Breaking News Events

[Nat]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us...fort.html?_r=1

Scott Walker and fellow repubs kept their jobs in Wisconsin, though exit polls showed the race would've much closer than they were.

(Republicans outspent dems 8 to 1)

[Nat]

Guilt In Depression Has Different Brain Response

[Nat]

Senate Republicans block equal pay for women bill

[Andrea]

Dead bacteria to be used to test T sensors

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/05/17/homeland_security_to_release_bacteria_in_subway_st ations_during_testing_of_sensors_in_cambridge_and_ somerville/

This did not give me the warm and fuzzies: "Authorities do not believe the small amounts being used pose threats to anyone, regardless of their health condition."

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Nat

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us...fort.html?_r=1

Scott Walker and fellow repubs kept their jobs in Wisconsin, though exit polls showed the race would've much closer than they were.

(Republicans outspent dems 8 to 1)

I am sickened by the amounts of money going into elections post the Citizens United decision.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Nat

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us...fort.html?_r=1

Scott Walker and fellow repubs kept their jobs in Wisconsin, though exit polls showed the race would've much closer than they were.

(Republicans outspent dems 8 to 1)

From the article:

“Tonight, we tell Wisconsin, we tell our country and we tell people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions,” Mr. Walker said.”

The result raised broader questions about the strength of labor groups, who had called hundreds of thousands of voters and knocked on thousands of doors. The outcome also seemed likely to embolden leaders in other states who have considered limits to unions as a way to solve budget problems, but had watched the backlash against Mr. Walker with worry.

Well no worries now.

It’s impossible to help those individuals who consistently vote/make decisions that are in total opposition to their own best interests. If this sort of occurrence was an aberration or perhaps just a few misguided souls with alarmingly poor judgment one could understand. But it isn’t. These kinds of insane self-injuring political decisions are being made by people everywhere. It is as though people have gone mad. Despite evidence to the extreme contrary the majority of people insist on voting into office individuals who act in the best interest of the rich and the powerful to the detriment of the rest of society and call it good and sane voting judgment. We all act as though there are two political ways to go, liberal and conservative, and that they are equal just different ways to handle the same issues. This is so far from the truth it is frightening. Liberal and conservative are not two ways to think about and deal with the same issues and goals. Liberal and conservative political parties have two completely distinct and separate goals. They are not different versions of the same politic. They are not just benign but different political choices concerned with the same ends. But the reality of politics, finance and government in the world today is so purposely convoluted and obscured that shedding any lasting light on the truth of it is as likely as catching a leprechaun. That’s why I’ve decided to just play video games.

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Dead bacteria to be used to test T sensors

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/05/17/homeland_security_to_release_bacteria_in_subway_st ations_during_testing_of_sensors_in_cambridge_and_ somerville/

This did not give me the warm and fuzzies: "Authorities do not believe the small amounts being used pose threats to anyone, regardless of their health condition."

Wish I could say I felt Homeland Security was acting in the best interests of the country. My gut tells me this is just more of the governmental experiments that have been conducted on the military, the disabled, minorities etc over the years. Only difference is those were cloaked in secrecy, while this stuff is meant to give us the false illusion of transparency.

Still think Homeland Security and TSA and all those folks looking to protect us pose a greater risk to us than terrorists ever will.

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Well no worries now.

It’s impossible to help those individuals who consistently vote/make decisions that are in total opposition to their own best interests. If this sort of occurrence was an aberration or perhaps just a few misguided souls with alarmingly poor judgment one could understand. But it isn’t. These kinds of insane self-injuring political decisions are being made by people everywhere. It is as though people have gone mad. Despite evidence to the extreme contrary the majority of people insist on voting into office individuals who act in the best interest of the rich and the powerful to the detriment of the rest of society and call it good and sane voting judgment. We all act as though there are two political ways to go, liberal and conservative, and that they are equal just different ways to handle the same issues. This is so far from the truth it is frightening. Liberal and conservative are not two ways to think about and deal with the same issues and goals. Liberal and conservative political parties have two completely distinct and separate goals. They are not different versions of the same politic. They are not just benign but different political choices concerned with the same ends. But the reality of politics, finance and government in the world today is so purposely convoluted and obscured that shedding any lasting light on the truth of it is as likely as catching a leprechaun. That’s why I’ve decided to just play video games.

Agree with you here. Amazing the reasons people use to decide on the candidate of their choice even when the choice is clearly not in their best interest. Women voting for republicans who have mounted the war on women astounds me. Female republicans waging a war on other females confounds the heck out of me.

