SARose
SARose's JournalAppeals court blocks Texas from enforcing book rating law
Editor's note: In a split vote, the full panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined on April 16 to reconsider this case. Five judges issued a dissent saying they would have liked the court to re-hear it. The previous ruling, reported below, remains in effect.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday from enforcing a state law requiring booksellers to rate the explicitness and relevance of sexual references in materials they sell to schools.
The appellate court, one of the most conservative in the nation, sided with booksellers who sued the state after claiming House Bill 900 violated their First Amendment rights. The court affirmed a lower court’s decision to prevent TEA Commissioner Mike Morath from enforcing the 2023 law.
Wednesday’s decision was somewhat surprising since the appellate court blocked the lower court’s ruling in November. Addressing the reversal, Judge Don Willett with the 5th Circuit wrote that a “different panel of this court” had granted the state’s appeal to block that ruling.
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Son! I am socked I tell ya shocked! The little weasel loses again. 😂 So much winning.
Note to Dan Patrick: When you lose the 5th Circuit maybe time to go home and stick your ugly, fascist ideas where the sun don’t shine.
Ohhh it’s a good day!😉
Why does Texas want to kill guaranteed income, but fund school vouchers?
Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to quash Harris County’s guaranteed income program, arguing the Texas Constitution prohibits counties or cities from “granting public money or thing of value in aid of or to any individual.”
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Paxton’s lawsuit to axe Uplift Harris, which he describes as a “welfare scheme” and "socialist experiment," comes while Texas pushes for a controversial education savings account program, also known as school vouchers. These accounts use taxpayer money to help parents pay for their children's private school tuition.
So, what's the difference between these two publicly funded state programs?
According to Southern Methodist University political science professor Calvin Jillson, Paxton’s lawsuit is “clearly political."
“If it’s mostly a lottery, it's probably more difficult to defend,” Jillson told Chron. “There are all kinds of programs in which public money goes towards private individuals, and the question is whether or not those programs are structured to provide judicial scrutiny. And sometimes programs are, and other times they're struck down.”
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I’m just gonna leave this here. If I comment, I will say not very nice things.
You little weasel.🤬
Colin Allred's fundraising
for U.S. Senate race surpasses O’Rourke’s early 2018 pace
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign this quarter, surpassing Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 first quarter sum of $6.7 million.
BY MATTHEW CHOI
APRIL 15, 2024
4 HOURS AGO
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in this year’s first quarter, surpassing the campaign of his rival Sen. Ted Cruz.
Notably, Allred has also raised more money than Beto O’Rourke did by this point in his own history-making run against Cruz in 2018.
O’Rourke raised over $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 against Cruz. The El Paso Democrat’s haul that quarter was the biggest of any Democratic Senate candidate in the country.
Cruz raised over $6.9 million from his official campaign this past quarter, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Still, the conservative senator remains a formidable fundraiser, bringing in over $9.7 million across his fundraising entities. That includes money he has raised for other candidates.
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Ohhhh yeahhhh! 👏
Judge Halts Texas AG's Probe Into Media Matters
BY ANDREW PEREZ
APRIL 12, 2024
A JUDGE ON Friday moved to halt an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) into the liberal watchdog journalism organization Media Matters, issuing a preliminary injunction in the case.
Calling Media Matters a “radical left-wing” and “anti-free speech organization,” Paxton claimed to be investigating “potential fraudulent activity” by the group under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act, in response to its reporting about X — the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
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D.C. District Court Judge Amit Mehta granted Media Matters’ request for a preliminary injunction in its case against Texas on Friday. “Plaintiffs’ reporting on matters of public concern are core First Amendment activities,” the judge wrote, asserting that Paxton was pursuing Media Matters with “retaliatory intent” over acts “with no apparent connection to Texas.”
Mehta issued an order blocking Paxton from enforcing his office’s original investigative demands and from issuing any additional demands relating to the investigation he announced in November.
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It’s a good day! Sit on it - you little weasel. 👍👍
'The worst flop ever':
How Texas’ MAGA governor ruined Eagle Pass’ solar eclipse weekend
Carl GibsonApril 06, 2024
The local economy of Eagle Pass, Texas was all set to rake in a huge financial windfall this weekend, when the town was expected to play host to tens of thousands of visitors eager to be the first in the US to see Monday's solar eclipse. Instead, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's ongoing border standoff with the federal government ended up scaring most tourists away.
According to the Daily Beast, Aide Castano — the municipality's marketing and tourism director — told a meeting of the local Rotary Club last year that the town of 28,000 residents could expect to see its population temporarily swell to more than 100,000 people on the first weekend of April for the eclipse boom. The city scheduled a music festival to take place dubbed the "57 South Music Festival" set to last three nights, featuring 17 bands on two separate stages.
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Meanwhile, the intimidating presence of troops and razor wire at the Rio Grande ended up scuttling the original plans for the 57 South Music Festival in Eagle Pass for the weekend of the solar eclipse. The Beast reported that the location for the festival was moved to the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, which is a 20-minute drive by car. As a result of the change, tickets for the festival dropped significantly in price. And at a March 14 town hall meeting, the town lowered their expectations for eclipse visitors from more than 100,000 to approximately 50,000.
Garcia-Grewell, the Eagle Pass resident, recalled to the Beast that she was told the city spent roughly $3.5 million on the festival, yet sold only 2,500 tickets. She further elaborated that the city would have had to sell tickets at $1,400 apiece just to break even when accounting for the total cost.
