William Pate

Introduction Since the beginning of this decade, I’ve lived through a winter storm that caused cascading infrastructure failures in Austin, Texas, and a pandemic that affected the entire world. Now, I’m getting to experience a water crisis in…

In late-2019, I submitted an open records request to the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDoT) seeking an explanation for why they halted highway cleanups in the Austin area. I requested documents relating to the decision to discover why — of…

As expected, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court yesterday agreed with indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton that “lack of immunity to COVID-19 is not itself a ‘physical condition’ that renders a voter eligible to vote by mail” under Texas law.…

David Golumbia has written an interesting essay on the use of language by fascists. I'm going to write a little about it because I promised myself I would spend 15 minutes writing every day. I have plenty of other things to be doing — and I usually…

And Many Will Die Largely Unnoticed Email sent to my employer’s clients and other email subscribers on February 19, 2020. / William Pate I generally abstain from offering serious predictions outside jokingly among family and friends. But I do feel…

is a good, easy and quick read on a “radical” program for a Green New Deal (as opposed to the to-be-expected milquetoast alternatives offered and sure-to-be-offered by the likes of free marketers, Republicans, neoliberals and “centrist” Democrats).…

Support all studentsRe: “More school choice is rallying cry; Some lawmakers agree with crowd at Capitol, but others don’t,” Metro, Jan. 25:As a half of a childless couple, I was surprised by Kathryn Dormady’s argument she should not have to pay taxes…

How to show native Americans respectMatthew J. Miller's Aug. 16 Opinion piece, "Indian mascots and common courtesy," on the right of native Americans to decide whether or not the use of native American mascots by college sports teams is…