Republican Hearing on Women's Health Had No Women on the Panel.

Surrealistic is the best description of this.  A bogus GOP organized panel of witnesses testifying about reproductive health and contraception and no women are involved.  This video shows how strange the whole thing is.  It was an attempt to smear the Obama administration for their request that all employers providing health insurance provide contraception is requested.  That was later withdrawn, but that didn't stop the GOP.

Terrorist Arrested with Bomb Headed To Kansas State Capitol

Terrorist?  Do you imagine someone with a turban and beard?  Guess again.  This guy was not Muslim and drove a Pickup truck with Florida plates issued to qualified US Military Paratroopers only.

He had homemade live bombs filled with shrapnel and was stopped in a tunnel leading to the capitol. Anti-Immigration hearings were about to open.  The man's truck had a bumper sticker reading "Welcome to America./  Now Speak English."

Can you guess which side of the debate he comes down on? 

Now, My guess is the news media will not give this much coverage.  After all the guy is an American and isn't a spooky Muslim terrorist!  Oy!

Santorum Backer Promotes The "Gay Recruitment" Myth

How many times does this crap have to be cleared out?  The old myth that gays are "recruiting" kids is beyond silly it's a bald face lie intended to spread fear and loathing among conservatives.  Now one of Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum backers is trotting this out yet again.  Bob Vander Plaats of the Iowa Family Leader is pushing for the governor of Iowa to pull his name from an upcoming conference on LGBTQ Youth and school bullying.

The reason?

Well Vander Plaatz says that the idea of "questioning" is just a recruitment tool for "the gays".  Oh puleeze!

Here this bigot is on a radio interview  joking about the subject with the host.

RIP - Whitney Houston

Her voice always sent chills through me, in later years her life did the same thing.  It will probably come as no surprise that Whitney Houston may have died from alcohol and prescription drugs. Still, it makes the sad truth that she will no longer be heard except in recordings and movies all the more upsetting.

Whitney struggled with addiction for much of her adult life and if toxicology reports confirm the fact, she might have died in that struggle.  I only hope her journey can serve as some kind of object lesson to burgeoning talent.  Great talent like hers and Amy Winehouse and so many others brought us all such joy, yet their lives were plagued with troubles.  If I sound like I am struggling with this I am. 

Suffice to say, Whitney will be missed by all who loved her music. May she find the peace now she never could in life.

Ann Coulter Endorsess Mitt Romney Because He is a Square

Everyone' favorite media whore, Ann(orexia) Coulter was true to her style at the CPAC convention.  The conservative fire brand made a case for Mitt Romney by comparing him to a Ken doll.    In talking about Romney she said, "Well, he's kind of a Ken doll, sort of stiff.  I think we have had enough of hip. Hip has nearly wrecked the country. Let's try square for a while."

She then followed this somewhat backhanded endorsement with a series of dirty jokes about Bill Clinton.

OK, what is it the right-wing sees in this woman?  (And sorry about the anorexia thing, but she looks positively unhealthy and twig-like. )

Nancy Pelosi says "STOP COLBERT!"

Though the whole thing is tongue in cheek, the message behind both Stephen Colbert's Super-Pac and Nancy Pelosi's alleged opposition to Colbert is this:

There is too much big money anonymously controlling politics.

More Hillbilly Mischief in Tennessee - This Time Cutting HIV Testing Funds!

The Republican Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam has managed to cut off state funds to Planned Parenthood. Now you wouldn't think that would affect LGBT people unless they were trying to get pregnant or needed family planning services, but it does.  You see Planned Parenthood funded after-hours HIV testing at the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center.  Without these funds the center can no longer afford the program, which means no after-hours testing.

In the words of center director Will Batts,

"Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC) will be unable to offer Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing tonight and for the foreseeable future. For more than three years, MGLCC has collaborated with Planned Parenthood to provide the only regularly-scheduled, after-hours HIV testing in the Mid-South. This afternoon, Planned Parenthood representatives informed MGLCC that they do not have the funds necessary to provide the HIV testing for the foreseeable future because the State of Tennessee has denied Planned Parenthood access to grants for HIV prevention. The cut in funding for Planned Parenthood has put MGLCC’s model HIV testing program in jeopardy."

