13th Annual March To Abolish The Death Penalty In Texas On 11/3 In Austin—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

Here is the weekly posting of the 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 you see notice of the 13th annual March to Abolish The Death Penalty here in Texas. Here is the website of this march.  This march will be in Austin on November 3rd.

It is not difficult to imagine that innocent people are put to death in Texas or that many of our political leaders in Texas would not care very much if such a thing is happening. Our political leaders in Texas do all sorts of brutal things.

Here is the website of the Texas Moratorium Network that is working to end the death penalty in Texas. Here is the Facebook Page of the Innocence Project of Texas.

The everyday citizens who are working hard against the death penalty remind us that 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.

I run these words each week in this space. This is because there is nothing more important that I can tell you.

The work of freedom and justice is up to each of us.

Here is the round-up—-

Off the Kuff has a Q&A with Democratic SCOTX candidate Michelle Petty, who is running against one of the Court’s least ethical members.  

BossKitty at TruthHugger wants all Texans to have all the Texas Voting Information they need, so this will stay at the top of the blog’s homepage until November 6. Meanwhile, she is disgusted that our Cowardly Congress Kicks The Can Again, and is overjoyed to see more corporate manipulators exposed, in Do You Hear Me Now?

Three Wise Men forecasts the 2012 presidential and Senate elections.

With Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein scheduled to be in Houston and San Antonio from October 4-7, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs found it necessary to once again slay the persistent urban legend that Ralph Nader was responsible for Al Gore’s defeat in the 2000 election.

We’re facing another legislative session that will be harmful to the majority of Texans unless we act now. That’s why WCNews at Eye on Williamson is pointing this out now: Here we go again.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw explains why the GOP is obsessed about voter fraud. Hint: the best way to get away with something is to accuse your opponents of it.

Neil as Texas Liberal noted that you have the right to take pictures of bridges and infrastructure and anything in plain view so long as you are not tresspassing. Neil said that business and government are teaming up to deny the basic freedom to observe and make note of the things that are around us in a so-called open society.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme observes that Greg Abbott, likely gubernatorial candidate, goes all Christian Taliban by promoting bible verses in school.

Who Was St. Nicholas?

Who is the St. Nicholas who become our Santa Claus?

(Above—an 1898 painting called St. Nicholas of Myra Saves Three Innocents From Death. Painted by a Russian named Ilya Repin.) 

St. Nicholas was a fourth-century Bishop of Myra. Myra was then in Greece. It is now in Turkey.

Not much is known of the life of St. Nicholas. He is said to have been generous to children and to the poor. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. Here is a link to a list of Saints.

St. Nicholas is said to have been born into a prosperous home. His parents died when he was a young man and he was left an inheritance. Nicholas used this inheritance to help a poor man support three daughters who otherwise would have been sold into prostitution to support the family home.

It was this gift giving that is the connection between the St. Nicholas of old and the Santa of the modern day. In the spirit of the gifts for the three children, people in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands began to give each other gifts at Christmas. Santa Claus is, after a few mutations, St. Nicholas.

It is said Nicholas brought back to life two or three boys who had been cut-up and tossed in a brine-tub by an innkeeper. The innkeeper was going to sell the boys as pickled pork.

It is claimed that God his or herself indicated to the people of Myra that Nicholas should be selected as Bishop.

Nicholas was renowned as a champion of the falsely accused. He saved the lives of three men who were going to be put to death based on a sentence that had been made on this basis of a bribe. That account is the basis of the picture above.

Many falsely accused people are put to death and placed in jail in the United States in the current day. Please click here to read about The Innocence Project.

Nicholas is the patron saint of prisoners and prostitutes. All people merit concern. Here is a list of the many groups that can claim Nicholas as patron saint.

St. Nicholas is said to have stopped a raging storm in Greece and in so doing saved the lives of many mariners. In Greece, he is the patron saint of sailors.

Santa is about more than gift giving.  I don’t think St. Nicholas would have lined up at Best Buy at 5 AM the morning after Thanksgiving to get a bargain on a laptop.

Here is a brief account of St. Nicholas from AmericanCatholic.org.  

One source for this post was The Oxford Companion To The Year—An Exploration Of Calender Customs And Time-Reckoning. It’s a great book.

(Below–A statue of. St. Nick in Myra, Turkey. Photo by Lindi44.) 

Cheering Death—Tea Party/Republican Party Candidates Tell You Who And What They Are

Let us appreciate some folks in the crowd at the Republican debate last night cheering the idea of an uninsured person dying just as we welcome Rick Perry’s lack of concern — and the crowd’s roaring approval—that any of the 234 people he has executed may have been innocent.

Let the American people have clear choices in 2012 and we can decide as a nation what we want.

If you think that Social Security is unconstitutional as does Rick Perry, then you can support Mr. Perry for President and let the stock market and that steady 40 hour job you’ll always be able to count on provide for your retirement.

At least these Tea Party/Republican Party candidates don’t pretend they care and then do nothing.  They tell you who and what they are.

At Least Rick Perry Has The Candor To Revel In Our Death Culture

From last night’s Republican debate—

“When co-moderator Brian Williams of NBC noted the 234 executions that took place in Texas on the watch of Gov. Rick Perry, the current frontrunner in the GOP presidential contest, the crowd assembled in the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, roared its approval. Asked if he ever lost sleep worrying that one of those executed might have been innocent, Perry replied, “No, sir. I’ve never struggled with that at all.”

I’ll say this for Rick Perry—At least he invites us to revel in the contempt for life and hope that often defines this country in so many aspects of public policy and daily conduct.

At least he makes no excuses in a culture where leaders of both parties and much of the public turn their backs everyday on the people who need help the most.

At least he tells you what he is all about.

Rick Perry offers Americans a clear choice. People can decide what they want.

Here are some facts about Rick Perry’s executions. 

Here is the discussion from the debate last night. 

Aliens Said To Disable Nuclear Missiles—I Wish They Would Turn Off The Texas Electric Chair As Well So That No More Innocent People Are Executed

A group of former U.S. and British Air Force pilots have claimed that aliens are disarming American and British nuclear missiles.

From the U.K newspaper Telegraph—

” …The beings have repeated their efforts in the US and have been active since 1948, the men said, and accused the respective governments of trying to keep the information secret. The unlikely claims were compiled by six former US airmen and another member of the military who interviewed or researched the evidence of 120 ex-military personnel. The information they have collected suggests that aliens could have landed on Earth as recently as seven years ago. ..One of the men, Capt Robert Salas, said: “The US Air Force is lying about the national security implications of unidentified aerial objects at nuclear bases and we can prove it.” He said said he witnessed such an event first-hand on March 16, 1967, at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana which housed Minuteman nuclear missiles. Capt Salas continued: “I was on duty when an object came over and hovered directly over the site. “The missiles shut down – 10 Minuteman missiles. And the same thing happened at another site a week later. There’s a strong interest in our missiles by these objects, wherever they come from. I personally think they’re not from planet Earth.” Others claim to have seen similar activity in the UK. Col Charles Halt said he saw a UFO at the former military base RAF Bentwaters, near Ipswich, 30 years ago, during which he saw beams of light fired into the base then heard on the military radio that aliens had landed inside the nuclear storage area….”

I support these actions by our alien guests.

Given that they had the technology to visit the Earth, it is unlikely that they are concerned that we could use nuclear weapons to destroy invading alien ships.

I feel that the most likely scenario is that they are disabling nuclear weapons all across the world so that we do not blow ourselves up.

I encourage these benevolent visitors to not stop at just nuclear weapons.

I suggest that they disable the Fox News television studios.

I think it would also be good if they were to turn off  the Texas electric chair so that no more innocent people are executed.

From the Texas Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty-—

“Most Americans trust our country’s justice system, but the fact that mistakes are made should lead many to question the “justice” involved in seeking the death penalty. No matter how good our justice system is, it is based on human reason and judgment and is subject to error. Jailhouse or “snitch” false testimony, mistaken eyewitness identification, misinterpretation of evidence, incompetent legal representation, unreliable expert testimony, and community prejudices and pressures all too often impact the verdict and sentencing. More than 125 people have been released from death row since 1973, due to credible evidence of their wrongful conviction, including 8 here in Texas. Independent investigations have also made very credible cases that at least 3 innocent people have been executed in the state.”

