Wanna know how scared Ted Cruz is?

“Searching for new wedge issue, Cruz says O’Rourke will ban barbecue” (Austin American-Statesman headline).

That's how scared Ted Cruz is.

Official campaign site for Beto O'Rourke, the 2018 Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas: Beto for Texas.

Beto v. Ted: Anglo with Mexican name to challenge Cuban-American with Anglo name

Former punk rocker and moderate Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso will announce on Friday that he’ll challenge Senator from Hell Ted Cruz in 2018, according to the Houston Chronicle. Democratic establishment favorite Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio is among other Texas Democrats mulling a run (if you're keeping score at home, Castro was 123rd in the liberal rankings in 2013; O'Rourke ranked 54th).

Zooey and Andria Green, who are seven and eight respectively, only look innocent. With their baby faces and cunning, they managed to lure patrons to their illicit enterprise: a lemonade stand outside their home in Overton, Texas.

The girls were in business for about an hour in June, selling popcorn and lemonade to raise money for a Father’s Day gift, before local police shut the operation down. Not only were they hawking without a $150 “peddler’s permit,” but also the state requires a formal kitchen inspection and a permit to sell anything that might spoil if stored at the wrong temperature.

As authorities are meant “to act to prevent an immediate and serious threat to human life or health,” the officers understandably had to move swiftly. -- The Economist

Is lemonade legal? Testing the limits of silliness in east Texas (The Economist)

Eye on Dallas

Politics: One legislator, one vote?

Here's a fun video of the Texas ledge in action. The issue of proxy voting is more complex and probably less sinister than this breathless local CBS "expose" makes it sound, of course, but it's fun to watch nonetheless.

Although, it does raise a question: how many representatives would need to be present to hold a vote of the full body?

One?