The wingnuts came up with some doozies this year. Huffington Post counts down the ten biggest lies.
Labels: 2009, Barack Obama, liars, mental illness, racism, wingnuts
(Via - World Focus, tipped by JMG reader Alex)Labels: death penalty, LGBT rights, maps, marriage equality, World Focus
Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a Honolulu hospital tonight after complaining of chest pains.
A Honolulu television station is reporting that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a hospital with chest pains. KITV reported Wednesday that paramedics responded to a call at 2:41 p.m. from the Kahala Hotel and Resort where Limbaugh is vacationing. The station, citing unnamed sources, said paramedics treated Limbaugh and took him to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. Queen's spokeswoman N. Makana Shook says the hospital is unable to comment on the report.
Labels: Hawaii, Honolulu, radio, Rush Limbaugh, wingnuts
Dear Daniel --
"You're out of your freakin' mind."
That's what Julia Louis-Dreyfus said to me point-blank in the second Courageous Conversations video we filmed on the set of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" a few weeks ago.
Julia was trying to make a point about what NOT to say to someone who may disagree with you about the importance of marriage equality, but she may have gotten a little carried away.
Judge for yourself. Click here to watch the sequel to our first Courageous Conversations video. And help support our friends at the Courage Campaign Institute by making a last-minute tax-deductible contribution before January 1. They need just 103 more donors to reach their critical year-end goal:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/JuliaAndEric
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I taped this video with Julia for a reason. We both wholeheartedly support full LGBT rights and think that the Courage Campaign Institute is a uniquely creative, effective and inspiring organization that can help get the job done.
From the remarkable Camp Courage training program to Courageous Conversations, this amazing team is working every day to bring full equality to America.
That's why Julia and I taped this sequel video to spread the word about Courageous Conversations. And it's why we hope you will make a last-minute tax-deductible contribution to support the Courage Campaign Institute. Courage needs just 103 more donors before January 1:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/JuliaAndEric
Thanks for supporting Courage in these last few hours before the New Year.
Eric McCormack
The Courage Campaign Institute is part of the Courage Campaign's online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change and full equality in California and across the country.
To power our Courageous Conversations program, please chip in what you can today:
LILONGWE (Reuters) - Two Malawian men became the first gay couple to publicly tie the knot, the Nation newspaper reported on Monday, risking arrest in the conservative southern African state where homosexuality is illegal.
Matthew Shepard Foundation Selected for Grant in Chase Community Giving Contest
The Matthew Shepard Foundation will receive a $25,000 grant from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation in the new year to further our educational and outreach programs against hatred and bias, thanks to votes cast by Facebook users in the bank’s “Chase Community Giving” program.
Fans of the Matthew Shepard Foundation on the leading online social network cast enough votes to place us in the top 100 community charities nationwide in first-round balloting earlier in December. A second round of voting begins January 15, in which the top vote-getting nonprofit organization will qualify for $1 million, and five runners-up will win $100,000 grants.
“The overwhelming show of support for the Matthew Shepard Foundation is deeply gratifying and will provide us a huge boost as we seek to double our outreach to schools and community groups in 2010,” said Executive Director Jason Marsden.
“We hugely appreciate the thousands of supporters who voted for us on Facebook to give us this unique opportunity and additional exposure,” Marsden added.
The unexpected new grant will also help expedite our ongoing Web development work already under way for 2010, in which our youth-oriented Web resource, MatthewsPlace.com, will be expanded to include more user-generated content and on-demand educational program modules.
While the Foundation personally reached 18 high schools, 23 colleges and 22 community organizations with its seminars and speaking programs in 2009, developing similar programs delivered via the Internet will allow us to reach a vastly larger audience with our message of replacing hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.
Facebook users can register to participate in the next round of voting by visiting the Chase Community Giving page at http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/ and following the instructions provided.
After being temporarily thwarted by a judge's stay of a Buenos Aires court ruling in their favor, two men in Argentina have become the first gays to marry legally in Latin America. An official in Argentina's southern Tierra del Fuego province says two Argentine men have wed there in Latin America's first gay marriage. Provincial spokesman Eduardo Porter says the wedding between Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre took place at the civil registry in Ushuaia. Their marriage plans in Buenos Aires earlier this month were thwarted when city officials refused to marry them because of conflicting rulings. An official representing the federal government's antidiscrimination agency attended the wedding. Claudio Morgado called Monday's marriage "historic." Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to state and city officials.The court ruling allowing their marriage was specifically for this couple only. It remains to be seen if a precedent has been set.
