As an immigrant myself, I can appreciate that the US tries so hard to make us foreigners feel welcome. But, sometimes it's at the expense of the locals...As an immigrant myself, I can appreciate that the US tries so hard to make us... more
This 7-yr-old girl is now an orphan because a truck veered into the shoulder her parents were riding tandem and killed them both. The driver is out walking free and was never ticketed or charged.
This happened near my hometown of San Antonio and although it's breaking hearts amongst locals, I wanted this situation to be known on a larger scale because I know it's not just a San Antonio or Texas issue. Cyclists are being treated no better than deer even in cities with a bike-friendly attitude. If you are a Texan, please to go to biketexas.org and sign the BikeTexas Safe Passing petition. If you are not, please do all that you can within your own community to ensure the cyclists and pedestrians have rights out there on the road and have a better chance of getting home safely.This 7-yr-old girl is now an orphan because a truck veered into the shoulder her... more
San Antonio is constantly being named in the top 10 places to live in the US. With its stable economy, thanks to military and medicine; the only 2 growing jobs in the US, as well as an environmentally great location, with its lack of hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes.
Here's a list of 12 reasons to move to the Texas Hill Country, just outside of San Antonio, just in case you wondered why all the Californians were re-locating there....San Antonio is constantly being named in the top 10 places to live in the US. With its... more
The city of San Antonio, Texas passed an ordinance in 2007 that charges people thousands of dollars to march in the city streets.
The Free Speech coalition and the Int'l Woman's Day march planning committee have been organizing against the ordinance for two years. These organizations/groups community members have been blockwalking, making phone calls, having house meetings and demonstrating several times. Both organizations have filed a lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit is now in the 5th circuit court, however, the community continues to gather thousands of signatures and members not just relying on the justice system but continuing to mobalize more and more people on this issue.
This video is a call out to citizens of San Antonio to come out on August 8th and defend your rights to free speech!
The scene was so gruesome investigators could barely speak: A 3-week-old boy lay dismembered in the bedroom of a single-story house, three of his tiny toes chewed off, his face torn away, his head severed and his brains ripped out.The scene was so gruesome investigators could barely speak: A 3-week-old boy lay... more
New music video from Girl in a Coma for their song "Static Mind." From 'Trio B.C.' on Blackheart Records out now.New music video from Girl in a Coma for their song "Static Mind." From 'Trio B.C.' on... more
Information video about the 49-year-old female, Asian elephant, Lucky, who remains to date alone in a barren and inappropriate habitat at the San Antonio Zoo. Find out what you can do to help her achieve freedom.
Song credit: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Karri Rose.Information video about the 49-year-old female, Asian elephant, Lucky, who remains to... more
Diego Bernal's new album is 19 tracks of gritty, dirty sample laden, break-heavy, electronic goodness, & its free.Diego Bernal's new album is 19 tracks of gritty, dirty sample laden, break-heavy,... more
The economic storm sweeping the country has left Americans with few places to hide.
But those looking to hunker down might want to head to Texas, where they can get the best value for their dollar.
That's because Austin and San Antonio lead our list of places where your money goes farthest. Residents of both enjoy affordable housing and promising prospects for job growth in coming years. Houston and Dallas also land in the top 10, at Nos. 4 and 7, respectively.
"Texas, as a whole, is one of the few economies that's performing extremely well because of the energy and technology sectors," says Andrew Gledhill, an economist at Moody's Economy.com. Plus, he added, military bases in San Antonio have continued to draw a steady steam of personnel and federal employees to the city, spurring widespread job growth.
The state's manufacturing sector has also grown in recent years, and a reputation for affordable housing continues to lure people to the South. When accounting for median household income, a house in Dallas, for example--with a median price of about $150,000--is four times more affordable than a house in Los Angeles, the worst-ranked city on our list.
A house in New York is three times less affordable than in Charlotte, N.C., and four times less than in Denver, two cities where your money goes far and where the median house costs $245,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Housing has remained affordable in the South and Midwest, thanks to growing populations, relatively lax building regulations and "lots and lots of land," said Daniel McCue, a research analyst at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Plus, he added, housing in cities like Houston "grew at a more controlled pace and didn't go overboard like in Phoenix or Las Vegas," which means houses won't lose much value in coming months.
Three Midwestern cities round out the top 10: Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and Minneapolis. The worst-ranked cities, after Los Angeles, were Providence, R.I.; New Orleans; Philadelphia; and Cleveland.
Behind the Numbers
To ensure that our list reflected future value instead of past bargains, we began by looking at projected job growth through 2012 in the 40 largest U.S.-Census-defined metropolitan areas of the country with data from Moody's Economy.com.
Texan cities were a clear winner, with economists predicting job growth of at least 2% by 2012 in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. By comparison, job growth in cities at the bottom of our list, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Cleveland, is expected to be about 0.2%.
We then calculated the ratios between each city's median house price and median household income, using 2000 U.S. Census figures, the latest available, and 2007 data from the National Association of Realtors. Next, we compared median income to Moody's cost of living index.
Final factors included the average gas price in each city on a given day in October as collected by AAA, and year-over-year inflation growth as calculated by Moody's and Forbes.com.
