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

“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.)

“What is the point of rights if the people behave more like subjects and less like citizens? They realize in that moment that it’s not enough to have a new model of government. They need a new model for the governed. They need a citizenry that is engaged, that is discerning, that understands this document, that understands the limits that it puts on government as a hedge against tyranny, and that is prepared to defend those limits, defend their rights so that the government doesn’t become tyrannical. They need a citizenry that knows this document inside and out. And right now, I’m not sure that’s the citizenry that we have. At this moment when so many people are wondering if democratic institutions are going to survive, I can say unequivocally, they’re not going to survive if the people aren’t engaged with the limits that we place on government in order to have a democracy.” [0m 54s]— Legal scholar Professor Melissa Murray during an interview on Firing Line with Margaret Hoover [1, 2] in June 2026 on PBS.  

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig, now in its 14^th year on KPFT from Houston 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, Livingston/Goodrich 89.9-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community radio.

And welcome to our international followers from China, Canada, Germany, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

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. I do try to fact-check myself and include the links I use to do so.

It’s now the 63^rd week of Trump’s military occupation of Washington DC. As of the last time I checked on Saturday, after 52 weeks, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee at Trump’s request is where they apparently remain for now.  

LAWFARE has a chart of where US troops are currently stationed around the US. The link is in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com.

Due to time constraints, some stories may be longer in this show post than in the broadcast show itself.

1. I’ve added a new audio quote to my repertoire.
   1. One that I just played at the beginning of this show, because I think it touches on an important point that Prof. Murray doesn’t state specifically, but rather that she hints at.
   2. Our educational systems around the country are not paying enough attention to teaching civics in the broadest sense. Not just how government works. Not just how a bill gets passed and that the federal government is divided into three branches that act as checks and balances over each other. Those are things that should be be taught and inculcated in students by the time kids finish the 5^th
   3. By the time children leave middle school, they should have been taught why those systems were put in place; why they were chosen as the points of division; and that, none of these checks and balances work unless our elected leaders act to empower them.
   4. I sometimes play a quote I read from William A. Galston as cited in the book, “Trump’s Ukraine call reveals a president convinced of his own invincibility”. Galston states in part that “The law has no force without people who are willing to enforce it.”
   5. I think that this is another point that must be strongly emphasized in any class covering government and political science, right through college for people majoring in government, because it’s something that too many of our elected representatives seem to have forgotten, or perhaps were never properly taught.
   6. Maybe part of orientation for people newly elected to any office in the Unted States should include an emphasis on this point: “The law has no force without people who are willing to enforce it.”
   7. This week we have national and state elections. By the weekend, we should know how wisely or poorly we have chosen.
2. Early voting has now ended and Election Day is November 3^rd;
   1. If you haven’t already voted, Tuesday November 3^rd is your last chance.
   2. This is a critically important election with big stakes. The only poll that matters is the one on election day.
   3. If you voted by mail, you can track your mail-in ballot at HarrisVotes[.]com or VoteTexas[.]gov.
   4. I am unable to get a sample ballot at VoteTexas[.]gov because the links don’t work.
   5. Sample ballots are available online at your county election clerk. By inputting basic information for look-up purposes, you can see your Harris County ballot at HarrisVotes[.]com at the link I’m providing in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com.
   6. At the very bottom of this show post are links to county elections sites in the greater Houston metro area, along with other voting resources. I check them periodically, but please let me know if any links are broken.
   7. Most candidates are marked on the ballot with their party affiliation. A few are not. For those candidates, if you have a party preference, you can look up their names on the web, and you can usually find notes about past party affiliations.
   8. For Houston voters there is also a ballot initiative relating to HPD enforcement priorities and methods, and you can vote YES or NO.
   9. There is a Houston Public Media story about that proposition which you can read at the link I’m providing in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com. It’s called “Houston voters to consider deprioritized enforcement of cannabis laws, ban on no-knock warrants”
   10. The last day to register to vote, or to correct information on your registration for this election was Oct. 5, but you can always register to vote and correct your information.
   11. For anywhere in Texas, you can check your registration status at gov. I’m providing a link in this show post.
   12. MIKE: You are allowed to bring in notes to the polls such as a marked sample ballot to help you make your selections, but you MUST take your notes with you when you leave.
   13. Don’t be moved to overconfidence. This may be the most important election of our lifetimes. I know you’ve heard that before, and if you look at where we are now, it was true then, and it’s never been truer than it is now.
   14. VOTE! The only poll that matters is the one on election day.
3. I wish I had noticed this next story when it was first published at the beginning of early voting, but I guess better late than never. There’s still in-person election day. From TEXASTRIBUNE[.]ORG — Provisional ballots in Texas: What voters should know if they’re not on a poll’s registration list; By Natalia Contreras, Votebeat and Texas Tribune | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Posted on October 21, 2026, 2:02 PM. TAGS: Election 2026, News, Texas, Voting, Texas Elections, Texas Provisional Ballots,
   1. … Texans had until Oct. 5 to register to vote. But two recently discovered backlogs of voter registration records caused by state errors have flooded the offices of election officials who process that paperwork.
   2. If a registration is not processed by the time a voter shows up to cast a ballot, their name may not appear in the list of registered voters at the polling place. But those voters can still vote by casting a provisional ballot.
   3. Here’s what to know about casting a provisional ballot in Texas:
   4. What is a provisional ballot? — Federal law requires that provisional ballots be offered to any voter whose eligibility is uncertain, such as a voter who isn’t appearing on the list of registered voters due to an administrative error.
   5. Provisional ballots are kept separate from all other ballots until after the election. Election officials then determine whether the voter is eligible to vote and whether the ballot should be counted.
