Now in our 11th year on KPFT!

Going forward, new shows will post for Thursday at 6PM (CT) broadcast and re-run on Sundays at 1PM and Wednesdays at 11AM.

AUDIO:
  

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voting, Texas Secretary of State, 2024 Presidential election, Vice Presidential Debate Comments; Deadline approaches to apply for federal assistance for Hurricane Beryl losses; Montgomery County [is] hosting home buyout workshops following [May] storms, [and Hurricane] Beryl; Battery storage facility coming to League City; Harris County Sheriff’s Office to expand CIRT program pairing cops with clinicians; Metro adopts budget focused more on customer experience and service, less on expansion; Houston schools crack down on illegal suspensions following Landing investigation; Texas can no longer investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, federal judge says; Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger to lead group of Republicans for Colin Allred; Trump pulls out of ’60 Minutes’ interview, CBS News says; Toll of Lebanon device attacks reveals Hezbollah’s ‘society in arms’; Israel Has Destroyed Half of Hezbollah’s Arsenal, U.S. and Israeli Officials Say; 

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. 

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.

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston at 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2 and our new improved Huntsville repeater at 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community Media. On this show, we discuss local, state, national, and international stories that may have slipped under your radar.

1. MIKE: I’m going to start off with a brief commentary.
   1. Those of you who listen to this show regularly probably know that I usually avoid discussing stories that are already being heavily covered in the media unless I feel I can add something interesting or worthwhile. Well, lord knows that the Vice Presidential debate on Tuesday October 1^st has been, and for some time to come will be, heavily covered. But there was a 2 minute bit from Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s post-debate coverage that I thought was a succinct assessment. I’m going to play that for you in a moment.
   2. I actually agree with those who think the debate was more or less a draw.
   3. It actually reminded me of the 2016 VP debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine. Pence looked great. Almost like he was from central casting. Tim Kaine, on the other hand, looked sort of rumpled and came off as a bit nervous.
   4. I actually came away from that debate feeling that Mike Pence had won. Not because gave the best and still truthful answers to questions, but because his lies were so smooth that if you didn’t know better, they sounded believable. Tim Kaine gave truthful answers, but spent too much time trying to respond to Pence’s lies and then fumbled a bit on his own talking points.
   5. Tuesday’s Vance-Walz debate didn’t go quite that badly for Walz or quite that well for Vance. Walz answered his first question on the Middle East crisis as if he hadn’t rehearsed for it and he stumbled a bit. Vance looked mostly comfortable during the debate. Even his lies or evasions were pretty smooth, but Vance also occasionally stumbled.
   6. On MSNBC’s post-debate analysis, Lawrence O’Donnell gave what may be one of the pithiest analyses of the debate. I’ll play that audio now.
   7. [PLAY O’DONNELL AUDIO CLIP]
   8. In my opinion, those comments have two of the most important elements of a memorable review: Truth mixed with satire.
   9. Below my remarks, I’m adding a link to an ABC News story about the debate from the day after. I think it’s a pretty fair assessment.
   10. Now, on to our regular show …
   11. REFERENCE: What early polls say about who won the VP debate; Americans are split over whether Vance or Walz won. — ByNathaniel Rakich | ABCNEWS.GO.COM | October 2, 2024, 12:44 PM
2. ELECTION INFO: Be correctly registered for the fall General elections, and double check at the link I’m providing to Texas Secretary of State to make sure you remain
   5. The general election is Nov. 5.
   6. Coming up in JUST A FEW DAYS, the deadline for voter registration or correction of your voter registration is Oct. 7.
   7. In just about 3 weeks, the deadline to apply for a mail ballot is October 25. Click on the link I’m providing to HarrisVotes[dot]Com for the application. Please fill it out, print it, and mail it (NOT email or fax) before the deadline.
   8. If you are a new Texas resident, OR if you have changed your address since you last voted, OR if you have had any kind of name change for reasons such as marriage or divorce, then you MUST verify that you are still registered to vote AND you must update your voter information BY OCTOBER 7^TH!
   9. The criteria required are your Voter ID number plus your date of birth, OR your Texas driver’s license number or Texas photo ID number plus date of birth, OR your name/county/date of birth.
   10. If you need to update any information, click on the voter registration link at VoteTexas(dot)gov. That will take you to an application page where you are given the option to register for the first time, OR to change your voter information, OR to replace your voter registration.
   11. Once you complete this form, you are NOT automatically registered. Instead, you MUST print it, sign it, and mail it to the address that is provided.
   12. In 3 Weeks, Early Vote Centers will be open from Monday, October 21– Friday, November 1 (Mon-Sat: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sun:12 p.m. – 7 p.m. )
   13. Voting Centers will accept voters from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.
   14. In Harris County, you can visit the “What’s on my Ballot?” link at the HarrisVotes[dot]COM page and enter your name or address to see all the contests and candidates you are eligible to vote on!
   15. To aid you in voting on a ballot in person, you can bring handwritten notes or printed sample ballots to the voting booth; just be sure to take it with you when you leave.
   16. REFERENCE: Verify: Yes, Texas will purge ‘suspense list’ voters from roll after 2024 presidential election — Author: Amanda Stevenson | KHOU.COM | Published: 10:26 PM CDT August 29, 2024/Updated: 10:28 AM CDT August 30, 2024
   17. From August 30^th, a story from COM relating to making sure your voting registration is up-to-date and still valid. — KHOU Verify: Yes, Texas will purge ‘suspense list’ voters from roll after 2024 presidential election; Author: Amanda Stevenson | KHOU.COM | Published: 10:26 PM CDT August 29, 2024/Updated: 10:28 AM CDT August 30, 2024. TAGS: Voting, Texas Secretary of State, 2024 Presidential election, National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), Voter Suspense List,
   18. MIKE: The KHOU story offers a couple of pages of information in the form of what amounts to an FAQ.
   19. MIKE: If you have any general questions about suspense lists or voter roll purges, I recommend going to this article as a starting point. The story also links to its sources.
