Today though I wanted to come out and express my overwhelming surprise and joy that Prop 8 has been struck down.  Read more about it over at the Bilerico Project.  I also wanted to point out that while I am very happy about this development it still pisses me off that in 2010 we have to hope for court rulings to ensure American citizens get equal rights.  What the fuck.  Anyhow, great news and I highly recommend reading Judge Walker’s Opinion.

Senator Ted Kennedy Diagnosed with Brain Tumor

Ted Kennedy

I really wanted to write about this yesterday as the news came out but didn’t have time. As you probably know Kennedy was taken to the hospital after having seizures on Monday. Obviously a malignant brain tumor was not the news the nation was hoping to hear. We are all pulling for him and his family.

Kudos to Kathleen Sebelius!

I feel kind of embarrassed that I haven’t been covering this as well as I should. I have a project in the works for a local Kansas news site so I apologize. As a Kansan I am incredibly proud of our Governor. She has consistently made the right choices even when they were not the most politically expedient. Since I have dropped the ball on her recent acts here are links to others who are picking up the slack.

Kathleen Sebelius Vetoes Voter ID Law. Read Think Progress and Crooks and Liars. Everything I said about the SCOTUS ruling on the Indiana law applies here. Reading local news and blogs it is apparent that most Kansans are unaware of the true effect of these kinds of laws. Either that or their a bunch of assholes. The jury is still out on that distinction.

All the Rest of the News thats Important

• A federal appeals court has ruled Virginia’s late term abortion ban unconstitutional!
• Openly gay Sam Adams has been elected mayor of Portland making him the first openly homosexual mayor of a major American city. It seems like every day I get to write about another accomplishment in LGBTQ equality.
• On the other hand LGBTQ hate crimes rose by 24% in 2007 over the 2006 rates. This just proves that there is still a long way to go. It also shows how needed hate crime protection is.
• A top aid for McCain has stepped down out of respect for Barack Obama. I haven’t followed politics long but can anyone remember this happing before? More at The Carpetbagger Report.
• Tim Haab has a good piece up at Environmental Economics about what we as consumers can do about $4 gas. Read the comments.
• Bush has issued a formal apology after a soldier apparently shot a Koran. Keep telling yourself that its our freedom that they hate.
• I have found out why American schoolchildren compare so poorly to children from other countries. 16% of biology teachers are young earth creationists. The same survey shows that 48% of the general population believes that “God created human beings pretty much in their at one time within the last 10,000 years or so”.

Video of the Day

Henry Waxman Threatens to Have Rep Issa (R-CA) physically removed from hearing. Awesome.

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3HuRZFbfk[/youtube]

Thats all for today folks. I’ll try to have something up over my lunch break. Also Summer finally had a chance to comment on a story yesterday. If you havn’t been reading long it may surprise you to know that this is a multi-author blog.

In fact we accept story submissions from anyone with a progressive viewpoint. Writing for us couldn’t be easier. Just sign up for an account then when you log in you will have the ability to write a story. We will then post it assuming that its appropriate for our viewers.

Have a wonderful day

William ~ WWJV4.com

Literally everyone is talking about this on their blogs already.  I really can’t overstate how good this ruling is.  More on this later.  In the mean time feel free to post your thoughts below.

Thanks and if you use Twitter my username is Adammair

William ~ WWJV4.com

John Edwards Is Endorsing Obama

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzkAjd3xQ7w[/youtube]

It was really just a matter of time before Edwards endorsed someone and I honestly think that had Clinton been in the lead it would have been her. All in all Edwards gives a great speech that I strongly recommend everyone watch. (h/t Shakesville)

Keith Olbermann Special Comment

I’ll admit I never watch Olbermann anymore for a lack of time but his special comments are so good that I always make sure to catch them after words. This one is just as good. (h/t Pandagon)

[youtube width="240" height="189"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i66ydWERdc[/youtube]

[youtube width="240" height="189"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ylITNTv_sk[/youtube]

