AUDIO:
  

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Your Voice Your Vote: All you need to know for runoff elections in Houston; Missouri City unveils renovated animal shelter; Harris County officials review detention officer pay, retention rates, overcrowded jails; Conservative PragerU video questioning climate change shown in dozens of Houston ISD classes; Texas secessionists feel more emboldened than ever; Supreme Court Announces Ethics Code for Justices; An Optimistic Inflation Report Reduces Pressure on the Fed to Raise Rates; US Military Says National Security Depends on ‘Forever Chemicals’; More.

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. My co-host, assistant producer and show editor is Andrew Ferguson.

Please take a moment to choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) or Thursdays at 6PM on KPFT 90.1 FM-HD2, Houston’s Community Media. You can also hear the show:

1. Live online at KPFT.org (from anywhere in the world!)
2. Podcast on your phone’s Podcast App
3. Visiting Archive.KPFT.ORG

Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

1. Your Voice Your Vote: All you need to know for runoff elections in Houston; By Mayra Moreno | ABC13.COM | Friday, November 10, 2023 5:56PM
   5. Early voting for the runoff will be Monday, Nov. 27 through Dec. 5. Runoff voting day is Saturday, Dec. 9.
   6. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. except on Sundays, when they’ll be open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
   7. Take note that sample ballots for the runoff will not be available until Nov. 22, and as a reminder, even if you didn’t vote on Nov. 7, you can still vote in the runoff.
   8. The last day [for the County Clerk to] receive a ballot by-mail application is Nov. 28. [MIKE: But imho, that’s cutting it WAY too close. Apply ASAP if you are entitled to one.]
   9. You can visit com to find your nearest polling location, sample ballot, and more.
   10. MIKE: FYI, if you weren’t registered to vote for the election, there is not enough time to register for this runoff. According to Harris Votes, “…You may easily confirm your voter registration status by searching for it on our websiteor the Texas Secretary of State’s website. If you are currently living in Harris County but are registered to vote in another county, you must be registered to vote in Harris County at least 30 days prior to Election Day in order to vote in Harris County.”
   11. MIKE: But again, if you were registered to vote in the Nov. 7 election but did not, you can STILL vote in the runoffs.
   12. MIKE: ALSO — If you were eligible to vote by mail-in ballot for the general but did not get a mail-in ballot, there is still BARELY time to apply for one for the runoff elections. Be aware that if you fill it out online before printing it, the phone number field only has room for 7 characters. So you may want to leave that field bland, print the form, fill in your phone number by hand, then sign it and mail it according to the instructions. It’s a self-addressed mailer, but you need to fold it and seal it.
   13. ANDREW: And this seems like a great time to mention that runoffs tend to have lower turnout than general elections, so if you can vote in the runoff, please do. Also consider checking out RCV for Texas, who advocate for adopting ranked-choice voting to make these runoffs unnecessary.
   14. MIKE: And I now have some election statistics.
   15. MIKE: According to an article in ORG, “… the electorate has grown in and around Houston, to about 2.6 million registered voters countywide, [but] participation in city politics has not necessarily followed suit.”
   16. MIKE: According to HarrisVotes.com, a total of 451,203 were counted. That translates into a Harris County voter turnout of about 17.4%. It’s estimated that the runoffs will end up turning out only about 10%. And unfortunately, that’s considered fairly respectable for what is technically an off-off year election.
   17. MIKE: In the same HPM article, it is noted that, “While the median age in Houston is a shade older than 34, according to the latest U.S. Census data, [Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University said that] 65-and-older voters accounted for nearly 54 percent of the early votes cast in the county, with the 70-and-older set accounting for about 40 percent. That could be because some of the statewide propositions on the ballot pertain to property taxes and older residents are more likely to be property owners, according to Stein.
   18. ANDREW: I think there’s a national crisis of disengagement with electoral politics right now, and I think there are a lot of reasons for it. But I think the primary reason, at all levels, is that people don’t feel like their votes matter.
   19. ANDREW: The Democrats and Republicans, both ultimately being dedicated to capitalism and their own political power, have the same core policy goals. This means that any differences between their reigns are less about lasting improvements and more about short-term distractions. This is what’s driving voter apathy: the two major parties are taking us in the same fundamental direction.
   20. ANDREW: The far-right is only seeing success because it’s promising change. Their change would worsen the exploitation of working people and openly eliminate all political challengers, but it would be change. That, plus blatant prejudice, is enough to build a base and win elections. The status quo, being fundamentally opposed to change, can’t offer a compelling response to any movement promising it. The far-right can only be stopped by a challenger that’s dedicated to the opposite change: making elections competitive, making life more livable for workers, and disproving the idea that exploitation is necessary for survival. Unfortunately, all parties pushing for this change are hindered by lopsided election law written by the two major parties to keep themselves in power.
   21. ANDREW: If we want to galvanize the electorate and stop the rise of the far-right, we need to give left-wing opposition the chance to win elections and reach the public. Reforms anywhere, like ranked choice voting, would give these third parties that chance, which they can build on when they start winning. This would change the status quo, and that may scare some people. But I believe if we don’t make the right changes now, the far-right will make the wrong changes soon.
