Why is International Support for Harvey/Houston So Low?

After Hurricane Katrina over 150 foreign countries contributed or offered aid.

Under the Chumphshit…That has dropped to a trickle.

Yet another way the Chumphshit is destroying America.

Dozens of countries offered help after Hurricane Katrina. After Harvey, not so much.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, more than 150 countries offered volunteers, supplies and cash to the United States.

Impoverished Bangladesh, suffering a not-so-slow-motion climate catastrophe, promised $1 million and rescuers. Thailand offered 60 doctors and rice as a “gesture from the heart.” Germany sent high-speed pumps; the Dutch offered levee reconstruction experts. “Very large cash” donations came from Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Canada sent navy ships, helicopters and about 1,000 helpers.

Mexico’s convoy of soldiers, all-terrain rescue vehicles and drinking water was followed by food, medical workers, water-treatment facilities and a kitchen that could feed 7,000 people daily.

After Harvey?

Not crickets exactly, but close. Few countries have publicly offered aid.

The European Union sent satellites. In a statement, Mexico offered “help and coordination” to Harvey-ravaged Texas, though they didn’t go into specifics. It’s worth noting, too, that that same statement responded forcefully to a Twitter diatribe from President Trump, who once again demanded that Mexico pay for a border wall and threatened to “terminate” NAFTA. (The State Department has not said whether it will accept aid from Mexico. In a statement, it said “if a need for assistance does arise, we will work with our partners, including Mexico, to determine the best way forward.”)

Canadians are shipping supplies like baby bottles, formula and bath towels. Taiwan reportedly offered $800,000, and Venezuela promised $5 million. It’s unclear whether that funding would be accepted.

At a White House briefing, spokesman Thomas Bossert said that Mexican and Canadian leaders have called the president, but they didn’t discuss how those countries might help. “The president didn’t get into the specifics, and neither did the heads of state calling. So I think their primary purpose was to express and extend their prayers and their thoughts and their condolences to those that lost their lives,” he said.

Bossert also noted that the White House would turn over to FEMA and the State Department any “actual concrete” offers. FEMA did not return a request for comment. State directed questions to FEMA.

It’s possible that more offers of aid are forthcoming, and that countries are simply waiting to see how things play out. But Markos Kounalakis, a professor at Central European University, has a different theory about what’s going on.

“Maybe a distracted State Department experiencing attrition is unable to process foreign offers and aid. But it might also be that Trump actively alienates American friends and allies, boasts he is cutting USAID, and makes clear that America First translates into an aid policy of every nation for itself,” he wrote in an op-ed in the Miami Herald. “Countries seeking political payback, or simply eager to make a point, by sitting silent is a conceivable, if cruel, reaction to a White House that has been deliberately self-centered and dangerously provocative.”

There’s another possibility, too.

The United States struggled to make use of the foreign aid donated after Katrina. According to a 2011 Heritage Foundation report, just $115 million of the $850 million offered in Katrina relief was used. About $400 million of oil aid sat untouched. There were other snafus, too. Britain donated 400,000 ready-to-eat meals. But some contained beef, banned at the time because of fears of mad cow disease. So the food sat in a factory in Arkansas.

At one point, the State Department suggested that countries funnel their donations directly to organizations like the Red Cross, where they’d be put to better use.

At the time, the Bush administration explained things this way. “There is a process of matching needs with expertise and the donations that have been made,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained to the Associated Press. Decisions about what to accept are based on need, he said, not politics. Germany’s high-speed pumps, for example, were eagerly accepted. Cuba’s offer of 1,100 doctors, not so much.

 

The Chumph Tweets While Houston Drowns

More despicable behavior by Putin’s Bitch –

 

The Difference Between Being a Good Neighbor…And a Chumph

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mexican soldiers rolled across the border in a 45-vehicle convoy and set up camp at the former Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio. They served victims 170,000 meals, distributed 184,000 tons of supplies and conducted hundreds of medical consultations. Mexico also shipped humanitarian aid to New Orleans, and former President George W. Bush met with Mexican Marines to thank them.

Despire repeated provocations, grandstanding, and churlishness by the Chumphshit – Mexico is again taking the high road in providing help to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. It is, after all, what good, mature, and responsible neighbors do.

The Chumphshit is doing what racist loser do.

