Etc.

Just in time for the fall elections: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has declared California's Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional.

This virtually seals the presidency for Mitt Romney despite Obama's own opposition to same-sex marriage.

I always said this was a loser issue politically. I don't know why it ever got out there for public consumption in the first place.
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Community colleges are being shit on by the Obama administration:

Oklahoma and Nevada have taken the additional step of simply denying state funding for remediation at four-year institutions, while Colorado and South Carolina shifted remediation to community colleges several years ago.

This policy is not being implemented to improve access to remedial courses. Rather, it is being done with the intent of creating an even more unequal system of higher education in which working class students will have little or no access to a university-level education. Either working class youth will be denied a college education altogether, or they will be relegated to the community college system, which the Obama administration wants to transform into little more than training centers for low-wage jobs in manufacturing and the service industry.

His contempt for our society's institutions couldn't be more obvious.
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Ever wonder why the rich feel superior to you and me? You don't have to have pseudo-sociologist Charles Murray to explain it to you.

The rich can buy public opinion and twist it to suit their purposes and you can't. It's really that simple.
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Apparently a judge threw out the Roy Gomm mandatory uniform lawsuit. I wonder if it will be appealed.

One thing I don't get: I assumed that when I was dismissed from that stupid case I was named in, the entire case was closed, but the U.S. Courts site isn't showing that. All it is showing is me being dismissed by the judge after the stipulations were filed. No wonder the plaintiff isn't acting like she has gotten any money. If she did get anything, she didn't get much.

Who knows with that asshole district? For all I know, they may have asked the court to keep even a dismissal of the entire case a secret from the public.

Another thought is this: It seems to me my co-defendant's name was also asked by the parties to be removed from the case in a separate stipulation, if I remember correctly. It may be the lawsuit is just the district proper now and no individuals named as defendants since we couldn't be sued individually anyway. But then you would think there would be a separate order indicating my co-defendant was dismissed.

On the other hand, even if everybody wanted to keep the case a secret, the website would show the statuses as being "terminated." This hasn't happened yet with this suit.
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Obituary: The world's last WWI vet has died. She was 110 years old:

A woman thought to be the world's last known surviving service member of World War I has died aged 110.

Florence Green, from King's Lynn, Norfolk, served as a mess steward at RAF bases in Marham and Narborough.

She died in her sleep on Saturday night at Briar House care home, King's Lynn. Mrs Green had been due to celebrate her 111th birthday on 19 February.

The world's last known combat veteran of World War I, Briton Claude Choules, died in Australia aged 110 in May 2011.

The last three World War I veterans living in the UK - Bill Stone, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch - all died in 2009.

News

Dan Rather lost his case on appeal today.
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Ted Olson, Mr. VRWC himself, goes out on a limb in trying to make a "conservative" case for same-sex marriage.

He and attorney David Boies, both of them the principal lawyers in the case which all but ruined a nation, Bush v. Gore, are trying to overturn Proposition 8 by using the court system and thus invite HUGE backlash from millions of people.
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This kid needed serious counseling instead of surgical mutilation in order to be a "girl," which of course he is not and never will be.

After all, what defines one as male or female isn't about sex roles or wearing clothes but rather about reproduction, regardless of whether one can or wants to have children. "Trans" people are not the opposite sex they covet; they are what they are biologically. These people are basically living out a fantasy which is also a lie.

It's sad, but that's what "transgendered" people are. They are seriously screwed up people. I don't think it is ethical for doctors to perform surgery in order to treat what is in fact a psychological issue.
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A strong earthquake is expected to cause many casualties in Haiti:

"People are out in the streets, crying, screaming, shouting," said Karel Zelenka, director of the Catholic Relief Services office in Haiti. "They see the extent of the damage," he said, but can do little to rescue people trapped under rubble because night has fallen.

"This will be a major, major disaster," Zelenka said.

He reported that poorly constructed shantytowns and other buildings had collapsed in huge clouds of dust. Near the CRS headquarters, a supermarket was "completely razed," he said, and a gasoline station and a church were reduced to rubble. Among the worst-hit areas was the impoverished Carrefour section of Port-au-Prince near the sea, Zelenka said.

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Oldest living Oscar winner Luise Rainer reached a milestone today as she celebrated her 100th birthday.

