July 20, 2015

Parents sue state over birth certificates--children indirectly denied benefits

The undocumented parents of three Cameron County boys are among a throng of plaintiffs suing the state because they have been denied birth certificates.

The trio join 20 other children and their next of kin in Hidalgo and Starr counties as plaintiffs in a suit that claims the lack of documents has caused the children to miss out on federally mandated benefits, like Medicaid and supplemental food vouchers.

Each child was born in a U.S. hospital to undocumented immigrants who no longer possess the identification required by the Texas Department of State Health Services for access to personal data.

DSHS Spokesman Chris Van Deusen said there have been no ID requirement changes at the state level, although he said he could not speak on behalf of local registrars, who do not work for the state directly.

Read more: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_9ca5a630-2e86-11e5-864f-4bd22a80e246.html

July 20, 2015

5,200 turn out to Sanders rally at UH

Source: Houston Chronicle

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spread his progressive message of reducing income inequality, providing free college tuition and taking big money out of politics to Houstonians Sunday night at a packed arena on the University of Houston campus.

He implored his supporters to ask their Republican friends, families and co-workers if it makes sense to grant huge tax breaks for the rich while cutting spending on health care programs and federal student aid.

"Our job is to reach out to our Republican brothers and sisters, working-class people and middle class people, and get their heads right," Sanders said to a boisterous crowd of 5,200 people at UH's Hofheinz Pavilion.

The U.S. senator from Vermont was in Dallas earlier Sunday where he spoke to a crowd of some 7,000 people at a downtown hotel.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/5-2000-turn-out-to-Sanders-rally-at-UH-6393983.php

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Cross-posted in the General Discussion: Primaries forum.

July 20, 2015

5,200 turn out to Sanders rally at UH

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spread his progressive message of reducing income inequality, providing free college tuition and taking big money out of politics to Houstonians Sunday night at a packed arena on the University of Houston campus.

He implored his supporters to ask their Republican friends, families and co-workers if it makes sense to grant huge tax breaks for the rich while cutting spending on health care programs and federal student aid.

"Our job is to reach out to our Republican brothers and sisters, working-class people and middle class people, and get their heads right," Sanders said to a boisterous crowd of 5,200 people at UH's Hofheinz Pavilion.

The U.S. senator from Vermont was in Dallas earlier Sunday where he spoke to a crowd of some 7,000 people at a downtown hotel.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/5-2000-turn-out-to-Sanders-rally-at-UH-6393983.php

Cross-posted in the Late Breaking News forum.

July 20, 2015

Sen. Bernie Sanders heads to New Orleans on July 26

Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator fighting to be the Democratic nominee in the 2016 presidential race, is heading south.

He plans to be in New Orleans Sunday (July 26) to hold a town hall-style meeting, his campaign has announced. On his agenda: money in politics, income inequality, climate change and the cost of a college education.

While Louisiana has become a decidedly Republican stronghold in recent years, New Orleans remains a political island of deep ties to the Democratic Party.

Sanders has become the strongest candidate so far in a field of five to challenge campaign frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/sen_bernie_sanders_democratic.html#incart_2box_

July 19, 2015

Texas Jade Helm Leader: ‘Liberals Are Useless – Can’t Wait To Kill Thousands Of These F*cks’

Pete Lanteri, the notorious and “hot-headed” leader of Counter Jade Helm Texas, is making news again. He apparently was so upset by having to shut down his original Facebook page due to “too many liberal trolls” that he thought it’d be a good idea to vent his frustration by threatening liberals everywhere. This is just the kind of crazy behavior you’d expect from a guy who organized a group with a mission statement that read: “The sole purpose of Counter Jade Helm is to observe the attempted infiltration of our towns.” He also said:

“I can’t wait to kill thousands of these f*cks man!”

He was confronted about it on Fox News Radio by host Alan Colmes, and claims he was just having a “bad couple of days.” He allegedly just came back from cremating his dog and his co-founder, William Silaghi, had just quit because he “couldn’t take the pressure from the liberal media.”

Well, guess what? The post was never deleted. It’s still on his Facebook. You can visit it HERE. If he made the statement due to a short temper, then he would have the courtesy of removing it.

It’s possible that shortly after publishing this article Pete could change it, or restrict his Facebook settings on his account. But, for right now all information is public domain, and it remains unchanged. Regardless, the damage is already done, and it doesn’t matter because a screen shot of the comment has been made available for all read here.



Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/17/texas-jade-helm-leader-liberals-are-useless-cant-wait-to-kill-thousands-of-these-fcks-video/

July 19, 2015

Tom Petty gets it re. the Confederate battle flag: says he was "downright stupid" to use it in perfo

Tom Petty gets it re. the Confederate battle flag: says he was "downright stupid" to use it in performance, and highlights how "we're creating so many of our own problems"

Unlike Kid Rock, the " 'Kiss My Ass' Over the Confederate Flag" Man (who was born and raised in Michigan), true son of the South Tom Petty gets it.

