I for one will not welcome our new robotic overlords. To update the call to arms for the working class: "Seize the means of automation!"
Sunday, April 08, 2018
Tuesday, April 03, 2018
The latest on CD-7 and District K
-- Yesterday, in the midst of Monday afternoon business, a knock came at the door, and the wife, working from home and stricken with an upper respiratory infection, yelled out a salutation. It was a blockwalker for Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, who as it happens also had the first mailer in the #TX07 runoff between she and Laura Moser drop in our box later that same day.
After the visitor identified himself and Mrs. Diddie declared our support for Moser, the caller asked (if he could ask) why. My wife said, "because Fletcher is too corporate".
That evening, as I retrieved said advertising piece and the rest of the post from the mailbox, I noticed that the neighbor two doors down had a 'Lizzie' yard sign out in front. This neighbor had not previously committed last month to a candidate lawnwise, so this was a conversion of sorts for Team Fletch. It also marks the strategy for the March 7 front-runner: go into your opponent's area of strength, and do so strong.
Ours is a working-class neighborhood adjacent to Meyerland. I haven't bothered to check the precinct tallies but my guess is that Moser did well in my part of town (her grandmother was the first female director of the city's Jewish community center, and the daughter of a rabbi from Congregation Adath Emeth, now part of the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston, a nearby branch of which was recently forced to close and be demolished after repetitive flooding; another Harvey victim). Ms. Pannill Fletcher is really more of a West University/Bellaire/Memorial kind of Democrat, with her law pedigree and slightly more conservative POV.
This is a long way of saying that if I had to place my wager today, I would bet that LPF is likely to prevail in the runoff on May 22. Team Moser: your work is cut out for you.
-- It turns out to be more than the normal crying shame that Houston City Council member Larry Green died prematurely ... because he died of a drug overdose. His drug usage was perhaps something more than the usual recreational, too. This development stains his glowing posthumous reputation and plays to a regrettable stereotype. As with the resignation of JP Hilary Green -- the lurid drug and sex stories that came out a year ago about her, about her acrimonious divorce with ex-husband and former city comptroller Ronald Green -- and combined with the accusations and charges against Lege members Ron Reynolds and Borris Miles, Houston black Democrats are now compelled to make certain they get CM Green's replacement (and Judge Green's, whenever that occurs, by a vote of precinct chairs in Harris County) correct.
This new elected official must prove worthy of carrying a heavier burden to hold himself, or herself, far beyond any reproach.
To that end, the special election for the vacant District K seat -- a .pdf map can be seen here -- to be held on Saturday, May 5, with an abbreviated early voting period beginning April 23 through May 1, has nine contenders. Of those I would surmise that Larry Blackmon, Pat Frazier, and Martha Castex-Tatum would be the three with the highest name recognition, the campaigns making the strongest effort, and the most likely of two to move on to a runoff. I'll be following Ashton Woods' lead here, and unless I hear differently from him I will take it that he is supporting Castex-Tatum.
After the visitor identified himself and Mrs. Diddie declared our support for Moser, the caller asked (if he could ask) why. My wife said, "because Fletcher is too corporate".
That evening, as I retrieved said advertising piece and the rest of the post from the mailbox, I noticed that the neighbor two doors down had a 'Lizzie' yard sign out in front. This neighbor had not previously committed last month to a candidate lawnwise, so this was a conversion of sorts for Team Fletch. It also marks the strategy for the March 7 front-runner: go into your opponent's area of strength, and do so strong.
Ours is a working-class neighborhood adjacent to Meyerland. I haven't bothered to check the precinct tallies but my guess is that Moser did well in my part of town (her grandmother was the first female director of the city's Jewish community center, and the daughter of a rabbi from Congregation Adath Emeth, now part of the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston, a nearby branch of which was recently forced to close and be demolished after repetitive flooding; another Harvey victim). Ms. Pannill Fletcher is really more of a West University/Bellaire/Memorial kind of Democrat, with her law pedigree and slightly more conservative POV.
This is a long way of saying that if I had to place my wager today, I would bet that LPF is likely to prevail in the runoff on May 22. Team Moser: your work is cut out for you.
