Prop 8 overturned: Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down in California

"Although Proposition 8 fails to possess even a rational basis, the evidence presented at trial shows that gays and lesbians are the type of minority strict scrutiny was designed to protect," Walker ruled.

Woot!!

The judgment was the first offered by a federal court with respect to laws banning gay marriage at the state level and it promises to have massive reverberations across the political and judicial landscape. The decision is expected to now head to the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court (also based in San Francisco) for appeal and from there to the Supreme Court.

Woo HOO!

It does not appear that Walker allowed for an immediate hold on his decision, which means that the defense must seek one from a higher court. Until then, gay couples could be legally allowed to marry in the state of California.

Take that you silly Mormons! I wish you were getting out of San Diego, but since I see you are doing construction work on that hideous thing off of I-5, maybe you won't have as much money to fight what has been proven to be unlawful in California. AGAIN.

And it looks like it just might still be ok if it goes to the Supreme Court:

But gay rights activists may have been too pessimistic about the current Supreme Court. It's true that the Roberts Court is conservative and that several Justices are unlikely to be open-minded about same-sex marriage, including the four most right-leaning Justices: Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito. On the other side of the bench, there are four Justices likely to be favorable to Olson and Boies's argument that the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples violates the Constitution: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan (assuming she is confirmed).

As usual in the Supreme Court these days, the swing vote belongs to Anthony Kennedy. And there are several reasons to believe that Kennedy, though conservative on many issues, will vote with the liberals on this one. The Supreme Court has issued two major decisions dealing with gay rights over the past 15 years. Both decisions came out strongly in favor of gay rights -- and both were written by Justice Kennedy.

Tomgram: Bill McKibben, A Wilted Senate on a Heating Planet

We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More
Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming
By Bill McKibben

* Nine nations have so far set their all-time temperature records in 2010, including Russia (111 degrees), Niger (118), Sudan (121), Saudi Arabia and Iraq (126 apiece), and Pakistan, which also set the new all-time Asia record in May: a hair under 130 degrees. I can turn my oven to 130 degrees.

4 Ingredients to a Climate and Energy Bill

religion sucks #22

Well, Ann Rice thinks so, and here is why

When heroes get religion
Jessica Reed
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 12.06 BST


"... but last week's announcement that Anne Rice was to "quit being a Christian" while remaining committed to Christ made me smile. Rice made the annoucement on Facebook:

"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen"...

Good on you Ann :)

Project Vigilant and the government/corporate destruction of privacy

MONDAY, AUG 2, 2010 08:03 ET
BY GLENN GREENWALD


"...Uber is the Executive Director of a highly secretive group called Project Vigilant, which, as Greenberg writes, "monitors the traffic of 12 regional Internet service providers" and "hands much of that information to federal agencies..."

Gee, ya think?

Mexico at War WaPo's coverage of the drugs wars in Mexico.

Obama: Patchwork immigration policy unacceptable
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 AP

Gah.

They are fleeing economic hardship that our fiscal policies helped create on top of a country run by vicious, murdering drugs cartels that kill each other and anyone who gets in their way with guns that came from this country, in order to control a drugs trade that we support by using drugs and having a retarded justice system that makes some rich investors in it richer, and creates hopelessness in the prisoners because they never get a real chance for drugs or vocational rehab, and then we pour money into a corrupt government over there to fight the War on Drugs and we wonder why we have a gazillion people crossing into our country illegally?

Hmmm, was that a run on sentence?

In Mexico's Nuevo Laredo, drug cartels dictate media coverage
By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 2, 2010

Reporters without Borders coverage of Mexico

Arizona was once tolerant of illegal immigrants. What happened?Analysts suggest it was a perfect storm of demographic shifts, a scary criminal element, the recession and a new governor.

What the fuck took the LA Times so long to figure it out? Ahh, hmm, could be the estimate of almost a million illegal immigrants in LA County alone?

No wait, it's the LA Times, the paper that never criticizes anything that the Israeli government does, and never reports on the effect of Israeli settlements or their expansion.

Here I go again, on immigration

Does this dorkwad thinks he's actually doing something good for the cause? I actually find humor in that. Did he forget what country he's in?

Here are some thoughtful and short posts on immigration.

