On the look out for Squeeky

Thanks to the Houston Chronicle Clear Lake section for posting this lost cat notice.

Lost cat in Bay Knoll Subdivision in Clear Lake

Name: Squeeky.

Lost: June 20, Cardinal Creek Court in Bay Knoll subdivision, north side of Clear Lake area in Houston.

Description: Black, short hair, green eyes, female. Has her claws. Very friendly. Meows alot.

Contact: johncoby@sbcglobal.net

What is causing the high cost of medical care?

Time to take out the middle man!

College tuition increases again.

The Citizen had a great article on the upcoming college tuition increases in the area. but first:

A bit of history

Prior to 2003, the Texas Legislature had the regulatory authority to set tuition rates, generally mandating that the same statutory and designated tuition rate be charged across the state. In 2003 the 78th Legislature passed HB 3015, amending TEC §54.0513 to allow governing boards of public universities to set different designated tuition rates. There is no upper limit on the amount of designated tuition that a university may charge and the amounts may vary by program, course level, and academic period. Tuition deregulation became effective September 1, 2003, and universities began increasing designated tuition in spring 2004

The results? (based on 2007 rates)
In short, we got screwed with deregulation again. In the same year they completed deregulation of electricity and insurance and instead of our rates decreasing because of less regulation and competition in the free market, our rates have soared.

Since deregulation passed in 2003, UT-Austin has seen its tuition and fees rise by 63 percent for an in-state undergraduate. The university ranks ninth in cost out of 12 large public universities to which it compares itself. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked first, costing $11,130.

Lack of action
In the 2009 legislation session a number of bills were filed to finally address this mistake. One would have frozen tuition rates and another would have limited any increase to not more than 5% (which meant a 5% increase each year). None passed. So the increases continue:

• The University of Texas-Austin recently approved a 4.95 percent rise, increasing an undergraduate student’s costs by $202.
• Texas A&M-College Station approved a 4.14 percent increase (a $166 addition).
• The University of North Texas-Denton approved a 7 percent increase ($226).
• At the University of Houston, where tuition and fee rates were raised 3.95 percent, an in-state undergraduate student taking 12 credit hours will pay approximately $131 more per semester.
• At UH-Clear Lake, which saw a 3.30 percent rise, a comparable student will pay $80 more.
• At UH-Downtown, rates were increased 4.8 percent, costing $101 more.
• At UH-Victoria, the increase was 3.4 percent, costing $72 more.

But don't complain. The lack of action on the part of our elected officials is overwhelmed by the lack of action of those who voted for them. In short, we suck.

Clear Lake fireworks fizzle out this year

There will be no fireworks for the 4th of July on Clear Lake.

The Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Fourth of July fireworks display over the lake is no more.

"There are so many other displays on the lake that that's why the chamber has decided to step away," said spokeswoman Febe Menendez. "Rather, we'll support the other fireworks shows instead of competing with them."

The Clear Lake fireworks were the highlight of the Bay Area over the years. A few years ago when they moved the display from the middle of the lake to the front of the high rise condo complex, they seem to be a dud. Seems to be fitting since the complex owner has filed for bankruptcy. Now there will be none.

Look for the displays in the area as an alternatie. Nassau Bay, Webster, Friendswood, or travel to Houston to see a big event.

Don't fly me to the moon.

What he (Buzz Aldrin) says in Popular Mechanics:

As I approach my 80th birthday, I’m in no mood to keep my mouth shut any longer when I see NASA heading down the wrong path. And that’s exactly what I see today. The ­agency’s current Vision for Space Exploration will waste decades and hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reach the moon by 2020—a glorified rehash of what we did 40 years ago. Instead of a steppingstone to Mars, NASA’s current lunar plan is a detour. It will derail our Mars effort, siphoning off money and engineering talent for the next two decades. If we aspire to a long-term human presence on Mars—and I believe that should be our overarching goal for the foreseeable future—we must drastically change our focus

Aldrin has the right stuff. NASA was sent on a mission to do all without the necessary funding to do any of it right. Currently NASA is maintaining the Shuttle and Station, building a new vehicle, and planning for the Moon and Mars. Not only can we not afford it, designing a vehicle configurable enough to fly to the Moon, Mars, and to the Station creates an incredible challenge. And doing it on the cheap doesn't help.

Aldrin has some interesting ideas. Interesting. It deserves a read. One thing is for sure, NASA needs to focus on doing one thing right instead of everything half ass. Otherwise, failure will be an option.

Summer Health Fair in Seabrook.

