Citzen

As a member of a commission for the City of Allen, I am required to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag.  This had me thinking.. (I know this is dangerous ground.)  Do we have a Texas Flag Allegiance.  Well of course we do. The Texas Pledge of Allegiance can be found in Texas Law.  The Pledge is:

Honor the Texas flag;

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

What was more interesting was the text of the ceremony to retire a Texas Flag. Here is the text. If reading this does not get your pulse up, you are not a bona fide Texan.  Read more

If you need to convert addresses from postal to latitude and longitude, I would suggest looking into Texas A&M Geo Services.  If you have a need for these type of services, please consider Geo-stuff provided by Texas A&M University GeoServices.

I am using the service to map voting history to changes in geography. By having the lat/long data allows much faster use of various mapping tools.

It was bunker gear night.  Bunker gear is the system of outer protective clothing for firefighters.  “Bunker Gear” is derived from the fact that the trousers and boots are traditionally kept by the firefighter’s bunk at the fire station to be readily available for use.  We were outfitted with the complete set of Trousers, Coat, Boots, Nomex Hood, Helmet, Gloves and Eye Protection. Read more

The current government shut down has nothing to do with the Affordable Healthcare Act. It has everything to do with Constitutional Division of Powers.

According to the Constitution, spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives decides on whether we should spend money on a particular government activity. The Senate is responsible for Authorizing the money to be spent.

This is a checks and balance built into our Constitution. It requires the House of Representatives to fund a government activity. It requires the Senate to Authorize the spending of money. Read more

Today is the 226th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.  The Constitution is the official contract between the citizens of the United States.  The Federal Government, Executive, Legislative and Judical Branches are not legal parties of the Constitutional Contract.  The Constitutional contract defined how the Federal Government was to be structured.  The Constitution is the contract in which government is given the authority to operate.  No one can change the contract without express written permission by the contracted parties.  We the People are the contracted parties. Read more

I live in Allen, Texas.  For ya’ll not familiar with Allen, we are a northern suburb of Dallas. And yes, we are home to the infamous Eagle Stadium, but that is post for another day.

We have lived and been active in our home town for many years. I have always wanted to attend the Citizens Police Academy (CPA).  CPA is a 13 week program that meets one night a week.  The purpose of the academy is to educate the public on the workings of the Police Department.   Read more