According to Cheshire County Attorney Peter Heed, Mack may have been having problems with his relationship with a young woman. Heed in formed the AP that “It clearly involved a relationship issue; I think that is fair to say.”

Mack is in the ICU.

Heed stated in a news conference that “Our hearts go out to the family of this young man and our thoughts go out to all of the students that were in the school at this time.” He did not go into many specifics.

Cindy Mack, the cousin of Hunter Mack’s father, stated “We’re all just waiting to hear about our little boy. He’s a wonderful little boy. He’s an avid hunter – like his name. He is very smart. He won prizes at school. He shot his first deer last year. He’s a great, great kid.”

Some of the students interviewed for the news have said that there was some kind of medical issue that Mack needed medication for. One student told WCAX “Like all I know is that he was friendly and he had to take medicine because he had problems, that is all I know, and he was a nice guy.”

Ethan Symonds, a seventh-grader who was near Mack when he shot the gun, said that he heard something “a little bit louder than a chip bag popping,” but when he saw blood, he ran. He was one of seventy students in the cafeteria at the time. There are 170 students at the school. Nick Phillips, who shared home room with Mack, said that the young man had been depressed lately.

At about 1pm, parents were informed about the lockdown thanks to the automated call system. They were allowed, at that time, to come and get their children.

Governor John Lynch stated “The state of New Hampshire is offering whatever assistance it can to the community, along with all of our thoughts and prayers.” The town of about 3,000 is near the Vermont state line. The school itself runs from grades five through eight.

According to the press release:

Feimster is the lovable Southern comic with great hair and an ever better personality, who has been making a name for herself as Chelsea Lately’s good fortune revealed!
Taking the Los Angeles comedy scene by storm, she made her national TV debut on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” where she finished as a semi-finalist.

Now Fortune is a full-time writer and “roundtable” performer on the E! Network’s popular “Chelsea Lately” & “After Lately” shows.

Fortune will emcee the entire weekend and give Dinah-goers a taste of her hilarious comedic medicine when she hosts the “Laughing Loud 4″ Comedy show on Thursday, March 29 at The Riviera Spa & Resort in Palm Springs, CA. Sharing the stage with famed fellow comedians Suzanne Wesntenhoefer, Jessica Kirson and Karen Williams, this is a not-to-be-missed comedy tour de force.

Countdown to Dinah has started! Don’t miss this epic five-day world-renown weekend: the legendary wild Pool Parties, the sexiest go-go dancers, the best DJs, the top-notch entertainment, the hottest girls in the world, plus the non-stop action and … the celebrity sighting!

Chickens Say- Eat More Beef!

And now for something completely different. . .stop action animation!

Alright, I will admit to being a huge fan of Robot Chicken as well as, well, Monty Python. Recently, I began rewatching the various seasons of Robot Chicken on DVD and came across this particular sketch. Given the fact that we are currently in a debate regarding contraception, it seemed rather appropriate to put this out there again since it actually not only makes light of the debate, but makes a pretty sharp point about just how contradictory the attacks on both abortion and contraception really are.

TCRA executive director Anthony Martinez stated

“This is an extremely important bill for the transgender community, and we are very grateful to Representative Cassidy for sponsoring legislation that will advance transgender rights in Illinois. Transgender individuals face pervasive discrimination in every aspect of their lives, and we work with an unconscionable number of transgender individuals who have experienced violence simply because they are transgender.

“A report released last July by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAPV) shows that transgender women make up 44 percent of all LGBT murder victims. The study also reported a troubling 13 percent rise in anti-LGBT hate crimes in 2010, and, unfortunately, there is constant violence that goes unreported. Many of the transgender folks who come to us, especially transgender women, say that they don’t feel comfortable reporting an assault because they think they are either going to face police harassment, or they are not going to be seen as a victim but as the person who brought on the attack. The NCAPV study found that over half of survivors did not report the event to the police. Of those who did go to the police, over 60 percent said authorities were ‘indifferent, abusive or deterrent.’ This response was most common among transgender people of color–those most likely to be victim to a crime.”

TCRA political and policy director Lowell Jaffe stated “As a member organization of the LGBTQ Immigration Coalition, and as an organization that works with many transgender individuals that have experienced crimes motivated by hate and discrimination, as well as an organization that fought for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and is committed to the needs of LGBT service members and veterans, we recognized that hate crime protections in Illinois must be expanded. The federal Hate Crimes Act includes crimes committed because of a victim’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity, but limitations to federal jurisdiction and State’s rights create strict limitations as to when federal agencies can act on a hate crime here in Illinois. This law will allow our state to prosecute these crimes more effectively.”

The White House is set to announce a ‘compromise’ on the rule, but it should be noted that the compromise goes from being based on this law:

(2) Outpatient prescription benefits for an enrollee shall be the same for an enrollee’s covered spouse and covered nonspouse dependents.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a religious employer may request a health care service plan contract without coverage for federal Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods that are contrary to the religious employer’s religious tenets.  If so requested, a health care service plan contract shall be provided without coverage for contraceptive methods.  This subdivision shall not be construed to deny an enrollee coverage of, and timely access to, contraceptive methods.
(1) For purposes of this section, a “religious employer” is an entity for which each of the following is true:
(A) The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the entity.
(B) The entity primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the entity.
(C) The entity serves primarily persons who share the religious tenets of the entity.
(D) The entity is a nonprofit organization as described in Section 6033(a)(2)(A)i or iii, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(2) Every religious employer that invokes the exemption provided under this section shall provide written notice to prospective enrollees prior to enrollment with the plan, listing the
contraceptive health care services the employer refuses to cover for religious reasons.

Which is California’s law governing religious exemption regarding contraception to this one which is based on Hawaii’s:

(a)  A “religious employer” is an entity for which each of the following is true:
(1)  The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the entity;
(2)  The entity primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the entity;
(3)  The entity is not staffed by public employees; and
(4)  The entity is a nonprofit organization as defined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
For the purpose of this definition, any educational, health care, or other nonprofit institution or organization owned or controlled by the religious employer is included in this exemption.
(b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any religious employer may request an accident and health or sickness insurance plan without coverage for contraceptive services and supplies that are contrary to the religious employer’s religious tenets.  If so requested, the accident and health or sickness insurer, mutual benefit society, or health maintenance organization shall provide a plan without coverage for contraceptive services and supplies.  This subsection shall not be construed to deny an enrollee coverage of, and timely access to, contraceptive services and supplies.
(c)  Each religious employer that invokes the exemption provided under this section shall:
(1)  Provide written notice to enrollees upon enrollment with the plan, listing the contraceptive health care services the employer refuses to cover for religious reasons;
(2)  Provide written information describing how an enrollee may directly access contraceptive services and supplies in an expeditious manner; and
(3)  Ensure that enrollees who are refused contraceptive services and supplies coverage under this section have prompt access to the information developed under paragraph (2).  Such notice shall appear, in not less than twelve-point type, in the policy, application, and sales brochure for such policy.

The White House is set to announce that “the relationship between the religious employer and the insurance company will not need to have any component involving contraception. The insurance company will reach out on its own to the women employees. This is better for both sides, the source says, since the religious organizations do not have to deal with medical care to which they object, and women employees will not have to be dependent upon an organization strongly opposed to that care in order to obtain it.”

Actually, it looks like the California option, which is the one that the rule was originally based upon, would be far better for the religious organizations than the second one, which is based on Hawaii’s law.  The way the rule works right now, these organizations can opt out entirely from covering contraception if they happen to be employing a majority of people who share their religious beliefs, are dedicated to spreading the values and religion of that particular faith, or primarily serves those of said faith.

So, basically, it comes down to those religious organizations which do not fit those criteria.  In fact, for many religious organizations forced by state laws to cover contraception, the rule as it stands will end up easing those restrictions.

Update:

Obama made the announcement and this is pretty much what he announced.

Via ABC News

They also noted that:

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta directed the services to update him in six months on assignment policy implementation and the progress made developing gender-neutral physical standards. “Gender-neutral physical standards ensure all members can meet the physical demands of the duties they are assigned,” acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jo Ann Rooney said on air.

Former Marine Captain Anu Bhagwati, the executive director of SWAN, does not feel that the changes go far enough. She stated that:

“On the plus side, this is a step in the right direction. These changes will allow women to be assigned to units at the Battalion level. It will have a huge impact on the units that are most frequently exposed to direct ground combat and will open up over 14,000 positions that were previously closed to women.”

“Now talented women will be serving alongside their male peers in infantry and tank battalions, for example, in skills that are critical to the unit’s operational success. This policy will also present some relief to war-weary battalions by providing an influx of fresh personnel that will help alleviate the burdens that frequent deployments present to troops.”

SWAN also noted that “the DOD is not lifting the long-standing, obsolete and unfair Combat Exclusion Policy that prohibits women from accessing career opportunities in the combat arms, meaning they can serve alongside infantry, but they can’t become infantry themselves.” Bhagwati said of that “This is extremely disappointing. To continue such a ban is to ignore the talents and leadership that women bring to the military and it further penalizes service women by denying them the opportunity for future promotions and assignments that are primarily given to personnel from combat arms specialties, a phenomenon SWAN calls the Brass Ceiling.”

She went on to say:

“Over 280,000 women have deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan thus far, including 144 women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Over 800 women have been wounded. And yet, because the DOD continues to enforce this obsolete barrier on women’s entry into combat arms fields, women who have deployed alongside their male peers have been denied the awards, badges, and even veterans’ benefits that their male counterparts have been granted for doing the same job. Women have more than proven they are capable of defending our country during war. It’s time military leadership establish the same level playing field to qualified women to enter the infantry, Special Forces, and other all-male units. It’s simply un-American to arbitrarily prohibit U.S. service women the equal opportunity to excel and serve their nation at the highest levels.”

“This week, in fact, the Senate is in the process of confirming only the second woman 4-star general in history of the U.S. military. Two top generals in 200 years isn’t exactly a stellar track record for upward mobility.”

Here is the full report to Congress

He told CBS that “We stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson and that’s a great thing, because she shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on The Golden Rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like if you treated yourself. And we think Ellen represents the values of our company and the values that we share.”

He went on to say “As we thought about all the people in America today, we thought Ellen would be the perfect [spokes]person, because we all kind of trust her. She’s a very honest, straight-forward person with extraordinary values… It’s been unbelievably wonderful to work with someone who is so kind, so gracious, so funny, who just I think captures what America is about.”

Of course, among the others who have had issues with OMM’s ‘witch hunt’ have been Bill O’Reilly. He said in a clip that “This is a business deal. Ms. DeGeneres is hired as a spokesperson by JCPenney. JCPenney has an absolutely perfect right to do that, as you have in your belief system. Then the Million Moms say, ‘Hey, because we feel a certain way about Ms. DeGeneres’ lifestyle, you need to fire her.’ I don’t think that’s the spirit of America.” Then, anti-LGBT commentor Sandi Rios stated back to him “The problem is Ellen DeGeneres has chosen to act out her lesbian lifestyle, marry her partner. It’s what that represents, and the fact that JCPenney is supposed to be middle America, the place where families shop.”

In other words, Rios has problems with gay people and wants them to go away.

O’Reilly responded saying “You’re dodging the essential question. The essential question is that … a conservative group in this country is asking a private company to fire an American citizen based upon her lifestyle. I don’t think that’s correct.”

The new rules provide an exemption when it comes to the coverage of contraception so long as the institution is wholly religious in nature and provides no other services that are outside the religious sphere. It actually sounds as if EWTN is exempt from the rule given that they provide no other service than religious programming. Religious hospitals, universities and colleges provide services that have nothing to do with religion or only tangentially with religion. They provide healthcare or education.

Here in is something of a problem. Here, as an example, is Arkansas’ law states that:

(a) Every health benefit policy that is delivered, issued, executed, or renewed in this state or approved for issuance or renewal in this state by the Insurance Commissioner on or after August 12, 2005, that provides coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis shall provide coverage for prescribed drugs or devices approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use as a contraceptive.

(b) Nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed to require any insurance company to provide coverage for an abortion, an abortifacient, or any United States Food and Drug Administration-approved emergency contraception.

It does contain an exemption for religious employers as defined as an entity “that is organized and operated for religious purposes and has received a section 501(C)(3) from the Internal Revenue Service”; “that has as one of its primary purposes the inculcation of religious values; and that employs primarily persons who share its religious tenets.”

Kathleen Sebilius noted on 5 February that “we specifically carved out from the policy religious organizations that primarily employ people of their own faith. This exemption includes churches and other houses of worship, and could also include other church-affiliated organizations,” and that “The religious exemption in the administration’s rule is the same as the exemption in Oregon, New York and California.”

In fact, it appears that many religious employers, including EWTN, are already exempt from this mandate.

It should be interesting to see how the judges note this one. It seems like a very frivolous lawsuit.

Oh, and it looks like no one actually read the blasted thing.

So, in an email blast, they wrote:

If you haven’t already heard, Ellen DeGeneres mentioned One Million Moms on her television show yesterday with a few hand-picked Facebook comments that supported her of course. Watch the video of her show to see how she validates all of OMM’s concerns about the J.C. Penney decision. She starts with celebrating California’s Prop 8 decision that came Tuesday, February 7, 2012, against traditional marriage, and then goes after OMM in a rant. For those who are not aware, Prop 8 bans same-sex marriage, but unfortunately the Appeals Court ruled earlier this week that it was unconstitutional. If something is legal it doesn’t make it morally right. What it boils down to is agenda.

Of course, OMM would know about how something being legal not making it morally correct given that they push hatred and are part of a group that actively uses hatred, lies and attacks on every minority under the sun including many Christians who do not agree with them. While hate speech is legally allowed, it is certainly not morally correct to say that Native Americans deserved to be slaughtered, or Blacks deserved to be enslaved. The AFA, of which OMM is an affiliate, have said those things in the past.

They went on to say:

OMM appreciates your support for our agenda – standing up for Biblical values. As Christians we know God says homosexuality is a sin (Romans 1:26-27), like adultery, fornication, and other sexual sins. Ellen is attempting to indoctrinate our children.

And yet, adultery and fornication are legal. It should also be noted that children cannot be indoctrinated into being lesbian or gay since science has shown sexuality to be inherent. Even the Roman Catholic Church has admitted that homosexuality is inherent even if they believe it is wrong. Of course, that is a problem given that homosexuality is inherent. That is like demanding that a Black person stop being Black just because it is considered morally impure. Oh that is right, at one point, being Black was seen as being automatically immoral.

Oh, and it is nice to see that they admit that they have an agenda.

They continue:

In today’s culture when an individual stands up for what they believe in and someone disagrees with them then they are referred to as a hater when in reality it is OMM’s opponents who are hating us. Tolerance does go both ways. Apparently, OMM must be doing something right because scripture says that we will be persecuted for our Biblical beliefs (Matthew 5:11). Our voice is being heard! The Word also says that Jesus told his disciples that they would be hated because He was hated first (John 15:18). OMM will remain strong because we are to be the salt and light.

There is, of course, a difference between disagreeing based upon something factual and relying solely upon someone’s religion given that religious beliefs are not universal. What is more, when someone has to rely upon lies in order to spread their agenda, they are easily someone who hates. If they actually had any facts to support their beliefs that do not rely upon their religious beliefs, then they would use them. Instead, they rely upon lies about how children are hurt by homosexuality even when it has been shown to be incorrect time and time again. They rely upon claiming that children raised by lesbians and gays are harmed, even though the evidence shows that they are incorrect on that front too.

And finally, they wrote:

OMM has hundreds of thousands of supporters joining together for what is right. Yes, OMM will have its critics, but remember Godly principles validate our stand. OMM is growing everyday and has gained new supporters over this past week. There is strength in numbers! It is our responsibility as parents to do everything in our power to protect our children from being misled and desensitized.

OMM plans to cover other issues in the near future, but we will not change our stance on Ellen becoming the new spokesperson for JC Penney. OMM will not back down or give in to pressure from the media.

Hundreds of thousands. . .hundreds of thousands. . .Ellen’s show brings in 2.4 million viewers every day. Guess who people are listening to more.

So, Cal Thomas decided to say “I’m glad that you played the Rachel Maddow clip because I think she is the best argument in favor of her parents using contraception. I would be all for that. And all of the rest of the crowd at MSNBC, too, for that matter.”

Yawn. . .and this is why the Right Wing can never seem to get any decent comedians. That punch line just seemed to really fall flat, and honestly, this is a man who is supposed to be a decent writer. I don’t have the best sense of humor, but let me be blunt, even I could come up with a better joke than that.

It should be noted that Dr. Maddow does not have to use contraception as the likelihood of her getting pregnant or making someone else pregnant is about 0%.

Oh, and thank you for this ThinkProgress.

On Sunday, February 12 — Freedom to Marry Day 2012 — please join in a protest against Cardinal George’s anti-gay bigotry – 10:30 AM in front of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago. Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equal rights!

Clerical Bullies Who Try to Limit Rights of Others Now “Victims”?

*** Writing in the January 15th issue of the official Archdiocesan newspaper, Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George said he had “fear” that the so-called “liberty of the Catholic Church” is under attack.

As easily the single largest, and arguably most influential religious denomination in Chicago and Illinois, any notion of a “threat” to the Catholic Church here is patently absurd. What is true is that Cardinal George and the Church leadership internationally have used their considerable influence to try to stop civil rights for LGBTs.

*** In Rome in a January meeting with the diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict XVI condemned same-sex marriage as a “threat to humanity” and decried “policies aimed at marginalizing the role of religion in the life of society, as if it were a cause of intolerance.”

No one is talking about the government forcing the church to celebrate same-sex marriages or other equal rights for LGBTs and women in the Church, any more than forcing the church to re-marry divorcees. What we are saying is that we will no longer allow religious bigots to determine the laws by which people of other faiths (or no faith) observe.

*** After the passage of the civil unions bill in Illinois, George pompously predicted, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

This gaseous, inflated rhetoric is the telltale language of clerics in retreat. They know that their parishioners are not with them, and neither is the wider public. With support for their anti-equality beliefs slipping, George and other church leaders cast themselves as “victims” and appeal for pity and acceptance on that basis.

It is a tired tactic we have seen before. What makes it so cynical and disingenuous is that these same highly placed and still-influential clerics deny the misery that their guilt-inducing rhetoric has caused.

Furthermore, not content to fulminate from the pulpit, they ignore their tax-exempt status and enter the political arena to try to influence legislation.

Cardinal George, for example, has opposed every advance for LGBT rights in Chicago, in Cook County, and across the state – largely without success. Unfortunately, he has had more luck helping our enemies win victories in California and Maine, where anti-gay bigotry defeated marriage equality, at least for the short term.

* George attempted to kill LGBT inclusion as a “protected class” in the Illinois Human Rights Act, which now protects us from housing and employment discrimination.

* George opposed similar Cook County protections and the county’s domestic partnership registry.

* George and other Catholic bishops circulated petitions in a failed effort to force an advisory referendum on “gay marriage.”

* George vigorously opposed the Illinois Civil Unions Act, which is now law.

* George has blessed the Illinois Catholic Conference’s effort to kill the passage of full-fledged same-sex civil marriage rights in the state.

* George, as head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, spent big money backing the anti-gay referendums Proposition 8 in California and Question 1 in Maine,.

Polls show that a majority of Catholics in the pews back LGBT rights. It is the hierarchy of the church that is out of step with the membership for which they falsely claim to speak.

