Texas

https://www.kut.org/health/2024-06-27/ascension-will-stop-offering-health-insurance-plans-in-texas

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16956532

> Conservative activists, led by a local pastor and outspoken Israel advocate, pushed the district, Mission CISD, to excise books mostly about gender, sexuality and race. Their demands represented an extreme version of a nationwide culture war over books that has played out in recent years — and ensnared a number of books with Jewish themes. > > In Mission, the long list of books on the chopping block includes a recent illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary; both volumes of Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust graphic memoir “Maus”; “The Fixer,” Bernard Malamud’s novel about a historical instance of antisemitic blood libel; and “Kasher in the Rye,” a ribald memoir by Jewish comedian Moshe Kasher.

Megachurch pastor and ex-Trump adviser admits child sexual abuse

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/35410900

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/18630049

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/35266052

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16822310

> More than a month after a news report revealed that the Combat Infantryman Badge Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, wears on his lapel was revoked since he was never eligible for the award to begin with, the congressman refuses to take the pin off. > > Nehls' stubbornness has garnered growing criticism from veterans and others in the community of stolen valor researchers, who say the issue is simple: The rules for the CIB are clear, and Nehls did not qualify. > > "The veteran community is starting to get to the point now where there's no room for forgiveness at this point because now they see, ‘Hey, this wasn't an error. He's doubling down now,’" said Anthony Anderson, an Army veteran who runs Guardian of Valor and was instrumental in uncovering Nehls' revoked award. "He knows he didn't earn this award."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16767093

> The piercing scream, like a sound from a horror film, triggered taekwondo instructor Simon An to draw on his years of martial arts training.  > > Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after the doors of his family-owned and -operated studio in Texas opened for evening classes, An and his father, his mother, his older sister and his younger brother heard shrieks coming from a neighboring business. > > The family of five, each with a fourth-degree black belt, run the Yong-in Taekwondo studio in Katy, outside Houston. They initially ignored the sounds, assuming they came from employees playing around in their break room. But then a piercing “final scream” prompted the family into action, A said. > > His family ran to the store and opened a door. There they found a man on top of a young woman with his hands “in [in]appropriate places” as she attempted to fend him off, A said.  > > An’s father, Hong, yanked the attacker away by his shirt and pinned him to the ground. An’s sister, Hannah, grabbed the girl and rushed her out of the room while An and his brother helped subdue the attacker.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16793518

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/18479087

> > Law firm Kirkland & Ellis brought multibillion-dollar cases to David R. Jones’s court, aided by a local attorney who lived with the judge; ‘Why did no one look into it?’

So I was thinking about some othere thread talking about climate change here. Reminded me that when I was a kid the RGV was a pretty big river. I don't see it often as I don't cross the border often, but it seems like its been dry or very weak for several years now. Has there been any discussion about this anywhere?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16673073

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16659359

> The doctor has publicly identified himself as the person who released information to a conservative activist about the transgender care program at Texas Children's. Citing "whistleblower documents," the activist published a story in May 2023 saying Texas Children's provided transgender care, which was legal at the time, "in secret." > > Texas Children's on Monday declined to comment on the charges against Haim. In previous statements, hospital officials said its doctors have always provided care within the law. > > Transgender care has become a popular talking point in Texas and other Republican-dominated states where lawmakers claim such treatment is harmful to children. It describes a range of different social, psychological, behavioral or medical interventions that support people whose assigned sex at birth does not align with their gender identity. This can include mental health counseling, hormone therapy or surgery, which is rare for people under 18. > > Such treatment, which is supported by every major medical association in the U.S., was offered at Texas Children's and other pediatric hospitals in Texas. Lawmakers have since implemented a statewide ban, and Texas Children's said it would discontinue its program. > > Meanwhile, Haim has publicly decried the investigation against him as "political." > > In the arraignment hearing, Ho said the indictment identified three different patients whose health information was compromised. Addressing reporters, Patrick declined to speak about the facts of the case but described the charges against his client as a "huge contradiction."

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/13856902

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/17285399

> > Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired the popular movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the two companies announced on Wednesday. > > > Sony, which will oversee the theaters under a new Sony Pictures Experiences division, says it “will preserve Alamo Drafthouse’s distinctive movie-dining experience,” > > > Sony is acquiring Alamo Drafthouse from Altamont Capital Partners, Fortress Investment Group, and Alamo founder Tim League — a group that took ownership of Alamo after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021.

Does everyone have this ridiculous fee attached to their electricity bill?

Sex Offenders Top TX List of Most Wanted Illegal Aliens - https://archive.is/iv4lH

Here's your twice-annual warning! Texas' power grid can't handle cold OR hot! Has anyone tried cutting taxes and banning people from bathrooms? That'll probably make this better.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16376684

> To fight poverty, some Texas cities gave aid with no strings attached. Conservatives are pushing back. > > Guaranteed income programs let participants use funds however they see fit. Critics argue they're not a good use of taxpayer dollars. > > … > > Guaranteed income programs have become more popular since the pandemic as dozens of cities across the country launched pilot programs using federal COVID-19 relief funds. Whereas other welfare funds like food stamps and housing vouchers provide assistance for specific expenses, guaranteed income programs allow recipients to decide how they spend the money. Researchers have found them to be an effective way to combat poverty. > > In recent years, a handful of Texas cities and counties have piloted their own guaranteed income programs for low-income households. Financed by a combination of federal, local and philanthropic funds, Austin, San Antonio and El Paso County have collectively issued about $9 million in payments to roughly 1,500 households since 2020. > > But the notion is facing stiff opposition from conservatives who say these programs are a bad use of taxpayers’ money and amount to government overreach. Attorney General Ken Paxton recently sued Harris County to block its guaranteed income program, Uplift Harris. The Texas Supreme Court indefinitely paused the pilot while the case goes to trial. Financed by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, the program would have provided almost 2,000 households in the area’s poorest neighborhoods with $500 a month for 18 months.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16364130

> Appeals court tells Texas it cannot ban books for mentioning ‘butt and fart’ > > Conservative-dominated court restores books denounced by officials as ‘pornographic filth’ to school libraries > > An appellate court has ruled that Texas cannot ban books from libraries simply because they mention “butt and fart” and other content which some state officials may dislike. > > The fifth US circuit court of appeals issued its decision on Thursday in a 76-page majority opinion, which was written by Judge Jacques Wiener Jr and opened with a quote from American poet Walt Whitman: “The dirtiest book in all the world is the expurgated book.” > > In its decision, the appellate court declared that “government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree”.