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waxnrope
09-03-2010, 06:56 PM
Hawking writing religious texts now? How strange...

Now that he's disproved the existence of god maybe he will disprove the existence of bigfoot or the loch ness monster.

:koolaid:

Hahahahahahahahaha :rofl:

AtLast
09-03-2010, 07:09 PM
right.
but all they do is transfer the priests who sexually abuse parishoners.
they are not defrocked, are they? at least i know that in the past the
diocese would just move the offender from place to place with no warning
to the new place of what may come to pass.

it is EXACTLY these kinds of situations that make the GLBTQ community wary of religious organizations.

That is certainly been what was done in the past. There are new laws throughout the US now that hold a diocese and church leaders/administrators criminally liable for these acts as well as reporting requirements, especially in religious schools. There "should" be a difference now in terms of reporting and prosecution. Hope so, enough is enough! These steps should have been taken years ago.

Toughy
09-03-2010, 07:50 PM
Y'all can go on about new laws and a new attitude from the Church in relation to pedophile priest all ya want.......

Truth is the US Church is still sending their 'suspected' pedophile priests to a little retreat up in Northern New Mexico just like they have for years and years. They slowly let them re-enter pastoral duties by letting them loose (alibet part time) in the parishes of NNM. After some time in prayer and fasting and redemption and part time pastoral duties, they are sent back to minister to flocks all over the US..........

NOT ONE DAMN THING HAS CHANGED. The Church pays hush money and continues on.

SuperFemme
09-03-2010, 09:01 PM
That is certainly been what was done in the past. There are new laws throughout the US now that hold a diocese and church leaders/administrators criminally liable for these acts as well as reporting requirements, especially in religious schools. There "should" be a difference now in terms of reporting and prosecution. Hope so, enough is enough! These steps should have been taken years ago.

I went to Mater Dei H.S. in SoCal and watched Father Michael the Principal do atrocious things to students. My parents grounded me when I brought it up.

The day they arrested him years later? I framed the newpaper article and mailed it home.

IMO as long as priests are forced to live a celibate life void of all sexuality the problems are going to keep happening.

Toughy
09-03-2010, 09:11 PM
IMO as long as priests are forced to live a celibate life void of all sexuality the problems are going to keep happening.

I love you so I will not go off like a rocket on you.......I'm not very patient today...............

Pedophilia has nothing to do with celibacy. Rape has nothing to do with celibacy. You cannot make those comparisons. It's like saying homosexuals are pedophiles.

Pedophilia is NOT about lack of sex or marriage. It is far more complicated. Most pedophiles were sexually abused as children.....and many of them abused by pedophile priests and pastors. It is a viscous circle that cannot be stopped by framing the argument around celibacy.

Celibacy and pedophilia are not in any way related.

SuperFemme
09-03-2010, 09:21 PM
I love you so I will not go off like a rocket on you.......I'm not very patient today...............

Pedophilia has nothing to do with celibacy. Rape has nothing to do with celibacy. You cannot make those comparisons. It's like saying homosexuals are pedophiles.

Pedophilia is NOT about lack of sex or marriage. It is far more complicated. Most pedophiles were sexually abused as children.....and many of them abused by pedophile priests and pastors. It is a viscous circle that cannot be stopped by framing the argument around celibacy.

Celibacy and pedophilia are not in any way related.

yeah, you're right and i didn't mean to couch it like that. sorry. can i have popcorn?

i DO think that asking adults to live their entire live as asexual beings is downright nuts though.

somewhere in my brain there is a connection to what happens with these priests and the way that the catholic church makes sex a shameful thing.
(masturbation will make you blind or grow hair on your palms were a few things nuns told us)

i am a recovering catholic and my name is adelita.

Toughy
09-03-2010, 09:25 PM
adelita my child............<grin>

sex and pedophilia have NOTHING to do with each other........


yes it is entirely shameful that the monotheists have made sex shameful...........all of them have and continue to do so.......

SuperFemme
09-03-2010, 09:34 PM
adelita my child............<grin>

sex and pedophilia have NOTHING to do with each other........


yes it is entirely shameful that the monotheists have made sex shameful...........all of them have and continue to do so.......

yeah.
so next time you dance w/me would you mind wearing the set of priest frocks i bought on ebay?

and repeating that adelita my child part?

dreadgeek
09-03-2010, 09:41 PM
Toughy:

That's how I read Hawking--and that's how I've read most of his other pronouncements on the existence of a god. No one can say that they know there is not a god. I don't know that there isn't one. But when I look around I don't see a need for a god. All the things that we normally attribute to requiring a god--even morality--turn out to not *require* a god. I think that's the point that Hawking is making.

Cheers
Aj



I have not read this new book. What I get from the one big quote I read and could not quickly find is this: There is no NEED for a creator diety for the universe to come into existence. What I read does not make a comment on the existence of a deity, but rather comments on the need of a deity.

I await further comment on this new book until I have read it. My understanding is the book is NOT about religion. Rather it is about how the universe came into existence. Context is everything and he certainly could have said a creator deity does not exist.

ps............I hate koolaid and I rarely if ever drink it.

SuperFemme
09-03-2010, 09:46 PM
where i get hung up on the higher power thing is this:

having a terminal illness and receiving healing energy from others i have to say that it give me hope. i know that is has an impact on how i get through my next hospitalization or treatment.

maybe it is just energy and not a diety?

i cannot wrap my mind around a diety making people gravely ill and that there is some kind of vetting process when choosing who gets cancer and who gets to be an olympian swimmer?

i may have just confused myself again.

AtLast
09-04-2010, 12:08 AM
Y'all can go on about new laws and a new attitude from the Church in relation to pedophile priest all ya want.......

Truth is the US Church is still sending their 'suspected' pedophile priests to a little retreat up in Northern New Mexico just like they have for years and years. They slowly let them re-enter pastoral duties by letting them loose (alibet part time) in the parishes of NNM. After some time in prayer and fasting and redemption and part time pastoral duties, they are sent back to minister to flocks all over the US..........

NOT ONE DAMN THING HAS CHANGED. The Church pays hush money and continues on.

Then what is happening is that the church leaders are not following new laws in new Mexico and the orders that preside there. Although, I think the Catholic church stinks in all of this and I left it long ago, this is a gross over generalization and mistatement of facts.

There have been changes and hopefully, more will come. Here is one example- there are many more.

http://www.examiner.com/christianity-culture-in-san-diego/pope-willing-to-excommunicate-catholic-priests-accused-of-pedophilia-turn-them-over-to-authorities

SuperFemme
09-04-2010, 12:11 AM
Don't hate on CA's first medical marijuana commercial.
I'm sure the fed's arrested the actors after filming. j/k

wZJyWOjzbvs

Toughy
09-04-2010, 09:10 AM
Then what is happening is that the church leaders are not following new laws in new Mexico and the orders that preside there. Although, I think the Catholic church stinks in all of this and I left it long ago, this is a gross over generalization and mistatement of facts.

There have been changes and hopefully, more will come. Here is one example- there are many more.

http://www.examiner.com/christianity-culture-in-san-diego/pope-willing-to-excommunicate-catholic-priests-accused-of-pedophilia-turn-them-over-to-authorities

It's not just NM Church leaders. Priests from all over the US come to this retreat located in NM. Not all the priests who come to this retreat are pedophiles, but it is well known in NM that there are plenty of priests who are pedophiles sent there to be cured by prayer and confession and redemption.

The feel good story you linked, to me, is just that a feel good story. If the Pope actually did excommunicate pedophiles, the priesthood and his leadership would likely be decimated. Turning them over to legal authorities has not been a pattern of the Church. Settling cases out of court and paying money is the pattern that is still ongoing.

edited to add: the article also reinforces the idea that homosexuality and pedophilia are linked. It also leads one to believe that celibacy has some connection to pedophilia.

Glenn
09-04-2010, 09:25 AM
Afghanistan's dirty little secret.
Joel Brinkley
Sunday August 29, 2010
http://sfgate.com.cgi-bin/article.cg...INF21F2Q9H.DTL
For centuries Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9-15 as lovers.

Toughy
09-04-2010, 09:40 AM
The link does not work.

I did hear about this. My understanding is that this is common among certain tribes in Afghanistan.....particularly the Pashtun (sp) tribe. The current leader of Afghanistan is a guy named Karzi who is a Pashtun. His brother is a big ole opium drug dealer.

One of the comments I heard was that US soldiers could not in any way interfere with this custom. They have to have a blind eye towards obvious pedophilia. The awful thing is that once these boys become men, they can be killed if they participant in homosexual behaviors with other grown men. Same sex pedophilia is ok, but it is not ok for grown men to have same sex relationships.

dark_crystal
09-04-2010, 10:21 AM
I love you so I will not go off like a rocket on you.......I'm not very patient today...............

Pedophilia has nothing to do with celibacy. Rape has nothing to do with celibacy. You cannot make those comparisons. It's like saying homosexuals are pedophiles.

Pedophilia is NOT about lack of sex or marriage. It is far more complicated. Most pedophiles were sexually abused as children.....and many of them abused by pedophile priests and pastors. It is a viscous circle that cannot be stopped by framing the argument around celibacy.

Celibacy and pedophilia are not in any way related.

i can't figure out which one at the moment, but one of the documentaries made about the scandal featured a priest explaining how pedophilia helps to ensure future "vocations" in that a lot of the people who will volunteer for a job that requires "celibacy" likely would not if they didn't have disordered perceptions of sexuality, and that being abused as a child helps to create those disordered perceptions, so that an end to priestly pedophilia would mean far fewer priests!

so the i guess turning a blind eye to rape is prefereble to allowing priests to marry so we can take "squirrelly about sex" out of the job description*eyeroll*

dark_crystal
09-04-2010, 06:28 PM
There's the 3 cops in Pittsburgh. We recently had some guy get in to a shootout with the Oakland PD while on his way to attack the Tides Foundation in SF. I'm sure that there are plenty more.

It's a lot, but expected. The nutters come out of the woodwork every time a Democrat moves in to the White House, and now that the man there isn't white, it's much worse than usual. What pisses me off is that the media and the authorities refuse to call these people terrorists.

seeing the Oakland Pride thread reminds me there were shootings at SF Pride...so that puts as at an average of one individual per month (that we hear of) flipping out violently in the midst of innocent bystanders.

my theory is some kind of evolutionary overpopulation safety valve- the same kind of thing that causes animals to eat their young when the habitat can't afford increased numbers

Glenn
09-05-2010, 06:58 AM
September 4, 2010
www.thenational.ae
Sakineth Mohammad Ashtiana, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery has also been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photo of her without a head scarf. The Progressive American Iranian Committee www.iranian-american.com said there are 12 women currently on death row sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery.

waxnrope
09-05-2010, 07:28 AM
September 4, 2010
www.thenational.ae
Sakineth Mohammad Ashtiana, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery has also been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photo of her without a head scarf. The Progressive American Iranian Committee www.iranian-american.com said there are 12 women currently on death row sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery.

while I have learned to interrogate the criticisms of the West with respect to other cultural practices, this is one practice that I find particularly horrific and without excuse. It sled me completely close off. Yet, the thought of invading this country for its alleged WMDs does not light me up either. Ugh.

Zimmeh
09-05-2010, 08:54 AM
This caught my attention lastnight. A church in Gainesville, FL are talking of burning the Koran on 9-11. Why would a church burn a religious book?

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpps/news/florida-church-to-burn-copies-of-koran-to-mark-9-11-dpgonc-20100730-gc_8937270

Not sure what you all think of this, but to me, it is a dumb move.

Zimmy

Toughy
09-05-2010, 12:34 PM
This caught my attention lastnight. A church in Gainesville, FL are talking of burning the Koran on 9-11. Why would a church burn a religious book?

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpps/news/florida-church-to-burn-copies-of-koran-to-mark-9-11-dpgonc-20100730-gc_8937270

Not sure what you all think of this, but to me, it is a dumb move.

Zimmy

They are burning the Qur'an because, in their little minds, it is a book of Satan. It is not a religious text. Only those of us that are the spawn of Satan would think the Qur'an (or the Mormon bible) is a religious text.

Anyone not a believer in their specific version of a creator deity should and will burn in their creator's version of hell.

There are only a small number of books (written in English only) that are allowed to be read by the flock. There is only one version of their bible that should be read. They really like the Old Testament and Revelations.

Christians have been waging war on Islam since the Crusades (started in 1095.....almost a thousand years ago). It has never really stopped.

waxnrope
09-05-2010, 01:07 PM
Yes, but in the beginning, the emperor sent the soldiers, then the clerics to convert those still alive. Now, the leaders send the zealots only. They do the soldiers job.

dark_crystal
09-06-2010, 12:28 PM
Yes, but in the beginning, the emperor sent the soldiers, then the clerics to convert those still alive. Now, the leaders send the zealots only. They do the soldiers job.

zealots like my terrifying neighbor John Hagee, who wants (and fund-raises to help) America to jump-start the Apocalypse by nuking Iran. In the name of Jesus, of course

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=11541

Nat
09-07-2010, 05:11 AM
Montana Tea Party President Condones Violence Against Gays in Facebook Post Supporting Traditional Marriage

http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef013486bc25fd970c-800wi

This seems to have been posted in late July, but several people have brought it to my attention today. Tim Ravndal, the President of Montana's Big Sky Tea Party Association, expressed his views that marriage should be between a man and a woman in a Facebook posting. The post was in response to an ACLU lawsuit in Montana (http://www.towleroad.com/2010/07/seven-gay-couples-sue-state-of-montana-for-equal-protection.html) brought by seven gay couples who want to get married.

Then Ravndal expressed support for a commenter who (in apparent reference to the Matthew Shepard murder) said, "I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions."

Answered Ravndal: "Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?"

In related news, the Montana GOP Platform calls for making homosexual acts illegal (http://www.towleroad.com/2010/06/new-montana-gop-party-platform-criminalize-gay-sex.html)

http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/montana-tea-party-president-condones-violence-against-gays-in-facebook-post-supporting-traditional-m.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+towleroad%2Ffeed+%28Towleroad +Daily++%23gay+news%29

The Montana Tea Party's reaction to this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 5, 2010

Jim Walker, Board Chair of the Big Sky Tea Party Association announced today that the group’s Board of Directors voted to remove Tim Ravndal as President and member of the non-profit organization because of unacceptable comments made on his personal Facebook account.
Walker stated: “Our Board learned about the situation from an article in the Great Falls Tribune on Saturday. We immediately called an emergency meeting for the following morning. We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary. The discussion in that Facebook conversation is entirely outside the position of the Big Sky Tea Party.

Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we can not accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation. We continually make it known that we will not tolerate bigoted dialog, behavior or messages at our functions, our meetings or within our ranks. If a person demonstrates bigotry relative to race, sex, ethnicity, etc they are not welcome in our organization. The Tea Party movement is about standing up for individual freedom for everyone.

I do believe Mr. Ravndal when he explained that he was in no way intending to promote violence and that he was not thinking about nor condoning the murder of an innocent victim in Wyoming in 1998 when he responded to some very disturbing comments made by another individual. However, no matter how we considered the commentary, it was clear to us that he was participating in conversation which was overtly bigoted and we cannot have an officer of our corporation engaging in such behavior.”

Walker indicated that as Chairman of the Board, he will oversee activities of the organization until a replacement for the office of President can be identified and approved.

SuperFemme
09-07-2010, 09:11 AM
The Montana Tea Party's reaction to this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 5, 2010

Jim Walker, Board Chair of the Big Sky Tea Party Association announced today that the group’s Board of Directors voted to remove Tim Ravndal as President and member of the non-profit organization because of unacceptable comments made on his personal Facebook account.
Walker stated: “Our Board learned about the situation from an article in the Great Falls Tribune on Saturday. We immediately called an emergency meeting for the following morning. We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary. The discussion in that Facebook conversation is entirely outside the position of the Big Sky Tea Party.

Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we can not accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation. We continually make it known that we will not tolerate bigoted dialog, behavior or messages at our functions, our meetings or within our ranks. If a person demonstrates bigotry relative to race, sex, ethnicity, etc they are not welcome in our organization. The Tea Party movement is about standing up for individual freedom for everyone.

I do believe Mr. Ravndal when he explained that he was in no way intending to promote violence and that he was not thinking about nor condoning the murder of an innocent victim in Wyoming in 1998 when he responded to some very disturbing comments made by another individual. However, no matter how we considered the commentary, it was clear to us that he was participating in conversation which was overtly bigoted and we cannot have an officer of our corporation engaging in such behavior.”

Walker indicated that as Chairman of the Board, he will oversee activities of the organization until a replacement for the office of President can be identified and approved.


I am not overly impressed that they let him go because their platform still calls for the "will of the people to be recognized and all homosexual acts to be deemed illegal".

SuperFemme
09-07-2010, 10:02 AM
In Mexico, Vatican Likens Gay Marriage To Decaffeinated Coffee

By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: September 06, 2010

While traveling in Mexico, two Vatican prelates have criticized Mexico City's new gay marriage law.

The marriages of gay and lesbian couples are an imitation, the bishops said, Mexico's El Universal reported.

“A gay relationship is like decaffeinated coffee, you do not wake up,”

Father Gonzalo Miranda, a bioethics professor at Regina Apostolorum University, a pontifical university, said.

Miranda, along with Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontification Academy for Life in the Vatican, are in Mexico participating in a series of academic conferences commemorating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the School of Bioethics at the Universidad Anahuac in Huixquilucan state. The bishops criticized Mexico City's new law at a press conference held on Wednesday.

“What just happened in California is very significant,” Miranda said, referring to a recent federal judge's ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage law, Proposition 8. “On two occasions people spoke out against the legal recognition of gay marriage and twice a judge changed the popular vote with a ruling. In Mexico, I don't know well the mechanism used, but the people were not consulted, there's wasn't a referendum either.”

In December, Mexico City became the first autonomous municipality in Latin America to approve a gay marriage law. The conservative federal government challenged the law, but the nation's Supreme Court declared the law, which, for the first time, also allows gay couples to adopt, constitutional (http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=6171&MediaType=1&Category=24), and ruled that all Mexican states must recognize the gay marriages of the nation's capital.

Both prelates said such unions go against nature, and that gay couples adopting children cannot be considered parenthood “but a substitute that can harm the child, a grave injustice that cannot be described.”


http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=6344&MediaType=1&Category=24

waxnrope
09-07-2010, 10:16 AM
They, the Catholic Church, spends more time wiggling in the "morality" and "ethics" of the people whom they deem outside of their laws, their mandates, than they do with the clerics who commit unlawful and, by their own definition, sinful acts. The hypocrisy is one of the reasons that lead me to leave that institution. There are those, who remain inside to fight it, and I admire them, but it sickens me.

The Catholic Church, once the primary religious institution in Latin-America, is steadily looking membership ... to fundamentalist churches, such as the Assembly of God. Sigh. Be careful of what you wish for :|

dreadgeek
09-07-2010, 10:35 AM
This caught my attention lastnight. A church in Gainesville, FL are talking of burning the Koran on 9-11. Why would a church burn a religious book?

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpps/news/florida-church-to-burn-copies-of-koran-to-mark-9-11-dpgonc-20100730-gc_8937270

Not sure what you all think of this, but to me, it is a dumb move.

Zimmy

Zimmy:

My first thought is that I recall other people, in another place, burning books largely on the basis of the religion THEY practiced. If I recall such subversive tracts as "Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" (A. Einstein 1905) and General Theory of Relativity (A Einstein 1915) because they represented "Jewish Physics". I expect that at once the people at this book burning realize that Rumi and Edward Said were also Muslims their books will be joining the Koran on the pyre.

Cheers
Aj

paposeco
09-07-2010, 12:18 PM
http://www.naacp.org/pages/one-nation-march

paposeco
09-07-2010, 12:38 PM
I wonder what would happen, especially from the christian-right, if it was suggested that Bibles be burned, because of the of the radical and violent, even the murdering christians. Jesus taught, Love, tolerance, acceptance..etc.....what exactly is so confusing about that?!? These wolves in sheep skins, have much to answer for!
Good people of all faiths, good people of all colors, good people of all ethnic flavors, good people of all sexual identity...GOOD PEOPLE, STAND UNITED AGAINST THIS DESPICABLE EVIL. Shine the Light of Truth and Love, and show this evil for what it is! "Conquer evil with Good." Jesus.

AtLast
09-07-2010, 01:40 PM
Have no idea if it is my age, but talk of book burning of any kind, really sends chills up my spine.

SuperFemme
09-07-2010, 01:47 PM
burning books makes me break into panic attacks.
i am, afterall, a bibliophile who has a tactile, emotional, and neurological attachment to books.
the feel, smell, and beauty of books makes me sort of hot.

Toughy
09-07-2010, 06:53 PM
In the little podunk town of 9,000 in rural New Mexico the book Silas Marner was required reading in my sophmore year (1968) in high school.

However, my English teacher (he only taught there 2 years) decided we should read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury instead.

If you haven't read it.......it's a good book and very pertinent to the times.

Nat
09-07-2010, 07:39 PM
I do love me some Silas but yes.

Oneida
09-07-2010, 08:12 PM
Breaking news in Chicago today: Mayor Daley is not seeking another term


http://www.suntimes.com/news/2682566,mayor-daley-announcement-090710.article


__________________________________________________ _____________
Excerpt: Maggie Daley’s eight-year battle against breast cancer — marred by several recent setbacks — has also been weighing on the mayor.

Maggie Daley was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2002. She has already more than tripled the average life expectancy for patients diagnosed with the disease, in which cancer cells spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes.

Greyson
09-08-2010, 11:50 AM
The practice of Punishment of Death by Stoning I believe is inhumane. This particular case is not the first "Death by Stoning" sentence exposed for the entire world to become aware of such misrepresentations of "justice." On a much more mundane note, I find it alarming that this story has no significant way to identify the author or source/s of the article.

______________________________________________



Middle East

Iran suspends Controversial punishment for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani put on hold amid "review" following international outcry. The case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has sparked an international outcry

Iran has suspended the punishment of death by stoning for a woman convicted of adultery, the country's foreign ministry said.

A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that government officials will review the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery in 2006.

"The verdict regarding the extramarital affairs has stopped and it's being reviewed," Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's state-run English-language channel, Press TV.

Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the previous year. She had also been sentenced to death following a separate conviction for playing a role in her husband's 2005 murder.

The foreign ministry said on Wednesday that her sentencing for "complicity in murder" is still in process.

"Defending a person on trial for murder should not be turned into a human rights matter," Mehmanparast said.

But Ashtiani's lawyer, Houtan Javid Kian, said she was never formally put on trial on the charge of being an accomplice to murder and was not allowed to mount a defence.

International outcry

The case of Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, has provoked international outrage and has further strained relations between Iran and the West.

The international crossfire over Iran's stoning sentence intensified on Tuesday, after Jose Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, said he was "appalled" by the news of the sentence.

"Barbaric beyond words," he said during his first state of the union address in Strasbourg, France.

Amnesty International also called on Iran to abolish what it called a "horrific practice, designed to increase the suffering" of those condemned.

Stoning is the penalty for crimes such as adultery under Iranian law.

But Amnesty said a disproportionate number of those sentenced to death by stoning were women because they were not treated equally before the law and were particularly vulnerable to unfair trials.
Iranian authorities routinely defend their legal codes and human rights standards as fully developed and in keeping with the country's traditions and values. They have widely ignored Western denunciations over the crackdowns.

Ashtiani's lawyer said he regards the next critical period coming next week. The moratorium on death sentences during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will end, and he said he worries that an execution could be then carried out "any moment".


Source: Agencies

http://english.aljazeera.net/

AtLast
09-08-2010, 03:17 PM
The practice of Punishment of Death by Stoning I believe is inhumane. This particular case is not the first "Death by Stoning" sentence exposed for the entire world to become aware of such misrepresentations of "justice." On a much more mundane note, I find it alarming that this story has no significant way to identify the author or source/s of the article.

______________________________________________



Middle East

Iran suspends Controversial punishment for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani put on hold amid "review" following international outcry. The case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has sparked an international outcry

Iran has suspended the punishment of death by stoning for a woman convicted of adultery, the country's foreign ministry said.

A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that government officials will review the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery in 2006.

"The verdict regarding the extramarital affairs has stopped and it's being reviewed," Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's state-run English-language channel, Press TV.

Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the previous year. She had also been sentenced to death following a separate conviction for playing a role in her husband's 2005 murder.

The foreign ministry said on Wednesday that her sentencing for "complicity in murder" is still in process.

"Defending a person on trial for murder should not be turned into a human rights matter," Mehmanparast said.

But Ashtiani's lawyer, Houtan Javid Kian, said she was never formally put on trial on the charge of being an accomplice to murder and was not allowed to mount a defence.

International outcry

The case of Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, has provoked international outrage and has further strained relations between Iran and the West.

The international crossfire over Iran's stoning sentence intensified on Tuesday, after Jose Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, said he was "appalled" by the news of the sentence.

"Barbaric beyond words," he said during his first state of the union address in Strasbourg, France.

Amnesty International also called on Iran to abolish what it called a "horrific practice, designed to increase the suffering" of those condemned.

Stoning is the penalty for crimes such as adultery under Iranian law.

But Amnesty said a disproportionate number of those sentenced to death by stoning were women because they were not treated equally before the law and were particularly vulnerable to unfair trials.
Iranian authorities routinely defend their legal codes and human rights standards as fully developed and in keeping with the country's traditions and values. They have widely ignored Western denunciations over the crackdowns.

Ashtiani's lawyer said he regards the next critical period coming next week. The moratorium on death sentences during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will end, and he said he worries that an execution could be then carried out "any moment".


Source: Agencies

http://english.aljazeera.net/

This is where cultural relativism and I break company. Public stoning anywhere, by anyone is ugly and cruel and barbaric. Let alone the sexism involved here.

This woman will be burried to her head in a public execution area and people will throw stones at her head until she is dead. Also, her first language is Turkish (a minority in Iran) and she was questioned in Arabic. She did not understand what she was admitting to- stoning of women for adultry requires admission of at least 4 witnesses (of which all 4 must be men).

Even in countries that continue using the death penalty (like the US, one of very few worldwide), history demonstrates the development of more humane (if you buy this) of carrying it out.

FerGoddessSakes, California has stopped executions by lethal injection due to questioning inhumane aspects!

Stoning was widely imposed in the years after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and even though Iran's judiciary still regularly hands down such sentences, they are often converted to other punishments.

The last known stoning was carried out in 2007, although the government rarely confirms that such punishments have been meted out.

Under Islamic rulings, a man is usually buried up to his waist, while a woman is buried up to her chest with her hands also buried. Those carrying out the verdict then throw stones until the condemned dies.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129162333

MsMerrick
09-08-2010, 05:14 PM
Whacko Preacher, wanting to hold a Burn a Koran Day, has a rather troubled past
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,716409,00.html

Glenn
09-08-2010, 05:28 PM
Whacko Preacher, wanting to hold a Burn a Koran Day, has a rather troubled past
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,716409,00.html

Hm..wonderin if he could "love his enemies" like Jesus would tell him to do at ground zero.

AtLast
09-08-2010, 05:59 PM
Whacko Preacher, wanting to hold a Burn a Koran Day, has a rather troubled past
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,716409,00.html


Oh yeah... after listening to a couple of his clips on MSNBC, I'm thinking burned-out guy from the 60's. Dead brain cells galore. Hey, I recognize my own era's misgivings and remnants. Can't imagine what his preaching is like (out of the back of his milk truck?)? Reminds me of even eras further back-, traveling preachers with snake oil and their bibles.

There is a part of me that thinks that this burning is just of a book because for those that hold particular theological beliefs have the meaning inside of themselves and a book is just a book (goes for the Bible, et. al., too). What is holy to some is not or sacred to some is only tangibly represented in a book for dissemination. The books I take chants, meditations, or prayers from would not leave me without them, they are now part of my memory. People of all faiths know to make this distinction because burning of holy/sacred books is nothing new. But, the fact of the matter is that this is a symbolic gesture against far more than a religion. And today, in the US, has far reaching implications and dangers.

I wonder if there will be Bible burnings in protest if this takes place on 9/11? Or, Bibles, the Book of Morman, Tanakh or Torah, Buddha-Dharma, or various Hindu scriptures (Shashtras, Vedas, or Upanishads). These are only a few of what people all over the world experience as the good book, scripture, meditations, etc.!

SuperFemme
09-08-2010, 06:28 PM
http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=8&c2=6035610&c3=883645&c4=51422795&c5=4735700&c6=0&c10=37857107&cj=1 http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/rmm.latimes/secureworks_728x90_m;sz=728x90;ord=7044201?
Where's the outrage over immigrant slayings in Mexico?

In the United States, their presumed destination, even immigrant rights groups have been oddly silent over the Aug. 23 massacre of 72 in a border state.

Hector Tobar
September 9, 2010


Six dozen defenseless men, women and teenagers were pushed up against a wall. A squad of professional killers opened fire on them with automatic weapons and then finished each victim off with a point-blank shot to the head.

They dreamed of joining us, here in this country of opportunity. Instead, their corpses, including that of a pregnant woman, were left to bloat in the open air, to be discovered later and photographed in a sickening heap.

For those of us who remember the tragedy of Latin America's recent past, seeing the images of last month's massacre of 72 immigrants in northern Mexico is like reentering an old and very familiar nightmare.

Not long ago, dictators ruled most of Latin America. They had large groups of people kidnapped, tortured and executed in secret. Their crimes against humanity hit nearly every corner of the region, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires to provincial Guatemala City.

But this new act of mass murder was not the work of a military junta run by generals. It didn't take place in a tiny banana republic without a judicial system worthy of the name.

It happened in the proud, multiparty democracy called Mexico, a country with ample social freedoms, including a vibrant free press. And it wasn't an isolated occurrence. A report last year by Mexico's human rights ombudsman said at least 400 mass kidnappings are reported in Mexico every year, many involving the rape and murder of hostages.

Modern death squads are operating freely in northern Mexico, extorting those who wish to come here, where relatives and jobs await. The kidnappings and murders of immigrants carried out by these groups are a stain on Mexican democracy, and many commentators there recognize this.

"The abuse against migrants is an everyday embarrassment we don't want to talk about because it would rob us of all our moral authority before our neighbors to the north," columnist Alfonso Zarate wrote in response to the massacre in the newspaper El Universal.

"Mexico demands respect for the human rights of 'illegal' workers in the U.S.," Zarate continued, " … but is now itself under the microscope of the international community, which is rightly scandalized and indignant."

The victims found near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, were killed, according to media reports, after their smugglers-turned-captors demanded more money from the migrants' families. Some were pressured to work as drug couriers but refused.

As with the many killings of police officers and officials in Mexico, the San Fernando massacre was an act of psychological warfare. Such extreme violence is meant to spread fear and thus make it easier for the killers to impose their will on the living.

If we stay silent about their crime, if we treat it as just another episode in Mexico's unwinnable drug wars, then we'll allows the killers to win.

And yet, here in the United States, the expressions of outrage from the immigrant rights movement have been muted. You could say they are a mere whisper compared with the very loud campaign against Arizona's SB 1070, a law whose most controversial provisions will probably never go into effect.

