Houston, Texas Has Heat Wave, Drought, Ozone Alert & West Nile Disease—This Is The Rick Perry Texas Miracle

Above is a picture of the front page of today’s Houston Chronicle.

I took the picture outside on the hot and parched Texas grass.

It sure is hot.

The newspaper above reports that Texas farmers and ranchers have suffered major losses due to the current drought in Texas, while at the same time Texas Governor and Presidential candidate Rick Perry denies the existence of global warming.

While nobody can be sure that one cause of the terrible weather in Texas for the past few months has been global warming, it is quite possible that this is indeed the case.  However, of course, Rick Perry won’t even consider the very idea that this is possible.

No letup in the Texas drought is predicted in the months to come.

Three other stories in the Houston Chronicle today detail record heat in Houston, mosquitio spraying by Harris County out of concern that tropical West Nile disease may occur in the area, and the fact trees are dying in Houston due to the drought.

Here are facts about West Nile Disease. 

Also, an ozone alert has been declared for today in the Houston area. 

In Texas, the air quality is often so bad that it offends deeply conservative Oklahoma. 

Meanwhile, out on the Presidential campaign trial, the Republican field is bashing the EPA. 

In the end, people are just going to have to decide what kind of future they want. If you want Rick Perry and how he governs Texas for your future, then that is your call to make.

And–since I have you here–please also note that the Texas Miracle Rick Perry has been touting as his economic record, involves one in four Texas children living in poverty and the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation.

Rick Perry has called for prayer to end the drought. His prayers and the prayers of his supporters have not been heard in this regard. Under Governor Perry’s reasoning for why we are being afflicted with terrible weather, maybe the State of Texas is being judged for harsh treatment of the poor and neglect of those in need.

(Below—It is very hot in Houston, Texas. Both photos in this post copyright Neil Aquino 2011.)

Home Subscribers Of Houston Chronicle Get Free Mini-Box Of Chocolate Cheerios

On Saturday morning February 13, home subscribers of the Houston Chronicle got a free mini-box of new Chocolate Cheerios along with the morning paper.

Above you see a picture of both the newspaper and the cereal.

It is good to get the newspaper at home because then you have time to read the paper with your coffee and breakfast.

If you stay at home for whatever reason during the day, you can read the paper throughout the day.

This is the more civilized course in life. We all need a few minutes of down time to reflect on our world.

Buy, save, consume and recycle all in the right measure. There is no contradiction in this.

Jobs are created and saved when we buy real things in the real world.

Our lives are better when a community is informed by a newspaper and when we make the time to consider the events of the day.

No Moon Germs On Apollo Crew—Space Germs

Above you see the front page of the Houston Chronicle from July 25, 1969.

The Apollo 11 astronauts had returned from the moon and had been found to have no “moon germs.”

That must have come as very good news.

This story says that salmonella germs launched into space came back more potent.

This article suggest that sunspots may cause flu germs from the stratosphere to infect people on the surface of the Earth.

Here is an article about the possibility that a meteor brought a rain filled with space germs to India.

This story expresses that we are sending Earth germs to Mars.

The world and the heavens are filled with germs. Bring your hand sanitizer whether on Earth or in space.

Democrats Parker, Locke & Brown Must Earn Support Of Liberals, Progressives & Democrats

Recent stories in the Houston Chronicle detail tough conditions for people in Houston and all of Harris County.

These stories have reported…  

High rates of domestic abuse….

Houston leading the nation in teen mothers….

and

Low rates of health insurance in our city and area.

All these concerns are directly connected to the economic distress that is inherent to much of Houston even when we are not in a recession.

You’d think that with all three serious candidates for Mayor of Houston being Democrats, that these issues and concerns about poverty in our city would be part of the discussion as we approach Election Day.

The three candidates are Annise Parker, Gene Locke and Peter Brown. 

Health care reform is clearly a local issue and it is an issue currently on the table in Washington. When you’re a Democrat and you’re running for Mayor of a city of two million people, you’d think the prospect of health care for all would be a matter you’d address.

