As part of our mission here at the Progress to provide something more useful than, say, a broken screwdriver, or Rick Perry, I've added a couple of MAPS of our fair county, linked in the right-hand sidebar under "Useful Maps and Info". Note that the voting precincts are subdivisions of the commish precincts; thus each voting precinct number begins with a 1, 2, 3 or 4 to denote the corresponding commish precinct. Basically, pct 1 is the Bastrop area, Pct 2 is Smithville and the rural eastern parts of the county, Pct 3 is Cedar Creek and the TX 71 corridor to Austin, and Pct 4 is the Elgin area.
Know your precinct!! New demographic and census data will be added as a soon as I get it and can hammer it into something understandable...
Happy weekend to all and enjoy the cool front...all our football teams are on the road tonight - Bastrop puts their 5-0 record on the line in Westlake (and since it's Westlake, you can hear it on the radio at 1300 AM. Woo woo woo...). The Wildcats of Sausagetown (1-4) try to get untracked down at Hays, and the Mighty Smithville Tigers (4-1)look to continue a potential storybook season downstream in Columbus...
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Primarily Speaking
And wouldn't y'know it - a few people actually showed up for this dog-and-pony gig, including some current office-holders seeking re-election in 2010. Chris and I were both less-than polished, but I think we managed to communicate some helpful information and suggestions.
During my stand-up, it was necessary for me to differentiate between our role in the primary process vs. that in the November election. To wit: the Party itself does not endorse, or work on behalf of , any candidates in the primary, though individuals may; the Party does not 'decide' who can or will run for a particular office, and it is not our place to prevent or actively discourage people from running - even against Democratic incumbents. Once the primary is over and we have a Democratic ticket, our duty is to do what we can to support our whole slate of candidates in the general election. I also briefly outlined the concept of a Coordinated Campaign (thank you Shelly @ TDP!) for the general election and how it could benefit candidates who might choose to participate. More on that later...
County Chair Barbara Nichols also made it known that there were GOP incumbents in our county and districts who did not yet have Democratic challengers, and encouraged others to run for office if they believe they have what it takes. We directed them to online TDP resources and made it clear that our door is open and we are willing to assist any serious candidate in getting started with paperwork, info, and generally navigating the process. As we should, of course.
Pretty dry academic stuff, all in all, but of course SOMEONE had to get their Fruit of the Looms all wadded up over this. Right? Right...
Monday, September 28, 2009
High School Football Update
Feast and famine out in the BC this season.
Elgin wandered down to Giddings Friday night, looking to get off the schneid after a two straight losses (one a rather ugly affair up the tollway against Hendrickson). But they picked a bad week - Wildcats were bruised, half the team and coaching staff were sick, and the 4th-ranked (3A) Buffs had a week off to prep for this revenge game. They ran the 'Cats outta town with 26-3 beating. Elgin (1-4) now gets a badly-needed week off to recuperate and try to turn their season around when district play starts Oct. 9 at Hays.
Meanwhile Bastrop (4-0!) bounces from one triumph to the next. Da Bears cranked up some offense last week and laid down a whuppin' of last years' 25-5A champ Pflugerville, putting up 46 points against the team everyone thought would be Westlake's only real competition this year.
Yes, Bastrop. I know, my left eyebrow is still cocked too. Apparently the Bears new stadium out on TX 21 has been tetched by either Jehovah, the Dalai Lama, or a secret colony of 7-eyed aliens hiding in the woods north of Cedar Creek - this was the first offensive play on the new field on Sept. 20.
Freaky deaky eh? Go Bears. Hell, even i'll root for Bastrop if they're playing Westlake (Oct. 9; Connolly next week).
The Mighty Tigers of Smithville kept their streak alive with a bye week!
And by squeaking out a down-to-the-wire road win over Hallettsville, 25-24, back on Sept 18. If you're looking for a gutty underdog to pull for this year, Smithville just may fit the bill. The 3-1 Tigers, at home against Yoakum this week before starting district play at Columbus on Oct. 9, will have to move mountains (or lots of round bales at least) to make the playoffs this year. Three of their five district opponents - Giddings, Sealy, and LaGrange - are ranked among the top 30 in the state; they get LaGrange and Giddings at home...
