July 12, 2012

CEO, Comedy Central: Take Daniel Tosh off the air

Daniel Tosh, offensive jokester extraordinaire, crossed the line a few days ago in a comedy club. During a skit in which he made jokes about rape, a young woman stood up in protest of the offensive jokes. In response, Daniel Tosh "joked" about how "funny" it would be if she were to be raped by "like five guys" right then. His jokes continued and the laughter in the club grew so loud that the young woman had to flee in fear.

This takes offensive joking to the next level. Tosh did not simply make jokes about rape, which is bad enough as it is, but he used his jokes in a threatening way that a young woman ran away to maintain her safety. He used his jokes to silence a person who was concerned with the nature of them.

This is not a man that deserves to be revered and aired daily. He is tasteless, offensive in nature, and proud of it. There should be no pride in humiliating and scaring other people. His fauxpology on Twitter was hardly sincere and only serves to show us how much he cares about himself, but not for other people. Bad things do happen, and yes, you CAN make jokes about them, but that doesn't mean you should. And it certainly doesn't mean that you get to decide if anyone should be offended by them.

This petition is to get Daniel Tosh and his show, Tosh.0, taken off the air permanently. No new episodes, no reruns, no comedy specials. Period.

More:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ceo-comedy-central-take-daniel-tosh-off-the-air

July 12, 2012

Boston Globe To Team Romney: Sorry, No Dice

Boston Globe To Team Romney: Sorry, No Dice

The Boston Globe will not be issuing a correction to its report on Mitt Romney’s departure from Bain Capital, according to Politico. The Romney campaign formally demanded a retraction earlier today, maintaining Romney was CEO in name only, delegating all day-to-day operations to 26 managing directors at the firm from February 1999 on.

“We received your request late this afternoon for a correction regarding this morning’s Globe story,” wrote Globe editor Martin Baron to Romney communication director Gail Gitcho. “Having carefully reviewed that request, we see no basis for publishing a correction. The Globe story was entirely accurate.”

More:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/boston-globe-to-team-romney-sorry-no-dice

July 10, 2012

Kiss My A$$ with Denis Leary

Denis Leary's newest song 'Kiss My Ass' is available now, get it here: http://bit.ly/KOpYfK

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/6z1c

July 7, 2012

Mass GOP Joins National Push to Disenfranchise With Voter ID Laws

Since Scott Brown knows he is fundamentally the candidate of the rich and elite, and not of most people, he relentlessly pushed for laws to block voters from the polls while he was in the MA Senate.

Massachusetts House and Senate Republicans are part of a nation-wide effort to suppress the vote of people of color, college students, the elderly, and, of course, the poor. Covering the legislative flank for the sometimes illegal, activist push of Show ID to Vote, Massachusetts Republicans have introduced a number of bills to make it more difficult for the 10% or so of the population that doesn’t have acceptable identification. Our Republicans may not have taken the brash, and probably counter-productive, stand of Florida’s Rick Scott, but they have quietly laid the groundwork for disenfranchising a sizeable portion of Massachusetts’s citizens.

Time and again, we’ve gone of the issue of voters showing ID at the poll here at BMG. As many as 11 percent of United States citizens – more than 21 million individuals – do not have government-issued photo identification, according to the Brennan Center. Mother Jones generated a handy graphic from the Brennan Center’s data.



Not only does it explain whom Voter ID discriminates against, it suggests why most of us don’t know people who lack valid ID’s: they are clustered among the poor. (The Blacks, Asians, and Latino’s lacking a valid photo ID are disproportionately poor).

More:
http://bluemassgroup.com/2012/07/mass-gop-joins-national-push-to-disenfranchise-with-voter-id-laws/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bluemassgroup%2Ffront+%28Blue+Mass+Group+-+Front+Page%29

July 5, 2012

ProgressMass Ethics Complaint Against Sen. Scott Brown for Apparent Violation of Senate Gift Rules

ProgressMass Files Ethics Complaint Against Senator Scott Brown for Apparent Violation of Senate Gift Rules

For Immediate Release: July 5, 2012
Contact: Mathew Helman, Communications Director
E-mail: mathew@progressmass.org, Cell: 617-821-8004

BOSTON - This morning, Michael Fogelberg, Executive Director of ProgressMass, submitted a complaint to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics requesting an investigation into the reported acceptance of a gift by Senator Scott Brown that appears to violate the Senate's ethics rules.

Senator Brown was able to enjoy the Boston Red Sox home opener at Fenway Park courtesy of "super-expensive seats behind home plate" that were reported to be a gift from a campaign donor. However, the value of the gift exceeds the limit permissible under Senate rules.

