"An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy."
Mon, April 5, 2021, 3PM (CT). TOPICS: Voting info; Tax Day for individuals extended to May 17: Treasury, IRS extend filing and payment deadline; Pandemic leads to rise in anxiety, depression in Cy-Fair; Texas will receive record 2.5M COVID-19 vaccine doses [this] week; ‘No one gets left behind’: Harris County prioritizes COVID-19 vaccine access for vulnerable residents; Houston Real Estate Remains Insulated From February’s Arctic Blast; GOP congressional candidate in TX special election loses prominent supporters after racist comment about Chinese immigrants; Let’s get rid of Democratic appellate court justices; Biden administration working to develop a system for people to prove they’ve been vaccinated; Republican Sen. Roy Blunt calls on Biden to slash massive infrastructure plan to $615 billion; Parler explains ‘free speech’ to angry users after sharing Capitol riot posts with the FBI; Postal banking, alcohol delivery could save the USPS; The Historians Under Attack for Exploring Poland’s Role in the Holocaust; MORE. Guest: [AUDIO/VIDEO] #KPFTHouston 90.1FM
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, March 28. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13, 2020 and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
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For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:
An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.
You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend t become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)
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Next Election: May 01, 2021 – Uniform Election. Early Voting: April 19th – April 27th
If you are denied your right to vote any place at any timeat any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
Current utility bill
Bank statement
Government check
Paycheck
A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
By December, Mental Health America of Greater Houston reported 66% of Harris and Fort Bend county residents screened were battling loneliness or social isolation; 31% were dealing with financial problems; and another 24% were experiencing grief over loss. The organization offers free online screenings for youth and adults to gauge their mental health. …
Local counselors may have seen a rise in demand this past year, but many people still face barriers in accessing care. Mental Health America, a national nonprofit that promotes mental health, reported 20.1% of Texas adults with a mental illness are uninsured compared to the national average of 10.8%. …
Rice University’s COVID-19 Registry, an ongoing survey designed to gauge local effects of the pandemic with real-time data, reported 46% of Harris County residents are dealing with mild to severe anxiety. Vania Tomczak also noted significant increases in alcohol and substance use; eating disorders; and youth at risk for emotional, attentional or behavioral disorders.
Experts said healthy coping mechanisms—limiting news consumption, connecting with loved ones, exercising and meditating—can lessen anxiety. Unhealthy responses include withdrawing from others, being self-critical, showing aggression or anger, and using alcohol or drugs to cope. …
Texas will receive more than 2.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next week, a record number of doses state health officials said Friday. …
More than two-thirds of Texans 65 and older have received at least one dose, and nearly half are now fully vaccinated.
[M]ore than one-third of all Texans 16 and older have received a dose and nearly one in five are fully vaccinated.
As of this week, all Texans 16 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
This week, DSHS launched the Texas Public Health Vaccine Scheduler at dshs.texas.gov, which allows Texans to register for a vaccine appointment from a participating public health entity such as DSHS [Texas Department of State Health Services] and some local health departments.
More than 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed throughout Harris County as of March 25, County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced during a press conference March 25.
She commended Harris County Public Health for reaching a higher proportion of vulnerable individuals compared to overall vaccination rates by providers countywide, mentioning the importance of equitably vaccinating Black and Hispanic populations among other demographics who traditionally lack access to health care. …
Black and Hispanic residents encompass 17.5% and 31.1% of individuals who have had at least one dose from HCPH [Harris County Public Health], compared to 9.8% and 19.9% of those who have received vaccines countywide. However, nearly 12% of individuals vaccinated by all providers countywide did not have a known race, according to a report the county released March 25. …
But officials said the Black and Hispanic populations are still being vaccinated by HCPH at a disproportionately low rate when compared to the county’s population …
County initiatives to increase vaccine access for marginalized populations include bringing vaccines to the ZIP codes hit hardest by COVID-19, offering transportation to appointments for those who need it, visiting homeless shelters and nursing homes to register residents, and setting up a vaccine hotline at 832-927-8787 for individuals without the capabilities to register online. …
Despite the freak winter storm, sales climbed for a ninth straight month and pricing set a new record
HOUSTON — (March 10, 2021) — The deadly and disruptive winter storm that left many Houston-area homes without power and water even after mild temperatures returned did little to chill local real estate in February. While the freak weather event delayed some closings due to plumbing-related repairs and property damage, sales of single-family homes rose for a ninth straight month. The increase was also achieved despite an ever-shrinking supply of homes and the first uptick in mortgage rates since last summer – all with the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Market Update, 6,049 single-family homes sold in February compared to 5,979 a year earlier. That translates to a 1.2 percent increase. Once again, luxury housing was the top-performing segment among homebuyers.