Come to the Summer Health Fair!
Coffee Oasis ☼ 4650 NASA Parkway ☼ Seabrook, TX 77586
Saturday June 27, 2009 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Join your friends and neighbors this Saturday for FREE health information and screenings PLUS fun! There will be live music from local folk artist Kat Joel and documentary films for entertainment. PLUS:

• Speeches from health experts and local business owners
• Blood drive to help UTMB
• Free Health Screenings
• Blood Pressure
• Pulse Oximeter
• Diabetes
• Vision
• Mental Health – Depression and Anxiety Screening
• Cholesterol
• General Fitness and BMI Testing
• Wii Fitness test

Information about your and your family’s health from:

• Children’s Defense Fund
• UTMB Children’s Center – Program information, CHIP Applications, Children’s Medicaid and Woman’s Health Program
• UTMB Blood Bank
• Texas Child & Family Institute
• Houston Shifa Foundation
• Greater Clear Lake Families Exploring Down’s Syndrome
• Bay Area Turning Point
• American Cancer Society

More emails from Gov. Mark Sanford

As a friend of mine said: Don't ever write something on an email that you don't want spread on the internet. It can be a huge buzz kill, much like the following chat room discussion with Gov. Mark Sanford:

Sanford has entered the room.
Sanford: Anyone here yet?

Newt has entered the room.
Ensign has entered the room.
Craig has entered the room.

Newt: Here!

Ensign: Me too!

Craig: I am not gay.

Vitter has entered the room.
Vitter: I did her!

Sanford: Thanks for coming. As you know I have sinned, got caught, and tried to cover it up. Damnit. I am screwed. Any advice?

Newt: Dont worry about it. Take a few years off, then run for President. republicans have a short memory. I mean, look at me! I' runing for frickin president of the frickin United States and the republicans haven't even blinked! We republicans forget quickly.

Ensign: I thought elephants never forget.

Newt: Yes, but their dicks are longer than their memory!

Ensign: You should know Newt. Divorcing your wife on her death bed. Wow. What a bastard! And yet you are now running for president!

Vitter: You should talk, John! You were porking the wife of someone who worked on your campaign ! Double wow!

Ensign: Yea but at least she wasn't a frickin high paid hooker! Or gay.

Craig: I am not gay. What?

Levy has entered the room.
Levy: Dewds!

Newt: Levy!!!!!!! The dean!

Sanford: Dewwwwwd! Got your tan on?

Vitter: Waaaaaaaaaassssssup????

Craig: Levy! I am not gay.

Vitter: Now Levy is the dean! Porkin the governors daughter and the republican party put him on the stage of the convention clapping their asses off for him! Shit we couldn't remember we were the "family values" party for one frickin night! You rock! Free beer. Free publicity. Free food. And a hand full of butt.

Levy: Hey. At least I wasn't married and screwing around! Vitter? Newt? Ensign? Sanford? Craig? And I wasn't an elected official shooting my mouth off about family fuckin values. I was a 17 year old with raging hormones, a big wanger, who practiced safe sex, at least most of the time.

Sanford: Yeah. Right. How did that work out for you?

Levy: Screw you governor!

Newt: LMFAO!!

Ed has entered the room.
Ed: Hi dudes. Ed from Harris County Tax Assessor office here.

Sanford: You aren't using your work computer are you?

Newt has left the room.
Vitter has left the room.
Sanford has left the room.
Levy has left the room.
Craig has left the stall.

Ed: Hello? Anyone? Leo? Chuck?

Michael

Loren Jackson Harris County District Clerk

Congratulations to Harris County District Clerk Loren Jackson for receiving the Jaycees Five Outstanding Young Houstonians of 2009. Loren Jackson is the youngest leader in Harris County government at only 30.

Sworn into office on November 18, 2008, the hardworking new District Clerk has raised the base-line salaries of his employees, streamlined the efficiency of all HCDC departments, and brought the office’s services into the digital era. Jackson, who grew up with technology, understands the tremendous value it can bring to the county.

To that end, he remains focused on utilizing technology for better and faster services to members of the bar and the general public while delivering a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly office. His many initiatives have quickly garnered praise from local attorneys and others who dread waiting in line at the Courthouse.

If you are fortunate enough to be selected for jury duty, you would get the opportunity to meet Loren when he addresses the potential jurors. You will also be able to sit in the juror assembly room and surf the net. Loren has been working on providing internet access to the assembly room. This service should be available soon. It is one of many upgrades Loren has been working on.

Singles ad: Kate Gosselin looking for love

Thirty-ish, young, fun loving female looking for a long term relationship. Recently separated from husband of many years. Been a Hollywood celebrity as a star of a nation wide reality show. Have ability to to gather unwanted attention.

Love kids and being on the beach while wearing a skimpy bikini. Looking for someone interested in a long term relationship to love and cherish me.

Health insurance a plus. Call ASAP.

p.s. I have 8 kids.