   6. Provisional ballots in Texas are offered during both early voting and on Election Day.
   7. In Texas, who is offered a provisional ballot? — There’s a long list of circumstances under which a voter will be offered a provisional ballot instead of a regular one. It includes: A voter believes they are properly registered to vote, but does not appear on the list of registered voters and the voter registrar’s office is unable to immediately verify the voter’s registration status; A voter is on the precinct list of registered voters, but their registered residence address is outside the political subdivision in which the voter is seeking to vote;  A voter is registered to vote but attempting to vote in a different precinct from where they are registered;  A voter does not provide an acceptable form of identification;  A voter’s name on their identification is not substantially similar to the name on the official list of registered voters; A voter’s identity cannot be verified by the identification presented;  A voter has received a disability exemption, but does not have a Voter Registration Certificate indicating such exemption;  A voter has applied for a ballot by mail, but has not yet properly canceled the mail ballot application;  [and] A voter votes during polling hours that are extended by a state or federal court.
   8. What do provisional ballot voters have to do at the polling place? — Voters who agree to cast a provisional ballot will be asked additional questions by the election judge — the person supervising the polling location — to gather details election officials can later use to determine whether the voter is eligible. For example, if a voter isn’t appearing on the list of registered voters, the election judge might ask when and how the voter registered. If the voter registered through the Texas Department of Public Safety while obtaining or updating their driver’s license or state ID, election officials will make note of that to help them investigate the problem with the voter’s registration. (The state uncovered a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter registration updates held up by that DPS driver’s license portal last month, though the backlog was reportedly cleared up by mid-October.)
   9. Voters will also be required to sign an affidavit that will act as a new voter registration form. The election judge will also fill out a form indicating the reason the voter is casting a provisional ballot. Both the voter and the election judge will sign the forms.
   10. How are provisional ballots cast? — Once the voter and the election judge fill out all required forms, voters will head to the voting booth to cast their ballot just like everyone else at the polling location. In most counties, voters will mark their choices using an electronic ballot marking device. Some counties use paper ballots that voters mark by hand.
   11. Once the voter is finished making their selections, the voter’s ballot must be placed in an envelope. Election workers keep it secure in a sealed container, separate from regular ballots. The ballots are then delivered to the county’s election officials for review.
   12. Who determines whether a provisional ballot is counted or not? — During early voting and in the days after Election Day, county voter registrars will review their records in connection with any provisional ballots cast. They’ll determine whether the voter was actually registered by the deadline, and whether there’s any missing information that the voter might need to provide.
   13. That information, combined with the notes and information gathered by the election judge at the polling place, is then delivered to the Early Voting Ballot Board — a group of people appointed by the county elections board that includes members of both political parties. The group is tasked with processing mail-in ballots to ensure they contain all the required information voters need to submit, and they also make determinations on provisional ballots.
   14. How do I know whether my provisional ballot was counted? — Voters will be mailed a notice around two weeks after Election Day informing them of the determination made by the Early Voting Ballot Board.
   15. Local election officials must conduct the canvass of votes — the official review and certification of votes that were counted — between Nov. 6 and Nov. 17. According to the Texas election code, election officials must deliver a written notice of the outcome of provisional ballots “no later than the tenth day after the local canvass.”
   16. The notice must state whether a voter’s ballot was counted. If it was not counted, the notice must include the reason why it wasn’t. If the voter has additional questions, the notice will include contact information for local election officials.
   17. MIKE: So, on provisional ballots …
   18. MIKE: Voters are required to show some form of acceptable ID. HarrisVotes[.]com has a list of those.
   19. MIKE: Briefly, they are a Texas Driver License issued by DPS, a Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS, a Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS, a Texas Handgun License issued by DPS, a United States Citizenship Certificate containing your photograph, a United States Military Identification Card containing your photograph, or a United States Passport book or card.
   20. MIKE: If there is any issue at the polling place about your ID or your eligibility to vote, don’t be intimidated.
   21. MIKE: If you believe that you are eligible to vote but cannot establish your eligibility at the polling station, request (or in the final extremity, demand) a provisional ballot. Don’t let anyone stop you from voting if you believe you are eligible to do so.
4. There’s a money saving tip from CLICK2HOUSTON[.]COM, but I think it omits some important caveats. It’s called — Goodwill’s new Houston furniture clearance center offers couches for around $25; By Bill Spencer, Investigative Reporter | CLICK2HOUSTON.COM | Published: October 29, 2026 at 11:35 AM. Tags: Goodwill, Furniture, Goodwill, Donated Furniture,
   1. Shoppers looking to furnish their homes on a budget may want to check out Goodwill’s new furniture-only Home Clearance Center in southwest Houston, where donated furniture is being sold at deeply discounted prices.
   2. The store, which opened last month, is located at 8225 S. Gessner Road, just off U.S. 59.
   3. The clearance center carries a wide selection of used furniture, including couches, oversized chairs, dining room tables, kitchen chairs, stools, solid wood wardrobes and dining room cabinets.
   4. Prices are especially low on some of the larger items. Most couches sell for around $25, while plush chairs range from $15 to $25. Individual wooden and fabric chairs cost as little as $3 to $8.
   5. Shoppers can also find framed artwork, with many pieces priced between $10 and $15.
   6. The store offers an option for people looking to furnish a home, replace an old piece of furniture or find affordable items without paying traditional retail prices. Inventory may vary depending on donations and availability.
   7. The Goodwill Home Clearance Center is open seven days a week, Monday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
   8. [The] Location [is at] 8225 S. Gessner Road, Houston, TX 77036
   9. MIKE: This story tells of budget home furnishings for Houstonians and others who need help furnishing their homes on a severely constrained budget, but it does NOT mention something that is extremely important to know, whether it’s donated clothing or donated furniture.