   22. REFERENCE: Houston early voting turnout suggests disengagement from 2023 mayoral race; While early voting numbers in Harris County were far from robust, according to two local political science professors, both said there could be a relative uptick on Tuesday, which is Election Day. By Adam Zuvanich | ORG | | Posted on November 6, 2023, 4:06 PM (Last Updated: November 6, 2023, 4:36 PM)
2. Missouri City unveils renovated animal shelter; By Shaheryar Khan | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 4:03 PM Nov 20, 2023 CST, Updated 4:03 PM Nov 20, 2023 CST
   1. The Animal Services Division at Missouri City unveiled the renovated animal shelter Nov. 16 at 1923 Scanlin Road, according to a Nov. 17 news release from the city.
   2. The Animal Services Division is responsible for caring for animals, facilitating adoptions, enforcing animal welfare laws and educating the public about responsible pet ownership, according to city officials.
   3. The $210,224 renovations to the shelter, according to the release, included both interior and exterior enhancements, such as:
      1. Fresh paint of the interior and front of the building
      2. New lobby furniture
      3. New laundry facility
      4. Soundproof walls
      5. New storage space
      6. Installation of double gates
   4. [Missouri City Mayor Robin L. Elackatt said in a press release,] “Since I can remember, the Missouri City council members have been supporting this cause. I want to recognize the staff and the volunteers.”
   5. MIKE: I want to note that while I applaud Missouri City for doing this renovation, it’s focused almost exclusively on the humans working in and visiting the facility. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. Humans care for the animals in the facility; they foster the animals; they adopt the animals.
   6. MIKE: But I assume — and this is a pure assumption, as I have not visited this facility or seen the animal conditions there — I assume that the kennel area may also need some renovation, since things tend to age at the same rate, more or less. Perhaps the reporter could have extended themselves a bit and visited the animal detention area and check the condition there to see if they are also ready for some renovation. That might have made a nice supplement to the story which right now reads entirely as a Missouri City PR piece.
   7. ANDREW: I agree. I don’t know what the situation in Missouri City is like, but I know that Houston’s BARC animal shelter is frequently at full capacity, and the entire animal services department is shockingly underfunded compared to other Texas cities. Another place for police funding to be redirected to, perhaps. But my point is that if the major city in the metro area could do with more shelter space and staff, Missouri City should consider the same for its own shelters. Perhaps they could even take some of the pressure off of Houston.
   8. MIKE: And speaking of cages …
3. Harris County officials review detention officer pay, retention rates, overcrowded jails; By Melissa Enaje | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:28 PM Nov 20, 2023 CST, Updated 5:28 PM Nov 20, 2023 CST
   1. Another round of ongoing discussions about major investments surrounding Harris County’s justice and safety-related departments took place at a November Commissioner’s Court meeting, including the decision to approve an $11.3 million contract that would outsource a number of county inmates to a private correctional facility in Mississippi.
   2. Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia suggested … a study that would analyze the inmate release process, particularly when it comes to how long someone has to be in jail before a trial is set. He said the numbers of that pretrial population are huge and haven’t changed for more than 10 years.
   3. [Garcia said,] “I just don’t understand what is the driver of that lack of change. With everything that we’ve done, I just don’t understand why we still have a 75% pretrial status. That’s people that are in jail but haven’t been determined guilty or innocent, one way or another.”
   4. Newly appointed Harris County Administrator Diana Ramirez led the county’s November presentation to address what they called the challenges within the jail. Ramirez introduced the department’s monthly initiative that will provide monthly updates, analyses, data and staff-level actions that will take [place] at every Commissioner’s Court meeting.
   5. Ramirez said county officials will need to get more sophisticated in how they handle and look at data in order to structure programs that really work.
   6. [Ramirez said,] “It’s so nuanced about why people are there and what’s happening to them that you have to get down into the weeds on this to really understand what’s happening, and I don’t think we’ve done that … yet.”
   7. As Harris County jail complexes are pushed to their population limits, including the proportion of inmates that are high-risk, county officials looked to hiring and retaining additional jail staff. Overtime for jail staff accounted for 16% of the overall labor budget for the county’s sheriff department, according to county budget documents. Commissioners approved increasing detention officer pay and launched an incentive program that offered an additional $1,000 in October.
   8. What county staff found was that the increase in salary pay and incentives has yet to prove effective. The turnover rates, they found, for detention officers was between 1.5-2.5 years. …
   9. Harris County’s inmate population, both men and women, are currently housed throughout eight detention centers in Texas and Louisiana, not including the number of inmates who will be transferred to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, a prison located 500 miles from Houston.
   10. November jail population numbers, according to the county’s dashboard, have reached more than 9,300 people, with 89% being male and 11% being women, both populations from predominantly people of color.
   11. Compared to the third quarter of 2022 where the average daily population rose above 10,000 people for the first time since 2011, November numbers suggest that the population has decreased since then.
   12. Yet, based on the county administration’s presentation, all eight detention centers in both Texas and Louisiana have jail populations that are at least 88%-100% at capacity.