 

Abbott says Texas will accept Mexican offer of Hurricane Harvey relief

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday the state is accepting Mexico’s offer to help get Texas back on its feet in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

“Yes. I have, and we are,” Abbott said from Austin when journalists asked him about the topic. “We had a list of aid and assistance that they have offered to provide that we are accepting.”

Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, the consul general in Austin, applauded the governor’s decision. He said vehicles, boats and food will start arriving in Texas within days.

“We are very pleased with Governor Abbott’s response,” Gutierrez said. “Mexico looks forward to doing its share.”

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.

6:44 AM – 27 Aug 2017

Mexico, in a diplomatic note Tuesday, provided a long list of items it could supply, including troops, convoys of food, medicine, portable showers and water.

“Texas and Mexico share more than half the border,” Carlos Sada, Mexico’s undersecretary for North American relations said. “There are families, marriages, businesses that bind our two sides. This is about being good neighbors.”

In Washington, following a meeting at the State Department, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thanked Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso for its “wide range of assistance.”

“It was very generous of Mexico to offer their help at a very, very challenging time for our citizens back in Texas,” he said.

Videgaray responded: “You’re absolutely welcome. We are here to help. We are friends. We are neighbors, and that’s what friends do.”

Donald J. Trump 

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?

9:51 AM – Aug 27, 2017

President Donald Trump has not responded publicly to Mexico’s aid, though on Tuesday he accepted an offer from Singapore to lend four of its CH-47 Chinook helicopters for rescue efforts. Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he flew to Texas, and accepted the offer, according to Lee’s office. Singapore’s Air Force has trained since 1995 with the Texas Army National Guard.

Mexico’s offer of help comes at a crucial time for the U.S.-Mexican relations, which in many ways is largely shaped by Texas, home to nearly 11 million Hispanics, the majority of them of Mexican heritage. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the United States, with a population of more than 600,000 unauthorized immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center.

To unauthorized immigrants seeking shelter from Harvey’s devastation, Sada said: “Don’t be afraid to come out. There is no deportation operation underway. We have the assurance of Gov. Abbott and the mayor of Houston.”

Beginning Friday, activists are set to launch statewide protests on two fronts. They plan to rally against the state’s new ban on so-called sanctuary cities, a law taking effect Friday. They also plan demonstrations to register growing fears that President Donald Trump will soon end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created by the Obama administration to block deportation of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.

Moreover, negotiations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement — from which Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull the U.S. — will resume Friday. No other state has more at stake in those talks than Texas, where nearly half a million jobs depend on the deal.

“Mexico’s desire to be humane at a time of such great need contrasts the character and the churlishness coming out of Washington, D.C., and NAFTA,” said Tony Garza, a prominent Republican and former U.S. ambassador and now legal counsel with White & Case in Mexico City. “In Texas, given the Legislature’s focus these past few months on sanctuary cities sends a clear signal to hundreds of thousands of Texans, particularly Latinos along the Gulf Coast and in Harris County, that we’re not with you and in an increasingly purple state, that may mean something.”

Garza recalled Mexico taking “the high road” in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Mexican soldiers rolled across the border in a 45-vehicle convoy and set up camp at the former Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio. They served victims 170,000 meals, distributed 184,000 tons of supplies and conducted hundreds of medical consultations. Mexico also shipped humanitarian aid to New Orleans, and former President George W. Bush met with Mexican Marines to thank them.

It’s unclear how Trump, who arrived in Texas on Tuesday to survey Harvey’s catastrophic damage, will react to Mexico’s offer to help. The president and Mexico have had an acrimonious relationship dating back to Trump’s first day as a presidential candidate, when he referred to Mexicans as rapists, murderers and criminals.

“We know that Trump is intensely disliked by Mexicans, but in the end Mexicans see us as a neighbor, a place where Americans are good, decent people,” said James Taylor, a partner at Vianovo, an Austin-based consulting firm, and chairman of the Aquila Alliance, a Texas group dedicated to promoting closer relations between Texas and Mexico. “Mexicans are demonstrating they care about their neighbor — especially their immediate neighbor, Texas.”

On Sunday, as waters rose across southeast Texas, Mexico reached out to Texas. Trump, meanwhile, bullied Mexico on Twitter to pay for his promised border wall. On Monday, he repeated his threat the the U.S. would at some point kill NAFTA.

