Breaking News Events

[Jess]

[Dominique]

[Jess]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Isn't this the same Rabbi who was at Senator Diaz's anti gay rally in NYC ?

Did he not get the memo that it is just absurd to blame acts of nature ( hurricanes/ earthquakes) on gays after Pat Robertson blamed Katrina on Ellen?

I guess we should probably start using our powers over nature for our own good. Maybe everytime Rabbi Levin passes a queer, they should waggle their finger at him repeating softly..." earthquake earthquake"

[Reader]

http://www.people.com/people/article...523078,00.html


http://www.tvguide.com/News/Minka-Ke...s=breakingnews

[Greyson]

Chicago Sun Times
Elmhurst College asks prospective students about sexual orientation

BY KARA SPAK

Aug 25, 2011 05:10AM

Elmhurst College officials weren’t looking to blaze trails when they added to their admission application: “Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?”

With that one line, though, they became the first college in the country to ask potential students directly about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Increasing diversity is part of our mission statement,” said Gary Rold, Elmhurst’s dean of admissions. “This is simply closing the loop, in many ways, of another group who has a very strong identity. It may not be race and religion but it’s an important part of who they are.”

The question will appear on applications for those freshman and transfer students hoping to start in the fall of 2012. Like admissions questions about race, ethnicity or religion, answering the question is completely optional and does not affect admission decisions. Students can check “yes,” “no,” or “prefer not to answer.”

Those who answer “yes” may be eligible for a scholarship worth up to one-third of tuition, not unusual because about 60 percent of incoming students receive some type of scholarship aid, Rold said. More importantly, he said, knowing students’ sexual orientation will help officials direct incoming students toward services or groups that might help them make an easier transition to college life.

“We try really hard to take good care of students, have them graduate and be successful citizens in the world,” he said. “The only way you do that is to meet people where they really are.”

At a handful of other universities, there are admissions procedures that might identify LGBT student applicants. At Dartmouth College, for example, students can check boxes of activities that might interest them, including LGBT-centered activities. At the University of Pennsylvania, students who write in their application essay that they are gay can be paired with a mentor.

Elmhurst, though, is the first college in the country to directly ask students about their sexual orientation. The private, liberal arts school in its namesake suburb has 3,300 undergraduate students and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

“It is kind of a pleasant surprise that Elmhurst College in Illinois is the first campus to ask an identity question,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of the national nonprofit Campus Pride. “Some of the leaders in college admissions have done similar stuff but never asked the question.”

Windmeyer thinks it’s an important question to ask and doubts anyone would lie about being gay to get a scholarship. He also does not think being gay or lesbian would be an advantage in the competitive college admissions process.

“It’s important that these youth have a way to express their sexual identity, like their racial identity,” he said. “Colleges ask those questions so they can give them the resources to get them to be successful.”

Rold said he knows some students will bristle at the question, as they do at questions about race and ethnicity.

And while the question might attract more applicants, he thinks that number will balance out with students who do not apply because of the question.

http://www.suntimes.com/7254428-417/...ientation.html

[DapperButch]

Sentencing in 2009 Delaware molestation case. Thought some folks would be interested in knowing the outcome.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_937962.html

GEORGETOWN, Del. -- A Delaware pediatrician convicted of sexually abusing scores of young patients over more than a decade was sentenced Friday to life in prison.

Earl Bradley showed no emotion as a judge sentenced him to 14 life sentences for 14 counts of first-degree rape. Bradley was also sentenced to 165 years for multiple counts of assault and continuous sexual exploitation of a child.

Bradley was arrested in Dec. 2009 after a 2-year-old girl complained to her mother after an office visit that the doctor had hurt her.

Investigators searched his office complex, decorated with Disney characters and miniature amusement park rides, and seized dozens of homemade videos.

Bradley's public defenders presented no defense at his trial, opting instead for a swift verdict so they could more quickly appeal the judge's decision to allow the videos as evidence. The defense contends they were improperly seized by investigators acting outside the scope of their search warrant.

At trial earlier this year, prosecutors presented to Superior Court Judge William Carpenter Jr. more than 13 hours of videos showing sex crimes against more than 80 victims, most of whom were toddlers.

Bradley waived his right to a jury trial, and Carpenter issued the guilty verdict after a one-day trial.

