The State of Texas: Feb. 26, 2014

Video of the Day

Buzzfeed has the lowdown on what might one be the most bizarre incidents in high school basketball. After making a confusing (and clearly wrong) buzzer-beater call, refeerees for a regional tournament in Argyle, simply … left. As in, walked out of the gymnasium. It’s not only confusing, it’s also, “the worst ending to a basketball game I’ve ever seen in my many years of officiating,” according to one long-time referee:

Texas By The Numbers

Hispanic State — Percentage non-Hispanics whites (NHWs) will contribute to population growth over the next generation: two percent. Percentage Hispanics will contribute: seventy percent. Predicted ratio of Hispanic workers to NHW workers by 2050: three-to-one. Hispanic per-capita income in 1980: 46 percent of NHWs. In 2010: 41 percent. Percentage of household equity NHWs currently hold: 82 percent. Predicted amount in a generation: more than fifty percent.

Polling Place — Number of registered voters polled for UT/Texas Tribune election poll: 1,200. Lead Greg Abbott has over Wendy Davis: eleven points. Abbott support among Republicans: ninety percent. Davis support among Democrat voters: 87 percent. Number of gubernatorial winners on November 5: one. Number of times readers will be hit over the head with election news until then: infinite.

Daily Roundup

Dropping the (Cattle) Call — It’s one thing to have the total number of cattle in the state drop; it’s another thing to be out-steered by Nebraska of all places. Yet that’s exactly what’s happened. “Nebraska has surpassed Texas in the number of cattle in the state being fattened for slaughter,” according to the AP. Once the golden calf, Texas “dropped 7 percent over the past year, to 2.44 million head in feedlots” compared to “Nebraska’s loss of less than a half a percent, to 2.46 million head.” Not that we don’t still have something to moo about. “Nebraska remains far behind Texas in the total number of cattle with 6.5 million head, compared with 10.9 million in Texas.”

EP-Eh? — Arguments regarding required EPA permits for Texas polluters appear to be a smoggy, unclear precedent for the nine justices at the U.S. Supreme Court. “[A]fter 96 minutes of arguments Monday, even the justices seemed unsure of how significant a blow to the EPA a loss in this case would be,” the Dallas Morning News reports. Texas, of course, is arguing that the Clean Air Act, which requires polluters to obtain certain permits, doesn’t cover carbon emission and other greenhouse gases. More to the point, the “case is important to Texas industry because hundreds of plants emit enough carbon dioxide to need a permit. The permitting process would probably mean mandatory cuts in how much energy they use.” Justices had so many questions that at one point Judge Antonin Scalia told Texas, “I am keeping a list here of the points we have not let you get to.” As one law professor said of the proceedings, “By the end, it was clear the justices were trying on for fit every shoe they have available.”

Extra-don’t — After making the kind of once-in-a-career capture that shakes up the entire Americas drug market, Mexico has “made it clear” that it won’t be extraditing cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the U.S. As the AP article notes, the move, “could bolster President Enrique Pena Nieto’s nationalist credentials but also shine a spotlight on the country’s woeful judicial system.” Not only does Mexico’s criminal justice system have an infamous reputation of being corrupt, but Shorty and his coherts have a habit of sneaking (or sometime just straight walking) out of detainment. Also U.S. officials have proven much more effective in intel-gathering of drug cartels, another reason some supported the extradition of Guzman. But “keeping hold of Guzman … appears to have become a point of national pride for [the Mexican president’s] administration.”

Presidential Art Gallery — George W. Bush’s artistic efforts are getting a truly official introduction. His fascinating post-office hobby “will be the centerpiece of a special exhibit at his presidential library,” in April. Unfortunately, his paintings of cats or mid-shower self-portraits won’t be featured prominently. Rather, it’ll be portraits he’s done of world leaders. According to the DMN, the press release on the up-coming showings, “doesn’t say who the portrait subjects are. But it says the exhibit ‘will provide an insider’s view into President Bush’s unique relationships with other world leaders.'” Because artist-subject relationships are always unique.