The Oklahoma City Council voted today on an anti-discrimination measure. It passed 7-2.
The measure adds sexual orientation to the list of protected equal employment opportunity classes. In advocating for his measure, Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid said his instinct as a businessman is to provide protection to everyone.
Tom Vineyard, pastor at Windsor Hills Baptist Church, said half of all murders in large cities are committed by gay people.
Of course he said that.
Nice job, Oklahoma City Council.
[Via
Andy.]
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NYC Mayor Bloomberg had Zuccotti Park raided by police last night, choosing the late hour "to reduce the risk of confrontation in the park, and to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhood."
Hours later an injunction was issued against the city, allowing the protesters to return to the park.
At a morning news conference at City Hall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city knew about the court order but had not seen it and would go to court to fight it. He said the city wants to protect people's rights, but if a choice must be made, it will protect public safety.
Yes, Bloomberg believes your Constitutional rights are expendable for the sake of "public safety."
Leave your links and comments below.
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With my thanks to Shaker Hellianne for the tip, the Massachusetts State Legislature is to vote on a (watered-down) trans* rights bill today. Time to render a thousand-teaspoon salute.
If you're a voter in Massachusetts, today would be a great day to contact your representatives in state government.
There's a list of representatives and their contact info here; a map which can help determine which district you're in is here.
Copies of the Bill's House and Senate versions are at the links.
Thanks again to Shaker Hellianne for the tip. If you're in MA, please consider making the effort to help my trans* siblings today.
Update: Shaker Wench, in comments, dropped a link to some sample scripts from the Mass Trans Political Coalition here.
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What is your favorite tool?
I don't go through a day without reaching for my 8-inch chef's knife. I am also very fond of my seam ripper.
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Via Parenting.com:
If you've got Kotex tampons at home, check your boxes: Kimberly-Clark, Kotex's parent company, has recalled the brand's Natural Balance Security Unscented Tampons (Regular Absorbency) in both the 18- and 36-count boxes, reports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The recalled tampons were sold at select Walmart stores in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas; select Fry's stores in Arizona; and select Smith's stores in Utah and Arizona.
During the manufacturing process, the tampons were contaminated with the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause UTIs, pelvic inflammatory disease, and potentially life-threatening vaginal infections. There is also a chance that the bacteria can be transmitted between individuals.
Consumers should stop using the tampons immediately and contact a physician if you have used them, or if you experience unusual vaginal discharge, rash, fever, headache, vomiting or abdominal pain, particularly if you have AIDS, are HIV-positive, are pregnant or have cancer or any other existing serious illness.
Consumers should also contact Kimberly-Clark’s Consumer Services Division at 1-800-335-6839 so the necessary information and arrangements can be made to retrieve the unused product.
A full list of products is available at
the original post.
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Back in July I had posted about how the NC legislature overrode Gov. Perdue's veto of various abortion-related restrictions, one of which being a mandatory ultrasound law. A day before it was to become law, Judge Catherine C. Eagles put a temporary ban on the law:
In her opinion, Catherine C. Eagles, a judge with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, said the plaintiffs proved that their claims probably would be successful.
"Having demonstrated that the [law] likely poses a direct threat to their fundamental constitutional rights, the plaintiffs also have established that they would be irreparably harmed. Furthermore, it is in the public interest for statutes that likely violate fundamental constitutional rights to be enjoined from being enforced," she said.
****
I don't even know what to say about this:
Radical Anti-Choice Group Puts Out "All Points Bulletin" to "Track" Pregnant Woman. From Andy's post:
This is an All Points Bulletin – an APB! – issued by radical Wisconsin anti-choice group Vigil for Life to track down a pregnant woman seeking services at Planned Parenthood. Yes, you read that correctly.
The young woman came to Madison but by the time she arrived Planned Parenthood was closed. Unfortunately, Vigil for Life is setting up a crisis pregnancy center right across the street from the Planned Parenthood Clinic and was there to feed this young woman anti-choice propaganda. However, the young woman slipped away before the Vigil For Life volunteers got her name.
You should read the whole thing, though it is incredibly disturbing.
