12h 
Kitt Hodsden @kitt : She said yes! http://youtu.be/5_v7QrIW0zY /via @andrewhedges Retweeted by Estelle Weyl
He must be part of a group of theater people. – Mike
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig continues with my next scheduled show on May 29th (Tuesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) on KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM). You can listen live when the show is on-air by clicking here: Listen Live (32k)
The date for this show was set far in advance, but by serendipitous political chance, it also turned out to be on Texas Primary Election Day. I’ve decided to do something apropos.
My scheduled guest is Dr. Cole Blease Graham, Jr., a visiting professor of political science and government at Texas A&M University, at The Bush School of Government and Public Service.
The tentative topic will be … Elections! How close they can get, and how to motivate voters and potential voters to participate in them.
The voting information below has been taken directly from the Texas Secretary of State (TSoS) and VoteTexas web sites. Any questions should be directed to them. Contact information for the TSoS is on their site, and I’ve also pasted some VoteTexas contact info at the bottom of this post.
You may also glean some further useful voting information for your area at my Voting & Political Info tab.
Continue reading
This video, uploaded to YouTube on February 26, 2012, is of a Russian ‘flash mob’ putting together a massive dance number on a Moscow street.
The song is Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz”, written in 1929 and intended to satirize the less well-off dressing-up ‘to the nines’.
So … You’ve got a Russian Flash mob dancing to a song written by a Russian-American Jewish Composer, originally observing the working class trying to emulate the rich.
As with so many things, the media (Russian media, in this case) are debating whether the performance had a deeper sociopolitical meaning: “Puttin'”? Putin? Good Putin policy? Bad Putin policy?
Or is a dance sometimes just a dance?
Watch it here.
PS: If someone could give me a good English translation of the original Russian title, I’d be much obliged.
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.
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Upcoming Events, (More info below the jump):
News & Announcements (More info below the jump):
<UPDATE, 4/9/2012>: Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig continues with my next scheduled show on April 11th (Wednesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) on KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM). You can listen live when the show is on-air by clicking here: Listen Live (32k)
While we may drift as the conversation develops, I think that these are the topics I’ve settled on and, briefly, the reasons why.
Continue reading
UPDATE, 4/30/2012: Along the lines described in this piece: NASA Satellite Measurements Imply Texas Wind Farm Impact On Surface Temperature
UPDATE: 4/9/2012: On Wednesday, April 11th, I’ll be doing a show on Energy Independence on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). You can read about the show and how to hear it here.
Since wind energy will be a topic of discussion, it seemed like a good time to re-post this piece, originally written by me in April of 2010.
– Mike
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It seems that wind turbines change how heat dissipates in the areas downwind of them, because they slow the wind as it spins their propellers. Once one begins to think about it, this domino effect makes perfect sense.
Continue reading
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig continues with my next scheduled show on April 11th (Wednesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) on KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM). You can listen live when the show is on-air by clicking here: Listen Live (32k)
The show runs less than a half hour, so I’m providing some additional background for listeners who want more depth on the guests and topics.
Below are autobiographical sketches of my guests, and below that are links to articles and background material which they have suggested.
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.
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Upcoming Events, (More info below the jump):
News & Announcements (More info below the jump):
My exciting new relationship with KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM), Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig is continues with my next scheduled show on April 11th (Wednesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT). It will be both timely and intriguing.
My confirmed guests will be Edward Hirs and Michael Skelly. The topic I’ll begin to explore is “Energy Independence: We Talk About It, But What Does It Mean?” The sorts of questions I’d like to discuss: Continue reading
What’s in a word? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Do words shape ideas, or is it the other way around? Do the limitations of language (homonyms; synonyms; diverse word origins evolving into words sounding the same but meaning totally different things) expand our perspectives while still subtly limiting them?
“Etymology”, the origin of words, is always fascinating. Most words can be traced to Proto-Indo-European, or “PIE”, as it is often abbreviated.
The Trayvon Martin case has forced all of us to look at our own basic prejudices and assumptions.
So the question remains: What’s in a word?
