Category Archives: BUSINESS

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 20th, 2011, At TRANQUILITY PARK (Bagby & Walker, or Bagby & Rusk St.)

1 Reply

I think that this is an appropriate way to see the heroes among us who maintain the occupation: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.

__________________________________

~~Nothing new that I can locate in the site as of 1:30 am on the 20th. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)~~ At 3 am, I found a summary of ‘passed’ General Assembly (GA) motions which was posted on the 18th (but I had not seen the post previously). Possible updates later. Latest announcements and Details after the jump.
Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 19th, 2011, At TRANQUILITY PARK (Bagby & Walker, or Bagby & Rusk St.)

I made time to visit Tranquility Park this evening at about 10:30 PM. It’s amazing to me how inspired I feel by very little visible activity. It reminded me of the famous quote, “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.

These are the folks who spend the dark and now increasingly chilly nights on the grass, the benches, the walls, and whatever few amenities have been gathered or donated, in order to maintain the occupation of Houston. To keep the beachhead, as it were, for the spirit and maintenance of the Occupy movement.

As usual, it didn’t take long to strike up a conversation with a couple of the occupiers. This is the third time I’ve made it to the Occupation for any span of time, and I still find it remarkable how quickly it begins to feels like I’m among friends.

I urge you to experience it.

Mike

__________________________________

Latest announcements and Details (as of 2:30 AM) after the jump.

Remember, you can support #OccupyHouston without participating in specific demonstrations with which you do not agree! (Read: OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct. 15) Just bringing your warm body (and any other warm bodies you can rustle up) represents support for the movement.

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS! Tweeted by“@OccupyHouston: http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this account has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves out for taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is:
http://occupyhouston.org/

According to: Vipul Divecha on October 1st, 2011 at 12:33 am # Parking is free in Downtown Houston after 6PM M-Saturday and free all day Sundays. Here is a resource on Downtown Houston parking, http://downtownhouston.org/resource/parking. This is an interactive map with locations of buildings, underground tunnels, parking, etc: http://www.marketscenter.net/ext/houstondowntown

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 18th, 2011, At TRANQUILITY PARK (Bagby & Walker, or Bagby & Rusk St.)

1 Reply

Posted after midnight, Oct. 18th. May update later.

#OccupyHouston declares solidarity with Houston Unido in its protest against corporatized detention of illegal immigrants.

There are just some things which should not be ‘privatized’.

Protest at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at the Federal Detention Facility in Downtown Houston:

1200 Texas Ave (at San Jacinto)
Houston, TX 77002

Details after the jump.

Remember, you can support #OccupyHouston without
participating in specific demonstrations with which you do not agree! (Read: OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct.
15) Just bringing your warm body (and any other warm bodies you can
rustle up) represents support for the movement.

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS!
Tweeted by“@OccupyHouston: http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this
account has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves
out for taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is:
http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 17th, 2011, At TRANQUILITY PARK (Bagby & Walker, or at the corner of Bagby & Rusk St.)

Contrary to earlier information, the #OccupyHouston base camp may be in one of TWO places: Bagby and Walker, or Bagby and Rusk. Both are at different parts of Tranquility Park.

So far, the news for Monday the 17th is about the Art Show. Try to attend and have some fun. Details are after the jump.

Remember, you can support #OccupyHouston without participating in specific demonstrations with which you do not agree! (Read: OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct. 15) Just bringing your warm body (and any other warm bodies you can rustle up) represents support for the movement.

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS!
Tweeted by“@OccupyHouston:
http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this account
has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves out for
taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is:
http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 16th, 2011, At TRANQUILITY PARK (Bagby & Walker)

1 Reply

UPDATE: Free parking in Downtown Houston on Sunday!! (According to #OccupyHouston)

It’s 4 AM on Sunday and the biggest news I can find is … no news. Nothing new on the OH site, and nothing in the Houston Chronicle about the protest march today. (“All the news that’s fit to ignore”?)

~~I’ll try to update this post later today~~. UPDATE BELOW THE JUMP. (10/16, 6:43 PM)

___________________________________

Check Friday’s post for some travel and transit information which is relevant for this weekend.

