Female life size target shooting dolls that bleed when shot. Get them at your local NRA meetings.

For many Americans, the NRA symbolizes a pro-gun organization that is determined to promote and make available arms, hand guns, machine guns, and assault weapons for the general public. Just this past year, they have run tasteless ads against Obama, which New Jersey Governor Chris Christie rightfully condemned. And most recently at their convention in Houston, the NRA’s key note speech compared New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Hitler. Seriously? Compare him to Hitler because he wants to put a tax on supersize soft drinks? In case the NRA hasn’t noticed, America has an obesity problem with one-third of American kids are considered overweight or obese. Taxing soft drinks is a good idea because it can shoulder the annual health care costs related to obesity. The idea was actually suggested by a Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio two years ago. But enough about their insipid ads and key note speakers. What is more outrageous is that fact that they promote and market blood spattering female shooting targets they dub “the Ex girlfriend”.

Yes, the NRA actively promotes a company that sells a life-size female doll that bleeds when you shoot it because we all know, they need to protect themselves from the government, Democrats, and now ex-girlfriends who are out to get them. Or wait, maybe this was the kind of target practice Radcliffe Haughton Jr. would have liked as he drove to his wife’s work, killed her and shot six other women, killing two of them with shots to the head before shooting himself dead. Look at the boy below, one of the young attendees at the 2013 NRA convention. What is he learning from being exposed to female mannequin targets like this? And in 10 years when he starts to commit violence against women, people will wonder why.

Of course NRA members will say that because of the 2^nd Amendment, it’s their right to be able to have as many guns as they want. However, when you analyze the grounds for their argument, they really only have one argument – an Amendment that was written by Man, not on tablets of stone by the finger of God. Written more than two hundred years ago when we were at war with the British. And we know how many countries have invaded us since then.

Oppressive towards women. Incompassionate towards families of gun victims. Tasteless ads towards our President and his children. Comparing Bloomberg to Hitler. Lack of common sense. This is what the NRA symbolizes.

I visit with Houston City Council Member Ellen Cohen to discuss the Cohen Ambassador Program.

Two years ago, officials in San Francisco implemented a new community safety program called the “Community Ambassador” program, which provided residents with safety escorts to walk them from bus stops to work, home, or other locations whenever they felt unsafe (particularly seniors). This team of multiethnic ambassadors provides a visible, non-law enforcement presence in busy transit and business corridors. In a nutshell, the program has worked out well and has gone from being tested as a pilot to now being a permanent program in San Francisco.

Flash forward to today; Houston City Council Woman Ellen Cohen has launched a District C (Southwest Houston, Museum District, Montrose, and The Heights) Comhen Ambassador program. These role models are ambassadors who are active in their own civic organizations and communicate regularly with Cohen’s staff to address pressing concerns in their communities. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Council Woman Ellen Cohen at her office.

Melchor: Is there anyone past or present that you admire?

Cohen: “Professional, Eleanor Tinsley. I had known her for years. She passed the no smoking ordinance among other ordinances. She always used to wear this broach in the shape of a turtle. Why a turtle? Because you don’t get anywhere unless you stick your head out.

Emotionally, my Mom. She turns 98 this year on Cinco de Mayo. She still plays bridge, hosts dinner parties, and is a perennial optimist.”

Melchor: What makes you laugh?

Cohen: “Brooke, my Chief of Staff. I like being surrounded by people who make me laugh and also appreciate clever repertoire.”

Melchor: What job has been more challenging, serving as the CEO of the Houston area women’s center, serving as State Representative, or serving on City Council?

Cohen: “They are all challenging. When you only have one shelter in the 4th largest city, trying to get the community to understand that it’s not just a woman’s problem that is challenging.”

Melchor: Since serving as Council Member, what is one law that City Council has passed that has made you most proud?

Cohen: “The Amendment that clears the rape kit backlog. The rape kits contain vital pieces of evidence that can be used to apprehend violent criminals, and because there was a lack of resources, 6,600 rape kits have been sitting there untested. The survivors of sexual assault crimes deserve justice, and this proposal provides a practical avenue towards accomplishing that goal.”

Melchor: What is one of the biggest challenges residents in District C are facing right now?

Cohen: “I am not sure if it’s unique to District C. Streets and sidewalks need improvement as well as other infrastructure. The good news is that our District has greater development than any other District in the city.”

Melchor: Name one thing about you that most people don’t know?

Cohen: “If I tell you, then everyone will know.”

Brooke: “She can shop with the motor running.”

