Drilling Permit Overhaul To Doom Small Outfits

Liability caps of $75 million are an “implicit subsidy,” said the Obama White House as the House of Representatives concluded its legislative session.

Democrats finished off the session with a close vote to change the system of permitting offshore drilling – 209 to 193.

Removing the liability limits will squeeze out independent producers, according to a major industry spokesman, Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Because insurers have been adamant about refusing to write policies in the absence of the limits on the damages they must cover in case of blowouts or major spills, industry observers are predicting the net effect will cause only major producers who are able to insure themselves to stay in the offshore drilling business. The house also voted 216 to 195 to lift the moratorium on drilling for projects that have demonstrated compliance with permit rules.

Dog Days Made Hot For Arizona Governor

Ninth Circuit Refuses Expedited Hearing - Solons Logjammed

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer would like to change the tough
new anti-illegal immigration law following an injunction
from a federal judge.

Her prospects appear to be slim and none any time soon.

President Obama ordered Justice Department lawyers to challenge the state law in federal court and obtained an injuction against month's end enforcement of the central tenets of the law.

Police officers' suspicion of a person's illegal immigration status is not a reasonable or probable cause for their arrest and detention, according to U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's holding.

Judge Bolton has received numerous death threats at her Phoenix office, according to published reports.

Arizona state lawyers immediately appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, asking for an expedited hearing in September.

Federal justices slapped the motion down, saying they fail to see the emergency when
U.S. law has been in place under the Constitution since the inception of the nation.

They have scheduled arguments much later, some time in November.

Unchecked immigration presents an emergent danger of permanent damage to the state, Arizona lawyers argued.

The Governor has said she might call a special session of the legislature to amend the law along the guidelines laid out by U.S. District Judge Sue Bolton's injuction.

However, Democrat lawmakers have vowed to withold their support for any such thing and Republican members have indicated they are unwilling to budge from their original
intentions.

Church Plans Quran Burning Day – 9/11

A Gainesville, Florida, pastor is planning an International Burn A Quran Day on 9/11, the ninth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Pastor Terry Jones wrote a book titled “Islam Is Of The Devil” and sells t-shirts and coffee mugs at The Dove World Outreach Center.

Dewhurst Predicts ObamaCare Will Bust Texas Budget

Washington - Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told a Washington
audience that federal health care mandates will drive Texas'
budget deeper into the red.

Using widely disputed figures compared to those cited by
Democrats, he told a group of Republican lawmakers that the
Patient Protection and Health Care Act of 2010 will add $27
billion to the state's health care costs over the next
decade.

He and fellow lawmakers are facing a multi-billion dollar
state budget deficit this year.

Speaking to the Texas State Society, Mr. Dewhurst predicted
that adding 6.1 million uninsured persons to the Medicaid
rolls will cripple the economy. About 27 percent of the
state's population younger than 65 lack health insurance.

"Arguably, we have to crowd out public education or higher
education to pay for this, or raise taxes," Dewhurst said.
"Those are unsustainable numbers. Totally unsustainable."

But an aide to Rep. Gale Green, D-Houston, who introduced
Mr. Dewhurst at the breakfast, said that the Congressional
Budget Office projects adding the uninsured persons to the
state's health care rolls will cost Texas only $1.4 billion
because the federal government will pick up most of the
cost.

In addition, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban
Institute estimates that adding l.8 million adults to
Medicade will cost Texas $2.6 billion over the years 2014 to
2019.

Deadly Violence Checked 100% With Ankle Bracelet

Court-ordering offenders to wear electronic GPS saves lives

A Friday Night Appointment With A Saturday Night Special

The arguments went on all afternoon long. She called him a
punk. She said he was unable to make love to her properly
when he was drunk.

After he shot and killed her, a police officer took his
statement and wrote that her remarks "demoralized" her
assailant, her husband, the killer.



The crime scene didn't look right to the uniformed officers
who came when James L. Graham called the Friday evening of
March 8, 2008, to say he had shot his wife.

She presented a sad scene where she lay in a fetal position
on the floor, dying.

Anyone could see she was a goner. The .38 caliber bullet
made a neat 3/8-inch hole in her left temple and exited out
of the right side of her skull at a slightly downward angle,
a little to the rear of the imaginary lateral line between
her left and right ears.

The pool of blood in which she lay was beginning to
coagulate, though a thready pulse and her struggle to
breathe spoke volumes about what would turn out to be the
last few minutes of her life.

She died within minutes of her arrival at a local hospital.

The shooting differed only in its severity from earlier attacks.

There was the time James kicked Rosie in the face with the
heel of his shoe. It bruised her eye and the entire side of
her face and head. In fact, he was still on probation for
that particular assault, something the Penal Code calls
Domestic Violence Causing Bodily Harm, when the fatal
argument occurred that Friday night - the night of the gun.

Then there was the time Rosie called police to show them the
damage done to their apartment a couple of months
previously.

The Grahams had moved out when it happened. No one
had lived there since.

The patrolman who responded noted in his arrest report that
he thought Mrs. Graham was just concerned that she not get
stuck paying for the damage. Then he arrested her for
criminal mischief..

It was the position of her body that made the officers
suspect they were looking at a case of premeditated murder,
of a man knowingly and intentionally loading a firearm and
setting out to use it to kill his wife. On their bed, they
found the six-shot revolver he used, a large quantity of
cartridges - 30 to 40 - and an empty ammunition box.

In the gun's cylinder, there were five live rounds and one
spent round under the hammer. A .38 caliber Arminius model,
gun experts say it's fairly rare, manufactured by a German
firm named Weihrauch, which named its product for the
mythical warrior chief, Hermann, fierce opposer of the
Romans who stopped the columns of the legions on the banks
of the Danube.

To an arms merchant, it's worth anywhere from $50 to $200.

It's a Saturday night special.

James admitted he pulled the trigger. But he had what he
thought was a good reason for doing it. He said she "came at
him" with a shiny butcher knife with a black handle.

There was a problem with his reasoning. The knife was
balanced on the back of her hand where she lay crumpled on
the floor.

It just didn't look right. Policemen see many scenes of
violence, particularly on a Friday night. Something about
this one just didn't look right.

They booked him in connection with a homicide investigation.
Evidence that came to light the next day led to a charge of
murder.

The landlord, Mr. Nils Guhlin, was stuck with cleaning up
the mess James and Rosie left after he shot her and killed
her.

He was at the crime scene to change the locks,
just in case the police would like to keep the evidence as
pristine as possible

What he happened to find changed the nature of the offense
in the eyes of police and prosecutors. There was a blood-
stained bullet hole in the headrest of a recliner next to a
window. On the window sill behind the chair, he found a
spent bullet. Mr. Guhlin called the police.

They came over right away, loaded
the chair and the bullet, and took them to the Austin
crime laboratory of the Department of Public Safety.

