So, the family and I came back from Galveston after a few days there for rest and relaxation. We were fairly lazy there, and I spent a good part of the time eating and catching up on sleep. Speaking of sleep, I'm glad to be back in my own bed tonight.

I feel like I've fallen quite a bit behind in following up on some stories I'm working on here, and I want to apologize, but then I remember that I'm just a volunteer trying to keep up with things on my "spare" time. It's both humbling and frustrating, because I believe very strongly that citizens need to be active when it comes to public matters. The problem is that it is hard to do so - especially when the entity you follow is trying to hide something. I'm sure my regular readers know what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, I spent this evening going over spreadsheets of yearly personnel counts in various core and non-core categories, and trying to compare budget data with data reported to the state. Numbers don't match up, and I've got to be honest here: that pisses me off. I'm not talking about rounding fractions here either. I'm talking about substantial numbers.

I've had many conversations with various people in the know about the situation, and all of them have provided more information than I know what to do with, and the encouragement to dig further. If only I didn't have a day job to work. If only I could win the lottery to have money to support my family so I can devote enough time to get questions answered... If only I knew more about what I was doing, and had some sort of degree in forensic accounting...

At any rate, I've been reflecting on it, and trying to think of what the correct course of action is. As a progressive, and a Democrat, I believe that government can provide answers to some of society's problems, and that government has the capacity to do good things, returning more in value than the sum of the taxes we contribute. I'm not so naive as to think that every dollar is spent right, or that government is always good, but I don't think it's always bad either.

I've never been one to follow the philosophy of "Starve the beast", which is the idea that by cutting the revenue source (tax) of a governmental body, it will become lean, and spending priorities will automatically get back in line. I wish that were the case, but it would be naive to believe that. It seems that what happens when revenues shrink is that the smaller feed trough just crowds out the programs and personnel that need it the most, and the biggest hogs continue to control the trough. You see organizations start to get top heavy, and you wonder why the hell do we need all of these people. What exactly is it that they do all day?

Instead of "starve the beast", I think what you have to do is three things:

1) Elect honest, diligent, intellectually curious people who don't go along to get along, but who are capable of independent thought and assertive examination of the facts. If you never hear your elected official asking tough questions and requiring answers, then chances are they do not.

2) Support the free press.

3) Become personally involved. Demand open government, and become your own check and balance against your government. Pick one or two subjects you can read up on and keep tabs on. If you see something wrong, make it known, and work to get it changed.

I guess #3 is a tall order. And what I can't quite wrap my head around for sure is what to do when you are asked, as a voter, to ratify a tax increase when you know that spending is happening that needs to be cut back. In the absence of real leadership, you just know that extra money is going to be pissed away. But you also know that without that money, it will still be pissed away and core programs will bear the brunt of cuts - a scenario that is basically threatened.

Anyhow, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm rambling. So I'll just post this diary as is, and hope to catch up on things in the coming week. Thanks for sticking around.

Ow, dammit
As I sit here tonight for some therapy writing, I've now taken 6 Valerian root capsules, 1 Tramadol, and 1 Flexeril. I've had this damned kink in my back/neck/shoulder for weeks now, and I've been like a frog in slowly boiling water. I was in a really foul, crappy mood today at work, and I have to wonder how much of that has to do with the fact that my muscles are in a battle with each other over which one can annoy me the most. Here and there, I've tried to have my wife work on it for me, but she acts extremely put out to have to do it, so I've learned to only ask when it's unbearable. Honestly, I can understand that since this is what she does for a living. I don't much like to come home after programming computers 40 hours a week and be bombarded with unpaid family requests to fix computers. At some point, I'll just give up and go to the chiropractor.

Kid Computer issues
Speaking of which, I had to spend about an hour on the Dell support online chat system trying to get a fix for my son's laptop. It has started overheating, and the fan makes all sorts of racket. Turns out I'm going to have to send it in for service. Normally when I buy a business notebook, I get the 3 year next day on-site service, which is something that has generally worked pretty well, and is a good investment when it comes to the tools of my trade. But in this case, I went with the basic warranty, so we will end up shipping it. That makes me a bit nervous, but I guess I'll deal with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call To Action from the Friends of the Earth
--and the Texas Drought Project
July 15th, 2010

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friends and Supporters:

Friends of the Earth, one of the strongest environmental groups in the U.S., has recently launched a campaign calling on all members of Congress to unload any campaign contributions they've taken from the oil and gas industry over the past two election cycles, donate them to Gulf Coast recovery efforts, and reject all future oil cash.

