The Governor Gregg Abbott did not want the Court to rule on a case.
It was a divorce case.
In 2004, in Massachusetts, Sabina Daly and Angelique Naylor were married.
Texas does not recognize same-sex marriages.
So the governor argued the Court should not hear it.
An Austin court ruled that the couple was divorced.
It went to the state Supreme Court -- made up of five Republican judges -- and guess what?
The state Supreme Court upheld the Austin verdict.
So the state of Texas now recognizes same-sex divorce.
It's a step.
And the same court is expected to rule shortly on marriage equality.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Saturday, June 20, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, the refugee crisis continues, Susan Rice declares the Iraq War an "accomplishment" and much more.
Hillary Clinton is running for president for the year book photo.
Possessing only a blood lust for war, she has no plans to help people.
She also has no real record of success.
She can be elected to office, for example, but she accomplishes nothing of value once in office.
Her last non-campaign 'win' was probably, as Wally and Cedric pointed out, when she bested Barbara Bush in the cookie bake off.
So when it's time to spin success for Hillary, what do you do?
Go to America's biggest liar of all, the woman who lied on not one, not two, not three but four public affairs programs all on the same Sunday.
Yes, Susan I Love The Iraq War Rice.
Dirty Rice talked 'accomplishments' to Bloomberg's Mark Halperin:
MARK HALPERIN: What would you say are the three biggest accomplishments of Secretary Hillary Clinton when she was at State?
SUSAN RICE: Well, first of all, I think you would have to put them in context of the administration's accomplishments.
HALPERIN: Anything that she participated in a meaningful way.
RICE: She participated in everything that we did in the first term in a meaningful way.
First of all, in the first term, we were able to bring to conclusion two long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And she was very much involved in supporting those transitions. In the presidents first term also we initiated and now have sustained what we call, the re-balance to Asia, the Asia-Pacific.
There were at least 35 violent deaths in Iraq yesterday, according to Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com).
Barack is raising the number of US 'trainers' in Iraq to 3,500.
And Lie Face Susan Rice gives a televised interview where she claims as an accomplishment the Iraq War ended.
Only supreme liar Susan Rice could deliver that one with a straight face.
The Iraq War ended?
Who forgot to tell Iraq?
The US government involvement in the Iraq War ended?
Tell it to the State Dept, the Defense Dept, the White House, the US Embassy in Baghdad . . .
Susan Rice, she may go down as the biggest liar in the 21st century.
There's also the refugee crisis which effects Iraq two ways.
First up, there's the influx of refugees from Syria (both Syrians and returning Iraqis who earlier sought asylum in Iraq).
Near the end of last year, Refugees International noted:
As Syria’s civil war has dragged on, the direction of forced migration for many Iraqi refugees has reversed. Tens of thousands of Iraqis who sought refuge in Syria between 2003 and 2011 have returned home, joining about a million Iraqis who were already internally displaced. This year, the advance of the Islamic State group in central Iraq forced more than three-quarters of a million people from their homes, bringing the total number of Iraqi IDPs to roughly two million.
And at the end of last month, the United Nations Refugee Agency Tweeted:
But none of that exists in the world that Susan Rice lives.
In that world of lies, the Iraq War ended.
And it was an accomplishment, no less, according to Susan Rice.
The refugees haven't seen any accomplishment.
Reuters notes that "US and caolition forces targeted the Islamic State on Friday with 16 air strikes in Iraq."
Yet Susan Rice claims that the Iraq War is over and that this is an accomplishment that Barack and Hillary can share.
Lastly, David Bacon's latest book is The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration. This is from "PICKING PEAS SHOULD BRING A BETTER LIFE," Rosalia Martinez, as told to David Bacon:
I'm Triqui, from Rio Venado in Oaxaca. I've been here 7 years, working in the fields all the time. Right now I'm picking peas. Other times in the year I work in the broccoli.
The worst part about working in the peas is that you have to work on your knees. After a day on your knees they hurt a lot, and when you stop it's hard to extend your leg. It hurts, even when they give you a break for 15 minutes every two hours. I don't take pills for the pain, but I know many people who do.
