IronTiger

It could go both ways: Corporations can back certain groups to pull the strings on government, but a lot of damage has already been done with companies and their attack dogs lawyers. This includes copyright extensions. Did you know that if Disney had kept with the original copyright laws, Disney's Peter Pan would be released into the public domain this year?

I vaguely remember reading about LTAWACS doing something with planes or the military or something, but in my mind I always read it as pronounced as "Le-Twacks". Don't ask why.

There's a REALLY BIG generator that started in the Port of Houston and will be delivered to Riesel. The thing is huge (about 2 million pounds on 500 wheels) and has required things like lifting up stoplights to let it pass. It's going about 10 miles a day and went from 105 to Peach Creek on Thursday, up through College Station to University on Friday, and I think on Saturday it is resting at OSR. Anyone see it when it went through Houston?

I found a bunch of smileys that do go with the HAIF smiley theme from another website I visit. Feel free to use the URLs in your posts, I guess...

Nope, he last posted in November 2008...because somebody bumped a year-old topic! Also: no pictures?

Knowing your posts, I would say that a "middle ground" for you is "quite left" in the grand scheme of the country's history. But just to make things clear, what is your example of a country with a "middle ground"...your definition?

Surely you don't mean the Interstate, right? That's illegal, unless your bike can reach speeds upwards of 55 MPH. Or were you talking about the narrow service road directly paralleling the railroad? (it apparently used to be the original road causeway)

Texas is down for the count, then?

I think that rail would be a good solution for Galveston. It's not just an idyllic wish I have, I did add weight to it. - I still have very little faith in BRT. I fail to see how we need BRT if we already have park-and-ride and regular ol' HOV lanes. Besides, buses can only go so fast. - Tourists tend to prefer trains over buses. If it's relatively cheap, Galveston could feed off the tourist business from tourist. I've never been on vacation in Houston or Galveston on the same trip. Linking it with a train would be a bonus to tourists. "Buy Houston, get Galveston for FREE!". However, it all depends on cost. - The BRT, in its ideal state, requires infrastructure of its own (a separate ROW). And considering the I-45 construction on the bridge (was it completed?), it leaves really no room for a separate BRT. Unless it added an HOV lane, in which case it could have a "T" style intersection as seen on 290's HOV. Still, far from ideal. - Of course, if railroad is chosen, there'd still be a bottleneck anyway. I have no idea how many ships and trains go at the drawbridge, and we don't want a passenger rail to gum up the process. - Secondly, if it is to provide tourist integration it would go deep into downtown, which is quite far away from Galveston. The only efficient way to get it near the light rail is rebuild a section of rail in downtown (it's parallel to Allen Rd. and goes in a "U" down to the main lines) abandoned in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I really don't know.

My predictions (which I typed on my iPod, which is why they came out bad) are not really true yet, but big changes have been happening. The parking lot has been reduced again, causing any parking to be done to be agonizingly difficult. A new steel structure (looks like an entrance) is built about where the Vision Center was). There's a sign displaying where all the departments are because more things have been moved. -The food/greeting card section has been moved to between the lawn & garden and health & beauty, while the Women's department has filled in that space. The place where the women's department previously was is amazingly open now. The restrooms in the back are now closed...

Hmm...I must be confusing it with the nearby China Wok, which used to be a chicken place called Golden Chick.

Do you think George Washington ever lied? I say yes...the cherry tree HAS to be an urban legend... Or were you only talking about CURRENT politicians?

Oh, I get it. The seemingly-unfair election was more of a "sudden death" type vote, right? And Attica, I am a registered voter (I have been for several months now) so the only reason I didn't vote in the Houston election is because I'm not a Houston resident.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the election of the mayor in Houston, weren't Ms. Parker and Mr. Locke both Democrats? Is that even allowed to have only two people running for mayor AND of the same political party?

One of my colleagues mentioned a two-level buffet on Villa Maria, now defunct. Anyone know what that was?

Sure, but in his face? In public? (Also remember that "free speech" doesn't include libel/slander)

Marksmu put it well: even if you totally hate a former president's politics, you just shouldn't do things like that. At all.

I'm a bit confused on the intersection of Hempstead Rd. and Gessner Road. Right here you can see the intersection, but the railroad crossing westbound is closed, resulting in an odd "crimp" (look at the aerial) Odd things: - Gessner expanded to four lanes circa 2006-2007. I remember driving on it in those days. - The barricade has been in for several years. - The barricade is red and white, not orange and white. Red and white is usually of the permanent variety. - Sommermeyer no longer crosses Gessner, southbound traffic on Sommermeyer is forced to make a U-turn at Gessner. What happened?

Ha ha, funny you should mention Legend of Billie Jean. I actually scanned through the movie (on YouTube), jumping around until I found the part of where they show a picture of the then-thriving Sunrise Mall. It wasn't very a clear shot, but it was thriving...a pity, considering the only store that's lasted since the 1980s was a GNC.

Recently I discovered Walkscore.com, a website that rates your home's "walkability factor" by comparing it to nearby shops, restaurants, and civic buildings. Although surprised that it actually had College Station, I was disappointed with a few aspects: it measured miles "as the bird flies", not taking into account contorted road shapes, or if a place had sidewalks or not, or if there were busy roads. Plus it was several months out of date. My listing was far below 40 (car dependent). Conversely, I punched in a random address in the Montrose area and got 86. Other areas of Houston area did not do so well...a Woodlands address got in the 30s and a lot in the abandoned Brownwood nature park got a 2. What did you get?

Kylejack: to me, the sentence still looks like it's implying the Heights to be crime filled. But you may be right and it's just a poorly written sentence.

That's not what I meant. I meant like murders that involve, if you were the victim, not knowing the murderer. There's few of those, I mean. So, I was right in the fact that 30% of murders are not "unrandom" and instead in commission of another crime. Sorry for the misunderstanding. And furthermore, what about non-violent crimes? Any neighborhoods suspect to break-ins?

Who said anything about a laundromat?

Crime really shouldn't be the number of murders. Most murders (as opposed to drive by shootings) aren't just some poor guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most are deliberately planned, often outside of the neighborhoods. And although I don't want to seem racist, general statistics seem to show that poor minority neighborhoods get the most crime. That's why I suggested the Fifth Ward. Nor do I think that crime in the Heights (or River Oaks) will dramatically increase and cause the area to "go downhill".

Recently, I read an article about the Heights fires that surprised me. It was the 22nd arson that has taken place since August in a historic Houston neighborhood called the Heights, known more for its comforting small-town feel in the midst of big city sprawl than for being the center of criminal activity. Most of you live in the Heights, don't seem to be the criminal types, and, today at least, generally like living there. But it still surprised me. Sure, the Heights is a really diverse neighborhood, but the "center of criminal activity" in Houston seems a bit harsh. Prior to reading the article and some research afterward I have/had a few candidates for crime centers: CANDIDATE #1: Greenspoint AKA Gunspoint, Greenspoint has had 18 homicides in 2008...and that was a major drop. However, Greenspoint is attempting to clean up its act and remodel its dilapidated shopping mall. CANDIDATE #2: The Fifth Ward The Fifth Ward is still very poor compared to the rest of Houston and there are no national chains there. Not even Fiesta. Like Greenspoint, it was bad in the 1980s, got a nickname ("The Bloody Fifth", apparently) but is cleaning up. CANDIDATE #3: Southwest Houston (Sharpstown) This is another area of Houston that I haven't heard good things about. I don't know. I think that the SE Houston, inner-loop, has a fair amount of crime...or at least, that's what I think I heard. What do you think?