-- It turns out to be more than the normal crying shame that Houston City Council member Larry Green died prematurely ... because he died of a drug overdose. His drug usage was perhaps something more than the usual recreational, too. This development stains his glowing posthumous reputation and plays to a regrettable stereotype. As with the resignation of JP Hilary Green -- the lurid drug and sex stories that came out a year ago about her, about her acrimonious divorce with ex-husband and former city comptroller Ronald Green -- and combined with the accusations and charges against Lege members Ron Reynolds and Borris Miles, Houston black Democrats are now compelled to make certain they get CM Green's replacement (and Judge Green's, whenever that occurs, by a vote of precinct chairs in Harris County) correct.
This new elected official must prove worthy of carrying a heavier burden to hold himself, or herself, far beyond any reproach.
To that end, the special election for the vacant District K seat -- a .pdf map can be seen here -- to be held on Saturday, May 5, with an abbreviated early voting period beginning April 23 through May 1, has nine contenders. Of those I would surmise that Larry Blackmon, Pat Frazier, and Martha Castex-Tatum would be the three with the highest name recognition, the campaigns making the strongest effort, and the most likely of two to move on to a runoff. I'll be following Ashton Woods' lead here, and unless I hear differently from him I will take it that he is supporting Castex-Tatum.
Monday, April 02, 2018
The Weekly Wrangle
The Texas Progressive Alliance is packing some extra antihistamines in addition to bringing you the best of the left of Texas from last week.
US Senate candidates Beto O'Rourke and Sema Hernandez met for the first time in the wake of the Democratic primary almost a month ago, and Geoff Campbell interviewed Hernandez afterwards for Progressive Army. The face-to-face seemed more than a little stand-offish, but O'Rourke appears to have won Hernandez's vote -- if not her endorsement -- in the 2018 general election. Video courtesy Holos Media on Twitter.
Socratic Gadfly has an update to a previous post on what clearly appears to be a weird triangle in Marlin between Houston real estate "flippers," a former VA hospital building, and the General Land Office and P. Bush.
Ethan Couch -- he was the Brains and Eggs' 2015 Texan of the Year for being responsible (a thinly relative term when referring to Couch) for the word 'affluenza' -- is leaving jail this morning and beginning his ten-year-probationary sentence. Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer has the details. Also blogged here a couple of weeks before Couch's award: a disease associated with affluenza is ... gulliblemia.
Talking Points Memo checks in from the federal courthouse in Houston with a report on Steve Stockman's fraud trial, and seems astounded that everything is bigger in Texas, doubly so when it's crimes committed by Texas Republicans. (Meanwhile, Texans thought everyone knew this already.)
The Texas Standard speaks to the Dallas News' Lauren McGaughey (paywall) about the state's Sunset Advisory Commission describing mental health care oversight among the three agencies charged with that task as being in "severe operational dysfunction".
Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast tips Texas reporters to some news that just might have a Pulitzer hiding in it somewhere.
The Lewisville Texan Journal took note of a local election where residents were asked to support or oppose giving themselves a $100 check ... but nobody bothered to vote. Really; 0% turnout.
A Fort Bend county commissioner wants the Lege to consider exempting the Texas Open Meetings Act for emergencies, but Christopher Collins at the Texas Observer asks if that's just another excuse to kill laws that force government to conduct itself transparently.
David Collins attended a recent Socialist Alternative meeting in Houston, where former Greenwatch host and political candidate Brian Harrison spoke about gun violence (not control).
Houston Justice wants to see more African American representation on the Bayou City's commissions and boards, and blogs about how action on that might look.
The Rag Blog's Alice Embree writes about a Chilean student who presented a paper in Paris about protests against Salvador Allende in the '60's and '70's, and used the Austin underground newspaper's digital archives for research.
Another poll bar-graphed by Ted at jobsanger leaves him puzzled as to the conservative political leanings of the Baby Boomer generation.
And both Houston Public Media and Texas Leftist covered the Bean Art War that erupted into a series of putdowns, crackbacks, and other sick burns between Chi-Town and H-Town. (Few seemed to notice that the artist considers them 'clouds' and not beans.)
US Senate candidates Beto O'Rourke and Sema Hernandez met for the first time in the wake of the Democratic primary almost a month ago, and Geoff Campbell interviewed Hernandez afterwards for Progressive Army. The face-to-face seemed more than a little stand-offish, but O'Rourke appears to have won Hernandez's vote -- if not her endorsement -- in the 2018 general election. Video courtesy Holos Media on Twitter.
