Christmas Eve Eve is a time of panic for shoppers who've procrastinated (pro tip: a gift card from Kroger earns you gas points), the start of a long holiday week certain to be filled with high caloric lack-of-activity, and the much-anticipated airing of grievances.
Here comes your round-up of the best of the left from around and about Deep-In-The-Hearta for the next-to-last week of the decade.
First we have some political posts (the Alliance is foremost about politics, after all).
David Collins updates the list of Texas Green Party 2020 candidates. Kuff published three interviews with SBOE candidates: Michelle Palmer, Kimberly McLeod, and Debra Kerner. John Coby wraps up the Houston elections. And Stace at Dos Centavos posts about a Harris County judicial filing controversy.
And statehouse Republicans will make every effort to continue the legacy of ultraconservative oligarchy in Austin.
PDiddie at Brains and Eggs caught up his Democratic presidential primary updates with four posts leading up to, and then after, the sixth debate last Thursday.
DC politicos like Chuck Schumer want to keep chasing the Republicans being left behind by the careening Right; the DSCC chose to endorse the Libertarian who voted in the GOP primary in 2016 for US Senate, to the outrage of ... well, pretty much everybody.
Lite Guv Dan Patrick and Commissioner of Land George Pee Bush kicked off their Festivuties a few days early.
Lone Star political podcasts are all the rage these days.
A smattering of posts about the homeless at Christmastime always seem to tug at the heartstrings (not Greg Abbott's, but Texans who actually have hearts).
There are some environmental justice -- mostly injustice -- developments to report.
This Wrangle caught several Tweets about immigration and border news and opinions.
SocraticGadfly, with background on Muenster teacher-relationship conviction and other such cases, talks about how issues of philosophy play out in the courts.
Thanks for reading this elongated-for-Festivus Wrangle. Wrapping it up and putting a bow on it with a few lighter items.
The Webb County Heritage Foundation will celebrate the 180th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of the Rio Grande with a cocktail reception on January 11, 2020 in the historic capitol building of that independent nation -- the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum at 1005 Zaragoza St. in Laredo.
The San Antonio Current provides solid advice about tamales.
The Bloggess is starting a book club.
To anyone celebrating Happy #Festivus & good luck 💪😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/LUvmPBeOOY— ✨NaNa ✨🇵🇷 (@bksfinest1179) December 23, 2019
Here comes your round-up of the best of the left from around and about Deep-In-The-Hearta for the next-to-last week of the decade.
Beto O’Rourke, Dennis Bonnen, and the Houston Astros top our annual dishonor roll, along with assorted lesser-known idiots and evildoers. See who made the cut for #BumSteers2020: https://t.co/1d2PAjqmNb pic.twitter.com/gC2C0MPKdD— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) December 19, 2019
Aside from our finalists, #BumSteers2020 contains many short summaries of quotidian stupidities, from the teen who went about sampling Blue Bell ice cream in the worst possible way to a crapulous couple copulating in a boat.https://t.co/WogGjSvNzq— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) December 18, 2019
First we have some political posts (the Alliance is foremost about politics, after all).
Houston City Council District B runoff date set for May, with trial in January https://t.co/NE4XxJPsSE #HouNews— Generic Old White Guy (@PDiddie) December 22, 2019
Updated District H vote tally expands @Karla4Houston’s lead over @Tejasimo to 16 votes: 5,305 to 5,289. Before provisional and other ballots came in, Cisneros led by 12 votes. #hounews— Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) December 21, 2019
Here’s your Texas 2020 March primary ballot https://t.co/wqs7wNVgoH via @TexasTribune— Alexandra Samuels (@AlexSamuelsx5) December 20, 2019
David Collins updates the list of Texas Green Party 2020 candidates. Kuff published three interviews with SBOE candidates: Michelle Palmer, Kimberly McLeod, and Debra Kerner. John Coby wraps up the Houston elections. And Stace at Dos Centavos posts about a Harris County judicial filing controversy.
Election Day was over a month ago – but after a recount and a recently discovered trove of untallied ballots, Midlanders still don’t know if a half-billion-dollar school bond won approval. https://t.co/oFJk4sK8c3— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) December 20, 2019
And statehouse Republicans will make every effort to continue the legacy of ultraconservative oligarchy in Austin.
