Weblog

Friday, 15 May 2009

Saturday, 09 May 2009

  • Miss California: A High School Serial Slut from a Gay-bashing Family?

     

    Court docs: Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's parents used homosexuality as an insult

    “Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers"~Miss California Carrie Prejean, pro-“opposite marriage” activist

    Updated Thursday, May 7th 2009

    \Gay bash~ God hates fags

    A second racy lingerie photo has emerged of Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean - as well as some details about her past that may shed some light on the beauty queen's well-publicized views against gay marriage.

    The new image of Prejean appeared Wednesday on the site TheDirty.com, flying in the face of Prejean's assurances to pageant reps that the earlier photo was the only one.

    The site has been down due to heavy traffic, but CNN reports the second image, like the first, shows Prejean in pink panties and no top, facing away from the camera.

    Pageant officials met Tuesday after the first photo appeared to consider stripping Prejean of her Miss California USA title for keeping the photos a secret. Failure to disclose semi-nude photos is grounds for disqualification from the contest.

    While the photos released so far appear no more revealing than the swimsuit Prejean wore on stage, Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated there are more to come.

    Prejean's publicist says Prejean posed for the photos when she was 17 in order to land a modeling job. Prejean herself defended the first image, saying, "I am a Christian, and I am a model ... Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

    Prejean, whose anti-gay marriage comments during the Miss USA pageant thrust her into the national spotlight, may also have some explaining to do about a series of court documents from her parents' messy, decade-long divorce proceedings.

    The papers, dug up by TMZ.com, show that Prejean's parents flung a series of homosexual allegations against one another.

    In one of the documents, Prejean's father describes a confrontation he had with her mother in 1996, in which "Ms. Prejean accused me, in front of our daughter, of homosexuality."

    Another excerpt quotes a court-appointed doctor who said "The mother questioned [within hearing of the girls] whether [her father] was a homosexual or had a homosexual roommate."

    Court papers dated May 16, 2000, include the following statement from a court-appointed counselor: "The mother also alleges the father told the girls their stepfather was gay, that all men with mustaches are gay."

    Prejean's father "acknowledges talking with the girls about the stepfather's brother being gay, not the stepfather," said the papers.

    Prejean has said she believes her gay marriage view s cost her the crown. She has since signed on to star in a controversial National Organization for Marriage campaign supporting "opposite marriage."  

    "Marriage is good," Prejean said at a news conference announcing the ad campaign. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife. Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

    Beauty Queen / Drag Queen . . . separated at birth?

    Miss Cali w, drag queen

     

    EXCLUSIVE: Miss California Parties With Gay Icon


     

     

    See also ~Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

     

    EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler in Gay Rights Ad With Former Miss  California Contestants

    moakler-prop8-b

    Wednesday April 29, 2009

    From US MAGAZINE.COM

    Weeks after Miss California Carrie Prejean denounced gay marriage, Shanna Moakler -- the director of the Miss California USA pageant -- is appearing in a new ad supporting gay rights.

    Moakler (a former Miss USA) shot a print ad Tuesday slamming Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

    Joining her were two former Miss California contestants, Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash.

    "I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in an exclusive statement to USmagazine.com

     Tuesday. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

    Although Prejean has said she lost the Miss USA crown because of her anti-gay marriage answer, Moakler said it was because Prejean "wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing."

     

     

    Could it Really be true? She seems so innocent…

    miss cali new

    Carrie Prejean - Former Vista High School classmates call her a 'serial slut'

     Examiner

     

    05/02/2009

     

    Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California who has become the new spokesperson for right wing religious fundamentalists, isn’t quite the saint that her supporters are claiming her to be, at least according to four former classmates whom I met with in Vista, California today. Two of them referred to her as “La Puta Prejean” since she supposedly often liked picking up Latino men late at night .“I find it funny how she acts like she’s such a moralist now. Ask anybody from Vista High School. I don’t think there is one guy that she hasn’t slept with. The funny thing is that after sleeping with her, guys really had no use for her since she was never too bright,” one classmate told me. It’s always possible that this classmate could be making things up and I have no way to confirm one way or the other, but the Carrie Prejean theme remains constant  with everybody whom I spoke with: the religious right fundamentalists would be very smart to get rid of her before everything comes out…and there is a lot.“Carrie received decent grades but that’s because she cheated,” another classmate tells me. “One time, however, Carrie thought she was being smart by cheating off an Asian girl. Carrie bragged how she was going to get an A because she copied from an Asian girl. It turns out that the girl knew what Carrie was doing, purposely wrote down the wrong answers, and then changed them after Carrie handed her test in. Carrie failed the test and deserved to with her racist attitude.”Another classmate tells me that one time, when Carrie was working as a waitress, she spit in the food of a patron whom she thought was gay. “Carrie hated gay people. She pretty much learned from her family that gays were as bad as murderers and that Aids was actually a gift from God. It was pretty disgusting.”Last week, I wrote how both Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean did nothing wrong: Perez Hilton was brave to bring up a very controversial issue on national television and Carrie Prejean was brave to give an honest answer that put political correctness aside. Though it’s hard to completely judge Carrie Prejean based on what people tell me – which may possibly not even be true – my gut feeling says they are telling the truth. The fact that Carrie Prejean is now exploiting her Miss California role to become a spokesperson against gay marriage seems like she had an agenda all along. But conservatives need not worry if Ms. Prejean doesn’t work out; they can always turn to Bristol Palin. 

     

  • Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

     

    Oh, the Hypocrisy!

    “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

     

    Those are some Christian values you got there, sweetie. Fake boobs. Nude pics. And, YOU think you get to JUDGE others? LOL ~ thejoshuablog 05/05/09

     

    ~“I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures…” ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

     

    Princeton University’s Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell discusses the values and hypocrisy within the political world, including “Joe the Plunber’s” bigoted views against gays.

     

     

    ARE CONTESTANTS ALLOWED TO HAVE COSMETIC SURGERY?

    “Although contestants are discouraged from altering their own natural beauty, no restrictions are placed on cosmetic surgery; it is impossible to enforce such a rule. In fact, since 1990 the organization has allowed padding in an effort to discourage participants from permanently altering their bodies for the competition” ~ Miss USA FAQ
     
     

    Miss California Caught Lying and Breaking the Rules, Say Pageant Officials

    Misss Cali~ liar

     

     

    By Perez Hilton

    May 6, 2009

     

    It's not biblically correct to lie-tell, now is it?

     

    Oh, Carrie Prejean, bless your little heart.

     

    CNN is reporting that California pageant officials, lawyers and representatives for Donald Trump have convened to discuss whether or not Miss California will be dethroned.

     

    A copy of the pageant contract Prejean signed last year was presented to CNN by Miss California USA spokesman, Roger Neal. The contract clearly states that the discovery of semi-nude photos could mean disqualification. AND that any contestant must reveal if they've taken nude or partially nude pics in the past.

     

    Says Neal, "You'll see in the agreement that she signed that she clearly violated the terms of her reign as Miss California USA, but we don't expect a decision to be made today."

     

    But what about the other photos not released? The other WAY more naked ones?

     

    Neal says: "We'll see what happens with those, and we want to know who's releasing them."

     

    Neal added that Prejean had run afoul of several parts of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

     

    The detailed document - which gives pageant officials nearly unlimited control of the title holder's activities - prohibits Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials, all of which she HAS been doing.

     

    Naughty naughty!

     

    If she hasn't been fulfilling her obligations as Miss California, she MUST be dethroned! And the firs runner-up of Miss USA can't be a liar!

     

    In the last two weeks, Prejean, 21, has made televised appearances at her local church in San Diego  and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

     

    The contract also contains a clause asking participants to acknowledge whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

     

    Maybe Carrie can't read?

    perez hilton 

     

    [Image via WENN.]

     

Sunday, 03 May 2009

  • White-washing Matthew Shepard's horror

    Virginia Foxx is human~ now that's a hoax!
     
    The Republicans love to rewrite history~ but telling an outright lie regarding the circumstances of his horrific slaying by two murderous degenerates, is disgusting, inhuman and could only be maufactured by a  morally bereft, UNCHRISTIAN, heartless evildoer ~ and republicans pride themselves on their "morals" don't they?  Oh the hypocrisy! This woman is a blight on the U.S. Congrass and a detriment to her.party~ but, so are most Republican congressmen and congresswomen lately. It's blatanly obvious Virginia Foxx ain't nuthin' but  plain old trailer trash.   
     
    Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard and executive director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation responds to recent statements by Representative Foxx regarding her son's death and shares her perspective on the new hate crimes bill in Congress.
     
     
    matthew-shepard
     

    Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance

     

    SIGN UP TODAY AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HATE

     

    More on Virginia Foxx: What a disgusting human being

     

  • What a disgusting human being

     

    Virginia Foxx:

    Worst Person in the World

     

    “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”~ Virginia foxx  on the bill which is named for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered for being homosexual. 

    Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s attempt to rewrite history and completely ignore the horror of the HATE-motivated murder of Matthew Shepard earns her the dishonor of

    ~"Go on and tell those lies while you still have breath sister. Your time is over and history will judge you as harshly as it does the Segregationists".
    ~"Um, Ginny, hon--if Matt Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay, then how come one of his killers used the Gay Panic Defense? Can't have it both ways, shug. Stupid whore."
    Comments from TOWELROAD
     

    If you would like to ring up this colossal abnormality of humanity and give her a piece of your mind, feel free:

    Phone:(202) 225-2071 Phone:(336) 778-0211   Phone:(828) 265-0240 Courtesy of AMERICABlog 

    Matthew Shepard killed in non-bias "robbery," Foxx says

    By Glenn Thrush for POLITICO

    April 29, 2009

    North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx  is questioning whether the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, was a bias attack motivated by his sexual orientation. 

    Shepard's mother Judy was in the gallery at the time, according to a senior Democratic aide.

    The socially conservative Foxx, arguing against a new Democratic hate crimes bill that includes new protections for gays and lesbians, described the description of Shepard's murder as a anti-homosexual attack a "hoax" -- and questioned whether prior bias crime legislation should have been named after him.

    “I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay.”

    She added:

    “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

    "Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

    Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

    "It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

    Two young men -- Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney -- were convicted in connection with the crime, with multiple witnesses testifying to their anti-gay aspect of the crime. Both also intended to rob the Sheppard home after the attack, according to press accounts.

    McKinney testified that Shepard attempted to grab his leg earlier in the evening and that had spurred a "gay panic" that provoked an extraordinarily violent outburst -- with his lawyers claiming McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child.

     

Pulse

Weblog

Friday, 15 May 2009

Saturday, 09 May 2009

  • Miss California: A High School Serial Slut from a Gay-bashing Family?

     

    Court docs: Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's parents used homosexuality as an insult

    “Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers"~Miss California Carrie Prejean, pro-“opposite marriage” activist

    Updated Thursday, May 7th 2009

    \Gay bash~ God hates fags

    A second racy lingerie photo has emerged of Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean - as well as some details about her past that may shed some light on the beauty queen's well-publicized views against gay marriage.

    The new image of Prejean appeared Wednesday on the site TheDirty.com, flying in the face of Prejean's assurances to pageant reps that the earlier photo was the only one.

    The site has been down due to heavy traffic, but CNN reports the second image, like the first, shows Prejean in pink panties and no top, facing away from the camera.

    Pageant officials met Tuesday after the first photo appeared to consider stripping Prejean of her Miss California USA title for keeping the photos a secret. Failure to disclose semi-nude photos is grounds for disqualification from the contest.

    While the photos released so far appear no more revealing than the swimsuit Prejean wore on stage, Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated there are more to come.

    Prejean's publicist says Prejean posed for the photos when she was 17 in order to land a modeling job. Prejean herself defended the first image, saying, "I am a Christian, and I am a model ... Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

    Prejean, whose anti-gay marriage comments during the Miss USA pageant thrust her into the national spotlight, may also have some explaining to do about a series of court documents from her parents' messy, decade-long divorce proceedings.

    The papers, dug up by TMZ.com, show that Prejean's parents flung a series of homosexual allegations against one another.

    In one of the documents, Prejean's father describes a confrontation he had with her mother in 1996, in which "Ms. Prejean accused me, in front of our daughter, of homosexuality."

    Another excerpt quotes a court-appointed doctor who said "The mother questioned [within hearing of the girls] whether [her father] was a homosexual or had a homosexual roommate."

    Court papers dated May 16, 2000, include the following statement from a court-appointed counselor: "The mother also alleges the father told the girls their stepfather was gay, that all men with mustaches are gay."

    Prejean's father "acknowledges talking with the girls about the stepfather's brother being gay, not the stepfather," said the papers.

    Prejean has said she believes her gay marriage view s cost her the crown. She has since signed on to star in a controversial National Organization for Marriage campaign supporting "opposite marriage."  

    "Marriage is good," Prejean said at a news conference announcing the ad campaign. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife. Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

    Beauty Queen / Drag Queen . . . separated at birth?

    Miss Cali w, drag queen

     

    EXCLUSIVE: Miss California Parties With Gay Icon


     

     

    See also ~Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

     

    EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler in Gay Rights Ad With Former Miss  California Contestants

    moakler-prop8-b

    Wednesday April 29, 2009

    From US MAGAZINE.COM

    Weeks after Miss California Carrie Prejean denounced gay marriage, Shanna Moakler -- the director of the Miss California USA pageant -- is appearing in a new ad supporting gay rights.

    Moakler (a former Miss USA) shot a print ad Tuesday slamming Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

    Joining her were two former Miss California contestants, Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash.

    "I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in an exclusive statement to USmagazine.com

     Tuesday. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

    Although Prejean has said she lost the Miss USA crown because of her anti-gay marriage answer, Moakler said it was because Prejean "wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing."

     

     

    Could it Really be true? She seems so innocent…

    miss cali new

    Carrie Prejean - Former Vista High School classmates call her a 'serial slut'

     Examiner

     

    05/02/2009

     

    Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California who has become the new spokesperson for right wing religious fundamentalists, isn’t quite the saint that her supporters are claiming her to be, at least according to four former classmates whom I met with in Vista, California today. Two of them referred to her as “La Puta Prejean” since she supposedly often liked picking up Latino men late at night .“I find it funny how she acts like she’s such a moralist now. Ask anybody from Vista High School. I don’t think there is one guy that she hasn’t slept with. The funny thing is that after sleeping with her, guys really had no use for her since she was never too bright,” one classmate told me. It’s always possible that this classmate could be making things up and I have no way to confirm one way or the other, but the Carrie Prejean theme remains constant  with everybody whom I spoke with: the religious right fundamentalists would be very smart to get rid of her before everything comes out…and there is a lot.“Carrie received decent grades but that’s because she cheated,” another classmate tells me. “One time, however, Carrie thought she was being smart by cheating off an Asian girl. Carrie bragged how she was going to get an A because she copied from an Asian girl. It turns out that the girl knew what Carrie was doing, purposely wrote down the wrong answers, and then changed them after Carrie handed her test in. Carrie failed the test and deserved to with her racist attitude.”Another classmate tells me that one time, when Carrie was working as a waitress, she spit in the food of a patron whom she thought was gay. “Carrie hated gay people. She pretty much learned from her family that gays were as bad as murderers and that Aids was actually a gift from God. It was pretty disgusting.”Last week, I wrote how both Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean did nothing wrong: Perez Hilton was brave to bring up a very controversial issue on national television and Carrie Prejean was brave to give an honest answer that put political correctness aside. Though it’s hard to completely judge Carrie Prejean based on what people tell me – which may possibly not even be true – my gut feeling says they are telling the truth. The fact that Carrie Prejean is now exploiting her Miss California role to become a spokesperson against gay marriage seems like she had an agenda all along. But conservatives need not worry if Ms. Prejean doesn’t work out; they can always turn to Bristol Palin. 

     

  • Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

     

    Oh, the Hypocrisy!

    “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

     

    Those are some Christian values you got there, sweetie. Fake boobs. Nude pics. And, YOU think you get to JUDGE others? LOL ~ thejoshuablog 05/05/09

     

    ~“I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures…” ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

     

    Princeton University’s Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell discusses the values and hypocrisy within the political world, including “Joe the Plunber’s” bigoted views against gays.

     

     

    ARE CONTESTANTS ALLOWED TO HAVE COSMETIC SURGERY?

    “Although contestants are discouraged from altering their own natural beauty, no restrictions are placed on cosmetic surgery; it is impossible to enforce such a rule. In fact, since 1990 the organization has allowed padding in an effort to discourage participants from permanently altering their bodies for the competition” ~ Miss USA FAQ
     
     

    Miss California Caught Lying and Breaking the Rules, Say Pageant Officials

    Misss Cali~ liar

     

     

    By Perez Hilton

    May 6, 2009

     

    It's not biblically correct to lie-tell, now is it?

     

    Oh, Carrie Prejean, bless your little heart.

     

    CNN is reporting that California pageant officials, lawyers and representatives for Donald Trump have convened to discuss whether or not Miss California will be dethroned.

     

    A copy of the pageant contract Prejean signed last year was presented to CNN by Miss California USA spokesman, Roger Neal. The contract clearly states that the discovery of semi-nude photos could mean disqualification. AND that any contestant must reveal if they've taken nude or partially nude pics in the past.

     

    Says Neal, "You'll see in the agreement that she signed that she clearly violated the terms of her reign as Miss California USA, but we don't expect a decision to be made today."

     

    But what about the other photos not released? The other WAY more naked ones?

     

    Neal says: "We'll see what happens with those, and we want to know who's releasing them."

     

    Neal added that Prejean had run afoul of several parts of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

     

    The detailed document - which gives pageant officials nearly unlimited control of the title holder's activities - prohibits Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials, all of which she HAS been doing.

     

    Naughty naughty!

     

    If she hasn't been fulfilling her obligations as Miss California, she MUST be dethroned! And the firs runner-up of Miss USA can't be a liar!

     

    In the last two weeks, Prejean, 21, has made televised appearances at her local church in San Diego  and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

     

    The contract also contains a clause asking participants to acknowledge whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

     

    Maybe Carrie can't read?

    perez hilton 

     

    [Image via WENN.]

     

Sunday, 03 May 2009

  • White-washing Matthew Shepard's horror

    Virginia Foxx is human~ now that's a hoax!
     
    The Republicans love to rewrite history~ but telling an outright lie regarding the circumstances of his horrific slaying by two murderous degenerates, is disgusting, inhuman and could only be maufactured by a  morally bereft, UNCHRISTIAN, heartless evildoer ~ and republicans pride themselves on their "morals" don't they?  Oh the hypocrisy! This woman is a blight on the U.S. Congrass and a detriment to her.party~ but, so are most Republican congressmen and congresswomen lately. It's blatanly obvious Virginia Foxx ain't nuthin' but  plain old trailer trash.   
     
    Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard and executive director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation responds to recent statements by Representative Foxx regarding her son's death and shares her perspective on the new hate crimes bill in Congress.
     
     
    matthew-shepard
     

    Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance

     

    SIGN UP TODAY AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HATE

     

    More on Virginia Foxx: What a disgusting human being

     

  • What a disgusting human being

     

    Virginia Foxx:

    Worst Person in the World

     

    “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”~ Virginia foxx  on the bill which is named for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered for being homosexual. 

    Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s attempt to rewrite history and completely ignore the horror of the HATE-motivated murder of Matthew Shepard earns her the dishonor of

    ~"Go on and tell those lies while you still have breath sister. Your time is over and history will judge you as harshly as it does the Segregationists".
    ~"Um, Ginny, hon--if Matt Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay, then how come one of his killers used the Gay Panic Defense? Can't have it both ways, shug. Stupid whore."
    Comments from TOWELROAD
     

    If you would like to ring up this colossal abnormality of humanity and give her a piece of your mind, feel free:

    Phone:(202) 225-2071 Phone:(336) 778-0211   Phone:(828) 265-0240 Courtesy of AMERICABlog 

    Matthew Shepard killed in non-bias "robbery," Foxx says

    By Glenn Thrush for POLITICO

    April 29, 2009

    North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx  is questioning whether the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, was a bias attack motivated by his sexual orientation. 

    Shepard's mother Judy was in the gallery at the time, according to a senior Democratic aide.

    The socially conservative Foxx, arguing against a new Democratic hate crimes bill that includes new protections for gays and lesbians, described the description of Shepard's murder as a anti-homosexual attack a "hoax" -- and questioned whether prior bias crime legislation should have been named after him.

    “I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay.”

    She added:

    “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

    "Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

    Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

    "It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

    Two young men -- Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney -- were convicted in connection with the crime, with multiple witnesses testifying to their anti-gay aspect of the crime. Both also intended to rob the Sheppard home after the attack, according to press accounts.

    McKinney testified that Shepard attempted to grab his leg earlier in the evening and that had spurred a "gay panic" that provoked an extraordinarily violent outburst -- with his lawyers claiming McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child.

     

Saturday, 02 May 2009

  • The Colbert Report Study~ do you see only what you want to see?

     
     

    The Irony of Satire

    Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report

     

    Heather L. LaMarre

    The Ohio State University, HLaMarre@gmail.com

     

    A. Beam

    The Ohio State University

     

    Kristen D. Landreville

    The Ohio State University

     

    This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

    The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 212-231 (2009)
    DOI: 10.1177/1940161208330904

Friday, 01 May 2009

  • Is the GOP trying to destroy the U.S.?

     

    Hope ItWas Worth It~ Literally

    Ain't that just like the GOP?

    Lawmakers cut flu money from stimulus

    House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, said he included $420 million in flu-fighting money in the House version of the stimulus bill, but senators objected and he was forced to pull the allocation when the final bill passed in February.

    "Whether or not this influenza strain turns out to have pandemic potential, sooner or later some strain will," Mr. Obey said. "We are not prepared today. Lets hope we dont need to be. Because we need to become prepared as soon as possible, I intend to again request additional funds in the upcoming supplemental."

    The outbreak of swine flu has fostered a search for where to place blame. Although Mr. Obey didn't name names, liberal blogs have been particularly harsh toward Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, who during the stimulus debate touted her opposition to flu-fighting money. She was one of three Republicans who voted for the stimulus bill, and did so after the flu funds and some other provisions were removed.

    More Here...

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

  • Swine Flu outbreak worse than stated, say letters emailed to BBC

     

    Mexican athletes wear face masks at the Nationals Olympics 2009 in Tijuana 26/04/09
    Face masks are now being worn by people across Mexico as a precaution

    Readers in the areas affected by the swine flu outbreak have been sending their accounts to the BBC since the first cases were reported.

    The virus - which has so far claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico - has spread, with the first European case confirmed in Spain.

    Governments around the world are attempting to prevent it spreading further, amid reports of further infections in the US and Canada.

    Below, a selection of BBC readers' comments describe a sense of fear and uncertainty gripping their countries as a result of the spread of the virus.

    MONDAY, 27 APRIL, MEXICO AND SPAIN

    This is something that we are taking very seriously, which is why the government and the authorities have implemented preventative measures - from the use of masks to our recommendation that they avoid greeting one another with a kiss or even a handshake. They have acted correctly. It makes me proud to know that we have such a good system of epidemiological health in Mexico.

    I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days
    Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

    The hospitals are coping well. Some people have complained of long queues - but these are mostly alarmist types. People shouldn't be going to hospital just because they're sneezing. If too many people show up at emergency rooms then the system could collapse. But, we have many hospitals and they have all been working to implement the measures.

    We have enough anti-virals. I had the opportunity to speak with the person in charge of the purchasing of all medications for the Mexican Social Security Institute and they told me that they worked on this the entire weekend. There is definitely enough.

    The cases that are materialising now are those related to infections that occurred before the measures were put in place. However, it's going to be a while before we get the results. I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days and I think the measures will prove to be successful.
    Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

    I'm a doctor responsible for managing vaccines in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

    Over the last two weeks we started seeing patients with high fever, muscle aches, sore throats and coughs. Those symptoms seemed a bit odd for us, but we didn't diagnose them with swine flu as we didn't know about it.

    On Sunday we had our first death in the area. It was someone who came from Mexico City. But we don't have the means to confirm whether it was as a result of swine flu.

    We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment
    Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

    More than anything, we lack equipment and laboratory kits. All we can do is look at the symptoms and make a clinical diagnosis.

    In the pharmacies, there is no Tamiflu available. They only have another medication and they don't even have enough of that.

    So the vaccines we have are not enough we don't have the medication required. People here are not aware that this flu outbreak can kill people.

    On behalf of all the medical community in Nuevo Leon I'd like to ask for help to get the medication, so we can treat people.

    We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment.
    Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

    I have been trying to purchase face masks for myself and my family - my wife and two children - but haven't been able to get one anywhere.

    I have visited six pharmacies in the area and all are sold out. None are expecting deliveries until Tuesday. I am concerned by this and don't think it's good enough, given it's a measure the government is advising.

    However, I haven't seen any clear government advice on where people can get masks.

    My family and I are all at home and are taking general precautionary measures - such as avoiding any outside contact, going very carefully to the supermarket to do basic shopping and making no unnecessary visits or trips.

    I hope the government is being truthful - it certainly appears to be transparent in its information.

    The schools are closed, as are public buildings. People have been advised to stay at home and have been instructed with basic health precautions to take.
    Jorge, Mexico City, Mexico

    More Here...

    Saturday, 25 April 2009

    • Gregory Brothers~ VERY clever & funny too!

       

      Auto-Tune the News

       

       

      By David Hansen in Stuff

      Apr. 23 2009


       Part 2

      The best ideas are the simple ideas done perfectly, and that's precisely what
      Auto-Tune the News, a rabidly funny lampoon of cable news pundits, is. The players are Michael Gregory and his older brother Andrew Gregory (a touring songwriter of the Bright Eyes stripe, who even has his own Myspace page).

      It's exactly what the title suggests-- the Gregory brothers apply the auto-tune vocal effect to the sounds of the nightly news, harmonizing with them whenever possible. The effect is magnificent and jaw-dropping, not only for its topicality but for its spot-on recreation of a fad that's still ablaze.


        Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates, drugs & gay marriage

       

      Auto-Tune the News #1: march madness, economic woes & the pentagon budget cuts.

      Part 1.

      This use of auto-tune most loudly confirms what we all new about that particular vocal effect-- it's quick, easy and fool proof, and Auto Tune the News is no compliment to T-Pain's current domination of the R and B charts. And the beat production here? These songs have wheels-- particularly part 2. Auto Tune the News part 2 could be sneaked into any DJs set from Too Much Love to Epic and not an eyelash would bat. Stay tuned-- hopefully there's more to come.

       

    • Sadism has been normalized

       
       

      “There was a really, deeply evil thing that went on there”~ Chris Hayes, The Nation

       

      Torture~b&w

      Torturers Have Normalized Something Awful

       
      House Minority Leader John Boehner agreed on Thursday with the Democrats that the Bush Admistration enforced torture practices and then suggested that both parties accept the blame for it. The Nation's Chris Hayes talks about the GOP's eagerness for bipartisan blame.
       
      A Senate report revealed that former President George W. Bush and top-ranking officials in his administration approved torture techniques for the prison at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski reveals how soldiers were victims of scapegoatting for merely obeying orders.
       
       

      CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
      and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
      Treatment or Punishment

      The States Parties to this Convention…

      Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world,

      Have agreed as follows:

      PART I

      Article 1

      1.For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

      2.This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

      Read document

       
       
    [no info]
    • Just The Facts

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    • Visit windycurls's Xanga Site
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    • First Name: windycurls
    • Gender: Female
    • About Me: I believe in fairness and justice. I know the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction and it scares me. The future of this country is looking very grim.

