The Amarillo Indy

A Letter Sent to Chris Dodd of the MPAA

2012-01-20T01:22:00.000-06:00

Christopher J. Dodd

MPAA

600 Eye St., NW

Washington, D.C. 20006

BY FAX (202) 296-7410

and

15301 Ventura Blvd., Building E

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

BY FAX (818) 285-4403

Dodd,

I listened to the National Public Radio report on SOPA and PIPA this evening and heard your comments.

Those of us who are fighting these two pieces of corporate bullshit legislation do so because we don’t trust people like you and your allies. Why should we? And especially you — someone who took legalized bribes from the banking industry while you were in the Senate. You were and are part of corrupt system.

As a newspaper/news site publisher, I have a clear understanding of intellectual property and the creative process. I don’t need you and others to call us “childish;” nor do we need you and others to tell us how to live our lives. Further, you’re stupid if you think controlling the Internet will stop piracy. People have been copying videos and music without the help of the Web.

I know you are smart enough to understand the hostility and disrespect I am showing in this letter. I am doing so because someone has to speak truth to people who think they are in power. The lack of respect for you stems from your history as a prostituting politician and the ease with which you were bought and paid for by a wide range of industries you protected. Your contribution to assisting in the demise of the middle class for the benefit of your rich friends shows your lack of understanding of history and that you are willing to risk turning the

United States

into a banana republic.

I have attached as part of this letter the column I wrote today that further speaks to the subversion of our great country you and your allies are trying to accomplish.

Signed without respect,

Stop SOPA and PIPA now

2012-01-20T01:19:00.002-06:00

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation that could forever change the Internet. The measure in the House is the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). A related

measure in the Senate is the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Don’t kid yourself. These laws are about corporate greed. They are not attempts to protect copyrighted material. Here is some prima facie evidence of that assertion:

· Have you been to the movie theater lately? I went to see “Hugo” recently at the Cinemark Hollywood 16. We sat through 40 minutes of commercials. Remember when we went to the movies and got a cartoon, news and previews along with our feature film? Now we pay $8 or more to get bombarded with 40 minutes of ads and that does not count the previews.

· Have you looked at the prices at the popcorn counter? C’mon. What more need be said?

· Have you rented a video lately? Have you tried to access the special features? We found that now a rental video contains the feature file and little more. No outtakes. No deleted scenes. No director’s commentary. It’s more cost-cutting for the sake of more profit at the consumers’ expense.

· Have you watched TCM lately and seen the begging from The Film Foundation that wants donations to preserve old films? The board of the organization includes Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. And these people and their studios, in an industry that make billions (yes, with a “b”) each year, don’t have the money to go back into their own archives and preserve their own work? I just don’t buy it. Look at The Film Foundation’s tax return here.

· Have you seen how the rock stars live? No? Really?

The reality is that if people want to pirate content, they can and they don’t need the Internet to do it.

Folks, this is not just about leaking a few dollars out of the pockets of greedy stars and corporations. I am less of a conspiracy theorist than I used to be, but I am certain that this is an attempt to kill off any hope of an American Spring, even if it is a peaceful one. This is a plan for the government to take control of the Web and ultimately kill off the free and open discourse the Web offers. As a result, it is an attempt of those in power to sabotage the kind of communication that could coordinate voting and voting blocs that could overthrow the incumbents.

The petition below respectfully asks Congress to not pass the measures, but it is quite possible that the representatives on the payroll of the big media will do their masters’ bidding. Some stories say that the Senate will kill the bill. And President Obama has said he would veto it — but we heard that about the NDAA, so it’s best to kill this measure as early as possible.

And while we ask respectfully in these petitions, those in Congress receiving these petitions should know their underlying threat. Some of us will do all we legally can to see supporters of SOPA and PIPA lose their next elections.

I am asking you to go to the links below and add your name to the petition. Please. The very democracy that undergirds our republic is at stake.

Thank you.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

http://sopastrike.com/strike

What am I?

2011-12-14T21:18:00.002-06:00

My Liberal Identity

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

Take the quiz at
About.com Political Humor

Fraternity at LSU celebrates 50th anniversary

2011-05-17T23:10:00.000-05:00

The Louisiana Beta Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon celebrated its 50th anniversary over the May 13-15 weekend in Baton Rouge.

The original Sig Ep house of the 1960s

The current Sig Ep house

Founding brothers and those who helped re-establish the chapter at LSU were feted at a dinner-dance Saturday that followed the celebration of the ritual and the initiation of a new brother. The dinner-dance also honored the chapter itself, which has excelled on campus in leadership and academics.

Prior to the Saturday evening events, the chapter hosted an open house at its Lakeshore Drive facility. The midday event included snacks and a light lunch.

Friday's main event was the "Old Geezers" reunion at a local seafood restaurant. Members who founded the chapter in 1960-61 were joined by other members in the 1960s era of the national fraternity.

Here are the pictures from that event:

Pantex fires Repent Amarillo head

2011-05-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

This is posted from Repent Amarillo's/David Grisham's Facebook page:

On September 11th, 2010 I attempted to burn a Quran in a public park here in Amarillo. I did this for three reasons;

1. To bring attention to the growing spiritual and physical danger of Islam in America.

2. To stand with a brother in Christ, Dr. Terry Jones, as he stood against enormous pressure from our "tolerant" culture.

3. To stand for our free speech rights as the Obama administration was attempting to squelch our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion( as Acts 19:19 allows burning of books in Christianity as a stand for righteousness) by allowing the constitution to be held hostage by threats of violence overseas.

I knew my actions on that day would come with consequences. I knew that "tolerance" was only extended for evil and sin in our society.I knew that standing against the evil of Islam would cost me something.

That stand has now officially cost me my career at Pantex that I have had for the last quarter of a century. I was informed yesterday by my union representative, Leo Salazar, that BWXT Pantex had sent me an official letter terminating my employment.

Free speech will cost your job at Pantex. It will cost your job with other employers as well. A New Jersey Transit employee was also fired for burning pages from a Quran on that same day. This is part of the overall pressure applied to those who choose to disagree with the "tolerance" our modern society demands.

I broke no rules at Pantex. I violated no terms of my security clearance. I broke no laws. But I lost my job.

In fact, the Dept. of Energy never revoked my security clearance over this incident. But BWXT has now fired me for essentially....nothing.

Folks, this is not just going to affect me and my family.This is just a small part of a larger problem that eventually affects us all. We are no longer free to disagree with political correctness. At this point it is social and economic pressure. How much longer before it has the force of law behind it? It will be very soon and any attempt to speak out on homosexuality, Islam,abortion, or any other sin will be regarded as "hate speech" and will be punishable by law. Mark my words, this is coming.

I am much more worried about losing my rights than losing my job. Men of valor have lost their lives for my rights. Freedom is paid for in blood. " Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" The freedom I have in Christ came at the cost of the blood of the Son of God. No higher price could ever be paid.

My favorite quote by Martin Lurther King is this; " And it may come to pass that the greatest tragedy of our time will not be the words and deeds of the children of darkness but the silence and apathy of the children of light."

Job or no job, I will not be silent. I will not stop.This child of the light will speak up even if it breaks the law. There is no legitimate law against the truth. I will preach the truth and light of Jesus Christ and the righteousness of His kingdom regardless of the cost, even if it costs me my very life. I have counted the cost and Jesus Christ is worth it all. So, all is what I am willing to give as my reasonable service.

Let the darkness beware. Jesus Christ is coming to judge the world in righteouness and truth. We can either pay the cost of everything in this world and gather with Him, or we can scatter abroad and pay the cost of eternity in hell.

Your choice, choose wisely.

Pastor David Grisham

Sad Monkey Railroad in Palo Duro Canyon

2011-04-02T22:24:00.002-05:00

Tiny Town 1990

2011-02-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

This was at Tiny Town, in Colorado, in 1990.

A long, time ago, in the mountains

2011-02-06T22:04:00.000-06:00

Many of you know I am a train buff. I love anything on rails, whether it's a small backyard train with 7½ inches between the rails or the behemoth like the Union Pacific Big Boys.

Lately, I have been digging through some old video, digitizing it and now to the point of editing the content.

I came across this train ride from 1990, I believe, on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. You can read more about the loop here, but as I understand it, these old Shays — the geared locomotives designed for hauling power, not speed. The original, shot on VHS-C using a Minolta video camera, is more than 20 minutes and includes a segment of the Lebanon Mine Tour that is part of the ride. I pulled that out because it’s dark and, well, it’s not about trains. And I shortened the ride from the two-way trip from Silver Plume to Georgetown and back to just the one-way segment to Georgetown.

The equipment you see in this video no longer runs on the loop.

n 2004, the GLRR, Inc., in a disagreement with the Colorado Historical Society over fees, insurance and other costs, declined to rebid running the historic route.

Achmed The Dead Terrorist sings Christmas Carol

2010-12-06T23:24:00.000-06:00

Anti-Semitism evident in speaker's race

2010-11-18T12:37:00.003-06:00

The race for the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives continues its nastiness, but at least I have to give Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, credit for distancing himself from the injection of hyper-Christianity and right wing silliness into the fight.
"I think it's wrong that they do it. We need to stick to the issues of the state, and that is not one of them," an article in Thursday's Houston Chronicle quotes Chisum as saying.
By recapitulation, a group of right-wing, hyper-Christian whackos have attacked current speaker Joe Strauss, R-San Antonio, because he is Jewish.
My acknowledgment of Chisum's behavior doesn't mean I believe he is redeemed as a legislator. Like most politicians, he is undertaking a politically expedient step that might get him in trouble with others who would support him.
In fact, I consider Chisum dangerous.
Like so many conservatives of his ilk — as opposed to thoughtful conservatives who understand what public policy should be about — Chisum is one of those who continues to be hypocritical about keeping government off our backs while trying to shove it into our bedrooms. I have come across a video that I have edited to show Chisum at work in the legislature in 1993. It is funny, but to some the language, even though it is spoken of the floor of the House, might be offensive. And, the late Molly Ivins quotes some folks (it's not clear who) using language that might also offend. Nevertheless, if you enjoy a laugh and are not offended by a few off-color words, take a look at the video.

But there is a more important issue at stake here. It seems there is an awful lot of silence in the Panhandle about this injection of anti-Semitism into the speaker's race. No other legislator has issued a statement; or, if they have, they have not issued one to The Amarillo Independent. Nor, has the corporately owned right-wing daily alleged newspaper jumped on this with an editorial distancing itself from this fray.
I can understand how some legislators might see this issue has too hot to handle.
I could say I don't understand why the other media hasn't reacted so negatively to this turn of events in the speaker's race. But, I do.
And for now, I will leave it at that.

Race for speaker hits new low

2010-11-18T12:36:00.000-06:00

The race for the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Texas Legislature has sunk to a new low, according to a story in Wednesday's Dallas Morning News.
E-mails circulating focus on Rep. Joe Strauss’ being Jewish while emphasizing that his opponents in the race, Pampa’s Rep. Warren Chisum and Rep. Ken Paxton, are "true conservatives and Christians."
Reporter Robert T. Garrett could not trace down the origin of one of the more offensive e-mails, but cited another one from Peter Morrison, described in the article as a southeast Texas conservative.
Garrett also cites The Quorum Report, an online subscription-only newsletter.
“(The Quorum Report) reported extensively late Monday on e-mails that mentioned Straus' Judaism, his rabbi and the Christian faith of his House critics, who include Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola.”
By implying that a Jew has no moral compass, as the e-mails do has reported this story, Strauss' enemies have not only sunk to pond scum levels of political discourse but they have also overlooked a huge irony in their approach to undercutting Strauss.
Jesus the Christ, son of the House of David, was a Jew and it is His moral compass that Hughes, Morrison and their cohorts claim to follow.
All three legislators need to disavow this heinous type of political behavior and focus on leadership and other issues.
Obviously, Chisum, Paxton, Hughes and Morrison have failed to answer the question: What would Jesus do?
The answer: not this.

Proposed downtown master developer troubled

2010-11-15T23:27:00.000-06:00

What's it all about, Wallace?

By Gina Haschke, Greg Rohloff and George Schwarz

The Amarillo Independent

The principals in the development firm that the Amarillo City Commission is considering as the master developer for downtown revitalization are no strangers to litigation, with one of the firm’s showcase Houston area projects the subject of a foreclosure and lawsuit. And, those same principals, David G. Wallace, and Costa Bajjali, are on the periphery of an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission fraud investigation.

Last Tuesday, Wallace, co-founder and chief executive officer of Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, L.P., impressed city commissioners and staff with apresentation touting his experience with developments in his hometown of Sugar Land, where he served as mayor until 2008. He also touted his firm's developments in other cities, including Waco and the Houston area.

(See the video of Wallace’s presentation here.)

But at least one development has soured — the Creekmont Plaza mixed use commercial development in Fort Bend County.

According to a petition filed June 10, 2010, Frost National Bank foreclosed on the Creekmont Plaza Development in Missouri City.

The two men took out a loan of more than $1.9 million with Frost in August 2008 as the general and limited partners in Creekmont Plaza Partners, L.P. and personally guaranteed the loan.

“Despite demand for payment of the balance due, Mr. Wallace and Mr. Bajjali have failed to pay the balance due,” the petition alleges.

The petition states that the property was sold in a foreclosure sale in April at the Fort Bend County Courthouse. But the sale, which brought $1.1 million, was almost $820,000 short of the loan amount. At that time, taxes on the property were also overdue.