How can liberals, progressives and people in Houston who need some help count on any of these three Democrats when they are silent on such a big question?

Don’t believe the lie that City of Houston elections are non-partisan. Party identification can’t be made known on the ballot, but candidates are certainly free to identify themselves with a political party during the campaign. All three of the main candidates are Democrats.

If Republicans in Houston want to vote for one of these Democrats they are clearly free to do so—But these folks are Democrats. 

Ms. Parker, Mr. Locke and Mr. Brown are making calculations about who matters based on who they expect to vote in November. Other people, no matter how much in need they may be, don’t seem to count.

Liberals, progressives and loyal Democrats need to be sure they are not pushed aside in a race that they should in fact be defining.

The Man Selling Newspapers On The Street Corner

The Houston Chronicle sells Sunday newspapers on street corners. The sellers are homeless people or people otherwise in need of a few dollars.

The sell the early edition of the Sunday Chronicle starting on Saturday morning. They sell the final Sunday paper on Sunday.

(Above–If you look on the bottom left hand corner of this photo, you’ll see two paper boys. They are selling papers at Yonge and King streets in Toronto in 1915.)

There is one guy I buy a paper from most weekends. He knows who I am. If I’m stuck at the stoplight at the corner where I see him each week, we exchange a few words about how we are doing.

The paper costs $1.75. I usually give him $3 or $4.  

Last week though, all I had was a one dollar bill. I said– “Hey, I only have one dollar this week.”

He said “okay” and took my dollar.

But then he did not give me a paper. I sat there waiting for the light to change and for him to give me a paper. 

What he did instead was take the dollar and ask how I was doing. I said I was doing well.

The light changed and I drove on.

That man who sells the Sunday paper on the corner is doing his best in a harsh world. I will make certain to have at least $2 next time.

I’ll Pay To Help So-Called Anchor Babies

I ran a post about two weeks ago about the failure of the malignancy known as the Texas legislature to expand health insurance for kids in Texas.

I’m a featured political reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle. I used the above referenced post at the the Chronicle and got a few comments such as this one—

“Ok, I see that the yankee liberal wants us to pony up for a bunch of anchor babies. It’s getting to the point where his posts should be located in the comic section, lol  ”

( They call me Yankee Liberal at the Chronicle  sometimes because I’m from up north.)

It took me a moment to figure out the term “anchor baby.”

An anchor baby is a baby born in the United States to a non-citizen. Since the baby is born in the U.S., the child is an American citizen. It’s a way to gain a hold on staying in the United States if you are not here legally and a way to make sure your kid can stay in the U.S.

If I can lend a hand to people who will work hard and see America as a land of promise instead of being angry all the time, I’m glad to help such people out.

At the top of this post you see the seal of the United States Navy. The anchor in the seal can stand for all the non-citizens who have served, and who are today serving, in our military.

Below is from a press release issued by the U.S. Army—

( Here is the full release.)

“Non-citizens have served in the U.S. Army since the American Revolution. In fact, almost half of Army enlistees in the 1840s were immigrants, and between 1862 and 2000, more than 660,000 military veterans became citizens through naturalization. Today, about 35,000 non-citizens serve in the military and about 8,000 enlist every year. According to Leslie Lord at U.S. Army Human Resources Command, many have used military service as a stepping stone to citizenship. “It is also true that some Soldiers have one or more Family members, especially a spouse, who is not a U.S. citizen,” Lord said.”

Anchor babies?

Maybe the term anchor would be better applied to the right-wingers who stay angry all the time and keep us stuck in the squalid port of stagnation and division, rather than allowing us to move out to the bright and sunny open sea of care for others.

Please Just Pay The Taxes You Owe

Below is a great letter to the editor that ran in the Houston Chronicle.  There’s nothing I can add that can improve this letter. All I’ll say is that you can’t have a decent society without people paying the taxes they owe. 

The letter—

 Do the tax protest math

Every year many people blindly hire property-appraisal protest firms to save on their property taxes by lowering their appraisals. But, most don’t truly understand the math involved when doing this. So here is a simple example:

If you saved $500 in tax-deductible property taxes by lowering your appraisal, you really only saved about $350 after taxes. But, you then had to pay the protest firm the standard $250 nondeductible fee that they typically charge.

