On July 3, the group posted photos to social media channels of signs located around Houston bearing black-and-white images of Greek statues and slogans such as “Protect Your Heritage” and “Our Future Belongs to Us.” Other gems include: “Become Who We Are,” “Serve Your People,” “Our Destiny is Ours” and “Let’s Become Great Again.” That last one sounds vaguely familiar, but I guess I can’t quite place where it came from?

Based on photos posted to the group’s Facebook page, at least 13 signs were placed in downtown and the Museum District, although by July 6, three of the five posters Free Press Houston was able to locate had already been removed and we found great joy in ripping down the other two.

The “American based identitarian organization” is “dedicated to educating the people of European heritage about the importance of a Eurocentric identity,” according to the group’s Facebook page. So, yeah, they’re neo-Nazis parading around under the guise of wanting to “protect their hertitage.” (Typical.)

The hate group is led by Nathan Damigo, a veteran and former leader of the National Youth Front (NYF), the youth wing of the Neo-Nazi American Freedom Party. Again, they are neo-Nazis, but they don’t want to call themselves that because I guess that might make people not like them very much. After holding a rally at University of California, Berkeley in May 2024 — one which vowed to create a “safe space for Europeans” — Identity Evropa began the poster campaign in southern California that soon extended across the country.

Between July 3 and 5, the group posted photos to their Facebook and Twitter accounts showing dozens of posters from 19 cities across the nation, using the July 4 holiday — along with the hashtag “#fashthecity” — to promote their “cause.”

Given that a certain orange-faced blow-hard reality star is known for spewing race hate whenever he has the chance makes the existence of this “alt-right” group far less surprising than it should be. The crazies exist and this time they thought they would really make an impact with a few signs. With a whopping 3,761 bigots “liking” their Facebook page after months of heavy campaigning, they’re clearly doing a great job. At least we know where to find them now.

Williams is most known for his role in Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Jackson Avery, but what he should be recognized for is his powerful commentary on racism, equality and social justice.

“This award is not for me,” the activist began. “This is for the real organizers all over the country who are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.”

Williams, who produced Stay Woke, a documentary on the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke out against police brutality against people of color. “What we’ve been doing is looking at the data, and we know that police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day. So what’s gonna happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function, and ours.”

The crowd was on their feet. “I’ve got more, y’all,” Williams reassured the audience.

“I don’t want to hear anymore about how far we’ve come when paid public servants can pull a drive-by on a 12-year-old playing alone in a park in broad daylight, killing him on television and then going home to make a sandwich,” said Williams, invoking the names of Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, and Darrien Hunt.

He went on to call-out those who challenge anti-racist activism and equal rights, but who do not challenge racism and oppression.

“If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.”

Williams also lambasted the consumption of black culture and simultaneous devaluation of black life.

“We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment…demeaning our creations, then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”

Williams finished his speech with one final mic drop: “Just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.”

Check out the video above for the full speech.

About this time last year, marijuana made Texas history. For the first time ever, the state criminal jurisprudence committee passed a transformative piece of legislation, House Bill 2165, that would have legalized and regulated recreational use of marijuana, as well as expanded medical use while potentially generating $166 million in tax revenue. The bill never made it out of calendars, however the bill’s Longview Libertarian sponsor and co-author David Simpson had every intention to reintroduce it during the upcoming 2024 legislative session.

Unfortunately, just three weeks ago, HB2165 and any hope for recreational marijuana use in the near future died when Simpson lost the election for a seat in the Texas senate to the likes of Bryan Hughes, who scored super PAC funding and endorsements from Ted Cruz and Dan Patrick. What’s left is the hope for a revival of El Paso Democrat Joe Moody’s HB507, a decriminalization bill that would reduce the penalty of possession of two ounces or less down to the cost of a speeding ticket. In a cruel plot twist, Hughes took a very public stand opposing full legalization throughout his campaign against Simpson, but kept the fact that he co-authored HB507 rather hushed.

Nonetheless, there’s a story behind why marijuana reform is finally on the receiving end of increasing Republican support. The potential for state budget savings is huge. In 2024, approximately $734 million of our taxpayer dollars were spent in criminal court processing for low level offenses, an argument that Moody has not wasted to broaden his coalition and should in theory appeal to the fiscal conservative persuasion. However, the typical politician’s drill of pandering their respective base’s votes to win elections has historically proven to work against the notion of efficiency. That being said, healthy cynicism grants plenty of justification to doubt the viability of HB507, but there are a few new reasons to be optimistic this time around.

Although Texas does have a more diversified tax base compared to other oil and industry dependent states, projected oil revenue loss will be deeply felt in the budget surplus. The market cost of each barrel is currently at $46, down from $100 in mid-2014. The slowdown in energy prices has had a direct, tangible effect on economic growth and jobs. Some oil reliant states like Alaska and North Dakota have already slipped into recession. In October, the comptroller revised the Texas state revenue estimate for 2024 and 2024 dropped by $2.6 billion to $100.4 billion, which reduced our projected 2024 surplus to $4 billion, a third less than what was originally predicted.

When oil prices dropped below $30 a barrel in January, Moody’s Investment Services stated that the state’s surplus ran the risk of disappearing. The following May, Texas state agencies and social services were informed to anticipate “leaner times ahead” by senate leaders. In a letter to the Appropriations Committee written on April 19th, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Joe Straus asked fellow members to consider a number of budgetary concerns when they reconvene in January, specifically citing the impact of the drop of crude oil prices and a steadily declining sales tax base would have on the state’s finances.

In the same letter, Straus outlined some alarming challenges on the horizon that are in dire need of heavyweight funding that isn’t going to come from austerity alone. He stated that the state’s foster care system is in the throes of a major crisis and should be a top priority next session, most likely because there is an existing class action lawsuit against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Governor Greg Abbott (and formerly Rick Perry) filed by Children’s Rights of New York. The suit alleges that state officials showed deliberate indifference to find permanent homes to some 12,000 children that were repeatedly and systematically exposed to physical, sexual and psychological abuse while in the system’s Permanent Managing Conservatorship program. Abbott and state foster care officials are still appealing Corpus Christi Judge Janis Jack’s original ruling against the agency, but even though they are refusing to accept a history of negligence, there is a new awareness of urgency that this catastrophe can no longer be ignored and that the foster care system requires a massive overhaul of policy change and significant budget resources.

Of course, these aren’t the only budgetary shortages and crises the state faces but they are representative of unprecedented issues that will undoubtedly prompt a more strategic fiscal review. Straus asked his colleagues “to approach the work of this interim period with purpose and creativity.” Perhaps one of these creative solutions could include a renewal and implementation of Joe Moody’s HB507. It’s certain that $700 million dollars in “potential” savings would not completely alleviate the capital needed to make up for losses or upcoming obligations, but fiscally conservative law makers will desperately be looking for ways to fill the gaps and that is a pretty big chunk of change that can be stretched.

Here’s the breakdown on what HB507 does and what kind of support it has. For those interested in keeping up, it won’t be called HB507 again next session. It will have some other to-be-determined number attached to it. For possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, you will be liable for a civil penalty of $250 dollars, no court appointment, no questions asked. After your bud is confiscated (you didn’t think it was going to be that easy did you?), the best part is that you can walk away from it with no conviction. More than an ounce and less than two ounces will be classified as a B misdemeanor, an A for for exceeding more than two ounces, a state jail felony for four plus ounces to four pounds and so on.

The prospect of saving precious tax revenue and freeing up law enforcement resources to tackle crimes that actually involve a victim is attractive to establishment Republicans, but Governor Abbott remains a thorn in the side of anti-prohibitionists. When asked if he would support a decriminalization bill like HB507, his spokesman, John Wittman, seemed to gloss over the question by responding in an email to the El Paso Times that “Gov. Abbott supports current drug laws and opposes the legalization of marijuana.” Abbott did, however, revise his attitude toward medical marijuana almost as soon as he stepped into office when he signed the Compassionate Use Act, granting access to low-THC cannabis for patients with severe epilepsy. Texas is not the only state to make this exception and, not to devalue the importance of compassionate use programs, but this brand of bare minimum legislation is considered as more of a symbolic bread crumby gesture when there are far more diseases and conditions that are known to benefit from medicinal expansion. Regretfully, HB507 as it stands does not offer an avenue for medical augmentation.

The bottom line is that a majority of Republicans have to see decriminalization as a viable means to keep Texas’s bottom line afloat. With all the extenuating circumstances eroding our precious surplus and overwhelming the criminal courts there seems to be a sizable crack in the door where something like HB507 can wedge a foot in the door.

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, a man named Omar Mateen entered the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and over the course of the next three hours killed more than 50 people and wounded another 50 before police were able to enter and kill the terrorist. Mateen is the deadliest mass shooter in United States history, beating out the previous champion, Seung-Hui Cho, who shot 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2024. Our posthumous congratulations to the new champion of the American Murdering Bastards Association.

