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

“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend to become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston at 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville 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. At my website, THINKWINGRADIO-dot-COM, I link to all the articles I read and cite, as well as other relevant sources. Articles and commentaries often include lots of internet links for those of you who want to dig deeper.

This begins the 12th week of Trump’s military presence in Los Angeles, the 3rd week of Trump’s military occupation of Washington DC, and the 8th week of his deployment of US Marines to his “Alligator Alcatraz” performing so-called non-law enforcement duties.

The question is becoming, ‘When will the US military say they’ve had enough?’

1. November 4, 2025, Joint General & Special Election
   1. Early Voting begins on Monday, October 20. That’s only about 8 weeks!
   2. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot for Harris County is October 24. In this show post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com, I’m providing a link to apply for a mail-in ballot in the event you may be eligible. Please fill it out, print it, and mail it to the Harris County Clerk. It must physically arrive there by the end of business on the 11^th day before election day, which I think is about October 23^rd, but that’s my estimate. Sooner is better.
   3. If you live outside of Harris County, visit your County Clerk or Election Clerk website for a ballot application and election information. I have links at the bottom of this show post. If you find any out of date, please let me know.
2. Houston launches Train Watch to provide real-time updates on blocked train crossings; By Kevin Vu | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:20 PM Aug 21, 2025 CDT/Updated 2:20 PM Aug 21, 2025 CDT. TAGS: City of Houston, Train Watch, Rail Crossings, Traffic, Rail Crossing Safety,
   1. The city of Houston has unveiled a new online dashboard called Train Watch to provide residents with real-time information on rail crossings and whether a train is blocking them.
   2. … Train Watch is a pilot program designed to provide residents and first responders with real-time updates on railroad activity to mitigate traffic impacts, Jessie Bounds, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Innovation and Performance, told Community Impact. In July, Bounds said the city received 530 reports of blocked crossings.
   3. The program relies on 70 sensors throughout the city of Houston, Bounds said. Some of these sensors are acoustic, meaning they detect noises of trains or gates, with cameras used to validate the noise. Other sensors are traffic signal preemption devices, where traffic signals will detect an approaching train and turn red to stop oncoming vehicles.
   4. According to the website, Train Watch provides a live interactive map that will indicate whether a crossing is currently occupied or open by displaying red or green dots.
   5. [MIKE: Oddly, the story doesn’t provide a link to the Train ‘Watch site. I looked it up and am providing it in this show post. Continuing …]
   6. … Bounds said the dashboard is part of a $3.4 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2024 and was originally designed for the city’s public safety departments so they could get to scenes without trains blocking the way.
   7. [Director Jessie Bounds said,] “We average about 100 times per month where our firefighters are unable to get to the scene because they are delayed because of blocked trains. It was really important for police and fire to have visibility on those frequently blocked crossings.”
   8. After launching the tool for public safety departments, Bounds said the city decided to launch it to the public to help better inform and keep the public safe.
   9. He said this tool is something the city can use immediately as it continues to work on long-term projects.
   10. One such project is the Sergio Ivan Rodriguez Memorial Pedestrian Bridge Project, named after a Milby High School student who was struck and killed by a Union Pacific train while getting to school in December 2024. The project will construct a bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad line located near the high school, for which the city received $10 million from the state during the most recent legislative session, Alexa Aragonez, the deputy director of intergovernmental relations, said during a June 26 City Council meeting.
   11. … Through the dashboard, Bounds said the city hopes to reduce “erratic” driving behavior caused by blocked crossings and reduce travel time so that drivers aren’t trapped by trains.
   12. Council member Joaquin Martinez, who represents the East End area, said during the Aug. 20 City Council meeting that the ultimate goal with Train Watch is to have the data from the tool synced to other resources such as Google Maps and Houston TranStar, which are already used by Houston residents to help show where trains are blocking crossings.
   13. MIKE: This sounds like an interesting idea for improving traffic flow and commuter times. Trains going through crossings are necessarily traveling slowly, and they’re usually one or two miles long. Even worse, they sometimes stop for various reasons while cars are waiting for the railway to clear.
   14. MIKE: I think that this will become much more useful to the average driver if they eventually put this system on a smart phone app, and even start including it in radio traffic reports.
3. Southern Ute Indian Tribe: No Agreement with ICE on Detention Center on Reservation; By Native News Online Staff | Yahoo News | August 21, 2025. TAGS: Southern Ute Indian Tribe, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Detention Centers,
   1. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is pushing back against media reports claiming it has agreed to allow a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center on its reservation. In a press conference held Tuesday, the Tribe firmly denied the reports and issued a statement to clarify its stance on the controversial issue.
   2. The clarification follows a Washington Post article that listed the Tribe’s land as one of three potential sites in Colorado for a facility to detain undocumented immigrants.
   3. Here is the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s statement:
   4. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe (Tribe) is aware of recent media coverage regarding the expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities across the country, including in the State of Colorado. We recognize that these reports have placed the Tribe at the center of a highly polarizing national issue, and we want to be clear: the Tribe has not entered into any agreement with ICE regarding detention operations. 
   5. The Tribe was surprised to learn of its inclusion in a planning document referenced by the Washington Post, which listed potential ICE facility sites. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirmed to the Washington Post that the document was created by ICE but is outdated and unapproved. The relationship between the Tribe and ICE has been mischaracterized. The Tribe was not notified nor consulted prior to the release of this information. It is important to note, there have been no discussions between Tribal Council and federal authorities on this matter. 
   6. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe remains committed to protecting the Tribal Membership and upholding its sovereignty. Any future consideration of detention-related arrangements would require Tribal Council approval and be guided by the Tribe’s core principles and values. The Tribe appreciates the opportunity to clarify its position and urges the public and media to respect the sovereignty and integrity of Tribal governance.