What would be best of all, if these visitors are truly are friends, would be if they would stop all guns and weapons of war from working.

I’d like to see the National Rifle Association complain about that.

If these aliens intended  to eat us or to take all our water, I don’t think they would be going around protecting us from our nuclear  weapons.

If the aliens would like to contact me to discuss what they can do to make the Earth a better place, they are free to leave a comment on the blog with contact information.

(Update—My friend Perry Dorrell, a top Houston political blogger who writes Brains & Eggs, reminds me that in Texas we execute people by lethal injection. I can’t imagine though that this would matter to such powerful aliens who are working hard for a better Earth.)

The Real St. Nicholas—A Friend Of The Poor And Opposed To The Death Penalty

(Blogger’s Note—This is a post from two years ago that seems worth another posting. Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.)

December 6 is the Feast Day for St. Nicholas. This is the same St. Nicholas who has become our Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas was the fourth-century Bishop of Myra. Myra was then in Greece. It is now in Turkey.

Not much is known of the life of St. Nicholas. He is said to have been generous to children and to the poor. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. Here is a link to a list of Saints.

St. Nicholas is said to have been born into a prosperous home. His parents died when he was a young man and he was left an inheritance. Nicholas used this inheritance to help a poor man support three daughters who otherwise would have been sold into prostitution to support the family home.

It was this gift giving that is the connection between the St. Nicholas of old and the Santa of the modern day. In the spirit of the gifts for the three children, people in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands began to give each other gifts at Christmas. Santa Claus is, after a few mutations, St. Nicholas.

Here is a link to the website of Adbusters. Adbusters suggests you should buy as little as you get away with at Christmas and offers often insightful critiques of consumer culture.

It is said Nicholas brought back to life two or three boys who had been cut-up and tossed in a brine-tub by an innkeeper. The innkeeper was going to sell the boys as pickled pork. It is not known how Nicholas performed this feat.

It is claimed God himself indicated to the people of Myra that Nicholas should be selected as Bishop. It is not clear what type of signal was sent.

Nicholas was renowned as a champion of the falsely accused. He saved the lives of three men who were going to be put to death based on a sentence that had been made on this basis of a bribe. That account is the basis of the picture above.

Many falsely accused people are put to death and placed in jail in the United States in the current day. Please click here to read about The Innocence Project.

Nicholas is the patron saint of prisoners and prostitutes. All people merit concern.  Here is a list of the many groups that can claim Nicholas as patron saint.

I notice “consumers” are not on the list. Caveat emptor!

St. Nicholas is said to have stopped a raging storm in Greece and in so doing saved the lives of many mariners. In Greece, he is the patron of sailors. Here is a link to a story about a United Nations treaty meant to protect the rights of the commerical sailors who help ship goods around the world.

Santa is about more than gift giving.  I don’t think St. Nicholas would have lined up at Best Buy at 5 AM the morning after Thanksgiving to get a bargain on a laptop.

One source for this post was The Oxford Companion To The Year—An Exploration Of Calender Customs And Time-Reckoning. It’s a great book

I’ve Little Option But To Vote For Bradford For Harris County District Attorney

The position of Harris County,Texas District Attorney is an important office. The D.A. decides on matters of life and death.

Harris County loves the death penalty. Counted up until February of 2008, 61 of the 693 executions in the United States since the Supreme Court re-established the death penalty have come from Harris County. That is 8.8% of all U.S. executions coming from one county.

Here is the link to The Innocence Project—Read about the number of innocent people who have been put to death in the United States.

Also, Harris County has been sending some people to jail based on negligent and incompetent work done by the City of Houston’s crime lab.

Earlier in 2008, Republican District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal was forced to resign because of a variety of misdeeds. These misdeeds included an office computer that had stored on it insulting comments and jokes about women and blacks.

