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Wednesday, October 7, 2020

From the Cato Institute:THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND NINETEENTH CENTURY TRANSFER POLICY

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A look at a major source of revenue for the national government prior to the Civil War. Texas too. - Click here for the article . During the...

Regarding the Ken Paxton Allegations

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 All from the Texas Tribune. - Who is Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general accused of bribery and abuse of office ? What do we know about ...

From Vox: Claudia Conway’s TikToks, explained

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 Another social media app pushing information. - Click here for the story .

Meet Lewis Cass: The first man Texans supported for president after statehood.

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The year  was 1848, - From Wikipedia . Born in Exeter, New Hampshire , he attended Phillips Exeter Academy before establishing a legal prac...

From Wikipedia: National Origins Formula

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 The policy overturned in the immigration law mentioned below. - Click here for it . The National Origins Formula was an American system of ...

From Roll Call: US adversaries could seize on Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis to spread disinformation

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 One of our key terms is in the title. - Click here for it . The security implications of President Donald Trump’s contraction of the novel ...
Monday, October 5, 2020

Regarding John Peter Zenger

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All from Wikipedia:  -  John Peter Zenger :  ... a German printer and journalist in New York City . Zenger printed The New York Weekly Jour...

From Wikipedia: Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

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Detail on the law mentioned below. - Click here for the article . The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler...

From Vox: How the Immigration and Nationality Act transformed America, in one chart

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A 2015 article that provides an alternative theory about why things changed back in the 1960s. - Click here for the article .  The INA repla...

The Provisions of the Voting Rights Act

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  Click here for them .

From Wikipedia: Shelby County v. Holder

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The case that weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. - Click here for the entry . Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), was ...

From Wikipedia: Smith v. Allwright

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The caser that ended the white primary in Texas. -  Click here for it . Smith v. Allwright questioned whether or not states had the constitu...

From the American Prospect: Trump's Curious Coalition

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From 2018, so perhaps dated. - Click here for it . Trump's strategy for keeping power is to build up his coalition of America's whit...

From the First Amendment Encyclopedia: False Speech

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Probably appropriate given the nature of the times. - Click here for it . Because the First Amendment is designed to further the pursuit of ...

From the First Amendment Encyclopedia: Actual Malice

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 What it takes for a public figure to successfully sue for libel.  - Click here for it .  Actual malice is the legal standard established by...

The Media and Polarization over Vietnam

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This brings a few items together. Conflict over American involvement in Vietnam helped break apart the New Deal Coalition. - Click here for ...
Sunday, October 4, 2020

From the Texas Tribune: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top aides want him investigated for bribery and other alleged crimes

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Part of the Texas plural executive. He has also been under indictment since 2015. - Click here for the article . Senior officials in the Tex...

For the PDF of Houston's 2021 Fiscal Year Budget

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 - Click here .

From the Texas Tribune: Voters, voting rights groups sue Gov. Greg Abbott over order to close ballot drop-off locations

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 As to be expected. - Click here for the article .  Voting rights advocates and civic groups have filed two separate federal lawsuits to blo...
Friday, October 2, 2020

Recent Coalitions - post New Deal

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Wikipedia: The Reagan Coalition . The Reagan Democrats were Democrats before the Reagan years and afterwards, but who voted for Reagan in 1...

From 538: We’ve Had 56 Statewide Elections During The Pandemic. Here’s What We Learned From Them.

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More for our look at elections - Click here for it . The 2020 primary season finally ended last month, meaning there have now been 56 statew...

The Organization Chart for Houston's City Government

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 - Click here for it .

For a look at Texas finances

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From the Texas Comptrollers Office - A Field Guide to the Taxes of Texas .  - The Biennial Estimate for 2020-21 . From the Legislative Budge...
Thursday, October 1, 2020

From the city of Houston: FY2021 Adopted Budget

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 - Click here for it .

From the Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott limits counties to one absentee ballot drop-off location, bolstering GOP efforts to restrict voting

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Expect a legal challenge soon - likely in the federal courts - Click here for the article . Gov. Greg Abbott threw the weight of his office...

From the Cato Institute: THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND NINETEENTH CENTURY TRANSFER POLICY

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A look at an early source of revenue collection nationally (this also applies to Texas) - Click here for the article .  During the 19th cent...