So, bottom line, you saved $100, but you took $500 away from our public schools and other government services that we enjoy.

For me, I would rather see the schools get the $500 if it only saves me $100. Just do the math.

— Joseph M. Pace, Houston

Mr. Pace is a wise and excellent citizen.

Here is the link to the Houston Chronicle. Please consider buying a newspaper each day. Both you and your community will be better off with a strong daily newspaper.   

Am I A Real Texan? What Makes Someone A Texan?

In addition to this blog you’re reading, I’m also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle. At that space, I’ve often been criticized by readers for not being a native Texan. They say I’m a carpetbagging Yankee.

Here’s how the subject was addressed by a Chronicle  blog reader who goes by the name typical_white_man——-“TexasLiberal=Yankee nit-wit! The whole piece is worthless because as 5genTexas so aptly provided the definition for treason, which the YankeeLiberal (there is nothing Texan about this idiot!) was clueless.”

This reader was writing in response to my post that Texas Republicans are talking treason.

Am I a real Texan? What makes a real Texan?

Let’s see—

I was born in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts. I did not live there long.

Between 1968 and 1980 I lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Below you see a picture I took last year of the Providence hurricane dam. Just as I could tell you about Hurricane Ike, my father could tell you about the 1938 New England Hurricane.

While living in Rhode Island, I was a Rhode Islander.

Between 1980 and 1998 I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Below you see a picture of Cincinnati I took from a city park maybe two years ago. (Here is a story on the damage Hurricane Ike did in Cincinnati last year. My parents were without power for a time.)

While living in Ohio, I was an Ohioan.

From 1998 until the current day I’ve lived in Houston, Texas. Below is my windswept rainswept Hurricane Ike photo of a flooding Buffalo Bayou to show that I do live in Houston, Texas.

What am I while living in Texas?

You got it!— I’m a Texan!

It does not matter that I spent 13 years in New England or that I lived for 18 years in the Midwest.

All that I need to be a Texan is to live in Texas. I’ve been a Texan for 11 years.

Texas has 24 million people. No one thing defines all these people except the fact that they live in Texas. Definitions of what makes someone a “real Texan” or a “true Texan” are sure to leave many people out.

All I’ve got to do to be a Texan is live in Texas.

A better way to identify people would be to see them as individuals. This is better than creating a definition based on one’s own inevitably limited and erroneous assumptions of what defines a certain place. (Here is my autobiography in 220 words.)

If what you see below is your image of a Texan, you are free to have that thought.   But when you try to impose that notion on others, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to ride off into the sunset.

Real Feelings Of Houston-Area Residents Towards Immigrants

Below in italics is a report that deals with the views of residents in the Houston-area on the subject of immigration as recorded by the 2009 Houston Area Survey.

You can read the full post here. It is taken from the Houston Chronicle immigration blog.

Above–Ellis Island 1905.

You can read it for yourself but the upshot is this—Most people in the Houston-area support just and reasonable policies towards the many immigrants we have around here. For all the right wing noise and all the mean and horrible things that are said, what you see below are the views of the people.

While the half of people who would deny health services to illegals are short-sighted, the numbers here are pretty good when you think of all the invective directed at these folks in Texas and in our local area.

Let’s hope our local elected officials see this information and let’s hope our eligible Hispanic voters in the area realize that if they would vote in greater numbers that they could make a difference.

From the survey—

The numbers of area residents who believe that the new immigration “mostly strengthens American culture” increased from 39 percent in 1997 to 57 percent in 2005, and then dropped to 44 percent in 2007, before recovering to 49 percent in this year’s survey.

The percentage of area residents who favor “granting illegal immigrants a path to legal citizenship if they speak English and have no criminal record” dropped from 68 percent in 2007 to 56 percent in 2008, and then recovered to 61 percent in this year’s survey.

The numbers saying that the increasing ethnic diversity brought about by immigration is a “good thing” dropped from 67 percent in 2005 to 62 percent in 2007, and remained unchanged (at 61 percent) in 2009.