Elgin wandered down to Giddings Friday night, looking to get off the schneid after a two straight losses (one a rather ugly affair up the tollway against Hendrickson). But they picked a bad week - Wildcats were bruised, half the team and coaching staff were sick, and the 4th-ranked (3A) Buffs had a week off to prep for this revenge game. They ran the 'Cats outta town with 26-3 beating. Elgin (1-4) now gets a badly-needed week off to recuperate and try to turn their season around when district play starts Oct. 9 at Hays.
Meanwhile Bastrop (4-0!) bounces from one triumph to the next. Da Bears cranked up some offense last week and laid down a whuppin' of last years' 25-5A champ Pflugerville, putting up 46 points against the team everyone thought would be Westlake's only real competition this year.
Yes, Bastrop. I know, my left eyebrow is still cocked too. Apparently the Bears new stadium out on TX 21 has been tetched by either Jehovah, the Dalai Lama, or a secret colony of 7-eyed aliens hiding in the woods north of Cedar Creek - this was the first offensive play on the new field on Sept. 20.
Freaky deaky eh? Go Bears. Hell, even i'll root for Bastrop if they're playing Westlake (Oct. 9; Connolly next week).
The Mighty Tigers of Smithville kept their streak alive with a bye week!
And by squeaking out a down-to-the-wire road win over Hallettsville, 25-24, back on Sept 18. If you're looking for a gutty underdog to pull for this year, Smithville just may fit the bill. The 3-1 Tigers, at home against Yoakum this week before starting district play at Columbus on Oct. 9, will have to move mountains (or lots of round bales at least) to make the playoffs this year. Three of their five district opponents - Giddings, Sealy, and LaGrange - are ranked among the top 30 in the state; they get LaGrange and Giddings at home...
Friday, September 18, 2009
Catching Up, Striking Down, and Piping it Out
OK, perhaps "Progress" was a poor choice, considering how little I've made lately - at least on this little start-up. I'd say sue me, but we've had something called 'tort reform' in Texas lo these last 4 years, so it wouldn't really be worth your trouble, and you can't squeeze blood from a rock anyways.
But things have been a-happenin', that's for sure. When you head off to the hills of northwest Arkansas in August, all manner of strange things can go down. For instance, Rick Perry went to talk to Hispanic business leaders, began making oddly excited hand gestures, and called his once-beloved border wall idea "nonsense" - then sent in the Texas Rangers to lock things down, just in case the faithful got the wrong idea. Joke's on him, since the Rangers just dropped three straight to the A's and played themselves out of playoff contention.
Meanwhile, a no-bullshit Democrat with a pulse named Hank Gilbert threw his cowboy hat in the ring for Governor and started firing some real shots at Rick and Senator Sparkle Pony. Some of you may recall Hank ran for Agriculture Commissioner back in 2006 against generic Republican Todd Staples, and managed to out-poll every other Democratic executive candidate by 4 points statewide (nearly 42%), despite being outspent 6-1 by his opponent and unsupported by his own state party.
Since then he's been leading the rural rebellion against the Trans-Texas Corridor and the toll road lobby catered to by Perry and deposed House Speaker Tom Craddick (among others). I like what Hank is putting down so far, so I gave him a few bucks - ya'll should do the same and spread the word, if for no other reason than to send a message to the Tom Schieffers of the world that we're not just gonna roll over for some non-threatening rich boys so they can go joy-riding in the Democratic brand and wrap it around a telephone pole like they did back in 2002.
As for our fair county, we finally got the gift we'd been waiting months for: RAIN. Real rain. Three solid days of it came last week, conveniently enough just after most of the hay harvest, or what their was of it. Local farmers and ranchers did not appreciate Mother Nature's cruel sense of humor. After being one of the driest counties in Texas for the last year and a half, we even got wet enough to get the burn ban lifted, and brush pile cookouts started up from Shady Grove down to Rosanky. Small comfort, since we're still well below our yearly average, and the damage has been done. Estimates of dry-land crop losses this season are running as high as 80%, and the Governor's disaster declaration should have been made months before it was. County Judge McDonald declared a local disaster and requested assistance from the state back in February. The Goodhaired Guv pled poverty and half-heartedly punted to the Feds, then finally declared a state of emergency for Bastrop (and 166 other counties) in late July. Declaring a crisis but not actually taking steps to fund recovery - how's that for leadership and looking out for your constituents? Perhaps that's why he only pulled 30% and finished behind Chris Bell in Bastrop County in 2006.
