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Houston submits
bid to host 2020 Democratic National
Convention
Houston, recognized for its record of
successfully hosting mega-events, today
submitted an official bid to host the 2020
Democratic National Convention.
The bid document of about 600 pages
shows how Houston’s convention
infrastructure and its people put the city
in a superior position to host the
presidential nominating convention.
The downtown Toyota Center indoor arena
and the close-by, expanded George R. Brown
Convention Center in the Avenida Houston
convention campus would provide the main
gathering spaces for the July 13-16, 2020
convention. A Metro light rail system
crisscrosses downtown nearby. Delegates and
other participants traveling by air would
arrive at Houston’s two international
airports. Both have a 4-star rating from
Skytrax, making Houston the only U.S. city
with two.
About 24,000 hotel rooms would be
available within 14 miles of the convention
sites, placing the city well ahead of other
cities on hospitality logistics. A
record-high 20 million visitors traveled to
Houston in 2016.
Houston’s specialty in hosting major
events shone through with the 2017 Super
Bowl, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball
Tournament finals and the continuing annual
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston
Livestock Show & Rodeo, Comicpalooza and
others.
The city hosted the Republican National
Convention in 1992 and the Democratic
National Convention in 1928. Houston has
since become the fourth most populous U.S.
city and its most diverse, attracting new
residents from across the nation and the
globe. The city is praised as a pluralistic
society that lives as one. (“Nothing less
than the story of the American city of the
future,” – Los Angeles Times, 5/9/2017)
Houston is strong and resilient. The
city showed exceptional mettle, bravery and
neighborliness in the aftermath of the
floods caused by Harvey. “Houston has
bounced back from Harvey faster than anyone
predicted, inspiring the Twitter hashtag
#HoustonStrong,” The New York Times said on
11/23/2017.
“I am confident that we are the right
city and this is the right time to bring the
convention to Houston,” Mayor Sylvester
Turner said in letter to DNC Chairman Tom
Perez that introduces the bid package.
“Houston is a proven event town and has
excelled in hosting high profile national
events,” the mayor said in the letter.
“Whether celebratory, such as the Super Bowl
or somber, such as the recent memorial
events for former First Lady Barbara Bush,
we meet the producer’s goals while exceeding
expectations with seamless execution and
constant attention to public safety.”
Video of a colorful discussion about the
convention with the mayor and members of the
City Council on June 6 is at
https://youtu.be/871Lo9tSp3E. Included
are Council Members Dave Martin, Martha
Castex-Taum, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le, Karla
Cisneros, Dwight Boykins and Ellen Cohen,
respectively, and Susan Christian, director
of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.
“The inclusion of Houston in this
(bidder) group of elite destinations is a
recognition of the outstanding job that our
community does in hosting major events,”
said David Mincberg, board chairman of
Houston First, which promotes the city and
manages its premier entertainment venues.
“It is Houston’s diversity, robust economy
and newly transformed convention campus,
Avenida Houston, that will set us apart and
leave a lasting impression as we strive to
secure the 2020 Democratic National
Convention.”
“Houston will be the perfect host for
the 2020 Democratic National Convention,”
said Tilman Fertitta, chief executive
officer of Landry’s, Inc., and owner of the
Houston Rockets. “I can personally
guarantee the DNC and its constituents will
experience a level of hospitality from our
Toyota Center staff and City personnel that
will be unmatched anywhere in the United
States. Nobody delivers world class
events like the people of Houston, Texas!”
The bid is backed by a diverse host
committee being assembled by Mayor Turner,
including Mincberg, Fertitta and:
Anthony Chase President & CEO
ChaseSource, LP
James (Jim) Robert Crane Chairman and
XCEO, Crane Capital Group, Crane
Worldwide Logistics and Crane Freight &
Shipping; Owner and Chairman, Houston
Astros
Tahir Javed CEO & President
Riceland Healthcare
Dr. Laura Murillo President & CEO
Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Jamey Rootes President Houston
Texans
Lester and Sue Smith Founder,
Smith Energy Company Philanthropist
John Thrash, MD Co-Founder eCORP
International Philanthropist
Becca Cason Thrash Co-founder Paper
City Philanthropist
John Eddie Williams, Jr. Managing
Partner Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas
Law Firm
The total contents of Houston’s bid
document are confidential while the DNC
considers proposals from the competition.
The Butterfly (Struggles)
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small
opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for
several hours as it struggled to force its body through
that little hole. Until it suddenly stopped
making any progress and looked like it was
stuck.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a
pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of
the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although
it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man didn’t think anything of it and sat there
waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the
butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent
the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with
tiny wings and a swollen body.
