Houston Area Liberty Campaign

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 History of Children: A Legal and Policy Overview

This is your LAST CHANCE to join CHILDREN AT RISK for a fascinating, enlightening, and informative event that is open both to attorneys needing CLE credit and individuals interested in the history of children throughout time!

We are pleased and honored to have Dr. Christopher Greeley presenting the History of Children: A Legal and Policy Overview CLE luncheon at the United Way of Greater Houston on August 10. This talk will provide a historical overview of the place that children have had in society, focusing on the legal framework of the role of children in the family and society, and how this role has changed over time. There will also be discussion on societal forces which have impacted the lives of children throughout time, including historic threats to the well-being of children and the social structures which have been erected over time to protect children and aid families in need. CLE and CEU credits will be provided.

Dr. Greeley is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine. He also serves as the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He has dedicated his life and career to the protection of children and is thoroughly published on the subject of child abuse.

Register for this event online
Or call 713-869-7740

by Kaili Joy Gray aka Angry Mouse

Congressmen Embrace Escalation as Evidence of War’s Folly Grows

Though one would have expected that the massive release of some 92,000 classified documents Sunday underscoring just how poorly the war is going would have changed some minds, the Obama Administration has gotten its way once again, with the House of Representatives approving the $59 billion emergency funding bill to keep the war going by a 308-114 vote.

There was, at the very least, some vigorous debate in the House today, with Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D – OH) and Ron Paul (R – TX) at the center of the opposition to continuing the war. At the end of the day, however, all the new evidence about the disastrous war was ignored in favor of pumping tens of billions of dollars into the conflict.

The 308-114 vote was saw a majority from both parties supporting the war, with only 12 Republican and 102 Democrats opposing the conflict. A secondary vote calling for US troops to withdraw from Pakistan was voted down 38-372.

The House was forced into the direct vote last week after the Senate rejected a number of domestic spending amendments attached to the bill in a procedural effort by the House early in the month. Read the rest of this entry »

Mises Daily: Friday, June 18, 2010 by Aaron Smith

In our society of victims, entrepreneurs are blamed for many of the hardships that ail our economy. Whether it is because of high prices, low wages, or substandard economic conditions, they are often accused of exploitation in their quest for profits.

The real victims in our economy, however, are usually not workers who voluntarily enter contracts to sell their labor nor consumers who voluntarily purchase products and services but instead entrepreneurs who are involuntarily subjected to the not-so-invisible hand of our government caretakers. Somehow, it seems completely reasonable to overtly exploit entrepreneurs for their resources in the name of preventing the potential exploitation of anyone else.

Price floors and price ceilings are two sides of the same coin; both of them are economically irrational and morally unjust.

Legislators often garner popular support for measures that exploit entrepreneurs by citing ostensibly alarming data: Exxon Mobile made $45.2 billion in profits in 2008 when gas prices eclipsed $4.00; they’re price gouging! The average compensation of Fortune 500 companies in 2009 was $9.25 million, yet they’re paying unskilled workers only $7.25; the minimum wage is too low!

While drawing such illogical conclusions wouldn’t score a teenager any critical-reading points on the SAT, it does help legislators get bills passed in Congress.

A recent victim of the government’s crusade against entrepreneurs is American Samoa, where in 2007 Congress dictated a 61% increase in its minimum wage as part of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, despite forceful pleas to the contrary from the island of 65,000. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, StarKist, one of Samoa’s largest employers, will reduce its Samoan workforce 60% by 2011, which they directly attribute to the new wage floor. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones scaling back in Samoa; Chicken of the Sea closed its operations last September, forcing over 2,000 additional Samoans into unemployment. Read the rest of this entry »

By Erica Goldson – Coxsackie-Athens High School Valedictorian

Update: Someone finally posted the video of Erica’s speech. See it below.

Comment: The following speech was delivered by top of the class student Erica Goldson during the graduation ceremony at Coxsackie-Athens High School on June 25, 2010. Check out Erica’s blog.

“There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years . .” 
The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” 
Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”

This is the dilemma I’ve faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared. Read the rest of this entry »

           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.” 

Read the rest of this entry »