Government refuses to say which businesses received over $500 billion in coronavirus bailout loans
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Sunday "Electoral Distancing" Funnies
Government refuses to say which businesses received over $500 billion in coronavirus bailout loans
Friday, June 26, 2020
Race for the White House Update: Sleepwalking to 1600 Pennsylvania
The Democratic National Convention Committee announced Wednesday that the "Convention Across America" will be "anchored in Milwaukee," moved from the arena where the Bucks play to a smaller convention center downtown."[S]tate delegations should not plan to travel to Milwaukee and should plan to conduct their official convention business remotely," the DNCC said.
Why Activists Are Insulted—And Worried—By Biden’s Play-It-Safe Police Reforms | Vanity Fair https://t.co/1K63tXAFXq
— 🌐🕊AREYOUBEINGSERVED✂️- Squad🎳 (@50linesonly) June 20, 2020
Straight to Wall Street Fundraiser After Leaving Poor People's Forum, Biden Tells Fat Cat Donors: 'You Guys Are Great' - https://t.co/Cd3umzdsDS via @commondreams
— Derek Gendvil (@dgendvil) June 23, 2020
The vast majority of the uncritically thinking electorate cares nothing about what he says or does; he's not Trump, and that's all that matters.
Before you declare Biden the winner, remember his lead is not insurmountable. Polls closer to November could very well show a race that is tightening. At this point in the 1988 cycle, Michael Dukakis led nationally by almost 5 points, and in 2000, George W. Bush was up by nearly 8 points. But Dukakis ended up losing by nearly 8 points in November while Bush narrowly lost the popular vote.
The implication of what @KamalaHarris is saying here is that nothing she says during debates should be interpreted as representing her actual beliefs. This is why people hate politicians. pic.twitter.com/kHvdXhEG8I
— Ben Spielberg (@BenSpielberg) June 24, 2020
Peggy Noonan:Tulsa showed “not the empty seats so much as the empty faces-the bored looks, the yawning& phone checking, as if everyone was re-enacting something, hearing some old song&trying to remember how it felt a few yrs ago, when you [first] heard it” https://t.co/BEQFGYE9aV
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) June 26, 2020
"A friend of mine said, 'you have to be the most perfect person.' Isn't that true?" -- Trump pic.twitter.com/9OWptMZngV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 26, 2020
With this weekend’s victories we have now won 182 delegates, enough to clinch the @GreenPartyUS nomination in the 1st round! We’re excited to bring our ecosocialist vision to the general election and fight for the life and death issues facing the working-class! #HawkinsWalker2020 pic.twitter.com/9rb6YEofjd
— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) June 21, 2020
Register for access to workshops, our online convention floor on July 11 and much more! https://t.co/5hJbDSJCWa
— Green Party US 🌻 (@GreenPartyUS) June 25, 2020
Green Party Prez ticket is calling for a 75% cut - not 10% -in military budget. To pay for a #GreenNewDeal that goes to 100% renewable energy by 2030, zero carbon emissions, halt to new fossil fuels, living wage jobs for all, single payer health care. Vote Green for a change. https://t.co/hN4Cde8ncX
— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) June 25, 2020
Earlier this week I recorded a podcast with @nerdsforyang. Had a great discussion with Tom, a strong supporter of @AndrewYang / #YangGang, re: my independent campaign for #AllThePeople. Interview premiers on YouTube Friday June 26 at noon ET.https://t.co/IWExAPwOHS
— Mark Charles 2020 (@wirelesshogan) June 25, 2020
Monday, June 22, 2020
TexProgBlog Wrangle II: BLM, Juneteenth, and the 'rona
New: @LinaHidalgoTX will mandate that Harris County businesses require customers to wear masks, following the lead of Bexar County, as leaders grow increasingly worried about the surge in COVID cases in #Houston since Memorial Day. https://t.co/mC0yUXuoZf
— Zach Despart🖊️ (@zachdespart) June 19, 2020
The following 8 Texas counties now have mask orders in place for businesses following the example of Bexar County @Judge_Wolff:
— Reform Austin (@ReformAustin) June 22, 2020
-Bexar
-Cameron
-Dallas
-El Paso
-Harris
-Hays*
-Hidalgo
-Travis
*no fine for non-compliance#COVID19 #coronavirus #txlegehttps://t.co/ufJDLEkhTc
If Harris County continues along its current trajectory, Houston could be the city worst affected in the nation by COVID-19
— Leah McElrath 🏳️🌈 (@leahmcelrath) June 22, 2020
🚨https://t.co/PG22vgRBZ3
JUST IN: Texas Children’s Hospital confirmed it is admitting adult patients to free up hospital beds across Houston as coronavirus cases surge. https://t.co/HNpf3dE8DU
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) June 23, 2020
“Covid-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas and it must be corralled.”
