Monday, June 30, 2014

Laura Bassett Become a fan lbassett@huffingtonpost.com Email RSS Ruth Bader Ginsburg Writes Scathing 35-Page Dissent In Birth Control Case Posted: 06/30/2014 12:31 pm EDT Updated: 06/30/2014 5:59 pm EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/ruth-bader-ginsburg-write_n_5544111.html

Read Ginsburg's dissent here. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby

Laura Bassett Become a fan lbassett@huffingtonpost.com Email RSS Ryan J. Reilly Headshot Ryan J. Reilly Become a fan ryan.reilly@huffingtonpost.com Email RSS Supreme Court Rules In Hobby Lobby Case, Dealing Blow To Birth Control Coverage Posted: 06/30/2014 10:20 am EDT Updated: 06/30/2014 1:59 pm EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby_n_5521444.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

5 Political Operatives Just Hammered Women And Workers Posted: 06/30/2014 12:11 pm EDT Updated: 06/30/2014 4:59 pm EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-unions-contraception_n_5543995.html

Should the United States fall in line with the rest of the world and start mandating paid leave for new parents? Yes, for both parents Yes, but only for moms No I'm not sure Click to advertise on BOR Advertising on BOR - Advertise on BOR Advertisements The 7 Most Important Take-Aways From The 2014 Texas Democratic Party State Convention | #TDP14 by: Katherine Haenschen Mon Jun 30, 2014 at 00:31 PM CDT

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15386/the-7-most-important-takeaways-from-the-2014-texas-democratic-partys-state-convention-tdp-2014?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

9 Killed in Houston Drunk Driving Accidents in One Week | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

9 Killed in Houston Drunk Driving Accidents in One Week | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Dallas County to Provide Shelter to 2,000 Immigrant Children by: Emily Cadik Mon Jun 30, 2014 at 05:00 PM CDT

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15388/dallas-county-to-provide-shelter-to-2000-immigrant-children?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Monday, June 23, 2014

Portugal's last-minute goal #worldcup

Portugal's last-minute goal #worldcup: Portugal's last-minute goal #worldcup

Perry Warns of a "Trail of Tears" From Central America

Perry Warns of a "Trail of Tears" From Central America

WESLACO — Gov. Rick Perry on Monday warned that if Central American leaders do not heed the call to stop their citizens from flooding across the Texas-Mexico border, the summer months will bear witness to a “trail of tears” caused by a surge of dead migrants.

The governor pulled few punches during a news conference at a Department of Public Safety facility after a tour of federal detention facilities housing unaccompanied minors. He repeatedly criticized the federal government, saying it has failed to do its duty and secure the southern border with Mexico.

“We can’t allow this to happen, and our federal government is the one that has the ability to work with those countries to stop this from happening,” he said. “We know you can do this, but there has to be the will and there has to be the courage.”

The governor also reiterated his belief that a special session of the Legislature will not be necessary, rejecting requests made by some conservative Republicans and, most recently, by state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. The Democratic candidate for governor on Monday called on Perry to bring lawmakers back to Austin to allocate more resources and declare a state of emergency.

“I think the state of Texas has already made the moves substantially quicker than bringing the Legislature in” would, he said. “All they are going to do is appropriate money. We’ve already done that.”

Last week, Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus directed the DPS to allocate $1.3 million a week to ramp up border security operations.

The Obama administration has repeatedly defended itself against criticism from state lawmakers by saying it has staffed the U.S. Border Patrol to record levels. The administration has also reached a record number of deportations. But recently, the Obama administration conceded that the current influx on the border presents a stark challenge.

Perry said decisive action must be taken before the summer heats up more.

“There are babies there that have been transported all across Mexico,” he said. “I am telling you, that in July and August, if the message does not get out into those countries in Central America, you’re going to see a trail of tears again from Central America to Texas.”

Perry said last week that a main reason for the increase in state patrols is because the U.S. Border Patrol is overwhelmed by the increase in illegal migration. The agency could lose focus on its primary mission, he said, which is to secure the border.

Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas DPS, said he believed criminal gangs have already incorporated the increase in illegal border crossings into their efforts to transport more contraband into Texas and beyond.

“We know how the cartels work, and surely they are exploiting this opportunity to also move criminal aliens, transnational gangs and drugs … into Texas,” McCraw said. Transnational gangs have already “butchered” 80,000 of their own people and intimidated politicians and journalists, he added.

“That’s how they operate, [and] they operate on both sides of the border,” he said.

The issue has become a political football at the state level as some Texas Democrats have accused Republicans of using what has been called a humanitarian crisis as an excuse to militarize the border.

In Weslaco, however, Perry reserved his criticism for the federal government, saying it was being difficult to work with and was not supplying enough resources on the border.

“The federal government spends hundreds of millions of dollars on foreign aid going into countries south of the United States,” he said. “Yet this administration is being hesitant about spending some millions of dollars to secure the border. I think that’s what Americans are really upset about.”

A country that receives aid from the United States should be considered a partner, the governor added. As such, it should do its part to deter immigrants from making the dangerous trek from Central America through Mexico, where many would-be crossers die on the journey.

“That is unacceptable,” he said. “We need to be sending a clear message to them: You have to do your part to stop this huge deluge of individuals coming up from your country.”

The DPS did not divulge specific details on what the current operation will entail, citing security concerns. Spokesman Tom Vinger instead said that “DPS will work together with our law enforcement partners to combat the ruthless Mexican cartels who are preying upon our communities and who continue to commit heinous and unimaginable crimes on both sides of the border.”

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/23/perry-warns-trail-tears-central-america/.

Millennial Hispanics Are Losing Their Religion A Pew study showing large shifts in Hispanic religious identity could have major implications for Texas politics. by Carl Lindemann Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2014, at 11:13 CST

http://www.texasobserver.org/millennial-hispanics-losing-religion/

3 Americans ‘Possessed’ in Mexico During Ouija Board Game | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

3 Americans ‘Possessed’ in Mexico During Ouija Board Game | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

ABDUCTED 8-MONTH-OLD GIRL FOUND SAFE, SKETCH OF SUSPECT RELEASED

Friday, June 20, 2014

Texas pro-choicer rallies protesters with poem: “If My Vagina Was a Gun” POSTED AT 4:01 PM ON JULY 9, 2013 BY ALLAHPUNDIT

The trailer for “Dear White People” is here and it is hilarious

The trailer for “Dear White People” is here and it is hilarious

Stephen Colbert Talks About The Changing Tides Of Gay Marriage Posted: 06/18/2014 4:47 pm EDT Updated: 06/18/2014 4:59 pm EDT

Poll: Fewer Americans Blame Poverty on the Poor BY SETH FREED WESSLER

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/poll-fewer-americans-blame-poverty-poor-n136051

President Obama: Chance should not determine destiny

Attorney General Greg Abbott and U.S. Sen.... News Event · Less event details Date Mon Jun, 23 2014 10:30 AM EDT — Mon Jun, 23 2014 11:30 AM EDT About Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will hold a media availability at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio following a tour of base facilities housing young immigrants who entered the United States illegally.

