Texas Progressives tackle cheating, missing ballots and the high cost of Texas living (no really)

This outpost of Texas Progressives reminds an in-state wingnut climate denialists that weather isn't climate, that any cold blasts you feel are normal, and that none of the above refutes the fact that we had the hottest decade on global record, with eight of the 10 hottest years on record, and that last year was the second hottest year on global record. (Even nutters at the Daily Mail admit it!)

Texas sports

SocraticGadfly did a non-political double dip on Texas sports, first talking about the glories of Luka Doncic, then noting why he, along with a majority of other non-Houstonians, thinks the cheating Astros got off light.

And, while we're here, from Twitter:

So, a bunch of Texas pro football fans, knowing the Dallas Cowboys haven't been to the Super Bowl in 20 years & might not go 4 another 20, and ditto for the Houston Texans, are out of butt hurt jealousy tweeting "Dallas Texans" & "Houston Oilers"?

Got it.

Go fuck yourself. #GFY

— reallyDonaldTrump 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) January 19, 2020

Yep, that's about right. (Yes, I know some, per Brains, are trying to claim this was just a riff on the roots of the two teams in the 1962 AFL title game. Lemme see, December 1962 was FIFTY-SEVEN years ago. About 2 percent of Twitter users are old enough to have been alive, let alone old enough to remember, the original game. It's butt-hurt jealousy tweeting, no matter how much of the actual history you can present, if you didn't actually experience it.)

Cort McMurray gets to the heart of the Astros' cheating scandal.


Texas politics

C.D. Hooks talks about "schadengreg" on his refugee rejection, which has since been blocked by a federal court.

Texana

Not quite Duke of Duval County George Parr and Landslide Lyndon, but a ballot box that went missing after a November bond vote in Midland ISD finally resurfaced and has now (finally???) flipped the bond vote to "no." And, really? Midland ISD said it needed not one but TWO new high schools? Why?

Trump's lies about wanting to do something about gun control are more fully exposed now that he is allowing 3D printable gun blueprints back online.

The Observer, after a series of stories on rural hospital closures and other country health problems, asked for reader stories. They got plenty. The solution, as I've said before? A British-style National Health System.

Blacks got less favorable coverage than women from Texas newspapers over protests.


Dallas

D Magazine notes that, while Dallas County DA John Creuzot appears committed to bail reform, the reality on the ground is a hot mess. The piece is a good read about Creuzot's efforts, his department's work on the Amber Guyger case and more. Will OK Jim Schuetze be kind enough to reference that Guyger part?

And, interesting indeed, on the civil justice side. Judge Tonya Barker wants to ramp up instructing civil juries, as part of their deliberation instructions, to work to avoid implicit bias.

Bizzy week for problems in Dallas. Due to environmental concerns and other things, the Byron Nelson is leaving Trinity Forest. The course's co-owner, who got a sweetheart deal from the city to build the course, admitted it wasn't the ideal spot. Nelson ticket sales confirmed that. Of further concern is that, although the city incentives required 25 percent of rounds to be offered to the public, ie, nonmembers, that wasn't actually happening.

The Dallas Observer also notes that the city just took it in the shorts on a First Amendment case re the city's panhandling ordinance.


The Metromess and Helltown ain't cheap

When transportation sprawl, and housing and other costs relative to pay are all factored in, both Dallas and Houston are LESS affordable than New York City. For whatever reason, even though the Metromess and Houston are almost dead even on these costs, Texas Monthly writes its story on the issue only about Houston. (Unless it does the rewrite I suggested.) Related? Contra former Houston mayor Annise Parker's past bragging about how Helltown would eventually pass Chicago? The Windy City is cheaper, per the first link. And that ignores the humidity, skeeters and flooding of Houston, along with the climate change that will exacerbate all. Do we file this under "Rick Perry's Texas Miracle" or "Greg Abbott's Texas Miracle"?

The Dallas Observer DID pick up on the Dallas angle.


Houston

Off the Kuff interviewed three Democratic candidates in HD138: Akilah Bacy, Josh Wallenstein, and Jenifer Pool.

John Coby wraps up the 2019 city of Houston finance reports.

National

Brains offers a wrap on the latest Dem Debate, especially its "she said, he said."

Therese Odell revisits Impeachment Corner.

Miscellaneous

The Great God Pan Is Dead revises its Best Comics of the Decade list.

The Lunch Tray looks at a new effort to eliminate "lunch shaming".