- Texans are paying to grow Democrat power; Retool the Texas Enterprise Fund, Dear Nasdaq, come on down to low-tax Texas, Another company moving to Austin as Texas ranks as top state for direct foreign investment
- 36 Gun Bills Pre-Filed So Far Ahead of the 87th Legislative Session
- Representative Lopez Files the Two Cents for Texas Act looking to Modernize Texas’ Motor Fuels Tax – nothing more than a floating tax increase!
- Texas Democrats push to legalize marijuana. Key Republicans likely stand in the way. – think about how this priority makes a mockery of all the terrible problems Dems assert exist in our society – all that and a top issue is more drugs!
- Texas Senate State Affairs to hold hearing on “taxpayer funded lobbying” and abortion next Wednesday
- Changing The Way Texas Selects State Supreme Court Nominees Could Prove Difficult During A Pandemic Session – doesn’t need change
- AG Paxton’s Child Support Division Sets New Record by Collecting $ 4.8 Billion for Texas Children
- RRC’s Commissioners Take Action to Reduce Flaring by Oil and Gas Industry
- BAIL REFORM IN ACTION: Suspect in Murder of Houston Police Sergeant Out on $100 Bond at Time of Shooting
- Texas Republicans should reject Allen West’s poisonous fearmongering – “fearmongering?” Funny to read Democrats telling Republican what they should do.
- Reject rush to pass over voter fraud in Texas
- Harris County Prepares To Pick New Paper-Based Voting Machines
- Harris County is still counting votes: Here’s how workers officially count more than 1.6 million votes VIDEO
- Front-Line Poll Worker Urges Texans to Fight for Honest Elections
- Young Conservatives of Texas Statement on 2020 Election Results
- HD83: Defeated Democrat nominee asking public to fund sex-change surgery
- TX11: August Pfluger shares plans before taking congressional seat VIDEO
- A Range of Emotions for Democrats in Texas
- Why Nearly Half of Texas’ Latinx Voters Backed Trump – Yeah, every darn one of them offended that you call them Latinx which is not a thing and affront to Spanish.
- Abbott Keeps Door Open on Potential Presidential Run
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- Federal/DC related to Texas
- Survey: Half of Americans need stimulus to pay bills
- Six U.S. service members among those killed in Sinai helicopter crash
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- Presidential race / national politics
- Judge hands Trumps win, rules PA official exceeded authority by changing election deadline
- Cornyn, Cruz stand by Trump as he fights on – no, they are standing by the rule of law and properly counting legal votes.
- Ted Cruz, other prominent Texas Republicans question Trump’s chances in court – yes, it will be incredibly tough even with compelling evidence
- Rove: Trump’s legal maneuvering won’t overturn election
- Trump Trails Biden by 11.6K in Arizona: ‘If We Can Audit the Total Votes Cast, We Will Easily Win’
- Arizona Secretary of State Referred to Trump’s ‘Base’ as ‘Neo-Nazi’ in 2017
- Kamala Harris: ‘We Did It, Joe … Let’s Get Started’
- Joe Biden: An ‘Embarrassment’ Donald Trump Hasn’t Conceded Yet – hmm, sure wasn’t his position for Al Gore in 2000 when Gore fought the election until 13 December.
- Pfizer Notified Biden Before Trump on Vaccine Success
- Biden advisor tells Israelis: Top priority will be re-entering the Iran deal
- Former National Security Adviser McMaster to Biden: return to Iran nuclear deal ‘big mistake’
- Meet Mary & Norma, the 2 UT Austin professors on Joe Biden’s pre-mature transition team
- Bernie Sanders Lobbies For Labor Secretary In Biden’s Cabinet, If There Is A Biden Cabinet
- Which Texans might end up working in Joe Biden’s administration? – there is nothing in the story worth reading
- BLM Co-Founder to Biden: ‘We Want Something for Our Vote’, more
- White House press secretary: Trump will break his post-election silence ‘at the right moment’
- Hispanics helped Trump win in Florida, Texas, analysis of election data shows
- AG Nessel: Trump’s elections lawsuits essentially say ‘Black people are corrupt’ – really? I’ve not read or heard that anywhere.
- Do Dead People Vote? Check It Out!
- Michigan officials defend Detroit’s vote count from Trump lawsuit, try to debunk dead voter claim – “Detroit has had a pattern of voting troubles over at least 15 years — including in the August primary — that have included judicial intervention and recounts of ballots by state election officials.”
