The next George Zimmerman trial is ongoing in Houston

April 5, 2016

From Click2Houston:

HOUSTON – The Seabrook-area doctor who killed his neighbor was in court in Houston Monday. The question is whether Karl Hormann committed murder. There’s no argument that the dead man, Brandon Smith, 36, trespassed on Hormann’s property during a private party. He was warned to leave, but Hormann — who shot Smith three times, killing him — appeared to do so in the public street, not on his property

The website for Brandon Smith has links to the 911 call. You can hear the shots that killed Brandon and more. It’s sick. Why Hormann had to leave his house and follow Brandon down the street is beyond me. The police had been called. Their sirens can be heard in the call. Go back into the house and let them do their job.

We live in a gun nut society. Unfortunately someone has to pay for this. As I have said before:

On one hand the shooter just had to stay in his house and wait for the police. Instead he followed the victim down the street then shot him claiming self defense, just like Zimmerman. On the other hand we live in a state where you can shoot someone in the back if they are stealing your neighbors property (Joe Horn in Pasadena). Texans believe in shooting first, taking the law and their guns into their own hands. They love their guns and the Tea Party will defend that right to bear and use arms to the death, literally.

The trial is in the 228th Criminal Court in Harris County and will continue all week. 

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Electricity Rate Recommendation

February 25, 2016

Before electricity deregulation consumers in the old HL&P area were paying just under 8 cents a kWh in a long term, no maintenance, contract. Now after 13 years of deregulation consumers have the ability to “Shop, Compare, Choose” according to the Public Utility Commission’s website, the PowerToChoose.org. Unfortunately choosing using the tools provided by the PUC is complicated and deceiving. Don’t take my word for it, even the Commissioner agrees. From Jim Malewitz of the Texas Tribune:

Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve [electricity resellers] got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”

I’m putting the final touches to a presentation titled “How to Select a Cost Effective Electricity Reseller” and in doing so stumbled upon a plan that is about as close to what we had pre-deregulation. Is it the cheapest? Maybe not for your specific usage and your home but if you are looking for a no gimmick, no extra fees, no hidden costs, with a relatively low rate, this is the one for you.

Recommendation:
Discount Power has a 12 or 24 month plan at 7,.7 cents per kWh no matter how much electricity you use during the month. Many plans have variable rates, discounts and extra fees depending upon your usage during a specific month. It can be very complicated to compute a real rate and sometimes it isn’t as low as it seems, but knock yourself out if you want to try.

With this plan you have a long, no maintenance contract, at 7.7 plus tax. If you appreciate a relatively low rate, a longer contract, and no gimmicks, this is the one for you. Discount Power Saver No Gimmicks 24 signup can be found here. The electricity fact sheet is here.

BTW I do not receive any referral fees from Discount Power and I have signed up myself.

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Public Utility Commission shocked at deceptive pricing on their The Power To Choose website

February 12, 2016

I’ve been saying this for a while.

Electricity resellers provide rates to the PUC to be published on their website the PowerToChoose.org. The idea is to provide a single location where consumers could “compare” prices from various resellers. As I have said in the past, “It ain’t easy”. In fact it is at times deceptive and today the PUC agrees. From “Texas Regulators Eye Deceptive Electricity Pricing” by Jim Malewitz of the Texas Tribune:

Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”

The rates that are published do not clearly show the “gotchas”, gimmicks, or extra fees. Most prices are also based upon your particular usage. A great rate for one person could be a horrible rate for another. Gotchas and fees include a monthly usage fee, a discount for using more electricity, a penalty for using less, and penalties for not using automatic withdrawal from your checking account.

Because of these, sometimes hidden, charges the PowerToChoose.org fails to provide real rate comparison. Even if the charges are not hidden there is no way to really compare but there is a solution.

Consumers have access to their usage history through their reseller. The PUC could allow a user to input their monthly usage for a year and then perform the calculations to determine how much electricity would actually cost per reseller. This would not be perfect since your usage may vary but it would be very close and would serve as a basis for comparison.

