Ohio Legislators Pass Stripped Down Anti-Bullying Law Void Of LGBT, Disability, and Race Protections

Earlier this year we heard about the Michigan State Senate and it’s “license to bully” Anti-Bullying Law where Michigan Senate Republicans inserted a provision that allowed for exceptions to the law for “a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.” the exemption was eventually stripped from the bill after much controvery and publicity but the eventual reworked bill did not specifically adress bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Well Ohio has gone one step further with Ohio Senate Education Committee passing the  “Jessica Logan Act,” designed to stop harassment of students on and off campus but the the committee would only HB116 at the last minute when it was stripped the provision , “that would prohibit bullying based on any real or perceived characteristics of the student, such as race, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity, and the bill did not include enumeration of particular characteristics.” according to Equality Ohio director Ed Mullen.

So basically this law protects no one and is so vauge that is give authority figures an “out” to ignore bullying of LGBT students, diabled students, or student bullied by race because they either don’t want to stop it or  perceive it as wrong.

This makes me very ashamed to call myself an Ohioain!

A Friendly Reminder that Santorum Pledges to Allow Ban on ALL forms of Birth Control

 

"No soup for you!"

Rick Santorum is once again discussing the dangers of contraception in his bid for president. His reason? Contraception allows people to “do sex things.”

SANTORUM: [Sex] is supposed to be within marriage. It’s supposed to be for purposes that are yes, conjugal…but also procreative. That’s the perfect way that a sexual union should happen…This is special and it needs to be seen as special.

 

That snippet and worse goes down at the 17:40 mark.


For the record, more than 99% of women between 15 and 44 who have ever had sex have used at least one form of contraceptive. 7 out of 10 women of reproductive age who are sexually active do not want to become pregnant – but could be should contraception be made unavailable to them.

Look, if sex is an activity reserved solely for the purpose of procreation in the Santorum household, that’s just fine. It’s sad, but fine. If Rick and Karen chose to only have sex the seven times it took to create their children, that’s their decision. It explains a good number of things about Rick’s attitude toward sex to be frank, but again, their decision.

But this sex-as-procreative-instrument attitude that the Santorum’s possess is not the attitude that the overwhelming majority of the Americans believe. Hundreds of millions of Americans have sex for pleasure first, with child-bearing factoring in somewhere on the top ten list sandwiched in between “a tool for conflict resolution” and “there’s nothing good on television.”

Again, 99% of all women who are of age to become pregnant use or have used birth control. Santorum isn’t just threatening the LGBT community or making racist remarks toward African Americans this time. Now he is targeting 51% of our country.

Rick Santorum Would Annul All Marriages Of Gay Couples

Rick Santorum, who on Saturday surged past Ron Paul to a second place finish behind Mitt Romney in the latest Des Moines Register Iowa poll, has said he would annul all the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

During an NBC Nightly News segment broadcast Friday, Santorum reiterated his support for an amendment to the United States Constitution that would ban gay marriage, then added that he would also annul all the marriages of gay couples who were legally married.

When Chuck Todd asked, “Do you think marriage is going to be a state issue?” Santorum answered: “I think marriage has to be one thing for everybody. We can't have 50 different marriage laws in this country, you have to have one marriage law.”

“What would you do with same-sex couples who got married?” Todd asked. “Would you make them get divorced?”

“Well, their marriages would be invalid. I think if the constitution says, 'Marriage is this,' then people whose marriage is not consistent with the constitution.”

Santorum added that he wanted to be “tolerant” but he could not ignore the “real consequences” of marriage equality.

“Same-sex couples can contract for just about everything that they privileges they get versus marriage except direct government benefits.”

“Marriage … is a special relationship. I can be your friend and that's a very good and important relationship. … The love I have for my aunt is a very important relationship. But it's not as important … for the health of society of men and women coming together, joining together in marriage, having children and raising those children for the future of society.”

Trans Candidate Seeking Pakistani Office: We’re Citizens Too

The president of Pakistan’s She-male Association, Shahana Abbas Shani, has announced that she will run for a seat on the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, the country’s most populous province.

Speaking with Pakistan’s Express Tribune this week, Shani says her goal is to bring to light problems faced by the country’s large but largely disenfranchised transgender community.
“There is no other way for us to be heard,” says Shani, “and now when the Supreme Court of Pakistan has allowed us to have an identity card, we will fight for our rights.”

In 2009, Pakistan’s chief justice ordered that the country’s estimated 80,000 to 300,000 hijras be recognized as a distinct third gender on national identity cards. But the ruling has been mostly ignored, causing hardship for many hijras, especially during times of crisis—like the country’s recent severe flooding—when identity cards are needed in order to receive government aid.

Shani says that since women and minorities already have reserved seats in Pakistan’s National Assembly, so should her community.

As Shani points out, “We are also citizens of Pakistan.”

Rick Perry Clueless About the Sodomy Laws that Protect

 

Like we needed more proof that Rick Perry will never be the Caucus choice. During a C-Span interview in Iowa, Perry seemed completely oblivious in regards to Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court Case that overturned Texas sodomy law while he was governor.

When an audience member asked a question about the famous case, Rick Perry repeated the question including the name of the case, but then stumbled. “We have a federal government that is out of control from the standpoint of spending,” Perry began his response, “and I wish I could tell you I knew every Supreme Court case… I’m not a lawyer but here’s what I do know, I know they’re spending too much money in Washington, D.C.” From here, Perry launches in to a stump speech about spending.

Yeah, too bad Rick has totally weighed in on the case many time before. Sneaky, sneaky…

In any case, you’d think a guy accused of being embroiled in many gay affairs would know a thing or two about the laws which allow him to do so. Then again, we’re talking about Rick Perry here, so maybe that’s just expecting too much.

