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:

1. Voting/2024 Presidential election,
2. Speed limit increased for Ballpark Way in League City;
3. TxDOT finalizes buyback of Highway 288; Katy City Council denies permit for energy storage facility amid community pushback;
4. Average single-family home prices in Houston remain stable in September;
5. Houston, Harris County awarded federal funding to eliminate lead in homes;
6. Elon Musk and other billionaires invest staggering sums into electing Trump, plus other takeaways from third-quarter filings;
7. The two forces at work on Biden-Netanyahu phone call;
8. Israel said to decide on targets it could strike in Iran: ‘Now a matter of time’;
9. It’s Time for America to Get Real With Iran and Israel;
10. Nuclear fusion reactor created by school teenager successfully achieved plasma;

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.

1. ELECTION INFO:
   1. The general election is Nov. 5. I’ve already sent in my mail-in ballot.
   2. As a matter of public record, for the first time in my life, I voted against the HISD bonds. The Harris County Democratic and Republican Parties have both advised a “no” vote, and even the Houston Chronicle is recommending a “no” vote. For a school bond issue, this must be unprecedented.
   3. In just about 1 week, 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). The application must arrive before the deadline.
   4. In 1 Week, Early Vote Centers will be open starting Monday, October 21– Friday, November 1 (Mon-Sat: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sun:12 p.m. – 7 p.m. )
   5. Voting Centers will accept voters from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.
   6. 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!
   7. 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.
   8. Outside of Harris County … At the bottom of every show post, I have links to the various county clerks or election clerks in counties adjacent to Harris. For Texas generally, you can reach the Texas Secretary of State by going to VoteTexas[dot]gov.
   9. I also provide below this post, over a half-dozen links to various voting information reference resources that you may find useful.
   10. REFERENCE: Voting and elections — USA.GOV (Find out how to register to vote, where your voting location is, how presidential elections work, and more about voting in the United States.)
   11. REFERENCE: Texas Election Code
   12. REFERENCE: Texas Secretary of State, Alicia Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State for Communications,
   13. REFERENCE: Brennan Center for Justice, Sean Morales-Doyle,  Director, Voting Rights Program
   14. REFERENCE: Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
   15. REFERENCE: Fort Bend County Election Administrator, John Oldham
   16. REFERENCE: League of Women Voters, Texas
   17. REFERENCE: BALLOTPEDIA — BALLOTPEDIA.ORG
   18. REFERENCE: S. Election Assistance Commission
   19. REFERENCE: 1993 National Voter Registration Act
2. This next story may seem trivial, and you may wonder why I’m even mentioning it, but it’s really short, and I thought it was interesting in its own way and in a larger frame — Speed limit increased for Ballpark Way in League City; By Rachel Leland | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:33 PM Oct 14, 2024 CDT / Updated 2:33 PM Oct 14, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Speed Limits, League City City Council,
   1. Drivers on Ballpark Way between Calder Drive and I-45 can now drive 35 miles per hour rather than the previous speed limit of 25 miles per hour.
   2. … League City City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 8 to adopt a speed limit of 35 miles per hour for the half-a-mile stretch of the three-lane roadway.
   3. A traffic analysis of drivers on Ballpark Way in spring and summer 2024 showed that at least 85% of drivers along Ballpark Way were driving at or below 41 miles per hour.
   4. … Given this data, city staff recommended to increase the speed along Ballpark Way, according to agenda documents. The reasons for the change included:
   5. Most drivers are likely to comply when the speed limit is set at or below the 85th percentile speed.
   6. Increasing the speed would promote uniform traffic flow. When most drivers are traveling at or below the speed limit, there is less variation in speed between vehicles, which can lead to safer driving conditions.
   7. [And] Paired with the other reasons, increasing the speed could reduce the number and severity of crashes.
   8. MIKE: I was actually going to ignore this story, but changed my mind. Note that I haven’t driven this road, so my comments are theoretical, but I did look into the map embedded in the story.
   9. MIKE: First, 25 miles-per-hour seems like an awfully low speed limit for any road coming off an interstate. That’s a speed I reserve for neighborhood streets where people or animals might suddenly pop out from between cars.
   10. MIKE: In my experience, many cars will do 20-25 mph at idle, without your foot even being on the gas.
   11. MIKE: But the part of the story that got my attention was the reasoning of the city council as described in the story.
   12. MIKE: I would think that speed limits are set by things like road design and condition, or local environment (such as industrial or residential, lots of vehicles entering or exiting the roadway, etc.).
   13. MIKE: But this decision seemed to be guided almost entirely by the speed of 85% of the vehicles using the road, where that 85% was going an average 16 mph over the legal speed limit. If ticketed, that’s a significant fine.
   14. MIKE: Note that this is a 3-lane road. From the aerial photo, you have one lane in each direction plus a turn lane. It appears that that middle lane is absolutely not intended as a passing lane.
   15. MIKE: Potentially, there is some valid logic to increasing the speed limit if almost no one is obeying it. It can make traffic safer because you don’t have some drivers going so slowly that other drivers feel frustrated enough to attempt risky maneuvers to get around them.
   16. MIKE: I might look back historically at why that speed limit was set at 25 mph in the first place. Was it more rural many decades ago? Was there more slow-moving agriculture-related traffic at one time that made the slower speed limit safer?
   17. MIKE: And finally, is it appropriate to raise the speed limit in the absence of any additional signage to manage the traffic flow? Perhaps there might be signs warning of trucks or cars unexpectedly entering the roadway, or even pedestrian alerts.
   18. MIKE: I just wanted to add my thoughts on why a speed limit might be adjusted and under what circumstances, as well as what might be the best way to implement such a change.