We call upon Catholics, and all other people of good will, to join us in our demand for full legal equality in Illinois and nationwide. Join us on Freedom to Marry Day 2012:

10:30 AM
Sunday, February 12
735 N. State Street
Chicago

This protest is supported by the 8th Day Center for Justice, Dignity Chicago, Equality Illinois, the Gay Liberation Network, and the Rainbow Sash Movement. For more information go to www.GayLiberation.net

Of course, Viagra usually is covered, and that is far more important to the old, white guys than the whole women’s health issue.

Well, the FRC is having some kind of video conference or such tonight, but in announcing that, they stated:

As part of the Obamacare health care mandate, beginning next year any organization that offers health insurance to employees will be forced to cover contraception, sterilizations, and abortifacients — no matter what their objections. This is not only an attack on the consciences of employers and employees, but a direct attack on religious freedom. This mandate must be stopped.

The outcry is growing even as the Obama administration attempts to stifle dissent. While church leaders around the country voiced their disapproval to the mandate on Sunday, the Army’s pulpits were silent. According to several sources, the Chief of Chaplains issued an Army-wide gag order, warning priests not to read any letter resisting the policy.

No one ever explains how it is an attack on religious freedom, or on the consciences of employees. It is, of course, something of an attack on the conscience of employers, but they should trust their employees enough to give them the option to use contraception.

What this comes down to is controlling others and not really to something like trusting employees or actually trusting that their teachings are being learned.

Well, that just goes to show how screwed up fundamentalist Christianity is, I guess.

The 23-year-old stated “I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.”

Lagerfeld got hit with a pretty bad backlash after he called Adele fat, and tried to reverse course saying that he admires her. He stated “I lost over 30 kilos over 10 years ago and have kept it off. I know how it feels when the press is mean you to you in regards to your appearance. Adele is a beautiful girl. She is the best. And I can’t wait for her next CD.”

Lagerfeld has a history of making horrific remarks about women. Lagerfeld, who is likely gay, has said in the past “No one wants to see curvy women. “You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly.” Personally, I would much rather see women with real curves.

Adele has been attacked over her weight before. In 2011, she told British Vogue “I’ve seen people where it rules their lives, who want to be thinner or have bigger boobs, and how it wears down on them. And I don’t want that in my life. I have insecurities, of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.”

Adele is a beautiful woman just the way she is.

Via Huffington Post

On her show, Ellen says “They wanted to get me fired, and I’m proud and happy to say that JCPenney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson. Which is great news for me because I also need some new crew socks.” She also said “I usually don’t talk about stuff like this on my show, but I really want to thank everyone who is supporting me. Here are the values I stand for: I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That’s what I stand for.”

Ellen’s taking on the AFA and OMM is great to see. Several websites, including LezGetReal, noted OMM’s attempts to get JC Penney to cut ties with Ellen Degeneres. In the end, JC Penney stood by their choice of having Degeneres as their spokeswoman.

I’ve just come from the floor of the House where I learned that Rep.David Chavez (R-Valencia County) has withdrawn his “super-DOMA” bill from consideration!

His bill to enshrine discrimination in our constitution, and prevent New Mexico from ever recognizing all healthy and loving relationships, was set to be heard in less than 24 hours, but your work helped to defeat it!

Score one for action! Since our first call to action last week, Rep. Chavez’s office was flooded with emails calling on him with withdraw his bill that would enshrine discrimination in our constitution. Your emails continued today and tonight he pulled his bill!

DOMA may be gone for this session, but we are still here. We are reporting live from Santa Fe everyday on our blog.

Republicans are in a bind when it comes to the issue of same-sex marriage at this point as marriage bigotry is rapidly becoming an unpopular and untenable political position to hold.

Catholic League leader Bill Donohue issued the usual run of statements while Catholic leaders are trying to get the nation’s 70 million Catholic voters behind their outrage. Over 90% of Catholics support the rules that require contraception to be offered at religious based universities, colleges, and hospitals. Currently, those institutions are required to offer contraception in their health plans in twenty-eight states.

Donohue stated “Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church.” Which is, of course, rather inaccurate given that it was not until the 20th Century that the Catholic Church gained any real respect in the United States, including in terms of the government.

Donohue also stated that “This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets.” Given that 90% of the Catholic laity supports the rules, there probably won’t be any runs of people out into the streets.

Donohue, of course, is one of those old, white men that seem to have no real stake in this debate- like the majority of the Catholic hierarchy.

Pro-woman groups have already started saying that they will fight the Church over this. National Abortion Rights Action League President Andrea Miller stated “The Catholic hierarchy seems to be playing a cynical game of chicken and they don’t seem to care that the health and well being of millions of American woman are what’s at stake here.”

New York CBS noted that

Catholic leaders hope they will have more sway with the White House than usual because it is a presidential election year, hoping that if even a small percentage of Catholics back Obama’s opponent it could cost him the election.

When asked if this issue would affect who he would vote for in November, Wilton, Conn., resident Peter Taylor said, “Potentially, yes. I think it is a very serious issue, very meaningful.”

But not everyone views the situation as dire.

“I would certainly vote for Obama anyway. The church has to get up to date,” Manhattan resident Sue Thomas said.

Jamie Pedersen, Representative from Seattle, stated “I would like for our four children … to grow up understanding that their daddy and papa have made the kind of lifelong commitment to each other. Marriage is the word we use in our society to convey that idea.”

Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington DC. It is also being considered in several states. California may end up having same-sex marriage again soon after the courts ruled Prop 8 Unconstitutional. Maine is set to vote on an initiative in November that could grant same-sex marriage.

Via MSNBC

The Civil Rights Agenda executive director Anthony Martinez stated “We at TCRA supported the Civil Union bill as an initial step to providing rights and benefits to same sex couples, but separate is never equal. Marriage has always been one of the principal goals for our organization and we are pleased to finally be able to move forward towards achieving that goal. We thank the leadership of Representative Harris, Cassidy and Mell, and look forward to supporting their efforts. TCRA will work tirelessly to ensure that Illinois recognizes that all families deserve to be equal.”

Washington State is also voting on marriage equality this year, and it is likely to pass their Assembly later this month.

The problem is that it is established precedent that you cannot give someone a right and then take it away without due process or a just reason. Since NOM and company could not muster so much as a decent argument as to why it was necessary to remove the right for same-sex couples to get married, and ended up showing that their reasoning was based on religion, well, their case pretty much was doomed.

Of course, Brown wrote:

Even while pretending their ruling was a “narrow” decision, these judges effectively decreed themselves to be the supreme overlords of the people, invalidating the votes of over 7 million Californians and declaring that they, the vaunted elite in black robes and cloaked with lifetime tenure, will decide what marriage means in California and the nation.

In this nation, it has never been the standard practice to put the rights of a minority group to a popular vote. In fact, had the civil and political rights of Roman Catholics been put to a vote back in 1789, they would have been defeated. It was not until the 1960′s that Catholics were even trusted by the majority if Americans. We can also guess how putting the civil and political rights of Blacks to a vote in 1965 would have gone.

Brown’s reaction and statements are identical or similar to those written in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education by those demanding Segregation. The Southern Manifesto states “This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding.” and “The unwarranted decision of the Supreme Court in the public school cases is now bearing the fruit always produced when men substitute naked power for established law.”

The Southern Manifesto was signed by Strom Thurmond and Harry F. Byrd among others. In fact, of the Southern Senators at the time it was written, only three refused to sign it- Estes Kefauver, Albert Gore Sr., and Lyndon Banes Johnson.

Brown went on to say:

Not only must our founding fathers be rolling over in their graves with the preposterous notion that marriage is unconstitutional, but the ruling is an affront to the millions of Americans—the vast majority of the nation—who recognize that man does not have the right to redefine marriage. After all, how can federal judges redefine something that man didn’t create?

Actually, the Founding Fathers would be far more upset over a Catholic puppet trying to backdoor theocracy in this nation. In fact, while the Founding Fathers would have been upset over the notion of homosexuality being legal, they would be furious over just how theocratic Brown and company are given their battle against theocracy in this nation, and their declaration that this nation was not a Christian nation, but rather a Secular one.

Brown also stated:

America is supposed to be a nation where the rule of law prevails. Until this case yesterday, no federal appeals court had ever declared that marriage is unconstitutional. To justify its outrageous opinion, the Ninth Circuit had to totally ignore binding U.S. Supreme Court precedent that state laws like Proposition 8 defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman do not violate the US Constitution.

The two judges who formed the majority opinion dismissed this precedent with a mere mention in a footnote because it inconveniences their radical judicial activism.

The judicial overlords on the Ninth Circuit have come to the amazing conclusion that once a court has imposed same-sex marriage on a state—as the California Supreme Court did in 2008 in a hotly-contested 4-3 ruling—the voters of that state are powerless to do anything about it. Maybe these activist judges think they are above the law, but we don’t!

In America, the people are sovereign, not elitist federal judges with their Hollywood values and lifetime tenure. Nobody is above the law, and it’s time we reminded them of that fact!

Of course, the fact that NOM has fought tooth and nail to try and keep their donor lists secret in violation of the law makes their last statement absolutely idiotic. What is more, the judges used existing laws to their benefit. In fact, they used case law to make their ruling, and case law that flies in the face of those who hate the rule of law like NOM.

Of course, that brings us to Bill O’Rielly who nearly had an aneurysm on his show last night:

Simply put, O’Reilly went into a fury because he cannot stands have anyone actually tell him he is wrong.

Which he is.

Alone, the tweets may be interpreted as being homophobic or they may not be, but not in light of the man’s history. Back in 2006, Martin stated

“But for Christians, going to church is not supposed to be a feel good exercise. We are expected to be convicted, and encouraged to walk away from sin and live a more Christ-like life. In my church, this goes for the woman who is an alcoholic, the child who continues to be disobedient to his parents, the young lady who is hell-bent on stealing, and the person who is gay.”

Evidence has shown that homosexuality is not a behavior, and that, outside of bisexual individuals, no one can actively choose to be gay.