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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Ad money from Sen. Ted Cruz podcast
flows to super PAC focused on his reelection
Told of payments, BP America pulls its ads from podcasts that send revenue to political parties, campaigns or committees.
WASHINGTON — A super PAC focused on getting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz reelected has received hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to advertising revenue from Cruz’s “Verdict” podcast, an unusual campaign finance arrangement that raises legal questions.
Public scrutiny of the payments could prompt advertisers to follow BP America Inc.’s lead and redirect their business to avoid indirectly supporting the Texas Republican’s effort to win a third six-year term.
Contacted by The Dallas Morning News, BP America, based in Cruz’s hometown of Houston, said it was unaware that ad revenue from the podcast was flowing to a pro-Cruz organization.
“We purchase advertising on iHeart based on the potential audience and do not specify by podcasts,” BP America spokesperson Ross Parman said. “We were never informed that media spend was going directly to a super PAC and have instructed iHeart to remove our messages from any podcasts that direct advertising revenue to campaigns, PACs or political parties.”
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Busted! More than $630,000 from iHeart.
Oh it’s a gooooddd day!
Ted Cruz begs and pleads for donations
as Dem challenger’s campaign heats up
Alex Henderson
April 05, 2024
History is repeating itself with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
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Now, as he seeks a third term, Cruz is sounding the alarm about another Democratic challenger: Colin Allred. A University of Texas, Tyler poll released in early March found Texas' 2024 U.S. Senate race to be a dead heat, with Cruz and Allred tied at 41 percent.
During a Wednesday, April 3 appearance on Sean Hannity's show, Cruz begged and pleaded for donations and warned Fox News viewers that Republicans shouldn't take Allred's campaign lightly.
Cruz argued, "The Democrats are coming after me. They are gonna spend more than $100 million this year. George Soros is already spending millions of dollars in the state of Texas…. My opponent, a liberal Democrat named Colin Allred, is outraising Beto O’Rourke, my last opponent, 3-to-1. They are flooding millions of dollars into Texas, and the reason is simple. You remember my last reelect, it was a three-point race. I won by 2.6 percent."
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Be still my heart. 🤣
Porn sites are banning Texas.
Here's what Texans are Googling in response
If the people around you seem a little more tense, here's why.
By Warren Brown
March 23, 2024
I'm calling it now — this is going to be the year of cold showers in Texas. Pornhub may have been the first, or at least the most high profile, adult website to ban Texas users but others are following suit.
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But one thing the whole debacle has provided a reminder of is just how horny the Lone Star State is. The amount of search traffic related to these sites going incognito and for virtual private network (VPN) services to circumvent the bans has been awe inspiring.
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One of the top searches for that time period — up 3,500% — was "how to watch porn in Texas?" Lubbock scored highest and the East Texas region of Tyler-Longview and Lufkin Nacogdoches searched for the term second most. Corpus Christ came third, followed by the region encompassing Waco, Temple, and Bryan at No. 4. The top five was rounded out by Austin and San Antonio finished No. 7.
The top search term for VPNs in Texas was "free VPN." The search traffic for this is a close race near the top, but Austin ranked No. 1, followed by Waco, Temple, and Bryan at No. 2; Lubbock at No. 3; DFW at No. 4; and Wichita Falls and Lawton, Oklahoma, at No. 5. San Antonio fell to No. 8 for this search.
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Let me see excluding Austin, San Antonio and maybe Corpus, all the remaining cities are ruby red.
Don’t mess with Texas. 🤪😂
Enforcing Texas' new immigration law
may be challenging, even for authorities that support it
BY ALEJANDRO SERRANO
MARCH 21, 2024
Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland has 54 miles of U.S.-Mexico border in the West Texas jurisdiction he patrols, and five deputies.
Cleveland said he “fully” supports Texas’ new immigration law that will let authorities like him arrest people suspected of illegally entering the state from another country. He also appreciates Operation Lone Star, the state’s border security initiative that has given him funds to hire two deputies and buy equipment and vehicles.
But Cleveland, who served as a Border Patrol agent for 26 years before becoming sheriff of the county where he grew up, must also contemplate reality. His jail can only hold seven people, he said. The nearest legal points of entry into the country, through which those arrested under the new law would have to be returned in some instances, are hours away.
“Business as usual here, meaning: We have that tool in our toolbelt if we need it,” Cleveland said of the new law during a phone interview Wednesday that he had to briefly pause to answer a 911 call. “But we have a Border Patrol station here that I will more than likely continue to just turn over our apprehensions [to].”
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This. Good ole Buford T Justice himself.
Terrell County has a population of 760. Median income for families $28,000 and change. Forty seven percent Hispanic.
This. Welcome to Crazy Town.
Supreme Court extends freeze on controversial Texas immigration law
CNN
—
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a temporary freeze on the enforcement of Texas’ controversial immigration law that allows state law enforcement to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally.
Without action from the high court, the Texas law would have gone into effect Wednesday. Now, with the new administrative orders in place, its implementation will remain paused through Monday.
…
Senate Bill 4, signed into law by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December, immediately raised concerns among immigration advocates of increased racial profiling as well as detentions and attempted deportations by state authorities in Texas, where Latinos represent 40% of the population.
The Justice Department has argued that the law would “profoundly” alter the status quo “that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years.”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/politics/texas-sb4-immigration-supreme-court/index.html
I hope the racist troika of Abbott, Paxton and Patrick are taken to the wood shed again.
PS Hope I did this correctly. 🤞
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Name: DebbieGender: Female
Hometown: San Antonio, Tx
Member since: Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:32 AM
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