3. TxDOT finalizes buyback of Highway 288; By James T. Norman | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:38 PM Oct 9, 2024 CDT / Updated 2:38 PM Oct 9, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Texas SH-288, Harris County, Toll Roads, TxDOT,
   1. Drivers heading down Highway 288 in Harris County could soon see tolls reduced after the state acquired the toll road, officials with the Texas Department of Transportation said in an Oct. 8 news release.
   2. … The agency announced it terminated the SH 288 Comprehensive Development Agreement, which will bring operations of the toll road under the state, according to the release. The state has effectively acquired the road, worth $4 billion, for $1.7 billion.
   3. “This type of buyout is unprecedented in the United States and is a very big win for SH 288 drivers and our taxpayers,” TxDOT Executive Director Marc D. Williams said in the release.
   4. Tolling policies will not change in the short-term but officials expect future rates to be reduced and rise at a slower rate under TxDOT, according to the release. Those funds will also help fund ongoing maintenance on the highway.
   5. Officials did not provide any estimate on the timeline of this change or how much tolls could be reduced by.
   6. … As part of the announcement, TxDOT noted they will also begin to build two free general-purpose lanes along portions of Highway 288 between IH 610 and Beltway 8 by no later than 2030, according to the release. The addition will consist of one lane in each direction, thus widening the highway to eight lanes total.
   7. This project will also be paid for using toll revenue, according to the release.
   8. MIKE: For the record, I’m opposed to toll roads on principle. I understand the logic of users paying for the use of infrastructure so that non-users don’t have to, but I prefer the model that if infrastructure is worth having, it’s worth a community paying for it through general tax revenue.
   9. MIKE: I also consider toll roads discriminatory against lower income travelers.
   10. MIKE: But in that context, anything that may reduce tolls while maintaining or increasing infrastructure is a good thing.
   11. MIKE: Over time, we’ll see if the performance matches the promises.
4. Next, this is a coming thing in Texas and elsewhere. It’s interesting to see how various communities deal with the question when it’s in their backyard — Katy City Council denies permit for energy storage facility amid community pushback; By Kelly Schafler | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 4:10 PM Oct 15, 2024 CDT / Updated 4:10 PM Oct 15, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Battery Energy Storage Station (BESS), Katy City Council,
   1. After hearing opposition from multiple residents Oct. 14, Katy City Council denied a special use permit for a proposed battery storage facility due to concerns about environmental risks, and the project’s proximity to schools and homes.
   2. … Vesper Energy, a Texas-based energy supplier, applied in August for a special use permit to build Ochoa Energy Storage on a roughly 24-acre property at 27051 Highway Blvd., Katy, according to agenda documents.
   3. A battery energy storage station, or BESS, is a facility of batteries that collects and stores excess energy and sells it back to the electric grid—run statewide by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas [ERCOT]—when more power is needed, said Alex Rohr, Vesper Energy’s community affairs manager.
   4. [Rohr said at the Sept. 23 meeting,] “Battery energy storage systems will help add grid resiliency and security, help prevent blackouts, and also have proven to lower electric costs and price spikes.”
   5. The power would have been stored in containers on five acres of the property, providing up to 500 megawatts of lithium-ion powered energy, said Sands Green, lead project developer with Vesper Energy, at the Sept. 23 meeting.
   6. … Residents at the Oct. 14 meeting said they were worried about the project’s proximity to schools and homes, environmental concerns with the land being in Snake Creek’s floodplain, and potential safety risks, such as if the batteries were to combust.
   7. Katy resident Lindsay Gilley said she supports the “energy revolution” and owns an electric vehicle, but she doesn’t agree with the proposed placement of the storage facility.
   8. [But she said,] “It is too close to Katy High School and the outdoor learning center. This needs to be built elsewhere—not directly adjacent to a public school where several thousand people attend.”
   9. … Meanwhile, several Katy residents and officials spoke in favor of the project at the Sept. 23 meeting, saying the company would give back to Katy ISD schools and bring job growth.
   10. Angie Thomason, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council, said her staff believed it would bring benefits to the area.
   11. “The grid reliability is important in this area,” Thomason said. “With all the economic growth in the Katy area, I think it’s very beneficial. The area they’re wanting to go is zoned industrial. The tax revenue for the ISD as well as the city, I think, is beneficial.”
   12. … While Katy City Council unanimously denied the permit application, council member Gina Hicks said she was “disheartened” by the community’s reaction but would vote against the facility to mirror residents’ opinions.
   13. She said this likely won’t be the last application the city receives as the elected officials and companies look to bolster the state’s energy grid.
   14. … Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said city staff and administration will assess the city’s industrial codes and bring it back to City Council.
   15. “Though I strongly do support efforts to strengthen our electric and power grids, this facility is just not a good area or maybe, potentially, not in a good area of this region,” he said.
   16. MIKE: It’s interesting how various speakers held positions that were almost entirely predictable: Residents being against it and the Katy Area Economic Development Council being for it.
   17. MIKE: I think that we are going to be hearing an increasing number of local and regional stories in this vein.
   18. MIKE: On my October 3^rd show, we discussed this very same topic, but in League City.
   19. MIKE: On Sept. 24, the League City City Council voted 6-2 to approve an ordinance that would allow a BESS to be built. Leading up to that final vote in League City, pretty much the same arguments about residential neighborhoods had been made to the city council there, but League City went a different way, ultimately approving it.
   20. MIKE: While this story makes no mention of it, which I found surprising, I find it hard to imagine that the League City example didn’t come up in council deliberations.
   21. MIKE: Lithium-Ion batteries have a mixed reputation. They’re a proven, reliable, and energy-dense technology that has been widely accepted for this application.
