No, the specious argument is that this park alone supports the entire tourist income of the RGV, which is clearly what the press release implied. To say that this one park, one out of many parks in the area, is the lynchpin of Brownsville tourism income, is grossly overestimating the impact of the place. It's not the only park, it's not the only beach, and it's not even the best of the bunch, apparently.

First, you keep posting a link to the group's own press release. That's not exactly an unbiased source. But let's just go ahead and use their numbers, because they're still very obviously wrong about the overall argument.

Second, the Rio Grande Valley is much bigger than the 49 acres of land SpaceX is asking for, and the Boca Chica site is at the very farthest eastern end of the river. In fact, it's probably more accurate to think of Boca Chica as part of the Gulf Coast rather than part of the Rio Grande Valley. For reference, the Rio Grande Valley is the southern bottom of Texas, and Boca Chica is pretty much a dot on the Gulf Coast just above the Rio Grande. I don't have the exact numbers, but I'd guess that it doesn't quite make up 1% of the land area of the RGV.

Third, Boca Chica State Park is completely undeveloped, and is only open during the day. There are no, repeat, no facilities in the park. The road doesn't even stay paved up to the beach. Your precious hotel taxes? Not from Boca Chica, because there are no hotels there. Sales taxes? Not from Boca Chica; there isn't so much as a lemonade stand. So the money that your group is mentioning does not even a little bit come from Boca Chica, unless you count any parking fees, of which there appear to be none, as there don't appear to be any parking spaces at the park. It is literally just a beach.

So, no, it doesn't affect jobs, and I wish you'd quit tossing out the same link to the same damn article from TFA above. Here, here's a link from Texas Parks and Wildlife: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wildlife/wildlife-trails/coastal/lower/boca-chica-loop. Boca Chica is #43 on the map.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boca_Chica_State_Park. You can see some pictures of the place. The only development appears to be two old wooden fenceposts which show where the road stops, and a rusted-out oil drum for trash. Unless Texas hired someone specifically to drive out, straighten the fenceposts, and empty the trash, Boca Chica does not currently offer any significant employment opportunities.

"Scare the heck out of wildlife?" What does that mean in real actual sciencey terms? Because in five minutes I learned that they've got a decent-sized airport in the city, and the city scored the theoretical worst score on a scale of human impact on the environment, according to some arbitrary rating system invented by treehugging luddites. After about ten more minutes, I found that the actual site is so close to Mexico you'd need a passport if you tripped over a branch, and while the area is indeed known for its birdwatching potential, the only endangered thing even nearby is the ocelot, and that's well away from the site. The word "desolate" kept coming up, and this was in Texas tourism ad copy. Not "wild, windswept shores unsullied by the hand of Man." Just "ain't shit here; good fishin' though." So there's already frequent air traffic, and the area isn't exactly pristine wilderness. It's a rocket pad, not a strip mine. How much damage could it actually do to what appears to be a mile and a half of sand?

Meanwhile, it looks like the overwhelming majority of Brownsvillians not only want the site, but could use the revenue. Not to diminish the environmentalists' argument overly much, but from a distance this sure looks like a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing Austin treehuggers minding other people's business for them. I'll hazard a guess that Austin doesn't really need the money like Brownsville does, which makes it much easier for the Austin-based group to tell Brownsville that they ought to turn SpaceX (and any potential revenue) away.

Does this only apply to events held at venues, or will Mounties start riding up to backyard barbecues with their hands out?

Come on, Canada. WE'RE supposed to be the running dogs of corporate interests, YOU'RE supposed to be the hippy-dippy socialized medicine peaceniks.

...can I mod this "-1 ...whoa..."?

I've used a Droid, an Eris, and now have an Incredible. I use the Chrome sync feature, and I seem to recall that carrying over from the Droid up to the Incredible. Are you sure the default browser isn't Chrome, maybe just without the branding?

It isn't even necessarily that in depth. I mean, would blue-collar immigrants even know to fill out a FAFSA form to get grant and scholarship money for a kid about to go to college? When would parents meet with their kids' teachers if they work nights instead of a 9 to 5? There's stuff that those of us from middle-class backgrounds don't even realize we know that gives us a huge advantage over people who are coming from totally different backgrounds. Just like the children of the super-wealthy probably wouldn't know very much about applying for unemployment, or even that servers depend on tips for a living.

My wife is pursuing her doctorate in science education, and this comes up continually. Equity in education is a huge, huge issue, especially in STEM, and the theme that consistently shows up is that having parents who are educated, who are in the upper middle class, and/or who are in a professional field gives you a huge leg up. It doesn't mean that these kids work less, or aren't as smart, or aren't as deserving as kids from poorer backgrounds, but it does mean that they start out with larger reserves of educational capital than other kids. I mean, you could be a genius, but if your parents are working two full-time landscaping jobs and barely speak English, you're going to be at a disadvantage compared to a kid who has a parent who can spend an hour a day helping with homework.

Actually, she's American, and lives in America.

You said you were from somewhere else in an earlier post. I don't know what it's like in your crappy country, but in countries people actually want to live in, most people have higher than 3% body fat. But I'll bet you think Keira Knightley is what healthy looks like, right?

What is with Slashdotters? Plain? Stocky? "Struggling with her weight?" If you go outside twice a week you'll see that this is what most people look like. I think she's a cute girl who probably weighs what normal women weigh, for all that it's my business or even of interest to me. She wouldn't stop the music walking into a bar, but she'd definitely get a few drinks bought for her.

Struggling with her weight, please. She's wearing an H & M skirt that comes up to her nose. Aunt Flo was probably in town and she threw something baggy on to go buy groceries. If and when you con some woman into marrying you that will make sense.

God, seriously, you people and your sharp knees...