The Morning Pride: July 6, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to The Morning Pride, ThinkProgress LGBT?s daily round-up of the latest in LGBT policy, politics, and some culture too! Here?s what we?re reading this morning, but please let us know what stories you?re following as well. Follow us all day on Twitter at @TPEquality.

- The State Department has set up a global fund collecting donations to advance LGBT rights around the world.

- A gay couple in Dallas was arrested yesterday when they were denied a marriage license and refused to leave the Dallas County Clerk’s Office.

- Enthusiasm to ban same-sex marriage in Iowa is dissipating.

- A Wisconsin appeals court has asked the state’s Supreme Court to rule on whether the Wisconsin domestic partnership registry is constitutional.

- There may be room for local domestic partner benefits under North Carolina’s broad Amendment One.

- The Episcopal Church is expected to approve a new liturgy for the blessing of same-sex couples.

- Catholic parents are urging Ontario Catholic schools to defy the province’s new law allowing gay-straight alliances to form.

- The British government will fly the Pride Flag for the first time this weekend to commemorate World Pride.

- A UK community is rallying support for a transgender teacher who will undergo gender transition this summer.

- Efforts are underway to end the criminalization of homosexuality in Belize.

- The key to fighting HIV in Kenya is minimizing stigma against gay men.

- Lovers of showtunes will appreciate this Gypsy parody dedicated to President Obama’s support of marriage equality:

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/07/06/511720/the-morning-pride-july-6-2012/

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Santigold’s ‘The Keepers,’
‘Mad Men’ and Race

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

This last season of Mad Men heightened the debate about the show’s approach to race and the 1960s, bringing Dawn, a young secretary, into the office as Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce’s first African-American employee. Would these exceedingly exceedingly privileged white people have much contact with black people who weren’t their domestic help or much awareness of the civil rights movement? Did the show tokenize Dawn by bringing her into the office but building no significant storyline around her presence there? I expect all of those debates to continue next season, particularly as we see whether Matthew Weiner has long-term plans for Dawn, or for how his white folks will bend or break under the winds of change.

But in the meantime, Santigold’s new video for her song “The Keepers” may be my favorite critique of the obliviousness of people like the Drapers:

It’s a house where impeccably coifed, white-blonde people eat food that glows with poison. When shooters in a car shred the walls, they momentarily startle, then check their hair and make sure their clothes are in place, and sit back down to dinner. And when their milkman’s caught in the crossfire, they make a spectacle of his death without considering the risk outside. The house build by racism is burning down around them and they don’t even notice.Mad Men did horror stories last season, but to slightly cartoonish effect. Don Draper still had to be the person we rooted for, even as he courted rot in his jaw, even as he was haunted by his dead brother. It seems it takes someone like Santigold to do the job properly, to reveal the obscenity of moving through your swish, stylish life ignorant of the fundamental inequalities you benefit from, and unprepared to adapt to a world without them.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/07/06/511604/santigolds-the-keepers-mad-men-
and-race/

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National Security Brief: Former Assad Ally
Defects

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

– French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed to a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders in the French captial that a ?senior official? and commander of the Republican Guard had ?defected and is on his way to Paris.?

– Syrian opposition leader Hassan Hashimi is asking the international community to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria to prevent military forces “flying over defected soldiers and civilians and bombarding them.”

– A group of senators led by John McCain (R-AZ) is asking 15 of the biggest defense contractors to explain how $500 billion in defense cuts could impact them, the latest effort in a campaign to pry information from the White House and Pentagon about the automatic cuts.

– Politico reports that “Mitt Romney?s campaign is considering a major foreign policy offensive at the end of the month that would take him to five countries over three continents and mark his first move away from a campaign message devoted almost singularly to criticizing President Barack Obama?s handling of the economy.”

