Month: December 2011

PERRY: RAPE is NO REASON for ABORTION

On By Anne LeonardIn Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Politics, Progressive, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea Party, WOMENLeave a comment

Perry Shifts His Stance on Abortion

  • by Morgan Smith, The Texas Tribune
    • 12/27/2011

    • OSCEOLA, Iowa — At a town hall meeting tonight, Gov. Rick Perry said he no longer supported abortion in cases of rape and incest.

    As he responded to a question from the audience, Perry said he had undergone a “transformation” after viewing the film The Gift of Life, narrated by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and talking with Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived during a rape. “She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I am the product of a rape,’ and she said, ‘My life has worth,'” Perry said.

    Joshua Verwers, a Sheraton pastor, asked the governor to reconcile what he had told him in November at the Iowa Faith and Freedom dinner — that he was against abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when it was necessary to save the life of the mother — with his signature on a pledge from the anti-abortion group Personhood USA that bans abortion under any circumstances.

    After the meeting, Verwers said that Perry’s answer was “perfect” and “from the heart.” He said it particularly moved him that the governor had shifted his beliefs after speaking with someone who had been born from rape. Perry’s wife, Anita, has been a fundraiser for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault since 2003 and has devoted her efforts to supporting other causes that work to prevent violence against women.

    During a Personhood USA teleconference tonight, Perry reiterated his change of beliefs and elaborated on why he decided to sign the pledge: “As I signed that document I will suggest to you that, all I can say to you, was that God was working out of my heart.”

    Fellow candidates Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich also participated in the call.

    Back To Top

    This article (shared with permission via website) originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-presidential-election/perry-shifts-his-views-abortion/.

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    Photo and other great stuff available at: http://mariopiperni.com/abortion/the-uterus-of-the-united-states-of-america.php

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    “Let Women Die” Bill, H.R.358

    On October 13, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.358, an extreme anti-choice bill.

    The bill would allow a hospital to refuse a woman life-saving, emergency abortion care even if she will die without it. On top of that, it effectively would ban insurance coverage of abortion in state health-insurance exchanges, denying abortion coverage to millions of women (Via NARAL).

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    The Conservative agenda to deny Abortion services to women (even at their own expense) should be supported by NO-COST Birth Control for all WOMEN (But, alas, it is NOT!).

    Whether you are Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, it stands to reason that No-Cost Birth Control for all WOMEN, makes sense (doesn’t it?!)

    White House: Support No-Cost Birth Control for All Women

    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted medical experts’ recommendation that newly issued insurance plans cover birth control without copays. Women will feel the magnitude of this decision every time they go to the pharmacy counter and pick up their birth control without paying a copay.

    This is such a tremendous leap forward. However, women who work for a religious institution, like a Catholic hospital or university that opposes birth control, are at risk of not being included under this new policy.

    Anti-birth-control forces, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are leading the fight. They have launched a massive campaign to allow religious employers to opt out of the new requirement (via NARAL).

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    The Protester IS the Person of the Year-Worldwide and growing.

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, Progressive, SUFFRAGE, WOMEN1 Comment

    VIA LEFT WING NUT JOB: Posted by Dusty on December 26, 2011 at 4:18

    It started with a single, frustrated Tunisian named Mohamed Bouazizi, a man that just wanted to be able to feed his family, in the only manner he had available to him in a nation ruled by a dictator for decades ..selling fruit on a street corner. This year, Time did get it right.

    “LIVE” FROM STUPID ISLAND…

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, Democrats, Justice, Progressive, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea PartyLeave a comment

    Seems like only yesterday Ann (scary lady) Coulter was comparing Leftist mobs to Legions of Demons.  More recently she defended filandering Herman Cain arguing that “our blacks are better than their blacks.”

    Stealing from Bill Engval: Ann, here’s your sign.

    And, as I’ve always said, If you want any sh*t out of Perry, just squeeze his neck.

    FORGET THE BOOTS, SAVE THE WATCHES! It’s getting deep around here. During a stop in Iowa on his campaign trail, Rick Perry took the time to tell a young woman that he’s against homosexuals serving openly in the military because it’s a sin.

    “I just want to know why you’re so opposed to gays serving openly in the military, why you want to deny them that freedom when they’re fighting and dying for your right to run for president,” Rebecka Green,a high school student from Decorah, asked the Texas governor. ‘Not an unreasonable question. Homosexuals can shoot a gun and die for their country just as well as anyone else. There is, to my knowledge, no such prohibitions against homosexuals serving on the police force or as fire fighters anywhere in the country (if you know of one, let me know who and where and I’ll happily tear them a new one). They risk their lives just as much as soldiers.’ (Read the entire story at Addicting Info).

    Perry, here’s your sign.

    Perry’s dysentery of the mouth must be contagious…

    In an attempt to steal Perry’s idiot status, Ted Nugent tries to steal the spotlight by telling the poor, “It’s your own fault!” Teddy boy is part of the extreme right wing, dumber than dirt rednecks who think they know everything and want to kill everyone.

    “….Being poor is largely a choice, a daily, if not hourly, decision. If you decide to drop out of school, fail to learn a skill, have no work ethic or get divorced, a life of poverty is often the consequence. The children of parents who choose a life of poverty quite often pay a horrible price, and so does all of America.” Teddy has a column in the Washington Post, if ignorance entertains you, read the entire article here.  Teddy, here’s your sign.

    Blow Hard O’Reilly’s claim that ‘Democrats are dumb-ing down Americans’ has been totally debunked in this post… but, that is another argument altogether.

