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

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

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

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

See the second page of @ERCOT_ISO's latest reliability assessment. ercot.com/content/wcm/li… Under the top table describing the reserve margins, they have a table labelled “Range of Potential Risks.” 1/10 @TPPF @Life_Powered_ #texaspoweroutage 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

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

Thoughts on the state of the race for President. Running for a major office is an exhausting endeavor. In my own experience, I had two intense campaigns: my first primary win for California State Assembly in 2004 and my run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. 1/9 In 2004, I was up against 5 other opponents, including a self-funded candidate who had about $1 million spent on her behalf. Each day was a contest: raising money, giving speeches, seeking endorsements, meeting voters. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_DeV… 2/9

U.S. intelligence assesses that #China & #Iran are working against @realDonaldTrump's reelection while #Russia is working against @JoeBiden. Let's think about this. As a Strategic Studies major at @CMCnews, I studied the Cold War... cnn.com/2020/08/07/pol… 1/5 This included Soviet communist ideology (Marxist-Leninism) and Western ideology. We had a clash of systems and beliefs, not just national might like tanks, ships, and nuclear missiles. Eventually, we won the Cold War. 2/5

Texas @TexasDSHS just updated their #COVID dashboard for the day. Some takeaways: They are now breaking out the 3 main types of test results, molecular, antibody, and antigen and providing positive numbers for each... @TPPF 1/4 (You can see the dashboard here: txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashbo…); COVID hospitalizations continue to trend down, now back to where they were around July 4, though the #Laredo region continues to be strained, with 1 ICU bed open; 2/4

I’m thankful that the American people are waking up to the danger from the People’s Republic of #China. It’s taken longer than it should have because our foreign policy elites grew too comfortable and rich off the status quo. 1/14 In 1998, I took 5 months off from work to research and write a novel warning of a coming conflict with China. “China Attacks,” with co-author @StevenWMosher, was the result of this effort. amazon.com/China-Attacks-… 2/14

Looks like Wichita County Clerk Lori Bohannon was on to something when she expressed concerns that expanded mail-in balloting could open the door to voter fraud.
texomashomepage.com/news/local-new… @TPPF
@KenPaxtonTX @GovAbbott 1/5 #Texas election law requires that people under the age of 65 who vote by mail vote from out of their county on Election Day (military and college students, mostly), be disabled or otherwise be in jail awaiting trial and otherwise be eligible to vote. 2/5

There is good #COVID19 news out of #Texas, as well as difficult times ahead. The good news is that there are increasing signs that this round of infections has peaked. The difficult days ahead lay in what will be a steady toll people passing away. @TPPF 1/4 @TPPF Per the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard (txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashbo…) we've added 469 patients to our hospitals in the last 6 days. The prior 6 saw 2,112. This means new hospitalizations have slowed significantly and people are recovering. 2/4

I've just completed one of my several reviews of #Texas #COVID19 data for the day.
The highlights. The share of active cases hospitalized has been dropping for a week and hasn’t been this low in 32 days at 8.2%. @TPPF 1/4 The numbers of recovered people continue to outpace new infections and fatalities, today by 1,213. This is encouraging. And, while the total new case count, 10,745, is a new record, it’s still the case that the rate of increase is slowing. 2/4

Two vital questions we need the answer to right now to better calibrate our public health response to #COVID19 in #Texas. First, an average of 548 people a day die in Texas, more during the flu season, fewer during the summer. @TPPF @GovAbbott 1/4 Recently, our #COVID fatalities have passed the 100 per day mark. Of those who are reported to have died as the result of the virus, how many died from COVID vs. with COVID? The issue may be tied to the 20% higher payments the medical system gets for COVID. 2/4

We're starting to get clear from the Independence Day weekend insofar as #COVID19TX metrics as reported by @TexasDSHS. There is reason for guarded optimism in the data. 1/4 @TPPF First of all, the most #COVID tests ever were done, 75,556, with testing over the past 7 days up 19% from the prior 7 days. The positive test rate was down a bit after jumping higher over the last 2 days. The share of active cases hospitalized was down today. 2/4

Everything created by people is imperfect, including America. But because something cannot be perfected does not mean we should not cherish it and strive together to make it better. #independenceday2020 @TPPF 1/5 The miracle of #IndependenceDay is that a group of people, many of them slaveholders, were able to agree upon this universal statement: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... 2/5

A left wing group based in Madison, WI, @EXPOSEDbyCMD, paid for a press release today to criticize some of our #Texas #COVID19 analysis. Their main criticism was that "deaths can lag hospitalizations by several weeks or more..." @TPPF 1/9 Let’s explore @apearson15’s charge. In New York City, America’s COVID epicenter, at their #COVID19 peak, the apparent lag between hospital admissions and death was 6-9 days, not (“several weeks or more”). (See: www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid…) 2/9

#Texas' daily #COVID19 numbers were just updated. We now have 4,092 COVID patients in hospitals across Texas. txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashbo… 1/4 @TPPF This is 63% more than a week ago. But should we be fearful? Deaths as a share of cases continues to drop in #Texas. We've been 49th in the nation per texas2036.shinyapps.io/covid_tracker/ 2/4

Here's our #COVID19 challenge: A Penn State study suggests that the virus was 80 times more prevalent in March than initially thought while spreading far more easily. news.psu.edu/story/623797/2… 1/4 @TPPF That #COVID19 spreads readily is seen in #Texas’ mounting case count – rising as testing rates and effectiveness rise. Yet, only 1 in 6 ER visits in #Texas are due to COVID texas2036.shinyapps.io/covid_tracker/ 2/4

Seeing more reports of police quitting, citing lack of support from elected officials. Likely, most were dedicated public servants. It's a terribly difficult position we've put our police and teachers as well in, isn't it? /1 Both teachers and police overly contend with people who, for the most part, never had a strong family, guiding them as to right and wrong, respect for others, and love. /2

Today is the @USArmy's 245th birthday (now in Asia). In 2001, I was in Korea for the 226th birthday very close to these officers - COL Harrel was my commander. media.gettyimages.com/photos/soldier… /1 It was June 14, 2001 at the Yongsan Army Base in Seoul, South Korea and the @USArmy was unveiling its new headgear (cover), a black beret. We were the first in the Army to wear them due to the international date line. Funny story, somewhat apropos to now. /2