December 31, 2014

Progressive Ins. Co. responds to one of its agents promoting bigotry against LGBTs in Plano

Progressive Insurance sent a response — really a non-response — to one of their agents promoting hatred in Plano.

Although the Plano nondiscrimination ordinance has religious exemptions that include not only churches, but also nonprofit organizations and just about anyone else who really, really wants to discriminate, extremists have begun a recall campaign.

Plano residents found a flyer on their doors sponsored by a church located in neighboring Wylie. A Progressive insurance agency located in Plano is collecting signatures for the recall petition. Just 3,700 signatures are required to place the ordinance on the ballot. Progressive is one of Human Rights Campaigns large donors and received 100 percent on the Corporate Equality Index.

Over the weekend, Progressive sent a response to my inquiry about whether this represents their values or if they were even aware one of their agents was promoting bigotry. Here’s the answer I received:

“At Progressive, we’re committed to creating a diverse work environment where all of our employees can successfully thrive, and where their uniqueness is celebrated. The views of our more than 35,000 independent agents are their own and do not always reflect the views of Progressive.”

http://www.dallasvoice.com/progressive-responds-agents-promoting-bigotry-plano-10186935.html

Related thread:
Check out this hateful flier from opponents of Plano's nondiscrimination ordinance:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107822643

December 31, 2014

Kurds in new Islamic State group offensive in Iraq

Source: AP

BAGHDAD -- Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, Kurdish Iraqi forces said they launched a large-scale offensive Wednesday to push Islamic State group extremists from an area outside the militant-held northern city of Mosul.

The targeted area covers about 120 square kilometers (46 square miles) and is located between the towns of Gwer and Makhmour, Kurdish forces said in a statement. The two towns, both recaptured by peshmerga forces in August, are located northeast of Mosul and near the Kurdish capital of Irbil.

"The objective is to push the enemy farther away from both areas," the statement said.

The U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that the international coalition it leads had conducted seven airstrikes against militants' positions in Syria and three in Iraq, using fighter jets and drones.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/world/article5229027.html

December 31, 2014

$215M domed ski resort planned for North Texas

Texas skiers looking to hit the slopes in the coming years could find themselves traveling to a Dallas suburb rather than the mountains of Colorado or New Mexico.

City leaders in Grand Prairie are expected to vote in January on a $215 million plan to build the country's first snow dome.

Grand Alps Resort would offer seven slopes year-round, a snowboard course and a Hard Rock Hotel. The complex would cover about 60 acres.

Sherman Thurston, president of the Grand Alps Group, says land purchases could start by February with groundbreaking in May. Developers are projecting a 2017 opening.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/215m-domed-ski-resort-planned-for-north-texas/njdQS/

December 30, 2014

House GOP leader once addressed white supremacists

As Republicans struggle to attract more votes from minorities heading into the 2016 presidential election, a House GOP leader has acknowledged that he once addressed a gathering of white supremacists, though his office denies any association with the group's social views.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, the chamber's third-ranking Republican, served in the Louisiana Legislature when he appeared in 2002 at a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke founded the group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group.

In a written statement, Scalise aide Moira Bagley Smith confirmed that Scalise addressed the group as it gathered at a New Orleans-area hotel near the neighborhoods that both Scalise and Duke represented during separate stints as state lawmakers.

Smith said in her statement that Scalise spoke only to rally support for conservative fiscal policies in Louisiana, not to endorse the mission and views of his audience. Smith's statement came after a liberal Louisiana blogger, Lamar White Jr., first reported the 12-year-old story using online postings from members.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/House-GOP-leader-once-addressed-white-supremacists-5983900.php

December 30, 2014

Court taps judges to hear gay marriage case involving Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi

Three federal appellate judges will hear arguments next week in lawsuits challenging state prohibitions of same-sex marriage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced on its website Monday.

Judges Patrick Higginbotham of Dallas, Jerry Smith of Houston and James Graves Jr. of Jackson, Miss., will sit on a panel that will hear appeals from state officials in Texas and Mississippi of lower-court rulings that overturned the two states’ gay marriage bans.

In the Louisiana case, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld his state’s ban, so there, same-sex couples are appealing.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, who closely tracks the gay marriage suits, said in an interview that while the 5th Circuit is one of the most conservative appellate courts in the country, opponents of gay marriage aren’t guaranteed to prevail.

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/court-taps-judges-to-hear-gay-marriage-case.html/

Cross-posted in the General Discussion forum.

December 30, 2014

Court taps judges to hear gay marriage case involving Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi

Three federal appellate judges will hear arguments next week in lawsuits challenging state prohibitions of same-sex marriage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced on its website Monday.

