May 5, 2015

VIDEO: L.A. Dodgers' Kiss Cam Features Gay Couple For First Time

For the first time, a gay couple was shown kissing on Dodger Stadium's kiss cam on Saturday, according to SB Nation's OutSports. After the camera panned to them, the two male Dodgers fans shared a heartfelt kiss as fans cheered, OutSports reported.

While the kiss is a first for Dodger Stadium, it's not the first time a gay couple has been captured on a kiss cam. In 2011, two men kissed at AT&T Park during an LGBT night hosted by the San Francisco Giants, according to the Huffington Post.

The fact that Saturday's kiss at Dodger Stadium seemed genuine is distinct in that kiss cams have sometimes been used to show two male fans in an attempt to embarrass them in what can be seen as a mockery of being gay.

Watch the video below. The kiss comes at about the 28-second mark.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/dodgers-kiss-cam-gay-couple

May 5, 2015

Anti-Islam Activist Pam Geller Compares Herself To Rosa Parks

After sparring with CNN's Alisyn Camerota the day before, anti-Islam activist Pam Geller on Tuesday came up against criticism on Fox News.

Geller was on third day of interviews after two gunmen were killed on Sunday while opening fire on a security officer at an event she organized in Garland, Texas. The gathering was a contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad.

Fox host Martha MacCallum noted that Geller has taken criticism from the staff of Charlie Hebdo and American conservatives such as Bill Donahue of the Catholic League. Donald Trump also called Geller's actions "DUMB!" and said her cartoon contest was just "taunting" people.

Geller brushed off Trump's critique, and then rolled out an analogy that left MacCallum reeling. "What would he have said about Rosa Parks?" Geller said. "'Rosa Parks should never have gone to the front of the bus. She's taunting people.'"

"No, no, no, where are you getting the Rosa Parks comparison?" MacCallum interrupted, before moving on.

-snip-

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pam-geller-fox-news-rosa-parks

May 5, 2015

‘Pandering to idiots’: Jade Helm 15 fears continue crossing over from fringes to political mainstrea

Conspiracy theories that originated in the anti-government extremist right continue to cross over into the political mainstream as elected officials — including a Republican presidential candidate — question the Jade Helm 15 military exercise planned for this summer.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defended his decision to order the State Guard to monitor the three-month training exercise planned for seven states, saying he was simply addressing the concerns of citizens who fear their constitutional and property rights may be infringed.

“We are playing a pivotal role of government, and that is to provide information to people who have questions,” Abbott said. “It’s clear that people (who attended an information meeting last week) in Bastrop (County) had questions.”

Those questions were based on theories promoted by websites such as Alex Jones’ Infowars and organizations within the right-wing Patriot movement. The leader of one of those groups, the pro-gun Oath Keepers, told listeners on a “Patriot movement” radio program that the federal government was using Jade Helm 15 to identify possible resistance leaders for a future military takeover.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/pandering-to-idiots-jade-helm-15-fears-continue-crossing-over-from-fringes-to-political-mainstream/

May 5, 2015

Pastor warns gays: Marriage equality means no one will be left to make babies for you to adopt

A pastor whose church claims more than 5 million members warned this week that no new babies would be born for homosexuals to adopt if same-sex couples insisted on getting married.

Pastor E. A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God wrote on Facebook over the weekend that he had recently been grilled by the press over his views on homosexuality.

“They said they believe I hate homosexuals,” he explained. “I don’t hate anyone and you can do whatever you want to.”

“But man marry man and woman marry woman. Then no need to stop global warming because soon there won’t be new born children.”

He added: “What’s that they want to adopt, who will give birth to the child and how?”

In 2008, Newsweek named Adeboye of one of the 50 most powerful people in the world. His RCCG Pentecostal church reportedly has 14,000 branches and 5 million members in Nigeria alone. It was said to have more than 300 branches in the U.S., and about the same number in Britain.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/pastor-warns-gays-marriage-equality-means-no-one-will-be-left-to-make-babies-for-you-to-adopt/

May 5, 2015

Reefer madness: GOP congressman warns pot is making our veterans psychotic

In a debate on the House floor over the Department of Veterans Affairs’ policies on medical marijuana, Representative John Fleming (R-LA) warned colleagues that allowing veterans to smoke pot could turn them psychotic or schizophrenic.