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) June 22, 2020
Texas Gov. Abbott detailed his plans to reduce the spread of coronavirus while also keeping the state open pic.twitter.com/SJiU9i1oxg
The number of Texans hospitalized with #COVID19 has doubled since the start of June, but @GovAbbott wants to keep businesses open. He urged Texans to wear masks saying, "If we do not start wearing masks, it can result in businesses shutting down." #txlegehttps://t.co/PWGlRNrmyb
— Reform Austin (@ReformAustin) June 22, 2020
I guess we are going to see if the free market can fight a virus.
— Susan of Texas (@SusanofTexas) June 22, 2020
“ If you find that a business doesn’t appear to have taken steps that have been recommended in Governor Abbott’s reopening plan, then don’t reward them by doing business with them. It’s that simple.” https://t.co/Y7YU5Tb9LC
Hey Governor Abbott.
— Kaiju Cut & Sew (@kaijucutandsew) June 22, 2020
Sincerely everyone in Texas. pic.twitter.com/n8fEURLIXH
Same in Houston. I tried to get tested at three different clinics on Friday but couldn’t get an appointment till Monday. I’ve been encouraging my friends to get tested, and they’re running into wall after wall this week https://t.co/GPuNmpxtP1 pic.twitter.com/IJHmwYaiV3
— Shelby Webb (@shelbywebb) June 20, 2020
Tomorrow, the Harris County COVID-19 relief fund opens for eligible, low-income Harris County Residents, including those excluded by the CARES Act or immigrant households, and people who may receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance but cannot afford to wait for months. pic.twitter.com/VujOvRcHdL
— Robin Rayford (@ray4d_thebetsy) June 22, 2020
We joined our partners at @rgvequalvoice in demanding that @icegov #FreeThemAll, referencing the detainees at the Port Isabel Detention Center (PIDC) who are rapidly falling ill from COVID-19. Last Friday, PIDC reported 4 cases of COVID-19. Today, there are 34 confirmed cases. pic.twitter.com/P1OyEHpaVZ
— Texas Civil Rights Project (@TXCivilRights) June 16, 2020
Dallas County declares racism a public health emergency https://t.co/ArutAgfRW1 pic.twitter.com/mm25uBL6BS
— The Hill (@thehill) June 18, 2020
The Houston undercover officer who arrested George Floyd in 2004 over a $10 drug deal is at the center of one of the biggest police scandals in the city’s history. Thousands of his cases are under review, including Floyd's. https://t.co/QQAampL2ae
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 19, 2020
“It was an execution”: Nicolas Chavez was on his knees when Houston police killed him. His father wants answers. https://t.co/nBVTXQ3R70 #HouNews #HTX
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) June 19, 2020
I should note that this is the second time in recent days that @ArtAcevedo has said he couldn’t release something because the DA asked him not to - and the DAO then denied that. 🧐
— Keri Blakinger (@keribla) June 19, 2020
Acevedo stood by his account. pic.twitter.com/cmewUeTF8u
Political subtext of this public dispute is that @SylvesterTurner has been on very good terms with a lot of the lawmakers who signed the letter calling for @ArtAcevedo to release the narcotics audit. All are Dems and some overlapped w/Turner in the #txlege https://t.co/ZPGkBlHKLk
— Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) June 19, 2020
What's frustrating about this is how much gaslighting has happened around #DefundHPD when it aligns directly with Mayor Turner's reports from 3+ years ago.
— Jaison Oliver (@oJaison) June 19, 2020
These reports make a clear case for how reduce the number of police while increasing safety. https://t.co/1xZUvHjmJq
Last Thursday, the Austin City Council banned chokehold maneuvers.