   13. Harris County was cited as one of the 16 Texas counties that violates state safety standards and was found not compliant with minimum jail standards, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. [Substantial] County resources … continue to be invested toward jail-related costs. According to Harris County’s budget department documents, approved funding has gone toward initiatives such as:
       1. $20 million in supplemental funding to restore staffing levels
       2. $48 million toward outsourcing inmates
       3. $5.1 million to provide body-worn cameras to detention staff
       4. $7.8 million in jail medical costs
       5. $18.7 million in facility maintenance
       6. $10.4 million in utility costs
   14. The county’s administration department told commissioners [on] Nov. 14 that while staff is committed to working closely with the sheriff’s office and other criminal justice stakeholders in order to address all the issues, one caveat is that they have [not yet determined] how long it will take for the most difficult challenges to see positive outcomes.
   15. The Administration Department will update commissioners in January regarding the detention officer survey results, where officers were asked about their pay scale and job satisfaction rates.
   16. MIKE: “[N]ot compliant with minimum jail standards, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards”?? This, is in a Southern State where the Texas Department of Corrections [TDC] considers heat and air conditioning to be an optional luxury for most inmates? Where prisons get so hot in summer that on some days, even fans — for inmates that have them — are just circulating air that’s already over 100^oF? At which point, by the way, there is no longer any effective cooling for the human body?
   17. MIKE: It seems to me that, knowing Texas as I do, being out of Texas Jail Standards compliance must almost by definition mean that inmates are in inhuman and inhumane conditions. As must, by the way, be TDC employees!
   18. MIKE: As Andrew and I discussed last week, this problem could not have developed overnight. It must be years in the making, but that only adds to the urgency of: 1- Finding ways to drastically improve physical conditions; 2- Examine bailment rules to ease overcrowding; and 3- As County jail populations are decreased, bring more jailed inmates back to Harris county for better access by relatives and lawyers.
   19. ANDREW: Absolutely. For more context, listeners should head to the blog post for last week’s show at com.
4. Conservative PragerU video questioning climate change shown in dozens of Houston ISD classes; by Asher Lehrer-Small / Staff writer | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | November 21, 2023
   1. 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 climate change from PragerU, a Florida nonprofit criticized for pushing biased, conservative viewpoints.
   2. Meant to help students discern fact from opinion, the seven-minute clip encouraged viewers to “do your own research,” citing examples that push back on the idea that humans have caused climate change.
   3. PragerU, the video’s creator, describes itself as “the world’s leading conservative nonprofit that is focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.” It has published content on the supposed dangers of gender-affirming care and how slavery may have benefitted Black people. Despite the name, it is not a university.
   4. The video was included in PowerPoint slides created by HISD for a course called the “Art of Thinking,” a feature of Superintendent Mike Miles’ new program for 85 schools. The lesson plans, obtained by the Houston Landing, means the video likely reached students at the 73 overhauled elementary and middle schools.
   5. HISD will discontinue the use of PragerU content going forward, Chief Communication Officer Leila Walsh said Tuesday in response to questions from the Landing. The district had included the video with the intent of helping students assess the reliability of information and recognize hidden biases, using examples they may encounter in the real world, she said.
   6. “The lesson was designed to help students think critically about the accuracy and subjectivity of information. After speaking with the curriculum team, they have decided to no longer use PragerU video content,” Walsh wrote in an email.
   7. Parents from Pugh and Wainwright elementary schools confirmed their fifth-graders had been shown the PragerU video in class on Friday. Three teachers also supplied the district-created lesson plans to the Landing. The parents said they were disturbed by the content, but said it was the first time they were aware of a video from the conservative nonprofit appearing in a lesson. 
   8. “In a way, they’re already subliminally telling our kids to totally dismiss the whole global warming thing,” said Jessica Campos, whose daughter attends Pugh.
   9. The video includes many short skits meant to help students understand objective thinking, several of which take aim at climate change. One example points out that temperature fluctuations occurred prior to industrialization, and another implies climate change believers think the world will end in 12 years.
   10. “Some of it was legit and some of it seemed weird or out of place and it was all rather fixated on beating down the idea of climate change,” said Texas State Climatologist and Texas A&M Professor John Nielsen-Gammon, who reviewed the video at the request of the Landing. He said humans definitely are causing changes to the earth’s climate and the world definitely will not end in 12 years.
   11. University of Texas at Austin College of Education Professor David DeMatthews added that, to him, it was a red flag that HISD would include any content from PragerU in a lesson.
   12. “A lot of the material that (PragerU) provides is highly controversial, highly biased and is not really aligned with historical, or even, at times, scientific consensus around particular issues,” DeMatthews said.
   13. Founded in 2009 by Dennis Prager, a conservative talk show host, PragerU is not an accredited university and its videos have come under fire for downplaying the atrocities of American slavery and likening environmentalists to Nazis. From 2018 to 2022, the nonprofit received roughly $200 million in contributions, largely from wealthy right-wing donors, according to an analysis of tax records published by the Guardian.
   14. PragerU did not respond to requests for comment.
   15. The nonprofit made headlines in August when it made a misleading announcement, alongside a Houston-area State Board of Education member, that its materials would be adopted across Texas. However, the resources have not been approved by the Texas Education Agency or State Board of Education, TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky wrote in an email.