She won Best Actress awards for The Good Earth (1937) and The Great Ziegfeld (1936).
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There is no way I am going to buy that bullshit book, Game Change.

It appears to be all sensationalism and gossip, and not a lot of it with sources willing to go on the record.

And it is hitting far below the belt to drag the Edwardses through more shit. Leave them alone:

This is the most revealing aspect of this episode. The National Enquirer, Matt Drudge and Politico aren't aberrational extremes in our press corps. As Halperin and Harris correctly noted in calling Washington journalism "The Freak Show," they are at its epicenter, leading the way. The reason there is such a complete merger of interest among low-life tabloids, Matt Drudge, reality shows and the Washington political press corps is precisely because they are indeed indistinguishable -- merged. Even for people who thought that John Edwards' sexual activities were relevant when he was running for President or vying for a high administration position, at this point he is a completely destroyed, discredited non-entity with no political future, and mucking around in the life of him and his wife is pure sleazy voyeurism. Subjecting the Edwards to this sort of vicious, judgmental scrutiny is a cost-free activity, which is why so many are so eager to engage in it.

It tells me far more about the asshole "reporters" than it does about them.

Miscellaneous

Roman Polanski will be released Friday to his Swiss chalet where he will be monitored.
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No surprise here as the NY state senate rejected legalizing same-sex marriage.

It's just not gonna happen nationwide in my lifetime or in the next.
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Obama's making a fool's choice in his escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

However, I don't think he was preferable to Hillary Clinton by a long shot. Only somebody who is ignorant of Obama's neoliberal tendencies would write such a thing.
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Proposition 8

I was right, as were most observers, when we said the California Supreme Court would uphold Proposition 8 while allowing the same-sex marriages performed prior to last year's election to remain valid.

It was a middle ground, but it was the only decision the court could make. A court cannot overturn a constitutional amendment; courts interpret constitutions.

The decision was 6-1.

Details:

The 6-1 decision was issued by the same court that declared a year ago that a state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman violated the right to choose one's spouse and discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.

Prop. 8 undid that ruling. The author of last year's 4-3 decision, Chief Justice Ronald George, said today that the voters were within their rights to approve a constitutional amendment redefining marriage to include only male-female couples.

Justice Carlos Moreno, in a lone dissent, said a majority should not be allowed to deprive a minority of fundamental rights by passing an initiative.

The justices ruled unanimously that Prop. 8 was not retroactive and that gay and lesbian couples who relied on the court's May 2008 ruling to get married before the Nov. 4 election will remain legally wed.

Prop 8 opponents will try and overturn it by initiative, but I have a feeling that despite a recent poll showing an almost even split, such an initiative will fail. Why? Primarily because of the way the opponents conducted themselves following last year's election.

In a truly bizarro development, a federal lawsuit has been filed over this ruling, and the two lead attorneys, David Boies, and our friend, Ted Olson, are on the same side.

Proposition 8

Legal experts are now predicting what should have been obvious all along, and that is the California Supreme Court is likely to uphold Proposition 8, which defines marriage as only between one man and one woman. A court cannot overturn a constitutional amendment; that would twist the entire meaning of what a court is supposed to do.

Courts interpret constitutions; they don't veto amendments or legislate. They can, of course, overturn previous court decisions.

Prop 8 opponents simply have to put in another initiative for a vote to overturn it or expand the definition of marriage. Not that it will pass; I don't think it would, especially given the overreaction of Prop 8 by the GLBT community which pissed off a lot of people.

Snip:

Doug NeJaime, a gay fellow at the Williams Institute, a think-tank for sexual orientation law at the University of California in Los Angeles, said “a clear majority” of the court would rule in favor of Prop 8 because justices weren’t buying the argument that the measure was a qualitative revision to the constitution.

“I think justices were on the same page as to what the court would have to do to get to that point, and I think there’s a disagreement among them as to whether they’re willing to do that,” NeJaime said.

I think there is reason to believe the decision would be unanimous while at the same time validating those marriages having taken place between June and November of last year.

Prop 8 Aftermath

Opponents of the California same-sex marriage ban blame consultants and leaders for its passage.

The blame is misplaced. The reason the measure passed is because SSM advocates completely overestimated its support in California. They are rightly afraid that if such a measure could pass there, it would pass everywhere in the country, and measures similar have passed all over the country. That's why they have gone overboard in their protests.