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 19, 2020
Just a day later, an Austin police officer was captured on video kneeling on a teenage protester’s neck. https://t.co/FWNRdj7djY
#BLMHOU | #SpecialReport
— Ashton P. Woods (@AshtonPWoods) June 18, 2020
Tell me, do you see ANY activists in this letter? This is why things won't improve they have same people making the same decisions at an exclusive table. This cannot fly. pic.twitter.com/UJvZzFVpRy
Cornyn, Cruz reject reforms to qualified immunity for police https://t.co/DWvc0RU6I6 #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) June 19, 2020
Viewed broadly, America finds itself essentially at the bottom of a thirty-year crime decline. But as police have had less crime to respond to, their budgets and staffing have ballooned, reported Politico (last) week.Police officials routinely tell the public that cutting their budgets would make us less safe. This is true even at agencies that had their budgets increase and saw crime rise.Indeed, have you ever noticed that, when it comes to police budgets, there's no version of reality that would justify reduced funding?If crime is going up, we're told we need more officers to address it.If crime goes down, it's attributed to past budget increases and we're told cutting budgets would reverse progress.The whole process resembles a self licking ice cream cone. To hear the police chiefs and city managers tell it, there apparently is no situation that justifies applying budget scrutiny to these agencies.
Black teenager found hung outside elementary school in Harris County, Texas. This makes 5 black men hung across the country in two weeks—most declared suicides by police without providing evidence to support that. https://t.co/DmhT9M2gSO
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) June 19, 2020
Texas named #Juneteenth an "official" state holiday 40 years ago in 1980, but its history dates back further. Here, Maj Gen Gordon Granger's 1865 circular via The Daily News newspaper in Galveston, & a 1900 celebration.
— erica zucco (@ericazucco) June 19, 2020
More from @TxStHistAssoc: https://t.co/Iu2yLGNJKN @kens5 pic.twitter.com/WxXkzQMhBb
More than 100 years ago, a Texas state representative named José Tomás Canales led an investigation into the abuses of the Texas Rangers. The investigation left behind a narrative about the role of violence on the border that lingers today. Via @LatinoUSA:https://t.co/FpkMxFDHgr
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) June 17, 2020
“Protestors are repeating the names of those killed like a hymn sung in Sunday school. An echo behind the Pine Curtain where the seeds of the civil rights movement were planted but never fully took root: Black. Lives. Matter.” https://t.co/8fC07Q9B5n
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) June 22, 2020
Armed activists at San Jacinto Monument vow to use force to defend Texas landmarks https://t.co/lRWUt3qMvd #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) June 22, 2020
Scenes from Trae tha Truth's 'Ride for Justice' https://t.co/OdJSEvsr5W
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) June 20, 2020
Klineberg: What worries me, what gives me hope, after 38 years of tracking Houston https://t.co/TBRqYEevTQ
— Lisa Falkenberg (@ChronFalkenberg) June 21, 2020
The Weekly Wrangle
Stories with the latest COVID 19 updates, Juneteenth celebrations, Black Lives Matter rallies, police and municipal government responses, and the disturbing backlash from the extremist right will be curated in a separate post appearing later. This Wrangle brings developments on TXGOP foibles, the latest election news, environmental accounts, and some lighter-side items to help keep us sane in these trying times.
Governor Helen Wheels kicks us off.
.@GovAbbott congratulates Texas counties on solving his clever mask riddle https://t.co/qWuYiQr3eF #TexasCOVID #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) June 17, 2020
"A Gordian knot is a complicated problem with a simple solution. A Greggian knot is a simple problem made hopelessly complicated by the governor's own desire to be removed from the consequences of his own actions." https://t.co/XAf3JXCZAU
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) June 18, 2020
In a podcast full of F-bombs and other expletives, two staffers from the hardline conservative group @EmpowerTexans were caught mocking @GovAbbott for his disability. #txlege https://t.co/ScNDtiD8on
— Reform Austin (@ReformAustin) June 19, 2020
The comments came on an unedited version of the group’s podcast, Texas Scorecard Radio, featuring Empower Texans’ vice president, Cary Cheshire, and general counsel, Tony McDonald. The audio was published — apparently inadvertently — Thursday. https://t.co/3OFvHHUfRj #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) June 19, 2020
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces he’ll hold briefing about COVID-19 with limit press coverage on Monday at 2 pm. The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News once again not allowed to be there to ask questions despite both cities seeing huge spike in ICUs. pic.twitter.com/Fsjmb5mPTD
— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) June 21, 2020
TX US Sen @tedcruz spends hours on @Twitter getting into flame war with Hellboy
— ChickenFriedPolitics (@ChkFriPolitics) June 16, 2020
--ChickenFriedPolitics.com is The Place for Southern Politics--https://t.co/ZbbkeBVMAj
Trump supporters scrambled Saturday over an antifa "elevated threat" to tear down the Alamo. Ted Cruz urged protesters to "come and take it." But the only proof that antifa wanted to blow up the Alamo comes from an InfoWars lawyer and a QAnon believer. https://t.co/EEDHDMAi85
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) June 17, 2020
“This is a victory for all Americans who value equality and fairness. When laws are enacted to prohibit discrimination against gay and transgender individuals, research has shown that health outcomes improve." — @sandyapa2020 on today's #SCOTUS ruling https://t.co/feK73THGu0
— American Psychological Association (@APA) June 15, 2020
The #SCOTUS decision expanding workplace protections to LGBTQ individuals is part of a larger trend of fading opposition to queer rights, even in Texas.
