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Liberty University Professors: All Gays Are ‘Part Of The Pedophile Movement’ | Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel and Liberty University School of Law had a chat today with fellow Liberty University law professor Judith Reisman about how GLSEN’s anti-bullying efforts are “sexualing children” and “running interference for the pedophile movement.” They agreed that all of the efforts of the LGBT movement (the “sexual anarchy” movement) are geared toward supporting “the pedophile movement.” Listen:

(HT: People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch.)

Economy

South Carolina Gov. Haley Insists On Disbanding The ‘Un-American’ National Labor Relations Board

By Tanya Somanader on Sep 2, 2011 at 6:35 pm

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is leading the Republican rage against the National Labor Relations Board ever since it filed a complaint against Boeing for moving its operations to her “right to work” state as a retaliation against strikers in Washington state. Threatening to move facilities because of strikes is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act and is the exact reason given by a Boeing executive for the move.

Haley, however, is decrying the NLRB as a “rogue agency” that’s actions are “absolutely un-American.” In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Haley slammed President Obama as a “coward” for failing to take sides on the issue and is insisting that he disband the agency:

“And as we are looking at President Obama to give his speech on jobs, the only thing I want to hear from him, the only thing the people of this country want to hear from him is that he’s going to disband the NLRB or get them to step down from a great American company that chose to do business in South Carolina as opposed to going overseas.” [...]

The South Carolina governor feels so strongly that the independent agency shouldn’t exist that she would even support a decision from the lone Republican member of the NLRB to step down. With the recent departure of NLRB chairman Wilma Leibman, such a resignation from Republican Brian Hayes would reduce the board to just two members — i.e., to less than a quorum.

“Anything that would disband the NRLB, I’d be the biggest cheerleader for,” Haley said.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is also targeting NLRB, having subpoenaed the agency’s documents on the Boeing decision. NLRB, however, cannot release the documents as it wold jeopardize the court case before an administrative law judge in Seattle, Washington.

The NLRB has long been a primary target in the Republican’s comprehensive campaign to undermine the ability of workers to organize and negotiate better working conditions. No matter how hyperbolic her rhetoric, Haley’s goal is no different.

Justice

Eighth Circuit Strikes Down Much of South Dakota Anti-Abortion Law

By Ian Millhiser on Sep 2, 2011 at 6:30 pm

In the latest blow to a line of state laws attempting to discourage women from having an abortion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit struck down much of a South Dakota law requiring doctors to provide women seeking an abortion with a series of scientifically questionable claims about abortion, and the court defanged another provision that appears designed to conscript doctors as anti-abortion propagandists. Under the law as written:

The written advisories required by § 7(1) are to inform the patient

(b) That the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being . . . .

(c) That [the patient] has an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protection under the United States Constitution and under the laws of South Dakota;

(d) That by having an abortion, her existing relationship and her existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated . . . .

The advisory must further contain “[a] description of all known medical risks of the procedure” (the risk advisory). That description must include “[i]ncreased risk of suicide ideation and suicide” as a known risk of abortion.

The court struck down the suicide instruction after a lengthy discussion of how it has little if any basis in science. “By compelling untruthful and misleading speech,” the court explained, “the advisory also violates doctors’ First Amendment right to be free from compelled speech that is untruthful, misleading, or irrelevant.” For this reason, the Eighth Circuit decision closely maps a decision earlier this week which struck down a similar Texas law forcing doctors to engage in anti-abortion advocacy.

The most intriguing portion of the opinion, however, is how the court handled the bizarre requirement that doctors tell their patients that abortion will terminate her “existing constitutional rights” with regards to her relationship with the fetus. At oral argument, the state argued that this provision “can be taken to mean that the Constitution protects a woman from being forced to have an abortion,” so the court held them to that word. Under the Eighth Circuit’s decision, the Court held that the law merely “requires a statement that the woman seeking abortion is legally and constitutionally protected against being forced to have an abortion.”

Because a previous Eighth Circuit decision upheld the even more bizarre language about “the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being,” that provision of the law is still in effect.

