Saturday, July 18, 2009

SF Muni Crash Injures Dozens Near Castro

Dozens are injured, some critically, after a crash of San Francisco's Muni just west of the Castro at the West Portal Station. The station is one stop away from the Castro.
Forty-seven people were injured today, four of them severely, when a Municipal Railway train rear-ended another Muni train at the West Portal Station, authorities said. Witnesses described a chaotic scene following the crash, which Muni spokesman Judson True said occurred just before 3 p.m. when an L-Taraval smashed into the back of a K-Ingleside train near the station's boarding platform. The impact of the crash shattered the front window of the L train and crumpled its steel nose. The shattered windshield, apparently made of safety glass, stayed in place. Both trains were headed in the outbound direction, but the K train was apparently stopped, authorities said. The most seriously injured was the driver of the L train, who was conscious when paramedics arrived, said Deputy Fire Chief Pat Gardner. Three riders were also severely injured, authorities said.
Early reports blame the crash on operator error, making it the latest such incident in a recent spate of rail disasters around the nation.

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Free Republic Founder Jim Robinson Calls For Overthrow Of U.S. Government

Jim Robinson, the founder of Free Republic, the most widely-read conservative internet forum, has issued a call for the overthrow of the U.S. government.
Therefore, We the People of America choose to exercise our right to throw off and alter the abusive government by peacefully recalling and removing from office the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States and all U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives effective immediately.

An interim provisional Chief Executive and congressional representatives will be established as follows: The Secretary of State shall immediately assume the office of interim Chief Executive. The Chief Executive shall appoint and the interim Senate shall confirm an interim Vice President. An immediate election shall be held within each state legislature to appoint two interim senators to represent each sovereign state. A special election shall be held by all states within 30 days to elect interim members of the House of Representatives. Elections for regular government offices shall be conducted in November, 2010 as previously scheduled, except that elections will be held for all elective offices, including President, Vice President and all U.S. Representatives. U.S. Senators will be elected per class schedule by the various state legislatures.
Robinson's lengthy call to arms goes on to plan for the repeal of the 16th and 17th amendments, the abolishment of the IRS, the dissolution of social security, and the return of federal buildings, properties, and military bases to "their sovereign owners," the states in the which they are located.

UPDATE: Free Republic has created a new post linking this one. Be prepared for an onslaught of Freeper trolls in the comments. Note to Freepers - unlike on Free Republic, opinions contrary to mine and the majority of my readers will be allowed to remain. Anti-gay and racist language will not.

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Top Cities For Jobs

NYC is 42 on the list.

(Via - Derek Thompson)

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NY. Sen. Tom Duane Rages On HIV Bill

Openly gay and openly HIV positive New York Senator Tom Duane delivered one of the most blistering, heartfelt, and painful speeches I think I may have ever heard yesterday. The NY Daily News:
Sen. Tom Duane gave an eyebrow-raising performance on the Senate floor early this morning in hopes of moving his colleagues to support a bill that prevents people living with HIV or AIDS and receiving public assistance from having to pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent. The bill was one of the last things the Senate did before departing the Capitol. Despite the late hour - the second marathon Senate session in a row - Duane mustered the energy to deliver an impassioned 21-minute speech, his voice raising at times to a near-scream.
Watch this. Watch all 22 minutes.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

And That's The Way It Is,
Walter Cronkite Dies At Age 92

Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man" in the history of television news, has died in New York City at the age of 92.
Walter Cronkite, who personified television journalism for more than a generation as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News," has died. CBS vice president Linda Mason says Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. Friday with his family by his side at his home in New York after a long illness. He was 92. Known for his steady and straightforward delivery, his trim moustache, and his iconic sign-off line -"That’s the way it is" - Cronkite dominated the television news industry during one of the most volatile periods of American history. He broke the news of the Kennedy assassination, reported extensively on Vietnam and Civil Rights and Watergate, and seemed to be the very embodiment of TV journalism.

"Cronkite came to be the sort of personification of his era," veteran PBS Correspondent Robert McNeil once said. "He became kind of the media figure of his time. Very few people in history, except maybe political and military leaders, are the embodiment of their time, and Cronkite seemed to be." At one time, his audience was so large, and his image so credible, that a 1972 poll determined he was "the most trusted man in America" - surpassing even the president, vice president, members of Congress and all other journalists. In a time of turmoil and mistrust, after Vietnam and Watergate, the title was a rare feat - and the label stuck.
Here's one of Cronkite's most famous moments, the announcing of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Even though I was only four years old, it's also the first thing I can remember seeing on television, probably because of its effect on my parents.

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Vatican Praises.....Oscar Wilde?

OK, this one gets the WTF of the week.
The Vatican has praised the work of bisexual playwright Oscar Wilde, despite previously regarding him as an immoral degenerate. The newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which is seen as the official mouthpiece of Pope Benedict XVI, described him as "always looking for the beautiful and the good, but also for a God". The review added: "Wilde was a fortunate man, as more than 100 years after his death his works had not been forgotten and continue to fly off the shelves." The turn-around has been met with surprise from Italian newspapers and commentators.
Didn't see that one coming, did you?

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Special Swag Friday

Courtesy of the Karpel Group, we have a Special Swag Friday prize today of two tickets to see the fabulous and legendary Justin Bond at Manhattan's Highline Ballroom on Wednesday, July 22nd, where Bond will debut songs from his new EP Pink Slip.

You may know Bond from his eternal lounge combo Kiki & Herb, which longtime readers will know remains one of my all-time favorite acts. Kiki & Herb was hatched in San Francisco in the early 90's and went on to play all over NYC, including Carnegie Hall and a 2007 stint on Broadway that earned them a Tony nomination. Recently Bond has been performing solo. Go here to preview the tracks from his new EP Pink Slip.

Tickets to Justin Bond's Highline show are available here. Regular admission is $25. VIP admission is $50, includes a meet & greet with the artist, and is a donation to the Ali Forney Center, NYC's shelter for homeless LGBT youth.

Enter to win two tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight Sunday, west coast time. If you cannot be in NYC on the day of the show, your winning entry is transferable to another party.

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Scandal: Wingnut Group Associated With Limbaugh & Coulter Selling Their Endorsements For Millions

The American Conservative Union, who bills themselves as "the nation's oldest and largest conservative lobbying group," has been busted by Politico for offering to sell their endorsement to FedEx for $2M - $3M. At the moment, FedEx is fighting Congress about changes that increase the power of their employees union.
The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s support in a bitter legislative dispute, then the group’s chairman flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx , which was provided to POLITICO.

The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money. In the three-page letter asking for money on June 30, the conservative group backed FedEx. After FedEx says it rejected the offer, Keene signed onto a two-page July 15 letter backing UPS. Keene did not return a message left on his cell phone. Maury Lane, FedEx’s director of corporate communications, said: “Clearly, the ACU shopped their beliefs and UPS bought.”
On Wednesday, after being rebuffed by FedEx and before this scandal broke, the ACU told Congress that FedEx was “misleading the public and legislators" about the union issue and took UPS's side in the dispute.

RELATED: The ACU is perhaps best known for their annual CPAC Convention, a conclave of right-wing personalities and ultraconservatives during which Ann Coulter famously called John Edwards a "faggot" in 2007. Rush Limbaugh was the keynote speaker at CPAC earlier this year.

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HomoQuotable - LZ Granderson

"While those who were at Stonewall talk about the fear of being arrested by police, 40 years ago, blacks talked about the fear of dying at the hands of police and not having their bodies found or murder investigated. The 13th Amendment was signed in 1865, and it wasn't until 1948 that President Harry S Truman desegregated the military. That's more than an 80-year gap.

"Not to be flip, but Miley Cyrus is older than Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell." That doesn't mean that the safety of gay people should be trivialized or that Obama should not be held accountable for the promises he made on the campaign trail. But to call this month's first-ever White House reception for GLBT leaders "too little too late" is akin to a petulant child throwing a tantrum because he wants to eat his dessert before dinner. This is one of the main reasons why so many blacks bristle at the comparison of the two movements -- everybody wants to sing the blues, nobody wants to live them.

"This lack of perspective is only going to alienate a black community that is still very proud of Obama and is hypersensitive about any criticism of him, especially given he's been in office barely six months.

"If blacks are less accepting of gays than other racial groups -- and that is certainly debatable -- then the parade of gay people calling Obama a "disappointment" on television is counterproductive in gaining acceptance, to say the least. And the fact that the loudest critics are mostly white doesn't help matters either.

"Hearing that race matters in the gay community may not be comforting to hear, but that doesn't make it any less true." - ESPN columnist LZ Granderson, from his CNN.com opinion piece Gay Is Not The New Black.

Read the entire essay.

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Shopping Monsters Only, Please

Chelsea's notorious Limelight, the nightspot that gave us club kids, Amanda Lepore, and a murdered drug dealer or two, is finally about to reopen as a sort of mall. PageSix reports that the venue will be called Limelight Marketplace.
Jack Menashe, who owned nightclub Lounge in SoHo, is turning the long-vacant, 1849 Gothic Revival church into Limelight Marketplace with the help of designers James Mansour and Melisca Klisanin. Mansour told John Norwood of guestofaguest.com, "We're taking a place that was a blight on the neighborhood for so long and turning it into a shopping haven."
After original Limelight owner Peter Gatien was deported to Canada, the building sat unused before resurrecting for a few years as a disco called Avalon. The movie Party Monster was based on the habitues of the Limelight.

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Hate Crime Verdict In Lateisha Green Trial

Despite a tumultuous trial that included threatened witnesses and recanted testimonies, the killer of New York transwoman Lateisha Green has been found guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime. The Task Force reacts:
"This verdict sends a strong message that hate violence will not be condoned. How many more like Lateisha Green must spill blood before our society says no to harassment, no to discrimination and no to violence against transgender people? We must move forward, at all levels of government, to pass laws that fight hate in schools, in workplaces and on the streets. We must continue working toward a culture that affirms the dignity and worth of all people. While no verdict will bring Lateisha Green back, justice was served today."
According to the Associated Press, "DeLee faces additional prison time because he was convicted of a hate crime. He becomes just the second person in the U.S. convicted of a hate crime that involved a transgender victim." Just the second such conviction? Can that be true?

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Abstinence Fail: Drinking Bleach Kills HIV

Horrified by bizarre myths about HIV and pregnancy that are apparently believed by some Florida teenagers, lawmakers are moving to ditch their "abstinence only" program and overhaul sex education in the state's public schools.
Florida teens who believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy have prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state. Another myth is that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education. They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach. It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention. The bill just passed its first vote in a committee.
(Tipped by JMG reader Damian)

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Circumcision Study Cut Short

Researchers have determined that circumcising a man already infected with HIV does not protect his female partner from the virus. Early results prompted the scientists to cut short a study for the safety of the female subjects.
Circumcision is known to protect men from acquiring HIV. But the research, from the Lancet, showed no benefit in those who already had the virus and was stopped early because of the continued risk to women. Experts say HIV-positive men should still be offered circumcision, but also warned to use condoms. The US researchers, from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, say not offering the procedure to men with HIV would stigmatise them. Other experts say it could become a "sign" of whether a man was HIV positive or not.

