Book ’em, Danno!

The family got together last night for dinner to celebrate my nephew Dante’s birthday. Dante’s birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Dante.

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Let’s see. High gasoline prices, the cost of buying groceries, Donald Trump’s war in Iran, the crazy tariff policies, health care affordability, our underfunded public schools, explosive diarrhea, ICE thugs, just to name a few issues. Nope. MAGA Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick thinks the books in our public-school libraries is the issue that we should address in the next legislative session. See this from the Trib:

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday vowed to pass legislation punishing public schools that do not remove graphic books from their shelves by knocking them down a notch in the state’s annual school performance ratings, which the state uses to seize control of underperforming districts.

Flanked by easels displaying printed covers of books he found obscene, the lieutenant governor said school boards and administrators have not been following a 2025 law aimed at weeding out lewd books from the shelves in Texas’ more than 9,000 campuses attended by some 5.5 million schoolchildren.

“It’s the law and we expect you to follow the law. So we’re coming for the books,” Patrick said during a news conference at the Texas Capitol. “We ask that you do it on your own and remove these books.”

The law from last year, Senate Bill 13, granted school boards the authority to approve and remove books based on complaints they receive, such as those from parents and activist groups. Before, those powers largely belonged to school librarians. But Patrick said an overwhelming majority of school boards have not taken any action, as the law nears one year in effect.

Here is the entire Trib read: Dan Patrick: “We’re coming for the books” in school libraries.

I think it is clear what is happening. MAGA folks like Patrick know that they are on the wrong side of most issues important to Texans Their response is to throw out whacko policies to the MAGA base to get them to turn out to vote.  Book ’em, Danno!

The featured photo is over 4 months old. No ceasefire, still in Trump’s war. Pathetic.

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I am glad the race for Harris County Treasurer is way down the ballot. I am also glad that the Office of the Harris County Treasurer doesn’t have an impact on our everyday lives. See this from the Chron

Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt, a Democrat who was arrested three times across two counties in her first term, is seeking a six-figure raise, according to a formal salary grievance she filed with the county. 

Wyatt requested $250,000 “or more,” which would be a minimum 79% raise over her current salary of $139,547. The treasurer, who is facing a drunken driving charge in Galveston County, requested the raise just months after her office was stripped of a key financial oversight role and amid an ongoing effort to abolish Wyatt’s position entirely.

Wyatt did not respond to a request for comment. 

Wyatt filed her grievance as part of an annual county process that lets elected officials petition a nine-member committee for a raise. The committee will consider her request Thursday. 

Wyatt wrote that she is seeking “an amount that fairly and appropriately reflects the statutory responsibilities, fiduciary obligations, scope of authority, workload, and level of accountability associated with the office of Harris County Treasurer.”

Wyatt had a dozen staff members working for her office in 2025, according to county salary data. She was one of just a handful of county elected officials whose salaries commissioners left unchanged in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Commissioners voted last week to raise the pay of all elected officials except themselves, the sheriff and the treasurer to $305,000. 

Here is the entire Chron read: Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt requests raise with DWI pending.

Like I said. The Harris County Treasurer race is way down the ballot. She will probably get reelected. Still. As I also said, I am glad that the Office of the Harris County Treasurer doesn’t have an impact on our everyday lives. Oh, well.

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We got a win last night and now have a 2-game lead in the AL West. 4 games left in the current homie, 35 games remain in the regular season schedule.