Monday, February 12, 2018

The Weekly Wrangle

Recovering from Mardi Gras weekend (and with Fat Tuesday and Valentine's Day converging), the Texas Progressive Alliance is pacing itself for early-week celebratory events upcoming.


Here's the blog post and news roundup from around the state ...

Socratic Gadfly notes that various state Democratic activist groups can't get on the same endorsements page.

Houston Justice names five things Texas Democrats could learn from the Houston Astros.

In the Texas Senate District 10 D primary, the Texas Tribune finds the 2016 Clinton/Sanders feud still being contested.

Jonathan Tilove at the Statesman also covered the Dem primary for TX-21 and heard the same echoes of the national party debate between the liberal/progressive candidates  -- Derrick Crowe, Elliott McFadden, and Mary Wilson -- and the centrist money leader, Joseph Kopser.

Texas Leftist published two more candidate questionnaires, from CD-10 Democratic candidate Kevin Roberts, and state Senate TX-5 candidate Brian E. Cronin.

The Lion Star details CD-16 Democrat Dori Fenenbock's financial flops, and Jim Schutze at the Dallas Observer drags former Channel 8 reporter and now ConservaDem CD-32 candidate Brett Shipp for some really lousy work in his old job.

Houston media blogger Mike McGuff was at CD-36 candidate Dayna Steele's fundraiser that featured Melissa Etheridge and David Crosby.


DBC Green has a couple of posts about Our Revolution Texas' endorsements.

The Democratic judge in Dallas County hearing the case against 127 D primary candidates who may be disqualified from the ballot because the party's county chair did not properly sign their applications has indicated that he will not recuse himself, according to the Dallas News.

Gilbert Garcia at the San Antonio Express News sees Greg Abbott's heavy hand and fat wallet in a few GOP primaries disguising his personal vendettas as political principle.

From the Waco Tribune-Herald: Thirteen cases in the 'Twin Peaks' biker shooting were dismissed last week, and one of the defendants' lawyers said that McLennan County DA Abel Reyna showed "moral cowardice" in extending their prosecution for so long before he gave up.

Texas Vox announces that Public Citizen is a proud sponsor of Air Alliance Houston's 2018 State of the Air Gala.


In his regular collation of criminal justice news, Grits for Breakfast notes that the full 5th Circuit will hear the case of a teenager who was framed for assault by the Brownsville police.

The Texas Standard's own roundup of state news includes Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's rant at the TPPF regarding 'Let Her Speak', the forthcoming movie about Wendy Davis' 2013 filibuster that will star Sandra Bullock.

Leif Reigstad at Texas Monthly passes along health news from one of Trump's evangelical advisory board members, Gloria Copeland of Fort Worth megachurch Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

“We’ve got a duck season, a deer season, but we don’t have a flu season. Don’t receive it when somebody threatens you with ‘everybody’s getting the flu!’ We’ve already had our shot ... Jesus himself gave us the flu shot.”

Right Wing Watch has video.

Jim Henson and Joshua Blank at the Texas Politics Project, writing in the Rivard Report, weigh the question of whether the Texas conservative political climate might affect Amazon's HQ2 decision.

KHOU reports on members of the Amish and Mennonite church communities traveling from out of state to assist Houstonians in rebuilding after Harvey.


"They’re cabinet makers, or they’re carpenters," said Scooter Buck. "And they’ll work until it gets dark. Show up, eat and do it again. That’s saving people thousands of dollars."

Buck, who is leading the Harvey Relief Volunteer Group for Cypress United Methodist says some Amish men first came to Houston nearly six months ago to help the community.

In the last five months, about 600 Amish or Mennonite men and women have flown or driven to Houston. They've come from California to New York and every state in between. They've tackled 120 homes so far.

"We’ve treated for mold. We’ve hung insulation. We’ve hung sheetrock," said McCollum. "We’ve taped, we’ve floated, we’ve textured and we’re painting walls."

Jonah Raskin at The Rag Blog interviews John Campbell McMillan, author of Smoking Typewriters, about the '60's underground press and the rise of alternative media.