   7. MIKE: ICE wants to get its fascist fingers everywhere. It’s great that the Southern Ute tribe has clarified this, and I hope they can continue to keep their distance from ICE.
4. In other ICE news — ICE chief threatens to ‘flood’ Boston with agents after mayor won’t abandon sanctuary policy; By Kimmy Yam | NBCNEWS.COM | Aug. 21, 2025, 2:19 PM CDT. TAGS: S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu,
   1. The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has threatened to “flood” Boston with immigration agents following Mayor Michelle Wu’s refusal to drop the city’s sanctuary policies.
   2. Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, said during a Wednesday interview on “The Howie Carr Show,” a conservative radio program, that the agency would expand its presence in the area. His comments followed a news conference on Tuesday at which Wu said that Boston would “not back down” from its policy of limiting police from cooperating with ICE on civil immigration enforcement efforts.
   3. Lyons said that sanctuary policies like Boston’s are detrimental to safety.
   4. [Lyons said on the radio show,] “We’re definitely going to, as you’ve heard the saying, flood the zone, especially in sanctuary jurisdictions. Obviously, Boston and Massachusetts decided that they wanted to stay sanctuary. … So 100%, you’re going to see more ICE presence.”
   5. When asked about Lyons’ interview, Wu’s office directed NBC News to the mayor’s comments to reporters on the topic at an unrelated Thursday event.
   6. [Wu said at that event,] “This is a beautiful, diverse, incredible city, and I have said it now very directly: This administration needs to stop attacking cities to hide their own failures.”
   7. Boston has a robust immigrant population, with more than 28% of its residents being foreign-born as of 2021. China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Vietnam make up the top countries of origin. In recent years, crime has continued to drop steadily, with homicides reaching a historic low by the end of 2024. Robberies, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts and fraud related offenses have also dropped across Massachusetts, according to data released by the state.
   8. Tensions between Wu and the Trump administration came to a head last week, when the Justice Department sent letters to 35 sanctuary jurisdictions demanding they end the immigration protections. The DOJ ordered the jurisdictions to submit plans by early this week to show that they are taking steps to ditch the policies, threatening to cut off federal funding and prosecute officials if the cities didn’t comply.
   9. [The letter, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, said,] “You are hereby notified that your jurisdiction has been identified as one that engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States. This ends now.”
   10. Wu hit back in a heated letter to Bondi on Tuesday, calling the attorney general’s demands an “attack” on U.S. cities and a tactic to “make Americans fearful of one another.”
   11. [Wu wrote,] “On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy. Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.”
   12. The Boston mayor further slammed the DOJ’s demands during a news conference outside City Hall that same day.
   13. [Wu said,] “You are wrong on the law and you are wrong on safety. Most of all, you are wrong on cities.”
   14. Boston’s immigration protections stretch back to 2014, when the city enacted the Boston Trust Act aimed at promoting trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. The legislation, which was amended in 2019, allows the Boston Police Department to collaborate with ICE on issues of “significant public safety” — including human trafficking, child exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking and cybercrimes — but keeps the department out of civil immigration enforcement. Most recently, at the end of 2024, the City Council adopted a resolution that reaffirmed the act.
   15. [The resolution said,] “The Trust Act’s provisions have been instrumental in fostering a safe and welcoming environment for all residents, ensuring that immigrants can engage with local law enforcement without fear of deportation.”
   16. MIKE: ICE is the American Gestapo. Do you doubt it?
   17. MIKE: From 1934, Heinrich Himmler ran the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Here’s a little bit about the Nazi Gestapo: “The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (e.g., clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews.^[4] Those arrested by the Gestapo were often held without judicial process …”
   18. MIKE: I’ll go into the story of the FBI raids on John Bolton later, but compare that to the section I just read and ask yourself if the roles of the German Gestapo would apply here.
   19. MIKE: If that starts to sound a little familiar, maybe it’s past time for all of us to be very afraid.
   20. MIKE: I might also ask … If all of the above describes the Gestapo under Himmler, what analog would Kristi Noem then represent?
   21. MIKE: You may draw your own conclusions.
5. In other American Gestapo news — ICE’s detention of Atlanta reporter seeks to ‘silence him’, ACLU petition says; By George Chidi | THEGUARDIAN.COM | Thu 21 Aug 2025 09.57 EDT. TAGS: ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Trump administration, Atlanta, US immigration, US politics,
   1. The ACLU called Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s continued detention of Atlanta-area journalist Mario Guevara an act of retaliation for his reporting on immigration raids, according to a federal petition filed on Thursday.
   2. Guevara, a Salvadorian immigrant who has been in the United States for more than 20 years, was arrested on 14 June by a police officer in suburban Atlanta while covering the “No Kings” day protests in a neighborhood with a high density of immigrants. Despite all charges being dropped, Guevara has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in south Georgia for almost two months, the only journalist in the US imprisoned as a consequence of their work today, the ACLU said.
   3. Guevara founded MG News, a social media-driven news organization that has become increasingly important to his Spanish-speaking audience for his coverage of ICE activities in metro Atlanta. As he was being arrested, Guevara was livestreaming on Facebook to more than a million followers.
   4. [The filing in the Brunswick, Georgia, courthouse states,] “The government’s continuing detention of Mr. Guevara on the basis of his journalism is intended to silence him, prevent him from reporting in the future, and retaliate against him for his past speech and reporting, in violation of the first amendment. The government’s continuing detention of Mr. Guevara also violates the substantive due process clause of the fifth amendment because it has no legitimate objective and is punitive.”