Previous research had suggested women could be protected from HIV if their partner was circumcised. In this study, 922 uncircumcised, HIV-infected, asymptomatic men aged 15-49 years with HIV were enrolled in the Rakai district of Uganda. Men were then selected to have immediate circumcision (474 men) or to be given circumcision after two years (448 men). Almost 170 uninfected female partners of the men were also enrolled, and followed up at six, 12, and 24 months. However, the trial was ended early because of what the researchers called the "futility" of carrying on, and the second group were not circumcised.
The UK's Terrence Higgins Trust says that while the circumcision of young boys is an increasingly common prevention tool in developing countries (where condoms are scarce), it should not be a "stand-alone strategy."

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Dating In The Dark (Room)

ABC is launching a new show called Dating In The Dark, in which "six strangers meet in a light-sealed room." And feel each other up to see if they want to "kiss." Tagline: "When the lights come on, will the truth come out?" Oh, hmm. Where have we seen THIS concept before? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

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Context Karma

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Hunting The Homo

France has banned a video game in which the goal is to shoot naked homosexuals. The game is owned by a company based in Georgia (the country.)
A video game hosted by a Georgian website is causing outrage in the gay rights community. The idea of the online game - to shoot nudists, before they b**ger you, was created by a Frenchman. It's banned in France... but not in Georgia. The game was initially picked up and slated by the Gay Caucasus blog, shortly followed by Gay Armenia. Global Voices quoted the latter as being "completely disgusted", finding it particularly shocking that the concept was adopted by "those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia, who swear in the name of Georgian patriarchy and constantly cite Bible to ‘justify' their homophobia and hatred. Is this their (un-)‘orthodox' way of bringing up children by creating an image of an enemy (= gays) and teaching how to deal with it (= kill them)?"
The video company is claiming "freedom of speech."

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The Best Little Whorehouse On C Street

Yet another affair among the GOP reps that have lived in the cult-like Christian "C Street House" in DC. This time, the wife is suing.
The estranged wife of former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), who served 12 years in Congress before retiring in January, has filed a lawsuit against his alleged mistress, claiming their adulterous relationship ruined the Pickerings’ marriage and his political career. Leisha Pickering is suing Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd, her husband’s alleged mistress, for alienation of affection. The Pickerings filed for divorce last year, but the case is not yet final. Leisha Pickering says in her lawsuit that Creekmore Byrd originally “met and had a romantic relationship with [Chip] Pickering which ended prior to their college graduation.

The Pickerings were married after that, but Leisha Pickering now says that, unknown to her, “Creekmore Byrd for a number of years met and rekindled her relationship with Pickering.” Leisha Pickering charges that the adulterous relationship between her husband and Creekmore Byrd ended both their marriages. Leisha Pickering alleges that Creekmore Byrd’s”extramarital relationship” with Chip Pickering began again while he “was a United States Congressman prior to and while living in the well known C Street Complex in Washington, D.C.”
That house sees more action than the Crew Club!

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You Will Move Towards The Can Opener......

Animal researchers set up an experiment to find out if cats are controlling their owner's behaviors with their cries. I think you know how this turns out.
While the felines used purr-cries around their familiar owners, they were not eager to make the same cries in front of strangers. So McComb and her team trained cat owners to record their pets' cries - capturing the sounds made by cats when they were seeking food and when they were not. In all, the team collected recordings from 10 different cats. The researchers then played the cries back for 50 human participants, not all of whom owned cats. They found that humans, even if they had never had a cat themselves, judged the purrs recorded while cats were actively seeking food - the purrs with an embedded, high-pitched cry - as more urgent and less pleasant than those made in other contexts.

When the team re-synthesised the recorded purrs to remove the embedded cry, leaving all else unchanged, the human subjects' urgency ratings for those calls decreased significantly. McComb said she thinks this cry occurs at a low level in cats' normal purring, "but we think that cats learn to dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans." In fact, not all cats use this form of purring at all, she said, noting that it seems to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one relationship with their owners rather than those living in large households, where their purrs might be overlooked.
"The study showed that humans find these mixed calls annoying and difficult to ignore." They needed scientists to know this?

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This Weekend: San Diego Pride

The last really big Pride event of the season is this weekend in San Diego, although a few major cities have moved their celebrations into the fall. Here's a little promo clip San Diego Pride made for local tv.

CORRECTION: I should have said: "The last really big Pride event in the U.S. is this weekend." Montreal's event is at the end of the month.

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NGLTF Joins "Wait Until 2012" Crowd

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has signed on to the "Prepare To Prevail" document, a letter from a large coalition of LGBT and progressive groups stating a plan to wait until 2012 before challenging Proposition 8 at the ballot. Task Force head Rea Carey:
"As a state that has often served as a political and cultural trendsetter for the rest of the country, what happens in California has national significance for the LGBT movement. That's why for well over five years the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has devoted significant human and financial resources to winning the freedom to marry in California. This commitment remains steadfast as we continue to work on the ground in California with the Vote for Equality Project of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and Equality California to build effective models of person-to-person voter persuasion about marriage equality.

"We support the soonest possible return to the ballot box to repeal Prop. 8 that gives the LGBT community a fighting chance to win. The priorities expressed in 'Prepare to Prevail' are about the hard work it will take at the grassroots to move towards a solid victory, and we look forward to continued work with our partners in California to build a strong, diverse and successful campaign for marriage equality."
The "Prepare To Prevail" website is here.

