How Austin Spending, Car Kill Switches, And Schools Collide

Your city says it needs more money. Your state agency says it’s “encouraged.” Washington says it’s doing this for your safety. We slow down and ask the only question that matters: are the people in charge earning the trust they demand?

We start with Austin’s budget records and the growing backlash to municipal spending, including millions in grants routed through “family and social services” to nonprofits involved in sexual health services and youth programming. That leads straight into the push for independent outside audits, why internal reviews are not enough, and what transparency should look like when taxpayers are asked to fund bigger budgets and higher tax rates.

From there, we move to enforcement and consequences. Fort Bend County Judge KP George’s sentencing on money laundering charges raises the uncomfortable issue of whether punishments match the seriousness of betraying public trust. Then we tackle the federal vehicle kill switch mandate, where “passive monitoring” sounds like safety until you consider privacy, Fourth Amendment concerns, and what happens when technology makes real-time decisions without due process.

In the second hour, Texas Scorecard’s Sidney Henry joins us to unpack the Texas Tech eligibility fight tied to sports betting, plus how DEI efforts persist in higher education through rebranding, conferences, and new language. We close with a gut-check on Texas STAAR results and why reading and math proficiency are not just school issues, they are freedom issues.

************************************************
Listen every day to our strong conservative programs on Patriot Talk 920 AM.  Tune-in on your radio in Houston to KYST 920 AM or download our app by visiting 920app.com or search for "Patriot Talk 920" from your app store!

Transcript

Welcome And What’s Ahead

SPEAKER_11 0:06

Houston Loving Baker in the voice of reason. Michael Wilson.

SPEAKER_17 0:33

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative here on Patriot Talk 920. I'm very excited to get into all this with you. We have lots of stories going on. Of course, we're going to have Texas Scorecard at the top of the second hour. Going over some stuff specifically today with Texas Scorecard will be exciting because we're going over some Texas Tech stuff and DEI stuff. You know the stuff we talked about yesterday. We'll be going over that a little bit more in depth in regards to higher education administrators, DEI conferences, taxes tech, federal lawsuits, all this sort of stuff that you won't want to miss at the top of the second hour. And so, but obviously we're not at the top of the second hour. And obviously, we also are going to have the weather report at the bottom of the hour, which today, if you've looked outside it all, is rain, rain, and potentially more rain. You certainly will be more aware of that at the bottom of the hour than you are now. But I want to let you guys know it's it's going to be raining today. It's already raining today, and it's going to be raining more. In the meantime, we have lots of stories to get into here in the first hour that I that I want to go over.

Why Austin Matters Statewide

SPEAKER_17 1:44

And to sort of kick it off, I actually wanted to kick it off with Austin, right? Because obviously Houston, H Town, it's a bad rap sometimes, and it should, right? We should hold our own people accountable. This is our city, and so this is where our primary focus is on kind of working. We desire to fix as much as we can about the Houston area. But the reality is that it's sometimes nice to look all around the rest of the state, not only as like a sort of pride moment for ourselves to say, hey, look, look what Austin's doing. Thought we were bad. Look at those guys. But it's also the fact that you think about it and you kind of realize that at the end of the day, we're all one big state. And if we're going to fix the state, of course we have to fix Houston. But it's also one day going to require fixing places like Austin and Dallas and San Antonio. And people in these various environments need to be doing that. It's also nice to kind of look out and to say, hey, you know, what's going on, not nice, let me rephrase that. It's also important. It's actually quite crucial to know what's going on in the rest of the state, because what the rest of the state does ultimately will will have massive ramifications on not only Houston, but on the rest of the state, on the rest of the country. It will also have ramification on the courts if things that other cities do end up going to the courts and the courts say rule in the favor of whatever the city does that may be insane. That'll have impacts on what our city can and will be willing to do. And so it's important that we address what's going on in Austin right now because it's actually it's one of those things where you just can't really believe you know it's happening because it's Austin. And so you're not surprised. I'm not looking for the word surprised, but you sit there and you think to yourself, how did we let it get here? Where did things go so wrong? And this is one of those stories where at the end of it, you're gonna sit here and you're gonna say, What happened? And so I'll just kick it off going right in. Austin's

Austin Grants To Sexual Health Groups

SPEAKER_17 3:44

municipal government has given over seven million dollars in subsidies to groups that promote high-risk sexual activity, including STD clinics, transgender medicine clinics, and so-called queer youth organizations. According to the data that's been posted to Austin Finance Online, the city has given dozens of grants to these organizations, primarily for, quote, family and social services. All three groups, this is not some old story, all three groups have been billed as recently as last week. And so the ASH Well Sexual Health and Wellness Clinic promotes itself as your freak-friendly, pleasure-positive sexual health and wellness center. It has received over three million dollars from the city of Austin since 2021. Services provided by this organization include pre-exposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, HIV, hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections, gender-affirming care, and vaccinations. Meanwhile, you have another organization, Texas Health Action, which describes itself as a nonprofit healthcare organization dedicated to providing high-quality, culturally affirming health care with an expertise in serving LGBTQIA plus individuals and people impacted by HEHIV, same group. They've received nearly $3 million as well since 2021. Texas Health Action sponsors the Notorious Kind Clinic and provides all of these sorts of intersex cares. They also underwrite queer-friendly media outlets. They also sponsor the Waterloo Counseling Center, which provides affordable, affirming mental health care for Austin's LGBTQIA plus community, people living with HIV and their loved ones. Waterloo Counseling Center provides these services to children as young as 15 years old. OutYouth, another organization, describes itself as the safe place for the youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities to be themselves and provide services to people as young as described as preteens, which is as young as nine years old. It has received over $1 million. The organization has promoted transgenderism and other sexualized content to minor children. It has worked extensively with Austin ISD and has also worked with other local school districts. And this is coming as the the as Austin's municipal spending is already facing this sort of unprecedented scrutiny given the issues with their budget.

Push For Outside Budget Audits

SPEAKER_17 6:16

Earlier this month, nonpartisan advocacy group, Save Austin Now submitted 20,514 signed and validated petitions to place a charter amendment on this November's ballot that will require regular outside performance audits of the entire City of Austin budget for the first time in city history because of how bad things have gotten. The petition calls for an amendment to the city charter requiring independent audits of municipal finances at least every five years. In addition, in the event the city council wants to pursue a future tax rate election, the proposed charter amendment would require the municipal government to complete such an audit before the election can be called. So not only is it every five years at least, but if they want to call for a tax rate election, you know, for those things to go up, then they have to undergo an audit before they can propose that. The City of Austin currently conducts various internal audits, which it's good, right, that they're auditing their own behavior. Uh, but internal audits, to be completely honest with you, I don't want to say they're they're worthless, because they're not, but they're not nearly as important as making sure there are external audits. People from outside the organization need to be seeing what the organization is actually doing, because when you look inside, right, there's obviously the concern of things like the very real concern, let's let's be honest, I don't want to mince words, we need to be honest about what's happening here. The very real concern that they're playing both sides, right, where, well, we're internal auditing, but is the audit really discovering anything? Is it really gone into with the goal of achieving success or with focusing on real issues that are happening, or is it concerned with making sure the city of Austin looks like they're doing well? And so the petition draw uh followed the November 2025 landslide defeat of Proposition Q, which would have enshrined hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal spending. So already in Austin, people are kind of fed up with the way spending is going. And so now we're finding out on top of the fact that kind of people are fed up with all of this, there's the reality that they're spending these tens of millions of dollars on these LGBT organizations that are supporting, I mean, children transitioning. And it's it's absolutely insane to see. It's absolutely insane to see how far this has gone. And again, we're we're kind of left with the question, where did all of this go wrong? We're kind of wondering if if this I know there are a lot of people who kind of doomsday approach things and they say that it's not fixable. And so what we're seeing, I think, is is a a really a perfect illustration of how the modern progressive city operates. I this is a case example because Austin residents, as are uh residents of almost every major city, they're told that the government needs more money. All right, that's what you're told all the time, right? They're they're warned about, um, they'll they'll say all the time, well, we don't want to have to cut city parks, we don't want to have to cut emergency services, housing programs, and these sort of functions the government is is doing. They're the people are then asked to accept larger budgets and higher taxes because according to the government, well, there's nothing really we can cut. And then you look through the books, then you look through what they're actually spending money on, and what you discover is that millions of taxpayer dollars are being directed toward private organizations that that are not just providing some sort of basic treatment to the people. These organizations openly wrap health care, counseling, and youth services in this broader ideological mission, right? Which is, of course, targeted towards affecting the youth with things like gender identity, queer activism, and this sort of cultural normalization of what I I can only coin as degenerate lifestyles, right? And look, I think it's important to understand the controversy here should be focused on whether the city government should be using your money,