Murder charge still pending against woman at 102 - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

Murder charge still pending against woman at 102 - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

Congresswoman Say Kidnapped Nigerian Girls Must Not Be Forgotten | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Congresswoman Say Kidnapped Nigerian Girls Must Not Be Forgotten | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Houston Mayor Among Attendees at US Conference of Mayors in Dallas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Houston Mayor Among Attendees at US Conference of Mayors in Dallas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Man Who Left Dog in Hot Car Turned Away from Court | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Man Who Left Dog in Hot Car Turned Away from Court | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Leticia Van de Putte asks what women need to do to be heard in the Texas...

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Remember-When---Filibuster-Celebration-.html?soid=1101205010158&aid=fmiTSYxZY8c

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Remember-When---Filibuster-Celebration-.html?soid=1101205010158&aid=fmiTSYxZY8c

Gaywatch: Texas Edition byJen Hayden WED JUN 18, 2014 AT 10:14 AM PDT

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Michelangelo Signorile Jason Hanna And Joe Riggs, Texas Gay Fathers, Denied Legal Parenthood Of Twin Sons Posted: 06/18/2014 10:43 am EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/jason-hanna-and-joe-riggs_n_5506720.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Family Left Without Answers as Historic Black Cemetery Bulldozed | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Family Left Without Answers as Historic Black Cemetery Bulldozed | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Calif. Republican Tapped as New House Majority Leader | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Calif. Republican Tapped as New House Majority Leader | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Memories from the 2013 Special Session :: NARAL Pro-Choice Texas

Memories from the 2013 Special Session :: NARAL Pro-Choice Texas

CIVIL LIBERTIES AlterNet / By Michele Goodwin Who Owns Your Womb? Women Can Get Murder Charge for Refusing C-Sections Think you always have a choice over how to give birth? Think again.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/who-owns-your-womb-women-can-get-murder-charge-refusing-c-sections?akid=11917.220189.JvvwPx&rd=1&src=newsletter1002736&t=3&paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

Solid Waste Management Department Home Page

Solid Waste Management Department Home Page

Wrong CVS Prescription Leaves Houston-Area Man Blind | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Wrong CVS Prescription Leaves Houston-Area Man Blind | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Father's Day 2014: 50 Funny and Inspiring Quotes About Dads

Father's Day 2014: 50 Funny and Inspiring Quotes About Dads

Father's Day 2014: 50 Funny and Inspiring Quotes About Dads

Father's Day 2014: 50 Funny and Inspiring Quotes About Dads

TribCast: Davis Campaign Changes, GOP Platform and Uber by Reeve Hamilton June 11, 2014

TribCast: Davis Campaign Changes, GOP Platform and Uber

Reeve, Ross, Alexa and Aman talk about leadership changes in Wendy Davis' campaign, recent changes to the Republican Party of Texas' platform, and changes currently being considered that might allow services like Uber in more Texas cities.

Subscribe on iTunes

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/11/tribcast-davis-campaign-changes-gop-platform-uber/.

Friday, June 13, 2014

TMF After Party featuring the Spazmatics!

Independent Lens | The New Black | "Let's Have a Healthy Conversation" |...

Tell your member of Congress Americans deserve degrees, not debt

Tell your member of Congress Americans deserve degrees, not debt

We Were Here | Documentary about San Francisco During the AIDS Crisis | Independent Lens | PBS

We Were Here | Documentary about San Francisco During the AIDS Crisis | Independent Lens | PBS

Independent Lens | The New Black | Preview | PBS

Juneteenth Festival Returns Saturday to the Place Where It All Began | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Juneteenth Festival Returns Saturday to the Place Where It All Began | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

What To Know About Mad Cow Disease Amid Beef Recall - ABC News

What To Know About Mad Cow Disease Amid Beef Recall - ABC News

Evolution Of Mom Dancing (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Michelle Obama) (Late Night ...

/bulletproof-blankets-body

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/bulletproof-blankets-body_n_5479885.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

The Evolution of Dad Dancing (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Gov. Chris Christie)

Free Alamo Drafthouse Movie Tickets in Houston, Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Free Alamo Drafthouse Movie Tickets in Houston, Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Depeche Mode - John The Revelator (HD)

Depeche Mode - John The Revelator (PTA Tour 2005)

Was Mom of Girl, 9, Found in Fridge Receiving Aid for Dead Daughter? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Was Mom of Girl, 9, Found in Fridge Receiving Aid for Dead Daughter? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Full Moon, Solar Flare on Friday the 13th: Should You Be Afraid? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Full Moon, Solar Flare on Friday the 13th: Should You Be Afraid? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

O Diário de Anne Frank 2009 - Filme Completo

Anne Frank - The Whole Story -1

The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank - Audiobook Full

Unsolved History: Who Betrayed Anne Frank?

Michelangelo Signorile Become a fan mike.signorile@huffingtonpost.com Email RSS Laverne Cox Talks Performing In Nightclubs, 'Orange Is The New Black' And More Posted: 06/12/2014 9:28 am EDT Updated: 4 hours ago


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/laverne-cox-drag-nightclubs_n_5484874.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality To Alcoholism AP Posted: 06/12/2014 6:19 am EDT Updated: 06/12/2014 12:59 pm EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/rick-perry-homosexuality-alcoholism_n_5487314.html?ir=Politics

Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality To Alcoholism AP Posted: 06/12/2014 6:19 am EDT Updated: 06/12/2014 12:59 pm EDT


It Has Been 47 Years Since This Couple Helped Redefine Marriage The Huffington Post | By Emily Thomas Email RSS Posted: 06/12/2014 4:32 pm EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/loving-v-virginia-anniversary-interracial-marriage-_n_5488987.html

Laura Ingraham Uses Taco Bell Ad To Make Fun Of Immigrant Kids The Huffington Post | By Roque Planas Email RSS Posted: 06/11/2014 10:54 am EDT Updated: 06/11/2014 11:59 am EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/11/laura-ingraham-taco-bell_n_5484037.html

Spornosexuals: How in the World Can We Tell You Guys Apart? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Spornosexuals: How in the World Can We Tell You Guys Apart? | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality To Alcoholism In San Francisco Appearance

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality To Alcoholism In San Francisco Appearance: Texas Gov. Rick Perry raised eyebrows during his appearance at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco Wednesday night, when he compared homosexuality to alcoholism. (6/11/14)

Justices rule for death row inmates with low IQ

Justices rule for death row inmates with low IQ

SCOTUS: Children over 21 go to back of visa line

SCOTUS: Children over 21 go to back of visa line

Actress Ruby Dee dies at 91 | The Rundown | PBS NewsHour

Actress Ruby Dee dies at 91 | The Rundown | PBS NewsHour

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Netflix To Reboot 'The Magic School Bus' The Huffington Post | By Tyler McCarthy Email RSS Posted: 06/11/2014 12:31 pm EDT Updated: 06/11/2014 3:00 pm EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/11/magic-school-bus-netflix-reboot_n_5484512.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

California Teacher Tenure Law Unconstitutional AP | By LINDA DEUTSCH and LISA LEFF Posted: 06/10/2014 11:20 am EDT Updated: 06/11/2014 1:59 pm EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/10/vergara-california-decision_n_5479666.html

"The World Is Ours" - Aloe Blacc X David Correy (Official Music Video)

Have you seen this child? SHACORY BROOKS

Have you seen this child? SHACORY BROOKS

Cliff hanger -Young Guns

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cliffhanger/

Eric Cantor's "Young Guns" | FRONTLINE

Did you know that we have more than 18,000 volunteers across Texas? They're making calls, knocking on doors, registering voters — and they're ready for you to join them! Be a part of the team. Find an event near you: http://j.mp/P0VNum

Mother Stuffed Dead Special Needs Daughter, 9, in Refrigerator | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Mother Stuffed Dead Special Needs Daughter, 9, in Refrigerator | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Monday, June 9, 2014

Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (Official Video)

Feds Ask Local Shelters to House Undocumented Immigrants

Feds Ask Local Shelters to House Undocumented Immigrants

*Correction appended

EL PASO — This week, a coalition of shelters and immigrants rights groups are helping to house and feed an influx of undocumented immigrants arriving in El Paso from the Rio Grande Valley after federal officials said their resources are too strained.

The surge forced the Department of Homeland Security last week to create a task force to deal with the large numbers of unaccompanied minors entering Texas, though in El Paso undocumented immigrants who need shelter are all family units and not children who have crossed alone, said Ruben Garcia, the director of Annunciation House, a migrant and homeless shelter located blocks away from the Rio Grande.

“Immediately ICE contacted us and said, ‘We do not have the ability to detain people and so we’re going to — after we process [them] — release them on their own recognizance,’” Garcia said he was told. “'We need your help and we want your help and want these people to be treated as human beings.'”

Garcia said he was "very impressed with the commitment on a part of the ICE officers that we have been working with."

Leticia Zamarripa, an ICE spokeswoman, would only confirm that ICE field offices contacted the shelters. She was not immediately available for additional comment.

Garcia said he was first contacted on Wednesday about the influx of immigrants. He told reporters that it was his impression that a recent backlash in Arizona against the ICE plan to send immigrants from Texas to that state prompted the government to reach out to his group and others. Other undocumented immigrants who were apprehended last month in Texas were flown to Arizona for processing and then released last month. Garcia said ICE didn't reach out to warn the local officials in Arizona, which sparked uproar from the community.

“A hold was placed on sending more people. What was then decided was, let's send people to El Paso,” he said.

Taylor Levy, the family immigration coordinator at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, said that of the 88 undocumented immigrants she has received, most are from Central America and were in detention for four to five days.

“They are coming in, we are processing them, giving them a change of clothes, giving them a shower, giving them water and dealing with minor medical concerns,” she said. “From there, we have been helping people move on to their family members in the United States.” 

Garcia said that when released, the undocumented immigrants are told to appear before an immigration judge near their final destination. So far, none of the families who have been processed and ordered to appear had any intention to stay in El Paso, said Levy, who has helped the immigrants purchase bus or plane tickets to get to their families. The shelters are nonetheless preparing for undocumented immigrants who have no place to go. 

Major Mike Morton, the area commander for the Salvation Army, said shelter employees do not act as guards who monitor the immigrants to make sure that they don’t abscond or that they make their court dates. Their roles are in a humanitarian capacity only. Morton said he expects to take in about 10 to 12 families at the shelter and was contacted by El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar.

Escobar said local officials were scrambling to find resources to help the immigrants. She also called the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services to ask whether any medical personnel would be available to offer services.

Morton said he expects to receive mainly category 4 or 5 migrants, whom he described as those with the most urgent needs. Those people, he said, could require as much as two weeks of housing. Though the El Paso operation that began last week has not seen unaccompanied minors, Morton said there are at least 25 youths who were previously apprehended in custody in El Paso.

Patrick Timmons, a researcher on violence in Latin America who lives in Juárez and works on the Mexican Journalism Translation Project, said the undocumented immigrants were likely trying to escape violence. Honduras, he said, is the most violent country in the world with a homicide rate of 90 per 100,000. Assertions that the U.S. immigration debate is driving the surge, he said, are "absurd." 

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Ruben Garcia's name. The error has been corrected.

 

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/09/ice-asks-shelters-take-undocumented-immigrants/.

Analysis: Texas Seen as "Kind of an Electoral Wasteland"

Analysis: Texas Seen as "Kind of an Electoral Wasteland"

Voter turnout in Texas is indisputably awful.

The March primaries drew 1.9 million, with only 560,033 voting in the Democratic contest and the rest voting in the more competitive Republican races. According to the Texas secretary of state’s office, there were 18.9 million adults in the state in March, and 13.6 million of them were registered to vote.

Texans did even worse in the runoff last month. Only 951,461 voted — 201,008 in the Democratic primary. The competitive pickings were admittedly slim on that side of the ballot, but there is no way to spin Texas voters’ anemic level of interest into a positive commentary on civic engagement.

“It is kind of an electoral wasteland — not a lot of competition, not a lot of motivation for the parties to get out and mobilize,” said Michael P. McDonald, associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University. “If there is no battle, they just sit back and become weak and flabby.”

In years when voters are not driven to the polls by presidential races — those always inflate the numbers — Texas is one of the worst places in the country for voter turnout and engagement.

In 2010, 32.1 percent of the state’s eligible adults voted in the general election, according to the United States Elections Project maintained by McDonald. Only one place was worst: the District of Columbia, with 28.9 percent. The national rate was 41 percent — still lousy, but much better than in Texas. Minnesota was at the head of the class that year, turning out 55.4 percent of its eligible population.

By the Elections Project’s calculation, 15.5 million Texans were eligible to vote that year. Fewer were registered to vote, but the state had that many adults who were both citizens and non-felons (along with nearly three million adults who were not eligible). Most of them could have voted if they had wanted to vote.

Competition motivates voters, McDonald said: “They will think their votes matter, and the campaigns will work hard to get people to vote.”

While the numbers change a little bit in presidential years, Texas is still at the back of the pack. In 2012, 49.7 percent of its eligible adults turned out. The national rate was 58.2 percent. Those Minnesota voters maintained their bragging rights, with 75.7 percent of eligible adults casting ballots. Texas was not at the bottom, but it was in the vicinity of the worst, leading only Hawaii, West Virginia and Oklahoma in turnout that year.

Those 2010 and 2012 numbers are from general elections, and in Texas, most races have been decided in the primaries — in which the turnout has been much lower than in the general election. Most races have been decided by the time the November voters tune in.

Redistricting is one reason. Most districts are drawn to favor one party or another, meaning that the winner of the Democratic or Republican primary will win in November unless they make a terrible mistake and also have an opponent on the general election ballot. Texas has 36 congressional seats. In seven of them, the Republican candidate has no Democratic opponent. In six, the Democratic candidate has no Republican opponent. Only one of the remaining seats, the 23rd Congressional District, is considered winnable by either major party in November. The overall level of competition is similar in the 31-member Texas Senate and in the 150-member Texas House.

Try selling that to an unmotivated voter.

Statewide, the problem also has to do with the Republican Party’s long winning streak in Texas. Like a long spell of anything — rain, San Antonio Spurs wins, drought — it becomes more and more difficult to imagine a different result. It begins to feel as if only one outcome is possible.

That is also hard to sell to an unmotivated voter, but it is possible. Look at the jump in turnout in presidential years, with their wall-to-wall news coverage and advertising. It looks like a battle, and a close one, and it draws people to the polls.

It might not change the results. The Republican ticket featuring Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan received 57.2 percent of the vote in Texas in 2012. Republican Gov. Rick Perry got 55.1 percent in his re-election bid in 2010. That presidential race — the noisier of the two — drew an extra three million Texans to the polls.

It looked like a race.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/09/analysis-voting-map-texas-electoral-wasteland/.

For Van de Putte, Surname Could Add to Challenge

For Van de Putte, Surname Could Add to Challenge

With the chances of Texas Democrats winning a statewide office in November hinging largely on a higher turnout among Hispanics, the only Hispanic on their statewide ticket goes by the last name Van de Putte.

On the campaign trail, it is easy to see state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte embrace her Hispanic heritage. The lieutenant governor candidate — known in her San Antonio district as the pharmacist from the “barrio” — peppers her speeches with Spanish, ending many with a “muchísimas gracias” instead of a “thank you so much.” She has hosted a “pachanga,” or a Mexican party, in the Rio Grande Valley and regularly participates in interviews on the Spanish-language channel Univision.

But she is still working to introduce herself to most of the state. As she tries to build name identification statewide, her last name does not immediately resonate with many in the Hispanic community she hopes to draw to the polls in big numbers. And political observers say that for Van de Putte to stand a chance of defeating her Republican opponent, state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, motivating those Hispanic voters is a must.

Despite her outreach efforts, Van de Putte has another challenge in making herself know to Hispanic voters who may not be tuned into politics until just before Election Day. 

Some point to the March Democratic primary as evidence of the bump a Hispanic name can provide. State Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth handily won the Democratic nomination for governor. But she lost several border counties with large Hispanic populations to Ray Madrigal, a municipal court judge from Corpus Christi who reported no money raised or spent on his campaign.

Republicans said Davis lost the counties because of her support for abortion rights, but other analysts argued it was her low name identification in the region and being pitted against a candidate with a Hispanic surname.

“That’s the benefit that Ray Madrigal had” in the race against Davis, said Sylvia Manzano, a senior analyst for the nonpartisan political polling organization Latino Decisions. “Van de Putte doesn’t come to the table with a familiar name.”

Instead Van de Putte must rely on more overt aspects of her campaign meant to serve as cues for voters about her heritage, Manzano said.

Van de Putte’s campaign has recently promoted a “Viva La Leti” slogan, pushing it on social media and using it as a marquee for events.

In a recent interview, Van de Putte said it would be disrespectful to voters and Hispanics if she played up her heritage for political gain, and that she only intends to be genuine about her background despite perceptions of it being used as an outreach strategy.

“It’s not a conscious effort to emphasize or play up my heritage,”  Van de Putte said. “It’s who I am.”

The Hispanic vote is one both Democrats and Republicans have turned more attention to during this election cycle.

Although less than a third of eligible voters in Texas are Hispanic, the Hispanic population is expected to become a plurality by 2020 as the state’s demographics continue to shift. In 2012, only 39 percent of Hispanics in Texas eligible to vote cast a ballot in the presidential election. In that same election, 61 percent of eligible white Texans voted.

Mobilizing that voting bloc has become part of the Democrats’ strategy to make gains in the state. And Republicans, both at the local and national levels, have started their own outreach efforts.

Van de Putte’s supporters hope she can draw a clear contrast with Patrick, who has attracted headlines — and criticism — over some of his comments on illegal immigration.

During his primary campaign, Patrick described the influx of undocumented immigrants to Texas as an “illegal invasion.” In his runoff victory speech last month, Patrick struck a more conciliatory tone, saying he would work to make inroads with the state’s Hispanic community.

“Before you can get someone’s vote, you have to respect them enough to go talk with them and explain who you are,” Patrick said in the speech. 

The Patrick campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville, said voters identify with a candidate who speaks their language and understands their traditions. But she argued that Van de Putte’s campaign against Patrick could be more successful among Hispanic voters if she “enriched” her campaign with specific policy proposals to help the Hispanic community.

“She’s a successful Hispanic woman, and that in itself means a lot,” Correa-Cabrera said. “But you have to take advantage of that to do something more and utilize that image to do something for the Hispanic community.”

Van de Putte has sought to differentiate herself from Patrick on crucial issues among Hispanics, including immigration and health care. Patrick opposes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and he is against allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates to attend public universities. Van de Putte has been a vocal supporter of in-state tuition and has talked about the need for immigration reform. Patrick staunchly opposes the Affordable Care Act; Van de Putte has endorsed it.

While her understanding and connection with Hispanic voters could be beneficial, Lionel Sosa, a Republican media consultant who previously worked for George W. Bush, said Van de Putte’s biggest challenge would be to raise enough money to spread her message.

“An intimate knowledge of the needs and concerns of the Latino is always the key to serving this important group, but I doubt that she’s running as a ‘Latina for Latinos,’” Sosa said. “My sense is that she’s running as a leader for all Texans.”

Van de Putte agreed and emphasized that she is running to create a better future for all Texans. But she added that her Hispanic heritage — like her professional career in health care and her role as a mother —play into who she is as a leader and the issues she is concerned about.

While it may be odd for individuals outside of South Texas to realize how much of her personality and daily life are a product of her bicultural upbringing, it all falls into the fact that voters in Texas are not accustomed to seeing Hispanic females run for high office.

“Some people say, ‘She’s playing it up,’ but it’s just my regular day. It’s who I am,” Van de Putte said. “I’m Leticia San Miguel — Van de Putte.”

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/08/van-de-putte-surname-could-be-challenge-hispanics/.

Texas Republicans Adopt Hard-Line On Immigration, Gay Rights Reuters Posted: 06/08/2014 4:32 pm EDT Updated: 06/09/2014 9:59 am EDT


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/08/texas-republicans-gay-rights_n_5469979.html

Texas Republicans Adopt Hard-Line On Immigration, Gay Rights Reuters Posted: 06/08/2014 4:32 pm ED


Democrat Wendy Davis Responds Perfectly To Texas GOP Policy That Gays Need Reparative Therapy

Democrat Wendy Davis Responds Perfectly To Texas GOP Policy That Gays Need Reparative Therapy

"Baby Got Back:" Sir Mix-A-Lot with the Seattle Symphony

Democrats Cesar Blanco and Susan Motley Win Nominations in Runoffs For Texas House


http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15312/democrats-cesar-blanco-and-susan-motley-win-runoffs-for-texas-house-nominations?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

New phone area code for Houston set to activate July 1 By Samantha Ehlinger | June 9, 2014 | Updated: June 9, 2014 6:17pm

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-phone-area-code-for-Houston-set-to-activate-5539874.php

From Gay to Straight? The Controversial Therapy Originally aired on 11/28/2012 |

http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/gay-straight-controversial-therapy

Disturbing human trafficking arrests made in Natchitoches - KALB-TV News Channel 5 & CBS 2

Disturbing human trafficking arrests made in Natchitoches - KALB-TV News Channel 5 & CBS 2

The Weeping Angels - Don't Blink - The Creepiest bits - Doctor Who - BBC...

Don't Text and Drive - Goosebumps

Please donate $10 or more to our cause. Now we have another hardship case who will be coming with us to the convention and she can't afford the hotel stay and All Access Ticket. Please help.

Why 2014 will be different By Jenn Brown, June 8, 2014


http://tribtalk.org/2014/06/08/why-2014-will-be-different/

Can the Texas winning streak last? By Ann Beeson, June 2, 2014

http://tribtalk.org/2014/06/02/can-the-texas-winning-streak-last/

The pro-life movement is a justice movement By Melissa Conway, June 4, 2014

http://tribtalk.org/2014/06/04/the-pro-life-movement-is-a-justice-movement/

Analysis: Texas Seen as "Kind of an Electoral Wasteland" by Ross Ramsey June 9, 2014

Analysis: Texas Seen as "Kind of an Electoral Wasteland"

Voter turnout in Texas is indisputably awful.

The March primaries drew 1.9 million, with only 560,033 voting in the Democratic contest and the rest voting in the more competitive Republican races. According to the Texas secretary of state’s office, there were 18.9 million adults in the state in March, and 13.6 million of them were registered to vote.

Texans did even worse in the runoff last month. Only 951,461 voted — 201,008 in the Democratic primary. The competitive pickings were admittedly slim on that side of the ballot, but there is no way to spin Texas voters’ anemic level of interest into a positive commentary on civic engagement.

“It is kind of an electoral wasteland — not a lot of competition, not a lot of motivation for the parties to get out and mobilize,” said Michael P. McDonald, associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University. “If there is no battle, they just sit back and become weak and flabby.”

In years when voters are not driven to the polls by presidential races — those always inflate the numbers — Texas is one of the worst places in the country for voter turnout and engagement.

In 2010, 32.1 percent of the state’s eligible adults voted in the general election, according to the United States Elections Project maintained by McDonald. Only one place was worst: the District of Columbia, with 28.9 percent. The national rate was 41 percent — still lousy, but much better than in Texas. Minnesota was at the head of the class that year, turning out 55.4 percent of its eligible population.

By the Elections Project’s calculation, 15.5 million Texans were eligible to vote that year. Fewer were registered to vote, but the state had that many adults who were both citizens and non-felons (along with nearly three million adults who were not eligible). Most of them could have voted if they had wanted to vote.

Competition motivates voters, McDonald said: “They will think their votes matter, and the campaigns will work hard to get people to vote.”

While the numbers change a little bit in presidential years, Texas is still at the back of the pack. In 2012, 49.7 percent of its eligible adults turned out. The national rate was 58.2 percent. Those Minnesota voters maintained their bragging rights, with 75.7 percent of eligible adults casting ballots. Texas was not at the bottom, but it was in the vicinity of the worst, leading only Hawaii, West Virginia and Oklahoma in turnout that year.

Those 2010 and 2012 numbers are from general elections, and in Texas, most races have been decided in the primaries — in which the turnout has been much lower than in the general election. Most races have been decided by the time the November voters tune in.

Redistricting is one reason. Most districts are drawn to favor one party or another, meaning that the winner of the Democratic or Republican primary will win in November unless they make a terrible mistake and also have an opponent on the general election ballot. Texas has 36 congressional seats. In seven of them, the Republican candidate has no Democratic opponent. In six, the Democratic candidate has no Republican opponent. Only one of the remaining seats, the 23rd Congressional District, is considered winnable by either major party in November. The overall level of competition is similar in the 31-member Texas Senate and in the 150-member Texas House.

Try selling that to an unmotivated voter.

Statewide, the problem also has to do with the Republican Party’s long winning streak in Texas. Like a long spell of anything — rain, San Antonio Spurs wins, drought — it becomes more and more difficult to imagine a different result. It begins to feel as if only one outcome is possible.

That is also hard to sell to an unmotivated voter, but it is possible. Look at the jump in turnout in presidential years, with their wall-to-wall news coverage and advertising. It looks like a battle, and a close one, and it draws people to the polls.

It might not change the results. The Republican ticket featuring Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan received 57.2 percent of the vote in Texas in 2012. Republican Gov. Rick Perry got 55.1 percent in his re-election bid in 2010. That presidential race — the noisier of the two — drew an extra three million Texans to the polls.

It looked like a race.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/09/analysis-voting-map-texas-electoral-wasteland/.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Emma Gray Become a fan Emma.Gray@huffingtonpost.com Email RSS 'Obvious Child' Is An Abortion Rom-Com -- And The Year's Most Revolutionary Film Posted: 06/06/2014 7:47 am EDT Updated: 06/06/2014 12:59 pm EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/06/obvious-child-abortion-rom-com_n_5458557.html

'Obvious Child' Trailer

WTF Friday: The. Texas. Republican. Party. Platform. by Forrest Wilder Published on Friday, June 6, 2014, at 5:29 CST

http://www.texasobserver.org/wtf-friday-texas-republican-party-platform/

Petition to Reinstate School Guard Fired for Beating Wheelchair Teen June 5, 2014 By RHEANA MURRAY

http://abcnews.go.com/US/petition-reinstate-school-guard-fired-beating-wheelchair-teen/story?id=24007364

TDCJ Viewing Policy Reduces Witnesses to Executions by Terri Langford June 5, 2014

TDCJ Viewing Policy Reduces Witnesses to Executions

At a time when a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma and secrecy about how Texas prisons obtain lethal injection drugs have increased public scrutiny of the procedure, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is allowing fewer media outlets to attend executions. 

There are only five media seats available in one of two tiny viewing rooms adjacent to the Texas execution chamber in Huntsville. While some of those seats have long been reserved for specific media outlets, the TDCJ has in the past allowed other reporters to fill empty chairs when those journalists couldn't attend. Now, those seats remain empty, reducing the number of witnesses in the nation's busiest death chamber.

About two to three years ago, TDCJ public affairs officials began more strictly apportioning media seats, said Jason Clark, who became the agency's chief spokesman in 2013. The media seats in the viewing room are the only way members of the public who aren't related to the murder victim or the condemned inmate can obtain independent observations of the controversial procedure.

“We are not under any obligation to open media witness slots to any organization who asks to view an execution,” Clark said.

While the TDCJ argues it is simply following long-standing procedure, media lawyers say the stricter enforcement of the rules prevents transparency. 

Just before a last-minute stay halted TDCJ’s execution of Robert James Campbell last month — the nation’s first execution scheduled after the mishandled April 29 execution in Oklahoma of Clayton Lockett — eight media members had requested a seat in the witness room. TDCJ approved seats for reporters from the Associated Press, The Huntsville Item and Houston Chronicle, and from two Houston-area TV stations. Requests from reporters for ABC News, The New York Times and The Texas Tribune were denied, and they would not have been allowed to attend even if the other reporters were unable to. 

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1982, TDCJ has usually reserved two of the five media seats in the execution viewing room, one for the Associated Press and one for The Huntsville Item.

Decades ago, the other three seats could be taken by others who asked, with preference to journalists who were based in the region where the crime occurred.

In the 1990s, journalists from The New York Times, a New York CBS affiliate, Dateline NBC and even one from Germany were permitted to observe Texas executions.

It's not clear precisely when TDCJ's policy shifted, but Clark said that today, if a seat is unclaimed by a local reporter, it will remain empty. 

“Those slots are reserved for those media organizations from where the crime happened,” Clark said.

Confirmation that the agency is more strictly enforcing its execution viewing rules comes one week after Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott reversed his previous rulings and allowed TDCJ to keep information about the compounding pharmacies that supply execution drugs secret.  

TDCJ has argued that releasing information about the pharmacies could put those companies at risk of retaliation.

Nationwide, as traditional supplies of lethal injection drugs have dried up and states have turned to new sources, pressure has increased for more information about the execution process both from defense attorneys for inmates and from the media.

Last month in Missouri, several news organizations, including the Associated Press, sued the state corrections department, arguing that secrecy about the drug cocktail used for executions there violated the First Amendment. In other states, media organizations have challenged witness policies that restricted viewing to only part of the execution and not the entire process. 

Dallas lawyer Paul Watler and other Texas media attorneys said they believe TDCJ should leave no media viewing slot vacant if there are pending requests.

“It does not serve the public interest and is certainly not transparent to have seats for the news media that are not utilized because the department will not permit, in some cases, accredited news organizations to attend,” said Watler, a board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. (Ross Ramsey, executive editor of the Tribune, is a FOIFT board member.) “The foundation believes TDCJ should reconsider and modify its policy so that at each execution there is access to five members of the media regardless of geographic location."

Although Texas leads the nation in the number of executions — 515 since 1982 — it has one of the more restrictive viewing policies with the fewest media seats offered. That is partly because the two execution viewing rooms are cramped. Both are about the size of a small walk-in closet and also serve as the viewing areas for family members of the condemned and of the murder victims.

In Oklahoma, there are 12 media seats. In Florida, 10. In both of those states, media witnesses are selected in a lottery system if the number of requests for the seats exceeds the number available.

Watler said media access to executions is vital.

"Everyone in the state of Texas has an interest in an execution," he said, "the state, the victim, the defense, as well as the public."

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/05/tdcjs-execution-narrow-witness-policy-leaves/.

Judge in Texas School Finance Case Faces Recusal Hearing by Morgan Smith June 5, 2014

Judge in Texas School Finance Case Faces Recusal Hearing

The next step in nearly two years of litigation over the troubled Texas school finance system is a hearing on whether District Court Judge John Dietz should recuse himself from the case. 

In a motion filed Monday, Attorney General Greg Abbott, whose office is defending the state, questioned Dietz's impartiality based on a series of emails the judge and his staff sent between March and May to lawyers representing school districts suing the state. Abbott, a Republican who is currently running for governor, argues that the correspondence suggests "the judge is coaching the plaintiffs’ counsel in order to improve their case." The emails have not been made public.

Dietz has not issued any further response to the claim beyond declining to step aside. The matter will be decided by San Antonio Judge David Peeples, who told The Texas Tribune he will likely schedule a hearing for two weeks from now.

The trial, which involves more than 600 school districts serving three-fourths of the state's 5 million public school students, opened in October 2012. The districts sued following a $5.4 billion state budget cut lawmakers passed in 2011, just before a transition to a rigorous new student assessment and accountability system. The districts argue that the state has failed to meet a constitutional requirement to adequately fund public education.

Abbott has faced criticism for his handling of the lawsuit from his Democratic gubernatorial opponent, state Sen. Wendy Davis, who has said the attorney general should settle rather than continue to defend the budget cuts in court. In a statement issued Tuesday, Davis said the recusal motion was "a last ditch, desperate effort to delay a decision until after the election." 

An initial ruling in the case came last February, when Dietz found that the state’s school finance system was unconstitutional both because of inadequate school funding and flaws in the way the state distributes money to districts. But in late January, Dietz reopened evidence in the trial for a four-week period so that he could consider changes made by the 2013 Legislature. During the last session, lawmakers restored about $3.4 billion of the $5.4 billion in public education cuts made in 2011 and changed graduation and testing requirements. The judge has yet to issue a revised ruling or his full written decision in the case.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/05/judge-school-finance-case-faces-recusal-hearing/.

TribCast: GOP State Convention and Closing Facilities by Todd Wiseman and Reeve Hamilton June 4, 2014

TribCast: GOP State Convention and Closing Facilities

Reeve, Corrie, Emily, and Ben discuss the upcoming state convention of the Republican Party of Texas, the proposed closing of state-supported living centers and the legacy of Grace Garcia, the late executive director of Annie’s List.

Subscribe on iTunes

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/04/tribcast-episode-ha-haa/.

Kitten Jam - Turn Down For What (adorable kittens dancing)

EXCLUSIVE: Houston Equal Rights Opponent Accused of Sexual Harassment | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: Houston Equal Rights Opponent Accused of Sexual Harassment | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

SB5 Protestors Break Into A Round Of The 'Eyes Of Texas' In Victory Cele...

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Houston Gets Nation’s 1st Mobile Stroke Unit | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Houston Gets Nation’s 1st Mobile Stroke Unit | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

The 2014 Texas Republican Party Convention News Event · Wed Jun, 4 2014 11:00 PM CDT — Sat Jun, 7 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Analysis: Democrats Found Candidates, if Not Voters by Ross Ramsey June 4, 2014

Analysis: Democrats Found Candidates, if Not Voters

A year ago, Texas Democrats were scrounging for a standard-bearer.

They couldn’t seem to find serious candidates — candidates, that is, who would be taken seriously by the voters — for the top spots on the ballot. Now the table has turned, and it is the candidates who face the political uncertainty of whether their voters are numerous enough or engaged enough to make their campaigns worthwhile.

The Democrats' search a year ago had moved into less obvious territory, with conversations about people who had run before and people who were less well-known in politics. They were digging deep for names of people who would not embarrass the party, and who were willing, frankly, to take a loss for a team that has been rebuilding since Gov. Ann Richards lost in 1994. 

Rebuilding is hard. The last Democrat to win more than 50 percent of the vote in a race for governor of Texas was Mark White, in 1982. Richards won office in 1990 with less than half of the vote, beating Republican Clayton Williams Jr. in a contest where the Libertarian, Jeff Daiell, took 3.3 percent of the vote. Since then, the Democratic numbers have been dismal: 45.9 percent for Richards in 1994, 31.2 percent for Garry Mauro in 1998, 40 percent for Tony Sanchez in 2002, 29.8 percent for Chris Bell in 2006 (a year in which independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman together snagged 30.6 percent of the votes) and 42.3 percent for Bill White in 2010.

Even politicians can do simple math, and Democrats coming into this election cycle had to consider the prospect of improving those election numbers while losing a race — all in the interest of rebuilding the party’s chances in future elections.

Selfless characters and story lines might work in the movies, but most established politicians are unwilling to volunteer when the odds are long. That's how things looked a year ago: Just about everybody had their minds set on the lousy prospects for Democrats until state Sen. Wendy Davis’ filibuster a year ago this month. Democrats suddenly had a demonstration of what might be possible if they could remain organized for more than a moment, and a couple of political personalities in Davis, D-Fort Worth, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, in position to answer the call for ballot names and to attempt to sustain some momentum after the Legislature left town.

Even without the historical conservative advantage, a Democratic president who was and remains unpopular in the state makes this a really tough year for a Democrat.

Other signs were more promising. The Republicans were giving up their incumbencies for the first time in years. The longest-serving governor and attorney general were moving on, along with a pack of Republican officeholders who were either retiring or trying to move up. Almost all of the statewide seats would be open to all comers.

But the potential Democratic candidates were skittish ahead of the campaign season.

The Castro twins had been asked, touted as great candidates and the future of the party and all that, and opted out. Julián Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, told reporters at the 2012 state Democratic convention in Houston that he thought 2014 was too early for a Democrat to win a statewide top-of-the-ballot race in Texas. He made it pretty clear at the time that he would not be seeking a Texas nomination until later. He also touted state Davis as a prospect — a year before her 2013 filibuster. But he discounted the power of personalities to make the Democrats viable in statewide elections.

“You are never going to succeed as a party pinning your hopes on any one person or any few people,” he told reporters then. “What you need is the community at large to understand what you stand for and to get out and vote. That’s what’s been missing from the Democratic Party for the last 20 years.”

Joaquin Castro, his brother, had already decided to get out of state politics and into federal politics. He’s in Congress now, having succeeded at that.

Annise Parker, the mayor of Houston, spoke to delegates at that same convention, held a few blocks from her City Hall office. She, too, said she wanted to finish the job she had started. Maybe later, she said.

All of them were hopeful, predicting, as Democrats are predicting now, that splits within the Republican Party would eventually undermine the state’s dominant political party.

That was the state of things in 2012. The recruiting was already on. Gov. Rick Perry had flopped in his first bid for president, a Republican discouragement that Texas Democrats found invigorating. But a year later, with no solid candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Davis' filibuster on abortion and women’s health clinics put her on center stage. The Democrats had a gubernatorial candidate and, shortly thereafter, a candidate for lieutenant governor in Van de Putte.

The top of the Democratic ticket formed, once again, around a couple of strong personalities who could make the top two state races interesting. If Davis, Van de Putte or another Democrat wins a statewide race, the experienced candidates who said "not yet" will be slapping their foreheads — like the Republicans who didn’t want to risk a loss in a Senate race a couple of years ago, only to watch political neophyte Ted Cruz waltz into Washington, D.C.

That race came after U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, decided not to seek another term, stirring up a nest of ambitious Republicans who wanted that job. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst got in, and most of the other prominent contenders backed down.

