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Posted

So, Paxton sued Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street basically over ESG policies.

I get the performance aspect of this, but I might tend to think that he stepped on his dick here.  One might think he doesn't need them as enemies.

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Posted

Lots of buzz online that Paxton is going to announce a run for Senate against John Cornyn. Does he need to resign to run for Senate? Everyone is saying yes but I thought statewide offices didn't need to follow that rule.

Posted
Just now, HRSchenker said:

Lots of buzz online that Paxton is going to announce a run for Senate against John Cornyn. Does he need to resign to run for Senate? Everyone is saying yes but I thought statewide offices didn't need to follow that rule.

we're not that fucking lucky

Posted

What in the living fuck does it matter if he’s no longer ag of Texas? Is some moderate R gonna swoop in to replace him? 

Posted
What in the living fuck does it matter if he’s no longer ag of Texas? Is some moderate R gonna swoop in to replace him? 

Paxton’s corruption is without equal in modern Texas politics. He’s as dirty as it comes. He makes Abbott look like a boy scout. The GOP would be hard-pressed to run someone worse.
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Posted

Paxton’s corruption is without equal in modern Texas politics. He’s as dirty as it comes. He makes Abbott look like a boy scout. The GOP would be hard-pressed to run someone worse.

Yet…they will.
Dude, it’s like you didn’t get the memo: it only gets worse, and there is no bottom.
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Posted
5 hours ago, Eskimohorn said:


Paxton’s corruption is without equal in modern Texas politics. He’s as dirty as it comes. He makes Abbott look like a boy scout. The GOP would be hard-pressed to run someone worse.

Put some Don Huffines or ‘22 primary candidate Louie Gohmert in your pipe and smoke it. 

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Posted
8 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


Yet…they will.
Dude, it’s like you didn’t get the memo: it only gets worse, and there is no bottom.

And Paxton will win the primary by 5 and the general by 10+

Posted
4 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

And Paxton will win the primary by 5 and the general by 10+

Oh, there is zero doubt that Paxton is going to be our next US Senator in place of Cornyn.  Seriously, it's not even going to be close.  That's not doom-and-gloom, that's just obvious.

Posted

Paxton and Cruz will have to rival Tubs and Britt for the biggest Senate clown duo for a state, right?   

Or do McConnell and Paul still top that list?

Posted
35 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

Paxton and Cruz will have to rival Tubs and Britt for the biggest Senate clown duo for a state, right?   

Or do McConnell and Paul still top that list?

Paxton/Cruz will without-a-doubt be the worst two senators any state can muster. Tubs/Britt are just stupid. Paxton/Cruz are unadulterated evil.

Posted

Scott/graham the ambiguously gay duo should be in the running. And Oklahoma based on markwayne mullin alone. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, bluto said:

Scott/graham the ambiguously gay duo should be in the running. And Oklahoma based on markwayne mullin alone. 

I meant to include the Oklahoma duo of Mullin and Langford

Posted

Mark Margolis Rage GIF by Breaking Bad

 

Justice Department declined to prosecute Texas AG Paxton in final weeks of Biden’s term: AP sources
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department quietly decided in the final weeks of the Biden administration not to prosecute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, effectively ending the corruption investigation that cast a long shadow over the political career of a close ally of President Donald Trump, The Associated Press has learned.

The decision not to bring charges — which has never been publicly reported — resolved the high-stakes federal probe before Trump’s new Justice Department leadership could even take action on an investigation sparked by allegations from Paxton’s inner circle that the Texas Republican abused his office to aid a political donor.

The move came almost two years after the Justice Department’s public integrity section in Washington took over the investigation, removing the case from the hands of federal investigators in Texas who had believed there was sufficient evidence for an indictment.

https://apnews.com/article/ken-paxton-ag-federal-investigation-justice-department-b4c3469a90f1c546dcb69177c432a383

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Posted
1 hour ago, bolverk said:

Mark Margolis Rage GIF by Breaking Bad

 

Justice Department declined to prosecute Texas AG Paxton in final weeks of Biden’s term: AP sources
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department quietly decided in the final weeks of the Biden administration not to prosecute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, effectively ending the corruption investigation that cast a long shadow over the political career of a close ally of President Donald Trump, The Associated Press has learned.

The decision not to bring charges — which has never been publicly reported — resolved the high-stakes federal probe before Trump’s new Justice Department leadership could even take action on an investigation sparked by allegations from Paxton’s inner circle that the Texas Republican abused his office to aid a political donor.

The move came almost two years after the Justice Department’s public integrity section in Washington took over the investigation, removing the case from the hands of federal investigators in Texas who had believed there was sufficient evidence for an indictment.

https://apnews.com/article/ken-paxton-ag-federal-investigation-justice-department-b4c3469a90f1c546dcb69177c432a383

Isn't this where DCBC or twice or another surlylawyer comes in from the top rope to scold us for doubting the justice system?

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Posted
Isn't this where DCBC or twice or another surlylawyer comes in from the top rope to scold us for doubting the justice system?

I’m still waiting on the cartels to get him, per our dear departed friends many references.

giphy.gif
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Posted
4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Well, if they can collect it, we as taxpayers are on the hook for it.

He should have been impeached for this alone.

Also, it drives me fucking nuts that Texas trial courts render judgment for attorneys fees on appeal.

Paxton doesn't give a fuck, we're picking up the tab for his shitfuckery, and he'll just mosey on to DC and up the grift factor. Our justice system seems to be running way low on actual justice. 

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Posted

oh for fuck's sake

 

 

The siege on self-gratification rages on in the 89th Texas Legislature. A new Senate bill, filed by North Texas Sen. Angela Paxton,  Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton's other half, would require online shoppers to submit photo identification before purchasing a sex toy. Check the date, this is not an April Fool's joke.

Like the sex-focused bills that have come before, Senate Bill 3003 claims to home in on the protection of minors by regulating the online sale of “obscene devices” to those under 18. According to the Texas Penal Code, an obscene device is qualified as “a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

The bill would make selling and distributing sex toys to a minor or failing to implement an age-verification process at the point of sale a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000. The bill also imposes a $5,000 civil penalty per offense. Acceptable age-verification processes include submitting government-issued photographic identification, utilizing third-party verification services that access public records to verify age and limiting sales to payment methods only available to those 18 and up. While the bill does not prohibit the online sale of sex toys, it does create barriers for individuals wanting to indulge in healthy onanism by introducing identification submission.

“Requiring ID to purchase a sex toy sends the message that pleasure is something to be policed and surveilled,” said Dr. Shamyra Howard, a licensed clinical social worker sex educator for We-Vibe, a couples’ sexual wellness brand. “It pathologizes something that is completely normal and turns a private, healthy act into something shameful. This kind of legislation doesn’t protect people; it embarrasses them. It creates unnecessary barriers and reinforces harmful stigmas that many of us have spent years trying to dismantle.”

This isn't the first time the state has tried to limit sex toy sales and ownership. Texas has had laws restricting the devices since 1973 when the Texas obscenity statute was first introduced. Originally, the law banned the sale of sex toys. The statute was amended in 2003 and limited the possession of sex toys to six devices. Following the 2004 arrest of Joanne Webb, a Burleson woman charged with obscenity after hosting multi-level marketing sales parties for dildos, a U.S. district judge ruled the law unconstitutional and unenforceable, but it remains in the Texas Penal Code.

But Senate Bill 3003 ignores an immutable truth, Howard said. Texans use sex toys for a plethora of pleasureful purposes. According to a research study conducted by We-Vibe, only 34% of Texans own a sex toy, but 77.6% masturbate to relieve stress and 15.5% partake to relieve menstrual pain.

“What’s often overlooked is that sex toys are not just about pleasure. They’re also part of comprehensive sexual wellness,” Howard said. “Men use them too, both for pleasure and to manage erectile issues, neuropathy from diabetes and poor blood flow related to high blood pressure. There are devices designed to support pain management, pelvic floor health, sex toys even help people manage mental health issues through stress relief and help to re-establish intimacy after medical procedures or trauma.”

The legislative attack on sex is the next chapter for dampening women’s rights, says Howard.

“These restrictions absolutely function as a proxy attack on women’s sexual autonomy,” she said. “Sex toys are tools of empowerment. They allow people, especially women, to explore their pleasure, address sexual concerns, and experience intimacy on their own terms. That challenges traditional gender roles that often expect women to be passive participants in their own pleasure.”
 

Privacy Risks

The helicoptering of sex toy sales through online age verification processes brings with it concerns about data collection and privacy violations, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has been vocal about its disapproval of existing age verification laws in Texas that limit access to porn sites. 

