Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Roundup 131125

Off the Kuff calls on Wendy Davis to make an issue out of Rick Perry's refusal to follow the Defense Department's directive on same sex benefits for National Guard members.

Texpatriate has special news this week, as Sophia announced in her Week in Review video that founder and editorial board member Noah M. Horwitz will be moving to Austin this January to continue his collegiate studies at the University of Texas and lead a new and exciting chapter for Texpatriate in the state capital.

Eye On Williamson is still blogging at our temporary home. Here's an update on what's happening with local candidate news, and Democratic efforts in Williamson County.

In her final term as Houston mayor, Annise Parker has begun enacting a progressive agenda, much to the surprised delight of PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. Same-sex spousal benefits for municipal employees, a wage theft ordinance, and legislation reining in payday lenders all came to fruition in the past week, signaling measurable progress for the Bayou City.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that John Cornyn has a clear record of protecting rapists. Why? He also says stupid stuff about foreign policy.

Looking to move ahead to the rest of life, Neil at All People Have Value made a donation to Wendy Davis for Governor of Texas.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Concerned Citizens provides copies of all the documents in the lawsuit filed to overturn Texas' ban on same sex marriage.

TFN Insider celebrates a win for science education.

Mark Bennett debunks a claim about sex trafficking in Texas.

John Coby calls out the Young Conservatives of Texas for their racist "catch an illegal immigrant" game.

Better Texas Blog explains a pilot program to do something about student loan default in Texas.

The Texas Green Report brings word of the possible adoption of the International Energy Conservation code.

The Makeshift Academic applauds Houston's wage theft law.

BOR scoffs at Greg Abbott's claim that there were "no problems" with the voter ID law during this past election.

Yes To Texas makes us all feel old.

And finally, the TPA congratulates Juanita Jean on the birth of her first grandchild, and Lone Star Ma on the occasion of her daughter's first time casting a vote.

Nails it as always

TBogg:

I think A Very Special Cheney Family Thanksgiving Dinner should be broadcast on pay-per-view.

I know I’d pay to watch….

Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Roundup 131118

[Personal note: the article linked below at Grits For Breakfast about exonerations (spell checking doesn't like this word; tough) is something straight out of Kafka. Shudder. --Bill]

Off the Kuff looks at the numbers in the Astrodome referendum in Harris County to see what went wrong.

Horwitz at Texpatriate discusses and compares the (all Republican) candidates for Texas' two high courts.

Eye On Williamson is still blogging at our temporary home. There's much that is being lost in the hyperventilating over the mistake-riddled rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Part of which is EMTALA and our cruel health care system in Texas.

The Keystone XL pipeline is dead, writes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. Oh, it probably needs a stake through its heart to stay dead, but it isn't going to be a big deal for a very long time... and maybe forever.

Everyone is focused on the odious Ted Cruz while CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that John Cornyn is every bit as despicable. Cornyn is using the disgraced James O'Keefe to take away people's access to ACA help.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Grits for Breakfast informs us that "One out of Five Known Exonerations is for a Crime that Never Happened".

Texas Vox highlights construction problems with the Keystone XL southern segment.

The Makeshift Academic tracks Medicaid enrollment resulting from the Affordable Care Act.

The TSTA Blog wants to know why Greg Abbott is not making education a priority in his campaign.

Juanita Jean passes along the rumor that Tom DeLay wants to run for Congress again.

And finally, if you don't know who Justin Lookadoo is or why a bunch of Richardson High School students started calling him #Lookadouche on Twitter, then TFN Insider, Hair Balls, Forrest Wilder, TM Daily Post, Word of a Woman, BOR, and Nonsequiteuse explain what you missed.

Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Roundup 131111

The Texas Progressive Alliance honors the service of America's veterans as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff analyzed the favorable poll and the unfavorable poll that came out last week.

Texpatriate, while happy that Mayor Annise Parker was re-elected, laments nonetheless that Ben Hall ran one of the worst campaigns in history against her.