Today we're asking you to call your congressman and tell him or her just that. Friends of the Earth understands, as do we all, that the BP oil spill is just more of the same--more of the disease of corporatism that infects Congress. Why else did almost every one of our Texas congressmen and women vote to weaken or to deny climate protection in the form of the Waxman-Markey bill last year. Only Lloyd Doggett truly stood up to the fossil fuel magnates.

Please help your Congressman or woman get a backbone! Make your call today!

The numbers are:
LOCAL Washington D.C.
Henry Cuellar 956.725.0639 202.225.1640
Lloyd Doggett 512.916. 5921 202.225.4865
Chet Edwards 254.752.9600 202.225.6105
Charlie Gonzalez 210.472.6195 202.225.3236
Al Green 713.383.9234 202.225.7508
Gene Green 281.999.5879 202.225.1688
Ruben Hinojosa 956.682.5545 202.225.2531
Eddie Bernice Johnson 214.922.8885 202.225.8885
Sheila Jackson Lee 713.655.0050 202.225.3816
Solomon Oritz 361.883.5868 202.225.7742
Silvestre Reyes 915.434.4400 202.225.4831
Ciro Rodriguez 210.922.1874 202.225.4511
Lamar Smith 210-821-5024 202-225-2346
Joe Barton 817-543-1000 202 225-2002
John Carter 512 246-1600 202-225-3864

And now, the letter from the Friends of the Earth, which lays out the case against the oil and gas industry and asks Congresspersons to sign on to the cause:


Dear Member of Congress,



On behalf of our members, activists, and supporters, we urge you to give upall campaign contributions you've received from the oil and gas industry during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles and donate them to Gulf Coast recovery efforts. We also ask that you refuse any oil industry campaign contributions in the future. Instead of using this dirty money to finance your campaigns, we urge you to counter the corporate polluter influence that has permeated our government and stand in solidarity with those in our country who've unfairly borne the consequences of our myopic energy policy.

As you read this letter, millions of gallons of crude oil continue to hemorrhage daily into the Gulf of Mexico with no end in sight. More than a half gallon of oil has gushed into the Gulf for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Valuable marine ecosystems are being destroyed along with the local economies that depend on them. And although BP has the worst safety and environmental record of any oil company operating in the U.S., the oil titan made $14 billion in profits in 2009 alone.

However, these profits don't exist in a vacuum. During the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, the oil and gas industry pumped an astonishing $48,401,891 into campaigns, $643,715 of which came from BP. Increasing corporate control of our government-particularly fossil fuel industry influence-has endangered our environment and the people who depend on it. Corporate polluter influence in Washington undoubtedly created the conditions that led to the devastating oil spill in the Gulf.



This influence has allowed corporate polluters to perpetuate the dirty energy status quo. Instead of passing a comprehensive climate and energy bill that would reduce our dependence on oil and prevent future oil disasters, the Senate is considering proposals that hand billions in giveaways to corporate polluters, including the oil, coal, nuclear and agribusiness industries. At the same time, changes to our transportation system that could reduce our use of oil have been blocked by polluting industries, as have investments in clean energy.



It's past time to end the stranglehold polluting special interests have on our democracy and our climate. We have the tools to make a swift and just transition to the clean energy of the future, and now more than ever, the lives and livelihoods of our nation's citizens depend on it. We urge you to transfer all campaign contributions you've received from the oil and gas industry to organizations like Gulf Coast Fundthatdirectly empower communities to lead in recovery efforts and to refuse any further oil industry contributions.



Sincerely,



8th Day Center for Justice



Corporate Ethics International



Center for Biological Diversity



Chesapeake Climate Action Network



CREDO Action



Friends of the Earth



Global Exchange



Greenpeace



Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, JPIC



Oil Change International



Pax Christi USA



Public Citizen



Southern Alliance for Clean Energy



Sustainable Energy & Economy Network, Institute for Policy Studies



Thanks, from the Texas Drought Project!

