Reefmonkey

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/07/18107999-deadly-giant-snail-found-in-houston?lite

The Briar Forest neighborhood, where this giant African meningitis carrying snail was found? A mile south of my house. There is a bayou between us, and that gives me some comfort for now, but not a lot.

Houston has a large Southeast Asian population, and I hate to sound like I am propagating stereotypes here, but Vietnamese immigrants in Houston are well known for starting four businesses here - drycleaners, nail salons, pet shops, and Pho shops (Vietnamese food restaurants).

The Vietnamese-owned pet shops are renowned for carrying really exotic fish, amphibian, reptile, and invertebrate species you don't find in your average Petsmart or Petco. When I hear this story about giant African Land Snails, and I hear that some people keep them for pets, I start to wonder where this snail infestation originated from.

Thinking about this infestation reminded me of an experience I had last week. I eat at pho restaurants about 2-3 times a month. My usual is a vermicelli bowl with barbecued pork (at least I hope it really is pork) and little fried eggrolls in it. Last week I was there perusing the menu, contemplating trying something new for a change, when I came across an item that said it contained water spinach. That prodded my memory about an article I read last year about cambodian immigrants illegally raising this agressive invasive plant species in the Houston area for the Southeast Asian population's culinary use.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2012-09-06/news/cambodian-water-spinich-ong-choy/

I get that moving to a new country, you might be homesick, especially for the foods of your native land. But I have a serious problem with immigrants coming here, smuggling in illegal organisms, growing them, and allowing them to escape into the wild. I am getting tired of always having to respect non-American cultures, I think it's time to start expecting non-Americans, especially the ones who come here to live, to start respecting our culture, and to not f'up our ecosystem any more than it already is.

I am very sensitive to the danger of invasive exotics. It is one reason I am very careful with the plants I use in my yard, and have been increasingly been replacing plants with Texas natives. It is also why my backyard pond does not have goldfish, koi, or any storebought fish in it. I go out and net native fish like mosquitofish, sailfin mollies, dollar sunfish, and golden topminnows, responsibly and in accordance with state laws. But when I go out collecting, you would be amazed by the exotic fish I catch in Houston waters - tilapia, South African plecostomus catfish, Jack Dempsey cichlids, goldfish, asiatic carp, for example. Fish farms, private pet owners, grocery stores (live tilapia is commonly sold in Asian grocery stores here in Houston) and pet stores all irresponsibly dump their unwanted stock into local creeks and bayous. It's a mess. I don't know what the answer is, but it needs to start with more visible PSAs on the dangers of exotics, and I think special emphasis needs to be placed on education and  enforcement in the South East Asian immigrant community.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go teach my 6 year old daughter, in whom I have carefully cultivated a love of nature and not to be afraid of bugs, not to pick up snails.

Any chance of a resurrection of Captain Harold's Theatre of the Sky? I remember in jr. high I actually sent away to become a "lieutenant" in Captain Harold's Theatre of the Sky Airforce..

This push toward military style uniforms comes largely from younger officers. It raises concerns what kind of officer the police departments are recruiting when so many new officers seem to forget that we have a civilian police force.

Bingo.

I'm not sure having police look like waiters at TGI Fridays is a good idea either.

How many pieces of flair will a cop have to wear?

"you know, the Nazis had pieces of flair they made the Jews wear."

Plus JoJos, kind of like Denny's.

Anybody remember Panjo's? Man, that pizza ROCKED!!!!

I barely remember that place, I think I more remember my older brother talking about it. Know of any locations on the NW side?

Oh, those halcyon days in the 80s when officials were telling us that as soon as Sam Houston Tollway's construction was paid for, it would become a freeway.

I avoid toll roads as much as I can, am glad my current commute makes them completely unnecessary.

10. The Astrodome

Eh, not really. Apart from being an engineering marvel for its time, the Astrodome was never really all that great a place to experience a sports event, especially baseball. Give me an outdoor stadium when the weather is nice any day.