"Texas’ age verification law robs internet users of anonymity, exposes them to privacy and security risks, and blocks some adults entirely from accessing sexual content that’s protected under the First Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Lisa Femia said in a press release. “Applying longstanding Supreme Court precedents, other courts have consistently held that similar age verification laws are unconstitutional.”

In May of 2024, France passed a law requiring age verification to access porn sites, and Olivier Blazy, a computer scientist and professor, developed a verification process that includes a screen, blocking websites from collecting identifying information, and also preventing third-party verifiers from seeing what websites the surfer is accessing. Blazy told Scientific American that his system is better than the unregulated alternatives that could be used to catalog sensitive biometric information.

"The privacy concerns come from questions of 'What kind of data do you collect to do this age verification? And what are you going to do with them?'"  Blazy told Scientific American. "The worst example would be if you directly collected people’s name and the type of website they’re trying to access. Then someone could establish a list of who follows certain content—which could be used to target groups such as LGBTQ+ people. That would be terrible."


The Politicization of Sex

While Texans may be wary of uploading their government-issued identification to an unknown portal regulated by a third party in hopes of purchasing a phallic device and overnight shipping it to their doorstep, their sex-toy-buying options may be drying up. If House Bill 1549 passes, grocery and convenience stores would be prohibited from selling sex toys.

The author of HB 1549, Rep. Hillary Hickland, said she pre-filed her sex toy bill also with the intent of protecting children.

“Children have the right to grow up free from premature exposure to explicit materials, and as lawmakers, it’s our responsibility to uphold that right,” Hickland wrote in an email sent to the Observer in December.

The two bills would limit shoppers who are opposed to uploading their personal information to an internet retail site to making their purchases from brick-and-mortar sex shops.

“In Texas, we’re seeing a pattern of proposed legislation that reflects a discomfort with pleasure, intimacy and personal agency,” said Howard. “Especially when it comes to women and marginalized communities. These attacks aren’t about protection; they’re about control.”

The Paxtons, collectively, are heading the age-verification for explicit materials movement. An age-verification law that requires porn sites to collect identification from their visitors is currently being defended by the attorney general at the Supreme Court. Porn industry leaders claim the law violates the First Amendment rights of porn perusers.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” reads Pornhub’s site. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

 

Posted
Just now, wild_turkey said:

Stupid question, but is there a reason Republicans want Cornyn out? Is he not MAGA enough?

Voted with the libtards to take every last gun away from private citizens (at least how his gop detractors make it sound)

Posted
3 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

oh for fuck's sake

 

 

The siege on self-gratification rages on in the 89th Texas Legislature. A new Senate bill, filed by North Texas Sen. Angela Paxton,  Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton's other half, would require online shoppers to submit photo identification before purchasing a sex toy. Check the date, this is not an April Fool's joke.

Like the sex-focused bills that have come before, Senate Bill 3003 claims to home in on the protection of minors by regulating the online sale of “obscene devices” to those under 18. According to the Texas Penal Code, an obscene device is qualified as “a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

The bill would make selling and distributing sex toys to a minor or failing to implement an age-verification process at the point of sale a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000. The bill also imposes a $5,000 civil penalty per offense. Acceptable age-verification processes include submitting government-issued photographic identification, utilizing third-party verification services that access public records to verify age and limiting sales to payment methods only available to those 18 and up. While the bill does not prohibit the online sale of sex toys, it does create barriers for individuals wanting to indulge in healthy onanism by introducing identification submission.

“Requiring ID to purchase a sex toy sends the message that pleasure is something to be policed and surveilled,” said Dr. Shamyra Howard, a licensed clinical social worker sex educator for We-Vibe, a couples’ sexual wellness brand. “It pathologizes something that is completely normal and turns a private, healthy act into something shameful. This kind of legislation doesn’t protect people; it embarrasses them. It creates unnecessary barriers and reinforces harmful stigmas that many of us have spent years trying to dismantle.”

This isn't the first time the state has tried to limit sex toy sales and ownership. Texas has had laws restricting the devices since 1973 when the Texas obscenity statute was first introduced. Originally, the law banned the sale of sex toys. The statute was amended in 2003 and limited the possession of sex toys to six devices. Following the 2004 arrest of Joanne Webb, a Burleson woman charged with obscenity after hosting multi-level marketing sales parties for dildos, a U.S. district judge ruled the law unconstitutional and unenforceable, but it remains in the Texas Penal Code.

