One of the things I noticed about the An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace hearing is that minus the Alliance Defense Fund, there weren’t any conservative Christian organizations speaking at the hearing; minus the Traditional Values Coalition any conservative Christian organizations leaving press materials at the hearing; and minus the ranking minority member of the subcommittee (Rep. John Kline, R-MN) there were no Republicans there to ask questions of the witnesses at the hearing.
So what’s happening now there’s a conservative Christian community characterization of the hearing as if there was serious wave of opposition speaking to trans employment issues — but they didn’t actually have much presense there opposing any future gender idenity and expression inclusive legislation in person.
Some examples of online, conservative Christian commentary:
- PFOX: Congressional Hearing To Push Gender Confusion Upon All Americans
Democrat leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have scheduled a hearing this Thursday on discrimination against “transgendered” individuals in the workplace.
“Homosexuals and their transgender activist allies hope to use this hearing as a way of forcing the imposition of gender confusion upon all Americans,” said Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) Executive Director Regina Griggs today. “Instead of treating transsexualism and cross-dressing behaviors as Gender Identity Disorders (GID) as defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Democrats seem determined to make these behaviors into federally-protected minorities.”
“Why should Congress force Americans to provide workplace accommodations for people who are confused about whether they’re male or female? How can Congress force us to make believe that a man is really a woman or a woman is really a man?”
“If Democrats were truly concerned about these gender confused individuals, they’d push for expanded mental health services for GID. A person can’t change his or her sex – and many of these individuals think they’re a woman one day and a man the next day. Why is Congress catering to such insanity?”
[OneNewsNow/American Family Association, Peter LaBarbera, Focus On The Family/CitizenLink, Concerned Women For America, and Traditional Values Coalition commentaries below the fold.] Read the rest of this entry »
In a 5-4 decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees have the right to habeas corpus challenges of their detention. The New York Timesreported:
The ruling on Thursday focused in large part on the centuries old writ of habeas corpus (“you have the body,” in Latin), a means by which prisoners can challenge their incarceration. Noting that the Constitution provides for suspension of the writ only in times of rebellion or invasion, Justice Kennedy called it “an indispensable mechanism for monitoring the separation of powers.”
In the years-long debate over the treatment of detainees, some critics of administration policy have asserted that those held at Guantánamo have fewer rights than people accused of crimes under American civilian and military law and that they are trapped in a sort of legal limbo.
Justice Kennedy wrote that the cases involving the detainees “lack any precise historical parallel. They involve individuals detained by executive order for the duration of a conflict that, if measure from September 11, 2001, to the present, is already among the longest wars in American history.”
The Los Angeles Times reports in their article Supreme Court again says Guantanamo prisoners should have rights:
About 270 prisoners are now being held at Guantanamo. A small number of them, perhaps as many as 40, are likely to face trial. But today’s decision concerned only detention, not the rules for trial.
With a 5-4 decision, one gets dissenting opinions. Again from the Los Angeles Times:
From the Los Angeles Times‘article Guantanamo Criticism Intensifies:
Critics of the war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay have consistently assailed the coerced confessions that may be used as evidence against the defendants and have repeatedly charged that the prisoners’ severe isolation causes mental illnesses that make them unable to aid in their own defense.
Now, the critics add, evidence has emerged to show that the government advised interrogators to destroy their notes to evade legal consequences for their actions.
As the Bush administration revs up its prosecution of suspected terrorists ahead of the November election, defense lawyers and human rights advocates are ratcheting up their criticism of the offshore justice system.
The article goes on later to state:
Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, the Navy lawyer defending young Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr, encountered the directive in an unclassified portion of the 2003 Guantanamo “standard operating procedures” manual that was in effect at the time Khadr was interrogated at the naval base.
Because the mission “has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify, keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimize certain legal issues,” the manual notes.
It seems to me that the main reasons not to keep documentation on interrogations would include American interrogators being able to “plausibly” state when under oath “I can’t remember” when it comes to interrogation details, or because it directly allows these interrogators to lie on the stand because there is no documentation of interrogation details.