“We’re in a critical and delicate negotiation with NAFTA,” said Ricardo Ainslie, director of the Mexico Center at the University of Texas at Austin. “Mexico has been the brunt of a lot of highly pressured, hostile rhetoric. So I think it’s very interesting that Mexico is saying in so many words ‘Hey, we’re present, and we’re critical to things that happen in Texas.’ They’re showing real political maturity.”

Texas has its own dicey issues with Mexico. The recently signed SB4 was scheduled to go into effect Friday until a federal judge blocked its implementation late Wednesday. SB4 effectively outlaws sanctuary cities — places where local law enforcement limits or refuses cooperation with federal immigration agents — and gives police the right to ask the immigration status of people they detain. Mexico’s vast immigrant population would be affected.

In 2015, Texas and 25 other states blocked the Obama administration, through a federal court ruling, from extending deferred action to an estimated 5 million undocumented parents of children who were citizens or legal residents, as well as to young immigrants who arrived between 2007 and 2010. The ruling was upheld on appeal, and last year, the Supreme Court split 4-4, leaving the lower court’s decision in place.

Texas leads a group of 10 states pressuring the Trump administration to end DACA, and in recent days Trump has signaled he may do so. A legal challenge could come as early as Sept. 5. Most affected immigrants live in either Texas or California.

“Yes, we know about Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, but our decision, our willingness to help Texas isn’t based on politics,” Sada said. “This is a spontaneous reaction to a neighbor in need, and we, based on our own experiences with natural disasters, know recovery periods can take months, years. So we’re here with one message: Texas, Mexico is ready to help.”

Already, volunteers from the Mexican Red Cross, firemen from the border state of Coahuila and rescue teams from Guanajuato began arriving in Houston to assist.

 

Houston – You Have a Problem

There are a series of manmade issues which have resulted in the massive damage we are seeing in the Houston region of Texas. The major contributor is the lack of Zoning Laws which would require developers to use certain standards in location and construction. Much like what happened in Florida during Hurricane Andrew some years back, there are no laws requiring builders not to build on floodplains, or to utilize special construction. As such a lot of the lessons from Andrew, and Katrina (I worked on parts of the Katrina recovery) were ignored.

The second problem is the US Government and FEMA. While FEMA is really strict on rules for coastal homes built along the ocean, and insurance rates are sky high (if you can get it at all) – they take a highly permissive approach to insuring homes and property a few miles inland – even when that property is located on a floodplain which repeatedly floods. I live in a coastal area, designated as a “flood zone”. I was required to utilize certain building methods. For instance the roof and siding are designed to survive a Category 5 hurricane – 140 MPH winds. The house is on “stilts” 13′ above the ground, which were driven 20′ or more into the earth. It has survived 4 Hurricanes, including a direct hit by a Cat 5 with no significant damage despite a 12′ Storm Surge and flooding. Indeed as I write this, my area is being pounded by a Tropical Storm moving up the East Coast, and we are expecting 60 MPH winds and 2-4 inches of rain.

FEMA has paid on properties which repeatedly flood – far in excess of the property values. Properties and localities with no storm mitigation systems.

The National Flood Insurance Program, established in 1968 was meant to protect and indemnify people without creating economic catastrophe. Instead of avoiding the floodplain, insurance allowed people to build within it, within management constraints recommended by FEMA. In theory, flood-hazard mitigation hoped to direct development away from flood-prone areas through the disincentives of risk insurance and regulatory complexity. It isn’t working – especially in areas where there was substantial construction before the law (NOLA), and in Texas where there is no Zoning.

In Houston’s case, catastrophic floods have been anticipated for some time. The combination of climate change, which produces more intense and unpredictable storms, and aggressive development made an event like this week’s almost inevitable. The Association of State Floodplain Managers has called for a national flood risk-management strategy, and the Houston Chronicle has called flood control the city’s “most pressing infrastructure need.” A lack of funding is often blamed, and relaxed FEMA regulations under the Trump Administration won’t help either.

The famously “un-zoned” city has allowed developers to pave over natural areas that provide resilience to floods, and build homes in the way of cataclysm. According to a 2016 analysis by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, 166,000 acres of coastal prairies have been destroyed by development since 2001.“More people die here than anywhere else from floods,” Sam Brody, a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher, told us last year. “More property per capita is lost here. And the problem’s getting worse.”

Not counting the Harvey’s devastation in Houston, in the past two years, 16,000 buildings have been flooded, and $1 billion in damage was caused by the so-called “Tax Day” and “Memorial Day” floods. In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison killed almost two dozen people and caused $5 billion in damage in Harris County, which includes Houston.

