Losing by four votes

Moscow's cold glamour edges out Houston's imported working girls in world oilcongress race

Turrets, lots of them, might have given Moscow an edge.
Triumphal arch on Kutuzov Avenue (triumphed over Houston?)
Russian borscht with beef and sour cream
The best vodka in the world
Subway terminal in Moscow
Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre

We blame Doha.

With next year's World Petroleum Congress set for the luxe paved desert city in Qatar, it's hard to blame the voting members planning the next international mega conference for going in a different direction.

With Houston, Bogota, and Moscow up for hosting duties in 2014, the competition was tight. After all, only every three years does this prestigious event gather heads of state and leaders in the fields of energy and technology, with delegates from 63 countries representing 95 percent of global oil and gas production and consumption.

Each potential host city threw an over-the-top rager, with Houston's blowout in Beijing this month — because when discussing global energy issues, the ability to party hard is paramount.

Especially since the 2011 Doha Congress could be fairly tame. In Doha, only restaurants and bars attached to international hotels are allowed to serve alcohol (not that we think this will stop the illustrious WPC delegates).

So in the end, Moscow's mafia millions and frenetic clubbing scene edged out Houston's down-home hospitality (and our imported hookers), with the vote going for the Russians over Houston 24-20. (Bogota got six votes in the first round before being dropped.)

Sure, Moscow's one of the most expensive cities in the world, but no one in this crowd is hurting. Temperatures, however, are another matter. While the December trip to Doha should keep temperatures in the mild 50s and 60s, fall in Moscow means lows in the 30s and an average of under four hours of sunlight per day. (The congress is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2014.)

So WPC delegates, enjoy your vodka, your borscht and your scantily clad blondes. Us Houstonians are cool with our margaritas, our barbecue, our patio weather and our less-scantily-clad bottle blondes.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”