Above you see a picture of a mining pit of one kind or another that I saw from the airplane when I was flying back home to Houston from Los Angeles last week.

Here are recent articles about mining from the great British newspaper The Guardian.

I’ve not been posting much on Texas Liberal of late, but I am working on a new project.

I’m working on a new website that I plan to have up and running soon. This new website will have a photo essay of a kind, a metaphoric universe and solar system, some poems, and a blog about the 2013 City of Houston elections.

The new website will be called NeilAquino.com.

Thanks to everybody still checking out the blog from time-to-time and thanks to folks visiting the blog for the first time. I’ll still be posting on Texas Liberal off and on until the new site is published.

If you have the chance to ride along the Pacific Coast Highway, you should avail yourself of that chance.

I often try to go to a veterans cemetery when I’m on the road.

Lined with tall palm trees, this street seemed to at least fit a conception of what Beverly Hills might look like.

It was a nice sunny day in Southern California today.

Below is the most recent Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas. TPA members are citizen-bloggers working for a better Texas.

As I say each time I post the round-up—Every Texan and every American has the ability to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family, start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor, volunteer for candidates and causes, engage in acts of civil disobedience, and to run for public office.

We can also seek to impact society by consistently acting in a way that reflects our best values. Or by working on an artistic or creative effort that expands the range of thought and imagination we have in our society.

I repeat these thoughts so often on the blog because there is nothing more important I can say.

Here is the round-up along with some bonus posts from other top Texas bloggers—

Off the Kuff looks at how the 2012 election results differed from 2008 in State Senate and SBOEdistricts.

DosCentavos‘ Fidencio Leija reports on the work of HOPE in the End of Course testing debate.

There is a troll hiding in plain sight on the United States Supreme Court, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs says it’s going to take a lot of willpower not to feed it.

Over at TexasKaos, Lightseeker reports on the charter school money grab, aided by the usual suspect. Check it out - Charter Schools Make Play for Huge Increase in Public Funding.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that a couple of our Supreme Court Justices don’t appreciate racism. Lets hope that number rises to at least five for the Voting Rights Act.

The problem for our state’s “leaders” is that they’ve been telling us for so long that we have a spending problem, they have no answer when it becomes obvious that we don’t have a spending problem. That’s why WCNews at Eye on Williamson says we have a lack of spending problem in Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal did not post so much this past week. However, Neil remains at work on a new website to be published this April to be called NeilAquino.com. This website will have a photo essay extolling the intellectual virtues of everyday life , a metaphorical history of existence, some poems and a blog about the 2013 City of Houston elections. For the TPA round-up this week, Neil has submitted a popular Texas Liberal post about the famous Dogs Playing Poker paintings.

And here are some more interesting posts from Texas blogs.

See creationism opponent Zack Kopplin on the Bill Moyers show, via Creationist Vouchers.

Brewed and Never Battered and Open The Taps give an update on the legislative effort to improve the lot of Texas microbreweries and brewpubs.

Texas Watch sets the record straight on lawsuit “reform”.

Texas Vox has an update on litigation against the Keystone XL Southern Segment.

Burnt Orange Report discusses whether we are in the waning period of a short golden age of African American influence over the city of Austin.

Texpatriate acknowledges the candidate who just won’t go away, whose name rhymes with Stinky Peedman.

Jason Stanford points out what a fraidy cat Bill Hammond is.

Nonsequiteuse examines the criticism of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer.

Lone Star Ma celebrates the fact that the teen birth rate in the US is at an all-time low.

And The Lunch Tray asks if the dairy industry is using school kids as a Trojan horse to change artificial sweetener labeling rules.

The picture is of Houston Mayor Annise Parker from the monthly blogger lunch today.

Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.

Above is a picture I took last week at the Morian Hall of Paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

In this picture it appears that a person is falling into the tusks of an evil laughing Woolly Mammoth.

I’m not certain that this image was the intent of the folks who desgined the exhibit, but I have to commend the result in any event.

As far as I recall, I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18. But I would sit it out if I could vote in the Texas State Senate district 6 runoff between Democrats Carol Alvarado and Sylvia Garcia. This is a Houston-based district.

(Above–A picture I took of Sylvia Garcia at a function late last year.)

There is little ideological or policy difference between the two, both campaigns are captive to special interest money, the campaign has been relentlessly negative, and turnout will be so low as to delegitimize the process. While ultimate responsibility lies with the electorate, it is also so that what voting will accomplish in this case is to legitimize a process that offers no real options.

As I think out my new blog on 2013 Houston city politics, one question I want to explore is why should people vote in 2013?  What potentially more hopeful and useful actions can we take to help direct the course of our city?

While I suppose I’ll find at least one race that compels me to vote for whatever reason, I did in fact leave my ballot blank for Mayor of Houston in 2011.

Even with the understanding that I am just one person of 2.1 million in Houston and that I can’t always have my way, no candidate came even approximately close to my views and Mayor Parker had no credible opposition in any case.

Turnout in 2011 was something like 14%. The process has no relevance to most people. Our political leaders and the big donors who direct them are just fine with this fact.

If Ben Hall and Mayor Parker-Both Democrats-pander to the right, practice identity politics to the exclusion of substance, ignore the needs of the poor, and offer no new vision–Then why should we care who wins?

The work of freedom is up to each of us. It is past time that we take up this obligation in a serious and more imaginative way.

