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Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek was always a favorite! Especially Mr. Spock! A potpourri of pet peeves! Global Warming debunked by environmentalists? How can this be? Water Research Group Meeting Monday Uranium testing. Hmmm! The thing the public isn't told! Karen Hadden, please go home! Revised and revisited! The importance of Gore-bal Warming! Solutions to Lower Basin flooding! It doesn't take a PhD! speakupvictoria.com, Hey, I'm still speaking up! October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 
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The Peter Morrison Report
About The Peter Morrison Report: The Peter Morrison Report is a free weekly newsletter for Texas conservatives. Please help me get this message out by forwarding this information to as many people you know who might be interested. If you're receiving this message as a forward, you can get the next report in your inbox when it comes out. Just visit http://www.PeterMorrisonRep... and enter your email address for a free subscription. This week's report: "TxDOT Airlines" Burns Taxpayers As the price of gas continues to rise, most Texans are thinking about the cost of transportation. Many have opted on cheaper methods, such as carpooling, or getting a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Perhaps we should take solace in the fact that our elected officials do not have to spend their time worrying about such trivial matters. What follows are the details of an enraging report put out last week by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility regarding public officials' use of taxpayer-funded private planes. The state of Texas maintains a private airline fleet for use by state officials. Five years ago, some conservatives considered selling it off for its estimated value of $18 million. Unfortunately for taxpayers, our elected officials decided that private planes were a crucial necessity, even during the $10 billion budget shortfall of 2003. Instead of getting rid of the private fleet, they were just transferred from the State Aircraft Pooling Board and placed under a less obvious ledger entry: the Texas Department of Transportation. We should all be thankful that it was a private fleet and not a bank account for which TxDOT was accountable. TxDOT recently made an accounting mistake that led the department to announce that somehow they had "miscounted" $1.1 billion. But hey, what's $1.1 billion among friends? Everyone knows that Texas is a friendly state, particularly TxDOT with its "Drive Friendly - The Texas Way" slogan. Five years later, TxDOT has certainly been making good use of their private fleet, using them to fly in officials for meetings about the Trans-Texas Corridor, news conferences, and award ceremonies. In fact, the satisfaction levels from officials that have used the fleet are so high that TxDOT is estimating there will be a 57% increase in the number of logged flight hours during the coming budget cycle. Since Texas currently enjoys a budget surplus, perhaps it is only to be expected if our officials take a few celebratory joyrides on their private aircraft fleet at taxpayer expense. Perhaps what they do not realize is that they were not the ones to create the budget surplus. The government does not create wealth; the government only consumes it (especially in the form of private plane exhaust). Wealth is created by the hard-working efforts of Texans across the state. When the good citizens of this state are having difficulty filling up their gas tanks due to the spiraling costs of gasoline; when purchasing food or paying the mortgage becomes a heated dinner discussion between spouses; and when words like inflation and recession are no longer on the fringe of Texans' vocabularies, times can be accurately described as "tough". Very tough. USA Today reported that small towns have been hit the hardest by gas costs, compared to major cities, like Houston, Dallas and Austin. Middle-class, traditional Americans, who already face steep taxes (in some cases debilitating taxation) often find themselves to the point where saving money for a vacation and having extra disposable income for a movie or other form of entertainment is difficult. Everyone in Texas is impacted by the depreciating dollar, which is causing the price of oil to skyrocket, the price of food to rise, and the costs of services to increase dramatically as well. These rising costs are going to have major long-term financial implications for this state and nation. The future is getting harder to predict, and with the current state of affairs in Texas and in the United States, one would imagine our great state and nation are headed for rough times. This report has documented the many failures of our elected officials to stop immigration, liberal and conservative malfeasance, and attempts to erode national sovereignty. Yet in the midst of the problems of the day, it is still important to highlight the positives that showcase the greatness of this state and nation. No matter how bleak things appear, hope will always remain. We must possess the hope that change can occur. Government corruption, whether it is a Republican or