CNN has now issued a statement about Martin, and suspended him effective immediately. They stated “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

GLAAD responded saying

“Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

“CNN today took a strong stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community,” said Rich Ferraro, GLAAD spokesperson. “Yesterday, Martin also spoke out against anti-LGBT violence. We look forward to hearing from CNN and Roland Martin to discuss how we can work together as allies and achieve our common goal of reducing anti-LGBT violence as well as the language that contributes to it.”

They also wrote in their press release:

Earlier this week, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation’s largest black LGBT civil rights organization, also spoke out:

“Even if he meant it in a jovial manner, Roland Martin’s words carry a real impact on the everyday lives of Black LGBT people, especially our youth. Given the number of rash murders, attacks and violent acts involving LGBT people of color, we cannot let statements such as this go unchecked. Silence is a form of acceptance and only perpetuates the problem.”

Let us be really honest- this goes beyond homophobia, but to the desensitized and meaningless violence that is bandied about like human life does not matter one iota.

Related articles

• CNN’s Martin Sort Of Apologizes, GLAAD Responds (lezgetreal.com)

It is difficult to pinpoint any specific recent actions that may have led to the continuing deterioration in Congress’ image, particularly because much of the political attention in January and early February has focused on the Republican presidential race. Congress at this point is again wrangling over the extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits — both of which were temporarily extended late last year in a short-term fix that expires at the end of February. It is notable that President Obama has continued to make criticism of Congress a part of his broad presidential re-election strategy.

Democrats gave Congress 11% and Republicans gave it 12%. What brought it down to 10% is that only 8% of independents support the job that Congress is doing.

These are bad numbers going into the election cycle. Currently, Republicans control the House and they hold enough seats in the Senate to filibuster a lot of legislation. The House is up for reelection this cycle, and the Senate has a third of its members of for reelection. With the collapse of the Tea Party, Democrats could find the situation favorable, especially since many of the voter identification initiatives are ending up hurting Republican voters rather than Democratic voters.

DePaul University, the nation’s largest Catholic university, has admitted to providing contraception coverage. DePaul University spokesperson Robin Florzak informed ThinkProgress that “The employee health insurance plans include a prescription contraceptive benefit, in compliance with state and federal law. An optional insurance plan that covers such benefits is available to students, also due to previously established state and federal requirements.”

The University is disappointed with the Obama Administration over what happens, but hopes that it will lead to “effective national conversation on the appropriate conscience protections in our pluralistic country.” ThinkProgress notes that “Other Catholic colleges and hospitals, including Georgetown and the six former Caritas Christi Catholic hospitals in Massachusetts, have also admitted to offering birth control benefits.”

Over half of the states have contraception requirements, and eight of those twenty-eight do not have opt-out clauses for religious institutions. In fact, the Administration’s new rules will expand conscience protections in those states.

Related articles

• Many Catholic Universities, Hospitals Already Cover Contraception In Their Health Insurance Plans (thinkprogress.org)

(Louisville, KY) In an ongoing effort to better support the underserved aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population, the Fairness Campaign is launching an “Aging Fairly” program series to address Alzheimer’s Disease, legal concerns, and other health and safety issues. Part of the “Aging Fairly” series will be a monthly LGBT-themed Alzheimer’s support group, held in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, that begins next Wednesday, February 15, Noon at the Fairness Campaign office (2263 Frankfort Avenue). The first meeting includes a free lunch and features an informative “Alzheimer’s 101″ presentation by Meredith Miller, Family Support Manager with the Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

The “Aging Fairly” Alzheimer’s support group will be held monthly on the third Wednesday in the Fairness Campaign office. It is free, confidential, and open to anyone in the LGBT and allied community that has been affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. Meetings will be co-facilitated by the Alzheimer’s Association’s Meredith Miller and Col. Luke Barlowe of Kentucky Advocate Association. A free lunch is provided at the first meeting and a brown bag lunch is welcome at each meeting thereafter.

Beginning in April, four free “Aging Fairly” legal clinics will be offered the third Sunday of each month, 2:30 p.m. at the Fairness Campaign office. These clinics will assist in legal issues and document preparation relating to relationship and property rights, hospital and end of life care decisions, family and adoptive rights, and more. Fairness Campaign Coordinating Committee member Nicole Kersting, a graduate of the University of Louisville Brandies School of Law, will facilitate the “Aging Fairly” legal clinics.

The Fairness Campaign is working to finalize details with ElderServe, Inc. to become an official partner of their T

WHAT: LGBT-Themed Alzheimer’s Support Group

WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, Noon (3rd Wednesday of each month thereafter)

WHERE: Fairness Campaign office, 2263 Frankfort Avenue

WHO: Anyone affected by Alzheimer’s Disease
Meredith Miller, Alzheimer’s Association, Co-facilitator
Col. Luke Barlowe, Kentucky Advocate Association, Co-facilitator

That is what happened with Roland martin over at CNN. During the Super Bowl, he made two tweets which some took as homophobic. In all honesty, while it is possible to see them that way, it can also be seen as just bashing David Beckham (which is how I saw the first one). Martin has issued a sort of apology given the fact that his words can be seen as sort of offensive. In truth, it would just be better to remember that violence and violent language really is offensive overall.

Here is the reaction from GLAAD to the apology:

GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today responded to an apology made by CNN commentator Roland Martin and called for Martin to meet with GLAAD as well as other LGBT organizations and advocates. GLAAD also called on CNN to speak out against the violence that Martin promoted via Twitter during Super Bowl XLVI.

For more information and Martin’s full apology please visit www.glaad.org/rolandsmartin

On Sunday, Martin tweeted:
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl”
“Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass”

Yesterday, Martin attempted to explain his first tweet by writing that he “was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I’m sorry folks took it otherwise.” However, Martin did not respond to a question from LGBT news outlet Metro Weekly about why, if the tweet was about soccer and not based in anti-gay sentiment, he only referenced his concern about “a dude … hyped” about the ad.

Last night, Martin posted an apology on his website following continued calls from GLAAD, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), bloggers, advocates and thousands of Americans.

Wrote Martin:

“To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I’m truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant. I’m disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others. Violence against gay people or against any other minority isn’t a political opinion”

For more information and a link to his full apology visit www.glaad.org/rolandsmartin

In response to his apology, GLAAD wrote:

“At a time when anti-gay violence is something suffered by LGBT people and those perceived as LGBT people in this country every day, prominent figures like Martin should condemn, not promote, such violence. Yesterday afternoon a video of a young man being brutally assaulted after exiting a grocery store was posted on LGBT news sites.

As they beat and kicked the man, his attackers screamed “Fa**ot” and other anti-gay slurs. Watch the video:

This is what ‘smacking the ish’ out of someone for being gay can look like.

Speaking out against anti-LGBT violence on his site is a start, but Martin should use his other platforms to fight against the very things he says he himself experienced. Media and those in it are very powerful forces in this country. GLAAD takes that very seriously and we hope that Roland Martin will in the future do so as well, whether it’s on CNN or in another outlet.

Last year, Martin defended Tracy Morgan when he said that if his son was gay he would “take out a knife and stab him.” After Morgan apologized by saying he does not “believe that anyone should be bullied or just made to feel bad about who they are,” Martin questioned that he had even chosen to done so. In 2006, when Reverend Al Sharpton urged for unity between the African American and LGBT communities, Martin used it as an opportunity to try to drive a division and advocate for the discredited and abusive practice of so-called “ex-gay” conversion “therapy.” In last night’s apology Martin claimed to have always used his voice to “speak progressively.” Clearly that has not been the case. We hope though in the future it will be.

Ultimately it’s up to CNN, viewers and readers to judge Martin’s the veracity of and commitment to his words today. CNN has thus far remained silent. They should not continue to do so.

The time has come for Roland Martin to put actions behind his words. We call on him to meet with GLAAD and our partners to discuss how we can work together to address anti-LGBT violence faces communities all across the country.”

Yesterday, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation’s largest black LGBT civil rights organization, also spoke out:

“Even if he meant it in a jovial manner, Roland Martin’s words carry a real impact on the everyday lives of Black LGBT people, especially our youth. Given the number of rash murders, attacks and violent acts involving LGBT people of color, we cannot let statements such as this go unchecked. Silence is a form of acceptance and only perpetuates the problem.”

Here is the Rainbow Sash’s take on this whole issue:

What do Roman Catholic Catholics think about President Obama’s decision that would require Catholic-affiliated institutions to cover contraceptives and sterilization in their employee health care plans? Are Catholics in the pew concerned with this matter? Does the US Council of Catholic Bishops represent their views? Or has the contraception issue already been decided in the Catholic Church by dismissing both the views of the Papacy and the various national councils of Catholic Bishops World Wide?

I think many practicing Catholic are scratching their head in bewilderment over this matter. While the matter has been decided by the vast majority of Catholics both nationally and internationally the secular media wants to promote the idea the Catholic Bishops speak for the vast majority of Catholic Voters.

They bring the crazies out of the closet to promote their agenda. Since when has Bill Donohue of the Catholic League become the mouth piece of most reasonable Catholics? Or for that matter when has Cardinal elect, Archbishop Dolan of New York become the national spokesperson for Catholic Parishes he can’t even control his own Archdiocese around these cultural issues.

The Rainbow Sash Movement believes that the Obama Administration has bent over backwards to listen to all parties concerned on this matter, and has come down on the side of women’s health as had many Catholics.

Clearly the US Council of Catholic Bishops does not represent the Catholic laity on this issue. They have been moved to a dismissive point when it comes to the Bishops position on anything dealing with sexuality. For Catholics across the political spectrum in the Church the Bishops have become just another voice in the many voices that make up the Catholic Church. Only when they hold themselves accountable for the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Church will they ever be taken seriously on moral issues.

About 100 Catholic Bishops had letters read in their Churches this past week about this matter. Those letters were met with a collective yawn from the pews. This time next month the issue will have passed into clerical oblivion, and most Catholics will be focusing on Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both condemned the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stating that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. It is not surprising that they decided to attack the ruling even though it was based on accurate law and precedent. Romney attacked the judges because they are “unelected”, and Gingrich attacked it because of the supposed way it assaults the “Judeo-Christian foundations of the United States.

Romney stated

“Today, unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage. This decision does not end this fight, and I expect it to go to the Supreme Court. That prospect underscores the vital importance of this election and the movement to preserve our values. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices.”

Gingrich stated

With today’s decision on marriage by the Ninth Circuit, and the likely appeal to the Supreme Court, more and more Americans are being exposed to the radical overreach of federal judges and their continued assault on the Judeo-Christian foundations of the United States….

Should the Supreme Court fail to heed the disastrous lessons if its own history and attempt to impose its will on the marriage debate in this country by affirming today’s Ninth Circuit decision, it will bear the burden of igniting a constitutional crisis of the first order.

The Social Conservatives are up in arms over the ruling, and already threatening to appeal the ruling even though the appeal might not be in their best interest. The probability is that the Supreme Court will rule against Prop 8, and that is even if they are willing to take the case.

The Ninth’s ruling is based on established precedent that it is unlikely that the Court will likely want to revisit at this point. Even with the Court moving more towards the Right, there is still a probability that they will be unwilling to take up the case given the way the ruling was worded and structured.

The big problem for the pro-Prop 8 groups is that appealing this ruling is far more risky than it is if they leave it. It will set precedent that will make repealing same-sex marriage laws impossible, but appealing it risks sending this to the Supreme Court where the likelihood is that it will be ruled unconstitutional 5 to 4 due to the way that the current Court is structured, and at that point, they could widen the ruling to make it unconstitutional across the board.

At the time, Walker wrote that “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license.”

In fact, Walker wrote a very carefully constructed opinion on the subject. Supporters of the amendment presented next to no evidence that the measure had any value and was based on anything other than anti-LGBT bigotry. Walker, who came out officially after he retired, has been at the center of their attempts to try and get the ruling vacated due to the fact that he is gay. People have pointed out that, if Walker is ruled out for being gay, then any straight judge would have to be ruled out as well.

Walker’s sexuality was known very well long before he officially came out. Even those of us at LezGetReal knew that he was gay.

Supporters of Prop 8 can now appeal to the eleven panel Court of Appeals or they can appeal directly to the US Supreme Court. It is not clear how they would rule, or if they would even be willing to take this case.

Update:

Lambda Legal stated:

This is exciting news. It’s especially thrilling for those of us at Lambda Legal who remember our first efforts working toward legal recognition of our relationships nearly 20 years ago in Hawaii all the way through to our victories before the California Supreme Court in 2008 and the Iowa Supreme Court in 2009 and our ongoing lawsuit in New Jersey. The tide is not just turning; it has turned.

In the Prop 8 case, we joined our sister LGBT rights organizations National Center for Lesbian Rights, ACLU of Northern California and Equality California in filing friend-of-the-court briefs urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold the 2010 ruling, as well as the decision denying Prop 8 proponents’ attempt to vacate that ruling.

The Court stayed today’s decision, so same-sex couples in California will still have to wait before they can once again exercise their right to marry. And the ruling is likely to be appealed. Still, this is an enormous step toward marriage equality, not only for California, but for all Americans.

The New York Times also noted that:

“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted,” the ruling states.

The court crafted a narrow decision that applies only to California, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states. California is the only one of those states where the ability for gays to marry was granted then rescinded.

“Whether under the Constitution same-sex couples may ever be denied the right to marry, a right that has long been enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, is an important and highly controversial question,” the court said. “We need not and do not answer the broader question in this case.

The Transgender Law Center issued a statement saying “We’re thrilled that today the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed that under our constitution, all loving couples must be allowed to marry, regardless of the gender of either partner. The state should not be in the business of policing who can marry based on gender. I’m optimistic that full equality for all our families is on the horizon.”

In the letter of resignation obtained by The Associated Press “I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve.”

Handel claims that the now-scrapped policy was vetted by the Komen board, and no objections were raised. Of course, the fact that one person resigned in protest of the policy seems to make a lie out of that statement.

Komen CEO Nancy Brinker confirmed Handel’s resignation saying “We have made mistakes in how we have handled recent decisions and take full accountability for what has resulted, but we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission. To do this effectively, we must learn from what we’ve done right, what we’ve done wrong and achieve our goal for the millions of women who rely on us. The stakes are simply too high and providing hope for a cure must drive our efforts.”

Komen was forced to reverse course after a three-day firestorm occurred that threatened to derail the entire organization.

Handel stated fully that:

We can all agree that this is a challenging and deeply unsettling situation for all involved in the fight against breast cancer. However, Komen’s decision to change its granting strategy and exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and its grants was fully vetted by every appropriate level within the organization.

At the November Board meeting, the Board received a detailed review of the new model and related criteria. As you will recall, the Board specifically discussed various issues, including the need to protect our mission by ensuring we were not distracted or negatively affected by any other organization’s real or perceived challenges. No objections were made to moving forward.

I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve. However, the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization.

Neither the decision nor the changes themselves were based on anyone’s political beliefs or ideology. Rather, both were based on Komen’s mission and how to better serve women, as well as a realization of the need to distance Komen from controversy.

Handel is vehemently anti-woman and anti-choice believing that women are not capable of making the complex moral choices that come with having to terminate a pregnancy. It should be noted that Planned Parenthood spends only about 3% of its total budget of nearly $1 billion on abortion services, but allots almost one third of their budget on contraception services that are intended to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Greater access to contraception has been shown to reduce abortion rates entirely.

Via CBS News

The visit is campaign related, but details are sketchy right now.

Vermont overwhelmingly voted for Obama in 2008, and will likely vote for him again this year. It would, of course, be nice if President Obama toured more of Vermont than just Burlington given that the state has some major successes as well as some failures. The area around Rutland City, for instance, has lagged behind the rest of the state in terms of job creation, and has seen a spike in drug related crimes of late.

New York has been told by the Courts that it is unconstitutional for them to rent out school space to religious groups while the schools are not in session. This means that this particular bill will end up in the courts and being struck down, to the detriment of the state.

Still, Diaz ignores all of this to say:

“Today the New York State Senate voted 55 to 7 in favor of legislation to permit public schools to allow worship services in schools when school is not in session.

I am disappointed that seven Senators: Senator Liz Krueger, Senator Daniel Squadron, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Senator Tom Duane, Senator Bill Perkins, and Senator Suzi Oppenheimer – all Democrats – voted against this bill. You need to know that the 160 religious groups, including churches that rent space in public schools for their activities are all located in Democratic areas, and mostly minority members of the Democratic Party.

It was the Republican Senate – spearheaded by Senator Marty Golden – who took the bill and quickly passed it through the Senate Education Committee to get it to the Senate Floor, today Monday, February 6, 2012 in order to give all 62 Senators the opportunity to vote yes or no. Every Republican Senator voted in favor of this bill, and 23 Democrats also voted in favor of it.

It is shameful that despite the effort of Councilmember Fernando Cabrera, the New York City Council, which is controlled by Democrats, has thus far been unconvinced, unable and unwilling to even approve a simple resolution about this serious topic that is so important to many New Yorkers.

Assemblyman Nelson Castro is also failing to convince his more than 100 Democratic colleagues in the Assembly to pass this important piece of legislation, knowing that Mayor Bloomberg has given a deadline of February 12th to expel all those groups from using public buildings.

But today in the Senate, we have done our part, and I appreciate and congratulate the 23 fellow Democrats that joined the Republicans in voting for this legislation. Special mention must be given to the eloquent and strong defense offered by Senator Malcolm Smith, Senator John DeFrancisco, Senator John Flanagan and Senator Martin Golden himself”

So, basically, Diaz is in favor of wasting money in the courts.

President Ronald Reagan

While President Barack Obama is alive and can respond to their use of him to try and attack the decision not to bring the bill up for a vote, the ads are most disrespectful of late President Ronald Reagan, who is not alive to defend their use of him in the above video. Right Wing Watch notes that the video shows what they have inserted into the mouth of Reagan as if he would have endorsed it at the Berlin Wall. While Reagan was anti-choice, it is still disrespectful to use his image in an ad and put words in his mouth.

Porter’s group has had a lot of problems with the Senate. Senators not long ago were presented a bunch of teddy bears which had the sound of fetal heartbeats embedded in them. They played if they were squeezed. The bears were manufactured in China, and were almost all returned to the organization because they could not be donated to children in need due to the sound mechanic.

Their second video, which is below, shows Obama as if he were declaring his support to stall the progress of the bill and “expressing his dream for his daughters to have abortions.” Amazingly, while most Liberals are pro-choice in terms of keeping abortion legal, the majority tend to declare that they, themselves, would not want to have an abortion nor to see one of their loved ones have one.

Porter is furious that the bill has stalled. Clergy who have tried to get it through have been pretty soundly rebuked. Many state Senators are worried about how much money it is going to cost the state to litigate a law that even many anti-choice groups like Ohio Right to Life Society have said is unconstitutional. At least one person lobbying against the bill has demanded that a provision be placed in the bill that would make defending it in court the fiscal responsibility of the clergy and groups who are lobbying for it.

While the Court has turned more Conservative of late, it is likely that the decision will come down as a 5 to 4 split with the Liberals and Moderates taking it. This is, of course, if they even choose to take up the case.

What will help this case when it gets to the Supreme Court is that it will be argued by former G.W. Bush Solicitor General Theodore Olson and David Boies. The two men have argued before the Supreme Court in the past, including, it should be noted, in opposition to each other in the case Bush v. Gore. Given his conservative credentials, Olson will likely be the choice to argue the case in front of the Supreme Court, as he would likely have some sway over the Conservative justices.

Should the case go to the Court, though, it would behoove Antonin Scalia to recuse himself as he has already adjudicated the case in his mind and ruled that bans on same-sex marriage are Constitutional.

It should be noted that Hoekstra rails against the departure of American jobs from the United States despite the fact that it is Republican policies that created that climate, and that he, as Senator, would perpetuate those same policies.