Homes priced at $750,000 and above surged 64.9 percent compared versus February 2020. That was followed by the $500,000 to $750,000 housing segment, which jumped 55.3 percent year-over-year. Pricing reached historic highs, with the single-family home average price rising 16.2 percent to $349,963 and the median price increasing 12.6 percent to $275,900.
Sales of all property types totaled 7,464 – up 1.9 percent from February 2020. Total dollar volume for the month rose 17.3 percent to $2.4 billion.
“The Houston housing market showed resiliency again last month, coming through strong despite the brutal winter storm that caused widespread power outages, property damage and briefly held up transactions and showings,” said HAR Chairman Richard Miranda with Keller Williams Platinum. “As we head into spring, we urgently need more listings to enter the marketplace or we risk having extremely limited inventory for consumers that want to buy a home now, especially with the prospect of rising mortgage interest rates.”
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose above 3 percent for the first time in seven months last week. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.02 percent. It was 2.97 percent a week earlier and 3.29 percent a year earlier. The last time it was above 3 percent was in July of 2020.
Lease Property Update
Consumers showed more interest in homes for sale than in lease properties in February. Leases of single-family homes fell 26.1 percent year-over-year while leases of townhomes and condominiums dropped 15.7 percent. The average rent for single-family homes increased 8.7 percent to $1,924 while the average rent for townhomes and condominiums increased 1.9 percent to $1,637.
Last year, Houston buyers closed on a record 96,151 single-family homes, a 10.5% year-over-year increase and the largest one-year sales volume of all time, the Houston Association of Realtors [HAR] reported. The previous sales record was set in 2019, when 86,996 single-family homes were sold. …
Both the average and the median sales price for a single-family home increased about 6 percent year over year — The average was $324,069, and the median was $260,000. …
[M]arket supply did not keep pace with demand. Single-family inventory in December 2020 narrowed to a record-low 1.9-month supply, down from a 3.2 month supply in December 2019. Inventory estimates the number of months it would take to sell all active home listings based on the prior 12 months sales activity. Comparatively, the nation’s overall housing inventory currently stands at a 2.3-months supply, according to the latest National Association of Realtors report.
“When the coronavirus pandemic struck, we expected real estate business to hit a brick wall and never fathomed the possibility of 2020 becoming a record year for the Houston market,” said HAR Chairman Richard Miranda with Keller Williams Platinum. “HAR worked closely with elected officials to secure the ‘essential service designation for real estate, which cleared the way for our hard-working Realtor members to help consumers find the homes they needed.
IMHO, MIKE: For those who qualified, the record low mortgage interest rates probably helped drive the market. A very low interest rate allows buyers to go higher on prices while keeping the monthly payment within reach.
Housing supply will likely remain tight for the remainder of the year due to pent-up demand, low housing starts, and price hikes and shortages of construction materials.
… Sery Kim, a Korean American [is running for TX-06, the seat held U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, who died of Covid. Kim] served in the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump. [Her comments] prompted California U.S. Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel to rescind their endorsements of her on Friday. Kim and Steel are the first Korean American GOP women to serve in Congress. …
The candidate has been unapologetic, however, arguing that she was speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party and blaming the “liberal media” for the uproar.
“I don’t want them here at all,” Kim said of potential Chinese immigrants. “They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don’t hold themselves accountable.”
“And quite frankly, I can say that because I’m Korean,” she added. …
Asked for a comment on the loss of the endorsements, Kim provided a one-sentence statement: “I am shocked that in an effort to counter Asian-American hate the liberal media is targeting me, an Asian and an immigrant, in an effort to paint me as anti-Asian and anti-immigrant just for speaking against the oppressive Chinese Communist Party.”
If that’s the Legislature’s goal, then this would be an effective way of accomplishing it:
FROM COM: A Texas Senate committee [heard] public comment Thursday on a controversial proposal to consolidate the state’s 14 intermediate appellate courts into just seven, a move opponents have criticized as gerrymandering but that supporters say will make the courts more efficient and cure knotty court splits. …
[O]pponents of the consolidation plan say it is blatant gerrymandering, and the worst instance of it they’ve seen in the Texas judiciary.
Elsa Alcala, a former justice on the First Court of Appeals in Houston and Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals, took to Twitterto call out the plan, writing “This has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with electing Republicans to the bench.”
From KUFF: Katie Buehler, the reporter of the story linked above, attended the hearing and reported that Sen. Nathan Johnson said it would be a 5-2 split. Whatever the case, I guarantee you that someone with strong Republican credentials has already done such an analysis, and these districts are drawn in a maximally beneficial way for Republicans. What would even be the point from their perspective if that wasn’t the case?
