First Amendment

Open Season: Do Laws Against Animal Crushing Videos Violate Free Speech?

Ashley Nicole Richards, who filmed herself torturing and killing kittens, puppies, cats and dogs, was the first person brought up on revised federal crush-video charges -- which backfired magnificently.

Cover Story: Federal Animal "Crush" Law Tested in Houston

In December 2012, two Houstonians became the first defendants charged under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, which criminalizes the production and distribution of images of animal cruelty. Ashley Nicole Richards and Brent Wayne Justice were originally charged in Harris County Distric ... More >>

UPDATED: At West Texas High School, One Student Pushes Against Principal To Bring Discussion of Gay Rights to Campus

Updated with comments from Sundown Superintendent Mike Motheral and Murray Lipp, who runs Gay Marriage USA's Facebook site. On Wednesday morning, an eighth grader at Sundown Middle School approached Morgan Sisk, a senior at Sundown's high school. The 1,400-strong town, located just west of Lubbock, ... More >>

Royce White Trash Tweets Kevin Durant

When you have an NBA roster of fifteen players, and it's playoff time where the rotation shortens up and minutes become more precious, it's still up to every player on the roster to do their part to help the team bring home a win, night in and night out. Each guy needs to do what he does best. Jam ... More >>

Guess Who Is Bringing Ted Nugent to the State of the Union Address?

Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, arguably the Tea Party's No. 1 advocate on Capitol Hill, has already had an eventful first term his second time in Washington. About three weeks ago, Stockman said he was ready to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Barack Obama if Obama's proposed gun-contr ... More >>

Denise Pratt: Family Court Judge Issues Blanket Gag Order, Because it Sucks When the Public Knows What's Going On

We've heard of judges issuing gag orders in especially sensitive cases, but until now, we've never heard of a judge issuing a blanket gag order: Harris County Family Court Judge Denise Pratt on January 23 sent a motion to attorneys in her court involved with SAPCR cases -- suits affecting parent-chi ... More >>

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Album-Cover "Controversy" Bores Me

The release of the "controversial" cover art for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' forthcoming album, Mosquito, has managed to stir up quite a bit of buzz. (Leave me alone. I like puns.) If you've somehow managed to escape the album-cover hype, I'll let you in on a little secret: you're not missing much in ... More >>

Game Changer

Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major league sports.

T for Textbooks

A new doc explores the Texas Board of Education's fight against science, history.

AG Greg Abbott Can't Keep Himself Out Of The Kountze Cheerleader Bible Case

In a development that really only has people asking "What took so long?" Texas attorney general Greg Abbott, ever eager to flail whatever red-meat rightwing issue that crosses his desk, has "offered assistance" to the good folks at the Kountze school district who have received a "menacing and mislea ... More >>

Local Activist Aaron Brown Arrested at Cruz/Palin Event in Woodlands, Doesn't Even Get to Show His Signs

Local activist Aaron Brown, one of the organizers of protests against Westboro Baptist Church, was arrested by a Montgomery County Sheriff's deputy Friday while walking to the Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion to protest Sarah Palin's appearance at an event supporting Republican senatorial candidate ... More >>

Representative Louie Gohmert's Remarks On the Colorado Shooting: Is His "Apology" Enough?

If you're not familiar with Representative Louie Gohmert, we kind of envy you. Scant hours after last weekend's horrific mass murder in Aurora, Colorado, Gohmert called in to a Heritage Foundation morning radio show called "Istook Live" and, when asked his opinion on the shootings, gave an off-the-c ... More >>

How Far Is Too Far: Verizon Argues Its Network Is Protected Under the Fifth Amendment

There is a tenuous balance in the digital world between people who share things online, those with whom they share them and the person/entity in between that facilitates that sharing process. In the simplest terms, that entity is like a bank that holds your money between the time you receive it and ... More >>

5 Ways to Tell if You're Being Racist on the Internet

Railing against the above graphic got me banned from yet another Facebook. I wasn't really commenting on the mild, but overt racism of the image. What set me off what the fact that the poster couldn't understand the differences between the killings of Trayvon Martin and Jacqueline Gardner, or why Ma ... More >>