But Senate Bill 3003 ignores an immutable truth, Howard said. Texans use sex toys for a plethora of pleasureful purposes. According to a research study conducted by We-Vibe, only 34% of Texans own a sex toy, but 77.6% masturbate to relieve stress and 15.5% partake to relieve menstrual pain.

“What’s often overlooked is that sex toys are not just about pleasure. They’re also part of comprehensive sexual wellness,” Howard said. “Men use them too, both for pleasure and to manage erectile issues, neuropathy from diabetes and poor blood flow related to high blood pressure. There are devices designed to support pain management, pelvic floor health, sex toys even help people manage mental health issues through stress relief and help to re-establish intimacy after medical procedures or trauma.”

The legislative attack on sex is the next chapter for dampening women’s rights, says Howard.

“These restrictions absolutely function as a proxy attack on women’s sexual autonomy,” she said. “Sex toys are tools of empowerment. They allow people, especially women, to explore their pleasure, address sexual concerns, and experience intimacy on their own terms. That challenges traditional gender roles that often expect women to be passive participants in their own pleasure.”
 

Privacy Risks

The helicoptering of sex toy sales through online age verification processes brings with it concerns about data collection and privacy violations, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has been vocal about its disapproval of existing age verification laws in Texas that limit access to porn sites. 

"Texas’ age verification law robs internet users of anonymity, exposes them to privacy and security risks, and blocks some adults entirely from accessing sexual content that’s protected under the First Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Lisa Femia said in a press release. “Applying longstanding Supreme Court precedents, other courts have consistently held that similar age verification laws are unconstitutional.”

In May of 2024, France passed a law requiring age verification to access porn sites, and Olivier Blazy, a computer scientist and professor, developed a verification process that includes a screen, blocking websites from collecting identifying information, and also preventing third-party verifiers from seeing what websites the surfer is accessing. Blazy told Scientific American that his system is better than the unregulated alternatives that could be used to catalog sensitive biometric information.

"The privacy concerns come from questions of 'What kind of data do you collect to do this age verification? And what are you going to do with them?'"  Blazy told Scientific American. "The worst example would be if you directly collected people’s name and the type of website they’re trying to access. Then someone could establish a list of who follows certain content—which could be used to target groups such as LGBTQ+ people. That would be terrible."


The Politicization of Sex

While Texans may be wary of uploading their government-issued identification to an unknown portal regulated by a third party in hopes of purchasing a phallic device and overnight shipping it to their doorstep, their sex-toy-buying options may be drying up. If House Bill 1549 passes, grocery and convenience stores would be prohibited from selling sex toys.

The author of HB 1549, Rep. Hillary Hickland, said she pre-filed her sex toy bill also with the intent of protecting children.

“Children have the right to grow up free from premature exposure to explicit materials, and as lawmakers, it’s our responsibility to uphold that right,” Hickland wrote in an email sent to the Observer in December.

The two bills would limit shoppers who are opposed to uploading their personal information to an internet retail site to making their purchases from brick-and-mortar sex shops.

“In Texas, we’re seeing a pattern of proposed legislation that reflects a discomfort with pleasure, intimacy and personal agency,” said Howard. “Especially when it comes to women and marginalized communities. These attacks aren’t about protection; they’re about control.”

The Paxtons, collectively, are heading the age-verification for explicit materials movement. An age-verification law that requires porn sites to collect identification from their visitors is currently being defended by the attorney general at the Supreme Court. Porn industry leaders claim the law violates the First Amendment rights of porn perusers.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” reads Pornhub’s site. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

 

Someone should just tell him “anything is a dildo if you’re brave enough” - Abraham Lincoln 

- Michael Scott

  • Like 2
Posted
3 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

oh for fuck's sake

 

 

The siege on self-gratification rages on in the 89th Texas Legislature. A new Senate bill, filed by North Texas Sen. Angela Paxton,  Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton's other half, would require online shoppers to submit photo identification before purchasing a sex toy. Check the date, this is not an April Fool's joke.

Like the sex-focused bills that have come before, Senate Bill 3003 claims to home in on the protection of minors by regulating the online sale of “obscene devices” to those under 18. According to the Texas Penal Code, an obscene device is qualified as “a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

The bill would make selling and distributing sex toys to a minor or failing to implement an age-verification process at the point of sale a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000. The bill also imposes a $5,000 civil penalty per offense. Acceptable age-verification processes include submitting government-issued photographic identification, utilizing third-party verification services that access public records to verify age and limiting sales to payment methods only available to those 18 and up. While the bill does not prohibit the online sale of sex toys, it does create barriers for individuals wanting to indulge in healthy onanism by introducing identification submission.

“Requiring ID to purchase a sex toy sends the message that pleasure is something to be policed and surveilled,” said Dr. Shamyra Howard, a licensed clinical social worker sex educator for We-Vibe, a couples’ sexual wellness brand. “It pathologizes something that is completely normal and turns a private, healthy act into something shameful. This kind of legislation doesn’t protect people; it embarrasses them. It creates unnecessary barriers and reinforces harmful stigmas that many of us have spent years trying to dismantle.”

This isn't the first time the state has tried to limit sex toy sales and ownership. Texas has had laws restricting the devices since 1973 when the Texas obscenity statute was first introduced. Originally, the law banned the sale of sex toys. The statute was amended in 2003 and limited the possession of sex toys to six devices. Following the 2004 arrest of Joanne Webb, a Burleson woman charged with obscenity after hosting multi-level marketing sales parties for dildos, a U.S. district judge ruled the law unconstitutional and unenforceable, but it remains in the Texas Penal Code.

But Senate Bill 3003 ignores an immutable truth, Howard said. Texans use sex toys for a plethora of pleasureful purposes. According to a research study conducted by We-Vibe, only 34% of Texans own a sex toy, but 77.6% masturbate to relieve stress and 15.5% partake to relieve menstrual pain.

“What’s often overlooked is that sex toys are not just about pleasure. They’re also part of comprehensive sexual wellness,” Howard said. “Men use them too, both for pleasure and to manage erectile issues, neuropathy from diabetes and poor blood flow related to high blood pressure. There are devices designed to support pain management, pelvic floor health, sex toys even help people manage mental health issues through stress relief and help to re-establish intimacy after medical procedures or trauma.”

The legislative attack on sex is the next chapter for dampening women’s rights, says Howard.

“These restrictions absolutely function as a proxy attack on women’s sexual autonomy,” she said. “Sex toys are tools of empowerment. They allow people, especially women, to explore their pleasure, address sexual concerns, and experience intimacy on their own terms. That challenges traditional gender roles that often expect women to be passive participants in their own pleasure.”
 

Privacy Risks

The helicoptering of sex toy sales through online age verification processes brings with it concerns about data collection and privacy violations, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has been vocal about its disapproval of existing age verification laws in Texas that limit access to porn sites. 

"Texas’ age verification law robs internet users of anonymity, exposes them to privacy and security risks, and blocks some adults entirely from accessing sexual content that’s protected under the First Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Lisa Femia said in a press release. “Applying longstanding Supreme Court precedents, other courts have consistently held that similar age verification laws are unconstitutional.”

In May of 2024, France passed a law requiring age verification to access porn sites, and Olivier Blazy, a computer scientist and professor, developed a verification process that includes a screen, blocking websites from collecting identifying information, and also preventing third-party verifiers from seeing what websites the surfer is accessing. Blazy told Scientific American that his system is better than the unregulated alternatives that could be used to catalog sensitive biometric information.

"The privacy concerns come from questions of 'What kind of data do you collect to do this age verification? And what are you going to do with them?'"  Blazy told Scientific American. "The worst example would be if you directly collected people’s name and the type of website they’re trying to access. Then someone could establish a list of who follows certain content—which could be used to target groups such as LGBTQ+ people. That would be terrible."


The Politicization of Sex

While Texans may be wary of uploading their government-issued identification to an unknown portal regulated by a third party in hopes of purchasing a phallic device and overnight shipping it to their doorstep, their sex-toy-buying options may be drying up. If House Bill 1549 passes, grocery and convenience stores would be prohibited from selling sex toys.

The author of HB 1549, Rep. Hillary Hickland, said she pre-filed her sex toy bill also with the intent of protecting children.

“Children have the right to grow up free from premature exposure to explicit materials, and as lawmakers, it’s our responsibility to uphold that right,” Hickland wrote in an email sent to the Observer in December.

The two bills would limit shoppers who are opposed to uploading their personal information to an internet retail site to making their purchases from brick-and-mortar sex shops.

“In Texas, we’re seeing a pattern of proposed legislation that reflects a discomfort with pleasure, intimacy and personal agency,” said Howard. “Especially when it comes to women and marginalized communities. These attacks aren’t about protection; they’re about control.”

