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.)

CLOUD WILLIAM: “Good must destroy evil.

DOCTOR MCCOY: Spock, I’ve found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful.” — Doctor McCoy to Mr. Spock. Star Trek Episode (Season 2, Episode 23), “Omega Glory”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6smm_pN3dBg&t=6s ) [MIKE: These two quotes are not sequential in the episode, but the full sequence is not online at this time.]

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, The UK, Germany, Hong Kong, Finland, 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 65^th week of Trump’s recently intensified military occupation of Washington DC. And the last time I checked on Saturday, after 54 weeks, National Guard troops are still deployed in Memphis at Trump’s request by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

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. In a short, still-relevant story published October 26, 2026 from REUTERS[.]COM — US consumers [are] paying the most for fuel price spikes from Iran war, study says; By Reuters | REUTERS.COM | October 26, 2026@3:19 PM CDT/Updated October 26, 2026. TAGS: Energy, Fuel Oil, Refining, Transport Fuels, Fuel Costs,
   1. US consumers are paying more than anyone in the world for the jump in fuel prices caused by ​supply disruptions resulting from the US war on Iran, ‌including the virtual shutting and then blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a study said on Monday.
   2. US consumers have paid an average of $471 more for ​higher fuel prices since the Iran war started on ​February 28, said the study by Finland-based nonprofit group ⁠Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which supports ​efforts to move off fossil fuels. That compares to an average ​of about $60 more for people around the world.
   3. US consumers are paying more due to reliance on less efficient private vehicles, longer distance travel and a ​relatively slow transition to electric vehicles, CREA said.
   4. To calculate the ​costs, the study compared fuel prices in January and February this year ‌to ⁠what they were during the rest of the year.
   5. Consumers in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Belgium have also paid a lot more, according to the study which looked at fuel prices and ​consumption in 169 ​countries from ⁠the beginning of March to mid-October.
   6. The world has paid an additional $468 billion for fuel during that ​time, with the US paying $160 billion, China $54 billion ​and Canada $17 ⁠billion.
   7. The administration of US President Donald Trump says higher fuel prices are a small cost for consumers to pay to stop Iran ⁠from ​getting nuclear weapons and that oil ​and fuel prices will fall when the war ends. The war has lasted longer ​than the administration predicted.
   8. MIKE: So, to repurpose a phrase commonly used by Republicans from 2008 to 2016: “Thanks, Trump and Republicans.”
2. In case inquiring minds want to know, from NPR[.]ORG — Why is gasoline suddenly under $4 a gallon?; By Willa Rubin | NPR.ORG | November 11, 2026@2:59 PM ET. TAGS: Gas, Gas Prices, Oil, Energy, Fuel, S. War In Iran,
   1. Drivers are starting to see some relief from high fuel prices. For the first time in months, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has dipped below $4, according to AAA.
   2. The price crossed below the $4 threshold on Tuesday, and is currently down to a national average of $3.94 for a gallon of regular. Prices have dipped about 40 cents over the past month, with much of that decline happening in the past two weeks.
   3. [Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote in his industry newsletter,] “Many will assume the election had something to do with it, but that’s a myth.”
   4. Instead, he continued, gasoline prices are dropping for a more banal reason: “For now, it’s the seasonal shift, not politics, driving the relief at the pump.”
   5. Gas prices often ease in the fall.
   6. One reason: It’s no longer summer, which is the peak season for gas. (Fewer people drive in colder weather, AAA points out.) With less demand, there’s a touch more gas on the market.
   7. Refineries also finish their annual maintenance by late fall. So that adds a bit more gas to go around.
   8. And the blend of gasoline that’s on the market gets cheaper.
   9. Refineries make two types of gasoline every year: summer and winter blends. The summer blend produces less smog, because it evaporates less quickly in the heat; the winter blend helps engines start up in freezing weather, and uses a bit more butane, which helps lower its cost.
   10. (Normally, the switch happens around September 15. This year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy said the switch would happen on September 1, citing gasoline prices that have been driven up by the war in Iran.)
   11. But none of those are the biggest reason why gas prices are falling, says Jorge León, head of geopolitics at the research group Rystad Energy. The main driver is the falling price of Brent crude oil, which is now down to about $90 a barrel, and [Brent crude] is what refineries need to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
   12. That price is falling because there’s a bit more oil coming out of the Middle East via pipelines, and because market traders have rejoiced at the intensifying diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran.
   13. That progress could easily be reversed if the war escalates, León wrote in an email to NPR. [He wrote,] “President Trump may see further military action as a way to regain negotiating leverage before Democrats take control of Congress in January. If we see renewed escalation, much of last week’s oil price decline could quickly reverse.” The same would be true for gas prices.
   14. Congressional Democrats have expressed their support for ending the war in Iran. While they have limited power to do that, they do control the power of the purse, and can withhold additional war funding or hold back confirmations of key officials.
   15. For now, if the price of Brent crude keeps falling, so could prices at the pump.
   16. [Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil markets for Dow Jones Energy, wrote in an email to NPR,] “However, this does not mean a complete ‘normalization,’ a return to the price levels we had before this conflict started.”
   17. To get back to pre-Iran war gas prices, the whole oil supply chain would have to recover. Ships that have been running long alternative routes to avoid the Strait of Hormuz would have to return to their points of origin, then resume their normal routes, taking crude oil to refineries. Those refineries would have to pump out enough fuel to alleviate global demand — and depleted stockpiles. The whole process could take months after a lasting peace deal.
   18. [Brito continued,] “Coming back to those levels will require a return to normal crude production, shipping and refining of the entire global supply chain.”
