Since the election, I have heard “illegals” a little less out of my Republican sources. I have noticed that Elena has not had to issue one correction on this blog. However, I don’t think people still get it.
It’s going to take a little more than trying to lure Latinos in. It’s going to take real acceptance. I am not sure how some Republicans are going to be able to do this. As long as the animosity is there, the GOP will continue to lose Latino votes.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear cases challenging DOMA and Prop 8 which deny same sex marriage.
The Supreme Court put itself at the center of the nation’s debate over whether gay couples have the same fundamental right to marry as heterosexuals, agreeing Friday to review state and federal efforts to preserve a traditional definition of husband and wife.
In agreeing to hear cases from California and New York, the court raised the possibility of a groundbreaking constitutional decision on whether the right to marry may be limited because of sexual orientation. At the same time, the justices also will have the ability to issue narrower rulings on a subject that continues to divide the American public.
The cases will probably be heard in historic sessions at the court in late March, with decisions to come when the justices finish their work at the end of June.
The court’s first review of same-sex marriage comes at a fast-moving but unsettled time in the nation’s consideration of gay rights. Last month brought Election Day victories for same-sex marriage supporters in three states, including Maryland, and the reelection of President Obama, the first chief executive to endorse the right of gays to marry.
Some staggering news out of Great Britain comes as a follow up to Kate Middleton’s hospitalization. Everyone remembers (it was only a couple days ago) the hoax phone call to the hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for extreme morning sickness. The fake call came in pretending the queen was on the line, inquiring about Kate.
The nurse who fielded that call, Jacintha Saldanha, has apparently committed suicide outside of the hospital. She was the butt of everyone’s joke. She leaves 2 small children. I believe she was a single mom. How truly tragic. Buckingham Palace immediately responded with horror and reassured everyone that they had not complained about anyone at the hospital.
Here is the lesson on unintended consequences. Who would have thought that a prank would result in the loss of someone’s life?
Fox News’ opinion website Fox Nation ran quite the headline above a story on Rachel Maddow’s Grammy Award nomination.
The MSNBC host was nominated for Best Spoken Word Album with her book, “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.” Fellow category nominees include Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama.
While most websites ran with a straightforward headline announcing her nomination, Fox Nation took a different approach.
Above a bizarrely-chosen photo of Maddow, a headline reads, “Rachel Madd-Cow Gets a Grammy Nomination?”
When Maddow appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show in 2011, the MSNBC host discussed how she receives hate mail from people who call her Rachel Mad-Cow.
WASHINGTON — Senior White House and Justice Department officials are considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in those states, according to several people familiar with the deliberations.
Even as marijuana legalization supporters are celebrating their victories in the two states, the Obama administration has been holding high-level meetings since the election to debate the response of federal law enforcement agencies to the decriminalization efforts.
71 years later we still remember those 2400 + who lost their lives in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Another 1200 were seriously injured.
Americans on that Sunday had no idea how much that attack would ultimately alter all their lives. It changed the course of American history.
If you know a WWII veteran, find out all you can. WWII veterans are dying at a rate of over 1000 per day. The very youngest would be in his late 80’s.
Pearl Harbor is a stark reminder for Americans to never let their guard down.
Washingtonpost.com: A reporter remembers “a vision of death” at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor: An Untold Story by Betty McIntosh
Neeeiigggghhhhhhhhhh!
Smart people don’t get mad, they get even. The same goes for horses.
How is that shopping going?
Who has read a good fiction book lately? Do you recommend it? Why?
I wonder why it was that the MSNBC people got the invitation and not the Foxies? Geez, I have no idea. DuH…could it be because the MSNBC people don’t talk about the President like he is a bug beneath their feet? Could it be that they are respectful of both him and the office he holds?
Did the Foxies forget, for just a moment, that they are the Republican Channel? I sure haven’t. I am reminded every time I am surfing and accidently land on their turf.
Is the President wrong to have those hosts in for a visit? What were they invited to do?
Costas elaborates but does not back down. I would be interested in his discussion in the upcoming months.
Is Costa all wet or does he know of what he speaks? Is O’Reilly his usual insufferable self? Does Costas hold his own?
(Thanks to Punchak for this post.)
