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TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's Journal
TexasTowelie's Journal
September 24, 2013
School districts plan to get Obamacare info to parents
School district officials met Monday to brainstorm how to educate their communities about the Affordable Care Act, whose health insurance marketplace will launch Oct. 1.
“I think we have a responsibility to our communities and to our parents to provide this information,” said San Antonio Independent School District Superintendent Sylvester Perez, who organized the event for educators and community partners.
The health of family members can play a crucial role in whether a student shows up to school or does well in class, he said.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been opposed so strongly by Republicans that some GOP-controlled state governments have taken steps to keep their health bureaucracies from providing information on it or cooperating with those who do.
More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/School-districts-plan-to-get-Obamacare-info-to-4836546.php .
September 24, 2013
Sushi
A Cedar Creek couple was astounded and delighted recently when their feline pet showed up two years after being lost in the Labor Day fires.
Doug Maitland and Sharen Armstrong-Maitland said they had given up hope of ever finding their beloved cat, Sushi.
“I was up on a ladder painting the house when I saw a small white cat lurking in the weeds beside the lake,” Doug said. “We thought we were hallucinating. Dogs are loyal and they will come back but we never thought a cat would.”
Bedraggled, skinny and very hungry, she never stopped eating out of the bowl of food while they carried her back to the house.
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/cat-returns-2-years-after-fires/nZ5YL/ .
[font color=green]Not only did Sushi come back home, but she was nursing a black kitten that has been named Ninja. Sushi had already been neutured.[/font]
Cat returns 2 years after Bastrop County fires
Sushi
A Cedar Creek couple was astounded and delighted recently when their feline pet showed up two years after being lost in the Labor Day fires.
Doug Maitland and Sharen Armstrong-Maitland said they had given up hope of ever finding their beloved cat, Sushi.
“I was up on a ladder painting the house when I saw a small white cat lurking in the weeds beside the lake,” Doug said. “We thought we were hallucinating. Dogs are loyal and they will come back but we never thought a cat would.”
Bedraggled, skinny and very hungry, she never stopped eating out of the bowl of food while they carried her back to the house.
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/cat-returns-2-years-after-fires/nZ5YL/ .
[font color=green]Not only did Sushi come back home, but she was nursing a black kitten that has been named Ninja. Sushi had already been neutured.[/font]
September 23, 2013
An MV-22 Osprey aircraft last month took from the Cape Cod Coast Guard Station in Bourne, Mass., while flying in support of the Marine One helicopter carrying Pres. Barack Obama to Martha's Vineyard. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter said today that it’s laying off 290 hourly and salaried people and about 85 contractors companywide due to federal spending cuts called the sequester.
Most of the layoffs will take place in the Fort Worth area, said spokesman William Schroeder. The job cuts are effective immediately.
“Staffing decisions like this are always difficult,” Bell chief executive John L. Garrison said today in an email to employees. “Good people who have performed well will be asked to leave the company, but it is necessary to ensure that we are successful in the future.”
Bell secured a new multi-year contract for the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, but “it reduces the build rate on our biggest program by nearly half,” affecting staffing levels, Garrison said.
More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/bell-helicopter-lays-off-290-employees-plus-about-85-contractors.html/ .
Bell Helicopter lays off 290 employees plus about 85 contractors
An MV-22 Osprey aircraft last month took from the Cape Cod Coast Guard Station in Bourne, Mass., while flying in support of the Marine One helicopter carrying Pres. Barack Obama to Martha's Vineyard. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter said today that it’s laying off 290 hourly and salaried people and about 85 contractors companywide due to federal spending cuts called the sequester.
Most of the layoffs will take place in the Fort Worth area, said spokesman William Schroeder. The job cuts are effective immediately.
“Staffing decisions like this are always difficult,” Bell chief executive John L. Garrison said today in an email to employees. “Good people who have performed well will be asked to leave the company, but it is necessary to ensure that we are successful in the future.”
Bell secured a new multi-year contract for the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, but “it reduces the build rate on our biggest program by nearly half,” affecting staffing levels, Garrison said.
More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/bell-helicopter-lays-off-290-employees-plus-about-85-contractors.html/ .
September 23, 2013
Texas drops DWI charge against Wal-Mart heiress
BENTONVILLE, Ark. —
Prosecutors in Texas have dropped a 2011 drunken driving citation against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heiress Alice Walton.