a Democrat behind the wheel of deceit, must be brought to a halt. This is an unenviable task to undertake, as government officials love to callously toss around tax dollars - your money. Trying to keep them from abusing their privileged position is quite difficult. Consider just a few of the recent instances in which our elected officials have decided to use their private air fleet: * Governor Rick Perry and two others flew to Baton Rouge to attend Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's inauguration. Couldn't he have watched it remotely (many Baton Rouge stations stream live on the Internet) and sent a card? Or else do something more productive with his time than waste it participating in other states' meaningless pageantries? * Attorney General Greg Abbott and five others flew to Kerrville and San Antonio for school safety events. Can't the AG delegate teaching students about safety instead of running up taxpayer bills to make political appearances? * Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and two others flew to Houston for the Houston Livestock Show and a meeting with a Mexican delegation. Shouldn't the ag commissioner just drive to Houston and stay a few nights, paying for his own gas and hotel room? * Since the private fleet is technically under TxDOT's supervision, it should come as no surprise then that TxDOT Commissioner Ted Houghton required two planes to fly himself and nine others to a memorial service. On other trips, he and five others flew to a number of Texas cities for meetings on the Trans-Texas Corridor 69 project. Should taxpayers subsidize TxDOT's PR campaign to sell building toll roads by stealing people's land? * Not to be outdone, legislative members also make use of the taxpayer supported private aircraft fleet. Senator Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) said that his constituents "want their state senator at their town hall meetings. It's there for that use." I wonder if his constituents would agree if they knew the expense he racked up getting there. While it is commendable that an elected official cares so much about spending time with his constituents, it is unfortunate that he does not care more about the wasteful spending of the taxes paid by his constituents. Time is money, but I think most Texans would prefer a little extra cash in their wallet over spending more time with politicians. The problem is not that officials are going to these events. The problem is they are doing it in the costliest way possible. Rather than hopping on a private airplane that can cost up to $977.50 per flight-hour, our government officials should fly commercial airlines or drive, just like the rest of us. Or, if they're wealthy enough (and many of them are), they should pay for luxury travel out of their own pocket instead of sending the bill to the taxpayer. Just because someone has been elected to a statewide office does not make them too good to fly on a commercial flight or get behind the wheel of their own vehicle and drive to their destination. It is all too common for our elected officials to want to ignore their own laws and do as they please. The elitist preference of many of our elected officials is to be chauffeured to a taxpayer-paid private plane and avoid the inconveniences of having to stand in a security line with the commoners. Why have to take off your shoes and throw away any carry-on liquids when you can prop your feet up on a private plane after helping yourself to some onboard refreshment? Lord Acton famously said, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." It seems that even conservatives that offer glib promises during election years decide that the temptation of an all-expense-taxpayer-paid private flight is just too alluring to pass up. You should be upset at this abuse of taxpayer money. Call TxDOT. Let them know that you are watching them as they waste taxpayer money. Pay attention to stories like this and imagine if you miscounted $100 in your budget, let alone $1.1 billion. Remember that the cost of these private flights is coming out of your pocket, not theirs. The next time you fill up your truck and it costs $75 dollars or you buy a plane ticket and it costs you $500, remember that you are also picking up the bill for state officials to fly back and forth to award ceremonies and memorial services, where I can guarantee it's a lot more about politicking and backslapping than it is about doing the state's business. The next time you are stuck in traffic due to a construction project that has overrun its budget and its schedule, remember that is the real responsibility of TxDOT. It is their job to improve the congestion on the roads in our state, not to maintain a private plane fleet so that our elected officials can avoid those same roads that normal people have to use. In a time of economic uncertainty, you can no longer be apathetic to government waste. We never should have been. We cannot be now. Contact Information for the TxDOT Government Flight Services Department: http://www.txdot.gov/contac... Email: http://www.txdot.gov/contac... Fax: 512-936-9195 Sources: http://www.empowertexans.co... http://www.chron.com/CDA/ar... The Peter Morrison Report http://www.PeterMorrisonRep... That's