Austin, TX

Since I failed to vote early this year I voted today. I love voting in Pflugerville. There is never a line but there is generally a steady stream of voters.

As this is my first primary since moving to Texas, I had a few questions. Here are the answers, just in case you’re in the same boat.

1. Do I register by Party in Texas?

   If you are a registered voter in the state of Texas you don’t register as belonging to a party. You simply show up at the election site, choose a party affiliation and vote. Once you’ve chosen a party affiliation, you’re locked into that affiliation until the next primary. If, for example, you voted in the March 2007 primary or April 2007 runoff primary, you will then be affiliated with that party for the rest of that year, but on December 31, 2007 the affiliation would expired. I actually think that’s a fairly sensible approach.

2. Am I registered?
   You can check to see if you’re registered and find out where you can vote by visiting this site:

   http://www.traviscountytax.org/showVoterNameSearch.do

3. What’s the deal with this caucus thing?
   Texas has 228 delegates. 128 of those delegates are chosen based on the popular vote. 35 of the delegates are those super delegates we’ve all heard so much about. The last 67 are chosen by caucus. If you wish to vote in your party’s caucus you have to have voted in the primary. The caucus for the Democrats will start at 7:15 or after the last person has voted (like i said, if you are in line at 7 you’ll get to vote. So if someone gets in line at 6:59 and there is a 20 minute wait, then caucus cant start til, at earliest, 7:19. But get there at 7. The Republicans caucus at 8.
4. Does my employer have to let me off to vote?

   Employees must be permitted to take time off from work on election day for the purpose of voting. However, if the polls are open for two consecutive hours outside of the employee’s working hours, an employer is not required to give the employee leave to vote. An employee’s wages or benefits cannot be reduced because he or she took leave to vote.

   Tex. Code Ann. Election Code § 276.004

   Polls are open from 7a-7p. If you’re scheduled to work 12 hours straight, then they have to let you off to vote. If not, get your ass up early and vote.

   Caucusing is optional.

I do find it rather sad that the Primary is only for Democrats and Republicans.

Texas, voting, Primary, caucus, where to vote, Party, affiliated, democrat, republican, register, vote

I am happy to say that I got out and voted today in the Joint General & Special Elections. Not only that but I got at least a few others out to vote as well.

One of the propositions, Proposition 15, would require that the legislature establish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and authorize up to $3 billion in bonds. Deciding how to vote on Proposition 15 was difficult. There were some big hitters, like Lance Armstrong and the Komen Foundation, urging us to vote yes. Cancer is the number two killer of Texans and cancer costs Texans over $4 billion dollars every year. Being a cancer survivor myself made the decision very personal. In the end however, I voted against it. While cancer research is an excellent cause I feel that funding the research with General Obligation Bonds is a bad decision that would cost us half again as much in interest. In addition, since cancer research benefits everyone, I believe it should be funded by the federal government.

Prior to voting I had no idea what General Obligation (GO) Bonds were, but I’m learning. GO Bonds are a means of using the
state’s credit to borrow money for certain purposes. The state pledges its “full faith and credit” to guarantee that the bond principal and interest will be repaid. The Texas Constitution does not allow local governments to issue unlimited-tax general obligation debt without a public vote. Hence the proposition. On the good side, GO Bonds can be secured at a more favorable interest rate than other types of loans. On the bad side, these bonds are repaid by the first dollars that go into the treasury each year. If all of the current GO Bond propositions were approved and issued our current bond debt would more than double.

On a somewhat amusing note, after having researched all the propositions, I completely forgot that there was one specific to my little city and when it came up at the end I wasn’t sure which way to vote. Since the request was for school funding I went ahead and voted for it figuring that Texas education needs all the help it can get. I hope if it passes that our city uses the money wisely.

voting, Texas, Proposition 15, GO Bonds, General Obligation Bonds, I voted, Texas Constitution, cancer research

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Polls are open from 7am to 7pm for voting in the Joint General & Special Elections tomorrow. If you are unsure where to go to place your votes, here is a list. Your precinct number is listed on your voter registration card.

