From joemygod.com comes another wonderful example of of the folks back home in Ohio. Keep in mind that Ken Mehlman "came out" after he spent all his efforts to ban or repeal anything that supported the LGBT population acroos the country.
"The Obama administration is lending support to Congress in an effort to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The president, instead, is backing something called the 'Respect Marriage Act.' The latter measure, quite simply, would abolish marriage. While calling for 'respect' in the Orwellian sense, it would offer true marriage the same 'respect' President Obama showed to the body of Osama bin Laden-a hasty burial at sea after summarily being put to death." - Family Research Council senior asshat Ken Blackwell, writing for World Magazine.
According to Blackwell, the repeal of DOMA will absolutely lead to the legalization of polygamy. We know this because one time, three years ago, some law professor you've never of said that.
RELATED: Blackwell is the former mayor of Cincinnati and the former Ohio Secretary of State. In 2004 he led the successful effort to ban same-sex marriage in Ohio, an amendment championed by George W. Bush's campaign manager, Ken Mehlman. In 2006 he was the failed GOP candidate for Ohio governor. He is reportedly considering running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.
From joemygod.com. .......JMG reader Trent tips us to the above Ohio sign and his petition to have it removed.
This is the mindset of the kind folks in Ohio. Ya Know......Ohio is known for so many great things from all the firsts in space were Ohio natives to Johnny Appleseed. Home to some Quakers and many Amish, some of who are friends of mine. Ohio University has a football team worth following and the Football Hall of Fame is in my hometown of Canton. Because of the coal industry, Ohio is the leader in factory pollution control and land reclamation after mining. We are also the gate way to the underground railroad. Ohio is where the great and brave Harriet Tubman crossed the Ohio River to freedom with an untold amount of slaves.
One would think that such a diverse state would also be more tolerant of each other. They are not! My recent trip back home opened my eyes to the intolerance. People self segregate and are suspicious of anyone that looks different. They don't make eye contact or smile much. After living in Baltimore 3 years and seeing/getting lost in every section of town, I have to say that I have never been treated rudely and only once have we had ANY kind of negative remark or look. 19 out of 20 people smile back when you pass them on the street.
Having spent many hours working outdoors in Canton, I have had an opportunity to watch people as much as they watch me. I have spent years work with and among my fellow Cantonians and it is a small community that divides and defines it's self by class and NONE OF THEM LIKE GAYS.
The sign above is a more visible example of how most people there feel. John Bonehead is the most verbal.
My home and person had been verbally and physically abused to the point I could not spend time one my own porch. There was no stickers on my car that could not be removed quickly or for work. I could not fly a flag. Not all people are that bad. We have many wonderful friends, many in the art community, and my family is welcoming. But beyond that, I would have to say that it is not the norm.
This sign is but the tip of the iceberg and why, while I miss my friends and family, I do NOT wish to return.
Michigan's state Senate has passed an anti-bullying law which contains a GOP mandated exemption for bullying which has a "religious or moral basis." And that has infuriated the father of the dead child for whom the bill is named.
"Matt's Safe School Law" passed 26-11 with all Democrats voting against it. The bill is named for Matt Eppling, an East Lansing 14-year-old who committed suicide after being bullied by classmates in 2002. The law includes a section noting it doesn't abridge First Amendment free speech rights or prohibit expression of religious or moral viewpoints — a provision Democrats fear could be used to justify harassment of gay, lesbian or transgender students. "I am ashamed that this could be Michigan's bill on anti-bullying when in fact it is a 'bullying is OK in Michigan law,'" Kevin Eppling, Matt's father, whose letter was read by Sen. Glenn Anderson during Wednesday's session.
VIDEO:Towleroadtips us to the outraged response by one Michigan Democrat. "You have explicitly outlined how to get away with bullying!" WATCH THIS.
