RandySF
RandySF's JournalI'm against war with Syrria, but let's face it....
if it were Romneybot in the Oval Office, the Republicans in Congress would already be lined up behind him.
GOP Lawmakers Are Trying To Stop Gay Marriage In New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A group of Republican legislators has brought the first lawsuit to try to block gay marriage in New Mexico since six counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the past week.
The lawsuit targets one southern New Mexico county — Dona Ana — but could provide another route for the dispute to reach New Mexico’s highest court for a final statewide resolution. The New Mexico Association of Counties and county clerks statewide have said they plan a separate appeal to the state Supreme Court to try to get a decision on whether gay marriage is legal in New Mexico.
Paul Becht, an Albuquerque lawyer for the GOP legislators, said Friday the lawsuit was filed in Las Cruces, where the Dona Ana County clerk’s office has issued more than 200 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples since last week.
Five other counties have taken similar steps, and Los Alamos County could become the seventh county to issue licenses.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gop-lawmakers-are-trying-to-stop-gay-marriage-in-new-mexico.php?ref=fpb
2nd N.M. county issuing same-sex marriage licenses
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The county clerk in the state capital and the heart of this state's gay rights movement on Friday began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a court-ordered move that came just two days after a county clerk in southern New Mexico decided on his own that recognize gay marriage.
Under orders from a judge overseeing a lawsuit by two Santa Fe men trying to get married, County Clerk Geraldine Salazar began issuing licenses to same-sex couples shortly after 1: 30 p.m.
The first same-sex couple to get a license in the state's third-largest county was Santa Fe County Commissioner Liz Stefanics and Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, a gay rights group. Stefanics is a former Democratic state senator from Santa Fe.
Also receiving a license were the two men who filed the lawsuit that resulted in the court order directing the clerk to issue licenses — Alexander Hanna and Yon Hudson
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/23/new-mexico-same-sex-marriage-licenses/2693661/
Bank intern's death raises questions about race to wealth
he death of an intern working at the London offices of Bank of America Merrill Lynch has prompted calls for city firms to take more responsibility for the ambitious graduates who push themselves to the limit to secure jobs at the world's top banks.
Moritz Erhardt, collapsed at his London home in Bethnal Green on Thursday, after allegedly working until 6 a.m. for three days in a row at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's (BofA) investment banking division. The cause of his death is unknown.
London's Metropolitan Police confirmed they are not treating the death as suspicious, and said the post-mortem has yet to be completed.
Attracted to the glass towers of finance in London, New York and Singapore by the prospect of securing a full-time job and hefty wage, future "masters of the universe" often face 20-hour days in some of the most adrenaline-soaked offices on earth.
Weekends at work and meals in the office are par for the course with anecdotal reports of the "magic roundabout" where interns get a taxi home after dawn and leave it waiting while they have a quick shower and then return to work.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/bank-interns-death-raises-questions-about-race-wealth-6C10971970
Punished for working and expected to be grateful for it.
I started working again in April after 2.5 years of unemployment and the workplace feels like a much different place than when I left it. Three years ago, I was paid well and treated like a valuable part of the organization. Now, at my new workplace, I work harder for less, I am paying more than ever for the benefits I receive and everyone is generally treated like crap (and I hear it's now no better where I used to work). Yet, I'm supposed to be thankful for every miserable moment. Yes, I'm glad to get a paycheck. Who isn't? Dignity? Time with family? VACATION (we get vacation time, but you have to jump through hoops to get the time off)?? Forget it. I'm supposed to be happy we can now make rent. Anything else is asking WAY too much. Thank you, sir. May I please have another??
Alabama GOP purges pro-gay marriage member
Senior officials of the Alabama Republican Party are trying to pass an amendment which would remove any member of the group’s steering committee who publicly opposes the GOP platform outlined in 2012’s Republican National Convention.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to purge 23-year-old steering committee member and University of Alabama College Republicans president Stephanie Petelos after she made statements perceived as supportive of gay marriage to a local news station.
“The majority of students don’t derive the premise of their argument for or against gay marriage from religion, because we’re governed by the constitution and not the Bible,” Petelos told al.com in reaction to the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act in June.
Petelos said the rhetoric used by religious conservatives to describe gay marriage is “harmful to the party.” She said she supported the states’ rights argument in the gay marriage debate, and insisted conservatives focus on family breakdown instead.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/17/purge-in-alabama-gop-against-pro-gay-marriage-member/#ixzz2cH3b1tK1
GOP anxiety grows over Ga. Senate race
Republicans are increasingly concerned about Georgia's Senate race, where a crowded primary threatens to produce a flawed candidate who could put at risk a seat in a Republican-leaning state.
Recent polling shows the two candidates Republicans are most anxious about — Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and Paul Broun (R-Ga.) — leading the pack. Whoever emerges from the clown-car primary, with seven candidates and counting, will face a candidate Democrats are high on in a state where shifting demographics benefit their party.
Losing Georgia's open Senate seat would do severe damage to Republicans' hopes of winning the net of six seats necessary to take control of the Senate.
“Gingrey has a history of making some gaffes, and Broun it seems like it's a gaffe every other day. Those are the two that worry Republicans the most as potential problems going into the general election,” said Georgia Republican strategist Joel McElhannon, who’s neutral in the race.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/316489-gop-anxiety-grows-over-georgia-senate-race
NJ Judge to Hear Gay Marriage Case on DOMA Ruling
A New Jersey court case headed for oral arguments this week is among the first to test what a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down key parts of a law barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage means in states.
Even though the ruling will affect only New Jersey directly, it's being watched closely for broader implications.
"I think every challenge now and every court hearing is going to be amplified until it seems more clear whether we're going to have a patchwork in the states or a national policy,'' said Bill Duncan, director of the Orem, Utah-based Marriage Law Foundation, which opposes allowing same-sex couples to wed.
The hearing Thursday in Superior Court in Trenton is based on a lawsuit from two years ago, when six couples and their children argued that New Jersey's civil union law didn't fulfill a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples had to have the same legal protections as married couples. The civil union law was intended to give same-sex couples the legal benefits of marriage.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/NJ-Judge-to-Hear-Gay-Marriage-Case-on-DOMA-Ruling-219170651.html
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Pledges To Introduce Gay Marriage
Australia's Prime Minister has pledged to legalise gay marriage within 100 days of office, should he win next month's election - calling the measure a "mark of decency".
Kevin Rudd made the promise in the first of a series of debates between the two men who hope to be Australia's Prime Minister come September 7. Conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott is known to oppose equal marriage.
"I support marriage equality, I believe this is a mark of decency to same sex couples across the country and for that to be formalised," Rudd said.
"We will allow a full conscience vote, I would appeal to Mr Abbott to do the same."
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/11/australias-gay-marriage_n_3739250.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Judge orders cooling-off period to prevent another BART strike
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a brief but extraordinary weekend hearing, a San Francisco Superior Court judge on Sunday morning ordered a 60-day cooling-off period to prevent a second transit strike.
Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow said that he had no choice but to grant the strike reprieve, which Gov. Jerry Brown requested on Friday afternoon.
"If the court finds that the threatened strike will significantly disrupt transportation services and endanger the public's health, safety or welfare," Karnow said from the bench, "I have to issue the order."
The Bay Area Rapid Transit district and its three biggest unions have been negotiating a new contract for the past several months with no success. A nearly five-day strike in July left BART's 400,000 weekday riders in the lurch.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-judge-orders-cooling-off-period-to-prevent-another-bart-strike-20130811,0,553911.story
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 01:53 PM
Number of posts: 53,887