AJ Bauer at the Texas Observer recalls the state's last liberal lion in the US Senate, Ralph Yarborough.  (Don't confuse him with Grady.)


And Harry Hamid's resolution to change his life resulted in getting a new cat.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Sunday 'I Love a Parade' Funnies

I love a parade, the tramping of feet,
I love every beat I hear of a drum.
I love a parade, when I hear a band
I just want to stand and cheer as they come.
That rat-a tat-tat, the blare of a horn.



That rat-a tat-tat, a bright uniform;
The sight of a drill will give me a thrill,
I thrill at the skill of everything military.
I love a parade, a handful of vets,
A line of cadets or any brigade,
For I love a parade.

Monday, February 05, 2018

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that TODAY is the last day to register to vote in the March 6 primary.  Here's the blog post and news round-up from last week ...


The Houston Chronicle reports that 175,000 voters in Harris County have been marked "in suspense", many due to having their homes destroyed by Harvey.  The good news?  They can still vote.  From Democratic activist Jerry Wald, via Facebook ...

To clear up misinformation regarding Harris County residents displaced by Hurricane Harvey being taken off the voter rolls:

Voters on the Harris County Voter Registrar's "Suspense List" are ELIGIBLE TO VOTE. If your voting status is in suspense, you will need to update your address information by filling out a "Statement of Residence" form at the polling location when you go to vote.

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris-Bennett wants every eligible voter in Harris County to be able to exercise their right to vote. She is here to help take the suspense and myths out of the voter registration process. She's proud to say that Voter Registrar Division have registered more voters, and trained more volunteer deputy voter registrars than any other in the history of this office.

Please help get this message out to others by sharing this email with your family, friends, and neighbors. Contact the tax office at voters@hctx.net or 713-274-8387 so they can help!

Socratic Gadfly says that Beto O'Rourke appears to be a ConservaDem or something halfway close.

David Collins at DBC Green had lunch with Harris County Judge candidate Lina Hidalgo, and came away impressed.

This evening in Clear Lake, CD-36 candidate Dayna Steele has a fundraiser hosted by two friends from her 'Rock Goddess' days: Melissa Etheridge and David Crosby.

Texas Leftist published a candidate questionnaire from SD-17 candidate Fran Watson.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston re-enters the fray with a handful of snarky campaign finance report postings.  They follow the same tired cliche' that the establishment believes is canon: whoever raises the most money wins, or should win, or should at least be considered the front-runner (irrespective of their political stances on any issue), and the ones who raise the least money should drop out.  This is no way to run a democracy, but far too many Democrats just don't get it.

In a stunningly appropriate metaphor, Congressional Republicans traveling to a weekend retreat to discuss the impact Trump will have on their 2018 prospects were on a train that hit a garbage truck, killing the poorest (the sanitation workers) but leaving the politicians only a little shaken.
 
The Dallas Observer has news of the grand opening of the first cannabis oil dispensary in the state.

The AP, via the Beaumont Enterprise, is following the case of four Texas youth prison guards who were arrested after they choked a 19-year-old unconscious and badly beat another.  In the past year, at least nine officers of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department have been arrested on abuse or misconduct charges, and another was convicted of having sex with a youth in custody.  The still-unfolding crisis has so far prompted Governor Greg Abbott to replace the agency's top officials and launch yet another investigation.

The Texas Standard wants to know how gerrymandering might be solved, and has news on a group of mathematicians who gathered in Austin over the weekend to work on the problem.


There is a public hearing tonight for Houston-area residents (specifically, it's being held at Woodward Elementary in Cypress at 6 p.m.) regarding the Texas high speed rail line, according to HPM.

jobsanger sees Trump's deregulation as a war on workers.

Free Press Houston notices that the attorneys representing roadside megastore retailer Buc-ees are an aggressive and litigious bunch when it comes to "protecting" their logo.

And Harry Hamid celebrates a blogaversary with David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich on the ramparts.