Archive for the ‘Austin’ Category

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(Austin City Council is) Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law

Monday, January 7th, 2013

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the SuperGeniuses on the Austin City Council (along with allies among the Travis County apparatchiks) have gotten it into their heads that it’s just a swell idea to ban gun shows within the city and county limits. Because I’m sure so many criminals are buying their guns legally at a gun show. (Hint: NICS is not, in fact, a misspelling of that TV show with the hot Goth chick.)

Over at Whipped Cream Difficulties, Dwight has taken the bull by the horns, and provided not only a list of reasons why that’s a really bad idea, but a list of contract addresses for City Council critters, allowing those of you who live within the limits of the City of Austin (I don’t) a chance to express your extremely displeasure with this noxious and ill-advised gun-grabbing regulatory gambit.

Oh wait, did I say noxious and ill-advised? Add to that one more adjective: illegal.

As Dwight notes, a gun show ban “will expose the city to legal action under section 229 of the Texas local government code.” Let’s take a look at 229, shall we? The relevant portion states:

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 43.002 of this code and Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:

(1) the transfer, private ownership, keeping, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or firearm supplies

Now, I’m not a simple country lawyer (or a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid, either), but banning gun shows sounds precisely like adopting regulations pertaining to the transfer of guns to me.

Much smarter than your average Austin City Counci Critter

They’d have done better listening to this, er, guy.

It’s like the entire Austin City Council parading through the center of the state capitol wearing KICK ME signs. And the state legislature just might take them up on it.

On the other hand, if The People’s Republic of Austin is foolish enough to push this through, I’m sure there are venues in Williamson County that would love to have that business…

(Subject line hat-tip)

Email and Phone Numbers: Let Them Know What You Think of Their Illegal Gun-Show Banning Ploy

Thanks to Dwight, here’s some contact information for Travis County officials, who are evidently voting Tuesday:

  • Judge Samuel T. Biscoe (512) 854-9555 Sam.Biscoe@co.travis.tx.us
  • Ron Davis (512) 854-9111 ron.davis@co.travis.tx.us
  • Sarah Eckhardt (512) 854-9222 sarah.eckhardt@co.travis.tx.us
  • Gerald Daugherty (512) 854-9333 Gerald.Daugherty@co.travis.tx.us
  • Margaret Gomez (512) 854-9444 Margaret.Gomez@co.travis.tx.us

    • And Austin City Council Critters:

  • Lee Leffingwell 512-974-2250 lee.leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Sheryl Cole 512-974-2266 sheryl.cole@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Chris Riley 512-974-2260 chris.riley@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Mike Martinez 512-974-2264 mike.martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Kathie Tovo 512-974-2255 kathie.tovo@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Laura Morrison 512-974-2258 laura.morrison@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Bill Spelman 512-974-2256 bill.spelman@ci.austin.tx.us

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    Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Guns, Texas | 6 Comments »

    Early Voting in Texas Starts Today

    Monday, October 22nd, 2012

    Early voting in Texas starts today and runs through Friday, November 2.

    Here are early voting locations and sample ballots for Williamson County. And here are the Travis County early voting locations.

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    Posted in Austin, Texas | 1 Comment »

    UT Evacuated Due to Bomb Threat

    Friday, September 14th, 2012

    The University of Texas has evacuated campus due to a possibly Jihad-related bomb threat.

    At 8:35 a.m. the university received a call from a male with a middle eastern accent claiming to have placed bombs all over campus. He said he was with Al Qaeda and these bombs would go off in 90 minutes.

    Well, it’s two hours later and no boom. There’s a 99% chance this is an empty threat, since it’s always easier to pick up a phone than to actually make a bomb, as severald dead members of the weather underground can attest.

    A similar threat was made at North Dakota State at Fargo.

    Updated to add: bomb threat also made at Valparaiso University. UT still still under evacuation warning.

    Updated to add 2: UT classes cancelled today and all events cancelled until 5 PM. Buildings can be re-entered as of noon.