"Republican Scott Brown has a record of playing fast and loose with the rules," noted Michael Fogelberg, Executive Director for ProgressMass. "Senator Brown has used his position to loosen the rules for his supporters on Wall Street, and now it appears he has ignored the rules regarding the ethical conduct of U.S. Senators. Senator Brown must live up to his responsibility to the people of Massachusetts to follow the rules."

"Republican Scott Brown has a responsibility to come clean with the people of Massachusetts," said Mathew Helman, Communications Director for ProgressMass. "Senator Brown has been working overtime to re-write his record on Wall Street and on equal pay for women in the workplace. He's even tried to Etch-A-Sketch over his effort to move the Red Sox out of Fenway Park. He should at least be transparent about whether or not his 'super-expensive seats' at Fenway comport with the Senate's ethics rules."

Earlier this year, an ethics complaint was filed against Senator Brown for using taxpayer-funded Senate staff and resources for political campaign purposes. (Springfield Republican, "Mass. Dems file ethics complaint...," 5/9/12) Additionally, earlier this year, Senator Brown received criticism from taxpayer watchdogs for using taxpayer-funded mail "for electioneering purposes." (Boston Herald, "Scott Brown's honor troll," 3/28/12)

The full text of ProgressMass' letter to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is below:



July 5, 2012

Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairman
Senator Johnny Isakson, Vice Chairman

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics
220 Hart Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

RE: Complaint Regarding U.S. Senator Scott Brown's Acceptance of Expensive Gifts.

Dear Chairman Boxer and Vice Chairman Isakson:

This letter constitutes a complaint against U.S. Senator Scott Brown for an apparent violation of U.S. Senate ethics gift rule.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, Boston Herald columnist Margery Eagan reported, in her column entitled "When did Fenway become a political battleground?", that Senator Brown "spent part of Opening Day in super-expensive seats behind home plate." The tickets for those seats reportedly belong to Dennis Drinkwater, president of Giant Glass Co., Inc.

Individual tickets for a typical Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park immediately "behind home plate" have a face value of well over the allowed $50 limit. Tickets for special occasion games, such as Opening Day, have a value of substantially more, with an "average ticket price" for the game in question noted at $180 in one reliable media report from the New England Sports Network. Further, it is unclear if this gift included only one ticket for Senator Scott Brown or two tickets for both Brown and his wife, who was present with him on April 13, 2012.

Please consider this information against Senate Rule 35.1(a) regarding the acceptance of gifts by a Member of the U.S. Senate, which reads:

1. (a)(1) No Member, officer, or employee of the Senate shall knowingly accept a gift except as provided in this rule.
(2)(A) A Member, officer, or employee may accept a gift (other than cash or cash equivalent) which the Member, officer, or employee reasonably and in good faith believes to have a value of less than $50, and a cumulative value from one source during a calendar year of less than $100. No gift with a value below $10 shall count toward the $100 annual limit.

Clearly, the value of one such Opening Day Red Sox ticket had a value of over $50, the limit explicitly outlined in the Senate Rule (and ostensibly a value over $180, the average ticket price for the event). If the gift in question included two tickets (tickets for both Senator Scott Brown and his wife), obviously the value of the gift would be doubled.

As such, I respectfully request that the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics immediately begin an investigation regarding Senator Scott Brown's acceptance of this gift.

For our government to function effectively, the people must maintain faith in our elected representatives to act solely in the public interest, free from influences that might taint our representatives' focus on the public interest. That is why the U.S. Senate maintains clear and strict rules regarding the reporting and acceptance of gifts by Members. Senator Scott Brown's reported acceptance of the gift in question appears to have violated those Senate Rules.

With the opinion of the U.S. Congress at record lows among the American people, bodies like the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics should be all the more vigilant of possible ethical violations by Members. I appreciate your consideration of and diligence in this matter.

Most sincerely,

Michael Fogelberg
Executive Director
ProgressMass

ProgressMass
http://www.ProgressMass.org/
30 Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108



ProgressMass on the Web
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More:
http://www.progressmass.org/press/progressmass-files-ethics-complaint-against-senator-scott-brown-for-apparent-violation-of-senate-gif.html

July 3, 2012

ATHEISTS Y U NO CHECK FACTS?

July 2, 2012

Before You Head to Chick-Fil-A…

Before You Head to Chick-Fil-A…
July 2, 2012 By Hemant Mehta

… you should know they gave $1,900,000 to anti-gay groups in 2010. A portion of all the food you’re buying there is being used to impede civil rights for gay people. http://www.advocate.com/business/2012/07/02/chick-fil-donates-2-mil-antigay-groups

That brings them to nearly $5,000,000 in bigot funding over the past decade. http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/chick-fil-a-has-spent-5-million-trying-to-stop-gay-marriage/discrimination/2012/07/02/42684




More:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/07/02/before-you-head-to-chick-fil-a/