But things have been a-happenin', that's for sure. When you head off to the hills of northwest Arkansas in August, all manner of strange things can go down. For instance, Rick Perry went to talk to Hispanic business leaders, began making oddly excited hand gestures, and called his once-beloved border wall idea "nonsense" - then sent in the Texas Rangers to lock things down, just in case the faithful got the wrong idea. Joke's on him, since the Rangers just dropped three straight to the A's and played themselves out of playoff contention.
Meanwhile, a no-bullshit Democrat with a pulse named Hank Gilbert threw his cowboy hat in the ring for Governor and started firing some real shots at Rick and Senator Sparkle Pony. Some of you may recall Hank ran for Agriculture Commissioner back in 2006 against generic Republican Todd Staples, and managed to out-poll every other Democratic executive candidate by 4 points statewide (nearly 42%), despite being outspent 6-1 by his opponent and unsupported by his own state party.
Since then he's been leading the rural rebellion against the Trans-Texas Corridor and the toll road lobby catered to by Perry and deposed House Speaker Tom Craddick (among others). I like what Hank is putting down so far, so I gave him a few bucks - ya'll should do the same and spread the word, if for no other reason than to send a message to the Tom Schieffers of the world that we're not just gonna roll over for some non-threatening rich boys so they can go joy-riding in the Democratic brand and wrap it around a telephone pole like they did back in 2002.
As for our fair county, we finally got the gift we'd been waiting months for: RAIN. Real rain. Three solid days of it came last week, conveniently enough just after most of the hay harvest, or what their was of it. Local farmers and ranchers did not appreciate Mother Nature's cruel sense of humor. After being one of the driest counties in Texas for the last year and a half, we even got wet enough to get the burn ban lifted, and brush pile cookouts started up from Shady Grove down to Rosanky. Small comfort, since we're still well below our yearly average, and the damage has been done. Estimates of dry-land crop losses this season are running as high as 80%, and the Governor's disaster declaration should have been made months before it was. County Judge McDonald declared a local disaster and requested assistance from the state back in February. The Goodhaired Guv pled poverty and half-heartedly punted to the Feds, then finally declared a state of emergency for Bastrop (and 166 other counties) in late July. Declaring a crisis but not actually taking steps to fund recovery - how's that for leadership and looking out for your constituents? Perhaps that's why he only pulled 30% and finished behind Chris Bell in Bastrop County in 2006.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Bastrop Dems foil wingnut hijacking
Suh-prize, suh-prize suh-prize. Sorry, goofballs - not in our backyard.
Many of you may have heard about Congressman Lloyd Doggett being ambushed by a mob at Randall's in South Austin this past Saturday, as he tried to hold his traditional "office hours" at the shopping centers where his constituents go.
The full force of the anti-health care reform "movement" was brought to bear on Lloyd as he tried to answer absurd questions and get a word in edgewise while a cabal of teabaggers shouted at him, waved outrageous signs (including a tombstone with "Doggett" written on it) and eventually forced him and his staff to leave (as they pounded on the cars of Lloyd and his staff). They prevented a congressman from communicating with constituents.
Which is what those tools wanted in the first place. The mobs disrupting town halls this week are part of a carefully orchestrated and financed nationwide PR campaign being waged by big insurance and other corporate lobbies, astroturf groups like Americans for Prosperity, and of course, the infamous Ralph Reed and his PR firm Century Strategies, along with Creative Response Concepts - who handled the media game for the Swift Boat Vets.
Yes, the same crowd. Now they are feeding and leveraging the ignorance of their useful idiots to wage holy war on behalf of their corporate clients against health care reform. These groups and firms are stoking and advising loose-meat online gangs of birthers, tin-foil 'libertarians' and other deluded paranoiacs and sending them out to ambush and harass Democratic Reps and Senators at their various constituent meetings over the August recess. They are instructed to disrupt, shout down and shut down any real dialogue on health care reform (or any other issue, for that matter). The idea, of course, is to keep those who favor reform from making their case to the people, and to create the appearance of mass opposition to health care reform ("Obamacare means euthanasia for old people"), when in fact no such mass opposition exists.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
What's All This Then?