Below are some dictionary definitions and etymologies for three words: “Hoodlum”, “Hood”, and “Hoodie”. When you hear these words, think of what they evoke in your mind, and then read below for the dictionary definitions and believed origins of these words.
Mike Continue reading
Here is a link to an article written by Phil Izzo for the WSJ blog from October 19, 2011. It includes what is fast becoming a favorite app for seeing where you stand in the 99% (or perhaps the 1%, if you’re lucky).
You can read the article, or click on the link below to go straight to the app:
http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/PERCENTMETER1110/
Also check out a version of the calculator created earlier by Robert Frank (July 28, 2011) for The Wealth Report that also looks at total wealth. Frank has now upgraded his calculator with “Frank’s Rich-O-Meter 3.0”.
This piece was originally written as a commentary for “Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig”, broadcast on Talk650-AM (Houston) on July 12, 2010. You can hear the original show, with guest D.B. Grady (columnist at TheAtlantic.com) by clicking these links: Segments 1 2 3 4 (ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig, 7/12/2010) Let me know if these links don’t work for you. As an alternative, click on the ARCHIVE tab and go to the show for July 12th. – Mike]
UPDATE: On February 19, 2013, The Washington Post published a story entitled “Stanley McChrystal says the U.S. should reinstitute the draft”. (Read it here.) His reasonings are not so different from mine.
The recent firing of General Stanley McChrystal once again reminds us that in the United States, civilian authority controls the military. That’s the way it must be if a democracy is to remain a democracy.
But here’s a question: Have our troops been abused by the deficient policies and strategies of some in civilian leadership? Are there things which our civilian leaders need to do better?
Continue reading
[UPDATE (April 2, 2012): We now need 9,333 more signatures to hit 25,000 by April 17. If you have not yet signed the petition, please do so, and ask your friends and co-workers to log into the site and sign.]
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A new petition has been initiated (the first one failed by just 88 signatures!), and needs 25,000 signatures by April 17, 2012. As of this date (March 25), it is more than halfway there at 12,574.
The NEW petition can be found here: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/#!/petition/increase-nih-funding-33-billion-proposed-flat-307-billion-dollars-will-hurt-econmy-and-medical/FNr0kRbj
The original petition needed 25,000 signatures by March 18th. It fell short by just 88 signatures!
The new announcement is below. The original petition announcement, with arguments for its support, is below that. ~ Mike
I think that the 60Minutes story and the photo (below) make a nice story when put together. The video runs about 16 minutes, with a short commercial embedded.
19 Mar
SpaceX@SpaceX: In case you missed it, here is the full video of SpaceX on @60Minutes last night. What did you think of the story? http://t.co/WROGm7Pe
Click on photo to see full size version
NASA (@NASA): News from NASA. | We typically post in Eastern Time (ET). To convert to UT/GMT, add 5 hours (4 hours during Daylight Saving Time).
As the next steps in my exciting new relationship with KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM), Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig is currently scheduled to do 2 shows. The topic for May 29th (Tuesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) is still TBD.
However, the April 11th show (Wednesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) is taking shape, and will be both timely and intriguing.
The topic I’ll begin to explore is “Energy Independence: We Talk About It, But What Does It Mean?” The sorts of questions I’d like to discuss: Continue reading
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.
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Upcoming Events, (More info below the jump):
News & Announcements (More info below the jump):
From the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Recent Rains Benefit Spring Wildflowers
[March 15, 2012: Based on recent rains, weather,and my observations of local Houston roadside flora, I suspect that the next couple of weeks will be prime wildflower viewing in the metro-Houston area of southeast Texas. ENJOY! :-) ]
[Feb. 12, 2012: This article has been significantly updated and re-written for 2012. It may be further updated as the season progresses. – Mike]
If you live in Texas, the next several weeks (usually in March, possibly April) are the prettiest time to get out of the city and see the open road. Due to the drought, 2011 was a very disappointing year for wildflower lovers, but 2012 is ripe with possibilities.
We’ve had some decent rains recently, and mild weather. Wildflower forecasters are guardedly optimistic. (See links below)
Thanks to Polly Castor’s Blog an online journal of art, photography, spirituality, ideas, books, movies, food, poetry, and hope for helping to bring this to wider public attention.