   19. And while $4 a gallon may seem like a bargain these days, [AAA said] in an update on its website … that gasoline prices are still the highest they’ve ever been at this time of year.
   20. MIKE: The story mentions two things that are not exactly the same: “Brent Crude”, and Middle East oil.
   21. MIKE: While people and the media talk about oil like it’s one thing, it’s not.
   22. MIKE: There are different kinds of oil, such as heavy, light, sweet, sour, etc.
   23. MIKE: For example, Brent Crude, the benchmark type most often mentioned in US media, is a light, sweet crude oil. “It has low density (high API gravity) and a low sulfur content (under 0.5%), making it inexpensive and easy to refine into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.”
   24. MIKE: Much of the oil from the Middle East is considered to be either “medium crude” or “sour crude”.
   25. MIKE: Why does this make a difference? Because oil refineries are configured for specific types of crude oil. When petroleum sources change, a refinery has to adjust its processes to use it, and that is not a one-day process.
   26. MIKE: If the adjustments are minor, they may take days or weeks. If the oil source yields a type of crude that’s radically different, a refinery changeover might take months or even years.
   27. MIKE: While none of this was mentioned in the story, I think it’s highly relevant, because just “restarting the flow of oil” may include problems of its own.
   28. MIKE: For example, Trump has made it sound like restarting and boosting oil production from Venezuela will be an unmitigated boost to the petroleum industry, but Venezuelan oil is its own kind of beast.
   29. MIKE: Venezuela produces heavy and extra-heavy, sour crude oil. An Aljazeera article says that many US Gulf Coast refineries are set up for this kind of crude.
   30. MIKE: The article makes some interesting points.
   31. MIKE: “Shon Hiatt [PRON.: SHOWN HEE‑at], director of the Zage Business of Energy Initiative at the University of Southern California, said US refineries would benefit “tremendously” from a boost in exports of Venezuelan crude [because], “Many of the US refineries along the coast – Texas and Louisiana – were built and designed to process Venezuela crude. … Venezuela has a history of exporting its oil to the US due to the fact that US oil companies were the first to go in, discover, pump, process, and export Venezuelan petroleum. Hence, refineries along the coast were built to handle this type of petroleum.”
   32. While heavy Canadian crude has displaced imports from Venezuela over the years due to sanctions, that could change if Trump has his way, Hiatt said.
   33. [Said Hiatt,] “If the Venezuelan heavy crude exports increase, it will displace the Canadian heavy crude as Venezuelan crude typically is sold at a lower price to these refineries.”
   34. MIKE: So the oil trade is one of the best examples two sayings: “Nothing is as easy as it looks,” and “It’s always something.”
   35. MIKE: As for a fast big drop in the price of gasoline and diesel? I would suggest not holding your breath.
   36. MIKE: As a coda to this story, there are a few oil refineries that have been closed over the decades for various reasons. The Trump regime is looking at reopening some shuttered oil refineries under the 1950 Defense Production Act in order to increase fuel supplies. One refinery in Tyler, Texas is among the possibilities. But that won’t happen overnight.
3. From TEXASTRIBUNE[.]ORG — Bill filed to give every Texas household $1,500, a Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa campaign promise; by Joshua Fechter | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Nov. 10, 2026, 6:59 p.m. CT. TAGS: Donald Trump, Gina Hinojosa, Rainy Day Fund Roland Gutierrez, Texas House of Representatives, Texas Senate, Texas,
   1. As Texas Democrats firm up their agenda ahead of next year’s legislative session, more details have emerged about a key campaign pledge by Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa to tackle the state’s cost of living woes: sending $1,500 checks to every Texas household.
   2. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat, laid out a proposal this week to implement that pledge, spelling out some of the potential mechanics of how Texas — not in the business of sending cash payments to its residents — would send $1,500 to 11.6 million households. 
   3. The state would have to build a way to distribute the cash payments from the ground up, with the idea of putting money in Texans’ bank accounts by the end of next year.
   4. The idea, which Hinojosa pitched as one-time financial relief to help Texans ease their affordability woes, faces a tough climb out of both chambers. To pay for the $17 billion proposal, lawmakers would draw from the state’s “rainy day fund” — essentially Texas’ savings account, which sits north of $27 billion. Doing so requires a two-thirds vote of the members present in each house.
   5. Though Democrats control the Texas House of Representatives, they would still need significant Republican support to get it over the line. In the GOP-dominated Senate, Democrats would need to peel off nine Republicans.
   6. Getting Republicans on board will prove difficult if not impossible. Though GOP state lawmakers have sought to provide financial relief to Texans, including via property tax cuts, they’ve criticized efforts to send cash directly to Texans in the past — although President Donald Trump said in September he’d give $5,000 to every adult if Republicans held both chambers of Congress following last week’s midterm elections. Texas prohibits sending direct cash payments to residents, but Democrats appear to have found a workaround.
   7. There’s one aspect of the proposal likely to stir a fight. The bill doesn’t specify whether residents have to be U.S. citizens in order to receive payment, according to a Tribune analysis.
   8. It’s possible the bill already comes up short. Gutierrez’s bill calls for using $17 billion to fund the idea, and allows up to 1% of those funds to be used to pay for administrative costs. That’s not enough to cover every Texas household, leaving a shortfall of at least $400 million.
   9. If the proposal dies over the lack of GOP support, it could give Democrats fodder to cast Republicans as insufficiently attentive to the pressures put on Texans by the state’s cost of living.
