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Well, Gov. Rick Perry said he wanted a short special session, and the Legislature gave him one.
He said he wanted them done in three days: They went one better, and got done in two.
He wanted four measures passing and, well, they gave him two.
It was a real session. Bills were passed, plus a stack of resolutions. There were some press conferences, a gig by the Bad Precedents, and even a sine die party, courtesy of the Legislative Study Group.
However, Perry had asked for four measures to be dealt with: Release the Prop. 12 transport bonds; Set up the Texas Transportation Revolving Fund; Pass the Sunset rescheduling bill; And extend the moratorium exemptions for a handful of private-equity toll roads.
Lawmakers gave him the bonds and the Sunset bill, which everyone agreed were essential state business, and went home. Not that Perry seemed to notice. Based on his Twitter feed, the state's top politician spent the day spent the day with some puppies.
So was it worth coming back? "You mean driving all of the 17 minutes from my house to the Capitol?" said Rep. Valinda Bolton, D-Austin.
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Ever since local filmmaker Casey Porter left the military, he's been sifting through all the footage he gathered on his time in Iraq and Kuwait, and the trailer for his next web documentary, Fire Mission, is now online.
The full documentary will be online on July 20, and the rest of Porter's videos can be found on youtube, liveleak and vimeo.
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It's been almost a week since the Fort Worth police and TABC decided to raid the Rainbow Lounge on what was reported to be a "routine" inspection. A few days since police chief Jeff Halstead told folks he was "happy" with the force used by his staff in the raid. An interesting (and recent) update to Halstead's comments reveals that he is suspending all operations with the TABC until he learns more about the relationship between his own department and the TABC.
What about the relationship of these two bodies with queer communities? Somehow, I don't think Halstead would stop operations to consider that history…
Joel Burns, an openly-gay council member in FW, stated "It's my hope the fact that this is a gay bar and the violence that happened there are not in any way tied. Obviously, as someone who loves Fort Worth, as someone who is gay, I don't want those two things to be connected."
Burns and Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks have been vocal and supportive voices in this fracas – speaking at rallies and almost immediately releasing statements expressing their concern about the raid. Burns and Hicks have also been replying via email to those who have contacted them about the incident through the Equality Texas website (and if you haven't done this yet, please do so now… NOW). The upshot: Both Burns and Hicks are calling for investigations.
But Burns' statement has been driving me wild! Especially that part about gay bars and violence not being tied/connected.
I understand his sentiment; he cares about his hometown, and Burns may be perturbed that the raid is getting the national media attention it has. His office has most certainly been flooded with calls and emails to take action. And yet if Burns stepped back from the fact that these events took place in our backyard, I think he could turn this into a teachable moment.
It's never too soon to reflect on the meaning of such things, and so let me proffer a try:
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Paint me with Vermillion! Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is no more! Rejoice Southeast Asian brothers and sisters! The highest court in India struck down the law which made it a criminal act to have homosexual sex, because the law was brought into being by British colonial powers and not by a sovereign Indian government. Postcolonialism, I heart you.
Waitaminnut…
You mean they're not decriminalizing gay sex because they realize that such a law is homophobic and unjust? You mean the law only applies in New Delhi and not the rest of the country? You mean the decision doesn't actually make homosexuality legal, just decriminalizes the sex?
Hmm.
"Too Slow"
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Now that you're thoroughly relaxed from last week's game, it's time to up the ante just slightly. But don't worry, depending on what you do for a living, your boss might not notice that you're slacking.
Why? Because this week's free game starts with an Excel spreadsheet as a launching pad for puzzle-gaming antics. You might be able to get away with this for about 5 minutes before that nosy cubicle mate of yours goes squealing to the higher-ups. Jerk. Not that there aren't bigger wastes of time that are Excel related.
Till then, Excit challenges you to get the cursor from its starting point to the exit using only the arrow keys. Your cursor moves in any given direction until it hits something or is redirected by an obstacle. Things escalate quickly and before you know it one tap of the keyboard has the cursor flying around and transporting in ways you hadn't predicted. You can think you're way through them, but I used the trial and error method and have gotten to the last level (I'm stuck though).
