November 8, 2013

Former hand surgeon Michael Brown dies after doctors remove life support in Florida hospital

Michael Brown, the former Houston hand surgeon, has died in a Miami hospital.

Physicians at the hospital declared Brown, 56, to be "brain dead" on Nov. 7 and on their own volition decided to end life support Friday morning, said David Brown, a Houston attorney representing Michael Brown's wife in the couple's divorce case.

"It's pretty outrageous to me that it would happen without notifying the family," David Brown said Friday.

The attorney said he understood that Michael Brown was taken off life support about 8:15 a.m. Friday, central time.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Michael-Brown-dies-after-doctors-remove-life-4967588.php?cmpid=hpfc .

[font color=green]Out of respect to the deceased, I will not post any of the embarrassing pictures taken within the past few months.[/font]

November 8, 2013

Comanche Peak nuclear power plant’s expansion put on hold

A planned expansion at the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Glen Rose has officially been put on hold.

Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings is suspending its application to build two new reactors at Comanche Peak after its partner on the project, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said it was focusing on getting its nuclear reactors in Japan back online.

The majority of Japan’s reactors were shutdown amid safety concerns following a 2011 tsunami that caused a radiation leak at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex 150 miles north of Tokyo.

“(Mitsubishi) has informed us that they will materially slow the development of their Design Control Document for their new reactor design by several years. In addition both [Mitsubishi] and Luminant understand the current economic reality of low Texas power prices driven in large part by the boom in natural gas,” read a statement from Luminant, the power generation subsidiary of Energy Future.

More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/commanche-peak-expansion-suspended.html/ .

November 8, 2013

Former DA and judge Ken Anderson to serve 10 days in jail

Former Williamson County district attorney Ken Anderson will serve 10 days in jail and give up his law license for hiding favorable evidence in the 1987 trial of Michael Morton, who served almost 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

During an afternoon hearing in Georgetown, District Judge Kelly Moore found Anderson in contempt of court for telling Morton’s trial judge, during a 1987 hearing, that he had no favorable evidence to give to Morton’s lawyers.

Anderson must turn himself in to the jail by Dec. 2.

The criminal charges of tampering with evidence were dropped as part of a comprehensive settlement on all issues facing Anderson.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-to-serve-10-days-in-jail/nbmsH/ .

[font color=green]So the former prosecutor gets to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with his family; meanwhile, the man that he falsely imprisoned spend 25 years behind bars. That seems like a sweetheart deal to me.[/font]

November 8, 2013

Anderson returns to court in Morton case

Former Williamson County prosecutor Ken Anderson faces jail time and the loss of his law license when he appears in court Friday afternoon to resolve criminal charges and a civil lawsuit arising from his late-1980s prosecution of Michael Morton.

The Georgetown hearing is a rare combination of three separate but related legal issues based on allegations that Anderson hid favorable evidence to secure Morton’s 1987 conviction for a murder he did not commit.

The legal matters include:

• An expected plea deal, said to include several days in jail, that would resolve a felony charge of tampering with evidence, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, and a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a government record.

• Anderson is expected to surrender his law license to settle a civil lawsuit, filed by the State Bar of Texas, accusing him of professional misconduct in the Morton case.

• Anderson also has been ordered to answer a contempt of court charge alleging that he lied during a 1987 pretrial hearing when he told Morton’s trial judge that he had no favorable evidence to provide to Morton. Special prosecutor Richard Roper filed a motion seeking a $500 fine and up to six months in jail on the charge.

Details of Anderson’s settlement agreements will be revealed at Friday’s hearing before District Judge Kelly Moore, several people with knowledge of the case said.

Anderson will be sitting in the defendant’s chair — an unusual vantage point for a man who was Williamson County’s tough-on-crime district attorney for 16 years before becoming a state district judge in 2002. Anderson resigned from the bench in September.

Morton also plans to be in the courtroom to witness the expected end to an unlikely legal drama.

Prosecutors are rarely prosecuted for allegations of on-the-job wrongdoing, but the case against Anderson was a creative effort pursued by Morton’s lawyers, John Raley of Houston along with Barry Scheck and Nina Morrison of the Innocence Project of New York.

Morton, who served almost 25 years in prison, was freed in October 2011 after DNA tests pointed to another man in the murder of Morton’s wife, Christine, who had been beaten to death in the bedroom of their southwestern Williamson County home.

Over the following weeks, Morton’s lawyers shifted attention to Anderson, complaining that their review of Anderson’s files revealed evidence that, under the law, should have been disclosed before Morton’s 1987 trial. Some of that disputed evidence fell apart upon closer scrutiny, but two items would dog Anderson:

• A typewritten transcript of a police interview with Christine Morton’s mother, Rita Kirkpatrick, who revealed that the Mortons’ 3-year-old son had witnessed the murder, described the attacker as a monster and said that Michael Morton was not home at the time.