There, technicians examined what appeared to be bone
fragments, blood, and the projectile. They were able to
establish that the bullet resting on the windowsill behind
the chair was the one that passed through Mrs. James L.
Graham's head.

Death came twisting out of the muzzle of a cheap handgun
with brown plastic grips. It kept an appointment with a
battered housewife on a Friday night. Rosie didn't get up
out of her chair and come at James with a butcher knife. She
was sitting in her chair when he returned from the bedroom
with a gun in his hand and told her he was going to "end it
all." When he pointed the gun at her, she turned her head to
the right and the bullet drilled a path from the left side
of her head to the right side, went through the cushions of
the recliner where she was sitting, and wound up on the
windowsill behind her.

It was not the first time James Graham had shot someone.
Criminal records show he shot his own father in the chest
when he was only 17 years old because the man spanked him
for misbehavior. He shot a youthful friend in the face after
they argued.

A detective filed the charge of murder. A jury found him
guilty of the crime and the judge sentenced him to serve 25
years in the penitentiary.




Was all that necessary?

No. He could have done many things.

He could have left the house when he saw that he and Rosie
could not be civil to one another after drinking beer
through the afternoon hours, watching a basketball game with
a friend and arguing bitterly after the conclusion of a
favorite network game show.

Rosie could have left him many years before, never to
return. The two did neither. They hammered at each other

and did nothing to forestall or prevent Rosie's appointment

with death.

The crime of murder connected to domestic violence
toward a family member has no real respect for the
profession or social status of the victim. Education or
accomplishment - even money - can't possibly protect all the
people who might happen to fall prey to an enraged and
abusive member of the family.

For instance, just this past week a successful marriage
counselor, a lady who has taught anger management classes
for many years in Cleveland, fell victim to one of her
former students, a violent offender she married, a man who
was court-ordered to attend her counseling service.

A man killed his grandfather in a rural Central Texas
community located on I-35. It happened last week. The victim
was a revered and respected former mayor of the city.

Man suspected of killing his grandfather, former Bruceville-Eddy mayor

A woman in Gatesville, Texas, went to the courthouse to try

to get an application for a protective order, but her ex-boyfriend, an ex-Marine who worked at a local state
penitentiary as a maintenance supervisor, lay in wait for
her, knocked her off her feet and shot her in the head
before mounting the steps of the old Victorian building and
ending his life with his own pistol. Video surveillance
clearly shows that he spotted the cameras, looked into their
unblinking electronic gaze, then went back to his vehicle
and waited.

Even when victims under a protective order die pleading with

9*1*1 operators to send someone to help them, numerous
courts have held that cities and states are protected by
sovereign immunity. They routinely dismiss wrongful death
suits due to a lack of jurisdiction over such allegations of
complaint.

The job of protecting women from the men they love is just
too big for police and courts to handle.

Or is it?

Is it really too much to expect officers, probation
departments, judges, parole officers and mental health
professionals to stop or prevent violent death in the home?

A woman with grown kids, a lady who lives in a
rural farming town on a back stretch of two-lane blacktop is
busy "dragging Texas into the 21st century by the hair,"
according to her husband, a former police officer and crime scene
investigator.

Utahna Gates, a forensic computer recovery specialist,
physical therapist assistant and data processing technician with local
government experience, has the whole Lone Star State for a
territory and the entire courts and corrections bureaucracy
to convert and sell on the efficiency of her product.

Who is going to pay for it?

The offenders.

That's right. I said the offenders.

When I say that, I mean the people who have been released on
bond, placed on probation or deferred adjudication, or sent
to alcohol rehab or because they don't stop whipping
up on the old lady's head.

It's an unfunded mandate the taxpayers don't have to support
with their dollars, for which officials don't have to
budget, and it only costs the perpetrators of domestic
violence - a serial crime that just about always escalates
in its intensity.

Under the terms of a new law, Texas H.R.1506, those
who have been charged with domestic violence may be ordered by a magistrate to participate

in an electronic monitoring program as a condition of release on bail.

They can be ordered to stay outside certain "electronic
fences" which are monitored by a central computerized
terminal that flashes alerts to the monitor who can contact police, judges and victims any time an offender goes within the prescribed and forbidden territory around
the places where abused spouses
live or work, or their children's schools.

What's more, the unit - an electronic "tattle tale" ankle
bracelet - monitors the arrestee for the use of alcohol in real
time.

It's not necessary to bring the offender in to interpret the
electronic records in the unit.

Start drinking and the unit sends a silent signal to the
monitor.

Violate the boundaries of a protective order by going to a
spouse's place of work, home, school - or anywhere else she
may be, and the signals go out immediately.

The bracelet has a voice function; it tells the wearer when
it's time to plug it in to recharge the batteries; tells the
wearer to call the office, or that the territory being
entered upon is forbidden under the terms of the agreement
that allows the person to stay out of jail.

The cost to the offender: $12.17 per day.

The cost to keep the offender in a jail certified by the
Texas Commission on Jail Standards is about $45 per day.

Either way, the choice to the offender is simple. Does he
wish to live free, or continue to live in bondage to the
State of Texas because he cannot seem to quit beating on his
woman.

Do the math. It's a no-brainer. To write one set of figures
requires red ink; the other requires only the standard black
and blue shades favored by bean counters everywhere.

The chief advantage is this. Experts on domestic violence
and protective orders say that GPS monitoring under house
arrest conditions is usually 100 percent effective. The
violence stops then and there when the bracelet goes on.

For more information, see Seymour Detection Services

Arizona Immigration Law On Hold – City Law Squelched

Laws that were to take effect at the end of this month now stymied by federal litigation

States' rights activist lawmakers beat a hasty retreat this week in the face of federal litigation challenging anti-illegal immigration laws that turn enforcement over to local police.

A federal District Judge in Arizona sided with the Obama Administration, enjoining Arizona police from questioning and detaining people suspected of being in the U.S. Illegally. The President had directed the Justice Department to intervene, questioning the constitutionality of taking the initiative out of the hands of the federal government and placing under the authority of state authorities to arrest illegal immigrants for working without proper visas.

Nothing in the existing federal law prohibits state law enforcement officials from enforcing existing immigration statutes and turning illegals over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for deportation, according to the ruling by Judge Sue Bolton.

City officials in Fremont, Nebraska, chose to delay enforcing a new city ordinance that makes it illegal to rent housing to any person who cannot prove the legality of their immigration status and making it illegal for employers to hire any person who has not furnished adequate documentation of either their citizenship, or their lawful status as a foreign national working in this country.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund branch of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a creation of Chicago activist attorney Saul Alinsky, had filed suit in federal court to enjoin city law enforcement from making arrests and preventing employers and landlords from doing business with immigrants who work for meat packing houses in the area.

