Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., June 10, 2022
Left Not Only Dead, but Hollow: Matthew McConaughey traveled to the White House Tuesday, June 7, to speak powerfully about the lives and dreams lost in his hometown of Uvalde. He encouraged lawmakers to act on his four-pronged proposal for "gun responsibility": background checks, raising the minimum age for a gun owner to 21, federal red flag laws that temporarily block at-risk people from buying guns, and a national waiting period for assault rifle purchases.
Rittenhouse & His Slapped Wrist: Speaking of homicidal teens with automatic rifles, Kyle Rittenhouse recently told a conservative podcast host that he'd attend Texas A&M, but later walked back the comment, tweeting, "Unfortunately, the end of my high school career was robbed from me. I didn't have the time other students get to properly prepare for the future." Instead, his whiny white ass will begin its higher-ed career at good ol' Blinn College in Brenham.
Cyclist on the Run: Authorities are still looking for Kaitlin Armstrong, the woman suspected of killing professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson in Austin. U.S. Marshals announced Monday, June 6, that she was dropped off at Newark Liberty International Airport a day after the Austin Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for her.
GOP for Gun Reform? A group of bigwig Texas GOP donors took out a full page in the Sunday Dallas Morning News to advocate for expanded background checks and strengthened red flag laws after the Uvalde massacre. Todd Maclin – a former J.P. Morgan executive – paid for the ad, with signers including billionaires Robert Rowling of TRT Holdings Inc. and Ray Lee Hunt of gas producer Hunt Consolidated Inc.
Monkeypox on the Move: Texas got its first case of monkeypox this week, in a patient in Dallas County who had been traveling internationally in the last month. The risk of a widespread monkeypox outbreak is low, according to the World Health Organization.
Foster Care Catastrophe: Federal District Judge Janis Jack said this week she intends to pursue large fines against the state of Texas for contempt of court due to unsafe conditions for foster care kids. The recent misdeeds at The Refuge for formerly sex-trafficked girls in Bastrop were still top-of-mind as Jack demanded Texas comply with the rulings in the decadelong legal action against the state for its unsafe foster care system.
Southern Inhospitality: A May 31 report from LGBTQ+ business network Out Leadership ranked states for their queer friendliness, based on factors including religious-exemption laws that allow discrimination and incidences of harrassment and assault against queer workers. All things considered, Texas ranked 42nd.
Quote of the Week
"You have a bulletproof vest. I had nothing."
– Referring to police, Robb Elementary teacher Arnulfo Reyes, whose 11 students were killed May 24
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