We will update this thread regularly, so please check back with us often!
All information shared is credited to the owners, and if you re-share any of it please credit the owner as well. We will have first hand interviews, photos and other media by the end of this weekend.
Find out where to go, “Protest Do’s and Don’ts”, what to bring, how you can help if you are Occupying or at home, and other helpful information and media.
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The demonstration was an outgrowth of a New York event focused on what the protesters called social and economic inequality and corporate greed. It began at 8:30 a.m at Market Square Park with about 150 protesters — many carrying placards and chanting — who then marched to the J.P. Morgan Chase Bank Tower before moving on to City Hall.
The crowd grew to more than 200 by midmorning, according to a police officer at the scene.
“We have officially occupied Hermann Square Park,” a speaker told the crowd, referring to the reflecting pool area on the east side of City Hall. “We are not going anywhere until the people are heard.”
A movement of what exactly is the question many are asking. Change is on the plate for sure but those changes seem to vary depending on who you`re talking to.
The protesters were well prepared, with Houston Police Department escorts to block traffic, legal observers in fluorescent caps prepared to help if anything got out of line, and an Ustream channelbroadcasting the march for those who couldn’t make it in person.
The group marched first to theJ.P. Morgan Chase tower, directed by mounted police at every stop light and encouraged by honking downtown drivers. On the plaza outside of the skyscraper, the protesters yelled and complained about corporate greed, explaining instances in which it says the company spent dollars stolen from the people of the United States.
The dozen or so Chase employees sipping coffee outside of the glass doors didn’t seem phased by the hundreds of angry protesters.
We will add more as time goes on, so check back soon…
Using sophisticated smuggling networks, the traffickers have transported a portion of the pilfered petroleum across the border to sell to U.S. companies, some of which knew that it was stolen, according to court documents and interviews with American officials involved in an expanding investigation of oil services firms in Texas.
The widespread theft of Mexico’s most vital national resource by criminal organizations represents a costly new front in President Felipe Calderón’s war against the drug cartels, and it shows how the traffickers are rapidly evolving from traditional narcotics smuggling to activities as diverse as oil theft, transport and sales. Read the full story
PALMVIEW, Texas (CBS/AP) President Barack Obama’s approval rating may be hovering in the 50 percent range, but that doesn’t mean America’s Commander-in-Chief isn’t catching on with new constituents.
There is now a line of Ecstasy pills made in the image of the 44th president of the United States, according to Texas police who have snatched a batch off the streets. Read the full story
Defensive tackle Mike Mustafa (Katy, Texas/Morton Ranch) is one of several defensive line prospects in the Houston area in the 2011 class. The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder burst onto the scene as a big-bodied sophomore flashing his potential. As a junior, he battled through a broken hand and coaching turmoil at Morton Ranch, but continued to show his potential.
“It started off tough this season because of the coaches,” said Mustafa. “I broke my hand on the first day of practice, but I still played the first game. We had a lot of selfish players early on and didn’t come together until the eighth week of the season.” Read the full story
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, Afghanistan – Veterans of Iraq recall rolling to war along asphalted highways, sweltering in flat scrublands and chatting with city-wise university graduates connected to the wider world.
Now fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers invariably encounter illiterate farmers who may never have talked to an American as they slog into remote villages on dirt tracks through bitterly cold, snow-streaked mountains.
“Before deploying here we were given training on language, culture, everything. I thought that since I was an Iraq combat veteran, I didn’t need any of that stuff. I was wrong. Both countries may be Muslim but this is a totally different place,” says Sgt. Michael McCann, returning from a patrol in the east-central province of Logar. Read the full story
If only one half of football could win games, the Texans would have left Reliant Stadium with a victory yesterday. The Texans started the game on a 17-0 run, and appeared to have a winning game plan for the unbeaten Colts. The game had what could be described as the closest feel to a playoff game as the players and fans had felt before at Reliant Stadium. After scoring two touchdowns (they almost had a third that was lost to a Andre Johnson drop in the end zone) and two field goals, Reliant Stadium was buzzing with the fans enthusiasm and excitement. After two quarters of play, the Texans were up by thirteen, had picked off Peyton Manning twice (Brian Cushing and Brice McCain had the interceptions), and appeared to have control of the game.
Unfortunately for the Texans, Peyton Manning and the Colts defense would not allow the Colts to come out and continue their sub-par play in the second half.
After trailing 20-7 at halftime, Manning and the Colts came out of the tunnel from halftime with a new game plan that the Texans would not find a way to stop. The Colts only scored once in the third quarter (Manning to Reggie Wayne for a 4 yard TD), but began to put the Texans away for good in the final quarter of the game. In the fourth quarter, Manning would connect with Dallas Clark for a 6 yard touchdown, followed by a Clint Session interception return for a touchdown, and a 23-yard rushing touchdown for Chad Simpson on the Colts following offensive drive which put the Colts up for good.