Proposition 8 Aftermath

This post tries to explain what went "wrong" with the No on 8 campaign, but I can summarize it much more concisely: SSM advocates completely overestimated their public support, and while the vote was relatively close, it showed to the world SSM is basically a lost cause.

This is probably as close a vote as the SSM advocates will ever get now that they have gone out of their way to offend voters even more by attacking religious organizations, trying to silence anybody with a differing view, pilfering the arguments against racial segregation and offending key minority groups, and trying to subvert the will of the voters by attempting an end run around the new amendment by going back to the high court and losing in the process.

The final nail in the coffin of SSM in California, of course, was Gavin Newsom's antics.

This issue is simply unwinnable in the courts, in the legislatures, and in public opinion.

California News

Being 70 years old and already having been governor two terms, why Jerry Brown thinks by playing both sides of the Prop 8 issue is going to help him in any future gubanatorial race is beyond me.

From the way I see it, the fact of the matter is the voters clarified the SSM issue raised by the majority of the court by putting in the amendment; it is now part of the constitution. Gay advocates are raising phony arguments that an amendment can't override a court decision regarding "civil rights." Uh, no, because slavery was legal in the United States and blacks were considered 3/5ths of a person until the U.S. Constitution was amended to overrule that. The courts HAD to uphold the new amendments. A court cannot repeal an amendment no matter what; voters have to submit another initiative to undo it. The idea it is a revision to something in the state constitution (which wasn't there at the time of the court ruling) is a red herring. WHERE was the argument before the election? And with all of the bellyaching by those against Prop 8 just hardens the other side's resolve. What is really driving the anti-8 protests is the fear that if SSM can't happen in California, it won't happen anywhere else in the country (excluding the court decisions in MA and CT). SSM advocates have seriously overreached, in my view.

Besides, there are so many more important issues than this, it's disgusting taxpayer money is being wasted on it.

Proposition 8 Aftermath

It was Mormons, relatively late on the scene, who tipped the scale to pass Propositon 8.

Thousands of people protested all over the country against the majority of California voters, er, Proposition 8.

Miscellaneous News

This article, about the widespread national protests against Proposition 8, claims these could start a movement as important as the Stonewall riots of 1969.

Try setting back gay rights clear back to Stonehenge, which these wrongheaded protests are bound to do.

Pissing off the vast majority of Americans who do NOT agree with SSM and believe, as history, the dictionary, and common sense based on biological realities show, marriage is heterosexual by definition because heterosexual relations by definition produce children while gay relations do not. Marriage is really about society's need to perpetuate itself and keep some of sort of structure for children to be raised. We all know not all marriages are successful and not all produce children. Not all children are born in wedlock, although many if not most of them encounter more hardships, especially economic, than those born in wedlock, but regardless of the exceptions, marriage exists for the production and raising of the next generation and to make parents take some responsibility for the offspring they produce. What many gay activists want to do is redefine marriage into an oxymoron. The reasons they are pushing this loser issue are two-fold: one, they want the benefits marriage provides without having to go the piecemeal route of civil unions, and two, they think their relationships should be have equal status and APPROVAL of society, not just "tolerance." The way to get approval is to have exactly the same public recognition of their relationships as heterosexuals, i.e., marriage. It is virtually impossible for them to get approval for something many people find disgusting and goes against all of their beliefs.

It was a long struggle to get civil unions, which have widespread support even among conservatives, but the gay activists weren't happy with that. They had to push the envelope, and now they bellyache when the vast majority of people object to their radical concept of marriage. They are REALLY mad because California, of all places, told them and especially Gavin Newsom where to stick it. If California voters don't like SSM, what chance do gay activists have to EVER to get it in other states outside of a couple of state courts which should have known better? Forget the federal government, despite more Democrats being elected. A lot of them, including president-elect Obama, are opposed to SSM as well.

All the SSM supporters are doing is inviting a giant backlash on something that is unwinnable. I personally sympathize with the issue, but I know as well as anybody this concept will NEVER fly in this country. And let's face it, with the economy in the sewer, there are far more important issues to tackle than whether one approves of what gays do in the sack.

Proposition 8 Aftermath

The more opponents of Prop 8 yammer and bitch, the more likely there will be a backlash.