   16. That does not mean HISD’s use of the group’s video contradicted state guidance. Districts have broad discretion to shape their curriculum and there is no list of prohibited materials or vendors, with one exception for a debunked style of early reading materials, Kobersky said.
   17. Though the TEA does not track whether PragerU is being used in Texas classrooms, HISD’s case was the first anecdotal account the agency said it had heard of a district using the group’s content in lessons.
   18. MIKE: I know that there have been psychological studies of the differences between the minds of Liberals versus the minds of Conservatives, but this brings up a whole new question in my
   19. MIKE: Why do Conservatives feel such a frequent and compelling need to lie about stuff? Conservative news lies to their viewers and listeners. Conservative politicians lie to their bases and constituents. Conservatives try to bring lies into the educational process. Conservatives often lie about stuff that is easily verified as lies.
   20. MIKE: How much of this stuff do the purveyors of these lies actually believe? Or do these liars cynically tell and teach these lies for some bizarre and nefarious goals that objective and intellectually honest observers can barely imagine?
   21. MIKE: “We distort, you decide” used to be my takeoff on the old Fox slogan. Now, I think that phrase might as well apply to the whole Conservative movement.
   22. MIKE: It’s vital that society at large reject this Conservative disinformation project and arm Americans with truth and facts, because at the end of the day, “An educated electorate IS a prerequisite for a democracy.”
   23. ANDREW: I think some of the lies are things they genuinely believe, and some are lies of opportunity. I think the same can be said for most people, because after all, everybody lies sometimes. But the right certainly lies more often than the left, or even the center.
   24. ANDREW: Really, the lies aren’t the threat in PragerU. The threat is the lengths they go to to appear legitimate, and the success they have. Stories like these keep popping up because individual educators and policymakers who already lean right or far-right are able to rely on the presentation of the content and the obscurity of the PragerU brand to slip it past supervisors and regulators, right into lesson plans. 
   25. ANDREW: In many states where this content is showing up, conservative governments are slashing education budgets, which undoubtedly makes it difficult for those supervisors and regulators to take the proper time to review the videos before allowing them onto the whiteboard. The best way to fight it that I can see is to give schools the funding they need so the people keeping lessons honest can do their jobs.
5. Texas secessionists feel more emboldened than ever; At a recent conference that featured a sitting state senator, so-called “TEXIT” supporters celebrated their movement’s incremental gains. By Robert Downen | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Nov. 15, 2023@ 5 AM Central. TAGS: Politics State government Donald Huffines Kyle Biedermann
   1. Standing in front of a massive state flag on Saturday, Claver Kamau-Imani outlined his utopian vision of a Nation of Texas that he believes is just on the horizon.
   2. No taxes or Faucis, no speed zones or toll roads. No liberals, no gun laws. No windmills, no poor people. A separate currency, stock market and gold depository. “Complete control of our own immigration policy.” World-class college football, a farewell to regulators. And unthinkable, unimaginable wealth.
   3. “We are going to be so rich,” he chanted. “We’re gonna be rich. We are gonna be rich. We. Are. Going. To Be. Rich! … As soon as we declare independence, we’re going to be wealthy. I personally believe that our personal GDP will double in five to seven years.”
   4. “The independence of Texas is good for humanity as a whole,” he added to cheers.
   5. Kamau-Imani, a Houston-based preacher, was among 100 or so people who spent the weekend at the Waco Convention Center for the first conference of the Texas Nationalist Movement, which since 2005 has advocated for the Lone Star State to break away from the United States — a “TEXIT,” as they call it.
   6. Supporters of the movement said they are more energized and optimistic than ever about the prospect of an independent Texas, and pointed to appearances or support from current and former lawmakers — including state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, who spoke at the event — as evidence that their movement is far from fringe. The get-together also came as TEXIT supporters celebrated what they believe is crucial momentum: Days before the meeting, the Texas Nationalist Movement announced that it was more than halfway to the roughly 100,000 signatures needed to put a non-binding secession referendum on the Texas Republican primary ballot.
   7. Though they might not cross that threshold by the Dec. 1 deadline, TEXIT supporters nonetheless hailed it as a clear sign of progress. …
   8. In 2005, Daniel Miller, a Nederland-based tech consultant and sixth-generation Texan, created the Texas Nationalist Movement, aiming to advance the secessionist cause through more peaceful means. Since then, he has been the face of the movement …
   9. For years, experts have thrown cold water on Miller’s movement, saying that secession is patently illegal and unconstitutional, and would be economically catastrophic for the United States and Texas alike. …
   10. Walter Buenger, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin and chief historian at the Texas State Historical Association, said the movement’s modern supporters have sanitized Texas’ brief, nine-year stint as an independent nation from 1836 until 1845, which came after it was initially denied entry to the United States because of its support for slavery. …
   11. The movement, however, continues to gain traction amid growing political polarization and distrust in American institutions. The Texas Nationalist Movement’s Facebook page currently has 210,000 followers, and a long list of Texas GOP figures have either endorsed the movement or flirted with its ideas. …
   12. Other Republicans have been critical of the movement, however. After former Royse City Rep. Bryan Slaton, who was expelled from office in May, filed a bill this year to put a secession referendum to voters, Plano Rep. Jeff Leach called the bill “the very definition of hypocritical and seditious treason.” The bill had no traction in the House. But a TEXIT supporter, Morgan McComb, later sued Leach for defamation over the comments. The suit was dismissed in August and, last week, Leach requested in a motion that McComb cover $90,000 in attorneys fees. …
   13. Beyond grievances about federal overreach and corporate welfare, though, few attendees offered concrete details on what a new Texas nation would look like, or how it would operate or confront the many intractable economic, cultural or political problems that could follow. The prevailing wisdom was straightforward: Unencumbered by regulations and federal mandates, Texas’ massive economy — particularly its oil and gas sectors – would thrust the state into a utopian state of prosperity, peace and stability.