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In Missouri,
a Planned Parenthood clinic is closing and merging with another:
COLUMBIA — The Jefferson City office of Planned Parenthood will close Nov. 30.
The services provided by the center, which was open on Tuesday and Thursday, will now be provided by the Columbia office on Providence Road, said Michelle Trupiano, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri.
[...]
Jefferson City residents who cannot travel to Columbia for care can go to the Cole County Health Department to find another provider, Trupiano said.
"We don't believe there will be any women who will not be able to access services," she said.
Services offered at Planned Parenthood include cancer screenings, birth control, prevention and treatment of STDs, pap tests, sexual health education and counseling.
The consolidation will allow the Columbia center to extend its hours and schedule more appointments, Trupiano said.
"(Patients) will possibly be able to get in sooner," she said. "It will benefit them for the fact that when they call, they can get an appointment the same day."
Abortion services are still not able to be provided at the Columbia clinic because the doctor who provided them was recently called up to active duty and they have not yet found someone else.
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[TW for sexual harassment]
(An online advertisement reading "Local Sexual Harassment:
Find Sexual Harassment Near You. Read Actual Customer Reviews! Local.com")
Oof. Someone needs to tweek their ad-bot. Just a suggestion. And yes, this was attached to
a story about Herman Cain. Double oof.
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"The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is." — Herman Cain, the GOP's current frontrunner, on what makes a man a man and what makes a sissy a sissy (vegetables) in a new GQ Magazine profile.
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(TW: Homophobia, misogyny, bullying)
I had the news on this morning and heard a brief report about this story. Pat Lynch, a football coach at Buffalo High School in Wyoming, handed out this charming little handout to his students mocking them if they wished to report an incident of bullying. (Image of the document at the above link.)
The report, which was handed out before a game last month, claims to take 'hurt feelings very seriously' and offers to supply victims with 'diapers or a 'blanky'.
It also asks for the name of the 'Real Man' who hurt your sensitive little feelings'.
Under a list of reasons for filing the report, the survey offers choices including 'I have woman like hormones', 'I am a queer', 'I am a cry baby'. 'I am a little b****' and 'my butt is easily hurt'
At the end of the report it leaves a space for the name of the 'little sissy filing this report' and the filer's 'girly-man signature'.
Hilarious, right? After all, it's not as if
bullying has any real consequences.
He, of course, has submitted the standard non-apology apology and has resigned his position as coach. This, after "two weeks of uncertainty surrounding Lynch's employment after he was placed on administrative leave." Gee, I could have figured out he needed to be fired after, oh, five minutes. But whatever. He's resigned as coach, game over, right?
After a meeting of the school board, it was announced that Mr Lynch will keep his job as a guidance counsellor at the high-school 'under administrative supervision', according to the Tribune.
Ah. Of course. We wouldn't want the students to be without his wonderful
guidance.A move which is expected to anger parents.
You think? Now why in the world would this school keep him on in any capacity?
In his tenure as head football coach, Lynch compiled a 96-40 record and took the Bison to six state championship games, the most recent in 2010.
Ah.
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I know you're all excited by my announcement Friday regarding the DVD release of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1: The Phantom Menacers, so I hope this doesn't ruin your day.
The release has been marred by a typo, and 100,000 title sheets for the DVD will have to be replaced. The artwork for the DVD describes the film thusly: "Ayn Rand's timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life..." Uh oh.
A spokesperson for the producer had this to say:
"It's embarrassing for sure and of course, regardless of how or why it happened, we're all feeling responsible right now. You can imagine how mortified we all were when we saw the DVD but, it was simply too late — the product was already on shelves all over the Country. It was certainly no surprise when the incredulous emails ensued. The irony is inescapable."
The company is
replacing the sheets free of charge (also ironic) with new copy that reads
"Ayn Rand's timeless novel of rational self-interest comes to life..." Much better!
But don't throw those originals out, Galtians, they're collector's items!
[H/t to everyone in the universe.]
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I'm sorry for my recent absence: I've had what appears to be some kind of vicious stomach flu since Thursday. It's a bad one. At one point, I slept for 24 hours and thought I'd just had a short nap.
After feeling better yesterday, I am unfortunately right back to the worst of it again today. I'll be back when I can.
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