For the first time in this election year, I am getting antsy about Obama being able to win reelection. And, I am antsy because voters focus on weird shit.

There is, it seems, another economic downturn coming before the election. Has nothing to do with Obama and his policies. It was a forced and subsidized recovery to begin with not a market recovery. To expect it to last would be kind of nutty to me.

I am worried about how voters will deal with Obama and his stances on queers. I am fearful they will focus on doma and his support for gay marriage while conveniently forgetting Romney was the governor of Massachusetts when gay marriage became law here.

I am worried people are still stuck on Obamacare even tho Obamacare is just
Romneycare implemented on a nationwide scale. The only difference was Obama did it to help people have access to insurance and care while Romney made health insurance mandatory in Massachusetts so health care providers didnt have to provide free care.

Scary times. Unpredictable voters. Tick plays video games. I just go to the beach. LOL.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Wish I could say I felt Homeland Security was acting in the best interests of the country. My gut tells me this is just more of the governmental experiments that have been conducted on the military, the disabled, minorities etc over the years. Only difference is those were cloaked in secrecy, while this stuff is meant to give us the false illusion of transparency.

Still think Homeland Security and TSA and all those folks looking to protect us pose a greater risk to us than terrorists ever will.




Agree with you here. Amazing the reasons people use to decide on the candidate of their choice even when the choice is clearly not in their best interest. Women voting for republicans who have mounted the war on women astounds me. Female republicans waging a war on other females confounds the heck out of me.

For the first time in this election year, I am getting antsy about Obama being able to win reelection. And, I am antsy because voters focus on weird shit.

There is, it seems, another economic downturn coming before the election. Has nothing to do with Obama and his policies. It was a forced and subsidized recovery to begin with not a market recovery. To expect it to last would be kind of nutty to me.

I am worried about how voters will deal with Obama and his stances on queers. I am fearful they will focus on doma and his support for gay marriage while conveniently forgetting Romney was the governor of Massachusetts when gay marriage became law here.

I am worried people are still stuck on Obamacare even tho Obamacare is just
Romneycare implemented on a nationwide scale. The only difference was Obama did it to help people have access to insurance and care while Romney made health insurance mandatory in Massachusetts so health care providers didnt have to provide free care.

Scary times. Unpredictable voters. Tick plays video games. I just go to the beach. LOL.

I agree- what goes on in one's voting decisions these days for far too many voters does not resemble democratic processes and the underpinnings of our Constitution at all. It's all about social and moral judgement about issues that are simply one's own personal calls. With all of the problems that exist in the US and disenfranchised populations and poverty, yes poverty- you would think our voting populace would be better informed and willing to make change for the greater good.

These are scary times and I was around for the McCarthy era.

[Cin]

Chicago cops Taser 8-months-pregnant woman during parking dispute

Apparently tasers are not less lethal weapons for cops to use to protect themselves, they are instruments of torture that the police can use whenever they want, on whomever they choose, for any reason whatsoever.

Rather than deal with any potential problems from upset or angry citizens, just taser them into submission. Scary shit that.

[Kobi]

As if the Vatican weren’t already knee-deep in scandals, the Holy See is now at odds with a group of American nuns over one sister’s book on sexuality.

Demurely titled Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, Sister Margaret Farley’s 2006 treatise has nevertheless drawn the ire of the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, which said Monday that the work poses “grave harm” to the Catholic flock for its comparatively progressive positions on homosexuality and masturbation, among other issues.

Farley told the Associated Press that she never meant for the book to reflect official Catholic teaching but, instead, wanted to explore sexuality across religions, theological doctrines and human experience.

A prominent theologian and professor emeritus at Yale’s School of Divinity, Farley is a member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order, a group represented by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) — the largest organization of American nuns.

The indictment is the latest flashpoint in a years-long conflict between the Vatican and the LCWR—a group that the church has characterized as “radically feminist”—and comes just days after the LCWR publicly challenged a recent two-year-long investigation of its activities by the Vatican.

In April, the Vatican declared it had found the organization guilty of contradicting the church’s teachings on sexuality while failing to publicly espouse “the right to life,” and announced it would task three bishops with overhauling the organization. The nuns have been less than happy about the prospect of three men taking control of a group for women, and have called the church’s accusations “unsubstantiated” and its investigation “flawed”, arguing that the crackdown has only “caused scandal and pain throughout the church community.”