   20. REFERENCE: Texas Election Code
   21. REFERENCE: Texas Secretary of State, Alicia Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State for Communications,
   22. REFERENCE: Brennan Center for Justice, Sean Morales-Doyle,  Director, Voting Rights Program
   23. REFERENCE: Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
   24. REFERENCE: Fort Bend County Election Administrator, John Oldham
   25. REFERENCE: League of Women Voters, Texas
   26. REFERENCE: S. Election Assistance Commission
   27. REFERENCE: 1993 National Voter Registration Act
3. FYI — Deadline approaches to apply for federal assistance for Hurricane Beryl losses; By Kelly Schafler | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:16 PM Oct 2, 2024 CDT / Updated 3:16 PM Oct 2, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Hurricane Beryl, Federal Assistance, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
   1. Homeowners and renters whose properties were damaged during Hurricane Beryl have until 10 to apply for federal assistance.
   2. … [FEMA Media Specialist Rita Obey said in an Oct. 1 email that] The Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] has approved 693,246 Texas households for disaster-related assistance since the July storm. … This totals $748 million in financial assistance specifically for Beryl.
   3. … Individuals with uninsured or underinsured losses from Beryl could be eligible for assistance. There are 22 counties eligible under the federal disaster declaration, including Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston and Waller counties, according to a 11 FEMA news release.
   4. According to a FEMA fact sheet, the federal agency offers various assistance for property losses such as: Appliances; Clothes and home furnishings; Tools for work or school; [and] Items for eligible applicants with disabilities
   5. Additionally, FEMA can also provide temporary housing, home repairs, rental assistance, transportation assistance, medical and dental assistance, and funeral expenses, according to the fact sheet.
   6. How to get help —[FEMA Media Specialist Rita Obey] said those interested in applying for FEMA assistance by 10 can do so in person at one of 12 Disaster Recovery Centers across Texas [DRCs], most of which are in the Houston area. However, DRCs will close as the deadline approaches, so Obey recommends checking FEMA’s website for a list of open locations.
   7. Staff are on-site at the DRCs to help visitors apply for assistance, check their FEMA application status, understand FEMA letters, ask questions, and learn about the U.S. Small Business Administration’s programs, according to the FEMA website.
   8. Individuals can also obtain assistance by: Calling 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.; Downloading the FEMA app; Visiting disasterassistance.gov
   9. … The deadline for the SBA’s physical damage loan is also Oct. 10; however, the organization also has an economic injury disaster loan for nonprofits and businesses, which has an application period that closes April 14, 2025, Obey said.
   10. MIKE: In addition to the phone number for FEMA (800-621-3362), there are numerous helpful and informative links embedded in the article, so if you feel you might qualify for aid from FEMA, go to communityimpact[dot]com to read the article, or find the story link at my blog post for this show at ThinkwingRadio[dot]com.
   11. MIKE: Keep in mind that the deadline of October 10 for disaster-related assistance is fast approaching. In fact, Thursday of this coming week. So if you feel you may qualify, it’s urgent that you apply as soon as possible.
4. In additional storm-related assistance news from Community Impact — Montgomery County [is] hosting home buyout workshops following [May] storms, [and Hurricane] Beryl; By Jessica Shorten | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:36 PM Oct 2, 2024 CDT / Updated 2:36 PM Oct 2, 2024 CDT. TAGS: FEMA, Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management , Home Buyouts, Hurricane Beryl, May Derecho storm,
   1. The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced a series of community workshops and information sessions for residents regarding home buyouts following a series of severe storms in May and Hurricane Beryl in July.
   2. … Following multiple natural disaster events that affected the Greater Houston region, Montgomery County is providing information to residents regarding the home buyout program in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
   3. … The six workshops will provide opportunities for residents to get information regarding what a home buyout is, how to qualify for a buyout and the steps to apply. The workshops will be held across the county:
   4. [MIKE: The times and addresses for these workshops are too long to read now, but they are in the article.]
   5. East Montgomery County Community Development Center — 16401 First St., Splendora, 10 … 6-7:30 p.m.
   6. River Plantation MUD — 610 River Plantation Drive, Conroe … 11, 6-7:30 p.m.
   7. Timber Lakes/Timber Ridge — 25610 Timberlakes Drive, Spring … 17, 6-7:30 p.m.
   8. The Lone Star Convention Center, San Jacinto Room — 9055 Airport Road, Conroe, 19 … 4-5:30 p.m.,
   9. The Woodlands Emergency Training Center — 16135 I-45 S., The Woodlands … Oct. 25, 6-7:30 p.m.
   10. … [T]he buyout process is still open to residents who live in flood-prone areas and are subject to repeated losses from flooding. Funding for the buyouts is approved by the Texas General Land Office; however, the process can take multiple months to complete.
   11. MIKE: If you feel you may qualify for this buyout program, I urge you to go to the original article for complete details. The link to the story is in this blog post at ThinkwingRadio[dot]com.
5. Battery storage facility coming to League City; By Rachel Leland | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:36 PM Sep 27, 2024 CDT / Updated 3:36 PM Sep 27, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Battery Energy Storage Facility (BESS), League City City Council,
   1. A new battery energy storage facility, or BESS, is likely coming to League City.
   2. … On Sept. 24, League City City Council voted 6-2 to approve an ordinance that would allow a BESS, owned and operated by Peregrine Energy, to be built between Highway 3 and Dickinson Avenue, south of Washington Avenue according to city documents.
   3. Council members Tom Crews and Justin Hicks voted against granting the special use permit to Peregrine Energy.
   4. … League City resident Christine Thomas was one of several residents who spoke against building the facility in League City during the public comment portion of the meeting.
   5. “I think we still have a significant level of discomfort with having this relatively new technology so close to our neighborhood and to our school,” Thomas said.
   6. Council member Chad Tressler said he would vote to grant the special use permit because he felt the facility would support energy customers in League City during power outages.
   7. “I’m much more not a fan of the lack of heartiness in our grid,” Tressler said. “I’ve seen too many of our citizens suffer when we have power outages during the worst possible times to have power outages—during deep freezes and the hottest parts of summer.”
