WASHINGTON — Unhappy Republicans say Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has given President Barack Obama a present this holiday season — a gift certificate good for confirmation of 12 judicial appointments, not long after the voters had delivered the Democrats a lump of coal in midterm elections.

Cruz, a tea party favorite and potential 2016 presidential contender, disputed the claim through his spokesman on Monday.

But there was no dissent that Democrats, who must turn over power to Republicans in January, were in position to confirm not only the judges, but 11 other appointees before the Senate wraps up work for the year.

Among them are nominees that Republicans have sought to block for two relatively high-profile posts. They are Vivek Murthy to become surgeon general and Sarah Saldaña to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that will oversee the new administration policy on immigration that Cruz wants to defund.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/national-politics/20141215-republicans-blame-ted-cruz-for-string-of-year-end-obama-confirmations.ece

Source: AP

WATERBURY, Conn. — A man who says he was sexually abused by a Connecticut scout leader in the mid-1970s has won a $7 million jury verdict against the Boy Scouts of America.

Lawyers for the man said the decision, handed down Friday in Waterbury Superior Court, was the largest verdict for compensatory damages against the Boy Scouts’ national organization. The jury also found the organization liable for punitive damages, with the amount to be determined by a judge.

The man, known only as John Doe in court documents, alleges he was a member of a New Fairfield Boy Scouts troop when its leader, Siegfried Hepp, sexually abused him three times.

Messages seeking comment were left Monday at phone listings for Hepp in New Fairfield and Lady Lake, Fla. He wasn’t a defendant in the lawsuit.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20141215-irving-based-boy-scouts-hit-with-7-million-verdict-in-sex-abuse-case.ece

A couple believed to be in their 80s was found dead inside their home in North Austin across the street from Brentwood Elementary School, police said.

Minutes before 11 a.m., the couple’s caretaker called police to report a burglary after finding the home’s door open, police said.

When police arrived, they found a woman and a man dead, police said.

Police have not released the victims’ names or the nature of their injuries.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/police-investigating-suspicious-death-in-north-aus/njSf2/

[font color=green]One of my friends lives a block away from where this occurred. About two years ago a natural gas pipeline exploded about a block away in the other direction and killed a middle-aged man.[/font]

AUSTIN–A nativity scene was unveiled at the Texas Capitol building Monday by an privately sponsored group looking to combat the “War on Christmas.”

The Texas Nativity Scene Project will display the scene in the basement of the Capitol for one week.

“There’s been very much an effort to drive Christ and Christians out of Christmas,” said the project’s spokesman Trey Trainor. He said the holiday season has become more about “focusing on self as opposed to focusing on the real reason that we have the holiday, and that is the birth of our Savior.”

Trainor said so far the group has received no pushback in response to the religious display.

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/nativity-scene-displayed-at-texas-capitol.html/

Last night Dr. Donald May (aka Mr. Conservative) posted the following blog on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal:

Is the Islamic Terrorist Hostage Situation in Sydney Due to Feinstein’s Attack on Our CIA?

The United States Consulate was evacuated in Sydney. Americans in Sydney are being told to keep out of sight and to be very cautious of their surroundings. Is there information that Americans are being targeted by Islamic Terrorists in Sydney and possibly elsewhere?

The Lindt Chocolate Café has “Merry Christmas “ on the window. Are some or many of the customers inside the Lindt Chocolate Café United States citizens? Why is an apparent lone Islamic Terrorist holding up to 40 hostages? What are the plans of the Islamic Terrorist?

It has been anticipated that Islamic Terrorists would increase their attacks on United States targets and United States citizens because of Senator Feinstein releasing a bogus political report characterizing our CIA as criminal and Islamic Terrorists as victims of the CIA.

An Islamic Terrorist taking hostages is an act of Evil. In my opinion, Diane Feinstein releasing the bogus political report attacking our CIA and knowingly endangering our fellow Americans is an act of Evil.

http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/donald-r-may/2014-12-15/islamic-terrorist-hostage-situation-sydney-due-feinstein#.VI9JHXvy2V4

[font color=green]The comments deservedly identify the presumptions that Mr. Conservative made were wrong. Please read before the moderator removes them. I'm keeping a copy of the comments if they are deleted so please PM me if they are no longer available.[/font]

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry is looking to punctuate his 14 years in office with one last speech to the Legislature.