   14. Experts say it’s a much easier sell in theory than in practice. Roughly one-third of Texas’ annual budget is supported by federal funds, according to the budget and policy nonprofit Every Texan. And, upon breaking from the United States, experts note that Texas would immediately have to supplement key programs like social security. …
   15. At a Veteran’s Day parade that snaked past the TEXIT convention on Saturday, Miller’s fellow Texans were less convinced. While some said they supported the idea in practice – “because America has become a crapfest,” as one man put it — others said they feared the unintended consequences of such a move. Many of those in opposition were veterans who, despite their many disagreements with their neighbors and issues with the government more broadly, resolved to continue fighting for their country rather than simply leave it. …
   16. Others agreed.
   17. “I supported and defended the constitution,” said Miguel Valverge, a 50-year-old who served in numerous military conflicts, including during the Iraq war. “I was born in America. And I will die in America.”
   18. A block away, someone waved the Confederate flag as a truck blasting Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” rolled past.
   19. MIKE: That last sentence basically exemplifies the hypocrisy and magical thinking in movements like this. Pretending to be a US patriot while parading a flag of secessionist rebels that some call traitors to the USA.
   20. MIKE: “No taxes or Faucis, no speed zones or toll roads. No liberals, no gun laws. No windmills, no poor people. A separate currency, stock market and gold depository. … World-class college football, a farewell to regulators. And unthinkable, unimaginable wealth.”
   21. MIKE: They might as well throw in the tooth fairy. And I like the way that “world-class football” somehow justifies secession. He might as well make a Herbert Hooveresque promise like “two cars in every garage and two chickens in every pot”.
   22. MIKE: It makes the promises of Brexit look sane and reasonable by comparison, and spoiler alert: They weren’t.
   23. MIKE: As we’ve discussed in other US secessionist movements, a legal secession would require the state government to petition the Congress for it. Congress would then have to agree after painstaking negotiations wherein Texas would pay for federal infrastructure on Texas lands, plus military assets in Texas, and any other federal assets or property in Texas.
   24. MIKE: Based on real-world economics, Texas can’t even afford secession for free. It absolutely could not afford to buy it. Andrew?
   25. ANDREW: Honestly, I wonder if we should just go ahead and have a referendum so it can be soundly defeated. But that wouldn’t stop the secessionists from making noise, and there’s a slight risk we could end up with an upset like in the Texit movement’s namesake.
   26. ANDREW: I think the key part is “few attendees offered concrete details on what a new Texas nation would look like, or how it would operate”. If a secession movement did act, not only would there be a military response (judging by the last time this happened), but if that secession somehow succeeded, there would have to be martial law until an actual structure could be prepared. Personally, I don’t like the idea of a bunch of right-wing yahoos enforcing martial law, much less trying to form a government afterwards.
   27. ANDREW: However. Do I think Texas and other states could be independent nations one day? I think it’s possible. Capitalism is straining people to the breaking point. Global climate disaster gets closer every second. Plenty of people in this country are armed. A Balkanization of the US is not out of the cards. Whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you are, where you live, and what you want the future to be like. But I think it’s something worth giving thought to, if only to plan where you might flee to if it happens.
   28. REFERENCE: List of active separatist movements in North America — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   29. REFERENCE: List of active separatist movements in the United States of America — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (MIKE: Depending on how you count, there may be dozens.)
6. Supreme Court Announces Ethics Code for Justices; The decision comes after revelations about undisclosed property deals and gifts have intensified pressure on the court to adopt such a code. By Abbie VanSickle and Adam Liptak, Reporting from Washington | NYTIMES.COM | Nov. 13, 2023 & Updated 3:11 p.m. ET
   1. MIKE: This may sound like old news, so I’m not going to read the story associated with this headline, because it’s been heavily covered, but one of the pivot points of discussion has been the use of the word “should” in the ethics guidelines instead of the word “shall” in many instances.
   2. MIKE: IMHO (and that of others), “should” is a wiggle-word that has no real power. And the guidelines seem careful to avoid spousal work as creating potential conflicts of interest.
   3. MIKE: It seems like the only thing the Court has accomplished with these ethics rules is the creation of them. Sadly, that’s considered an achievement. Now, the battle will be to refine what should be thought of as no more than a “first draft” of Supreme Court ethics rules, and Congress may have to pass legislation to create some “Shall” wording and some teeth to enforce it.
   4. MIKE: I would also like to mention how important these rules might have been in the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore.