None of this is a surprise. There is nothing so lousy or wicked that it would surprise me coming from the Republican-run Harris County District Attorney’s office. The core of Republican support in Harris County consists to a good degree of brutal-minded people with bad hearts. They don’t care if innocent people go to jail or are put to death. I think many of these folks get a rush out of that kind of thing.  

No reasonable person has any faith in the idea of equal justice in Harris County

Republicans have held the D.A.’s office many years now. In 2008, Democrats have a good chance to win a number of countywide positions. 

The Republican candidate is a former judge with a poor and erratic record on the bench.

The Democratic candidate is former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford. 

I can’t claim to be enthused about Chief Bradford. Mr. Bradford inherited the crime lab mess, but he admits he did not take all steps possible to resolve the problem. I don’t understand such a path.

How could you be in a position to be able to do something about the lousy crime lab, and not do all in your power to resolve the matter? People’s freedom, and lives, were on the line.

I’ll vote for Mr. Bradford. I feel this office is so important that I can’t stay on the sidelines. It will be good to have an elected D.A. who you feel might at least be a full human being, and not the monsters who have held the job in recent years.

But as I often say, and will say many times during next year’s Houston city council elections, city residents who vote for Democrats time and time again have plenty of reason to be wary of the options we are given at the local level by the Democratic Party.

Noriega & More—Texas Political Notes And Thoughts

Some political notes and thoughts from Texas and Harris County—

(Above is the harbor at Palacios in Matagorda County. George Bush won 65% of the nearly 12,500 votes cast in Matagorda in 2004. But I’m certain that four years of calm seaside reflection has given the good folks of Matagorda a new view of things for 2008.) 

Noriega Senate Race

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega of Houston is polled by Rasmussen as running only 4 points behind far-right incumbent John Cornyn. In this polling snapshot, the race is seen as 47% for Mr. Cornyn and 43% for Mr. Noriega.  

Mr. Noriega is a Texas State representative.

I recall early numbers from 2002 that had former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk running ahead of then Texas Attorney General Cornyn. At the time, Mr. Kirk’s favorable name recognition in the Dallas metroplex was a source of his strength.  

Mr. Cornyn won that race 55% -43% in a Republican year. 

This time around, it may be that some Texans are reconsidering allegiance to Republican party ( As well they should.) and that demographic changes in this majority-minority state are finally catching up to the ballot box.

Mr. Noriega’s 51% showing in the Texas Democratic primary was not impressive. Yet, Mr. Noriega will no doubt establish himself among Texas Democrats as November approaches. If the broader climate in Texas is moving towards Democrats, than Mr. Noriega may have a shot.  

Here is Mr. Noriega’s campaign web home.   

Harris County Races

Recent reports on racial disparities in application of the death penalty in Harris County, and reports from Dallas county about long-term inmates being set free after being proved innocent show the importance of a new justice team in Harris County.   

The new Democratic District Attorney in Dallas County has made such a positive difference in that part of Texas.   

Electing C.O. Bradford as District Attorney and Adrian Garcia as County Sheriff would be a good start towards the more fair practice of justice in Harris County.   

The Harris County Democratic coordinated campaign will be led by Bill Kelly.

I’ve seen Democratic coordinated campaigns in other parts of the country that involved walking around money for local pastors and others, and mailings into minority communities featuring white politicians linked up with black politicians.

These mailings were meant to aid white politicians by associating them with black candidates in areas where many black voters live. Yet it never seemed to work the other way of mailings into mostly white areas as a way to boost black candidates.    

One of the many reasons I’m glad to hear about the appointment of Mr. Kelly is that I know it portends real change in Harris County.    

Change for the Harris County Democratic Party as it moves to full inclusion of the voters who are the backbone of its local support, and, after success at the ballot box, changes in public policy such as the immediate need for a better justice system.  

In addition to the $500 breakfast listed on the web page of the Harris County Democratic Party, I look forward to a more broad based campaign kick-off event to generate excitement about the November ticket. 

This post is also at my Houston Chronicle blog where I’m one of eight featured political bloggers.

