Usa Thread

[Steve]

http://www.oktosaygay.com/

 

Leaders in the Missouri House are supporting "Don't Say Gay" legislation (HB2051) to eliminate discussions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in public schools, prohibit teachers from addressing bullying based on sexual orientation, and likely ban gay-straight alliances. This is a desperate tactic by frightened, bigoted, cynical individuals who are terrified at the advancement the LGBT community has made in breaking down the barriers to full and equal treatment under the law

 

The plethora of anti gay and anti abortion legislaton is troubling. Especially in places where it doesn't even seem an issue. Missouri? Socially, its not west Hollywood or San Francisco. Gays aren't as open I believe so its not in your face. So why the legislation? I could half way understand if a bunch of gender benders were all over the place and it was a shock to the social system. I'd still be against it but I would understand. However, just creating legislation for the hell of it as an insurance or some sort worries me.

 

Its no different thant he Taliban in Afghanistan.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Supreme Court casts doubt on Obama’s immigration law claim

 

 

Supreme Court justices took a dim view of the Obama administration’s claim that it can stop Arizona from enforcing immigration laws, telling government lawyers during oral argument Wednesday that the state appears to want to push federal officials, not conflict with them.

 

The court was hearing arguments on Arizona’s immigration crackdown law, which requires police to check the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, and would also write new state penalties for illegal immigrants who try to apply for jobs.

 

The Obama administration has sued, arguing that those provisions conflict with the federal government’s role in setting immigration policy, but justices on both sides of the aisle struggled to understand that argument.

“It seems to me the federal government just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally,†Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at one point.

 

The Arizona law requires all police to check with federal officials if they suspect someone is in the country illegally. The government argues that is OK when it’s on a limited basis, but said having a state mandate for all of its law enforcement is essentially a method of trying to force the federal government to change its priorities.

 

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. said the federal government has limited resources and should have the right to determine the extent of calls it gets about possible illegal immigrants.

 

“These decisions have to be made at the national level,†he said.

 

But even Democratic-appointed justices were uncertain of that.

 

“I’m terribly confused by your answer,†said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who went on to say that the federal government can always decline to pick up illegal immigrants when Arizona officials call.

 

...

 

My link

 

 

The Arizona 'Immigration law' infringes further upon

the rights of Arizonans. Some of us would like to see

the Border Patrol patrol the border but I don't see that in the works yet.

[Flashermac]

http://www.oktosaygay.com/

 

I could half way understand if a bunch of gender benders were all over the place and it was a shock to the social system. I'd still be against it but I would understand. However, just creating legislation for the hell of it as an insurance or some sort worries me.

 

Its no different thant he Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

Oddly enough I don't remember ever having any class discussions about "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people" when I was a student, not even at the university level. Maybe this is a reaction by folks tired of having the topic shoved in their faces.

 

We obviously had gays and lesbians in my schools, but no one felt any need to talk about it or hear about their sexual preferences. Several of the girls were bull dykes for sure, but we didn't care - and no one picked on anyone. Neither did we not talk about our own sexual preferences. So why should students need to today? Passing a law is over the top, but so are the attempts to have young children read stories about same sex families to teach them it is the norm. Both sides are pushing their agenda. 

[Steve]

Somehow I don't think its a reaction to anything but the larger society outside their little world and putting up barriers ahead of time.

 

This is Missouri. A conservative state outside the larger cities of St. Louis and Kansas City and even those cities aren't exactly bastions of liberalism. Its the midwest. I've been to St. Louis years ago.

 

Also, I've never spent a considerable amount of time in San Francisco but I have in LA where there is a large gay population and people are tolerant for the most part. Outside of the heavy populated gay areas of West Hollywood for example, you don't see it. They are conscious of how they are perceived socially. And this is LA! Its not in your face. By that I mean 2 guys french kissing in public. They are aware, not even much hand holding. Especially in the malls where families and kids are.

 

I've been invited to birthday parties in West Hollywood by gay friends or coworkers and even in the heart of it, I was suprised at the public restraint. Hand holding, yes but not a great deal of that.

[Flashermac]

Vacation backlash: Blue collar Dems jealous, angry at Obamas

 

 

Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations†because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.