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BAM! Rachel Maddow Slams Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan on why 108 of 110 SCOTUS justices have been white:
Pat Buchanan: "White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks, who were 90% of the nation in 1960 when I was growing up and the other 10% were African-Americans who had been discriminated against. That's why."

Rachel Maddow: "I would hope that you would see that picking 108 out of 110 white justices of the Supreme Court means that other people are not being appropriately considered... and the reason we have affirmative action is you recognize that the fact that people were discriminated against for hundreds of years means that you sort of gamed the system unless you give other people a leg up..."

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GOP Rep. Todd Tiahrt: Would Obama's Mother Have Had An Abortion?

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) wonders if President Obama's mother would have had an abortion if there had been federal funding to pay for it.

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TABC Chief: We Messed Up

The head of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission yesterday admitted that his agents violated their own procedures in their raid of the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth. The Dallas Voice has an exclusive interview:
The administrator of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said this week that two TABC agents involved in a raid of the Rainbow Lounge on June 28 committed multiple “clear violations” of agency policy. In an exclusive phone interview with Dallas Voice on Wednesday, July 15, TABC Administrator Alan Steen also said the supervisor directly responsible for the two agents — a sergeant in TABC’s Fort Worth district office — announced his retirement last week in the wake of the raid and amid an ongoing internal investigation. Steen didn’t identify the sergeant or the agents by name.

“I don’t think you have to dig very deep to figure out that TABC has violated some of their policies,” Steen said. “We know that, and I apologize for that. Like I said in my original press release, we have in the past and we will in the future act very swiftly in making sure that those issues are corrected. It’s real clear that however it is that we were doing business that night is not the typical TABC. ... I have good policy in place, I have good training in place, and I have good supervision in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen.” Steen said if the two agents, who are on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation, sought approval from the supervisor before the Rainbow Lounge inspection, it shouldn’t have been granted. The agents were accompanied by six Fort Worth police officers.
As ugly as this entire situation has been, heads have rolled, investigations continue, and the voices of the LGBT community are clearly being listened to Fort Worth. That, at least, is satisfying. Expect a big settlement for Chad Gibson.

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BREAKING: Matthew Shepard Act Passes U.S. Senate

LGBT history was made late last night when U.S. Senate passed the Matthew Shepard Act as an amendment to a defense appropriations bill. This is the most dramatic federal endorsement of LGBT rights in history and the first major achievement made during the Obama administration.
The Senate has approved the most sweeping expansion of federal hate crimes protections since the original law was enacted after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The legislation broadens federal reach to protect those physically attacked because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or a disability. Current law is limited to crimes motivated by race, ethnicity or religion. The Senate approved the measure on a voice vote immediately after voting 63-28 to overcome Republican-led opposition to considering the measure an amendment to a defense spending bill. Sixty votes were needed to clear that procedural hurdle. The House in April passed a stand-alone hate crimes bill that is similar to the Senate legislation.
Congratulations are due in particular to Judy Shepard, who has spent the last ten years passionately fighting for this win. Thank you, Judy. Thank you.

UPDATE: Well, you knew there'd be a snag with attaching the bill to DOD funding.
Though the amendment garnered three votes more than necessary to reach cloture, the fate of the hate crimes measure is now partially linked to $1.75 billion in funding for F-22 fighter jets that is also included in the DOD legislation. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates both oppose the F-22 program and a White House spokesperson said the president will not sign a DOD bill that continues to fund the program.

"The President has long supported the hate crimes bill and gave his personal commitment to Judy Shepard that we will enact an inclusive bill,” said Shin Inouye, referring to Shepard’s Oval Office visit with the president earlier this year. “Unfortunately, the President will have to veto the Defense Authorization bill if it includes wasteful spending for additional F-22s. The collective judgment of the Service Chiefs and Secretaries of the military departments is that the current program is sufficient to meet operational requirements. A Presidential veto would not indicate any change in President Obama’s commitment to seeing the hate crimes bill enacted."

Senators Carl Levin and John McCain have offered a bi-partisan amendment to remove the F-22 funding that is scheduled for a vote Monday, but insiders say the count is unclear. If the amendment fails and President Obama vetoes the bill, it will be sent back to the Senate for a rewrite. A Democratic Senate aide said Senator Reid was optimistic, nonetheless, that hate crimes would ultimately make the final version of DOD authorization. “This was a good vote,” said the aide. “Senator Reid is hopeful that we can keep this language in the final bill.”

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Obama To NAACP: Our Gay Brother And Sisters Are Still Denied Their Rights

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McCain Objects To Hate Crimes Bill

Sen. John McCain spoke on the record today at the floor of the Senate to object to the Matthew Shepard Act being attached to a defense appropriations bill.
"This is a complete abdication of the responsibilities of the judiciary committee but more importantly could hang up this bill for a long period. While we have young Americans fighting and dying in two wars we’re going to take up the hate crimes bill because the majority leader thinks that’s more important — more important than legislation concerning the defense of this nation.

'It requires citizens hearings, and debate. But what are we going to do? For reasons that I guess the majority leader can make clear because I don’t get it, wants to put it on the national defense authorization bill and pass it that way. Now, [he will] probably succeed and he’s calling it bipartisan. The last time I checked it has 44 Democrat sponsors and two Republicans. That’s the definition around here of ‘bipartisan’ bills. That’s the way the stimulus package was bipartisan. That’s how the omnibus spending bill was bipartisan.