How does one end up with justice from a court system that allows for the destruction of evidence that could possibly have cast doubt on prisoner confessions? The answer, of course, is one doesn’t. That Guantanamo Bay trials are beginning just in time to make news for the November election seems to me to indicate that the goal isn’t justice — the timing of these trials looks like the intent was to assist in the election of Republicans.
I know I have a real problem with giving Republicans in the executive and legislative branches any further or continued control of the American justice system — It’s specifically because of how civil rights have been attacked by the current Republican administration. And hey, I just know I can’t be the only voter who’s thinking thoughts like these.
News and views relevant to (not just) trans people …
#1 - Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signedSenate Bill 08-200 (”Concerning The Expansion Of Prohibitions Against Discrimination”) into law Thursday. The bill essentially (defines and) adds “sexual orientation” to the state’s existing anti-discrimination statutes, where …
“Sexual orienation” means a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status oe another person’s perception thereof.
“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?
“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.
“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!
“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”
Please, when you get down to it, this is about much more bathrooms. It’s really about issues like finding employment or housing, or even about getting someone to cut your grass, and some folks’ perceived, god-given right to say trannies or gays “need not apply.” Every restroom or bathroom in the state of Colorado could be magically transformed today into one’s own little, unassailable fortress, and these folks would be no happier tomorrow. They want their own little “land of the free and home of the brave” all to themselves. That’s it.
If the APA feel that some of the very real anger expressed about how certain people are appointed and the actions of those people, then the APA should consider the possibility that the Clarke Northwestern academics they have elected have, in the past been known to provoke an acrimonious response from those they “discuss” and then deliberately ignore any invitations for polite debate, while crying foul when people get angry out of sheer frustration. That is a well known and documented tactic on the part of the Clarke-Northwestern. And one that renders their objections to being called everything from “Quacks” to “Nazis” utterly meaningless, as they have deliberately taken an invidious approach to debate, in order to cry foul when the predictable response happens. We have to ask why do the Clarke-Northwestern do this? Most logical people would conclude that there may be some truth in the more slanderous accusations levelled at the Clark Northwestern as they persistently fail to engage in open debate, in a way that appears deliberate.
Abernathey fights through her involvement with various national and state transgender and LGBT organizations. She runs the Transadvocate group blog (transadvocate.com) and is contributing editor for another, the Bilerico Project (bilerico.com). She also fights simply by being open about who she is. “A lot of the reasons why there are fewer obstacles now for gay and lesbian parents is because there are gay and lesbian parents,” she explains. “There’s exposure to the straight community, so it’s not an abstraction, it’s real. When trans people are open and honest about who they are, then people will start to see we’re just parents. We’re not trans parents, we’re parents. I think that’s what gays and lesbians want, and what trans people want.”
Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in “Blazing Saddles,” died Thursday. He was 81.
…
His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks‘ 1974 Western satire, “Blazing Saddles.”
…
After 10 successful seasons, Korman left Burnett’s show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. “The Harvey Korman Show” also failed, as did other series starring the actor.
“It takes a certain type of person to be a television star,” he said in that 2005 interview. “I didn’t have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. … Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I’m fine.”
New explosives could be more powerful and safer to handle than TNT and other conventional explosives and would also be more environmentally friendly.
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To make safer, more environmentally friendly explosives, scientists in Germany turned to a recently explored class of materials called tetrazoles. These derive most of their explosive energy from nitrogen instead of carbon as TNT and others do.
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These compounds have great potential, “especially for large caliber naval and tank guns,” Klapötke added
Over the Memorial Day weekend here in the States, the British press was roasting combat veteran and former paratrooper, Jan Hamilton (Okay, I know it’s “over there,” but since I moderate the TNUKdigest group, I try to keep up with the news over there.)…
A former paratrooper who had a sex-change operation has won a £250,000 payout for hurt feelings after being ordered to wear a man’s army uniform.
The mother of crippled paratrooper Ben Parkinson has condemned a “£250,000 payout” to the army’s first sex-change officer who lost a job after refusing to wear a male uniform for a medical.
…
“Why does this person deserve so much when our boys have lost everything?
“These seemingly trivial matters are awarded such huge amounts of money and yet people with terrible injuries get nothing. You just despair.”
…
Tory MP Patrick Mercer - a former soldier himself - criticised huge discrepancies between payments for injuries and legal job disputes.
He said: “I can’t understand how the MOD can justify paying these amounts when soldiers suffering very serious injuries in action are getting less than £10,000.”
Apparently, however, there was no £250,000 agreement. And it looks like the Ministry of Defense (MOD) is just using the press to give her a good “bitch slap” (while the press gets another opportunity to “slap” the MOD).
OK I got a message (and a short follow up second one yesterday), from
Jan Hamilton on another (Military) Forum I am in…
Since she cannot make any statements to the press without prior
military approval or risk her ongoing case, I am going to forward this
WITHOUT her knowledge or approval.
I think it is important that our community know she is being set up by
the press and certain “leaks” in the Army to set the Public against
her and thus indirectly also against all TS people, including several
TS people still serving in HM Armed Forces.
Headlines such as “Sex swap para given £250k for hurt feelings” with
half truths about what the case is about, and who is casing the
dispute and need to go to court created a lot of waves and a certain
amount of “damage control” being needed by many people, including
myself, to reactions of serving and ex-soldiers.
More fuel was added to the “Witch burning pyre” as the other Paper’s
keen to grab a slice of these half truths, wrote headlines like “Fury
of injured soldiers’ families as sex-change Para” and that these
headlines lead to others such as the incident last week “Sex swap
soldier attacked in pub” were we saw the negative reactions to Jan and
her case and her being outed last year by the Army, probably by the
same person(s) who released “details” of this imaginary deal?
Today, Hamilton’s reaction did appear in onepaper (although the headline left a bit to be desired) …
Ex-paratrooper Jan Hamilton, who was fired after refusing to wear a male uniform for a medical check-up, says she was “extremely upset” by reports in several national newspapers she has been awarded the substantial sum in an out-of-court settlement.
The 43-year-old, from Lytham – who was once known as Ian – took action to sue the Army for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination, but she says discussions are still going on and she has not “received a single penny”.
She said: “I was really disgusted to read these stories which are absolutely not true and what’s worse is nobody bothered to contact me about them.
“There is no £250,000 agreement, I have never sought £250,000 and neither would I accept it.
“I have been trying to negotiate my resignation with the Army so I can just get on with my life.
“I thought I was making some progress and was feeling positive about the talks.
“Now I feel crushed by this. Someone came up to me in the street yesterday and called me a money grabber, which is just not fair.”
She was particularly upset at reports comparing the payout to sums received by soldiers seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She added: “It is totally false and what has really got to me was the way some national newspapers have brought the families of those soldiers into it, those heroes who have suffered horrific injuries in the line of duty – at a time when these people should be left alone.
“I really feel for those families and think it’s despicable they have been asked about this. Especially as it’s not true.”
Memorial Day has been a day that’s hard for me to mark each year. When our country goes to war, people die — how many of our nation’s wars can we look back at and say “This was a cause worth dying for”?
The armistice at the end of World War I was the date of the traditional Memorial Day. As far as historians know, there is only one American veteran of that war still living — and he’s being honored this Memorial day:
The last doughboy came home to Missouri to be honored on this Memorial Day for his service to his country.
Frank Woodruff Buckles, 107 years old and the only known remaining United States veteran of World War I, was celebrated Sunday at the Liberty Memorial as the “last surviving link” to the Great War, which ended 90 years ago.
He was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Gold Medal of Merit and sat for a photographic portrait that will hang in the National World War I Museum.
The flag flown today outside of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri will be presented to the former Cpl. Buckles tomorrow.
On a weekend that these days seems to be more celebrated for it’s “blowout” sales of mattresses, BBQ grills, and new cars, perhaps it’s welcome news — and perhaps sad news — to note that the last surviving American veteran of The War To End All Wars is standing in for the soldiers for the end of the war for which Memorial Day was first conceived.
For me, he stands in for more than just his war. When I eat my barbeque grilled, 98% fat free hot dog today, I’ll be thinking of Mr. Buckles standing in for all of those who sacrificed their lives in service to America’s ideals of liberty, equality, and justice.
Are we fighting in the middle east for what many of us have suspected for years? Are we really spilling blood for oil? Sen. McCain said as much today.
My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will — that will then prevent us — that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.
–Sen. John McCain, May 2, 2008.
Well, apparently he’s claiming he misspoke,, or was misinterpreted somehow. The “clarification” by Sen. McCain given later today:
The expected GOP nominee sought to clarify his comments later, after his campaign plane landed in Phoenix. He said he didn’t mean the U.S. went to war in Iraq five years ago over oil.
“No, no, I was talking about that we had fought the Gulf War for several reasons,” McCain told reporters.
One reason was Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, he said. “But also we didn’t want him to have control over the oil, and that part of the world is critical to us because of our dependency on foreign oil, and it’s more important than any other part of the world,” he said.
“If the word `again’ was misconstrued, I want us to remove our dependency on foreign oil for national security reasons, and that’s all I mean,” McCain said.
“The Congressional Record is very clear: I said we went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
McCain is a staunch supporter of the Iraq war, although he criticizes the early handling of it by the Bush administration.
I feel soooooo much better about the Iraq War. Four-thousand plus dead, thirty-thousand plus wounded, and an incredible cost estimate of three trillion dollars to pay for the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan — and it was either for oil, or for those non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Super.
I was out and about on May Day, doing my first of the month grocery shopping at the 32nd Street Naval Station’s Commissary — the benefits of being a Naval retiree.
Stopping to get something to eat at the food court, I picked up a hard copy of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and while eating a soft taco I read about the death of Sgt. 1st Class David McDowell, and Army Ranger. One line in the obituary stood out to me:
…McDowell is the sixth person with personal ties to San Diego County who has been killed in Afghanistan since the war there began in 2001. He died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked using small-arms fire, the Pentagon announced yesterday. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Lewis, Wash.
McDowell had been deployed seven times in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Army Special Operations Command. His honors included two Bronze Stars with valor devices and a Purple Heart…
Seven tours. That’s right — seven. I’ve been thinking about that obituary ever since eating that meal on base.
And, other than the relatively short Persian Gulf War of the early nineties, this is the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan are the first wars we have not had a draft to raise up a inexpensive army to fight our wars. Between the Civil War and the Vietnam War, all of the wars were fought in large part by conscripted soldiers.
I guess my point is one that’s been made many times during this war — the American public has not been asked to sacrifice at all for this war. We’ve left the battles to volunteer soldiers, sailors, and airman like Sgt. McDowell. His life was sacrificed during his seventh tourin theater for the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. We aren’t paying as we go for these wars; we’re going to have to tax the public in large amounts, at some point, to pay for these three trillion dollar wars. And more importantly, we’ve lost over 4,000 lives in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, with over 30,000 having been wounded in these wars as well.
Meanwhile…
Sgt. 1st Class David McDowell, 30, is remembered by his family and friends as a man who followed his father into the Army and made himself an elite, decorated soldier…
…And he died while serving his seventh tour in theater for these wars.
“Down to the last bone in his body, the guy believed in what he did,” said Jesse Carlson, 29, of Carlsbad, who went to high school with McDowell and played football with him.
“It’s very unique to find someone with that kind of conviction,” Carlson said. “You can’t help but respect the guy and feel about as proud as you possibly can that he’s your friend.”
As a citizen of the country for which Sgt. McDowell served, I believe we, as a country, asked too much of him to serve seven tours in theater for these wars. If the citizens of our country don’t want to share the financial and personal sacrifices more evenly throughout our society than we are distributing these sacrifices now, then we definitely shouldn’t be continuing to fight these wars.
Seven tours? Sgt. McDowell served about five or six too many tours — even if these were popular wars; even if he believed in these wars down to the last bone in his body. My country asked too much of this man.
~~~~~
Further reading:
* Five Years, Two Words, No Letup
* April was Iraq’s deadliest since August
A round up of interesting news — well, at least it’s news I find interesting.
* Now here’s a quality protest event! Bay Area College Republicans Revolt — over beer tax proposal…
A group of Bay Area College Republicans took to the streets of San Jose Friday evening to protest a subject near and dear to them - beer.
More to the point, they wanted to rant about a state lawmaker’s proposed tax on beer manufacturers that would add nearly $2 to the price of a six-pack as a way to help the state plug its giant budget deficit.
…At the afternoon protest outside the office of Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, about 50 students stood at a busy downtown intersection waving signs that read “Students Opposed to Unjust Taxation!” and “No Taxe$” as one student on a bullhorn chanted “No taxation on intoxication!”
That’s keeping priorities in perspective.
* The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Obama is picking up support and calories.
Waffles for breakfast and cheesesteaks for lunch, it’s all about eating as Barack Obama chows down to show his regular-guy credentials on the campaign trail.
PHILADELPHIA — The presidential candidate known for his eloquence on the stump was savoring a huge cheesesteak here when he looked up at the battery of photographers surrounding his table and reported: “I’m working through this sucker pretty good.”
Not the most poetic line from Barack Obama, but it captured the campaign’s central activity in the walk-up to this week’s Pennsylvania primary: Eating…
* From the San Francisco Chronicle: Anti-war Cindy Sheehan files to take on Pelosi. She’s made good on her threat to run against Pelosi if Pelosi didn’t start impeachment proceedings against President Bush.
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan wants to snatch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat from her in November, but first she’s going to need the help - and signatures - of 10,198 friends and supporters.
Sheehan was at San Francisco City Hall on Friday to take out papers for her independent run for Congress, but without those signatures from voters in the district, her name won’t show up on the ballot.
“It’s an uphill battle,” said Sheehan, who vowed to run against Pelosi in July after the speaker refused to start impeachment proceedings against President George Bush. “But I’m excited about the signature-gathering process. It’s going to be an opportunity to talk to people about our campaign.”
* From the New York Times‘ Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats:
When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.
But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.
Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.
Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers.
As we’ve seen this past week regarding protests against Day Of Silence participation, free speech and freedom of religion are often perceived by conservative Christians as only applying to them, — not to those who don’t share their views.
[After the fold, The Peter wants an FMA for civil unions too; a shark attack off a San Diego County beach; plagiarism in the pulpit; and penis thievery.]
No, I’m not making a comment there about the overwhelming majority of Americans who no longer support President Bush or his chosen course of action regarding Iraq. (But, with relatively so few Americans serving in this military “mission,” with no pay-as-you-go tax increases to pay for it, and with the — until recently — feel-good, housing-boom economy … I suppose that it was easy to give Bush and company a free ride … kind of like Tony Blair here … but us commoners’ indignation can swell when things go sour, no doubt, as evidenced by those polls.)
No, what I was referring to was this item in Variety today …
Economists are citing some dire portents of a recession these days, but they’ve missed one indicator I find especially disturbing: The porn business has suddenly gone flaccid.
…
At a time when “gonzo” is fading, “limp” is in. What does that say about the mood of the country?
It means (for a while at least … as those poll numbers suggest) the country’s ready to take a new (with no comment about the remaining U.S. presidential aspirants intended), “limp” direction.
Here’s a two item This And That on military issues.
* Gays And Lesbians: No; Sex Offenders & Other Felons: Yes
Okay, we’re in an unpopular war in Iraq. America needs soldiers to fight the war, but a draft is politically unfeasible. So, the Army lowers its standards in an attempt to get enough soldiers to fulfill its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
New information released today by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows that in 2006 and 2007 Americans who were convicted of serious crimes including sexual offences, manslaughter, “terrorist threats including bomb threats”, burglary, kidnapping or abduction, aggravated assault and sexual assault were allowed into the military under moral waivers granted by the services.
According to the data given to the committee by the Department of Defense, the Army allowed the most waivers in 2006 and 2007. During this period, moral or felony waivers were given to 3 soldiers who had been convicted of manslaughter. One soldier was allowed in following a kidnapping or abduction conviction, 11 were convicted of arson, 142 convicted of burglary, 3 who were convicted of indecent acts or liberties with a child, 7 who were convicted of rape, sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, incest or other sex crimes and 3 who were convicted of terrorist threats including bomb threats.
