TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalProtesters disrupt rally at Capitol by Muslims, supporters; Rep. Molly White criticized on Facebook
What was supposed to be a rally at the Texas Capitol Thursday promoting political engagement and tolerance for Muslims and was largely derailed by sustained screams from protesters loudly advocating for something quite apart from peace and love.
Texas Muslim Capitol Day was organized by Texas chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose members intended to raise awareness on issues, advocate on a number of bills and celebrate their right as Americans — and in one speaker’s case an eighth-generation Texan — to be part of the political process.
But not one of the 10 or so speakers at the hourlong event managed to finish a sentence without being heckled by noisome group of maybe two dozen that fanned out about 20 paces from the south steps of the statehouse. A patriotic song by the Houston Koran Academy didn’t even silence the screaming.
CAIR-TX spokeswoman Ruth Nasrullah had barely begun the program when a woman briefly commandeered the podium and attempted to claim the Capitol in the name of Jesus Christ. The woman, a native Michigander who said she goes “wherever the Lord calls,” later said she was seized by “righteous anger” and felt she’d accomplished what she attempted to do Thursday morning.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/protesters-disrupt-rally-at-capitol-by-muslims-sup/njzNr/
[font color=green]...because my god is better than you god...[/font] 
Ken Paxton investigation closed by Travis County
The Travis County district attorney’s office has concluded its investigation into securities law violations by Attorney General Ken Paxton without filing charges.
An investigation by the agency’s Public Integrity Unit determined that Travis County lacked jurisdiction over the Paxton allegations, District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said Thursday.
“Any conduct that might constitute an offense occurred outside of Travis County, and venue for any further investigation would be in the county where the conduct occurred,” Lehmberg said in a statement.
Lehmberg’s office referred the case to prosecutors in Collin and Dallas counties, she added.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/travis-county-closes-ken-paxton-investigation/njzNR/
Highland Park ISD parent calls book on poverty ‘socialist, Marxist’
A parent challenging the use of a nonfiction book about poverty in Highland Park ISD says it is a “socialist, Marxist book” taught with a political agenda.
Meg Bakich, a University Park mother of five, told an online talk show recently that she objects to the use of the book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, in an Advanced Placement English class for college-level high school juniors. Students are asked to analyze texts and write about contemporary issues such as poverty, education and the economy.
“This English class is really a year-long undermining of American values,” she said.
A committee of parents, staff and students will soon review The Working Poor, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David K. Shipler, to decide if it should stay in use. The book is about men and women in the U.S. who live just above the poverty line.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/park-cities/headlines/20150128-highland-park-isd-parent-calls-book-on-poverty-socialist-marxist.ece
[font color=green]How dare the privileged children in tony Highland Park have to read about poverty.[/font] 
Rick Perry calls indictment ‘badge of honor’
AUSTIN — Former Gov. Rick Perry made clear Wednesday night he is not ashamed of his indictment on abuse-of-power charges, likening it to a “badge of honor” for fighting a prosecution he has long held as overzealous.
In his first interview since a judge refused Tuesday to dismiss the case, Perry did not seem fazed by the legal setback, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity that “everything’s pretty much going as expected.” Fresh off back-to-back trips to Iowa and South Carolina, Perry suggested he is not trying to hide the indictment as he prepares for a 2016 presidential campaign.
“What I tell people is I wear this as a badge of honor — standing up for the rule of law and the Constitution,” Perry told Hannity.
Perry’s comments echo what he told reporters Wednesday morning in Austin, vowing to keep up his fight against the charges and not let the case derail a potential second bid for the White House. In his interview with Hannity, Perry reiterated he is on track to announce whether he is running in May or June.
Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-politics/2015/01/rick-perry-calls-indictment-badge-of-honor/
Jesse Ventura won't see 'American Sniper,' says Chris Kyle is no hero
MINNEAPOLIS — "American Sniper" is tops at the box office, but don't expect to see former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura lining up at a theater for it.
Ventura, a former Navy SEAL, won $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit last year against the estate of the late Chris Kyle, the SEAL protagonist of the movie, which has sparked debate over whether snipers should be considered heroes. Ventura said Wednesday he won't see the film partly because Kyle is no hero to him.