The Rest of The News

• I can’t remember if I mentioned this yesterday or not but Travis Childers (D) 8 point win in MS-1 (an R+10 district) is HUGE. America is finally waking up to how badly the Republicans have screwed our nation. Come November no Republican seat is going to be safe.
• ACLU wins case against Florida school that was trying to limit free speech by forbidding rainbows. The principal apparently believes that since rainbows cause the gayness he was somehow saving teenagers souls or something. This is the same state that released a teacher for wizardry so really at this point nothing could surprise me coming out of Florida.
• Fox and Joe Leiberman apparently feel that John Hagee is a stand up guy for throwing aside his religous convictions for political purposes. Good thing John Hagee doesn’t have the moral fortitude to stand up for the beliefs that he was selling to his followers. Oh and that he’s not black.
• Democrats are now trusted more on all 10 issues that Rasmussen Reports tracks. No surprise since Republicans have run the country into the ground. (h/t DemfromCT @ Daily Kos)
• Since the Republicans can’t run on any of the issues guess what they are hoping will pull them through? Fear Mongering and pandering to ignorant people. Bush is warning that the Dem’s plan to pull out of Iraq could mean disaster. Sigh.

Video of the Day

No Video today since I posted 3 above and the John Edwards speech is pretty long. If your going to watch anything today thats the thing to watch. Instead I am going to leave you with this picture. Read the sign and if you can’t spot what is wrong with it then read about the 1936 Summer Olympics.

No NASA Has Not Found Aliens

Retrofitted Hubble

Everyone has been excited about a cryptic announcement made by NASA about “the discovery of an object in our Galaxy astronomers have been hunting for more than 50 years”. NASA was waiting until the Hubble was modified but PZ Meyers had to ruin the fun. Creationists discovered Russell’s Teapot and are planning on putting into space.

The Rest of the News

• Republicans and the Bush Administration are once again backing big business over average Americans. This time its by fighting to prevent Kansas based Creekstone Farms from testing all of its meat for mad cow disease.
• Opponent not saying anything controversial? Then lie about it. Thats what Republicans are doing. Just ask Al Gore or Barack Obama.
• 18 year old resident of Austin openly lesbian Randi Shade easily defeated incumbent Jennifer Kim with 64% of the vote for Austin City Council.  (Thanks for the correction Dan)
• 82% of American’s now say that the country is seriously on the wrong track. Or if your an optimist 18% say things are going great.
• Leading Republican Roy Blunt agrees that McCain offering third Bush term on economic policy. (and 18% of Americans cheer?)
• 5 of the (at least) 112 lobbyists working inside John McCains campaign have been tied to ruthless dictators. 2 of those who represented the Burma regime in Myanmar have already quit the campaign. There is now a petition for the firing of 3 more here.
• The Bush Administration has been hyping Iran’s involvement in weapons for Iraq without evidence for a while now. Here is yet another article on how the media is covering up this lack of evidence.

Daily Video

Today’s video is from Brave New Films and it exposes once again the Republican Yacht Party’s true interests. In California Republicans are fighting to keep open a tax loophole that lets them buy yachts tax free. If closed this would bring in around 26 million to a state that is being forced to lay off teachers. Read More about this issue here.

Thanks for reading,
William ~ WWJV4.com

How does John McCain, the Republican Nominee only get 74% of the vote with no one else campaigning?

Somehow I missed this yesterday. Crooks and Liars has published their top 10 list of McCain’s Out of Touch Moments. My favorite is still the “I’m not running on the Bush presidency.” joke. That one makes me laugh every time.

Here is something that shouldn’t surprise anyone. McCain’s “maverick” image is entirely made up by the media.

John McCain is refusing to release his wife’s tax records. So much to say on this topic that I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to what he may be hiding. I will say that this is so offensive that even some right wing magazines are attacking them over it.

A Michigan State Supreme Court ruled that “Michigan’s 2004 ban against gay marriage also blocks domestic-partner policies affecting gay employees at the University of Michigan and other public-sector employers.”

The over stretching of our military caused by the needless war in Iraq has been reported many times. Yesterday we learned via Newshoggers that over 43,000 injured troops listed as medically unfit for duty have been sent anyhow. If I had voted for Bush it would be time to put another “Support The Troops” sticker on my car so I could feel better about myself.

This was under CBS’ Strange News but its really not strange at all, in fact for those in law enforcement its so common that it made me wonder why it’s even news. Suspect Surrenders After Cop Yells ‘Taser, Taser, Taser!’. In many situations the presence of a taser will be enough and this story is about just one of the hundreds of examples that happen across the country every single day.