    Weblog

    Friday, 15 May 2009

    Saturday, 09 May 2009

    • Miss California: A High School Serial Slut from a Gay-bashing Family?

       

      Court docs: Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's parents used homosexuality as an insult

      “Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers"~Miss California Carrie Prejean, pro-“opposite marriage” activist

      Updated Thursday, May 7th 2009

      \Gay bash~ God hates fags

      A second racy lingerie photo has emerged of Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean - as well as some details about her past that may shed some light on the beauty queen's well-publicized views against gay marriage.

      The new image of Prejean appeared Wednesday on the site TheDirty.com, flying in the face of Prejean's assurances to pageant reps that the earlier photo was the only one.

      The site has been down due to heavy traffic, but CNN reports the second image, like the first, shows Prejean in pink panties and no top, facing away from the camera.

      Pageant officials met Tuesday after the first photo appeared to consider stripping Prejean of her Miss California USA title for keeping the photos a secret. Failure to disclose semi-nude photos is grounds for disqualification from the contest.

      While the photos released so far appear no more revealing than the swimsuit Prejean wore on stage, Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated there are more to come.

      Prejean's publicist says Prejean posed for the photos when she was 17 in order to land a modeling job. Prejean herself defended the first image, saying, "I am a Christian, and I am a model ... Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

      Prejean, whose anti-gay marriage comments during the Miss USA pageant thrust her into the national spotlight, may also have some explaining to do about a series of court documents from her parents' messy, decade-long divorce proceedings.

      The papers, dug up by TMZ.com, show that Prejean's parents flung a series of homosexual allegations against one another.

      In one of the documents, Prejean's father describes a confrontation he had with her mother in 1996, in which "Ms. Prejean accused me, in front of our daughter, of homosexuality."

      Another excerpt quotes a court-appointed doctor who said "The mother questioned [within hearing of the girls] whether [her father] was a homosexual or had a homosexual roommate."

      Court papers dated May 16, 2000, include the following statement from a court-appointed counselor: "The mother also alleges the father told the girls their stepfather was gay, that all men with mustaches are gay."

      Prejean's father "acknowledges talking with the girls about the stepfather's brother being gay, not the stepfather," said the papers.

      Prejean has said she believes her gay marriage view s cost her the crown. She has since signed on to star in a controversial National Organization for Marriage campaign supporting "opposite marriage."  

      "Marriage is good," Prejean said at a news conference announcing the ad campaign. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife. Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

      Beauty Queen / Drag Queen . . . separated at birth?

      Miss Cali w, drag queen

       

      EXCLUSIVE: Miss California Parties With Gay Icon


       

       

      See also ~Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

       

      EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler in Gay Rights Ad With Former Miss  California Contestants

      moakler-prop8-b

      Wednesday April 29, 2009

      From US MAGAZINE.COM

      Weeks after Miss California Carrie Prejean denounced gay marriage, Shanna Moakler -- the director of the Miss California USA pageant -- is appearing in a new ad supporting gay rights.

      Moakler (a former Miss USA) shot a print ad Tuesday slamming Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

      Joining her were two former Miss California contestants, Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash.

      "I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in an exclusive statement to USmagazine.com

       Tuesday. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

      Although Prejean has said she lost the Miss USA crown because of her anti-gay marriage answer, Moakler said it was because Prejean "wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing."

       

       

      Could it Really be true? She seems so innocent…

      miss cali new

      Carrie Prejean - Former Vista High School classmates call her a 'serial slut'

       Examiner

       

      05/02/2009

       

      Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California who has become the new spokesperson for right wing religious fundamentalists, isn’t quite the saint that her supporters are claiming her to be, at least according to four former classmates whom I met with in Vista, California today. Two of them referred to her as “La Puta Prejean” since she supposedly often liked picking up Latino men late at night .“I find it funny how she acts like she’s such a moralist now. Ask anybody from Vista High School. I don’t think there is one guy that she hasn’t slept with. The funny thing is that after sleeping with her, guys really had no use for her since she was never too bright,” one classmate told me. It’s always possible that this classmate could be making things up and I have no way to confirm one way or the other, but the Carrie Prejean theme remains constant  with everybody whom I spoke with: the religious right fundamentalists would be very smart to get rid of her before everything comes out…and there is a lot.“Carrie received decent grades but that’s because she cheated,” another classmate tells me. “One time, however, Carrie thought she was being smart by cheating off an Asian girl. Carrie bragged how she was going to get an A because she copied from an Asian girl. It turns out that the girl knew what Carrie was doing, purposely wrote down the wrong answers, and then changed them after Carrie handed her test in. Carrie failed the test and deserved to with her racist attitude.”Another classmate tells me that one time, when Carrie was working as a waitress, she spit in the food of a patron whom she thought was gay. “Carrie hated gay people. She pretty much learned from her family that gays were as bad as murderers and that Aids was actually a gift from God. It was pretty disgusting.”Last week, I wrote how both Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean did nothing wrong: Perez Hilton was brave to bring up a very controversial issue on national television and Carrie Prejean was brave to give an honest answer that put political correctness aside. Though it’s hard to completely judge Carrie Prejean based on what people tell me – which may possibly not even be true – my gut feeling says they are telling the truth. The fact that Carrie Prejean is now exploiting her Miss California role to become a spokesperson against gay marriage seems like she had an agenda all along. But conservatives need not worry if Ms. Prejean doesn’t work out; they can always turn to Bristol Palin. 

       

    • Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

       

      Oh, the Hypocrisy!

      “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

       

      Those are some Christian values you got there, sweetie. Fake boobs. Nude pics. And, YOU think you get to JUDGE others? LOL ~ thejoshuablog 05/05/09

       

      ~“I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures…” ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

       

      Princeton University’s Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell discusses the values and hypocrisy within the political world, including “Joe the Plunber’s” bigoted views against gays.

       

       

      ARE CONTESTANTS ALLOWED TO HAVE COSMETIC SURGERY?

      “Although contestants are discouraged from altering their own natural beauty, no restrictions are placed on cosmetic surgery; it is impossible to enforce such a rule. In fact, since 1990 the organization has allowed padding in an effort to discourage participants from permanently altering their bodies for the competition” ~ Miss USA FAQ
       
       

      Miss California Caught Lying and Breaking the Rules, Say Pageant Officials

      Misss Cali~ liar

       

       

      By Perez Hilton

      May 6, 2009

       

      It's not biblically correct to lie-tell, now is it?

       

      Oh, Carrie Prejean, bless your little heart.

       

      CNN is reporting that California pageant officials, lawyers and representatives for Donald Trump have convened to discuss whether or not Miss California will be dethroned.

       

      A copy of the pageant contract Prejean signed last year was presented to CNN by Miss California USA spokesman, Roger Neal. The contract clearly states that the discovery of semi-nude photos could mean disqualification. AND that any contestant must reveal if they've taken nude or partially nude pics in the past.

       

      Says Neal, "You'll see in the agreement that she signed that she clearly violated the terms of her reign as Miss California USA, but we don't expect a decision to be made today."

       

      But what about the other photos not released? The other WAY more naked ones?

       

      Neal says: "We'll see what happens with those, and we want to know who's releasing them."

       

      Neal added that Prejean had run afoul of several parts of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

       

      The detailed document - which gives pageant officials nearly unlimited control of the title holder's activities - prohibits Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials, all of which she HAS been doing.

       

      Naughty naughty!

       

      If she hasn't been fulfilling her obligations as Miss California, she MUST be dethroned! And the firs runner-up of Miss USA can't be a liar!

       

      In the last two weeks, Prejean, 21, has made televised appearances at her local church in San Diego  and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

       

      The contract also contains a clause asking participants to acknowledge whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

       

      Maybe Carrie can't read?

      perez hilton 

       

      [Image via WENN.]

       

    Sunday, 03 May 2009

    • White-washing Matthew Shepard's horror

      Virginia Foxx is human~ now that's a hoax!
       
      The Republicans love to rewrite history~ but telling an outright lie regarding the circumstances of his horrific slaying by two murderous degenerates, is disgusting, inhuman and could only be maufactured by a  morally bereft, UNCHRISTIAN, heartless evildoer ~ and republicans pride themselves on their "morals" don't they?  Oh the hypocrisy! This woman is a blight on the U.S. Congrass and a detriment to her.party~ but, so are most Republican congressmen and congresswomen lately. It's blatanly obvious Virginia Foxx ain't nuthin' but  plain old trailer trash.   
       
      Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard and executive director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation responds to recent statements by Representative Foxx regarding her son's death and shares her perspective on the new hate crimes bill in Congress.
       
       
      matthew-shepard
       

      Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance

       

      SIGN UP TODAY AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HATE

       

      More on Virginia Foxx: What a disgusting human being

       

    • What a disgusting human being

       

      Virginia Foxx:

      Worst Person in the World

       

      “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”~ Virginia foxx  on the bill which is named for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered for being homosexual. 

      Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s attempt to rewrite history and completely ignore the horror of the HATE-motivated murder of Matthew Shepard earns her the dishonor of

      ~"Go on and tell those lies while you still have breath sister. Your time is over and history will judge you as harshly as it does the Segregationists".
      ~"Um, Ginny, hon--if Matt Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay, then how come one of his killers used the Gay Panic Defense? Can't have it both ways, shug. Stupid whore."
      Comments from TOWELROAD
       

      If you would like to ring up this colossal abnormality of humanity and give her a piece of your mind, feel free:

      Phone:(202) 225-2071 Phone:(336) 778-0211   Phone:(828) 265-0240 Courtesy of AMERICABlog 

      Matthew Shepard killed in non-bias "robbery," Foxx says

      By Glenn Thrush for POLITICO

      April 29, 2009

      North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx  is questioning whether the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, was a bias attack motivated by his sexual orientation. 

      Shepard's mother Judy was in the gallery at the time, according to a senior Democratic aide.

      The socially conservative Foxx, arguing against a new Democratic hate crimes bill that includes new protections for gays and lesbians, described the description of Shepard's murder as a anti-homosexual attack a "hoax" -- and questioned whether prior bias crime legislation should have been named after him.

      “I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay.”

      She added:

      “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

      "Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

      Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

      "It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

      Two young men -- Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney -- were convicted in connection with the crime, with multiple witnesses testifying to their anti-gay aspect of the crime. Both also intended to rob the Sheppard home after the attack, according to press accounts.

      McKinney testified that Shepard attempted to grab his leg earlier in the evening and that had spurred a "gay panic" that provoked an extraordinarily violent outburst -- with his lawyers claiming McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child.

       

    Saturday, 02 May 2009

    • The Colbert Report Study~ do you see only what you want to see?

       
       

      The Irony of Satire

      Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report

       

      Heather L. LaMarre

      The Ohio State University, HLaMarre@gmail.com

       

      A. Beam

      The Ohio State University

       

      Kristen D. Landreville

      The Ohio State University

       

      This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

      The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 212-231 (2009)
      DOI: 10.1177/1940161208330904

    Friday, 01 May 2009

    • Is the GOP trying to destroy the U.S.?

       

      Hope ItWas Worth It~ Literally

      Ain't that just like the GOP?

      Lawmakers cut flu money from stimulus

      House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, said he included $420 million in flu-fighting money in the House version of the stimulus bill, but senators objected and he was forced to pull the allocation when the final bill passed in February.

      "Whether or not this influenza strain turns out to have pandemic potential, sooner or later some strain will," Mr. Obey said. "We are not prepared today. Lets hope we dont need to be. Because we need to become prepared as soon as possible, I intend to again request additional funds in the upcoming supplemental."

      The outbreak of swine flu has fostered a search for where to place blame. Although Mr. Obey didn't name names, liberal blogs have been particularly harsh toward Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, who during the stimulus debate touted her opposition to flu-fighting money. She was one of three Republicans who voted for the stimulus bill, and did so after the flu funds and some other provisions were removed.

      More Here...

    Wednesday, 29 April 2009

    • Swine Flu outbreak worse than stated, say letters emailed to BBC

       

      Mexican athletes wear face masks at the Nationals Olympics 2009 in Tijuana 26/04/09
      Face masks are now being worn by people across Mexico as a precaution

      Readers in the areas affected by the swine flu outbreak have been sending their accounts to the BBC since the first cases were reported.

      The virus - which has so far claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico - has spread, with the first European case confirmed in Spain.

      Governments around the world are attempting to prevent it spreading further, amid reports of further infections in the US and Canada.

      Below, a selection of BBC readers' comments describe a sense of fear and uncertainty gripping their countries as a result of the spread of the virus.

      MONDAY, 27 APRIL, MEXICO AND SPAIN

      This is something that we are taking very seriously, which is why the government and the authorities have implemented preventative measures - from the use of masks to our recommendation that they avoid greeting one another with a kiss or even a handshake. They have acted correctly. It makes me proud to know that we have such a good system of epidemiological health in Mexico.

      I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days
      Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

      The hospitals are coping well. Some people have complained of long queues - but these are mostly alarmist types. People shouldn't be going to hospital just because they're sneezing. If too many people show up at emergency rooms then the system could collapse. But, we have many hospitals and they have all been working to implement the measures.

      We have enough anti-virals. I had the opportunity to speak with the person in charge of the purchasing of all medications for the Mexican Social Security Institute and they told me that they worked on this the entire weekend. There is definitely enough.

      The cases that are materialising now are those related to infections that occurred before the measures were put in place. However, it's going to be a while before we get the results. I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days and I think the measures will prove to be successful.
      Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

      I'm a doctor responsible for managing vaccines in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

      Over the last two weeks we started seeing patients with high fever, muscle aches, sore throats and coughs. Those symptoms seemed a bit odd for us, but we didn't diagnose them with swine flu as we didn't know about it.

      On Sunday we had our first death in the area. It was someone who came from Mexico City. But we don't have the means to confirm whether it was as a result of swine flu.

      We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment
      Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

      More than anything, we lack equipment and laboratory kits. All we can do is look at the symptoms and make a clinical diagnosis.

      In the pharmacies, there is no Tamiflu available. They only have another medication and they don't even have enough of that.

      So the vaccines we have are not enough we don't have the medication required. People here are not aware that this flu outbreak can kill people.

      On behalf of all the medical community in Nuevo Leon I'd like to ask for help to get the medication, so we can treat people.

      We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment.
      Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

      I have been trying to purchase face masks for myself and my family - my wife and two children - but haven't been able to get one anywhere.

      I have visited six pharmacies in the area and all are sold out. None are expecting deliveries until Tuesday. I am concerned by this and don't think it's good enough, given it's a measure the government is advising.

      However, I haven't seen any clear government advice on where people can get masks.

      My family and I are all at home and are taking general precautionary measures - such as avoiding any outside contact, going very carefully to the supermarket to do basic shopping and making no unnecessary visits or trips.

      I hope the government is being truthful - it certainly appears to be transparent in its information.

      The schools are closed, as are public buildings. People have been advised to stay at home and have been instructed with basic health precautions to take.
      Jorge, Mexico City, Mexico

      More Here...

      Saturday, 25 April 2009

      • Gregory Brothers~ VERY clever & funny too!

         

        Auto-Tune the News

         

         

        By David Hansen in Stuff

        Apr. 23 2009


         Part 2

        The best ideas are the simple ideas done perfectly, and that's precisely what
        Auto-Tune the News, a rabidly funny lampoon of cable news pundits, is. The players are Michael Gregory and his older brother Andrew Gregory (a touring songwriter of the Bright Eyes stripe, who even has his own Myspace page).

        It's exactly what the title suggests-- the Gregory brothers apply the auto-tune vocal effect to the sounds of the nightly news, harmonizing with them whenever possible. The effect is magnificent and jaw-dropping, not only for its topicality but for its spot-on recreation of a fad that's still ablaze.


          Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates, drugs & gay marriage

         

        Auto-Tune the News #1: march madness, economic woes & the pentagon budget cuts.

        Part 1.

        This use of auto-tune most loudly confirms what we all new about that particular vocal effect-- it's quick, easy and fool proof, and Auto Tune the News is no compliment to T-Pain's current domination of the R and B charts. And the beat production here? These songs have wheels-- particularly part 2. Auto Tune the News part 2 could be sneaked into any DJs set from Too Much Love to Epic and not an eyelash would bat. Stay tuned-- hopefully there's more to come.

         

      • Sadism has been normalized

         
         

        “There was a really, deeply evil thing that went on there”~ Chris Hayes, The Nation

         

        Torture~b&w

        Torturers Have Normalized Something Awful

         
        House Minority Leader John Boehner agreed on Thursday with the Democrats that the Bush Admistration enforced torture practices and then suggested that both parties accept the blame for it. The Nation's Chris Hayes talks about the GOP's eagerness for bipartisan blame.
         
        A Senate report revealed that former President George W. Bush and top-ranking officials in his administration approved torture techniques for the prison at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski reveals how soldiers were victims of scapegoatting for merely obeying orders.
         
         

        CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
        and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
        Treatment or Punishment

        The States Parties to this Convention…

        Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world,

        Have agreed as follows:

        PART I

        Article 1

        1.For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

        2.This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

        Read document

         
         

      Themes

      • windycurls has no themes…

      Weblog

      Friday, 15 May 2009

      Saturday, 09 May 2009

      • Miss California: A High School Serial Slut from a Gay-bashing Family?

         

        Court docs: Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's parents used homosexuality as an insult

        “Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers"~Miss California Carrie Prejean, pro-“opposite marriage” activist

        Updated Thursday, May 7th 2009

        \Gay bash~ God hates fags

        A second racy lingerie photo has emerged of Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean - as well as some details about her past that may shed some light on the beauty queen's well-publicized views against gay marriage.

        The new image of Prejean appeared Wednesday on the site TheDirty.com, flying in the face of Prejean's assurances to pageant reps that the earlier photo was the only one.

        The site has been down due to heavy traffic, but CNN reports the second image, like the first, shows Prejean in pink panties and no top, facing away from the camera.

        Pageant officials met Tuesday after the first photo appeared to consider stripping Prejean of her Miss California USA title for keeping the photos a secret. Failure to disclose semi-nude photos is grounds for disqualification from the contest.

        While the photos released so far appear no more revealing than the swimsuit Prejean wore on stage, Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated there are more to come.

        Prejean's publicist says Prejean posed for the photos when she was 17 in order to land a modeling job. Prejean herself defended the first image, saying, "I am a Christian, and I am a model ... Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

        Prejean, whose anti-gay marriage comments during the Miss USA pageant thrust her into the national spotlight, may also have some explaining to do about a series of court documents from her parents' messy, decade-long divorce proceedings.

        The papers, dug up by TMZ.com, show that Prejean's parents flung a series of homosexual allegations against one another.

        In one of the documents, Prejean's father describes a confrontation he had with her mother in 1996, in which "Ms. Prejean accused me, in front of our daughter, of homosexuality."

        Another excerpt quotes a court-appointed doctor who said "The mother questioned [within hearing of the girls] whether [her father] was a homosexual or had a homosexual roommate."

        Court papers dated May 16, 2000, include the following statement from a court-appointed counselor: "The mother also alleges the father told the girls their stepfather was gay, that all men with mustaches are gay."

        Prejean's father "acknowledges talking with the girls about the stepfather's brother being gay, not the stepfather," said the papers.

        Prejean has said she believes her gay marriage view s cost her the crown. She has since signed on to star in a controversial National Organization for Marriage campaign supporting "opposite marriage."  

        "Marriage is good," Prejean said at a news conference announcing the ad campaign. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife. Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

        Beauty Queen / Drag Queen . . . separated at birth?

        Miss Cali w, drag queen

         

        EXCLUSIVE: Miss California Parties With Gay Icon


         

         

        See also ~Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

         

        EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler in Gay Rights Ad With Former Miss  California Contestants

        moakler-prop8-b

        Wednesday April 29, 2009

        From US MAGAZINE.COM

        Weeks after Miss California Carrie Prejean denounced gay marriage, Shanna Moakler -- the director of the Miss California USA pageant -- is appearing in a new ad supporting gay rights.

        Moakler (a former Miss USA) shot a print ad Tuesday slamming Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

        Joining her were two former Miss California contestants, Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash.

        "I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in an exclusive statement to USmagazine.com

         Tuesday. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

        Although Prejean has said she lost the Miss USA crown because of her anti-gay marriage answer, Moakler said it was because Prejean "wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing."

         

         

        Could it Really be true? She seems so innocent…

        miss cali new

        Carrie Prejean - Former Vista High School classmates call her a 'serial slut'

         Examiner

         

        05/02/2009

         

        Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California who has become the new spokesperson for right wing religious fundamentalists, isn’t quite the saint that her supporters are claiming her to be, at least according to four former classmates whom I met with in Vista, California today. Two of them referred to her as “La Puta Prejean” since she supposedly often liked picking up Latino men late at night .“I find it funny how she acts like she’s such a moralist now. Ask anybody from Vista High School. I don’t think there is one guy that she hasn’t slept with. The funny thing is that after sleeping with her, guys really had no use for her since she was never too bright,” one classmate told me. It’s always possible that this classmate could be making things up and I have no way to confirm one way or the other, but the Carrie Prejean theme remains constant  with everybody whom I spoke with: the religious right fundamentalists would be very smart to get rid of her before everything comes out…and there is a lot.“Carrie received decent grades but that’s because she cheated,” another classmate tells me. “One time, however, Carrie thought she was being smart by cheating off an Asian girl. Carrie bragged how she was going to get an A because she copied from an Asian girl. It turns out that the girl knew what Carrie was doing, purposely wrote down the wrong answers, and then changed them after Carrie handed her test in. Carrie failed the test and deserved to with her racist attitude.”Another classmate tells me that one time, when Carrie was working as a waitress, she spit in the food of a patron whom she thought was gay. “Carrie hated gay people. She pretty much learned from her family that gays were as bad as murderers and that Aids was actually a gift from God. It was pretty disgusting.”Last week, I wrote how both Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean did nothing wrong: Perez Hilton was brave to bring up a very controversial issue on national television and Carrie Prejean was brave to give an honest answer that put political correctness aside. Though it’s hard to completely judge Carrie Prejean based on what people tell me – which may possibly not even be true – my gut feeling says they are telling the truth. The fact that Carrie Prejean is now exploiting her Miss California role to become a spokesperson against gay marriage seems like she had an agenda all along. But conservatives need not worry if Ms. Prejean doesn’t work out; they can always turn to Bristol Palin. 

         

      • Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

         

        Oh, the Hypocrisy!

        “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

         

        Those are some Christian values you got there, sweetie. Fake boobs. Nude pics. And, YOU think you get to JUDGE others? LOL ~ thejoshuablog 05/05/09

         

        ~“I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures…” ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

         

        Princeton University’s Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell discusses the values and hypocrisy within the political world, including “Joe the Plunber’s” bigoted views against gays.

         

         

        ARE CONTESTANTS ALLOWED TO HAVE COSMETIC SURGERY?

        “Although contestants are discouraged from altering their own natural beauty, no restrictions are placed on cosmetic surgery; it is impossible to enforce such a rule. In fact, since 1990 the organization has allowed padding in an effort to discourage participants from permanently altering their bodies for the competition” ~ Miss USA FAQ
         
         

        Miss California Caught Lying and Breaking the Rules, Say Pageant Officials

        Misss Cali~ liar

         

         

        By Perez Hilton

        May 6, 2009

         

        It's not biblically correct to lie-tell, now is it?

         

        Oh, Carrie Prejean, bless your little heart.

         

        CNN is reporting that California pageant officials, lawyers and representatives for Donald Trump have convened to discuss whether or not Miss California will be dethroned.

         

        A copy of the pageant contract Prejean signed last year was presented to CNN by Miss California USA spokesman, Roger Neal. The contract clearly states that the discovery of semi-nude photos could mean disqualification. AND that any contestant must reveal if they've taken nude or partially nude pics in the past.

         

        Says Neal, "You'll see in the agreement that she signed that she clearly violated the terms of her reign as Miss California USA, but we don't expect a decision to be made today."

         

        But what about the other photos not released? The other WAY more naked ones?

         

        Neal says: "We'll see what happens with those, and we want to know who's releasing them."

         

        Neal added that Prejean had run afoul of several parts of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

         

        The detailed document - which gives pageant officials nearly unlimited control of the title holder's activities - prohibits Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials, all of which she HAS been doing.

         

        Naughty naughty!

         

        If she hasn't been fulfilling her obligations as Miss California, she MUST be dethroned! And the firs runner-up of Miss USA can't be a liar!

         

        In the last two weeks, Prejean, 21, has made televised appearances at her local church in San Diego  and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

         

        The contract also contains a clause asking participants to acknowledge whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

         

        Maybe Carrie can't read?

        perez hilton 

         

        [Image via WENN.]

         

      Sunday, 03 May 2009

      • White-washing Matthew Shepard's horror

        Virginia Foxx is human~ now that's a hoax!
         
        The Republicans love to rewrite history~ but telling an outright lie regarding the circumstances of his horrific slaying by two murderous degenerates, is disgusting, inhuman and could only be maufactured by a  morally bereft, UNCHRISTIAN, heartless evildoer ~ and republicans pride themselves on their "morals" don't they?  Oh the hypocrisy! This woman is a blight on the U.S. Congrass and a detriment to her.party~ but, so are most Republican congressmen and congresswomen lately. It's blatanly obvious Virginia Foxx ain't nuthin' but  plain old trailer trash.   
         
        Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard and executive director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation responds to recent statements by Representative Foxx regarding her son's death and shares her perspective on the new hate crimes bill in Congress.
         
         
        matthew-shepard
         

        Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance

         

        SIGN UP TODAY AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HATE

         

        More on Virginia Foxx: What a disgusting human being

         

      • What a disgusting human being

         

        Virginia Foxx:

        Worst Person in the World

         

        “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”~ Virginia foxx  on the bill which is named for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered for being homosexual. 

        Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s attempt to rewrite history and completely ignore the horror of the HATE-motivated murder of Matthew Shepard earns her the dishonor of

        ~"Go on and tell those lies while you still have breath sister. Your time is over and history will judge you as harshly as it does the Segregationists".
        ~"Um, Ginny, hon--if Matt Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay, then how come one of his killers used the Gay Panic Defense? Can't have it both ways, shug. Stupid whore."
        Comments from TOWELROAD
         

        If you would like to ring up this colossal abnormality of humanity and give her a piece of your mind, feel free:

        Phone:(202) 225-2071 Phone:(336) 778-0211   Phone:(828) 265-0240 Courtesy of AMERICABlog 

        Matthew Shepard killed in non-bias "robbery," Foxx says

        By Glenn Thrush for POLITICO

        April 29, 2009

        North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx  is questioning whether the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, was a bias attack motivated by his sexual orientation. 

        Shepard's mother Judy was in the gallery at the time, according to a senior Democratic aide.

        The socially conservative Foxx, arguing against a new Democratic hate crimes bill that includes new protections for gays and lesbians, described the description of Shepard's murder as a anti-homosexual attack a "hoax" -- and questioned whether prior bias crime legislation should have been named after him.

        “I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay.”

        She added:

        “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

        "Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

        Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

        "It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

        Two young men -- Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney -- were convicted in connection with the crime, with multiple witnesses testifying to their anti-gay aspect of the crime. Both also intended to rob the Sheppard home after the attack, according to press accounts.