— Progress Texas (@ProgressTX) June 21, 2020
If you don’t support full equality for #LGBTQIA+ folks, you’re on the wrong side of history. #txlege https://t.co/hZMUm0dwrx
Continuing to mark Pride Month, Equality Texas introduces us to Elia Chinó, the founder of the Fundación Latinoamericana de Acción Social, Inc. (FLAS).
#SCOTUS rules that the Trump administration's cancellation of #DACA was illegal. https://t.co/OegsIzgZWn
— Nina Totenberg (@NinaTotenberg) June 18, 2020
8 📅 days until you can head to the polls for #EarlyVoting 🗳️ for the July 2020 #PrimaryRunOffs! #KnowYourDates and get ready to #GetHeard 🗣👂🏼!
— Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) June 21, 2020
6/29 -First day of in-person Early Voting
7/2 -Last day to apply for a mail ballot
7/14 -Primary Runoff #Election Day #HarrisVotes pic.twitter.com/Ked52JhR9k
Visiting with @JoyAnnReid and fellow Senate candidates @MikeEspyMS @harrisonjaime @ReverendWarnock and @Booker4KY on @amjoyshow pic.twitter.com/PzH7t3IJpV
— Royce West (@RoyceWestTX) June 21, 2020
New: With the July runoffs less than a month away, Republican opponents of the hardline conservative group Empower Texans are gearing up to make the group's allied candidates pay dearly — and sink its intraparty reputation for good. #txlege https://t.co/KwBo1z3CUX
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 22, 2020
Here's a few state ecological stories from last week.
An analysis of @TCEQ data found that, in the weeks following the start of the pandemic, the agency issued 20 percent fewer violations of environmental laws than it did during the same period in 2019. https://t.co/yUUHdCNhdH
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) June 22, 2020
Precinct 3 includes Buffalo Bayou west of Loop 610 and many tributaries, as well as other major streams like Cypress and Little Cypress creeks, part of Spring Creek and Brays Bayou, the federal flood-control reservoirs, Addicks and Barker; and much of the Katy Prairie. It also includes parts of Memorial, Spring Branch, Bellaire, West University, and more.
The west-northwest area of the county, once farm and ranch land, has been under heavy development pressure for many years, with resulting controversies over requirements for stormwater detention and preservation of the native prairie.
Nature-based approaches to reducing flood risk—prairie grasses and wetlands, trees, parks, ponds, and gardens—slow rain runoff and absorb stormwater before it even enters and overwhelms our natural (green) and built (gray) drainage systems. Green flood management is the most practical, beneficial, and cost-effective method of reducing flood risk.
For these reasons, local environmental groups are sponsoring an online forum with the Democratic candidates vying to take the place of retiring Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, a Republican who has represented Precinct 3 since 1989.
The forum, which takes place online June 24 from 7 to 8 p.m., will focus on environmental issues. Advance registration for this event is required. To sign up go here.
The Democratic candidates are Diana Alexander, an educator, and Michael Moore, former chief of staff under Houston Mayor Bill White. The runoff election is July 14, with early voting starting on Monday, June 29 and running through Friday, July 10.
The winner will face Republican candidate Tom Ramsey in the general election on Nov. 3. Ramsey is a four-term mayor of tiny Spring Valley Village in west Houston, a civil engineer and until 2015, senior vice-president of Klotz and Associates, now RPS Group, a major contractor with Harris County and the Harris County Flood Control District.
This month in weird Texas news: A hacker crashes a city council meeting, the El Paso Opera offers curbside performances, and a bear makes its way from Mexico to Texas. https://t.co/sU76YS39JV
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) June 21, 2020
Tell me this photo of signs in front of the Hi-Way Tavern in Crystal City, Texas isn't one of the best Texas photos of all time. Just tell me. C'mon, I dare you. 😉😃
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) June 17, 2020
Russell Lee took this in 1939. pic.twitter.com/i4pafsKgSg
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Race for the White House Update: Trump gets booked
BOLTON'S REVELATIONS:
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) June 17, 2020
• TRUMP tried to halt criminal investigations to help "dictators he liked”
• TRUMP did not seem to know that Britain is a nuclear power & asked if Finland is part of Russia
• POMPEO indicated he thought Trump was "so full of shit”https://t.co/NBemSel9SM
President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects, according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.
