#Texaspolitics

[bongtastics]

🌵 Cannabis in Texas: Current Laws and What the Future Holds 🌿

Texas might be known for its BBQ and cowboy hats, but when it comes to cannabis, it’s a different story. The Lone Star State has some of the strictest cannabis laws in the U.S., but public opinion and small legislative steps hint at possible changes on the horizon.

Wondering where Texas stands on cannabis? Check out the full blog post on Cannabis in Texas here.

📜 Current Cannabis Laws in Texas

Recreational Use: Still illegal. Even small amounts can result in misdemeanor charges, fines, or jail time.

Medical Marijuana: Limited access through the Compassionate Use Program (CUP) for patients with specific qualifying conditions like epilepsy, PTSD, and cancer.

🌿 Hemp and CBD

Thanks to the 2019 legalization of hemp, Texans can legally purchase CBD products with less than 0.3% THC. However, enforcement inconsistencies mean carrying proof of compliance (like a certificate of analysis) is a smart move.

🚧 Challenges to Legalization

Texas faces strong political opposition to recreational cannabis, even as public support grows—60% of Texans back legalization! Misunderstandings about hemp vs. marijuana and limited law enforcement resources also complicate the current system.

🌟 The Future

Incremental progress, such as expanding medical marijuana access and decriminalizing small amounts, seems the most likely next step. Federal policy changes and economic benefits could also push Texas toward broader reforms.

Learn more about cannabis legality across the U.S. with this helpful resource: Explore legality in other states here.

Do you think Texas will go green in the near future? Let’s discuss in the comments!

[usnewsper-politics]

George Soros Empowers Hispanic Voters for Change in Texas Politics #conservativevalues #democraticparty #GeorgeSoros #Hispanicvote #marginalizedcommunities #OpenSocietyFoundations #Texaselection #TexasOrganizingProject #Texaspolitics #voterturnout

[antifaagainstapathy]

#ATX #texaspolitics

Classic case of "holy shit! They just said the quiet part out loud!"

I don't know if it technically falls 🤷 under the category of FASCISM, but it is definitely undemocratic, wrong, evil, and spreading from Texas to a Republican controlled state near you.

[petri808]

That’s it I’m calling it. We’re in the beginning of another U.S. civil war… RECOGNIZE IT so we can act against it. #civilwar #texaspolitics #uspolitics this country’s going to hell in a hand basket, and it’s our own fault https://www.instagram.com/p/CdQ9EgiFNLN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[allmyleftistsliveintexas]

Gerrymandering in Austin, Texas and What We Can Do to Fix It

Below is a deep dive into Austin’s gerrymandering problem. It includes defining gerrymandering, a look into how Austin’s congressional districts are drawn, some actions we can take to make this drawing more fair, and more. 

Note: while gerrymandering can occur in any electoral district, this post focuses on US congressional districts in Austin, Texas. 

The Redistricting Process

To best understand gerrymandering, it's important to understand the redistricting process. 

Every part of the country is divided into different congressional districts. Each district is represented by one congressperson. Redistricting is the process of drawing these districts so that each congressperson represents a relatively equal amount of people.

In every year ending with a zero, the US Census Bureau aims to count every person in the country or every American citizen, depending on the party in power. (Trump did not want to count undocumented folks. Biden will.)

This data is then used in reapportion, where it is decided how many congressional seats/districts each state receives based on population. Typically, the reapportion report is delivered by the US Census Bureau on the last day of the year. This year it is expected by April 30th. This year, Texas is expected to gain three seats. California is expected to lose one.

Next, the US Census Bureau releases redistricting data to the states. Typically this happens for April of the next year, but this year it will happen before September 30th. States then utilize different methods to redraw district lines.

Who redraws the lines depends on the state. While 21 states currently utilize some sort of nonpartisan redistricting committee, in Texas, the state legislature is in charge of redrawing the lines. The current Texas redistricting committee includes 10 republicans and 7 democrats.

"Redistricting is like an election in reverse. It's a great event. Usually the voters get to pick the politicians. In redistricting, the politicians get to pick the voters." - Thomas Hofeller, Redistricting Chair of the Republican National Committee

What is gerrymandering?

"The practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections" - Merriam-Webster Definition

Gerrymandering refers to when electoral districts are drawn to favor one group of people over another. This often means that districts are drawn counterintuitively and in strange shapes so that like-minded voters are separated into one district instead of spread out over multiple districts. Because these voters end up in the same district, they are only able to win that one district instead of the multiple districts they could win if the districts were drawn fairly. 