   5. Guevara has no criminal history and has been issued a work permit. An immigration judge administratively closed an order for his deportation a decade ago. The oldest of his two children who are US citizens has sponsored his green card application.
   6. After his arrest in June, DeKalb County prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor charges against Guevara almost immediately. The sheriff’s office of neighboring Gwinnett County – taking issue with his livestreaming a prostitution arrest a month earlier – filed misdemeanor traffic charges shortly after Guevara’s arrest. Gwinnett prosecutors dropped those charges days later.
   7. Nonetheless, Guevara is still in the Folkston ICE detention center and faces removal.
   8. An immigration judge issued a $7,500 bond for Guevara in June, but immigration enforcement officials appealed that bond decision and it is now on hold with no date set to hear the appeal. The ACLU filing attempts to induce the federal court to intervene.
   9. Referring to the bond hearing in June, the ACLU noted that the immigration judge recognized the first amendment implications of his detention. The judge said in his bond order that “if respondent was acting as a journalist, he is protected by freedom of speech as detailed in the constitution and longstanding, precedential case law”, and noted that “reporting on raids in the community, as respondent has done, is a national concern and many other journalists across the nation are also reporting on this issue”.
   10. Immigration enforcement officials have argued in court that Guevara presents a danger to the community because he livestreams, records and publishes law enforcement activities and shares his reporting with the public. The ACLU filing details Guevara’s extensive cooperation with law enforcement over the years, and notes that a metro Atlanta law enforcement officer testified on his behalf at the bond hearing.
   11. In its filing, the ACLU argues that it is “highly unusual” for the government to appeal an immigration judge’s decision to grant bond when someone has no significant criminal history and presents strong evidence that he’s not a danger to the community.
   12. [The ACLU wrote,] “The government generally reserves bond appeals, and especially stays, for cases involving serious criminal conduct, clear evidence of danger to the community or major flight risk,”… adding that the government relies almost exclusively on “Mr Guevara’s reporting as justification for his continued detention”.
   13. The ACLU noted that immigration officials presented Guevara’s live stream of a Gwinnett County sheriff’s office operation in its argument against issuing a bond in July. [The ACLU filing states,] “The livestreaming videos that formed the basis for the misdemeanor traffic violations are no longer available on the MG News or Mr. Guevara’s Facebook pages. Neither Mr. Guevara nor an employee of MG News removed these videos from these Facebook pages. Mr. Guevara is not aware of how or why the videos were removed.”
   14. The petition asks for the court to demand an answer to the petition within three days, for Guevara’s bond case to be removed to federal court, for the stay on his bond to be lifted, and for the court to declare that ICE’s effort to continue detention violates the first amendment and the due process clause of the fifth amendment.
   15. MIKE: Recall that the Nazi Gestapo’s job in 1930s Germany was in part, “… to focus upon political opponents, [and] ideological dissenters …”
   16. MIKE: So this is the modern American Gestapo — the “ICEstapo”? — doing its job.
   17. MIKE: America, we’re not heading We are there.
6. In further evidence of the vindictive and personalized nature of the Trump regime — FBI searches former Trump adviser John Bolton’s home and office; By Katherine Faulders | ABCNEWS.GO.COM | August 22, 2025, 3:33 PM. TAGS: John Bolton, FBI, President Donald Trump, US Justice Department (DOJ),
   1. Federal agents were seen Friday morning searching the Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, ABC News has learned.
   2. Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that the search, carried out by the FBI, was related to allegations that Bolton is in possession of classified records.
   3. [FBI director Kash Patel said on social media,] “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
   4. It was not immediately clear what sensitive records federal investigators believe Bolton may have possessed.
   5. The federal agents, along with approximately six FBI vehicles, were seen at Bolton’s home for over an hour early this morning around 7 a.m. Local Montgomery County police were observed by ABC News blocking both entrances to Bolton’s street but have since left.
   6. Agents were seen coming in and out of the house, and FBI personnel were seen taking boxes out of the house and into vehicles.
   7. The extraordinary move came as President Donald Trump has recently ramped up pressure on the Justice Department to bring charges against his political opponents.
   8. Bolton has long been a target of Trump’s ire. Most recently, Trump has taken aim at Bolton’s criticisms of Trump’s engagements with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
   9. Trump told reporters Friday morning that he didn’t know about the FBI search of Bolton’s house.
   10. When asked whether he expected the Justice Department to brief him on the search, Trump said that they “probably” would give him updates “today sometime” but added that he didn’t want to know about the details.
   11. [Trump said in reference to Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials involved in the investigation,] “You have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it.”
   12. [Bondi said in a response to Patel’s earlier post on social media,] “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”
   13. A federal magistrate judge in Maryland signed off on the search at Bolton’s home, sources said.
   14. Another federal magistrate judge in Washington had authorized the search of his downtown D.C. office, according to sources.
   15. To obtain a search warrant, investigators need to have probable cause of a violation of federal law.
   16. That means authorities would need to convince a judge that there is sufficient reason based on known facts to believe that a crime has been committed, or that a certain property is connected with a crime.
   17. The search, however, does not mean prosecutors have determined Bolton committed a crime.
   18. MIKE: Like the early Gestapo, law enforcement at the federal level is currently split between Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, but both do the Fuhrer’s will.
   19. Based on the last section of this story, I’d be curious to know who the judges were that signed these search warrants, and who appointed them. That shouldn’t be relevant, but times have changed. Did Bondi’s DOJ do some judge shopping to get these subpoenas?
   20. MIKE: As was noted by MSNBC contributors on Friday night, this raid was abnormal in several ways. Among them, raids normally take place at the end of investigations. When they occur at the beginning, they’re called “fishing expeditions”.
   21. MIKE: Further, the Justice Department will usually request or subpoena documents before staging a raid under search warrant. That’s the courtesy that Trump was given at Mar-a-Lago, except he refused to honor the requests and subpoenas. Thus, his apartments were raided.
   22. MIKE: Love John Bolton or hate him, this raid was clearly a vindictive act, which again raises the question of, who were the judges that signed off on these subpoenas, and what evidence was presented that persuaded them to do so? I hope that this will be explored by reporters in the near future.
   23. MIKE: Back in January, almost immediately after his inauguration, Trump removed John Bolton’s Secret Service detail. President Biden had provided this protection to Bolton in the face of genuine Iranian threats to his safety, and those threats were still extant as of January 21^st when Trump removed the protective detail.
   24. MIKE: You can draw your own conclusions on the FBI searches and the DOJ’s interest, but given that Pam Bondi’s Justice Department has been acting like a law firm on Trump’s retainer, it’s almost preposterous to believe that Bondi isn’t either acting on Trump’s direct instructions or, as is true of any good organized crime boss, Trump implied what he wanted, and Bondi decided to act on what she perceived was Trump’s desire.
   25. MIKE: That’s the gangland version of ‘plausible deniability’.
   26. MIKE: We’ll have to see how this FBI search and subsequent investigation turn out.
7. Trump lays out his redistricting endgame: A 100-seat Republican majority; By April Rubin | AXIOS.COM | 2025/08/21. TAGS: Redistricting, President Trump, Republican House Supermajority, Mail-in Voting,
   1. President [Trump] shared his ultimate voting reform goal in a Wednesday Truth Social post, saying he wants the GOP to pick up 100 congressional seats.
   2. … Trump’s unrealistic vision of a Republican supermajority in the House relies on a combination of GOP-led states redistricting out Democrats and ending mail-in balloting nationwide.
   3. [Trump wrote,] “If we do these TWO things, we will pick up 100 more seats, and the CROOKED game of politics is over.”
   4. … The Texas House on Wednesday passed a new congressional map that would give Republicans five more seats in the House.
   5. Other Republican-led states are expected to follow, with Democratic-led states responding in kind.
   6. [Trump wrote on Truth Social,] “Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing.”
   7. [Trump added,] “But Republicans, there is one thing even better. STOP MAIL-IN VOTING, a total fraud that has no bounds.”
   8. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and states like Arizona and Oregon, where voting by mail is common, have challenged Trump’s assertions.
   9. Trump this month re-upped his vitriol toward mail-in voting, calling it a “fraud” after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
   10. He said he’d sign an executive order to bring “honesty” to the 2026 midterm elections, but the president doesn’t have the constitutional authority to order states to abandon mail-in voting.
   11. MIKE: Apparently, Vlad knows voting.
   12. MIKE: It’s been a long time since I’ve made this comparison on the show, but the Republican Party has a lot in common with Mexico’s PRI, which translates in English to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, founded in 1929.
   13. MIKE: As per Wikipedia, “The PRI governed Mexico as a de-facto one-party state for the majority of the twentieth century; besides holding the Presidency of the Republic, all members of the Senate belonged to the PRI until 1976, and all state governors were also from the PRI until 1989.”
   14. MIKE: This is the current goal of the Republican Party in the United States, and they’re now nakedly pursuing it at Trump’s dictatorial behest.
   15. MIKE: Pew Research has some interesting research on party affiliation among prospective voters. Loyalists and leaners are more or less evenly split. That is what our political maps and election results should reflect.
   16. MIKE: Republicans are trying to install themselves as a permanent majority by disenfranchising opposition voters.
   17. MIKE: Yes, the Voting Rights Act focuses on minority voting rights, but non-minority voters are also being disenfranchised. The difference is that while racial gerrymandering is still illegal (so far), political gerrymandering is not.
   18. MIKE: Texans specifically, and Americans generally, need to fight this rightwing power grab. Then, at the first opportunity, we need to prevent gerrymandering by passing voting rights laws with teeth that protect all voters, regardless of race, religion, creed, or political persuasion.
   19. MIKE: There are two bills that have been presented to Congress, but have failed to get through committee or the Senate.
   20. MIKE: One is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would strengthen and restore elements of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The other is the Redistricting Reform Act of 2024, which would outlaw partisan gerrymandering throughout the US.
   21. MIKE: I’ve provided links to these in this show post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com.
   22. MIKE: In addition, at the earliest opportunity, we should include Puerto Rico and Washington DC as states. Aside from the justice of this move to give those citizens full representation in Congress, their addition to the Union would help to rebalance the Electoral College.
   23. MIKE: Finally, I believe we need to expand the House of Representatives from 435 members to at least 501, and even that may be entirely inadequate.
   24. MIKE: The House used to expand with the population until 1929. According to Google Ai: “… The U.S. House of Representatives has been limited to 435 members since the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 …. While the Apportionment Act of 1911 had previously set the size at 435 members, the 1929 law permanently capped the size at that number …”
   25. MIKE: In 1923, the average House district represented almost 244,000 people. In 2023, the average district represented over 760,000 people.
   26. MIKE: Again, according to the Wikipedia article, “If the House had a similar ratio of representatives to constituents as it did after the 1930 United States census, it would currently have 1,156 members (still just the second largest lower house, after China).^[14]”
   27. MIKE: A main reason for the 435-seat cap simply boiled down to space in the House of Representatives. In the interests of democracy, maybe instead of adding a ballroom to the White House, we should add an annex to the Capitol building for an expanded (and expandable) House of Representatives.
   28. According to the Wikipedia article, “In Federalist No. 55, James Madison argued that the size of the House of Representatives has to balance the ability of the body to legislate with the need for legislators to have a relationship close enough to the people to understand their local circumstances, that such representatives’ social class be low enough to sympathize with the feelings of the mass of the people, and that their power be diluted enough to limit their abuse of the public trust and interests.”
   29. MIKE: I think that this is where we now stand.
   30. MIKE: There is also this section: “One proposal to alleviate the current constituency disparities and the high average number of constituents in many states’ congressional districts is the “Wyoming rule.” Operating similar to New Zealand’s method of allocation for proportional representation, it would give the least populous state (which has been Wyoming since 1990) one representative and then create districts in other states with the same population.^[25]
   31. “Another proposed expansion rule, the cube root rule,^[26] calls for the membership of the legislature to be based on the cube root (rounded up) of the U.S. population at the last census. For example, such a rule would call for 692 members of the House based on the 2020 United States census. An additional House member would be added each time the national population exceeds the next cube … A variation would split the representation between the House and the Senate, e.g. 592 members in the House [plus 100 Senators would bring total representation to 692 ].^[27]”
   32. MIKE: I believe that there are solutions for fair and adequate representation in this country that are within reach, if we have the political will and wisdom to implement one.
   33. MIKE: I really do suggest going to that Wikipedia article and reading or at least scanning it.
   34. MIKE: But in the meantime, we’re stuck with what we have, and we must protect its representational fairness to the best of our ability.
   35. There is some debate about whether the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 is constitutional. This may be a good time to find out.
8. Florida removes rainbow crosswalk honouring Pulse nightclub victims; By Ali Abbas Ahmadi | BBC NEWS | Aug. 21, 2025. TAGS: Florida, LGBT, United States, Orlando, Mass shootings, Pulse nightclub
   1. A rainbow crosswalk honouring the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in [Orlando, Florida] has been painted over by the state’s department of transportation.
   2. The crosswalk was part of a larger memorial to the 49 people who were killed after a gunman opened fire at the gay nightclub in June 2016, in what was then the largest mass shooting in US history.
   3. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he was “devastated” by its removal, calling it a “cruel political act” on social media.
   4. [Dyer said,] “This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando’s commitment to honour the 49 lives taken.”
   5. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an openly gay state senator, said that the Florida department of Transportation had “ripped the rainbow colours off of this city crosswalk” in the middle of the night.
   6. In a video on X where he is standing in front of the repainted crosswalk, he said the department had “illegally vandalised city property without providing the city of Orlando notice or getting their approval”.
   7. [Smith said,] “I cannot believe that the [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis administration has engaged in this hostile act against the city of Orlando.”
   8. In his response to the video, DeSantis wrote on X: “We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes”.
   9. [MIKE: Personally, if that’s really how DeSantis feels, there are probably a lot of federal and state highways, as well as streets and avenues, that memorialize political figures around Florida that probably need to be renamed. Continuing …]
   10. The BBC reached out to Governor DeSantis’ office, who declined to comment and pointed to the governor’s post on X.
   11. Ron DeSantis, a well-known Republican figure who ran for president in 2024, has been criticised for his perceived stance against LGBTQ issues in the past.
   12. In 2023, he pushed for the expansion of the controversial so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, barring public schools from teaching about sexual education and gender identity.
   13. In recent months, Florida’s transportation agency has been notifying cities that they risk losing transportation funds unless they remove rainbow-coloured crosswalks.
   14. In June, the agency posted a memo on X prohibiting pavement or surface art associated with “social, political or ideological messages or images”, adding that they “do not serve the purpose of traffic control”.
   15. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to all 50 states in July urging them to remove political statements from the roads.
   16. [Duffy said in a social media post,] “Political banners have no place on public roads. Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.”
   17. MIKE: These are just more examples of Republicans preaching local government control until they can overrule it. More examples of Republicans’ petty cruelty impacting communities that don’t want Rightwing Big Government interference in their values and humanity. These are just more examples of the official oppression committed by this national regime and the state quislings that collaborate with it and feel enabled by it.
   18. MIKE: Come elections, it must be overthrown with our ballots, IF this regime still allows fair and honest elections to take place. We’ll have some clues about that proposition in 3-1/2 months and again in 15-1/2 months.
9. And speaking of quislings —Six Republican states send 1,100 troops to US capital amid crackdown; Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies | ALJAZEERA.COM | Published On 19 Aug 202519 Aug 2025. TAGS: Republican-Led States, Washington, DC, President Donald Trump, National Guard in Washington DC, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, DC National Guard,
   1. Governors from six Republican-led states are sending hundreds of troops to Washington, DC, bolstering United States President Donald Trump’s aggressive move to flood the city with soldiers and federal agents in what he says is an effort to fight violent crime.
   2. The move comes as the Trump administration this week ordered federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal cases against people arrested as part of a crackdown in the nation’s capital, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
   3. The Republican governors of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee said on Monday they were deploying troops to Washington, days after the Republican governors of West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio also did so at the Trump administration’s request.
   4. [MIKE: Note that they honored a request. They weren’t ordered to do so. Continuing …]
   5. On August 11, Trump announced a temporary federal takeover of the DC police force, saying he was sending 800 federal DC National Guard members to [stanch] what he called a crime emergency – though crime in the nation’s capital has been dropping.
   6. The federal government also dispatched agents from numerous agencies, including the FBI, to patrol the city’s streets. Following a legal challenge filed by the city’s attorney general, the administration negotiated a deal with Mayor Muriel Bowser to keep Police Chief Pamela Smith in charge of the department’s operations.
   7. On Monday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he had approved the deployment of about 135 Guard soldiers to Washington, while Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said he had ordered 200 soldiers to the capital. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has also deployed 160 Guard troops to the city, according to local media reports.
