Tag: Texas

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Houston Chronicle Endorses Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke Over Sen. Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz (L) and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (R)

The editorial board of the Houston Chronicle, the hometown newspaper of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

With eyes clear but certainly not starry, we enthusiastically endorse Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate. The West Texas congressman’s command of issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence and his eagerness to reach out to all Texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered in many years.

Despite the long odds he faces – pollster nonpareil Nate Silver gives O’Rourke a 20 percent chance of winning – a “Beto” victory would be good for Texas, not only because of his skills, both personal and political, but also because of the manifest inadequacies of the man he would replace.

Ted Cruz — a candidate the Chronicle endorsed in 2012, by the way — is the junior senator from Texas in name only. Exhibiting little interest in addressing the needs of his fellow Texans during his six years in office, he has kept his eyes on a higher prize.

He’s been running for president since he took the oath of office — more likely since he picked up his class schedule as a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Houston’s Second Baptist High School more than three decades ago. For Cruz, public office is a private quest; the needs of his constituents are secondary.

RealClearPolitics’ average of polls shows Cruz ahead of O’Rourke by 7 points.

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Texas: Rep. Beto O’Rourke Raises A Record $38 Million For Senate Race

Sen. Ted Cruz (L) and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (R)

Democratic senatorial candidate Rep. Beto O’Rourke has raised more than three times the amount of incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for the upcoming midterm elections.

From The Texas Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, raised $38.1 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in the third quarter, a new record for the largest fundraising quarter ever in a U.S. Senate race, according to his campaign.

The haul more than tripled Republican incumbent Ted Cruz’s fundraising for the past three months, which Cruz has said was over $12 million. O’Rourke has consistently raised more than Cruz in the race, but this is the widest gap yet.

The $38.1 million is by far the largest amount raised in a quarter by a Senate candidate, surpassing Republican Rick Lazio’s record of $22 million in 2000 for his bid against Democrat Hillary Clinton in New York.

Cruz currently averages a 7 point lead in the polls according to RealClearPolitics.

And according to the most recent Texas Senate Quinnipiac poll, Cruz leads O’Rourke, 54%-45%.

Plus, Cruz’s favorability is +8 (52-44) while O’Rourke has a divided 45%-47% (-2) favorability rating.

Although, I see RCP doesn’t list this new poll from Reuters/IPSOS that shows O’Rourke leading by 2 points.

Could the tide turn at just the right time?

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News Round-Up: October 3, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Look at that concentration, look at that beefy bicep. Fitness guru Ramses Principe (above) is getting over Hump Day like a boss!

• After traveling to San Francisco, a gay man contracted bacterial meningococcal meningitis which resulted in the permanent loss of his hearing, temporary inability to walk, and his vision for a period. Still coping with the hearing loss, the man was recently fitted for cochlear implants. The first thing he heard when the device was turned on was his longtime boyfriend proposing to him.

• Folks in Minnesota now have a non-binary option when specifying gender on their driver’s license. Along with “M” for male and “F” for female, Minnesotans will also have “X” to choose from representing non-binary.

• After the New York Times’ bombshell investigation into Donald Trump’s wealth, New York state tax officials are looking into allegations that Trump may have committed tax fraud over the years.

• Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke leads GOP incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz by three points in a new poll tracking the senatorial race down in Texas.

• Check out the trailer for Reach starring Garrett Clayton (Hairspray Live!) as “Steven Turano,” a socially awkward band geek who shares with a pro-suicide group that he’s planning on killing himself due to bullying by his father and a school bully.

However, when Clarence, the new kid in school, befriends him, Steven’s plans are sidetracked and he forms stronger relationships with his father, friends, and teachers.

Reach will be in limited theaters and VOD October 19.

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Billboards In Texas To Showcase Anti-Cruz Trump Tweet

The race for Ted Cruz’s U.S. Senate seat keeps getting more and more heated as polls show Cruz in almost a dead heat with Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in three decades.

Last week it was reported that an activist group is raising money to place anti-Cruz billboards in the state quoting a 2016 Donald Trump tweet which claimed Cruz was “all talk, no action.”

Trump has now announced that he would be holding a “major rally” for Cruz in Texas next month.

Several recent polls have shown Cruz and O’Rourke in a dead heat, though the deep-red state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in three decades.

In related news, possible 2020 presidential challenger Michael Avenatti says he will hold a competing “resistance rally” in Texas at the same time as the Cruz/Trump event.

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News Round-Up: August 7, 2018

(Fran Dullon via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Spanish fitness model Fran Dullon is living this summer out LOUD. #woof

• Aryeh Cohen, a 44-year-old rabbi from St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis was arrested in a sex trafficking sting earlier this year after chatting and sharing explicit photos with someone claiming to be a 16-year-old boy on Grindr. He was apparently grooming the boy for sex.

• An Indiana judge has ordered a school district in Evansville, Ind., to allow a 17-year-old transgender student to use restrooms that align with his gender identity just days before the beginning of the school year.

• An anti-LGBT group is calling for a boycott of Britney Spears over her support for LGBTQ rights.

• Texas’s Hood County Clerk Katie Lang still won’t issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

• Charlotte Rae, who played the wise and wonderful “Mrs. Garrett” on the long-running sitcoms Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life fame passed away at the age of 92. After a long career on the Great White Way, the two-time Tony Award nominee moved into successful longevity television.

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Today’s Cover Of The New York Daily News

Headline of the NY Daily News today reads, "With yesterday's Texas massacre, there have now been more students or teachers killed by guns in U.S. schools than active-duty military deaths in 2018."