- Project Veritas Audio Shows PA USPS Whistleblower Being Pressured to ‘Amend’ His Statement Accusing Supervisors of Backdating Ballots
- Election Day should not last two months
- Georgia begins statewide hand recount of all election votes
- Fox News’ Bret Baier: Decision Desk ‘Estimated Democrats Would Add 5 Seats to Their Majority–That Did Not Occur’
- Georgia: Kelly Loeffler Exposes ‘Radical’ Democrat Raphael Warnock VIDEO
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fundraises for Georgia Senate Democrats
- Ilhan Omar Paid Husband’s Company Nearly $2.8M
- Maricopa County Republican Party leader resigns after losses, questions about vote-counting machines
- When ‘Unity’ Means ‘Shut the Hell Up’
- California’s Progressive Thumping
- California and Its Contradictions
- Facebook Extends Political Ad Ban
- Conservatives Flock To Parler
- Resisting the Leviathan: The Mayflower Compact
- Jake Tapper Becomes Triggered by ‘CNN Is Not a News Organization’ Claim, Then Receipts Get Dropped
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- Border / immigration
- Biden to freeze deportations, welcome illegals
- Teen Boy Saves Girl from Kidnapper in Mexican Border State
- Migrant smugglers see boost from U.S. pandemic border policy
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- Coronavirus a.k.a. WuFlu related – See this link for archive of essential WuFlu-related stories
- Texas COVID-19 situation report for 11/12/2020 (pdf) – 19,004* deaths & “active cases” of 137,022 (out of over 29,000,000,000 people, about 4/10ths of 1% of the population.) * Texas COVID numbers appear no longer trustworthy
- El Paso County judge extends shutdown order – illegal and irresponsible
- Governor Abbott Deploys Additional COVID-19 Resources To El Paso, Lubbock
- Fauci to UK Think Tank: Coronavirus ‘Not Going to Be a Pandemic for a Lot Longer’ Thanks to Vaccines – let’s hope this isn’t yet another of him being wrong
- Fauci: Vaccine Will Be Here in December — ‘Help Is Really on the Way’
- Dr. Fauci Shows He’s Just Another Political Hack
- Black Market for Negative COVID-19 Tests Grows Around the World
- More voters want COVID decisions made at the local level as opposed to national, poll
- COVID & masks – See this link for a group of essential mask-related stories
- Sheriffs Across Texas Say Governor Abbott’s Mask Order is Unenforceable
- Masks are neither effective nor safe: Summary of the science – ignore who the author is, it does not matter, simply check the sources/footnotes.
- WSJ: Case for Mask Mandate Rests on Bad Data
- COVID & schools – See this link for more.
- CDC director says closed schools pose larger public health risk for kids than reopening, U.S. Pediatricians Call For In-Person School This Fall
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- Business/Economy
- Texas Distributes Nearly $891 Million in Monthly Sales Tax Revenue to Local Governments; 4.8% MORE than Nov. 2019
- Top Texas 20 Cities Sales and Use Tax Comparison Summary for November, All cities lookup
- Southwest Report Shows Rising Virus Cases Are Hitting Travel
- SpaceX: Update on continuing engine testing of Starship prototype #8, more VIDEO
- NASA officially approves operational SpaceX’s Dragon manned missions
- Austin insurance tech startup Steadily raises $3.8M
- Japanese firm plans $13M Austin production facility
- Texas groups throw support behind Exxon in effort to expose those orchestrating climate change ‘lawfare’
- Unruly employee sues employer for results of his unruliness
- Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics for October 2020
- Ameredev Texas acquires Lilis Energy assets in Delaware Basin
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- Protest, rioting, looting & more
- Portland: Anti-cop city commissioner uses 911 to call cops on Lyft driver
- Portland man sentenced to prison in video-captured beating of man during riots
- ‘Boogaloo Boy’ from San Antonio jailed without bond
- BLM Co-Founder to Biden: ‘We Want Something for Our Vote’, more
- ———————————————
- Crime & general news of Texas
- Police: Texas infant found with injection marks is on life support after testing positive for heroin
- Teenager killed by mother was shot 10 times: ‘She emptied the pistol,’ sheriff says
- Police: Rapper Mo3 Shot Dead on Highway in Dallas Attack, more
- Central Texas Teacher Accused of Shooting Teenage Son Dead
- Suspect shot, killed by Nederland police officer identified
- Houston man accused of shooting, robbing man outside Beaumont restaurant in lunchtime robbery
- Motorcycle driver killed after running into back of vehicle on Hwy. 12 near Mauriceville
- Thieves using chains, truck fail to steal ATM from Lumberton bank early Wednesday
- Woman in only underwear and T-shirt forces plane to divert from Texas to Alabama
