Despite a proposed change at the national level, if you’re gay the Boy Scouts in Houston still don’t want you. On Monday, Sam Houston Area Council members said they would continue the current national policy of the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America. Like the military’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy about gay troops, the [...]
Posts under ‘Society and cultcha’
Techies and the city
The reason why tech companies are eschewing suburban campuses for urban office locations. For as long as many of us can remember, high-tech industries have flourished in the suburban office parks that are so ubiquitous in Silicon Valley, North Carolina’s Research Triangle and other “nerdistans.” But in recent years, high-tech has been taking a decidedly [...]
NOH8 comes to Houston
Very cool. The NOH8 “photographic silent protest” comes to town Oct. 18 at the University of Houston. The shoot is hosted by the UH Council of Ethnic Organizations, from 4-7 p.m. in the University Center. NOH8 was created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley in response to Proposition 8 in California, which amended [...]
Chick-fil-A
So there’s been protests and counter-protests and editorials and clever menu ideas, and that’s only in the past week. I don’t think the Chick-fil-A saga is going to come to a resolution any time soon, so let’s remember what it’s all about in the first place. It isn’t that Dan Cathy opposes marriage equality or [...]
More on Latinos and marriage equality
From the inbox: Twenty-one of the nation’s leading Hispanic organizations announced today their endorsement of a first-of-its kind, comprehensive public-education campaign called Familia es Familia aimed at strengthening Latino voices to build support within the Latino community for acceptance of LGBT family members. Public opinion polls show that Latinos really do lead the way when [...]
Rey Guerra: Latinos in Houston 2012
The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. White, Black, Asian, or other, if you live in Houston, you’ve more than likely adopted aspects of Latino culture into your own, it’s inevitable. In statistically the most diverse city in the United States, Latinos are [...]
Fourth of July video break: We the People
You can tell how old someone is by whether or not they can recite the preamble to the Constitution without singing it. All together now! Happy Fourth, y’all. I may have another video later.
Latinos and marriage equality
You’ve probably seen some coverage by now of how African American views of marriage equality have shifted in its favor in the wake of President Obama’s announcement that he now supports it. But what about Latinos and their views? The recent news coverage and analysis of this issue has focused almost exclusively on comparing the [...]
Why gay marriage is inevitable
Professor Stephen Klineberg – you know, the fancy movie star – looks at 30 years worth of Houston Area Survey data and sees the future. The findings from the 31st year of the Kinder Houston Area Survey (1982-2012) will be released this month. The three-decade span of these annual studies offers a rare opportunity to [...]
Stimulate the economy with marriage equality
If New York can do it… New York City made quite a bit of money on gay marriage — 200,000 bucks, in fact. Cash flow into the city’s marriage bureau shot up since August, when same-sex nups got enacted, according to the New York Post. The office took in $2.26 million — up from $2 [...]
Even the Mayor is allowed to have her own opinion
Despite what some people might think. The pastor of one of Houston’s megachurches is asking Mayor Annise Parker to resign if she will not cease promoting the legalization of same-sex marriage. “Respectfully, if you cannot uphold the Texas constitution, then you should do the honorable thing and step down,” Pastor Steve Riggle of Grace Community [...]
Who uses the white pages these days?
I’m an old fogey. I read the dead tree version of the newspaper. I’ve installed no apps on my cellphone. I drive a minivan. Yet even I couldn’t tell you the last time I used a phone book. When was the last time you used the white pages? Be honest now. I, for one, can’t [...]
When monkeys are outlawed, only outlaws will have monkeys
Or something like that. Even in their Texas hideout, Jim and Donita Clark are terrified that wildlife agents from their home state of Louisiana will descend on their motorhome and seize the four Capuchin monkeys they’ve reared for 10 years. Four months ago, the couple fled before authorities showed up at their house for an [...]
Komen outrage
I’m speechless. In a shocking move Tuesday afternoon, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the country’s most famous breast cancer charity, pulled its grants for breast-cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood. Komen claims that their reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation from Congress, but as it’s well-understood on both the left and the right that the [...]
Happy birthday, Jacob!
Meet the newest most popular boy’s name in Texas. For the first time in more than a decade of dueling to become the most popular baby boy name in Texas, if infant Jacobs could talk, they’d have said “No way, Jose!” in 2010. Since 1996, Jose has been the top name for baby boys in [...]
Another story about plastic bags
No news on the bag-banning front, though officials in the D/FW area quoted in this Star-Telegram story seem open to the idea, but what interested me was the numbers mentioned: Estimates show that each person now uses about 130 plastic bags per year. Worldwide, billions of these bags — perhaps as many as 1 trillion [...]
Party Like A Rock Star 2011
Looking for something to do this Saturday? Here’s an idea: I am sadly unable to make it this year, but I can attest from past experience that it’s a fine event, and this is definitely now-more-than-ever time. So click the picture, buy a ticket, and have fun. You know you want to.
We’re #12!
