With early voting underway in Texas, who can a liberal or progressive support in 2014? 

And given how low our expectations are here in Texas, who can we vote for who isn't a far right wing extremist?    

I'll also be focusing on a small number of races in Harris County, Texas. I live in Houston.

Early voting in Texas ends on Friday, October 31. General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4.  

Here is my ballot----

Governor of Texas: Wendy Davis 

I wish Ms. Davis had run a campaign more focused on economic issues and the refusal of the State of Texas to accept the expansion of health care from the Affordable Care Act.  We need to expand turnout in Texas. But Ms.Davis is who we have for the top spot on the ballot. She could be worse. 

Lt. Governor of Texas: Leticia Van De Putte 

Ms. Van De Putte has run a hopeful and energetic campaign against far right-wing extremist Dan Patrick.
Given the power of the Lt. Governor over the Texas State Senate, I'd ask that people consider looking at Dan Patrick's record and discussing this race with fellow Texans.  

United States Senator from Texas: Emily Sanchez

With Democratic U.S. Senate nominee David Almaeel headed nowhere, Texas Green Party nominee Emily Sanchez is the best pick. Ms. Sanchez is the U.S. Senate candidate talking about climate change and fair wages for all.  

Texas Attorney General: Sam Houston

Mr. Houston is a strong competent candidate running against a Republican nominee--Ken Paxton--who may soon face criminal charges.    

Texas Agriculture Commissioner: Kenneth Kendrick

This is another race where the Democrat is not running a credible campaign. Green Party nominee Kendrick is well-informed about Texas agriculture and has a history of taking on big corporate interests.  

Harris County District Attorney: Kim Ogg

This is likely the most important race on the Harris County ballot. Ms. Ogg offers a hopeful and more humane course of justice in Harris County after years of Republican control in this position.

Harris County Judge Executive: David Collins

There is no Democrat in this race. Why not cast a ballot for thoughtful and progressive Green for the highest office in Harris County? 

Harris County Board of Education: Melissa Noriega  

I know Melissa and she is all right. 

Make sure you vote all the way down the ballot on Election Day. The judgeships are important. 

Here is my post from a few days ago of things I intend to do to be of at least some impact in this election.

Taking part in traditional politics does not mean that we should ignore things like the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong or the recent climate change march in New York City.  

The work of freedom is up to each of us. We've got to make use of every opportunity and avenue we can to make progress in our nation and the world.  

Here is a list of ideas for everyday resistance to our often greedy and violent society.    

Please read all of NeilAquino.com 

Early voting begins in Texas on Monday, October 20, 2014 and runs through Friday October 31, 2014. General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2014.

Because of our wrongful Texas voter ID which is intended to keep poor people and people of color from voting, here are the various forms of ID that will be accepted at the polls so you'll be allowed to vote. 

Here are things I'm doing to help candidates and ideas I support in this upcoming election and beyond---

1. I'm voting.

2. I'm asking people I know if they are voting. 

3. In the next day or two, I'm going to make a series of small donations to candidates I support and also to the Texas Green Party. The Green Party offers Texas voters a needed option for fair wages, a sustainable way of living and more democracy.

4. I'm using resources I have such as this blog and my Facebook page to advocate for my beliefs. 

5. I'm making this list and asking others to do something similar if they think it might be of value.  It helps to have a plan as time growing short in this election season. 

6. I'm making the point that Texas Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick nominee is a far right extremist who should give both independents and Republicans second thought at the ballot box.

7. I'm going to keep on saying that the Democratic Party needs to focus on economic stagnation and frozen wages in Texas and the United States, with the same energy it has applied to some social issues. 

8. I'm asking you to offer your own ideas with a comment here on the blog.

The work of freedom is up to each of us.  

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana says the U.S. approach on Ebola is flawed because "...it focuses on Africa." 

At the same time, the World Health Organization said today that the number of new Ebola cases in Africa may number as high as 10,000 a week by December of this year. 

If the disease is stopped in Africa, the threat of the disease spreading around the world will be dramatically reduced. 

I've made a second small donation to Ebola relief as part of what I can do to combat the spread of this terrible illness.  

Here is the Ebola relief page of Doctors Without Borders. 

Here is the Ebola relief page for UNICEF.

Maybe there are other organizations you support in the fight against Ebola. 