– The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a $420 million effort to build refineries to make competitively priced biofuels, despite anger in Congress over the price the Navy paid for alternative fuel to test a carrier strike group this month.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/07/06/511741/national-security-brief-assad
-ally-defects/

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July 6 News: Midwest And East Coast States
Continue To Swelter Under Record Heat

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

A round-up of the top climate and energy news.

St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago and several other Midwest cities already have set record highs this week or are on the verge of doing so. And with even low temperatures setting heat records, residents are left searching for any relief. [Associated Press]

Record-breaking heat across the U.S. and catastrophic wildfires in Colorado are giving environmentalists a rare opening to regain the political offensive on climate change. [The Hill]

Hundreds of thousands of people remained without power Thursday after a line of deadly storms struck last Friday. [New York Times]

A unique ice-class barge designed to clean up any oil spills that might result from Shell Alaska?s upcoming operations in the Arctic Ocean has so far failed to acquire final U.S. Coast Guard certification. [Los Angeles]

Global grain markets are being transformed by extreme heat and dryness in a key U.S. growing region. Fields in the Midwest are baking under relentless sunshine, raising concern over crops in the country’s corn belt. Led by corn, grain prices have soared. [Wall Street Journal]

The government is under intensifying pressure over its wind energy policy with a lobby group threatening legal action and a key investor warning that a planned £200m facility could be at risk. [Guardian]

Five rural energy programs will end while others will be slimmed down if a draft version of the 2012 farm bill released Thursday becomes law. [The Hill]

There are only a little over 500 deployed energy storage projects in the world, according to Pike Research. So what?s the hold up? [Earth2Tech]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/06/511705/july-6-news-midwest-and-east-c
oast-states-continue-to-swelter-under-record-heat/

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Econ 101: July 6, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to ThinkProgress Economy?s morning link roundup. This is what we?re reading. Have you seen any interesting news? Let us know in the comments section. You can also follow ThinkProgress Economy on Twitter.

A judge has ordered mega-bank JP Morgan Chase to explain why it shouldn’t have to turn over internal emails as part of an investigation into whether it manipulated energy markets. [Reuters]

President Obama has given more than half of states waivers from certain requirements under the No Child Left Behind education law. [Bloomberg]

Central banks in China, the European Union, and the U.K. yesterday each took steps to boost middling growth. [Wall Street Journal]

Greece’s new government has dropped demands that the terms of its international bailout be eased. [Financial Times]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking to overhaul the process of obtaining a mortgage. [New York Times]

Many small banks have yet to repay the funds they received during the 2008 bank bailout. [Los Angeles Times]

The Obama administration yesterday initiated a World Trade Organization complaint against China for imposing duties on U.S. cars. [Wall Street Journal]

Planned layoffs hit a 13 month low in June. [The Hill]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/06/511702/econ-070612/

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80,000 Jobs Created In June, Unemployment Rate
Remains Unchanged

post from ThinkProgress on 06 July 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy created 80,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate remain unchanged at 8.2 percent. Analysts had expected 90,000 jobs. The private sector created 84,000 jobs, while the public sector continued to shrink. The number of jobs created in April was revised down to 68,000, while May’s was revised up to 77,000. The wider U-6 measure of underemployment increased slightly to 14.9 percent.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/06/511712/june-2012-unemployment-report/

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On This Day In History July 6

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 06 July 2012 09:00:00 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow GazetteThis is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.Find the past "On This Day in History" here.Click on images to enlarge.July 6 is the 187th day of the[...]

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http://www.docudharma.com/diary/30289/on-this-day-in-history-july-6

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Dangerous Speech from Doctors

post from Kmareka.com on 06 July 2012 08:00:21 AM. © Kmareka.com

So, what is it with this series of laws that try to stifle doctors from speaking honestly with their patients about matters that concern their health? Going back to the Reagan years, ‘gag laws’ are popular with the same politicians that preach against ‘gummint interference in our health care’.

Mining corporations in Pennsylvania have legislated to put doctor’s careers at risk if they disclose the names of chemicals that have made their patients sick.

