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Testing the New Calendar Page

16/8/2019

To make this site more useful to current and would-be activists, I'm in the process of adding an activist calendar. The free trial version of the calendar app from Tockify is up and running here. See the Activist Events link on the top navbar.

My hope is to make this calendar a resource more complete than those of the Houston Peace and Justice Center, the Progressive Forum on KPFT, and Houston Peace News—in part by scouring all three and some others. Most of the events will relate to lefty political organizing, protest demonstrations, and other actions. But not all the events posted will meet those criteria: We'll also put socio-political conscious concerts, art events, and fundraisers on this calendar.

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If These Young People Are the Future, We'll Be OK

14/8/2019

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Sunrise Movement protesters hold up signs and banners, including a banner reading,

Sunrise Movement youth travel to the Harris County Democrats' HQ in FIfth Ward to request that the September presidential primary debate be dedicated to climate change.

"So, it's a little complicated. We are bipartisan [sic], so we don't support specifically any party. We feel that both [sic] parties have failed to take action to the extent that they should, but we recognize that it is much more likely that it is much more likely that a climate debate would happen at a Democratic debate rather than a Republican. So that is what we've decided to focus on."

These young people get it. They understand that climate is not the same as weather (unlike two different climate-denier debate coaches they mentioned). They know who Greta Thunberg is and understand the importance of Climate Strike, a version of which they plan to conduct on Friday 20 September. They can give examples of intersectionality as it relates to the climate crisis. They also get that not everyone in their schools will have the depth and breadth of knowledge that they do, but they have the will and the patience to explain this multi-faceted issue.

These high-schoolers at the Sunrise Movement rally for a Dem climate change debate GET intersectionality. pic.twitter.com/pZyyJxuBnC
— David Bruce Collins □☮ (@dbcgreentx) August 14, 2019

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DBC's Intro to the First GPH Meeting

14/8/2019

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It's a decent start: We had ten people in attendance last night, about as many as could comfortably fit in the conference room at SHAPE. Most of the ten have been regular attendees at the organizing sessions.

As the facilitator, I wanted to start off with an actual prepared speech instead of just winging it, which would be customary for this crowd. It's a way of setting the tone for how we'll be aim to do things differently rather than settling into comfortable routines. I thought the speech was good enough to post here (below the fold) for posterity; you may hold a different opinion as to its worthiness.

I am happy to report that I did fit the speech within my five allocated minutes, we did finish the meeting in just under two hours as planned, and a few of us did repair to Axelrad Beer Garden for adult beverages and conversation (but very little political talk, for which I am thankful). Also, we collectively exercised sufficient restraint to keep our sometimes-reflexive bitching about the current state of HCGP to a bare minimum.

*****

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Green Party Houston Meets Tuesday 13 August

8/8/2019

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You are welcome to join us at the SHAPE Center's Harambee Building on Almeda Tuesday evening from 7 to 9. This will be the inaugural public meeting of Green Party Houston, a new organization with a different mission and different responsibilities from the Harris County Green Party.

Yes, the GPH website is still a work in progress.

The meeting is free to attend, but that doesn't mean we won't ask for donations to cover room rental and other expenses.

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Is Al Gore Officially a Prophet Yet?

2/8/2019

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Remember what Al Gore said about Greenland in "An Inconvenient Truth"? It's happening. https://t.co/2p5Dpr2QAE
— David Bruce Collins □☮ (@dbcgreentx) August 2, 2019

Back in 2016, former Vice President Al Gore came to Houston to deliver the two-day Climate Reality Project speaker training, and Kayleen signed up for it. She got to spend some time with one of her heroes: She had shown excerpts from An Inconvenient Truth to her World Geography students back in her teaching days.

Gore, a Democrat to his very marrow, became less of a hero in her eyes when he came out in favor of his old friend Hillary Clinton in her quest for the presidency. The whole movement lost its luster as Kayleen discovered that the overwhelming majority of those present for the training placed their faith in the Democratic Party and its candidates to solve the impending climate crisis. Cuz we know that President Barack Obama dedicated his entire eight years in the White House to reversing climate change, starting at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009--NOT!

So Kayleen, dejected, never did any Climate Reality speaking gigs. As consolation she did meet a new friend who came to the training from Zimbabwe, and who is now studying climate science in Paris. So we may have someone to visit if we ever make it to France.

