Thursday, March 14, 2013
GOP & Romney = Flip-flopping, Lying, Claiming the victimizer is the victim
It's time for Mitts on our Money to own his words, to own his views, and to stop pretending HE is the victim. He lost on his lack of merit. He is a serial liar. He is a failed candidate by a substantial margin. DEAL with it. Show some hint, some small effort at displaying character, instead of being just one more over-privileged whiny right wing extremist who blames the wrong people for the wrong things.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
That US Gun Control Thing
ZOMGitsCriss, AKA Cristina Rad describes herself as, “…a shooting star leaping through the skies, I am a satellite, I’m out of control …”
Rad, a native Romanian, takes on the U.S. Constitution, specifically the
Second Amendment, and explains what might be the problem behind gun
violence in this country.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Another Ill-informed, ill-educated, factually deficient right wing Minnesotan gets national attention
This was run by the HuffPo; (if you need a cheat sheet, they hit some of the high points, but they do not list every fact-turd in the video).
The people who believe this stuff, who speak such lies and factual failure in public should be ashamed of themselves for their errors.
I'M ASHAMED of this man and the ignorant fools like them, on behalf of the state of Minnesota.
Five science points per fact for the commenter who can correctly identify all of the factual inaccuracies in this testimony, or alternatively the MOST factual inaccuracies.
Yes, yes, obviously ALL of it is wrong, ALL of it is factually inaccurate and a grossly homophobic distortion of objective reality by right wing nuts who don't apparently successfully complete a comprehensive sex ed class instead of an ignorance only /abstinence only sex misinformation course.
This is clearly part of the alternate reality bubble that circulates misinformation and disinformation among the right wing.
Ready, set, go - start counting and identifying the factual errors!:
The people who believe this stuff, who speak such lies and factual failure in public should be ashamed of themselves for their errors.
I'M ASHAMED of this man and the ignorant fools like them, on behalf of the state of Minnesota.
Five science points per fact for the commenter who can correctly identify all of the factual inaccuracies in this testimony, or alternatively the MOST factual inaccuracies.
Yes, yes, obviously ALL of it is wrong, ALL of it is factually inaccurate and a grossly homophobic distortion of objective reality by right wing nuts who don't apparently successfully complete a comprehensive sex ed class instead of an ignorance only /abstinence only sex misinformation course.
This is clearly part of the alternate reality bubble that circulates misinformation and disinformation among the right wing.
Ready, set, go - start counting and identifying the factual errors!:
Today, give some thought to ending violence against women
This effort comes in the larger context of multiple (alleged) murders of wives by their husbands, and of a young girl by her boyfriend. We clearly have a serious problem with violence, one that the right has not addressed, has tried to excuse, to redefine in favor of the violent, and has tried repeatedly to blame on the victims. This is unacceptable; we need to make some serious changes, beginning here in Minnesota, but in cooperation with a larger effort that goes well beyond just Minnesota to the rest of the nation.
Learn more here
Learn more here
2013
ACTION DAY TO END
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
MARCH 12, 2013
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
MARCH 13, 2013
Action Day to End Violence Against Women
is a collective effort by six state-wide coalitions
to raise awareness about the prevalence and
devastating impact of violence against women in
Minnesota. This one-day event includes
orientation on educating legislators,
meetings with legislators, youth
involvement events, networking opportunities,
a men’s rally, all of which
Culminates in a POWERFUL RALLY
in the State Capitol Rotunda
at 1pm on March 12, 2013.
For details, please visit:
www.mncasa.org
Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women
Minnesota Network on Abuse in Later Life
Sacred Hoop Coalition
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Men's Action Network : Alliance to prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Men's Action Network : Alliance to prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence
James Holmes, Aurora shooter in court today on insanity plea- crazy, or just faking it?
Joker Wanna-be James Holmes, crazy or not crazy?
James Holmes is in court in Colorado this morning for a hearing on his sanity, relative to a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Most mass shooters are NOT dangerously mentally ill. It is interesting to note that a waiving of medical confidentiality might put the notebook he mailed to his university psychologist incontrovertibly back in evidence.
I was curious that the defense team is trying to suppress his past mental health records, and that they were opposing his medication, presumably because that would weaken their defense rather than strengthen it. If Holmes had a longer period of mental health issues that suggested an inability to control his actions or a lack of knowledge of right and wrong, or any prior episodes of violence, I would have thought that information coming out in trial might have strengthened a defense on grounds of insanity, and would be something the defense team would be putting forward, not trying to suppress.
Also at issue is Holmes right to refuse medication.
Jared Loughner, the mass shooter who attacked Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson, determined to be suffering from schizophrenia, also tried to refuse medication, which was court ordered over his objections. His evaluations by mental health professionals, and subsequent plea, was conducted under such medication - (for context in reading the article below).