Cruz took the risk, showing up when the wave he needed — a conservative backlash against incumbent Republicans — was high and strong.

The Democrats started with a different puzzle to solve. The opening was there, but some of the most promising Democratic politicians in the field couldn’t see enough unhappy Republicans or independents or reinvigorated Democrats to make it work.

They have a couple of candidates with star power and the ability to raise money and get attention, which is more than they had a year ago. Now they have five months to change the political environment that scared everybody else out of running.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/04/analysis-democrats-found-candidates-if-not-voters/.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

7 things you can do with your dead body

7 things you can do with your dead body

A New Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking in Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

A New Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking in Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

A New Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking in Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

A New Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking in Texas | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Judge accused of punching attorney

Judge accused of punching attorney

What real budget transparency looks like By Chuck DeVore, Jun 2, 2014


http://tribtalk.org/2014/06/02/what-real-budget-transparency-looks-like/

A little respect By David Muto, Jun 3, 2014


http://tribtalk.org/2014/06/03/a-little-respect/

The 50th Anniversary of Mississippi’s Freedom Summer: Remembering What Fannie Lou Hamer Taught Us Jazmine Walker by Jazmine Walker, Furious and Brave June 2, 2014 -


http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/06/02/50th-anniversary-mississippis-freedom-summer-remembering-fannie-lou-hamer-taught-us/

Changes in law to reduce tickets for school kids working despite confusion Mark Wiggins, KVUE 6:59 p.m. CDT June 3, 2014

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/03/changes-in-law-to-reduce-tickets-for-school-kids-working-despite-confusion/9932207/

Mayor: Equal Ordinance Recall Will Pass if Lies Stand Unchallenged | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

Mayor: Equal Ordinance Recall Will Pass if Lies Stand Unchallenged | News 92 FM | Official Site for Houston News, Traffic, Weather, Breaking News

S Teacher Removed From Classroom For Showing Blackface Videos 28,741g381 markshrayber Mark Shrayber ProfileFollow Mark Shrayber Filed to: RACISM MONROE MICHIGAN ALAN BARRON SCHOOL Sunday 12:49pm

http://jezebel.com/i-had-not-even-thought-of-this-but-totally-what-some-1584481941

Political fight simmers over school lunch menu changes

Political fight simmers over school lunch menu changes

Houston is home to half of the Fortune 500 companies in Texas Bayou City trails only New York for most names on the list By Katherine Feser June 2, 2014 | Updated: June 2, 2014 10:22pm

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/economy/article/Houston-is-home-to-half-of-the-Fortune-500-5523181.php?t=37fc523922b05374ef

Watch: Wedding party falls into lake when pier collapses

ABC News 2014 Campaign Ad Hall of Fame - ABC News

ABC News 2014 Campaign Ad Hall of Fame - ABC News

Texas goes eXtreme! The X Games come to town this week and set up is underway for a big event on Congress near the Capitol Thursday. Keep in mind roads will be closed in that area through Friday.

Uncertain Future at Institutions for Disabled Texans by Alexa Ura and Corrie MacLaggan June 3, 2014

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/03/future-state-schools-uncertain-amidst-recommendati/

Annie's List Executive Director Killed in Fatal Crash

Annie's List Executive Director Killed in Fatal Crash

*This story has been updated to include the statements of Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte. 

Grace Garcia, the executive director of the Democratic women-in-politics group Annie's List, was killed in a fatal car accident in Waxahachie on Monday, the organization said early Tuesday morning.

"It is with a tremendous sense of loss that we announce the passing of our executive director and leader Grace Garcia, who lost her life in a car accident Monday afternoon," Annie's List board chair Amber Anderson Mostyn said in a statement. 

Garcia came to work for Annie's List after serving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a senior adviser in the Office of the Chief of Protocol. Before working at the State Department, she ran an event management and public affairs firm she founded in 2001.  

Garcia spent more than a decade orchestrating the schedules of then-President Bill Clinton, and later, Hillary Clinton. She worked as the deputy director in the White House's Office of Presidential Scheduling and served as the director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. 

Garcia has also been a top adviser to campaigns; she was one of the founders of the National Latina Political Action Committee and oversaw the National Latino Finance Council for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.

"Grace did so much for me and for countless Texas women," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis said in a statement. "She was a part of this extraordinary journey we've been working on together that wouldn't have been possible without her. I know she will be with us every step of the way in our hearts and will continue to inspire us every single day."

A San Antonio native, Garcia attended high school alongside friend and lieutenant governor candidate Leticia Van de Putte.

“To me, it was an honor to call her my sister, she was like family," Van de Putte said in a statement. "...Our test in life is to leave this place better than when we got here, to be good gente and do right by others. Grace met that test and this country is a better place because she lived."

Disclosure: Amber Anderson Mostyn was a major donor to The Texas Tribune in 2010. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Rosie The Puppy Drives Car Into Pond AP Posted: 06/02/2014 2:33 pm EDT Updated: 06/02/2014 2:59 pm EDT

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

Seven Big Cases The Supreme Court Will Decide In June That Could Change America BY IAN MILLHISER JUNE 2, 2014 AT 9:00 AM UPDATED: JUNE 2, 2014 AT 9:43 AM

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/06/02/3443553/eight-big-cases-the-supreme-court-will-decide-by-the-end-of-this-month/

UP 06/01/14 Deciphering Democrats’ strategy in Texas Jeremy Bird, senior advisor to Battleground Texas, a Democratic group working to turn the state blue, joins to discuss what the realities are for Democrats in the Lone Star state.

Playlist Up UP 06/01/14 Democrats gearing up to turn Texas blue The race of lieutenant governor in Texas is providing Democrats the opportunity to break through and win a statewide contest in the Lone Star state this year. Will Texas be able to stay red much longer? State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, discusses the race with Steve Kornacki.

By The Numbers: How The Santa Barbara Shooting Reflects A Culture Of Violence Against Women BY BRYCE COVERT AND ADAM PECK MAY 26, 2014 AT 12:18 PM UPDATED: MAY 26, 2014 AT 12:29 PM

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/05/26/3441555/santa-barbara-shooting-violence-women/

5 Years After Dr. Tiller’s Death, It’s Still Dangerous To Be An Abortion Doctor BY TARA CULP-RESSLER MAY 30, 2014 AT 12:13 PM UPDATED: MAY 30, 2014 AT 12:39 PM

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/05/30/3443128/dr-tiller-five-year-anniversary/?utm_source=nar.al&utm_medium=urlshortener&utm_campaign=FB

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