The Texas Progressive Alliance congratulates the city of New Orleans for the Saints’ stirring Super Bowl victory, and reminds them that the “hair of the dog” trick doesn’t really help with the hangover.
The Texas Cloverleaf highlights the sentencing of GOP Denton County Constable Ken Jannereth. Probation, anger management, laying off the bottle, and maybe more to come for the disgraced lawman.
Could BeTrue of South Texas Chisme is watching 2 Texas Counties fight it out with their DAs over legal duties.
Bay Area Houston says Teabaggers claim illiterate Blacks elected Obama.
Is your gas wet or dry? Despite industry spin, it seems to not matter. TCEQ testing shows Barnett Shale “Dry Gas” health hazard. TXsharon thanks State Representative Lon Burnam for wading through the recent TCEQ testing report to find the truth. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
Over at TexasKaos, light seeker connects Obama’s big picture with our big picture, in Obama’s Problem is Our Problem In a Nutshell. Is our future Sarah Palin, Tea Partyers and failure?
This week at Left of College Station, Teddy interviews several members of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community at Texas A&M while investigating what it is like to be gay in Aggieland. Left of College Station also takes a look at American’s ignorance of current events and the political process, and a report on the local campaign spending and donations. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.
The Nuge was campaigning for 39% over the weekend. Can’t you just feel the greasy, smelly excitement?
WCNews at Eye On Williamson looks at how the legislature is already laying the groundwork for adding sales taxes to items currently excluded like bottled water, basic internet service, and coin operated services, House Ways and Means Committee to look at “Certain Sales Tax Exemptions & Exclusions.
Off the Kuff looks at the effect of the “Citizens United” ruling on judicial elections in Texas.
WhosPlayin is neck-deep in local issues in North Texas, having spent the weekend with the Lewisville City Council at their retreat, and noting that he local school district is discouraging candidates from running for school board.
This week at Texas Vox Citizen Sarah geeked out on the new energy generation plan presented to Austin City Council. May not sound too snazzy but there’s enormous potential there to reduce carbon emissions, build up our local economy, and improve public health with this plan, so she thinks it is pretty cool.
Neil at Texas Liberal commented that office building janitors in Houston have set up a Facebook page as they prepare for a new round of contract negotiations in 2010. All work has merit and all people should be paid a living wage.
Yesterday was huge for New Orleans but it was also TeaBagger Rally Day in northwest Harris County, as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs recounted in “Rick and Ted’s (and Sarah’s) Excellent Super Bowl Sunday Venture”.
Why are there two Americas? Why is it becoming an obsession to become the same Theocratic state that we demean in other countries? Guess what part of the US Constitution is trashed … the part about no state endorsed religion!
What Does The Constitution say about religion? (It may not be what you think.)
By Oliver “Buzz” Thomas
Ask most Americans what the Constitution says about God, and their answers may surprise you.
“One nation under God?”
Nope, that’s the Pledge of Allegiance.
“Oh, yeah, right, right. How about, ‘Endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights’?”
Sorry, but that’s the Declaration of Independence.
“Hmmmm.”
Mostly what you’ll get is a lot of blank stares. Trust me. I’ve tried it in nearly 50 states. Fully 55% of the country, according to a recent survey by the First Amendment Center, believes that the U.S. Constitution establishes us as a “Christian nation.” Worse still, while nearly all Americans say freedom of religion is important, only 56% think it should apply to all religious groups. The truth is that the Constitution says nothing about God. Not one word. And, you can bet that some of the local clergy back in the 1780s howled about it. Newspapers, pamphlets and sermons decried the drafters’ failure to acknowledge God.
One, and only one, reference
Even more interesting is what the Constitution has to say about religion. Although many of the nation’s loudest religionists continue to assert that America is a Christian nation in some legal or constitutional sense, the language of the original Constitution itself suggests otherwise. The only reference to religion is tucked away in Article VI and reads: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a Christian nation to me. If you wished to create a Christian nation, wouldn’t you at least need to ensure that its leaders were Christian? The No Religious Test Clause stands out because most colonies did have religious qualifications for public office. Many required a belief in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity with some, like the Carolinas, going so far as to require that all elected officials be Protestant.