Remember, you can #OccupyHouston without participating in specific demonstrations with which you do not agree! (Read: OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct.
15)

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS! Tweeted
by“@OccupyHouston:
http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this account has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves out for taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.
Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 15th, 2011, Energy Day Demonstration At TRANQUILITY PARK

Check yesterday’s post for some travel and transit information which is relevant for this weekend.

Remember, you can #OccupyHouston without participating in specific demonstrations with which you do not agree! (Read: OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct. 15)

OCTOBER 15th Plan: “RALLY For Responsible Energy! 12:00 noon, SATURDAY, Oct 15: Background information: Occupy Houston will be conducting a Silent March to demonstrate against the interests behind Energy Day. Find out more information on our website, or Facebook event page.”

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS! Tweeted by“@OccupyHouston: http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this account has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves out for taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

Latest site posts (October 15, 3:42 AM) below the jump.
Continue reading →

OPINION: #OccupyHouston and the Energy Day Protest (Oct. 15)

10 Replies

On the #OccupyHouston site, I saw the following comment about the planned October 15th demonstration:

Holt Carle on October 14th, 2011 at 11:09 am #

Protesting the Energy Day event will give the impression that the Occupy Houston, and by association, the OWS movement is about environmental issues, which it should not be. This move will alienate some people and distract others from the more pressing issues of the growing income disparity in the US and corporate influence in US politics.

I think I agree with this.

The appeal of #Occupy runs across all divides: political, ethnic, social. That appeal is: 1. Getting big donor and corporate money out of our politics so that leaders need many more small donations (and voters’ support) to win office, and 2. Focusing our leaders’ attention on the nation’s real and pressing problems, and not their next election challenge.

This simple notion is the reason I met folks ranging from homeless to socialist to Ron Paul Libertarians at #OccupyHouston. It’s the one thing pretty much everyone agrees on.

KISS! (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)

One message, one goal, one people, one movement.

Other groups will glom onto #Occupy’s now-high profile, but they should not be supported by, or identified with, #Occupy.

IMHO.

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 14th, 2011, Moving to TRANQUILITY PARK

3 Replies

#OccupyHouston has a major rally scheduled. Click on this link to get details. RALLY For Responsible Energy! 12:00 noon, SATURDAY, Oct 15

SIGNIFICANT AID FOR OccupyHouston PARTICIPANTS! Tweeted by“@OccupyHouston http://Www.wepay.com/donate/OccupyHoustonBailFund this account has been made to assist anyone who can’t financially bail themselves out for taking part in CD.” [Civil Disobedience – Mike]

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s all over the country! You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that Occupies[YourTown] need supplies and money. #OccupyHouston has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it downtown on Thursday, but I’ll try again late Friday afternoon.

[The posts below the jump are from SITREP – Occupy Houston is at TRANQUILITY PARK, Getting to Tranquility Park, MetroRail not running Saturday or Sunday, and RALLY For Responsible Energy! 12:00 noon, Oct 15. I’m posting this at about 4:57 AM, the 14th. – Mike]

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 13th, 2011, NOW At Hermann Square Plaza

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you.

You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Remember that #OccupyHouston, and all the other Occupies[YourTown} need supplies and money. The Houston site has a link of their needs here. Use it as a reference, since your local group probably has similar needs.

They’re all fighting for us; for you! Help how you can!

I will make an effort to be at Hermann Square Park sometime around 5PM, Thursday, traffic and circumstances permitting. If possible, I might make it a personal project to mark available parking and restricted zones around the park on a suitable map. (We’ll see how well that mission works out, but the thought is there.)

[The post below the jump is from http://occupyhouston.org/rally-for-responsible-energy-1200-noon-oct-15/#comment-399 Wednesday 12th, presumably late in the evening. I’m posting it at about 4:37 AM, the 13th. – Mike]

Continue reading →

Bus drivers join #OccupyHouston protests (6:30 AM)

micmac99Michael Sheldon Reed by OccupyHouston

Bus drivers join #OccupyHouston protests | http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Bus-drivers-join-Occupy-Houston-protests-2212852.php #ows #occupy

18 hours ago FavoriteRetweetReply

Article below the jump.

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 12th, 2011, NOW At Hermann Square Plaza

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you.

You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

The two most recent posts from occupyhouston.org (as of 4 AM on the 12th) are below the jump.