The LCWR’s struggle has garnered the sympathy of many American Catholics and provoked nationwide vigils and protests in defense of the nuns. In the latest retort to Rome, the New York Times reports that a group called Network — a Washington-based social justice lobby not formally affiliated with the LCWR — is organizing a bus tour across nine U.S. states this summer, stopping at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and healthcare clinics run by nuns, in order to highlight the importance of their good works.

Farley’s book isn’t the first to stir up trouble in Rome recently. The Holy See has been up to its elbows in scandal since the May publication of Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s book, Your Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI, in which he exposes Vatican corruption and mismanagement, as evidenced by dozens of letters, memos and cables leaked from within the office of the Pope.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/06/...tican-scandal/

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


How the heck did I miss this book?

[LeftWriteFemme]

BREAKING: Another Federal Judge Strikes Down DOMA



http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/0...oma/?mobile=nc

[Kobi]

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — A jury dominated by people with Penn State loyalties was selected Wednesday to decide Jerry Sandusky's fate in the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the university and led to football coach Joe Paterno's downfall.

The seven women and five men who will hear opening statements on Monday include an engineering administrative assistant at Penn State, a dance teacher in the continuing education program and a professor who has been on the faculty for 24 years.

Also: a Penn State senior, a retired soil sciences professor with 37 years at the university, a man with bachelor's and master's degrees from the school and a woman who has been a season ticketholder since the 1970s.

Picking the jury took less than two days, moving along more swiftly than some had expected, given that the rural area is rich with Penn State employees, alumni and fans, many of whom have strong opinions about the case. Bellefonte is 12 miles from Penn State's main campus in State College.

The judge, however, said Penn State connections would not automatically disqualify potential jurors as long as they could pledge to be impartial. Eight of the 12 jurors and two of the four alternates have ties to Penn State.

Some legal experts said jurors with Penn State connections might be inclined to come down hard on Sandusky, blaming him for Paterno's firing and the damage to the school's reputation. Or they might take their frustrations out on prosecutors for bringing the case in the first place.

http://news.yahoo.com/penn-state-hea...8148--spt.html

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Chicago cops Taser 8-months-pregnant woman during parking dispute

Apparently tasers are not less lethal weapons for cops to use to protect themselves, they are instruments of torture that the police can use whenever they want, on whomever they choose, for any reason whatsoever.

Rather than deal with any potential problems from upset or angry citizens, just taser them into submission. Scary shit that.

What the fuck is the matter with these jackasses? This just makes me sick! Obviously, it is time for "regulations" (standardized, hopefully) specific to just when and under what circumstances tasers can be used by police. As if there were not other options to calm this situation down. Craziness!!! Police officers are supposed to be trained in verbal conflict resolution in situations like this. They are taught ways to get things more calm without using any kind of weapon- so, I guess that training went down the drain due to the introduction of "non-lethal" weapons (which is untrue- tasers can be lethal and I don't think electrical charges are very good for a developing fetus).

Of course, we live in a country with 25 states that have Stand Your Ground laws and regular citizens can shoot and kill 17 year old kids based upon racial profiling in a situation in which lethal force was not indicated whatsoever. And we know police racially profile all of the time as well as well as use more force than is indicated in many instances no matter the race of a citizen.

[Cin]

Apparently law enforcement is willing to fight any restrictions on the use of Tasers. And they will take this fight to the state Supreme Court. Here is an excerpt from an article about the police winning a case concerning using a Taser on a 7 month old pregnant woman, once again because of a traffic violation. Even though they won, the police made the decision to take the case to the Supreme Court ostensibly for emphasis. The police will not brook any interference with their use of Tasers on citizens of their choice. They are not one bit ashamed of Tasering pregnant women, quite the opposite. Seemingly they believe using a Taser on cranky late term pregnant women, especially pregnant women of color, is not only warranted but exactly what the government should order:

TASERS. Not just a last resort alternative to lethal force, but also for use on unruly schoolchildren, rowdy sports fans, a person “acting strangely” at a theme park (that one died), suspects in handcuffs at police stations, tourists who don't speak English and can't understand what police are telling them, college students who don't produce identification on command and pregnant women who are driving 32 mph in a 20 mph zone.

"The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals let the officers off the hook for the incident, finding that while the force they used was excessive, they couldn't be held accountable “because the law on the question was not clear in 2004.” And then a strange thing happened: the cops, after winning, appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which will decide shortly whether to hear the case.