The word "gerrymandering" is named after Elbridge Gerry. (pronounced Gary.) While he was governor of Massachusetts in 1812, he helped create a partisan district of Boston that resembled a salamander. This led to the district electing three Democratic Republicans into historically Federalist seats that same year. While this wasn't the first time the US experienced gerrymandering, this was the first time a name stuck to the practice.

salamander district, via vox/boston centinel 1812

Today, gerrymandered districts play a massive role in keeping political parties in power. While both democrats and republicans are guilty of gerrymandering, the majority of gerrymandered districts are drawn by republicans. In 2010, Republicans launched "REDMAP" which utilized software to strategically redistrict in favor of republicans. This led them to retain control of the US house by 33 seats, even though democrats had a one million voter majority. Additionally, AP found almost four times as many republican skewed states than democrat in 2016. An AP analysis indicated that Republicans won 16 more congressional seats in 2018 because of gerrymandering than they would have with fairly drawn districts.

"When the representatives are drawing their constituencies in a way that allows them to choose their constituents, you've reversed the dynamic quite fundamentally." - John Akred

Gerrymandering Strategies

There are many tactics used in gerrymandering districts, but the two main ones are cracking and packing. Note: there are even *more* methods of gerrymandering than those included on this list. 

Cracking - Cracking is when voters of the opposing party are "cracked" or split into many different districts so their voting power is diluted across many districts.

Packing - Packing is when all voters of the opposing party are "packed" into one district to reduce their voting power in other districts.

Kidnapping - Kidnapping is when an incumbent's home address is moved to a different district making reelection more difficult.

Incumbent Protection - Incumbent Protection is when redistricters use any of the above strategies or others to create districts that favor the incumbent over the opponent.

Additionally, there are two main kinds of gerrymandering: racial and partisan.

Racial - Racial gerrymandering seeks to disempower voters of a race or races of people. Racial gerrymandering is illegal but still frequent throughout the country.

Partisan - Partisan gerrymandering seeks to disempower voters of one political party. In many cases, partisan gerrymandering is racial gerrymandering.

What does it look like?

While gerrymandering can occur in any electoral districts, this post is focused on US congressional districts in Austin, Texas. 

Here’s what the six congressional districts in Austin look like: 

via The Austin Chronicle

A Closer Look at Austin’s Districts 

Despite Austin being a heavily blue-voting city, five of the six congressional districts are represented by Republicans. This is one reason why Austin has been identified as one of the worst cases of gerrymandering in the country.

Austin is mostly gerrymandered using the "cracking" method. Austin's blue voters have been spread out among multiple districts, all of which include large swaths of country towns. For example, district 25 travels from Austin all the way to Fort Worth, district 17 travels beyond Waco, and district 10 touches Houston. By including hundreds of small Texas towns into Austin's congressional districts, the firmly red voters in the country outweigh the blue city voters. This design is intentional, and is slated to get much worse this year unless we receive federal protection.

district 10 (michael mccaul-r)

57% caucasian

26% hispanic

10% black

5% asian

.6% indigenous

district 17 (pete sessions-r)

57% caucasian

26% hispanic

13% black

5% asian

.5% indigenous

district 21 (chip roy-r)

62% caucasian

30% hispanic

4% black

4% asian

.5% indigenous

district 25 (roger williams-r)

70% caucasian

19% hispanic

8% black

3% asian

.5% indigenous

district 31 (john carter-r)

59% caucasian

24% hispanic

11% black

5% asian

.4% indigenous

district 35 (lloyd dogget-d)

26% caucasian

61% hispanic

10% black

2% asian

.5% indigenous

Additionally, district 35 is packed. Hispanic voters are grouped together from East Austin to San Antonio so that their voting power is isolated to only one district instead of many districts.

You can view an interactive district drawing map here.

Why this is Bad

Gerrymandering is a racist tool that politicians use to strip minority voters of their political power. If we do not stop gerrymandering in it's tracks right now, districts will be redrawn to be even more oppressive than they are now.

Though racial gerrymandering is illegal, Texas districts still get away with it. In 2018, a seven year legal battle regarding Texas's racially gerrymandered districts (like district 35) ended because the Supreme Court rejected nearly all claims.

Districts in Texas are drawn strategically so Republicans retain power. We need a fair districting map to ever have a realistic chance of unseating republicans.

A Possible Solution

Independent Commissions - 21 states are currently using some sort of nonpartisan commission to redraw their maps. Utilizing independent commissions means districts are drawn sensibly and without favoritism for one group or another.

HR1 is an act that recently passed congress seeking to implement independent redistricting commissions for every state. Should it pass the senate, we would no longer have to trust Republican legislators to draw our district maps.

There are other possible solutions including proportional representation, using artificial intelligence, and ranked choice voting. However, independent commissions seem to be the most realistic future for Texan gerrymandering prevention at this time.

What We Can Do

1. Register ASAP to speak at the Texas Senate's public hearing on Thursday, March 11th at 9am!

The Texas Senate is having a public hearing about Austin's congressional districts on Thursday, March 11th at 9am on Zoom. This is an opportunity for the public to "share details about their local communities and information that they believe is relevant to the upcoming redistricting process." Sign up and tell Texan representatives why your community should be kept together in the redistricting process. Request and independent commission be used if possible. The Texas government canNOT be trusted to draw districts fairly.