Turn out the lights the family values party is over

The party that claims to corner family values is now officially over with the second bizarre confession by a Grand Old Partier (GROPE) of having an affair. Unlike others who have affairs, the members of GROPE spew the rhetoric about the sanctity of marriage and christian conservative values, all the while having affairs with other women/men. The latest being South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

NEW YORK (AP) — How did he think he could get away with it?

To visit his lover in Argentina, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford slipped his security detail, lied to his staff about his whereabouts and neglected to transfer executive power to the lieutenant governor in case of a state emergency.

Yep. That is the republican governor of South Carolina, the second affair in a month after republican Senator John Ensign who announced before being blackmailed. You would think the remainder of those who call themselves republicans would leave the party after embarrassments like Senator "I did her" Vitter, Senator "I am not gay" Larry Craig, Congressman "I like boys" Mark Foley, Former Speaker of the House "Going on the 4th marriage" Gingrich, Harris County DA "Kiss behind the ear" Rosenthal, and "I can't get it up" Limbaugh.

But instead the self proclaimed, Christian conservatives, chock full of moral values, will make excuses for them, call for forgiveness, and wait for their tax cut in the mail. All in a days work of being a hypocrite.

And that is the end of the family values party.

Midnight Movie Review. Transformers.

My son gave the new Transformers, which opened at midnight, a 9.9 out of a 10 only because he doesn't give out tens. (he has his limits) Transformers was absolutely great. Good story line, lots of computer graphics, and some great humor.

We got there early at 11:10 for a 12:05 showing. We were lucky we did this so we didn't have to sit on the end of the first row. Instead we sat in the middle of the front row because every seat was already full in the theatre! Transformers transforming is not well suited for the front row.

Besides the front row seats and the $5.00 bottle of water, (and that burrito I ate at lunch) the movie was absolutely fantastic. You might want to rent the first Transformer to refresh your mind on the "shards" and Megatron's fate before watching Transformers II. It would have helped me put the pieces together.

On the other hand it is great eye candy. Don't think to much, just go. And stay through the credits for a surprise!

Harris county Gropers punts on ethics reform

You have to wonder if the Grand Old Partiers (GROPERS) in Harris county are just plain stupid when it comes to ethics reforms. Harris County Commissioners are looking at some simple ethics reforms such as voluntary registration by lobbyists (like voluntary jail time for sex offenders) or posting all financial disclosure forms online, or mandatory ethics training.

Mandatory ethics training might have made Commissioner Jerry Eversole think twice before traveling around the country buying antique books, authentic cowboy chaps or a $25,000 antique pistol with his donors money, or spending a day golfing and working out on county time, but look what Eversole thinks about ethics reforms:

"I have had my problems, but my problems are getting worked out. This is putting something into the air that doesn’t need to be put there because the majority of Harris County government has been good."

Uh...like former Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal who resigned? Or how about Ed Johnson of the Tax Assessor Collector's office? Or Paul Bettencourt who quit two weeks after being elected? How about other GROPERS like Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, or State Senator Dan Patrick. Or State Representatives Rob Eissler and John Davis. All who have been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Eversole should be the last to be talking. Over the last year and half he has spent over $40,000 in legal fees probably because of Wayne Dolcefino's three part investigation or the ethics complaint that was filed against him for using his campaign money for personal use.

The GROPERS of Harris County are about as interested in ethics reform as Sarah Palin is in joining the local Toast Masters Club. Ethics reform is just a talking point and campaign issue that keeps going and going and going. Just like the abortion issue, the flag burning issue, the immigration issue, and any other issue they do nothing about.

They are a bunch of do nothing party of GROPERS.

Leo Vasquez releases emails.

Well, Give the Harris County Tax Assessor credit for releasing some of the emails between Ed Johnson, assistant voter registrar and State Representative Dwayne Bohac concerning the voter registration data. It is clear something hot and heavy is going on between the two. The emails are very damning.

Take a look. This is a few from a conversation over a couple of days in July 2008:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Almost ready
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 14, 2008 16:53:35 PM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Dwayne,
Data is ready. Have to merge the drivers license info and HCAD data. Then, create a report and download the data in your format.

Ed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Almost ready
From: Dwayne Bohac
Date: July 14, 2008 19:53:35 PM CDT
To: Ed Johnson

Great. Keep me informed! I have 3 candidates willing to invest. They will need the data in Sept.

Thanks!

Bo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: I'm ready
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 22, 2008 09:34:23 AM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Dwayne,
OK. It is not perfect, but once I download it to the CDS machines, I can fix any problems I have. The data is good, just needs some tweaking. (that's computer talk for fixin')

Ed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: I'm ready
From: Dwayne Bohac
Date: July 22, 2008 13:31:14 PM CDT
To: Ed Johnson

Great! Looking forward to getting our project out the door. Hey, you're being careful right? Don't want you get get razzed. (that's capitol talk for fired)

:)

Bo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Don't worry
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 23, 2008 07:30:20 AM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Dwayne,
I am careful to delete everything. I am also routing them through a different SMTP server and using a proxy. Later.