As far as still-living bastards and all the pain and misery they are capable of spreading, that award must still be pinned to the lapel of our own Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, a man so reliably awful at being a decent human being that I’m beginning to wonder if he’s purposely trying to get Texas graded on a curve before judgment is called. He arose bright and early Sunday morning to weigh in on the Unspeakable Shooting of the Week with a tweet reading, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” over a picture of a quiet cornfield, clearly not in America as the picture contains no gun-toting hatemongers working through their fee fees by shooting something different. That quote is from the Bible, Galatians specifically, and he followed up with one from Psalm: “The Salvation of the righteous come from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.” Thus, even as another state fields a disgrace to the species, the second-largest cheese of ours finds time to further embarrass us.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s now-deleted post on Twitter.

As of press time, Patrick has not responded to request for comment from news organizations, presumably as he is busy spending the Lord’s day contemplating how we could get trans kids to kill themselves faster, plotting where he will drill glory holes in the Great Wall of Trump or whatever lofty thoughts occupy a mind at the highest levels of state government. All we have to go on is speculation about the nuance of the tweet.

One could, if one was kind/high/Christ, interpret this tweet as a sign that the continued demonization of marginalized people, as well as casual, easy access to weaponry that would have made a man a god less than two hundred years ago, has brought our country a regular harvest of people slaughtered by empowered berserkers. Maybe this one last massacre was enough, and Patrick realizes the price we have paid as a nation for our actions.

But let’s keep this real. That’s not what Patrick meant. He meant that those poor people celebrating in the night committed the ultimate act of idolatry and brought upon them the wrath of God’s will as delivered through the barrel of an assault rifle (quoting the police here, lead-heads. Don’t lecture me on your stupid, deadly Barbie dreamhouse gun safe accessories). For Dan Patrick, the lieutenant period fucking period governor period of the state that until last year was home to the largest city in America with an openly-gay mayor, the very act of these people’s existence, and that we legally allow them to have rights, made them an all-too predictable target for a properly righteous and driven individual.

I make no judgments on people’s faith, and the question of whether God is “real” is utterly irrelevant whichever side of the debate you might happen to be on. I know this, though; Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed by an angry deity over an unacceptable amount of Bronze Age queering off. Something bad went down, and afterwards for centuries a bunch of bigots used the story to persecute gays in three major world religions and, by proxy, throughout the world’s governments.

Last summer we danced in the streets when the Supreme Court instituted marriage equality for all. This summer we’re spending Pride Month burying the dead. I’d say mourning, but clearly the only thing Patrick is mourning is the good old days when no one cared if you dragged a gay kid to death behind a pick-up truck. If we can’t have those days back, then our leaders will merely have to content themselves assigning a vague divinity to a discotheque-turned-abattoir.

Certainly neither Patrick nor any of the other be-suited weevils that will shortly crawl onto social media like cybernetic pubic lice will hit their knees and wonder what role they play in the culling of so many lives. None of them will sip from the cup of cold blood their mindless and predictable hatred helps draw from victims. They will just continue to assume this is God’s plan, not their failing.

Well, as for Galatians… allow me to quote a bit from Chapter 5 back at Patrick: “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” To which Brother Jef has scribbled in his own Bible, “And proceed to fuck themselves most vigorously.”

Amen.

My silence around this case until now has been filtered through an internalized struggle that for days has been triggered when I think about the sexual assaults my body incurred from childhood through my teen years. With the exception of a few solidarity likes on memes or statements that sum up the outrage over this case, I have not been able to bring myself to join in on the conversation. Every time you think you’ve overcome the pain, shame, guilt, and anger that plagues most survivors, something happens to bring those emotions to the surface. This will be an ongoing battle for people who have had their bodies violated. And while I am grateful for the dialog and hopeful that as we begin to dismantle the rape culture that has silenced and victimized us over and over, I do have one plea. For everyone who has a partner, friend or family member (so literally everyone) that has experienced trauma, please understand that as we move forward, your presence and support will be needed. People who have never shared their stories might open up to you, and while this is going to be uncomfortable and upsetting, we have to take this step together. Sometimes we might not completely open up, but it doesn’t mean these conversations aren’t triggering as fuck. So please be kind. And just be aware that there are women and men in your life who desperately need you to meet them where they’re at. I don’t have a fail proof guide to help you with this process, everyone experiences and reacts to trauma in different ways. You can’t change what happened, but you can hold our hands, wipe our tears, and walk with us as we seek and demand a cultural shift that our global community desperately needs.

