Monthly archives: December, 2011

ABC 7 Video: Nun challenges mayor on charity’s water bill

December 8, 2011
ChicagoChicagolandDemocratic NewsEconomyHumor
0 Comment

From ABC 7 Chicago:

A nun used humor to publicly scold Mayor Rahm Emanuel for ending free water for charities — and using the "s" word.

Sister Rosemary Connelly criticized the mayor’s decision to cut off charities while the two were at a breakfast fundraiser for the non-profit Misericordia, which Emanuel proposed charging for water to help plug the city’s budget gap. Connelly is Misericordia’s executive director.

Chicago’s first Jewish mayor found out what it’s like to be dressed down in public by a Catholic nun. But instead of a ruler, Sister Rosemary spanked the mayor with humor.

NYTimes: U.S. Rejects Plan to Widen Availability of Morning-After Pill

December 7, 2011
Barack ObamaConservativesDemocratic NewsDrugsEducationEthicsLegalLiberalsPhilosophicalReligionStrangeWhite House
0 Comment

Disappointing news from the New York Times:

In a surprise move, the nation’s health secretary stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms, deciding Wednesday that young girls shouldn’t be able to buy it on their own.

The Food and Drug Administration was preparing to lift a controversial age limit and make Plan B One-Step the nation’s first over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, available for purchase by people of any age without a prescription.

But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius intervened at the eleventh hour and overruled her own experts.

Plan B instead will remain behind the pharmacy counter, as it is sold today — available without a prescription only for those 17 and older who show an ID proving their age.

That this comes from this sometimes-perplexing Democratic administration is one thing. That the move comes in direct opposition to the administration’s own experts baffles me.

ABC: Gay Teen Jonah Mowry Says Bullying Made Him Stronger

December 5, 2011
EducationEthicsGLBT
0 Comment

From ABC News:

Jonah Mowry, the 14-year-old whose heart-wrenching four-month-old YouTube video described his despair at being bullied for being gay, resurfaced online Sunday, telling his supporters he is doing just fine.

Jonah, chewing gum and with a female friend by his side, says on a more recent YouTube video, “To the people who think nobody likes me … Everyone in my school loves me.”

This kid’s gonna make it.

Amen.

Jonah Mowry, Bullied Gay Teen, Reveals Fear, Suicide Attempts In Brave Clip (VIDEO)

December 4, 2011
GLBT
0 Comment

Jonah wrote: "IM NOT GOING TO KILL MYSELF. I JUST NEED TO GET THIS OUT HERE".
Jonah is a young guy that happens to be gay – and has been harassed at school. He’s scared and sad. But he teaches us a lot in this video. Please show your support and never forget to become who you are.

Jonah Mowry has a twitter account: http://twitter.com/jonahmowryreal

Support Jonah on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Support4JonahMowry

Sia – Breathe Me (Lyrics)

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is there’s no-one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
I’ve lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Senators Tribute to Senator Frank Lautenberg’s 9000th Vote (Video)

December 4, 2011
CongressDemocratic NewsRepublicans
0 Comment

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) give tributes to Senator Lautenberg as he prepares to cast his 9000th vote in the U.S. Senate.

Woman Allegedly Sets Fire to Friend’s House After She Was Deleted From Facebook

December 4, 2011
Crime and PunishmentStrange
0 Comment

Jennifer Christine is charged with first degree arson.

How sad.

From Zombie Apocalypse Academy:

Authorities in Iowa say a 30-year-old woman attempted to burn down a couple’s house last week in retaliation for being unfriended in Facebook. Jennifer Christine Harris, of Des Moines, is being held in Polk County Prison on $100,000 bond after she allegedly set fire to Jim and Nikki Rasmussen‘s garage, forcing the couple to flee their home in the middle of the night, the Des Moines Register reports.

The siding on the house melted and the garage roof collapsed, according to reports. The Rasmussens only managed to escape the blaze after a loud booming sound woke them up. “It was ablaze at 1 a.m. It was just totally engulfed,” neighbor Dominic Formaro told ABC News.

If Congress (Read – The GOP) Does Not Act, Middle Class Taxes Will Rise

December 3, 2011
Barack ObamaCongressConservativesDemocratic NewsEconomyElectionsJobsLegalRepublicansStrangeWhite House
0 Comment

It’s simple.

If Congress — meaning the Republicans in Congress as Democrats are on board — does not support President Obama’s plan to extend and expand the payroll tax cut, middle class taxes will rise.

Find out how much your taxes will rise here.

I will lose over $1000.  How much will you lose?

Watch and read President Obama’s weekly address here on this crucial issue.

I Believe Herman Cain

December 3, 2011
ConservativesCrime and PunishmentElectionsEthicsLegalLiberia
0 Comment
Herman Cain ad

Herman Cain and his Mona Lisa smile. Sincere, or creepy?

I believe Herman Cain.

I believe Herman Cain has not a single clue that groping a woman without her permission, trying to kiss her without her permission, and other bawdy actions, qualify as sexual harassment.

Herman Cain does not believe he sexually harassed anyone.

Consider Cain’s remarks regarding attorney Gloria Allred, hired by Sharon Bialek, one of the women who came forward alleging sexual harassment by Herman Cain, “Let me put it to you this way: I can’t think of anything I would hire her to do,” Cain laughed, referring to Allred. “I can’t think of a thing.”

I believe there are other men and women like Herman Cain who believe likewise.

Heard a few of them today on Chicago’s  WBBM as the station reported Cain’s suspension of his presidential campaign. “Give-em heck, Herman!” someone called to the candidate as he made his announcement.

I believe there are people who don’t get it.

It’s a question of ethics, and we don’t get to write our own rules.

Jobless Rate Dips to Lowest Level in More Than 2 Years: How Will the GOP Claim Credit? How with the Dems Not?

December 3, 2011
Barack ObamaCongressDemocratic News
0 Comment

From the NYTimes:

 In the midst of the European debt crisis, lingering instability in the oil-rich Middle East and concerns about a Chinese economic slowdown, the American unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped last month to 8.6 percent, its lowest level in two and a half years.

The Labor Department also said that the nation’s employers added 120,000 jobs in November and that job growth for the previous two months was better than initially reported. That looks like good news for President Obama as he heads into the 2012 presidential election — especially since just a few months ago the picture looked bleak.

How will the GOP claim credit for this? And how, especially, will the GOP claim credit when the jobless rate dips below 7% before November of 2012?

After all, they do not hold the White House, and they have not agreed to anything the White House has done — via Congress, or, OMG, Executive Order, which, in the end, may be the only way meaningful reform has been accomplished.

Obama 2012.

Democratic Congress, 2012.