~EXCLUSIVE FOR HOLOS MEDIA~— HOLOSMEDIA (@holosmedia) March 31, 2018
Beto O'Rourke & Sema Hernandez lead by example for our texan society by building a bridge of communication;@BetoORourke@_SemaHernandez_@texasdemocrats@democracynow#SaturdayMorning#WomensHistoryMonth#HOLOSTODOS#HOLOSMEDIA#beto4texas#sema4texas pic.twitter.com/S3XaXo3Mf7
Socratic Gadfly has an update to a previous post on what clearly appears to be a weird triangle in Marlin between Houston real estate "flippers," a former VA hospital building, and the General Land Office and P. Bush.
Ethan Couch -- he was the Brains and Eggs' 2015 Texan of the Year for being responsible (a thinly relative term when referring to Couch) for the word 'affluenza' -- is leaving jail this morning and beginning his ten-year-probationary sentence. Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer has the details. Also blogged here a couple of weeks before Couch's award: a disease associated with affluenza is ... gulliblemia.
Talking Points Memo checks in from the federal courthouse in Houston with a report on Steve Stockman's fraud trial, and seems astounded that everything is bigger in Texas, doubly so when it's crimes committed by Texas Republicans. (Meanwhile, Texans thought everyone knew this already.)
The Texas Standard speaks to the Dallas News' Lauren McGaughey (paywall) about the state's Sunset Advisory Commission describing mental health care oversight among the three agencies charged with that task as being in "severe operational dysfunction".
Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast tips Texas reporters to some news that just might have a Pulitzer hiding in it somewhere.
In the New York Times last week (March 29), former Austin Statesman editor Richard Oppell authored an article that could resonate throughout Texas indigent defense systems, as it describes a practice that's widespread, not remotely limited to the judge or attorney in Galveston at the center of the story. Here's the heart of the allegations ...
(click on the paywalled NYT link above)
Grits has heard similar stories from defense attorneys for as long as I've paid attention to the Texas justice system, including attorneys stiffed not just for time worked but also for investigators' fees or even forensic services.
Which brings me to this observation for Texas-based reporters: This is a national story which can be localized. This isn't the only Texas jurisdiction, by any stretch, in which judges reduced pay requests from lawyers as excessive when they tried to put on a zealous defense. There are also stories out there of lawyers losing out on appointments because judges considered them a tad too zealous. Attorneys who make a living representing indigent clients must routinely take on caseloads well beyond bar-association-recommended guidelines in order to pay for a mortgage, middle-class lifestyle, and law-school debts. This story explains why, and it's not just happening in Galveston.
So, for my reporter friends on the local courthouse beat: There's a courthouse paper trail on cases where judges reduce attorneys' fees, which a local attorney who takes indigent cases or the court coordinator can help you identify. Then, one simply calls up the attorneys to ask why they requested the additional pay. Follow up with calls to the judges in question to get their side of the story; the county judge so s/he can lodge a complaint about unfunded mandates from the state; then make a call to indigent defense experts like the Texas Fair Defense Project or Civil Rights Corps (the two nonprofits that sued over Harris County's unconstitutional bail practices), and you've just localized a national story.
The Lewisville Texan Journal took note of a local election where residents were asked to support or oppose giving themselves a $100 check ... but nobody bothered to vote. Really; 0% turnout.
Voting ended Saturday for a city referendum, which would cut a $100 check for each resident of Lewisville due to a budgeting error at City Hall. Not one person voted in the election though, causing a standstill among city officials.
“If I’m being honest, we don’t really know what to do,” City Manager Donna Barron said. “We don’t have anything in the city charter to address something like this.”
A Fort Bend county commissioner wants the Lege to consider exempting the Texas Open Meetings Act for emergencies, but Christopher Collins at the Texas Observer asks if that's just another excuse to kill laws that force government to conduct itself transparently.
David Collins attended a recent Socialist Alternative meeting in Houston, where former Greenwatch host and political candidate Brian Harrison spoke about gun violence (not control).
Houston Justice wants to see more African American representation on the Bayou City's commissions and boards, and blogs about how action on that might look.
The Rag Blog's Alice Embree writes about a Chilean student who presented a paper in Paris about protests against Salvador Allende in the '60's and '70's, and used the Austin underground newspaper's digital archives for research.
Another poll bar-graphed by Ted at jobsanger leaves him puzzled as to the conservative political leanings of the Baby Boomer generation.
And both Houston Public Media and Texas Leftist covered the Bean Art War that erupted into a series of putdowns, crackbacks, and other sick burns between Chi-Town and H-Town. (Few seemed to notice that the artist considers them 'clouds' and not beans.)
