Dreams Of Noise

Major victory for non-traditional marriage. There's a stay (pending appeals), so same-sex marriage does not immediately resume. The whole thing is almost certainly going to the SCOTUS.

Thoughts?

If you haven't already heard, the Susan G. Komen For The Cure foundation has cut ties to Planned Parenthood.

Their stated excuse is that they don't want to be associated with an organization under Congressional investigation. Of course, the reason Planned Parenthood is under Congressional investigation is that Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) wants to stop funding to Planned Parenthood. For more info, click this diary at dKos.

As TBogg, linked at the top, says:

It’s rare when you see such a high profile organization shit the bed so spectacularly particularly in the case where people can not only refuse to donate to the Komen Foundation, but also boycott all the products that carry the Komen Pink Ribbon of Caring logo, for which the Komen people are paid handsomely.

TBogg also recommends making an Honorary Donation to Planned Parenthood and requesting a thank-you card be sent to:

Karen Handel
Senior VP of Fail
c/o Susan G. Komen Foundation
P.O. Box 650309
Dallas, TX 75265-0309

As Barry Crimmins says, "It honors a great man, and it annoys racist nitwits."

The King Center has released a huge amount of archival material, everything from correspondence with royalty and the draft of his Nobel Peace Prize speech to letters from children to Dr. King to the wide range of public opinion about him and his causes. If you have a little time to spend there, it will not be wasted.

I love my home state of Michigan. By and large, it's a lovely place. But our political system -- city, county, and state -- has gone down the effing tubes.

Brand-spankin'-new law. Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn't word it that way. Basically, it's a law with the ostensible purpose of providing more tangible protections against bullies and bullying. Y'know, like kids being beaten up by other kids.

Thing is, it's got loopholes.

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.

It's worth it to follow some of the other links, including Joe My God and the straightforward Detroit News story.

Here's the thing: THERE ARE NO EXCUSES, EVER, FOR BULLYING.

You're worried about infringing on the rights of someone who is trying to harass, intimidate, threaten, and possibly physically harm someone? Fuck you. The old "your right to throw a punch ends at the tip of my nose" bit.

You say that there should be an exemption for those expressing their religious beliefs? Fuck you. We can play that game. Someone's First Amendment right to bully Someone Else because their faith "demands" it is cancelled out by Someone Else's First Amendment right protecting them from the government supporting any specific religion. Not to mention, y'know, the laws against assault. Oh, and, let's look at the tax status of any religion that says Thou Shalt Beat People Up Because They Make Us Feel All Squicky.

This is not merely a bad law, it's an asinine law. It literally provides a blueprint for how to get out of an accusation of bullying -- I Was Expressing My First Amendment Rights.

It's yet another of many, many examples of just how screwed up the people in charge really are.

I'm nowhere near ready to leave Michigan yet. But this pushes me one step closer.

Fuckers.

A huge frickin' mistake is finally off the books.

Holy fucking fuck:

It is simply a fact that our social problems are increasingly connected to the depravity of the poor. If an American works hard, completes their education, gets married, and stays married, then they will rarely — very rarely — be poor. At the same time, poverty is the handmaiden of illegitimacy, divorce, ignorance, and addiction. As we have poured money into welfare, we’ve done nothing to address the behaviors that lead to poverty while doing all we can to make that poverty more comfortable and sustainable.

Earlier this week, Walter Russell Mead highlighted disturbing research showing that the poor — far more than the rich — are disconnected from church and religion. While church attendance is dropping among all social classes, it’s falling off a cliff for the poorest and least-educated Americans. In other words, the deeper a person slides into poverty, the more they’re disconnected from the very values that can save them and their families.

The bottom line is that we need more free enterprise, and we need more virtue. Sadly, the Great Society and the sexual revolution have deprived us of both.

Whole lotta WUT I DON'T EVEN goin' on.

Check this out.

On Prop 8, and just in time for the vote in New York on marriage equality.

As in 2008, the poetry of the 11th century Persian Omar-Khayyam tells this story best. I recommend it to anybody still holding out on this, whether they be pedestrian or President. So I be written in the Book of Love; I do not care about that book above. Erase my name, or write it as you will, So I be written in the Book of Love.

(The mention of 2008 refers to Keith's original Special Comment on Prop 8. If you don't recall it, it's really worth another look.)