   5. MIKE: Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife worked for the Heritage Foundation, which would have helped to staff up government posts if George W. Bush won the presidency. Antonin Scalia was a friend and hunting partner of Dick Cheney.
   6. MIKE: Ginny Thomas was discussed in this context in a NY Times article (referenced below). Scalia’s potential conflicts of interest were hardly discussed at all.
   7. MIKE: Under the new, technically unenforceable rules, possibly Scalia and certainly Thomas “should” have recused themselves from that case, or by some mechanism been forced to recuse. Of course, as opposed to “shall”.
   8. MIKE: If either or both had recused, the Court vote would have tied or gone to Gore, which would have amounted to the same thing either way. In either case, the recount would have continued, and later counts by news organizations and others suggest that Gore would have narrowly won Florida.
   9. MIKE: US and world history hinged on that election, making these new ethics rules over 20 years too late. Nonetheless, they’re a start.
   10. ANDREW: It’s a fun day when I get to call you too optimistic. Unfortunately, I think that’s what you’re being in your hypothetical. 
   11. ANDREW: Because this code has no enforceable provisions, I think it’s far more likely that the Bush v Gore case would have played out exactly the same way as it did in our timeline. The only difference would be that the argument for it being a biased decision would be much, much stronger. Maybe that would have been enough to get it overturned by the next court, maybe not.
   12. ANDREW: But I’d rather not leave ethics up to chance. I understand the Court being reluctant to add rules that could potentially pre-decide the outcome of a case brought before it, but I think recent years have shown in great detail the consequences of having a Supreme Court with no binding sense of ethics. This code needs enforceability. Without it, it’s just wishful thinking.
   13. MIKE: On that, I think most people agree.
   14. REFERENCE: CONTESTING THE VOTE: CHALLENGING A JUSTICE; Job of Thomas’s Wife Raises Conflict-of-Interest Questions — By Christopher Marquis | NYTIMES.COM | Dec. 12, 2000
7. An Optimistic Inflation Report Reduces Pressure on the Fed to Raise Rates; Central bankers have been debating whether a final rate move is needed. A cooler-than-expected October inflation report may take the heat off. By Jeanna Smialek | NYTIMES.COM | Nov. 14, 2023
   1. Inflation eased in October and price increases showed encouraging signs of slowing under the surface, according to fresh data released on Tuesday [last week]. The report provided the Federal Reserve with renewed evidence that its battle against rapid inflation is working — and likely reduced the need for further rate increases.
   2. The overall Consumer Price Index slowed to 3.2 percent last month on a year-over-year basis, lower than the 3.7 percent reading in September and the coolest since July. That deceleration owed partly to more moderate energy prices.
   3. Even with volatile fuel and food prices stripped out, a closely watched “core” price measure climbed 4 percent in the year through October, slower than the previous reading and weaker than what economists had expected.
   4. Inflation has come down meaningfully over the past year after peaking at just above 9 percent on an overall basis in the summer of 2022. Fed officials are trying to wrestle price increases back to roughly the 2 percent pace that was normal before the pandemic by raising interest rates, which they hope will slow consumer and business demand. …
   5. Assuming demand weakens as expected, it should prod consumers to become or remain price sensitive — forcing retailers and service providers to either charge less or risk scaring away shoppers. …
   6. MIKE: This article is longer and somewhat more technical. It includes a couple of charts.
   7. MIKE: I think that the lede here is the most important part. Inflation has declined by an annualized rate of almost 6% over about 15 months. That means that the US may actually experience the exceedingly rare “economic soft landing” that is always hoped for but rarely achieved after an inflation-fighting increase in interest rates.
   8. MIKE: What might be more interesting — maybe even exciting in the world of economics, assuming anyone is actually paying attention — is that this may change the paradigm that austerity and increased unemployment is the only way to fight inflation. Our current situation is a strong economy, and still-strong job and industrial growth. The downside, of course, is the significantly increased national debt of the United States, which could have very serious ramifications down the road.
   9. MIKE: But let’s look at the potential bright side. A strong economy means increased tax revenue, which will reduce deficits, assuming that Democrats remain in power and Republicans don’t push through an anti-Keynesian tax cut that again increases deficits.
   10. MIKE: I cannot overemphasize the danger of Republicans cutting taxes just when things are going better. At the end of the Clinton years, the US budget was in surplus. We were paying down the national debt, if only a little bit at a time. Then, George W Bush and the Republicans were swept into power, cut taxes, and created new deficits. Other Republican deregulation policies starting with Newt Gingrich’s Congress in 1994 eventually led to the Great Recession of 2008.
   11. MIKE: Getting back to my point, if the Fed restrains its interest rate hikes, US debt payments won’t rise even faster.
   12. MIKE: I remember doing what’s called a “back of the envelope” calculation after 12 years of Reagan-Bush. If Reaganomics had not increased the national debt by over 300%, and subtracting the debt servicing costs that created, the US budget would have been in surplus by 1992.
   13. MIKE: If and when the Fed feels it’s safe to reduce rates again, US debt service costs will drop even further, which will reduce the annual deficit further. This is what would be called a “virtuous cycle”, which is a way of saying that the better things get, the better things get.
