Recently in Houston Category

Below are five photos from Occupy Houston that I took yesterday.The Occupy Houston has been going on for a week so far.  1. New participants are always welcome.2. Each day there is an agenda.3. If you come to visit or to stay overnight--There will be some healthy food for you to eat.4. The Occupied Wall Street Journal from the New York Occupy Wall Street effort relates the news from where this movement began.5. This fine...

I'm overdue to blog extensively about the upcoming Houston municipal elections. Early voting starts on October 24 and Election Day is November 8.I'm embarrassed to claim these elections are relevant. The energy and optimism of the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Houston movements in recent weeks has made our Houston city elections seem even more irrelevant.The narrow ideological range of the issues discussed in city elections---and of the candidates themselves---helps explain and perpetuate the chronically...

Today I attended the Occupy Houston event in Downtown Houston.(Update 10/7/11--Here is an update on day two of Occupy from the Houston Chronicle.) Here is why I got involved in this effort.Though Houston police estimated the crowd to have been about 200, I think the crowd was larger than that. It may have been closer to 500 at the beginning.In any case, the event had some energy and it felt like a good start.Houston police officers...

Amy Price is a running as a Green Party candidate for Houston City Council at-large position 4.(Above--Ms. Price.)The incumbent in this race is C.O. Bradford.Mr. Bradford---a Democrat---has offered Democrats an austerity based fiscal message and a council tenure where he has worked with Republicans to undermine Mayor Annise Parker.Mr. Bradford's record of service to the people of Houston includes his time as police chief and his poor stewardship of the City of Houston Crime Lab. Mr. Bradford was police chief...

Above is a picture I took of people welding a ship or a barge of some kind at the Houston Ship Channel.(Photo copyright 2011 Neil Aquino.)Here is a history of welding. At the bottom of that history are other welding related links.Here is a definition of welding from Merriam-Webster--Join together (metal pieces or parts) by heating the surfaces to the point of melting with a blowpipe, electric arc, or other means, and uniting them by pressing, hammering,...

Houston At-Large #2 City Council Candidate Bolivar Fraga appears to be playing all sides.The Harris County Republican Party website lists Mr. Fraga as a Republican.This would make sense as Mr. Fraga voted in the 2010 Republican Primary.However, Mr. Fraga told Houston political blogger Charles Kuffner in an interview that  he voted in the Republican primary to support one candidate in particular.Mr. Fraga told Mr. Kuffner that other than in 2010 he has voted in Democratic primaries. You...

Houston municipal elections are just weeks away.(Above--Photo montage of Houston by Yassie.) October 11 is the last day to register to vote.Early voting runs October 24--November 4.Election Day is November 8.Voters in Houston will be selecting a Mayor, the City Controller, 5 at-large citywide Council positions, and 11 district Council seats.Who are the candidates?There are some useful resources online for you to get the lay of the land.Fellow Houston blogger Charles Kuffner has a list posted of the...

Above is a picture of the front page of yesterday'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...

Despite 3,882 followers, the Harris County Democratic Party Facebook page has been updated once since June 29. And that one time was to sell tickets for an event.Does the HCDP have anything to say about anything here in the third largest county in America, and with city elections taking place in November?Even if it is just a few sentences, I manage to update this blog nearly every day of the year.While many good people care...

Here is a picture I took a few days ago in Houston of an excellent taxi cab.I don't know what kind of car that is and I'll never own a convertable, but that is a fine taxi.A great book I bought a few weeks ago is Car--A Definitive History of the Automobile by DK Publishing.Here is a history of taxi cab service in the United States compiled by PBS.From this history---"By the end of the 19th century, automobiles began...