Voting Rights Act

DOJ Eyes Will Be On the Ground in Harris, Fort Bend counties on Election Day

Voters in Harris and Fort Bend counties will get an extra treat on Election Day: Federal poll watchers. As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (now 47 years old!), the federal government attempts to make sure every registered voter regardless of race, color "or membership in a minority langua ... More >>

Texas GOP Slapped Again: Now Judges Toss Voter ID Law

For the second time this week, federal judges have dealt setbacks to grand plans by Texas Republicans to suppress the minority vote protect the sanctity of the ballot. Tuesday a federal panel found the state's new redistricting maps to be biased; today another panel has ruled that the new voter ID ... More >>

Feds Toss Out Texas's Redistricting Maps: Biased Against Minorities, Panel Says

The Texas GOP's lengthy effort to create redistricting maps that federal judges say don't discriminate against minorities hit another snag today when a three-judge panel in D.C. threw out the latest plan. The judges said the proposed maps failed to meet fairness standards using various tests and an ... More >>

Perry Demands Obama Apologize for Holder's "Incendiary" Remarks

Governor Rick Perry took time out of his busy schedule of telling the federal government to kiss his ass and whopping up on socialists to demand an apology from the President for remarks made by the U.S. Attorney General at the NAACP convention held in Houston last week. Apparently, Perry thought Ho ... More >>

Crossing the Line: Welcome Back, Jim Crow

New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall.

Feds Block Texas's Voter ID Law: Unfair to Hispanics, They Say

Texas's strict new voter ID law, put in place by this past session's Tea Party legislature to stem the tidal wave of voter fraud that is actually not happening at all, has been blocked by the U.S. Department of Justice. The new law unfairly targets Hispanic voters, the feds said. "[T]he state has ... More >>

The Red-Light Camera Circus

Step right up, folks: Passion, deceit, money, lots of money, double dealing and a mayor with more flip-flops in her than a Cirque du Soleil acrobat!

Redistricting GOP Was "Very, Very Clever" in Limiting Minorities' Voting Power, Expert Testifies

Richard Murray talks of the GOP, blacks and the Tea Party.​Republicans found "very, very clever ways" to minimize minority voting opportunities in new Congressional and House maps passing in June, University of Houston professor Richard Murray told a three-judge panel during the redistricting ... More >>

Redrawing Fiefdoms in Ye Olde HISD

Margaret DowningGene Locke walked HISD trustees through redistricting, Chapter 1​The Hispanic population continues to boom, the Anglo drip-drip-drip away to suburbia continues, there's a small decline among African Americans in Houston ISD and the district's biggest gain percentage wise is in ... More >>

A Protest Playlist For The March On Washington Avenue

​Saturday marks the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the huge civil rights rally in Washington D.C. where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This rally is largely credited for helping to put enough pressure on Washington to pass the ... More >>

Pop Rocks: It Was You, Don Draper...You Broke My Heart

​We're two weeks into the new season of Mad Men and already we've witnessed the event that may signify the ultimate spiritual and mental collapse of series lynchpin Don Draper. No, I'm not talking about his post-Christmas party tryst with Allison, his loyal secretary (loyal to a fault, it wou ... More >>

Jump-starting a Political Engine

Will Montrose come home in 2001?

Rebmaster

Web designer George Kalas wanted to re-fight the Civil War. Instead, he started one in his own movement.

The Insider

The Great Decolorizer

As a student radical in the late sixties, Ed Blum fought for affirmative action. Now, as a middle- aged neocon, he wants to destroy it.