In order to vote, you’ll need a voter registration card, driver’s license or any official photo ID, birth certificate, United States citizenship

There will be sixteen constitutional amendments up for consideration. If you are clueless about the proposed amendments, you may want to take a look at the Chronicle’s list of recommendations. You may not agree with the recommendations but you’ll find that they’ve broken the issues down to where they are easily understandable.

If you’re wondering if it’s worth your time to vote, yes, it is! Voting in local elections is where your vote counts most and has the most impact on your day-to-day standard of living. These are the items that most affect you, where you live, your children’s education and where your tax money goes. It’s much harder to get the right people/decisions at the top of the food chain if you don’t start at the bottom layers.

Exercise your right to vote. It’s not just a right, it’s a privilege.

It also gives you the right to complain. Early voting turnout was apparently quite dismal so it’s very important for people to show up for the elections. If you’re worried about long lines, don’t be. Usually I just walk in, vote and leave. It’s really pretty painless.

By the way, if you enjoy politics, Statecraft Informer is looking for a new political writer.

voting, Austin, where, vote, Chronicle, proposed, amendments, constitution, joint, general, special, election, local

Good morning, I hope you all had a great Halloween and that you are having a good day so far.

I, myself, am grumpy. Why am I grumpy? I’m so glad you asked.

First up, this article in Lindsey’s blog called Pull Up Your Pants. While it’s not Austin related, it’s certainly Texas related. It’s actions like this that make Texans look like a bunch of Neanderthal red-necks.

It seems that the great city of Dallas has nothing better to do with their time than to spout out anti-gay propaganda in an effort to get kids to “pull up their pants”. Now really folks, if the only thing you can think of to entice kids to bend to your fashion rules is to accuse them of being gay, you need to find yourself a new marketing department.

This is the billboard, kindly donated by ClearChannel:

As if that’s not enough, they’ve got a rap song, too:

The song, recorded by rap artist Dooney Da’ Priest, contains lyrics that say, “You walk the streets with your pants way down low/ I don’t know/ looks to me you on the down low. If you stand up straight, bet your pants fall/ Might as well walk around with your pants off/ Pull ‘em up, pull ‘em up, pull ‘em up/ Be a real man/ Stand up/ Is that your underwear, man? Pull your pants up.”

In an interview with FOX news, Dooney Da Priest stated: “Got a lot of partners of mine, they come out of jail, they let me know that means you’re basically easy, you’re lettin another man know that you’re available.”

As one NPR listener said, sarcastically:

It’s cute when homophobia is part of a citywide campaign. Shaming the youth by calling them gay, love that from the government.

The custom of wearing your pants low got it’s start in prisons, where belts are not allowed. Wearing your pants low meant you were “prison-tough”. This campaign aims to show that wearing your pants low is more indicative that you’re a “prison bitch”.

Hey Dallas, I think what you’re doing is on par with a hate crime. The youths of your city should band together and start their own campaign. I’d call it “Sue Your Pants Off”.

Here’s a suggestion, how about fighting real crime and not fashion crimes? If bad fashion were truly a crime, we’d all have done time by now.

Good Day.

Dallas, Texas, Pull Your Pants Up, campaign, billboard, rap song, anti-gay, homophobic, pants low, prison, saggy, Dooney Da Priest, Fashion, crime

Somehow I missed last week that Austin Council member, Jennifer Kim, withdrew her controversial Panhandling Amendment. The amendment met with protest from civil rights groups, homeless people and day labour advocates. Amid protests that the amendment was unconstitutional, designed to sweep the homeless under the carpet and just plain mean, Kim issued the following statement:

“After meeting with community leaders it’s clear the proposed solicitation ban was perceived as going too far, limiting free speech and was unnecessarily punitive to a vulnerable population.”

Y’think, Jennifer?

