February 11, 2015

Austin restaurant Iron Cactus selling $30,000 margarita for Valentine's Day

Photo By Iron Cactus Facebook

Millions of women will scan through restaurant menus this Valentine’s Day. If they’re dining at the Iron Cactus in Austin, their eyeballs may pop out of their sockets when they land on a margarita with a pretty $30,000 price tag.

You read that right. For $30,000, the taste buds of the recipient will taste Patron Platinum Tequila, Grand Marnier Centenaire, fresh squeezed lime juice and 100% organic agave Nectar in the Vision for Valentine's Margarita.

The ingredients alone are top-notch, but the spoiling continues.

A pair of 3.75-carat earrings with 260 D-color will be hanging from the lucky Valentine’s ears as she sips her pricey concoction. The “Vision Earrings” were crafted by renowned jewelry designer, Zoltan David, according to the restaurant’s website. “These are the sexiest earrings I’ve ever seen on a woman,” David said in the restaurant’s news release.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/food/bars-drinks/article/And-you-thought-you-were-spending-a-lot-on-6073372.php

February 11, 2015

University officials plead with lawmakers to fund millions in vets’ education mandate

AUSTIN—University officials urged key lawmakers Tuesday to start sharing the tab for a veterans’ tuition benefits program, known as the Hazlewood Act.

University of Texas System Chancellor Bill McRaven, a former Navy SEAL, told lawmakers that while he supports the exemption for veterans, the program is burdensome to colleges and non-qualifying students. At UT, for example, the exemption has cost the system more than $40 million, he said.

“Clearly we can’t absorb that kind of money,” McRaven said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. “When the state is not in a position to be able to provide us those funds then invariably it comes back and that tax goes on to other students that are coming in.”

Several state university presidents echoed his remarks.

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/university-officials-plead-with-lawmakers-to-fund-millions-in-vets-education-mandate.html/

February 11, 2015

UT-Austin investigating fraternity party's portrayal of Hispanics

AUSTIN — A University of Texas fraternity is under investigation following complaints about how Hispanics were portrayed during a weekend party, university officials said Tuesday.

At least nine complaints about the Phi Gamma Delta party's "culture, costumes and construction-worker scenario" were filed with the university's division of diversity and community engagement, said Erica Saenz, the office's associate vice president.

The Office of the Dean of Students also is investigating. The dean, Soncia Reagins-Lilly, said the office is looking into "whether or not it was freedom of speech, whether or not it was hate, whether or not it was a violation" of school rules. If a violation of school rules did occur, the fraternity could face sanctions, she said.

The university newspaper, the Daily Texan, reported that guests wore sombreros, ponchos, construction worker outfits and military gear. Texas Fiji was established in Texas in 1883, making it one of the oldest fraternities at the school. The party took place Saturday at the fraternity's house on the north end of campus.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20150210-ut-austin-investigating-fraternity-party-s-portrayal-of-hispanics.ece

February 10, 2015

Hubble Telescope spots a 'smile' in space

Photo By NASA/ESA
A galaxy cluster "smiles" at the Hubble Telescope.

The Hubble Telescope detected a "smiley face" out in the far reaches of the universe. The grinning figure actually shows an enormous galaxy cluster. SpaceTelescope.org explains:

"In the case of this 'happy face', the two eyes are very bright galaxies and the misleading smile lines are actually arcs caused by an effect known as strong gravitational lensing.

Galaxy clusters are the most massive structures in the Universe and exert such a powerful gravitational pull that they warp the spacetime around them and act as cosmic lenses which can magnify, distort and bend the light behind them."

The smirking smile and the contours of the face are caused by that warping and bending of light around the cluster. The effect is also known as "Einstein ring."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/space/article/Hubble-Telescope-spots-smile-in-space-6071765.php

February 10, 2015

Texas school choice advocates gaining ground

AUSTIN — After several years of setbacks, advocates of private school vouchers and tax credits are moving closer to their goal of having Texas join the growing number of states that allow students to attend private schools at state expense.

Previous attempts to expand tax-supported school choice to private schools have fallen short. They’ve drawn vigorous opposition from school districts and public education groups, as well as Democrats in the House and Senate.