    Updated to add 3: Add Hiram College in Ohio to list of schools receiving bomb threats. Pretty obscure for Jihadests. Maybe just copycats.

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    Posted in Austin, Jihad, Texas | 2 Comments »

    I’ll Be LiveTweeting The Cruz/Dewhurst Debate Tonight

    Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

    Tonight is the last Ted Cruz/David Dewhurst debate before the election. (Hey Dewhurst, what happened to all those other debates you said you were up for?)

    Baring unforeseen technical difficulties, I will be LiveTweeting the debate from Cruz headquarters in Austin. I’m guessing the hashtag will probably be #belodebate again. Drop in if you’re so inclined.

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    Posted in Austin, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Amado Pardo: Murderer, Restaurateur, Heroin Dealer, Democratic Fundraiser

    Monday, July 9th, 2012

    Dwight has been all over the story of Amado “Mayo” Pardo, owner of South Austin Mexican restaurant Joviata’s, who just happens to be a two-time convicted murderer (a third murder charge was dropped as part of a plea bargain for the first) and the accused leader of a heroin-dealing ring.

    He’s also a noted fundraiser for the Democratic Party.

    I have not been able to find any direct political donations at the state or national level for Pardo (and the Travis County website doesn’t seem to have a way to search for individual donations, only rank upon rank of PDFs), but Jovita’s seems to have been the site for numerous liberal and Democratic fundraising events:

  • Democratic Candidate for Travis County Tax Assessor Collector Candidate Bruce Elfant had a fundraiser there May 15, 2012
  • An event benefiting PODER (People Organized in Defense of Earth) was held there April 26, 2012.
  • Democratic Candidate for Sheriff John Sisson had a fundraiser there March 27, 2012.
  • The “Million Musicians March for Peace” had a pre-march event there March 4, 2012.
  • The Travis County Democratic Party had a fundraiser there October 19, 2008.
  • The Texans for Peace group had a fundraiser there June 7, 2008.
  • Far-left anti-war group Code Pink had a fundraiser there June 1, 2008.
  • The Statesman article mentions fundraisers for Democratic State Representative candidate David Rodriguez.

    • There are more, but you get the idea. If these people were just renting Jovita’s as a venue, fine and dandy. But if they were specifically approaching Pardo to hold fundraisers for them, perhaps a bit more due diligence was in order on the part of the Austin Democratic establishment? The Austin Chronicle named him “Mayor of South Austin” in 2009. Here’s their profile of him, also from 2009, in which discusses his reading Marx and his love for Cesar Chavez, but omits his two murder convictions. How could he spend two decades hob-nobbing with Austin’s liberal community and no one bothered to find out that not only did he have two murder raps, but the FBI believes he had been dealing heroin for 25 years?

    Of course, Pardo hasn’t been convicted. Instead of a heroin-dealing convicted murderer and liberal activist, he may only be a convicted murderer and liberal activist…

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    Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Texas | 3 Comments »

    Grady Yarbrough Snags an Endorsement!

    Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

    OK, this is funny.

    The most invisible man in the Texas senate race campaign, Democrat Grady Yarbrough, has no website, no Facebook page, and no Twitter feed. But that didn’t stop him from being endorsed by The Austin Villager (warning: 3MB PDF), a local Austin black newspaper. I would love to learn the editorial process by which they chose him over the other three Democratic candidates. Or even just how they chose him over Addie D. Allen…

    (Hat tip: MJJHurta’s Twitter feed.)

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    Posted in Austin, Democrats, Media Watch, Texas | 1 Comment »

    Mailers. I Get Mailers.

    Monday, May 28th, 2012

    If you’re wondering what this election year is like in Williamson County, I’ve saved all the political flyers I’ve gotten. As usual, click to embiggen.

    The most mail I’ve gotten has been for the Lisa Birkman vs. Lee Ann Seitsinger race (which is going to be very close), and the Seitsinger piece comparing Birkman to Obama is probably the most ridiculous attack mailer I’ve received (unless I get one from Dewhurst pushing the amnesty lie tomorrow). Next would probably be Jana Duty vs. John Bradley for the Williamson County District Attorney race, and the State Senate District 5 (Charles Schwertner vs. Ben Bius) and House District 136 (Tony Dale vs. Paul Matthews) all ranking ahead of the U.S. Senate race. I don’t think I’ve received a single flyer from Tom Leppert or Craig James.

