October 28, 2015

Clothing-Optional Gay Retreat To Open Near George W. Bush’s Ranch In Crawford, Texas

Plans for a clothing-optional retreat for gay and bisexual men are stirring controversy in ultraconservative Central Texas, less than 2 miles from President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford.

Rob Snowden and Mark Mattlage, a couple of 35 years, plan to open the retreat later this year on their farm in Prairie Chapel, not far from Waco.

The Homestead at 3218 will feature “a primitive campsite, outdoor pool, climate-controlled accommodation options and indoor/outdoor playground for gay/bisexual men,” according to the website. In addition to an exercise room, steam room and game room, the site invites people to “explore the dark play spaces in the tool shed or outside in the pig pen.”

“There’s nothing here that we’re doing I think that would be considered illegal,” Snowden told KWTX-TV. “There really is not place for gay and bisexual men to gather in a social setting. There’s just nothing around here.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2015/10/clothing-optional-gay/

[font color=330099]Maybe George will find a model for the next time he is painting in the shower?[/font]

October 28, 2015

A reminder for the debate tonight - #1

Threads concerning the Republican candidates, primaries and the debate belong in the General Discussion forum.

The General Discussion: Primaries forum is for discussion of the Democratic primaries and candidates.

Thank you in advance for assisting the forum hosts with their duties.

October 28, 2015

Gov. Abbott’s M.O. – Raid First, Ask Questions Later

The theatrically public “raids” on several Planned Parenthood clinics around Texas last Thursday, October 22nd, were an escalation in Gov. Greg Abbott’s misguided crusade to shut down the nonprofit healthcare provider that has operated in the state for over 75 years.

They were not only a repeat of a tactic that has worked for him once before, but part of a sordid and shameful nationwide strategy of letting lies, drama, and innuendo stand in for due process when it comes to effective, but politically charged, nonprofit organizations.

In 2010, Abbott’s Office of the Attorney General ordered needlessly hostile raids on two offices of a voter registration project, Houston Votes, being operated by the nonprofit Texans Together. Needlessly hostile because, had a subpoena merely been served, the organization would have immediately turned over records; instead, teams of agents swooped into offices, hauling off boxes of files and computers, intimidating staff members.

Voter registration is a legally permissible activity for nonprofits, but Abbott, acting on “tips” from the highly partisan Tea Party activists, King Street Patriots, went after the organization by assigning one of his least experienced attorneys to question senior staff from Houston Votes. One of those “tips” was the assertion that Houston Votes was worse then ACORN.

Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/31241/gov-abbotts-m-o-raid-first-ask-questions-later

October 28, 2015

Ag Commissioner Sid Miller: Hands Off My Meat

For anyone who’s paid any attention at all to the growing scientific consensus about processed and red meat (that eating a lot of it is probably very bad for you), the World Health Organization’s announcement Monday should have been no shocker.

But, then again, this is the country that proudly brought you Frankenfoods like a bacon-and-cheese sandwich with slabs of fried chicken substituted for bread. So naturally, people kinda freaked out.

And here in Texas, some got defensive. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller insists Texans shouldn’t worry about the WHO findings or feel the need to change their diets. “Lean red meat has long been, and will continue to be, an important part of a balanced diet,” he told the Texas Tribune. Consider it another shot fired in Texas' war on science (or another blow in Miller's war on the war on obesity).

The WHO on Monday announced that its panel of 22 international experts arrived at their conclusion — that processed meats, like sausage and bacon, cause cancer and that red meat probably does, too — after reviewing decades of science linking red meat and processed meats to cancer. The panel looked at everything from animal experiments to studies of the human diet and cell processes. Specifically, the WHO panel pointed to studies that indicate an additional 3.5 ounces of read meat daily can raise the risk of colorectal cancer by 17 percent. An additional 1.8 ounces of processed meat per day can raise that risk by 18 percent, according to those studies.

[font color=330099]Don't worry Sid, I had no intention of touching your meat![/font]

October 28, 2015

This Is Not a Drill. Ted Cruz Is Well Positioned in the GOP Presidential Race.

Any who predicted last spring that donors to Texas Senator Ted Cruz's then-nascent presidential campaign were setting their money on fire is probably feeling pretty foolish right about now. Yep, that was a boneheaded move right there. In the six-plus months between Cruz's presidential announcement at Liberty University and Wednesday night's third GOP presidential debate, his campaign has been both adeptly run and increasingly lucky. About 90 days out from the February 1 Iowa caucuses, Texas' junior senator is looking good. Well, not him so much, but his campaign.

