Sunday, November 07, 2021
Saturday, November 06, 2021
Tragedy at Astroworldfest
After an uplifting week ... a complete disaster.
Houston Fire confirms at least 8 people are dead after being injured at #ASTROWORLDFest. About 17 people were taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest. Authorities say it all started when more than 50,000 festivalgoers rushed towards the stage trampling some. 📸: @abc13houston pic.twitter.com/Afk0HbzvJn
— Malik Earnest (@MalikEarnest) November 6, 2021
The day starting badly was a portent.
As we were arriving to the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park right at 2:00, a stampede burst through the gates. Hundreds of people destroyed the VIP security entrance, bypassing the checkpoint. People were trampled. Some were detained.
— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) November 5, 2021
(Excuse any language you may hear) pic.twitter.com/d0m2rjqAAk
People were really jumping on the cars of security personnel when they were trying to get to unconscious people in the crowd. This shit is disgusting. Look at these weirdos. #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/Ctc0cvgBUV
— Squirt Reynolds (@SquirtReynoIds) November 6, 2021
Footage captured at Astroworld shows two concertgoers trying to get the cameraman's attention to warn them of people being trampled during Travis Scott's performance. The cameraman filming Astrofest avoids them entirely.#astroworldfestival #AstroWorld #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/zdBrUAuLST
— Βƌβƌβơ⊔⟟ℓℓ⋲ (@WulfMunkey) November 6, 2021
Fan tries to stop Travis Scott from performing to get him to get help to those who were unconscious in the crowd.
— TheHouseGossip (@thehousegossip) November 6, 2021
Disturbing part is him saying “who told me to stop” “you know what you came here to do”. #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/K6KfIz8cOo
#ASTROWORLDFest disturbing footage from the grounds of Astroworld. pic.twitter.com/YSEgatTZCd
— obama.ball (@itsjonas15) November 6, 2021
travis scott telling security to help someone in the crowd #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/iq2LW1CQpF
— clea (@CleaSena) November 6, 2021
VERY DISTURBING IMAGES: 8 people confirmed dead & 300+ injured this is insane and very sad!!!! #ASTROWORLDFest #TravisScott #ASTROFEST pic.twitter.com/b82DHryxuZ
— 🐍 (@Adyek_) November 6, 2021
Travis Scott's #AstroWorld Festival has been canceled for Saturday
— don't bore us 🎧 (@DontBoreUs) November 6, 2021
• 8 people are confirmed dead
• 23 people were hospitalized
• One person injured was 10 years old
• 300 people were treated throughout the day
(via @houstonpolice) pic.twitter.com/xJfrAmJ1RM
If you have not been able to contact your loved one who attended #ASTROWORLDFest please call 3-1-1 or 713-837-0311 or go to the reunification center at 8686 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77054.
— Houston OEM (@HoustonOEM) November 6, 2021
Thursday, November 04, 2021
Wrangling the Leftover Election News
So it wasn't all bad for Team Blue on Tuesday.
#MichelleWu is the 1st woman & the 1st POC to be elected mayor in Boston. Wu will also be the 1st mayor of Boston not born in the city since 1925. https://t.co/KHIwZiiTXs
— Shefali S. Kulkarni (@shefalikulkarni) November 3, 2021
The Wu Train also got a stamp of approval for her climate advocacy from Bill McKibben. Here's a few more winners.
Progressive wins. @JustinForCT @kahlilseren @turnersloss
— Ramona Massachi (@RamonaMassachi) November 3, 2021
@BibbForCLE @sharettaforlima @Kristin4Harlem @hicks4district6 @juliewon2021 Scott Harriman @AnnaTrevorrow @mayouduluth Azrin Awal @tiffany_caban @wutrain @guzman4virginia @BibbForCLE @BenForWard3 @Sheila4Congress
Our girl @tiffany_caban is finally and officially the council member for Rikers Island.
— Kaeleigh (@kaefair) November 3, 2021
Fuck yes. Let’s decarcerate this shit.
While the votes continue to be counted, we are proud to say that we already have gained more votes than any openly socialist NYC mayoral candidate since 1953!
— Rojas for NYC Mayor (@rojas4mayor2021) November 3, 2021
Of more personal importance were these Green Party members who won their local elections across the northeast US.
The following Green Party candidates won their elections last night:
— GreenNewDeal (@OurPlanet2024) November 3, 2021
Anna Trevorrow, City Council, Portland (ME)
Scott Harriman, City Council, Lewiston (ME)
Dagmar Noll, Town Council, Willimantic (CT)
Joseph Wetmore, Town Board, Lansing (NY)
A four-count thread of newly-minted leftists. Let's see some changes made, y'all.