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    Posted in Austin, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for May 27, 2012

    Sunday, May 27th, 2012

    Woke up entirely too early this morning, so here’s a big old bag of randomness:

  • Wisconsin Democratic recall candidate Tom Barrett manicuplated crime figures as Mayor of Milwaukee. (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty.) Shades of Tom Leppert. Or Tommy Carcetti.
  • I wonder if the “Choom Gang” VW Microbus our 44th President and his friends used to habitually smoke pot in also had tools and rakes and implements of destruction in it.
  • The UAW is broke.
  • America is defying the demographic doom befalling other nations.
  • “Non-Partisan” redistricting commissions aren’t.
  • Do liberals actually expect this patronizing, passive-aggressive condescension toward Judge Roberts to work? I’d like to believe that treating the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America as though he’s as easy to manipulate as an insecure teenage girl would be counterproductive if it weren’t so transparently laughable.
  • Huge land swindle/ponzi scam out near Manor. And where was the Statesman for this huge story in its own backyard? “No results found for “Natalia Wolf” site:statesman.com.”
  • Today’s amusing hashtag #MovieswithObama.
  • Remember when every car bomb in Lebanon was front page news? Now a bomb that kills 100 isn’t.

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    Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Jihad, Media Watch, Obama Scandals, Uncategorized, unions | No Comments »

    Something Tells Me Lloyd Doggett Survives This Time Around

    Thursday, May 24th, 2012

    I always believe in telling the truth as I see it, no matter how uncomfortable. And my reading of the tea leaves (not the Tea Party leaves) is that, despite all the effort to redistrict him out of office, Lloyd Doggett will still be sworn in for another term on January 3, 2013.

    Why? One word: money. Doggett’s biggest Democratic rival for the 35th Congressional District, Sylvia Romo, has $20,000 on hand. Doggett has $2.9 million on hand. Money isn’t everything, but it’s a lot. Even an experienced, popular incumbent would be hard-pressed to overcome a greater than 100-to-1 fundraising disadvantage, and Romo is neither.

    For all the persistent talk of Hispanics being the future of the Texas Democratic Party, it’s still old white guys who seem to be getting the Democratic establishment juice…

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    Posted in Austin, Democrats, Elections, Texas | 1 Comment »

    LinkSwarm for May 16, 2012

    Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

    All sorts of news bubbling up, reportage of which is in various stages of completion.

  • 49 headless bodies found in Mexico.
  • Bork bork bork.
  • Cherokee genealogist to Elizabeth Warren: “Your ancestors are found in plenty of historical records, and every time, they are found living as white people among other white people. Never are your ancestors ever found living among the Cherokees.”
  • Ten things about Rille Hunter. Words “crazy” and “golddigger” strangely absent. But the fact her father once paid a hitman to kill his own daughter’s horse is plenty weird…
  • Even with a Republican House, spending cuts are still a tough sell. But not as tough as they once were. Baby steps…
  • But high ranking Republicans are still addicted to earmarks.
  • Boehner growing a spine?
  • Holly Hunter has more on Lee Ann Seitsinger’s endorsement of a Democrat.
  • A look at the Senate District 5 race. I supported Ben Bius the last time around, mainly because I thought Steve Ogden had been in the office too long, was dismissive of constituent concerns and insufficiently conservative. This time around, I’m a lot more comfortable with Charles Schwertner’s conservative bonafides than I was with Ogden’s. Schwertner will probably win the race running away.
  • The astrotruf campaign for UT President Bill Powers.
  • The Wisconsin recall effort may be backfiring.
  • Today’s amusing Twitter tag roundup: #Fauxcahontas, #LowerUnderObama”, and #ObamainHistory.

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    Posted in Austin, Border Control, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »

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