If teacher pay is the main reason Texas teachers are leaving ...

The TSTA Blog has some straight answers to why there's a teacher shortage.  And it says teacher pay is No. 1, at $7K below the national average.

OTOH, outside of possibly Austin, the Texas housing market costs a lot less than a California or a New York. Pre-COVID, a Dallas or Houston cost less than a Denver, for that matter. The cost of living in Texas in general is below all five Pacific Rim states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, most of New England, at least the greater Chicago part of Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and probably all of Colorado. That's guaranteed. That right there is half the nation's non-Texas population.

To put it another way, and reversing the order of this list, Texas is overall 32nd among the 50 states in cost of living. That's confirmed here. Texas is more than 10 percent below the national average, in fact. So, of course, average teacher pay is going to be below the national average.

It lists rising health care costs as No. 2. Those are happening to everybody (who has insurance). Also pre-COVID. And, Texas teachers have better healthcare than much of the general populace in the state.

So, if those are being listed as the top two reasons, at least pre-COVID, for our teacher shortage, then, IMO, the problem is with teachers as well as the professional structure.

So, I said straight answers. That's not necessarily good answers.

Coronavirus Week 105: The Grim Reaper reaps away in Shanghai

Once again, Xi Jinping Thought stanners from Margaret Flowers to Adam Tooze look like fucking idiots at best and like Max Blumenthals at worse, as the COVID crisis in Shanghai escalates.

The latest? Last week, Chinese leadership was looking like Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Shanghai's deaths were in a hospital for senior citizens, not nursing homes, but the idea's the same. And, related to that, it's clear that China's lying again about COVID deaths or lack thereof.

But, contra this graf:

Most experts agree that China’s zero-COVID approach was highly successful in keeping deaths to a minimum when there were limited drugs or vaccines. But now that shots are widely available in China, and with the advent of the omicron variant, many say the government should abandon the policy and focus medical resources on the elderly and vulnerable instead.

No, I'm not in agreement.

First, I don't agree that China was that successful; I think it's likely Beijing lied at least as much two years ago as now. Second, contra Tooze, we know that Sinopharm's vaccine isn't as good as the ones developed in the West, so it doesn't have the same options.

And, speaking of suckers or grifters for Xi Jinping Thought? Add Walker Bragman to the list with a truly kowtowing Twitter thread. My thoughts on that?

Walker Bragman's stanning for Xi Jinping Thought over alleged success of COVID control approaches the embarrassment level of Max Blumenthal stanning for Xi Jinping Thought over Uyghurs. COVID or human rights, THIS leftist can call out the US without putting China on a pedestal

— TheRealSocraticGadfly: Friends Crushes Xi Jinping (@real_gadfly) April 10, 2022

Yep.

In a later Tweet, I said that we don't even have to imagine that Xi is lying to cover up a death rate as bad as the US. A death rate HALF as bad would still be 50 percent worse than that of Canada.

He's not alone. The number of non-skeptical leftists who are willing to believe the US government tells lies most the time but Beijing almost never does, including but by no means limited to the two biggies of COVID and the Uyghurs, actually seems to be growing, if anything.

And, speaking in US terms? Xi can't afford the economic impact of locking down Shanghai for two months.

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Long COVID is almost certainly a contributing factor in the Great Resignation.

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From worries about a housing collapse to fears of an eviction tsunami, Atlantic looks at all the COVID economic predictions of the last two years that were way wrong.

Ukraine-Russia thoughts, Week 5 — dueling war crimes and leftist niches

The Bucha apparent war crimes appear to have been coordinated, not ramdom, and probably with the backing of Russia's Wagner Group. And now, the head of Russian metals company Rusal has called for an impartial investigation.

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A day or two before Bucha was "discovered," Ukrainian soldiers were committing war crimes, too, including shooting surrendered POWs.

Says who? RT? No, the NYT.

A video posted online on Monday and verified by The New York Times appears to show a group of Ukrainian soldiers killing captured Russian troops outside a village west of Kyiv. “He’s still alive. Film these marauders. Look, he’s still alive. He’s gasping,” a man says as a Russian soldier with a jacket pulled over his head, apparently wounded, is seen still breathing. A soldier then shoots the man twice. After the man keeps moving, the soldier shoots him again, and he stops.