   10. MIKE: GOODWILL and other thrift stores DO NOT clean or sanitize donated furniture or clothing items.
   11. MIKE: This isn’t meant as a criticism. It’s merely a word to the wise.
   12. MIKE: For your information, GOODWILL has a website called “What Really Happens to Your Donated Clothes at Goodwill”, which I’m linking to in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com.
   13. MIKE: I’m also linking to a web page summarized by Meta AI that I found called, “Does Goodwill Sanitize Clothes? What You Should Know Before Buying”.
   14. MIKE: There’s a lot on that page in terms of comments and videos that might be worth reading or watching, but the caption at the top of that page perhaps makes the most important point: “Goodwill does not wash or sanitize donated clothing before selling it — employees have said items are priced and put out as-is. If you buy anything secondhand, it’s best to wash or disinfect it yourself before wearing.”
   15. MIKE: Underscored emphasis is mine.
   16. MIKE: Perhaps that’s important enough that I should repeat it: “Goodwill DOES NOT wash or sanitize donated clothing before selling … . If you buy anything secondhand, it’s best to wash or disinfect it yourself before wearing.”
   17. MIKE: I’m assume that this also applies to any furniture or home furnishings that folks might purchase at this furniture outlet as well as other GOODWILL outlets, and at any other thrift shops.
   18. MIKE: Therefore, caveat emptor: Buyer Beware.
   19. MIKE: Any furniture you buy used can have all sorts of critters living in it or infecting it, and the padding that furniture has can mean that some sort of deep clean, extermination, or disinfection might be a wise measure to take before bringing it into your home or apartment.
   20. MIKE: That can be a daunting suggestion, so I asked Google AI, “How do you sanitize or deep clean used furniture?”
   21. MIKE: There’s a lot of general and specific advice that I got in response. These responses were specifically from Google AI, so I suggest using that search term in your own browser and see what you get.
   22. MIKE: But here are some good basics. It said, “Sanitizing and deep cleaning used furniture depends on the material, whether it is wood, metal, or upholstered fabric.
   23. MIKE: “… Inspect outdoors or in a garage: Do an initial check for bedbugs, mold, dust, or pet damage before bringing the piece into your main living space. [1, 2]
   24. MIKE: “Wear protective gear: Put on gloves and, if you are working with heavy dust or strong sanitizers, a mask. [1]
   25. MIKE: “Vacuum thoroughly: Use a vacuum with a hose and crevice tool to clear out crumbs, hair, and dust from all surfaces, gaps, and hidden seams. [1, 2]”
   26. MIKE: In other words, just like buying a house that’s a “handyman special”, you save money by investing sweat equity.
   27. MIKE: I found a helpful video: called, “How To Clean Your Furniture & Upholstery Like A Pro”.
   28. MIKE: There’s also an article I found called, “How to Clean Secondhand Furniture, According to Professional Upcyclers”.
   29. MIKE: I’ve linked to both in this show post at ThinkiwingRadio[.]com.
   30. MIKE: The article has some great advice not only on how to best clean and sanitize used furniture.
   31. MIKE: It also has important tips on what to look for when considering buying used furniture, as well as when to walk away. For example, “We do a thorough inspection of all of our pieces and look for telltale signs like actual bedbugs, carcasses, feces, eggs, shells, odor, etc. If any of these signs present themselves, we do not take on the item — or any other items in the same home,” says the duo … behind Rising Geminis, an Atlanta-based Instagram shop that sells flipped furniture.”
   32. MIKE: Remember that when testing out used furniture by sitting in it or lying on it, it’s possible to pick up bugs or eggs that you might then carry into your current place of residence. This is how bedbugs, for example, travel from homes to hotels and back again.
   33. MIKE: So, while a used furniture outlet may be a godsend for some folks, be an informed consumer.
5. The phrase and practice of “Republican Dirty Tricks” has been a staple and a truism since Watergate, and we have another potential example here. From HOUSTONCHRONICLE[.]COM — Orlando Sanchez continued running Johnny Mata ad after civil rights icon demanded its removal; By John Lomax V, Staff Writer | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM | Updated Oct 29, 2026 1:46 p.m. TAGS: Orlando Sanchez, Johnny Mata, Campaign Ads, Republican Dirty Tricks,
   1. Orlando Sanchez continued to run advertisements featuring himself alongside prominent Houston civil rights advocate Johnny Mata after Mata formally demanded the Republican candidate for Harris County judge stop using his likeness to bolster his political campaign. 
   2. Sanchez’s campaign spent roughly $21,000 on the ad, which has aired more than a dozen times across a variety of Houston Spanish-language channels, according to the political advertising tracker AdImpact. Sanchez’s ad included a quote from Mata stating he was “proud to stand with and vote for Orlando Sanchez,” but Mata has since said he never endorsed Sanchez and no longer plans to vote for him. 
   3. The ad also featured a photo of Sanchez standing with Mata, which first appeared in a social media post Saturday. Mata pushed back on the post the following day, saying he posed for the photo under the impression it would not be used for political purposes. But the ad first ran Tuesday — days after the Latino civil rights icon said he did not plan to vote for Sanchez. The ad aired as recently as Thursday. 
   4. Sanchez’s campaign declined to comment on the ads. 
   5. Mata told the Houston Chronicle that, while he did indicate to Sanchez that he planned to vote for him, he explicitly said he was not endorsing him.
   6. [Mata said,] “I said I’ll probably vote for him but after all this mess, I’m not voting for him. … Right now, I’m concentrating on getting voters out to the polls.” 
   7. Attorney Silvia Mintz said she has sent a cease and desist to Sanchez’s campaign on Mata’s behalf demanding they no longer use his likeness for political advertisements. 
   8. Chris Beavers, a spokesperson for Sanchez, said in a previous statement that Mata spoke with Sanchez for roughly one hour Friday during a meeting alongside two other Latino community leaders he did not name. 
