August 1, 2013

Rep. Lloyd Doggett Answers Calls by DREAMers And Community, Stops Deportation of Texas Mother

Earlier this week, we covered a story of a Texas mother facing deportation unless Representative Lloyd Doggett made an administrative intervention on her behalf.

DREAMers, immigrant youth, and community leaders from Austin and their families called on Congressman Lloyd Doggett to stop the deportation of Mara Veronica Ayala, a Texas mother of a four-year-old U.S. citizen. Her deportation date was set today, Thursday.

Upon hearing her case, Rep. Doggett sent a letter of support to ICE. This family will not be forced to be separated -- the mother has been granted temporary stay!

Rep. Doggett had this statement to share with us:

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/13870/rep-lloyd-doggett-answers-calls-by-dreamers-and-community-stops-deportation-of-texas-mother .

August 1, 2013

Mystery Houston-Area Democrat Starts Building Statewide Team

Late last night, the following job listing appeared on Texas Blue Pages, a website designed to "connect professionals in the fields of progressive politics and advocacy to career opportunities and resources."

Christine's List is also a website designed to place professionals in careers of public policy as it relates to politics, communications, non-profits, and more and is not specifically limited by any political ideology. Christine's List is a professional site to go to for finding a job on campaigns, not far away from the existing establishment sources such as the state party, Annie's List, and unions where a staffer could have been quietly recruited and transferred rather than publicly recruited. Further, this persons is hiring a regional fundraiser, which implies they understand how a campaign should be structured, implying that they are likely a professional and will be taking this campaign seriously.

The one other clue we have is that the job is Houston based. Because this is a statewide offer, this may be a head fake or the offer may be for this person to work in a satellite office. However, because it is this early, and there are no other known regional fundraisers being hired, it is likely this is a Houston based candidate who is looking to hire in their main office.

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/13868/breaking-mystery-democrat-starts-building-statewide-team .

August 1, 2013

Be Careful What you Ask For: Unplanned Pregnancies and Abortions are Up

By Dr. Brian Carr
President, Behavioral Health Associates, Lubbock, Texas, 1991-Present
Chairman, City of Lubbock Board of Health, 2013
Submitted on August 1, 2013 - 7:28 am

Thanks to the Extreme Right wing of the Republican Party abortions are up and women’s health care is suffering. A recently released study found that in 2010, publicly-funded family planning services saved the government $10.5 billion dollars, along with helping women prevent 2.2 million unplanned pregnancies and close to 760,000 abortions. Of course, all this was before those on the Extreme Right started their campaign against familiy planning services. The success of this effort across our country and here in Texas has stripped away this benefit and left misery in its wake.

Now who could be unhappy about decreasing unplanned pregnancies and abortions? Yes, you are correct, the Extreme Right who demand that something be done.

In the name of austerity, Republicans have been working hard to destroy the federal Title X program, which provides funding for these programs and health centers. In 2010, these health centers served 4.7 million women across the country, helping to prevent 1.2 million unintended pregnancies which would have resulted (based on historical statistical data trends) in an estimated 590,000 unplanned births and 400,000 abortions.

An additional figure shows that taxpayers saved $5.68 for every dollar the government spent on contraceptives that year. Studies have repeatedly found that women having access to contraception has a positive impact. 66 studies over the course of three decades show that a woman’s ability to control her own fertility affects not just birth rates, but also mental health, children’s well-being, and general “life satisfaction.”

“The scientific evidence strongly confirms what has long been obvious to women,” Adam Sonfield, lead author of the review said. “Contraceptive use, and the ensuing ability to decide whether and when to have children, is linked to a host of benefits for themselves, the quality of their relationships, and the well-being of their children”.

So with such obvious good news for both pro-life and pro-choice why did Texas defund these programs given the obvious consequences of increased unplanned pregnancies and abortions?

What is revealed is that there are those on the Extreme Right who are not actually pro-life so much as they are anti-contraception. For others the issue is the suppression of women’s rights and a return to a more polite society where women submitted to men and were second class citizens.

Facts, and outcomes, are of little concern to those on the Extreme Right. The best approach is to uncover their true agenda and call them out for the repressive, bigoted, fools that they are.

TAGS:

LubbockOnline Blog
anti-contraception
Extreme Right
heartless
Lubbock
mental
need to keep em barefoot and pregnant
no rubbers for the rain
no soup for you
Perry needs a special session and a siren
Pro-Life till Birth
Texas

http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/dr-brian-carr/2013-08-01/be-careful-what-you-ask-unplanned-pregnancies-and

August 1, 2013

Obama orders review of chemical plant rules

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is ordering federal agencies to review safety rules at chemical facilities in response to the deadly April explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant.

In an executive order announced Thursday, Obama tasks agencies with identifying new ways to safely store and secure ammonium nitrate, the explosive chemical investigators say caused the blast. Agencies are also being told to determine whether additional chemicals should be covered by federal regulatory programs.

The massive explosion at the plant in the community of West, Texas, killed 15 people, leveled hundreds of structures and damaged three of the town's four schools. It also prompted new scrutiny of regulations at chemical plants and the risks posed by deadly chemicals to people living in surrounding areas.

While the explosion is still being investigated, preliminary findings have been presented to Congress. A report sent to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in June showed that the decades-old standards used to regulate fertilizer chemicals are far weaker than those used in other countries.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Obama-orders-review-of-chemical-plant-rules-4700181.php?cmpid=hpts

---

Eeeeewwwwww, that is going to make Rick Perry mad.

August 1, 2013

Indicted Galveston judge arrested again

GALVESTON - A Galveston County judge already under nine indictments related to his official conduct has been indicted on additional charges of aggravated perjury, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Thursday.

County Court-at-Law Judge Christopher Dupuy (R) surrendered to sheriff's deputies Wednesday at the Galveston County Jail and was released on $1,000 bond by 6:45 p.m., Trochesset said.

Dupuy is accused of making two false statements while testifying in a custody battle over his two children with his ex-wife, Adrienne Viterna.

He testified that he first learned on May 22 that attorney Greg Enos had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging the use of Dupuy's chambers to provide legal assistance to his then-fiancee. At least three publications, including the Houston Chronicle, published articles mentioning emails sent to them by Dupuy prior to May 22 that referred to the criminal complaint.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Indicted-Galveston-judge-arrested-again-4700298.php .

August 1, 2013

Owners of apartments wrecked in West explosion sue fertilizer maker CF Industries

Owners of the apartment complex decimated in the West Fertilizer Co. explosion have joined the list of plaintiffs seeking damages from the world’s second-largest ammonium nitrate maker.

CF Industries, a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded company based in suburban Chicago, is alleged to have made the ammonium nitrate fertilizer that detonated after a fire engulfed the facility on April 17. The blast killed 15 people, injured hundreds and left at least $100 million in property damage.

Liability questions first focused on West Fertilizer Co. Authorities said the company had kept the chemical in wooden bins in a warehouse with no sprinkler system. The locally owned company had only $1 million in insurance to cover any damages it caused.

In recent weeks, the city of West and dozens of residents sustaining losses have turned attention to CF Industries.

More at http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/owners-of-apartments-wrecked-in-west-explosion-sue-fertilizer-maker-cf-industries.html/ .