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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
I just saw that Phil already noted this. Missed it amongst all the gay Soldiers....
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373
Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373 |
Missed it amongst all the gay Soldiers.... Lucky you!  Know any stocky, hairy, Marines?  Consider it my bday gift NW P.  (The Ollie North from the 80s type wold be good; although the 'grunt' type of Marine would be fun too )
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
I have a friend who is a stocky, hairy, ex-marine (and current Army officer), who as a bonus also happens to be a body-builder type, but ...I am afraid that he would not be "approachable" in that regard, at least not safely. Sorry, my friend. And I would so like to provide you with a(n in)decent birthday present.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
This is a watershed development - Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners: report: WASHINGTON (AFP) — In a policy shift, the US State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said the shift was spelled out in an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian foreign service officers.
Clinton said the policy change addressed an inequity in the treatment of domestic partners and would help the State Department recruit diplomats, since many international employers already offered such benefits, the report said.
"Like all families, our foreign service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad," Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.
"At bottom," the paper quotes Clinton as saying, "the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do." Also, State Dept. Plan Would Extend Benefits to Same Sex Partners - WaPo; Google News collection
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
And the beat goes on... Lawmakers: Census Should Include Gay Couples U.S. representatives Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, and Jared Polis of Colorado along with 48 other congressional members sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag asking that the 2010 Census count same-sex married couples rather than altering their status.
Last year, the Bush administration -- citing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions -- announced that lawfully married same-sex couples who marked “married” on their census forms would have their status changed to “unmarried partners” in the final count. Now, congressional members are calling on Orszag to reverse course.
“We are deeply concerned about the implications of this policy for same-sex couples and for the integrity of the Census as a whole and firmly believe the [Census] Bureau’s primary objective should be to collect data and report it, not collect data and alter it,” the members said in their letter. and Roberts: Gay Family Values Why minds are changing on same-sex marriage
A young gay couple we know desperately wants a child of their own, so they are scrimping and saving to pay for a surrogate mother. They figure the process will take five years and many thousands of dollars, but they are committed to parenthood.
A lesbian acquaintance is preparing to marry her longtime partner back home in Massachusetts, which has sanctioned gay marriage for years. Her talk about dresses and honeymoons sounds just as excited, and apprehensive, as any other bride we've ever met.
As a dear friend lay dying, her son's boyfriend took on the task of changing her IV tubes. At our grandson's Little League games, one teammate's "two dads" show up regularly and cheer him on. A colleague retired recently to Seattle, where she could baby-sit for her only grandchild, the biological son of her daughter's partner.
Are these families threatening the moral order? Are they diminishing the sanctity of marriage? Are saving money and buying wedding dresses and cheering at Little League games acts of rebellion against established social norms?
Of course not. In fact, they are exactly the opposite. These same-sex couples are sharing and strengthening the "family values" that conservatives profess to defend when they oppose gay marriage - constancy, stability and a belief in the promises they make to each other and their children.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
Other than my sense of right, wrong, and justice, I have no personal stake in the decision of the California State Supreme Court tomorrow - I'm not gay, I'm not in California, I'm already legally married - yet, I am terribly anxious for the result because it will say so much about where we are as a nation, and where we are going. I was nearly as nervous in November as I watched the election results and was amazed at how quickly it was over, and how profoundly our nation changed as a result. This decision, while geographically smaller in application, has significant import as well, because it will set the tone. Prop 8 could be the high-water mark for the anti-marriage process, if the Court strikes it down - because I think it unlikely that the results of a subsequent election would come out the same way ever again in California. It would indicate that the principles of fairness and equality are making a comeback. If, on the other hand, the California Supreme Court upholds Prop 8, it will mean turbulent times indeed ahead. Even though I see a marriage equality amendment in the offing, which I think is likely to pass, and even though it may be overshadowed by electoral victories in the "New" States (New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey), it would embolden the anti-gay crowd, slow the momentum, and provide a method of attack for the forces of inequality. That, to me, is as dangerous a trend for the American values I believe in as the Bush administration's assault on the Constitution. So... I, like millions of others who have an interest, and thousands of California Couples Await Gay Marriage Ruling . In less than 24 hours I will have a clearer picture of what kind of country I live in,
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,630 Likes: 28
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,630 Likes: 28 |
Other than my sense of right, wrong, and justice, I have no personal stake in the decision of the California State Supreme Court tomorrow - I'm not gay, I'm not in California, I'm already legally married - yet, I am terribly anxious for the result because it will say so much about where we are as a nation, and where we are going. Yes. Good comments NWP. Thank you.
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850 |
If the court upholds Prop 8 then the next major ballot initiative should be one to amend the state's constitution to a) repeal Prop 8 and b) require a supermajority for all future amendments to the constitution. Else, the wingnuts will start amending the California constitution willy nilly.
"The white men were as thick and numerous and aimless as grasshoppers, moving always in a hurry but never seeming to get to whatever place it was they were going to." Dee Brown
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
Proposition 8 was just the latest wingnut, willy-nilly amendment of the California Constitution since the ability to Amend by initiative was added in 1911.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
One step forward... Colo. Governor Signs Partner Benefits Bill One step back... (Nevada) Gibbons vetoes domestic partner bill Ironically... or predictably, Gibbons is the twice-divorced Governor who has been in trouble for "the 860 text messages he sent in one month to the wife of a Reno doctor" and "the election-season sexual assault allegation of a woman in a parking garage after they were both drinking in October 2006." Big Man on values, that... Nevada Ready to Support Domestic Partner Equality, But Twice-Divorced Governor Stands in the Way.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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