   9. [Beavers said,] “During that conversation, Mr. Mata reiterated their decades-long friendship, their mutual support for each other, and Mr. Mata said that he would be voting for Orlando Sanchez for Harris County judge. … At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Mata stood side by side with Orlando Sanchez, where they were photographed together by one of the community leaders.” 
   10. Ahead of what analysts and polls project will be a wave year for Democrats locally, Sanchez has increasingly sought to distance himself from aspects of the GOP platform. 
   11. He’s taken a moderate position on immigration enforcement, and at one community meeting asked Latino voters to “ignore that R” next to his name at the ballot box. 
   12. [MIKE: That tells you how toxic Trump and his policies have made the Republican label, but they have no one to blame but themselves. Continuing …]
   13. Nancy Sims, a political science lecturer at the University of Houston, said that’s probably what motivated Sanchez to seek Mata’s support. Sanchez didn’t say in the post that Mata was endorsing him, but Sims said many of those who saw it likely interpreted it as an endorsement anyway. 
   14. [Sims said,] “People see a picture of the candidate and a civic leader; they’re going to presume that that’s an endorsement.”
   15. Mata previously endorsed Sanchez when he ran for Houston city controller in 2019. But that election, as with all city races, was nonpartisan — a distinction Sims said is more relevant this year than in those past, thanks to the high-profile U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. 
   16. [Sims said,] “This year is not only partisan; it’s intensely partisan. … You have very competitive partisan races at the top of the ticket.” 
   17. [MIKE: And this is why I’m against non-partisan local races as what amounts to obfuscation and deceptive advertising. Continuing …]
   18. Mata is the director of the Greater Houston Coalition For Justice, a civil rights organization dedicated to “fighting for human rights, accountability and systemic change,” according to its website. 
   19. A tireless advocate, the 89-year-old for decades has pushed for criminal justice reform. He was among the voices demanding accountability following the Houston Police Department’s 1977 killing of Joe Campos Torres, a Vietnam veteran whose death sparked widespread protests. 
   20. Though Mata himself is not an attorney, his work influenced lawyers who saw him as a civil rights champion.
   21. [Said attorney Randall Kallinen [PRON.: KALL-i-nin], whose east Houston office features a mural with Mata alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights figures,] “He’s one of the most highly regarded civil rights figures in the Houston area. … He taught me a lot. I’ve patterned a lot of my civil rights work on the lessons I learned from him.” 
   22. Mata has also been a longtime member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the oldest Latino civil rights organizations in the country. Tony Diaz, also a member of LULAC, said he plans to bring Sanchez’s post up during a meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening. 
   23. [Diaz said,] “This is a terrible way for someone that aspires to public office to treat a revered leader of ours.”
   24. MIKE: Was it another “Republican Dirty Trick? Did Sanchez’s campaign deliberately — but erroneously — claim that Mata had officially endorsed Sanchez for County Commissioner even though Mata’s people claim that the promise to vote for Sanchez was just a personal comment from one person to another? Or was it an honest mistake by someone in the campaign?
   25. MIKE: What does it mean that Sanchez’s campaign declined to comment on the ads? Does silence imply an admission?
   26. MIKE: And then we get to Sanchez’s attempt to run away from his Republican Party affiliation.
   27. MIKE: In my opinion, non-partisan political races are just a way to camouflage a candidate’s actual belief systems, political ideologies, and historic positions and actions.
   28. MIKE: A glaring example of this attempt to disown past statements and policies comes to mind, though in this case, not for a non-partisan candidate.
   29. MIKE: When Mitt Romney ran for president in 2012, he tried to swing his campaign to the hard Right for the primaries, and he said some very Rightwing things.
   30. MIKE: During Romney’s campaign for the Republican nomination, his senior campaign adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom was asked how Romney would appeal to the more centrist voters that he would be speaking to in a general election campaign.
   31. MIKE: A New York Times article from the time, reported that, “Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom was asked on CNN whether Romney may be forced so far to the right by rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in the primary race that it might hurt him if he’s the party’s nominee in the fall. Fehrnstrom responded [PLAY AUDIO]: “Well, I think you hit a reset button, uh, for the fall campaign everything changes it’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch you can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.” [PLAY AUDIO 09s] — Etch A Sketch Comment by Romney Adviser Eric Fehrnstrom (Weds., March 21, 2012) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKtNYmsarUE ]
   32. MIKE: Politicians should never be allowed to hit an Etch-A-Sketch-style “reset button” on what they’ve said or done in the past and voters should be informed enough not to let them.
   33. MIKE: They must own what they’ve said and own what they’ve done, and our Mainstream Media need to make sure that they do their job by holding politicians to their past statements and actions, because their past statements and actions are the only real way that we have for predicting how they will govern in the future.
   34. MIKE: This is why I think it’s important to require candidates to run with their party affiliation. And it’s also the reason that I think Senate confirmation hearings are waste of time. It just allows nominees to fudge their past.
   35. MIKE: Actions speak louder than words.
   36. MIKE: If Sanchez doesn’t want to run with the baggage of Donald Trump and the Republican Party that Trump has reshaped in his own evil image, then maybe Sanchez should leave the party, run as an independent, and then explain to voters why he shouldn’t be held accountable for what he’s said and done in the past as a Republican.
   37. MIKE: That would at least be honest.
6. Next, from TEXASTRIBUNE[.]ORG — Texas AG’s office labels get-out-the-vote ads discriminatory for focus on Black, Latino and Asian voters; by Ayden Runnels | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Oct. 29, 2026, 5:19 p.m. Central. TAGS: Houston, Texas Attorney General’s Office, Harris County Clerk, Get-Out-The-Vote Ads, Race and Ethnicity,
   1. The Texas Attorney General’s Office sued the Harris County clerk Thursday for promoting get-out-the-vote ads it described as “racially discriminatory” because they targeted Black, Latino and Asian voters while excluding “European ethnicities.”