“The delinquent taxes for the years 2007 through 2009 were in the amount of $157,494 if paid in March of 2010, plus the 2010 taxes and the Defendants are jointly and severally liable to Plaintiff for the taxes plus interest thereon as allowed by law,” the petition alleges.

The petition asks for payment of the shortfall of the sale, interest, court costs and lawyer’s fees.

All the defendants have entered a general denial and, as of Monday, the case is set for trial in March 2011, according to Harris County District Court records.

A search of additional Harris County District Court records shows Wallace involved in several other lawsuits, including litigation in 1995 with Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Wallace’s former business partner in several United States-based businesses.

How much Downtown Amarillo, Inc. is aware of all the court actions isn’t clear.

Melissa Dailey, executive director of Downtown Amarillo, Inc., said she had done “quite a bit” of background research on the firm. She said she had not looked into the Thatcher alliance in detail, but added, “I’m more interested in his development activities here in the United States.”

When asked about a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, she said she was “aware of the situation.”

It has little negative reflection on Wallace Bajjali, Dailey said, adding, “In fact, it’s a positive.”

Daily wouldn’t discuss the matter further, saying instead Wallace would talk about it when he was in Amarillo in the next week or two “because he knows the details much more intimately than I do.”

Several calls and repeated messages left for Wallace for comment were not returned.

The SEC investigation focuses on Kaleta Capital Management, or KCM, and a Houston business known as BizRadio, and may yet reach Wallace and Bajjali or some of their business entities.

The year-old litigation — the SEC filed suit Nov. 13, 2009,— names Albert Kaleta and KCM as defendants in a claim that they defrauded investors of $10 million.

According to a July 2010 update on the receivership website , “Based upon the recent inclusion of BizRadio in the Receivership Estate, negotiations have now been commenced with respect to potential liability of the Wallace Bajjali entities and their principals with respect to investments by members of the public in BizRadio directly, and in other related investment vehicles. To date no agreements have been reached with respect to these matters.”

On Monday, Thomas L. Taylor III, the Houston attorney who is overseeing the SEC-ordered receivership of KCM, said neither Wallace nor Bajjali or their entities are yet named in any of the court papers but he would also neither confirm nor deny that they could be pulled into the federal investigation at a later time.

In negotiations with Taylor, Wallace has paid back $92,348 and Bajjali has paid back $45,550 to date, according to the publicly available information.

Taylor said negotiations are ongoing about further repayments by Wallace and Bajjali.

Nevertheless, DAI’s Dailey said Monday, “We have not come across anything negative. When we looked into it in detail, it all was positive.”

NBC's hypocrisy

2010-11-06T08:51:00.000-05:00

MSNBC suspension of host Keith Olbermann is the height of corporate hypocrisy.
The General Electric subsidiary has now fallen into the chasm of the right-wing extremism that might no longer buffer the public from the misinformation and disinformation of Fox News and the other propagandists.
Rachel Maddow’s comments, below, on the debacle are important because the Rush Limbaugh-Bill O'Reilly cabal has misled the American public about what is news and what is propaganda. Limbaugh is especially culpable in this 20-plus-year “shoot the messenger” campign.
This is an escalation in the war for the hearts and minds of the American public — the citizenry who cast the votes for people who set our public policy. Thoughtful leaders who know the value to democracy of an informed electorate have lamented the dumbing of American for decades, too. And, again, the right-wing propagandists have turned the erosion of Americans’ critical and analytical thinking skills against the educators as convenient targets. They can not understand that the American society and its effects on the family are more to blame.
Here is the contact information for Phil Griffin, who suspended Olbermann: 212-664-2456 and phil.griffin@nbcuni.com

This is important. If you give the Tea Party any credibility, listen to this. If you continue to support the Tea Partiers after listening to this, I wonder what hope we have in this country.

2010-10-27T22:04:00.000-05:00

Writing with the Right Stuff

2010-10-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

CBS New Sunday Morning had a feature on fountain pens.

Adopt a journo? Satire or not?

2010-10-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Downtown Amarillo Inc. dithers as plans languish

2010-09-22T16:04:00.000-05:00

Part 1 - Documents show behind-closed-door dealings for DAI, city

Downtown Amarillo Inc. director stonewalls information about public business

By George Schwarz and Greg Rohloff

The Amarillo Independent

Revitalizing Amarillo’s downtown has been an on and off the proposition for decades.

But, in 2008, the city Commission seemed to get serious again and authorized the establishment of a nonprofit development firm, Downtown Amarillo Inc., funding it with taxpayer money at more than $200,000 a year. It contracted with DAI to undertake downtown development, including drafting and pushing through design standards for the downtown area.

All the activity of DAI went on behind closed doors, despite a call by DAI board member Richard Ware, president of Amarillo National Bank, that the meetings should be open, with executive sessions reserved for those matters authorized under the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Those meetings remain closed, although DAI and The Amarillo Independent have asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office for a ruling.

And while DAI may have plenty on its plate, the main course is a major convention hotel downtown — a dream for city of Amarillo officials and city leaders.

But a review of documents that Downtown Amarillo fought to keep secret shows the plan may be just that — a dream. And as of July 7, that dream may have been put on hold for another six months, if a letter from DAI to developers ever went out.

While much of the material that DAI turned over to The Amarillo Independent was heavily redacted, e-mails and board meeting minutes of the nonprofit’s governing body show discussions about other matters that were not heretofore publicly known.

·The process for qualifying and working with a developer for a downtown hotel to serve the convention center has run in fits and starts, with questions about the entire process from the developers, who wondered about how much taxpayer money the city of Amarillo would have to invest for the project to be viable.

· A ball field or sports complex downtown may be further along than city commissioners have acknowledged during public meetings.

· Combing through the documents reveals a deeper involvement by DAI in city affairs and in DAI’s working with the City Commission and city employees than previously evident.

··A pattern has appeared that almost every initiative discussed at the closed-door board meetings has taken longer than the optimistic time frames that the executive director has indicated to the board.

··DAI is introduced to the idea of a Public Improvement District for a part of downtown that does not encompass the entire area either under the urban design standards the City Commission recently adopted or under the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. Instead, the western boundary of the possible PID is Van Buren Street.

DAI, heavily supported by taxpayer money to the tune of more than $400,000 over two years, was ordered by the Texas attorney general to make some of its records public. The agency did so with heavy redactions while, in an Aug. 31 letter, asking the AG for a further ruling on keeping specific information from public view.

In a series of e-mails, Melissa Dailey, Downtown Amarillo Inc. executive director, refused repeatedly to meet for an on-the-record interview with the Independent. Instead, her e-mail response was similar with each request: “… (p)lease email any questions you have and I will respond as soon as possible;” or “Please email me any questions you have and I will comment on them or answer them to the best of my ability.”

In addition, on Sept. 8, after the Independent acceded to her stonewalling for e-mailed questions so she might respond, Dailey wrote back to say she could not respond by Sept. 9; but shortly before 9 p.m. she had submitted her non-answers.

In this next part of this multipart series, The Amarillo Independent explores the beginnings of the capstone project for revitalizing downtown Amarillo — a convention center hotel near the Civic Center — possibly on the city-owned land south of the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts.

Part 2 - Convention hotel downtown: Dream or Pipe Dream?

While a downtown-convention center hotel had long been on the city’s radar, the issue came up in the Dec. 10, 2008, board meeting, when Richard Ware, president of Amarillo National Bank, met with Bobby Lee, owner of the Big Texan Steak Ranch and Motel.

At the May 6, 2009, board meeting of Downtown Amarillo Inc., Les Simpson, publisher of the Amarillo Globe-News and president of the DAI board, reported that the state Senate has passed a motel/hotel bill satisfactory to a variety of hotel interests across Texas; the bill at that time awaited House approval.

The bill would facilitate establishment of an Amarillo convention center hotel downtown.

The legislation, according to June 9, 2009, minutes, would allow the city to use taxpayer money to build a convention hotel, explicitly stating, “The City is looking at a lot south of the Globe-News Center for the hotel site.”

It was at this point that Melissa Dailey, at that time the newly hired executive director, suggested that DAI become involved.

It was at the DAI board’s July 6, 2009, meeting that the minutes show the city had agreed to put together a “stakeholders group” to work with a consultant.

“It is expected that DAI will be part of that process,” the minutes state.

At the Sept. 1, 2009, DAI board meeting, Dailey called for a committee to guide the hotel development, with the board going along with a written request to city officials for the panel to include representatives from DAI, Center City and the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone as well as the city.

The Oct. 1, 2009, board minutes reflect the city’s acquiescence to turning over spearheading development of the Civic Center area to DAI.

“Regarding the hotel study, there is indication that there will be a joint meeting between DAI and the City (sic) to discuss moving forward on the hotel. DAI needs to be ready for the hand-off (sic) of the hotel to DAI when the City (sic) is ready,” the minutes state. “Richard (Ware) motioned (sic) that DAI form a committee to address the hotel partnership with the City (sic).”

Dailey had sent out a request for qualifications to developers and planned for a Feb. 18, 2010, conference with developers. By April 1, minutes of the board meetings became heavily redacted, meaning some of the information was blacked out.

Whenever the Independent questioned specific redacted information in the documents, Dailey’s response was the same, “Please refer to the letter to the Attorney General dated 8-31-10, which you have been sent a copy of by our attorney.”

Still, in the minutes, Dailey reported responses from eight developers: Garfield Traub, Noble Investments, Zion Hospitality, HRI, Journeyman, MJS Realty, Realty America and Woodbine Development. She also reported to the board that a request for proposals was being drafted, a short list would be sent to the convention hotel committee and the RFP would go out in about a month.

By the end of April, four finalists from the request for qualifications process would be invited to respond to a request for proposal. Those were Garfield Traub, Noble Investments, HRI and Woodbine Development, according to the April 26, 2010, board minutes.

Dailey’s e-mail response to questions about who chose the finalists and how the finalists were chosen shed little light on the process.

“The process was delineated in the RFP as released by the City of Amarillo (see attached),” she wrote.

But she supplied no attachment.

However, by June, hotel development had become iffy, at best.

In the next part of this multipart series, The Amarillo Independent explores how the capstone project for revitalizing downtown Amarillo — a convention center hotel near the Civic Center — starts to unravel.

Part 3 - The “Deal” Starts to Unravel

Over a period of months, city of Amarillo officials and Melissa Dailey, primarily under the guidance of Downtown Amarillo Inc. board president Les Simpson (according to minutes and e-mails), worked to line up developers for a convention center full-service hotel. With the hotel ostensibly near the Civic Center, the plan was to choose developers who would be asked to propose a project to DAI and the city.

But, earlier this summer, things took a turn for the worse.

At the June 3 board meeting, Dailey reported that two of the developers had dropped out of the process.

“Noble stated their concern being an out dated Civic Center and no plans to update it, and Woodbine stated concerns that the city needed to put more investment in the hotel than they were indicating,” the minutes state.

Dailey and City Planning Director Kelley Shaw received word about Noble Investments on May 24 in an e-mail from Rob Hunden, president of Hunden Strategic Partners, the consulting firm that had been selected to do the hotel study and which was now working with developers responding to the request for proposal. In that memo, Hunden wrote that Noble, deciding to pull out of the process, had raised substantial questions about the entire viability of the entire project.

“They do not believe that the product called for in the market can be a long-term success, Even If the City owns it outright,” Hunden wrote. “They’re concerned about the quality of the Civic Center (need to renovation/facelift). They believe that at the most they would get behind 150-room limited service hotel with access function space.”

Hunden called the information disappointing, noting that there was nothing to do to change the developer’s mind.

That prompted a response from Shaw three minutes later: “Wow… This is going to be a real PR problem. Do you think that is actually the reasoning or could it be something else? That’s a weird question but seems like they would have already done such an analysis before wasting time.”

And five minutes later, Dailey responded to Shaw and Hunden by speculating that DAI will likely get similar comments about the need for renovation, not just expansion, of the Civic Center from other developers.

“It’s evident it’s needed,” she wrote. “Maybe this will spark some serious discussion about the idea.”

One minute after responding to Shaw and Hunden, Dailey forwarded the entire exchange to Les Simpson, the president of the DAI board, with the reminder that she brought up a concern about the condition of the Civic Center six months earlier.

Fifteen minutes later, Dailey forwarded Hunden’s e-mail to the remainder of the DAI board as well as Civic Center Director Sherman Bass, Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau head Jerry Holt and city Purchasing Agent Taylor Norman, telling them that Journeyman, the developer that had finished fifth out of eight on the DAI preference list, was still an alternative.

But a June 8 e-mail from Dailey to the board raised further questions.

Dailey wrote she followed up on a board discussion of that day about the convention hotel process and the developers’ pulling out.

“I just spent several hours with (redacted),” she wrote. “We discussed the hotel and Noble and Woodbine electing not to continue to the RFP process. Their take on the situation was that if the development community knew the big picture, the comprehensive land use plan we’re working to implement, that we would have likely seen a different (better) response to the RFQ and ultimately to the RFP.”

Dailey released no minutes from the DAI board meeting that, she wrote, took place June 8.

And, at that point, it would have been hard for developers to see Dailey's big picture.

The June 3 meeting minutes contain the following sentence attributed to Dailey: “None of the developers were aware of the land-use plan and efforts going on to redevelop the civic center (sic) area.”