Update, March 25, 2012: The petition announced below has expired. Outdated links have been removed. Please see the post for the new petition at http://wp.me/p12dO4-1eX
There’s a lot of interesting and important science waiting to be done in this country. Doing it, however, is becoming financially impossible.
Government support for research which has no immediate payoff is essential, or basic research often doesn’t get done. Yet over a decade or more, federal funding of research in ‘real’ dollars has been almost continually ‘flat’ or cut. Continue reading
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX._________________________________
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Upcoming Events, (More info below the jump):
News & Announcements (More info below the jump):
This essay was originally written on March 11, 2007. It was published around that time in MugsysRapSheet.com (and I’ve added a couple of the links included from that posting). I could update it, but I think it still applies, even 5 years after I originally composed it. ~ Mike
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GOP: The Party of Hate
By Michael R. Honig
It’s no longer a joking matter; no longer something that we should avoid saying because it’s ‘impolitic’ or disrespectful of others’ views or opinions. No longer something that we should fear saying because it might be seen as hysterical hyperbole.
What do we call a political party or movement that consistently works to aggrandize the rich and powerful; marginalizes the poor and weak; ignores the political oppositions’ legitimate objections and concerns; derogates anyone who disagrees with them or with whom they disagree; ignores inconvenient laws and creates new, Constitutionally questionable laws and policies as it suits their needs; ignores world public opinion; moves military forces anywhere they want at any time they want without regard to domestic political process or international law; puts words that were never said into the mouths of their opponents and then criticizes or ridicules those opponents for those things they never said (aka, ‘the Straw Man’ Strategy); creates and widely disseminates lies and distortions with many coordinated voices in many powerful media outlets in order to gain emotionally charged political advantage; engages in character assassination; reveals national security secrets in order to gain domestic political advantage or hurt their domestic political opposition; find or create questionable legal grounds to export people for torture and interrogation that would otherwise be illegal; find questionable legal grounds for indefinite detention of their enemies? Continue reading
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX._________________________________
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Upcoming Events, (More info below the jump):
News & Announcements (More info below the jump):
See recent update
[Feb. 12, 2012: This article has been significantly updated and re-written for 2012. It may be further updated as the season progresses. – Mike]
If you live in Texas, the next several weeks (usually in March, possibly April) are the prettiest time to get out of the city and see the open road. Due to the drought, 2011 was a very disappointing year for wildflower lovers, but 2012 is ripe with possibilities.
We’ve had some decent rains recently, and mild weather. Wildflower forecasters are guardedly optimistic. (See links below)
For those who maintain the occupation at night and all day: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton (1608 – 1674) from Sonnet XIX.
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In my opinion, the video description below sounds a little more benign in describing the protestors than the video itself suggests, but you can decide that for yourself.
You will have to go to the site to see the video, as I cannot acquire and embed a working video link. – Mike
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Click Here To View Video –> http://www.liveleak.com/e/3d3_1328617851
This video was taken at the Houston Free Thinkers Free Show. The police showed up at 10:15pm with the stated purpose of addressing a noise complaint. Derrick Broze spoke to the police about the noise and agreed to shut down one of the three stages. While Derrick spoke to the officer another officer began poking around The Compound (which is not a public venue). Derrick asked these police if they had a warrant. They asked for his ID. He told them he was not in public and that he was not driving a car and was not therefore required to have one but was happy to identify himself as Derrick Broze and provided his birth date as well.
The officer then grabbed Derrick and took him out into the street and put him against the car and searched him. All without charging him or telling him anything. As more friends came around and asked what was going on. Some were unwilling to remain silent and exercised their first amendment rights and spoke their mind. One of these individuals was forcibly grabbed from behind and threatened, “your freedom ends tonight” (can be heard in the video). This individual breaks loose from his unknown assailant and is grabbed by multiple officers and slammed into the car. When the crowd of unarmed civilians demonstrates their shock and outrage at this a shotgun is pulled and cocked.
Added: 1 day ago Occurred On: Feb-6-2012 By: stfu_donny Tags: police, pulls, out, shotgun, cocks it, at, crowd, protest Location: Houston, Texas, United States