        McKinney testified that Shepard attempted to grab his leg earlier in the evening and that had spurred a "gay panic" that provoked an extraordinarily violent outburst -- with his lawyers claiming McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child.

         

      Saturday, 02 May 2009

      • The Colbert Report Study~ do you see only what you want to see?

         
         

        The Irony of Satire

        Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report

         

        Heather L. LaMarre

        The Ohio State University, HLaMarre@gmail.com

         

        A. Beam

        The Ohio State University

         

        Kristen D. Landreville

        The Ohio State University

         

        This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

        The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 212-231 (2009)
        DOI: 10.1177/1940161208330904

      Friday, 01 May 2009

      • Is the GOP trying to destroy the U.S.?

         

        Hope ItWas Worth It~ Literally

        Ain't that just like the GOP?

        Lawmakers cut flu money from stimulus

        House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, said he included $420 million in flu-fighting money in the House version of the stimulus bill, but senators objected and he was forced to pull the allocation when the final bill passed in February.

        "Whether or not this influenza strain turns out to have pandemic potential, sooner or later some strain will," Mr. Obey said. "We are not prepared today. Lets hope we dont need to be. Because we need to become prepared as soon as possible, I intend to again request additional funds in the upcoming supplemental."

        The outbreak of swine flu has fostered a search for where to place blame. Although Mr. Obey didn't name names, liberal blogs have been particularly harsh toward Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, who during the stimulus debate touted her opposition to flu-fighting money. She was one of three Republicans who voted for the stimulus bill, and did so after the flu funds and some other provisions were removed.

        More Here...

      Wednesday, 29 April 2009

      • Swine Flu outbreak worse than stated, say letters emailed to BBC

         

        Mexican athletes wear face masks at the Nationals Olympics 2009 in Tijuana 26/04/09
        Face masks are now being worn by people across Mexico as a precaution

        Readers in the areas affected by the swine flu outbreak have been sending their accounts to the BBC since the first cases were reported.

        The virus - which has so far claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico - has spread, with the first European case confirmed in Spain.

        Governments around the world are attempting to prevent it spreading further, amid reports of further infections in the US and Canada.

        Below, a selection of BBC readers' comments describe a sense of fear and uncertainty gripping their countries as a result of the spread of the virus.

        MONDAY, 27 APRIL, MEXICO AND SPAIN

        This is something that we are taking very seriously, which is why the government and the authorities have implemented preventative measures - from the use of masks to our recommendation that they avoid greeting one another with a kiss or even a handshake. They have acted correctly. It makes me proud to know that we have such a good system of epidemiological health in Mexico.

        I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days
        Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

        The hospitals are coping well. Some people have complained of long queues - but these are mostly alarmist types. People shouldn't be going to hospital just because they're sneezing. If too many people show up at emergency rooms then the system could collapse. But, we have many hospitals and they have all been working to implement the measures.

        We have enough anti-virals. I had the opportunity to speak with the person in charge of the purchasing of all medications for the Mexican Social Security Institute and they told me that they worked on this the entire weekend. There is definitely enough.

        The cases that are materialising now are those related to infections that occurred before the measures were put in place. However, it's going to be a while before we get the results. I think that we will see a lower number of new cases in the coming days and I think the measures will prove to be successful.
        Dr Alejandro Vargas, Mexico City

        I'm a doctor responsible for managing vaccines in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

        Over the last two weeks we started seeing patients with high fever, muscle aches, sore throats and coughs. Those symptoms seemed a bit odd for us, but we didn't diagnose them with swine flu as we didn't know about it.

        On Sunday we had our first death in the area. It was someone who came from Mexico City. But we don't have the means to confirm whether it was as a result of swine flu.

        We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment
        Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

        More than anything, we lack equipment and laboratory kits. All we can do is look at the symptoms and make a clinical diagnosis.

        In the pharmacies, there is no Tamiflu available. They only have another medication and they don't even have enough of that.

        So the vaccines we have are not enough we don't have the medication required. People here are not aware that this flu outbreak can kill people.

        On behalf of all the medical community in Nuevo Leon I'd like to ask for help to get the medication, so we can treat people.

        We need to have the means to diagnose people and, most importantly, the means to offer them treatment.
        Dr Vicente Torres, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

        I have been trying to purchase face masks for myself and my family - my wife and two children - but haven't been able to get one anywhere.

        I have visited six pharmacies in the area and all are sold out. None are expecting deliveries until Tuesday. I am concerned by this and don't think it's good enough, given it's a measure the government is advising.

        However, I haven't seen any clear government advice on where people can get masks.

        My family and I are all at home and are taking general precautionary measures - such as avoiding any outside contact, going very carefully to the supermarket to do basic shopping and making no unnecessary visits or trips.

        I hope the government is being truthful - it certainly appears to be transparent in its information.

        The schools are closed, as are public buildings. People have been advised to stay at home and have been instructed with basic health precautions to take.
        Jorge, Mexico City, Mexico

        More Here...

        Saturday, 25 April 2009

        • Gregory Brothers~ VERY clever & funny too!

           

          Auto-Tune the News

           

           

          By David Hansen in Stuff

          Apr. 23 2009


           Part 2

          The best ideas are the simple ideas done perfectly, and that's precisely what
          Auto-Tune the News, a rabidly funny lampoon of cable news pundits, is. The players are Michael Gregory and his older brother Andrew Gregory (a touring songwriter of the Bright Eyes stripe, who even has his own Myspace page).

          It's exactly what the title suggests-- the Gregory brothers apply the auto-tune vocal effect to the sounds of the nightly news, harmonizing with them whenever possible. The effect is magnificent and jaw-dropping, not only for its topicality but for its spot-on recreation of a fad that's still ablaze.


            Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates, drugs & gay marriage

           

          Auto-Tune the News #1: march madness, economic woes & the pentagon budget cuts.

          Part 1.

          This use of auto-tune most loudly confirms what we all new about that particular vocal effect-- it's quick, easy and fool proof, and Auto Tune the News is no compliment to T-Pain's current domination of the R and B charts. And the beat production here? These songs have wheels-- particularly part 2. Auto Tune the News part 2 could be sneaked into any DJs set from Too Much Love to Epic and not an eyelash would bat. Stay tuned-- hopefully there's more to come.

           

        • Sadism has been normalized

           
           

          “There was a really, deeply evil thing that went on there”~ Chris Hayes, The Nation

           

          Torture~b&w

          Torturers Have Normalized Something Awful

           
          House Minority Leader John Boehner agreed on Thursday with the Democrats that the Bush Admistration enforced torture practices and then suggested that both parties accept the blame for it. The Nation's Chris Hayes talks about the GOP's eagerness for bipartisan blame.
           
          A Senate report revealed that former President George W. Bush and top-ranking officials in his administration approved torture techniques for the prison at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski reveals how soldiers were victims of scapegoatting for merely obeying orders.
           
           

          CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
          and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
          Treatment or Punishment

          The States Parties to this Convention…

          Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world,

          Have agreed as follows:

          PART I

          Article 1

          1.For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

          2.This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

          Read document

           
           

        Just The Facts

        Friday, 15 May 2009

        Just The Facts

        Friday, 15 May 2009

        Saturday, 09 May 2009

        • Miss California: A High School Serial Slut from a Gay-bashing Family?

           

          Court docs: Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's parents used homosexuality as an insult

          “Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers"~Miss California Carrie Prejean, pro-“opposite marriage” activist

          Updated Thursday, May 7th 2009

          \Gay bash~ God hates fags

          A second racy lingerie photo has emerged of Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean - as well as some details about her past that may shed some light on the beauty queen's well-publicized views against gay marriage.

          The new image of Prejean appeared Wednesday on the site TheDirty.com, flying in the face of Prejean's assurances to pageant reps that the earlier photo was the only one.

          The site has been down due to heavy traffic, but CNN reports the second image, like the first, shows Prejean in pink panties and no top, facing away from the camera.

          Pageant officials met Tuesday after the first photo appeared to consider stripping Prejean of her Miss California USA title for keeping the photos a secret. Failure to disclose semi-nude photos is grounds for disqualification from the contest.

          While the photos released so far appear no more revealing than the swimsuit Prejean wore on stage, Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated there are more to come.

          Prejean's publicist says Prejean posed for the photos when she was 17 in order to land a modeling job. Prejean herself defended the first image, saying, "I am a Christian, and I am a model ... Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

          Prejean, whose anti-gay marriage comments during the Miss USA pageant thrust her into the national spotlight, may also have some explaining to do about a series of court documents from her parents' messy, decade-long divorce proceedings.

          The papers, dug up by TMZ.com, show that Prejean's parents flung a series of homosexual allegations against one another.

          In one of the documents, Prejean's father describes a confrontation he had with her mother in 1996, in which "Ms. Prejean accused me, in front of our daughter, of homosexuality."

          Another excerpt quotes a court-appointed doctor who said "The mother questioned [within hearing of the girls] whether [her father] was a homosexual or had a homosexual roommate."

          Court papers dated May 16, 2000, include the following statement from a court-appointed counselor: "The mother also alleges the father told the girls their stepfather was gay, that all men with mustaches are gay."

          Prejean's father "acknowledges talking with the girls about the stepfather's brother being gay, not the stepfather," said the papers.

          Prejean has said she believes her gay marriage view s cost her the crown. She has since signed on to star in a controversial National Organization for Marriage campaign supporting "opposite marriage."  