(My comrade Perry Dorrell has been writing about this race at his great blog Brains & Eggs. Here is the most recent post on the SD 6 race by Charles Kuffner at Off The Kuff. And here is the most recent Garcia-Alvarado post by Stace Medellin at Dos Cantavos.)  

Above you see a picture I took of friendly mini-horses a few hours ago at Bear Creek Pioneers Park here in Harris County, Texas.

In this picture you see that these mini-horses are talkng to each other about fun games they would like to play.

Here are facts about mini-horses.

Though I’ve not been around here on Texas Liberal as much as late, I am working on a new website that I plan to have up and running in April.

This new website will have a photo essay of a kind, a metaphoric universe and solar system, some poems, and a blog about the 2013 City of Houston elections.

There will also be other things on the website that I have not yet thought about.

Thanks to everybody still checking out the blog from time-to-time and thanks to folks visiting the blog for the first time. I’ll still be posting on Texas Liberal off and on until the new site is published.

Below is the most recent Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas. TPA members are citizen-bloggers working for a better Texas.

(Above–El Paso from space.) 

As I say each time I post the round-up—Every Texan and every American has the ability to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family, start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor, volunteer for candidates and causes, engage in acts of civil disobedience, and to run for public office.

We can also seek to impact society by consistently acting in a way that reflects our best values. Or by working on an artistic or creative effort that expands the range of thought and imagination we have in our society.

I repeat these thoughts so often on the blog because there is nothing more important I can say.

Here is the round-up—

Off the Kuff looks at the partisan shifts in State Rep districts from 2008 to 2012.

We have enough money in Texas to fund our needs public education, expanding Medicaid, as weel as transportation and water infrastructure projectes. But our current leaders don’t see it that way. WCNews at Eye on Williamson shows that their adherence to ideology over what’s best for Texas is the problem, Transportation funding, the state budget, and ideology.

Two issues in the Texas Lege last week — one of them the regulation of payday lending operators — show bright potential for bipartisan legislation. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs is encouraged by the news.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that Lamar Smith is a dim bulb going for same old Republican ‘ideas’ on immigration.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw asks if Ted Cruz has any decency. Unfortunately, the answer is no. Read all about it here: Senator Ted Cruz: Have You No Decency?

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about Houston Mayoral candidate Ben Hall. Neil is still posting at Texas Liberal every few days. However, Neil is most at work at a new website that will be up in April that will feature a photo essay focusing on the value of the things that are around us each day, a metaphorical history of the universe and the Earth, some poems, and a new blog on 2013 City of Houston election politics.

I think I caught former Channel 13 investigative reporter Wayne Dolcefino a little bit by surprise under this picture of our father Sam Houston recently at Houston City Hall.

Mr. Dolcefino is currently employed doing opposition research on Houston Mayor Annise Parker for her opponent Ben Hall.

When I have my new website up and running this April, one part of the effort will be a blog about the 2013 Houston municipal elections.

Every so often along the way to that new site, I’ll have updates here at Texas Liberal.

Attorney Ben Hall is running for Mayor of Houston against incumbent Annise Parker.

Here is Mr. Hall’s Facebook page.

Above you see Mr. Hall discussing his agenda of education and safety for the people of Houston.

Who could argue with any of that?

While we all make mistakes—I make them all the time—I do note that Mr. Hall has above misspelled the word “government.”

I hope this misspelling is not indicative of an aversion of some kind on the part of Mr. Hall to the helpful role that government can play in the lives of our citizens.

If I were simply basing my vote on the entertainment value of the candidates, I would have to give Mr. Hall the early edge.

However, what I’ll be looking for in the months ahead is any real sign that a liberal could support Mayor Parker, Mr. Hall, or some other candidate who makes the race.

Election Day 2013 is Tuesday, November 5th. 

(Blogger’s Note 2/14/13–In the first version of this post that I put on-line, I made the exact same error as did Mr. Hall.  A difference though is that I am not running for anything. We are all flawed. The good news is that Mr. Hall has many months ahead to show that he offers something to liberal voters in Houston.)

I’ve not been around much here on Texas Liberal of late, but I am still working hard for the blog reading public.

I’m working on a new website that I plan to have up and running in April. This new website will have a photo essay of a kind, a metaphoric universe and solar system, some poems, and a blog about the 2013 City of Houston elections.

There will also be other things on the website that I have not yet thought about.

Thanks to everybody still checking out the blog from time-to-time and thanks to folks visiting the blog for the first time. I’ll still be posting on Texas Liberal off and on until the new site is published.

Above you see a picture I took recently of an Emu at Bear Creek Pioneers Park here in Harris County, Texas.

Here are facts about Emus.

It is wrong for the President to have the power to use drones to kill American citizens without accountability to Congress and without judicial review. President Obama is asserting that he has this right.

It will be just a matter of time until the range of Americans we target with drones will expand. We will widen the definition of who poses a threat to American interests.

At the same time here at home, surveillance drones will watch and follow domestic political dissenters and evermore militarized police will be called upon to intimidate and repress lawful protests. Large defense contractors will gain from these actions abroad, and corporate interests will play a big part in defining our domestic “security” objectives.

These things will happen with the support of elected Republicans & Democrats.

These things will happen–as they are already starting to happen– unless we realize and understand the fact that the work of freedom is up to each of us.