Top Gay Bigot in Mass. Legislature Won't Seek Reelection

Rob's Note: An article from a couple of weeks ago that got lost in the shuffle.

See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya. From the Boston Globe:

The most vocal critic of gay marriage in the state Legislature will not seek re-election next year, according to a published report.

Rep. Philip Travis, D-Rehoboth, told The Boston Globe he wants to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests, including teaching at a community college and researching Native American history in his district.
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Travis, 65, has led the fight against same-sex marriage since the state's Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage in November 2003.

He led the way in getting the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and when support for that waned, he got behind another proposal for a gay marriage ban aimed at the 2008 ballot.
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Conservative groups, including the Massachusetts Family Institute, will be losing an ally.
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He also had his struggles. In 1998, while serving as chairman of the legislative Banking Committee, he solicited financial contributions for an Indian tribe in his district from several banks at a time when his committee was considering banking legislation.

He paid a $1,500 fine and lost his chairmanship.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, unless it's a door labeled equality for all.

This is a good development for gays and lesbians. At least in one state in this country, the trend is towards gay marriage and it looks more and more like it won't be overturned by the legislature. Why? Because critics of gay marriage lost their seats in the last election cycle and more were ready to go down this time, hence the "spend more time with my family" argument. Read the rest of this post...

Off to play with Carmela, the wonder dog

It's Saturday night on a holiday weekend. Just not in the mood to publish a bitchy post :-) Enjoy.

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A telemarketer just called on my cell phone, I'm not happy

This is the first telemarketing call I've received in 5 years or so of having this phone, I'm not pleased. It was for some "survey" or something. At 5pm on a Saturday on my CELL PHONE?

WTF?

Isn't anybody up on this? I'd heard that they were going to start going after cells phones soon, and lo' and behold here we are. Is something up? Have telemarketers indicated they're now going after cell phones? These calls are COSTING US MONEY NOW, I pay for my cell phone minutes as does pretty much every American (in Europe, receiving calls is free).

For what it's worth, the telemarketers were at this number: 609-279-1327

So, anybody up on this? The status of the legality of such calls to cells, and what's being done about this?

Any political party that wants to score a bunch of points, fast, jump on this issue. Read the rest of this post...

Late Afternoon Open Thread

Open Thread Away!

I'm enjoying a lazy day on Nantucket watching The Adam Carolla Project. Later tonight I'm off to chow down on some lobster for dinner. Maybe I'll bump into John and Theresa again tonight after seeing them shopping on Main Street last night. Read the rest of this post...

Further evidence that Bush is a coward caving to terrorists, planning significant withdrawal from Iraq

Even more evidence now that Bush is caving to terrorists and political pressure and is planning to reduce a significant amount of US troops from Iraq next year.

The sad part is that he's only doing this because of the political pressure, and not because he thinks the job is done. What will result is that we will have even fewer US troops to do an impossible job - they're talking about still leaving 100,000 there next year - and those troops will face even more chaos and more danger, with fewer fellow service members to watch their back.

So, basically, in order to save his political behind, Bush will put even more US soldiers in danger by trying to split the baby in half. And, within days of Dick Cheney suggesting anybody advocating a troop pull out is a coward and emboldening the terrorists (even though most of the folks we're fighting in Iraq aren't terrorists, but are actually Iraqis we've pissed off), Bush is now proposing the same thing.

So, when will the media ask Dick Cheney why he thinks Bush is a coward who enables terrorists? Read the rest of this post...

US Military Did Burn Afghan Bodies

From AP:

Four U.S. soldiers face disciplinary action for burning the bodies of two Taliban rebels, but they will not be charged with crimes because their actions were motivated by hygienic concerns, the military said Saturday.

The military started its inquiry into the incident last month after TV footage showed U.S. soldiers using the cremation to taunt other Islamic militants Â? an act that sparked outrage in Afghanistan.

Islam bans cremation, and the video images were compared here to photographs of U.S. troops abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

The U.S.-led coalition's operational commander, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, said two junior officers who ordered the bodies burned would be officially reprimanded for showing a lack of cultural and religious understanding, but he said the men were unaware that what they were doing was wrong.

Kamiya also said two noncommissioned officers would be reprimanded for using loudspeakers to taunt Taliban rebels believed to be lingering in a nearby village after a clash with the troops. The two men also would face nonjudicial punishments, which could include a loss of pay or demotion in rank.

"Our investigation found there was no intent to desecrate the remains, but only to dispose of them for hygienic reasons," Kamiya said.

Yeah, sure. Think any Muslims are buying that one? Read the rest of this post...

FOX News: Bush approval now at 28%

UPDATE: I can't find this poll anywhere. I saw it live on FOX cable this morning, they even had it written at the bottom of the screen throughout the entire story, I kept looking at it because I couldn't believe it dropped that low. The only reference I could find online to Bush being 28% in the polls was an Al Jazeera story. It'd be funny if FOX repeated an Al Jazeera story! Anyway, I'm striking this headline until someone can backup the number.

This needs to stop or I'm just going to hyperventilate laughing.

The good news for Bush? Amongst insurgents in Iraq, his approval rating has soared. Apparently, they think he's doing a heck of a job - helping them. Read the rest of this post...

Bush and al-Jazeera - Insane Story

Looks like the Bush wanting to bomb al-Jazeera story isn't going away. From the BBC:

The head of al-Jazeera is delivering a letter to Tony Blair demanding the facts on reports that President Bush suggested bombing the Arab TV station.

He wants a memo published which is alleged to show Tony Blair dissuaded President Bush from bombing its HQ.

Last week the Daily Mirror reported what it said was the contents of a memo showing Mr Blair had talked the US President out of the attack last year.
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According to press reports, the memo includes a transcript record of Mr Blair attempting in April 2004 to persuade Mr Bush not to bomb al-Jazeera's HQ in Qatar.

Qatar is an ally of the US and was the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war.

If this is true, that Bush wanted to bomb a building in the very same country as his military headquarters in a time of war, he would have to be absolutely insane. Congress should seriously consider what this would mean if the Commander in Chief was that reckless.

Update 1: Video here. (Hat tip to Dave and dionysus) Read the rest of this post...

Washington Post examines the Abramoff Scandal

This thing is breaking open. Everyone's involved: Congressman and their wives, Senators, staffers, Bush administration officials. This was the epitome of the GOP's K Street project:

The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are focused on at least half a dozen members of Congress, lawyers and others close to the probe said. The investigators are looking at payments made by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some lawmakers and at actions taken by senior Capitol Hill aides, some of whom went to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, lawyers and others familiar with the probe said.

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R), now facing separate campaign finance charges in his home state of Texas, is one of the members under scrutiny, the sources said. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and other members of Congress involved with Indian affairs, one of Abramoff's key areas of interest, are also said to be among them.

Read the rest of this post...

Early AM Open Thread

So how was everyone's Black Friday? Get in any fights at Walmart yesterday? From The Mercury News:

Police were eventually called to calm unruly shoppers who climbed over a display case and shouted in a desperate effort to get their hands on one of a couple-of-dozen Hewlett-Packard notebook computers -- on sale for just $22 off the regular price of $400.

Here's a great wrap-up of Great Days in Black Friday History from The Baltimore Sun:

Such spirited scuffles have become a predictable, if perverse, part of the season - as traditional as fruitcake and eggnog. The shopping skirmishes can be traced back at least a generation, when the desire for an adorably homely Cabbage Patch Kid doll outweighed the desire to follow the Golden Rule. Even embarrassment spurred by media reports about the combatants hasn't been enough to deter the fights over toys and parking spaces.

Open Thread Away! Read the rest of this post...

Vatican cuts singer from Christmas concert due to violation of "moral doctrine"

No, we're not talking about pedophilia...they are still active in diverting attention and responsibility on those countless violations of the law and most peoples moral doctrine. This gross violation of that strict moral doctrine the church likes to promote is all about condoms and saving lives. Oh the horror, get her off of that lineup immediately! Just say no to condoms and just say no to saving lives in the war against AIDS. What would the world do without those morals in the Catholic church? Read the rest of this post...

Friday Orchid blogging

Okay, I'm a wee bit late. This is a plant that I don't exactly have - well, I don't have the Paph sanderianum species itself, I have several crosses with sanderianum in it (kind of like the genetic difference between owning a pure breed dog and a mixed breed).

Here is an example of Paph sanderianum Shin-Yi (I have this, again, as a cross with another plant):



And here's a slow-mo picture of a sanderianum flowering over a 21 day period. This one is supposedly the world record holder for longest petals. You can read more about it here.

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