Mexican government files amicus curiae in suit against Texas agency

In a rare move, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed an amicus curiae brief late Monday in a lawsuit filed by four women whose children have been denied birth certificates by the Texas Department of State Health Services because of the mothers’ legal status in the country.

In the last year, officials in the Vital Statistics Unit of the department have denied parents who are in the country without authorization birth certificates for their children and have told these parents that they will not accept their “matriculas consulares” — photo identification cards issued by Mexican Consulates in the United States to Mexicans living in the country — or foreign passports without a current visa.

The lawsuit, filed in May, includes Mexican, Honduran and Guatemalan plaintiffs suing the department for what they allege is constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.

“This policy puts the newly born children of undocumented people in a state of drastic vulnerability,” the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release issued Monday. “It violates the right to an identity guaranteed by international human rights protocols and blocks their access to basic services like health and education.”

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/mexican-government-files-amicus-curiae-in-suit-aga/nnQY8/

Denver DA seeking to revoke bond for former APS deputy superintendent

The Denver District Attorney’s Office is preparing a motion today seeking to revoke bond in two different felony cases pending against the former deputy Albuquerque Public Schools superintendent who resigned last week, according to a Denver DA spokesperson.

Colorado court records show Jason Martinez, who is listed by his full name Timothy Jason Martinez in court records, is facing a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon causing injury stemming from an arrest by Denver police in January of this year.

That’s in addition to a 2013 felony case involving charges of sexual assault of a child that has been set for trial in early October in Denver.

Lynn Kimbrough, of the Denver District Attorney’s office, said bond for each case was set at $50,000. “There was some surprise that this particular individual was working out-of-state,” Kimbrough told the Journal.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/633479/news/denver-da-seeking-to-revoke-bond-for-former-aps-deputy-superintendent.html

Rival Koreas find a way to avoid disaster, reach deal

Source: AP

SEOUL, South Korea -- After 40-plus-hours of talks, North and South Korea on Tuesday pulled back from the brink with an accord that allows both sides to save face and, for the moment, avert the bloodshed they've been threatening each other with for weeks.

In a carefully crafted, though vague, piece of diplomacy, Pyongyang expressed "regret" that two South Korean soldiers were maimed in a recent land mine blast Seoul blamed on the North. While not an acknowledgement of responsibility, let alone the "definite apology" South Korea's president had demanded, it allows Seoul to claim some measure of victory in holding the North to account.

South Korea, for its part, agreed to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts on the border, which will let the authoritarian North trumpet to its people a propaganda win over its bitter rival — and put an end to hated loudspeaker messages that outside analysts say could demoralize front-line troops and inspire them to defect.

The agreement marks a good first step in easing animosity that has built since South Korea blamed North Korea for the mine explosion at the border earlier this month and restarted the propaganda broadcasts in retaliation. But, as always on the Korean Peninsula, it's unclear how long the good mood will continue.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/world/article31999968.html

Rick Perry Tries to Break Out by Attacking Pretty Much Everybody

Lagging in the polls and unable to escape the shadow of Donald Trump, former Texas Governor Rick Perry accused his Republican rivals over the weekend of being converts to conservatism.

Without mentioning names, Perry made an appeal to Tea Party activists at the annual meeting of the group founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch that he is an authentic conservative—with a record in Texas to back it up—while fellow governors in the Republican race have taken unpopular party positions or flip-flopped on issues including abortion and the Common Core education standards.

"My fellow Republicans, we don’t have to settle for 11th hour campaign conversions to conservatism,'' Perry told the 3,600 attendees at Americans for Prosperity's annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday. "I've been with you every step of the way.''

With Perry trying to keep his campaign afloat, the two-day "Defending the American Dream Summit'' showcased the struggle of Republican candidates attempting to stand out from a crowded field dominated by Trump, while also offering a glimpse of the party's challenge to satisfy its core conservative voters and still have broad enough appeal to win a general election.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-24/rick-perry-tries-to-break-out-by-attacking-pretty-much-everybody

Dallas Democrats: DA Susan Hawk ‘needs to do her job or resign’

After three weeks off work and mounting questions about Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk’s whereabouts, it remained unclear Monday whether the county’s top prosecutor had returned to the office.