Bloggers Unite for Human Rights on May 15th. I’ll have more information on our sidebar (today) and you can read more here. (h/t Alas, a blog)

And finally one more …

12 nuns in Indiana were unable to vote because of the states restrictive voter suppression registration laws. Whats worse is that these horrible laws are being pushed throughout the nation by conservatives under the lie of “voter fraud”. Anyone want to guess which party the poor, disabled, and elderly who are disenfranchised by these laws vote for?

This may sound like a good idea at first,” stated Sister Sandy Schwartz of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary regarding voter ID requirements, “but once you stop to think about who would really be affected, this is going to keep a lot of our loved ones from being able to vote.

Thats enough for today, its Friday and I have a lot to do. Have a wonderful weekend and make sure and thank all the moms you know. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY SUMMER!

p.s. I didn’t forget about Clinton’s comments. I have a story in draft about it that I will try to get out today. If not I’ll cover it on Monday’s RSS Roundup.

William ~ WWJV4.com

A large group of evangelicals are urging a pullback from involvement in politics because they fear that they would become “useful idiots” exploited for partisan gain. I wonder why after happily playing the part of “useful idiots” to the Republican party for the past 15 years they have decided now is the time to back away? Better late than never. The story does say that ultra conservative fundamentalist groups have no intention of breaking away from politics. No surprise.

Since yesterday was a Wednesday there were lots of calls for Clinton to drop out. I still agree with everything I said back in February. According to my (probably wrong) math the popular vote has been split 50.2% Obama 49.8% Clinton. This is too close to call at this point and is the best argument for letting everyone vote.

Lawrence Webb has become the first openly gay African-American elected to public office in Virginia. This is kind of a big deal.

Remember 10 months ago when those scary middle easterners were acting all terroristy on the Seattle ferry? Well the FBI has called off their global manhunt after the two turned themselves in. As it turns out they were just tourists taking pictures. Kind of makes this look pretty damn silly don’t you think?

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcbdmliM6Ms[/youtube]

Kathy (from Birmingham Blues ) has posted a guest post at Shakesville that seriously pisses me off. Its about three brave young women who rescued a 17 year old girl who was being gang raped by a bunch of college guys last year. Since that time the girls have been threatened and insulted for standing up for the victim and the DA won’t prosecute. Its just the same ol’ boys will be boys and if you get drunk and they gang rape you its your own fault BULLSHIT. Drinking and driving is a serious crime but apparently drinking and raping is just fine. Now I’m all pissed off again.

Moving on before this turns into a rant.

I wrote the other day about McCains’ pledge to continue the Bush presidency by electing more Bush judges. Well Crooks and Liars has a wonderful post about one of those judges that McCain supported back when I was 12, Robert Bork. If you don’t have time to read it the summery is that Robert Bork is a right wing nutjob and McCain made a loving tribute to him in a speech while fighting for his nomination. I guess George W. Bush isn’t McCain’s first mancrush.

Speaking of Bush, he is proving that even a lame duck still has veto power by threatening to veto both farm aid and housing relief bills on the basis that they don’t kill enough kittens or something. He sure didn’t have any problems when it was rich people in trouble though did he.

Oh and since I’m from KS here is an extra FU for Pat Roberts (R-KS) who also does not support helping out working class families. Just another reason to support Jim Slattery.

CNN showed video of 15 police officers repeatedly beating three suspects in Philly. I’ll try to write more on this as information becomes available. Until then watch the video and let me know what you think.

Have a great day everyone and don’t hesitate to post comments on anything currently going on in the news or across the blogosphere. I probably won’t have time to do any posting the rest of the day but I’ll be around do approve comments. Thanks.

William ~ WWJV4.com

Rush Limbaugh has been trying to get Republicans to interfere with the Democratic process of voting for the presidential candidates in what he is calling “Operation Chaos“. I would thank that just thought of disrupting the foundation that our free democracy is built upon should sicken anyone who truly loves America. Apparently white supremacists loving Sean Hannity disagrees with me.

On that note while I would never condone anyone interfering with the voting process in any way here are some online polls that you can vote on. (h/t PZ Meyers Link Here and Here). The bottom two polls are on the same page.

• Should local governmental bodies be allowed to open their meetings with a prayer?
• Do you believe the Virgin Mary has appeared as an apparition? and
• Are you surprised the church officially recognized the Virgin Mary sightings from the 1600s?

