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The California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 which puts a statewide constitutional ban against gay marriage. This continues the state’s indecisiveness on the issue, begun (to my offhand knowledge) by the major of San Francisco and continuing to today’s point.
For non-heterosexual State Department employees, on the other hand, US Ambassador Michael Guest speculates that same-sex partner benefits may be established within “weeks”.
It was also announced today that President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court is Sonia Sotomayor. Although not the radical, feminist lesbian with “Roe v. Wade rocks my world” tatooed on her arm (as NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” recently baited my hopes with), she should be at least a centrist bridge between the majority conservative and the…others.
This thereby marks the end for the once-seemingly endless “Obama shortlist” posts and journalist entries around the web, so we can once again focus on other things….like debating waterboarding.
Which, by the way, even McCain says is torture. Come on, only Hannity and few others — who wouldn’t even take up Olbermann’s challenge that for every second the former withstood waterboarding, Olbermann would donate $1,000 to veteran charity — still think it’s just a form of interrogation.
All this silly headline crap, however, going back and forth between the parties — I’m thinking specifically the current case in which the straggler republicans are trying to create a democrat-witch-hunt by going after Nancy Pelosi — is just frustrating fodder for discussions that only address the manifestations of truly deep systemic issues.
Just a rant, so I digress for now but am likely to spontaneously pick up the thread later. I’m gearing up for another list post, this one on racial and cultural identity. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to have them.
Speaking of Sex Ed, Obama Proposes Closing Down Abstinence Education.
President Obama’s 2010 Budget cuts “Community-Based Abstinence Education” among other abstinence-only methods.
“This budget eliminates funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education, the mandatory Title V Abstinence Education program, the Compassion Capital Fund, and Rural Community Facilities.”
Reuters reports that these programs will be replaced by programs to reduce teenage pregnancy.
The so-called “abstinence only” programs, backed by many social conservatives who oppose the teaching of contraception methods to teenagers in schools, have received about $1.3 billion in federal funds since the late 1990s.
-Reuters
The budget, released today, has yet to be approved by Congress.
Sorry if this is old news, it’s new to me.
ASU: Obama Undeserving of Honorary Degree from Washington Independent, 4/9/09.
It’s baffling. I think The Sauda Voice summed it up well:
So, according to ASU, becoming the first African American president is not an achievement of eminence. According to ASU, being the author of two best-selling books is not an achievement of eminence. According to ASU, developing one of the largest grassroots networks in history, crossing international borders, is not an achievement of eminence. According to ASU, graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, is not an achievement of eminence. According to ASU, serving as a United States Senator is not an achievement of eminence. And on and on.