A look inside the government’s deportation flights
By Associated Press | Sunday, August 1, 2010

"..Most of those aboard the flight came to authorities’ attention after being convicted of a crime in the U.S. One was convicted of murder, 16 for assault, 11 for driving under the influence, nine for drug charges and six for theft. Another six had no criminal background..."

Honestly, I am not sure what the deal is with the 6 with no criminal convictions. Perhaps real immigration reform would help people like that in the future.

Bay Area protests put focus on immigration policies

By Matt O'Brien
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 07/29/2010 04:17:05 PM PDT
Updated: 07/30/2010 12:15:57 PM PDT

"..The program has identified more than 4,000 immigrants with criminal records in Bay Area jails this year, and many of those immigrants were then handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to government records..."

Immigration memo sparks controversy U.S. officials consider ways to allow some illegal migrants to stay through administrative actions. Republicans see it as proof that Obama is aiming to bypass Congress with a 'de facto amnesty.'

Don't think I don't understand why people risk life and limb for a chance at a better life than the one where they come from. My neighbor told me that at her citizenship confirmation there were people from 80 countries there. I was usually in the minority on most of my jobs, I worked with immigrants from all over the world, and I have heard some stories that would curl your hair from some of my co-workers.

Don't think that I don't understand that the "War on Drugs" and Nafta and Cafta and our corrupt politicians cozying up to corrupt Latin American politicians is good for anybody except big business and (at the very least morally) corrupt politicians.

And oh, yeah, Americans and their drug habits. Are we really so insulated from the truth that 25,000 Mexican people have been slaughtered? Gee, might that have actually increased the amount of people fleeing north to escape from Mexico? Could just be that Mexico is a corrupt shit-hole also. Could be that a few rich control everything in Mexico and the US policies have control over the economy through this tiny minority of the population there.

Mexico now gets more of its revenue from drugs than it does selling us oil, and they are our number two supplier of oil. You think Mexicans know Cantarell is in decline?

Productive day

Discovered that I don't need the kindergarten Mac class, asked for more assistance, got that AND some money back and then came home and made up 11 ziploc bags with 6-8 beef rolled tacos in each one. By the time I was done with these I was hungry and wanted...

Greek salad, so I made that and ate.

Last night the sky was pretty. Too pretty not to share.

I don't like 'em

Hmm, look what shows up one day after the report of the protest:
NEWS | JULY 31, 2010 | 15 COMMENTS

Mexican Drug Cartel Offers $1M Bounty for AZ Sheriff’s Head


The law was de-fanged and de-clawed, but that doesn't matter to these people. They don't believe in borders. At all.

stupid criminal tricks

Friday, July 30, 2010
Inmate sues man he's convicted of burglarizing

AZ ruling just intensifies my mixed feelings

Phoenix shootout leaves 1 officer, 2 suspects dead

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Chandler officer’s death marks the third on-duty death of a Valley police officer this year.

Those are the kind of stories that prompt some people to mess with the Arizona flag, and others to embrace that imaginary flag.


Well that and not being able to get assistance in a store because the clerks were busy bullshitting in Spanish. That I experienced shopping in Phoenix with my mother. Since both of us have more than brief experience working as retail clerks we know what is reasonable and what is unreasonable to expect from retail clerks and we were patient, and then resolved to never shop there again. This wasn't an isolated incident and who knows, maybe some hispanics were already touchy about their experiences with white racists. I've dealt with that before. When an historically oppressed minority gets a little bit of power stuff happens, it's human nature. I'm only saying that it's more than just crime stories on the news that have prompted some people's anger in AZ. I know the crime stats are down.

Immigration ruling could send message to states

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press WriterThursday, July 29, 2010

Arizona preparing appeal of immigration ruling
By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press WriterThursday, July 29, 2010

"...Arizona is the nation's epicenter of illegal immigration, with more than 400,000 undocumented residents. The state's border with Mexico is awash with smugglers and drugs that funnel narcotics and immigrants throughout the U.S., and the influx of illegal migrants drains vast sums of money from hospitals, education and other services...

..Arizona argues that the federal government has failed to secure the border, and that it has a right to take matters into its own hands...