And, there is a contradiction about whether the developers really understood the land-use plan that Dailey claims is available. When asked if DAI had contacted hotel developers without any indication of the land-use plan for downtown, she wrote, “A broad land use plan is delineated in the Strategic Action Plan which was provided to developers.”

But, the confusion gets worse.

In July 7 minutes, Dailey referred to the hotel developers’ being privy to the land-use plan before the public was, but in response to the Independent stated this wasn’t true. And when directly asked in writing if private developers were made aware of details of the land-use plan before the public was, she wrote, “No. DAI has not released the current land use plan we are working to the public or hotel developers.”

And where was the land-use plan?

During the July TIRZ board meeting, Dailey remarked in passing that information on the land-use and housing studies would be available by the next board meeting. But she was absent from the August meeting, and the September meeting was canceled because the board had no pressing business, said board Chairman Richard Brown. Dailey had not indicated to the board the status on the information from the studies.

Part 4 - Down the drain?

Developers pull out amid confusion and planning secrecy

The city received word from Woodbine Development in a June 4 letter from B. Gregory Mowatt, senior vice president, that raised questions about a variety of issues surrounding the convention center.

Mowatt took note that other developers indicated they would invest in and own the property taking the city off the hook for ownership.

“Even though it would have been possible to bring potential owners to the table with our group, we were not in a position to do so without understanding more clearly the City’s preferences and the value of the subsidy package in public/private relationship,” he wrote. “Since we presume the city is looking for the path of least resistance and getting this hotel property completed, we believe it is proper to step aside and allow the city to move forward with those groups that

indicated a willingness to come into the project as direct owners.”

But it’s the next two lines in Mowatt’s letter that raise questions: “Woodbine’s credibility has been built, in part on its integrity in its dealings within the municipalities in which it is active. Accordingly, we believe this to be the proper action on the part of the Woodbine team.”

On Thursday, Mowatt said there was nothing nefarious to read into that sentence. The city had another developer who was more likely to put equity into the deal and Woodbine did not want to interfere with or slow down the process.

“It wasn’t intended to infer that something happened that led us to pull out. It wasn’t that at all,” he said.

One thing driving Woodbine’s interest in the project was the city’s inducement package, but the city’s participation at that point was ill-defined. And, Woodbine knew the city was looking for minimal participation from the city and a larger proportion of equity from the developer.

“The rumor mill and real estate is pretty effective,” he said. “What we had been hearing was that there were already a couple of prospects that had lined up in the queue with us that were willing to directly own the project.”

With that information and no other information from the city, Woodbine’s greatest fear was it they would get into the project and “mess it up” for another developer or the city.

Some of those concerns may be reflected in a June 10 e-mail from Rob Hunden to Taylor Norman, the city purchasing agent, with copies to Melissa Dailey, Kelley Shaw and assistant city manager Vicki Covey.

In that document, Hunden explained that bringing Journeyman in and giving them a month would work, but dragging the process out longer would frustrate the original developers chosen for the next step.

“There is already some fatigue with the process given the RFQ+RFP process,” Hunden wrote. “The more time provided the more costs mount for all involved.”

Hunden indicated that HRI and Garfield have already indicated some concerns to him about the rules of the game changing after the game starts.

With that, planning for the convention center hotel came to a halt.

And it did so very quietly.

The July 7 minutes refer to a meeting between the City Commission and DAI about ceasing the public (city) RFP process, a discussion not held during an open meeting with the City Commission, according to Dailey.

According to a July 7 e-mail exchange between Dailey and Les Simpson, Dailey was drafting a letter to the remaining potential developers telling them that progress on the hotel project would have to wait until the creation of a master land plan for the Civic Center area.

According to Dailey’s e-mailed response, the letter went out.

“I received phone calls from the developers, but no written replies,” her e-mail stated.

The optimistic draft letter, which apologized to developers for the inconvenience, touts the idea that such a plan would have a positive impact on the proposal process for hotel developers, and also states: “We anticipate initiating the hotel selection process in the near term. You may expect to be contacted within the next 180 days with complete information on the redevelopment effort including additional project elements.”

Woodbine’s Mowatt said Amarillo was a tough market and he was not surprised to learn that DAI and the city had put the process on hold.

The only way convention center hotels are going to be done in the current market, and maybe in most markets, is with substantial city participation, if not city ownership, he said, adding they become very political in nature.

Hunden did not respond to calls but on Sept. 9 e-mailed a refusal to comment: “Without knowing more information about what was released, I would not feel appropriate commenting at this time. Perhaps at a later date when we have a better understanding of what has been released and what has been redacted. I’m sorry I cannot be of more assistance today.”

Despite the perception of a hold on the hotel development, Dailey indicated in the minutes that someone was working in partnership with DAI to make a recommendation for the hotel developer. The person’s name was redacted and the standard answer to the reason was given: “Please refer to the letter to the Attorney General dated 8-31-10, which you have been sent a copy of by our attorney.”

In a review of documents that the Texas Attorney General’s Office ordered Downtown Amarillo Inc. to make public, The Amarillo Independent found that: a stadium or sports complex downtown may be further along than city commissioners have acknowledged during public meetings; DAI’s involvement in city affairs and with city employees is deeper than previously evident. Further, almost every initiative discussed in closed-door board meetings has taken longer than the optimistic time frames that the executive director has indicated to the board. And, DAI has introduced to the idea of a Public Improvement District for a part of downtown that raises questions — questions not answered byDAI’s responses.

Part 5-Will downtown revitalization be a home run?

Downtown ballpark remains possibility

On the second weekend in May, Downtown Amarillo Inc. Executive Director Melissa Dailey led a group to Grand Prairie for a night at the new ballpark there, the season opener for the Grand Prairie AirHogs.

QuikTrip Park is home to the AirHogs, who compete in the independent American Association, a league that last year had bid for the lease agreement for Potter County Memorial Stadium.

The AirHogs’ ballpark was built after a Grand Prairie election in 2007 on a 1/8th-cent sales tax to pay for the bulk of construction costs. When the measure was approved, Ventura Sports Group, which owns two minor league teams and is developing plans for four others, and which develops and operates stadiums, began work on QuikTrip Park in the city’s entertainment district.

The city of Grand Prairie put up $17 million, backed by the sales tax, and Ventura Sports, $1 million. The target for paying off the stadium debt is eight years, said Grand Prairie city spokeswoman Amy Sprinkles.

The city owns the property and collects $200,000 a year for its general fund. Ventura Sports operates the stadium and is responsible for its maintenance and upkeep, Sprinkles said.

QuikTrip Park— a convenience store chain bought the naming rights — seats 4,500 and includes 13 luxury seats. The outfield seating sections next to the foul poles and grass berms alongside the outfield foul lines make up the general admission areas and the $6 tickets. Club seats, at $13 a ticket, are along the infield foul lines and closest to the dugouts, while behind them the box seats go for $9.

Roger W. Christoph, a managing partner of Ventura Sports, recalls that weekend trip, saying he had visited with Dailey, but did not recall any conversation with any of the others in the group.

A May 3, 2010, e-mail indicated that Downtown Amarillo Inc. board members Les Simpson, Gary Pitner and Glen Parkey, and City Commissioner Jim Simms were planning to make the trip, with Commissioners Madison Scott and Ron Boyd and Mayor Debra McCartt checking on the possibility of attending.

Since that weekend, though, Christoph said he has not had contact with DAI or Dailey.

And the only response Dailey would give about the visit was in an e-mail exchange when she was asked why a trip to Grand Prairie was necessary.

“To follow up on a recommendation in the Downtown Strategic Action Plan by exploring an existing outdoor multi-purpose entertainment venue," she wrote.

“There’s no contracts, proposals or letters of intent,” Christoph said.

Christoph was reluctant to discuss any interest that Ventura Sports might have in an Amarillo stadium, noting that at the end of August, while he was out of the country, DAI had sent information about The Amarillo Independent’s open-records request for DAI’s meetings, expenses and communications, and that he wanted to turn over that information to his attorney before commenting.

What Christoph was willing to discuss, though, were how Ventura Sports has invested in independent minor league franchises and operations and how it is expanding now.

Along with the seating at QuikTrip Park, the stadium includes a pool, a couple of party decks, a 17,000-square-foot playground, a sports bar and grill, and a cigar bar. After each game, as fans are leaving, they are polled about their experience at the park, he said. Some attendees are so busy with the other amenities that they cannot recall which team had won.

Instead of the stadium’s being shuttered at the end of the baseball season, it remains in use for such events as car shows, concerts, festivals and corporate events, which help offset the cost of operating the team.

Ventura Sports also owns the El Paso Diablos and their new stadium.

In August, the city of Laredo awarded Ventura Sports a contract to develop and manage a new $18 million stadium with 7,000 seats, to be designed by the architectural firm HKS of Dallas. The decision was made despite protests from the Laredo Broncos organization, which has played in the United League at Veterans Stadium.

Ventura Sports indicates that it will bring several American Association exhibitions and series to the older stadium in 2011 and will open the new stadium in 2012 as part of the American Association. Ventura Sports’ website indicates it is planning three other new stadiums in Topeka, Kan., Montgomery County, Texas, and Brighton, Colo.

Amarillo and a ballpark

In 2008, when DAI’s predecessor committee conducted meetings with the consultant Gideon Toal of Fort Worth, reactions from Amarilloans to a downtown ballpark were mixed, with some fearing a new stadium would mean much higher ticket prices and concessions, given the experience with two defunct franchises, the Amarillo Dusters in Arena2 football and the Amarillo Gorillas in the Central Hockey League. They feared the Dillas would be priced out.

When that committee had completed its work, a ballpark was addressed in the action plan that was handed over to DAI.

Its priorities include: “Attract family oriented venues, events and programs that bring groups to Downtown. Subject to financial feasibility, consider a Downtown minor league ball park associated with mixed use developments.”

Potter County commissioners were thrown into a quandary. The renovation of the vacant Santa Fe Building into county offices had jumpstarted downtown renewal, which now was a possible threat to another county asset, the 50-year-old Memorial Stadium, better known as the Dilla Villa.

When considering the stadium lease last November, commissioners quickly cut off a presentation from Scott Berry of Southern Independent Baseball, seeking an affiliation with the American Association, when he said he was eager to bring a team to town with a new downtown stadium. Thus, the Dillas got their crack at a third straight United League title.

Whether DAI pursues a downtown stadium has yet to be decided; there are few clues in the documents released by the Texas attorney general’s opinion indicating that the committee is fast-tracking a stadium.

But Dailey clearly has some opinions. In an e-mail to Simpson she wrote, "they are the right developers at the right time for us."

She wrote to the Independent that the statement "was my professional opinion."

And when asked whether DAI is actively engaged in bringing a ballpark/activities complex or some such facility (no matter what its name) downtown, she wrote, "We are actively engaged in bringing developers to downtown Amarillo and implementing the Strategic Action Plan, of which an outdoor multi-purpose entertainment venue was recommended as a potential development to explore."

Still, questions emerge.

With the Amarillo National Center, the Civic Center, the United Center in Canyon and Memorial Stadium available for a variety of events, could another venue roughly the same seating size as the others attract enough new events to be profitable for the operators without stealing events from the others?

Would a new stadium mean a working agreement with a new league and team other than the existing agreement with the United League and theDillas if a stadium developer sought a combination stadium-team arrangement?

Urban Design Standards and the convention hotel

The adoption of the urban design standards for downtown was not without some concern.

March 22, 2010, minutes of Center City of Amarillo’s subcommittee on design standards noted that several past attempts to develop and implement voluntary design standards to be led by Center City had failed.

One member of that subcommittee was Gabe Irving, a member of the Center City board, but also an employee of McCartt and Associates, the real estate firm owned by the mayor’s husband, Joe Bob McCartt.

Now, committee members expressed concern that too many small businesses in the downtown core would be affected with the triggering mechanism of $50,000. In some cases, the committee noted, costs could double for projects if the business owner was required to install pedestrian lighting or trees. Furthermore, some inconsistencies between current zoning regulations and the proposed standards could lead to a two-tier set of standards.

And, applying the development of those standards to a neighborhood adjacent to, but outside, the recognized downtown zone, is seen by some as heavy-handed.

After the residents of the Plemons-Eakle neighborhood voiced strong objections to the City Commission in July, the City Commission asked Dailey to meet with those residents. At the next commission meeting, Irma Heras and Amy Taylor-Restine objected to Dailey’s behavior at the meeting, saying she kept “rolling her eyes” at their statements.

Dailey documented her meeting with the residents in an e-mail to Simpson on July 9.

“A few of the residents, 6 or 7, showed up,” she wrote. “The discussion was all over the map, from we're Americans and are free, to Jesus Christ, to Obama, the citywide comprehensive plan, and a variety of issues in the current city ordinances.”

Noting that DAI board member Gary Pitner and Center City Executive Director Beth Duke were also present, Dailey wrote that the specific issues of fencing, trees, lighting and sidewalks were fully addressed.

“We’re down to the principle of more government control versus less. They’re likely going to show up Tuesday,” anticipating a subsequent City Commission meeting.

Since then, the residents have mounted a petition drive to overturn the urban design standards.

Meanwhile, during March and April, the city's planning effort confused the hotel developers as well.

City officials backtracked with the hotel developers who were filing responses to request for proposals asking them to respond to additional questions. Whether this contributed to the confusion and the perception of changing rules isn’t clear, but at this point what is clear is that two of the developers dropped out.

