Replies to post #200031 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Francis Emerges

These are the first three posts that Andrew Sullivan has written about Pope Francis. It should be noted that Andrew is an educated, gay, smart & sensitive catholic man, who has fought to hang on to his faith even when it appears to have rejected him. And he is somewhat of a republican, except since 'bush' .......I truly respect what he writes .. and love many many things he presents. I thought this was worthwhile to read from him .. he may continue to write more parts, as time goes on.

Mar 17, 2013 @ 10:01pm



If we leave legitimate questions about his past for a moment, can I pause to marvel at his present?

The reports of his press conference today [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/world/europe/with-blessing-pope-shows-an-openness-to-other-faiths.html?hp&_r=1&; ] suggest a radically new symbolism for the church. This kind of understanding of the diverse and multi-faith and multi-cultural modernity is something you would never have heard from Benedict XVI:

“Given that many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church, and others are not believers, I give this blessing from my heart, in silence, to each one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God. May God bless you.”

Respecting the conscience of each of you. That might seem to be the bleeding obvious – but it isn’t in the context of Benedict’s theological reign, [ http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/ratzcons.htm ] which was far longer than his pontifical one. Benedict wanted to place conscience below revelation as authoritatively adjudicated by … himself. The central place of individual conscience established at the Second Council was left to wither in favor of a public, uniform religion. He seemed to me to want ultimately to restore the seamless cultural-political-religious unity of the Bavaria of his youth; and if the public square were empty, it had to be filled with religious authority. He tried. In the West, the public square moved in the opposite direction. He hunkered down, hoping for a smaller, purer church. What he got was a smaller one, but beset by scandal and internal division and a legacy of the most horrendous of crimes.

Francis seems to me to be taking the world as it is, but showing us a different way of living in it. These are first impressions, but there seems much less fear there of the modern world, much greater ease with humanity. And human beings like narratives – not opaque and ornate theologies. Jesus always spoke in simple stories and parables. And so today:

“Let me tell you a story,” Pope Francis said. He then recounted how during the conclave he had sat next to Cardinal Cláudio Hummes of Brazil, whom he called “a great friend.” After the voting, Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, he kissed me and he said, ‘Don’t forget the poor!’ And that word entered here,” the pope said, pointing to his heart.

“I thought of wars, while the voting continued, through all the votes,” he said as he sat on the stage in a hall inside the Vatican. “And Francis is the man of peace. And that way the name came about, came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.”

To see our two huge temptations today as war and massive inequality is, it seems to me, the Holy Spirit at work. We should remember St Francis’ pilgrimage to the Muslim authorities of his day. We should recall Saint Francis’ direct experience [ http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/01/andrew-sullivan-christianity-in-crisis.html ] of the horror of war which changed his life. And then how that epiphany on the battlefield and as a prisoner of war led to Francis’ embrace of lepers as his most beloved, of a shack as the place he’d call home, and the giving away of his entire worldly goods – indeed even his own clothes – in order to be free in the spirit of Jesus’ true freedom.

Then this:

He had a couple of other thoughts for journalists, too. Reporting on the church is different from other contemporary matters, he said, because the church is essentially a spiritual organization that does “not fit into worldly categories.” “The church does not have a political nature,” he said.

We’ll see exactly what he means by that phrase in due course – he certainly involved himself in the political and social debates in his home country. But an emphasis on the centrally apolitical stance of Christianity, indeed on the fact that in core ways, Christianity is the antidote to the pursuit of power over others … well, count me quietly elated. Again, of course, Saint Francis’ renunciation of power comes to mind. And his simplicity: [ http://www.johnthavis.com/how-i-would-like-a-church-that-is-poor#.UU-EqVeyJOZ ]

Instead of the usual formal blessing – standard practice at papal audiences – he said quietly, “God bless you,” and walked off the stage.

And didn’t get into his limo, preferring to walk on foot to his Vatican residence. In my own thoughts and prayers in this crisis of Christianity, I found myself returning to Saint Francis, as readers know. I think he is the saint the church turns to when it has truly lost its way, when it needs to be rebuilt humbly, painfully, from the current ruins.

If that is what happened in the heart of Bergoglio in the conclave, if the spirit of Francis entered his heart as a man of peace and tolerance and humility, as he says, then we have more than cause for optimism.

We have cause for real hope.

(Photo: A detail of the shoes of newly elected Pope Francis as he attends his first audience with journalists and media inside the Paul VI hall on March 16, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The pope thanked the media for their coverage during the historic transition of the papacy and explained his vision of the future for the Catholic Church. By Franco Origlia/Getty Images.)

dear readers, I haven't read one embedded link yet, that isn't worth reading . . . ;-)

Mar 18, 2013 @ 13:04



At mass yesterday, you could feel something intangible in the air. Not to go all Peggy Noonan on you, but I sensed both hope and apprehension about the new Pope – as well as a certain distance. Under Benedict, many of us had continued with our faith as if underground, seeing little to connect to in his fastidious liturgy and tone-deafness and weak authoritarianism. Traumatized by the hierarchy’s response to the child-rape epidemic, we clung to our pews with whiter knuckles than usual, reminding ourselves that the church is not its hierarchy, but the people of God seeking the love Jesus promised and the freedom [ http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2009/12/27/quo-35/ ] Christianity can unleash in the soul. But we would look up at times to the public leadership, wincing mostly, but still gleaning some nourishment (Deus Caritas Est, [ http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/02/11/benedicts-greatest-encyclical/ ] for example), before succumbing to anger at the crimes not acknowledged let alone brought to justice, at the hypocrisy and wealth and corruption, at the scandal of a creature like Maciel and a coward named Law.

But now, more heads are poking up a little, like the stubs of new tulips in the softening ground. In the last few days, we’ve found out some more about Francis, and much of it, to my mind, is reassuring. This piece [ http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-jesuits-and-dirty-war#.UUYnTRLODXc.facebook ] by the usually judicious Thomas Reese relieved me of many worries about his time under the junta. There is no question that Francis was not a profile in courage or an aggressive dissenter in those times, but neither, I think, is it fair to see him as in any fundamental way a collaborator or betrayer of his own priests. Reese goes through the charges methodically. One worth noting:

It is said there is written evidence in the Argentine foreign ministry files that Bergoglio gave information on the Jesuits to the military. The alleged conversation took place when Bergoglio was trying to get the passport of one of the Jesuits extended. Not only did this take place after they were arrested and after they were released, it was after they were safely out of the country. Nothing he could say would endanger them, nor was he telling the government anything it did not already know. He was simply trying to convince a bureaucrat that it was a good idea to extend the passport of this man so he could stay in Germany and not have to return to Argentina.

More recently, Cardinal Bergoglio was involved in getting the Argentine bishops to ask forgiveness for not having done enough during the dirty war, as it was called in Argentina.

