Houston Area Liberty Campaign

By BRADLEY OLSON – HOUSTON CHRONICLE

A petition to ban red light cameras in Houston has been certified by the city secretary, making it all but certain that voters will decide in November whether the 70 devices at intersections across the city will be taken down.

“This is a great day for Houston,” said Michael Kubosh, one of three brothers that collected more than 20,000 signatures required to get the proposed charter amendment on the ballot in this election cycle. “People just need a right to vote, that’s all we’re saying. Now the citizens will have a chance to decide.”

Jim McGrath, a spokesman for Keep Houston Safe, a political action committee advocating the cameras, said the petition is illegal and represents an abuse of the city charter amendment process. He noted that Paul Kubosh, another brother behind the petition, is a lawyer who specializes in defending traffic ticket recipients and has a business interest in the outcome of the election.

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Four people, including liberty-minded patriots Chanda Seymour (of We Are Change-Austin), John Bush (Director of Texans for Accountable Government), environmentalist activist Robin Schneider (Texas Environment Organization), and Dan McCarthy (a 22-year-old Texas State University student, running for mayor of San Marcos) were arrested on August 9th by UT-Austin Police Department.  The individuals were charged with their various “crimes” by Austin Police Department, as that is the handling law enforcement agency in the area with the jail facility.  Their “crimes” ranged from exercising their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly at the Obama event at UT’s Austin campus ["criminal tresspass", Ms. Seymour and Mr. Bush], to collecting ballot signatures for a petition [Ms Schneider], to walking on a public sidewalk and not stopping when ordered by Austin PD University of Texas Police Department to do so [Mr. McCarthy]!

Contact University of Texas Police Department @  512-471-4441.  Let them know what you think of them violating the First Amendment.

photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Here are videos of the arrests….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gr1BIDi97M&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP3kJwjG0RE&feature=player_embedded

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Support Local Growth Together (SLGT) is partnering with Habitat for Humanity Houston from Sept 13-19. They are looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping out, see the details below.

We are proud to announce that the SLGT team is set to embark on one of its largest community projects to date. SLGT has partnered with Houston Habitat for Humanity to raise walls, hammer nails and lay roofing over six days in an effort to support affordable housing. From September 13-19, SLGT members, friends and businesses will team up to build a home in Houston Habitat’s newest neighborhood, Milby Park in Northeast Houston.

SLGT and Houston Habitat have the shared belief that quality of life can be improved through partnership, sustainable practices and community building. With your help, and thanks to a generous grant from the Turner Foundation, SLGT and Houston Habitat will be able to provide a local family with the opportunity to make the dream of homeownership a reality.

About Houston Habitat for Humanity
Since 1987, Houston Habitat for Humanity, along with thousands of sponsors and volunteers, has built more than 825 affordable homes for purchase by hard working, low-income Houstonians. Qualified Houston Habitat homebuyers agree to a no-interest mortgage and contribute 300 hours of “sweat equity” in lieu of a down payment. Partner families are also provided with classes on money management and home maintenance. More information about Houston Habitat and the Houston Habitat ReStore, a discounted building supply outlet, is available at www.houstonhabitat.org or by calling 713-671-9993.

How You Can SLGT

BUILD: We need 150 volunteers over six days. That’s a lot of folks, but we know that you’re up to the challenge! Just follow these simple steps:

• Go to www.houstonhabitat.org
• Click on “VOLUNTEER NOW”
• Click on “Access Code”
• Enter Access Code “SLGT”
• Click on “Access Schedule”
• Select date(s) to volunteer
• Click on “Sign Up”
• Fill in the requested info
• Recruit your friends and family! (Note: You must be 16 years old to be on the jobsite)
DONATE

• We need local restaurants, stores or guardian angels to provide lunch for our hard working volunteers. They’ll be sweating up a storm in the September heat, and we will definitely have hungry stomachs to feed.
• Can’t make it out to build? Houston Habitat still needs your support!

Please take a moment to donate here.
GET INVOLVED FOR THE LONG HAUL: Connect with us to stay updated on events and to learn more about how you can Support Local and Grow Together.