ACLU: Police Seizing of Witness's Phone Illegal and Totally Not Cool

The ACLU of Texas is criticizing a Houston police officer's alleged seizing of a witness's cell phone at the scene where the officer shot an unarmed man. HPD says Officer J. McGowan shot Rufino Lara while investigating an alleged assault after he refused both English and Spanish commands to put his ... More >>

Girls, Girls, Girls At 25: Anatomy Of A Strip-Club Classic

Mötley Crüe, those depraved kings of '80s sleaze, took a major step toward strip-club immortality 25 years ago this week when the band released its fourth album, Girls, Girls, Girls.. Glossy, debauched heavy metal ruled the charts in the summer of 1987 -- Whitesnake, Ozzy, Bon Jovi and Poison all ... More >>

Terence Johnson Throws American Flag into Traffic, But Is That Illegal?

There can be a thin line between ballsy and dumb. Terence Dwayne Johnson, 20, of the tiny East Texas hamlet of Bedias, apparently decided to test where that line might be. According to cops who talked to KLTV, security footage at a Lovelady hardware store shows him grabbing an American flag out of ... More >>

State and EPA Battle Over Fracking, Flaming Well Water

When Steve Lipsky blamed fracking for turning his water well into a flamethrower, he set off an epic battle between the EPA and Texas.

City of Houston to Vote on Charitable Feeding Ordinance

Every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m., volunteers for Noah's Kitchen gather at Jenni's Noodle House in the Heights and begin prepping for their day ahead. Since 2010, the charity's mission has been to feed Houston's homeless one meal at a time. In their first year, Noah's Kitchen volunteers fed 5,000 p ... More >>

Best Prayer-in-School Ruling Ever

The 5 Best Disses of Religious Zealots in the Greatest Prayer-in-Schools Ruling Ever Written

Last week U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed to a settlement in a long-running case involving prayer in a Central Texas school district. His ruling got some ink, but perhaps not all it deserved, for it is a concise masterpiece of sanity that comes from one of the most turbulent, extremist arenas ... More >>

Austin's Jester King Craft Brewery Sues the TABC, But Is the TABC Really the Bad Guy?

Shit just got real.​Jester King, based in Austin, is one of the state's most popular craft breweries. The TABC (or Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission), also based in Austin, is one of the state's most powerful agencies. And with news that Jester King has just filed a lawsuit against the TABC, ... More >>

Gov. Rick Perry May Have Used Taxpayer Dollars To Promote "The Response", Says ACLU

Photo by Mandy OaklanderReverend Barry Lynn and Terri Burke are protesting The Response​Diversity-minded, Constitution-abiding folks are pissed at tomorrow's one-day Jesus camp called "The Response." Governor Rick Perry, of course, is the belle of the ball. It's a little complicated since he' ... More >>

Jolanda Jones Fires Back: A Grievance Against the City Attorney, and Big Blasts From Her Spokesperson

Jolanda Jones firing shots of her own​Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, the subject of a city inspector general investigation, has filed a Texas State Bar grievance against City Attorney David Feldman. Jones's spokeswoman, Kelly Cripe, would not provide a copy of the grievance, but she ... More >>

Texas Mandatory-Sonogram Bill: Court Challenge Ramps Up Tomorrow

Group says new law "imposes stress and emotional strain on women as they prepare to undergo a medical procedure."​The legal challenge to the new bill that forces women who are seeking an abortion to get a sonogram begins for real tomorrow, with a hearing on a temporary injunction barring enfo ... More >>

Four Musicians Roth Vs. U.S. Would Have Jailed (NSFW)

AP/Life.comSamuel Roth​Standing up for the First Amendement is a hard row to hoe sometimes. Sure, it's fun when you can defend someone like Marilyn Manson, but it's a lot less fun when you realize you also have to defend people like the Westboro Baptist Church. Thems the breaks, though. If you ... More >>

