Tag: Texas

Closing Thought–22Jun21

The whitewashing of American history….this time it is Texas (of all states) with the launch of the “1836 Project”….

WE all know revised story of the Alamo and the fight for independence of Texas from Mexico….mostly popularized by the lies of Hollywood and our educational system….now Texas will go a step further….

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law establishing the so-called “1836 Project,” which the Republican official said “promotes patriotic education and ensures future generations understand Texas values.”

“To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget why our state is so exceptional,” Abbott tweeted. “Together, we’ll keep our rich history alive.”

As Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, pointed out: “Of course, if they actually did talk about the reasons Texas declared independence from Mexico, it would be a very radical course.”

Although Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, its government continued to allow U.S. settlers to bring enslaved people into the country. As U.S. immigrants began to outnumber the non-Indigenous population of Spanish origin, the Mexican government attempted to reassert its control, including its prohibition on slavery. When Mexico’s ruler, Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna, sent an army to reestablish his authority in 1835, U.S. settlers revolted and by 1836 had created an independent, slaveholding republic—Texas.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/08/progressives-warn-more-gop-whitewashing-history-abbott-launches-1836-project

The real reason for this insurrection is seldom told in the education of our children….only a revised edition and Hollywood is also to blame for the lack of knowledge.

Not to worry….Texas is NOT alone in the revisionism….

“Promoting Education Not Indoctrination Act” was introduced in the Ohio legislature by Sarah Fowler Arthur, a first-term representative from the overwhelmingly white district of northeastern Ohio that includes both the rustbelt lake towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut and the Cleveland suburb of Chardon. Like many other bills now making their way to law in red states across America, H.B. 327 would outlaw the teaching of what its proponents label as “critical race theory” which they define as the idea that the “United States is fundamentally racist or sexist” or that anyone “is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Unlike similar measures in other G.O.P. controlled states, H.B. 327 very specifically applies its prohibitions to Ohio’s large public university system, threatening any institution that allows such teaching with a reduction of one quarter of its state funding.

Anti-Critical Race Theory and Neo-McCarthyism

Again…not to worry…these types of bullsh*t history will not go away any time soon….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Jun21

“Texans need guns”

With at least 300 gun violence incidents in 2021…the last thing we need (anywhere in this country) is more lax gun laws.

But do not worry…..Texas gives a sh*t about this stat…..

Gov. Abbot made this claim at a signing of a new bill…..

Gov. Greg Abbott invoked not just the imagery of the Alamo when he signed a package of legislation relaxing gun control laws in Texas—he called on the head of the National Rifle Association to line up with him. The governor staged a bill-signing ceremony Thursday in San Antonio, a day after actually signing the bills, the Austin American-Statesman reports. One of the new laws allows anyone 21 or older to carry a handgun in public without a permit. Until now, a permit was required, as was training and a criminal background check. “There is a need for people to have a weapon to defend themselves in the Lone Star State,” Abbott said, per the AP. Wayne LaPierre, NRA boss, said: “People want to be able to protect themselves. And thank God that Texas is leading the way for the country.”

At the same time, demonstrators including Moms Demand Action protested the new laws outside the governor’s mansion in Austin. The other six measures, all of which take effect Sept. 1, per the American-Statesman, will:

  • Prohibit government contracts with any entity that discriminates against the firearm industry.
  • Keep hotels from enacting restrictive gun policies.
  • Grant people carrying handguns more choices on which holster to wear.
  • Take firearm suppressors off the list of prohibited weapons under the Texas Penal Code.
  • Decree firearms manufacturers and sellers essential businesses.
  • Bar state and local governments from enforcing new federal gun regulations.

The head of the Texas Municipal Police Association says the new legislation will make it tougher for officers to determine whether someone carrying a gun is allowed to, per Reuters.

Now that is what we need…..more and easy access to carry guns for morons with half a brain.

This will do nothing to help the spiraling upwards of incidents of gun violence and it is now Summer and it will only get worse.

Not to worry……

This will become the poster child for more GOP states to do something that means nothing to the livelihood of the people.

Let stupidity prevail!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A High Schooler With Guts!

An IST Shout Out!

This young Texas lady has shown more guts than the officials in DC…..

The commencement speech that Lake Highlands High School valedictorian Paxton Smith planed to give—and that administrators approved—had to do with media and content consumption. But in light of the “heartbeat” abortion bill her home state of Texas just signed into law, which will essentially ban all abortions after the six-week mark of pregnancy after it takes effect in September, she changed her topic without notifying administrators. “I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions,” she said when addressing the graduating class Sunday, per D Magazine. “Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us.”

