March 23, 2015

Ted Cruz’s 2016 Campaign Has Already Made Two Blunders

It’s not news that the smirk known as Ted Cruz is running for president. It’s all over the news today – and will be for about a week – but we’ve all known everything for months. If you were really paying attention, you’ve known it since at least January 2013 when Cruz stepped into Kay Bailey Hutchison’s former Senate office.

What’s the news, that he’s getting in before the other candidates? You’ll hear a lot about how he’s been out of the spotlight while the early coverage flows to Jeb and Scott. In March 2013, ‘spotlight’ is a concept that exists only in the beltway and in the armchairs of political junkies nationwide. This is about getting money as fast as possible.

Hilariously, his campaign has already made two noticeable blunders. First, they failed to secure TedCruz.com, a site that greets visitors with a simple page saying ‘SUPPORT PRESIDENT OBAMA. IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW!’. That’ll be fun for the thousands checking in on the new presidential campaign Internet digs today.

The second is that Ted Cruz’s logo looks like a burning American flag. It also looks like a recolored Al Jazeera logo. Classy move all around, Team Cruz! It’s hard to blame them, of course. They’ve only known the man is going to run for president for years.

Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/29890/ted-cruz-2016-campaign-has-already-made-two-blunders

March 23, 2015

Despite Irving's Anti-Muslim Resolution, the Suburb's Immigrant Population Thrives

Less than a mile from D/FW Airport, brand-new street signs proclaim the names of two newly paved streets snaking through acres of raw dirt -- the corner of Al Razi and Al Hazen. In the distance, the first new house in the Al Hamra subdivision soars up off the ground in a forest of lumber roaring with saws and air compressors on a Friday morning.
You can tell already it's going to be a whopper. Ten feet higher and the chimneys will get clipped by the big planes coming in low to land at the airport.

I drove out here on a slate-gray Friday morning because John Danish, a longtime Irving City Council member and chairman of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board, told me this was what I needed to come see if I wanted to get what was going on in Irving. I had called him first thing that morning after reading a story in the paper about an ugly Irving council meeting the night before.

Danish was one of a four-vote minority on the City Council to vote against a resolution sponsored by the mayor of Irving to defend America against a takeover by Islamic Shariah law. Muslims residents crowded the council chamber to denounce the resolution as an expression of Islamophobia. The resolution endorsed a bill now in the Texas House that would make it illegal for Texas courts to use "foreign laws."

Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne, sponsor of the anti-Shariah resolution, has been on Fox News and talking to Glenn Beck lately about the danger of a Shariah takeover of America. She is one of a cadre of Texas politicians gleaning political points lately by figuratively setting fire to the homes of immigrants, all the while blinking her eyes vacantly and denying that she means anyone any harm.

Read more: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/03/despite_irvings_anti-muslim_immigrant_population_thrives.php

March 23, 2015

Bob Jones III apologizes for saying gays should be stoned

Three and a half decades after calling for homosexuals to be stoned, former Bob Jones University President Bob Jones III has apologized.

“I take personal ownership of this inflammatory rhetoric,” Jones said. “This reckless statement was made in the heat of a political controversy 35 years ago.”

The weekend apology came days after the conservative Christian school in South Carolina received a petition asking for an apology for a statement Jones made to the Associated Press in 1980 at the White House.

“I’m sure this will be greatly misquoted,” Jones said at the time. “But it would not be a bad idea to bring the swift justice today that was brought in Israel’s day against murder and rape and homosexuality. I guarantee it would solve the problem post-haste if homosexuals were stoned, if murderers were immediately killed as the Bible commands.”

Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2015/03/bob-jones-iii-apologizes-for-saying-gays-should-be-stoned/

March 23, 2015

Roy Moore, Texas Officials Lay Out Biblical Case Against Gay Marriage

Judges don’t typically speak publicly on issues like same-sex marriage.

But Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore says if he didn’t speak out against it, he’d consider himself guilty of treason.

At a rally against same-sex marriage on the south steps of the Texas Capitol on Monday, Moore invoked Col. William Barret Travis, the namesake of Travis County, an Alabama native who came to Texas “to draw a line in the sand at the Alamo.”

“He took a stand in the face of an enemy that was far more numerous,” Moore told a crowd of hundreds, including dozens of Republican state lawmakers. “But he knew that he had to make a statement for the people of Texas, and that he would give his life. I hope I don’t give my life, but I’m going to tell you this is a very serious matter. … If we fail to stand up today, we will dishonor the memory, not only of Col. Travis, but all those who’ve died in the history of this great state.”

Moore, famous for once being kicked out of office for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building, recently ordered probate judges not to issue licenses to same-sex couples despite a federal judge ruling the state’s marriage amendment unconstitutional. Reading from several court opinions, Moore told the crowd at theDefense of Texas Marriage Amendment Rally that federal judges don’t have authority over domestic policy related to family and marriage in the states.

Read more: http://www.texasobserver.org/roy-moore-texas-officials-lay-out-biblical-case-against-gay-marriage/

March 23, 2015

South Texas appeals court justice gets slap on wrist for DWI

A South Texas justice shown in a police dashcam video struggling through field sobriety tests during a July traffic stop may remain in her position, a state commission that oversees conduct by elected judges has ruled.

Nora Longoria, a 13th Court of Appeals justice, failed a field sobriety test in July after being pulled over for driving at 69 mph in a 55 mph zone. Hidalgo County Court at Law No. 8 Judge Rolando Cantu dismissed the case in November.