We should see the killings as a blunt reminder of the reasons why people so desperately want to come here. And we should speak of San Fernando with the same horror as we do El Mozote and the Naval Mechanics School of Buenos Aires — sites of the most heinous crimes committed by the militaries of El Salvador and Argentina in the 1970s and '80s.

It's not just the killers who deserve our moral outrage, it's the failed judicial systems that allow them to thrive without fear of punishment.

In Latin America, the massacre has already provoked much reflection and protest. The government of Honduras, home to the largest number of its victims, announced it would take new steps to try to discourage illegal immigration to the U.S.

In Mexico, the northern city of Saltillo witnessed a rare event just days after the Aug. 23 massacre: a march by 200 undocumented immigrants, carrying the flags of El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries.

"Our countries deny us the opportunity for economic development," the demonstrators said in a written statement, after marching through the city with covered faces. "But Mexico denies us the opportunity to live."

To stop SB 1070, we've seen Angelenos drive across the desert to Phoenix to march, to denounce both the governor of Arizona and the mad sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio.

But I've yet to hear of any rallies at the Mexican consulate or anywhere else here in Los Angeles, demanding that the Mexican government prosecute those guilty of so many migrant killings and disappearances.

Most of the country's leading immigrant rights groups haven't even bothered to issue a news release.

That doesn't surprise me. Generally speaking, the U.S. immigrant rights movement doesn't have much to say about the social and political conditions that lead so many to leave their native countries and place themselves at the mercy of an increasingly violent smuggling industry.

This is wrong. We can't turn a blind eye to the deeper, seemingly intractable injustices that are the obvious root cause of the problem.

Simply put: It's wrong that people have to undertake the journey to the U.S. in the first place. People shouldn't have to leave the land of their ancestors, their extended families, their barrios and their farms.

They leave because the promise of democracy in Mexico and Central America remains unfulfilled.

The Tamaulipas murders are really just the most sickening expression of a vast system of inequality and corruption that still defines life for millions of people.

U.S. immigration reform, unfortunately, won't do anything to strengthen the rule of law in those countries that supply the greatest number of migrants. It won't stop the power of the criminal groups that infiltrate government and intimidate officials, not just in certain regions of Mexico but in much of Central America.

There's a movement for democracy and government accountability in those places. But it's often under threat.

One of the last interviews I did in Latin America before ending my stint as a foreign correspondent in 2008 was with the Guatemalan environmental rights attorney Yuri Melini, who was then denouncing the organized-crime groups operating in the Peten jungle.

A few months later, he was shot several times by a gunman. Miraculously, he survived — although, as with so many other notorious crimes in Guatemala, no one has been prosecuted.

"I'm like a tree," Melini told my colleague Ken Ellingwood a year later. "They chopped me down, but I'm bouncing back again."

A few loud but influential U.S. voices of protest help keep people like Melini alive and working in their native countries. But many more of us need to stand with those who work to keep the promise of democracy and justice alive in northern Mexico, Guatemala and other places.

It matters not just to them but to us.

And now, as in the age of the dictators, it's a matter of life and death.

hector.tobar@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0909-tobar-20100909,0,43673,print.column

Greyson
09-08-2010, 07:08 PM
http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=8&c2=6035610&c3=883645&c4=51422795&c5=4735700&c6=0&c10=37857107&cj=1 http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/rmm.latimes/secureworks_728x90_m;sz=728x90;ord=7044201?
Where's the outrage over immigrant slayings in Mexico?

In the United States, their presumed destination, even immigrant rights groups have been oddly silent over the Aug. 23 massacre of 72 in a border state.

Hector Tobar
September 9, 2010


Six dozen defenseless men, women and teenagers were pushed up against a wall. A squad of professional killers opened fire on them with automatic weapons and then finished each victim off with a point-blank shot to the head.

They dreamed of joining us, here in this country of opportunity. Instead, their corpses, including that of a pregnant woman, were left to bloat in the open air, to be discovered later and photographed in a sickening heap.

For those of us who remember the tragedy of Latin America's recent past, seeing the images of last month's massacre of 72 immigrants in northern Mexico is like reentering an old and very familiar nightmare.

Not long ago, dictators ruled most of Latin America. They had large groups of people kidnapped, tortured and executed in secret. Their crimes against humanity hit nearly every corner of the region, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires to provincial Guatemala City.

But this new act of mass murder was not the work of a military junta run by generals. It didn't take place in a tiny banana republic without a judicial system worthy of the name.

It happened in the proud, multiparty democracy called Mexico, a country with ample social freedoms, including a vibrant free press. And it wasn't an isolated occurrence. A report last year by Mexico's human rights ombudsman said at least 400 mass kidnappings are reported in Mexico every year, many involving the rape and murder of hostages.

Modern death squads are operating freely in northern Mexico, extorting those who wish to come here, where relatives and jobs await. The kidnappings and murders of immigrants carried out by these groups are a stain on Mexican democracy, and many commentators there recognize this.

"The abuse against migrants is an everyday embarrassment we don't want to talk about because it would rob us of all our moral authority before our neighbors to the north," columnist Alfonso Zarate wrote in response to the massacre in the newspaper El Universal.

"Mexico demands respect for the human rights of 'illegal' workers in the U.S.," Zarate continued, " … but is now itself under the microscope of the international community, which is rightly scandalized and indignant."

The victims found near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, were killed, according to media reports, after their smugglers-turned-captors demanded more money from the migrants' families. Some were pressured to work as drug couriers but refused.

As with the many killings of police officers and officials in Mexico, the San Fernando massacre was an act of psychological warfare. Such extreme violence is meant to spread fear and thus make it easier for the killers to impose their will on the living.

If we stay silent about their crime, if we treat it as just another episode in Mexico's unwinnable drug wars, then we'll allows the killers to win.

And yet, here in the United States, the expressions of outrage from the immigrant rights movement have been muted. You could say they are a mere whisper compared with the very loud campaign against Arizona's SB 1070, a law whose most controversial provisions will probably never go into effect.

We should see the killings as a blunt reminder of the reasons why people so desperately want to come here. And we should speak of San Fernando with the same horror as we do El Mozote and the Naval Mechanics School of Buenos Aires — sites of the most heinous crimes committed by the militaries of El Salvador and Argentina in the 1970s and '80s.

It's not just the killers who deserve our moral outrage, it's the failed judicial systems that allow them to thrive without fear of punishment.

In Latin America, the massacre has already provoked much reflection and protest. The government of Honduras, home to the largest number of its victims, announced it would take new steps to try to discourage illegal immigration to the U.S.

In Mexico, the northern city of Saltillo witnessed a rare event just days after the Aug. 23 massacre: a march by 200 undocumented immigrants, carrying the flags of El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries.

"Our countries deny us the opportunity for economic development," the demonstrators said in a written statement, after marching through the city with covered faces. "But Mexico denies us the opportunity to live."

To stop SB 1070, we've seen Angelenos drive across the desert to Phoenix to march, to denounce both the governor of Arizona and the mad sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio.

But I've yet to hear of any rallies at the Mexican consulate or anywhere else here in Los Angeles, demanding that the Mexican government prosecute those guilty of so many migrant killings and disappearances.

Most of the country's leading immigrant rights groups haven't even bothered to issue a news release.

That doesn't surprise me. Generally speaking, the U.S. immigrant rights movement doesn't have much to say about the social and political conditions that lead so many to leave their native countries and place themselves at the mercy of an increasingly violent smuggling industry.

This is wrong. We can't turn a blind eye to the deeper, seemingly intractable injustices that are the obvious root cause of the problem.

Simply put: It's wrong that people have to undertake the journey to the U.S. in the first place. People shouldn't have to leave the land of their ancestors, their extended families, their barrios and their farms.

They leave because the promise of democracy in Mexico and Central America remains unfulfilled.

The Tamaulipas murders are really just the most sickening expression of a vast system of inequality and corruption that still defines life for millions of people.

U.S. immigration reform, unfortunately, won't do anything to strengthen the rule of law in those countries that supply the greatest number of migrants. It won't stop the power of the criminal groups that infiltrate government and intimidate officials, not just in certain regions of Mexico but in much of Central America.

There's a movement for democracy and government accountability in those places. But it's often under threat.

One of the last interviews I did in Latin America before ending my stint as a foreign correspondent in 2008 was with the Guatemalan environmental rights attorney Yuri Melini, who was then denouncing the organized-crime groups operating in the Peten jungle.

A few months later, he was shot several times by a gunman. Miraculously, he survived — although, as with so many other notorious crimes in Guatemala, no one has been prosecuted.

"I'm like a tree," Melini told my colleague Ken Ellingwood a year later. "They chopped me down, but I'm bouncing back again."

A few loud but influential U.S. voices of protest help keep people like Melini alive and working in their native countries. But many more of us need to stand with those who work to keep the promise of democracy and justice alive in northern Mexico, Guatemala and other places.

It matters not just to them but to us.

And now, as in the age of the dictators, it's a matter of life and death.hector.tobar@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0909-tobar-20100909,0,43673,print.column


Yes, I am very disturbed with the entire situation in Mexico and other parts of the Western Hemisphere. There is no easy answer. IMO, there is racism, greed, organized, institutional corruption, illegal Drug Use, in other words many different causes. This did not happen over night. It has been going on for at least a couple of generations but perhaps because of technology "news," information is much harder to keep from the masses.

I have highlighted much of the article. I think this is a balanced piece of journalism. It clearly names who and what the writer believes to be some of the causes of this. All of us have contributed to this. Choices we have made via our consumerism, turning a blind eye to blatant wrong doing and I could go on and on.

I have been struggling with questions about all of this for most of my lifetime. I do not think immigration reform will fix all of it. This is a situation that is not to be solved by the USA alone. It will take at a minimum the Western Hemisphere and for the Catholic Church to stop demonizing those countries that do not blindly follow the Church's "intervention."

AtLast
09-08-2010, 07:25 PM
http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=8&c2=6035610&c3=883645&c4=51422795&c5=4735700&c6=0&c10=37857107&cj=1 http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/rmm.latimes/secureworks_728x90_m;sz=728x90;ord=7044201?
Where's the outrage over immigrant slayings in Mexico?

In the United States, their presumed destination, even immigrant rights groups have been oddly silent over the Aug. 23 massacre of 72 in a border state.

Hector Tobar
September 9, 2010


Six dozen defenseless men, women and teenagers were pushed up against a wall. A squad of professional killers opened fire on them with automatic weapons and then finished each victim off with a point-blank shot to the head.

They dreamed of joining us, here in this country of opportunity. Instead, their corpses, including that of a pregnant woman, were left to bloat in the open air, to be discovered later and photographed in a sickening heap.

For those of us who remember the tragedy of Latin America's recent past, seeing the images of last month's massacre of 72 immigrants in northern Mexico is like reentering an old and very familiar nightmare.

Not long ago, dictators ruled most of Latin America. They had large groups of people kidnapped, tortured and executed in secret. Their crimes against humanity hit nearly every corner of the region, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires to provincial Guatemala City.

But this new act of mass murder was not the work of a military junta run by generals. It didn't take place in a tiny banana republic without a judicial system worthy of the name.

It happened in the proud, multiparty democracy called Mexico, a country with ample social freedoms, including a vibrant free press. And it wasn't an isolated occurrence. A report last year by Mexico's human rights ombudsman said at least 400 mass kidnappings are reported in Mexico every year, many involving the rape and murder of hostages.

Modern death squads are operating freely in northern Mexico, extorting those who wish to come here, where relatives and jobs await. The kidnappings and murders of immigrants carried out by these groups are a stain on Mexican democracy, and many commentators there recognize this.

"The abuse against migrants is an everyday embarrassment we don't want to talk about because it would rob us of all our moral authority before our neighbors to the north," columnist Alfonso Zarate wrote in response to the massacre in the newspaper El Universal.

"Mexico demands respect for the human rights of 'illegal' workers in the U.S.," Zarate continued, " … but is now itself under the microscope of the international community, which is rightly scandalized and indignant."

The victims found near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, were killed, according to media reports, after their smugglers-turned-captors demanded more money from the migrants' families. Some were pressured to work as drug couriers but refused.

As with the many killings of police officers and officials in Mexico, the San Fernando massacre was an act of psychological warfare. Such extreme violence is meant to spread fear and thus make it easier for the killers to impose their will on the living.

If we stay silent about their crime, if we treat it as just another episode in Mexico's unwinnable drug wars, then we'll allows the killers to win.

And yet, here in the United States, the expressions of outrage from the immigrant rights movement have been muted. You could say they are a mere whisper compared with the very loud campaign against Arizona's SB 1070, a law whose most controversial provisions will probably never go into effect.

We should see the killings as a blunt reminder of the reasons why people so desperately want to come here. And we should speak of San Fernando with the same horror as we do El Mozote and the Naval Mechanics School of Buenos Aires — sites of the most heinous crimes committed by the militaries of El Salvador and Argentina in the 1970s and '80s.

It's not just the killers who deserve our moral outrage, it's the failed judicial systems that allow them to thrive without fear of punishment.

In Latin America, the massacre has already provoked much reflection and protest. The government of Honduras, home to the largest number of its victims, announced it would take new steps to try to discourage illegal immigration to the U.S.

In Mexico, the northern city of Saltillo witnessed a rare event just days after the Aug. 23 massacre: a march by 200 undocumented immigrants, carrying the flags of El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries.

"Our countries deny us the opportunity for economic development," the demonstrators said in a written statement, after marching through the city with covered faces. "But Mexico denies us the opportunity to live."

To stop SB 1070, we've seen Angelenos drive across the desert to Phoenix to march, to denounce both the governor of Arizona and the mad sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio.

But I've yet to hear of any rallies at the Mexican consulate or anywhere else here in Los Angeles, demanding that the Mexican government prosecute those guilty of so many migrant killings and disappearances.

Most of the country's leading immigrant rights groups haven't even bothered to issue a news release.

That doesn't surprise me. Generally speaking, the U.S. immigrant rights movement doesn't have much to say about the social and political conditions that lead so many to leave their native countries and place themselves at the mercy of an increasingly violent smuggling industry.

This is wrong. We can't turn a blind eye to the deeper, seemingly intractable injustices that are the obvious root cause of the problem.

Simply put: It's wrong that people have to undertake the journey to the U.S. in the first place. People shouldn't have to leave the land of their ancestors, their extended families, their barrios and their farms.

They leave because the promise of democracy in Mexico and Central America remains unfulfilled.

The Tamaulipas murders are really just the most sickening expression of a vast system of inequality and corruption that still defines life for millions of people.

U.S. immigration reform, unfortunately, won't do anything to strengthen the rule of law in those countries that supply the greatest number of migrants. It won't stop the power of the criminal groups that infiltrate government and intimidate officials, not just in certain regions of Mexico but in much of Central America.

There's a movement for democracy and government accountability in those places. But it's often under threat.

One of the last interviews I did in Latin America before ending my stint as a foreign correspondent in 2008 was with the Guatemalan environmental rights attorney Yuri Melini, who was then denouncing the organized-crime groups operating in the Peten jungle.

A few months later, he was shot several times by a gunman. Miraculously, he survived — although, as with so many other notorious crimes in Guatemala, no one has been prosecuted.

"I'm like a tree," Melini told my colleague Ken Ellingwood a year later. "They chopped me down, but I'm bouncing back again."

A few loud but influential U.S. voices of protest help keep people like Melini alive and working in their native countries. But many more of us need to stand with those who work to keep the promise of democracy and justice alive in northern Mexico, Guatemala and other places.

It matters not just to them but to us.

And now, as in the age of the dictators, it's a matter of life and death.

hector.tobar@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0909-tobar-20100909,0,43673,print.column


One doesn't have to live in a border state to understand that Mexico is an important ally to the US, ALL of the US! Ferfucksakes, you would even think the capitalist right wingers would look at the trade situation between us and get with supporting what is needed for human rights! How long can people turn their heads? Makes me crazy.

Greyson
09-09-2010, 10:09 AM
Yesterday I posted an article about the woman that had been sentenced to "Punishment of Death by Stoning." Today, I am posting a story about the same "system" Iran, announcing the release of an American hostage in recognition of the end of Ramadan. This could be a sign of human compassion and/or a sign of propaganda. Interesting, two very recent acts of showing some compassion by the very same people/system that some are quick to fear and judge harshly. No, I am not naieve nor stupid. But I do know that things usually are much more layered with shared blame and responsibility to go around for all.
______________________________________________



Iran to release 1 of 3 jailed Americans


Associated Press

Posted: 09/09/2010 08:37:26 AM PDT
Updated: 09/09/2010 08:46:39 AM PDT


TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran announced today that one of the three Americans jailed for more than a year will be released Saturday to mark the end of Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Reporters were told by text message from the Culture Ministry to come to the same hotel where the Americans' parents were allowed to meet them recently to witness the release.

"Offering congratulations on Eid al-Fitr," the message said referring to the holiday marking the end of the fasting month. "The release of one of the detained Americans will be at Saturday, 9 a.m. at the Estaghlal hotel."

It is common in the Islamic world to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday by showing clemency and releasing prisoners.

Ali Reza Shiravi, the head of the foreign media office at the ministry confirmed that he had sent the message summoning reports to the hotel.

The high-rise Estaghlal hotel near Evin prison is where the three Americans' mothers were allowed to visit them in May in a highly publicized trip.

The detained Americans -- Sarah Shourd, 31; her boyfriend, Shane Bauer, 27; and their friend Josh Fattal, 27 -- have been held in Iran since July 2009, when they were arrested along the Iraqi border.

Iran has accused them of espionage; their families say that the three were hiking in Iraq's largely peaceful mountainous northern Kurdish region and that if they crossed the border, it was accidental.

Their detention has become entangled in the confrontation between the United States and Iran. Iranian leaders have repeatedly suggested a link between their jailing and that of a number of Iranians by the United States whose release Tehran demands.

Nora Shourd, the mother of Sarah Shourd, said this morning that the U.S.-based families of the hikers had seen the news reports out of Iran but had no idea if they were true or not.

"We don't know anything," Shourd told the AP. "We're trying like crazy to see what we can find out. I hope it's true -- that's all I can say for sure. But I don't know if it is."

Nora Shourd had the last contact with any of the three jailed Americans, when Sarah called her on Aug. 2 and the two spoke for three or four minutes.


http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_16031691

SuperFemme
09-09-2010, 11:45 AM
Tempe man beaten to death after granddaughter's wedding

Friends and family continue to mourn a Tempe man who was beaten to death in Virginia earlier this week after he attended his granddaughter's wedding, police said.

Three teenagers attacked George Baker III, 81, on his walk to a restaurant following the wedding ceremony Sunday night.

"I will miss the phone calls the most," son Gregg Baker said at a press conference at his father's home on Wednesday.

Witnesses who heard and saw the attack from a nearby restaurant told police that three male teenagers beat Baker until he lay unconscious and then fled.

Baker sustained broken ribs and significant head injuries, police said. He was taken to a local hospital but died Monday morning.

"There was no motive," Lynchburg (Va.) Police Department Captain Todd Swisher said, "This should have been a joyful occasion but it has been marred by this tragedy."

Police said there were a few other teens walking with the suspects at the time of the attack. One of them told police that the suspects were trying to impress a girl they were with.

Two of the suspects are 16-years-old and one is 13. They were arrested on suspicion of murder, police said.

Baker was a widower who leaves behind three children. He had lived in the same Tempe home across from the Ken McDonald Golf Course since 1973. Baker even had his own chair at the course restaurant, the chef made him specialty meals to accommodate his celiac disease, his son said.

The younger Baker said it was hard to describe the emotions he went through on the day of both his daughter's wedding and his father's death.
He was informed by police that his father was critically injured as the wedding reception was coming to an end. As the newlyweds took off in their car, Gregg Baker's new son-in-law turned toward the hospital instead of the planed their honeymoon destination and said "family is important" before explaining Baker's condition to his new bride.

Baker was unresponsive at the scene and was put on life-support at the hospital, his son said. He stayed by his father's side until he died.

"I don't want retribution, I want redemption," Baker said of his father's killers. He added that the two 16- year-olds will be tried as adults.
Baker was a Christian man; his son said which was apparent by the bookmarked and clearly well-used Bible inscribed with his name which sat in his family room. His son said that Baker had previously spoken of looking forward to seeing his wife, who died of cancer six years ago.
He spoke of his father as "quick witted and mentally sharp."

Referring to a rocking chair and table filled with books as his father's "makeshift library." He said his father and sister would read novels and then switch with each other when they were finished.

A neighborhood child who had just heard of Baker's death stood with two of his friends outside of the home Wednesday and through tears and gasps for breath said, "He was my friend."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/09/08/20100908tempe-man-beaten-to-death-after-wedding-abrk.html#ixzz0z3TdAc6F



(http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/09/08/20100908tempe-man-beaten-to-death-after-wedding-abrk.html#ixzz0z3TVc4A6)

SuperFemme
09-09-2010, 11:57 AM
Fred Phelps' daughter: 'Westboro Church has already burned Qurans'

(http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/09/100291/fred-phelps-daughter-westboro.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news#ixzz0z3WWprm4)One of those angry at a Florida preacher's plans to mark Sept. 11 by setting fire to copies of the Quran is Shirley Phelps Roper, a leader of the Westboro Baptist Church.

While she joins Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gen. David Petraeus, the White House, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and many more, Phelps-Roper, Fred Phelps' lawyer daughter, is hardly a voice for religious tolerance.
Her irritation Wednesday was not that the Rev. Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center's planned bonfire would offend Muslims worldwide and probably increase the danger to American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's that in 2008 she and her father's Topeka flock set fire to a Quran in plain view on a Washington, D.C., street and nobody seemed to care.
"We did it a long time before this guy," Phelps-Roper said by telephone from a street corner in downtown Chicago, scene of the latest Westboro picket — against Jews this time, not gays.

The difference could be that in 2008 many news media outlets had decided to ignore the group's routine of spewing hatred at funerals of fallen American soldiers.

So when Fred Phelps, calling Muhammad a "pedophilic gigolo," went online and invited people to attend the burning, most stayed away.

Because of the heightened media attention on the Florida demonstration, Christian Petersen of Blue Springs, a Marine veteran who helped train Iraqi security forces in 2009, speculated some Islamic extremists will seek "an eye for an eye" and retaliate. But U.S. troops probably won't change their activities.

"If an environment is hostile, one more piece of wood on the bonfire isn't going to make a difference," Petersen said.

"It's just like here in the United States. We watch the news and tend to generalize an entire culture based on the very worst elements," he said. But the Muslims he came to know "understood the difference between people in our country who are extreme in their views and those of us over there trying to help them."

To read the complete article, visit www.kansascity.com. (http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/08/2209487/attention-might-fan-quran-flames.html)


(http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/09/100291/fred-phelps-daughter-westboro.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news#ixzz0z3WprZ56)

Nat
09-09-2010, 04:12 PM
It's almost like the media is running the show, no?

waxnrope
09-09-2010, 04:55 PM
It's almost like the media is running the show, no?

Yes, and the next question is who owns the media and has the most to gain by running the shows, IMO.

The_Lady_Snow
09-09-2010, 05:50 PM
It's almost like the media is running the show, no?


The media feeds the masses, the more coverage and attention they get the happier they are.

Nat
09-09-2010, 06:31 PM
US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/us-soldiers-afghan-civilians-fingers)

Soldiers face charges over secret 'kill team' which allegedly murdered at random and collected fingers as trophies of war

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/9/8/1283969092738/Stryker-soldiers-who-alle-004.jpg

Andrew Holmes, Michael Wagnon, Jeremy Morlock and Adam Winfield are four of the five Stryker soldiers who face murder charges. Photograph: Public Domain

Twelve American soldiers face charges over a secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies.

Five of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year. Seven others are accused of covering up the killings and assaulting a recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses, including members of the unit smoking hashish stolen from civilians.

In one of the most serious accusations of war crimes to emerge from the Afghan conflict, the killings are alleged to have been carried out by members of a Stryker infantry brigade based in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.

According to investigators and legal documents, discussion of killing Afghan civilians began after the arrival of Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs at forward operating base Ramrod last November. Other soldiers told the army's criminal investigation command that Gibbs boasted of the things he got away with while serving in Iraq and said how easy it would be to "toss a grenade at someone and kill them".

One soldier said he believed Gibbs was "feeling out the platoon".

Investigators said Gibbs, 25, hatched a plan with another soldier, Jeremy Morlock, 22, and other members of the unit to form a "kill team". While on patrol over the following months they allegedly killed at least three Afghan civilians. According to the charge sheet, the first target was Gul Mudin, who was killed "by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle", when the patrol entered the village of La Mohammed Kalay in January.

Morlock and another soldier, Andrew Holmes, were on guard at the edge of a poppy field when Mudin emerged and stopped on the other side of a wall from the soldiers. Gibbs allegedly handed Morlock a grenade who armed it and dropped it over the wall next to the Afghan and dived for cover. Holmes, 19, then allegedly fired over the wall.

Later in the day, Morlock is alleged to have told Holmes that the killing was for fun and threatened him if he told anyone.

The second victim, Marach Agha, was shot and killed the following month. Gibbs is alleged to have shot him and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing. In May Mullah Adadhdad was killed after being shot and attacked with a grenade.

The Army Times reported that a least one of the soldiers collected the fingers of the victims as souvenirs and that some of them posed for photographs with the bodies.

Five soldiers – Gibbs, Morlock, Holmes, Michael Wagnon and Adam Winfield – are accused of murder and aggravated assault among other charges. All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

The killings came to light in May after the army began investigating a brutal assault on a soldier who told superiors that members of his unit were smoking hashish. The Army Times reported that members of the unit regularly smoked the drug on duty and sometimes stole it from civilians.

The soldier, who was straight out of basic training and has not been named, said he witnessed the smoking of hashish and drinking of smuggled alcohol but initially did not report it out of loyalty to his comrades. But when he returned from an assignment at an army headquarters and discovered soldiers using the shipping container in which he was billeted to smoke hashish he reported it.

Two days later members of his platoon, including Gibbs and Morlock, accused him of "snitching", gave him a beating and told him to keep his mouth shut. The soldier reported the beating and threats to his officers and then told investigators what he knew of the "kill team".

Following the arrest of the original five accused in June, seven other soldiers were charged last month with attempting to cover up the killings and violent assault on the soldier who reported the smoking of hashish. The charges will be considered by a military grand jury later this month which will decide if there is enough evidence for a court martial. Army investigators say Morlock has admitted his involvement in the killings and given details about the role of others including Gibbs. But his lawyer, Michael Waddington, is seeking to have that confession suppressed because he says his client was interviewed while under the influence of prescription drugs taken for battlefield injuries and that he was also suffering from traumatic brain injury.

"Our position is that his statements were incoherent, and taken while he was under a cocktail of drugs that shouldn't have been mixed," Waddington told the Seattle Times.

Gayla
09-09-2010, 06:54 PM
On again :|

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39074573/ns/us_news-security/

MsMerrick
09-09-2010, 07:21 PM
On again :|

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39074573/ns/us_news-security/

Fucking whacko .... Why is no one just putting him in a mental institution, where he belongs..

Gayla
09-09-2010, 07:32 PM
I reached a point last night, after reading about this crap for hours, where I wondered why someone just didn't shoot him.

After I got over being completely horrified at myself, I realized it was time to stop reading the news and start playing stupid FB games for awhile.

MsMerrick
09-09-2010, 07:56 PM
I reached a point last night, after reading about this crap for hours, where I wondered why someone just didn't shoot him.

After I got over being completely horrified at myself, I realized it was time to stop reading the news and start playing stupid FB games for awhile.

4 hours killing Boss's in MW..but then I saw this on again thang ( on FB ) and lost it again ....
Going to bed..soon
reading science fiction.. no current events thank you very much...

SuperFemme
09-09-2010, 08:19 PM
VoOXRTIkpjI

wJhF26Zch0g

Melissa
09-09-2010, 08:23 PM
some good news!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ca_gays_in_military

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:25 PM
http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef0133f413884e970b-800wi

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:30 PM
White couple won't sell home to African-American couple (http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/2010/08/white-couple-wont-sell-home-to-african.html)


The co-host of the Michael Baisden show filed for $100 million discrimination lawsuit against a white couple who won't sell their home to George Wilborn and his wife because they are African-American. Read more about it below.

George Wilborn, the famed co-host of the popular Michael Baisden Show, has filed a $100 million lawsuit against a Chicago couple who refused to sell him a home because of the color of his skin.

As previously reported, Wilborn and his wife were attempting to buy a $1.7 million home from Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia, a white couple.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a complaint on behalf of Wilborn however after an investigator told them that Daniel Sabba declined to sign the contract because he'd "rather not sell to an African American."

Now Wilborn and his wife Peytyn have officially filed a $100 million lawsuit in federal court for the discrimination they faced trying to buy the five-bedroom home in the city's Bridgeport neighborhood.
Source (http://hiphopwired.com/2010/08/27/george-wilborn-files-100-million-lawsuit-99999/)

This is just disgusting to hear about. I can't believe stuff like this still happens in the year 2010.

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:34 PM
White cop punches black girl in face (http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/2010/06/white-cop-punches-black-girl-in-face.html)


Is this another incident of a white racist cop thinking he is above the law? Maybe it's just police brutality? Or was it just a police officer doing his job? A white Seattle cop punches a black woman, watch the video below. Apparently the two black women were stopped for jay walking.

E9w9AfptGGQ

TKnusZTKJj8

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:36 PM
ZmwxVQYzN2M

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:41 PM
Racist Harvard Law student emailer (http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/2010/04/racist-harvard-law-student-emailer.html)


Well if you haven't yet heard about the Harvard Law School student, Stephanie Grace, who had a conversation about race at a dinner and then sent out the racist email basically trying to prove that African Americans are not as intelligent than whites, here's the info and links to other sites who have talked about this incident.

Here's a copy of the email she sent (I found this on feministe.us blog (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/)):

.. I just hate leaving things where I feel I misstated my position.

I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, on average, genetically predisposed to be less intelligent. I could also obviously be convinced that by controlling for the right variables, we would see that they are, in fact, as intelligent as white people under the same circumstances. The fact is, some things are genetic. African Americans tend to have darker skin. Irish people are more likely to have red hair. (Now on to the more controversial:) Women tend to perform less well in math due at least in part to prenatal levels of testosterone, which also account for variations in mathematics performance within genders. This suggests to me that some part of intelligence is genetic, just like identical twins raised apart tend to have very similar IQs and just like I think my babies will be geniuses and beautiful individuals whether I raise them or give them to an orphanage in Nigeria. I don’t think it is that controversial of an opinion to say I think it is at least possible that African Americans are less intelligent on a genetic level, and I didn't mean to shy away from that opinion at dinner.

I also don’t think that there are no cultural differences or that cultural differences are not likely the most important sources of disparate test scores (statistically, the measurable ones like income do account for some raw differences). I would just like some scientific data to disprove the genetic position, and it is often hard given difficult to quantify cultural aspects. One example (courtesy of Randall Kennedy) is that some people, based on crime statistics, might think African Americans are genetically more likely to be violent, since income and other statistics cannot close the racial gap. In the slavery era, however, the stereotype was of a docile, childlike, African American, and they were, in fact, responsible for very little violence (which was why the handful of rebellions seriously shook white people up). Obviously group wide rates of violence could not fluctuate so dramatically in ten generations if the cause was genetic, and so although there are no quantifiable data currently available to "explain" away the racial discrepancy in violent crimes, it must be some nongenetic cultural shift. Of course, there are pro-genetic counterarguments, but if we assume we can control for all variables in the given time periods, the form of the argument is compelling.