UPDATE: Readers suggest sending emails of gratitude to Sen. Whitmer: sengwhitmer@senate.michigan.gov
Yesterday, the party that preached JOBS< JOBS< JOBS worked real hard for their money by voting to keep "In God We Trust" as the nations motto. Never mind that is has been since 1956 or that it is printed on all our money or that no one is trying to change it. It's a tough job. So much so that they voted themselves one week of vacation for every 2 weeks they work. We the 99% pay for that ya know.
When are the republicans going to do anything? They have filibustered more in the last 3 years than all other times combined. Stalling the government. They have stuck their nose in every social issue when they said they would not. Is keeping track of every womb or denying legally married couples federal recognition Small government?
They support discrimination in the constitution by fighting the repeal of DADT and the Speaker of the House, John Bonehead, is spending 1.5 million Taxpayer bucks fighting to keep DOMA based on the lies from Hate Groups. Good job John. You are a true credit to my home state of Ohio.
They have, so far, not offered one person worthy of leading the country. Every candidate is blind to reality and science as well as needing to return to a high school history class. Plus, they all associate with known Hate Groups and several have signed a pledge to openly discriminate against gay people even if it means breaking the law. What did they serve at the Values Voters Summit? Tripe? They all were disqualified the night they did nothing when the crowd booed an active soldier. But then this is the same crowd who cheered a dying man with no insurance.
Hey Right! Cain's 999 plan is 666 upside down. LOL Rick Perry's handlers need to check his testosterone because his true colors were trying to escape during his last speech. You go Girl friend! The Bachmann's can go back to collecting federal funds for their "clinic" even though repairitive therapy is proven to be harmful and does not work. What does the AMA know anyway.
Yup, we have a bunch of real winners here and the real fight has not even started yet. After the first of the year we all will be subjected to an onslaught of TV and radio ads as well as flyer's and those pesky robo calls bad mouthing each other for your vote.
Much has already been written and said about violence police used against unarmed OWS protesters in New York, Chicago, Boston, and now Oakland. From using pepper spray against peaceful protesters to lobbing flash bombs at unarmed protesters rushing to help an injured man, the police tactics are chilling enough by themselves. When considered in the context of what really motivates the protesters, the policing of the 99 percent by the 99 percent on behalf of the 1 percent is truly ominous.
The images and footage of the violence are both disturbing and unsurprising. They exist largely because of the ubiquitousness of smartphones and digital cameras that put the power of social media in the hands of every day people. (I write this without irony, as I’ll explain later.) That alone calls into question the wisdom of police actions, given the high likelihood that the actions will be recorded and the actors identified. (The pepper spray incident in New York is one example, as activists quickly identified the officer who wielded the pepper spray.)
In the most shocking cases, the protesters’ only transgression appears to have been dissent. The women pepper sprayed in New York were merely complaining about the police tactics in moving the protesters away from buildings. Others have been arrested for merely talking to police officers. The brutality of the police actions are, in some ways, matched by officers apparent amusement and the glee with which conservatives have responded to them. As with gay soldiers in Iraq, veterans of our most recent wars are not spared, as conservatives accuse the veteran who confronted NYPD officers about the violence used against unarmed protesters of “hiding behind his service to his country,” and “blamed the victim” in comments on the YouTube video of two-time Iraq war veteran Scott Olson being shot in the head with a projectile by Oakland police, while taking part in a peaceful protest and provoking no one.
The hard-right conservatives who dominate the Republican Party claim to despise the redistribution of wealth, but secretly they love it -- as long as the process involves depriving the poor and middle class to benefit the rich, not the other way around.
That is precisely what has been happening, as a jaw-dropping new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office demonstrates. Three decades of trickle-down economic theory, see-no-evil deregulation and tax-cutting fervor have led to massive redistribution. Another word for what's been happening might be theft.
The gist of the CBO study, titled "Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007," is that while we've become wealthier overall, these new riches have largely bypassed many Americans and instead flowed mostly to the affluent. Perhaps my memory is faulty, but I don't remember voting to turn the United States into a nation starkly divided between haves and have-nots. Yet that's where we've been led.