Foul Mood
I am pretty much fried. I have to say, it's been a shitty week. I have apparently done something to hurt my back in such a way that I have excruciating pain when I try to move my head very far from eyes-front. Knowing that I'd be travelling to Corpus Christi this past weekend, I went to the doctor last week and came home with muscle relaxers, pain pills, and a recommendation for some physical therapy. Mamask8z has tried to help me, but it's been frustrating because she pretty much refuses to work on the area that hurts. The doctor says the problem is with a rhomboid, but she thinks that's just a symptom of some other stuff. Her strategy so far seems to be to poke around on my chest until she finds a spot that makes me cry out in agony.

So, I've been in a foul mood for days. I've been terse with people, and less than pleasant in some cases. I even managed to get in a fight with my wife, which made for a really crappy night at the hotel. Luckily, she loves me even when I'm a douche.

Convention
As I said, I went to Corpus Christi for the state Democratic Convention. I started to write up my experience with it, then realized that it was boring enough to live through it. You probably don't want to read about it, and I don't care to write any more about it. Nothing good happens at conventions. I support our candidates and our ideals, but doubt that I'll be interested in attending any more of these. I did have a good time at the Bloggers Party on Friday Night though.

On the job
On the job, a couple of my coworkers have resigned. That's never a fun situation. It already feels at times like we move at a slow crawl due to the software architecture we use. Now it seems it will go even slower, even as we face ambitious plans for ongoing development. The excessive complication and sheer number of moving parts of the over-engineered beast we work with makes it a steep learning curve. I still struggle with "how the hell does this thing work" questions every day, and I've been with this group 2 years now. It continues to frustrate me the amount of effort I expend to accomplish what would normally be a simple task in other environments, but is complicated by excessive and confining infrastructure. What adds injury to the insult is that my general skill set is suffering because of it. I really would like to get back into consulting.

Topics I want to write about tonight:

Elections
It has certainly been an interesting year for municipal and school board elections. So many things to observe and learn from. So much sleaze, but also some good positive things to see.

At any rate, I've posted my thoughts on the Lewisville election, and will probably also share my thoughts on the LISD election. Flower Mound, I always sort of hesitate at taking anything other than an objective point of view, since I really don't have a personal stake in it. But hey, I'll probably post something anyway in the next few days.

House Fire and Fire Chief Discussion
In the entire time I've been doing this blog, I've only ever done first-hand reporting on fires 3 times. I don't consider myself a "reporter" in the proper sense, so I try to stay well out of the way and just observe and take pictures - maybe talk to bystanders. Fires aren't the typical type of event we write about, because for the most part, the newspapers and TV media do a good job covering them.

So yesterday while I'm standing outside at Memorial Park, I heard all hell break loose with sirens, then saw the fire chief pull out of his neighborhood in his truck with lights flashing and sirens going. I looked over and saw that in the general direction of my house, from where I was standing, there was thick black smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air.

Sensing that I should check on my house and see what was going on, I hopped in the car and headed home. Of course, as I got closer, it became apparent that the smoke was further away than it looked - as is often the case.

So, I got there and tried to stay out of the way, just stand back and take a few photos, ask some witnesses what happened. I ended up chatting with Chief Rick Lasky for a few minutes at the scene, and I got the impression he was a bit frustrated I was there.

He called me a couple of hours later, then came by for a chat on my front patio. No doubt my neighbors probably wondered what I was up to. Anyhow, basically he just wanted to make sure I understood what I was looking at on the scene and how to sort of not misinterpret what was said. He also explained to me that my presence had concerned a couple of his guys because one of the witnesses I was talking to was animated and agitated. Apparently, there was some bad feelings between some of the property owners involved, and firefighters want people to stay safe.

Of course, Lasky wouldn't say anything about what they did or didn't find in the house, or what the situation was - for privacy reasons. The witnesses told me a couple of things, but I'll keep those to myself for the time being so the investigators can do their job.

Lasky is a good guy who we're lucky to have running our fire department in Lewisville. I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with all the stuff he was telling me, but maybe at some point I'll find a way to share it with you in some coherent manner.

Sunburn
I got lots of sun on Saturday. I'm so burned on my neck and arms. Maybe before I'm forty years old, I'll finally learn to be proactive about applying sunscreen. I just never think about it unless I'm going to a beach or something.

"Vile and Filthy"
I'm used to taking a lot of personal attacks for sharing my views so openly here. I've learned to shrug it off and see it for what it is: desperation. When people can't refute my facts, they often lash out at my person. Anyhow, check this out:

I'm tired, sure - but there's a lot going on, and I have thoughts to share.