None of the text below, which mentions several Democrats by name, is meant to imply that I'm turning into a Democrat. Generally, I vote for Democrats in local races in which there is no Green running. I will promote candidates and elected office-holders whose views I find genuinely progressive—regardless of how the Democratic Party establishment may treat them, regardless of occasional votes that seem at odds with the progressive agenda. I will defend them from baseless smears propagated by any party or media outlet. (Your findings of progressivity may vary, and that's OK: even Greens don't agree on everything.)

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H-GAC TPC OK's NHHIP

26/7/2019

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Several hundred people attend the Houston-Galveston Area Council's meeting on the proposed North Houston Highway Improvement Plan. A screen shows the list of concerns such as safety and noise pollution.

Concerned citizens pack the meeting room, mostly to show opposition to the I-45 expansion plans.

The people came with passion. The people came with data. The people came with reminders that widening highways does not reduce congestion and increases tailpipe emissions in the long run. A local furniture mogul came with a paraphrase from William Jennings Bryan about "crucifying [Houstonians] on a cross of concrete."

This is a sequel to yesterday's post about the North Houston Highway Improvement Project. The first expenditures on Segment 2 of the project got the go-ahead today, despite strong opposition from advocacy groups and Near Northside residents whose neighborhoods will be affected.

Only a few people spoke in favor of the NHHIP; dozens including Gallery Furniture entrepreneur "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, spoke against it. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston City Councilmember Dwight Boykins offered motions to delay the vote, which was all the crowd was requesting. But a majority of the Transportation Policy Council had already made up its collective mind to spend the first $100 million dollars toward what McIngvale called "the $7 Billion Boondoggle."

Hidalgo cast the only Yes vote on her motion to delay. The rest of the TPC is ready to let the bulldozers roll.

Here are a few links to reports in local media sources:

KPRC TV (NBC 2—warning: Don't read the comments as I did!)
KHOU TV (CBS 11)
KRIV TV (Fox 26)
HoustonChronicle.com (excerpt below)

“This plan is not a good plan for the city of Houston and represents the past and not the future of transportation in the City of Houston,” former district judge and Metropolitan Transit Authority board member Dwight Jefferson said, noting how prior freeway projects—including I-45—cut large gashes in black and Latino communities.

“The time has come to say no more,” Jefferson said in a fiery speech that drew loud applause. “No more communities dissected, no more families displaced, no more businesses sacrificed.”

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Let's NHHIP This in the Bud

25/7/2019

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Bakeyah Nelson, director of Air Alliance Houston, gives a presentation about delaying the vote on the I-45 expansion.

Bakeyah Nelson, director of Air Alliance Houston, talks strategy and delaying the vote on the I-45 expansion.

I can imagine the conversation when you mention the North Houston Highway Improvement Project to people who aren't familiar with Houston's highway system.

"We need to stop the expansion of 45!"
'45? You mean Trump? I agree, he's expansive enough as it is."

The agenda of the Bike Houston Ambassadors gathering last week included some information about NHHIP, the three-phase expansion and rerouting of Interstate 45 between the North Belt and Downtown. I have seen articles and op-eds about it in the Chronicle, emails about it from various sources. The breakfast meeting that I attended this morning provided a lot more lowdown on the proposal.

Even for bulldozer-happy Houston, this is pretty lowdown, in everything but the price.

This morning at the Buffalo Bayou Partnership near UH Downtown, Air Alliance Houston's executive director Bakeyah Nelson conducted an information exchange at the monthly Breakfast with Bakeyah (typically held on the last Thursday of the month). Wonks from various advocacy groups and some wonky individuals gathered to learn what they could and share what they knew. And I had a minor revelation that policy advocacy truly feeds my soul and is something I should do for a living if possible—but that's for another time and post.

Consider the Impact, Delay the Vote
Aside from spilling the dirty details of NHHIP, Nelson's main ask was that people who have the time should show up at tomorrow morning's meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council's Transportation Policy Council. H-GAC's TPC consists of representatives from Houston City government, Harris County, Galveston County, and METRO. Air Alliance's position is that the TPC should delay voting on the Texas Department of Transportation's proposal to spend the first $100 million dollars on the segment of I-45 between the North Loop and I-10.

AAH and related groups are unlikely to convince H-GAC and TxDOT that the project is wasteful and unnecessary and should be scrapped immediately. Delaying the vote, however would give H-GAC's decision-makers time to consider the project's impact on thousands of lives, buildings, homes, and jobs. Zoom in on the photo above to see the main points.

The TPC convenes for a public hearing at 9:30 am, Friday 26 July, in the meeting room at 3555 Timmons Lane, 77027.