Sometimes your knees break down. That's happened to a lot of people. Their knees go out permanently and they can't work anymore.
Another problem is the dust, which has chemicals in it. Until two years ago they didn't give you glasses to keep the dust out. Now they do, but by now most people who work in the peas have problems with their eyes.
What they pay us is not fair. They want you to pick 130 pounds in ten hours, and the piece rate is 45¢, so we make very little. The hourly wage is supposed to be $9.50 per hour, but when you're working on the piece rate it's less. You can make $100 in a day sometimes, but other times it's $80 or $70. It depends on how much you can pick.
iraq
antiwar.com
margaret griffis
david bacon
Hillary Clinton is running for president for the year book photo.
Possessing only a blood lust for war, she has no plans to help people.
She also has no real record of success.
She can be elected to office, for example, but she accomplishes nothing of value once in office.
Her last non-campaign 'win' was probably, as Wally and Cedric pointed out, when she bested Barbara Bush in the cookie bake off.
So when it's time to spin success for Hillary, what do you do?
Go to America's biggest liar of all, the woman who lied on not one, not two, not three but four public affairs programs all on the same Sunday.
Yes, Susan I Love The Iraq War Rice.
Dirty Rice talked 'accomplishments' to Bloomberg's Mark Halperin:
MARK HALPERIN: What would you say are the three biggest accomplishments of Secretary Hillary Clinton when she was at State?
SUSAN RICE: Well, first of all, I think you would have to put them in context of the administration's accomplishments.
HALPERIN: Anything that she participated in a meaningful way.
RICE: She participated in everything that we did in the first term in a meaningful way.
First of all, in the first term, we were able to bring to conclusion two long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And she was very much involved in supporting those transitions. In the presidents first term also we initiated and now have sustained what we call, the re-balance to Asia, the Asia-Pacific.
There were at least 35 violent deaths in Iraq yesterday, according to Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com).
Barack is raising the number of US 'trainers' in Iraq to 3,500.
And Lie Face Susan Rice gives a televised interview where she claims as an accomplishment the Iraq War ended.
Only supreme liar Susan Rice could deliver that one with a straight face.
The Iraq War ended?
Who forgot to tell Iraq?
The US government involvement in the Iraq War ended?
Tell it to the State Dept, the Defense Dept, the White House, the US Embassy in Baghdad . . .
Susan Rice, she may go down as the biggest liar in the 21st century.
There's also the refugee crisis which effects Iraq two ways.
First up, there's the influx of refugees from Syria (both Syrians and returning Iraqis who earlier sought asylum in Iraq).
- There are almost 60 million refugees in the world, like the Syrians I met in Iraq with
@UNICEF#WorldRefugeeDay
Pau Gasol Near the end of last year, Refugees International noted:
As Syria’s civil war has dragged on, the direction of forced migration for many Iraqi refugees has reversed. Tens of thousands of Iraqis who sought refuge in Syria between 2003 and 2011 have returned home, joining about a million Iraqis who were already internally displaced. This year, the advance of the Islamic State group in central Iraq forced more than three-quarters of a million people from their homes, bringing the total number of Iraqi IDPs to roughly two million.
And at the end of last month, the United Nations Refugee Agency Tweeted:
Iraq: We are deeply concerned about obstacles facing desperate people fleeing #Ramadi http://trib.al/6DokwZi
Alsumaria reports that Angelina Jolie, actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador, is in Turkey visiting Iraqi and Syrian refugees in a camp in Mardin.
While in Turkey, Jolie and Antonio Guterres (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) met with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey (pictured above).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued the following:
UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt has been commemorating World Refugee Day with Syrian refugees in Turkey, which has overtaken Pakistan to become the world's largest refugee-hosting nation with more than 1.77 million in urban areas and government-run camps.
The Special Envoy and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres also met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to thank him and his people for the country's generosity towards Syrian and Iraqis refugees and to discuss the challenges that Turkey and other host nations face, and their need for support.