   8. Crews said he read the study, and while he said he didn’t fully understand the design and safety standards because he’s not an engineer, he ultimately felt the facility would be safe for League City.
   9. “I believe that these are safe, but my problem is that the people who are around it are legitimately scared, whether it’s a reasonable fear or not,” Crews said. “We’re putting something there that wasn’t there before.”
   10. Hicks said that while he met with Peregrine Energy and other companies who have wanted to build a BESS in League City, he would vote against granting the permit due to the active opposition from citizens.
   11. … The site will be developed in accordance with sections of the League City Code of Ordinances relating to standards for BESS facilities.
   12. In July, City Council approved an ordinance that laid out a series of requirements for such facilities to set up shop in town. The vote came amid several companies pitching BESSs throughout the city.
   13. MIKE: I’ve followed this story on the show since it first popped on Community Impact. I understand the mixed feelings on this issue from both city council members and people in the nearby community.
   14. MIKE: As I understand it, this storage facility will use Lithium-Ion batteries, which do come with risks. Under some circumstances, they can ignite, so this facility certainly needs to be equipped with appropriate fire suppression technology for these systems. I’m going to make a presumption that there has been some provision for that in the plan that won over 3/4 of the council members.
   15. MIKE: Utility-sized energy storage is an evolving technology. There are other battery-type technologies being developed that are less energy-dense than Lithium-Ion, but have other advantages, possibly including greater safety.
   16. MIKE: For a number of reasons, that might make Lithium-Ion tech a transitional solution, but for now, it’s the main one we have.
   17. MIKE: I’ll be keeping an eye out for further reporting of this nature.
6. Harris County Sheriff’s Office to expand CIRT program pairing cops with clinicians; by Eileen Grench | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | September 27, 2024 @ 10:26 am. TAGS: Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Crisis Intervention Response Teams (CIRT), Harris County (TX) Commissioner’s Court, Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD),
   1. Sergeant Aaron Brown didn’t have to think hard when asked for an example of how the Crisis Intervention Response Teams at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office help keep citizens and officers safe. 
   2. He quickly recalled how, just hours before his conversation with the Landing, a team was dispatched to a scene where a woman was standing outside a motel room holding two butcher knives. It’s the kind of call that could have led to someone getting hurt. 
   3. Instead, armed with information about the women’s mental health history, and the perspective of a mental health provider, the team told deputies to stand back. Two hours of calm conversation later, she peacefully surrendered.
   4. “A typical old police response, what would we do? We would force it. We would force entry, somebody could get hurt for no reason, right?” said Brown, who leads the county’s CIRT teams. “We have a different ideology. We’re going to give them space, and we’re going to listen to understand. We’re going to communicate.”
   5. As part of the budget package approved last week, Harris County Commissioner’s Court gave the thumbs up to an additional $560,000 for the hiring of six more mental health clinicians for the Sheriff’s Office CIRT teams. 
   6. The program currently includes nine units meant to respond to the 1,700 square mile area that is Harris County. The expansion will allow the teams to reach more scenes where they can be of use, said Brown. 
   7. According to Brown, sheriff’s office CIRT teams typically work 10-hour, overlapping shifts while an extra sergeant and deputy are on call. The new clinicians will enable the team to expand the number of working teams and help relieve those who are on call.
   8. He said the more teams there are, the more their influence on deputies outside their units grows.
   9. “The licensed professional counselor is teaching, and they’re not just teaching the CIRT deputy, they’re teaching our patrol deputies on patrol when we have contact with them,” said Brown. 
   10. In 2023, Brown’s teams were dispatched to roughly 4,700 calls for service, which resulted in nearly 1,500 cases where the CIRT team was able to resolve the issue without taking anyone into custody, 278 jail diversions, and 685 emergency mental health detentions where a person was forcibly taken to a medical facility. 
   11. CIRT teams pair a sheriff’s deputy with a master’s-level clinician from the [Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)], who helps provide background information on the subjects of their calls and inform the approach when an individual is in crisis. 
   12. The teams can be deployed by dispatch to any calls which have a mental health component, and are deployed to SWAT calls as a resource, according to the program’s website.
   13. The nature of the calls varies widely, according to Brown. From a welfare check on a veteran to suicidal individuals, to barricaded suspects and SWAT scenes. When a CIRT team is called to a scene, the senior CIRT deputy takes control of all police activities at that scene, according to sheriff’s office policy.
   14. Sheriff’s office officials say that the success of their program is seen when such calls are diverted away from the justice system, a potentially violent situation is de-escalated, or a citizen is connected with mental health resources, and lessens future justice system contact as well. 
   15. “Arresting him for criminal trespass for the 93rd time, is that going to change [the person]’s perspective? No, we get no value. In fact, the citizens lose. Everyone loses,” said Brown.
   16. And, ideally, the team and their access to both medical information and a clinician’s training create more safety for both officers and the person in crisis.
   17. “If the goal is public safety, and the goal is the sanctity of human life, the more information we have, the better decisions we make…. No one’s ever been hurt by knowing more.”
   18. … The concept of a co-responder team is not new. In fact, Houston has had such teams for over 15 years. The Houston Police Department began its program in 2008 and now runs 18 teams, according to sheriff’s department officials. Since beginning its own program in 2011, the Sheriff’s Office has shared training and resources with HPD.
   19. The approach has gained popularity across the country, expanding after the murder of George Floyd forced a reckoning on how policing agencies approach scenes that have the potential to end in the use of force.
   20. In 2020, a University of Cincinnati study, which compiled research on the effectiveness of the model, said the practice was a “promising practice in police-based behavioral health crisis response,” but that more research was needed.
   21. Angelina Brown Hudson, chief executive officer of the Greater Houston chapter of the  National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI),  said that additional teams are a good thing, and that Houston’s unincorporated areas, which the Sheriff’s Office patrols, are in particular need of this form of help.
