Did the First American in Space Take an Extra Golf Ball to the Moon?
Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:47:00 +0000
Editor’s Note: The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball by Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis will be published on October 22 by Stoney Creek Publishing. This excerpt, which has been edited and condensed, is published with permission. The rural speed trap Texas town of Webster was no comfortable place in the 1960s for Carlos Villagomez, […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/book-excerpt-moon-golf-ball/
Suspension of disbelief
Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:26:41 +0000
I picked up my first fantasy book when I was twelve It was called day of the dragon and I had to willingly Avoid critical thinking to embrace the fact that dragons were not In fact, real So I keep that same suspension of disbelief to be able to survive The hostility, the insanity in […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/suspension-of-disbelief/
Texas Is Taking Back the State Highway 288 Tollway—at a Steep Price
Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:30:00 +0000
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is set to take back ownership of the State Highway 288 tollway, one of the state’s most expensive privately built toll roads, which connects Houston to its southern suburbs. This action will terminate a 52-year agreement, originally set to end in 2068, for the Blueridge Transportation Group (BTG) to […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-tollway-288-steep-price/
How Texas Diminished a Once-Rigorous Air Pollution Monitoring Team
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:10:22 +0000
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. When disaster affects the sprawling industrial complexes of Texas, the state’s environmental authority often posts pictures online of its white vans patrolling public streets, verifying […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-air-pollution-monitoring-tceq-team/
Reclaiming ‘Friendship’ Across Borders
Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:44:44 +0000
A friend will help you move; a best friend will help you move a body. This was the favorite quip of J, my best friend from youth, who died in a car accident in our last semester at the University of Texas at El Paso. Friendships tend to grow out of shared pleasure and […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/reclaiming-friendship-across-borders/
Generous Guests: Undocumented Immigrants Subsidize Our Healthcare
Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:45:00 +0000
Former President Donald Trump’s bumbling responses on healthcare in his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month earned well-deserved mockery. “Concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act has become an instant classic of what not to say on national television. Yet Trump does have a plan to reduce healthcare costs. It’s […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/undocumented-immigrants-subsidize-healthcare/
Greg Abbott’s Border ‘Theatrics’ Now Include Acting Like the State Department
Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:43:03 +0000
Governor Greg Abbott is, once again, using the border to test the bounds of his authority. Last month, Abbott designated Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization with roots in a Venezuelan prison, as a foreign terrorist organization. Normally, the U.S. State Department designates all Foreign Terrorist Organizations, using criteria established under the federal Immigration […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/border-abbott-terrorist-venezuela-immigration/
Can Democrats Keep the Texas House Anti-Voucher?
Wed, 02 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000
In the last presidential election cycle, four distant years ago, Texas Democrats pursued an ambitious campaign to take control of the state House. Bolstered by millions of dollars that flooded in from the national party apparatus, Dems targeted as many as 22 GOP-held seats across the Texas suburbs. The strategy was built upon Beto O’Rourke’s […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/democrats-texas-house-november-vouchers/
A Houston Storyteller Finds the Humor in Hard Knocks
Tue, 01 Oct 2024 12:42:00 +0000
Ali Siddiq sits on stage, mic in hand, in front of a theater full of people, looking at the ground. He starts repeating the same six numbers a few times: 679346. “This is a number I know better than my phone number; I know better than my social security number. … I remember the day […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/ali-siddiq-comedy-houston/
The Fairies Fiasco
Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:16:49 +0000
The post The Fairies Fiasco appeared first on The Texas Observer.