This person sums the issue up through the eyes of Prop 8 supporters:

Black says he believes homosexuals are born gay, have no choice in the matter and should be able to live how they want.

But the three friends said marriage is inherently between a man and a woman, and that widening the definition would put society on a path toward a murky kind of relativism, where traditional standards of morality disappear in a live-and-let-live atmosphere.

"You have to draw the line in the sand somewhere," said Mike Mooney, 60.

With all of the country's problems, something like this is truly trivial but opens the door for a return of the radical right, something we don't need. It's just a loser issue all around.

Proposition 8 Aftermath

Because the Yes on 8 people managed to mobilize many people of faith, the opponents really dropped the ball and lost as a result.

Short of another constitutional amendment overturning Prop 8, there's not much same-sex marriage proponents can do now. I doubt the USSC would touch this thing at all. If it did and said same-sex marriage was legal, then you'd find opponents pushing for a federal constitutional amendment, which would pass Congress and most of the states like clockwork.

Public acceptance for same-sex marriage is a long ways off, if ever, in this country.

Just in case, Prop 8 supporters are pushing to have THEIR day in court. Meanwhile, a number of legislators don't give a damn if they get booted out of office by the very voters for which they have contempt.

More Proposition 8

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is very disappointed Proposition 8 passed, and she felt she had to defend Mayor Gavin Newsom from deserved criticism over his actions which contributed mightily to its passage.

While there are court challenges to this, I don't think there is much the opponents of 8 can do about it. Proposition 8 is part of the California constitution, and it would seem to me, thinking about the Volstead Act which began prohibition, the only way a constitutional amendment can be overruled is by another amendment. The courts can't do anything about it; they are not in the business of repealing constitutional amendments. That's what happened with the Volstead Act (the 18th Amendment); it was repealed by another constitutional amendment (the 21st Amendment). I don't know if Prop 8 could be challenged at the USSC level, but unfortunately, the USSC wouldn't touch the issue with a ten-mile pole.

Supporters of same-sex marriage in California are shit out of luck, I'm afraid, without having their own initiative repealing it put to a vote. And there's no chance whatsoever of it passing at this time.

More Proposition 8

Stupid is as stupid does, as far as I am concerned.

Bellyaching and insulting people who don't agree with same-sex marriage activists will NEVER get these advocates far. The country is two or three decades away, at least, for this issue to be widely accepted (court decisions in MA and CT don't count).

Proposition 8 Aftermath

Opponents of the measure were shocked by the measure's passage, but heartened by the millions who opposed it. Some 2,000 in San Francisco held a candlelight vigil last night.

Whether you like it or not, Gavin Newsom's big mouth set gay rights back 40 years. He pushed the issue too soon, and then his remarks after the court ruling hurt him still. A change in tactics by the activists would go a long way in changing public opinion. More subtlety is in order and less in-your-face activism. Public opinion may change eventually, as younger people tend to be more supportive of same-sex marriage, but support on a national scale is a couple of decades away at least.

The L.A. Times has a similar article.

Later in the day, thousands protested outside a Mormon temple in Westwood.

Too bad they didn't protest at Gavin Newsom's place.

Foot-in-Mouth Politics

Gavin Newsom really needs to shut up. The more he talks about same-sex marriage, the worse his chances for any political future:

Newsom says he’s optimistic because only 52 percent of voters favored Proposition 8, compared with 62 percent of voters who favored a ban on same-sex marriage in 2000.

Speaking to reporters in his office, the mayor says he sees hope in “the millions and millions of Californians who said it’s wrong to take rights away from people.”

It's Newsom's fault all right:

As San Francisco and the blue state majority of California nurse their election euphoria hangover, let's point out the obvious about the passage of Prop. 8:

Gavin Newsom screwed it up.

Voters are the ones who make the decision but no one person handed the Yes on 8 campaign a more persuasive and compelling sound bite than our own mayor. Even if there were other flaws in the anti-8 operation, he was unquestionably the poster child for the pro-8 push, whether you like it or not.

"Whether you like it or not" will be his epitaph.

California's Proposition 8, Same-Sex Marriage Ban [Updated]

So far with 95 percent of precincts reporting, the ban is passing. This doesn't surprise me. Minorities who came out in droves to vote for Obama also often supported the ban. Blacks and hispanics have closer church ties in general than whites (hence Obama's shameless pandering to black evangelicals in the SC primary campaign using an anti-gay spokesperson).