Unwilling to completely drop the issue, Kim states that she still intends to introduce a “fair, comprehensive approach” to the problem and plans to work more closely with Project Recovery and Reentry Roundtable, an organization that helps homeless people and ex cons into jobs and housing. Despite statements to the contrary, Kim still believes schoolchildren are in danger from panhandlers. “The original intent was to provide safety for children walking to school to reduce accidents and fatalities at dangerous intersections.”

You can view Jennifer Kim’s full statement here.

panhandling, homeless, amendment, Jennifer, Kim

I was listening to NPR today, as I drove around from appointment to appointment. The subject matter was illegal immigrants and the Mexican border, a subject which is always likely to raise my hackles.

The border between the United States and Mexico stretches from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Tx on the US side. It stretches 1,969 miles in length and is the most frequently traversed international border in the world. With over 250 million legal crossings a year, it is also has the largest number illegal crossings in the world.

So now, of course, we’re building the Great Wall of the U.S. We all know how well that worked out for China. Thanks to the “Secure Fence Act of 2006″ we’ll be getting a 700 mile fence, the construction of which will not be subject to any laws. You can thank the Real ID Act for that little gem. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff used that little rider to trample over the Endangered Species Act, among others to extend fencing through the Tijuana river.

I sometime wonder if I’m entitled to more freedom simply by virtue of being fortunate enough to be born in this country. I’m bothered by the hypocrisy of our immigration laws where we open our arms to Cuban refugees and spit on Haitians. We live in a country that we conveniently forget that we stole from the Native Americans who are in large parts extinct now and those that aren’t are still living on land “allocated” to them. Many living below poverty. Yeah, I know about the casinos. That’s doesn’t equal things out in my books. We forget that this nation was built on the sweat of immigrants. Yeah, I know they may have been “legal”. I also know that I’ve never been so desperate for freedom that I’d stuff myself in a wheel well or put my family on a rickety boat to cross miles and miles of treacherous waters knowing you may be turned back or that you may die. We have over 11 million illegal immigrants. I don’t think we have the manpower to kick them all out. Yeah, I know we could be taxing them. Do you honestly think the fact that they don’t pay taxes means they aren’t spending money in this country? They gotta eat, right? Buy gas, right? Pay rent to someone? If you had to sneak over the border to put food on the table for your family, would you? Furthermore, a great number of illegals do pay taxes, and pay into the Social Security and Medicare funds as well. They just can’t get anything out of those funds, because they’d get deported. Yes, many illegals work “under the table” jobs, but many also work with forged documents so their employers either don’t know or can claim to not know they hired illegals.

I’m not, for a moment, suggesting that illegal immigrants don’t pose problems nor that we don’t need to find a decent solution. However, “economists generally believe that when averaged over the whole economy, the effect is a small net positive. Harvard’s George Borjas says the average American’s wealth is increased by less than 1 percent because of illegal immigration.”

But, whatever. Get the hell out of “my” country!

One of my legal immigrant friends, who lives in Miami, had this to say:

The laws to becoming a legal resident are confusing and long, those that do not pony up to an immigration attorney that can cost from 5K to 15K in order to get “legalized” have to live under the fear of being found out. I have seen people who have to make it on $3.50 an hour (yes they are paid an hourly wage) but who know they can never complain about it, or their boss will rat them out.

America was built on the immigrant’s backs. Today we eat vegetables and fruits that we could not afford if it were not for cheap immigrant labour. Here in Florida, the Fanjul family has the ability to import workers for picking season, and pay them 500 dollars a week. Sweet deal? Not really, they work 12 hour shifts in the fields, and then the Fanjul’s charge them for lodging, food and equipment, and yes, they are kept in holding facilities near the everglades, these immigrant “work camps”, so they are never to see Miami, except when they arrive, and when they leave on the armed escort. Beach - ha, these poor folks don’t have days off, I forgot, they signed their rights away to make some money to take back home.

Will the wall end the flood of immigrants from Mexico? I wonder. I guess time will tell. I seriously doubt it, though.

If you’d like to read more of my political articles, you can read them here.

politics, mexico, texas, border, immigrants, illegal, wall

There is a joke that goes:

Q: What’s the Difference Between Columbus and Hitler?
A: One of them has a holiday.