I have to compose myself for a time to manage the anger at political parties using Ebola as a vote getting tactic. I have to focus on what I can accomplish to help people and focus on seeing us all as connected even as some choose a mean-spirited path. 

I believe we can move forward as individuals and as a connected world. This is the course we must maintain.

We just have to move ahead even though moving ahead is often very difficult. 

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

In case you have  family or co-workers who believe various conservative accounts about how President Obama is responsible for ebola or how ISIS terrorists are streaming across the border, I have included a picture here of nice flowers so you can just let go and look at something pleasant.

We can fight back and we can make progress. But we can't fix it all. So sometimes you just have to let go.

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

My mom endorses Alison Grimes as the next United States Senator from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky.

My mom is seen here on the right of Ms. Grimes at a recent event in Northern Kentucky. 

On the left of Ms. Grimes is my mom's friend Stephanie. 

A recent Louisville Courier-Journal poll has Ms. Grimes leading by a small margin over Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. 

Mitch McConnell has been in the Senate for 30 years. Senator McConnell is most responsive to special interests rather than to the people of Kentucky. 

My mom would not steer you in the wrong direction. Please support Alison Grimes for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky in any way you feel you are able. 

Here is the website for Ms. Grimes.  

Please read all of NeilAquino.com 

Barbara Gardner is easily the most qualified candidate to serve citizens of Harris County, Texas as Judge of the 234th Civil District Court. 

(Photo to the left is of Ms. Gardner.) 

About Ms. Gardner---  

"With 30 years of experience as a lawyer and being board certified in labor and employment law, Barbara decided to devote her time to helping change the direction of the judicial system.  Currently, Barbara is a partner with Lam, Lyn & Philip, where she specializes in employment cases, representing both individuals and companies. Additionally, she provides consulting services and frequently speaks on legal issues. In the past, Barbara also handled personal injury cases, commercial disputes, and appeals at all levels of court."

Here is Ms. Gardner's judicial philosphy---

"Barbara believes that district judges should have considerable courtroom experience and also the judicial temperament necessary while seeing a case through from beginning to end.  Also, district courts should apply the law fairly and equally.  The courts should have open ears to all who come before it, not just the large corporations.  As one former bank officer said, “Corporations have rights, but they don’t have a right to win.”  Barbara will bring equality to the 234th District Court.  Additionally, neither party affiliation nor contributions should sway a judge’s opinion.  District judges should follow the precedent set by previous opinions." 

Ms. Gardner offers a considered and temperate voice for the ever more ideologically extreme Texas justice system. Please vote for Barbara Gardner for the 234th Civil District Court as a statement of simple fairness and moderation in our Texas and Harris County courts. 

Here is Ms. Gardner's website.    

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

Below is a list of Green Party nominees on the ballot in Texas for 2014. 

The Green Party has a message we need in Texas and in the nation.

Take a few minutes to review this list and see if there is a Green nominee running in your community.  There are also statewide Texas nominees. 

Here is the link for the Green Party of Texas.

Here are the ten core values of the Green party.

Here is the Facebook page for Emily (Spiceybrown) Sanchez for U.S. Senate from Texas.

Here is the link for Kenneth Kendrick for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. 

Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Kendrick are the best nominees for these offices. Democrats have no chance in either race.