A federal judge struck down similar city ordinance in Farmers Branch, Texas, last month.

Birdwell Says Allegations "False Then, False Now"

Bosque County Republican Chairman Tom Bratcher

Senator Brian Birdwell said he has "never, ever" voted twice
in the same election in response to reports published this
morning.

According to a story by Ross Ramsay, editor of "The Texas
Tribune" and printed in "The Waco Tribune-Herald" and a
published report re-printed in "The Legendary" from April,
an Austin attorney had uncovered voting records that
indicate then Lt. Col. Birdwell was registered to vote in
both Virginia and Texas and did vote in both states' primary
elections.

The April report held that Col. Birdwell lost his primary
Texas residency through those alleged actions.

Senator Birdwell denied all such allegations in a statement
he issued at noon.

"There are inaccurate news reports published today which
contain false information concerning my voting record. Let
me be crystal clear. I have never, ever voted twice in the
same election, and that charge is particularly offensive to
a soldier who holds the voting process as honored and
sacred. Basically, this news story would have people
believe that on Election Day in 2004, I voted in Virginia,
then got on a plane and flew to Texas so I could cast a
second vote for George W. Bush. I did not."

He went on to explain that the investigation may be flawed
because of the similarity of his name and his brother's, in
which he shares as his middle name of Douglas his brother's
first name.

"The reports mention that my full name is Brian Douglas
Birdwell, and my brother's name, which appeared right after
mine on the voter roll in Tarrant County, is Douglas Todd
Birdwell. Because of the similarity of our names, I believe
there was an incorrect coding of which brother actually
voted in person in Texas on November 2, 2004. My brother
knows that he did vote in the general election in 2004 but
the reports indicate that he did not.

"The truth is that, despite the implication that story
presents 'new' information, this false claim concerning my
voting record was presented to the Texas Secretary of State
nearly four months ago when my candidacy was initially
challenged, then certified. The allegation was false then
and it's false now."

Bosque County Republican Chairman Tom Bratcher said an
independent investigation by he and his 9 other colleagues
who chair their GOP in State Senate District 22 concluded
that Senator Birdwell is qualified to serve as a state
senator, his residency requirement of having lived in the
district for the previous five years having been fulfilled.

Sibley Mounts Legal Challenge To Birdwell Nomination

Lawyer presented proof Birdwell committed felony in filing

This is a re-print of an article that appeared on
Wednesday, April 14, in "The Legendary"

A lawyer for former State Senator David Sibley will present proof to the Secretary of State that an opponent committed felony perjury.

In his application for the special election to be held on
May 8, records show, Col. Brian Birdwell of Granbury claimed he has been a Texas resident for the five years previous to the election to fill the unexpired term of Senator Kip Averitt.

That is required by Texas elections law to establish
eligibility for the office.

Documents on file in both Texas and Virginia put the lie to the claims he made on his application to be placed on the
ballot.

According to an attorney for Mr. Sibley, Gardner Pate of the
Austin firm of Lock, Lord, Bissell & Liddell, a Virginia
fishing license, voting records from both Texas and Virginia
and the voters registration applications from both states
prove "...Birdwell became a legal resident of the
Commonwealth of Virginia in 2004 when he registered to vote
in Virginia on Feb. 2, 2004, and by doing so, voluntarily
gave up his legal residence in Texas...Birdwell was not a
legal resident of Teas for the five years immediately
preceding the upcoming May 8, 2010 special election."



Furthermore, voting records from Virginia show that Mr.
Birdwell voted in Virginia in both primary and general
elections from 2004 to 2006. Upon his return to Texas in
2007, he registered to vote in Hood County and participated
in city and county elections, constitutional ballots, and
both primary and general elections in 2007 through 2010.

Though Texas law does not disallow voting privileges for an
individual serving in the military in another state,
"However, an individual serving in the military may
voluntarily give up his Texas residence by his actions," Mr.
Pate wrote in his application for a ruling from Secretary of
State Hope Andrade.

Mr. Birdwell "gave up his Texas residence in 2004 when he
registered to vote in Prince William County on Feb. 20,
2004."

In the application, signed under penalty of felony
prosecution, Mr. Birdwell said he intended to make Virginia
his official residence and did not re-establish his Texas
residency until 2007 when he returned to Hood County.

* * * *

On Friday County Republican Chairmen nominated Col. Bird-

well as their party's candidate for the General Election Nov. 2.

According to Bosque County Republican Chairman Tom Bratcher,

a Baylor mathematics professor, they satisfied themselves that

Mr. Birdwell's residency requirements were satisfactory.

"Col. Birdwell may have violated Virginia law in his voting and

registration," said Dr. Bratcher. "I don't know...We satisfied

ourselves that, legally, Texas residency follows a serviceman to

other states."

Rep. Joe Barton Signs ObamaCare Discharge Petition

Only one of 20 Texas Republican Represenatives has yet to
sign the petition that would start the repeal process

Sixth Congressional District Representative Joe Barton
joined 161 others in signing the Discharge Petition that
would allow repeal of ObamaCare Tuesday.

A total of 218 Rerpresentatives must sign the petition to
put the repeal machinery in motion.



Mr. Barton is a native of Waco who opposed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is joining
his fellow legislators to move the Speaker of the House to
discharge the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Ways and
Means, Education and Labor, Judiciary, Natural Resources,
Rules, House Administration and Appropriations from the
consideration of H.R. 4972 in order to repeal the new law.

A ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr.
Barton recently made news when he apologized to BP CEO Tony
Hayward for what he termed the $20 billion "shakedown" im-
posed on the petroleum producer and refiner after the Deep-
water Horizon blowout that fouled Gulf Coastmarshes, wetlands
and beaches from Grand Isle to Panama City. He later apolo-
gized for his apology.

The discharge procedure is allowed under "clause 2 of rule XV"
of the House of Representatives for the 111th Congress.

Representative Chet Edwards of Waco, District 17, is the
lone Democrat who voted against the controversial new law,
slated to take effect in 2014, after voting for an even more
controversial resolution that allowed the Speaker to deem
the measure passed for all practical purposes during an
acrimonious debate and late night weekend session.

As of this morning, he has not signed the petition.



Members of Tea Parties and other conservatives flooded the
Capitol Mall and House Office Buildings over a weekend that
saw Speaker Nancy Pelosi order the doors of the Capitol
Building locked and entry barred for further access during
the dramatic hours of the vote that sent the measure on to
the Senate.