   10. … Under Gutierrez’s bill filed Monday, Texas households would get $1,500 each. For example, that’s enough to cover all of, if not a good chunk of, the typical monthly rent in many Texas metro areas, according to Zillow data. Households would have to live in Texas as of Jan. 1, 2027.
   11. The comptroller’s office would have to set up a process for determining whether households are eligible for the payments — and then figure out how to send those payments. Texas doesn’t have an income tax, so it doesn’t have a ready-made statewide list of households and ways to send them money.
   12. The bill would allow the agency to use information “lawfully available to the comptroller or another state agency” to verify whether a household is eligible. Residents would also be able to apply, and could prove their eligibility by providing documents like a lease or utility bill. It’s not clear whether households deemed eligible by the comptroller’s office would automatically receive payments.
   13. For Texans experiencing homelessness or other households without a permanent address, the comptroller would have to figure out a way to get payments in their hands.
   14. State law generally bars lawmakers from granting public money directly to individuals, but an exception allows legislators to do so in cases of “public calamity.”
   15. The bill attempts to take advantage of that exception by declaring the affordability crisis a “public calamity.” It’s unclear whether that’s legal. 
   16. The proposal aims for the state to issue payments by the end of 2027, though they would accept applications for that money through the end of 2028.
   17. There are some concerns the bill could backfire.
   18. [Said John Diamond, senior director of the Center for Public Finance at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, i]ssuing $1,500 checks to every Texas household carries the possibility of driving inflation by fueling demand and driving up prices.
   19. Some research suggests that $1,400 checks the federal government sent to U.S. citizens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at providing financial relief and stimulating the economy, contributed to inflation. Those checks helped create demand while the global economy was still dealing with supply chain problems.
   20. Diamond said [that] $17 billion is “not a massive amount,” given the state’s approximately $2.9 trillion gross domestic product, “but it’s still enough to create some pricing pressures.”
   21. [Diamond said,] “You really don’t want to add any fuel to the fire.”
   22. In an August interview, Hinojosa disputed the idea that the plan would drive inflation. Economists who vetted the idea, she said, believe a state-level payment wouldn’t have the same effects as the federal stimulus checks given its smaller scale.
   23. MIKE: This is a really interesting proposal with really interesting implications and potential consequences, both positive and negative, and it raises interesting questions.
   24. MIKE: The first question that comes to my mind is a general one: Is this the best use of $17 billion dollars of state money?
   25. MIKE: I have no doubt that there are people and families in Texas that would benefit greatly from such a payment. The lower a household’s income, the more this kind of payment would help. It would be great if the payment could be means-tested, but Texas may not have the current systems to do that.
   26. MIKE: Maybe Texas education would benefit if some of this money could be put into public schools or used to defray the costs of tuition for residents of Texas attending Texas public colleges and universities. Perhaps it could also be used to help applicants for Texas colleges in a means-tested scholarship program.
   27. MIKE: From a political perspective, this proposal can only help Democrats. If it passes the legislature, Hinojosa and the Democrats get the credit. If it fails in the Republican-controlled Senate, the Republicans get the blame.
   28. MIKE: Would $17 billion dollars injected into the Texas economy within a short time frame boost inflation? I think it depends.
   29. MIKE: What if the money was remitted in monthly payments? That would spread and somewhat mitigate the potential inflationary impact to the Texas economy, but might be of less help to households that are in dire need.
   30. MIKE: The inflationary concerns and arguments against the payments also are somewhat dependent on how that money is spent.
   31. MIKE: Maybe the money will pay down debt, including payday loan debt, which is the most pernicious kind of debt there is.
   32. MIKE: Some households might be able to put the money into savings for a cushion for emergencies.
   33. MIKE: Some of the money might be spent out of state on mail order purchases.
   34. MIKE: And of course, most of the money spent in Texas will come back to state and local governments in the form of sales taxes.
   35. MIKE: In any case, better minds than mine have time to think about these questions. It will be interesting to see how things develop.
4. Elections have consequences … But in some cases, not until January. From TEXASTRIBUNE[.]ORG — Texas Tech regents cut some classes on race, gender as options for graduation requirements; by Jessica Priest | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Nov. 11, 2026, 5:00 a.m. Central. TAGS: Brandon Creighton, Education, Gina Hinojosa, State Agencies, Texas 2026 Elections, Texas Colleges, Texas Legislature,
   1. Texas Tech University students will have fewer classes on social justice, race and culture to choose from to fulfill graduation requirements after regents approved changes Wednesday.
   2. Regents removed 21 classes from the list of approved core courses, leaving 151, according to regent Shelley Sweatt. A comparison by The Texas Tribune with the university’s 2025-26 list found that the removals included a literature class focused on social justice and the environment, a women’s and gender studies course exploring race, class and gender, and a class on the Holocaust in literature and film.
   3. Faculty committees and leaders at the system’s three general academic universities began reviewing core courses in May to comply with a 2025 state law requiring regents to examine the classes students must take to graduate, Sweatt said during the board meeting. 
   4. They evaluated whether the courses met standards for a broad education and preparation for work and civic life, or were no longer regularly taught, she said. The chancellor’s office then reviewed each university’s proposed list course by course before regents approved changes.
   5. [regent Shelley Sweatt said,] “Removing a course from the core is not the same as removing it from the catalog. Many of these courses will still be offered as electives or part of a major or minor.”
   6. Texas Tech’s approved list includes a class titled “Introduction to Women’s Studies.” This school year’s offering included “Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies.” It is unclear whether the university renamed the class, changed its content or replaced it with a different course.
   7. Regents also approved changes at Angelo State, where 15 courses were removed from the core curriculum, and Midwestern State, where 13 courses were removed. These two schools will have 102 and 94 approved core courses, respectively.
