Alternative energy plan unveiled for Texas

Public Citizen has offered an Alternative Energy Plan as an alternative to a draft state energy plan prepared by the Texas Energy Planning Council. The non-profit organization says that the state plan was a good first step, but that the plan needs greatert emphasis on efficiency and the development of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

"Do we want a state energy plan that uses our tremendous renewable energy resources, or one that makes us dependent on energy from other states and other countries," Public Citizen's Smitty Smith asked. "As our oil and gas resources in Texas decline and become more difficult to extract, we need to develop renewable energy sources."

East texas may lose rail service

Continued service to East Texas by Amtrak may be in jeopardy according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The proposal calls for dropping long-distance routes and instead spending funds on repairing and maintaining short-distance routes in the Northeast.

One of the routes on the proposed chopping block, the Texas Eagle, runs through Mineola, Longview and other East Texas cities, despite data that shows sleeping cars have been sold out for much of the year, even at high prices.

Governor's boondogle gets media attention

In October we brought you the story of Texas corporat welfare cheats (10/21/04) and the Texas Enterprise Fund. Now the major media outlets throughout Texas are reporting on the grants given through the fund. Led by a review from of the program by the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle reports to date, only 275 jobs have surfaced, although Governor Perry gave millions of dollars to companies that promised to bring economic activity to the state.

Debunking Texas' death machine

On December 1, the same day that the next Texas inmate execution is scheduled to take place, Sister Helen Prejean will speak in San Antonio. Sister Prejean was the subject of the film Dead Man Walking and has spent the last 20 years in a global campaign to end the use of capital punishmen.

Francis Newton is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Livingston on December 1. Newton is the first African-American woman to be executed in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Life without parole came up in the Texas legislature last session and was shot down by Harris County district attorneys, who reportedly said, "We won't get as many death sentences if jurors are given this option.

Protecting students with rifles?

To raise money to build a fence around the Hanna Springs Elementary School, parents in Lampassas are holding a raffle - with a rifle as the prize. Residents cite Central Texas deer-hunting as the reason for selecting a rifle - rather than more traditional items - to raffle. "This rifle will go toward protecting our children," said Republican state Rep. Suzanna Hupp, who donated a high-end rifle from firearms maker Kimber.

TX political clout funds NASA

Texas became home for NASA control under the administration of President LBJ. Once again, Texans in Washington have shown favor for NASA in Houston.

After a year of wrangling over NASA's Latest News about NASA $16.2 billion budget, lawmakers have delivered in a big way, giving the space agency its full funding request and unprecedented spending flexibility.

ARCHIVE: (November 18, 2004) Where torture is taught

Thousands of Americans will descend on the Army training base at Fort Benning, Georgia this weekend in an attempt to bring attention to the notorious "School of the Assassins" (SOA). This is the name given to he Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) which through the decades has taught military techniques - including counterinsurgency techniques, psychological warfare, and interrogation techniques - to dictators and soldiers throughout Latin America.

Human rights organizations have linked hundreds of SOA grads to widespread terrorism, including civilian-targeted killings, torture, and disappearances. SOA-trained soldiers have targeted the poor and indigenous groups in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and elsewhere throughout Latin America. They have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people, including educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders and others who work for justice.

Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, disappeared, massacred and forced into refugee by those trained at SOA. Notorious graduates include" Leopoldo Galtieri, Omar Torrijos, Roberto D'Aubuisson, and Manuel Noriega among others. In his new book Torture: A Collection, UT constitutional law professor Sanford Levinson examines the use of torture as government policy and advises that it should only be used "under very, very stringent cicumstances."

SOA Watch began in 1990, by Maryknoll priest Father Roy Bourgeois and other activists, after the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and teenage daughter in El Salvador. It was later learned that those responsible were trained at the US Army School of the Americas (the former name of WHINSEC).

Recently we've seen the torture techniques torture that the US has refined through the years being used in Iraq. The attention drawn to the violations in the Abu Ghraib and others prisons are only the tip of the iceberg of the type of the sort of systematic abuses that have taken place during the past 18 months as a result of formal training by the military. During my trip to Iraq, November-December 2004, I personally visited the scenes and received first-hand reports of alleged atrocities. The Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq forwarded their report on human rights issues to US commanders.

While the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were shocking the sensibilities of the Americans, James Hodge and Linda Cooper, authors of Disturbing the Peace, point out in 50 Years of Teaching and Training Torturers that this is a continuation of instruction by the CIA and US military. Justin Romano asks the inevitable question, in the Mystery of Abu Ghraib, about why fighters who are supposed to be defending the US have instead turned into something resembling a gay S&M movie

The School of Assassins remains as an example of a US foreign policy that no only condones these techniques, but trains others in them.

In recent years, as many as 10,000 people have been traveling to Fort Benning each year to protest the SOA and ask the US government to quit training thugs and torturers. The weekend of November 19-21, 2004 will be another attempt to shine light on the dark practices of "win at any cost" elements of American government. Among the peace and justice organizations represented are: Veterans For Peace, Witness For Peace, CISPES, Catholic Workers, Amnesty International, Maryknoll Sisters, and many other religious groups and peace groups from around the country.

The growing opposition to the SOA includes more than 150 U.S. bishops, including 15 Archbishops, and over 140 Latin American bishops who have called for its closure. The New Jersey and New York State Assemblies, the Philadelphia City Council, the national council of the NAACP, the Presbyterian Church, the AFL-CIO, and hundreds of other churches and organizations have passed resolution to close the SOA. During the November 2003 vigil to close the SOA, 26 protestor "prisoners of conscience" were arrested and received sentences ranging from from 12 month probation up to six months in prison, and fines.

Despite this, work to close the SOA/WHISC continues and efforts to close SOA have recently turned attention to Texas. Lackland AFB in San Antonio is now home to the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, which like the SOA trains foreign militaries. For the second year, a vigil was held in front of Lackland as a prelude to events in Georgia. Author Joel Andrea, in Addicted To War, Why The U.S. Can't Kick Militarism, says that we should expect these sort of problems due to our agressive foreign policy.

Can we quit teaching torture? The thousands attending the SOA rally in Georgia and Texans for Peace think so.

More die in Iraq

Since election day, November 3, more than 90 US soldiers have died in the needless war in Iraq along with hundreds of Iraqis. Listed below are the Texas sons who died already this month.

• 11/15: William L. Miller, 22, of Pearland
• 11/13: Sean P. Sims, 32, of El Paso
• 11/13: Jose A. Velez, 23, of Lubbock
• 11/13: Byron W. Norwood, 25, of Pflugerville
• 11/10: Wesley J. Canning, 21, of Friendswood
• 11/9: Horst G. Moore, 38, of Los Fresnos
• 11/9: Travis A. Babbitt, 24, of Uvalde
• 11/9: John B. Trotter, 25, of Marble Falls
• 11/9: Russell L. Slay, 28, of Humble
• 11/8: Thomas J. Zapp, 20, of Houston

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison declined to visit Iraq before the war but continues to contend that the war was needed. Across Texas, friends and families continue to grieve.

Death penalty at 30-year low...except in Texas

The number of Americans convicted and sentenced to Death Row has dropped to a 30-year low in the US, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Only 144 new inmates incarcerated in 2003 were sentenced to execution, well below an annual average of 297 between 1994 and 2000, the bureau's report stated. However, Texas expanded its authority to impose the death penalty in 2003 and alone accounts for more than a third of the 885 US executions since 1977.

Texas ranks with China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia as the few places in the world that still execute their citizens.

San Antonians fight coal plant

San Antonio's City Public Service (CPS) plans to build a new 750 MW coal-burning power plant, despite a public that favors renewable energy and cleaner options.

The SEED Coalition is asking those concerned about clean air in Texas to attend the CPS public meeting, December 16, 7pm at East Central HS in San Antonio and make your voices heard.