Sign up to testify at bit.ly/2OdIgE0

Testimony Guide at fairmapstexas.org/testimony-guides

Leave a written comment at senate.texas.gov/redistrictingcomment

2. Call your senators and tell them to vote YES on HR1, the For the People Act!

The For the People Act would incorporate 800 pages of voting rights legislation. Among other things, it would guarantee mail in voting and at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections, would require states to automatically register citizens to vote, would restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences, and would require all states to use an independent citizen commission to draw congressional districts.

HR1 passed the US House on March 3rd. To pass the senate, all 48 democrats and the two independents would need to be joined by 10 republicans to overcome a filibuster.

Will Ted Cruz & John Cornyn vote yes on this bill? Very unlikely.

Should we let them know how we feel by blowing up their inboxes anyways? Yes.

Ted Cruz: (512) 916-5834 - email him here.

John Cornyn: (202) 224-2934 - email him here.

"Historically, gerrymandering has been used both as a racist weapon to undermine the political power of minority communities and a political weapon to ensure partisan advantage... Gerrymandering fundamentally undermines a fair and representative democracy." 

****act now. sign up to testify. call your senators. ensure a fair redistricting process.****

Additional Reading:

https://www.keranews.org/2019-04-14/texas-matters-gerrymandering-in-texas

https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/

https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2019/11/01/why-redistricting-important-and-why-should-you-participate-texas-democrats-republicans/4103303002/

Sources: 

The Redistricting Process Sources: 

https://indivisible.org/resource/fighting-gerrymandering-states

https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Texas_after_the_2020_census

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/30/940116088/supreme-court-weighs-trump-plan-to-cut-undocumented-immigrants-from-census

https://www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958376223/biden-to-end-trump-census-policy-ensuring-all-persons-living-in-u-s-are-counted

https://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/2019/06/28/lt-gov-patrick-announces-2021-redistricting-committee/

https://www.c-span.org/video/?165594-3/2000-redistricting-review

What is Gerrymandering? Sources:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gerrymandering

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/

https://www.vox.com/2014/8/5/17991968/gerrymandering-name-elbridge-gerry

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/REDMAP

https://www.businessinsider.com/partisan-gerrymandering-has-benefited-republicans-more-than-democrats-2017-6

https://apnews.com/article/9fd72a4c1c5742aead977ee27815d776

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-07-28/big-data-and-the-gerrymandering-of-america

Gerrymandering Strategies Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering#:~:text=Two%20principal%20tactics%20are%20used,voting%20power%20in%20other%20districts). 

https://www.policymap.com/2017/08/a-deeper-look-at-gerrymandering/

https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/7/24/16012440/racial-partisan-gerrymandering-redistricting-supreme-court-video

What Does it Look Like? Source:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2018-02-09/u-s-congress/

A Closer Look at Austin’s Districts Sources:

https://thefulcrum.us/worst-gerrymandering-districts-example/7-austin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_10th_congressional_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_17th_congressional_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_21st_congressional_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_25th_congressional_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_31st_congressional_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_35th_congressional_district

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-maps/texas/

Why this is Bad Sources:

https://indivisible.org/resource/fighting-gerrymandering-states

https://newrepublic.com/article/149357/texas-republicans-got-away-racially-discriminatory-electoral-map

https://www.caller.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/27/texas-republicans-democrats-gerrymandering-legislative-districts-voter-suppression/4545917002/

A Possible Solution Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/4d2e2aea7e224549af61699e51c955dd

https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1072&context=vlr

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/05/hr1-bill-what-is-it/

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/11/16453512/gerrymandering-proportional-representation

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/04/ai-drawn-voting-districts-could-help-stamp-out-gerrymandering/

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/473788-replacing-winner-takes-all-system-would-end-gerrymandering

What We Can Do Sources:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItde6gpjMvH9Mn_8FA26GFQaVkPVxEzQNL

fairmapstexas.org/testimony-guides

senate.texas.gov/redistrictingcomment

https://www.vox.com/2021/3/3/22309123/house-democrats-pass-voting-rights-bill-hr1

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/five-ways-hr-1-would-transform-redistricting

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-house/u-s-house-passes-sweeping-election-bill-senate-prospects-unclear-idUSKCN2AV2JM

https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=form&id=16

https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/node/5853

[stillwithhernothim]

Let’s make this POS nightmares come true #Texas on November 3rd!!! #Repost @swingleft ・・・ Make Ted sad. See our plan to take back the Senate at swingleft.org/senate #flipthesenate2020 #swingleft2020 #flipthesenate #swingthesenate #texaspolitics #txpol #turntexasblue (at Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEnnA_XA75B/?igshid=1xcj1qdb6lb9n