How hostile was this man to liberation theology? Again, this is a more complicated question [ http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/living-la-vida-justicia-pope-francis-and-liberation-theology ] than might at first appear:

What do we mean when we use a hegemonic and singular umbrella term like “liberation theology?” Are we referring to the particular texts that arose in the 1960s and 1970s from the academic and professional theologians like Gustavo Gutiérrez and Leonardo Boff? Both of whose work, by the way, varies in style, method, and outcome. Do we mean the pastoral legacy of the slain Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero? Do we mean the Jesuits and diocesan priests who took up arms in El Salvador against the will of Romero who, according to the critiques of now-Pope Francis, might also be labeled “opposed to liberation theology” in this context? What exactly do we mean?

If we mean the importation of the materialist arguments of Marxism into Catholic theology, then it seems perfectly clear to me that any Archbishop would oppose it. And should oppose it. But if we mean by it an aggressive posture always in favor of the poor, then we have simple orthodoxy, of the kind Jesus clearly taught. In that respect we have these new words from this new Pope to understand where he is coming from:

And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we? He is the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man … How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!

I know I have a serious confirmation bias at work here. I desperately want reform in the church and although I remain of the conviction that this has to start with us, its ordinary members, the signals and signs of the hierarchy do convey the faith to millions – and that matters.

And so in yesterday’s Gospel, we found ourselves with Jesus and the adulteress again. The gospel passage is one of the most disarming – because it is about disarmament of the ego, openness to the other, and forgiveness. “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus says, in an astonishing embrace of humanity in all its flaws, left finally alone with a woman facing imminent death by stoning.

His move is a lateral, not hierarchical one – the mysterious, ineffable, sudden crouch that Jesus goes into when questioned by other rabbis. He writes in the sand – words or signs we will never know. The forgiveness is overwhelming – too overwhelming for us to accept it most of the time. And so the Holy Father yesterday spoke directly to me [ http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=25204 ] when he called so many Catholics out for not feeling worthy of forgiveness:

Meditating on the Gospel passage (John 8: 1-11 — “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”), Francis said, “This is Jesus’ message: mercy. On my part, I say it with humility; this is the the Lord’s strongest message: mercy. He himself said: ‘I did not come for the righteous.’ The righteous can justify themselves.… Jesus came for the sinners.”

“‘Oh, Father,’” Pope Francis continued, relating what people often say to priests, “‘if you knew my life you wouldn’t say that.’”

“Why? What have you done?”

“Oh, I’ve done bad things.”

“Good! Go to Jesus; He likes you to tell him these things. He forgets. He has the special ability to forget. He forgets them, kisses you, embraces you, and tells you only, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’ He only gives you this counsel. A month later we are the same.… We return to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving us, never! We are the ones who get tired of asking forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace to never tire of asking forgiveness, because he never tires of forgiving us.”

This incomprehensibly comprehensive forgiveness is God in the Christian sense. It allows us to start anew, to see, as Saint Francis did, the forgetfulness of nature itself, its capacity for regrowth, for healing, to look into the buds on the trees in spring: [ http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/the-trees/ ]

Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

(Photo: People gather in St Peter’s Square ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis who will give his first Angelus Blessing to the faithful from the window of his private residence on March 17, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Vatican is preparing for the inauguration of Pope Francis on March 19, 2013 in St Peter’s Square. By Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.)

Mar 21, 2013 @ 12:17pm



Where Benedict was a withdrawn absolutist, Francis is an engaged pragmatist. Here are two illuminating examples. The first is that he backed – as a last resort – civil unions for gay couples [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/world/americas/pope-francis-old-colleagues-recall-pragmatic-streak.html?pagewanted=all ] in Argentina as an alternative to full marriage equality. It’s extremely hard to imagine the mind of Ratzinger being capable of such a nuanced and practical stance in a specific situation:

Faced with the near certain passage of the gay marriage bill, Cardinal Bergoglio offered the civil union compromise as the “lesser of two evils,” said Sergio Rubin, his authorized biographer. “He wagered on a position of greater dialogue with society.”

In the end, though, a majority of the bishops voted to overrule him, his only such loss in his six-year tenure as head of Argentina’s bishops’ conference. But throughout the contentious political debate, he acted as both the public face of the opposition to the law and as a bridge-builder, sometimes reaching out to his critics.

“He listened to my views with a great deal of respect,” said Marcelo Márquez, a gay rights leader and theologian who wrote a tough letter to Cardinal Bergoglio and, to his surprise, received a call from him less than an hour after it was delivered. “He told me that homosexuals need to have recognized rights and that he supported civil unions, but not same-sex marriage.”

Here’s what impresses me: the call back to a gay rights activist. Dialogue. Empathy. I do not expect the Magisterium to change switly on homosexuality – but if we could only have a dialgoe, a discussion, some kind of glasnost on the subject, what an amazing change that would be! If Berguglio had succeeded in persuading the Argentine church to back civil unions, can you imagine how he would have been seen at the Conclave? Can you imagine Benedict’s conniption? Sometimes you need a straight Pope to deal honestly with gay issues.

Then this striking flexibility on priestly celibacy, in an interview last year, [ http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Pope-Francis-said-celibacy-among-priests-can-change-and-admits-to-being-tempted-by-a-woman-199328231.html#ixzz2OBpcC2yW ] after retelling a story of falling head over heels in love as a young man:

Bergoglio admits he was able to choose his path as a priest over the girl but realizes that not all priests can do this. Bergoglio added, “When something like this happens to a seminarian, I help him go in peace to be a good Christian and not a bad priest.

“In the Western Church to which I belong, priests cannot be married as in the Byzantine, Ukrainian, Russian or Greek Catholic Churches. In those Churches, the priests can be married, but the bishops have to be celibate. They are very good priests. In Western Catholicism, some organizations are pushing for more discussion about the issue. For now, the discipline of celibacy stands firm. Some say, with a certain pragmatism, that we are losing manpower. If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons (as in the East), not so much as a universal option.”

He continued, “If a priest tells me he got excited and that he had a fall, I help him to get on track again. There are priests who get on track again and others who do not…The double life is no good for us. I don’t like it because it means building on falsehood. Sometimes I say: ‘If you can not overcome it, make your decision’.”

Yes, yes, yes: confirmation bias, wishful thinking, you name it. But there is nothing unchangeable about the celibacy requirement. Half of Catholic Christendom has married priests. My old parish in England, where I first received Holy Communion, now has a married priest – a former Anglican. These are management, not doctrinal decisions. Francis understands that, it seems. These procedures can change. For the sake of the survival of the church in the West, they must.

(Photo: Franciscan friars ariive in St. Peter’s Square attend the Inauguration Mass of Pope Francis on March 19, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. By Franco Origlia/Getty Images.)

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/threads/francis-emerges/

[F6]

The county where no one's gay

Franklin County, Mississippi
March 24, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/24/opinion/sutter-franklin-county-mississippi-lgbt/index.html [with embedded videos, and comments]

[F6]

Texas shootout gun killed Colorado prison chief: sheriff


Evan Spencer Ebel is shown in this undated Colorado Department of Corrections booking photo. Ebel is reported as a suspect in connection to the slaying of Tom Clements, the head of Colorado's prison system on March 26.
Credit: Reuters/Colorado Department of Corrections/Handout


Tom Clements, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, is shown in this undated department photograph. Clements was killed in his home on March 19, 2013, according to a statement from Gov. John Hickenlooper's office.
Credit: REUTERS/Colorado Department of Corrections/Handout

By Keith Coffman
DENVER | Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:38pm EDT

(Reuters) - The gun used by a white supremacist ex-convict who was killed in a shootout with police near Decatur, Texas, last week was the same weapon used to kill Colorado's prison chief two days earlier, law enforcement officials said on Monday.

Evan Spencer Ebel, a 28-year-old parolee from Denver, was killed in a gun battle with Texas police last Thursday after a high-speed chase through Decatur.

Ballistics tests established that his gun was used to kill Tom Clements, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, the El Paso County, Colorado, Sheriff's Office said on Monday. Clements, 58, was shot dead on Tuesday when he answered the door at his home south of Denver.

Ebel, who according to law enforcement sources was a member of a white supremacist prison gang known as the 211 Crew, has been named as a suspect in the killing.

"The analysis done by ballistics experts has concluded the gun used by Evan Ebel in Texas was the same weapon used in the shooting death of Tom Clements," the sheriff's department said in a written statement.

"The confirmation goes well beyond acknowledging the same caliber and brand of ammunition being used, but rather is based on unique, and often microscopic markings left on the casings at both scenes," the sheriff's department said.

The department said investigators were seeking to determine whether Ebel acted alone in the shooting of Clements or if others were involved.

Ebel has also been identified by police as a suspect in the killing of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon in Denver last Sunday, two days before Clements was slain.

A Domino's pizza deliverer's shirt or jacket and pizza carrier were found in the trunk of Ebel's Cadillac following the gun battle with police, according to a search warrant filed in the case and posted online by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper.

A Denver police spokesman said detectives were meeting on the case on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, authorities have been looking for ties between the death of Clements and the January killing of Mark Hasse, a prosecutor in the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office. Kaufman County is east of Dallas.

Ebel was paroled in the Denver area in January.

Hundreds of mourners packed into a church in Colorado Springs on Monday to pay tribute to Clements, among them his widow, Lisa, and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

Lisa Clements recalled how she and her husband were watching television at their home last Tuesday when their doorbell rang and her "life changed forever."

Hickenlooper, who was visibly moved as he spoke, called Clements, "without question, one of the most remarkable people I've ever known in my life."

(Reporting by Keith Coffman; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Scott Malone, Kevin Gray and Bernard Orr)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/25/us-usa-colorado-shooting-texas-idUSBRE92O0WB20130325 [no comments yet]

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[F6]

Don Young Uses 'Wetbacks' To Describe Latinos


Don Young (R-Alaska), center, pictured on June 7, 2001, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/28/republican-rep-don-young-refers-to-latinos-using-racial-slur/ ] turned heads on Thursday, using a racial slur to describe Latinos.

Addressing the United States' jobs situation in a radio interview with KRBD-FM [ http://www.krbd.org/2013/03/28/don-young-talks-regs-budget-economy-arctic-development/ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB3ryiR66RE , below)], Young admitted that technology has impacted the market. In the process, he chose the term "wetbacks" to describe the workers his father employed.

“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” Young said. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

A little less than two weeks ago, word broke that Young is under investigation [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/don-young-rob-andrews_n_2908565.html ] for alleged ethics violations that include failure to report gifts on financial disclosure forms and lying to federal officials. The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday that Young told reporters [ http://www.adn.com/2013/03/28/2843697/young-responds-to-new-ethics-investigation.html ] the FBI has already found him "totally innocent of" any charges.

Young was easily reelected to his 21st term [ http://donyoung.house.gov/biography/ ] as Alaska's lone representative in Congress, defeating Democrat Sharon Cissna [ http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results/alaska#house-races ] by more than 35 percentage points.

UPDATE (7:25 a.m.) -- According to NBC News' First Read [ http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17509106-gop-congressman-uses-ethnic-slur-to-describe-laborers ], Young released a statement vowing that he "meant no disrespect" with his comments.

"During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," the statement said.

"I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."

Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/don-young-wetbacks_n_2976351.html [with embedded video reports, and comments]


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Attacks on Thomas Perez will do wonders for GOP Latino outreach

Posted by Greg Sargent on March 18, 2013 at 2:47 pm

This morning the Republican National Committee released a report [ http://www.scribd.com/doc/130999130/RNC-Growth-Opportunity-Book-2013 ] that purports to examine everything that’s wrong with the GOP, one that has a heavy emphasis on repairing relations with Latinos. “By 2050, the Hispanic share of the U.S. population could be as high as 29 percent, up from 17 percent now,” the report laments, adding that unless Republicans “get serious” about tackling their minority outreach problem, “we will lose future elections.”

Only a few hours later, it is now clear that some Republicans will do all they can to block Obama’s first Latino pick for his second-term cabinet — and the right is gearing up for a campaign against him that will make the effort to block Chuck Hagel look like a knitting seminar. Given Thomas Perez’s background as the son of Dominican immigrants, plus his role running the Justice Department’s civil rights division, this isn’t going to make the RNC’s “outreach” to Latinos any easier.

Senator David Vitter announced today [ http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2013/03/18/us-senator-puts-block-on-president-obama-nomination-for-secretary-of-labor/ ] that he will put a “hold” on Obama’s nomination of Thomas Perez as labor secretary, partly on the grounds of his work on … the New Black Panther case. Other Republican Senators plan to paint Perez as a “radical legal activist” who has “tried to help illegal immigrants avoid detection,” as the New York Times puts it [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/us/politics/obama-to-nominate-thomas-e-perez-as-labor-secretary.html ].

To be clear, it is fair game for Republicans to use the nomination process to ask legitimate questions about a nominee, and to raise substantive objections to that nominee. But if the attacks on Perez veer into the lurid and racially charged, it will be very interesting to see how Republicans who agree with the RNC’s analysis of the GOP’s problems handle it.

It’s not hard to see why conservatives hate Perez’s record at the civil rights division. As Adam Serwer recently summarized [ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/thomas-perez-secretary-labor-grassley-progressive ]:

Since Perez took the helm, the division has blocked partisan voting schemes [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/us/justice-dept-blocks-texas-photo-id-law.html ], cracked down on police brutality [ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/us/politics/03rights.html ], protected gay and lesbian students from harassment [ http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/06/news/la-minnesota-school-district-gay-bullying-settlement-20120306 ], sued anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling [ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/12/most-unconstitutional-sheriff-america ], stood up against Islamophobia [ http://prospect.org/article/tennessee-doj-objectively-pro-sharia ], and forced the two largest fair-housing settlements [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/us-settlement-reported-on-countrywide-lending.html ] in history from banks that discriminated against minority homeowners [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/business/wells-fargo-to-settle-mortgage-discrimination-charges.html ].

