VicMan

Some people are always going to buy junk food, but making healthier food more affordable is a good step.

And another step is to tax junk food and/or to make it ineligible for purchase using Lone Star cards

Since the City of Houston =/ HISD, I wonder what the overall population of the HISD territory was back then and is now...

While I do not doubt that having young children exposes you to more people with young children, the demographics of both HISD and Houston do not validate your observations. Enrollment in HISD has declined throughout the 2000s, losing approximately 4% of its students over this decade. This trend has been downward since at least the 70s, when there was at one time 240,000 students. Keep in mind that the City was only 1.5 million in population then, compared to 2.3 million now. The shortsighted approach would be to ignore the declines and continue to operate schools that are not supported by the neighborhood population.

Not so much in the US, but quite a bit overseas. Throughout Europe, and also regularly when I go to Japan.

I think the current use of regional jets like the Embraer, which is becoming more and more popular as airlines don't want to spend more money on bigger jets, is a travesty. Not only are these little jets less efficient in terms of fuel used per passenger carried, they are also clogging the airways and taxiways of America, leading to more delays. The obvious solution, for the environment, for the economy, for peoples' pocketbooks, comfort, and convenience, is to return to rail for regional travel.

It's not that the airline's don't want to spend more money on larger aircraft. It's because they want to provide more frequent flight schedules.

However the Embraer 145s and 135s are becoming less and less popular as they are not very fuel efficient. Now airlines are moving towards the Embraer 170s and 190s.

In this case it was a waste of time to protest this Wal-Mart, knowing everything stated earlier in the thread. s3mh, please don't promote jousting at windmills. Please don't promote Don Quixote-ism.

Knowing that Houston is not a Spring Valley, and that it is not a Helotes, and knowing that all of the evidence points to the development being 100% within the law and regulations, it would not be possible to oppose this Wal-Mart.

1. It is never a waste of time to advocate for what you believe is best for your community. Plenty of Walmarts have been defeated across the country, including two recent examples in Helotes and Spring Valley.

2. You don't need a lawsuit to stop a Walmart. This development has major problems with traffic and drainage. If the City is held to its promise to "hold the developers feet to the fire", the development may not happen in its current form. But if everyone just walks away and leaves it up to the City, the favors will come pouring in for the developer and Walmart and everything will be rubber stamped. If people are vigilant and organized, then the City may have political cover to put their foot down and take real action that may reduce the size of the Walmart, which would probably send them packing.

3. Any attempt at reform will be shot down by the deep pocketed developers. But, if people make developer's lives very difficult every time they come up with a tower or supercenter in a residential/urban neighborhood or whatever stupid and irresponsible development they will come up with next, then developers may see some sort of reform as a better way to do business than to have to deal with all the ill will, delay and expense that comes with each land use fight.

I don't see how this benefits anyone. Most of the routes and cities overlap. At least Continental-United was somewhat complimentary.

I used to fly AirTran a lot until it started cutting cities. I think I flew Chicago to Newark six times or more. But the writing was on the wall when AirTran pulled out of Indianapolis.

I mean, seriously -- How do you run an respectable airline and not serve your home city?

The main thing is that Southwest gets access to Atlanta.

Same here. It's about time that METRO puts ads on buses. From a revenue standpoint, to me it's a no brainer.

Found this in the report...

"Revenue Opportunities - Pursue advertising on buses."

i like it.

Can we please bill all of the individuals responsible so they are immediately bankrupted?

No, really, we need to determine who is guilty and force them to pay up for the money that they forced us to lose. If it bankrupts them and harms prospects for them and their families, too bad.

It'll also set an example for future leaders.

The shareholder approval was no surprise.

This is only tangentially relevant, if at all, but I saw Gordon Bethune grocery shopping in the West Gray Kroger this morning....

Did you ask him any questions about this?

I don't feel like dispelling your misinformation. Use the search function if you desire my already-made responses. I doubt you will, though. No one ever does.

I think it would be preferable to make an "FAQ" blog post. Instead of making people go on easter egg hunts for your responses (gosh, where to start?), make it convenient for them to see your responses to frequently-asked questions, then they can work from there. So every time someone asks you about something, link to your FAQ.

I understand that in these rail the same points can be made over and over again. I think an "FAQ" blog post is the best solution.

Also part of the reason why Chicago may have been chosen was to placate the United side of the equation.

After the merger is completed, Houston could always offer incentives for Continental to come back. Maybe allow Continental a low rent rate at a city-owned office building by Bush Airport.

Agreed it might make sense to shrink the theater, and I appreciate trying to put a positive spin on things, but really, closure hardly reflects the success of downtown. Quite the opposite. After all, DVDs, and before that videotapes, have been around for decades. Some people would prefer to see movies at a theater rather than wait for them to show up on DVD.