   22. [Said Hudson,] “I don’t think people understand how big a job they [CIRT teams] have. … and they don’t near have enough CIRT teams … .”
   23. As of Thursday, 80% of those incarcerated at Harris County Jail have a mental health indicator, according to the sheriff’s office’s public dashboard.
   24. Hudson and NAMI advocate for officer training and CIRT teams, and the national organization was instrumental in the development of law enforcement crisis intervention-training best practices. 
   25. To some mental health advocates, police would ideally never respond to calls for those in crisis. Harris County’s Holistic Assistance Response Teams are one example of a program which responds to mental health 911 calls with only medical providers.
   26. Krish Gundu, the executive director of the Texas Jail Project, told the Houston Landing that while the co-responder model is better than previous practices, it’s still not as good as taking police enforcement out of the picture completely.
   27. Gundu advocates for incarcerated Texans, many of whom suffer from mental illness. A Houston Landing investigation last year showed that one-third ​​of the more than 540 people who died of unnatural causes in Texas jails since the 1980s were flagged as potentially mentally ill.
   28. “As long as you have law enforcement, you run the risk of a situation escalating,” said Gundu, who noted that their mere presence can be a trigger for some individuals, and often the symptoms of their illness end up being criminalized. 
   29. [Sgt.] Brown said that while he started his policing career in more traditional fields like narcotics and canine units, he ended up in negotiation and then crisis response after experiencing the death of a family member who experienced severe mental illness. 
   30. Since [then], he said, he has had some of his best conversations talking other Harris County residents off literal ledges. These are people from across all walks of life, he tells his deputies, who call 911 because they had never been listened to before. 
   31. “​​Living it changes the perspective…But you know, you can take that trauma, you can aim it. You get to stop other people.” 
   32. MIKE: This is an example of elections having consequences, and it’s also an example of your tax dollars at work.
   33. MIKE: You sometimes see signs saying, “Your tax dollars at work.” Those are often attached to road construction, flood control projects, infrastructure improvements, and the like.
   34. MIKE: This story is an excellent example of “Your tax dollars at work”, but without a road sign to tout it. These are your tax dollars buying HUMAN infrastructure, that not only saves lives, but may even improve them.
   35. MIKE: The absence of a sign saying “Your tax dollars at work” every time a police car rolls up to a volatile situation with a clinician makes it an invisible benefit of your tax dollars, unless you or a family member is involved, but it’s a real benefit of the taxes you pay, nonetheless.
   36. MIKE: On this show, one of my mantras is, “You get the government you pay for.” Another is that “elections have consequences.”
   37. MIKE: This program and its expansion are examples.
7. Metro adopts budget focused more on customer experience and service, less on expansion; by Akhil Ganesh | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | September 26, 2024 @ 3:55 pm. TAGS: Metro Budget, Metropolitan Transit Authority Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock,
   1. Metro adopted its fiscal 2025 budget Thursday, cementing the agency’s redirected focus on improving customer experience and investing in its aging vehicle fleet rather than expanding the transit system.
   2. The unanimously adopted spending plan includes a $980 million operating budget and $598 million in capital expenses. Those represent increases of $65 million and $177.6 million respectively from the current budget. 
   3. “We are excited to report that we are laser-focused on ridership and initiatives that will help us increase ridership,” Metropolitan Transit Authority Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock said.
   4. Metro is projecting a revenue increase in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 of 35.7 percent, spurred by more than $148 million in additional sales taxes and almost double the amount in grant funding. All together, the agency has budgeted more than $1.3 billion in revenue. 
   5. Despite the increased capital budget, the agency has greatly pared down its list of planned projects, including cutbacks in its voter-approved expansion plan known as MetroNext. The current budget projected $718 million in capital spending in fiscal 2025.
   6. The capital budget includes significant investment into what Metro considers “core services,” mostly pouring money into an aging vehicle fleet after a four-year pause on purchasing new vehicles. The agency is investing just shy of $210 million on new vehicles, an increase of $147 million. The agency expects the purchase or delivery of 234 buses in the next year.
   7. When the agency first released the budget book to the public on August 29, it included descriptions of all of Metro’s capital projects and a five-year financial outlook for each. That version of the budget came in at 274 pages. 
   8. In updates since then, the agency has pared down the publicly available budget to a 60-page summarization, minus details of individual projects and other aspects of the budget. …
   9. The budget still mentions the Inner Katy HOV, signaling the agency’s intention to alter a bus rapid transit project that originally was slated for a corridor of Interstate 10 from the Northwest Transit Center into downtown. That move comes after Metro opted to pause its planned University [Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)] line, citing rising costs and changes in ridership.
   10. Both projects, along with a BRT line in Gulfton, were part of the MetroNext plan. The Gulfton project remains a part of the agency’s plans, according to Metro’s fiscal 2025 budget.
   11. Bus rapid transit is designed for higher capacity ridership than normal bus routes, and often utilizes dedicated lines. The idea is to provide the flexibility of buses with the reliability of trains. High occupancy vehicle or HOV lanes require two or more occupants and can be separated from other lanes by barriers or painted markings.
   12. The agency’s new focus on customer experience, dubbed MetroNow, accounts for $173.8 million of the capital budget. MetroNow initiatives focus on five areas of the customer experience: service and reliability, safety and security, cleanliness, workforce support, and infrastructure enhancements.
   13. That money will be used for such items as public facility upgrades, traffic signal priority, and a fourth BOOST corridor. The agency already has begun work on three other corridors, which include sidewalk work, accessibility upgrades, bus shelter improvements, and traffic signal prioritization.
   14. BOOST corridors originally were part of MetroNext, which still has a presence in the capital budget. That includes an approximately $60 million investment in the Missouri City Park and Ride and more than $1 million on an extension of the light rail Purple Line.
   15. Metro’s operating budget also takes on investment into MetroNow. Of the $65 million increase in the operating budget, $43.3 million is centered around MetroNow initiatives, with the remaining $21.7 million dedicated to maintaining current services. 