Years before his 2009 arrest, Bradley had drawn suspicion. He closed an office in Milford in 2005 after police investigated.

Bradley's sister, who worked in his office, told police in 2005 that her brother was bipolar and taking medication from the office, and that several parents had complained to her about Bradley inappropriately touching patients.

Two pediatricians interviewed in 2005 also told investigators about complaints from Bradley's former patients.

[Reader]

Chaz Bono, Ryan O'Neal said to be among "Dancing" cast.

http://news.yahoo.com/chaz-bono-ryan...200618380.html

[betenoire]

I'm more excited to read that Licki Rake is going to be on the show!

(I've called her that for 20 years. No, I don't remember why.)

[Nat]

[Nat]

Reno air crash: Death toll expected to rise

Witnesses to the crash described a horrific scene, with hunks of plane and body parts strewn around the grounds.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Nat

Reno air crash: Death toll expected to rise

Witnesses to the crash described a horrific scene, with hunks of plane and body parts strewn around the grounds.

My son and a nephew plus one of my granddaughters was there (live in Nevada). They are all OK, but quite shaken. Yes, I was a total mess until I heard from them they have gone to this event many times- so I thought there was a good chance they were there.

So many were quite seriously injured and some not expected to live. My thoughts are with their families. Quite a few people lost limbs according to preliminary reports.

Makes one think about how just one moment can just change everything.

[Nat]

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

My son and a nephew plus one of my granddaughters was there (live in Nevada). They are all OK, but quite shaken. Yes, I was a total mess until I heard from them they have gone to this event many times- so I thought there was a good chance they were there.

So many were quite seriously injured and some not expected to live. My thoughts are with their families. Quite a few people lost limbs according to preliminary reports.

Makes one think about how just one moment can just change everything.

yep. M and I were looking at the news about it all night - she had gone to watch the day before to see the air force and had hoped to go with her dad yesterday but he had other plans. In her case though, she watches from close-by but has never been interested in being in the stands.

[Starbuck]

Most Americans are being kept in the dark about the US Day of Rage by the corporate cable news giants at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC who have imposed a de facto blackout On the protest.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/media...us-day-of-rage

[Greyson]

Judge decides to release Prop. 8 trial recording

The Associated Press
Published Monday, Sep. 19, 2011


SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco has decided to unseal video recordings of last year's landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban.

Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware on Monday agreed with lawyers for two same-sex couples who sued to overturn Proposition 8 and with a coalition of news outlets that there is no reason to keep the recordings secret.

Ware says his order will take effect on Sept. 30 unless a higher court overrules him.

The religious and conservative groups that sponsored the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8 had opposed having the videos made public.

They argued that after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the trial could not be broadcast, Ware's predecessor had assured them the recordings would be made only for his private use.


http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/19/v-p...ease-prop.html

[Tommi]

“On September 20, gay and lesbian service members will be able to decide for themselves whether serving openly is something they want to do and can rest assured that they will no longer be fired and lose their careers if they choose to do so,” said spokesman Zeke Stokes.


The United States formally ends a decades-old ban on open gays in the ranks on Tuesday, a historic day that the military services hope will pass as routinely as roll calls, marching and lights-out.

The Pentagon, after putting all active-duty and reserve troops through months of mandatory indoctrination, generally is playing down the event and has announced no special plans for the repeal of a policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

[Starbuck]

DADT is officially over, history, done, kaput. Today is the wondrous day that gays and lesbians in the military no longer have to hide their identity about their orientation! Those discharged under this horrible law now have the option to re-enlist too. Below is a video about military veterans and DADT. As a veteran myself, I am passionate about this issue. In fact, I was in the Army when Clinton signed it into law.

http://www.barackobama.com/dadt-repealed

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

DADT is officially over, history, done, kaput. Today is the wondrous day that gays and lesbians in the military no longer have to hide their identity about their orientation! Those discharged under this horrible law now have the option to re-enlist too. Below is a video about military veterans and DADT. As a veteran myself, I am passionate about this issue. In fact, I was in the Army when Clinton signed it into law.

http://www.barackobama.com/dadt-repealed

Except our Trans Brothers and Sisters. We are not fully integrated yet.
But it is a good start.

[Starbuck]

Originally Posted by Corkey

Except our Trans Brothers and Sisters. We are not fully integrated yet.
But it is a good start.

