Monthly Archives: July 2022

Weekend link dump for July 31

The oldest teenagers on TV. “Agrivoltaics pairs agriculture (including grazing) and solar power production on the same plot of land.” “The [Respect For Marriage Act] would repeal DOMA, directing the federal government to recognize same-sex couples’ lawful marriages. But it … Continue reading

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House passes assault weapon ban

Another bill that won’t pass the Senate, but nonetheless shows the gap in values and priorities between the two parties. As the House passed legislation to ban assault weapons for the first time in nearly two decades Friday, Democrats pointed … Continue reading

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TxDOT sued over its enviromental impact assessments

Very interesting. After college, Michael Moritz got a job in Houston analyzing fatal car crashes. Moritz, a 27-year-old native of San Antonio, stood on Interstate Highway 45, one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the country, and documented … Continue reading

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We talk again about the forthcoming abortion prosecutions

It’s going to be so bad. A young woman and her mother are nervously driving through the night when they’re pulled over by law enforcement. Flashlights in their faces, the women are questioned about whether they’re heading for the border … Continue reading

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The porkchopping experience

Ever wonder what it’s like to hunt feral hogs with a machine gun from a helicopter? Well, here you go. Feral hogs have terrorized Houston neighborhoods for years, tearing up grass and causing property damage in search of food. But did you … Continue reading

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Ted Cruz says Texas should repeal its anti-sodomy law

I feel obligated to note this. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the most socially conservative Texans serving in Congress, told The Dallas Morning News that Texas should repeal its now-dormant law that bans gay sex. “Consenting adults should be … Continue reading

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Fifth Circuit tosses mask mandate lawsuit filed by disability rights activists

Par for the course. A federal appeals court on Monday tossed out a lower-court injunction, issued in November, that would have allowed public schools in Texas to ignore Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin had blocked Abbott’s order as … Continue reading

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If the only choices are “take it or leave it”, well…

Leave it doesn’t sound so bad given the alternative. One year ago, opponents of the state’s plan to rebuild Interstate 45 in Houston criticized the “take it or leave it” option state officials offered regarding amending plans for the mega-project. Tuesday, as … Continue reading

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More on the seafaring abortion clinic

There were a couple of stories on that proposed abortion clinic on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, which will operate in federal waters and thus be outside state jurisdiction. The clinic is intended to serve women in the … Continue reading

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Fraudit 2.0

Here we go again. Harris County will be one of four Texas counties to undergo an audit of its upcoming November election results by the Texas secretary of state’s office. It will be the second election audit in two years … Continue reading

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Senate passes Ike Dike bill

This thing is actually gonna pass. The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would authorize federal agencies to plan for an estimated $31 billion project intended to protect the Texas coast from hurricanes. Hundreds of millions of dollars … Continue reading

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SAISD vaccine mandate upheld again

Also still on hold, but the state loses again at the appellate level. A state appellate court upheld San Antonio Independent School District’s authority Wednesday to mandate its workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, almost a year after the district instituted … Continue reading

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We need more monkeypox vaccines

We have a chance to get on top of this. Let’s try to take it. Houston-area leaders on Monday evening called for more vaccines to combat the small but growing number of local monkeypox infections. There are 57 reported cases … Continue reading

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Texas sues USDA over LGBTQ protections

Here’s the story, which I’ll get to in a minute. It might be best to try to summarize this more accurately, because this is one of those technical situations where it takes a lot of qualifiers to get at what’s … Continue reading

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Meet the new billionaires in charge of Texas

Somewhat worse than the old billionaires, who were already pretty bad. Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion. This is Texas now: … Continue reading

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Republicans have begun attacking Mike Collier

Interesting. Fox News host Laura Ingraham is joining a growing list of Republicans attacking Mike Collier, the Democratic candidate for Texas lieutenant governor, as polls indicate a narrowing race between him and incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Ingraham reposted an article from a … Continue reading

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Texas blog roundup for the week of July 25

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for the Former Guy to be charged with some crimes as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Your phone bill is about to go up

Surprise! Attention all Texans who use a cell phone or landline: The Watchdog has bad news. Starting with September’s phone bill, your bill is going up. I can’t provide a specific number for you except to say that all Texas … Continue reading

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July 2022 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

We’re still more than a year out from the 2023 election, but we are now up to three serious conteners for Mayor, plus two others in the wild, so the finance reports are beginning to generate some real interest. The … Continue reading

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Abortion penalties will increase on August 25

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its official judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, clearing the way for Texas’ “trigger law” banning almost all abortions to go into effect Aug. … Continue reading

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Another story about the chaos that has been unleashed by banning abortion

There will be more to come for as long as this situation remains. A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician … Continue reading

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Uvalde school board asks for a special session on guns

They’re not going to get it, just like everyone else who has asked that Greg Abbott Do Something about them. The Uvalde school board is formally urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call state lawmakers back to Austin so they can … Continue reading

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There’s a lot of anti-LGBTQ litigation out there

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is where we are. In the wake of the toppling of Roe v. Wade and with Justice Clarence Thomas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit rulings on gay sex … Continue reading

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Paxton so petty

This guy, man. What a stain. Attorney General Ken Paxton is escalating his feud with the State Bar of Texas by banning his office’s lawyers from speaking at any events organized by the bar. Paxton’s office also will not pay … Continue reading

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More dimensions for privacy in the post-Roe world

The fall of Roe is a big boon for cyberstalkers. All too frequently, people monitor our intimate lives in betrayal of our trust—and it’s often those we know and love. They don’t even need to be near us to capture … Continue reading

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July 2022 campaign finance reports: Harris County

Happy Mid-Year Campaign Finance Reporting Day to all who celebrate. Today we’ll be looking at the races of interest in Harris County, which thankfully for me has a lot fewer candidates to review than the last time we did this … Continue reading

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Offshore wind farm proposed

Let’s do it. The Gulf of Mexico’s first offshore wind farms will be developed off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, and together they’re projected to produce enough energy to power around 3 million homes. … Continue reading

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A Skeet Jones update

NBC News does us the favor of an update on Skeet Jones, the (allegedly) cattle-rustlin’ County Judge of Loving County. On a December day in 2021, Loving County Judge Skeet Jones, 71, climbed atop an oilfield tank surrounded by wide-open … Continue reading

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The West Texas earthquake problem

We’re number one! Earthquakes were never anything people in West Texas thought much about. Years would pass in between tremors that anybody felt. Even after the shale revolution arrived in force a decade ago and oil crews started drilling frantically in the region’s … Continue reading

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Weekend link dump for July 24

Is there anybody out there? “I mean, it’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike. They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly … Continue reading

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Grifters always stick together

Two shitty tastes that taste even shittier together. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pretty familiar with Catherine Engelbrecht. He’s been a guest on her podcast, chatting about their shared passion: rooting out voter fraud. They both have gone to … Continue reading

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DOJ investigating discrimination claims against Houston for response to illegal dumping

I look forward to seeing what this finds. Huey German-Wilson and her Trinity Gardens and Houston Gardens neighbors kept finding tires, medical waste and other trash in their streets. So they took charge. They sought to log each instance with the city’s 311 … Continue reading

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Austin takes its shot at protecting abortion access

I wish them great success. I don’t think the fanatics in the Legislature will let them achieve it, but we’ll see. Austin City Council unanimously (in the absence of lone Republican Mackenzie Kelly) approved four items on Thursday, July 21 … Continue reading

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The Huntsville bats get a reprieve

A little bit of good news, which we can all use. Hundreds of thousands of bats living in a damaged Texas Department of Criminal Justice warehouse will get a little more time before their fate is decided. A temporary stay, if you will. … Continue reading

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