   14. MIKE: Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
   15. ANDREW: I would certainly like to see this soft landing happen, because everyone would probably be better off if it did. But I’m confused as to how it would argue against austerity and unemployment as the solutions to inflation. 
   16. ANDREW: As we discussed in a show last year, raising interest rates is designed to increase unemployment as an effort to lower consumer demand and thus lower prices, reducing the rate of inflation. I would think that the strategy of raising interest rates leading to lower inflation would reinforce that method and other methods based around weakening consumer power and increasing unemployment. Have I missed something?
   17. MIKE: The principle behind raising interest rates to fight inflation, at least as I understand it, it that increasing borrowing costs makes buying stuff with loan cost more. This slows consumer demand on big ticket items like cars and trucks and appliances. That slows production, which leads to layoffs, which leads to further reduced demand. All of this reduces demand-price pressures, which slows inflation.
   18. MIKE: On the other hand, the Biden administration has been following a counter-cyclical expansionist policy, increasing government spending on infrastructure and business incentives, among other things. This should increase inflation by pressing more demand on the supply chain, causing and enabling prices increases.
   19. MIKE: It’s counterintuitive that inflation should be easing in this environment.
   20. MIKE: A Fed rate of over 5% by itself should not be enough to suppress consumption, but the fact that Fed rates have increased from almost zero to over 5% in a little more than a year may have had some extra shock value. But with a couple of trillion dollars in government deficit spending, that should not by itself have been enough, so there’s something novel going on.
   21. MIKE: Remember also that the world is something of a wartime economy, putting even more pressure on supply chains and driving up prices. So this is really interesting on many levels.
8. US Military Says National Security Depends on ‘Forever Chemicals’; By Patricia Kime | KFFHealthNews.ORG (formerly known as Kaiser Health News) | November 20, 2023
   1. The Department of Defense relies on hundreds, if not thousands, of weapons and products such as uniforms, batteries, and microelectronics that contain PFAS, a family of chemicals linked to serious health conditions.
   2. Now, as regulators propose restrictions on their use or manufacturing, Pentagon officials have told Congress that eliminating the chemicals would undermine military readiness.
   3. PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment and can build up in the human body, have been associated with such health problems as cancer. In July, a new federal study showed a direct link between testicular cancer and PFOS, a PFAS chemical that has been found in the blood of thousands of military personnel.
   4. Congress has pressured the Defense Department to clean up U.S. military sites and take health concerns more seriously. Under the fiscal 2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon was required to assess the ubiquity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in products and equipment used by the military.
   5. In a report delivered to Congress in August, Defense Department officials pushed back against health concerns raised by environmental groups and regulators[, saying,] “DoD is reliant on the critically important chemical and physical properties of PFAS to provide required performance for the technologies and consumable items and articles which enable military readiness and sustainment,” the authors said.
   6. Further, they wrote: “Losing access to PFAS due to overly broad regulations or severe market contractions would greatly impact national security and DoD’s ability to fulfill its mission.”
   7. According to the report, most major weapons systems, their components, microelectronic chips, lithium-ion batteries, and other products contain PFAS chemicals. These include helicopters, airplanes, submarines, missiles, torpedoes, tanks, and assault vehicles; munitions; semiconductors and microelectronics; and metalworking, cooling, and fire suppression systems — the latter especially aboard Navy ships.
   8. PFAS are also present in textiles such as uniforms, footwear, tents, and duffel bags, for which the chemicals help repel water and oil and increase durability, as well as nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare protective gear, the report says.
   9. The Pentagon’s report to Congress was released last month by the American Chemistry Council. …
   10. The Environmental Protection Agency has struggled to determine whether there are acceptable levels of PFAS in drinking water supplies, given the existence of hundreds of varieties of these chemicals. But in March, the EPA did propose federal limits on the levels of PFAS in drinking water supplies. …
   11. The Defense Department has used PFAS-laced firefighting foam along with other products containing the chemicals for more than a half-century, leading to the contamination of at least 359 military sites or nearby communities, with an additional 248 under investigation, according to the department. …
   12. Researchers with the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group that focuses on PFAS contamination nationwide, said the report lacked acknowledgment of the health risks or concerns posed by PFAS and ignored the availability of PFAS-free replacements for material, tents, and duffel bags.
   13. MIKE: As a side note, I’ve not personally heard of any such products using PFAS replacements. I assume that would be a marketing point if they gave comparable results.
   14. The military report also did not address possible solutions or research on non-PFAS alternatives or address replacement costs, noted EWG’s Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst, and David Andrews, a senior scientist. …
   15. Commercially, PFAS chemicals are used in food packaging, nonstick cookware, stain repellents, cosmetics, and other consumer products.
   16. MIKE: In other words, we need to pay serious attention to the word “ubiquitous” in relation to these chemicals.
   17. The fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act also required the Defense Department to identify consumer products containing PFAS and stop purchasing them, including nonstick cookware and utensils in dining facilities and ship galleys as well as stain-repellent upholstered furniture, carpeting, and rugs.
   18. But in a briefing to Congress in August accompanying the report on essential uses, Pentagon officials said they couldn’t comply with the law’s deadline of April 1, 2023, because manufacturers don’t usually disclose the levels of PFAS in their products and no federal laws require them to do so.
