Category Archives: Local Business

Thoughts on the Freeze of 2024

Posted on January 15, 2024 | Comments Off

We are in the midst of a freeze, so, I guess that means I should end my one-month break from blogging. The reality is that I needed the break so that I could collect myself for what is to come in the new year. Politics isn’t very exciting lately, and public policy seems to suck even more when the President you voted for tries to pawn off immigration reform for genocide and war cash. Anyway, this freeze reminds one that we need to also think of the now.

Warming Centers

If one finds themselves freezing and in need of warmth, the City of Houston and Harris County are providing warming centers. One thing they won’t tell you to do is to MASK UP! I haven’t seen so many sickly, cough-y, sneez-y people in so long. Whether it’s COVID, RSV, Flu or some other respiratory ailment, they spread through the air and an infection can cause damage to one’s lungs. Masking up is the least one can do to make sure there isn’t a community spread in this emergency situation.

Acres Homes Multi-Service Center
6719 W. Montgomery Rd.
Houston, TX 77091
METRO: 44 – Acres Homes stop @ W. Montgomery & Wilburforce
Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center
6402 Market St.
Houston, TX 77020
METRO: 48 Market stop @ Market & Rouse
Downtown Recovery Center
150 Chenevert St.
Houston, TX 77002
METRO: 48 Market stop @ Runnels & East Dr.
Fonde Community Center
110 Sabine St.
Houston, TX 77007
METRO: 30 Clinton/Ella stop @ Memorial & Houston
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center at W. Gray
1745 W. Gray St.
Houston TX 77019
METRO: 32 Renwick/San Felipe stop @ W. Gray & Waugh
Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center
4410 Reed Rd.
Houston, TX 77051
METRO: 29 Cullen/Hirsch stop @ Cullen & Wilmington
ADDITIONAL WARMING CENTERS
Alief Family YMCA – 7850 Howell Sugar Land Rd., Houston, TX 77083
Lakewood Church – 3700 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77027

And I’ve heard of one at Bayland Park at 6400 Bissonnet run by the good folks at Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones’ office. Thanks to my Commish and her staff for those efforts.

Again, be safe and wear a mask.

The COVID Report

At last check, the holiday COVID surge had blasted the viral load in the wastewater above 330%. If one considers that one year ago the load was at 999%, well, we really haven’t made much progress in containing the disease.

We know what causes it, and it is not a lack of a vaccine. Vaccines help protect one from the worst of the disease in normal health conditions, but if one is immunocompromised in any way, then the result of an infection could be worse. Diseases that end up in one’s lungs could cause long-term damage. That’s why masks are so important to help stop transmission, whether it’s COVID, flu, RSV, or some other airborne disease. Do they cramp your style? Tough shit! If you don’t kill yourself, you may kill a loved one who is elderly or immunocompromised! MASK UP!

STAY HOME!

The roads are awful today in the area, including I-10 just outside of Katy (see photo above). Corporations who didn’t give their employees a break on MLK Day should let them work from home these next few days. They’ll still make a profit–Employee safety is good for profits, right?

MLK Quote of the Day

I’m not one for the feel-good quotes. I think moderates use them to make themselves feel better or accomplished. Or worse, “woke”! Here’s a good MLK quote to consider:

“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.”

-Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
Something for white liberals to think about when they push for moderate policies and politics as a means of maintaining an untenable status quo.
Reminder: Abbott’s Grid Still Sucks

Make sure you check ERCOT periodically for power warnings. It’ll be much colder and for a longer period tonight through Tuesday morning. So, there will be energy consumption by families of all income levels trying to stay warm.

Comments Off on Thoughts on the Freeze of 2024

Posted in 2024, Accion, City of Houston, Cultura, Democratic Stuff, Harris County, Health Care, Local Business, Local Politica, Media, Republinuttiness

Joaquin Castro Leads CoDel to Border

Posted on August 9, 2023 | Comments Off

SA Congressman Joaquin Castro led a Congressional delegation to the Texas border yesterday to witness the inhumane policies of Greg Abbott in action. Here’s a vid of the press conference, which includes Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Houston, who called the policies and practices “senseless and Godless.”

Covered in the presser are Congressional reaction, the influx of trumped-up trespassing charges and family separations by Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, the human trafficking funnel created by Greg Abbott, among other issues.

Castro gave mention to the death trap the buoys and razor wire have created. Looking up close at the buoys are a chainsaw-like contraption that holds the buoys together. It’s no wonder tha tpeople and children are getting caught up in them and in the razor wire.

I want to thank Congress Members Castro and Garcia for their work on this. Garcia added that Texas Troopers are saying that the buoys just float and don’t hurt anyone, but, in fact, they are hurting migrants in various ways, whether they are getting caught up in them or they are forced to swim to more treacherous parts of the Rio Grande.