The twelfth most obese state in the country, that is. They say everything’s bigger in Texas — and apparently, that includes the people. Texas ranks as the 12th most obese state in the U.S., according to a new study by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study found that — [...]
More cork recycling
I’m always interested in recycling stories. The [Oregon-based nonprofit Cork Forest Conservation Alliance], whose donors include vineyards, want to remind oenophiles that cork products are made from the bark of the cork tree, which regenerates and is harvested every nine years, director Patrick Spencer said. With no severe shortage of corks, he said, there is [...]
Green weddings
Sure, why not? Enter Brandi Dunagan, the owner of Country Sugar Events in San Antonio, a certified green wedding planner with a list of vendors who can line up local produce for the reception, find locally grown flowers, design invitations that use paper made from seeds and perform a variety of other services that will [...]
Saturday video break: It’s OK to be Takei
Ladies and gentlemen, George Takei: I suppose now is as good a time as any to show you this: That was taken at the Houston premier of a slightly bizarre, very cheesy, and mostly fun sci-fi western called Oblivion, at a now long-gone theater on Post Oak near San Felipe. The movie’s director, writer (Peter [...]
Do people really still not understand the concept of “work” email?
I marveled at this story from last week, which could easily have been from a 1996 archive. An administrator at St. Philip’s College resigned after an internal investigation found she violated the school’s email policy by sending hundreds of nonwork-related message to co-workers, many of them deemed sexually explicit and racially offensive. Donna Laird, the [...]
“Don’t call me, I won’t call you”
Does anybody use the phone any more? In the last five years, full-fledged adults have seemingly given up the telephone — land line, mobile, voice mail and all. According to Nielsen Media, even on cellphones, voice spending has been trending downward, with text spending expected to surpass it within three years. “I literally never use [...]
It’s going to be a misogynistic year
It already has been, unfortunately. Here’s Gail Collins on the recent efforts by some right wing activists who are targeting Planned Parenthood: The people trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business do not seem concerned about what would happen to the 1.85 million low-income women who get family-planning help and medical care at the [...]
RIP, RSVP?
I’m always amused by stories like this. From casual get-togethers to catered affairs, the once-common act of replying to invitations has become an often lost and much lamented cause. Parenting and bridal blogs seethe with tales of tracking down invitees like festive fugitives. Electronic invitation systems try to streamline head counting but sometimes just turn [...]
Saturday video break: We Three Kings are totally on Twitter
If the Christmas story were happening today, this is how it might go down: Thanks to Harold for finding this.
No more White Pages
This is long overdue. You won’t be getting the residential White Pages in February, and if recent evidence is any guide, you won’t miss the annual thud on the doorstep. AT&T, the nation’s largest distributor of the telephone directories, has added Houston to the growing list of cities where customers will receive a printed phone [...]
When do you get a cell phone for your kid?
From the Department Of Things We’ll Be Dealing With Sooner Than We Think, Whether We’re Ready For Them Or Not, the “when should we get our kids a cellphone?” question. S. Craig Watkins, author of The Young and the Digital (Beacon Press, $26.95), says deciding to get a child a mobile phone is family specific. [...]
Nightly News Update: One Last Time
Kuff will be return soon enough after camping out with Sasquatch, Jason Voorhees, and the wild Basselope of Bloom County. If he were here, these might be things he’d be tempted to remark on. Since he’s not, here’s me running roughshod all over the news … » Lubbock Av-Journal: Redistricting hearing set in Lubbock The [...]
Nightly News Update: Monday Edition
More up-to-date linkage while Kuff sings Kumbaya in the wood goes on a snipe hunt. » Chron: Kids’ failure is adult’s ‘success’ (Rick Casey) Maybe it’s just me, but the immediacy of this column seems a bit like an afterthought since TEA chief Robert Scott has already announced sent a non-descript email to nervous school [...]
How about a plastic bag tax?
A number of cities have adopted or considered adding a small tax to plastic bags as a means to raise a little money and cut down on landfill waste. Kevin Drum notes the experience of the Washington, DC nickel-per-bag tax, for which revenues, which are dedicated to the cleanup of the Anacostia River, have been [...]
The Wizard of Pawz
From the Inbox: Wizard of Pawz Houston Humane Society’s 29th Annual K-9 Fun Run & Walk HOUSTON, TX (March 10, 2010) – The 29th Annual Houston Humane Society K-9 Fun Run & Walk will take place Sunday, March 28 at Sam Houston Park, 100 Bagby. This fun and beneficial event begins at 10 am, check-in opens at 8 am [...]
Abbott sues to protect the sanctity of divorce
Now hear this: All you people out there who got yourselves gay married, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants to make sure you stay gay married. Attorney General Greg Abbott is trying to halt the divorce of two women in Austin on grounds their Massachusetts marriage is not recognized in Texas. A Travis County state [...]
A tip of the hat
I’m much more connected to the political world in this town than I am to the arts, though I do try to keep up with what’s going on. I was therefore delighted to pick up this week’s Houston Press and see that their Master Mind Awards, which are $2,000 gifts to people or organizations on [...]