SEADRIFT – Organizations making positive contributions to long-term success of their communities will have a chance to earn up to $10,000 in funding from the Dow Chemical Company Foundation through the 2013 Dow Gives – Community Grant Program, Seadrift Operations. The on-line application deadline is Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 4 p.m.

A link to the online application, the program’s guidelines and frequently asked questions are available on the Seadrift Operations web site at www.uccseadrift.com.

“This competitive grant program is designed to identify projects that will help make our local communities even better places to live and work, now and in the future,” says Trish Thompson, Public Affairs Manager. “Dow is proud to be part of this region and we want to make it stronger by helping meet community needs.”

The program supports one-time project costs that have positive long-term impacts. The grant funding must be used for tangible, reusable items such as equipment, construction materials or re-usable supplies. Past projects that have received funding have included equipment for volunteer fire departments, educational equipment, playground equipment and environmental education projects. Applicants must be tax-exempt charitable or non-profit organizations, schools, or municipal or government agencies and be based in Calhoun County, Victoria County or the communities of Austwell or Tivoli. Faith-based organizations can also apply, provided their projects benefit the community as a whole and do not promote one religion over others.

An information session about the program will be held on Tuesday, April 9 at 10:00 a.m. at the UCC Seadrift Operations Clubhouse on Hwy 185. To RSVP, email FFPCONT@dow.com or call 361-553-3058. All those interested in applying for the program are encouraged to attend to get details about eligibility and the selection process.

Since 2004, Dow’s community grants program has distributed approximately $500,000 in the Seadrift Operations area. Winners are selected by a committee made up of Seadrift Operations employees and external community members.

The following is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Although it has been more than a decade, some may remember that a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were Bay Wars.  Much has changed since then, however.  Following the controversial Treaty of Pringle Lake, as well as the associated Charlie’s Bait Camp Accords, an uneasy truce has existed between the combatants and open warfare has diminished.  Conflict has not disappeared, however, but has now been relegated to a lower level of insurgency.

The era of the Bay Wars has been largely replaced by the American People Wars, inflicting much alarm and consternation upon an aging El Hyena.  It is for this reason that El Hyena has returned in an attempt to calm and assure the warring factions, reduce tension and animosity, and hopefully encourage the people to un-wad their panties.  El Hyena has heard the cries, and he addresses the problem.

ON FEAR AND LOATHING

Chicken Little once loudly proclaimed that the sky was falling when it was not.  In today’s world, pundits, bloggers, talking heads, and elected officials routinely trumpet similar proclamations.  For some, their motivation is easily understood: there’s big money to be made in the fear and loathing industry.  For many, it is all a matter of telling people what they want to hear, while for elected officials (of all stripes) it is telling lobbyists what they will pay to hear and telling voters what they already believe.  El Hyena would note that it is too often the case that people’s belief in and acceptance of these dire predictions and pronouncements are based on fear and loathing, for one reason or another.

Why do the people fear and loathe?  Why do the people feel threatened by disagreement and difference of opinion?  Perhaps it is because of that man or woman on TV, or perhaps it is because of the voices in their head.  Perhaps it is because of the latest book or “documentary” produced by the fear and loathing industry.  El Hyena has noticed that this only leads to ranting and raving, as well as thoughts of violence directed at The Other.  Neither is helpful or productive, yet both are evidently quite popular.  El Hyena wonders what has become of the people that makes this so.

ON CHANGE:  PROGRESSION OR REGRESSION?

Change is inevitable.  Desired and embraced by some yet despised and resisted by others, it is nevertheless bound to occur, as history has shown time and time again.  Whether or not one welcomes or condemns change depends on where one stands at the time of its occurrence.  People who enjoy power do not like competition.  The majority does not like becoming the minority.  People who are used to getting their way do not like accommodating other people.  People who are close-minded and intolerant do not like being encouraged or required to consider being open-minded and tolerant.  Some people consider diversity to be good while other people consider it to be bad.

What was once impossible and inconceivable is now possible, if not commonplace.  Which leads us back to fear and loathing.  El Hyena asks:  Why is this?

ON TRUTH:  TRUE OR NOT TRUE?