In the 2009 survey, 64 percent agreed that, “The children of illegal immigrants should have the right to attend the public schools,” down from 71 percent in 2007.

68 percent today are in favor of “imposing fines and criminal charges against employers in this community who hire illegal immigrants,” up from 56 percent two years ago.

In 2007, 44 percent were in favor of “a law that would deny health and welfare services to il-legal immigrants in Texas.” In 2009, 50 percent were in support of that proposal.

Reading About The Panic Of 1873 In Front Of The Enron Building

This video is called Reading About The Panic of 1873 While In Front Of The Former Enron Building. It is the second video on the blog. This video is about three minutes long.

Please click here to see the first video on this blog.

I view the ability for average person to make a video as an updated kind of folk art. Here are various definitions of folk art. One idea of folk art is people without any artistic training creating something with the tools they have at hand.

All people are able to express themselves in some creative way.

Here is information about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in New York. This article discusses what the 1873 crisis had in common with the current economic distress. 

There were issues of banks and credit and greedy speculation.  

Here is a good essay about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in Illinois.    

Here is the Panic of 1873 for kids from PBS.

The book I read from in the video is The Age of Lincoln by Orville Burton. 

Here is a chronology of Enron events from USA Today. 

Here are a series of articles about Enron from the Houston Chronicle.

Here is a history of Enron from the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

In the video, the sun is partially on my big head while the other portion of my head is in shadow. This makes my head somewhat like this drawing of the Earth—Part light and part dark. Here is an explanation of daylight.  Here is an explanation of night time on the Earth.

Thanks for reading Texas Liberal. Please feel free to offer a comment. If you like the blog, please forward the link. A blog grows one reader at a time.

Ron Paul Joins The Socialist Movement—Welcome Aboard!

So-called libertarian Congressman Ron Paul, a Republican from the Houston-Galveston area, is now happily part of the Obama Socialist movement. (Above are logos of the Socialist Party of Portugal. This is what party Rep. Paul would be a member of if he lived in Portugal.)

Here is the Houston Chronicle reporting on Congressman Paul’s adding of earmarks to the recent stimulus bill —“Rep. Ron Paul vehemently denounced the $410 billion catch-all spending bill approved last week by the House of Representatives. But although the libertarian-leaning Republican from Lake Jackson cast a vote against the massive spending measure, his fingerprints were on some of the earmarks that helped inflate its cost. Paul played a role in obtaining 22 earmarks worth $96.1 million, which led the Houston congressional delegation, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of more than 8,500 congressionally mandated projects inserted into the bill. His earmarks included repair projects to the Galveston Seawall damaged by Hurricane Ike and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.”

It’s easy to say you oppose the bill and vote against the bill when you know it is going to pass. What would have been the real test for Rep. Paul would have been to not  add any projects to the bill. If you know it is going to pass, you know that by adding projects you will be increasing the cost of the package.

I’m glad to see that big government is on the move in the United States and in Texas. People can whine and moan, but in the end they know that it is only government that can do big things such as fixing the Galveston Seawall and the Intracoastal Waterway after a hurricane.

With the support of people such as Representative Paul here in Texas, I know that this movement of big government will be very hard to stop even after the recession ends.

Also, in addition to Congressman Paul, let me please thank former President George W. Bush for messing up so bad that he made this all possible. I’ve been waiting really all my life for a government that works for average folks and now finally it seems we have that chance.   

(Below–The Intracoastal Waterway at Bolivar and entering Galveston Bay)

Are The People Who Run Texas Human Beings?

Are the people who run the State of Texas human beings in the sense that we associate humanity with the possession of basic morality and regard for life? In the ten years I’ve lived in Texas I’ve wondered about this more than once. A recent Houston Chronicle story about the debate over expansion of children’s health insurance, taking place in that malignancy known as the Texas Legislature, made me ponder this question again. 

One in five children in Texas lack health insurance. It’s another way we hate children for not having the ability to pay their own way.  Children are in this regard as despicable as old people and wounded veterans. Drains on society. Is their any more certain death sentence in our society than the widespread expression of care and sentiment?  

