Marshall Compares Stem Cell Research to Nazi War Criminals

MoonHowler

Since when was ‘human life begins at conception’ implanted into the Virginia curriculum? Didn’t see that one coming.

More to the point, Bob ‘Sideshow’ Marshall is shown comparing scientists who conduct and study stem cell research to Nazi war criminals during WWII. Bobby, that is just too cultural warrior for the floor of the General Assembly. No, he didn’t say the words but he painted the picture. You might want to ask your local, state and national legislators if they support Sideshow’s proposed ban on stem cell research.

Stem Cell Information from NIH

Huck rips Natalie Portman over pregnancy

MoonHowler

Politico:

Mike Huckabee laced into Oscar winner Natalie Portman for her “out-of-wedlock” pregnancy, saying the expecting star is helping to “glamorize” single motherhood.

Huckabee made the comments on conservative commentator Michael Medved’s radio show this week, after Portman accepted her golden trophy and in her speech thanked her fiance, Benjamin Millepied, for giving her “my most important role of my life.”

Medved led the way on the question, saying the “most wonderful gift” Millepied could have given the diminutive Black Swan star “would be a wedding ring! And it just seems to me that sending that kind of message is problematic.”

 

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Mike Pence’s War on Planned Parenthood

MoonHowler

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence has declared a personal war on Planned Parenthood in hopes of ending abortion.  For the past three legislative sessions,  he has  targeted Planned Parenthood by introducing legislation that would deny Title X funds to any organization providing abortions.  According to Politico:

This week, Pence went even further, introducing an amendment to the continuing resolution that would strip Planned Parenthood — and Planned Parenthood alone — of all federal funding.

Pence’s latest maneuver comes at an inopportune time for many in the Republican Party.

Some GOP leaders — including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels — have urged their party to downplay hot-button social issues in order to win over moderate voters ahead of the 2012 presidential race. Others, like House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), have said House Republicans must focus on creating jobs and cutting spending.

Rep. Pence remains the darling of social conservatives. Many supported him for the presidential race in 2012, despite the fact he has said he will not run. Pence has not ruled out the possibility of running for Indiana governor.

Alert!  Update: 

Minutes ago, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar Planned Parenthood from all federal funding for any purpose whatsoever. That means no funding to Planned Parenthood health centers for birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other essential care.

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Conservative Groups Boycott CPAC

MoonHowler

ABC News:

Several conservative groups and individuals plan to boycott the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which takes place later this month  (Feb. 10-12)  in Washington, DC.  Why are the groups boycotting and who are they?

From speakers like Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to panels on “How Political Correctness is Harming America’s Military” and “Reagan at 100: Role Model for the Next Generation,” the agenda for the three-day gathering is chock full of personalities and events designed to fire up the conservative base.

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Parent 1 and Parent 2

MoonHowler

 

Let the foolishness begin.  Now we  don’t have mothers and fathers.  I still haven’t recovered from the girl winning damages about 20 years ago for being called a water buffalo.  Now we have this, and out of the State Department no less!

According to the Washington Post:

The State Department has decided to make U.S. passport application forms “gender neutral” by removing references to mother and father, officials said, in favor of language that describes one’s parentage somewhat less tenderly.

The change is “in recognition of different types of families,” according to a statement issued just before Christmas that drew widespread attention Friday after a Fox News report.

The announcement of the change was buried at the end of a Dec. 22 news release, titled “Consular Report of Birth Abroad Certificate Improvements,” that highlighted unrelated security changes.

I don’t care if gay people adopt children or have children by whatever means that happens.  But, I am not willing to become parent 1 or parent 2 for the sake of a situation that  rarely occurs.  As far as I am concerned, the gay parents can just flip over who gets to be the mom and who gets to be the dad.  

 

 

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Marshall Explains his Opposition to Gays in the Guard

MoonHowler

Does Marshall think that there are not gays in the military now? Why is serving in the military all about sodomy, AIDs, and all the other things he fears?

Lowell on Blue Virginia covers this story well. I am too speechless, even after all these years of Side-Show Bob.  His homophobia is only surpassed by his ignorance on the topic of homosexuality.

Marshall’s ‘Luv Canals’ Don’t extend to Gays in the National Guard

MoonHowler

Give it a rest, Side-Show Bob.  Del. Marshall must think Virginia won the Civil War and that the Old Dominion is not part of the United States. 