Anyway, I understand the feeling. It doesn't necessarily mean people are bigots or religious fascists as much as they feel this is being forced on them and they're tired of it; they feel sometimes gays are too much in their faces. That isn't a nice thing to say, but the feelings are real (read many of the comments on the Chronicle's website regarding this). The attitude is this: "I don't care what they do as long as they don't shove it down my throat." It's similar to people's attitudes about religion.

This post from the Chronicle's comments sums it up:

Like it or not. Isnt that your battle cry? The people have spoken, yet again in California, so deal with it. But this amendment to the state constitution is no where near the end. You SP's will never stop with the gay agenda. You have equal protection in the state and you just want a title chang. If the gay movement (see Newsom) was more humble and not so in your face about it I think many Californians would have a different outlook about so called gay rights. Today is a great day for humanity. Like it or not Newsom.

As the comment illustrates, a LOT of people were pissed off with SF Mayor Gavin Newsom's speech about same-sex marriage:



That could have done the trick if the measure passes. Many, though, think the measure will be declared unconstitutional.

There are still many ballots to count, however, and it could ultimately fail:

Election officials estimated there could be as many as 2 million ballots left to count after election day, mainly from mail ballots that arrived Tuesday.

Supporters of the ban stayed cautiously optimistic.

"We're confident voters did go to the polls to vote 'yes' to protect traditional marriage," said Chip White, a spokesman for the Prop. 8 campaign.

Similar bans were passed in Arizona and Florida.

I have long felt this country wasn't really ready for same-sex marriage; it's probably a couple of decades away at least.

Update: With 96 percent of the vote counted, the measure has officially passed, 52 percent to 48 percent.

I think Gavin Newsom's future political aspirations have just gone down the toilet.

California's Proposition 8

Right now, with 9 percent of the vote in, the ballot measure banning same-sex marriage is ahead in the polls.

This is interesting:

The proposition was trailing among white voters, but was ahead among black voters. Latino voters were closely divided.

People who said they attended religious services weekly were overwhelmingly voting for the measure, while those who said that they occasionally or never went to religious services were voting no.

Voters older than 65 voted mostly for the proposition, while those in the 18-29 range voted against it.

Of course, the measure could eventually go down to defeat. However, if it passes, I won't be one bit surprised.

Ballot Measures

The most closely watched contest in the country besides the presidential election is the vote in California on same-sex marriage. The latest Field Poll shows Proposition 8 losing, but by just a 49-to-44 percent, with 7 percent undecided:

Most of the state's highest-profile political leaders -- including both U.S. senators and the mayors of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles -- along with the editorial pages of most major newspapers, have opposed the measure. PG&E, Apple and other companies contributed money to fight the proposition, and the heads of Silicon Valley companies including Google and Yahoo took out a newspaper ad opposing it.

Many argued, as former President Bill Clinton did in a taped call to millions of registered voters in the days before the election, that the measure was discriminatory because it would strip rights from gay couples and treat them differently from heterosexual couples.

"If I know one thing about California, I know that is not what you're about. That is not what America is about. Please vote "no" on 8. It's unfair and it's wrong," Clinton said.

On the other side have been an array of conservative organizations, including the Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family and the American Family Assn., along with tens of thousands of small donors, including many who responded to urging from Mormon, Catholic and evangelical clergy. An early October filing by the "yes" campaign reported so many contributions that the secretary of state's campaign finance website crashed.

The Field Poll results are here.

Miscellaneous News.

A Sparks, Nevada, couple is selling some behind-the-scenes footage of the 1961 film, The Misfits, filmed in northern Nevada.

It will be auctioned off Saturday at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
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Trouble won't get as much money as Leona Helmsley willed him, but he will still be set for the rest of his life.
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Del Martin, 87, and partner Phyllis Lyon, 84, became the first gay/lesbian couple to marry in San Francisco.

Both are well known in the lesbian rights movement, and Martin especially I remember from some her writings about battered women.

Martin was actually married to a man for four years and divorced him. Martin has one daughter. She kept his name. Her maiden name is Dorothy Taliaferro, and she was born in San Francisco. I wonder if she is related to KGO talk show host Ray Taliaferro.
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