Ed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Don't worry
From: Dwayne Bohac
Date: July 24, 2008 12:43:13 PM CDT
To: Ed Johnson

Excellent. I will leave the computer stuff up to you.

Bo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: This is exciting!
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 24, 2008 17:30:20 PM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Dwayne,

This is exciting. It makes me what to kiss you behind your right ear.

Ed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Don't worry
From: Dwayne Bohac
Date: July 24, 2008 18:03:10 PM CDT
To: Ed Johnson

WHAT?

Bo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Thinking
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 24, 2008 18:05:20 PM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Dwayne,

Uh. Nothing. Nevermind.

Ed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Don't worry
From: Dwayne Bohac
Date: July 24, 2008 18:08:33 PM CDT
To: Ed Johnson

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN NOTHING? NEVERMIND? YOU JUST SAID YOU WANTED TO KISS ME BEHIND MY RIGHT EAR!!!! YOU FRICKIN IDIOT! WTF?

LOOK, GET ME MY DATA AND DELETE THESE EMAILS IMMEDIATELY. WE WILL TALK WHEN YOU GET IN. ARE YOU ON CRACK OR WHAT?

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Bo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Thinking
From: Ed Johnson
Date: July 24, 2008 18:15:30 PM CDT
To: Dwayne Bohac

Sorry. I got carried away. I will delete all the emails. No one will ever know what we are doing and what I wanted to do to you.

It can be our little secret. :0

Ed.

Truth hurts.

The GOP reaches out to the Hispanic community

The leader of the republican party, Rush Limbaugh, reached out to the Hispanic community with a pinata in one hand and a stick in the other:

Mark Silva, blogging at The Swamp, was quick to catch the sexist and racist implications in Limbaugh’s remark. “Leave it to Rush Limbaugh, the golden voice of radio, to liken the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court and her professional friends to a bunch of housemaids,” he commented.

And you wonder why the gop is the minority party instead of the party of minorities? What will they do next? Post a picture of Obama as a pair of white eyes on a black background? Oh....nevermind.

Going where no man has gone before, sort of.

NASA successfully launched a probe to the Moon to map and search for a landing location when we return in 2020. From the Chronicle:

An unmanned rocket blasted off today from Cape Canaveral, carrying a pair of science probes that will scout out potential landing spots for astronauts. It’s a first step in NASA’s effort to return humans to the moon by 2020.

2020. That is only 11 years away. We haven't built the new vehicle, Orion, and we haven't begun to design the vehicle to take a lander to the Moon. And we will have to modify the Orion vehicle to support a Moon mission. And besides that, where are we getting the money to do all of this?

Seriously. We have quite a bit of work to do all while we are claiming to go to Mars, maintain the Space Station, create a new vehicle, and go to the Moon. Going where no man has gone before is great, if you can afford it.

It doesn't make cents.

The GOP reaches out to the black community.

And the gop wonders why they have become the minority party?

Republican strategist Ron Christie told CNN’s John Roberts that a Republican staffer in Tennessee should be fired for sending an email depicting President Barack Obama as white eyes on a black background.

Many are upset that Sherri Goforth, an aide to state Sen. Diane Black (R-Gallatin), was only given a written rebuke for forwarding a picture from her statehouse account that depicted all the presidents but included President Obama perceptible as only a pair of googly cartoonish white eyes.

I mean what does it take to get thrown out of the republican party? If sending a racist picture doesn't get you out the door, what do they have to do? Have an affair? Have sex with a hooker? Have an unwed pregnant 17 year old? Or how about being indicted for money laundering?

Oh....damn. Never mind.

Leo Vasquez whines in an OP-ED

Leo Vasquez has an opportunity to put the controversy concerning Ed Johnson, his assistant voter registrar, to rest by releasing his emails, phone records, and internet activity over the last few years. Instead, he whines in an OP-ED.

Recently, last year’s baseless allegations of improprieties within the voter department of the tax office have garnered renewed attention from the local media and various unaccountable bloggers. These attacks are nothing more than partisan “witch hunts” attempting to smear the record of my predecessor and the staff I inherited.

He is talking about a lawsuit filed because the rate of voter registration denial is grossly higher than other large counties, and that his predecessor, Paul Bettencourt quit just 2 weeks after being re-elected, and that there have been numerous complaints about the office concerning voter suppression, and that Leo got the job not because he won, but because he had 3 buddies on the County Commission, and that his assistant voter registrar is moonlighting selling the data that he is in charge of, as well as testifying in favor of a voter ID bill.

Instead of taking tax payers time whining in an OP-ED and stonewalling the investigation, Leo should release the records and shut the hell up.