   8. [Louisiana Governor Landry said in a post on X,] “We cannot allow our cities to be overcome by violence and lawlessness. I am proud to support this mission to return safety and sanity to Washington, DC and cities all across our country, including right here in Louisiana.”
   9. Days earlier, West Virginia promised 300-400 troops; South Carolina, 200; and Ohio, 150.
   10. In total, the six Republican states have announced deployments of more than 1,100 Guard troops to Washington.
   11. Trump has justified his takeover by pointing to the city’s high crime rates; though data from the city shows a 30 percent drop from 2023 to 2024, which has continued to fall.
   12. The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington, DC, have falsified crime data, according to a source familiar with the probe who spoke to The Associated Press and was not authorised to publicly discuss an open investigation.
   13. It was not immediately clear what federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data.
   14. The [DC] mayor’s office declined to comment on the matter.
   15. The New York Times was the first to report on the investigation on Tuesday. Earlier this year, a Metropolitan Police Department commander suspected of manipulating crime data was placed on paid administrative leave, NBC Washington reported.
   16. … The head of the criminal division of the Washington, DC, US Attorney’s Office, Jonathan Hornok, on Monday told prosecutors to charge as many federal cases as possible against people arrested in the sweeps, according to sources who spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
   17. The move could both strain the court system and raise the stakes for criminal defendants because convictions for federal crimes can carry weighty sentences, said the people.
   18. “[A spokesperson for Jeanine Pirro’s office said on Tuesday,] “In line with President Trump’s directive to make DC safe, US Attorney Pirro has made it clear that the old way of doing things is unacceptable. She directed her staff to charge the highest crime that is supported by the law and the evidence.”
   19. In what could also heighten tensions on the streets, the capital has been informed about the National Guard’s plan to be armed. However, [according to a person familiar who was not authorised to disclose the plans and spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity,] it has not received details about when that could happen or where armed Guard members could be deployed in the District.
   20. It would be a departure from what the Pentagon and Army have said about the troops being unarmed. The Army said in a statement last week that “weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armoury.”
   21. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson also said last week that troops won’t be armed.
   22. In response to questions about whether Guard members in Washington would be armed in the coming days, the District of Columbia National Guard said troops “may be armed consistent with their mission and training.”
   23. Maj Melissa Heintz, a spokesperson for the DC Guard, did not provide more details and said, “their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve.”
   24. … The extraordinary deployment of the National Guard in Washington, DC comes two months after Trump sent thousands of troops into Los Angeles to quell protests against an immigration crackdown. He has threatened similar takeovers of New York, Chicago, and LA.
   25. Legal challenges have mounted over the deployments, which experts have argued are a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which generally bars the National Guard and other branches of the US military from being used in civilian law enforcement.
   26. Critics have called the deployment little more than performative, intended to be a distraction from more pressing issues.
   27. [The Centre for American Progress said in a statement,] “The Trump administration’s overreach is not going to make Washington, DC safer, and is dangerous political theatre that imperils democracy in the nation’s capital and beyond.”
   28. Despite the administration’s insistence that troops are needed to clean up crime, it’s not clear that the federal takeover has resulted in increased enforcement.
   29. [US Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Tuesday that] Some 465 arrests have been made in the 12 days since the Trump administration’s operations began, an average of 39 arrests a day.
   30. By comparison, however, the city’s Metropolitan Police Department arrested an average of 61 adults and juveniles per day in 2024, according to city statistics.
   31. Data published by restaurant-booking service OpenTable this week [reported] reservations plummeting nearly 18 percent since the takeover, despite Trump’s statement on Monday that people felt safer and over the previous two days, [Trump claimed that] restaurants “were busier than they’ve been in a long time.”
   32. MIKE: As others have noted, January 6, 2021 would have been a good time to call the National Guard into DC, don’t you think?
   33. MIKE: We’ll remember who the Republican quislings are that are enthusiastically participating in this military occupation of our national capital.
   34. MIKE: For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, I’ve provided a link to Wikipedia’s explanation of the meaning and history of the word “quisling”. In summary, “[it’s] a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for traitor or collaborator.^[1][2][3]”
   35. MIKE: I think that sums up my feelings about Republican governors Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, and Mike DeWine of Ohio. I see these governors as political and ideological collaborators with a corrupt and would-be totalitarian regime of the United States. Those are the quisling collaborators as of this writing.
   36. MIKE: In a separate CNN story which I’ve linked to, “The defense official said Tuesday that while there are roughly 2,400 personnel in the DC National Guard, assistance from other states was needed because of how many troops are either undergoing training elsewhere or are on leave.”
   37. MIKE: It’s worth noting that Trump didn’t federalize these National Guard troops from various states the way he did with the California National Guard. These governors volunteered these troops.
   38. I MIKE: If these Republican governors are okay with sending an occupation force to Washington DC, the nation’s capital, with no factual justification, what will they do when the Trump regime decides that your city is next?
   39. MIKE: As an aside, the reason I decided to use an article from Al Jazeera was to see how this situation was being portrayed outside of a Western news context. If anything, I found this article to be surprisingly neutral; even bland.
   40. MIKE: For context, according to Wikipedia, the “Al Jazeera Media Network is owned by QMC, the official state broadcaster of the Qatari government, and operates under Qatari law as a private foundation for public benefit. Although Al Jazeera maintains that its content is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government, the network is under the full ownership of the Emir of Qatar.”
   41. MIKE: Al Jazeera English uses various resources in their reporting, from news gathering organizations like the AP to some freelance reporters, but it’s still Qatari government-owned. So if Al Jazeera wanted to put some kind of political spin on this story, they could have. Make of that what you will.