The headline of today’s New York Daily News reads, “With yesterday’s Texas massacre, there have now been more students or teachers killed by guns in U.S. schools than active-duty military deaths in 2018. No headline can do this justice.”

From the accompanying article:

The frontlines of American warfare are now in America’s classrooms.

More people have been murdered in schools so far this year than have been killed while serving in the U.S. military, according to depressing statistics.

Accounting for the 10 people shot to death at a Houston-area high school Friday, 31 people — an overwhelming majority of whom were students — have been killed at schools since Jan. 1, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. Twenty-nine U.S. service members have been killed in the same timeframe, including both combat and noncombat deaths, according to the Pentagon.

Previous years, the numbers have typically been inverted, with service member casualties outnumbering student deaths by at least double, statistics show.

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Texas: Mass Shooting At High School Outside Houston Leaves At Least 8 Dead

A mass shooting at a high school outside Houston, Texas, has left at least 8 people dead and a suspect, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, in custody.

From The New York Times:

Here’s what we know:

• The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a tweet that “explosive devices” had been found both on the campus and in surrounding areas.

• The school district said the situation at the school, in Santa Fe, Tex., began at about 7:45 a.m. Friday, just after the start of the school day.

• Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County said it appeared that “eight to 10” people had been killed, most of them students. None of the victims were immediately identified.

The Parkland high school students, who know a thing or two about mass shootings at schools, tweeted their support and predicted what’s to come from this new gun massacre.

Emma Gonzalez rightfully points out that “thoughts and prayers” won’t be enough; David Hogg warned of politicians who “act like they give a shit” when they’re just looking out for approval numbers; and Cameron Kasky warns that students who rise up with be called “crisis actors.”

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News Round-Up: May 13, 2018

Some news stories you might have missed: • A mother who is “against people being gay” wrote to Dear Abby saying her 43-year-old daughter just came out as lesbian. Abby knew just how to handle this one… • A Texas teacher was accused of “promoting a homosexual agenda” when she showed students a picture of herself and her wife dressed up as Disney characters on the first day of school. • Starbucks has now adopted an open-bathroom policy following an incident in Philadelphia last month were two black men were arrested while waiting for a business colleague. • An Oregon school allegedly forced an LGBT student to read the Bible as punishment…? • GLEE star Kevin McHale says of his recent coming out: “I think there was zero surprise. People knew.” • The Trump administration continues its attack on the trans community by rolling back prison protections.

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Was Internalized Homophobia A Factor In The Austin Bomber’s Deadly Attacks?

Austin bombing suspect Mark Conditt was communicating with gay men via Grindr before his deadly bombing spree
Austin bombing suspect Mark Conditt

Six weeks after the deadly bombing spree by 23-year-old Mark Conditt in Austin and San Antonio police are still searching for clues as to the motivation for his actions.

New evidence suggests it’s possible internalized homophobia may have played a part.

Conditt’s early life revolved around being home-schooled by his conservative Christian family. He attended church each week and took part in Christian youth groups.

But in 2012, Conditt penned an online essay while attending Austin Community College that virulently denounced homosexuality.

The blog post read, in part:

Homosexuality is not natural. Just look at the male and female bodies. They are obviously designed to couple. The natural design is apparent. It is not natural to couple male with male and female with female. It would be like trying to fit two screws together and to nuts together and then say, “See, it’s natural for them to go together.” In addition, political protection of a sexual practice is ludicrous. I do not believe it is proper to pass laws stating that homosexuals have ‘rights.’ What about pedophilia or bestiality? These are sexual practices. Should they also be protected by law? If homosexuality is protected by law, why not those as well?

It was around this time that Conditt also cut off a childhood friend, Sierra Jane Davis, whom he knew from the Pflugerville home-school community.

When she shared the news that she was transitioning, “He told me that he couldn’t support my decision to live this life,” said Davis.

But then there was a turning point for Conditt.

He ceased attending church, quit Christianity and announced he was an atheist.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, Conditt’s two roommates thought he might have been gay.

It was that revelation that led police to discover he had used Grindr to exchange messages with men.

It’s not apparent if his family knew he was out.

When asked about the possibility, Davis says, “It’s not something we talked about, but I do know that it would have been difficult for him and his family.”

Currently there’s no proof that he was working with a terrorist or paramilitary organizations. Nor are there any white supremacist or racially-motivated clues to point to at this time.

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News Round-Up: May 9, 2018

LA stuntman Trevor LaPaglia knows how to finish things like a boss
(image via Instagram)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• This was a looooong day. LA stuntman Trevor Lapaglia (above) shows how to finish a tough day like a boss.

• Out actor Mario Cantone explains why he’s not in the current Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band. (Tip of the hat to kenneth-in-the-212)

• With almost 15,000 transgender service members in our military, Rolling Stone did a deep dive into what it’s like to be trans and serve while our Cheeto-In-Chief attacks them on a regular basis.

• The housing crisis in London is so extreme homeless gay men are checking into gay saunas over night just to have a place to sleep.

• A teacher in Texas who was twice voted teacher of the year and received “exemplary reviews” found herself on “administrative leave” because she was accused of promoting a ‘homosexual agenda.’ Now she’s suing.

• TV’s wonder producer Ryan Murphy is donating all of his profits from his upcoming FX series Pose to LGBTQ charities.

Pose premieres June 3 on FX. Watch the trailer, which dropped last week, and then make sure you tune in 😉