Conservatives are already signaling that they are going to tee off Perez’s record to go the lurid and racially charged route. Michele Malkin, for instance, dismissed [ http://michellemalkin.com/2013/03/13/obamas-nominee-for-secretary-of-illegal-alien-labor/ ] Perez as “Obama’s nominee for secretary of (illegal alien) labor.” Rush Limbaugh says [ http://mediamatters.org/video/2013/03/18/limbaugh-compares-secretary-of-labor-nominee-to/193094 ]: “He is the guy in the Department of Justice in the civil rights division who made the call not to prosecute the New Black Panthers,” adding: “He may as well be Hugh Chavez.”

Remember, there’s precedent here. When Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latina Supreme Court justice, some conservatives and Republicans denounced her as “little more than an affirmative action hire,” as Jamelle Bouie put it [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/why-romney-is-losing-latinos-by-a-historic-margin/2012/11/05/3208665c-2761-11e2-ac64-5d52a2c5953e_blog.html ], and even attacked her [ http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressShop.NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=3d05d873-0b31-ad03-c24d-f257acae51d4&Region_id=&Issue_id=&IsPrint=true ] for her membership in a Latino civil rights organization, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Educational Fund, claiming it had been tied to ACORN. This may well have been one of the factors that led to Mitt Romney’s historic losing margin among Latinos.

Now that the confirmation process for another highly regarded Latino is set to unfold, the right will be rolling out a similar sounding set of attacks — extremist, radical, secret agent for illegal immigrants under the guise of civil rights — and possibly even some of its favorite racially charged golden oldies from Obama’s first term. That will create a tricky balancing act for those Republicans who agree with the RNC’s diagnosis of the need to repair relations with Latinos. How will they respond if their friends on the right go down that familiar road?

© 2013 The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/03/18/attacks-on-thomas-perez-will-do-wonders-for-gop-latino-outreach/ [with comments]


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Let's Reach Out to Swing Voters by Resurrecting the New Black Panther Case


U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in 2011.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

By David Weigel
Posted Monday, March 18, 2013, at 2:23 PM

The nomination of Tom Perez to run the Department of Labor is functioning, so far, as a highly sophisticated bit of trolling. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter is the first to get trolled [ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/18/obama-to-nominate-justice-official-to-top-labor-post/ ].

"Thomas Perez's record should be met with great suspicion by my colleagues for his spotty work related to the New Black Panther case, but Louisianians most certainly should have cause for concern about this nomination," Vitter said in a statement.

The senator went on to cite a separate incident in which the Justice Department filed suit against Louisiana over its voter registration efforts.

The latter case, from 2011, concerns a DOJ investigation of whether Louisiana was fulfilling an obligation to offer voter registration to people showing up at welfare offices. (They're supposed to.) Vitter had two complaints [ http://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/2011/11/15/senator-vitter-charges-eric-holder-with-selective-enforcement-of-election-laws/ ]: The sting wasn't happening in other states, and DOJ wasn't simultaneously doing enough to enforce voter ID laws. Fair enough. Perez was running the DOJ's Civil Rights Division at the time. But he wasn't there during the New Black Panther case and its aftermath. The rap against him is based on his failure to say that political appointees were aware of the decision to drop the case, though non-political appointees were the ones who dropped it.

UPDATE: And comes now Rush Limbaugh [ http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/03/18/cyprus_and_perez_should_be_big_news ]:

This guy, Tom Perez, is a Hugo Chavezite who may be "the most radical left-wing cabinet member in history." Now, J. Christian Adams' book is Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department. He described this guy, Perez, in it. But the New Black Panther case is just one case that this guy was involved in.

He wasn't involved with the case! This is going to take a while.

© 2013 The Slate Group, LLC (emphasis in original)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/03/18/let_s_reach_out_to_swing_voters_by_resurrecting_the_new_black_panther_case.html [with comments]


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[F6]

Kaufman County DA, wife slain; link to Hasse murder probed


Mike and Cynthia McLelland
( http://www.kaufmanherald.com/news/article_14cdabc4-99bc-11e2-aca7-001a4bcf887a.html )

by JASON WHITELY and CARLA WADE
WFAA
Posted on March 30, 2013 at 9:58 PM
Updated March 31, 2013 at 12:48 AM

FORNEY — Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were found shot dead inside their Forney home on Saturday night, a chilling crime that put law enforcement agencies across Texas on high alert and shook prosecutors, defense attorneys and others in legal circles around North Texas.

Late Saturday night, sources said a .223-caliber assault rifle, similar to an AR-15, was used in the murders, with approximately 14 rounds being fired.

The McLellands might have been murdered up to 24-hours before their bodies were discovered, sources said. A police officer friend came to the house to check on them and discovered the front door opened Saturday night then found their bodies inside.

The district attorney's body was found in a hallway where he appeared to have tried to get away, sources said. McLelland's wife, Cynthia, was found dead in a front room in their house.

The FBI and the Texas Rangers are taking the lead role in the investigation.

After an initial investigation, nothing appeared to be missing from the home, sources added.

Investigators now believe the double murder of the D.A. and his wife is likely related to the Mark Hasse murder investigation.

Almost two months ago, Hasse, McLelland's top deputy, was gunned down in broad daylight just a few steps from the county courthouse. He was murdered on January 31 as he walked to his office from a parking lot.

A task force of multiple local, state and federal agencies have investigated dozens of leads, but have so far been unable to develop any suspects in the Hasse murder.

McLelland vowed to hunt down Hasse's killer, and was confident that person would be brought to justice.

"He knows and I know there will be a reckoning," the D.A. said at Hasse's memorial service. "Too many people are focusing on that. That's not going to be a problem."

Kaufman County Sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said he couldn't discuss the investigation in detail, including how the couple died and whether authorities believe their deaths are linked to Hasse's fatal shooting on January 31.

The front door of the McLellands' 3,000 square foot residence was found kicked in, sources added. Kaufman County deputies, the FBI, Texas Rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Forney police are all involved in the investigation.

Late Saturday night, news media was asked to leave their positions near the house as law enforcement agencies widened the crime scene.

A neighbor told News 8 police were outside the house when she returned home around 9:00 p.m. Saturday. The neighbor said McLelland and his wife were friendly people.

"I'm very very scared," said Vanessa Hernandez. "It's really hard to imagine something like this happening in the neighborhood."

One district attorney in a neighboring county has already asked for increased security, and the McLelland case could lead to additional measures being taken at courthouses throughout the region.

