February 4, 2015

The Guardian: HRC’s All God’s Children Campaign Spreads LGBT Equality in the South

February 3, 2015 by Hayley Miller, Digital Media Associate

Last week, The Guardian featured HRC’s All God’s Children campaign as a leader in achieving LGBT equality in the South.

The article featured two advocates, Justin Kelly and Blossom Brown, who are spokespeople in the campaign.

Sergeant Justin Kelly, an openly gay Iraq war veteran, did not feel comfortable being openly gay for a long time. “I thought maybe it could be something that no one noticed,” he told The Guardian.

Blossom Brown, a transgender woman of color, has also become a LGBT advocate in her home state. “Eventually, I might have to leave the south,” she explained. “But then I think, ‘You were born here in Mississippi. Why would you run away from your turf?’”

more
http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/the-guardian-hrcs-all-gods-children-campaign-spreads-lgbt-equality-in-the-s?utm_content=bufferac1f9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=hrcsocialteam

February 4, 2015

MLK's Mother Was Assassinated, Too: The Forgotten Women Of Black History Month

By AURIN SQUIRE Published FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 6:00 AM EST

On June 30th, 1973, Alberta Williams King was gunned down while she played the organ for the “Lord’s Prayer” at Ebenezer Baptist Church. As a Christian civil rights activist, she was assassinated...just like her son, Martin Luther King, Jr. But most people remember only one. Until a month ago, I was one of those people.

When a friend told me about Alberta Williams King, my first reaction was “who?” This question was followed by a wave of shame. It was the same feeling I had a few years ago when I first heard about Fannie Lou Hamer. Then later came Ida B. Wells and other leaders who seemed to appear in the discussion of American history to my confused, uninformed silence. I started to suspect that I had half an education and that I had been leaving out the role of women and feminism in Black History.

I thought I was fairly well-versed in African-American history. My parents filled our shelves with the core curriculum: Up From Slavery, Letters from a Birmingham Jail, Native Son, Black Boy, Go Tell it On the Mountain, Soul on Ice, The Miseducation of the Negro, Before Columbus, and many more pieces of literature and non-fiction. I immersed myself in books, hagiography, essays, videos, encyclopedias. My extracurricular studies came from an authentic curiosity (instead of dutiful obligation) to know more about my family. Black females held the role of poetry and song: Phillis Wheatley, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Sapphire. But as far as activism and leadership, the ranks were all-male.

“Well, we don’t study it that much because there’s no such thing.” As South Florida child attending privileged white schools, I heard this answer a lot in response to request for getting more out of February. Usually I was the only black face in the honors classes and would be the lone petitioner. By the time I was in middle school, the atmospheric ignorance didn’t invoke anger in me. Instead I became curious as to who else did not “have a history.”

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/mlk-mother-was-assassinated-forgotten-women-black-history-month

February 4, 2015

"We can’t be a perpetually punitive society”: Connecticut governor proposes criminal justice reforms

Dannel Malloy unveils "second chance society" initiatives in Yale Law School speech

LUKE BRINKER

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday proposed a set of major criminal justice reforms, calling for an end to mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug possession and urging state lawmakers to foster a “second chance society.”

Speaking at Yale Law School, the Democrat laid out proposals in five major areas. In addition to abolishing mandatory minimums for drug possession, the governor backed legislation to reclassify nonviolent drug offenses as misdemeanors, provided there is no intent to sell; streamline parole hearings to expedite the cases of low-risk inmates; speed up the pardons process for nonviolent ex-offenders; and invest in housing and employment opportunities for former inmates. The proposals mirror reforms adopted in a politically diverse crop of states, including South Carolina, New York, Arkansas, and California.

“These initiatives build upon the progress we’ve made in recent years reducing crime rates across Connecticut,” Malloy said, citing statistics indicating that the state’s crime level is at a 48-year low.

Connecticut’s prison population now numbers 16,300, its lowest level in 16 years.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/04/we_can%E2%80%99t_be_a_perpetually_punitive_society_connecticut_governor_proposes_criminal_justice_reforms/

February 4, 2015

America’s vaccination nightmare: What Christie & Paul’s nonsense is really about

Top-tier Republicans both whiffed on the vaccine question. But the reason why stretches well beyond their party

ELIAS ISQUITH

Something happened on Monday, something I expect we’ll see many more times before the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential primary is said and done: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul inadvertently affirmed their critics’ worst assumptions, and earned widespread ridicule from the media in the process. But something else happened that day, something I also expect we’ll see repeated in the years to come: All of the attention devoted to these two politicians’ missteps distracted us from what still remains one of the most important political development of our time — the pervasiveness of a crude, anti-social understanding of American individualism.