(Speaking of, the filing deadline for Lone Star elections next year fast approaches, and the Texas Green Party wants YOU on the ballot. Two weeks ago their legal team moved for summary judgment -- .pdf here -- in the case regarding the excessive burdens associated with minor party ballot access.)
With fresh polling, some new entrants, and lots of speculative and future election news in the pipe, I'll save all that for another day and keep the focus on what just happened last Tuesday.
Non-corporate media responses to Election Day locally were ... tired. Hooks at Texas Monthly seemed very bored about his writing assignment. Good ol' Campos came through, however. Still as dumb as a bag of hammers, but was grumpily capable of expressing some outrage (undoubtedly corresponding to the Astros' losing) at someone tripping over a power cable at Harris Votes. Should you prefer your blue blogging with a side of milquetoast slopped in mayo and cottage cheese, you can always click over to Stace Medellin and Charles Kuffner and watch them give each other handys.
Yuck. Go back to the CFRs and the Tejano music, fellas. Those weren't the only revoltin' developments, as we are now very familiar.
Democrats worked harder to beat India Walton than they did to win Virginia.
— Jonathan Copeland (@thebrick00) November 3, 2021
Despite all praise I gave them above, nobody should lose sight of the fact that the Democratic Party is where actual progressive policies go to die. Matt Stoller scrapes a little on the Donks having no honest connection with working class people, but the issues go much deeper than just that. Having made this point in these pixels before, it's still incumbent on me to remind that "progressive" is not leftist and "moderate" and "centrist" are neither. Definitions used by corporate media and other members of the establishment are full of truthiness, an already-ancient word it seems.
Here's your illustration.
Huddled on the Senate floor: Manchin, Sinema, Thune and McConnell: pic.twitter.com/EbOAEzCFjv
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 3, 2021
Moving back to Texas, and the non-election items. As always, criminal and social injustices break the news. It was interesting that the Supremes appeared so skeptical of the state's novel abortion ban law in Monday's hearing ...
Brett Kavanaugh seemed disturbed by the possibility that blue states could use Texas’ playbook to ban guns. https://t.co/SIFmDyNrYt
— Slate (@Slate) November 2, 2021
... but don't be too encouraged.
Roe v. Wade is close to dead, despite mixed signals from the Supreme Court, says @ReproRights's @Kitkolbert. She calls the Texas arguments a distraction from the real threat to abortion: the Mississippi case to be heard in December. pic.twitter.com/jJLInUtFsP
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) November 2, 2021
Rodney Reed’s supporters insist that his case underscores larger problems of racial bias in the death penalty. His family has called his conviction and death sentence by an all-white jury the result of a “Jim Crow trial.” https://t.co/bOb9JYvxNf
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) November 3, 2021
No county in Texas has arrested more migrants under the governor's plan to crack down on the border, and it's created a judicial crisis. https://t.co/YYwZvA26sa
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) November 3, 2021
NEW: Williamson County commissioners today settled for $325,000 a lawsuit filed by Ramsey Mitchell, who was the subject of a "Live PD" force encounter as it was broadcast nationally. Background: https://t.co/87KS61tban
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) November 2, 2021
William Neil Gallagher, the Texas radio host known as the "Money Doctor," was sentenced to three life terms for taking at least $23 million from more than the retirement savings of 190 listeners to fuel a Ponzi scheme, according to court records. https://t.co/SA8qlWUfm8
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 2, 2021
Co-founder of oath keepers, trainer of Texas law enforcement, endorsed by Ken Paxton #txlege https://t.co/YfldF5NpTc
— This world is not my home (@msonemic) November 2, 2021
A series of antisemitic incidents around Central Texas — including vandalism, potential arson and demonstrations affiliated with neo-Nazis — has drawn condemnation from interfaith and community leaders. https://t.co/3Mn1195b3b
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) November 1, 2021
Texas chose not to invest in an accurate #Census, leading to nearly 400k people not being counted. $247 million in #Medicaid funding left on the table and those Texans deprived of fair representation: #txlege https://t.co/NJSvE81A5o
— Rep. Ina Minjarez (@vote4ina) November 2, 2021
NEW: Our analysis of articles from six Houston-area TV stations found something shocking: a significant share of stories had a negative slant towards bond reform, and many were misleading about the realities of misdemeanor bond reform. REPORT: https://t.co/mbLsgcKFSh pic.twitter.com/YXeBm9t3fX
— Texas Center for Justice and Equity (@TexasCJE) November 1, 2021
Steven Hotze has a couple of lawsuits going on at the moment that you might be interested in reading about. Even as vape shop owners sue the Texas DSHS for perfunctorily banning Delta-8, they're quickly moving on to the next thing: Delta-9. And a Houston engineering firm filed a federal lawsuit against both the city and the state over its anti-BDS law, which prohibits governmental agencies from doing business with companies that boycott Israel.
