The only thing it's missing is the "Gathering Storm" ad.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
And now more fun bits from the National Organization for Marriage
Maybe I'm the last one to post this video (which means you probably have seen it already) but I think it's funny and factual.
The only thing it's missing is the "Gathering Storm" ad.
The only thing it's missing is the "Gathering Storm" ad.
'Bash Back' hurts the lgbt community (again), Ex-gay group threatens legal action, and other Thursday midday news briefs
Audio: Right-wing extremist continues to help our cause - Yes, Jeremy. I am paying attention. I just hope that others are.
Ex-Gay Group Threatens Legal Action To Keep Secrets Hidden - I wonder what they are hiding.
Bash Back "Queer Anarchist" Busted For Smashing Denver Democratic Offices - Way to be counterproductive you idiots! Count on this being a front pager on One News Now, Americans for Truth and other various religious right sites and blogs (who, I might point out have been silent on the Arizona "Christian pastor" saying that gays should be killed.)
Group that opposes gay marriage now targeting Iowa - I said it once and I will say it again. Just who is funding the National Organization for Marriage?
Ex-Gay Group Threatens Legal Action To Keep Secrets Hidden - I wonder what they are hiding.
Bash Back "Queer Anarchist" Busted For Smashing Denver Democratic Offices - Way to be counterproductive you idiots! Count on this being a front pager on One News Now, Americans for Truth and other various religious right sites and blogs (who, I might point out have been silent on the Arizona "Christian pastor" saying that gays should be killed.)
Group that opposes gay marriage now targeting Iowa - I said it once and I will say it again. Just who is funding the National Organization for Marriage?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Proof that homophobes and racists aren't that different
This post is dedicated to Rev. Harry Jackson, Ken Hutcherson, and the rest who play the "gay rights" aren't the same as "African-American civil rights" game.
The argument about whether one can compare the struggles of the lgbt community to that of the African-American community will probably be an eternal one.
I've talked about the situation from many angles but I think I've nailed down one sure way to convey the fact that those pushing fear and hatred does not care if you are black, white, straight, or gay.
It's short and quick. If you blink, you may miss it.
First let's look at a handout from the racist group the National Alliance which talks about black men and HIV:
Now let's look at this lovely piece via the anti-gay group the Traditional Values Coalition criticizing ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act):
In the long run, it doesn't matter who had to ride in the "back of the bus" or who gets chased down a street.
As long as there are entities willing to exploit fear and stereotypes, we all suffer.
Are there any questions?
Editor's note - The Traditional Values Coalition is yet another anti-gay hate group as designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Related posts:
Interracial dating and homosexuality - two health risks?
The argument about whether one can compare the struggles of the lgbt community to that of the African-American community will probably be an eternal one.
I've talked about the situation from many angles but I think I've nailed down one sure way to convey the fact that those pushing fear and hatred does not care if you are black, white, straight, or gay.
It's short and quick. If you blink, you may miss it.
First let's look at a handout from the racist group the National Alliance which talks about black men and HIV:
Now let's look at this lovely piece via the anti-gay group the Traditional Values Coalition criticizing ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act):
In the long run, it doesn't matter who had to ride in the "back of the bus" or who gets chased down a street.
As long as there are entities willing to exploit fear and stereotypes, we all suffer.
Are there any questions?
Editor's note - The Traditional Values Coalition is yet another anti-gay hate group as designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Related posts:
Interracial dating and homosexuality - two health risks?
Harvey Milk is entering the California Hall of Fame. Get over it
Not everyone in California is happy with the news that Harvey Milk has been selected for the California Hall of Fame:
"Harvey Milk was a notorious sexual predator, advocated multiple sexual relationships at the same time, was a public liar, and is in no way a good role model for children," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com.
In addition, Milk also squeezed the Charmin and pulled tags off of matresses.
Seriously, SaveCalifornia has created a webpage detailing Milk's "evils" in an attempt to get California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to reject SB 572, the bill that would create "Harvey Milk Day" in California.
I personally hope that the bill passes, but to me it's no consequence whether it does or doesn't.
Milke will be entering the California Hall of Fame, an honor that will showcase him as an inspirational person in the history of the state.
In addition, Milk has already received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
So basically any nonsense that SaveCalifornia or Thomasson can think up to bash his legacy is irrelevant, ballast, cocktail canape.
Milk is an American hero and he has the honors to prove it. And no one can take that away from him.
End of story.
