Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 22, 2013 Page: 8 of 23
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8A • Thursday, August 22, 2013 • Hondo Anvil Herald
Now that weVe irritated Egypt,
lets hope for the best
Abbott explains opposition
to proposed merger
Where the Middle East
is concerned, Egypt is the
most important country,
with more population and
the Suez Canal under their
control. That is why we
try to keep on good terms
with them, and make sure
they do the same with us.
They had a peace treaty
with Israel, one of the few
in that part of the world that ever did. President
Obama backed the overthrow of their govern-
ment which had kept things under control for
forty years, and it was succeeded by our choice,
the Islamic Brotherhood. They ran things there
for about a year and managed to lose favor
with a majority, and the Egyptian Army took
over. The Islamic Brotherhood has since been
burning Christian churches and killing Coptic
Christians, while the Army has installed a new
government, and released from prison the man
we wanted to overthrow.
Right now it appears that we need to quit
meddling, and hope that we can regain friends
among the Egyptian Army. We might have a
chance, since many of their leaders have been
trained at our War College, and we have sup-
plied most of their equipment for many years.
Let us hope that we have not merely managed
to make both sides mad at us.
This nation has cut a few budget items re-
cently, and called it sequestering. No longer
can school children or adults tour the White
House, all so we can save a few dollars on tour
guide salaries. We have enough money to send
a special helicopter from Washington to Mas-
sachusetts for the White House pet dog, who
was forgotten when his owners flew in Air Force
One along with an entourage of planes to carry
limousines and White House staffers.
Democrats and Republicans say we are too
broke to give any extra help to our seniors, vet-
erans, orphans, homeless and others in die USA,
but over the last several years we have provided
cash aid to Hamas (Palestinian terrorists), Libya,
Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, Su-
dan, Nigeria, Uganda, Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan,
South Africa, Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia,
Kazakhstan, Iraq and Tan-
zania, all in the amount of
billions of dollars. Most of
them still hate us.
Retired seniors in the
US get few breaks, while
both the government and
religious organizations
pour hundreds of billions
in dollars and tons of food
around the world.
Perhaps we should look for the homeless,
hungry children, elderly needing medicine and
mentally ill roaming on the streets and see what
we can do for our own.
An article tided “Food For Thought” by Junius
R Long appeared in a Texas newspaper on our
exchange list. He impressed me, and maybe
you’ll agree:
“If you can get arrested for hunting or fish-
ing without a license, but not for being in the
country illegally... you might live in a country
run by idiots.
“If you have to have your parents permission
to go on a field trip or to take an aspirin in
school, but not to get an abortion-you might
live in a country run by idiots.
“If you have to show identification to board
an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check
out a library book, but not to vote for who runs
the government—you might live in a country
run by idiots.
“If in New York you can buy two 16-ounce
sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24
ounces of sugary drink might make you fat...
you might live in a country run by idiots.
“If an 80-year-old woman can be strip-
searched in the airport, but a woman wearing
a hijab is only subject to having her head and
neck searched... you might live in a country run
by idiots.
“If children are forcibly removed from parents
who discipline them with a spanking, while
children of addicts are left in filth and drug-
infested homes... you might live in a country
run by idiots.
“If you are offended by this article, I’ll bet
you voted for the idiots who are running and
ruining our great country.”
Forge thy tongue on an anvil of
truth, and what flies up, though it
be but a spark, shall have weight.
- Pindar
By Bill Berger
Decision could be big blow
to state's FM roads
Farm-to-Market roads and
Ranch-to-Market roads could
become endangered in Texas if
a plan snowballs to convert ex-
isting paved roadways to gravel
in six Texas counties.
The problem is a limited
amount of road repair funds
and a sharp increase in heavy
traffic from the oil and gas
booms. The conversions will
presently affect roads in four
South Texas counties (Live
Oak, Dimmit, LaSalle and Za-
vala) and two West Texas coun-
ties (Reeves and Culberson).
The Texas Department
of Transportation (TxDOT)
maintains paving roads is too
expensive and there are not
enough highway funds to re-
pave them all. “Our only other
option to make them safer is to
turn them into gravel roads,”
a TxDOT spokesman said in a
Texas Tribune article.
TX Agriculture
Talks
By Mike Barnett
Texas Farm Bureau,
Publications Director
Texas Farm Bureau dis-
agrees.