Members of the Texas delegation to the House who have so far
signed the petition are:

1. Jeb Hensarling (R), Dallas, District 5
2. Louie Gohmert (R), Tyler, District 1
3. Kenny Marchant (R), Coppel, District 24
4. K. Michael Conaway (R), Midland, District 11
5. Randy Neugebauer (R), Lubbock, District 19
6. Pete Sessions (R), Dallas, District 32
7. Kevin Brady (R), The Woodlands, District 8
8. Pete Olson (R), Sugarland, District 22
9. Mac Thornberry (R), Clarendon, District 13
10.John R. Carter (R), Round Rock, District 31
11.Kay Granger(R), Ft. Worth, District 12
12.Ted Poe (R), Humble, District 2
13.Michael C. Burgess (R), Flower Mound, District 26
14.John Abney Culberson (R), Houston, District 7
15.Ron Paul (R), Surfside, District 14
16.Ralph M. Hall (R), Rockwall, District 4
17.Lamar Smith (R), San Antonio, District 21
18.Sam Johnson (R), Plano, District 3
19.Joe Barton (R), Arlington, District 6

The only Republican Representative who has not so far signed
the petition is Michael McCaul of Austin, District 10.

None of the 9 Democratic Representatives from the Texas dele-
gation have signed the discharge petition.

GOP Senators Block DISCLOSE Bill 59-41

In a test vote that split the chamber along party lines, Republican Senators stopped a liberal measure authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that would require corporate CEO's and union presidents to reveal they paid for political advertising.

The proposed legislation came in response to a Supreme Court ruling on Citizen United v. FEC handed down in December that held a corporation or a union has the same First Amendment rights as any person and is therefore authorized to engage in political speech and electioneering. That is presently disallowed by Federal election laws.

A similar version of the DISCLOSE Act passed the House of Representatives last month.

Representative Chet Edwards of Congressional District 17 voted for the measure.

The law would require interest groups to list all the names of their members unless exempted by the FEC. The National Rifle Association has obtained such an exemption to the proposed legislation.

Democratic Senators vowed to return the bill to the floor of the Senate after the upcoming summer and fall break.

Obama Deporting More Illegals - Violent Go First

Pundits from both ends of the political spectrum are
surprised to learn the Obama White House is deporting more
illegals than the Bush Administration.

The numbers don't lie, but they paint a picture very similarto both administrations.

The smart money is betting the get tough policy is
political insurance paid in advance to try to get
Congressional cooperation for immigration reform.

About 400,000 are expected to go back across the border in
shackles and chains this fiscal year - 10 percent more than
the Bush Administration deported in 2008 and 25 percent more
than made the trip in 2007, according to figures published
in "The Washington Post."

The stated mission is to "make our national laws work," as
the President said in a speech he delivered at American
University.

Why the emphasis on deportation?

This Administration is focusing on illegals with criminal
records, especially for violence. Company audits proceed
apace, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents
finding proof on employers' books that certain workers have
not proven their right to be in the U.S. and hold jobs.

But political observers think the difference between the
Bush and Obama White House strategy is to build a solid
track record for enforcement before springing the
proposition for amnesty for those already here and working,
a move bound to please and appease major employers of cross-
border workers sans papers.

Still, the political implications of such a move are
unpalatable in certain segments of the body politic.

Under the Bush proposal, the Congressional backlash was
immediate and highly vocal, causing Dub-yah and company to
beat a hasty retreat.

GOP Is For Me, Waco Tea Party Riff With County GOP Chair Still Brewing At Birdwell Nomination

Apparently, the schism that erupted between newly formed conservative organizations in McLennan County and the Republican County Chairman has not healed.

Reportedly, Joe B. Hinton arrived downtown Friday afternoon with “smoke coming out of his ears,” late for a 4 p.m. meeting of Republican chairmen called to nominate Senator Brian Birdwell as the party's choice to oppose any Democrat challenger for the District 22 seat he recently won in a runoff with former Senator David Sibley.

The meeting took place just prior to the GOP Unity Rally hosted by the Waco Tea Party and GOP Is For Me at the Convention Center.

The election of Granbury resident Col. Brian Birdwell, a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon where he was stationed at the time, is a radical departure from the status quo, which has seen a long and unbroken chain of Waco men who served as the District 22 State Senator, including incumbent Democratic Representative Chet Edwards, Senator Kip Averitt and Senator David Sibley.

This nomination was all important, because Senator Averitt had filed for re-election, then made it known that if he was elected, he would not serve; if nominated, he would not run due to health concerns which he termed a diabetic condition that makes him “a walking heart attack.”

He was the nomineee for the November general election until he resigned that designation, casting the judgment of the chairmen of the 10 district counties into question due to residency requirement questions posed by Austin election lawyers who pointed out that Col Birdwell had not been living in this state and this district for the requisite five years called for in the Texas Election Code.

Mr. Hinton, a retired Executive Vice President of Exxon/Mobil for European operations, was out of the loop due to miscommunication of some other difficulty regarding the nomination meeting.

He had previously objected to the formation of the GOP Is For Me and Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County due to concerns over common courtesy of informing the County Chairman of future plans.

After his defeat of Tea Party member and challenger Will Jones for the office, Mr. Hinton appointed Chris DeCluitt as vice chair. Mr. DeCluitt is board chairman of the Brazos River Authority, a position formerly occupied by Mr. Hinton.

A Waco attorney, he is fresh from a recent defeat in the election of State Republican Executive Committee members to Mr. Jimmie Kerr, a Waco refuse hauler.

Mr. Hinton is a distinguished alumnus of Texas A&M Commerce, the former East Texas State University and a generous benefactor of A&M scholarship funds. He serves on numerous boards and state commissions, including the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, to which Governor Rick Perry appointed him.

Much ado has been made in the local press over the sense of pique which county Republican officials have expressed over the upstart foundation of GOP Is For Me, The Waco Tea Party and the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County without first checking with Mr. Hinton.

Hispanic Republican Club co-founders Duke Machado of Woodway and Janet Jackson, vice chairman of the Bosque County Republican Party, were criticized in news stories by local GOP officials earlier this year.

Mrs. Jackson has been elected to the State Republican Executive Committee as the female representative from Senate District 22.

ObamaCare Discharge Petition Closer To Passing

"It ain't over 'til it's over." - Yogi Berra

As of this morning, 153 of the 218 U.S. Representatives
required to repeal the ObamaCare law have signed the
discharge petition introduced by Rep. Steven King (R-IA).

Burleson Tea Party activist and founder Angela Cox sent out
a call to Congressional District 17 voters to contact
Representative Chet Edwards urging him to the sign the
petition.

Mr. Edwards voted against the bill after voting for a
procedural resolution that allowed the Speaker to deem the
measure passed so it could be sent to the Senate for
approval. Many conservatives saw this as a piece of fancy
footwork designed to appease his constituents who opposed
the proposed law once the required number of votes had been
counted in the House Democratic Caucus.

Some knowledgeable observers see the discharge petition
movement as a similar way for liberal representatives to
mend fences and save face with their more conservative
constituents.

Others say it is entirely possible that, given the ground
swell of public outrage the ObamaCare law has generated in
red states, it's possible the 218 signatures will be
obtained and the appropriate committees will be directed
under the Rules of the House of Representatives to begin the
process necessary to repeal the law.

CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS FOR Rep. Edwards:

Washngton, D. C. office -- 202-225-6105
Waco office -- 254-752-9600
Cleburne office -- 817-645-4743
Bryan Office -- 979-691-8797

U.S.S. Harry S. Truman On Station Off Iranian Shores

The 6,000 Marines and sailors of Carrier Strike Group 10 are
ahead of schedule, on station in the Arabian Sea off the
coast of Iran.

Headed by the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, CVN-75, a Nimitz Class
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Strike Group is part
of what will eventually be a contingent of 4 or 5 U.S.
aircraft carriers that will be visible from the shores of
Iran later this month or in early August.

The multi-ship flotilla pulled out of Norfolk on May 21 on
orders from President Obama.

Military experts have the opinion that any attack by Israel
upon Iran will be part of a bilateral action involving the
United States.

In the past 20 years, the U.S. Navy has never had a buildup
in a mideastern area without eventually invading and
occupying the area.

Tea Party Unity: Focus Is On Obama's Debt Commission

The Waco Tea Party got it both barrels during the first few
minutes of the Unity Rally Friday evening at the Convention
Center.

Waco Tea Party Blog Talk Radio host Bobby Keith told Tea
Partiers it's time to do something about runaway government
spending.

"When somebody comes in your house and takes what belongs to
you, you're supposed to do something about it, aren't you?"
he asked. "What difference does it make if the government
tries to come take away your hard-earned money? It's the
same thing."

In 16 months of work, the outfit has produced startling
results, said Col. Dave McIntyre, third place candidate in a
field of 7 who vied for the Republican nomination to oppose
Representative Chet Edwards in November.

How was it done? Through focus on single issues of cutting
government spending, free markets and curtailing the powers
of a runaway federal apparatus by a strict construction of
the constitution.

Now, he told the crowd of about 500, the time is right to
focus even more closely on the national debt, something the
Obama Debt Commission has labeled as a cancer growing on the
economy.


"If you don't watch it, the people who have done the right
thing and saved their money are going to get taken to the
cleaners and the ones who did nothing but run up the debt
are going to get a free ride," he warned.

During his primary campaign, the Colonel repeatedly reminded
voters that the economy is as much a part of national
security posture as the defense budget, the armed forces or
the intelligence agencies.

As an instructor at the National War College and the chief
of an A&M doctoral program in Homeland Security, the former
paratrooper has hammered on the chief economic issue to be
corrected - the national debt and deficit spending. It's the
number one problem presenting a threat to the American way
of life, he has said all along.

The figures are grim.

By the year 2020, the American taxpayers will be spending $2
trillion dollars on interest alone. Next year's total
national debt is expected to exceed $14 trillion, or about
$47,000 for each American citizen.

Almost all the nation's discretionary spending goes to pay
for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs.

"The rest of the federal government, including fighting two
wars, homeland security, education, art culture, you name
it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget, is
being financed by China and other countries," according to
Alan Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming
appointed by President Obama to serve on the debt
commission.

"Just think about that: All that money, going somewhere
else, to create jobs and opportunity somewhere else."

He and Demorat Erskine Bowles appeared at the National
Governors Conference last weekend to explain to the chief
executives of states that the choices facing the commission
and the nation are the same ones they make at home.

How to pay for it? Reduce the debt? We can't grow out of it
through creating jobs or strengthening the gross domestic
product, according to studies done by economists.

The money won't just fall out of the sky. It's either
charge people higher taxes, cut spending - or both.

An obvious choice is to curtail popular tax breaks, said Mr.
Bowles, who as White House Chief of Staff headed talks that
led to budget surpoluses during the last three years of the
Bill Clinton Administration and the first year of the Bush
regime. Other programs on the line will be the home
mortgage deduction and a financial trigger mechanism for
gaining Medicare coverage, he said.

But Colonel McIntyre nixed that, saying that it's up to Tea
Party members and other conservative voters to keep a
watchful eye on the Commission.

The 9 Democrat and 9 Republican appointees will come up with
a package, something Congress will be required to either
vote up or down, he told his audience.

"They're going to offer a little bit of this and a little
bit of that and the President is going to put a lot of
pressure on conservatives and say 'You just won't cooperate.
You said you wanted to cut this and that and you just won't
cooperate.'

"We'd better be ready for that and say no, no, no, I don't
want to hear personal solutions; I don't want to hear
solutions that involve liberal policies. The only way we're
going to get out of this mess is with conservative
policies...

"Now, I'm concerned. I don't see any conservatives talking
about that for the election. They're talking about
temporary issues, you know, about today and tomorrow and
restore jobs and that's important. What's important is how
we're going to solve this debt problem."

La. Governor Hits Fed Govt For Drilling Ban

In an appearance before thousands of cheering oil field workers, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, "The fact that the federal government can't do its job shouldn't cost thousands of Lousianians our jobs."

The remark came after reports have aired over the past several weeks about how Energy Department officials allowed oil giant British Petroleum to write its own evaluations of its plans to deal with such environmental disasters as the blowout of a well being drilled by Transocean on April 20, recently capped.

To get an Energy Department permit to drill in the mile-deep water, BP officials listed as an expert a scientist who is long since dead. In another section of the evaluation, the company listed as creatures that would be affected by any such disaster as the blowout otters, sea lions and seals, even though none of these species inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. No mention was made of offshore oil workers laid off due to the ban on drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet and their families, fishermen, oystermen and shrimpers.

War On Terror Caused By A False Flag Conspiracy?

"Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup" alleges it happened

More than one man has alleged that the World Trade Center
buildings were brought down by an engineered, controlled
demolition charges.

One of them was actually inside the building when the
charges went off and lived to tell about it. His story,
told early and often, seems to have doomed him to an early
grave.

Barry Jennings was perfectly healthy, and yet he
suddenly dropped dead just two days before an expert report
on the structural integrity of Building 7 of the World Trade
Center, in which he was trapped on 9/11, appeared.

Mr. Jennings joined the New York City Housing Authority as a
CETA affirmative action employee in the seventies. By the
time he and New York Corporation Counsel Michael Hess were
dispatched to the Emergency Operations Center inside
Building 7 on 9/11, he was a Deputy Director in charge of
emergency operations for the Authority.

The story he told ABC Eyewitness News just moments after a
fireman rescued he and Mr. Hess does not jibe with the
official version of what happened that day.

Mr. Jennings said then and in an exclusive interview with a
documentary film maker in 2008 that he experienced the
vibration and deafeningly loud explosions on the lower
floors of the building. He was on the 23rd floor in the
emergency ops center.