: )

Melchor: The neighborhood Ambassador program was started so that ambassadors could be the ‘eyes and ears’ for civic associations throughout District C. To my knowledge, no other City Council member has created such a program. How did you think of this idea?

Cohen: “The idea just came to me. There are close to 80 civic clubs in District C. How am I going to visit all these civic clubs? And one day I was driving and the idea just came to me. What if there was a representative from each of these civic clubs who could be the ‘voice’ of their civic association. After their meetings, they could very quickly communicate to us via the internet and let us know what the pressing issues in their neighborhood are. Moreover, the CAP program could be a great way for Ambassadors to share ideas on how to improve their neighborhoods, reduce crime, raise money, and more.”

Interview Close.

I had the pleasure of representing the Avondale Community for a brief time as a Cohen Ambassador. Not only did I enjoy my time meeting with the residents of Avondale and communicating their concerns to Cohen’s office, Cohen’s office was very supportive, quick to respond, and provided me with all the necessary information needed to address a specific concern. The Cohen Ambassador Program is a great initiative and I hope other Council Members implement similar programs in their Districts as well.

Some school districts are taking an innovative approach to keeping our kids safe – setting up police satellite offices in public school.

I am in unanimous approval of Police Chiefs and City Councils who are in favor of this approach – allowing police officers to conduct some of their daily work in schools. It’s smart, efficient, doesn’t cost the taxpayers any additional money, and it should discourage any would-be attackers. Officers can take calls, fill out paperwork, and still go out to the community to patrol or respond to emergencies. Having an officer on campus most of the time would cut response time in an emergency from roughly four minutes to 30 to 60 seconds. Isn’t that wonderful?

Now the school is not a police station. People who want to file complaints or meet with an officer will still have to go to the main police station. As for where on campus should officers set up shop, near the front door of course.  If there isn’t an office available, make one. Install bullet proof windows that give a view of everyone coming into and exiting the building.

So far the town of Jordan, Minnesota has taken this approach. Hopefully others will soon follow. After all, it’s smart, efficient, and is common sense.

Original article “Police in 1 Minnesota town set up shop in schools” appeared in Yahoo News on Friday, March 1st.

In 1980 the average 4 year college tuition (when you take both public and private universities into consideration) was $23,000. In 1995 it jumped to $44,000. Would you like to take a guess at how much the average 4 year college tuition is now?

It’s $70,000. Yes $70,000 which means that most college students have to borrow money. The average debt per student is now $27,000. $27,000 is a lot of money. $27,000 can buy you a new Ford F150 truck. It can buy you 30, 40, maybe 50 pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes.

So with that said, I am going to share with you an infographic on how we as a society can lower college tuition cost.  

5 ways to lower the cost of college tuition

The first way to lower college tuition cost is to allow for Dual Enrollment. How about allowing students to be simultaneously accepted by a community college and a four year public institution of higher education and, and when they complete their associate degree from the community college, they are automatically enrolled in the four-year institution? This type of program can reduce college education cost anywhere from 30 to 50%.

Second idea, what about establishing a three-year Bachelor’s degree? This would not only increase graduation rates, but also improve college education cost.  

As for number three, anyone ever hear about the study to determine how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill? Yes, there was a study by University professors to determine how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill. So number 3 is simply get rid of silly research studies.

Number 4, wouldn’t it be nice to keep you salary and only have to work two days a week? That would be like living in Alice in Wonderland, but for many professor, it is now common to teach only two classes per semester. So number four is to increase teacher loads.

Lastly, move more Classes Online – Online learning will become to education what the forward pass was to football. Research shows that students who did online courses learn just as well as those who took conventional courses. Online courses or hybrid courses could cost half what conventional classes do because fewer teachers are needed.

So in conclusion, it would be folly to imagine the cost of a 4 year college tuition to ever go down or the starting annual salary of a college grad to skyrocket, but its not too hard to image any of the ideas I mentioned now like getting rid of the silly research studies or increasing teachers workload would it? Such ideas should strongly be considered, if not, we as a society run the risk of having our future generation start to perceive college education as simply being not worth it because of the enormous debt they will have to incur and the fact that such debt will make it harder for them to buy a home and possibly even start a family.

The folks at EducationRequirements.org have put together a nice infograph that shows the most expensive degrees with least paying jobs and the average cost of a bachelors degree around the world.

There is a degree in Poetry?

How was Kilimanjaro? Here’s how it went down

One of my dear friends from Texas recently went to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Here is her story..