9. Astroworld

I went a couple years before it closed, and it had gotten kind of shabby, and was a bit depressing to have to go through metal detectors to get in, but it is quite sad that Houston now no longer has an amusement park. And the loss of the antique Carousel was a travesty. I have so many great memories of Astroworld, I do miss it.

8. Neal's Ice Cream

Never went there.

7. Cactus Music, the big store

Yeah, that place was great

6. Full-scale opera and ballet performances at Miller Theatre. (and not ridiculously crowded)

I didn't realize they had stopped.

5. Easy, cheap parking everywhere

Yup

4. World Toy and Gift

Never went there.

3. San Jacinto Inn

Oh yeah. Even though Monument Inn serves similar food, it is nowhere near the experience the San Jacinto Inn was.

2. Gilley's

I am too young to have gone there, only know it through Urban Cowboy, but I've never felt like I was missing much.

1. River Oaks Theatre repertory movies

I am just glad the River Oaks is still around, that Weingarten hasn't leveled it. Revival houses in general died out, but I am glad to see Alamo Draft House starting to "revive" the revival house in a way.

Other things I miss:

The original James Coney Island on Walker

Sakowitz, both the downtown store and the Post Oak one. Great lunch rooms in both of them.

The Shamrock Hotel, including Trader Vic's

Jamail's Grocery Store

The Strawberry Patch - Pappa's "prototype" for the Mason Jar, but better.

Pino's

The Magic Pan

The Music Hall. Sure, the acoustics didn't compare to Jones, but it was a gorgeous art deco building

Harry's Kenya

Back when Greenspoint, Northwest, and Sharpstown were still decent malls. Also when Town and Country first opened

Steve Smith on Channel 11 News, and Ray Miller doing Eyes of Texas on Channel 2

In Galveston:

Tuffy's

The Water Wall

Hill's on the Seawall

Hill's Pier 19

Because people care about the environment and the impact we have the environment. Specifically, amphibians are key indicators of what's going in the area. Why you should care depends on you.

I think, though, that Houston toads, having been gone for nearly 60 years, are not really a key indicator of "what's going on" now, but rather something that happened a while ago. There are other indicators, just not the Houston toad.

Not sure if there was anything done on this but there have been quite a few of these spotted in my back yard, namely under my back window in our outside dog dish, croaking at night. We have seriously seen 10 or so at one time... Over the spring and fall it was them and the geckos that kept the bugs out of the back yard. Should someone know about this? They are endangered still right?

That's not Houston Toads, that is Gulf Coast Toads, fairly similar looking.

There was a discussion similar to this regarding the disappearance of lightning bugs in Houston on the Houston History Blog at the Chron. Folks recalled fond memories of the bugs from their childhood years, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are replies regarding fond childhood memories from the 50s and earlier relating to these toads.

I have been hearing people say that lightning bugs are gone from Houston for almost 15 years now, though I have consistently seen them in Terry Hershey as well as where Fondren crosses Buffalo Bayou between Westheimer and Memorial. They are just hard to notice with all the modern light pollution, and also tend to be most noticeable when mosquitos are out, so most people aren't.

Honest question. Not trying to piss anybody off. Why should I care?

You know, I am an environmental scientist, I've devoted a lot of school and a lot of my career, as well as a lot of my community service time to the environment. However, I think it is a little silly to fret about every little species and spend time and money that could be spend elsewhere to try to reintroduce them. Do I want black bears reintroduced to Harris County? Cougars? No, thank you.They are beautiful, majestic animals, but I don't want them rummaging through my garden or running off with my dachshund as we walk through Terry Hershey Park. Nor do I want a once common resident called Plasmodium vivax. As toads go, I am happy enough with the gulf coast toad, which is very similar to the Houston toad, and loves to mate in my backyard pond, and fills an identical niche. What concerns me more are treefrogs, like the green tree frog, grey tree frog, and various chorus frogs that used to be so common in our area.

Agreed. However you can hear or download all the old episodes here

http://www.cbsrmt.com/

Wow, thanks, you made my day!

