Starting the War on Women early with the Girl Scouts

MoonHowler

Good grief. Now I have heard it all.  The Girl Scouts are now a target of the Religious Right and in particular, the Catholic bishops inquiry. 

Apparently the GSA who are non-sectarian,  aren’t Christian enough for  some folks and the Catholic bishops.  For starters, girls are allowed to insert Allah or Buddha in as a substitute for God, in the Girl Scout promise which says: “On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country.”   If that is who they worship, why not?  Some troop took in a transgendered child.  That caused an uproar.  Good for the troop.  Why exclude people?

According to the Washington Post:

NEW YORK — Long a lightning rod for conservative criticism, the Girl Scouts of the USA are now facing their highest-level challenge yet: An official inquiry by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

At issue are concerns about program materials that some Catholics find offensive, as well as assertions that the Scouts associate with other groups espousing stances that conflict with church teaching. The Scouts, who have numerous parish-sponsored troops, deny many of the claims and defend their alliances. 

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Is Romney a Bully?

MoonHowler

Much has been made for the past day or two over a hazing incident at Mitt Romney’s prep school,  Cranbrook School.  Accounts of the incident were taken from several witnesses, independently, and all described a case of Romney targeting an effeminate classmate with bleached blond hair that fell over one eye.  According to the witnesses, Romney jumped the boy, sheers in hand, and gave him a haircut.  The kid was terrified and screamed for help.  One the surface, it doesn’t sound all that bad….but was it?

Washington Post:

 Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

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Ann Coulter: Trash Trap Shock Jockette

MoonHowler

Ann Coulter got bleeped on Morning Joe Wednesday morning.  The problem is, the bleeper wasn’t working right  and the TV audience lost 13 seconds of what was coming out of her vile mouth.  Coulter was on a rant about consistency and went on one of her hate crusades, apparently calling John McCain a douche-bag.  Now Morning Joe tries to be a civil show.  Mark Halperin got suspended last June for calling President Obama a dick.  The suspension lasted a week or two. 

According to Politico:

After the sound returned, Coulter paused, realized that something had happened, and then could be heard asking others on the show, “What did I say? Oh, douche bag.”

“Just blur it all out,” host Joe Scarborough responded, apparently talking to the control room.

“Okay, well they got the general drift of that,” Coulter said. “Consistency is not a great thing, and especially someone like John McCain who consistently annoyed conservatives, bragged about annoying conservatives, and would claim he was courageous by attacking conservatives and getting good press in the New York Times.”

The conversation on the show moved on quickly after that with the hosts and guests showing little reaction at that point.

Coulter was unrepentant and later tweeted, “I didn’t call McCain a douchebag. I said consistency is overrated because, for example, McCain was consistently a dickweed.”

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Shep welcomes President Obama to the 21st century

MoonHowler

Who would have thunk it and on Faux News, no less.  Good for Shep Smith, the outlier of Faux News.

 

 We still ask, how does same sex marriage hurt any of us straight people?  I can’t think of a single way it hurts me.  Should the issue of same sex marriage even be a campaign issue? 

One of the first issues that gay bashers resort to is to point out promiscuous behavior in the gay community.  However, if gays have no way to legalize their relationships, it seems that they are pretty much doomed to participate in what some folks deem “promiscuous behavior.”  The behavior becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if same sex unions are verboten.  I guess that was the intent all along. 

Meanwhile, many Americans are becoming more open to the idea that gayness is out of the closet and that yes, they live among us.  Americans see that gays don’t steal their children or corrupt their dogs and cats.  They see that gays are the folks next door  or the guy in cubicle 3.  We will become fully evolved when we no longer say “those gays next door” but rather, “the couple next door.”  Rome wasn’t built in a day but we are getting there.  Join the procession.  My knuckles are up off the ground.

N.C. rejects gay marriage, civil unions

MoonHowler

 

Geeez, what a redneck state!  Wait, don’t we have the same amendment, here in Virginia?  I guess I had better walk back those words real fast.  Ok Ok, just kidding!  We wouldn’t want to impugn our own Old Dominion. 