   42. MIKE: It’s also important to note that Al Jazeera English is a totally different news product from what Al Jazeera publishes in Arabic. You can get a sample of this by going to their Arabic language site and using Google translate. For your convenience, I’m providing an English-translated link to their Arabic home page on this show’s post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com.
   43. I’m also providing a reference link to the CNN story on the same topic if you wish to compare the tone and content with the Al Jazeera story.
   44. REFERENCE: National Guard troops from GOP-led states begin arriving in DC as part of Trump’s crime crackdown; By Haley Britzky, and Brian Todd | CNN.COM | Updated Aug 19, 2025
10. Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba’s appointment as U.S. attorney for New Jersey was ‘unlawful,’ judge rules; By Dareh Gregorian and Chloe Atkins | NBCNEWS.COM | Aug. 21, 2025, 3:10 PM CDT / Updated Aug. 21, 2025, 9:41 PM CDT. TAGS: Alina Habba, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey,
    1. A federal judge found Thursday that acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba’s appointment was “unlawful”, and that her actions since July as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey may be declared void.
    2. [U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote in a 77-page ruling,] “The Executive branch has perpetuated Alina Habba’s appointment to act as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey through a novel series of legal and personnel moves. … Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not.”
    3. [Brann wrote that] Because Habba, a former Trump lawyer, is “not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office in an acting capacity, she must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases.”
    4. Habba criticized the ruling Thursday evening in an interview on Fox News, bashing both Senate Democrats, whom she accused of delaying her confirmation, and “rogue judges” whom she accused of “trying to be political.”
    5. [Habba said,] “I am the pick of the president. I am the pick of Pam Bondi, our attorney general, and I will serve this country like I have for the last several years in any capacity.”
    6. Brann said his order is on hold pending appellate proceedings, meaning it will not take immediate effect to allow the Trump administration time to appeal the decision.
    7. [MIKE: This is an issue I have with so many court rulings where the harm is allowed to continue while cases extend into virtual perpetuity. Continuing …]
    8. In his ruling, Brann cited numerous issues with how Habba was appointed. President Donald Trump initially named her interim U.S. attorney on March 24, replacing another person who had been named interim U.S. attorney three weeks earlier.
    9. Habba was sworn in on March 28, but interim appointments are capped at 120 days. Trump nominated her to be the permanent U.S. attorney on June 30, but the “Senate did not act,” Brann noted.
    10. On July 22, judges of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey invoked their statutory power to appoint a new U.S. attorney — Habba’s deputy.
    11. [Brann noted that] “Trump Administration officials were not pleased with that appointment,” and “conceived a multi-step maneuver” to keep Habba on the job.
    12. Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Habba’s successor and appointed Habba as “Special Attorney to the Attorney General” and then named her to the opened deputy spot, which allowed her to become acting U.S. attorney.
    13. Brann found the moves were improper and a way to sidestep the Senate’s role in the process. He also found that Habba hadn’t legally been appointed deputy and that her appointment as interim U.S. attorney expired earlier than the government maintains it did.
    14. [Bondi said on X ,]“We will immediately appeal.” She wrote that Habba “is doing incredible work in New Jersey — and we will protect her position from activist judicial attacks.”
    15. The challenge to Habba’s appointment came from two criminal defendants, and the judge found she was disqualified from having any involvement with their cases.
    16. Abbe Lowell and Gerald Krovatin, the attorneys for one of the men, said in a statement that Habba’s [appointment “]ignored the rules that give legitimacy to the U.S. Attorney’s office. We appreciate the thoroughness of the court’s opinion, and its decision underscores that this Administration cannot circumvent the congressionally mandated process for confirming U.S. Attorney appointments.”
    17. The New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    18. Brann, a Republican who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, is chief judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and was specially designated to hear the case.
    19. The ruling comes on a day when Habba scored a huge legal victory dating to her time representing Trump — an appeals court dismissed the New York attorney general’s $500 million fraud judgment against Trump.
    20. Habba, who’d been one of the attorneys on the case, posted about the ruling on X earlier in the day, calling the fraud action against him “politically motivated” and “legally baseless.”
    21. “President Trump won — and justice won with him,” she wrote.
    22. MIKE: Modern Republicans, especially under Trump, have become no better than scofflaws, except with more effective immunity from consequences.
11. In additional concerning news about democracy and elections security, from NPR — DHS to states: Follow our voting rules or lose out on election security money; By Miles Parks & Stephen Fowler | NPR.ORG | Updated August 23, 202512:35 PM ET. TAGS: Election Security Funding, Department Of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security Grant Program, Voting,
    1. The Trump administration has indicated it may withhold tens of millions of dollars in election security funding if states don’t comply with its voting policy goals.
    2. The money comes from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant program, and voting officials say new requirements from the administration will make the money inaccessible for most of the country.
    3. NPR is the first news outlet to report on the changes.
    4. About $28 million — or 3% of the overall Homeland Security Grant Program — is devoted to election security and now at risk, though some officials and experts worry that the new requirements could also endanger hundreds of millions of dollars in other grants for law enforcement.
    5. Voting officials say the amount of money at risk won’t make or break the country’s election security. But the potential withholding of funds over policy differences — combined with other recent election security cuts — has many wondering whether the Trump administration is prioritizing election security the way it claims it is.
    6. [MIKE: I’m not wondering. I’m confident that the regime would like to steal elections. Continuing …]
    7. [Said Larry Norden, an elections expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, which is broadly critical of President Trump’s policies,] “Despite the rhetoric, there’s been [a] serious cutback to election security support that is being offered to the states. And this is going to be one more cut for a lot of states because most states are not going to allow the president to decide [how their elections work].”
