The Associated Press is quoting Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on a possible cause of the lost capacity.

Burst water pipes at two coal-fired powerplants forced them to shut down, triggering rolling power cutsacross the state, the lieutenant governor said Wednesday.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said this is something that "should not happen."

Dewhurst said he was told that water pipes at two plants, Oak Grove and Sand Hill, forced them to cut electricity production. Natural gas power plants that should have provided back up had difficulty starting due to low pressure in the supply lines, also caused by the cold weather.

The Obama administration thought it had an agreement from Netanyahu to freeze settlements, and sent Joe Biden out to inaugurate the new peace promise. But when Biden came to Israel, he was humiliated by an Israeli announcement that it would build a new colony outside Jerusalem on land that Palestinians claimed. Then when the `settlement freeze' in the West Bank proper came to an end during negotiations, Netanyahu announced that it would not be extended.

In other words, Netanyahu has since early 2009 taken billions in American money but told the US government to jump in a lake. The Obama administration did nothing, nothing whatsoever to punish this outrageous behavior.

So it can come as no surprise that Obama, Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been humiliated by Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. They told him to transition out of power. Instead, he on Wednesday and Thursday initiated the Massacre of Liberation Square, which has wounded nearly 1,000 people, most of them peaceful protesters.

Just as Netanyahu takes Washington's billions but then p!sses all over American policy objectives with regard to erecting a Palestinian State Lite, so Mubarak has stuffed tens of billions of dollars from Washington into his government's pockets but has humiliated and endangered the United States.

When Netanyahu steals Palestinian property or deprives Gaza Palestinians of their livelihoods, and when Mubarak uses American military aid to crush a popular demonstration, they underline to the peoples of the Middle East that their corrupt and unacceptable situation is underwritten by Washington. That message generates fury at the United States.

As long as the president and the Congress are willing to lie down and serve as doormats for America's supposed allies in the Middle East- out of a conviction of the usefulness of their clients and the inexpensiveness of putting them on retainer- there will be anti-Americanism and security threats that force us to subject ourselves to humiliating patdowns and scans at the airport and an erosion of our civil liberties every day. We are only one step away of being treated, with "protest zones" and "Patriot Acts" just as badly as the peaceful Egyptian protesters have been.

Jim D Morgan
I guess nobody understands its about the money. If the child is not at school, that school dose not get any money for that day for that child that's what its all about. If they cared about the children, the U S wouldn't have one of the lowest G.P.A. Averages as a hole. Our children would be in the top 5.

However, Heiser didn't show up for court appearances or pay a $200 fine. She finally showed up for a payment determination hearing and was ordered to pay the fine in $45 increments.

"I understand the fine part, but to go to jail because you bring your kids on vacation - you shouldn't have to do that," she said.

She failed to make those payments the last four months and a bench warrant was issued Jan. 6. A sheriff came to her house the next day and took her to jail.

So let's recap.  She missed court hearings.  Then she went and got a payment plan for a $200 fine.  Then she didn't pay for 4 months.