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Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind"—a Non-Review

23/7/2019

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As usual, this is a lightly modified version of a review posted on Goodreads.

NOTE: I'm successfully resisting the temptation to read others' reviews before posting this one, although I did see that a Goodreads & Facebook friend also gave this book a full five. Primarily, I wanted to see whether any readers found any problems with Pollan's forays into describing the research protocols or the neuroscience.

FULL DISCLOSURE: To my knowledge, I have never taken any psychedelic substances, but I am currently taking Wellbutrin (bupropion) daily for moderate depression.

So...there's mountains of scientific evidence that tryptamines like LSD, psilocybin, and DMT (found in ayahuasca tea and in your own brain) can be used to help conquer addictions, various mental disorders, and fear of death. Further, these chemicals have shown greater effectiveness than commonly prescribed medications like my current pharmaceutical friend Wellbutrin—and you need only take them occasionally, not every day.

But you don't just eat magic mushrooms at a party and magically quit smoking the next morning: It has to occur in the correct setting, with the correct mindset, and with a trained guide. Despite their well documented efficacy, the US government has made unauthorized possession of these substances a federal crime, and has put the research on hold for most of the last half-century. So science has had to unearth or reinvent parts of the wheel it had in production back in the 1960s.

Whether he knew it or not at the beginning, Prof. Michael Pollan undertook a most ambitious odyssey in producing How to Change Your Mind. His account of that odyssey combines:

a thorough (and often amusing) survey of 70 years of research into psychedelic compounds and their effects in the US, Latin America, and Europe, with
his own and others' experiences ingesting those compounds.

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What Multi-Party Democracy Looks Like (Sometimes)

22/7/2019

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Yes, I'm late to the party on this item, but Green Party of Texas luminary Laura Palmer just posted the official press release last night. GPTX is one of several groups and individuals who are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the state of Texas over its unreasonable obstacles to the ballot.

News of the lawsuit appeared in the Houston Chronicle (paywall) more than a week ago. The Green and Libertarian Parties both received mention in the headline. The Texas Tribune got its version of the story out on 11 July, and RawStory picked it up the next day.

Palmer herself is listed as a plaintiff, sharing billing with the Libertarian, Constitution, and America's Parties of Texas. TSU law professor Thomas Kleven, who in 2016 ran for Congress in TX-18, also appears on the list.

But...HB 2504! Why Sue Now?
In light of HB 2504 becoming state law this year, guaranteeing Texas Greens a ballot line through 2026, why would GPTX press the issue via a lawsuit? Why would the Libertarians and Railroad Commission candidate Mark Miller, who pulled off a 5% coup in a four-way race in 2016, join in?

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Ambassador DBC and Questions for Council Candidates

18/7/2019

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dbc holding up his Ambassador sticker from Bike Houston

A few years ago, in the wake of my run for the US Senate, beloved friends and HAUSmates started calling me "Senator." The nickname stuck, and it has become my playa-name in the Burner community. It helps distinguish me from the other Davids in that crowd, not all of whom even have playa-names.

BikeHouston calls me an Ambassador, meaning that I (a) help promote the interests of the organization in my area of town and (b) help shape its approach to policy initiatives in city government. Last night, a couple dozen of us ambassadors got together at the BH office and did some (b) work.

Several BH initiatives and programs came under discussion, including:

Bike Friendly Driver classes, the next of which occurs Tuesday evening 23 July, designed to educate motorists on mixing safely in traffic with cyclists. Members are encouraged to take the class so they can then teach the class.
The Austin Street Team ride, Saturday 27 July at 4 pm, at which a group of BH members and other cycling advocates will ride the length of the soon-to-be-constructed protected bike lane on Austin and La Branch Streets between downtown and Hermann Park. The rides starts at Baldwin Park in Midtown.
Another series of Bike to Vote rides, assembling cyclists at neighborhood bike shops and riding en masse to early voting locations. These will happen during the early voting period, 21 October through 1 November, for the upcoming Houston City Council election.

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<<Previous

Testing the New Calendar Page

If These Young People Are the Future, We'll Be OK

DBC's Intro to the First GPH Meeting

Green Party Houston Meets Tuesday 13 August

Is Al Gore Officially a Prophet Yet?

H-GAC TPC OK's NHHIP

Let's NHHIP This in the Bud

Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind"—a Non-Review

What Multi-Party Democracy Looks Like (Sometimes)

Ambassador DBC and Questions for Council Candidates

DBC Sez...

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