Taxpayer Funding And Parental Rights

SPEAKER_17 10:20

public money, to subsidize organizations that comp that combine the argument for legitimate medical services with with these sort of insane ideological positions. When you hear phrases like pleasure positive, freak friendly, right, gender-affirming, queer youth, when you hear all of those terms kind of grouped together, that's not some sort of neutral medical terminology that they're using to highlight what they deal with. It's branding. It is ideological branding, is exactly what it is. And you're not being asked to like flund some sort of blood test or a doctor's appointment. You're being asked as residents to essentially support an entire moral framework. One that that treats this sort of sex, these sexual escapades as an identity that we have to affirm. And it treats any sort of traditional moral boundaries, right, like what most Christians would believe in, as obstacles that need to be like a speed bump that you have to go over. And that we're we're taking our time, but we have to get around all these moral boundaries that have been set up in our country. And of course, then that that's already bad enough, but then you involve children in that, right? That already, even if no children were involved, and I've said this for years, transgenderism, I know that the the number one goal we have is to fix the issue with children because children are the number one issue. But it needs to be eradicated in its entirety, as Michael Knowles has famously said at CPAC years ago, transgenderism as an ideology, needs to be eradicated from public life. Same with all of these lifestyles that glorify sexual evil, right? It is, it is, it is quite frankly the destructor of families and the destructor of good normal culture. And so then you get into it and these places are still serving children. And when you're when you're serving children, so in some cases as young as nine years old, you're working with public school districts and and you're promoting these gross ideas involving kids' sexuality, their gender. I think it's important that we look more in depth and say, what are we doing here? Right? What are you what are you teaching children? What counseling are you actually offering to kids? Are the parents informed of what you're actually offering? Are children being encouraged to view normal childhood discomfort as normal childhood discomfort, right? Like, you know, you have a girl who maybe was a bit of a tomboy. Are they being encouraged to say, yeah, that's something that a lot of girls go through and here's how exact that's acceptable and it's fine, and you went through this? Or are they treating that as this sexualized framework where, well, maybe you're actually a boy. Well, maybe you're not actually a girl at all. And these are not these are not hateful questions for us to ask, right? These are basic questions of things like parental rights and potentially more importantly, the protection of children. And this is happening, of course, again, as you have the city of Austin's government pleading that they're impoverished, that they just don't have the funds they need to keep up with this is why they try to put forward billions more dollars into budget deficits to say, hey, we we need we need more money. Hey, we need to spend more. Hey, we don't want to have to cut off essential services, so we're gonna have to raise taxes. Right again, they just adopted another six point three billion dollar budget. They've risen, their, their, their finances have risen dramatically over the past ten years. And then uh when they try to obtain even more money, voters then reject that wholesale. They say, no, we're not gonna do that. Right? And so the vote should have been understood very clearly, right? We want you to open the books, we want you to establish priorities, and you we want you to stop treating the taxpayers as some sort of unlimited revenue source because that's not what we are. We're not we're not designed to be a revenue source that you can just bleed dry. Instead, they they come up every single time and they hear, oh, oh, well, these these essential services, they're gonna suffer. Our emergency respondents, our parks, our libraries, these are on the chopping block. But then you turn around and you find out that you're spending millions of dollars on nonprofits and they title it just family and social services, but then you dive into the nonprofits that are actually funding for family and social services, and it doesn't seem like it's actually social or family oriented at all, right? And so I also think it's a really good reason why this audit is such a good idea. This, this, this new potential amendment to the charter is is crucial because I think it's important every contract, every single dollar that's spent from the city perspective, you should be wondering, hey, what specific service did you purchase with that money? Right? How many Austin residents then received that service? How much was the city paying? What did you achieve as an outcome? Right? Were miners involved? And then what parental protections were required in order for that to happen? And could you provide legitimate medical services without financing this activism plea? Right? Again, this story is larger than just these three organizations. It concerns the complex, right? We have the military-industrial complex, we have big pharma, big medical, big food, we have all these groups. You also have the progressive nonprofit complex, is what we've we've discovered we have. Elected officials collect money from taxpayers, they transfer it to these private organizations, and then those organizations perform this ideological work that, of course, the government can't do. They might, they might face a lot, they'll probably face a lot of resistance for doing, but they put it under a category of family and social services and say, see, we're helping the greater good. The nonprofit gets their money, the politicians receive their allies in the form of activists that will do anything for them. And of course, then the ideology is perpetrated to children all over the city. And because the spending is ultimately kind of fragmented uh across contracts and grants and departments, the arrangement in a lot of cases seems to kind of remain invisible until until you're actually searching the the payment records themselves and you find out where those dollars are going. You find out, okay, so your tag item, your family and social services, well, that's going to queer activism. That's going to the indoctrination of youth. That's going to gender affirming care, which of course they can't do surgeries anymore. But if you want to pretend like they're still not doing this sort of cultural gender-affirming care, that they're not still doing this mental gender affirming care where they're giving you different clothes and they're affirming your so-called identity, that's exactly what they're doing. And so the issue now is that is that we need the frustration that we all have to reach a breaking point where we have genuine reform, right? Where cities like Austin and others, H Town has similar issues. I'm not gonna prance around the issue and pretend like we don't have those issues here at home. We certainly do. And it's it's very, very important that we understand the end goal of all of this, right? We have to understand, okay, we need you to do the action, we're not, we're not calling for anarchy, right? I don't know anyone right now who's calling for anarchy. We don't want no government at all. When we say limited government, we mean limited in scope and function. I know that some people have said big gov, and we when we say big gov, we're not actually saying we're not actually talking about the the technical size at all. At least I'm not. We're not talking about big government versus limited government. I'm talking about the scope. Right? You could have the most well-funded government in the world that's still limited government. It's not even really about the money itself, depending on how they're taking the money, obviously. If you're raising it to the point where families can't afford to live, then you've again gone outside your limits. But it's not really about the size, it's about the scope. And the scope of government should be focused on the things that government is called to focus on. And instead, we see government focused on funding nonprofits that are indoctrinating into sexual craziness that that inevitably, by the way, inevitably results in confusion and frustration and depression and anxiety and goodness knows what else. And that's inevitably the end result. That's where it's going to go. And if we're going to change that, it requires that we get upset enough, righteous indignation, righteous anger to say, hey, it's actually absolutely disgusting and perverted that not only are you letting these things happen, because that would be bad enough, if these things were just happening. Bar even considering that you're spending money on it. Even if you took that out of the equation, that this is even happening in the first place, that those organizations even exist, is gross. And the fact that your government is funding it is a whole nother level. Now we got a text

Scripture, Culture, And Moral Clarity

SPEAKER_17 19:08

in. It says, Good morning, Michael. It's Isaiah 520 coming to fruition. I'm going to turn to Isaiah 520 here. It says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And I actually want to continue because it does say another another another few things. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass into the flame, so their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away as dust, for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One. On this account, the anger of the Lord is burned against these people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and struck them down, and the mountains quaked. And it goes on and on to describe the destruction that was inevitably coming for Israel at the time. But for all of us, if we look at the world this way, the ones who take away the rights of those who are actually in the right. If that is not a perfect descriptor of what's going on in Austin and all across our state right now, then I don't know what is. They take away the rights of those who are in the right, of those who are actually correct. That's that's exactly what's happening. Because we understand, as believers, as conservatives, as traditionalists, that there is actually such a thing as truth, that that exists and it's objective, and you can't change it, right? I I have a door in my office. No matter how much I want to think and pretend that that door disappears, the door isn't going anywhere unless I physically change it. You can pretend all day long whatever you want, but truth, regardless of what you see, feel, and believe, truth is objectively true. And lies are objectively false. And these people are painting across the lines with lies and half-truths and deceit. And we have to be willing to come out and say that's exactly what's happening. I know that these are still contested issues. I understand that even the cultural moment we're in today, that that these things have not been wrapped up in a nice little bow and and been done with. They need to be. They need to be sent back to where they belong, right? Which is the not even in the history books, really. They should be just wiped out entirely. But these things are still happening. They're still being funded by city government. They're still going on. I know that we would like to believe that with all the cultural momentum that we've had on the right, that transgenderism is done with and it's not popular anymore, and these things aren't issues, but that's not true. They've not given up. It's not over. This is the same conversation we're gonna have again later with Sidney Henry from Texas Scorecard, kind of going over DE. In the schools, it's not gone. It can be reworded and changed, and they can invigorate their bass with new vocabulary, but it's the same thing that's still happening, and it still requires our vigilance and our perseverance. Because I know it gets tiring. Believe you me, I am well aware of how exhausting it is to have to cover all of this and be aware of all of this and know that it's going on and be doing things every day to put an end to it. But that's what God has called us to do. That's what we have the obligation, not just the right, but we have the moral obligation to do. And the first step is always, and that requires speaking the truth and being aware of what's going on. Thank you for the text in, by the way. When we get back from the break, we're gonna jump over because Fort Bend County judge KP George has now been sentenced and hasn't got here. You guys might remember he was convicted a little while ago. Uh he was replaced in his capacity as Fort Bend County judge by Daniel Wong, uh the Republican running for that seat. We'll talk all about the sentencing and the future of that seat when we get back from the break. As always, if you would like to be a part of the show and text in as well, the number is 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and Lord willing, I'll be right back after the break. So stick around. We'll talk soon.

SPEAKER_18 23:26

Houston, this is Tom Gresham, inviting all gun owners to join me live every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. for gun talk. Call in with your questions or range reports, and let's tackle everything Second Amendment. Here on Houston's Leader for Gun Owners, Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_17 23:42

Hey y'all, this is the Lone Star Conservative Michael Wilson, and I want to tell you about my friends at Telgee Roofing. What might seem like a simple water leak in your house could be a sign of roof damage. Our friends at Telgee Roofing help homeowners uncover those problems before they get worse. Their experts provide free roof inspections, and if they find a problem, they will help you with your insurance claim as well. Don't wait for the next storm. Call Telgee Roofing today at 281-290-0606 for your free, no obligation inspection.

SPEAKER_05 24:12

Craig Klein here, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. As a Christian business owner, I know that faith and business go hand in hand. That's why I built Sales Nexus to help fellow Christian business leaders and sales teams serve their clients with integrity and excellence. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform isn't just about growing your business, it's about stewarding the opportunities God has placed in your hands. Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_19 24:43

Are pests creeping into your home? ProMax Pest Control is here to help. ProMax Pest Control tackles everything from roaches to ropes, keeping your home safe and pest free with fast, reliable service you can count on. Take back your space today. Call ProMax Pest Control at 832-283-0741 to schedule your service. That's 832-283-0741. ProMax Pest Control. Keeping pests out so you can rest easy.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range invites you to visit us at 3915-South Sam Houston Parkway East in Houston and see all what we have to offer. You can have our on-site gunsmith adjust your personal firearm, sign up for our various classes, plan your next event, and use one of our clean ventilated lanes to practice or to cite in a new purchase. You can also give us a call at 713-503-7645 or visit AGSARMS.com. That's AGISARMS.com.

SPEAKER_22 25:43

Chart your course for excellence at Houston Christian University. You will find professors who challenge you and help you discover your unique calling. Explore diverse degree programs and connect with industry leaders. Whether you hope to be an entrepreneur, teacher, or engineer, HCU equips you to pursue your passion for his purpose. Invest in your future. Your journey starts at hc.edu. That's hc.edu.