As an example. A provider on the PUC website advertised a rate of 5 cents/kWh for using more than 1000 kWh a month and 11.5 for using less. My home is 2400 sq ft and I use over 1000 kWh just 4 months of the year. After performing these calculations the average rate I would pay is 9.9 cents well over the 8 cents I was paying pre-deregulation.

So…the PUC is finally getting it. Just remember who lobbied for deregulation, Ken Lay and Enron.

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How much will that $17.99 oil change cost?

February 12, 2016

I should have known better.

That $17.99 oil change advertised by a company on Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake cost me $53.00. I was in a hurry and my regular service station, NTB, was not available. They charge me $26.00 drive out and they rotate my tires. So being in a hurry I fell for the $17.99 ad. (Afterward I drove down the street to get my tires balanced and rotated for free at Discount Tires. They are a great place for tires)

After my cars hood was up, the oil was being drained I fell for the upgraded service of using Pennzoil instead of Mobil. That was $33.99. That was my mistake. Chalk that up to just plain stupidity. My bad. So after the $33.99 there was tax, an oil filter, an extra quart of oil, and a disposal fee.

All of this was included in my $26.00 service at NTB. So my suggestion when falling for this advertisement is to ask “How much will that $17.99 oil change cost me for my particular car?”. Turns out my car takes 6 quarts of oil. The $17.99 includes up to 5 quarts. And you should ask if that includes an oil filter and disposal fees.

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Best Buy, Sears and their new arbitration clause

December 11, 2015

Lucky for Best Buy and Sears most Americans are too busy buying that giant flat screen TV, computers, and notebooks, to worry about the loss of their rights to the Constitution.

Best Buy has upgraded their arbitration policy and consumers have the choice of declining it. According to Best Buy  “We will not close your account if you only reject the arbitration change.”. Mighty nice of them. At least they give you the opportunity to opt out. Most other companies, that restrict your rights to the Constitution, do not allow this opt out provision.

Sears has adopted the same language.

The notice goes on to claim that arbitration bars you from a jury trial or joining a class action suit. Instead of a Judge and Jury in a courthouse, which you have paid for with your taxes, you have the honor of submitting your claim to a private justice system, ie the American Arbitration Association. They claim arbitration is simple and less expensive, which is not always the case.

You have to write to both if you want to opt out. I doubt most card holders will take time away from learning their new remote to do so.

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How to drive in Texas: In the fast lane

March 16, 2015

I’ve said it before “We do things bigger in Texas”. It’s not really true unless you count the size of mosquitos or hair extensions, but we do have bigger idiots, many who drive on our Texas highways. With that in mind, here is another in the series “How to drive in Texas” this time:

Driving in the fast lane:
The fast lane on a highway, is called the “left lane”. It is dedicated to those who want to drive faster than the “flow of traffic”. 75, 85, 95 MPH is not uncommon, but for us Texans we don’t follow those California type of rules. We are free spirited, do what we want, drive where we want, kinda folk. So driving in the fast lane is simple for us simpletons.

To drive in the fast lane simply move into the lane when you have an opening and drive what ever speed you damn well please. If someone rides your bumper, or if all you see in the rear view mirror is a truck grill, consider it as extra protection from being rear ended by someone driving like a damn Californian. Those who want around you can easily use the right lane or the shoulder while waving to you as they pass by.

That’s the Texas way of driving in the fast lane. As I said, we do thing bigger in Texas.

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The Power to Choose. It ain't that easy.

February 19, 2015

If you listen to to those who support Ken Lay’s electricity deregulation you might think choosing an electricity plan that’s right for you might be as easy as visiting the Public Utility Commission of Texas website, the PowerToChoose.org. Well it ain’t but go ahead and visit. Using the website, enter a zip code of 77062 and display the fixed rate, 12 month plans. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

The lowest rate displayed is by Discount Power for 7.4 cents a kWh, lower than what we were paying before deregulation, but it isn’t the rate you will pay if you select this plan. Open the Electricity Facts Label. I’ve written about this about a year ago. It wasn’t easy then and it’s harder now.

A year ago I created a spreadsheet to calculate the real rate based upon the kWh used, the penalties, and the monthly fees based upon my usage from last year. This year the tricks and gimmicks broke my spreadsheet. So I had to call Discount to understand their plan.

