Some Charlie Kirk shake my head postings

No, I'm not surprised that Jaclyn Reiswig wrote this piece. Her title of ex-GOP conservative does not have "-ex" in front of the "conservative." I suspect she's some sort of fairly conservative semi-evangelical to full on Christian.

I am surprised Anthony Lawson posted this. He is a secularist, or so I thought. And, he should have recognized Christian "framing."

That said, Reiswig doesn't note the Great Replacement Theory, the conspiracy theory of Soros-type rich Jews inflaming Blacks and more. And, she both begins and ends with Christian framing, which is part of why I'm surprised Lawson posted it. And, no, it's not all algorithms. She also rejects that leftists like Hasan Piker know Kirk was a Gish Gallop fake debater. Lawson should know that, too. Surprised that, at a minimum, he didn't write up some caveats, rather than posting  Reiswig's "bare" piece. (And, unlike Dean Williams, Piker didn't cry over Kirk's death. He was saddened,but didn't cry.) 

I also don't like her site because it does not have a search function. (I was going to see if she was a Zionist, to be honest.) 

And, yes, I'm going to do a roundup of head-scratchers related to Kirk. 

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Not a head-scratcher?

Charlie Kirk killing conspiracy theories. Israel mentioned by some, per this long roundup piece in the Times, who think Kirk had had a complete and final break with Zionism. (He had not, as far as I can tell.)

Others? Nuttier yet. (I'm surprised Candace Owens hasn't claimed that Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, did it.) That said, on the Zionist Israels did it angle? The Unreal Candace O did slander Bill Ackman, just like she did Mme. Macron. 

Texas Progressives talk fall elections, environment, conspiracy theories

Off the Kuff would like us to pay more attention to the SD09 special election. 

SocraticGadfly looks at the latest JFK assassination conspiracy theory, that "Israel did it," and thoroughly debunks it while adding that he sees it as injurious to anti-Zionism.

Meet the American Jew seized as a 1970 Palestinian hostage who became an anti-Zionist. 

The Texas Medical Association has told Brainworm Bobby to go fuck himself over childhood vaccine schedules, and that made Kenny Boy Paxton butt-hurt. 

Texas youth camps are bent out of shape by new state safety requirements, above all, the cost. Maybe if some of you had not only not built into floodplains, but also had not gotten the feds to pencil-whip floodplain boundaries, and had been more proactive on emergency communications, you wouldn't be facing this. 

A lot of Texas Dems with local party organizational power just do not like the Soros-funded, Beto-Bob-alumni-staffed, Texas Majority PAC, and from the story, it's understandable why. Beyond undermining local control, there's bullshit statements and actions, and a refusal by the TMP to be explicitly pro-union in its hiring.

Meet what may be a new species, the Dixon's whiptail lizard, which lives in two isolated spots and reproduces asexually.  

Neil at the Houston Democracy Project said refusal of Houston municipal political leaders to address role of HPD in cooperating with federal government in taking our rights, only lessens trust.

Franklin Strong presents the Book-Loving Texans' Guide to the November 2025 school board elections.

The Waco Bridge covered the lives and deportations of Sergio Garcia, a celebrated chef in Waco, and his wife Sandra.

The Barbed Wire checks in on the Texas Stock Exchange following its SEC approval.

El Paso Matters reports on Pope Leo XIV's visit with an El Paso delegation and his support of immigrants, refugees, and people facing deportation.

Olivia Julianna documents a week of reckoning for the Republicans.

The Texas Signal alerts us to the world's first coloring novel, written by a Houston author.

Texas GOP TACOs over censures

The Texas GOP's executive committee and Chairman Abraham George did a TACO Trump level cave-in over censuring 10 GOP state Housecritters for going against the state House GOP caucus and voting for Dustin Burrows as Speaker. Five of the 10 before the potential firing squad, including Burrows, weren't even censured. The other five got a "local censure," which means a hand-slap without being blocked from the 2026 GOP primary ballot.

It's clear, per the piece and per comment by the party's legal counsel, that they feared being sued over it. They knew they would almost certainly lose, and they also feared distraction from another ballot issue.

That issue? Suing the state over its open primary laws, a suit which Kenny Boy officially joined, and without even an advance heads-up to Secretary of State Jane Nelson. 

That said, per the first link, the party plans on revisiting it again at the state convention next summer. 

Californicators finding out one big problem with Tex-ass

And that's that counties have about zero power.

Except in special cases designated by the state, counties have no zoning power.

And, as people living in unincorporated Hood County next to a crypto mine have found out, counties have no power to set things like a noise ordinance. 

It's not just Californicators, of course, but natives or semi-natives of Tex-ass who have moved outside of city limits, and for this reason:

“We are still conservative, we love our freedom,” [Danny] Lakey said of his GOP-leaning community. “The biggest pushback that we're getting on incorporation is from people who fear that a new city is going to try to set a lot of regulations. They’re very Texan, which means: don’t tell me what to do with my property.”

Boo-fucking hoo.

First, I'm not going to cosign the bullshit of having your cake and eat it, too.

Second, what if this MARA has, or gets, enough of its employees inside your city limits to pull a mini-Elmo Musk on you and make "Mitchell's Bend" a company town?