One of the issues was asking developers to respond to a question about whether Fifth and Sixth avenues should be closed as part of a redevelopment of the area around the Civic Center and Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. The responses were mixed.

Journeyman Austin Holdings noted, in an April 9 letter to the city, that closing Fifth and Sixth avenues could create a pedestrian mall or a parking garage between the convention center hotel and the Globe-News Center.

Coming Sunday: The Wrap-up. Delayed projects and out-of-town vendors

Part 6 - On time? Not so much

The July 6, 2009, DAI board minutes report on a discussion of the planned downtown urban design standards, with a committee to begin moving forward on the development of the design standards.

"To date all of the property owners Melissa has met with have had a positive reaction to design standards," the minutes state. “Topics covered will include building façade, walkways, landscaping, signage. It is expected that the final draft to take to property owners will be complete within 90 days."

Those design standards were not adopted until a year later, but nowhere in reviewing the documents is there any board discussion about why it took so long.

Perhaps it was confusion over the process because one month later, at an Aug. 6, 2009, meeting, Dailey presented her 2009-2010 priority action items ¾items which were not clearly delineated in earlier minutes released to the Independent. But, according to theAug. 6 minutes, it was the same list as presented previously.

"It was recommended to reverse the order of the planning and economic development goals when presented to others," the minutes state, implying a different internal agenda than the one shown the public.

The board unanimously approved that action.

In her director’s report, Dailey discussed the mission statement. She again reported a committee’s having been formed and moving forward on the design standards for downtown. And, she repeated, all of the property owners she had met with to date had had a positive reaction to those standards. Once again, she proposed a 90-day time frame.

Is Amarillo good enough?

While the minutes as early as 2008 show the use of local vendors for such mundane items as office supplies and furniture, Dailey chose contacts in Fort Worth for two major projects.

As early as December 2008, the board began discussing the possibility of the website for Downtown Amarillo Inc.

But one website domain name was already owned by a local businessman, reported the minutes: "Wes (Reeves) found a link to downtown Amarillo that is owned by Don Paxton. He plans to do some research to determine if the link could be purchased by Center City.”

Reeves is a DAI board member and spokesman for Xcel Energy.

Discussion about the website came up again during the May 6, 2009, meeting, when board President Les Simpson reported that a company purchased the Downtown Amarillo Inc. domain name in 2005 with the intent to resell it in the current asking price of $2,000 was higher than anticipated.

Ultimately, DAI got its domain name, but who would build the site?

In a proposed budget in April 2010, DAI included a $6,000 cost for website design with The Enilon Group, based in Fort Worth.

Dailey acknowledged she didn't contact any local Web-builders in Amarillo.

“Economic development organizations like DAI require a specific set of tools and capabilities that are very specialized and we approached three companies that had demonstrated experience across the country in this type of website,” she wrote. “While we have many fine local website developers in Amarillo, we are not aware of any that specialize in creating this type of website.”

Maybe not, but Amarillo has at least one company with acknowledged expertise in complex Web design, including projects for national firms.

Eric Spellmann, of Spellmann and Associates, wrote that his company has experience developing websites for a broad range of industry needs, ranging from a "simple two-page brochure" site to "complex, database-driven" sites for national customers.

“Our projects showcase local expertise normally assumed to only be available in larger markets,” he wrote. “While we are disappointed that Downtown Amarillo did not give us the opportunity to bid on their website project, we are open to any assistance we can lend in highlighting the incredible business opportunities that lie downtown.”

The June 9, 2009, minutes state, "Melissa said that we need to get a website up and running as soon as possible to be used as a tool to get the message out.”

As of Thursday, Sept. 16, the DAI website still is only partially operational.

"We'll be launching our full site soon!" the website states, with no information how to directly contact DAI except for the Web-based form. The only other information on the page are links to the Downtown Strategic Action Plan and Downtown Urban Design Standards.

Reliance on outside support from Fort Worth, which is where Dailey had worked before coming to Amarillo, was for an even broader task and, ostensibly, Downtown Amarillo Inc.'s mandate.

Daily recommended, as recorded in the Sept. 1, 2009, board minutes, that DAI retain Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Fort Worth.

“They're very good at downtown planning and Melissa suggested that we may want to use them for projects in the future," the minutes state. "The master contract essentially serves as a retainer to be able to utilize Jacobs for projects without the delay of going through individual contracts going through their legal dept. A one-page agreement could be entered into for individual project. Board approved unanimously.”

According to the Jacobs website: “Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is one of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of professional technical services. With 2009 revenues exceeding $11 billion, we offer full-spectrum support to industrial, commercial, and government clients across multiple markets. Services include scientific and specialty consulting as well as all aspects of engineering and construction, and operations and maintenance.”

Dailey wrote that she had contacted local firms for services, but she did not indicate what the specific requests for proposals were nor what the firms were. She acknowledged heavy reliance on Fort Worth-based firms, but didn't directly answer why she recommended those.

"We currently have partnerships with two Fort Worth firms for planning and market feasibility consulting services, and website development," she wrote in the e-mail to the Independent.

The Bottom Line

During August, city departments and city-supported agencies such as the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. and Downtown Amarillo Inc. presented their budgets to commissioners during a work session. There were few questions posed to Dailey or Simpson about DAI's performance.

Perhaps that's because there are no criteria for performance, a question that came up as early as Aug. 13, 2008. At that board meeting, during a discussion of the bylaws, Rev. Howard Batson, a board member, questioned clauses in that document that mention terms such as "if the company underperforms."

Batson asked for a definition of what "’underperforms’ means."

Nowhere in the record of that meeting or subsequent ones was there an answer.

City Commission gives first approval to tax rate, budget - with full video

2010-09-07T20:15:00.000-05:00

City Commission gives first approval to tax rate, budget - with full video

Shareholders sue HP over Hurd's exit - Business - U.S. business - msnbc.com

2010-08-13T23:54:00.000-05:00

Dear HP Shareholders,

You're stupid. Mark Hurd was a terrible CEO who took over under a cloud and help destroy the company. He turned HP products into crap, turned tech support over to Hindi-speaking incompetents and refused to update products. He and his minions treated customers like a bother and that is reason enough to get rid of him.

Shareholders sue HP over Hurd's exit - Business - U.S. business - msnbc.com

Downtown Amarillo development group must release records, e-mails: AG | Texas Watchdog

2010-08-12T03:06:00.000-05:00

Downtown Amarillo development group must release records, e-mails: AG | Texas Watchdog

An open letter to the citizens of Amarillo

2010-08-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

As publisher and owner of The Amarillo Independent, I want to take an unusual step — I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you, the citizens of Amarillo, about this news outlet’s public records request to Downtown Amarillo Inc. and DAI’s response to the request and to media coverage.

It’s important that everyone understands what The Amarillo Independent did and what this organization wants to accomplish with this request. It’s also important to correct some misinformation and give you, the people for whom The Amarillo Independent works, insights about this situation.

In 2008, when Downtown Amarillo Inc. was formed, members of the public objected to the creation of a private, nonprofit organization that would carry out government functions behind closed doors. The Amarillo City Commission at that time specifically backed that strategy so that DAI would not be subject to Texas’ sunshine laws relating to meetings and records. A representative of the League of Women Voters, one of the most respected nonpartisan civic organizations in the United States, objected to the commissioners’ decision to make downtown development secretive.

In 2008, The Amarillo Independent, specifically in a letter to commissioners, asserted that the appointment of Globe-News Publisher Les Simpson to the DAI board was inappropriate. It gave one media outlet an advantage over the other news organizations in the city. No one, least of all me, was surprised when the City Commission rebuffed us about our concerns. I have made no secret of my belief that the city of Amarillo and the Globe-News are in each other’s pocket.

But, there really is a more important principle at play here.

The City Commission created and funded Downtown Amarillo Inc. to carry out a public purpose. Clearly, if downtown development had been assigned to one of the city’s departments, there would be no doubt that the work of that department would be subject to the Open Meetings and Public Information acts. And, those laws provide more than sufficient confidentiality to legally carry out certain property and personnel matters behind closed doors.

There can be no doubt that the city of Amarillo wished to find a way to be as secretive and non-transparent as possible about downtown development and chose, according to the Texas Attorney General, the wrong approach. The ruling the AG’s office sent to DAI’s lawyer makes clear that the records we sought, with no exceptions, are public.

It should be no surprise, as well, that the Globe-News coverage of this matter would be spun in complicity with DAI Executive Director Melissa Dailey and Simpson.

The report that DAI had requested a ruling from the AG’s office may be true, but that request came after The Amarillo Independent wrote Dailey and the city of Amarillo for the information I believed to be public records and after the Independent wrote the Attorney General’s office for a ruling. But there is more to the Globe-News story than just a few misplaced facts. Karen Smith Welch, the AGN reporter covering the story, called me Tuesday night, but only to confirm when the Independent filed the original request. Smith didn’t really want to get our side of the story and, in fact, objected to our pointing out that she and Dailey sat together throughout Tuesday’s activities at City Hall. Welsh believed I was implying that she and Dailey were close and that Welsh had a privileged relationship with DAI’s executive director.

As a friend of mine noted, Welsh was only doing what a good reporter does: cultivating a source. But you what I know — that no reporter at the AGN needs to cultivate Dailey as a source. And we all know why.

ProNews 7 was the only other media outlet to report on what was a huge decision by the Attorney General. In their story, Dailey asserts that DAI has been transparent all along and claims that the allegedly well-publicized meetings it held for downtown planning constitute transparency. The residents of the Plemons-Eakle neighborhood will dispute how well DAI’s meetings were publicized.

Dailey’s spin borders on untruth. If Dailey, Simpson and Downtown Amarillo Inc. wanted to be truly transparent, they would have not engaged in a six-month stonewalling effort to prevent the public from seeing how its funds are spent. Period. No amount of lawyerly circumlocution about concern for privacy of people involved with DAI will fly.

This situation is not about competition between news outlets. This situation is about why The Amarillo Independent exists and why journalism must exist in a democracy.

2010-08-08T09:47:00.002-05:00

The Amarillo Independent endorses every word of Olbermann's video.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment: Proposition 8 @ Yahoo! Video

A view of Gov. Goodhair

2010-07-03T12:04:00.001-05:00

UPDATE – Top Globe-News editor gone

2010-06-30T07:58:00.002-05:00

The Amarillo Independent has unconfirmed reports that Dawn Dressler, executive editor at the Amarillo Globe-News is no longer with the paper.
Dressler’s blog is no longer on the Globe-News’ website.
And Tuesday evening, Publisher Les Simpson and Valerie Bintliff were seen going through Dressler’s office, according to a source close to the situation.
The Independent is seeking further information and awaiting an e-mail response from Simpson.

BP's sordid history from BBC

2010-06-20T21:36:00.002-05:00

From BBC, the sordid history of BP's corruption:

In 2006, a US congressional hearing accused BP of "unacceptable" neglect of pipelines in Alaska after it was forced to shut down oil operations in Prudhoe Bay because of leaking pipes.

In 2007, the company was fined a total of $373m by the US Department of Justice for environmental crimes and committing fraud.

The fine included $50m relating to a Texas refinery explosion in 2005 that killed 15 people and injured 170 more.

The largest single fine of $303m related to a price manipulation scam in the propane market.

Last October, BP was fined a further $87m for failing to correct safety hazards at the Texas refinery.

BP congressional hearing is political grandstanding - not search for truth

2010-06-17T09:54:00.001-05:00

Thursday morning I put aside a couple of other projects to watch an ABC News stream of the United States House of Representatives hearing on the BP oil spill.

The public needs to be exposed to the way Congress works. This is an opportunity to learn how these political plutocrats grandstand. These opening speeches these people are given are a waste of time. Each one is repeating a lot of the same stuff, except that each one is getting their partisan digs. Who wants to bet that these people are going to use the tapes from these hearings in their campaign ads?

This is the U.S. Congress’ form of American Kabuki. This hearing is staged for the purpose of electing and re-electing these people.

A brilliant alternative to Obama's speech on the BP oil spill

2010-06-17T00:16:00.004-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Want to Fly?

2010-06-14T11:59:00.001-05:00

BP continues to lie, administration continues to fold

2010-06-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

I’ve not done much blogging lately and much of my opinion-writing has focused on the British Petroleum oil spill. Somehow, no matter what we write about or what the American people want, the Obama administration continues to go its own way on dealing with the gusher.

As I noted in the May 24 blog posting, Admiral Thad Allen, of the US Coast Guard, has said that BP is the only company with the expertise to remediate the oil spill. But, we knew than and we have had confirmed in subsequent news reports that BP continues to lie to the administration and the American public. BP’s goal is to capture as much of the spewing oil as possible for its profits and to control the media. BP is not interested in remediation or paying those in dire economic straits. Its assertions must be called out for what they are: lies. And, the administration continues to be bullied by a company with a track record of corruption that makes Roman Emperor Nero look like a Boy Scout. Witness the FAA’s cooperation in setting up temporary flight restrictions over the area in the Gulf of Mexico affected by the spill.

One of my biggest fears about this oil spill is that BP will somehow outlast America's outrage or Americans has already succumbed to outrage fatigue. I have yet to lose my outrage over this issue but I, unless something major changes, I am going to make this the last post on BP for a while.

