Free Republic

HOUSTON — Beyond the security gate at the Johnson Space Center’s 1960s-era campus here, inside a two-story glass and concrete building with winding corridors, there is a floating laboratory. Harold G. White, a physicist and advanced propulsion engineer at NASA, beckoned toward a table full of equipment there on a recent afternoon: a laser, a camera, some small mirrors, a ring made of ceramic capacitors and a few other objects. He and other NASA engineers have been designing and redesigning these instruments, with the goal of using them to slightly warp the trajectory of a photon, changing the distance it...

Town hall meeting offers education, guidance on new insurance law ___ Amid lagging enrollment and continuing problems with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, local and federal officials urged Houston residents Saturday to sign up for health insurance under the new law. Hundreds attended a town hall meeting Saturday morning at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown to learn more about their coverage options under so-called Obamacare, attempt to sign up for insurance plans and receive free health screenings. "We need to know what is best for us and what they can give to us," said Mirna Balderas,...

6 year old boy Josia Cotto’s mom and dad had no choice than to let him rest peacefully as their child was fighting a brain tumor that was inoperable for a period of 10 months. His mother said that they knew that they could do nothing about their son as they say he was unresponsive and did not open his eyes. They covered him in a soft blanket in white and blue and held on to the tiny hand one last time before the ambulance took him to a local hospital. She said that they told Josia that he had...

HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – A white Republican unseated a 24-year African-American incumbent from office in a surprise election victory that some are saying was racially tinged and deceptive. Dave Wilson, who KHOU reports is an “anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor,” is being criticized by his opposition for his campaign that reportedly lead the overwhelmingly African-American, Democratic district to believe he was black.

The surprise winner of a Texas election has been criticized for misleading the mainly black constituents into believing he was African American. Dave Wilson, a white Republican and anti-gay activist, beat Houston's 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin in what has been described as a 'racially tinged campaign'. Mr Wilson won with a margin of 26 after he campaigned using flyers featuring African Americans and the message 'Vote for our neighbor Dave Wilson'. 'I'd always said it was a long shot. I didn't expect to win,' the former fringe candidate told KHOU. His flyers, designed using pictures he had found on the...

Here’s a candidate who turned identity politics on its head while managing to break every politically correct rule about politics in the process.KHOU: Dave Wilson chuckles as he talks about his unorthodox political campaign.“I’d always said it was a long shot,” Wilson says. “No, I didn’t expect to win.”Still, he figured he’d have fun running, because he was fed up with what he called “all the shenanigans” at the Houston Community College System. As a conservative white Republican running in a district whose voters are overwhelmingly black Democrats, the odds seemed overwhelmingly against him.Then he came up with an...

Dave Wilson chuckles as he talks about his unorthodox political campaign. "I'd always said it was a long shot," Wilson says. "No, I didn't expect to win." Still, he figured he'd have fun running, because he was fed up with what he called "all the shenanigans" at the Houston Community College System. As a conservative white Republican running in a district whose voters are overwhelmingly black Democrats, the odds seemed overwhelmingly against him. Then he came up with an idea, an advertising strategy that his opponent found "disgusting." If a white guy didn't have a chance in a mostly African-American...

It was movie night for President George H.W. and Barbara Bush recently when they packed the Edwards Marq*E Stadium 23 & IMAX with 300 friends and family members for a special screening of “The Book Thief.” “The Book Thief,”which opens in theaters Friday, is based on a best-selling novel by Markus Zusak and tells the story of Liesel (played by Sophie Nelisse), a young girl who is sent to live with a foster family in Germany during World War II. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson play the foster parents, Hans and Rosa Huberman. As Liesel learns to read, she also...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- An off-duty reserve deputy from Louisiana shot and wounded a suspected robber in north Houston overnight. (snip) Authorities say the deputy pulled out his gun and shot the robber in the neck. His condition is unknown at this time. The deputy and his brother left the scene and called 911. Investigators are not sure if the robbery was a setup.