   22. MIKE: On the other hand, they are also a proven fire hazard. People with cars powered by Lithium-Ion batteries have been cautioned not to park them in attached garages, and airlines have strict rules about flying them in the passenger compartment.
   23. MIKE: Siting a BESS in this sort of location presents ripe potential for other, less inflammatory battery technologies (no pun intended) that are less energy efficient, but don’t present the same environmental risks.
   24. MIKE: I went into some detail on a few of these alternate power storage technologies on my show from May 1, 2024 (Item #6).
   25. MIKE: As I said on that show, “Of the various technologies being used or explored for utility energy storage, Iron-Air batteries may be the best solution currently known. They’re not useful for device storage because they charge and discharge more slowly, and they are not as energy dense as lithium-based batteries. But for utility-scale renewable energy storage, they are much cheaper per kilowatt hour of storage than large lithium batteries. Iron-air batteries are also much more massive per kilowatt of storage, but that doesn’t matter much for large utilities. And they are much less prone to catch fire than lithium-based batteries. There are pilot projects for these batteries in current development.”
   26. MIKE: There may come a time in the not-so-distant future when cities like Katy, that are not so keen on having large lithium-based storage close to their communities, may be more welcoming of projects using iron-air battery storage. Iron-air technology uses more land, but given the sizes of the parcels typically being discussed, I don’t see that as a limiting factor.
   27. REFERENCE: May 1+2+5, 2024 — THINKWING RADIO
   28. REFERENCE: Startup Form Energy’s ‘100-hour’ iron-air battery tech attracts another US utility’s attention; By Andy Colthorpe | ENERGY-STORAGE.NEWS | January 8, 2024
5. Average single-family home prices in Houston remain stable in September; By Carson Weaver | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:12 PM Oct 14, 2024 CDT / Updated 2:12 PM Oct 14, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Real Estate, Houston Home Sales,
   1. Average home prices in Houston remained relatively flat in September at $415,435, a 0.3% increase from September 2023, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ Monthly Housing Update released Oct. 9.
   2. … Single-family home sales increased 1.7% since September 2023, with 6,973 units sold in September, according to the report.
   3. The report also found [that] Housing inventory increased from a 3.4 months supply to a 4.4 months supply year over year;
   4. September marked the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines for total property sales;
   5. Total active listings in September were up 25% from September 2023.
   6. Also of note — According to the report, sales in September for homes priced between:
   7. $1-$99,999 increased 3.5%; $100,000-$149,999 decreased4%; $150,000-$249,999 decreased 0.3%; $250,000-$499,999 increased 4.2%; $500,000-$999,999 decreased 3.6%; [and] $1 million-plus increased 2%.
   8. … “The Houston housing market is demonstrating a healthy balance,” HAR Chair Thomas Mouton said via news release. “The rise in sales, expansion of inventory and stable prices indicate a market that is adapting to changing economic conditions.”
   9. MIKE: The huge increase in listings is critically important. My realtor friend, Brad Stevens of bradisthekey.com, had these comments on this article:
   10. BRAD: “Trends are important in real estate as they tend to hold course over many months at a time, and don’t veer too much up and down. The stability in prices shows the continued resiliency of the Houston market compared to other larger markets across the US.
   11. BRAD: “We have a market with fewer sales, especially at the lower price points, and less dramatic increases in the higher priced markets like we [saw] in August 2023 (as noted in the chart below), with an astounding 21.3% increase in sales at that time of homes [priced] $1M and above.
   12. BRAD: “More affordably priced homes are more difficult to find, and this will not change with the continued market appreciation.
   13. BRAD: “Increased inventory, yet increasing average home prices: Average price of a single-family home edged up by 0.9 percent to $421,912 while the median price declined slightly, 0.3 percent, to $336,940. What does this mean? In my opinion, market stability. We have rates that have stayed below 7% since June and since mid-August, below 6.5%. Compared to the last 4-5 years, when we have had a completely depleted inventory, generationally low interest rates, and abnormally low unemployment, the market is finally finding the sweet spot we need to have more balance. Houston’s economy in the last couple [of] decades has proven its resiliency through economic stresses and will continue to do so, especially compared to Austin. …
   14. BRAD: “AUGUST 2023 [home sales, year-over-year] — $1 – $99,999: decreased 1.1 percent; $100,000 – $149,999: decreased 8.5 percent; $150,000 – $249,999: decreased 1.1 percent; $250,000 – $499,999: decreased 4.7 percent; $500,000 – $999,999: decreased 3.4 percent.”
   15. MIKE: So I might say that generally speaking, good news for home buyers and neutral news for home sellers.
   16. MIKE: If you might be in the market, with the prospect of mortgage rates easing some over the next several months, and depending on the price range you’re searching in, now might be a reasonable time to start looking, or even just considering looking at a home purchase.
   17. MIKE: That average home price of ~$415k may feel hopeless for a lot of folks out there, so let’s re-examine what an “average” price means. If you take all the homes purchased during a given time frame, add those numbers, and then divide by the number of transactions, that’s an average. So a relatively few very expensive home transactions can significantly effect the average price.
   18. MIKE: If you’re looking for a starter home in a low price range, a 23.4% decrease in home sales priced from $100k to $150k might be considered a hopeful sign, or it might mean there’s not much available there.
   19. MIKE: I think that these days, a moderately-priced “starter home” might be in the $150k-$250k price range. That those sales were down slightly in September might also offer some potential bargaining leverage if you’re looking in that price range.
   20. MIKE: So, if you are in the market for a home or will be in the coming months, I wish you good luck.
6. Houston, Harris County awarded federal funding to eliminate lead in homes; By Carson Weaver | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:37 PM Oct 15, 2024 CDT/Updated 3:36 PM Oct 15, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Lead Plumbing, Houston, Harris County, S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
   1. The city of Houston and Harris County received $7.75 million and $5.75 million, respectively, in grant funding from the S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove lead hazards from homes and other HUD-assisted properties, according to an Oct. 8 news release.
