TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalThe Hightower Report: Cheney swings at Obama but hits himself
President Obama has been hit with a firestorm of vitriolic criticism from Republican opportunists hoping to score political points by blaming him for the latest upheaval in Iraq. So I was pleased when, finally, one Republican spoke out loudly to deflect those partisan attacks.
Thank you, Dick Cheney. Yes, he's back! The snarling, self-righteous, shameless old hypocrite wrote a nasty op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that was meant to skewer Obama on the Iraq issue, but it backfired! One, Cheney's attack was so vitriolic and personal – even accusing Obama of betrayal and being "a fool" – that it revealed just how mean and malignantly-partisan Cheney is. More significantly, though, his venomous rant reminded everyone that – wait a minute – it wasn't Obama who made a ghastly mess of Iraq – it was Cheney and his imperious regime of neo-con chicken-hawks!
The punch line in his op-ed was a haymaker intended to floor Obama: "Rarely has a US president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many." But – whammo! – it was such a wild swing that instead of socking Obama, Cheney's roundhouse punch went full-circle and smashed into his own glass jaw. Even Fox News, which had been a wildly enthusiastic backer of Cheney's war, roasted him over that line. Fox interviewer Megyn Kelly put it to him like this: "Time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir. You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators. You said the Iraq insurgency was in the last throes back in 2005… What do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?"
Precisely, right. So thank you again, Dick Cheney, for taking the heat off of Obama and putting right were it belongs.
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/8370
Johnny Manziel Responds To Criticism By Partying With Justin Bieber
-snip-
If you're a defiant 21 year old who doesn't really like rules, parameters, and being told what to do.... oh, and you have ungodly amounts of access, cash, and free time, what's the biggest figurative middle finger that you can flip at all of your authority figures?
Well....
— Eye on Football (@EyeOnNFL) July 1, 2014
If staying off the grid in Cleveland was the equivalent of a truce, then partying at Bieber's house with Floyd Mayweather (a party where the cops were called in twice) is essentially a declaration of war.
In other (possibly related) news, the Browns have reportedly begun contract extension talks with incumbent starting quarterback Brian Hoyer.....
The entire story is at http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2014/07/johnny_manziel_responds_to_criticism_by_partying_with_justin_bieber.php?page=2 .
[font color=green]Prediction: This over-entitled turd is going to get puliverized if he ever gets on the football field.[/font]
Texas Democrats United and Ready After Successful Convention
I didn’t pay very much attention to the Texas Democratic Party Convention in Dallas this past week. But from what I did see it appeared the convention went very well. Via Kuff, Convention Coverage.
As I said on Friday, the best thing you can do is work to help get the message out and get the voters to the polls. The next best thing you can do is pitch in financially. Democrats have done phenomenally well in grassroots small-dollar fundraising of late, which is both great and necessary since the other guys have a lot more megalomaniac billionaires on their side.
One of the most expected, and glaring, differences between Democrats and the GOP to come out of the convention was the differences in the party platforms. Huge differences on the issues of immigration, LGBT rights, and women’s issues($). It summarizes some of the other differences very well.
The Democrats call for investing more in education. The Republicans call for “reducing taxpayer funding to all levels of education institutions.”
Republicans want to repeal Obamacare. Democrats want to keep it and go beyond it to “Medicare for all.”
Republicans want to reverse Roe v. Wade and enact a constitutional amendment protecting the rights of the unborn. Democrats say the decision about an abortion should be left to a woman, her family, her physician, her conscience and her God without political interference.
Republicans want to privatize Social Security. Democrats don’t.
Republicans want to repeal the Voting Rights Act. Democrats want to restore the act’s section that required Texas to get federal approval before making changes in voting laws.
Republicans want to end in-state tuition for what they called “illegal immigrants.” Democrats want to keep it, and e beneficiaries “Texas undocumented students.”
More at http://eyeonwilliamson.org/?p=13860 .
A Carrollton Worker's Boss Punched and Stun-Gunned Him in the Junk, Lawsuit Claims
Total Building Maintenance, Inc., in Carrollton, is in the business of cleanliness. For its corporate clients, it cleans carpets and washes windows, among other janitorial duties. But if a new lawsuit filed recently is to be believed, the company, especially its chief operations officer, Neil Chopra, has been engaged in some less-than-clean activities.
