EoT: Sex, Lies and YouTube
Eyes on Texas, a roundup of news, columns and features about the state, from media around the world.
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida dared to mess with Texas during a committee hearing, calling the state “crazy” for refusing to set up a state health insurance exchange under ObamaCare.
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, immediately demanded an apology, but Hastings responded: “You’ll wait until hell freezes over.”
Hastings didn’t stop there. In a CNN telephone interview, the Democrat made the since-debunked claim the state has a law that says women can own only six dildos – more evidence Texas is nuts.
Other Texas lawmakers responded to Hastings by warning him –wait for it– don’t mess with Texas.
“If Texas were its own country, it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world,” U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, said in a lengthy defense before the U.S. House of Representatives.
***
Spare the rod in schools and Texans will have to use their weapons in self-defense more often.
That’s the logic behind a recent statement that a National Rifle Association board member from Texas made on a website that tracks gun legislation.
“Perhaps a good paddling in school may keep me from having to put a bullet in him later,” Charles Cotton of Friendswood wrote on TexasCHLForum.com, according to Talking Points Memo.
He added that teachers’ ability to control their students has a direct impact on crime rates in the state.
Cotton made the comment to protest a bill proposed by state Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, to eliminate corporal punishment in schools. He has served on the pro-gun organization’s board for 13 years.
***
A Texas family feud has gone viral. Alecia Faith Pennington took to YouTube to prove that she lacks any form of legal identification because of her parents’ beliefs.
“I was homeschooled my entire life, so I had no school records,” Pennington said in a YouTube video with over 600,000 views. “Also, never been to the hospital, so I have no medical records. This leaves me with nothing to prove my identity or citizenship.”
The 19-year-old was born at home, according to the video. She has no Social Security number, because her parents never filed a birth certificate, the Latin Times reported.
Pennington has left home in Kerrville and said her parents refuse to help. Her father responded through his own YouTube video saying, “We weren’t aware of all that, since you’re trying to do it on your own. But we want to help you in any way that we can”.