Despite the kind heart of the man,
he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the
struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through
the small opening; were God’s way of forcing fluid from
the body of the butterfly into its wings. To prepare
itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.
Moral of the story: Our
struggles in life develop our strengths.
Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger,
so it’s important for us to tackle challenges on our
own, and not be relying on help from others.
Oprah Winfrey signs
mega-deal with Apple for
original programming
Oprah Winfrey has given
the entire media industry
something to talk about.
Apple announced a
multi-year partnership with
the former queen of daytime
talk to produce original
programming for the tech
company as it tries to take
on Netflix and Amazon in an
increasingly crowded content
field.
“Together,
Winfrey and Apple
will create original
programs that
embrace her
incomparable ability
to connect with
audiences around the
world,” Apple said
in a statement.
It’s the latest salvo in
a pop culture battle for
attention and comes three
weeks after Netflix
announced a deal to bring
former President Barack
Obama and his wife,
Michelle, as producers of
exclusive content. That
streaming service was
already basking in the glow
of previous deals with
“Scandal” creator Shonda
Rhimes and talk show icon
David Letterman.
One day before the
Winfrey news broke, Amazon
touted a new first-look deal
with Nicole Kidman’s
production company.
“As a shot across the
bow that Apple has arrived
in the content environment,
it’s as big as you can get,”
said Robert Thompson,
director of the Bleier
Center for Television and
Popular Culture at Syracuse
University, told NBC News.
“By signing her, it’s
got great symbolic value.
But whether or not big
exciting content comes out
of these big exciting
signings is yet to be
determined,” Thompson said.
Former President Barack
Obama on “My Next Guest
Needs No Introduction
With David Letterman” on
Netflix.Netflix
Thompson compares the
spree of signings to
Monopoly players who try to
buy every single property on
the board as a strategy to
win.
“There’s only one
Oprah,” Thompson said.
“These signings are as much
about keeping away these
limited number of big names
away from the competitors.”
Winfrey joins an
already-impressive marquee
at Apple. In recent months,
the iPhone maker inked deals
with Stephen Spielberg for a
new season of his 1980s
anthology program “Amazing
Stories,” as well as Reese
Witherspoon and Jennifer
Aniston for two seasons of a
morning show drama, and NBA
superstar Kevin Durant for a
basketball drama.
And the streaming
landscape is going to get
even more crowded,
especially with Disney
launching its own streaming
service next year; Comcast,
which owns NBC News parent
company NBCUniversal, could
land control of Hulu if it
successfully acquires Fox,
or could develop a streaming
service with Warner Bros.,
as
CNBC reported this week.
The Apple deal will not
affect Winfrey’s contract
with OWN, her television
network, with which she
recently extended her
contract for another seven
years.
The financials of the
deal have not been made
public.
Bernice King
disputes claim
MLK would be
‘proud’ of
Donald Trump
Former White
House Chief
Strategist Steve
Bannon said that
Martin Luther King,
Jr. would be “proud”
of what President
Donald Trump has
done for
African-American and
Latino workers in
the U.S.
“Martin Luther
King … he would be
proud of what Donald
Trump has done for
[the] black and
Hispanic working
class, OK?” Bannon
told ABC News Chief
White House
Correspondent
Jonathan Karl in an
exclusive interview
on “This Week”
Sunday.
Karl pushed back
on Bannon’s claim
that Martin Luther
King, Jr. would be
proud of the effects
of Trump’s policies
on minorities.
“I think there
are a lot of, a lot
of civil rights
leaders that would
adamantly disagree
with you on that,”
Karl said.
Bannon was
responding to Karl’s
asking him about
comments he made in
March at an event
with far-right
French politicians.
“Let them call
you racist,” Bannon
said at that event.
“Let them call you
xenophobes. Let them
call you nativists.
Wear it as a badge
of honor. Because
every day, we get
stronger and they
get weaker.”
Bannon told Karl
his quote was taken
out of context. “The
lead-in to that was
saying, ‘When they
can’t fight you on
the facts, they’re
going to call you
racist,’” he said.
“I was talking
specifically about
Donald Trump and his
policies,” Bannon
said Sunday. “His
economic nationalism
doesn’t care about
your race, your
religion, your
gender, your sexual
preference. Here’s
what it cares about,
that you’re citizens
of the United States
of America. We have
all-time low
unemployment among
blacks in this
country and 20-year
low among Hispanics.
The black working
class and Hispanic
working class are
now getting the
benefits of border
security and
economic
nationalism.”
Bannon was
previously CEO of
the Trump campaign
and is a former
executive chairman
of Breitbart, a
far-right online
media outlet.