          "Marriage is good," Prejean said at a news conference announcing the ad campaign. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife. Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

          Beauty Queen / Drag Queen . . . separated at birth?

          Miss Cali w, drag queen

           

          EXCLUSIVE: Miss California Parties With Gay Icon


           

           

          See also ~Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

           

          EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler in Gay Rights Ad With Former Miss  California Contestants

          moakler-prop8-b

          Wednesday April 29, 2009

          From US MAGAZINE.COM

          Weeks after Miss California Carrie Prejean denounced gay marriage, Shanna Moakler -- the director of the Miss California USA pageant -- is appearing in a new ad supporting gay rights.

          Moakler (a former Miss USA) shot a print ad Tuesday slamming Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

          Joining her were two former Miss California contestants, Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash.

          "I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in an exclusive statement to USmagazine.com

           Tuesday. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

          Although Prejean has said she lost the Miss USA crown because of her anti-gay marriage answer, Moakler said it was because Prejean "wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing."

           

           

          Could it Really be true? She seems so innocent…

          miss cali new

          Carrie Prejean - Former Vista High School classmates call her a 'serial slut'

           Examiner

           

          05/02/2009

           

          Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California who has become the new spokesperson for right wing religious fundamentalists, isn’t quite the saint that her supporters are claiming her to be, at least according to four former classmates whom I met with in Vista, California today. Two of them referred to her as “La Puta Prejean” since she supposedly often liked picking up Latino men late at night .“I find it funny how she acts like she’s such a moralist now. Ask anybody from Vista High School. I don’t think there is one guy that she hasn’t slept with. The funny thing is that after sleeping with her, guys really had no use for her since she was never too bright,” one classmate told me. It’s always possible that this classmate could be making things up and I have no way to confirm one way or the other, but the Carrie Prejean theme remains constant  with everybody whom I spoke with: the religious right fundamentalists would be very smart to get rid of her before everything comes out…and there is a lot.“Carrie received decent grades but that’s because she cheated,” another classmate tells me. “One time, however, Carrie thought she was being smart by cheating off an Asian girl. Carrie bragged how she was going to get an A because she copied from an Asian girl. It turns out that the girl knew what Carrie was doing, purposely wrote down the wrong answers, and then changed them after Carrie handed her test in. Carrie failed the test and deserved to with her racist attitude.”Another classmate tells me that one time, when Carrie was working as a waitress, she spit in the food of a patron whom she thought was gay. “Carrie hated gay people. She pretty much learned from her family that gays were as bad as murderers and that Aids was actually a gift from God. It was pretty disgusting.”Last week, I wrote how both Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean did nothing wrong: Perez Hilton was brave to bring up a very controversial issue on national television and Carrie Prejean was brave to give an honest answer that put political correctness aside. Though it’s hard to completely judge Carrie Prejean based on what people tell me – which may possibly not even be true – my gut feeling says they are telling the truth. The fact that Carrie Prejean is now exploiting her Miss California role to become a spokesperson against gay marriage seems like she had an agenda all along. But conservatives need not worry if Ms. Prejean doesn’t work out; they can always turn to Bristol Palin. 

           

        • Miss California: Right back at ya, bitch

           

          Oh, the Hypocrisy!

          “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

           

          Those are some Christian values you got there, sweetie. Fake boobs. Nude pics. And, YOU think you get to JUDGE others? LOL ~ thejoshuablog 05/05/09

           

          ~“I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures…” ~ Carrie Prejean, the (future) dethroned former Miss California

           

          Princeton University’s Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell discusses the values and hypocrisy within the political world, including “Joe the Plunber’s” bigoted views against gays.

           

           

          ARE CONTESTANTS ALLOWED TO HAVE COSMETIC SURGERY?

          “Although contestants are discouraged from altering their own natural beauty, no restrictions are placed on cosmetic surgery; it is impossible to enforce such a rule. In fact, since 1990 the organization has allowed padding in an effort to discourage participants from permanently altering their bodies for the competition” ~ Miss USA FAQ
           
           

          Miss California Caught Lying and Breaking the Rules, Say Pageant Officials

          Misss Cali~ liar

           

           

          By Perez Hilton

          May 6, 2009

           

          It's not biblically correct to lie-tell, now is it?

           

          Oh, Carrie Prejean, bless your little heart.

           

          CNN is reporting that California pageant officials, lawyers and representatives for Donald Trump have convened to discuss whether or not Miss California will be dethroned.

           

          A copy of the pageant contract Prejean signed last year was presented to CNN by Miss California USA spokesman, Roger Neal. The contract clearly states that the discovery of semi-nude photos could mean disqualification. AND that any contestant must reveal if they've taken nude or partially nude pics in the past.

           

          Says Neal, "You'll see in the agreement that she signed that she clearly violated the terms of her reign as Miss California USA, but we don't expect a decision to be made today."

           

          But what about the other photos not released? The other WAY more naked ones?

           

          Neal says: "We'll see what happens with those, and we want to know who's releasing them."

           

          Neal added that Prejean had run afoul of several parts of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

           

          The detailed document - which gives pageant officials nearly unlimited control of the title holder's activities - prohibits Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials, all of which she HAS been doing.

           

          Naughty naughty!

           

          If she hasn't been fulfilling her obligations as Miss California, she MUST be dethroned! And the firs runner-up of Miss USA can't be a liar!

           

          In the last two weeks, Prejean, 21, has made televised appearances at her local church in San Diego  and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

           

          The contract also contains a clause asking participants to acknowledge whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

           

          Maybe Carrie can't read?

          perez hilton 

           

          [Image via WENN.]

           

        Sunday, 03 May 2009

        • White-washing Matthew Shepard's horror

          Virginia Foxx is human~ now that's a hoax!
           
          The Republicans love to rewrite history~ but telling an outright lie regarding the circumstances of his horrific slaying by two murderous degenerates, is disgusting, inhuman and could only be maufactured by a  morally bereft, UNCHRISTIAN, heartless evildoer ~ and republicans pride themselves on their "morals" don't they?  Oh the hypocrisy! This woman is a blight on the U.S. Congrass and a detriment to her.party~ but, so are most Republican congressmen and congresswomen lately. It's blatanly obvious Virginia Foxx ain't nuthin' but  plain old trailer trash.   
           
          Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard and executive director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation responds to recent statements by Representative Foxx regarding her son's death and shares her perspective on the new hate crimes bill in Congress.
           
           
          matthew-shepard
           

          Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance

           

          SIGN UP TODAY AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HATE

           

          More on Virginia Foxx: What a disgusting human being

           

        • What a disgusting human being

           

          Virginia Foxx:

          Worst Person in the World

           

          “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”~ Virginia foxx  on the bill which is named for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered for being homosexual. 

          Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s attempt to rewrite history and completely ignore the horror of the HATE-motivated murder of Matthew Shepard earns her the dishonor of

          ~"Go on and tell those lies while you still have breath sister. Your time is over and history will judge you as harshly as it does the Segregationists".
          ~"Um, Ginny, hon--if Matt Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay, then how come one of his killers used the Gay Panic Defense? Can't have it both ways, shug. Stupid whore."
          Comments from TOWELROAD
           

          If you would like to ring up this colossal abnormality of humanity and give her a piece of your mind, feel free:

          Phone:(202) 225-2071 Phone:(336) 778-0211   Phone:(828) 265-0240 Courtesy of AMERICABlog 

          Matthew Shepard killed in non-bias "robbery," Foxx says

          By Glenn Thrush for POLITICO

          April 29, 2009

          North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx  is questioning whether the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, was a bias attack motivated by his sexual orientation. 

          Shepard's mother Judy was in the gallery at the time, according to a senior Democratic aide.

          The socially conservative Foxx, arguing against a new Democratic hate crimes bill that includes new protections for gays and lesbians, described the description of Shepard's murder as a anti-homosexual attack a "hoax" -- and questioned whether prior bias crime legislation should have been named after him.

          “I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay.”

          She added:

          “This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

          "Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

          Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

          "It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

          Two young men -- Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney -- were convicted in connection with the crime, with multiple witnesses testifying to their anti-gay aspect of the crime. Both also intended to rob the Sheppard home after the attack, according to press accounts.

          McKinney testified that Shepard attempted to grab his leg earlier in the evening and that had spurred a "gay panic" that provoked an extraordinarily violent outburst -- with his lawyers claiming McKinney had suffered homosexual abuse as a child.

           

        Saturday, 02 May 2009

        • The Colbert Report Study~ do you see only what you want to see?

           
           

          The Irony of Satire

          Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report

           

          Heather L. LaMarre

          The Ohio State University, HLaMarre@gmail.com

           

          A. Beam

          The Ohio State University

           

          Kristen D. Landreville

          The Ohio State University

           

          This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

          The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 212-231 (2009)
          DOI: 10.1177/1940161208330904

        Just The Facts

        • Just The Facts

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        DID YOU KNOW...

        -In the almost six years since Guantanamo opened, only one person has been convicted of any crime and that was by plea agreement. It’s time to shut the door on this system of lawless detention and restore the place of the federal courts in reviewing executive detentions and bringing suspected terrorists to justice. Jennifer Daskal, senior counsel on counterterrorism

        windycurls

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          Thanks for being my friend. Visit me in exile: Radio Free Exile Podcast