Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Paxton sues Pfizer for not ending the COVID pandemic quickly enough

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What the actual fuck? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused drugmaker Pfizer of fear-mongering and lies about the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine, which the company insinuated would end the pandemic, according to a lawsuit Paxton announced Thursday. “In a … Continue reading →

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HISD’s continued enrollment decline

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not great. Houston ISD saw its steepest enrollment decline this year since the first full school year of the pandemic, losing roughly 6,000 students, according to preliminary data obtained by the Houston Landing. Some 183,884 students now attend HISD … Continue reading →

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DPS ordered again to release Uvalde public records

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good, though I’m a bit confused about the timing. A Travis County state district judge has ordered the Department of Public safety to release law enforcement records related to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, more than a year after … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2023 Controller’s race

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Mayor’s race I got in a groove and took what I learned from mucking around with the Mayor’s race data and was able to clean up the same for the Controller’s race in relatively short order. As you’ll see, … Continue reading →

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Cruise and Houston

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting overview of the currently-on-pause driverless taxi service in our town. The nationwide pause included Houston and Austin. However, no Texas or local entity required Cruise to take its vehicles off the road because they legally could not. Senate … Continue reading →

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Crime continues to decline in Houston

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. Don’t let it get in the way of any campaigns. Houston was part of a nationwide decline in most crime statistics in major cities, leading one crime data analyst to say the trend shows that it … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of November 27

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone has recovered from their tryptophan naps as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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SCOTx has its abortion case hearing

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. The Supreme Court of Texas heard arguments Tuesday in a landmark case that could impact how the state’s abortion laws apply to medically complicated pregnancies. In August, state District Judge Jessica Mangrum ruled that the near-total abortion … Continue reading →

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Whitmire and SJL on the HISD mess

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the Mayor has basically no direct influence on HISD, but it’s an issue people care about and the Mayor can certainly make it a point of focus. So what do our two Mayoral runoff candidates have to … Continue reading →

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2023 runoff early voting Day Two totals

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s get to it: Year Mail Early Total =============================== 2015 20,233 22,964 43,197 2019 6,024 29,180 35,204 2023 946 28,113 29,059 Again, the early in person totals look normal. The mail, I have no idea. I just now noticed that … Continue reading →

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SurveyUSA Mayoral runoff poll: Whitmire 42, SJL 35

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We finally have a second pollster. State Sen. John Whitmire maintains a 7 percentage point lead over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the Houston mayoral race, with a fifth of likely voters having yet to make up their minds … Continue reading →

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Idaho appeals EMTALA injunction to SCOTUS

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves. Idaho asked the Supreme Court Monday to stay a lower court injunction, or to take up its case directly, as it attempts to fend off the Biden administration’s challenge of the state’s abortion ban. The government filed suit … Continue reading →

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2023 runoff early voting Day One totals

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the 2023 runoff elections is underway. Here’s the news you can use from Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudpseth: As early voting begins for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth urges voters to … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2023 Mayor’s race

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The November 2023 election has been officially canvassed and certified, and that means that there’s precinct data available for me to analyze. I’ve been working on it over the weekend, and I will tell you it’s a bit more of … Continue reading →

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Musk and Paxton versus freedom of speech

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this. It didn’t quite happen the moment court was open, as Elon Musk the billionaire owner of X/Twitter had promised, but at the end of Monday, the social media platform did file its “thermonuclear” lawsuit against media … Continue reading →

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The Chron covers The MOB

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Obviously, I am going to make note of this. A spectacle on the Rice Stadium football field: A college student wearing a suit and fedora hands a giant check for $0 to a man in a rubber horse helmet. Scoffs, … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for November 26

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

RIP, Rosalynn Carter, passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights, former First Lady, all around excellent person. “Companies worth billions of dollars are, without permission, training generative AI models on creators’ works, which are then being used to … Continue reading →

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Candidate filing update

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still more than two weeks to go until the filing deadline for the 2024 primaries, so there are still a lot of people who haven’t filed or haven’t made their surprise announcement that they’re not filing yet. So if … Continue reading →

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Prop A gets its first customers

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this: Council Members Carolyn Evans-Shabazz (District D) and Mary Nan Huffman (District G) joined Council Member Amy Peck (District A) to submit notice to the City’s Agenda Office to place an item on the City Council Agenda. … Continue reading →

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We could get an Amtrak connection from Atlanta to Fort Worth

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Or it could all be killed by the Freedom Caucus nihilists. That’s just how these things go these days. A passenger rail line project touted as a major connectivity and economic boost to the Fort Worth region and beyond could … Continue reading →

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Harris County drops its lawsuit over the law banning its Elections Administrator

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The right move at this time, though the whole thing still rankles. Harris County dropped its lawsuit against the state on Wednesday, ending its challenge to a law that went into effect weeks ago eliminating the county’s elections office. The … Continue reading →

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Anti-porn law un-blocked

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Texas can again enforce its new law requiring people to prove they are 18 or older to access online porn. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state’s request last week to lift a temporary injunction that … Continue reading →

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Woolly mammoth de-extinctioning

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. In a historic building in Deep Ellum, a colossal effort is underway to bring some of the most famously extinct animals back to life. The wild mission comes from a Dallas-based company called Colossal Biosciences which is … Continue reading →

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Paxton whistleblowers demand depositions

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As always, I am rooting for them. Lawyers for the Ken Paxton whistleblowers are moving forward with their lawsuit in Travis County after another judge cleared the way, asking the Austin-based court to force the attorney general and his top … Continue reading →

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PragerU videos? Seriously?

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Once again I have to ask, what the hell is going on at HISD? A Friday lesson intended to teach students at dozens of Houston ISD schools how to think objectively included a video that mocked the idea of human-caused … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The business brief against the state abortion ban

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Would like to see a lot more co-signers on this. Forty Texas companies and business leaders are entering the fight against Texas’ abortion ban, filing a brief with the Texas Supreme Court that argues the “ambiguity” in the law’s medical … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving video break: It’s about Alice

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t have many traditions here but we like the ones we have. I am as always thankful for my family and friends, my health, the fact that I still get enjoyment from things I’ve done for a long time … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Yet another effort to kill the Voting Rights Act

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder that the Fifth Circuit isn’the only home for terrible appellate judges. A divided federal appellate panel took a pipe to the knees of the Voting Rights Act Monday, handing down an eyebrow-raising decision that would severely curtail … Continue reading →

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The Mike Miles effect so far

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of explainers from the Chron. First up, this one about what has actually happened so far in HISD since Mike Miles took over. Superintendent Mike Miles has made sweeping changes in Houston ISD since he was appointed by … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, November 22 edition

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, it’s the 60th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination; the Bishop of Tyler gets the sack; Elon and … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of November 20

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance broke its calculator trying to figure out how many turkeys Jimbo Fischer could buy now as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Runoff early voting begins Monday

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Early voting for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election begins Monday, November 27, and runs through Tuesday, December 5. Vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day except Sunday, December 3, from … Continue reading →

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Three stories about abortion

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

All from Texas Public Radio, which has been doing a great job with these. Big Bend area group plans anti-abortion pregnancy centers in Presidio, Alpine. A local nonprofit formed earlier this year is seeking to open two new anti-abortion pregnancy … Continue reading →

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Installing the ice

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just in case. While Toyota Center undergoes several years of renovations, an upgrade that will not be immediately seen could prove to be among the most important. When listing plans for future phases of renovation, Rockets president of business operations … Continue reading →

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