Tracking Inner Houston’s Growth: Grocery Stores

I thought this would be an interesting thing to compare. We all know that the inner loop of Houston is growing… there’s a fast pace of infill occurring right now. But are all of these apartments and townhomes equating to actual population growth?

Instead of going on the normal real estate data, I decided to track grocery store development inside a portion of the inner loop between 2008 and 2012. Two things to note…

1) This is within the bounds of basically four neighborhoods… Downtown, Midtown, Montrose and Rice Military. Some stores are on the boundaries of other areas (like the Heights)

2) This is only “major” grocers… chain stores in large format. It doesn’t include corner stores. Phoenicia in downtown isn’t exactly Super-markets, but in my opinion is large enough to be considered a major grocer.

In 2008 here were the area’s major grocers…

Spec’s Midtown, Fiesta Midtown, Randall’s Midtown, Kroger Montrose, Fiesta Montrose, Whole Foods River Oaks, Randall’s River Oaks, Kroger River Oaks

Here’s the list in 2012, with opening dates for the new additions…

Spec’s Midtown, Fiesta Midtown, Randall’s Midtown, Kroger Montrose, Fiesta Montrose (closed), Whole Foods River Oaks, Randall’s River Oaks, Kroger River Oaks, Phoenicia Downtown (2011), Whole Foods Montrose (2011), Target Sawyer Heights (2009), HEB Montrose (2012), Wal-Mart Market Heights (2012?), Trader Joe’s Montrose/River Oaks (2012?)

Between 2008 and late 2012/2013, it appears that inner Houston’s major grocery stores will grow by 40%. Inner city Houston is definitely transforming… FAST!

The ABCs of the GOP: L is for…

Lying

So first of all, we want to deal with the obvious “duh” here. This is FAR from an exclusively Republican issue. Politicians… whether Democrat or Republican… have BIG issues with lying. Bill Clinton, Anthony Wiener, Eliot Spitzer… Major Democratic politicians that were all caught in some pretty major lies.

The common theme amongst the three Democrats listed above… Bill Clinton lying about his indiscretions with Monica Lewinski and other women, Anthony Wiener lying about posting nude pictures of himself to another woman, and Eliot Spitzer lying about sleeping with a prostitute… all three are deplorable, terrible lies. They are unbecoming of those that should be public stewards of our tax dollars. But as bad as they are, in all three cases… the lies that these men told are PERSONAL… it has to do with them, their families, and obviously their careers.

Now scandals plague both parties… they always have and always will. But with the Republicans of 2012, new levels of lying that has emerged far beyond personal implications. Instead, they use these lies to advance a Right-Wing agenda. Some of these heavily marketed lies reach so far down into the GOP’s lexicon that they become the basis of party policy, and even law.

Here’s how the basic process works. Take the current “liar of the week” Republican Congressman Todd Akin. He revealed the GOP’s long-held position that there is somehow a dinstinction between a “legitimate” rape, and other types of rape? Yeah, it’s a ridiculous mess to even think about. But the point of using that language is because it validates Republican and Pro-Life policy about why they want Roe v. Wade struck down. Something as insane as “legitimate” rape or “forcible” rape has to be codified into law so they advance their agenda that life… no matter how or what circumstances around it… begins “at conception”. So that’s the main point… The GOP is Anti-Abortion. But the subliminal part of that is that they are also Anti-Women. If they have to legislate for women when and how rape is determined as “forcible”, it means that they don’t trust the women of America to make their own decisions, or to understand how their bodies work. Even worse, it suggest that women are somehow incapable of making their own decisions, and that the law must do it for them.

Another recent example… Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield (Republican, of course) is best known for his authorship of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill which tried to force public schools to just pretend homosexuality doesn’t exist. As reported on RawStory.com, Mr. Campfield believes that HIV is only a gay problem, saying that it’s virtually impossible to contract the disease through heterosexual sex.

Here’s his full quote:

“Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community,” he told Michelangelo Signorile, who hosts a radio program on SiriusXM OutQ. “It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.”

“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex.”

The main lie is obvious… HIV and AIDS are definitely being spread through various forms of sexual contact, both heterosexual and homosexual. But he goes way out on a limb by saying that patient zero contracted HIV by having sex with a monkey. This is to link ALL homosexuals together and to further separate them from the rest of the “normal” human race. He wants to imply that maybe all gay people just have sex with animals. Translation… they are evil, they are foriegn, and they shouldn’t be allowed around good, decent families. That’s his subliminal message… to make the gay community seem different than everyone else. As we see with the “Don’t Say Gay bill and others like it, these crazy lies are being used to create actual LAW that affects our nation.