Lots of climate updates, too, in the next Wrangle. The soothers:
The Rio Grande International Study Center in Laredo invites the public to observe the fall migration of monarch butterflies, moving through Texas from Canada and the northern United States to the oyamel fir-covered mountains of Michoacán, this Saturday.
‘Fewer mosquitoes is a relative term.’ - ranger at Sea Rim State Park in Southeast Texas. @mcohanlon has a @TexasMonthly piece out on 8 Great Spots to Canoe or Kayak in Texas This Fall and Winter. Don’t rule out packing bug spray! https://t.co/y33zcNa1Gy
— Bob Garrett (@RobertTGarrett) November 3, 2021
Houston rapper Travis Scott was joined Wednesday morning by his grandmother, mother and sister at Young Elementary School to introduce Cactus Jack Gardens, a collaborative effort between HISD and Scott's Cactus Jack Foundation. https://t.co/4wRklvKetG
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) November 4, 2021
Scott's been hosting community activities in the run-up to his Astroworld Festival this weekend.
Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Donkeys Humped Wrangle
Not quite as bad a beatdown as the Astros took from the Braves in the World Series, but still ... they did it to themselves. Again.
.@Sen_JoeManchin (How can I do the most damage to Biden and fellow Democrats?)
— Mark Elliott (@markmobility) November 2, 2021
Let's cut Build Back Better in half and then, instead of declaring victory and announcing my support, trash the entire thing the day before a crucial governor's race in Virginia.
I mean "they" if you're one of those Democrats who considers Joe Manchin a Democrat (and not Bernie Sanders, for example).
If I had a dollar for every time some pundit said "This is a big wake-up call for the Democrats" Id be able to pay off my student loans. https://t.co/deqIZNN0a4
— Maria (@Sandernista412) November 3, 2021
Oh yes, speaking of student loan debt ...
"The memo was completely redacted, but it was dated April 8, just a week after @WHCOS discussed the memo’s existence on cable news — meaning that the memo has existed for months, but the administration has concealed it from the public."https://t.co/L8oGKCAyoD
— The Debt Collective (@StrikeDebt) November 1, 2021
You don't suppose yesterday was some kind of a referendum on Joe Biden, do you? Nah, had to be the Far Left's fault.
McAuliffe’s loss in a state Biden just won by over 10% raises an important question: how do we blame progressives?
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) November 3, 2021
Sen. Mark Warner of the Commonwealth jumped out to an early lead.
Here's the clip:https://t.co/h1nNxR6cky pic.twitter.com/vA4iysx90M
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) November 1, 2021
From Virginia to New Jersey to Minnesota, voters in yesterday's off-year elections sent Democrats a warning for 2022: There could be a massive backlash to perceptions that progressives are pulling the party too far left.
[...]
A senior aide to another House Democratic moderate told Axios’ Hans Nichols that "it’s clear that passing a historic bipartisan infrastructure deal months ago would have energized President Biden’s numbers," and that House progressives who stalled that vote had hurt McAuliffe.
Yes well, I certainly hope so. Though I don't think anyone's blaming the leftists for the Democratic nominee's defeat to a write-in candidate in Buffalo, NY yesterday.
Democrats have no problem when corporate candidates run as 3rd party spoilers, but would lose it if Bernie or Nina (rightfully) did the same thing. https://t.co/HB2nomlhl6
— citizen uprising (@cit_uprising) November 3, 2021
Texas -- or at least San Antonio's House District 118 -- repeated the pattern.
Our story: Republican John Lujan wins special election runoff to flip Texas House seat in San Antonio
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 3, 2021
Lujan wins by 2 points after Biden carried #HD118 by 14 https://t.co/MItlyNvtbp #txlege
Quite remarkable. To underscore, this is what they are losing to.
QAnon lunatics waiting for JFK Jr. to show up at Dealey Plaza in Dallas and they’re definitely NOT a cult pic.twitter.com/8C0jPdXc6z
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) November 2, 2021
This guy says Critical Race Theory is the most important issue in the Virginia Election. He also says he has no idea what Critical Race Theory is. pic.twitter.com/lBrGy4lRBG
— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) November 1, 2021
Gohmert: I’ve read where experts have said if you’ve got a choice between the temperature getting slightly warmer or slightly colder, you want warmer because if it’s getting slightly colder that means there’s less time for crops to grow pic.twitter.com/1XMaFZzhhQ
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 2, 2021
Alas, some things never change no matter the duopolist in charge.
Game's over https://t.co/p7exc4zBgr
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) November 3, 2021
I have lots more coming.