---more at link--The economic storm sweeping the country has left Americans with few places to hide.... more
A San Antonio couple is accused of trying to trying to trade sex with the woman's 5-year-old daughter for an apartment, a used car and child care for her 10-month old daughter.
Jennifer Richards, 25, and her married boyfriend, Sean Michael Block, 40, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Stein Nowak on Friday. Richards is charged with using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor. Block is charged with distributing child pornography.
The couple worked at the Cheesecake Factory at North Star Mall, where he was a bartender and she was a waitress.
Court records show that Block's now-estranged wife Sarah Block filed for a protective order earlier this week on behalf of the couple's 14-month-old child. Her lawyer said she filed for divorce Friday. A San Antonio couple is accused of trying to trying to trade sex with the woman's... more
A request made by the Second Baptist Church of San Antonio, US, to change the name of 'Gay Street' to 'Second Baptist Way' was denied by the city council.
Even though the church claimed it wanted to change the street name to reach out to the community, many involved suspected the reason for the request had more to do with the controversial existing name, especially since 'Gay Street' runs adjacent to the church's property.
Gay Street was named after a prominent community activist, and those who live on the street and in the area take no offense to the name; quite the contrary, they requested the street keep its name as a tribute.
Would you have a problem living on or near 'Gay Street' or do you think it is kind of cool?A request made by the Second Baptist Church of San Antonio, US, to change the name of... more
Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month — three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban — compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.
McCain said the policy reversal came as a response to rising voter anger over soaring energy prices. At the time, about three-quarters of voters responding to a Washington Post-ABC News poll said prices at the pump were causing them financial hardship, the highest in surveys this decade.[..]
McCain delivered the speech before heading to Texas for a series of fundraisers with energy industry executives, and the day after the speech he raised $1.3 million at a private luncheon and reception at the San Antonio Country Club, according to local news accounts.
“The timing was significant,” said David Donnelly, the national campaigns director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group that conducted the analysis of McCain’s oil industry contributions. “This is a case study of how a candidate can change a policy position in the interest of raising money.”
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Of course, John McCain has been getting substantial donations from lobbyists all along. Methinks this report “Embedded or In Bed: John McCain and His Lobbyist Problem” (.pdf) needs to be updated.
BooMan and JedReport has more… WaPo:
Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain... more
This video i taped over San Antonio, Texas, June 18, 2008 and its dnt behave like chines lamps More info http://www.ufoblogger.blogspot.comThis video i taped over San Antonio, Texas, June 18, 2008 and its dnt behave like... more
For many years Trigger has been writing songs about the things that make life interesting, weird and perplexing. In a way he and some dudes named roy make everything better with a little comfort food for those with an odd sense of humor. You really have to check out "My Cousin Married a Chicken" a song that deals with a complex issue that threatens the very fabric of our society.For many years Trigger has been writing songs about the things that make life... more
An inside "exclusive" look at the process where Texas voters faced a confusing, sometimes chaotic voting experience... yet at the same time practiced democracy at its best. In San Antonio, Texas, hundreds turned out after 7pm for the Democratic Caucuses.
Interviews with voters, great inside caucusing video, and a report that takes you up to the point the reporter votes, sharing the entire process.
Story by Emmy award winning Journalist, Patricio Espinoza. www.espiblog.org Shot with home Flip camera. Story picked-up and aired by CNN 3/5/08 An inside "exclusive" look at the process where Texas voters faced a confusing,... more
Kate Gilmore's performance-based videos depict the artist working through a series of self-imposed challenges. Her tragicomic situations suggest the futility of personal and cultural ritual as they bring to the foreground issues of feminine identity and fear of success.Kate Gilmore's performance-based videos depict the artist working through a series of... more
Celebrating 25 years of collaboration and still much alive, the Art Guys ? Michael Galbreth, 52, and Jack A. Massing, 49 ? are a whirlwind of activity with plans for a new DVD compilation of their performance art and a CD of music inspired by their work, featuring musicians such as Terry Allen, Pauline Oliveros, Joe "King" Carrasco and Daniel Johnston.Celebrating 25 years of collaboration and still much alive, the Art Guys ? Michael... more
Atheist Agenda, an atheist group at the University of Texas in San Antonio, staged a "Porno for Bibles" event, where they gave free pornography to people who traded in religious scripture.
via BoingBoingAtheist Agenda, an atheist group at the University of Texas in San Antonio, staged a... more
A non-profit organization for the promotion of the Texas film industry and production incentives for producers that bring business to the Lone Star State.
For over 80 years Texas has been in the production business. Unfortunately, in recent years we've watched our healthy industry erode as other states began to offer production incentives, such as tax rebates, making it cheaper for productions to shoot elsewhere. Subsequently, Texas production declined and many of our crew and talent moved to work in those other states. Our state's unique tax structure prevented us from duplicating other state's incentives. On June 7, 2007 industry history was made. Governor Rick Perry signed our new production incentives into law.
Watch out world, things are definitely about to change!
A non-profit organization for the promotion of the Texas film industry and production... more
Some San Antonio apartment complexes are refusing to rent to people with tattoos and body piercings.Some San Antonio apartment complexes are refusing to rent to people with tattoos and... more
