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. In addition, Long's attorneys canceled plans for a press conference to address the growing scandal.

Autism in 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

Court Rules Florida's Gay Adoption Ban Is Illegal

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


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

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.

Similac® Brand Powder Infant Formulas
 

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.

So what Tommi is saying is that lunch with the grandchild is going to look something like this?

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

Pakistan erupts after US jailing of 'daughter of the nation' Aafia Siddiqui

http://m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&s...ailed-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."

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/...1712367&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.

Some GOOD Breaking news
 

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! 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!

Sexual Problems May Arise After Breast Cancer

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyl...ay/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."

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/lano...-her-bail.html

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.

Help STOP DADT...LGBT Veterans Day event called My Patriots Pride
 

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/...victim/?page=1

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/...n/7215138.html

For all of us coffee lovers who are looking to save a little money..

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home...nt-you-to-know

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/asiapc...ex.html?hpt=T2

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/...n/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.

another youth sucide
 

http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/tee...ay-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 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 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 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 can even fathom voting for bigots like Tom Emmer, who doesn't think queer kids need our kindness and our strength and our safety, is unconscionable.




Read more: http://www.queerty.com/shock-gay-tex...#ixzz10qW3S9Ys

Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized. :/

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

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....

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/articl...says28-ON.html

Ontario Superior Court judge strikes down prostitution law

Fuck yes.

The entire text of the ruling can be found here.

This really pisses me off ... equal rights my a$$ ....

http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/09/28/..._lnk3%7C173950

Army's largest base reeling from four apparent suicides

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/29/tex...aths/?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.

Subject: Equality California Issues Statement Regarding Teen’s Suicide Due to Anti-Gay Bullying

https://www.kintera.com/accounttempf...s/web_logo.gif
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2010
CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja, Equality California
PHONE: 916-284-9187 EMAIL: 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

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

Michigan 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.