Friday night in our area of Houston was windy, but not too bad. A little rain, but not much until Saturday morning, then it tapered off by 9. Round Two just started…this is going to be the real test. This is the link to the nearest Harris County Flood Warning System station upstream from our house.
The main site. Click on “Channel Status” on the left to see the stations that are nearing (yellow) or over (red) the tops of their banks.
Sorta. Finally got around to migrating from the old host. Will try to not be a stranger.
In the meantime, be excellent to one another.
I will be participating in the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin this weekend to help raise money for research into multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. Every hour, someone is newly diagnosed with MS.
I registered for the BP MS 150 because I want to do something about MS now. I’m asking you to support my efforts with a tax-deductible donation.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to creating a world free of MS and they need our help. It’s faster and easier than ever to help: Simply click the link at the bottom of this message or, if you prefer, send your check payable to the National MS Society – P.O. Box 4125 – Houston, TX 77210-4125. Be sure to write my name and “BP MS 150” in the memo section of your check.
Your contribution funds crucial MS research and helps families with MS lead powerful lives. I appreciate your support and promise to update you.
For more information about the National MS Society, how proceeds help and other ways you can do something about MS now, visit www.BPMS150.net
My ride page: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=6417735&pg=personal&fr_id=25298
I’ll be doing this. I hope you will, too.
DEAR USERS OF THE INTERNET,
In January 2012 we defeated the SOPA and PIPA censorship legislation with the largest Internet protest in history. Today we face another critical threat, one that again undermines the Internet and the notion that any of us live in a genuinely free society: mass surveillance.
In celebration of the win against SOPA and PIPA two years ago, and in memory of one of its leaders,Aaron Swartz, we are planning a day of protest against mass surveillance, to take place this February 11th.
Together we will push back against powers that seek to observe, collect, and analyze our every digital action. Together, we will make it clear that such behavior is not compatible with democratic governance. Together, if we persist, we will win this fight.
https://thedaywefightback.org
Paula Myrick Short, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Houston
pmshort@uh.edu
713-743-9830
Dear Vice President Short,
The actions of Lisa Shumate yesterday are causing a backlash against Houston Public Media, as you are no doubt aware. I and untold numbers of others have cancelled our memberships due to the unceremonious dismissals of people that just made extraordinary efforts in the fundraising campaign. Promises of continued, improved multi-modal support for the Houston arts community ring hollow on the back of canceling The Front Row and instead relaying music programmed elsewhere.
Classical music fans are extremely spoiled today: three dedicated satellite radio channels; almost limitless options online via internet radio stations and services like Spotify and Pandora; cars that can play anything from an iPod…virtually the entire classical catalog is available instantly. To differentiate itself in this consumer paradise, KUHA has a golden opportunity: offering 24/7 access to the Houston arts scene. Live and recorded music from the Moores School alone could fill several hours each day without repeating. Add in The Front Row and programming the Shepherd School, HGO, HSO, and the many professional ensembles and choral groups that call Houston home, and you have a complete schedule that will never run dry.
Houston Public Media, as demonstrated by Lisa Shumate yesterday, is neither Houston nor Public. I urge you to replace her with someone that understands the true potential of 91.7, and to restore the employees she has let go.
Sincerely yours,
Joe Carl White
former KUHA member and listener
Lisa Trapani Shumate
Executive Director & General Manager
KUHA-FM Classical 91.7 Houston Public Radio
lshumate@houstonpublicmedia.org
Mrs. Shumate,
I am terribly disappointed at the news of the staff firings today. To do so after having just conducted a membership campaign is truly reprehensible. Therefore, I have cancelled my membership.
Sincerely,
Joe Carl White
—
N.B. Today, Mrs. Shumate fired 10 of the local announcers on our classical public radio station, after they completed the membership drive.
Howdy!
I would like to invite you to my concert Sentimental Journey: Threeton & White Do Songs of the 30’s & 40’s, on Saturday, October 12.
For all those who wish to give more power to the state.
From Ken White at Popehat:
Armando Saldate, Jr. had been adjudged to be a liar on four occasions and a lawbreaker on five others.
No rational person would accept his word as an adequate basis to do anything of importance — let alone as a basis to take a life.
But we do not speak of rational people today. We speak of the criminal justice system. And the criminal justice system is choked with people it has thoroughly captured — people irrationally convinced of, or indifferent to, the credibility of people like Armando Saldate, Jr.
That’s because Armando Saldate, Jr. was a police officer.
The State of Arizona, based on almost nothing but Saldate’s word, has been trying to kill Debra Jean Milke for nearly a quarter-century. Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said they can’t.
[From The Presumption of Truth]
Please, read the whole thing.
In recent weeks I (and my family and clients) have been exposed to a number of scams. I thought I should highlight them to help others avoid falling for them.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there…keep your wits about you.