Following his sudden and mysterious death later that year on
August 19, documentary film makers retained a private
investigator to get to the bottom of just what happened to
He suddenly withdrew, refunded his retainer, and said it was
a matter for the police, that it was likely Mr. Jennings was
murdered.

There is much more information on the website named
www.barryjenningsmystery.com

There is also a lot more to the story. Here are some of the
more intriguing details.

A nuclear physicist named Stephen E. Jones, Ph.D., examined
some curious chips formed in red and gray layers that were
found mixed in with the debris and the dust as fine as
talcum powder the explosions made of the hundreds of
thousands of tons of concrete when the buildings collasped.

He analyzed them by spectrographic inspection and
photographed these tiny chips with an electron microscope
and learned they are actually tiny bits of the extremely
volatile incendiary explosive named thermite - a complicated
molecule combined of black iron oxide, aluminum powder and
certain other heat producing chemicals it takes to make the
stuff blow sky high, such as magnesium ribbon.

Once detonated, it burns until it burns out, through the
Earth's crust and right down into solid rock. Nothing will
stop its rapid oxidation following an initial explosion.

That's why the military uses it to destroy safes filled with
top secret documents, to destroy communications computers
and weapons systems that are in danger of being captured by
an enemy invader. It will melt through the barrel of a
cannon in minutes.

Dr. Jones found significant quantities of the nanothermite
material mixed in with the highly toxic dust that filled the
trade center's ruins and the surrounding streets.

The explosions that brought down the twin towers and
Building Seven were so hot they left structural steel in
molten rivers. The structural fire burned longer than any
other on record. It was not completely extinguished until
December 13.

Structural debris loaded into trucks and then onto barges
and shipped away to the lowest bidders actually amounted to
the destruction of crime scene evidence.

There is more evidence what the came from, however.

Analysis of video made while the buildings "pancaked,"
imploding like any professionally demolished high rise
building, clearly shows that the roofs of the buildings
accelerated at 32 feet per second, per second, the rate of
acceleration of any object free falling due to gravity in
the absence of any impedence or the friction of atmosphere.

The central question is this. Where were the interior
floors, which would have retarded the acceleration?

They were gone. Thermite charges had destroyed them, floor
by floor, as the roof collapsed in on the building.
Enhanced video inspection clearly shows puffs of smoke from
the expertly timed detonations as they fractured the central
structural core of the buildings and the implosion followed
suit.

These items and many more are the subject of a detailed
report released on December 15, 2008, by the National
Institute of Structure Technology. The study concludes that
the buildings were not brought down by the heat of burning
jet fuel, but by structural demolition techniques used to
destroy buildings worldwide.

Who could have gotten that kind of explosive material inside
the building?

A major building concern named Turner Construction had a
contract to refurbish the central core structures of both
towers and Building 7 during the months preceding the
attack.

Security? That service was provided by a Kuwaiti company
named Securicon, which also provided security at Dulles
International Airport and for such major airlines as United,
American and U.S. Airways. One of President Bush's
cousins served on its board at the time.

All this is covered in a documentary film titled "Loose
Change 9/11: An American Coup," the product of a partnership
between director Dylan Avery, an investigative journalist,
and producer Korey Rowen. Exhibited worldwide, it's
available on DVD and through such video purveyors as
Netflix.

The film starts by reviewing known false flag events that
led to huge wars, touched off coups d'etat, and worldwide
depressions. Events such as the Reichstag fire in Germany,
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which the film makers
say was a known threat American leadership did not act upon,
imperiling the lives of sailors, Marines and airmen as the
nation slept, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, which the Nation-
al Security Agency admitted in 2005, did not in fact happen,
are depicted with vintage newsreel footage.

How could such a thing have been done in America?

A war game exercise code named Vigilant Guardian and
Northern Vigilance was directed form the Northeast Air
Defense System (NEADS) at Rome, New York.

Air traffic controllers were instructed that many strange
simulations would take place during the day, exercises that
would mimic an attack on New York City and Washington, D.C.
Airliners sent to attack targes such as the World Trade
Center were interpreted by both military and civilian air
traffic controllers as good guys, bandits from our side sent
to intercept bogies launched by the bad guys.

Military aircraft?

Wrong.

They were simulating war games that had precisely the same
circumstances and conditions as the reality. The bandits
were supposedly American airliners hijacked, filled with
fuel, and flying kamikaze raids with their IFF transponders
turned off and zooming along at high speed under the radar.

The three F-16's at Andrews Air Force Base were scrambled
and sent out over the Atlantic to chase some wild geese
while tactical squadrons from Langley Air Force Base were
sent on a fool's errand to the skies of North Carolina.

The cities were sitting ducks.

Who would do such a thing?

The film makers claim it was a group of high administration
officials known in the late nineties as the Project For the
New American Century.

Listen to the line-up on its board, according to a June,
1997, "Statement of Principles."

Elliott Abrams; Gary Bauer; William J. Bennett; Jeb Bush;
Dick Cheney; Eliot A Cohen; Midge Decier Forbes; Paula
Dobriansky; Steve Forbes; Aaron Friedberg; Francis Fukuyama;
Frank Gaffney; Fred C. Ille; Donald Kagan; Zalmay Kalizad;
L. Lewis Libby; Norman Podhoretz; Dan Quayle; Peter W.
Rodman; Stephen P. Rosen; Henry S. Rowen; Donald Rumsfeld;
Vin Weber; George Weigel; Paul Wolfowitz.

Any of those names sound familiar?

Their principles:

* increase defense spending to "carry out our global
responsiblities today and modernize our armed forces for
the future;
* "strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to
challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;
* "promote the cause of political and economic freedom
abroad;
* "accept responsiblity for America's unique rolin in
preserving and extending an internation order friendly to
our security, our prosperity, and our principles."

The writer points various little curiosities such as
President George W. Bush repeatedly saying he remembered
seeing the first jet hit the tower before he arrived at the
Florida elementary school where he was supposedly informed
of the attacks. Nothing like that was broadcast until many
hours later, the writers asserts.

Many witnesses in the Situation Room at the White House
remember Vice President Dick Cheney being there long before
official logs show his arrival.

Barksdale Air Force Base at Shreveport, Louisiana, where the
President waited out most of the disastrous day that
followed, was part of the original war game exercise that
simulated most of what, in fact, did take place.

And, of course, we all know the rest, the WMD's (Weapons of
Mass Disappearance) that the U.N. inspection teams never
could find in Iraq, the war dance and build up to go after
Saddam Hussein and the hunt for Osama bin Laden in the caves
of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The conclusion of the film is simple enough.

"It was an American coup, a violent seizure of power that
changed both foreign and domestic policy."

Viewers are informed that the narrator predicts they will
react in one of two ways.