By way of contrast, the new HPD uniform has little of the paramilitary look that concerned me. The shirts and pants look comfortable, but also like civilian police, not MPs. The vests are unfortunate, but completely necessary. And, I completely understand Houston's climate necessitating wearing them over the shirt, rather than under it.

I agree, IF that is the uniform that is being considered. You know how it is, though, a lot of different potential replacements usually get considered. This could be one of the early entrants. The reason I think that is there is nothing about this uniform that would qualify it as BDU - BDU was a very specific cut of uniform, and this lacks most of the characteristics - especially cut of pants.

After reading all this, I think I think everyone is making a mountain out of a molehill.

For me, the uniform simply is more functional then the old uniform. The boots would be far better use while pursing a suspect over rougher terrain (i.e. not on sidewalks) as well as offer a better grip over concrete surfaces.

Supposedly, the material will allow them to be cooler and allow them to take their bullet proof vests on and off more easily when inside a station.

Now, if you prefer them to utilize a uniform over a bullet proof vest on a 90-100 degree day that isn't that breathable to begin with, along with pants that can be easily torn wearing shoes that can easily slip and slide even on a concrete surface during a foot chase, then I can see your complaining about it.

Screw the police, they don't need a practical uniform.

You are seriously distorting people's concerns.

1. No one is saying police shouldn't wear combat-style boots. We are just saying that they shouldn't blouse their trousers into the tops of the boots. They're not paratroopers.

2. No one said police shouldn't be allowed to wear the bulletproof vest over the shirt.

3. No one said that they had to wear pants that could be "easily torn" - no one had a problem with them wearing clothing made with mil-spec fabric, only with the military styling in the cut of the uniforms.

So, basically, your post was pretty irrelevant.

And, I'll guess unlike me you've never had to wear longsleeve nomex clothing on a hot day, or worn a lifevest during a day of kayaking, so you don't realize one's body gets used to wearing this stuff. And most cops I see could easily make themselves more comfortable in the heat by losing that extra 30-50 pounds of body fat most of them carry around.

Houston cops wear BDUs today. BDU in material and plethora of pockets, not in color (they are the same color as their normal pants)

Sorry I couldn't find a better photo...

I think you hit it right there. BDU cloth, that's fine. Some cargo pockets on the pants, that's not too bad, but the problem is when you mix that with a shirt of the same color, and the tendency I observe with increasing frequency to blouse the pants into a combat-style boot, you have a very military-looking uniform on what is supposed to be a civilian force.

Keep the pants from being too baggy (and the shirt as well), have regulations against blousing the pants into boots, and have the shirt be a different color, and I don't have a problem.

(PS: Is that cop a guy or a really flat-chested woman?)

I think they should go back to the 1880's uniform shown in the chron article. That said, here's a picture (purportedly) of the new uniform:

Not as bad as I had been thinking...

I have to say, that's not as bad as I thought it would be, considering the description, and what I know BDUs to generally look like. I picture the German name for WWII era American paratroopers, whose jump uniforms were the progenitors of modern BDUs: "The butchers in baggy pants." Usually BDUs are a lot baggier, with lots of cargo pockets. Plus military BDUs generally don't come in short sleeve. I think the short-sleeve shirts are what really neuters most threatening aspects of this uniform. I would like to see it without the vest, though.

Too bad it isn't a full body shot so we can't see if the trousers are bloused into the boots or not. Blousing is a particularly military way of dress that I think should be banned by HPD, but I see it all the time.

You can speak to city council. Let me know if you decide to go. I may join you. You can also send email to police chief. Make sure to point out the detrioration of community opinions of militarized police. It is real.

Count me in on that as well.

Perhaps it is a response to the nature of modern crime.

I think it is more likely a combination a desire to be more military-like by some officers as well as part of the general public tendency to dress more and more casually in the name of "comfort". I put "comfort" in quotations because I think people convince themselves that the more casual clothes are, the more comfortable they will be.

