Goes To Twelve

Thursday, December 10, 2009

20 Years later, They're Still Playing The Same Instruments

What you missed in 1989 Mr. G Baker.

"You mean you forgot cranberries too?"

Celebrate the joys of the holiday

Goddam Religion

A little follow-up on that Uganda law that Rachel and MrClosetCase were talking about (below).

Via Andrew

Bloomberg reports that the death penalty and life imprisonment may be stripped from the Ugandan bill in favor of forcing gays into "counseling." Jim Burroway keeps in mind the other sections of the bill. It would:

* Criminalize all speech and peaceful assembly for those who advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens in Uganda with fines and imprisonment of between five and seven years.

* Criminalize the act of obtaining a same-sex marriage abroad with lifetime imprisonment. This penalty may be reduced in the new version, but the act still appears to be criminalized to some extent.

* Add a clause which forces friends or family members to report LGBT persons to police within 24-hours of learning about that individual’s homosexuality or face fines or imprisonment of up to three years.

* Add an extra-territorial and extradition provisions, allowing Uganda to prosecute LGBT Ugandans living abroad.

* Void all international treaties, agreements and human rights obligations which conflict with this bill.

One of his readers asks:

I wonder if they didn’t initially include the death penalty in this bill as a ploy, knowing they would bargain it away so that once it was gone the rest of the bill wouldn’t seem so extreme.

BTW, Uganda is 40% Catholic. The ex-Hitler-youth Pope has yet to weigh in on this.

As Thomas More points out in 'A Man For All Seasons' 'Silence betokens consent'.

Well, there you have it.

Call Bill O'Reilly!

Where is there really a 'War On Christmas'? Israel.

via Gawker:

If American conservatives want to know what a real War on Christmas might look like, they should probably visit the Holy Land. Something called the "Lobby for Jewish Values" is actually, for real, campaigning against restaurants that display Christmas trees and wreaths. And it is just not just the nuts! Every year, the Jerusalem Rabbinate threatens to revoke the kosher certification of restaurants that display "Christian symbols."

And they have kick-ass fliers:

According to the lobby's Chairman, Ofer Cohen, they have received backing by the rabbis, "and we are even considering publishing the names of the businesses that put up Christian symbols ahead of the Christian holiday and call for a boycott against them."

Fliers and ads distributed among the public read, "The people of Israel have given their soul over the years in order to maintain the values of the Torah of Israel and the Jewish identity.

"You should also continue to follow this path of the Jewish people's tradition and not give in to the clownish atmosphere of the end of the civil year. And certainly not help those businesses that sell or put up the foolish symbols of Christianity."

The "clownish atmosphere" of Christmas? That is too far. It is time for the United States to invade Israel and topple their tyrannical government, in order to protect the rights of their Christian minority.

What will the Neocons and Christianists say?

Given that Israel is a pretty theocratic state, I find this thing silly but, you know, whatever they wanna do,right? It's their country.

And we should acknowedge that our patner in the Middle-East is really not that into the separation of church and state.

First Time

Remember when music promised to set you free, to SAVE you?

My first Springsteen show was around the time of this video.

Still the apotheosis of Rock and Roll Songwriting

Another Post Requested By Lily

I wonder why ...

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Why Do Gay People Get So Testy?

Because there's only one Rachel Maddow on TV to perform this service:

Steve Benen gives you a preview:

'I'M READING IT FROM YOUR BOOK, DUDE'.... If you're a regular viewer of "The Daily Show," you may remember a segment from nearly three years ago, in which correspondent Jason Jones interviewed a "sexual reorientation coach" named Richard Cohen. It was, of course, pretty amusing, and Cohen -- a man who claims to have "overcome" homosexuality -- looked pretty ridiculous.
What's not funny at all is is that Cohen's work is now being used in Uganda to justify support for legislation to punish gays -- up to and including executions for men who have sex with other men. Cohen, who says he strongly rejects the Uganda effort, was interviewed last night by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. The segment is definitely worth watching.
It's difficult to summarize, but the portions that stood out for me were Rachel's direct quotes from Cohen's book, which he was completely unwilling to support. When he seemed incredulous -- as if Rachel were simply making up quotes -- she explained, "I'm reading it from your book, dude."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Friday, December 04, 2009

Thursday, December 03, 2009

A Grim Victory

Proving that I'm right about Nuns and about my parents.

Nuns offer $193 million for child abuse cases
Probe found Irish orders allowed rape, molestation, beatings and cruelty

DUBLIN - A major Irish order of Roman Catholic nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, offered Thursday to pay child abuse victims, the government and charities a further $193.5 million to compensate for decades of abuse in its schools and orphanages.

The compensation offer to the Irish Education Department is by far the largest from 18 orders of Catholic priests, brothers and nuns found guilty of chronic child abuse. They ran scores of residential schools, workhouses and orphanages for generations of Ireland's most deprived children from the mid-19th century to the 1990s.

The Sisters of Mercy said in a statement it "wholeheartedly regrets the suffering experienced by the children in their care" and hoped this latest offer would show that its nuns were being "faithful to the values of reparation, reconciliation, healing and responsibility."

A nine-year state investigation in May ruled that all the orders permitted and covered up endemic rape, molestation, beatings and mental cruelty in their children's institutions. The government responded by demanding that the orders pay much more to help cover compensation payments to more than 14,000 abuse claimants worldwide topping (EURO)1 billion ($1.5 billion).

Thanks again, Jim and Ginny!

GT12 Maintains Some Majority Positions

Just barely ...

via Political Wire

Most Support Obama on Afghanistan
A narrow majority of Americans support President Obama's revamped strategy on Afghanistan, 51% to 40%, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll taken after the president's Tuesday night speech, "but there are broad concerns that the costs of the war will sap the government's ability to address problems facing the nation at home."

Please Give ...

... A Kick in the ass to Christianists

1. Download the graphic below.
2. Print it.
3. Cut it into check-sized pieces.
4. Deposit "checks" in Salvation Army kettles.

Then, REALLY give to people who do good work ... Like these Food folks, these Healthcare Pioneers, and these Generalists located just one block from the Salvation Army Training Center

Outrage occurred this week (so what's new) over the President's bumping of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' from the Teevee schedule for his 'speech' on 'Afghanistan'.

Of course he did all of that because he wants the timeless holiday classic updated: