February 26, 2015

Trail cam turns Texas bobcats into Facebook stars

Eric Abercrombie, a program specialist at Fort Griffin historic site, was skeptical when some visitors at the dilapidated Texas army base reported bobcats inhabiting the gun powder storage hall. But he had a look for himself, and it was true.

Now he's captured heartwarming video of the little Texas cats as a mother bobcat shepherds her two kittens in the cold North Texas plains. It took a few stabs at camera placement to get more than fleeting images of the cats, but eventually, Abercrombie set the motion-activated recorders just right.

"I decided to turn one of the cameras a little more to the left and I just got lucky. It turned out to be their loafing area," he said. "It's just blown us away. We've been amazed with all the footage we've been able to get on these cameras."

The video shows a stoic mom perched proudly as scoundrel kittens tumble about. There's even footage of the mother nursing her kids around midnight. New videos are posted on the fort's Facebook page.

Read more and see more photos: http://www.mysanantonio.com/hunting-fishing/article/Trail-cam-turns-Texas-bobcats-into-Facebook-stars-6100920.php#photo-7574378

[font color=green]Pretty kitties at link![/font]

February 26, 2015

Getting More Sun Could Help Ward Off Diabetes

Spending more time in the sun could help prevent Type 2 diabetes.

A new study finds that people with lower levels of Vitamin D are more likely to have diabetes, a disease that occurs when blood sugar levels are too high for the body to manage.

And the easiest way to get Vitamin D is simply hanging out in the sun. The nutrient is usually formed underneath the skin in sunlight, but it's also in milk, fish and eggs.

The study's author said in a press release, "The average person may be able to reduce their risk by maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough outdoor activity."

Read more: http://www.caller.com/newsy/getting-more-sun-could-help-ward-off-diabetes

February 25, 2015

Democrat: House shorting anti-corruption unit?

The House’s top Democratic budget writer complained Wednesday that his chamber’s two-year state budget indirectly may reject an anti-corruption unit’s request for $6.6 million of state funds.

Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Sylvester Turner of Houston objected to House GOP leaders’ decision in their starting point budget to make funding of the Travis County district attorney’s Public Integrity Unit conditional on passage of a separate bill this session that would overhaul the unit.

The money was vetoed by then-Gov. Rick Perry two years ago, after District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s drug driving conviction and jailhouse tantrum. That led to last year’s criminal indictment of Perry, which is pending. The unit’s state money would resume flowing this September only if legislation is passed “to reform the system of investigating and prosecuting crimes related to state government, including insurance and tax fraud,” the House base budget says.

Turner acknowledged the unit has been a political hot potato for years.

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/democrat-house-shorting-anti-corruption-unit.html/

February 25, 2015

Donald Trump 'more serious' than ever about running for president

This time, Donald Trump says, he really means it.

The billionaire real-estate mogul — long amounting to a one-man circus sideshow in GOP presidential politics — said in an interview Wednesday that he is “more serious” than ever about pursuing a run for the White House in 2016.

In recent days, Trump said, he has hired staffers in key primary states, retained an election attorney and delayed signing on for another season as host of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” because of his political projects.

“Everybody feels I’m doing this just to have fun or because it’s good for the brand,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post. “Well, it’s not fun. I’m not doing this for enjoyment. I’m doing this because the country is in serious trouble.”

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150225-donald-trump-more-serious-than-ever-about-running-for-president.ece

February 25, 2015

Central Texas man selling tortilla he claims has Jesus' face on it

The Austin man who claims he saw the face of Jesus Christ on an almond tortilla in December is selling it on eBay, just in time for the Easter holiday.

No bids have been placed on the hipster version of a tortilla (seriously, almond?) as of Wednesday morning and it is unclear who in their right mind would buy a three-month old tortilla.

Andrew Key, the tortilla merchant, is selling the tortilla with a starting bid of $15, and someone who wants to buy it outright can do so for a whopping $10,000. But let's not forget: There's a shipping cost of $2.32.

Key claimed that a burn mark on one of the tortillas he received depicted the face of the religious figure with a full beard in December.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Tortilla-with-face-of-Jesus-Christ-now-for-sale-6101013.php#photo-7574743

Cross-posted in the Texas Group. Posted in the Religion Group in case any DUer wants to make a bid.

February 25, 2015

Central Texas man selling tortilla he claims has Jesus' face on it

The Austin man who claims he saw the face of Jesus Christ on an almond tortilla in December is selling it on eBay, just in time for the Easter holiday.

No bids have been placed on the hipster version of a tortilla (seriously, almond?) as of Wednesday morning and it is unclear who in their right mind would buy a three-month old tortilla.

Andrew Key, the tortilla merchant, is selling the tortilla with a starting bid of $15, and someone who wants to buy it outright can do so for a whopping $10,000. But let's not forget: There's a shipping cost of $2.32.

