Breaking News Events

[Greyson]

'Innocence of Muslims' filmmaker gets a year in prison

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...sentenced.html

[Greyson]

POLITICO Breaking News
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Speaker John Boehner on Friday pressured President Barack Obama to take the lead on a deal to avert tax increases, saying “this is an opportunity for the president to lead. This is his moment to work on a solution that can pass both chambers.”

But Boehner remained unyielding on raising taxes on upper income Americans – a top priority for Obama – saying that “raising tax rates will slow down our ability to create the jobs that everyone says they want.” Boehner instead called for lowering tax rates while eliminating certain deductions and loopholes as part of a larger tax reform bill.

http://www.politico.com/

[Miss Scarlett]

CNN just announced that Petraeus has resigned from the CIA citing an extra marital affair as the reason...

And the CNN talking heads are already questioning the timing of his resignation trying to connect it to the election...

[Okiebug61]

I have a friend I worked with years ago that has gone all right winged radical. He made the following statement, that God let Obama win because we have turned our backs on God therefore we are reaping what we sow. I swear if I had the time to travel to where my friend is I'd go just to thump his ass. Ughhh!

[MissItalianDiva]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-...nment-surgery/
S.F. health care to cover sex reassignment surgery

SAN FRANCISCO A panel has voted to cover the cost and provide sexual reassignment surgery for transgendered people as part of San Francisco's universal health care plan.


The city's Health Commission approved on Tuesday the creation a comprehensive program for treating transgender people experiencing mental distress because of the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identities. San Francisco already provides transgender residents with hormones, counseling and routine health services, but has stopped short of offering surgical interventions, Public Health Director Barbara Garcia said Thursday after the vote was announced.


The idea for a new program that included surgeries came out of conversations between public health officials and transgender rights advocates who wanted mastectomies, genital reconstructions and other surgeries that are recommended for some transgender people covered under San Francisco's 5-year-old universal health care plan.
San Francisco plans to provide transgender surgeries

At the urging of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the San Francisco-based Transgender Law Center, the commission agreed this week to drop sex reassignment surgery from the list of procedures specifically excluded from the Healthy San Francisco plan.


But Garcia described the move as "a symbolic process" for now because the city currently does not have the expertise, capacity or protocols in place to provide the surgeries through its clinics and public hospital.


"The community felt the exclusion on Healthy San Francisco was discriminatory and we wanted to change that as the first step," she said.


Currently, Healthy San Francisco provides medical care for uninsured residents below a certain income level, regardless of citizenship, immigration, employment or health status. Participants must have an income at or below 500 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which means $54,480 for one person and $111,720 for a family of four. The program is paid for by federal funds, city business fees and participant co-payments.


Instead of expanding the existing plan, the Health Commission approved the establishment of a separate program that covers all aspects of transgender health, including gender transition. Garcia hopes to have it running by late next year, but said her department first needs to study how many people it would serve, how much it would cost, who would perform the surgeries and where they would be performed.


"Sex reassignment surgery is not the end all. It's one service that some transgender people want and some don't," she said. "We can probably manage this over the next three years without much of a budget increase because we already have these (other) services covered."


San Francisco in 2001 became the first city in the country to cover sex reassignment surgeries for government employees. Last year, Portland, Ore. did the same. The number of major U.S. companies covering the cost of gender reassignment surgery for transgender workers also doubled last year, reflecting a decades-long push by transgender activists to get insurance companies to treat such surgeries as medically necessary instead of elective procedures.


"There's been a consensus the last three to five years that transition related surgeries are in fact a medical necessity for people who have been properly diagnosed with gender dysphoria," Theresa Sparks, head of the Human Rights Commission, said to CBS station KPIX in San Francisco.


Kathryn Steuerman, a member of a transgender health advocacy group in San Francisco, said the city's latest move would help residents avoid going into debt to finance operations related to gender transition, as she did.