   2. The lawsuit asks a Harris County district judge to order the social media ads to be pulled or reconfigured to remove all identifiers targeting voters along racial and ethnic lines.
   3. The lawsuit argues that ads on Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram included tags that intentionally directed them toward users with African, Asian and Latino-related interests and backgrounds.
   4. The listed tags included African-American literature, Latin music, Hispanic kitchen, East Asia, 27 different countries and several foreign cities, including Madrid and Bangkok.
   5. The lawsuit argues the clerk’s office acted unconstitutionally by using ad targeting that prioritizes people of certain ethnicities but not others.
   6. [The lawsuit said,] “There can be no legitimate reason for Harris County to intentionally target voter ethnicities, cultural interests, and countries, but not toward any European ethnicities, cultural interests, or countries, never mind towards interests tailored specifically to those in Houston or Texas — those who would actually be voting in Harris County Elections.”
   7. [MIKE: I admit that this can sound like laughable Republican hypocrisy, but I’ll get into that in my comments. Continuing …]
   8. The ads, which encourage voters to make a plan to vote, began running in late September and early October, according to the petition.
   9. [The lawsuit read,] “Every moment that these advertisements remain active and improperly targeting users based on their race or ethnicity, Defendants are violating the Texas Constitution.”
   10. The Harris County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the lawsuit, calling it a “pathetic political distraction” in a statement on social media.
   11. [The County Attorney’s statement read,] “Harris County remains hyper-focused on ensuring every eligible voter’s voice is heard and their votes protected, not sideshows that appease grandstanding.”
   12. A statement from Paxton’s office accused the Harris County clerk of running the ads “in an effort to increase voter turnout among particular races and ethnicities.”
   13. The statement also said Paxton was not participating in the lawsuit because he is on the ballot as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Paxton’s office did not respond to questions about what point in the lawsuit process [that] the attorney general recused himself, or how the office was made aware of the ad targeting.
   14. S. Rep. Christian Menefee, a Democrat who represents part of Houston, condemned the lawsuit in a social media statement that accused Paxton of wanting “to stop Houstonians from going to the polls.”
   15. [Menefee said,] “He’s whining about ads that do nothing more than tell neighbors when to vote and where to get information about voting. … Paxton is upset that diverse voters across Harris County are making their voices heard.”
   16. MIKE: I’m not a lawyer and I won’t pretend to be one, but I have to say that it’s pretty rich that the state of Texas is complaining about ethnically-targeted social media posts that attempt to get voters to the polls who may be especially reluctant to vote in today’s MAGA/ICE/Fascistic political climate, since these are precisely the ethnicities of voters that Trump and his MAGA Republicans have been trying to suppress through fear, intimidation, physical abuse, and potentially lethal violence.
   17. MIKE: I don’t see the State of Texas doing anything to counter those government actions.
   18. MIKE: But I’ll be interested in seeing how Texas law prevents efforts to encourage voter participation among typically under-represented voters.
   19. MIKE: Texas has argued in court that it doesn’t attempt to discourage or dilute voters based on race or ethnicity. The State has argued that they only do it to discourage or dilute the Democratic vote, because the Voting Rights Act doesn’t forbid discrimination or suppression based on party affiliation.
   20. MIKE: Maybe Texas has passed law that appears to protect ethnic and racial voting rights that the State now wants to turn on its head by forbidding actions that encourage voting among those races and ethnicities.
   21. MIKE: It will be interesting to see how far this lawsuit gets in court. Will it be summarily dismissed as one might expect? Or will a judge allow it to proceed?
   22. MIKE: We’ll have to wait and see.
7. Next, I’m not going to read this whole press release from the NYC Mayor’s office, but I’m going to use the first couple of paragraphs to help make a point — Mayor Mamdani Installs Brooklyn’s First Residential Empire Bins, Bringing City Closer to Trash-Free Sidewalks; GOV/MAYORS-OFFICE | October 29, 2026. TAGS: Deliverism, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), Brooklyn, Residential Empire Bins,
   1. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Gregory Anderson today installed Brooklyn’s first residential Empire Bins, taking a major step toward cleaner streets and sidewalks. The stationary, on-street containers will replace massive piles of trash bags across Brooklyn Community District 2, where installation of more than 700 bins is now underway. Full containerization of the district is expected to be completed by the end of fall.
   2. [Said Mayor Mamdani,] “Every New Yorker deserves clean streets and sidewalks. … For too long, New Yorkers have had to walk past mountains of trash bags piled high on the curb that offer feasts for rats and stink up our streets. We’re changing that. By containerizing trash, we’re building a cleaner city while making it easier and safer for the hardworking men and women of DSNY to do their job.” …
8. About 5 years ago, there was an article in PROSPECT[.]ORG where the writer credited Matt Stoller with creating a new word and a new political paradigm: “Deliverism”. The article was called — The Case for Deliverism; by David Dayen | PROSPECT.ORG | October 12, 2021. TAGS: Deliverism, Politics, Electoral Politics, Matt Stoller, Political Promises,
   1. MIKE: It’s an article of its time, so I’m leaving out the 2021-related parts to focus on what I think is the core of the article’s message. Here are some of the relevant excerpts:
   2. … [David Dayen believes that] the clear lesson of the past 15 years [is that] the party in power that fails to solve the problems it says it will, tends to lose …
   3. This bumps up against Democratic activist goals around diversity and inclusion and edge-pushing ideas around policing and immigration … [But] You cannot talk about the same popular items, fail to deliver on them, and expect the voting public to keep listening to you. There are diminishing returns to parties that never seem to get results. At this moment, the only thing that will give Democrats a fighting chance is what … Matt Stoller just coined as “deliverism.”
