News Round-up(10/2/2024)

 Wars and rumors of wars.......

Saying the quiet part out loud. - It's never been about stopping climate change. It's always been about a redistribution of income from wealthy nations to NGOs and other quasi-governmental firms who will then tell the poor what to do.

That's quite the increase. When you  have elected leaders who truly believe that property ownership is theft from the government then you get results such as these.  If you don't already have a plan for an exit strategy out of Harris County you should start planning one.

As a matter of fact, a Texas exit strategy might not be a bad idea. The problem, and their are many, with Texas Democrats right now is that they have been out of power for so long that they are angry, and are going to overreach and are going to make life miserable.  The best thing for Texas right now would be some balance. I do not think we're going to get that, and I think the reversal is going to be stunning. Mostly because of a lack of adults in any room in government.

The biggest news story people are not paying enough attention to. This could be a big deal. In large part because the head of the union appears to be a low-functioning idiot who cannot even remember his 3 main talking points without having people remind him of what they are. I don't begrudge them their pay requests, but fighting against technological upgrades is akin to an old man hollering at the clouds. For this to get resolved the union is going to have to appoint a leader who can speak into a microphone without spitting on the first three rows.

Did you watch the VP debate last night? I did not. Nor did I watch either of the two Presidential debates. Kamala is a tool, Trump is a narcissist. No matter who wins, America loses.

BadScience People can say whatever they want to say when there are no repercussions. 

Will the last business to leave California please turn off the lights? The problem with government by boogeyman is that you, eventually, will run out of boogeymen to blame all of your problems on.  Eventually the people will look to you as the culprit.  Of course, by then they're probably too poor and there are no jobs left to matter anyway.

I really hope that this is the last we hear of Anna Delvey

RIP Dikembe Mutombo One of the great Basketall big men and ambassador's of all time.  And one helluva commercial star.

RIP Pete Rose. One of the most controversial baseball figures of all time. Both one of the greatest hitters and, apparently, one of the worst betters to ever grace the game.  In an age where games are sponsored by FanDuel and DraftKings it's time to relent and put the man in the Hall of Fame. at this point the hypocrisy is through the roof.

And finally...

One of the reason's we continue argue about climate change is that the arguments of the climate warriors are based on lies and logical fallacies. No one involved in carbon capture is suggesting that it is a silver bullet that will 100% solve the problem, yet that is what the climate warriors are attesting. 

In fact, the world HAS made some progress on carbon reduction and, China, India and some other nations notwithstanding, the Western World has taken steps to reduce their carbon omissions. But the climate warriors want stupid goals like "zero carbon now" and "just stop oil" which would plunge the world into economic chaos, kill Billions, and knock us directly back to the dark ages. Perhaps they do want a return to the days with the Catholic Church was the font of all knowledge and truth?  Of course, this time around it would not be the Church, it would be the United Nations.

Think about how scary that thought is.

John Thornton gets some bang for his buck.

Ladies and Gentlemen....I give you the most biased piece of newsish ever.....


We Read Rick Perry's "Fed Up!" So You Don't Have To, The Texas Tribune.

A piece so odious that no staffer had their name attached to it. There are so many things wrong with this "summary" that I'm not even going to try to list them. What it basically amounts to is a public fisking, with no factual back up, and no thought of penning a balanced review.

In short: This is nothing more than a political hit-piece masked as journalism by a newsish organization that's increasingly reverting back to the industry standard for the type.

Where once they could be relied upon for some solid reporting, they're drifting further and further afield as time progresses. Think about this: When was the last time the Trib ran a piece on Perry that was genuinely important? It's been a while.

Something tells me that Thronton and that all Democrat board were demanding to start seeing some bang for their buck. After all, there's an election to be won coming up pretty soon.



There's a LOT more I could say about this but I won't. I'll finish with this: The Trib has turned out something that wouldn't make the cut on most solid political blogs*. And they've categorized it under "journalism".










*The key-word being solid, which means that you could expect to see something that bad (or worse) on this blog. It's why you read right?

Partisan

Interesting footnote in the Mostyn/Texas Watchdog situation....

Earlier today the Houston Press published the following story which was pulled for a time and then re-posted with a rather large addendum apologizing to Mostyn and clarifying his complaint.

(Steve Mostyn, Anti-Perry Attorney, Tries To Subpoena Reporters' Notes, Craig Malisow, Houston Press Hair Balls)

Mostyn's main allegation against Texas Watchdog, which was not articulated in the petition, is that it's violating federal tax code by incorporating as a 501(c)3 without following the code's provisions. Mostyn claims, for example, that the Patriot Group has created other front organizations to act solely as sources for Texas Watchdog stories. He specifically cites a group called Texans for Ethics and Accountability, which, strangely, had the same address that TW once did.

Trent Seibert* of Texas Watchdog addressed the address issue here.....

When Texas Watchdog was launched in 2008, we temporarily rented space from the Patriot Group, a political consulting firm whose clients lean conservative. The landlord-tenant arrangement came about because we had received generous start-up funding from the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance, who knew a partner at the Patriot Group and knew that he rented out space.
We decided, though, that the arrangement might give the appearance of a conflict, and we immediately took steps to find a new office. We moved to another suite in the same building about four months after our launch.

In the two years since then, we have broadened our donor base and have maintained complete editorial independence. Our offices today are in a midrise at Rusk and Main in downtown Houston.

Whether or not you buy that explanation probably has to do with what side of the political aisle you find yourself.