Vice President Al Gore gave an interview with NPR the other day. During that interview he spoke very critically about George W. Bush’s approval of torture. (h/t Think Progress).

GORE: Ultimately the guarantor of our freedoms are the people. And these kinds of outrages, a president saying that he has the right turn George Washington’s 200-plus year prohibition against torture and torture anyone he wants with his assistants gathering in the basement of the White House — according to recent revelations — personally reviewing the kinds of torture techniques being used prisoner by prisoner, its obscene.

New treatments can reduce the chance of transmission of HIV from mother to infant to nearly 0%. This will be very useful in the future once the anti-choicers have taken away women’s right to use birth control.

Washington University has announced its plans to award anti-feminist and all around bitch Phyllis Schlafly an honorary doctorate. As a “national leader of the conservative movement” Phyllis Schlafly has stated that it is impossible for married women to be raped and has pushed for bans on women in “non-traditional” fields. Read more about how the students are protesting and what you can do to help over at Feministing.

The Office of Special Council was raided by the FBI as they sought evidence on charges of alleged obstruction of justice by agency chief Mr. Bloch. Now we will get to hear the “obstruction of justice isn’t even a real crime” argument that conservatives used when Scooter Libby was convicted all over again.

Only in Texas would it be illegal to operate a needle exchange program. Needle exchange programs are highly effective in cutting down on the spread of blood borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

Pennsylvania voted yesterday on an constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. How fitting that they should try to restrict marriage rights shortly after Mildred Loving passed away. UPDATE Looks like the amendment has been abandoned! Yay!

Wolfrum over at Shakesville has posted a great summery on the false right wing talking points on oil prices. Very informative and well written. I learned a lot from reading it and highly recommend it.

William ~ WWJV4.com

McCain still hates farmers. Nothing to say here really. Maybe if they were rich businessmen with hot lobbyists they could get something out of the old man.

Post-War Veteran Suicides May Exceed War Casualties: Because of a lack of mental health care for returning war veterans it is very likely that psychiatric illness may claim more lives than combat. Remember last month when the VA was caught concealing suicide numbers, how likely do you think it is that this administration is going to be honest about this epidemic?

New Jersey has approved paid family leave for same sex couples as well as married couples. This is a big step forward. Now to get the rest of the states to accept that in America everyone is equal.

Eleanor Badger over at RH Reality Check has a good writeup of a practice that the anti-choicers are using to shut down abortion providers known as TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers).

230 top economists have signed a letter condemning Clinton’s idea to offset the cost by adding a windfall tax to the oil companies. Oddly little attention has been paid to McCain’s even worse gas tax plan. See Obama’s response here.

In ultra conservative Florida a substitute teacher lost his job after being accused of wizardry. yeah, wizardry. This boggles my mind and I live in Kansas so I have developed a pretty high tolerance for this fundamentalist crap.

Pat Tillmans mother was on 60 minutes reminding America of the deception that surrounded her sons death. Watch it at Think Progress.

Women in Malaysia may need a letter giving them permission to leave the country. This move to control women is being sold as a measure to protect them from being tricked into carrying drugs. You know, because women are too dumb to take care of themselves apparently.

Apparently in a move to increase the number of abortions anti-choicers are planning to protest against contraception. You know, that stuff that prevents unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortions. If you want to see the kind of woman who could promote such craziness here is Pam Stenzel. Pam wants to teach your kids that birth control can kill them and that abortions make girls anorexic, depressed and suicidal. (h/t Feministing)

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ezYNWIDB0[/youtube]

And finally I wanted to point out this post by Melissa McEwen at Shakesville. Its about a young girl who had the courage to fight back against her assaulter and the horrible consequences that followed. This story deserves a post of its own but I don’t have the time. Besides I doubt I could do it justice after Melissa’s post. This is my response to anyone who has ever wondered why women don’t fight back.

That is pretty much my roundup of the news from yesterday. If you have any comments please feel free to post them. Also if I missed anything please post that as well.

William ~ WWJV4

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Please attend if you are able and contribute to the cause if you are not. The Westboro Baptist Church is a vile, hateful, bigotted organization and it is way past time that an event like this took place in their own backyard, so to speak.

Our local paper wrote a pretty good article here about the MFM as well.

Hope to see you all there!