In conclusion, I think it is bad science to disagree with a conclusion in your heart, and then try (unsuccessfully, so far at least) to find data that will confirm what you want to be true. Everyone wants someone to take 100 white infants and 100 African American ones and raise them in Disney utopia and prove once and for all that we are all equal on every dimension, or at least the really important ones like intelligence. I am merely not 100% convinced that this is the case.

Please don't pull a Larry Summers on me,

Stephanie Grace

Other sites have talked about it with more detail than I'm going to:


Harvard Law School 3L's Racist Email Goes National (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/hls-3ls-racist-email-goes-national/)
The Harvard Law School 'Racist' Email Controversy: Corrections and More Commentary (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/crimson-dna-apologizes-but-gawker-outs-her/)
CRIMSON DNA Apologizes, But Gawker Outs Her (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/crimson-dna-apologizes-but-gawker-outs-her/)
Stephanie Grace, racist Harvard emailer (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/)
Meet Harvard's Racist Email Antagonist, Stephanie Grace (http://jezebel.com/5527272/meet-harvards-racist-emailer-stephanie-grace)

I am in agreement with feministe.us Jill's blog post (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/) about this incident. It seems her post was closed for comments. If anyone has views on this incident feel free to post a comment here. It's pretty sad that a person who may be a lawyer or working with the law in some way in the future has these views but I bet there are many more.

http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/

dark_crystal
09-10-2010, 01:55 PM
Racist Harvard Law student emailer (http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/2010/04/racist-harvard-law-student-emailer.html)


Well if you haven't yet heard about the Harvard Law School student, Stephanie Grace, who had a conversation about race at a dinner and then sent out the racist email basically trying to prove that African Americans are not as intelligent than whites, here's the info and links to other sites who have talked about this incident.

Here's a copy of the email she sent (I found this on feministe.us blog (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/)):

.. I just hate leaving things where I feel I misstated my position.

I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, on average, genetically predisposed to be less intelligent. I could also obviously be convinced that by controlling for the right variables, we would see that they are, in fact, as intelligent as white people under the same circumstances. The fact is, some things are genetic. African Americans tend to have darker skin. Irish people are more likely to have red hair. (Now on to the more controversial:) Women tend to perform less well in math due at least in part to prenatal levels of testosterone, which also account for variations in mathematics performance within genders.

cheese and rice...:eek:
also- is that smiley original to the email? cuz it really adds something IMO

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 01:59 PM
cheese and rice...:eek:
also- is that smiley original to the email? cuz it really adds something IMO


yes, the smiley was original to the email but was in the form of a colon and right side parentheses. our forum translated that into the graphic version of the smiley face.

either way? the smiley face was there and intentional.

things like this ladys email make me want to scream, cry, punch something, or at the very least sit down with her and tell her how outrageous she is.

grrrrr.

dreadgeek
09-10-2010, 02:42 PM
yes, the smiley was original to the email but was in the form of a colon and right side parentheses. our forum translated that into the graphic version of the smiley face.

either way? the smiley face was there and intentional.

things like this ladys email make me want to scream, cry, punch something, or at the very least sit down with her and tell her how outrageous she is.

grrrrr.

Oh, how I WISH I could meet this woman. She is the kind of person I love to meet and have a nice casual conversation with along the lines of the following:

Racist: "So, what do you do, Aj?"
Me: "Well, by day I'm a mild-mannered IT worker doing UNIX/Linux support of a version control system. By night, I'm in an accelerated M.S. program in bioinformatics."
Racist: "What's bioinformatics?"
Me: "It's using computer science problem-solving methods to deal with issues in biology, particularly things like gene sequencing, protein folding and population modeling. I'm not sure which one I want to do but I think protein folding."
Racist: "Oh? What do you mean?"
Me: "Well, right now we can determine what a gene codes for but we can't predict the shape of the protein except by brute force."
Racist: "So what kinds of things do you have to study?"
Me: "It's mostly calculus, statistics, genetics, organic chemistry and molecular biology."
Racist: "Oh."
Me: "So, about that 'blacks are less intelligent thing..."

Cheers
Aj

AtLast
09-10-2010, 03:01 PM
OK, please tell me that government funds are not allowing this piece of crap student to do research!! Even in private universities, public funding of research happens and there are regulations concerning bigoted use of research funds.

Racist Harvard Law student emailer (http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/2010/04/racist-harvard-law-student-emailer.html)


Well if you haven't yet heard about the Harvard Law School student, Stephanie Grace, who had a conversation about race at a dinner and then sent out the racist email basically trying to prove that African Americans are not as intelligent than whites, here's the info and links to other sites who have talked about this incident.

Here's a copy of the email she sent (I found this on feministe.us blog (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/)):

.. I just hate leaving things where I feel I misstated my position.

I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, on average, genetically predisposed to be less intelligent. I could also obviously be convinced that by controlling for the right variables, we would see that they are, in fact, as intelligent as white people under the same circumstances. The fact is, some things are genetic. African Americans tend to have darker skin. Irish people are more likely to have red hair. (Now on to the more controversial:) Women tend to perform less well in math due at least in part to prenatal levels of testosterone, which also account for variations in mathematics performance within genders. This suggests to me that some part of intelligence is genetic, just like identical twins raised apart tend to have very similar IQs and just like I think my babies will be geniuses and beautiful individuals whether I raise them or give them to an orphanage in Nigeria. I don’t think it is that controversial of an opinion to say I think it is at least possible that African Americans are less intelligent on a genetic level, and I didn't mean to shy away from that opinion at dinner.

I also don’t think that there are no cultural differences or that cultural differences are not likely the most important sources of disparate test scores (statistically, the measurable ones like income do account for some raw differences). I would just like some scientific data to disprove the genetic position, and it is often hard given difficult to quantify cultural aspects. One example (courtesy of Randall Kennedy) is that some people, based on crime statistics, might think African Americans are genetically more likely to be violent, since income and other statistics cannot close the racial gap. In the slavery era, however, the stereotype was of a docile, childlike, African American, and they were, in fact, responsible for very little violence (which was why the handful of rebellions seriously shook white people up). Obviously group wide rates of violence could not fluctuate so dramatically in ten generations if the cause was genetic, and so although there are no quantifiable data currently available to "explain" away the racial discrepancy in violent crimes, it must be some nongenetic cultural shift. Of course, there are pro-genetic counterarguments, but if we assume we can control for all variables in the given time periods, the form of the argument is compelling.

In conclusion, I think it is bad science to disagree with a conclusion in your heart, and then try (unsuccessfully, so far at least) to find data that will confirm what you want to be true. Everyone wants someone to take 100 white infants and 100 African American ones and raise them in Disney utopia and prove once and for all that we are all equal on every dimension, or at least the really important ones like intelligence. I am merely not 100% convinced that this is the case.

Please don't pull a Larry Summers on me,

Stephanie Grace

Other sites have talked about it with more detail than I'm going to:


Harvard Law School 3L's Racist Email Goes National (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/hls-3ls-racist-email-goes-national/)
The Harvard Law School 'Racist' Email Controversy: Corrections and More Commentary (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/crimson-dna-apologizes-but-gawker-outs-her/)
CRIMSON DNA Apologizes, But Gawker Outs Her (http://abovethelaw.com/2010/04/crimson-dna-apologizes-but-gawker-outs-her/)
Stephanie Grace, racist Harvard emailer (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/)
Meet Harvard's Racist Email Antagonist, Stephanie Grace (http://jezebel.com/5527272/meet-harvards-racist-emailer-stephanie-grace)

I am in agreement with feministe.us Jill's blog post (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/04/29/stephanie-grace-racist-harvard-emailer/) about this incident. It seems her post was closed for comments. If anyone has views on this incident feel free to post a comment here. It's pretty sad that a person who may be a lawyer or working with the law in some way in the future has these views but I bet there are many more.

http://racismtoday.blogspot.com/

Legendryder
09-10-2010, 03:07 PM
Wow. Bout all I can say about that. What is that woman thinking?

In other news, we have a Klan rally in my town tomorrow. Not kidding either. I am planning on wearing my "Killing Doctors Does Not Make You Pro-Life" t-shirt and bringing my camera. It is a great camera, shoots video in HD and everything. I plan on posting the result on youtube and stills on FB, MySpace and PhotoBucket. Lets see how many people we can embarrass. *snicker*

Nat
09-10-2010, 07:12 PM
GOP Candidate Allen West: People With ‘Coexist’ Bumper Stickers Want To ‘Give Away Our Country’ (http://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/18/allen-west-islam/)

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/coexist2.jpg

AtLast
09-10-2010, 07:51 PM
Do you know where your gas main line is and have an emergency turn-off wrench near it? Check on elderly or disabled people living alone near you to make sure that they do. Please, thank you. Be a good neighbor!

Explosions causing deaths and injury were in the San Bruno suburb of San Francisco.


Deadly Explosion Brings Maintenance Issues Into Focus

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704505804575484140379122562.html


By REBECCA SMITH And CASSANDRA SWEET
The explosion of a natural-gas line owned by PG&E Corp. that ripped through four city blocks of a San Francisco suburb Thursday echoes previous pipeline accidents in the company's history.

This time, however, the explosion caused more loss of life and property destruction than any earlier incident.

PG&E shares lost more than 8%, or nearly $1.18 billion in market capitalization, Friday as the fire in San Bruno, Calif., continued to burn and investors grew nervous about liability. PG&E, based in San Francisco, is one of the nation's largest utilities, providing electric and gas service to about 15 million people in Northern California.

The company had another serious pipeline explosion in Rancho Cordova, Calif., in late 2008, leading to one death. A major contributing factor in that incident was the inability of workers to quickly identify the source of the leak and the utility's failure to evacuate the neighborhood, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated that accident and issued a report in May. Following that accident, the utility pledged to make changes in its safety program.

Two people were killed and three injured in a 1992 blast in Santa Rosa, Calif., that occurred after a PG&E gas line separated, likely as a result of street improvements. An investigation determined that gas leaked out of the pipe and migrated into an apartment building, where it exploded.

Investigators of the most-recent explosion likely will explore what role the utility's maintenance practices may have played and whether there are equipment issues that could affect other pipelines. In the case of the Rancho Cordova accident, the leak came from a pipeline that was repaired incorrectly.

PG&E says it will investigate reports that neighbors in the vicinity of the San Bruno blast smelled gas before the blast, as was the case in the 2008 blast. A PG&E spokesman declined to comment on whether it received complaints about possible leaks.

Thursday's explosion focuses attention on potential dangers of underground natural-gas pipes. Thousands of miles of pipelines crisscross cities, but residents usually are unaware of them. Federal officials have worried, in recent years, that rights-of-way are becoming congested with utility equipment and that maintenance spending may not be keeping up with deterioration.

U.S. gas transmission pipelines cause an average of six serious incidents a year, or incidents that result in a fatality or injury requiring hospitalization, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which regulates pipelines but does not investigate accidents. The agency said most pipeline explosions are caused by accidental damage from crews working nearby or equipment failures. Leaks usually are caused by equipment problems or corrosion.

The 2008 explosion in Rancho Cordova, Calif., unfolded over several hours. Residents reported a gas smell shortly after 9 a.m. on Christmas Eve, but utility employees didn't locate the source of the leak until more than four hours later. They had problems with gas-detection equipment. Nearby homes were not evacuated and the leak eventually found an ignition source at around 1:35 p.m., producing the explosion that destroyed one home and killed the occupant. Five other people were injured including a utility worker and firefighter, according to the NTSB report.

Investigators said the utility was warned, earlier in the year, that is emergency plans did not meet federal standards. State regulators warned the utility, in August 2008, that poor handling of leak complaints "has the real potential to prevent or delay qualified personnel from...correcting what can be very hazardous conditions."

In November 2008, the month before the Rancho Cordova accident, the utility pledged to define "hazardous leak," a term that would trigger a more-urgent response including the notification of local fire officials, and provide better training and leak-detection equipment to workers.

Cause Sought in Fatal California Blast
.California state Assemblyman Jerry Hill, whose district includes San Bruno, said Friday he was "concerned about reports that residents had been complaining to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials for up to three weeks about a potential gas leak" before the explosion Thursday. If the pipe had been leaking, the explosion may have occurred when the combustible gas encountered a spark, flame or static electricity.

Utilities are responsible for maintaining the safety of their gas and electric systems. That includes conducting regular inspections of equipment and making sure repairs conform to industry standards.

PG&E said it carries nearly $1 billion of insurance. Morgan Stanley estimated Friday said the disaster could cost "hundreds of millions" and the company could face "a challenging regulatory environment."

Write to Rebecca Smith at rebecca.smith@wsj.com and Cassandra Sweet at cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com

Luckily, I was not in SF when this blew! If you have friends in this area, you might want to text or call them to see if they are OK. I am.. whew!

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 09:06 PM
i have an alarm thingy in my house that goes off when there are gas fumes and/or a huge jump in carbon monoxide. i got it for free because part of my brain injury is that i cannot smell or taste anything. the last time it went off i was irritated until the gas co. showed up and found that the oven was on a slow, continuous leak and that the levels were close to enough to kill us.

i then found the same device for all my fellow brain injury students, all the elderly and disabled people i know....

lives are saved by this kind of equipment.

SCWrTb_2Kpg

Toughy
09-10-2010, 09:19 PM
Luckily, I was not in SF when this blew! If you have friends in this area, you might want to text or call them to see if they are OK. I am.. whew!

It was in San Bruno, in a residential area that is a canyon. It was not in San Francisco. San Bruno is closer to the SF Airport than it is to the City.

If anyone who lives in that part of San Bruno has not checked in with the Red Cross.............please do so now. The phone numbers or evac centers are available on the Red Cross website or any of the local TV stations websites.

edited to add: this is an infrastructure problem...........it's gas, water pipelines failing. We must rebuild this countries infrastructure. It is the responsibility of the government in conjunction with untility companies to do this NOW..........otherwise..........this shit is gonna keep happening.

It shall be interesting to see how PG&E acts around this awful explosion. They may be another BP or they may be a forward thinking responsible company.

Nat
09-10-2010, 10:35 PM
i have an alarm thingy in my house that goes off when there are gas fumes and/or a huge jump in carbon monoxide. i got it for free because part of my brain injury is that i cannot smell or taste anything. the last time it went off i was irritated until the gas co. showed up and found that the oven was on a slow, continuous leak and that the levels were close to enough to kill us.

i then found the same device for all my fellow brain injury students, all the elderly and disabled people i know....

lives are saved by this kind of equipment.

SCWrTb_2Kpg

That's one of the things I have found most disturbing about losing my sense of smell. At first I was busy missing all the good smells and now I am mostly concerned with the inability to smell the alarming/warning smells. It's cool you got a detector for free - the local lowes people looked at me weird when I asked about a natural gas detector. I used to very much prefer natural gas stoves, but now I wish my home were totally electric.

AtLast
09-10-2010, 10:44 PM
i have an alarm thingy in my house that goes off when there are gas fumes and/or a huge jump in carbon monoxide. i got it for free because part of my brain injury is that i cannot smell or taste anything. the last time it went off i was irritated until the gas co. showed up and found that the oven was on a slow, continuous leak and that the levels were close to enough to kill us.

i then found the same device for all my fellow brain injury students, all the elderly and disabled people i know....

lives are saved by this kind of equipment.

SCWrTb_2Kpg

These are great to have and not hard to install or expensive. Last year, my furnace had a leak and other problems that were very dangerous. This let me know to get it taken care of! Also, know where you can turn gas off at your house--- when the Big One hits us in CA again, turn off the gas!! Tell apt/condo people to make sure their supers/ whoever is in charge of such things to make sure they know what the hell to do! Get the damn gas off right away- stop the flow from the street main into your home.

SuperFemme
09-10-2010, 11:01 PM
That's one of the things I have found most disturbing about losing my sense of smell. At first I was busy missing all the good smells and now I am mostly concerned with the inability to smell the alarming/warning smells. It's cool you got a detector for free - the local lowes people looked at me weird when I asked about a natural gas detector. I used to very much prefer natural gas stoves, but now I wish my home were totally electric.

if you contact your city and/or your utility company they can get you one for free to small cost.

are you in TX?

if so here is a link, it feels geared towards the elderly but it also includes the disabled. you qualify.

http://www.elderoptionsoftexas.com/texas_triads.htm

Nat
09-10-2010, 11:26 PM
if you contact your city and/or your utility company they can get you one for free to small cost.

are you in TX?

if so here is a link, it feels geared towards the elderly but it also includes the disabled. you qualify.

http://www.elderoptionsoftexas.com/texas_triads.htm

Yes, in Texas. I will look into it. Thank you!

Nat
09-11-2010, 05:08 PM
Principal apologizes after teen's suspension (http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/principal-apologizes-after-teens-suspension-910061.html)

FORT WORTH, Texas — A high school principal has apologized to a teen suspended after he came to school with red, watery eyes.

Kyler Robertson's father had been fatally stabbed two days earlier, and his mother told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she e-mailed teachers about the death.

But Tuesday, when Kyler arrived at Byron Nelson High School, officials said he smelled of marijuana, along with having the other symptoms. He was suspended three days and assigned to an alternative school.

Wednesday, a urine test showing no evidence of drugs, and administrators canceled the alternative education placement. The suspension was lifted the next day.

Principal Linda Parker apologized on Friday.

A 53-year-old man faces a murder charge in Richard Robertson's death.

The_Lady_Snow
09-12-2010, 09:36 PM
Gay Soldiers Escort Gaga to VMAs


By Andrew Harmon (http://www.advocate.com/authors.aspx?searchterm=Andrew%20Harmon)


http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/09/12/Gay_Vets_Escort_Gaga_to_VMAs/

Nat
09-13-2010, 06:38 AM
Texan saves Quran from Burning (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7197675.html)

AMARILLO, Texas — A skateboard-toting man grabbed a Quran from an evangelist who planned to burn the scripture at an event in an Amarillo park.

Twenty-three-year-old Jacob Isom grabbed the book from Repent Amarillo director David Grisham and delivered it to a leader from the Islamic Center of Amarillo.

According to the Amarillo Globe-News, about 200 people had gathered at Sam Houston Park in Saturday to show either support or opposition to Grisham's plans.

Witnesses say Grisham was arguing with opponents of the book-burning when Isom grabbed the Quran. Amid jeers from the crowd, Grisham got into a car and left without burning any copies of the Islamic scripture. Grisham told the newspaper that he "kind of expected the reaction."

princessbelle
09-13-2010, 09:38 AM
Lesbian couple's Vonore home burns; arson suspected
By Chloé Morrison
chloem@thedailytimes.com
Originally published: September 11. 2010 3:01AM
Last modified: September 10. 2010 11:05PM


VONORE — Carol Ann Stutte and her partner, Laura Stutte, are afraid to return alone to what is left of their Vonore home in Monroe County.

After being victims of an arson and having the word “queers” spray painted on their garage, the lesbian couple is fearful for their safety.

“We would love to stay (in the area),” Carol Stutte said Friday. “But we will never, never rebuild (on that property) again. I take someone with me constantly — one or two people to make sure I'm OK while I'm up there.”


Detective Travis Jones, with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, said authorities aren't releasing many details about the fire — which happened Sept. 4 at about 10 p.m.

“It is an arson and we are continuing the investigation,” he said Friday. “There are people of interest in the case,” and authorities, including the state Bomb and Arson Squad, are still conducting interviews.

The Stuttes' home was a complete loss. “There is nothing left,” Carol Stutte said. “They are calling it a black hole,”

The couple, who have been together for more than 16 years, were in Nashville celebrating the five-year anniversary of moving into their Vonore home, the night it was burned to the ground.

Carol Stutte's daughter from a previous marriage would have been at the home at the time, but decided to go with the couple to Nashville.

“She would've been trapped,” Carol Stutte said.

Carol Stutte said she and Laura have been being harassed and threatened, specifically by one neighbor, on and off for about five years.

“The last in-depth threats were several weeks ago,” Carol Stutte said.

The couple tried to ignore the threats, but eventually decided to file a report with the Sheriff's Office.

“We tried to turn the other cheek and overlook it,” Carol Stutte said. “When (the latest threats) finally happened we thought we better go file a police report. (The threats) have really been scaring us for some time.”

Carol Stutte said that, despite the arson, she has been blessed with support from people in the area, who want to help.

Local support
Becky Lucas, president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Maryville, said she is outraged by the Vonore arson.

“We are hopeful that the authorities will investigate it fully and that this couple will get justice,” she said Friday. “I think this happens every day to people in this community and many times they don't speak up because they are afraid. Everybody deserves basic human rights.”

She also said she wants the Stuttes to know they have support in the area.

“We want to send a message to this couple and other couples like them — you do have many allies in this area,” Lucas said. “Many people in the community are just as outraged as I am.”

Daily Times Assistant Managing Editor Amanda Greever contributed to this story.


__________________________________________________ _____________

My heart goes out to this couple and everyone that has been in the middle of hate crimes. *sighs....just makes me sick. More than that...scares me to death. Vonore is less than 10 miles from my home.

My thoughts....
I live alone.
I am perceived as being straight....I hate that assumption.
I've been considering lately to stand up for who I am.
I want to fly a rainbow flag in my front yard. I want a sticker for my car. I have that right. It is so hard, for me, living here to honor who I am and to support my community. And at the same time, I don't want to be abused by hate crimes or worse.

I struggle with this....daily and there is no great answer or not one that I can find.

I'm sick of hiding however I don't want to stand out like a sore thumb and draw bad attention. I just have a right to be who i am...don't i? Moving is out of the question...at least right now.


Similar situations out there with this delima? Thoughts anyone?

SuperFemme
09-13-2010, 09:38 AM
Kern's People Get Personal

By Michelle Garcia (http://www.advocate.com/authors.aspx?searchterm=Michelle%20Garcia)

Supporters of Oklahoma Republican state representative Sally Kern have launched personal attacks against her Democratic opponent, transgender lawyer Brittany Novotny.

An e-mail from the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee to its members on September 7 called Novotny a "confused it" and accused her of having "hatred toward God," according to Novotny's campaign.


http://www.advocate.com/uploadedImages/ADVOCATE/NEWS/2010/2010-07/2010-07-20/Brittany_NovotnyX390.jpg

“If Rep. Kern and her allies spent as much time focusing on Oklahoma’s future as they seem to spend worrying about my past, maybe we could keep teachers in the classroom and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” Novotny said. “This type of personal attack is what Oklahomans are tired of, and it shows why Kern and her political allies continue to be out of touch with mainstream Oklahoma values.”

Novotny has posted the full letter on her website here (http://brittany4hd84.com/2010/09/rep-kern-supporters-begin-personal-attacks/).
In March, Novotny told The Advocate (http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Election/Transforming_Oklahoma/) that Kern had said she would focus only on the political differences between them without hitting below the belt.

"Certainly there are third parties out there who may not listen to me and may go ahead and personally attack her, just like she may have supporters that don't take the lead from her and personally attack me," Novotny said. "It happens. I hope that those voices are kept to a minimum and they don't overshadow the campaign, because I really do think there are some serious differences in how we see the future of Oklahoma and what we think will be best for our economic development."

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/09/12/Kerns_People_Get_Personal/

SuperFemme
09-13-2010, 09:49 AM
CNN Removes Online Poll Asking If Gay TV Characters Are ‘Bad For Society’

http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Picture-213.png

With some obvious exceptions, asking whether something is “good for society” will more likely than not get you in hot water, especially when the object of discussion is an entire group of people and their representation in pop culture. CNN learned this the hard way this week when they received a request from GLAAD to remove an offensive online poll asking: “Is the surge in gay TV characters ‘bad for society’?”

The poll was an online bonus to a feature on Headline News’ Showbiz Tonight about the “surge” in gay and gay-friendly characters on TV, and the impact they would have on culture. GLAAD took some issue with the segment because, according to its website, of its “war language” against the gay community, but the poll itself was significantly more offensive. On their blog, the organization explains (http://glaadblog.org/2010/09/10/cnn-removes-offensive-push-poll-at-glaads-urging/):“But CNN’s offensive poll and its attempts to manufacture controversy by granting a platform to so-called experts like [Media Research Center's Dan] Gainor follows an alarming trend of media outlets creating simplistic, predictable ‘pro-gay’/'anti-gay’ dualisms that do a great disservice to viewers who are seeking information on the diversity of opinion and experience within our community.”
CNN responded accordingly and quickly removed the poll, though the segment that inspired it has not been revoked. They have also not commented on the media figures they use to discuss such issues, but those at GLAAD protesting the poll thanked CNN for their swiftness in correcting the issue.

The_Lady_Snow
09-14-2010, 08:42 AM
High school football player dies on the field, nurse revives him



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39151139

Nat
09-14-2010, 01:06 PM
dCsRZOAGksY

Meet tea partier Ginni Thomas - supreme court justice Clarence Thomas's wife

Corkey
09-14-2010, 01:52 PM
Good grief talk about bubble(head).

Isadora
09-14-2010, 03:23 PM
If you're with AT&T, you should know that they're the top contributor to members of the House Tea Party Caucus, who oppose nearly every environmental safety and consumer protection law on the books.

If you pay your bill to Verizon Wireless, you should know they recently donated to Senator David Vitter (R-La.), who later urged President Obama to expand offshore oil drilling even after the devastating spill in the Gulf.

Always interesting that besides Target.....

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/07/members-of-tea-party-caucus-major-r.html

Nat
09-14-2010, 04:30 PM
Oh no! Not my beloved iPhone carrier!

Nat
09-14-2010, 08:04 PM
Paedophile priests still play active church role (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/paedophile-priests-active-church-role)

More than half of the Catholic clergy jailed for paedophile activity in England and Wales remain in the priesthood – with several receiving financial support from church authorities, raising serious questions about depth of church commitment to child protection and overshadowing the start of the papal visit.

Glenn
09-14-2010, 08:38 PM
I pray there soon is a place parents can find out where they are and their names like the other soul collectors.

The_Lady_Snow
09-15-2010, 08:55 AM
http://www.queerty.com/billy-lucas-15-hangs-himself-after-classmates-called-him-a-fag-one-too-many-times-20100914/

Mike
09-15-2010, 10:52 AM
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/yet-another-gay-teen-lost-to-bullying-suicide-in-minnesota.html

AtLast
09-15-2010, 03:09 PM
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/yet-another-gay-teen-lost-to-bullying-suicide-in-minnesota.html

When will people get that bullying is a very serious act of violence and degradation! All I have to do is think back to my teen years and how ultra sensitive those yeras are and I see how a kid gets to this place. Look at the rate of teen depression!

Then there are the adult models of bullying and school administrations that don't take complaints seriously.

AtLast
09-15-2010, 03:16 PM
Paedophile priests still play active church role (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/paedophile-priests-active-church-role)

More than half of the Catholic clergy jailed for paedophile activity in England and Wales remain in the priesthood – with several receiving financial support from church authorities, raising serious questions about depth of church commitment to child protection and overshadowing the start of the papal visit.

This is a direct product of all the shuffling and denial of a very male patriarchal structure that was allowed (by outside non-church related institutions) to act outside the law.

To me, there is a hell of a lot of blame not only for the Catholic church but outside of it. I also hope that people realize that child sexual abuse in religious organizations takes place all over and certainly not just in the Catholic church. They all need to be investigated.

Isadora
09-16-2010, 01:00 PM
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/09/shooting_victim_was_transgende.html#modg_smoref_fa ce

Cries with sadness and anger.

naturlover_52
09-18-2010, 03:27 PM
By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. Ð At a time when gays have been gaining victories across the country, the Republican Party in Montana still wants to make homosexuality illegal.

The party adopted an official platform in June that keeps a long-held position in support of making homosexual acts illegal, a policy adopted after the Montana Supreme Court struck down such laws in 1997.

The fact that it's still the official party policy more than 12 years later, despite a tidal shift in public attitudes since then and the party's own pledge of support for individual freedoms, has exasperated some GOP members.

"I looked at that and said, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" state Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, said last week. "Should it get taken out? Absolutely. Does anybody think we should be arresting homosexual people? If you take that stand, you really probably shouldn't be in the Republican Party."

Gay rights have been rapidly advancing nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' sodomy law in 2003's Lawrence v. Texas decision. Gay marriage is now allowed in five states and Washington, D.C., a federal court recently ruled the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy unconstitutional, and even a conservative tea party group in Montana ousted its president over an anti-gay exchange in Facebook.

But going against the grain is the Montana GOP statement, which falls under the "Crime" section of the GOP platform. It states: "We support the clear will of the people of Montana expressed by legislation to keep homosexual acts illegal."

Montana GOP executive director Bowen Greenwood said that has been the position of the party since the state Supreme Court struck down state laws criminalizing homosexuality in 1997 in the case of Gryczan v. Montana.

Nobody has ever taken the initiative to change it and so it's remained in the party platform, Greenwood said. The matter has never even come up for discussion, he said.
"There had been at the time, and still is, a substantial portion of Republican legislators that believe it is more important for the Legislature to make the law instead of the Supreme Court," Greenwood said.

Critics say the policy is a toothless statement, the effect of which is simply to make gays feel excluded. A University of Montana law professor says Montana's 1997 case and the U.S. Supreme Court's Lawrence decision means there's no real chance for the state GOP to act on its position.

"To me, that statement legally is hollow," said constitutional specialist Jack Tuholske. "The principle under Gryczan and under Lawrence, that's the fundamental law of the land and the Legislature can't override the Constitution. It might express their view, but as far as a legal reality, it's a hollow view and can't come to pass."

Montana Human Rights Network organizer Kim Abbott said the GOP platform statement does not represent the attitudes of most Montanans, and it shows that the party is out of touch with the prevalent view of the people they are supposed to represent.

"It speaks volumes to the lesbian and gay community how they are perceived by the Republican Party," Abbott said. "It would be nice if Republicans that understand that gay people are human beings would stand up and say they don't agree with that. But I don't know how likely that is."

Brueggeman suspects that the vast majority of the party believes, as he does, that the Republican party should remove statement. It's against every conservative principle for limited government and issues like this exemplify how a political party can interfere with the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents.
"I just hope it's something that's so sensitive that people don't want to touch it," he said. "Even if there wasn't a Supreme Court decision, does anyone really believe that it should be illegal?"

Corkey
09-21-2010, 01:07 PM
DADT change fails to pass the Senate.

Nat
09-21-2010, 01:10 PM
That's upsetting

SuperFemme
09-21-2010, 02:02 PM
Obama Administration comes out in favor of repeal

By Jennifer Vanasco (http://www.365gay.com/archive/?id=24&logo=t), editor in chief, 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/archive/?id=24&logo=t)
09.21.2010 2:03pm EDT


This just in from the White House Media Affairs office, as part of a press release commenting on different aspects of the National Defense Authorization Act, due for a vote within an hour:



Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces: The Administration supports section 591 as it would allow for completion of the Comprehensive Review, enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review, and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistent with the standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention. Such an approach recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process through a thorough understanding of their concerns, insights and suggestions.
Readers? Is this too little, too late?