In Florida, pediatricians had to fight for the right to follow their best judgment in protecting children. Today, Medscape.com, reports that the First Amendment still protects us…

Florida chapters of national medical societies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), along with several individual physicians, sued the state in federal court to block what they called a “gag law.” They argued that physicians should be free to ask patients, especially parents of young children, whether they own guns, and if so, to advise them about safe storage. The ultimate goal is to prevent shootings that occur, for example, when a child finds a loaded pistol in a desk drawer.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), which had lobbied for the law’s passage, unsuccessfully tried to intervene as a party in the federal case. It saw the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms at stake, as opposed to the First Amendment and free speech.
Louis St Petery, MD, a pediatric cardiologist in Tallahassee, Florida, and executive vice president of the state’s AAP chapter, hailed Judge Cooke’s latest ruling as a victory for preventive care.
“We were not out after gun owners’ rights,” Dr. St Petery told Medscape Medical News. “We were out to protect children. Pediatricians need to discuss [gun safety] issues openly to prevent children from getting killed.”

Government is flawed and corruptible, but when special interests use local power to pass bad laws citizens can and must call on our Constitutional rights. Industry loves de-regulation, except when it’s bad for bidness.

Read The Full Article:
http://kmareka.com/2012/07/06/dangerous-speech-from-doctors/

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CA is 6th state to call for constitutional
amendment overturning Citizens United

Sadly, I fear it's going to take a lot more damage to our electoral process - like an election obviously stolen by one or two big businesses/businessmen - for the American people to wake up and fully comprehend the danger of money in politics.From HuffPo:One of the largest states in the nation took an official stand Thursday against the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United vs....

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Americablog/~3/nItRYuKODXo/ca-is-6th-state-to-call
-for.html

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Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: How checked
out is Thad McCotter This checked out

Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here.Leading Off:

? MI-11/WATN?: This Thad McCotter story is just unreal:

As U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential run fizzled last year, the Livonia Republican turned to another aspiration: writing a TV show.
"Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown" starred McCotter hosting a crude variety show cast with characters bearing the nicknames of his congressional staffers and his brother. They take pot shots about McCotter's ill-fated bid for the White House while spewing banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women's anatomy. It features a cartoon intro and closing snippet with an Oldsmobile careening through Detroit and knocking over the city's landmarks. The double-finned car has a Michigan license plate reading: "Made on MoTown."
The News obtained a copy of the script from a former staffer who offered it as evidence of what the five-term congressman was pitching while in elected office and the tawdry humor unbecoming of a public official who had become disinterested in serving the 11th Congressional District.

Some amazing stuff:

Some congressional staffers included in his 42-minute pilot episode dated Oct. 17, 2011, were the same longtime employees who handled the collection of petition signatures that botched his chances of getting on the Aug. 7 primary ballot. The character named "Wardo," the nickname others acknowledge is used for District Director Paul Seewald, dresses in a matador costume, gets drunk on a whisky-laced Slurpee and runs off stage after puking.
"Chowsers," the nickname for Deputy District Director Don Yowchuang, leers at women's body parts and snaps cell phone pictures of them, goes "cougar hunting" and repeats the line "I'm Thai."
Seewald and Yowchuang received substantial pay increases in the first quarter of this year?19 percent and 32 percent, respectively, compared with previous quarters, according to records from Legistorm.

Much, much more at the link. Okay, wait, I gotta quote one more bit:

In "Bumper Sticker," conservative commentator S.E. Cupp is cast as guest on the pilot. Cupp, a regular guest on cable political shows, also has appeared on "Red Eye" and co-hosts MSNBC's "The Cycle."
McCotter tries to ask serious questions of the columnist, while his sidekicks chime in by asking how she "keeps that great stripper bod?" and whether "D-Cupp" is dating anyone. In the script, Cupp is disgusted by the "train wreck" of the show.
It's unclear whether Cupp knew of her role in the pilot. Reached by e-mail, she didn't want to talk about McCotter.

Yow!