The next problem is Houston’s road system. Those giant highways are impervious surfaces which cause rapid rainfall runoff. In the case of the major superhighways in Houston, that runoff is along the road filling underpasses – making evacuation nearly impossible.

After Hurricane Sandy 36 Republican Senators refused to vote in favor of funding relief, including the two Senators from Texas. The political ramifications of that are floating around in the political miasma.

Maybe we need to take a different view of how to pay for this. The State, which is responsible for the laws leaving citizens defenseless – should bear a greater responsibility for its actions. Second – maybe we should put relocation on the table. Those buildings that have repeatedly flooded should be torn down, the owners should be provided FEMA Insurance money – but only to build elsewhere or to build with significant mitigation strategies. Ergo – the State, County, and City has to put a plan of mitigation on the table before a dime is spent for rebuilding.

 

 

Battling Texas Republican New Jim Crow Laws Against Hispanics

The New Jim Crow also includes Hispanics…Just like the Old Jim Crow…

Seems the white-right can’t stop being racist.

 

Houston Cop Harasses Black Business Owner

Here are some young guys trying to do the right thing by starting a lawn cutting business.

The crew of 4 brothers is busily cutting grass when a Houston Police Officer decides to harass them for no justifiable reason.

I don’t know about you…But when I jump on my John Deere in my decidedly non designer raggedy work wear to cut the back 40. carrying my wallet is real low on the list.

WATCH: Texas police officer harasses black teen for mowing grass

A video of a black teenager being harassed by a security officer in Harris County, Houston, Texas, went viral as soon as it emerged on social media Tuesday.

In the video recorded by Marvel Gibson, he is heard saying that he was going door-to-door to distribute cards for his business of mowing yards while his crew was cutting out grass and mowing a lawn in the area.

“When I saw you, you were going door-to-door-to-door,” the officer is heard saying in the video. Gibson responded saying he was distributing business cards. “Yeah, I’m putting my business cards out,” Marvin replied, holding a business card out for the cop.

“Well that’s what I’m trying to find out,” said the cop.

“Well that’s all you had to ask,” said the teen. “You see me cutting grass.”

“Well, let me see some ID,” the officer asked him. The video starts with the officer asking the teen to “step over here” next to a vehicle which appears to be their lawn work truck. Sounds of the lawn machinery can be heard in the background in the video as the other crew members seem to be working.

When the police officer asked him for an ID, Gibson said: “I don’t have it on me.”

The officer then asked the youth’s name and date of birth to which the teen responded saying he was 19 although he said his date of birth was 10/12/1999, which would make him 18 years old.

Gibson enquired why the officer was asking for so much of his information. The officer told him he was investigating what the teen was doing in the neighborhood.

“When an officer asks you for your ID, you’re supposed to provide your ID. You don’t have your ID. I don’t care what you’re doing,” the cop told Gibson.

Seconds later, Gibson is heard repeatedly asking for the officer’s identity card in order to note down his details. However, the cop grabs his handcuffs to arrest the teen.

Gibson then left the place as he recorded the entire incident, warning the officer that he will drag him to the court.

“We’re cutting grass, sir. You’re harassing us,” said Gibson, who flashed his green business card in front of the camera, showing that he was only doing his job.

One of his friends, probably a crew member, can be heard saying “you can’t do this just coz he’s black.” Gibson is then heard repeating that he wants the cop’s name and his ID card.

The video cuts out halfway through the incident and then says “later that day” and goes on to show the same cop in front of Gibson’s yard in front of his home. The video shows the same teen filming from the front door of a house with the cop standing by a tree in the yard as police vehicles are seen driving in the background. Gibson can be heard saying “you are harassing me, get out of my yard. Move around, leave.”

 

Hate Crime in Houston

Yet another in a long list of Trump inspired hate crimes…

A Texas man’s SUV was burned and his home vandalized in an apparent racist attack.

The homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous in news accounts, said he was sleeping in his Highlands home about 4:30 a.m. Friday when was awakened by flashing lights, reported KPRC-TV.

He looked outside and saw his vehicle was on fire, and he ran outside and found “n****r leave” had been painted on both his SUV and the side of his house, police said.

The man has five children, but they do not live with him and were not present at the time.

The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, the TV station reported.

Authorities are checking the neighborhood for surveillance cameras for possible evidence in the case.