According to the district attorney's official biography, the McLellands have five children, one of whom is a Dallas police officer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2013 WFAA-TV, Inc., a subsidiary of Belo Corp.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Kaufman-Co-District-Attorney-wife-shot-to-death-in-their-home-200752961.html [with comments, including e.g.:

"The DPS sent out a memo in December to all the offices involved in the arrests and imprisonment of Aryan Brotherhood gang leaders and members. They uncovered evidence that they where planning retaliation. Seems it was correct. Kaufman Co. was involved in the cases."

"They're as lethal as the cartels. It doesn't stop just at the Aryan Brotherhood. They have alliances with the White Aryan Resistance (W.A.R.), The National Alliance, The World Church of the Creator, various Hammerskins groups, etc. etc .etc."

"The Silver or The lead. same way they did it in Mexico. better to live under those criminals than the ones we have now that call themselves "police" and "govt. officials'.
I know some people are hurting right now and my heart breaks for you , it really does but we need a change in this country and apparently someone out there, is tired of waiting for it to happen in other ways."]


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VoteVets.org Ad: "Anyone"

Published on Mar 26, 2013 by votevets

Join VoteVets.org and tell your Senators that you support universal background checks: http://action.votevets.org/page/s/background-checks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flo5MthVnAA


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Dale Peterson, Gun-Waving Alabama GOP Candidate, Charged With Shoplifting Again
03/28/2013
Dale Peterson, an Alabama Republican state official famous for flaunting his rifle in campaign ads promising to be tough on crime, was arrested Wednesday and charged with shoplifting a can of cashews. The arrest, first reported [ http://yellowhammerpolitics.com/blog/dale-peterson-arrested-for-stealing-cashews/ ] by YellowHammerPolitics.com, marked the second time in six months that Peterson has been accused of stealing.
His new arrest occurred at a Sam's Club, where police said employees watched Peterson eat a can of cashews in the store, then place the empty can back on a shelf. Store security guards confronted Peterson on his way out. He was released from custody after posting $1,000 bond.
Peterson was charged in October with stealing paper towels and beer from a Walmart. Employees said he pushed his way through the checkout line without paying for the items in his cart, according to police. ...
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/dale-peterson-gun-alabama-shoplifting_n_2968471.html [with embedded video, and comments]


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Newtown

Published on Mar 28, 2013 by maigcoalition

Mayors Against Illegal Guns released this ad, airing in the Hartford market and focused on pending Connecticut legislation. The ad features Neil Heslin, father of Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of Grace McDonnell; Jillian Soto, sister of Vicky Soto; and Terri and Gilles Rousseau, parents of Lauren Rousseau. In the ad, family members call on leaders to remember their loved ones and prevent other families from experiencing the toll of gun violence by taking real action to pass commonsense gun law reforms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3c4o353yA


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Newtown Documents Reveal Adam Lanza's Massive Arsenal & NRA Papers

Mar 28, 2013
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/03/newtown-documents-adam-lanza/63643/ [with comments]


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Ted Cruz Accuses Obama Of Taking 'Advantage' Of Sandy Hook, Vows To Stymie Gun Control Legislation

03/29/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/ted-cruz-obama-sandy-hook_n_2974471.html [with embedded video reports, and comments]


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Cabarrus County, NC standoff ends with suspected shooter and two others dead
March 30, 2013
http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/03/30/4733574/cabarrus-county-nc-standoff-ends.html [with comment]


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Mike Lee: Background Checks Like Letting Government Know What You Ate For Breakfast

03/29/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/mike-lee-background-checks_n_2979737.html [with embedded video reports, and comments]


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John Charles Upton Jr. Dead: Filmmaker Who Rescued Romanian Orphans Killed Over Shrubbery

03/29/13
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/john-charles-upton-jr-dead_n_2981965.html [with comments]


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Andrew Tachias, Chris Dorner Victim, Makes First Public Appearance Since The Shooting

Andrew Tachias, shot eight times by rogue ex-cop Chris Dorner, makes his first public appearance since the events.
03/30/13
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/andrew-tachias-chris-dorner-victim_n_2985557.html [no comments yet]


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With gun nuts hoarding bullets, will cops be disarmed?

Gun owners terrified of nonexistent plans to restrict ammo are hoarding bullets. Now police are running out
Mar 27, 2013
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/27/cops_are_running_out_of_bullets_thank_the_nra/ [with comments]


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Mark Kelly Discovers One Way to Convince a Gun Store Not to Sell You an Assault Weapon


Mark Kelly and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, have become high-profile advocates for increased gun control.
Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

By Josh Voorhees
Posted Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at 11:08 AM

Maybe it's more difficult than we all thought to purchase an AR-15-style rifle—well, at least if you make it very clear that you never plan to actually fire it.

A Tucson, Ariz., gun store says that it is canceling Mark Kelly's recent purchase of the semi-automatic rifle because the outspoken gun-control advocate wasn't going to keep the assault weapon but instead turn it over to police after using it to show how easy it was to obtain. "While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use," Diamondback Police Supply Co. owner Douglas MacKinlay said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.

Kelly made something of a show of paying for the rifle and a 45.-caliber handgun earlier this month, posting a photo to Facebook [ http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=474203615968235&set=a.215073368547929.71130.163148530407080&type=1 ] and writing that the background check took only a "matter of minutes" and that it was "scary to think of people buying guns like these without a background check at a gun show or [on] the Internet." That move sparked plenty of online discussion from both sides of the gun-control debate, something that was clearly Kelly's intent.

The retired Navy captain made the purchase on March 5, according to the Associated Press [ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARK_KELLY_GUN_PURCHASE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT ], but couldn't immediately take possession of the rifle because the shop had bought it from another customer. As a result, the store was required by local law to hold the gun for 20 days [ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/gun-store-rescinds-mark-kelly-rifle-purchase-questions-his-intent/ ] to give police enough time to make sure the weapon hadn't been used in a crime. That extra time allowed MacKinlay to rethink his sales decision. He says that he is instead refunding Kelly's money and plans to donate the $1,295 the rifle sells for to the NRA's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program [ http://www.nra.org/Article.aspx?id=1353 ] designed to teach young children gun safety. Here's his full statement [ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diamondback-Police-Supply/143341839017998?ref=stream ]:

While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use. In light of this fact, I determined that it was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store to complete the Federal From 4473 and NICS background check required of Mr. Kelly before he could take possession this firearm. A full refund was sent to Mr. Kelly, via express mail, on Thursday of last week.

The Sig Sauer rifle will be donated to the Arizona Tactical Officers Association where it will be raffled off to generate funds the association can use to purchase much needed tactical equipment for the organization’s members. The A.T.O.A. represents the SWAT and Special Response officers of the state’s law enforcement community who regularly place their lives on the line to protect the residents of this state. Additionally, Diamondback Police Supply will make a $1295.00 contribution (the selling price of the M400 rifle) to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program that teaches children, in pre-K through 3rd grade, four important steps to take if they find a gun. The emphasis of the program is on child safety, something that is important to all of us and at the core of the current debate on gun control."

Kelly and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, have become two of the most vocal advocates for tighter gun-control laws, forming a political action committee to lobby Congress for universal background checks for gun buyers.