   8. The changes take effect for courses beginning in fall 2027. The university’s 42-credit-hour core requirement remains unchanged, Sweatt said.
   9. The law, authored by Chancellor Brandon Creighton when he was a Republican state senator, requires regents to review the classes students must take to graduate at least once every five years and certify their compliance by Jan. 1. 
   10. Supporters argued the additional oversight ensures universities offer classes that benefit students without promoting particular political viewpoints, while critics warned it could allow political interference in academic decisions.
   11. The law does not require universities to remove classes on particular subjects.
   12. Since taking over as Texas Tech’s chancellor in November 2025, however, Creighton has imposed restrictions on what professors can teach about race, sexual orientation and gender identity. 
   13. In April, he and regents directed university leaders to phase out degree programs centered on sexual orientation and gender identity and barred instruction on those topics in general education and introductory undergraduate classes, with limited exceptions.
   14. The Texas chapter and the national organization of the American Association of University Professors are suing Creighton and the regents, arguing the restrictions violate professors’ constitutional rights
   15. Now, Democrats’ sweeping victories in last week’s elections for governor, lieutenant governor, and the Texas House have opened the door to revisiting the law and other Republican-backed higher education policies, such as a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs on college campuses.
   16. At Texas Tech, the terms of regent Chair Cody Campbell and Regent Arcilia Acosta expire Jan. 31 while a third seat is vacant. That gives Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa an opportunity to appoint three members to the nine-member board early in her term, subject to confirmation by the Texas Senate.
   17. Other universities have already removed dozens of classes from their lists of approved core courses.
   18. Texas A&M University System regents removed 78 classes at the College Station flagship, while University of Houston regents cut 97 classes at their flagship campus. Both removed classes on LGBTQ-related subjects.
   19. The law created a statewide advisory committee to recommend changes to the general education classes students at Texas public colleges and universities must take, including whether to reduce the number of required classes. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is scheduled to review those recommendations Monday and consider endorsing them for state lawmakers, who begin their next legislative session in January.
   20. Texas Tech’s Student Senate voted Nov. 5 to survey students about Creighton’s restrictions after an hours-long debate over whether they should get involved and if the survey would be politically biased, according to The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech’s student newspaper.
   21. Senators must approve the questions before distributing the survey to the university’s roughly 45,000 students and must receive at least 6,000 responses before the results can be used to inform future Senate decisions about the restrictions.
   22. MIKE: So Texas’s equivalent of Orwell’s Ministry of Truth gets at least one more year to inflict its sanctimonious censorship and intellectual impoverishment. But after that, Texas gets the equivalent of The Enlightenment in our educational systems.
   23. MIKE: I can only feel sorry for students who will have to endure that year, not to mention all the years prior.
5. From THEHILL[.]COM on November 4^th — Texas state rep calls on Abbott to curb Hinojosa’s power before inauguration; by Ryan Mancini | THEHILL.COM | 11/04/26 7:53 PM ET. Tags Brian Harrison, Dan Patrick, Donald Trump, Gina Hinojosa, Greg Abbott, Greg Abbott HB911M Texas,
   1. Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison (R) on Wednesday called on Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to curb Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa’s (D) power before she is sworn in next year.
   2. [Harrison wrote in a lengthy post on the social platform X,] “We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, which would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat.”
   3. Harrison wrote that Hinojosa should not have “unchecked emergency powers” and that “the urgency is undeniable… and inaction is intolerable.” He claimed that Hinojosa will “inherit the powers of a DICTATOR.”
   4. [Harrison added,] “Due to the absurd (and almost certainly unconstitutional) Texas emergency powers laws, Gov. Hinojosa will literally have the power to modify laws, ignore laws, or create and enforce laws – including criminal laws – on a whim!”
   5. He called on the Texas state House to pass HB911, a bill he filed in 2022 against “never ending emergency powers.” Harrison cited the bill’s text, which states that “allowing a single executive branch official to both write and enforce laws is the biggest threat to our constitutional system of divided government and should be opposed irrespective of which political party runs the executive branch.”
   6. [Harrison’s post on X concludes,] “We have TEN WEEKS LEFT to protect Texas from near total Democrat rule. … I encourage every elected Republican in Texas to join my demand for Gov. Abbott to call a special session. The future of liberty in America is literally on the line in Texas, and Texans deserve leadership that acts accordingly.”
   7. Hinojosa defeated Abbott with 52.78 percent of the vote to his 45.66 percent, according to The Hill’s election partner Decision Desk HQ. Abbott conceded and told supporters that he would “assist her and her team in a period of transition.” Her win flipped the governor’s mansion blue for the first time since former Gov. Ann Richards won in 1990.
   8. Hinojosa will likely enter her new role with more powers than anticipated on the campaign trail, the Houston Chronicle She could also face roadblocks, as Texas Republicans have vowed to “hold the line” against the Democrat’s agenda.
   9. Texas state Rep. Dade Phelan (R) told the outlet that he expects Hinojosa to accomplish her plans even with GOP opposition, as they don’t hold a majority big enough in the state Senate “to govern with an iron fist.”
   10. [Phelan told the Chronicle,] “Things have to occur. … They don’t have every lever of government like they are accustomed to.”
   11. The strong night for Democrats in Texas did not apply solely to Hinojosa and Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas), as Democratic state Rep. Vikki Goodwin defeated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), and Democrats won the races for state attorney general, comptroller, railroad commissioner and agriculture commissioner.
   12. Democrats also won the Texas state House, concluding the 24-year run Republicans held in both state Legislature chambers.