That said, my personal trauma caused me to shy away from reading her court statement. For me, as well as a lot of women and men who have been through sexual assault, it’s impossible to read these accounts and not relive your own experiences through her words. And for that, I suggest caution for survivors when deciding if you should read her statement. Trust your instinct, you know yourself better than anyone else. But I made the decision to read the statement in full and take in the hour’s worth of tears that followed. As someone who still struggles with feelings of guilt and shame that stem from my experiences, the last paragraph of her statement was beyond powerful:

“And finally, to girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you. As the author Anne Lamott once wrote, ‘Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.’ Although I can’t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you. To girls everywhere, I am with you. Thank you.”

Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for reminding us how strong and powerful we are. Thank you for standing up in a system that was built to shame and silence us. We, too, are with you.

In three weeks, Microsoft and Sony will take the stage at E3 in Los Angeles, and will probably reveal plans for future console upgrades. Sony will surely talk about the Neo, as reported by Giant Bomb’s Austin Walker, expected to release this year. Sony has been demoing their virtual reality headset for about a year now, and while everything seems promising, some wonder how the current PlayStation 4 hardware can output the level of performance VR requires. Current demos of Sony’s PlayStation VR pair the headset with an external “mini-PS4-looking” device that boosts the power of the base PS4. It seems Sony customers will have two options for VR compatibility: the additional mini-PS4 “base” hub, or the out-of-the-box Neo support.

Included in Walker’s report are regulations for developers so that owners of the “base” PS4’s won’t feel left behind. This is reassuring, as Sony won’t allow, for example, extended gameplay features for Neo-versions of PS4 games. Getting complicated? Wait ‘til you hear what Microsoft has planned.

Less concrete than Sony’s leaked documents, a report from Kotaku and Polygon hints of Microsoft’s upgrade plans. Rumors suggest that Microsoft will release two new Xboxes over the next year. The first, a typical slimmed-down version of the current Xbox One, is expected. The second, and the one Microsoft wishes you didn’t know about, is the Scorpio: the 6-teraflop, VR compatible upgrade. The Xbox One, the weakest of the two current consoles, needs an upgrade. It often lags behind in both frame-rate and resolution for cross-platform titles. In addition to two new consoles, there’s also talk of a controller redesign, and a Roku/Apple TV-like streaming device.

When I tell my friends of the coming console upgrades, the first thing out of everyone’s mouth is, “is there going to be a trade-in program?” I’d guess that neither company offers one, but honestly, when you’re talking about a transition like this, winning hearts and minds can be the key to victory in the console wars. We’ll have to see how generous these companies are feeling come E3.

One thing is certain: these console upgrades are coming, and business is never going to be the same again. This truly is a no-turning-back moment. This first round will probably be crazy, and full of pitfalls and mistakes, but like Apple’s annual iPhone updates, they’ll eventually become standard.

To plan or not to plan? Yes, say most!

To zone or not to zone? No, Yes, Maybe, say many!

Irked by traffic congestion, air pollution, flooding, and neighborhood blight, Houstonians support planning big time – the more the better. When it comes to zoning, most neighborhood and civic clubs are in favor, yet some private interests are vehemently against, others fear the unknown. Anti-zoning folks talk about corruption, “government” controls, violations of individual property rights, added layers of bureaucracy and skyrocketing costs of building permits. Politically connected real estate developers freak out at any mention of zoning, and threaten retribution. They say it will “kill” the Houston economy.

The civic groups who favor stronger development controls (zoning and planning) await relief from the disjointed, hodge-podge helter-skelter development patterns which have dismantled neighborhoods. They lament an unplanned city plagued by ugliness, blight, land use clashes, deflated property values, traffic congestion, and flooding? Free-for-all development is like an urban cancer, they say.

Pete says, “Planning without development controls (some form of zoning) is like a car running on empty – it won’t get you very far!”

Yet if you are originally from somewhere else, say Dallas, Beaumont or even Jersey Village, your hometown has been zoned (happily) for decades. So what’s the big deal here, where any candidate for elective office who utters the “Z-word” is DOA!

Why Zoning, Pedestrian Pete?

The answer here is simple: Because we need smart urban planning to achieve of a more livable and walkable city. Without the use of zoning powers, urban planning, which facilitates walkable places and districts, just won’t happen in any meaningful way.

Pete says, “failing to plan is planning to fail!”

If Zoning Works in Other Cities, Why Not in Houston?

Pete is sorry to say that the likely answer is: local insider politics. Even though many residents appear to favor zoning, this is a real estate developers’ territory. Unlike Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, in Houston, anti-planning insiders, connected to City Hall via generous campaign contributions, hold sway. Houston is a developers’ town! Neighborhoods, overwhelmed by real estate interests, are paid lip service, but behind closed doors, “developers rule.” This is an unspoken Houston way, and Pedestrian Pete knows, he was an insider once (Houston City Council, 2024-2010).

Who Has Raised the Zoning Question in Houston Now?

It stems from several recently publicized events:

• Warehouse explosion in Spring Branch: After the drastic chemical warehouse explosion, adjacent to a stable residential neighborhood, distressed neighbors asked, “How could the city allow toxic explosive chemicals in our residential neighborhood? Why don’t we have some kind of zoning to prevent this?”
• Mayor Turner’s public concern about human trafficking: Without zoning, it is impossible to control all sorts of unregulated and crime-breeding enterprises scattered around the city. It’s sex shops, modeling studios, and cantinas where “human trafficking” thrives; it’s crooked gaming parlors, dope dens and hot sheet motels. Policing these scattered high-crime activities is very costly and they destroy property values and our tax base.
• Torrential flooding: Chaotic development patterns, paving in the wrong places, has made effective flood control impossible!

Pete says, “we need to crack down on incompatible land uses and urban blight that depreciates property values and makes our streets unsafe and unwalkable.”

Is It Too Late For Some Form of Zoning in the City of Houston?

Many say “yes,” but probably not, given the positive experiences of other metro region zoned cities, including Spring Branch, West University, Stafford, Missouri City, Pearland, Sugar Land, League City, Jersey Village, the Memorial “villages,” Baytown and many others.

In 1993, Baytown — struggling for decades with unattractive development and pollution from petro-chemical plants, as well as a lack of planning — adopted a city-wide zoning and comprehensive development plan, both proven successful and popular. Recently, the city adopted an innovative Unified Land Development Code and master plan update, which promotes compatible mixed uses and walkable urbanism.

The most recent of the three zoning referendums held in Houston was in 1993. It was a bloody battle, which failed by a small margin as fearful real estate developers raised millions to insure its defeat. Billboards in African-American neighborhoods claimed zoning will cause segregation and close down Black businesses. Neighborhood and civic organizations fought hard for planning and zoning to clean up the city’s land use mess and to protect their home values, neighborhood integrity, and a threatened quality of life. The large Black vote was largely responsible for the referendum’s defeat.

Today, all U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 people have zoning and land development plans in place, except Houston, Texas. The goal here evolved into a more harmonious blend of uses, first to protect property values, and equally important how to best manage traffic circulation, drainage, utility systems, and growth in general.

Old-Fashioned Zoning

Zoning is an “American institution,” originally devised in the 1930’s to protect residents and businesses from detrimental and blighting land uses, particularly noxious industrial operations, with their spewing smells, pollution, and noise. Old-fashioned, conventional zoning, has now fallen into disfavor because it “segregated” different uses, such as residential, apartments, commercial, making travel by private car about the only way to get there, and leads to character-less “suburban sprawl.”

Modern Zoning

In the 21st century, the trend in American urbanism — especially in more in-town areas — is “mixed use,” where say residential/commercial/office are contained within the same district or development plan. An important outcome here is “pedestrian zones,” where because of the proximity of home, work, shopping and leisure, there is an upshot of street life, walkability and overall livability, especially for the Millennial crowd.

More and more cities, like Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso, are adopting modern “form-based zoning codes” which shape and blend attractive urban form, rather than rigidly controlling distinct land uses. This approach clearly stimulates economic development and a growing tax base.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a planned/zoned city?

Positives:

• Adoption of a comprehensive land development plan, to protect neighborhoods and commercial centers, to stimulate and to guide future growth.
• A means to control blight, land use clashes, flooding and traffic congestion.
• Relates development impacts to the capacity of streets, transit, utility systems, and drainage.
• Promotes and protects stable property values and neighborhood integrity, including historic areas.
• Promotes walkable urbanism, and exciting urban street life.
• Provides the basis for a more efficient and sustainable city.

Negatives:

• Interferes with the city’s “free-market” approach to economic development.
• Could lead to expansion of an unwieldy bureaucracy.
• Could lead to municipal corruption and cronyism.
• Could lead to infringement of individual property rights.

Note: The claim that zoning will “kill the Houston economy” is completely fictitious. Just look at Austin and San Antonio!

Conclusion

Pedestrian Pete believes that the arguments against effective planning/zoning reflect the fears of some influential real estate developers, intent on squeezing every ounce of profit out of the land, regardless of the impact on our quality of life. This is no way to build a city. We must find a better way!

“Let’s look at adopting a modern smart code,” says Pedestrian Pete, “it will lead to a more walkable and livable city.”