A Family First rally in support of the children separated from their families will take place  at the Convention Center concourse at 9:45. They expect a large crowd. Report will follow.

Family First Rally
9:45 AM
Convention center concourse
Jackets are optional.

I am ready to attend the various Hispanic caucuses. Reports coming throughout the day. Wearing my Loteria t-shirt.

Lotería is a game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of plain numbers on ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of pictures with their corresponding name and number. Players choose what tabla they want to play with, from a variety of previously created tablas. Each one presents a different selection of images.

It’s almost like our Congressman is as racist as his president.

From Brian Babin’s press release:

What is happening at the border is unfortunate and a direct consequence of not implementing and enforcing our immigration laws. For this reason, I support the Administration’s zero tolerance policy and advocate for continuing it. 

Update: I have reached out to Mr Quentin Wiltz a number of times. I was anxious to hear from him. He has not responded and he has not reached out to delegates either.

Updated with information from Susan Criss.

Six individuals are running for SDEC according to the documents provided by the Texas Democratic Party. Three men and three women. Candidates are beginning to reach out to delegates but not all. The election is this Friday. Better late than never. I intend to post updates as they come in.

One thing we do not need in our Senate District is anyone who is trying to hijack our Party. Let me be blunt. Bernie Sanders is not part of the Democratic Party. There is no “Bernie” faction of the Democratic Party. It should stay that way. We need individuals who are interested in growing the party and reaching out to everyone and not calling for a “takeover”. This needs to stop and anyone running under that flag needs to quit. Our Revolution, the Sanders group, has called for a takeover by electing Bernie folks to SDEC. This has no place in our district or our Party. Join our Party and move us forward. Remember, we have an election in November and our house is on fire.

About the SDEC. The Party is represented by committee members to form the State Democratic Executive Committee. Each Senate district has a male and a female representative. Other organizations are also represented, Labor, Hispanics, African American, the Gay community, the disabled community, and others. Members meet every 3 months to conduct the business of the Party. Most committee members spend their own money and time from work to support this effort.

The elected official as an SDEC member is expected to perform the following:

• Keep Democrats informed of the SDEC meetings
• Meet with various clubs throughout the district
• Distribute important information to Democrats in the district
• Build the party
• Represent SD11 at various functions

The individuals running for SDEC Male position are:

Mr. Muhammed Alam has sent an email concerning his candidacy. He could be a good contender. In part it reads:

Currently, I am precinct chair of 28, east side of Pearland. Has been involved in local politics. First campaign did for John Floyd in 2016, ran for state rep 29 and received 29,000 votes. Supported financially and time for many candidates for local and state candidates in 2017 and 2018. I have triple voters participation in Precinct 28 and more people are participating in the Pearland local elections. Pearland local election win number used to be 2000 votes and now 5000 votes. We have created a Political Action Committee for real change in local and then state politics. Main objective how to win election in Brazoria county. We must unit and run as slate to win. We must motivate voters and improve awareness of voting benefits. We must reach out voters and have more face time and understand local issues. We need more of them to vote to be successful. We must establish strong communication in SD11 with all precincts chairs

Mr Quentin Wiltz ran for Mayor of Pearland in 2017. He has impressive information about his professional background on his website but there is nothing on his desire to run for SDEC. I will update as soon as I get information. He too should be a good contender. He has not reached out to delegates.

Dylan Forbis has some information on his activism on Facebook but nothing concerning his run for SDEC. He is the President of Brazoria County Young Democrats. I have not received anything from him on his candidacy. 

I have reached out to all three to understand their reasons on running for SDEC, what they intend to do for the district and how they intend to grow the party. I’ll update as soon as possible.

The individuals running for SDEC Female position are:

Susan Criss has been involved in politics for many years as an activist,  a candidate, and an elected official. She is an attorney practicing in Galveston County. She should be the leading contender for the SDEC Woman’s position. Susan easily has what it takes to lead the district. She would be my choice. I’ll update as soon as I get some detailed information from her. From her email to the delegates:

Democratic Activism
· VOTED
· I have been an active participant in Democratic politics my entire life. I was about 3 years old when my dad, Lloyd Criss, Jr. was the Democratic County Chair of Galveston County.
· Served on the State Board of the Texas Tejano Democrats.
· Served as a Parliamentarian of the Texas Democratic Women
· Active member of the Galveston County Democrats, the Neighborhood Democrats, , the Galveston County Coalition of Black Democrats, the Harris County Tejano Democrats, TDW Harris County,
· Active member of (no longer in existence) the North County (Galveston) Democrats, the West (Galveston) County Democrats, and Galveston County TDW (the original club).
· Belong to the new GC TDW club and the Bell County TDW.
· Participated in democratic clubs and labor events in numerous other counties. I have attended numerous SDEC meetings over several years.
· Stuffed envelopes, worked phone banks, block walked, raised funds, GOTV, attended conventions and protested for the better part of 57 years.
· Wrote a progressive column for the Galveston County Daily News entitled, “Nothing Left Unsaid”

Bengisu Abramsky has an impressive resume. She has jumped into the political process after the 2016 elections and it should be appreciated. She could give Susan a good run if she is actively campaigning across the district. She could be a great choice in a couple of years. Her email to the delegates includes:

This year, I served on my two kids’ schools’ PTA Boards as Legislative Chair, attended the Clear Creek Community Council (CCCC) of PTAs’ meetings as a delegate, and joined the CCCC’s Advocacy Committee where one of our initiatives was to register and educate voters. I became a VDR for Harris and Galveston Counties, worked at voter registration events, and helped organize candidate forums we put together before the primaries. I’ll continue serving in my roles on one of the PTA boards and the CCCC Advocacy Committee this coming school year.

