of the shared
spirituality of new beginning for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Exxon-Mobile's profits surge

Texas oil giant, Exxon-Mobile saw its Q3 profits rise to $5.68 Billion, during a time period when the price of oil also reached record highs of $55 per barrel.

Per-share profit climbed to 88 cents from 55 cents a year earlier, Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil said in a statement. In other news, Shell shocked investors by announcing that it will become one company.

Domestic Violence Halloween tribute

The "Day of the Dead" is also a time for tribute to Texans who have been victims of domestic violence.

The Women's Center of Houston is using this day to draw attention to the that fact that last year in Texas, loved ones murdered 132 women.

Texas sues credit card companies

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot is taking on several Florida-based credit card companies on charges that they engage in deceptive practices aimed at Hispanic households.

The companies targeted families and asked for $299 fees upfront, but many credit card holders then found that the cards couldn't be used for regular retail purchases.

ARCHIVED (10/21/04): Texas corporate welfare cheats

During the 1970's the term "welfare cheater" became synonymous for people who appeared to abuse public assistance. Since that time a new phrase emerge "corporate welfare" to describe those, large corporations - with names familiar to Texans - that rob the public. Unwilling to compete directly in the marketplace of products, services, they use their financial acumen to gain benefit from the government. This creates economic injustice for Texans everyday who end up paying the cheat's tab..

These corporate welfare cheaters are paid directly from the public till or provided tax subsidies that amount to billions of dollars each year. The results is loss to both U.S. and Texas treasuries and a shift in the burden of maintaining public infrastructure - the very lifeblood of these same companies - to working families.

Claiming the old adage "what's good for GM is good for the country," the current crop of corporate and political leaders is instead sowing the seeds of economic destruction with their flagrant acts of selfishness.

In September, Congress enacted "tax reform" legislation that directly provides $137 billion in tax cuts to large corporations. Bill Moyers, in "A Little Patriotic Sacrifice," describes how some of the most profitable corporations like Microsoft, GE, Eli-Lilly, and others profit from these changes. Other companies, like Walmart, regularly exact tax reductions when moving into a city, despite their rank as the largest company in the U.S.

Closer to home, the Texas Legislature recently created the Texas Enterprise Fund with the express purpose of giving the Governor the ability to respond quickly to opportunities to bring companies and jobs to Texas. The hope was that the Enterprise Fund would be a significant factor in broadening job opportunities and build a prosperous Texas.

Governor Perry likes to tout the $295 million fund as the center of the state's economic development efforts, but the bulk of the almost $200 million already spent has only provided money to those who had little need for it. There have been very few real investments, such as the decision by Toyota to build a plant in San Antonio, that met the fund's goal. Instead, the Fund has become another example of pork-barrel politics and corporate welfare. The first-year beneficiaries of the Fund provide ample proof of the corrupt marriage between profitable corporations and politicians loose with public funds.

Texas Instruments a Fortune 500 company whose earnings and share price soared last year received $50 million from the Fund to create new jobs, even though marketplace demands for their semiconductors was already causing them to hire more employees in the Dallas area. Instead, the funding from the Enterprise Fund will end up boosting management bonuses and shareholder dividends.

Austin non-profit high-tech consortium Sematech, which is funded by IBM, Intel, AMD, HP and others, received $40 million for its Advanced Materials Research Center (AMRC). While research from the AMRC may eventually lead to new industries and careers in Texas, the expenditure of Enterprise Funds will have little immediate impact on the Texas economy. Any technology that is developed will be wholly owned by Sematech members, not the public who helped fund it.

Home Depot a global retailing giant with over $64 billion in sales asked for, and received, $8.5 million to offset their costs of building a new data processing center in Austin and New Braunfels. While Texas is happy to have their business here, there is little reason to subsidize such a strong and growing company.

The same can be said for other beneficiaries of the Enterprise Fund: Citgo Petroleum (a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela), Cabela's ($1.3 billion in sales), Vought Aircraft (90% owned by the Carlyle Group), … the list goes on. One can only call it "cheating" when rich multi-national corporations go hat-in-hand to the Governor's office for a little "sweetener".

Someone needs to ask the how many shares of stock Texas taxpayers will receive for these "investments" to understand how direct is the outflow from our pockets to those of private corporations. No provisions were made to require Fund recipients to consider these funds loans or to share equity to sustain the fund over the long term. Rather, each session the Legislature will be asked to dip into state revenues to provide largess to companies owned by wealthy shareholders.

A new film, "The Corporation," takes on the issue of how some companies appear to have a pathological pursuit of wealth at public expense. The documentary describes how basic American tenets of work and business ingenuity are being replaced by self-aggrandizement of the basest kind. It warns of the growing control that many large corporations have over democratic institutions and is an indictment of corrupt business practices.

Investment by the State of Texas in economic development and tourism is a critical and vital part of government service. However, when spending scarce tax dollars, wise investment strategies should be pursued - particularly for programs that will help small and mid-sized businesses rather than continuing to line the pockets of billionaires.

Business and community leaders need to stand up to this unethical corporate and political money grab, particularly when our neighbors and colleagues are involved. In seeking sound economic investment for the public good let's put a stop to corporate welfare cheating and restore economic justice here in Texas.

Record early voting turnouts

Early reports from cities throughout the state indicate record turnouts for early voting statewide.

From all over the state: Brenham and Conroe, Sweetwater and Plainview, Galveston and El Paso, there are reports of strong and record turnouts.

"War Crimes" rally in Dallas on Sat.

North Texas peace activists are preparing for a "War Crimes President" concert and rally this Sunday, Oct. 24, 1-6 pm at Flagpole Hill in Dallas. The event is sponsored by North Texas for Justice and Peace.

This event is planned to draw attention to the facts surrounding the war in Iraq, including abuses and violations of U.S. and international law. Speakers include Kenneth Koym of Publius Research Associates and many local bands and musicians.

Border violence on the rise?

An increasing number of shootouts in border communities raise fears that violence along with boarder is rising, according to Border Patrol Agents.

During the past week Texas agents were fired upon in by machine guns near Laredo. In Arizona, five people were killed and 15 were injured when a stolen truck carrying illegal immigrants plowed into nine vehicles waiting to turn onto a highway bypass.

Texas bays in danger

Bays along the Texas Gulf Coast could suffer dramatically in the future unless something is done soon, says a new report by National Wildlife Federation.

A two-year study by the Federation said increasing water demand and the state's old water permitting system are threatening river inflows that are essential to nourishing marine life in the bays. Sabine Lake, Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, San Antonio Bay and Corpus Christi Bay are most at risk, according to the study.

Tx band to play at Nobel Peace ceremony

Dallas symphonic pop group the Polyphonic Spree will provide entertainment at this year's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on December 11. Their performance will be broacast to over 50 million viewers.

Charter school students lag

A study by the Dallas Morning News indicates that students at charter schools perform worse on standardized tests than similar students in the public schools.

The News reported 42 percent of students at 235 independent charter campuses giving the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test got passing scores. The overall passing rate for all public school students was nearly 67 percent.

VOTING IN IRAQ: 1st Cavalry Sergeant George Scheufele fills out an absentee ballot while voting in the American presidential and congressional election while at Camp Eagle in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. AP Photo/John Moore

ARCHIVED (10/15/04): Coping with duty and uncertainty

Military families and soldiers throughout Texas find themselves dealing with a host of issues as the war in Iraq drags on. Many face uncertainty regarding what they see as their duty and a war that is increasingly viewed as unjustified.

Added to this, are the day-to-day issues of coping with the hardships of having a family member serving overseas and the recovery when they arrive home. For others it is grievance for those who never return.