One need only look at any discourse, dialogue, or monologue to see that the truth is people will only believe what they want to believe, and will never believe anything that does not conform to their existing beliefs.  When truth conflicts with their beliefs, truth becomes falsehood.  Beliefs are influenced by experience and values.  It may come as a shock to some, but different people have different beliefs and values.  El Hyena urges the people to not feel threatened by this phenomenon, as it is merely disagreement and difference of opinion.  One should not seek to impose his or her values on others; one should not be angered by disagreement, and; one should not be offended by difference of opinion.

ON LABELING, STEREOTYPING, AND EXAGGERATION

These tendencies are among El Hyena’s least favorite, and among those which cause El Hyena much anguish.  They are neither true nor fair, and are all harmful and destructive.  They are used by people who are lacking in knowledge and disdainful of the truth when neither knowledge nor truth will sustain their argument, belief, or opinion.  They result in assessing guilt by association and generalization.  Those who employ these tactics are determined not to be hindered by facts or evidence.  El Hyena begs the people to discard this behavior, but he is comforted by the fact that reasonable people have already done so.

ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES

El Hyena has noted that conspiracy theories are amazingly prevalent and usually ridiculous.  The purveyors of conspiracy theories have a need to call attention to themselves, advance an agenda, or deny reality, all the while claiming superior knowledge, insight, or access to deep, dark secret information.  Those who accept them are impaired in understanding and deficient in reasoning.  Those who reject them are appropriately skeptical and rationally thoughtful.  El Hyena finds it interesting that some people blame the Bilderberg Group, the Anglo-Dutch Oligarchy, the Rothschilds, and the New World Order for all of the evil in the world while having no earthly idea who or what any of them are.

CONCLUSION

The foregoing are merely the thoughts, opinions, and musings of El Hyena, Vanguard of the Revolution.  El Hyena has criticized none of the people in particular.  The goal of the Revolution is to inspire the people to return to civil discourse and rational thinking.  El Hyena thanks the people who bothered to listen.

Sat., March 16    MUD Roll-off Bin Available
8:00-4:00    16th & Harrison, Port O’Connor

Sat., March 16    Relay For Life Bake Sale “We Are POC”
7:00-11:00 am    Port O’Connor Speedy Stop

Sat., March 16    Lions Arts & Crafts Festival
9:00-4:00    Port O’Connor Community Center Pavilion

Sat., March 16    Parade of Ancestors
11:00 am    Downtown Port Lavaca (10 am-4 pm)

Sat., March 16    Spring Art Show
starts 10:00 am    Hope Fellowship Church, 2120 E. Main, Pt Lavaca

Mon., March 18    POSCA Meeting
6:30 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center

Mon., March 18    POC MUD Board Meeting
7:00 pm        MUD Office, 39 Denman Drive

Tues., March 19    Blood Drive
8:00-Noon    Calhoun County Offices, 211 S. Ann, Port Lavaca

Tues., March 19    Blood Drive
9:00 am-1:00 pm    Port Lavaca Auto Group, 1801 Hwy 35

Wed., March 20    “Images of America: Calhoun County”  Book Signing
2:00-5:00 pm    Calhoun County Museum, 301 S. Ann, Port Lavaca

Thurs., March 21    Port O’Connor Town Meeting (Cemetery Assoc.)
7:30 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center

March 22 & 23    “Believe” Easter Musical
552-2931    First Baptist Church, Port Lavaca

Sat., March 23    Port O’Connor Town Meeting (Neighborhood Watch)
9:00-10:00 am    Port O’Connor Community Center

Sat., March 30    Relay For Life Bake Sale “We Are POC”
7:00-11:00 am    Port O’Connor Speedy Stop

Sat., March 30    Easter Egg Hunt
2:00 pm        First Baptist Church, Port O’Connor

Sun., March 31    Easter Sunrise Service
7:15 am        King Fisher Beach, Port O’Connor

April 5-6    Relay For Life
dusk (5th) to dawn    Calhoun County Fairgrounds

Sat., April 6    Market Days
8:00-3:00    2300 N. Hwy 35, Port Lavaca

Sat., April 13    POC Service Club Garage/Bake Sale
starts 8:00 am    POC Community Center Pavilion

Sun., April 14    75th Anniversary Port O’Connor First Baptist

AA meets each Saturday night at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor.