UTMB doctor's stem-cell research focuses on patients

While debate rages over the use of stem-cells, one UT doctor continues her research, determined to find cures for patients with life-threatening diseases.

Dr. Ping Wu is out to save lives. "Christopher Reeve was an inspiration to me," says the associate professor of neuroscience and cell biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. "I am more motivated than ever to harness the potential of stem cells into a therapeutic approach."

Florence students caught with "hit list"

14-year-old boy at Florence Middle School was arrested after a fellow student spotted an 11-target "hit list" in the student's locker and reported it to authorities. This is the second documented instance of school threats in Williamson County this year. In October, Cedar Park police arrested two Vista Ridge HS students for threatening to re-create the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado,

Postcards from Fallujah *
ARCHIVE: (November 10, 2004)

November 8, 2004 is the day that the "final" battle of Fallujah began. We have been waiting for this for a long time and our commanders have told us how crucial this battle is for Iraq's freedom, even though it sure doesn't look like we've done much to help the Iraqis.

"Fallujah is a cancer. We can't have a sanctuary for the enemy and expect to make progress. It's a rats' nest but if we have to go in and clear it out, we will," said Major General Richard Natonski before we got underway. He tried to get us all fired up and boost moral, "You will be making history... Forty years from now, 100 years from now, they (people) will be talking about the battle of Fallujah." Heck, we just want it over with so we can go home.

My only hope that the CG has it right and we don't end up turning Fallujah into an Alamo…with us playing the part of Santa Ana and the Mexican army. We know what our mission is, to take Fallujah and it's too bad for any Iraqis that get in our way. I guess there are some good people here - it's just' that we don't have nothiing' to do with them.

In any case, they finally got us the body armor that we didn't have when we arrived and some outfit back home fitted us with enough heavy metal CD's and Red Bull to stay alert for days if we need to. We've got almost 30,000 troops on our side if you include the British but taking over a city is much harder than it looks.

Our Commander says that there are only about 3,000 foreign insurgents in Fallujah, however from what we've seen most of the fighting is coming from ordinary Iraqis and not foreigners. Our Iraqi trained troops have been deserting in droves (almost 40% down) and we don't know if they've gone home or over to the other side to fight.

Iraq is very different from what I thought it would be like. In general the people have been friendly to us, particular the kids. But at the same time we are always on alert for snipers and IEDs. Many of my friends have already been hit and sent back home.

This place has more sand than West Texas and in some respects is the same: lots of oil, flat, and usually hot weather.

ILast Monday we raided an elementary school on a tip that insurgents were there. We found the entire school abandoned. Many families have already fled the area and it looks like they've closed the schools as well. Too bad for the children. There was a really nice mural on one of the walls of children holding hands and walking over a hill. It looked a lot like schools everywhere.

We saw the election results on t.v. I hope that my absentee ballot arrived and got counted. It's strange to be over here fighting and see so much (political) fighting back home but do whatever it takes to vote that sucker out of office. His team doesn't know anything about the situation over here and even when they do visit all they do is prance around. They never get into the field to see what life is like for us and sometimes I feel like we're just pawns in a big game of political chess. Keep going to those peace marches at the Capitol and get us the he** out of here. . (see Postcards Page 2)

Last Friday our Division chief let us use some horses from a nearby farm. We put together chariot races like in that old Charlton Heston movie. It was really fun as we whooped and hollered until one of the guys fell out and got run over. We don't have a lot of fun around here so those books you sent have come in handy

…………..

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. We launched Operation Phantom Fury on Monday night. This place is like a nightmare and I've barely had more than a couple of hours of sleep in days. I'm wearing a black bracelet on my wrist to remind me of a buddy who died on Tuesday, and trying to keep safe.

I've only had a couple of kills so far. I had a juicy target lined up last night and right thes our Commander called for a cease fire. But that didn't stop our Sergeant. "Dude, give me the sniper rifle. I can take them out - I'm from 'Bama," he told us as he took out the targets.