They are now back Downtown across from Houston’s City Hall. (YAY!) “Hermann Square Plaza” is the reflecting pool right outside City Hall on 901 Bagby St. Be careful if you park there. Some stretches of curb are legal, many are not. Some legal places have parking meters, some don’t.

When I was there last week, I noticed that many legal parking spaces were coincidentally occupied by various official vehicles. Sometimes one would fill a space some civilian had just vacated.

DON’T GET A TICKET OR TOWED!! Inspect vacant stretches of curb carefully for signs. (If it’s too good to be true…) If you want to attend and are driving downtown, be prepared to walk or pay for parking, if necessary.

This will make it much more likely that your protest experience will be a happy and gratifying one!
Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 11th, 2011, At Eleanor Tinsley Park

1 Reply

UPDATE, 3:30 pm

OCCUPY CITY HALL

October 11th, 2011 · Kevin · Announcements 8 comments – Tags: city hall, hermann square plaza, occupyhouston

We’re heading back downtown! Occupy Houston has moved from Eleanor Tinsley Park to Hermann Square Plaza, right outside Houston City Hall. Come out and stand with the 99%! Occupying public space is an expression of our first amendment rights to peacefully assemble. It’s time to dig in and make our presence felt. Hermann Square Plaza is the reflecting pool right outside City Hall on 901 Bagby St.

Our General Assembly tonight will be held at 7:00pm at City Hall, and there is a legal team meeting at 6:00pm beforehand. Be there and help shape the movement! We’re all in this together!

________________________________

!OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you.

You can find an OCCUPY[YourTown] event by visiting OccupyTOGETHER.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Below the jump are notes from 10/10, posted after midnight on the 11th. At the very bottom are my suggested directions to Eleanor Tinsley Park.

Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 10th, 2011, At Eleanor Tinsley Park

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you. If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

As of 2:30 AM on Monday the 10th, it appears that OccupyHouston will remain at Tinsley Park until new permits can be obtained which will allow them to move back into Houston Downtown.

It rained all day in Houston, and I imagine that put a damper (no pun intended) on their more ambitious plans.

Below is the most recent post (2:30 AM) from OccupyHouston.

At the bottom are a repeat of my suggested directions and map to Eleanor Tinsley Park for those who would like to join the protest on Monday. And remember: Even showing up for just an hour or two makes a statement and a difference. Continue reading →

New York Observer: Exclusive “Occupy Wall Street” Unaired Fox Footage

Fox *ahem* News Interview. “All the news that’s fit to agree with our bias.”

It speaks for itself. I say nothing. Nothingk!

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 9th, 2011, At Eleanor Tinsley Park

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you. If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

I was at Tinsley Park on Saturday afternoon, the 8th, for about 4 hours. The attendees ran the philosophical gamut from anarchist to Ron Paul Libertarian. Yet we all chatted, strategized, and got along. It was really kind of exhilarating.

I found access to Tinsley Park to be challenging, due to my lack of familiarity with the area. Thus, as a public service, I’m providing what I think may be a better map than is currently on the OccupyHouston site, with red markings to indicate what looks to me like the easiest access and auxiliary parking.

Come One Come All For The Feast! (See below)

Continue reading →

OCCUPY[YourTown] Needs Money and Stuff!!

My hometown group, OccupyHouston has a Needed Items link on their home page.

I’m sure your local OCCUPY group has similar needs. You may start searching here: (www.occupytogether.org), whether they’ve articulated them or not.I’m going to drop by Saturday afternoon and drop some stuff off. I donated 10 bucks toward pizzas on Thursday, but the Needed Items link gave me more ideas.
Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 8th, 2011: Moving to Eleanor Tinsley Park

OccupyWallStreet has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/

Excerpt below for 10/8:
Continue reading →

OCCUPY HOUSTON, October 7th, 2011

#OccupyWallSt has grown, and it’s coming to a city or town near you.

If you live in or near Houston, Texas, the organizational web site is: http://occupyhouston.org/.

Click on the link to get latest info, but be sure to scroll down.

Following is a recent excerpt. There is more on the actual site.
Continue reading →

CORPORATE SOCIOPATHY: Not Just A Catchy Buzz Phrase

3 Replies

by Michael R. Honig (Originally written as a show commentary, August 9, 2010)

I’m actually surprised that I’ve never posted this on my blog before. It’s over a year old, but I still believe it’s true.