   4. Deliverism means governing well and establishing a record that the electorate … actually feels. Ironically, the best example [of] this comes in [data analyst David] Shor’s formative year of 2012. Barack Obama ran on a very specific part of his record, tailored to the critical voters in the Midwest. The ticket even had a slogan: “Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.” …
   5. The auto bailout involved a fairly novel use of funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, injected into General Motors and Chrysler despite its purpose being to buy up toxic mortgage securities. The Obama administration floated emergency loans and tossed out executive leadership, a condition not forced on banks, while pushing the companies through a managed bankruptcy. The industry rebounded and the money was repaid.
   6. In other words, it was a decisive and successful use of executive action to reach an important policy goal, and it paid off politically. (It didn’t hurt that Obama was running for re-election against someone who literally wrote an op-ed called “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”) This contrasts with Obama’s half and quarter measures in other arenas; his reluctance to use his own authority elsewhere, and his willingness to let the problems of inequality, rural crisis, and deaths of despair linger. Those caused bigger losses for his party than him personally, because of his political talents. …
   7. Every time Democrats make [a] promise and fail to deliver, cynicism finds a breeding ground. People tune out the Democratic message as pretty words in a speech. Eventually, Democratic support gets ground down to a nub, surfacing only in major metropolitan areas that have a cultural affinity for liberalism. …
   8. Shor and his allies argue that there’s no guarantee that doing popular things will yield electoral success; in fact, they believe in a backlash to activist government. But the far greater backlash is to advance the same popular ideas in campaigns consecutively without ever solving the problems. That just kills the party brand. …
   9. People generally like low taxes because they are unconvinced they get anything for their money. Of course, they do … But mortgage deductions and tax breaks flow to the upper classes; most working families just see higher costs for health care and education and family care burdens, and no longer trust the party that’s supposed to fight for them.
   10. If Democrats want to reverse this tendency, they must use all available means to deliver results. …
   11. But there’s a whole other side to making change that flows from executive branch agencies empowered to act in the public interest. Executive authority and legislative action must work in concert. …
   12. It’s going to be a long climb back for a Democratic brand tarnished by decades of failure on bread-and-butter issues. Talk is cheap. Broken promises are toxic to a skeptical electorate. Deliverism is the only path forward.
   13. MIKE: I’ve linked to the full article in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com. You may quibble about the parts I read and the parts I didn’t, but I wanted to make the main point.
   14. MIKE: And the main point is “deliverism”.
   15. MIKE: It’s the main point of the Mamdani story I read before this one.
   16. MIKE: If you’ve ever been to New York City — especially Manhattan — you know that after 5 or 6 PM, the streets are lined with trash bags, boxes filled with trash, debris, and overflowing trash cans.
   17. MIKE: This garbage sitting on the streets for hours before being picked up is a — perhaps THE — main source of food for the rats and roaches that infest NYC.
   18. MIKE: Reducing street trash and reducing the rat and roach population are separate but related goals, and they were among Mamdani’s campaign promises.
   19. MIKE: And here’s the point: Mamdani is delivering.
   20. MIKE: It’s still to be determined whether his plan for massive garbage bins emptied by automated sanitation trucks will be the answer. If his program goes awry, there may be a political price to pay. But for now, Mamdani has made an extremely visible effort to fulfill a campaign promise, and New Yorkers will notice it.
   21. MIKE: Democrats need to promise what they can deliver and deliver what they promise. If they do that, and if they can overcome Republican obstructionism and PR distortions, they can become the dominant party for at least a generation.
9. From THEGUARDIAN[.]COM — Brazil’s victory for the planet and democracy: seven lessons from Lula’s win; By Jonathan Watts | THEGUARDIAN.COM | Thu 29 Oct 2026 13.46 EDT. TAGS: Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Amazon rainforest, Environmental activism, Deforestation, Land rights, Trees and forests, analysis.
   1. Thank you, Brazil, for demonstrating how the far right can be trounced while protection for the Amazon [Rain Forest] is strengthened. In a world where nature and democracy appeared to be bleeding out in tandem, voters and forest defenders in this global south powerhouse have shown it is possible to staunch [sic] the flow. This should provide much needed inspiration and, more practically, a playbook for social and environmental movements in other countries facing elections, including the US, Spain and France.
   2. [MIKE: I’m gonna nitpick here a second. You don’t “staunch a flow.” You “stanch a flow.” I’m seeing this get past so many copy editors that it’s making me crazy. But continuing …]
   3. The astonishing comeback victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s presidential runoff against his extreme right challenger Flavío Bolsonaro has brought oceans of rapturous supporters on to the streets, while also thrilling conservationists, climate activists and social justice campaigners across the world.
   4. Coming just weeks after the Lula administration announced a record fall in Amazon and Cerrado destruction, they hope Brazil can now go on to achieve its target of zero deforestation by 2030 and continue to support a global transition away from fossil fuels. That would provide a huge boost to flagging global efforts to stabilise the climate and protect degraded ecosystems. It would also set a remarkable example of leadership by the global south.
   5. Big battles lie ahead. In the Amazon region itself, far-right members of Bolsonaro’s party have won the governorships of seven of the nine states and a large number of municipal mayorships. Brazil’s congress is now dominated by agribusiness and mining interests that have set the political agenda in recent years, and will push hard to allow more “extractivist” industries in indigenous lands, expand road-building, privatise rivers, weaken environmental protections and possibly attempt to impeach the president.
   6. [MIKE: And yes, “exractivism” appears to be a word. The more you know. Continuing …]
   7. In the regional sphere, Lula, alone among the leaders of main South American nations in not aligning with Donald Trump’s so-called Shield of the Americas, will face pressure from Washington to channel critical minerals and other natural resources to the US, rather than selling to China or Europe, or leaving them in the ground. And, on the planetary level, Brazil faces the threat of accelerating global heating, which is pushing the Amazon ever closer to the point of no return.