TFB President Kenneth Dier-
schke says the 83rd Legislature
passed much-needed legisla-
tion to provide voters an alter-
native to increased transporta-
tion funding via constitutional
amendment next year.
There is also $450 million al-
located for counties to access
money for oil- and gas-related
traffic damages via Energy
Transportation Reinvestment
Zones.
Texas has one of the best net-
works of roads in the nation.
The Farm-to-Market system
was established in 1949 (Texas
Farm Bureau was instrumental
in its passage) and farmers and
ranchers depend on this system
of secondary and connecting
roads to get their crops and live-
stock to market. They also de-
pend on the roads to move ser-
vices to and from rural towns.
Converting the FM roads in
these six counties from paved to
gravel sets an unsettling prece-
dent and the rest could become
easy pickings as the state con-
tinually scrambles for money.
FM roads are vital to rural
communities and agriculture.
That’s why Texas Farm Bureau
has asked Governor Perry to
advise the Texas Transportation
Commission to cancel plans for
road conversion.
Texas cannot afford to let its ru-
ral roads turn into mud and dust.
Stay tuned.
Attorneys general of Texas,
Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Vir-
ginia, Pennsylvania and the Dis-
trict of Columbia joined in the
U.S. Justice Department’s Aug.
13 anti-trust lawsuit intended
to block the merger of Fort
Worth-headquartered Ameri-
can Airlines and Tempe, Ariz.,
headquartered US Airways.
Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott, in an Aug. 16 opinion
piece first published by the Dal-
las MorningNews, explained why
he opposes the merger of the two
carriers. Here’s an excerpt:
“Why in the world would Tex-
as file a legal action challenging
the merger of AmericanAirlines
with US Airways?” Abbott asked
in his opinion piece. He an-
swered his own question this
way: “We believe that actions
by the airlines and their officials
violate antitrust laws. In fact, the
legal violations appear so overt
that it would offend my oath of
office not to take action.
“The legal action is based
on evidence such as internal
emails, investor presentations
and other comments by top
executives of the airlines. Those
documents reveal their think-
ing about how shrinking com-
petition in the airline industry
—and, hence the merger—will
allow the airlines to pile even
more bag fees, ticket change
fees and increased fares on
customers. American and US
Airways compete directly on
thousands of heavily traveled
routes. The merger would allow
the new company to shed that
competition and distort the
marketplace — while harm-
ing competition for nearly 200
Texas routes.”
AmericanAirlines, in an Aug.
13 statement, announced plans
“to mount a vigorous and strong
defense to the U.S. Department
State Capital
Highlights
Compiled by Ed Sterling
Texas Press Association
of Justice’s effort to block their
proposed merger.”
“We believe that the Depart-
ment of Justice is wrong in its
assessment of our merger. In-
tegrating the complementary
networks of American and US
Airways to benefit passengers
is the motivation for bringing
these airlines together. Blocking
this pro-competitive merger
will deny customers access
to a broader airline network
that gives them more choices,”
AmericanAirlines stated.
Combs files lizard motion
Comptroller Susan Combs
last week announced she filed
a motion to intervene in an
endangered species lawsuit
brought by environmental
groups against the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
The lawsuit by Defenders
of Wildlife and the Center for
Biological Diversity asks Fish &
Wildlife to reconsider its June
2012 decision not to list the
dunes sagebrush lizard as an
endangered species.
In an Aug. 16 agency news
release, Combs said the lawsuit
“could have damaging effects on
private property owners, oil and
gas producers and agriculture
producers, as well as the broader
state economy” and that her mo-
tion, if accepted, would “ensure
that no ruling is made without
input from those who would
be directly affected by a dunes
sagebrush lizard listing under
the Endangered Species Act.”
The lizard’s range includes
parts of the Permian Basin,
a region that accounts for 57
percent of Texas’ total crude
oil production and supports
47,000 oil and gas-related jobs,
according to the Texas Railroad
Commission.
Fish & Wildlife, in a June 13
statement, said, “After a careful
analysis of the scientific data
and the protections provided
by the voluntary conservation
efforts, Service biologists deter-
mined the lizard is no longer in
danger of extinction, nor likely
to become endangered in the
foreseeable future.”
Feral hog grants awarded
Agriculture Commissioner
Todd Staples on Aug. 15 an-
nounced the award of two feral
hog abatement grants totaling
$55,000 to certain Texas coun-
ties in an effort to enhance state-
wide feral hog abatement.