Maybe a waste of time, or yet another way to spread myself too thin. Hopefully, this will become a a place to learn and share news of politics and progress in Bastrop County - from Elgin to Smithville to the county seat, and all the hamlets, subdivisions and various other wide spots on the roads out here.
It's clear that what media is available in this county has abdicated any and all responsibility to adequately inform our citizens and and promote healthy debate - and we'll get around to that very soon. It's particularly clear that Democrats and other good people of common sense in BC need a resource for information and perspectives on how to make our local government and officials more responsive, effective, and progressive.
Too much ground has been conceded to the forces of greed, ignorance and know-nothing fanaticism. Strong public schools, unspoiled public lands, a healthy small business community, family farms and ranches - these were the legacy of parents and grandparents who conquered a Great Depression and made the world safe for democracy. The current Republican power cabal in Texas has laid waste to that legacy and endangered our children's future. While they haven't quite managed to completely infect Bastrop County yet, rest assured they're working on it, determined to sell us all off to the mercy of big-box corporations, water wholesalers and land-grubbing developers. But decent folks still have room to maneuver and push them back.
There is a coalition here, big enough to turn it all around and headed back in the right direction. But it needs to come together in common purpose - willing to play smarter, pool resources and ideas, be ready to fight when necessary and stand against foolishness from all corners. If this blog will help expedite that formation and feed the need for good sense and decency in our blessed little county, I'll consider it worth the trouble and a rousing success.
And of course, we can always poke fun at people who deserve it, and irritate those without a sense of humor. I'll try to get around to all of it, but I am only one man - and a busy one at that.
More posting will follow, in rather haphazard fashion I'm sure, in the weeks to come. I'll also be recruiting others to contribute to it.
Topics for posts in the works:
Whither Tim Kleinschmidt?
Tracking local races - the 2010 Primaries
Down and Drought - What's up with the Water?
Bastrop Growth Patterns and Demographics
...and maybe a high school football preview or two. Friendly bets will be made, gauntlets thrown down. Don't be shy - Please kick in yer two cents if you see fit. Comment or send an email -
Robert Cyrus Ryland
Elgin, TX
It's clear that what media is available in this county has abdicated any and all responsibility to adequately inform our citizens and and promote healthy debate - and we'll get around to that very soon. It's particularly clear that Democrats and other good people of common sense in BC need a resource for information and perspectives on how to make our local government and officials more responsive, effective, and progressive.
Too much ground has been conceded to the forces of greed, ignorance and know-nothing fanaticism. Strong public schools, unspoiled public lands, a healthy small business community, family farms and ranches - these were the legacy of parents and grandparents who conquered a Great Depression and made the world safe for democracy. The current Republican power cabal in Texas has laid waste to that legacy and endangered our children's future. While they haven't quite managed to completely infect Bastrop County yet, rest assured they're working on it, determined to sell us all off to the mercy of big-box corporations, water wholesalers and land-grubbing developers. But decent folks still have room to maneuver and push them back.
There is a coalition here, big enough to turn it all around and headed back in the right direction. But it needs to come together in common purpose - willing to play smarter, pool resources and ideas, be ready to fight when necessary and stand against foolishness from all corners. If this blog will help expedite that formation and feed the need for good sense and decency in our blessed little county, I'll consider it worth the trouble and a rousing success.
And of course, we can always poke fun at people who deserve it, and irritate those without a sense of humor. I'll try to get around to all of it, but I am only one man - and a busy one at that.
More posting will follow, in rather haphazard fashion I'm sure, in the weeks to come. I'll also be recruiting others to contribute to it.
Topics for posts in the works:
Whither Tim Kleinschmidt?
Tracking local races - the 2010 Primaries
Down and Drought - What's up with the Water?
Bastrop Growth Patterns and Demographics
...and maybe a high school football preview or two. Friendly bets will be made, gauntlets thrown down. Don't be shy - Please kick in yer two cents if you see fit. Comment or send an email -
Robert Cyrus Ryland
Elgin, TX
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