NEWS FLASH

Science Journal Editor Resigns, Admits A Paper Doubting Man-Made Climate Change Should Not Have Been Published | Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, editor of Remote Sensing journal, has resigned after admitting that a recent paper casting doubt on man-made climate change should not have been published. The paper, by U.S. scientists Roy Spencer and William Braswell, claimed that “computer models of climate inflated projections of temperature increase.” A rigorous peer-review of a paper is “supposed to be able to identify fundamental methodological errors or false claims,” Wagner said. “The paper by Spencer and Braswell…is most likely problematic in both aspects and should therefore not have been published.” Wagner noted that the researchers ignored the fact that “comparable studies published by other authors have already been refuted.” The paper’s problem “is not that it declared a minority view (which was later unfortunately much exaggerated by the public media) but that it essentially ignored the scientific arguments of its opponents,” he said. “This latter point was missed in the review process, explaining why I perceive this paper to be fundamentally flawed and therefore wrongly accepted by the journal.”

By Tanya Somanader on Sep 2, 2011 at 6:05 pm

Politics

GOP Rep. Renacci Bars Cameras Used By People Who Don’t Agree With Him From His Town Hall

By Zaid Jilani on Sep 2, 2011 at 6:00 pm

During the August recess, a number of conservative members of Congress have gone to great lengths to avoid being questioned by their constituents or holding town halls altogether. In Ohio, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) even had video cameras confiscated from his constituents so that they could not film what their congressman was saying.

Now, Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) is following Chabot’s lead. The Ohio congressman’s staff barred a cameraman from the Democratic-allied American Bridge organization from filming a town hall in his district that took place yesterday:

Despite a nationwide controversy that erupted last week after Cincinnati GOP Rep. Steve Chabot refused to allow video cameras at a town hall meeting, organizers of a public meeting last night with Wadsworth GOP Rep. Jim Renacci followed suit by barring a Democratic organization’s cameraman from recording the event. The newly-established American Bridge 21st Century Super PAC has recorded speeches by public officials and political candidates around the nation, including events held by GOP U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Coughlin of Cuyahoga Falls, and Urbana area GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Republican Study Committee. “We are making sure politicians are held to account for their record and the comments they make to their constituents,” said the group’s spokesman, Matthew Thornton.

While Renacci stopped American Bridge’s cameraman from filming, his staff did allow a woman to film at the event on behalf of him. The footage recorded by her shows Renacci’s staff stopping the American Bridge cameraman from using his video camera. Watch it:

NEWS FLASH

Justice O’Connor Strikes Pessimistic Tone On Judicial Confirmations | Earlier this week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lamented the fact that she probably could not be confirmed to the Supreme Court today because of the women’s rights work she did for the ACLU. At a speech to University of Montana law students yesterday, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor expressed little hope that the situation will improve. “There isn’t anything that can be done until this nation decides it doesn’t need that much controversy over anything.” Just as significantly, O’Connor warned that many states’ system of electing judges is a invitation to corruption. When O’Connor had to run to become a state judge, “I had to raise money. Who gave me money? The very lawyers most likely to appear before me.”

LGBT

The Most Transphobic Article You Will Read This Week, Courtesy Of Fox News

By Zack Ford on Sep 2, 2011 at 5:41 pm

Fox News calls “Dr.” Keith Ablow part of its “Medical A-Team,” but he doesn’t know the first thing about transgender identities (or marriage, or sexual orientation). He made a bit of a media splash when he got upset about pink toenails in a J. Crew ad, but the first time he wrote something about Chaz Bono’s transition, Fox News pulled the post. With the announcement that Bono will be on this season of Dancing With The Stars, Ablow has him back in his crosshairs and pulls no punches.

This has to be one of the most transphobic articles ever published by a major media outlet. With the title of “Don’t Let Your Kids Watch Chaz Bono On ‘Dancing With the Stars,” Ablow manages to say just about every anti-trans thing an anti-trans person could say — none of which corresponds with professional medical standards for affirming gender identity. To be sure, this commentary on transgender identities makes the critiques of ABC’s Primetime Nightline special on trans children seem like small potatoes. Here’s a list that probably does not encompass everything that’s wrong with Ablow’s offensive drivel:

- Ablow refers to Bono as a “transsexual” woman. (He’s a transsexual man.)