- Oilman Sentenced to 121 Months in Federal Prison, Commissioner Brings New Action to Stop Family from Continuing Fraud
- 5 indicted in alleged scheme that defrauded San Antonio bank
- Man thought he was selling backpack in Round Rock to friend but instead was robbed
- Man charged with murder in deadly Manor crash, police say
- Midland: 2nd suspect arrested in shooting death of 68-year-old man
- Little boy who died in Lubbock hospital after MIS-C was 3rd grader from Odessa
- WF woman arrested after hitting another woman with porcelain elephant
- Burkburnett man receives probation after he pleads guilty to child abuse
- Wichita Falls man accused of child sex crime
- Man hospitalized after being shot multiple times at Abilene apartment complex
- One dead, one injured in shootings ear Orlando’s on Indiana in Lubbock
- Lubbock Man Nearly Shot in Drive-By Shooting at Local Post Office
- Two shootings, one was deadly, Lubbock Police set up perimeter in NE Lubbock neighborhood
- Lubbock Man With Ties to Aryan Brotherhood Indicted
- Central Texas woman gets life in prison for killing 20-month-old
- North Texas Student Expelled for Being Homosexual – it’s a private Christian school and they have every right so to do.
- 2 Killed When Small Plane Crashes Near North Texas Airport
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- Local government
- Council votes to bring Cap Metro’s Pickup program to Pflugerville
- Round Rock ISD Superintendent Steve Flores on his way out
- RGV Partnership conducts virtual tour of Rio Grande City, sees incredible growth
- Elections chief: Midland ISD investigation will cover all districts
- Casa de Amigos is partnering with the City of Midland to manage their senior centers
- Wichita Falls considers CARES Act funds for WFISD
- Wichita Co. Sheriff: ‘The bottom line is we’re running out of quarantine space’
- Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson fends off council attempt to strip his influence at the Texas Legislature
- Harris County Prepares To Pick New Paper-Based Voting Machines
- BAIL REFORM IN ACTION: Suspect in Murder of Houston Police Sergeant Out on $100 Bond at Time of Shooting
- San Antonio City Council seeking police reform, Medicaid expansion, local control in 2021 legislative session
- Manvel Small Box Store Restrictions Effectively Prohibit New Dollar Stores – ridiculous
- ———————————————
- Colleges & universities
- World’s Leading Equine Reproduction Expert Joins Texas Tech School Of Veterinary Medicine Faculty
- Major renovation of ACU’s Moody Coliseum to begin in December
- High-tech, downtown: UTSA soon to break ground on new, modern buildings
- Despite rising COVID-19 cases, universities including Texas Tech and Texas A&M are planning in-person fall graduations – good
- A UT professor was fired for kissing a colleague on the lips. He says it never happened.
Pratt’s post for 11/12/2020
November 12, 2020 by 1 Comment
As of Saturday, there were 299 empty hospital beds, including ICU, in the entire Lubbock area (called Trauma Service Area B). That’s 3 dozen more empty beds than just last Wednesday when the medical tents first made the news. The public is being led to believe the hospitals are overflowing and need emergency tents because the pandemic has again reached a crisis.
Call foul. Shame on Covenant. Shame on the news for its perpetual scaremongering. How many empty beds were there last November during the flu season?
These medical tents have two purposes: hype a public perception of a CRISIS and keep the country locked down, and market Regeneron’s new antibody therapy that Gov Abbott breathlessly reported is coming to Lubbock. Covenant admitted their new medical tents and all the emergency supplies coming to their parking lot will be used to give people who test positive for Covid the new antiviral IV infusion early before they get sick enough to need hospitalization. Politics and money, again.
This antibody cocktail, by the way, has not had a formal human trial with results published in a peer-reviewed journal. It has only had an initial study with preliminary results announced in a Press Release. In those 275 patients who got it early BEFORE they got sick enough to even be hospitalized, it reduced the number of days they had symptoms by around 5 days. (https://c19regn.com/) The same might be said for far less expensive therapies (and we know these have become political hot potatoes to even discuss) if they were given early the same way. Taxpayers (that’s all of us) gave $450 million to Regeneron for a first batch of doses, and medical facilities (that’s Covenant) will make money charging to administer it.
Maybe it is worth it, maybe not. But the public at least deserves the full and honest story.