From the Chronicle article—

The debate over children’s health care this year will be as arduous as ever, but so is the ante: More than 160,000 Texas children whose cash-strapped parents can’t get state help to pay medical expenses for maladies as common as chronic ear infections or as daunting as cancer treatment. The argument among legislators will be whether to raise income-eligibility levels so that those children can join the 451,000 now covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Supporters say reducing the number of uninsured youngsters — now one in five — would benefit not only the children’s physical health but the fiscal health of Texas taxpayers. The federal government picks up 72 percent of the cost and providing health care in doctors’ offices is almost always cheaper than treating children in public hospital emergency rooms.

Critics worry about undermining employer-sponsored health coverage and point to the growing costs for the state. CHIP enrollment increases over the past two years have driven the state’s tab from $102 million to $267.5 million. There are no monthly premiums but families pay an annual enrollment fee of $50 and most co-payments for doctor visits or prescription drugs range from $3 to $10. A pending federal bill that renews CHIP is expected to allow Texas to increase income limits so more can enroll. The current limit for a mother and two children of $35,200 could be increased to $52,800. Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston…Cohen this week plans to introduce a bill that would expand CHIP and take advantage of anticipated new federal funds. “Since 2003, Texas has turned away almost $1 billion of federal matching funds by failing to invest in CHIP,” Cohen said. “As a result, we are left with the highest uninsured population of children in the nation.” Gov. Rick Perry’s spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said the governor does not support expanding CHIP’s eligibility standards because of the higher income families who would be covered. She said Congress is trying to lure the state into expanding programs in tough times and doing so would put the state on a “slippery slope to socialized medicine.”

Children living in middle-income families are increasingly joining the ranks of the uninsured. That is largely because employer-based health insurance premiums have more than doubled since 2000. The average annual cost to employees is $3,355 and the cost to employers is $9,325, for a total cost of $12,680, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Only half of Texas private-sector employers offer insurance, and among small businesses, the percentage drops to 34, the federal government reports.

The “slippery slope to socialized medicine.” Sure. We can’t have that. We”ll just have all these kids without health insurance.

Harris County Republicans Fail To Prevent Hurricanes

The Houston Chronicle recently ran a story about the post Hurricane Ike campaign hiatus in Harris County. It seems that because we had a hurricane, most candidates for Harris County office are afraid to run negative ads or campaign aggressively. 

I’m not sure why they see a problem. One-third of people still don’t have power, and many who do have not had cable TV service restored. Who would see the ads?

This is, I suppose, good political sense by the candidates. People want to hear about when they are getting power back and when the debris will picked up off the curbside.

Still, so many people in Harris County live in day-to-day disaster conditions. They lived this way before any hurricane. Negative ads are run all the time when people are suffering. I guess the issue here is that it is not just the poor who are suffering. It’s people who matter to politicians having the hard time, so the suffering has to be acknowledged.

Let me get the ball roiling on the attack ads in Harris County. If this turns out to be a terrible nasty campaign, I want some credit. 

Since Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike took place while Republicans were in control of Harris County Government, it seems that Republicans are unable to protect hard working tax paying Harris County residents from punishing tropical weather. Just look at the picture above to see the damage these storms do to Houston.

If storms continue in Harris County after Democrats win control of county government in 2008, it will be because of weather patterns left by the previous county administration.

Both sides to to get with the program and start with the attacks. Imagine the relief voters will feel when they see all is truly back to normal after Hurricane Ike.

Galveston & Rumors About Galveston—After Hurricane Ike Post # 3

Here is After Hurricane Ike post #3.

Today is the first full day I have power at home. It’s nice to make these posts at home instead of at the Downtown Houston Public Library. Though I very much appreciate the resources available at the library.

Today I was able to buy perishable groceries for the first time in over a week. In the days leading up to the storm I figured that power would be going out. As indeed it did. So I just bought water and granola bars. 

Now I have fruits, vegetables and milk at home. 

Here is the link to the Houston Food Bank.