Jhanvi Jariwala has a lot of energy. Although I have talked with her for some time, I was unable to understand her desire to run for SDEC, her qualifications, and I don’t think she understands the duties of the position. She might want to start at precinct chair first before diving into the structure of the TDP. Energy is good but it needs to be directed.

See you at the convention!

Current Chair for the Texas Democratic Party, Gilberto Hinojosa is running for re-election. Delegates to the Texas Democratic Convention should give him your vote. Again.

Texas has become a breeding ground for bad legislation, bad legislators and the lies that are required to sell the half baked ideas and candidates to the public. Unfortunately it works and it’s hard to fight. Believing a simple minded slogan is much harder than reading and understanding a difficult problem and solving it. It makes it very difficult to lead in this state.

Our party is in for another tough election in 2018. We will face voter discrimination, harassment, purging, and attacks by foreign countries. In order to move towards blue the party needs strong leadership and money. Hinojosa can provide both. Leading a party is a very tough job especially in Texas but once again Hinojosa has volunteered to take that position. Hinojosa has served as Chair since 2012.

Although Cedric Davis has been a mayor before, I see no indication that he can provide the fundraising effort required for a state party or that he has the necessary experience. The other two who have applied for the position do not have the qualifications required for Chair of the party.

Gilberto Hinojosa for Chair of the Texas Democratic Party.

It’s always a great rah-rah session!

The Texas Democratic Convention will take place next weekend in Fort Worth from Thursday-Saturday evening. Here is a quick guide for those attending:

Do not feed the LaRouche group. Seriously just leave them alone. They tend to be like lost, cute puppies. Once you talk to them you will end up taking them home. And feeding them. The LaRouche group is the cult of the Democratic Party. They are the fringe of the fringe advocating for impeaching Obama, supporting trump, and creating trade routes between the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. (I am not kidding!) Do yourself a favor and just leave them alone.

Do not sign petitions. Don’t sign petitions unless you know exactly what they are going to accomplish (if anything). If a group gets enough signatures their resolution must be brought to the floor for a vote. Sometimes this could amount to a very long, drawn out, worthless vote. If the resolution they are pushing have merit they should have pushed them through the resolution committee.

The Texas Democratic Party has a load of information at their website, TexasDemocraticConvention.com. It has a schedule of events and the rules of the convention as well as other information. Take some time to read it.

Go to the Kickoff receptions. The kickoff is a great way to meet your elected officials, donate to the party, and have fun. It is always a good party for the party. The kickoff is at the Omni on Thursday evening.

Find hospitality suites. Many elected officials and organizations will have hospitality suites. Organizations like Annie’s List, Texas Freedom Network, Young Democrats, etc are just a few that will most probably have a party. This is again a great way to meet like minded people on specific issues. And they are usually a lot of fun!

Visit the vendors. Once they are open find a plastic cover for your convention credentials. The vendors will have t-shirts, stickers, and other political merchandise. Many organizations will have a booth with information about their specific issue. Find an issue you are concerned about. Sign up to keep informed.

Attend your Senate District Caucus. At this time delegates will vote for SDEC chairs and positions for the various committees. You should have been contacted by those who are running by now.

Attend a caucus. There will be a caucus for a number of organizations including the Hispanic Caucus, Young Democrats, and specific issues caucus. Pick one and attend.

Next up…..endorsements for Senate District 11 and Party officials.

Gosh that sucked.

What a waste of $8.25. Seriously I am beginning to wonder if Rotten Tomatoes, the website with fairly accurate ratings, is nothing more than a bunch of bots whipping out random positive reviews for B rated movies. Such as:

Singlehandedly the greatest horror movie I have ever seen. I feel like every aspect of this movie was made for me. It’s dark, bleak, depressing, horrific and genuinely enthralling.

Yea right. The only horror in this movie was the price of the ticket. When the movie was finally over the people sitting next to me said “Is that it?” and “That sucked”. Here is a more accurate review of this waste of 2 hours:

Wait for it to come to Redbox. Get a free movie coupon. Rent it for free. Give it to your neighbors to watch. As they are wasting their time watching that piece of crap steal their lawnmower. At least you will get something out of it.

That was my review. Go watch something else. Something better. Like Battlefield Earth.

The bakers who are claiming “Religious freedom” to deny building a cake for a gay couple are hypocrites. They have no problem building a cake for those who are repeat wedding planners. The issue has nothing to do with religion. Nothing. It has everything to do about being a dick.