The rate for this plan is actually 11.64 cents multiplied by the kWh used, minus $45.00 if the usage is over 1000 for that month. Got that? And add the $3.05/month charge for electronic metering. This rate includes the TDSP delivery charges but not the taxes.

After many phone calls I gave in and extended by plan with PennyWise at a calculated rate of about 9.7 cents.  After all someone has to pay the middlemen with the complicated rates.

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No Place but Texas: A home and car tax cometh your way

December 19, 2014

Prior to the massive insurance reform of 2003 the Texas Windstorm Association (TWIA) covered about 6% of the coastal area and was working as it was designed in the 70’s. It might not have been perfect, but it was solvent and able to pay claims, until the Republican Party used it’s magic “Free Market” wand on it. Now everyone in the state, including you, may pay for it.

According to Seth Chandler of the University of Houston Law Center:

“We have less than half a billion dollars in the bank right now. TWIA thinks it can go borrow and get re-insurance and cover about another $3 billion, but I add three billion to a half billion and I get to $3.5 billion. I don’t get to anywhere near the five, 10, 15 billion that a major hit on the Texas coast could cost,” said Chandler.

In 2009 the Tea Party allowed TWIA to tax homeowners across the coastal area in order to cover a major event, no matter where that event took place. They also allowed the taxation of owners of car insurance. Now in the 2015 session they will ask to allow TWIA to tax everyone in the state to cover TWIA’s mismanagement.

State Insurance Representative (SIR) Larry Taylor (Teabagger Friendswood) led the charge to reform TWIA in 2003. Now he is leading the charge to tax Texas property and car owners claiming his district needs the protection because of their economic engine. Unfortunately it may be a hard sell since SIR Larry Taylor was the one that broke the system in the first place. His “free market” allowed his insurance buddies to flee the market, leaving his district with the only provider, TWIA, which is in serious financial trouble.

Lucky for Taylor, he owns an insurance company and makes money from selling TWIA contracts. He also pushed a bill to raise his own commissions from these sales. He isn’t hurting, but everyone in Texas will be soon.

I have so sympathy for those on the coast. They voted for this moron and he intends to make them pay for it and make money doing it. 

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No Place but Texas: Less Racism in Texas School Board

December 19, 2014

This “No Place but Texas” post might become a series. God knows there simply isn’t any other place on earth but Texas for stuff like this. 

You might recall: 

Chris Harris, an elected member of the Hooks Independent School Board, posted a viral image of a Ku Klux Klan member with the caption, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.”

The Hooks Independent School Board was going to meet to discuss Harris. It was probably all they could do since he was an elected official. The only way he would be removed from the board is through a recall election, if that was possible, of if he resigned. A day later Harris gave the Board something else to talk about:

A northwest Texas school board member has resigned after posting numerous comments on Facebook referencing the Ku Klux Klan in the wake of the Ferguson riots and protests. 

Chris Harris, formerly on the board for the Hooks Independent School District, apologized for his posts — which included an image of a KKK member with the caption “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Harris has since taken down his Facebook account, Raw Story reported.

Problem solved. Harris seemed to have a recent history of Facebook racism running through his veins. He claimed his racist rants were caused by being accused of being a racist. Go figure.

Well, one gone out of our school system. Who is next?

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The San Jacinto Waste Pits Trial

October 30, 2014

Jackie Young of Texans Together is blogging about the $3Billion lawsuit concerning the San Jacinto Waste Pits. From her blog:

The Waste Pits, created in 1965 by Champion Paper and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corporation, were discovered by State of Texas officials in 2005 when they found astronomic levels of dioxin in the San Jacinto River near the Interstate 10 Bridge. The Site was then listed as a Federal Superfund Site on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priority List (NPL). In 2011 Harris County and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) filed suit for 35 years of alleged violations at the Waste Pits from Waste Management of Texas, International Paper, and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corporation (MIMC).


The trial is taking place at the Harris County’s Civil Courthouse on the 14th floor in the 295th civil courtroom (201 Caroline, Houston, TX) beginning at 9:00am. Nick Anderson of the Houston Chronicle has provided a number of cartoons describing the Pits including this one:



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