Corkey
09-21-2010, 02:08 PM
Obama Administration comes out in favor of repeal

By Jennifer Vanasco (http://www.365gay.com/archive/?id=24&logo=t), editor in chief, 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/archive/?id=24&logo=t)
09.21.2010 2:03pm EDT


This just in from the White House Media Affairs office, as part of a press release commenting on different aspects of the National Defense Authorization Act, due for a vote within an hour:



Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces: The Administration supports section 591 as it would allow for completion of the Comprehensive Review, enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review, and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistent with the standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention. Such an approach recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process through a thorough understanding of their concerns, insights and suggestions.
Readers? Is this too little, too late?


It is still giving the military say over rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. There doesn't need to be a consensus on our rights. It is too little and much too late for real and effective repeal of this discriminatory law. I am hoping that the President will be running against another democrat next cycle, cause I've about had it with his luke warm "fierce advocate" on LGBTQQIA issues. Fail Mr. President total fail.

AtLast
09-21-2010, 02:45 PM
It is still giving the military say over rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. There doesn't need to be a consensus on our rights. It is too little and much too late for real and effective repeal of this discriminatory law. I am hoping that the President will be running against another democrat next cycle, cause I've about had it with his luke warm "fierce advocate" on LGBTQQIA issues. Fail Mr. President total fail.

Yes, you know, that Bill of Rights that all those gay troops have been dying for along with other troops! This is actually, an insult. He should have issued an excutive order at the begining of his term to end DADT- and i don't buy the reasons put out there for why he didn't.

I have not been happy with Obama with DADT, Gitmo and his stance on same-sex marriage. There are many other areas in which I give him higher marks. Yet, I will be honest, i am not sure he will have my vote in 2012.

I would like to see changes in his inner-most circle of advisors. Then, see what the next 2 years brings.

Corkey
09-22-2010, 04:40 PM
Florida Judge rules gay adoption ban unconstitutional.
Via ABC NEWS

Kenna
09-22-2010, 04:48 PM
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/atlanta-bishop-eddie-long-faces-sexual-allegations-11697104

Nat
09-23-2010, 05:58 AM
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/atlanta-bishop-eddie-long-faces-sexual-allegations-11697104

Mega-church leader Bishop Eddie Long has canceled a previously announced appearance on the Tom Joyner Morning Show Thursday after a third man filed a lawsuit accusing the prominent minister of using his pastoral influence to coerce him into a sexual relationship (http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bishop-eddie-long-radio-619062.html). In addition, Long's attorneys canceled plans for a press conference to address the growing scandal.

Nat
09-23-2010, 06:26 AM
Autism in air quotes? Sharron Angle’s snub to Special Needs children (http://www.examiner.com/special-needs-kids-in-nashville/autism-air-quotes-sharron-angle-s-snub-to-special-needs-children)

A recent video of Nevada’s Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle has the Autism community buzzing. In it, she referred to “Autism” with air quotes, stating her efforts to repeal Nevada’s bill that requires insurers to pay for the necessary ABA Therapy that children with Autism need to progress. Maternity Leave was also in her crossfire as “I’m not going to have any more babies but I sure get to pay for it on my insurance.”

Koch Industries Among Hosts Of Carly Fiorina Fundraiser (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/exclusive-koch-industries-among-hosts-of-carly-fiorina-fundraiser.php)

Court Rules Florida's Gay Adoption Ban Is Illegal (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130052021&sc=fb&cc=fp)

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said the state will stop enforcing its law banning adoption by gay people after an appeals court on Wednesday ruled it unconstitutional.

Barack Obama heckled in Manhattan (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42585.html)


NEW YORK – President Barack Obama was heckled multiple times during his speech at a Democratic fundraiser in one of the country’s most Democratic cities.

Demonstrators held signs that said “Broken Promises” and interrupted his speech to protest AIDS funding and the stalled repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the policy banning gays from serving openly in the military that Obama has promised to lift.

Tea Party Values (http://www.thenation.com/article/154944/tea-party-values)

According to Julie Ingersoll, associate professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida, this view on government's limited role is based on Christian Reconstructionism, a fundamentalist movement that advocates for the rule of Biblical law (which includes imposition of notions of "traditional family") and which holds that God ordained government with limited (essentially law enforcement) authority. Some activists, ranging from religious right figures to pro-gun and militia groups and secession advocates, emphasize a divine edict to rise up against what they characterize as the federal government's "tyranny" when it exceeds the authority God granted it.

At his conference, Reed said in a speech, "people have not only the right but the have the duty and the obligation to overthrow that government, by force if necessary," if government violates those God-given rights. Reed quickly backtracked, claiming he wasn't advocating a government overthrow but rather voting in the midterms.

Nat
09-23-2010, 07:55 AM
7n7jvWvDWHc

Tommi
09-23-2010, 09:14 AM
Similac Powder Infant Formulas: FDA Recall Announcement

AUDIENCE: Consumer, Pediatrics

ISSUE: Possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product. The FDA has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immediate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing the beetles or their larvae, could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the GI tract.

BACKGROUND: The recall of these powder infant formulas includes certain Similac powder product lines offered in plastic containers, and certain Similac powder product lines offered in sizes such as 8-ounce, 12.4-ounce and 12.9-ounce cans. See the Product Photo page. The recall includes powder infant formulas sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and some countries in the Caribbean. No Abbott liquid infant formulas are impacted.

RECOMMENDATION: If symptoms are noted and persist for more than a few days, a physician should be consulted. Products with affected lot numbers should be returned to Abbott at no cost to the consumer. To immediately find out if the product in your possession is included in this recall, parents and caregivers should visit www.similac.com/recall , and type in their lot number to determine if their product is affected, or call (800) 986-8850 www.fda.gov

From ABBOTT:
Abbott is initiating a proactive, voluntary recall of certain Similac-brand, powder infant formulas in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and some countries in the Caribbean.
Abbott is recalling these products following an internal quality review, which detected the remote possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product produced in one production area in a single manufacturing facility. The United States Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immediate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing the beetles or their larvae, could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the GI tract. If these symptoms persist for more than a few days, a physician should be consulted.

The recall of these powder infant formulas includes:

Certain Similac powder product lines offered in plastic containers.
Certain Similac powder product lines offered in 8-ounce, 12.4-ounce and 12.9-ounce cans.
To immediately find out if the product in your possession is included in this recall, parents and caregivers should visit www.similac.com/recall/lookup, and type in their lot number to determine if their product is affected, or call (800) 986-8850.

SuperFemme
09-23-2010, 09:23 AM
So what Tommi is saying is that lunch with the grandchild is going to look something like this?

tpFKPM8vkQM

Tommi
09-23-2010, 10:06 AM
So what Tommi is saying is that lunch with the grandchild is going to look something like this?

tpFKPM8vkQM

Have I told you lately I love you...:jester: WOOOOOO WOOOO WOOOO

Nat
09-24-2010, 12:00 PM
Pakistan erupts after US jailing of 'daughter of the nation' Aafia Siddiqui

http://m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&story=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/24/pakistan-aafia-siddiqui-jailed-protests

Thousands take to the streets to protest as scientist convicted of attempting to kill US soldiers gets 86 years

Pakistan's prime minister hailed a scientist convicted of attempting to kill American soldiers as the "daughter of the nation" today, and vowed to redouble efforts to secure her return to Pakistan.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets after a New York court sentenced Aafia Siddiqui, a US-educated neuroscientist and mother of three, to 86 years in jail.
Police fired teargas and scuffled with protesters surging towards the heavily fortified US consulate in her hometown, Karachi.
In Multan people burned posters of Barack Obama and the former ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
At least 5,000 people attended the largest, and most peaceful, rally in Peshawar, where a mostly male crowd cried anti-American and jihadi slogans.
The protests were led by activists from the religious party Jamaat e Islami and Imran Khan's Justice party – minority political forces that have seized on Siddiqui's case as a means of attacking President Asif Ali Zardari's government.
But Siddiqui's case has attracted deep support from across the political spectrum.
Her plight taps into deep anti-American hostility in a country where a recent survey found that just 17% of Pakistanis view Washington favourably.
The protesters' shouts have been amplified by private television networks that have offered uncritical coverage of a murky case that, even after a lengthy trial, is dogged by as many questions as answers.
In an effort to quell criticism of the government's failure to secure Siddiqui's repatriation from the US, prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told parliament today he had appealed to the US to release Siddiqui in order to "improve its image" in Pakistan.
"We all are united, and we want the daughter of the nation to come back to Pakistan," he said. The government spent $2m hiring defence lawyers for Siddiqui; today Gilani said he was willing to negotiate an extradition treaty with the US to facilitate her early return.
In the trial Siddiqui, a diminutive 38-year-old, was accused of snatching a gun from an American soldier in an Afghan jail cell in July 2008 and opening fire.
Although she hit nobody, she herself was shot in the stomach by an American officer and, a month later, flown to America to face trial.
Many Pakistanis believed she could not receive a fair hearing – she was tried near the site of the World Trade Centre attacks – but she weakened her defence with frequent intemperate outbursts against the US government and speeches against Jewish conspiracies that caused her to be ejected from court several times.
Her case was also weakened by the Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, who issued a statement of support.
She was found guilty in February. But the trial, which concentrated on the events in Afghanistan, did little to illuminate the wider mysteries of Siddiqui's story.
In March 2003 she disappeared from Karachi with her three children, one of whom was six months old, and only resurfaced in July 2008 when she was arrested in Ghazni.
US prosecutors said she was carrying details of prominent American monuments, bomb-making notes and a small amount of cyanide.
Siddiqui's supporters insist she spent the missing five years at the US detention centre in Bagram, north of Kabul, and her youngest child may have died. US officials deny she was in their custody.
In 2003 US officials accused her of belonging to al-Qaida and being married to Ammar al Baluchi, a nephew of the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad. Siddiqui's relatives deny this is true.
Baluchi and Muhammad are currently imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay.
The case is likely to remain on the agenda between Pakistan and the US. Yvonne Ridley, a journalist and campaigner for Siddiqui, said supporters would step up pressure through a campaign of civil disobedience.
"It will involve blocking Nato supply lines into Afghanistan," she said. "This is not going to go away."

The_Lady_Snow
09-24-2010, 04:54 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/24/colbert.house.immigration/index.html?hpt=T2

Nat
09-24-2010, 05:48 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/24/colbert.house.immigration/index.html?hpt=T2

nxeIO4pW05s

Zimmeh
09-24-2010, 05:49 PM
I truly feel sorry for her. Her mother should have stepped in a long time ago and got her help.

Zimmy

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/lindsay-lohan-thrown-back-jail/story?id=11712367&page=1

Nat
09-24-2010, 05:54 PM
I truly feel sorry for her. Her mother should have stepped in a long time ago and got her help.

Zimmy

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/lindsay-lohan-thrown-back-jail/story?id=11712367&page=1

I am not impressed with either of her parents.

I wish her well and hope she cleans her life up before she ends up dying.

Jess
09-24-2010, 07:36 PM
I cross posted this from the DADT thread, because sometimes ya can't hear enough good news!

Judge Orders Lesbian Reinstated To Air Force

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 24, 2010
A federal judge ruled Friday that a decorated flight nurse discharged from the Air Force for being gay should be given her job back as soon as possible in the latest legal setback to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.


The decision by U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton came in a closely watched case as a tense debate has been playing out over the policy. Senate Republicans blocked an effort to lift the ban this week, but two federal judges have ruled against the policy in recent weeks.


Maj. Margaret Witt was discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and sued to get her job back. A judge in 2006 rejected Witt's claims that the Air Force
violated her rights when it fired her. An appeals court panel overruled him two years later, leaving it to Leighton to determine whether her firing met that standard.


Witt, of Spokane, joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004 just short of retirement after her commanders learned she was in a relationship with a civilian woman. She was a flight nurse with an aeromedical evacuation squadron responsible for transporting and caring for injured soldiers.

Her attorneys, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, insisted that Witt was well respected and liked by her colleagues, that her sexuality never caused problems in the unit, and that her firing actually hurt military goals such as morale, unit cohesion and troop readiness. Several members of the squadron testified to that effect and said they would welcome Witt back to the unit.

Lawyers for the Air Force said such evidence was irrelevant.

Military personnel decisions can't be run by unit referendum, they said.

AtLast
09-24-2010, 11:55 PM
I cross posted this from the DADT thread, because sometimes ya can't hear enough good news!

Judge Orders Lesbian Reinstated To Air Force

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 24, 2010
A federal judge ruled Friday that a decorated flight nurse discharged from the Air Force for being gay should be given her job back as soon as possible in the latest legal setback to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.


The decision by U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton came in a closely watched case as a tense debate has been playing out over the policy. Senate Republicans blocked an effort to lift the ban this week, but two federal judges have ruled against the policy in recent weeks.


Maj. Margaret Witt was discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and sued to get her job back. A judge in 2006 rejected Witt's claims that the Air Force
violated her rights when it fired her. An appeals court panel overruled him two years later, leaving it to Leighton to determine whether her firing met that standard.


Witt, of Spokane, joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004 just short of retirement after her commanders learned she was in a relationship with a civilian woman. She was a flight nurse with an aeromedical evacuation squadron responsible for transporting and caring for injured soldiers.

Her attorneys, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, insisted that Witt was well respected and liked by her colleagues, that her sexuality never caused problems in the unit, and that her firing actually hurt military goals such as morale, unit cohesion and troop readiness. Several members of the squadron testified to that effect and said they would welcome Witt back to the unit.

Lawyers for the Air Force said such evidence was irrelevant.

Military personnel decisions can't be run by unit referendum, they said.

WOOT!!

I have been thinking about this- all of the military people (the ones that want to continue their military careers) discharged under DADT being reinstated in the midst of all of this political wrangling. Really good to see how her colleagues felt.

There are many that loved being in our military and truely wanted their service to be a career.

I am so discusted with the blockage of the DADT repeal as well as our service people not being given the pay raise in that bill. Is this some kind of sick way of setting up gays and lesbians to be targeted as the bad guys in all of this? I can just hear those that do not want to serve with gays and lesbians talking about how "if they just would shut up, we woulod be getting a raise." Then there is just the fact of messing with our military- how many have served in Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times, going through hell with families at home? This is just crazy!

Jess
09-25-2010, 06:21 AM
WOOT! Is right on!

We are at such an exciting time right now. So many cases happening. So many cases happening all over the country and similar equal rights cases all over the globe. Some with setbacks, some with victories. Even our victories are met with possible appeal process, but hell, every small step takes us closer to the inevitable recognition that the discrimination we face IS unconstitutional.

I wonder how the government and the evangelical groups would have reacted if instead of fighting for equal rights, the LGBTQIA community fought for sovereignty? If we all stopped paying into their system by virtue of our being "othered" and discriminated against by our own government? If all of us stopped wearing their uniform, teaching their children, setting their trends ( heh), bringing art and culture into their world, helping fight for the rights of women and other "exiles", paying their taxes/ social security/ discriminatory insurance policies.

I am willing to bet they may have paid attention sooner, albeit the attention would probably have been much more volatile.

Sorry, I get a little riled up with the entire issue and terribly excited with every victory no matter how small it may seem!

Nat
09-25-2010, 08:26 AM
Sexual Problems May Arise After Breast Cancer

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/643494.html

The researchers excluded from the analysis women with active disease, those widowed or without a partner and those 70 and older, reasoning they would have less interest in sex or not be distressed by the lack of it.

That left them with 1,011 women, but data was missing on 17, bringing the number down to 994. Of these, 287 had no sexual problems, but 707 did.

------

Although this article's findings are not happy, I really appreciate the article's inclusion of statements like:

"Drawing attention to this issue is important," she added. "Giving women permission to talk about sexuality is important."

And

And women who want a satisfying sex life shouldn't think of themselves as frivolous, she said. Some women think they should be thankful just to be alive and not complain about sexual functioning, she said.

But she said she tells them: "This is a part of wellness."

SuperFemme
09-25-2010, 01:17 PM
Lindsay Lohan is out of jail hours after a judge revoked her bail

September 25, 2010

Lindsay Lohan walked out of the Los Angeles County women's jail in Lynwood on Friday night, capping an unusual day of legal twists in which one judge overturned another's decision to jail the actress without bail on a probation violation.

The star of "Freaky Friday" and "Mean Girls" was processed out of the Century Regional Detention Facility about 11:40 p.m. Friday after posting $300,000 bail. She was whisked out of a back door and driven to an undisclosed location.

Beverly Hills Judge Elden Fox had ordered Lohan jailed without bail until a hearing Oct. 22 on whether Lohan should be incarcerated for using drugs in violation of her probation on a drunk-driving conviction.

It also appeared to be an effective way to skirt Los Angeles County's early release policy and keep Lohan incarcerated for a month. The actress has twice received jail sentences but both times served less time than ordered because of overcrowding at the women's jail. Most female inmates serve a quarter of their sentence.

But the attorney for Lohan, Shawn Chapman Holley, immediately challenged the legality of holding her client without bail based on a probation violation for a misdemeanor.

"The case law is clear," Chapman Holley said after the court hearing. "She is entitled to bail."

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Schnegg sided with Chapman Holley's argument that under California law, a misdemeanor defendant is entitled to bail and about 6 p.m. signed the order granting a writ of habeas corpus.

But in posting bail, Lohan must agree to conditions, including wearing a SCRAM alcohol and drug detection device, refraining from being in areas where alcohol or drugs are being consumed, and be subject to immediate search by law enforcement.

-- Andrew Blankstein

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/lindsay-lohan-out-of-jail-hours-after-judge-revoked-her-bail.html

AtLast
09-25-2010, 02:22 PM
Lindsay Lohan is out of jail hours after a judge revoked her bail

September 25, 2010

Lindsay Lohan walked out of the Los Angeles County women's jail in Lynwood on Friday night, capping an unusual day of legal twists in which one judge overturned another's decision to jail the actress without bail on a probation violation.

The star of "Freaky Friday" and "Mean Girls" was processed out of the Century Regional Detention Facility about 11:40 p.m. Friday after posting $300,000 bail. She was whisked out of a back door and driven to an undisclosed location.

Beverly Hills Judge Elden Fox had ordered Lohan jailed without bail until a hearing Oct. 22 on whether Lohan should be incarcerated for using drugs in violation of her probation on a drunk-driving conviction.

It also appeared to be an effective way to skirt Los Angeles County's early release policy and keep Lohan incarcerated for a month. The actress has twice received jail sentences but both times served less time than ordered because of overcrowding at the women's jail. Most female inmates serve a quarter of their sentence.

But the attorney for Lohan, Shawn Chapman Holley, immediately challenged the legality of holding her client without bail based on a probation violation for a misdemeanor.

"The case law is clear," Chapman Holley said after the court hearing. "She is entitled to bail."

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Schnegg sided with Chapman Holley's argument that under California law, a misdemeanor defendant is entitled to bail and about 6 p.m. signed the order granting a writ of habeas corpus.

But in posting bail, Lohan must agree to conditions, including wearing a SCRAM alcohol and drug detection device, refraining from being in areas where alcohol or drugs are being consumed, and be subject to immediate search by law enforcement.

-- Andrew Blankstein

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/lindsay-lohan-out-of-jail-hours-after-judge-revoked-her-bail.html

I is exactly this crap that makes me nuts about our "justice" system! If she were poor, a POC, maybe even male.... would this happen? I am so sick of these snibbling rich white girls getting these kinds of breaks. Yes, I have a bias!

I remember one night (way back in the late 1950's) my brother (age 17) had been arrested for driving under the influence. He wrecked my Mom's car, had minor injuries and thankfully did not hurt anyone else.

The hospital called to ask my parents if it was OK to stitch his cuts. My Mom said, "stitch his whole ass, let me talk to the cops!" Then she told the officer to let him sit in jail for the night and Hell yes, he has to face charges. she and my Dad did go check to see that he was really, OK, but told him he was going to have to stay the rest of the weekend in custody.

He had been getting out of hand and my folks had finally had it. They knew they could not just bail him out of things. The judge (after looking at his records) said he could do time (this time, as an adult) or if my parents signed for him, go into the service. He went into the army reserve for 6 years which ended up being a really good thing in terms of his learning to take responsibility and frankly, helped him develop other employment skills. Later he used to say that this was a turning point for him and that if my parents would have bailed him out, he probably would have ended up killing someone else or himself while driving drunk.

I also remember both of my parents crying when he went off to boot camp. He was, too.

SuperFemme
09-25-2010, 03:13 PM
I am kind of torn on the issue. Firstly, I am a very strong supporter of Due Process. So if we look at the Lohan case, then the Judge in question who cuffed her DID take away her right to Due Process.

She is on probation for two Misdemeanor cases and because her probation IS Misdemeanor level, she IS entitled to bail. The judge who heard the Writ of Habeas Corpus last night had no choice but to grant her bail.

300k bail on a misdemeanor case is kind of crazy, and she has even more rope with which to hang herself now. Yet another SCRAM bracelet, even more stringent conditions of probation and having to relinquish her search and seizure rights completely. The probation terms are also very subjective: refraining from being in areas where alcohol or drugs are being consumed almost guarantees that she won't be going many places in the City of Angels (where she is required to stay, per probation).

The District Attorney also has the discretion to charge her for being under the influence of a controlled substance. I am not sure if they can bump that up to a felony due to her being on probation but it is my understanding she tested positive for at least cocaine.

Her Due Process is going to send her down the pathway she is already on until she forces the courts hand into sending her to county a few times (six months and then 9-12 months i think) until finally they will have no choice but to send her to state prison.

It is exactly what happened to Robert Downey Jr. and I have to say that the guy is serious about program and sobriety. Maybe one day Lohan will find her rock bottom?

I feel sad that she has parental units who do nothing but use her to grandstand and take swipes at each other. The mother out pAArtying with Lohan is gross. The father makes more sense, but at the end of the day he is a sad sad publicity whore.

If every single minority and poor person for ONE day refused to take a deal and insisted on the right to a speedy trial it would shut down the court system right quick.

When you are poor and have a public defender (pretender) not much is going to be done in the name of justice. They just need to push you through. After sitting in lock up and hearing from 100 jailhouse lawyers for 72 hours before you hit the courthouse? You are going to chomp at the bit to believe that they are giving you the best you could possibly get and that is you fight it you may as well kiss the next few years of your life good bye. That is after being taking out of a cot at 3 in the morning and sitting in cold holding cells with a green bologna sandwich until sometime after lunch when they judge decides to arraign you. If you haven't made a deal by then, your public defender will waive your right to a speedy trial (due process) and you'll for sure eat the shit sandwich they serve you when they bring you back six weeks later.

So in the end, Lohan will either hit rock bottom or not. She will get sober or she won't. Other than that her only two other options at this point are prison or death.

SuperFemme
09-25-2010, 09:17 PM
OFLvtO7mTiI

Lady Pamela
09-25-2010, 09:31 PM
Help stop DADT
LGBT Veterans Day event called My Patriots Pride ..Please read
The date for the national event is Nov 22 at noon and we are trying to get them near military installations. PLEASE TELL EVERYONE . We need every state involved!
Long story short we are trying to turn the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) situation into one where we can get rid of the horrible law.
www.mypatriotspride.org

any further info needed please fell free to email me at LadyPamelasWorld@aol.com

Zimmeh
09-26-2010, 01:39 PM
My thoughts and prayers go out to this young lady's family and friends. I hope they catch this jackass and the cops hold him accountable for his/her actions.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/26/seton-hall-campus-mourns-shooting-victim/?page=1

lipstixgal
09-26-2010, 01:41 PM
My thoughts and prayers go out to this young lady's family and friends. I hope they catch this jackass and the cops hold him accountable for his/her actions.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/26/seton-hall-campus-mourns-shooting-victim/?page=1

Seton Hall is like 20 minutes from my house but the area is not that good but the school is very good though and yes I hope they catch that guy!!

Blaze
09-26-2010, 04:32 PM
This is a interesting article that was posted in the Houston Chronicles. About being Transgendered and transitioning. Started from the MTF that was married to the Fireman. Any way. It is an article that will either interest you, or create confrontation, or perhaps conversation.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/7215138.html

Zimmeh
09-26-2010, 07:17 PM
For all of us coffee lovers who are looking to save a little money..

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110809/secrets-starbucks-doesnt-want-you-to-know

AtLast
09-27-2010, 04:24 PM
ARGH! I hate these kinds of things! Throws suspicion on all serving in Afghanistan. And these troops do NOT represent our military!! Have to follow this- maybe it just isn't true.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/27/afghanistan.sport.murders/index.html?hpt=T2

Nat
09-28-2010, 09:48 AM
UT classes called off after shooting at library
By PEGGY FIKAC and R.G. RATCLIFFE
AUSTIN BUREAU
Sept. 28, 2010, 10:33AM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7221548.html

I cannot tell you the number of hours I have spent working and studenting in this library. I am so glad he didn't kill anybody but himself.

Mike
09-28-2010, 11:19 AM
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/teen-student-kills-self-after-years-of-gay-taunts.html

When will it end?????????

SHOCK: Gay Texas 13-Year-Old Asher Brown Shoots Himself In The Head After Horrific School Torment




http://www.queerty.com/wp/docs/2010/09/asherbrown.jpg
There is no good news in this story. None. It's sad, and it's endemic of the nightmares today's LGBT youth continue to face every. single. day. Asher Brown, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Hamilton Middle School outside Houston, shot himself in the head last week after being "bullied to death."

Asher was tormented for being small. For his religious beliefs. For the way he dressed. And for being gay. His bullies acted out mock gay sex acts in phys ed class.
As is growing increasingly typical, Asher's mother and stepfather Amy (pictured below) and David Truong say they notified administrators (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7220896.html) at the Harris, Texas school about how their son was being taunted. They say it's been a year and a half since they first alerted the school, but no action was taken. Calls to the school went unanswered. The school, meanwhile, says it never received any calls. School district spokeswoman Kelli Durham insists no students or teachers registered complaints, either.
That statement infuriated the Truongs, who accused the school district of protecting the bullies and their parents. "That's absolutely inaccurate — it's completely false," Amy Truong said. "I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. … It's like they're calling us liars." David Truong said, "We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere."
http://www.queerty.com/wp/docs/2010/09/amytruong.jpg
Asher took his own life with his stepfather's 9 mm Beretta, which was "stored on one of the closet's shelves." There was no suicide note. His stepfather David found his body, lifeless, after coming home from work. "I thought he was laying there reading a book or something," he says. "My son put a gun to his head because he couldn't take what he was hearing and the constant teasing."
His mother Amy came home to police sirens and yellow tape at her house. "They called him different names for being homosexual," she says. "He just had enough."
One report (http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100925-bullied-teen-suicide) says Asher came out to his parents over the summer, and that they were so accepting he might have come out to his classmates. Another report (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7220896.html) says the morning of his death, Asher came out to David.
The day before, a student tripped him on the school steps and kicked his books all over the floor.
There's no more room to debate whether LGBT kids need our protection. It's inarguable. That American people, who love their children and their families and their sons and daughters and brothers and sisters (http://www.queerty.com/tag/brothers-and-sisters/) can even fathom voting for bigots like Tom Emmer, who doesn't think queer kids need (http://www.queerty.com/mn-gov-hopeful-tom-emmer-doesnt-want-schools-telling-his-kids-not-to-taunt-gay-kids-20100910/) our kindness and our strength and our safety, is unconscionable.




Read more: http://www.queerty.com/shock-gay-texas-13-year-old-asher-brown-shoots-himself-in-the-head-after-horrific-school-torment-20100928/#ixzz10qW3S9Ys

Nat
09-28-2010, 11:31 AM
Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized. :/

dark_crystal
09-28-2010, 11:50 AM
Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized. :/

:candle::candle::candle::candle::candle:

dark_crystal
09-28-2010, 11:57 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/02/maryland.discovery.channel/index.html?hpt=Sbin

i know we've been hearing about this all day...but i am just trying to figure out how many people that is who have lost their sh!t like this in the past couple years? Here is what i recall:

May 31, 2009 George Tiller shot
June 1 2009 arkansas recruiter shooting
June 10, 2009 Holocaust Museum shooting
Nov 9, 2009 Fort Hood
February 12, 2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville shooting
February 19, 2010 Plane crash at IRS
August 3, 2010 Hartford Distributors Shooting
September 01, 2010 Discovery Channel

what am i leaving out

and

does that seem like A LOT to anyone else?

There's the 3 cops in Pittsburgh. We recently had some guy get in to a shootout with the Oakland PD while on his way to attack the Tides Foundation in SF. I'm sure that there are plenty more.

It's a lot, but expected. The nutters come out of the woodwork every time a Democrat moves in to the White House, and now that the man there isn't white, it's much worse than usual. What pisses me off is that the media and the authorities refuse to call these people terrorists.

seeing the Oakland Pride thread reminds me there were shootings at SF Pride...so that puts as at an average of one individual per month (that we hear of) flipping out violently in the midst of innocent bystanders.

my theory is some kind of evolutionary overpopulation safety valve- the same kind of thing that causes animals to eat their young when the habitat can't afford increased numbers

UT classes called off after shooting at library
By PEGGY FIKAC and R.G. RATCLIFFE
AUSTIN BUREAU
Sept. 28, 2010, 10:33AM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7221548.html

I cannot tell you the number of hours I have spent working and studenting in this library. I am so glad he didn't kill anybody but himself.

srsly is this a lot or am i just seeing the fnords?

Apocalipstic
09-28-2010, 11:57 AM
Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized. :/

My thoughts are with him. :candle::candle::candle::candle:

Soft*Silver
09-28-2010, 12:41 PM
I missed Jimmy Carter by one day. I was just at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday. However, there were an awful lot of codes going on while I was there, people scampering about....

AtLast
09-28-2010, 01:12 PM
There's the 3 cops in Pittsburgh. We recently had some guy get in to a shootout with the Oakland PD while on his way to attack the Tides Foundation in SF. I'm sure that there are plenty more.

It's a lot, but expected. The nutters come out of the woodwork every time a Democrat moves in to the White House, and now that the man there isn't white, it's much worse than usual. What pisses me off is that the media and the authorities refuse to call these people terrorists.



As far as I'm concerned, they meet terrorist criteria! No, not referred to as such and I believe this has to do with our inability to take responsibility and admit to our bigotry as a country overall. I would love to see the stats on how much nut-cake crimes have increased since Obama took office. I certainly feel like home-grown terrorists are acting-out in greater numbers.

Last night I watched one of Ken Burn's docs on the Statue of Liberty. One immigrant spoke of how he felt that to those of us born here, it (concept of liberty, not the symbol) was taken for granted. Also, African Americans most certainly have a different take on "the Lady." What was not covered in the film was how native Americans think about "Liberty," which is what usually happens with these kinds of documentaries.

Having liberty is not license to terrorize other citizens. And that is exactly what is going on. No better than much of what happens in other countries that we view as "less than" the US. The US is a very violent developed nation, far more so than many.

