Samsung, the giant Korean manufacturer of semiconductors, has announced it will be building multiple new factories in the Taylor/Austin area. The politicians are ecstatic about the jobs, taxes, population growth and economic benefits. But, there’s a catch. Production of semiconductors is one of the most water intensive industries. According to experts quoted in the Austin […]
Read more…You may have read or heard about the bill just passed by the Senate known as the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill passed on a 51 to 50 vote with Vice President Harris casting the deciding vote. Every Republican voted “No.”. The House then passed the bill and the President signed it with some degree […]
Read more…Extreme weather events have a way of clarifying the issues and focusing our minds. As we struggle through the worst summer on record and suffer a drought that already rivals 2011 with no relief in sight for either condition, we should be demanding and getting accountability and action from politicians and regulators, but all they […]
Read more…Much blame has been heaped upon President Biden and Democrats for inflation, particularly high gasoline prices, by Republicans hoping to take control of Congress in the next election. Oil and gas companies have been running television ads blaming President Biden and Democrats for the exorbitant fuel prices by stating that their energy policies make it […]
Read more…As the world tries to endure the hottest summer on record, one has to wonder what it will take to get legislative action to combat global warming. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the EPA is impotent to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and now Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who […]
Read more…Christmas came early this year for the Republicans, Libertarians and Trumpists. They got most everything they wanted from Santa Claus with U. S. Supreme Court decisions on abortion, guns, prayer, school vouchers and government regulation. This term of the U.S. Supreme Court cannot be described as anything but radical. Whereas the Court has traditionally tried […]
Read more…As this election season goes along, Republican candidates have become more and more extreme about immigration. No candidate ever says anything at all about what a properly functioning immigration policy would look like. It makes sense from a purely political standpoint to say what you are against, but wouldn’t you like to know what a […]
Read more…It has been so long ago that I can’t remember exactly when my law school professors acquainted me with the Latin phrase “stare decisis”, but it was probably in the first week of class and certainly no later than the second. The phrase means “to stand by things decided”. It is the legal doctrine of […]
Read more…I’m back from my trip to Disney World with my grandchildren. My grandchildren had a ball. The crowds were very large and exceptionally well behaved. You will recall that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and our Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently called for a boycott of Disney in retaliation for Disney having the audacity to publicly […]
Read more…My grandchildren, ages 4 and 6, are crazy about Mickey Mouse and many, many other Disney characters and movies. I can’t begin to count the number of Disney characters and movies my grandchildren own. They also want me to go to Disneyland, which I admit I was not really excited about until Lt. Gov. Dan […]
Read more…The U.S. Senate has now completed the staging of its mock trial of U. S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Detanji Brown Jackson. I paid as little attention as possible to this farce, but I must confess that as a lawyer who was taught to have respect for the law, for judges, for the judicial system, […]
Read more…My father had a saying that he would often use when I had a question about some situation that made no sense. Rather than try to explain the unexplainable, he would often say: “Son, it’s a funny old world.” That didn’t necessarily mean it was humorous. Most of the time it meant that the situation […]
Read more…According to Governor Abbott, Texans have “mastered the safe practices that help to prevent and avoid the spread of Covid-19” and no longer require government restrictions. Abbott has banned mask mandates by issuing an order that forbids local officials from imposing them. Abbott’s spokeswoman, Renae Eze, has said: “Governor Abbott has been clear that the […]
Read more…I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond arguing, beyond reasoning, beyond begging and pleading, beyond mystified, beyond perplexed, beyond aggravated and even beyond angry. Well, maybe not quite beyond angry. What do you call it when exasperation finally gives way to utter defeat? Whatever you call it, I’m there. I am at that point […]
Read more…Whites sometimes seem exasperated by the Black Lives Matter movement. As they see it, the Civil War has been over since 1865, the Jim Crow era (which lasted 100 years) has been over in a strict legal sense since the mid-1960s, (although it is returning through voter suppression), and affirmative action programs of many kinds […]
Read more…I came across this good advice in the book “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo: “We like to filter new information through our own experiences to see if it computes. If it matches up with what we have experienced, it’s valid. If it doesn’t match up, it’s not. But race is […]
Read more…Back in the early to mid-1970s in Dallas County, there were very few Black lawyers practicing criminal law, probably no more than 6 and maybe less. That has changed. There are now many Black law students in Texas and there are many capable Black lawyers practicing criminal and civil law in Texas. Ironically, Dallas County […]