There.

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Related?

Eric Draitser of Counterpunch Radio had his Friday broadcast all about Bucha, including the revelation that Russia's Wagner Group, which has its own neo-Nazi problems, was involved or even directly behind this. I asked him why his broadcast was ONLY about Bucha and this was his response on Twitter:

LOL shared on my Facebook on date of publication
https://t.co/IfTJSeeOJg

— Eric Draitser (@stopimperialism) April 8, 2022

To which I said:

Response appreciated. "LOL" not so much. And (because even with you, it may be needed), not to "justify" Putin or his invasion, nonetheless, a single Facebook post, & none on yr Twitter feed, about the Ukrainian atrocity, or abt both sides violating Geneva w/POWs on TV, etc ...

— TheRealSocraticGadfly: Friends Crushes Xi Jinping (@real_gadfly) April 8, 2022

And, didn't hear back. His whole Facebook feed, which is more in-depth than his Twitter, is not MSM, tis true, but leans harder pro-Ukraine than it has to. The real issue is that while the NYT reported the Ukrainian atrocity, opinion and analysis there will never touch it. (Also, as the History for Atheists dude was told by me on my philosophy blog, I read first, listen to radio or podcasts a distant second.)  And, whether orally or in writing, a mention is not the same as a discussion.

My overall impression is that he's really not THAT different than the left edge of the MSM.

Not only did I not hear back on Twitter, but Joshua Frank, Counterpunch's ME, "liked" the LOL reply by him but didn't take note of me response.

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Here's an in-depth analysis of the run-up to the war, that somebody posted in comments to one of Draitser's FB posts, and to which he didn't respond. That said, the author appears to start sliding away from full truth by the middle one-third, to run into the ditch in the last one-third, and badly, and per my Googling, Jacques Baud may do that deliberately. And, although Lee Camp, Chris Hedges and other RT commenters have said that they didn't have to pull punches, it should be noted that Baud has written for RT France. It should also be noted that Camp and Hedges didn't get a chance to see if they'd be forced to pull punches as the war continued.

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In all of this is the bigger picture — finding one's niche in the American left on foreign policy issues. I don't need Draister's help to not trust Aaron Maté or Max Blumenthal. Surprisingly, someone I have come to distrust as a "spinner" for Russia on the Internet Research Agency, its Facebook groups in the 2016 election, and things at the edges of "Russiagate" in its broadest terms, Mark Ames, has been pretty reliable on Twitter as far as calling out Russian military and policy failures while at the same time continuing to point out problems with Ukraine.

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Elsewhere on his FB page, Draitser tries to fellate Lenin at Putin's expense:

"What Ireland was for England, Ukraine has become for Russia: exploited in the extreme, and getting nothing in return. Thus the interests of the world proletariat in general and the Russian proletariat in particular require that the Ukraine regains its state independence, since only this will permit the development of the cultural level that the proletariat needs." -- Vladimir Lenin, 1914

Anybody who knows the reality of the Russian Civil War knows that 1920 Lenin, or even 1918 Lenin, had repudiated 1914 Lenin, if that 1914 Lenin wasn't just a PR talking point. 

Elsewhere, he links to Paul Street at Counterpunch, who IMO also gets this wrong. No, the early USSR was not dedicated to making the Ukraine — or any other non-ethnically Russian portion of the old Russian empire — a nation state or close to it. (Also contra Street, in an unrelated issue? Yes, Glenn Greenwald is laughable. BUT? He's also right that the Trump Admin eventually DID sell arms to Ukraine that Dear Leader Obama wouldn't.)

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Meanwhile, Russians the age of Maté and Blumenthal who can vote with their feet, even temporarily, are doing so — to Istanbul. When Turkey under Erdogan feels free, it's sad indeed. BUT? This non-Wilsonian rejects Biden's call for regime change. There's no way we could remodel Russia; besides, the first time we tried to is part of the reason the world is here today.

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From somewhat the British equivalent of US paleoconservativism, Niall Ferguson updates his answers to seven war-related questions.