   13. MIKE: I’ll credit State Rep. Harrison with having offered his bill while Republicans still controlled all levers of government, but he seems to be getting a little panicky about passing it before January 1^st.
   14. MIKE: But Harrison is implying is that it’s at least tolerable that the current Republican governor has unchecked emergency powers that “are almost certainly unconstitutional,” that these powers might allow a Texas governor to “destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat,” that these constitute “the powers of a DICTATOR,” and that all these executive powers represent the “biggest threat to our constitutional system of divided government and should be opposed irrespective of which political party runs the executive branch.” I’ll credit him for that last part.
   15. MIKE: State Rep. Harrison may be right in an objective sense, but now the shoe is on the other foot. Let’s see how those shoes fit when a Democratic governor wears them.
6. This takes us to our next story. From HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG — Dan Patrick backs stripping powers from incoming Democratic lieutenant governor; By David Martin Davies, Texas Public Radio | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | Posted on November 10, 2026, 8:03 AM. TAGS: Election 2026, Elections, News, Politics, Dan Patrick, Election 2026, Texas Senate, Vikki Goodwin,
   1. Outgoing Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he supports Republican state senators changing the rules to strip powers from his Democratic successor after losing his reelection bid by nearly 600,000 votes.
   2. Speaking Monday on conservative talk radio’s “Mark Davis Show,” Patrick acknowledged that Democrat Vikki Goodwin defeated him in a fair election, but argued that Republicans in the Texas Senate should change the rules to take legislative power from incoming Democrat Lt. Gov. Vikki Goodwin.
   3. [Patrick said,] “I think the Senate should do that.”
   4. Goodwin received approximately 5.08 million votes, or 51.7%, compared with Patrick’s 4.48 million votes, or 45.6%. The margin was approximately 599,000 votes, or 6.1 percentage points.
   5. Patrick, who has served as lieutenant governor since January 2015, is completing nearly 12 years in one of the most powerful positions in Texas government. During his three terms, he helped advance conservative legislation restricting abortion, expanding school vouchers, tightening immigration enforcement and limiting transgender rights.
   6. The lieutenant governor traditionally exercises enormous influence over legislation through committee appointments, budget negotiations and control over which bills reach the Senate floor.
   7. Patrick noted that Republicans retained a 19-12 Senate majority despite Democrats winning the lieutenant governor’s office.
   8. [Patrick said,] “The lieutenant governor derives her power from the Senate. … Sixteen out of thirty-one senators, a simple majority, can change the rules.”
   9. Patrick said he supports Republicans protecting their majority, although he did not specify which powers should be transferred away from Goodwin.
   10. The outgoing lieutenant governor repeatedly emphasized that the Nov. 3 election was legitimate.
   11. [Patrick said,] “The election was fair and square. I have no issues with that whatsoever.”
   12. He also acknowledged Goodwin’s victory, saying, “We respect that election. She won fair and square.”
   13. Patrick attributed the Republican defeat primarily to economic frustration, disappointing rural voting margins and Democrats’ success reaching independent voters.
   14. [He said,] “People can agree with you culturally but still vote against you if they feel economically stressed.”
   15. Patrick rejected the idea that voters had repudiated conservative policies, arguing that Texas remains fundamentally Republican.
   16. [While acknowledging that Democrats gained ground in traditionally Republican areas, Patrick said,] “We still won rural Texas handily.”
   17. Patrick said Monday that his political career as a candidate is over, [saying,] “I’m not going to run for office anymore.” …
   18. However, Patrick intends to remain politically active, announcing plans for a new venture called Patrick Strategies to advance conservative legislation.
   19. He said he will continue fighting Democratic proposals in the Texas Legislature, even after leaving office in January.
   20. MIKE: So the Republican mantra is nakedly, “Power for me but not for thee.”
   21. MIKE: Last week, in my interview with Charles Kuffner, we touched on this very question. Lame duck sessions can be very dangerous for an incoming party when the outgoing party must cede power. In fact, Republicans have pulled this very trick during lame duck sessions in Wisconsin and North Carolina, and tried it in Michigan when Democrats won the governorships. I’m wary of similar tactics in the US Senate’s lame duck session.
   22. MIKE: It’s worth noting that Republicans kept the Texas Senate only because of the way Texas Senate districts are gerrymandered. According to a prediction by Harvard Kennedy School Associate Professor of Public Policy Benjamin Schneer in an October 30^th article I found, “… there’s almost no chance that Republicans will lose the state senate in Texas, in part because it’s really gerrymandered in such a way to protect against losing it, and also because not all of the seats are up this year. It’s things like this that allow parties to ride out wave elections that may cut against them.”
   23. MIKE: And as it turned out, Professor Schneer was correct. But another tranche of state senate seats will be up for election in 2028 along with all the Texas state legislature seats, and 2028 is also a presidential election year.
   24. MIKE: We are living through interesting times. So 2028 could be a really interesting election year in Texas.
7. From HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA[.]ORG, what might be seen as the result of Republican hubris — ‘They would have never done it’: Musk-backed business court lands in Hinojosa’s hands; By Andrea Drusch, San Antonio Report| HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | Posted on November 11, 2026, 8:03 AM. TAGS: Court, News, Politics, Texas, Elon Musk, Gina Hinojosa, Business Court,
   1. Long before Elon Musk tried to buy a U.S. Senate seat or a Texas State Park, big business shelled out money to create its own court system in Texas.
   2. Texas lawmakers approved a new business court to take complex, high-dollar legal disputes out of the hands of locally elected judges — often Democrats in the major urban centers — during the 2023 legislative session.
