Monthly Archives: October 2010

Thoughts on Viernes…10292010

Posted on October 29, 2010 | Comments Off

DON’T MESS WITH MY PEOPLE!

The Teabaggers assaulted a good Democratic friend of mine at the West Gray polling location. Anyone who tells me these incidents are few and far between is very ignorant.

And Now, A Joke for Friday…

There was this Latino Libertarian…

(OK–stop laughing; apparently, they exist!)

Who Needs An Executive Desk?

I got the keys to the new DC World Headquarters today. Not much furniture yet, but ay vamos! Hell, this son of migrant farm workers can work anywheres!

You Call It A Teabagger Caucus…

…I call it Dan Patrick’s U.S. Senate Campaign Committee.

Today, The Father of Conjunto Was Born…

Yes, today would have been Conjunto great Narciso Martinez’s birthday.

In 1982, Martínez was inducted into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame. The following year, he received a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1989, Martínez was nominated for a Grammy Award.

And on Halloween…

it’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS, TONI!

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Posted in Thoughts on Viernes

What Is It With Republicans And Fake Photos?

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

It happened again. First the Teabagger group King Street faked up some protester photos for their voter suppression video, now, Pasadena state rep. Ken Legler’s friends used a fake photo of people in worker garb to portray them as Pasadena residents.

The photo used in the direct mail piece by some front group can be found at istockphoto, apparently taken by some dude from Denmark. So, it is safe to say that along with outsourcing jobs, he also outsourced the photo.

The Democrat in the running for HD-144, Rick Molina, had this to say:

“It’s bad enough Ken Legler is directly responsible for outsourcing jobs to China,” noted Rick Molina, Legler’s challenger for House District 144.  “But to have actors posing as our families reinforces that it is Legler who is nothing but a front for the same corporate interests who outsource jobs and disregard worker safety.”

“But knowing his record as most Pasadenans now do, I can see why local families aren’t willing to stand by his side,” Molina added.

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Posted in Bigots and Liars, LatinoVote '10, Texas Dems 2010, Texas Lege

BARC Needs You!

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

BARC, the City of Houston’s dog and cat adoption center, is beyond capacity.  The shelter currently has 671 dogs and cats at the facility designed for 550.  The high population is due to an increased number of owners surrendering animals to BARC over the last two weeks.

To increase adoptions, BARC has recently extended its presence in the Houston community by hosting five weekly adoption locationsaround the City, attending special events such as PetFest 2010, promoting its pets on Facebook, and launching a new website (www.houstonbarc.com).  BARC is upping the ante again this Saturday, hosting an event from 12pm to 6pm at the facility located at 3200 Carr, 77026 in a huge effort to attract potential adopters to the shelter to address the over-population.  The event will also provide benefits to previous BARC adopters and all Houston citizens.

The theme at BARC this weekend is: “Shelter animals bless so many lives, it is time for us to bless them in return.”

On October 30, BARC will partner with the Episcopal Diocese of Houston to offer non-denominational pet blessings for both shelter animals and members of the public.  Non-denominational pet blessings of animals will begin at 2:15 to our public pets at two BARC facility entrance locations, followed by a blessing of the shelter animals.  BARC adopters and service animals are particularly encouraged to attend.

“Many of our Episcopal churches do pet blessings each October to celebrate St. Francis’ Day and we are delighted to take that tradition to BARC. It is especially gratifying to have the opportunity to bring attention to the large number of animals that need permanent homes and to say thanks to the people who work with them daily. We hope lots of folks bring their pets this Saturday to join in that celebration,” said Carol Barnwell, Communication Director for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.

The band Cow-Jazz will be playing from 1 to 4pm, during which BARC Houston visitors will be able to take part in face painting, moonbounce games, discounted pet microchipping, a pet costume contest sponsored by Friends of BARC.  BARC will also have booths for local vendors, who include: Fido Fit, Invisible Fence, SNAP, Woof Pet Bakery, Call to Doody, Pet Photography, and Animal Companions Pet Sitting.  Visitors may also have their pets tested for Canine Good Citizen Certification, which is administered by American Kennel Club certified instructors.  You may view the promotion flyer at http://www.houstontx.gov/barc/barchalloween2010.pdf.