It seems that Marshall wants gays banned from the Virginia National Guard.  He says history is on his side.  According to the News and Messenger:

Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, said he will introduce legislation in the 2011 General Assembly that would prevent gays from serving openly in the Virginia National Guard.

He said he has history on his side.

According to numerous Internet sources, Lt.  Gotthold Frederick Enslin was drummed out of the Continental Army on sodomy charges in 1778.

“The policy started with George Washington. This is not something that’s brand new, but the press has largely ignored it because they don’t read history,” Marshall said.

Policies restricting gays from serving in the military have been in place since Lt. Enslin was dismissed.

Marshall said the recent repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy — put in place by President Bill Clinton — was simply President Barack Obama’s appeasement of the left wing of the Democratic party.

Perhaps Marshall would like to see what the Log Cabin Republicans have to say about all this?  Were they against repeal of DADT?  Marshall’s logic is flawed.  George Washington’s family owned slaves also.  Much has changed since Washington’s day.  Hell, they even let the little woman vote nowadays. 

Marshall droned on:

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The Gretch Who Saved the War on Christmas

MoonHowler

Christmas is a goner. Just ask Gretchen the Grinch. Jon Stewart brings reality back. He reminds us all that Christmas survived the Rome Empire.  Totally great cartoon. 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The Gretch Who Saved the War on Christmas
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook

 

Does it matter that cards we receive say Seasons Greetings?  Does it matter that sales clerks we don’t know tell us to have a great holiday instead of Merry Christmas?   Is it something to be paranoid over?  Is there really a war on Christmas? 

Media Matters: The Empire fights Back

MoonHowler

The Washington Post:

“Misinformation is dangerous when it metastasizes,” Rabin-Havt says. “Fox is going to lie with impunity. Rush Limbaugh is going to lie. The problem is when a story jumps from Fox News to CNN or the New York Times or The Washington Post. Our job is the head these things off at the pass.”

Rabin-Havt is the Vice President of Media Matters.  The CEO, David Brock, was a conservative before he was a liberal.

Media Matters is the watch dog group that loves to hate Fox News. . 

Fighting Fox is what Media Matters does, relentlessly and obsessively. In the six years since its founding, the watchdog group has evolved from an all-purpose scourge of the conservative media into Fox News Channel’s veritable shadow and constant irritant. From well before sunrise to long after it each day, teams of young researchers sift through video clips and transcripts of programs hosted by Fox stars such as Glenn Beckand Bill O’Reilly to find dubious facts, logical contradictions and poisonous – at least to Media Matters’ liberal sensibilities – rhetoric.

Brock further explains:

The dogged pursuit of Fox, says Media Matters’ founder David Brock, reflects not just the cable network’s popularity among conservatives but its power to set, and perhaps distort, the political agenda. Brock and his staff say they regard Fox as something more than just the televised equivalent of talk radio; they describe it as a de facto political operation, with a leading role in disseminating conservative messages, supporting conservative candidates and mobilizing voters.

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Manassas City Council: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

MoonHowler

Today is the Fall Festival in Old Town Manassas.  It is an annual event that brings tourists into the heart of the City from all over the surrounding area.  It is a day for the City to show off what a cool place it is and also a day for the merchants to bring in the bucks. 

Bringing in the bucks is never a bad thing, especially in this economy.  Many local shop keepers in the City and PWC have been hit hard by the recession and some have had to close their doors, as is evidenced by empty stores in and around the area.  I hope that today is a great day for those merchants in Old Town.  The weather is fabulous and it more or less defines what an October day should be like.  Hopefully no one’s political agenda will mar the event.

The Manassas City Council has been placed in a position by residents and non residents that really leaves them between a rock and a hard place.  For the most part, the council members are nice people who run for election, don’t get paid much for serving, and who are giving  their time to make their small city and community a better place.  They turn out for events and keep the public informed.  The thing I have noticed the most about them is their unwavering dedication to the City and its residents and their never-ending championing of their home turf.  This is a good thing and the good people of the City of Manassas have elected some mighty fine representatives. 

During the past month, these council members have gotten crushed in a political debate that really has gone too far.  It all started when someone noticed the store front window of KK Temptations, a soon-to-be adult boutique.  The alarm was sounded and local “anti- porn” groups sprung to life.   Several local delegates got involved and so did this blog.  We supported the right of KK Temptations to exist, especially since there were already other stores with similar content within the City limits.  Furthermore, KK Temptations had been approved for business according to City regulations. 