© 2013 The Slate Group, LLC

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/26/mark_kelly_douglas_mackinlay_gun_store_refuses_to_sell_mark_kelly_an_ar.html [with comments]


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FPSRussia Raid: Kyle Myers's Property Searched By Federal Agents

By Hunter Stuart
Posted: 03/29/2013 2:32 pm EDT | Updated: 03/29/2013 4:47 pm EDT

The Georgia residence of Kyle Myers, maker of the popular weapons and explosives YouTube series FPSRussia [ https://www.youtube.com/user/FPSRussia ], was raided by 40 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-03-27/atf-agents-lead-search-explosives-carnesville-home ] (ATF) on Tuesday, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

The federal agents, accompanied by members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, also conducted a search of Myers's father's nearby farm [ http://www.921wlhr.com/atf-agents-search-two-properties-in-connection-with-ratliff-homicide/ ], where FPSRussia is sometimes filmed, reports northeast Georgia radio station WHLR.

Myers's FPSRussia series features him demonstrating advanced weaponry, including machine guns [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xDJtZ2VK6k ], tanks [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkLaa9bogU ] and drones [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU ].

But what was the justification for the raid? ATF spokesman Richard Coes told the Banner-Herald [ http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-03-27/atf-agents-lead-search-explosives-carnesville-home ]: "The claim is that [Myers] was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."

Myers has used the substance Tannerite [ http://www.tannerite.com/ ] in his videos. While the powder explosive is legal in the U.S., Business Insider points out [ http://www.businessinsider.com/atf-raids-professional-russian-fpsrussia-2013-3 ] that the manufacturing of explosives for business purposes is illegal without a federal license [ http://www.atf.gov/explosives/how-to/binary-explosives.html ].

Under YouTube's partner program [ https://www.youtube.com/yt/partners/ ], amateur video producers can earn money from the site if their videos are watched enough times. Myers's YouTube channel, which has garnered over half a billion views, is part of the site's partner program.

Seeming to contradict the ATF's statement, Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas told WHLR that Tuesday's raids were in connection [ http://www.921wlhr.com/atf-agents-search-two-properties-in-connection-with-ratliff-homicide/ ] with the investigation [ http://www.independentmail.com/news/2013/mar/07/ratliff-murder-investigation-active-gbi-says/ ] into the suspected murder of Myers's former business partner, Keith Ratliff, who was found dead from a single gunshot to the head in January [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/keith-ratliff-fpsrussia-dead_n_2439284.html ] in the office of FPS Industries, the weapons testing business he owned.

The ATF did not return a request for comment from The Huffington Post.

Myers's colleague, Kitty Walden, told Guns.com that Myers was always careful about obeying the law [ http://www.guns.com/2013/03/28/fpsrussia-home-raided-by-atf/ ].

“If it ever came to doing something outside of our legal boundaries, we would then work with someone who was legally authorized to do it in an approved location,” said Wandel, who is a producer of FPSRussia [ https://twitter.com/Paintball_Kitty ]. "We can only hope this helps [the ATF] understand how we make our money, so it doesn’t hurt another YouTuber."

It is unclear whether any items were seized during Tuesday's raid.

Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/fpsrussia-raid-kyle-myers_n_2979108.html [the YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8Ndkg8urw , as embedded; with (additional) embedded video report, and comments]


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3D Printed Guns (Documentary)

Published on Mar 25, 2013

Cody R Wilson has figured out how to print a semi-automatic rifle from the comfort of his own home. Now he's putting all the information online so that others will join him.

This is a story about the rapid evolution of a technology that has forced the American legal system to play catch up. Cody Wilson, a 25 year old University of Texas Law student, is an advocate for the open source production of firearms using 3D printing technology. This makes him a highly controversial figure on both sides of the gun control issue. MOTHERBOARD sat down with Cody in Austin, Texas to talk about the constitution, the legal system, and to watch him make and test-fire a 3D-printed gun.

Produced By Erin Lee Carr
Edited by Chris O'Coin

Read more on MOTHERBOARD here: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/click-print-gun-the-inside-story-of-the-3d-printed-gun-movement-video

To find out more about what the ATF says about 3D-printed guns, read this: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-atf-is-unconvinced-3d-guns-compare-to-real-thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DconsfGsXyA


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[fuagf]

A Republican discovers his heart

I hereby applaud anyone’s awakening. I champion anyone’s arrival to a new and improved state of awareness, a more compassionate way of being resulting (most frequently) from the unexpected release of some ugly, false conviction that only served to keep you angry and cramped and Republican and very much on the wrong side of history.

Which is to say, it behooves not just you or me, but all of humanity to acknowledge when a powerful, long-irrational public figure has a personal breakthrough that leads to less fear, more kindness, more understanding, even more – dare I say it without either of us cringing and rolling our eyes? – love.

It happens all the time; it doesn’t happen nearly enough.

So it went with Sen. Rob Portman, classic rigid Republican from Ohio, rated very near zero on all scales of goodness and love WRT civil liberties, social issues, the environment, women’s rights, gay rights et al, according to various watchdog groups .. http://www.ontheissues.org/oh/rob_portman.htm .. that keep track of such things (NARAL, FAIR, ACLU, etc). Portman’s views on the issues of the day still bode quite ill and ugly for modern culture as a whole.

Until now. Until, I’m guessing, just this once.


The gay son is good to go. Pray for the
daughter?

In case you missed it, Portman took what some consider to be a radical, even brave step into the cultural fray when he very publicly reversed his stance on gay marriage .. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/15/rob_portman_gay_marriage_ohio_republican_changes_mind_on_gay_marriage_after.html , not when it was particularly safe to do so, not when he stood no chance of re-election anyway, not because he was just arrested with a gay meth dealer in an airport bathroom stall, but simply because his own son came out as gay.

Bingo. After years of deep homophobia and toeing the heartless party line, the mildly thoughtful senator finally snapped to the fact that his kid deserved as much right to be as in love, legally married, miserable and undersexed as anyone else.

Is it not a nice thing? A little bit brave? Should such a public turnabout by one of the GOP’s “rising stars” (and currently the only active Repub in Congress to publicly support gay marriage) be cause for celebration and stunned headlines throughout the land? Of course it should. Even Obama patted Portman on the ego. Good job, Rob. Way to wake the hell up. Tell your friends.

Of course, we must hereby put “brave” in quotes, with a truckload of caveats, simply for the fact it took a politician until his own child came out for him to realize how abhorrent and reprehensible is the GOP’s Bible-stupid stance on homosexuality. You’re a public servant, Rob. Shouldn’t you be equally concerned about everyone else’s gay kids? Like, 20 years ago?

It is brave, I suppose, to risk the wrath of all the extremist knuckle-draggers in your own party. It’s always brave to admit that you’ve been dead wrong for pretty much your entire life about what millions of other people already knew. But, really now. You know when you suddenly wake up to the fact that, say, shooting large animals with high-powered rifles for sport is moronic and sort of horrible? It’s that kind of brave. Which is to say, also sort of foregone. A given.