It just goes to show that Greg Abbott and his minions truly want to hurt people. And that’s probably why the people of Eagle Pass, who at one point may have supported Abbott’s actions, are fed up with his human rights violations and death-causing practices.

One more thing: Who is the company that Abbott hired for the buoys? Do they do business with other government entities? Perhaps they need to be pressured to cancel those contracts. The fight doesn’t only need to be taken to Abbott.

Comments Off on Joaquin Castro Leads CoDel to Border

Posted in 2023, Accion, Cultura, Democratic Stuff, Elections, History, Local Business, Media, Republinuttiness, Sensible Immigration Reform, U.S. Capitol

Tagged buoys, eagle pass, greg abbott, inhumane, joaquin castro, sylvia garcia, texas border

Another Sad COVID-19 Report

Posted on June 22, 2022 | Comments Off

It didn’t take long for Houston Health to change the local COVID-19 risk level from “MEDIUM” to “HIGH.” What was it? A week?

The COVID-19 positivity levels are now at 23.9% and the viral load in the wastewater is at 556% of the baseline. And they added this, but it isn’t really being pushed with urgency.

With cases and hospitalizations up, please consider wearing a mask in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status, and get tested if you have symptoms.

Consider a mask? Just freakin’ do it! If not for oneself, do it for the relatives you insist on hanging around with who may be at even higher risk.

Unfortunately, people are still having mass events with no mask required as if it’s 2019 and people are attending them. I’m seeing more people I know getting hit with COVID-19, some even suffering through it. I’ll say it again: Those who go around self-proclaiming “leadership” status are far from being leaders if they aren’t being an example to the community.

Anyway, mask up with a KN-95 or a KF-94, or something! We know what to do. Surely, we’ve gone unmasked long enough that we aren’t whining about being masked all those months, right?

Comments Off on Another Sad COVID-19 Report

Posted in 2022, Accion, City of Houston, Cultura, Health Care, Local Business, Local Politica

Tagged community levels, covid-19, HIGH, positivity

Houston Back at Medium Risk for COVID-19

Posted on June 16, 2022 | Comments Off

The Houston Health Department quietly announced that Houston is back at “Medium” risk for COVID-19, while this week the positivity rate reached 21.1%. Harris County still has us at “Yellow,” which they call controlled levels.

The best advice given by Houston Health is to “consider” wearing a mask if one is at high health risk. They have also stopped using “low” to describe the positivity rate, while pushing vaccines to help lower the numbers. The good news about vaccines is that children under 5 have been cleared to get the COVID-19 vaccines. Whether parents will do the responsible thing and get them vaccinated is to be determined.

Among the famous to report testing positive now is White House COVID-19 advisor Dr. Fauci himself. He’s experiencing mild symptoms and is on paxlovid, the anti-viral med approved to fight COVID-19. One story on the drug is that it is most effective on folks at high risk for severe symptoms based on health and age. That’s 50% of the people around the world. The hope is that better antivirals will be produced to help alleviate symptoms for all categories of people.

Well, all of this time later, people should know the drill. Masks help, especially the good ones like KN-95s and KF-94s. Staying away from crowds is even better. Encourage your bosses at work to get back into the masking groove to protect employees and lower workplace risk. Diving head first into a crowd of strangers unmasked is probably not a good idea. Sure, you might live if you’re vax’d and boosted, but why even get sick? Just be safe.

Comments Off on Houston Back at Medium Risk for COVID-19

Posted in 2022, Accion, City of Houston, Cultura, Harris County, Health Care, Local Business, Media

Tagged covid-19, fauci, masks, medium, paxlovid, positivity rate, yellow

I Know We Are Happy, But…

Posted on April 21, 2022 | Comments Off

Kuff tells us about the indictment of the local right-wing purveyor of hormone and “Low-T” shots whose involvement in the vehicular assault and illegal detention in the name of voter fraud by a former cop he hired now has him indicted for the same crime.

From the Chron:

Through a group called Liberty Center for God and Country, Hotze funded a private investigation into a conspiracy theory that Democrats had collected hundreds of thousands of fraudulent ballots, prosecutors have alleged. The group paid (Mark) Aguirre, a disgraced former Houston police captain, $266,400 to investigate the claims.

and

The vast majority of the money from Hotze’s group, $211,400, arrived to Aguirre one day after the alleged assault, previous grand jury subpoenas showed.

Needless to say, a lot of folks are happy to see one of the wealthiest and whiniest republinuts in town in trouble for something after bankrolling all sorts anti-Dem, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-COVID Vax, and anti-anything progressive campaigns and conspiracy theories.

The problem is when you have a local DA who’s in the news for using her office for political purposes whether against the County Judge or a local District Judge, well, cases in which gun violence and politics mix are sure to get tainted, or questioned before the public square.