it for this report. Watch your inbox next week for the next issue of The Peter Morrison Report, a free newsletter for Texas conservatives. PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA While this is NO refelection on the vast majority of DPS officers in the field, it is nevertheless interesting reading: Texas Department of Public Safety 6/26/08 Driver Records Bureau P.O. Box 4087 Austin, Tx 78773 Attn: Joyce E. Stevens, Manager Re: Correspondence dated 6/13/08 request for driving record of Kenneth Schustereit Dear Ms. Stevens, I sit here today totally mystified by your department’s fulfillment of my paid request for a copy of my driving record. That the document is incorrect and the record incomplete is really no surprise to me. As public record proves I have been a victim of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s(DPS) grossly negligent practices for some 33 years. The document I received lists five entries and I am aware that there should be at least seven from the first date mentioned to present day. You are missing at least two citations. As I mentioned this is no surprise to me. In 2004 the DPS sold an obviously flawed criminal background on one, Kenneth Don Schustereit to ChoicePoint, Inc. which eventually led to a loss of employment. That information listed one, Kenneth Dale Schustereit as a convicted felon failing not only to get the name correct but to relay the fact that he was convicted only of a misdemeanor! This, in spite of the fact that my drivers license clearly uses the middle name “Don!” No! There are no surprises when dealing with the DPS in Texas. In a 2005 interview with Wired Magazine DPS admitted that up to “…29% of our records are either incorrect or incomplete.” An Open Records Request I filed that same year revealed that DPS took in more than $58 million in revenue selling both driving and criminal records! Are you aware that when an officer calls in a driver’s license he is placing his life in your hands to provide the correct, up-to-date information he needs to complete his duty? Those officers in the field depend on you! What about them? Are they now supposed to believe anything you say? In light of the miserable, irresponsible, and I believe criminal, nonfeasance DPS record keeping displays, how can anyone be confident in your ability to provide the correct information? By DPS’ own public statement you are convicted, in the eyes of the people of this state, of gross incompetence and flagrant irresponsible actions! How, in the name of Almighty God, do you people sleep at night? The State and National flags that fly over the DPS campus in Austin should be lowered and replaced with simple black flags until the Texas Department of Public Safety can be overhauled to protect the people of this state from the likes of you! I shall remain: Still seeking justice, Kenneth Don Schustereit 275 Baass Ln Victoria, Texas 77905 CC: Senior Patrol Officer, Victoria PD Senior Patrol Officer Victoria County SO Senior Patrol Officer, Victoria DPS Rep. Geanie Morrison Sen. Glenn Hegar Texas Sunset Commission Robert D. Brown, Attorney at Law Blog Post on the Victoria Advocate The solid message of Jesus Christ was that we should love our neighbor as ourselves!
I received this week a notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality(TCEQ) that the uranium mining company exploring for uranium in Goliad has filed an application and that application is complete. From the wording in the notice TCEQ will approve the application.
"UEC has requested that a portion of the aquifer be designated as an exempt aquifer. The requested exemption would apply from a depth of from 45 to 404 feet." What is an "exempted aquifer? According to this notice, "An aquifer or portion of any aquifer can be designated as an exempted aquifer if it does not currently serve as a source of drinking water for human consumption..."
Am I missing something here? Hasn't water from 45 to 405 feet been a source of drinking water for area families for several generations? Or perhaps does UEC and TCEQ want us all to believe those families don't exist?
"The Executive Director has made a preliminary decision that this permit, if issued, meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements..." Oops! Did I miss something here? Didn't we just read that the aquifer must not be a source of human drinking water?
When greed for money blinds those who sign uranium leases to the 100% failure rate of the uranium mining industry to clean up after themselves this is not in the spirit Christ was trying to promote. Worse yet, when those mining representatives have been caught in lies over and over and people still lease, this is the worst kind of evil!
I have a word for those who, for greed, would endanger their neighbor and his property! One day you'll have to face your maker! "because for every matter there is a time and judgment. Though the misery of man increases greatly." Ecc. 8:6
I found it strangely ironic after re-reading Sherilyn Arnacke's guest editorial defending uranium mining in Goliad County that when her own homestead in Victoria County was threatened by the TransTexas Corridor(TTC) she and her husband showed up at a meeting in Victoria to oppose it.