Fair enough, Mr. Seibert also goes on to outline Texas Watchdog stories that cast financial donors to the Patriot Group in a negative light. As I said earlier today if Texas Watchdog is engaging in some kind of political activism then they're doing it wrong.** That's not our beef here.

Our question is as follows: Which is more partisan?

1. An investigative news agency with a mission of open government and training citizen journalists whose start up funding was provided by a Nationally respected open-government organization?


Or...

2. An Internet news service whose editor once referred to Lt. Governor David Dewhurst as Texas' version of Snookie and whose founding grant was provided by one of the State's biggest Democratic donors?

You tell me?

To be clear, the editorial position of the HCA staff (OK, me) is that journalism with perspective is not a bad thing at all. As a matter of fact, I am willing in this case to consent to the argument that Texas Watchdog's reporting leans conservative. However, I reject the arguments that the Bill White Texas Tribune and MSM outlets such as ChronBlog (especially editorially) do NOT lean to the liberal side. For those still needing help: Ideological slant does not equate to partisanship.

Yet one of the above two outlets is facing a subpoena suggesting they are. Seemingly for no other reason than they are on the other "wrong" of the aisle***.












*Full disclosure time: I have spoken many times with Mr. Seibert and he has been known, on some occasions, to splurge for a drink (or three) at various blogger meet-ups. I've also spoken with him, from time to time, on blog posts that I've written. I've also spoken with other Texas Watchdog reporters as well as Craig Malisow of the Press. I like and respect all of them as good reporters.

**Not that we here at HCA would have any trouble imagining Texas Republicans doing it wrong. But TW's start-up funding came from the above mentioned National open-government organization.

***Hard to believe that there's a "side" to transparent government isn't there? Everyone claiming to love the First Amendment so much.

Fried Frito Pie

Oft times, in the midst of important political blogging read by two or three people, I find stories that put all of this electoral nonsense in the proper perspective.....


I give you Fried Frito Pie....also, fried beer.



God bless Texas.

Will the last Republican please turn out the lights....

...and take the kettle off the fire?

As much trouble as I give the Bill White Texas Tribune and the Texas Democratic Party (well deserved I might add) there are some issues on which we agree. Immigration being one (at least in part) and the divisive nature of the Tea Party being the other.

Today's Trib article by Morgan Smith on the potential long-term issues the GOP could have by adoption of Tea Party platform planks not related to size-of-government (which is one area where I tend to agree with the Tea Party in theory, if not in detail) is a good one.

I'm still waiting for the party that realizes the key to immigration is to increase the amount of legal immigrants while decreasing the amount of those crossing the border illegally. Drop all of the white noise about "preserving culture" and "basic rights" and what you really get down to is a pessimist's debate about voting and power.

Go read the article.

Eye on the ball....

Ready or not, here comes Voter ID....

Regardless of your stance on voter fraud (Does it occur? Yes, Is it pandemic? No) What should trouble you about this is the lack of interest by either party in regards to increasing the number of legal votes.

You would think that this would be what the issue is all about: Making sure that the largest percentage of legal voters make their way to the ballot box while ensuring that the smallest amount of illegal voters do the same. The answer to the former is engaged, transparent government that listens to constituents and the utilization of same-day voter registration using instant background check technology. The answer to the latter is....voter ID coupled with strong immigration reform.

There's an argument to be made that the last point is a federal matter, which is fine. It also makes all of this talk about voter ID ridiculous. Given that Texas is looking down the barrel of an eighteen Billion dollar budget hole it also seems ridiculous to threaten the entire Lege session on a, relatively minor, voting issue.

During this session the Texas Lege has real priorities, challenges that are going to require the Republicans prove they can govern and put aside partisan issues?

The track record is not promising.

I can see it now.....

At the naming meeting*...

State Sen. Patrick: "No, we HAVE to get independent in the name somewhere."

Staffer: "Uh, OK. How about "Independent Conservatives of America"?

SS. Patrick: "Er...no...we kind of need to say that we're Republicans. I owe a lot of political favors to those guys. Besides, you ever see Rick (Perry) get angry?"

Staffer: (stares incredulously) "So, you want to be independent, BUT Republican at the SAME TIME?"


SS. Patrick: "Exactly. I'm a maverick politician you know."


Staffer: "I don't think you've thought this one all the way through."


SS. Patrick: "Screw this, Get Paul (Bettencourt) on the Phone! He's used to convoluted explanations."












*Note: Naming meeting is a fictional event. Unbelievably, this group is real.

What they really want to do.....

...is bring an end to what has traditionally driven their economy.

To do this their going to go out and look for a problem.

(New season means new rules for Central Texas tubers, Jennifer R. Lloyd, San Antonio Express-News, 3/28/10)

On March 8, council members approved 18 rules regarding water-recreation shuttle services, including the ban on their use of pickups as shuttles. Though in Texas it is legal for people 18 and older to ride in the back of a pickup, New Braunfels Mayor Bruce Boyer said the change addresses a potential safety issue for some revelers.
“People are tired. People may have, perhaps, lost their inhibitions to some extent,” Boyer said of tubers exiting the river. “We haven't had a lot of incidents with regard to this, but it really only takes one severe incident ... for it to become a huge problem.”

Got that? It could potentially be a problem but hasn't been yet. Therefore the obvious answer is to put an expensive level of regulation on companies that have traditionally been boosting the hell out of our economy.


I just hope the 1.5 Million people that visit New Braunfels annually don't decide to move their tack to the out of state river that my friends and I visit every year. It's crowded enough.