Frankly, I think there should be a moratorium on white middle-class candidates being allowed to run for office (including women) for at least 5 decades! Yanno, some affirmative action in elections!! I know, rather extreme (maybe even lefty-nut-cake bound).... And certainly not democratic, but every time I watch something coming out of Congress, all I see are white men - GOP or Democrats. Or, white Palin-like women. The institutions and structures MUST change! When are we going to get that?

On another note- looks like Carter is doing fine....

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/28/20100928jimmy-carter-doing-fine-grandson-says28-ON.html

betenoire
09-28-2010, 02:27 PM
Ontario Superior Court judge strikes down prostitution law (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/ontario-superior-court-judge-strikes-down-prostitution-law/article1730433/)

Fuck yes.

The entire text of the ruling can be found here. (http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/content/view/1002/2666/)

Bella~Vita
09-29-2010, 10:26 AM
This really pisses me off ... equal rights my a$$ ....

http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/09/28/high-school-strips-transgendered-homecoming-king-of-title/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk3%7C173950

AtLast
09-29-2010, 12:11 PM
This really pisses me off ... equal rights my a$$ ....

http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/09/28/high-school-strips-transgendered-homecoming-king-of-title/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk3%7C173950

The line in the article that really bugs me is ... "still female". ARGH!! Based on what? His genitals?

I so appreciate the young transpeople that are taking a stand in our schools. And how their parents are supporting them. It is so important for there to be support systems available to them.

Nat
09-29-2010, 02:01 PM
Army's largest base reeling from four apparent suicides

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/29/texas.fort.hood.deaths/?hpt=Sbin

(CNN) -- Four soldiers from the Fort Hood Army base in Texas -- all decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan -- died in the past week, a Fort Hood spokesman said.

In all four cases, it appears the soldiers took their own lives, spokesman Christopher Haug said.
If confirmed as suicides, it would be on top of 14 other suicides on the huge base in central Texas already this year. Base officials called a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the issue.
The most recent spate of incidents began Friday, when the body of Pvt. Antonio E. Heath, 24, of Warren, New York, was found in Temple, Texas. He died of an apparent gunshot wound, Fort Hood officials said. Heath was deployed to Iraq for most of 2009 and earned a number of medals, including the Army Commendation Medal.
On Saturday, Master Sgt. Baldemar Gonzales, 39, of Victoria, Texas, was found dead in his residence on Fort Hood, the base's public affairs office said. During his service he fought in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, earning a Bronze Star, a Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, an Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, and numerous other decorations.
Gonzales was assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade, which indicates he had been wounded during a deployment.
The same day, the body of Sgt. Timothy Ryan Rinella, 29, of Chester, Virginia, was found in his home in Copperas Cove, just outside of Fort Hood. He also had an "apparent gunshot wound," according to information released by the base.
Rinella served three tours of duty in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan.
Sunday, Sgt. Michael F. Franklin and his wife, Jessie, were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds in their home on the post. The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide, Fort Hood officials said. The couple had a 6-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. Sgt. Franklin served two tours of duty in Iraq in the past four years, earning an Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and several other decorations.
"It is frustrating that so many Fort Hood soldiers have decided to take their own lives," Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, the senior commander of Fort Hood, said in a statement released Wednesday.
It's yet more violence for the facility, which was the site of the worst shooting on an American military base in decades. On November 5, 2009, a gunman opened fire in a building on the post, killing 13 people and injuring dozens of others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, faces murder charges in the case. He was shot and paralyzed by police who responded to the incident.

Mike
09-29-2010, 07:09 PM
Subject: Equality California Issues Statement Regarding Teen’s Suicide Due to Anti-Gay Bullying

https://www.kintera.com/accounttempfiles/account7346/images/web_logo.gif
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2010
CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja, Equality California
PHONE: 916-284-9187 EMAIL: vaishalee@eqca.org (vaishalee@eqca.org)
Equality California Issues Statement Regarding Teen’s Suicide Due to Anti-Gay Bullying

Sacramento – Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old from Tehachapi, California, died yesterday after he hung himself nine days ago because of years of bullying he endured for being perceived as being gay, according to his peers.

In response to this tragedy, Geoff Kors, Equality California Executive Director issued the following statement.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Seth Walsh who are facing an unimaginable loss. This heartbreaking tragedy is not an isolated incidence but rather another terrible loss caused by those who promote hatred and intolerance. It is essential that we do everything in our power to end bullying and to provide youth the support they need to lead safe, healthy lives. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, and those perceived to be LGBT, are more likely than their heterosexual peers to commit suicide, often because they are tormented at school and rejected by their communities.

“It’s time that as a society we shun the bigotry spread by groups like NOM and other anti-gay extremist organizations, as well as politicians who fan the flames of hatred and create a climate of terror for many LGBT youth and youth perceived to be LGBT. NOM should immediately stop their bus tour of California and their harmful rhetoric that causes tremendous damage to so many young people and that breeds a hostile climate, which leads to bullying.

“The Governor can also do his part to help prevent future tragedies by signing a bill this week that would enable countless at-risk youth to access mental healthcare services and to receive the support and care they need to thrive.”

The Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth Act (SB 543) would expand access to essential mental health services, especially prevention and early intervention programs, for youth ages 12-17 by allowing them to obtain counseling without parental consent. The bill is currently on the governor’s desk. SB 543 was introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and is co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter, Mental Health America of Northern California, and the GSA network.

To find out more information about EQCA's legislation, visit http://www.eqca.org/legislation (http://www.eqca.org/legislation)

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed over 80 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org (http://www.eqca.org/)

Nat
09-29-2010, 09:12 PM
Michigan State attorney launches bizarre Internet war on openly gay college student (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100929/us_yblog_upshot/state-attorney-launches-bizarre-internet-war-on-openly-gay-college-student)

Here's a curious test case for any public servant pondering a sideline as an online political activist. An assistant state attorney general for Michigan has created a blog devoted to discrediting the University of Michigan's student body president, who is openly gay.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has called student Chris Armstrong a "pervert" and "Satan's representative" on his blog, and admits to protesting outside the 21-year-old's home. He scours Armstrong's Facebook page and Armstrong's friends' Facebook pages and posts defaced photos of Armstrong on his site.

"You might wonder how is this man still employed in the attorney general's office," CNN's Anderson Cooper observed in a Tuesday-night segment on Shirvell.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Shirvell's boss, provided a written statement to CNN calling Shirvell's opinions "his alone," not those of the AG's office. "But his immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear," Cox's statement added. Cox declined to comment further.

State laws protect employees' rights to express political opinions in off-hours.

NLEyMKbSA2k

AtLast
09-29-2010, 09:29 PM
Michigan State attorney launches bizarre Internet war on openly gay college student (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100929/us_yblog_upshot/state-attorney-launches-bizarre-internet-war-on-openly-gay-college-student)

Here's a curious test case for any public servant pondering a sideline as an online political activist. An assistant state attorney general for Michigan has created a blog devoted to discrediting the University of Michigan's student body president, who is openly gay.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has called student Chris Armstrong a "pervert" and "Satan's representative" on his blog, and admits to protesting outside the 21-year-old's home. He scours Armstrong's Facebook page and Armstrong's friends' Facebook pages and posts defaced photos of Armstrong on his site.

"You might wonder how is this man still employed in the attorney general's office," CNN's Anderson Cooper observed in a Tuesday-night segment on Shirvell.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Shirvell's boss, provided a written statement to CNN calling Shirvell's opinions "his alone," not those of the AG's office. "But his immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear," Cox's statement added. Cox declined to comment further.

State laws protect employees' rights to express political opinions in off-hours.
NLEyMKbSA2k

WTF??

What I really have a problem with is the immunity from gay-bashing this guy is getting based upon the state law in place. Especially in the position he holds- an officer of the court! It seems to me that his boss would be going nuts internally when considering what a defense attorney could do with appeals in any cases tried by this guy involving gays or lesbians. This directly impacts his job duties and is he not a "public servant" paid via tax dollars?

AtLast
09-29-2010, 10:22 PM
Subject: Equality California Issues Statement Regarding Teen’s Suicide Due to Anti-Gay Bullying

https://www.kintera.com/accounttempfiles/account7346/images/web_logo.gif
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2010
CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja, Equality California
PHONE: 916-284-9187 EMAIL: vaishalee@eqca.org (vaishalee@eqca.org)
Equality California Issues Statement Regarding Teen’s Suicide Due to Anti-Gay Bullying

Sacramento – Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old from Tehachapi, California, died yesterday after he hung himself nine days ago because of years of bullying he endured for being perceived as being gay, according to his peers.

In response to this tragedy, Geoff Kors, Equality California Executive Director issued the following statement.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Seth Walsh who are facing an unimaginable loss. This heartbreaking tragedy is not an isolated incidence but rather another terrible loss caused by those who promote hatred and intolerance. It is essential that we do everything in our power to end bullying and to provide youth the support they need to lead safe, healthy lives. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, and those perceived to be LGBT, are more likely than their heterosexual peers to commit suicide, often because they are tormented at school and rejected by their communities.

“It’s time that as a society we shun the bigotry spread by groups like NOM and other anti-gay extremist organizations, as well as politicians who fan the flames of hatred and create a climate of terror for many LGBT youth and youth perceived to be LGBT. NOM should immediately stop their bus tour of California and their harmful rhetoric that causes tremendous damage to so many young people and that breeds a hostile climate, which leads to bullying.

“The Governor can also do his part to help prevent future tragedies by signing a bill this week that would enable countless at-risk youth to access mental healthcare services and to receive the support and care they need to thrive.”

The Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth Act (SB 543) would expand access to essential mental health services, especially prevention and early intervention programs, for youth ages 12-17 by allowing them to obtain counseling without parental consent. The bill is currently on the governor’s desk. SB 543 was introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and is co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter, Mental Health America of Northern California, and the GSA network.

To find out more information about EQCA's legislation, visit http://www.eqca.org/legislation (http://www.eqca.org/legislation)

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed over 80 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org (http://www.eqca.org/)

And the kid last Thursday, Asher Brown (Houston, TX) a young gay boy. How many of these have to happen before people take bullying seriously? The article (lin below) on this kid talks about this particular school district not taking bullying seriously- appears to be a "pattern" within its schools. The damn school districts are not taking responsibility for failing to deal with what is going on. I think parents should put a tape recorder in something their kids take with them to school to get evidence. Or, hire a PI to gather evidence.

http://www.dallasvoice.com/teens-suicide-show-pattern-officials-ignoring-antigay-bullying-houston-district-1046116.html

Soft*Silver
09-29-2010, 10:31 PM
my guess, AtLast, is that teachers dont get involved because 1) they have similiar values as the bullies or 2) they themselves were bullied and are afraid to step in or 3) are so caught up in their role as educator that they cant see how it has changed over the decades to include sociological patrol.

I was screaming statistics about how homosexuality was the NUMBER ONE reason for adolescent suicide in the 80s and 90s. Hell, I even presented workshops at national conferences for youth leaders. I bombarded 4H with information on creating safe environments for gay youth to feel comfortable participating. What did it get me>? A county wide hate crime directed at me and my daughter. The state wouldnt back me when I demanded that I was working in a hostile environment.

This is going to be a hot topic until people and organizations get the damn balls to stand up to the bullies and take legal action.

Nat
09-30-2010, 06:47 AM
The NFL will be sporting pink gear this Sunday to raise awareness of breast cancer. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575522040245756252.html)

There will be pink ribbons on the footballs, the players will have pink chin cups and towels, and refs will have pink whistles, all part of a Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

Greyson
09-30-2010, 01:30 PM
Published on The Root (http://www.theroot.com)

Home > The NAACP Reaches Out to Gay-Rights Groups

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The NAACP Reaches Out to Gay-Rights Groups
By: Cord Jefferson
Posted: September 28, 2010 at 12:06 AM

With an upcoming march on Washington, D.C., providing the opening, Ben Jealous is leading the civil rights group into an era of greater cooperation with the LGBT community. He told The Root why he has a personal stake in the effort.

On Sept. 22, Benjamin T. Jealous, the charismatic head of the NAACP, made history. On that Wednesday, Jealous spoke at Manhattan's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Greenwich Village to promote the upcoming One Nation Working Together march on Washington, D.C.

It was the first time in history that a current NAACP president has visited an LGBT center. Jeffrey Campagna, head of the LGBT desk for One Nation Working Together, called it "an indication of the true coalition that One Nation Working Together represents, and the true opportunity this is for the LGBT movement to join with labor groups and other civil rights groups to advance our agenda."

In 1999, while still president of the NAACP, Kweisi Mfume spoke at the annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization, but under Jealous, the now century-old NAACP is ramping up its LGBT coalition building more than ever before.

Last year the NAACP came out against California's Proposition 8, the recently overturned ballot initiative banning gay marriage. And in July, at its annual national convention, the NAACP rolled out an LGBT Equality Taskforce, a seven-member committee designed to stay on top of justice issues within the gay community.

But it seems as if these activities may have been merely preludes to the upcoming One Nation Working Together march. Led by the NAACP, the Oct. 2 event will find President Jealous and his colleagues stepping out with more than two dozen LGBT partner organizations, an unprecedented showing of public support for gay-rights activists of every stripe.

A Schism in the Black Community

For people like Newsweek columnist Jeninne Lee-St. John, who once argued that the fight for black civil rights and the fight for gay rights are "strikingly similar," the NAACP's newfound LGBT partnership isn't just sensible, it's long overdue. So what took so long?

"To be honest with you, our African-American community is in a schism," says Donna Payne, associate director of diversity for the HRC. "[Some African-American leaders] smile at you and don't want to say anything bad, but they won't include you in anything. That's the reality."

In October of last year, nearly 65 percent of African Americans believed homosexuality to be "morally wrong," according to the Pew Research Center, while only 48 percent of whites felt the same way. In a nation in which the black community is vastly more religious than the country as a whole, African Americans have a tendency to take cues about morality from their religious leaders, many of whom -- like embroiled Bishop Eddie Long -- speak openly and fervently against homosexuality. The result is the perplexing schism of which Payne speaks: a black community that overwhelmingly supports progressive Democratic politicians while simultaneously not tolerating gays.



According to Payne, the NAACP's attempt to walk that fine line of propriety for years saw it adopt an unofficial "Don't ask, don't tell" culture like the one currently flagging in the American armed forces. "It's like we know you're there, but don't talk about it," she says.

A New Attitude, and a Personal Stake

Enter Ben Jealous. Though Jealous told The Root that he "doesn't want to take too much credit" for the NAACP's hard pivot toward full acceptance of gay rights as civil rights, Payne, who's been with the HRC for more than a decade, says the change has been "100 percent" about Jealous' leadership. "Before Jealous, there was a lot of talk and no movement," she says.

Jealous, who began his tenure in 2008 at the age of 35, is the youngest NAACP president in the organization's history, making him part of a generation of people who favor homosexual rights markedly more than their elders. What is less well-known than Jealous' northern-California roots, however, is that he has a gay brother (whom he did not name), whom he calls "the person closest to me in the world."

This relationship has given Jealous a glimpse into the very comparable struggles of gays and African Americans, as well as the way the two classifications can augment each other when paired. "When [my brother] has been beaten up by the cops," says Jealous, "it's been very clear that it's both because he's black and gay."

Though black leaders like Julian Bond -- the chairman of the NAACP, until this year -- have in the past made a strong case for African-American support for gay rights, none have used the tremendous power and gravitas of the NAACP as well as Jealous, whose youth and personal experiences make him uniquely prepared to usher the NAACP into an America that's increasingly tolerant of homosexuality.

Entwined Struggles

Jealous is certainly also aware that it makes tactical sense for racial-justice advocates to partner with gay-rights groups. According to a new study (pdf) from the Applied Research Center, people of color, especially LGBT ones, are significantly hurt when blacks and gays don't work together:

LGBT people of color are harmed by the perceived split between communities of color and LGBT communities. Dozens of young, local organizations serving LGBT people of color do exist, but they are virtually invisible, poorly supported and often too busy providing critical health and human services to engage deeply in education and organizing for policy change.

To that end, Jealous is clear that One Nation Working Together will find him marching for the empowerment of all people, black, white or gay. "The person who stands in my position needs to be prepared to stand up for the civil rights of everybody," says Jealous. "And it's now my job to make sure there are no second-class citizens in this economy."



One Nation Working Together has the pursuit of jobs and economic stability at its core, two issues that might finally bridge the divide between African-American groups and gay-rights groups, once and for all. Although the plight of black workers in a discriminatory job market has existed for centuries, relatively recent developments like the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, and conservative pushback against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) -- proposed legislation that would protect LGBT individuals from workplace discrimination -- have called into question the job security of gays more than ever before. Luckily for Jealous and his colleagues, if there's one issue that will rally disparate groups in the currently lackluster economy, it's money.

Stacey Long, the federal legislative director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, says that her group jumped at the opportunity to work with the NAACP to promote job growth, specifically because, in so many minority communities, one hardship cascades into many more. "One of the things that we do when we're working on legislation or policy matters is we fit it through the lens of racial and social justice," she says.

"For instance, if we're talking about the impact that ENDA will have once it's passed, we're thinking about the countless numbers of [people of color] who will be able to maintain their jobs because they won't be fired on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And those are individuals who are sometimes supporting their families. And in some instances, they'll be taking care of their extended-family members, as well. These are entire minority families that we're helping keep out of poverty."

Jealous says that Saturday's march will be a success if it "lifts up the need for our entire country to focus intently on job creation and ensure every child has access to an excellent education." Whether that will happen remains to be seen. But the coalition building that's already taken place between the NAACP and the LGBT community seems built to last.

Payne says that she has already discussed with NAACP representatives how best to reach out to the black community about the AIDS epidemic, and Long says that internal meetings have made her optimistic about future dealings with the NAACP. "[The NAACP] has made it very clear that the table is open and it's diverse and it's wide and all are welcome," she says. "And they're going to make sure that we stay of one accord."

An NAACP insider speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the topic says that, as of now, the organization has no plans to come out in full support of gay marriage. But sometimes change takes time, and Jealous hopes that One Nation Working Together will be a big step forward. "Marches are important because … people make new friendships," he says. "They find common ground and make a commitment to work together."

Cord Jefferson is a staff writer at The Root.

http://www.theroot.com/views/naacp-reaches-out-gay-rights-groups?page=0,1

AtLast
09-30-2010, 01:40 PM
my guess, AtLast, is that teachers dont get involved because 1) they have similiar values as the bullies or 2) they themselves were bullied and are afraid to step in or 3) are so caught up in their role as educator that they cant see how it has changed over the decades to include sociological patrol.

.

I think you hit the nail on the head here for a huge part of this! The similiar values may very well be at work for districts in many places. And just the whole belief system around differences. So many people just accept that kids can be cruel without any awareness of where the hell they get these cruel ideas.

I remember when a LTR partner and myself were called lesbos by some neighborhood kids in the first home we bought together. These were the exact same kinds of words their father used when speaking of us around his children.

I confronted him about it. I was not going to take this from him or his kids. I did not go ballistic, just said that as an adult and a homeowner (one that paid property taxes that support the schools his kids attended), I was not going to listen to this from a bunch of 10 year olds. I told him be ought to be ashammed of promoting disrespectful behavior around his (and other) kids concerning adults. This was the only framework this guy was going to get- going on about gays and lesbians would have only gotten things going in another direction. And, hey, as if it was going to do any good- his anti-gay and lesbian feelings were not going to change. But, he got the disrespect of adults thing. I had to do the tax garbage stuff to just get to the what this guy would actually understand. Although, being a person that does pay taxes and yet, does not have the same civil rights as others does piss me off.

Soft*Silver
09-30-2010, 03:17 PM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The death of a Rutgers University freshman stirred outrage and remorse among classmates who said they wished they could have stopped the teen from jumping off a bridge after secret video of his sexual encounter with a man was streamed online.

Tyler Clementi, 18, jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River last week. His body was identified Thursday after being found in the river a day before.

"Had he been in bed with a woman, this would not have happened," said Rutgers student Lauren Felton, 21, of Warren. "He wouldn't have been outed via an online broadcast, and his privacy would have been respected and he might still have his life."

Clementi had just started at Rutgers, which bills itself as the state university of New Jersey, and was a talented violinist whose life revolved around music, friends and mentors said.

"Musically, Tyler was destined for greatness," childhood friend Mary Alcaro, who played in a summer music academy with him, said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I've never heard anyone make a violin sing the way he did."

Ed Schmiedecke, the recently retired music director at Ridgewood High School, from which Clementi graduated this year, called Clementi "a terrific musician, and a very promising, hardworking young man."

Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, and fellow Rutgers freshman Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invading Clementi's privacy. Middlesex County prosecutors say that they used a webcam to surreptitiously transmit a live image of Clementi having sex Sept. 19 and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi's suicide.

Collecting or viewing sexual images without consent is a fourth-degree crime, and transmitting them is a third-degree crime with a maximum prison term of five years. A lawyer for Ravi, of Plainsboro, did not immediately return a message seeking comment, and it was unclear whether Wei, of Princeton, had retained a lawyer.

A spokesman for the Middlesex County prosecutor's office didn't return messages inquiring whether there could be additional charges, and experts diverged on the potential for the pair to face more severe charges in light of Clementi's apparent suicide.

Parry Aftab, who runs the website WiredSafety, said it's possible the classmates could be prosecuted for violating Clementi's civil rights.

"If these kids could get away with one privacy law violation, that would be a sin," she said.

But former assistant Essex County prosecutor Luanne Peterpaul said such a prosecution was unlikely because the federal government doesn't recognize sexual orientation as a protected class.

Peterpaul, vice chairwoman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said prosecutors might be able to pursue the case as a hate crime if they could establish that the defendants were motivated to act because they perceived Clementi as gay. But that can be hard to prove, she said.

A lawyer for Clementi's family has not responded to requests for comment on whether Clementi was open about his sexual orientation.

Soft*Silver
09-30-2010, 05:53 PM
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/50-cent-tweet-encourages-gay-suicide.html

Gemme
09-30-2010, 06:38 PM
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/50-cent-tweet-encourages-gay-suicide.html

Moronic. Absolutely moronic.

Oiler41
09-30-2010, 07:25 PM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The death of a Rutgers University freshman stirred outrage and remorse among classmates who said they wished they could have stopped the teen from jumping off a bridge after secret video of his sexual encounter with a man was streamed online.

Tyler Clementi, 18, jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River last week. His body was identified Thursday after being found in the river a day before.

"Had he been in bed with a woman, this would not have happened," said Rutgers student Lauren Felton, 21, of Warren. "He wouldn't have been outed via an online broadcast, and his privacy would have been respected and he might still have his life."

Clementi had just started at Rutgers, which bills itself as the state university of New Jersey, and was a talented violinist whose life revolved around music, friends and mentors said.

"Musically, Tyler was destined for greatness," childhood friend Mary Alcaro, who played in a summer music academy with him, said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I've never heard anyone make a violin sing the way he did."

Ed Schmiedecke, the recently retired music director at Ridgewood High School, from which Clementi graduated this year, called Clementi "a terrific musician, and a very promising, hardworking young man."

Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, and fellow Rutgers freshman Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invading Clementi's privacy. Middlesex County prosecutors say that they used a webcam to surreptitiously transmit a live image of Clementi having sex Sept. 19 and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi's suicide.

Collecting or viewing sexual images without consent is a fourth-degree crime, and transmitting them is a third-degree crime with a maximum prison term of five years. A lawyer for Ravi, of Plainsboro, did not immediately return a message seeking comment, and it was unclear whether Wei, of Princeton, had retained a lawyer.

A spokesman for the Middlesex County prosecutor's office didn't return messages inquiring whether there could be additional charges, and experts diverged on the potential for the pair to face more severe charges in light of Clementi's apparent suicide.

Parry Aftab, who runs the website WiredSafety, said it's possible the classmates could be prosecuted for violating Clementi's civil rights.

"If these kids could get away with one privacy law violation, that would be a sin," she said.

But former assistant Essex County prosecutor Luanne Peterpaul said such a prosecution was unlikely because the federal government doesn't recognize sexual orientation as a protected class.

Peterpaul, vice chairwoman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said prosecutors might be able to pursue the case as a hate crime if they could establish that the defendants were motivated to act because they perceived Clementi as gay. But that can be hard to prove, she said.

A lawyer for Clementi's family has not responded to requests for comment on whether Clementi was open about his sexual orientation.

This one really struck a nerve in me; I'm just damn well pissed off about this one. They all piss me off when a young life is snuffed out because of some moronic thought process of those around them, be they family or acquaintances. The two kids behind the webcam should be put in jail for the next 20 years at a minimum.

Glynn

dreadgeek
09-30-2010, 07:41 PM
This is one of those oh WOW science moments that only astronomy delivers. 20 light years from us, there is a red dwarf star named Gliese 581 and one of its planets is in what is called the 'Goldilocks zone'. Around any given star there will be one or more orbits that is neither too hot or too cold for liquid water. As far as we know, life requires liquid water (there are other options, methane could take the place of water and silicon the place of carbon) and so a planet that could sustain liquid water is one criteria we would look for in a habitable planet. The other thing about this planet which is, for now, named Gliese 581-g, is that it is tide-locked with its star. What this means is that the planet doesn't turn on its own axis. One side of the planet is in perpetual daylight and the other in perpetual darkness. The effect of this is that the climate is stable. Life can handle shifts in climate but not a truly chaotic climate.

Full article from NASA is http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/gliese_581_feature.htmlhere.

One more thing; contemplate, if you will, just how cool it is that we have gotten to a place where we can not only detect other planets but can now actually begin to tell some things about them. To understand how remarkable a feat this is, remember that this planet is 20 light years from us. In miles that is a bit shy of 118 trillion miles! (117,569,761,144,207 miles to be a bit more precise) Say what you will about us hairless chimps, but there's no arguing that we ARE clever.

Cheers
Aj

Blaze
09-30-2010, 07:42 PM
This one is really sad, to die so young without even getting a chance to live because of bullies and being gay.
Parents: 13-year-old son driven to suicide by ruthless bullying at school

http://www.khou.com/?nTar=OPUR&iq_id=5612805


by Lisa Chavarria / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 3:18 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:47 PM




HOUSTON – A local mom and stepdad say their 13-year-old son committed suicide because of ruthless bullying at his junior high school.
Asher Brown killed himself last Thursday.
His mother, Amy Truong, said her son recently realized that he was gay. She said that, along with his religion, made him a target for bullies at Hamilton Junior High.
"They would insult him because he was Buddhist, and they would call him ‘booty boy’ and try to link the two together between Buddhism and homosexuality," Truong said.
Truong and her husband, David, said Brown endured verbal and physical abuse.
They said they tried to contact the school about the bullying, but their cries fell on deaf ears.
Amy and David Truong believe Brown as literally pushed to the edge.
"This bully, we can’t say his name, deliberately tripped Asher down … two flights of stairs," David Truong said.
According to other students, Brown told the bully, "You better apologize, or I’m gonna kill myself."
Those words haunt his parents.
Amy and David Truong said they always thought their son would come to them when something was wrong.
"We’re still trying to piece together everything that happened to him that we didn’t know before," Amy Truong said.
Meanwhile, they’re speaking out about the consequences of bullying.
They say actions that could be brushed off as a childhood rite of passage can sometimes have tragic consequences.
"These kids don’t deserve this, they don’t. And I can’t do anything to save mine anymore, but if I can help somebody else, I want to. I know Asher would want to. He was a good boy. He was such a good boy," Amy Truong said.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD said the district’s counseling and psychological teams would be expanding crisis services for students at Hamilton.
"The district, together with the Hamilton community, is saddened by the death of Asher Brown," the statement read. "A district administrative team is conducting a thorough and involved investigation into the allegations of bullying that have been made since the death of Asher Brown. Although the investigation is not completed, the initial findings indicate that Asher’s personal and family histories were very complicated."

Nat
10-01-2010, 01:48 PM
U.S. apologizes to Guatemalans for 1940s STD experiment


http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/01/1852482/us-apologizes-to-guatemalans-for.html

CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Obama administration apologized Friday for a ``clearly unethical'' 1940s U.S. government experiment that infected Guatemalan prisoners with venereal disease in the name of public health research.

AtLast
10-01-2010, 03:49 PM
U.S. apologizes to Guatemalans for 1940s STD experiment


http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/01/1852482/us-apologizes-to-guatemalans-for.html

CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Obama administration apologized Friday for a ``clearly unethical'' 1940s U.S. government experiment that infected Guatemalan prisoners with venereal disease in the name of public health research.

And how sick is this!! Goes right along with atomic bomb research and other kinds of research during that time period by the US on our own soil and against US citizens as well as what we did to other people on their own soil!

And the fact of the matter is that the US looked the other way for a very long time at what was going on in Europe for Jews (medical experimentation as well as the genocide) and other groups of people.

So often, the people in glass houses that throw stones comes to mind.

Soft*Silver
10-01-2010, 04:10 PM
and yes the US did the same to our own POC here in the states, STD experiments.

And how sick is this!! Goes right along with atomic bomb research and other kinds of research during that time period by the US on our own soil and against US citizens as well as what we did to other people on their own soil!

And the fact of the matter is that the US looked the other way for a very long time at what was going on in Europe for Jews (medical experimentation as well as the genocide) and other groups of people.

So often, the people in glass houses that throw stones comes to mind.

Nat
10-02-2010, 01:23 PM
Man Attacks 14 Year Old Girl For Carrying Rainbow Flag (http://prideinutah.com/?p=4281)

La Crosse, Wisconsin – A 14 year old girl on rollerblades was getting ready to march in the Maple Leaf Parade with the LGBT Resource Center’s float, she was carrying a rainbow/American flag hybrid. But it got ugly when Mark Schneider ran up, grabbed the flag, pushed her and screamed, “Go to a country where they will hang people like you.”

chefhottie25
10-02-2010, 01:41 PM
Man Attacks 14 Year Old Girl For Carrying Rainbow Flag (http://prideinutah.com/?p=4281)

La Crosse, Wisconsin – A 14 year old girl on rollerblades was getting ready to march in the Maple Leaf Parade with the LGBT Resource Center’s float, she was carrying a rainbow/American flag hybrid. But it got ugly when Mark Schneider ran up, grabbed the flag, pushed her and screamed, “Go to a country where they will hang people like you.”

wow. this really makes me sad.

EnderD_503
10-02-2010, 03:57 PM
Some positive news in the Toronto papers in the last few days:

Prostitution laws struck down by Ont. court
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/09/28/prostitution-law028.html

Toronto-born researcher pioneers new method of creating stem cells
http://www.thestar.com/article/868454--canadian-born-researcher-pioneers-new-method-of-creating-stem-cells

Gemme
10-02-2010, 04:11 PM
Man Attacks 14 Year Old Girl For Carrying Rainbow Flag (http://prideinutah.com/?p=4281)

La Crosse, Wisconsin – A 14 year old girl on rollerblades was getting ready to march in the Maple Leaf Parade with the LGBT Resource Center’s float, she was carrying a rainbow/American flag hybrid. But it got ugly when Mark Schneider ran up, grabbed the flag, pushed her and screamed, “Go to a country where they will hang people like you.”

WTF is wrong with people? And why was he on one of the nearby floats?