Although I do understand the frustration of Arizonans, because it was the crackdown on immigration in San Diego that pushed the illegals east into the desert, ("...An estimated 10.8 million people, about 26 percent of the state's population, are living illegally in California, compared with 460,000, about 12 percent, in Arizona..." ) frankly I agree with the new ruling by Judge Bolton in that the burdens for legal immigrants are onerous. The burdens are also onerous for law enforcement, although I wonder if career criminals who happen to be undocumented might be encouraged to find another line of work after a long stint in a Mexican jail. Probably not, because law enforcement in Mexico has been known to cooperate with the cartels.

None of this excuses Americans and their drug habits. If there were no market for illegal drugs in the US, then Mexico wouldn't have drug revenues that exceeded oil revenues. And it ain't just Mexico we're talking about here.

29 July 2010 Last updated at 20:37 ETGuatemala tries Mexican massacre suspects
Guatemalan security forces are increasingly battling Mexican gangs
The trial has opened in Guatemala of 14 alleged members of the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas.

I pretty much agree with this guy. This is who benefits from the war on drugs. I didn't initially think of terrorist groups althoughI have blogged about it before. I just don't generally think of South American drugs gangs as terrorists, although some might disagree with me there.

The radical reactions from the right and the left are not helping Arizona deal with what really is a problem.


UPDATED ON:
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010
07:57 MECCA TIME, 04:57 GMT Top Mexico drug lord killed
'King of Crystal'
Coronel, who has been indicted in the US, was said by officials to have been the number three leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, which is active in northwestern Mexico.

War sucks...updated

House approves $37 billion war-funding bill

Thank God for Jon Stewart. He just has a way of making those of us who know the wars are completely absurd, and only good for making rich people richer, laugh about the whole thing.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Best Leak Ever
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Fallen Soldiers' Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit
By David Evans - Jul 28, 2010 7:00 AM PDT

Costa Rican Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Entry of US Military
Civil Society Is Organizing to Maintain the Country’s Status as a Nation Without Armed Forces
By Jamie Way
Special to the Narco News Bulletin
July 28, 2010

Dude looks like a... mess

Remember David H Brooks, the war profiteer?

Well, some interesting things have come up at his trial.

"...DHB, which specialized in making body armor used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, paid for more than $6 million in personal expenses on behalf of Mr. Brooks, covering items as expensive as luxury cars and as prosaic as party invitations, Ms. Schlegel testified.

Also included were university textbooks for his daughter, pornographic videos for his son, plastic surgery for his wife, a burial plot for his mother, prostitutes for his employees, and, for him, a $100,000 American-flag belt buckle encrusted with rubies, sapphires and diamonds.

The expense-account abuse, the prosecution has said, represented a pittance compared with the $190 million that Mr. Brooks and another top employee are accused of making through a stock fraud scheme in which he falsified information about his company’s performance — including significantly overstating the inventory of bulletproof vests — to inflate the price of the stock before selling his shares in 2004...

..Mr. Brooks, who had previously been fined by the S.E.C. for insider trading, also denied having participated in a scheme to push up the price of the stock...

..He may also face additional charges stemming from an episode last week when he was caught for a second time trying to smuggle into jail prescription anti-anxiety pills, which were similar to medication he was already taking at an unusually high dose. The pills had been hidden in pens that a supporter of Mr. Brooks’s had placed near the defendant’s seat in the courtroom...."

Bwaaahahahahahahahahaha.

got a postcard

Papou always remembers us when he visits the old country. He mentioned enjoying the fresh bread. I could be mistaken, but I'd wager it's this stuff that he's eating.

They don't tolerate the preservative laden, plastic wrapped crap we call bread here in most countries. If it's fresh, I'll try just about any bread, but I prefer whole wheat. Hell, I read an article a while ago that mentioned the bleach they use in white flour can cause diabetes. Blech.

Columbia Journalism Review on the Afghan war wikileaks

Campaign Desk — July 26, 2010 03:18 PM

The Assange Leaks

What’s new about the WikiLeaks data?

By Joshua Foust
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has compared his organization’s latest leak of almost 92,000 U.S. military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan to “opening the Stasi archives” in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He also compared the leak to Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers....


..Did we know the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service, was supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan?

Fucking DUH!