"And I’m confident if the health care reform - “reform” - it will be reasonable in another “bipartisan” fashion. So we’ll have some hours of debate. We’ll have more exacerbated feel ensure between this side of the aisle and that side of the aisle. I would imagine that the hate crimes bill, given the way, the makeup of this body, may even be put on a defense authorization. A huge issue. A huge issue. It will now be placed on a defense authorization bill and passed through the congress and signed by the president. That’s a great disservice to the American people, Mr. President. The American people deserve debate and discussion and hearings and witnesses on this legislation."
The bill may be voted on tonight or tomorrow.

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Quote Of The Day - Johnny Depp

"My dream role would be to play musical legend Carol Channing in a biopic of her life. I love her, I really do. She's amazing. With all the digital technology available these days I could probably pull it off. I'd have a go at playing a 12-year-old girl if they asked me to." - Johnny Depp, speaking to the UK's Mirror.

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Aussie Activists Angered By "Ex-Gay" Letter Published By Catholic High School

In its alumni newsletter, a Catholic high school in New South Wales, Australia has published a letter from an "ex-gay" former student that local activists say calls for the murder of homosexuals.
Xavier High School in Albury printed the letter, written by former student Matt Price, in the latest edition of its alumni newsletter Xavier. Mr Price said he was "trying to make the world free of homosexuals", who live lives devoted to "sex and drugs". "The gay side of life, all it's ever been is going out and doing that sort of stuff … the world just really doesn't need that," he said. Mr Price said he was a "cured" homosexual and now lived in Noosa working as a registered nurse. Anti-discrimination campaigner Garry Burns blasted Xavier High's decision to publish the letter, saying he understood Mr Price's letter to mean that gays and lesbians should be killed. "It says he wants the removal of homosexuals from the face of the earth and there's only one way to interpret that," Burns told ninemsn. "There are people out there who will express that endorsement through bashings, murder and all sorts of things … they'll go out and say the Catholic Church is right: 'let's get a poof and kill him'."
Xavier High School headmaster Neville Powells offers a not-apology: “Letters to the editor in any publication are the views of the author and not necessarily the views of the editor or organisation. We live in a country where free speech is available to all. That said, I apologise for any offence caused … none was intended.”

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Sotomayor Grilled On Same-Sex Marriage




Sonia Sotomayor says she will look at same-sex marriage "with a completely open mind" and seemed to take offense at any implication that she's already decided on the issue.

NOTE: Argh. I'm trying to transcribe Sotomayor's comments and this C-SPAN player is the pits. This post replaces a previous post that went kerfluey with these C-SPAN players. Let's try again.

(Via - HRC Backstory)

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Edward Current - Thy Rod, Thy Staff

From my second-favorite YouTube atheist, a litany of Biblical erection jokes.

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Go Read Eric Leven

JMG reader Moby sent an interesting link last night that I immediately forwarded to Eric Leven, knowing that Eric would do the subject justice. He didn't let me down.

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New Evidence In Ft. Worth Bar Raid

Fort Worth police have released more information about the raid of the Rainbow Lounge. According to the report, police returned to the bar two days after arrested a departing patron for public intoxication.
That weekend, officers returned to the lounge with TABC officers for a bar check. A police radio recording revealed that an officer called for help after they went inside the Rainbow Lounge. "I need help in here," he could be heard saying. "I'm by the restroom." That call came when officers said a customer blew a kiss at the officer, and then struggled with police as they tried to arrest him. The customer told News 8 his arm was injured. In police records, officers also said a woman's hips touched an officer in a sexually explicit way. The reports also said Gibson tapped an officer's genitals. "[It] didn't happen," Gibson said. "It's a big lie."

In records, a Fort Worth officer admitted involvement in the physical struggle with Gibson inside the bar, which ended with Gibson on the ground as they arrested him. At some point, Gibson suffered a brain injury. "We've got a guy, alcohol intoxication," an officer could be heard saying in a recording. "Also, a bruised head." The big question is whether the injury happened inside with Fort Worth officers or outside with TABC agents. TABC agents said Gibson fell on concrete. Pictures show Gibson covered in vomit outside and his head bleeding. The sudden nausea, his family said, is evidence the injury happened inside the bar.
Somebody blew me a kiss! Send in a SWAT team!

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Howard Dean Endorses Kirsten Gillibrand

And in this clip, they both discuss marriage equality and LGBT rights.

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NYT Launches TimesReader 2.0

$3.45/week for the entire New York Times downloaded daily to your laptop "in seconds." That's a lot more than the proposed $5/month to read the Times online, which we heard about last week. Still, it's a lot less than buying the paper on the LIRR platform every day and you don't need to be online to read it. Opinions?

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Death Sells

Michael Jackson sold more albums in the last two weeks than in the last two years. Almost 90% of the sales have been physical albums, as fans want a tangible keepsake. Retailers think sales may actually increase as they replace the depleted stock and widen their offerings of his back catalog. Jackson's Number Ones is the top selling U.S. album for the third week and he owns the entire top ten of the Catalog Albums chart. A friend of mine whose company has the rights to some of Jackson's catalog told me, "I wish he could die every week!"

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You Are Now Free To Scoot
About The Cabin*

Maybe the economy isnt' that bad if somebody can launch an all dog-and-cat airline.
Pet Airways will fly a pet between five major cities — New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. The $250 one-way fare is comparable to pet fees at the largest U.S. airlines. For owners, the big difference is service. Dogs and cats will fly in the main cabin of a Suburban Air Freight plane, retooled and lined with carriers in place of seats. Pets (about 50 on each flight) will be escorted to the plane by attendants that will check on the animals every 15 minutes during flight. The pets are given pre-boarding walks and bathroom breaks. At each of the five airports it serves, the company has created a "Pet Lounge" for future fliers to wait and sniff before flights. The company will operate out of smaller, regional airports in the five launch cities, which will mean an extra trip for most owners dropping off their pets if they are flying too. Stops in cities along the way means the pets will take longer to reach a destination than their owners.
Pet Airways says they're already sold out for the first two months.