“As a practicing physician and a veteran myself,” Fleming stated during the April 29 legislative proceedings, “the way we approach health care is not to just allow any healthcare provider to do whatever he or she wants to do at the time. That is simply not the way health care works.”

According to Fleming, letting doctors and patients make their own decisions about marijuana could be dangerous, which is why the federal government needs to step in.

“Smoking pot increases psychotic episodes by a factor of two to four times normal,” Fleming elaborates. “The conversion to schizophrenia, a permanent mental disorder, is enhanced by pot by a factor of two — double. Why in the world would we give a drug that is addictive, that is prohibited under Schedule I, that is not accepted for any specific mental disease or disorder and enhances psychosis and schizophrenia, why are we going to give that to our veterans, especially those with PTSD? That is just absolutely insane.”

Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), concerned that VA health care providers are prohibited by law “from completing forms brought by their patients seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a veteran’s participation in a State medical marijuana program,” shot back at Fleming with his own pot policy assessments. A staunch cycling advocate, Blumenauer was wearing his signature bicycle lapel pin at the time.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/reefer-madness-gop-congressman-warns-pot-is-making-our-veterans-psychotic/

May 5, 2015

‘I’m not a scientist, man': America’s next top politicians refuse to evolve on evolution and climate

ALAN YUHAS, THE GUARDIAN
05 MAY 2015 AT 09:53 ET

A neurosurgeon who believes the human brain is too complex for anyone but God, an ophthalmologist who refuses to talk about the age of the earth, and a Harvard-trained lawyer beloved by creationists are running for president of the United States, raising the prospect of an election without science.

Retired doctor Ben Carson joined senators Rand Paul (the ophthalmologist) and Ted Cruz (the Harvard alum) on the campaign trail on Monday, vying for the Republican nomination against each other and other confirmed and likely candidates including Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.

But despite assorted elite educations and illustrious careers, none can apparently make up their minds about basics of modern science – that the earth is about 4.5bn years old , that humans evolved from earlier primates over millions of years, and that people are making the world dangerously warm .

“I think on issues like climate change and evolution it ends up being a proxy for identity politics,” said Michael Halpern, a program manager for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “You’re not actually talking about the science, you’re talking about values.”

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/im-not-a-scientist-man-americas-next-top-politicians-refuse-to-evolve-on-evolution-and-climate-change/

May 5, 2015

Trump: I'm All For Free Speech, But Anti-Islam Cartoon Contest Was 'DUMB!'

Real estate mogul and wannabe presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday night took a break from talking tough about President Barack Obama to criticize a Muhammad cartoon-drawing contest where two gunmen opened fire Sunday in Garland, Texas.

One of the event's organizers, Pamela Geller, has sought to cast the shooting as a "war on free speech." In a series of tweets, Trump suggested Geller and the other notorious anti-Muslim extremists who hosted the event were "publicity seekers" who actually provoked the attack:

Donald J. Trump ✔
@realDonaldTrump

Nobody would fight harder for free speech than me but why taunt, over and over again, in order to provoke possible death to audience. DUMB!

9:46 PM - 4 May 2015
88 88 Retweets 160 160 favorites

Donald J. Trump ✔
@realDonaldTrump

The U.S. has enough problems without publicity seekers going out and openly mocking religion in order to provoke attacks and death. BE SMART

9:55 PM - 4 May 2015
149 149 Retweets 205 205 favorites

-snip-

Trump also called out Geller directly earlier Monday in an interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."

-snip-

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-garland-shooting

May 5, 2015

Pentagon Rebuts 'Wild Speculation' About Military Takeover In Texas

Pentagon officials on Monday assured Texas residents that upcoming military exercises in the state is not part of a plot to take over Texas, despite conspiracy theorists' concerns that the U.S. will impose martial law in the state.

Defense officials rejected the "wild speculation" about the "Jade Helm 15" exercise, which prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to order the Texas State Guard to oversee the exercises.