If BP is a person, execute it

2010-05-24T17:35:00.002-05:00

As the outrage that is British Petroleum’s malfeasance spreads its oily cataclysm across the Gulf Coast, federal officials are doing the equivalent of a child stomping his feet.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Rueters Sunday that he was frustrated and angry with BP’s progress in stopping the sea floor gusher and containing the spread of the crude into Louisiana’s wetlands. He was quoted further as saying, “If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately.”
Also Sunday, media outlets reported Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen, the head of the federal response team, as saying BP was the only firm with the expertise to fix the situation.
We don’t know what “appropriately” means for Salazar or why Allen is so deluded that BP is the only source of knowledge for this situation, but we have some suggestions for President Barack Obama and his team:
• Stop with the spaghetti spine and stand up for the Americans being devastated by this environmental tragedy. Ramp up the language about and to BP.
• Fire Allen, or at least put him on psychiatric leave immediately, for his detachment from reality and appoint someone who has a broader view of this country’s intellectual resources.
• Forget the bipartisan commission appointed to determine the causes of this travesty and to come up with some fixes. We don’t need money spent on window dressing. What caused this was people in the Department of Interior and at BP who weren’t doing their jobs and let a lack of integrity control their performance. Fire those in the government who didn’t do their jobs.
• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that corporations were more than theoretical “persons” and had the right of free speech via campaign contributions. So treat BP as a person and task Attorney General Eric Holder to execute BP (corporate capital punishment) by confiscating all of BP’s American assets and finding a wholly owned U.S. firm to take over the entire company.
• Arrest and charge top executives at BP with crimes against humanity and every environmental law Holder can dredge up and make sure they go to jail.
Show some courage, gentlemen.

Not a dry eye in the house

2010-05-22T17:55:00.002-05:00

Indy seeks info

2010-05-19T18:01:00.002-05:00

The Amarillo Independent is looking for DIRECT and documentable proof that actions on the part of Repent Amarillo/Raven Ministries have triggered action by the city of Amarillo. Whether it's a call from the building safety or the fire marshal or the environmental health department, we’d like to know what you know about it.

Contact:

: george@amarilloindy.com

Why is 'local' journalism dead?

2010-05-17T11:16:00.001-05:00

Look, we can rewrite news releases, too.

The Amarillo Police Department posted the following news release:

Entered On: Monday May 17th, 2010 :: 08:39 a.m. CDT
Advisory
Robbery at Camelot Inn on I-40
DATE : 5/15/2010
TIME : 20:06
CASE NUMBER : 10-59412
INCIDENT TYPE : Robbery
OFFICER SUBMITTING RELEASE : Sgt. Johnson #829
DETAILS : At approximately 8:20 pm a black male entered the Camelot Inn at 2508 E. I-40. He walked by the counter and out a side door leading to the rooms. The man returned to the lobby a few minutes later, presented a handgun and demanded the money from the clerk. While he was waiting for the clerk to get the money the suspect turned to a customer who was also at the front counter and robbed him of his money as well. The suspect then left through the front door. The suspect is described as a Black Male, 25-30 years of age, 6’2” tall, and 240 pounds. He was last seen wearing a brown sweatshirt with a hood, an orange shirt underneath, and black wind pants with a white stripe down the side.

And this was in the Amarillo Globe-News:

Police on hunt for suspect in motel robbery

Publication Date: 05/17/10
Amarillo police were searching Sunday for the man who robbed a motel and a motel customer Saturday evening in east Amarillo.
A 25- to 30-year-old man entered the Camelot Inn, 2508 E. Interstate 40, about 8:05 p.m. Saturday, displayed a handgun and demanded money from the clerk at the front desk, police said.
While he was waiting for the clerk to produce money, the suspect robbed a customer who was at the counter, police said. The suspect left through the front door with an unspecified amount of money, police said.
The suspect was about 6-foot-2, 240 pounds and wearing black wind pants with a white stripe down the side and a brown hooded sweatshirt over an orange shirt, police said.
No injuries were reported in the robbery.
- Staff writer Joe Gamm

Glenn Beck send up

2010-05-16T21:55:00.000-05:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Glenn to the Mountaintop

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Fox News

From Huffington Post - Lewis Black on Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourettes

2010-05-13T22:28:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's

www.thedailyshow.com

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Political Humor

Tea Party

Legal defense fund established

2010-05-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

A legal defense fund has been established for Teddy Acklin and Angie Oakes who have been charged on the basis of a complaint with serious felonies.

In a news release distributed by the Amarillo Police Department at 2:34 p.m CDT Tuesday and entitled "Local Amarillo man & woman charged with numerous counts of sexual assault or indecency with a child,” Acklin and Oakes were charged by both the Potter and Randall County authorities in a double-dip move to make themselves look better. Here is the exact text of the release as distributed by the Amarillo Police Department:

Starting in early March 2010, APD officers began an investigation of sexual assault of a child. Officers talked to the female victim who is now 21 years of age. She reported to officers that she was sexually assaulted several times between the ages of 12-18. APD detectives conducted a full investigation, which included executing a search warrant on the suspect’s residence in the 3700 block of Lewis Lane. A case was presented to the Potter County District Attorney’s office and nine (9) counts of Sexual Assault of a Child and one (1) count of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child were filled on Teddy Gene Acklin w/m 56 of Amarillo. Angela Marie Oakes w/f 40 of Amarillo was also charged with six (6) counts of Sexual Assault of a Child. Both subjects were arrested on 5-10-2010 and booked into the Potter County Correction Center. This case was also presented to the Randall County District Attorneys office for review. Randall Co. DA office has filed ten (10) counts of Indecency with a Child by contact on Acklin and eight (8) counts of Indecency with a Child by contact and one (1) count of Sexual Assault of a Child on Oakes. This case is still under investigation and additional victims and/or charges are possible.

Calling the case still under investigation permits the authorities to withhold what normally would or should be public information, making it difficult for either Acklin, Oakes or their attorneys to prepare them for the case possibly going to the grand jury.

If you saw ProNews 7 Tuesday evening or the Amarillo Globe-News Wednesday (http://www.amarillo.com/stories/051210/new_news2.shtml), you will see that Acklin and Oakes have been charged with some very serious felonies. They face an uphill battle. These are the kinds of unimaginable accusations that are the hardest to defend against. And it’s clear from Cpl. Jerry Nuefeld’s intemperate remarks of in the article and the comments associated with this article that a rush to judgment from the Neanderthals who think they know what they’re talking about has begun. So offensive were some of the comments that sometime Thursday the Globe-News not only disabled the comments but removed those that had been posted.

Please understand something about this case that is far more important that the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Oakes and Acklin were held in jail on the basis of a complaint which the Amarillo Police Department claimed it investigated. APD claimed it found corroborating evidence. Neither of the cases has gone to a grand jury so no indictments have been issued; it is unclear under what authority Angie and Teddy were even jailed.

Nevertheless, this will be a long and costly battle I have established a defense fund at Amarillo National Bank to help defray what are sure to be large legal expenses. I am asking as many of you who can to dig into your wallets and contribute what you can.

Here is where to send your contribution:

Oakes-Acklin Defense Fund
Amarillo National Bank
Attn: Crystal Valle
P.O. Box 1
Amarillo, Texas 79105-9863

A dark and ugly side

2010-05-12T22:35:00.004-05:00

Amarillo, which considers itself the epitome of friendly Texas hospitality and Christian charity, has a dark ugly side. And nowhere is the repulsive more evident than on the Amarillo Globe-News website.

In a story that first broke Tuesday on ProNews 7 and picked up by the corporately owned daily so-called newspaper (http://www.amarillo.com/stories/051210/new_news2.shtml), two people have been charged and arrested on multiple counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. Those are serious charges and even the whiff of impropriety much less facing such accusations can ruin lives.

According to our system of laws, people are innocent until proven guilty. That’s not the case for the majority of those who post to the AGN comment section. I don’t think this group represents Amarillo, but it surely represents the active AGN readership.

It must make Les Simpson very proud.

John Cornyn -- the idiot speaks

2010-05-10T14:21:00.002-05:00

John Cornyn, a junior senator with a junior intellect, has issued a press release commenting on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court.

While Cornyn claims he believes the Senate should give general Kagan a fair review, he goes on to say, “There is no doubt that Ms. Kagan possesses a first-rate intellect, but she is a surprising choice from a president who has emphasized the importance of understanding 'how the world works and how ordinary people live.’ Ms. Kagan has spent her entire professional career in Harvard Square, Hyde Park, and the DC Beltway. These are not places where one learns 'how ordinary people live.’ Ms. Kagan is likewise a surprising choice because she lacks judicial experience. Most Americans believe that prior judicial experience is a necessary credential for a Supreme Court Justice.”

Cornyn doesn't understand how the world works and how ordinary people live either. He hasn't lived that way for years, if ever. Save us from your hypocrisy, John. Shut up, sit down and quit making an ass of yourself and reflecting poorly on Texas.

The War on Sunshine in Texas

2010-05-07T23:44:00.002-05:00

By Americans for Prosperity State Director Peggy Venable

A war on sunshine and an attack on open government rages in Texas. Cities are using public money to sue the state to gut the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA), which prohibits a quorum of elected officials from discussing official matters outside of a posted public meeting.

This constitutes lawsuit abuse. And to add insult to injury, the Texas Municipal League is behind the measure. The League is one reason Texas property taxes are so high, since they oppose any legislative effort to give local voters the right to reject property tax increases that exceed the rate of inflation and population growth.

The latest assault on open government began in 2004, when in Alpine, a city councilmember used private email accounts to ask fellow council members if a specific item should be on the council’s agenda. One councilmember replied using a private email account that is should. The local district attorney decided this email exchange violated TOMA because the emails involved a quorum of the city council. As result, two of the council members were criminally indicted by a grand jury. The charges were later dropped.

Alpine, and several other cities, filed a lawsuit last December claiming the Texas Open Meetings Act violates city officials’ right to free speech. Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that official communications over the Internet, including emails and social networking sites, should be allowed.

City officials want to use social media to get around the Open Meetings Act, and in doing so, they want to take the teeth out of the Act. New media should not be used to constitute new ways to circumvent the law.

The criminal attorney representing the cities is none other than Dick DeGuerin, who also represented (among others) David Koresh during his standoff with federal agencies in Waco.

The lawsuit claims that the cities “seek nothing more than to enforce freedom of speech for public officials the citizens of Texas have elected to speak for them.” They want to “unshackle Texas elected officials so they can perform their duties as representatives of the citizens who elected them to speak.”

Actually, voters elected them to do the people’s business. Elected officials chose to work in the public sector. They handle public dollars and make decisions which impact citizens’ lives and livelihoods. That business should be conducted under the light of public scrutiny.

Would the same argument these rogue cities are making work for insider trading? Would free speech cover a corporate representative of a publicly-held company giving private tips to sell the company before the information is made public?

The Texas Municipal League passed a resolution supporting the cities’ lawsuit which reads, in part:

“…the Texas Municipal League has the ability to represent the best interests of Texas municipalities before the legislature…” and they call for amending the Open Meetings Act by replacing the criminal enforcement provisions with less restrictive penalties to “balance the First Amendment right of governmental officials.”

First, to amend TOMA by only lifting the criminal enforcement provisions indicates they just want the penalties to be lighter, while not changing the law.

Second, the League contends that citizens elect the city officials to “speak for them” before the legislature. Really? Then why do cities and the League spend millions of taxpayer dollars a year hiring lobbyists to speak for the cities, a practice most taxpayers find offensive.

Third, an elected official’s ability to speak in private among a quorum of his fellow elected officials is trumped by the public’s right to have the people’s business done in public. The simple fact that these city officials and the League want the right to do business in private makes their work all the more suspect.

Those organizations coming to the public defense in support of TOMA include the Texas Press Association, Texas Daily Newspaper Association, Texas Association of Broadcasters, The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and now Americans for Prosperity.

While the cities’ lawsuit claims that elected officials’ individual free speech rights are being chilled, they are willing to put the citizens’ rights to an open, transparent government on ice. If their claim that the Texas Open Meetings Law is unconstitutional prevails, the public will be the biggest loser.

# # #

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

Report on president’s visit to Louisiana

2010-05-02T17:27:00.001-05:00

The Amarillo Independent has e-mail access to reports from pool reporters covering President Barack Obama’s visit to Venice, La. to assess the impact of the massive oil flow from BP’s now-sunk Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

According to Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post:

Obama emerged from his hour-long meeting inside the Coast Guard station into a light drizzle that instantly became a downpour the moment he stepped outside.”

He walked to a driveway to shake hands with a line of Coast Guard members waiting to meet him, then strode to a podium to make remarks. Speaking in the driving rain — and joking about it at one point — Obama began with a statement on the Times Square incident, calling it a potentially deadly act but refraining from calling it terrorism.

He took no questions.

On the Gulf Coast, he described the oil spill as a massive and potentially unprecedented disaster, and went through the federal effort — saying, again, that the administration had been prepared for the worst from the start. The comments at the podium were broadcast live on TV and there will be a transcript. The logistics of this trip are such that a quickie transcript is impossible for now.

After speaking, Obama boarded the motorcade and drove to do an OTR nearby, meeting with a group of five fishermen under a tent by the roadside. Accompanied by the president of the local parish (county), Obama talked to the men about the recovery effort and said the first priority is plugging the oil spill. After that, he said, protecting the estuaries would be the next priority. And he assured them that BP is on the hook to compensate for financial losses. Obama summoned Thad Allen to join him in talking to the men at one point.

Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner

2010-05-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

Becks continue to struggle against health care costs

2010-04-22T11:08:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, Bruce and Tanya Beck are waging a courageous battle against cancer. However, despite having health insurance through the Amarillo Globe-News, the Becks are burdened with crushing medical bills. Tanya would like to sell one of their cars, a low-mileage Toyota.

Please circulate the availability of this vehicle to your friends and, if you are on Facebook, please paste the paragraph below as your status and contact me back-channel on Facebook so that Tanya doesn't have to deal with this issue at this time. If you are not a Facebook member, please e-mail me at newsguygeorge (at) Gmail.com. Thank you.

The Becks would like to sell a Toyota, a 2008 Silver Corolla S with 25,600 miles, sport package (aluminum wheels and spoiler) and IPOD interface. This vehicle is definitely not on the recall list and is $12,500. The car was purchased new and has been well cared for by a mechanic of good reputation, is in sterling condition and very clean.

EarthFest in Amarillo

2010-04-17T23:06:00.002-05:00

Tea Party Misrepresents Health Care Provisions

2010-04-16T10:46:00.000-05:00

Dale Robertson's Tea Party e-mail once again misrepresents what is in the health care reform bill.

Robertson's reporter Fred Lucas, from the conservative news service, wrote, "The new health care overhaul law - that promised increased access and efficiency in health care - will prevent doctor-owned hospitals from adding more rooms and more beds.

These hospitals are advertised as less bureaucratic and more focused on doctor-patient decision making. However, larger corporate hospitals say doctor-owned facilities discriminate in favor of high-income patients and refer business to themselves."

The new rules single out physician-owned hospitals, making new physician-owned projects ineligible to receive payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients."

Of course, this is a misrepresentation of the issue. This is not a case of "ObamaCare" taking away rights. There is a strong argument to be made on both sides of the issue and the restrictions on physician-owned hospitals lies in the following points:

· Physician-owned hospitals take away my-profit business from community general hospitals leaving the low-profit and indigent care to those hospitals. In many cases, those community general hospitals are run by nonprofit corporations set up as charitable operations in that community, or by religious groups carrying out a mission of healing. The latter, of course, derive their mission from the Bible. By railing inaccurately and an unbalanced way about physician-owned hospitals, Mr. Robertson and his Tea Party perpetuate problems in communities that have serious consequences.

· Medical ethics prohibits physicians from self-serving and self-referring to facilities in which they have a financial stake. While these hospitals have somehow escaped that approbation, the fact remains that ownership in these hospitals create an unseemly temptation for profit which might not always be to a patient's benefit.

You cannot connect with Mr. Robertson directly. However, I have called these egregiously misleading assertions to Robertson's flack.

Living History

2010-04-12T09:33:00.002-05:00

I have long contended that one of the worst public policy decisions permitted in the 20th century was the demise of the American railroads.

The Union Pacific has gone to great expense to keep history alive and demonstrate there was a golden age of railroading.

IRS gives pass to the corporations

2010-04-12T09:20:00.003-05:00

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, at Syracuse University has released a report showing the Internal Revenue Service has cut back sharply on the number of audits of large corporations.

"The decline in audits of large corporations is surprising because (1) the highest levels of misreported tax dollars per auditor hour are found among the biggest business organizations and (2) since FY 2005, Congress has provided the IRS with the funds it needs to hire an increasing number of revenue agents trained to handle these very complex returns,” the study announcement states.

Despite the increased funding, the number of hours devoted to auditing firms with $250 million or more in assets has dropped by one-third, the release noted. "A key outcome is that more and more of the largest corporations are not being audited at all."

The full study can be found at: http://trac.syr.edu/tracirs/newfindings/current/

Despicable -- Just Despicable

2010-04-06T17:51:00.000-05:00

On The Amarillo Independent’s Web site this past Saturday. It was a segment of an interview of President Barack Obama by Harry Smith in which Smith asked the president whether he was aware of the vitriol on the right-wing talk shows. Smith specifically cited Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

As you can see for yourself, the president’s tone was moderate and modulated.

But if you got an e-mail from Dale Robertson and his Tea Party. Org. Obama’s understanding and tolerant tone was characterized as “lashing out at free speech.”

Robertson, of course, defends Limbaugh by pointing out Limbaugh said nothing of the kind. Here is what Limbaugh said on his Aug.; 6. 2009 show, “Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate.”

Is Limbaugh drawing a distinction without a difference?

You judge.

Propaganda

2010-04-02T12:34:00.000-05:00

Remember, I've written about propaganda before. Here's a great video on it.

It's a matter of trust

2010-03-31T22:33:00.002-05:00

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a/k/a/ Kay Bailey Bimbo, announced today she was going to remain in the United States Senate until her current term expires in 2012.

This is a change -- wait, a flip-flop -- from the position she held during the Republican gubernatorial primary. She said she was going to resign. Now she's not.

Of course, she said 20 other Republican senators prevailed upon her to say. One of those senators included John "Cornpone" Cornyn, who was the first hypocrite out of the gate to encourage Hutchison to stay in the Senate. It was obvious at the time that Cornpone was giving Hutchison cover from the very time that became obvious that Gov. Good Hair had tacked so far to the right.

KXAN, and Austin TV station, has video of her discussing her decision to stay in the Senate. Well, discussing is to loose term for Mrs. Bimbo. She said she was concerned about how quickly the country is deteriorating and that she hadn't anticipated. What? She's a freaking United States senator. If she can't anticipate that in the context of being in the minority party and strongly beating the drums for Rush Limbaugh and others as she regurgitates the talking points of the far right, does she have the brains to be in the Senate?

Texas would be far better served if she opened a cheerleading camp instead.

An Open Letter to Mac Thornberry from Robert W. Goodrich

2010-03-30T19:37:00.000-05:00

Mr. Goodrich's letter is long. But the real question is: Will Mac respond? Does Mac care?

All gub'mint employees incompetent? Not these folks

2010-03-26T08:48:00.007-05:00

Are you tired of hearing of folks bashing how incompetent government employees are?

Here is a link to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the general aviation membership group, daily distribution. This came today and reports on the National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s sixth annual Archie League Medal of Safety Awards banquet on March 22.

These are the awards for the air traffic controllers, who are public employees, as they helped pilots get down safely. Below is the link for the entire AOPA posting:

http://www.aopa.org/training/articles/2010/100323natca.html?WT.mc_id=100326epilot&WT.mc_sect=tts

You can listen to the air traffic controllers’ conversations with the pilots near the bottom of the link's page. You don’t have to be a pilot or understand pilot-speak to get the drift of the problems.

See also: http://www.aopa.org/training/articles/2010/100322flightassist.html

Words matter & can cause violence

2010-03-25T11:05:00.004-05:00

Back in the early part of the decade, I had an interesting conversation with Bill Redmond, who served briefly as the congressman from New Mexico’s third Congressional District. Redmond stunned New Mexico when he won a special election to replace Bill Richardson, who had held the seat. Redmond lost to Tom Udall, who was then the state’s attorney general and is now New Mexico’s junior senator — and the son of the recently departed Stewart Udall.

Redmond was a conservative and a fundamentalist Christian pastor of a church in Santa Fe and then Los Alamos. He and I disagreed politically, but he was accessible and a kind man and we had many a good conversation. The one I remember, however, was the discussion we had about the purpose of Congress in our democracy. The founders knew that we needed a mechanism to keep from running into the streets with guns and the purpose of Congress and the judiciary were to serve as venues for settling our differences.

Those rules have worked for most of our history. The Civil War was a huge exception, of course. So were some of the assassinations in our history.

Now, however, violence has invaded our political system like a metastatic cancer. The Washington Post reported this morning that the FBI and Capitol Police met with about 100 Democratic lawmakers and aides to discuss security. In a 24-hour period starting last Saturday during the debate on the health care reform bill, bricks were thrown through windows at Democratic headquarters in several states and a gas line was severed at the home of a brother of one of the Democrats in Congress.

In addition to the acts of violence, some of the high profile legislators got threats of violence. Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak, a staunch opponent to abortion rights, changed his vote from opposition to support of the health care measure when President Barack Obama agreed to issue an executive order banning the use of federal money for abortions. That executive order bolstered a provision of the same nature already in the bill that called for the same ban on the use of federal money. And, those two measures reaffirm the Hyde Amendment that also stands as federal law. Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) also got faxes with racial epithets and nooses on them.

Those acts of violence followed the reprehensible behavior Sunday of Tea Baggers using racial and sexist epithets against legislators making their way to the Capitol for the health care debate. I have a hard time believing that words didn’t drive some of the violence and threats of violence.

As I write this, I am listening to the callers to “The John Terry Show” on KGNC-AM. Some of his callers are frightening either by their anger or their ignorance — or a combination. One caller flat out threatened violence, saying that would be the only way to get the attention of lawmakers so these politicians would listen to the people. On the other hand, some callers just couldn’t get it through their heads that the bill didn’t provide federal funds for abortion.

Media Matters for America documents the right-wing calls for violence or the distortion of the left-wing’s position on violence. Glenn Beck, one of the worse offenders in the world of lies and distortions, “has repeatedly used violent rhetoric in referring to the passage of health care reform. After the House passed the Senate's version of reform legislation, Beck stated that while the ‘battle was lost, the war is not over,’ and after President Obama signed the bill, he suggested that Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported ‘pick[ing] up a gun’ to advance ‘revolution.’”

Words matter and the misinformation — the disinformation — has to either stop or people exposed to the disinformation have to think more critically, if they can.

A brilliant essay on the GOP's hypocrisy

2010-03-24T17:44:00.000-05:00

Russell King, writes a blog on the Web site TalkingPointsMemo, has deconstructing the Republican Party's hypocrisy. In a beautifully documented point-by-point analysis, King shows how irrational the GOP is. It's a long read, but well worth it.

A Special Editorial: Tell the truth Mac & Randy

2010-03-22T18:35:00.002-05:00

Members of Congress and the conservative media in the United States have moved from misinformation to disinformation. The distinction is important.

Misinformation passes along supposed facts without knowing if those “facts” are right or wrong. Disinformation, on the other hand, purposely passes along supposed facts that are known to be wrong. They are part of a propaganda effort. Disinformation is part of what is known as “psych ops,” the psychological warfare practices by the Central Intelligence Agency and the military.

Two area congressmen are involved in this disinformation campaign. Randy Neugebauer, of Lubbock, apologized to U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a blue dog anti-abortion Democrat from Michigan, for calling Stupak a baby-killer. By Tuesday morning, Neugebauer was backing away from his apology by saying he was calling the bill a baby killer. If that’s what he meant, he needs to explain why he apologized to Stupak. Nevertheless, Stupak dropped his opposition to the health care reform bill after President Barack Obama issued an executive order banning the use of federal funds for abortion.

Then this district’s representative, Mac Thornberry, who can’t utter anything but GOP talking points, said on his Web site: “The national debt will rise even higher. The new programs and benefits will cost more money, not less. The cost estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office considers ten years of tax increases and Medicare cuts but only six years of benefits.”

PolitiFact.com, a service of the St. Petersburg Times, disputes Thornberry’s claim. Citing the Congressional Budget Office (http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11355), PolitiFact notes: “The most recent estimate of the plan, released Thursday by the CBO, said that it would spend $940 billion over 10 years. But new taxes, penalties and cost savings would offset that spending, according to the CBO, so that overall the plan would pay for itself, dropping the deficit by slightly $138 billion over 10 years.

“Obama has said the plan will save more than $1 trillion in the second 10 years, but that estimate, according to the CBO, is highly speculative.”

As for Neugebauer, PolitiFact points out that the new plan will not pay for abortions.

“But under the Senate plan, people will be able to buy insurance that covers abortion on the new health insurance exchanges, as long as the insurance company pays for the services with patient premiums, not taxpayer subsidies,” the Web site notes. “Medicaid has an exemption for cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.”

If the conservatives want to bar abortions for those three conditions, they are going to have to reconcile their push to keep government off our backs with shoving government into our reproductive organs.

One hates to have to call people like Neugebauer and Thornberry liars. But the stark fact is they are. And they are part of a disinformation campaign. Texans, who place a premium on honor, should reject both of these men and their approach to civic discourse.

Disagree all you want, congressmen. But do so with honor and the facts. Admit you don’t want to help the poor.

Admit you don’t want the health insurance firms regulated, that you don’t want them to lose profits, some of which end up in your campaign coffers. Admit you don’t care that 6 million kids in Texas will be uninsured.

But, please, come clean about your motives and stop thinking all of your constituents are stupid.

President's health care reform speech

2010-03-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

Nashville artist plays concert in Amarillo

2010-03-22T11:43:00.003-05:00

Dana Cooper, a Nashville-based singer and songwriter, played a private living room concert Sunday.

“I’ve always considered myself an outsider as far as the music industry goes,” Cooper said on his Web site. “I focused on a grassroots career by making albums I liked and that I took to people by playing live. Now that’s what everyone says is the new music model, that you build a sustaining career by playing live and sticking to your own vision. If that’s the case, then I figure I’m ahead of the game, because I’ve been doing it that way for more than 30 years.”

Propaganda

2010-03-19T17:42:00.001-05:00

George Schwarz wrote:

I don't know who or what Lone Star News is. It looks like it's an Associated Press feed for CBS radio.

LSN reported that Gov. Rick Perry, Lieut. Gov. David Dewhurst and Texas House of Representatives Speaker Joe Strauss cosigned a letter to the Texas congressional delegation asking they vote against the proposed health-care reform bill moving through Congress.