The 18-year-old called the legislation “gut-wrenching,” especially considering it offers no exceptions for rape or incest. “I refuse to give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights. A war on the rights of your sisters, a war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your daughters,” she concluded. “We cannot stay silent.” The speech got some high-profile shout-outs, including one from Hillary Clinton. A district spokesperson tells the Dallas News speech protocols will be reviewed ahead of next year’s graduation ceremony. Smith, who is headed for UT Austin, says she’s heard from some administrators that her diploma may be held as a result, but nothing has yet happened on that front.

Kudos to this brave young lady…..

This country needs more young like her and less game remote players…..

It took a lot of guts and IST wishes Ms Smith all the luck in her future endeavors….and with the hope that she does lose that spark and fire for social justice.

Thank you Miss Smith

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Did Not Know That!

Closing Thought–10May21

I have bitched many time about the lack of knowledge of our so-called ‘experts’…their lack of basic knowledge especially historic knowledge……

Texas is in the midst of a massive voter suppression move….that this video is the questioning of the dullard that wrote the bill….

https://youtu.be/IO15kTVIVXA
 
I know it is a long video but it is worth watching …..it illustrates just how out of touch those making policy.
 
The policymaker is one major reason this country is sucking….no grasp of history.
 
Ignorance and stupidity is killing this country…..and we (collective form) are feeding our own destruction.
 
What will it take for the people to actually care about this direction?
 
Well someone cared.
 
The “purity” has been pulled from the proposed bill….
 
A segregationist term from the Jim Crow era referring to the “purity” of ballots was yanked at the last minute before the Texas House passed a measure restricting voting.
But an initial fight was over the bill’s statement of purpose. It initially said that said the measure was designed to “preserve the purity of the ballot box” — a phrase “drafted specifically to disenfranchise Black voters following the Civil War,” Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchía told bill sponsor Rep. Briscoe Cain (R).
 
Turn The Page!
 
I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

The Texas Debacle

By now everyone in the US has some idea about the catastrophic failure of the Texas electric infrastructure…..we all have seen the pics of broken water pipes and freezing weather…..the deaths and the agony that it has produced……and the reports are that Texas was very very close to a meltdown completely…

Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from an even greater catastrophe when the decision was made to bring in what were supposed to be rolling blackouts, according to officials who operate the only standalone power grid in the lower 48. Officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said Thursday that when a winter storm took more than half of its winter generating capacity offline early Monday just as demand was surging, operators had to act fast to prevent a worst-case scenario—equipment catching fire and substations blowing—that could have left many Texans without power for months, the Texas Tribune reports. ERCOT chief Bill Magness said that if operators hadn’t followed emergency procedures, the grid would have been overwhelmed, causing infrastructure damage that would have led to an “indeterminately long” crisis.

“The operators who took those actions to prevent a catastrophic blackout and much worse damage to our system, that was, I would say, the most difficult decision that had to be made throughout this whole event,” Magness said. He said a blackout where “we have to start the grid from scratch and power could be out for an indeterminate amount of time” is the “disaster scenario that’s our central job to avoid,” per BuzzFeed. So much power generation was knocked offline that the blackouts lasted far longer than expected. By Thursday, some 325,000 homes and businesses were without power, down from 3 million a day earlier, the AP reports. Senior ERCOT director Dan Woodfin, when asked how regulators could stop this from happening again, said one of the biggest problems was natural gas wellheads freezing up. (The cold weather has also caused a water crisis.)

This was a disaster of their own making.

You see the Texas infrastructure gurus decided that they would not be part of the nationwide electric grid…..so they did not have to follow federal regulations and the lack of concern in the past made this disaster possible…..plus they cannot borrow power from other states because they want to be self-sufficient (and how did that work out for these idiots?)

Texas seems to always have the idea of secession in the back of their politician’s narrow minds…….https://lobotero.com/2021/01/19/is-there-a-texit/

I see that conservatives are blaming clean energy for the problems in Texas…..7% of the energy comes from wind….BTW apparently they do not know that the energy in Antarctica comes from wind so that blows their idiot lie out of the water…..

Stupidity of deregulation and ill prepared is the problem….in other words the slugs in the state legislature.

Going it alone is not always the best idea…..just ask residents of Texas.

Then there is Se. Cruz that could have used this as a teaching moment for his kids to give them a sense of community instead they went to Mexico for a vacation.

And yet he will NOT be held accountable for his actions…..just like his butt buddy Trump is not held up.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo

Is There a “Texit”?

Closing Thought–19Jan21

We have heard of Brexit where the UK will leave the European Union (EU)….and there has been rumblings of secession here in the US.

secession refers to a big break-up — a formal split, an official “Good-bye to you!” — among political entities.

Secession occurs when persons in a country or state declare their independence from the ruling government. When a dissatisfied group secedes, it creates its own form of government in place of the former ruling government. Secessions are serious maneuvers that lead to, or arise from, military conflict.

I have given my thoughts on the threat in previous posts…..https://lobotero.com/2021/01/06/secession-again/ Any background to this is within the post.