So, why would the framers of our Constitution do such a thing, and moreover, why two years later would they adopt a constitutional amendment declaring that the new federal government could “make no law respecting an establishment of religion?” Was it because they were militant atheists? Hardly. James Madison, the primary architect of our Constitution, studied under the tutelage of Presbyterian-preacher-turned-Princeton-president John Witherspoon and even considered a career in the ministry before opting for politics.
More likely, the framers were concerned about the corrupting influence the institutions of church and state have on each other when either becomes too cozy. These guys knew their history. They had witnessed the blood shed by governments in the name of religion. Europe was nearly destroyed by it. They also knew their politics. The Baptists, Presbyterians and other Evangelicals were fed up with religion that was “established” by the state (as was the Anglican Church in many Southern colonies and the Congregational Church in New England) and were determined to achieve full-throttle religious freedom for all — believers and non-believers alike. [Read it all including the comments]
Why then do some Americans insist on making this country, founded with secular intent, a Theocracy? Because it is easy to manipulate, many non-cosmopolitan, religious people into electing politicians who pump their good vs evil beliefs. OK, I said non-cosmopolitan because, rural areas are less exposed to the realities of a diverse population. Their understanding of diversity is based on hearsay and exaggeration by biased charismatics. Look at some of the acid comments recently made about the Haiti victims by TV Evangelist bankers. Look at some of the nasty comments made about the Tsunami victims several years ago. The “Christian” venom spewed is no worse than what some radical Muslim clerics spewed about September 11, 2001. So Christian radicals are competeing for the lowest of low and deceiving America’s Laws by proselytizing on government issued weapons! How dare they! America’s secular Constitution made America a Democracy, not a Theocracy!
U.S. military rules prohibit any service member from proselytizing while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, which are primarily Muslim nations.
U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret ‘Jesus’ Bible Codes
Contractor to stop stamping Bible verses on gear for U.S. military
‘Bible codes’ on Afghan army guns
US-made rifles inscribed with Bible codes are being used by US forces and Afghans to fight the Taliban. The weapons come from Trijicon, a manufacturer based in Wixom, Michigan, that supplies the US military. The company’s now deceased founder, Glyn Bandon, started the practice which continues today. David Chater, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the Afghan capital Kabul, said: “It is a rallying cry for the Taliban. It gives them a propaganda tool. “They’ve always tried to paint the US efforts in Afghanistan as a Christian campaign”.
So, it looks like America is throwing off it’s secular cloak and choosing to behave like Iran: Who rules Iran? Are you kidding? Unless you’ve been on another planet for the past 30 years, everybody knows that it’s the radical Islamist clerics who rule Iran. And they dominate with an iron fist. The post of president is largely ceremonial. All of the candidates in this week’s election were hand picked by the mullahs.
And Malaysia: Religious tension is rising in Malaysia over the Christian community’s use of the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for its own god.
America wants to be ruled by TV Evangelist Bankers who are always holier than everyone else until they’re caught! This is where Religion has buddied up with weapons manufacturers to promote killing in the name of Jesus. Lets make our Christian warriors feel better about killing people with other belief systems, even though they may share their foxhole with Muslims, Jews , Buddhists or Agnostics!
The Texas Progressive Alliance is still somewhat amazed to be living in the year we make contact, and we hope we’re all still going strong when Odyssey Three rolls around.
Texas has most drilling, worst regulation. Texas made national news this week in the ProPublica investigative report and they used pictures provided by TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
WhosPlayin reports that the local city council is once again considering the question of whether to participate in 287(g) and force its vendors to use E-Verify to check for work eligibility.
BossKitty at TruthHugger found a poignant editorial on Al Jazeera: Weary Soldiers At Risk, They Know This - Why do foreign correspondents have more in depth observations than America’s own Corporate media who follows the money and toes the line for sponsors political perks that promise ’scoops’.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks all kids should be given free, nutritious school meals. Just do it.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson discusses another worthless GOP plan for transportation in Texas, Kay’s transportation plan is a clunker.
The Texas Cloverleaf questions whether or not a Houston City Councilman-elect knows the difference between a campaign website and city resources.
Off the Kuff called out some political gamesmanship over the murder rate in Harris County.