The GOP: Groping Old Pharts

The republican party has had to beat off hypocrisy with both hands over the last few years. They have a 17 year old high school drop out banging the daughter of the Governor of Alaska right before being paraded on the stage of the republican national convention. Senator Craig was caught in hot gay sex in a bathroom. Senator "I did her" Vitter dropping his drawers for a hooker. And now one of the leading republican Senators who was looking at a run for President in 2012, admitting to an affair with a staffer.

LAS VEGAS — Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a leading Republican mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a woman who was a member of his campaign staff.

"Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage," Ensign said at a brief news conference in his home state. "It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it."

Here we have the party that claims to "protects the sanctity of marriage" and yet they can't keep from porkin' a staffer, a hooker, or a Governors daughter. Ahhhhh......I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.

The GOP, so easy a caveman can do it.

Poor elephants. They have a tough problem on their hands.

How do they reach out to the Hispanic community while calling a Hispanic nominee for the highest Court in the nation a racist? How do they reach out to the Black community while referring to the Presidents wife as a gorilla? How do they reach out to the Asian community while telling them to change their names to something more American? And how do they reach out to the non-Christian community while calling them terrorists?

Time Magazine has a great article (For Republicans, the Ice Age Cometh), as well as a great graphic, on the republican party. A party with no new ideas. The party that can't say anything but "no" to attempting to be bipartisan. A party that has made it their pastime to insult minorities in this county, the very people then need to win elections. The party of the Great White Nope.

For years, Republicans won elections because the country was chock-full of white middle-class voters who mostly pulled the GOP lever on Election Day. Today, however, that formula is no longer enough.

Like duh! Insulting minorities. So easy a republican can do it.

By the numbers: The TRCC

Here is the Texas Residential Construction Commission by the numbers:

0		Number of consumer organizations that helped write the TRCC bill
0		Number of consumer organizations on the Arbitration Task Force
0		Number of consumer organizations that supported the TRCC
0		Number of consumer Commissioners on the TRCC
9		Number of Commissioners appointed to the TRCC
5		Number of arbitrators certified with the TRCC over a 6 year period
28,000		Number of builders registered with the TRCC
12		Number of Texas Star Builders
2		Number of Texas Agencies for the abolishment of the TRCC
3		Number of bills filed to abolish the TRCC
1		Number of years a new $100,000 home is warranted
10		Number of years a new $10,000 car built in Korea is warranted
6		Number of years the TRCC was active
180		Number of days it took to resolve a complaint
90		Number of days it required to build a new home
12		Percent of all complaints filed that were resolved by the TRCC
$250		Cost to request an independent inspection from the TRCC
$500		Cost to register with the TRCC as a builder

Watching Bob Perry's Commission go down faster than a hooker at the gop convention? Priceless.

Home growing terrorists.

Wow. Never saw this coming. From NBC News 4 HD in Arizona:

The leader of the Minuteman American Defense group is in an Arizona jail Saturday following his arrest on suspicion of the murders of Raul Flores, 29, and Brisenia Flores, 8, during a home invasion.

"Sheriff [Clarence] Dupnik adds, 'To just kill a 9-year old girl because she could be a potential witness, to me, is one of the most despicable acts I have ever heard of,'" the station reported.

The group's Web site, which does not appear to bear any mention of Jason Bush, places the group as actively involved in the "tea parties" which swept right-wing media around tax day.

Wow. Who needs terrorists when we are growing them in our own back yard?

Now what? Without the builders commission.

The Houston Chronicle has a time line of events for the next year for the Texas Residential Construction Commission which has been set to be phased out by the Legislature this year.

Under the plan:

• • New homes and projects completed by Aug. 31 must be registered with the agency.

• • Home inspection requests will be accepted through August from home-owners or builders who are at odds over construction issues.

• • The agency will process those complaints through Aug. 31, 2010.

• • Builder registrations and renewal registration applications will be accepted through Aug. 31, but will be prorated.

For those looking for a new home and concerned about consumer protection here are some ideas to consider:

• Don't buy a newly constructed home. There are plenty of homes on the market which are well established. If there was a serious defect in the home it most probably has already been addressed or it will be found by an inspector, one that you will hire.
• If you do buy a new home, never accept a mandatory binding arbitration clause. Besides the TRCC, MBA has been the worst consumer scam of the last 15 years. A quality builder would never require you to give up your constitutional rights before purchasing his home.
• Do your research by searching for news articles on the builder, anti-builder websites, and contacting consumer groups like hadd.com, hobb.org. Do not depend solely on the Better Business Bureau.
• Ask your builder what happens if you have a defect. What is the process you will go through? Is there a cost? When does the 10-year warranty kick in. And does the warranty have a binding arbitration clause.

