Category Archives: Uncategorized

Voodoo politics

Posted on June 1, 2018 by juanzqui7

I WAS GOING through some old files today when I came across a page from a reporter’s notebook. It didn’t look like much and I was about to throw it out when I realized what it was: Part of my notes … Continue reading →

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The column that changed history?

Posted on May 10, 2018 by juanzqui7

AFTER MANY YEARS of lobbying for the job, I finally convinced the Houston Post to agree to make me a columnist for the paper in the summer of 1990. I had been working as a Washington correspondent for The Post when … Continue reading →

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My Barbara Bush Memory

Posted on April 18, 2018 by juanzqui7

IN 1992, I was asked to write an editorial to be published in The Houston Post the Sunday before the Republican National Convention was to open in the Astrodome. My assignment was to welcome President George Bush to his hometown but … Continue reading →

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1968, a year of hope, discovery, fear and loathing

Posted on April 12, 2018 by juanzqui7

A WHILE AGO I saw a Facebook post in which people were asked about their memories of 50 years ago, of the year 1968. I was tempted to write something but I quickly realized that much, way too much, happened on … Continue reading →

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‘BANG’ Offers a Dark Look at the Human Cost of Mexico’s Drug War

Posted on March 17, 2018 by juanzqui7

Daniel Peña is not sparing in his assessment of Texas, where farmworkers are poisoned by fertilizer and pesticide, and Mexico, where guessing who will be next to die in the drug wars has become a lottery game. Book review by … Continue reading →

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Leaders and speeches: HHH, LBJ and the COWH

Posted on January 8, 2018 by juanzqui7

I HAD GREAT plans for this afternoon to do productive things. Instead, I’ve spent most of the afternoon listening to/watching old political speeches on YouTube. I started with Hubert Humphrey’s civil rights speech to the 1948 Democratic Convention and ended … Continue reading →

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In defense of Yuli Gurriel

Posted on October 29, 2017 by juanzqui7

I WASN’T IN the Astros’ dugout when a camera caught Yuli Gurriel making what has been described as a racially insensitive gesture, so I don’t know what he was saying or what was going through his mind when he did … Continue reading →

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Potato-picking World Series memories

Posted on October 26, 2017 by juanzqui7

[I wrote this column for USA TODAY in 1998 (October 14), shortly after yet another disappointing Astros year. A friend suggested I post it here. It starts off talking about my penchant for choosing underdogs when it comes to sports. … Continue reading →

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A week in paradise, San Miguel de Allende

Posted on August 14, 2017 by juanzqui7

ON MY LAST morning in this beautiful colonial city, I am sitting outside on the patio. It rained last night and the air is crisp and cool. The sounds I hear are those of a nearby wall-mounted fountain, which, despite … Continue reading →

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Applying weight to the memories that feed our souls

Posted on July 20, 2017 by juanzqui7

[Six years ago I posted this on another blog. I’ve long since abandoned that blog but it still resides in the Internet. One day it will probably die of neglect. So I’ve decided to migrate some of my favorite posts … Continue reading →

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