Bell County, in partnership
with Coryell, Falls, Hamilton and
Milam counties, was awarded
$25,000 to support abatement ef-
forts and $30,000 was awarded to
a partnership between Caldwell
and Hays counties, the agricul-
ture department reported.
“The feral hog population has
exploded in the last 20 years,
costingTexans untold millions of
dollars,” Staples said. According
to the agency, Texas is home to
the largest feral hog population
in the United States with nearly
2.6 million of the wild pigs. These
voracious, intelligent, wide-
ranging mammals cause about
$500 million in damage in rural
and urban Texas each year, the
agency estimated.
New laws to take effect
Some 659 pieces of legislation
passed in the 140-day regular
session of the 83rd Texas Leg-
islature, Jan. 8 through May 27,
2013, will take effect as new laws
in a few days, on Sept. 1.
Recycled news from 50 years ago
T-33 pilots from Randolph AFB will practice takeoffs and landings at the Hondo Air Base.
Nine men will man the crash team, and repairs have been made to the strip which they will
use.
Harold Herring was appointed as a judge for the City of Hondo by Mayor A1 Schiffers.
Clarence Heinlein will undergo nine weeks of training at the Great Lakes Naval Training
Center near Chicago.
Fort Hood victims, family
deserve first consideration
As the trial of Maj. Nidal
Hasan draws the eyes of the
nation, let us direct that atten-
tion to those who deserve it:
the victims and their families.
The strength and resilience
of the Fort Hood community
is legendary. No U.S. military
installation has deployed more
troops into overseas theaters
of combat since Sept. 11,2001,
than Fort Hood, and none
have endured more combat
casualties in both Operation
Enduring Freedom and Opera-
tion Iraqi Freedom.
Twelve soldiers and one ci-
vilian were killed at Fort Hood
on that November day in 2009.
Over 30 were injured.
Among the dead were Mi-
chael Cahill, a 62-year-old
civilian physician assistant,
and Capt. John Gaffaney, 56,
who were shot down as they
charged the shooter. Their
bravery and their heroism
saved lives.
Also among the dead was
Francheska Velez, a 21-year-
old private first class who
served honorably in Iraq. She
was six weeks pregnant.
These men and women
came from all walks of life and
every corner of the nation, but
they were bound together by
a love of country and a desire
to serve.
As a country, we must ensure
that the dead, the wounded,
and the families of the vic-
tims receive the full honors
and benefits bestowed upon
soldiers who are wounded
or killed in overseas combat
zones and their families.
Unfortunately, we have
not yet lived up to that com-
mitment. To date, no Purple
Hearts or the civilian counter-
part, the Medal for the Defense
of Freedom, have been award-
ed to the victims. Many of the
benefits associated with serv-
ing in overseas combat zones
have been similarly withheld.
Benefits like hostile fire pay
and special compensation for
combat-related disabilities.
And families of victims are
being denied the additional
life insurance benefits and
associated tax relief that they
are due.
This is wrong, and it requires
our immediate attention. To
that end, I am currently draft-
ing legislation that would
make the Fort Hood victims
and their families eligible for
all the honors and benefits
available to their comrades
serving in overseas combat
zones.
This is not completely with-
out precedent. After the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks, the De-
partment of Defense awarded
the Purple Heart to victims in
uniform and the Medal for the
Defense of Freedom to their
civilian colleagues. The Fort
Hood victims deserve equal
treatment.
Looking forward, I am opti-
mistic that my legislation will
garner broad, bipartisan sup-
port and be adopted in the up-
coming defense authorization
bill. There is nothing remotely
political about this issue. It’s
about honoring the victims
and providing assistance to
them and their loved ones.
We are a nation at war, and
the location in which our men
and women in uniform come
under hostile fire should not
unduly prejudice them and
their families from receiving
the full honors, recognition
and benefits associated with
their courageous service.
As a country, we have a sa-
cred obligation to take care of
those among us who are will-
ing to put themselves in harm’s
way so that the rest of us can
live free and peaceful lives. We
must not let them down.
Senator Cornyn serves on the
Finance and Judiciary Committees.
He serves as the top Republican on
the Judiciary Committee’s Immigra-
tion, Refugees and Border Security
subcommittee.
This opinion piece appeared in
the Aug. 18 Killeen Daily Herald.
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 22, 2013, newspaper, August 22, 2013; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth740961/m1/8/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hondo Public Library.