Matt Schaub appeared to be a completely different quarterback in the second half. He would throw two interceptions before a 10-yard pass to Jacoby Jones with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter for his only touchdown toss of the second half. The first interception Schaub threw in the third quarter appeared to be a spot pass that either: (1) did not reach its correct spot or, (2) was a result of miscommunication between Schaub and Andre Johnson. However, the second (and more costly) interception Schaub threw appeared to be an ill-advised pass on the quarterback’s part. After the Schaub-to-Jones touchdown, the Texans were only left with 18 seconds on the game clock and could not recover the ensuing onside kick for a last chance effort to tie the game.
The Texans fall to 5-6 on the year after three heartbreaking losses that have left the team, and city, questioning their once strong playoff hopes. In post game interviews, coach Kubiak repeatedly shouldered the blame for this loss against the Colts, citing game management and prior preparation. After hearing the same reasons from Kubiak following each of the Texans recent losses, many Texans fans have begun calling for Kubiak’s firing. Reports have surfaced that Bill Cowher may have interest in coaching the Texans, and after yesterday’s loss, Texans owner Bob McNair may find chatting with the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach appealing. Many fans called in to Houston’s Sports Radio 610 AM to express their displeasure for both Kubiak and Schaub, but the answer to ‘What is the Texans’ problem?’ may be a combination of both. While Schaub did throw two interceptions to compound his dismal second half performance, the Texans once again showed signs of conservative play calling and lack of a killer instinct after they acquired their 17 point lead.
What’s my take?
The Texans should patiently wait until the end of the season to determine whether Kubiak or Schaub (or both) should be replaced with upgraded personnel at their positions. Should the Texans manage to put together a four or five game win streak to close out their 2009-2010 season, they might still have a shot at reaching the playoffs. Although wins against teams like New England (January 3, 2010 /// 7-3 record), the Jaguars (December 6th /// 6-5 record and Texans lost 21-24 in the previous meeting on September 27), and the Dolphins (December 27 /// 5-6 record) appear to be a daunting task for this Texans squad, they do not appear to be completely out of reach if the Texans can manage to put together some complete games over the next month. Although many fans have begun calling for immediate resolutions to the Texans’ issues, they may need to wait for the season to end to clearly see the problems at hand. Talk of personnel changes at this point in the season will only compound whatever problems the Texans are currently trying to solve in order to salvage the season which began with the highest expectations since the franchise began. After the next five games if fans repeatedly hear the same “it’s on me” answers from Coach Kubiak, then the calls for Bill Cowher to replace him as coach may be the correct answer. However, if Matt Schaub cannot elevate his game of play to that of the premiere franchise quarterbacks in the NFL for the last five games, the Texans and owner Bob McNair will have to decide whether or not changing coaches is the only thing left to push the Texans into true playoff contention.
Standing in the rain on Saturday afternoon, watching Katy High School play Atascocita in a playoff game, Hair Balls remembered something we read on the Washington Post NFL blog this past week.
This question, about the Dallas Cowboys, was asked: “Why are the Cowboys So Hated? How does ‘America’s Team’ remain one of the most loathed franchises in sports?” Different bloggers weighed in on the question.
For example:
From Jimmy Johnson to Barry Switzer to Michael Irvin all circling upstairs to the guy named Jerry Jones who owns and runs the franchise — it’s all arrogance.
Or:
There’s a lot of reasons people hate the Cowboys, but, in my opinion, the biggest is that guy wearing the Cowboys jacket in your office…He’s the same guy in every state, in every town that decided to jump on the Cowboys bandwagon despite having no connection whatsoever to the city of Dallas or the state of Texas.
So, while we were watching the rainy game and enjoying it, we started thinking about all the bad things people have said to us about Katy while we’ve beenfollowing the team the last couple of years. (If you want to get a taste of hatred for Katy, just check out the K-Train Station, a blog about the Katy Tigers, even though he started banning people who post nasty things.)
1. The Fans. In a Houston Press cover story from October of 2008, we wrote about a game between Katy and Cypress Bay High School from Florida, and the mother of one of the players from Florida died two days before his team was scheduled to leave for Texas. He decided to make the trip, and after Katy won the game 31-6, he said, “It was an amazing experience up until about 2:30 p.m. (the start of the game). Then it was hell on Earth. I couldn’t wait to get out of that God-forsaken state and get back home to Florida.” It was the ocean of Katy red in the stands that made the player hate Rhodes Stadium. Maybe it’s one of those don’t-get-it-unless-you’re-a-part-of-it things, but it had to be demoralizing to Atascocita on Saturday when the rain started pouring and its fans disappeared under umbrellas. The Katy stands didn’t change, however, because everyone simply pulled out their Katy-red rain gear and continued to scream.
