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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 7h

Isn't Trump's Treasury Secretary openly gay? So the 5th guy in the succession line.

Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 14h

But the cattle and people are in different places. 84% of Texans live in urban areas. Plus, at this point, about 45% of the population was born in another state or outside the US, including many hard-right GOP pols. Nearly all of them move to the cities and wdn't know a steer from a stud.

worldpopulationreview.com

Most Urban States 2026

Discover population, economy, health, and more with the most comprehensive global statistics at your fingertips.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 16h

We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express that used to be the old county jail. It's 4 blocks from the Riverwalk, and the stretch between there and San Pedro Springs Park (2nd oldest park in America after the Boston Commons) is all very bohemian and filled w/ funky bars and shops. Was a cool, fun weekend.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 16h

We had a great trip: Our hotel was across the street from the AME installation, so we walked the creek north to the rewatering spot one morning and south to the end of the renovations the next, taking in a play at the San Pedro Playhouse at the creek's historic, (now-dried up) headwaters Sat night.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 16h

Cornyn was Trump's other possible choice, of course. He definitely picked Paxton over the less cr🎃zy option. I suspect it's just hard not to insult Ken Paxton if you've actually met him.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 16h

They did a really great job with it. See also: bsky.app/profile/grit...

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 16h

Nice, at what event did you learn about it? Kathy and I went down to visit it for her birthday and I did a coupla thread about the San Pedro Creek revival. bsky.app/profile/grit...

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 17h

My feeling toward local enviro groups parallels my view of the Democratic Party: I'm upset with them not because I oppose their ostensible, progressive agenda, but because it's not always clear they support one. NIMBYism has too-often supplanted science-based environmentalism in this town.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 17h

I've heard much more from the Save Our Springs people promoting Save Austin Now's proposed "audit" of city government -- Prop I, an expensive, taxpayer-funded PR strategy concocted by GOP consultants to bash blue-city spending -- than about dewatering Boggy Creek. For me, that's misplaced.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 17h

From an enviro perspective, I care more abt dewatering an ancient creek than paving an old strip mine for housing. Was the process insiderish and likely corrupt? Sure, but in ways that are no different than the mendacity and opacity around, say, our budget-busting police contract. Welcome to Austin.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

That's a fine summation of the guy's whole schtick -- coupla mildly funny Bud Light commecials back when they were trying to earn back Kid Rock fans, but otherwise, orbiting Joe Rogan is his whole career. More concerning: SNL has dress rehearsals, so producers and cast all knew abt it beforehand.

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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

This 👇

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854

Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…

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Alan Jackson @akjackson.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

The first episode of Law & Order a few days ago was really good. It was about trying to prosecute the CEO of a company whose AI had put out a hit on an employee trying to put guardrails on it. I thought it was really well done.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

So many families dealing with this rn, it becomes almost untenable and ppl sell just to be able to divvy up the money and be done w/ it, as my family did not long ago w/ some property in Oklahoma -- just too many disparate cousins to manage it w/o somebody taking on an almost superhuman task.

expressnews.com

She traced 95 heirs to her family’s East Texas land. Now she’s trying to save it

A new East Texas initiative is helping families protect inherited land, navigate complex ownership issues and find ways to keep their property in the family.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Hell, I don't blame anyone who values integrity for withholding a vote from him, trans, gay, straight or whichever of the 6 genders he used to believe in they happen to be. I'm voting for him, but holding my nose. If he'd announced these positions in February, Jazmine Crockett would be the nominee.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

These "agents" were in no meaningful way "acting on their own," and it's journalistic malpractice to say so. They are a computer program performing functions they're programmed to do, left intentionally unsupervised for convenience. If they're doing harm, whover launched them is 100% responsible.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I'm voting for Talarico in Texas, but him throwing trans kids under the bus -- to use my local example -- won't buy him one Republican vote. Tactically, it's obtuse. OTOH, it does reveal a great deal about his character -- if a pol's gonna sway w/ the wind, I'd rather know that up front.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

The ones doing it aren't trying to be strategic -- especially this cycle, when the play is likely strategically couterproductive. Instead, they are punching left bc that's who they are IRL.