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Monday, March 26, 2018
The Weekly Wrangle
With this week's lefty blog post and news round-up, the Texas Progressive Alliance was delighted to let the youth lead the way this past weekend.
As if the March For Our Lives events weren’t epic enough, Texas Leftist was glad to see some Houston-area high school students begin another impressive movement. By bringing prominent Democratic and Republican leaders together in ways that political forces have fallen short, the Inaugural Day of Unity Texas is off to a great start.
Stace at Dos Centavos gives his impressions of law enforcement's and the media's portrayal of the Austin bomber. With a corresponding POV, Progressive.org employs an unfortunate pun to destroy the myth of Austin as the liberal bastion of Texas.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton revealed himself to be entirely clueless about the details of the Austin bomber in multiple media appearances, writes RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly.
In his irregular curation of criminal justice stories needing more attention, Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast blogged about the Fifth Circuit getting benchslapped by the SCOTUS in Ayestas v. Davis.
Both The Intercept and Down With Tyranny wrote about the DCCC's greasy thumb on the scales in Texas Congressional primaries.
Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer names ten Texas celebrities who ought to get into politics, a list that might have been a bit more useful before we voted three weeks ago.
Off the Kuff analyzed Harris County precinct data for the Democratic Senate primary. (zzz)
SocraticGadfly offers his thoughts on the lawsuit by Seth Rich's parents.
Neil at All People Had Value made the point that we are facing an authoritarian/Constitutional crisis.
Ted at jobsanger enjoys watching Trump squirm over the Stormy Daniels business, but thinks it's time for the country to move on.
Lewisville municipal candidates debated at the city's renovated Music City Mall, and the Texan Journal has details.
Ahead of the 2020 census, the TexTrib counts the ways Texans are getting more difficult to find and include, which has ramifications from federal funding to redistricting.
Space City Weather explains why a hurricane forecast for 2018 will be a challenge.
Bonddad advises caution in interpreting opinion polls based on voluntary associations.
In transportation blame-game postings, Jeff Balke at the Houston Press faults negligent drivers for the spate of car crashes with light rail trains in H-Town, and Mean Green Cougar Red takes a long look at the Uber self-driving car that caused the death of a bicyclist.
In another post about closing the barn door after the cows have left the building, Dwight Silverman at Tech Burger shows how to manage your Facebook privacy settings. Just get off the crack, y'all.
And Harry Hamid writes a story about a friend who became an energy vampire.
As if the March For Our Lives events weren’t epic enough, Texas Leftist was glad to see some Houston-area high school students begin another impressive movement. By bringing prominent Democratic and Republican leaders together in ways that political forces have fallen short, the Inaugural Day of Unity Texas is off to a great start.
Stace at Dos Centavos gives his impressions of law enforcement's and the media's portrayal of the Austin bomber. With a corresponding POV, Progressive.org employs an unfortunate pun to destroy the myth of Austin as the liberal bastion of Texas.
Across social media, especially, a narrative formed that the Austin bombings were another example that media does not cover tragedies in communities of color with the same determination as disasters affecting white communities.
“When does a story pick up steam and why -- is it simply because of the volume or because the problem left East Austin,” says Kevin Foster, a professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies department at the University of Texas at Austin, and who is involved in community programs on the east side. “I don’t know the answer, but we need to ask the question. This community is used to institutional neglect and being marginalised.”
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton revealed himself to be entirely clueless about the details of the Austin bomber in multiple media appearances, writes RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly.
In his irregular curation of criminal justice stories needing more attention, Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast blogged about the Fifth Circuit getting benchslapped by the SCOTUS in Ayestas v. Davis.
Both The Intercept and Down With Tyranny wrote about the DCCC's greasy thumb on the scales in Texas Congressional primaries.
Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer names ten Texas celebrities who ought to get into politics, a list that might have been a bit more useful before we voted three weeks ago.
Off the Kuff analyzed Harris County precinct data for the Democratic Senate primary. (zzz)
SocraticGadfly offers his thoughts on the lawsuit by Seth Rich's parents.
Neil at All People Had Value made the point that we are facing an authoritarian/Constitutional crisis.
Ted at jobsanger enjoys watching Trump squirm over the Stormy Daniels business, but thinks it's time for the country to move on.
Lewisville municipal candidates debated at the city's renovated Music City Mall, and the Texan Journal has details.
