Tag Archives: Texans Together

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of February 16th

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The Texas Progressive Alliance sends warm thoughts to everyone in the Northeast digging themselves out from snow again as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff reports on opposition to the proposed high speed rail line.

Libby Shaw, writing for Texas Kaos and contributing to Daily Kos, is appalled by efforts to pass an open carry law in Texas. What should Texans fear the most? ISIS or Open Carry?

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is tired of Republicans using hurtful, hateful tactics to appease their racist base and cause harm to the people in the Valley.

Neil at All People Have Value wrote about the ongoing federal cover-up of a plot to kill members of Occupy Houston in 2011. Occupy Houston protestors were peaceful people. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. The Texas GOP plans to give the wealthy in Texas a tax cut – no matter what. The cost will be high for everyone else, The Cost Of Tax Cuts.

Texas Leftist reports on the most significant changes to the Houston region’s public transit infrastructure since the creation of METRO. With System Reimagining now approved and the final route maps selected, transit in Texas’ largest city will never be the same again.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is coming to Denton this weekend, and Houston next week, as part of the kickoff to her bid for the presidency of the US. PDidddie at Brains and Eggs has the details.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Lone Star Ma calls on doctors to do a better job explaining the need for vaccinations.

Texas Vox would like you to tell President Obama to veto the Keystone XL pipeline.

Jef Rouner and his five-year-old daughter encounter an open carry demonstration.

Purple City sees cultural undertones in the opposition to the proposed high speed rail line in Texas.

Texans Together reports on the State of Black Houston 2015.

Jeff Balke goes back to high school to explore when kids and faith collide.

The Great God Pan Is Dead laments the loss of two cultural icons.

Grits for Breakfast is encouraged by the possibility of grand jury reform.

Austin Contrarian demonstrates how street design can lead to major traffic problems.

 

SHG

(As Texas Mardi Gras celebrations fade into Ash Wednesday hangovers, this week’s featured photo is of the brilliant Sacred Heart Church in Galveston, Texas.  Photo credit:  Jeff Antonelli on Pinterest)  

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of January 5th, 2015

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The Texas Progressive Alliance is still waiting for someone to invent the hoverboard as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff published special election candidate interviews with Diego Bernal, Trey Martinez-Fischer, and Ty McDonald.

Libby Shaw writing for Texas Kaos and Daily Kos learned important lessons from her volunteer work with Battleground Texas. Battleground Texas: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. There may still be hope for Battleground Texas in Texas. But the strategy will must change, All About The Base.

Police departments all over the country have deep roots in slavery and racism, as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs reminded.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why the Port of Brownsville is so dismissive of the Sierra Club opinion on liquefied natural gas terminals. Don’t they care about the health of the people and the environment?

Neil at All People Have Value said policymakers on both sides of the aisle knew years ago that automation and changing facts threatened blue collar jobs. Yet instead of helping everyday people, public policy was geared towards the rich instead. Neil says the work of freedom is up to each of us. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Juanita challenged us to come up with a title for Ted Cruz’s book.

LGBTQ Insider has a caveat about the FDA’s change in policy towards gay men donating blood.

Unfair Park previews the Fifth Circuit court hearing on the same sex marriage appeal.

Texans Together reviews the San Jacinto River Coalition’s accomplishments for 2014.

Nancy Sims tells the story of her transitioning daughter and her own unconditional love for her.

The Bloggess pens an open letter to the Girl Scouts.

Jonathan Guajardo asks new Bexar County DA Nico LaHood for a serious inquiry into the case of Cameron Redus, a UIW student who was fatally shot by a UIW police officer outside his apartment off campus.

Scott Braddock calls 2014 the year of Tom DeLay’s permanent Republican majority.

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Shelby County Courthouse

(The 1886 Shelby County Courthouse in Center, Texas.  Photo credit:  254texascourthouses.net )

Houston Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of December 8th

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The Texas Progressive Alliance stands with the Garner and Brown families in the quest for equal justice for all as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Guest blogger Kris Banks at Off the Kuff provided a visual guide to turnout comparisons in Harris County.

Libby Shaw writing at Texas Kaos and Daily Kos believes Greg Abbott’s recent lawsuit against the President’s action on immigration is not only lame, it is yet one more example of conservative racist disrespect for the duly elected President. Ease up on the hate, please, TX Gov. Elect.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme calls out Republicans for cutting public works while spending money on racist, empty gestures.

Texas atheists are blessed to be able to run for public office in Texas, reports PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Neil at All People Have Value said that he is very white, male and European. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Grits for Breakfast celebrates an ruling from the Court of Criminal Appeals that allows for a wider use of Texas’s so-called “junk science writ”.

