High Noon for Texas Women

Crews setting up stage, barricades for pro choice rally at Capitol today. 6,000+ expected #txlege pic.twitter.com/FiTQfs6m89

— Adam Bennett (@AdamBennettTV) July 1, 2013

Activists on both sides of #Abortion debate expected at Capitol Monday. #ProChoice rallies at 10am, 12pm. #ProLife at 2pm. #TxLege #HB2 #SB9

— The Horn (@TweetTheHorn) July 1, 2013

I'll see you at the TX Capitol tomorrow to support Wendy Davis and women's rights.

— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) July 1, 2013

From Raw Story

Thousands of Texans on both sides of the abortion divide will descend on the state capitol in Austin on Monday, at the start of a special legislative session designed to pass a bill that would sharply restrict abortion services in the state.

More than 5,000 people have signed up to a “Stand With Texas Women” rally, to be staged at noon on the steps of the Capitol. The rally is being billed as a continuation of the dramatic scenes last week, when 400 pro-choice advocates staged a loud protest in the state senate chamber following Wendy Davis’s epic 10-hour filibuster that blocked the controversial bill, SB 5.



Anti-abortionists will stage their own rally in support of the new legislative session that the Texas governor, Rick Perry, called shortly after Davis’s filibuster ended. Some 700 pro-life campaigners have signed up to the rally called by Texas Alliance for Life.



. . . In the course of almost 11 hours of filibuster, Davis was required to speak in the chamber without pause, standing and without leaning on anything. Her extraordinary endurance propelled her into the national political limelight, and sent the pair of training shoes she wore rocketing up the sales charts.

Read More at Snark Amendment:
Wendy Davis and Texas Democrats Filibuster SB5 Abortion Bill
Governor Rick Perry Attacks Wendy Davis

Bill Moyers Makes Democracy So Simple a Four-Year-Old Can Understand

Link to Bill Moyers Website

Obama Goes Philosophical in Thailand

President Obama is travelling in Asia this week, with stops in Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and Cambodia.

He's been there almost 24 hours now and hasn't insulted or offended anyone, unlike Mitt Romney on his last world tour. /snark

CNN Political Ticker

"I always believe in prayer. I believe in prayer when I go to church back home," Obama said at a press conference in Bangkok. "if a Buddhist monk is wishing me well, I’m going to take whatever good vibes he can give me to try to deal with some challenges back home."

At a stop earlier in the day, Obama jokingly told a monk, "We're working on this budget; we're going to need a lot of prayer for that."

At Sunday's press conference with Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Obama also expressed confidence about a fiscal deal, drawing on the democracy theme.

"Democracy's a little messier than alternative systems of government, but that's because democracy allows everybody to have a voice," Obama said. "That system of government lasts, and it's legitimate. And when agreements are finally struck, you know that nobody's being left out of the conversation - and that's the reason for our stability and prosperity."