I was not recognized as being the husband, I wasn’t recognized as being the partner.Roger Gorley • Discussing the situation he faced as he was forced away from the bedside of his partner, Allen, at a Missouri hospital earlier this week. The men, who have been in a civil union for five year, share power of attorney and make medical decisions for one another, but the nurse at the Research Medical Center in Kansas City did not recognize this. Gorley was arrested after a member of Allen’s family asked him to be removed. He was given a restraining order, which he plans to fight in court.
I believe in free enterprise. I don’t think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don’t pay. I think it’s about freedom.Missouri Rep. Todd Akin • Explaining his decision to vote against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, intended to close the gap between men and women’s average salary, during a town hall meeting last week. Akin first found himself in the national spotlight after saying that the female body could prevent pregnancy, in cases of “legitimate rape”, during a televised interview back in August. Something tells us that he won’t be winning back many supporters with this line either. source
» This isn’t good. The unemployment rate of Anacostia, a district in Southeast DC east of the river mostly populated by blacks? Nearly 20 percent. DC is merely just a flash point for a much-larger trend. All over the United States, blacks are twice as likely to be unemployed as whites. What’s worse is there’s no real explanation for it — other than the obvious one.
Unfortunately, this disease, where a man has sex with a man, which is absolutely unnatural and shouldn’t happen but it is happening, is spreading around the world and has also come to India. Even in our country the numbers of men having sex with men is significant.Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad • Making comments about the AIDS virus. He later tried to clarify that he didn’t mean gay people, but it’s kinda hard to prove that when he’s quoted saying this. He claims that it only sounded like this because of the way he said it in Hindi, but there’s no way of telling if that’s true. Let’s hope not, because placing a stigma on an entire group of people is wrong, but especially when it comes from government official, simply because it has more impact. source (via • follow)
satchelsofgold asks: Hey guys, question about your post re: the Supreme Court's decision on the Wal-Mart case. Your headline suggests it was a unanimous ruling, but all the stories I have seen and heard indicate it was a split decision along the usual ideological lines. Would you consider correcting this or explaining your numbers? 9-0 makes it sound a lot less controversial than it is. Thanks!
» SFB says: Well, every article we’ve read notes that it was unanimous that the case couldn’t continue as is. However, there was a separate ruling that went into more specifics about whether such a case could go forth in any circumstance. And that was 5-4. That part of the case had also not broken when we published our piece (which was based on a three-paragraph story literally minutes after the decision was published) yesterday. Fact of matter, though, is that the main decision was unanimous and our article was correct. — Ernie @ SFB
This story — involving a gay Starbucks employee reportedly pushed out of his job because he was gay — is unacceptable. Read the whole thing. It’s shocking. Starbucks’ social media response seems to show exactly how willing they are to correct it. And if they do, bravo @Starbucks. We hope that one incident does not define your entire chain.
…it is incumbent upon all Americans who love this nation and the values our Constitution protects to make it clear to defend the civil rights of our Muslim neighbors are as important as the rights of Christians, Jews and non-believers.Senator Dick Durbin • On his Senate hearings on anti-Muslim discrimination, broadly viewed as a counter-weight to Rep. Peter King’s hearings on radicalized Islam in the House. For what it’s worth, King’s anti-terrorism zeal wasn’t beyond the scope of his responsibility, nor could it not have been handled tastefully as a hearing on terrorism writ large. The standard of tacitly condemning an entire community for the actions of the very few, however, was and is unpleasant, and its given Durbin a chance to shine some light in the other direction. Also, isn’t it cool that non-believers get a shout out, too? The first time we can recall that was during Obama’s inauguration, and it’s a welcome and overdue addition to the public discourse on faith. source (via • follow)
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Today’s a fun day in the Supreme Court: See, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation, will be in front of the nine justices, fending off claims that they discriminated against female workers systemically. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The women fielding the claim want to bring a huge class-action discrimination lawsuit against the company. If they succeed at the Supreme Court, the lawsuit, which would cover EVERY female employee — current and former — from 1988 onward, would go forward, costing the company as much as $1 billion. But considering they make billons of dollars each year, it’s really not that much, is it? source
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