But DVDs didn't eat into the film market until the 2000s. In the 1990s there was a theater boom. Now theaters in many parts of the country are downsizing or closing.

All this talk about female Muslims made me realize something. Out of the dozens of clients I've worked with from Saudi Arabia I've never seen a female one.

Women have to have permission in order to leave the country.

Most Muslims live in Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. The problem with Saudi is that it is using its wealth to spread its version of Islam.

Well, yes, marketing is marketing and it's not likely that a high name chef will locate in a strip center.

Having said that, I've had great food in non-chain restaurants located in strip centers. Try visiting Chinatown sometime. Plus sometimes people do want KFC, Arby's, etc.

I think the point is that the developers are nuts if they think they are going to get "local boutiques and chef driven restaurants" in a strip mall anchored by Walmart. Just imagine the phone call:

Developer: Hi, Monica Pope? How are you? I heard you might be interested in opening another restaurant in the Heights area?

MP: Sure, what is the development like? Who is the anchor?

Developer: Oh the development will be very nice. Landscaping, green buildings, etc.

MP: So there isn't an anchor?

Developer: No, there is. It's Walmart. But it is a new urban concept with lots of browns!

MP: (click)

This whole "boutique/chef driven restaurant" talk is nothing more than PR to try to fool people into thinking that this development will be a benefit for the Heights. This development will fill up with the usual junk that follows Walmart around.

Spring Valley successfully resisted Wal-Mart.

Yeah. Spring Valley is a separate city from Houston, so Spring Valley can do that.

Clearly opposition to the project doesn't see it this way. Walmart is hosting a community meeting and hiring PR gurus, so certainly they see some kind of threat. They have been kept out of other communities in Houston and all over the country. The fight for a lot of these people is real.

Where have they been kept out of in Houston? I know Wal-Mart has been kept out of New York City, but that is a city with zoning and more restrictive laws. Houston has no zoning. This may still be a PR issue for Wal-Mart, but the store is going to be built.

However, it seems residents of that area and the surrounding communities are not willing to settle.

If they aren't willing to talk to Wal-Mart and ask them to build the store a certain way, they are out of luck.

I have family on 21st who have had their car broken into no less than 20 times when parked on the street....he had a truck too large to park in the garage. The 20th time or so was the breaking point and he traded it in for something that would fit in the garage. Ironically, or stupidly, I said stupidly he parked the new truck on the street for one night, and sure enough, I get a call at 6am that he wants me to pick him up cause he had to drop his truck off for some new glass....I think he is on a discount program with the glass shop on 19th now.

He should start placing animal traps in his truck, so if some dude tries to break in, he is snared by the trap and has to be taken out by police.

I remember when there was an HEB store IN THE HEIGHTS. And what happened? People didn't shop there so HEB tore it down and someone built (another) bank with a reserved parking space for each and every one of its customers.

How many years ago was that? Things can change, and what is once unattractive may become attractive, or vice versa.

It's kinda strange how you're expected to conform to their lifestyle while in their country, but they don't expect to conform to our mores when they're over here. It's a double-standard, pure and simple.

The countries where Westerners are forced to conform are Saudi and (to an extent) Iran. In Saudi and the Maldives they do not allow open practice of other religions, but in the latter they cannot totally expect Westerners to conform to Islamic standards as the Maldives is a resort paradise country. Saudi is the only country that severely restricts Westerners/non-Muslims (except on compounds) - but Saudi is also a very large country. To a degree Iran restricts non-Muslims/Westerners.

In Europe France banned the burqa, and France and Turkey limit the wearing of religious clothing in some public settings/circumstances.

This.

When the merger news came out, all we kept hearing was how Chicago bent over backwards with incentives and whatnot. Then we see that COH paid $65 million in construction at IAH for Continental. This almost looks like a stadium-type deal. It also shows that contrary to the belief of some, COH could've put forward a better incentive package to keep CO here, and would have if given the chance.

Would you agree with the idea that the City of Houston has or will have the ability to submit an attractive incentive deal if it waits until the leases in the Chicago buildings run out? Houston could let Chicago have the HQ now, and then take time to assemble a good incentive package that would be offered around the time when the Chicago leases are up for renewal.

I know a lot of airlines like to have their headquarters by airports, so the city of Houston could have the United HQ built on the property of Bush Intercontinental Airport. That way United would have all of its facilities (simulators, flight operations, corporate, crew hotels, etc) in one place. The United HQ could be accompanied by additional hotels, other offices, a public high school for aviation/airline industry careers, etc.

2 contradictory statements.

How are they contradictory? If they are contradictory, how? I don't see how they contradict.

So how, in an emergency situation, is (A) a parent calling the office, and the office summoning the student either by sending someone down to the classroom or by a PA system

slower than (B ) student with a phone off, not getting an emergency voicemail until he turns his phone on during the break between periods. It is not slower.