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Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Democratic candidates pivoting to right wing positions in the general is one of the reasons Democratic voters don't trust the party.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Between 2022-2025, "Median net worth for Black families fell by 25%, while it increased for all other racial and ethnic groups. It fell by 55% for people without a high-school diploma, the largest percentage decline for this group in the survey’s history." www.wsj.com/economy/affl...

wsj.com

Affluent and Older Americans Got Much Richer in Postpandemic Years

A Federal Reserve study found overall median net worth rose 2% between 2022 and 2025.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Lone Star Zine Fest is happening both days this weekend at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar. This is a fun event, check it out and support local zine makers. www.lonestarzinefest.org

Ad copy for the Lone Star Zine fest, Oct 10 and 11, 12-6P, at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar, 6100 Airport Blvd., Austin

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Shannon Heffernan @shannonheffernan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Immigrant children and families are being kept in "blackbox" locations where relatives and lawyers can't find them. One mother said she was only granted two three-min phone calls and guards threatened to take her children if she told anyone where she was. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/10/08/i...

themarshallproject.org

ICE Is Detaining Children in Hotels Where Families and Lawyers Can’t Find Them

Families described constant surveillance, poor access to food and threats of separation if they told anyone where they were being kept.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it," said snuff-film producer Pete Hegseth

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Ds must stop pretending any of this is in good faith or that "moderate" Rs exist who hold such positions to whom they must pander. This fallacious, fear-based strategy drives Ds into a box canyon cycle after cycle. The only way to defeat the grift is to name it, call it out, and campaign against it.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

There's no fig leaf to cover up the bigotry behind Texas Republicans' anti-Muslim stance, they just began telling lies to demonize them -- similar to their strategy on immigrants generally, on trans folks, gay rights, DEI, etc. -- and there's no explanation for it except racism/nativism. Full stop.

expressnews.com

How Muslims became a political piñata for Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans

Mosques are growing as North Texas changes. So is the Republican political campaign portraying a small religious minority as a threat to the state.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Free speech at UT Austin under Greg Abbott and Co.. Worth mentioning in this context that the president of UT rn is not an academic but a Republican lawyer from Ken Paxton's shop. All of Texas' public universities rn are run by GOP political hacks w/ no academic bg

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Their site is the former HQ of the Texas Triangle, a statewide magazine which was indispensible in its moment and never really replaced. I knew and admired Kay Longcope back when it was going; never met her partner, but it shuttered not long after cancer took Kay. An impressive, important venture.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Review of forthcoming Cormac McCarthy biography offers a snapshot of the mind of an autodidact: "If he wanted to learn it, he read a book. Learn to sew? Had the book. Fix engines? Had the book. Build a gun barrel? He read a book, as his elegantly drafted plan, folded inside, reveals."

nytimes.com

Dispelling the Myth of Cormac McCarthy as Cowboy-Artist (Gift Article)

The first biography of the elusive novelist shows how little the lore ever told us about the man — or his art.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

PTI announced today is Barry Switzer's 89th b-day, which a) makes me feel old, b) reminds me of this amazing pic of him in a fur coat, and c) makes me think of the @espn.com 30 for 30 on the Wishbone offense that forever changed my opinion of him, for the better, and of Darrell Royal for the worse.

Barry Switzer in a fur coat on a cell phone with apparently a row of corpses of fallen foes all wrapped up in a black tarp along the concrete path he's standing on.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Even the "timeless" stuff can become tired. I recently saw a production in SA of The Seagull by Chekhov, which I've always admired, but seeing it again (performed well) made me think nearly every theme went stale in ways I'd have never anticipated. Art is about the moment in which it's created.