I'm not THAT old (36), but I remember when it was common to dress up, even for kids, when taking an airplane flight. Now you see people in shorts, t-shirts, and flipflops on airplanes all the time. It annoys me to see teenage girls dressed in flipflops, short "gym" shorts, and t-shirts, hauling their full-sized pillows around airports and onto flights. I am sure they have convinced themselves that is the most comfortable outfit they can wear for their "long" flight from to Orlando. My thoughts:

1. How practical are flipflops for walking long distances through airport terminals?

2. Airplanes are cold, and blankets are less and less common. I can't help smirking a little when I see one of these girls shivering on an airplane.

3. Airplane seats are loaded with bacteria, I don't want my bare skin touching them.

4. That pillow? Why would you want to drag something through a dirty airport, through an x-ray machine, and into a germy plane and then put your face on it? Plus, with coach seats being as narrow as they are, cabin space being as limited as it is, it is really inconsiderate to the person next to you.

It used to be that when you saw a member of the military traveling commercial, they were always in their Class A, and looked very sharp. Now I can understand ditching the coat and tie for comfort, going with a Class B, but now you always see them in the Combat Uniform (successor of BDU, or "fatigues"). I am sorry, but I traveled coach regularly between Houston and Tokyo in my old job, and always wore slacks and a longsleeved collared shirt (similar to a class B )and was plenty comfortable.

It's a little bit of a digression, but I think you see the connection - even the military has gone casual almost all the time, and it is part of a general attitude that is unfortunate. However, I believe that police officers, in order to get the respect they believe they always deserve, need to look the part - smart, professional, but not military. Dress for service to citizens, not combat with them

It was 740 am. As a teen, I would sit in bed and treat it as story time. Lol

Yeah, me too, we must be about the same age.

I think it is kind of pathetic how AM radio has degraded. When I was a teenager, I had a little sailboat, often would spend all day by myself sailing around West Bay, with a little AM only transister radio (cheap so it would be no great loss if it got wet). I could listen to KRBE simulcast in AM. The sundays there was radio mystery theatre and old time radio. Now, again, it is all conservative talk radio and sports talk. no variety.

Heck, I think radio in general in Houston has really declined. 94.5 calls itself "new music" but they mostly play stuff from my college years, the mid 90s. There is no true oldies station like KLDE used to be, and a lot of the other stations severely overlap each other in their playlists.

I remember back in the late 80s listening to "Radio Mystery Theatre" with host EG Marshall on Sunday nights. I can't remember if it was 950 or 740 that played this. Also, one of these stations played old time radio mysteries and adventures. I miss that, I wish AM still had some of that instead of just political talk or sports talk.

Interesting, do you have a link about the proposed change?

Here is one:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/HPD-considers-new-uniforms-badges-and-cars-2080995.php

HPD is apparently considering replacing its 1960s-era uniforms with navy blue or black military-style Battle Dress Utility (BDU) style uniforms. I am very much opposed to this change. To quote the NYT:

But beyond such symbolic and formal similarities, American law and tradition have tried to draw a clear line between police and military forces. To cast the roles of the two too closely, those in and out of law enforcement say, is to mistake the mission of each. Soldiers, after all, go to war to destroy, and kill the enemy. The police, who are supposed to maintain the peace, “are the citizens, and the citizens are the police,” according to Chief Walter A. McNeil of Quincy, Fla., the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, citing the words of Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern-day policing.

You drive through Mexico, and see federal police and military out in their military fatigues, it is scary and depressing. I don't want that for Houston. I also think that whoever is considering this change is pretty clueless about HPD's serious image problem. Police officers out on the street should look accessible, approachable, like public servants ready to help, not an intimidating paramilitary occupying force.

You are not forced into binding arbitration. You can have a judicial appeal as well...you just have to file suit within 45 days of receipt of your notice from the ARB.

He asked what recourse I had. I didn't say binding arbitration was the only one, but it is the most affordable.

So I am guessing your name is Mark and you went to SMU? That's me, too, on both counts. When did you graduate? I'm Class of '98, and 2000 (MS).

Wow... just wow...

So what recourse do you have? Surely soeone one here knows what to do.

Binding arbitration, if I can afford to gamble with $500.