Rolling Stone's Andy Greene explains (links onsite):

South Carolina's decision to lower the Confederate flag on their statehouse has caused a wide range of reactions in the rock community. While many acts are cheering the decision of the South Carolina legislature, some acts are continuing to sell Confederate flag merchandise and rockers like Kid Rock remain defiant. "Isn't Kid Rock from the Midwest?" Tom Petty asks with a chuckle. "I think they were on the other side of the Civil War."

Petty, who featured the Confederate flag prominently onstage during his Southern Accents tour in 1985, spoke to Rolling Stone hours after the flag was taken down to express remorse for his actions.

Tom explains that he used the flag for the one song, "Rebel," during the Southern Accents tour, because the song represents the point of view of "a character who talks about the traditions that have been handed down from family to family" and "still blames the North for the discomfort of his life." "So my thought was the best way to illustrate this character was to use the Confederate flag."

He "regretted it pretty quickly," he says. "I wish I had given it more thought. It was a downright stupid thing to do."

"That flag shouldn't have any part in our government," Tom says. "It shouldn't represent us in any way."

They might have it at the football game or whatever, but they also have it at Klan rallies. If that's part of it in any way, it doesn't belong, in any way, representing the United States of America.

Read more: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2015/07/tom-petty-gets-it-re-confederate-battle.html

July 19, 2015

Biker rally at courthouse in Waco draws about 100 in aftermath of Twin Peaks shootings

WACO -- A crowd of about 100 motorcycle riders from around the state gathered Saturday evening in front of the McLennan County Courthouse to hear exhortations by rally organizers to continue seeking justice for the 177 bikers arrested after the May 17 shootout at the Twin Peaks restaurant.

Sons of Liberty Riders president Mel Moss of Arlington, who introduced other speakers at a microphone, said as the rally started about 6 p.m. that he expected about 130 to attend, but Sheriff Parnell McNamara and several deputies put the number of attendees at about 7 p.m. at approximately 100.

A rally June 7 at the same place drew more than 500 people. Both times, bikers said they were supporting those who were arrested and wrongly charged with engaging in organized criminal activities at Twin Peaks.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident that left nine people dead and 20 hospitalized. Supporters say the vast majority of people arrested had nothing to do with the conflict and continue to protest because many of those arrested, of whom only three remain in jail, have suffered financially and socially.

Read more: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/twin-peaks-biker-shooting/biker-rally-at-courthouse-draws-about/article_04b04377-936c-5309-b808-097d4c2d5070.html

July 19, 2015

Proposed SNAP rules blasted

Benjamin Imbus, a teacher at John Adams Middle School in Albuquerque, tells a public hearing Friday in Santa Fe that many of his students are unable to concentrate in class due to chronic hunger. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

SANTA FE – A plan to reimpose and broaden New Mexico’s work rules for food assistance came under withering criticism Friday, as critics of the Human Services Department’s proposal testified the new requirements – which would affect more than 62,000 people – would do more harm than good in a state long beset by hunger and poverty problems.

The agency’s public hearing on the proposed work rules for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, drew roughly 50 people, with all of those who testified speaking in opposition.

“These requirements are punitive, costly and ineffective, and will only make it more difficult for our already beleaguered poor to jump through hoops,” said Frank Quintana, a minister at the Blessed Oscar Romero Catholic Community in Albuquerque.

The work rules proposed by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration would require parents of children over age 6 to participate in work-related activities – including community service – to qualify for SNAP.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/614436/news/critics-blast-proposed-snap-requirements-as-punitive-misguided.html

July 19, 2015

Rick Perry calls on Donald Trump to withdraw from the presidential race

Real-estate magnate Donald Trump's latest comments were a bridge too far for many top Republican presidential rivals. And at least one candidate wants him out of the race.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said Trump should be disqualified from running for president.

"His attack on veterans make him unfit to be Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces, and he should immediately withdraw from the race for President," Perry said in a statement.

At an event in Iowa on Saturday, Trump raised eyebrows for criticizing Sen. John McCain's (R-Arizona) military service and status as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Rick-Perry-calls-on-Donald-Trump-to-withdraw-from-6392703.php

July 19, 2015

Betty Wright, wife of former U.S. House speaker Jim Wright, dies at 91

Source: AP

FORT WORTH — Betty Wright, the wife of former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright, has died just two months after the death of her husband. She was 91.

Thompson’s Harveson & Cole Funeral Home in Fort Worth confirmed her death. Wright died Wednesday and funeral services are scheduled for Sunday. She will be buried next to her husband in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth.

Betty Wright was known to be reserved but also protective and fiercely dedicated to her husband, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The couple was married for 43 years.

Jim Wright died May 6 at age 92.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional/betty-wright-wife-of-former-us-house-speaker-jim-w/nm25s/