SPEAKER_07 26:13

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's going to get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com. Hi, this is Harold Guy.

SPEAKER_09 26:45

And this is Bill Olson. Texas Outdoor News is the longest-running, most awarded outdoor radio show in the state for a lot of good reasons.

SPEAKER_10 26:52

We bring you the latest news and information about hunting and fishing across our great state and beyond. And our guests are who's who from industry, government, and the field. Texas Outdoor News is brought to you by Ford Trunks and your best in Texas Ford dealers, the state's number one outdoor radio show, Texas Outdoor News. Saturday mornings at 6th on Patriot Park at 920.

KP George Sentenced For Money Laundering

SPEAKER_17 27:37

So suspended Fort Ben County judge KP George has now learned his punishment. This came out yesterday after a jury found him guilty on two counts of money laundering earlier this year. A judge sentenced George to six months, six months in the Fort Ben County jail, along with 200 hours of community service. He will also be on probation for five years. He was taken into custody after the sentence was announced. He will also have to pay a $25,000 appeal bond on each of the two cases, and his sentence will not begin until his appeals are exhausted. He was convicted, of course, back in March after a trial centered on allegations that he unlawfully moved campaign funds through personal accounts, which of course are third degree felonies. The sentencing hearing comes months after he was suspended from office following that conviction. He explained that money laundering charges can apply when funds obtained through unlawful activity are moved or transferred in a way that conceals their origins or nature. Another aspect of the case that's generated questions is why a judge, rather than the jury that convicted George, will determine his sentence. Under Nexus Law, a defendant can have either a jury or a judge assess punishment. In George's case, the sentencing decision was made by a judge. And so, of course, he's maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings. Um and he is well, by the way, you can still appeal his conviction. And so the sentencing won't start until he has exhausted those appeals if he so chooses to do so. We'll have to see. The one problem with an appeal, by the way, that that you need to be aware of, even if you're not guilty, right? Let's assume you're not. But you appeal. The one issue with an appeal is that when you appeal, all the former stuff is done away with, meaning that if you're convicted a second time, right, or a third time, however many times you have appeals that are you're available for, if you appeal and you're convicted again, you you are offered a different sentence. You have a different judge, a different jury. So if you're convicted again and you get a new sentence, and the new sentence, rather than being six months and two hundred hours of community service, six months in jail, two hundred hours of community service, and five years of probation, you could get two years in jail and four hundred hours of community service and ten years of probation, right? You had to get the gist, I'm not saying that will happen, but it's something that you have to keep in mind anytime you choose to appeal the process because it could result in a lengthier sentence. That's that's just something to be aware of, kind of unrelated. Just wanted to highlight that. But what I do want to talk about is how I don't think that this particular sentencing is what we should hope for, or what I think will be even remotely responsible stewardship of justice. I I just don't think it is. When you look at what happened here, I think it's I think it's fundamentally clear that this is not how things should go. I said back when he was originally, even before he was convicted, I said if he were to be convicted, here's what should happen. And then after he was convicted, I said, here's what should happen. Obviously, I I don't mind if we want to, you know, throw somebody and say, hey, you just can't interact with the public for a period of time. Right. I I get it, right? You want him to suffer the consequences of his actions. And 200 hours of community service is certainly a good start. But but a couple of things need to be very clear in his sentence that are not, that should have been very clear as a part of his sentence. As I've highlighted before, running for and being elected to office is not a right, it is a privilege. Right? We have certain inalienable rights. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. We understand that we have things that you know, the the right to keep bearing arms, for instance, these things that are inalienable, God-given rights that you have by nature of being a human being. There are other things that we enjoy that are not rights, they are privileges. That if you don't have them, your rights have not been violated. One of those is running for office. But there's a myriad of them, right? We say it all the time, the right to health care. Well, that doesn't exist, right? That's that's actually not true. You can have all of your inalienable rights and not have access to health care, right? If you live do you have your your all of your human rights if you if you live in the forest away from any jurisdictions in some random part of the world? Sure. You still have all of your God-given rights as a human being, which you necessarily have, but you don't have the right to health care because there's no health care there. Right? So we understand that some rights that they've claimed as rights are not rights, they're privileges. And that doesn't mean they're bad or that we should take them away. It just means you can understand, hey, this is not something that you automatically are owed by nature of being a human and being here. One of those things is running for office and being elected. When he was convicted of money laundering charge, especially related to campaign funds, I think it's very crucial that we say that is not the person we ever want to have any sort of responsibility in regards to taxpayer dollars or decisions that impact people. That that that particular individual should never be able to work for the government or or with the government in any capacity. That includes being a salaried employee of the government, that includes being an employee of the people in regards to being a politician, running for office and being elected. All of those things should be permanently off the table for someone who commits these sorts of crimes. That that should be that should be an immediate before anything else is even considered. The the bare minimum that we should be achieving is you are no longer ever allowed to have the privilege to run for office in any capacity again. And I know that's gonna ruffle some feathers. Well, what if he changes? What if this, what if that? Well, those are the consequences of actions. And we have the needed and necessary evidence to say you're not a good leader, you're not a responsible steward, and we don't want you anywhere near the taxpayers

What Punishment Should Include

SPEAKER_17 33:18

or their money. I think it's totally fair to say, hey, you know what? We actually have standards for who's able to run. And I understand that we have we can have arguments about exactly what those standards look like and where we draw the line, right? Do you have to be a Christian that affirms the Nicene Creed? Like what the Apostles' Creed, what do you what do you have to be? What are the what's the requirement to rent for office? I understand we can get into the bulk of that conversation and we might have some disagreements on exactly where we draw the line. But where we what we shouldn't be doing is disagreeing that we should have some sort of standard. Right? We know this, right? You have standards for a variety of offices. If you want to run for president, there are age stipulations, there are birth stipulations, where you have to be born, what citizen you are, what age you are. We have those stipulations when someone runs for president because we think it's important to have a set of standards for who is the commander-in-chief of our country. One of the standards for every office should be that you've not been convicted of these sorts of crimes. That's the bare minimum. And then on top of that, every single thing that you did should be paid back to the taxpayers. Now, community service is the gr is actually a phenomenal way to do that. And I would even be okay with a level of incarcerated community service. I've said that before. My my antithesis to jails, my issue with jails is not really their existence as much as it is the way they're operated, the expense cost, and how it doesn't actually result in any beneficial anything for the taxpayers. If we had it more like a setup where maybe people were working more again, working manual labor, or where it wasn't even a prison, but people were still kind of a part of society, but were required to do certain work for a period of time, that would be totally fair and on the table. I don't actually hate the community service part of this or being on probation where you're being watched. I think those are actually positive aspects of the sentencing. In fact, if I could change anything, it would be to up the community service hours, double or triple them, at least. And then, of course, on top of that, it would be to make sure that our our prison sentence, quote unquote, is switched out with the ineligibility to ever run for office again. You took advantage of the people, you took advantage of the system, you violated your oath of office and your oath of campaigning. And as a result, you're precluded from ever running again. With that being said, we get back from the break. You have grassroots activists who are now urging the repeal of the federal vehicle kill switch mandate. You have a coalition of conservative activists who are warning that a federal law mandating kill switches in vehicles poses serious constitutional violations. We'll talk all about those violations when we get back from the break. As always, if you'd like to text in, the number is 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative. And Lord willing, I return with that repealing possibility after the break. So stick around.

SPEAKER_08 36:17

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base cam for the America First Movement. I'm Todd Starns and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at PatriotTalk920.com.

SPEAKER_14 36:32

My doctor won't take my plan anymore.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Why is my Medicare supplement so expensive?

SPEAKER_14 36:38

My prescription drug plan sucks.

SPEAKER_13 36:41

When you need some help with Medicare, go to Senior Health Services.com.

SPEAKER_04 36:49

In all seriousness, we know you're frustrated, but if you'll call 281-894-7540, we'll help you with your Medicare and we'll do it for free. Plus, we're not with the government and we are fully licensed to help.

SPEAKER_05 37:02

Houston, this is Craig Klein, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. At Sales Nexus, we're proud to support businesses and organizations that make a difference, like Patriot Talk 920. As one of our valued clients, Patriot Talk 920 trusts SalesNexus to manage their leads, automate communications, and build strong relationships with listeners and advertisers. Ready to take your sales to the next level? Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_17 37:33

For roofing you can trust, choose Telgee Roofing. Family owned and operated since 2009, Telgee Roofing has installed nearly 60,000 roofs using primarily GAF shingles, the oldest and largest shingle manufacturer. GAF state-of-the-art roofing systems are built for durability, beauty, and energy efficiency. Every job is verified by GAF for quality assurance. With a 25-year stain guard and a 50-year maintenance warranty, your most valuable investment, your home, is safe and protected. Call 281-290-0606 or visit Telgeeroofing.com today.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range is the perfect place to hold your next company retreat, team building, family gathering, birthday, bachelor, or bachelorette party. If you don't have your own gun, don't worry, we've got you covered. You can rent one of our various guns. We have everything from full auto World War II relics to modern day pistols. Our trained staff and certified instructors will make your occasion safe and memorable. Go to AegisArms.com. That is AGISARMS.com.

SPEAKER_11 38:33

Tired of HVAC guesswork? At Texland AC Service, we test first. Then build the right solution for your home or business. Our team is bona fide, certified, and union strong. From diagnostics to final walkthrough, we strive for accuracy and quality using USA-made parts and equipment to build lasting solutions. Call 281-402-5100. That's 281-402-5100.

SPEAKER_07 39:03

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's going to get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

SPEAKER_06 39:34

Need to make a big impression? At Bullshirts. We've been Houston's go-to for custom screen printing, embroidery, and promo items for over 40 years. Want tees, polos, hats, or giveaways that fit your brand and your budget? We've got you covered. Stop by our showroom at 5485 West and Houston Parkway North or call 713-983-8080. Bullshirts, the trusted printer of Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_18 40:04

Have you thought about buying a gun or even carrying a gun? But you don't know if that's smart or where to start. I Can Help. I'm Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk. Call in Sundays between 1 and 4, right here on Houston's Leader for Gun Owners, Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_17 40:30

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative.