Last week Teddy reviewed the best of the Left of College Station, and looks at the year ahead at Left of College Station. This week Left of College Station will begin coverage of the 2010 campaign season in the Brazos Valley, and report on human trafficking in Houston.
Candidate filings, including Gordon Quan for Harris County Judge and a list of the statewides, appears in PDiddie’s post at Brains and Eggs.
Bay Area Houston hopes the next decade will be better than the last.
Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog covered Gordon Quan’s campaign kickoff including full video of Quan’s speech.
Libby Shaw puts together the latest throw downs exposing GOP hypocrisy and lies. Check it out : Rachel Maddow Busts Republicans for Cowardice, Hypocrisy and Lies.
At McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze noted with some interest that Marc Katz filed for Lt. Governor. Some, but not much. More important to him was a really nasty prairie dog attack.
Neil at Texas Liberal selected his wife as person of the decade and named his blog—Texas Liberal— as blog of the decade.
A poignant editorial on Al Jazeera seems to have more in depth observations than America’s Corporate media. Mainstream media must follow the money, toe the line for sponsors and political perks that promise ’scoops’.
‘The US military is exhausted”
A photograph with a message – and without a hope
By Sarah Lazare
The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation.
It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment.
As Barack Obama, the US president, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the total number of troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000, he faces a military force that has been exhausted and overextended by fighting two wars.
Many from within the ranks are openly declaring that they have had enough, allying with anti-war veterans and activists in calling for an end to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some active duty soldiers publicly refusing to deploy.
The architects of this war would be well-advised to listen to the concerns of the soldiers and veterans tasked with carrying out their war policies on the ground.
Many of those being deployed have already faced multiple deployments to combat zones: the 101st Airborne Division, which will be deployed to Afghanistan in early 2010, faces its fifth combat tour since 2002.
“They are just going to start moving the soldiers who already served in Iraq to Afghanistan, just like they shifted me from one war to the next,” said Eddie Falcon, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Soldiers are going to start coming back with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), missing limbs, problems with alcohol, and depression.”
Many of these troops are still suffering the mental and physical fallout from previous deployments.
Fort Campbell tries to address the consequences of exhausted soldiers.
As far back as 1919, exhausted warriors suffer numerous medical complications.
Symptoms Of Hyperthyroidism Observed In Exhausted Soldiers, by W. Johnson © 1919 BMJ Publishing Group.
McClatchy has a blog dedicated to the perils facing “Wounded Warriors” a collection of veterans coverage from the McClatchy Washington Bureau, McClatchy Newspapers, and other sources
As far back as 2004, MSNBC recognized and warned about some of the consequences facing returning troops:
The Psychology Of Healing For Returning Soldiers And Their Families
Coping with the aftermath of war is challenging for returning soldiers and their families. Psychologists offered ways for individuals and their families to handle post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems that may arise.
Returning Soldiers Project – The United States is in the midst of a military conflict in Iraq that has involved thousands of men and women in the armed forces of this nation. These men and women are not only regular service people, but also reserves whose necessary service disrupts their lives in a variety of ways.
Walter Reed
Regardless of active duty or reserve status, soldiers are returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, from combat to civilian life to peace time. This return can happen in as little as 48 hours with
contemporary transportation capabilities. Surely that return brings with it a host of issues related to reunion with one’s family, friends, and colleagues. There may be physical issues related to injury and rehabilitation. There may be psychological dimensions of that return that are difficult to navigate. And there may be spiritual and religious dimensions to that return that must be addressed by the individual soldier.
In addition to the issues that an individual soldier might face upon a return from combat, there are the family and friends who may experience a range of emotions upon the return of their familymember or friend.
About the Returning Soldiers Project
The Returning Soldiers Project is a collaborative effort among Villanova faculty and staff members to address an important series of questions:
- What obligation does society have to assist the returning soldier, his or her family, and his or her friends, in the transition from war to peace?
- How ought society respond to the soldier’s need for healing, physical, psychological, and/or spiritual?
- Indeed, how ought society help to facilitate any forgiveness that a soldier needs, both from him- or herself, his family and friends, and the society that sent him or her to war?