“Houston is a great pet community, and City residents support us so much.  We want folks to know that BARC is the place to come if you’re looking for a new animal companion, and that we recognize everyone who supports our shelter and animals.  Our event this Saturday is a chance to thank all of our adopters, fosters, volunteers and their families.  We also hope we get to introduce ourselves to Houston residents that may not be familiar with us, or haven’t visited BARC lately,” said Carlene Lormand, BARC Marketing & Outreach Manager.

The simplest, but most powerful thing you can do to help the BARC Houston shelter, and pets throughout our community, is to talk to your friends, neighbors, and family about caring for pets responsibly.  We encourage everyone to visit the new www.houstonbarc.com.

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Posted in DC Housekeeping, DC Ojo

Texas Dems Call on Emmett, Bohac To Denounce GOP Voter Intimidation Tactics

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

Yes, it’s about time for Ed Emmett, Dwayne Bohac and the rest of the Republican slate to denounce their Party’s (and associated groups) voter intimidation tactics. The Texas Democratic Party called them out today:

“The evidence is clear – these Tea Party extremists are doing the Republicans’ dirty work for them,” said Chad Dunn, Texas Democratic Party General Counsel. “If local Republican leaders like County Judge Ed Emmett or Representative Dwayne Bohac, who sits on the House Elections Committee, publicly denounced this group and demanded this intimidation stop, it would stop today. Rather than denouncing this assault on voting rights, Republicans are actually defending this group and their vote suppression tactics.”

Despite numerous media reports to the contrary, Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill has defended the King Street group and alleged that there is no intimidation occurring and that Democrats are inventing these incidents to stir up voters.

“Vote suppression is definitely not the issue we wanted or expected to be focusing on at this point in the election and it’s ridiculous for anyone to make that allegation,” said Anthony Gutierrez, Texas Democratic Party spokesman. “If Republicans would stop violating Texans’ voting rights we would be more than happy to go back to talking about how they’ve failed our state on issues like public education and jobs, but as long as they continue trying to keep minorities from voting we’re going to keep fighting to stop them.”

The Republican groups carrying out these illegal activities have stated on the record that they intend to implement their Harris County program nationally after this election.

It’s time for leadership from Ed Emmett, who has portrayed himself as a friendlier Republican. We expect silence from everyone else, but Emmett has thrived on playing Mr. Nice Guy. Call ‘em out, Judge Emmett!

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Posted in Bigots and Liars, LatinoVote '10, Republinutiness, Texas Dems 2010, Texas Lege

Jackson Lee Calls for Poll Monitors

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee called on the Department of Justice to send poll monitors and for an investigation into allegations of blatant voter intimidation at minority-heavy polling locations.

“This week alone, there have been at least fifteen reports of abuse of voter rights throughout the city of Houston, including the 18th Congressional district.  Although there are usually a few isolated occurrences of voter intimidation during the election season, the incidents that took place at polling stations earlier this week appeared to be both organized and systematic,” added Congresswoman Jackson Lee.  Poll watchers have been reportedly over-stepping the boundaries between observing and interacting in the democratic process by hovering directly behind voters as they entered their votes.  The group thought to be behind these acts is known as the King Street Patriots, reportedly tied to some Tea Party activists.  The King Street Patriots have deployed poll watchers around the city as they implement their “True the Vote” campaign.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee stated, “Many of these incidents of voter intimidation have been occurring in predominately minority neighborhoods and have been directed at African-Americans and Latinos. It is unconscionable to think that anyone would deliberately employ the use of such forceful and intimidating tactics in 2010 to undermine the fundamental, Constitutional right to vote.”

We’ll see what kind of crazy responses this generates in the Chron comments, but the bottom line is that it must be investigated and we must ensure fair, intimidation-free elections.

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Posted in Bigots and Liars, Houston Politica, LatinoVote '10, Texas Dems 2010, Texas Lege

The SB1070 – Private Prison Deal

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

Many of you have read DC’s opinions about the private prison boondoggle, whether it is about warehousing immigrant families, or Harris County’s use of private-run jails to reduce the local jail overcrowding. Well, NPR has a report on how Arizona’s SB1070 was the selling point for private prison development.

Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.

[...]

What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants.

“They talk [about] how positive this was going to be for the community,” Nichols said, “the amount of money that we would realize from each prisoner on a daily rate.”

But Nichols wasn’t buying. He asked them how would they possibly keep a prison full for years — decades even — with illegal immigrants?

