Monday, April 27, 2020

Wrangle II, "May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor"







It's difficult not to cheer observe that the vast majority of those who will place themselves in the greatest danger are the same people Trump and down-ballot Republicans are depending on for votes in November.  These are still our neighbors, family, and friends, however, and all of us -- of all political persuasions -- run the risk of contracting the deadly COVID-19 by virtue of a group who will throw caution to the wind.

There's a few bad apples in every barrel.



Just as there are some good ones.

N-95 model face masks have been in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, but thanks to a Black chief executive nurse at the University of Texas Health System, a new and even more efficient model is now on the horizon.

According to a local ABC affiliate, when nurse Tommye Austin saw on the news how COVID-19 was infecting communities all over the country, she made the decision to proactively create masks for her own colleagues.



"We had this AC filter material we purchased from Houston ..."

[...]

(W)hen they tested their design, they were stunned to find out the new masks’ filtration rates were at a stunning 99.5 percent with one material and 97.8 percent filtration with another. Both were more efficient than the current model which eliminates 95 percent of the virus or bacteria that tries to get through.


Some Texas Democrats doing good ...


Some not.



Some recent court victories include:



And some court cases worth keeping an eye on.



There are two cases.

https://www.txcourts.gov/ (select courts and then 14th Court of Appeals. Select Case Search. Make sure 14th Court of Appeals is selected and enter the Style: Hughs (no ‘E’) v. Dikeman.)

14-19-00969-CV is the state’s appeal of the TRO against imposing the filing fee on applicants for consideration for nomination. Before the appeals court stayed the TRO, most Libertarian applicants had filed.

14-20-00078-CV is the state’s appeal of whether the district court could even consider the case, given state immunity from some lawsuits. There are exceptions. The state can not act in a unconstitutional manner. The law and its implementation is collection of equal protection and due process violations. The SOS can not exercise authority outside the law. The law imposed a filing fee on a specific class of individuals. The SOS is attempting to impose the fee on additional persons.

If the plaintiffs win their case before the Court of Appeals, the case would return to the district court for trial on the merits. At that time (July or later) I assume a court would grant a temporary injunction placing candidates on general election ballot.

An update to this morning's Wrangle article on the Austin PD's ongoing problems.


Without much fanfare, Houston announced the city's Climate Action Plan.


In San Antonio, there has been much quarreling over the plan to relocate the Cenotaph at the Alamo as the first phase of a $450 million renovation of the plaza.  Here's the latest development.


Stormy weather in East Texas made life a little rougher there.


Texas Muslims began their holy celebration of Ramadan.


And Luis Guerra's "Ceremony at San Pedro Springs", posted earlier in the month by LareDOS, is republished by The Rag Blog.  It is a story he wrote nearly ten years ago, inspired by the environmental calamity of Deepwater Horizon, the memories echoing in the time of coronavirus.



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