Now after the violence and destruction that occurred at the Capitol on 06 January the home of Ted Cruz, Texas is thumping its chest yet again….

On the second Saturday of every month, Karl Gleim marches at the Alamo battle site in San Antonio. He lays a ceremonial wreath to mark Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico in 1836 and the Texas secession effort he supports today.

“It’s not any particular president or political party or any particular person who’s either an idiot or not, as the case may be, whatever,” said Gleim, a retiree who started his monthly marches at the Alamo eight years ago.

“My opinion is, I’m tired of the BS and the stuff that’s been going on for so long and looking at the idiots we’ve been dealing with in Washington for so long,” he said. “Screw that. We can do better than that, locally.”

Texit, as it’s become known, is poised for a major boost this week with the expected introduction of a bill in the state legislature to put the question of secession to voters in a November 2021 ballot referendum. 

https://www.insider.com/a-texas-lawmaker-wants-texit-secession-on-the-ballot-2021-1

I say let them go if that is the wishes of the people…..they will come back.

Really?

Do they truly want to lose the benefits that being part of the United States provides?

Lunatics!

I put these people in the same idiotic category of the Ancient Aliens  nerds and Flat Earthers.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–21May20

One of the most vocal governors about re-staring the state economy has been the governor of Texas…..and since the state has opened up is there anything to report?

Yes there is!

New cases of Covid-19 in the state is showing a steady increase….

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order March 31 that told Texans to stay home in April except for essential activity. On May 1, that order expired and Abbott announced his formal reopening plan, intended to be completed in phases. On Monday, gyms and fitness centers were the latest to be allowed to reopen, following earlier allowances for restaurants, retailers and salons.

On May 1, Abbott allowed restaurants, retail outlets, malls and movie theaters to reopen with restrictions. Malls, retailers and restaurant owners were told to keep capacity limited to 25%. But for rural counties with five or less confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, businesses were allowed to serve up to 50% of their regular capacity. Public museums and libraries were also allowed to reopen with permission from their local government, but were ordered to keep capacity to 25% and close down interactive exhibits.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/texas-sees-steady-increase-in-new-coronavirus-cases-after-reopening/

Watch the rambling, Babbling president go on and on…..

President Donald Trump held a small official White House ceremony Tuesday to announce he’s handing America’s farmers and ranchers even more cash – this time in the form of a $19 billion bailout he says is because of the pandemic, not mentioning his disastrous trade war with China.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/watch-trump-calls-coronavirus-victims-people-who-have-been-left-behind-who-died-for-some-reason/

Nothing about this man presents confidence and expertise in handling this pandemic….

If anything…he is killing us softly with his words……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Brexit” The Sequel

Last week the world went batcrap crazy…..you see Britain voted to leave the EU and that set off days of speculation by the media….especially who would be the next nation to choose the path of exit……will it be Greece (my choice) or maybe Holland or Italy or Denmark…even France because they were never completely on board with the whole EU thingy……

I could write about these wannabes but instead I would like to write about the “exit” thing here in the US.

I know what could I possibly be talking about, right?

Texas fools!

How many times has the subject come up in the news with Texas attached to it?

After the “Brexit” vote and all the news coverage and all the worthless speculation….the whole secession thing has once again come up and Texas  center…….

Not content with celebrating liberty on July 4, a group of Texans has gleaned inspiration from Brexit—the UK’s decision to leave the EU—with its own push for independence. The similar-sounding “Texit” movement, which gained significant support online Friday, is mainly being pushed by the Texas Nationalist Movement, which is basically the US soulmate of the UK secession initiative, according to its leader, David Miller, right down to the “Leave” campaign slogan that TNM says it’s been using for years. With a motto of “Texas First, Texas Forever,” the group, like those behind Brexit, advocates for “self-government,” Miller tells News.com.au. “At this moment, we don’t enjoy that right,” he says. “The vast majority of the laws, rules, and regulations that affect the people of Texas are created by the political class or unelected bureaucrats in Washington.”

Vocativ decided to see how often the phrase “Texit” has been used in 2016 and found that online references spiked after the Brexit tally came in. Nearly 1,800 people tweeted something Texit-related in the hour of the announcement, with thousands more tweets following. Some of the posts are frighteningly serious, others are somewhat clever (cue the “most likely to secede” memes), and still others can’t do anything but virtually shake their heads. It’s not the first time some of the state’s residents have vied for a breakaway: Right after President Obama’s reelection, the White House turned down a petition signed by 125,000 people calling for Texas’ freedom, Fox News reported. One Texit supporter tells the Guardian that a secession would bring back “Texas solutions” on issues such as gay marriage, gun rights, and immigration. (Here, a fewlegaltakes on secession rules.)