 

Taco Trucks on Every Corner…Registering Voters

One of the reasons I believe the polls showing the Chumph being within a few points of Hillary (or tied) are wrong is the fact they are mostly based on what are called “likely voters”. Just as in 2008 and 2012, those polls massively miss the number of new voters. The likely voters model favors older whites and utterly misses minority voters because their voting record tends to be spotty.

This year, over 4 million Hispanic voters have newly registered. One of the driving reasons behind that is the Chumps racism against Hispanics. So…Most of the polls have a 4 million voter under-count – roughly 90% of which is going to vote for Hillary.

I love what these folks in Texas are doing. Turn Texas BLUE!

‘Register to vote, get a taco’: Houston taco trucks put voter registration booths ‘on every corner’

Taco trucks of Houston, Texas have joined together to become voter registration booths.

Earlier this month, Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez warned that there would be “taco trucks on every corner” if Donald Trump lost the 2016 presidential election.

That prompted designer Thomas Hull to team up with Latino activist group Mi Familia Vota to turn the taco trucks of Texas into voter registration booths, according toHouston Public Media.

Hull explained to KBMT that he found Gutierrez’s comments humorous “because here in Houston we do have taco trucks on every corner and love them.”

“Listening to the debate last night, people are starting to clue in to the fact that however you vote, your vote will effect you and your personal life,” Hull added.

 

Armed White Nationalist “Protest” at Houston NAACP Offices

I don’t recall at any time the NAACP holding a protest march with the marchers armed.

Despite being set upon by fire hoses, dogs, police with night sticks, and violent whites.

Kinda tells you the mentality (or lack of) of the white supremacist crowd when they have to carry their “metal manhood” to a protest march,

“Brave” white supremacist types need their metal manhood to protest…

Armed white-supremacists surround Texas NAACP with ‘white lives matter’ signs and Confederate flags

White supremacists surrounded the Houston, Texas NAACP chapter Sunday afternoon while holding a “white lives matter” banner, CW39 Houston reports.

The protesters said that they wanted to voice their concerns amid popularity of the black lives matter movement. They insisted that NAACP leaders and the organization denounce the movement, which they said is responsible for riots and violence in certain cities.

One protester was holding the sign 14 Words, which is a white supremacist slogan meaning, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” It comes from the late white supremacist David Lane, who was a member of pro-white terrorist group called The Order.

Those that live in Houston’s 3rd Ward were shocked by the protest and uncomfortable with the use of the Confederate flag. Police were on the scene to prevent any violence but Twitter users still managed to mock the protesters with disgust.

Of course the local Po-Po arrested none of the white protesters threatening with guns.

 

Former St Louis Officer Arrested for Murder of Lamar Smith

Why is it this cop wound up in Harris County? Applying for a job as a guard? Harris County jail has a bit of a reputation for prisoners dying in custody, both from “natural”, and decidedly un-natural causes.

Former St. Louis cop arrested, charged with first-degree murder for 2011 police shooting

A former St. Louis police officer has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the on-duty shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith — an incident that led to one of the largest wrongful-death settlements stemming from a police shooting in the city’s history, the Post-Dispatch has learned.

Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s office on Monday charged Jason Stockley, 35, of Houston. St. Louis police and U.S. marshals arrested Stockley on Monday at his home in the 6300 block of Chevy Chase Drive in Houston.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Mullen ordered Stockley held without bail. He is in custody in Harris County, Texas.

“I’m disappointed because I know what fine public servants the vast majority of police officers are, and this kind of conduct on the part of this former officer doesn’t reflect the excellent work I see from them every day,” Joyce said. “So it’s disappointing in that regard, but it’s important that people understand that if you commit a crime, and we have the evidence to prove it, it doesn’t matter to us what you do for a living. Our job is to hold people accountable if we have the evidence. And in this case, we do.”

Dotson said Joyce’s decision to charge Stockley was the “culmination of years of investigative work,” in a prepared statement he issued Tuesday.

“The department spent countless hours on this case, all in an effort to ascertain the true facts of what occurred on December 20, 2011,” he said. “I hold my officers to the highest standards. Stockley’s actions were in no way representative of the dedicated service of the men and women who serve on this department.”

Stockley shot Smith, 24, in December 2011 after a suspected drug transaction and high-speed chase. State and federal prosecutors had filed no charges.

After shooting at Smith’s car, Stockley and his partner, Officer Brian Bianchi, chased the victim at speeds over 80 mph. While in pursuit, the police SUV crashed, backed up and continued following Smith’s vehicle.

