Rather sorry I never tried to toss a penny into Queen Isabella's crown at the end of session, as was tradition for exhausted (and often drunken) lobbyists, staffers, and some legislators. I thought of this "tradition" as beneath the dignity of the place. 2/3
Check out the history of the representation of the strong woman who was removed from the California state capitol rotunda. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_… 3/3
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More reports about the Feb. defection of China's vice minister of State Security, Dong Jingwei (董经纬), the highest ranking defection of a People's Republic of China official ever. He ran counter intelligence ops (spy-catcher) & has #Wuhan lab leak info. 1/4
#Dong's defection is likely the biggest story of the year regarding #China and the #COVID19 virus - unless the the aftermath of his defection causes #China to use military force. Dong would be in position to know about the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 2/4
It may be that the timing of the defection was why we suddenly saw the engineered #COVID virus theory gain purchase among corporate media outlets. A Chinese defector confirming this would lead to calls for China to pay reparations for the deaths they caused. 3/4
How government mandated training often works in the real world (applicable to sexual harassment training, mandatory critical race sessions, etc.). In March of 2007, as a California State Assemblyman, I had to report to a required class on sexual harassment. 1/n
The class was required by AB 1825, passed in 2004. The law required employers with 50 or more employees to provide 2 hours of training and education to all supervisory employees every two years. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavC… 2/n
Eventually, about 30 elected members of the State Assembly showed up for the class. I say eventually, because several of the Democrats, including members who voted for the bill, showed up 24 minutes late. 3/n
I see there's some discussion over people moving to #Texas. That's great. About 40% of Texans weren't born in Texas. @DaveTurbohawk@Cleansniper23 1/6
Generally, states with more freedom attract more migrants, domestic and international, than states with less freedom. People vote with their feet. There are 3 polls over the years that suggest that the people moving to #Texas are not a political threat. 2/6
In the most recent year reported, about 560,000 people moved to Texas from the U.S. and about 450,000 people moved out. (See: census.gov/data/tables/ti…) @TPPF 3/6
I've been reading the #Texas House Committee Substitute for SB10 capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/His…, a bill which, as filed, sought to ban counties and cities from using taxpayer funds to lobby the legislature. @TPPF 1/n
Last Friday, the House State Affairs Committee amended the bill beyond all recognition. Now, instead of a ban on lobbying by cities and counties, lawyers are allowed unlimited lobbying and they no longer have to report it. 2/n
Further, SB10 now repeals SB65 authored by @TeamBettencourt in 2019 and signed into law by @GovAbbott. SB65 required Texas's political subdivisions to report their lobbying expenditures. Many have dragged their feet and not reported. capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/His… 3/n
Something between the 4th and 5th columns is what happened this week. Add 2,000 MW of demand above ERCOT’s adjustment here (they assumed a record of 67,200 MW) and 10,000 MW from planned thermal outages, likely for maintenance, going into the cold front. 2/10
Take out another 1,600-1,900 MW from lower wind production than in the baseline, and reserves are below 2,000 MW. That’s where Texas was Sunday night. 3/10
Much misinformation out there about #Texaspoweroutage, @ERCOT_ISO, wind and solar power, and thermal generators (gas and coal). Let's review what we think we know right now. @TPPF@Life_Powered_ 1/10
Two problems in #Texas, one short term and exacerbated by the long term issue, and one long term. 2/10
The short term failure came at about 1 AM Monday when #ERCOT should have seen the loads soaring due to plummeting temperatures and arranged for more generation. 3/10