Perry, whose tenure ends next month, has put in a request to address a joint session of the House and Senate, according to his office.

“Over the last 14 years, Gov. Perry and the Legislature have worked together to transform Texas into the beacon of economic and personal freedom that it is today,” Perry spokesman Felix Browne said in a statement. “In addressing a joint session, the Governor will highlight the bi-partisan accomplishments that have made Texas the economic engine that is powering our country in job creation.”

A farewell speech could give Perry an opportunity to burnish his legacy as he considers another run for president. He is already showing a three-minute video celebrating his tenure to hundreds of VIPs invited to the Governor’s Mansion this month.

Read more: http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/12/perry-asks-to-address-legislature-before-stepping-down/

[font color=green]Will he ask for more money for the prison system since he might have a new address in Huntsville?[/font]

Electroshock therapy never enjoyed much in the way of good public relations, and the low point may have come with the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

In the movie, a handcuffed patient played by Jack Nicholson undergoes punitive electroshock with a writhing, torturous convulsion. Some psychiatrists blame that dramatic depiction — it helped Nicholson win an Oscar — for the procedure’s fall from medical favor.

But nearly 40 years later, the procedure is on the rise in Texas. Electroconvulsive therapy, as it is now called, thrives as a treatment for some forms of mental illness, especially severe depression.

The number of ECT treatments in Texas has increased 67 percent since 2001, according to figures compiled by the state health department. ECT was used 14,176 times in Texas on 2,243 patients between Sept. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2013, the last available reporting year. The state’s figures do not include military and veterans’ hospitals.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20141213-texas-sees-resurgence-in-use-of-electroconvulsive-therapy.ece

[font color=green]Coming to a psychiatric hospital near you. Next up: lobotomies.[/font]

Source: AP

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

For the second time this year, a Russian military aircraft turned off its transponders to avoid commercial radar and nearly collided with a passenger jet over Sweden, officials said Saturday.

"This is serious. This is inappropriate. This is outright dangerous when you turn off the transponder," Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said on Swedish radio.

Officials at Russia's Ministry of Defense in Moscow were not immediately available to comment Saturday.

In recent months, Russia has increased its military presence in the Baltic Sea area, prompting some Swedish officials to compare it to the Cold War. In October, non-NATO Sweden launched its first submarine hunt since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Swedish authorities said a small, foreign submarine had entered its waters illegally but never found it and didn't disclose its nationality.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/world/article4464021.html

San Antonio Police are responding to a protest at North Star Mall and nearby road areas.

The protest is over police brutality, specifically over the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York.

According to posts on social media site Twitter, Macy's was forced to shut their doors, and some protesters may have attempted to move the protest onto the frontage road of Loop 410 facing the mall.

More to come on this breaking story as details become available.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/I-Can-t-Breathe-protest-erupts-at-North-Star-5955345.php

Photo By J. Patric Schneider/For the Chronicle
A protestor is arrested during a demonstration outside the Galleria on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, in Houston. Hundreds gathered near the Galleria to speak out against rampant instances of police brutality nationwide.

Just hours after Houston police shot a man multiple times during a traffic stop, hundreds of protestors gathered near the Galleria to speak out against rampant instances of police brutality nationwide.

Carrying signs that read "Hands up, Don't shoot" and "We can't breathe," Houstonians marched near the landmark water wall at Post Oak and Westheimer. Last week, protestors gathered inside and outside the Galleria, prompting a few stores to close their doors.

Nearly two hours into the event, some of the more than 40 Houston Police Department officers on patrol there began making arrests. Details are not yet available.

The Houston event is one of dozens across the country held in recent weeks to protest the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of Eric Garner, 43, a New York man who was killed by police while being arrested for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes.

More photos at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Protestors-bring-national-message-to-Houston-5955047.php#photo-7267805