Why appeal a case the cops had basically won? According to the Times, it was because the decision “put them and their colleagues on notice that some future uses of Tasers would cross a constitutional line and amount to excessive force.” Tasers have become such an integral tool in forcing citizens to comply that police agencies consider constraints on their use to be a bridge too far – a fight worth taking to the highest court in the land.

The city of Seattle filed a brief with the court asking that it not hear the case. City attorneys criticized what they called the cops' “sky is falling” take on the decision, adding that “three applications of a Taser in drive-stun mode in less than a minute on a pregnant woman who does not pose a safety threat” is the kind of excessive force that is likely to lead to liability for the city.

The most telling part of the story may be the unexamined assumption that police, faced with a very pregnant, nonviolent, non-threatening woman, had to resort to some sort of force to deal with the situation. In an ostensibly neutral news story, Adam Liptak wrote, “The situation plainly called for bold action.” One judge, dissenting from the ruling, said that Brooks had invited the assault by being “defiant” and “deaf to reason.” He added that the cops “deserve our praise, not the opprobrium of being declared constitutional violators. The City of Seattle should award them commendations for grace under fire.”

But the cops weren't “under fire” – they were simply dealing with a confused citizen and they were unable or unwilling to resolve the situation without violence. (Another dissenting justice claimed that “tasing was a humane way to force Brooks out of her car.”)"

[Kobi]

Used to be a time when law enforcement was good at diffusing potentially dangerous situations. Now, it seems, they are pro's at creating dangerous situations.

At this rate, I expect it might not be long before they are tazering wandering old demented people, unruly children on airplanes and in restaurants, the unfortunate person between the cop and the counter at dunkin donuts, etc.

The new world order people just keep taking away our freedoms under the guise of protecting us from terrorists. Who is protecting us from them?

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"

-- Thomas Jefferson,

[BrownEyedAngel]

The refusal by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the Proposition 8 case means the Supreme Court could rule on marriage equality within the year.


Here's a link to the article in The Advocate:

Prop. 8 Again Loses With Judges; Next Up Supreme Court?

[*Anya*]

I, personally, do not hope the cases go to the Supreme Court at this time. There is a conservative majority on the court now (and possibly for some time to come).

There is no way in hell that this Supreme Court will agree with marriage equality.

They will side with the Ninth Circuit or in some way hold that federal law "DOMA" is the law of the land.

I am very worried it will set us back years if it goes to the Court while the right-wing is the majority.

What if, god forbid, Obama loses and Ruth Bader Ginsberg retires? Yet one more conservative will be appointed.

"Let us not forget that it was again a 5-4 right wing Supreme Court that gave us Bush v. Gore and the horrific presidency of GeorgeW. Bush which then spawned the appointment of two right wing judges Alito and Roberts. This Supreme Court is one of the most conservative since reconstruction and its already bearing similar fruit.

The Roberts led Supreme Court is determined to be a political factor. This is why they decided to take on the Affordable Care Act Obamacare in an election year, why they decided to hear an affirmative action case during an election year, a redistricting case that favors Republican districts. Does anyone really think that Clarence Thomas whose wife has worked to overturn the Affordable Care Act is ready to hear oral arguments with an open mind. The strength of the Supreme Court is one that relies on the people recognizing its legitimacy. With each and every 5-4 right wing decision, their legitimacy decreases."

http://blackstate.com/obamacare8572923.html

[Hollylane]

NEWPORT, Ore. - A large dock that washed up on Agate Beach in Newport floated all the way to Oregon after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, experts confirmed Wednesday.


The Japanese Consulate's Office in Seattle and Portland have both confirmed the match. The 66-foot-long concrete and steel floating dock was traced to a manufacturer in Japan. The consulate confirmed it had been in use when the tsunami hit, in Misawa, an area of Japan slammed by giant waves.

On Tuesday in Oregon, the dock was spotted sitting at the high tide line on Agate Beach. A photo of it was immediately sent to the Japanese consulate in Seattle. The dock is 7 feet tall, 19 feet wide and 66 feet long. Shortly after it made landfall, it was checked for radiation and the tests were negative.

A placard on the dock was written in Japanese. A translator hired by NBC said it listed information about the construction date, a company name, the specifications for this type of dock, a phone number and the name of a harbor.




"It belonged to local government in Honshu, the main island of Japan. It was part of a floating pontoon," said Portland consulate Takamichi Okabe. "The outside surface is made of concrete but inside a kind of Styrofoam. That's why it floated and it came so early to the shore of the West Coast."



