Am I Still in America? WTF! Legislated Sex Police?

Elena

You know what, Moon and I will stop obsessing about birth control and the Republican attack on women, when no longer have to read about insane legislation!

I am almost speechless, ALMOST, being the operative word.  Are we in the 21st century?

Since when do you have to tell your employers about your sex life?????!!!!!!!!!

In what WORLD do these Arizona Republicans believe it is ok to fire women because they use birth control for sex??!!  WHAT IN THE HELL is happening to my country?

Why would a woman get fired you may be asking, well, what if the sex police determine her affidavit was fudged?

This my friends, THIS legislation, is what intrusive government really looks like.

OMG, what an invasion of privacy.  I am disgusted.

 

Arizona Birth Control Bill Penalizes Women For Using Contraception For Non-Medical Reasons

Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the employer’s moral objection.

House of Representatives passed earlier this month and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed on Monday, repeals that law and allows any employer to refuse to cover contraception that will be used “for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes.” If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to “submit a claim” to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control.

 

Rick Santorum would have Puerto Ricans speaking English

MoonHowler

Holy Cow!  Does he understand what he is saying?  How out of touch is it to compare Quebec to Puerto Rico? 

Spanish AND English are the official languages.  What would he do?  Ban people speaking Spanish?  Didn’t that happen with the Navajo children?  They were banned from speaking their own language. 

Stephen Colbert pretty much said it all:  It takes some cojones to tell Puerto Ricans they can’t say ‘cojones.’

Rick Santorum should never be left in charge of diplomacy.  Was that a little Spanish accent I heard slipping in there?

 

Virginia Voter ID Law not likely to face opposition from DOJ

MoonHowler

If Governor McDonnell signs the new Virginia Voter ID bill, it is expected to get the green light from DOJ.  Virginia is one of 16 states with  a history of voter discrimination that requires DOJ approval.  Voting laws have been extremely contentious this year. 

According to the Washington Post:

Even some critics of Virginia’s legislation — which is among the most hotly contested of this year’s session — aren’t counting on the Justice Department to stop it.

“It’s not as severe as the other two laws, in South Carolina and Texas,” said state Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who nonetheless thinks the Virginia measure is intended to “hold down minority votes.”

For decades, Virginia has required voters to provide a voter registration card, Social Security card, driver’s license, government-issued identification or photo ID from a private workplace. About 10 years ago, the state changed the law to allow people without an ID to vote as long as they signed a sworn statement attesting to their identity.

Under House and Senate bills passed this year, anyone without identification could cast only a provisional ballot. It would not be counted unless the voter provided identification — in person or via fax or e-mail — before election results were certified six days later. At the same time, the bills would expand the list of acceptable forms of identification to include a college ID, current utility bill, bank statement, or a government check or paycheck bearing the voter’s name and address. The list goes beyond what was called for in the Help America Vote Act of 2002, said Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg)

 This bill doesn’t seem like it will restrict anyone.  I was unaware that we have a problem with illegal voting here in Virginia, however.  Is this one of those unnecessary bills?  Is this bill one of those anti immigration bills that is a wolf in sheep’s clothing?  Do hordes of illegal aliens try to vote? 

I think the bill actually makes voting easier.  Someone else will have to poke this one with a stick.  If I want to fight with Republicans, it won’t be over this bill.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s pursuit of Mann was wrong in just about every way that it is possible to be wrong

MoonHowler

Richmond Times Dispatch Opinion:

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s fishing expedition into climatologist Michael Mann’s e-mails made for good politics and awful policy. The issue of global warming has been lamentably politicized — plenty of fault for that on both sides — and Cuccinelli’s crusading on the issue has turned him into a hero for many foot soldiers of the conservative movement who deny any connection between human activity and global climate change.

Unfortunately, his pursuit of Mann was wrong in just about every way that it is possible to be wrong.