"I am filled with hope and gratitude that we are achieving this level of support for the well-being of the transgender community," Steuerman said.
© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Okiebug61]

http://news.yahoo.com/official-ugand...113424830.html

[starryeyes]

I bought a 2012 Kia Soul and am getting a nice debit card as a result of this program. Also, Kia/Hyundai is reimbursing mileage for as long as you own your car, every year. If you have a 2011-2013 Kia or Hyundai... Check it out!

http://www.webpronews.com/hyundai-ki...llions-2012-11

[Greyson]

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) was elected House Republican Conference chair, assuring that there will be a female in House GOP leadership. McMorris Rodgers topped Georgia Rep. Tom Price, who was backed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), for the position as the party’s chief messenger.


http://www.politico.com

[LeftWriteFemme]

Accuser Recants Allegation Against Elmo Puppeteer


http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.co...lmo-puppeteer/

[Kobi]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama walked a narrow path between ambition and realism, defiance and accommodation when he addressed reporters for the first time since winning a hard-fought election that gives him four more years to carve his place in history.

While he avoided terms like ‘‘transformational,’’ Obama signaled that he still hopes to accomplish big things in spite of Congress’ almost paralyzing partisanship. That could include an overhaul of immigration laws, which could become a coveted bookend to his 2010 health care revision.

There was a bounce in Obama’s step Wednesday in the White House East Room. But there was no dancing in the end zone, no taunting of defeated opponents. He jokingly claimed he forgot about the election the day after it ended, so eager is he to plunge into his second-term agenda.

Obama said he is willing to work with Republicans to head off the worrisome package of big tax hikes and program cuts scheduled to hit in less than seven weeks. But he reiterated that wealthy households must pay higher tax rates, something GOP lawmakers fiercely oppose.

But he stopped short of mimicking past presidents who have claimed wide-ranging mandates. He avoided the newly re-elected George W. Bush’s 2004 boastful vow to start spending ‘‘political capital.’’ Obama is well aware that Bush quickly suffered a stinging setback when Americans rejected his bid to partly privatize Social Security.

‘‘I've got one mandate,’’ Obama said. ‘‘I've got a mandate to help middle-class families and families that have been working hard to try to get into the middle class.’’

The president, a history student who reportedly ponders where he might rank among presidents, said: ‘‘I'm more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second terms. We are very cautious about that.’’

‘‘On the other hand,’’ he said, ‘‘I didn’t get re-elected just to bask in re-election.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/...K9K/story.html

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This guy is becoming the epitome of diplomacy as the years go by. I like it.

[Kobi]

Women's rights and health activists are outraged after reports that a pregnant woman in Ireland died after she was denied an abortion that might have saved her life.

Savita Halappanavar was 17 weeks pregnant when she showed up at a hospital in Galway last month, complaining of back pain. Doctors quickly determined that she was having a miscarriage and chose to let it run its course.

After spending a full day in "severe pain" and understanding that the baby could not be saved, Halappanavar asked for the pregnancy to be terminated. The hospital refused, reportedly telling the couple that "this is a Catholic country" and there was nothing it could do as long a heartbeat could be detected.

It was another two and half days before the heartbeat stopped and the fetus was removed, but by then the damage had been done. Halappanavar had developed septicemia and E. coli infections. She spent another four days in intensive care and died a week after entering the hospital.

Abortion is completely illegal in Ireland, but can technically be allowed if "there is a real and substantial risk to the life (as distinct from the health) of the mother." In other words, it's not enough for the mother to be in pain or at risk of complications. They have to reasonably believe that she will die without it. Now an investigation is underway as to whether the hospital acted properly and Halappanavar's family is considering legal action.

There are also already calls being made for the Republic of Ireland to back off what is are some of the strictest anti-abortion rules in the world. Just days before Halappanavar's ordeal, the first legitimate women's health clinic to offer abortions opened across the border in Northern Ireland, which operates under different laws, but faces an equally strident pro-life opposition. (Abortion has been legal in the UK since the 1960s, but Northern Ireland has never enacted the law that allows it.) The tough rules lead as many 4,000 women to leave the country in search of abortions each year.

One writer called the treatment of Halappanavar "cruelty disguised as piety, cowardice misrepresented as principle," saying that even if she hadn't died, the pain alone should have justified the procedure. Arguments over just these kinds of abortion exemptions—and the often foolish comments made by some conservatives—were part of a major debate the helped swing several key election in the U.S. this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/woman-ireland-...142152823.html

[Greyson]

"She also, aptly again, pointed out that you had failed to ask the same of Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), who's 72, or minority leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) He is 70."


http://www.nextavenue.org/blog/nancy..._source=Eloqua

[Greyson]

"The Federal Communications Commission just released its report on the ownership of commercial broadcast stations which reveals that as of 2011, whites own 69.4% of the nation's 1,348 television stations. That's up from 63.4% in 2009, when there were 1,187 stations.

