Horns Up: Nigeria takes Ted Cruz to task.
Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joked at a Texas tea party event that the government’s website for the Affordable Care Act had been built by “Nigerian email scammers.” Now Nigeria wants an apology. “It is unfair of any senator to essentially use citizens that are law-abiding, to use Nigerians as cannon fodder,” said Ade Adefuye, the Nigerian ambassador to the United States. “We deplore the statement, and we demand an apology, and we demand it be withdrawn.” Adefuye said the West African nation of 174.5 million is aware of Cruz’s remarks and is “disappointed and shocked.” While we’re less shocked that the tea party’s chosen one made an insensitive crack at the expense of a foreign culture, we respect the Nigerians for sticking up for themselves and publicly calling Cruz out for being obnoxious. Horns up, Nigeria.
Horns Down: Texas launches unhelpful sex education website.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched a new website, www.ourtown4teens.org, in an attempt to reduce Texas’ teen pregnancy rate — currently the third highest in the nation. In keeping with Texas’ strict abstinence-only sexual education practices, the site, which cost $1.2 million, does not mention contraception at all. In the unlikely event that any teens visit the site, they will not gain any useful insight into effective, practical and safe sexual practices. Horns down to the Department of State Health Services for wasting everybody’s time and money.
Horns Up: Abbott and Davis agree on water funding.
In a rare case of Texas political bonhomie, the top two contenders for governor, Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis and Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, have both thrown their support behind Proposition 6. If passed, the crucial water funding measure will draw $2 billion from the state’s rainy day fund and redirect it to a new development bank that would help fund sorely-needed water projects across the state. Although it enjoys broad support, the measure still has its detractors, perhaps most notably in Debra Medina, a former candidate for governor and current candidate for comptroller. This paper has made its stance clear. Texas needs Prop 6, not just to thrive, but also to survive. We’re glad to see both candidates recognize what’s on the line.