Walter Reed Army Medical Center – Returning Wounded Warriors –
TruthHugger has often complained about the inadequate medical support system receiving troops and especially support 
contractors returning from hostile areas. Whether its Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa or any of those secret places the American Public is not authorized to know about, the system has a great facade but little follow through. The bureaucratic obstacle course is almost as traumatic as the environment that caused casualties in the first place. The physically and mentally harmed are damaged again and again then returned to a socially unprepared, uneducated and inadequate environment. Accountability is spotty and easily denied by a government that addresses the issue as an 
afterthought. Playing catch up, the US Government scrambles to clean up its negligent, short sighted support system. The best attention is being provided at smaller levels like specific military bases, specific veterans associations and non-profit agencies. But, the largest institution that falls short is still the same one that puts it’s human capital into dangerous and traumatic environments.
Returning from one traumatic environment to another can be a knock out blow to many returning people. There should be no distinction between US Military and US Support Contractors, whether you like them or not. These returnees are expected to incorporate back into, what America calls, a stable, productive and civilized society. Then, they are expected to resume whatever life they left behind. Move along. Forget about it, don’t talk about it, unless your social circle was with you in the trenches, your family and friends cannot relate to your experiences or your dreams. They cannot see your dreams. They don’t understand you are seeing them much differently than you did before you went on a violent adventure.
The worst insult for returning warriors and support contractors is the misunderstanding of their problems. America’s focus fixates on the monetary expense first and the human expense second. Mental issues caused by repeated psychological trauma is something Americans cannot deal with unless they work in the medical field. Medical expenses must be factored in when calculating war funding instead of manufacturing new destructive toys to profit generals and senators. After all, bringing industry to your constituency is so patriotic … and profitable.
Returning to America is as traumatic as leaving it. Culture shock. It does not have to be that way. Weary soldiers must be helped by allowing them to recover before expecting them to incorporate back into society. The consequences; they remain broken, traumatized and hazardous. Hazardous? Yes, the collateral damage to families sending their loved ones into harms way, then receiving a changed person back is very disruptive and can spread the toll of psychological trauma.
Quote Darth Vader: Former Vice President Dick Cheney said President Obama’s reaction to the botched terrorist attack on Christmas Day is proof that the president “is trying to pretend we are not at war.”
Politico
Does your brain stop at “pave the way, at any cost, for my contractors”? Your administration would not allow anyone to speak ill of your despicable actions, yet, you are free to belittle the struggle Obama is faced with, thanks to you and your secret cabal of special interests. Obama is trying to encourage opponents to embrace civilized dialog instead of escalating the violence you started. Thank goodness someone is calling Cheney out:
NYT: The White House fired back at former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday, accusing him of making “untrue” allegations against President Obama and charging that the former administration allowed Al Qaeda to thrive while it diverted attention to Iraq.
… Mr. Cheney sent a statement to Politico accusing Mr. Obama of “trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists. “We are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe,” Mr. Cheney said. “Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society.”
The White House has pointed out that the system that missed the would-be bomber was put in place by President George W. Bush and responded sharply to Mr. Cheney on its own Web site on Wednesday afternoon.
“The former Vice President makes the clearly untrue claim that the President — who is this nation’s Commander-in-Chief — needs to realize we are at War,” Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, wrote on a blog posting. “I don’t think anyone realizes this very hard reality more than President Obama.”
Eight years ago, a terrorist bomber’s attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner was thwarted by a group of passengers, an incident that revealed some gaping holes in airline security just a few months after the attacks of Sept. 11. But it was six days before President George W. Bush, then on vacation, made any public remarks about the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, and there were virtually no complaints from the press or any opposition Democrats that his response was sluggish or inadequate.