2. Gary Joseph. Joseph came to Katy in 1982 as a defensive coordinator and the team won three state championships before he became the head coach in 2004. Katy has won two more championships since then. In the Post blog, one person wrote, “How could anyone not cringe when [former Cowboy's head coach] Jimmy Johnson bellowed “how ’bout those Cowboys” in one particularly raucous postgame locker room scene also captured by NFL Films?” So maybe Jimmy Johnson made the Cowboys easy to hate. But that’s not Joseph. Physically he’s a small man, and away from football, he’s quiet and seems almost timid. He says things like, “There’s no better place to raise kids, or I wouldn’t have stayed in Katy all these years.” It takes a lot to admit you hate a guy like that, which only makes the hate stronger.
3. The success. Few high school teams if any can match the number of wins and, more importantly, the number of district and state championships Katy has racked up during the last two decades. But every year, Katy fields a team of the same group of mostly white, average looking players. Apart from the 2007 state championship team, there are rarely any blue-chip college recruits. It would seem this is enough to drive opposing teams crazy. At the opening game of the season against The Woodlands, one Woodlands fan, almost belligerent with hate, told us, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great program, but could Katy beat Westfield (a team The Woodlands beat in the playoffs last year)? I don’t think so.” The Woodlands demoralized Katy last year in the regular season, winning 47-0. Katy went on to win another state championship, The Woodlands did not.
Katy won Saturday’s game against Atascocita 45-7 to move on to the next round of the playoffs.
The Atascocita Eagles came up with a miracle rally to beat the Chavez Lobos 43-37 in last week’s Region III-5A Division II playoff game.
Their reward is a date with the two-time defending state-champion Katy Tigers. The two teams will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tully Stadium.
“This is definitely going to be an honor to play Katy,“ said Dean Colbert, who has guided his club to a 10-1 record in 2009. “For years, we have kind of set them as the team to emulate. Now, we get to play them and hopefully challenge them. It is going to be a great honor.“
Atascocita kicker Pablo Beltran kicked a 36-yard field goal with no time left to send the Chavez game into overtime tied at 37-37.
Jarvis Neal, who finished the game with 146 yards rushing and two touchdowns, then scored on a 25-yard run in overtime and Jeremy Coleman came up with an interception in the end zone to seal the victory.
“It was incredible,“ Colbert said. “Our kicker has ice water in his veins. But that is the way we have been all year. The kids feel like they are always going to find a way to win. They stick together like a band of brothers. They all try and provide positive energy. In the end, we always seem to get the job done.“
Colbert doesn’t mind being a heavy underdog against the tradition-rich Tigers (10-1).
“Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence and feel like they can win,“ he said. “We will be ready for the challenge and accept it. These young men have invsted so much into this season. They really play hard. They will leave it all out there on the field.“
Colbert said Chavez was very talented.
“The film didn’t do them justice,“ he said of the 7-4 Lobos. “They were a lot better than they looked on film. It was a playoff atmosphere. I think they played their best game, too.“
New Iowa plant, based on technology developed at MIT, will use bacteria to produce biodegradable plastics from corn.
Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world’s oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
“Plastic does not degrade in the ocean. It just gets ground up into tiny particles,” he says. In the Pacific Ocean, a vast swath twice the size of Texas teems with tiny bits of oil-based plastic that can poison ocean life. Read the full story
Suicides among soldiers this year have topped last year’s record-breaking numbers, but Army officials maintain a recent trend downward could mean the service is making headway on its programs designed to reduce the problem, Army officials said Tuesday.
Since January, 140 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves while another 71 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers killed themselves in the same time period, totaling 211 as of Tuesday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, U.S. Army vice chief of staff, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. But he said the monthly numbers are starting to slow down as the year nears its end. Read the full story
The fire broke out shortly before 7:30pm at a two-story building on Brooks near Commons. The structure housed a grocery store and washateria on the first floor and neighbors tell us there were apartments on the second floor. Officials with HFD say burglar bars made any type of rescue difficult.
At this point, we don’t know what started the fire or how the three people, whose identifications are unknown, died. We have a crew on the scene and will have the very latest on Eyewitness News tonight at 10pm and here on abc13.com.
When mainstream media began reporting on the shooting at Fort Hood, numerous reports surfaced stating multiple shooters were involved. Why haven’t we heard more information about these other shooters? Instead, allegations regarding Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s involvement have garnered the most attention from the mainstream media.
This video shows CNN interviewing Sgt. Maj. Jamie Poston. During this interview, Sgt. Maj. Jamie Poston confirms multiple times that more than one shooter was involved: Read the full story
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