Kevin Sanchez
@captswing.bsky.social
Scrutineer/bloviator: #BadTakesSATX.
"Near-term warming could be anywhere from 10% more to 30% more than the current consensus." www.economist.com/science-and-... via @economist.com
The rate at which Earth is absorbing energy is alarming climate scientists
Reflections on a warming planet
economist.com
"Construction crews are on job sites in Dallas and Austin, working without the water break guarantee their cities once required and the state erased. Texas leads the nation in workplace fatalities, including those from heat exposure". www.texasobserver.org/texas-cities... via @texasobserver.org
The Hard Ceiling over Texas Cities’ Climate Plans
From the biggest cities to smaller towns, local officials wrote serious climate plans. One law at a time, state policy has narrowed the tools to carry them out.
texasobserver.org
"Republicans have been dreaming of overturning the New Deal ever since it was passed and returning America to an imagined 19th-century utopia with a federal government that barely exists." prospect.org/2026/07/16/h... via @ryanlcooper.com & @prospect.org #MakeAmericaGreatAgain
"According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, there have been 19 THC-related deaths in the last five years, which is astounding, since no THC deaths have ever been previously recorded in human history." www.lonestarleft.com/p/reefer-mad... via @lonestarleft.com #LegalizeIt
Reefer Madness Sweeps The Senate...Again
The GOP's war on weed, brought to you by the alcohol lobby.
lonestarleft.com
"The dustup puts the rural town about 20 miles west of Waco at the forefront of the debate over the giant warehouses of computers that have been derided as noisy and can consume vast amounts of energy and water." www.expressnews.com/business/art... via @brandonlingle.bsky.social & @expressnews.com
Data center debate lands in SpaceX's Central Texas stronghold
Residents cite water use and a closed-door data center deal in a recall push against the McGregor mayor.
expressnews.com
"Major corporations like Oracle, Amazon and Meta have been sucking up Texas’s scarce water and energy resources at the public expense, receiving more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year." www.dropsitenews.com/p/clayton-tu... via @davidgriscom.bsky.social & @dropsitenews.com
A Young Populist Heats Up the Texas Agricultural Commissioner Race
Data centers, Big Ag, and the New World screwworm take center stage for rural voters
dropsitenews.com
Public health works when you’ve got resources and expertise. NYC is showing us how to effectively manage a challenge like Legionnaires’ Disease. They’re crushing it in 5 domains. (If they weren’t, I would not be afraid to tell them.) Here’s how they’re doing it: open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
How New York is winning against Legionnaires' Disease
Fast testing, aggressive remediation, and transparent communication are keeping a potentially larger outbreak under control—and offering a model for public health done right.
open.substack.com
AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — A terrorist designation in Texas is fraying trust inside Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth the risk.
Muslim advocacy group fights for trust after Texas brands it a terrorist group
AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — A terrorist designation in Texas is fraying trust inside Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth the risk.
religionnews.com
"In 2019, a Fort Worth English teacher asked President Trump for help removing the 'illegals' from the school system. She was fired. Mike Morath said that her tweet was protected by the First Amendment". www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... via @texasmonthly.bsky.social #ViewpointDiscrimination
Hundreds of Texas Teachers Were Investigated for Posting About Charlie Kirk. Here’s What Happened Next.
In the wake of the right-wing activist’s assassination, the state education agency investigated 350 complaints against educators. Most have been dismissed, but some teachers have struggled to move on.
texasmonthly.com
"The nonprofit Public Citizen (@publiccitizen.bsky.social) said the change would allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to eliminate its public notice and participation processes". www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston... via @houstonchronicle.com #ParticipatoryDemocracy
Critics warn EPA proposal could weaken Texans' voice on air pollution permits
The proposal cuts federal requirements for public input in minor pollution permits like concrete batch plants and AI data centers, passing authority to the TCEQ
houstonchronicle.com
Austin is exploring becoming a "Book Safe Harbor," to help protect the freedom to read in their city. Is that something your city could explore?
Austin weighs new protections against book ban efforts
Austin's Library Commission pushes for new protections amid Texas book bans and as lawmakers tighten school library rules.
austincurrent.org
DSA (@demsocialists.bsky.social) "is the largest socialist organization in US history, with more than 100,000 members." www.reuters.com/world/us/who... via @reuters.com
Who are the Democratic Socialists of America?
The Democratic Socialists of America, a left-wing political group, is now playing an influential role in the U.S. Democratic Party.
reuters.com
Vehicle pollution "was responsible for more than 41,800 premature deaths and 23,100 new pediatric asthma cases across the US in 2024 alone. The US has more new pediatric asthma cases attributable to vehicle pollution each year than any other country." theicct.org/publication/... via @theicct.org
Health benefits of zero-emission transport through 2050 - International Council on Clean Transportation
This report quantifies the health impacts of road transport pollution under five scenarios — from current policies to a full global transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2045 — and finds that ambiti...
theicct.org
August will mark five years since it's been illegal for any Texas schoolteacher to "require an understanding of the 1619 Project," essentially banning the Pulitzer Prize-winning historical journalism from any coursework. So students won't hear clips like this in the classroom: x.com/audio_embed/....