Blood = boiling.

SuperFemme
10-04-2010, 11:30 AM
Windy City Times

Yet another gay suicide—this time in R.I.
News update Friday, Oct. 1, 2010


Raymond Chase, a student at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., committed suicide by hanging himself in a residence hall Sept. 29, according to a press release from Campus Pride.

According to the Huffington Post, Johnson & Wales Vice President Ronald Martel e-mailed students, "Today I contact you with the deeply sad news of the passing of Raymond Chase, sophomore, 19, culinary arts major. The campus community is mourning the loss of this vibrant young man who leaves many JWU friends and teachers, and a loving family of Monticello, New York.

Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride, said, "The loss of Raymond this week is the second college LGBT-related suicide in a week and the fifth teenage LGBT suicide in three weeks. The suicide of this openly gay young man is for reasons currently unknown; however, the recent pattern of LGBT youth suicides is cause for grave concern.

"Campus Pride demands national action be taken to address youth bullying, harassment and the need for safety and inclusion for LGBT youth at colleges and universities across the country. We must not let these tragic deaths go unnoticed. Together we must act decisively to curb anti-LGBT bias incidents, harassment and acts of violence."

Johnson & Wales, founded in 1914, has four campuses in Providence; Denver, Colo.; North Miami, Fla.; and Charlotte, N.C. The university is known for "combining academics and practical skills with relevant work experiences and community service," according to its website.

betenoire
10-04-2010, 01:13 PM
And another.

Two lesbian youth found dead in Orangeville (Ontario) (http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2010/10/04/Two-lesbian-youth-found-dead-in-Orangeville.aspx)

The bodies of girlfriends Jeanine Blanchette, 21, and Chantal Dube, 17, were found in a wooded area in Orangeville on Saturday.


After ruling out foul play and a connection to a high-profile murder in September, police are investigating the possibility of a double suicide

Jeanine’s family members said they do not believe their sexuality had anything to do with their deaths.

But nobody seems to know anything at this time.

Greyson
10-04-2010, 01:18 PM
Currently the awareness of the LGBTQI youth suicides is on the radar so to speak. If any of you are active in youth and/or LGBTQI community service, please ask your organization how are they addressing this issue? I am sure that at Butch Voices, Los Angeles, this will be brought up by participants at the conference. Thanks.

Kobi
10-04-2010, 01:19 PM
From People Magazine -

On Sept. 21, the day before he committed suicide, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi was apparently angry that his roommate, Dharun Ravi, had allegedly recorded him kissing another man in his dorm room – and broadcast the encounter online.

Postings on the Web site Justusboys.com's message board, which appear to have been written by Clementi under the alias "cit2mo," document his feelings and actions in the hours leading up to his Sept. 22 suicide.

"I'm kinda pissed at him," Clementi apparently wrote about his roommate on Sept. 21. "It would be nice to get him into trouble ... I feel like the only thing the school might do is find me another roommate ... and I'd probably just end up with somebody worse than him."

"I mean aside from being an a–––e from time to time, he's a pretty decent roommate."

While many questions remain, Clementi's apparent online postings, which seem to follow a realistic timeline of events, reveal a young man who was struggling with what actions to take next.

In a Sept. 21 post, Clementi, 18, expressed his anger, writing on the message board, "the fact that the people he was with saw my making out with a guy as the scandal, whereas I mean come on...he was SPYING ON ME...do they see something wrong with this?"

But later that evening, he wrote, "Revenge never ends well for me. As much as I would love to pour pink paint all over his stuff … that would just let him win."


Final Hours

On Sept. 22, Clementi logged back on to the site at 4:38 a.m. with an update.

"So I wanted to have the guy over again. I texted roomie around 7 asking for the room later tonite and he said it was fine," he wrote. "When I got back to the room, I instantly noticed he had turned the webcam toward my bed and he had posted online again … saying...'Anyone want a free show just video chat with me tonight.' "

Then, Clementi apparently decided to get help.

"I ran to the nearest R.A. and set this thing in motion," he wrote. "We'll see what happens."

In a post two hours later, he wrote that his residence assistant took his concerns seriously. "He asked me to email him a written paragraph about exactly what happened," Clementi wrote. "I emailed it to him and to two people above him."

Later that night, though, Clementi drove onto the George Washington Bridge, parked his car and posted his final message on Facebook: "Jumping off the gw bridge. Sorry."

He then walked a mile onto the span and jumped to his death at approximately 8:50 p.m.

Clementi's body was found in the Hudson River and identified on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the two Rutgers freshman, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, have each been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for "using the camera to view and transmit a live image."
------------------------------------------------------------------
This has been eating at me since I read it. Anyone else wondering if there is more to this than meets the eye? Or are my jaundiced social worker instincts on overload?

AtLast
10-04-2010, 01:36 PM
WTF is wrong with people? And why was he on one of the nearby floats?

Blood = boiling.

Unfortunately.... there are "plants" out there, people posing as pat of a particular group... It's a great way to ruin things for the true participants.

Between this and the numbers of suicides/bullying cases/hate crimes, why arn't we organizing nationwide (Canada too) and stoping this! It is time we all broke through the barriers that keep all of the factions within the entire LGBTIQ umbrella splintered, raised money as a whole and joined forces to combat this stuff. Our divisions and inability to recognize, respect and honor each other combine as our worst enemy And this division is just what the hate mongers want- "divide and conquer."queer sexualities of ever persuasion, religious queers, conservatives, libertarians, moderates, liberals, progressives.... all of us!!


Every sub-grouping among us needs to deal with this as one. Gay men, lesbians, lesbian-feminists, the transgendered, intergendered people, all of we making-up the B -F spectrum... (add any other group you like) ALL of us need to stop going at each other and organize as one, unified Queer Nation!!

United we stand, Divided, we fall.. and fall, and fall, and some of us die.

I just know if we thought about the petty BS that keeps scattered, we could let go of it and get something done... like saves lives for one!

SuperFemme
10-04-2010, 02:11 PM
Bullied Tehachapi gay teen Seth Walsh dies after suicide attempt

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybenjamin/detail?entry_id=73326#ixzz11QDtmzg0)Seth Walsh was an ordinary everyday kid who just wanted to live his life except there were cruel kids around him who won't let him. Why you ask? Walsh was a young gay kid and there were kids that would not stop tormenting him while school officials ignored the problem despite being aware of the bullying.

Walsh as s 13-year-old student at the Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi, Kern County, California. On September 19, Walsh hanged himself from a tree in his backyard. Walsh did not die immediately and was discovered and taken to a hospital where he was placed in life support critical care.

Seth Walsh from Tehachapi, California finally died Tuesday afternoon after clinging on life support for nine days.

During the investigation many students acknowledged that Seth Walsh was in distress due to bullying over a long period of time because Walsh was gay. In spite of an anti-bullying program mentioned by school, the school officials nor the school board (more on the politically inept school board later) didn't intervene to stop the bullying and mental torture of Seth Walsh. It's ironic that the principal of the Jacobsen Middle School Susan Ortega proudly claims that she has a B.A. in Child and Family Crisis. Apparently Seth Walsh was a crisis Ortega did not see.

Police investigated and interviewed Jacobsen Middle School staff and students regarding the death of Seth Walsh but found that the no crime was committed and there would be no charges in the death of Seth Walsh.

Walsh's friends did a video for him while he was on life support.

V6_pj5qJbwY (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybenjamin/detail?entry_id=73326#ixzz11QE0YMOk)

Seth Walsh, may you rest in peace. As far as the principal and staff in Tehachapi Jocobsen Middle School are concerned, I hope everyone there has learned a lesson to listen for cries of help. Listening and acting on bullying could be a matter of life or death.

The death of Seth Walsh is the third recent incident of suicide due to anti-gay bullying in schools. Asher Brown, 13, of Texas and Billy Lucas, 15 of Indiana also committed suicide due to bullying.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybenjamin/detail?entry_id=73326#ixzz11QEHMXQJ

Nat
10-04-2010, 02:12 PM
In a post two hours later, he wrote that his residence assistant took his concerns seriously. "He asked me to email him a written paragraph about exactly what happened," Clementi wrote. "I emailed it to him and to two people above him."

Later that night, though, Clementi drove onto the George Washington Bridge, parked his car and posted his final message on Facebook: "Jumping off the gw bridge. Sorry."

He then walked a mile onto the span and jumped to his death at approximately 8:50 p.m.

Clementi's body was found in the Hudson River and identified on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the two Rutgers freshman, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, have each been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for "using the camera to view and transmit a live image."
------------------------------------------------------------------
This has been eating at me since I read it. Anyone else wondering if there is more to this than meets the eye? Or are my jaundiced social worker instincts on overload?



Think they killed him?

Kobi
10-04-2010, 02:49 PM
Think they killed him?

I'm thinking there is a big piece missing here without jumping to any conclusions. IF the article is correct, I see an intelligent young man who knew what his roommate was doing and was proactively taking steps to deal with the issue. He was also documenting it in a very public way as he went along. So what happened from then, to the GW bridge.

dark_crystal
10-05-2010, 08:23 AM
America: the National Catholic Weekly- group blog "What is a Catholic response to Gay Suicide" (http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3363)

It's impossible not to be moved by the terrible stories of the five youths who recently took their own lives because they were being harassed as gays and lesbians. In New York the story of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who was filmed having a romantic encounter with another man, which was them live-streamed by his "friends," seemed particularly harrowing. A despairing Clementi, age 18, ended his life by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge. Any suicide is an unspeakable tragedy, just as any murder of any kind is a tragedy, but there is something especially sad about a young person believing that their life will never be, or can never be, better. The Christian heart is, as Jesus's heart was, "moved with pity."

This rash of deaths has prompted a response, especially on college campuses, and the "It Gets Better" project, which has adult gays and lesbians reminding youth that as one matures "it gets better." Essentially, it is an argument against despair and suicide. Sadly, many of the people interviewed speak of overcoming the hatred that they felt in Christian churches, schools and other organizations.

[...]

It's a sad irony, because there is one life-changing resource in the Christian tradition that can transform those who feel unloved--that is, Jesus. The Son of God reached out specifically to those on the margins, specifically to those who felt rejected, specifically to those who felt excluded from the community. For Jesus, as the theologian James Alison has written, there was no "other." And there is much in the Catholic tradition in particular that can help gays and lesbians as well.

[...]

Those places in our tradition might all be good places to start when it comes to outreach, especially with youth (and not just with gay and lesbian youth, but with all who feel excluded). And if pro-life means trying to avoid anything that will threaten any life, from natural conception to natural death, then we should be finding ways to protect all life, which also means preventing suicides, and preventing gay suicides. In any event, there is much for us, the church, still to do.

Mitmo01
10-05-2010, 08:39 AM
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/05/Larry_Flynt_Weve_Got_a_Gay_Senator/

AtLast
10-05-2010, 03:38 PM
I'm thinking there is a big piece missing here without jumping to any conclusions. IF the article is correct, I see an intelligent young man who knew what his roommate was doing and was proactively taking steps to deal with the issue. He was also documenting it in a very public way as he went along. So what happened from then, to the GW bridge.


I agree. There is so much to consider.

Something that keeps coming up for me about all of the youth sucides relating to queerdom, is just thinking about the very big difference public humiliation as it is experienced by young people as oppossed to older people.

There have many things in my life that when a teen or young adult that I would have been mortified about if made public. As an adult with more life's experience and just a better sense of self, these kinds of things took on different perspectives and I couldn't care less about public opinion. My ego-strength developed along the way like it does with we humans. These kids are just not there yet which is totally "normal." Yet, something else is going on at the moment they feel killing themselves is the answer.

My heart is just deeply disturbed by all of this and the lack of getting at all of what these kids experienced to push them over the edge. It isn't a single event, they have been suffering for awhile. What other things have failed them? And what can we all do to stop the harrassment and hatred?

I keep thinking about my early years in secondary education and a counselor I knew. She had been and English teacher before and had students write in journals. This would have been in the late 60's and she was a new teacher in her mid-20's. One male student wrote about his sexuality as being gay in his journal along with info about his torment. Later, he hung himself. This teacher turned counselor lived with this- she didn't attempt to talk to this kid about his journal entries at all. She had her own homophobia keeping her from this. Later, she herself, took her own life years after this all happened. I had left the district but remembered talking to her about depression and getting some help. She did do this, but...... Oh, and menopause was blammed for her suicide...... ARGH!!!

rlin
10-05-2010, 05:08 PM
America: the National Catholic Weekly- group blog "What is a Catholic response to Gay Suicide" (http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3363)

It's impossible not to be moved by the terrible stories of the five youths who recently took their own lives because they were being harassed as gays and lesbians. In New York the story of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who was filmed having a romantic encounter with another man, which was them live-streamed by his "friends," seemed particularly harrowing. A despairing Clementi, age 18, ended his life by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge. Any suicide is an unspeakable tragedy, just as any murder of any kind is a tragedy, but there is something especially sad about a young person believing that their life will never be, or can never be, better. The Christian heart is, as Jesus's heart was, "moved with pity."

This rash of deaths has prompted a response, especially on college campuses, and the "It Gets Better" project, which has adult gays and lesbians reminding youth that as one matures "it gets better." Essentially, it is an argument against despair and suicide. Sadly, many of the people interviewed speak of overcoming the hatred that they felt in Christian churches, schools and other organizations.

[...]

It's a sad irony, because there is one life-changing resource in the Christian tradition that can transform those who feel unloved--that is, Jesus. The Son of God reached out specifically to those on the margins, specifically to those who felt rejected, specifically to those who felt excluded from the community. For Jesus, as the theologian James Alison has written, there was no "other." And there is much in the Catholic tradition in particular that can help gays and lesbians as well.

[...]

Those places in our tradition might all be good places to start when it comes to outreach, especially with youth (and not just with gay and lesbian youth, but with all who feel excluded). And if pro-life means trying to avoid anything that will threaten any life, from natural conception to natural death, then we should be finding ways to protect all life, which also means preventing suicides, and preventing gay suicides. In any event, there is much for us, the church, still to do.
i dont know where to put this...
i hope folks keep turning up the volume until maybe these folks realize the part they have in this...
in kathy griffins video she spoke about the blood of these kids being on [their] hands...
it is so true... and they pass out platitudes like... *oh... dang... we gotta show them what jesus thought so they will stop doing this...
its a shame for any life to be lost... even fukd up ones...*
and yeah... i know that isnt what they said... but goddammit i am mad... i am so tired of this happening to kids... other kids are so cruel... and the most sensitive have to deal with the cruelty... and.. then... they cant even turn to adults to reassure themselves...
i am beside myself on this one...

dark_crystal
10-05-2010, 07:07 PM
i dont know where to put this...
i hope folks keep turning up the volume until maybe these folks realize the part they have in this...
in kathy griffins video she spoke about the blood of these kids being on [their] hands...
it is so true... and they pass out platitudes like... *oh... dang... we gotta show them what jesus thought so they will stop doing this...
its a shame for any life to be lost... even fukd up ones...*
and yeah... i know that isnt what they said... but goddammit i am mad... i am so tired of this happening to kids... other kids are so cruel... and the most sensitive have to deal with the cruelty... and.. then... they cant even turn to adults to reassure themselves...
i am beside myself on this one...



i only posted this because the Catholic church, although it has miles to go, is actually miles ahead of the Baptist church in terms of teaching respect for GLBT people and teaching against prejudice or discrimination. They just need to get over that little birth control hurdle and that oppresses way more straight people than us....

(of course our current pope would cause one to assume the opposite, and i would never defend the catholic hierarchy as a whole, but the academics who wrote the catechism paint a vastly different picture of the faith than its public face does- it is universally the case that academic theology and popular practice bear little resemblance to each other, even in the Baptist church)

i did a news search looking for Christian responses to the issue and the Catholic church was the only one of the mainline churches that has said anything at all

on an unrelated note- i am in Houston and Cypress, where Asher Brown lived and died, is part of our metroplex. The media here have been overwhelmingly sympathetic to Asher and his family and aggressively pushing the school district for action. It has been the top news story every night. It is heartening, but tragic that it took something like this

and yesterday, my super-Christian, tea party lovin, Obama hatin aunt shared ellen's link on facebook. i almost cried.

Greyson
10-06-2010, 10:57 AM
Woodward: VP Hillary 'on the table'
By: Carol E. Lee
October 6, 2010 12:57 AM EDT

Speculating that President Barack Obama will replace Vice President Joe Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the 2012 ticket has been a private pastime among some Democrats over the past few months, and it broke into the open Tuesday night when investigative reporter Bob Woodward said in an interview on CNN it was a possibility.

Appearing on "John King, USA" to promote his book “Obama’s Wars,” Woodward was asked by King about possible “political asides” that cropped up while he was doing research.

“A lot of people think if the president's a little weak going into 2012, he'll have to do a switch there and run with Hillary Clinton as his running mate,” King said, repeating gossip that’s swirled for several months and appeared from time to time on blogs.

“It's on the table,” Woodward replied. “And some of Hillary Clinton's advisers see it as a real possibility in 2012. President Obama needs some of the women, Latinos, retirees that she did so well with during the 2008 primaries. So they switch jobs and [it's] not out of the question. The other interesting question is, Hillary Clinton could run in her own right in 2016 and be younger than Ronald Reagan when he was elected president.”

Woodward did not offer any evidence that the idea is under consideration by either Obama or Clinton. A senior administration official said that any suggestion of replacing Biden with the secretary of state is totally off base.

Obama is happy with Biden as his vice president and Clinton as his secretary of state, the official told POLITICO, “and he wants them to keep on doing what they’re doing.”

One Democratic source said that the rumor has been circulating among some of Clinton’s longtime supporters. Another Democratic Party source with ties to the Clintons said, “There's so many rumors going around. But I don't believe this is true.”

In addition to being talked about as Obama’s running mate in 2012, POLITICO reported in May that some of Clinton’s allies have floated the notion that she should replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon when he makes his long-planned exit from the administration.

Maggie Haberman contributed to this report.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43192.html

Nat
10-06-2010, 11:17 AM
Puerto Rico - FBI charges 133 in its biggest crackdown ever on corrupt cops
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/puerto.rico.arrests/?hpt=T1

Nat
10-06-2010, 11:37 AM
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/california.child.samaritan/

Quick-thinking Good Samaritan saved a kid from her abductor in Fresno (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/california.child.samaritan/)

UZqQ5LgG36I

A construction carpenter by trade until work slowed down, Perez has been recently cutting wine grapes, earning minimum wage.
Early Tuesday, there was a light rain, making that task unlikely.
Perez, 29, tuned in to television news coverage of the abduction, paying attention to the description and video of the suspect's pickup truck.
At about 6:45 a.m., Perez was outside his house talking with his cousin about the abduction when they saw a vehicle matching that description: an older-model, reddish-brown Chevrolet with a white stripe on the side.
"I thought, that could be the truck," Perez, a father of two boys, told CNN Tuesday night.
That's when he sprang into action. He jumped into his 1988 white Ford pickup and followed the vehicle.
Perez tried to cut off the vehicle several times to question the driver. One time, the driver told him, "I don't have no time [to talk]. My battery is dying."
The second time Perez pulled up to the Chevy, he saw the little girl, her head popping up from below view, and knew something was wrong.
"I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl,'" said Perez. "We argued. We exchanged words."
Perez -- who admitted he did wonder at some point whether the motorist had a gun -- pulled up to the truck a third, and then a fourth time, when he blocked the pickup truck.
Immediately after the truck stopped, the girl was out. Perez said he believes the driver pushed her out.
"I was beyond scared," he said.
Perez got out of his vehicle and stayed with the girl. She was wearing a Winnie the Pooh sweater, he said.
The chase had taken him about a mile from his house and into another neighborhood. He yelled for residents to get the girl a blanket.
The Chevy drove off. By then, Perez had a partial license plate number, which he gave to dispatchers, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
About 40 minutes later, police caught up with the truck, now parked, and arrested Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, of Fresno. Charges against him will include kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault, Dyer said. The suspect was not armed.
Police, officials and the parents of the girl praised Perez and other good Samaritans and citizens who aided the search and took action to find the girl.
"This is a remarkable accomplishment for an entire community," Mayor Ashley Swearengin said.
Perez said the incident was beginning to sink in Tuesday night. "I probably saved a little girl's life."
The question arises: What would have happened if Perez had gone to work this day?
He quoted a relative who said divine providence might have stepped in.
"God works in mysterious ways."

Nat
10-06-2010, 04:12 PM
A noisy workplace doubles the risk of heart disease
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-noisy-workplace-20101006,0,1476439.story

Years spent in a noisy workplace may take a toll on both hearing and heart health. A study published Wednesday found that persistent noise in the workplace doubled the chances of an employee developing serious heart disease.

Previous studies that have looked at the effect of loud noise on the heart have produced mixed results. For the new study, researchers examined a database of more than 6,000 employees ages 20 and older who were surveyed about lifestyle, occupation and*health. The participants were grouped according to those who endured loud noise at work (meaning it was difficult to talk at a normal volume) for at least three months and those who did not experience loud noise. The study found 21% of workers, mostly men, endured noisy workplaces. They were two to three times more likely to have heart disease compared with workers who did not experience noise.

The workers who endured loud noise also were more likely to smoke and weigh more than workers who experienced quieter environments. But noise emerged as a risk factor for heart disease even when controlling for those other risk factors.

The authors of the study, published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, speculate that noise exerts the same kind of stress on the body as sudden strong emotion or physical exertion. These kinds of stress trigger the release of chemicals that constrict blood flow through the arteries.

The study has some flaws. For example, the researchers couldn't rule out that the increased risk of heart disease in an noisy workplace wasn't also due to other factors, such as air pollution, shift work or workload. But the research does suggest persistent loud noise can effect health and "deserves special attention," the authors said. It's also a risk factor that would seem fairly easy to remedy with a good pair of ear plugs or a protective head set.

-- Shari Roan / Los Angeles Times

miss entycing
10-06-2010, 08:17 PM
Students Lie Down To Stand Up Against Homophobia
Furman University Event Supports Gay Community


Mandy Gaither, WYFF News 4 Reporter
POSTED: 9:00 pm EDT October 6, 2010
UPDATED: 9:22 pm EDT October 6, 2010

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. -- In light of recent suicides of young men bullied because of their sexual orientation, some Furman University students and staff sent out a message of support to the gay community.

Around 50 of them laid down outside the campus library Wednesday to stand up for those who have killed themselves.

Signs with pictures of Billy Lucas, Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown and Raymond Chase were held during the event. All of the young male students have killed themselves since early September after reportedly being bullied or harassed because of their sexual orientation.

While Furman hasn’t had the tragedies other schools have felt recently, Dusty Roether, the president of the campus organization EROS, which stands for Encouraging Respect of Sexualities, said some students have transferred in the past after feeling harassed at the school.

"If something like this can happen at Rutgers then something like this can certainly happen at Furman," said Roether. "If we can't even feel comfortable on our own campus, then something needs to be done."

Flyers were also passed out during the event to tell people who passed by what was going on and how each person can help achieve acceptance for the gay community.

“Everyone needs to show their support for diversity and for everyone else so that these tragedies don't happen again," said Rene Travis, a student who participated in the event.

Roether said EROS is holding other events on campus like Safe Zone, where students of all sexualities come together to talk about how prejudice can be reduced.

Copyright 2010 by WYFF4.com.

Soon
10-07-2010, 06:23 PM
Investigation Discovers Lou Dobbs Hired At Least Five Undocumented Immigrants To Work At His Estates (http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/07/dobbs-immigrants-horse-farm/)

AtLast
10-08-2010, 01:49 PM
Investigation Discovers Lou Dobbs Hired At Least Five Undocumented Immigrants To Work At His Estates (http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/07/dobbs-immigrants-horse-farm/)

Well, imagine that! As the hypocracy turns!!

Kobi
10-08-2010, 03:09 PM
1 Ohio school, 4 bullied teens dead by own hand
By MEGHAN BARR (AP) – 59 minutes ago

MENTOR, Ohio — Sladjana Vidovic's body lay in an open casket, dressed in the sparkly pink dress she had planned to wear to the prom. Days earlier, she had tied one end of a rope around her neck and the other around a bed post before jumping out her bedroom window.

The 16-year-old's last words, scribbled in English and her native Croatian, told of her daily torment at Mentor High School, where students mocked her accent, taunted her with insults like "Slutty Jana" and threw food at her.

It was the fourth time in little more than two years that a bullied high school student in this small Cleveland suburb on Lake Erie died by his or her own hand — three suicides, one overdose of antidepressants. One was bullied for being gay, another for having a learning disability, another for being a boy who happened to like wearing pink.

Now two families — including the Vidovics — are suing the school district, claiming their children were bullied to death and the school did nothing to stop it. The lawsuits come after a national spate of high-profile suicides by gay teens and others, and during a time of national soul-searching about what can be done to stop it.

If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor — a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the "100 Best Places to Live" by CNN and Money magazine this year — Sladjana's family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.

Suzana Vidovic found her sister's body hanging over the front lawn. The family watched, she said, as the girls who had tormented Sladjana for months walked up to the casket — and laughed.

"They were laughing at the way she looked," Suzana says, crying. "Even though she died."

___

Sladjana Vidovic, whose family had moved to northeast Ohio from Bosnia when she was a little girl, was pretty, vivacious and charming. She loved to dance. She would turn on the stereo and drag her father out of his chair, dance him in circles around the living room.

"Nonstop smile. Nonstop music," says her father, Dragan, who speaks only a little English.

At school, life was very different. She was ridiculed for her thick accent. Classmates tossed insults like "Slutty Jana" or "Slut-Jana-Vagina." A boy pushed her down the stairs. A girl smacked her in the face with a water bottle.

Phone callers in the dead of night would tell her to go back to Croatia, that she'd be dead in the morning, that they'd find her after school, says Suzana Vidovic.

"Sladjana did stand up for herself, but toward the end she just kind of stopped," says her best friend, Jelena Jandric. "Because she couldn't handle it. She didn't have enough strength."

Vidovic's parents say they begged the school to intervene many times. They say the school promised to take care of her.

She had already withdrawn from Mentor and enrolled in an online school about a week before she killed herself.

When the family tried to retrieve records about their reports of bullying, school officials told them the records were destroyed during a switch to computers. The family sued in August.

Two years after her death, Dragan Vidovic waves his hand over the family living room, where a vase of pink flowers stands next to a photograph of Sladjana.

"Today, no music," he says sadly. "No smile."

___

Eric Mohat was flamboyant and loud and preferred to wear pink most of the time. When he didn't get the lead soprano part in the choir his freshman year, he was indignant, his mother says.

He wore a stuffed animal strapped to his arm, a lemur named Georges that was given its own seat in class.

"It was a gag," says Mohat's father, Bill. "And all the girls would come up to pet his monkey. And in his Spanish class they would write stories about Georges."

Mohat's family and friends say he wasn't gay, but people thought he was.

"They called him fag, homo, queer," says his mother, Jan. "He told us that."

Bullies once knocked a pile of books out of his hands on the stairs, saying, "'Pick up your books, faggot,'" says Dan Hughes, a friend of Eric's.

Kids would flick him in the head or call him names, says 20-year-old Drew Juratovac, a former student. One time, a boy called Mohat a "homo," and Juratovac told him to leave Mohat alone.

"I got up and said, 'Listen, you better leave this kid alone. Just walk away,'" he says. "And I just hit him in the face. And I got suspended for it."

Eric Mohat shot himself on March 29, 2007, two weeks before a choir trip to Hawaii.

His parents asked the coroner to call it "bullicide." At Eric's funeral and after his death, other kids told the Mohats that they had seen the teen relentlessly bullied in math class. The Mohats demanded that police investigate, but no criminal activity was found.

Two years later, in April 2009, the Mohats sued the school district, the principal, the superintendent and Eric's math teacher. The federal lawsuit is on hold while the Ohio Supreme Court considers a question of state law regarding the case.

"Did we raise him to be too polite?" Bill Mohat wonders. "Did we leave him defenseless in this school?"

___

Meredith Rezak, 16, shot herself in the head three weeks after the death of Mohat, a good friend of hers. Her cell phone, found next to her body, contained a photograph of Mohat with the caption "R.I.P. Eric a.k.a. Twiggy."

Rezak was bright, outgoing and a well-liked player on the volleyball team. Shortly before her suicide, she had joined the school's Gay-Straight Alliance and told friends and family she thought she might be gay.

Juratovac says Rezak endured her own share of bullying — "name-calling, just stupid trivial stuff" — but nobody ever knew it was getting to her.

"Meredith ended up coming out that she was a lesbian," he says. "I think much of that sparked a lot of the bullying from a lot of the other girls in school, 'cause she didn't fit in."

Her best friend, Kevin Simon, doesn't believe that bullying played a role in Rezak's death. She had serious issues at home that were unrelated to school, he says.

After Mohat's death, people saw Rezak crying at school, and friends heard her talk of suicide herself.

A year after Rezak's death, the older of her two brothers, 22-year-old Justin, also shot and killed himself. His death certificate mentioned "chronic depressive reaction."

This March, her only other sibling, Matthew, died of a drug overdose at age 21.

Their mother, Nancy Merritt, lives in Colorado now. She doesn't think Meredith was bullied to death but doesn't really know what happened. On the phone, her voice drifts off, sounding disconnected, confused.

"So all three of mine are gone," she says. "I have to keep breathing."

___

Most mornings before school, Jennifer Eyring would take Pepto-Bismol to calm her stomach and plead with her mother to let her stay home.

"She used to sob to me in the morning that she did not want to go," says her mother, Janet. "And this is going to bring tears to my eyes. Because I made her go to school."

Eyring, 16, was an accomplished equestrian who had a learning disability. She was developmentally delayed and had a hearing problem, so she received tutoring during the school day. For that, her mother says, she was bullied constantly.

By the end of her sophomore year in 2006, Eyring's mother had decided to pull her out of Mentor High School and enroll her in an online school the following autumn. But one night that summer, Jennifer walked into her parents' bedroom and told them she had taken some of her mother's antidepressant pills to make herself feel better. Hours later, she died of an overdose.

The Eyrings do not hold Mentor High accountable, but they believe she would be alive today had she not been bullied. Her parents are speaking out in hopes of preventing more tragedies.

"It's too late for my daughter," Janet Eyring says, "but it may not be too late for someone else."

___

No official from Mentor public schools would comment for this story. The school also refused to provide details on its anti-bullying program.

Some students say the problem is the culture of conformity in this city of about 50,000 people: If you're not an athlete or cheerleader, you're not cool. And if you're not cool, you're a prime target for the bullies.

But that's not so different from most high schools. Senior Matt Super, who's 17, says the suicides unfairly paint his school in a bad light.

"Not everybody's a good person," he says. "And in a group of 3,000 people, there are going to be bad people."

StopCyberbulling.org founder Parry Aftab says this is the first time she's heard of two sets of parents suing a school at the same time for two independent cases of bullying or cyberbullying. No one has been accused of bullying more than one of the teens who died.

Barbara Coloroso, a national anti-bullying expert, says the school is allowing a "culture of mean" to thrive, and school officials should be held responsible for the suicides — along with the bullies.

"Bullying doesn't start as criminal. They need to be held accountable the very first time they call somebody a gross term," Coloroso says. "That is the beginning of dehumanization."

