Saturday, November 06, 2021

Tragedy at Astroworldfest


After an uplifting week ... a complete disaster.


The day starting badly was a portent.

Thursday, November 04, 2021

Wrangling the Leftover Election News


So it wasn't all bad for Team Blue on Tuesday.


The Wu Train also got a stamp of approval for her climate advocacy from Bill McKibben.  Here's a few more winners.


Of more personal importance were these Green Party members who won their local elections across the northeast US.


A four-count thread of newly-minted leftists.  Let's see some changes made, y'all.

(Speaking of, the filing deadline for Lone Star elections next year fast approaches, and the Texas Green Party wants YOU on the ballot.  Two weeks ago their legal team moved for summary judgment -- .pdf here -- in the case regarding the excessive burdens associated with minor party ballot access.)

With fresh polling, some new entrants, and lots of speculative and future election news in the pipe, I'll save all that for another day and keep the focus on what just happened last Tuesday.

Non-corporate media responses to Election Day locally were ... tired.  Hooks at Texas Monthly seemed very bored about his writing assignmentGood ol' Campos came through, however.  Still as dumb as a bag of hammers, but was grumpily capable of expressing some outrage (undoubtedly corresponding to the Astros' losing) at someone tripping over a power cable at Harris Votes.  Should you prefer your blue blogging with a side of milquetoast slopped in mayo and cottage cheese, you can always click over to Stace Medellin and Charles Kuffner and watch them give each other handys.

Yuck.  Go back to the CFRs and the Tejano music, fellas.  Those weren't the only revoltin' developments, as we are now very familiar.


Despite all praise I gave them above, nobody should lose sight of the fact that the Democratic Party is where actual progressive policies go to dieMatt Stoller scrapes a little on the Donks having no honest connection with working class people, but the issues go much deeper than just that.  Having made this point in these pixels before, it's still incumbent on me to remind that "progressive" is not leftist and "moderate" and "centrist" are neither.  Definitions used by corporate media and other members of the establishment are full of truthiness, an already-ancient word it seems.

Here's your illustration.


Moving back to Texas, and the non-election items.  As always, criminal and social injustices break the news.  It was interesting that the Supremes appeared so skeptical of the state's novel abortion ban law in Monday's hearing ...


... but don't be too encouraged.


Steven Hotze has a couple of lawsuits going on at the moment that you might be interested in reading about.  Even as vape shop owners sue the Texas DSHS for perfunctorily banning Delta-8, they're quickly moving on to the next thing: Delta-9.  And a Houston engineering firm filed a federal lawsuit against both the city and the state over its anti-BDS law, which prohibits governmental agencies from doing business with companies that boycott Israel.

Lots of climate updates, too, in the next Wrangle.  The soothers:

The Rio Grande International Study Center in Laredo invites the public to observe the fall migration of monarch butterflies, moving through Texas from Canada and the northern United States to the oyamel fir-covered mountains of Michoacán, this Saturday.


Scott's been hosting community activities in the run-up to his Astroworld Festival this weekend.