I am sick of hearing this crap from Texas…I say if they like then by God let’s let them go……but first build that Trump wall around the state and only put in a couple of in and out gates….and then we will see just how serious these fools are about leaving the union……

If they do not want to be part of the US then let the f*ckers go!  I am sick of listening to these whiney twats……let them GO!

Do Homeschooled Kids Need to Learn?

Okay I have told my readers many times what I think of the idea of homeschooling……it is bullshit!

Homeschooling is used as a way to prevent children from interacting with other children…….especially those of another color……and does a child an extreme injustice…..with public education every child has the chance of a good education…..even a poor one is more preferable than some crap taught by parents at home…..

I recent read a news report about this lawsuit in Texas (go figure…if it is something whacky….then it must be Texas)…….

Laura McIntyre began educating her nine children more than a decade ago inside a vacant office at an El Paso motorcycle dealership she ran with her husband and other relatives. Now the family is embroiled in a legal battle the Texas Supreme Court hears this week that could have broad implications on the nation’s booming home-school ranks. The McIntyres are accused of failing to teach their children educational basics because they were waiting to be transported to heaven with the second coming of Jesus Christ. At issue: Where do religious liberty and parental rights to educate one’s own children stop and obligations to ensure home-schooled students ever actually learn something begin? The Texas Home School Coalition estimates 300,000 students are home schooled in the state—more than one-sixth of the national total. No one knows for sure since Texas is one of 11 states that don’t require home-school families to register.

Like other Texas home-school families, Laura and her husband Michael McIntyre weren’t required to register with state or local educational officials. They also didn’t have to teach state-approved curriculums or give standardized tests. But problems began when the dealership’s co-owner and Michael’s twin brother, Tracy, reported never seeing the children reading, working on math, using computers, or doing much of anything educational except singing and playing instruments. He said he heard one of them say learning was unnecessary since “they were going to be raptured.” Then, the family’s eldest daughter, 17-year-old Tori, ran away from home saying she wanted to return to school. She was placed in ninth grade, since officials weren’t sure she could handle higher-level work. The El Paso school district eventually asked the McIntyres to provide proof that their children were being properly educated and even filed truancy charges that were later dropped. The family sued and had an appeals court rule against them, but now the case goes Monday to the all-Republican state Supreme Court. Click for more.

The SCOTUS in a state that embraces everything Tea Party……will be an interesting case to follow…..we are talking about a state with a policy of re-writing American history to fit into some revisionist way of life….

I do not understand parents that think they are more capable of teaching than a trained professional…….but they think a mental midget can run this country…..so maybe homeschooling has its place…..after all look at the obsession that some have over bathroom use……

Lies Agreed Upon

First let me announce that sometime yesterday In Saner Thought got its 200,000th hit…….kinda cool……thank you one and all……

Secondly some sad news….the great actor Omar Sharif has died at age 83……a great actor and a championship bridge player…..he will be missed….may he rest in peace…….

History seems to be running a blistering pace….South Carolina has votes to take down the Confederate flag and put it where it belongs in a museum……this has take a long time but now at least South Carolina can put some of their racist past behind them.  Now the rest of the New South needs to jump on this bandwagon.

When I was in school my favorite teacher, Mr. Clark, had a sign above his desk that read….”History:  Lies Agreed Upon”………..when this country is trying to move past some of our less attractive history…..there are others that are trying to re-write their history………

About 5 million Texas schoolchildren will get their hands on brand-new social studies textbooks when school starts up again, the Houston Chronicle reports—textbooks that USA Today says are “misleading, racially prejudiced, and, at times, flat-out false.” The beef with the new primers: They’re in keeping with state education standards adopted in 2010 that gloss over slavery as the main impetus for the Civil War, instead placing it as a peripheral factor behind “sectionalism” and “states’ rights,” reports the Washington Post. Slavery was merely a “side issue to the Civil War,” one member of the state’s board of education said when the standards—which include Moses and Solomon as prime influencers in the founding of our country—were greenlit in 2010. Per the Post, the new standards “barely address racial segregation,” and the state’s guidelines for history instruction have zip on the Jim Crow laws or the Ku Klux Klan.

Many critics aren’t on board with the new standards, revamped to correct what the board thought was a too-liberal stance on American history. Ex-Education Secretary Rod Paige tried to sway the board in 2010, saying, per the Texas Tribune, “I’m of the view that the history of slavery and civil rights are dominant elements of our history and have shaped who we are today. We may not like our history, but it’s history, and it’s important to us today.” But his pleas seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, because the standards were pushed through with the states’ rights angle. The Washington Post editorial board published its take on the matter Monday, writing that “by distorting history, Texas tells its students a dishonest and damaging story about the United States that prevents children from understanding the country today.”

I am a history junkie……I look for historical evidence in everything I research……but I have found NOTHING that categorized slavery as a “side issue”…….

This is a dis-service to the students of Texas…….and this will not be the only incident of people trying to re-write history……