(Update, 4/4/2012): Some links added to article.)

_____________________________________________

I’ve never been an extremist. I’ve never been a conspiracy nut. I’ve never been one who has particularly believed in the “evil corporate executive” stereotype that is at the center of so many plots on TV and in film.

I do think that more often than not, anyone who rises to a position of great power or authority must have a certain element of narcissism and ruthlessness in their nature in order to get there. And yet, I’ve still believed that generally speaking, corporate executives have some degree of moral compass to guide them in what they do.

But the last few years have really strained my basically trusting nature.
Continue reading →

HURRICANE IRENE NEWS FLASH: The City Of GREATER New York Is Bigger Than Just Manhattan!

1 Reply

by Michael R. Honig

: The 5 Boroughs of Greater New York

As a native-born Brooklynite, I’ve been watching the networks and cable channels covering Hurricane Irene as it bears down on the northeast, and specifically the reporting on the City of Greater New York (its formal name) and Long Island. From this coverage, you would think that New York City is comprised of New Jersey and Lower Manhattan; particularly the Battery & World Trade Center areas.

I totally get the global news significance of New York City getting hit by a major storm, but …

News Flash: There are 8 million people in the City of Greater New York, and over 6 million of them don’t live in Manhattan. For that matter, most of the low-lying areas of the City of Greater New York are not in Manhattan at all. They’re in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.
Continue reading →

“Veil of secrecy lifted at the Fed”, By Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Originally published July 25, 2011: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=ca3bd5d9-0ebe-4ee4-a005-9e59f9bc73d2

________________________________________________________

For over three and a half years, Vermonters and people throughout this country have experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and ability to send their kids to college. Small businesses have been unable to get the credit they need to expand their businesses, and credit is still extremely tight. Wages as a share of national income are now at the lowest level since the Great Depression with workers who still have jobs working longer hours for lower wages.

Meanwhile, when small business owners and Vermonters were being turned down for loans at private banks, the Federal Reserve provided trillions of dollars in loans at nearly zero interest to the largest financial institutions, major corporations and some of the wealthiest people in the world with virtually no strings attached.
Continue reading →

Another Argument Against eBooks: Do you own them, or merely lease them?

Better Move Your Library!

You may have heard, Borders Books is going out of business. If you ‘own’ any eBooks, particularly from Borders, you might be interested in the email I received recently:

Continue reading →

Office Excel 2007: Missing your “Pattern Fill” Feature?

56 Replies

Andy Pope’s “Pattern Fills”, which has some different functionality from Eric Patterson’s add-in.

I admit that when I first went to Office 2007, I personally found “The Ribbon” quite daunting, but I ultimately found Microsoft’s logic – that there are features in Office that you wouldn’t even know you had with the old menu system, which are easily discovered with “The Ribbon” – to be true.

Even having arrived at the conclusion fairly quickly, it took a lot of ‘accustomization’ and tweaking of the Quick Access Toolbar to make Office 2007 or 2010 easy enough for the real advantages to become appreciable.

I made a fairly quick jump to Office 2010 because Office 2007 lacks some key advantages of 2010; particularly “Track Change” in Excel and PowerPoint.

Apparently, Microsoft Excel 2007 also lacks a key feature from Excel 2003: Pattern Fill for charts and graphs. This is a big deal if you print your charts or graphs in black and white, instead of color. Continue reading →

An Appeal From Your Local Merchant

2 Replies

In today’s email, I received an appeal to customers from a local restaurant owner. His remarks could apply to any local business anywhere, and that’s why I’m reproducing it for you below.

His letter isn’t just specific to him. and he makes some good points about supporting local merchants. Continue reading →

China Sells Counterfeit Electronics for F-15s, and more

ThinkWingRadio So why are the damn parts for F-15s made in China?! RT @WILLROGERSUSA Key US senators slam China on military parts probe http://t.co/BaIHzMq

ThinkWingRadio I have a great idea! The Russians can make M-16s, the Chinese can build our military computers, the Iranians can build our rockets. BFFs!!

ThinkWingRadio What the hell has happened to our country? We don’t even make our own military equipment?Now China’s “The Arsenal of Democracy”?! Thanx GOP!

ThinkWingRadio What the hell has happened to our country? We don’t even make our own military equipment?Now China’s “The Arsenal of Democracy”?! Thanx GOP!