Zimmerman acquittal spurs Paul Quinn scholarship (historically black college)

As a not-guilty verdict was read in the George Zimmerman trial in a Florida courtroom last month, Tonya Veasey was in Washington, D.C., exchanging text messages with Paul Quinn College president Michael Sorrell.

“We were texting back and forth, but then my phone died,” Veasey said.

The shared disappointment that Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin led Veasey and Sorrell to establish the OCG PR Scholarship for Social Justice at the predominantly black South Dallas college.

“We literally kind of planned this over a few hours” after hearing the verdict, said Veasey, a Paul Quinn graduate and founder of OCG, a Fort Worth-based public relations firm.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/best-southwest/headlines/20130807-zimmerman-acquittal-spurs-paul-quinn-scholarship.ece .

Threat made to downtown for next three days (Austin, TX)

Source: Austin American-Statesman

Austin police is monitoring a “low credibility” threat to the downtown area slated for Thursday, Friday and Satruday.

Police did not say who made the threat or what the threat was, but said they’ve relayed the information to regional and federal authorities as is typical with threats of this nature.

“APD will continue to monitor the situation and have in place an appropriate response plan if necessary,” the department said in a statement.


Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/threat-made-to-downtown-for-next-three-days/nZHgK/

Austin: Threat made to downtown for next three days

Austin police is monitoring a “low credibility” threat to the downtown area slated for Thursday, Friday and Satruday.

Police did not say who made the threat or what the threat was, but said they’ve relayed the information to regional and federal authorities as is typical with threats of this nature.

“APD will continue to monitor the situation and have in place an appropriate response plan if necessary,” the department said in a statement.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/threat-made-to-downtown-for-next-three-days/nZHgK/

[font color=green]Text as it appears in the AAS including misspelling and grammatical errors.[/font]

You Really Shouldn't Shop There: The Businesses That Told Perry to Veto Equal Pay

While we shouldn't overlook the fact that Rick Perry's own personal judgement is completely shortsighted on his own, due to his ability to consistently overlook the realities that he and his party have forced upon women in this state, we now have additional entities to hold accountable for the failure of the Texas Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Unsurprisingly the Texas Retailers Association and National Federation of Independent Businesses lobbied Perry specifically to veto the bipartisan legislation. However, several members of the organization made their own personal asks including Macy's, Kroger's, Houston grocery company Gerland Corp., Brookshire Grocery Company, and Market Basket.

Along with the GOP, these businesses think that treating your employees equally and paying them equally is "unnecessary." Apparently this law was so unnecessary that forty-two other states already have their own state equal pay law. So unnecessary, even despite the fact that white women currently make only 77 cents for every dollar men earn. In addition, women of color make even less, black women make just 69 cents, and Latina women just 60 for every dollar made by men.

Progress Texas pushed out a new campaign today encouraging people to boycott Macy's and Kroger for supporting bad policies that seek to harm women. As a refresher, they laid out exactly why state laws are needed to support the federal Lilly Ledbetter Act in June when it was vetoed:

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/13911/you-really-shouldnt-shop-there-the-businesses-that-told-perry-to-veto-equal-pay .

Grumpy Cat shares her opinion on the new actor selected to portray Dr. Who

State to Feds: We Won't Enforce Insurance Reforms

Though Texas will join 26 other states in defaulting to a federal marketplace for purchasing health insurance — a major component of the Affordable Care Act — it is one of only six that will not enforce new health insurance reforms prescribed by the law. It's a decision some say could lead to confusion over who's responsible for protecting Texas insurance consumers.

Because Texas did not create its own state-based marketplace, known as a health insurance exchange, under the Affordable Care Act, it must use a federally facilitated one instead. By federal law, the state must enforce provisions and regulations related to the insurance exchange and market reforms unless it notifies the federal government that it cannot or will not. If a state does not enforce those reforms, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will step in to do it.

Texas, Arizona, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wyoming have all notified the federal government that they will not be policing the health law. John Greeley, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance, said his agency cannot enforce regulations tied to the federal insurance exchange or market reforms because it is not authorized to do so.

"We can't act on anything that doesn't exist in state law," he said.

More at http://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/07/state-not-enforce-key-health-reforms/ .

A frolicking cat vs. Afro licking cat: Proof that space makes a difference

My new avatar

Okay, the Legislature is finally out of session and it does not look like it will reconvene in the near future. It is now up to the judicial system to stop the regressive laws that were signed by the governor.

However, a new problem might rear it's ugly head in the next upcoming presidential election. Therefore, I've changed my avatar from the upside down Texas flag which denoted the state of emergency to the following:



What do you think?

Decomposing body discovered in Woodlands parking garage after sitting unnoticed for two months

Woodlands residents are baffled as to how the decomposed body of a 26-year-old woman sat unnoticed for nearly two months on the second story of a local parking garage.

On Thursday evening, deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office were searching for suspects in a domestic fight near the Marriott Waterway Hotel. Making their way to the hotel garage, they discovered a car covered with dust. Inside was the body of a woman who officials say has been reported missing since June 11.

Investigators are treating the case as a possible suicide and, as such, have not released the woman's identity.

Meanwhile, patrons who use the busy Woodlands garage — which is open to the public for a fee and owned by the Marriott — are shocked that no one came across the gruesome scene earlier, especially considering that the lot regularly fills to capacity for concerts at the nearby Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

More at http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city_life/08-06-13-decomposing-body-discovered-in-woodlands-parking-garage-after-sitting-unnoticed-for-two-months/ .

Princeton Review’s 20 most gay-friendly and gay-unfriendly colleges in the U.S.

The Princeton Review is out with its gay-friendly and gay-unfriendly schools. SMU remained off the gay-unfriendly list for a second year, but the University of Dallas, Texas A&M and Baylor made the list at No. 10, 11 and 12, respectively. No Texas schools are on the gay-friendly list. View the full lists below.

Gay-unfriendly schools:

1. Grove City College

2. Hampden-Sydney College

3. College of the Ozarks

4. Wheaton College

5. University of Notre Dame

6. Brigham Young University

7. Wake Forest University

8. Calvin College

9. University of Rhode Island

10. University of Dallas (#10 through #12 make me ashamed to be a Texan)

11. Texas A&M University

12. Baylor University

13. Trinity College (Connecticut)

14. Auburn University

15. Colgate University

16. Wofford College

17. Hillsdale College

18. Catholic University of America

19. Pepperdine University

20. University of Wyoming (the only surprise is why they aren't higher on the list)

Gay-friendly colleges:

1. Emerson College

2. Warren Wilson College

3. New College of Florida

4. Stanford University

5. University of Wisconsin-Madison

6. Oberlin College

7. Franklin W Olin College of Engineering

8. Smith College

9. New York University

10. Bryn Mawr College

11. Wellesley College

12. Bennington College

13. University of Chicago

14. Yale University

15. Carleton College

16. Sarah Lawrence College

17. Macalester College

18. Pitzer College

19. Marlboro College

20. Grinnell College

Source: http://www.dallasvoice.com/princeton-review-lists-2013-gay-friendly-gay-unfriendly-colleges-10154419.html