"Please let me go home. I live a couple of miles away ... you are going to ruin my life. I worked hard for 25 years to be where I am today," Longoria told arresting officers.

In a public admonishment Friday, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct condemned Longoria's attempt to use her position to get out of the ticket, but chose to give her the lowest punishment offered by the commission.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/crime/article/South-Texas-appeals-court-justice-gets-slap-on-6152561.php

March 23, 2015

Lawmakers Call for End to Toll Roads at Capitol Rally

With more than 50 supporters behind them cheering and waving signs that read “Toll Free Texas” and “Hands Off Our Freeways,” Republican lawmakers on Monday called for an end to the state’s heavy use of toll roads and toll lanes and returning Texas transportation to a pay-as-you-go system.

“These are people from all across the political spectrum, on all sides of the aisle, who are sick and tired of toll roads in Texas,” said state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who has authored bills to boost the Texas Department of Transportation's transportation budget and reduce its reliance on tolling.

Supporters at the rally in front of the Texas Capitol voiced support for a variety of bills filed that are aimed at either stopping new toll road projects or undoing the state’s current tolling system entirely. Anti-toll sentiment at the Capitol is high this session as state leaders have backed boosting TxDOT’s budget by billions of dollars.

“Texans cannot sustain the toll tax burden anymore,” said Terri Hall, the head of Texans for Toll-Free Highways, a lead organizer of the rally. “Something must change and fast.”

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/23/republicans-call-end-toll-roads-capital-rally/

March 23, 2015

Daughters of the Republic of Texas Sue Land Office over Alamo library

It turns out the Battle of the Alamo — or rather the Battle of the Alamo's library — is just getting started.

Earlier this month, Texas General Land Commissioner George P. Bush fired The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, longtime managers of the Alamo, effective July 10. In a letter to the group, Bush cited 10 contract violations and said the state would be moving in a new direction. Now, the group is suing the general land office and Bush, claiming they are wrongfully trying to claim the DRT's library.

The lawsuit, filed in Bexar County on Monday, alleges that shortly after Bush decided to terminate the DRT's management, the land office told the organization of plans to "transition" the group's library collection to the state. The suit says this is an "unconstitutional taking" of private property.

The land office declined to comment on the suit.

The lawsuit also says that the land office ordered the library, which is located within the Alamo complex, to be closed on the weekends except for one Saturday a month. Then, the DRT says it was warned "the San Antonio Police Department would begin making 'special patrols' around the DRT Library premises."

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/23/daughters-republic-texas-sues-land-office/

March 23, 2015

Texas Capitol crowd cheers opponents of gay marriage

Several hundred opponents of gay marriage rallied at the Texas Capitol on Monday, cheering speakers including Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who said federal courts do not have the authority to redefine marriage as established by God in the biblical book of Genesis.

Moore acknowledged that judges do not typically speak out on political issues.

“But if I should hold back my opinions at such a time as this, I would consider myself guilty of treason toward my country — and an act of disloyalty to the majesty of heaven,” he said to enthusiastic applause from an estimated 250 to 300 people.

While the rally was taking place on the south steps of the Capitol, supporters of gay rights, including the right to marry, were entering the Capitol for Equality Texas’ family advocacy day.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/capitol-crowd-cheers-opponents-of-gay-marriage/nkc4F/

[font color=green]The Right is pulling out the "states rights" argument again.[/font]

March 23, 2015

Two University of Texas students win election after running as a joke

AUSTIN, Texas — Two students have been elected as president and vice president of the school’s Student Government after running as a joke.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that Rohit Mandalapu and Xavier Rotnofsky, demanded a Chili’s restaurant on campus, a penthouse at the top of the UT Tower and dressing Student Government officials in cellophane to promote transparency.

Every year, a handful of students run to mock the democracy of Student Government, but they usually do not get very many votes. The newly elected officials only received 27 percent of the votes during the general election, but they boosted their platform for the runoff election by using the dating apps Tinder and Grindr to spread their campaign message. Their campaign also trended on the social media app Yik Yak, an anonymous message board of sorts that allows people to share messages.

According to outgoing student body president Kori Rady, the two new student government officials have broken the mold by creating a platform that balances satire and real issues.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20150323-2-texas-students-win-election-after-running-as-a-joke.ece

March 23, 2015

17-year-old arrested for threatening to kill Dallas Molina High students, blow up graduation

A 17-year-old student at Dallas ISD’s Moisés E. Molina High School was arrested Friday night and charged with making a terroristic threat.

School officials were notified Monday that 17-year-old Jose Gonzalez posted expletive-filled threats to Instagram in which he said he was going to kill gay students and blow up school graduation. Dallas County jail records show he was booked in Friday night and released around 3:30 Saturday morning after posting $2,500 bond.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Gonzalez posted two threats. In one he wrote, in part, that “I will kill every dyke after I’m done shooting up Moises Molina high school.” In another he referred to May 31 and wrote, “Get everything ready for the Big Bang.” The affidavit also notes that there was “an additional comment warning others not to go to the high school graduation ceremony.”

The warrant says a student at the school confronted Gonzalez about the statements “to verify that he was being sincere in his threats.” Says the affidavit, “The accused confirmed to the student that he was sincere and that he was intending to place IED’s around the site of the school’s graduation.”

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/17-year-old-arrested-for-threatening-to-kill-molina-high-students-blow-up-graduation.html/