   3. To handle challenges to its rulings, they also created a new statewide appellate court, [to] which they gave immediate appellate jurisdiction over cases involving state officials as well.
   4. After last week’s blue wave, however, legal experts and business leaders are scrambling to size up a new landscape that put both courts under Democrats’ control.
   5. Power to appoint business court judges will soon be in the hands of incoming Democratic Governor Gina Hinojosa, who campaigned vowing to reclaim power from big business in Texas.
   6. Meanwhile, inaugural justices to the new 15th Court of Appeals, who were also appointed by Abbott, appeared on the ballot for the first time this November.
   7. All three lost to Democratic challengers in a statewide sweep — upending Texas GOP leaders’ efforts to reshape the state’s judiciary.
   8. [Said Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman, a Democratic attorney who challenged the new court’s authority,] “They would have never done it if they had had a crystal ball and seen this election.”
   9. … San Antonio is home to one of the five business court divisions, where judges Marialyn Barnard and Stacy Sharp just recently finished setting up shop in a building off North St. Mary’s Street several months ago.
   10. Barnard said Monday that they’ve been incredibly busy, working on cases involving Valero, NuStar Energy, the Kampmann family’s automobile groups and others handed off by divisions in other parts of the state.
   11. [Barnard said,] “Our cases have just skyrocketed. … With all the companies that are coming to Texas and reincorporating … Houston and Dallas have been exploding, and so Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth … have been taking some of the overflow to help out.”
   12. Unlike other Texas judges, Barnard and Sharp were appointed by the governor, who just reappointed each of them to another two-year term in September.
   13. But after last week’s election, their futures — along with other gubernatorial appointments — are unclear headed into Texas’ 90th Legislative Session.
   14. They need confirmation from two-thirds of the Texas Senate, which would lock them into their roles for two more years before the incoming governor can appoint her own judges.
   15. Republicans don’t have the votes to do that on their own but could perhaps take advantage of a narrow window in which the new governor hasn’t yet been sworn in, but Democratic state Sens. Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin) and Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) have already moved on to their new roles as Comptroller and Attorney General.
   16. If the judges aren’t confirmed by the Texas Senate, they could remain in their roles until the legislative session ends in May.
   17. At that point, Hinojosa could make her own nominations — or Democrats could sunset the courts, returning their cases to the district court judges who previously handled them.
   18. [Dallas County Commissioner Sommerman said,] “A lot of folks on the Democratic side opposed it, so I’m not sure if there’s going to be a motion afoot to try and kill them.”
   19. Hinojosa voted against the court’s creation while serving [in] the Texas House, but hasn’t said much about her plans for it since she was elected governor, according to Texans for Lawsuit Reform CEO Ryan Patrick.
   20. Texans for Lawsuit Reform was the driving force behind the new business court over many legislative sessions, saying that Texas governors from both parties have historically been pro-business — and would choose more qualified judges than the district court judges who must get elected to their seats.
   21. [MIKE: When we’re talking about any political appointments, the word “qualified” can be highly subjective. Are appointed judges inherently better at their jobs than elected judges? That debate has been raging for generations. Continuing …]
   22. Now the political tenor has changed with the election of Hinojosa, who made holding big business accountable a major feature of her campaign.
   23. [Ryan Patrick of Texans for Lawsuit Reform said,] “My concern would be that the court lurches to the left and becomes very ideological … looking more like the Delaware Chancery Court that we were trying to get away from — and is the reason companies are coming to Texas.”
   24. [MIKE: I have to laugh at these guys. Is Ryan Patrick suggesting that the current court is NOT ideological?! Continuing …]
   25. … Looming large over the court’s future is Musk, who put big money behind losing GOP candidates this election cycle.
   26. Musk famously went up against the Delaware court over his Tesla compensation several years ago … — and then became one of the biggest donors to Texans for Lawsuit Reform’s efforts as he moved more of his business interests to Texas.
   27. [Dallas County Commissioner Sommerman said,] “[Musk] was a strong advocate for this system. It was clearly an attempt to try and put the thumb on the scale of justice. … I think that’s the reason why he contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to this campaign.”
   28. Hinojosa launched her long-shot campaign against Abbott because she said he was too cozy with major donors — in particular Musk, [to whom] Abbott tried to direct big rural broadband money … before state lawmakers intervened, and who was reportedly on the verge of purchasing Boca Chica State Park for SpaceX operations shortly after the election.
   29. Now Democrats are in control, and most believe Hinojosa will reshape a court [in her own image that] she once opposed.
   30. [Sommerman said,] “More likely than not, because of inertia … the governor is going to be appointing a lot of folks to business courts.”
   31. MIKE: This is what happens when politicians of any party get too cozy in power, and govern and legislate like they’ll always be in power.
   32. MIKE: If only politicians actually governed to do what’s best for their constituency instead of what’s best for themselves or their party.
   33. MIKE: In the long run, maybe governing that way actually is doing what’s best for themselves and their party.
8. As a general rule, I don’t spend much show time on major stories that have already gotten a lot of media exposure, but I make exceptions if I feel I may have something useful to contribute. So, from THEHILL[.]COM — Sentinel at Tomb of Unknown Soldier yells at Hegseth group to maintain decorum; by Ellen Mitchell | THEHILL.COM | 11/11/26 3:26 PM ET. TAGS: Arlington National Cemetery, Donald Trump, Hegseth impeachment, JD Vance, Melania Trump, Pete Hegseth, Trump administration, S. Army, Veterans Day,
   1. A group including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broke decorum and was loudly admonished by the Army sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. 