   2. … HUD gave out over $420 million in federal funding across 32 states to help remove lead and other hazards from homes and to facilitate research on lead hazards.
   3. With the funding, Houston will address lead and other hazards in 230 housing units, while Harris County will address lead and other hazards in 150 housing units, according to the HUD’s project summaries document.
   4. The federal funding is part of an effort by the Biden-Harris administration to address lead hazards in America, which will require drinking water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years, according to the release.
   5. … Approximately 3.6 million American households have children 6 years of age who live in homes with lead exposure hazards, according to HUD. Lead poisoning in children can lead to damage to the brain, slowed growth and development and learning problems, according to the CDC.
   6. Meanwhile, in an 15 news release, Houston Public Works [HPW] announced the department is working to identify and replace lead pipes across the city to replace them within 10 years.
   7. HPW has not found any lead pipes in its service lines, according to the release.
   8. … “Addressing lead poisoning is a top priority at HUD,” HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman said in the release. “The awards announced here today will help with HUD’s continued commitment to create housing that is safe.”
   9. MIKE: When I was a kid in Brooklyn in the 1950s, my parents used to tell me to run the water for a few minutes (I think the number was 10) before drinking it. I don’t recall them explaining why I should do that, plus 10 minutes at the age of 5 is eternity, so I probably ran the water for a minute at most.
   10. MIKE: It’s only as an adult that although modern codes have changed. I began to learn not only that main water pipes were lead, but that copper plumbing and even household fixtures like kitchen and bathroom faucets were once soldered with lead.
   11. MIKE: Even to this day, one of the reasons you should not drink out of a garden hose is that lead content restrictions are less strict in hoses and hose bibs.
   12. MIKE: While the story does not say specifically, I’m inclined to interpret “HUD-assisted properties” as being dwellings that fall under Section 8 and similar housing programs.
   13. MIKE: It’s unfortunate that we can’t just wave a magic wand to fix these sorts of problems and that a generation of kids will fail to benefit from a program like this, but change is always a process. Hence the phrase, “Better late than never.”
7. I’ve cut this down as much as I could, but it’s necessarily a long piece. — Elon Musk and other billionaires invest staggering sums into electing Trump, plus other takeaways from third-quarter filings; By David Wright, Fredreka Schouten, Matt Holt and Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN | CNN.COM | Published 3:27 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024. TAGS: Billionaires, Miriam Adelson, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Federal Election Commission, Richard Uihlein, Political Campaign Contributions, 2024 Elections,
   1. Some of the world’s wealthiest figures – led by conservative donor Miriam Adelson and tech billionaire Elon Musk – have funneled tens of millions of dollars into political groups in recent months to boost Donald Trump’s White House bid, new reports filed Tuesday with federal regulators show.
   2. Musk, the world’s richest person, gave nearly $75 million to a pro-Trump super PAC that he helped form over the summer – a massive cash infusion aimed at helping turn out voters in key battleground states. Adelson, a staunch Trump backer and heir to a casino fortune, gave even more, plowing $95 million into another outside group backing the former president, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission covering the three months ended September 30.
   3. Altogether, just three billionaires – Musk, Adelson and Midwestern packaging magnate Richard Uihlein [Pron.: “YOO-line”] – donated roughly $220 million in a three-month period to groups backing the Republican’s candidacy.
   4. Their staggering donations underscore the crucial role that a handful of billionaire megadonors are playing in Trump’s efforts to edge past his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as their race has intensified.
   5. Harris has set a blistering pace – raising $1 billion since she became the Democratic standard-bearer in late July – a milestone achieved faster than any other presidential contender. And Tuesday’s filings show that a high-dollar fundraising committee that channels money to her campaign and aligned Democratic committees, took in $633 million during the third quarter – four times the amount raised by Trump’s equivalent fundraising arm in that time.
   6. But Harris’ team has implored her supporters to send in even more – highlighting both the billionaire backing for Trump’s candidacy and her campaign’s scramble to reach the still-undecided voters in battleground states that her aides hope will break for the vice president in the final sprint to Election Day.
   7. In the battle for control of Congress, meanwhile, individual Democratic incumbents and candidates in some key Senate and House races widened their financial advantage over their Republican opponents. Deep-pocketed Republican donors also tried to close the gap by boosting a GOP super PAC working to seize the Senate majority.
   8. Here are some key takeaways from the filings:
   9. Billionaires back a Trump return to the White House — Musk has emerged as a significant force in Trump’s bid to return to the White House. America PAC, the super PAC Musk funds, has unleashed a massive door-knocking operation in states such as Pennsylvania on Trump’s behalf – though the strategy of a presidential campaign outsourcing its field operation is largely untested.
   10. According to filings through the weekend, America PAC had reported spending nearly $96 million on the presidential race, including just under $57 million on canvassing and field operations.
   11. … America PAC detailed seven separate contributions from Musk that totaled close to $75 million between the start of July and end of September … . It received its initial funding from a network of the billionaire’s former partners and business associates.
   12. Musk was its sole donor during the third quarter, however. …
   13. Tuesday’s filings show other conservative billionaires also plowing extraordinary sums into the effort to reelect Trump.
   14. Adelson’s $95 million went to another leading pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America, – accounting for virtually all of the money it collected during the July-to-September quarter. … Miriam Adelson has now given the group a total of $100 million this year.
   15. Preserve America has spent nearly all that it raised in the third quarter and has dropped nearly $92 million on independent expenditures, mostly in ads.