No, not demons. More like techno. And
tank tops. But whatever.

But you know what? It’s easy to be cynical. It’s easy to be more than a little snide and disparaging, especially when confronted with yet another longtime Republican homophobe who’s had a change of heart, even if all he’s doing is realizing he didn’t really have one before. Welcome to basic human decency, senator. What took you so long?

As Politico’s Roger Simon tweeted .. https://twitter.com/politicoroger : “Does this mean Portman has to have a black child before he’ll support civil rights?” Or further: Does this mean someone he loves must be raped before he’ll reconsider his anti-choice stance, or someone dear to him has to be shot with an assault weapon before he’ll support a simple ban? Is this really the reactionary, emotionally stunted way most conservatives operate?

Be careful of your answer. Do not get too cocky. I’ve known plenty of very smart libs and progressive who’ve had (or could sure use) similar breakthroughs over a wide variety of issues that keep them mean and judgmental, not about homosexuality per se, but certainly about convictions just as troubling to their families, hearts, worldviews. Republicans certainly have no lock on the needful personal epiphany market. Hold too tightly to any ideology, and watch your soul shrivel.

Then again, my friends’ personal lockdowns aren’t ruining millions of lives; they aren’t lying about the Bible, aren’t souring the flavor of the species as a whole, and aren’t getting kids beaten up, hated or killed. So, you know, relative.

By the way, isn’t it interesting how you never see a Portman-type scenario in reverse? How you will never hear an intelligent progressive step up to a microphone and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, after years of fighting for liberal causes, I’ve come to the conclusion, after my daughter revealed she’s a born-again Christian, that I’ve had it all wrong. I now believe women are far inferior to men, and the church should make all the decisions about their horrible vaginas. Also, more guns will solve the problem of all the guns, homosexuality is a disease, and black people should never be allowed anywhere near a public drinking fountain. Thank you.” True heart openings are always toward the progressive; true thoughtfulness never constricts.

Perhaps this is the ugly downside of Portman’s epiphany, and why it made headlines at all: because of the stark contrast to the norm. Because the right’s intolerance is still so heartless and cruel. Because so many conservatives still react in the exact opposite manner when their kid – or any kid – comes out.

Which is to say, they will not welcome their gay child. They will not offer compassion, understanding or love. Many gay children are instead shunned, abused, beaten, rejected and kicked out of the house. The parents will refuse to attend the gay wedding, refuse to allow the gay partner into the home, will never speak to their godless pervert kid ever again.

Don’t think it happens much anymore? You are wrong. It happens far more than you think. And it’s behavior completely exclusive to the conservative right.


How every letter to a gay child should read

But maybe that’s changing? Cracking open, just a little? After all, the GOP’s reaction to Portman’s own coming out was… numb silence. Not exactly cheers of support, but also far from the wailing, pained outcry of even just a few years back. Even the GOP party elders know gay marriage is an exhausted battle. And they lost .. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/18/gay_marriage_poll_support_for_marriage_equality_reaches_new_high.html .

Perhaps, as a result of Portman’s mild awakening, there’s a conservative dad in Ohio right now rethinking, even just a little, what sort of hell he’d wreak upon his kid were he to come out as a “fag”? Maybe there’s some confused parents somewhere backing off their disgust for their lesbian daughter one tiny step because that one Republican senator realized he had a heart?

Hey, it could happen. It might not yet be anywhere near this Michigan dad’s awesome love letter to his gay kid .. http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-s-love-letter-to-gay-teenage-son-goes-viral-174541783.html , but when it comes to awakenings of the heart, you take what you can get.

[ 60 comments ]

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2013/03/19/a-republican-discovers-his-heart/

Mark Morford

See also:

Francis Emerges - These are the first three posts that Andrew Sullivan has written about Pope Francis.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=86052371

[fuagf]

Immigrants Subsidize, Rather Than Drain, Medicare

by Jordan Rau - May 30, 201312:53 PM


Patients wait in line at Nuestra Clinica Del Valle in San Juan, Texas, in September 2012 file photo. A study released on Wednesday finds that immigrants, particularly noncitizens, heavily subsidize Medicare, and that policies that restrict immigration may deplete Medicare's financial resources.

Eric Gay/AP

As Congress mulls changing America's border and naturalization rules, a study finds that immigrant workers are helping buttress Medicare's finances.

Immigrants contribute tens of billions of dollars a year more than immigrant retirees use in medical services.

"Immigrants, particularly noncitizens, heavily subsidize Medicare," the researchers wrote .. http://content.healthaffairs.org/lookup/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2012.1223 .. in the journal Health Affairs. "Policies that reduce immigration would almost certainly weaken Medicare's financial health, while an increasing flow of immigrants might bolster its sustainability."

The Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which pays for Medicare's Part A inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facilities, home health and hospice for the aged and disabled, had assets of $244 billion at the start of 2012, but is projected to run out of money in 2024 as the population ages, according to estimates of the Medicare trustees .. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/economic-policy/ss-medicare/Documents/TR_2012_Medicare.pdf . It is financed by payroll and self-employment taxes.

Researchers look at the effect of 29 million immigrants counted in the Census on the financing of the Medicare program. It included those who had become U.S. citizens as well as those who hadn't, but, the authors noted, probably excludes many illegal immigrants who avoided the survey.

The study found that in 2009, immigrants contributed $33 billion to the trust fund, nearly 15 percent of total contributions. They received $19 billion of expenditures, about 8 percent, giving the trust fund a surplus of $14 billion.

People born in the United States, on the other hand, contributed $192 billion and received $223 billion, decreasing the trust fund by $31 billion, according to the paper's lead author, Dr. Leah Zallman .. http://icommunityhealth.org/about-us/staff/leah-zallman-md-mph/ , a researcher at Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts.

Between 2002 and 2009, immigrants generated a cumulative surplus of $115 billion for the trust fund, the study found. Most of the surplus contribution came from noncitizens. The immigrants created a net gain primarily because of demographics: There are 6.5 immigrants of working age for every one elderly immigrant, but only 4.7 working-age native citizens for every one retiree.

Although that ratio could change in the future, the report notes that the Census Bureau projects that the share of immigrants in the United States will increase for the next 18 years.

In addition, care for immigrants also costs Medicare slightly less. The average expenditure was $3,923 for immigrant enrollees and $5,388 for enrollees born in the U.S., a difference "of borderline significance," according to the paper, written by Zallman and colleagues at the City University of New York and Harvard Medical School.

The researchers wrote that changes in the nation's immigration policy that would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would increase revenues for the trust fund, as many workers would shift from under-the-table employment to work where payroll taxes were collected. Also, they would have an easier time getting higher-paid jobs. However, letting the undocumented become citizens would also increase the number eligible for Medicare and, therefore, the expenditures on their behalf.