During the chase, Stockley says, “going to kill this (expletive deleted), don’t you know it,” according to court documents filed Monday. As Smith’s car was slowing to a stop, Stockley tells Bianchi to “hit him right now,” at which point the driver slams the police SUV into Smith’s car. Court documents did not disclose the source of the quotes.

Stockley then approached Smith’s car on the driver’s side and shot five times into the car, striking Smith with each shot. A gun was recovered from the victim’s car, but lab analysis revealed the presence of only Stockley’s DNA, according to the documents….More Here…

 

 

Crooked Cops, Racism, and The Gaslamp Bar in Houston

It seems that even in this day and time – some folks can be racist and stupid. This one has been roiling the Houston News with daily revelations about the owner of a local “high end” club, the Gaslight. Three black Lawyers, dressed well hit up for a cover charge which wasn’t applied to white customers. This, from one of the Lawyer’s Facebook page:

My name is Brandon Ball. I am 32 years old. I am African American. Tonight I was with my friends Dan Scarbrough (42) and Ken Piggee (43). Both are also African American. We were in the Midtown area of Houston, TX tonight and tried to go into The Gaslamp. Both Dan and Ken had on blazers. I had on a button up and slacks. When we walked up the guy at the door told us $20 each. We didn’t want to pay that amount so we decided to go to the next bar down, The Dogwood, which was free. After about 30 minutes we left The Dogwood and were walking back. As we passed The Gaslamp we noticed folks walking into The Gaslamp without having to pay. Those folks who didn’t have to pay were white. I brought this to Dan’s attention a few minutes later and he said we should go back and just watch from across the street to see if there was some “funny business” going on. Ken, Dan, and I went back and watched from across the street as the guys who were working the front door of The Gaslamp allowed white people to come in one after the other. Every black person who we watched try to go in was told there was a $20 cover or that their attire was not proper. One black guy was told that he could not get in because he had on Polo Boots. Dan spoke to several people who were told there was a $20 cover and they pretty much all said the same thing. It was not just blacks they were charging. It was people of both Asian and Latin decent. I again tried to walk in and was told there was a $20 cover. This was right after I had just seen a group of white guys walk right in. I finally went and spoke to the cop who was working the door (who is a minority himself) and asked him if he was aware and comfortable with how the door guys were conducting business. His reply was basically… “I just work and do my job and those guys over there do their job.” I told him he was complicit but he blew me off. I then took pictures of the two main guys at the front door and both of them began to ask if I had a problem. The one in the short sleeved shirt went as far to tell me that he hoped I didn’t “run up on him in the streets because it would be a problem.” Why does this matter to me? Why is this important? If I have to answer that please just move along. This post is not meant for you. This event occurred in the late night of Sept. 11th. A day in which we as a country are supposed to come together. But events like this just tells us how far apart we are. Please share this. Please pass along. Please read this and understand what type of establishment The Gaslamp is. If you were at The Gaslamp on this night and had a similar experience please comment and share. Don’t let actions such as this continue with no recourse. If you know the guys working the door let them see this. Please let them. Remember, this is 2015.”

MORE ALLEGATIONS SURFACE ABOUT GASLAMP AND ITS OWNER

When Jose Valdes, of Boerne, walked up to the Gaslamp on September 5 to visit a friend tending bar inside the Midtown club, the bouncer asked for a $20 cover. Valdes had just seen a group of white men ahead of him enter for free. He explained that he was just going to go see his friend and come right back out. “If you don’t want to pay, then get the fuck out of here,” Valdes recalls the bouncer saying. Valdes says when he attempted to apologize, a uniformed Harris County Sheriff’s deputy named Eleazar Agrait began to shove him around.

Agrait handcuffed Valdes and shoved him into the back of a police car. At that point, Valdes says, another officer drove him around the block and parked slightly behind the Gaslamp where Agrait was waiting. Valdes says the deputy opened the back door of the vehicle, then threatened to take off his badge and “beat the fuck out of” him. Eventually Valdes was let go.

He approached an older officer on horseback to complain about being threatened while recording video on his phone. In the video, Agrait seems to get more frustrated as Valdes continues to record, points at the officer and describes to everyone around him what just happened. Eventually, Agrait slapped handcuffs on Valdes and formally arrested him. Valdes’s case is scheduled for a hearing on October 13.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t respond to repeated questions from the Houston Press, and instead simply responded with an email saying, “Harris County Sheriff’s Office personnel will no longer work at the Gaslamp establishment.” (The Houston Police Department had already banned off-duty officers from working there.)