Gingrich: I Will Pack The Courts With Judges From Christianist Universities

Continuing on his quest to reform America into a Christianist theocracy, Newt Gingrich says that as president he will appoint federal judges from extremist right-wing universities. Right Wing Watch has the quote:

You start looking at people of the caliber of [NOM founder] Robbie George of Princeton, you look at [Pat Robertson's] Regent University, you look at [Dead Jerry Falwell's] Liberty University, you start looking around and realizing there is a whole crop - [Gingrich employee] Vince Haley of University of Virginia graduate who is a deeply, deeply committed Christian who clearly understands these kinds of issues - I think people would be surprised that the Federalist Society has many members who agree that we need a balance of power between the three, not a judicial dictatorship.

Yup. Gingrich wants to appoint NOM's Robert George, the Manhattan Declaration author who commands Americans to defy civil rights laws. As a federal judge. You can kiss this republic goodbye, should Gingrich ever take power.

Ron Paul's Website Boasts Of Endorsement From "Death To Gays" Christian Pastor

"In a society that was being converted, homosexuals could continue to be converted as they were in the church of Corinth. Even after a society implemented Biblical law and made homosexuality a crime, there are many checks and balances that would be in place. The civil government could not round them up. Only those who were prosecuted by citizens could be punished, and the punishment could take a number of forms, including death. This would have a tendency of driving homosexuals back into their closets. I think I have demonstrated how even capital punishment can be restorative. Other aspects of penology such as restitution, indentured servitude, etc. are certainly restorative." - Pastor Phil Kayser, from his 2009 book, Is The Death Penalty Just? Ron Paul's website is currently bragging about the endorsement of the "eminent" Keyser.

Ron Paul Won't Denounce Endorsements From Nazi And Other Extremist Groups

 

The New York Times reports:

The American Free Press, which markets books like “The Invention of the Jewish People” and “March of the Titans: A History of the White Race,” is urging its subscribers to help it send hundreds of copies of Ron Paul’s collected speeches to voters in New Hampshire. The book, it promises, will “Help Dr. Ron Paul Win the G.O.P. Nomination in 2012!” Don Black, director of the white nationalist Web site Stormfront, said in an interview that several dozen of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s presidential campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments. “I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one.

Ron Paul: “If they want to endorse me, they’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say." [Photo: Ron Paul with Don Black, director of Stormfront.]

Gingrich Promises Presidential Commission On Ending The Separation Of Church/State

 This is some very SERIOUS news from the Gingrich campaign....if this is not enough to make you not to vote for this man than nothing is!  I strongly encourage you to please take the time and read the link through  entirely

"Newt Gingrich has published a document vowing that "on Day One" of his presidency he will create a commission to investigate any attempt to enforce the separation of church and state. He also promises that he will thwart any attempt to stop the religious bullying of LGBT students. Effectively, Gingrich is saying that he endorses the right of Christians to express "their conscience" and harass, threaten, bully, and beat LGBT kids if God says they should."

House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable To ‘Prevent Overly Burdensome’ School Lunch Regulations

Earlier this year, the USDA made an attempt to bolster the nutrition guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Under the new guidelines, for instance, school lunches would be limited to one cup of starchy vegetables a week and the ability of schools to count tomato sauce on pizza towards their fruit and vegetables requirement would be scaled back. But House Republicans, in a new spending plan unveiled yesterday, have done away with those changes:

The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.

The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Some conservatives in Congress have called the push for healthier foods an overreach, saying the government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat.

According to a bill summary released by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, these provisions are meant to “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations.” What they will actually do is ensure that a steady flow of dollars continues toward certain favored food manufacturers, at the expense of children’s health.
“We are outraged t
hat Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program,” said Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness, a group advocating for healthier school lunches. “It doesn’t take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”

This is hardly the first time that the GOP has attacked attempts to boost the nutritional content of school lunches. Back in May, House Republicans derided the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which was signed into law late last year, as a “massive and costly” federal intrusion. They did this despite the fact that escalating obesity rates cost the nation $147 billion per year in direct medical costs.

As education policy analyst Theodora Chang has written, “student nutrition programs ensure that students are ready to learn and are not stymied by hunger. Schools are ideal locations for social services like healthy meals because they have unparalleled access to low-income students and their families.” Instead, the GOP has decided to roll back what little progress has been made in terms of school lunch nutrition.

Taxing the FAT?

There has been a whole lot of talk about people who are overweight paying more for seats on airplanes and health insurance in an effort to help cover expenses that can increase as a result of an individual being overweight or obese. The argument has been that those who cost more, should pay and pay more.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the medial care costs of obesity in the United States is about $147 billion, yes, billion with a ‘B’.

Rather than directly tax the overweight for being larger, Denmark has taken steps to prevent the increase in weight before it is a problem and to help reduce the weight of the country by implementing a “Fat Tax”.

The first steps toward fat prevention using legal and economic pressure in Denmark were taken in 2004, when the Danish government made it illegal for foods to contain more than 2% trans-fat. This was followed up in 2010 with a tax on all sugary junk food.

The new fat tax, implemented Friday, affects all foods, including milk, cheese and butter. This means customers will be paying about $3 more per kilogram of saturated fats in a product.

There has been talk in the US about increased fees for insurance based on weight, higher costs for flights and other measures that could help off-set increased costs based on health risks and weight. There has even been some action taken in this direction. For example in 2008 the state of Alabama increased insurance rates for over 37,000 state employees determined to be unfit.

What are your thoughts?

Is it better to try to prevent a population from becoming overweight as Denmark is doing, or to increase costs based on weight, or do simply nothing?

Should those who cost more pay more?