Related articles:
Let the Harvey Milk bashing begin courtesy of Focus on the Family
Religious right tries to smear Harvey Milk on his day of honor
"Harvey Milk was a notorious sexual predator, advocated multiple sexual relationships at the same time, was a public liar, and is in no way a good role model for children," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com.
In addition, Milk also squeezed the Charmin and pulled tags off of matresses.
Seriously, SaveCalifornia has created a webpage detailing Milk's "evils" in an attempt to get California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to reject SB 572, the bill that would create "Harvey Milk Day" in California.
I personally hope that the bill passes, but to me it's no consequence whether it does or doesn't.
Milke will be entering the California Hall of Fame, an honor that will showcase him as an inspirational person in the history of the state.
In addition, Milk has already received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
So basically any nonsense that SaveCalifornia or Thomasson can think up to bash his legacy is irrelevant, ballast, cocktail canape.
Milk is an American hero and he has the honors to prove it. And no one can take that away from him.
End of story.
Related articles:
Let the Harvey Milk bashing begin courtesy of Focus on the Family
Religious right tries to smear Harvey Milk on his day of honor
Religious right shows Ted Kennedy no respect, Mark Sanford can kiss his job goodbye, and other Wednesday midday news briefs
Kennedy leaves 'sad legacy' on traditional values - From One News Now comes the notion of why should you show respect for those who have passed on when its more fun to be sanctimonious and self-righteous?
Young Gays in West of England Stand to Gain from Big Lottery Fund Cash Award - This is good news. I wish something like this would happen in the United States.
Florida's Gay Adoption Ban Headed to Appeals Court - Works for me if the state wants to fight this thing. I doubt they will be calling on George Rekers this time.
Split Decision on "Ex-Gay" Protections - Split decision my behind. PFOX lost this one and is trying to spin a victory out of this Bizarro-world style.
Anderson: Every Homosexual in the World is a Deviant Predator Who is out to Recruit Others Through Molestation and Rape - I get it now. If I just get on youtube shouting outrageous crap, I get media attention. Forget fighting for intelligent debate and truth.
Bauer: I won’t run in 2010 if Sanford resigns - Lt. Governor Andre Bauer is calling for SC Governor Mark Sanford to resign. Man, this has been an interesting summer.
Young Gays in West of England Stand to Gain from Big Lottery Fund Cash Award - This is good news. I wish something like this would happen in the United States.
Florida's Gay Adoption Ban Headed to Appeals Court - Works for me if the state wants to fight this thing. I doubt they will be calling on George Rekers this time.
Split Decision on "Ex-Gay" Protections - Split decision my behind. PFOX lost this one and is trying to spin a victory out of this Bizarro-world style.
Anderson: Every Homosexual in the World is a Deviant Predator Who is out to Recruit Others Through Molestation and Rape - I get it now. If I just get on youtube shouting outrageous crap, I get media attention. Forget fighting for intelligent debate and truth.
Bauer: I won’t run in 2010 if Sanford resigns - Lt. Governor Andre Bauer is calling for SC Governor Mark Sanford to resign. Man, this has been an interesting summer.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Conservapedia's unbelievable defense of the discredited Paul Cameron
My prayers are with the Kennedy family in the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. He was an intelligent and strong advocate for the rights of all people, including lgbts. History dealt him a nasty blow with the death of his brothers. But like all men of destiny, Kennedy rose above it to make the world a better place for us all.
He will be missed.
I was reading an excellent piece in Newsweek as to why some people were quick to believe the lie about health care death panels even after they were informed of the truth:
Some people form and cling to false beliefs about health-care reform (or Obama's citizenship) despite overwhelming evidence thanks to a mental phenomenon called motivated reasoning, says sociologist Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor at the University at Buffalo. "Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief," he says, "people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe." And God knows, in the Internet age there is no dearth of sources to confirm even the most ludicrous claims (my favorite being that the moon landings were faked). "For the most part," says Hoffman, "people completely ignore contrary information" and are able to "develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information."
And naturally my mind began thinking about those lovely individuals and groups concerned with supposedly winning "America for Christ, " colloquially known as the religious right.
Specifically, my mind began thinking about a certain conservative bastardization of the popular site Wikipedia.
I've written about Conservapedia before; about how the site used repeated and bad information to claim that "gay bowel syndrome" is an actual medical term rather than an antiquated term used to denigrate the lgbt community.
Well this new thing I found on the site tops that one.
This is what Conservapedia says about discredited researcher Paul Cameron:
Dr. Paul Cameron, Ph.D. is a scientist who has presented disturbing information about homosexual behavior in the United States. Professional associations have responded by making vague, unsupported accusations about his personal character.
. . . The APA and ASA have issued statements denouncing Cameron for holding positions contrary to theirs. They have not, however, pointed out any specific flaws in his published peer-reviewed scientific papers. So it is patently obvious that they are trying to suppress his findings for political reasons.
Conservapedia's explanation is extremely inaccurate.
The APA (American Psychological Association) dismissed Cameron for not cooperating when the group began investigating his research methodology. Various psychologists complained about how he was distorting their data.
I sincerely doubt that Conservapedia did any research into the matter, so to help the site out, I've attached the link of the letter from the APA officially dismissing Cameron.
And the (ASA) American Sociological Association denounced Cameron because of his bad research techniques. The group was concerned that Cameron was inaccurately being labeled as a sociologist.
The ASA's statement came after a task force looked at Cameron's history and techniques. You can read the findings here. And I might point out, the ASA task force did point to specific flaws regarding Cameron's work and specific complaints made about him.
The irony of Conservapedia's whitewash of Cameron is felt when one takes into account one of the guidelines of the site:
Everything you post must be true and verifiable.
I found a bigger irony when I looked over the list of Conservapedia Administrators. A good many of them have on their profile that they "have accepted Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior."
Apparently they love their version of Christian principles so much that they are willing to lie for them.
Editor's Note - APA letter and ASA report taken from the webpage of Dr. Gregory Herek.
He will be missed.
I was reading an excellent piece in Newsweek as to why some people were quick to believe the lie about health care death panels even after they were informed of the truth:
Some people form and cling to false beliefs about health-care reform (or Obama's citizenship) despite overwhelming evidence thanks to a mental phenomenon called motivated reasoning, says sociologist Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor at the University at Buffalo. "Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief," he says, "people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe." And God knows, in the Internet age there is no dearth of sources to confirm even the most ludicrous claims (my favorite being that the moon landings were faked). "For the most part," says Hoffman, "people completely ignore contrary information" and are able to "develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information."
And naturally my mind began thinking about those lovely individuals and groups concerned with supposedly winning "America for Christ, " colloquially known as the religious right.
Specifically, my mind began thinking about a certain conservative bastardization of the popular site Wikipedia.
I've written about Conservapedia before; about how the site used repeated and bad information to claim that "gay bowel syndrome" is an actual medical term rather than an antiquated term used to denigrate the lgbt community.
Well this new thing I found on the site tops that one.
This is what Conservapedia says about discredited researcher Paul Cameron:
Dr. Paul Cameron, Ph.D. is a scientist who has presented disturbing information about homosexual behavior in the United States. Professional associations have responded by making vague, unsupported accusations about his personal character.
. . . The APA and ASA have issued statements denouncing Cameron for holding positions contrary to theirs. They have not, however, pointed out any specific flaws in his published peer-reviewed scientific papers. So it is patently obvious that they are trying to suppress his findings for political reasons.
Conservapedia's explanation is extremely inaccurate.
The APA (American Psychological Association) dismissed Cameron for not cooperating when the group began investigating his research methodology. Various psychologists complained about how he was distorting their data.
I sincerely doubt that Conservapedia did any research into the matter, so to help the site out, I've attached the link of the letter from the APA officially dismissing Cameron.
And the (ASA) American Sociological Association denounced Cameron because of his bad research techniques. The group was concerned that Cameron was inaccurately being labeled as a sociologist.
The ASA's statement came after a task force looked at Cameron's history and techniques. You can read the findings here. And I might point out, the ASA task force did point to specific flaws regarding Cameron's work and specific complaints made about him.
The irony of Conservapedia's whitewash of Cameron is felt when one takes into account one of the guidelines of the site:
Everything you post must be true and verifiable.
I found a bigger irony when I looked over the list of Conservapedia Administrators. A good many of them have on their profile that they "have accepted Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior."
Apparently they love their version of Christian principles so much that they are willing to lie for them.
Editor's Note - APA letter and ASA report taken from the webpage of Dr. Gregory Herek.
Mike Huckabee - definitely not 'pro-sodomy' but extremely 'pro-ignorant'
I'm on a Mike Huckabee tear today. So sue me already.
The fact that former Arkansas Governor and talk show host Mike Huckabee will be attending a conference in which a workshop on combating the so-called homosexual agenda is to be co-led by a SPLC designated hate group shouldn't be surprising.
Also, the fact that he has aligned himself with former SPLC hate group, the Illinois Family Institute also is not shocking.