But this year, a more conservative Legislature — particularly in the Senate — is giving school choice proponents a more sympathetic ear. That could clear the path for a limited, first-step program that lets thousands of lower-income students receive their education at a private or religious school.

Leading the way is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who made school choice for those students one of his major campaign themes during his successful run last year. He also pledged, just days after being sworn in, to put the weight of his new office behind that effort.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150209-texas-school-choice-advocates-gaining-ground.ece

February 10, 2015

Time to get my eyes checked...

I misread the title to one thread in LBN and thought it said "Report: Cats are vulnerable to wireless hacking."



In the past we used to call them hairballs.

February 10, 2015

DreamVision proposes $3.5 billion Fort Worth theme park

We got some answers during that epic press conference, but not the big ones: We still don’t know where DreamVision plans on building its $3.5 billion, 5,000-acre theme park — “one of the most dynamic, most amazing global destinations” in the world, per its CEO — and we still don’t know how the company is going to pay for it.

Mayor Betsy Price, who attended the press conference, said she does not know the location of the theme park. She said she has looked at a couple of possible sites.

“It would have a huge impact on the region,” Price said.

Well, it is supposed to open in 2020. So there’s time, right?

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/a-lot-of-questions-about-promised-3-5-billion-fort-worth-theme-park-but-not-many-answers.html/

February 10, 2015

More Texas Republicans reject developer’s donations after domestic abuse plea emerges

AUSTIN — More GOP organizations and politicians said Monday that they will follow state leaders in shedding tens of thousands of dollars in political donations from a Grand Prairie developer who has a conviction for domestic abuse.

Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said they would donate a combined $702,600 to shelters and domestic violence services after learning of the donor’s history from The Dallas Morning News.

Luxury home developer Marcus Hiles, a GOP mega-contributor both nationally and in the state, had been named to the Texas Inaugural Committee by Abbott to oversee swearing-in festivities. Patrick had named him to a tax advisory committee. Hiles resigned that post after The News’ inquiry.

Hiles had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge in Las Vegas in which police accused him of choking a woman into unconsciousness. His attorney contended that he never harmed the woman but entered the plea to avoid a costly and damaging trial.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20150209-more-texas-republicans-reject-developers-donations-after-domestic-abuse-plea-emerges.ece

February 10, 2015

Woman who shot Dallas police officer told 911 “I killed him because he was going to hit me again”

The woman who police say fatally shot Dallas police officer Larry Tuttle told 911 she killed him before he could hit her again.

Otto Machelle Thomas, 42, called 911 about 6:13 p.m. Saturday to report that she had just committed a murder at Tuttle’s apartment in the 9700 block of Forest Lane, said Assistant Chief Randy Blankenbaker

Blankenbaker said Thomas told 911, ”He was getting ready to hit me again and I just went off. I killed him because he was going to hit me again.”

Thomas told 911 that Tuttle was her boyfriend and that she needed someone to come get her 6-year-old daughter.

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/woman-who-shot-dallas-police-officer-told-911-i-killed-him-because-he-was-going-to-hit-me-again.html/

February 9, 2015

Garland Church Should Have Known Youth Ministers Were Child Sex Abusers, Suit Says

Even before Joshua and Jordan Earls were formally charged with making child pornography and child molestation in 2013, it should have been obvious to the Garland church where they worked that something was awry, one of their victims says.

Josh moved to Texas to work as a youth minister at the Arapaho Road Baptist Church in 2008, and his brother "Jordy" followed him the next year. They quickly fell into favor with the kids in the youth group and their parents. They paid particularly close attention to several teenage girls, attention that would eventually lead to criminal charges.

They gave the girls gifts and cards, one girl identified only as "Jane Doe 103" says in a lawsuit, and picked the girls up from school without telling their parents. The brothers also held an exclusive "book club" meeting for the girls at the apartment they shared together and offered to give Doe private guitar lessons. From there, the brothers moved into "inappropriate full-body hugs" and other sexual touching.

It escalated from there. Finally, two years ago now, the brothers were arrested. Joshua Earls pleaded guilty and last year was sentenced to 12 years in prison on child pornography charges for "sexting" with a 16-year-old girl. His brother also pleaded guilty on molestation and child pornography charges, and faces his sentencing on this month.

Read more: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/02/garland_arapaho_baptist_sex_abuse_lawsuit.php