Francis has been a political adviser to the Wilkses, including overseeing their $15M investment in the super PAC network that boosted @TedCruz during the 2016 primary: https://t.co/ga9cf5u1aw #HD60 #txlege https://t.co/1rXaKEzyU1— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) December 16, 2019
PDiddie at Brains and Eggs caught up his Democratic presidential primary updates with four posts leading up to, and then after, the sixth debate last Thursday.
DC politicos like Chuck Schumer want to keep chasing the Republicans being left behind by the careening Right; the DSCC chose to endorse the Libertarian who voted in the GOP primary in 2016 for US Senate, to the outrage of ... well, pretty much everybody.
(T)he Democratic Senate Campaign Committee endorsed former U.S. House candidate MJ Hegar in her bid to run against Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn. The decision to back Hegar -- who is running in a crowded, diverse field -- strikes at the heart of an intra-party debate: how to run (and win) in red states on the brink of political realignment.
The endorsement drew swift backlash from Hegar’s fellow candidates, who condemned the national party’s Senate campaign arm. Although the committee has played primary favorites in other priority Senate races, many people in Texas politics were surprised that it waded into a race more than three months out. “We had no idea that was going to happen,” said Abhi Rahman, the communications director for the Texas Democratic Party, which is running a multimillion-dollar operation aimed at defeating Cornyn.
.@replouiegohmert spouts Russian propaganda, degrades the institution, & humiliates east Texans. Wash, rinse, repeat. @Hank4Texas is his opponent & a donation link is threaded below 👇🏼 Let’s give this son of a bitch a run for his money. #ImpeachmentDay https://t.co/9VO67keicr— Kendall Scudder (@KendallScudder) December 18, 2019
Lite Guv Dan Patrick and Commissioner of Land George Pee Bush kicked off their Festivuties a few days early.
.@danpatrick accused @georgepbush of broadly labeling detractors of the controversial Alamo redesign plan as “liars and racists,” but Bush actually used the label for a small group of people who made false claims about his plans. https://t.co/EP8DKC9ADE— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 19, 2019
Lone Star political podcasts are all the rage these days.
🎬SEASON TWO FINALE—Merry Impeach-mas!— Pod Bless Texas (@podblesstexas) December 21, 2019
Lil and Kendall put a bow on Season 2 with @BrandyforTexas, #TXDems nominee for #HD112. Texas Senate Candidate @AudreySpankoTX joins to chat about life in Mineola and her race to unseat an extremist. #TX2020 #TXlege https://t.co/t7kVGiLNoi
From Wendy Davis's spoof on the infamous Peloton ad to Rick Perry's boho odyssey to Beto's beard, there were plenty of political odds and ends for this week's Bull Session. https://t.co/WqEjJPvWBj— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) December 21, 2019
A smattering of posts about the homeless at Christmastime always seem to tug at the heartstrings (not Greg Abbott's, but Texans who actually have hearts).
Greg Abbott's homeless camp in Austin is officially "indefinite."— Gus Bova 🆗 (@gus_bova) December 20, 2019
There’s limited electricity, no proper showers, and it’s far removed from existing homeless services. Still, some see it as the best available option. Welcome to Abbottville: https://t.co/0LUL0T51Zb
Gov. Greg Abbott has focused attention on homeless Austin residents.— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 17, 2019
But the Dallas and Houston areas last year saw twice as many new people ask for homeless-related services than the Austin area did. https://t.co/CuEAj9BbIH
In January 2018, two people living on the streets of South Dallas died—both within a block of a church.— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) December 20, 2019
A city ordinance prevents churches and virtually anyone else from acting as emergency shelters.
Some churches are opening their doors anyway.https://t.co/UBdah7bn7A
Houston has in fact seen a huge decline in homelessness, whereas the figures are spiking in Dallas and other Texas cities. @jpgarnham has that story: https://t.co/pnBFHGkKHk— .@kristoncapps (@kristoncapps) December 17, 2019
There are some environmental justice -- mostly injustice -- developments to report.