Yes, I am aware that “Hitler” comparisons are a bit cliché.

Tomorrow will mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Columbus Day holiday in the state of Colorado. Yesterday Denver held its annual Columbus Day parade. This year, as in the past two decades, the parade was met with protest by American Indians. Protesters delayed the start of the parade by more than an hour but were eventually hauled away by police.

Today, curious if there were any protests taking place in my neck of the woods, I asked an online community I’m part, the simple question, “Do you know of any protests happening in Austin tomorrow regarding the 100th Anniversary of Columbus Day?”

What resulted from that simple question was a vitriolic diatribe that took me somewhat by surprise. While a couple of people were surprised to learn that there even exists a controversy surrounding Columbus Day, others acted as if I had taken out a personal ad condemning America.

One person said:

Why does everything get tossed on Columbus’s shoulders as he being the progenitor of all that is evil?

I’m not saying all he did was right, but I’d like to point out a few things -

a) you’re judging a 15th century man by 20/21st century standards. It took us longer than halfway between the 20th century before this country did right by African-Americans. Slavery had been happening for centuries at that point, not just in Africa but in conquered countries around the world.

b) He was the commander/commodore of a squadron of 3 ships with resources granted by the Queen (refresh me if I’m wrong). Wouldn’t the use of slaves overseas be indirectly the fault of the Queen, and not Columbus himself? Shouldn’t the most authoritative person in the line hold the responsibility?

c) Who wrote the facts and statistics about Columbus being a genocidal murderer? And why dont we hear about these growing up? We hear about Cortez and the other conquistadors, and their murderous sprees, why not CC? And if he was a genocidal murderer, where are the facts obtained from?

Wow, my question regarding planned protests said all that? I had no idea!

Another person stated:

Columbus is just a symbol. People go around saying Columbus made all the Indians sick and killed them all.

Like he was supposed to guess that his presence would infect the American disease pool with new diseases that they were unable to fight.

And actually, Columbus tried to save the Indians, though he didn’t have either the medical knowledge or resources to stop the native deaths, he did institute the Encomienda system in 1493. Later, Pizarro and Cortez abused the system, but Columbus kept his encomenderos accountable for the wellbeing of the people on their Encomienda grants.

But does it really matter? The people who want a reason to protest rarely delve into the details because if they did, it would muddy their black and white view of themselves.

Four legs good.
Two legs bad.

Now, simply asking a question about planned protests makes me small minded?

Another person suggested that protesting Columbus Day was like, “protesting peanut butter” while yet another suggested I spend my time doing something more worthwhile with my time, like “working in a soup kitchen”.

While one or two people jumped in to “defend” me saying things like, “Columbus was kind of a jerk”, another compared the controversy to “people who don’t want MLK’s birthday celebrated.”

One woman pointed to The People History of the United States” by Howard Zinn and an authority on the evils of Columbus but the person who’d accused me of small mindedness rebutted:

I’ve read the People’s History. Zinn is a good historian and he writes from an important viewpoint, but he isn’t the be all end all of historiography.

Zinn believes that all the ills of Spanish colonialism in Latin America can be traced to Columbus. The enslavement, the torture, the murder, the dehumanization of these people. That is the important thing all relates to the establishment of the encomienda system. While you can look at the system and see in its inception how all the ills of Spanish colonialism sprung from it, saying that Columbus consciously created this system to enslave and dehumanize these people is oversimplifying the complex factors of Early American history.

Remember, the European contact with the American continent also transformed the old world, not as dramatically as it did the new, but these European explorers had no tools of reference with which to work in this new world.

And the Spanish didn’t have Gene Roddenberry to give them the Prime Directive.

The Prime Directive? Yep, that’s it, that’s what was missing! Someone forgot to give Columbus a copy of the Prime Directive. How negligent!

Finally, someone asked, “Wouldn’t your time be better spent protesting something that might actually make a difference in today’s world? Is the world gonna be a better place all of a sudden if Columbus Day was gone?”

Which led me to wonder, “Would it?”

