God Bless America

[Vermontdave]

In Vermont, we have the Civil Union (i.e. marriage in all but name). Mass. has made gay marriage legal and Connecticut is on the verge of doing the same.

When the whole CU thing went down in Vermont we heard all the reasons why we were bringing down the wrath of God on our poor defenceless community (won't someone please think of the children!)

Well, I'm here to tell you people, Howard Dean signed that law, the sky didn't fall and I'm still heterosexual.

peace

[Del]

Dean in '08!

[Vermontdave]

Dean is gonna be the new head of the Democrat National Commitee. Under the circumstances, it's the best job to counter not only Karl Rove (i.e. the Bush administration), but also the corprate interests of the Democrat party itself.

peace

[Del]

"Not only are we going to New Hampshire ... we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico. We're going to California and Texas and New York. And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan and then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yeeeeeeah!"

I loved Dean, too bad he blew it... I'm glad Hux isn't here to hear me say this, but I think Dean had a better chance than Kerry against Bush, well, until that little rant...

[StoneMtn]

Vermontdave for President!

[hamilton]

FOCUS ON YOUR OWN DAMN FAMILY

I once saw one in Whistler that said:

Dear Lord,

Please protect me from Your followers

...and it had a picture of a young boy praying.

Fu©king brilliant.

[Del]

That's pretty good hamilton... I wish i knew where to buy one... I also like Beware Of God signs... (Instead of Beware Of Dog)

[GWB]

I stopped believing in god after he sent out this memo

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I'd pretty much given up on theism after I saw enough of this sort of thing.

Not to say that there aren't some nice theists out there, mind you.

[King Toot]

First of all, I support the right of gays to marry. Equal rights for all. The arguement "marriage is for children" doesn't hold water, as what about male-female couples that don't want kids ? If 2 80 year olds want to marry, would they deny them ?

However, I am sick of hearing about this issue and it's a waste of time to me, distracting from poverty, war, education, environment; you know, IMPORTANT things.

Why do I feel this arguement is unimportant ? It's a platform for extremists, for one. But mainly, the whole discussion is:

Should gay marriage be called "marriage", or should gay common law unions (ALREADY legal) have some term other than "marriage" to define it.

Total BS waste of time to me. I hope I don't offend anyone, but to me there are more important issues on whether a union between 2 people is called one word or another.

A word. Marriage or civil union. Who freaking cares. Gays ALREADY have the right to marry.

I want to see parliament discussing global warming, alternate fuels, funding our crumbling cities, fixing the medicare system, dealing with child poverty, fixing our education system, longer prison terms for violent crimes, etc., NOT whether a gay marriage is called a marriage or a union.

Just my 2 cents.

[paisley]

in an effort to combat the acts of focus on the family etc. i found a website where you can find out who your mp is and send them an email to let them know about your thoughts on the same sex marriage issue. click here

In case you don't know what to write you can copy and paste this.

Hello,

I am a citizen in your riding and I would like to let you know that I support same sex marriage and would like to see it become legal.

Thank-you,

put your name and address here

handy link Bokonon, thanks

every argument I hear against gay marraige is based on fear and ignorance, and the sad thing is the right will win based on fear and ignorance

[guigsy]

i got into a big debate with my dad over the gay marriage issue.

he believes that gays should not ever be allowed to marry, that marriage is betwen a man and a woman. he believes this because he goes to church and believes what the church says to be true in regards to moral issues. although, he has no other issues in breaking moral code as it relates to family, and generally living and being a good person on a day to day basis. it must be an interesting life of double standards.

i believe marriage should be between whoever the hell wants to get married. i dont care. you want to get married? get married. go for it. it makes no difference to me. it's going to be your 50% loss when you get divorced... ::

i never did get to ask my dad what he would think if i was a gay man who wanted to get married. part of me wants to stage a fake gay wedding just to see if he'd disown me.

[StoneMtn]

part of me wants to stage a fake gay wedding just to see if he'd disown me.