If you think you can do better, click here and prove me wrong.
Is me baiting you making you any more interested in my blog post? (Fingers crossed.)
Enjoy.
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In truth, Ashe and Brian Mullan – whom he came in for after the first half – were getting open runs up the sidelines pretty much at will. I'm a big fan of wing defender Josh Alcala, but he and Marshall Yohance were getting torched all night long. The central defenders and midfielders stood strong, but that wide game (and the Aztex's lack of one, with the exception of Jeff Harwell) was the difference between the teams. The Aztex's lack of a wide game, and of imagination in the attacking third of the field, has been their downfall for much of the season.
But, sorry, I don't mean to be negative; this was a great effort against a very, very good team. The game was played on fairly even terms for the most part – in fact it could easily have gone the other way, if what looked like a fairly obvious penalty against Harwell in the first half had been called.
Elsewhere, the Seattle Sounders edged the Portland Timbers, 2-1, before 16,000 fans in Portland, to even the score for Major League Soccer in the U.S. Open Cup round of 16: four wins for MLS, and four wins for the upstart United Soccer Leagues. The quarterfinals are next Tuesday: Houston at Charleston, D.C. United at Harrisburg, Rochester at Wilmington, and Seattle at Kansas City.
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Here's what seem to be the situation. House Bill 2, the Sunset rescheduling bill, will go through on the nod. The Prop. 12 bonds part of HB 1 seems to be going through fine, but there have been some railside discussions about the Texas Transportation Revolving Fund and whether the state should pick up the financial slack for municipalities and localities. There are also some concerns that the language may allow the Texas Department of Transportation to effectively order borrowers to raise taxes to cover debts
But the comprehensive development agreements in HB 3 seem to be the real sticking point, as libertarian groups and anti-toll roaders are already claiming a premature victory.
The muttered options on the table are
1) Pass HB1 and HB2, then let HB3 quietly die and go home, or
2) Pass HB1 and HB2, go home today, then wait to see if the leadership (ie Gov. Rick Perry) has the stomach to get everyone back on Monday.
Either option seems plausible at this stage. When House Transportation Committee Chair Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, was asked whether HB3 could ever get to the floor, he shrugged and said, "Well, we've got 30 days."
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The Aztex U-23s had a rough road trip last weekend – a 1-1 draw against the Laredo Heat on Friday, followed by a 5-1 loss to Rio Grande Valley on Sunday leaving the Azteclets tied with El Paso for first place in the PDL Mid South Division with four games left to play. They host third-place Laredo this Friday, July 3, 7:30pm, at Bobcat Soccer Complex in San Marcos – a huge game, since only the Top 2 teams make the playoffs.
Wow! What a gutsy (and unexpected) turnaround by the U.S. men in the Confederations Cup last week in South Africa. After clawing their way into the knockout round with a six-goal turnaround on the last day of group play, the Yanks ended Spain's world-record winning streak in the semis, then went up 2-0 in the final against the best Brazilian squad in years before wilting in the second half and losing 3-2.
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Perry has said he can't do so without a constitutional amendment -- although the family and a contingent of lawmakers disagree with that position, they say that if that's the case, Perry should add to the special session's call a proposed amendment for lawmakers to consider. Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and his staff have done the research, Ellis said at an afternoon press conference, and, "in my judgement," the need to amend the Texas Constitution does not exist.
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Transmission Entertainment has revealed a few more confirmations for the fourth annual Fun Fun Fun Fest, Nov. 7-8 at Waterloo Park, and so far things are looking pretty good. Along with the previously announced headliner, the Jesus Lizard, expect to see the King Khan & BBQ Show, Atlas Sound, and Broadcast. Not that booker Graham Williams is in need of suggestions, but how about a make-up show from Flipper or possibly routing the Gories, Feelies, or Monkeywrench this way?
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