Many are still without power. Life cannot be more normal again in Houston until people have power. Still, I bet there are some, if just the smallest number, who have used the time without power to renew a relationship, read something they might have never gotten around to reading, or to think out a problem.

Everybody needs power back and I know what a frustration it has been for so many, but I hope that for at least some it has also been an opportunity of a kind.

I got a comment on another post today from someone without power for a few days now in Columbus, Ohio in the aftermath of Ike.

The Houston Chronicle today offered up an unhelpful editorial about the failure of Galveston city leaders to as of yet devise a good plan for evacuated residents to come back and see their homes. As I said yesterday on this blog, Galveston officials seem overwhelmed. They need outside help.

I hope the Governor’s office or somebody with insight into the problems Galveston is facing, has offered assistance to Galveston city leaders. Galveston is a poor city of 50,000 people. They have just the resources and talent that they have. Hurricane Ike is a disaster of a scope beyond what Galveston on its own can manage.

Fellow Houston blogger Brains & Eggs has posted about rumors of many bodies being washed out to sea from Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula. I don’t believe these rumors. Some maybe died this way. But not hundreds or thousands.

Here is a report on how bad things are in Galveston right now.

Another Houston blogger, Julie Pippert, wonders about pollution from swamped refineries and chemical plants that may have sludged into Galveston Bay as a result of the storm.  

Julie, of course, is crazy. I recall all the ads on TV a few years ago saying how expansion of the Port of Houston would enhance the environment. All that ship traffic is good for the water. I say that whatever ends up in Galveston Bay is for the best. Mankind will be gone soon enough and Galveston Bay will have millions of years to recover.

Below is Bolivar Peninsula after Hurricane Ike.  

I Asked St. Jude, Saint Of Lost Causes, To Bless Idea Of Mass Transit In Houston

I’ve called upon St. Jude, the Patron Saint of Lost Causes, to offer blessings to the idea of an extensive mass transit system in Houston and the Houston area. When I reached St. Jude, he told me he was busy working on the idea of a first-rate recycling program in Houston.

( Above is St. Jude as painted by Georges de La Tour. The painting was completed at some point between 1615 and 1620. Here is information about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Young Natalie Turner is patient of the month at St. Jude.  Here is information on St. Jude himself from Catholic.org.)   

The Houston Chronicle ran a story today about prospects for a more comprehensive mass transit system in Houston and the suburbs. (To the extent suburb can be distinguished from city around here.) The story gives a clue why Houston and this area as a whole are so often such a backwards-looking mess.

A Republican County Commissioner from Fort Bend County named James Patterson, who in fairness appears to be in favor of more mass transit, had this to contribute on the idea of a regional transit authority —

“Patterson said he believes most residents of Fort Bend and other suburban counties “are pretty much an independent lot, and they are going to say, ‘We would love to work with Metro … but if there is going to be a Park & Ride lot in Rosenberg, we need our elected officials to be in control of that”

Yeah…those are rugged independent types out in Fort Bend County. I’ll tell you what—why not just give those folks horses and they can ride into work like John Wayne. That will reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The Duke here is saying “Don’t mess with my park n’ride.”

Metro itself is not yet on board with the idea of a regional transit authority either. Why think big when millions of cars are on the road, gas prices are up, the air is horrible, and people are wasting hours of their lives on the highway?

Metro seems to be playing it coy. They are waiting for the day suburban residents are ready to be taxed to help pay for an expanded public transportation system.

I wonder how long a wait that will be.

The next total solar eclipse visible over the United States is projected for 2017. The one after that will be in 2024. Based on what I read today, I would bet “no” on a regional transit authority in the Houston-area by these dates. 

In the meantime, Metro pushes a light rail system that costs billions and offers service to a small number of people. I voted for it not because I believe anything Metro says, but because it irritated conservatives to such a great degree. And at least it’s a job creation program.

St. Jude got back to me on this issue. He said that he was all for desperate cases, and that he feels no person is beyond hope, but that this was more than even he could handle. St. Jude referred me to an acquaintance of his to handle the foreseeable future of a top-flight public transportation system in Houston—