April 28, 2012

Reich: GOP's Death Wish: Why Republicans Can't Stop Pissing Off Hispanics, Women, and Young People

What are the three demographic groups whose electoral impact is growing fastest? Hispanics, women, and young people. Who are Republicans pissing off the most? Latinos, women, and young people.

It's almost as if the GOP can't help itself.

...

How can a political party be so dumb as to piss off Hispanics, women, and young people? Because the core of its base is middle-aged white men -- and it doesn't seem to know how to satisfy its base without at the same time turning off everyone who's not white, male, and middle-aged.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/republican-campaign-2012_b_1460495.html?ref=politics

April 28, 2012

Commencement keynote invitation revoked after school learns speaker is gay

http://www.9and10news.com/story/17796923/scared-heart-revokes-key-note-speaker-beacause-hes-gay

An uproar has began in Mt. Pleasant after Sacred Heart Academy barred an alumnus from speaking at graduation because he is gay.

Dominic Sheahan-Stahl's youngest brother Willi is graduating next month.

This fall, Dominic was asked to be the key note speaker to motivate the students to achieve their dreams.

But the school found out the 32-year-old Broadway actor is gay and yesterday told him he was no longer allowed to speak.

In just a couple days, a Let Dominic Speak page on Facebook has garnered nearly 5,000 likes.

This is sad, both in terms of equality as well as personally for me. I attended Mass there a few times while attending college, and their Lenten fish fries were good.

April 26, 2012

Transgenders now have job protection thanks to EEOC Opinion

A ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission means that transgender people who are discriminated against now may have recourse under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination "based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin." The opinion issued April 23 in the case of Macy v. Holder is the first time the EEOC has ruled on whether discrimination against transgender people is discrimination based on sex. And now, officially, it is.

Courts at various levels have come to a similar conclusion over the past few years, but the EEOC sets the rules that the entire country must follow, including the 34 states that currently don't have employment protections specifically for transgender people.

Equality activists in Michigan are pleased with the decision. "This ruling is a major advancement in transgender rights that will be a significant tool to fight discrimination," said Rachel Crandall, co-founder of Transgender Michigan. "It will also help us to advocate for still needed protections in the Elliot Larsen and other Michigan ordinances."

In Michigan, while transgender individuals are now more protected under the EEOC ruling, gay, lesbian and bisexual people can still be fired if their employer does not want to have gay people working for them, and transgender people can still be fired for reasons not related to sex discrimination. Because Michigan is an "at will" state, employers can fire employees without reason - except for reasons that are prohibited by the Federal Civil Rights Act.

http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=53009

April 25, 2012

Blue Dogs Altmire and Holden lose primaries!

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2012/by_county/PA_Page_0424.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS

April 18, 2012

State's Proposal To Legalize Pot Gets Big Push (Colorado Democratic Party endorses)

On Monday, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced that the Colorado Democratic Party officially endorsed Amendment 64 at its state convention and assembly in Pueblo over the weekend.

In a press statement, Cindy Lowery-Graber, chair of the Denver County Democratic Party, said this about the Democratic support of pot legalization:

This is a mainstream issue. Polls show that more than 60 percent of Democrats and a solid majority of Independents believe marijuana should be treated like alcohol. A broad coalition is forming in support of Amendment 64 and I am proud to say that it now includes the Colorado Democratic Party.

The support should come as no surprise, earlier in March, after the Democratic Caucus, the Denver County Democratic Party released a document outlining the planks of its current platform which stated a support of not only "well-regulated, taxed, medical marijuana facilities" but also the decriminalization of marijuana, "allowing its sale, regulation and taxation similar to alcohol, subject to local control."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/colorado-democratic-party_n_1429648.html

April 18, 2012

Watergate figure Chuck Colson reportedly near death

Source: CNN

Chuck Colson, the convicted Watergate figure turned evangelist, is near death after suffering a brain hemorrhage earlier this month, his media representatives said Wednesday.

“It is with a heavy, but hopeful heart that I share with you that it appears our friend, brother and founder will soon be home with the Lord,” Jim Liske, CEO of Prison Fellowship Ministries, which Colson founded, said in a statement.

“Chuck's condition took a decided turn yesterday, and the doctors advised Patty and the family to gather by his bedside,” Liske said, referring to Colson’s wife.

Colson, 80, underwent surgery this month to remove a pool of clotted blood on the surface of his brain.

Read more: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/18/watergate-figure-chuck-colson-reportedly-near-death/?hpt=hp_t3

April 18, 2012

Rochelle Riley: Detroit's budget too tight to run November election?

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey says it is not possible to conduct a presidential election for city residents with the money Mayor Dave Bing has proposed in his new budget.

Bing wants to cut overall spending by 25% in the city Department of Elections and slice the budget for the presidential election in half.

"You can't do it. You just can't do it," Winfrey said. "We're mandated by law to do certain things, to have certain things in place, to have a certain number of poll workers. There's no way we can conduct a presidential election."

Hers were among the cries of "Foul!" that erupted last week in response to Bing's budget, which reflects his attempts to rein in costs before a financial advisory board -- that will do more than advise -- begins overseeing city money.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120417/COL10/204170402/Rochelle-Riley-Detroit-city-clerk-I-can-t-run-presidential-election-on-Mayor-Dave-Bing-s-budget?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

April 17, 2012

I GOT A JOB!!!!! I'll be working for a Congressional campaign!

I am so excited!

The candidate, by the way, is Trevor Thomas. He's a progressive Democrat running to turn Gerald Ford's former seat blue.

April 15, 2012

"If voting didn't matter, the GOP wouldn't mind if women did it."

Just a friendly reminder.

https://twitter.com/#!/LOLGOP/statuses/191620459916300289

April 13, 2012

Tree along property line cut in half; neighbors feuding

The towering blue spruce splits Rosario Mulder and Lenys Straight's property line. It's mostly on Mulder's property, but some of it's on Straight's.

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But the spruce is mostly on the the Mulder's property and they wanted no part of removing it -- and no part of the cost of removal.

...

"Trees don't speak. They don't have to speak. You just need to look at the tree," said Mulder. "Poor tree. How the tree can be happy?"

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/Spruce-reduced-neighbors-feuding