So, once again we have the War on Christmas, sponsored by Fox News. So, howlers, is there a war on Christmas? Have you felt protective of it? Do you feel under assault every year when the Big Day rolls around?
Somehow I think that Fox News is just stirring up the folks again.
I don’t usually sing the praises of the BOCS for their guest appearances but today I will make an exception. Good for them for inviting the movers and shakers of the local Boys and Girls Club(s) to the meeting to tell us a little something about them. I never knew what they were all about. I knew that kids at Stonewall did volunteer work there. I knew that the BOCS gave them money for operational costs, I knew that the had a steak dinner to raise money. what I didn’t know was their purpose.
After the presentation, I must say, I walked away quite impressed. The Boys and Girls Club has several locations in the county and city. It sponsors after school activities and day care for latchkey kids. There are homework sessions and video games, basketball, etc.
Many of the kids that attend might be considered high risk. They are kids who perhaps don’t have a parent at home after school because that parent is working. There are staff and volunteers who take personal interest in the kids and who end up being a positive image in that child’s life.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that two anti-abortion laws recently passed by the state Legislature are unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. One of the laws would require women to have an ultrasound procedure before an abortion and hear a detailed description of the fetus, and the other would restrict the use of medication to end a pregnancy.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed legal challenges against both laws in April 2010 and October 2011, respectively, arguing that they violate the principles of medical ethics and undermine women’s ability to exercise the full range of constitutionally protected reproductive rights. The district court judge in both cases granted permanent injunctions against the two laws.
On Tuesday, following appeals by the state, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reaffirmed the lower court’s decisions that the laws are “facially unconstitutional.”
It’s hard to believe that Oklahoma might be more progressive than Virginia. Would Virginia’s new anti-abortion laws get shot down in the State Supreme Court? Between ultra-sounds and mini hospital status for abortion providers only, it seems like some court would have something to say on the constitutionality of it all, here in the Old Dominion.
ARLINGTON, Texas — NBC broadcaster Bob Costas used his halftime segment on “Sunday Night Football” to advocate for gun control following this weekend’s murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, causing an immediate debate on social media.
In a segment about 90 seconds long, Costas paraphrased and quoted extensively from a piece by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock.
After praising the column, Costas said: “In the coming days, Jovan Belcher’s actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe. If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”
Belcher shot and killed Perkins, the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, on Saturday morning, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in the parking lot of the team’s practice facility.
It seems that far too many people are now calling for Costas’ ouster. Apparently some feel that that their 2nd amendment rights are more important than Bob Costas’ 1st amendment rights. Predictably, Fox News was alive with the glimmer of hope that Costas would be fired as they baited their viewers to react. Host after host examined and discussed Costa and Jason Whitlock, who was heavily quoted by Costas, from every angle.
There is nothing prettier than the night sky when you can see it without leaf obstruction. The weather is warmer for a while this week so perhaps you can take a good look at the rapidly approaching winter sky. Orion is always beautiful this time of year.
Sequestration continues to be a particular worry for Northern Virginians. We dodged so much unemployment and don’t want it here.
Are you shopping more in stores or online? Just call me Amazon Girl.
Just when you thought nothing could be worse than No Child Left Behind (NCLB), think again. The Common Core State Standards could be worse and a whole lot worse. To date, Virginia is one of 5 states that has not adopted the Common Core State Standards: Nebraska, Alaska, Minnesota, Texas and Virginia. That’s a scary group to be grouped with but in this case, I think it might just be a good thing.
According to the Washington Post:
As states across the country implement broad changes in curriculum from kindergarten through high school, English teachers worry that they will have to replace the dog-eared novels they love with historical documents and nonfiction texts.
The Common Core State Standards in English, which have been adopted in 46 states and the District, call for public schools to ramp up nonfiction so that by 12th grade students will be reading mostly “informational text” instead of fictional literature. But as teachers excise poetry and classic works of fiction from their classrooms, those who designed the guidelines say it appears that educators have misunderstood them.
Proponents of the new standards, including the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, say U.S. students have suffered from a diet of easy reading and lack the ability to digest complex nonfiction, including studies, reports and primary documents. That has left too many students unprepared for the rigors of college and demands of the workplace, experts say.
