99% of the time we should bow, bend & defer.
1% of the time we should stand our ground.
But these two things should have equal weight in defining who we are.
99% of the time we should bow, bend & defer. 1% of the time we should stand our ground. But these two things should have equal weight in defining who we are.
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I early voted today in Houston, Harris County, Texas. I voted for 8 or 9 Green Party nominees and for whatever larger number of Democrats. There is no Repubilcan fit for public office in Texas until I here of one who renounces the far right extremism of the Abbott/Patrick team at the top of the GOP ballot. Libertariaism is law of the jungle brutality. In addition to voting, there is also great and essential value to actions such as the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the recent climate change match in New York City. There are many paths to freedom. The work of freedom is up to each of us. (Please excuse the lack of links and the brevity of recent posts on this blog. My home wi-fi is on the fritz and that is making posting more difficult. Please focus instead on all the ways we can make life better.) WHO CAN A LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE VOTE FOR IN TEXAS IN 2014?---SOME PICKS FOR HARRIS COUNTY AS WELL10/22/2014 With early voting underway in Texas, who can a liberal or progressive support in 2014?
And given how low our expectations are here in Texas, who can we vote for who isn't a far right wing extremist? I'll also be focusing on a small number of races in Harris County, Texas. I live in Houston. Early voting in Texas ends on Friday, October 31. General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. Here is my ballot---- Governor of Texas: Wendy Davis I wish Ms. Davis had run a campaign more focused on economic issues and the refusal of the State of Texas to accept the expansion of health care from the Affordable Care Act. We need to expand turnout in Texas. But Ms.Davis is who we have for the top spot on the ballot. She could be worse. Lt. Governor of Texas: Leticia Van De Putte Ms. Van De Putte has run a hopeful and energetic campaign against far right-wing extremist Dan Patrick. Given the power of the Lt. Governor over the Texas State Senate, I'd ask that people consider looking at Dan Patrick's record and discussing this race with fellow Texans. United States Senator from Texas: Emily Sanchez With Democratic U.S. Senate nominee David Almaeel headed nowhere, Texas Green Party nominee Emily Sanchez is the best pick. Ms. Sanchez is the U.S. Senate candidate talking about climate change and fair wages for all. Texas Attorney General: Sam Houston Mr. Houston is a strong competent candidate running against a Republican nominee--Ken Paxton--who may soon face criminal charges. Texas Agriculture Commissioner: Kenneth Kendrick This is another race where the Democrat is not running a credible campaign. Green Party nominee Kendrick is well-informed about Texas agriculture and has a history of taking on big corporate interests. Harris County District Attorney: Kim Ogg This is likely the most important race on the Harris County ballot. Ms. Ogg offers a hopeful and more humane course of justice in Harris County after years of Republican control in this position. Harris County Judge Executive: David Collins There is no Democrat in this race. Why not cast a ballot for thoughtful and progressive Green for the highest office in Harris County? Harris County Board of Education: Melissa Noriega I know Melissa and she is all right. Make sure you vote all the way down the ballot on Election Day. The judgeships are important. Here is my post from a few days ago of things I intend to do to be of at least some impact in this election. Taking part in traditional politics does not mean that we should ignore things like the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong or the recent climate change march in New York City. The work of freedom is up to each of us. We've got to make use of every opportunity and avenue we can to make progress in our nation and the world. Here is a list of ideas for everyday resistance to our often greedy and violent society. Please read all of NeilAquino.com Early voting begins in Texas on Monday, October 20, 2014 and runs through Friday October 31, 2014. General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2014.
Because of our wrongful Texas voter ID which is intended to keep poor people and people of color from voting, here are the various forms of ID that will be accepted at the polls so you'll be allowed to vote. Here are things I'm doing to help candidates and ideas I support in this upcoming election and beyond--- 1. I'm voting. 2. I'm asking people I know if they are voting. 3. In the next day or two, I'm going to make a series of small donations to candidates I support and also to the Texas Green Party. The Green Party offers Texas voters a needed option for fair wages, a sustainable way of living and more democracy. 4. I'm using resources I have such as this blog and my Facebook page to advocate for my beliefs. 5. I'm making this list and asking others to do something similar if they think it might be of value. It helps to have a plan as time growing short in this election season. 6. I'm making the point that Texas Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick nominee is a far right extremist who should give both independents and Republicans second thought at the ballot box. 7. I'm going to keep on saying that the Democratic Party needs to focus on economic stagnation and frozen wages in Texas and the United States, with the same energy it has applied to some social issues. 8. I'm asking you to offer your own ideas with a comment here on the blog. The work of freedom is up to each of us. Please read all of NeilAquino.com A good thing in Texas politics is the Texas Progressive Alliance. I am a member of this organization.
(Drawing is of the jalapeno. The jalapeno is the state pepper of Texas.) The TPA is a group of citizen-bloggers who each day observe, write about and take an active part in Texas politics at the local and statewide level. The work of freedom is up to each of us. Each week the TPA offers a round-up of the best in Texas blogging for the week just past. Here is the most recent round-up--- Off the Kuff published his interview with Mike Collier, Democratic candidate for Comptroller. Libby Shaw, writing for Texas Kaos and Daily Kos, wants to make sure Texas women voters remember in November. Greg Abbott’s War on Poor Women is real and it is mean. So there was this ad about a guy in a wheelchair on teevee last week. PDiddie at Brains and Eggsthinks that people observing Texas politics that don't live in Texas just don't get it. As crunch time arrives, Texas Leftist wants voters to know just how far out in the political fringe we have to put Republican Dan Patrick. So far out, he started running against Rick Perry. Plus, don't miss the interview with the only sensible candidate in the lietenant governor's race, DemocratLeticia Van de Putte. WCNews at Eye on Williamson says that of all the bad GOP statewide candidates -- and there are many to choose from -- Ken Paxton may be the worst, in Paxton's legal predicament: will he be indicted? Vote this November with CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme if you want Latinas treated with dignity, people of African descent given life-saving efforts when ill, and Texas women to have proper health services. Neil at Blog About Our Failing Money Owned Political System wrote about the two Ebola cases in the United States. BAOFMOPS is one of many worthy pages to review at NeilAquino.com. jobsanger wonders if the polls even matter in this election. Texpatriate plays it down the middle in the furor over the wheelchair ad. ==================== And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs. Unfair Park tallies the cost of assuaging irrational fears about Ebola. Mark Phariss, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking to overturn Texas' ban on same sex marriage, urges the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to schedule oral arguments in that case already. Socratic Gadfly has a take on Bud Kennedy's column regarding Democrats, minorities, and thinking past abortion and gay marriage. Fascist Dyke Motors wants you to understand that there are rules everybody has to follow. Hair Balls explains why moving the Houston Pride parade out of the Montrose is a big deal. Nonsequiteuse reminds us that sneakers are made for blockwalking as well as filibustering. Pink is optional. Christopher Hooks provides another example of Breitbart Texas being stark raving loony. The TSTA Blog highlights another education cutter seeking to get back into office. Greg Wythe teases his return with a promised look at how the early vote is going. Mustafa Tameez condemns Dan Patrick's "irresponsible" border ad. Juanita Jean speaks as a person with disabilities about that Wendy Davis ad. October 16, 2014 is the 8th annual Blog Action Day.
The theme this year is inequality. It is good to see this yearly blog effort because bloggers around the world are everyday people who do the work of freedom. Some bloggers brave substantial risk to offer their viewpoints in the places they live and to the entire world. As awful as the state government of Texas is, I don't face the risks bloggers in even more repressive parts of the world confront. So I'm glad to be a small part of a global effort with such good colleagues. (My friend Perry Dorrell at Brains & Eggs is also taking part in Blogger Action Day.) Wealth is increasingly concentrated across the world. In the United States, what is left of the middle class is economically worse off then 25 years ago. Our global economic systems, which all lead to the rule of just a few elites whether it be in China or Russia or the United States, are accelerating climate change and making sure that the most powerful remain in power with the use of constant surveillance and militarized police. There are other ways to live other than feeling our lives and our fates are tied to systems that don't pay fair wages for our work, pit us against each other, offer us junk to eat and destroy the planet. These efforts begin with each of us as individuals and as people coming together to demand something better. We all have the capacity to fight back. Fast food workers in the United States have been striking for higher wages. We all have the power to fight back individually and collectively. Here is a list of ideas for everyday resistance. Your thoughts and ideas on better ways to live and ways to resist the greed and violence of everyday life are welcome. Please leave a comment or e-mail me at naa618@att.net. Good and hopeful things happen all the time in life. Let's bring about a better way of living. Please read all of NeilAquino.com Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana says the U.S. approach on Ebola is flawed because "...it focuses on Africa."
At the same time, the World Health Organization said today that the number of new Ebola cases in Africa may number as high as 10,000 a week by December of this year. If the disease is stopped in Africa, the threat of the disease spreading around the world will be dramatically reduced. I've made a second small donation to Ebola relief as part of what I can do to combat the spread of this terrible illness. Here is the Ebola relief page of Doctors Without Borders. Here is the Ebola relief page for UNICEF. Maybe there are other organizations you support in the fight against Ebola. I have to compose myself for a time to manage the anger at political parties using Ebola as a vote getting tactic. I have to focus on what I can accomplish to help people and focus on seeing us all as connected even as some choose a mean-spirited path. I believe we can move forward as individuals and as a connected world. This is the course we must maintain. We just have to move ahead even though moving ahead is often very difficult. Please read all of NeilAquino.com PENTAGON SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE IS IMMEDIATE NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT---SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?10/13/2014 Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel said today that the Pentagon sees climate change as an "Immediate national security threat."