"A hero must be honorable, must have honor. And you can't have honor if you're a liar. There is no honor in lying," Ventura told The Associated Press from his winter home in Baja California, Mexico. He also noted that the movie isn't playing there.
Ventura also dismissed the movie as propaganda because it conveys the false idea that Iraq had something to do with the 9/11 attacks. "It's as authentic as 'Dirty Harry,'" he said, referring to fictional movie series starring Clint Eastwood, the director of "American Sniper."
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/movies/headlines/20150128-jesse-ventura-won-t-see-american-sniper-says-chris-kyle-is-no-hero.ece
Greece appoints UT professor as finance minister
AUSTIN -- A visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin was named the finance minster of Greece Tuesday.
Dr. Yanis Varoufakis taught classes at Lyndon B. Johnson's School of Public Affiars. Varoufakis was elected to the Greek Parliament Sunday, and sworn in Tuesday. Varoufakis is known as a distinguished economist, game theorist and analytic philosopher, according to a new release by the LBJ School.
The same day, Greece's new prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, was also sworn in.
In 2008, Greece was hit hard by the global financial crisis. Greece was bailed out in 2010, but had to agree to the terms. Greece's new prime minster, along with Varoufakis, are vocal about not agreeing to the terms of the bailout.
Read more: http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/01/28/greece-selects-ut-austin-professor-as-finance-minister/22465603/
Sen. Cornyn releases statement on 'tender, doughy' kolaches
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn issued a news release late Wednesday in support of kolaches.
The release, featuring an article by the Texas Republican, seems to be an endorsement of the “tender, doughy pastries” introduced to the state by the Czech community.
Here’s more on kolaches from Cornyn:
Czech-Tex Kolaches: Baked In Tradition
We can thank our friends in the Texas Czech community for introducing Texans to kolaches some 150 years ago, when Czech families began settling in spots like present-day Fayette, Austin and Lavaca counties.
Though they were unable to bring many physical belongings on the long voyage by sea and wagon to the black prairie of Eastern Central Texas, early Czech settlers made up for this by bringing their rich culture and traditions with them to the Lone Star State.
One of these was the preparation of kolaches, most likely evolving from the word “kola” – meaning “wheels” or “rounds.” Legend has it that centuries ago, on a farm in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a bored young girl was given a piece of dough by her mother to play with so her mother could continue baking uninterrupted. The girl rolled and flattened her dough, placed some plums in the center, and slipped the pastry into the oven with the rest of her mother’s baking. When her father arrived that evening, he bit into the pastry but was immediately burned by the scalding surprise of baked plums in the center. As he hopped in a circle around the table in pain, the little girl said her father was making a “kola,” or “wheels.”
Whether this legend is the true origin of kolaches – we may never know. But history does tell us that traditional kolaches began as a circular pastry the size of a pie – not like the rectangular treats we see today in Texas – and were prepared mostly for weddings, special celebrations, or Sunday gatherings, when families would visit each other’s homes. Unlike some of the evolutions we see today that resemble a “Hot Pocket,” traditional kolaches were prepared with the fillings resting on top of the pastry, not encased in the dough. Traditional kolaches were typically made with apricot, poppy seed, prune, and sweet cheese—ingredients that were easily in reach for farming families in 19th Century Texas.
Today, kolaches are made with a wide variety of ingredients, including sausage, chocolate, jalapeno cheese—even brisket. They’re sold everywhere from Texas highway rest stops to family bakeries in towns along the Czech Belt, like the Village Bakery in West, Texas, which opened in 1952 and is known as the “First All-Czech Bakery in Texas.” According to co-owner Mimi Montgomery, before the Village Bakery opened, kolaches could only be found at weddings and other gatherings. “There was no business on a commercial level,” she says. “It wasn’t easy to make them in quantity. Luckily, my father was a chemist, and my grandmother, who was Czech, helped my dad develop the recipe.” She claims the vintage, gas-fired oven has been essential to their success. “The oven is part of our secret. It takes years to season an oven like ours. There aren’t a lot of them around.”