Read more…When President Lyndon Johnson of Texas signed major Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, he said with resignation that the Democratic Party would lose the South for a generation. He was a son of the South, specifically the poor, rural South, and knew its people. He knew that many in the South were capable of […]
Read more…The famous recording artist, James Taylor, has released a new album entitled “American Standards.” The eighth cut on the album is entitled “You Have to be Taught.” I assumed at first hearing the song that it was recently written in response to the Black Lives Matter protests. The lyrics say that you have to be […]
Read more…More than a year ago I got into a discussion with a very good friend about slavery, the Civil War, Southern Civil War heroes, Civil War monuments, how slave owners should be judged, and the existence and effects of racism today. The conversation became tense when he said, “We have to protect our culture.” I […]
Read more…Whenever Trump wants to tell a big lie and lay the groundwork to later deny he lied, he does it by beginning his lie with the preface that “he heard it” or that “some very smart people are saying” or some other similar garbage. Now that we have heard him use this transparent gambit over […]
Read more…My wife and I have been helping our daughter and son-in-law keep our grandchildren during the pandemic. Since the children are 2 and 4 and the pandemic and our self-quarantine have been going on for many months, this arrangement of living together has been an adventure, at times a misadventure and, in general, a blessing. […]
Read more…It was reported on June 9, 2020, that Congress may pass a federal lands bill which will fund the chronically shortchanged Land & Water Conservation Fund. The Fund, among other things, pays for maintenance of our national parks, which are in dire need of maintenance and improvements. According to the New York Times, the fund […]
Read more…Michael Flynn is a retired high-ranking military officer. His military service gained him fame which enabled him to create a public relations company that specialized in lobbying the United State government and politicians on behalf of foreign governments and monied individuals and advising those same clients about their relations with the United States. His fame […]
Read more…On June 5, 2020, Trump announced in Maine to a group of commercial fishing representatives that he was opening by executive order a marine conservation area off the New England coast (the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts) to commercial fishing. This area lies east of Cape Cod. It is one of only five (5) marine monuments […]
Read more…On Saturday, June 6, 2020, CBS News and other news sources reported that Trump had demanded that 10,000 active duty military troops be deployed in Washington, D.C. to “dominate the streets and overwhelm protestors.” According to the report, there was enough push back from Defense Secretary Esper and military leaders to stop him. Nevertheless, it […]
Read more…Current events such as the Coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests rightfully demand our attention, but we should not lose sight of our over-arching problem: global warming. I am in no way trying to minimize the horrible human and economic consequences of the pandemic or suggest that we can or should delay […]
Read more…Do you remember when the America people were capable of being shocked, disappointed, disgusted, righteously indignant and downright angry at official misconduct? It seems like a lifetime ago. I was reminded recently of the Watergate scandal when my wife and I watched a rerun of the move “Frost Nixon” about the famous David Frost […]
Read more…Attorney General William Barr recently took the unprecedented step of trying to dismiss the criminal case against Michael Flynn who had been convicted of lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians. He had also been fired by Trump for lying to Vice President Pence about the same thing. As we […]
Read more…It has always been a bedrock principle of our country that everyone is equal before the law and that we are a nation of laws and not of men. True, there have been innumerable instances in our history of falling short of this lofty goal, but our national conscience, our national sense of right and […]
Read more…Trump is at it again. Trump is like one of those long past his prime comedians retelling an old joke that always gets a laugh or a band from the 60s or 70s playing their most favorite song over and over. Using the pandemic as an excuse (cover), he has issued an executive order suspending […]
Read more…Trump says he “calls the shots” and that he will soon decide when he will reopen the country. As some comedians used to say, “Not so fast…” or, as the old line in western movies went, “Just hold on there a minute pardner…” When Trump was called out by reporters on whether he had the […]
Read more…Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Most careful, intelligent people make important decisions by first gathering the facts. Decisions, rules, regulations and laws must be based upon the facts. Not so in the Trump administration. Trump starts with his desired policy and then tries to do whatever is necessary to make the facts appear […]
Read more…I am writing this the day after Easter. As of today, the United States has 557,663 cases of COVID 19 and 22,116 deaths. Globally, there are 1,864,829 reported cases and 115,286 deaths. It is obvious that the U.S. has a disproportionately high number of cases and deaths. Why? The Trump administration is floating […]