Ahead of the 2020 census, the TexTrib counts the ways Texans are getting more difficult to find and include, which has ramifications from federal funding to redistricting.
Space City Weather explains why a hurricane forecast for 2018 will be a challenge.
Bonddad advises caution in interpreting opinion polls based on voluntary associations.
In transportation blame-game postings, Jeff Balke at the Houston Press faults negligent drivers for the spate of car crashes with light rail trains in H-Town, and Mean Green Cougar Red takes a long look at the Uber self-driving car that caused the death of a bicyclist.
And Harry Hamid writes a story about a friend who became an energy vampire.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Scattershooting springy events and developments
-- Democratic Senate District conventions are tomorrow. So is the March for Our Lives.
The big one, in DC, will be televised; there are more than 800 others happening across the world. In Houston there will be two marches, one at Tranquility Park downtown at 9 a.m. and the other setting off from Heights HS at 10. Also in Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Galveston. There's an awesome after-party this evening. Crooked Timber has some posters you can download and print.
-- The District K Houston City Council special election loses one candidate but still has two others. Ashton P. Woods would have been my choice, but he is deferring to "a black woman" for the post, an admirable move. Woods still plans to be on the municipal ballot in 2019 for an at-large seat.
Correct me if I'm wrong but this doesn't sound like an endorsement of Pat Frazier, the only black woman in the race that I am aware of. Update: Until yesterday, when the late CM Green's constituent liaison, Martha Castex-Tatum, filed. The TexTrib shows she has also worked in CM Steve Le's office. Her website is still under construction at this update, but her press release published at Guidry News lists previous electoral experience as a member of city council in San Marcos. Here's a brief excerpt from the Chron's (paywalled) article about the race:
-- Trump communicates something (even without a comms director).
He won't veto it (the government will shut down and he'll get the blame). But even if he does, it won't be because of DACA but his precious wall. Those shithole Democrats who, indeed, abandoned DREAMers left themselves wide open for this. It's political kabuki, and the Democrats whose names appear in the last link just felt the samurai sword come down on the back of their necks. It was an act of seppuku they performed last month; Trump just applied the coup de grâce (too many foreign languages?).
I'm looking at you, Bob.
Update: "I will never sign another bill like this again..." Bullshit thick as a brick.
-- In sunnier news, the Tomball German Festival and Bayou Greenway Day and the Bayou City Art Festival are all this weekend. And it's almost bluebonnet season.
That Chappell Hill route (FM 1155) is our favorite. You can pause at the Washington-on-the-Brazos museum at the end, then slide over to SH 6 at Navasota and take a quick shot back to H-Town. Lots of country dining options along the way. Go on the weekend of April 14/15 and take in the Bluebonnet Festival before your drive, but be prepared for Houston-size hordes. Go any other time, especially a weekday (check opening and closing times) to enjoy the experience without the crowds.
The big one, in DC, will be televised; there are more than 800 others happening across the world. In Houston there will be two marches, one at Tranquility Park downtown at 9 a.m. and the other setting off from Heights HS at 10. Also in Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Galveston. There's an awesome after-party this evening. Crooked Timber has some posters you can download and print.
-- The District K Houston City Council special election loses one candidate but still has two others. Ashton P. Woods would have been my choice, but he is deferring to "a black woman" for the post, an admirable move. Woods still plans to be on the municipal ballot in 2019 for an at-large seat.
With that said, We can't just elect the first Black woman who steps up without vetting them to make sure they won't block ordinances that protect Black people on the fringes like the Trans community and the black LGBT community at large. We need people who will have integrity to govern with respect to separation of church and state, and the strength to be open and honest. We need people willing to do what many of the men on council have failed to do, we need someone who will represent the interests of ALL Houstonians and not their donors. It is clear that city government is going in the wrong direction and not taking the time to address racial and economic disparities in Houston's Black & Brown community. Instead, the focus is to criminalize the homeless, beautify the city, and pedal the "Houston is a welcoming city" lie.
Correct me if I'm wrong but this doesn't sound like an endorsement of Pat Frazier, the only black woman in the race that I am aware of. Update: Until yesterday, when the late CM Green's constituent liaison, Martha Castex-Tatum, filed. The TexTrib shows she has also worked in CM Steve Le's office. Her website is still under construction at this update, but her press release published at Guidry News lists previous electoral experience as a member of city council in San Marcos. Here's a brief excerpt from the Chron's (paywalled) article about the race:
Candidates have until 5 p.m. Monday to file for the District K election, which is set for May 5. The city is maintaining a list of those who have filed, and a map of the district is available here.