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China is not totally in Russia's corner. Reuters notes Chinese refineries, most of them run by state oil companies, are NOT buying Russian oil futures contracts.

Texas Progressives talk back alleys and neolib Dems

The back alleys have arrived, with a Texas woman in the Valley, Lizelle Herrera, charged with murder after a self-induced abortion. And, since then, Starr County DA Gocha Allen Ramirez has said the charges will be dropped. How much role did public pressure play? And, why did the sheriff's office get an indictment in the first place, and why aren't they talking now?

I thought we cared about Ukrainians? Guess not, as Biden's CBP looks as hard-assed as Trump's, on at least one Ukrainian minor refugee.

In which Ruy Teixeira shows his national neoliberal Dem colors. Of course, when you name your Substack "The Liberal Patriot," you've already done that. Cue Samuel Johnson's bon mot.

SocraticGadfly takes note of the new IPCC climate CRISIS report, which basically says we're up shit creek and doubts either major party will take the actions needed to address this as a crisis. 

Off the Kuff notes that the state of Texas is seeking to do violence to the Voting Rights Act as it defends itself against multiple redistricting lawsuits.

Blame Strangeabbott, in part, for the supply chain delays with his latest border antics. That's on top of his most recent previous border antics, which, parallel to his early COVID days order, fall apart upon reading the fine print.

And, will Strangeabbott do anything for Melissa Lucio?

The Monthly has an update on the rehab/overhaul of the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells. Why can't somebody do similar to the Falls Hotel (No. 8, by age, on the list of Hiltons, and also home of hot springs) in Marlin?

A border county is getting tired of wingnut militia that is led by a Pizzagater. The "tiredness," though, isn't due to local wingnuts thinking the militia is too wingnut; instead, it's all about the grifting. Isn't it always?

Legal pot was supposed to empower Black entrepreneurs. It still hasn't. Not all of the reasons why are explicitly, or even implicitly, race-based, but many are.

Texas 2036 announces the results of its poll about younger Texans' preference for electric vehicles.

The San Antonio Report reports on the city's settlement of two "sanctuary cities" lawsuits filed by Ken Paxton.

The Texas Signal highlights Dan Patrick's obsession with Florida's heinous "Don't Say Gay" law.

Teddy Wilson explains how much worse it can get after Roe v Wade is overturned.

Texas Dems' leadership battle: Who you got? And does it matter?

Since I'm not a Dem, I hadn't paid attention to the fact that Gilberto Hinojosa has a bona fide opponent to lead the Texas Democratic Party. 

Hinojosa, who has been touting the mantra of "Demographics mean Texas Democrat ascendancy is just around the corner" for at least twice as long as Herbert Hoover's Depression and prosperity claims, is being challenged by Kim Olson as the main challenger.

And, per the Trib, it's getting ugly, with resurrections of a nearly 4-year-old assault claim against Olson complete with calls for her to drop out of the race.

To me, it's a sign Hinojosa is running scared. As he probably should be, given his track record of lack of success.

As for "does it matter"? They're both pretty much ConservaDems, and, while I've bitched about Hinojosa, Olson had at least one unforced error in her 2018 Ag Commish run against Jeebus Shot Sid Miller. And, for ConservaDems who like to run the military up the flagpole and salute it, remember that her career didn't end so perfectly. The real issue behind that, is as a career military officer, what does she think of the "Forever War"? What does she think of its erosion of civil liberties? Could be worse in some ways for Texas Dems, I suppose. Former Libertarian voter MJ Hegar could be in the running. And, at least Hinojosa has a needed real challenger.

Carroll G. Robinson? First, I dislike lawyers who put the pretentious "Esq." after their names. He doesn't do that everywhere, but he does on occasion. Second, like Beto Bob, he's a RuralDem. That's even as rural Texas, truly rural Texas versus exurban Texas, continues to shrink, especially in West Texas. He is right that local Dems in smaller "red" counties need to revive their activism.

Anyway, the fact that Hinojosa is running so scared against such a flawed character illustrates what a free ride he's had for so long. That, in turn, illustrates that the problems with the Texas Democratic Party go beyond just candidate recruitment.