   16. That includes roughly $10 million for new microtransit service, and expansion of the agency’s curb2curb service to a new area. The on-demand shuttle currently services Kashmere Gardens, Hiram Clarke, Missouri City, and Acres Homes; a new expansion area has yet to be identified. 
   17. Notably, the agency will no longer pursue a proposed bikeshare program that was due to launch this past summer. That decision can be attributed to Metro’s growing interest in microtransit.
   18. Metro also will add $5 million in new bus service, and an additional $7.2 million for security services, and hiring incentives to fill available positions with the Metro Police Department.
   19. Metro also is planning to transfer $217.5 million to its general mobility program, a 9.3 percent increase from previous years. The fund diverts roughly a quarter of the agency’s sales tax revenue to its member municipalities for street improvements and other mobility projects. 
   20. In a related agenda item, the board was set to consider authorizing Interim President and CEO Tom Jasien to negotiate and enter into an agreement with the city of Houston that would allow the agency and city to work on street projects together outside of the general mobility program.
   21. According to the agenda item, the agreement would allow Metro to use the city’s on-call paving contractors to perform work repairing roads along bus routes. Metro would pay for those repairs through the city without utilizing the General Mobility Program.
   22. The item, however, was a late addition to the agenda, and Director Robert Treviño moved to delay any vote until the agreement could be discussed in committee. The item was pulled, and referred to next month’s committee meetings.
   23. MIKE: I haven’t had reason or opportunity to use METRO, so I don’t feel qualified to comment on this story other than to say that I thought it important to highlight it on the show.
8. Houston schools crack down on illegal suspensions following Landing investigation; By Asher Lehrer-Small | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | October 2, 2024 @ 11:00 am. TAGS: Illegal School Suspensions, Homeless Students, Unhoused Students,
   1. Many of the largest Houston-area school districts recently have rolled out new policies and practices to prevent staff from issuing illegal suspensions to homeless students, months after a Houston Landing investigation revealed thousands of instances of the banned practice across Texas.
   2. The new strategies include regular audits of student discipline, digital alerts that flag potentially illegal suspensions, plans for ensuring offending campuses don’t continue the practice and other tactics. One district, Conroe ISD, said it circulated the Landing’s investigation to its top brass to raise awareness of the issue.
   3. Meanwhile, some other districts — including those that appear to have issued dozens of illegal suspensions — did not outline changes or did not offer comments in response to questions from the Landing.
   4. Under a 2019 state law passed with wide bipartisan support, Texas schools can only kick students experiencing homelessness off campus for infractions related to violence, weapons, drugs or alcohol. Legislators supported the law because many unhoused students rely on school for shelter, hot meals, showers and more.
   5. However, over the past five years, hundreds of Texas school districts have issued out-of-school suspensions to thousands of homeless students for offenses that did not involve those serious violations, the Landing’s May investigation revealed.
   6. A quirk in Texas’ data tracking of homeless students and suspensions makes it impossible to measure the exact number of illegal suspensions and pinpoint which districts are the worst offenders. 
   7. Texas classifies a student as homeless if they spent any amount of time during a school year without housing. As a result, some students were legally suspended at a time when they had housing, yet the data would show they were illegally suspended if they later became homeless. The Landing hasn’t published district-level data on the number of illegal suspensions reported by school districts due to the data quirk.
   8. Still, many Houston-area districts appear to have issued the illegal discipline to hundreds of students, according to state data obtained by the Landing and statements by district officials. 
   9. In August, following the Landing’s report, the Texas Education Agency sent a letter to districts letting them know the agency was taking additional steps to track and prevent the banned suspensions. The TEA said it plans to conduct special analyses of suspension data for “select school systems,” but did not specify what factors would trigger the action. TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky said the agency is reviewing 2023-24 discipline data and has not yet notified any districts that they are subject to additional review.
   10. The Landing asked the 10 largest school districts in Greater Houston, plus Alief and Spring ISDs, what, if anything, they have done to boost their efforts to comply with state law.
   11. [There] are summaries of their responses [below the story, in order of district size …
   12. MIKE: The story then includes statistics and responses from various school districts in the Houston metro area, starting with HISD.
   13. MIKE: My suggestion is that if you know anyone in school who is, has been, or may become homeless during the school year, make sure they know the conditions under which they can and cannot be suspended out-of-school. This may particularly apply to students to are at risk of suspension due to attendance issues that may be exacerbated by their personal situations.
   14. MIKE: Also, unhoused children and their families should seek out information on any assistance that the school or school district may provide for students in difficult circumstances. Keep in mind that “difficult circumstances” may not be as drastic as homelessness. These may be questions that should perhaps be addressed to school principals or school counselors.
9. Texas can no longer investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, federal judge says; The provision was included in a sweeping Texas voting bill that was signed into law in 2021. By Xiomara Moore | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Sept. 28, 2024. TAGS: Courts, Ken Paxton, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, Vote Harvesting, La Union del Pueblo Entero, LULAC, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Voting Rights,
   1. A federal judge ruled on Saturday that part of a Texas law that enacted new voting restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution by being too vague and restricting free speech.
   2. The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, immediately halted the state’s ability to investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, such as the investigation into the League of United Latin American Citizens, by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
   3. Before today’s ruling, a person who knowingly provided or offered vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation was committing a third-degree felony. This meant that organizers of voter outreach organizations and even volunteers could spend up to ten years in prison and fined up to $10,000 for giving or offering these services.
   4. According to Republican lawmakers, the provision was put in place to prevent voter fraud and secure election integrity. However, in the ruling, the judge noted that there was widespread confusion about how to implement the canvassing restriction from local election administrators. This confusion also left voter outreach organizations uncertain about whether they could provide volunteers with food or bus fare because it could look like compensation.
   5. Many organizations – including La Union del Pueblo Entero, LULAC, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund [MALDEF] – have filed lawsuits against many other provisions of the law, including voter assistance and mail-in ballot restrictions. The challenges to these provisions have not been ruled on yet. The original complaints were filed in August and September 2021.