One thing is certain. Columbus isn’t the man they teach us he is in grade school. There is no mention of slave trading. There is no mention of genocide. I think it’s the very fact that we’re brought up believing Columbus to be a hero that makes people so angry when the holiday is questioned. Perhaps we’re just angry at having been lied to all these years.

Perhaps there is nothing that condemns Columbus more than his own words, recorded in his log and diary:

“They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells. They willingly traded everything they owned…. They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features…. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane…. They would make fine servants…. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

“As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.”

It seems this controversy is not lacking for emotion.

In the end I have to wonder, “If the indigenous people of this country are offended by this holiday perhaps it’s time to rethink it.” A close examination of Columbus tells me that he is unworthy and that a holiday is his honor is unjustified and un-American.

What do you think? Is Columbus really the stuff of which heroes are made?

Then again, perhaps this whole experience just boils down to “The Internet Dickwad Theory“.

Columbus, Christopher, Controversy, Hero, Columbus Day, Native Americans, American Indians, protest, slave, trading, genocide, holiday

More political posts

If you follow politics in Austin you may be aware that council members Jennifer Kim and Brewster McCracken have proposed an ordinance to ban panhandling within 1000 feet of schools. Austin Chief of Police, Art Acevedo quickly jumped on board further recommending that the ordinance be extended to 1000 feet on either side of schools.

“Sometimes people out of desperation will take desperate measure to try and go out there and solicit money. Quite frankly the highway is not the place to do that. Vehicles and pedestrians do not mix,” Acevedo said.

At least he acknowledges that the individuals are in need.

Once again council members are using scaremongering phrases like “our children’s safety” as a means to sway public opinion on an ordinance that does little more than punish the homeless while failing to help them. Austin already has laws against aggressive panhandling. With outcries from homeless advocates and a backlash that took her by surprise, Kim backpedaled and said that the ordinance was really about “safety issues”.

Aceveda’s claim that 17 deaths this year could be attributed to panhandling were squarely kicked in the butt by Rebecca Bernhardt of the ACLU. It seems that not a single death can be laid at feet of the evil panhandling.

I went through all 17 incidents for 2007 … Five of them occurred between 2am and 5am, not a time when people are asking for money. Five were jaywalkers, that is, people who tried to cross a major street in the middle of a block. Doesn’t sound like somebody is asking for money in an intersection. One man was killed because he was asleep under a truck at four in the morning. Probably homeless and probably not asking for money. One person was killed crossing I-35 on foot. Clearly not a good idea. Probably not connected to asking for money. There were also two pedestrians who were hit by cars when they were walking on a frontage rolled of a major highway, I-35. One was walking with a woman and a baby and a baby caravan – only the man was killed. Also doesn’t sound like somebody asking for money. I think this city has a serious public safety problem and sounds like it needs sidewalks and cross walks and traffic lights … And we would like to see no more antisolicitation ordinances. Thank you.

Booyah!

This is not about the safety of our children, it’s about silencing the poor, encouraging police harassment, and sweeping the homeless under the carpet. It’s about using the safety of our children to promote council member’s careers. It’s about “hot buttons” that get voters riled up and thinking that council members are “working for you”. With the “revitalization” of downtown and new condos, high rises and shopping districts popping up all over the sight of homeless people is becoming more and more distasteful. I think this quote by Kim pretty much sums that up:

“The problem is it’s happening on Barton Springs, on Lamar – we’re starting to see it in our neighborhoods.”

Oh. My. Gawd. Not in our neighborhoods!

The new ordinance would give law enforcement more power to harass the homeless for little actual gain. The ban would keep panhandlers from begging during the hours of 7pm to 7am but they’d still be able to panhandle during the day. How exactly will that stop the so-called harassment of school children? To top that off, Officers won’t be required to send the panhandler to alcohol or drug rehabilitation. They’ll just end up in court, get a low-level punishment and be back on the street.