• A police report about suspicious behavior by an unidentified driver of a green van who had parked and walked into the wooded area behind the Morton house on several occasions before the murder.

The information fit with the defense theory that Christine Morton had been murdered by a stranger who had probably entered the home from the backyard. Both of Morton’s trial lawyers testified under oath that Anderson had not disclosed the police interview or green van report.

Dusting off an obscure Texas law, Morton’s new lawyers pushed for a court of inquiry to examine Anderson’s handling of the Morton prosecution and determine if any state laws had been broken.

After about a year of delays, the court of inquiry convened last February for five days of testimony from witnesses who included Anderson, Morton, lawyers from both sides of the Morton trial and two original jurors.

Two months later, presiding Judge Louis Sturns delivered his decision, finding probable cause to believe that Anderson violated two anti-tampering laws by intentionally hiding the transcript and the green van report, and that he committed criminal contempt of court for lying to Morton’s trial judge. Sturns then signed an arrest warrant for Anderson, who later walked next door to the Williamson County Jail, had his mug shot taken and quickly left after signing a bond.

Sturns also apologized to Morton.

“You had a very difficult ordeal, and you’ve shown a spirit of forgiveness that I find very, very remarkable,” Sturns said. “Obviously, you were the victim of a miscarriage.”

The focus next shifted to the civil court side as the State Bar’s lawsuit against Anderson neared a Sept. 30 trial.

A week before that trial date, Anderson resigned as judge, providing the first indication that a settlement was in the works. Moore soon delayed the trial for six weeks to give time to complete negotiations.

That hearing begins 1:30 p.m. Friday in the same courthouse where Anderson served as a judge for more than a decade.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/anderson-returns-to-court-in-morton-case/nbktG/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium

[font color=green]Don't touch that dial! Check back tomorrow for the details of the court hearing.[/font]

November 7, 2013

Allen West on Challenging Marco Rubio: "God Will Set My Feet on the Right Path"

Will Marco Rubio see a surprise primary challenge in 2016 from Allen West? That's up to God.

West was a guest on conservative talker Larry O'Connor's radio show yesterday, and the host asked West if he would consider challenging Rubio. At first West was pretty blunt, offering a "no," but as the discussion went on, he seemed to leave the door open.

"That's a pretty heavy lift, because you're talking about running against a sitting senator, and then, of course, that creates that schism that the other side would love to see happen," West said according to The Huffington Post.

O'Conner pointed out, however, that the strategy would be similar to what Rubio originally did to Charlie Crist in 2010.

More at http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/06/allen_west_on_challenging_marc.php .

November 7, 2013

The Astrodome is Our Roman Colosseum and We're Going to Tear It Down

When the Roman Colosseum was built, it was a sports stadium, the first like it and a spectacle like nothing seen before. It was iconic beyond what took place inside, but the atrocities and spectacular events that did occur inside the building added to its mystique. It became a symbol for Rome, so much so that it is certainly the most iconic structure in the city to this day.

Remind you of anything? When the comparison to the Astrodome first grazes your cerebral cortex, the reaction might go something like, "Are you crazy? The Astrodome is NOTHING like the Colosseum." But then imagine it preserved 1,000 years from now and try again.

While the Astrodome was built as simply a sports stadium, it transcended that oversimplification because of the iconic nature of the building itself, nevermind the spectacles that took place inside. It was the first indoor stadium with turf invented specifically for its design. It became the standard by which other stadiums were measured and the turf is still widely used for more than just stadiums. Inside, it helped break down gender barriers, opened the country's eyes to the excitement of college basketball (and inadvertently created a multi-billion dollar business in the process) and, in retirement, provided shelter for thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors.

The Astrodome is the single most identifiable structure in the city of Houston by a wide margin. It is our Roman Colosseum.

More at http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/11/astrodome_our_coliseum.php .

November 7, 2013

Texas Republicans Voted to Slash Food Stamps while Receiving Millions in Farm Subsidies

Last week, Congress allowed a temporary expansion to the budget for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to expire, letting $5 billion dollars of cuts to the food stamp program go into effect. This came just weeks after House Republicans passed a farm bill that slashed the SNAP budget by $40 billion, letting 3.8 million Americans go hungry in 2014.

The entire Texas Republican delegation voted in favor of the House farm bill in September. They've been vocal supporters of the of the drastic cuts--Rep. Louie Gohmert even tried to eliminate SNAP entirely earlier this year. But what some of these Republican representatives have conveniently chosen to leave out is that while they voted to deny food aid to millions of Americans, their districts were receiving millions of dollars in farm subsidies.