    8. The grant money in question is administered within DHS by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and is meant to help state and local governments prepare for and prevent terrorism and disasters. For some of the grants, DHS designates priority areas to further target what the money is spent on, and three years ago the agency began designating election security as one of those priorities.
    9. This year, however, Trump directed DHS to adjust the election security portion of the grants as part of his March 25 executive order on voting (much of which has been paused by courts).
    10. [MIKE: The story has embedded links for that information. Continuing …]
    11. The new grant rules were released publicly in late July, and multiple election officials told NPR they saw them [as] similar to that executive order: as a way for the administration to try to force their hands when it comes to policy.
    12. [Said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat,] “The Department of Homeland Security is trying to back-door changes to our election laws. That is unacceptable.”
    13. The grant applications closed earlier this month, and Maine is forgoing roughly $130,000 in election security grant money because the state does not plan to comply with the new requirements, Bellows said.
    14. Another state election official, who spoke to NPR anonymously because they did not have permission to speak publicly, said their state was also forgoing the money. They estimated that only a handful of election offices were working with their state emergency management departments to craft the grant applications in line with the new election requirements and therefore would potentially access that money.
    15. … It’s also unclear exactly how DHS will judge whether states meet the new demands.
    16. One of the requirements, for instance, is that jurisdictions applying for money must “prioritize compliance” with federal guidelines for voting system certification that are so new they have not yet been incorporated anywhere in the country.
    17. In a statement provided to NPR after publication, FEMA did not answer NPR’s specific questions about the new grant rules, including about how such a provision would be adjudicated considering that no state is currently using election equipment certified to the new standards. 
    18. [FEMA said,] “We encourage states with questions to work with their state election offices for basic implementation requirements. If any state is not found to be compliant, we reserve the right to withhold funding or terminate the grants.”
    19. Another new requirement is that jurisdictions applying for election security money must use a new DHS citizenship verification tool for all people working at a polling place in “any capacity.”
    20. That tool, known as the SAVE system, was expanded rapidly by DHS this year, and the agency has not disclosed anything publicly about the accuracy or reliability of the information provided by the system, or about how personal data run through the system will be secured.
    21. It’s unclear whether the system has ever been used to verify election workers, considering the functionality that allows the system to search for U.S.-born citizens was only added in the past few months.
    22. [Said Maine’s Secretary of State Bellows,] “DHS can’t require us to use that system.”
    23. … NPR has previously reported that in previous years some of the grant program’s money designated for election security has not actually gone to reinforcing state voting infrastructure.
    24. That election security portion of the grants represents a small percentage of the overall billion-dollar DHS grant program, but Norden of the Brennan Center is concerned the rest of the grant money could also be withheld if states don’t comply with the elections rules.
    25. In the section of the new election requirements, there is a line that says an applying jurisdiction must “demonstrate proof of compliance before accessing the full” award. Norden called the line unclear and alarming.
    26. [Said the Brennan Center’s Norden,] “You are talking about a billion dollars for state and local law enforcement to protect Americans from terrorism. The idea that that money … could be in any way held up is alarming for anybody who cares about the safety and security of citizens.”
    27. At the end of the new election grant requirements, there was one more change from the 2024 rules. Language [was removed] that explicitly banned using grant money for activities that “could be used to suppress voter registration or turnout”.
    28. MIKE: Keep your fingers crossed that elections over the next 2 years are honest.
12. And in a spot I’ve reserved for international news, from THE GUARDIAN — Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from striking deep inside Russia – report; By Edward Helmore | THEGUARDIAN.COM | Sat 23 Aug 2025 19.58 EDT. TAGS: Trump administration, Ukraine, Russia, US politics, Europe, Vladimir Putin,
    1. US defense officials have blocked Ukraine from using US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia since late spring as part of a Trump administration effort to get Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks, according to a report on Saturday.
    2. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS.
    3. Two US officials told the outlet that on at least one occasion, Ukraine had sought to use ATACMS against a target, but was denied under a “review mechanism” developed by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy that governs how US long-range weapons or those provided by European allies that rely on American intelligence and components can be used.
    4. The review process also applies to Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missile because it depends on US targeting data, according to two US officials and a British official, the Journal said.
    5. The review system reportedly gives US defense secretary Pete Hegseth approval over the use of the ATACMS, which have a range of nearly 190 miles (305km). Ukraine was previously given authority by the Biden administration to use the missile system against targets inside Russia in November after North Korean troops entered the war.
    6. Before the inauguration in January, Trump told Time magazine that the decision to allow Ukraine to use US weapons systems to attack targets inside Russia had been a mistake.
    7. [He said at the time,] “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done.”
    8. It is unclear whether the US defense department’s review process amounts to a formal policy change. But it comes alongside increasing control of munitions to Ukraine as US stocks are themselves depleted.
    9. MIKE: This is ridiculous. How does Trump expect to bring Putin to peace talks if not by punishment? Is he whispering sweet nothings into Vladimir’s ears? Does Trump think that Vlad will do him a personal favor?
    10. MIKE: Trump is an appeaser in the style of the 1938 Munich Treaty, and most of us know how that turned out.
13. MY OBSERVATIONS:
    1. American journalists have to start covering our government like they cover Russia. During Trump’s first term, there were news organizations that made it precisely their rule for their coverage.
    2. From last week’s show about the psychology of conservatives generally and extremists in particular: Democratic candidates for state and national office especially should start having political neuropsychologists on their staffs for political strategizing

There’s always more to discuss, but that’s all we have time for today. You’ve been listening to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig from KPFT Houston 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. We are Houston’s Community Media. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show and found it interesting, and I look forward to sharing this time with you again next week. Y’all take care!