SLGT Facebook | Twitter

Houston Habitat For Humanity Facebook | Twitter | www.houstonhabitat.org

           The battle between Democratic and Republican Party operatives over the Green Party’s ballot access petition drive, now headed for the Texas Supreme Court, has the potential for consequences not yet brought to light.  The ban on corporate contributions in Texas campaigns could be ruled unconstitutional by the Republican aligned Texas Supreme Court in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court Citizen’s United ruling, which makes it easier for corporations and labor unions to fund federal campaigns.  The Texas corporate (and union) ban, established in 1905 during the heyday of the populist movement, is one of the few campaign finance laws in Texas.  It is widely supported by voters of all political hues including independent-minded (read:  independent of Rick Perry) tea partiers.

            Attorney David Rogers is an independent Republican who has worked with former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Steve Smith.  Rogers currently represents the Green Party in its appeal to the Texas Supreme Court seeking a ballot line in November’s general election.  Rogers believes that the Democrats fighting Green Party ballot access really don’t have a case because petition drives are exempt from the corporate ban as a “normal operating expense.”  Rogers said, “The Democrats are playing a dangerous game. They have, by virtue of naming the two corporate entities involved in the fray, Free and Equal, which managed the petition drive and Take Initiative America, which may have provided the funding to Free and Equal, set the stage for the possibility that the Texas Supreme Court could strike down the corporate ban as unconstitutional, something neither I nor my clients would support.” 

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Interesting reading.  Be informed before you vote in the current primaries and in the general elections coming this November 2010…your new taxes… 
 
You better change the current leadership in Congress or find a way to hide your money, because they are coming to take it from you in 2011…
 
This is astounding.  Many have no clue about the changes coming our way in 2011 and beyond under the current US Congressional leadership (super majority of tax and spenders extraordinaire). The new tax impact on the average taxpayer as outlined below is hard to imagine. Not to mention the shock wave that will ripple through every part of the economy.  Just adding health care benefits as part of income on the W-2 of every employee in the USA will add $150.00 a month to the average couple’s tax debt. Who has that budgeted for 2011? The Arizona Immigration Law federal lawsuit, DOJ/Black Panther story, Lindsay Lohan trial story, etc, etc in the nightly media are just distractions to keep everyone’s attention off real impacting issues like this one.  Read this and weep about how much money you are going to lose five months from now; when the tax laws change in January 2011…
 
Subject: 2011 Tax Increases
 
In just five months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
 
If you want to see the entire list of increased taxes for average citizens; you can download this complete PDF Version at the following link:  http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1
 
First Wave of Taxes in 2011:  Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
 
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.
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As many of you know, Debra Medina was pushing very hard for nullification for the state of Texas.  Even though she was not the final, victorious Republican gubernatorial candidate for Texas, she has NOT given up on pushing for nullification and states’ rights for Texas and Texas.  Ms. Medina will continue to fight for Texas and Texans until success is achieved.

You can find the online petion here.

Ms. Debbie McKee of the Texas Liberty Campaign, with which the Houston Area Liberty Campaign is affiliated, is on a campaign to also help out where the Medina campaign was cut off in its fight.  Ms. McKee is personally delivering printed out petitions on Friday, July 23rd and would like some company!  The more the merrier!  Please pass this along, especially to folks around Austin!

We Texans (Ms. Medina’s gubernatorial campaign) will host our inaugural Pillars of Liberty Symposium at the Radisson Inn & Suites in Austin on July 24. The event will address strategies for governing and campaigning for liberty. New York Times bestselling author, Thomas Woods; as well as Texas political stars: Royal Masset, Peter Johnston, Penny Langford Freeman and Jean McIver will be on hand to lead the discussions.

And since we love to break bread together, Dr. Woods will serve as our keynote speaker at the We Texans banquet that evening.

I saw this a few years back… an acquaintance sent this to me again.  Thanks to Tony S, group leader on The Colony Co-Op.
=======================================================
How to Catch a Wild Hog…
August 15, 2007
By Lowell E. Hedges

wild hog in search of free corn

I can best explain my concern about the new congress’s agenda, by using this analogy given to me by a former student of mine. Several years ago I was supervising a beginning teacher in a city school system.