A coalition of ministers, mostly Black, from Detroit have already called on Hoekstra to apologize for the ad and an Asian-American group has said that it was “very disturbing.” The Huffington Post notes that:

The Michigan Republican began taking heat after his ad targeting Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow as “Debbie Spenditnow” ran statewide Sunday during the Super Bowl. Some detractors said the ad was racially insensitive, while national GOP consultant Mike Murphy tweeted that it was “really, really dumb.” Foreign Policy magazine managing editor Blake Hounshell called the ad “despicable.”

Reverend Charles Williams II of Detroit’s King Solomon Baptist Church said in a statement that “The Asian woman speaking in this video would be no different than him having a black person speaking in slave dialect. If Pete Hoekstra does not see any wrong in this commercial, he doesn’t deserve to be in the race.”

It should be noted that many Asians learn to speak English far better than most Americans, who seem to have a very poor grasp of syntax, grammar, and structure.

In the ad, the young Asian woman is seen riding a bike down a narrow path lined with rice paddies, or that is what it seems to be. The ad, created by Fred Davis of the California-based Strategic Perception Inc, not only opens with a gong, but appears to have been filed in Southern California. In the ad, the woman says “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow.”

Of course, just to point this out, the woman’s accent ruins the entire stereotype as she does not manage to speak even in a fake Chinese accent, just in broken English.

The Huffington Post notes that:

Hoekstra defended the ad, telling reporters during a Monday conference call that it has “jumpstarted the debate” over deficit spending. He said it’s only “insensitive” to the Democratic philosophy of Stabenow and President Barack Obama, noting the ad doesn’t criticize China. Asked about the woman in the ad, Hoekstra said that “her parents are 100 percent Chinese.”

“We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this. But this is a time where the people in Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending, and we wanted to capture that frustration that they had with Washington, D.C.,” he said. “This ad … hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes on the issue where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan, and that is spending.”

Of course, part of the problem for Hoekstra is that, as a nine term Representative, he voted repeatedly to run up debt with China. Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer stated “Hoekstra ran up our debt to countries like China by voting for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, and for trillions in unfunded giveaways to billionaires and special interests. Debbie Stabenow has been one of our strongest leaders in cracking down on other countries’ illegal trade violations.”

Stabenow is planning a conference call that aims to “‘discuss evidence that the Chinese are strong-arming Michigan businesses’ into handing over intellectual property and technology as a cost of doing business in China.”

The nonpartisan Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote’s Michigan chapter stated “It is very disturbing that Mr. Hoekstra’s campaign chose to use harmful negative stereotypes that intrinsically encourage anti-Asian sentiment.”

Clark Durant and Gary Glenn, who are running against Hoekstra in the primary, issued statements that question Hoekstra’s fitness to be the Republican candidate.

Honestly, I did not even really watch the game. I had it on mute so that I could report that the Giants won 21 to the Patriot’s 17.

Still, bringing you Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of the National Anthem is kind of nice. She does a good job of this ol’ drinking song we call a national anthem. Hey, if you think about it, it makes more sense than having something that you march to war to…

What is more, there must be huge changes to how Komen operates given that nearly a quarter of its budget goes to operation costs, including paying the exorbitant salaries of its upper staff, including $5 million per year to CEO Nancy Brinker.

An anonymous source told the Huffington Post that “Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria. She said, ‘If we just say it’s about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.’”

The Huffington Post also writes that “Emails between Komen leadership on the day the Planned Parenthood decision was announced, which were reviewed by HuffPost under the condition they not be published, confirm the source’s description of Handel’s sole “authority” in crafting and implementing the Planned Parenthood policy.”

It was Handel who created the strategy to cut off funds for any organization that was under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Planned Parenthood is under investigation by anti-choice and anti-woman forces in the House. The charity tried to do damage control claiming that the decision was not about politics. They said this past Tuesday that “While it is regrettable when changes in priorities and policies affect any of our grantees, such as a long-standing partner like Planned Parenthood, we must continue to evolve to best meet the needs of the women we serve and most fully advance our mission.”

Anti-choice and anti-woman groups have been after Komen to try and get them to cut ties with Planned Parenthood because 3% of its budget goes towards providing abortion services. Handel lied to the leadership in order to try and make it seem like those attacks were more than they were and that funding Planned Parenthood was a liability.

Their source stated “Komen’s been dealing with the Planned Parenthood issue for years, and you know, some right-wing groups would organize a protest or send out a mailing every now and then, but it was on a low simmer. What Karen’s been doing for the past six months is ratcheting up the issue with leadership. Every time someone would even mention a protest, she would magnify it, pump it up, exaggerate it. She’s the one that kept driving this issue.”

The Huffington Post noted that “Handel and Komen President Elizabeth Thompson didn’t respond to requests for comment.” The push from Handel was why Komen’s top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned. Their source stated that “It was apparent to everyone in the organization that Karen was doing everything in her power to defund Planned Parenthood, and that’s why Mollie Williams quit.”

Much of the rest of the leadership threatened to quit the moment that this became public.

Huffington Post also wrote:

But the criteria did gain the support of Komen’s top executives and board. And in an interview with HuffPost, board member John D. Rafaelli, a Democratic lobbyist and a supporter of Planned Parenthood’s mission, took responsibility for the changes. As the only lobbyist on the board, he told HuffPost, he should have anticipated the political fallout.

“Honestly, I didn’t think it through well enough,” Rafaelli said. “We don’t want to be pro-choice or pro-life; we want to be pro-cure. We screwed up, I’m saying it. We failed to keep abortion out of this, and we owe the people in the middle who only care about breast cancer and who have raised money for us an apology.”

Ari Fleischer, friend of Brinker, recommended that Komen bring in an outside crisis management firm. The Huff Post source stated “Komen’s not equipped to spend its days fighting political battles. Abortion is not our issue, and I think [leadership] tried to finesse a way out of it, and this investigation criteria was the solution. And it blew up in their faces. They were just naive in the face of [the] incredibly sophisticated Planned Parenthood operation.”

Komen reversed their decision three days later and apologized. It has not stopped the mounting problems for the group though which is now being seen as funding far more the extravagant lifestyles of several very wealthy people. Still, Handel apparently did not like the fact that Komen caved. The Huff Post source stated “It became clear Thursday night that something had to give. Nancy Brinker, Liz Thompson, the board, and leadership were saying, ‘We’re really worried about Komen’s mission if we don’t figure this out.’ But Karen was still arguing against it as of Friday morning — she was horrified that we were caving, she said. She’s politically tone-deaf.”

The political damage has been immense, and it may even be that Komen will spend years trying to recover. The Komen insider has stated that “Everybody in the organization wishes she would do the right thing.” Handel has so far refused to step down, and she has not been asked to do so. Komen is still in danger of failing to contain this too. The source stated “We’re under attack. We’re getting threats of violence. It’s devastating.”

Brinker and company need to get rid of Handel forthwith, and they need to do a lot more than just that. They need to get out there and restructure their charity including reducing the salaries of the people working at the top. For an analysis of that issue, please see here.

Related articles

• The Complete Guide to the Susan G. Komen Debacle [Disgrace For The Cure] (jezebel.com)

Rep. Ron Paul

Isn’t it lovely to hear Ron Paul really not understand much about the issue of rape? The erstwhile GOP candidate recently told Piers Morgan that“If it’s an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room, I would give them a shot of estrogen.”

One has to wonder what he means by ‘honest rape’.

Ron Paul, though, apparently does believe that life begins at conception, but does not want to base his abortion position on just that saying “A person immediately after rape? Yes, it’s a tough one. And I won’t satisfy everybody there.”

Representative Paul has remained in third place throughout the process of the primary process. Paul has, by and large, taken a hard Libertarian line

He has issued a slick new website which is, well, full of bites and bits, but hardly anything substantial to back his allegations up. Which is not unusual, right? This is politics, after all.

So, what else should we know. . .well, Hoekstra is the former Republican Congressman who claimed that WMD’s were found in Iraq when the Pentagon said that he was lying. He hates Muslims, from a lot of his statements, and he lost to now very unpopular Rick Snyder for the Governorship of Michigan.

Of course, if Republicans really cared about jobs in the US, they would do things to punish those corporations which are shipping jobs over seas in order to increase their profits and pay their CEO’s astronomically high salaries.

Won’t happen, though.

The blow up over the decision by Komen to defund Planned Parenthood over their abortion services has opened up a bunch of different questions. To give you some idea how ludicrous this whole thing is, Planned Parenthood spends just about 3% of its annual budget on abortion services, but spends 35% on contraception services to prevent unwanted pregnancies and 16% on services for women to screen for and prevent breast cancer.

That seems like a lot is spent on, well, things other than abortion, huh?

Now, Planned Parenthood spends about $1 billion on services across the nation every year, and the average salary for Planned Parenthood’s CEO Cecile Richards is $340,498. She makes less than the US President, but more than the Speaker of the House, just to give you some idea. Median income in the US is $44,389, which is down from two decades ago. So, Richards makes 7.6 times as much as the median income in the US. This is far, far less than most corporation CEO’s, incidentally.

So…well, here is the perspective. Komen CEO Nancy Brinker earns $5,000,000 per year. As of 2010, they pulled in some $400,000,000. Now, Brinker makes 112.6 times the median income, and add to that, her charity brings in a lot less money. Makes you wonder where the money you donate actually goes.

There are people now openly wondering just how effective Komen is. While we cannot go through all of the points, there are some interesting articles that I would recommend reading, and keep in mind the fact that, like it or not, it looks like Congress is investigating the wrong charity here.