Either they will adopt an emotion over intellect attitude
and blithely deny any such thing ever happened, or even
could have, or they will calmly ask themselves one simple
question.

What is next? To whom do we turn to investigate mass
murder, treason, and the prosecution of a war on false
premises?

Is such a conspiracy unprecedented?

No. Industrialists such as the men who ran Goodyear, Ford,
U.S. Steel, financiers with such Wall Street investment
banks as The Union Bank, Chase and President George W.
Bush's grandfather, Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush, were
shut down when they tried to recruit Major General Smedley
P. Butler, Commandant of the Marine Corps, to head up a coup
against President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After the general played along, then squealed to
Congressmen, the President quietly cut a deal with the
conspirators, and the incident melted away like snow in
June.

After all, there was a war on at the time.

World War Two.

Anti-Illegal Immigration Law To Be Tested In Court

Nebraska City Law Similar To Texas Ordinance Struck Down In Federal Court

Courts will soon have to determine if a city law targeting illegal immigration is too
vague, unconstitutional, or just improper.

The ordinance goes much further than the state law recently enacted in Arizona allowing police officers to detain and investigate anyone they suspect might be in this nation illegally if they have probable cause to believe they might be.

Fremont, Nebraska, enacted a city law approved by voters in June which will require employers to first verify if a new hire is in fact a legal resident before putting them to work.

Hormel and Fremont Beef Packing employ many Hispanic workers at their plants located
outside the city limits of this town located 35 miles northwest of Omaha.

Landlords will have to wait for city approval and the issuance of a renter's license before they can let tenants move in. First, the residency status of the occupants will have to be checked and verified by city officials, an item the municipal administration estimates will cost taxpayers about $1 million per year.

This part of the measure is similar to one struck down by a federal Court recently that would have required the same level of investigation from officials and landlords in Farmers Branch, Texas.

The law is scheduled to take effect at the end of this month.

So far, two civil rights groups have filed suits challenging the constitutionality of the new ordinance. The ACLU has objected to the city law's ignorance of a constitutional provision that requires a uniform enforcement of federal immigration law.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), an agency of the
Chicago umbrella organization founded by attorney Saul Alinsky, the Industrial Areas
Foundatioin, has challenged the law on the basis of its approach to federal fair housing standards.

"The Fremont ordinance is so vague, they actually are talking about people like me," said Shirley More James of Lincoln, an attorney who filed the suit on behalf of MALDEF. She is a third generation Mexican-American. "If I went to live in Fremont, and I want to rent, I will have to prove my citizenship. I believe that's a violation of my civil rights. I don't think after two generations in this country that I have to prove I am a U.S. citizen."

Fox, Conservative Blogsters Attack Scribes Who Squelched Rev. Wright's "God Damn America" rant from pulpit

Return with us to the days of yesteryear when it was cool to ask God to damn America If you don't remember, I'll be glad to remind you.

A preacher stood in his pulpit on the south side of Chicago and shouted the words three times.

"God damn America!...God damn America!...God damn America!"

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ had for 25 years been the pastor to community organizer, state and U.S. Senator Barack Hussein Obama.

It was not the first, nor was it the last time preacher Wright slammed the U.S.A. In terms of extreme prejudice, he criticized to his heart's content, enjoying the full protection of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Senator Obama was then in a red hot primary race opposing Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America in 2008.

That is probably the only reason the national media took any note of Rev. Wright's intemperate remarks entreating deity to damn our nation. After all, we all became accustomed to expressions of black rage not too long after the mid-point of the previous century. By 2008, it had become old hat following the assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the deaths of dozens of black activists who chose to shoot it out with lawmen – and lost.

The Legendary merely made the remark on-line that it was difficult to predict just how the Obama organization would counter the objections of conservative, God-fearing, Christian America in the face of the candidate's own pastor calling upon the Almighty to damn their very own nation.

After all, it was on television - ABC, NBC, CBS, whatever. Google it on YouTube if you really want to listen to the whole thing again. It's still there on the boob tube.

In the fallout that followed, The Legendary was banned from that particular website. The vitriol and abuse to which I was subjected was formidable, to say the least.

All I had to do was mention the peanuts on the breath of the elephant sitting in the living room. I mean, the two-ton johnny was sprawled out in the middle of the wall to wall carpet, swinging its trunk from side to side, flapping its ears and blowing dust up on its back, and I merely remarked that not only was the experience rather oppressive, but the beast had gone so far as to call upon God Almighty to damn the nation in which I was born, educated, had fathered a child and enjoyed being a grandfather.

But that's all it took to unleash the hounds of hell. The Legendary was way, way, way out of line for even opening his racist trap and mentioning the fact that the old boy was pastor to a man who wanted the very same job originated by General George Washington, a man who was known to kneel in the snow and pray with his troops.

After all, they were men whose feet had left bloody prints in the snows of Valley Forge during the bleakest winter of his revolutionary struggle for freedom, for liberty, for his very life.

What do you think the Red Coats would have done to General Washington if they had ever gotten him in their custody in The Tower of London?

Disembowelment, hanging, drawing and quartering was a favored punishment of the day, if history serves us correctly.

Certainly, he never called upon God to damn the United States of America, nor did President Roosevelt or President Nixon, President Truman or President Thomas Jefferson. No matter their failings and personal shortcomings, they had better sense than to let anyone know they had called upon God to cause any harm to their nation, or even attended worship services led by an individual who had done so while wearing the symbolic cloth of a pastor's surplice.

By that point in our nation's history, we had all begun to hear that type of rhetoric from imams and mullahs in even the best neighborhoods, places like Teheran, Baghdad, Kabul – hell's bells, man, even Brooklyn and Detroit have preachers wearing funny-looking hats who like to castigate and vilify America.

Of course, Mr. Obama quickly moved to denounce the pastor's remarks, resigned his membership in the church and otherwise made noises to the effect that he very much regretted this alarming turn of events.

Now that his approval rating among voting age Americans has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, conservative pundits are starting to make political hay out of the type of electronic on-line chatter and fancy footwork that occurred at the time among liberal political journalists who wished to soft pedal the untoward incident and protect Mr. Obama from the inevitable backlash.

Fox News Network is chronicling events that transpired on a now defunct list serve – Journ-o-list – in which various scribblers wondered in semi-private correspondence if the government could be persuaded to simply fail to renew News Corporation's broadcasting permit.

Somehow, Fox and The Daily Caller, a Washington, D.C., blog updated daily by conservative reporter Jonathan Strong and publisher Carlson Tucker, have decided they were calling for a forcible removal of Fox from the airwaves.

Oh, well, they said I was a racist because I mused about how the Obama camp would spin the outrageous remarks of a holy man standing in a Protestant sanctuary on a Sunday morning and cursing the very nation in which he was born by asking God to damn it.