More details will follow, but until then, do yourself a favor, buy a used home and leave the risk to others.

Lack of diversity at Pelosi event.

Well that was a shocker.

A full auditorium at the Wortham Center greeted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The audience was a diverse crowd of men, women, young, old, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and others.

While outside, the republican protesters were old and Caucasian. It said a lot about both parties.

Never saw that coming.

Leo Vasquez' man on the inside

The Lone Star Project continues to dig into the Assistant Voter Registrar, Ed Johnson, moonlighting as a gop consultant helping republicans win using the data that he manages. And the Harris County republican party is about as silent as Sarah Palin at a planned parenthood rally.

Further examination of documents obtained by the Lone Star Project show that Republican State Representative Dwayne Bohac (HD138 – Houston) sits at the center of the Harris County elections office scandal. The Harris County associate voter registrar was literally Bohac’s “man on the inside” in a position to assist Bohac in his own campaigns and the campaigns of his political clients.

Leo Vasquez should be asking questions and Ed Johnson should be answering them. Besides the questions I asked in an earlier post, he should be asking:

Why does Bohac only sell to Harris County campaigns?
CDS claims to sell voter lists and software services, which should be applicable all over the state. However, CDS only sells to Republican campaigns in Harris County. Is this because Ed Johnson is only available to help in Harris County?

What Harris County voter information has Bohac and Johnson obtained?
The Campaign Data Systems’ website claimed that, “Most data providers allow you to target using only registered voter data and voter history. However, CDS gives you two additional lists—drivers license data and property tax records.” (See the website) Ed Johnson’s position the with the Harris County Tax Assessor Collector, who oversees the voter registration department, may give him access to property tax data, vehicle registration data and other information in addition to the voter data for which he has full access. Bohac should tell Harris County residents what public data he has obtained and where he obtained it.

Why is Dwayne Bohac routing money through Decide Consulting?
Dwayne Bohac has never paid Campaign Data Systems from his campaign account. Instead, he has suspiciously paid Decide Consulting more than $27,000 since 2004. Decide Consulting was founded by another Bohac business partner, David Moise. This firm is described as a, “software management and consulting business.” Decide has no other political business listed on its website or on Texas Ethics Commission filings. These payments may be an effort by Bohac to steer profits to his business and business associates, while circumventing Texas Ethics Opinion 35 which prohibits payments to a business when the candidate owns more than a 10% stake for more than actual expenditures. As the opinion says, “the business may not make any profit on such a transaction."

This hole thing stinks. Maybe the gop needs to contact former disgraced District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal for some help on how to destroy emails and records.

What did he do and when did he do it?

Ed Johnson is the associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor office as well as a paid director of Computer Data Systems selling voter information to republican candidates. It seems odd that a county official in charge of voter information is actually selling that information to his republican buddies, especially since that information is public records. From the Houston Chronicle:

Ed Johnson is associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office, where he’s worked since 1999. He’s also a paid director for Computer Data Systems, a venture started in 2003 with state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston. The company sells the same voter information Johnson is paid by taxpayers to manage in a nonpolitical manner.

Johnson, his boss Leo Vasquez, State Representative Bohac, and former Tax Assessor Paul Bettencourt who quit before all this came to light are going to have a bit of sunshine on their back end in the next few months. Johnson will probably have all his emails exposed through an open records request. As well as all his phone records from his official government office, his cell phone records, his travel records, his internet activity.

You have to wonder if he was using his position at the county office to make money for his own business during government time. Did he sell data that was publicly available to ignorant candidates? Did he moonlight during his daylight job? Just what was he doing since 1999 while so many voters were being taken off the voter rolls? So the question in the next few months will be:

What did he do and when did he do it?

Perry to call special session for Voter ID

Governor 39% Perry falling behind in the polls will call a special session to address transportation and insurance issue and the single most important piece of legislation in the history of the republican party of Texas: Voter ID.

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday a special legislative session will be necessary to keep alive the state’s transportation and insurance regulatory departments but declined to say whether he also will include the contentious Republican-backed voter identification measure.

If you are an idiot or one of the 39%, you probably believe him, but don't be stupid. He is calling this special session and it will address Voter ID. Look for a hot hot summer in Austin when the Democrats will stand and stop this stupidity.

Harris County Tax Assessor needs to fire someone

Paul Bettencourt's office has some explaining to do in a lawsuit filed against them for voter suppression. Turns out there is much more to the story than expected. KHOU has the story:

Johnson is the associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor Collectors office, but according to state documents, that's just his day job. Johnson is also a paid director of a small company that provides voter data to Republican candidates for office. That company, Campaign Data Systems, billed at least $140,000 in 2008.