Judges Patrick Higginbotham of Dallas, Jerry Smith of Houston and James Graves Jr. of Jackson, Miss., will sit on a panel that will hear appeals from state officials in Texas and Mississippi of lower-court rulings that overturned the two states’ gay marriage bans.

In the Louisiana case, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld his state’s ban, so there, same-sex couples are appealing.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, who closely tracks the gay marriage suits, said in an interview that while the 5th Circuit is one of the most conservative appellate courts in the country, opponents of gay marriage aren’t guaranteed to prevail.

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/court-taps-judges-to-hear-gay-marriage-case.html/

Cross-posted in the LGBT Group.

December 30, 2014

Court panel a blow to Texas abortion providers

In a blow to abortion providers, the federal appeals court panel that will determine if the state’s tighter abortion regulations are constitutional includes two judges who strongly backed other parts of the law, known as House Bill 2, in a previous ruling.

All three judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel, which was named Monday, were appointed by former President George W. Bush — Jennifer Walker Elrod, Catharina Haynes and Edward Prado.

Elrod and Haynes were on a separate panel that last March upheld HB2’s requirement that abortion doctors obtain admitting privileges in a nearby hospital, ruling that the regulation didn’t unconstitutionally limit access to abortion, despite forcing clinics to close.

The current case, which will be argued Jan. 7 in New Orleans, will determine if Texas can enforce an HB2 provision requiring abortions to be performed in facilities that meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Only seven or eight clinics meet the standard.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/court-panel-a-blow-to-texas-abortion-providers/njcPT/

December 30, 2014

White House Fence Jumper Is Washington Free Beacon "Man Of The Year"

Never lacking in poor GOP humor, the Washington Free Beacon keeps trying to be funny, and failing. If it wasn’t this video, it’s today’s pronouncement that Omar Gonzalez, is the Beacon‘s man of the year, along with Coach K. who used his coaching fame as a platform for criticizing the president’s ‘refusal to put boots on the ground.’ Gonzalez jumped the White House fence on September 19 of this year and thus made the antagonist-conservatives at Free Beacon very happy.

According to this source of everything manly and patriotic, it turns out that if you wish to harm this twice-legally elected president, you are the greatest man in America. The sociopath-psychos at Free Beacon, especially managing editor Matthew Continetti, strive to antagonize the people that are trying to make government work. It’s their manly, patriotic duty to disparage the black president, going as far as to glorify an insane attempt on the First Family’s life. The Beacon also falsely allocates any internal Secret Service issues to President Obama himself, as if he picks and chooses the people who make up that branch of security. It’s another sure sign that Republicans really need to grow up and accept reality.

http://www.alan.com/2014/12/29/white-house-fence-jumper-is-washington-free-beacon-man-of-the-year/

December 30, 2014

Gun Enthusiast Shoots Wife Dead. Hard To Believe, HUH?

SPRING, TEXAS -- A Texas man called 911 on Sunday morning and admitted to shooting and killing his wife, according to authorities. As it turns out, Martin Gaytan, 24, has quite a fascination for guns and he shared that enthusiasm on Facebook.

Authorities say that Gaytan told them that he and his wife, Monica Gaytan, also 24, had an argument at their home around 5:00 a.m. at their home in Spring, Texas.

Martin Gaytan claims Monica Gaytan pointed a gun at him. Martin Gaytan allegedly told investigators that he took the gun away from his wife and shot her multiple times, ABC 13 reports.

Monica Gaytan was pronounced dead at the scene.

A glance through their Facebook posts reveals a fascination with guns.

Read more: http://freakoutnation.com/2014/12/gun-enthusiast-shoots-wife-dead-hard-to-believe-huh/

December 30, 2014

Crackpot Utopia: The Year in Republican Crazy, Part 7

Crackpot Utopia: A dream world as envisioned by republicans; a manifestation or expression of the deranged, warped alternate universe inhabited by republicans, at least in their minds. See also: Bachmannism, Boehneresque.

1. And so it begins: The running of the buffoons


2016 GOP Buffoon No. 1 steps forward: He-e-ere's Booby!

The media will call it the Extended Republican Primary Season, the period where all sorts of weirdos and wackos come out of the woodwork of American society and begin vying for the republican nomination for president. This is the freak show that leads up to the November 2016 election.

Already, at the end of 2014, one buffoon is stepping forward! It's Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and, he's even starting out his campaign just like Texas Gov. Rick Perry did in 2012. Praise God, hallelujah! No, really.

-snip-

2. Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 7:
George Will has no idea what rape is




-snip-

3. Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 8:
Rick Wiles calls for a coup



-snip-

- See more at: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2014/12/crackpot-utopia-year-in-republican_29.html