Marilyn Burgess votes to give herself an $81K raise… then immediately announces she’s not running again. Cash the check, exit stage left. Harris County deserves better. At least she’s not seeking another office…

Midtown Houston isn’t “dead”—it’s been failed by poor leadership, unsafe streets & misplaced priorities. In my new Forward Times op-ed, I break down what went wrong & how we fix it: housing, safety & real investment in people. Local news matters.

“I will never get over how this is what the downtown of the 4th largest city in America looks like on a Sunday afternoon…” — KHOU’s Pat Calvin

The Murdoch family and other Trump loyalists are lining up to own TikTok. Elon has driven Twitter to hell. Mark Zuckerberg will bend over for whoever’s in power. Bari Weiss running CBS. Disney crumbles under the slightest pressure. MSNBC’s on life support.

The only reason Trump had any sway over Jimmy Kimmel or ABC was because of FCC regulation. Now take these new pay-to-play H1-B visas—suddenly he’s got leverage over tech companies, higher education, and anyone else tied to them.

Week two of Black pastors whacking evangelical white nationalism. I know that’s right.

In just one Saturday, Donald Trump managed to pack in a week’s worth of corruption and chaos. He ordered his Attorney General to go after political enemies. His border czar—literally caught on tape taking a $50K cash bribe—got a pass from DOJ.

“At Ninfas…” might be the funniest shit I’ll read all day.

Hulu has us between a rock and a hard place. Reasonable Doubt season 3 premiered this week right in the midst of this mass exodus from Disney. You know when it comes to canceling shows, especially Black ones, they never hesitate…

In case you missed it (totally possible with the firehose of headlines lately): Congress is once again playing chicken with a government shutdown. If they don’t pass a funding bill by September 30, the federal government will shut down…

“I’m against cancel culture, whether it’s from the left or the right. But this is the worst kind of cancel culture… the kind that comes from the top.” — @jamestalarico.bsky.social When government entities and executives decide who speaks, that’s not just censorship—that’s corporate control.

“Dead” is the big sister of “Get Up 10” #AmITheDrama

Cardi said WHAT about Kamala?! #AMITHEDRAMA

Nothing says “man of the people” like joking about weaponizing the federal government to cancel your critics. Totally normal, definitely nothing authoritarian about this at all.

That #defundDisney is about to go crazy…

“It is somewhat difficult to match these words with the manner in which Kirk is presently being memorialized in mainstream discourse.” Ta-Nehisi Coates is so very good at saying the right thing on the very platform that he will be most canceled on. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...

Erica Lee Carter isn’t running for Harris County Judge.

Watching #BeautyInBlack has me realizing that Tyler Perry and I have the same type.

I get that most people don’t follow City Hall drama that closely, but what’s happening under Houston Mayor John Whitmire is honestly kinda wild. It’s not just about “bike lanes”—he’s banning all kinds of basic public safety infrastructure.

Beto O’Rourke is doing all this to get up under Ken Paxton’s skin when he should be focused on Greg Abbott and running against him to be governor.

Thank you County Judge Lina Hidalgo for your phenomenal service to Harris County during some of our most trying times, from hurricanes, historic winter storms, to COVID… And for giving me my favorite reaction video:

Coachella releasing their lineup on a random Monday night in September is a recession indicator.

It's Hidalgover

In an exclusive to ABC 13’s Melanie Lawson, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announces that she will not seek reelection to a third term. Says she would consider another office in the future but not running for Congress this cycle.

Word on the streets is that Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s schedule, the one that used to be emailed out on a regular basis, is no longer public. What are you hiding, Stink?

John Whitmire is really reheating @sylvesterturner.bsky.social and Sheila Jackson Lee’s nachos by being in the Houston clubs every weekend. The only difference is… they weren’t trying to shut down the ones that refuse to “pay to play” to stay open.

Ted Cruz painting over this is in direct correlation to the evangelical whitewashing of the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk. In this essay, I will…

“The only minority destroying this country is the billionaire… we are all focused on the wrong 1%” — the future United States junior senator from the state of Texas, @jamestalarico.bsky.social

NAH—show the other corner. I just they’re calling him all kinds of “negro”es over there. #CaneloVSCrawford

I see why Donald Trump didn’t go to this… Baby, ICE would have cleared the arena OUT. #CaneloVSCrawford

You can tell that there weren’t any (Black or gay) creatives in the room that had primary say over any of this… #CaneloVSCrawford

Terrence J and Mario Lopez STAY with a job, okay?! #CaneloVSCrawford

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TERENCE CRAWFORD BEFORE WE STAN HIM FOR NEXT HOUR OR SO? #CaneloVSCrawford

I wrote a thing for the Forward Times that went live the other day. Shoutout to @cghollins.bsky.social and the Office of Houston City Controller for the great work y’all did in putting together the report that I was able to reference and pull from for this editorial.

HOUSTON — Heavy trash pickup in Houston is now three weeks behind schedule, according to an update made to the city’s Solid Waste Management Department website on Wednesday. www.khou.com/article/news...

If Democrats really wanted to make a statement, they would put forth an encompassing gun safety bill called the Charlie Kirk Memorial Gun Safety Act. Put it on the House floor and force Republicans to go on record voting against something with his name on it.

All Kash Patel had to do was be normal for five minutes. That’s it. Just stand there, nod, inform the American people, and not act like a total fucking weirdo while taking credit for something he had zero involvement in. What kind of Marvel movie Viking shit is this?

Very confused at all of these Black elected officials coming out to support Colin Allred… I understand supporting a Black candidate, but does he know that he’s Black this time around or did he learn in October of last year when he realized he needed our support?

John Whitmire (and ‘nem) ate this one little thing.

In the last few years, we’ve watched political violence go from rare and shocking to disturbingly routine: - A plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer - Pipe bombs planted at both party headquarters - The break in to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, and the brutal assault on her husband Paul

So gun control and safety is going to be his new legislative agenda, right?

Thoughts and prayers.

Closing remarks from @cdmenefee.bsky.social at last night’s #TX18 candidate forum hosted by the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Houston branch of the NAACP 🗳️

Quiet as it’s kept, Houston First is the real supervillain in Houston public policy. While we’re not wrong to point fingers at City Hall, developers, or even state leaders, the truth is this quasi-government, quasi-corporate machine has more influence than people realize.

WAIT—DR. HEAVENLY IS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS?!

James Talarico might just have a stronger shot in Texas than even Beto O’Rourke ever did. Why? Because he can speak a language that cuts through the noise—faith. In a state where religion is often weaponized to justify hate, Talarico flips the script.

Chris Brown only did ONE night at Minute Maid Park on a Monday night? Half the seats of NRG Stadium… on a week day… in the fall? Don’t y’all ever compare her to that little boy, his fists, or his front flips ever again.

I’m running for the U.S. Senate. Billionaires have taken over Texas and taken over America — but together, we can take power back for working people. youtube.com/shorts/IpO0S...

I want Monaleo to write me a verse.