   16. Advertising data shows that Preserve America still has about $29 million worth of ad time booked for the month of October through Election Day, including to boost Trump in the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
   17. Another leading pro-Trump super PAC, Restoration PAC, also reported a huge haul from a single major donor. Uihlein gave about $49 million to the group in the third quarter. In all, Uihlein has now given nearly $59 million this year to Restoration PAC, which is currently spending millions on the air in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia.
   18. Other Trump supporters [have also contributed] big sums during the third quarter …
   19. Harris has also benefited from a major outside effort funded by big-money donors.
   20. FF PAC, the lead super PAC backing the vice president’s campaign, has bought a total of $371 million worth of ad time since the start of 2023, according to AdImpact data, including to support President Biden before he ended his reelection bid in July. It is the largest single outside advertiser in the presidential race.
   21. FF PAC will disclose its September fundraising and spending activity on Sunday. But through the end of August, according to its most recent filings, the group had reported raising more than $200 million this election cycle, including receiving $19 million from the billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $10 million from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. …
   22. Big donors also fuel [the] fight for Congress — Leading super PACs targeting Senate races reported huge fundraising totals in the third quarter, with Democrats’ narrow majority on the line.
   23. Senate Majority PAC, a top Democratic super PAC aligned with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, raised over $119 million during the third quarter …, edging past the roughly $116 million raised by its Republican counterpart, the Senate Leadership Fund.
   24. Senate Majority PAC received $30 million from a Democratic dark money organization, Majority Forward, along with seven-figure contributions from some of the party’s top wealthy supporters, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker ($2.5 million), former Google CEO Eric Schmidt ($2 million) and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings (just under $2 million).
   25. The Senate Leadership Fund’s receipts also showed some of the leading donors to Republican candidates and causes opening their wallets. They included Citadel CEO Ken Griffin (… bringing his annual total to $27.5 million), Elliott Management co-CEO Paul Singer (… bringing his annual total to $20 million) and Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman ($9 million).
   26. In addition, Miriam Adelson gave the fund $5 million in the third quarter, bringing her annual contribution to the group up to $15 million.
   27. Meanwhile, the Congressional Leadership Fund – the main super PAC supporting House Republicans – hauled in more than $81 million in the third quarter. Timothy Mellon … donated $5 million to the group, and Adelson gave an additional $4 million. The group entered October with nearly $153 million on hand.
   28. Its Democratic counterpart, House Majority PAC, files on a monthly basis and raised nearly $20 million in July and $11.5 million in August and said it raised $69 million in September, according to The New York Times.
   29. … With Republicans almost certain to flip West Virginia’s Senate seat, Democrats hoping to keep their majority in the chamber cannot afford to lose another seat … . Their top priority is defending two vulnerable red-state incumbents: Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Donors have responded accordingly.
   30. No Senate candidate, incumbent or challenger, raised more than Tester. The Montana dirt farmer raised $32 million in the third quarter and entered October with more than $7 million on hand. His Republican challenger, retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, raised about $10 million and had $4 million banked.
   31. Brown raised a staggering $31 million – a sizable increase from the $13 million he raised in the second quarter – and ended the quarter with more than $4 million in the bank. His GOP opponent, businessman Bernie Moreno, raised $6.5 million and entered October with $3 million on hand.
   32. Democratic candidates in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Maryland – all states that feature on CNN’s list of the top Senate seats most likely to flip – outraised their Republican opponents in the third quarter by significant margins.
   33. In battleground Wisconsin, Republican banker Eric Hovde, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, loaned his campaign $7 million in the third quarter, bringing his self-funding total to $20 million. Baldwin, for her part, raised more than $13 million in the three-month period.
   34. And in Texas – a rare potential pickup opportunity for Democrats – Rep. Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee, swamped two-term GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, $30 million to about $18 million, in third-quarter fundraising. Cruz, however, entered October with a massive cash advantage.
   35. … In the battle for the House, where Republicans are defending a razor-thin majority, Democratic candidates entered the final stretch of the campaign in a better financial position.
   36. In 32 districts that Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rate as a “toss-up” or tilting toward one party, Democrats, on average, raised $2.6 million and had about $1.8 million in cash on hand entering October. The average Republican candidate raised about $1.1 million and had $1.4 million left to spend for the final weeks of the race … .
   37. A few candidates in the 32 races stood out for reporting quarterly hauls not usually seen in House contests. In Virginia’s 7th District, Democrat Eugene Vindman – the twin brother of a star witness at Trump’s first impeachment trial – raised an eye-popping $6.5 million in the third quarter. The closest House candidate to match Vindman was Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, who raised about $4 million in the same period.
   38. MIKE: This article might alternatively be titled, “Billionaires Try Buying America”.
   39. MIKE: That so few people can invest so much money in a political candidate should appall anyone who cares about such things, whether Republican or Democrat. And this is money that we know about, as opposed to “dark” money contributions.
   40. MIKE: The good news for Democrats is that they have a few megadonors and millions of small donors.
   41. MIKE: If Democrats take power in the White House and both houses of Congress, this open-ended money spigot must get throttled in a way that the Supreme Court doesn’t equate to infringing on free (moneyed) speech.
8. This next story from BBC[DOT]COM] last week helps put the story that follows in context — The two forces at work on Biden-Netanyahu phone call; By Jeremy Bowen, International editor | BBC.COM | Oct. 9, 2024. TAGS: Middle East, Israel-Gaza war, Israel, Gaza, Iran, Hamas, Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
   1. [On Wednesday, last week,] US President Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu … held a much-anticipated 30-minute phone call — believed to be their first contact since August — which included discussions on Israel’s intended retaliation to Iran’s missile strike last week.
   2. The White House described the dialogue as “direct” and “productive”, and said Biden and Netanyahu had agreed to stay in “close contact” in coming days. Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call.