That is if you are aware of Huckabee's ugly history of stigmatizing the lgbt community.
In 1992 when he ran for Senate, he advocated quarantining AIDS patients. Huckabee was answering an Associated Press survey when he said the following:
"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," he wrote. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."
In 2007, Huckabee was confronted with his past statements when he ran for president. According to an ABC News article, he chalked up the statement to being ignorant in regards to how AIDS is spread:
"Fifteen years ago, the AIDS crisis was just that, a crisis," he said. "There was still a great deal of, I think, uncertainty about just how widespread AIDS was, how it could be transmitted. So we know more now than we did in 1992, all of us do -- hopefully."
However, the same ABC News article brings up this fact:
Four years before Huckabee's statement, however, President Ronald Reagan's surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, sent out a brochure about AIDS to American homes in which Koop wrote, "No matter what you may have heard, the AIDS virus is hard to get and is easily avoided. You won't just catch AIDS like a cold or flu because the virus is a different type. The AIDS virus is transmitted through sexual intercourse, the sharing of drug needles or to babies of infected mothers before or during birth."
In that same 1992 survey, he said the following about homosexuality:
"homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."
In the ABC News article, Huckabee maintained that what he said about homosexuality was still his belief except for the part about it being a health risk.
But if you want get a good indication as to where Huckabee stands on the lgbt community, check out this 2009 exchange on his talk show between him and guest Ann Coulter (starting at 4:00):
Huck to Coulter: I am not, as you characterize me in one article, pro-gay and pro-sodomy -- that is SO not me.
Coulter: Yes, there was a Supreme Court decision you agreed or disagreed with...yes, I got you on that one Mike Huckabee...
Huck: Nope, you didn't. I am definitely not pro-sodomy -- I promise, scout's honor. There are many things I might be but that is not one of them.
I've watched how Huckabee manuevers through the talk show circuit and parses his comments into feel good soundbites. The problem is that no one, except for that ABC News article, has really confronted him with his statements and especially not his allegiances.
And I wonder if anyone ever will.
Big hat tip to Pams House Blend.
The fact that former Arkansas Governor and talk show host Mike Huckabee will be attending a conference in which a workshop on combating the so-called homosexual agenda is to be co-led by a SPLC designated hate group shouldn't be surprising.
Also, the fact that he has aligned himself with former SPLC hate group, the Illinois Family Institute also is not shocking.
That is if you are aware of Huckabee's ugly history of stigmatizing the lgbt community.
In 1992 when he ran for Senate, he advocated quarantining AIDS patients. Huckabee was answering an Associated Press survey when he said the following:
"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," he wrote. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."
In 2007, Huckabee was confronted with his past statements when he ran for president. According to an ABC News article, he chalked up the statement to being ignorant in regards to how AIDS is spread:
"Fifteen years ago, the AIDS crisis was just that, a crisis," he said. "There was still a great deal of, I think, uncertainty about just how widespread AIDS was, how it could be transmitted. So we know more now than we did in 1992, all of us do -- hopefully."
However, the same ABC News article brings up this fact:
Four years before Huckabee's statement, however, President Ronald Reagan's surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, sent out a brochure about AIDS to American homes in which Koop wrote, "No matter what you may have heard, the AIDS virus is hard to get and is easily avoided. You won't just catch AIDS like a cold or flu because the virus is a different type. The AIDS virus is transmitted through sexual intercourse, the sharing of drug needles or to babies of infected mothers before or during birth."
In that same 1992 survey, he said the following about homosexuality:
"homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."
In the ABC News article, Huckabee maintained that what he said about homosexuality was still his belief except for the part about it being a health risk.
But if you want get a good indication as to where Huckabee stands on the lgbt community, check out this 2009 exchange on his talk show between him and guest Ann Coulter (starting at 4:00):
Huck to Coulter: I am not, as you characterize me in one article, pro-gay and pro-sodomy -- that is SO not me.
Coulter: Yes, there was a Supreme Court decision you agreed or disagreed with...yes, I got you on that one Mike Huckabee...
Huck: Nope, you didn't. I am definitely not pro-sodomy -- I promise, scout's honor. There are many things I might be but that is not one of them.
I've watched how Huckabee manuevers through the talk show circuit and parses his comments into feel good soundbites. The problem is that no one, except for that ABC News article, has really confronted him with his statements and especially not his allegiances.
And I wonder if anyone ever will.
Big hat tip to Pams House Blend.
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