TAKS Test
My 11 year old got commended performance on his math TAKS test. Woohoo! That means automatic acceptance into the Pre-A/P math classes. He and his brother are solid B students, which frustrates me a little because I know they have the capacity to make As.

Elections
Things are beyond crazy in Flower Mound right now, making Lewisville look pretty sane in comparison. I really hate to see where it has gone. I'm frustrated a bit that I've spent so much time following stories in the various elections, that I've had way too little time to go over ideas and policies. I still intend to get to it, but it may slip, just like candidate interviews did.

Signs
In Lewisville, the sign police were out today, we heard - making residents remove signs from fences or take down signs that exceed the 36 square foot limit. I haven't heard a lot about stolen signs this year - not in Lewisville, but some in Flower Mound.
The picture above is from my camera phone, and it doesn't begin to capture how many signs there were. I was out with my family on Sunday for ice cream at the Braums over there by FM Town Hall and had to go snap a picture. My sons thought it was incredibly funny how many signs were out there.

Seeing this many signs reminds me - In 2008 there was a concentration of signs like this at Hedrick Middle School, which was a polling location for the November election. In the early afternoon, I got a call that ALL - and I do mean ALL of the signs - 100% of them, including the "Vote Here" signs had been taken. I guess certain powers that be don't like the folks in those neighborhoods knowing where to vote.

BP Accident
I've been watching the continuing coverage of the BP deep ocean oil well spewing 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the Gulf. It seems the folks in Louisiana just can't catch a break. So we have this federal law capping damages from an oil spill to $75 million, and there's a $6 billion seafood industry that might be ruined.

Then you have dumbasses like Limbaugh pushing the idea that somehow this was sabotage by the liberals. Are you high again, Rush? Or how about Texas Governor Rick Perry calling it an "Act of God". Oh really? BP is God now?

How about we all drop the bullshit and look at this for what it is: It's a tragic accident. And it's precisely the reason that those on the left push back at the idea of allowing additional off-shore drilling. It is amazing technology these guys have, but in this case, it didn't work, and they have no quick way to fix it. We need to make sure we have tough and as nearly foolproof regulations as we can, so that we eliminate the possibility of this kind of thing happening.

We don't have regulations to be jerks, or to antagonize business; we have them because otherwise, bad things like this will happen, and people will suffer.

Times Square Bomber
The Feds say they have someone in custody for this now. I hope they quickly get to the bottom of the plot and catch everyone involved - but I suspect it will only be one guy.

Based on what I've seen of the "bomb" this dumbass tried to detonate, I'd say a couple of things:
- There was intent to terrorize and cause death.
- The idiot who built it didn't have any experience or training in building bombs.
- The guy who did this did not do very many "trial" bombs to test his fuses and such.

The Calendar
I only barely updated the calendar this past weekend. I have more stuff to add still. If you use the WhosPlayin calendar, will you drop a note to let us know what kinds of events you find most useful to post?

It's 1:16 AM as I sit to write this. And it occurs to me that yet again, I am writing. It seems all I do these days in my day job, in my activism, and in this blog.

Work Stuff
The job has been on the tough side lately - mainly because I'm on a project at the moment where I'm a bit over my head trying to learn a poorly documented coding methodology so that I can implement a poorly written specification. I'm not bitching; I know that my coworkers are under constraints for time, and that regardless of how things look now, they had reasons for doing things the way they did. I just have to be patient and coax out a specification, and keep going.

School District Stuff
In the past few weeks, I can say without exaggeration that almost every single day, I've been contacted by one or two people with a story to tell about what goes on with Lewisville ISD. Understand that when good things happen, we expect that, and it's not newsworthy. When bad things happen, the district is not going to publish those things. So it falls to news outlets in both traditional and online media.

There is a sense of desperation with the people I've been hearing from - students, parents, teachers, even administrators. One of them recently told me something I thought was profound and probably correct: "They're not bad people, but there is a bad culture."

The person I interviewed the other day dropped some fairly large bombs that frankly, I wish I'd had more time to investigate. At this point, it's too close to elections for me to put these things out there. Considering that I do this in my spare time, I'm actually building up a backlog of stories that I wish I could devote more time to.