-- Trump communicates something (even without a comms director).
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2018
He won't veto it (the government will shut down and he'll get the blame). But even if he does, it won't be because of DACA but his precious wall. Those shithole Democrats who, indeed, abandoned DREAMers left themselves wide open for this. It's political kabuki, and the Democrats whose names appear in the last link just felt the samurai sword come down on the back of their necks. It was an act of seppuku they performed last month; Trump just applied the coup de grâce (too many foreign languages?).
I'm looking at you, Bob.
Update: "I will never sign another bill like this again..." Bullshit thick as a brick.
-- In sunnier news, the Tomball German Festival and Bayou Greenway Day and the Bayou City Art Festival are all this weekend. And it's almost bluebonnet season.
Halfway between Austin and Houston, Brenham is a town that prides itself on its wildflowers. Using "Flower Watch," visitors can check in almost daily on the Visit Brenham website to see what is blooming. As of March 15, the bluebonnets are coming in a little later than usual, but there are a few clusters beginning to gather, and the town expects the season to peak at the end of March.
Among the suggested prime viewing spots is Hwy 290 East and West as you drive into Brenham; FM 1155 to 2679 in Chappell Hill; and FM 2447 and Hwy 290 at First Baptist Church of Chappell Hill (the church welcomes visitors, but requests that the parking lot remain open to members of its congregation).
That Chappell Hill route (FM 1155) is our favorite. You can pause at the Washington-on-the-Brazos museum at the end, then slide over to SH 6 at Navasota and take a quick shot back to H-Town. Lots of country dining options along the way. Go on the weekend of April 14/15 and take in the Bluebonnet Festival before your drive, but be prepared for Houston-size hordes. Go any other time, especially a weekday (check opening and closing times) to enjoy the experience without the crowds.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Facecrooks
Is Facebook an accomplice, though, or just the getaway car? Do we prosecute the guns used in a shooting ... or do we regulate them more strongly so that the "bad guys" can't get them?
The news keeps pouring in about the illegal data operations of the firm Cambridge Analytica, which used a Facebook personality quiz app called “thisisyourdigitallife” to mine the data of millions of users, most of whom never actually used the app. The mined data went on to be used by Republican campaigns in 2016.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a large part of the effort to mine data on American voters was overseen by Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart executive chairman and Trump strategist who recently utterly failed to lead a radical right-wing insurgency in the Republican party.
Bannon used Cambridge to test phrases like “drain the swamp” used in the campaign of Donald Trump and the phrase “deep state,” which became the name of the all-consuming right-wing conspiracy theory over the past year. These phrases were tested by Bannon and Cambridge more than three years before they entered the popular political discussion.
Cambridge was part of Bannon’s effort to build a right-wing populist machine on the right. But a former research director and founding force of Cambridge Analytica, Chris Wylie, made the depth of this connection apparent Tuesday in an interview with the Post. Wylie said that Bannon approved the $1 million operation to acquire Facebook profiles and other data in 2014.
Wylie’s account was one of several connected to Cambridge Analytica that Facebook suspended for its failure to comply with destroying the ill-gotten user data.
There are certainly some First Amendment issues at stake: people willingly, if not entirely wittingly, hand over their personal information, which becomes Facebook's property virtually forever, even if you delete your account. Nefarious intentions of Facebook or those who purchase its data aside (a massive 'if'), has Mark Zuckerburg simply lost control of his creation, as with Dr. Frankenstein? Should we let the invisible hand of the free market -- that would be us, since we're the merchandise and not the customer -- slap the crap out of this kid (more harshly than a $35 billion 'market correction', that is)?
How to use Facebook while giving it the minimum amount of personal data
How to delete Facebook
Maybe we should just praise Jeebus that the conversation has finally (maybe) turned away from "the Rushins hacked thuh elekshun"...
Here's your reading.
-- From the end of the GritPost link (excerpt at top):
The gravity of the legal and ethical questions about Cambridge’s actions might overshadow the practical consideration: did it even work? It’s unclear if there was much actually gained from the firestorm-generating and dubious data mining operation, with Trump digital director Brad Parscale saying the data wasn’t actually useful.
Parscale was recently tapped to run Trump's 2020 re-election campaign. If there is one; for a variety of reasons I have my doubts as to whether that happens.
