Lubbock man says he was fired for being gay; law says it's OK

Lubbock man says he was fired for being gay; law says it's OK

Follow-up: Lifetime Network show on Fort Worth mortuary canceled after bodies found

FORT WORTH — A reality TV show focused on the “soul and spice” of the Johnson Family Mortuary has been canceled as a real-life drama unfolds at the east Fort Worth funeral home.

The show, titled Good Grief, was originally scheduled to premiere Wednesday — and then pushed back to early August — on the Lifetime Network.

But then came last week’s startling discovery that eight unattended bodies — seven of them decomposing — had been found inside the mortuary, which was followed by a flurry of accusations, denials and arrests.

“The program featuring the Johnson Family Mortuary has not and will not air on Lifetime,” Les Eisner, vice president, corporate communications and publicity at Lifetime Networks, said in an email. “The allegations are deeply troubling and our thoughts and prayers go to the families affected by this situation.”

More at http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/24/5994279/tv-show-on-fort-worth-mortuary.html

[font color=green]Wasn't it ironic that they would put a show about a mortuary on the Lifetime Network?[/font]

Related Thread:
Fort Worth Mortuary Manager Faces Abuse of a Corpse Charges
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107819622

It's National Tequila Hangover Recovery Day! (w/ kitteh pictures)

What the heck did you expect after this thread:
July 24th is National Tequila Day so here are the cat pictures!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018643268

*No cats were harmed in the process of taking these photos.

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price (D) arrested and indicted

Longtime Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and his top assistant were arrested Friday morning by the FBI on federal bribery conspiracy charges.

An indictment filed Wednesday and unsealed Friday morning lists the following charges against Price, who was taken into custody about 8 a.m. on his way to work:

-Conspiracy to commit bribery concerning a local government receiving federal benefits

-Deprivation of honest services by mail fraud and aiding and abetting

-Conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service

-Subscribing to a false and fraudulent U.S. individual income tax return

"The indictment unsealed today alleges that for more than a decade, in a shocking betrayal of public trust, Commissioner Price sold his office on the Dallas County Commissioners Court in exchange for a steady stream of bribes," U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldaña said.

Price, 64, is accused of masterminding a criminal conspiracy that helped powerful companies win lucrative county contracts in exchange for bribes and of illegally funneling campaign money into his personal accounts. Federal authorities also allege that Price illegally profited from transactions involving Dallas County and companies operated by some of his associates.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/local-politics/20140725-saldana-john-wiley-price-indictment-reveals-shocking-betrayal-of-public-trust.ece .

NCLR President Warns GOP On Child Refugees: Latino Voters Will Judge You Too Come Election Day

National Council of La Raza (NCLR) President Janet Murguía ripped the Republican Party apart this week with harsh criticism over their unchristian and un-American attacks towards child refugees seeking shelter in our country. While in Los Angeles during the NCLR's annual conference, Murguía publicly shamed numerous politicians for their outrages remarks concerning these kids -- warning they carried third world diseases and plagues.

Murguía did not forget to mention Gov. Rick Perry, criticizing his recent theatrical attempt of sending troops to the border in order to garnish points for a future 2016 presidential run.

"Soldiers with guns confronting children seeking refuge," said Murguía. "What is wrong with these people? How can they talk about children like this? Who treats children this way? Every one of the elected officials I just quoted consider themselves people of faith, but there is nothing godly in their words. It is disgraceful."

Murguía sent a very clear message to Republicans: Latino voters are watching how you treat these small, defenseless members of our community at large. And we won't forget come election time.

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15497/nclr-president-warns-gop-on-child-refugees-latino-voters-will-judge-you-come-election-day .

Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer sees Ted Cruz and Rick Perry as beatable in 2016

WASHINGTON – Dan Pfeiffer, a top White House strategist, says Democrats would love to face either of the Texans angling for the president’s job in 2016.

Asked to choose between Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Rick Perry as a potential GOP nominee, Pfeiffer hardly missed a beat.

“That’s like would you rather have ice cream or cake?” he said over breakfast with reporters organized by The Christian Science Monitor.

Pfeiffer also said he’d been rooting for the GOP convention to go to Dallas, because it would have been so amusing to see how Cruz handled losing the nomination and then seeing the victor celebrated in his own state.

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/obama-aide-dan-pfeiffer-sees-ted-cruz-and-rick-perry-as-beatable-in-2016.html/ .

Texas kittens in costume still hope to find forever homes (Squee Warning)

Fake Democrat Gavin Newsom Is Only Lt. Governor Now, But He Can Do A Lot Of Damage In The Future

[font color=green]Note: I am not very familiar with Newsom so I am presenting this article without expressing an opinion. However, I can see his attraction as far as being a possible running mate on a presidential ticket or a future presidential candidate. I am hoping that other people will express some opinions so that everyone on DU has additional information in the future.[/font]

Gavin Newsom presents well. When he still thought he was running for governor, he called a meeting of L.A. political bloggers in some sleek West Hollywood hotel and did a free-flowing Q and A. He was as sleek as the hotel and everyone swooned. Except me. Having recently exited the corporate world, Newsom's glitz and studied expertise in everything didn't impress me. Good hair, yes... but I could sense that guy at the head of the table was a quintessential Republican no matter what party label he worse and no matter San Francisco gay couples he had married. Jon Ward wasn't at that meeting, but he's got Newsom's number as well-- and he shared it this week at HuffPo-- The Right's Strange New Hero: Gavin Newsom.

After he was elected Lt Governor, Jerry Brown told him to keep out of his hair and go find some ribbons to cut. Instead he wrote a book, Citizenville, although I'm not certain if the proceeds are owned by the state government which was paying his salary while he wrote it. As Ward explains, "the ideas he espouses in the book have Washington conservatives sitting up and taking note." Like Newt Gingrich: "It is a tremendous book which I recommend all the time."

Ward's article goes well with the Tim Donovan piece at Salon we've been looking at, Clueless rich kids on the rise: How millennial aristocrats will destroy our future. Newsome was born in 1967, so he's not a millennial, just ahead of his time. And he isn't from a rich family, but a very politically connected one. He was appointed, rather than elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and when he ran he ran in the most Republican district in town-- Pacific Heights, the Marina and Sea Cliff-- and ran on both the Democratic and Republican slates. when people weren't thinking of him as just an opportunistic Republican calling himself a Democrat, he's just been considered a conservative and a part of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

His personal wealth-- he's a multimillionaire-- comes from his connections, particularly to oil heir Gordon Getty who was the primary investor in 10 businesses Newsom started, almost all of them bars, cafes and wine shops. And his policies are the policies that serve the interests of business rather than families. Citizenville is an anti-government screed that any Ayn Rand fan would happily recognize and, according to Ward, the "central premise is that government can be better, more relevant, more engaged with the public by embracing technology-- and getting out of the way." Newsom, channeling his inner Republican: "Government can do best by simply getting out of the way."

Hospital Slumlord Update: Jurors find Texas hospital chain owner guilty on all 15 counts