 This addle brained move is either fallout from an ideological war against Planned Parenthood, or a direct assault on the health of LGBT people in Memphis.  Either way it's short sighted and just plain mean.

Seems the politicians in the Volunteer state are hell-bent on making LGBT people's lives as frigging miserable as possible.  Really sad in when the rate of new infections for HIV in the southern states, including Tennessee is the fastest growing rate in the nation.

So if you have the the and inclination please contribute to the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center and help them fill this shortfall.

Old 1950's TV Ad, Radioactive Makeup?

Strangest product demonstration ever! Listen for the line, "we've added just enough radioactivity to register on this Geiger Counter".

Another Argentine TV Ad - This One for Transgender Rights!

The folks in Argentina are way ahead of us in the human rights department.  America may be the home of the brave but not the free when Argentina leads the way in the Americas on this front.  Watch and ask, why isn't this running on US television.  Where is Human Rights Campaign on this? Come on folks, let's get some money together and flood the airwaves with stuff like this. Before long we would see a change that would be stunning. Advertising works!

Can You Believe This? - Great Equal Rights TV Campaign from Argentina

Thanks to Blabbeando for posting this wonderful Argentine TV spot.  I wish US LGBT groups would run something like this in the Super Bowl next year.  Yeah, like that will ever happen!  By the way, Argentina granted same-sex marriage a year ago.

Whoop De Doo! Santorum Wins 3 Elections & Gets NO Delegates

There is a reason why Romney skipped the Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado primary races and caucuses.  They don't count.  The results are nice to look at but win no delegates until the later caucuses and votes after March 3.  The GOP rules don't allow it and so these primaries are just a show piece for the state.

So congratulations Mr. Frothy Mix! 

Anti-Abortion Komen Official Resigns

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall over at the Susan G. Komen Foundation headquarters.  Karen Handel, former Secretary of State in Georgia, and the senior vice president of public policy for the Susan G. Komen submitted her resignation and it was accepted. 

She has been at the epicenter of the quake that shook the charity to its roots.  According to news reports, she was the person directly responsible for changing the rules for grants to intentionally to cut Planned Parenthood out of the picture.  She alone, managed to politicize the charity that had until now remained neutral.

Good riddance, but the damage may be irreparable.

Komen Foundation VP Behind Politicization of Organization

If you have followed the story it should come as no surprise that Susan G. Komen for the Cure VP, Karen Handle was behind the overtly political move to boot Planned Parenthood from the group's grant recipients.

Now emails reviewed by Huffington Post show the smoking gun.

“The emails show that Karen Handel was behind the entire decision to defund Planned Parenthood,” The Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien Monday. “She was behind the strategy to develop the new criteria for who can be funded and she’s been behind the PR effort to clean up what’s happened since the decision was announced.”

What was once a non-partisan organization has been fatally corrupted by a covert GOP operative.  I predict that the charity will wither and die, hopefully to be replaced by a non-partisan group that does the same work as the original mission of the Komen group.

Indiana Official Convicted of Voter Fraud

It seems it is always a Republican who is trying to deny voters their rightful place at the polls claiming "election fraud" as the excuse. Remember that as you read this.

Charlie White, Secretary of State in Indiana was convicted if voter fraud this week. A Hamilton County jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge.

Charlie White is a Republican. Surprised...I didn't think so. More at Huffington Post.

Planned Parenthood Gets Surge of Donations

Great news! After the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulled funding from Planned Parenthood's mammogram program for political reasons, the organization had a surge of donations (mine included) and raised over $400,000 in one day.

The cancer awareness and prevention group bowed to political pressure to cut off their grant to Planned Parenthood and caused a firestorm of controversy. Facebook and other social media sites were flooded with anti-Komen comments and the whole thing seems to have backfired on the group. Normal donations to Planned Parenthood usually total about 100-200 a day, but yesterday there were over 6,000 donations.

Looks like someone else will be "racing for the cure" this year and it won't be me or my friends.  We can raise awareness of cancer just fine without the pink ribbons and hoopla.

RIP Don Cornelius - The Soul Train Goes On

Hearing about the unfortunate suicide of Don Cornelius, creator of Soul Train saddened me.  I can take comfort in all the wonderful performers he boosted during his career.  Cornelius brought soul to TV and gave America a big helping of Black Culture and for that I will always be grateful.

Here is a clip of the amazing Aretha on Soul Train, she was Rock Steady!

GOP Wants Direct Funding From Corporations

Say what?  It seems that the whole Super-PAC thing isn't lucrative enough for the Republican Party, now they want to amend the campaign finance laws to allow corporations to just funnel as much money as they want into campaigns.  Not that they aren't already doing it to some extent, but the GOP wants to clear away the artifice of PACs and Super-PACs to just put the money on the table.

Granted it would be more honest, but at a time when corporations have grabbed more and more control of our daily lives, does anyone but a bought and paid-for politician think this is a good idea?  If anything we need to prohibit this kind of thing and put corporations back in the position of being a business not a "person".

As for GOP lawmakers, they are all spouting the talking points in unison, so it's a good bet that they got the memo from their corporate overlords to get this done!

Now before you go calling me a socialist, I have no problem with capitalism, I have a problem with businesses buying the Congress.  It's time we took our democracy back from big business.

Romney Snags Florida - Newt Just Snags

With a 47% majority Romney snagged all the delegates from the Sunshine State and now moves west.  Meanwhile the much touted Newt Gingrich bubble, seems to have burst.

The campaign moves to Nevada where Romney has the advantage of being Mormon, and with a large Mormon population he seems a shoe-in there.  Though Newt says he will soldier on, I suspect he has blown his wad.

Meanwhile what about Ron Paul? 

The Cult of Ron Paul

As I drove by Northpark Mall last night on my way home I passed a small group of Ron Paul supporters waving signs and generally having a good time showing their support for Mr. Paul.  The fact that the Texas primary isn't for a couple of months didn't seem to matter to them.  I have seen them there before and I have to wonder what they are hoping to accomplish?

Ron Paul, who is more a libertarian than a Republican, is a perennial candidate for President.  He began his quest running on the Libertarian ticket in 1988. He ran again as a Republican in 2008 and is currently in the race for the nomination in 2012, though he is overshadowed by the two front runners Gingrich and Romney.

From a policy standpoint, Paul is pretty extreme, especially when it comes to social issues.  He believe s a fetus should have all the rights of an individual from the moment of conception.  He is notoriously blunt when it comes to matters like sexual harassment.  Mr Paul says in one of his books, "Why don't they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardily acceptable."   I suppose he doesn;t understand that some people who are harassed need to keep working to support their family, pay bills etc.

He has a weird idea of monetary policy that consists of abolishing the federal reserve and returning to something akin to the gold standard.   Nice idea but about 100 years too late.

I feel pretty sure I will be attacked by Paul supporters for saying anything about him that smacks of calling hims a fringe candidate, but so be it. 

Paul supporters have all the trademarks of Ayn Rand fans.  They believe in the absolute power of laissez-faire capitalism and ignore the fact that that particular idea is what got us the housing bubble and current financial crisis.  Laissez-faire capitalism is pretty much where China is today, with the singular exception of free elections.

These folks seem very driven, so I am surprised that they can't seem to muster sufficient support for Paul to win a nomination. I admire their optimism, but I just worry about their blind devotion.

OK Let the flaming begin. 

Santorum Gives Up On Florida

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum has left the Sunshine State for the cooler climate of his home.  Seeing an inevitable loss to either Gingrich or Romney, Santorum has decided to pull up stakes in Florida and save his meager campaign chest for future primaries.

His next best shot at the nomination will come in Arizona and Michigan which hold primaries at the end of February.  My guess is he will call it quits before then.  His lagging poll numbers and dwindling funds make his victory very much a long shot.  Even with the backing of the evangelicals and a few remaining Tea Party folks, Santorum's campaign looks pallid and on the verge of collapse.