The Federal Vehicle Kill Switch Fight

SPEAKER_17 40:36

The Biden era Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. If you guys know about that, that laid down this mandate when it became law back in 2022. Of course, you had Terry Hall and Joanne Fleming, who were activists alongside nearly 200 others, who sent a letter to Senator Ted Cruz urging him as chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transport to prioritize repealing the order requiring kill switches in vehicles. During this convention that we had this past weekend, uh you had Terry Hall, who spearheaded an effort on Saturday to bring attention to the issue, with delegates holding signs calling for the repeal during Cruz's speech. Now, kill switches were originally introduced as a way to reduce traffic fatalities caused by drunk and otherwise impaired driving. The IIJA Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act ordered the National Highway Traffic Stage Administration to passively monitor a driver's performance to identify impairment and prevent or limit vehicle operation if impairment is detected, right? Also to passively and accurately detect whether a driver's blood alcohol concentration is at or above the legal limit and prevent or limit driving and vehicle operation if that limit is detected, or use a combination of those two systems to make sure, hey, this person impaired and should not be driving. However, Hall and Fleming state that using passive in this context would require the system to always be operating, leading to serious privacy violations against every American citizen. They argue that the system outlined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can be used for warrantless surveillance, which would violate the Fourth Amendment. In addition, they wrote that the technology used to disable the vehicle does not pass constitutional muster since it fails to afford drivers any due process and would, in effect, try and convict a driver in real time of a criminal act completely outside the protective framework of a court of law in a trial by a jury of one's peers. Again, it feels very minority report-ish. Now, let me let me present a situation to you. I think people do not realize how bad this has gotten and how real this stuff is. Imagine, right? We talked to what Charles Playing last Friday about these flop cameras, because these are real and they're here and they're happening. They use AI algorithms to track your particular driving. They want to start a partnership with the company Ring, which you know makes the doorbell cameras, but they now also make interior cameras, exterior cameras, basically every camera you could want for any sort of protection. A lot of it's being made by Ring. And Flock wants a sort of partnership with that company. So now you have these AI cameras that are watching everything they that you do. They know your name, they know your driver's license, they know your license plate, they know every dent and scratch on your car, they know where you work, where you when you change jobs, they know everything because they track all of your driving and keep it in a database that's then algorithmically stored and tracked to keep an update on you as a person. Now you combine that with the federal mandate for kill switches that are accessible and that are not related to due process whatsoever. And you have an AI camera that decides you weaved a little too much. And now without a police officer, without a jury, without any due process, your vehicle is just shut off. You're not able to drive anywhere because they didn't like how you were driving. They didn't like where you're maybe, maybe in the future, they didn't like where you were going. They didn't like who you were meeting, they didn't like the things you were talking about. And so there was an error where your vehicles. Stop working in the middle of the highway. And I know people are going to look at me like I'm crazy and talking about some sort of dystopian future, like a minority report. But I hate to tell you, that's exactly where things are legitimately headed. And I'm not trying to be some sort of doomsday dystopian guy who says, no, it's unstoppable. The tech is here. And we are I'm not trying to sound like a crazy radical conspiracy theorist. I'm trying to look through this logically. But none of this is good. Your vehicles having government accessible kill switches mixed with cameras that we're buying and installing in our cities that track every movement that you do while a partnership with the ability to watch you basically wherever you go. Does anyone think that that's a good idea? Does anyone see how quickly this could all go so so very wrong if it hasn't already? And that's why every single one of these needs to be repealed. We need to start saying, hey, we're gonna undo our transaction with Flock. We're gonna undo what we've already done. Uh we're going to make sure that there isn't some sort of monopolistic regime that where you have a partnership between Flock and Ring Doorbell. We're going to make sure that we repeal these kill switches because this is insane and very clearly wildly unconstitutional. All of that is crucial. With that being said, of course, we're going to cover the weather report. We get back to wrap up the first hour of the show. As always, if you would like to text in, let us know your thoughts on anything we're covering. Let us know what you want to talk about. If you have a story that you you kind of heard or reported on, but you want to hear more about, feel free to text in and let us know at 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. And Lord willing, our return after this break with our weather report drive of the first hour. So stick around. We'll talk soon.

SPEAKER_10 45:46

Hi, this is Harold Gunn, inviting you to join Bill Olson and me for Texas' longest running and most awarded outdoor show. Brought to you by Bill Ford Tough Trucks, it's Texas Outdoor News. Join us Saturday mornings at 6 on Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_11 46:02

Got one room hotter than the rest? Texland AC service fixes what others miss. High performance HVAC done right. Call 281-402-5100. That's 281-402-5100.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Hey guys, it's Mike here, co-owner of Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range. Located on 288 MLAA. I wanted to personally invite you guys out to check out our firearm store. We have a huge collection of firearms you can purchase right there. Meet some of our certified instructors. They can do one-on-one classes. We can even get a group together and do classes with your group. And if you want to go down range, guess what? We can do that too. Just check us out at agentsarms.com. That's A-G-I-Sarms.com.

SPEAKER_02 46:48

The Medicare Minute with Justin White is brought to you by Senior Health Services.

SPEAKER_04 46:52

If you are of Medicare aids or getting close or you have a loved one that is, be careful with those unsolicited phone calls that I know you know about. We get told about them all the time. What you need to know is that many of those phone calls are not even legal. They're coming from offshore call centers. Sometimes they're calling regardless of whether you're on the do not call list. Isn't that nice of them, by the way? It's really sweet of them to just do that because they are thinking that they can't get caught. Bottom line is when you get on there and you talk to them, they're already kind of operating sidelong of what should be done. And sometimes people end up in plans that they did not intend to enroll in. And so what do you do? Call somebody local. If you got a local agent, my gosh, call them and get in front of them. And if you don't have a good agent, think of an organization like Senior Health Services where you can sit down, talk about what you're looking for, and get the help that you need. You don't need to be talking to phone operators in other countries that you don't know who they are, where they are, or what in the world they're doing.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Medicare choices are easier with a professional in your corner. Senior Health Services is not associated with the government, so you know you can trust them. Visit Senior Health Services.com today to connect with a trusted agent for a free consultation.

SPEAKER_23 48:17

Listen up, Patriots. Got armory needs? Then you need Fire Armadillo. They've got guns, tactical gear, body armor, firearm training classes, and more. Call 832-437-3869. You won't find a better place to go for your firearm needs than Fire Armadillo. Call 832-437-3869 or visit firearmadillo.com for more information. Get fired up, Houston, with Firearmadillo.

SPEAKER_05 48:47

Hi, I'm Craig Klein, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. I started Sales Nexus to help sales teams like yours close deals faster and more efficiently. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform streamlines your sales process. With Sales Nexus, you can manage leads, automate email and text campaigns, and gain clear insights into your sales pipeline. Visit salesnexus.com. That's salesnexus.com to start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_08 49:18

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base cam for the America First Movement. I'm Todd Starns and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at PatriotTalk920.com.

Flood Watch Then Heat Surge

SPEAKER_17 49:56

Heavy rainfall could compliment complicate all travel today as as southeast Texas weather hazards the flip from flooding to dangerous heat all at the same time. With the localized flooding possible wherever heavier bands of storms set up. The greatest rainfall totals are expected to rain closer to the immediate coastline, but enough uncertainty remains to keep most of Southeast Texas under a flood watch generally. Now, throughout today, current projections favor the heavy heaviest rainfall remaining offshore. This does happen. Heavier rainfall along the Upper Texas Gulf Coast could bring an extra two to four inches of rain. Again, higher amounts are possible if rainbands soak the exact same neighborhoods for an extended period of time. Flooding concerns remain highest just south of I-10 and closer to the coast where tropical moisture will be most concentrated through this evening. Now, I will say that the weather should improve rapidly tomorrow as that tropical system is moving closer and deeper into Louisiana and Southeast Texas shifts to the drier side of that circle. Rain chances are expected to fall off quickly during the morning tomorrow, with sunshine becoming increasingly common by tomorrow afternoon. The return of dry weather will bring an end to the flooding threat for most of the region, but it will also set the stage for a different weather concern because sunshine, humidity, and light winds are going to combine to send temperatures and heat index values soaring by the end of the week. The hottest stretch is expected from Friday through the weekend, when humidity-driven heat index values, or it feels like temperatures, could climb above 110 degrees in the afternoon. And overnight lows might suggle even fall below the upper 70s and lower 80s, again, offering not a lot of relief from the heat after sunset. Several consecutive days of extreme heat and warm nights can, of course, increase any sort of risk associated with high heat. So be sure if you're spending a lot of time outside, you're staying hydrated, you're making sure to keep an eye on your own health and well-being. But do be aware that that's kind of what we're seeing coming out right now. More rain today. Be prepared for that uh throughout the day. And then as that kind of wraps up and concludes kind of staying dry until we get to the weekend, there's some potential stuff for some light rain over the weekend, though that's not set in stone yet. Right now, drier conditions are more favorable, especially going into next week. We're looking at drier conditions. Those actual highs could be in the 90s, lows in the upper 70s, low 80s. Uh, and that'll do it for your weather report for today. With that being said, we have Sydney Hinnity from Texas Scorecard coming on after the break. So if you'd like to text in, the number is 713-779-5978. Again, that is 713-779-KYST. My name is Michael Wilson. You are listening to the Lone Star Conservative, and Lord William will be back at the top of the next hour.

SPEAKER_11 52:55

From deep in the heart of Texas, it's Houston's God-loving patriot, the voice of reason. This is the post-tar conservative, Michael Wilson.

Texas Tech Eligibility Lawsuit Explained

SPEAKER_17 53:22

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative here on Patriot 920. Joining me now is our good friend, Sidney Henry, with Texas Scorecard. They've been following two stories involving, I mean, really both involve Texas institutions, the the this big legal and political fight surrounding this Texas Tech quarterback, as well as the continuation of DEI, in other words, within higher education. Uh joining us is Sidney Henry. Welcome to the show, Sidney.

