Never Trust A Liberal For Your Math Homework

A lot is being made of budget cuts made in Texas to the budget for fighting fires in light of the wildfires wrecking havoc in the state. There was one headline that I came across again and again proclaiming "Governor Perry Cut Texas Firefighting Budget By 75%"

Well we can either wait on Poltifact to do another one of their insightful fact checking jobs or we can go look for ourselves. This is what I was able to find out so far.

Fact: Texas legislature cut budget to their Forest Service and Wildlife Management by 30%. Most of Texas' firefighting forces are supplied by volunteer firefighter services. These volunteer firefighters get their funding in part from the Forest Service.

Local volunteer fire departments and the Texas Forest Service are reacting to possible cuts as the Forest Service could lose $34 million in funding over the next two years, as legislators continue to look at ways to balance the budget.

Okay, that is one source. How about another?

The Texas Forest Service faces almost $34 million in budget cuts over the next two years, roughly a third of the agency's total budget. The cuts are in both the House and Senate versions of the proposed state budget.

Psst, liberals, I found that bit from an article over at Huffington. It will be our little secret, m'kay.

All funding in Texas is done on a two year basis since their legislature only meets every two years. The effect of this budget proposal is to return the funding to the levels in 2009 when it received a big shot in the arm in it's funding.

The Forest Service finds itself in a very different situation compared to 2008, when it was warning lawmakers that it was underfunded and that wildfires around the state were getting bigger and more destructive as a result. The Legislature responded by boosting the agency's funding in 2009 by more than $15 million.

So let me get this straight. In 2009 you boosted the budget by $15 million and now you are cutting it by $17 million. Let's see cross out the 7, carry the one and that equals a $2 million net cut.

So with funding being cut I wonder what the biggest need is for these volunteer fire departments across the state is.
One volunteer fire department spokesman cites a reason.

The economy also has cut the number of firefighters volunteering, she said, recalling that when she started with the department in the 1980s, about 30 firefighters were volunteering. Today, the number is 16.

Another chief adds:

"Nationally, there's just been a real down trend in the number of people volunteering their time," he said. "Everyone's very busy trying to provide for their own families."

Yet another.

He said he'd like to see an increase in volunteers.

"We could realistically have 35 firefighters and pay for their gear and everything they need," he said. "But we're doing well with what we have. Ideally, I'd love to have 50, 100 firefighters, even a waiting list, but that takes more budget money."

So it's not so much equipment as it is volunteers.

Texas also has a special fund set aside to handle disasters which it could tap into, but one of the biggest impediments has been the Obama administrations unwillingness to declare Texas a disaster area. It is quite simply Chicago style politics and the liberals in Washington don't mind wasting a few lives in the red state of what is shaping up to be their biggest opponent to holding on to power.

One last piece of bad news for Texans. It seems a large quantity of firefighting aircraft are sitting on the ground in California all because of a contract dispute.

So budget cuts that are yet to take effect, which makes very little difference in the agencies affected are somehow supposed to be to blamed for a record drought in the state of Texas which has spawned a serious outbreak of wildfires the the federal administration refuses to acknowledges, even though it can be seen from International Space Station, all the while they cause firefighting equipment and emergency funds to be denied to a political opponent.

Well Obama's field general did say this weekend to take the sons of bitches out.

War On The Border Claims Four More Americans

While all the attention in this country is on the upcoming election, life and death continues on our southern border with Mexico, and it is getting closer everyday.

Chihuahua state prosecutors' spokesman Arturo Sandoval said Edgar Lopez, 35, of El Paso, Texas, was killed Sunday.

On Saturday, a 26-year-old U.S. woman and an American boy were slain shortly after crossing an international bridge from El Paso. Giovanna Herrera and Luis Araiza, 15, were shot to death.

Sandoval said authorities also identified a 24-year-old woman killed Friday inside a tortilla shop as Lorena Izaguirre, a U.S. citizen and El Paso resident.

Men, women, and children, all apparently are fair game to the drug cartels. While California pushes to legalize drug use they are turning a blind eye to the killing of their fellow citizens in Arizona and Texas. The ninth circuit court entertains lawsuits from the Obama DoJ headed by Eric Holder for laws meant to protect the citizens of the state.

Meanwhile, the remains of seven people were found Sunday in a mass grave in Nogales, on the Arizona border. Mayor Jose Angel Hernandez said a family walking near the site noticed what appeared to be part of a body sticking up in a riverbed. Officers recovered six bodies and a severed head in the grave. A seventh headless body was found nearby.

I would hope that some of these so called Hispanic civil rights groups in this country, you know like La Raza which is working so hard to get us to just ignore any law that makes citizenship in this country a privilege worthy of protecting would be rushing to the microphones to condemn these acts.

