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TexasTowelie's JournalSutherland Springs victims' lawyer calls government offer 'inhumane, shocking'
In his closing arguments, Attorney Jamal Alsaffar said the $31 million proposed by the federal government told him that it was “never interested in doing the right thing.”Four years ago, a man kicked out of the Air Force perpetrated one of the deadliest shootings in Texas history.
Former Airman Devin Patrick Kelley fired hundreds of rounds into the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs — a small town 40 minutes east of San Antonio. Twenty-six people were killed and nearly two dozen were injured.
The government was found liable this summer for mistakes it made that could have prevented the shooter from purchasing the guns he used.
Now, a federal judge will decide what is owed to survivors.
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Presumably, numbers closer together would make his job of putting a dollar figure on the horrific tragedy easier. But the estimates were miles apart, with the government saying it owed $31 million and the victims seeking more than $419 million for the events of November 5, 2017.
Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/criminal-justice/2021/11/30/414358/sutherland-springs-victims-lawyer-calls-government-offer-inhumane-shocking/
A growing number of Texas Republicans want a fourth special session to pass COVID-19 vaccine mandate
A growing number of Texas Republicans want a fourth special session to pass COVID-19 vaccine mandate banby Cassandra Pollock, Texas Tribune
A growing number of Texas Republicans are pushing for lawmakers to return to the state Capitol for a fourth overtime round of legislating to pass laws banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
As those calls continue to build, it remains unclear whether Gov. Greg Abbott — the only official with the power to convene special sessions — will order state lawmakers back to Austin and what issues he would include on the agenda.
Lawmakers already met for the biennial regular session that ended in May before convening for three special sessions over the summer and into this fall to tackle redistricting along with a number of GOP priorities, including a law that further tightens the state’s election rules.
Abbott last week declined to say whether he intends to call another special session, but he left the door open, reminding reporters at a news conference that one “can be called anytime.” On Monday, an Abbott spokesperson, contacted for comment, referred to a previous statement from the governor’s office that said “there is no need for another special session at this time.”
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/30/coronavirus-texas-legislature-vaccine-mandate-ban/
Dell family foundation gives $38 million to 3 organizations to end homelessness
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is giving $38 million to three local nonprofit organizations that provide housing for people experiencing homelessness in Austin.
Mobile Loaves & Fishes' capital campaign will get $36.6 million to go toward the building of the third and fourth phases of its Community First Village program, which houses people who have experienced homelessness in a community of microhouses, manufactured homes and RVs.
The two phases will add 1,400 homes. Half will be in phase three on 51 acres next to the existing 51 acres with 500 homes on Hog Eye Road in Northeast Austin. The other half will be in the fourth phase, a 76-acre space on Burleson Road between U.S. 183 and McKinney Falls Parkway in Southeast Austin.
The two phases are a $150 million project, which already has raised $40.9 million, including $35 million from Travis County. The Dell family foundation funds will be matched $1 for every $2 raised from the community. If all the money is raised to meet the $36.6 million match, the project will have the needed $150 million.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2021/11/30/dell-family-foundation-gives-38-million-3-austin-organizations/8769054002/
Even on U.S. Campuses, China Cracks Down on Students Who Speak Out
On the bucolic campus of Purdue University in Indiana, deep in America’s heartland and 7,000 miles from his home in China, Zhihao Kong thought he could finally express himself.
In a rush of adrenaline last year, the graduate student posted an open letter on a dissident website praising the heroism of the students killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
The blowback, he said, was fast and frightening. His parents called from China, crying. Officers of the Ministry of State Security, the feared civilian spy agency, had warned them about his activism in the United States.
“They told us to make you stop or we are all in trouble,” his parents said.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/even-on-us-campuses-china-cracks-down-on-students-who-speak-out
Joe Scarborough Refutes Lauren Boebert Claim She's a 'Strong Christian Woman'
Joe Scarborough jumped into the mess of political animus brewing between Representatives Ilhan Omar and Lauren Boebert Monday morning, and came out the other side being less than impressed with Boebert’s insistence that she is a “strong Christian woman.”
At issue is Islamaphobic lies said by Boebert, and a phone call between the two in which Omar sought a public apology from her House colleague. The call did not go well and ended with Omar ending it abruptly, or hanging up, which led to two separate accounts.
Omar released a public statement in which she “graciously accepted a call from Rep. Lauren Boebert in the hope of receiving a direct apology for falsely claiming she met me in an elevator, suggesting I was a terrorist, and for a history of anti-Muslim hate.” But because she allegedly “doubled down,” Omar “decided to end the unproductive call.”
Boebert released a video describing the call that opened with a self-description as a “Strong Christian Woman,” and that she never wanted anything she says “to offend someone’s religion,” and told as much to Omar. “She said that she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough,” Boebert claimed, before claiming Omar hung up on her and complaining of “cancel culture.”
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/joe-scarborough-refutes-lauren-boebert-claim-shes-a-strong-christian-woman/
Oklahoma City Sports Radio Host Terminated After Racist Comments from 2016 Off-Air Conversation Get
Oklahoma City Sports Radio Host Terminated After Racist Comments from 2016 Off-Air Conversation Get LeakedLongtime sports radio host Sam Mayes is out at Tyler Media’s 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma City after an off-air conversation from 2016 containing racist comments was recently leaked.