SPEAKER_12 53:51

Thanks so much for having me, Michael.

SPEAKER_17 53:53

Of course. And I want to kick it off with this first big story. Uh, and let's let's start with Texas Tech. So this dispute, I think, involved like the NCAA, Texas Tech, the Big 12 conference, Attorney General Ken Paxton, potentially the NFL. Like there's a lot of stuff kind of involved in this. Kind of bring us up to see some background. What did Brandon Brendan Sorsby do? And why was his eligibility originally revoked? Kind of where did all this start?

SPEAKER_12 54:17

So all this started when Dorothy was still at Indiana, and it turned out he had made some wagers for fighting on his own team, which led the NPAA to declare him ineligible. And he had never played protection yet. He transferred to kind of got brought into the fight. Um ineligibility. And so thinking that and all of the other things kind of happening in this June 22nd deadline for a supplemental draft for the NFL, Brendan Torsey has decided actually not to continue uh at tech and to try and enter the NFL draft.

SPEAKER_17 56:18

So this is a mess from start to finish. I think is the fairest way to kind of sum a lot of this up. And I look, regardless, I mean I mean Texas already has like a massive ongoing issue with sports betting, these prediction markets that are essentially sports betting, but they kind of loophole the rules by being quote unquote prediction markets rather than actual gambling. It's it's a whole mess in general. And you throw in that he bet on his own team. I have to wonder what was the do we do we have any idea what the court's reasoning was when they said that he could play? Because that kind of is where a lot of this spiraled, right? Like if if if it had stayed that he couldn't play, then even transferring to tech wouldn't have much of an issue. The Big 12 wouldn't really, I don't feel the need to have gotten involved, and you wouldn't have Paxton. Do we have any idea what the court's reasoning was for, hey, you gambled on your own team. The NCAA, I think, rightfully revoked your ability to play, and then the court said, no, you can play anyway. What kind of do we know what happened there?

SPEAKER_12 57:08

I think the court kind of argument was soy had filed this lawsuit against the NAAC like Tex was not involved in this, this was Orgy. And he was basically seeking to get that overturned. And the judge was like, Well, yeah, there's proof of what the NPAA is doing will like harm you, and so I'm gonna give you an involved case played out. Well, if the case had played out, it would have taken months and Georgie would have gotten the play. So that was where they're I don't know necessarily that the judge misapplied the law because generally that's kind of what they do is they say, you know, if this is gonna harm someone, we're gonna let the case play out and get a final decision before we take away privileges or whatever the case may be. Uh it just in this case, it would mean Georgia got the play and the Big 12 and the NCAA would not have it.

SPEAKER_17 57:57

Right. So this I think is actually a fairer indictment on the the speed of the courts, uh as we have heard talk about frequently, where courts take months to years to rule through a case, and it's unfair for both sides of the aisle when that happens. Uh yet again, you're seeing that, right? It's not really fair that he's punished when it's not gone through proper trial, but also it's not really fair to everybody else when it comes out that maybe he did do it and he was allowed to play in the meantime. And so I kind of see where all this is coming from. Now, of course, it obviously once the attorney general got involved, I think this score story kind of skyrocketed above. Uh, I don't want to say that it made its way out of sports territory, but I think it went from people that maybe were already kind of invested in college sports and knew a lot about what was going on to being more mainstream because now you had attorney general involvement kind of entering. What was, I guess you kind of highlighted a little bit. Was Paxton's main kind of central argument in all this, uh, that it would just do damage to tech and therefore, regardless of any of the other things that he didn't like what the Big 12 was doing, or that the Big 12 didn't actually have the authority and their own bylaws to do it. What was the argument from Baxton's office on that?

SPEAKER_12 59:02

Yeah, I mean, that was that was pretty much his argument. Not that they I don't necessarily know that he didn't even argue that he argued that they didn't have the authority. He was also arguing that it would harm tech. And so if it harmed tech, um tech could bring forth action. And the big 12 was arguing kind of you know their right to association, so they have a right to enforce. The big 12 was arguing they had a right to association and a right to enforce their own bylaws. Uh to be fair, it's the same thing the Republican Party of Texas is arguing in any case primary. Um saying, well, we have a right to who we associate, we have a right to how we do these things. So it's a very interesting, it's a very interesting question, definitely a question uh kind of for the court to handle.

SPEAKER_17 59:42

Right, and really for Paxton, because I think uh the Big Twelve also made this sort of argument where you say, hey, Texas Texas Tech, right, they can discipline students for gambling. Texas as a state prohibits sports betting as much as they can. And Paxton is, of course, uh defended in in prior times restrictions on gambling. So I think there was a level of of questioning saying, hey, so you reported the Republican Party when they did the same thing, and you've previously been anti-sports gambling and all these sorts of things, but now we're here and we're using our our own authority and bylaws, and yet you're standing with Texas Tech in this issue. Was this sort of like being caught between a rock and a hard place for Paxson? This is kind of my job, but it's not something that I necessarily actually agree with. Is that kind of a fair look at this?

SPEAKER_12 1:00:27

I think that's certainly always a fair look at it when you're looking at someone whose job it is to defend the state. Now, he can he can choose not to in certain cases, and he has, like he did with the Republican Party of Texas. He took their side over the side of the Secretary of State and not closing the primary case. But that's very rare. It doesn't happen all that often. And so typically you will find the state, and that's kind of what you're doing. Um kind of dealing with this is also kind of probably rock in a hard way to some extent of we spent money on this kid, which is a whole nother problem with college boards right now in general, right? Yep.

SPEAKER_17 1:01:30

Yeah, and I I also think one one other thing on this that I want to get to before we move to the next story that I have a question on. So obviously, this is all, you know, the the Big 12 is is kind of dealing with the federal court. You have these lawsuits ongoing, these these judgments. And then we heard from you that source be kind of announced, yeah, well, I'm gonna leave anyway. I'm gonna go for the NFL supplemental draft. Does that automatically mean these are dropped, or are these now still the general versions of the issue, right? Like let me let me reword that so it makes more sense. Obviously, the the concern now is not whether Texas Tech can't be harmed because he's leaving, right? So they're not gonna be the Big 12 is not gonna sanction them necessarily because it's not really important to do so because the guy's not playing. But is this still a question that the courts need to answer as to how this authority all plays out so that say we have uh SORS B 2.0 in five years that we already have an answer, or is it just gonna all get dropped? Do we have kind of an understanding of where that's going?

SPEAKER_12 1:02:26

Um, I am not a legal expert. I'm not a lawyer. Fair from my understanding, I suspect this would be mooted out, you know, like okay, the the facts are no longer a fact because the facts have changed, and so we're all gonna drop it. I suspect that's kind of what happens moving forward. Uh I haven't seen yet if any of the cases have been, you know, they put in their notice to say, okay, we're dropping the case. I haven't seen any of that. So I guess there's always a thing that someone can try and move forward. I don't think that's what will happen here. But it definitely does raise some there's still questions to be answered. And was this just like a one-off kind of crazy unique scenario, or is this something that's gonna keep happening because of kind of the mess you see in college sports right now?

Sports Betting Loopholes In Texas

SPEAKER_17 1:03:10

Well, and and of course, Sydney, we know this is all going on and it's all a part of the bigger picture going on in regards to sports betting in general. Like we mentioned, you know, you have Cal She and Poly Market that are all here in Texas. People are using them because they get around these loopholes, and there's a whole conversation going on around them. I think this this also raised a lot of tension because of the ongoing, hey, and not just sports gambling, but gambling in general, right? There's there's a push every year, right, in every legislature. Hey, we want to we want to add casino gambling to the list of priorities, we want to change this stuff. So obviously there's gonna be a lot of questions moving forward, not just on these particular types of cases, but on cases in general. What does the future of Texas look like in regards to sports and gambling and all the rest?

SPEAKER_12 1:03:50

Yeah, absolutely. And Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has charged the Texas Senate with studying the laws in order to see about closing some of these loopholes that allow for apps like Calcy and Polymarket to operate. Um they are. They're basically they're taking advantage of they're taking advantage of loopholes in the law. And so Patrick's looking to close those loopholes and we'll see what comes uh come January.

SPEAKER_17 1:04:11

Yeah. Now I wanna I want to jump over in our last few minutes to a completely different story, but still in higher education.

DEI Returns Under New Labels

SPEAKER_17 1:04:17

Um, of course, we know that there's been a lot of updates in regards to how DEI operates here in Texas. We know that that there's been a lot of, I'll say, cultural momentum behind ending DEI at our public institutions, especially because we've had DEI offices and majors and minors, and we've seen from a lot of colleges that that's been changing. What majors they offer, what minors they offer, what programs they have, what schools they have, what what offices they have. But we now have this conference um from NASPA. Can you kind of walk us through NASPA itself before we get into the bulk of this? What is NASPA? What is it a part of? What do they what do they do?

SPEAKER_12 1:04:53

Of course. So NASA is the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. And basically, like that's all the people who work in student affairs. Um they have a membership of around 15,000 people, 2,100 institutions across the globe. Uh and they had a conference in Austin, uh downtown Austin last week.

SPEAKER_17 1:05:13

And so again, these these are not necessarily just professors teaching classes, it it's everyone kind of influencing student affairs, and this includes administrators. Um, and so I think you guys were out there, Tech Scorecard was out there. Um, and it seems like, and correct me if I'm wrong, it seems like DEI is still very much present, or at least attempting to be present in our institutions, despite ending DEI. Can you kind of walk us through how that's happening?

SPEAKER_12 1:05:38

Yeah, absolutely. So we we've kind of we've known this since we started, obviously, right? Like we're gonna we're gonna end diversity, equity, and inclusion, we're gonna end DEI offices, all these things. Well, they didn't really end fully. Like some of them closed to some extent. A lot of people were shifted into other areas, things were renamed. Now we're kind of seeing what some of those new some of those new Culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy, uh, culturally sustaining pedagogy and first again. So basically DEI in a different name under a different name.