Recent polls and surveys show that efforts on the right and in the media to portray the Occupy protesters as “mobs” of “dirty hippies” who “don’t know what they’re protesting,” are not having the desired effect on rest of the population. They have not muted the message of the protests or blurred economic realities that have inspired the movement and its message.
A fellow Marines explained what motivated Scott Olsen’s participation in the Occupy movement: "Scott was marching with the 99 percent because he felt corporations and banks had too much control over our government, and that they weren't being held accountable for their role in the economic downturn, which caused so many people to lose their jobs and their homes."
That applies not just to Olsen, but the the Occupy movement itself. Yet you wouldn’t know it from listening to media talking heads who deride activists being cluelessly “anti-corporation” while lugging their laptops and smartphones to the protest sites and encampments. Nor will you hear it from conservative politicians like Paul Ryan, who are to busy decrying “class warfare” and “envy” as the driving forces of the protests, and the cause of “social unrest.”
As Bob Cesca explains, Occupy Wall Street isn’t “anti-corporation.” It’s anti-corporate crime.
The movement is opposed to deregulated, free market capitalism. Short of Ron Paul disciples and Ayn Rand cultists, no reasonable American wants a system in which Enron, Goldman Sachs, AIG or BP can commit heinous crimes and not pay the price. According to Gallup, 68 percent of Americans want corporations to have less influence in America. That doesn’t mean a supermajority of Americans are anti-corporation, it simply means that a supermajority of Americans agree that corporations have acquired too much power and therefore ought to be reined in. Not banished or banned, just watched more closely. The OWS movement, like the American people, isn’t anti-corporate, it’s anti-corporate crime.
…Members of the Republican Party and the conservative movement are all about law and order, right? It’s remarkable, then, that Dennis Prager and Herman Cain aren’t supporting accountability against the corporations that poison our water or exacerbate unemployment or trigger a deep recession. And that’s exactly what OWS is seeking: accountability.
They not “anti-capitalism” or even “anti-capitalist.” They are Americans opposed to a capitalism that has operated without conscience or accountability for decades, and outraged that they, their families and their communities have borne the consequences. And this means one of two things: that their concerns must be prioritized and their voices heeded, or they must be more effectively policed.
From Buzzfeed.com comes this collection of photos of REAL couples that put Kim Kardashian to shame.
1.
Chris Williams and Juan McCoy have been together for 13 years and are from Maryland. They met at work and still work together and their relationship is as strong as ever. Juan says of Chris, “He brings balance to my life. Whenever I'm agitated he always calms me down. I think I balance him out too.” Recalling Chris' recent birthday, Juan adds, “I love him beyond what I can actually express. We're whole separately, but we're something even better when we're together.” They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
2.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Ed Watson is 78 years old and has Alzheimer's. He's worried that by the time the court finally rules on Prop 8, he won't be able to recognize Derence, his partner of over 40 years. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
4.
Jan is a retired nurse and Mary Anne is a retired pediatric neurologist. They have been together for more than 25 years and live in Helena, Montana. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
5.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Erica and Tevonda have been together for over 4 years. They're raising their 3-month old son, Teverico, in North Plainfield, NJ and were forced to get a second-parent adoption to ensure legal protection of their son because of civil unions' unequal status. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
7.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Maureen and Cindy have been together for 37 years. They live in New Jersey with their 2 children. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
9.
Mike and Rich are raising a son together in Bozeman, Montana. They have been a family for 8 years. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
10.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Peter Ilgenfritz and David Shul of Seattle, Washington. They have an adopted son. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
12.
David and Michael Serkin-Poole have been together 25 years and together raised three developmentally disabled children. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
13.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Jim Early and Garland Tillery of Norfolk, Virginia have been together for over 30 years. In this photo they're pictured trying to apply for a marriage license. They were rejected.
15.
