Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Thursday, July 8, 2010

California Today, Texas Tomorrow-2

"The demographer who warned a decade ago about Texas' unhappy mix of dismal education achievement and high poverty is more concerned than ever. Actually, he's frightened. ... Some don't see much leadership from politicians or the private sector in attacking the trend line that demographer Steve Murdock says will result in three of every 10 workers not having a high school decuation by 2040. ... The state's public schools have more and more low-income kids and persistently high dropout rates--and unless that changes, the future of Texas will contain more long-term unemployment and poverty--and more folks depending on food stamps, Medicaid and CHIP, Murdock said. ... The trend line also is clear: School districts with large numbers of low-income students have higher dropout rates. Large school districts where low-income students make up at least 80 percent of the enrollment have dropout/attrition rates of 50 percent or more. ... 'Every kid deserves to be educated, and we're going to figure out what it takes and do it,' said Bill hammond, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business. ... If nothing changes, average Texas household incomes will be about $6,500 lower in 30 years than they were in 2000, according to Murdock's projections. That number is not adjusted for inflation, so it would be worse than it appears. ... He sees only two solutions: Texas must do more to prepare preschoolers anbd must boost grants to provide financial help for college. ... The exact extent of the dropout problem is unknown. ... Murdock said it's critical for Texans to understand 'that our future is tied to these kids' future'," Gary Scharrer at the Houston Chronicle, 21 June 2010, link:

Our future looks bleak. Disagreeing with Murdock, there is another solution.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Texas Schools Pass Stress Tests!

"Even with such low standards, the Texas Education Agency decided to rate hundreds of Texas schools and scores of Texas districts as 'academically acceptable' last year--the lowest 'passing' catagory--by counting thousands of students who flunked the TAKS as passing it. ... For example, TEA reported that statewide the number of 'exemplary' campuses, the highest rating, more than doubled from 1,000 in 2008 to 2,158 in 2009. But without the statistical projections that some failing students would later pass, the increase would have been only 44 campuses. ... [Scott] Hochberg said the new system is disturbing not only because of the large number of schools that are receiving upgraded ratings under it, but also because of the statistical formula itself. ... 'But they're not doing that,' [Hochberg] said.'If you're projected going up, you're counted as passing. But if you're projected going down, you're not counted as not passing'," Rick Casey at the Houston Chronicle, 20 June 2010, link:

Stress tests for Texas! Financial engineering for schools! I had noticed more schools with signs indicating they were exemplary. Yeah, sure. Accept no government statistic at face value.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

TAKS Progress

"Texas schoolchildren generally performed better on the all-important TAKS test this year, but some superintendents, state lawmakers and statisticians are casting doubt on the gains. That's because the Texas Education Agency required students to answer fewer questions correctly to pass most section of the Texas Assessnment of Knowledge and Skills. In some cases, students could pass by getting fewer than half of the items right--an unusually low standard, according to several education researchers. ... According to a Houston Chronicle analysis of TEA data, the state lowered the passing standards more this year than they have in at least the last two years. ... TEA Deputy Associate Commissioner Gloria Zyzkowski said agency officials set the bars high enough so 'students can't pass the test by chance alone", my emphasis, Ericka Mellon at the Houston Chronicle, 8 June 2010, link:

Not by chance alone. That's reassuring. No government statistic should be accepted at face value. I note the standards are lowered yearly.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Texas Sex Offenders?

"Texas has been unconstitutionally designating some prison inmates as sexual criminals without giving them an appropriate hearing the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The ruling could affect as many as 6,900 prison inmates who never have been convicted of a sex offense although they may be sexual predators. ... [Raul] Meza was not allowed to see the evidence against him or have a hearing before the board. ... Meza says he cannot get out of incarceration in a Travis County Correctional Complex because the terms of his release require a parole officer to accompany him at all times. ... The 5th Circuit noted that in previous cases it has ruled that inmates cannot be designated as a sex offender without a due process hearing. ... But the state does not allow inmates to review the record that is used to designate them as sex offenders or to put additonal provisions on their parole. ... Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokewoman Michelle Lyons said the agency plans to review the ruling with the Texas Attorney General's Office to see what step to take next", RG Ratcliffe at the Houston Chronicle, 22 May 2010, link:

Hearing my ass. How about a conviction? Texas' BPP got slammed recently for similar actions, my 8 November 2009 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2009/11/lifting-immunity.html.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

What Secret?