Eight Texas Republican Congressmen who received more than $10 million in farm subsidies in 2012 who also voted to slash food stamps. They are listed in the table below.

More at Congressman-----District-----Farm Subsidies Received in 2012
Ralph Hall-----4th-----$16,427,340
Michael McCaul-----10th-----$15,731,975
Michael Conaway-----11th-----$69,445,342
Mac Thornberry-----13th-----$139,385,962
Randy Weber-----14th-----$11,172,555
Bill Flores-----17th-----$16,652,563
Randy Neugebauer-----19th-----$198,608,330
Blake Farenthold-----27th-----$55,625,652

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14335/texas-republicans-voted-to-slash-food-stamps-while-receiving-millions-in-farm-subsidies .

November 7, 2013

Is Ted Cruz a Biblically Prophesied "King" Ushering In Christian Fascism?

In a sermon at an Irving megarchurch last year, Ted Cruz's father spelled out a very interesting theory about who his son really is. He described Ted as one of the "kings" meant to control society, and then "bring the spoils of war to the priests," which will result in a "great transfer of wealth". Of course, this transfer is from the "wicked" to evangelical Christians. How does giving all your money to evangelical Christian priests sound to you?

This is the "Seven Mountains" mandate cherished by some of the most extreme extremist Christians. This is the prediction that "seven culture-shaping areas of influence over each society-media, government, education, economy, family, religion, and celebration (arts and entertainment)" are "the keys to taking a nation for the kingdom of God".

Ted Cruz appears to agree that he's a prophesied king. In July, dominionist pastors blessed and anointed Cruz as a "king" of the government "area of influence". He bowed his head in the prayer circle and accepted the anointment.

This is the same prophecy promoted by the lunatic David Barton, a Texas televangelist who recently claimed global warming is punishment from "God" -- and who is thinking about trying to join Ted Cruz in the Senate by challenging Sen. Cornyn in the GOP primary. Maybe Barton thinks he's a king too! Maybe they'll join together with Rand Paul, who's also been anointed as such, to form a "King Caucus" in the Senate.

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14337/is-ted-cruz-a-biblically-prophesied-king-ushering-in-christian-fascism .

November 7, 2013

First Baptist's Robert Jeffress Wants Supreme Court to Let Him Praise Jesus at City Hall

At the outset of the most recent meeting of the Dallas City Council, Councilman Sheffie Kadane stepped to the dais and delivered the following prayer:

No one raised any objection to the invocation's decidedly Christian slant, not Councilman Lee Kleinman, an active member of Temple Emanu-El and the editor of a book on Gelfite Fish for Dummies, and not anyone in the audience, which at that early hour was somewhere between sparse and nonexistent.

Perhaps it was because Kadane's request for wisdom and guidance was inoffensively anodyne; maybe it was that similar invocations are delivered before every council meeting, albeit usually by a visiting pastor rather than a sitting council member. (We've asked the mayor's office for any guidelines that are in place). The lack of objection, however, doesn't necessarily make Kadane's remarks constitutional.

That's what the Supreme Court is currently debating in Town of Greece v. Galloway, a case in which two women -- a Jew and an atheist -- sued a New York municipality claiming that its pre-meeting invocations, which, in the eight years before the legal challenge, were always delivered by Christians, amounted to an unconstitutional establishment of religion by the state.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/11/robert_jeffress_prayer_supreme.php .

November 7, 2013

Burleson Man Who Tried to Blow Up a Church Now Protesting Abortion at Local High Schools (Graphic)

Jered Ragon is the one on the far right with the goatee.

In its first few weeks of existence, the Burleson chapter of Abolish Human Abortion focused its energies on the time-honored technique of standing outside abortion clinics holding disturbingly graphic signs. The results, as founder Jered Ragon recounts in a series of YouTube dispatches, were less than encouraging. Their first outing, they inadvertently showed up a couple of hours before the clinic opened and ended up seeing only a handful of women enter it, and they seemed to be headed to some type of meeting, not going to abort a fetus.

Traffic was slightly better on the second outing, and they got words of support from several passersby, most notably a rodeo clown, a "doomsday-prepper guy" and a Mennonite, who also gave them apples. Encouraging, but as Ragon tells the camera, "We didn't have anyone turn away," which was what they had hoped.

So, Burleson AHA embarked on a new strategy. Dubbed Project Re-education, it involves standing on the public right-of-way just outside North Texas high schools with the same type of signs they held in front of the abortion clinics. So far, they've hit schools in Crowley, Burleson, Little Elm and Fort Worth.

The group explains its mission on its Facebook page:



More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/11/burleson_man_who_tried_to_blow.php .