That it rested on dubious science was the least of its many shortcomings. After all, the AG is not a scientist and cannot be expected to know much about climatology. But he is a lawyer, and he should know something about the law. Yet in order to bring a civil investigative demand, Cuccinelli relied on an extremely elastic interpretation of Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (FATA) — a move not gracefully executed by someone who professes to believe in strict scrutiny and original intent.

Cuccinelli never accused Mann of failing to do the work for which he was paid, or of spending the research money he received from the state and federal governments on, say, fast cars and fancy suits. Albemarle Circuit Judge Paul Peatross was entirely right when he said the AG never clearly stated “the nature of the conduct” Mann supposedly engaged in that constituted fraud. “What the attorney general suspects that Dr. Mann did that was false or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the commonwealth simply is not stated,” Peatross wrote.

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VA Tech: 2 families awarded $4 million each

MoonHowler

Two families have each been awarded $4 million dollars for the wrongful deaths of their children during the VA Tech massacre on April 16, 2007.  The jury ruled that administration and the campus police did not send out an early enough warning of two shootings on campus. The school argued that they thought the shootingdeaths were isolated incidents.

The school has already filed an appeal. The other victims’s families settled out of court.

I am simply not sure how I feel about this jury award.  I just don’t know.  31 more people were killed within the next 3,5 hours after the first shooting.  Had students been warned and gone in to lock down, could lives have been saved?

Read more at the Richmond Times Dispatch.

PWC School Board Disses the Math Department

MoonHowler

 

School Days School Days….dear old golden rule days.  Readin’ and Ritin’ and Rithmetic…Taught to the tune of a hickory stick…

There is a nasty little rumor circulating around PWC schools.  That rumor deals with the School Board and the Math  Textbook Selection  Committee.   Rumor has it that the school board selected its own text books and disregarded the work of a committee that had spent 5 months meeting and collaborating.  When one hears rumors like this, it’s best to   turn to videos to see if the rumor is true.

On February 1, the PWC  Math Department  presented the recommendations of the math  textbook adoption  committee  to the PWC School Board.  Mrs. Knight, math supervisor for the county,  gave a  slide presentation which included committee history, methods utilized, and recommendations.  School Board members asked  questions  for clarity regarding the process and the recommendations.   Mrs. Knight answered a continual stream of questions regarding method, participants, conclusions. Her answers appeared honest and direct.

The Textbook Committee involved well over  100 teachers, principals, and parents representing all different grade levels.  There were sub committees that matched content from each  text book series to the curriculum, compared and contrasted  grade level content , evaluated vertical strands, and held on average 16 hours per person of collegial discussion  about the text books being scrutinized.  Evaluations were put in rubric form and recorded anecdotally.

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Our Family is Very Fortunate

MoonHowler

Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law’s house burned to the ground and they literally lost everything.  He saved the dog by tying her collar to his belt and crawling out of the house on all 4’s.  There is literally nothing left and they have their dog and the clothes on their backs.  They don’t even have one set of car keys. 

I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to start over.  Yet they have their lives, and their dog,  and my other brother and I did not lose a sibling.  We are very blessed.   It could have been so much worse.  Much was lost that cannot be replaced.  He was the family historian.  Raymie and Kathy live in Bloomington, Indiana. 

The fire was started by a faulty  gas grill.  No details yet.

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/gallery/n/1664

Ken Cuccinelli’s Witch Hunt

MoonHowler

Ken Cuccinelli’s witch hunt against climate scientist Michael Mann was stopped by the Supreme Court.  Good for UVA for failing to roll over and play dead.  However, in the wake of this law suit are a lot of unpaid  bills.  UVA had to raise about $600,000 to cover its legal costs .  Then there are the bills generated from the State Attorney General’s office.  Let’s hear Cuccinelli try to tell us to ‘stop the spending.’   He has lost his fiscally conservative street cred. 

This witch hunt was motivated by Cuccinelli’s own personal political agenda rather than from anything real that happened or any reasonable suspicion of wrong-doing while Dr. Mann was in residence at UVA. The newly elected attorney general  had a bug and he rashly wasted the taxpayers’ money pursuing his own silly paranoid  anti-scientific endeavors.