The Paxtons, collectively, are heading the age-verification for explicit materials movement. An age-verification law that requires porn sites to collect identification from their visitors is currently being defended by the attorney general at the Supreme Court. Porn industry leaders claim the law violates the First Amendment rights of porn perusers.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” reads Pornhub’s site. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

 

What a miserable cunt.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
On 3/31/2025 at 8:27 AM, South Austin said:

The worst part about this is Paxton’s brisket is going to make Cornyn look like Aaron Franklin.

Only if you close one eye and squint real hard with the other.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
11 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

oh for fuck's sake

 

 

The siege on self-gratification rages on in the 89th Texas Legislature. A new Senate bill, filed by North Texas Sen. Angela Paxton,  Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton's other half, would require online shoppers to submit photo identification before purchasing a sex toy. Check the date, this is not an April Fool's joke.

Like the sex-focused bills that have come before, Senate Bill 3003 claims to home in on the protection of minors by regulating the online sale of “obscene devices” to those under 18. According to the Texas Penal Code, an obscene device is qualified as “a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

The bill would make selling and distributing sex toys to a minor or failing to implement an age-verification process at the point of sale a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000. The bill also imposes a $5,000 civil penalty per offense. Acceptable age-verification processes include submitting government-issued photographic identification, utilizing third-party verification services that access public records to verify age and limiting sales to payment methods only available to those 18 and up. While the bill does not prohibit the online sale of sex toys, it does create barriers for individuals wanting to indulge in healthy onanism by introducing identification submission.

“Requiring ID to purchase a sex toy sends the message that pleasure is something to be policed and surveilled,” said Dr. Shamyra Howard, a licensed clinical social worker sex educator for We-Vibe, a couples’ sexual wellness brand. “It pathologizes something that is completely normal and turns a private, healthy act into something shameful. This kind of legislation doesn’t protect people; it embarrasses them. It creates unnecessary barriers and reinforces harmful stigmas that many of us have spent years trying to dismantle.”

This isn't the first time the state has tried to limit sex toy sales and ownership. Texas has had laws restricting the devices since 1973 when the Texas obscenity statute was first introduced. Originally, the law banned the sale of sex toys. The statute was amended in 2003 and limited the possession of sex toys to six devices. Following the 2004 arrest of Joanne Webb, a Burleson woman charged with obscenity after hosting multi-level marketing sales parties for dildos, a U.S. district judge ruled the law unconstitutional and unenforceable, but it remains in the Texas Penal Code.

But Senate Bill 3003 ignores an immutable truth, Howard said. Texans use sex toys for a plethora of pleasureful purposes. According to a research study conducted by We-Vibe, only 34% of Texans own a sex toy, but 77.6% masturbate to relieve stress and 15.5% partake to relieve menstrual pain.

“What’s often overlooked is that sex toys are not just about pleasure. They’re also part of comprehensive sexual wellness,” Howard said. “Men use them too, both for pleasure and to manage erectile issues, neuropathy from diabetes and poor blood flow related to high blood pressure. There are devices designed to support pain management, pelvic floor health, sex toys even help people manage mental health issues through stress relief and help to re-establish intimacy after medical procedures or trauma.”

The legislative attack on sex is the next chapter for dampening women’s rights, says Howard.

“These restrictions absolutely function as a proxy attack on women’s sexual autonomy,” she said. “Sex toys are tools of empowerment. They allow people, especially women, to explore their pleasure, address sexual concerns, and experience intimacy on their own terms. That challenges traditional gender roles that often expect women to be passive participants in their own pleasure.”
 

Privacy Risks

The helicoptering of sex toy sales through online age verification processes brings with it concerns about data collection and privacy violations, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has been vocal about its disapproval of existing age verification laws in Texas that limit access to porn sites. 

"Texas’ age verification law robs internet users of anonymity, exposes them to privacy and security risks, and blocks some adults entirely from accessing sexual content that’s protected under the First Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Lisa Femia said in a press release. “Applying longstanding Supreme Court precedents, other courts have consistently held that similar age verification laws are unconstitutional.”

In May of 2024, France passed a law requiring age verification to access porn sites, and Olivier Blazy, a computer scientist and professor, developed a verification process that includes a screen, blocking websites from collecting identifying information, and also preventing third-party verifiers from seeing what websites the surfer is accessing. Blazy told Scientific American that his system is better than the unregulated alternatives that could be used to catalog sensitive biometric information.