Officials said Monday that the highway patrol officer who pulled over Walton has been suspended and won't be available to testify.
Parker County, Texas, Prosecutor John Forest told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://is.gd/4WDwlt ) that his office had two years to pursue the case against Walton. But the trooper's suspension won't be over by the Oct. 7 deadline.
Forrest said the trooper is on paid leave. The suspension for alleged misconduct began in February.
More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/alcohol/drunken-driving-charge-dropped-against-walton/nZrsG/ .
[font color=green]Oops, sorry that I missed the story a couple of weeks ago. I must have been high or something.[/font]
September 23, 2013
It’s official: American Airlines CEO Horton won’t get his money, at least not until after the merger
The American Airlines and US Airways boards have approved changes to their merger agreement that, among other things, threw out a Feb. 13 letter that set out the severance package and the future role of American chairman and CEO Tom Horton.
That’s what the airlines said they would do after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane rejected the $19,875,000 payout at a Sept. 12 hearing, so no surprise there. But it’s now officially out of the merger agreement.
Lane in fact twice rejected the proposal to give Horton the agreed-to severance, which was to be half in cash and half in stock in the new American Airlines Group.
But, of course, once American is out of bankruptcy and merged with US Airways, its new board can do anything it wants.
More at http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/its-official-horton-wont-get-his-money-at-least-not-until-after-the-merger.html/ .
September 23, 2013
More than a dozen Texas State University students have been charged in connection with a hazing incident involving several members of the marching band drumline, an official said Monday.
In all, 13 students are facing hazing and other misdemeanor charges following a nearly three-week investigation by the school and its police department, said Joanne Smith, vice president for student affairs at the university.
The students have also been suspended from the band, Smith said.
“Hazing is against the law, and it is also against university policy,” Smith said. “So we take this very seriously.”
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/officials-13-texas-state-students-face-hazing-char/nZ5YM/ .
[font color=4f1f26]Go Boko![/font]
Officials: 13 Texas State students face hazing charges
More than a dozen Texas State University students have been charged in connection with a hazing incident involving several members of the marching band drumline, an official said Monday.
In all, 13 students are facing hazing and other misdemeanor charges following a nearly three-week investigation by the school and its police department, said Joanne Smith, vice president for student affairs at the university.
The students have also been suspended from the band, Smith said.
“Hazing is against the law, and it is also against university policy,” Smith said. “So we take this very seriously.”
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/officials-13-texas-state-students-face-hazing-char/nZ5YM/ .
[font color=4f1f26]Go Boko![/font]
September 23, 2013
What is it about September? This month marked the anniversary of the day the towers fell, the month the bottom dropped out of the economy (and no one’s in jail yet!) and the rise and fall of Occupy Wall Street.
Now this…you know what I’m referring to--the fight to shut the economy down unless ACA is defunded. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who the “real” terrorists are right now. The President called it extortion, but it’s much worse than that. It’s terrorism, plain and simple. The Right holds the entire nation hostage, threatening to grind the nation to a halt. The ransom that will free all of us is the repeal of ACA.
Albert Camus once wrote, "Shall I kill myself or have another cup of coffee?" Camus' statement may be absurd, but it's less absurd than the injuries being inflicted upon us by our Congress.
Let's kill people to punish them for killing, Let's cut the princely sum of a monthly $123.00 SNAP allowance and then give the wealthiest a trillion dollar tax cut--more on this: http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2013/big-money-tax-breaks/exposing-big-money-tax-breaks/ .
Let’s allow children to go hungry, but let’s ensure that Representative Fincher gets $3.48 million in farm subsidies, all the while he declares, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Let's build a $30 billion dollar fence to keep people out, yet allow our bridges and highways deteriorate to the point of danger.
I feel as if I'm sliding over to anarchist territory lately. There’s a saturation point where you just want to throw shoes and tomatoes at the political offenders and out of complete frustration with their inertia, you just lose it. You begin to think our political system is beyond redemption. I think many Americans are perilously close to that point.
And that’s the only good thing that’s transpired out of all of this nonsense. Because of Syria and because of this infighting, my Conservative friends and I are starting to agree on some things.
That’s something that Congress needs to worry about.
The Tea Party is confusing themselves with the story of the little engine that could. Yes, I know your corporate health insurance masters demand it, but this kerfuffle is NOT a noble cause. It’s not a patriotic re-enactment of the Founding Fathers. It's serfdom.
It’s too bad we can’t legislate Enlightenment.
Since the eighties, it’s been building--from NAFTA to the death of Glass-Steagall, onto de-taxing and de-regulating corporations and financial institutions. The next step seems to be a world monarchy that’s really a corporation. The cherry-on-top will be the Trans-Pacific Trade deal, an Asian version of NAFTA after a case of Red Bulls with a beer chaser.
For thirty years, there’s been a consistent, yet carefully concealed, pattern. The privileged few get more money and power, while the rest of us have less money and fewer civil rights. It’s socioeconomic cell mitosis. Every single individual in Washington takes their marching orders from the oligarchy they serve, effectively severing us into a society of haves and have-nots.
They rob the world blind while we’re at each other’s throats. Blaming Obama and the Muslims keeps us distracted and divided while they pick our pockets. When SCOTUS ruled that money was equivalent to free speech, the transformation was almost complete.
Perhaps our only solution is an Occupy 2.0 with a little bit more "umph". A little rocket's red glare, shall we? Or perhaps an American hartal, where every worker walks out, refusing to return to work until the Washington D.C. Middle School comes to an agreement.
So the Right wants the nation to shut down? Let’s give them what they want, but this time, we should be the ones in control.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-09-23/too-bad-we-cant-legislate-enlightenment
Cross-posted in Texas Group.
Too Bad We Can't Legislate Enlightenment
By Carol MorganWhat is it about September? This month marked the anniversary of the day the towers fell, the month the bottom dropped out of the economy (and no one’s in jail yet!) and the rise and fall of Occupy Wall Street.
Now this…you know what I’m referring to--the fight to shut the economy down unless ACA is defunded. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who the “real” terrorists are right now. The President called it extortion, but it’s much worse than that. It’s terrorism, plain and simple. The Right holds the entire nation hostage, threatening to grind the nation to a halt. The ransom that will free all of us is the repeal of ACA.
Albert Camus once wrote, "Shall I kill myself or have another cup of coffee?" Camus' statement may be absurd, but it's less absurd than the injuries being inflicted upon us by our Congress.
Let's kill people to punish them for killing, Let's cut the princely sum of a monthly $123.00 SNAP allowance and then give the wealthiest a trillion dollar tax cut--more on this: http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2013/big-money-tax-breaks/exposing-big-money-tax-breaks/ .
Let’s allow children to go hungry, but let’s ensure that Representative Fincher gets $3.48 million in farm subsidies, all the while he declares, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Let's build a $30 billion dollar fence to keep people out, yet allow our bridges and highways deteriorate to the point of danger.
I feel as if I'm sliding over to anarchist territory lately. There’s a saturation point where you just want to throw shoes and tomatoes at the political offenders and out of complete frustration with their inertia, you just lose it. You begin to think our political system is beyond redemption. I think many Americans are perilously close to that point.
And that’s the only good thing that’s transpired out of all of this nonsense. Because of Syria and because of this infighting, my Conservative friends and I are starting to agree on some things.
That’s something that Congress needs to worry about.
The Tea Party is confusing themselves with the story of the little engine that could. Yes, I know your corporate health insurance masters demand it, but this kerfuffle is NOT a noble cause. It’s not a patriotic re-enactment of the Founding Fathers. It's serfdom.
It’s too bad we can’t legislate Enlightenment.
Since the eighties, it’s been building--from NAFTA to the death of Glass-Steagall, onto de-taxing and de-regulating corporations and financial institutions. The next step seems to be a world monarchy that’s really a corporation. The cherry-on-top will be the Trans-Pacific Trade deal, an Asian version of NAFTA after a case of Red Bulls with a beer chaser.
For thirty years, there’s been a consistent, yet carefully concealed, pattern. The privileged few get more money and power, while the rest of us have less money and fewer civil rights. It’s socioeconomic cell mitosis. Every single individual in Washington takes their marching orders from the oligarchy they serve, effectively severing us into a society of haves and have-nots.
They rob the world blind while we’re at each other’s throats. Blaming Obama and the Muslims keeps us distracted and divided while they pick our pockets. When SCOTUS ruled that money was equivalent to free speech, the transformation was almost complete.
Perhaps our only solution is an Occupy 2.0 with a little bit more "umph". A little rocket's red glare, shall we? Or perhaps an American hartal, where every worker walks out, refusing to return to work until the Washington D.C. Middle School comes to an agreement.
So the Right wants the nation to shut down? Let’s give them what they want, but this time, we should be the ones in control.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-09-23/too-bad-we-cant-legislate-enlightenment
Cross-posted in Texas Group.
September 23, 2013
What is it about September? This month marked the anniversary of the day the towers fell, the month the bottom dropped out of the economy (and no one’s in jail yet!) and the rise and fall of Occupy Wall Street.
Now this…you know what I’m referring to--the fight to shut the economy down unless ACA is defunded. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who the “real” terrorists are right now. The President called it extortion, but it’s much worse than that. It’s terrorism, plain and simple. The Right holds the entire nation hostage, threatening to grind the nation to a halt. The ransom that will free all of us is the repeal of ACA.
Albert Camus once wrote, "Shall I kill myself or have another cup of coffee?" Camus' statement may be absurd, but it's less absurd than the injuries being inflicted upon us by our Congress.
Let's kill people to punish them for killing, Let's cut the princely sum of a monthly $123.00 SNAP allowance and then give the wealthiest a trillion dollar tax cut--more on this: http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2013/big-money-tax-breaks/exposing-big-money-tax-breaks/ .
Let’s allow children to go hungry, but let’s ensure that Representative Fincher gets $3.48 million in farm subsidies, all the while he declares, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Let's build a $30 billion dollar fence to keep people out, yet allow our bridges and highways deteriorate to the point of danger.
I feel as if I'm sliding over to anarchist territory lately. There’s a saturation point where you just want to throw shoes and tomatoes at the political offenders and out of complete frustration with their inertia, you just lose it. You begin to think our political system is beyond redemption. I think many Americans are perilously close to that point.
And that’s the only good thing that’s transpired out of all of this nonsense. Because of Syria and because of this infighting, my Conservative friends and I are starting to agree on some things.
That’s something that Congress needs to worry about.
The Tea Party is confusing themselves with the story of the little engine that could. Yes, I know your corporate health insurance masters demand it, but this kerfuffle is NOT a noble cause. It’s not a patriotic re-enactment of the Founding Fathers. It's serfdom.
It’s too bad we can’t legislate Enlightenment.
Since the eighties, it’s been building--from NAFTA to the death of Glass-Steagall, onto de-taxing and de-regulating corporations and financial institutions. The next step seems to be a world monarchy that’s really a corporation. The cherry-on-top will be the Trans-Pacific Trade deal, an Asian version of NAFTA after a case of Red Bulls with a beer chaser.
For thirty years, there’s been a consistent, yet carefully concealed, pattern. The privileged few get more money and power, while the rest of us have less money and fewer civil rights. It’s socioeconomic cell mitosis. Every single individual in Washington takes their marching orders from the oligarchy they serve, effectively severing us into a society of haves and have-nots.
They rob the world blind while we’re at each other’s throats. Blaming Obama and the Muslims keeps us distracted and divided while they pick our pockets. When SCOTUS ruled that money was equivalent to free speech, the transformation was almost complete.
Perhaps our only solution is an Occupy 2.0 with a little bit more "umph". A little rocket's red glare, shall we? Or perhaps an American hartal, where every worker walks out, refusing to return to work until the Washington D.C. Middle School comes to an agreement.
So the Right wants the nation to shut down? Let’s give them what they want, but this time, we should be the ones in control.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-09-23/too-bad-we-cant-legislate-enlightenment
Cross-posted in Good Reads forum.
Too Bad We Can't Legislate Enlightenment
By Carol MorganWhat is it about September? This month marked the anniversary of the day the towers fell, the month the bottom dropped out of the economy (and no one’s in jail yet!) and the rise and fall of Occupy Wall Street.
Now this…you know what I’m referring to--the fight to shut the economy down unless ACA is defunded. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who the “real” terrorists are right now. The President called it extortion, but it’s much worse than that. It’s terrorism, plain and simple. The Right holds the entire nation hostage, threatening to grind the nation to a halt. The ransom that will free all of us is the repeal of ACA.
Albert Camus once wrote, "Shall I kill myself or have another cup of coffee?" Camus' statement may be absurd, but it's less absurd than the injuries being inflicted upon us by our Congress.
Let's kill people to punish them for killing, Let's cut the princely sum of a monthly $123.00 SNAP allowance and then give the wealthiest a trillion dollar tax cut--more on this: http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2013/big-money-tax-breaks/exposing-big-money-tax-breaks/ .