Here is a link to a copy of the report. From the New York Times--- "The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises....The report lays out a road map to show how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate change risks across all of its operations, from war games and strategic military planning situations to rethinking the movement of supplies. The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere,” Mr. Hagel said. “Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration.” This made me wonder if we will now declare war on ourselves as we refuse as a nation to seriously address climate change? Are Members of Congress who fight efforts to combat climate change now be regarded as internal enemies? Will the army seize coal plants? What sacrifices will everyday citizens me asked to make to fight this security threat? I'm all for taking climate change in a serious manner. NASA said today that the Earth just went through the warmest six recorded months since records exist going back to 1880. So if climate change is an immediate security threat, where is the leadership to address the threat? Please read all of NeilAquino.com Regarding concern and fear about the two cases of ebola in the United States, it is true that government lies (Just like the private sector) all the time, that people who cause bad things like wars based on false pretenses & economic collapses don't get punished, that we were content to sit around and do nothing despite warnings New Orleans could not handle a major hurricane, and that the government did willfully infect black people with syphilis and radiation.
You can't blame folks for being suspicious and worried. On the other hand, we have a major political party that has as a central platform the refusal to expand health care to all, a Surgeon General nominee blocked by opposition from the gun lobby, a public in Texas that voted to reduce legal liabilities for doctor negligence and conservatives saying ebola is a plot to put people in camps run by FEMA. In the background is the AIDS epidemic not so long ago that Ronald Reagan & people on the right ignored and said was God's judgement, while many gay folks and gay allies looked the other way as long as possible saying addressing AIDS was an attack on the gay community. The bottom line is we have to think it all out ourselves and offer helpful views as best we are able. There are helpful calm voices out there offering sound medical and social practices to combat ebola. Let's seek them out and move ahead with our lives. Please read all of NeilAquino.com A hopeful thing in our Texas politics is the Texas Progressive Alliance. I am a member of this organization.
The TPA is a group of citizen-bloggers who each day observe, write about and take an active part in Texas politics at the local and statewide level. (Photo is of sweet onions. The sweet onion is the official vegetable of Texas.) The work of freedom is up to each of us. Each week the TPA offers a round-up of the best in Texas blogging for the week just past. Here is the most recent round-up--- Off the Kuff began his series of interviews with statewide candidates by talking to Sam Houston, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General. Libby Shaw, writing for Texas Kaos and at Daily Kos, is very pleased that Wendy Davis hammered Greg Abbott on Austin's pervasive culture of corruption. From WCNews at Eye on Williamson: The question remains, is something like the Texas Enterprise Fund scandal enough to get voters to change their mind about Greg Abbott and the GOP? If not thenwhat would it take? William Rivers Pitt wrote "an open letter to his Democratic spammer". PDiddie at Brains and Eggscommiserates. BlueDaze outs the not-from-Denton Master Debator representing the frackers. Texpatriate updated the lieutenant governor's race, Texas Leftist reviewed the debate, andEgberto Willies passed along the HouChron's endorsement of Leticia Van de Putte. Bay Area Houston wonders why Greg Abbott sat in traffic for ten years before deciding he wanted to help. Neil at All People Have Value wrote an art review of the fish cleaning station at the Texas City Dike. APHV is one of many pages worthy of review at NeilAquino.com. ================ And here are some posts from other Texas blogs. jobsanger ruefully observes that Wendy Davis is trailing in the governor's race because Texans don't feel that women should be equal to men. But Socratic Gadfly believes there is no "self-hating woman" meme at work here. TFN gives us the news that RNC head Reince Priebus believes it's 'compassionate' for Texas Republicans to close women's clinics in Texas. Trail Blazers has the story of the lesbian couple that that asked the Fifth Circuit to schedule arguments next month in their gay marriage suit ... because they're expecting in March. Scott Braddock shows the evidence of who's behind some recent wingnut-on-wingnut violence. Be sure your popcorn popper is in good order, this one looks like a gift that will keep on giving. Lone Star Q is happy to report that Dallas City Council has voted week to ban discrimination against transgender city employees. The Lunch Tray took a stand for citizen journalism. Hair Balls explains what pot has to do with the Harris County DA race this year. Char Miller eulogizes his colleague John Donahue, a "gracious force for good" in San Antonio. Nancy Sims posits her grand unification theory of Houston Mayoral elections. The Texas Election Law Blog assesses the GAO report on how long it took to vote in 2012. Texas Watch wants you to understand the impact of the Texas law that shields the medical industry from accountability. BOR points to HD94 as a below-the-radar race to watch. Nonsequiteuse connects the dots from racing for the cure to racing for Governor. |