Candice Bernd

How it's going in Texas. A first read: 'Texas gets what they deserve.' A second read: Look at the amazing journalists covering this story. Or *Baylor's* student paper publishing a commentary by South Asian student. Or 19 mil registered voters. And, 2.4 million early voters in TX on Day 3.

My 1st for @thelever.bsky.social examines Big Oil donations to TX Railroad Commission candidate Bo French from 7/1 to 9/24—well after French's open racism had become well reported on by myself and others. In other words, here's the Big Oil donors who are funding French despite of his naked extremism

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Cover Girl 💅🏻

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol didn’t get the welcome he thought he would when he came to speak at UT Austin 👀

SpaceX should be straight-up nationalized after this and Musk shd be prosecuted. I don't doubt other nations will ditch Starlink after this episode, but the US also can't tolerate the arrangement: There's no reason at all he couldn't do the same thing to a Dem president he didn't like.

Not an exaggeration to say that elections in the next twelve days will have a huge effect on how many trees survive on our planet, and what its atmosphere is composed of. billmckibben.substack.com/p/elections-...

Presenting the November/December 2026 issue of Texas Observer magazine, with cover story by @candicequestions.com. Cover photograph by @jordanvondy.bsky.social. Members get six issues of our magazine, every year. Visit our website to join.

New @thebarbedwire.com: A new state plan calls for getting HIV+ folks into care faster, and cutting new cases in half by 2031. But how can we fight AIDS amid deep cuts to federal funding and as more Texans struggle to access healthcare? www.thebarbedwire.com/can-texas-fi...

Way to go Texas! 🌊

Blogged about Matthew McConaughey's deeply exhausting schtick of saying a whole lot about absolutely nothing: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

The logic that structures and enforces a society of haves and have-nots to the extent that a mother can't afford something as basic as diapers for her baby is the same logic that will justify the murder of said baby over said stolen diapers.

Lynn Fitch is the "pro-life" attorney general who successfully led the state's side in the Dobbs case, overturning Roe v. Wade.

In the first of a two part series, @jamesstout.bsky.social travels to Lochiel, Arizona, to interview land defenders occupying a historic cottonwood in order to prevent the tree being destroyed as part of a two layer border wall being built through the region.  www.iheart.com/podcast/1119...

They cut down the "grandmother" tree.

At Climate & Energy conference @volts.wtf criticizes the climate movement for becoming an "everything movement," citing the inclusion of "environmental justice" and "labor." If those of us online could ask questions, I'd ask David to expand on how EJ and labor are "other" to the climate crisis?

At Heatmap’s Climate Week event today, Energy Secretary Chris Wright explicitly said there will not be a full-scale diesel export ban. “We will not cease exports of U.S. diesel,” Wright told attendees. Full story at the link below.

Good news: a federal judge just paused Wilber's deportation. The government shouldn’t be allowed to shoot you from an unmarked vehicle and then cover it up by deporting you. Keep speaking out, it's working.

BREAKING: Just north of downtown Austin, students in Pflugerville walked out to protest the ICE shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. #ICEOUT

“We do not pick and choose which laws to enforce or where to enforce them” is such an old lie, the Charlie Brown having hoes of cop impunity

I'm proud to be a part of the Trial Monitoring Committee & our report on Energy Transfer SLAPP suit against @greenpeace.org @greenpeaceusa.bsky.social. GP was entitled to an impartial jury & a meaningful opportunity to defend itself. This report concludes that it received neither. trialmonitors.org

I first started reporting on Texas’ systematic heat torture of prisoners over a decade ago. It’s taken far too long to get here, and 2029 is far too long a time to allow this suffering to continue. Nonetheless, it’s good to finally bear witness to this ruling.

My latest @thebarbedwire.com: Ever taken an HIV test at a nightclub or event? 13 AIDS-related nonprofits in Texas (and more nationwide) are losing millions in HIV outreach funding, thanks to the latest DOGE-like cuts at the CDC. Six nonprofits in Houston will collectively lose ~$2M in vital funds.

Wilber Garcés Pérez "was taken to a hospital late Monday after experiencing paralysis on the left side of his body, his lawyer said." On Sunday, ICE had forced him to leave the hospital even though he still had a bullet lodged in his back/doctors arguing it was "reckless." ICE wanted him to die.

SCOOP: the ICE officer who shot Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez in Austin wasn't wearing his body cam. The officer is a new recruit hired by the agency last year 🔽 www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the man ICE shot on Sunday, was sent to a detention center *with a bullet still in his back.* He was reportedly given no pain medication and only sent to a hospital after losing feeling in the left side of his body. ICE’s cruelty knows no bounds.

The same people who insist you are supposed to think Hasan Piker is the literal devil invite this guy to their cocktail parties and think he's cool

New from @gusbova.bsky.social: Texas Observer identified 20 recent episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast where he referred to James Talarico or Ken Paxton, since Talarico's original appearance on the show. The result is a portrait of confusion or ignorance in one of the most powerful voices in politics.

Some members of the Hispanic community in Austin said they are afraid to go out on the street following a shooting by a federal agent in North Austin on Sunday afternoon. Read More👉 ebx.sh/u5GPog

Bluesky / Twitter

BREAKING: The nation's major television networks are declining to participate in White House pool duties moving forward in response to the Trump admin's decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House, Fox News D.C. bureau chief Bryan Boughton wrote in an email to TV pool subscribers.

"Texas is real." Top Dem pollster John Anzalone just did a striking survey with Trump's pollster that finds Talarico +4. On the pod, he explains why he thinks Texas really is gettable this time for Dems. He says the likely path to majority is TX AK ME NC. Listen: newrepublic.com/article/2156...

2026, the election cycle where republicans hide that theyre republicans while democrats promise to govern like republicans

Tech oligarchs are panicking over the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act because it threatens 20 years in prison for rogue developers. 1,971 letters have demanded Congress hold the line. Push us past 2,000: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

according to the article, it took hours after the personal intervention of the mayor for his family to even get basic information about him. that information included that he had been transferred to ICE custody hours after being shot. no amnesty