kpete
kpete's JournalWhat about George and Martha Washington? They only procreated a country.
Courting Cowardice
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: March 26, 2013
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Charles Cooper, the lawyer for the proponents of Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, was tied in knots, failing to articulate any harm that could come from gay marriage and admitting that no other form of discrimination against gay people was justified. His argument, that marriage should be reserved for those who procreate, is ludicrous. Sonia Sotomayor was married and didn’t have kids. Clarence and Ginny Thomas did not have kids. Chief Justice Roberts’s two kids are adopted. Should their marriages have been banned? What about George and Martha Washington? They only procreated a country.
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Sonia Sotomayor was married and didn’t have kids. Clarence and Ginny Thomas did not have kids. Chief Justice Roberts’s two kids are adopted. Should their marriages have been banned? What about George and Martha Washington? They only procreated a country.
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Justice Elena Kagan wondered if Cooper thought couples over the age of 55 wanting to get married should be refused licenses. Straining to amuse, Justice Antonin Scalia chimed in: “I suppose we could have a questionnaire at the marriage desk when people come in to get the marriage — you know, ‘Are you fertile or are you not fertile?’
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While Justice Alito can’t see into the future, most Americans can. If this court doesn’t reject bigotry, history will reject this court.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/opinion/dowd-courting-cowardice.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130327&_r=1&
"My Gay Agenda"
Don't let all those so-called "equality" people fool you ... what they're really after is to forcibly shove the gay agenda straight down the throats of all real Americans. Need proof? Just look at this sign, brazenly waved outside of the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/26/1197070/-What-the-fight-for-marriage-equality-really-means-Advancing-the-gay-agenda
Gun shop blocks Mark Kelly’s right to buy AR-15, citing political ‘intent’
The owner of a gun shop in Tucson, Arizona on Monday refused to hand over an AR-15 military-style rifle that Mark Kelly purchased in order to demonstrate how easy it was to obtain assault weapons.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Diamondback Police Supply owner Doug MacKinlay said that he was blocking the former astronaut’s Second Amendment right because he questioned the political “intent” behind the purchase.
22 hours ago
Statement of Douglas MacKinlay, Owner/President, Diamondback Police Supply Co., Inc.
“While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use. In light of this fact, I determined that it was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store to complete the Federal From 4473 and NICS background check required of Mr. Kelly before he could take possession this firearm. A full refund was sent to Mr. Kelly, via express mail, on Thursday of last week.
The Sig Sauer rifle will be donated to the Arizona Tactical Officers Association where it will be raffled off to generate funds the association can use to purchase much needed tactical equipment for the organization’s members. The A.T.O. A. represents the SWAT and Special Response officers of the state’s law enforcement community who regularly place their lives on the line to protect the residents of this state.
Additionally, Diamondback Police Supply will make a $1295.00 contribution (the selling price of the M400 rifle) to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program that teaches children, in pre-K through 3rd grade, four important steps to take if they find a gun. The emphasis of the program is on child safety, something that is important to all of us and at the core of the current debate on gun control,” stated Douglas MacKinlay, Owner/President, Diamondback Police Supply Co., Inc.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diamondback-Police-Supply/143341839017998
Kelly, who is the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), said that he had purchased the rifle to show how easy it was to pass a background check. The effort was part of his push for more gun control in response to his wife’s shooting and other recent mass shootings.
A weapon similar to the Sig Sauer M400 was used last year to gun down 20 elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut.
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more:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/26/gun-shop-blocks-mark-kellys-right-to-buy-ar-15-citing-political-intent/
$59!?!
Incomes for the bottom 90 percent of Americans only grew by $59 on average between 1966 and 2011 (when you adjust those incomes for inflation), according to an analysis by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston for Tax Analysts. During the same period, the average income for the top 10 percent of Americans rose by $116,071, Johnston found.To put that into perspective: if you say the $59 boost is equivalent to one inch, then the incomes of the top 10 percent of Americans rose by 168 feet, Johnston explained to Alternet last week.
more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/income-growth-americans_n_2949309.html
Crisis Averted When Tennessee Lawmakers Discover Muslim Foot Bath Is Actually Just a Mop Sink
Crisis Averted When Tennessee Lawmakers Discover Muslim Foot Bath Is Actually Just a Mop Sink
The Tennessee legislature dodged a potential firestorm today when lawmakers were able to come together and reassure one another that a possible Muslim foot bath was, in fact, just a mop sink.