Eye On Williamson is still blogging at our temporary home. What kind of message to Democrats need to run on in the Lone Star State? Good question; here are some thoughts on a Democratic message in Texas.

Two polls released last week had good and bad news for Wendy Davis, but it was when President Obama came to Dallas that things got both better and worse for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs broke it down.

People are getting poorer and poorer, just as Republicans and their backers wanted. No one knows poverty more than Brownsville and McAllen. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme says "Lets vow to elect Democrats in 2014".

With such anemic turnout, the 2013 elections were mostly a success. But some issues did still arise, and Texas Leftist was able to share a thorough account of one. If mass confusion is a goal of the Texas voter ID law, then I'd say it's working very well.

With Veterans' Day here, Neil at All People Have Value offered a brief account of views regarding war held by the late Korean War veteran Tony Aquino.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Greg Wythe gives the unvarnished view of how the new voter ID law actually works in practice.

Grits for Breakfast calls for the implementation of the "Barney Fife Rule" in the McLennan County DA's office.

John Coby has some advice for future candidates.

Better Texas tells the rest of the story on those health insurance cancellations.
Juanita Jean is seeking help getting some non-binding referenda on the Democratic primary ballot.

And finally, this isn't a blog post, but a petition calling on Ted Cruz to give up his own federally subsidized health care plan, or work to support affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans.  It definitely deserves a place here.

Spoiler Alert

The newly published DSM-5 is a classic dystopian novel in this mold.

It's also not exactly a conventional novel. Its full title is an unwieldy mouthful: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. The author (or authors) writes under the ungainly nom de plume of The American Psychiatric Association....

If the novel has an overbearing literary influence, it's undoubtedly Jorge Luis Borges. The American Psychiatric Association takes his technique of lifting quotes from or writing faux-serious reviews for entirely imagined books and pushes it to the limit....

--Book of Lamentations, by Sam Kriss

(Found at the ever-enthralling wood s lot.)

Elephantsicles

On the Congressholes who cut food stamps:

When the first food riots happen, probably sometime around Thanksgiving, let's make sure that these brave Republicans are manning the barricades. Sure, they might end up eaten as meat by the end, but that's more good than they've done in Congress.

--The Rude Pundit

Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Roundup 131104

Off the Kuff gives an update on the 2014 Democratic lineup so far.

Horwitz & Sophia at Texpatriate published a featured article that examines Houston mayoral candidate Ben Hall's time as city attorney as well as his messy transition back into the private sector.

As the see-saw court battle over the Texas abortion restrictions law moved through the courts, both sides could claim victory in the past week. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs knows that -- besides having the SCOTUS rule in their favor sometime in 2015 -- the only way to guarantee women's reproductive freedom is for Democrats to turn out the 2014 vote.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at the prospect of la la fantasy man David Barton running against the rapist enabler John Cornyn.

Eye On Williamson, still blogging at their temporary home, has Greg Abbott thinking that the Lege will cede him more power. He's either ignorant or naive about how the Texas Legislature actually works, in Follow-up on Greg Abbott's "economic" plan.

Neil at All People Have Value said that Houston mayoral candidate Ben Hall is a lousy guy who does not support the freedom of all people.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Equality Texas guest poster Melanie Pang documents why she supports Wendy Davis.

PTA Mom Kim Burkett is equally effusive about Sen. Davis.

Better Texas Blog sets the record straight about pre- and post-ACA rates.

The Lunch Tray explored the ethics and dilemmas of Halloween candy.

Texas Watch calls on the Texas Department of Insurance to adopt some much-needed reforms for auto insurance.

TFN Insider has some good news about science textbooks in Texas, but warns that politics remains an obstacle.

BOR laments the millions of Texans that will be hurt by the cut to food stamps.

Blog con Queso celebrates Dia de Lost Muertos, and no, that's not a typo.