It feels sooooooo good to finally connect to the outside world and I’m sooooo looking forward to being home. So, this is how my journey went:

On my flight to Kili I got sick so I started my first day weak because I spent the day before throwing up. I don’t think I ate anything bad, I think it was nerves that got the best of me. Regardless, I thought the first day would be relatively easy since it was at a low altitude and we were only scheduled to do 5k. OMG!!! Was that a wrong assumption. When we finally got to camp I told Lorraine “if this is suppose to be the easy day I’m so screwed”!! Well, at dinner I was glad to hear that everybody else in the group (we were 6 total) felt the exact same way. Turns out that because of the really bad rains they had received the previous week, we started at a lower point so in total we did a bit over 10k in nasty slippery mud. Days 2-5 were long but I was feeling strong so they were fun but hard and uneventful. Don’t get me wrong you get tired of sleeping in a tent, no showers, no electricity and no toilet. It’s no picnic to get up in the middle of the night in freezing temperatures to use the restroom.

Then around 10pm of day 5, the beginning of the end of me feeling good and confident. At 11:30pm I was desperately trying to put my boots on and run to use the restroom praying I would make it. I made it just in time just to have it followed by intense vomiting. About every hour, the same routine. Praying that as I threw up, I didn’t exert too much pressure and have an accident on the other end. It got so bad that Lorraine gave me a huge ziplock bag to throw up in that way I could do that part while sitting in the tent instead of standing in the freezing cold, and as I vomited, she patted my back. I felt guilty that she didnt sleep that night because of me. Needless to say I did not have breakfast. I sipped on water with electrolytes which I’m soooo glad Ernie gave me some of his because that would end up being the only nutrition I would get for the remainder of the trip. That day was suppose to be a short 2-3 hour trek but since I was so tired from not sleeping and no fuel, it took me 4 hours to get to the next camp. The group went ahead but Lorraine stuck by my side with the asst guide. Luckily no poops while trekking just vomiting along the way. Finally got to camp, no lunch just straight to the tent to rest. Summit was scheduled for midnight!  Later, Lorraine comes in and says that if I don’t have dinner I would be prohibited to attempt to summit because there’s no way I would have the fuel to make it.  As the hours progress, no poops and my vomiting finally turned to dry heaving.

Dinner comes around and I’m soooooo not hungry and all I want to do is sleep but I force myself up. Dinner is carrot soup and pasta with bean and veggie sauce. The guide walks in to check in on everybody, Lorraine is sitting in front of me. Lorraine is looking at the guide, the guide is looking at me and I’m looking at Lorraine. The guide asks me if I’ve thrown up, I lie and say I’m doing better. The guide then asks Lorraine and she lies and says that she was sleeping and didn’t hear anything. Lorraine, with her eyes signals that the guide is looking at me and nods at me to eat. I take a tiny bite and I chew and chew and chew but it just does not want to go down. The pasta and beans become this gooey nasty paste in my mouth from all the chewing and as I attempt to swallow I start to gag. Lorraine is nodding her head back and forth like saying ” you better push that food down anyway you can.” Now in my mouth there’s a nice mix of food and vomit that I quickly grab my cup of tea to drink and with that I managed to get it down. I did one more bite then the guide left so for now I was off the hook. Back to the tent to rest some more.

Around 11pm we get woken up to have one more last meal before summit. We put on all of our layers of clothing and head to the mess hall (tent) and I have about two spoons of porridge. So at this point I’m thinking I should just stay and not attempt because there was no way the electrolytes would be sufficient fuel to get me to climb 4000 feet in freezing temperatures but I think, let me just give it a shot. I’ve come too far to give up and off I went. About 30 minutes in I knew it was a HUGE mistake to have gone. It was so steep and I could barely lift my feet. Then the wind kicked in, about 40mph, nonstop, which we were later told that we got lucky because it can get a lot worse. An hour in, I was literally falling asleep as I hiked and dry heaved along the way. The rest of the group went on while Lorraine, asst guide and porter stayed with us so I wouldn’t slow everybody down. One step ahead of the other is all I kept repeating to myself and thought that once I would see some light in the sky, it would help me.