EXCLUSIVE: The president’s niece Mary Trump is set to publish a tell-all this summer—and to reveal that she was a primary source for The New York Times’ investigation into Trump’s taxes. https://t.co/TPTS8DNDCP
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) June 15, 2020
Trump said journalists deserve to be executed during a meeting with former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, according to a former aide | Business Insider#FreePress #Assangehttps://t.co/RHbuaYxKNU
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 18, 2020
Apparently, after strategically retreating in order to spare the #GeorgeFloyd protesters, the anti-racist #coronavirus has now redeployed its forces to Oklahoma in advance of the (it goes without saying) totally Hitlerian #TrumpRally! https://t.co/Vhu2VSDw6G
— Consent Factory (@consent_factory) June 18, 2020
After the Rodney King beating, Biden met with law enforcement and created the "Police Officers Bill of Rights" to protect cops who engage in violent misconduct? Trump or Biden. Damn, I can't think of two people more inapt to lead the nation at this moment in history. pic.twitter.com/5oYFR9wUNz
— Yellow Vests Form Like Voltron🌹 (@TweetyMctwat) June 17, 2020
Cops shot a projectile into the eye of a journalist in Minneapolis on May 29. She didn't have insurance. Her first two surgeries left her with bills totaling $58,000.
— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) June 15, 2020
The best solution she found was paying $100/mo for 25 years.
via @lukeoneil47 https://t.co/KOm1IdiKWY pic.twitter.com/q29UNcAsAJ
We had one of the best democratic fields in history and we ended up with the worst candidate. Who do you blame? I blame corporate media propaganda around “electability” and moderate voters who continue to resist the fundamental change that we desperately need to heal this nation.
— Ryan Knight 🌹 (@ProudSocialist) June 17, 2020
#IfDonaldTrumpIsReelected it's because the Democratic party valued their corporate donors interests more than the people. That's how Trump got elected in the first place.
— Solidarity NOW! ☭ 🦺 (@Karlmarxhd) June 16, 2020
You can thank these catastrophic nullities who never step down, regardless of how much they fail: pic.twitter.com/dSPKCOYKVB
Personally, I blame Obama.
The NYT even reported on it. The other candidates didnt all drop out and get behind Biden 24 hours before Super Tuesday by accident. https://t.co/DLMvBxzxpH
— Justin Buell 🌹 (@JustinBuell7) June 16, 2020
DING DING DING DING DING.
— Mike Flugennock (@flugennock) June 14, 2020
We have a winner. pic.twitter.com/RIafK9tD3O
New @DataProgress poll shows Warren continuing to lead the Veepstakes, both in the top-line & with several key groups Biden struggles with. Highlights below.
— Anthony Tordillos (@artordillos) June 17, 2020
1st choice for VP
Warren: 27% ✅
Harris: 21%
Abrams: 14%
Rice: 6%
Klobuchar: 5%
Demings: 5%
1/7#WarrenForVP
Why is Barbara Lee not the front runner for the VP slot on the Democratic ticket? https://t.co/33V6Id8oAc
— Farron Cousins (@farronbalanced) June 16, 2020
Don't get lost in the sauce!
— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) June 18, 2020
Vote your values. #NeverSettlehttps://t.co/4YLC1sIlO4 pic.twitter.com/wJdKTmxL8A
If you've read the US Constitution you know it's littered with racist, sexist and white supremacist language. I have a few suggested edits and I invite you to read them. #first100days #AllThePeoplehttps://t.co/81az5JM6bW
— Mark Charles 2020 (@wirelesshogan) June 18, 2020
Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruled with the conservative majority in this 7-2 decision https://t.co/t4lIvVan8c
— Eric Renner Brown (@ericrennerbrown) June 15, 2020
Really unfair for all the 3rd party votes to go to Trump. Half should go to Biden imo.
— NoBadDudes2020 (@nocornpop2020) June 15, 2020
"Politically in this country, you have Coke or Pepsi. Every now and again, Dr Pepper comes along and everybody is like, 'You ruined this for everyone else.’'’-Jon Stewart
— Scott Santens🧢🤠 (@scottsantens) June 15, 2020
I for one am absolutely sick of this destructive dynamic. We need to be able to rank our choices. @fairvote