One day during our end-of-the-day feedback conference, the young man gave a facial grimace and began to rub his back. I asked him if he had strained his back in the school lab.

After a long period of silence, he sat down at his desk and explained that he had immigrated to the United States because of political problems in his native country. The discomfort in his back was caused by a bullet wound he had received while fighting the Communists who were trying to take over his country’s government. He was then a member of the underground nationalist force.

Then he asked me a surprising question: “Dr. Hedges, do you know how to catch a wild hog?”

The question was completely out of context regarding the day’s classroom and lab teaching. I replied, “I’m not sure what you are talking about. Tell me?”

“First,” he said, “you find out where the wild hogs are roaming and feeding and then you put some corn out in the field. Soon they will come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the free corn. More wild hogs keep coming to eat the corn.”

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From Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-22/u-s-deepwater-oil-drilling-ban-lifted-today-by-new-orleans-federal-judge.html

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk - Jun 22, 2010

Cranes load and unload ships normally used for offshore drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg

A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Shares of drilling services companies jumped on the news.

Obama temporarily halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet on May 27 to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations. More than a dozen Louisiana offshore service and supply companies sued U.S. regulators to lift the ban.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman today granted a preliminary injunction, halting the moratorium. Government lawyers told Feldman that ban was based on findings in a U.S. report following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast in April.
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[From History.com calendar]

Congress passes the 19th Amendment

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.

The women’s suffrage movement was founded in the mid-19th century by women who had become politically active through their work in the abolitionist and temperance movements. In July 1848, 240 woman suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia (nee Coffin) Mott, met in Seneca Falls, New York, to assert the right of women to vote. Female enfranchisement was still largely opposed by most Americans, and the distraction of the North-South conflict and subsequent Civil War precluded further discussion. During the Reconstruction Era, the 15th Amendment was adopted, granting African American men the right to vote, but the Republican-dominated Congress failed to expand its progressive radicalism into the sphere of gender.

Lucretia Mott (Library of Congress photo)

In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was formed to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Another organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone, was organized in the same year to work through the state legislatures. In 1890, these two societies were united as the National American Woman Suffrage Association. That year, Wyoming became the first state to grant women the right to vote.

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[By HALC.us staff]
On Thursday, May 6, 2010, I got an automatic call asking me to “hold for an important message.”  I was going to hang up since I figured the caller wanted to sell me some Hardiplank siding or ask me to donate to save the endangered Deep East Texas Fire Ant Fungi.  But then the recording popped in with a statement saying to “hold for a live teleconference with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Empower Texans’ President Michael Sullivan.”  My Grandma K’s voice chimed up in my mind and said “Don’t hang up girl.”

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott

Empower Texans President Michael Q. Sullivan

The call turned out to really be a conference call with Attorney General Greg Abbott and Empower Texans’ Michael Quinn Sullivan. I thought, “Hmmm, this will be interesting.  I’ll stay put!!”

At one point during the conference call, there were approximately 53,000+ Texans on the call.  The purpose of the call was to discuss the lawsuit that the State of Texas, along with 12 other states, has filed against the United States government and several key secretaries of the United States government as to H. R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (“the Act”).

That was an amazing thing to hear!!  While only one caller could be heard at a time, it’s reassuring to think that 52,999+ other Texans felt it was important enough to take their time to listen in and maybe ask a question of Attorney General Abbott.

You will be able to find the archived teleconference on the Empower Texans website by looking for the Texas flag with “Texas v ObamaCare” (in the middle of the line, near the top) or by clicking here.

The case that the state of Texas filed against the United States is styled The State of Florida, et. al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et. al., No. 3:10-cv-91, in the United States District Court, Northern Division of Florida, Pensacola Division.  Named individual defendants in the Florida suit, amongst six total, are Kathleen Sebelius, Sec. of Health and Human Services; Eric H. Holder, Jr., United States Attorney General; and Timothy F. Geithner, Sec. of Treasury.

The Attorneys General involved in this lawsuit and the states they represent are:

Bill McCollum, Florida
Henry McMaster, South Carolina

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