How odd that the TTC issue is so much like the uranium mining issue! Less than 1% support uranium mining and that fact was made obvious at the TCEQ meeting in Goliad! TCEQ, however, feels just fine about granting the mining permit as if we do not exist! Clearly 99% of the public in Texas oppose the TTC and yet, in spite of overwhelming public opposition, TxDot keeps trudging on as if we do not exist!
We've done everything our civics lessons said we could do! We've written letters to our elected officials, letters to the editor, assembled peaceably and attended meetings to oppose the project. Clearly the opposition to both the TTC and uranium mining is overwhelming but this evil proceeds! "because the sentence against evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil!" Ecc. 8:11
In spite of the will of the vast majority of the people they, TCEQ, TxDot and the uranium miners, are doing what they want because it's in the power of their hands to do so! "Woe to those who devise iniquity, and who work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it because it is in the power of their hand! They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house! A man and his inheritance." Micah 2:1-2
When I post this blog there will always be some sociopath, as described above in red, who'll whine about facts and data in an effort to justify the rape of our freedom, our property and our lives in the name of greed! The facts are that in Texas the uranium mining industry has a 100% failure rate for restoring the property they've damaged. The TCEQ has that same failure rate at protecting Texas property owners. This is documented and undeniable!
I don't want to hear any garbage about me supporting nuclear power but opposing uranium mining! The fact is that Generation III nuclear
power is safe. I'd happily live in a lean-to on the reactor building for a year if the sociopaths who defend uranium mining will drink John Caldwell's water for a year! Why should Texas allow uranium mining in a drinking water aquifer when uranium mining is done safely, far from civilization in Canada and Australia?
The people of this area, those whose land has already been damaged, are being backed into a corner! There seems to be no escape! No remedy! Never back someone into a corner! THAT'S when someone gets hurt! I've got a bad feeling about this! The majority of the people are being ignored in favor of lining the pockets of a miniscule minority! I spoke with the authorities about this growing resentment this week! I fear this will get down right nasty! That's usually what happens when the might of right is ignored!
Are we really loving our neighbor or loving the jingle in our pockets?
No! "Cain't never did do nuthin' 'cause he didn't try!" The very wise words of Ola Pearl Haywood, born and raised in Talladega, Alabama and my maternal grandmother still ring true today! Stooped and confined to a wheelchair the last years of her life she insisted on washing dishes and doing whatever other work she could reach.
A member of the South Central Texas Water Advisory Council told me at Water Research Group's first meeting that stopping, then County Judge Helen Walker's appointed water conservation district, couldn't be done. While he complimented me on my research and presentation he said in trying to stop the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project, I would "ultimately fail!" That was seven years ago!
Mike Sizemore, then Chief of Staff for State Senator Kenneth Armbrister, looked at our presentation concerning the pitiful stewardship of the Guadalupe River by GBRA and said it didn't mean anything! We took that to mean that the suffering in the Lower Guadalupe Basin caused by GBRAs nonfeasance meant nothing to the arrogant bureaucrat!
When an elderly widow in Calhoun County was threatened with condemnation of her property for one fifth of what it was worth by the Navigation District I was told there was no way to stop it. The lady still has her property!
Even that little voice in the back of my mind telling me I couldn't lose weight never stopped! That was 78 pounds ago!
No matter where I look I run into people telling me "It can't be done!" They all should have spent some time with my very humble, hard working grandmother! My grandmother never read the American Law Journal, by West Publishing but she knew that, "...acquiescence is consent inferred from silence!"
There are two proven ways to mine uranium ore. One is strip, surface mining. The other is in situ leach. Both leave behind documented messes the taxpayer usually ends up cleaning up. I'm convinced the only reason we don't have another, safer, cleaner way is that no one has spent the time or the money to find it!
It seems the things we are told by our local,state and federal politicians and bureaucrats has little to do with truth! Take the TransTexas Corridor, alias the NAFTA Highway! They sold this unconstitutional clap-trap by telling people they were getting tough on drunk drivers. I mean who doesn't want to get tough on drunk drivers? Only they didn't stop there. They sold this by promising money to hospitals. Who doesn't want more money for hospitals?