POC Lions Club meets the second Wednesday of each month, 12 Noon, at Cathy’s Restaurant

Commissioner’s Court meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 10 a.m., 1st Floor of the Court House, Port Lavaca.

Crossroads Astronomy Club meets at 7:00 p.m., third Mondays, at U of H, Victoria, Room 223 info: wes81461@yahoo.com   935-2016

Calhoun County Quilt Guild meets the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

Open Arms (Families Surviving Infant Loss) meets every third Tuesday at Central Church of Christ, 801 E. Airline, Victoria, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Calhoun County Democratic Club meets the last Thursday of the month at IBC Bank, Port Lavaca, at 5:30 p.m.

Calhoun County Conservative Club meets 2nd Tuesday each month, 11:00 a.m. at the Heritage Center in Port Lavaca

CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse) meets each Thursday from 7-8 p.m. Call 361-652-7451 for meeting place.

Friday Night Youth every Friday except the first Friday of each month, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor

First Baptist Youth Group (Port O’Connor) meets every Wednesday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Grades 7th – 12th

POC Sports Association meets the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at POC Community Center.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (N.A.M.I.) meets 3rd Monday each month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Parkway Church, Victoria. Support group meets at Laurent Towers fountain from 6-8 p.m., 2nd and 4th Tuesdays each month.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Winter Whooping Crane Survey estimates there are a total of 279 whooping cranes, including 257 found within the primary wintering grounds and 22 beyond that area. During December, Service personnel conducted seven surveys of the primary wintering grounds of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock, the last remaining wild flock of whooping cranes. With the help of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Texas Whooper Watch and other observers, documented sightings during that same time frame suggest there were at least 22 additional whooping cranes found outside the primary wintering grounds.

Last year, the survey estimated a total of 267 whooping cranes in the wild, including 254 on the primary wintering grounds and 13 beyond. For more information on the survey, visit http://www.fws.gov/nwrs/threecolumn.aspx?id=2147512080.

All of the whooping cranes alive today, both wild and captive, are descendants of the last 15 remaining cranes found wintering at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in 1941.

Effective Management Plan Ordered for Guadalupe River, Bays and Estuaries

(Rockport, TX — March 10, 2013)— Today, The Aransas Project (TAP) applauded a major federal court decision in its legal battle to protect the last naturally migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes as a vindication of the need for an effective water management plan, especially during times of drought, for the Guadalupe and San Antonio River basins.

On March 10, 2010, TAP filed a lawsuit against several officials of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in their official capacities for illegal harm and harassment of Whooping Cranes at and adjacent to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The case went to trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in December 2011. Today’s historic decision by United States District Judge Janis Graham Jack comes three years to the day after the original filing.

“We are both humbled and pleased by the Court’s historic decision,” said TAP’s Lead Counsel Jim Blackburn. “For this important river and for the whooping cranes, the Court’s opinion provides a clear statement of the need for an effective management plan for this river basin during times of drought to ensure adequate freshwater flows reach the bay. The decision is also a vindication of the sound science and the dedicated efforts of the longtime Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator, Mr. Tom Stehn, to preserve these magnificent birds.”

The Opinion

In an exhaustive and detailed 124-page opinion, Judge Jack ruled that the water management practices of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the Guadalupe and San Antonio River basins violated the Endangered Species Act.

The Court issued an order preventing the TCEQ from approving or granting new water permits affecting the Guadalupe or San Antonio Rivers “until the State of Texas provides reasonable assurances to the Court” that new permits would not result in harm to the whooping cranes.

Importantly, the Court ordered the agency seek what is known as an Incidental Take Permit and develop a Habitat Conservation Plan. An Incidental Take Permit is a permit issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that allows the holder to proceed with an otherwise lawful activity that results in “incidental” harm to an endangered species, but requires the permit holder to design, implement and fund a plan that minimizes and mitigates harm to the species while carefully balancing competing interests of various stakeholders in the basin.

The preceding article was submitted to Dolphin Talk by CJ Garriott of El Dorado, Kansas. CJ, a former resident of Seadrift, attended many meeting of The Arnasas Project while she resided here.