According to the report, the letter stated that this we are, “asking the Texas Congressional delegation to put Texas first and vote against federal government’s takeover of our healthcare.”

Without launching into an invective about Rick Perry, the real issue here is the continual drumbeat from the right that says health-care reform is a federal of healthcare.

The important points here are two: First, the proposed plan before Congress is not a takeover of the health care system. We don't know exactly what it is yet, but the government will not on hospitals or employ doctors nationwide. Second, and more importantly, this is propaganda based on the notion that if you tell a lie enough times people will start to believe it.

These are the same techniques that Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi's minister of propaganda used to convince the Germans that the Jews needed to be liquidated. Goebbels learned those techniques when he was the regional manager of the Nazi party in Berlin and used Nazi newspapers for his propaganda. How is that unlike Fox News today?

Just something to think about as you listen to the rhetoric.

A More Objective View

2010-03-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

The Pew Research Center for People & the Press has released a report that bears more media interest in it seems to be getting.
“Gloomy Americans Bash Congress, Are Divided on Obama" dispels the myth that the Tea Party wants to perpetuate — that people believe health-care reform won't work and that President Barack Obama is highly unpopular.
Less than a majority approve of the job he is doing, but a much smaller majority disapprove. Further, contrary to Tea Party rhetoric, Obama is neither arrogant nor detached.
The survey report, conducted between March 10 and March 14, paints a gloomy picture of the nation's view of the economy, significant reticence over the health care reform proposals before Congress now and shows a disdain for Congress in general.
Whether feelings toward incumbent politicians are accurately reflected in the survey will remain long enough and strong enough to affect voting in the November, of course, remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, this is not a difficult study to read and should be required reading for anyone interested in civic life.

Another inmate seeks DNA testing

2010-03-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press reported March 17 that Texas’ highest criminal court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, has rejected a stay of execution for Henry Skinner.

The 47-year-old inmate is scheduled to die next week in the Department of Criminal Justice’s heavily used death chamber.

Skinner’s request for a halt to the execution hinges on his assertion that DNA evidence, which prosecutors withheld, would exonerate him.

According to Michael Lowe, a Dallas-based defense attorney who runs the Web site DallasJustice.com, Lynn Switzer, the 31st Judicial District Attorney, was responsible for withholding what could be exculpatory evidence. Lowe and Professor Rob Owen, who supervises the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law are handling Skinner’s case, which includes a lawsuit against Switzer.

“In the complaint, Skinner asks the court to declare that continued withholding of the DNA evidence violates his constitutional rights,” writes the StandDown Texas Project. “He seeks an injunction requiring Switzer to release certain biological evidence to him — including vaginal swabs and fingernail clippings from the female victim, any biological material on two knives found at the murder scene, and blood and hairs on a jacket found next to the female victim's body — so Skinner can test it at his own expense.”

Steven Hall, an attorney who formerly worked in the Texas Attorney General’s office, is the director of StandDown, which seeks a moratorium on executions in Texas.

Texas Gov. Rob Perry, who already likely has blood on his hands from the Todd Willingham case, could step in to prevent the death of a possibly innocent inmate. Perry’s track record for bloodlust, however, makes such action unlikely. The record shows that Perry would rather see an inmate die and then hide the truth, as he did by shaking up the Texas Forensic Science Commission last year, than follow is self-proclaimed Christianity.

Why do we let this continue?

Anonymous Tips

2010-03-17T12:08:00.003-05:00

The Amarillo Independent will not respond to anonymous tips.

I am posting this because we got a letter from Lubbock mailed March 6 with no return address and no signature. The letter raised several personnel questions about Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, alleging cronyism in an appointment. Although we will keep a source's name confidential,without being able to vet the source and know with whom we are dealing, we simply can't respond to the tip.

State Board of Education makes Texas a laughing stock

2010-03-15T18:40:00.002-05:00

A recent decision by the Texas State Board of Education to tilt the social sciences curriculum, and therefore textbooks, in the direction of conservative Christian philosophy does far more damage than simply making this state the butt of jokes.

Thoughtful people recognize what is going on in the

United States

: We are engaged in a culture war. This culture war began in the 1970s with the late Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority.” We know that, as the opposing bumper sticker said. “The moral majority is neither.”

But thanks to the impressive propagandizing by right-wing ideologues such as Rush Limbaugh, Fox News Network and Roger Ailes, the Ronald Reagan presidency, which set out to destroy government, and the subsequent Bush presidencies which continued to place corporate profits ahead of people, the culture wars continue.

The thoughtful and moderate people who would be comfortable with the label progressive or liberal and the middle, the moderates, either leaning toward conservatism or being liberal have stayed on the sidelines for almost four decades. The two-term presidency of Bill Clinton was, make no mistake, a centrist Democratic administration. Despite Clinton’s moral bankruptcy, the nation enjoyed prosperity and peace.

With the end of the Bush-the-younger reign, during which Dick Cheney channeling the Anti-Christ and Donald Rumsfeld playing the role of clown prince, we saw the right-wing minority backlash against the public’s rejection of the old neo-con order. The undercurrent of the anti-Obama racist surely played a part, especially in parts of Dixie.

It is not clear who is winning these culture wars because we see things in the Panhandle through redder-than-rose colored glasses.

But the rest of the nation, the majority, who backed the election of the first African American president may not share the Limbaugh-Ailes agenda. It’s just that here those bellowing have more traction.

The traction is aided by the notoriety of the craziness at the SBOE with the social conservatives elevating the concepts of states’ rights and heroism further than reasonable people would accept. These social conservatives would have school children indoctrinated that the

U.S.

is “Christian” nation, that the recent unpleasantness that occurred between 1861 and 1865 should be considered a War of Northern Aggression.

The former head of the SBOE, Don McLeroy, is a creationist who rejects as scientific the Thoery of Evolution and one of those who has pushed the right-wing agenda hard. It’s nothing short of mind-boggling to realize that a dentist would reject all the science he might have heard about in getting a bachelor’s in electrical engineering before his dental degree.

Perhaps none of these people with an either-or view of life have never seen “Inherit the Wind” or the other literature that illuminates the reconciliation of science and faith. What a shame that they lack the strength of their own faith to expose themselves to deeper thinking about God, man and science.

The ramifications for the “Christianist” view of social sciences and history go beyond Texas. Texas buys so many textbooks based on its curriculum that other states purchase the same books and so the backward view of the conservative Christians contaminates other states.

Liberals and conservatives seem to agree on one point, that the United States needs to improve its educational system. Confusing faith with reason will never educate our kids.

But it will propagandize them.

That’s something we condemned the Soviets about during the cold war. Too bad we don’t follow our own standards.

David's at the Wheel

2010-03-14T13:04:00.002-05:00

After covering Repent Amarillo extensively over a period of several months, and being picketed by the group myself, I say this with the utmost understanding of the moment's frustration. We are emboldening the enemy, and we must stop.

Over the weekend, tempers have exploded since learning of the Fire Marshall's shutting down of the Nat, after a protest and suspected code violation complaint by Repent Amarillo and David Grisham, its leader. Threats of violence toward RA have erupted on social networking sites, and the rage of those targeted by the group has reached a critical level.

It is easy to meet David at his level right now. In a very fluid and menacing way, he has created that which he desired. In recent weeks clubs have cropped up to stop Repent Amarillo, t shirts have been sold, he has obtained free local and national advertising.

The city bulges with tension every time a protest is mentioned, and usually David delivers. With his bullhorn and videocamera, he sets out to disconnect us from our humanity. The pointing of a finger, the yelling out of "adulterer" can only serve to fray the steadiest temperaments over time.

We cannot form a witch-hunt. The thought of it obviously tempting, were we to do that the following would happen: David would call media outlets to invite them, taunt the hunters from afar, and set alight our privacy and any further hope of peace, even as we march after him.

This is my most fervent plea, as an observer, a participant, and a supporter of all the people and things that continue to provide an oasis in this desert, who now find yourselves threatened:

The more difficult it is to maintain non-violence, the more worthy the effort. There are no words, no actions, no momentum to be used that will drive this man and his followers away; Save for silence. A wall of it. A peaceful, oblivious sea of indifference. Take back your power, and don't leave David at the wheel by playing by his rules.

Repent Amarillo strikes again

2010-03-13T10:27:00.001-06:00

Sources have told me that Repent Amarillo was at the Nat Friday night. I don't know what they were protesting. (I refuse to accept their premise by calling their activity "witnessing.)

One of my Facebook friends asked what to do about Repent Amarillo. One reply was, "Fight fire with fire."

Here is my suggestion:

Get cameras and document every time they encroach on private property. Call the police and ask them to enforce the law and document it with video and cameras. The Indy's position now is not to give the RA people the publicity they crave but to show that the law enforcement community is tacitly supporting RA. We can't be where they are all the time, but those targets of RA can show what's happening. We will take the story from there.

Let The Amarillo Independent know about it and we'll work with you to document it. www.amarilloindy.com and george@amarilloindy.com

Tell Glenn Beck about Christ's true message

2010-03-12T08:49:00.002-06:00

This is important. Glenn Beck, like Rush Limbaugh, is a divisive force in American society. He is part of the culture war that is dividing our people on every level, contributing to the gridlock partisanship in Congress and making a mockery of listening and understanding other people's opinions.

Social justice is one of God's messages, brought to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was what would today be called a liberal, pushing against the authority of the time by spreading the message of the Good Word.

Those of us who are liberal Christians bear some responsibility for helping to show our support for kindness and love as a way of life, as hard as that sometimes is.

They shoot horses, don't they? -- No.

2010-03-11T09:15:00.001-06:00

Dillas release schedule

2010-03-10T09:29:00.001-06:00

2010 Schedule

May 27 Thursday @San Angelo 7:05
28 Friday @San Angelo 7:05

29 Saturday San Angelo 7:05
30 Sunday San Angelo 6:05
31 Monday San Angelo 7:05
June 1 Tuesday San Angelo 7:05

2 Wednesday @Edinburg 7:05
3 Thursday @Edinburg 7:05
4 Friday @Edinburg 7:05
5 Saturday @Edinburg 7:05

6 Sunday Laredo 6:05
7 Monday Laredo 7:05
8 Tuesday Laredo 7:05
9 Wednesday Laredo 7:05

10 Thursday @San Angelo 7:05
11 Friday @San Angelo 7:05
12 Saturday @San Angelo 7:05
13 Sunday @San Angelo 6:05

14 Monday Rio Grande 7:05
15 Tuesday Rio Grande 7:05
16 Wednesday Rio Grande 7:05
17 Thursday Rio Grande 7:05
18 Friday Edinburg 7:05
19 Saturday Edinburg 7:05
20 Sunday Edinburg 6:05
21 Monday Edinburg 7:05

22 Tuesday Off Day

23 Wednesday @Laredo 7:30
24 Thursday @Laredo 7:30
25 Friday @Laredo 7:30
26 Saturday @Laredo 7:30
27 Sunday @Coastal Bend 6:05
28 Monday @Coastal Bend 7:05
29 Tuesday @Coastal Bend 7:05
30 Wednesday @Coastal Bend 7:05

July 1 Thursday Coastal Bend 7:05
2 Friday Coastal Bend 7:05
3 Saturday Coastal Bend 7:05
4 Sunday Coastal Bend 6:05

5 Monday @Rio Grande 7:05
6 Tuesday @Rio Grande 7:05
7 Wednesday @Rio Grande 7:05
8 Thursday @Rio Grande 7:05
9 Friday @Coastal Bend 7:05
10 Saturday @Coastal Bend 7:05
11 Sunday @Coastal Bend 6:05
12 Monday @Coastal Bend 7:05

13 Tuesday Edinburg 7:05
14 Wednesday Edinburg 7:05
15 Thursday Edinburg 7:05
16 Friday Edinburg 7:05

17 Saturday @Rio Grande 7:05
18 Sunday @Rio Grande 7:05
19 Monday @Rio Grande 7:05
20 Tuesday @Rio Grande 7:05

21 Wednesday Off Day

22 Thursday Laredo 7:05
23 Friday Laredo 7:05
24 Saturday Laredo 7:05
25 Sunday Laredo 6:05
26 Monday San Angelo 7:05
27 Tuesday San Angelo 7:05
28 Wednesday San Angelo 7:05
29 Thursday San Angelo 7:05

30 Friday @Rio Grande 7:05
31 Saturday @Rio Grande 7:05
August 1 Sunday @Rio Grande 7:05
2 Monday @Rio Grande 11:05am
3 Tuesday @Edinburg 7:05
4 Wednesday @Edinburg 7:05
5 Thursday @Edinburg 7:05
6 Friday @Edinburg 7:05

7 Saturday Laredo 7:05
8 Sunday Laredo 6:05
9 Monday Laredo 7:05
10 Tuesday Laredo 7:05
11 Wednesday San Angelo 7:05
12 Thursday San Angelo 7:05
13 Friday San Angelo 7:05
14 Saturday San Angelo 7:05

15 Sunday @Coastal Bend 6:05
16 Monday @Coastal Bend 7:05
17 Tuesday @Coastal Bend 7:05
18 Wednesday @Coastal Bend 7:05

19 Thursday San Angelo 7:05
20 Friday San Angelo 7:05
21 Saturday San Angelo 7:05
22 Sunday San Angelo 6:05
23 Monday Off Day
24 Tuesday Edinburg 7:05
25 Wednesday Edinburg 7:05
26 Thursday Edinburg 7:05
27 Friday Edinburg 7:05

28 Saturday @San Angelo 7:05
29 Sunday @San Angelo 6:05
30 Monday @ San Angelo 7:05

End of Regular Season Play

1st Round United League Playoffs - Best of 3 Format

31 Tuesday Game #1@ 7:05
September 1 Wednesday Game #2 7:05
2 Thursday Game #3* 7:05

United League Championship Series - Best of 5 Format

3 Friday Game #1@ 7:05
4 Saturday Game #2@ 7:05
5 Sunday Game #3 7:05
6 Monday Game #4* 7:05
7 Tuesday Game #5* 7:05

*Games played if necessary to complete each series
@Lowest seed host indicated games in each series

Granny D

2010-03-10T08:38:00.002-06:00

The Associated Press has reported that Doris "Granny D" Haddock has died. I can recall when Jim Hightower was featured on National Public Radio in Espanola and when Granny D was walking across the country on her campaign reform trek.