You’ve read many bloviations from me over the years about why calls to change the way we select judges from the current system of partisan elections to something else were mostly a smokescreen to disguise complaints about the fact that Democrats were now winning many of those elections. It has never escaped my notice that we only began seeing those calls for change after the 2008 election, when Dems broke through in Harris County, and it moved to DefCon 1 following the 2018 election. If nothing else, I thank Sen. Joan Huffman for putting the lie to the idea that the motivating factor behind those calls for change was a fairer or more equitable or more merit-based system for picking judges, or that “taking politics out of the system” had anything to do with it. No, it is exactly what I thought it was from the beginning, a means to ensure that as many judges are Republican as possible. There may well be legitimate merits to rethinking the appellate court system in Texas – I’m not an appellate lawyer, I have no idea – but it’s crystal clear that this ain’t it. This is a full employment program for Republicans who want to be judges. That’s what we’ll get if this bill passes.
Multiple government agencies are engaged in conversations and planning, coordinated by the White House, as this kind of system will play a role in multiple aspects of life, including potentially the workforce, the official said. …
Some sectors … like the travel industry, have clamored for a uniform system to be developed as they seek a return to normalcy. Governments around the world may seek proof of vaccinations before foreigners can enter their borders again. …
CNN previously reported that several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. …
The executive order prevents any Florida government entity from issuing a vaccine passport to prove that a person has been vaccinated for COVID-19. The order also bans businesses in Florida from requiring customers to provide COVID-19 vaccine documentation to gain access or services.
The order says “requiring so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports for taking part in everyday life — such as attending a sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater — would create two classes of citizens based on vaccination.”
According to the governor’s order, vaccines are not mandated in Florida and an individual’s decision to get a vaccine is private health information. …
“There was never under discussion any mandates to take vaccines. We will not have COVID vaccines mandated in Florida,” DeSantis said Monday. “The flip side of that though with these vaccine passports is it’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society.”
The executive order prohibiting vaccine passports is temporary and would need to be extended.
DeSantis said he would also work with the Florida legislature to find a more permanent solution to restrict the use of vaccine passports. …
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri on Sunday urged the Biden administration to cut the $2 trillion infrastructure plan to roughly $615 billion and focus on rebuilding physical infrastructure.
Blunt is the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the Senate.
Biden has said that he wants bipartisan support for the plan, but Republicans have staunchly opposed any tax hikes, arguing they could hinder economic recovery.
Democrats would need to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill on their own unless the White House changes the proposal to satisfy Republicans. …
“I’m going to fight them every step of the way, because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” McConnell said at a news conference on Thursday. …
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday that she hopes the proposal passes with bipartisan support, but added that Biden is prepared to use reconciliation without Republicans. …
Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said on Sunday that Biden’s infrastructure plan is key to spurring job growth as the country recovers from the coronavirus
MIKE: It seems that whenever a spending plan is proposed by a Democratic administration, the Republicans want cut by about 2/3. Then they don’t vote for it. Under Obama and now Biden, the Republican stalking horse was Susan Collins. Now it’s Roy Blunt. What matters is that any bill the Democrats try to pass will get zero Republican support, so there’s no point in negotiating with them. It’s just the same song, different verse.
Parler tried to throw Facebook under the bus. Now the right wing social network’s users are angry.
Just as Congress was finishing up grilling the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter at a hearing on Thursday, Parler published its response to a separate Congressional inquiry into the company’s ties and finances.
In its letter, Parler accused the Big Tech companies of trying to scapegoat the right wing social network in order to avoid accountability for their own roles in what transpired on Jan. 6 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building. Parler also called for an investigation into collusion between the Big Tech companies and alleged anticompetitive practices.
One major point Parler focuses on its letter is that the company “referred violent content and incitement from Parler’s platform over 50 times before January 6th” as well as “specific threads of violence” relating to events being planned at the Capitol on Jan. 6. …
[Commented one user on Parler’s own post about the letter to it’s Parler profile page:] “So you are snitches over nothing but democrat conspired bs???”
… Parler found itself unironically explaining the First Amendment to its user base filled with members who declare themselves to be “Constitutionalists” and “Free Speech” advocates.
“Some users have raised questions about the practice of referring violent or inciting content to law enforcement,” begins Parler’s latest statement. “The First Amendment does not protect violence inciting speech, nor the planning of violent acts. Such content violates Parler’s TOS. Any violent content shared with law enforcement was posted publicly and brought to our attention primarily via user reporting. And, as it is posted publicly, it can properly be referred to law enforcement by anyone. Parler remains steadfast in protecting your right to free speech.”
Of course, this type of speech that Parler says violates its rules is the same type of speech that social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube say violates their rules. The whole appeal of Parler to its conservative userbase is that the platform supposedly differs from the others on that. …
[Replied one user:] “I want some damned response to the farce that we called an election,” “Sometimes, violence IS the answer.”
