Texas Governor Deploys State Guard To Stave Off Obama Takeover

By National Public Radio | May 4, 2015

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor a joint U.S. Special Forces training taking place in Texas, prompting outrage from some in his own party. (AP Photo)

Since Gen. Sam Houston executed his famous retreat to glory to defeat the superior forces of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Texas has been ground zero for military training. We have so many military bases in the Lone Star State we could practically attack Russia.

So when rookie Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was ordering the Texas State Guard to monitor a Navy SEAL/Green Beret joint training exercise, which was taking place in Texas and several other states, everybody here looked up from their iPhones. What?

It seems there is concern among some folks that this so-called training maneuver is just a cover story. What’s really going on? President Obama is about to use Special Forces to put Texas under martial law.

Let’s walk over by the fence where nobody can hear us, and I’ll tell you the story.

You see, there are these Wal-Marts in West Texas that supposedly closed for six months for “renovation.” That’s what they want you to believe. The truth is these Wal-Marts are going to be military guerrilla-warfare staging areas and FEMA processing camps for political prisoners. The prisoners are going to be transported by train cars that have already been equipped with shackles.

Don’t take my word for it. That comes directly from a Texas Ranger, who seems pretty plugged in, if you ask me. You and I both know President Obama has been waiting a long time for this, and now it’s happening. It’s a classic false flag operation. Don’t pay any attention to the mainstream media; all they’re going to do is lie and attack everyone who’s trying to tell you the truth.

Did I mention the ISIS terrorists? They’ve come across the border and are going to hit soft targets all across the Southwest. They’ve set up camp a few miles outside of El Paso.

That includes a Mexican army officer and Mexican federal police inspector. Not sure what they’re doing there, but probably nothing good. That’s why the Special Forces guys are here, get it? To wipe out ISIS and impose martial law. So now you know, whaddya say we get back to the party and grab another beer?

It’s true that the paranoid world-view of right-wing militia types has remarkable stamina. But that’s not news.

What is news is that there seem to be enough of them in Texas to influence the governor of the state to react — some might use the word pander — to them.

Jerry Brown Hands United Farm Workers a Setback

By Dan Walters

dwalters@sacbee.com

Photo courtesy of the OC Register

What goes around comes around.

Jerry Brown devoted much of his first governorship to seeking other offices, so his record of accomplishment was scant.

He’s often touted a 1975 deal to give farmworkers, excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, union rights in California, supposedly settling years of strife between the United Farm Workers Union and growers.

However, it merely ignited decades of new strife, which continues with Brown’s recent veto of a new farm labor bill.

Brown erred 39 years ago by having the law take effect immediately and by appointing an obviously pro-UFW Agricultural Labor Relations Board, including the auxiliary Catholic bishop of Fresno, Roger Mahony, as chairman.

Farmers bristled at the board’s makeup, it struggled to organize while being deluged with UFW election petitions, and the union was frustrated by not immediately gaining contracts.

The UFW did score some wins during the early years, thanks to having a pro-union board and staff, but then went into a decades-long skid.

UFW leader Cesar Chavez and his successors contended that Republican governors emasculated the ALRB and growers stalled on contract negotiations. The union’s critics say that as Chavez pursued other causes, the UFW failed to supply seasonal workers under contract “hiring halls.”

In 2002, Democratic legislators and then-Gov. Gray Davis tried to help the UFW with mandatory mediation of stalled negotiations.

Three years ago, after Brown had returned to the governorship, he and lawmakers empowered the ALRB to certify a union if it found employer misconduct.

The legislative activity was largely spurred by a conflict between the UFW and Gerawan Farming, a huge, Fresno-based fruit grower with thousands of workers. The union won a Gerawan representation election in 1990 but never got a contract. Both sides say the other stalled.

Using the new ALRB powers, the UFW tried to get back in the game with mediation, but Gerawan said it would be unfair since only a handful of current workers voted in the 1990 election.

The company and its anti-union employees petitioned for a new election in 2013, but the ALRB never counted the ballots and earlier this month, its chief prosecutor issued a 28-page complaint alleging that Gerawan interfered.

The farming company denies the charges, saying they were trumped up to void an election that the UFW had lost, and the whole issue is now in the courts.

Meanwhile, the Legislature passed still another bill requiring the ALRB to implement its mediation order while reviews are pending and limiting the ability of courts to intervene.

Over the weekend, Brown vetoed Senate Bill 25, saying he wanted a “balanced and fair” process.

“We should look at the entire process before making further changes,” he said, handing the UFW a big defeat and farmers a victory.