The President Responded on his The White House Blog: The Same Old Washington Blame Game 
There has been a lot of discussion online and in the mainstream media about our response to various critics of the President, specifically former Vice President Cheney, who have been coming out of the woodwork since the incident on Christmas Day. I think we all agree that there should be honest debate about these issues, but it is telling that Vice President Cheney and others seem to be more focused on criticizing the Administration than condemning the attackers. Unfortunately too many are engaged in the typical Washington game of pointing fingers and making political hay, instead of working together to find solutions to make our country safer. See it all HERE:
I guess it’s all about spin. Perception can determine how actions and reactions are made. Negative perceptions endorsed by the Bush Administration encouraged paranoia, violence and casualties. Positive, ‘cautious optimism’, is a perception that encourages hope through solutions to conflict. Obama is still stepping on the ‘bear traps’ laid by the Bush Administration. Expect even more traps and more collateral damage ahead for civilization, laid by Republicans … not Al Qaeda. After all, who let Osama Bin Laden conveniently slip away? Who needs Osama Bin Laden at large to keep up the excuse to lay waste to the middle east? Republicans need those terrorists! How else can they gouge the American public and America’s allies for mo’ money siphoned to their corporate buddies. After all, even if they get ousted from office, they still have those cushy jobs on some board of directors, compliments of Right Wing campaign fundraisers.
“The American Dream,” Brought to You by “The New Yorker”
Well, few public schools, and few private schools, will fill in the gaps between America the fantasy and America the reality. The name of America has been invoked with reverence when describing its history of righteous endeavors. What is seldom included in these filtered history lessons, is some of the atrocities committed in the name of progress and democracy. The idea of democracy is far removed from the reality of America’s demonstration of democracy cloaked in capitalist consumption. This is why they always call America’s Democracy an experiment.
America’s experiment is failing because the emphasis became consumption. Consumption is marketed by capitalist corporations changed the original vision. Possession of things replaced possession of personal integrity. American children have been cheated out of practical understanding of the planet they live on. Emphasis on practical. Most school children can mimic facts and figures required to pass tests and impress their educational bureaucracy. But, put the child to a real test of skills requiring basic understanding that children used 100 years ago, and they are lost.
Today’s technology is what today’s children understand. Remove that technology and those same children will founder.
Today’s integrity is also what today’s children are learning. Lies and corruption permeate America’s everyday politicians and celebrities. Money is the common denominator that feeds the risk of being revealed. Ask any teenager the definition of veracity or integrity. Just do it.
All this is the preface to America’s current role in the world. The disparity between the American fantasy and global reality has grown so far apart that it takes a journalist from Al Jazeera to describe some awful truths. This article rings with many painful truths.
The end of American exceptionalism
by Mark LeVine, visiting professor at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University, Sweden.
Truth Is Out There Somewhere regardless of downplayed realities. American politicians behaving like inner city gang members is accelerating the fall of a great idea. Other countries recognize this and seek to salvage what they can from the American Dream before everyone wakes up.
America is fracturing into tribal behavior. Disparity caused by the abuse of religion, personal gain, bigotry and filtered education has fueled the breakdown we are experiencing right now.
Health Care wars, Climate Wars, Religious meltdown and the clamor for the last drops of fossil fuel have dominated global crisis while the public is conveniently distracted by Tiger Woods. Move over Paris Hilton.
TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS helps you follow the money to see why Governor Perry and others want Texans to keep breathing toxic air.
BossKitty at TruthHugger is proud to give a Hat Tip to Houston – Annise Parker inherits a City of Progress.
The Stonewall Democrats of Denton County denounce Rep. Michael Burgess for his recent actions against openly gay Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennnings, at the Texas Cloverleaf.
This week on Left of College Station Teddy covers the dispute in Waco between the McLennan County Republican Party and the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County over whether or not the Republican Party needs to reach out to minority voters. Also on Left of College Station this week, the tradition of homophobia continues at Texas A&M and the Coalition for Life invites anti-choice and anti-woman Jeb Bush to speak at their annual fundraiser. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.
While Houstonians took great pride in the election of Annise Parker as mayor, it was discouraging to see — despite his company’s multi-million dollar contracts with the city and his apparent misunderstanding of their value — that Stephen Costello was elected to city council over a good Democrat, Karen Derr.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme hopes Silvestre Reyes gets primaried for his vote against a women’s right to choose. Beto O’Rourke may be just the one to do it.
Off the Kuff gave a rundown of the Houston runoffs.
Over at BlueBloggin, guest writer Len Hart of the The Existentialist Cowboy, has been connecting some dots with the CIA Efforts to Control World Distribution of ‘Illicit’ Drugs. If the US/CIA hoped to control this lucrative trade, the Taliban had to go. I wonder how many CIA ‘black ops’ have been financed ‘off the books’ (as was Iran/Contra) with the proceeds of its various drug.
At the very moment that leaders from around the world are meeting to come to an international agreement to save the world from catastrophic global warming, Texas gives the green light to build another mercury-spewing, asthma-inducing, planet choking coal plant. Read more at Texas Vox.
Neil at Texas Liberal does not understand why the Burger King on Houston’s Harrisburg Blvd. needs to be open on Christmas Day. Neil is certain that staff at Burger King wants to be off on Christmas and that an Xmas Whopper is a depressing thought. The picture in the post features a rare snowfall in Houston.
WhosPlayin finds that once again Lewisville ISD is trying to shut out citizen involvement. This time, they’re trying to supersede state law and charge more for public information requests.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on a discussion about where the Democrats in Texas stand heading into 2010, Pragamatic party building.
Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog has a guide to the historic Houston runoffs.
Christ Climbed Down
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, famous for running the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, wrote this poem in the 1950s and published it in his book: A Coney Island of the Mind, Poems by 
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A New Directions Book, Copyright 1958 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It is a brilliant work, and one I always think about during the pre-Christmas hustle and bustle…
CHRIST CLIMBED DOWN
Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where there were no rootless Christmas trees hung with candycanes and breakable stars Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where there were no gilded Christmas trees and no tinsel Christmas trees and no tinfoil Christmas trees and no pink plastic Christmas trees and no gold Christmas trees and no black Christmas trees and no powderblue Christmas trees hung with electric candles and encircled by tin electric trains and clever cornball relatives Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no intrepid Bible salesmen covered the territory in two-tone cadillacs and where no Sears Roebuck creches complete with plastic babe in manger arrived by parcel post the babe by special delivery and where no televised Wise Men praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no fat handshaking stranger in a red flannel suit and a fake white beard went around passing himself off as some sort of North Pole saint crossing the desert to Bethlehem Pennsylvania in a Volkswagen sled drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer and German names and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts from Saks Fifth Avenue for everybody's imagined Christ child Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no Bing Crosby carollers groaned of a tight Christmas and where no Radio City angels iceskated wingless thru a winter wonderland into a jinglebell heaven daily at 8:30 with Midnight Mass matinees Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and softly stole away into some anonymous Mary's womb again where in the darkest night of everybody's anonymous soul He awaits again an unimaginable and impossibly Immaculate Reconception the very craziest of Second Comings
Houston, Texas has become an island of hope in a sea of doom and gloom. Progress is measured with attention paid to the real issues facing any population, as opposed to a narrowly defined 
image of “normalcy”. In a state where normal is defined vigorously as anything outside the envelope, as long as it appears heterosexual, the election of Annise Parker is big! She is a leader who just happens to be lesbian … so what! Past all frivolous labels stands a leader.
Hat Tip to Houston and its new mayor.
Houston has led proudly as a global economic player. WIKI says: Houston’s economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors and is a leading center for building oilfield equipment; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in the city limits.[7] The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled.[8] The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits—attracting more than 7 million visitors a year to the Houston Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and is one of few U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.[9]
Now Houston has made a significant social statement that emphasizes that broader vision trumps narrow vision when it comes to leadership.
NY Times announces that Houston is the largest American City that has elected an openly gay mayor. Houston now ranks along with Cleveland who elected Carl B. Stokes, 1967 to 1971, the first Black mayor of a major American city and El Paso for the first First hispanic mayor of a major us city, Raymond L. Telles in 1957 and San Antonio’s Henry Cisneros in 1975.
Like trailblazers before her, Annise will have radical detractors. But, the ranks of cultural pathfinders are growing stronger. She will have enormous support for the task of governing a huge, unwieldy, diverse city that happens to be in Texas.