Four Comic-Book Characters Inspired By Musicians

​Rocks off just can't seem to get comic books out of our blood. Between being fully immersed in Comicpalooza last weekend and trying to point out to Broadway how many other comic characters would make better and safer musicals than Spider-Man, we've regressed to being 15 with ink-stained figur ... More >>

Small Fort Bend Paper Hit With $1 Million Libel Verdict on Story About Son of Sheriff's Deputy

$50K in actual damages, $1 million in punitives.​The Fort Bend Star, a small but often feisty publication that covers county events and politics, has been slammed with a million-dollar libel verdict for a story it ran about a sheriff's deputy and his sons. A jury awarded Wade Brady, the son o ... More >>

Animal-Mutilation Film Screens Tonight Near Rice U.

www.mercyforanimals.org​Just in case the online version of Farm to Fridge - The Truth Behind Meat Production wasn't enough for you, go check out the animal-abuse document on giant screens tonight (Friday). We'll be waiting here with barf bags. As was previously reported by Hair Balls, Mercy for A ... More >>

Local State Senator Pushing for Sunday Liquor Sales in Texas

pamlaneSunday Funday indeed.​Such times as these - the economy in recession, federal and state governments mired in debt, and more than 8 percent unemployment - are leading state lawmakers around the country to question the financial logistics of blue laws restricting any business from operati ... More >>

Where Are WikiLeaks' Media Friends? (UPDATED)

From Michael Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media Holdings: Updated: Here is the link to the full story of the media's betrayal of WikiLeaks. Where are the First Amendment's establishment warriors as government-spooked businesses try to shut down Wikileaks? Hackers with computers, not h ... More >>

WAR ON CHRISTMAS: Texas Principals Still Face Lawsuit Over Banning Jesus Pencils & Candy Canes

Who knew Jesus was a "Say my name! Say my name!" guy?​Two Texas elementary school principals have failed in their attempt to have the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismiss a suit filed against them for trying to kill the spirit of Christmas, not to mention Jesus, in innocent young children ... More >>

Rappers Vs. Uncle Sam: N.W.A., Eminem, Kanye...

​Mike Myers will probably go down in history as the most uncomfortable white guy next to a black guy in TV history, thanks to Kanye West's unscripted outburst during that infamous Hurricane Katrina telethon. It began with Myers reading his part of the script verbatim. Two-thirds into the PSA, ... More >>

Voodoo Lady: Christine O'Donnell's Halloween Playlist

​Christine O'Donnell's "I Am Not a Witch" ad gave us truckloads of comedy during a rather boring election season. Thanks to that unintentionally hilarious ad and the upcoming election, Christine has been on our minds lately. To better understand what drives the Teabag candidate, we stole her ... More >>

Steve Mostyn, Anti-Perry Attorney, Tries To Subpoena Reporters' Notes

Steve Mostyn wants to see Texas Watchdog's notes​We've seen some idiotic legal filings over the years, but there's something especially mind-boggling when a lawyer files a stinker on his own behalf. Houston's own Steve Mostyn has just done that -- and while he was at it, he decided ... More >>

MoveOn.org Throws a Little Protest in Houston

Photos by Christopher Patronella, Jr.Moveon.org, throwing signs. See a slideshow from yesterday's protest.​Local members of MoveOn.org held a rally Tuesday taking aim at corporate control in Washington, delivering petition signatures to the Heights office of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and ur ... More >>

Basketball Diaries

Readers respond to "Trash Talk"

Teen Porn 101

If they're taking their laptops and cell phones to bed with them, it's probably not to do homework.

Gangsters in Bacliff

The unincorporated town is up to its elbows in youth gangs, poverty and crime

Doctor Nice

Steven Hotze uses a warm, easygoing manner to peddle natural hormones to women, at thousands of dollars a pop. So who cares about credentials or documented results?

Bagels Rip My Flesh

New York Coffee Shop offers authentic East Coast fare -- complete with attitude