Program for The Seagull at the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio, held up before the stage pre-show, Aug. 2026.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

That's a crazy lego piece I've never seen, maybe depicting ice, glaciers, etc.? Must be a kit brick. I was quite into Lego as a kid till my Mom decided they were too much underfoot, then had a lovely 2nd stint w/ granddaughter #1. In 6-7 years, I expect a round 3 w/ granddaughter #2.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Honestly, this should have already happened. The city and Bexar County should use every tool at their disposal to stop this. I'd suggest a 3-year long road construction project in front of their driveway. Probably need to turn the water off till it's complete, just in case.

expressnews.com

San Antonio, Bexar County officials weigh suing to stop ICE detention center

Other cities, counties and states have filed lawsuits to stop similar facilities, arguing that the federal government didn’t follow environmental laws.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

In 1888, flow rates were estimated at 4,000 and 2,700 gpm, respectively.

Newsclip from May 17, 1888 Austin Statesman estimating flow rates at the "Lampassas Springs," i.e., the Hancock and Hanna Springs.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Another clip from the same year estimated the springs' flows even higher: at 2,000 and 1,700 gallons per minute, respectively.

Newsclip from Aug. 23, 1883 Austin American Statesman estimating flow rate for Hancock Spring and a nearby spring, describing an "immense bath house" constructed there.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Hancock Springs is a spring-fed swimming pool in Lampassas, and nearby Hanna Springs hosts a small sculpture garden. But I hadn't realized how much greater the flow rates for both were historically compared to now. Both were estimated to pump 1,000 gallons per minute in 1883.

Excerpt from a Jan. 3, 1883 Austin American Statesman article describing Hanna and Hancock Springs, estimated the flow of both at 1,000 gallons per minute and speculating on the healing qualities for a variety of ailments.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"it’s impossible to overstate the enormous weight the end of employer coverage would lift from the labor market, especially for small businesses" plus "relieve states of Medicaid spending, which accounts for a third of their budgets and could free up money for other purposes." (gift link)

expressnews.com

Universal public health insurance with private supplemental plans the answer

Americans need to embrace the concept of universal public health insurance with private supplemental plans, Bloomberg columnist Kathryn Anne Edwards writes.

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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 05/10/2026

treating voting like a privilege that can be lost instead of a right and duty of all citizens casts a bad light on the whole system

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

CBS is Bari Weiss' propaganda vehicle now, that's the LAST thing they'd say to him. And if any legacy reporter did, just out of some vestigial journalistic reflex, there's no way it'd air.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Back then (20+ years ago), the most alarming thing was scientists transporting vials of deadly bugs w/ them on flights, which they called the "VIP method" for "Vial in Pocket." While we were doing it, there was an incident w/ a TX Tech prof on a flight from Lubbock carrying IIRC bubonic plague.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

After 9/11, I was appointed to Texas' bioterrorism preparedness task force, led IIRC by a former US Army surgeon general, as an ACLUTX rep. We vetted a lot of that pretty closely; some scary stuff, but also many redundant precautions. Human stupidity that elides systems is the main risk. 1/2

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The letter you linked to, btw, impugns one Alexander Hogg, who is considered the "father" of Fort Worth public schools and was a long-time superintendent there. Those papers are a hoot! fortworthlibrary.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories...

fortworthlibrary.lyrasistechnology.org

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Not only is this stupid AF, it's another one of those incredibly unpopular things Trump did that 70% of the public opposed, so reminding every planeload of passengers about it is basically like an ongoing Dem ad campaign by United, though I'm sure it's intended as sycophancy.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This reply deserves an answer from the OP: It's the core of the frankly disingenuous frame he's proposed. There's a saying in Germany that, if there's a Nazi at the table and 10 other ppl siting w/ him, what you're looking at is a table w/ 11 Nazis. But enjoy lunch, I guess.

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Grits for Breakfast @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You'd prolly earn. And who knows, maybe a reporter's skills will translate directly to skip tracing?

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