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The answer: not very.  But first, you’ll learn that the conservative Texas Board of Education, because of their text book buying power, has the ability to manipulate educational interests for the rest of the country.  And so, because they want American history to be reshaped as a Christian history, it means in no uncertain terms, that your child will be forced to learn this perspective as well.

As a one of the few flaming liberals in America who thinks the second amendment is both important and necessary (aside from hunting and defending property, I’ll vociferously make the argument that if the state can defend their interests with an armed militia or police force, then citizens also have the same right), even without the intention to ever own or shoot a firearm, I’m still scratching my head over the recent developments in Texas regarding stimulous money.

“El Paso City Council did the right thing Tuesday when it approved spending $773,000 in federal stimulus money to buy 1,145 M-4 rifles,” opined the El Paso Times editorial board this week. “Police have to be ready for anything these days, from a Columbine-like school shooting to a terrorist attack.”

And, “Texas won’t compete for up to $700 million in federal stimulus money for education because the program ’smacks of a federal takeover of our public schools,’ Republican Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday.”

Firearms are important, but never at the expense of, you know, educating your citizens.  Stupid, just stupid.  [via]

Laredo, Texas, becomes the largest US city where residents must travel someplace else or turn to Amazon/internet to buy books.

Sad. 250,000 people without a bookstore.

In their zeal to ban gay marriage back in 2005, the state of Texas also included this language into their state Amendment: “This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”  Whoops.  Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, is saying that the second section effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas.” To be honest, even if this makes Texas seems kinda stupid for chopping off their arm when they had a blister on their finger, it would be nice if the government, on both a state and federal level, got out of the marriage business.  ”Marriage” is, by it’s very nature, a religious contract, or at least it is in its current form in the United States.

And not just any billboard.  It’s an anti-discrimination billboard! Oh. My. God. How could they?

You know what the best part of this news report is? The ugly lady at the beginning who has no idea she’s the worst kind of hypocrite.  “I cringed,” said Christine Lutz.  “I was disgusted at the same time.  I said how dare you take the scriptures and twist it to fit your needs.”  Which is probably what she does, I’m only assuming, when she yammers on and on about no abortion, no gay marriage, etc.

I could say some other stuff, but I’ll save that for when I’m drunk and at a bar.  [via]

“William Castleman captured this amazing time-lapse of the starry night sky at a Texas Star Party on April 21-22, 2009 (9:20PM to 6:43AM). Using a 15mm fisheye, he captured many images of the sky at 20 second exposures every single minute and then put them together in this video which shows the images at 15 frames per second. You can clearly see the Milky Way in all of its splendor. Wow. Just WOW!”

[via Dooby Brain]

Director Richard Linklater has been kicking around a sorta sequel to the cult classic Dazed and Confused for at least two years now.  During a recent screening of Dazed and Confused in Austin, Linklater talked afterward at the Q&A about his next project, a “sort of spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused.

And that’s the rub.  The spiritual sequel will be set in 1980 following a group of Freshman’s first weekend at the University of Texas.

According to CHUD, Linklater said that he will be shooting around Austin, Texas this upcoming summer, and that it will be about the first weekend of college in 1980. Thematically it’ll bookend Dazed, but it won’t have any of the same characters.  MORE »