Some articles just make me smile

Confiscated weapons to be melted into rebar
July 26, 2010 | 10:40 am Los Angeles Times
Weapons were on display Monday at Los Angeles County Sheriff's headquarters, where Sheriff Lee Baca announced the destruction of more than 8,300 weapons confiscated from criminals in Los Angeles County. The guns will be converted Tuesday morning into steel rebar as part of "Project Isaiah." Tamco Steel donates its furnace, equipment and personnel to convert the weapons into rebar, and will allocate the steel from the melted weapons to be used forupgrades to freeways and bridges in California, Nevada and Arizona.

Photo credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Time

Arizona Immigration Law Came After Years Of Mounting Anger

.
I have heard someone I know and care about who is actually pretty liberal complain about the crime in Phoenix for 20 years. They just recently moved out to avoid it. Yes, people who deal with the problems of illegal immigration have a right to be angry. Wow, can't wait to be attacked for echoing the sentiments of someone who ACTUALLY LIVED WITH IT AND DEALT WITH IT FOR 20 YEARS.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Update Jul 25, 8pm -- Yup, 4 attackers so far...and um... 5 favorited on the comment and a new fan. Oh Jeez, they will probably drop off when they realize that I actually am liberal in most respects. I may sound like a raving right winger when it comes to illegal immigration, but I want the immigration system reformed. The system doesn't work now, not for anyone (except Big Ag) and certainly not for people trying to escape the corrupt oligarchy that is Mexico.

Oh Holy Gawd this guy is funny

For those of you who are not familiar with Johnny Virgil over at 15 Minute Lunch go, he's hilarious, here's a sample of what he does so well:

" This is your ass on drugs "

Bookmark his site, he just might make a really crappy day better. He did that for me today.

Should Shirley Sherrod sue Andrew Breitbart and Fox News?

	Should Shirley Sherrod Sue Andrew Breitbart and Fox News?
	By JOHN W. DEAN
	Friday, July 9, 2010

Dean says:

"...Frankly, if I found myself in Shirley Sherrod's situation, I would file a lawsuit next week. But I could represent myself in court, and would take delight in going after a jackass like Breitbart, not to mention Fox News, to expose what they are doing. For me, the reward would be holding them accountable for even nominal damages and making their lives miserable.

There is little doubt that such a legal action could proceed beyond any initial motions seeking immediate dismissal. And after that crucial threshold, I would have subpoena power and the ability to question those involved under oath. This would make it possible to fully uncover how this fraud was actually perpetrated. While I might enjoy doing this, I cannot recommend that anyone without legal training and litigation experience get into what might nicely be described as a brawl with skunks..."

Hmmm. Isn't any fight with Fox news rather like a fight with skunks? Dean knows law, so if he says it's probably better for her to take another avenue that might be more beneficial for her, then it probably is.

Crap

All this headache for a printer? Useless tech support? Seriously, a 2 hour wait only to be told to call the other manufacturer? So the other manufacturer tech support calls involve 3 calls and 3 times they hung up on me. This is after two days worth of trying to use the support websites. Why is it that no matter what the problem might be, it's blamed on the other manufacturer?

Retired Top Cops Slam Arguments Against Legalizing Pot

"...In an exclusive interview, the former police chief of San Jose and the former deputy police chief of Los Angeles County — both members of LEAP — took to task those favoring continued prohibition, insisting that both Sen. Feinstein and MADD level an “emotional, unreasoned” argument for keeping pot illegal....

...The main thrust of their argument is that due to the ballot initiative’s wording, officers or other public officials would not be able to take preemptive action against stoned drivers: they’d have to wait for accidents to happen. Much of the argument focuses on school bus drivers, and how they could be permitted to ingest marijuana and transport children, leaving the hands of authority bound until someone got hurt..."

Hmmm, never thought of that, stoned drivers...

OMFG, could they possibly be worse than the assholes out there that are on meth, or hopped up on testosterone or just plain stressed out????? I betcha a lotta fuel gets saved by stoners, and wasted by tweakers. I don't even like pot and I think that it's retarded that it's illegal.

You know you have been messing round with computer stuff too long

when you almost Google "troubleshoot pituitary gland" when you want to look up some medical info for a friend.

Well surprise surprise

Report: Afghan, Iraq wars teaching US gang members military combat
By Daniel Tencer
Sunday, July 18th, 2010 -- 2:26 pm


Nah, please tell me I wasn't right.

Ummmm... I was right.