Johanna Bender and Sherri Kokx of Seattle have been together for nine years and are the parents of five-year-old Zachary and one-year-old Quintin. Johanna is a middle school science teacher and Sherri is an attorney. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
16.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Lee & Bert have been together for over 25 years. They live in Illinois. Recently, Bert had a heart attack and Lee and wasn't allowed in the emergency room because they weren't married. Lee had to tell the nurse his marital status was single even though he had been with his partner for 25 years. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
18.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
Kathy Glass and Carmah Lawler have been together for over 30 years and are from Colorado. “Kathy has a way of being able to laugh at almost anything even though at our age there aren't that many things to laugh about,” says Carmah. They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
20.
They cannot get married, but Kim Kardashian can... for 72 days.
After spending the night on our lumpy couch looking after our sick cat, I turn on Good Morning America to see the segment about the Kardashian divorce. What a load of KRAP! I have better things to do than watch "reality" TV (Whatever that is), so I have not been keeping up on the Kardashian's busy rich lives and loves. I do know that I don't have much sympathy for a wealthy family of seemingly spoiled kids and the way they blow money as if it were air.
My focus has been directed toward equality for all and the growing gap between us, the 99%, and them.
Well, I choked on my coffee when GMA wasted my time and theirs to spin the sad story of the the 10 MILLION dollar wedding that is ending after 72 days. I'm sure I'm not the only person who is finding the whole thing an example of what is wrong in this country on 2 counts.
First, who in the hell NEEDS to spend that much money on a wedding?! Come on! 10 million is alot of money that could have been put to better use. Creating new jobs/business, improving educational programs, creating scholarships for at risk students, investing in the arts, or helping improve homeless/battered women shelters. Yes, a wedding is a very important day for both parties but instead of blowing that kind of money, how about spending some time and effort on making sure it is the right thing to do in the first place.
Secondly, and I hate to repeat myself but, how about spending some time and effort on making sure it is the right thing to do! 72 days?! In less than 3 months they are getting divorced?! That is not long enough to know anything about the true meaning of marriage. Hell, the honeymoon is not over yet.
I'm sure that comes with all the rights and responsibilities that marriage affords, unless you are a gay or lesbian couple of course. So now the lawyers will get richer and she will get alimony and everyone is supposed to feel sorry for her sorry spoiled ass.
I think I will feel sorry for the peaceful protesters spending night after night in the cold while being abused by the police. The majority of whom are employed and still not making a living. Those who NEED to find a solution to the gaping hole between us and them.
I will feel sorry for the millions of LGBT folks and their families that are discriminated against at every legal turn and have to fight against the lies and hate that make it so hard to be treated with respect and dignity. I will feel sorry for those couples who can't get married and those of us who can and did but it still means nothing legally.
When this spoiled rich brat has been without the money to do more than survive and has been with the same man for longer than the honeymoon, maybe I will feel sorry for her. Until then....... Take your Kardashian Krap home and STFU.
I got the bright idea to do something different for my favorite holiday. Thanks to my wife and friends for taking care of the Trick or Treaters while I played in the front yard.
From joemygod.comcomes this update on the lesbian couple that became King and Queen. It is sad that some people seem to have to judge others. The student body picked this couple and they are all happy about it. These kids will take us into a time of inclusion and understanding and leave the discrimination and hate behind. I am so proud of the school and the students for standing up for the right things. Are they cute or what!
The San Diego-area high school which named a lesbian couple as their homecoming king and queen has been deluged with threats and hate mail since the story made international news over the weekend.
On Monday, Superintendent Bill Kowba interrupted a news conference on the district's financial troubles to comment on an issue he called just as significant as the budget. “What is essentially disappointing is that adults who have contacted the school, many not even San Diego residents, are demonstrating such a lack of tolerance and such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments,” Kowba said. Kowba calls the adults behind the threats "bullies." He also says if the calls and emails came from students, they would have faced disciplinary action.
Here's a few examples from God's Gentle People at Free Republic:
-"Stupid, brainwashed, delusional girls. They are signing up for a life of pain, misery, heartbreak and sin."
-"This is disgusting. It’s deviancy on display, and our kids have been trained to approve."
-"The Principal should be brought up on charges and be made to register as a sex offender."
-"Children who attend godless socialist schools will learn to think and reason godlessly!"
-"The faggot indoctrination continues."
From 