Why Komen Let Me Down: A Breast-Cancer Survivor’s Haunting Tale

Susan G. Komen foundation must be true to core mission: Regina Brett

Komen for the Cure: How the Group’s Founder Courted Controversy

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has won the Nevada Caucuses in what was, well, pretty much expected. Coming in second was Newt Gingrich, third was Ron Paul, and fourth was Rick Santorum. Romney took 42.5% of the vote, Gingrich 24.5%, Paul 19.8% and Santorum 13.2%. By and large, the results were not unexpected, and not likely to change much of the race just yet.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was expected to cruise to victory in Nevada due to its heavy Mormon population. Unfortunately, his results are down from last election cycle when he won with over fifty percent of the vote. February is a rather thin month when it comes to the whole primary run.

The eight had the ability to appeal the ruling, but chose not to.

The incident allegedly occurred on 17 January, and the investigation included testimony by witnesses and a statement that was, essentially, a confession. All eight sailors worked the flight deck and had other general duties.

According to the LA Times, the Pentagon has started taking hazing very seriously after the suicide of Lance Corporal Harry Lew, a Marine from Santa Clara, CA. Lew was hazed repeatedly because he had trouble staying awake on guard duty.

According to Gay City News “Judge Stephen Reinhardt’s opinion for the court faulted Ware’s ruling, in particular, for what the panel concluded was his failure to properly contextualize Walker’s original assurance to the parties that the recording would be used only for the court’s internal purposes.”

Proponents of Prop 8 have argued vehemently for the tapes to be kept under wraps in large part because they were incapable of mounting a decent defense, and video of that could be used to hurt them rather strongly when it comes to the public. They fielded only two experts, both of whom were easily refuted.

Judge Walker told the supporters of Prop 8 that the tapes would remain sealed due to the fact that the Supreme Court had stated that the trial would not be broadcast. Reinhardt wrote in chastising Ware that “Chief Judge Walker’s assurances were compelled by the Supreme Court’s ruling in this very case. After the Supreme Court held that his order to broadcast the trial had ‘complied neither with existing rules or policies nor the required procedures for amending them,’ Chief Judge Walker could not lawfully have continued to record the trial without assuring the parties that the recording would be used only for a permissible purpose.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights issued these words regarding the new rules:

NCLR is proud to have worked closely with HUD on a series of policy changes that target and address housing discrimination against LGBT people.

In 2010, HUD announced that it would require all grant-seekers applying for funds from HUD to comply with any state and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It also announced the launch of a ground-breaking national study of housing discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the sale and rental of housing.
In another historic move later that year, HUD announced that it interprets the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on sex to protect transgender and gender nonconforming people. In September 2010, NCLR co-hosted a webinar with HUD that educated HUD staff and housing providers on their new obligations under this guidance.

In December, NCLR partnered with HUD and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging to hold the first-ever national summit examining housing issues for LGBT elders. The day-long event provided a forum for attendees to discuss ideas and policy proposals to support housing and long-term care designed for LGBT elders.

HUD’s new LGBT Equal Access policy will have an impact that goes beyond increased access to housing and housing services. The homelessness and housing insecurity that results from widespread housing discrimination places our community at increased risk for violence, and while the passage of hate crimes legislation was historic, we urgently need policies aimed at reducing vulnerability to violence.

Abortion is about patriarchy. It is, to some degree, about who controls a woman’s body, but more, it is about who controls a woman’s mind. It comes down to whether or not women can be trusted to know what is right and what is wrong for their personal Self, and whether or not women can make these complex moral decisions.

For those who oppose abortion, the answer is pretty clear that they do not trust women to control either their own bodies or their own minds. Take, for instance, Michele Bachmann. She made it clear that her husband Marcus was the one who ruled the household. She even needed his permission to attend law school and even to run for office. She opposes abortion.

She is not the only one. It is not surprising that the women who oppose abortion rights are, by and large, Fundamentalist in their world view. In the Fundamentalist world view, women have no capacity for independent thought. They have no capacity for independent reasoning. Women are flawed men who must be controlled or they will bring down civilization.

In truth, those who oppose abortion should be in favor of women having as much independence as they can. There are several different factors that contribute to the decline of abortion rates. Economic conditions are one of those, as are contraception and the ability for a woman to have an abortion if needs be.

These are antithetical to the thinking of a Fundamentalist. Women are to be controlled, after all.

We should start with a cold, hard fact. The more abortion is made illegal or hard to get, and the more contraception is made hard to get, the more abortions will occur. There has been an uptick in the number of illegal abortions occurring in the nation, and some of the stories are horrific.

Over at Slate.com, they make a much better point about the rest of where this is going. There, they discuss how to rid the world of abortion thought a novel method “Give it to Planned Parenthood.”

They go on to explain:

Look at the latest annual report from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, issued two months ago. The table on page 5 shows that over the course of a year, PPFA provided 3,685,437 contraceptive services and 329,445 abortions. That’s a ratio of 11 to 1.

Internationally, the ratio is even higher. Look at the latest annual report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The table on page 13 shows that over the course of a year, IPPF provided 33,854,786 contraceptive services and 1,411,494 abortions. That’s a ratio of 24 to 1. Did I mention condoms? IPPF distributed 152,397,194 condoms. That’s 108 condoms per abortion.

What happens when you provide condoms and contraceptive services? Women who don’t want to get pregnant don’t get pregnant. Which means fewer women are in the market for abortions. The abortion business dries up.

They noted that from 1995 to 2003, the global total for abortions fell from 45.6 million to 41.6 million. But why? Well, from 1995 to 2000, contraception use increased worldwide. Now, from 2003 to 2008, the number of abortions world wide increased to 43.8 million. After 2000, the use of contraceptives slowed their rise, and from 2005 onward, that increase died out all together.

The Lancet Report that they use for this data notes:

We found that the proportion of women living under liberal abortion laws is inversely associated with the abortion rate in the subregions of the world. Other studies have found that abortion incidence is inversely associated with the level of contraceptive use, especially where fertility rates are holding steady, and there is a positive correlation between unmet need for contraception and abortion levels. The unmet need for modern contraception is lower in subregions dominated by liberal abortion laws than in those dominated by restrictive laws, and this might help explain the observed inverse association between liberal laws and abortion incidence. Global levels of unmet need and contraceptive use seem to have stalled in the past decade: the percent of married women with unmet need for contraception fell by 0.2 percentage points per year in 1990-2000, but essentially did not change in 2000-2009. Family planning services seem to not to be keeping up with the increasing demand driven by the increasingly prevalent desire for small families and for better control of the timing of births.

Slate.com goes on to note:

In other words, if you outlaw abortion and limit contraception, you get more abortions, because more women who don’t want to have babies get pregnant. And when women who don’t want to have babies get pregnant, they find ways to get abortions, whether you like it or not. The way to get fewer abortions is to provide contraception—and to teach people to use it diligently, which is a moral project, not just a technical one. That way, fewer women who don’t want to have babies get pregnant. And the abortion rate goes down.

It also means that, when women are trusted to make their own decisions, choose their time to get pregnant, and choose when to get pregnant, there are fewer abortions.

Of course, that violates patriarchal thinking, doesn’t it?

The press release continues with

Join actresses Barbara Niven and Jessica Clark as well as Nicole Conn (Writer/Director) and Marina Rice Bader (Executive Producer) in this exclusive live video chat taking place on Monday, February 13 at 7:00pm (PST) at www.OneMoreLesbian.com

Fans will also get the chance to catch a rare sneak peek at scenes from the highly anticipated movie with a special preview airing on OML at noon (PST) on the same day.

The planned hangout will offer fans a chance to interact directly with the filmmakers and actors of the buzz-heavy feature film.

Participants will be able to enter the conversation by simply clicking the ‘chat’ button at the bottom of the video located on OneMoreLesbian.com’s live streaming page.

Along with her partner writer and director Nicole Conn (“Claire of The Moon”), Marina Bader is the driving force behind Soul Kiss Films, an independent film company whose aim is to make movies by and for women in a still male dominated industry. Their first joint project “Elena Undone” earned critical acclaim and is one of the best selling movies in its genre. The pair’s next project “A Perfect Ending” – funded exclusively by fans – is scheduled to be released this year.

The go-to hub for online quality LGBT content, OML has hosted previous live events including video chats with Wendy Jo Carlton, the Director & lead actress of “Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together”; out model/actress Jessica Clark; Director Fernanda Cardoso and lead actress Sarah Stouffe of “Bloomington”; and the ladies of LezBeProud. OML is among the first in the LGBT film industry market to explore the potential of emerging digital platforms. The company is successfully remaining in the vanguard of developing new strategies for alternative distribution and has now become a marquee destination.

Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to spend an up close & personal evening with Jessica Clark, Barbara Niven, Nicole Conn and Marina Bader. A one of a kind chance to meet these talented ladies ‘virtually’ … and give your Valentine’s Day this year “A Perfect Ending!

ABOUT OML:

An online media platform that strictly serves as an aggregator for video content already existing on other sites, OML is the one-stop emporium for movies, television shows, web series, Vlogs, music videos, live video chats, PSA’s, specials/events and even commercials made for and by lesbians and bi-sexual women.

Moving OML toward becoming the Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon of the lesbian world, President/founder Shirin Papillon recently launched a Video on Demand section dubbed OML+, allowing instant streaming of popular lesbian titles as well as independent feature films and shorts that would usually only screen at film festivals or go straight to DVDs and are not available online.

ABOUT “A PERFECT ENDING”:

A repressed and uptight socialite, Rebecca (beautiful and gifted actress Barbara Niven) lives a perfect, pointless life. She is the ideal wife to her husband (John Heard) and mother to her three children. Rebecca also has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris (stunning Jessica Clark).
Rebecca could never have known that through Paris, she would discover answers she’s been searching for her entire life. Her journey from perfect control to unbridled passion allows Rebecca not only to reclaim worthless years, but to redeem and vindicate painful regrets. Raw, evocative and often humorous, “A Perfect Ending” explores one woman’s struggle to find what moves her and asks: Without passion, what’s the point?