"Operation Jade Helm poses no threat to any American’s civil liberties," Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told McClatchy. "Operation Jade Helm is being conducted by Americans – by, specifically, American special forces personnel."

Warren said that the military coordinated the exercises with land owners and public officials in multiple states.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pentagon-jade-helm-wild-speculation

May 5, 2015

Secret battles behind the GOP freak show: The backroom struggles for Republican domination

The candidates were all in New England last month, and they were doing more than just appealing to the base

MICHAEL LINHORST

NASHUA, N.H. — There were questions about President Obama’s relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. There was a man with a boot on his head promising a free pony for every American. There was Donald Trump.

But amid the circus surrounding this month’s Republican “leadership summit” in New Hampshire, a handful of experienced political operatives were making what may turn out to be a momentous decision: which of the 19 or so candidates to guide through the Granite State’s quirky primary process. Hiring experienced politicos is critical for a candidate to do well in New Hampshire, a state that prides itself on expecting a personal touch from politicians. But with so many Republicans considering presidential run, there aren’t enough staffers to go around.

Prospective candidates “should have been thinking about staffing for some time,” said Andrew Smith, a professor at the University of New Hampshire and director of the UNH Survey Center. “Most of the top level political operatives in the state have been taken.” So the handful of top prospects who are still uncommitted are in high demand. The summit’s candidate cattle call gave them a chance to compare their suitors.

That’s what Jamie Burnett did. He was Mitt Romney’s New Hampshire political director in 2008 and worked on the Bush campaign in 2004, but he’s uncommitted so far in this election. “I can’t work with somebody unless I know I’m going to vote for them. And I haven’t really figured that part out yet,” he said. “There are a couple of people I know I wouldn’t want to vote for, but I still want to see what the others have to offer.” He didn’t name the candidates he wouldn’t work for. But he said the summit was useful for comparing the others side-by-side and watching the reactions of attendees to their messages.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/battles_behind_the_gop_freak_show_the_backroom_struggles_for_republican_domination/

May 5, 2015

The era of (Bill) Clinton liberalism is over. What does that mean for Hillary and the Dems?

Clinton revived the Democrats partly by incorporating GOP critiques on crime, welfare and race. What comes next?

JOAN WALSH

President Clinton famously told us “The era of big government is over.” The Baltimore tragedy is trying to tell us, if we didn’t already know, that the era of (Bill) Clinton liberalism is over — just when his wife has her best shot at becoming president. In the wake of the Baltimore unrest, a stunning 96 percent of Americans polled by NBC News say they expect more urban riots this summer. Yet there’s little visible urgency around preventing that outcome.

A post-Clinton Democratic domestic agenda is essential – even if the Democratic frontrunner is named Clinton. Intentionally or not, Hillary Clinton echoed her husband’s trademark verdict on “big government” last week when she called for “an end to the era of mass incarceration,” in a speech on criminal justice that symbolized a break from policies championed in the last Clinton administration. Whether post-Clinton politics can be pioneered by someone named Clinton will be an interesting test for Democrats in the months and years to come.

My goal is not to bash either Clinton, as we look at what did and didn’t work in the 1990s Democratic domestic agenda. (I also think it’s unfair to automatically credit or blame Hillary Clinton for the policies of her husband.) Bill Clinton was a gifted politician who cared about civil rights and poverty. He saw the way Republicans had used both issues against Democrats since the 1960s and he tried to fight it, even if he had to wade into the swamp of white backlash politics to fashion a new Democratic approach to crime, poverty and race.

His notorious “Sister Souljah” moment during the 1992 campaign; his crime and welfare reform policies; his railing against “big government;” all were tailored to reassure white people that Democrats had heard their concerns about the excesses of the war on poverty, and would incorporate the politics of personal responsibility into future efforts to promote equality. But his goal wasn’t perpetuating poverty, inequality and racism; it was forging a winning political coalition to take up a new fight against them, informed by the lessons of the 1960s and ’70s. You can disagree with his tactics, but it’s indisputable that was his intent.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/the_era_of_bill_clinton_liberalism_is_over_what_does_that_mean_for_hillary_and_the_dems/