Periodical Political Post *129
Queer News
- Australian parliament overwhelmingly votes against marriage equality
- Malaysian minister suggests early corrective measures for LGBT people
- U.S. judge denies transgender name-changes with crude DNA argument
- British doctor tells students to act “less gay” to pass their medical exam
- Teacher in New Zealand fired for supporting students’ pro-gay protest
Other News
- Tax cuts don’t lead to economic growth, a new 65-year study finds
- Jailed for life at age 14: U.S. supreme court to consider juvenile sentences
- Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, released files show
- New legislation in the Philippines outlaws cybersex and video sex chats
- Crazy stuff they’ll teach in Louisiana’s publicly funded charter schools
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about 8 months ago
“Malaysian deputy education minister suggests ‘early corrective measures’ for LGBT people”
It amazes me how governments can appoint the most stupid people for positions of educating their public. First, they should learn something about irony.
about 7 months ago
The US Supreme Court overturned laws that automatically send people to jail for life without parole for crimes committed as a juvenile. It’s been a long time coming, but here’s a link to an article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/us/justices-bar-mandatory-life-sentences-for-juveniles.html?_r=0
about 7 months ago
So? They just charge the 12 year old as an adult. Problem solved. I hope this dispels the myth that the law cares even the slightest about child welfare; lawyers and prosecutors are in it for themselves. Goes for AoC laws too, they are some vaguely worthy idea of child protection that in reality only works to benefit the legal establishment.
If you plea bargain you can get all the way down to like 5-10 years for murder all for playing along with the prosecution, or you can get life for a lesser crime because you had the audacity to go to trial and plead your innocence.
Meh, outlawing cyber sex in Philippines?
How are they going to do that with their poverty at such crap levels? Sounds like a ‘we want to extract more money from rich whitey tax’ to me. Book them on that charge and then ‘fine’ the rich white expats $$$ for camming. Of course the fine goes straight to corrupt police.
about 7 months ago
Australia: Welcome to the British Commonwealth. God save Her Majesty. E II R
Malaysia: Welcome to the British Commonwealth. God save Her Majesty. E II R
US Judge: That’s what appeals courts are for.
Brit Doc: Welcome to the British Commonwealth. God save Her Majesty. E II R
Quoting from the story: ‘Not only did he pass his exam, but he informed me he noticed a huge difference in the WAY PATIENTS INTERACTED WITH HIM.’
And therein lies the details. Patients generally don’t want a nellie little fruitcake for a physician no matter how good he might be. I’m sure in my long lifetime I’ve had a queer doc or 2, but I never would have known. Sorry, but that’s life.
New Zlnd: Welcome to the British Commonwealth. God save Her Majesty. E II R
TAX CUTS: What nonsense! This study fails to mention the onerous effects of gov’t spending, intervention and regulation that coincides with tax rate changes. If I had a dollar for every time capitalism, banks and business were blamed for problems caused by GOVERNMENT, I’d be a fat filmaker with a baseball cap.
Boy Scouts: Book ‘em Danno.
Philippines: Oh how I just LUV my Constitution and my Bill of Rights. “Hi there. Home alone?”
Louisiana: Don’t like it? Go to public schools. Bon voyage.
about 7 months ago
“TAX CUTS: What nonsense!”
Yeah.. evidence be damned lol, to the Hayekian slippery slope.
about 7 months ago
Juvenile Sentences: Can’t believe I actually missed this on my post above. Sheeesh.
At what point should a juvenile murderer be released? When he turns 18? 21? 35? 65? And where? Your town? your street? Can you say: N.I.M.B.Y. !!! Just when do we elevate his importance and simulataneously DIMINISH THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS VICTIM? Just keeping a killer alive already elevates him above the poor person he killed. The dead cannot forgive and we shouldn’t presume to do so on their behalf. No self-righteous bleeding heart has the standing to do that.
Let’s give killers a new life. To hell with the people they killed, and the lives of surviving family and friends they ruined. I don’t give a damn if he’s ‘changed’ or ‘grown up’ or is a ‘new person.’
When sentencing criminals for most offenses, justice should be tempered with mercy. Society is big enough to take a hit now and then in an imperfect world, and we can get over it, and restore what was lost. But NEVER at the degradation of a poor victim who can’t concur, can never recover, can never move on. Treat the victims as second class citizens and smile on their killers if that’s where your broken moral compass leads you.