In her capacity as co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, Jolie Pitt also raised her work on women's rights and the global campaign against sexual violence in conflict. Later, while visiting the Midyat Refugee Camp in Mardin, south-eastern Turkey, she made a powerful World Refugee Day call for more action to prevent conflict and support refugees. Her statement follows:
"We are here for a simple reason: This region is at the epicentre of a global crisis. Nearly 60 million people are displaced from their homes. That is one in every 122 people on our planet. Our world has never been richer or healthier or more advanced. Yet never before have so many people been dispossessed and stripped of their basic human rights. We should call this what it is: not just a "refugee crisis," but a crisis of global security and governance, that is manifesting itself in the worst refugee crisis ever recorded – and a time of mass displacement.
"The greatest single source of these massive refugee flows is Syria. In the space of four years, Turkey has become the country with the largest number of refugees anywhere in the world, with 1.8 million displaced Syrian and Iraqis. Lebanon, where I was yesterday, is hosting an even greater density of displaced people: every fourth person in Lebanon is now a Syrian
refugee. People are running out of places to run to. If you are an Iraqi or a Syrian fleeing violence, where do you go? Every border country is being pushed beyond its limits.
"That is why we see so many dying at sea. It is not a "new trend," it is a result of those fleeing country after country and finding no safe place. These are not economic migrants looking for a better life, these are desperate refugees who are fleeing war and persecution. The average stay in a refugee camp is 17 years. Think of your own life. Think of what that would mean. For many, it is their entire childhood. During displacement you might be able to get an education, or continue your education. But very likely, you will not.
"As a refugee, you cannot legally work in a host country. So your skills and education will dull over those long years and your much-needed contribution will be lost. As a refugee you learn how the world feels about you. You know if your suffering causes outrage and compassion – or if it is mostly ignored. Familes like the six young people I met yesterday, living in Lebanon without parents, on half food rations and paying US$100 a month to live in a tent because UNHCR does not have the funds or capability to take full care of everyone – they know.
"We should see this time in displacement as the time where we should take the most care, and give the most support. Not because they are vulnerable, but because in fact they are the
future stability of all the countries we say we are so concerned about. So my first message is that it is due time for people to respect the plight of refugees and see their value. We must protect them, and invest in them. They are not a problem, they are part of the solution to this global crisis. They are the potential for the rebuilding and restabilization of countries.
"But second, even more than this, I plead to the international community and leaders of the world to recognize what this moment in mass human displacement means. This is not just another day. This World Refuge Day marks some frightening truths about our inability to manage international crisis – about our inability to broker peace and find lasting solutions.
Today – as happened every day on average last year – over 40,000 people will be forced from their homes. And it will be the same tomorrow. And the next day. And every day after that, if this political inertia continues.
"It is hard to point to a single instance where as an international community we are decisively addressing the root causes of refugee flows. Displacement is multiplying because the wars don't end, and countries emerging from conflict don't get the support they need. We handle crises by discussing either boots on the ground or aid relief. The global crisis is showing us that this narrow view of dealing with conflict is wrong and ineffective. UNHCR, along with other UN and NGO agencies, cannot be expected to manage the chaos of a population the size of France displaced.
"I have spent the last 14 years among the UNHCR staff. I know their dedication. Even love for refugees. I have also seen them overwhelmed and emotional over the last few years. They and other UN agencies and NGOs are filling a gap left by the international community. We are past the breaking point. The answer to a world crisis like this is not how many financial
appeals can be met. Or in truth, by what percentage they can be met. I am of course grateful for the funds countries have contributed even if they are not enough to meet all the needs.
But I say to those countries, your job is not to fund displacement but to prevent it. To end it.
"Displacement at 60 million is a sign of our inability to work together as a community, to apply all our laws and uses our collective institutions effectively. To live by our standards and keep our word. There is an explosion of human suffering and displacement on a level that has never been seen before, and it cannot be manage by aid relief, it must be managed by diplomacy and law. This is a central problem. We cannot pick and choose which human rights violations we will and won't tolerate.