During a commercial break, Mayes discussed Native Americans and the push for Washington DC’s NFL franchise to rebrand from their derogatory moniker. The 2016 recording features Mayes and Tyler Media promotions director Cara Rice, who also hosts mornings on a sister station.
https://twitter.com/brettachapman/status/1464663606096801802
“What’s the excuse for the natives that they haven’t been fighting to get this thing changed forever?” Mayes asks in the recording.
“They’ve been too drunk to organize,” Rice answered.
Mayes responded with “hashtag Lysol,” to which Rice said “hashtag gold spray paint out of the trash,” as both hosts made references to huffing.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/sports/oklahoma-city-sports-radio-host-terminated-after-racist-comments-from-2016-off-air-conversation-get-leaked/
Lara Logan Says 'People' Tell Her That Fauci Is Just Like Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele
Fox Nation host Lara Logan Went There during an appearance on Fox News’s Prime Time on Monday night and compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Or at least, that’s what people are telling her, so she says.
Logan said the coverage of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been overhyped and claimed that death rates are “comparable” to those of seasonal flu. She then said that “people all across the world” are saying the nation’s leading infectious disease expert is reminiscent of Mengele, who performed horrific and fatal experiments on concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust.
The Omicron variant has been most abundantly documented in southern Africa. There have been no deaths linked to it so far, but not much is known about the variant and experts have urged caution. That includes Fauci, who suggested it’s possible Omicron may “evade” certain vaccine antibodies.
“What’s your take on where we are and where we’re going?” asked guest host Pete Hegseth.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/lara-logan-says-people-tell-her-fauci-is-like-mengele/
Here's what we know about the plan to fix Eleanor Slater Hospital
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island is moving toward the establishment of a standalone psychiatric hospital on the campus of the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital.
Announced Tuesday, the "relicensing" decision is a key part of Gov. Dan McKee's effort to chart a new, more financially stable direction for the "last resort" hospital that has been at the vortex of a firestorm the last two years.
Spread across two campuses in Cranston and Burrillville, the hospital is home to nearly 200 patients with severe medical and psychiatric disorders who have been there an average of 12½ years. It is not yet clear what direct effect, if any, the decision to relicense the 52-bed Benton building on the Cranston campus as a standalone psychiatric hospital will have on the patients who were sent there by state judges for care and treatment, instead of to prison.
But a statement issued by the McKee administration said:
"Benton will continue to operate as a secure facility, serving patients who are involved in the criminal justice system, while Eleanor Slater will continue to serve patients with longer-term medical and psychiatric conditions."
Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/23/eleanor-slater-hospital-psychiatric-wing-dhddh-ri-may-spin-off/8733433002/
A handmade blanket by Lizzy Dargie offers no warmth, no comfort
What do you think of when you imagine a hand-made blanket? Probably something soft and warm for a chilly winter night. Artscape producer James Baumgartner talked with Lizzy Dargie, a Providence artist who has created a blanket that is none of those things. Instead, it’s a metaphor for life in the pandemic.
One granny square from the blanket
PHOTO BY LIZZY DARGIE
JAMES BAUMGARTNER: Instead of yarn, Lizzy Dargie crocheted her blanket out of 28 gauge steel wire, a little thinner than a spaghetti noodle. She used a popular crochet pattern called a granny square. The squares are about 6 inches on a side, almost floral in design and they’re stitched together with more wire making a blanket that’s about 6 feet long. It has the shape and form of a blanket, but it’s unsettling to see something that should be warm and comfortable but instead is metallic, and cold, and sharp. The wire is stiff, but the blanket is flexible. You could lay it on a twin bed, or you can fold it up and drape it over a couch like an afghan. Lizzy told me that the idea for the wire blanket came to her in September 2020, six months into the pandemic.
LIZZY DARGIE: That was quite a culminating period as people were figuring out how kids were going back to school, if they were going back to school, or not. So much remote versus in-person talk. It felt like a full summer of not normal life and not getting to experience all the normal things and gatherings. I think, also the looming fear of the winter. People trying to predict what was going to happen and what life was gonna be like, and feeling that looming, like, being able to be outside is going to go away and kind of feeling that and so I think it was, it was really a culmination of all of those things that kind of led to that spark, right at that time, at the beginning of September.
JAMES: And as it gets cold, you're gonna need a blanket, right?
LIZZY: Yes, yeah. And though this one wouldn't help you very much.
Read more: https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/a-handmade-blanket-by-lizzy-dargie-offers-no-warmth-no-comfort
(Rhode Island Public Radio)
A former Providence public school principal was caught working in a Washington, D.C. school at the
A former Providence public school principal was caught working in a Washington, D.C. school at the same timePROVIDENCE — A former Providence school principal was caught working in two different schools — in two different states — at once, clocking in to his job in Providence in person before logging in to a Washington, D.C., school virtually.
Michael Redmond, who was hired as E-Cubed Academy’s new principal in July 2020, admitted to continuing to work virtually as the assistant principal at the Stephen E. Kramer Middle School in Washington, D.C., for 17 weeks after he started working full-time for Providence Public Schools.
According to a violation notice issued by the District of Columbia’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability earlier this month, Redmond admitted to working on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. at Providence Public Schools while also working weekdays from 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. for D.C. Public Schools.
Redmond, who resigned from D.C. Public Schools on Nov. 30, 2020, earned approximately $41,000 in District government wages during those 17 weeks — an annual salary of $125,434 — on top of the $120,720 annual salary he was drawing as the principal of E-Cubed Academy.
Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/29/metro/former-providence-public-school-principal-was-caught-working-washington-dc-school-same-time/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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