Sunday, April 18, 2021

Sunday "Anti-Faxxers" Funnies

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Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Taco Tuesday Bento Box Collation from Far Left Texas

Hungry?  Not on the keto diet?  This round-up of the best of the port side of the Texblogosphere has something for everyone.  *Updates throughout posted below.

Sorry that I have to begin again with Greg Abbott.


That's not paraphrasing him.  Here's the thing: he's not this stupid and there's no excuse for him being this ignorant.  And he's too adept at lying for this to be another put-on, just one more con of the science-resistant TXGOP base.  Rural Republicans who run cattle know all about herd immunity.  Was he too ashamed to mention out loud -- in all of the briefings he's sat through about COVID and vaccines -- that he didn't know what the term meant?  He couldn't have quietly asked someone who did know?  Luis Saenz, Mr. 'Honest Broker', where are you?

This is more in line with his usual.


Venal and catering to the worst instincts of Texas Republican primary voters is what we've come to expect from you, Governor.  You're slipping.  Besides, John Cornyn holds the crown for stupid Tweets, and you should let him keep it.


It's only Tuesday.  Gonna be a long week, especially if Dan Patrick keeps cranking out the hate.


Just when you think the conservatives in the Texas Lege have sunk as low as a catfish's belly in a sewer ditch ... they wiggle in deeper.


It's days like yesterday that I am glad that Saint Molly has gone on to her great reward and must no longer waste her beautiful mind considering the actions of these reprehensible guttersnipes.

Before I segue, let me point out one more Texas Republican behaving badly, and another whose sudden disability I should acknowledge.


West gets a pass here; he really doesn't know any better.  He's an immigrant from Florida.


Dan Crenshaw's almost-last Tweet before he was struck blind had to do with "progressive fascism" (sic), so I'll just wish the Congressman well with his upcoming retina surgery ... and an early, happy retirement from politics.  Eyesight or no, FOX News would have a collective orgasm live on The Five if you joined their stable of pundits, sir.  I hear there's an open national radio slot, daytime, for a prominent conservative demagogue as well.

I promised more Lege in yesterday's Wrangle so I must follow through.  The voting curtailment bills have been covered enough for the moment and the transgender discrimination legislation is simply too distasteful to mention beyond the above, so let's move down the ...um ... ledger.


"Today" in the above was actually last Friday.  Sports gamblers, it's time to mobilize.


Providing the assist from here to criminal and social justice news ...


Two thoughtful pieces here from Texas Monthly.


Meg O'Connor at The Appeal notes that the city of Austin is using money diverted from policing to fund substance use care.  Rachel Martin for NPR examined the lingering issue of hunger for many Texans one year into the COVID pandemic.  And CBP found two girls, ages 3 and 5, in a remote area of west Texas after smugglers dropped them from the top of a 14-foot high section of wall at the southern border.  They hope to reunite them with their mother, who is already in the US.


Some environmental news:


The second Harris County chemical plant fire in two weeks killed a worker in Crosby.  The first, an explosion in Channelview, is still under investigation as to what precisely caused the blaze.  And restart issues trouble the massive Total refinery in Port Arthur from Winter Storm Uri.  So as oil rises and frackers get back to work, expect prices at the gas pump, the grocery store, and for building materials like roofing and insulation that are petro manufacturing-dependent to keep going up, spurring that "inflation" scare word at the Fed.  If you know that the existing housing market in Texas is red hot for sellers now -- and if you know why that is -- then you can extrapolate that building materials of all kinds are hot commodities just because of renovations alone.  For that matter, even wood pulp is short, and that affects the price of everything from toilet paper to lumber.  All this demand translates to more immediate pollution here in southeast Texas, and more long-term deleterious effects to the planet.

One bright spot for our ecology.


This is still a politics blog, and while I am unenthusiastic about the early jockeying for statewide elections in 2022, I bring you the latest anyway.  Of more immediate interest will be the various municipal elections conducted this year around the state.


These days I find myself more interested in past history than current.


And that's my segue to the lighter side.


Still a few links left for later in the week.
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Monday, April 12, 2021

The Weekly Wrangle from Far Left Texas, Midday Edition

Too much to corral into one pen.  More on the way, hopefully later today.

I have never seen a mass shooting disappear so quickly from the headlines.


Governor Second Amendment Sanctuary set a new land speed record for looking asinine.


Abbott is only capable of hearing what's screamed into his right ear.  Polling us on this topic reveals a gaping partisan chasm.


But Texans are united with respect to legislation pending in Austin.


Let's cut our legislators a little slack; they have some really important bills to get to.


Moving on to less trivial matters, the Lege's actions to curtail voting were a hot topic among Texas bloggers -- and newshounds -- this past week.


Progress Texas highlighted the efforts to put pressure on the Rethugs under the Pink Dome to reject voting restrictions.  Kuff posted his take on the Senate and House bills.  Jef Rouner for Reform Austin makes a good point; don't count on the courts, SCOTX or SCOTUS, to bail us out here.  And the Texas Civil Rights Project reminds that there's other malicious voter suppression legislation to watch for.

The delay in processing data from the decennial Census so that lawmakers can perform their redistricting function will -- very probably -- lead to putting off the Lone Star State's 2022 primary elections.  TXElects details the latest.

The Senate approved legislation that would move this year’s filing period and next year’s primary and runoff elections based on when a redistricting plan becomes law. Senate Bill 1822 by Joan Huffman would establish temporary provisions in the Election Code that would be triggered depending on when redistricting plans can be created by the Legislature.

-- The primary would remain on March 1, and the runoff on May 24, if a redistricting plan becomes law on or before November 22, 2021. A truncated filing period would run from November 29 through December 13.

-- The primary would (move to) April 5, and the runoff on June 21, if a redistricting plan becomes law between November 23 and on or before January 3. The filing period would run January 10-24.

-- The primary would be (delayed until) May 24, and the runoff on July 26, if a redistricting plan becomes law between January 4 and February 14. The filing period would run from February 21 through March 7.


And weed is on the agenda.


Socratic Gadfly says that with new legislation on the table in Oklahoma and passed in New Mexico, Texas faces new pressure to liberalize its marijuana laws.  And Jacob Vaughn at the Dallas Observer wonders if we will at least normalize medical cannabis rights.

More Lege, more Abbott and Republicans acting like fools, more environmental, criminal and social justice updates will all appear in the next Wrangle to keep this one from extending too far.  Here's some art projects going on around the state.

Glasstire brings word of brewer Pabst Blue Ribbon and San Antonio’s Aztec Theatre hosting a free immersive pop-up, "In Living Pixels", in the Alamo City this week.  The Houston International Film Festival kicks off on April 22.  And LareDOS announces that Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises, will headline Casa de Misericordia’s April 22 virtual fundraiser.

The award-winning journalist will share her exploration of the domestic violence epidemic via Zoom link. Her book is the recipient of the Book of the Year Awards of both Esquire Magazine and The New York Times.

Casa de Misericordia, directed by Sister of Mercy Rosemary Welsh, empowers survivors of domestic violence and their children to move forward with their lives by receiving holistic, comprehensive, long-term services that support abuse victims as they reclaim their lives.


And here's a couple of my favorite soothers to close.


That's real grass the teams were playing on.  It died within days because the Dome's roof wouldn't let in enough sunlight, and the cost to re-sod the field was prohibitive.  This led to the invention of something called Astroturf.

Much more in the next Wrangle.
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Saturday, April 10, 2021

Sunday "Avoid the Politicks" Funnies


Wayne LaPierre hid on luxury yacht after Sandy Hook shootings


And now for something completely different ... Oglaf. "Who Knew?"



Last: All the best to Matt Bors, who has drawn his final political toon.

My last original cartoon was two weeks ago. Today’s comic is a re-run based on my Mr. Gotcha comic, which became a bit of a meme.

I will continue to run The Nib in an almost full time capacity, publishing and editing our magazine and daily comics, while making some space in my life for other kinds of comics that I’m excited about but have never had the time to fully pursue.

Support the efforts of the surviving political cartoonists here.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2021

Tuesday 'Ridiculous Theater' Wrangle


I needed a Monday off from Havana Ted and his twice-weekly stunts, but I'm back at it today.




This week is looking like it will belong to Gov. Helen Wheels again, though.


I don't think anybody really cared.


As with his mentee Cruz, Abbott simply doesn't comprehend his own hypocrisy.  Either that, or he doesn't give a shit what anybody thinks.  My money's on the latter.


It's hard to pick winners from among so many Texans Behaving Badly, so I'll make the easy choice and run with Deshaun Watson.


Something something "deeper buttocks massage" something "HPD investigation" something "team taking allegations very seriously" something.

Not the best way to have kept your trade value high if you really wanted to leave Houston, among the variety of poor decision-making here, De.  I'm just surprised that the Tony Buzbee-Rusty Hardin duel hasn't garnered more local media attention.  I feel certain that story is about to pop.

Stephanie Stradley answers all of your questions about the Watson lawsuits.  Moving on ...


Backstory if you missed it.


That's my segue to the criminal and social justice updates.


And Grits for Breakfast concluded that Texas was able to greatly reduce the number of traffic stops conducted without any negative effect on crime.  And here's a couple of developments regarding the renters' crisis in the Lone Star State.


Here's the latest from underneath the Pink Dome.


Facebook is funding the charge of Republican legislatures across the nation restricting voter access.


Kuff also commented on the state Senate's omnibus voter suppression bill and the fight against it.  And Lilli Hime discussed the current legislative session with LGBTQIA advocates.

You'd think Texas Democrats could walk to victory in 2022, but they won't.  Among the many reasons? Here you go.


"If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time..." Who said it?

Billboards are great.  Won't flip a single vote.


And it's springtime, so Beto must be vacillating again.


Socratic Gadfly blew up this Betomania lead balloon, and also that of another of his 2018 election pals: Kendall Scudder, ConservaDem.

That's a lot of suck for one post.  I'll have environmental and COVID news later in the week; right now I need to lighten it up.  First, congrats to the Baylor Bears on their history-making national championship victory last night.


The San Antonio Current introduces us to Kaitlin Teniente, the first female coach of a college E-sports team in Texas.

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