The City Council got to sit through what can only be described as a marathon citizens’ time.  Meanwhile, they got bombarded with requests to regulate the long standing women’s clinic that is an abortion provider.  The Religious Right was on a real roll.  No one wants to look like they like pornography.  Delegate Miller did the Council no favors coming into their bailiwick and stirring the pot.  He immediately defined the store as a “porno store.”  That set the tone and allowed all reasonable and logical discussion to be overruled by a name. 

To cause such a stink over location paints the City, and continues to paint the City as elitist.   No one worried at all that MVC is a block over from the library, Parkside or Kindercare or that Fashion Fantasy is right there on route 28 for all to see as they enter the City from that approach.  Some of those stores have been there for decades.  However, because of the way KK Temptations was defined, the City Council has been placed in the position of spending money that they probably don’t have to handle something, that in all probability, won’t be a problem. 

No elected official wants to appear to support pornography aka obscenities.  Doing so can be a real deal breaker come election day.  They also don’t want to be seen as being old fogies, so they walk a tight rope.  The can-can girls perform in Harris Pavilion and the mothers’ march on a legitimate business goes on up the street.  The Council walks a tight rope and hopes that none of the warring factions drops another lawsuit on their desk. 

I nominate the Manssas City Council for the ‘I wouldn’t want to be them’ award.  They have been put in the position that many PWC supervisors found themselves in in 2007 over immigration–between a rock and a hard place. 

 

Old Town Merchants pt 2

MoonHowler

Let’s see if this second post on the subject brings out the wrath of the christian right [lower case intentional]  like the first one did.  If that happens, we can always rename the thread “Greg Letiecq fights pornography with pornography.”  But I digress…..

News & Messenger  reporter Keith Walker has up-to-date coverage of the latest plan for the City of Manassas during Fall Festival, which is one of the city’s biggest events.  About 50 people are expected to gather in protest at City Hall sometime during the Fall Festival. 

Apparently the plan to coerce merchants into closing their doors between noon and 1 pm didn’t pan out.  I know of 1 merchant who ran off the visitor who came to garner support for her cause.  Picture a restaurant owner telling everyone to stop eating and to get up and leave right at noon.  Sort of makes one chuckle, if some idealistic person didn’t take it seriously.  What shopkeeper closes down during the busiest time of the biggest sale day of the year?

The leader of this pack was quoted in the News and Messenger:

MANASSAS, Va. —

Jennifer Basinger said she’s expecting about 50 people to show up at Manassas City Hall on Saturday to rally against an adult store set to open Oct. 20 on Battle Street in Old Town.

She said KK’s Temptations won’t fit in with the historic nature of the area.

“The shop I feel — and many do — is just not consistent with what Old Town is about,” Basinger said.

However, she doesn’t have anything against Kim and Kristina Skokan, the mother-and-daughter team who plan to open the store.

“It’s not a personal vendetta against the owner. It’s not an ugly, self-righteous march at all,” the 39-year-old Basinger said. “It’s really just wanting to keep Old Town the way it is.”
Basinger said the group will restrict itself to the area around City Hall between noon and 2 p.m. to avoid disrupting the Fall Jubilee that is also taking place Saturday.

“It’s peaceful. It’s non-confrontational. It’s not meant to take any thunder away from the fall festival,” she said. “It’s not going to be a bunch of people marching into Old Town.”

Reality check!  I saw an email or 2 and I don’t think you say some of that stuff to someone you don’t have a vendetta against.  Perhaps I just have different values.   Ms. Basinger needs to be more honest and forthright about that one. 

Another reality check involves the image you want to create for your city.  Do you want to stage a protest of any sort on your biggest tourism day of the year?  Why not just bring Mr. Fernandez back with a few native Americans to parade around.  I am sure he would be glad to accommodate.  Anything to embarrass the City.  How is this different?  At least if Mr. F paraded around with Native Americans you could tell the guests coming in from other areas that it was just the Tea Party, getting ready to dump a few barrels of tea overboard. 

Furthermore, what is it that these people want the City of Manassas to do?  The City  has caved in to every demand.  Many people I know are so disgusted with the City for acquiescing to this group of christian conservatives  [lower case intentional] that they are simply not going to spend money in the City.  In trying to please everyone, you please no one. 

