Republican cover-up of Democrat-tracking continues

.....First it was the case of the missing 50 or so Texas Democratic legislators. They fled Austin to thwart a quorum and kill a contorted redistricting plan pushed by Tom DeLay. The search for the democrats involved the Texas Department of Public Safety, but also, somehow, the federal Department of Homeland Security was dragged into it.
.....Democrats in Austin and Washington have demanded an investigation, asking why a federal agency charged with chasing terrorists was chasing down politicians who had committed no crime.
.....At the federal level, Tom Ridge has referred the matter to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. The FAA is also investigating.
.....Now, instead of missing politicians, it's a case of missing evidence. DPS ordered all its records of the manhunt destroyed on May 14. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge declined to release the transcripts of conversations between his department and the Texas DPS. More.

Governor may sign nuke waste bill

.....The Governor's signature is all that is needed to turn West Texas into a national nuclear dumping ground. The state Senate Monday passed a bill to allow a Dallas company Waste Control Specialists to truck radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons facilities from all over the nation.
.....The waste would travel through major Texas cities like Dallas and Houston to be dumped in dirt trenches in Andrews County. The company's owner Harold Simmons reportedly spent more than $1 million in lobby fees and campaign contributions.
.....For now, it would seem to be money well spent. The bill - ironically passed by the House on Earth Day last month - was sponsored by Representatives Buddy West, Warren Chisum and Wayne Christian, all Republicans. 24-7 vote in the Senate on Memorial Day sent the bill to the Governor's desk. More.

Two strikes against surveillance bills in lege'

.....The Texas legislature has struck down two of three surveillance bills this session, in what some would call a reflection of a national surveillance trend. The Pentagon is currently formulating a radar-based detection system meant to identify people by the way they walk.
.....Bill 945 would have mandated the Department of Public Safety to collect "biometric identification" upon issuing drivers licenses. This biometric data amounts to digital scanning of physiological characteristics, including finger and thumbprints. Although the DPS currently collects pictures and thumb prints, the advanced system would eliminate a slow matching process. The House killed the bill yesterday.
.....The ACLU of Texas was critical of House Bill 945 as well as another dead surveillance bill. More.

FCC may end media as we know it

.....The Federal Communications Commission will review six broadcast ownership rules for the people's airwaves at its June 2 meeting with a focus on deregulation of the information market. Earlier today, KPFT News reporter Pokey Anderson caught up with Director of the Project on Media Ownership, Mark Crispin Miller to discuss what these changes mean and how the changes would benefit media conglomerate instead of the public who own the airwaves.
....."That a completely commercial system is not going to serve the people, unless forced to do so. It's really something grossly improper about the likes of General Electric, making lots and lots of advertising money off of [a] public resource, which is the airwaves, and not having to yield anything back. Now what Michael Powell's FCC wants to do is annihilate the last remaining regulations. There aren't that many. Just the last few." More.

Dow strike may come to an end soon

.....Eleven hundred striking union workers at Dow Chemical's Plant in Freeport, Texas voted yesterday to approve a contract with the chemical giant, ending a weeklong standoff between Operators Union Local 564 and Dow's Texas Operation. While union leadership admits Dow made concessions to contract sticking points like seniority hiring practices, Union members must now decide if the eight year contract offers enough incentive to break the strike. Jackson Allers has more:
.....Although he endorses the contract being voted on today, Business Manager and lead negotiator for the Union Charlie Singletary admits the workers who have read the contract are not totally happy with it.
....."We did what we could. We did the best that we could. And to salvage the union from being out on strike for a long time, we need to recommend this thing and pass it."
.....After one week of striking, Singletary is asking union members to sign on to a deal reached with Dow Texas Operations on Sunday.
.....Local 564 voted down two previous contract offers because Dow refused to include plant seniority as a key criterion for deciding job assignments.
.....In the latest contract offer Dow officials have included seniority as a factor in the hiring process, although Dow company spokesperson David Winder would not say how much of a factor it would be.
.....Another contract concern was the "pay as you perform" clause that will pay workers according to market values.
.....But local union spokesperson Singletary says the chemical company has not specified how those performance values will be determined.
....."If you're a low performer, they'll pay you at a low-performer wage. If you're a high performer, they'll pay you at a high-performer wage. But you're really at the subject of the whim of the department head to pay you whatever he wants to, and there's not a whole bunch that you can do about it." More.

Protestors support immigrant rights

.....As the recent deaths of 19 people in an abandoned trailer in Victoria set off shockwaves internationally, organizations from Houston's Latin American immigrant community and individuals from more than ten countries marched through the streets of southwest Houston in support of more civil rights from immigrants. Shannon Young has the story:
.....On Sunday, over 2,000 people marched through the Gulfton neighborhood in Southwest Houston, calling for legislation to help normalize the immigration status of those living and working here without proper legal documentation. The Central American Resource Center coordinated the march, which was endorsed by numerous Latin American organizations including the Salvadoran American National Network, Hondurenos Unidos, and the Central American Refugee Center.
.....The recent tragedy in Victoria weighed heavily on the minds of many at the march, including Travis Morales, who distributed blue triangles throughout the crowd.
....."This is blue triangles with the names of the people who died in Victoria in the truck in the hands of the U.S. government. Directly at their hands. Because they've militarized the border, they've criminalized people, they've made it impossible for people to come here safely. And the fact that they were in that truck is a direct result of the U.S. militarization of the border, the criminalization of people based upon the color of their skin, the language they speak and where they were born."
.....During Hitler's reign in Germany, Gypsies and other stateless individuals were identified by blue triangles. More.

Activists try to convince ExxonMobil to pollute less

.....Tucked away in Irving, Texas lies the international headquarters of the world's largest corporation ExxonMobil. Yesterday, the major hub of oil and gas industry was shut down when over 35 Greenpeace activists used a multi-prong approach to block entrances to the building. Their message focused on ExxonMobil's lack of support for confronting and coping with global warming ... in part a byproduct of the company's main product. Following yesterday's direct action, pressure on the oil giant continued as their Annual Shareholder meeting took place in Dallas. Renee Feltz spoke with activists who were there:
....."The fundamental problem is that ExxonMobil's core product of oil and gas, and when they are used, contribute to global warming. Which is changing our planet's climate. Now increasingly this is being recognized in the [sic?] community, as a serious economic risk, across our economy, as well as for particular sectors especially oil and gas. ExxonMobil faces a growing number of countries and states that are doing regulations to mandate the use of renewable energy and require the reduction of carbon emissions, and they are not responding, they are not reacting to these realities, while their competitors are moving way ahead of them in developing renewable energy and carbon trading schemes and figuring out the kinds of strategies that are going to enable them to profit as policies increase to address the risks of climate change." More.