Key claimed that a burn mark on one of the tortillas he received depicted the face of the religious figure with a full beard in December.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Tortilla-with-face-of-Jesus-Christ-now-for-sale-6101013.php#photo-7574743

Cross-posted in the Religion Group.

February 25, 2015

Former homeless Baylor walkon ruled ineligible by NCAA

A once homeless walkon running back at Baylor has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA because he accepted living expenses from a friend. And his higher profile Bears teammates have taken to Twitter to voice their disapproval.

Silas Nacita, who grew up in California and once played for Cornell, posted on Twitter Wednesday that he can no longer play football because he allowed a “close family friend” to pay for his room and board. Before the friend stepped in, Nacita said, he’d been sleeping on floors and couches of other friends. He had academic scholarships to attend school, but no financial aid for other expenses.

Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw confirmed that Nacita no longer is with the team.

“Silas Nacita will not be a part of the football program moving forward due to rules violations that impact his eligibility. We appreciate his contributions to Baylor football and wish him well as he completes his studies.”

Read more: http://collegesports.blog.statesman.com/2015/02/25/former-homeless-baylor-walkon-ruled-ineligible-by-ncaa/

February 25, 2015

Legislator files complaint on gay-marriage judge

A Republican member of the Texas House on Wednesday asked the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate state District Judge David Wahlberg, whose order last week allowed an Austin same-sex couple to marry.

Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a tea party favorite and freshman legislator from Arlington, complained that Wahlberg failed to notify the attorney general’s office that the constitutionality of a Texas law was being challenged in his courtroom, as required by state statute.

“This judge deliberately violated statutory law, and this is unacceptable,” Tinderholt said in a statement. “Judge Wahlberg allowed his personal views to dictate his action and ignored state law to accomplish his desired outcome.”

Wahlberg, a Democrat, was an Austin criminal defense lawyer before he became a district judge in January 2013. He was out of state Wednesday and not available for comment, his office said.

Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/legislator-files-complaint-on-gay-marriage-judge/nkJdG/

February 25, 2015

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks Texans to be army to protect marriage

Ralph Barrera / Austin American-Statesman / AP Photo
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks during Faith and Family Day, which was sponsored by Texas Values and Texas Right to Life supporters, at the Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015. The event was held to celebrate the state's 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage.

AUSTIN (AP) — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick this week urged a gathering of religious and social conservatives to become an army of supporters to help him and other Christian politicians oppose abortion, protect marriage and defend the Constitution.

The Austin American-Statesman reports Patrick, a Republican, gave a speech at the Texas Faith and Family Day Forum at the Capitol that called people to action against what other speakers had called liberal attacks on traditional values. He said that, together, they could be leaders in education and job creation, but they also must be leaders for Christ.

Patrick's speech was followed by the symbolic cutting of two wedding cakes to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of a Texas constitutional amendment that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples. State Rep. Cecil Bell, a Republican from Magnolia, was asked to slice one of the cakes in recognition of his bill which would withhold the pay of county clerks and government employees who issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

"My family's been in Texas since 1852," Bell said after the forum. "What has always been normal for us, we're suddenly being told it's not normal, that those things that are our traditional values, somehow they are wrong."

Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-02-25/lt-gov-dan-patrick-asks-texans-be-army-protect-marriage#.VO5PSi7y1Z8

February 25, 2015

At the Capitol, a Last Stand Against Gay Marriage

Hellfire may be licking at Texans’ heels, but bitter cold forced the righteous inside today. For months, groups such as Texas Values and the Texas Eagle Forum had planned to convene for Texas Faith and Family Day and give a mighty rebuke to changing cultural norms on the south steps of the Capitol, a venue that can lend grandeur to even small rallies. Instead, they filled a little more than half of the 350-seat Capitol auditorium.

In Texas, the Christian right did quite well in the 2014 election, but, true to form, social conservatives feel more persecuted than ever. In one respect, their sky really is falling: The state ban on gay marriage looks ready to collapse. There was the one-off marriage of a Travis County couple last week, and there’s a widespread expectation that marriage equality is coming to Texas soon, thanks to either the 5th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.

But at the Capitol auditorium today, there was no talk about that elephant in the room. Perhaps that would have been too depressing for the crowd. Instead, like prisoners of war awaiting a dawn execution, event organizers talked about the past. The ringleader was Jonathan Saenz, the anti-gay marriage activist whose ex-wife left him for a woman.

Saenz, who has tirelessly fought against non-discrimination ordinances around the state and who is the most visible face of anti-gay-marriage activism, stood onstage next to two pink-and-white birthday cakes and a facsimile cardboard wedding cake marking the 10th anniversary of the approval—by roughly 13 percent of the state’s voters—of Texas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Might as well celebrate now, because the ban will likely be dead by the actual anniversary of its passage in November 2005.

Read more: http://www.texasobserver.org/at-the-capitol-a-last-stand-against-gay-marriage/