"It has been the dirty little secret of higher education for decades: Ten of thousands of college students can't do the work. ... But relatively few students who need the classes go on to earn a degree, raising questions about whether money spend on developmental education is a wise investment. 'It's all about efficiency,' said Jim Pickard, a program director at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 'What are we sending these kids to college for?' ... 'It's a matter of finances, and it's a matter of work force development,' said Donetta Goodall, vice chancellor of academic affairs and student success at Lone Star College, which serves suburban Houston and where about two-thirds of students require at least one remedial course. ... Well over half of community college students are unprepared for college classes--the number approaches 70 percent at Houston Community College--with low-income students more likely to need help than their wealthier peers. ... There are lots of reasons students aren't ready for college. ... And despite efforts to impose a more rigorous high school curriculum--including new standards requiring all students to take four years of math and science--not everyone who graduates from a Texas high school is ready for college. ... So there are, enrolled in college in the midst of a push from legislators, business leaders and others to produce more college graduates. ... In Texas, the pressure is heightened by a projected $18 billion budget deficit and a growing population of low-income Latinos, historically the group least likely to earn a college degree. ... Developmental education is one of the biggest stumbing blocks. Fewer than 10 percent of students who require more than a few remedial classes even make it to college-level classes, [Diane] Troyer said", my emphasis, Jeannie Kever at the Houston Chronicle, 23 May 2010, link:

"We've lowered the education requirements so all can pass. By doing so, we have taken education out of the education system. ... We continue to dumb down the education system, and are producing better idiots", James West letter to the Houston Chronicle, 30 May 2010, link:

Who is suprised by this? Why do we need more college graduates? Could IQ be a reason? What's the problem? Felipe Calderon (FC) said, "I have said that Mexico does not stop at its border, that wherever there is a Mexican there is Mexico", NYT, 3 September 2007. What percentage of Mexicans are college graduates? Why should a higher percentage be realized in the US? Calderon's statement is noteworthy. I believe FC made a DECLARATION OF WAR! Some other Americans see it that way too. Currently 12% of 18 year-old Mexicans are enrolled in higher education. What percentage of Mexicans who coincidentally are north of the border does say FC think should be enrolled in college in the US?

Yes West.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Whose History?

"The State Board of Education's proposed revisions for K-12 social studies curricula have come under fire from the radical left. ... Studies have revealed how unbalanced America's humanities departments are. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a large margin. In the history department at the University of Texas at Austin, out of 50 registered voters, only one is a Republican. Moderate and conservative Democrats are also rare. This political slant is reinforced by the economics of scholarship: Academic historians have been trained and have invested their careers in a profession that counts as legitimate only those subfields that support the leftist orthodoxy. Military history, for example, has almost entirely died off; not a single professor of history at UT-Austin lists military history as a primary speciality, while dozens list sexuality, ethnicity and anti-colonialism. ... Thus, robber barrons, the New Deal and the civil rights movement are in, but the contributuions of inventors and entrepreneurism, the decline of the family and the failures of welfare programs and public education are out. The new standards represent real progress. They don't go far enough in challenging orthodoxy, but they are a step in the right direction. ... This artificallly inflated controversy points to a larger issue: The people must not develp the habit of blind deference to so-called academic experts. ... The fundamental question is this: Shall we continue to have a government ruled by the people, or shall we instead, yield to a self-perpetuating caste of quasi-official experts", Robert Koons (RK) at the Houston Chronicle, 14 May 2010, link:

Henry Ford said "History is bunk". Amen. RK is a UT philosphy professor.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Uncle Sam and SFAS 106

"Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable. ... 'This new data shows the Medicare system is beginning to implode,' said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association. 'If Congress doesn't fix Medicare soon, there'll be more and more doctors dropping out and Congress' promise to provide medical care to seniors will be broken.' ... The largest number of doctors opting out comes from primary care, a field already short of practitioners nationally and especially in Texas. ... The opt-outs follow years of declining Medicare reimbursement that culminated in a looming 21 percent cut in 2010. Congress has voted three times to postpone the cut, which was originally to take effect Jan. 1. It is now set to take effect June 1. ... Guy Culpepper, a Dallas-area family practitioner [said] 'The only way to provide cost-effective care is outside the Medicare system, a system without constant paperwork and headaches and inadequate reimbursement.' ... The issue caused the Texas Medical Association to break with the American Medical Association and oppose health care reform efforts throughout 2009. ... US Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he isn't surprised by the new opt-out numbers, allowing that Congress' inability to reform Medicare is leaving 'seniors without access and breaking the promise we made to them'," Todd Ackerman at the Houston Chronicle, 18 May 2010, link:

"One of the many fashionable notions that have caught on among some of the intelligentsia is that old people have 'a duty to die,' rather than become a burden to others. ... Already the government-run medical system in Britain is restricting what medications or treatments it will authorize for the elderly. Moreover, it seems almost certain that similar attempts to contain runaway costs will lead to similar policies when American medical care is taken over by the government. ... If a government-run medical system is going to save any serious amount of money, it is almost certain to do so by sacrificing the elderly", my emphasis, Thomas Sowell at Townhall, 11 May 2010: http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/05/11/a_duty_to_die.

Let's repeal the 13th Amendment with respect to doctors. Problem solved. Didn't we get an Obamacare cost estimate for the next ten years? Aren't you comfortable with it? Didn't the CBO say it would be $849 billion? Various goverments will break many promises over the next ten years. Got bonds? Sell! As I've written before, "Kill the old white women"! That's how Medicare costs will will be reduced. I wonder if a Big 87654 firm would opine on the CBO's estimate?

I agree with Sowell. Kill the old white women!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

New Texas Taxes?

"From car washes to tattoos to bottled water, the list of items and services exempt from the sales tax totals $30 billion in forgone revenue--a tempting target for some lawmakers as the state faces a budget gap as big as $18 billion. ... [Rene] Oliveira's plowing ahead with his work, which has included determining the policy reason for each exemption and whether that reason remains vaild. Other lawmakers have joined in seriously discussing the idea of removing some exemptions. ... 'Certainly a sales tax on food, medicine and providers of medical services would probably not receive any serious consideration,' [Olivera said]. ... The state sales tax is 6.25 percent, and local taxing jurisdictions may impose additional sales taxes of up to 2 percent. ... Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden R-Bryan, said any change in exemptions should be part of an overall tax reform effort and should be revenue-neutral, meaning any additional money raised would be used for something such as lowering the tax rate", my emphasis, Peggy Fikac at the Houston Chronicle, 31 May 2010, link:

Texas budgets for two years, so the $18 billion is $9 billion a year. I have seen Texas become more aggressive in collecting sales taxes. Why go through this effort for a "revenue-neutral" result? Who are these guys kidding?

Friday, June 4, 2010

California Today, Texas Tomorrow?

"If you want to see how profoundly the state's population is changing, look at the faces of the children in Texas public school classrooms. In all but rural areas, Hispanic enrollment is rapidly surpassing that of whites. Hispanic schoolchildren make up nearly 49 percent of Texas' 4.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade students, according to the Texas Education Agency. ... Now, they must confront the realization that the state is not adequately funding education of a growing population that is generally poorer and less proficient in English. ... The shift appears to be driven by birth rates and immigration, not simply 'white flight' to private schools. The gap grows every year and is wider in the early elemanetary school grades, where Hispanic children now make up a majority. ... But the combination of high numbers of limited english-proficient students, even higher numbers of children from low-income families and persistently high dropout rates worry some educators and demogaphers. During the past decade, enrollment from low-income families has grown to 2.8 million, or nearly 59 percent of all students. The number of English-language learners has increased to nearly 816,000. ... Manuel Rodriguez Jr, president of the Texas Mexican American School Board Association and a member of the Houston ISD board [said], 'millions and millions have been spent on dropout prevention measures, and it hasn't changed the numbers.' ... Steve Murdock, now on the faculty of Rice University [said], 'The demographics are very overpowering, and we clearly show signs of falling farther behind. It is, as we have noted, the major challenge to Texas' future'," my emphasis, Gary Scharrer at the Houston Chronicle, 16 May 2010, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7007046.html.

"If the American Dream is upward economic mobility and arrival in the middle class, the grim statistics show only a small percentage of Texas' Hispanics are on the road to success. As the state's Latino population continues to expand over the next two decades, if current treands stay the same, Texas is in danger of developing what one academic describes as a 'permanent underclass.' Widespread poverty could pull down the standard of living for all Texans. ... Hispanic girls accounted to 62 percent of all births to teen mothers in 2006, the most recent year reported by the National Center for Health Statistics. ... St. Mary's University political scientist Henry Flores said ... 'Texas has been the cradle of the Hispanic middle class, what there is of it nationally. ... But if you look at the overall percentages of Hispanics of higher degrees and professional occupations, it's very, very small.' ... 'If things don't change, you're going to see a continuing Hispanic underclass'," RG Ratcliffe at the Houston Chronicle, 17 May 2010: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7008236.html.

Quoted without comment.

Isn't creating an underclass what our "open borders" advocates want? "Feature, not bug", as Yves Smith says. If we didn't have enough poor people, what would our poverty warriors fight? What's Flores' problem? Absent an underclass, what would he have to study? See my 4 April 2008 post:
http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/04/no-mexican-child-left-behind.html. As Texas demographics approach Mexico's, Texans average living standard will approach that of Mexicans. It's that simple.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Illegals and the Ottomans

"Throughout history, when an occupying power has wanted to destabilize and destroy a nation, it has settled a foreign people in its midst. The seeds of the Balkan conflict were sown when the Turks planted Albanian Muslims in Kosovo to uproot the Christian Serbs who had long defended the borders of medieval Christendom and had more than once turned back the tide of an expanding Ottoman empire. ... Despite this, Americans did not worry about the massive migration of Mexicans and other third-world immigrants for many years due to their belief in equality and the idea of the American melting pot. Unfortunately, both concepts are complete myths, devoid of any support from logic, history or science. ... There is, quite simply, no such thing as human equality in any material sense. ... As for the myth of the American melting pot, it should suffice to point out that the idea was popularized by a Russian Jew who emigrated to England, never lived in the [US] and was a fervent believer in the cause of establishing a Jewish homeland. ... The reality is that from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century, the New England states had almost no immigration for 200 years. And it is important to note that when the Irish did finally come to America, they were fewer, more culturally similar, and they came in a more gradual manner from farther away. ... The reality is that America will proceed on one of two paths. The first is to embrace the conflict. If Americans can find the courage to consciously reject the myth of the melting pot and expel the Mexicans from the American Southwest, the Arabs from Detroit and the Somalis from Minneapolis, they can reclaim their traditional white Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. ... White Americans continue to vote with their feet, retreating slowly but continuously before the inexorable wave of migratory expansion. Encouraged by the frailty of American society and the fragility of myth-based American political culture, what are still currently the fringe views of the Aztlan revolutionaries will rapidly become the mainstream opinion of Mexican irredentists in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. ... Only Texas, with its unique and exapnsive view of itself, combined wiht its history of violent conflict with Mexico, is likely to take action over time. ... There is no magic assimilation to replace the ruthless mathematics of demographic transformation. Precisely how the Lincoln-forged Union will fragment cannot be foreseen wth perfect clarity at this point, but as recent events suggest, it should begin in the bellwether states of California and Arizona", Vox Day (VD) at World Net Daily, 10 May 2010, link:

"The Ottomans had an interesting method of assuring political stability. The sprawling empire operated on a system in which 'millets', distinct ethnic and religious groups, were allowed to oversee their own internal affairs while giving absolute loyalty to the sultan and his government. Every now and then a millet would be ordered to pack up and head out for a new home, at times at the opposite end of the imperium, amid new neighbors--sometimes the original residents, sometimes other refugees--of alien origins, ethnicity, and religious belief. ... In short order, the various groups would become so enmeshed in harassing and attacking each other that they could spare no time or energy to defying the staus quo. ... The American left has its own millet system, consisting of ethnic (and other) groups defined in large part by their grievances as victims of America. ... The left prefers Balkanization and permament conflict. ... So how to keep the pot boiling? The answer was to find a new millet--or rather to take advantage of the one next door, of the deperate people fleeing a serial kleptocracy, an uneducated, ignorant, and frightened mass open to all forms of manipulation. ... It explains the insistence that any solution to the immigration problem provide for amnesty and citizenship for the millions of illegal already living within our borders. ... Illegals will become a new protected class, with privileges and entitlements denied the rest of the populace (including, ironically, current members of previous such classes). ... A vast bureaucracy will arise to 'assist' the new citizenry, funded with billions. ... There must be no amnesty. Such an action would simply drop a permanent inassimilable presence in the midst of American society", JR Dunn at the American Thinker, 14 May 2010, link:

I agree with Michael Panzer's interesting 22 May 2010 post at When Giants Fall about Turkey, Iran and nuclear weapons, link: http://www.economicroadmap.com/2010/05/not-so-positive.html.

Yes VD. At the very least, California, from San Diego to Santa Barbara, looks like it will revert to Mexico. Pancho Villa won!

China has a policy to move Han Chinese into Sinkiang province, which was primarily Uighur, to ensure Beijing's control. We permit let illegaal aliens stay in the US, which will likely cause the US to dissolve. Look at the contrasting policies.

Absent a new "Operation Wetback", I expect the US to break up no later than 2040, see my 11 January 2009 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2009/01/usa-rip.html.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Texas Prison Literature

"But ask how many of those books and magazines have been rejected because prison reviewers decided they contain inappropriate content, and prison officials will tell you that information is unavailable: 'There's just no way to break that out,' said Tammy Shelby, a program specialist for the prison agency's Mail System Coordinators Panel. ... Novels by National Book Award Winners Pete Dexter, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Proulx and William T. Vollmann have been banned in recent years. Award finalists Katherine Dunn and Barry Hannah are on the Texas no-read list, too, as are Pulitzer Prize winners Alice Walker, Robert Penn Warren and John Updike. ... Books of paintings by some of the world's greatest artists--da Vinci, Picasso, Boticelli, Michaelangelo--have been ordered out of state correctional facilitiies. ... John Grisham has had four blockbusters banned since 2005. And inmates will have to wait for parole before diving into 'Precious,' the book by Sapphire that last year was turned into a critically acclaimed movie. ... Inmates who don't read, for example, have a harder time finding jobs, said Marc Levin, a criminal justice analyst for the Texas Public Policy foundation. 'Literacy, or lack of it, is one of the biggest problems we have with respect to re-entry,' Levin said. Texas prison officials said restrictions on reading material are for the good of both guards and inmates, 'We have to protect the safety and security of our institution, but also aid in the rehabilition of our offenders,' said Jason Clark, an agency spokesman. 'And what may not be judged inflamatory in the public at large can be inflamatory in prison.' ... 'There is no evidence concluding that exposure to obscene material affects the morals or attitudes of prisoners,' said Robert Bastress, a professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, who in 2004 represented an inmate who sued when the prison library was cleansed of all materials considered 'a turn-on.' ... Even with appeals, [Paul] Wright said, 'there doesn't seem to be any real review going on.' In 2005, mailroom staffers flagged Freakonomics,' the best-selling popular economics book, for its use of a 50-year-old quote containing a racial epithet in a chapter about the Ku Klux Klan. That decision was upheld. ... Thus, National Geographic magazines are turned away for photos of naked toddlers", Eric Dexheimer at the Austin American, 31 January 2010, link:

It's good the TDCJ is hard at work. It bans prisoners having Texas maps. Why? They could be used to facilitate an escape. Really. Until you've had contact with "criminal justice professionals" you can't believe how stupid they can be.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Two State Legislator Criminals

"The former assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio, who prosecutors said took more than $1 million in payments from people and organizations doing business with the state, was sentenced to six years in prison before a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday. ... Federal prosecutors said that from 1999 to 2008, he lobbied legislative colleagues and government officials on behalf of clients of a company he created called Marc Consultants. 'When you were elected, you were given a great privilege,' the judge, Naomi Reice Buchwald, said as Mr. Seminerio stared down at his clasped hands. 'You abused the trust placed in you.' ... Mr. Seminerio, 74, is among more than a dozen state lawmakers who have been forced to resign in recent years over ethical issues or have been convicted of crimes. ... A hearing in October to establish sentencing parameters included recordings of wiretapped conversations in which Mr. Seminerio talked with hospital executives, government officials and an undercover FBI agent, who paid $25,000 to Mr. Seminerio while posing as a developer looking for his help in securing tax credits and inserting language into legislation", Colin Moynihan at the NYT, 5 February 2010, link:

"State Rep. Terri Hodge provided a dramatic twist to the FBI's public corruption investigation Wednesday by agreeing to resign from the Texas House after pleading guility to failing to pay taxes on $74,000 in income, including more than $32,000 in bribes. Hodge, D-Dallas, also admitted that she never paid taxes on another $41,000, some of which was money she pilfered from her own campaign war chest for personal expenses. Neither prosecutors nor Hodge offered details. ... Hodge pleaded guilty to accepting money from prominent developers Brian and Cheryl Potashnik in the form of rent and utility payments. The Potashniks, both of whom have since pleaded guility to bribery, let her live in one of their affordable housing complexes for reduced rent and also bought her about $2,000 worth of carpet. ... 'People have to keep in mind that the role of the prosecutor is not to seek victory, but to seek justice,' said [John] Ratcliffe, now in private practice. The upside for the government is 'she's out of a position of public influence and trust, and she'll be held accountable for the rest of her life.' ... In pretrial filings, prosecutors alleged that Hodge 'received payments from families of Texas prison inmates oin return for her political support and assitance on proceedings affecting the inmate before the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole [BPP]'," Jason Trahan at the Dallas Morning News, 5 February 2010.

What's Seminerio's crime? Not working for the NY Fed where he can pass out multi-billion favors to his cronies Why does the FBI and DOJ waste time with this small-time corruption? Because this is all they are permitted to look at.

What happened here? Hodge ran afoul of the "prison-industrial complex" and its prison building campaign. The BPP is a corrupt joke. Who is Ratcliffe? The Dallas area former US Attorney. He's now a partner in John Ashcroft's (JA) law firm. Small world. We know JA, see my 17 January 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/01/justice-department-extortion-racket.html. Compare Hodge's treatment to Olenicoff's, my 20 May 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/05/sentencing-snipes-2.html. It's not for nothing I call it the (in)Justice Department.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Mike Nifong Does Texas

"A Texas nurse who was brought up on criminal charges for filing an anonymous complaint accusing a doctor of unethical conduct was acquitted by a jury Thurday in a case that watchdog groups warned could have a chilling effect on health care workers and patients. ... After the jury returned its verdict, [Anne] Mitchell siad her complaint 'had nothing to do with perosnal feelings,' and she would continue to report doctors if she believes they are not gicing patients proper care. ... Dozens of nurses filled the courtroom throughout this week's trial, and many wept when the verdict was announced. ... 'Whether Ms. Mitchell was convicted or exonerated, was largely irrelvant to the long-term impact her prosecution will have on Texas patients,' [Allen Winslow of Texas Watch] said in a statement. 'The very fact that she was prosecuted will make individuals who could have information that could save lives wuill think twice before speaking up, putting Texas patients at risk.' ... Mitchell's complaint filed in April acused [Rolando] Arafiles of improperly encouraging patients to buy herbal medicines and wanting to use hospital supplies to perform a procedure at a patient's home", Betsy Blaney at the Houston Chronicle, 12 February 2010, link:

"Now it's time for the sherriff who investigated her and the district attorney [DA] wwho prosecuted her to be brought to justice. We can only fantasize. ... The Medical Board [MB] already knew Arafiles. In 2007 it had placed him under certain restrictions for three years. Two days after receiving the anonymous letter, the board notified him of the complaint and some of its details. ... In addition, according to testimony at trial, he joined in pushing doc's $40 bottles of herbal supplement, even holding meeting at Pizza Hut to recruit other salesmen. ... [MB] offficials assumed he was investigating the doctor, according to a spokeswoman. In a letter to him, they said that under the law the letter could not be released except to a law enforcement official 'conducting a criminal investigation of a license holder of the TMB.' Nurses are not licensed by the [MB]. ... Instead of coorrecting the board's assumptions, the sherriff used the letter to identify the nurse who was over 50 and had been with the hospital since the 1980s. He obtained a search warrant of her computers and found a copy of the letter. ... Within weeks however, [DA] Mike Fostel offered a deal: The indictment would be dropped if the women agreed not to sue the county or its hospital. Smart man, but it didn't work. The nurses filed a federal lawsuit. ... Meanwhile the Texas [MB] has expressed its 'grave concern' about the indictments to Fostel and Tidwell. And national nursing organizations, outraged, raised $40,000 for the women's defense according to the [New York] Times", my emphasis, Rick Casey at the Houston Chronicle, 12 February 2010, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/6863319.html

