Category: Uncategorized

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Montana: State Supreme Court refuses to hear equal benefits for gays appeal

The Montana Supreme Court has sided with a lower court judge who dismissed a case brought by the ACLU demanding equal benefits for same-sex couples.

Judge Jeffrey Sherlock dismissed the case in April 2011, saying that an amendment to the Montana Constitution that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman had already settled the question, adding that the question of granting gay couples the benefits, without allowing them to get married, was best left to the legislative process. Sherlock also said that a ruling to force state lawmakers to write new laws would be an inappropriate breach of the separation of powers between the three branches of government.

In November, the ACLU said that Sherlock “abdicated his responsibility” in dismissing the case. They brought their appeal before the Supreme Court in April 2012.

The AP reports on today’s decision:

The court wrote in Monday’s 4-3 decision the request was “overly broad” and sided with a lower court’s decision last year to dismiss the lawsuit. But the Supreme Court left the door open for the couples to modify their request and try again.

The couples are not asking to for the right to marry. Instead, they argue the state is constitutionally required to let them make the same decisions about their families’ health care and finances as married couples.

The state has argued that spousal benefits are limited by definition to married couples. It argues that any decision to expand them needs to be made by the Legislature.

Via Towleroad

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National Rifle Association shuts down Facebook page

On Saturday, one day after the unthinkable shootings at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the NRA deactivated its Facebook page after celebrating getting to 1.7 million fans on the social site earlier in the week.

While the group has not commented since Friday’s tragedy, it appears to have decided to take its brand out of the social media picture in the wake of a mass-shooting news event. 
The NRA’s chief Twitter account, which has doubled in followers to 63,000 since the Aurora shootings, has been silent since tweeting out a holidays giveaway contest early Friday.

More at AdWeek

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SNL cold open honors Sandy Hook tragedy: “Silent Night”

“Saturday Night Live” made a rare departure from its comedic opening to pay tribute to the children and adults killed at Sandy Hook elementary school.

Not known for treating anything seriously or tenderly, the show made a fitting exception during the first moments of its show Saturday. Rather than the usual comedic sketch, a children’s choir appeared on camera and angelically sang “Silent Night,” with the touching refrain, “Sleep in heavenly peace.”

Then the members of the New York City Children’s Chorus shouted out the NBC show’s time-honored introduction: “Live from New York, it’s `Saturday Night!'”

It was the night’s sole reference to the tragedy and struck just the right tone.

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From Liza Long – “I Am Adam Lanza’s mother”

Liza Long shares her thoughts on the Sandy Hook tragedy from her perspective as the mother of a mentally ill child.

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.

A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan-they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.

[snip]

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys-and their mothers-need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do.

When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. “If he’s back in the system, they’ll create a paper trail,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you’ve got charges.”

Read the entire text of Liza’s powerful yet terrifying essay on Gawker.

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Huge rally in Paris for marriage equality

Thousands took the streets of Paris on Sunday near the Place de la Bastille to rally for marriage equality and for laws that allow same-sex couples to adopt — both of which are being considered by lawmakers. 

Their signs read, “Same Families, Same Rights!” “Adoption For All Couples,” and “Biphobia, Transphobia, Enough!’

A French flag is inscribed with the message, “‘Gay marriage, yes, Sad marriage, no.”

More pics at Advocate.com

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No pro-gun rights US Senators would appear on MEET THE PRESS

‘Meet The Press’ host David Gregory said that no pro-gun rights senators would agree to go on the show on Sunday.

“We reached out to all 31 pro-gun rights senators in the new Congress to invite them on the program to share their views on the subject this morning,” he said. “We had no takers.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined the show to discuss a greater need for gun control. She announced that Senate Democrats would intrduce a new bill banning assault weapons on the first day of the new Congress in January.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a staunch advocate for gun control, also appeared on the show. Bloomberg helped found the group “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.”

More at HuffingtonPost

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Westboro Baptist to picket Sandy Hook Elementary

The Westboro Baptist Church, the hateful congregation known for picketing funerals to spread their sad “God hates fags” message, plans to picket outside Sandy Hook Elementary, the elementary school where Adam Lanza senselessly murdered twenty children last week.

Just when you think Westboro can’t sink any lower – well, they do.

[via JMG]

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Sen. John Kerry to be nominated for Secretary of State

ABC News is reporting that President Obama has decided that he will nominate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to be secretary of state.

For a variety of reasons including the finalization of the process, other pending Cabinet decisions, and — more immediately — the national reaction to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the news will not be announced in the next few days.

Should Kerry become Secretary of State, this is how things would unfold:

If nominated by the president and confirmed by his colleagues in the Senate, Kerry would leave Congress, and Deval Patrick, Massachusetts’ Democratic governor, would appoint a replacement.

By state law, a special general election is required to take place 145 to 160 days after a vacancy occurs. So if Kerry were nominated, confirmed, and then stepped down on January 21 (Inauguration Day), the election would take place between June 14 and June 29, with primary elections being held six weeks earlier.

Whoever wins the special election would serve the final year and a half of Kerry’s term and would then be able to run again for a full six-year term in office in the 2014 midterm elections.