Get a rope.
about 7 months ago
My only argument to oppose is that death is the easy way out.
Am I the only one who gets upset when the bad guy gets killed in the end of a thriller? I’d rather see him thrown in Gitmo or something.
about 7 months ago
The real murderers are all running around loose and in many cases, running the show.
about 7 months ago
Thank G’d your back. I have missed you level headed analysis.
about 7 months ago
Please don’t feed the Trolls.
about 7 months ago
Sorry for the misdirected post as I had Salt in my eyes. Horselips is a satirist and anything but a troll.
about 7 months ago
wow you americans really are a bitter, sadist, inhuman bunch of people.
one would think the way your country is failing in every possible aspect would make you realise that it might be time to look at some other countries were things are working better and understand that rehabilitation is more important that punishment but no…
even your tightest allies from the UK are looking down on you… “There is a singularly brutal quality to this aspect of US justice. America is the only country in the world, bar none, that is known to sentence children to die in prison without any hope of release. Even in a country that practices the death penalty it has the ability to shock, because this is a living death.” (from the linked article)
about 7 months ago
Relax Nils. Everybody in prison, kids included, insisted on going there. American justice is so soft-hearted, so riddled with fines, probation, diversion, house arrest, ankle bracelets and such that only determined criminals ever get to be a guest at the government hotel.
Every-day garden variety thugs and criminals almost never win an all-expense paid vacation at a correctional country club. Instead they get one of the consolation prizes I listed above. To win big and go to prison you have to commit yourself to a wide range of bad life decisions such as breaking your moral compass, decide that issues of right and wrong don’t apply to your behavior, become seriously violent-even barbaric. You have to become a living monument to narcissism. Like an Olympic athlete, you have to be all-in, or settle for being a runner up. Criminals often try and fail many times before they finally make it.
So, when a person, regardless of age or gender, works THAT hard to achieve the lofty goal of lifetime incarceration, who are we to deny him? How cruel can YOU be? I believe people like YOU would take candy from a baby, or deliberately run over your neighbor’s dog.
about 7 months ago
What you say is so true. Kids who self=select into the probation system have to work very hard to fail upwards into increasingly more restricted and more structured levels of care. It cost money to place a child into out of home placement so he is given every opportunity to demonstrate he is not in need of a state of continued detention either in a group home or extended placement in a juvenile detention center.
about 7 months ago
Get a rope? Really? Even if the killer is only 12? What if he’s 6 and it could be proven he knew what he was doing with a gun and REALLY wanted to kill his victim? My point is that first of all I’m anti death penalty. Second, innocent people have been executed. But then who cares. After all they did have to find a way to strap a kid on an electric chair because the normal straps were to large for him. How humane.
About the point you made about the value of the victim? I agree with you! Surprised? Still, the solution is that if someone if found guilty of murder the a life sentence should mean exactly that, life. Two positive side effects about that. The first one is that if ever proof comes up showing he’s not guilty of the crime he’s still alive and can be set free. Finally, executions cost more than keeping a person in prison for his entire life.
about 7 months ago
John O’Hara was right when he said “Americans are the only race which passed directly from barbarism to decadence without knowing civilization.”
Doesn’t apply to all Americans, just the majority. Have fun consuming your own young.
No doubt you will return to berate us about the innocence of anyone under 18 engaging in willing sexual relationships after writing this foaming at the mouth diatribe about how children – as young as 8! – who commit crimes are just as liable and evil as adults when it comes to the legal system.
I await Romney’s election so he can finally take your kind down in some fiery spiral into the ground and reasonable Americans can pick up the pieces and start over from the 1960s and rebuild the country as something great again.
about 7 months ago
The Boy Scouts have been an issue brewing for a long time and just now becoming national news. Their so called “perversion files” are an interesting read. Some are becoming public. They would quietly remove a scoutleader from the troop and then he would fade away only to reappear in another state and another troop. Hmmmm……not unlike the priests issue.
about 7 months ago
The priest issue is going from strength to strength in Australia atm……
All this before Viagra too … I guess faith and prayer really works for some…. LOLzzzzz
Though absolutely not a joke if you found yourself a victim of these religious scumbags.
