I don't know about you, dear reader, but I'm having trouble commenting on my own blog when using Apple's Safari browser. When I click the Submit button, the Image Captcha window comes up, and I can select the appropriate pictures (assuming I can actually see them), but the Captcha Submit button is hidden from view. This is not happening with Firefox, Chrome, or the Samsung browser on my Galaxy phone.
Color this old Greenie impressed. The City of Houston appears to get it, and the City's chief sustainability officer obviously does.
Last night at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, Lara Cottingham gave what I perceived as a stellar presentation regarding Houston's governmental efforts to stay in compliance with the targets of the Paris Climate Accord. The principal target, to which more than 400 US municipalities of various sizes have committed, is net carbon neutrality by 2050. Here is the PDF of the PowerPoint that she has used at a series of community meetings. You may know that our alleged president unilaterally withdrew the United States from the 2015 agreement. The Republican-controlled 114th Congress never acceded to President Obama's wish that the Accord be given the force of a treaty, so His Orangitude and his oil-soaked cronies decided in 2017 to ditch it. However, cities and states have gone out of their way to affirm their commitment to the agreement and actually do something about it—including our own Petro Metro, under the leadership of Mayor Sylvester Turner. In the ensuing months, the City came up with a plan and gave it the no-nonsense name "City of Houston Climate Action Plan." Cottingham announced last night, as she has at other community meetings, that implementation of the CAP is scheduled to begin in late 2020. UPDATE: See PDiddie's comment below. Rep. Middleton has withdrawn HB 4416 from the current session, but she may reintroduce it in 2021 if re-elected next November. Still, we'll leave this entry up as a reminder of the obstacles that minor parties still face in Texas. ***** No, that headline is not an exaggeration. The Republicans attack with vote suppression; the Democrats with limiting ballot access. Oddly enough, the author of the democracy-killing mini-bill we're discussing today is Geanie Morrison, an 11-term Republican from Victoria. One silver lining to this unemployment is that it's easier to call legislators' offices during business hours. I seldom make those calls, preferring to work by email or through one of the "clicktivism" mailing lists I'm on. Today, I called my state representative, Shawn Thierry of HD146, to express my strong opposition to House Bill 4416. If you're neither D nor R, I advise you to do the same ASAP; the session ends in three weeks. Here is where you can look up your representative's contact information. The text of HB 4416 is short and not-so-sweet: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED It does not amend Subsection (a), which stipulates that, in order to get on the ballot in the first place, convention parties like the Greens and Libertarians must submit a list of precinct convention attendees totaling 1% of the vote-count in the last gubernatorial election. They hardly need to modify Subsection (a), since the number of votes cast governor jumped from 4.7 million in 2014 to more that 8.3 million in 2018.
This non-review also appears on Goodreads.
The true test of whether you might enjoy Future Sounds—the Story of Electronic Music from Stockhausen to Skrillex is this: Scope the names listed not-quite-chronologically on the back jacket; if a few of them are familiar and beloved, read it. If nothing rings a bell or strikes your fancy, leave it aside. I found several names whose works I have devoured or merely enjoyed, and I loved seeing where in the multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle of electronic sound the author places them. NOTE: The subtitle is a bit misleading, as the first few chapters explore music that predates Karlheinz Stockhausen significantly. Future Sounds came into my possession via my wife's book prospecting trip to Brazos Books, my favorite indy bookseller in Houston. She has done this just a few times, sometimes surprising me with new releases in which I have expressed an interest, sometimes bringing home books I would have glanced at and moved on if I had gone myself. Jeff Tweedy's memoir Let's Go (So We Can Get Back) is an example of successful prospecting; the English translation of László Krasznahorkai's The World Goes On...less so (but some day, dammit, I will work through this rather challenging set of shorts, just as I plowed my way through Moby Dick). |
Blogging Sporadically since 2014Here you will find political campaign-related entries, as well as some about my literature, Houston underground arts, peace & justice, urban cycling, soccer, alt-religion, and other topics. Categories
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