This system of lying has permeated every corner of the GOP, and there’s no better evidence than the 2012 Party Platform. It should be no surprise that the Republicans have swung so far to the right, they have adopted what some call the most Conservative major Party platform seen in a century. In fact, Examiner.com reports that 95 percent of the official party platform is taken directly from the TEA Party backed coalition FreedomWorks. There is no support for gay marriage or gay rights, a strengthening of Anti-Choice legislation, and even suggestions of returning to the gold standard.

So perhaps the GOP’s biggest lie is the GOP itself. What used to be a big-tent group that crafted balance policy between it’s moderate and conservative wing is now entirely devoid of Moderates. If a party is in line with its fringe on almost all issues, then the fringe is only thing left. So in 2012, the GOP is lying… even down to its very name. Let’s hope they don’t lie their way into government control.

Romney: “No one’s ever asked to see my Birth Certificate”

Maybe Mitt Romney was emboldened by the visit to his hometown today, but he took a comment a bit too far. In Michigan, the presumptive GOP nominee told a joke/jab…

“I was born at Henry Ford Hospital, Ann was born at Harper Hospital. No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know this is the place where we were born and raised.”

Good point Mr. Romney… Maybe it’s high time that we did ask. Can’t ask your parents because (like President Obama’s) they’ve passed on. But perhaps the doctor that delivered you is still around? Sure the hospital has records, you have a birth certificate, and probably papers from the time made some sort of announcements. But as wealthy as you are, all of those things could have been easily falsified, right?

It’s a shame that we have to ask these questions about either candidate, but the far greater shame is that Mr. Romney would actually take the time in his campaign mode to feed the ridiculous Right-Wing rumors about President Obama. He must have forgotten that the GOP primaries are OVER and it’s time to talk to the whole country now. Is this the guy the GOP wants to formally nominate next week?

Dear Nancy

To: Current House Minority Leader, Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

From: A Concerned Texan

Dear Nancy,

As a man and proud American, I wanted to take this opportunity to write you a letter of gratitude to you.

Thank you for your dedicated service as Speaker of the House… an historic post for political leadership in this country. It was historic not only because you were the first woman to ever hold this post, but also because you were inarguably led one of the hardest working, most prolific Houses of Congress in American history. Under your leadership, the House of Representatives passed record amounts of legislation… healthcare reform (originally containing a public option), raising the minimum wage, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the DREAM ACT, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Your Congress was a group of lawmakers that got things done, instead of voting on the same bill 33 times and wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Thank you for using your office, and the time and money of the American people, in more a more responsible fashion than House Speaker John Boehner and current Congressional leaders.

But as we are learning today, what you didn’t do is perhaps just as important. I also want to thank you and House Democrats for not endangering and infringing upon my rights as a male. Thank you for not forcing me to go through mandatory medical procedures. Thank you for not forcing me to spend ridiculous amounts of money on additional tests that I don’t need. Thank you for allowing me to make my own choices about my health care as a man, and not making those decisions for me. Thank you for sparing the men of America all of the atrocities that Congressional Republicans have tried to force upon American women. As controversial as the “debates” over Contraception as a part of women’s health have become, you somehow never sought to politicize the issues regarding reproductive health for men. You even supported Viagra to be covered as part of the Affordable Care Act!! No surprise, it is part of the law today, without any uproar.

When you did have to make decisions about men’s health, thank you for allowing male members of Congress to participate in those Congressional hearings. As men it is important that we get a say in critical legislation that affects our health care.

Lastly, thank you for representing a political party that doesn’t support ‘nonsense’ views like those recently expressed by Republican Congressman Todd Akin. Thank you for never once giving voice to those views in the Democratic Party, and thank you for calling them out at every turn. I’m greatful that the Democratic party leaders are ones that “don’t understand” the differences between how one is raped. They see all rape as a heinous crime that the victims shouldn’t be blamed for in any way. It’s clear from your legislative record on laws such as the Violence Against Women Act that you support women and families 100 percent, without having to question or doubt them in their time of need.

I am forever grateful for your service and dedication to our country.

Sincerely,

Concerned Texan

Bill O’Reilly said “what” about birth control?

A very interesting clip from 2008. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, responding to a John McCain interview with Planned Parenthood, defends the use of Viagra for men as a legitimate health issue, while saying that a woman’s use of birth control is a “choice”.

Is anyone else tired of these ridiculous double standards??

Historical fact: Paul Ryan LOVES stimulus spending

As we’ve covered in K is for Karma, Congressman and presumptive Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan has a bit of a stimulus problem. Over the last few years, he has decried stimulus spending as “waste” yet he seems to have little problem wasting money in his Wisconsin district.