HOUSTON -– A robber chose the wrong person to try and steal from and ended up getting shot, Houston police said late Tuesday. According to officers with the Houston Police Department, it happened as two brothers were in their car outside an apartment complex on Northborough Drive at Rushcreek Drive. As the men waited for a girlfriend to come outside, the would-be robber walked up and pushed a gun through the driver’s window. Police said the driver, an off-duty reserve deputy from Louisiana, pulled out his gun and opened fire. The suspect was shot in the neck and was sent...

The close-range shooting of a Stafford police officer began just after 3:30 a.m. Saturday when she happened upon a strange sight: A four-door sedan idling at a green light with its turn signal blinking. After nearly an entire go-cycle, Officer Ann Carrizales followed the Nissan from the 12700 block of Murphy Road to a nearby mobile home park, where she pulled the car over. She approached the vehicle with three men inside and began "asking if they were OK, if they needed anything," according to Stafford Police Department Chief Bonny Krahn. "He responded that they were on their way home...

aw enforcement officials are investigating a threat against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was vaulted into national prominence with his push to defund ObamaCare. A person identifying himself as Troy Gilmore Jr., posted on Twitter Friday morning: “Take down Ted Cruz, at his home” and listed Cruz’s home address in Houston.

Bum Phillips, who helped turn the Houston Oilers into a playoff team in the mid-1970s and was a beloved figure in the state of Texas, died Friday at the age of 90, according to his son. Wrote Wade Phillips, the Texans defensive coordinator, late Friday night: After coaching high school for many years, Phillips spent a number of seasons coaching in college, including apprenticing under Bear Bryant at Texas A&M before moving on to SMU and Oklahoma State.

A Houston strip club is suing a businessman for allegedly not paying a $320,000 tab he racked up in just one month. Big spender James Jay Beckman reportedly ran up the gigantic bill by enjoying numerous private lap dances during 14 visits to Privilege between July and August.

<p>"..............Bello and her family were among several thousand Houston-area residents who attended an event at Reliant Center on Saturday to learn about their options under the new federal health care law and to get free medical screenings, flu shots and groceries.</p>

I am attending the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Houston today.  Last  night there was a reception, and many prominent second amendment supporters attended.  I was able to snap some photos of a few.  I missed many.  I have included  links to their organizations. Alan Gottlieb Prime Mover for these conferences: Second Amendment Foundation Alan Korwin (red ribbon): Gunlaws.com and Jim Irving Buckey Firearms Association David Kopel, Independence Institute Charles Heller, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) Doug Ritter,  Knife Rights Jeff Knox  The Firearms Coallition Dr. Timothy Wheeler  Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership Phillip Van Cleave  Virginia...

The First Lady wants you to drink more water. On a call announcing Michelle Obama‘s newest healthy living initiative Wednesday, Let’s Move Executive Director Sam Kass explained that the White House is working with cities, private companies and public taps to promote the message to “drink up.” Participating companies include Brita, Poland Spring, Evian, Dasani, Voss and others, which will carry a “Drink Up” logo on their bottles, and participating cities include Chicago, Los Angeles county, Houston and, appropriately, Watertown, Wis., where the First Lady is visiting Thursday to kick off the initiative.

When it comes to the fate of the iconic but now shuttered and dilapidated Houston Astrodome, take your pick from a variety of sports clichés to describe the stadium’s dire situation. The bottom of the ninth and down to the last out. On the ropes. A must-win ballgame. A last-ditch effort has been organized to save the dome, with local and national preservation groups and a new political action committee banding together to come up with a solution for the stadium that involves rebirth and not razing the structure. …

A school cafeteria fight turned deadly this morning at a high school in Houston where one student was stabbed to death and three others were injured, police said today. Three persons of interest are in custody, police said.

In between bowls of chicken poodle soup and deciding to provide air cover for al-Qaeda in Syria, our Dear Leader, Barack Hussein Obama, found time to meet with mayors from our crumbling major cities. From Justin Sink of The Hill: *** "President Obama told a collection of big-city mayors Tuesday at the White House that he would continue to use executive actions to combat gun violence plaguing major cities. In the meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder and the mayors of 18 cities from across the nation, Obama discussed commonly applicable strategies to reduce youth violence. 'He also vowed to...