   2. Hegseth was accompanied by some of his senior staff for the annual Veterans Day ceremony when they stopped to take photos. In videos shared online, the group can be heard talking and laughing loudly enough for the sentinel to reprimand them.
   3. [The sentinel yelled,] “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.”
   4. Decorum is intensely observed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, one of the most sacred war memorials in the country. The tomb marks the final resting place of an unknown soldier who was killed in World War I. A soldier assigned to the Old Guard stands at attention at the tomb 24 hours a day, rain or shine, and has done so since 1948. 
   5. [Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday,] “The Secretary and the entire Department have always honored — and will always honor — the sacrifices our military men and women have made to keep America safe. … While commemorating this solemn day, a soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.”
   6. Hegseth, who for now has survived impeachment proceedings in the House, was at Arlington alongside President Trump, Vice President Vance and first lady Melania Trump to mark Veterans Day. The group participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with Trump and Vance following up with remarks.
   7. During his speech, the president shouted out that Hegseth was in the crowd to loud applause and cheering.
   8. [Trump said of the reaction,] “I had a feeling that was going to happen. … He’s done a fantastic job and he loves you and protects you. He’s all about you.”
   9. Arlington, the sprawling military burial ground across from the Lincoln Memorial, is currently at the center of the debate surrounding Trump’s proposed triumphal arch. 
   10. The Trump administration is currently embroiled in legal fights around plans to build the 250-foot structure, which is expected to cast a shadow over a portion of the historic cemetery. Over 400,000 people are buried there, including former presidents and other prominent political figures.
   11. A federal judge last Thursday ordered a two-week pause on construction.
   12. On Tuesday nine members of the Kennedy family joined a lawsuit seeking to prevent the arch’s construction, arguing the structure would “permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sightlines to the existing gravesites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor” at the cemetery.
   13. MIKE: I don’t know how many of you have seen the video of this incident. The one I have from THEHILL[.]COM runs 2 minutes and 5 seconds, and I actually wish it was a second or two longer at the beginning, because I suspect that the chatter you can hear from Hegseth’s party was going on for a while before the sentinel chastised them.
   14. MIKE: When I looked for a longer excerpt, what I mostly found instead were actually shorter videos that omitted the first chastisement, probably missing some of the point of what was going on with this group.
   15. MIKE: I have never visited Arlington Cemetery, but if I had, my basic assumption would be to observe a demeanor consistent with the kind of hush I’d expect at any cemetery — the hush one might expect at a worship service, where if you spoke at all, you whispered, and you certainly didn’t laugh out loud.
   16. MIKE: So I want to play the longer version of the incident. You may need to turn up your volume to hear the background chatter. Note that after being loudly cautioned by the sentinel the first time, there is literally no change in the group’s behavior. If anything, it gets a little louder. I’ll play it now. It has not been edited for time or in any other way. [PLAY AUDIO, 2m 05s].
   17. MIKE: If you watch the actual video, which I’ve linked to in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com, you might notice that Defense Secretary Hegseth not only seems to pay no mind to the sentinel, but he appears to make no effort whatsoever to take his guests in hand and ask them to be please be respectfully quiet.
   18. MIKE: Hegseth’s guests might be somewhat forgiven their ignorance of how to behave at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier if one presumes that ignorance is a correctable condition. But as a veteran, what’s Hegseth’s excuse?
   19. MIKE: The day after the incident, Hegseth awarded a Joint Service Commendation Medal to the soldier while also identifying him by name. Something many netizens equated to doxxing the soldier.
   20. MIKE: It’s also worth noting that Hegseth did not offer apology for his behavior at the Tomb while awarding that medal, or afterward.
   21. MIKE: As for Trump’s behavior at the cemetery, according to a story in THEGUARDIAN[.]COM, “Donald Trump honored the sacrifices of US military veterans in the traditional presidential Memorial Day speech at Arlington national cemetery, but also peppered his address on Monday with partisan political asides while talking up his own plans and achievements.”
   22. MIKE: I’ll note that, “Speeches are generally prohibited at Arlington National Cemetery unless they are part of an officially authorized memorial service or ceremony. Under federal regulations governing Army National Military Cemeteries (in eCFR 32 CFR Part 553), unapproved orations, speeches, and partisan political activities are strictly forbidden on cemetery grounds. [1, 2]”
   23. MIKE: But when has lawbreaking or offending ever stopped Trump from doing anything?
   24. MIKE: Pete Hegseth may be the perfectly predictable choice for Secretary of Defense by a president who himself speaks and shouts like he’s at a political rally after the wreath laying ceremony at Arlington, deliberately elicits cheers and applause while at the cemetery, and believes that our warriors are suckers and losers.
   25. MIKE: The United States will have to ask the nations of the world for a lot of forgiveness after Trump, but the Republican Party that birthed him and has supported him for over 10 years will have even more to answer for.
9. Finally, in the case of this story from October 19^th, Trump is doing massive long-term damage to US science and engineering by inducing a brain drain of both native-born scientists and immigrant scientists. From APNEWS[.]COM — Meet the researchers leaving the US because of Trump’s funding cuts and politicization of science; By  ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN | APNEWS.COM | Updated 5:04 AM CDT, October 19, 2026. TAGS: Science, United States, US Brain Drain, Scientific Research,
   1. Halley Froehlich was sure she’d spend her scientific career in the United States. Her family has been in America since the 1700s.
   2. But over the past two years, delayed federal grants and fears about the future motivated her to pack her life into boxes. She moved to Finland with her husband and daughter and is continuing her research — studying how fish, shellfish and seaweed that humans eat are responding to climate change — at the University of Helsinki.