Annise Parker elected Houston’s next mayor Nation watches as city becomes the largest in U.S. to choose an openly gay leader
Wiki topics on Gay Lesbian BiSexual and Transgenders throughout history:
GLB people that changed History
Alexander the Great – *Macedonian Ruler, 300 B.C., Socrates – *Greek Philosopher, 400 B.C., Hadrian – *Roman Emperor, 1st-2nd c., Richard the Lionhearted – *English King, 12th c., Saladin – *Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Francis Bacon – *English statesman, author, Frederick the Great – *King of Prussia, Pope Julius III – *1550-1555, Michelangelo – *Italian artist, 15th c., Leonardo Da Vinci – *Ital. Artist, scientist, 15th c., Eleanor Roosevelt – *U.S. stateswoman, 20th c., Julius Caesar – *Roman Emperor, 100-44 B.C., Augustus Caesar – *Roman Emperor, James I – *English King, 16th-17th c., Queen Anne – *English Queen, 18th c., Marie Antoinette – *French Empress, 18th c., Pope Benedict IX – *1032-1044, Montezuma II – *Aztec ruler, 16th c., Peter the Great – *Russian Czar, 17th-18th c., Pope John XII – *955-964, Roberta Achtenburg – *U.S. politician, 20th c., Barney Frank – *U.S. Congressman, 20th c., Gerry Studds – *U.S. Congressman, 20th c., Tom Dooley – *U.S. M.D. missionary, 20th c., J. Edgar Hoover – *U.S. director of the FBI., 20th c., Candace Gingrich – *Gay Rights activist, 20th c., Margarethe Cammermeyer – *U.S. Army Colonel, 20th c. , Ernst Röhm – *German Nazi leader, 20th c., Dag Hammerskjold – *Swedish UN Secretary, 209th c., Aristotle – *Greek philosopher, 384-322 B.C., Baron Von Steuben – *German General, Valley Forge, Edward II – *English King, 14th c. .. and don’t forget recent revelations about Abraham Lincoln.
Once again it’s time for the Texas Progressive Alliance to bring you the highlights from the blogs.
Power to the People! Head over to Texas Vox to learn more about the Fair Elections Now Act.
Xanthippas at Three Wise Men airs out some thoughts on the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and some painful lessons learned blogging about the war in Iraq.
Bay Area Houston claims The Race for Houston Mayor is Now About Race.
Texas is the first state to conduct testing of citizens to determine if their health symptoms are caused from exposure to drilling toxins. But TXsharon is not sure this is such a great idea. Find out why on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
BossKitty at TruthHugger sees a political disconnect between incarceration and rehabilitation within America’s “big business prison system”. Follow through and accountability are casualties of creative budgeting in the criminal justice system with furlough programs, commutations and pardons BACKLASH. Maurice Clemmons was but a single example of a mentally unstable felon. Where was his follow up? Where was his parole officer? Where was the mental health infrastructure that could have defused this violent explosion?
Neil at Texas Liberal asked who are the Democrats running for Houston municipal offices in the runoff election, and who among the Democrats is someone a liberal can support. The post also features pictures and paintings of scenes of gambling as any election is little more than a spin of the wheel.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees tea parties and general batsh*t craziness in Nueces County with Club for Growth guy leading the Republican Party.
Teddy at Left of College Station covers the political maneuvering in local Republican primaries, and writes about Obama’s War: Choosing Escalation and Occupation. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.
nytexan at Bluebloggin clearly states “I’m Sick of War.” As I listen to Obama’s speech to increase troops in Afghanistan, all I can think of is, the US has been in some kind of war my entire life. Just so you know, I was born between the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We are a war nation. No way to get around it.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts about a conversation over Thanksgiving weekend with two Houston Republicans, or Why Bill White can win.
This was Dickens on the Strand weekend in Galveston and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs took a break from politics and spent the weekend on the island. Here are a few photos from the festival.
Charles of Off the Kuff spent much of the week engaged in an email debate on the Texas Tribune with conservative blogger David Benzion over the merits of Bill White as Mayor of Houston and potentially Governor of Texas.
liberaltexan reports on Political Maneuvering Begins in Republican Primaries. It seems that the race for Texas State Senate District Five is gettting compicated. Check it out at TexasKaos.
The Texas Cloverleaf offered it’s prediction on whether Bill White would run for Governor. 1-0! Yes!
WhosPlayin thinks the Texas Railroad Commission is on a ‘power trip’, intervening in the placement of power lines bringing renewable energy to Texas population centers – ostensibly because the lines might cross over abandoned oil and gas wells, or land that might be used for oil and gas wells in the future.
