The 1986 Amnesty and the Silencing of Tejano Texas
A culture can lose its public voice while its people are still living, working, and raising families. Remove its music from prominent radio stations, weaken the institutions that introduce it
Our Allies Can No Longer Rely on Us
America is teaching its allies a dangerous lesson: build a defense that depends on us, and Washington may decide when you are allowed to use it. For Ukraine, that lesson
ICE’s Intelligence Expansion Is Coming to Houston. Who Will Be Watched?
Houston is among the cities included in ICE’s proposed expansion of its intelligence operations. Before anyone tells us that only undocumented immigrants need to worry, I have a few questions.
The Future of News, According to Meme’s Crystal Ball
I have put on my Hawaiian shirt, pulled up a chair, and consulted the crystal ball. The future of news looks considerably different from the newspaper business I grew up
Get Off Your Butt. Opportunity Is Not Coming to Your Door.
I have had enough of the pity parties for people who insist there is no opportunity while refusing to consider going where opportunity might be. A town can lose jobs.
Does ICE tell lies? Is water wet?
>/center> New York Times report says man ICE was targeting in West Harris County operation had been dead for 9 years | khou.com https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/15/us/ice-pursuit-houston-dead-man.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JFE.X0t3.2KRdxCogyNbb&smid=url-share Does ICE Lie? Is Water Wet?
Crime only seems to rise to number 1 during elections; why?
Why Crime Suddenly Becomes an Election-Year Emergency By Manuel Barrera — Opinion An election approaches, and suddenly crime is presented as the emergency that should determine our vote. The advertisements
Texas Minority students a pipeline from school to Prison.
Texas Republicans Were Warned. Minority Children Are Still Paying the Price. By Manuel Barrera — Opinion Years ago, when school discipline increasingly became police business, I warned people where this
Deadliest years for bodies in our bayous – 24 and 25
Will John Whitmire again be the mayor with more bodies in the bayou? We will have to wait till the end of the year. Four more bodies were found in
The magic disappearing 311 service complaints:
We Warned About Houston’s Finances. City Hall Still Owes Us Answers. I am going to bang our own drum, because we have been asking these questions for weeks. Houston’s latest
Corruption at the top all the way to the bottom in the Republican Party
Trump’s Growing Culture of Corruption: When Loyalty Becomes Protection Corruption grows when public officials begin to believe that consequences are negotiable. A conviction becomes something a powerful friend can rescue
Funny what happens when you train a camera on police vehicles?
Police Discover Privacy—When the Cameras Watch Them A Canadian software engineer has found a remarkably effective way to explain the problem with surveillance: point the camera in the other direction.
Did the agent run over him on purpose? You be the judge.
. A Person’s Actions Can Reveal Intent Did the ICE agent run over the man on purpose? You be the judge. I had not paid much attention to this story
What Is Mayor Whitmire Hiding From Us by Using Dedicated Utility Funds for a Relatively Small Contract?
Houston City Council’s October 7 approval of a $2.6 million car-wash contract raises a question much larger than the cost of washing city vehicles: Why is Mayor John Whitmire’s administration
Will a wall of money stop a Blue Wave?
Billionaire Money Meets the Blue Wave The Republican billionaires are piling up money like sandbags against a rising blue wave. My reading is that it may already be too late
Trump’s America Is Becoming More Talibanish
If the Trump administration goes through with its proposed execution livestream, America will adopt a practice it has condemned abroad: making a person’s death a public spectacle. The Pentagon announced
Don’t take The Chronicle’s endorsement seriously; they are biased.
I am not endorsing Steve Radack, but I have written that I do not plan to vote for Leslie Briones. In one four-year term, she has accumulated over $4 million
Donald Trump, America’s DEI president.
Seven AIs were asked to estimate Trump’s IQ based on his speeches; they estimated it to be between 85 and 105. An IQ of 80 is roughly at the 9th
Why in the world would the next person call the police?
Deport the Witness, Protect the Criminal A government cannot credibly promise to protect Americans while frightening crime victims and witnesses away from the police. Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement creates
Trump’s Deregulation Gamble: Americans Are Getting Sick and Dying
Food safety is no place to gamble with people’s lives. Trump’s administration has pursued cuts to public health agencies and delayed an important food safety requirement while Americans are getting