Ever since the state Capitol building recently unveiled a small bundle of renovations, there have been angry grumblings. People were worried that one of the building's updates—a sink—may be an attempt to offer a modicum of assistance to observant Muslims visiting the Capitol, and would be available to those who want to wash their feet before praying. The sink is pictured above, and indeed it is on the floor, the perfect level for a Muslim looking to wash his feet. Thankfully, however, everyone angry that the state of Tennessee might be being nice to Muslims relaxed today when state officials clarified that the sink was nothing but a place for custodians to wash filthy mops.
This is not a joke. Here is the rest of the story, from the Associated Press:
State Sen. Bill Ketron said he had asked about the change after being approached about it by a fellow Republican, Rep. Judd Matheny. Ketron said the answer dispelled any potential concerns, while Matheny said he couldn't recall raising questions.
MORE:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_MOP_SINK_CONFUSION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-25-17-33-31
http://gawker.com/5992352/crisis-averted-when-tennessee-lawmakers-discover-muslim-foot-bath-is-actually-just-a-mop-sink
Sen Jay Rockefeller: 'Gov shouldn’t discriminate against people who want to marry because of gender'
Sen. Jay Rockefeller Backs Marriage
"Like so many of my generation, my views on allowing gay couples to marry have been challenged in recent years by a new, more open generation. Churches and ministers should never have to perform marriages that violate their religious beliefs, but the government shouldn’t discriminate against people who want to marry just because of their gender. Younger people in West Virginia and even my own children have grown up in a much more equal society and they rightly push us to question old assumptions – to think deeply about what it means for all Americans to be created equal. This has been a process for me, but at this point I think it’s clear that DOMA is discriminatory. I’m against discrimination in all its forms, and I think we can move forward in our progress toward true equality by repealing DOMA." - Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), in a statement made to ABC News. Senate Democrat number four. Rockefeller voted for DOMA in 1996.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/senators-abandon-discriminatory-doma-before-supreme-court-arguments/
http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2013/03/sen-jay-rockefeller-backs-marriage.html
Bill O’Reilly Gets Smacked By Economics Professor - Nanny States Actually Do Better
So, ah, please get your facts right Mr. O’Reilly. The nanny state you call it; the program of countries like Germany and Scandinavia who tax their people heavily by all means, but who provide them with social services that would be the envy of the United States, a national health program that takes care of you whether you are employed or not and gives you proper healthcare.
In France for example the law says when you go to work you get five weeks paid vacation. That’s not an option, that’s the law. You get support when you are a new parent, childcare and so forth.
They provide services and they are successful in Germany and Scandinavia, much more than we are in the United States; and much more than those countries in the south.
So they are not broke in the south because they are nanny states, since the nanny states par excellence are doing better than everyone. The actual truth of Mr. O’Reilly is the opposite of what he says. The more you do nanny state, the better off you are during a crisis, and to minimize the cost of the crisis. That’s what the European economic situation actually teaches. He is just making it up as he goes along to conform to an ideological position that is harder and harder for folks like him to sustain so he has to reach further and further into fantasy.
much more, plus video:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/26/1197004/-Bill-O-Reilly-Gets-Smacked-By-Economics-Professor-Nanny-States-Actually-Do-Better-VIDEO
Iraq War Ten Years Later
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/26/1196885/-Iraq-War-Ten-Years-Later
What I am seeing is a purposeful plot to destroy public schools, and to profit from the destruction.
What I am seeing is a purposeful plot to destroy public schools, and to profit from the destruction. These folks say they are data conscious and want to rely on “data driven decisions” but if that were true the data already readily available shows that everything they are doing is having the opposite effect of what they are purporting to provide. There is too much coordination for this to be accidental, and they are too successful for me to believe they are simply not competent enough to understand the data that disproves everything they claim. These groups have gone out of their way to spin the data, falsify the data, or simply hide or destroy the data to prevent people from seeing what is going on. These groups are fully aware of what they are doing – destroying public education in our country. Some of them are doing it purely for profit driven motives, but there is more going on here. These are some of the puzzle pieces I have and what I see. Now if we allow this to continue, what do you see?
Much, much, much more-
This is terrific insight into what is happening on the EDUCATION Front:
In a blinding flash of insight, he sees the pattern on the rug of the corporate reform movement.
http://crazycrawfish.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/a-confederacy-of-reformers/
via:
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/03/25/the-most-brilliant-post-of-the-day/
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