"The privacy concerns come from questions of 'What kind of data do you collect to do this age verification? And what are you going to do with them?'"  Blazy told Scientific American. "The worst example would be if you directly collected people’s name and the type of website they’re trying to access. Then someone could establish a list of who follows certain content—which could be used to target groups such as LGBTQ+ people. That would be terrible."


The Politicization of Sex

While Texans may be wary of uploading their government-issued identification to an unknown portal regulated by a third party in hopes of purchasing a phallic device and overnight shipping it to their doorstep, their sex-toy-buying options may be drying up. If House Bill 1549 passes, grocery and convenience stores would be prohibited from selling sex toys.

The author of HB 1549, Rep. Hillary Hickland, said she pre-filed her sex toy bill also with the intent of protecting children.

“Children have the right to grow up free from premature exposure to explicit materials, and as lawmakers, it’s our responsibility to uphold that right,” Hickland wrote in an email sent to the Observer in December.

The two bills would limit shoppers who are opposed to uploading their personal information to an internet retail site to making their purchases from brick-and-mortar sex shops.

“In Texas, we’re seeing a pattern of proposed legislation that reflects a discomfort with pleasure, intimacy and personal agency,” said Howard. “Especially when it comes to women and marginalized communities. These attacks aren’t about protection; they’re about control.”

The Paxtons, collectively, are heading the age-verification for explicit materials movement. An age-verification law that requires porn sites to collect identification from their visitors is currently being defended by the attorney general at the Supreme Court. Porn industry leaders claim the law violates the First Amendment rights of porn perusers.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” reads Pornhub’s site. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling on the case.


Wasting Legislative Minutes

Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson told the Observer in December, following the filing of Hickland's bill, that bills like it and SB 3003 garner lots of attention because they aim to fix something that is not broken while wasting crucial legislative time.

“This is silly,” he said. “If you want to be serious, let's be serious about something more serious.”

According to Johnson, even if these bills fail to gain traction, that doesn't mean they've not been a distraction.

“This is such a grotesque display of misplaced priorities that it is disheartening,” Johnson said. “I hope we get over this stuff real fast because the voters, including Republican primary voters, Democratic primary voters, every voter, really need us to perform our job.”

 

Angela sounds pretty uptight. No wonder Ken got himself a slutty mistress.

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Posted
On 4/3/2025 at 6:09 PM, Chad Fuck said:


I’m still waiting on the cartels to get him, per our dear departed friends many references.

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Dude despite all his blustering didn’t know shit.

Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

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I’ve seen that picture before but never noticed someone snuck in a small pridepox blanket to try and infect his ass. 

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag
Posted
10 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Stupid question, but is there a reason Republicans want Cornyn out? Is he not MAGA enough?

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Posted

With this bitchfight the door is wide open for a strong middle of the road Democrat to oh who the fuck am I kidding. A god damned Unicorn couldn't win with a D right now. WTF is wrong with you, Texas?

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Posted
1 minute ago, RPM said:

With this bitchfight the door is wide open for a strong middle of the road Democrat to oh who the fuck am I kidding. A god damned Unicorn couldn't win with a D right now. WTF is wrong with you, Texas?

Texas is stupid.  That's all there is to it.

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Posted
12 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:



Good god. Such performative bullshittery.

 

You have no idea. This was 16 years ago. The only real upside is that things have been really dumb for a long time, so maybe there's some dumb, accidental hope within the dumbness.

 

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Posted
7 hours ago, South Austin said:

So we have to root for John Cornyn now, huh?  Jesus Christ.

I've voted in two R primaries.  Both times to vote for David Dewhurst, once for Senate to try to block Cruz, and the other for Lt. Gov. to try to block Dannie Goeb.  All it got me was years of texts, robo calls, and junk mail.  Not going there again.

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Posted

I voted in the R primary for president so I could vote against dotard and I still get texts for their shit.  I find it amusing to respond with expletive-laden diatribes against the latest GOP outrage.  I'm probably on the deportation list

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Posted
29 minutes ago, Ghost of NMAS said:

I voted in the R primary for president so I could vote against dotard and I still get texts for their shit.  I find it amusing to respond with expletive-laden diatribes against the latest GOP outrage.  I'm probably on the deportation list

It was more fun when solicitations were snail-mail and came with prepaid return envelopes.  My Dad taught me to spend their money by gathering up as much junk mail as possible, put it all in a large envelope, slap on their return envelope, and send it on its way. 



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