Here is the list---

US Senate - Emily "Spicybrown" Sanchez
Governor - Brandon Parmer
Lieutenant Governor - Chandrakantha Courtney
Attorney General - Jamar Osborne
Comptroller of Public Accounts - Deb Shafto
Commissioner of Agriculture - Kenneth Kendrick
Railroad Commissioner - Martina Salinas
Supreme Court Justice Place 7 - Charles E. Waterbury
Supreme Court Justice Place 8 - Jim Chisolm
Court of Criminal Appeals Place 4 - Judtih Sanders-Castro
Court of Criminal Appeals Place 9 - George Joseph Altgelt
US Representative District 2 - Mark Roberts
US Representative District 3 - Paul Blair
US Representative District 13 - Don Cook
US Representative District 18 - Remington Alessi
US Representative District 21 - Antonio Diaz
US Representative District 28 - Michael D. Cary
US Representative District 35 - kat swift
US Representative District 36 - Hal J. Ridley, Jr
State Senate District 10 - John Tunmire
State Senate District 17 - David Courtney
State Representative District 42 - Niclolas Serna III
State Representative District 64 - Braeden Wright
State Representative District 80 - Marco Buentello
State Representative District 130 - Art Browning
State Representative District 146 - Morgan Bradford
County Judge - (Bexar) Paul Pipkin
County Judge - (Harris) David B. Collins
County Judge - (Webb) Frank Cortez
County Clerk - (Bexar) Earl Lyons
County Clerk - (Comal) Matthew Hanson
County Clerk - (Travis) Bill Stout
County Clerk - (Denton) Schyler Butler
County Criminal Court At Law No 13 - (Harris) Clint Davidson
County Commissioner Precinct 2 - (Bexar) Chuck Robinson
County Commissioner Precinct 4 - (Webb) Luis F. Decker
County Treasurer - (Webb) Jesus Quiroz
Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Pl 3 - (Bexar) Diana D. Kendall
Justice of the Peace Pct 2, Pl 1 - (Webb) William "Willie" Koehn
Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 - (Webb) Lakshmana "Vish" Viswanath
Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 - (Denton) Aaron Renaud
Commissioner of General Land Office - Valerie Alessi
State Representative District 123 - Paul Ingmundson
County Commissioner Precinct 4 - (Bexar) Matthew Lerma     

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

A New York Times story about the 2014 U.S. House elections, discusses the efforts of Republican candidates looking for first time election to Congress to move the Republican caucus and the whole House even further to the right.

From the article---

"One nominee proposed reclassifying single parenthood as child abuse. Another suggested that four “blood moons” would herald “world-changing, shaking-type events” and said Islam was not a religion but a “complete geopolitical structure” unworthy of tax exemption. Still another labeled Hillary Rodham Clinton “the Antichrist.”...Then there is Mr. Hice. Having once called evolution a lie from “the pit of hell,” Mr. Broun, the departing representative from Georgia, would be hard to beat on the inflammatory front. But Mr. Hice has a record. He once said of women in politics, “If the woman’s within the authority of her husband, I don’t see a problem. ”...He compared the recent appearance of red “blood moons” to prophecies that preceded the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Israeli statehood and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. In a satirical book, he claimed he had found a homosexual agenda to “sodomize your sons” by seducing them “in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms. "

The views you read above are of people likely to be sitting in the majority caucus of the United States House of Representatives after the November elections. And these extremists are in many respects well in-tune with the people they represent in their districts. 

What we should do with our Republican elected officials is start to define them as moderate Christians or Christian extremists, just like we do when we discuss various Islamic groups in whatever Muslim country we are bombing and invading at the moment.       

These folks are as extreme and as dangerous as any foreign religious warriors and jihadists. We should call them out for just what they are.

Please read all of NeilAquino.com 

Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas does not really live in Kansas. 

This recalls the fact that in 2012 that Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana did not live in Indiana any more.

How can at least two of just 100 U.S. Senators not live in the states they claim to represent?  

I don't support term limits, but some of these folks sure are distant from the folks they claim to represent.  

This and the fact that most of them are bought off by big money.

The work of asking for and working for something better is up to each of us.  

You are just going to have to decide that you have had enough.  

Please read all of NeilAquino.com

It is not a great picture, but here is Harris Party Green Party Judge Executive nominee David Collins.  

I took this picture last night at a Green Party meet the candidates night. 

There is no Democrat in the race for Harris County Judge Executive. If you want a progressive option in this important race, your best bet is Mr. Collins.


Mr. Collins is focusing on the need for the extension of public transportation in Harris County, on the issue of poverty across the county, the cutting of fossil fuel use in the county and a variety of other important  concerns. 

Here is Mr. Collins' full platform. 

I saw a number of Harris County and statewide Texas Green candidates last night both in person and on Skype. 

The Green Ticket is solid and merits your consideration. 

Green Agriculture Commissioner nominee Kenneth Kendrick is getting attention as a knowledgeable figure running against two lackluster major party nominees.      

Here is the link to the Harris County Green Party. 

Here is the Texas Green Party. This link has a list of all Green candidates in Texas in 2014.

Here is the Green Party of the United States. 

It can be a leap for people who most often vote Democratic to vote Green instead. My view is that we must embrace a mix of conventional and unconventional politics to meet the many challenges of the times. I'd also ask folks who feel left out my the two-party process to consider the Greens as a way to find a hopeful way to engage in politics and public affairs.

Here are the ten core values of the Green Party.   

Please read all of NeilAquino.com