Read more…My paternal grandfather’s first wife died in the 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the “Spanish flu epidemic”. The death left my grandfather with a newborn, my aunt, to raise by himself. This tragic event was rarely discussed in our family for reasons that were themselves never discussed. It was no secret, but it […]
Read more…Four or five years ago, who would have thought (predicted) that a President of the United States would be considered the least credible and least helpful leader in the world during a worldwide health crisis? The steady erosion of credibility began before election and has only increased over time. The pettiness, mendacity, churlishness and vindictiveness […]
Read more…Greetings from a self-imposed quarantine. I say self-imposed only because legal services were considered essential, so it was technically possible to keep the office open without violating the City and County Orders, but that seemed like the wrong decision for the safety and peace of mind of our clients and staff. We are at home […]
Read more…The COVID-19 pandemic is very serious, but it is temporary. On the other hand, the rollback of environmental regulations has a lasting effect, particularly if Trump is re-elected. On Tuesday, March 31, the Trump administration announced its final rule rolling back the Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency standards. The fuel efficiency standard had been […]
Read more…We are being watched. Our adversaries are observing how we respond to the COVID-19 crisis, which in a sense is a test of our ability and willingness to defend ourselves in biological and conventional warfare. It would be naïve to believe our enemies are not paying attention. What lessons have they learned? We were not […]
Read more…An editorial opinion by Jennifer Latson, an editor at Rice Business, which appeared in the Houston Chronicle on March 5, 2020, caught my eye. The title, “Rudeness, and Kindness, trickle down from above,” seemed like just plain ‘ol common sense, but there is science to back this up. Researchers at UCLA conducted an experiment […]
Read more…An opinion piece by John Leshy in The New York Times of March 4, 2020 returned my attention to Trump’s mismanagement of national parks, national monuments and federal lands in general. Leshy is a member of the board of the Grand Canyon Trust. Trump dramatically reduced the size of the Grand Staircase – Escalante Monument […]
Read more…On 3/11/2020, the United States Supreme Court entered an order “staying” the earlier ruling of the Ninth Court of Appeals in San Francisco which had stopped the enforcement of Trump’s “wait in Mexico” policy. This ruling does not mean the case is over. The appeal will go on. However, it does mean that while the […]
Read more…When I started to write this blog the first thought that came into my head was: the only person that hates science more than me is Trump. But, that isn’t really true. The truth is that I was really poor in science and math, but I have great respect for science and scientists. How could […]
Read more…I had a very interesting experience in a jury trial recently. One of the lawyers in the case asked the jury panel during jury selection whether they believed climate change was real or a hoax. This is a highly unusual question, but how a juror answers is revealing. To my surprise, about 2/3 of the […]
Read more…For the last 3 plus years we have been treated to photo-ops of Trump seated at the head of a long conference table while those in attendance take turns flattering him. Those who are blowing kisses and throwing flowers have got to be sick to their stomachs before, during and after these shameful experiences. No […]
Read more…On March 2, 2020, The New York Times reported that an official at the Interior Department is forcing the inclusion of intentionally misleading language about climate change into the agency’s scientific reports. This includes debunked claims that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is beneficial. According to the Times, the misleading language appears in at […]
Read more…National crises have always provided the opportunity for our best to be at their best. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Like you, I’ve been watching television and reading newspapers trying to find out about the coronavirus and trying to figure out how this pandemic will affect me, my family, my business, my community, my […]
Read more…You may have read or heard that Vladimir Putin is making arrangements for his future. Russia has, at least in theory, a constitution and term limits. To stay in power Putin will have to put his country through some constitutional, legislative and political machinations. Needless to say, he will get this done and become the […]
Read more…A criminal trial is underway in Houston against Arkema Inc. and Arkema senior level employees arising out of an explosion at Arkema’s plant during Hurricane Harvey. Arkema is in the plastics business. Arkema uses organic peroxides in its manufacturing process. Organic peroxides are highly volatile and will combust if not kept at or below freezing […]
Read more…Many Republican commentators, elected officials and Trump surrogates are denouncing Senator Mitt Romney’s vote to convict Trump. He is reviled by the Republicans as a traitor and applauded by the Democrats. I was touched by Romney’s emotional speech explaining his vote because he emphasized the importance of his sworn oath before God to exercise impartial […]
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