The wife of one Texas serviceman in Iraq recently summed up the feelings of many. "This war has changed every factor of my life. I am now on so much medication to deal with this, that I cannot work. I take 7 pills every night, just to sleep. I will never recover. Even when he gets home, I will still have the symptoms and need to be treated by a therapist and a psychiatrist," she writes.

Soldiers stationed in combat zones quickly trade teenage enthusiasm for kill-or-be-killed pallor."When I got here I found out that pulling the trigger wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Specialist Michael Auton says. "It was wow, I just killed a man," he says, "you start thinking he coulda been a guy just protecting his family. But then you think, ok he's running around out here with an AK-47 shooting at us - then you just get over it. Move on."

Michael Moore, in his new book, asks the question on the minds of many of the soldiers: "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" He fills the book with letters from soldiers who question the war that they have been asked to serve in how it conflicts with what they thought their "duty" to be.

Like those still in Iraq and Afghanistan, stateside soldiers confront a host of war-related issues on their return. "Oh man, I felt betrayed," Army Spc. Tyson Johnson III said when he received notice from the Pentagon that he owed more than $2,700 because he could not fulfill his full 36-month tour of duty. He lost a kidney in a mortar attack last year in Iraq, was still recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "I felt, like, oh, my heart dropped."

The issue of the affects of Depleted Uranium (DU) which all soldiers have been exposed to during their time in Iraq, has the potential to be a problem for years to come. Almost 10,000 U.S. troops died within 10 years of serving in the first Gulf War, researchers found. And more than a third of those still alive had filed Gulf War Syndrome-related claims. In study after study, research pointed to the use of depleted uranium in American and British weaponry as the culprit.

And in Texas, vigils and ceremonies for the dead continue. Families in towns large and small continue to grieve as they remember their loved ones who have died in Iraq. One of the most recent, Marine Pfc. Shane Folmar, 21, of Sonora, leaves a void that will be difficult to fill, even as his family honors their son as a hero.

This war is already a tragic episode in American history and risks becoming a long and drawn out battle - not as much for the freedom of Iraqis, but for ourselves. To end the war may require as much sacrifice and hard work here at home as the soldiers are exhibiting in Iraq. Fortunately more and more peace groups, veterans organizations, and military families are speaking out against the war and the destruction it causes on a daily basis. Regardless of whether you supported this war in the beginning or worked to prevent it, join Texans for Peace in helping end it.

This is our duty, of that we're certain.

Anti-war rally in College Station

Texas, mostly representing veteran's groups, will rally in College Station on Oct. 16 to protest the continuing war in Iraq, 2-3 pm in front of the Bush Presidential Library.

The Costs of the War Rally for Peace includes speakers from Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, and Non-military Options for Youth, among other groups and speakers.

Early voting starts

Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 18 all across Texas. Record turnouts are expected this year due to a hotly contested presidential race between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry.

As many as 1/3 of all voters are expected to cast their votes during the early election period which runs through October 29. Texas is one of the most liberal states when it comes to allowing early voting and doesn't require a reason for wanting to cast a ballot early.

Texas Death Row again before Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear another Texas death row case - this time the state's executing of juveniles.

The court has outlawed executions for those 15 and under when they committed their crimes. However, Texas remains one of the few places in the world where a juvenile can receive the death penalty.

Texas Baptist battle world hunger

Baptists throughout Texas are working together to raise $750,000 to battle hunger around the world during 2005 through the Baptist General Convention of Texas Offering for World Hunger

The Baptist Standard reports that generous Texans help fund food programs in 10 other states and in many countries around the world in addition to dealing with hunger right here in Texas.

UNDER FIRE: House majority leader Tom DeLay (R) of Texas. ANDY NELSON / CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

ARCHIVE (10/2/04): Election roil in Texas

While most eyes are on the outcome of presidential elections, Texas continues with a show of its own.

Congressman Tom DeLay, of Sugarland, is becoming tainted by a criminal investigation into illegal contributions and abuse of his power as House Majority Leader. CBS News asks "Is he above the law?"