   19. Come Jan. 1, however, makers of these chemicals and products containing them will be required to identify these chemicals and notify “downstream” manufacturers of other products of the levels of PFAS contained in such products and ingredients, even in low concentrations, according to a federal rule published Oct. 31 by the EPA.
   20. This would include household items like shampoo, dental floss, and food containers. …
   21. MIKE: Thanks to Andrew for finding this article. We’ve talked about these chemicals on the show a few times and, as Andrew pointed out, this story qualifies as “continuing coverage.”
   22. MIKE: So as not to simply fear-monger, a few things should be noted about these chemicals. First, PFAS, PFOS, and related chemicals are known and accepted to be toxic in their industrial forms. In many if not most finished products. PFAS is in a hardened form, such as non-stick cookware. The current science I’ve seen says that PFAS in cookware is safe as long as it’s never heated over 350^oF, such as in an oven, and as long as it’s not flaking off your cookware so as to be ingestible.
   23. MIKE: That said, chemicals such as plastics “outgas” at the molecular level, which is a main reason why the inside of your car window gets greasy even if you don’t smoke. It’s not unreasonable to assume that things stored in PFAS-impregnated products or that are in constant contact with them will, over time, become contaminated with PFAS, even if it’s at the parts-per-billion or -trillion level.
   24. MIKE: In actuality, much like radiation, there may be no actual safe level of exposure to PFAS chemicals. But like background radiation, it may be impossible to avoid some exposure to PFAS or PFOS going forward, even if replacements are found for most applications.
   25. MIKE: Some PFAS applications are potentially more hazardous than others, firefighting foam being a case in point. My philosophy of “constructive denial” may be useful here. Exercise the knowledge you have about any hazard while using reasonable care, but no one can avoid everything. Don’t make yourself crazy.
   26. MIKE: In the meantime, science and industry need to find safer substitutes for these chemicals, and pressure needs to be continuously applied until that happens.
   27. ANDREW: This article made me wonder how the military reacted to asbestos being banned, so I decided to look it up. It turns out that there is still no actual federal ban on asbestos, according to the Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center, which simultaneously surprised me and didn’t surprise me.
   28. ANDREW: But the mineral was banned for many smaller, more specific uses that have amounted to a drastic reduction in the average person’s encounters with asbestos, and I still wonder how the military reacted to that process. Clearly, they adapted somehow, and I think they could do the same for a ban on PFAS.

=====================================================

1. Make sure you are registered to vote! VoteTexas.GOV – Texas Voter Information
   1. It’s time to snail-mail (no emails or faxes) in your application for mail-ballots, IF you qualify TEXAS SoS VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT APPLICATION (ALL TEXAS COUNTIES) HarrisVotes.com­ – Countywide Voting Centers, (Election Information Line (713) 755-6965), Harris County Clerk
   2. Obtain a Voter Registration Application (HarrisVotes.com)
   3. Harris County “Vote-By-Mail’ Application for 2023
      1. Austin County Elections
      2. Brazoria County (TX) Clerk Election Information
      3. Chambers County (TX) Elections
      4. Colorado County (TX) Elections
      5. Fort Bend County takes you to the proper link
      6. GalvestonVotes.org (Galveston County, TX)
      7. Harris County ((HarrisVotes.com)
      8. LibertyElections (Liberty County, TX)
      9. Montgomery County (TX) Elections
      10. Walker County Elections
      11. Waller County (TX) Elections
      12. Wharton County Elections
   4. For personalized, nonpartisan voter guides and information, Consider visiting Vote.ORG.   Ballotpedia.com and Texas League of Women Voters are also good places to get election info.
   5. If you are denied your right to vote any place at any time at any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
   6. HarrisVotes.com – Countywide Voting Centers, HARRIS COUNTY – IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING: Do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs?
      1. 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:
      2. A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
      3. Current utility bill
      4. Bank statement
      5. Government check
      6. Paycheck
      7. 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)
      8. You may vote early by-mail if:You are registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:
         1. Away from the county of residence on Election Day and during the early voting period;
         2. Sick or disabled;
         3. 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
         4. Confined in jail, but eligible to vote.
         5. Make sure you are registered:
         6. Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
         7. CHECK REGISTRATION STATUS HERE
         8. CLICK How to register to vote in Texas
         9. Outside Texas, try Vote.org.
2. BE REGISTERED TO VOTE, and if eligible, REMEMBER TO FILL OUT AND MAIL NEW MAIL-IN BALLOT APPLICATIONS FOR 2023.
   1. Obtain a Voter Registration Application (HarrisVotes.com)
   2. Just be registered and apply for your mail-in ballot if you may qualify.
   3. You can track your Mail Ballot Activity from our website with direct link provided here https://www.harrisvotes.com/Tracking

____________________________________________________________________________

Remember!  When you donate to KPFT, your dollars pay for:

• Transmitter and equipment costs
• Programs like Thinkwing Radio, Politics Done Right, and other locally-generated political talk shows
• KPFT’s online streaming
• Maintaining a wide variety of music programs

Each time you turn on the radio, you can hear your dollars at work!

Make your contribution to this station right now. Just call 713 526 5738. That’s 713-526-5738. Or give online at KPFT.org!