In mid-2011, a man named Christopher Key started working for the cleaning company. He moved up its ranks quickly. After only a few months, he was promoted, and Chopra became his immediate supervisor. Around the same time as his promotion, however, Key's boss hit him for the first time, he claims in the lawsuit.
One day, Key claims, Chopra punched him in the testicles. He fell to the floor. Stop it, he told Chopra, who responded strangely. He told the man he had just punched that he was only joking, only playing around, Key claims.
Every Friday afternoon, Chopra held meetings that employees were required to attend. After the meetings wrapped up, Chopra would start punching, according to the lawsuit. And it wasn't just Key who got the shaft. He observed other employees receiving the same treatment, he claims.
The continuation of this story gets even worse at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/07/man_claims_his_male_boss_sexually_assaulted_him_by_hitting_him_in_the_testicles_repeatedly.php .
[font color=green]If this story is verified, I'd love to see a huge judgment put this employer out of business.[/font]
Fort Worth Olympian's Lawsuit Against U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Moves to Federal Court
A defamation lawsuit filed against anti-doping authorities and United States track and field star Tyson Gay is likely on the move after the United States Anti-Doping Agency asked that the case be moved from a state district court in Tarrant County court to federal court.
Jon Drummond, a Fort Worth resident and former Olympic champion, trained Gray from 2007 until just after the 2012 London Olympics, often in Fort Worth. Gay tested positive for a product containing an anabolic steroid in July 2013. His positive test led to a stripping of all competition results from July 15, 2012 -- the first time Gay said he used the substance -- forward, including the silver medal he won as part of the United States' 4X100-meter relay team. Gay was banned from competition for one rather than the maximum two-year penalty because he cooperated with the USADA.
Drummond claims that in the process of that cooperation Gay blamed him for his positive test. Gay, Drummond says, falsely told doping authorities that his coach hooked him up with and vouched for Dr. Clayton Gibson, an Atlanta chiropractor.
Gibson provided Gay with a number of creams and other substances which were labeled as containing banned ingredients, Drummond says. Gibson assured both Drummond and Gay that the medicines did not contain banned substances -- and were, in fact, all natural -- but were just labeled that way so less experienced athletes would understand their intended effects.
-snip-
Update: Unfair Park has received a comment from the USADA. "We view this lawsuit as a misguided attempt to undermine the established arbitration process agreed to by the entire Olympic movement that is in place to protect the rights of all clean athletes and uphold the integrity of sport," Senior Communications Manager Annie Skinner says.
The entire story is at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/07/fort_worth_olympians_lawsuit_against_us_anti-doping_agency_moves_to_federal_court.php .
Related Thread:
Drummond sues Tyson Gay and the USADA
http://www.democraticunderground.com/120443344
Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick Celebrate Reduced Access to Contraceptives
Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby in a case that weighed the rights of private companies to deny their employees access to contraceptives under their insurance plans.
While many view this as a damaging reduction in access to some of the most effective preventative medicine for family planning services, two of the statewide candidates for public office in Texas chose to take to Twitter to celebrate the news. Greg Abbott, the GOP's gubernatorial candidate, and Dan Patrick, who secured the nomination for Lieutenant Governor after his runoff, both hail the decision as a victory for religious liberty - though it comes at the expense of women's health.
It should come as no surprise that these two lawmakers see the Supreme Court's ruling in Hobby Lobby's favor as reason to celebrate. Their party just approved an incredibly anti-woman platform, including explicit support for the rights of those working in the medical field to express their religious freedom by refusing to provide birth control.
One only needs to look at their statements to see it clearly: for these candidates, religious freedom only applies to those who are attempting to limit access to reproductive healthcare.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15389/greg-abbott-and-dan-patrick-celebrate-reduced-access-to-contraceptives .
Limited Abortion Access Endangers South Texas Women
One year after Wendy Davis filibustered HB 2, the abortion restrictions are unsurprisingly affecting women of color and low-income women disproportionately.