Earlier in the
“This Week”
interview, when
discussing the Trump
administration’s
immigration
policies, Bannon
said, “This illegal
immigration, the
people that [are]
hurt the most are
the Hispanic and
black working class.
It suppresses their
wages; it destroys
their healthcare; it
destroys their
school systems.”
Bannon said
something similar to
the BBC at the end
of May. “Martin
Luther King would be
proud of [Trump], of
what he’s done for
the black and
Hispanic community,”
Bannon said.
When the BBC
reporter pushed
back, Bannon said,
“It’s the lowest
unemployment in
recorded history.
You don’t think
Martin Luther King
wouldn’t be proud?
Look at the
unemployment we had
in the black
community five years
ago. You don’t think
Martin Luther King
would sit there and
go, ‘Yes, you’re
putting young black
men and women to
work.'”
He also said in
that interview,
“Mass illegal
immigration is a
scam by the
globalists. It’s
there to suppress
the wages of the
black and Hispanic
working class by
giving unlimited
competition on
labor.”
King’s daughter,
Bernice A King,
responded to Bannon
in a thread on
Twitter.
#SteveBannon
has dangerously
and erroneously
co-opted my
father’s name,
work and words.
Bannon’s
assertion that
my father,
#MLK, would
be proud of
Donald Trump
wholly ignores
Daddy’s
commitment to
people of all
races,
nationalities,
etc. being
treated with
dignity and
respect.
King said that
her father “was an
activist for the
civil rights of
Black people in
America, but he was
also an activist for
human rights.”
He wouldn’t use
the term “illegal
aliens” to refer to
undocumented
immigrants, she
said, and he
wouldn’t “pit one
group against one
another in the
struggle for
justice.”
“Bannon’s
comments are like
feeding someone
empty calories, in
that they don’t
convey a
comprehensive view
of #MLK as a global
humanitarian who
cared about the
well-being of all
people,” she
continued.
King said her
father “would be
extremely disturbed
by the climate
created by leaders”
as it has
“emboldened people
to easily express
and demonstrate
cruelty,
predominantly toward
people of color and
immigrants.”
Bible
verse
used
to
defend
slavery
cited
as
justification
for
separating
immigrants
Attorney
General
Jeff
Sessions
on
Thursday
cited a
Bible
passage
to
defend
his
department’s
policy
of
prosecuting
everyone
who
crosses
the
border
from
Mexico,
insisting
that God
has
ordained
the
government’s
separation
of
immigrant
parents
from
their
children.
“I
would
cite you
to the
Apostle
Paul and
his
clear
and wise
command
in
Romans
13, to
obey the
laws of
the
government
because
God has
ordained
the
government
for his
purposes,”
Sessions
said
during a
speech
to law
enforcement
officers
in Fort
Wayne,
Ind.
“Orderly
and
lawful
processes
are good
in
themselves.
Consistent
and fair
application
of the
law is
in
itself a
good and
moral
thing,
and that
protects
the weak
and
protects
the
lawful.”
As
noted in
a report
from the
Washington
Post,
government
officials
have
been
known to
use the
Bible to
defend
their
policies
against
the
disenfranchised
— take,
for
instance,
the
Republicans
who have
quoted 2
Thessalonians
(“if a
man will
not
work, he
shall
not
eat”) to
justify
more
stringent
food
stamps
requirements.
But the
verse that
Sessions
cited,
Romans 13,
is an
unusual
choice,
according to
an expert
contacted by
the Post.
“There
are two
dominant
places in
American
history when
Romans 13 is
invoked,”
said John
Fea, a
professor of
American
history at
Messiah
College in
Pennsylvania.
“One is
during the
American
Revolution
[when] it
was invoked
by
loyalists,
those who
opposed the
American
Revolution.”
The
other, Fea
said, “is in
the 1840s
and 1850s,
when Romans
13 is
invoked by
defenders of
the South or
defenders of
slavery to
ward off
abolitionists
who believed
that slavery
is wrong. I
mean, this
is the same
argument
that
Southern
slaveholders
and the
advocates of
a Southern
way of life
made.”
In May,
Sessions
announced a
zero-tolerance
policy in
which the
Justice
Department
would begin
prosecuting
everyone who
crosses the
Southwest
border. Part
of the
policy shift
meant that
migrants
traveling
with
children or
unaccompanied
minors end
up detained
instead of
released;
U.S.
immigration
law charges
adults with
a crime, but
not the
children,
which means
they’re held
separately.
The
Associated
Press cited
U.S. Customs
and Border
Protection
figures from
two weeks in
May in which
more than
650 children
were
separated
from
parents.
Reports from
the same
month that
the
government
lost track
of 1,475
children
sparked a
national
outcry.
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