tvc184

I think that is most of it. The other issues were excuses to oppose the bond but had it not been for the stadium issues, those other "excuses" would have fallen by the wayside. The economy wasn't the major issue. Had this bond come up a year ago the same result would have happened. From my understanding the stadium was like 4% or less of the bond proposal. So if a person's home taxes went up $500 a year, that is only $20 a year on the stadium or less than $2 a month. Is that why it was rejected... for $2 a month? Quadruple the taxes to an additional $2,000 per year that still comes to about $7 per month extra in taxes due the stadium. Nope, it wasn't the economy and it wasn't the condition of the schools. It was the anti-stadium crowd that tried every excuse they could find to keep the bond from passing for a single issue. Obviously they had a great plan.

Sounds like time to get my bow out.

LOL... maybe I should buy lottery tickets and pick all 4's?

I agree 100%. My post was to show the folly of naming people that are more qualified than Palin. There are obviously people more qualified than she or Obama but that is not the issue. Obama made his case and he won. The discussion of who is more qualified doesn't enter into it. It is popularity or as you say, Obama won by the Good Ol' Boy system. I can live with that.

I think just as some of us bring up racial issues there is an opposing side who are in denial about how race affects our society. Just the fact that you have students in this area who have never had contact with kids from other races until they enter college still is hard for me to imagine. Bridge City, Lumberton, Vidor, etc. Race is real! Race denial is real too! With 300 million people in this country, race will always be a factor. That is simply because no one can control the thoughts of someone else. There are always those that will hate or be prejudiced no matter the circumstances. I "think" what bullets is trying to say is that no matter what the incident and short of any facts to the contrary, race will be brought into play. In the Lumberton case, is there any proof or even accusations of racial problems with Lumberton PD other than this case? If so, why haven't we seen them? QX even wants to hold the meeting in Silsbee to solicit such information. I have no problem with that but apparently he doesn't have any evidence of it at this moment so is going outside of Lumberton to try and find the evidence he seeks. Again, no problem with his lawful attempt but he had no problem spitting out racial problems with Lumberton PD without any of that evidence. Should he have looked for the evidence of racism first maybe? Get at least some facts on your side or do like he did, make an accusation and then scramble for evidence of it to make it look like you weren't just using race. That is the problem I have (and I think bullets) is that he made the statement as fact and now has to try to find some "facts" to back it up. You are correct that if anyone denies that racism or racial prejudice exists then they are idiots. Acknowledging that is exists and "may" be a factor is way different than spitting out race instantly and then hoping that you can find some means to back up the statement. It sure seems to be that with the Laday case. Let's claim racism and murder and hope like heck we can back it up later with some facts. If it was anything other than QX complaining about the cops, it wuld be slander and he would be in court in a heartbeat. Look into it? By all means. That is not what QX did however. It seems like before daylight he was already spitting out his diatribe about Lumberton PD specifically and white law enforcement in general. Could he have asked around and maybe waited a day or two to find out if any of the area residents have had problems with LPD? Could have used freedom of information requests to see what kinds of complaints have been filed against the officers? Could he have waited one day until the preliminary autopsy was performed? He certainly should have. QX made his serious accusations and is now trying to gain evidence after the fact to justify his statements. Therein lies the problem with the instant accusations of racism. Sure it exists but every single incident between a white person and black person is not based on racial prejudice.

If "qualifications" was an issue, then Obama would not be the president. I am not knocking his win nor failing to acknowledge that he is the fair and square winner. Being elected doesn't mean that someone is the "most qualified" but someone that hopefully more people agree with on opinions. There were certainly way more "qualified" candidates that were Democrats than Obama. They had their shot and lost. So did the GOP in the general election. Does not being as qualified as some other person negate the winner's legitimacy or the fact that the person ran on a ticket? If so, we need to stop selecting our party nominees by primaries and caucuses and appoint a blue ribbon panel to list the people according to "qualifications". In the name of objectivity, we could even scale it by giving points for such things as: 1. Prior Senate/House experience. 2. Prior state level experience. 3. Cabinet experience. 4. Committee chairmanship experience. 5. College Degree(s). 6. Etc. That way we could get the "most qualified" candidate and not simply the most popular.

I read the article and wondering what the violation of constitutional right was... other than them wanting money. I have not seen any constitutional article or amendments that demands that someone be prosecuted. The teens were arrested and brought before a grand jury where they were No Billed. I am pretty sure that is a grand jury's option. What constitutional right does a "possible" crime victim have to demand that someone be put in jail even if the evidence is not sufficient? The DA wasn't accused of the crime, the school district wasn't accused of the crime and it did not happen on their campus nor at a school function. While the accusation of sexual assault is very serious, what constitutional demands were violated on behalf of the victim by lack of evidence?