Broadly speaking, it seems we have some things to investigate and deal with in our district:
- Ethics
- Open government
- Fiscal restraint
- Reporting and measuring discipline
- Truth telling
- Involving citizens in the process
- Communications
- Competent oversight
- Administrative overhead
- Equity in education
- Equity in representation
- Fraternization of board and staff
- Open meetings violations (beyond what we've previously reported)
- Fraud and waste

I didn't go looking for a fight with LISD. In spite of what I end up having to write about here, I'm on balance positive about the district. I didn't write much about LISD until this past September, when it became apparent just how little LISD values public participation and open government. So I needed this responsibility like I need another hole in my head. But here we are, months later, and every time I scratch the surface, I find more that needs questioning.

We will use this little megaphone in whatever way we can to try to bring improvement to LISD.

BTW, a couple of readers have told me about this:
Lewisville ISD Employee Salaries

While I'm waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in, here are some random thoughts and notes:

Oil and Gas Ordinance Changes
I've been working on some suggested changes to Lewisville's Oil and Gas ordinance to control air pollution and strengthen safety requirements for fracturing operations. I spent nearly an hour today with one of the local oil and gas operators going over it and talking about how the concern over oil and gas drilling is affecting Flower Mound, and soon Lewisville. I really want to strike the right balance between tough and enforceable, and get something for Lewisville that addresses people's concerns while also being achievable. I'm still working on borrowing some of the language from Colorado's oil and gas and emissions laws.

Flower Mound Politics
Speaking of Flower Mound, people are sending me a surprising number of tips about goings on there, especially with regards to politicians. Keep sending them, and feel free to send the evidence too. There really appears to be some rotten stuff going on there, and it makes my heart sick to think that such goings on could be next for Lewisville if we lose track of the community spirit that makes us great.

I regret that I can't publish everything, and don't have the time or ability to prioritize investigations on things that I know need to be looked into. I'm still looking for the right person who would be willing to serve as a Flower Mound correspondent here, and do some fact-based reporting on the events that affect Flower Mound.

NASCAR
So today, I received my credential and passes to get in to Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday to cover the Samsung Mobile 500 as a guest of Chevrolet / General Motors. I'm looking forward to it since I'm always the type who likes to experience new things, but I also know it will be a long day. Starting at 9 AM, activites until the race starts at 2, then I'm guessing about a 3 hour race, and a couple more hours to get home.

So far, the list of stuff I've been told or read that I should take - in no particular order:

- Cooler with beer
- Chicken wings
- Binoculars
- earplugs
- rebel flag
- Scanner
- Camera (but of course!)
- Video Camera (ditto)
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Layers of clothing
- Notebook computer or phone (for tweeting) (Check me out on Twitter (hash tag #ChevyTMS)
- Snacks
- Souvenier money
- Bag to carry souveniers
- Stopwatch and calculator to clock laps
- Photo ID (never leave home without it)

I'm sure I'm missing something. Oh yeah, I can bring a Sherpa guest. I don't have an assistant yet. Maybe this would be a good way to find that Flower Mound correspondent I'm looking for... ;)

Tax Day, Suckers!
It's tax day, so that can mean only one thing - well two things: Tea party protests, and Michael Burgess hoping to sucker regular wage-earning people into falling for his "flat tax" plan. The plan is a flat 19% income tax that hits the middle class hardest with a net tax increase, while exempting income from interest and investments for the aristocracy that supports him.

Another Auto Recall
Mazda is recalling 90,000 vehicles because they have transmission problems. I wonder if it will get as much coverage as Toyota's problems?

I am worn out tonight. My feet hurt. My wife is out with the other ladies having a girls' weekend down in Austin, where they've gone to watch roller derby. The boys and I have been busy all day.

Spring Cleaning
Today, I couldn't stand to have the kids sit around on their computers anymore. We went out back and worked in the yard. We just had a lot of cleanup to do. One of the "issues" was a pile of firewood that I wanted moved to a better place - a little more out-of-sight. Ike and Seth and I moved the wood pile, cleaned up junk in the yard, and cleaned out the garden shed. Seth emptied out the garden shed, and Ike organized it with a little help from me. I worked on the tool shed, which was a wreck.

I mowed and edged, and dammit, my lawnmower's battery has gone to shit again. A couple years ago, I bought a rechargeable battery powered lawn mower, and after the first year, the batteries had gone bad and wouldn't hold a charge. Now starting my 3rd mowing season with it, I may have to spend another $80 on batteries, or just say screw it and buy a gas-powered mower. I really hate that, because the cost of the batteries, in both economic and ecologic terms seem to have outweighed the benefit of not using gasoline.

~ Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption ~ James Garfield