Most of the City Councilpersons are nice people who take their elected position seriously.  They try to represent their constituents, rather than advance their own agendas.  What I don’t think they realize is that many people find KK Temptations a welcome addition to the City.  It breaks up the ho hum and the restaurants.  An even bigger number don’t care one way or the other. 

Kim Skokan and her daughter have postponed their grand opening out of deference to the City merchants who will be their new neighbors.  They didn’t want to draw attention away from a big sales day. They have dotted every i and crossed every t.  Perhaps they, too, have been just a little too accommodating to those who are all about control and bullying.  (and elections)

 

Manassas Old Town Merchants Asked to Close up Shop for an Hour

MoonHowler

It has come to our attention that the merchants of  Old Town Manassas are being asked by the anti-KK zealots to close up shop for 1 hour during the middle of Fall Festival, between 12:00 and 1:00 pm.  Are they nuts? 

Fall Festival and the other events held in the City are to promote fun, highlight the city, and bring in folks to spend money in the City of Manassas.  Localities all over America do this and each place tries to add its own unique touch to an event; something that makes the festival special. 

What kind of a self-serving, narcissistic, selfish person would ask merchants in this economic crunch to turn away potential business for an hour?  Why?  Are they going to pay each merchant their lost revenue?  Are they going to replace the BPOL tax loss for the  City?  Are they going to replace the sales tax to the state?  Are they going to pay the salaries of the worker bees who might get put on unpaid ‘break’ for an hour? 

Do these people think that the average shopper coming from outside Old Town Manassas gives a fig about KK Temptations, which by the way,  isn’t even open for business yet?   The Moonhowlings roving reporters will be taking note of which businesses were bullied into closing.  We will publish those names.  Our readers and contributors may handle the situation as they feel best. 

[Clarification:  People may chose to spend their money in establishments opposing KK Temptations or instead they may choose to withhold their money from said establishments.]

One has to ask what on earth these people are trying to do to the City.  This proposed behavior is illogical.  What people boycott themselves?  The object of the boycott won’t even be open for business. 

Knowledge is power.  This boycott is all about bullying and power.  Some of us will not allow ourselves to be bullied.

Elena

Moon-howler

Banned Books Week (BBW) Sept. 25-Oct. 2

MoonHowler

From the American Library Association:

Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

— On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

 

Banned Books Week began back in 1982.  It is always designated as the last week in September.  It is the only national celebration of  the freedom to read what we want.  More than a thousand challenges from every state have come in since 1982. 

 The following list is the top 100 banned or challenged classics:

 

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Ye Olde City Council …Caves

MoonHowler

It sounds like Ye Olde City Council is going to cave in to the pompous prudes of purity in their quest to extinguish all erotica in the City of Manassas. The pitch forks have been sharpened and the torches lit.  

According to the News & Messenger:

After a  closed session Monday night, the Manassas City Council unanimously passed a resolution aimed at regulating sexually-oriented businesses in the city.

City officials say the resolution will allow officials to keep future sexually-oriented businesses — dubbed SOBs in the paperwork — away from schools, churches, day care centers, playgrounds, youth activity centers and libraries.

The resolution also allows the council to hire outside lawyers to provide a “second opinion” on the validity of existing permits for such businesses. The action will costed [sic] an estimated $71,000.

The action comes in the wake of an uproar over a mother-and-daughter plan to open KK’s Temptations, an adult boutique, in Old Town next month.

 

It sounds like the Salem Witch Trials have begun.  It might be cheaper for Ye Olde City Council to built a dunking pond over on ye Olde Museum Property.  If it floats, it might be erotica. 

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“Kids [Teenagers] are Not Dogs in Heat”

MoonHowler

Well, is Christine O’Donnell sure about that? I have sure seen some doggie teenagers.

From the Huffiington Post:

It all went down on a 2003 episode of “Scarborough Country,” which was “Morning Joe” before Mika and the Starbucks sponsorship, when the dude who hosted “The Grind” on MTV would just show up wearing a T-shirt and just start straight up opining at Joe Scarborough! It was a wild, more unrestrained time in American life, and Christine O’Donnell had a dream of throwing a wet towel on the whole thing

:

O’Donnell certainly has lofty ambitions. Is O’Donnell able to distinguish between kids who might listen to her and kids who aren’t? Does she realize that perhaps there needs to be more than one message? Tea Party People might want to consider getting a realist to represent them for a Senator from Delaware.

I wonder if she is now making the same claim now she’s a woman in her 40’s?