herding cats
herding cats's JournalO'Malley signs transgender rights bill
Source: The Baltimore SUn
Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a law this morning to make Maryland one of a handful of states to extend anti-discrimination laws to protect transgender people.
The measure that protects transgender people against job and housing discrimination was one of scores of bills the governor was scheduled to sign during the last scheduled public signing ceremony of his eight years as governor.
Among the legislation also to receive the governor's signature are bills outlawing so-called "revenge porn" – posting intimate pictures on the Internet as a way of getting back at a former spouse or lover – and overhauling the state's speed camera law to add new safeguards for drivers from malfunctioning systems.
The governor handed the pen he used to sign the transgender protection law to Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat who fought for eight years to convince his colleagues to pass it.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bs-md-last-signing-20140514,0,6134049.story
Way to go Maryland!
New probation terms applied in rape case where judge blamed victim
Thompson told Young that he must adhere to the probation measures.
"Your previous court gave you a second chance, don't expect a third chance from this court," he said.
Thompson made "in our estimation the right ruling, he did the right thing," Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins said after the ruling. Watkins' office had asked Thompson to tighten the probation conditions.
Young's attorney, Scottie Allen, said he and his client were disappointed by Thursday's ruling.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Judge-imposes-new-terms-in-Texas-rape-case-5463402.php
For those who don't recall a recap of the previous judges ruling is here.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4914781
'Affluenza' teen's family (insurer) to pay victim $2M
Tarrant County court documents show that the liability insurer of Ethan Couch's parents agreed to pay more than $1 million in cash and the rest in two annuities to a trust established for Sergio Molina.
Molina was among 12 people injured. His parents say he can only smile and blink.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Affluenza-teen-s-family-to-pay-victim-2M-5457067.php
It appears this is being paid for via the Couch's insurance.
Sergio Molina flew out and landed on his head.
In the settlement reached Friday in 96th state District Court, Fred and Tonya Couch’s liability insurer agreed to pay $1.638 million cash to the Sergio E. Molina Special Needs Trust. The Couches’ insurer also agreed to purchase two sets of annuities to provide payments to the trust, beginning in July, of $1,515 monthly and of $1,837 monthly, both for life and guaranteed for 25 years.
The settlement also provides for attorneys’ fees. The attorneys representing Lemus and Molina, and Fred and Tonya Couch could not be reached to comment on Monday.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05/05/5794503/first-liability-settlement-approved.html#storylink=cpy
From what I recall of the case, the cost for this one boys care was over $600K at the time, and was estimated to be as high as $10 million over the course of his lifetime.
Polio Spreading at Alarming Rates, World Health Organization Declares
Source: NY Times
Alarmed by the spread of polio from conflict zones in three continents, the Wolrd Health Organization on Monday declared the spread of the disease an international health emergency. The United Nations health body said it was taking the step in an effort to slow the further spread of the disease, a paralyzing virus once thought to be nearly eradicated.
An emergency committee convened by the organization announced in Geneva that three countries — Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon — had allowed the spread of the virus and should take extraordinary measures to stop it.
The committee announced via a telephone news conference from its Geneva headquarters that all children in these countries should be inoculated or reinoculated and all travelers from these countries should be reinoculated and should carry proof in the form of an internationally recognized document.
The emergency committee said it was alarmed that polio had spread recently from Pakistan to Afghanistan, Syria to Iraq, and Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea. It said there was “increasing evidence that adult travelers contributed to this spread.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/health/world-health-organization-polio-health-emergency.html
Hunt for missing jet widens to distant waters
Source: Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Authorities are expanding their search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane to the Malacca Strait, far from its last confirmed location, the airline said Tuesday, injecting new mystery into an investigation that so far has failed to come up with any answers.
...snip...
Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that search and rescue teams expanded their scope to the Malacca Strait between Malaysia's western coast and Indonesia's Sumatra island — the opposite side of Malaysia from the plane's last known location.
To reach the strait, a busy shipping lane, the plane would have had to cross over the country, presumably within the range of radar.
An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus," but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight. It didn't elaborate. Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the search remained "on both sides" of the country.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/search-widens-missing-malaysian-passenger-jet
Texas court revives transgender marriage case
Source: San Antonio Express
Nikki Araguz was denied benefits when the mother and ex-wife of late husband Thomas Trevino Araguz III filed a lawsuit claiming the marriage was void because of Texas' ban on same-sex marriage.
Even though Nikki Araguz was already a woman when they married, she was born a male named Justin Graham Purdue. The state used that as the basis for their denial.
Thomas Arraguz died in a July 4, 2010, blaze at an egg farm in Wharton, a town of about 9,000 west of Houston. The lawsuit, which was filed weeks after his death, is over his $600,000 estate.
As first reported Thursday in the San Antonio Express-News, the appellate court, based in Corpus Christi and Edinburg, voided the state district court judge's summary judgment and ordered the case returned to the original courtroom for further litigation.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Texas-court-revives-transgender-marriage-case-5232032.php
BREAKING: Texas appeals court rules in favor of trans widow Nikki Araguz
CORPUS CHRISTI — The 13th District Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi issued a landmark opinion Thursday in favor of Houston trans widow Nikki Araguz, ruling that Texas must recognize the marriages of trans people.
The opinion, written by Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez, revereses the 2011 ruling by Houston state district Judge Randy Clapp, who ruled that Araguz was born male and Texas’ 2005 marriage amendment doesn’t recognize her marriage to a man. Her 2008 marriage to her late husband, Thomas Araguz III, became invalid. Thomas Araguz was a volunteer firefighter in Wharton and was killed in the line of duty in 2010 and Nikki Araguz was denied his death benefits.
Clapp’s ruling hinged on the 1999 Texas Court of Appeals decision in Littleton v. Prange, which found that since a male who transitioned to female was born male, she was therefore still male. Her marriage to a male was therefore invalid because same-sex marriages are invalid under state law.
But the Texas Legislature opened the door for transgender marriage in 2009 when it added documentation of a sex change to the identification documents people can present to obtain a marriage license. Araguz’s appeal in September hinged on how the 2009 statute voids the Littleton ruling.
http://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking-texas-appeals-court-rules-favor-trans-widow-nikki-araguz-10167331.html
Mike Huckabee: Democrats think women 'cannot control their libido'
“I think it’s time Republicans no longer accept listening to the Democrats talk about a 'war on women,'" Huckabee said during a speech at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting in Washington. "The fact is the Republicans don’t have a war on women, they have a war for women, to empower them to be something other than victims of their gender.” [...]
Huckabee said Democrats tell women “they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing them for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of government.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/23/1271947/-Mike-Huckabee-Dems-think-women-cannot-control-their-libido
He also said Republicans are fighting a war to empower women "to be something other than victims of their gender."
Unwanted pregnancy is the fault of the female libido? Last I checked it took both a man and a woman to produce a baby.
Lawyer for Rove, Armstrong will defend Christie campaign for Bridgegate
The Christie for Governor reelection campaign has hired powerhouse law firm Patton Boggs to represent it in the ongoing investigation into lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge.
The campaign was among the groups subpoenaed last week by the Assembly committee investigating the controversy, which began in September when a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official ordered two local lanes in Fort Lee diverted for use by highway traffic, snarling traffic in the small borough.
Emails received through a subpoena hint that political retribution was at the heart of the lane closures and not a traffic study as Port Authority officials had first indicated.
The Patton Boggs attorneys representing the campaign are Bob Luskin and Mark Sheridan. Luskin is famous for his defense of numerous high profile figures including Republican operative Karl Rove in the leak of the identity of a CIA officer and bicyclist Lance Armstrong in his blood doping defense.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/chris_christie_reelection_campaign_hires_powerhouse_lawfirm_in_bridgegate_probe.html#incart_m-rpt-1
Chris Christie should step down as RGA chair, says Cuccinelli
A recent Republican gubernatorial candidate said Tuesday that "it makes sense" for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said on CNN's "Crossfire" that Christie "does not serve the goals" of the RGA by finishing the rest of his one-year term.
"From the perspective of setting aside this as an issue in other races, it makes sense for him to step aside in that role," said Cuccinelli, who lost Virginia's governor's race last fall.
.......
Christie senior adviser Mike DuHaime said that Cuccinelli's comments are "disappointing, given the RGA was by far the largest single donor to his losing campaign, giving more than $8 million — a significant portion of which was raised by Gov. Christie."
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0121/Chris-Christie-should-step-down-as-RGA-chair-says-Cuccinelli
Drugs, Death, Neglect: Behind the Scenes at Animal Planet - Mother Jones
Mother Jones exposes the lies and animal abuse taking place behind the scenes at Animal Planet's Call of the Wildman.
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These weren't just any raccoons. They were the stars of one of the highest-rating episodes of Call of the Wildman, the hit Animal Planet reality TV show.
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"It was part of my job to call around people to trap animals at the direction of Sharp," says Jamie, who worked on the show. (Jamie's name has been changed. Sharp Entertainment requires many employees and participants to sign confidentiality agreements that call for as much as $1 million in damages if breached.) "It's 100 percent fake," said a second production source.
In other words, the raccoons were not "found" under the house, nor reunited with their mother. They were performers in a Call of the Wildman script.
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The Woozy Zebra and the "Wild" Mink
In another Texas-based episode, "Lone Stars and Stripes," Turtleman chases a zebra that has supposedly escaped from its fenced-in yard at a ranch. He rides in hot pursuit of the animal in the flatbed of his pickup, brandishing a lasso; eventually he corners the zebra and tackles it
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Despite Clay's denial, Animal Planet and Sharp confirmed to Mother Jones that the zebra was drugged before filming, but they say it happened behind their backs. However, Jamie and other sources say that the crew was aware of the zebra's sedation during filming, especially since the animal nearly fell over several times. "I heard about the zebra being almost unusable," says another source. "They sedated it, to get it to be less crazy." Another confirmed that the zebra looked "out of it." Animal Planet admits that producers used an additional, unsedated zebra for supplemental footage.
"It's a damn bullshit show," Clay says. "You know it, and I know it. It's just entertainment, cheap entertainment. It gives everybody a job or something to do."
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/01/animal-abuse-drugs-call-of-the-wildman-animal-planet
It's a long read and at times it's disturbing to learn how they're abusing animals. I still recommend reading it, and ask that you spread the word about the deplorable way they're treating animals on their fake "reality" program.
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