Still, I’m sure all sorts of folks, including republicans who want some sort of “normal” right-winger behavior, will be watching this story intently.

Comments Off on I Know We Are Happy, But…

Posted in 2022, Democratic Stuff, Health Care, Local Business, Local Politica, Media, Republinuttiness, Voting Rights

Tagged 700000 ballots, aguirre, assault, hotze, voter fraud

Thoughts on Viernes 04152022

Posted on April 15, 2022 | Comments Off

Still With Judge Lina

Speaking of political performance art, the local DA seems to be going too far in the use of her office to wage a political vendetta against Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

While local purveyors of sensationalist reporting are having a field day while reporting whatever the local DA tells them, which mostly serves as porn for anti-Latina right-wingers, it is other news sites that report more of the story, such as Texas Monthly.

Beyond its potential legal consequences, the contract investigation reflects long-standing tensions between Hidalgo and Ogg, the Democratic district attorney who has found an alliance with the two Republicans on the five-member commissioners’ court, chaired by the county judge. In recent months, the Republicans, Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey, have generally supported Ogg’s requests for funding beyond the annual increases her office has received, while the three Democrats—Hidalgo and Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Rodney Ellis—have resisted her entreaties. Ogg also increasingly finds herself estranged from the progressive wing of her party, which has faulted her for not embracing reform of the cash bail system.

Sounds like a political vendetta to me and quite the political performance. It’s not a secret that the local DA has even supported a slate of anti-reform assistant DAs to defeat incumbent judges. From what I hear, she was even part of the failed attempt to primary the County Judge. Her failure in playing political games has resulted in her using the office of the DA to pursue and finish this vendetta, it would seem. Where is the local reporting on this?

Given her office’s failure to prosecute a killer cop who assisted in the choking murder of a man, or failing to indict other killer cops who murdered an emotionally unstable man by shooting him 22 times, or her railroading of a local doctor accused of stealing COVID-19 shots that were about to expire only to fall on her face, voters were given plenty of reasons to defeat her. Now that she is using her office for political vendettas, it is high-time that Democrats did something about it and stopped living in fear of her actions.

Abbott’s Border BS

Greg Abbott is also pretty good at performance art as he increases state inspections of trucks delivering fruits and veggies from Mexico in the name of anti-immigrant policies and Texans’ thirst for Fentanyl, thus causing trucker protests (that actually work), supply chain issues, and cost rises at the grocery store. We’re talking about food that is rotting as soon as it is cut off the vine, so it needs to get to the warehouses and stores ASAP. And people are freakin’ out and politicians are doing their own bit of performance art in showing how inept Greg Abbott is.

But let’s talk about a better reason to increase prices of food being imported on trucks from Mexico. Did you know that farm workers make on average less than $200 a month (acc to The Wilson Center) to pick the fruits and veggies that we’re freaking out about right now? Is it any wonder prices are actually cheap as profits are going to corporate farmers and shipping magnates? I mean, who’s doing the complaining on TV if it isn’t the corporate types who are affected by Abbott’s idiocy?

Imagine paying a living wage to poor and indigenous farm workers. Would people be willing to pay more for fruits and veggies from Mexico if workers were paid more? Because, let’s face it, trade deals do more to ensure profits for corporations, rather than pay people fairly for their work. Thanks to NAFTA and other trade deals, Mexicans are really screwed, while we Americans benefit from cheaper prices. And people wonder why we have migration issues? We need trade deals that ensure fair pay for workers. Unfortunately, when the trucks start rolling again, people just enjoy whatever is normal.

I guess I want to see how the pro-Ukraine, “I’ll pay extra for gas to save democracy” folks react to paying more for food to save a family from poverty and violence that causes them to escape to the US.

Happy Easter

Enjoy your Easter holiday.

Comments Off on Thoughts on Viernes 04152022

Posted in Accion, Elections, Local Business, Media

Tagged border inspections, fentanyl, greg abbott, Harris County, kim ogg, lina hidalgo

Abbott’s Trumpian Response to “Neanderthal Thinking”

Posted on March 4, 2021 | Comments Off

Greg Abbott doesn’t enjoy being challenged by President Joe Biden nor the media as was evidenced in his freak-out on a KPRC interview yesterday. The freak-out continued on Twitter (see image).

With Texans, the Feds, Texas city leaders, the Texas business community, and the medical community incensed at Abbott’s idiotic decisions to rescind a mask mandate and open up Texas business 100%, Abbott took the usual route Republicans take when challenged: Racism.

It did not take long for Greg Abbott to go full-Trump by blaming immigrants for COVID-19, even after his failed attempts at keeping open and reopening Texas have caused more death and infection. But Abbott’s reaction only shows his sinister and evil intentions to enrich big business while the rest of the state suffers, not only with COVID-19, but with misinformation and bigotry.