   6. Before the law, organizations like OCA-Greater Houston, an advocacy organization for people of Asian and Pacific Island descent, would host in-person election events and allow attendees to bring their mail-in ballots in order to receive help like language assistance.
   7. [MIKE: This next part sums up how important this ruling is:]
   8. Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, wrote that “Today’s ruling means that voter outreach organizers and other advocates in Texas can speak to mail ballot voters about issues on the ballot and urge voters to support improvements to their communities.”
   9. ACLU of Texas celebrated the ruling on X saying, “This is a win for voting rights in the state, and for the organizations that help keep elections accessible.”
   10. MIKE: This is a significant loss for Texas AG Ken Paxton and Texas Republicans in their efforts to suppress voting right of minorities and potentially vulnerable people.
   11. MIKE: Paxton will no doubt appeal, so we’ll have to see how this story evolves.
   12. MIKE: I’ve linked to the actual ruling if you’re inclined to read it.
   13. REFERENCE — S. District Court ruling ((571.6 KB) DOWNLOAD)
10. Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger to lead group of Republicans for Colin Allred; The former congressman’s snub of fellow GOP member U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is the latest high-profile crossover for the Dallas Democrat. By Kayla Guo | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Oct. 2, 2024@9:02 PM Central. TAGS: Politics, 2024 elections, Colin Allred, Ted Cruz, Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Republicans for Allred,
    1. Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who is one of the preeminent critics in his party of former President Donald Trump, will lead a GOP group backing U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) in his drive to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
    2. Republicans for Allred will be co-chaired by Kinzinger, a former Illinois congressman who later moved to Texas and who has excoriated Trump’s transformation of the GOP, an Allred campaign spokesperson confirmed.
    3. Kinzinger, who spoke during prime time at the Democratic National Convention in August, gained national prominence for serving on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
    4. In 2022, Kinzinger withdrew his reelection bid after his district was eliminated in an overhauled Illinois congressional map.
    5. The Republicans for Allred campaign reinforces Allred’s bid to attract independents and more moderate Republicans — voters he’ll need in order to beat Cruz. Kinzinger’s push for Allred marks the latest high-profile crossover for the Dallas Democrat, after former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Allred last month.
    6. Recent polling shows Cruz holding a tight lead, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report updating the Texas Senate race from “likely” to “lean” Republican on Tuesday.
    7. Cruz has also garnered endorsements from across the aisle, winning the support of … Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, in addition to several Democratic county judges, sheriffs and constables.
    8. In a statement, Cruz’s campaign dismissed the Republicans for Allred group as “another fake, feel-good vanity project for Allred.”
    9. “Adam Kinzinger trying to relaunch his political career in Texas isn’t news,” Cruz’s campaign said. “You don’t have to look any further than the co-chair, Adam Kinzinger, a disgruntled former congressman who is on a vindictive rampage against everyone with an ‘R’ next to their name to know how deeply unserious and pathetic this is.”
    10. Cruz cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election for weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Just as Trump’s supporters breached the Capitol, Cruz was on the Senate floor objecting to the certification of Arizona’s ballots.
    11. Kinzinger, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, was one of a few Republicans who denounced their party’s election denialism.
    12. “If the Democratic Party decided some day to go off the rails, similar to what the GOP did, I guarantee you he would be like Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney saying this can’t happen,” he said of Allred to The Houston Chronicle, which first reported that he would lead the GOP group for Allred.
    13. MIKE: This is important news for Allred, coming just three weeks before early voting begins in Texas. We’ll have to wait and see if this endorsement changes the next bunch of polls.
    14. MIKE: As an aside, this is the first I’ve heard of Adam Kinzinger having moved to Texas. Depending on what district he currently resides in, that could be interesting news down the road.
11. Trump pulls out of ’60 Minutes’ interview, CBS News says ; by Filip Timotija | THEHILL.COM |10/01/24 7:23 PM ET. Tags 2024 presidential election , 60 Minutes , Donald Trump , Kamala Harris , scott pelley , Steven Cheung, Tim Walz ,
    1. Former President Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview that was scheduled to run next week, CBS News said Tuesday.
    2. According to CBS News, the GOP presidential nominee and his political rival, Vice President Harris, each agreed to sit down for interviews as part of the show’s election special set to air on Monday at 8 p.m. EST.
    3. The ex-president was set to be interviewed by anchor Scott Pelley, while Harris was set to speak with correspondent Bill Whitaker, the network said, adding that the Trump campaign “decided not to participate” and that Pelley would address the development Monday. 
    4. “Our election special will broadcast the Harris interview on Monday as planned,” the network said in a Tuesday statement. “Our original invitation to former President Donald Trump to be interviewed on 60 Minutes stands.” 
    5. A source familiar with the arrangement between the network and the campaign told The Hill that Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first to accept the “60 Minutes” request for an interview. The agreement was that each White House candidate would get equal time — half of the broadcast. 
    6. The source said that a Trump spokesperson notified “60 Minutes” on Tuesday that the ex-president would not sit for an interview. 
    7. The Trump campaign fired back at the network, arguing that nothing was “ever scheduled or locked in.” 
    8. “Fake News. 60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said Tuesday in a post on the social platform X. “There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.” 
    9. “They also insisted on doing live fact-checking, which is unprecedented,” he added. 
    10. Trump has been at odds with the news program. In 2020, both the former president and then-candidate Joe Biden sat down for interviews with “60 Minutes.” Trump ended his interview with CBS News veteran Lesley Stahl early, with his former chief of staff Mark Meadows later slamming Stahl as an “opinion journalist.” 
    11. CBS News said that Harris’s vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is expected to participate in the “60 Minutes” interview.
12. Toll of Lebanon device attacks reveals Hezbollah’s ‘society in arms’; The attacks offer a rare window into the inner-workings of Hezbollah — an organization that is notoriously secretive and deeply embedded in Lebanese society. By Susannah George and Suzan Haidamous | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | September 19, 2024 at 5:45 p.m. EDT. TAGS: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel,
    1. The Israeli attacks across Lebanon this week that turned pagers and walkie-talkies into bombs appear to have targeted Hezbollah’s vast network of reservists and logistical operatives, according to individuals close to the militant group and eyewitness accounts.