This week, especially, has been fun for Cruz. Monday, he picked up the endorsement of Texas' most powerful elected official, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, joining forces with someone who supported one of Cruz's opponents during Cruz's 2012 Senate campaign.

"Senator Cruz is the prescription for what ails the Republican Party and this country," Patrick said. "This country has been in malaise for eight years. Our party has been asleep for more than eight years."

Patrick then called Cruz America's greatest conservative hope since Ronald Reagan, before heading with the senator to a gun range to shoot semiautomatic weapons.

Read more: http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/this-is-not-a-drill-ted-cruz-is-well-positioned-in-the-gop-presidential-race-7723315

October 28, 2015

State Medicaid costs called a ‘runaway train’

SANTA FE – Top-ranking Human Services Department officials told legislators Tuesday they will need nearly $1 billion next year for the state’s share of rapidly rising Medicaid costs – described by one key lawmaker as a “runaway train.”

Members of a key legislative panel reacted with alarm to the request for an additional $85.2 million, or 8.5 percent, to keep up with skyrocketing enrollment and a looming decrease in the federal matching rate for states like New Mexico that opted to expand their Medicaid programs.

Several legislators also point out that plummeting oil prices have made it unclear how much money they will have to spend in the coming year.

“This is not a pretty picture, but it’s something we’re going to have to deal with,” said Rep. Larry Larrañaga, R-Albuquerque, during Tuesday’s meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/666735/news/state-medicaid-costs-a-runaway-train.html

October 28, 2015

The strategy of Sen. Vitter to tie Edwards to Pres. Obama is the wrong idea in the governor's race

David Vitter’s got it all wrong, strategy-wise.

“Voting for John Bel Edwards is the same as voting for Barack Obama as governor of Louisiana,” Vitter said Saturday night.

Not really, given that Edwards is a social conservative far from Obama’s views on a number of issues, but it’s a forecast of the Vitter runoff campaign.

Having scraped into the runoff with 23 percent, a far cry from polls earlier in the year, Vitter banks on a tried-and-true theme because it has worked for him. He won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2010 despite a personal scandal by raising the cry against the president among conservative Louisiana voters. His protégé, Joel DiGrado, was mastermind of the 2014 Senate race in which Bill Cassidy thumped Obama — although technically it was Mary Landrieu on the ballot.

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/13809257-79/lanny-keller-the-strategy-of

October 28, 2015

Here are Edwards, Vitter's radically different ideas on how to improve Louisiana public schools

Democrat John Bel Edwards and Republican David Vitter have radically different ideas on how to improve Louisiana’s public schools.

Edwards is a longtime ally of state teachers unions, which have bitterly opposed most of the sweeping school changes enacted since 2012.

Vitter, a U.S. senator from Metairie, generally favors the business model for overhauling schools, with lots of options just like those enacted three years ago.

Edwards is a critic of school vouchers, long denounced by traditional public school groups.

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/news/education/13808150-148/on-public-schools-vitter-and

October 28, 2015

Dallas Police Seek Public’s Help In Solving String of Brutal Anti-Gay Attacks

Last week we told you about a string of violent attacks targeting club-goers in Dallas’ gay entertainment district.

On Monday, police released descriptions of suspects in nine robberies and aggravated assaults that have occurred in September and October in the city’s Oak Lawn gayborhood.

Only one of the incidents has been classified as a hate crime, but the suspects appear to be preying on gay bar patrons walking alone at night.

From NBCDFW.com:

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2015/10/dallas-police-seek-publics-help-solving-string-brutal-anti-gay-attacks-video/

October 28, 2015

Houston Equal Rights Supporters Raise Over $3 Million – Five Times More Than Anti-LGBT Activists

Groups supporting Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance have raised more than $3 million, almost five times as much as opponents, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

The pro-HERO haul includes hundreds of thousands each from the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU of Texas, the Gill Action Fund and the American Unity Fund, underscoring the perceived national significance of the Nov. 3 vote on LGBT protections in the nation's fourth-largest city.

However, the main PAC supporting the ordinance, Houston Unites, reported that more than 85 percent of its 1,500 donors were from Texas, more than two-thirds were from Houston, and that more than $100,000 was raised online from more than 1,000 donors.

By contrast, HERO opponents had raised a total of only about $660,000. One anti-HERO PAC's latest campaign finance report had not yet been posted online, but the estimate is based on a report from The Houston Chronicle.

Read more: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/houston_equal_rights_supporters_raise_3_5_million_swamping_opponents?recruiter_id=838695