[fourletternamespro]

An Introduction to Kinda Unprofession by Bomb City Outlaw

I don’t have a $10K a month blog, but I’d like to. It may not seem like that has much to do with mental health but it does. It is alsoy goal and that's good for my mental health. So I'm off to a decent start.  How am I supposed to reach that goal of creating a$10k a month blog? According to all my hours of obsession, research, editing, and insanity it all depends on the questions the millions of other people out there are asking Google.  Traffic comes from people searching for answers. Writers gain financially from the advertising they do on sites that already attract free traffic because they create or host something that the audience wants to come to understand.  While Youtube and the ads you can’t afford to skip will tell you that you can create a million dollar platform in a handful of days to change your life in months, my reality is not that.  It’s taken me three years just to get my sites functional. My content is always in editing or on a list somewhere. My internet is as slow as the last thing available to the free world. My tech skills are bullshit, and my information? There is just so much of it. 

It was in my quest to build and plan my “Kinda Unprofessional” project that I learned about the business aspect of blogging and the algorithm of human interest that is keyword research and search engine optimization. That’s not what this article is about by the way. I'm just getting started.  Google already keeps up with all the questions we ask and can literally tell us the best way to profit from answering the questions that the masses are searching for. If I wanted to live my own life and write, it seems all I have to do is be able to logically provide a respectable answer to a question about a topic people are interested in.  I just need to know something they want to know. The problem is that after a career in social science, social work, clinical therapy, and courtroom testimony; the only things I know are those I’ve liste. The millions of reasons why none of it is working, why the world seems to be falling apart, and how to keep living through it. Those topics are angry and depressing. They are the things that people don’t know they need to know. They are not the things people want to know…unless they're angry or depressed and have no resources. Those are my kind of people.

I learned what a blog was about the time I moved to Austin, TX to start my life over and write a novel in 2016. People working from home, on their own time, fueling their artisan, and  being paid astronomical amounts of money for it became my secret heroes. There wasn’t an internet when I was a kid. How was I supposed to know that’s what I really wanted to be when I grew up? I wanted to try products and write about  travel and food. I just couldn’t afford my rent much less either of those things. Blogging started as a fleeting fantasy thought and later a dismissive afterthought as I worked to climb the rungs in the healthcare rat race. It has now become something I have to pursue now.  Maybe I was delusional when the idea of blogging got a hold of me. Maybe I was just in a bad place and susceptible to schemes. Those are possibilities. Wishful thinking in dark times leads to all kinds of stupid decisions. In time even the realist in me couldn't help but think logically, “Who would want to spend life punching the clock  forty hours a week when they could do what they wanted and were good at while earning triple the income in half the time?” There had to be a catch.  For three years I created plans and outlines for different projects in hopes to push my business plan beyond fantasy while I dissolved mentally and financially. Blogging seemed like the viable answer. I just needed to know a lot about something worth knowing about.  It seemed all that I knew was therapy, diagnostics, trauma, tragedy, and debt. I was burnt out at work when my roommate, my only sister, was murdered and lacking more than three days bereavement leave I was forced to step down from my full-time position. A job I had been really good at and mostly enjoyed. I’d been a social worker for over a decade. I'd been doing clinical work in psyhiatric hospitals and mental health courts for last last five years. 

I worked hard. I’d lived a life I didn’t talk about. My patients and their reality and my ability to come up with the right words on a bad day were all I had to sink my independence, purpose, and confidence into. I’d already lost everything  in a lifetime, written a book about it and started my life over. I was grateful to have the only thing that I had, my education and career. I’d already “bounced back” as pop culture would say. I never expected to have to do it again. As my angst with the state of our human services festered it imploded with the  “what the fuck” type of luck that I lived with.  I was at the top of my game and about to test for private practice licensure.  Then one morning I went to work and that evening my sister was murdered. In a blur of leave policy and autopsy,  I found myself unemployable, destitute, and cognitively impaired by compound post traumatic stress disorder.  I did the best I could do to maintain my footing as Covid-19 began and the city locked us in for the year. I drank melted snow in Austin when the grid left us without water the next winter. I buried my mother and her literally broken heart by the fall. I took business and blog classes, I heard voices, and couldn’t afford to get to where my children were for nine months.  Eleven months into my eviction in Austin TX 2021 I was still working to build my websites and products. I didn’t know if I would be able to go back into the mental health industry as a clinician. I could barely read sometimes and I wasn’t oriented to date and day for months. Time passed and I dissociated.  I got by reselling items on Facebook and going to food banks while I saved to join the South By SouthWest Festival to network and take classes in starting a small business. My credit score and monthly sales left me unqualified for business credit or disaster relief as a sole proprietor. My blog writing time turned in to time I spent chasing grants, resources, and sanity. Support small business my ass Austin. That felt like  just another bitter lesson I learned too late.

I understood grief, psychosis, trauma and circumstances. Each new stressor shocked my threshold psychologically. I coped and self cared the best I could. By the time my mother died I had just started to process logically and organized. Shortly after  her sudden death my father remarried. I found myself paranoid, delusional, catatonic, unable to communicate effectively with my partner and unable to head out of one ear. My mind was turning on me and there was nothing else I could do but keep trying to take the best care of myself that I could and keep living in the tunnel as it narrowed.  I kept making products, taking classes, drafting outlines, and believing there was still potential for another life outside of the place I felt stuck for so long. The trial for my sister’s killer taunted me as extentions were granted for the killer to plead insanity and go to the psych hospital while I coudn’t get thearpy because my psychiatrist didn’t want to sign the Crime Victims Compensation papers the state required to cover my mental health treatment after the murder.    I kept not being able to afford advertising, not making sales, and being evicted. Chronic stress shadow boxed with my reality. I asked my partner to move out so I could focus on myself before I lost my ability to stabilize myself. I grieved the loss of a breakup equivalent  to my divorce, fought to keep my home, optimized my website and sold a few hats and canvases to feed my spirit. It wouldn’t sustain me and my content wasn’t ready enough for publication. I couldn’t commit to a schedule. I couldn't commit to a city when I was future planning logically. My only other friend died suddenly in January 2022, taking most of my platonic entrepreneurial support system with him in the blink of an eye.  It took three years to build and optimize my websites, much less load them with content. It was disheartening and at more than a few times, literally insane. That’s what trauma, grief, and time do to a mind.  It’s a contemporary American fantasy to believe hallucinations and delusion stem only from someone’s socioeconomic choice or substance use. The members of the public that don’t understand psychosis  need to be able to explain it away to themselves in a way that makes sense to them. It reassures them with the comfort of believing those things will not come to happen to their status quo minds of less complicated and tragic personal experiences.  . That doesn’t help anyone. Just education to the fact that it can and will organically happen to anyone in times of stress, death, or hormonal imbalance might comfort some who have the insight to work through symptoms that most laymen believe you cannot work through. The problem still becomes that the  mental health services in America are so dangerously liable and classist that those who want and need help still can’t get it. It’s mostly inappropriate when sliding scale or state funded. It often makes  the problems worse.  2019 my work and plans to go into clinical practice independently were trainwrecked by my sister’s murder, hospial politics, and my forgotting to change my address with the board cost me my current license without a fair hearing. Suddenly my career was over too. At times that was the hardest loss to get over and move on from.  While I’ve worked to recover and move on in financial security and purpose, I haven’t been able to. At first I was mostly angry that I spent all those years learning, working, and helping people. Finding  I couldn't afford to feed myself or keep my housing after someone else made the choice to kill the person I was living with during what was the peeking of my clinical career was the ultimate slap in spiritual face. How was I supposed to spend the rest of my life? Where was my security? What about everything I’d worked for? People and living through the shitty things that we don't talk about happening to us was all I knew. It was all I was good for. All I’d trained for. I had already rebuilt my life. Then life happened to me again. The same way that it happens to everyone else; randomly, suddenly, and violently. 

I shunned my previous discipline and vowed not to work for such a dangerously ignorant and inhuman administration in order to cope with no longer having a purpose or plan. Then one day I had what I'll call an epiphany.  Before I lost my job and state of mind I was training and working towards an outpatient practice for high acuity trauma patients based using a case management model with what I believe to be the coolest and most effective tool I was ever trained in, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, EMDR. It was being used to treat some of the worst cases of military trauma and having astonishing empirical results. I signed up for training the minute my credentials and tax return qualified me to take the course. I was ready to specialize and go into research on using it as a treatment for auditory hallucinations and psychosis in complex cases. Watching the possibilities in case studies and practice convinced me that for some we could provide a functional future and a cure if we stopped misdiagnosing for policy;s sake and truly give our best practices to everyone.  I was frantically trying to repose my life and budget in a post homicide, job loss, housing crisis in the middle of a pandemic when my partner had a horrible anxiety episode. He acquired a brain injury in a professional fight that retired him from the spot and left him with sometimes crippling anxiety. 