   3. When the Trump administration began upending U.S. scientific research last year, dismantling the federal grant-giving process and attempting to exert more political influence over what projects get funded, foreign universities saw an opportunity. They adopted programs to lure U.S. researchers abroad, promising more stable streams of funding and academic freedom.
   4. Since then, many have taken the bait. While there is no way to quantify the overall change across the nation, scientists, researchers and professional groups say the shift is clear, unprecedented and concerning.
   5. [Said Tobin Smith, senior vice president of government relations and public policy for the Association of American Universities,] “You can almost talk to any vice president for research at a university and they will tell you of one or two top faculty that they’ve lost.”
   6. White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump is “ending waste” and is “committed to keeping America the world leader in scientific innovation, and that means funding real science.”
   7. But more than half of American states have lost scientists to recruitment programs in other countries, according to an April report from the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition. Last March, early-career biomedical scientists were about 20 percentage points less likely to say they would “now” stay in the U.S., compared to their recollection of how they felt six months earlier. And physics Ph.D. graduates in 2025 left the U.S. at the highest rate in 30 years, according to the American Institute of Physics.
   8. Countries including Canada, France, Belgium and Finland are touting their recruits from U.S. institutions, a disturbing and surprising development, scientists say, for a country that far and away leads the world in Nobel prizes for medicine, physics and chemistry.
   9. [Said Christine Stawitz, now at the University of Birmingham in England,] “It used to be the shining city on the hill where we all want to go. … That reputational loss, I think, is hard to quantify, but also really damaging.”
   10. Some American scientists are moving abroad. Here’s why
   11. Stawitz left her job at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last year to become a research software engineer in the United Kingdom. She said NOAA no longer aligned with her values, especially after she was asked to strip websites of references to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion topics.
   12. She says the upheaval in U.S. science is a common subject at scientific meetings. [Stawitz said,] “People talk about the U.S. at conferences in the U.K. now like, I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s not good.”
   13. Froehlich’s decision to leave was a slow burn. She was already concerned about school safety and gun violence in the U.S. when the nation’s research landscape was overturned. Then, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, her colleagues’ grants kept getting postponed or canceled. Student researchers burst into her office in tears, unsure how to navigate their futures. She worried about future federal funding for her own research, which involves climate change.
   14. [Said Froehlich,] “The cumulative effect of those things ultimately ended up making us really serious about, I don’t think here is our home anymore.”
   15. She was recruited through an initiative by the Research Council of Finland and now has five years of guaranteed funding totaling about $3 million. She moved into a flat by the Baltic Sea in Helsinki and is taking Finnish lessons offered by the university.
   16. … International researchers who were drawn to the U.S. for its reputation as a global leader in science are also seeking different places to do their work.
   17. Married biologists James Letts and Maria Maldonado were recruited to Australia’s Monash University and left behind their posts at the University of California-Davis. Letts is from Canada, and Maldonado from Argentina. Both got their doctoral degrees in New York and spent over a decade doing science in the U.S.
   18. Grant-related uncertainty — including having to lay off a staff scientist while waiting for stalled funding — made them take the leap.
   19. [Letts said,] “All I want to do is do great science and make discoveries, but I want my work to mean something as well. And the opportunity to do that seemed very difficult in the U.S..”
   20. Forty percent of the U.S. science Nobel Prizes were won by immigrants. Omar Yaghi, a 2025 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry, left his post at the University of California, Berkeley this year to direct an artificial intelligence lab at China’s Tsinghua University.
   21. … The U.S. is still a science powerhouse, full of institutions around the country with robust research communities and well-resourced institutions that attract foreign scientists. Even if every European country threw open its doors, there still wouldn’t be enough capacity to accommodate every American scientist.
   22. And not everyone is leaving. Many scientists are choosing to stay, searching for new sources of research funding or pivoting to jobs in industry.
   23. But the erosion of reputation and the talent drain may not be over. The Trump administration has cut or frozen up to $174 billion in federal grants since the president’s second term began, according to a tracking tool released by the States United Democracy Center, and the organization Grant Witness. And a proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget could give political appointees more control over what future projects are funded. A resolution approved by Congress has delayed a final decision on the rule until December.
   24. Scientists who have moved away and those still in the U.S. are worried about what’s left behind. They say the next generation of scientists may struggle with fewer graduate programs, money and mentorship — and it could take a decade or longer for the U.S. scientific enterprise to truly feel those effects.
   25. Major research institutions accepted 15% fewer applicants for fall 2026 doctoral programs compared to last year, according to admissions data collected by the Association of American Universities. One of the students impacted was a mentee of [Tobin Smith, senior vice president of government relations and public policy for the Association of American Universities.]
   26. [Smith said,] “What is one of my pieces of advice to that young man? Next year, look in Canada.”
   27. MIKE: After World War 2, the term “Brain Drain” was coined to describe the exodus of scientists from Europe to the United States. The motivation at that time was that Europe’s economy, its industries and its academic opportunities had been almost destroyed by the war.
   28. MIKE: Also, after World War 2, as the only country virtually untouched by the war, the US economy represented literally half of the planet’s GDP, so it was where the research and engineering money was.
   29. MIKE: Now, thanks to Trump’s policies — policies that the Republican Party has actively or passively enabled — the brain drain is going the other way, to countries like Canada or countries in the European Union.
   30. MIKE: In some cases, scientists and engineers are moving from the US to China, because China has prioritized research and development, and has extremely attractive funding packages designed to draw talent.
   31. MIKE: Maybe, eventually, the US can attract some of that talent back, but I doubt if we’ll ever again be the science and engineering powerhouse we were.

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!