Sunday, April 10, 2022

Friday, April 08, 2022

The Cyber Rodeo Wrangle from Far Left Texas


As I mentioned near the end of Tuesday's Climate Wrangle, whether America's foremost plutocrat and his latest Giga-venture is good for Texas and for the planet is to be judged at a later date.


Don't ever forget that it's always about the money, no matter how much they pile up.

And don't put COVID in your rearview mirror yet.


I have too many social injustice posts, and I'm including some cops and Republicans behaving badly among them.

It wasn't enough for John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to vote against the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson; they -- along with nearly all of their fellow shitheels -- had to stage one last performance.


Supreme Court politics is the pettiest.


Last in this segment, from yesterday's TCEQ hearing regarding a permit for a small batch concrete plant in the Aldine neighborhood on Houston's north side (read the entire thread).


Now close your laptop and put your phone in your pocket and go touch some grass.  You have Fiesta in San Antonio, the Art Car Parade in Houston, and a hundred thousand other things to enjoy offline this weekend, all across this big beautiful state. Don't start any fires.

Thursday, April 07, 2022

"Get on the Bus, Greg" Wrangle


There's forty-nine more ways to get rid of Governor Helen Wheels.


Yes, our state media is waking up to the manipulation.  Performative actions designed to manufacture outrage among the white conservative base is a page out of Dan Patrick's playbook.


Despite all of these stunts and the underlying hypocrisy, don't put your hopes on Beto no matter what that Texas Lyceum poll said.


I am sorry to report that Texas Democrats are going to fail you miserably this cycle.


Even Blue Dog Kuff broke the Eleventh Commandment on Vela. The latest epic fails of Harris County elected and appointed officials?  Not so much.


I'm so old I remember when Noriega was picked by Markos Moulitsas to be the Dems' candidate to post up against Cornyn in 2006.  He was still married to Melissa and just a lieutenant colonel in the Guard then.  So yeah, lotta things have changed.  Speaking of the troops:


I have a few more things to post about Abbott.


"This exact issue" could get Beto -- and Democrats who run strongly on it -- elected.  There are lots of Republicans and Libertarians who would vote for a Democrat who was out, loud, and proud about legalization.  Or decriminalization.  Or just advancing medical cannabis.  O'Rourke and others have voiced support, but IMHO it's their most important campaign plank.  More than the power grid, more than women's reproductive rights, more even than voting rights.  No single issue has the potential of swinging more votes their way than legalizing cannabis.

But it doesn't matter to me; I won't be voting for him anyway.


That's my segue to a few climate updates (since Tuesday).


I'll hold some of the social injustice tweets for tomorrow (they're unpleasant).  It will be another beautiful weekend across the state with lots of fun things to do outside, so go do some of them.  Today's Opening Day and I have baseball on my mind.  Here's a few blasts from the Astros' past.

Tuesday, April 05, 2022

'Time is Runnin' Out' Climate Wrangle


How it started/How it's going:


"Give me all the bad news first, PDid."


That's not the entirety of the bad news.  How much time do we have (for me to tell you just a bit of the worst of it)?


Okay then.  Is there any hope?  Some good news, or suggestions for action?


I'm not convinced that the grand opening later this week of Giga Texas is all good news, but it's probably more good than bad.


And Socratic Gadfly definitely supports wilderness designation for most of Big Bend National Park with a few addenda and observations about that.

With that, I'll wrap this Wrangle with some scenes from the field trips of the SEJ conventioneers, who seemed enthralled and enchanted by the natural wonders of Southeast Texas.  Enjoy.

Monday, April 04, 2022

The Social Justice/Injustice (and more) Wrangle


Let's begin with some of the events from the weekend just passed.


Kimberly Shappley also celebrated Transgender Day of Visibility, and The 19th reported on what TDoV meant for trans folks in Texas this year.


Counter-weighted unfortunately by the ongoing social injustices.


It's difficult to say whether Dr. Hotze's publicity stunts are a social injustice, the rantings of a lunatic, or just garden-variety demagoguery.  You decide.


One thing is clear, as Zach Despart points out ...


Here's another pathetic example of Houston Democrats' foibles playing right into the hands of the raging local conservatives.


Unforced error after error in a midterm cycle that will be dominated by Biden's and DC Dems' failures to accomplish significant relief for suffering Americans foreshadows an electoral shellacking in November.  No amount of demonizing the demons in the GOP will rescue them.


The latest IPCC report has dropped, so I'll have some tweets about that and the #SEJ2022 conference from over the weekend in a large environmental Wrangle tomorrow.  Right now I feel like I need a few calm-me-downs.