Ya know, Guigsy, I have never talked to my Dad about this issue, but I suspect he would also oppose gay marriage (mainly because he and I are yet to agree on almost anything remotely political) and I'm actually kind of curious. To that end ... if you need another "groom" for your staged wedding: count me in!

[SevenSeasJim]

I know this guy (really it's a friend of a friend) who wants to marry his dog(who is male). To say "I do" the dog has to bark 3 times (I'm not sure why it's not 2 times)

[Lazlo]

2 times means no, duh.

[SevenSeasJim]

2 times means no, duh.

HAHA ....Speak of the Devil.

[Vermontdave]

My dad was very conservative, but not in the religious way. He was all about government and budgets, not personal decisions about what constitutes a family.

Anyhoo, I do have relatives out in Michigan who I would love to send a photo of me as one of the grooms or ushers in a nice gay wedding.

peace

[paisley]

God Bless America:

A quote from Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma ®, the doctor who sterilized a patient without her knowledge when she was 18, and who has said that doctors who perform abortions should get the death penalty. Meanwhile, in talking about those worthless class action lawsuits:

"I immediately thought about silicone breast implants and the legal wrangling and the class-action suits off that. And I thought I would just share with you what science says today about silicone breast implants. If you have them, you're healthier than if you don't. That is what the ultimate science shows. In fact, there's no science that shows that silicone breast implants are detrimental and, in fact, they make you healthier."

Oklahoma judge kicked off bench for masturbating in court

08/02/2005 7:46:00 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Jurors and others in Judge Donald Thompson's courtroom kept hearing a strange whooshing noise, like a bicycle pump or maybe a blood pressure cuff.

During one trial, Thompson seemed so distracted some jurors thought he was playing a hand-held video game or tying fly-fishing lures behind the bench. The explanation, investigators said, is even stranger than some imagined: the judge had a habit of masturbating with a penis pump under his robe during trials.

The lurid allegations have led to criminal charges against Thompson, brought an embarrassing end to a solid career and shocked many of his colleagues. The case could also lead to a wave of appeals from defendants claiming the judge was not paying attention while presiding over their cases.

Thompson, a 58-year-old married father of three grown children, has denied the allegations and said the pump was just a gag gift received from a hunting buddy on his 50th birthday. He retired in August after being threatened with removal from the bench but still faces indecent-exposure charges brought against him last month.

"We're certainly saddened by the thought that the prosecutor filed charges," said Clark Brewster, Thompson's lawyer.

"We thought all this was dealt with when he resigned. We didn't feel like anything that was alleged rose to the level of criminal charges."

The trials during which he allegedly used the pump included murder cases, as well as a libel suit in which a jury ordered the company that publishes the Oklahoman newspaper, a website and a TV station to pay $3.7 million.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who filed the paperwork to remove Thompson from the bench, said he would be surprised if the scandal did not lead to appeals. But he said: "I don't know if they will be successful. They will still have to show actual prejudice to the point that something was done in error."

Jim Wall, police chief in the small town Sapulpa, said he had heard rumours of the judge's behind-the-bench activities for about a month but added: "You've got the most powerful man in Creek County and I think a lot people were intimidated by him."

Police built a case against the judge after one of Wall's officers testified during a 2003 murder trial. From the witness stand, the officer saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under Thompson's robe. During a lunch break, officers took photographs of the pump under the desk.

Investigators later collected carpet samples, Thompson's robes and the chair from behind the bench and found semen, court records showed.

A former state legislator and a judge with more than 20 years on the bench in Creek County in eastern Oklahoma, Thompson was well-liked in the community and had helped many young prosecutors and judges learn their jobs. But those who know him said he had become withdrawn in the last few years.

Thompson's court reporter, Lisa Foster, told authorities she saw him use the pump at least 10 times during trials. She said the first time in court was in 2000 but she did not tell authorities.

"I didn't want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere," she said.

Foster told authorities she saw Thompson use the device almost daily during the August 2003 murder trial of Kevin Vomberg, a man accused of shaking a toddler to death. The case ended in a hung jury. The whooshing sound could be heard on Foster's audiotape of the trial.