While trying to talk him through it I thought of some self soothing techniques I had been trained in but stumbled over whether or not I could ethically assist if I wasn't practicing and tripped over the irony of how it would be a conflict of interest if I was practicing.  He looked me dead in the face in the midst of his struggle and tears and said,"If you have something that can help me, you have to help me don't you? I can't live like this." It may not have been ethically principled but the humane thing to do is always right in front of me. So we walked through the same things I would have done if I were at work until he could calm himself down and take over.  I think about that now as I work auditing nursing and debating on how to save the $1000.00 it will take to get to take the test and finish my private practice license. I'm grateful to have a job at all. It doesn't have to be something I like doing or am great at to pay the bills. While it pays the bills, it's not going to replace my car, get my kids braces, or allow me any opportunity to save much less retire someday.  I find myself going back to all my blogging research that tells me you just have to have something to say that people want to know and dedicate your time to it. It will make the part of you that needs to write stop incessantly pounding your soul with the need to stand up or move around because you can’t use a pen correctly anymore. It will get the worries and the important linear thoughts out. It will help someone or accomplish your purpose, or it won’t. If you don’t do it you’ll never know.  Those are the thoughts I get lost in.  Over the years I continue to find myself reminding myself that I may only know mental health and social policy, but I know them very well in spite of having to live through the catastrophes our systems gaps have wreaked havoc on my life with.  I try to find gratitude in having a job and home at all but am plagued by the desire to do more for myself. I thought my stagnation was an energy issue. So I came to peace with the idea of quitting my blog and publishing missions to focus on my day job and settle into the rest of my life. I just can't seem to make peace with that yet.  Then I remembered my partner's panic attack and his question in a new light. How could I sit with a mind full of knowledge, experiences, answers, and ideas that  could change another’s  life for the better and keep it to myself just because the system is built to keep the information gated and complicated and I'm exhausted from chronic poverty and crisis?

Maybe it's more of a moral angst than financial anxiety driving me to keep at this. Regardless, it took less than half an hour to keyword search and brainstorm over 200 topics related to mental health and our American reality that people were looking for information and answers for.  I can create useful information and do it for free. The hopes of ad revenue and eventual sales of therapeutic tools I have designed to help people and clinicians might very well replace my income and purpose in this world if I find the words and energy to follow through. They say if you build it they will come.  I already built it. I just need content and that takes time.  So I decided to start writing my 200 articles.  The first topic being this introduction to what I am doing and why I am doing it.  Read the full article

[bigcountryjournal]

To keep things even after his opponent's appearance in Abilene, here is a selection from Sen. Ted Cruz' town hall meeting in Brownwood earlier this month. . . #Politics #TexasPolitics #Texas #TedCruz #photography #photojournalism #townhall #USSenate #elections2018 #instagram (at Underwood's Cafeteria)

[nicsplace]

Sometimes you meet people who have such a big heart and who truly fight for what they believe in, without ceasing. They are angels and voices for those who have none or for whose voices are limited. @patrioticgirlnextdoor is one of those warrior voices. My sweet friend is passionate and compassionate. She IS a fighter for others and she is an angel, you just can't see her wings. It's always a joy to see her and catch up whenever we're able to see each other. I needed her hugs and smiles last night just as much as she needed mine. Love me some Bonnie! #TexasGirl #Warrior #Fighter #FridayNight #TexasPolitics #Texas #ConservativeWomen #Conservative #Besties #Huggers #Girlfriends #Angel #KnowYourFriends #Love #SingleMom #SingleMomLife (at Balcones Country Club) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTH1BdbMUZ1/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thetrinityriverlookout]

No need for tyrannical christians in the state. Freedom from religion is just as important as freedom of religion. #Irving #texas #texasgirls #politics #texaspolitics https://www.instagram.com/p/CGbNqeTFGCc/?igshid=1sbnhhsssjygm

[scribespirare]

Thank you so much for the insightful information on the state of things in TX right now :D I feel dumb for asking in the most random part of the internet instead of googling, but I find doing that gets me easily confused. Because there's so much I don't know. I wish my parents were more involved but they couldn't give less of a shit lol. I've just been looking at the texas tribune and the dallas morning news' voting guide, which is apparently owned by a republican :p I agree that dems should do more to unify and teach people. It's pretty discouraging that it's been years and we're still getting nowhere. And you would think there would be like a subreddit or twitter page that explains all this in layman and gives sources to be more active and effective instead of you know, QTing at ted cruz and clapping back at extremists. It's true that none of the candidates really stand out to me except for Beto. This might be really ignorant, but it feels really insane that this is the reality and that there are so many repubs because I feel like if you have any shred of human decency, you'd be a dem. Anyway, thanks again, I'll be sure to spread your wisdom to other dems I know and make those people carry the torch of making sure this information is known >:o

Well I'm no expert on any of this so I'm not sure it's rly wisdom lmao. Also, not everyone with human decency is a dem ;) some of us are leftists. I actively hate most democratic politicians tbch. On a world stage, our democrats are a moderate/soft right wing party. That being said they're still better than our Republicans, who are goose-stepping closer to fascism every single day.

If you're looking for more/better voting guides and information, r/TexasPolitics is a good place to look! It's not gonna be centralized tho unfortunately. For reporting the Texas Observer is decent too. You can also look to see if there's a local DSA chapter in your area. They'll be more established and can point you towards better resources than I can. They might also be running candidates!