Labels: Argentina, Buenos Aires, LGBT History, marriage equality
courtesy of JMG
"I love you and believe in you. If you want my ear/voice — e-mail." - Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to billionaire Ponzi swindler Allen Stanford, hours after Stanford was arrested by the feds. After the arrest, Sessions denied that he knew Stanford at all, despite having been photographed with him many times and accepting $44,000 from Stanford for his re-election campaign.Labels: Allen Stanford, Congress, GOP, Pete Sessions, scandal, Texas
Courtesy of JMG12/26/09
Editorial
Campaign Clarity Needed
By BDN Staff
BDN Staff
A lawsuit involving a national group opposed to gay marriage has far-reaching implications for the state’s campaign reporting and financing laws, especially since the National Organization for Marriage said it plans to advocate for supporters of “traditional marriage” in next year’s election.
In October, NOM filed suit in federal court claiming Maine’s referendum campaign finance reporting requirements were overly burdensome and, therefore, unconstitutional. Earlier this month, the group amended its complaint to U.S. District Court to include candidate elections. If its challenge is upheld, it would leave a big hole in the state’s reporting requirements and its Clean Election financing program, which relies on candidates’ reporting of donations to determine whether matching funds are warranted.
The group, based in New Jersey, contributed nearly $2 million to Stand for Marriage Maine, which successfully advocated a repeal of the state law allowing same-sex couples to marry. NOM has refused to disclose to state election officials where its money came from. State law requires groups or individuals that raise more than $5,000 to support or oppose a ballot question to register as a ballot question committee. Anyone who donates more than $100 to the committee must be identified in campaign finance reports.
The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices is investigating whether NOM violated state campaign finance laws by refusing to name its donors in connection with Question 1 on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Attorneys for the group have argued that listing donors would discourage contributions because people would be afraid of retaliation.
Gay marriage is an emotional issue, but citing fear as a reason to flout the law is an unpersuasive argument, especially when thousands of donors are named — complete with their home or businesses addresses and occupations — on campaign finance reporting forms filed by groups on both sides of Question 1. National groups have been involved in many contentious campaigns since Maine’s reporting requirements have been in place. None has refused to comply with the law.
At the same time, there are varying levels of compliance. Some groups simply list “fund transfer” as a source of funding.
NOM’s argument that it raises money nationally to be used in many different states, rather than for a campaign in a specific state, is more complex. A close look at the group’s fundraising literature will clarify whether it was raising money for the Yes on 1 campaign in Maine. If it was, reporting is necessary, as it should also be for other national groups that contribute to Maine campaigns.
It may be that lawmakers need to reconsider Maine’s ballot committee law to clarify how such national fundraising should be handled, especially since it could influence Clean Election funding next year.
The bottom line is that Maine voters should be able to know who is trying to influence their vote.
Just a few days ago, we witnessed an “amazing” revelation: Former international rugby star Gareth Thomas said, “I’m gay.”
What’s also amazing is that so many mainstream, big media outlets did not say this:
“Gareth Thomas admits he is gay.”
Except CNN.
In, “Thomas relief after admitting he is gay,” CNN writes,
“Every gay man will tell you that ‘coming out’ is like a weight lifted from your shoulders and beng able to walk down the street knowing that there is nothing for me to hide has been a liberating experience, ” admitted Thomas…”
Because, really, why would anyone use the word “admit” when it comes to coming out? Being gay is not wrong. We “admit” to things we’ve done wrong.
We admit to lying. We admit to stealing. We admit to adultery.
We “come out,” we “acknowledge we’re gay,” we can even “reveal” we’re gay. But “admit?” Why would you “admit” to something that isn’t wrong?
Words matter.
It’s time for the media, especially the MSM, to get it straight: “admitting” you’re gay is like “admitting” you’re human.
Got it?
From The New Civil Rights Movement
It's definitely not the bill we wanted, but this morning the Senate voted 60-39 to approve its version of health care reform. The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama. The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.Senator Robert Byrd voted this way: “This is for my friend Ted Kennedy. Aye!”
If the two chambers can strike a deal, as seems likely, the resulting product would vastly expand the role and responsibilities of the federal government. It would, as lawmakers said repeatedly in the debate, touch the lives of nearly all Americans. The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, would add 15 million people to the Medicaid rolls and would subsidize private coverage for low- and middle-income people, at a cost to the government of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Labels: Congress, health care reform, insurance, Senate