SPEAKER_17 1:06:29

Right. And I can I be honest for a minute. Whenever I hear words that are so very clearly warped things, like I had a I had a philosophy press professor in high school who said if you read someone in philosophy and they are incapable of wording things in a way that the common man can read them, then they're not actually a good philosopher. They're just an intellectual and there's a difference. These intellectualize things where it's culturally sensitive pedagogy, what does that even mean? What what even is that? And if we can't answer that question just by reading it, already we know that there's there's something nefarious going on. And when you look at the way that they're applying it, right, I think that's the bigger concern is like no one, I think, is anti-a sense of belonging, especially at college institutions. That's a large part of the reason why people don't want to go online. They want to attend a college because they want to have uh to a degree, right? We don't you know say all the parties and stuff, but they want to have a college type experience where you can make friends and room together and have that going on. And so no one's really anti-belonging, but the way they're twisting these words, I think, is the problem. Uh, for instance, with belonging, what what what does that what does that actually mean? What what are they actually saying in that?

SPEAKER_12 1:07:37

I think that is a great question, and we're gonna have to kind of see what all uh how it changes, but I think it it is a different thing from inclusion to belonging. So instead of everything inclusion, we're gonna use belonging. Like normal people want we're gonna keep clicking these kinds of left-wing things, everybody must be not equal, but there must be equity, uh very different kind of context.

SPEAKER_17 1:08:08

Right. And of course, the other issue on top of this is not only is this happening, but you also had people, uh officials from Texas public institutions who hold leadership positions within this organization or uh who participated in these conference committees. Right? We know we had people from um UT San Antonio, Texas Tech, Texas AM San Antonio. So again, public institutions here in Texas that are either in attendance on the board or are or are participating in these committees. So it's not even just that this is some out there concept where they're trying to bring it back, but it's actually from people in our institutions that are still there.

SPEAKER_12 1:08:43

Yeah, absolutely. And so we don't know yet how many people from these institutions were there. Uh we started asking them and they were uh basically like we won't know until everybody submits their reimbursements. Like, you know, we can't question it.

SPEAKER_17 1:08:56

Submit their submit their reimbursements? You mean you mean that they hope to that the the taxpayers are gonna fund their their attendance at a conference for a repackaged DEI.

SPEAKER_12 1:09:06

Yes, exactly. So they they get their continuing education hours or whatever that's called in higher ed, and they can submit reimbursement for certain things. So we'll see what comes of that. I think we'll probably check back next month once everyone submitted and go from there.

SPEAKER_17 1:09:22

Right, absolutely. Well, Sydney, we'll definitely be waiting to hear more about these stories, especially DEI in our higher institutions, so we can find out where this is going, what that looks like for the taxpayers, who's attending, and what changes that might actually have in our institutions. And of course, now that we have the legislative session coming up in the midterms, we'll be wondering hey, do we need stricter rules that don't outline DEI, but outline the actual cultural con components of DEI behind the scenes? And we'll be expecting a lot of reporting out about that from Texas Scorecard. In the meantime, how can people stay up to date with all the reporting you guys are doing?

SPEAKER_12 1:09:53

You can find us at Texascorecard.com and on any social media platform.

SPEAKER_17 1:09:57

Excellent. Well, as always, we greatly appreciate your time this morning for coming on, being a part of the show, and keeping us updated on what's going on in our public institutions. Uh and uh, Lord willing, we'll talk to you again soon. Thank you so much for having me, Michael. Of course. With that being said, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna come right back after the break and talk about this Baytown postal supervisor who was arrested after allegedly stealing $3,600 in sports cards from the mail and then reselling sports cards online. Investigators say that he stole an autographed Cooper Flag rookie card and tried to sell it to an undercover officer. If you want to text in, the number is 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. You are listening to the Lone Star Conservative. And Lord willing, I return with that story right after the break.

SPEAKER_18 1:10:53

Houston, this is Tom Gresham, inviting all gun owners to join me live every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. for gun talk. Call in with your questions arrange reports, and let's tackle everything Second Amendment. Here on Houston's Leader for Gun Owners, Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_17 1:11:09

Hey y'all, this is the Lone Star Conservative Michael Wilson, and I want to tell you about my friends at Telgee Roofing. What might seem like a simple water leak in your house could be a sign of roof damage. Our friends at Telgee Roofing help homeowners uncover those problems before they get worse. Their experts provide free roof inspections, and if they find a problem, they will help you with your insurance claim as well. Don't wait for the next storm. Call Telgee Roofing today at 281-290-0606 for your free, no obligation inspection.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:39

Craig Klein here, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. As a Christian business owner, I know that faith and business go hand in hand. That's why I built Sales Nexus to help fellow Christian business leaders and sales teams serve their clients with integrity and excellence. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform isn't just about growing your business, it's about stewarding the opportunities God has placed in your hands. Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_19 1:12:10

Are pests creeping into your home? ProMax Pest Control is here to help. ProMax Pest Control tackles everything from roaches to roads, keeping your home safe and pest free with fast, reliable service you can count on. Take back your space today. Call ProMax Pest Control at 832-283-0741 to schedule your service. That's 832-283-0741. ProMax Pest Control. Keeping pests out so you can rest easy.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:40

Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range invites you to visit us at 3915-South San Houston Parkway East in Houston and see all what we have to offer. You can have our On-Site Gunsmith adjust your personal firearms, sign up for our various classes, plan your next event, and use one of our clean ventilated lanes to practice or to cite in a new purchase. You can also give us a call at 713-503-7645 or visit AegisArms.com. That's AGISARMS.com.

SPEAKER_22 1:13:10

Chart your course for excellence at Houston Christian University. You will find professors who challenge you and help you discover your unique calling. Explore diverse degree programs and connect with industry leaders. Whether you hope to be an entrepreneur, teacher, or engineer, HCU equips you to pursue your passion for his purpose. Invest in your future. Your journey starts at hc.edu. That's hc.edu.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:40

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:46

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's gonna get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com. Hi, this is Harold Guy.

SPEAKER_09 1:14:12

And this is Bill Olson. Texas Outdoor News is the longest-running, most awarded outdoor radio show in the state for a lot of good reasons.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:19

We bring you the latest news and information about hunting and fishing across our great state and beyond. And up against who's who from industry, government, and the field. Texas Outdoor News is brought to you by Ford Trucks and your best in Texas Ford dealers, the state's number one outdoor radio show, Texas Outdoor News. Saturday mornings at 6th on Patriot Pump at 920.

Postal Supervisor Accused Of Mail Theft

SPEAKER_17 1:15:14

Rodolfo Silvis paid $3,617 for an autographed Cooper Flag rookie card on eBay in late April. And after not being home to sign for it, his girlfriend went to pick it up at the Baytown Post Office back in May. The case that came in it was taken out, it was gone, and there was nothing. This card could be worth a lot more in the future, though it's worth a lot now. He noticed a small incision in the box. Sylvis reported the theft to Baytown police, the post office, and eBay, hoping an investigation would surface the card. But by early this month, Sylvis found the card relisted for sale online, and this time he reported to the United States Postal Service office of the inspector general. An investigator working undercover connected with the eBay profile Sidekick 2019 and arranged to buy the card for $700 in baits in a Baytown parking lot meeting on June 5th. Police recovered the stolen card at that meeting and arrested 44-year-old Christy Smiley. Smiley had worked at the Baytown Post Office for more than eight years, where she served as a supervisor. Sylvus, when he found out that the suspect worked for the Postal Service, man, I can't believe that, were the words that came out of his mouth. When Sylvus looked to her eBay listings, she said it appeared in some of the photos she may have been wearing a Postal Service uniform, and some of the other photos appeared to be of items that may have been stolen from the mail, like jewelry, coins, and other cards. At the time of the sting, investigators also wrote a search warrant affidavit that Smiley's car smelled like perfume and bum bada bum, marijuana. When they searched the car, they found approximately thirty grams of marijuana, two grounds, two grams of powder THC, and more than forty-four grams of Adderall type pills and prescription bottles with the person's name peeled off. Smiley was also, of course, charged with possession of a controlled substance. In her truck, they also found a U.S. male ground advantage parcel addressed to someone else and noted in the affidavit additional charges are possible as that package gets investigated. During her interview, she initially claimed she got the basketball card from a colleague, but would not tell them the colleague's name. Eventually, she named a colleague and claimed that person found the card in a dumpster behind the post office and gave it to her. Smiley admitted that if her story is to be believed, it would still be considered theft that she took an item that did not belong to her. Investigators photographed her desk, noting it appeared to be where she took the photo of the card that was later listed on eBay. They're now searching her phone for evidence linking her to additional male theft victims. Now, what I kind of want to highlight here is this common thread we see. What makes it so infuriating, because of course we have thieves all the time that are strangers, that are prowling around porchs. I'm sure you've seen the video of porch thieves that will see an item get dropped off on your porch and will come steal it. But this was not a porch thief, right? This is a reportedly a supervisor inside the United States Postal Service whose job is to protect the property of Americans that they place into the mail. Uh which again is the common thread of a lot of these issues. We talked about KP George earlier, but it's this authority without responsibility or authority without character.

unknown 1:17:59

Right.