It is time for the people in power whose job it is to protect us from physical harm to quit tilting at windmills and imaginary enemies like Wall St brokers, Tea Party members, and evil talk radio show hosts and start recognizing who are the real threats to our life and liberty.

Texas Next for Anti-Illegals Legislation

Let's hope this is a growing trend. Naturally the Associated Press shows their rank bias with this headline:

Texas lawmaker to introduce anti-immigration bill

Nothing in the story says the proposed legislation is anti-immigration. They're opposed to illegal immigration.

A Texas lawmaker says she plans to push for a law similar to Arizona's get-tough immigration measure.

San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle report Wednesday that Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball says she will introduce the measure in the January legislative session.

The new Arizona law would require local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status — and make it a crime for immigrants to lack registration documents.

Riddle says if the federal government did its job "Arizona wouldn't have to take this action, and neither would Texas."

Curiously it will be a crime according to ObamaCare legislation to not have health insurance. It's illegal to drive without a license or insurance. So why are Democrats so opposed to these common-sense laws? Well, because they want to legalize all the illegals so they'll vote for them.

Let's hope this trend spreads to other border states. I have little hope for California, but maybe New Mexico can get in on the act, though that's doubtful as long as Guillermo Richardson is governor.

What will really get the ball rolling is if northern states overrun by illegals sign on.

Are you listening, Governor Christie?

Texas Attorney General Tells Gays To Get Divorced Where You Got Married

Texas does not recognize gay marriages and therefore, according to their Attorney General, they also will not allow or recognize gay couples getting divorced. The basic message is if they want a divorce they need to go to a state that recognizes their marriage and get the divorce.

A judge granted the divorce in this case but the Attorney General is contesting the ruling. It will be interesting to track this case because it could establish the rules on whether or not other states will be forced to recognize gay marriages granted in other states or it could deal a blow to the GLBT activists who were hoping that by getting their foot in the door they can now barge right on in and ransack the house.

That left her fighting both the woman she married in Massachusetts and the state of Texas, which says a union granted in a state where same-sex marriage is legal can't be dissolved with a divorce in a state where it's not.

A judge in Austin granted the divorce, but Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is appealing the decision. He also is appealing a divorce granted to a gay couple in Dallas, saying protecting the "traditional definition of marriage" means doing the same for divorce.

A state appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments in the Dallas case on Wednesday.

Once again Texas is in the forefront of defining what limits there are on state's rights and who gets the final say.

The Gay Divorcees

The inevitable result of gay marriage?

Gay divorce, naturally. Some entreprenurial attorneys can make a cottage industry of this.

Of course we have a Democrat judge overstepping boundaries here. Nothing like blithely ignoring the will of the people.

In a first for Texas, a judge ruled Thursday that two men married in another state can divorce here and that the state's ban on gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.

Both a voter-approved state constitutional amendment and the Texas Family Code prohibit same-sex marriages or civil unions.

Although the case is far from settled, and the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage is a long way from being thrown out, Dallas state District Judge Tena Callahan's ruling says the state prohibition of same-sex marriage violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had intervened in the two men's divorce case, arguing that because a gay marriage isn't recognized in Texas, a Texas court can't dissolve one through divorce.

Callahan, a Democrat, denied the attorney general's intervention and said her court "has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction."

"This is huge news. We're ecstatic," said Dallas attorney Peter Schulte, who represents the man who filed the divorce. The man, identified in court documents as J.B., asked that he and his former partner not be identified.

Schulte said that the ruling was a surprise and that he hoped to have a divorce order for the judge to sign in the "next few weeks."

In a prepared statement, Abbott said he would appeal the ruling "to defend the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters."

His statement also said, "The laws and constitution of the State of Texas define marriage as an institution involving one man and one woman. Today's ruling purports to strike down that constitutional definition – despite the fact that it was recently adopted by 75 percent of Texas voters."

Gov. Rick Perry, who pushed for the constitutional prohibition on gay marriage in 2005, expressed confidence that the ban would stand up to this challenge.

"Texas voters and lawmakers have repeatedly affirmed the view that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman," he said in a prepared statement. "I believe the ruling is flawed and should be appealed."

The men married in Cambridge, Mass., in September 2006 and later returned to Dallas.

Still Want That Vacation To Mexico?

Maybe this is why Obama is fleeing to Canada. South of the border a very real civil war is brewing and now we have news of Mexican citizens turning on the Mexican Army, in effect throwing their support behind the drug cartels.

These incidents are not occurring way down country but right across the border from Texas. While we put Border Patrol agents for shooting drug smugglers in the butt and punish a ranch owner for detaining illegals until the proper authorities can arrive, a real conflict is being played out less then 5 miles from the border.

