Politics What is happening????

Our wonderful Texas governor Greg "I'm Not As Stupid As I Look And Sound" Abbott is trying to restart building the Border Wall.

He also signed seven, I think, firearms friendly bills into law. The really big one, commonly called Constitutional Carry (CC), pretty much lets anyone 21 and older carry a handgun openly or concealed without a license or any kind of training. I'm a firearms enthusiast and don't agree with CC, and every law enforcement agency in Texas is against CC. Playing to the gun nuts for campaign contributions and votes is playing with fire.

 

I don't like the longevity measurement as what counts. I was thinking about this yesterday how everyone should have a 0-100 health score, and the government/healthcare industry should be trying to get the highest score. Not just extend life, but actually find cures and vaccines. Prevent accidents and treat mental health & addiction a lot better too.

Then figuring out how to get the medical staff paid more, implement more automation and 24/7 facilities, and spread out to more locations is the next part.

 

Census released the 2020 detailed demographic census data today that will be used in redistricting for Congressional districts (as required by Constitution every ten years).

Here is a quick summary from the MSNBC "white board" guy...



More here (Axios article): Census reveals a more diverse, urbanized America

As noted in the video, all the population growth was in racial/ethnic minorities (primarily Hispanic and Asian) while White population declined by the largest percentage ever.

And from the above article, "Almost all of the country’s population growth occurred in large metro areas over the decade" as rural population declined.

More Republican states (TX +2, FL, NC, MT) picked up additional Congressional seats than Democrat states (CO, OR) and with Republicans controlling more state legislatures responsible for redistricting, they will have an advantage going into the 2022 congressional elections. Democrats may have an advantage with the larger metro area population growth over the decline in rural population.

What we can expect without doubt are lots of attempts at gerrymander by both parties as they redraw congressional districts.

And, lots of legal challenges from US DoJ, state political parties, advocacy groups, etc. over the next six months or more.

 

I can't remember how mixed race people were counted, but I have a feeling that some of that decline is due to the increase in that group. There is 4.8% unaccounted for in those numbers.

I am surprised that the black percentage isn't higher or growing.

Indians from India are considered Asian for this census. I think Middle Eastern immigrants were also considered being from Asia.

It will be interesting looking though the data, but I wish they would show the numbers differently somehow. Because this is going to freak out the white people around me who are 97% of the population still. And they vote as if the city is going to be over run by minorities in the next two decades...

 

The leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in the California recall election was very strongly suggesting voting fraud before any results were in and any projections were made.

Gee, Wally, I wonder where he learned that trick?

 

Looks like this is going to be SOP for the GOP from now on.

 

So the rally to show support for the
06 Jan 21 assholes
was a flop.

Part of me was hoping some extreme rightwing nut jobs would attempt something stupid, fail miserably,
and reap what they sowed.
But that would've created new problems, namely inspiring other extreme rightwing nutjobs to react.

 

I wonder how that will go over. I hope it does pass, but it needs to come with congressional reforms as well.

 

Our idiotic governor of Texas, Greg "Really, I'm Not Stupid" Abbott, responded to criticism that Texas' new restrictive (anti)abortion laws didn't make allowances for pregnancies resulting from rape. He says that won't be a problem because Texas is going to eliminate rape by aggressively prosecuting rapists.

The event where this profundity was revealed was so staged the minions started clapping while Abbott was struggling to finish the sentence.

At least two problems (at minimum):
Pursuing rapists means the rapes have already occurred.
Many women are raped by people they know, not randomly by a criminal.
Honorable third: If rape was so easy to eliminate, it would've already been eliminated.

 

Don't really have much to add to this but seriously... Fuck Greg Abbott and every lawmaker who voted for that horrible law.

 

It won't happen. The announcement was a staged event to defend the new (anti)abortion laws.

But....should some positive action actually be taken, I'll post a comment.

 

When will this stupid election fraud bullshit end?

Texas is now performing what amounts to a recount of votes in the 2020 Presidential Election in four counties. Trump demanded it. Gov. Abbott says it had already started. Officials in Harris County are saying this' news to us, show us the official legal paperwork.

BTW Trump won Texas.

 

Abortions in Texas can resume under a federal judge’s ruling late Wednesday, but for how long? A conservative federal appeals court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, might take a more skeptical look at the Biden administration’s lawsuit over Texas’ six-week abortion ban.

The state law prohibiting abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks, had been in effect for more than a month. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman temporarily blocked it, in a 113-page ruling that found the law violates a woman’s right to an abortion.

But the legal fight over the law at this point isn’t focused on abortion rights, but rather on who has the ability to mount a legal challenge to it and what a court can do.

Both the Supreme Court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously rejected pleas from abortion providers to keep the law from taking effect until courts could definitively rule on its constitutionality. It’s not clear how they will rule in the new case or when they might be expected to weigh in.


Texas judge says abortions can resume, but future uncertain