January 2013
5 posts
December 2012
5 posts
“In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple. We won’t be talking about Ohio, we won’t be talking about Florida or Virginia, because it won’t matter. If Texas is bright blue, you can’t get to two-seventy electoral votes. The Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party. Our kids and grandkids would study how this used to be a national political party. ‘They had Conventions, they nominated Presidential candidates. They don’t exist anymore.’”
—“THE PARTY NEXT TIME: As immigration turns red states blue, how can Republicans transform their platform?” (via kileyrae)
November 2012
4 posts
Some burglars broke into my house →
click2houston.com
There’s a video of my mom. Apparently we’re getting a gun. Not sure how I feel about that.
Intake: November 23, 2012: Texas Edition
gumbo
rice
carne asada
water
You know you’re in Texas when you eat gumbo and carne asada in the same day.
Lupe Tortilla is the best Mexican food in Tejas in my opinion
Listen
A truly MINDBLOWING lesson on the origin of American Southern accents.
HOLY. FUCK.
October 2012
3 posts
September 2012
1 post
Houston police officer kills double amputee in wheelchair -- who was brandishing a metal object that turned out to be a pen - NY Daily News →
nydailynews.com
A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.
Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.
She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.
“Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.
The Houston Chronicle identified the man as Brian Claunch.
Police had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.
The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.
“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper.
Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.
Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.
On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.
“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.”
These police shootings of unarmed and disabled individuals are getting entirely out of hand. Since when do you shoot first and ask questions later? It was a group home for the disabled - did he really think they would have guns? I’ve worked for group homes and there are no guns allowed - ever. Something is seriously wrong with some of the officers in this country and it needs to be remedied before more people die.
Sometimes this blog will post sad things about occurrences in Texas.
August 2012
3 posts
hi. :) I moved to TX about a yr. ago from the east coast & I was under the impression that the south = southern hospitality. but I can honestly say TX has the rudest people I've ever met/encountered in my life. I consider myself a really nice person & I definitely don't want to come across as starting drama, but could you shed some light on this? most people don't say excuse me when trying to get by, hold doors, etc. simple things. & not just things that have happened to me, but what I've seen.
Hi!
Thanks for your question. I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve had a poor experience in TX; I hope it’s not all bad :(
Where in TX did you move? I’m from Houston; it’s the 4th largest city in the US and as such, pretty much busy like every other major city in that people are going to be self-absorbed. Austin seems to be a bit better about being friendly, and especially great for 20-30year olds. As a Houstonian, I’m pretty much trained to dislike Dallas even though I don’t have anything concretely bad to say about it, nor do I have much to say about San Antonio except that the hill country is beautiful and the Alamo is awesome.
What I can say is that major cities will probably lack the southern hospitality that you’d heard of. You’ll mostly find it in small towns. My dad’s family is from Raywood which is right near Liberty and everyone there is friendly as can be, Howdy! and How d’ya do? and whatnot. My mom’s family is from Brenham, where the Bluebell factory is. And I went to summer camp in Hunt…everyone goes to summer camp in Hunt; it’s like the summer camp Mecca and everyone there was super friendly as well. I think it’s the whole small town mentality that makes people really value their neighbors and keep close relationships. When the town is small you get to know everyone.
I think it might also be a generational thing. Back in the day people would invite neighbors over for dinner, take fruit cakes to neighbors who just moved in, have block parties, town hall meetings, ask their neighbors to borrow a couple eggs or some sugar, kids played outside, etc. That doesn’t really happen anymore. Maybe it’s because of technology; maybe people think people aren’t as safe anymore, I don’t know, but it’s sad.
As for chilvalry, many people say it’s dead, but I will say that there are definitely some men I’ve met who still take off their hat indoors, stand when a lady enters the room, pull out the lady’s chair, open car doors for a lady, hold doors open for people, “Yes Ma’am and Yessir” etc. So it’s not completely dead and those kind of things I definitely see in Texas rather than in Massachusetts where I go to school. On the other hand, you will also find people who are more conservative and ignorantly or blindly racist/sexist/homophobic people in Texas, especially the small towns, that you won’t really find on the East Coast.
What I can say from my experience in TX and in MA is that Texans are slightly more laid back and slower paced, not in nearly as much of a rush. In Texas, even in the big cities strangers smile at me and wave or say hello as we cross paths. In Boston, that doesn’t happen; strangers pass right by you minding their own business. I think people in general are just ruder nowadays and it saddens me.
I feel like I’ve rambled but I hope this helps a bit. Let’s both try to be as nice and hospitable as possible to spread the love and respect :)
Much Texas Love,
Everything Bigger in Texas