   8. So although Sunday’s result will hopefully provide a little breathing space for the Amazon and other crucially important biomes, the joy and hope that Brazil has gifted the world will quickly fade unless it inspires political change in other countries. In that sense, the biggest environmental impact of Lula’s victory may be the lessons it provides for campaigners elsewhere. Here are some initial takeaways:
   9. 1- Politics matter. There is no higher environmental priority than defeating the far right, which is a Trojan horse for extractivist – and often criminal – groups to capture states and erode protections for people, democracy, and the environment. Just look at the 59-1/2% surge of Amazon deforestation under the 2019-2022 term of Jair Bolsonaro – the highest level of any four-year presidency in Brazil. Compare that with the 71.2% fall during the Lula administration. Over the past year, forest loss was 3,335 sq km, the lowest level since the start of satellite measurements in 1988. And Lula is not, by any means, an environmentalist. He has approved several destructive projects himself, but he is a people-person who listens to the voice of social movements.
   10. 2- Don’t give up. Lula was largely written off by the markets and some polls after his first-round defeat. No first-round loser had ever previously come back to win the runoff. Lula was able to do so by securing an extra 10 [million] votes over three weeks. The energy for this came from the streets and the forests. Social movements organised giant rallies in cities. In the Amazon, indigenous, riverine and quilombola [PRON,: kee-lohn-BOH-lah ] groups travelled [for] hours – sometimes days – to reach polling stations by boats or buses.
   11. 3- Mobilise a campaign army. The first round of Lula’s campaign had been stodgy, old-fashioned and defensive – three traits that are also often applicable to environmental campaigns. This was transformed during the runoff, when federal deputy André Janones launched a “Lula’s Army” WhatsApp group that used humorous memes, live streams, and algorithmic outreach to seize digital territory that had long been dominated by the Right. By voting day, this army had 10 [million] “soldiers”; about 8% of the electorate. Volunteers devoted hours posting stories and spreading messages across social media, speeding up the Lula campaign’s response time and emotional impact. Everyone was instructed not to share or respond to posts by the opposition camp.
   12. 4- Go on the offensive against US tech giants. Lula’s campaign accused Meta, which runs the Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram social media platforms, of political favouritism towards Bolsonaro in its algorithms and AI tools. Meta denied bias, but acknowledged technical failures. Brazil’s electoral court ordered corrective action. Among the most popular chants of Lula supporters was “Hey Meta, vai tomar no cu!” (Hey Meta, take it up the arse!). Many on the left have blamed US social media platforms for spreading rightwing disinformation and fearmongering, causing recent electoral defeats in Colombia, Chile and Peru. Lula made clear that would not be allowed in Brazil, [saying]: “We had to overcome foreign interference through digital platforms, which we will have to regulate. We cannot have a monstrously large corporation earning millions and billions paying no taxes to this country and trying to steer our election results.”
   13. 5- Reclaim the flag. Brazil’s green, yellow and blue national colours had been associated with Bolsonaro’s movement in previous elections. This time, Lula seized it back by posing in a national football team strip while his “army” launched a campaign called “The green and yellow is ours”. Before voting day, millions of people across Brazil and the world – from Indigenous leaders in the Amazon to Hollywood celebrities and European football stars – flooded social networks with images of themselves in Brazil colours making an L (for Lula) sign with their thumb and little finger extended.
   14. 6- Increase social spending. Amazon protection may have galvanised conservationists, but the far greater motivations for many Lula voters were record low unemployment, robust wage growth, a 15% increase in “Bolsa Familia” poverty relief payments and a promise to raise the minimum wage. The importance of combining social justice with climate and nature action is widely recognised by Brazilian environmental groups. Without it, elections are lost and protests can erupt in the streets – as the world learned from France during the violent gilets jaunes (yellow vests) demonstrations of 2018.
   15. 7- Defend sovereignty, democracy and sustainability. Lula and his army called out the interlinked threats posed by the Bolsonaro family’s fealty to Donald Trump (now doubly confirmed by Flávio’s post-election flight to the US). They highlighted the interlinked threats posed by the obsequience to Trump, Bolsonaro’s desire to change the constitution, and his promise to open up exploration of the Amazon and other biomes. This reflects a global phenomenon. Now that seven of the planetary boundaries essential for the flourishing of life have been breached, more and more people are affected by business activities that make the situation worse by destabilising the climate, damaging ecosystems, and polluting the air, soil and rivers. This makes it harder for extractive companies to secure a social mandate, so they become more inclined to either break the law or support extreme politics that override democracy.
   16. The former environment minister Marina Silva pulled these threads together during the victory celebrations, saying Brazil had come together against these threats: “Long live the people who emerged from every corner of Brazil to sow hope for a future that is socially just, sovereign, democratic and sustainable.”
   17. Brazil has given the world a remarkable example of hope through action. Now it needs others to follow.
   18. MIKE: I think that there are some excellent ideas in this article that might successfully translate to a US context.
   19. MIKE: For a US electorate and citizenry, I think a top priority must be a movement to recapture the American flag from the Right. Let then keep their Confederate rebel flags and their Trump flags. The Stars and Stripes belong to all of us who are loyal to the Constitution, and not exclusively to those who would foul and defile it.
   20. MIKE: Social media oligarchies and concentrations of media generally must be broken up. Our current state of affairs puts way too much communication power in way too few hands. The Sinclair Broadcast Group might be the worst and most blatant example enabling the broadcast of Rightwing corporate propaganda, but it’s far from the only one.
   21. MIKE: And we must raise our progressive taxation levels back to the pre-Reagan levels of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Those tax rates didn’t prevent people from accumulating great wealth, but they seem to have prevented individuals from accumulating nation-level wealth that can corrupt nations and national democracies.