This weekend Chris Hayes revealed that Mr. Ryan hasn’t always been opposed to Stimulus spending, or even Keynsian economics. On Up with Chris, this little gem of C-Span video was uncovered…

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This needs to be an Obama ad. He makes the case for Stimulus spending more eloquently than the President ever has!!

The ABCs of the GOP: K is for

Karma

When we take a moment to reflect on the past year in American Politics, it’s mostly been a time of focus on the GOP. After all, Democrats have had our 2012 Presidential candidate since the 2008 election. There’s not much of a need for controversy in that party. But relative quiet on one side of the political aisle does not mean we’ve been short of drama… the GOP has gotten VERY good at it all on it’s own. The drama of the Presidential Primaries was particularly intense. But you have to ask… After so many candidates, did the GOP really have to select Mitt Romney? How did this happen?

Sure most of the field was “weak”, and Mr. Romney was well organized and well funded. The few candidates that showed real promise at the start, like Jon Huntsman or Tim Pawlenty, were not able to get much traction out of the gate. Promising future prospects like Chris Christie decided to sit out the 2012 cycle (perhaps not wanting to be thrown to the wolf pack). But as the Republican Party continues to cleanse itself of moderates in favor of the Far-Right, why would they tolerate a “moderate” flip-flopper like Romney to be the leader of their party? The answer is simple: KARMA.

The GOP used to be a party that emphasized small government and fiscal responsibility. But today’s party doesn’t really have a central philosophy. Instead they are caught in a complex web of lies. How can you be for small government when you continue to overfund the Department of Defense… the world’s largest employer? How can you be for fiscal restraint, when you voted to fight two wars without raising even a penny of revenue to fund them? How can you be for further tax cuts for the wealthy, when their taxes are already at historic lows? This is the web that modern Republicans have woven for themselves. As opinion columnist Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast writes, the GOP now has to lie in order to win a major election. If Republicans told the truth about their real intentions for government, they would be rejected by all for their hypocrisy.

That’s where the karma comes in. Mitt Romney is the closest thing to a sole embodiment of the GOP’s hypocritical history. Romney’s business experience (and his wealth) is basically built from the destruction of thousands of American workers. He became rich because other companies took the advice of Bain Capital, laid off much of their work force, then paid Bain in consulting fees. There’s a big contradiction there considering he’s running for President on his ability to “create American jobs”.

Mr. Romney of course has a public record as well… four years as Governor of Massachusetts. And during that time, his single greatest legislative achievement was the passage of mandatory health care for all Massachusetts residents. Make no mistake, this was Governor Romney’s signature achievement in the Bay State. Listen to him defend his universal health care plan with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. I Had to transcribe my favorite part here…

Cavuto: “Let me step back from this Governor, if you don’t mind. When people are polled on this issue of universal healthcare coverage, a Fox Poll that we did… 2 out of 3 folks say ‘don’t want it, don’t see the need for it.’ What do you say about that?

Romney: “Well what they don’t recognize is they’ve already got it, and that’s the big surprise. Everybody in this country does get free health care. If people get sick… they go to the hospital and they get treated. And everybody else pays the cost of those individuals if they don’t have health insurance… So we have universal health care. For people that can afford to pay, it’s time for them to step up to the plate.”

The eloquence and conviction with which Mr. Romney defends his plan (to the Fox News audience, no less) is simply shocking. No wonder a symbol for health care is painted into Governor Romney’s official Massachusetts portrait.

Then there’s his time with the Salt Lake City Olympics. No one doubts that the games were a success, but Romney continues to forget HOW he funded those games… from over $1 Billion dollars in GOVERNMENT contracts. Yet today, he decries many public projects as “wasteful spending”. So it wasn’t a waste when he oversaw the funds?

Of course many Republicans are caught in this trap… the ones that publicly bashed the Obama Stimulus as wasteful, but then request portions of the funds for their district. Mr. Romney’s newly minted running mate Paul Ryan was caught red-handed lying about stimulus funds, saying that he never requested any of the money for his district, and even going so far to say “I’m not one who votes for something and then writes to the government to ask them to send us money,”. Actually, he did, so if it’s a test of character, Mr. Ryan would fail almost as quickly as Mr. Romney.

So as karma would have it, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have turned out to be quite the fitting match for their party’s national leadership. Romney is the embodiment of hypocrisy and convolution, While Ryan is the party’s ideology gone wrong. Karma is definitely at play in this year’s Republican Party.

A Voice for the Rest of Texas