The Dallas Morning News reported over the weekend that Hawk had been on a break from work since Aug. 3. Those close to her said she was taking “time off” and on a “summer break,” but would not say where she is. A representative has said Hawk plans to return to work this week.

On Monday morning and afternoon, representatives at the district attorney’s office’s front desk said Hawk was not available and that her secretary would be in touch to set up an appointment. When asked Monday afternoon whether Hawk was at work, her secretary said only that she had not heard back about when Hawk would be available for the interview.

Hawk’s car was reportedly not in its regular spot at the courthouse Monday.

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/08/dallas-democrats-da-susan-hawk-needs-to-do-her-job-or-resign.html/

Earlier threads:
Friends, colleagues say Dallas County DA Susan Hawk spent time in drug rehab March 27. 2015
Dallas County DA absent for three weeks; addiction rumors start swirling August 23, 2015

Gay Man Chooses Bigoted Mom Over LGBT Rights, Berates Bullied Students

Last week we told you how the school board in Keller, Texas, canceled a vote on LGBT protections in the face of pressure from anti-gay bigots, including Fox News host Glenn Beck.

We also told you how, even though the proposed LGBT protections had been pulled from the board’s agenda, several people showed up at a meeting to speak for and against them.

Among the speakers was Ken Romines (right), the son of anti-gay school board member Jo Lynn Hausmann (below), who adamantly opposes the proposed changes.

Romines happens to be gay, but in this case he’s apparently chosen his mother’s bigotry over LGBT rights.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2015/08/keller-ken/

Earlier thread:
Keller ISD trustee’s private meeting on LGBT policy canceled, concerns over “trolls”, “these people”

Poll: Most GOP voters think Paxton should resign

A majority of Texas Republican voters think Attorney General Ken Paxton should resign, a new statewide poll has found.

The poll, being released Monday by the Longview-based Texas Bipartisan Justice Committee, found 78 percent of respondents were aware of the felony fraud indictments Paxton is facing and 62 percent said he should resign because of them. More than 53 percent of those who identified themselves as tea party voters agreed the Republican should resign the job he won in November.

Dr. John Coppedge, treasurer of the committee that commissioned the poll, said that as more becomes known about Paxton's past — including what he calls "the Mont Blanc pen story" — the drumbeat for Paxton's resignation will grow louder.

The poll, conducted Aug. 15 by Gravis Marketing of Florida, found 18 percent of GOP voters were aware of the Mont Blanc pen story. The 2013 episode, in which Paxton walked away from a courthouse metal detector with a $1,000 pen that didn't belong to him, was reported a few weeks after the November election.

Read more: http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/aug/23/poll-most-gop-voters-think-paxton-should-resign/

Global Ponzi scheme threatens to implode

Asian stock markets opened Monday with another sharp selloff. As of this writing, China’s Shanghai Composite index had dropped by over 8 percent and Japan’s Nikkei, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Australia’s All Ordinaries were all down by more than 3 percent. China’s central bank was preparing another round of cash infusions into the country’s financial markets.

The global panic, which has wiped out over a trillion dollars in stock values in the US alone, has shattered the claim that the US and world economies are in the midst of an economic recovery.

Prompted by decelerating economic growth in China, a collapse of financial markets and currencies in the so-called emerging market countries, and a continuing fall in the price of oil and other commodities, the plunge in stock prices is an expression not simply of passing conditions, but rather the inability of governments and central banks to address the fundamental contradictions of the capitalist system that led to the Wall Street crash and recession of 2008–2009.

What appears to be coming to an end is the period when massive infusions of cash by central banks into the financial markets, combined with a ruthless assault on the living standards of the international working class, could paper over the systemic character of the crisis and produce a boom in stock prices, corporate profits and the wealth of the financial aristocracy—even as the real economy continued to stagnate.

Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/08/24/pers-a24.html

Actress confronts Ted Cruz at Pork Tent at Iowa State Fair

Bryan Fischer Claims He Was Born Christian, Repulsed By Homosexuality