"A West Texas jury took but an hour Thursday to acquit a nurse who had been charged with a felony after alerting the state [MB] that a doctor at her hostpital was practising unsafe medicine. ... The jury foreman said the panel of six men and six women voted unanimously on the first ballot, and questioned why Mrs. Mitchell had ever been arrested. ... The prosecution has so polarized the small town of Kermit, where the hospital is located, that the judge moved the trial to a neighboring county. The case was investigated by Sherriff Robert L. Roberts Jr. a friend and admiring patient ot Dr. Arafiles, and tried by the county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, a political ally of the sherriff and, according to testimony, Dr. Arafile's personal lawyer", Kevin Sack at the NYT, 12 February 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/us/12nurses.html.

This case shows why we need juries. The jury deliberated less than an hour to acquit Mitchell.

Amazing. A 2009 version of a "traveling medicine show". Well, how about an indictment of Fostel and Tidwell for "extortion under color of right", 18 USC 1951?

Quoted without comment.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Lake Wobegon of Texas-2

"Almost six out of 10 Texas public schoolchildren hail from low-income families, marking a troubling spike in poverty over the last decade, a new state report shows. The increase coincides with a significant jump in the number of Hispanic students, while fewer Anglo students were enrolled last year than 10 years ago, according to the study done by the Texas Education Agency [TEA]. Schools are also educating many more children whose primary language is not English. ... Sarah Winkler, the president of the Texas Association of School Boards ... [said] 'The cost of education is going to go up. Every student has to meet the same standards, and some of those students have never seen a book before.' ... The state's school funding system is set up to pay districts more for their impoverished students, but some believe the extra dollars are not enough. This year, the price tag is $2.8 billion, according to the TEA. Districts also get additional federal funds. ... 'You have more and more kids that are less prepared to do well in school,' said [Rob] Eissler, R-The Woodlands. 'Where the expense comes in, you need teachers that have more qualifications. Maybe we need more and better professional development for our teachers.' ... Steve Murdock, the former state demographer and previous director of the US Census Bureau, has projected that the average household income in Texas will drop in coming decades, pouring even more disadvantaged students into the schools", Ericka Mellon at the Houston Chronicle, 2 January 2010: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6795211.html.

Said Alice, "stuff and nonsense". Educating 80 and 140 IQ kids as if they are the same. A big problem of schools: dropout rates are too low! Few if any kids with less than a 90 IQ should graduate from high school. But that means ... Yes. We are seeing the Californiazation of the US Southwest. Here's my 7 August 2009 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2009/08/lake-wobegon-of-texas.html. "Robin Hood" educational funding schemes are common. New Jersey's may be most costly, my 22 November 2009 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2009/11/christies-potential-andrew-jackson.html. Schooling is a massive waste of money.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Whose Drug War?

"Starting next year, the Harris County [DA's] office no longer will file state jail felony charges against suspects found with only a trace--less than a hundreth of a gram--of illegal drugs, [DA] Pat Lykos [PL] said Thursday. ... Not surprisinly, the pending change was hailed by defense lawyers, but criticized by police officers. ... Gary Blankinship [GB] president of the Houston Police Officers' Union [said] ... Lykos said there were several reasons to change the policy, including the inability of defense experts to re-test drug residue that is destroyed when it is analyzed. To be tested twice, there has to be more than a hundrweth of a gram, she said. ... Lykos said the move 'gives us more of an ability to focus on the violent offenses and complex offenses. When you have finite resources, you have to make decisions, and this decision is a plus all around.' ... Of more than 46,000 felony cases filed last year, almost 30 percent, 13,713, were for possession of less than a gram of drugs", my emphasis, Brian Rogers at the Houston Chronicle, 9 December 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6760384.html.

"Harris County [DA] [PL] will re-evaluate a new policy downgrading crack pipe residue charges in response to conerns raised by Houston Police Department [HPD] officials. ... 'She met with the command staff of [HPD], and everyone on the command staff urged her not to do this policy because of the burglaries that were going to increase,' said Ray Hunt, vice president of the Houston Police Officers' Union. 'This is about decreasing the caseload of the [DA's] office and decreasing the number of people in jails.' ... The minimum weight, one-hundreth of a gram, is equivalent to half a grain of rice. ... 'Addicts may become so addicted to the drug that they engage in thefts, burglaries, prostitution, and other crimes in an effort to support their habit. By arresting a suspect for a small amount of crack cocaine, HPD may be preventing that suspect from committing a burglary later, for example,' according to the [HPD] release", my emphasis, Brian Rogers at the Houston Chronicle, 10 December 2009: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6762482.html.