The Right to Retire

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Apparently its been a thing for a while. Here's an opinion piece promoting it. - Retirement should be a right. But it’s in danger of bec...

From the Texas Tribune: No straight-ticket voting for Texas' 2020 election, federal appeals court says

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Not a surprise. - Click here for the article . Texas voters will not be able to select every candidate of a major political party with one p...

Tammany Hall and Puck

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 Political machines and the early magazine that exposed them. - Tammany Hall . - Puck .

The Wrecking Crew (2008) - Glen Campbell & The End of an Era

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Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Louis Shelton-Behind the Monkee's hits

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The New Left in the 1960s

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 Another factor weakening the New Deal Coalition. The rise of social issues - as well as anti-war sentiment. - Click here for the entry . Th...

From Wikipedia: The Southern Strategy

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 Another wedge driven through the New Deal Coalition - Click here for the entry . In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republic...

From Wikipedia: Law and order (politics)

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One of the political themes that drove a wedge through the New Deal Coalition in the 1968 campaign. - Click here for the entry . Both the co...

History of the City of Houston’s Drinking Water Operations

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It is what it says it is. A look at one of the essential functions of local government. - Click here for the article . In the second half of...

From Wikipedia: Slave patrols

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 One of the origins of policing in the United States. - Click here for the entry . Slave patrols first began in South Carolina in 1704 and s...

From EKU: The History of Policing in the United States

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 - Click here for it . These “modern police” organizations shared similar characteristics: (1) they were publicly supported and bureaucratic...

For a look at the various departments of city government:

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look at the one's in Houston. - Click here for them .

From the Texas Tribune: Federal court orders Texas prison system to provide hand sanitizer for some geriatric inmates during pandemic

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More on federalism. The national government forcing the state government to comply with national rules. - Click here for the article . A fed...
Tuesday, September 29, 2020

What is the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans?

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 - Click here to find out . The Texas Alliance for Retired Americans is a part of a 4.5 million member national Alliance for Retired Americ...

From Wikipedia: New Deal coalition

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For our look at political parties. - Click here for the entry . The New Deal coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs...

The Monkees Behind The Music

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A musical interlude

Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections

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For perusal this week as we walk through the results of presidential elections. - Click here for it .

From the Texas Tribune: Houston Republicans sue to limit in-person and absentee voting options in Harris County

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Elections, parties, interest groups, counties, and the judiciary - all in one article. - Click here for it . A litigious conservative activi...
Monday, September 28, 2020

Competing theories of political conflict

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- Elite theory . In political science and sociology , elite theory is a theory of the state that seeks to describe and explain power relat...

From Justia: Opinions Authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Could be worth a perusal. - Click here for it .

Supreme Court Cases involving no-knock warrants

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First - English common law:  Semayne's case - established the knock and announce rule. Miller v. United States - notice must be given ...

From Wikipedia: No-knock warrant

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A definition - Click here for the entry . In the United States , a no-knock warrant is a warrant issued by a judge that allows law enforcem...

From the Congressional Research Service: “No-Knock”Warrants and Other Law Enforcement Identification Considerations

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The police tactic use against Breonna Taylor explained: - Click here for the report . A chunk of it:  . . . amid recent calls for legislati...

From the Pew Research Center: Democrats Made Gains From Multiple Sources in 2018 Midterm Victories

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For our look at election results: An explanation of the 2018 national election.  - Click here for the story . - Click here for a similar stu...

From the Texas Tribune: Texas Republicans sue to stop Gov. Greg Abbott's extension of early voting period during the pandemic

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Tension seems to be building with the state party: the party organization v the party in government. - Click here for the article .  Republi...

From the Pew Research Center: Key things to know about election polling in the United States

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 - Click here for it . A robust public polling industry is a marker of a free society. It’s a testament to the ability of organizations out...

From the Texas Tribune: Federal judge blocks Texas’ elimination of straight-ticket voting

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Very big news - the Texas attorney general has filed an appeal. - click here for the article .  Less than three weeks before early voting be...

From The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott wants to raise the stakes for protesters during a divisive Texas election

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Notice how public opinion polls results tie into the positions the governor is taking prior to the election. This is also an indication of w...