Adam At The 2010 SAG Awards by Tomdog

Sigh…I wish I could keep up with Adam a bit more than I am able to right now. I really am trying to keep up with the news about him since I enjoy writing about him, and enjoy his music so much. Still, with luck, things will be a bit easier for me in the near future. As much as I can be a slightly harsh critic of music. . .I listen to music all the time. . .I still enjoy his music and hope that people can understand that I am trying to be constructive in my criticism.

I am thrilled to hear that Adam will be collaborating with Queen again. He has such a great voice when it comes right down to it, and he does Freddie proud. It is obvious that his life experiences are not as great as Freddie’s, but that is alright. Even if he is a bit lacking on that front, he is talented and quite able to tackle even some of Freddie’s heavier songs like The Show Must Go On, which was one of Freddie’s last songs.

So, like many of Adam’s fans, I am looking forward to the new album. I hope it is everything we have waited for.

JC Penney stated that it “stands behind its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres.”

Herndon Graddick, Senior Director of Programs and Communications at GLAAD stated “This week Americans spoke out in overwhelming support of LGBT people and J.C. Penney’s decision not to fire Ellen simply for who she happens to love, but while Ellen has the nation on her side, in 29 states today, Americans can still be legally fired just for being gay. Our elected officials should use this incident as yet another example of the support for legal protections for all hard working employees.”

In a press release, GLAAD also noted that:

Blogs including Joe My God, Think Progress, Lez Get Real and Towleroad first broke the news about the American Family Association’s demands to fire Ellen and joined GLAAD in calling on community members and allies to thank J.C. Penney. In an overwhelming display of support, a poll on the Los Angeles Times site shows 94% of readers polled agree that Ellen should not only maintain her post as J.C. Penney’s spokesperson, but call Ellen “a symbol of equality.”

Jeremy Hooper of Good As You notes that “One Million Moms- a project of the American Family Association” has a long history of working to strip LGBT people of vital protections, including actions against Johnson & Johnson after the company extended domestic partner benefits to LGBT employees and Cracker Barrel after the chain added workplace protections for gay and lesbian employees.

JC Penney has shown guts in standing up to the people who have a strong hatred for LGBT Americans.

While Komen has backed down somewhat and said that they will consider grants to Planned Parenthood, they have not made it completely clear that they will actually approve those grants which go towards the screening for breast cancer for many low income women.

Of course, we are finding out more about Susan G. Komen lately, and that includes the fact that their Vice President is Karen Handel. For those unfamiliar with her, she is the former Secretary of State for Georgia and is a Fundamentalist Christian and Republican who has a virulent hatred for LGBT Americans as well as a downright hatred for women who have to have an abortion.

Over at the Daily Kos, they wrote:

Choice excerpts Aravosis dug up from an interview during her ill-fated, Sarah Palin-endorsed run to govern the great state of Georgia:

KH: I’ve been very clear. And you know, as a Christian, marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not think that gay relationships are — they are not what God intended.

Do you and God talk to a lot?

KH: I am against gay adoption.

What is more, ThinkProgress noted that Ari Fleischer, the former spokesman for President George W. Bush, was involved in the strategy by Komen to try and hurt Planned Parenthood. They wrote:

Fleischer’s relationship with Komen and the Planned Parenthood controversy was previously undisclosed. He confirmed to ThinkProgress his recent role in filling a key communication position at Komen. Fleischer stressed, however, another communications firm (Ogilvy PR) was retained by Komen to deal with crisis communications over the last few days and he has not been involved.

This entire situation is likely to leave a lot of bruised egos and other issues. It is unlikely to die down any time soon, and Komen has now managed to piss off just about everyone who has supported them along the line.

At MTV’s EMAs in Belfast last November, Adam teamed up with Brian May and Roger Taylor to perform a few Queen songs to the delight of not only Adam’s fans, but many of Queen’s fans. Adam told the Daily Star that he is looking forward to working with May, 64, and Taylor, 62. He stated “The intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some f*****g great songs. It’s to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would have been proud of.”

Adam also said rather enthusiastically “After the EMAs, I heard faint little slithers of a backlash from people saying: ‘You can’t replace Freddie Mercury.’ But I already knew that. There’s no intention in my mind of replacing Freddie. That’s impossible. The way I’m choosing to view it is that it’s a great honour and one I’m in no way going to shirk.”

The Daily Star noted:

Adam first met his new band- mates when they played We Are The Champions at American Idol’s final in 2009.

Adam recalled: “Straight away I thought: ‘These guys are so f*****g rad.’ They’re a class act, so sweet and paternal and on a musical level really open to great new experiences.”

They have not discussed recording new music, but Adam did say “It’d be cool to record with Brian and Roger. Being asked to front Queen is the best thing that can possibly happen.”

May has recorded with a number of different people over the last two decades since Freddie passed away in 1991. He played guitar on one song for Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell III.

Adam’s second album will be coming out on 19 March. Adam stated “I learned so much from doing my first album. Trespassing is much more of an album, not just a collection of would-be singles like my first record.”

Eleven of the sixteen works of fiction in Granta 118 are from strong women’s voices. The stories are all well written and delve into a variety of personal worlds.

Here is the press release:

Mazak writes in explanation:

With two separate promoters of The Dinah Shore Weekend having been in direct competition for the past six years, there has been a certain amount of confusion. In the early days, the event was a joint venture between Mariah Hanson, who pioneered the first Dinah Shore Weekend before joining forces with the duo Sandy Sachs and Dr. Robin Gans (promoters of Girl Bar). But in 2005, the partnership dissolved and the power promoters parted ways, each continuing the Dinah legacy with two separate visions of what the event should grow to become.

Since the split, the spirit of competition has stepped up the famed weekend to a spectacular world-class plateau. But for Hanson the rivalry translated into one thing: the fact that “competition inspires perfection.”

Girl Bar Dinah, run by Sandy Sachs and Dr. Robin Gans, is now leaving Palm Springs to produce a Dinah-like version in Las Vegas.

“I think starting over again in another city is a good move for Girl Bar and I wish them well, “ said Hanson, “I just hope they picked the right city since Lisa Pittman and the Miami Aqua Girls, Jesi and Alison, host an annual event in September called Shedonism and it does well. Time will tell.”

Apparently, the two have been running two separate events for the last six years. This will now mean that the two events will no longer be in direct competition. As Mazak points out, though “‘the producers of GIRL BAR DINAH SHORE WEEKEND in association with The Truck Stop Girlz from NYC are moving their events OUT OF Palm Springs and to Las Vegas on a different weekend,’” Gans and Sachs said in a statement about the move. The host hotels for the Vegas weekend are the Flamingo and Planet Hollywood.”

Mazak went on to report that:

Meanwhile, Hanson, under her Club Skirts marquee, is busy making the 2012 installment of the notorious weekend stronger, bigger and sexier than ever in the Sunny Oasis of Palm Springs.

Hanson’s 2012 lineup features performances from Grammy-Award Winning Music Legend Chaka Khan, Nina Sky, Wynter Gordon, Pussycat Doll Jessica Sutta, CeCe Peniston, cast members of Showtime The Real L Word, Fortune Feimster from E! “Chelsea Lately”, and a Q&A with Meredith Baxter moderated by Suzanne Westenhoefer, just to name a few.

Girl Bar’s move to Las Vegas has a lot of people wondering why since for the past 22 years, it has been a Palm Springs tradition. According to Palm Springs Hilton General Manager, Aftab Dada in a KMIR interview, “The Dinah ranks as one of the five premier events in Coachella Valley.” He goes on to explain his theory behind the Girl Bar exodus, “For the past four years, Club Skirts has been taking a lot of market share from Girl Bar.”

But Girl Bar’s Sachs and Gans have their own reasons for the move to Sin City. “Vegas is the Hot Spot with a plethora of entertainment and culinary options, which is exactly what our guests have been asking us for,” Gans and Sachs said in a statement. They added that what will be different with the Vegas move is that there will be “No more parties in massive corporate ballrooms, no more waiting in line for drink tickets, and most importantly NO LAST CALL!” Gans and Sachs promise they will, “offer an intimate experience to our clientele and yet allow them to experience everything that Vegas has to offer.” They also said that “unlike Palm Springs pool parties, when a patron’s top comes off in Las Vegas, that’s considered “au naturale” and OK in Vegas!”

Apparently, The Dinah started two decades ago by catering to a small gathering of women who went to Palm Springs to socialize, maybe take in some of the Dinah Shore Championship Golf Tournament, and so forth. It eventually became heavily linked to Palm Springs.

For many fans of The Dinah Shore Weekend, it is always going to be synonymous with Palm Springs. Christine Pease, who has gone to the event for six years, according to Mazak, stated “Vegas means that it’s not the Dinah but just a circuit party. The Dinah has a history in Palm Springs and it tells a story about the unity and tradition of our lesbian community.”

Typically, some 15,000 women from all across the word go there for the five-day weekend which includes “spectacular comedy shows, live concerts and legendary wild pool parties that have included some of the biggest names in the industry like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Colbie Caillat, India Arie, Pat Benatar, Natasha Bedingfield, The Indigo Girls, Chely Wright and Salt’n Pepa.”

Finally, Mazak reported that

Hanson’s Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend is definitely not going anywhere, especially with this year’s event looking like it could be the largest in The Dinah’s history.

“Hotel sales and ticket sales are way up. We’re expanding our party space at both the Riviera and The Palm Springs Convention Center to accommodate the increased crowds,” said Hanson.

Last year Club Skirts sold out The Riviera, The Hilton, and The Shilo Inn.

But Girl Bar promoters Sachs and Gans are certain that if they build the event in Vegas then the women will come. “It’s not about quantity but more about quality – we expect to have the sophisticated ladies that have been joining us from around the world in previous years
coming back for this new and improved Dinah Shore Weekend Las Vegas,” Sachs and Gans said.

Meanwhile, Hanson credits faithful Dinah goers with opting for the original Palm Springs Dinah experience. “As far as The Dinah Shore Weekend goes, I may be the architect but the colors and the brush strokes, that’s the talent of the attendees, and based on pre-sales, they clearly want to be in Palm Springs,” Hanson said.