"While white ownership increased, most minority ownership decreased. Blacks went from owning 1% of all commercial TV stations in 2009 to just 0.7% in 2011. Asian ownership slipped from 0.8% in 2009 to 0.5% last year. Latino ownership increased slightly from 2.5% to 2.9%.

"Females owned 6.8% of all commercial TV stations in 2011, compared to 5.6% in 2009.

"It is a similar story in radio. Whites own almost 80% of all AM and FM radio stations, with more than 70% being owned by men."


http://www.theroot.com/blogs/blacks-...=root_lightbox

[Sun]

"Reportedly over 1,500 clear plastic boxes with ballots are stacked six feet high in the Maricopa County Recorder's office, and statewide some 600,000 ballots remain to be counted. In Maricopa County alone some 115,000 voters had to cast provisional ballots and 344,000 early votes remain to be counted, adding to the question about just how serious elections officials are about guaranteeing that all Latino citizens exercise their voting rights.

The national media should feature this situation as a classic case study of the voter suppression network in high gear."

Huffington Post Article: Latino Politics - Last Gasp for Arizona's Voter Suppression

[Kobi]

DECLO, Idaho (AP) — A fourth-grade teacher in southern Idaho is being criticized after having her students use permanent markers to draw on the faces of classmates who failed to meet reading goals.

Some parents and administrators say the punishments given to nine students in Summer Larsen’s class were inappropriate and left the children feeling shamed.

The students were allowed to choose their own incentive to meet the reading goal, but instead of a reward, the class chose a punishment: Students who failed to meet the goal could either stay inside at recess until it was met, or have their faces written on by classmates who met the goals.

Nine students didn’t meet the goals, the paper reported Friday. Three chose to forgo recess, and the other six chose to have their faces marked on.

‘‘Although all the students in the class agreed to the incentive, once it occurred it was not so well received. Nor should it have been,’’ Smyer said.

http://www.boston.com/news/education...hVK/story.html

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[DMW]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171299...riday-protest#

[Greyson]

Episcopalians break away from U.S. church over gay issues

"It's similar to the Articles of Confederation," Hunter said. "The states were sovereign states before they were in the United States."




http://news.msn.com/us/episcopalians...ver-gay-issues

[Sachita]

Anti-Gay Christian Lawyer Arrested For Possession Of Child Pornography


Manchester lawyer facing federal child pornography charges arrested by FBI at courthouse


A Manchester lawyer took a teenage girl to Canada, had her engage in sexual activity and convinced her to let it be filmed, according to federal indictments.

FBI agents swiftly arrested Lisa Biron yesterday morning as she awaited a hearing on child pornography charges at Manchester’s district court. About 9 a.m. FBI agents entered the courtroom, told Biron to leave her belongings and took her into an adjoining conference room where she remained for several minutes before coming out in handcuffs.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/2...yer-manchester


Karma is a bitch. These stories just kill me. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves

[Greyson]

Gay Marriage Opponents Lost the Election, But They Have Lots of Excuses
By William Saletan | Posted Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at 7:59 AM ET
| Posted Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at 7:59 AM ET



http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...ts_lose.2.html

[CherylNYC]

http://radicalhub.com/2012/03/09/sou...as-hate-group/


In its latest quarterly publication “The Year in Hate and Extremism” (Issue 45, Spring 2012) the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, names Men’s Rights Activists as a hate group, citing the MRAs’ — alternately known as “Father’s Rights Activists” — virulent misogyny, spreading of false anti-woman propaganda and applauding and even encouraging acts of domestic terrorism and extreme violence against women and children, up to and including murder. In the same issue, the SPLC reports on the activities of other hate groups with headlines such as Georgia Militia Members to be Tried Later this Year in Movement’s Latest Murder Plot; Son of Holocaust Memorial Shooter Discusses Family History of Racial Hate; and Animal Rights Extremist Camille Marino Calls for Violence.