Last week, The Atlantic reported on the rise of unsupervised medical abortion performed by women in South Texas using misoprostol purchased at flea markets.
Misoprostol, which is available over-the-counter in Mexico, can be used as an abortifacient during the first trimester of pregnancy.
After the omnibus abortion legislation passed in 2013, women in Texas seeking a medical abortion must endure four doctor's visits and a 24-hour waiting period to take the pills.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15390/limited-abortion-access-endangers-south-texas-women .
Why Dallas Should Host The 2016 Republican National Convention
Texas Democrats wrapped their political convention in Dallas on Saturday, but in two years "The Big D" may be seeing another political convention taking over the city. Last week, the National Republican Party narrowed their list of host sites for the 2016 Republican National Convention to two cities: Dallas and Cleveland. Eliminated were Kansas City and Denver.
If Dallas is selected, Republicans from across the country would head to the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, for a full week in either late July or early August of 2016.
But why would national Republicans want to host their convention in a solidly Democratic city and county such as Dallas which is within a solidly red state such as Texas?
The last time the voters of Dallas County elected a Republican in a contested, countywide race was 2004. Since then, if a Democrat has appeared on the ballot countywide in Dallas county, the Democrat has won. While the city of Dallas had that unfortunate incident electing Tom Leppert as Mayor in 2007, who went on to run and lose as a Republican for US Senate in 2012, the municipality has largely supported Democrats for citywide offices over the last decade. For the state of Texas, Democrats last won a statewide race in 1994, but efforts have been made in the last two years to create the political infrastructure necessary to change the losing streak.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15391/dallas-finalist-to-host-2016-republican-national-convention-and-why-dallas-should-host .
Texas Responds to Hobby Lobby Contraception Case
This morning, the United States Supreme Court ruled that family-owned businesses like Hobby Lobby can decide to not provide contraception through their health insurance if it does not fit their religious beliefs. Now advocates for reproductive rights in Texas are condemning the decision.
While the original suit was filed outside of Texas, this state has been ground zero for the reproductive rights battle. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, fired back:
Unsurprisingly, her Republican challenger for the governor's mansion was far more supportive of the SCOTUS decision:
Yvonne Gutierrez, executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, positively rolled her eyes at his glee over the ruling.
More at http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2014-06-30/texas-responds-to-hobby-lobby-contraception-case/ .
In other mews, it's time to play Meownopoly!
How can it be a tokin’ cat without catnip?
Tuxedo Cat--all dressed up with nowhere to GO.
The doggie token is banished.
TxT’s opinion about the catnip: It’s GREAT!
If you're a fan of Monopoly then you know that about a year ago Parker Brothers said bye bye, iron, and hello, kitty. The board game that's been around since the 1930s introduced a cat that will replace the iron as one of the tokens, or game pieces. (Don't worry, the thimble is hanging in).
Purists of the board game might not like the move, but game-maker Hasbro let the cat -- in huge form -- roam around London.
The celebri-cat was photographed posing on Millennium Bridge, approaching a Tube station and visiting the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, where at least one dog jumped on its back. And maybe the Scottie dog token will have some competition now that the cat joins the other choices of race car, thimble, shoe, battleship, top hat and wheelbarrow.
Earlier in the year fans from more than 185 countries weighed in on Facebook to select the cat as the new token over a robot, diamond ring, helicopter or standard guitar.
"While we're a bit sad to see the iron go, the cat token is a fantastic choice by the fans and we have no doubt it will become just as iconic as the original tokens," Eric Nyman, senior vice president and global brand leader for Hasbro Gaming, says in a statement.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-london-cat-monopoly-game-20130730,0,7997793.story?track=rss
[font color=green]The cat lover’s edition doesn’t have an excise tax, but $75 for catnip? Yes, my fur is ruffled.
Meanwhile, instead of railroads there is the yarn, box, paper bag and scratching post. The utilities were replaced by mouse and fish. But what really hurts is that the income tax was replaced by litter box maintenance. However, I also think they missed on a mew oppurrtunities by not substituting “Window Sill Cat Perch” fur “Free Parking” and “Go to Vet” instead of “Go to Jail” with a picture of a cat carrier.[/font]
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,424