Before we get to the bigger issue, though, let’s start with Christie and Paul’s screw-ups (which were superficially alike but meaningful for different reasons). Christie’s flub came first. In response to a New York Times question on child vaccinations, which have been a source of controversy for years, Christie went against the vast majority of medical professionals by delivering an answer that could be described as either uncharacteristically nuanced — or a blatant act of pandering. “It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official,” said Christie, who claims his own children were vaccinated. “I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well,” he added. “So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

If you keep in mind that a recent, highly publicized measles outbreak has been attributed to parents who believe there’s a link between autism and vaccinations (there is not), and consequently refuse to inoculate their kids, you should not be surprised to hear that Christie’s comments were not well-received. The Democratic Party slammed him, of course. But he earned finger-wagging and derision from ostensibly nonpartisan media figures and GOP operatives, too. In fact, the criticism became so vociferous and widespread that the National Review was moved to publish not one but two posts that halfheartedly defended Christie and lamented that damned liberal media. By the end of the day, Christie’s office had “clarified” his remarks, saying that the governor “believes vaccines are an important public health protection.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/04/americas_vaccination_nightmare_what_christie_pauls_nonsense_is_really_about/

February 4, 2015

“Black people. That’s what he thinks this was all about”: How Romney’s 2012 concession irked Obama

New David Axelrod book describes president's irritation at GOP rival's 2012 concession call

LUKE BRINKER

Delivering his victory speech following his re-election in 2012, President Obama adhered to standard practice by offering warm words for his vanquished opponent. “I just spoke with Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign,” the president told supporters in Chicago. “We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight.”

But just before he uttered those amiable remarks, an startled Obama expressed annoyance at what he viewed as Romney’s racially-tinged concession call, according to a new memoir by Obama strategist David Axelrod.

The president was “unsmiling during the call, and slightly irritated when it was over,” Axelrod writes in ”Believer: My 40 Years in Politics,” of which the New York Daily News obtained an advance copy.

“‘You really did a great job of getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee,’ in other words, black people,’” Obama said, paraphrasing Romney’s remarks in the call. “That’s what he thinks this was all about.”

more

http://www.salon.com/2015/02/04/black_people_thats_what_he_thinks_this_was_all_about_how_romneys_2012_concession_irked_obama/

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Comments below the article appearing in the New York Daily News are...hmmm...nightmarish?

February 3, 2015

Ben Carson Blames Measles Outbreak On 'Undocumented People'

Potential 2016 candidate Dr. Ben Carson, who has expressed support for strict vaccination policies, on Tuesday linked the measles outbreak in California to undocumented immigrants.

CNN's Jake Tapper asked Carson if parents' decisions not to vaccinate their children led to the outbreak.

"It is a good example of what happens," Carson responded.

But he then suggested that the outbreak may have started with undocumented immigrants.

"These are things that we had under control. We have to account for the fact that we now have people coming into the country sometimes undocumented people who perhaps have diseases that we had under control," he said. "So now we need to be doubly vigilant about making sure that we immunize them to keep them from getting diseases that once were under control."

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-measles-immigrants-vaccines

February 3, 2015

Nurse Quarantined By Christie Comes Back To Haunt Him On Vaccines

Kaci Hickox, a nurse who was quarantined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) after she returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, slammed the governor's recent remarks on vaccinations.

Christie on Monday said that parents should have "some measure of choice" when it comes to vaccinating their kids after he was asked about the current measles outbreak in the U.S. His office later clarified that the governor thinks there is "no question" children should be vaccinated for measles.

"I think this is a good example of Gov. Christie making some very ill-informed statements. We heard it a lot during the Ebola discussion, and now it seems to have happened again," Hickox said on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes." "I think the unfortunate thing — or the scary thing — is that I want a leader who consults experts and thinks about all of the different sides to an issue before making statements and policies that are unfounded in science.”

Hickox said Christie is "going against science."

more + video
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-vaccines-ebola-nurse

February 3, 2015

Lindsey Graham Urges 'Every American' To Vaccinate Their Kids

A spokesman for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM on Tuesday that the potential 2016 presidential contender urges all Americans to vaccinate their children, as a major measles outbreak spreads across the nation.

“Sen. Graham would urge every American to vaccinate their children," Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said in a statement to TPM. "And he would reject any effort to stop vaccinations until somebody can show him there is a scientific reason to do so.”

Bishop didn't say whether Graham believed vaccinations should be mandatory, however.

Two other potential Republican presidential candidates, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), each made waves Monday when they separately argued that parents who object to vaccinating their children should have more of a choice in

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lindsey-graham-vaccines

February 3, 2015

John Boehner: 'All Children Ought To Be Vaccinated'

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) weighed in on the vaccination debate Tuesday.

"I don't know that we need another law, but I do believe all children ought to be vaccinated," he told reporters.

Despite an absence of scientific evidence, some Republican presidential hopefuls — including Gov. Chris Christie (NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (KY) — have given some credence to the notion of a link between vaccines and autism.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-vaccines

February 3, 2015

GOP Rep.: 'Illegal Aliens' May Have Started Measles Outbreak In U.S.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Tuesday said that the outbreak of measles in the Western U.S. may have been started by "illegal aliens."

The recent measles outbreak has caused some politicians to take a stance on whether vaccines for children should be mandatory in the U.S. Numerous conservative lawmakers have argued that parents should not be forced to vaccinate their kids, while some Republicans have argued that vaccinations are safe and necessary.

But during a Tuesday morning interview with the Matt Murphy radio show, Brooks was asked if there is a correlation between undocumented children entering the U.S. and the measles outbreak.

"I don’t think there is any healthcare professional who has examined the fact, who could honestly say that Americans have not died because the diseases brought into America by illegal aliens who are not properly health care screened, as lawful immigrants are," Brooks responded, according to audio published by ThinkProgress.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mo-brooks-measles-vaccines-illegal