The problem starts with a little studied document called the Constitution. A man gets some traffic tickets. He is fined. He pays his fine.(Usually pretty exorbitant fines.) His insurance goes up and since insurance is mandatory in Texas he has suffered another penalty. Ok, maybe he deserves another penalty to get him to slow down but now the state decides that after he has paid his fine and his "debt to society", the state wants more. No! Read the Constitution. That is expressly forbidden! The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution says, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." "...nor excessive fines imposed..." Is it not excessive to fine someone who has already paid his fine? Take a look at the amounts provided for in HB 3588! This, along with the new tollways and the TransTexas Corridor was nothing less than a revenue scheme dreamed up by Rick Perry and a few of his corrupt friends. And it's not just Perry, the DPS has been selling your information for years. You say, "Aw, that's just your address and stuff!" Wrong! They will sell you criminal record, whether it's correct or not to anyone who forks over the bucks. Yup, that's right. That felony you were charged with 30 years ago but were never convicted of? Yup, the just sold that to some computer geek in New Jersey who is creating a database to sell to a Background Check Company. It's incorrect but who cares, it makes money. That's the corrupt state we live in folks and Governor Good Hair is just the latest installment in classy scam artists! Our lazy legislature didn't even read 3588 or consider it's implications before they voted for it! A good scam artist can sell these people anything! Went to HEB the other day and bought a store brand can of onion rings. Got home and opened the can. It was exactly half full! WalMart and HEB both are cutting quantity and raising prices. I understand the need to raise prices with the cost of fuel but don't cut the quantity and leave it in the same sized packaging! That's cheating the customer!
What is economic development? Good roads, streets, drainage, infrastructure, employment, good schools...the list goes on! When does economic development become a bad thing? The Hill Country around San Antonio has been on a 40 year building binge! The once majestic area is quickly being paved over since development has increased exponentially! Someone once said,"...the destruction of something created by humans is called vandalism, while the destruction of something created by God is called development!"
So why should someone in Victoria, Goliad, Cuero or Gonzales be concerned about development in and around San Antonio? That development is creating impervious cover and increasing the runoff of rain creating flood event disasters and slowing the recharge of the Edwards Aquifer! The Lower Guadalupe Basin gets hurt and the lack of recharge of the Edwards causes San Antonio to need more water from elsewhere! Water to satisfy the need created by out of control development!
What is the solution? I can tell you what Bill West of GBRA will tell you! They need the Cuero 1&2 and Sandies Reservoirs to stop the flooding of the Lower Basin! He'll probably also want Lake Texana Phase II water to pump to San Antonio and Boerne! Now please keep in mind that this is the same Bill West who ran an ad in the Canyon Lake newspaper telling residents there that water conservation was needed. The same Bill West who, at the same time, told developers around Boerne not to let a lack of water stop their work!
What indeed will be the result of the same amount of rain we saw in '98 and '02 after eight or ten years of development in the San Antonio and Guadalupe River watersheds? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the City of Cuero would be history! Wouldn't it be sad if they were forced to support a project that would literally destroy Dewitt County?
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "They smashed things up and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness!" Sounds much like what they have planned for Dewitt and Gonzales Counties! Like what they had planned for the Lower Basin with the GBRA pipeline. Like what they've already done to the Hill Country!
Government politicians and bureaucrats! They seem to believe they know what's best for all of us! They also seem willing to tell any lie to maneuver the voting public!
When I organized Water Research Group in '01 I was soon joined by Bill Richter of Victoria. A man of experience and understanding of legal and scientific terminology. He brought up something that I had never thought of. Why should water from Victoria be pumped 130 miles and 754 feet uphill to San Antonio for THEIR economic development when we should keep it here for OUR OWN economic development? After all, wasn't overdevelopment San Antonio's problem already? After a long nasty fight, joined by one of the wealthy landowners in the lower basin the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project seemed to be history. In fact, Bill West got up and said if the Exelon Nuclear Project is approved the LGWSP was history. Then recently he amended that and said it's not history until they get water for Boerne. Is there a new plan to take Lake Texana water and mix it with groundwater from Victoria, Goliad and Refugio Counties and give Bill his pipeline?