Associated Press writer Jeannie Nuss in Columbus contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

dreadgeek
10-08-2010, 04:20 PM
We have become a Lord of the Flies society.

Cheers
Aj





1 Ohio school, 4 bullied teens dead by own hand
By MEGHAN BARR (AP) – 59 minutes ago

MENTOR, Ohio — Sladjana Vidovic's body lay in an open casket, dressed in the sparkly pink dress she had planned to wear to the prom. Days earlier, she had tied one end of a rope around her neck and the other around a bed post before jumping out her bedroom window.

The 16-year-old's last words, scribbled in English and her native Croatian, told of her daily torment at Mentor High School, where students mocked her accent, taunted her with insults like "Slutty Jana" and threw food at her.

It was the fourth time in little more than two years that a bullied high school student in this small Cleveland suburb on Lake Erie died by his or her own hand — three suicides, one overdose of antidepressants. One was bullied for being gay, another for having a learning disability, another for being a boy who happened to like wearing pink.

Now two families — including the Vidovics — are suing the school district, claiming their children were bullied to death and the school did nothing to stop it. The lawsuits come after a national spate of high-profile suicides by gay teens and others, and during a time of national soul-searching about what can be done to stop it.

If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor — a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the "100 Best Places to Live" by CNN and Money magazine this year — Sladjana's family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.

Suzana Vidovic found her sister's body hanging over the front lawn. The family watched, she said, as the girls who had tormented Sladjana for months walked up to the casket — and laughed.

"They were laughing at the way she looked," Suzana says, crying. "Even though she died."

___

Sladjana Vidovic, whose family had moved to northeast Ohio from Bosnia when she was a little girl, was pretty, vivacious and charming. She loved to dance. She would turn on the stereo and drag her father out of his chair, dance him in circles around the living room.

"Nonstop smile. Nonstop music," says her father, Dragan, who speaks only a little English.

At school, life was very different. She was ridiculed for her thick accent. Classmates tossed insults like "Slutty Jana" or "Slut-Jana-Vagina." A boy pushed her down the stairs. A girl smacked her in the face with a water bottle.

Phone callers in the dead of night would tell her to go back to Croatia, that she'd be dead in the morning, that they'd find her after school, says Suzana Vidovic.

"Sladjana did stand up for herself, but toward the end she just kind of stopped," says her best friend, Jelena Jandric. "Because she couldn't handle it. She didn't have enough strength."

Vidovic's parents say they begged the school to intervene many times. They say the school promised to take care of her.

She had already withdrawn from Mentor and enrolled in an online school about a week before she killed herself.

When the family tried to retrieve records about their reports of bullying, school officials told them the records were destroyed during a switch to computers. The family sued in August.

Two years after her death, Dragan Vidovic waves his hand over the family living room, where a vase of pink flowers stands next to a photograph of Sladjana.

"Today, no music," he says sadly. "No smile."

___

Eric Mohat was flamboyant and loud and preferred to wear pink most of the time. When he didn't get the lead soprano part in the choir his freshman year, he was indignant, his mother says.

He wore a stuffed animal strapped to his arm, a lemur named Georges that was given its own seat in class.

"It was a gag," says Mohat's father, Bill. "And all the girls would come up to pet his monkey. And in his Spanish class they would write stories about Georges."

Mohat's family and friends say he wasn't gay, but people thought he was.

"They called him fag, homo, queer," says his mother, Jan. "He told us that."

Bullies once knocked a pile of books out of his hands on the stairs, saying, "'Pick up your books, faggot,'" says Dan Hughes, a friend of Eric's.

Kids would flick him in the head or call him names, says 20-year-old Drew Juratovac, a former student. One time, a boy called Mohat a "homo," and Juratovac told him to leave Mohat alone.

"I got up and said, 'Listen, you better leave this kid alone. Just walk away,'" he says. "And I just hit him in the face. And I got suspended for it."

Eric Mohat shot himself on March 29, 2007, two weeks before a choir trip to Hawaii.

His parents asked the coroner to call it "bullicide." At Eric's funeral and after his death, other kids told the Mohats that they had seen the teen relentlessly bullied in math class. The Mohats demanded that police investigate, but no criminal activity was found.

Two years later, in April 2009, the Mohats sued the school district, the principal, the superintendent and Eric's math teacher. The federal lawsuit is on hold while the Ohio Supreme Court considers a question of state law regarding the case.

"Did we raise him to be too polite?" Bill Mohat wonders. "Did we leave him defenseless in this school?"

___

Meredith Rezak, 16, shot herself in the head three weeks after the death of Mohat, a good friend of hers. Her cell phone, found next to her body, contained a photograph of Mohat with the caption "R.I.P. Eric a.k.a. Twiggy."

Rezak was bright, outgoing and a well-liked player on the volleyball team. Shortly before her suicide, she had joined the school's Gay-Straight Alliance and told friends and family she thought she might be gay.

Juratovac says Rezak endured her own share of bullying — "name-calling, just stupid trivial stuff" — but nobody ever knew it was getting to her.

"Meredith ended up coming out that she was a lesbian," he says. "I think much of that sparked a lot of the bullying from a lot of the other girls in school, 'cause she didn't fit in."

Her best friend, Kevin Simon, doesn't believe that bullying played a role in Rezak's death. She had serious issues at home that were unrelated to school, he says.

After Mohat's death, people saw Rezak crying at school, and friends heard her talk of suicide herself.

A year after Rezak's death, the older of her two brothers, 22-year-old Justin, also shot and killed himself. His death certificate mentioned "chronic depressive reaction."

This March, her only other sibling, Matthew, died of a drug overdose at age 21.

Their mother, Nancy Merritt, lives in Colorado now. She doesn't think Meredith was bullied to death but doesn't really know what happened. On the phone, her voice drifts off, sounding disconnected, confused.

"So all three of mine are gone," she says. "I have to keep breathing."

___

Most mornings before school, Jennifer Eyring would take Pepto-Bismol to calm her stomach and plead with her mother to let her stay home.

"She used to sob to me in the morning that she did not want to go," says her mother, Janet. "And this is going to bring tears to my eyes. Because I made her go to school."

Eyring, 16, was an accomplished equestrian who had a learning disability. She was developmentally delayed and had a hearing problem, so she received tutoring during the school day. For that, her mother says, she was bullied constantly.

By the end of her sophomore year in 2006, Eyring's mother had decided to pull her out of Mentor High School and enroll her in an online school the following autumn. But one night that summer, Jennifer walked into her parents' bedroom and told them she had taken some of her mother's antidepressant pills to make herself feel better. Hours later, she died of an overdose.

The Eyrings do not hold Mentor High accountable, but they believe she would be alive today had she not been bullied. Her parents are speaking out in hopes of preventing more tragedies.

"It's too late for my daughter," Janet Eyring says, "but it may not be too late for someone else."

___

No official from Mentor public schools would comment for this story. The school also refused to provide details on its anti-bullying program.

Some students say the problem is the culture of conformity in this city of about 50,000 people: If you're not an athlete or cheerleader, you're not cool. And if you're not cool, you're a prime target for the bullies.

But that's not so different from most high schools. Senior Matt Super, who's 17, says the suicides unfairly paint his school in a bad light.

"Not everybody's a good person," he says. "And in a group of 3,000 people, there are going to be bad people."

StopCyberbulling.org founder Parry Aftab says this is the first time she's heard of two sets of parents suing a school at the same time for two independent cases of bullying or cyberbullying. No one has been accused of bullying more than one of the teens who died.

Barbara Coloroso, a national anti-bullying expert, says the school is allowing a "culture of mean" to thrive, and school officials should be held responsible for the suicides — along with the bullies.

"Bullying doesn't start as criminal. They need to be held accountable the very first time they call somebody a gross term," Coloroso says. "That is the beginning of dehumanization."

Associated Press writer Jeannie Nuss in Columbus contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Nat
10-10-2010, 01:42 AM
At Chilean mine, joy and relief as tunnel reaches trapped men
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/09/AR2010100904252.html)

The miners, who had been gathered anxiously for the previous 12 hours at the section of the tunnel where the drill bit entered, celebrated. Ten minutes after the drill reached them, they sent messages topside that no one had been injured.

The slightly angled hole into the San Jose copper and gold mine will now be used to haul out the miners one by one in a specially designed rescue capsule. That operation is expected to begin Wednesday, according to Chile's mining minister, the Associated Press reported Saturday night.

Seconds after the drill reached the miners, a chorus of truck horns echoed through the valley, a long-awaited signal to relatives who had held a 48-hour vigil of hope and anxiety. Hundreds of family members hugged, cried and climbed up the mountain to celebrate. On the slope, surrounded by 33 flags - one for each of the trapped men - relatives cheered and talked of the moment when their loved ones would be free. The men have been stranded since Aug. 5 and were discovered alive Aug. 22.

Sparkle
10-10-2010, 10:11 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9305313


BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian riot police fought running battles on Sunday with hundreds of far-right supporters who hurled Molotov cocktails and stun grenades to try disrupt a gay pride march in downtown Belgrade. Nearly 100 people were hurt and over 100 arrested, officials said.

/snip
Sunday's pride march was viewed as a major test for Serbia's government, which has launched pro-Western reforms and pledged to protect human rights as it seeks European Union membership.

Right-wing groups broke up a gay march in 2001 and forced the cancellation of last year's event.

"This was undoubtedly a political message, an attempt to destabilize the country and this government," said prominent political analyst Miljenko Dereta. "The rioters had political support."

/snip
Police said that 78 policemen and 17 citizens were injured. They said 101 people were detained, 53 of whom remain in custody, suspected of violent behavior.

Serbian President Boris Tadic condemned the "vandalism" on Belgrade streets and pledged that the extremists will be arrested and punished.

"Serbia will guarantee human rights for all its citizens, regardless of the differences among them, and no attempts to revoke these freedoms with violence will be allowed," Tadic said

Mike
10-11-2010, 08:47 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9293874


A week after attending a tumultuous city council meeting over recognition of LGBT History Month in Norman, Oklahoma, another young man has killed himself at the home of his family. Some family members are attributing part of the cause of this suicide on his experiences coming out in a local high school added to some rather vile statements in opposition to the city council's vote to recognize LGBT History Month.

Naturally, the most toxic verbiage (along with the spewing of rightwing talking points) came from self-proclaimed "Christians," who ignored the sins of members of their own religion to concentrate on some amazingly vile, willfully ignorant testimony about the imagined "lifestyle" of the LGBT community. One bi-racial woman, who insisted she resented gays using their private relationships as a "civil rights" issue, proudly proclaimed her "christianity" while ignoring that her personally selected and interpreted "religious" beliefs - which are PRIVATELY chosen, are protected by the same anti-discriminination laws. She was, of course, a self-claiming sexuality expert about homosexuals and their inability to "reproduce" . . .I'm rolling my eyes.

It seems to me that a society which allows the willfully ignorant to reproduce and the raise willfully ignorant children, deciding which "religious" belief best suits the prejudices they wish to instill in those children, which "religious" views they wish to impose upon other citizens, can certainly allow the LGBT population the same access to rights which these morons claim as their own. I'm sick and tired of listening to these self-righteous, weak-minded, faith-based hate-co-dependent sociopaths go on their damn rants. Why is it so hard for people in this country to stand up to the bigots - hell, you don't even have to call them bigots. When some wingnut alleged "Christian" starts telling me all about their special connection to hate based on Jesus, I never hesitate to remind them about the amazingly long list of others in their flock with a damnable history of willful sin. I also never hesitate to remind them that I view religion as a private choice and a private thing, and view people who need to wear it on their sleeves as likely not really very faithful...and that they sound as if they use their "God" as a second husband/wife or surrogate.

That being said, this poor 19-year-old kid, who did endure many taunts and exposure to some of America's worst practitioners of irrational insanity, is now dead. And you can bet that every rightwing nutcase who spews such vile, bullying hatred while pretending to ground it on the white baby Jesus, will immediately deny having any influence on this young man.

Here is the story from the Norman, Oklahoma newspaper:

http://normantranscript.com/headlines/x1477594493/-I-m-... (http://normantranscript.com/headlines/x1477594493/-I-m-sure-he-took-it-personally)

And you can see a video clip of part of the citizens commentary at the city council meeting here:

http://www.queerty.com/suicide-oklahomas-zach-harringto... (http://www.queerty.com/suicide-oklahomas-zach-harrington-19-kills-himself-after-hateful-town-meeting-20101010/#fin_anime)


Listening to some of these people just makes me shake my head - and makes me angry. I wish I had been at the meeting, because someone needs to start speaking up and getting back into their faces in the same manner their vile, irrational phobia gets projected onto the public - and onto other citizens.

Corkey
10-11-2010, 12:45 PM
http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/walmart_to_sell_book_about_curing_gay_people?me=nl

Petition time again.

Corkey
10-11-2010, 04:39 PM
Social security again no cola increase for 2011, thanks a fucking lot a@@holes.

MsDemeanor
10-11-2010, 06:30 PM
Social security again no cola increase for 2011, thanks a fucking lot a@@holes.
I suppose that we could wish for some nice runaway inflation so that there can be a cola increase in 2012 :-)

If everyone votes Democrat, then I'm sure the government will issue another one-off check to offset the missing cola. If the repugs take over, then I'm sure that social security will be moved to the stock market, where it can fluctuate daily, prop up investment firms bottom lines, and maybe even lose 10, 20, 30 % the next time financial institutions dick around.

AtLast
10-11-2010, 10:49 PM
I suppose that we could wish for some nice runaway inflation so that there can be a cola increase in 2012 :-)

If everyone votes Democrat, then I'm sure the government will issue another one-off check to offset the missing cola. If the repugs take over, then I'm sure that social security will be moved to the stock market, where it can fluctuate daily, prop up investment firms bottom lines, and maybe even lose 10, 20, 30 % the next time financial institutions dick around.

And people are not feeling like there is much to vote about? I think this is one of the most critical mid-term election cycles ever. One of the most scarey, too. There are a lot of voters out there wanting Sarah Palin clones in office.....

Kobi
10-11-2010, 11:20 PM
And people are not feeling like there is much to vote about? I think this is one of the most critical mid-term election cycles ever. One of the most scarey, too. There are a lot of voters out there wanting Sarah Palin clones in office.....

I dont know what it is like where you all are. Here there is so much negative campaigning, mud slinging, lawsuits, accusations, mailings by the truckloads denoucing each other, and such. At this point, Im having trouble figuring out who the Palin clones even are.

MsDemeanor
10-12-2010, 02:33 AM
At this point, Im having trouble figuring out who the Palin clones even are.
Hint: On the ballot, they all have (R) next to their name.

Sparkle
10-12-2010, 09:15 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11517459

Iceland is ranked 'best for gender equality'

(Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is also an out lesbian http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/world-gets-its-first-gay-head-of-state-1519068.html)

Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report.
The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health.
/snip
"Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."

/snip
Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama's administration and a reduction in the country's gender pay gap.

Lowest gender gaps in 2010

1 Iceland - no change from 2009

2 Norway - Up from 3rd

3 Finland - Down from 2nd

4 Sweden - No change

5 New Zealand - No change

6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th

7 Denmark - No change

8 Lesotho - Up from 10th

9 Philippines - No change

10 Switzerland - Up from 13th

11 Spain - Up from 17th

12 South Africa - Down from 6th

13 Germany - Down from 12th

14 Belgium - Up from 33rd

15 UK - No change

Source: World Economic Forum

Greyson
10-12-2010, 01:58 PM
Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide - Josh Gerstein: Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide

October 12, 2010

Judge bans 'don't ask' policy worldwide

A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to halt all enforcement worldwide of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips issued the injunction (text here) Tuesday after finding last month that the policy, passed by Congress in 1993, violates the Constitutional rights of servicemembers. She acted on a lawsuit brought by a gay GOP group, the Log Cabin Republicans.

The Justice Department had urged Phillips, who sits in Riverside, Calif., to limit any relief in the case to the Log Cabin group or to the named plaintiffs, but the judge rebuffed that request. Her order applies to all U.S. military operations across the globe.

The White House had no immediate reaction to the order, which took effect at the time it was issued. If the Justice Department continues its present stance of defending the "don't ask" statute despite President Barack Obama's call for its repeal, an appeal is likely. That is sure to provoke an angry response from gay activists and others pressing for an end to the policy.

"The president will continue to work as hard as he can to change the law that he believes is fundamentally unfair," Gibbs said, while reserving comment on the injunction.


http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/1010/Judge_bans_dont_ask_policy_worldwide.html

AtLast
10-12-2010, 02:13 PM
Hint: On the ballot, they all have (R) next to their name.

ROLF... for Repulsive, Reactionary and Retrograde!

OK, there are moderate republicans I am fine with. But, in the political climate of today- and the forces vying for republican status, no way will I vote for one!

Sometimes, I feel for moderate republicans in the midst of what is going on.

Isadora
10-12-2010, 02:31 PM
Iceland was the very last place that was Christianized. They fought Christianity for as long as they could. I wonder if their history on the equality of women, etc, has anything do with the Teutonic culture and that they honored women as leaders and Goddess?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11517459

Iceland is ranked 'best for gender equality'

(Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is also an out lesbian http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/world-gets-its-first-gay-head-of-state-1519068.html)

Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report.
The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health.
/snip
"Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."

/snip
Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama's administration and a reduction in the country's gender pay gap.

Lowest gender gaps in 2010

1 Iceland - no change from 2009

2 Norway - Up from 3rd

3 Finland - Down from 2nd

4 Sweden - No change

5 New Zealand - No change

6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th

7 Denmark - No change

8 Lesotho - Up from 10th

9 Philippines - No change

10 Switzerland - Up from 13th

11 Spain - Up from 17th

12 South Africa - Down from 6th

13 Germany - Down from 12th

14 Belgium - Up from 33rd

15 UK - No change

Source: World Economic Forum

AtLast
10-12-2010, 02:37 PM
Iceland was the very last place that was Christianized. They fought Christianity for as long as they could. I wonder if their history on the equality of women, etc, has anything do with the Teutonic culture and that they honored women as leaders and Goddess?

You have one hell of a point! Thank you!!

rlin
10-12-2010, 02:49 PM
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, October 12, 2010 -- 3:45 PM ET
-----

Judge Orders Injunction Stopping 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

A federal judge ordered the government on Tuesday to stop
enforcing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the
military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips's ruling was widely
cheered by gay rights organizations.

Department of Justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal. Legal
experts say the department is under no legal obligation to do
so and could let Judge Phillips's ruling stand.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/12/us/AP-US-Gays-in-Military.html?emc=na

The_Lady_Snow
10-12-2010, 08:35 PM
Transgender Teen Not on Homecoming Court



http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/education/101110-transgender-teen-not-on-homecoming-court

Tommi
10-12-2010, 09:27 PM
The first Chilean minor has been rescued!!!!:hangloose::hangloose:The first Chilean minor has been rescued!!!!

WILDCAT
10-12-2010, 09:27 PM
Hope folks who are interested are watching the rescue mission in Chile. I'm following CNN with Cooper.

The first man just came up. 68 days, 1/2 mile below the surface of the earth.

A HUGE bringing together of many countries helping with this event. And a great respect towards Chile being shown. There is so much love!

Only 32 of the original 33 to go! (But, they are sending down a rescue person for first few times on each descend...)

Amazing story of survival, adaptation, AND LOVE. (And technology too, used in a good way. Folks from NASA helped. A driller from Afghanistan, etc... and on and on and on.)

There is HOPE. Oh, it's called "Camp Hope" too, I believe.

PEACE

:heartbeat:

WILDCAT
10-12-2010, 10:01 PM
Jeff Hart, lead driller. First to break through - on plan "B" of three plans of drilling.

He is now watching from a hotel room. These folks (drillers) got OUT of the way in respect of the Chileans, for the families - along with other folks crucial in helping and needing to be here with this phase of the rescue... (including medical, as well as the capsule/equipment technicians, etc...) A LOT of coordinating going on there, and well thought out... regarding diet, communications, video documentations to help for the future, compression suits, etc...

Jeff Hart stated... he drilled standing, as a "good driller can feel better than any gauge". Truly amazing. He also said it was the toughest drilling job he's ever had. Bits constantly breaking. The 80 degree angle, through a very tough strata.
_

This is such a healing event. I hope that it ALL goes well!

Here's to everyone involved in this, and to JEFF HART - YOU HAVE HEART!!!

(I just heard his interview, very humble man.)

:gimmehug:

:cheer:

:thumbsup:

*Second rescuer just arrived with the miners! I got VERY choked up when the first one came down and we could see the miners hugging him... and he them. Brave folk here!!!! Second miner coming up. Such comradery we're witnessing!!

Much peace and love!

Greyson
10-13-2010, 06:32 AM
More Californians
reverse course and
head to Oklahoma
By Paul Wiseman

USA TODAY

OKLAHOMA CITY — Former Hollywood producer
Neal Nordlinger, raising funds for a technology
venture a couple of years ago, was stunned when a
partner suggested locating the start-up here in Okla-
homa's capital and leaving Los Angeles behind: "I
said: 'Are you blankety-blank crazy? Oklahoma City?
It's a cow town.' "

That was then. Now Nordlinger is running a
software firm here and preaching the virtues of the
heartland — low costs, unclogged streets, friendly
people. "It's a dream here," he says. "The selling
price of a house here would not be the down
payment on a house in L.A. ... People in L.A. do
something for you because there's something in it
for them. Here, they genuinely want to help you
succeed."

Nordlinger, who co-produced the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies Last Action Hero and Junior, is part of a mini-exodus: Since 1999, the number
of Californians departing the Golden State for
Oklahoma has outnumbered those going the
opposite direction by more than 21,000, a reversal
of the Depression-era migration west that John
Steinbeck described in The Grapes of Wrath. In
August, Boeing announced plans to shift 550 jobs
from Long Beach to its complex next to Tinker Air
Force Base outside Oklahoma City.

The influx of Californians is a sign of Oklahoma's
growing economic prowess. The state was spared
the worst of the nation's deepest economic
downturn since Steinbeck wrote his classic novel of
Okies and their desperate journey from the Dust
Bowl to the orchards of California.

"We are outperforming the rest of the country," says
Mickey Hepner, an economist at the University of
Central Oklahoma. "Our personal income is growing
a little faster than elsewhere. ... We didn't suffer the
depths of recession like the rest of the country, so
we could bounce back a little more quickly."

Poised for growth Oklahoma's unemployment rate was tied for 10th
lowest in the country in August at 7%. Aaron Smith,
senior economist for Moody's Analytics, recently
upgraded his forecast for the state, writing,
"Oklahoma should be among the first to make the
leap from recovery to expansion."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-10-12-oklahoma12_CV_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Tommi
10-13-2010, 07:14 AM
12
Twelve Chilean miners have been rescued!!!!:hangloose: Remarkable recoveries.

StillettoDoll
10-13-2010, 07:17 AM
12
Twelve Chilean minors have been rescued!!!!:hangloose: Remarkable recoveries.

Yes watching it on the news, its so emotional! :bigcry::watereyes:

Tommi
10-13-2010, 07:22 AM
12
Twelve Chilean miners have been rescued!!!!:hangloose: Remarkable recoveries.

Yes watching it on the news, its so emotional! :bigcry::watereyes:

It truly is. I grew up in a coal mining area in Pennsylvania, and can just imagine the relief the loved ones are feeling. Can you see the pride and strength in the rescued and the rescuers. Plus the Chilean President has been there all nght too. Amazing *!!

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was euphoric in the early hours of Wednesday, minutes after the first of 33 miners reached the surface.

“In this rescue operation we Chileans have shown the best of us,” Mr. Pinera told a press conference at the San Jose copper mine. The miners were trapped August 5 by a shaft collapse in this barren northern Chile desert landscape.

He described the experience as “a wonderful night that Chileans and the whole world will never forget.” “Let the miners’ example stay with us forever,” Mr. Pinera said.http://web7.bernama.com/bernama/newspic/wn/2010-10-10T075230Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_2_India-520818-4-pic0.jpg

Greyson
10-13-2010, 09:01 AM
Christian schools lose appeal bid in UC case

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from Christian schools that want the University of California to grant college-prep credit for courses with religious viewpoints - using textbooks, UC says, that replace science with the Bible.

The justices, without comment, denied a hearing to the Association of Christian Schools International, which accused the university of violating freedom of speech and religion with its policy on the classes applicants take in high school.

UC requires certain high school courses for admission and says it reviews their content to make sure they cover subjects that incoming students need. University officials said some of the Christian schools' classes in biology, history, English and religion didn't pass the test - a conclusion that the schools blamed on discrimination.

The association's 800 high schools in California teach "standard course content" and "add a religious viewpoint in each subject ... as an integral part of their reason for existence," the group's lawyers said in their Supreme Court appeal.

But a federal judge said experts testifying for the university refuted those claims in reviewing textbooks.

Biology texts, one professor concluded, teach students to reject any scientific evidence that contradicted the Bible. A history text declared the Bible to be the "unerring source for analysis" of past events, in the view of another expert, and gave short shrift to women, non-Christians and some ethnic groups.

Another UC evaluator said an English literature course did not require students to read novels or plays, but instead presented an anthology, "Classics for Christians," that "insists on specific interpretations" of excerpted works.

Those and similar assessments showed that the university had rational grounds for denying college preparatory credit for the courses, U.S. District Judge James Otero said in a 2008 ruling.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld his decision in January. A three-judge panel said the evidence showed that UC has approved other high school courses with "religious content and viewpoints," and classes that used religious textbooks, as long as they met academic standards.

UC officials praised the court decisions and said the university has similar rates of approval for courses in religious and secular schools. Lawyers for the Christian school association denounced the ruling in their Supreme Court appeal.

"In the Ninth Circuit," they said, "religious speech in religious schools is less protected than commercial speech, flag burning and pornography."

The case is Association of Christian Schools International vs. Stearns, 09-1461.


E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.


If you have any doubt about ACSI go take a look. http://www.acsi.org/About/PresidentsPen/tabid/716/Default.aspx

Nat
10-13-2010, 12:32 PM
Porn Star Tests Positive for HIV, Shuts Down Production at 2 Companies


http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/10/13/positive-hiv-result-threatens-porn-industry-shutdown/

Greyson
10-14-2010, 10:06 AM
Mistresses and wives clash over trapped Chilean miners
Tensions are rising above ground as wives and mistresses of the 33 miners trapped deep within the San Jose mine make rival claims for compensation.

By Fiona Govan at the San Jose Mine

Published: 9:00PM BST 02 Sep 2010


Link to this video Authorities at Camp Hope have had to deal with a rush of women coming forward claiming to be first in the Chilean miners' affections in order to receive government handouts.

At least five wives have been forced to come face to face with mistresses whose existence was kept from them by their husbands, who have been trapped more than 2,300ft below since a cave in on August 5.

Chile begins rescue drilling One miner has four women fighting over him in an effort to claim compensation offered to the families of those facing between three to four months underground until a rescue shaft can reach them.

Government officials are considering asking the 33 trapped miners to name those they want to claim the benefits entitled to them in a bid to solve problems on the surface.

"There has been a lot of conflict between women," admitted Marta Flores a Red Cross worker at the makeshift camp where relatives wait for news of their loved ones.

"We had a big bust up in the canteen tent when a wife came across a woman who claimed to be her husband's lover – we had to step in and pull them apart before things got physical." At stake are welfare packages issued to the families of the trapped miners as well as future compensation claims that could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

"Unfortunately the conflict stems from money issues," said Mrs Flores. "Some of the men have children from numerous women and all of them have arrived here to stake their claim. I've met five families in this situation but I'm sure there are more." Some women turned up at the camp to discover that their partners already had a wife and children who they knew nothing about.

"Those that truly love their men have slipped away quietly not wanting to cause any more pain to the families but others are putting up a fight." Special welfare officers trained in marital issues have been brought in to provide help to women faced with their husband's infidelity.

One miner, who has not been named, has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he had several years ago, and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all visiting the camp.

"It's a logistical nightmare trying to keep them apart and of course they all want to send messages," said Mrs Flores.

The team of psychologists charged with ensuring the mental welfare of the men below ground are attempting keep such developments from the miners.

"We read all the letters before they are sent down to make sure the miners do not experience any extra anxiety," said Alberto Iturra, head of the psychological team.

One of the trapped miners, Yonni Barrios Rojas, who is using his first aid training to treat medical problems underground is among those who faces difficult questions when he finally makes it the surface.

His wife, Marta Salinas, 56, discovered he had a mistress when she came across another woman holding a vigil for him. The other woman, Susana Valenzuela, said they met on a training course five years ago and he was planning to leave his wife for her.

"He is my husband. He loves me and I am his devoted wife," insisted Mrs Salinas. "This other woman has no legitimacy."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7978509/Mistresses-and-wives-clash-over-trapped-Chilean-miners.html

Nat
10-14-2010, 02:57 PM
Greyson - that's heart-wrenching for all parties. Thanks for posting.

MsDemeanor
10-14-2010, 07:52 PM
There ya go! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101015/ap_on_go_co/us_social_security_no_cola)

The House is going to try to get another $250 bucks to folks to offset the missing cola. If the Senate says 'no', then millions are screwed by a handful of Senate Repugs.

They tried to put through a second $250 check last year, but a few little-d democrats joined the Senate Repugs on the 'no' vote.

The moral of the story is, one should not only vote democrat, but one should vote liberal democrat. Conservidems aren't as disgusting as Senate Repugs, but they're sometimes also quite willing to fuck over folks.

Jess
10-15-2010, 05:50 AM
There ya go! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101015/ap_on_go_co/us_social_security_no_cola)

The House is going to try to get another $250 bucks to folks to offset the missing cola. If the Senate says 'no', then millions are screwed by a handful of Senate Repugs.

They tried to put through a second $250 check last year, but a few little-d democrats joined the Senate Repugs on the 'no' vote.

The moral of the story is, one should not only vote democrat, but one should vote liberal democrat. Conservidems aren't as disgusting as Senate Repugs, but they're sometimes also quite willing to fuck over folks.


I know in this area, utility costs alone have increased by double digit percentages in the past two years. Added to the loss by many of their retirement funds with the big crash, the cost of living DID go up, or at the very least, the availability of funds other than Social Security benefits.

I'm not sure which "consumer prices" didn't increase, perhaps they are basing the numbers on all of the marked down prices companies are offering due to the economy and unemployment.

I don't think that $250.00 is gonna solve anything, the COLA should have been passed and not passed over with a band-aid being dangled instead.

One article plus a link to AARP's site for more info:

http://www.enewspf.com/index.php/opinion/19230-aarp-cola-critical-to-millions-of-americans-

Glenn
10-15-2010, 09:14 AM
You folks who owe the government anything such as a school loan etc...will get the 250 check taken away by the government (you simply won't receive one). The COLA raise was added directly onto folks checks whether they owed the government any money or not.

MsDemeanor
10-15-2010, 11:01 AM
I know in this area, utility costs alone have increased by double digit percentages in the past two years. Added to the loss by many of their retirement funds with the big crash, the cost of living DID go up, or at the very least, the availability of funds other than Social Security benefits.