    2. Most of the 37 people killed are believed to have been fighters, based on death notices posted by the group. Two were children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Among the dead and the more than 3,000 injured, many blinded or maimed, were hospital workers, a shopkeeper, a car mechanic and a teacher — people who were not full-time militants but were connected to Hezbollah in other ways.
    3. The attacks have provided a rare window into the inner-workings of Hezbollah — a military, political and social organization that is both notoriously secretive and deeply embedded in Lebanese society.
    4. While it is considered a terrorist group by the United States and its European allies, Hezbollah is able to draw on a deep well of support in Shiite parts of Lebanon by delivering jobs and services the country’s decrepit government is unable to provide. In the suburbs of Beirut and across the south, the group runs hospitals, social welfare institutions, unions and construction companies. Hezbollah and its allies control 40 of the country’s 128 seats in parliament.
    5. Joseph Bahout, director of the Institute of Public Policy at the American University in Beirut, said the scope of the attack illustrated the depth and reach of Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon.
    6. “It’s not a small clandestine militia, it’s a sort of a society in arms,” he said. “This is huge horizontal organization that has permeated society.”
    7. [T]housands of the group’s pagers exploded simultaneously across the country — in homes, supermarkets and taxis, and on street corners — sparking widespread panic and overwhelming hospitals. Hundreds of two-way radios blew up the next day, causing further carnage and confusion.
    8. Hezbollah had distributed the rigged devices to its members this spring as an alternative to cellphones, which the group feared were being tracked by Israel as part of a campaign of targeted assassinations. Some of the pagers were given to active fighters, according to those familiar; others handled logistics, were in the group’s reserves — available to be called up as fighters in the event of a full-scale war — or worked in civilian institutions such as hospitals.
    9. “Those who use the pagers are people who do not have just one job,” said a Lebanese individual close to Hezbollah. He spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters, explaining that members often play different roles within the organization. …
    10. [Ali] said on his street alone, four people were injured, including a fruit seller.
    11. “They were just civilians,” he said. Asked why they were carrying pagers that were distributed by Hezbollah, he replied: “In this area, everyone is part of the resistance.”
    12. Experts estimate that Hezbollah has up to 50,000 active fighters and tens of thousands more reservists. The pagers were widely distributed among the reserve corps, according to the individual close to Hezbollah, and would be used to call them up for service — whether to fight, treat the injured or perform other duties.
    13. “This category is the most vital in the ranks of Hezbollah, which consists of people who have jobs but are on call when needed,” he said. …
    14. MIKE: When this story was first reported, there was speculation that the Israelis had detonated these devices prematurely, before they could be discovered. That they had been intended as a prelude for a major offensive against Hezbollah that didn’t seem in the offing.
    15. MIKE: Now we know that wasn’t exactly correct. Which brings me to the next story.
13. Israel Has Destroyed Half of Hezbollah’s Arsenal, U.S. and Israeli Officials Say; The Lebanese militia is seeking more weapons from Iran, the officials said. It has yet to fire large barrages at Israel, and its top ranks have been crippled by Israeli strikes. By Edward WongJulian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt | NYTIMES.COM | Oct. 1, 2024. TAGS: Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran,
    1. Israel’s recent airstrikes in Lebanon destroyed about half of the missiles and rockets that Hezbollah had accumulated over more than three decades, dealing a blow to the militia’s capabilities, according to senior Israeli and American officials.
    2. But the group’s arsenal remains formidable, with tens of thousands of projectiles across the country, and large barrages could overwhelm Israel’s “Iron Dome” anti-projectile defense system, the officials said.
    3. Hezbollah scattered its weapons across Lebanon — the country is “peppered” with them, one Israeli official said — and has been using them since last October to fire mainly into northern Israel.
    4. Israel had been making strikes in southern Lebanon, forcing tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee. But Israeli leaders decided around Sept. 17 to destroy as much of the arsenal as possible, so that the 60,000 or so Israelis who had fled northern Israel because of the persistent fire could return, two Israeli officials said. The Israeli Air Force began devastating strikes the next week.
    5. [MIKE: We know now that this must have been when the decision to detonate those booby-trapped Hezbollah devices must have been taken. Continuing …]
    6. Hezbollah, with help from Iran, took three decades to build up most of its stockpile, estimated to be anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 projectiles. After the initial attacks, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, asked Iran and Syria to replenish the arsenal, the Israeli officials and an American official said. That contributed to Israel’s decision to try to kill Mr. Nasrallah.
    7. Since Mr. Nasrallah’s killing last Friday, Lebanese officials have heeded Israel’s demands to turn away Iranian planes trying to fly into Beirut, complicating Hezbollah’s effort to get additional arms quickly, American officials say.
    8. On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had killed the Hezbollah commander in charge of arms transfers from Iran to Lebanon, Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, in an airstrike in Beirut.
    9. S. officials say Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, which began the day after Hamas carried out its devastating Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel, were an answer to Israel’s war in Gaza. They said that Hezbollah might have stopped if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, had agreed to a cease-fire.
    10. But the United States, Qatar and Egypt have failed to get a Gaza cease-fire agreement in place after many rounds of diplomacy this year.
    11. On Monday, Israel began ground operations in Lebanon. Officials said Israeli troops plan to destroy Hezbollah missile caches and launch vehicles.
    12. The two Israeli officials say they intend to continue targeting Hezbollah’s arsenal and killing the group’s commanders while they have momentum. White House officials have said they hope the ground incursion is limited, and President Biden has made calls for a cease-fire from both sides. Hundreds of Lebanese civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes, and one million have been displaced.
    13. “We are determined to return our residents in the north to their homes safely,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
    14. Despite the sizable arsenal of missiles and rockets that Hezbollah still maintains, its fighters have not fired a huge number into central Israel.