SPEAKER_17 1:17:59

Investigators allege that he paid, again, more than thirty six hundred dollars for this card. Right? And then he found his own card on eBay. Can you imagine you you order something through the mail, it's shipped to you, it arrives and it's not in the package, it's not there. There's no there's nothing in there, it's empty, and then you find it listed on eBay from the desk of the United States Postal Service supervisor. Um and again, it's not just that someone stole it, it's that the person whose main job it was to make sure that it didn't get stolen was the one who stole it. And of course, these are main allegations, right? And she's entitled to due process. Uh, but I think the principle is larger than just this single case, right? Whether someone is an elected county judge, in the case of KP George, a postal supervisor, a police officer, a school administrator, right? Any any public employee, anybody who's employed to a degree by the state or the country, the moment that that person uses a position of trust for personal enrichment, and it doesn't just necessarily mean monetarily. When I say enrichment, that can include power dynamics, that can include bribery for some sort of influence, whatever it is, there has to be serious consequences, right? We watched the same principle play out with KP George. Uh, we talked about him last hour, but I want to bring it back up because it connects very clearly to this, right? He's he's moving his campaign money through personal accounts and using it for personal expenses, uh, where he ended up sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation. And while the offices of KP George and this supervisor might be different and the alleged conduct might be different, the underlying moral issue, the the underlying problem here is almost exactly the same. Right? It's it's very familiar, right? Somebody was given access, authority, and a level of public trust to do a very specific job, and that trust was converted, in this case allegedly, in other cases not allegedly, but was converted into personal benefit. And we know, you know, scripture talks about it, Luke 16, that whoever's faithful in little is faithful in much. We talk about that verse often. Who is who is dishonest in little is dishonest in much. That principle is very important to this conversation because corruption is not usually, I know that the movies painted this way, but it's not usually someone announcing uh that he intends to become corrupt. It's not usually the villain in the movie uh that is so clearly villainous, right? Actually, you know you want to know a kid's movie that does this actually very well is Zootopia, right? And I I don't like it's not the greatest movie of all time or anything, but Zootopia, it's a kid so came out uh a while ago. They I think they just came out with the second one re rather recently, within the last year or so. But in the first one, uh spoiler alert, do you have to give a spoiler alert when the movie's like 10 years old? Spoiler alert, the main villain of the film is the the mayor, or the the pro temp mayor by nature of her having been like the chief of staff or whatever to the actual mayor. And she's this this little lamb that could never harm a fly. Totally decent, kind, kind of nerdy, someone that you would never suspect. And yet this person in a position of authority that felt justified came out and was the main villain of the entire film. And I think that's a very important picture, right? Because a person often does not just randomly be the villain. It's not just some random person that says, oh, and does some evil laugh and then I'm the bad guy now. That's not usually how it goes. It usually begins when someone that should not have been granted authority, that doesn't have the character to have a level of authority or influence, uh starts to think that the rules don't apply to him, right? I don't want to go down the rabbit trail of people like that or Tony Gonzalez, among others. Uh but he tells himself, hey, I deserve this, right? Nobody's gonna notice, I'll repay it later, or my position makes me untouchable, I can do whatever I want. And that's why accountability, as I frequently say, cannot depend on the party that you're in, what your title is, your seniority in any department, uh, or any connections and influence that you might have in the general public. We should be very clear about this as conservatives. Law and order does not mean that we throw the book at every Joe Schmoe that walks through the door and then we protect these politically connected officials and people who are inside the government doing insider trading. Equal justice, really, justice is by nature equal, right? Justice, by definition, shows no partiality, or it doesn't have unequal weights and measures. Justice means that the postal supervisor,

Accountability And Equal Justice Standards

SPEAKER_17 1:22:24

the county judge, and the average guy on the street are governed by the same moral and legal standards. And if anything, because you have that influence, because you have that authority, more is demanded of you. Which means actually the consequences you face for doing the same thing should actually be more severe. Right? Government, in order to exist and to function, demands a level of enormous trust from we the people. That is a requirement of government. It collects our taxes, we have to trust them to handle our elections, to deliver property like through the mail, to make sure that justice and it it's different types of government, different forms of government, different, different branches of government, but they have to do all these things from property to taxes to elections to prosecution of crimes. Um and the and when the people who we put in positions to do those things betray that that trust that we've given them, it does more than just harm the person who had a signed baseball card they ordered, right? That's not the only victim of cases like this. It it corrodes the trust that we should be able to have in our institutions, right? Because when you hear stories like this, you don't just think, man, poor guy. I I know there are people listening to this show that think, that's why I don't trust the mail. That's why I don't ship through USPS. Right? I I know people that'll say that. And for good reason, by the way, I'm not I'm not coming down on you. I think there's a reason that you're saying that or that you're thinking that. And the reason is because the trust in those institutions has become eroded. And why do you think it is that you have so many people who in 2020 denied the election? And I'm not I'm not going out against election deniers. I don't want to say I'm right there with you because, you know, Tucker Carlson and billions of dollars and what have you. But why is it that we have to question those things? Why is it that we are so concerned about securing our elections? Why is it that we are so concerned with making sure that our postal service is operating correctly? Because when you have an erosion of trust, it becomes incredibly dangerous to any sort of cohesion in a country. If you don't trust your own government, if you don't trust the people that are given a level of authority through the people's authority to do what you've called them to do, if you don't have that trust for them to follow the law and to be men of integrity and of wisdom and of virtue, if we don't have that, then we don't really have an operational government in the first place, right? We are constantly lectured, and we should be, uh, that we have to have faith in government institutions. But you can't, as with anything else, you can't command faith. It doesn't work that way. Right? You have to earn that through transparency and through competence and and especially through swift and quick accountability when things do go wrong. And that's the biggest issue with a lot of these things. Can I can I can I be can I be frank? I'm not Frank. I'm Michael. Can I be honest for a minute? The issue is not even that people do bad things. Because we know that's gonna happen. Right in any case. The question is not whether people do bad things. The question, the more important question is what do we do when they do bad things? That that is a more important question. Because I I don't think the public trust would be that eroded if this supervisor, who it's alleged right now, but somebody stole a single baseball card, and we all see it, and then we see the justice system punishes her harshly, she's never allowed. I mean, you say you can't go within 500 feet of a postal service. If you want to ship mail, you have to ship it from your mailbox. You're not even allowed to come near them. We don't trust you. We give very strict repercussions. You can never work again in this capacity, all these sorts of things. I think people would have a level of faith still in the public institutions. The bigger problem is not that people are doing bad things, the bigger issue is that when people do bad things, the response in regards to elected people or people that are in positions of authority is often willy-nilly slap on the wrist.

unknown 1:26:18

Right?

SPEAKER_17 1:26:18

KP George is gonna spend six months in jail and then he's gonna do his community service, and he's gonna come out and maybe he'll run again. And and and we're supposed to then sit around and say, Yeah, we have trust in that guy. No. And when he wins, people are immediately going to be suspicious of anything that he does, and for good reason. Because the accountability wasn't accountability at all. Because he wasn't held accountable at all, and we don't trust him. And now we don't trust whatever he's serving, right? If he runs and he's say, you know, I'm using this as a random example because it's never gonna happen. He was last place, no one's ever gonna trust him in Fort Bend County again. But if he ran for a Fort Bend County judge and he won, you're gonna have a whole slew of the population that says, I don't trust our county government because of who's in charge of it. That's going to happen. And you don't want that. That's why the response is arguably, really inarguably, more important than merely what happens in the first place. And it's kind of backwards because you see the same principle applied against the people. I'll give you a very clear example of this. When you see a mass shooting or some sort of violence that comes out of someone using a firearm, what's the response of the government in a variety of cases? Oh, it's how about we take your rights away?

unknown 1:27:25

Right?

SPEAKER_17 1:27:25

How about we give accountability in the form of corporal punishment to every law-abiding citizen that that has Second Amendment rights? We we strip you of those. They won't do it for our institutions. They won't do it for our government-elected leaders, but they'll do it to you.

Second Amendment Advocacy Pitch

SPEAKER_17 1:27:40

And that's why, while we're fighting this fight for more accountability in our government, you also have to be fighting the fight against the tyranny and oppression that comes from violating your rights. And so at the same time as we're fighting the fight against or for government accountability, we also need to become a member of our sponsor, Gun Owners of America. Gun Owners of America understands that this argument is applied frequently to. Your rights. Well, some bad guy did something bad and therefore your rights stripped away. Not how rights work, by the way. That's how privileges work. And the Second Amendment is not a privilege, it is a God-given, constitutionally enshrined right. And that means something. That means that that Gunners America believes they have the obligation, and they do, to defend your rights, which looks like campaigning for candidates that will do that in office. That means when they're in office, lobbying for good bills to be passed through committees and through the floor and to get voted on and turned into law. And that means that when God forbid a bad law or a bad ordinance or a bad order goes through, that someone's there to sue and say, that's not constitutional. You can't do that to people. So if you want to become a member, you can go to G-O-Ahouston.com. That is G-O-A-Houston.com is a $25 annual membership, $25 per year, which goes right back to the continued defense and support of your Second Amendment rights. One more time. That is G-Oahahuston.com. With that being said, when we get back from the break, we're going to talk about the TEA, who are saying they are encouraged by the 2026 STAR results for grades three through eight. Uh yet a quarter to a third of those students failed to even approach grade level expectations in reading and math. We'll talk more about the details of those updated star announcements and results. When we get back from the break, if you would like to text in, as always, the number is 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative. And Lord willing to be right back after this break to talk all about public education and the new star tests when we get back.

SPEAKER_08 1:29:44

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base camp for the America first movement. I'm Todd Stearns and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at Patriot Talk920.com.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:02

Why is my Medicare supplement so expensive?

SPEAKER_14 1:30:05

My prescription drug plan sucks.

SPEAKER_13 1:30:09

When you need some help with Medicare, go to Senior Health Services.com.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:16

In all seriousness, we know you're frustrated, but if you'll call 281-894-7540, we'll help you with your Medicare and we'll do it for free. Plus, we're not with the government and we are fully licensed to help.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:29

Houston, this is Craig Klein, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. At SalesNexis, we're proud to support businesses and organizations that make a difference, like Patriot Talk 920. As one of our valued clients, Patriot Talk 920 trusts SalesNexus to manage their leads, automate communications, and build strong relationships with listeners and advertisers. Ready to take your sales to the next level? Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_17 1:31:00

For roofing you can trust, choose Telgee Roofing. Family owned and operated since 2009, Telgee Roofing has installed nearly 60,000 roofs using primarily GAF shingles, the oldest and largest shingle manufacturer. GAF state-of-the-art roofing systems are built for durability, beauty, and energy efficiency. Every job is verified by GAF for quality assurance. With a 25-year stain guard and a 50-year maintenance warranty, your most valuable investment, your home, is safe and protected. Call 281-290-0606 or visit Telgeeroofing.com today.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:32

Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range is the perfect place to hold your next company retreat, team building, family gathering, birthday, bachelor, or bachelorette party. If you don't have your own gun, don't worry, we've got you covered. You can rent one of our various guns. We have everything from full auto World War II relics to modern day pistols. Our trained staff and certified instructors will make your occasion safe and memorable. Go to AegisArms.com. That is AGISARMS.com.