“There are already laws on the books for impeding traffic, for indecent exposure, defecation in public, the type of things the City Council is trying to stop,” Diego Bernal of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said. What’s more, the ordinance would inevitably target day laborers and “would be hostile to an already marginalized population,” said Emily Timm of the Central Texas Immigrant Worker Rights Center, part of the Equal Justice Center. Right now, the city runs only one official day labor site, though Timm said there are at least six informal corners throughout the city.

While we’re on the subject of the “safety of our children”, I have to tell you about a conversation I had with my brother, Kevin, who lives on South Beach in Miami. It seems my nephew’s school is making the kids get ID badges. He ran into the principal and asked her if the teachers would also be required to wear badges. She told him that in fact, no, they would not. That’s because they’ve been told that they cannot enforce the wearing of badges by teachers. My brother went on to ask her if she really thought that kids were in more danger from other kid who might wander in than they are from strange adults who might wander into the school. “Yes, I do,” she said, “it’s not the same world as when we were kids, it’s not nearly as safe.”

Y’see folks, this is where scaremongering and the news come into play. That statement is simply not true. In fact, crimes against children, like crimes against all individuals, has been in decline since 1993. That’s right, for more than a decade, crime rates against people have been dropping. What’s increased is the televising of crimes against children which has led to raising a generation under house arrest. Richard Louv, parent and author of the landmark book, “Last Child in the Woods,” has this to say:

“The underbelly of this issue is that parents are scared to death,” Louv said. “Parents are terrified that some stranger is going to take their kids at the corner.” He blamed the national media for taking a handful of terrible crimes against children, magnifying and repeating them over and over, to create a national state of fear.

As a funny aside, a friend asked me what the city was doing about homelessness so I did some googling and found the City of Austin’s web page that addressed that very question. For a start I can tell you this, the website does not appear to have been updated since 2003! Here is an excerpt:

The City is currently implementing several major projects:

AUSTIN RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS

This new downtown men’s shelter, resource center and health clinic will be operational in July 2003.

Er…2003?!?!

Under it’s list of Useful Resources it lists Austin Homeless Advocate, which links to some live cam site. I seriously doubt that’s where the link went to when the web page went up.

Panhandling in these areas may be a problem but it’s not a safety issue for our children. Instead of trying to punish the homeless why don’t we work on some solutions that might take them off the streets? How about we start with paying people a living wage? Mmmhmm, yeah, now there’s a concept!

More Rants!

Resources:
Parents need to let kids out of ‘house arrest’.
City of Austin Website
The Austin Chronicle
Crimes Against Children Resource Center

Jennifer Kim, Brewster McCracken, homeless, homelessness, panhandling, ban, ordinance, Austin, children, safety, Art Acevedo, Council, City, Rebecca Bernhardt, ACLU, Richard Louv, Texas, Tx

If you’ve ever been walking through a store when suddenly you find yourself clutching your gut and clenching your buttocks whilst looking around wildly for the nearest bathroom. If you know where every bathroom is located in your neighborhood, city or planet. If you’ve ever found yourself scouting out the bathroom before you begin shopping, eat dinner or relax at a party, you may appreciate the new law passed by Texas Governor Rick Perry last Thursday.

Indeed, there are few laws that I have more empathy for than the new Restroom Access Act. If you’ve ever suffered from IBS, IBD, Chrons Disease or any other disease that leaves you frantically searching for the bathroom, I’m sure you can relate, too. Interestingly, this law was brought to fruition by children. Ten year-old Catherine Wicker, who suffers from severe IBS, was denied access to a store bathroom and in her rush to cross the street to the “suggested” bathroom, she was nearly hit by a car. Catherine didn’t just roll over. Instead, she and other children rallied support by hanging around our fair capital handing out rolls of toilet paper inscribed with “Vote ‘yes’ on H.B. 416 the Restroom Access Act!”

Apparently the ploy was effective. The new law will take effect on September 1st and will allow access to “Employee Only” restrooms at businesses across Texas. You will need a doctor’s note or a medical condition ID. From me and the thousands of other sufferers across the state, Thank you and Great job, Catherine!

Governor Perry, Restroom Access Law, Catherine Wicker