*Toby!!!

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Pot Could Bring $1.4B To CA Economy

Back in February, openly gay California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed legalizing the sale of marijuana, a move tax experts predicted would bring in an annual $1B in desperately needed tax revenues. The tax experts were wrong.
California tax officials have found that a state bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue. A State Board of Equalization report released Wednesday estimates marijuana retail sales would bring $990 million from a $50-per-ounce fee and $392 million in sales taxes. The bill introduced by San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano in February would allow adults to legally possess, grow and sell marijuana. Ammiano has promoted the bill as a way to help bridge the state's $26.3 billion budget shortfall.
Ammiano is rewriting his bill to remove the stipulation that the federal government must legalize pot before taxes can be collected. BTW, is $50/ounce a good price? Would that undercut the street dealers? I've never bought it, never enjoyed it, hate the smell, but totally support legalization.

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The Power Of Love

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Secret Homo! Blind Item From The Illinois Family Institute

Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute, which the Southern Poverty Law Center ranks as an anti-gay hate group, has issued this curious blind item about a local "moderate" GOP politician.
Now is the time for those running for public office in Illinois to come clean about the skeletons, or mistresses, or prostitutes, or congressional pages, or homosexual partners lurking in their closets. The past few years have been a veritable anti-treasure trove of political closet cleanings, and many Illinoisans are sick of them. Rumors have been swirling for years that a sometime-married elected Illinois representative who now seeks higher office is homosexual. Rumors continue to swirl that his sexual peccadillo and deceit have been aided and abetted by those who bask in his, I hope, dimming light, just as Mark Foley's double life was aided and abetted by Denny Hastert. Those who aid and abet in the sexual immorality and deceit of public servants do neither the public nor political parties any favors.
The scumbags at the IFI are among the nation's more outrageous Liars For Christ™, what with claiming that Carrie Prejean would have gone to jail under the Matthew Shepard Act, etc. I wonder why they're pulling their punches here of all places?

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Catholics Launch Three-State-Hate Tour

A Catholic Church-sponsored outfit laboriously called The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property has launched a three state anti-gay marriage "crusade" in New York, Rhode Island, and Maine.
Starting today, TFP volunteers, divided into three contingents, called Saint Joseph Caravans, will tour major cities rallying support for traditional marriage. The Catholic group's handout offers "Ten reasons why homosexual 'marriage' is harmful and must be opposed," and calls on Americans to firmly and peacefully oppose the advance of the homosexual movement. "Like counterfeit currency, homosexual 'marriage' is not true marriage. It is morally wrong, sinful, offensive to God and a violation of natural law," said TFP spokesman John Ritchie. "To claim that marriage can be anything other than the union of one man and one woman is a flat denial of reality," he continued.

This summer, the state of Massachusetts is suing the United States, challenging the constitutionality of part of the Defense of Marriage Act. The challenge caused concern among pro-family advocates who believe the effort is one more step in the process to undermine the traditional family, the basic cell of society, and to destroy the innocence of our children and grandchildren. "Parents don't want their children in grade school to be told that the homosexual lifestyle is fine, but that's already happening," said Ritchie. "It's part of the homosexual movement's concerted effort to force the sexual revolution into the mainstream culture and banish God and His law from the public square."
According to the TFP's FAQ page, they stand for "monogamous and indissoluble marriage," and for a "protective wall against all Marxist, socialist and communist thought." Their volunteers appear at protests wearing red capes.

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ABC's Jake Tapper Confronts Robert Gibbs About Obama's Position On Marriage

Seizing on Bill Clinton's reversal on same-sex marriage, ABC reporter Jake Tapper asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs to react. As usual, Gibbs ducked and bobbed. The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld has the exchange:
Tapper: Former President Bill Clinton recently said that he's basically in support of same-sex marriage. "I think it's wrong," he said, "for someone to stop someone else from getting involved in same-sex marriage." Has President Obama heard these comments? Does he have a reaction? And why is Bill Clinton wrong about this issue?

Gibbs: Well, I'm not going to get into anybody's opinion -- I'm not going to criticize anybody's opinion, least of all a former President of the United States, on something like this. I am not clear whether the President has seen that. I don't know where that was from, so I don't know if the President has seen it.

Tapper: But President Obama holds a different opinion?

Gibbs: President Obama holds the same opinion he has earlier today.

Tapper: Which is that same-sex marriage is wrong.

Gibbs: He does not support it. He supports civil unions
.
Tapper: Why does he feel differently than President Bill Clinton?

Gibbs: Because they don't agree on the issue. (Laughter.) I've not obviously spent a lot of --

Tapper: That's not really an explanation of why he feels differently. That's another word for it.

Gibbs: Well, I mean, I'm happy to -- I mean, I think the President has answered this question a number of times. I can't form a basis for why former President Clinton -- I've obviously not had a conversation with him on this issue, so I don't know what -- it's hard for me to compare some of this because I don't have the basis by which he's making that decision.
Typically Gibbsian, eh?

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Sean Hannity On Major "Birther" Cook

After he claimed that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen and therefore not authorized to order him to Afghanistan, Major Stefan Cook had his orders to deploy revoked. Sean Hannity is promoting Cook's lawyers claim that the order revocation is Obama's admission of being foreign-born.