By emergency I was thinking of scenarios where a students needs to contact a parent or to contact 911. Now, there are non-emergency times when students could check messages or place phone calls without disrupting class (between classes, lunch, or times when students have no work to do in a particular class and the teacher allows phone calls).

And if the phone is only put away but still on... where do you draw the line? Is it acceptable for a student to check his phone everytime it rings, everytime a txt comes in, everytime an email comes in to see if its an emergency situation? You going to let a student check a voicemail in the middle of class to determine if an emergency has happened? How fast do you think the other students would catch on to the fact that feigning an emergency phone call in class gets them dismissed. It would be abused.

By off I mean the power is off. By off, text messages are not checked, voice mail is not checked, etc. etc. If an emergency arises, a phone can be turned on.

Is it acceptable for a parent to contact a student directly of an emergency, and that student leaving with Admin being left in the dark ? Where would the accountability be if students were allowed to drive off anytime an emergency arose without notifying the administration? How quickly would that be abused.

The only way for it NOT to be abused is to have adults talking to adults... parents to admin.

The only way any student should be allowed to leave in the middle of the day is if the admin is notified. Having parents bypass admin makes it impossible for the school to remain accountable for the welfare of the students.

By "emergency" I was thinking of situations where a student needs to call a parent.

When a parent has an emergency on his/her end, usually the word is relayed to the student, but the matter does not need the student's assistance. In the case of an emergency happening at a school, the parents would want to know right away.

The HISD code of conduct is here: http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectEnglish/Images/PDF/Code_Eng.pdf

Under its Level II offenses:

"Use or operation of paging devices, including beepers, cell

phones, electronic pagers, or any other type of electronic communication

system on school campuses or at functions during

school hours. Such devices may be used at a time and place as

determined by the individual campus in coordination with the

campus Shared-Decision-Making Committee (SDMC)."

How are cell phones and their use handled in HISD and other surrounding school districts? It has to be a nightmare for teachers. Maybe someone with kids in middle and high schools can answer.

Is policy managed by the individual schools within the district or is there a district wide 'code of student phone conduct'?

There was a report on 13 just now that said the incident happened on 4-28 and the teacher has been fired. Took place at Jamie's House Charter School.

No doubt it will make all the morning talk shows soon.

1. Too slow (For an emergency situation, going through the office is unacceptably slow now - for a non-emergency, going through the office is okay)

2. Too slow, or adults in charge are incapacitated or unable to do anything.

In emergency situations, seconds count, and you want people to contact authorities ASAP. The more people with cell phones, the more quickly it will happen

3. "They are Wanted... to make life easier." - There is a reason why cell phones without SIM cards can still make emergency calls

4. "If they allow phones in the classroom.. they will be used.. as this video proves." - If a teacher is unable to control a class, then a teacher will be unable to enforce a "no cell phones in the classroom" rule anyway. If a cell phone is off and in the pocket, the teacher won't see it and won't hear it. It's like it's not there.

"They are not Needed." - They were a luxury in, oh 1992. It's 2010.

OR.. parents and children can contact each other via the Office like they did successfully for decades and decades.

OR.. Adults in charge, teachers and admin, should be making the judgment call on when to contact emergency personnel.

They are not Needed.

They are Wanted... to make life easier.

I realize times have changed.. I want my kid to have a cell phone on them too if they were driving.... but...

If they allow phones in the classroom.. they will be used.. as this video proves. Actually making phone calls is such a small % of what a phone is capable of and everything else is one big distraction. They should be kept in lockers. If not that.. confiscate them for the period if they are caught out in a classroom. Cell phones are just one small piece that helps contribute to the zero discipline in today's schools.. I weep for the public education system.

Cell phones are needed in case emergencies happen and parents need to contact their children (or children can use it to contact law enforcement or the fire department) - Also if a student drives an automobile to and from school he or she should have a cell phone anyway. Always having it on one's person (instead of putting it in a locker, etc) is also a good way to ensure that the cell phone is never stolen.

But in the classroom they need to be turned off so that usage does not disrupt the class. So the phones can be on their persons, but the kids shouldn't actually be fiddling with them.

why the hell are kids allowed to have cell phones in the classroom?

We all just got by fine growing up without being in 24/7 constant communication with the world? They should at least be made to be kept in their lockers.

while what the teacher did is horrible.. even if the kid 100% deserved it.. the fact that kids are allowed to have cell phones, and cameras, and videos, and texting in the classroom is ridiculous. how the hell can that be conducive to learning?

Is any other airline headquarters separated from its operations center by a great distance?

AFAIK Lufthansa's headquarters are in Cologne, but the operations are out of Frankfurt.

I fixed it for you.

If a Downtown property management company offers United a sweet deal, that could be a possibility.