(The Houston Ship Channel is a big deal in Harris County. Harris County voted 54% -46 % for George Bush in 2004. There were just over 1.05 million votes cast. 2008 may be a more successful year for Harris County Democrats. ) 

   

America Welcomed Pope With Resumption Of Death Penalty & With Immigrant Raids

Pope Benedict was welcomed to the United States over the last week with a Supreme Court decision opening the way to resumption of the death penalty and with stepped up immigration raids.  

Both these actions are contrary to Catholic teachings.

The church has long been opposed to the death penalty.

The Pope spoke about the need for humane treatment of immigrants in his recent visit. 

This is a sick country in many ways.

We seem crazed with violence and war. 

We use vulnerable and desperate immigrants for cheap labor when it suits us, and as political fodder when it suits us.

The Pope got a sense of this sickness on his trip here. 

St. Nicholas, A Death Penalty Foe, Revived Boys Who Had Been Chopped To Bits By An Innkeeper

 

December 6 is the Feast Day for St. Nicholas. This is the same St. Nicholas who has become our Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas was the fourth-century Bishop of Myra. Myra was then in Greece. It is now in Turkey.  

Not much is known of the life of St. Nicholas. He is said to have been generous to children and to the poor. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. Here is a link to a list of Saints.

St. Nicholas is said to have been born into a prosperous home. His parents died when he was a young man and he was left an inheritance. Nicholas used this inheritance to help a poor man support three daughters who otherwise would have been sold into prostitution to support the family home.

It was this gift giving that is the connection between the St. Nicholas of old and the Santa of the modern day. In the spirit of the gifts for the three children, people in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands began to give each other gifts at Christmas. Santa Claus is, after a few mutations, St. Nicholas.    

Here is a link to the website of Adbusters. Adbusters suggests you should buy as little as you get away with at Christmas and offers often insightful critiques of consumer culture.

It is said Nicholas brought back to life two or three boys who had been cut-up and tossed in a brine-tub by an innkeeper. The innkeeper was going to sell the boys as pickled pork. It is not known how Nicholas performed this feat.

It is claimed God himself indicated to the people of Myra that Nicholas should be selected as Bishop. It is not clear what type of signal was sent.

Nicholas was renowned as a champion of the falsely accused. He saved the lives of three men who were going to be put to death based on a sentence that had been made on this basis of a bribe. That account is the basis of the picture above.

Many falsely accused people are put to death and placed in jail in the United States in the current day. Please click here to read about The Innocence Project. 

Nicholas is the patron saint of prisoners and prostitutes. All people merit concern.  Here is a list of the many groups that can claim Nicholas as patron saint.

I notice “consumers” are not on the list. Caveat emptor!  

St. Nicholas is said to have stopped a raging storm in Greece and in so doing saved the lives of many mariners. In Greece, he is the patron of sailors. Here is a link to a story about a United Nations treaty meant to protect the rights of the commerical sailors who help ship goods around the world.           

Santa is about more than gift giving.  I don’t think St. Nicholas would have lined up at Best Buy at 5 AM the morning after Thanksgiving to get a bargain on a laptop.

One source for this post was The Oxford Companion To The Year—An Exploration Of Calender Customs And Time-Reckoning. It’s a great book.

Will Houston’s New Cardinal DiNardo Be A Strong Voice Against The Death Penalty?

Archbishop Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was promoted to Cardinal today by Pope Benedict XVI.

I hope this means Cardinal DiNardo will increase his local profile on issues of social justice. Most especially, I hope we hear from Cardinal DiNardo about the barbaric application of the death penalty in Harris County and in Texas.

The recent immoral behavior of Judge Sharon Keller of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is just the latest outrage.  So-called Judge Keller would not hear the appeal of a soon-to-be-executed death row inmate because it was delivered at 20 minutes after five o’clock. The inmate was executed that evening.

Harris County is a death penalty capital of the world despite the shoddy work done in our county’s criminal lab. No matter what, we keep sending people to death row.

The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin  of Chicago was a leader in the fight against the death penalty.

I know I’ll disagree with Cardinal DiNardo on many questions. I also know the Houston/Galveston area is in strong need of a voice for social justice and against the death penalty.  

Here is a link to Amnesty International’s anti-death penalty blog.