I'm not sure which "consumer prices" didn't increase, perhaps they are basing the numbers on all of the marked down prices companies are offering due to the economy and unemployment.

I don't think that $250.00 is gonna solve anything, the COLA should have been passed and not passed over with a band-aid being dangled instead.


Actually, the $250 was fairly close to the equivalent of the median (I think it was median, might have been average) COLA increase from the year before, so it did 'solve something'.

Income losses due to the market crash aren't costs of living, they're sources of income. It's like when Walmart cuts your hours, it's not an increase in your costs, it's a decrease in your income. Vote republican and you can look forward to more income slashing as social security moves to the stock market.

COLA uses CPI-W. Here's a link where you can learn about what that entails, and you can google for more information. I find that researching something about which I am curious is more fruitful than just wondering about it. linkyloo (http://www.bls.gov/dolfaq/bls_ques7.htm)

MsDemeanor
10-15-2010, 11:06 AM
You folks who owe the government anything such as a school loan etc...will get the 250 check taken away by the government (you simply won't receive one). The COLA raise was added directly onto folks checks whether they owed the government any money or not.
Yep, and if the government didn't do that then conservatives would be pissing a fit over "giving away money to irresponsible people". I can almost envision the tea party signs and sanctimonious righteousness.

AtLast
10-15-2010, 07:15 PM
Yep, and if the government didn't do that then conservatives would be pissing a fit over "giving away money to irresponsible people". I can almost envision the tea party signs and sanctimonious righteousness.

Yeah and all the people now in forclosure are totally respoinsible for this. Even though, new fraud is now being discovered that the banks have perpetrated which has continued since the start of this mess. You know, I sometimes wish that the whole damn system would have been left to fall on its ass. Common working people have been hurt anyway and would have been. Those that have actually continued to make millions/billions would have no idea how to cope. None. perhaps that was really the "correction" needed.

Nat
10-17-2010, 03:21 PM
OKCupid's rather fascinating analysis of gay vs straight users (http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/gay-sex-vs-straight-sex/)

Soon
10-17-2010, 03:26 PM
OKCupid's rather fascinating analysis of gay vs straight users (http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/gay-sex-vs-straight-sex/)

fascinating, indeed!

...go Canada! lmao!

Tommi
10-17-2010, 03:26 PM
OKCupid's rather fascinating analysis of gay vs straight users (http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/gay-sex-vs-straight-sex/)

Thanks Nat. Fun reading.

Soon
10-17-2010, 05:36 PM
Lesbian couple ejected from mall meet with property managers (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/17/north.carolina.lesbian.couple/?hpt=T2)

p.s. one half of the couple--Caitlin Breedlove--identifies as a queer femme. :)

http://www.southernersonnewground.org/contact-us/staff/

morningstar55
10-17-2010, 06:08 PM
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
Morningstar has hit a Witch with her truck this evening......
she is a lil shaken but fine........ as for the witch well..... lets just say it happend soo fast.......
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/morningstar1955/1017101741.jpg

Cyclopea
10-17-2010, 06:50 PM
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
Morningstar has hit a Witch with her truck this evening......
she is a lil shaken but fine........ as for the witch well..... lets just say it happend soo fast.......
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/morningstar1955/1017101741.jpg

Did this happen in Delaware by any chance? :lol2:

morningstar55
10-18-2010, 03:27 AM
Did this happen in Delaware by any chance? :lol2:

hahaha.... noo....... think it happend thru the mountainy area in TN on i26.. heading to NC.. lol it was dark..

LipstickLola
10-18-2010, 09:40 AM
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
Morningstar has hit a Witch with her truck this evening......
she is a lil shaken but fine........ as for the witch well..... lets just say it happend soo fast.......
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/morningstar1955/1017101741.jpg

OMG, I love seeing this (on other trucks of course) heading towards me! I usually honk and wave :clap:

Nat
10-18-2010, 12:23 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8071370/John-McCains-daughter-Meghan-calls-Christine-ODonnell-a-nut-job.html

Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, has condemned Christine O'Donnell, the Republican Senate candidate, as a 'nut job' who is making a 'mockery' of politics.

Miss McCain, a Republican who is making a name for herself as an outspoken pundit, said what many party colleagues have been afraid of uttering publicly.

She is moderate who supports gay marriage, has criticised her father's vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin and taken issue with the anti-tax Tea Party for its "innate racism".

Miss O'Donnell, 41, is a Tea Party darling.

She is trailing badly in the Delaware Senate race, is best known for having spoken out against masturbation and admitting she had "dabbled" in witchcraft.

Her first television campaign advertisement began with her saying: "I am not a witch."

"Well, I speak as a 26-year-old woman and my problem is that, no matter what, Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office," Miss McCain said on ABC News. "She has no real history, no real success in any kind of business.

"It scares for me for a lot of reasons. In my group of friends, it turns people off because she's seen as a nut job."

Miss O'Donnell, who is running for Senate in Delaware for the third time, scored a shock primary victory over Representative Mike Castle, a moderate Republican who was widely viewed as a certain victory over the Democratic candidate Chris Coons.

But despite astounding fund-raising figures, Miss O'Donnell is badly trailing Mr Coons, a blow to Republican chances of capturing the 10 seats they need to win back control of the Senate.

Miss McCain recently wrote a book called "Dirty Sexy Politics" and revealed that when Mrs Palin joined her father's presidential ticket in 2008 she brought "stress, drama, complications, panic and loads of uncertainty" to the campaign.

Jess
10-18-2010, 12:28 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8071370/John-McCains-daughter-Meghan-calls-Christine-ODonnell-a-nut-job.html

Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, has condemned Christine O'Donnell, the Republican Senate candidate, as a 'nut job' who is making a 'mockery' of politics.

Miss McCain, a Republican who is making a name for herself as an outspoken pundit, said what many party colleagues have been afraid of uttering publicly.

She is moderate who supports gay marriage, has criticised her father's vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin and taken issue with the anti-tax Tea Party for its "innate racism".

Miss O'Donnell, 41, is a Tea Party darling.

She is trailing badly in the Delaware Senate race, is best known for having spoken out against masturbation and admitting she had "dabbled" in witchcraft.

Her first television campaign advertisement began with her saying: "I am not a witch."

"Well, I speak as a 26-year-old woman and my problem is that, no matter what, Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office," Miss McCain said on ABC News. "She has no real history, no real success in any kind of business.

"It scares for me for a lot of reasons. In my group of friends, it turns people off because she's seen as a nut job."

Miss O'Donnell, who is running for Senate in Delaware for the third time, scored a shock primary victory over Representative Mike Castle, a moderate Republican who was widely viewed as a certain victory over the Democratic candidate Chris Coons.

But despite astounding fund-raising figures, Miss O'Donnell is badly trailing Mr Coons, a blow to Republican chances of capturing the 10 seats they need to win back control of the Senate.

Miss McCain recently wrote a book called "Dirty Sexy Politics" and revealed that when Mrs Palin joined her father's presidential ticket in 2008 she brought "stress, drama, complications, panic and loads of uncertainty" to the campaign.


Thanks Nat. It is actually very refreshing to see more Republicans voicing what everyone else sees. It seems that more and more moderate Republicans are starting to speak up to the idiocy of the ultra-social conservatives.

Nat
10-18-2010, 12:30 PM
Thanks Nat. It is actually very refreshing to see more Republicans voicing what everyone else sees. It seems that more and more moderate Republicans are starting to speak up to the idiocy of the ultra-social conservatives.

I love Meghan McCain in a way

Apocalipstic
10-18-2010, 01:27 PM
I love Meghan McCain in a way

Me too.

and

She is HOT! :) (not that being hot should matter, but when I see her I just grin. lol)

Nat
10-18-2010, 09:03 PM
Judge tentatively rejects 'don't ask, don't tell' stay request (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dont-ask-20101019,0,2560559.story)

A federal judge in Riverside who declared the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays unconstitutional issued a tentative ruling Monday rejecting the federal government's request to stay her decision while the case is appealed.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips said the government failed to provide sufficient proof that her injunction halting the policy would cause "irreparable harm" to the military or that the government's appeal would be successful. Phillips planned to issue her final decision early Tuesday.

MsDemeanor
10-18-2010, 11:56 PM
If the 9th Circuit doesn't grant the stay, the Supremes surely will.

MsDemeanor
10-19-2010, 01:01 PM
Debate between Coons and O'Donnell. What Olbermann says about Palin is doubly true about O'Donnell: "that woman is an idiot".

O'Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons' position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.

Coons said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that "religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked him.

When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O'Donnell asked: "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?"

linkyloo (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/christine-odonnell-church-and-state_n_767910.html)

Isadora
10-19-2010, 01:19 PM
bangs head on desk

Debate between Coons and O'Donnell. What Olbermann says about Palin is doubly true about O'Donnell: "that woman is an idiot".

O'Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons' position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.

Coons said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that "religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked him.

When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O'Donnell asked: "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?"

linkyloo (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/christine-odonnell-church-and-state_n_767910.html)

MsDemeanor
10-19-2010, 05:07 PM
*offers Isadora a pillow for banging her head*

I can't believe that you slackers haven't posted this yet *giggle*

The Defense Department said Tuesday that it is accepting openly gay recruits, but is warning applicants they might not be allowed to stick around for long.

linkyloo (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/department-of-defense-acc_n_768532.html)

Dan Choi spent the day trying to re-up. The marines turned him down - seems that he's too old.

Rachel's show should be extra interesting tonight!

MsDemeanor
10-19-2010, 05:29 PM
If one is running on a Constitution platform, shouldn't one know what's in the Constitution? In addition to 1, O'Donnell doesn't seem to know 14 or 16, either. Those two are kinda important to the tea bag crowd!

Also during the debate, O'Donnell stumbled when asked whether or not she would repeal the 14th, 16th, or 17th Amendments if elected.
"The 17th Amendment I would not repeal," she said, before asking the questioner to define the 14th and 16th amendments, adding: "I'm sorry, I didn't bring my Constitution with me."
This after challenging her opponent's understanding of the Constitution.

linkyloo (http://www.salon.com/news/christine_odonnell/?story=/politics/war_room/2010/10/19/odonnell_first_amendment_vid)

Linus
10-19-2010, 06:09 PM
If one is running on a Constitution platform, shouldn't one know what's in the Constitution? In addition to 1, O'Donnell doesn't seem to know 14 or 16, either. Those two are kinda important to the tea bag crowd!
Also during the debate, O'Donnell stumbled when asked whether or not she would repeal the 14th, 16th, or 17th Amendments if elected.
"The 17th Amendment I would not repeal," she said, before asking the questioner to define the 14th and 16th amendments, adding: "I'm sorry, I didn't bring my Constitution with me."
This after challenging her opponent's understanding of the Constitution.

linkyloo (http://www.salon.com/news/christine_odonnell/?story=/politics/war_room/2010/10/19/odonnell_first_amendment_vid)


Seriously. This has to be the dumbest candidate I've ever heard. I really hope that Delaware is listening to what she is saying to get an idea of what kind of Senator she would be if she represented them. :blink:

Greyson
10-19-2010, 10:25 PM
Virginia Thomas is the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. In January 2010 Mrs. Thomas launched a group, "Liberty Central Inc." a non-profit lobbying group linked to the Tea Party movement. Need I say more? IMO, this phone message asking Anita Hill to apologize is way out of line and beyond reasonable behavior. I have never seen the politics in our country, USA, so wrought with absolute absurdity, ingnorance, and a blantant tone of "Us against them" in my entire life.
__________________________________________________ _______________

October 19, 2010

Clarence Thomas’s Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Thomas’s wife has called Ms. Hill, seeking an apology.

In a voice mail message left at 7:31 a.m. on Oct. 9, a Saturday, Virginia Thomas asked her husband’s former aide-turned-adversary to make amends. Ms. Hill played the recording, from her voice mail at Brandeis University, for The New York Times.

“Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” it said. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.”

Ms. Thomas went on: “So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. O.K., have a good day.”

Ms. Hill, in an interview, said she had kept the message for nearly a week trying to decide whether the caller really was Ms. Thomas or a prankster. Unsure, she said, she decided to turn it over to the Brandeis campus police with a request to convey it the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“I thought it was certainly inappropriate,” Ms. Hill said. “It came in at 7:30 a.m. on my office phone from somebody I didn’t know, and she is asking for an apology. It was not invited. There was no background for it.”

In a statement conveyed through a publicist, Ms. Thomas confirmed leaving the message, which she portrayed as a peacemaking gesture. She did not explain its timing.

“I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago,” she said. “That offer still stands. I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”

In response to Ms. Thomas’s statement, Ms. Hill said that she had testified truthfully about her experiences with the future Justice Thomas and that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I appreciate that no offense was intended, but she can’t ask for an apology without suggesting that I did something wrong, and that is offensive,” Ms. Hill said.

Andrew Gully, senior vice president of the Brandeis communications office, said Ms. Hill turned the message over to the campus police on Monday.

Ms. Thomas, 53, has long been active in conservative circles in Washington. In the past year she has become more prominent as the founder of a new nonprofit activist group, Liberty Central, which is dedicated to opposing what she has characterized as the leftist “tyranny” of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats. The group has drawn scrutiny in part because of the unusual circumstance of a spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice drawing a salary from a group financed by anonymous donors.

Ms. Hill, 54, is a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis. In 1991, she was at the center of a confrontation that deeply divided the country and prompted a national debate about sexual behavior in the workplace.

Ms. Hill had been an aide to Mr. Thomas at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. President George Bush nominated Mr. Thomas to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Thurgood Marshall.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Hill claimed that Mr. Thomas had repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments to her in the workplace, including descriptions of pornographic films. Mr. Thomas denied the allegations and called them “a high-tech lynching.”

In her 1998 book “Speaking Truth to Power,” Ms. Hill noted that she had been accused of harboring a romantic interest in Justice Thomas by his wife. “Virginia Thomas and I have never met,” Ms. Hill wrote. “And one can imagine that she is guided by her own romantic interest in her husband when she assumes that other women find him attractive as well.”

Justice Thomas weighed in with his own autobiography in 2007, “My Grandfather’s Son, ” referring to Ms. Hill as “my most traitorous adversary” and asserting that liberal advocacy groups stooped to “the age-old blunt instrument of accusing a black man of sexual misconduct” to block his ascent because of his conservative views.

Ms. Hill said she had a previous but indirect interaction with Ms. Thomas. After Justice Thomas’s book was published, she said, Ms. Thomas told an interviewer that Ms. Hill should apologize. In response, Ms. Hill gave an interview reiterating that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I thought that was enough then to end it, but apparently it was not,” Ms. Hill said.


Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington and Tamar Lewin from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20thomas.html?_r=1&emc=na

AtLast
10-20-2010, 12:23 AM
Virginia Thomas is the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. In January 2010 Mrs. Thomas launched a group, "Liberty Central Inc." a non-profit lobbying group linked to the Tea Party movement. Need I say more? IMO, this phone message asking Anita Hill to apologize is way out of line and beyond reasonable behavior. I have never seen the politics in our country, USA, so wrought with absolute absurdity, ingnorance, and a blantant tone of "Us against them" in my entire life.
__________________________________________________ _______________

October 19, 2010

Clarence Thomas’s Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Thomas’s wife has called Ms. Hill, seeking an apology.

In a voice mail message left at 7:31 a.m. on Oct. 9, a Saturday, Virginia Thomas asked her husband’s former aide-turned-adversary to make amends. Ms. Hill played the recording, from her voice mail at Brandeis University, for The New York Times.

“Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” it said. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.”

Ms. Thomas went on: “So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. O.K., have a good day.”

Ms. Hill, in an interview, said she had kept the message for nearly a week trying to decide whether the caller really was Ms. Thomas or a prankster. Unsure, she said, she decided to turn it over to the Brandeis campus police with a request to convey it the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“I thought it was certainly inappropriate,” Ms. Hill said. “It came in at 7:30 a.m. on my office phone from somebody I didn’t know, and she is asking for an apology. It was not invited. There was no background for it.”

In a statement conveyed through a publicist, Ms. Thomas confirmed leaving the message, which she portrayed as a peacemaking gesture. She did not explain its timing.

“I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago,” she said. “That offer still stands. I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”

In response to Ms. Thomas’s statement, Ms. Hill said that she had testified truthfully about her experiences with the future Justice Thomas and that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I appreciate that no offense was intended, but she can’t ask for an apology without suggesting that I did something wrong, and that is offensive,” Ms. Hill said.

Andrew Gully, senior vice president of the Brandeis communications office, said Ms. Hill turned the message over to the campus police on Monday.

Ms. Thomas, 53, has long been active in conservative circles in Washington. In the past year she has become more prominent as the founder of a new nonprofit activist group, Liberty Central, which is dedicated to opposing what she has characterized as the leftist “tyranny” of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats. The group has drawn scrutiny in part because of the unusual circumstance of a spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice drawing a salary from a group financed by anonymous donors.

Ms. Hill, 54, is a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis. In 1991, she was at the center of a confrontation that deeply divided the country and prompted a national debate about sexual behavior in the workplace.

Ms. Hill had been an aide to Mr. Thomas at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. President George Bush nominated Mr. Thomas to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Thurgood Marshall.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Hill claimed that Mr. Thomas had repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments to her in the workplace, including descriptions of pornographic films. Mr. Thomas denied the allegations and called them “a high-tech lynching.”

In her 1998 book “Speaking Truth to Power,” Ms. Hill noted that she had been accused of harboring a romantic interest in Justice Thomas by his wife. “Virginia Thomas and I have never met,” Ms. Hill wrote. “And one can imagine that she is guided by her own romantic interest in her husband when she assumes that other women find him attractive as well.”

Justice Thomas weighed in with his own autobiography in 2007, “My Grandfather’s Son, ” referring to Ms. Hill as “my most traitorous adversary” and asserting that liberal advocacy groups stooped to “the age-old blunt instrument of accusing a black man of sexual misconduct” to block his ascent because of his conservative views.

Ms. Hill said she had a previous but indirect interaction with Ms. Thomas. After Justice Thomas’s book was published, she said, Ms. Thomas told an interviewer that Ms. Hill should apologize. In response, Ms. Hill gave an interview reiterating that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I thought that was enough then to end it, but apparently it was not,” Ms. Hill said.


Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington and Tamar Lewin from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20thomas.html?_r=1&emc=na

I so admire Anita Hill, always have, always will. Again, she demonstrates integrity and I have never doubted this misconduct by Thomas happened. No, she has not one thing to apologize for.

Nat
10-20-2010, 05:28 AM
Military to accept openly gay recruits (http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-10-20-1Adontask20_ST_N.htm?csp=hf)

Nat
10-20-2010, 05:45 AM
Virginia Thomas is the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. In January 2010 Mrs. Thomas launched a group, "Liberty Central Inc." a non-profit lobbying group linked to the Tea Party movement. Need I say more? IMO, this phone message asking Anita Hill to apologize is way out of line and beyond reasonable behavior. I have never seen the politics in our country, USA, so wrought with absolute absurdity, ingnorance, and a blantant tone of "Us against them" in my entire life.
__________________________________________________ _______________

October 19, 2010

Clarence Thomas’s Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Thomas’s wife has called Ms. Hill, seeking an apology.

In a voice mail message left at 7:31 a.m. on Oct. 9, a Saturday, Virginia Thomas asked her husband’s former aide-turned-adversary to make amends. Ms. Hill played the recording, from her voice mail at Brandeis University, for The New York Times.

“Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” it said. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.”

Ms. Thomas went on: “So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. O.K., have a good day.”

Ms. Hill, in an interview, said she had kept the message for nearly a week trying to decide whether the caller really was Ms. Thomas or a prankster. Unsure, she said, she decided to turn it over to the Brandeis campus police with a request to convey it the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“I thought it was certainly inappropriate,” Ms. Hill said. “It came in at 7:30 a.m. on my office phone from somebody I didn’t know, and she is asking for an apology. It was not invited. There was no background for it.”

In a statement conveyed through a publicist, Ms. Thomas confirmed leaving the message, which she portrayed as a peacemaking gesture. She did not explain its timing.

“I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago,” she said. “That offer still stands. I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”

In response to Ms. Thomas’s statement, Ms. Hill said that she had testified truthfully about her experiences with the future Justice Thomas and that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I appreciate that no offense was intended, but she can’t ask for an apology without suggesting that I did something wrong, and that is offensive,” Ms. Hill said.

Andrew Gully, senior vice president of the Brandeis communications office, said Ms. Hill turned the message over to the campus police on Monday.

Ms. Thomas, 53, has long been active in conservative circles in Washington. In the past year she has become more prominent as the founder of a new nonprofit activist group, Liberty Central, which is dedicated to opposing what she has characterized as the leftist “tyranny” of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats. The group has drawn scrutiny in part because of the unusual circumstance of a spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice drawing a salary from a group financed by anonymous donors.

Ms. Hill, 54, is a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis. In 1991, she was at the center of a confrontation that deeply divided the country and prompted a national debate about sexual behavior in the workplace.

Ms. Hill had been an aide to Mr. Thomas at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. President George Bush nominated Mr. Thomas to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Thurgood Marshall.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Hill claimed that Mr. Thomas had repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments to her in the workplace, including descriptions of pornographic films. Mr. Thomas denied the allegations and called them “a high-tech lynching.”

In her 1998 book “Speaking Truth to Power,” Ms. Hill noted that she had been accused of harboring a romantic interest in Justice Thomas by his wife. “Virginia Thomas and I have never met,” Ms. Hill wrote. “And one can imagine that she is guided by her own romantic interest in her husband when she assumes that other women find him attractive as well.”

Justice Thomas weighed in with his own autobiography in 2007, “My Grandfather’s Son, ” referring to Ms. Hill as “my most traitorous adversary” and asserting that liberal advocacy groups stooped to “the age-old blunt instrument of accusing a black man of sexual misconduct” to block his ascent because of his conservative views.

Ms. Hill said she had a previous but indirect interaction with Ms. Thomas. After Justice Thomas’s book was published, she said, Ms. Thomas told an interviewer that Ms. Hill should apologize. In response, Ms. Hill gave an interview reiterating that she had nothing to apologize for.

“I thought that was enough then to end it, but apparently it was not,” Ms. Hill said.


Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington and Tamar Lewin from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20thomas.html?_r=1&emc=na

Maybe Ginni is trying to distract people from this:

IwGBredki_A

Here's a sidenote about her from wikipedia:

Virginia Thomas took training with the controversial self awareness program Lifespring while a congressional aide.[1]She said in a 1987 interview with The Washington Post that she had to seek counseling after her decision to break away from Lifespring. Thomas left Lifespring in 1985, and joined the Cult Awareness Network. She ultimately had to hide in another part of the country in order to avoid a constant barrage of phone calls from Lifespring members, urging her to remain in the organization. Thomas spoke on panels and organized anti-cult workshops for congressional staffers in 1986 and 1988. In a 1991 interview, Thomas commented on Lifespring, stating "they are pretty scary people." She also stated: "I was once in a group that used mind control techniques."

Nat
10-20-2010, 07:24 AM
Ugandan newspaper publishes 'gay list', calls for their hanging

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/10/20/uganda.gay.list/?hpt=T2

Earlier this month, Rolling Stone newspaper -- not affiliated with the U.S. magazine with the same name -- featured 100 pictures of Uganda's gays and lesbians. Next to the list was a yellow strip with the words "hang them."

Those named in the story are living in fear, she said. Some have had to change jobs and move to new places.
"We are providing some with psychological support," she said. "People have been attacked, we are having to relocate others, some are quitting their jobs because they are being verbally abused. It's a total commotion."

The_Lady_Snow
10-20-2010, 09:58 AM
Gay Chants Spark Outrage at High School Football Game

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39745671#39745671

The_Lady_Snow
10-20-2010, 10:06 AM
Charges in Attack at New York's Oldest Gay Bar


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39745671#39741881

Nat
10-20-2010, 11:52 AM
The title of this article and the content appear to have conflicting info

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/20/dont.ask.dont.tell/

Nat
10-20-2010, 12:28 PM
The title of this article and the content appear to have conflicting info

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/20/dont.ask.dont.tell/

Reporting from Washington — The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court in San Francisco to quickly set aside a judge's order that bars enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, saying the judge's "extraordinary decision" went too far, too fast.

The_Lady_Snow
10-21-2010, 11:58 AM
Last gay Nazi survivor speaks (http://www.bilerico.com/2010/10/last_gay_nazi_survivor_speaks.php)



http://www.bilerico.com/2010/10/last_gay_nazi_survivor_speaks.php?utm_source=feedb urner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BilericoProject+%28The+Bileri co+Project%29&utm_content=FaceBook

Nat
10-21-2010, 08:22 PM
Teen Takes Life After School Attack (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/21/Teen_Takes_Life_After_School_Attack//)

http://www.advocate.com/uploadedImages/ADVOCATE/NEWS/2010/2010-10/2010-10-21/terrel_williamsx390.jpg

A 17-year-old high-school student took his own life October 13 — hours after being attacked by five classmates after school.

Terrel Williams, a student at Clover Park High School, was reportedly attacked by five classmates hours before his mother found his body hanging in a closet at their family's vacation home in Lakewood, Wash., according to LGBTQNation.

Cheryl Williams, the boy's mother, wrote on Twitter Wednesday, "My son meant the world, and high school bullies pushed him over the edge. I hope and pray, that no other child ever has to go through what he did. Bullying isn’t worth it. Why can’t people just be nice?"

Before taking his life, Williams wrote a note, saying that coming out and his relationship with his boyfriend, Daric Rawr, were some of the best things in his life. The couple would have celebrated their seventh anniversary together this Saturday, the same day as Williams's 18th birthday.

"I'm sorry to my immediate loved ones, but I feel suicide is the only way out," Williams wrote in a letter he left behind. "Today, was the record worst day of my life, some kids at school stole some of my stuff that I got from people I really cared about, and that really pushed me over the top, next to being shoved into a wall, and my ribs being broken."

According to LGBTQNation, Rawr said of Williams, “He loved life, but felt the need to take it, because [the bullying] didn’t stop ... respectful, whole-hearted people like Terrel, and the growing number of others, shouldn’t have to feel suicide is the answer, because bullies won’t stop.”

AtLast
10-21-2010, 09:11 PM
Teen Takes Life After School Attack (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/21/Teen_Takes_Life_After_School_Attack//)

http://www.advocate.com/uploadedImages/ADVOCATE/NEWS/2010/2010-10/2010-10-21/terrel_williamsx390.jpg

A 17-year-old high-school student took his own life October 13 — hours after being attacked by five classmates after school.

Terrel Williams, a student at Clover Park High School, was reportedly attacked by five classmates hours before his mother found his body hanging in a closet at their family's vacation home in Lakewood, Wash., according to LGBTQNation.

Cheryl Williams, the boy's mother, wrote on Twitter Wednesday, "My son meant the world, and high school bullies pushed him over the edge. I hope and pray, that no other child ever has to go through what he did. Bullying isn’t worth it. Why can’t people just be nice?"

Before taking his life, Williams wrote a note, saying that coming out and his relationship with his boyfriend, Daric Rawr, were some of the best things in his life. The couple would have celebrated their seventh anniversary together this Saturday, the same day as Williams's 18th birthday.

"I'm sorry to my immediate loved ones, but I feel suicide is the only way out," Williams wrote in a letter he left behind. "Today, was the record worst day of my life, some kids at school stole some of my stuff that I got from people I really cared about, and that really pushed me over the top, next to being shoved into a wall, and my ribs being broken."

According to LGBTQNation, Rawr said of Williams, “He loved life, but felt the need to take it, because [the bullying] didn’t stop ... respectful, whole-hearted people like Terrel, and the growing number of others, shouldn’t have to feel suicide is the answer, because bullies won’t stop.”

Look at this beautiful young man!! I am so tired of bullying and gay bashing of our youth going on without outrage and ACTION from people! These senseless deaths break not only my heart, but my spirit as well. We all need to become active in our communities to help stop this. There are organizations all over that need our help. No time? Send money. And we as queer parents and Grandparents need to be doing a whole lotta talking!

Nat
10-22-2010, 05:53 AM
geyAFbSDPVk

Nat
10-22-2010, 06:30 AM
Haiti president confirms cholera outbreak, 138 dead (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2215078220101022)

Nat
10-22-2010, 06:33 AM
GOP congressional candidate Stephen Broden says violent overthrow of government is 'on the table' (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/102210dnmetbroden.1b2338185.html)

WASHINGTON – Republican congressional candidate Stephen Broden stunned his party Thursday, saying he would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership.

In a rambling exchange during a TV interview, Broden, a South Dallas pastor, said a violent uprising "is not the first option," but it is "on the table." That drew a quick denunciation from the head of the Dallas County GOP, who called the remarks "inappropriate."

Jess
10-22-2010, 08:43 AM
http://media.npr.org/images/ap//AP_News_Wire:_World_News/1_Uganda_Gays_Attack.sff_300.jpg?t=1287515700



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130672582

Greyson
10-22-2010, 10:49 AM
More privacy headaches for Facebook: gay users outed to advertisers

By Jacqui Cheng

Facebook's privacy problems continue this week after researchers discovered that Facebook may inadvertently be outing gay users to its advertisers. Saikat Guha from Microsoft and Bin Cheng and Paul Francis from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems set out to study the challenges in targeted advertising systems (PDF) online, but found that advertisers can ferret out gay users from straight users just by looking at who's clicking—even when that sexual orientation is hidden.

The team set up profiles for straight men, straight women, a gay man, and a lesbian to see how the ads differed between the different types of users. The ads did change for the gay and lesbian users, though the difference in the ads was much greater for the gay males (compared to the straight males) than gay females, "indicating that advertisers target more strongly to [gay males]" reads the paper.

This in itself isn't a huge cause for concern, but the researchers were disturbed by the fact that the text for the ads were sexual-orientation-neutral, even though they were measurably different. Half of the ads were exclusively shown to gay men, but the text associated with them was neutral, therefore not giving a clear indicator to those users that the ads they click were directly tied to their sexual orientation.

"The danger with such ads, unlike the gay bar ad where the target demographic is blatantly obvious, is that the user reading the ad text would have no idea that by clicking it he would reveal to the advertiser both his sexual-orientation and a unique identifier (cookie, IP address, or email address if he signs up on the advertiser’s site)," wrote the researchers.

If the advertiser in question also collects other data, such as Facebook ID, the info can be tied together without much thought, even if the user has not made that information public. As we saw earlier this week, Facebook IDs and other user info are running rampant across ad networks and third-party app developers, and the collection of such information (especially when tied to something as sensitive as sexual orientation) could spell disaster for a user who thinks he's being fastidious when keeping his profile private.

Facebook's official policy is that any data collected by advertisers must be anonymized, but given this week's discoveries regarding Facebook IDs, it's pretty clear that there isn't anyone making sure the policies are enforced until after the fact. This is one area that two Congressmen focused on in their recent letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but it's unlikely that any major changes to how Facebook handles its advertisers will come anytime in the near future.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/more-privacy-headaches-for-facebook-gay-users-outed-to-advertisers.ars

Jesse
10-22-2010, 11:50 PM
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2010/10/florida-attorney-general-bill-mccollum-wont-appeal-gay-adoption-ruling.html