 N.C. defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.  According to News-press.com:

Both sides spent a combined $3 million on their campaigns.

North Carolina law already bans gay marriage, like nine other states, but an amendment would effectively slam the door shut on same-sex marriages. The amendment also goes beyond state law by voiding other types of domestic unions from carrying legal status, which opponents warn could disrupt protection orders for unmarried couples.

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A Change of Pace from Politics

MoonHowler

 

 

The other day, our friend George Harris posed an interesting question on his Facebook page.  It went something like this:  If you could interview one person, living or dead, from the 20th century, who would it be and why?

I still haven’t decided on my person yet.  Who do you chose?  Reminder, the person does not have to be famous

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Post Election Pundits: Talkin’ Back and Getting Sassy

MoonHowler

It looks like another political pundit has weighed in on the May 1 City of Manassas election.   It sure doesn’t sounds like what our friends were reporting to us.  I guess you just had to be there.  Anyway,  the following text is from   Doug  Brown’s blog, A Bridge Too Far.   Since we were immediately referenced , we couldn’t help but talk back and just get a little sassy.  Doug’s words are black.  Ours are hot sizzzling  pink, the color of talkin’ back.

 

 

The Moonhowlers’ favorite GOP chairman Steve Thomas{We don’t often agree with Steve but he isn’t obnoxious.]   and the MGOP won a clear victory in last Tuesday’s May 1st election, according to some observers [Yes, those observers would include the voting majority, who elected the entire GOP ticket. Sounds like a victory to us]. But does a Party really win a clear victory by jettisoning half its traditional base and replacing them with scab voters from the political left?[Let’s see. If you are talking about the 997 people who voted for Sheryl Bass, a Republican in good standing, and not the Independent Jerry Carman, who many convention attendees, including Doug Brown chose to support, we think the GOP might have come out the winner in this deal. A bonus was Charles Sutherland’s stunning defeat. F.O.D’s or “Friends of Doug, don’t do well in elections] Normally when an outpost loses half its forces, and is overrun by opposing forces the commanding officer is not heralded as a victor, unless of course those doing the heralding are members of the opposing forces or sympathetic to them. [And how many of your preferred candidates won?]’]

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Predictable: Governor McDonnell drops in ratings

MoonHowler

Washington Post:

RICHMOND — After a contentious legislative session that drew large protests and national ridicule to the state Capitol, Virginians are less supportive of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and less optimistic about the direction of the state, according to a poll by The Washington Post.

The approval rating for McDonnell (R) dropped six points over the past year, from 62 percent to 56 percent. Thirty-five percent disapprove of the job he is doing — a nine-point increase from a year ago.

The governor still has firmly positive ratings at a time of political discord nationwide. But he has lost support among independents and urban women after a 12-month period that closed with a partisan standoff over the state budget and an uproar over a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to first undergo a vaginal ultrasound.

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Open Thread……………………………………………..Sunday, May 6

MoonHowler

 

It could be in any town, in any time, in any establishment serving spirits. 

Everyone has something to say. 

How many people take advantage of the bistro atmosphere in the City of Manassas when deciding where to dine or go for drinks?  Who frequents the outdoor establishments?  How about in the county?  Do we have favorite watering holes?  Let’s give a shout out to the things we like to do outside.

What do city folks want to see more of?  Bike paths and widened streets got groused about by a few people.  How many folks consider these enhancements an improvement to their community?  Tell us how you really feel.  Let’s not just let one side have the floor.

Manassas City Theater in the Round: Epilogue

MoonHowler

Manassas City Theater in the Round: Epilogue

The election has come and gone, but the theater continues. Those who have lost the most, try not to “wawl and cry” nor “mewl and puke” and instead have chosen to spin with much “pride, pomp , and circumstance,”  the post-election eulogy of their effort.  Much mirth we draw (not to mention laughter) in watching those who made such a noise for their chosen slate, try to salvage a faux victory from what is in fact a stunning defeat.

In some ways, the silence is deafening so, again, rather than charge into the fray, we have chosen to give our “ thoughts no tongue” for a time, let the dust settle, gather numerous perspectives on the election results, and develop what we believe to be a much clearer picture of what happened, and, what it all means.

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The Biggest Supermoon in Years is Coming Saturday Night

MoonHowler

Be there!

Smithsonian Magazine:

This Saturday evening, take a look at the night sky and you might see something special. The moon will make its largest, most stunning appearance of the year—an event known to scientists as “the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system” and to the popular skywatching public simply as the “supermoon.” As one of the most spectacular supermoons in years, the moon will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than when it is on the far side of its orbit.

Why does the moon sometimes appear larger, and sometimes smaller? The answer lies in the fact that its orbit around Earth is elliptical, so its distance from us varies—it ranges from roughly 222,000 to 252,000 miles away each month. On Saturday, the moon will reach what is known as the perigee, coming as close as it ever does to the Earth, just 221,802 miles away. At the same time, it will be a full moon, with the entirety of its Earth-facing surface illuminated by the light of the sun.

This supermoon will appear especially large because the exact moment of perigee will neatly coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon. The full moon will occur at 11:34 p.m. EST, and the perigee will occur at 11:35. During last year’s supermoon on March 19, 2011, for comparison, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart.

Kentucky Derby: 138th Run for the Roses

MoonHowler

This Saturday, May 5 will be the annual 138th Kentucky Derby.   No charming horse stories jump out at us this year.  That might happen post race.   The slight favorite this year is a horse named Bodemeister.  Why that almost sounds like Blogmeister!

Every year I go out with friends and play our dollar bets on the each race of the Triple Crown.  It sounds silly but it is a rite of spring for us. 

To view the horses for this race, go to the Washington Post section.  CLICK HERE . 

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Queer Guy for the Straight Ire: Did Romney do the right thing?

MoonHowler
s,

 

Washington Post:

In a statement provided to The Washington Post, Grenell, who is openly gay, said: “While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.” He added: “I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.”

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Morris Davis: KSM Gets His Way at Guantanamo

MoonHowler

Guest Post:  Colonel Morris Davis

Disclaimer: The content of the guest contribution is the opinion of the guest and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the management of Moonhowlings.com.

 

Morris Davis:  KSM Gets His Way at Guantanamo

 

A military guard will be on each arm of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as he is led into a courtroom on Saturday to be arraigned for a second time before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. He went through the same process in the same courtroom on nearly the same charges almost four years ago in the closing months of the Bush administration. The fact that President Obama chooses now, six months before voters choose between him and Mitt Romney, to restart what some have dubbed “the trial of the century,” using a second-rate system of justice he had ordered stopped at a facility he had ordered closed, makes an unflattering statement about the timidity of his leadership and the malleability of his principles.

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Spotlight on the Lady: Class Act

MoonHowler

 

 

Much has been made of the intrigue the past few weeks on the various alliances and coalitions in the city election process.  Now that the dust is settling, we would like to salute the hot pink campaign, run by supporters of Sheryl Bass.  Actually, Ms. Bass didn’t run.  Her friends ran her as a write-in campaign.  Sheryl Bass supported the Republican ticket.   At last count, Ms. Bass received 1052  997 [Ed. Note:  correction given this afternoon]  votes and her name didn’t even appear on the ballot!  That means that Ms. Bass came in 4th without her running and without her name appearing on the ballot.

Ms. Bass should be proud.  She has good friends, the support and respect of  her community, and the friends of Ms. Bass did things the right way.  Several movers and shakers of this campaign had to resign from their political party to run the campaign.  THEY did the right thing.  Will they be readmitted?  Time will tell.  They knew the rules.  They followed them.  The Sheryl Bass campaign made a fine showing at the polls and everyone  showed a lot of class.

Ms. Bass has served her community and will be an invaluable resource for all the elected officials to turn to when they need advice and help.  A toast of our finest ale to Lady Bass and her ever- classy campaign.