Wildfire relief information

Over the weekend, Governor Perry issued a call for prayer for rain for Texas.  All of Texas is experiencing drought conditions, and many parts of the state have been suffering from wildfires that have resulted from our dry, windy weather.

Here is some information about ways to help your fellow Texans in their time of need.

One community in north Texas has a blog going with updates about the situation at Possum Kingdom Lake. Check that out here.

Country music artist Owen Temple is donating 100% of the profits from the sale of his latest CD to the Jeff Davis County Relief Fund and the State of Texas Agricultural Relief Fund (through May 19). You can pre-order the album and listen to one of the songs at his website.

Palo Pinto County Volunteer Fire Department benefit

Jeff Davis County Relief Fund

CattleWomen Care Texas Wildfire Relief

The American Red Cross of Southwest Texas and Central Texas.

Permian Basin Area Foundation Emergency Relief Fund (donations can be sent to: 200 N. Loraine, Suite 500, Midland, TX 79701)

The State of Texas Agricultural Relief Fund

Marshmellow peeps and Mary Katherine Ham on a Monday

He is risen indeed!

Housekeeping first - I was informed earlier today that it appeared as though Blue Dot Blues had shut down; I assure you this is not the case.  I did have some problems with my Google accounts, however, that might have caused functions over here to go a little wonky.  I apologize for any inconvenience!

Now, for the actual purpose of this post.

Since it is Easter Sunday, I want to proclaim here that I am a Christian.  I believe that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, lived on Earth, was crucified, died, buried, and was resurrected.  I celebrated this fact this morning with my family.  I prayed for you.

I'd like to share something with y'all that resonated with me today:  Eight Reasons Why I Believe That Jesus Rose from the Dead by John Piper.

I hope you all had a restful, rejuvenating Easter weekend.

What I'm reading these days

I don't have a lot of opportunity to write here, as you all well know.  I haven't even checked reader stats since December, as I'm certain this is place is pretty dead.

But I'm just as passionate about the issues as ever, and here are some things I've been reading that may be of interest to you as well.

1 - Heritage Foundation's blog, The Foundry, is a great resource.  I get the "Morning Bell" post in my inbox daily and it keeps me from getting to micro-focused on state issues (and y'all know that happens).

2 - Apparently the Democrats in Texas really do want to lose yet another statewide race because of poor recruiting.  Have you heard about this guy?  And yes, you should be reading Red State.

3 - The guys who did Blogs 4 Palin have started Brazos Valley Pundit, another Texas blog on national politics.  Good stuff.

4 - Y'all know, Williamson County Conservative is one of the best Texas blogs with a focus on local and state issues.  I haven't had a lot of time to do research in the school board races this year, but I trust WilCo Conservative to give solid recommendations.

5 -The Lone Star Report blog is the best place to keep up with the Legislature, aside from following the #txlege hashtag on Twitter.

6 - National Review's Corner.  Really, it is invaluable. And if you're a baseball junkie like me, you should check out the Right Field blog at National Review as well.

Another boondoggle in the works in Austin

Nothing like breaking radio silence for one of the Austin City Council's latest moronic stunts.

I'm going to assume that the city of Austin has some heretofore unrevealed money tree. It is, after all, the only explanation for why we are yet again being subjected to a "study" to determine the citizenry's "interest" in a scheme designed to benefit such a small fraction of the population as to be laughable if it wasn't so sad. You surely heard this morning about the bike-share program? Following the footsteps of other urban meccas, to do this Austin would spend $1.8 million, plus operating costs of about $225,000 per year, for 30 stations and 300 bikes (it could eventually expand to 70 stations and 700 bikes).

I know, I know. You're already wondering some of the same things I did. Where would these stations go, exactly (let me guess - next to the MetroFail station)? Would the program pay for itself - would the contracts for using the bikes pay for the maintenance of the stations and bikes? And which city employees are going to get axed to save this program in years when the budget is tight and spending has to decrease?

Oh, but, we can do this because of federal stimulus dollars! Well, why didn't you say so? Wait, stop right there. Federal stimulus dollars = TAX DOLLARS. You know that check you wrote to Uncle Sam this week? Yeah. And don't go whining that this is money we won't get if we don't spend it on a bike-share program. It would be one-time money that would go to start something, and then the city would be on the hook later. The city, which receives revenue chiefly from sales tax revenue. Which declines in recession economies.

Look, if a private entity wanted to fund this and the city signed off (with no financial liability to taxpayers, you understand), then great. But the city of Austin has no business messing with this. Several area bike shops already rent bikes, in fact, and putting government in direct competition with them is bad news.  Any time government gets involved, the private sector suffers.  

I'd love to hear Austin City Council candidates weigh in on this.