I’m still, and likely always will be, boiling with anger that our erstwhile excellent Scottish First Minister made time for personal interviews with the Catholic Church here so that they could state their opposition to Gay Marriage. I’d sooner spit in their collective face and have them damned under their slimy coat of hypocrisy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19683925
about 7 months ago
When reporting about the Boy Scouts OF AMERICA, *please* don’t leave out the “of America” in the headline. It’s unfair to all the friendly and inclusive boy scout organisations in other parts of the world.
about 7 months ago
Good point. Of course the Mormans are trying to make BSA respectable, right?
about 7 months ago
They do pretty well in Utah. Elsewhere, not so good.
about 7 months ago
They don’t do “well” anywhere. It is a patriarchal society where women are nothing but brood cows. And on top of that, they have their own very special brand of homophobia. They bought all the physical holdings of the BSA just so they could exercise hatred towards gay teens and adult gay scout leaders. Also, they have been waiting a hundred yrs to push a candidate into the presidency.
Oh yeah…I feel that Romney has a lot in common with most Americans…if only he could find some-from the clouds he & his buddies live in. All the progress LGBTI civil rights issues have made will be set back at least ten yrs…..maybe more. Time for a civil war I reckon…I know at least who will be in my gun sights.;-)
about 7 months ago
Romney is who the republicans elected as their man. His ideals are the ideals of the republican party. I will never forget when McGovern lost to Nixon and I was completely shocked when W was appointed (sarcasm intended) over Gore, And to go on for a second term was just unimaginable but it happened. The end justifies the means with republicans. In other words Romney could win. Already there are rumblings of voter fraud in the up coming election.
I really no longer care as I am now retired in Happy Valley (Eugene Oregon). You could say that I have dropped out and joined all the other refugees from the United States in Eugene. We have homeless, tweekers and hippies here but zero violent crime despite real poverty and extreme unemployment. They should build a glass bubble over Eugene to protect us from the rest of the country. But then it would turn into a giant bong.
about 7 months ago
“ The end justifies the means with republicans.”
The same about democrats. It’s a puzzle for me where do people buy such mighty microscopes to see the difference. They are all representatives of Wall Street, military-industrial complex, and lawyers’ lobby in practice and devoted socialists in their ideas.
If you tried to study American history where all names were struck out you could never, ever figure out which party was in charge.
about 7 months ago
Guess what everybody? I was digging up potatoes in my back garden when I came across some stone tablets with hieroglyphics. At that point a man with wings told me to get an old pair of specs, go behind a screen and dictate the writing into English. Now all I need is $10,000 from each of you to set up a new religion. Don’t worry if I bugger off and leave you all in the shit. I’ll get the Government to make my new Business, excuse me, “Cough”, Religion, to be Tax exempt. I’ll print a book. I’ll call it the book of “Moron”. You can all marry 12 boys each with the cutest butts if you want? Do I sound mad? With the exception of the cute boys and the number 12, that’s what, your next President, (If he wins), believes in. And he has the finger on a nuclear button. God, (or whoever), help us all.
Stephen.
about 7 months ago
Thank you.
Nicely said. (‘god’ forbid, someone may actually believe that.)
But, don’t you know? SCOTUS believes and ruled that the Boys Scouts (and religion by proxy) are not a business, no matter how much money they take in each year — all because it’s “donations.”
about 7 months ago
@horselips; You hit the nail on the head again. The victims now days are remembered for the days it takes to put their remains to rest and then forgtten,except for the family, but the killer keeps on and on for his poor rights. The victim has no rights it seems now days. Just the poor killer. More rope and less bullsh*t.
about 7 months ago
Tax cuts don’t lead to economic growth?! Ha-ha!
What a pathetic piece of junk science! And this fraud is named “economics” nowadays.
The so-called researchers compare boom years of Bush Sr. and Clinton’s times to bust years of Bush Jr.’s times and think they have proved or disproved something?
Using this “methodology” I can disprove laws of gravity easily. Just look at birds and balloons! Don’t they prove that Newton was a dumbass?
These microscopic changes in tax policy is nothing before much more serious things like government spendings, inflation, and especially artificial credit expansion.
Laws of economics ( and of everything else) have sense only ceteris paribus, the condition those pseudo-economists ignore completely.