[rusticsunsettexas-blog]

#mjhegar #mjfortexas #democrat #republican #hollywood #hollywoodhegar #tx31 #texas #texaspolitics #midterms #midterms2018 #politics #meme #memes #congress

[allmyleftistsliveintexas]

Austin Voter Guide May 2021

Election Day: Saturday, May 1

Early Voting: Monday, April 19 - Tuesday, April 27

Last Day to Register to Vote: Thursday, April 1

Last Day to Apply for Mail In Ballot: Tuesday, April 20

Check Your Voter Info & Register at votetravis.com

Prop A: Yes

Prop B: No

Prop C: Yes

Prop D: Yes

Prop E: Yes

Prop F: No

Prop G: Yes

Prop H: Yes

Prop A: Yes

Firefighter Arbitration

"Shall the City Charter be amended to give the Austin Firefighters Association, Local 975 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the authority to require the City to participate in binding arbitration of all issues in dispute with the Association if the City and the Association reach impasse in collective bargaining negotiations?"

Should there be an impasse in negotiations between the city and the AFA, Prop A would require an arbitrator (basically a judge) to reach a deal. This prop was requested by the firefighter's union as a way to fairly reach agreements should there be an impasse. This affects firefighter pay & benefits among other things, and voting yes would help ensure our firefighter's get the rights that they deserve.

Prop B: No

Criminalizing Homelessness

"Shall an ordinance be adopted that would create a criminal offense and a penalty for sitting or lying down on a public sidewalk or sleeping outdoors in and near the Downtown area and the area around the University of Texas campus; create a criminal offense and penalty for solicitation, defined as requesting money or another thing of value, at specific hours and locations or for solicitation in a public area that is deemed aggressive in manner; create a criminal offense and penalty for camping in any public area not designated by the Parks and Recreation Department?"

Prop B would make it a criminal offense to sit/lie, panhandle at certain times, and camp in many areas of Austin. Giving people criminal records for being unhoused, especially without providing a space for them to go, keeps people in the cycle of homelessness, does not provide a solution for homelessness, and is completely devoid of morals. The city should commit to housing 1,000 people with full support systems this year and has already begun purchasing properties for this purpose. Vote NO on prop B to protect our unhoused neighbors and to support solutions that actually work to help people experiencing homelessness.

Prop C: Yes

Police Oversight

"Shall the city charter be amended to allow for a Director of Police Oversight to be appointed or removed in a manner established by City Council ordinance, with duties that include the responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability as it relates to policing?"

Prop C would allow the Office of Police Oversight to become more independent than it is now, which would increase it's ability to hold the police accountable. Currently, the Office of Police Oversight reports to the same administration that they're supposed to hold accountable. Voting yes on Prop C would ensure a more independent and more accountable Office of Police Oversight.

Prop D: Yes

Mayoral Elections

"Shall the City Charter be amended to transition the election for mayor from gubernatorial election years to presidential election years, providing that the mayor elected in 2022 will serve a 2-year term and then mayoral elections will occur on the same date as presidential elections starting in 2024?"

Prop D would move city-wide mayor elections to presidential years. Currently, mayoral elections happen on governor-election years. Moving the mayoral elections to presidential election years would increase voter turnout and ensure the votes for mayor are a more accurate representation of Austin voters' wants. More people are at the voting booths on presidential years, so it's important we move mayoral elections to these years to get more voter turnout in these important elections.

Prop E: Yes

Ranked Choice Voting

"Shall the City Charter be amended to provide for the use of ranked choice voting in city elections, if such voting is permitted by state law?"

Prop E would start the process for implementing ranked-choice voting in Austin. Ranked choice voting allows you to rank your candidate choices on your ballot, so if your first choice vote doesn't garner enough votes, your vote will be cast for your second or third choice. This would eliminate runoff elections, which typically have much lower voter turnouts and fail to accurately represent the needs of Austin voters. Ranked choice voting is a powerful tool for more efficient and more effective elections and we should take every step necessary to implement this process. Vote yes Prop E.

Prop F: No

Strong Mayor

"Shall the City Charter be amended to change the form of city government from ‘council-manager’ to ‘strong mayor-council,’ which will eliminate the position of professional city manager and designate an elected mayor as the chief administrative and executive officer of the city with veto power over all legislation which includes the budget; and with sole authority to hire and fire most department heads and direct staff; and with no articulated or stated charter authority to require the mayor to implement Council decisions."

Prop F would allow the mayor to manage most city departments, veto council legislation, and more. Currently, most of these responsibilities are delegated to the city manager, who is not elected by the public. While it is not preferable to have an unelected official like the city manager to manage these important decisions, having the mayor manage them isn't an equitable solution. Allowing the mayor to veto council legislation and hire/fire department heads gives the mayor too much power. While we should continue to reinvent how these responsibilities should be delegated in an equitable manner, we should vote no on prop F to avoid giving the mayor too much power.