Three of Every Four Oil & Gas Lobbyists Worked for Federal Government

BP Hires Prison Labor to Clean Up Spill While Coastal Residents Struggle

Abe Louise Young

July 21, 2010 (The Nation)

"...Businesses earn a tax credit of $2,400 for every work release inmate they hire. On top of that, they can earn back up to 40 percent of the wages they pay annually to "target group workers."

Another dead energy bill

Lack of votes for Senate Democrats' energy bill may mean the end
By Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 23, 2010

"...Conceding that they can't find enough votes for the legislation, Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned efforts to put together a comprehensive energy bill that would seek to curb greenhouse gas emissions, delivering a potentially fatal blow to a proposal the party has long touted and President Obama campaigned on..."

"...Republicans took delight in the dispute..."

Bowing to political reality, Senate Democrats drop broad energy bill

"...It would drop the two most aggressive and controversial provisions of the energy bill that passed the House last year: a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions and nationwide mandates for renewable electricity generation.

Gee. What a surprise.

Yesterday I saw a bumper sticker that said "I'll keep my guns and my money and you can keep the change." I laughed when I saw a woman with a tight spaghetti strap top, waaaaaay too much muffin top and a baby on her hip climbing into the same adorned vehicle.

Twas obvious that she wasn't aware that change happens anyway.

DiFi sucks

LA Times / By Paul Armentano

39 COMMENTS

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Wrong-Headed Opposition to Marijuana Legalization

Prohibition has failed, yet Feinstein's arguments against Proposition 19 suggest she is comfortable with the unacceptable status quo.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein, California's senior U.S. senator, has thrown her weight behind the effort to defeat Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Initiative of 2010.

DiFi and Blum: a Marriage Marinated in Money
How Imperial San Franciscans Loot the Planet
By WILL PARRISH and DARWIN BOND-GRAHAM

"Top Secret America" Washington Post Investigation

An explosive investigative series published in the Washington Post today begins, "The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work." Among the findings: An estimated 854,000 people hold top-secret security clearances. More than 1,200 government organizations and nearly 2,000 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in 10,000 locations. We speak with one of the co-authors of the series, Bill Arkin.

Everybody is blogging about about this. I knew about this shit in the 80's and I KNEW it was going to explode after 9/11, even though I didn't quite know why. Now I do. The M-I-C is like bacteria or virus, it adapts in order to live and grow stronger. I've been watching the adaptations from the black heart of the M-I-C since the late 70's. I've lived my whole life in San Diego. I call SD the black heart of the M-I-C, but it's really DC and Virginia. You think in a city that is basically one big military base we don't have companies like Northrop Grumman, SAIC, General Dynamics, BAE....you want me to go on?

New AZ flag

My mother sent me this. She lives there. She also sent me some R wing (she's not r-wing, by the way, not at all!) e-mail that had been debunked by snopes.

I should be interested in this

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Committee vote Tuesday on Kagan court nomination
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer

I've been distracted lately. I don't know anything about Kagan.

What a day

Went to urgent care with bug bite that swelled up. I figured I should because I've killed brown widows and black widows on my porch, even though I didn't see what bit me and it didn't hurt, it just itched a bit for the first 24 hours and kept swelling. I got the runs from the antibiotics and found two more bites that are swelling quickly. Not that my idiot husband gives a crap, he'd probably be relieved if I died. Seriously. He won't even vacuum or spray his room. Hmmmmm. Come to think of it....(Oh come on you married people, you've never thought "I wish he/she would just fucking die?")

So then I went to the periodontist and I found out I need another bone graft surgery. You know, it hurts when they stick that damned measuring thing down in between your gums and your teeth, I don't care how big those pockets are. It hurts. And oh yeah, the insurance won't pay for all of it. $950 in premiums a year and they won't cover $2600. What the fuck makes shareholders more important than the people who make money for them? Greedy fucking fucks.

I dunno when I"m going to have time to take the car in to fix the latest ding. I didn't do it, and the other guy's insurance is paying. The dang car is cursed, I swear. Very first decent car I've ever owned and somebody has backed into the side of me 4 times in 10 years and I only put 8,000 miles a year on it, so you know I don't drive much. Not to mention the damned tree that fell on it the 2nd month I had it and did half what we paid for it in damages.

Hmmm come to think of it, maybe I'm the one that's cursed.