The Texas Election Law Blog pushes back on the argument that voter ID laws had little effect in 2014.

The Lunch Tray offers thoughts on a national food policy.

Offcite analyzes the case for a swimming hole in Houston.

Texans Together will take a “Texas way” forward on Medicaid expansion if one is there to be taken.

Alan Bean asks what Jesus would do with the current immigration debate.

Raise Your Hand Texas released a report showing how Texas falls short of best practices with its pre-k program.

Texas Clean Air Matters explains the new ozone standard.

Gray Matters bids farewell to Houston Chronicle employees as they prepare to leave their downtown building for the old Houston Post location.

 

(Photo credit: Glenn Stuart on Flickr)

Riverwalk Christmas

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of December 1st

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The Texas Progressive Alliance is back from its tryptophan vacation as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff is cheering for the Texas same-sex marriage plaintiffs as they move for the stay of the ruling that threw out the ban on same-sex nuptials to be lifted.

Libby Shaw writing for Texas Kaos and Daily Kos is taking a few days off to spend quality time with family. I hope all of our readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Some helpful tips to avoid looking like a jackass with respect to the events in Ferguson, Missouri this past week were offered by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme disagrees with the GOP view that only rich, white, old men should vote.

Neil at All People Have Value attended the Michael Brown protest march in Houston this past week. The work of freedom is always up to each of us. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

The controversial decision in Ferguson, Missouri sent shockwaves across the country, with many communities immediately engaging in protests. But as Texas Leftist discovered, the Houston protests may yield some substantive progress in the quest to outfit officers with body cameras. Plus, a new video highlights HPD’s work to tackle homelessness.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

The Rivard Report, with a clear view of what “bipartisanship” means these days, reminds us that it only takes a few generations to go from immigrant to hypocrite.

Lone Star Ma has had it with the textbook adoption process.

Grits for Breakfast questions Republican funny math on border security funding.

Texans Together discusses hardship exemptions for the Affordable Care Act.

LGBTQ Insider explains another acronym for the spectrum.

 

(Photo credit:  Dr. Marvel on Flickr)

Holiday Lights Houston

Houston, Houston Politics, Texas Politics

Texans Together Calls For US Justice Investigation Of Greg Abbott

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All things considered in this high election season, many are quite surprised that the bombshell revelation that Attorney General Greg Abbott ordered an armed police raid of a Houston voter group has not received more attention from news media.  But the low profile of this case could soon be changing very quickly.

This is bold request from the advocacy group Texans Together, and it’s aimed squarely at Greg Abbott, and the Harris county Clerk’s office…

We recently made a formal, written request to the U.S. Justice Department to immediately investigate Texas and Harris County officials for voter suppression in Harris County (see letter here). We are asking for a federal investigation of not only the Texas Attorney General’s Office, but also Harris County election officials for their long history of impeding minority voter registration and voting.
We believe the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector should be investigated thoroughly for their many years of wrongful registration denials and delays as well as their incompetent processing of registration applicants. We also are seeking an investigation that the Justice Department look at the apparent politicization of the Harris County Clerk’s election administration.
As for the Texas Attorney General’s Office (AG), our letter points out that the AG falsely accused Houston Votes of “voter fraud” and effectively shut down our voter registration drive in 2010. The AG’s theory was that our voter registration drive was engaged in felony identity fraud, for simply keeping records of the people we registered to ensure that County authorities properly registered them and so that we could remind them to vote. No wonder after raiding us with six officers with guns and flak jackets, and investigating for 11 months, the AG dropped their oppressive investigation without ever notifying us. Under its absurd theory, every voter registration and turnout drive in the country would be a criminal enterprise.
Even after the original story was uncovered by the Dallas Morning News, no one had heard directly from those formerly with Houston Votes, and the whole issue never went any further than the original report (and a dedicated circle of bloggers, of course).  Off the Kuff, Neil Aquino and Dos Centavos were actively covering the Houston Votes saga when the first allegations were waged in 2010.

The whole reason for Abbott’s illegal, oppressive raid of Houston Votes in the first place?  Lies from the King Street Patriots, a Houston-area TEA Party group that also spawned True the Vote in 2012.  They claimed that Houston Votes had falsified thousands of voter registration documents.  After a lot of drama staged by True the Vote, no evidence was actually found, but Abbott and his TEA minions got what they wanted anyway… to silence minority voices in Harris County.

This needs to be a national story, and soon.  But for the moment, the best thing you can do is share posts like this one and let people know what’s going on.