Even Sarah Palin has weighed in, calling the entire affair typical of the way liberal jouralists operate in some vast and supposed conspiracy to suppress the truth and the way and the light of conservative values.

Hot, ain't it?

...To Peacefully Assemble To Petition The Government...

Americans For Prosperity, Tea Party “Sour On Spending” at Waco's Heritage Square

The people are pleasant enough, even cheerful, but underneath every smile, behind every casual remark, is an attitude of steely resolve.

These people have seen the future and they know it doesn't work.

They want to take back their United States of America.

They want to see the eagle grin when they squeeze the green off that dollar bill and press it.

Then they want to hang it up to dry so their grandkids will still have something to hold on to when they grow up besides a tax statement and a debt service, something to wear that will keep them warm when the winter winds howl and the wolf is at the door.

In the space of the latest few years of their lives, these people have seen the federal budget explode from a multi-billion dollar surplus to a rapidly ballooning $1.5 trillion deficit and they can't see any other way out of their problems other than to curb the runaway, willy nilly tax and spend insanity.

There is no other way – at least, no other way they can see other than to vote the rascals who are doing this to them out - out of office, out of mind, out back of beyond and way past never never - until they will never again have to pay any attention to that man behind the curtain.

In short, they have seen the wizard and they don't want to see any more. Enough is enough.

At least, it seemed that way to the 50 or so people gathered in the heat of Tuesday's noon hour at Heritage Square Park in front of Waco's City Hall.

Consider the words of Peggy Venable, state director of Americans for Prosperity, a lady who travels out of Austin to spread a growing message of distrust for federal lawmakers who she says are robbing our grandkids.

“Congress is really overspending. They are not gauging our children's future.”

What about the budget shortfall in the Texas state budget?

“ State Representative Doc Anderson says they won't raise taxes to cover the budget shortfall,” she said, the only bright spot in her message to like-minded voters.

The solution?

There are several months remaining before that fateful day, November 2, when voters will go to the polls and separate the sheep from the goats.

“A lot of the media is eager to demonize us,” said Ms. Venable. “That falls on deaf ears with many Americans who are eager to take back America.”

According to Cindy Mallette, who is the local grass roots and communications manager for Americans for Prosperity, a group that has aligned itself with the Tea Parties nationwide,

“We really need people who will do a little to persuade Congressmen to cut spending.”

What would that little something be?

If volunteers will e-mail her at cindy@afptx.org, she will show them how to contact prospects through phone banks from the convenience of their own homes, send e-mails to people who are interested in freedom issues, especially fiscal freedom from high taxes.

There are other tasks to perform, chiefly hanging cardboard doorknob notices on peoples' porches to let them know there is an alternative brewing in their own neighborhood at meet-ups and get togethers all over town.

Ms. Venable added that Harley-Davidson dealers readily make parking lot space available for rallies and meet-ups all over America.

Like the Tea Party, Americans for Prosperity is an issue-oriented, direct action coalition of like-minded people who do not espouse any particular ideology or back any slate of candidates. Their goal is to heighten awareness among the voting public of what they see as an extreme need for a screeching halt to deficit spending by their government.

Liberal dailies on the east coast have accused Americans for Prosperity of being a front for large corporations who are angling for a re-do of the tax code.

Sounds familiar to The Legendary. One has only to remind one self of that tea merchant of Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. John Hancock, who threw a tea party on a full moon night and touched off something the Committees of Correspsondence could hardly keep up with in their writings throughout the colonies.

In fact, what larger corporate organization is there other than the government of the United States of America? Who are its shareholders?

Gotcha!

Come on and ramble along, y'all. We are going to have a lot of fun doing this. I just know it.

HOG Profit Surges As Financial Services Unit Gets Toe-Hold

Last American motorcycle manufacturer's approach to financing V-Twin market

Pre-trade prices rose 5 % prior to the market's opening this morning on Harley-Davidson (HOG) shares.

Analysts attributed the uptick to news from yesterday when the venerable Milwaukee manufacturer posted second quarter net income of $71.2 million - .30 per share, up from .08 per share in the first quarter at $19.8 million.

The key to the good news is that a new financial services division has started to show a profit.

Though sales revenue has remained flat, profitability has risen on a more aggressive and liberalized credit posture tailored to the motorcycle market in cooperation with Eagle Savings Bank, a seller's assist program that enables Hog owners to peddle their used bike for a trade on a new one, and such gimmicks as on-line payment calculation, instant pricing and custom ordering.

Financing on selected models is as low as 1% APR throughout this month, according to advertisements.

At $25.15 per share, the price rose by 6.52% on the news, up by $1.54 on volume of 120,188 compared to a Monday closing price of $23.61 on volume of 26,569 shares.

The stock has shown a volatile performance in its 52-week history with a high of $36.13 and a low of $19.16.

Marketing plans shifted after company executives joined the Davidson family in buying Harley-Davidson back from the conglomerate American Machine & Foundry. The emphasis has been on hand assembling a large array of custom bikes at the factory in Milwaukee rather than allowing dealers and aftermarket purveyors to assist owners in rebuilding and customizing the same engines and transmissions on frames they acquired many years in the past.

Prior to the sea change in Harley's marketing philosophy, it was a marginalized company manufacturing basic units that were sold and serviced, then customized by sellers of aftermarket products.

As one savvy observer noted, “You can only sell so many motorcycles to fat guys with tattoos wearing black t-shirts.”

Today's Harley dealer is not authorized to work on year models that are older than a typical financing period and the emphasis is on financial flow plan that features an extended warranty, service plan, and the HOG Owners Group, which offers first-time buyers the companionship of instant riding partners without all the folderol of the “one-percenter” gang image so often exploited in motion pictures and television dramas.

Visiting State Capitol? Carry Sidearm And Concealed License

New regulations allow licensed pistoleros to use express lane

To gun control advocates, it makes no sense.

To pro-gun enthusiasts with a concealed carry license, it's wildly popular.

At any rate, it's the way Governor Rick Perry wants it and it's here now.

If you have a concealed carry handgun license and you're packing, you can enter the “express” lane at the Texas capitol building metal detectors.

Legislators, lobbyists, officials and business men are rushing to get themselves licensed to carry. This way, you don't have to stand in line for long. Just let them scan that handgun license, put your keys or purse in the tray, and you're off like a flash.

The Governor, who is known to often carry a .380 automatic in his boot, was aghast when the magnetometers were installed. He decried the loss of free-wheeling laissez faire that visitors had always enjoyed under the rotunda. Back then, no one paid much attention to your bidness. That all changed recently when a dude showed up at the main entrance busting caps and waving his hog leg.

Pistol packers who favor having and not needing rather than needing and not having have prevailed. Those who go armed will be ready and able to cancel any fool's ticket who gets to squeezing them off inside the pink granite walls.