"We have the tools we need – the resolutions, the doctrines, the conventions, the courts. But if these tools are misused, inconsistently applied or applied in a self-serving way, we will continue on this trend of displacement and it will grow and grow. It is inhumane to expect all of these families to tolerate this kind of life. We all know what needs to be done, we must do better. And it is self-evident that we have to start with Syria.
"I call, again, on the United Nations Security Council: Send your ministers and ambassadors here. Witness this crisis for yourself. See that it simply cannot go on. And that it is past time
for a credible plan to reach a political solution to end the conflict. I thank the people of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan for their generosity, and all host countries. To all the families here, and around our world, marking this Holy Month, I say, "Ramadan Kareem." And I pay tribute to refugees themselves – the people we rightly celebrate today, not only here in Turkey but around the world. Thank you."
The Special Envoy and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres also met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to thank him and his people for the country's generosity towards Syrian and Iraqis refugees and to discuss the challenges that Turkey and other host nations face, and their need for support.
In her capacity as co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, Jolie Pitt also raised her work on women's rights and the global campaign against sexual violence in conflict. Later, while visiting the Midyat Refugee Camp in Mardin, south-eastern Turkey, she made a powerful World Refugee Day call for more action to prevent conflict and support refugees. Her statement follows:
"We are here for a simple reason: This region is at the epicentre of a global crisis. Nearly 60 million people are displaced from their homes. That is one in every 122 people on our planet. Our world has never been richer or healthier or more advanced. Yet never before have so many people been dispossessed and stripped of their basic human rights. We should call this what it is: not just a "refugee crisis," but a crisis of global security and governance, that is manifesting itself in the worst refugee crisis ever recorded – and a time of mass displacement.
"The greatest single source of these massive refugee flows is Syria. In the space of four years, Turkey has become the country with the largest number of refugees anywhere in the world, with 1.8 million displaced Syrian and Iraqis. Lebanon, where I was yesterday, is hosting an even greater density of displaced people: every fourth person in Lebanon is now a Syrian
refugee. People are running out of places to run to. If you are an Iraqi or a Syrian fleeing violence, where do you go? Every border country is being pushed beyond its limits.
"That is why we see so many dying at sea. It is not a "new trend," it is a result of those fleeing country after country and finding no safe place. These are not economic migrants looking for a better life, these are desperate refugees who are fleeing war and persecution. The average stay in a refugee camp is 17 years. Think of your own life. Think of what that would mean. For many, it is their entire childhood. During displacement you might be able to get an education, or continue your education. But very likely, you will not.
"As a refugee, you cannot legally work in a host country. So your skills and education will dull over those long years and your much-needed contribution will be lost. As a refugee you learn how the world feels about you. You know if your suffering causes outrage and compassion – or if it is mostly ignored. Familes like the six young people I met yesterday, living in Lebanon without parents, on half food rations and paying US$100 a month to live in a tent because UNHCR does not have the funds or capability to take full care of everyone – they know.
"We should see this time in displacement as the time where we should take the most care, and give the most support. Not because they are vulnerable, but because in fact they are the
future stability of all the countries we say we are so concerned about. So my first message is that it is due time for people to respect the plight of refugees and see their value. We must protect them, and invest in them. They are not a problem, they are part of the solution to this global crisis. They are the potential for the rebuilding and restabilization of countries.
"But second, even more than this, I plead to the international community and leaders of the world to recognize what this moment in mass human displacement means. This is not just another day. This World Refuge Day marks some frightening truths about our inability to manage international crisis – about our inability to broker peace and find lasting solutions.
Today – as happened every day on average last year – over 40,000 people will be forced from their homes. And it will be the same tomorrow. And the next day. And every day after that, if this political inertia continues.
"It is hard to point to a single instance where as an international community we are decisively addressing the root causes of refugee flows. Displacement is multiplying because the wars don't end, and countries emerging from conflict don't get the support they need. We handle crises by discussing either boots on the ground or aid relief. The global crisis is showing us that this narrow view of dealing with conflict is wrong and ineffective. UNHCR, along with other UN and NGO agencies, cannot be expected to manage the chaos of a population the size of France displaced.
