SocraticGadfly: Texas Progressives talk this and that

November 09, 2021

Texas Progressives talk this and that

Lots to talk about on various issues, so let's dig in!

State

Texas Monthly discusses what all is behind all the recent American and Southwest flight cancellations. Job loss, pre-vax mandate, is a fair chunk of it. Southwest's workforce is down 10 percent pre-pandemic and American's is off 20 percent. BUT? The Monthly ignores United. Per what I've read elsewhere, Southwest, at least, seems to have a just-in-time crew scheduling software, like the just-in-time scheduling managers that have employees not wanting to go back to restaurants and retail stores.

Off the Kuff discussed the first two gubernatorial polls of the fall.

Not so fast on that one Beto-Abbott poll, the first of Kuff's two links. The Trib has another, discussed in that second link, showing Strangeabbott with a comfortable lead. It also shows a lot of people distrust Matt McConaughey. It also shows that, within Rethuglicans, Strange has little to fear from Don Huffines, Allen West or the two of them combined, even. West is, interestingly, ahead of Huffines, with nearly double his support. Guess the wingnut-squared types recognize Huffines as "all hat no cattle" on claiming to be an outsider. Kenny Boy Paxton has little to fear from Pee Bush, too. Pee is well ahead of other challengers in the AG race. On the Dem side, R.F. O'Rourke well outpaces none of the above; nunya leads the Lite Guv and AG races.

That said, Pee Bush also continues to face flack over Alamo issues. Not noted in that piece is that, in the light of a new book by Chris Tomlinson et al, Lite Gov Danny Goeb felt the need to name a special Alamo protection commission. Among its members is Bush's predecessor, pistol-packing Jerry Patterson.  

DosCentavos recaps the 2021 local election results.

The federal Department of Justice is suing Texas over its special session SB1, the one that lead Dems in the Texas Lege to temporarily flee, but doing nothing else. This might have a chance. The suit is targeted and selective, and focuses on how certain provisions in the bill would affect the elderly and disabled. They arguably affect minorities, too, but in a post-Holder world, that's a tough angle to win.

CD Hooks takes a look at the one state lege special election, and Virginia and New Jersey, on what they might portend for Texas next year.

Another Texas death penalty case is in the news.

About 100 people a year die in Texas jails. Many of these were preventable, often easily preventable. The Observer takes a look, a deep look, including at the lack of enforcement when problems are found.

The Railroad Commission doesn't even make a pretense of being ethical.

The now illegal-in-Texas (under arguably dubious grounds by DSHS) delta-8 is being replaced by delta-9. 

Margaret Spellings and Tim Kopra call for a Lone Star space plan.

The Bloggess talks about depression and smiling.

Therese Odell brings you the best food TV episodes that feature Houston cuisine.

Angela Wilkins explains the health care inequity problem. Lisa Gray writes about the AstroWorld tragedy.

National and world

Hillary Clinton apparently Russiagated herself. One of Christopher Steele's flunkies has been indicted by the FBI, and among Danchenko's contacts and sources was Charles Dolan Jr., an old Friend of Bill. He appears not to have any direct tie, though. Danchenko is the main problem, or co-main problem along with FBI sloppiness, per National Review. The second sloppiness is the likes of Steele relying on a guy like this.

Red states have started criminalizing and prosecuting miscarriages.

Take a deep dive on "separation payments" and Status Quo Joe's fuzzy-headedness on the issue, whether another sign of aging-related mental health issues, ConservaDem political scrambling, or a mix of both.

A Sinclair reporter, whether honestly or via a slip, spills the beans and admits, re the Virginia election, that critical race theory is NOT taught in schools there.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize winner far worse than Dear Leader Obama, and arguably the worst and most megalomaniac since Kissinger.

Zhang Zhan, a Chinese journalist who reported on the truth of Xi Jinping Thought's early response to COVID was convicted and imprisoned in December. She's now on a hunger strike and reportedly close to death, even with forced feedings.  

Latest estimates are that Brexit will cost the UK 4 percent of GNP.

 

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