Today, a father who lives close to @TPC_Group's #PortNeches facility told @TCEQ commissioners that his baby daughter started vomiting shortly after they left the house during last month's mandatory evacuation, ordered after 2nd plant explosion. https://t.co/70E9u2q2RP— Kiah Collier (@KiahCollier) December 18, 2019
Unauthorized emission incidents resulted in 135 million pounds of illegal air pollution in 2018, according to a new report by Environment Texas. https://t.co/0DFVEjgFfj— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) December 20, 2019
A watchdog report found that state and federal environmental regulators didn't start monitoring air quality soon enough during Hurricane Harvey, which brought a spike in hazardous emissions from industrial facilities. https://t.co/e7OGojzVPc— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 17, 2019
Houston energy giants Halliburton, Kinder Morgan among companies that paid no taxes in 2018 https://t.co/7JJZlmdamq— Generic Old White Guy (@PDiddie) December 22, 2019
"Texas can no longer say, this is about Texas and it's out in the country and it doesn't matter" - @TXsharon— EARTHWORKS (@Earthworks) December 17, 2019
The #Permian Basin is a carbon bomb & @TCEQ's actions suggest they're more interested in protecting #oilandgas than #climate. via @EENewsUpdateshttps://t.co/cMNe5W3Tx9
This Wrangle caught several Tweets about immigration and border news and opinions.
Many Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have urged the agreement's passage, due to the state's reliance on cross-border commerce with Mexico.— Marfa Public Radio (@MarfaRadio) December 19, 2019
via @TexasTribunehttps://t.co/37FwET9Jpt
Mauricio Vidaurri and his family support U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In fact, he used to work for them.— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 18, 2019
But now, President Trump’s proposed border wall threatens to cut off his access to the cemetery where his father is buried. via @latimes https://t.co/HnzRzYXDhP
One of the best young prosecutors in Texas is an undocumented immigrant. Pedro Villalobos, born in Mexico in 1991, was sworn in as an assistant DA in Austin on Monday, when he promised to “preserve, protect, & defend the Constitution.” https://t.co/4ivYQgF6ki @TexasMonthly THREAD— Michael Hall (@mikehalltexas) December 19, 2019
Read @_SemaHernandez_'s 5-count thread on how to #AbolishICE https://t.co/08DJz9Ec9C #TXSen @Sema4Texas— Generic Old White Guy (@PDiddie) December 18, 2019
“Gangs of the El Paso-Juárez Borderland” is a unique history that reflects diverse subcultures on both sides of the border – and the law. https://t.co/XRgQEB64vb— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) December 22, 2019
SocraticGadfly, with background on Muenster teacher-relationship conviction and other such cases, talks about how issues of philosophy play out in the courts.
Thanks for reading this elongated-for-Festivus Wrangle. Wrapping it up and putting a bow on it with a few lighter items.
“We want to create a cultural repository for the creative culture of Texas and the Southwest.” https://t.co/cj6CxniEsC— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) December 21, 2019
The Webb County Heritage Foundation will celebrate the 180th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of the Rio Grande with a cocktail reception on January 11, 2020 in the historic capitol building of that independent nation -- the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum at 1005 Zaragoza St. in Laredo.
The San Antonio Current provides solid advice about tamales.
The Bloggess is starting a book club.
The twists and turns of these 30 Texas novels, nonfiction narratives, and other works published between January 2010 and December 2019 reveal undercurrents that run deep through the Lone Star State—a whole decade’s worth. https://t.co/bFvL3J3BGe— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) December 22, 2019
University of Texas at Austin entomologists discovered two species – and named them “rodeo ants” because they ride on the backs of ant queens in other colonies. https://t.co/8BsnM9Q3Cd— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) December 21, 2019
“Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan” captures Vaughan’s journey from record-obsessed Dallas kid to all-time guitar god, taking care to convey what made his music transcendent. https://t.co/8AQ0zgTebW— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) December 22, 2019
The Austin roadside Christmas trees cause a stir every year. @mccullarmebad spent time with the cedars to see if there’s some middle ground—maybe some Austinites were successfully spreading holiday cheer without spreading holiday trash. https://t.co/BWlQzYRrox— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) December 19, 2019