From MSNBC.com
read more here
James Holmes is in court in Colorado this morning for a hearing on his sanity, relative to a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Most mass shooters are NOT dangerously mentally ill. It is interesting to note that a waiving of medical confidentiality might put the notebook he mailed to his university psychologist incontrovertibly back in evidence.
I was curious that the defense team is trying to suppress his past mental health records, and that they were opposing his medication, presumably because that would weaken their defense rather than strengthen it. If Holmes had a longer period of mental health issues that suggested an inability to control his actions or a lack of knowledge of right and wrong, or any prior episodes of violence, I would have thought that information coming out in trial might have strengthened a defense on grounds of insanity, and would be something the defense team would be putting forward, not trying to suppress.
Also at issue is Holmes right to refuse medication.
Jared Loughner, the mass shooter who attacked Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson, determined to be suffering from schizophrenia, also tried to refuse medication, which was court ordered over his objections. His evaluations by mental health professionals, and subsequent plea, was conducted under such medication - (for context in reading the article below).
From MSNBC.com
Man charged in Colorado movie massacre due in court, may enter insanity plea
The man charged with carrying out a massacre in a Colorado movie theater last year was due in court Tuesday to enter a plea after his lawyers indicated that he may mount an insanity defense.
The hearing for James Holmes begins at 11 a.m. ET.
A judge ruled Monday that Holmes must waive medical confidentiality and agree to be drugged for a psychiatric exam if he wants to claim that he is not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers had claimed that those provisions violated his constitutional rights.
The judge, William Sylvester of the 18th Circuit Court, also ruled that Holmes would have to turn over the names, addresses and medical reports of any doctor or psychologist who has treated him for a psychiatric condition.
The defense claimed in papers revealed last week that Holmes was hospitalized for several days last fall and required restraints.
read more here
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Failed GOP values
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/03/1664321/gops-largest-campaign-contributor-admits-to-bribing-foreign-officials/
In the context of efforts on the right to weaken rape laws.
The right wants to redefine rape to make more kinds of rape legal - date rape, statutory rape, drugging and otherwise stealth incapacitation rape, by limiting rape to only the most obvious violence. Add to this their efforts to force women and girls to continue pregnancies resulting from rape, and to have to share custody of the children resulting from rape with their rapists, and clearly, being able to go for a walk when one chooses is something utopian in a right wing male dominant world.
FDR nailed it
I think of this every time I hear or see one of the anti-government nuts talking about shooting those in government.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Penigma salutes International Women's Day
Having perused a variety of the articles acknowledging the day; it is a testament to the success of feminism. The culture war on women from the right is the reminder that it is not sufficient to have made the gains, that we also have to hold those gains against those who would take them from us.
On a personal note, one of the things I heard growing up was that there were things girls and women couldn't do; nothing could make me more determined that I would overcome such arbitrary limitations, for myself, and for my gender. We aren't all the way to full equality of opportunity yet, or to fully equal recognition for our accomplishments - like equal pay for equal work. We are still having to fight for control of our own bodies and reproductive rights. But we cannot be dismissed with impunity, either, as those on the right who have tried to undo our gains found to their loss in the 2012 election cycle.
In the past twelve months since International Women's Day 2012, perhaps the most profoundly feminist statement I heard or read was in connection with the Newtown, Connecticut shooting in December. A conservative woman wrote an appallingly inaccurate and ill-researched article in the National Review Online, claiming that the tragedy of that mass shooting occurred because there was not a single man in the school.
There is a deeply offensive trend in right wing thinking that tries to posit that we are feminizing public education. Feminizing is defined by things like not letting kids fight, because it is supposedly normal boy behavior to punch the crap out of each other on the playground. They fear that not doing so will inhibit normal male aggression. (Presumably they do not think this 'right to fight' should extend to girls.)
If there is one thing we appear to have in excess, it would seem to be aggression. The reason for not permitting fighting in schools - by boys or girls - is that it distracts from doing what they are there to do, which is learn, not define their gender or sexuality. It is not the job of schools to masculinize or feminize children.
The reality is that, contrary to the National Review piece, there were in fact a number of adult males in the school, and it did not make any difference whatsoever. The author suggested that a burly male janitor might have taken out the shooter by flinging a bucket at the shooter's knees with all his superior strength, might have stopped the mass shooting.
There WERE adult male teachers present, as well as male janitors. At least one of the male janitors was credited with saving children in the hallway from the approaching shooter; he didn't have a bucket with him at the time (silly conservative stereotype). The reality is that against the shooter, no male could have done more than what the brave women in that school did to save children, brave women who died, brave women who were injured.