Let’s face it, we don’t need to be reminded that Brown (and Black) folks have always been blamed and scapegoated since Texas was founded. The playbook is pretty old and it’s gotten old. Really old.

In a twist, CNN is reporting that while Abbott makes up stories about immigrants spreading COVID-19 thanks to Biden, the reality is that Abbott is stalling efforts to have the Biden administration provide COVID-19 testing for immigrants and mitigation prior to release.

DHS has already set plans in motion to use Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to support community efforts to test, isolate and quarantine migrants released from Border Patrol custody, the official told CNN. But the grant money needs to be approved by the state before it can be distributed to border communities. CNN previously reported plans were underway to use FEMA funds to help localities acquire tests. As of Wednesday, Texas had not yet provided a response to the administration since engaging with the Department of Homeland Security.
CNN 3/4/21

Anyway, this post is just a reminder that Greg Abbott is a bigot who will continually scapegoat “the other” for his own political gain. Actually, this bit of news shouldn’t be a surprise. The surprise is that there are still idiots out there (even Dems) who will keep this guy in office, even when given a clear choice.

Comments Off on Abbott’s Trumpian Response to “Neanderthal Thinking”

Posted in 2021, Accion, Democratic Stuff, Harris County, History, Local Business, Local Politica, Media

Do Your Part and Report Violations of Greg Abbott’s Order

Posted on May 4, 2020 | Comments Off

UPDATE 3:15pm – 5/4/2020 — ABC13 reports that during Day 1 of this reporting portal, over 450 businesses have been reported by your fellow Harris Countians for violating Greg Abbott’s order.

If you see violations of Greg Abbott’s order, make sure you report them. Harris County has provided a nifty form on which to report specifics. The form and other pertinent resources are located at ReadyHarris.

Unfortunately, we can’t report idiots not wearing masks, but if you see a violation of Greg Abbott’s “ReOpen Texas Phase 1,” then, by all means, do so.

This is about keeping Texans safe.

Comments Off on Do Your Part and Report Violations of Greg Abbott’s Order

Posted in Accion, City of Houston, DC Promo, Harris County, Local Business, Local Politica, Texas Lege

Tagged Governor Abbott's Order, Greg Abbott Order, Violations of Greg Abbott's Order

A Weekend of Voting and Cultura

Posted on October 29, 2018 | Comments Off

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was a pretty active weekend of voting and culture this past weekend.

Early Voting Sabado was huge and I got to experience a part of it by spending some time at Moody Park with the hard-working folks of Tacos and Vote and then headed out to MECA’s and Casa Ramirez’s Dia de los Muertos festivities to get a dose of culture.

My friend Dr. Reynaldo Guerra and his crew put together their Tacos and Vote GOTV effort at three early voting locations. Open to all, the festivities included a Taco truck, mariachis, a jump house for kids, and plenty of fun at Moody, Bayland, and close to Ripley House. All of this after blockwalking the surrounding neighborhoods. It was good seeing Adrian Garcia, Democrat for County Commissioner Pct 2 working the crowd at Moody. From the looks of it, Moody had a good turnout on Saturday and reports from the other locations stated their events were a success.

Afterwards, it was off to MECA to enjoy some culture while celebrating and honoring those who have departed this life. From the looks of it, a diverse group of thousands enjoyed all sorts of food, music, ofrendas, and the Retablos31 exhibit throughout Saturday and Sunday.

I caught an excellent performance by Mas Pulpo–Vladimir Castellanos on guitar and Roberto Rodriguez on the squeezebox. They took us through some classic Tex-Mex standards that all enjoyed, but their show-ending Volver Volver was cause for a sing-along.

After a taco at Teotihuacan on Airline, it was off to Casa Ramirez, the folk and culture bookstore on 19th Street in the Heights. They held their annual Dia de los Muertos Celebration and March. The ceremony was opened by Danza Azteca, which provided Aztec ritual, history, and dance before hundreds of attendees joined a march to Casa Ramirez. Attendees enjoyed tamales, polvorones, and live music by Bossa II, while visiting the ofrendas offered by families honoring deceased loved ones. It was definitely a family affair enjoyed by all. And emotional, too.

I don’t care what the high-priced consultants tell you, politics and culture go together; especially if we’re adding some resistance to it. Brown folks have a target on their back and it is through cultural celebrations and political resistance with which victory can be achieved.

Comments Off on A Weekend of Voting and Cultura

Posted in Accion, Cultura, Education - K12, Elections, Harris County, Historia, History, Local Business, Local Politica

Tagged casa ramirez, dia de los muertos, MECA, tacos and vote