Also in West is the Czech Stop and Little Czech Bakery, a combination deli/bakery located on the northbound IH-35 frontage road and known for its sweet and savory kolaches. I visited the Czech Stop on April 19, 2013, just after the tragic fertilizer plant explosion that shook the small community to its core. The Czech Stop is a common meeting place for locals, and the employees are proud to know many of their customers by name. So central is the eatery to the local community that many of the residents, including some injured, flocked to the Czech Stop within minutes of the explosion. I can imagine that being there gave them a sense of normalcy during a horrific time and a chance to check on the condition of their friends and neighbors. The Czech Stop stayed open that night, and in the following days served as a drop-off point for those looking to donate clothing and other items to a community that had lost so much. The store also donated water, ice, and of course—kolaches—to the impacted families.
While we Texans will forever feel a special kinship with kolaches, little by little they are making their way to other corners of the country, with kolache bakeries popping up in places like Portland, Brooklyn and the soon-to-be-launched Republic Kolache Co. in our nation’s capital. Some who were fortunate enough to inherit Old World recipes from grandmothers and great-grandmothers resist the evolution of the kolache, preferring to preserve the more authentic pastry and traditional ingredients.
Dawn Orsak, an Austin-based folklorist who studies Czech heritage in Texas, told the New York Times, “The experimental versions got a lot of popular attention. An artisan backlash is peaking now. And another move toward wide popularity is building. Kolaches will probably continue to evolve as part of that cycle.”
Wherever the cycle takes them, I’m just glad kolaches are a staple here in Texas, where I know they’ll always remain a Czech-Tex favorite.
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/adam-d-young/2015-01-28/sen-cornyn-releases-statement-tender-doughy-kolaches#.VMmNDC7y1Z8
[Font color=green]Yes, this is the ridiculous crap that we have coming from the well paid Republican Congressman; therefore, I am giving this rating to his statement:
Charles Townes, physicist who helped develop lasers, dies at 99
Source: New York Times
Charles H. Townes, a visionary physicist whose research led to the development of the laser, making it possible to play CDs, scan prices at the supermarket, measure time precisely, survey planets and galaxies and even witness the birth of stars, died on Tuesday in Oakland, California. He was 99.
His daughter Linda Rosenwein confirmed his death.
In 1964, Townes and two Russians shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on microwave-emitting devices, called masers, and their light-emitting successors, lasers, which have transformed modern communications, medicine, astronomy, weapons systems and daily life in homes and workplaces.
One of the most versatile inventions of the 20th century, the laser amplifies waves of stimulated atoms that shoot out as narrow beams of light, to read CDs and bar codes, guide missiles, cut steel, perform eye surgery, make astronomical measurements and carry out myriad other tasks, from transmitting a thousand books a second over fiber optic lines to entertaining crowds with light shows.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150128-charles-townes-physicist-who-helped-develop-lasers-dies-at-99.ece
Woman accused of corpse abuse pleads guilty to food stamp fraud
FORT WORTH -- A former funeral home owner faces 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to one count of food stamp fraud.
Rachel Hardy-Johnson, 35, of Mansfield also faces state charges of abuse of a corpse and theft in an unrelated case involving the now-defunct Johnson Family Mortuary in Fort Worth.
In the federal case, Hardy-Johnson could also be fined $250,000 when she is sentenced in May.
Hardy-Johnson used cashier’s checks to pay $26,000 for a 2006 Hummer and $41,700 for a 2008 Mercedes-Benz in February 2011. That April, she went to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission office in Dallas to sign up for federal assistance, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article8411691.html
Facebook post lands Mineral Wells man in jail after bragging about his arrest warrants
MINERAL WELLS -- File this one under the category of things best not posted on Facebook.
A 22-year-old Mineral Wells man is behind bars after allegedly posting on his Facebook page that he had more than a dozen warrants out for his arrest.
“So, I have 16 warrants out right now. Lol they know where I’m at tho so, it must not be TOO bad,” Eddie Smith’s Facebook page read on Jan. 20.
That same day, a concerned citizen sent a Facebook message to the Mineral Wells Police Officers Association. Sure enough, investigators looked into the claim and found Smith was wanted on 14 city warrants, according to detective Nick Wells.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article8159526.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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