- Ablow refers to Bono throughout the article with female pronouns, with one apparent typo. (Bono identifies with male pronouns.)

- Ablow suggests that children not watch the show because Bono is on it. (This suggests that people who are trans are somehow obscene or inappropriate, reinforcing stigma against them.)

- Ablow suggests that young people’s gender dysphoria is a “toxic and unnecessary byproduct of the tragic celebration of transgender surgery.” (The American Psychological Association points out that transgender people have existed throughout history, and many do not experience their gender identity as distressing or disabling.)

- Ablow calls Bono a “very disordered person” with “extraordinarily deep psychological problems.” (Bono has found peace after completing his transition, describing himself as “a happy guy.”)

- Ablow compares people who are transgender to people who wish they were amputees or other species, adding, “there are such people, by the way.” (Does this absurd point even need to be explained?)

- Ablow creates a false dichotomy for trans people between sexual reassignment surgery and denying their trans identity. (This ignores the infinitely vast diversity of trans and genderqueer people who may or may not have made surgical alterations to their body but have found identities that fit their lives.)

- Ablow suggests pursuing a transgender identity can “erode our children’s evolving senses of self.” (If the Primetime Nightline special demonstrated anything, it was how clearly young people can understand their gender identities and draw confidence from pursuing them. In fact, children have a clear understanding of gender by around the age three. )

- Ablow suggests he would have “gone to the ends of the earth to help Chaz Bono,” but would have pitied “her” if he had to take “her” to the “very dark place” of sexual reassignment surgery.

“Dr.” Keith Ablow is not a medical expert. By writing tripe like this, he is directly violating the Hippocratic Oath — assuming he ever took it — by propagating harm against transgender people. Fox News should apologize for hosting such dangerous rhetoric and quickly disassociate Ablow from its “Medical A-Team.” Anything short of these steps would be an endorsement of violence and discrimination against the entire transgender community.

Update

Despite the over-1,000 negative comments ABC has received about Bono’s casting, Bono has made it clear there is “no way he’s going to back down“:

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Related Posts

NEWS FLASH

Last Quarter, Corporate After Tax Profits Were Highest Since 1947 | The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Jared Bernstein notes that “corporate profits as a share of GDP, after tax, were the highest last quarter of any quarter in the history of these data going back to 1947.” Bernstein uses this stat to push back against conservatives who claim that corporate tax breaks will lead to hiring. “Why should we believe that even higher after-tax profits would make a difference?” Bernstein asked. “All these supply-side tax cuts will do is boost their already high bottom lines.” Corporate cash holdings are already up 59 percent since 2008.

NEWS FLASH

ALEC Releases Anti-Health Reform Playbook For GOP State Legislators | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a shadowy national conservative group, has released a new playbook for Republican legislators determined to undermine and repeal health care reform. “The State Legislators Guide To Repealing Obamacare” contains 14 specific recommendations officials can take to impede the Affordable Care Act, including rejecting ACA grants from the federal government. The Kansas Health Institute points out that last year ALEC essentially drafted legislation in their state and others implementing several sections of the playbook. The actions of legislators in states like Florida show just how closely Republicans are adhering to the manual. In These Times recently published an expose of ALEC detailing how the organization has colluded with the billionaire Koch brothers to privatize key government functions and destroy public services.

By Marie Diamond on Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 pm

Yglesias

Somewhere In Texas

By Matthew Yglesias on Sep 2, 2011 at 5:29 pm

Gone for the long weekend with my girlfriend to Texas to visit with her family:

I’ve been to Fort Worth and Austin before, this time more in the San Antonio area so a golden opportunity to see the Alamo. I’m assuming the business-friendly environment fostered by Gov. Perry will inspire me to create several dozen jobs while there.

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