I know, Breiner was white and the prostitute was Asian. Had Breiner been Asian and the prostitute was white, then Breiner would have gone to jail and the white prostitute would have been released.

Think about what? I didn't say that they could use drugs or do I condone it. Any officers that I know that have used any substances illegally are now former officers. Possess it, sell it, buy it (in the line of duty) but don't use it.

........ and good finish for Vidor.

If a police officer gets influenza, is it the Pig Flu?

Yes, there are former officers that have or have had problems. That is why they are former officers. I have known officers to lose their careers over substance abuse but never with crack.

A chance to keep stirring the pot. Keep it stirring, it makes for an interesting evening. And most of you are in denial about the truth. Question, are udercover cops allowed to take drugs on the job? Denial is an easy accusation as anyone can say it to anyone else and have the same meaning.... which means that they have no other argument of facts. I have never heard where they can take dope while on duty but they can possess it, sell it or buy it. If you have evidence of an officer taking drugs, I suggest that you turn it in to internal affairs, the DA or another agency.

Do you know who the outside arbitrator was? Was he white, black, Asian? Remember, the white police chief fired the officer white office (Oops.. forgot that little fact did we?). The police department didn't give him his job back. He won it in a hearing from an outside person.

A chance to keep stirring the pot. Keep it stirring, it makes for an interesting evening.

And get 7 months back pay.

Actually I think they would have a harder time firing him now. Once he beats them in an arbitration hearing, it will look like retaliation on their part. That is the good thing about Civil Service and a contract. The department has to be able to back up a firing in front of an outside arbitrator. They can fire him again if they wish but they lost this bid to get rid of him for what appears to be a pretty severe accusation. If they can't fire him for having sex with a prostitute, what will it take to uphold it in front of an arbitrator? Now if he starts routinely showing up for work late, gets a lot of complaints for physical abuse, fails to turn in paperwork in a timely manner, etc., then he will make it easy on them and he will lose the next round. All that he has to do is show up and keep his nose clean and he will be almost untouchable.

Where at? I know there are some packs of hogs around the Mid-County area. One group of them is living not too far from downtown Port Neches.

Too long ago to remember winning weights. I remember that it wasn't much of a contest between first and second place.

Actually the Good Ol' Boy system did not work in his favor. Go back and try reading it this time. The chief fired the officer. How much of a Good Ol' Boy system is that? An outside arbitrator was called in on appeal and heard the testimony of the incident. When it was discovered that his superior officers know of the sting and approved it, he was reinstated by the outside arbitrator, not the Good Ol' Boy chief. To put it more bluntly, the officer got his day in court and won.

I did not dismiss her death at all. It was obviously tragic that she died and then did so delivering a child that will grow up without a mother. That is horrible from any cause. What that has to do with high school baseball, I don't have a clue. We average 100 deaths a day, 365 days a year from the flu virus. In the two weeks since the swine flu scare has happened in this country, we have probably lost over 1,000 people due to the normal seasonal flu. Let's see, one death compared to 1,000. Yep, I can understand closing schools and cancelling games. Maybe we should end all public events from now on due to that fact. After all, one life may be saved by it. : : :

I'm bringing my flyrods to make it more sporting. The last time I fished a bass tournament with a flyrod, my partner and I did it at Six Mile on Toledo Bend. There were about 12 boats or so in the contest and a few of them chuckled as we left the ramp that morning. When we won the tournament, they weren't laughing quite as hard. ;D

Did she catch the swine flu at a UIL competition? I must have missed that part. Yes it was overhyped and now the UIL has seen their folly and backed off. Go figure. If your objective is to save one person, then we can stop all high school football since every year students die playing it. Every year a couple of children are killed playing Little League baseball so let's stop that also. Let's change all speed limits to 30mph. It will take us twice the time to make long trips but it will save thousands of lives wouldn't it? Sorry but the "single life" theory doesn't work and it was way overhyped.

I suppose that Hitler did okay because he was good at what he did. Being good at what you do hardly qualfies someone as being honorable or noble in your pursuits. I never saw MLK make false accusations in order to grab headlines. I have witnessed it from QX. I guess that makes him good at what he does and that is to stir up trouble in the name of racial hatred. While discussing racial issues may lead to better world, I don't see how his making outright and easily proven lies and then threats to tear up a white town helps the black community. Maybe someone with more intellect can explain that to me. What he does is to stir up anger in other communities that may have otherwise been sympathetic to some of his causes. But that is what he wants, not understanding but controversy.