When jurors at the trial asked the judge about the sound, Thompson said he hadn't heard it but would listen for it.

Foster and a bailiff were fired by Thompson after giving statements against him.

"I always thought he was an excellent trial judge," said Don Nelson, who tried more than 40 cases before Thompson as the prosecutor assigned to his court.

Nelson handled a murder trial during which authorities said Thompson used the pump. The jury ended up convicting the defendant on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"I never heard anything that was going on," Nelson said.

"I was completely shocked and couldn't believe it."

MSN link

[Velvet]

Here comes da judge!

[Tickler]

I read the article of Ward Churchill's, and although he was a little insensitive to the families of 9-11, almost every point he made was valid and as I have said before, I think America got a taste of its own medecine.

I in no way condone what was done, nor do I not sympathise with anyone who lost a loved one during that horrible day. But I also sympathise to the innocent Iraqi's who have died from the US attacks over the past 12 years.

this paragraph really hits it on the head..

"The men who flew the missions against the WTC and Pentagon were not "cowards."

That distinction properly belongs to the "firm-jawed lads" who delighted in flying stealth aircraft through the undefended airspace of Baghdad, dropping payload after payload of bombs on anyone unfortunate enough to be below – including tens of thousands of genuinely innocent civilians – while themselves incurring all the risk one might expect during a visit to the local video arcade. Still more, the word describes all those "fighting men and women" who sat at computer consoles aboard ships in the Persian Gulf, enjoying air-conditioned comfort while launching cruise missiles into neighborhoods filled with random human beings. Whatever else can be said of them, the men who struck on September 11 manifested the courage of their convictions, willingly expending their own lives in attaining their objectives"

[Stapes]

Heady Silver Lining

Touch of grey

[Stapes]

Memo warned of Al Qaeda

Clarke wrote to Rice of threat in January 2001

By JoAnne Allen, Reuters | February 12, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A memo warned the White House at the start of the Bush administration that Al Qaeda represented a threat throughout the Islamic world, a warning that critics said went unheeded by President Bush until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The newly released memo, dated Jan. 25, 2001 -- five days after Bush took office -- was an essential feature of last year's hearings into intelligence failures before the attacks in New York and Washington. A copy of the document was posted on the National Security Archive website yesterday.

The memo, from former counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke to Condoleezza Rice, who was national security adviser at the time, had been described during the hearings, but its full contents had not been disclosed.

Clarke, a holdover from the Clinton administration, had requested an immediate meeting of top national security officials as soon as possible after Bush took office to discuss combating Al Qaeda. He described the network as a threat with broad reach.

''Al Qaeda affects centrally our policies on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, North Africa, and the [Gulf Arab states]. Leaders in Jordan and Saudi Arabia see Al Qaeda as a direct threat to them," Clarke wrote.

''The strength of the network of organizations limits the scope of support friendly Arab regimes can give to a range of US policies, including Iraq policy and the [israeli-Palestinian] peace process. We would make a major error if we underestimated the challenge Al Qaeda poses."

The memo also warned of overestimating the stability of moderate regional allies threatened by Al Qaeda.

It recommended that the new administration urgently discuss the Al Qaeda network, including the magnitude of the threat it posed and strategy for dealing with it.

Rice has maintained that she never received any specific warning of an attack by the terrorist organization run by Osama bin Laden. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday the newly released document does not alter the administration's view that it had no specific information on a potential attack and that it was not offered a concrete plan to avert an attack.

The document was declassified April 7, 2004, a day before Rice's testimony before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. It was released recently by the National Security Council to the National Security Archive, a private library of declassified US documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The meeting on Al Qaeda requested by Clarke did not take place until Sept. 4, 2001.

[Vermontdave]

Here's a nice place to spend some reading time

www.issuesandalibis.org

peace

[BIG_dick_cheney]

Here's a nice place to spend some reading time

www.issuesandalibis.org

peace

this is a nicer place to spend some time. come on guys everyone is so serious. polictics are boring. lets loosen up fellas.

party!!!

[Vermontdave]

Hmm..... $4 Huricanes and the chance to win an ipod? I'm there!