We might reduce the number of HPD officers and see if GB still sings this song. GB reminds me of a Big 87654 partner praising Sarbox.

Hunt, why not just tell truth: few HPD officers are capable of investigating crimes. It's summary arrest or no arrest. Why not legalize drugs to reduce crime? The drug war is revealed to be a policemen and prison guards make work program.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Crime Fighting

"With runoff campaigns now focused on the crime issue, we are likely to hear the inevitable rhetoric about police resources. Undoubtedly we will hear the most worn-out line in politics, that we need more 'boots on the ground.' If our approach is no more sophisticated than that, we're likely to continue to have the same lackluster results on crime. ... Second, we have already been increasing police funding significantly. Since 2002, HPD's budget has risen from $443 million to $675 million this year. That is almost a 7 percent year-over-year average increase, about twice the rate of inflation over the same period. Such increases would be somewhat understandable if the size of the department were growing to meet the city's growing population, but that is not the case. ... Nor has the increased funding resulted in any more crimes being solved. In 2002, HPD cleared a little more than 22,000 so-called Part I crimes. A case is cleared when an arrest is made and charges filed. Part I crimes are those designated by the FBI as more serious offenses. ... So in 2002 we got one Part I crime solved for every $20,000 we invested in the department. In 2008, that cost had gone up to nearly $33,000. ... However, there is one recurring theme I have encountered in my research on this subject, and that is the size of a department's investigative force. While the public generally believes that more officers on patrol will deter crime, most of the studies show that more patrols have little effect on the overall crime rate. Like squeezing a closed tube of toothpaste, patrols may move the crime to different areas, but the total amount does not change much. ... One of the principal reasons the clearance rate for burglary is low is that few cases are actually investigated. One detective told me that about one in 20 is seriously investigated", Bill King at the Houston Chronicle, 29 November 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6743415.html.

Boys and girls, the real world of police work is: summary arrest or no arrest in 90+% of cases. No, it's not Gary Sinese and CSI New York out there.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Recidivists

"I had been told that he was a Baptist preacher and had worked as a prison chaplain in the Texas Department of Corrections [TDC] for more than 30 years. When he walked into the restaurant to meet me for lunch he fit the stereotype one might expect. Wavy hair combed straight back, a western-style jacket and boots. when lunch was served he asked that we bless our food. But as soon as he began to talk about the plight of ex-offenders any pre-conceived stereotypes quickly shattered. For the next hour he spoke quietly but passionately about the deperate circumstances of individuals who had been released from prison, the inhumanity of the prison system, the apathy and cruelty of society and misguided public policies. ... Their son's story is not unfamiliar. He developed a drug problem as a teenager that he was never able to whip. After four or five run-ins with our court system he found himself in Huntsville. ... Any parent can imagine their relief when the call came that he was finally being paroled. Soon after the joyous homecoming, however, the reality began ot sink in that the hardships were by no means over. ... My friends have made do, allowing their son to live at home and finding him a job in a family company. But as I watched them struggle with trying to help their son get back on his feet, I wondered what becomes of the vast majority of ex-offenders who have no such support system. ... At the rate we put people in prison in Texas we need to be concerned about that happens when they are released. ... That is, at any given time, about one person in 100 in Texas is in a prison or jail, six times higher than thw world average and higher than even the world's worst dictatorships. Even if we stop putting people in prison at current rates, we will be releasing 20,000 to 30,000 prisoners each year for many years to come just from TDC. ... Most of those released do not have a family to take them in as my friends' son did. [Emett] Solomon told me that only about 5 percent of the men released are met by family members. ... With almost no chance of finding a job or a decent place to live, most fall back into trouble within a few years. TDC studies show that about one in three is back in prison within three years. If you extend the time frame to five years and include other prisons and jails, the recidivism rate is more likely 60 percent to 70 percent. Since most of these inmates are also fathers, long absent from serving as any positive role model for their children, the cycle will likely be handed down to the next generation", Bill King at the Houston Chronicle, 8 November 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6709207.html.

Recognizing many TDC inmates are dangerous criminals and need to be incarcerated, many are not. Texas should rework its penal code and parole policies. We can incarcerate people for two years for passing $1,500 in bad checks!

Friday, November 13, 2009

No Tax Relief in Death

"With the federal estate tax disappearing for most people, state death taxes have emerged as a new worry. ... At the current level, only 5,500 estates a year are federally taxable. ... The problem is that most states with estate or inheritance taxes haven't raised exemptions to meet federal limits. That means thousands of taxpayers who now escape the federal levy could still get hit with a state death tax. As a result, tax advisers are tweaking bypass trusts that allow married couples to maximize exemptions from state taxes. They are advising taxpayers where to retire in order to pare or eliminate estate taxes. And they are counseling out-of-state taxpayers so that they don't get dinged for property they own in a state with a tough death tax. ... Others warn that even taxpayers who live in states without estate taxes, such as Florida or California, risk unpleasant surprises if they also own property in a state that does have one. ... This means that a taxpayer could live in estate-tax-free Florida, California or Texas and even spend most of his time there. But if he keeps an apartment in New York or a summer home on Cape Cod and has other ties to the area the properties might be assessed at death", Laura Saunders at the WSJ, 31 October 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125694593227919879.html.

If you own any out-of-state property have your estate planner review its potential for taxability or to change your "domicile". If you don't, you might subject your estate to an unpleasant surprise.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Lifting Immunity

"An Austin federal jury in Thursday found that two top state parole officials violated the constitutional rights of an ex-convict who was denied a required hearing for 576 days. Jurors also held the Board of Pardons and Paroles [BPP] Chairman Rissie Owens liable for $21,250 in damages and awarded Curtis Ray Graham attorney's fees that are expected to top $100,000. ... Graham sued the parole board after he was classified as a sex offender even though he was never convicted of a sex crime. ... It is rare for ex-convicts in Texas to win such challenges in state or federal courts. It is almost unheard for parole officials to be held liable for official omissions. ... At a time when several similar lawsuits are pending against state parole officials, attorneys have argued that a win by Graham could force new hearings in perhaps thousands of parole cases in which offenders were classifed as sex offenders without proper hearings", my emphasis, Mike Ward at the Austin American-Statesman, 9 October 2009, link:

Good news. The BPP is one of our most incompetent and corrupt state agencies. I believe it denies prisoners parole to increase corrections officers' jobs. It keeps thousands of "trustys", i.e., inmates with good records who can leave prisons unescorted, to have them work for free. This is the BPP's reward for good prison conduct. In 1996 "mandatory supervision" (MS) was made "discretionary". The legislature was told Texas would need 1,199 more prison beds after five years to incarcerate "the worst of the worst". The BPP reviews about 17,000 inmates annually for MS. If 1,199 would be denied MS after five years, that's 1.4% (1,199 / (17,000 X 5)). The BPP released 49.97% of inmates on DMS last year, not 98.6%. DMS is a fraud. What else is new? Why shouldn't the BPP fix erronerous records? If an inmate was never convicted of a sex crime, why is he so classified? The BPP has been captured by the "Prison-Industrial Complex", my 1 September 2008 post:

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Texas Bad Man

"Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday defended his actions in the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham [CTW], calling him a 'monster' and a 'bad man' who murdered his children. Perry has been embroiled in a national firestorm over whether he has tried to block an investigation into the quality of the forensic scinece that led to Willingham's conviction in the 1991 arson deaths of his three children and his 2004 executuion. ... 'This is a bad man. This is a guy who in the death chamber in his last breath spews an obscenity-laced triad (sic) against his wife,' Perry said. ... [Sam] Bassett has said he felt pressured by Perry's staff to back off of the investigation and was told that a scientific report on the house fire that killed the children was not worth the state's expense. ... Perry's GOP rival in next spring's gubernatorial primary, US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, said the debate should not be about 'one man or one case' but about Perry politicizing the forensics commission. She said Perry has created a 'cloud of controversy' that looks like a cover-up. 'The only thing Rick Perry's action have accomplished is giving liberals an argument to discredit the death penalty,' said Hutchinson, a death penalty supporter. ... Willingham's first lawyer, David Martin of Waco, told the Houston Chronicle in August that Willingham was a 'textbook psychopath'," RG Ratliffe at the Houston Chronicle, 15 October 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6667460.html.

"Yes, by most accounts, [CTW] was a 'bad man,' as Gov. Rick Perry declared Wednesday to reporters. But being a bad man isn't a crime punishable by death, even in Texas. ... The state's expert found no evidence that the fire was arson. ... The new chairman promptly canceled the public hearing, saying he needed time to study the case. ... But the story isn't just about [CTW] anymore. It isn't about guilt or innocence. ... It's about whether Perry is purposefully trying to subvert the law in [CTW's] case, and potentially obstruct justice in countless other arson cases that could benefit from the commission's review, all for political gain during a hotly contested primary. ... And the case looks clearer every day. ... The [CTW] investigation may have been prompted by a complaint by the New York-based Innocence Project, but it was never concerned with determining [CTW's] guilt or innocence. ... The probe was only concerned with the validity of the forensic science in [CTW's] case, and, eventually, how many other arson investigations may have been conducted in the same way. ... So, whether or not [CTW] was a bad man, or even a 'monster,' as Perry also called him, is immaterial to the chief question being asked of the governor: What's his problem with a science commission that investigates science?," my emphasis, Lisa Falkenberg at the Houston Chronicle, 15 October 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/6668380.html.

I agree with Hutchinson. Even if CTW was all Perry claims, that does not make CTW a murderer. If Texas did not prove the threshhold question: did an arson occur, there was no crime.

Not even in Texas? I'm crushed. I suspect Perry knows much expert testimony used by DAs stinks. OJ is a bad man and Marcia Clark and Chris Darden (C&D) spent months proving it. So? The OJ jury was not impressed by the C&D case. Neither was I.