The researchers did not factor in the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, which finances Medicare Part B to pay for physician services and outpatient care, into most of their calculations. That's because the financial trajectory of that fund is less clear, as it relies on enrollee premiums and annual appropriations from Congress. There was no significant difference between the amount spent on immigrants and U.S.-born people from that fund, the study noted.

The authors interjected personal views normally not found in academic papers of this sort:

~~~~~~
"Having ourselves witnessed immigrants dying needlessly because of lack of health care, we (and many of our colleagues) are motivated by the belief that all patients have a human right to health care. But economic concerns — including the worry that immigrants are driving up US health care costs — have often dominated the debate over immigration. Our data offer a new perspective on these economic concerns."
~~~~~~

The paper anticipates that the immigrant surplus to the hospital trust fund will continue for many years, as most of those workers are decades away from retirement. In an interview, Zallman said, "If we continue to have a steady influx of working age immigrants, we're likely to see the subsidy continue for many years to come."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/05/30/187280882/immigrants-subsidize-rather-than-drain-medicare

.. that one is posted to the healthcare articles which appear about 3.5in. down .. the rest is stuff i ended up
with on the trail, most of it just repeat from one this replies to .. the first, bits of one under an inch down ..

Study of Men’s Falling Income Cites Single Parents

“I think the greatest, most astonishing fact that I am aware of in social science right now is that women have been able to hear the labor market screaming out ‘You need more education’ and have been able to respond to that, and men have not,” said Michael Greenstone, an M.I.T. economics professor who was not involved in Professor Autor’s work. “And it’s very, very scary for economists because people should be responding to price signals. And men are not. It’s a fact in need of an explanation.”

Most economists agree that men have suffered disproportionately from economic changes like the decline of manufacturing. But careful analyses have found that such changes explain only a small part of the shrinking wage gap.

[...]

“We’re pretty much in agreement on most of the facts,” Professor Autor said of Mr. Murray. “But he looks at the same facts and says this is all due to the failure of government programs, eroding the commitment to working. And we’re saying, what seems much more plausible here is that the working world just has less and less use for these folks.

[...] .. it's not hard to see the more insightful one, who might just lean more to the left ..

[...] .. um .. i ended up repeating the rest ..

The children of lower-income parents are ever more likely to become, in turn, the parents of lower-income children.

Moreover, a growing share of lower-income children are raised by their mother but not their father, and research shows that those children are at a particular disadvantage.

Professor Autor said in an interview that he was intrigued by evidence suggesting the consequences were larger for boys than girls, including one study finding that single mothers spent an hour less per week with their sons than with their daughters. Another study of households where the father had less education, or was absent entirely, found the female children were 10 to 14 percent more likely to complete college. A third study of single-parent homes found boys were less likely than girls to enroll in college.

“It’s very clear that kids from single-parent households fare worse in terms of years of education,” he said. “The gender difference, the idea that boys do even worse again, is less clear cut. We’re pointing this out as an important hypothesis that needs further exploration. But there’s intriguing evidence in that direction.”

Conservatives have long argued that society should encourage stable parental relationships. A recent report [ http://twentysomethingmarriage.org/ ] by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia concluded that promoting marriage is the best way “to make family life more stable for children whose parents don’t enjoy the benefit of a college education.”

Liberals have tended to argue that the government should focus instead on improving economic opportunities. Jonathan Cowan, the president of Third Way, said the paper underscored that addressing social problems was a means to improve economic opportunities.

“If Democrats have as their goal being the party of the middle class, they have to come to the realization that they’re not going to be able to get there solely through their standard explanations,” said Mr. Cowan, a veteran of the Clinton administration. “We need to ask, ‘How can we get these fathers back involved in their children’s lives?’ ”

But some experts cautioned that Professor Autor’s theory did not necessarily imply that such children would benefit from the presence of their fathers.

“Single-parent families tend to emerge in places where the men already are a mess,” said Christopher Jencks, a professor of social policy at Harvard University. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Suppose the available men were getting married to the available women? Would that be an improvement?’ ”

Instead of making marriage more attractive, he said, it might be better for society to help make men more attractive.

© 2013 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/business/economy/as-men-lose-economic-ground-clues-in-the-family.html [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/business/economy/as-men-lose-economic-ground-clues-in-the-family.html?pagewanted=all ] [with comments]

=== .. how about living together before, what's the latest on that .. um .. oops .. see reply .. now this one .. well ..

North Dakota Personhood Measure Passes State House .. little bit ..

North Dakota became the first state on Friday to pass a fetal personhood amendment, which grants legal personhood rights to embryos from the moment of fertilization. The state House of Representatives voted 57 to 35 to pass the amendment, after the Senate passed the same measure last month.

The measure will now appear on the November 2014 ballot
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/north-dakota-personhood_n_2934503.html [with embedded video report, and (over 12,000) comments]


=== .. sure ND voters are more in tune than many of their legislators .. i wonder if any of them want to buy a car ..



just like that .. think .. a zygote hasn't even evolved that far .. does that have life? .. no, but a peel of skin after sunburn has, and i've never seen one of those described has a human being .. nothing like religion to clear yer head .. oh, before that one Michelle Shocked .. lesbian who went born-again Christian and so to raving homophobic .. what a twirl .. have to include this gem ..

Tough Laws, Reduced Ranks Have Effect On Unions .. two bits ..

Also, potential recruits are wary. "For most workers, joining a union is a risky deal and it has very little payback," Chaison says. "Most unions have not put their hearts and treasuries into organizing. It's so difficult and the payoff is minimal."

Zimmick knows firsthand. His local tried to organize workers at an auto supplier two years ago. The company, he says, responded by giving employees raises. "They said, `Don't talk to those union guys. We're going to take care of you.'" The campaign didn't get to the vote stage.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/union-laws_n_2940184.html [with comments]

=== .. that looks to me like a union victory .. ok .. though back a bit, one little perspective on union membership ..

Union growth and decline comparisons

In the mid-1950s, 36% of the United States labor force was unionized. At America's union peak in the 1950s, union membership was lower in the United States than in most comparable countries. By 1989, that figure had dropped to about 16%, the lowest percentage of any developed democracy, except France. Other union membership for other developed democracies, in 1990 were:

* 95% in Sweden and Denmark.
* 85% in Finland
* Over 60% in Norway and Austria
* Over 60% in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
* Over 30% in West Germany and Italy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_comparisons_of_labor_unions

.. think i just read in yours unionization in the US private sector today is about 6.6% .. we all know gross inequality is bad for the social fabric of any country .. don't forget it is also bad for the economy ..

The widening gap - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=89686850

there is no ideology in any of that one .. the positions are research based .. ok .. could spend a week in there .. :)

.. the first one .. Daniel's letter .. was the main reason i posted to this one .. here it is again ..

http://www.youtube.com/user/depfox .. F6, please .. how did you embed that one?