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Open Thread Thursday

Regrets, I've had a few. How 'bout you?

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Sotomayor Asked About Marriage

In the third day of her confirmation hearings, Sonia Sotomayor was finally asked about same-sex marriage. But the SCOTUS nominee said she couldn't answer.
The subject was raised indirectly by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley did not mention same-sex marriage directly, but that was the implication when he asked Sonia Sotomayor about a court ruling that said Minnesota could deny a marriage license to two men. Did she agree, he asked, that the case, Baker vs. Nelson, reserved the question of marriage to the states? In Baker, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that two men could be denied a marriage license because Minnesota law limited marriage to men and women.

As she has with other topics, Sotomayor said she couldn’t comment because questions about marriage are pending in many courts and might reach the Supreme Court. Grassley challenged her on that point. He wondered aloud why she couldn’t comment on Baker because it’s legal precedent. He noted that on Tuesday she said that Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion, was an established legal precedent. If she could characterize the status of Roe, he asked, why not Baker? The judge replied that she had not reviewed Baker in some time but offered to review the case overnight and report on it Thursday. Grassley said he would welcome that.
Tomorrow should be interesting.

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Daily Grumble

So last night the New York Philharmonic gave a little free concert in Central Park. A free concert for 100,000 people. Some HuffPo blogger is calling it "Ludwigstock." Funny. And annoying, because even though I'm just a few blocks from the park, I never knew about it. The New York Times reviewed the event as "the perfect New York night." Argh. That's life in a city of millions...who even notices an extra 100,000 people in the neighborhood? Dammit.

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GOP Senator Does Ricky Ricardo Impression To Sonia Sotomayor

SRSLY. Maybe Sen. Coburn thinks Lucy was married to a Puerto Rican?

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YouSuckAtCraigslist.com

My latest obsession. Start here. Or here.

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Crackbarry: Homo Set Me Up!

DC City Councilman Marion "Crack" Barry says he's being investigated for ethics violations in retribution for campaigning against marriage equality. Via Gay Politics:
Washington, D.C. City Councilman Marion Barry is accusing his openly gay colleague, David Catania, of targeting him on unrelated ethics questions because Barry refused to support a measure that resulted in the District government recognizing legally-married same-sex couples, according to report by a local FOX News affiliate. Barry, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights in D.C., has cited discord between the LGBT community and African-American religious leaders for his current stance on marriage equality. New ethics questions have surfaced about Barry’s role in administering grant money authorized by the city council.

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Phil Vassar - Bobbi With An 'I'


(Via - Towleroad)

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Hate Crimes: Count The Lies

Get out your Liars Bell and give it a DING every time you hear the Family Research Council lie about hate crimes in this clip. Special guest appearance from voter registration fraudster Bishop Harry Jackson.

On Monday, Senate Democrats attached the Matthew Shepard Act to the Defense Department's annual appropriation bill, something the NY Times calls a "must-pass measure." Right now the bill is being discussed on the Senate floor, although most attention remains on the Sotomayor hearings and there is no quorum. Go to C-SPAN2 for limited live coverage.

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Bear Fashion

Head over to Bearotic for a rundown of Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck's latest bear fashion show. I'm not too crazy about some of the looks, especially the muumuu/house dress line, but the models are worth a gander. The link is possibly NSFW. Love the designer's last name.

(Tipped by JMG reader Matt)

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Pakistan Grants Transgender Rights

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that transgender people are "full and equal citizens" and should be accorded all the rights and benefits of federal and provincial governments. The following story is from DAWN, Pakistan's leading English language newspaper, which while sympathetic, refers to trans folks as "transvestites," "hermaphrodites", and "gender-confused."
"They are citizens of Pakistan and enjoy the same protection guaranteed under Article four (rights of individuals to be dealt with in accordance of law) and Article nine (security of person) of the Constitution," ruled a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja on Tuesday. The bench had taken up the petition seeking establishment of a commission to emancipate effeminate men ostracised by the society for no fault of theirs.

Islamic jurist Dr Mohammad Aslam Khaki, who researched on the conditions of the ignominious merrymakers and discovered them to be the most oppressed and deprived segment of the society and subjected to humiliation and molestation, had filed the petition for the welfare of the transvestites left by the society to live by begging, dancing and prostitution. Parents give their hermaphrodite children into the care of gurus (leaders of transvestites) at a very tender age who abuse them instead of providing them the opportunity to get education.
One transwoman stated that by appearing before the Court to plead her case, she had probably put her life at risk.

(Tipped by JMG reader Osman)

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Sexual Harassment Code Struck Down At Los Angeles City College

A judge has struck down Los Angeles City College's sexual harassment code, ruling that it violates the students' right to free speech. Last fall a professor interrupted a student speaking in opposition to marriage equality, calling him a "fascist bastard." When the student received his paper, the professor had written "Ask God what your grade is" on it. The professor contended that speaking against gay rights constituted sexual harassment and threatened to have the student expelled.
U.S. District Judge George King issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by a Christian student named Jonathan Lopez, who accused his professor at L.A. City College of censoring his classroom speech about his religious beliefs, including his opposition to gay marriage. Lopez claimed the professor called him a "fascist bastard," cut his presentation short and refused to grade it. The student also challenged the district's sexual harassment code as overly broad. King ruled that by using "subjective" terms such as "hostile" and "offensive," the district's policy encroached on constitutional free speech protections. "We...recognize that Defendants have, laudably, attempted to prevent sexual harassment on the District’s campuses," King’s order read. "Nevertheless, because the Policy regulates expression as well as conduct, we must ensure that it complies with the First Amendment."
The lawsuit was brought by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund. World Net Daily exults over the win with this headline: "Homosexclamation! Christian student fights prof, wins big." The student is also seeking financial damages.

