Saturday, July 20, 2013

Rick Perry?s Texas Legacy is Secure


Written By : Matt Mackowiak
July 20, 2013

July 8, 2013 marked the beginning of the end of the Rick Perry era in Texas.

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Middle school children have never known another Texas governor in their lifetime.

Matt Mackowiak1

Anyone in office 14 years will have good and bad in their record. Unquestionably, Gov. Perry is viewed in partisan terms in Texas. From my perspective, his legacy is bifurcated.

The Texas legacy is basically two things: longevity and the strong economy. The rest is short term white noise that will be mostly forgotten.

Let?s take these two issues separately:

First, Perry?s longevity is staggering, and it?s a testament to his stamina, focus, drive and desire to serve the public. He could have left the Governor?s Mansion in 2006 or 2010 and cashed in with speaking gigs and corporate boards earning millions. He didn?t do that. He chose to continue, longer than any governor in our history, because he thought Texas was worth it and the job wasn?t done. I do not believe his record of 14 years as governor will ever be broken ? certainly not in my lifetime.

Second, the Texas economy is the envy of the nation. It?s that simple. We are blessed to have inherited advantages, like rich natural resources, but our state continues to succeed because we choose to be an attractive climate for businesses to move here and for innovators to start businesses. Texas sells itself, and under Perry, not only have we not messed that up, we?ve improved it.

Challenges remain: an unacceptable high school dropout rate, a high uninsured rate, and significant infrastructure challenges. Some of this comes from illegal immigration due to our lengthy our border with Mexico, but our explosive growth rate also means government can be slow to react.

That said, the Texas legacy is solid.

The national legacy, as of now, has undoubtedly damaged Perry, given the way his campaign unraveled and the underperforming nature of it. He got in too late, back surgery impacted him, and ?Oops? happened. That history cannot be changed.

But should he run for president in 2016, he has an opportunity to change the perception. He can now ramp up toward running, prepare, travel the world, travel the country, think deeply about what policies the country needs and how he could put the Texas model to work for America.

For me personally, I have evolved on Perry quite a bit. I was initially agnostic, then quite critical while working for then-U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, later a supporter of his presidential campaign and now an admirer.

What changed for me was seeing the goodness in Rick Perry that I had not known before.

Perry has an intensely loyal band of former and current aides, a sign that he is a good boss and unfailingly loyal to his team. This is not always true in politics, and it speaks volumes about his character.

During the unpleasant presidential campaign in 2011-2012, Gov. Perry had any number of opportunities to lash out amid what must have been a somewhat miserable experience. He didn?t.

I attended four televised primary debates, many fundraisers and several major speeches. I was present both when he announced in Charleston and when he ended his campaign just before the South Carolina primary. I saw a lot of it up close.

What really impacted me were two things I personally witnessed in 2012 in Iowa.

The night before the Iowa caucuses, the Perry campaign held their final rally in tiny Perry, Iowa. For Perry, it must have felt like he was at his own funeral. The place was stacked with so many friends and supporters. The governors of Kansas and Louisiana were there, along with dozens of former staffers and most of the campaign team. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was there to demonstrate his loyalty and support. It was an impressive showing of people who stood by him.

The morning of the Iowa caucuses, Perry and Texas first lady Anita Perry held an early-morning thank-you reception with all of the supporters who had traveled to Iowa to help them campaign. It was heartfelt. They must have been tired and anxious. They didn?t have to be there. But it meant a great deal to all of us who traveled there at our own expense and made thousands of calls for them.

There are reasonable criticisms of Rick Perry. But he deserves credit for a lifetime of public service, a booming Texas economy, and for the goodness in him that some of us have had the fortune to know.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rightwingnews/hGmL/~3/NkGLaqvqqu4/

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Obama says 'Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago'

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday jumped into the debate over the acquittal of the man who killed black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, declaring that Martin "could have been me, 35 years ago," and urging Americans to understand the pain that African-Americans feel over the case.

Obama came into the White House press briefing room to offer his thoughts on the case involving George Zimmerman, the Florida man who was found not guilty of murder on Saturday after shooting 17-year-old Martin during a struggle.

