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The chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans of Texas, a group of gay Texas GOP members, resigned from his post Thursday, KXAN reported. Michael Cargill’s resignation as LCR’s state leader comes after the state party ratified a new platform calling homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice” at its Houston convention last week. “These are just crazy people,” Michael Cargill told KXAN on Sunday. “It’s a small minority of people that are being un-Christian-like and spewing this hateful language.” LCR Texas Secretary and Austin Vice President David Garza and President of LCR San Antonio Mimi Planas also resigned from the state board alongside Cargill. Cargill, who owns and operates a gun shop in Austin, will continue to serve as president of LCR’s Austin chapter and pursue the group’s interests through direct interactions with GOP leadership at the Texas Capitol, he wrote in his resignation letter. LCR Texas leadership’s resignations come amid backlash against the state GOP’s … [Read more...] about Texas gay Republican group chair resigns in wake of new state party platform

The man most responsible for shaping a U.S. Supreme Court that delivered the conservative movement a long-sought victory has spent weeks saying he did not think it will be good for his party. Publicly, after a draft of the likely decision leaked in May, former President Donald Trump was remarkably tight-lipped for weeks about the possible decision, which the court ultimately handed down Friday, ending federal abortion protections. But privately, Trump has told people repeatedly that he believes it will be “bad for Republicans.” The decision, Trump has told friends and advisers, will anger suburban women, a group who helped tilt the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden, and will lead to a backlash against Republicans in the November midterm elections. His advisers had encouraged Trump to keep quiet about the issue until a ruling was issued, in part to ensure he was not accused of trying to influence the decision. Still, the contrast between Trump and conservatives who have … [Read more...] about Trump privately called a Roe v. Wade reversal ‘bad’ for his party

The United States Supreme Court on Friday issued a new ruling overturning Roe v. Wade , the landmark 1973 decision that established abortion as a constitutional American right. The decision marks one of the court's most significant course reversals of the last century, and effectively returns all legal matters regarding abortion law to the state level to be decided. Thirteen states, including Texas, already have trigger laws on the books structured to automatically ban nearly all forms of abortion in the event of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe. These trigger measures, however, may be just the first ripples of a momentous shift in American jurisprudence that could see other long-held precedents forged by the high court overturned, including a previous ruling against a half-century-old Texas statute outlawing same-sex intercourse. In a separate concurring opinion published Friday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the Supreme Court's past rulings on … [Read more...] about Supreme Court justice wants to revisit Texas law banning same-sex intercourse

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of dissolving parliament in a preliminary vote on Wednesday, setting the wheels in motion to send the country to its fifth national election in just over three years. The development was the first step in a series of votes before the formal dissolution of the 120-seat Knesset. It came two days after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced he was disbanding his unraveling governing coalition of eight ideologically diverse parties just over a year after he took office. The historic coalition, which unseated longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu, was wracked by infighting and defections in recent months. It included dovish parties committed to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, hawkish ultranationalists who oppose a Palestinian state, and a small Islamist faction, the first Arab party to join a … [Read more...] about Israel lawmakers take 1st step toward dissolving parliament

Traveller walk in the departure hall at Hong Kong International Airport amid the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong on March 21, 2022. (Reuters photo) HONG KONG: Hong Kong should aim for a quarantine-free business travel corridor as a precursor to a full-scale reopening of its borders, as the city's reconnection with mainland China and other parts of the world is ranked high among Beijing's priorities, government advisers have said. To achieve that, the incoming administration under Chief Executive-designate John Lee should fight for more flexible rules during negotiations on border reopening, analysts and medical experts added. The State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) on Sunday laid out five expectations for Lee's team, including tackling pressing issues such as the border reopening and strengthening the city's role as "an international hub connecting the mainland and the world". In response, Executive Council members Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Jeffrey Lam … [Read more...] about Hong Kong could start quarantine-free business travel corridor with China, advisers urge

By Mat Johnson One World. 272 pp. $27 - - - Back in 2011, I reviewed Mat Johnson's "Pym," a wildly entertaining seriocomic novel that revisits - and updates - Edgar Allan Poe's enigmatic, racially charged fantasy, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket." In it, an all-Black expedition to Antarctica unearths something seemingly impossible in the ice, and about which I will say no more. Just pick up a copy of this very funny, thought-provoking book. Or better still, read Johnson's latest, "Invisible Things," again a work of cultural and political satire, but this time framed around an unsettling discovery on Jupiter's moon Europa. Before we get to that, however, take a close look at the novel's opening: "After months in deep space conducting an intensive field study of social dynamics aboard the cryoship SS Delany, Nalini Jackson, NASAx Post-Doctorate Fellow of Applied Sociology, D.A. Sc., came to an uncomfortable conclusion: She didn't really like people, on the … [Read more...] about Book World: ‘Invisible Things’ is a science fiction novel with an eye on the now

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Andrew Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, is facing 21 federal charges related to a scheme to seek donations and funnel a portion of them back to him through third parties, the U.S. attorney's office announced Wednesday. Gillum, 42, and co-defendant Janet Lettman-Hicks, 53, face 19 counts of wire fraud. Gillum is also charged with making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. attorney's office said the pair “conspired to commit wire fraud, by unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose.” Lettman-Hicks then used her company to fraudulently give money to Gillum disguised as payroll payments, the office said in a press release. “Make no mistake that … [Read more...] about Former candidate for Florida governor facing federal charges

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 14 WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months. If savings from the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal tax on gas are fully passed along to consumers, drivers would save about $2.76 for a 15-gallon fill-up. It’s unclear, though, if Biden can push his proposal through Congress, where lawmakers, including some Democrats, are skeptical or even opposed to the idea. Many economists also are wary of a gas tax holiday. A look at how the proposed gas tax holiday would work and what impact it might have on gas prices and a highway trust fund that is paid for in large part by taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. WHY IS BIDEN PROPOSING A GAS TAX HOLIDAY? The price of gas is … [Read more...] about EXPLAINER: How Biden’s proposed gas tax holiday would work

Thailand and Switzerland are set to become the first two countries in the world to seal a deal under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, which creates a basis for trading in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions or mitigation outcomes between nations, says Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-archa. He was referring to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) he plans to sign with his Swiss counterparts during his trip to Europe, which kicked off yesterday and will wrap up on July 1 after he has also visited Portugal. The MoU follows a Thai-Swiss joint statement signed virtually in May on climate protection, enabling Switzerland to offset carbon emissions with climate projects in Thailand. The MoU will in practice facilitate exchanges of such as technology and funds between Thai and Swiss private parties and carbon credits between Thailand and Switzerland, he said. Mr Varawut said Thailand will gain more in the way of technology and funds than the carbon credits … [Read more...] about Ministry to ink climate pact with Swiss under Paris Agreement