” There are real lies being spread by people with far more influence than a suburban Texas high schooler. There is real fear-mongering, and it’s given morbidly gleeful credibility by people who get paid by the byline.
Observer columnist Andrea Grimes in “The Curious Case of the Ebola Troll.”After an out-of-control party in an East Texas pasture, locals in Van Zandt County staged a sober counter-party to push back against forces of immorality. That party included a speech from Pastor Dan Cummins who battled against an East Texas storm to deliver his message: “God ain’t through with America yet!”
“You can set up here and watch Fox News and say ‘these alien bastards, we need to shut the border down.’ But what I saw coming through Brooks County was humanity.”—Charles Gilbert.
Militiaman Charles Gilbert joined the Texas Border Volunteers to “kick some ass,” but the group’s tactics forced him to do some soul-searching. Read his full story.
Top photo from the documentary film They Come to America II. Other photos by Jen Reel.
“The Internet is an amazing creation, yes, a testament to human ingenuity in the delivery of both everyday necessities and enjoyable junk. So is the McDonald’s drive-thru. Both entities have by now been recognized as addictive and harmful if frequented too often. Over the past few decades we’ve come to a widespread awareness of what fast food does to our bodies. If we want to maintain the kind of thoughtful, reflective, curious minds that engineered the Internet in the first place, it’s time to face up to what reading online is doing to our brains.” Read more.
Photo by Matt Wright-Steel
In this episode, Observer staff writer Emily DePrang discusses Texas’ backlog of untested rape kits and how the Houston Police Department is leading the way, not only in tackling their own backlog, but in changing the way they treat sexual assault victims.
RH Reality Check senior political reporter and Observer columnist Andrea Grimes joins us to make sense of the ongoing legal battles involving Texas’ omnibus anti-abortion bill commonly referred to as HB 2.
On Wednesday, one more innocent man walked away from Texas’ death row. Read the full story on Manuel Velez on texasobserver.org.
Photo by Emily DePrang.
In Mexico, protesters gathered in the thousands for a march to commemorate the 43 missing students who disappeared after being taken into police custody. Read the full report and see additional photos on texasobserver.org.
Photos by Hector Vivas.
Justice Advocate Emily Burton-Blank talks about her role in the Houston Police Department for providing support to survivors and investigators of sexual assault crimes. Read more about Emily Burton in “To Catch a Rapist: Houston Leads on Testing Old Rape Kits.”
Writer Ling Ma won our 2014 Short Story Contest with “Fuzhou Nighttime Feeling.” Don’t forget to check out our four finalists. Illustration by Michael Marsicano.
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Texas’ daily nonprofit, non-partisan source of news, investigative reporting and opinion on Texas politics, economics, housing, environment, education, sports and more.
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