The Zimmerman case has brought matters of race into the American conversation once again, between those who feel Zimmerman was acting in self defense and others who believe there was no need for him to shoot the unarmed teenager.

Without saying so specifically, Obama clearly sided with the argument that the shooting need not have happened, expressing sympathy to the Martin family and praising family members for the "incredible grace and dignity with which they've dealt with the entire situation."

He said the case was properly handled in the Florida court and the fact that the jury found reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case against Zimmerman was relevant. And yet, he added, it is important that Americans understand the context from the black perspective.

"You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago," he said somberly.

Obama, 51, recalled his own encounters with racism as a way of explaining the pain that the black community has expressed over the case.

"There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me," he said.

He said he has heard the clicks of car doors locking when he walked across the street in his younger days.

"There are very few African-Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often," he said.

While he said he believes younger generations have fewer issues with racism, Americans need to do some "soul searching" on whether they harbor prejudice.

They should consider, "Am I judging people as much as I can based on not the color of their skin, but the content of their character?" he said.

Noting racial disparities in the application of U.S. criminal laws on everything from the death penalty to enforcement of drug laws, Obama had a number of recommendations.

He urged the Justice Department work with local governments about state and local training to reduce mistrust in the system and that states should examine laws to see if they are designed in such a way that may encourage altercations.

Obama specifically mentioned Florida's "stand your ground" law that was central to Zimmerman's argument that he acted in self defense and shot Martin during their altercation. The law was not cited as part of Zimmerman's defense but one juror cited it in acquitting him.

"I just ask people to consider, if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws," said Obama.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-trayvon-martin-could-35-years-ago-180325774.html

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Daniel Cormier and Roy Nelson show signed ?fight contract? for UFC 166 bout

Daniel Cormier beat Frank Mir in April. Since then, he's been pushing for a new fight, and wants Roy Nelson. The two had a war of words after Nelson called Cormier an "Uncle Tom," and they both have been pushing for a fight.

The only problem? Nelson's loss to Stipe Miocic was the last bout on his UFC contract. He has reportedly been negotiating for a new contract, but hasn't yet signed on the dotted line.

Cormier wants to fight Nelson at UFC 166, where his teammate Cain Velasquez will fight Junior dos Santos in a title bout. Instead of continuing to wait to for word from Nelson or the UFC, Cormier pulled out a sheet of loose leaf paper and drew up his own contract. He tweeted it to Nelson, who returned it "signed."

If only it were that simple. Hopefully, the UFC and Nelson can come to an agreement on the contract because it could be a fun bout. Nelson had a terrible showing in a decision loss to Miocic. Before that, he had three straight knockout wins. Cormier, a two-time Olympic wrestler, is 12-0. He won the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, and then won his UFC debut with a decision over Mir.

Is this a fight you want to see? Speak up on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/daniel-cormier-roy-nelson-show-signed-fight-contract-201115771.html

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Thank our Military and our Veterans for our Freedom.

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Source: http://militarymom.tumblr.com/post/55844372559

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Cancer centre appoints Aboriginal lead

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Source: http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2013/07/18-aborignal-lead-sudbury.aspx

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Changing View on Viruses: Not So Small After All

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A newly discovered pandoravirus is 1,000 times the size of the flu virus and has nearly 200 times as many genes. And giant viruses turn out to be everywhere.
    


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/science/changing-view-on-viruses-not-so-small-after-all.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Microsoft says they will discuss their indie strat. soon.

Can't wait for this announcement because it's guaranteed to correlate with the Windows 8 app compatibility teasers from the Build Conference.

I can't wait for the Xbox to become the house computer. With Kinect + connected standby, there are many things you could control with your voice without needing any screen output (the television doesn't need to be turned on)

"Xbox, house alarm on"
"Xbox, play workout playlist"
"Xbox, bedroom lights off"
"Xbox, start dishwasher"
"Xbox, wake up the kids"
"Xbox, flush toilet" ;)

Source: http://forums.wpcentral.com/xbox-one/233852-microsoft-says-they-will-discuss-their-indie-strat-soon.html

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