Take a moment today to think about a progressive who was willing to tilt at windmills to try and bring change and improvement to our political system.

Tea Party Panic

2010-03-09T21:16:00.002-06:00

The drumbeats of the crazies of the right-wing continue to try to derail health care reform. Here is what Dale Robertson, who fancies himself a leader, by writing this, "Fact is, as our freedom teeters on the brink of extinction, I become further concerned each waking hour. The dark cloud of National Socialism hangs over our beloved nation like the Sword of Damocles, our rich heritage hanging by a single thread."

Robertson must be reading from the Republican National Committee’s playbook about creating fear.

The government is not going to “take over” health care and it’s not going to socialize medicine. People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want to protect the profit-making interests of those who benefit from people who are sick and dying.

People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want to protect the profits of the pharmaceutical industry — an industry that has bribed doctors to write articles in professional journals; an industry that has falsified research results; an industry that has ghost-written articles for doctors to attach their names to and have published in prestigious professional journals; an industry that advertises direct to consumers on TV and in mostly women’s magazines to create demand for drug developed for imaginary diseases.

People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want to protect the profits of the medical equipment industry — an industry that doesn’t care if there are too many hospital beds in a community; if hospitals compete for patients by building CAT scanner suites, MRIs and cath labs that go half-utilized; and an industry that ignores its own role in health care cost inflation.

People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want to protect the profits of the health insurance industry — an industry that makes profits by writing sneaky clauses in its policies; makes money by denying care to those who need it; an industry that doesn’t want to pay good doctors what they’re worth.

People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want to protect the profits of the nursing home industry — an industry that wants to escape the scrutiny of regulators so the staffing is so low that the elderly lie in their own waste.

People like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC want “tort reform” to set limits on malpractice and negligence award but won’t open the National Practitioners’ Data Bank to the public. Nor will people like Robertson and those who set the policy for the RNC back remove the shield medial boards so he public can see who the bad doctors are.

Don’t by the right-wing Kool-Aid.

March 4 Issue

2010-03-07T23:46:00.009-06:00

Click on image to read.

Administration touts insurance reform

2010-03-07T16:56:00.004-06:00

By George Schwarz
The Amarillo Independent

In an attempt to present the Obama administration as tough on the large health insurance companies, Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius told reporters in a teleconference Thursday that she and the president wanted more transparency on premium rate setting.
She said that she had met with the chief executives of four large insurance firms — UnitedHealth Group Inc., WellPoint Inc., Aetna Inc., Health Care Service Corporation and CIGNA HealthCare Inc. — and representatives of state insurance commissioners as part of the process.
“The meeting was really prompted by the jaw-dropping rate increases that are being proposed this year and companies around the country, particularly in the small group and individual market where people have no marketing power, they have no leverage and often are desperate in terms of what in the world they're going to do,” she said.
The president stopped by the meeting briefly to show a letter from a woman in Ohio was facing a 25 percent rate increase from the year before. As a cancer survivor free from the disease for 11 years, she just received notification that rates will go up another 40 percent, Sebelius said.
Sebelius said the president called the rates unsustainable.
That was the content of Obama's Saturday radio address to the nation (see video).
In that address, Obama touted that the insurance portion of health reform legislation would:
• Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all new plans;
• Prohibit rescissions of health insurance policies in all individual plans;
• Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all ne6w plans;
• Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs;
• Establish a process for the annual review of unreasonable increases in premiums, requiring state insurance commissioners to work with the HHS secretary and states.
She said that the comprehensive health reform package the president is trying to push through Congress would call for greater regulatory oversight on rate setting by the insurance industry and will create a different marketplace by having leveraging power of the small group and individual policies. These smaller markets are being priced out of the health insurance, she said.
She said the she asked the companies to file rate increase information online, retroactively to January. Those filings would also include justifications in terms of medical losses and administrative overhead, claims payouts.
“At the very least we need some transparency,” she said. “We need people to understand what's going on because right now we have a situation where the top five companies filed earnings reports of $12.7 billion for 2009 in terms of profit statements.”
It “just doesn't make a lot of sense” when coupled with the double-digit rate increases, she added.
She said that the companies owe justifications to their customers and to the American public.
But, the secretary never answered questions about whether the insurance companies had blamed health care cost inflation for increases in premiums nor did, in a separate request to Health and Human Services public affairs officials, explain whether specific cost containment efforts had been proposed for health care providers.

Estimates on wind energy revised upward

2010-03-07T15:03:00.003-06:00

By Greg Rohloff
The Amarillo Independent

The Department of Energy’s newest estimate on U.S. potential for wind-generated electricity triples the previous estimates, and rearranges the order of the windiest states, listing the southern High Plains at the top.
According to the study released in late February, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and AWS Truewind estimate the contiguous 48 states could generate up to 37 million gigawatt hours a year.
And while that figure is the total potential and not a realistic figure of what could actually be developed, it far outstrips the current production of electricity from the conventional sources, 4 million gigawatt hours in 2009, according to the renewable energy lab.
The implications of the study, taken at its face value, can be stunning. The American Wind Energy Association’s response to it was to point out that harnessing the wind could raise the amount of wind-generated electricity from the current 35 gigawatts per year to more than 10,000 gigawatts. And, the association notes, wind could produce as many British thermal units of energy in a year as all the domestic natural gas and oil reserves, 364.9 quadrillion.
While that potential bolsters a potential of more wind development in the Panhandle, the potential is meaningless until a transmission system can connect it to the nation’s electrical grids, said AJ Swopes, executive director of Class 4 Winds, an advocacy organization promoting wind energy development in the tri-state region.
The new study moves Texas to the top of the list for wind energy potential, supplanting North Dakota on the previous list from a study in 1991 that set the potential at 10.8 gigawatt hours a year. Kansas moves to the second spot, while Oklahoma and New Mexico are ninth and tenth, with the northern High Plains and Iowa filling in the spaces in between.
The new study arrives at a greater potential because it reflects wind measurements at 80 meters, closer to the standard for newly installed wind generators, which have taller towers to reap the higher wind speeds, the wind energy association said.
The problem with moving electricity from the low-population areas of the High Plains to the coastal areas that have the greatest population and electricity demand is that the U.S. grid is divided into three areas, the eastern portion, which includes the Southwest Power Pool, the western portion and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which covers all of Texas but the Panhandle. Few interconnects exist to move electricity from one grid to another.
Swopes said additional wind development in the Panhandle could be a boon to the proposal for a project in New Mexico that would tie all three grids together, the Tres Amigas proposal that would build the first-of-its-kind facility in Clovis. Because the project would support additional wind development in the Panhandle, Class 4 Winds expressed its support to federal regulators considering the project.
The project, if approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, would use superconducting cable capable of carrying five gigawatts of electricity in a three-foot underground pipeline. The 22.5 square-mile plant would have three converter stations to turn direct current electricity into alternating current and provide it to each grid. Because the project would include storage batteries, Tres Amigas sees the plant as a way of using wind energy for base load demands rather than as a supplement to coal, natural gas, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.
Tres Amigas filed its request with the FERC in early December, triggering a round of other filings from electricity customers, service providers and government bodies. The request by Tres Amigas and the subsequent requests to be considered intervenors raise a host of questions that are likely to slow development of the project, even though the FERC in January issued an announcement that it would like to move alternative energy development onto a fast track, in accordance with the wishes of the Obama administration.
Xcel Energy, for instance, noted in its request to intervene in the Tres Amigas request, that moving 5 gigawatts of power from one grid to another could destabilize the relatively small Southwest Power Pool grid, and could require that Xcel would have to expand its capacity for the system that supplies Southwestern Public Service with electricity to the Panhandle. Traditionally, utility customers bear the costs of such buildout of facilities, and Xcel notes that its customers would not necessarily benefit from Tres Amigas.
In its request, Tres Amigas noted that it could move electricity from low-cost production areas to areas where limited generating capacity has pushed up the cost of electricity. That struck a note with the largest electricity customer in West Texas, Occidental Petroleum and its subsidiaries in the Permian basin, whose oil and natural gas well pumps are powered by electricity.
Occidental notes that since electricity would move from a low-cost area to a high-cost area, the transactions could drive up the cost of electricity in the lower-cost areas.
Dave Raskin, FERC counsel for Tres Amigas, said in an e-mail interview that such an outcome is not the most likely outcome.
“There are a number of factors that affect the overall impact of the removal of constraints on prices in each area, such as regulatory rules, price differentials during different system conditions and electric system changes over time,” Raskin said. “Tres Amigas believes that the unique combination of benefits that the Tres Amigas project brings to the electric system will result in lower electricity costs and/or improved reliability in each of the surrounding areas. It will also create significant opportunities for the development of additional renewable power resources.”
Thus, who bears the cost of building the system that would help define the buzz-word term “smart grid” and how that 21st century marketplace that could sell electricity produced by the Panhandle winds in California during one part of the day and then in New York City an hour or less later, affects the price of electricity in the Panhandle, may determine how greatly wind energy is actually developed.

Scholarship honors late announcer

2010-03-07T14:36:00.002-06:00

By Greg Rohloff
The Amarillo Independent

Pitchers and catchers report — the sweetest words of late winter, for they mean that summer, otherwise known as baseball season, is drawing near — but for now, report to the classroom.
Amarillo Dillas General Manager Mark Lee, swearing he could hear the pop of fastballs in catchers’ mitts from distant big-league spring-training camps, announced that the Dillas would be honoring the late Joe Frank Wheeler with a scholarship award for high school baseball and softball players. Wheeler died from a heart attack just hours before the home season opener last year.
“Joe Frank Wheeler really loved this time of year,” Lee said at a news conference Feb. 24. He recalled how he and Wheeler would talk in late winter about the upcoming baseball season and about the trades and free-agent signings and the major league camps before those conversations steered to the prospects of the Dillas.
“I don’t want Amarillo to lose Joe Frank,’ Lee said.
Thus, the Dillas will fund $1,500 scholarships for the top male and female student athletes, Lee said; the male chosen from Panhandle-area high school baseball teams and the female from area softball teams. Recipients will be chosen for their leadership, community influence and performance on the field and in the classroom.
Lee said the Dillas’ staff and select media representatives will choose the recipients.
Joining Lee at the announcement was Wheeler’s widow, Susie, who expressed her appreciation for the scholarship honoring Joe Frank.
“You hit a grand-slam home run with this one,” she said.
Lee said the presentations will include a trophy that will include a microphone as a tribute to the man who made the words “another MRL foul ball” a part of the Dilla Villa lexicon.
The Dillas will fund the scholarships, Lee said, but if fans wish to make contributions, they should contact him at the Dillas office by calling 340-0400.
The Dillas will e-mail nomination forms by April 15 to the principal and athletic director of each Panhandle-area high school. Nominations will be accepted from May 17 to June 10, and the awards will be made on June 19.
Lee said additional information is available on the Dillas’ Web site, www.myamarillodillas.com.

Hospital tax authority idling in the wings

2010-03-07T13:02:00.000-06:00

By Greg Rohloff
The Amarillo Independent

When the Amarillo Hospital District sold Northwest Texas Hospital to Universal Health Services in 1996, the district quit collecting property taxes because it did not need the proceeds to pay for indigent care. But the ability to collect the tax never went away, according to an exchange of information with the Texas Comptroller that started with inquiries by the city and between Potter County and the state attorney general.
The issue came up late last fall as the city investigated the possible purchase of the ambulance service, which ultimately went to AMR, a private ambulance service operator nationwide. City Finance Director Dean Frigo said had the city acquired the ambulance service, it would have to have a way to fund operations, with the city's property tax one possibility and reinstituting a hospital district property tax the other.
The apparent problem with reviving the tax rate arose with state property rollback procedures, which requires calculations based on the previous year's levy, which for the Amarillo Hospital District is zero, which in the multiplier formula for determining an effective rate for maintenance and operations is zero, and that the rollback rate multiplier of 1.08 times the effective tax rate also produces zero.
Thus, any proposed tax rate would require voter approval.
However, the reply from the Comptroller's office indicates that in such instances, the hospital district could act as if it were a new entity and set a tax rate the first year without figuring effective and rollback rates. Those provisions would begin starting the second year.
Frigo said that the invested funds from the hospital sale are sufficient to meet the indigent care needs of the hospital district, and that no such re-imposition of the tax is being considered.
However, he said, the agreement expires in 2021, which could then see a re-imposition of the property tax for the hospital district.