Prop G: Yes

Add a City Council District

"Shall the City Charter be amended to provide for an additional geographic council district which will result in 11 council members elected from single member districts?"

Prop G would add an 11th city council district. Because Austin is growing so quickly, it's important that city council grows as well to best represent all of Austin's voices. This would increase voting power for many marginalized Austin voters and allow for more diverse representation on council.

This would also mean there would be an even number of voters (12) on council which could lead to tied-votes in council legislation. Passing prop G would also require passing another proposition in a future election to combat tie-votes in city council. Regardless, it's important to ensure every voter can be represented fairly in Austin so it's important to add a district.

Prop H: Yes

Democracy Dollars

"Shall the City Charter be amended to adopt a public campaign finance program, which requires the city clerk to provide up to two $25 vouchers to every registered voter who may contribute them to candidates for city office who meet the program requirements?"

Prop H would give up to two $25 vouchers to registered Austin voters to donate to city office candidates for local elections. This would allow more voters to financially support their favorite candidates, and would allow grassroots candidates to have a fighting chance against big-money backed candidates. This puts more power in the hands of grassroots candidates and voters, and would be a beneficial addition to the city's electoral politics.

Important Info

Election Day: Saturday, May 1

Early Voting: Monday, April 19 - Tuesday, April 27

Last Day to Register to Vote: Thursday, April 1

Last Day to Apply for Mail In Ballot: Tuesday, April 20

Check Your Voter Info & Register at votetravis.com

Join the fight against Prop B! The GOP-led effort to criminalize homelessness is extremely well funded and aggressive. Follow @NoOnPropB, @HomesNotHandcuffs, and @atxdsa on Instagram & Facebook to stay involved and take action in the fight against Prop B.

Talk to your friends! In 2018, just 4.04% of eligible voters voted in the May election. Each proposition on the 2021 May ballot is very important and most of them will affect Austin voters directly. It's important that we have a high voter turnout this year to ensure the results of the election accurately reflect the wants & needs of Austin voters. Please reach out to your community and help your people make a voting plan for May's election.

Sources

lots of info was taken from greg casars voting guide

you can view ballot language here

election details here

Prop A Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/03/firefighters-push-for-passage-of-arbitration-amendment-with-proposition-a/

Prop B Sources

there’s a lot of housing initiatives for the unhoused starting now. here are some examples:

https://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/austin-city-council-okays-4th-hotel-purchase-house-homeless

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/03/31/new-north-austin-supportive-housing-project-take-171-people-off-streets/4806106001/?fbclid=IwAR2rLEZmiCjhH9MhtZ-y8GLfDGmyGGAcqYEiRrEhjfs9l-FkneCIolHcM-0

https://www.kxan.com/news/several-new-homeless-housing-projects-to-pop-up-in-austin/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral&fbclid=IwAR1zXZ8QLwkuzfn3oyBdssvvvD4xEL1ZfKUUnNEtn16np09slKi-ae9WDSU

here’s a more broad overview for prop b:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/homeless/austin-homeless-camp-fires-city-leaders-proposition-b/269-1d6bfebd-9b53-479b-a4cc-9f9c58da383a

you can also see my post on prop b for more info

Prop C Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/03/proposition-c-explained/

Prop D Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/04/should-mayoral-election-be-moved-to-presidential-years/

Prop E Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/04/ranked-choice-voting-proposal-faces-legal-legislative-questions-after-may-election/

https://www.fairvote.org/rcvbenefits

Prop F Sources

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/austin-city-council-prop-f-strong-mayor-system/269-11c51b04-3ff1-4202-bbfa-48b5033d15c7

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/council-members-express-dismay-with-prop-f-plan-to-give-mayor-chief-executive-powers

Prop G Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/03/prop-gs-extra-council-seat-could-mean-gridlock-if-strong-mayor-proposal-fails/

Prop H Sources

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/03/democracy-dollars-proposal-looks-to-spread-influence-participation-in-elections/

https://www.seattle.gov/democracyvoucher/about-the-program

[maxomatic-bcn]

New illustration for Texas Monthly about Lupe Valdez, the first latina to be nominated by a major political party to run for governor of Texas #Repost @texasmonthly ・・・ She made history by becoming the first Latina nominated by a major political party to run for governor of Texas, but Lupe Valdez will almost certainly lose to Greg Abbott in November. Yet if she inspires Hispanic voters to turn out, she could help Democratic candidates in tight down-ballot races and make a big difference in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Texas House. Visit the link in our bio to read more. 🎨: @maxomatic #texaspolitics #lupevaldez #gregabbott #houseofrepresentatives #texasgovernor #latinapower (en Texas)

[claraect-blog]

MJ Hegar, do you understand this is a job that affects thousands of people? How about you do some work and create a list of policy positions and how you plan to achieve those?