September 18, 2013

Gay U.S. Figure Skater Johnny Weir Won't Skate in Sochi Games

U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir declined to register for the national championships and thus won't qualify for the Sochi Winter Games in Russia, the AP reports:

Though Weir had raised the possibility of competing in Sochi in recent interviews, his decision to sit out the season and likely bring an end to his amateur career is not a surprise. He turned 29 in July, old by elite skating standards, and the sport has only gotten more demanding since the last Olympics...

...Weir also is married and has a budding design career, and would be a natural fit for broadcasting. He's always been delightfully refreshing, on and off the ice, and is one of the few skaters who spoke his mind -- even when he knew it would get him in trouble with judges and federation officials. He could also be counted on for thoughtful answers on a variety of topics, and has been an outspoken and very public critic of Russia's new "anti-gay" law.

http://www.towleroad.com/2013/09/gay-us-figure-skater-johnny-weir-wont-skate-in-sochi-games.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=spreadtwitter&utm_content=%3C

September 18, 2013

Blessings, Curses, Perspective, and Politics

By Carol Morgan

It’s strange how writing and thinking operates. One thought leads to a door, then another and another. I’m wandering through a series of rooms and then arrive at a different conclusion than the one I started with. At first, I wished I’d sprinkled some bread crumbs along the way to find my way back to the beginning, but then the foggy-word-thought-journey magically fell into place.

It’s a wholesale metaphor.

Five years ago today, I moved into the run-down, bizarre and quirky home where I live now. It had all the makings of a disaster. As a matter of fact, it was a disaster. The day the movers were hauling away 26 years of my life’s accumulations is same day my buyers backed out on my big house, the stock market crashed, Bear-Stearns crapped-out, taking the lion's share of my 30 years’ worth of savings.

For 30 years, I’d done all the right things. I saved, I invested, and I was a good law-abiding citizen. But life had something else in mind for me. I was no longer the teacher, I was the student. I won’t bore you with the mundane details, but the next two years felt like a curse with lying mortgage bankers and unethical realtors, crooked contractors, and an assortment of villains, all intent on destroying my good nature.

In the end, it turned out ok, but the road wasn't straight or smooth and the journey was not pleasant. Five years later, I feel a strange kinship with Frances Mayes in the novel, Under the Tuscan Sun. My wishes were all granted, but not in the "package" I'd originally envisioned and not in the exact order.

The lessons we learn in the midst of crisis are priceless. Disasters become blessings and blessings become disasters. Life always gives us what we need, not what we want, nor what we deserve. That realization comes to us afterward; after we’ve survived the storm. There's nothing comfortable about walking through fire. You’re not thinking; you just keep moving.

Everyone should read the works and words of Pema Chodron. She was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown, a product of the prestigious Miss Porter’s school. She was born to privilege, destined to take her place among society’s elite and then life intervened. I recall a passage from one of her books:

“We think the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”

After reading her words I realized this: If life is too glorious, we become arrogant and full of ourselves. We become lazy and complacent; fooling ourselves, believing the magic will go on forever. This happens to everyone without exception. We need the wretchedness to bring us back down to earth, to keep us grounded. It's the teeter-totter principle, the scales of justice, the balance beam, the clock pendulum. All of it applies to life and politics.

Up and down, down and up. As we mature, we revel in our good fortunes, but we know a "dip" is coming. It's like those dime-store snow globes purchased at Christmas. We shake it and the glimmering pieces swirl in every direction, slowly drifting downward, eventually settling on the bottom. The flakes are motionless for now, until it's shaken again. After awhile, we expect it; we plan for it.

Pema Chodron’s life was shaken. My life is full of being shaken and yours too, I suppose. But the nice thing about maturity and experience is the assurance that the pieces will eventually fall into place and be quiet again. At least for a while…

The cruel irony is just when we "get" that rhythm, when we become accustomed to the dips and the climbs and begin to lean into it and actually enjoy the ride then....bam! We're gone and on to the next existence...

And what does all of this have to do with politics?

It has to do with perspective, hindsight, and our distinct position on life’s black conveyor belt. In the heat of the moment, a person or policy appears to be a disaster of immense proportions which, magically, with time and experience, comes to be regarded as a good thing. We just didn’t realize it at the time.

Just like people must grow into a career, new policies and procedures must grow on us. Part of our resistance is fear of the unknown and untested, but, just like the snow globe flakes, the fear subsides, life goes on and a temporary tranquility takes its place.

In his day, FDR was vilified; the very social programs we depend on today were considered as America’s slow slide to “red” by his contemporaries. We are just now realizing that Eisenhower, who was considered in the 50’s as a do-nothing, golf-playing president, was a pretty good executive. With hindsight and reflection, Reagan, who was on the fast track to canonization in the 80’s, is now being viewed as what he really was: An actor playing the lead role of the elder statesman in a movie entitled America the Beautiful. His administration was the petri dish that cultivated the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld. We’re just beginning to realize the carefully concealed darkness of his eight years in office.

It took us twenty years to realize President Clinton screwed us all by repealing Glass-Stegall, eight years to realize that electing George W. Bush was a disastrous mistake, and ten years to realize we’d been hoodwinked on Iraq.

Time changes everything and we learn constructive lessons from both the glorious and the wretched.

It was pretty gratifying to see Conservatives and Liberals unified in their collective “NO” to war in Syria and I predict in time and hindsight that Americans will realize it took far too long to pass ACA. Occasionally, America learns from its past mistakes.

Just as Ms. Chodron said, we need both gloriousness and wretchedness. Occasionally, we need to be shaken up, to drift perilously without direction, and to find inner peace again.

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Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-09-17/blessings-curses-perspective-and-politics

September 17, 2013

When Greg Abbott needs an airplane who does he call? The Koch brothers

When Greg Abbott needed a little help flying around as his campaign for Texas governor gets underway, who did he call? The Koch brothers. Abbott’s latest campaign report shows that Koch Industries in Washington provided Abbott with the use of an airplane for $7,500 worth of travel. The report doesn’t offer details. And Abbott’s campaign did not return a call seeking clarification. But one thing’s clear: the Texas Republican attorney general is a favorite of the billionaire Koch brothers, who are big opponents of Obamacare and efforts to curb air and water pollution.

Abbott announced in July that he’s running for the GOP nomination for governor to replace Rick Perry, who isn’t running again. In his campaign, Abbott has highlighted his lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency. Abbott has sued the EPA at least 17 times over air quality standards and greenhouse gas emissions. He has also questioned global warming and is outspoken opponent of Obamacare. As for the Koch brothers, they have given Abbott at least $45,000 as attorney general through their political committee. They are benefactors of the Texas Republican Party, which has begun adding staff in response the Democratic group Battleground Texas, which hopes to register and turn out more Democrats in elections. The Koch brothers have pledged $8 million to the Texas GOP to help rebuff Democrats’ effort to make Texas competitive.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/when-greg-abbott-needs-an-airplane-who-does-he-call-the-koch-brothers.html/

September 17, 2013

Burka-Blog: The White Republican Ticket

The Republican ballot for the spring primaries is shaping up as one that is overwhelmingly white, male and, aside from Greg Abbott at the top of the ticket, largely unknown to most Texans. There are very few women on the ballot. Two women are running for seats on the Railroad Commission, including oil geologist Becky Berger and Dallas state legislator Stefani Carter, who is African American. Six candidates in all are seeking seats on the commission. In the race for Comptroller, Republicans will miss the presence of Susan Combs, a rare familiar name among the GOP hopefuls, who elected to retire rather than seek another term. Debra Medina, who ran a respectable race for governor against Rick Perry in 2010, is thought to be contemplating a race for comptroller as well, along with State Sen. Glenn Hegar, State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, and former State Rep. Raul Torres. However, state legislators typically have very low statewide name I.D. outside of their districts. Two of the candidates for attorney general have served in the Legislature: Dan Branch and Ken Paxton; Barry Smitherman served on the Railroad Commission. Smitherman probably has the most name I.D., but is that enough to win?

One very familiar name is on the ballot. It is Bush–George P. Bush, that is, who is the nephew of former governor George W. Bush. The younger Bush, a Latino, has a little-known opponent named David Watts. Bush should cruise to an easy win.

The big picture here is whether the Republicans will pay a price for fielding a ticket that has no star power other than Abbott. Another high-profile race, for lieutenant governor, may or may not turn out to be one that excites the voters. On the whole, though, this does not look to me like a ticket that is going to raise a lot of enthusiasm or interest.

One exception to that could be a very competitive race for the little-noted position of Agriculture commissioner. The main candidates are Brandon Creighton, former chairman of the Republican party in the House of Representatives; Uvalde mayor Jay Allen Carnes, and South Texas rancher Eric Opiela. The race did draw one female candidate, Ona Marie Hendricks.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/white-republican-ticket

September 17, 2013

Greg Abbott: Happiness is a donor with a $100,000 check

Greg Abbott has cultivated plenty of big-dollar donors as attorney general. Abbott is running for governor and has more than $20 million in the bank for the race. His Republican challenger, former GOP state chairman Tom Pauken, says Abbott is part of the political establishment in Austin more interested in big contributors than average citizens. “Once the election is over, it’s business as usually taking care of the people who write the $100,000 checks,” says Pauken, who’s raised little so far.

So does Abbott’s campaign mail really bring $100,000 checks? Turns out, it does. As attorney general, Abbott has gotten $100,000 checks from 35 millionaires and billionaires – some who’ve mailed multiple $100,000 checks over the years. All told, Abbott has collected more than $4 million as attorney general from people who can write checks of $100,000 or more. Among them – Dallas nuclear waste site owner Harold Simmons (who’s sent seven checks of $100,000 or more to Abbott) and Dallas investor Kenny Trout (who has contributed five $100,000 checks since 2007). Others in the $100,000 club include Fort Worth oilman Lee Bass, Dallas energy investor Ray Hunt, Houston Texans owner Robert McNair, oilman T. Boone Pickens and Dallas fracking executive Trevor Rees-Jones.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/greg-abbott-happiness-is-a-100000-check.html/

[font color=green]T. Boone Pickens might have to cut his contributions since he is no longer considered to be a billionaire. Pickens' ROI with Abbott hasn't contributed much to his bottom line.[/font]

September 17, 2013

Trial began Sept. 11 against BP over Texas refinery emissions -- lawsuit asks $10B in damages

(Reuters) - Trial began on Wednesday (Sept. 11) in the first four of 48,000 civil lawsuits filed against BP Plc for pollution from the 460,196 barrel per day (bpd) refinery it owned in Texas City, Texas until early this year, according to court documents.

The four suits allege that people were harmed when the refinery released vapors into the atmosphere from its hydrocracking unit during a 40-day period in 2010. The city had a population of 45,099 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census.

Since the first lawsuits were filed in 2010, the British oil company has denied the claims that people were harmed by the emissions, which included 17,000 pounds of benzene, according to notices filed by the refinery with Texas pollution regulators.

BP said in a statement on Wednesday that: "Neither the community air-monitoring network nor the BP fence-line monitors showed elevated readings during April and May 2010 and we do not believe that any negative health impacts resulted from flaring at BP's Texas City refinery during this period."

More at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/11/us-refinery-trail-bp-texascity-idUSBRE98A18A20130911 .

[font color=green]BP sold the Texas City refinery on February 1, 2013 for $2.5 billion to Marathon Petroleum Corporation.[/font]

September 17, 2013

Happy Constitution Day! Here are 7 things not to celebrate

You know what's not in the Constitution? A celebration for itself.

But nonetheless, many Americans recognize Sept. 17 as Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

To mark it this year, we've put together this list of seven things that you won't find in the Constitution.

See the list at http://www.elpasotimes.com/politics-national/2013/09/happy-constitution-day-here-are-7-things-not-to-celebrate/?Source=news_widget .

Cross-posted in Good Reads forum.

September 17, 2013

Happy Constitution Day! Here are 7 things not to celebrate

You know what's not in the Constitution? A celebration for itself.

But nonetheless, many Americans recognize Sept. 17 as Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

To mark it this year, we've put together this list of seven things that you won't find in the Constitution.

See the list at http://www.elpasotimes.com/politics-national/2013/09/happy-constitution-day-here-are-7-things-not-to-celebrate/?Source=news_widget .

Cross-posted in General Discussion forum.

September 17, 2013

Two-year-old boy found in hot car near Anna dies

Original post on September 12: A 2-year-old child was found in a hot car at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday near Anna, according to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.

First responders who arrived at the scene found the child unconscious but breathing, said Lt. John Norton with the sheriff’s office. The child was taken to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

-snip-

Update at 10:50 a.m. Friday (Sept. 13): As of last night, the 2-year-old boy left in a hot car in Collin County was in critical but stable condition, according to Collin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Ron James.

-snip-

Update at 5:49 p.m. Friday by Julie Fancher: Police arrested the child’s father around 5 p.m. Friday while he was at the hospital.

Collin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. John Norton said Joshua Alan Cartee, 31, was arrested for Injury to a Child. His bond has been set at $100,000.

-snip-

Update at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday: The boy, Jorden Cartee, has died, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office. Determination about the cause of death is pending.

Jorden died Monday afternoon, said Lt. John Norton with the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.

The toddler’s father, Joshua Cartee, remains in the Collin County jail on a charge of injury to a child. His bond has been set at $100,000.

-snip-

Update at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday: Child Protective Services, which is investigating Jorden’s case, had dealt with the boy’s parents before, an agency spokeswoman said.

Earlier this summer, a passerby found Jorden wandering outside his home near a busy street, CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said. Jorden’s parents told CPS that they didn’t know the toddler could unlock doors.

CPS worked with the parents for a couple of months to make sure the boy would get additional supervision, Gonzales said. The agency checked that additional locks had been installed at the home.

Jorden’s 5-year-old brother is in foster care until a judge determines whether he will return to his mother, Gonzales said.

The complete story is at http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/first-responders-find-toddler-in-hot-car-near-anna.html/ .

[font color=green]It's sickening to think that any parent could be so neglectful of their children.[/font]

September 17, 2013

Science textbooks back in the spotlight

Lingering concerns about how evolution will be taught in Texas’ proposed science textbooks are expected to resurface on Tuesday in testimony before the State Board of Education.

More than 50 people have registered to speak Tuesday afternoon at the first of two public hearings before the board adopts new textbooks and other instructional materials in November.

The debate will likely pick up just where it ended in 2009 when the board approved new science curriculum standards under a bright national media spotlight. At that point, then-Chairman Don McLeroy declared that “somebody’s got to stand up to experts” on evolution.

A lot has changed in the past four years: McLeroy lost his re-election bid in 2010; the controlling conservative bloc on the board lost its majority; and the State Board of Education lost its grip on the textbooks and other instructional materials that are used in Texas classrooms.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/science-textbooks-back-in-the-spotlight/nZy7X/ .