Scientists at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport verified that there was evidence of marine life specific to Japan attached to the dock. In particular, a starfish found by a scientist among the marine life clinging to the dock was said to be native to Japan, according to Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Haven, who helped to confirm the information with the consulate.

There was some concern about potential invasive species exposure. OPRD was working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to contain this threat, Haven said.

OPRD was also working on developing disposal options. Two possibilities were salvage or demolition; both were being evaluated.

Park staff posted warning tape and signs instructing the public to stay off the structure. On Wednesday, dozens of onlookers had gathered on the beach to take photos of the dock.

"I can't believe the journey it's made, without anything pulling but the ocean," said beach visitor Sandie Fink. "It's just absolutely amazing to me."

[Andrea]

Developing: Nuclear Cover-Up? Extreme Radiation Levels Prompt EPA Censorship, DHS Hazmat Team

http://naturalsociety.com/nuclear-cover-up-radiation-levels-epa-geiger-counter-dhs-hazmat-team/

Anyone see anything more about this?

[LeftWriteFemme]

News :: National
N.J. School: Parents of Straight Bullied Son Should ’Enroll Him in Sports’
by Jason St. Amand

A New Jersey school has been slammed with a federal lawsuit by parents who say their son was constantly physically assaulted and verbally harassed by classmates and even a school volunteer because they all thought he was gay, the New Civil Rights Movement reported.

The family, who is unnamed (most likely to protect the student’s identity), spoke to school officials a number of times about the daily bullying their child was allegedly enduring. The parents talked to administrators and two school district superintendents who told them that their son should "make new friends," "enroll in sports," or move out of the school district.

The family eventually took the officials’ advice, sold their home and moved out of the district.

"In Newark, plaintiffs D.O. and D.O. say they noticed problems with their child, C.O., who came home each day from Pine Lake Elementary School bruised crying and depressed," according to the Courthouse News Service.

The complaint says that the child "indicated to his parents that his classmates were bullying him both at school and after school due to the perception that C.O. was ’gay."

"On a daily basis during this time C.O. was called ’gay,’ ’fag’ and ’girl’ by his classmates. C.O. was also completely ostracized and shunned by his classmates and was forced to spend all time at school alone due to his classmates’ perception that C.O. was gay," the document says. "During the aforementioned time period, C.O., was asked by numerous classmates, often many times in a single day as to whether he was ’gay.’ The other students’ contempt for C.O. would often be displayed before large groups of his peers and he was constantly laughed at and demeaned due to his perceived sexual orientation."

After the parents witnessed the harassment occur from their own front lawn, they asked the school’s principal to handle the situation. But the bullying still continued, the parents claim. After phone calls and several meetings the principal "advised D.O. that he should consider taking C.O. to ’another school district.’"

The parents were "desperate to stop the harassment and abuse of their son at Pine Lakes, D.O. and D.O. met with Director of Elementary Schools for the District, [defendant] Maryrose Caulfield-Sloan," the complaint says.

"At this meeting D.O. and D.O. complained that their son was being subject to relentless harassment and bullying due to his perceived sexual orientation. In response to their concerns, Dr. Caulfield-Sloan advised D.O. and D.O. to enroll C.O. in sports in an area away from the district so that his classmates would not have the opportunity to harass and abuse him. Dr. Caulfield-Sloan also advised D.O. and D.O. that C.O. should attempt to ’make new friends.’"

The parents say that the assaults still continued and their son was physically assaulted on a school bus with a metal seatbelt.

New Jersey has some of the strictest laws in the country when it comes to school bullying. Anti-LGBT bullying is strictly prohibited in state schools. Officials are required to post and distribute their anti-bullying policies to all of their students.

In an incident that mirrors the New Jersey student’s situation, parents of an 18-year-old Florida student say bullying lead to their son’s attempted suicide.

Zachery Gray endured nonstop anti-gay bullying even though he was straight and had a girlfriend. He was called "fag," "queer" and a number of other homophobic slurs.

"He couldn’t walk down the hallways without somebody saying something toward him," said his father, Tony Gray.

In May of last year Gray, 17 at the time, tried to hang himself with a dog chain in a shed behind his home. Neighbors, his mother and paramedics were able to save him, however. Now the teen, who was supposed to graduate high school this year, suffers from brain damage, requires constant medical care, and can no longer walk or talk.

Like the parents from New Jersey cited above, Gray’s mother and father claim that the school did not do enough to prevent the bullying. An investigation into the situation found that students also made fun of Gray’s weight and a teacher (who no longer is with the school) did nothing to help him after Gray informed her that he was being bullied.