So what happens when it spills over and normal citizens resort to using their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves, their families and their property? Why isn't this getting more coverage in this country? How many people are going to stand around with mouths wide open when news of marauding bands inflict violence upon Americans?

Fear of Democrats Helps Boost Economy

Through increased gun sales.

Go figure.

Austin-area firearms dealers may have the Democrats to thank for brisk sales this summer.

The prospect that the next presidential administration might favor new gun-control laws has gun enthusiasts bringing dollars and concerns to local firearms stores ahead of the November election.

Some Central Texans have been talking about laws from the 1990s — passed under a Democratic president and Congress — that restricted semiautomatic rifles, governed the sale of high-capacity magazines and mandated waiting periods before customers could receive handguns. Their worries have translated into higher sales at local gun stores, store owners say.

"I don't care if it's the iPod, the market wants what it thinks is limited and restricted," said Alice Tripp, legislative director of the Texas State Rifle Association. "If it's something you've been thinking about owning, you're going to go to some trouble, some expense to get it while it's still out there."

Before the 1994 federal assault weapons ban took effect, buyers sought to purchase the rifles and magazines that would soon be illegal to buy in stores, leading to limited supply and higher prices, Tripp said.

This summer, sales at McBride's Guns in Austin are 10 percent higher, compared with the same time last year, said store owner Joe McBride.

"Our regular client base is very concerned about anti-gun legislation if the wrong people get elected," McBride said, adding "what they see as the wrong people."

H/T DanThePainter.

Mythical Bloodsucking Beast in Texas

This may even be scarier to some than Karl Rove.

Has a mythical beast turned up in Texas?

CUERO, Texas - Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it. But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra.

"It is one ugly creature," Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.

Canion and some of her neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.

She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years.

"I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off — all the blood was drained from them, she said.

Chupacabra means "goat sucker" in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens.

"I think it could have wolf in it," Canion said. "It has to be a cross between two or three different things."

She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.

But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.

"I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.

The "chupacabras" could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.

Grim Milestone: Allah-Invoking Fiend 400th Iced in Texas Since 1976

The State of Texas hit the grim milestone of 400 people executed since 1976 by removing Allah-invoking Johnny Ray Conner from society last night, despite pleas from the Euroweenies to spare this piece of garbage.

Convenience store clerk killer becomes 400th executed in Texas

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Condemned killer Johnny Ray Conner asked for forgiveness and said he'd be waiting in heaven for loved ones, including his victim's relatives, as he became the 400th Texas inmate executed since the state resumed carrying out the death penalty a quarter-century ago.

"Shed no tears for me," Conner, 32, said as tears flowed from witnesses on both sides of the death chamber Wednesday evening.

Hey, no problem. I'll respect your dying wish. Not a single tear shed here.

He received lethal injection for the slaying of Kathyanna Nguyen, 49, during a failed robbery at her Houston convenience store in 1998. Conner's two sisters were among people watching through a window as he died. Nguyen's daughter and a sister were among those watching through another window.

"When I get to the gates of heaven, I'm going to be waiting for you," he told them. "I will open my arms for you."

He had asked the warden for permission to speak longer than the usual alloted two to three minutes, specifically wanting to talk to his victim's daughter, and spoke slowly and with emotion.

"What's happening now, you are suffering," he told his family. "I didn't mean to hurt y'all.... This is destiny. This is life. This is something I have to do."

He ended by saying what was happening to him was "unjust and the system is broken," then invoked Allah. "To Allah I belong and to Allah I return," he said.

One wonders how much notice his tribute to Allah will get from the media.

Eight minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow, he was pronounced dead, making him the 21st condemned killer executed this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Three more executions are scheduled for next week.

The 400-execution milepost prompted an outcry from death penalty opponents. Only a handful of protesters, however, gathered down the street from the prison entrance Wednesday evening. The first in Texas was carried out in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed executions to resume.

"I know it's just a number, but 400," said David Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "Sometimes when I think about it I'm numbed, but still shocked. I'm very sad we're still doing this.

You won't have long to wait for No. 401, so get the sobbing out of the way now.

Scheduled to die next is DaRoyce Mosley, set for lethal injection Tuesday for his part in the slayings of four people in the robbery of a bar in Kilgore in East Texas in 1994.

Listening to radio this morning, a discussion about the Yankees was interrupted by moonbat author John Feinstein, who went on a rant about George W. Bush killing people in Texas and Iraq. Give it a rest and stick to sports. He also yukked it up about how his nine-year-old daughter wants to impeach Bush and Dick Cheney.

I wonder where she got that idea?