This comes on the heels of a controversy surrounding three male African American attorneys who attempted to enter the Midtown club, located at 2400 Brazos, on Friday night. As we reported earlier this week, Brandon Ball, Dan Scarbrough and Ken Piggee were told there was a $20 cover charge. Later, they observed that white men were being let into the club at no charge while minority men were either refused on the basis of a dress code or were asked for the $20 cover fee.

 Tim Sutherland, an attorney representing Gaslamp, says the men were charged a cover not because of their race but because there were no women with them. “Our club doesn’t allow multiple males with no females, so our policy is to charge a cover for that group.” Sutherland says there is no specific defined ratio of females to males that would be needed to gain free entry, but “you’d want at least one for a group of three, and a one-to-one ratio is better.”

Michael Williams, however, says whether or not minority men will be allowed into the club without a cover fee has nothing to do with the ratio of women versus men. Although he’s no longer in the nightclub industry, Williams worked at Rebels Honky Tonk at 5002 Washington for about six months, from the early summer to the late fall of either 2011 or 2012, he says. The club was recently sold, but the owner was previously Reservoir, Inc. and the registered agent is Ayman Jarrah, the same registered agent of Land Guardian Incorporated, which owns the Gaslamp.

Interestingly, in the club scene, Jarrah doesn’t use his real name and insists he be called “Dave Yurman.” Sutherland confirmed by phone that Jarrah does also go by that alias and it is not his legal name.

The Facebook page for “Dave Yurman” is full of photos of him hanging out at the Gaslamp and cavorting with bouncer Mike Ross, one of the men that Brandon Ball and his friends claimed discriminated against them.

The complaints now facing Gaslamp echo much of what Williams says he saw when he worked at Jarrah’s other bar a few years ago. “The owner did not want people of color in the bar,” Williams alleged. “If there were more than a handful of black, Hispanic, Asian — you name it — then he, on more than one occasion, came up and said, ‘What are you guys doing? You can’t do that. That’s not what this is about. You need to turn these guys away.’ It’s not a matter of if there are women with guys coming in. It’s a matter of who he wants in the bar, period.” Williams said the policy strictly applied to minority men, not women.

To keep out minority men, Williams says, the bouncers would tell would-be patrons they had to pay a cover, say the club was at capacity or make up some other reason. “Dress code — a lot of times you’d say, ‘Well, your pants are too baggy’ or ‘Your shorts are too long’ or ‘You’re not wearing the right kind of shoes,’” Williams told the Press. “Even if there was someone in the bar wearing the exact same thing you were telling them they couldn’t come in wearing — it doesn’t matter.”

When asked why the owner didn’t want more than a “handful” of minority men in Rebels, Williams says, “It wasn’t the look he was going for. He wanted a predominantly white crowd. It’s what he wanted at the bar. He felt the people who would come in and spend money at the bar would not enjoy it if, as he would put it, it was a ‘dark crowd.’ His words.”

Sutherland declined to comment on the former employee’s claims that he received deliberate instructions from management to discriminate at Jarrah’s bar.

Williams says he quit working at Rebels because he disagreed with the actions of the ownership, including the discrimination issue. Afterward, he worked at The Dogwood, which is directly next door to Gaslamp. There, he says, he witnessed Gaslamp bouncers getting aggressive with patrons. “I saw with my own two eyes them getting physical with customers. It’s kind of like the Wild West.”

Customers like Robert Blasio, who says that in July 2014, a bouncer aggressively threw him out of the bar, resulting in a torn bicep and other injuries. He’s now suing Land Guardian Inc. and Ayman Jarrah for damages of more than a million dollars for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, lost wages, damages “resulting from the physical and mental impairment that Robert Blasio has suffered and will continue to suffer” and disfigurement. The case is scheduled to go to trial on November 9.

In fact, Jarrah has been sued several times in Harris County. Each time, however, those cases were either settled or dismissed before trial.

Jarrah was also charged with assault of a family member in 2001. The case was dismissed because the complaining witness “has moved out of the country (Demascus) [sic] and is not scheduled to return,” according to Harris County District Clerk records.