 

“They view everything through their own personal situation and if they can’t afford to do it, they can’t enjoy it, they don’t like Obama using their tax dollars to benefit himself,†said pollster John McLaughlin. “In this case, they see him as out of touch. While they are struggling he’s not sharing in that struggle and he’s basically doing what they can’t do on their tax dollars,†added the GOP pollster.

 

He and several other top-tier Republican pollsters, organized by Resurgent Republic, traveled to 11 battleground states to host focus groups of independent and swing voters, mostly Democrats, who voted for President Obama in 2008 but who are now on the fence.

 

McLaughlin handled blue collar and Catholic voters in Pittsburgh on April 3 and Cleveland on March 20. He found that they are very depressed about the economy and feel that their tax dollars are being sucked up by both the rich and those living on government assistance.

 

During the focus group discussions about debt and spending cuts, many in his group volunteered criticism of the presidential vacations as something that should be cut. Among the lines McLaughlin wrote down was one from a Democratic woman who said, “Michelle Obama spends $1 million to take the kids to Hawaii,†and another who said, “President Obama was the only president to take so many trips.â€

 

The theme, said McLaughlin, is that the first family “is out of touch†with working class voters.

 

He added that the president’s attack on the rich and GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney’s wealth is working, but the voters were also lumping in the president’s vacation spending in with the General Services Administration’s Las Vegas scandal and federal spending for those who aren’t looking for work.

 

“There really wasn’t a real dislike for Romney. It was just that he is too rich. But on the other hand there is a start of resentment of the government,†he said. “What surprised me is that these were Democrats back biting on their own president,†added McLaughlin.

 

My link

[Steve]

...but still Obama leads in the polls in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Both states are swing states for a reason. The Dems there will vote Republican and even the Republicans will go with a Dem once in a while.

 

Obama is beatable. Problem is the Republicans haven't offered anyone worth changing over. Romney doesn't inspire enough confidence to change ships. There is still a lot of time between now and the election for something to happen but it has to be some major event for things to change. Obama is an excellent campaigner and has a prussian like organization. He finds the small niches that are vulnerable and his people are good at going after them.

[Steve]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/even-bankruptcy-trapped-student-debt-195547458.html

 

Even after bankruptcy, trapped by student debt

The misfortunes that brought schoolteachers Devin and Sarah Stang and their four young children to bankruptcy — and the loss of their house and a car in the process — were their own unique story.

 

They bought the house at just the wrong time. There were heavy medical expenses when, at five months pregnant, she delivered stillborn twins. And their money woes go back further: When Sarah's college softball team pressured her to drop classes she wanted to take, she quit, lost her scholarship and had to make up the difference with loans. Devin, too, borrowed to get a master's degree. Then they struggled amid school layoffs near their Sandusky, Ohio, home.

 

Now, the Stangs just want a truly clean slate, financially. But even the ordeal of bankruptcy won't give it to them, and the reason is a common one: Much of their debt comes from private student loans.

 

Virtually any other kind of debt — including medical bills, mortgage, credit cards and car loans, even gambling losses— can be discharged in bankruptcy, allowing the "honest but unlucky" a chance to restore their footing through an arduous restructuring overseen by a court.

 

But under a 2005 law passed by Congress to protect lenders, private student loans fall under the same nearly-impossible-to-clear category as child support payments and criminal fines.

[Steve]

What a bitch. He's the fahter of your effing children you selfish bitch. Now they gotta live with jokes that their dad is f*cking guys. Women scorned. They're capable of literally ANYTHING. F*cking bitch.

 

http://tv.yahoo.com/daytime/hulk-hogan-s-ex-apologizes-for-lies-29112936.html

Hulk Hogan's Ex Apologizes for Lies

[cavanami]

What a bitch. He's the fahter of your effing children you selfish bitch. Now they gotta live with jokes that their dad is f*cking guys. Women scorned. They're capable of literally ANYTHING. F*cking bitch.

 

http://tv.yahoo.com/daytime/hulk-hogan-s-ex-apologizes-for-lies-29112936.html

Hulk Hogan's Ex Apologizes for Lies

...but now she has the 23 year old boyfriend going!

[Flashermac]

She's a farking cow! Hulk Hogan looks more feminine than she does.