MIKE: DISCUSS
Postal banking, alcohol delivery could save the U.S. Postal Service, experts say – “Postal banking is an elegant solution that would provide the USPS upwards of $9 billion a year in revenue and would address the high cost of being poor in America,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said. By Mary Pflum | NBCNEWS.COM | March 27, 2021, 5:01 AM CDT
But missing from his new 10-year plan were two ideas economists, members of Congress and consumer advocates say could generate billions of dollars for the beleaguered service and bring the post office into the 21st century: a return to postal banking and the post office’s entry into the lucrative alcohol delivery business. …
[Said Rakim Brooks, senior campaign strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union] Postal banking … is among the new services the post office of the 21st century could — and should — provide. It would include basic banking services, including check cashing, providing low- or no-fee checking accounts, installing low-fee ATM machines, and providing wire transfer and bill payment services.
“Postal banking is a win-win solution: It can help the post office’s bottom line and serve millions of Americans that are currently underbanked and unbanked,” Brooks said, referring to the more than 30 million Americans who do not have sufficient access to mainstream financial services or who have no bank accounts at all, often because of the fees associated with traditional commercial banking.
Postal banking is not a new concept. Banking was part of the menu of services the post office offered for decades, beginning in 1910 when Congress established the Postal Savings System to encourage people to put their money in financial services. By 1947, the postal banking system had $3.4 billion in deposits. But in the 1960s, interest in the program waned when commercial banks started offering higher interest rates, and in 1967 postal banking was phased out.
Porter McConnell, who runs the Save the Post Office Coalition, says it’s now time for postal banking to make a comeback.
She points to a 2014 report from the Postal Service Office of the Inspector General that indicates postal banking could generate $9 billion in new revenue for the post office. …
FedEx and UPS are currently allowed to ship wine, beer and spirits, but because of Prohibition-era legislation, the Postal Service is not.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Postal Service could make an additional $50 million a year if it were to be able to ship alcohol. …
“[O]wners of microbreweries in particular are really hopeful that the post office might be able to start shipping their products in the near future.”
In a statement, the American Postal Workers Union said it supports the expansion of the agency’s services to include alcohol delivery. “Allowing the USPS to ship beer and wine is a common-sense step that allows customers better access to this growing trend … There’s no good reason why beer and wine couldn’t be included with other mail and packages.”
This is a struggle confronted by all nations and peoples: Dealing with their history honestly: The Historians Under Attack for Exploring Poland’s Role in the Holocaust – To exonerate the nation of the murders of three million Jews, the Polish government will go as far as to prosecute scholars for defamation. By Masha Gessen | NEWYORKER.COM | March 26, 2021
Two Polish historians of the Holocaust, Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking, are fighting a court ruling that pronounced them guilty of defaming a long-deceased Polish village official. Grabowski and Engelking are the editors of “Dalej Jest Noc. Losy Żydów w Wybranych Powiatach Okupowanej Polski” (“Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland”). It was published in 2018, to significant academic acclaim and surprisingly brisk sales for a two-volume, seventeen-hundred-page scholarly title. One chapter, written by Engelking, mentioned Edward Malinowski, the prewar mayor of a small village called Malinowo. According to testimony uncovered by Engelking, Malinowski led the Nazis to Jews who were hiding in the forest outside the village; twenty-two people were killed. Last month, a Warsaw district court found that this passage of “Night Without End” defamed Malinowski, and ordered Grabowski and Engelking to apologize in print. Grabowski and Engelking have appealed the ruling.
The two historians’ legal troubles stem from the Polish government’s ongoing effort to exonerate Poland—both ethnic Poles and the Polish state—of the deaths of three million Jews in Poland during the Nazi occupation. When facts get in the way of this revisionist effort, historians pay the price. In 2016, Polish authorities charged the Polish-American historian Jan Tomasz Gross, author of the groundbreaking book “Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland,” with insulting the Polish people, for his observation that Poles killed more Jews than Germans during the Second World War. The case dragged on for three years, with Gross subjected to hours of police interrogations; the government also threatened to strip Gross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, a state honor he had received in 1996. (The state dropped the charges after Gross retired from his job at Princeton.) Over 2019 and 2020, Dariusz Stola, the head of Warsaw’s acclaimed museum of Polish Jewry, found himself slowly squeezed out of his job, again by the Polish government.
MIKE: DISCUSS HOW THIS RELATES TO THE U.S.AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
By December, Mental Health America of Greater Houston reported 66% of Harris and Fort Bend county residents screened were battling loneliness or social isolation; 31% were dealing with financial problems; and another 24% were experiencing grief over loss. The organization offers free online screenings for youth and adults to gauge their mental health. …
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig 