PETITION FOR TEXAS

THE FOLLOWING IS THE PETITION THAT I PROPOSE FOR ALL TEXANS WHO WISH TO IMPROVE THEIR STATE (IT WILL ALSO WORK FOR OTHER STATES):


DEAR SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE____________________,

I, (NAME)__________________________________,
RESIDING AT THE ADDRESS OF , (ADDRESS)__________________________________,
ATTEST THAT I AM YOUR CONSTITUENT.

I AM SIGNING THIS PETITION TO IMPRESS UPON YOU MY CONVICTION THAT PERSONS BELONGING TO THE GAY, LESBIAN, BI-SEXUAL, AND TRANS-GENDER COMMUNITY, HENCEFORTH REFERRED TO AS THE GLBT COMMUNITY, ARE DESERVING OF ALL THE RIGHTS THAT SHOULD BE RESPECTED UNIVERSALLY.

I SUPPORT, GENERALLY, LEGISLATION THAT WOULD ENSURE GLBT INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN SUCH THINGS AS EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, HEALTH CARE, VISITATION, MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION RIGHTS.

MORE BROADLY, I AM OF THE CONVICTION THAT RIGHTS THAT ARE ENJOYED BY SOME, SHOULD BE ENSURED FOR ALL. AND THAT NO GROUP SHOULD BE UNDULY EXCLUDED FROM THE RIGHTS NECESSARY TO ALLOW FOR THE PARTICIPATION IN SOCIETY, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, AND THE BETTERMENT OF ONE'S FAMILY (USING THE BROADER DEFINITION OF THE WORD).

MY SIGNATURE AFFIXED HERE:________________________
DATE:_______________


THE GLBT PETITION FACE BOOK PAGE.

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas

P.O. Box 12905, Austin, TX 78711-2905, T 512.478.7300 F 512.478.7303 www.aclutx.org

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Moment of Silence for Texas's Public Schools

In the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the ACLU Foundation of Texas, the ACLU Foundation in Washington DC, and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a friend of the court brief in support of the plaintiff.

The case: David Wallace Croft v. Governor of the State of Texas, Rick Perry, and Carrollton-Farmer's Branch Independent School District, on appeal from the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 3:06-cv-00434.

There is a precedent established by the US Supreme Court; the primary purpose of a Legislative Act determines whether it violates the Establishment Clause.

"First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion."

By amending the Act to include the word "prayer", the purpose of the legislation changes, and it becomes unconstitutional.

The battle to preserve the separation of church and state continues with the David Wallace Croft case, and the filing of the friend of the court brief.

The Amicus Curiae brief, to paraphrase, argues that in question is not the constitutionality of a Legislative Act requiring a moment of silence, nor an Act that required a moment of silence with prayer listed as a possible activity. The issue is amending an existing Act to include a gratuitous reference to prayer. The purpose of amending the Act is solely to encourage prayer in public schools. As such, it is unconstitutional.

The point the brief is making is that the legislatures of Texas are trying to encourage prayer in public schools. This is unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause is interpreted to mean that the helping of all religions, or any single religion is unconstitutional.

Constitutional Law - as understood by The Federalist Society:

"If the Establishment Clause means anything, it means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion to another." - Justice Black. This completed the separation of Church and State. The Establishment Clause is now understood to apply to states, not just the Federal Government. The Establishment Clause prohibits states from helping or encouraging religion(s).

Help all religions? Or, some religions over others? This is not permissible according to the standard of the separation of Church and State in its strictest form.

"The Establishment Clause was primarily an attempt to ensure that Congress not only would be powerless to establish a national church but would also be unable to interfere with existing state establishments." -Justice Potter Stewart in a dissenting opinion.

Abington School District v. Shempp:

374 U.S. 203 (1963)

In this United States Supreme Court case, decided on June 17, 1963, the decision was 8-1 in favor of Edward Schempp, plaintiff. A Pennsylvania statute requiring Bible reading in public schools was declared unconstitutional. It infringed upon Schempp's rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. This marks the beginning of the Separation of Church and State in its strictest form.

"Most U.S. citizens believed that the United States was a nation founded on Christian principles. Yet, in spite of their widely held beliefs, as early as 1890, many states were rolling back mandates of state sponsored devotional exercises in the classroom (Boston, 1993, 9. 105)." -Wikipedia.

The Pennsylvania statute was struck down by the district court, which ruled in Schempp's favor. The school district appealed. The Pennsylvania legislature then amended the statue to allow children to be excused from the exercises upon the written request of their parents.

Schempp argued that the nature of the law had not changed. There was vacating and remanding by the Supreme Court as a result of the Legislature amending the statute with the allowance for parent's written excuses for their children.

"The district court, however, again found for Schempp, even with the allowance for written excuses. The school district appealed to the Supreme Court again. The case was consolidated with a similar Maryland case.

Justice Potter Stewart was the only dissenting Justice in this US Supreme Court case. The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Shempp. Justice Stewart argued that the religious clauses do not establish the standard of the separation of church and state.

Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment:

In the First Amendment to the US Constitution it is stated that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

One may question the framer's original understanding of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. At the time of this nations founding, many other countries had national religions. They were financially supported by the State. Thomas Jefferson argued for a "wall of separation between church and state."

Another case with an amended moment of silence:

Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985).

Web sites of interest for further reading:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/estabinto.htm

Amicus Curiae: friend of the court.

The ACLU and ACLUF of Texas are 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations.

Decriminalizing Marijuana

Ron Paul of Texas is co-sponsoring legislation in Washington, D.C. to eliminate criminal sanctions for the possession of marijuana. This would be for small amounts used by responsible adults, or, Marijuana given by non-profits to responsible adults.

The costs to society of incarceration due to the criminalization of marijuana are staggering.

The link to govtrack.us for bill 5843.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Oil Dependence Antidote

"A move to repeal $12 billion to $18 billion in oil industry tax breaks is one vote shy of overcoming a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate." -Truthout.

On April 20th, 2005, John Culberson voted to allow drilling in ANWR, the Alaskan National Wildlife Preserve, a national treasure and place of ancient forests, pristine since the close of the last ice age. -Progressive Punch.

Help Michael Skelly take on 4-term Republican incumbent John Culberson and get rid of the special big-oil tax breaks, and special gifts to the big-oil business they give out in Washington, D.C. We can send Michael Skelly to clean House in Washington.

Michael Skelly is now more electable than ever. He is a successful entrepreneur and superb at fund raising. He has over $1 million on hand and is the 7th best-funded challenger in the nation. -Burnt Orange.

Michael Skelly will do a better job of representing the values of the citizens of Western Houston, House District 7. He is the oil-dependence antidote. This isn't just tilting at windmills.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Texas Wind Farms

Wind Power in Texas: wikipedia

Facts:

Texas has a remarkable advantage when it comes to wind energy. It has many areas that lend themselves to large wind farm projects. There is a path of reliable wind that cuts a swath though Texas, including north-west Texas.

Economic forces, the laws of supply and demand, are driving the rapid growth in wind farms. The supply of fossil deposits of methane, and oil, will continue to dwindle. Increasing global demand will keep the prices rising.

Due to the depletion of the major oil deposits in the U.S., our capacity to extract oil domestically will continue to decline. World-wide oil production is likely to steadily decrease.

More intense drilling will not change these market forces. It will not change the finite nature of oil and other fossil fuels. In fact, more intense drilling will simply deplete these non-renewable resources more quickly. Also, it is important to keep in mind that it is not economically feasible to extract much of the proven reserves of oil and methane.

US economic and energy security can be boosted by increased wind energy capacity.

The American Wind Energy Association

There is a plan to get 20% of America's electricity from wind energy. Michael Skelly has the vision and leadership to move Texas forward with this plan.

Help elect Michael Skelly to inject fresh energy into Congress.