   3. Speaking shortly afterwards, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said its attack against Iran would be “deadly, precise and above all surprising”.
   4. Two forces are at work. One is Joe Biden’s reluctance to see the US dragged into a war with Iran …
   5. The other is a strong sense among some in Israel that they have an opportunity to deal a body blow to Iran – their mortal enemy.
   6. Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah has energised Israelis who were desperate to break out of the grinding war of attrition on their border with Lebanon.
   7. Lebanon, for them, felt like success and progress, a stark contrast to the position in Gaza. …
   8. Hamas is still fighting, and still holds around 100 hostages, many of whom might be dead.
   9. The damage done to Israel’s enemies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, has produced in some Israelis an urgent conviction to go further and mount a direct assault on Iran.
   10. For them, a devastating air attack on Iran is a seductive prospect.
   11. Top of the target list for many Israelis are the heavily fortified sites, some driven deep into mountains where Iran houses nuclear facilities that Israel and others fear could be used to make a bomb.
   12. President Biden has made clear the US opposes the idea.
   13. The US believes Iran is not about to make a nuclear weapon. An attack could push them to construct one.
   14. One of the most prominent voices in Israel pressing Netanyahu to ignore US wishes is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett [an Israeli Conservative] who says Israel must not hesitate to act against what he calls the Iranian octopus. …
   15. Like the opposition politician and former general Benny Gantz, Bennett believes Iran is weaker than it has been for decades because of the damage done to Hezbollah and Hamas. …
   16. Bennett sees the moment as a once in a generation opportunity to do real damage to Iran’s Islamic Regime. …
   17. Bennett recalled two Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities he believes made the Middle East much safer – in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007. …
   18. Iran and Israel have been in direct conflict since April, after Israel assassinated leading Iranian generals with a big airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria.
   19. Iran’s retaliation was a missile strike on Israel. The escalation has continued. …
   20. President Biden was reluctant to restrain Israel in Gaza. And has “urged” Israel to minimise harm to civilians in Lebanon. … President Biden has said Israel must defend itself – but not by attacking Iranian nuclear sites – or its oil industry.
   21. [The US fears getting dragged into a war it doesn’t want and believes Iran is not about to make a nuclear weapon. But] there are concerns that if Iran can ride out an attack it will go for broke to produce a nuclear warhead for its missiles.
   22. The next phases in this … war depend on the extent of Israel’s retaliation – which may come any day now.
9. Now there’s THIS week’s story — Israel said to decide on targets it could strike in Iran: ‘Now a matter of time’; By ToI Staff | TIMESOFISRAEL.COM | Oct. 16, 2024 @ 6:22 am. TAGS: Israel, Iran, Islamic Republic, President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
   1. Israel has decided on the targets it could potentially strike in Iran, according to Israeli television reports Tuesday, suggesting it was moving closer to responding to the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile attack last month.
   2. According to Channel 12 news, the military presented a list of targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as it finalizes preparations, which include “sensitive coordination” with other countries in the region….
   3. “The targets are clear. Now it’s a matter of time,” an Israeli source told the broadcaster.
   4. The report also said that Israel had described its general attack plans to the US but had yet to give an update on specific targets, while quoting a source familiar with the matter acknowledging “the targets could also change at the 11th hour.” …
   5. Gallant vowed that Israel “will soon respond” to Iran. “It will be a precise and deadly response,” he told the families.
   6. Both his comments and the TV reports came after the Washington Post reported Netanyahu told President Joe Biden during a call on October 8 that Israel’s retaliation will not include strikes on non-military sites, citing an official who said the attack will be designed to avoid “political interference in the US elections.”
   7. According to the newspaper, Netanyahu’s softening stance was a key factor in the US decision to send an advanced anti-ballistic missile air defense system to Israel. …
   8. Responding to the Washington Post report in a late-night message, the Prime Minister’s Office indicated that Israel’s security needs would trump any other calculus.
   9. [Netanyahu’s office said in a statement,] “We listen to the American government’s thoughts, but will make our final decisions based on Israel’s national security needs.”
   10. Previous reports have suggested that the call between Netanyahu and Biden, the first in some two months, had helped bring Washington and Jerusalem closer together on the Iran issue after the countries appeared to stop coordinating on Israeli strikes against Hezbollah amid fraying ties between the leaders.
   11. However, an official quoted by Axios after the call said Israel’s planned response was still more aggressive than the US would prefer.
   12. MIKE: I think that this helps to address the reasons and timing of the US deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Israel, along with about a hundred US troops to operate it. This probably amounted to a quid pro quo for Israel to sympathetically hear US objections to some of the targets on their potential attack list.
   13. MIKE: This deployment of US troops to Israeli soil is not a trivial policy change, but it may not be materially very different from US Navy ships shooting down missiles heading to Israel from various sea-based assets. It’s still the US participating in Israeli air defenses, though putting them on Israeli soil is an incremental shift.
   14. MIKE: If the THAAD system ultimately remains in Israel permanently, the US might train Israeli troops to operate it and withdraw US people. And if the US does make stationing THAAD systems in Israel permanent, it is likely that the Israelis will come up with system improvements that they would then share with the US. This has happened many times before.