According to court records, in 2006 a man named Salim Zantout filed charges against Jarrah after finding him “breaking items behind the bar with his hands” at the now-closed Copa Cabana bar at 114 Main. Another witness says Jarrah “grabbed the front door with both hands and swung it open into the building twice breaking the window.” Other damaged items listed were the front door and a bar stool. Jarrah pled guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in January 2007.

Jarrah used to run another nightclub called Fix Lounge under a corporation called Reservoir, Inc. In 2009, the club’s landlord, UR Properties, filed for a restraining order and injunction, saying Jarrah had trespassed onto an adjacent parking lot he had no right to use. While there, UR Properties claimed, Jarrah was caught on video “breaking the security gate and gluing the ticket machine.” The club’s landlord also claimed he “threw rocks and shot out the windows at the UR Properties office.”

Reservoir, Inc. filed a counterclaim, alleging that UR Properties had “remorse” about the amount it charged for the lease and engaged in a campaign of harassment including “making repeated false accusations to police,” “interfering with access to the premises,” “alleging violations of the lease” and “making threats against Reservoir calculated to compel payment of additional money.” The warring parties settled before the case went to trial.

It’s not just allegations in civil and criminal court that continue to plague Gaslamp and its owner. The bar also has to answer to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which recently imposed a $2,400 fine against the bar for serving a patron who was already intoxicated.

It’s likely the club will have to ante up for private security, too, as the employees of the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office will no longer be available to drive protesting would-be patrons around the block.

 

Conservative Fraud – White Republican Pretends to be Black to Win Election

More dirty tricks from Rethugs…

A white conservative Republican decided he couldn’t win in a majority black district – so he decided to defraud the voters by pretending to be black. It isn’t clear from the articles how far this deception went in terms of presenting his position on issues – but his actions are certainly fraudulent…

If not criminal.

White guy wins after leading voters to believe he’s black

Dave Wilson chuckles as he talks about his unorthodox political campaign.

“I’d always said it was a long shot,” Wilson says. “No, I didn’t expect to win.”

Still, he figured he’d have fun running, because he was fed up with what he called “all the shenanigans” at the Houston Community College System. As a conservative white Republican running in a district whose voters are overwhelmingly black Democrats, the odds seemed overwhelmingly against him.

Then he came up with an idea, an advertising strategy that his opponent found “disgusting.” If a white guy didn’t have a chance in a mostly African-American district, Wilson would lead voters to think he’s black.

And it apparently worked. In one of the biggest political upsets in Houston politics this election season, Wilson — an anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor — emerged as the surprise winner over 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin. His razor thin margin of victory, only 26 votes, was almost certainly influenced by his racially tinged campaign.

“Every time a politician talks, he’s out there deceiving voters,” he says.

Wilson, a gleeful political troublemaker, printed direct mail pieces strongly implying that he’s black. His fliers were decorated with photographs of smiling African-American faces — which he readily admits he just lifted off websites — and captioned with the words “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson.”

One of his mailers said he was “Endorsed by Ron Wilson,” which longtime Houston voters might easily interpret as a statement of support from a former state representative of the same name who’s also African-American. Fine print beneath the headline says “Ron Wilson and Dave Wilson are cousins,” a reference to one of Wilson’s relatives living in Iowa.

“He’s a nice cousin,” Wilson says, suppressing a laugh. “We played baseball in high school together. And he’s endorsed me.”

Austin tried to answer the mailer with his own fliers showing Wilson’s face, calling him a “right-wing hate monger” and saying he “advocated bringing back chain gangs to clean highways.” But the campaign clearly caught him off guard.

“I don’t think it’s good,” he said. “I don’t think it’s good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play. But that was not his intent, apparently.”

Just how much a role Wilson’s mailers played in the campaign is unclear. Other incumbents running for re-election were forced into runoffs, perhaps because the community college system has come under intense criticism for insider business deals and spending money on overseas initiatives. And after 24 years in office, Austin’s name should have been somewhat familiar to his constituents.

“I suspect it’s more than just race,” says Bob Stein, the Rice University political scientist and KHOU analyst. “The Houston Community College was under some criticism for bad performance. And others on the board also had very serious challenges.”

Austin has said he plans to ask for a recount. But in an era of electronic voting, political analysts said Wilson’s victory will probably hold and send him into office for a six-year term.

 

Gabrielle Giffords Has Her IPad Going!

Apparently Cong Giffords has re-connected with her IPad!

That is a great sign!