…Last week, the USA Today reported that use of moral waivers has increased again. The total percentage of Army recruits admitted by moral waiver more than doubled from 4.6% in fiscal 2004 to 11% in fiscal 2007. It has so far edged to 13% in fiscal 2008.
So what’s hot at DARPA right now? Bugs. The creepy, crawly flying kind. The Agency’s Microsystems Technology Office is hard at work on HI-MEMS (Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical System), raising real insects filled with electronic circuitry, which could be guided using GPS technology to specific targets via electrical impulses sent to their muscles. These half-bug, half-chip creations - DARPA calls them “insect cyborgs” - would be ideal for surveillance missions, the agency says in a brief description on its website.
Scientist Amit Lal and his team insert mechanical components into baby bugs during “the caterpillar and the pupae stages,” which would then allow the adult bugs to be deployed to do the Pentagon’s bidding.
Gay? Transgender?
Watch out!
Don’t think so?
Well, look around.
I’ve no doubt this has already been deployed and successfully tested on folks like Randy Thomas.
So, turn off the lights, blow out the candles … and, yes, better keep the Raid close at hand.
~~~~~
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
Today, it’s a new law against gender-variant expression in Kuwait, and how the law is enforced.
I’ve said it here a few times already, but let me say again I’m a transgender Persian Gulf War veteran. I personally didn’t see any combat action (as the ground war ended two months before I was sent to serve on the USS Gary), but I was assigned to the gulf during the window to be awarded the Southwest Asian Service Medal (with Bronze Star), National Defense Service Medal, and most importantly for this discussion, the Kuwait Liberation Medal.
There goes Kuwait again, repressing in the dubious name of religion. Earlier this month I noted Kuwait’s fetish for bans–on women performers, on women holding jobs after 8 p.m., on movies it doesn’t like, even on valentine’s Day commemorations. Now comes its latest ban: on transvestites. This one is a bit more brutal than a ban. It entails imprisonment and humiliation, too.
[Kuwaiti police verbally abusing and striking transgender people, as well as shaving their heads, after the fold.] Read the rest of this entry »
And not from what Olivia St. John is concerned about, as I see it. A resident WorldNetDaily gadfly (to use a relatively polite term), St. John is at it once again this morning (”Homosex in a public park near you“) over “the homosexual agenda,” longtime staple fare at WND …
But in the midst of all this, the reality is that children are at serious risk as the homosexual agenda proliferates in our nation’s public schools and continues invading our public space. The homosexual movement does not view moral people as friends, but our children are strongly desired, and they represent a hub around which the homosexual movement spins.
…
Those influenced by the “rulers of the darkness of this world” are doing their best to “call evil good and good evil” by using the public airwaves, public parks and public schools to push deviant sexual practices into the faces of our innocent children.
An entire generation is at risk.
Talk about fiddlin’ while Rome burns, I wish the Ms. St. Johns out there paid more attention to what the “rulers of the darkness” are leaving for future generations — 4,000 down and a helluva payback. Yup, nevermind death and taxes, let’s worry about “transsexual sex in public parks.” Sheesh …
The ruling on Thursday focused in large part on the centuries old writ of habeas corpus (“you have the body,” in Latin), a means by which prisoners can challenge their incarceration. Noting that the Constitution provides for suspension of the writ only in times of rebellion or invasion, Justice Kennedy called it “an indispensable mechanism for monitoring the separation of powers.”
Super.
So what’s hot at DARPA right now? Bugs. The creepy, crawly flying kind. The Agency’s Microsystems Technology Office is hard at work on HI-MEMS (Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical System), raising real insects filled with electronic circuitry, which could be guided using GPS technology to specific targets via electrical impulses sent to their muscles. These half-bug, half-chip creations - DARPA calls them “insect cyborgs” - would be ideal for surveillance missions, the agency says in a brief description on its website.
Today, it’s a new law against gender-variant expression in Kuwait, and how the law is enforced.
