Joshua Star (Joshua, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 2013 Page: 4 of 14
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Page4A ★ Joshua Star ★ Thursday, February 28, 2013
www.joshuastar.net
-1 EDITORIAL |-
Some state legislative
bills are a bit quirky
There are 7,382 state lawmakers in the United States.
Statistically speaking, that makes it pretty likely that
more than a few of them will propose state bills that are
a little out there.
Here are a eight of the more interesting proposals so
far this year:
Georgia: No naked Photoshopping
House Bill 39 would make it a misdemeanor punish-
able by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine to Photo-
shop someone in an “obscene depiction.”
Democrat Rep. Earnest Smith found himself the tar-
get of just such a manipulated image after co-sponsoring
the bill.
“No one has a right to make fun of anyone,” he said.
Georgia: Repeal the 17th Amendment
House Resolution 273 would request Congress’ vote
to begin the process to repeal the 17th Amendment, a
1913 amendment to the U.S. Constitution which allows
for the direct election of senators. Previously, senators
were chosen by state legislatures.
A repeal would be a pretty long shot, since it would
require a two-thirds majority in Congress plus three-
fourths of U.S. states to approve.
“This would be a restoration of the Constitution,
about how government is supposed to work,” said Re-
publican Rep. Kevin Cooke, a sponsor.
Missouri: No proposing gun control
House Bill 633 would make it a Class D felony for
any member of the state legislature to propose a bill that
“further restricts the right of an individual to bear arms.”
Republican Rep. Mike Leara said the bill is more of
a protest.
“I have no illusions about the bill making it through
the legislative process,” he told a reporter.
Nevada: No texting while crossing the street
Assembly Bill 123 would prohibit pedestrians from
“manually typing” on a cellphone while crossing the
street.
A first offense would be a warning, but any second of-
fense within seven years would be a misdemeanor with a
$100 fine. A third offense would be a $250 fine. Demo-
crat Assemblyman Harvey Munford said the bill would
make crosswalks safer.
Tennessee: No renaming Confederate parks
Senate Bill 836 and House Bill 553 would prevent the
renaming of any memorial, park or other monument or
space dedicated to a “historical military figure” or event.
The city of Memphis headed off the proposal by Re-
publican Sen. Bill Ketron and Republican Rep. Steve
McDaniel by renaming three city parks that honored
Confederates, including Nathan Bedford Forrest Park,
named for a lieutenant general who was the first Grand
Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. His military strategy was to
get there “first with the most.”
Washington: State employees must be honest
Senate Bill 5504 would require state employees be
“truthful and forthright” when answering questions
about their jobs or workplaces and “truthful” when pro-
viding any other information.
Republican Sen. Pam Roach, the bill’s sponsor, has
been investigated for complaints that she verbally at-
tacked legislative staffers, a charge she denies.
Colorado: Legalize adultery
Senate Bill 244 would have repealed a decades-old
law making adultery illegal and another that bans “pro-
moting sexual immorality” by renting hotel rooms to un-
married people.
After passing the Senate, the bill failed narrowly in a
House committee.
“The bill’s been put to bed,” quipped sponsor Dem-
ocrat Sen. Pat Steadman, “hopefully with someone it’s
married to.”
North Carolina: No topless women in public
House Bill 34 would clarify that the state’s indecent
exposure law includes women’s fully exposed breasts. It
makes no mention of topless men.
The bill was requested by police in the mountain
town of Asheville after a women’s rights group held its
second annual topless protest in a city park. Republican
Rep. Rayne Brown, a sponsor, said while she appreci-
ated jokes about the bill, for police it’s “not a laughing
matter.”
Joshua'/Star
Volume 42, Number 48
14 Pages in 2 Sections
(USPS-915-180)
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COMMENTARY
Fort Brown has changed over the years
The men were all appre-
hensive because of the condi-
tions at Fort Brown. We con-
tinued with our daily duties,
but the men had questions
that needed answers.
If you asked anyone if
they had any idea what the
future had in store, they
would answer, “no, have
you?” Things were extremely
uncertain, and no one knew
why. Without being told, we
were relatively sure the situ-
ation as we knew it at Fort
Brown was quickly drawing
to a close. The commanding
officers of the many units
were in the same situation
we were. I’m sure they would
pass any information they
had to us one way or another,
however any question asked
received a negative answer.
The problems facing
Fort Brown certainly had
no charge over the weather.
Storms came from every di-
rection, but the most severe
came out of the south. Late
one evening we could see
a large cloud approaching
from the south. The country
was so flat a storm could be
seen long before thunder
could be heard. This storm
was large and moving rap-
idly like it was on an impor-
tant mission.
Doug
Carver
We
could
hear the
growl of
the thun-
der long
before the
cloud ar-
rived. The
rain came
in tor-
rents and
Memories From
The Military
was so
heavy we
couldn’t
see out of the barrack. It be-
gan raining about 7:30 p.m.
and continued until a few
minutes after 11 p.m., and
in those few hours it rained
over seven inches. Water
was almost entering out
barracks and a large portion
of Brownsville was under as
much as 3-feet of water.
Several of the troops were
out rescuing people stranded
by floodwater, and this effort
lasted well into the next day.
My outfit waded in water
well above our knees to go
from the barracks to the
mess hall for breakfast the
next morning. This situa-
tion continued for another
two days before the streets
became passable. Several
people drowned, but I don’t
remember the exact number.
After a violent thunder-
storm of this order, the wind
is as calm as death itself. The
atmosphere was not moving,
and everything was com-
pletely calm. A breeze would
have to be primed in order to
move at all. In weather like
this, the order of things had
calmed.
Mexican folk songs could
be heard, from across the
river. I could not understand
what they were saying, but I
did enjoy the music.
If you have been reading
my stories, you are familiar
with Fort Brown. I would
like to acquaint you with
the design and some of its
distinctive history and pecu-
liarities.
Fort Brown was the old-
est permanent fort in Texas
and was established in 1846.
Its original name was Fort
Texas, but Major Brown was
killed defending the fort
from the Mexican Army and,
to honor him, the fort’s name
was changed to Fort Brown.
The original fort was
practically destroyed dur-
ing the Mexican-American
War and was rebuilt in the
late 1850s. The fort changed
sides several times during
the Civil War, but the North
was in control when the war
ended. In the years 1866-
1867, the fort was completely
rebuilt, and some of the
buildings are still being used
today.
A new hospital was com-
pleted and was the largest
medical facility in the U.S.
Army at that time. The build-
ing today is being used for
classrooms at the University
of Texas campus.
I spent several miserable
months in this same building
with a knee a problem. The
city of Brownsville now owns
Fort Brown and the bar-
racks where we stayed is now
college dormitory rooms or
rental property.
I suppose by now you
know I have a deep heart-
felt feeling for this area of
Texas. It brings sadness for
me to realize the place where
I grew into manhood is no
longer serving as a fort. I still
have a large load of memo-
ries of the friends created
there, some are good, some
are very good, and some I’d
like to forget.
Time rushes on, our mem-
ories fade, but life goes on.
Doug Carver is a World
War II veteran and Keene
resident Follow his columns
at www.keenestar.net.
COMMENTARY
A sick day spoiled by TV advertising
So, I’m curled up in bed
on a drizzly, dreary Wednes-
day, nursing a bit of a cold
- and when I say nursing, I
mean I’m milking the most
out of this sniffle so I can
stay home. Don’t try to deny
that you know what I mean.
I’m all set. Andy Griffith,
Dick Van Dyke, The Big Val-
ley - the whole lineup waits
for me. I’ve got my rainbow-
colored goldfish crackers,
ice-cold Dr Pepper in a glass
with the bendy straw so I can
drink it in bed, and - my fa-
vorite - Girl Scout lemonade
cookies. Man, I got it made.
But about midway
through the second or third
TV show, I start feeling
bad - not sick bad, like I’m
pretending to be. No, I start
feeling like some sort of no-
account loser. A vague and
nebulous guilt nags at me, as
if I should be creating some-
thing or fixing something or
learning to sell real estate or
toning my abs. And I realize
the culprit is my very own
pal: the television. No!
Unfortunately, yes. TV
advertisers assume, and
maybe rightfully so, that
the vast majority of folks
who stay home during the
daytime
are unem-
ployed,
unin-
spired,
unhappy
under-
achievers.
Have you
watched
White the ads on
daytime
This Old television
Spouse lately?
Talk
about a real buzzkill. Sheez.
From the time I watched
Barney Fife try to arrest the
governor of North Carolina
for parking next to a fire
hydrant to the time Lee Ma-
jors rescued his ma Barbara
Stanwyck from evil rustlers,
I’ll bet you I saw 37 commer-
cials, all of them for one of
the following:
How to be a culinary
arts professional by attend-
ing Chicken Cordon Bleu
Academy.
How to be a medical
assistant professional in just
six weeks by taking online
classes from Ouibedox Uni-
versity.
How to sue your em-
ployer for asbestos exposure
if you suffer from: a. diffi-
culty breathing; b. dizziness;
c. chronic coughing; or d.
death.
Howto make $100,000
in six months by convincing
people who stay home dur-
ing the daytime to send you
$39.99 for your program - a
program that basically says
to tell people they can make
$100,000 in six months by
sending you $39.99 for your
program.
How to lift your butt as
only the Brazilians can.
How to: lose your muf-
fin top, achieve six-pack abs,
boost your testosterone, add
inches to your man parts,
add inches to your woman
parts, take inches off your
woman parts, buy the correct
bra, perform better in the
bedroom (what, standup
comedy?), or remove un-
sightly skin tags (ew).
How to remain in your
home, travel the world, have
money in the bank, finance
your kids’ college, and retire
in splendor -all with a re-
verse mortgage.
I still don’t quite get the
whole reverse mortgage thing.
There must be something to
it, because they have former
congressmen - heck, even
Henry Winkler - hawking
them. I reckon if a reverse
mortgage is good enough for
the Fonz, then maybe I should
look into it. If it’s what it
sounds like, I presume that in
a reverse mortgage, the bank
pays me a monthly mortgage
payment, and then all the
upper management people at
Citibank Mortgage come and
live in my house. Does this
mean we have to move out, or
can we just let all these guys
sleep on the sofa bed until
they get tired of the whole
reverse mortgage deal?
And why a Brazilian butt
lift? I’d like to see a good
Norwegian butt lift now and
then.
Man. I was going to stay
home again on Thursday,
but this is all too depressing.
But ya know, I have been
coughing and suffering some
dizziness today. I might just
call that law firm. I thought I
caught a whiff of asbestos in
the old cubie lately. Worth a
shot, no?
Roger White is a free-
lance writert. For further
adventures, visit oldspouse.
wordpress.com.
Roger
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Sorter, Dave. Joshua Star (Joshua, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 2013, newspaper, February 28, 2013; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth822961/m1/4/?q=music: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.