We're taking a breather right now and regrouping in a mosque. It's really big, much nicer than our church back home. I haven't had a bath in a week and am smelling pretty ripe, but our Commander thinks things will be over in a few days. There don't appear to be as many insurgents as we originally expected so don't worry. I keep my a** covered.

You wouldn't believe what Fullajah looks like now. It's like something out of a movie where an atomic bomb has gone off or everyone has died from some mysterious disease. Except for the sound of guns and hungry looking dogs on the street, there's barely any sign of life…not even birds. We know that any of the residents who are still here must be bunkered in their home. Really bad for them too since there hasn't been any water or electricity for a week. I wonder what they do for food.

I don't know what next week will look like for us. They say that we might be sent up to Mosul next and that our tour might be extended again. Sorry I won't be home for Thanksgiving but tell everyone "hi" for me. I'll write again soon.

P.S. give my love to Dad and the others.

P.P.S. Don't forget us over here.

LAST WEEK: Party like it's 1969

* Disclaimer: The letter above is fictional, however it is based on actual reports from soldiers in the field and their families back home.

Lackland AFB target of SOA Watch

Nationwide efforts to close the School of the Americas (SOA) in Ft. Benning, GA have now turned to Texas.

Lackland AFB in San Antonio is now home to the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, which like the SOA trains foreign militaries. A vigil scheduled in front of Lackland on Saturday, Nov. 13, 3-5:00 p.m.

Tx Supreme Court gets 1st black Chief

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia administered the oath of office today to Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson, the first black person to preside over the nine-member Texas Supreme Court.

Jefferson won election to the court in 2002. His term expires in 2006."My goal in life, which is consistent with my mission on the court, is to make them proud," Jefferson said of his sons.

How a Texan takes Fallujah

Racing an armored bulldozer across Fallujah, Lance Cpl. Jason Canellis, from Vandera, Texas, takes out citizens of Fallujah in a "day of violence."

Block by block, street by street, U.S. Marines and have taken control of that city. Is this what Texans expect from the education of our youth?

Taking care of land

Folks in Alpine know that taking care of the land and environment is critical to their livihood and future. Ranchers, cattlemen, and farmers share a closeness to the earth and their duty as trustees of nature. They are the "pinnacle of those who take care of Texas for future generations."

Libertarian Texan calls for recount

Austinite Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party candidate for President, and the Green Party, have called for an elections recount in Ohio.

"Due to widespread reports of irregularities in the Ohio voting process, we are compelled to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote," Green Party candidate David Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik said in a joint statement.

Aggies help Iraq crops grow

Researchers at Texas A&M University are among a handful of universities that have developed seeds for Iraq to help crops grow at odd times of the year. The seeds, for winter crops that will be harvested in the spring, were distributed by U.S. military forces to farmers in the Mosul area of northern Iraq.

ARCHIVES (November 5, 2004) Party like it's 1969

What a year 1969 was, both the best and worst of times.

The country was still reeling from the combined traumas of the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the horror of war in Vietnam. Television news carried the images each night of the 16,592 soldiers who died the year before.

At home, a tough battle for the presidency was finally over.

After a day when the US appeared to be on the brink of a constitutional crisis, Richard Nixon finally emerged as president winning narrowly with 43.2% of the popular vote over his challengers. Texas, then a solidly Democratic state, went with Hubert Humphrey (42.6%) while most of The South voted for right-wing segregationist George Wallace (12.9%).

Antiwar and peace activists demonstrated that they could influence national outcomes and were heartened by the halt to bombing of N. Vietnam that President LBJ had announced before leaving office.

However, the future was uncertain and seemed to darken as the events of 1969 progressed.

In January martial law was declared in Madrid, Spain, and over 300 students were arrested. Fourteen men, nine of them Jews, were executed in Baghdad, accused of spying for Israel. Terrorists bombed the Montreal Stock Exchange in February.

Britain deployed troops to Ireland to quell riots in Belfast and Londonderry (Derry) after a peaceful civil rights march was attacked by pro-British unionists, and laid-back California was shocked when Charles Manson's cult went on a rampage in that state. The Beatles gave their last public performance before tearful crowds.

Journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre as U.S. troop level in Vietnam reached 541,000, their highest point of the war. Many Americans were at wits end and saw little hope for the nation or the world.

But, throughout the violence, war, and destruction, the heart of this rich and diverse country continued to beat. It wasn't found in the cold gray of bombers and the conservatism of the "silent majority" but was instead reflected in techni-colored music, emerging technologies, pop culture and a booming economy.

The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius" was a top hit, along with songs "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and "The Ghetto" (Elvis Presley). Counter-culture activists also planned a music and art fair at Max Yasgur's farm in Woodstock, NY. Two weeks later 120,000 hippies and lovers of peace and music converged on the small town of Lewisville, just north of Dallas, at the Texas Pop Festival

Over 600 million people around the world watched in wonder as Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. The live transmission of "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed" prompted cheering in classrooms throughout Texas.

Dr. Denton Cooley, a University of Texas alumnus, implanted the first experimental artificial heart. The first ATM machine was installed and the ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, is created.

Xerox scientists demonstrated that they could take a laser beam and make a printer. The company later sold the idea to Hewlett-Packard. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was founded (and now employs over 3,000 employees in Austin).

The psychedelic "tribal love-rock musical" Hair was playing on Broadway. A raid on the

Stonewall Inn bar in Greenwich Village, when patrons defied the police, launched the modern gay rights movement. "True Grit" and "Midnight Cowboy" premiered at the movie theatre.

Nationally, unemployment reached a record low of only 3.6% and in Washington, DC, 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war. The year was 1969, and it was a period that was dark for many but had plenty of bright spots for the people who optimistically worked to make the world better.

Texas passed a state law specifically declaring segregation illegal that year and elementary schools were providing classes in Spanish and teaching King's legacy to students - black, white, and brown - in public schools throughout the state.

As we move forward into 2005 we need to open our hearts, and those of our neighbors, by remembering MLK's words to this generation,

"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will- and determination- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment."

The Baptist preacher from Atlanta got it right. Fellow Texans, let's make his legacy a reality by partying like it's 1969 all over again and giving peace a chance!

LAST WEEK: It's our house

Grand Funk manager killed in Killeen

Terry Night, former manager of the band Grand Funk Railroad, was killed at his home in Kileen while defending his daughter during a domestic dispute with her boyfriend. A murder charge has been filed against Donald Alan Fair, 26, of Temple

Grand Funk Railroad was a hit band during the 1960's and 70's with hits like "People Let's Stop the War", "We're An American Band", and "Walk Like a Man.""

Iraq war killed 100,000 study shows

Writing in the British-based medical journal The Lancet, the American and Iraqi researchers concluded that violence accounted for most of the extra deaths and that air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition were a major factor.

There is no official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the conflict began, but some estimates now go as high as 130,000 dead.

President Bush re-elected

President George W. Bush of Texas achieved a narrow victory this week over SenatorJohn Kerry to serve another four years in the Whitehouse.

Among his plans for the Administration are addressing the issue of health care liability and tort reform, tax cuts, and changes in Social Security. George may also have an opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice or two.

Interstate corridor may affect agriculture

The largest and most ambitious highway project in the history of Texas, the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, is expected to impact agriculture in some of the most fertile parts of the state.

TxDOT officials recently began an environmental study and review process of some elements of the plan and is seeking public impact.

Lesbian Latina new sheriff of Dallas

Dallas voters elected Lupe Valdez, an openly gay woman, as Sherrif this week. Valdez, who fought organized crime and fraud for 28 years as a federal agent, said her election was a testimony to the inclusiveness of the county.

Textbook publishers bow to pressure

Publishers of Texas health textbooks agreed to remove neutral language whenever marriage or families are mentioned, replacing "two people" with "husband and wife" to make it absolutely clear that marriage is "only between a man and a woman." The new text don't address common family issues such as divorce, battery, and contraception.

A controversy arose last year when the board approved new biology textbooks that contained the science of evolution, and ignored religious theories.