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Sotomayor's A Terrorist!

Oh, brother. Check out this ad from some nutjob outfit called "The Committee For Justice."

Think Progress responds:
"The claim that Sotomayor led a terrorist organization apparently refers to her service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a mainstream civil rights organization. It seems that, in the right-wing mind, a group that protects Latinos from race discrimination is exactly the same as al Qaeda."

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James Hartline, Again

Nutjob "ex-gay" activist James Hartline spoke at yesterday's meeting of the San Diego City Council, issuing his annual complaint that the city was recognizing gay Pride.
A group led by James Hartline denounced the celebration and has asked the city council to oppose San Diego Pride, saying it promotes pornography and sin. "I have pictures that I'll be glad to provide for you where we have pictures of women showing completely their breasts," said Hartline. Catcalls came from the council audience, apparently from members of the gay community. A Pride organizer said they are tired of the same old rhetoric. "We see this every year. As a matter of fact, this was less heated than usual," said Phil Princetta of San Diego LGBT Pride. San Diego police had to escort one man out after he yelled at the council for supporting Pride. He was allowed back in and sat silently in prayer as the council unanimously supported the proclamation.

Pride organizers said they try to make sure all participants follow the city's policies on public behavior. "We ourselves make sure that every single contingent in the parade has a copy of that policy and understands that it is not acceptable," said Princetta. Hartline said he doubts it, and said San Diego Pride would die if it wasn't for people behaving badly. "If they took all the pornography out of it, all the loose nudity and all those things, they wouldn't have too many people even showing up to the event," said Hartline. Hartline said the council is entirely too gay-friendly. He also called councilwoman Sherri Lightner a hypocrite because she used to be a Sunday school teacher. If you're not proud of telling them that in your Sunday school class, why are you so glad to do it here?" said Hartline.
You may recall that last year Hartline claimed that the wildfires that devastated the San Diego area were God's punishment for the region having voted against Prop 8.

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Fort Worth's Mayor: I'm Sorry For Bar Raid

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief has issued an apology for the raid of the Rainbow Lounge.
About 250 people packed council chambers and another 150 watched on televisions in the hallway or overflow rooms as officials briefly discussed the June 28 joint raid by the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission and the Fort Worth Police Department at the Rainbow Lounge, which left one man hospitalized with a serious head injury. Moncrief told the meeting neither the TABC nor police had finished investigations into the raid, which initially had been called a routine license inspection. But the mayor said he has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the department's findings. Someone in the audience then called out for an apology. "If you want an apology from the mayor of Fort Worth: I am sorry about what happened in Fort Worth," Moncrief said, as the crowd erupted in applause and stood. Seven members of a gay rights group were escorted out of the building earlier after demanding council members let them immediately comment on the raid.
Yesterday Fort Worth police chief Jeff Halstead appointed an LGBT liaison to the police department.

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Ladies Of The View On Bruno

Barbara Walters: "I don't need to know how you are doing anal intercourse!"

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Mormon Congressman Submits Bill To Overturn DC Marriage Recognition

Rep. Jason Chaffertz (R-UT) has submitted a bill that would overturn Washington DC's brand new marriage recognition law. And fellow GOP House member Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has submitted a bill to block the city's domestic partnership bill. Neither bill is expected to make it through the House Rules Committee. They're both just playing to the hate crowd.

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Maddow On Growing Cheney Scandal

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Harry Reid Supports DADT Suspension

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he'll support the proposed amendment to suspend enforcement of DADT, but says he'd like to make its suspension permanent.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he would support a measure being considered by some senators that would put an 18-month moratorium on investigations and discharges of gay soldiers in the military. But Reid said he would take the potential amendment to the Department of Defense reauthorization bill one step further. "I would make it permanent," he added, suggesting that he would permanently suspend discharges. "We're having trouble getting people into the military and I don't think that we should turn down anybody that's willing to fight for our country, certainly [not] based on sexual orientation." Reid's comments gave a boost to an amendment that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is considering offering to the DOD legislation that would suspend investigations of soldiers suspected to be gay -- thereby stopping discharges of soldiers under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy -- until the end of the 111th Congress.

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Olbermann's Worst: Major Stefan Cook

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Linda, You Homewrecker!

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Lithuania Censors Media References To Homosexuality

Lithuania's parliament has passed a bill censoring information about homosexuality in media accessible by children, including television, movies, and the internet.
Vowing to defend family values in the predominantly Catholic nation, lawmakers overturned a presidential veto on the legislation, which bans publicly disseminating material deemed harmful to the mental health and "intellectual or moral development" of minors. The measure lists 19 examples of "detrimental" information, including material that "agitates for homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations," instructions on how to make explosives and graphic depictions of violence or death. It also bars information that gives credence to paranormal phenomena, hypnosis or "promotes bad eating." While critics said the text violated the freedom of speech and international standards of human rights, others said the vague wording would make it difficult to enforce. The text does not define "public information" in detail, though it makes references to TV programs, films, computer games and advertising as well as online and print media accessible by children. "This is absurd. I cannot even imagine how they will implement this law," said Dainius Radzevicius, chairman of the Lithuanian Journalists Union.
The lawmaker that sponsored the censorship bill is also seeking a "total ban" on homosexuality, whatever that means. Lithuania's action today continues a pattern of repression of LGBT people across the Baltic nations.

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