Well, it’s dark and dark and dark. We ask the guide how much longer and he says about 4 hours and I just fall apart. I start crying. I don’t have the energy to continue but now I’ve really screwed myself because I don’t have the energy to climb down either. Lorraine encourages me, she puts on a strong face and said, lets go, we can do it. So onward we go. About an hour later, we take another break and sit. Big mistake. The second I sat down, I fell asleep which then the guide is shaking me and telling me stand up. Again, onward we go and finally the stars are disappearing as the sun slowly starts to sneak in. The asst guide is trying to encourage us by saying that Stella Point is at eyes sight but still seemed so far away. Sometime after 7am we reach Stella Point. I can’t feel nor move my toes or fingers and Lorraine’s asthma is going on full force. I see the glaciers from a distance and the guide takes our picture by the congratulations sign.

Pain and misery don’t begin to describe how I felt. Summit is ONLY 100 meters away. Decision time. The only reason I wanted to proceed was ego and pride. Could I do another 100 meters. At this point I didn’t even have the energy to hike down let alone climb even further. Tears come down my face. I’ve pushed my body like I have never ever pushed it and it was time to make the decision that was best for my health and not my ego. I tell the asst guide I’ve come this far and it has already been one hell of a journey. An additional 100 meters wasn’t going to take away a weeks worth of hard work. I’m going down. I didn’t want to sway Lorraine so I started my descent with the porter. I was so tired that my legs were giving up on me on the way down. I lost count how many times I fell. When I finally got to camp I got a huge greeting from one of the porters which ran with a chair in one hand and pineapple juice in the other. I drank my juice crawled into the tent and past out. About 2 hours later, Lorraine made it in. She summited!!! We had lunch together which for me was 2 pieces of pineapple and then we packed our things. We had another 4 hour hike down to the last camp where we would spend the night before finally leaving the mountain. More dry heaving along the way and after about 14 hours of climbing, I finally got a full nights rest.  The following morning we were all just excited to think that we were hours away from a shower. As we trekked down, we reach the gate to be greeted by the entire crew singing and dancing and our last meal in the mountain and my first real meal in almost 3 days. Because I made it to Stella Point, I still got my certificate of completion;)

I’m glad I had Lorraine, a hell of a trooper by my side and grateful that the guide made sure I was we’ll taken care of. Thanks to my honey and his electrolytes which were my only source of nourishment and was just enough to keep my body from collapsing.

I’m sure I will always wonder how things would have turned out if I would have been healthy. My ego was slightly bruised but my soul was fulfilled. That being said, I don’t ever want to see a tent, sleeping bag or bathing wipes again in my life

Next vacation, a towel in one hand, a piña colada in the other, the ocean in front of me and Ernie by my side !!!;)

Well Done Enedina!

Texas National Committeewoman Borah Van Dormolen delivers a wonderful speech at RHCIA’s January 2013 meeting. Highlights of speech and video are below.

- “Responsibility was instilled in our household. If my Dad was going to work hard to put food on the table, and my Mother was going to work hard to cook the food to put on the table, then the daughters were going to do their part and do the dishes.”

- “My Mom would be cleaning toilets at McDonald’s before she ever accepted a handout from the Government.”

- “We are in a cultural war right now where the essence of America is being forgotten and we got to get it back. What makes America so unique, 237 years ago, when our fore fathers recognized that the first thing we need to do is define where our rights come from. And they defined it as, our rights don’t come from a King, they don’t come from a Government, they don’t come from a General, they’re ordained by God. And they said that all Men are created equal in the eyes of God. Not all men in America. But all Men are created equal. And from that comes certain inalienable rights. To life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

- “It’s a cultural war. We are going to have to pull in our neighbors and make them feel brave enough to stand up against ‘Free’ to something that is self-esteem. And that is not going to be easy.”

- “Hispanic outreach has to be more than us running a fundraiser and hiring a mariachi band.”

To learn more about Borah Van Dormolen, visit her site at BorahforTexas.com  . To learn more about the Republican Hispanic Citizen’s In Action group, visit RHCIA.org.

Part of the Precinct 7 Theft Reduction Program, Constable May Walker and team hand out report cards to help deter crime. Story includes my interview with Constable Walker and Chief Goree Anderson.

I haven’t had a report card since the 12th grade (in college we were given our grades online), so I was stunned yet excited to see a report card being handed out by Constable patrols in Houston Midtown. The report card (shown below) is a creative idea first implemented by HPD, but enhanced by Constable May Walker. Adding onto the Vehicle Inspection checklist (vehicle left unlocked, window cracked or opened, valuables left visible in car, etc), the Constable added a Home Inspection section that calls out items related to Home Inspection (home looks empty and unlived in, shrubs over grown and lawn uncut, curtains opened and personal items in plain view, etc).

Intrigued by this smart and great crime prevention idea, I sought out to meet with Constable Walker and Chief Goree Anderson. Below is the interview that was held in December 2012.