Michael Skelly: New Energy for Congress



Michael Skelly is a successful entrepreneur. He was a leader in the development of Horizon Wind Energy, a renewable energy company. He is running for the Congressional seat now occupied by incumbent John Culberson, and giving voters a Green way to paint Texas Blue.

Texas's 7th Congressional District has been a very Republican leaning district. It includes Bellaire, West University Place, and Jersey Village in Harris County. The Republicans may lose a seat in Washington, D.C., come Nov. 4, to Democrat Michael Skelly.

Michael Skelly, unusually successful at raising campaign dollars, will be running TV ads until November 4, election day. There is change in the air. Volunteer for Michael Skelly and send some new energy to Congress in Washington, D.C.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

John Culberson's ANWR OCS Solution

Culberson's recent mailer advocates drilling in The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf Coast, Outer Continental Shelf, and the Mountain West.

ANWR
The Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a place of ancient wilderness that remains the same as it was at the end of the last ice age. It contains only a small percentage of our energy needs. Lifting the ban on drilling in this wild-life habitat would have a minute impact on the price of oil. The small gain would not be worth the destruction. Drilling in ANWR would take 10 years to have any effect on the price of fuel.

OCS
Drilling for oil in the environmentally sensitive Outer Continental Shelf will not help reduce the price of fuel. It would not have an impact until the year 2030.

The below quote is from a Truth Out article titled, Drilling Without Oil, Tax Cuts Without Growth. It is taken from within the context of Senator McCain's energy policy. It applies equally well to John Culberson policy, however.

"Of course, Senator McCain knows the amount of oil potentially available offshore in environmentally sensitive areas is too small to have a noticeable impact on prices and that it will take a decade before we even see a drop."

Despite the substantial crude oil and natural gas contained in the Outer Continental Shelf, drilling in this area will not substantially effect the price of oil and natural gas. It would not substaintially raise the production of oil and natural gas compared to what is expected to be produced in other areas with the ban in place.

"Mean estimates from the MMS indicate that technically recoverable resources currently off limits in the lower 48 OCS total 18 billion barrels of crude oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas..."

"The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017. "

Drilling in environmentally sensitive areas in an attempt to lower energy prices isn't going to work.

Sites of Interest for Further Reading and Information Used in this Blog:
Center for American Progress
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Energy Information Administration
Progressive Punch



Happy Hour at The Meteor

Members of the Caucus will be on hand for happy hour at The Meteor, 2306 Gennesee, Thursday, July 31st, 7-9pm.

Texas Republican Party Convention

I read in OutSmart about the Texas Republican Party Convention. Yes, according to the Republican Party Platform, they officially hate the GLBT community, literally:

"We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our Country's founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable 'alternative' lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should 'family' be redefined to include homosexual 'couples.' We are opposed to any granting of legal special entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin), custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values."

"We oppose the legislation of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy."

"We oppose mandatory open adoption and adoption by homosexuals."

The Texas Democratic Party Convention was held June 6-8 in Austin. It yielded a platform more enlightened on these issues; inspiring really. It drew upon the principles of liberty and equality envisioned by the founders of this great republic. Read about it in OutSmart.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Special Election for State Senate District 17

The Burnt Orange Report has an interesting story on the Special Election for State Senate District 17. Chris Bell is having his kick-off party at his new campaign headquarters July 20th. Lets help him with his bid for this Senate seat, and help the Democrats paint Texas blue.

Republican Kyle Janek officially resigned. Governor Perry will probably call the special election to fill this seat for November 4th.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Ellen Cohen

On November 7th, 2006, Ellen Cohen was elected Texas House Representative for District 134. This District includes Bellaire, West University Place, River Oaks and parts of Meyerland and Montrose. It includes Rice University and Texas Medical Center.

Texas House of Representative Bio

Ellen Cohen has received a lengthy and impressive list of awards and endorsements. She served as executive director of the American Jewish Committee. She founded Reach to Recovery of Canada. In 2005, she was honored by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as an outstanding contributor to civil and human rights in Houston.