"Sources told ABC News that there is a 40% flu vaccination rate among recruits at the San Antonio base since the mandate was lifted. Previously, the rate was nearly 100%." abcnews.com/Health/flu-o... #Vaccines
Flu outbreak among Air Force recruits at Joint Base San Antonio after Hegseth ends mandatory flu vaccine
The basic training facility for the Air Force in San Antonio, Texas, is experiencing a flu outbreak with at least 159 cases, two sources told ABC News.
abcnews.com
"In the same way that these animals are commingling in ways that they never have, so are the pathogens they're carrying. ... Around 2.85 billion individual animals from thousands of different species were imported to the US from about 2000 to 2022." youtu.be/VtDumOe3c-4 via @insideclimatenews.org
ICN Sunday Morning: Pandemic Roulette
YouTube video by Inside Climate News
youtu.be
"It's almost as if there's a political party that uses flatulent word-games to take advantage of people's ignorance of science and history to regress our society, who purposefully use the progress we've made against us". youtu.be/9QfDXbrVjyY via @codyjohnston.bsky.social & @somemorenews.bsky.social
The Supreme Court v. Voting Rights - SOME MORE NEWS
YouTube video by Some More News
youtu.be
Average monthly rent in the US has increased by 37% since 2019. www.stephensemler.com/p/nearly-1-i... via @stephensemler.bsky.social #TheRentIsTooDamnHigh
Nearly 1 in 4 US tenants fell behind on rent in 2025
Polygraph | Newsletter n°343 | 15 Jun 2026
stephensemler.com
Also: "40% of Facebook posts are estimated to be generated by bots. 44% of new music uploaded to music-streaming service Deezer is now AI-generated. And a report from Axios posits that AI generates 52% of all online articles". www.cnet.com/tech/service... via @cnet.com #DeadInternetTheory
Bots Now Outnumber Humans on the Internet. Here's What That Actually Means
AI agent traffic grew 7,851% in a single year. Now, for the first time, bots outnumber humans on the open web.
cnet.com
"Once we incorporate employer-sponsored health insurance, American workers earning the average wage pay just as much, if not more, in labor taxes as Nordic workers". www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2026/06/05/u...
For the Middle Class, US Labor Taxes Are Similar to Nordic Labor Taxes
To analyze across countries, you need to normalize the systems.
peoplespolicyproject.org
"At least 88 of the nation’s largest corporations paid zero federal corporate income tax in 2025 despite reporting a combined $105 billion in pretax income. ... The 88 ... spent nearly $852 million on political spending". www.citizen.org/article/the-... via @publiccitizen.bsky.social & @itep.org
The Current Price of Zero - Public Citizen
citizen.org
Pardoned J6 rioter Jake Lang was arrested on Tuesday for making terroristic threats and booked into Dallas County Jail. "The Hindus and the Muslims are teaming up to take over Texas. They are here to eradicate the Christians. They are here to drive us out of our homelands." youtu.be/NSHlKY63yiU
Texas Council Chaos After Anti-Hindu, Muslim Speech Over Frisco Temple And Mosque Proposals
YouTube video by India Today Global
youtu.be
“The midterm elections and the next legislative session offer Texans a clear opportunity to reshape both leadership and the public education system before the consequences become irreparable.” www.statesman.com/opinion/colu... via @statesman.com #Vouchers
Texas is entering a public school bust of its own making | Opinion
State leaders expanded charters and vouchers even as demographic trends pointed to declining enrollment and growing strain on public schools, David DeMatthews writes.
statesman.com
“An intentional choice to embrace ignorance”. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho... via @pbsnews.org #ClimateChange
Trump administration dismantles ambitious ocean monitoring program
Scientists across the country are expressing alarm as the Trump administration dismantles another tool for understanding how the planet is changing. More than 900 deep-sea ocean sensors will be pulled...
pbs.org
"The new standards, which SBOE approved in April, would require students to read more than a dozen passages directly from the Bible... In third grade, the proposal calls for Texas students to identify Abraham and Moses as historical figures". www.expressnews.com/politics/tex... via @expressnews.com
Texas curriculum rewrite adds Christian history, Bible readings to every grade
Experts say some of the lessons are at odds with the historical record or inflate the role of Christianity in major events.
expressnews.com
"House and Senate Republicans and their affiliated campaign arms unleashed over $110 million in ads on issues such as rejecting gender-affirming care for minors and banning transgender women from participating in women’s and girls’ sports". www.politico.com/news/2026/06... via @politico.com
Republicans run short on chances to limit trans rights before midterms
Some Republicans worry the party has squandered its chance to enact legislation targeting trans issues.
politico.com