March 11, 2020

Albany Bishop William Love to face hearing in disciplinary case for blocking same-sex marriage

Albany Bishop William Love to face hearing in disciplinary case for blocking same-sex marriage
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/09/18/albany-bishop-william-love-to-face-hearing-in-disciplinary-case-for-blocking-same-sex-marriage/

[Episcopal News Service – Minneapolis, Minnesota] Albany Bishop William Love, who last year flouted a General Convention resolution on marriage equality when he vowed to continue blocking same-sex marriage in his diocese, was referred Sept. 18 to a hearing panel for potential discipline under The Episcopal Church’s Title IV Canon.

Love, who is one of an estimated 135 bishops and bishops-elect who are in Minneapolis this week for the fall House of Bishops meeting, was informed of the decision at about the same time as The Episcopal Church issued a late-afternoon press release on the update to his case. Love told Episcopal News Service on Sept. 19 that he was “thankful” that the matter had made it to the hearing panel, as he denied that he had done anything wrong.

“What I tried to do as best I can, by the grace of God, is to be faithful and obedient to that which I believe the Lord has called me to, even though it sometimes can be very difficult, and sometimes it’s not politically correct,” he said. Love also released an online statement in response to the news.

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March 9, 2020

Where I am (Chicago) there is *no* shortage of hand sanitizer or toilet paper ...

... nor is there panic price gouging.

Anybody here have a tale of shortages and panic?

First hand only please, *not* from a media report or Twitter.

March 7, 2020

Doctor Trump

Best possible spin is he's just fucking with us. To "own" us you see.

That's the best. More likely he really is a deluded psycho.

March 4, 2020

States scramble to prepare ahead of food stamps rule change (ABC)

States scramble to prepare ahead of food stamps rule change
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/states-scramble-prepare-ahead-food-stamps-rule-change-69379113

CHICAGO -- Having food stamps offers Richard Butler a stability he’s rarely known in his 25 years. He was in state custody at age 2, spent his teen years at a Chicago boys’ home and jail for burglary, and has since struggled to find a permanent home.

The $194 deposited monthly on his benefits card buys fresh produce and meat.

“It means the world to me,” said Butler, who shares a one-bedroom apartment with two others. “We can go without a lot of things, like phones and music. We can’t go without eating.”

But that stability is being threatened for people like Butler, who are able-bodied, without dependents and between the ages 18 and 49. New Trump administration rules taking effect April 1 put hundreds of thousands of people in his situation at risk of losing their benefits. They hit particularly hard in places like Illinois, which also has been dealing with a separate, similar change in the nation's third-largest city.

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March 3, 2020

Putin proposes to enshrine God, heterosexual marriage in constitution

Putin proposes to enshrine God, heterosexual marriage in constitution
https://www.france24.com/en/20200302-putin-proposes-to-enshrine-god-heterosexual-marriage-in-constitution

Moscow (AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted to parliament a number of new constitutional changes, including amendments that mention God and stipulate that marriage is a union of a man and woman.

Putin in January unleashed a political storm by proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993.

Last month the Russian parliament's lower house unanimously approved the constitutional reform bill in a first reading after less than two hours of debate.

Ahead of a second and key reading set for next week, Putin submitted 24 pages worth of amendments, said State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

"The president's amendments are the result of his dialogue with representatives of all factions (and) civil society," he said in comments released by the State Duma.

The amendments enshrine the mention of Russians' "faith in God" and also stipulate that marriage is a heterosexual union, Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy told AFP.

Most Russians identify as Orthodox Christians but Russia is officially a secular state.

The new amendments also ban giving away Russian territory and any call promoting such a move would also be outlawed.

A member of a Kremlin-appointed constitutional working group, actor Vladimir Mashkov, has suggested that such an amendment would ensure that Russia keeps Crimea -- which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014 -- or the Kuril Islands -- disputed with Japan for decades -- even after Putin quits power.

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March 2, 2020

Which one of you guys is the smart alec?

March 1, 2020

About compromising on abortion ...

I Thought Abortion Restrictions Were a Reasonable Compromise — Until I Needed One at 32 Weeks
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/thought-abortion-restrictions-were-reasonable-140007457.html

Ten weeks into my first pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. It was really devastating. My doctor said, ‘You know, this happens all the time and there’s no reason for you to not try again when you’re ready.’

So, a month later, I was pregnant again. We made it through the first trimester with no problems. Then we started to get some concerning blood test results and my pregnancy was elevated to be high risk. I was transferred to a high risk maternal fetal medicine obstetrician in New York City and was highly monitored, getting checks every couple of weeks, and as the weeks went on the complications racked up.

Over time, serious muscular issues came to light, like bilateral club feet, and the hands were always clenched tightly in every ultrasound. There was very little fetal movement, my amniotic fluid was really really high and most concerning, the fetus was not growing. These were things that my doctors couldn’t have known until the third trimester. Eventually our doctor determined the fetus was not swallowing. Swallowing is how a developing baby practices breathing — no swallowing, no breathing, that’s it.

We asked our doctor what would happen if I carried to term, and he said I would likely give birth to a baby who would choke for a few moments and then die. We got that information at 30 weeks.

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March 1, 2020

Republican Jesus here.

March 1, 2020

Republican hostile takeover of Twitter may be in the works.

Republican mega-donor buys stake in Twitter and seeks to oust Jack Dorsey – report
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/29/paul-singer-elliott-management-twitter-jack-dorsey

A major Republican donor has purchased a stake in Twitter and is reportedly seeking to oust its chief executive, Jack Dorsey.

Bloomberg News first reported that Elliott Management has taken a “sizable stake” and “and plans to push for changes at the social media company, including replacing Dorsey”.

Paul Singer, the billionaire founder of Elliott Management, is a Republican mega-donor who opposed Donald Trump during the real-estate magnate’s run for the presidential nomination but has since come onside.

After a White House visit in February 2017, Trump said Singer “was very much involved with the anti-Trump or, as they say, ‘Never Trump’, and Paul just left, and he’s given us his total support and it’s all about unification”.

Trump famously communicates with the public largely through Twitter, at the expense of traditional media strategy.

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February 28, 2020

Croatia's president condemns burning of gay couple effigy (Reuters)

Croatia's president condemns burning of gay couple effigy
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-croatia-lgbt-rights/croatias-president-condemns-burning-of-gay-couple-effigy-idUSKCN20I20P

Croatia’s president on Monday condemned the burning of an effigy of two men and a child at a festival weeks after the country’s highest court ruled that same-sex couples could foster children.

Zoran Milanovic said the burning of the effigy, which depicted two men kissing, at a festival in southern Croatia on Sunday was “inhumane and totally unacceptable”.

Organizers of the event in the town of Imotski “deserve the strongest condemnation of the public because hatred for others, intolerance and inhumanity are not and will not be a Croatian tradition”, Milanovic posted on his verified Facebook page.

The Imotski carnival organizers did not respond to a request for comment via their Facebook page.

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