“They talked like they didn’t have any doubt they could fill it,” Nichols said.

That’s because prison companies like this one had a plan — a new business model to lock up illegal immigrants. And the plan became Arizona’s immigration law.

So, warehousing Latinos in concentration camps does not only happen because of bigoted motives, it happens because of the tax money that will enrich these corporations.

So, as there are threats against Latinos which will turn into similar legislation at the Texas Legislature, we’ve got some work to do.  First off, we need to find out which legislators have received money from private prison companies.

The 50 or so people in the room [who were writing SB1070] included officials of the Corrections Corporation of America, according to two sources who were there.

And if any Democrats received money from them, they can expect an onslaught of demands for them to return the CCA PAC (and others) blood money. Because if we want our legislators to fight these type of laws, then they must set the example that they will not be bought.

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Posted in DREAM Act, Immigration, Texas Lege

Dia de los Muertos Poetry Reading in the Heights

Posted on October 28, 2010 | Comments Off

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Posted in DC Chicanos, DC Ojo, La Familia, Oportunidades, Para La Gente, Wise Latinas

RIP Arthur Gochman

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Comments Off

I was saddened to hear the news of the passing of Lawyer-Businessman Arthur Gochman. Some in Houston will remember him as a staunch Democrat, but some of us South Texans will remember him as a hero for equitable funding for public schools in Texas.

The case stemmed from the financial gulf between the heavily Hispanic Edgewood school district, where taxable property value per pupil stood at $6,000, and affluent districts such as the Alamo Heights district, with almost $50,000 taxable value per student.

Even with state stipends designed to level the playing field between rich and poor districts, those such as Edgewood invariably were disadvantaged.

“There was a lot of political pressure,” recalled University of California System president Mark Yudof, who, as a law professor at the University of Texas, also assisted Gochman. “School finance reform was for fools and radicals, but he saw it through. … It’s hard to put words in his mouth, but he saw it as a grave injustice.”

Gochman lost the case on a 5-4 split but was heartened by a letter from U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who admitted the court’s decision was one of the most disappointing in his 37-year career on the bench.

To this day the case remains a point of study for students of constitutional law. The case also set the stage for legislation in 1993 that sought to equalize funding among Texas schools and came to be known as Robin Hood.

Obviously, the battles for equitable funding of our public schools continue. Whether we fight Republicans in Austin or we fight wealthy interests who want to fund tax dodges locally, the life of Arthur Gochman will serve as an example for generations to come that the fight must continue.

Learning of his sudden death, his longtime friend, former state Rep. Frances “Sissy” Farenthold said: “I really feel like a candle has gone out.”

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Posted in K-12 Education, LatinoVote '10, RIP

DFERs Are DINOs?

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Comments Off

Apparently, a group called “Democrats For Education Reform” have quite the history, according to DFER WATCH.

As the website DFER Watch recently pointed out, at least two board members from the ultra-libertarian Cato Institute (co-founded by the infamous Koch brothers), made significant donations to DFER in the past several years, including former Cato Director Steven Ackerman and his wife, who gave a combined $10,000 to DFER in 2007.

DFER Watch also noted that Steven Klinsky, former hedge fund manager and founder of for-profit charter company Victory Schools, Inc., was one of only 17 donors to give the maximum $5000 contribution to DFER in 2010 – even though all of his other donations over the past year (over $29,000 in total) went to Republican candidates and political action committees.

Of course, the Koch Brothers (though not directly involved) are the proud owners of the Tea Party people who are trying to stop Latinos from voting here in Houston (and in District 8!), and the corporate charter school movement is all about profit, selective education, and teacher bashing.

I’m proud to say that my friend Juliet Kathy Stipeche is not endorsed (or Hot-Listed) by these DINOs in her race for Houston ISD Trustee District 8; instead, she is supported by community groups and elected officials who are on the ground fighting to provide over 200,000 HISD students a quality education, ensure fairness for teachers and district employees, and create an environment in which 21st century solutions are created for the challenges our schools face.

It does make one wonder. What’s the next group to be created to help right-wing interests?

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Posted in 2010 Profiles, Houston Politica, K-12 Education, LatinoVote '10, Texas Lege, Viva La Union

LULAC Responds

Posted on October 26, 2010 | Comments Off

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Posted in Bigots and Liars, LatinoVote '10