    15. [MIKE: Which is not to say that have not fired any. Continuing …]
    16. American officials say one reason is that a series of Israeli attacks, culminating last Friday in the airstrike that killed Mr. Nasrallah outside Beirut, have severely damaged the group’s command-and-control structure, leaving few senior people to give orders to lower-level fighters.
    17. The group could also be waiting for a signal from Iranian officials, who had helped build up the arsenal as a deterrent against any possible Israeli assault on Iran, officials say. If Hezbollah uses up most of the rest of its arsenal and is not able to replenish it, that deterrent disappears.
    18. And Hezbollah might prefer for Iran itself to retaliate, with its much more potent arsenal. In April, Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria. Israel, the United States and partner nations in the region shot down almost all of those.
    19. On Tuesday night in the Middle East, the Iranian military fired [nearly 200] ballistic missiles at Israel. … Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on social media that the attack was in response to “terrorist acts” by Israel that had violated Iran’s “sovereignty.”
    20. Some Israeli and American officials said they thought Israel had successfully established deterrence with Iran through a strike that Israel carried out after that April barrage from Iran. In the follow-up assault, Israel damaged one or more S-300 antiaircraft batteries that the Iranian military had placed around the ancient city of Isfahan, American officials said.
    21. Such a strike, coupled with the Israeli assassination in July of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, while he was in Tehran, showed that Israel could attack in the heart of Iran — and possibly kill Iranian leaders.
    22. Some American officials stress that the top ranks of Hezbollah have been crippled by the sudden Israeli campaign. Its leadership has been decimated, not just by the killing of Mr. Nasrallah, but also by the pager explosions and other attacks that killed and injured top and midlevel leaders over the last three weeks.
    23. The entire special operations command of Hezbollah, known as the Radwan Force, was wiped out in the Sept. 20 airstrike that killed Ibrahim Aqeel, effectively Hezbollah’s chief of military operations, in a southern suburb of Beirut, American officials say.
    24. On Monday, Naim Qassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah after Mr. Nasrallah’s death, said contingency plans had been in place to ensure alternate commanders could step up if anything happened to the group’s leaders.
    25. The heaviest recent wave of Israeli airstrikes hit 1,300 targets on Sept. 23, including sites with long-range cruise missiles, heavy rockets and drones, said Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman.
    26. Still, American officials say it is an open question if Israel’s operations can be turned into a strategic gain. How long Israel remains in southern Lebanon, how deeply Iran engages in counterattacks, what Hezbollah does to respond, and what political forces seize influence in Beirut will all be a factor in the long-term outcome.
    27. Israel carried out a violent and failed occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, one that gave birth to Hezbollah.
    28. Some American officials view the situation, particularly over the long term, with skepticism. They do not believe a military campaign in Lebanon can set back Hezbollah for long.
    29. The group has a tunnel infrastructure that is impossible to destroy absent a long-term presence in the country, which Israeli officials say they are reluctant to reoccupy. …
    30. These more pessimistic American officials say that even if Mr. Nasrallah was a singular and charismatic leader, the midlevel and even senior military commanders will be more easily replaced.
    31. While Mr. Nasrallah appeared to have become wary about ordering big attacks on Israel after the widespread destruction in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, a new leader might not have the same sense of caution.
    32. MIKE: I want to add some context to these events which I’m not hearing these days, but which used to be mentioned much more often until 20-30 years ago.
    33. MIKE: Israel cannot afford to lose a war. Israel has no territory that it can fall back on for a “defense in depth”. Strategically, the West Bank provides Israel some defense in depth, which is one reason that Israel is so reluctant to part with it. The Sinai Peninsula gave Israel some defense in depth before they signed a peace treaty with Egypt.
    34. MIKE: So Israel’s harsh reality is that it has no place to retreat to. Countries far from Israel’s borders that declared their hostility to it since 1948 posed little threat to its safety until the 21^st Now, even countries as far away from it as Iran and Yemen can launch weapons at Israel.
    35. MIKE: Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. There is some trade among them in the low billions of dollars, as well as some tactical cooperation among them.
    36. MIKE: Nonetheless, Israel’s geography is precarious. Syria still considers itself at war with Israel. To my knowledge, Lebanon’s armed forces have never fought Israel directly. In fact, Lebanon’s armed forces pulled back from the southern Lebanese border prior to Israel’s current incursion there. But Lebanon has become a vast staging area for Hezbollah and other militant groups.
    37. MIKE: The first war Israel loses will be its last war, with virtually no place to retreat. So every war it fights is literally a war for Israel’s survival. This is no doubt the reason that Israel has historically been a very aggressive, no-nonsense war fighter, with very little interest in “proportional responses” unless they suit Israel’s purposes.
    38. MIKE: I will add one possible optimistic note to current events. The world’s geopolitical situation is always evolving. Wars tend to cause rapid and dramatic changes, one way or another.
    39. MIKE: While it’s way to soon to say what the outcome of current events will be, they may create some perverse hope for Lebanon in the long run. Since the Lebanese Civil War of 1975 to 1990, Lebanon has been politically precarious. Palestinian militias effectively control Lebanon as the most potent military forces in the country, rendering the Lebanese military as barely more than a police force.
    40. MIKE: If Israel is able to sufficiently weaken Hezbollah’s forces, it might actually present an opportunity for the central Lebanese government and its military to reassert itself as the sole sovereign power it’s supposed to be in control of its own territory.
    41. MIKE: Remember I said that the Lebanese military had pulled back from the southern border 3 days before the Israeli attacks? What if Israel had given the Lebanese military some neighborly warning in advance. After all, Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon. It’s an important distinction.
    42. MIKE: Perhaps at the end of all this fighting, Hezbollah will be sufficiently weakened that it can’t reassume the commanding authority it had in Lebanon before October 7^th of last year? What if Israel returns captured territory to the Lebanese army as a peace offering rather than to Hezbollah? What if Israel even aids the Lebanese military, perhaps with US and allied help, in reasserting itself in all of Lebanon?
    43. MIKE: History has had stranger outcomes. We’ll see.

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

1. Make sure you are registered to vote! VoteTexas.GOV – Texas Voter Information
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