But there is even more to this. From Off the Kuff:

Campaign Data Systems happens to be owned by Republican State Rep. Dwayne Bohac, who also happens to be one of the big pushers of voter ID bills. Johnson testified before the Senate about supposed instances of vote fraud. He tells the Republicans what they want to hear in the guise of a nonpartisan election official, while being on their payroll. Nice little scam they’ve got going there, no? I think we all have a better idea now why State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Ana Hernandez called for appointed Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez’s resignation over Johnson’s (and George Hammerlein’s) testimony, and it makes Vasquez’s response look that much weaker.

You have to wonder if Johnson used his access to the county database as a county employee to provide voter lists to his republican buddies. The current Tax Assessor, Leo Vasquez, should immediately fire Johnson and begin an internal investigation on Johnson's access and use of county voter information.

In the words of Kramer, I need a solid.

A friend of mine worked for years donating her own money and time on helping new home buyers with construction defects. Her nephew is also working hard for those with cerebral palsy. He is in a contest to attend the MLB All Star game and I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few seconds to vote for him at: https://www.peopleallstars.com/peopleallstars/vote/vote.jsp

Select the Houston Astros, then select Gary. That is it! It is that easy.

Gary is wheelchair bound, is a straight A student, and created a foundation which has raised $12,000 for CP research. Gary, as his aunt, is a true activist.

Give him a vote to thank him for all his activism!

Texas Progressive Alliance roundup

It's Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up.

Neil at Texas Liberal writes about the relocation of the National Cash Register company from Dayton, Ohio to Georgia. Treating people like dirt for 200 years gives Southern states an advantage in creating a so-called business friendly low-tax low-wage climate.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is so amazed at the short sighted policies our state and country continue to pursue. Buy American is a path to destruction. Isolationist Trends Protect US From Reality

Lamar Smith wins South Texas Chisme's asshat of the week award. Hyper partisan Smith thinks all media should be like Fox News.

Who would have thought that an otherwise-obscure bill about granting homestead exemptions to folks who lost their house in Hurricane Ike would become the most controversial issue in the first week post-sine die, including a threat by the Land Commissioner to refuse to follow the law if it gets signed by the Governor? Off the Kuff has the details.

The Texas Blue looks at the big winners and losers of this year's legislative session in Sine Die: The Aftermath.

Citizen Sarah over at Texas Vox sheds a tear over good environmental bills lost this legislature... so much for the "solar session".

Burnt Orange Report writer Todd Hill has been selected as an Archer Fellow by UT-Arlington and will be headed to Washington DC in 2010 for a semester.

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the former Tyler Mayor looking to replace State Rep. Leo Berman.

Over at TexasKaos, liberaltexan argues that even Christians at Liberty U should be able to dissent. What a radical idea!

A Devon Official strongly suspects a connection between recent North Texas earthquakes and the widespread hydraulic fracturing. Devon and other operators are leaving their mark on TXsharon's statcounter. She wonders what they are so worried about on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Teddy at Left of College Station reports on the College Station red light camera debate, and covers the week in headlines.

Bay Area Houston has the scoop on Perry calling a special session on Voter ID.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the excellent first session for Williamson County's Democratic state representative, Diana Maldonado, Freshman of the Year.

Robert Reich describes how Big Pharma and Big Insurance plan to kill the public health care option, excerpted at Brains and Eggs.

WhosPlayin has AARP's call for Michael Burgess to act decisively on health care.

This week, McBlogger takes a look at some fashion advice from Details.

A license to lie about foundation failures

In the early days of the Texas Residential Construction Commission a meeting concerning new home warranty standards was held to discussed the proposed standards. During the meeting a question was asked about "watering your foundation", a requirement by the home builders to prevent foundation failures. Here's how it went:

Audience member: Ok. Can someone tell me just how you are suppose to water your foundation? Do you use a sprinkler? Water hose? Soaker hose?

Attorney for the home builders: You use a soaker house all around the house.

Audience member: OK. So how close to the house do you put it?

Attorney for the home builders: You put it right up against the foundation.

Engineers in the room in unison: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! (some standing up in response.)

Audience member: I rest my case.

Watering your foundation
The idea of "watering your foundation" to maintain the water content of the soil for a home is absolutely ridiculous. It is nothing but an excuse to use when a builder refuses to take responsibility for a failed foundation. The conversation during that hearing proves the home building industry can't tell homeowners how to correctly water their foundation. Where to put the hose. How much watering is necessary. How deep do you water. What to do if you over water.

Mark Everwine
Mark Eberwine a home inspector in San Antonio and someone who has spent considerable time on this issue wrote an excellent article on this situation.

How can we put a man on the moon in 1969, essentially eradicate smallpox, build millions of homes that don't have foundation deficiencies and failures, yet let so many engineers and home builders continually plague homeowners with substandard foundations? The answer is simple. Money. Let's follow the money.