   22. MIKE: What is the price of putting so much power into the hands of so few corporate leaders?
10. I decided to look at that question, which led me to an Iowa State University review article from 2018 titled — No, we’re not all working for a bunch of psychopaths; By Marcus Credé, Peter Harms, & Angie Hunt | IASTATE.EDU (Iowa State University of Science and Technology) | October 15, 2018. TAGS: Corporate Leaders, CEOs, Psychopaths, Sociopaths,
    1. If you’ve ever worked for an impulsive or vengeful boss, these headlines may not seem so far-fetched: “CEO is the profession with the most psychopaths,” or “1 in 5 CEOs is a psychopath, study finds.”
    2. Numerous headlines making similar claims caught the attention of Iowa State University and University of Alabama researchers who questioned if there may be more to the story. They started digging into the science and found such claims to be overblown. Contrary to public perception, they say the relationship between leadership and psychopathy is weak.
    3. [Said Marcus Credé, an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State,] “We found people with psychopathic tendencies were somewhat more likely to become leaders, but nothing to suggest every executive suite is staffed by psychopaths. There is simply no evidence that is the case.”
    4. The researchers did identify some important distinctions that have implications in the workplace, even with a small effect size. Credé, Peter Harms, an associate professor at Alabama; and Karen Landay, lead author and graduate student at Alabama, analyzed 92 studies to determine patterns in leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness of people with psychopathic tendencies. The results of their meta-analysis are published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
    5. … The influence of gender was one point of particular interest to researchers. Women leaders who showed psychopathic characteristics were evaluated negatively, but men were not. The researchers measured leadership effectiveness using job performance ratings from supervisors, peers and subordinates as well as self-reports. Harms says this double standard is troubling.   
    6. [Harms said,] “Men are getting away with it. … There is a gender bias here and it’s simply not fair. Women are being held accountable for their behaviors and men are not. We shouldn’t be tolerating or excusing bad behavior from men.”
    7. The researchers say all managers and CEOs need to be held accountable regardless of gender. They say it’s important to recognize that the rate at which people with psychopathic tendencies land management positions can be quite dramatic if organizations do not screen for these traits when hiring or promoting managers.
    8. [MIKE: Hmmm … But what if the psychopaths are doing the screening? Continuing …]
    9. … Although there’s an immediate impression associated with the word psychopath, that is more consistent with a clinical diagnosis than the traits exhibited in the workplace, researchers said. In the workplace, where psychopathic tendencies are at subclinical levels (no signs or symptoms detectable in a clinical setting), there are three distinct elements typically associated with the psychopathic profile: boldness (interpersonal dominance), disinhibition (impulsivity) and meanness (lack of empathy).
    10. The researchers say these characteristics are frequently found in leaders responsible for major corporate scandals and sexual harassment cases. Individuals who engage in such behavior continue to climb the corporate ladder because they are rarely punished for their actions. Too often, victims are reluctant to come forward. Instead, they find a new job rather than blowing the whistle on the abusive behavior.  
    11. While screening potential managers and leaders is beneficial, researchers say 360-degree feedback also is valuable. Talking with a person’s peers, subordinates and supervisors offers greater insight about a person’s leadership style and personality, rather than basing promotions and management decisions on quarterly reports and numbers, Landay said.
    12. [Landay said,] “How leaders treat people in their organizations can have long-term implications. If leaders are aggressive or threatening, it’s going to result in higher stress and turnover among workers. … Psychopathic leaders are ruthless, they lack empathy and they shouldn’t be in charge.”  
    13. MIKE: In one of my very earliest shows on a different radio station during the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I addressed the question of corporate sociopathy, and I ran across an amusing non-clinical distinction between sociopathy and psychopathy: A psychopath wants to kill you, whereas a sociopath simply doesn’t mind killing you.
    14. MIKE: So my first observation about this article is disappointment. I think they were researching the wrong distinction.
    15. MIKE: But I also found it interesting that they found that, “people with psychopathic tendencies were somewhat more likely to become leaders, but nothing to suggest every executive suite is staffed by psychopaths.”
    16. MIKE: For the average layperson, let alone the average employee, that sounds a little like a distinction without a difference.
    17. MIKE: It’s also interesting that psychopathic-leaning men can get away with psychopathic behaviors, but psychopathic-leaning women still can’t. So sad to say, women’s liberation has apparently not yet cleared that hurdle and is perhaps why male CEO’s still outnumber female CEOs. Apparently, psychopathic women need not apply.
    18. MIKE: And this review found that, “In the workplace, where psychopathic tendencies are at subclinical levels …, there are three distinct elements typically associated with the psychopathic profile: boldness (interpersonal dominance), disinhibition (impulsivity) and meanness (lack of empathy).”
    19. MIKE: Yeah, I’ve found a lot of meanness in the workplace. And personally, I don’t find it particularly comforting that “psychopathic tendencies are at subclinical levels”
    20. MIKE: I once heard it quipped that if it wasn’t for sociopaths, there would be no major accomplishments. I take that to mean that the ruthlessness and lack of empathy among sociopaths allows for the top achievers to make the “hard calls”, whether those calls are cutthroat business practices, massive layoffs, or — in the final extremity — life-and-death decisions.
    21. MIKE: There’s a quote I often cite, or at least contemplate. The army psychologist assigned to watching the Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg Trials later wrote, “In my work with the defendants [1945-1949] I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”
    22. MIKE: In both sociopathy and psychopathy — neither term of which is technically used in psychiatry — a key trait is a lack of empathy.
    23. MIKE: So … Is your boss or political leader a psychopath? Judge for yourself.

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, Livingston/Goodrich 89.9-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. We are Houston’s Community radio. 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!