10. In this geopolitical vein, Tom Friedman wrote the following opinion piece in the NY Times. @hchoung92 (pronounced H Chung), a friend of mine on THREADS, called it “ridiculous, drivel of geopolitical fanfic”, which was a turn of phrase that I rather liked. But she also acknowledged that she didn’t disagree with the basic ideas as outlined, if it were possible. The story is titled… — It’s Time for America to Get Real With Iran and Israel; NO PAYWALL]. By Thomas L. Friedman, Opinion Columnist | NYTIMES.COM | Oct. 15, 2024. TAGS: United States, Iran, Israel, Arab gulf states, Hamas, Hezbollah, Persian Gulf, Arab oil fields,
    1. Let’s review the latest headlines: The United States is sending an advanced antimissile system to Israel, along with U.S. troops to operate it. Iran’s foreign minister says there will be “no red lines” governing Iran’s retaliation for any Israeli retaliation for Iran’s latest missile retaliation. And reports from the Persian Gulf say Iran has quietly told Arab gulf states that if Iran is hit by Israel, Tehran may respond by striking Arab oil fields. If all of this does not terrify you, you are not paying attention.
    2. [Friedman then asks if he may] make a suggestion?
    3. How about sending our savvy C.I.A. director, Bill Burns, to meet his Iranian counterpart on neutral turf in Muscat, Oman, with a real strategy for coercive diplomacy vis-à-vis Iran that might actually work to change the Tehran regime’s behavior? Burns could say to the Iranian intelligence chief something like the following:
    4. “Let me tell you how your country looks from C.I.A. headquarters: You are infiltrated, exposed and isolated.
    5. “Infiltrated? We heard that the latest joke going around Tehran is that your supreme leader is in hiding and the only ones who know where he is are the Israelis. Israel’s intelligence is very good, but the only reason it could have penetrated your leadership and Hezbollah’s so deeply is that so many Iranian and Lebanese Shiites hate both regimes and are ready to spy for Israel. So, you have no idea today when you talk to one another or to Hezbollah whether the person you’re talking to is working for Israel or you.
    6. “Exposed? You, Iran, have fired nearly 500 rockets at Israel since April and did not destroy a single military target or kill a single Israeli soldier. I don’t have to tell you that on April 19, an Israeli airstrike on Iran damaged an S-300 air defense system at the Eighth Shekari Air Base in Isfahan. It was reported that Israel had deployed aerial drones and fired at least one missile from a warplane with stealth technology — and you never saw them coming. You are N-A-K-E-D.
    7. “And finally, you are isolated. Israel has badly damaged your Hezbollah militia, in which you have invested billions of dollars, so it is no longer your protection against an Israeli strike on your nuclear facilities. We have inflicted heavy damage on your Houthi militia in Yemen. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is fed up with you and wants you out of his country, and the Arab gulf states are now doing all they can to woo Assad away from Iran. The mainstream Iraqi Shiite party led by Muqtada al-Sadr hates you for the way your regime and militias have stolen so much oil revenue from Iraq and dragged your Iraqi proxies into your fight with Israel. Polls show how unpopular your regime is across the Arab world. Even Vladimir Putin does not want to see you get a nuclear bomb. A nuclear-armed Iran to his south? He’s not that crazy.
    8. “So this is a moment of truth for Iran. You have two paths: Either change your behavior or risk collapsing under the weight of your own recklessness. But when I say change your behavior, this time I mean something different from when we negotiated the nuclear agreement with you during the Obama administration.
    9. “We made a mistake back then. We were obsessed with curbing the weapon you were never likely to use — a nuclear bomb, if you could even make one — while ignoring the weapon you were using every day to undermine our interests, the interests of our Arab allies, indeed the interests of most citizens in the region craving stability, not to mention Israel. And that was your implantation of militias armed with increasingly more precise and longer-and-longer-range rockets in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Your proxies crippled those states from the inside and threatened Israel and our Arab allies on the outside.
    10. “We are not playing that game anymore. If you continue using your regional militias to attack Israel and you get into a no-holds-barred missile shootout with Tel Aviv, we are going to protect the Israelis, and you are going to get absolutely hammered. And if you carry out your threat to attack Saudi or U.A.E. oil fields to deter us, or close the Strait of Hormuz, your oil industry will be crushed. And your people will not forgive you. No wonder our intel tells us that you are panicked about an Israeli strike.
    11. “So, here is what we propose: an end to Iranian imperialism in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Gaza in return for our commitment not to bring down your regime, but instead engage with you on building a regionwide collective security arrangement. You pull back, we pull back and Israel pulls back. But this nonsense of you nurturing failed states in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq so that their people can all fight and die while you cheer safely from Tehran — that stops now.
    12. “We are not out to humiliate you. You can call it a win for your regime that the Great Satan has recognized Iran as a necessary part of any regional collective security system. But the arming of Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Shiite militias in Iraq is over. You stop that, and we will get the Israelis to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Gaza. The Lebanese Army and a credible, lethal, international force will replace Hezbollah, and an Arab peacekeeping force will replace Hamas. We will also encourage Israel to limit any retaliatory strike against you.
    13. “Otherwise, you are on your own.”
    14. My point is that if we want a peaceful and better Middle East, we need to sharpen the choices for Iran’s clerical leadership: restart nuclear talks, end the supplying of thousands of rockets to its proxies and be able to stay in power — or we will give Israel every weapon in our conventional arsenal, including the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs designed to destroy their deeply buried nuclear facilities and the B-2 bombers to deliver them.
    15. As Karim Sadjadpour, Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, put it to me: The supreme leader Ali Khamenei “has long believed that continued enmity with America and Israel is more vital to the survival of his regime than rapprochement or reform. For that dynamic to possibly shift, Khamenei must face a profound sense of existential angst, one that convinces him that the current trajectory risks the very collapse of his regime.’’
    16. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the former U.S. Central Command chief, who oversaw the 2020 killing of Qassim Suleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, agrees: “Iran may seem unpredictable at times,’’ he said in The Atlantic, “but it respects American strength and responds to deterrence. When we withdraw, Iran advances. When we assert ourselves — having weighed the risks and prepared for all possibilities — Iran retreats.”