Eric: Out of all the inspection points listed on the report card, is there one that stands out?

Chief Anderson: Car unlocked and purse on the seat visible for everyone to see.

Eric: Name one thing about yourself that most people don’t know?

Constable Walker: I attended a convent when I was younger. I had wanted to be a nun, but I didn’t stay there long.

Chief Anderson: I love motorcycles. I have a Harley and I ride with a law enforcement group. (In case you are wondering, Chief Anderson said group and not ‘gang’).

Eric: Constable Walker, you were the first female patrol officer in HPD, Executive Assistant to Mayor Brown, wrote a book “The History of the Black Police Officer in the Houston Police Department 1888-1988,” and also are a Constable. Which of these careers has brought you the most joy?

Constable Walker: Working as Constable and writing the book have brought me lots of joy.

Eric: What causes you the most anxiety about working as Chief?

Chief Anderson: Officer Safety. I want my guys to come home in peace.

Eric: Imagine you are Chief of Police of the largest city in the world. What kinds of tactics would you implement to help fight crime?

Constable Walker: It doesn’t matter if the city is big or small. It’s all about keeping the community safe and making sure police officers don’t get complacent.

Eric: Is there anyone past or present that you admire?

Chief Anderson: Lee Brown as well. He was one of the most intellectual and fascinating people I have ever met. The idea of community oriented policing was developed by him and is still practiced today.

Constable Walker: Lee Brown. He was Chief of Police in Atlanta and Houston, Drug Czar for President Clinton, and Mayor of Houston. One day he called me into his office and told me that he wanted me to write a book. I said, “I don’t know how to write a book.” He said, “I believe you can.”, and he was right.

39 percent drop in gang crimes, 33 percent drop in shots fired calls, 241 fewer people shot.

Every year in LA, the Los Angeles Police Department hosts a gun buyback program which allows residents to turn in weapons with “no questions asked”. Since inception in 2009, there has been a 39 percent drop in gang crimes and 33 percent drop in shots fired calls, translating into 241 fewer people shot in the city, according to the Mayor’s office.

So what do you get for turning in firearms?

The city of LA is offering up to $100 Ralph’s gift cards for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and up to $200 gift cards for Calif. classified assault weapons. Not bad. So far authorities have recovered 53 assault weapons, 791 handguns, 527 rifles, 302 shotguns and one anti-tank rocket launcher. Yes, one anti-tank rocket launcher..

This Gun Buyback program sounds like a no brainer to me and I profoundly recommend that it should be implemented in all cites.

Original Story “LA Gun Buyback Event Pushed Up After Conn. Tragedy” featured in LosAngeles.CBS.local.gov. on Dec. 17, 2012.

Imagine shopping for a car and while you are at the car dealership, kicking the tires, test driving the car you like, you have no idea what the value of the car is. In fact, there is no official pricing information about the car on the window. Sounds like a far-stretched idea, but in the early 1950s, such a pricing sticker didn’t exist. It wasn’t until US Senator Mike Monroney shepherded a bill through Congress requiring that official pricing information be glued to the window of every new automobile sold in the US. It was a very effective means of disclosing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, and a way to show other important information to the consumer such as facts about the fuel economy, its environmental rating, and more.

The sticker price has made buying a car easier, rational, and understandable. Knowing the base price of something allows us what to expect, and if the price is higher than normal, then we will expect more value. Gone are the days of irrational and inexplicable pricing – at least for the car industry.

Today, there is another industry in desperately need of a ‘sticker price’. It is the Health Care industry. Playing a game of blind man’s bluff, the Health Care industry routinely charges outrageous amounts of money for services that are actually inexpensive. For example, in a recent study of the costs of routine appendectomies performed throughout California, though the procedures were largely identical, the charges varied anywhere from $1,529 to $182,955. Why was there such a huge difference? Good question, but efforts to discover the answer have turned out to be futile. Costs are like trade secrets. We need more than an MSRP sticker, we need a medical Freedom of Information Act wouldn’t you agree?

The Health Care industry is about patients, but the patient population has been largely powerless. Over time, the patient has been reduced to merely another raw material while members of the medical community – hospital chains, nationwide insurers, and large employers have become much more powerful. This should not be the case. In time, patients will likely demand to know more what their dollars are being spent on. That is how American consumerism has always operated, but what we need is transparency in treatment, cost, and institutions – in other words, a digital price sticker.

Original story “Sticker Shock” by Andy Grove, featured in Wired, November 2012.