Let’s allow children to go hungry, but let’s ensure that Representative Fincher gets $3.48 million in farm subsidies, all the while he declares, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Let's build a $30 billion dollar fence to keep people out, yet allow our bridges and highways deteriorate to the point of danger.
I feel as if I'm sliding over to anarchist territory lately. There’s a saturation point where you just want to throw shoes and tomatoes at the political offenders and out of complete frustration with their inertia, you just lose it. You begin to think our political system is beyond redemption. I think many Americans are perilously close to that point.
And that’s the only good thing that’s transpired out of all of this nonsense. Because of Syria and because of this infighting, my Conservative friends and I are starting to agree on some things.
That’s something that Congress needs to worry about.
The Tea Party is confusing themselves with the story of the little engine that could. Yes, I know your corporate health insurance masters demand it, but this kerfuffle is NOT a noble cause. It’s not a patriotic re-enactment of the Founding Fathers. It's serfdom.
It’s too bad we can’t legislate Enlightenment.
Since the eighties, it’s been building--from NAFTA to the death of Glass-Steagall, onto de-taxing and de-regulating corporations and financial institutions. The next step seems to be a world monarchy that’s really a corporation. The cherry-on-top will be the Trans-Pacific Trade deal, an Asian version of NAFTA after a case of Red Bulls with a beer chaser.
For thirty years, there’s been a consistent, yet carefully concealed, pattern. The privileged few get more money and power, while the rest of us have less money and fewer civil rights. It’s socioeconomic cell mitosis. Every single individual in Washington takes their marching orders from the oligarchy they serve, effectively severing us into a society of haves and have-nots.
They rob the world blind while we’re at each other’s throats. Blaming Obama and the Muslims keeps us distracted and divided while they pick our pockets. When SCOTUS ruled that money was equivalent to free speech, the transformation was almost complete.
Perhaps our only solution is an Occupy 2.0 with a little bit more "umph". A little rocket's red glare, shall we? Or perhaps an American hartal, where every worker walks out, refusing to return to work until the Washington D.C. Middle School comes to an agreement.
So the Right wants the nation to shut down? Let’s give them what they want, but this time, we should be the ones in control.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-09-23/too-bad-we-cant-legislate-enlightenment
Cross-posted in Good Reads forum.
September 23, 2013
Xerox signs $100M deal to manage TxDot toll roads, manage 750,000-plus accounts
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas has signed a 5-year, approximately $100 million contract with Xerox to manage toll-road operations statewide.
Xerox announced Monday that it will open a customer service operations center in Austin to process more than 8 million monthly toll transactions while managing 750,000-plus accounts.
The center will handle tasks including license plate image review and bill collection.
Xerox will also be in charge of physical maintenance of toll plaza buildings and overseeing courtesy patrol fleets that TxDot maintains on toll roads in Austin, providing roadside assistance.
More at http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2013-09-23/xerox-signs-100m-deal-manage-txdot-toll-roads-manage-750000-plus-accounts .
September 23, 2013
Photo by Lara Solt
DALLAS — Almost a year after Big Tex went up in flames, the iconic cowboy is set to return to the State Fair of Texas.
The newest version of Big Tex will be unveiled Friday, the fair’s opening day.
The 52-foot-tall cowboy burned down last October when an electrical short started a fire that consumed all but the hands and a few metal pieces. Fair officials say the new version will be a lot like the old — plus fireproofing.
Fair spokeswoman Sue Gooding tells The Dallas Morning News (http://dallasne.ws/1gNExjq ), “We heard loud and clear that people wanted the same Big Tex that they’d known and loved.”
More at http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/sep/22/big-tex-hed-help-here-please-xy-xy-xy/ .
He's back! New Big Tex to be unveiled
Photo by Lara Solt
DALLAS — Almost a year after Big Tex went up in flames, the iconic cowboy is set to return to the State Fair of Texas.
The newest version of Big Tex will be unveiled Friday, the fair’s opening day.
The 52-foot-tall cowboy burned down last October when an electrical short started a fire that consumed all but the hands and a few metal pieces. Fair officials say the new version will be a lot like the old — plus fireproofing.
Fair spokeswoman Sue Gooding tells The Dallas Morning News (http://dallasne.ws/1gNExjq ), “We heard loud and clear that people wanted the same Big Tex that they’d known and loved.”
More at http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/sep/22/big-tex-hed-help-here-please-xy-xy-xy/ .
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,252