Ellen Cohen's official website

As CEO of the Houston Area Women's Center, Ellen Cohen worked to help victims of sexual violence. This is a $5.5 million dollar, 120 person staff organization serving over six thousand women, children and men.

wikipedia on Ellen Cohen

She stepped down as CEO effective December 31st, 2007.
Texas Politics: Ellen Cohen



Numerous organizations have endorsed Ellen, including the Houston GLBT Political Caucus PAC.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

John Culberson

According to OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics, John Culberson has received $67,750 from the Oil and Gas industry for this election cycle.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00009738

Monday, July 14, 2008

Oil


I recently received a mailing from John Culberson, member of the US House of Representatives for Texas's 7th district. It promises that more drilling in Texas or other parts of the US will lower gas prices and help to make America energy independent. We must "drill here, drill now" the mailing informs me, "...and we will pay less."

Unfortunately, America has already reached its "Oil Peak" and will be in decline as an oil producer not matter how many wells are drilled. US oil production peaked in 1970. This is according to The Long Emergency, by James Howard Kunstler. In addition to the US Oil Peak, there is Global Oil Peak. We may have already reached that point judging by oil selling at $140 per barrel.

According to wikipedia, "Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil

In order to survive the "Long Emergency" that will be brought about by the global depletion of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal we need an energy policy that is forward thinking. Our society needs to invest in new technologies that will create many jobs; including technical jobs.

Is it cognitive dissonance that prevents us from preparing for the future? According to Carl Jung, people cannot stand too much reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung

Tea Party

"Indeed, the rightward tilt of the state's GOP electorate permitted another Tea Party insurgent to mount a respectable run without serving as a spoiler to Perry's similarly themed campaign. Debra Medina, a darling of the far right, recently made headlines for questioning the government's involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but came in with about the same 16 percent showing that polls registered prior to her gaffe. -http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100304/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1213


The rightward slant of the Republican party in Texas portends ill for its citizens and residents alike. A state already gerrymandered to the Republican's advantage, allowing a comfortable margin for incompetence, is being pulled toward a radical part of the political spectrum.

The Tea Party rejects any workable form of federalism where the Federal government plays a necessarily central role in funding large projects, such as roads and dams, and provides funding for necessary functions, such as public education.

"But by the time Republican voters went to the polls here in a primary on Tuesday, the political ground had shifted under Senator Hutchison, who lost in a three-way race to Mr. Perry." -link to NY Times Article.

The Tea Party candidates posit themselves as outsiders. But, Rick Perry has been governor for over 10 years.

http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/


If you really want change, elect someone who hasn't been governor for 10 years. Bill White handily beat several other Democratic challengers, and, Bill White doesn't have to hide under a false agenda.

The Tea Party is a mis-informed tax revolt married to a wild-eyed dream of secession. All States require federal money to complete big projects because this is the tax money not hijacked by regional petty thievery, and, back-stabbing. It provides the wealth to the communities too poor to educate their own children or pave their own streets. And it provides a necessary counterweight to local lapses in judgment.

Don't leave the future of Texas in the hands of a movement that would send us back into the Dark Ages; where a decent education is a luxury, and a decent life is a far-off dream. This is the movement that would deny you your unemployment benefits. In fact, Governor Perry already has.

Capitol Building -Austin

State Capitol Complex:
11th and Congress.
Parking at the intersection's southeast Corner, and 1500 block of Congress.
Larger than any other state capitol.

Texas Employment Law

"Texas employment law does NOT prohibit workplace discrimination and/or termination based upon sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status." -Equality Texas


"The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), federal legislation that would add sexual orientation as a protected class against discrimination, has been proposed but failed in the past few years. But it is expected that President Obama and the a stronger Democratic majority in Congress will pass and enact the law in 2009." -HRHero.com

http://www.hrhero.com/topics/sex_discrimination.html

Texas Travel and Leisure Blog

Check out my website:
Texas Travel and Leisure Blog
It has articles on travel and leisure in Texas. Also, information pertaining to equality.
Enjoy!