SPEAKER_11 1:32:00

Tired of HVAC guesswork? At Texland AC service, we test first. Then build the right solution for your home or business. Our team is bona fide, certified, and union strong. From diagnostics to final walkthrough, we strive for accuracy and quality using USA-made parts and equipment to build lasting solutions. Call 281-402-5100. That's 281-402-5100.

SPEAKER_07 1:32:30

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:36

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's gonna get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:01

Need to make a big impression? At Bullshirts. We've been Houston's go-to for custom screen printing, embroidery, and promo items for over 40 years. Want tees, polos, hats, or giveaways that fit your brand and your budget? We've got you covered. Stop by our showroom at 5485 West and Houston Parkway North or call 713-983-8080. Bullsherks, the trusted printer of Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_18 1:33:31

Have you thought about buying a gun or even carrying a gun? But you don't know if that's smart or where to start. I can help. I'm Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk. Call in Sundays between 1 and 4, right here on Houston's Leader for Gun Owners, Patriot Talk 920.

Texas STAAR Scores And Reality Check

SPEAKER_17 1:33:55

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative here on Patriot Talk 920. So let's kick it off talking about this story. This probably will take two segments because I actually want to go through all the results and then give my analysis of it. Once again, the agency that oversees public education in Texas is quote unquote encouraged by elementary and middle school students' academic assessment results, even though, as I highlighted before the break, a quarter to a third of the students failed to even approach grade level expectations in reading and math. So yesterday, the Texas Education Agency released results of the spring 2026 State of Texas assessments of academic readiness, known as the STAR test, for students in grades three through eight. The standardized academic achievement tests are, quote, designed to measure the extent to which a student has learned and is able to apply the defined knowledge and skills in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills at each tested grade, subject, and course. The latest results include assessments in math and reading language arts for third through eighth grade students, as well as eighth grade social studies. Due to updated content, the TEA has delayed release of the science results until July 31st, and I'm sure we'll report back when we find those out. Mike Morris, he's the Texas Education Commissioner, he said the 2026 results demonstrate both the progress of Texas students are making and the work that remains ahead of us. We are encouraged by continued gains in mathematics, especially with the growing number of students participating and succeeding in advanced mathematics courses. Morath likewise called last year's results encouraging, while acknowledging that much more work is needed. The 2026 results are mixed from a 1% drop in third grade rating to a 4% gain in fourth grade math, right? So you have some changes from last year. Results for reading proficiency, which is the like statistically the most critical component of student success, uh your ability to read well. And I've said this for a long time. Yes, mathematics is very important for logical cohesion, right? In order for you to well understand logic, you actually have to well understand math. If your brain can't the the same parts of your brain that understand logic and connections are formed very well through math, the the part of your brain that understands critical thinking and it's all interconnected with reading as well. Right? You you'll find that kids who can read young and read well are often more suited for success in general. And so reading proficiency ranged from only 49% to less than half of third grade readers meeting grade level, uh less than 60% of eighth graders meet met expectations, right? Less for your average third grader, the expectation, and by the way, can I just also say real quickly, this includes the fact that I think the public the star tests are wildly unprepared in terms of how they actually investigate things, and what I mean by that is quite simple. I think that if even if you meet the proficiency, so-called, by a star test standard for reading proficiency, you're still not actually equipped for where you should be. I still think the standards are lower than they should be. And so if less than half are meaning the public education's version of standards, there is a very broken problem, right? But math results uh revealed that less than half of students met grade level expectations were a low of 39% in seventh grade to a high of 49%. The highest group was fourth graders, and less than half of them were proficient in math. Less than half. The the the the the seventh graders less than 40% of them were proficient in math. And so obviously there's a lot of issues. Social studies also showed some changes. Um 43% of students failed to meet grade level expectations in social studies as well. And so last week they also released their ninth through twelfth grade, uh, which showed that that people uh again, barely half met expectations in English or algebra. So math and reading were also still absolutely horrid. But we're we're getting close to the wrap-up here for this segment. And I I want to go over what this all means and what we needed to think about it. So in the last segment of the show, we'll go over these results a little more in depth and give you my commentary/slash analysis on these issues, how we need to fix them, kind of going over all this government education and and what the issue is when we get back to wrap up the show. As always, if you would like to text in, this is your final opportunity to do so. The number is 713-779-5978. That is 713-779-KYST. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. You are listening to the Lone Star Conservative here on the morning show at Patriot Talk 920. And Lord, I'll be right back to wrap up the show after the break. So stick around.

SPEAKER_10 1:38:44

Hi, this is Harold Gunn, inviting you to join Bill Olson and me for Texas' longest running and most awarded outdoor show. Brought to you by Built Ford Tough Trucks, it's Texas Outdoor News. Join us Saturday mornings at six on Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_11 1:39:00

Got one room hotter than the rest? Texland AC service fixes what others miss. High performance HVAC done right. Call 281-402-5100. That's 281-402-5100.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:16

Hey guys, it's Mike here, co-owner of Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range, located on 288 and Bellway 8. I wanted to personally invite you guys out to check out our firearms store. We have a huge collection of firearms you can purchase right there. Meet some of our certified instructors. They can do one-on-one classes. We can even get a group together and do classes with your group. And if you want to go down range, guess what? We can do that too. Just check us out at aegisarms.com. That's a G I Sarms.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:45

The Medicare Minute with Justin White is brought to you by Senior Health Services.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:50

If you are of Medicare age or getting close or you have a loved one that is, be careful with those unsolicited phone calls that I know you know about. We get told about them all the time. What you need to know is that many of those phone calls are not even legal. They're coming from offshore call centers. Sometimes they're calling regardless of whether you're on the do not call list. Isn't that nice of them, by the way? It's really sweet of them to just do that because they are thinking that they can't get caught. Bottom line is when you get on there and you talk to them, they're already kind of operating sidelong of what should be done. And sometimes people end up in plans that they did not intend to enroll in. And so what do you do? Call somebody local. If you got a local agent, my gosh, call them and get in front of them. And if you don't have a good agent, think of an organization like Senior Health Services where you can sit down, talk about what you're looking for, and get the help that you need. You don't need to be talking to phone operators from other countries that you don't know who they are, where they are, or what in the world they're doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:52

Medicare choices are easier with a professional in your corner. Senior Health Services is not associated with the government, so you know you can trust them. Visit Senior Health Services.com today to connect with a trusted agent for a free consultation.

SPEAKER_23 1:41:15

Listen up, Patriots. Got armory needs? Then you need Fire Armadillo. They've got guns, tactical gear, body armor, firearm training classes, and more. Call 832-437-3869. You won't find a better place to go for your firearm needs than Fire Armadillo. Call 832-437-3869 or visit firearmadillo.com for more information. Get fired up, Houston, with Firearmadillo.

SPEAKER_05 1:41:45

Hi, I'm Craig Klein, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. I started Sales Nexus to help sales teams like yours close deals faster and more efficiently. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform streamlines your sales process. With Sales Nexus, you can manage leads, automate email and text campaigns, and gain clear insights into your sales pipeline. Visit salesnexus.com. That's salesnexus.com to start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_08 1:42:15

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base camp for the America first movement. I'm Todd Starns and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at PatriotTalk920.com.

Why Literacy Shapes A Free Society

SPEAKER_17 1:42:51

There is something very important that we have to talk about here. When roughly half of the students cannot meet grade level expectations in reading, we hear the word encouraged. When they can't greet meet grade level expectations in mathematics, they say, well, we've had continued gains because they they went up two points from last year, but down three points from the year before. And I I get the progress should be acknowledged. I say that all the time. Even small wins should be celebrated as wins, right? A student who improves deserves to be encouraged for that. But an institution that is responsible for educating millions of children should simply not be allowed to hide these catastrophic problems behind this polished language. We just shouldn't let that happen. Less than half of our students in the state of Texas are meeting grade level expectations in most of the categories discussed here, right? Third grade reading is at 49%. Only 32% of eighth graders are meeting expectations in social studies. Those are not encouraging numbers at all. And we need to understand what meeting grade level means. I mentioned this, but we're not talking about every student becoming a scholar or uh mastering calculus early or reading Shakespeare in elementary school, right? We're talking about the bare minimum of standards that the state applies, which are lower than what you should have for your own children. This is the the very, very bare less than the bare minimum, and less than half are meaning the less than bare minimum. That's what's happening here. I've said before I was homeschooled, my children are going to be homeschooled. I think homeschooling is is the best educational option for all families. Homeschooling allows you to tailor instruction to your child, right? A student who is really good in math doesn't have to sit still while the rest of the class is catching up with him. And a child who's says say is struggling with reading, uh, does can receive that direct attention without being quietly passed to the next grade despite not really being ready for it. You can choose the curriculum, you can protect your children from this indoctrination, and you can place education within a Christian understanding of what truth is. But I reject the idea that because I was homeschooled or my family's gonna be homeschooled, or you should homeschool, that I should simply stop caring about what happens inside public education, right? My children are still gonna have to grow up alongside the children that are being educated in these institutions. Right? Those students are gonna become voters and jurors and police officers and teachers and politicians. They're gonna shape the communities in which my children, your children, and our grandchildren are gonna grow up in. And a society cannot stay free when a large portion of our population cannot read or understand basic mathematics, which means they can't study history or evaluate political arguments with logic. When they can't do that, the society's gonna fail. And so we have to take very serious measures to fix all levels of education, including government schools. That'll do it for the show today. I want to thank everyone for tuning in, texting in, being a part of the show. As always, Lord willing to be back bright and early tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. when it'll be drier. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your Wednesday. Be safe out there on the roads, and Godspeed.