"I have spent the last 14 years among the UNHCR staff. I know their dedication. Even love for refugees. I have also seen them overwhelmed and emotional over the last few years. They and other UN agencies and NGOs are filling a gap left by the international community. We are past the breaking point. The answer to a world crisis like this is not how many financial
appeals can be met. Or in truth, by what percentage they can be met. I am of course grateful for the funds countries have contributed even if they are not enough to meet all the needs.
But I say to those countries, your job is not to fund displacement but to prevent it. To end it.
"Displacement at 60 million is a sign of our inability to work together as a community, to apply all our laws and uses our collective institutions effectively. To live by our standards and keep our word. There is an explosion of human suffering and displacement on a level that has never been seen before, and it cannot be manage by aid relief, it must be managed by diplomacy and law. This is a central problem. We cannot pick and choose which human rights violations we will and won't tolerate.
"We have the tools we need – the resolutions, the doctrines, the conventions, the courts. But if these tools are misused, inconsistently applied or applied in a self-serving way, we will continue on this trend of displacement and it will grow and grow. It is inhumane to expect all of these families to tolerate this kind of life. We all know what needs to be done, we must do better. And it is self-evident that we have to start with Syria.
"I call, again, on the United Nations Security Council: Send your ministers and ambassadors here. Witness this crisis for yourself. See that it simply cannot go on. And that it is past time
for a credible plan to reach a political solution to end the conflict. I thank the people of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan for their generosity, and all host countries. To all the families here, and around our world, marking this Holy Month, I say, "Ramadan Kareem." And I pay tribute to refugees themselves – the people we rightly celebrate today, not only here in Turkey but around the world. Thank you."
The Hollywood actress and her daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt traveled to Turkey Saturday afternoon in honor of World Refugee Day.
After visiting a Syrian and Iraqi refugee camp, Mrs. Brad Pitt couldn't help but voice her appeal for world leaders to get involved with what could be the "worst refugee crisis ever recorded."
After visiting a Syrian and Iraqi refugee camp, Mrs. Brad Pitt couldn't help but voice her appeal for world leaders to get involved with what could be the "worst refugee crisis ever recorded."
"There is an explosion of human suffering and displacement on a level that has never been seen before," Jolie said, warning that Syrians and Iraqis were running out of safe havens as neighbouring states reached the limit of their capacity.
"It is hard to point to a single instance where, as an international community, we are decisively addressing the root causes of refugee flows," she said.
"It is hard to point to a single instance where, as an international community, we are decisively addressing the root causes of refugee flows," she said.
In that world of lies, the Iraq War ended.
And it was an accomplishment, no less, according to Susan Rice.
The refugees haven't seen any accomplishment.
Reuters notes that "US and caolition forces targeted the Islamic State on Friday with 16 air strikes in Iraq."
Yet Susan Rice claims that the Iraq War is over and that this is an accomplishment that Barack and Hillary can share.
Lastly, David Bacon's latest book is The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration. This is from "PICKING PEAS SHOULD BRING A BETTER LIFE," Rosalia Martinez, as told to David Bacon:
I'm Triqui, from Rio Venado in Oaxaca. I've been here 7 years, working in the fields all the time. Right now I'm picking peas. Other times in the year I work in the broccoli.
The worst part about working in the peas is that you have to work on your knees. After a day on your knees they hurt a lot, and when you stop it's hard to extend your leg. It hurts, even when they give you a break for 15 minutes every two hours. I don't take pills for the pain, but I know many people who do.
Sometimes your knees break down. That's happened to a lot of people. Their knees go out permanently and they can't work anymore.
Another problem is the dust, which has chemicals in it. Until two years ago they didn't give you glasses to keep the dust out. Now they do, but by now most people who work in the peas have problems with their eyes.
What they pay us is not fair. They want you to pick 130 pounds in ten hours, and the piece rate is 45¢, so we make very little. The hourly wage is supposed to be $9.50 per hour, but when you're working on the piece rate it's less. You can make $100 in a day sometimes, but other times it's $80 or $70. It depends on how much you can pick.
iraq
antiwar.com
margaret griffis
david bacon
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