The State of Texas: August 15, 2014

Quote of the Day

“I’ve been watching, and the only thing we can do is take care of those kids, whatever it takes.”

— Willie Nelson, when asked by Rolling Stone about the border crisis

Graph of the Day

The New York Times has a wonderful interactive graph illustrating each states inter-country emigration patterns. Unsurprisingly, “the net impact is that fewer Texas residents are natives than in the past.” Check out the actual map for more details:

Daily Roundup

Reinforcements — “The first wave of National Guard troops has taken up observation posts along the Texas-Mexico border,” reports the Associated Press, along with just about everyone else. That first “wave” consists of about “several dozen soldiers” (of the 1,000 expected total), and they are setting up camp in the Rio Grande Valley. As they have no arrest authority and don’t much know the area, “they will serve as extra eyes on the border and report suspicious activity to authorities,” at a $17 million a month price tag to Texans. It looks that tower watching will be the guardsmen’s main duty. “A Customs and Border Protection document viewed by The Associated Press indicated that guardsmen would be manning CBP towers in Hidalgo and Starr counties, as well as towers for the Hidalgo and Pharr police departments and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.” Apart from keeping an eye out for dangerous and criminal migrants, the guardsmen will also be some much-need relief for Border Patrol agents.

Neighborhood Watching — The open-carry gun rights group that’s been making headlines in the past few months is facing its biggest obstacle: an entire community. Open Carry Texas had made the questionable decision of demonstrating through Houston’s Fifth Ward. Perhaps unsurprisingly, locals were none too pleased, and there was a very intense sit-down between leaders of both groups. Members of Open Carry Texas and Fifth Ward leaders sat “at a small folding table … [with] Houston police officers on-hand to monitor the meeting.” Fifth Ward representatives included the infamous activist Quanell X and members of the local New Black Panthers. The reps were pretty clear about what their feelings. “‘Let me just say for the record, we don’t want you here,’ said Kathy Blueford-Daniels, president of Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood No. 55.” Open Carry Texas leaders still plan on demonstrating Saturday, regardless of how the community feels. Constitutional right or not, police will most certainly be on hand—OCT had been promised they would be “matched gun-for-gun”—and authorities said that “both sides will be kept separated and won’t be allowed to interact with each other.”

The Lineman Checks Her Makeup — San Antonio’s women’s tackle football team, Texas Legacy, and the Houston Lady Eagles are playing each other on August 23 for the semi-pro championship. “A lot of our girls don’t look like they can play football, but they actually can, and they are actually very good at it,” said Texas Legecy’s co-owner Amanda Lozano. The San Antonio Express-News‘s wonderful piece detais the growing trend of women’s tackle football, which has “sparked team interest in Austin, Laredo, Oklahoma and Louisiana, which are expected to join next season. This season, Texas Legacy played teams from Corpus Christi, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley.” The sport is on the rise, and it’s not seeking some pat-on-the-head participatory trophy. “‘I do want to make it to, one day, it’s not out of the ordinary to go and watch a female football game. It’ll be as common as going to watch your favorite men’s team,’ said Lozano. ‘We showcase our teams as athletes, and what they can do on the field and the athleticism they bring to the team,’ she said. ‘You are beautiful just the way you are.'” Regardless of sex, being able to really clobber the quarterback is one of the more beautiful sights.

Smoking Out The Enemy — Lesson one at a barbecue joint: don’t ask for the vegan option. Lesson two: do not, ever, try to mess with the pitmaster. A criminal learned that second lesson the hard way after the owner of the John Mueller Meat Co. food trailer executed a wonderful sting operation. After the food trailer was robbed of an “iPhone, an iPad and a cash register drawer,” according to the Austin American-Statesman, “Mueller and a bartender … decided that morning that they would try to lure the suspect into conversation with a bogus story. They sent text messages to the stolen iPhone indicating they were interested in paying top dollar for some tasty catered smoked meats at a party.” It worked. Perhaps a bit too well. “After an exchange with the bartender, he not only identified himself by name, but he also sent the bartender a picture of his face and genitals.” For some reason owing to either Mueller’s skills of persuasion, the thief’s idiocy, or a combination of both, the culprit “return[ed] to John Mueller Meat Co. for payment. … less than 12 hours after the trailer had been burglarized, police were able to detain.”