Third, for the non-Californicators, like Danny Lakey? You should have known better.

In the past, you could have had a horse slaughterhouse next to your home or something. 

Texas voters: Here's your constitutional amendment voting recommendation

To go out of order? The biggie is Proposition 4. Vote NO, NO, and NO. Any librul or alleged leftist organization telling you to vote yes is full of it. I covered this a month ago, and specifically called out Lone Star "Left" for saying vote yes. It's a boondoggle fiscally AND, even worse, for anybody truly to the left? It's horribly antienvironmental. Since then, I noted something worse: The state doesn't even know how much water these "data centers" will use, and it has basically no regulations to that end.

Lone Star "Left," per Cactus Ed Abbey, seems to believe in growth for growth's sake without admitting that's the theology of the cancer cell.

The Texas branch of League of Women Voters is also wrong. 

So is the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, clearly proving itself to still be Gang Green neoliberals in the environmental organization world, in an official support with no real analysis. 

I mean, that piece even admits voters are being offered a pig in a poke:

At least 50% of the annual allocations must go toward the New Water Supply for Texas Fund and the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT). The New Water Supply for Texas Fund supports various projects - some of which are highly controversial - that add to the total volume of water available to Texans, such as reservoir construction, seawater desalination, reuse of oil and gas wastewater (“produced water”), a statewide water conveyance system, acquisition of water from out of state, water and wastewater reuse, and aquifer storage and recovery. 

The focus of the SWIFT is solely on water infrastructure projects identified in the State Water Plan. This is an important accountability measure because it means there must be some level of support for the project locally for it to appear in the State Water Plan. However, there is no requirement for how this part of the funding must be split between the New Water Supply for Texas Fund and SWIFT.

But still says vote yes. 

OK, now the rest. Some I'll have an "OK" with the yes. One or two may be absolute yeses. Many of the "no" votes have "Wingnut virtue signaling" as part of them. That's because these already not only don't exist but may be constitutionally barred, depending on who's interpreting Tex-ass' constitution and related legal issues at hand.

That said, per the graphic, most of the answer is "no." 

Prop 1, for dedicated funds for Texas State Technical College? Yes is OK. 

Prop 2 on barring capital gains tax? Wingnut virtue signaling. Vote no.

Prop 3, denying bail. Wingnut cruelty, and the moral equivalent of assuming guilt in advance. NO.

Prop 5, on property tax exemption for animal feed at a feed store? A quasi-private member bill carve-out. No.

Prop 6, barring securities taxes?  Wingnut virtue signaling. Vote no

Prop 7, for benefits for surviving spouses of certain veterans? Yes is OK. Reason I don't say a flat yes is, are domestic partners excluded? What happens if SCOTUS overturns Obergefell? 

Prop 8, banning estate taxes?  Wingnut virtue signaling. Vote no

Prop 9, exemption to tangible assets on personal property taxes? Vote no; not only is the loophole and possible abuse an issue, but this should be something addressed outside of amendment if possible. 

Prop 10, property tax exemption for a house totally destroyed by fire? Written poorly, as "temporary" is not defined. Vote no.

Prop 11, the jump in elderly / disabled extra homestead exemption from $10K to $60K? Too big a jump at one time. Vote no.

Prop 12, changes to State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Vote no if for no other reason that it removes the State Bar of Texas from naming two members. This is a squeeze on them and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Lone Star Left missed that.

Prop 13, upping the homestead exemption? Vote no. Lone Star Left notes it offers nothing to renters, then says "next time around." Wrong.

Prop 14, funding the Dementia Institute? Sounds noble, but vote no for this as a special carve-out.

Prop 15, parental rights? I'm torn. I can see where wingnut activist parents might weaponize this. I can also see how parents of kids with sexual dysphoria could use it to fight back against the likes of Kenny Boy Paxton. No recommendation, as I've not yet decided myself.

Prop 16, that only US citizens can vote? Wingnut virtue signaling. Vote no 

Prop 17, Strangeabbott's Operation Lone Star property tax handout in border counties? Vote no. 

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Texas branch of League of Conservation Voters no longer has a website. (What links off Facebook ain't theirs.) Their Hucksterman hasn't been updated since 2022. Green Party of Texas, despite having a quarterly state executive meeting last week, has taken no public position on Prop 4 or the other amendments. 

Sorry, Robert Roberson, but you're screwed — until you're not

I had earlier this week started writing the following:

If the CCA hasn't even ruled yet on previous legal motions by your team, having just seen it crush Mark Lassiter's habeas corpus writ for Michael Newberry vis-a-vis Janelle Haverkamp? I'm sorry, but you're screwed.

Then, Thursday, the CCA blocked Roberson's execution and sent the case back to trial court, over the question of the issue of the reality vs junk science of shaken baby syndrome, having made another such ruling last year. 

There are differences. Andrew Roark's child was 1 year old at the time of death and Roberson's was 2 years old. Developmental differences will surely come into play. 

Also, the split on the CCA was 5-4, and in Roark's case, he was officially exonerated. And, given Roberson's previous history with the CCA and one previous remand to trial court, he has no guarantees of luck in a new trial.

The Observer had an in-depth interview with Roberson shortly before his reprieve.