    Idiots like Perry & Nugent heralding the Tea-Publican Party message of STUPID make it easy for me to be a Pinko, Leftist, Liberal, Progressive Democrat!

    Crossposted on: www.allthingsdemocrat.com

    Tea Party Leader Flees CBS Cameras After Handgun Arrest

    On By Anne LeonardIn ANTI WAR, Justice, Politics, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea Party3 Comments

    Let me preface this story with my personal philosophy.  We’ve often heard that guns don’t kill people, people kill people (TRUE).  Guns are very powerful weapons.  They can be used to protect, or they can be used to harm.  And, in the words of Voltaire,  ‘with great power, comes great reponsibility’.

    The false claims by the Tea Party  that “Democrats want to take OUR GUNS!” is a scare tactic.  As a DFGO  member (with Veterans and Law Enforcement in my family),  I personally do not endorse taking guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens who have earned the right to carry either by way of licensing, permits, or lawful registration thereof.

    And, while Meckler is said to have a permit to carry in his home state, it appears that he clearly violated the gun laws of New York State.  And, now responsible gun owners everywhere will no doubt feel the heat… Thank you, Tea Party (sarcasm implied).

    The co-founder of Tea Party Patriots was captured on video jumping a fence and fleeing into Queens’ “Boulevard of Death” after he was arraigned for illegally possessing a handgun at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.  Mark Meckler was charged Thursday with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a Class C felony, for traveling with his Glock handgun and 19 cartridges without a New York permit. Watch the video and full story here at C & L

    “Death is CERTAIN”

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, peace, Politics, ProgressiveLeave a comment
    Christopher Hitchens
    Image via Wikipedia

    “I became a journalist because I did not want to rely on newspapers for information.”  Hitchens

    Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died December 16, 2011,  at the age of 62.

    Hitch is remembered for many brilliant accomplishments.  The following example is not the most notable.  It does, however,  showcase  his sheer intestinal fortitude for exposing hypocrisy; even if it meant calling out the now defunct commander-in-chief and the entire industrial military complex (bravo, Hitch!).

    Christopher Hitchens, after subjecting himself to waterboarding in 2008, was one of the first outspoken critics of this type of particular torture.  He lasted for all of 16 seconds:

    “It’s annoying to me now to read every time it’s discussed in the press or in Congress  that it simulates the feeling of drowning,” he said at the time. “It doesn’t simulate the feeling of drowning. You are being drowned, slowly.”

    Hitchens’ exposure to waterboarding was brief and intense- similar to his legacy… that will, without a doubt, out live us all.

    READ MORE ABOUT CHRISTOPHER:

    NATION

    VANCOUVER SUN

    UPCOMING MEMOIRS

    NEW YORK TIMES

    LOOK, UP IN THE SKY… (it ain’t Superman, baby)

    On By Anne LeonardIn Justice3 Comments

    The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.  – Article IV of the US Constitution 

    Great sentiment notwithstanding the obvious caveat: “Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds “ (Barlow).

    Recent  reports detailed the use of an unmanned Air Force drone by civilian police.  The drone was deployed to track and apprehend suspected criminals.  The stunned reaction from some is proof that many Americans are unaware of the fact that US Courts have long permitted warrantless aerial surveillance to be conducted by law enforcement agencies.  The Court’s reasoning has been “what a person does in the open, even behind a backyard fence, can be seen from a passing airplane and is not protected by privacy laws.”

    The LA Times (Washington Bureau) report quoted Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who sat on the House homeland security intelligence subcommittee at the time and served as its chairwoman from 2007 until early this year, as saying: “ no one ever discussed using Predators to help local police serve warrants or do other basic work…. using Predators for routine law enforcement without public debate or clear legal authority is a mistake….[t]here is no question that this could become something that people will regret.”

    And, regret we shall.  But the use of drones is nothing new… Recently, Texas
    authorities secretly deployed drones inviting dignitaries to watch the secret tests.
    In 2008, Military drones washed up in the Gulf of Mexico on the Alabama coast.

    But, let’s not forget that recently the US was forced to admit that Tehran captured a largely intact, top secret U.S. drone.   Some might argue  the military use of drones is palatable, at least under the guise of intelligent “diplomacy”.   Yet, I argue the obvious: the underlying reason for the use of unmanned/unarmed military drones at the behest of  civilian law enforcement agencies is because the war-mongering profiteers will stop at nothing to keep the blood profit money flowing when faced with the possiblity of an end to “war” -even at the expense of our privacy.

    Big Brother can’t seem to get enough.  And, now the drones are coming for us “in ways that push current law to the breaking point.”   Surveillance cameras already perch high above busy intersections, in parks, and in many public lobbies.   GPS technology in smart phones pinpoints and tracks our every move.  And now… when we least expect it, a drone is deployed to hover above us… waiting, watching, and perhaps, even intruding upon and recording the most innocent of acts.

    Cross posted on:  http://allthingsdemocrat.com/2011/12/12/look-up-in-the-sky-it-aint-superman-baby/

    Rosa Parks, Civil Rights Icon

    On By Anne LeonardIn EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, peace, Politics, SUFFRAGE, WOMEN1 Comment

    Dec 1, 1955 – Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person; her arrest ignites the Montgomery Bus Boycott (National Women’s History Project).

    Rosa Louise Parks was nationally recognized as the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” in America. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, triggered a wave of protest December 5, 1955 that reverberated throughout the United States. Her quiet courageous act changed America, its view of black people and redirected the course of history. Read More Here