I often wondered, however, why the other wealthy landowners in the Lower Basin didn't join in the fray. I found out recently that most of those families were salivating at the thought of selling their water, and mine, to San Antonio! Now, when Victoria County has an opportunity to have a $6 billion nuclear project that will provide much needed jobs and economic development for this area, many of those same landowners oppose the project!
So let's carefully examine the motives here! The average working people in this area, and around the nation for that matter, are quickly being turned into the working poor by rising motor fuel and food costs! Rent, utilities and house payments are rising and we have an opportunity to have a huge local boost to the economy and the people who can most afford these rising costs oppose the project that would bring that boost! And those are the same people, for the most part, who were willing to sell their water, AND EVERYONE ELSE'S, to line their own pockets!
These people are grasping at every straw they can to oppose the nuclear project! They were willing to deplete the Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers and sell water from up to ten miles away and now they're worried about the environment! They know next to nothing about Generation III nuclear power. All they know is that they don't want it in their back yard! They were perfectly willing to pump my back yard dry to make a dollar but a project that will benefit a huge number of people, they oppose!
No, it does not look good for rural Texas! For the average working people who are quickly becoming the working poor! Newspaper reports say people are feeding their pets less because of hard times. Ag students riding horses to school and farm animals getting lower quality feed. Ten times the regular amount of garage sales and pawn shops helping people buy gas!
I predict, as far as water goes, this legislative session will be a bad one for water rights in Texas! As for the consumer/taxpayer? It looks bad there too!
The average working people, the taxpayer and homeowner is under attack. If not from being shortchanged at the grocery store, many are literally being taxed out of their homes and small businesses! Someone moves onto your block or down the country road and builds a home three times what other homes in the neighborhood are worth and suddenly your taxes double. Wilson and Calhoun Counties are just the latest where property values are doubling in many cases.
I'd suggest Rep. Geanie Morrison and Sen. Glenn Hegar introduce the "Homestead Protection Act of 2009." Three main provisions; first to prohibit the state comptroller's from pressuring county appraisal districts to raise property valuations. Second, to prohibit appraisal districts from raising valuations just because someone sells neighboring property for more than it's really worth. Third, prohibiting long-time residents and homeowners from having their taxes driven up by a neighbor or neighbors who over-build for the neighborhood! Morrison's office number is 361 5720196 and Hegar's number is 512 4630118
I had an interesting conversation with a young man named Travis Prater with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality(TCEQ). He said that in 2004 the definition of a Public Water System had changed to include churches, dance halls, country stores and just about any entity, public or private, that served, in any way, more than 25 people per week. He said that a person with a "D" Water Treatment license would have to test the water each week and keep a logbook. The license holder would have to pay $111.00 every three years plus the cost of a 20 hour course. A chlorinator would have to be installed at the well head as would a water meter. Records of how much water was treated and how much chlorine was used would have to be kept. I asked this young man if this was a codified statute or just an agency rule and if not who authored the enabling legislation. He had no clue.
I also posed a question; "since TCEQ has a 100% failure rate at protecting Texas landowners from uranium miners, how is it they feel they should be trusted with this new responsibility?" The young man somehow did not appreciate the biting sarcasm of the question! Since there has been no serious problem with the wells at churches and community centers in rural areas poisoning their congregants and customers this new encroachment of "big brother" taking control is unnecessary! Morrison and Hegar? Bless their pea pickin' hearts they're still clueless! This will only raise the cost of building in rural Texas and increase the state's bureaucracy! TCEQ is building quite a kingdom to lord over their serfdom!
We have numbers! We need to fight hard and loud! We have to at least try! "Cain't never did do nuthin' 'cause he didn't try!" An old Texas Ranger said once, "There ain't no stoppin' a man who knows he's right and keeps on comin'!" Ya hear that, Travis?
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