-- Washington Monthly (link from excerpt below within):
Here’s the part that stood out to me:
The company says their work with data and research allowed Mr Trump to win with a narrow margin of “40,000 votes” in three states providing victory in the electoral college system, despite losing the popular vote by more than 3 million votes.That is likely a reference to their efforts at voter suppression among Clinton supporters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. I suspect we’ll be hearing more about that story at some point.
-- Facebook and all of us are not alone on this Titanic disaster, as we know. Our data, everywhere it is stored online, is being hacked, leaked, misused, etc. on a daily basis by every kind of bad actor.
"It’s not just the Cambridge Analytica debacle. Ethics don’t scale," Paul Ford writes in Bloomberg Businessweek's cover story.
The big picture: "What’s been unfolding for a while now is a rolling catastrophe so obvious we forget it’s happening. Private data are spilling out of banks, credit-rating providers, email providers, and social networks and ending up everywhere."
"So this is an era of breaches and violations and stolen identities. Big companies can react nimbly when they fear regulation is actually on the horizon — for example, Google, Facebook, and Twitter have agreed to share data with researchers who are tracking disinformation, the result of a European Union commission on fake news."
"But for the most part we’re dealing with global entities that own the means whereby politicians garner votes, have vast access to capital to fund lobbying efforts, and are constitutionally certain of their own moral cause."
Monday, March 19, 2018
The Weekly Wrangle
The Texas Progressive Alliance takes alarmed note this morning of the fourth bombing in the minority communities of Austin, and wonders when President Trump might Tweet about them.
Here's the blog post and news roundup from last week.
Covering his ethnic base, Beto O'Rourke appeared on Bill Maher's HBO show the night before Saint Patrick's Day, and both men agreed that Ted Cruz is a giant asshole. Relative to that ...
... Progress Texas reveals its "Humans Against Ted Cruz" website and swag.
Brains and Eggs completed his analysis of the state legislative and Harris County results, with some predictions for the May runoffs and the November general election. He also noted the start of the ballot access petition-gathering effort for the Texas Green Party.
Off the Kuff examined the relationship between primary turnout and victory in November, Greg Jefferson at the San Antonio Current reviewed some of the many victories won by women in the primaries, and Bonddad poured a little cold water on Democratic midterm enthusiasm.
Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer explains how just two votes in the Texas Senate -- flipping the seats of Konni Burton (SD-10, D challenger Beverly Powell), Don Huffines (SD-16, D challenger Nathan Johnson) or Joan Huffman (SD-17, D challenger either Rita Lucido or Fran Watson, determined in May runoff) would tip the balance of power.
A Fifth Circuit panel of three judges upheld most of the sanctuary cities law, and RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly interprets that as unfavorable for the plaintiffs challenging its legality.
Texas Freedom Network sees that the LGBTQ community -- despite US Supreme Court rulings upholding their freedom to marry -- is still forced to fight the state of Texas for those rights.
A federal lawsuit filed by Ty Clevenger at Lawflog seeks FBJ and DOJ records relating to the murder of DNC employee Seth Rich.
Grits for Breakfast blogs about the culture of cover-up at the TDJC.
After yet another chemical plant explosion, this time in Cresson (outside Fort Worth), Texas Vox wonders again why there is no statewide chemical emergency alert system in place. It would be as simple as duplicating existing weather or Amber Alerts for missing children/seniors.
With the reported sale of the Austin American-Statesman, SocraticGadfly offers up a game of post-primary Texas mainstream media bingo.
In other media news, San Antonio-based iHeartMedia, once known as Clear Channel Communications before a bewildering swirl of spinoffs and rebranding (but still nominally controlled by the in-laws of Cong. Michael McCaul) declared bankruptcy due to crushing debt and weak radio advertising revenue projections. Texas Standard reported that their problems began ten years ago, in a leveraged buyout engineered by Bain Capital, of Mitt Romney repute.
The Lewisville City Council is expected to voice support for the Texas Central Railway, the Dallas-to-Houston bullet train project, and other items in its meeting tonight, reports the Texan Journal.
David Collins, an IT guy, blogs about the other IT (inverted totalitarianism).
Gus Bova at the Texas Observer introduces the socialist metalhead stumping for single-payer.
In rare bipartisan agreement, Houstonia notes that the Right and the Left are both up in arms about a puppy that died in an overhead bin on a United Airlines flight.