Then we must not stop until all our family is fully accepted! Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Corkey!

[*Anya*]

$$$$ Reward if Bachmann Proves Vaccine Causes ‘Retardation’

Arthur L. Caplan, PhD
Posted: 09/16/2011

I am Art Caplan, and I am speaking to you from the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. I want to talk to you about a challenge that I issued that you may have heard about. I basically said to Michele Bachmann, "If you can produce this case you were talking about in the GOP debate of a woman who became mentally retarded" -- those were her words -- "from getting the HPV cervical cancer vaccine, I'll pay $10,000 to a charity of your choice."

I said, "We would have to have 3 doctors who know something about vaccines verify the case. We can agree on who those are. They could be from the University of Minnesota or the University of Pennsylvania." I said that she has a week to produce that case, and if she can't, then she gives $10,000 to a charity of my choice.

People may be thinking, isn't this a little bit of a gimmick? The answer is yes. I know that it is an odd notion to put out a bounty when someone makes a claim. But I was so angry -- not only when Bachmann talked about the dangers of HPV vaccine in the GOP presidential debate, but when she kept repeating it after the show on other media outlets. It just seemed to me that it was time to speak up

The reason I put the challenge out the way that I did is that I thought it would get media attention, and it has. I am very concerned that women -- 4000 of whom die each year in America from cervical cancer, and another 10,000 who have to undergo surgery to treat cervical cancer -- won't get this vaccine because they have heard these rumors that it is dangerous. The uptake of the vaccine hasn't been very good so far in the United States. We need to make sure that women get the vaccine, and fear-mongering is just completely irresponsible.

Moreover, it feeds fears about vaccines in general, which is a big problem in the United States. Too many people don't get their boosters, don't get their meningitis vaccines, and opt out from having their kids vaccinated. We have babies dying of whooping cough in California. It's just inexcusable to have a situation in which our politicians are on TV babbling away ignorantly about dangers of vaccines, and they have to be called into account. I hope that this challenge that I have put forth does that.

I also didn't want Michele Bachmann or anybody else involved in this kind of fear-mongering to slink away from it. I knew that by putting out this bounty that it would extend the story, and that by saying "I'm going to wait a week," it extends the story that much. It's because I want the message about vaccine safety to come out loud and clear.

I am pleased to announce that as of today, people have volunteered to match my $10,000 up to about $125,000, and that's great. I fervently hope that we can actually get the question that politicians should be answering on the table as a result of this offer by me to the Bachmann campaign. That question is very simple: So many Americans are not vaccinated; what do you, as a presidential candidate, propose to do to make sure they do get vaccinated?

Medscape Medical Ethics © 2011 WebMD, LLC

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...src=mp&spon=18

[Nat]

Anonymous Supporters Vow Revenge For Troy Davis

The cyber-collective Anonymous has been rather quiet recently, following the sobering arrests and court appearances of some key supporters. But the execution last night of death-row inmate Troy Davis may prompt a resurgence of attacks on government and law enforcement.

One key supporter of Anonymous said via instant message today that they were specifically targeting law enforcement in the United States. “We are perfectly aware that you may be innocent. But if you are, you must not work for an apparat that ignored justice, reason and human rights,” the supporter said. “Because if you do, we must and will consider you as part of the enemy. Of a war we never wanted or called.”

The supporter said there was now a groundswell of anger within Anonymous and supporters of its revived Antisec movement following Davis’s execution, and that while previous cyber attacks had been partly lighthearted, they would now take on a more aggressive stance. Many supporters of Anonymous (and there are thought to be thousands around the world, of varying intentions and levels of commitment) also subscribe to the so-called Antisec cyber movement, which vows action against cyber security firms, governments and other forms of authority in the name of fighting corruption.

Death-row inmate Davis was executed in Jackson, Georgia last night after being convicted of the fatal shooting of an unarmed policeman in 1989. The case became controversial after several eye-witnesses changed their testimonies and evidence against Davis appeared to be lacking.

Not long after the execution, the Twitter account @AnonymousIRC, which has more than 150,000 followers, said, ”So, U.S. Govt, you murder innocent people. We will now continue to expose your ‘Law Officers,’” then added, “U.S. Police Officers and Law Authorities Personnel: QUIT YOUR JOBS NOW. YOU ARE TARGET,” with the hashtag #Antisec and #TroyDavis.