The only reason a foundation fails is because it was not built correctly. If a foundation is built upon expansive soil the home builder should build the foundation according. Instead they use "watering your foundation" as an excuse. They blame you for over watering, or not watering enough, or not watering evenly.

There is an easy solution. It isn't rocket science folks.

Tennessee overtakes Texas on stupidity.

Finally! We don't suck as bad as another state. Tennessee Legislators have overturned a veto by the Governor to allow guns in bars. Yep. Guns in bars. It is good to know that there are dumber hillbillies in Tennessee than in Texas.

Both the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Senate have overruled a veto by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen on a bill that makes carrying handguns into bars legal, it was announced Friday. Consuming alcohol while carrying a handgun will remain illegal, but those with a permit to carry a weapon will be allowed to do so in any restaurant or bar.

Allowing guns in a bar is about as stupid as deregulating electricity and expecting lower rates.

Oh. Wait.......damnit.

Another electricity provider out of power

Who said electricity deregulation is not working in Texas.

Customers of Pre-Buy Electric LLC are being switched to the provider of last choice (code word for very high rates). Pre-Buy has gone bye-bye leaving their customers in the hands of the last provider. From the Dallas Morning News:

Customers who are switched to the default provider, known as the provider of last resort, may face higher electricity prices. The default provider system is designed to ensure customers don’t lost electricity service while they search for a new provider.

And search you should. Unfortunately those on Pre-Buy probably had a less than perfect credit rating and finding a new provider will probably cost more with the hefty deposit required. But nevertheless, search you should. You might want to consider looking at http://www.powertochoose.com. Luckily, Pre-Buy went out of business on a good month. In the Houston area, the lowest rate for a 12 month contract is 10.6 from Texas Power.

Good luck. Hopefully the one you choose will not go out of business.

Head of the GOP is one sick SOB.

Ed Schultz on Thursday said that Druggy Limbaugh, the defacto head of the republican party, is one sick puppy when he said he hoped that President Obama would fail and when he claimed that Obama was doing more to destroy American that Osama Bin Laden.

Schultz went further in his radio show calling Limbaugh a sick son of a bitch. And I agree. The man needs help. Or He needs more sick sons of bitches to be sponsors. And if I had to bet on it, there are more sick sons of bitches in the country willing to be sponsors.

Texans have no clue on insurance.

It is bad enough that Texas has the highest insurance rates in the nation ever since the failed deregulation in 2003, but most Texans don't even know how bad they are getting screwed! According to a poll conducted by Texas Watch, most Texans believe we rank 25th in the nation. Below are the key findings.

The complete report can be found at the top of Texas Watch website.

Let the sun set on the Texas Department of Insurance

Because the Texas House leadership was more concerned about changing the rules to pass a bill that wasn't needed for a problem that doesn't exist, the safety net bill allowing the Texas Department of Insurance to continue for another 2 years failed. If a special session is not called to address this problem, then the TDI will stop existing Sept 1.

Maybe that isn't a bad idea.

The TDI was suppose to protect the consumers of the state from outrageous increases in insurance, resolve consumer complaints, and maintain an environment for insurance companies. Instead Texas has the highest rates in the nation. We have less coverage, and our deductibles are out the roof. Much like the Texas Residential Construction Commision the TDI has been a tool for the industry and a fool for the consumers.

Can you think of one thing the TDI has done that is pro consumer? Has our rates been lowered as they promised in 2002? Has the quality of insurance increased as they promised? Has the availability increased? Is there anything they have done that warrants their continued existance?

No. Let them sunset.

Perry to call special session to protect sanctity of voting

Gov. Perry will call Legislators back to protect the sanctity of voting.

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry, after a very disappointing legislation session, has signaled his intent to call Texas Legislators back to Austin to take up one of his priorities, protecting the sanctity of voting in Texas elections.

"Nothing is more sacred, except for the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman at one time, than protecting our Constitutional rights to voting. Our voting system is flawed and the Texas House shucked their responsibility to correct the problems, therefore I will be calling a special session." said Perry.

Although the Texas Attorney General after an 18 month, $2 million investigation found no evidence of voting problems, the Governor is intent on protecting the rights of those who can vote and should vote, no matter if the problem exists or not. To protect the sanctity of voting, Governor Perry will propose a giant dome over Texas to protect voters from being hit by a meteorite while standing in line waiting to exercise their rights as Americans.

"This may sound as unnecessary as requiring voters to show a picture ID especially since there is no evidence of voter fraud, but what if a meteorite does violate our voters air space? What if that one vote would determine the outcome of my reelection?" babbled Perry.

The cost of this proposal is overwhelming and unnecessary, but Perry will call Legislators back to Austin to approve a useless dome so his party may continue to win in 2010. And of course voters will be protected from a problem that doesn't exist.