Leah Binkovitz at the Urban Edge points to a new study out of Houston that suggests that the benefits of homeownership are also ensnared in a discriminatory appraisal process that perpetuates racial inequality.
Houston Justice covered the protest at the Texas Education Association's Austin headquarters of the proposed plans to either privatize or close several of Houston's historic minority high schools, and Raise Your Hand Texas reported from the recent public school finance commission hearing.
As always, Neil at All People Have Value attended the weekly John Cornyn Houston office protest.
And Harry Hamid, at a funeral for a friend, points out that people live on in our stories about them.
Here's the blog post and news roundup from last week.
Covering his ethnic base, Beto O'Rourke appeared on Bill Maher's HBO show the night before Saint Patrick's Day, and both men agreed that Ted Cruz is a giant asshole. Relative to that ...
... Progress Texas reveals its "Humans Against Ted Cruz" website and swag.
Brains and Eggs completed his analysis of the state legislative and Harris County results, with some predictions for the May runoffs and the November general election. He also noted the start of the ballot access petition-gathering effort for the Texas Green Party.
Off the Kuff examined the relationship between primary turnout and victory in November, Greg Jefferson at the San Antonio Current reviewed some of the many victories won by women in the primaries, and Bonddad poured a little cold water on Democratic midterm enthusiasm.
Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer explains how just two votes in the Texas Senate -- flipping the seats of Konni Burton (SD-10, D challenger Beverly Powell), Don Huffines (SD-16, D challenger Nathan Johnson) or Joan Huffman (SD-17, D challenger either Rita Lucido or Fran Watson, determined in May runoff) would tip the balance of power.
The fates of the three Republican incumbents in those races ... won't swing the partisan balance of the chamber. If all three keep their jobs, Republicans will have the majority of seats. Same goes if voters decide to remove all three. If any of the three GOP incumbents loses, however, that could make a dramatic difference in the ability of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to set the agenda for the Senate, which he presides over as president.
Burton, Huffman and Huffines are the most vulnerable Republicans up for re-election to the Senate ... Huffman and Huffines both represent districts that voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election.
A Fifth Circuit panel of three judges upheld most of the sanctuary cities law, and RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly interprets that as unfavorable for the plaintiffs challenging its legality.
Texas Freedom Network sees that the LGBTQ community -- despite US Supreme Court rulings upholding their freedom to marry -- is still forced to fight the state of Texas for those rights.
A federal lawsuit filed by Ty Clevenger at Lawflog seeks FBJ and DOJ records relating to the murder of DNC employee Seth Rich.
Grits for Breakfast blogs about the culture of cover-up at the TDJC.
After yet another chemical plant explosion, this time in Cresson (outside Fort Worth), Texas Vox wonders again why there is no statewide chemical emergency alert system in place. It would be as simple as duplicating existing weather or Amber Alerts for missing children/seniors.
With the reported sale of the Austin American-Statesman, SocraticGadfly offers up a game of post-primary Texas mainstream media bingo.
In other media news, San Antonio-based iHeartMedia, once known as Clear Channel Communications before a bewildering swirl of spinoffs and rebranding (but still nominally controlled by the in-laws of Cong. Michael McCaul) declared bankruptcy due to crushing debt and weak radio advertising revenue projections. Texas Standard reported that their problems began ten years ago, in a leveraged buyout engineered by Bain Capital, of Mitt Romney repute.
The Lewisville City Council is expected to voice support for the Texas Central Railway, the Dallas-to-Houston bullet train project, and other items in its meeting tonight, reports the Texan Journal.
David Collins, an IT guy, blogs about the other IT (inverted totalitarianism).
Gus Bova at the Texas Observer introduces the socialist metalhead stumping for single-payer.
In rare bipartisan agreement, Houstonia notes that the Right and the Left are both up in arms about a puppy that died in an overhead bin on a United Airlines flight.
Leah Binkovitz at the Urban Edge points to a new study out of Houston that suggests that the benefits of homeownership are also ensnared in a discriminatory appraisal process that perpetuates racial inequality.
Houston Justice covered the protest at the Texas Education Association's Austin headquarters of the proposed plans to either privatize or close several of Houston's historic minority high schools, and Raise Your Hand Texas reported from the recent public school finance commission hearing.
As always, Neil at All People Have Value attended the weekly John Cornyn Houston office protest.
And Harry Hamid, at a funeral for a friend, points out that people live on in our stories about them.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
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