Last week, Mr. DeLay and two other House members received a rare public "admonishment" from the House ethics committee. The Committee said Republican congressman DeLay went "beyond the boundaries" of party discipline when he tried to persuade a Michigan Republican to support legislation that provided a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Fellow-congressman Chris Bell of Houston has also filed charges against DeLay. Bell, a Democrat who lost his seat after redistricting, accused DeLay of trading legislative favors for campaign donations. New and spreading scandals continue.

Meanwhile, three DeLay aides were recently indicted by a grand jury in Travis County, headed by County Prosecutor Ronnie Earle, also a Democrat. Two other DeLay associates face an ongoing probe by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee concerning some $66 million in fees from tribal casino clients.

While DeLay has not been called as a witness nor cited in either investigation involving associates, the probes add to a cloud of ethical questions on the eve of an election. His campaign appearances have been dogged by protestors and demonstrators.

Arguably one of the most influential and powerful persons in Washington, DeLay is being challenged on his home turf in Texas as well. Richard Morrison, an environmental attorney, is running for DeLay's congressional seat. While his campaign is fighting an uphill battle against a powerful foe, Morrison has managed to raise a modest amount funds and has gathered support from Democrats throughout the state.

Texas Democrats are still smarting from a 2003 GOP-engineered state redistricting, backed by DeLay, that shifted many Democrats into tougher electoral contests this fall. Political handicappers say that Democrats at the national level could lose as many as five House seats, due to Texas redistricting.

Delay, for his part, is confident that he will be re-elected and continues to denounce plots against him a "pure politics".

ARCHIVES: Iraqi bomb victim recoving with Texan's aid

Gandhi honored throughout Texas

Mohatma Gandhi was honored in many ways throughout Texas last Saturday on the 135th anniversary of his birth.

In Houston a life-size bronze statue of Gandhi was unveiled before crowds and dignitaries at the historic Hermann Park.In Austin hundreds attended a Statewide Rally for Peace and Justice in Gandhi's name at the State Capitol.

Efforts for build and place a statue of The Mahatma in Houston have taken a long time, but thanks to the tireless efforts of the local Indian community and Houston Arts Council, it is today a reality. "To have Gandhi's statue in Houston, is a dream come true and a constant reminder of peace and non-violence," said Krishna Vavilala, Chairman of the Gandhi project.

Atul Kothari, curator of the Gandhi Library in Houston, traveled to Austin to speak before hundreds of Texans from every city in the state. He spoke elequently about Gandhi. He also ured peacemakers to see the move "A Force More Powerful", which initially aired on PBS.

War profiteers targeted for actions

In Houston, Austin, and Dallas, companies who are profiting from the war in Iraq have bee the target of protests. Dallas activists have been demonstrating each week in front of the headquarters of Halliburton.

In Austin, multiple organizations recently held a "Day of Resistance" that traveled around the town targeting media and advertising companies as well.

TX Columbine-type shooting averted

Two Cedar Park high school school students were arrested this week after alegedly plotting a shootings similar to the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999.

The boys planned to wait until colder weather so they could conceal their weapons under coats. "Their words were: They wanted to 're-create Columbine,' said Police Captain Jeff Hays. Incidents of violence, similar to this one, were reported throughout the state in the past year. Last November, police were able to thwart a plan by two teenagers to shoot more than 20 students at Victor High School in Orange. Two 18-year-old students went on a shooting spree in League City in December to, "relieve stress." There are many groups - including Texans for Peace - that continue to address this issue and offer alternaties to our youth.

Death Row inmate released after 17 years

Capital murder charges were dismissed today against a West Texas man who has spent the last 17 years on death row for a crime that may never have occurred.

Ernest Willis, 59, was convicted of setting a 1986 fire that killed two sleeping women in Iraan, about 230 miles west of San Antonio, however there were strong indications that the fire was an accident..