    17. That is why we need to confront Iran with an overwhelming, credible threat of force, coupled with a diplomatic survival pathway out, but one that this time addresses both Iran’s nuclear threat and regional behavior. Our job is to change Iran’s behavior; regime change is the job of the Iranian people. I believe the best way for that regime to lose its grip is to deprive it of the oxygen of permanent conflict with Israel and America — and all the excuses that Iran’s clerical tyrants give for why their people are so isolated and impoverished.
    18. But I don’t stop there. We also need to sharpen the choices for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel: We must not be in the business of making Israel safe so that a radical messianic government can annex the West Bank. If we are going to keep resupplying Israel with missiles and even dispatch U.S.-run missile systems, Bibi needs to purge the settler lunatics from his cabinet, forge a national unity coalition and agree to open talks with a reformed Palestinian Authority — with a new technocratic cabinet led by credible leaders like former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad — on a two-state solution.
    19. That would pave the way for the U.A.E. and other moderate Arab states to deploy troops to Gaza and for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel and forge a security agreement with Washington.
    20. Let me put this as clearly as I can: This crisis in the Middle East will not end until Israel clearly defines its eastern border and declares that everything beyond it is reserved for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, once Palestinians meet the legitimate security requirements Israel needs to accept a two-state solution. Israel needs to be out of the Jewish settlements business — now. Israel’s creeping West Bank annexation is destroying its legitimacy as a democracy, when its self-defense requires all the friends it can get in the region and beyond.
    21. Even more important, though, this crisis in the Middle East will not end until Iran, in effect, defines its western border and declares that everything beyond that is for the Lebanese, Syrians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Israelis and Palestinians to decide — so long as they respect Iran’s legitimate security needs. Iran needs to be out of the Islamic imperialism business.
    22. In short, we really need some creative, coercive U.S. diplomacy right now to finally put an end to both Israel’s and Iran’s colonial projects, which feed each other. That is the necessary but not sufficient condition for defusing the madness in this region. Israel cannot afford to be in a long-term, large-scale missile war with Iran. It is too small. Iran is too big and the United States is running low on interceptors to protect Israel — should Iran and all its proxies fire on Israel at once. And Iran cannot afford to be in a large-scale missile war with Israel because the United States and its allies have run out of patience with its reckless adventurism that is destabilizing the whole region.
    23. MIKE: There may come a time in the future where an approach something like the one Friedman suggests may become feasible. I give him credit for some original thinking in a meta context. At a time when many countries in Israel’s part of the world may be ready for peaceful coexistence, national recognition of Israel, and even mutual trade and defense cooperation, the current fighting may be a last gasp of some forces fighting the inevitable by keeping the violence going.
11. Nuclear fusion reactor created by school teenager successfully achieved plasma; The aim of the reactor is to create conditions that are required for fusion. By Prabhat Ranjan Mishra | INTERESTINGENGINEERING.COM | Updated: Aug 17, 2024 11:26 AM EST. TAGS: Nuclear Fuston,
    1. A student has successfully developed a small nuclear fusion reactor as part of his A-Levels. The 17-year-old built the reactor to generate neutrons as part of his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).
    2. Notably, Cesare Mencarini’s work is claimed to be the only nuclear reactor built in a school environment.
    3. Showcased at the Cambridge Science Festival recently, the nuclear reactor achieved plasma a few months ago. It also gave Mencarini an A* in his A-Level results, according to reports.
    4. It wasn’t easy for Mencarini to convince his teachers for the project. The faculty members even though that the project could be dangerous and pose a significant threat.
    5. … [Said Mencarini,] “The college was initially concerned that this project, which I have also used for my EPQ, was dangerous. However, we did full risk assessments, and the staff have been so supportive.”
    6. Finally, after spending 18 months of hard work on the project, Mencarini successfully developed the small reactor.
    7. The teen aims to apply for a degree in engineering. However, before that, he has an ambition to work at University of Bristol’s Interface and Analysis Centre.
    8. … Mencarini maintained that the goal of the reactor is to create conditions that are required for fusion. However, the project couldn’t [achieve the] same pressure that’s generated by the Sun [from] its own gravity.
    9. Therefore, to make atoms hot enough, the teen used high voltage.
    10. Describing Mencarini as “outstanding,” the college’s principal Dr Julian Davies claimed that the teen will make a significant impact on the energy industry in the future. He also termed Cesare’s work, was built in more than a year, extremely exciting.
    11. … “We want to give our students the opportunity to work on projects that interest them as well as teaching them how to pass exams and to be brave in enabling them to take risks and develop projects that are applicable to real life situations,” said Davies, according to Daily Mail.
    12. “Mencarini has been outstanding in his work ethic and will no doubt make a significant impact on the energy industry in the future.”
    13. Mencarini, who hails from Italy, studied maths, chemistry, and physics at Cardiff Sixth Form College. He demonstrated the reactor’s potential alongside Imperial College, Bristol, and Bangor universities.
    14. … The reactor achieved plasma in June. “Two days ago I achieved plasma, which was brilliant and I’m massively happy about this,” wrote Mencarini in a LinkedIn post.
    15. “The system is running thanks to a Leybold Trivac E2 roughing pump, which allows me to achieve a minimum pressure of 8E-3 Torr.”
    16. At that time, he mentioned that Pfeiffer TPH062 would be used later to achieve fusion. “This turbomolecular pump is currently isolated by a VAT Throttling Valve.”
    17. “The grid is then attached to a 30kV rated High Voltage Feedthrough connected to a 5kV Unilab power supply, which allows me to use the fusor in my school (It is limited to a 2mA output). While running the fusor I experimented with 2 grids which you can see in the images,” added Mencarini in the post.

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

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!