According to the Washington Post:

Mr. Cuccinelli’s inspiration appears to have been the conspiracy theorizing that emerged from the so-called Climategate scandal, in which global-warming opponents stole scientists’ e-mails — including a few of Mr. Mann’s — and then misinterpreted them to justify their activism.

Now that the Supreme Court has shut Mr. Cuccinelli down, what’s left is a range of consequences that can only hurt the commonwealth. The university had to raise nearly $600,000 for legal fees — money the cash-strapped university should have been able to use for something productive. On top of that are the public resources of the attorney general’s office that Mr. Cuccinelli wasted. Scientists in Virginia now have reason to wonder whether they will suffer similar pressure if they publish research government officials don’t like. And, because of some of the Supreme Court’s legal findings, the powers of the attorney general to pursue actual fraud have been clipped.

How many scientists will not want to work at UVA because of the climate of fear inspired by Cuccinelli?  Virginia has a long history of enlightenment that goes back to the time of Jefferson, Washington, and even further.  To have Cuccinelli try to ride his wave of anti-intellectual hocus pocus through the state at our expensive is simply unacceptable.  Mr. Jefferson would not like his school under attack and Virginians are tired of this administration causing them continual embarrassment. 

 

 

 

U.S. soldier goes on shooting rampage in Afghanistan

MoonHowler

A U.S. soldier walked off base in the Kandahar Province  of Afghanistan and went on a shooting rampage, killing 16 people.  It is unknown what pushed this soldier over the edge.  U.S. officials vow to get to the bottom of the incident.

Is an act like this terrorism, even though it is in a war zone?  Perhaps.  I don’t know what else to call the killing of unarmed civilians.  

According to the Washington Post:

President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta called Karzai on Sunday to discuss the incident. Obama expressed “shock and sadness” and vowed to “hold fully accountable anyone responsible” for the killings, the White House said in a statement.

“This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan,” Obama said.

U.S. officials shed no light on the motive or state of mind of the alleged shooter. The Associated Press reported Sunday that the suspect was from Fort Lewis, in Washington state. He was taken into custody shortly after the shooting rampage.

“It appears he walked off post and later returned and turned himself in,” said Lt. Cmdr. James Williams, a military spokesman.

What causes this kind of fugue from reality?  American troops will be on high alert across the region following the incident.  Things were just calming down from the Koran burning incidents where locals rioted and fired on US troops for days.  This rogue soldier’s behavior has endangered all of our troops.

PW Teachers Hold Grade-In at Gainesville Wegmans

MoonHowler

About 60 teachers gathered at the food center at Wegmans in Gainesville for an old fashioned grade-in.  What’s that, you might ask?  Those damn union teachers!!!!  Actually, they met at Wegmans, ate lunch, and spent several hours grading papers and making lesson plans.  Their goal was to show the public some of the things that they have to do outside the regular school day.  PWC teachers have not had a step increase in 3 years. 

The public has been very supportive.  The County needs to stop poor mouthing.  First class quality education starts with teachers with good morale.  People who haven’t had a raise in 3 years generally feel under appreciated.   The housing market is coming back.  Businesses are returning..  The Board of Supervisors needed to set the tax rate high enough to support the County school system.  Trying to educate OUR children on the cheap just isn’t going to fly. 

According to insidenova.com:

Some of those shirts even had a roadwork sign emblazoned on the back that read “Educator at Work.”

PWEA and other teacher groups have been lobbying the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, the School Board and even state legislators for additional funds for the school division after learning in February there are no plans for pay step increases in the 2013 budget and perhaps not until 2016.

“The grade-in is designed so that the public can see that there is a lot more in the daily life of a professional educator than just 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 7 to 2,” said Jim Livingston, a PWEA board member. “There’s a lot of activity that has to go on outside of the contract day.”

David Foose, a music teacher at Sinclair Elementary School, brought a thick, black three-ring binder full of lesson plans and papers to grade.

“This is all work that’s done outside of the school day,” he said.

“We’re expected to do more and more with less pay,” said Trish Purschwitz, a second-grade teacher at Sinclair. “This is just to show the public that teaching isn’t just done at the school.”

Riley O’Casey, a civics teacher at Bull Run Middle School, said although it varies week-to-week, she works up to 12 hours a week beyond her contract hours.

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Doonesbury to Lampoon Texas Trans-vaginal “Shaming Wand.”

MoonHowler

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau, of Doonesbury fame, is going to tackle the new Texas ultra-sound abortion law the upcoming Doonesbury comic strip.  According to Yahoo.com:

The Texas series features a woman who goes to an abortion clinic and is confronted by several people who suggest she should be ashamed. Among them is a doctor who reads a script on behalf of Texas Gov. Rick Perry welcoming her to a “compulsory trans-vaginal exam,” and a middle-aged legislator who calls her a “slut.”

One panel equates the invasive procedure to rape and describes the device used to perform it as a “10-inch shaming wand.”

Newspapers who don’t want to feature this issue will be offered an alternative.  Hopefully, Trudeau’s biting sarcasm will shame a couple of states, including Virginia, into reversing its their recent legislation.  Some of Trudeau’s language will be quite graphic for a general audience.  

It will be interesting to see which papers carry the syndicated substitute.  Mwanwhile, tired of reproductive rights?  Thank the religious right.  The pro-choice community sure didn’t bring it up.  However, they aren’t going to give it a pass.  Not by a long shot.

Game Change gets rave reviews

MoonHowler

 

The movie, Game Change, which chronicles Sarah Palin’s role in the 2008 election is getting rave reviews from liberals and conservatives alike.   Many pundits who have been rough on Sarah Palin like Joe Scarborough could be seen this past week softening on the former governor.  Apparently the film shows some sides of the situation we did not know. 

The movie can be seen on HBO  at 9 pm on Saturday night.  People I had never thought would have a nice thing to say about the woman say it is an oscar-winning film and one that should not be missed.   Chris Matthews says to see it more than once. 

 

Rainbow Riding Seeks 85,000 from County Coffer

Angelina_Apr

Two weeks ago the teachers lined up to implore the Board of County Supervisors to set the tax rate high enough to handle the needs of the school system, a hand crept out of Silver Lake, asking for more county money money.  The executive director of Rainbow Theraputic Riding  asked the county for $85,000 that woudl go to capital improvements.  It would put in a bathroom and pave the parking lot.  The parking lot needs paving because it is hard to push a wheel chair over gravel.

All of these improvments sound like a good idea.  However…..who should be paying for them?  Rainbow Riding serves just over 60 kids.   Should the tax payers be footing the bill?  We say no.  Money for special projects like this should come from fund raisers.  Too many county employees have gone without raises and worked overtime to just willy nilly hand over $85,000 for a program that serves less than 100 children.

Perhaps Rainbow Riding needs to consider putting in wooden ramps and walks to help with the rough gravel problem.  That would serve them in the short run while they earned the money for a more permanent solution to the parking lot problem.  This might be a good time for some of the wealthier patrons in the county and surrounding area to make a tax free donation to this worthwhile organization.  Regardless of how worthwhile an organization is,  we can’t pay for them all.

The county is much too free with its cash as it is.  Discretionary funds are out of control, we are sinking thousands into the tank museum and supporting the Hilton Center for the Arts well beyond what most citizens think should be happening.  Still other residents have complained about the large amount of money given to Manassas Ballet by the county.

Certainly the  county can chip in small amounts for arts and charities but at what point do we put a ceiling on these things, especially during economic down-turns?  Didn’t we just have to give nearly a quarter of a million dollars to cover the costs of the Sesquicentennial?   There has to be some control over who gets to stretch their hand to the county for funds.