Sunday, August 29, 2021

Sunday FDA Funnies

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Saturday, August 28, 2021

Jeffrey L. Dorrell, March 25, 1955 – August 23, 2021


My brother, may he rest in peace.

Jeffrey Lee Dorrell was born on March 25, 1955 in Beaumont, Texas, the first of four children of Earl and Jean Dorrell. Jeff began school at Averill Elementary in Beaumont. The family moved to Vidor where Jeff attended junior high and high school, graduating as salutatorian of his class in 1973. During high school Jeff served as a Congressional page to U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, which spurred an affinity for politics and the law. Jeff attended the University of Texas in Austin, was an active member of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, and graduated with honors with a B.A. in Business Management in 1977.

Jeff started work after college with the Conoco Oil Company in Midland, quickly learning the Texas oil and natural gas business. He soon moved to Houston and worked for the Coastal States O&G Corp. and the infamous Oscar Wyatt. After several years with Coastal, Jeff started his own oil company, Fortis International, regularly trading oil and natural gas with companies across Texas and the world.

In 1994, Jeff sold his company and followed his dream to attend law school. He graduated from the University of Houston Law School and would practice law the rest of his life. He worked for several law firms including Dorrell & Farris, LP with his close friend David Farris; Escamilla, Poneck, and Cruz; and most recently was a partner at Hanszen Laporte.

The highlight of his law career was arguing, and winning, a lawsuit before the US Supreme Court. In Jeff’s own words: “Lawyers dream of having a case at the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Court agreed to hear Husky International Electronics v. Ritz -- which I had managed to lose three times in lower courts. On May 16, 2016, 7 of the 8 Justices agreed with me that fraudulently transferring assets to avoid paying creditors is wrong. Fortunately, I can be just a bit stubborn.”

Jeff stayed very active in the LGBTQ and PRIDE communities and formed lifelong friendships with many wonderful, caring people. He traveled, vacationed, and socialized with many close friends.

Jeff was a confident, driven, personable, competitive, fun-loving individual his entire life with a deep affection for his dogs. He worked hard, played hard, and lived life to the fullest. Jeff would not want anyone to feel sorry for him in any way but to remember the fun times with him fondly, warmly, and affectionately.

Jeff is survived by his partner, Mike Centeno; his mother, Jean Dorrell, brothers Perry (Sue) and James (Pam), sister Jean Ann (Dan), nieces Jessica Morgan (Josh), Ashley Hargrove (Grayson), and nephew Chris Dorrell (Maggie), and many cousins and grand-nieces and nephews.

Special thanks go to Julie Devlin and David Farris for lovingly providing care and support to Jeff during these last few months. Their devotion and dedication was heartfelt and genuine. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to any charity Jeff supported, including the Houston Food Bank or K-9 Angels Rescue.

And thank you all for your friendship, love, and support of Jeff. A celebration of his life is being planned in Houston for later this fall and details will be shared as they are available.

A shorter version of this obituary also appears in today's Houston Chronicle.
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Thursday, August 26, 2021

Voter Suppression Day Wrangle *update


Update 2 (8/27):


Hold the phone ...


I'll check back in tomorrow evening (with a fresh post).

Update 1:


Original post:


Follow the action at the #TXLege hashtag or in my Tweet feed at the top right. In other news ...


Yes, the very bad is upon us, with the worst to come.


On this travesty, there is considerable pushback.


Others, not so much.  And new dangers loom.


With a few political updates:


Dowd would be primarying Mike Collier if he takes the leap; another Republican turned Democrat.  Moldy Caucasian conservatives are about all Texas Dems are good for any longer, I guess.

Here's the latest from the southern border.


Beginning my segment on the environment with an anniversary.


With a new storm brewing and taking aim at the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast, keep in mind that personal responsibility is all you can count on in our headlong rush to "freedumb".  Take all necessary precautions now.


COVID, and then criminal justice news.


A union update:


And two calm-me-downs.

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Monday, August 23, 2021

Busting the Democrats' Quorum Break Wrangle


Lege back in session. Not without some bitterness.

Update (p.m.):


Original (a.m.):


These are quite obviously not the developments you'll be reading on the various online mouthpieces of the Texas Democratic Party, although the Signal doesn't completely ignore the topic like Kuffner does.  And tap-dancing around the criticisms while playing both sides of the fence is ... well, mostly embarrassing.  (Hardest-working fellow you'll ever see who tries not to offend anybody and fails every time.)  Thus the dirty job nobody wants to do falls to this recovering Democrat.  I am, of course, more than happy to pick up the slack.

Let's begin, as we usually must, with the "Save Us Beto You're Our Only Hope" Caucus.


O'Rourke is, as one reply there notes, waiting to see if the US Congress can pass the two voting bills -- the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act -- before he decides whether he will run.  And because Joe Manchin loves the filibuster more than he does democracy, the bills won't pass.  Correspondingly, I have laid heavy stakes on 'Hell No, Beto'.

The Donks will have some sacrificial lamb, as they always do, and they will trumpet that third or fourth option -- do I really need to post again that the Castro Bros don't run for something if there's the slightest chance they might not win? -- as their godsend, saviour, what TF ever.  The down-ballot nominees will have to row harder to pull the dead weight, and the ballast includes Mike Collier, who holds his own delusions of defeating Dan Patrick in a rematch.  Let's hope he can convince more Republicans to vote for him than last time, because that's his only chance.

All this is a crine ass shame because Joe Jaworski or Lee Merritt could legitimately defeat Ken Paxton without all these drags on the ticket.  It's possible the winner of their primary still could.  Only this contest, IMHO, has a decent chance of flipping at the statewide level in 2022.

You're best off sending a message that we need wholesale changes in Austin.


I foresee a return to a more active blogging schedule this week, so with COVID, environmental, and the usual topics bookmarked, I'll pause the serious stuff here and end today with the soothers.


Stace at Dos Centavos honored journalist, poet, playwright, and cultural critic Gregg Barrios, who passed away suddenly last week.


Here's the story on the mural project.

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Sunday, August 22, 2021

Sunday Not Very Funnies



Famous Moments in History, Reimagined by Centrists (4 of 4) Leave no political cartoonist behind.
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