The same fact-averse conservative woman writing in the article also asserted that the 12 year old boys should have cooperated to attack the shooter, Adam Lanza. Except that this school was K-4th grade; there were no 12 year old boys attending, there were 9 year old boys in school.
| National Guard Lieutenant Tammy Duckworth |
It goes to the point that NEITHER our sons or daughter, brothers or sisters, or any men or women are, by gender, more 'expendable' people than other human beings by gender. That is part of the essence of equality, of freedom, of equal access to every possible aspect of our world, of the opportunity to realize the full potential of each one of us.
Below is a Forbes article that elaborates on International Women's Day. On the Forbes website, immediately following this article was a photo montage of the top 10 countries for women.
The United States was not among the countries listed; not first, not tenth.
I want that to change; to make that change will require opposing the conservatives who want to put women in a submissive place.
From Forbes: International Women's Day, Labor, And The Right to Strive
Today is International Women’s Day and my Twitter feed courses with feminist politics, links to causes involving women and girls, and high-minded wishes for a world without base misogyny and cruel sexual exploitation. There’s a Google doodle and a White House proclamation. There’s a website and a hashtag and a slogan: “a modern progressive world needs equality.”
And who can disagree? Indeed among progressive men who tend to work the side of modern feminist causes, I’m not sure there’s a more eloquent message out there than the tweet by Jamil Smith, digital producer for MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry show:
Jamil Smith @JamilSmith
On International @womensday, I remember my grandmother, honor my mother, encourage my sister, cherish my wife, and love each of them. #IWD
At its core, International Women’s Day was about the right to work – and the right to work in fair conditions, properly compensated for labor, and legally organized in open forums.
Ah, SWEET JUSTICE: Better late than never
Better late than never. If they didn't do anything wrong, they wouldn't be paying up and apologizing.
They LIED.
From Salon:
James O’Keefe to pay $100K over ACORN sting
Conservative provocateur James O’Keefe has agreed to pay $100,000 and apologize to a former ACORN employee who was fired after being portrayed in one of O’Keefe’s undercover video stings.
The ACORN sting was one of O’Keefe’s first and most successful operations, leading to a congressional prohibition on federal funding for ACORN that caused the group to collapse. But Juan Carlos Vera, a former employee whom O’Keefe and accomplice Hannah Giles secretly filmed in a California ACORN office, said the tape violated a state law against recording someone without their permission, so he sued the two conservative sting artists.
Giles settled this summer, but the suit against O’Keefe is still in federal court.
They LIED.
From Salon:
James O’Keefe to pay $100K over ACORN sting
The conservative prankster settles with a former ACORN employee for $100,000 and apologizes
Conservative provocateur James O’Keefe has agreed to pay $100,000 and apologize to a former ACORN employee who was fired after being portrayed in one of O’Keefe’s undercover video stings.
The ACORN sting was one of O’Keefe’s first and most successful operations, leading to a congressional prohibition on federal funding for ACORN that caused the group to collapse. But Juan Carlos Vera, a former employee whom O’Keefe and accomplice Hannah Giles secretly filmed in a California ACORN office, said the tape violated a state law against recording someone without their permission, so he sued the two conservative sting artists.
Giles settled this summer, but the suit against O’Keefe is still in federal court.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
First of all, before anyone flips out, this is humor, not real Pat Robertson silliness; it's been re-run today because parts of the nation have recently experienced snow storms. From the Borowitz Report, by way of the Huff Po:
Additionally, he argued, God shut down major airports in the New York area "so that people who were hoping to fly to do something of a gay nature would have to take a train or a bus, so it might be days before the gay thing they were going to do could occur."
As for the millions of straight people in New York City who were also grounded by the bad weather, the televangelist said, "I think God probably wonders, if these people are really straight, then what are they doing in New York?"
In other blizzard-related news, the National Weather Service offered this update: "It's as white as a Glenn Beck rally out there."
Pat Robertson: Snow Is God's Way of Punishing Americans Who Were Planning to Drive to Do Something Gay
VIRGINIA BEACH (The Borowitz Report) - Rev. Pat Robertson sparked controversy in today's broadcast of his 700 Club program when he claimed that God created the blizzard currently battering the Northeast "to punish Americans who were planning to drive to do something gay."
Explaining his theory, Rev. Robertson said, "Because of the bad road conditions the Almighty has made, any gay activities that people were planning on doing will have to be postponed by a day or two."Additionally, he argued, God shut down major airports in the New York area "so that people who were hoping to fly to do something of a gay nature would have to take a train or a bus, so it might be days before the gay thing they were going to do could occur."
As for the millions of straight people in New York City who were also grounded by the bad weather, the televangelist said, "I think God probably wonders, if these people are really straight, then what are they doing in New York?"
In other blizzard-related news, the National Weather Service offered this update: "It's as white as a Glenn Beck rally out there."
Repeat, Repeat, Breathe, and Repeat
Or just take a good deep breath, and LAUGH, and if you are still homophobic, do it again until you finally get over it.
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