Virginia Is Losing Its Mind

• And this may be partially why: Scrambling to pass Virginia legislation “The Virginia General Assembly voted on hundreds of bills Tuesday, the midpoint of its 60-day session when the two chambers face a deadline to vote on their own pieces of legislation. Lawmakers introduced more than 2,500 bills this session.”
• Va. House GOP Muscles Through Abortion Curbs “A Republican supermajority has muscled two of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in years through the Virginia House, including one that would all but outlaw the procedure in the state by declaring that the rights of persons apply from the moment sperm and egg unite.”
• Anti-abortion “personhood” bill advances in Virginia “Virginia lawmakers took a step toward outlawing abortion on Tuesday by approving “personhood” legislation that grants individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception.”
• Virginia Ultrasound Bill Passes State Senate Vote, Heads To Governor Bob McDonnell’s Desk ”Women seeking an abortion in Virginia would be required to first have an ultrasound and be given the opportunity to view an image of the fetus under legislation passed Wednesday by state lawmakers.”
• Virginia Ultrasound Bill: Republican Lawmaker Calls Abortion ‘Lifestyle Convenience’ “A top Republican legislative leader in Virginia described abortion as a ‘lifestyle convenience’ during the floor debate on a controversial measure to require trans-vaginal ultrasounds before a woman can get an abortion.”
• Virginia set to remove limit on monthly gun purchases “Virginia is set to remove a limit of one handgun purchase per month that has been on the books for 19 years, one of a host of pro-gun measures moving through the legislature.”
• Mike Williams: A step backward on guns “Somewhere, gun traffickers are smiling. The gun lobby is ecstatic. New Yorkers? Not so much. The repeal of Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month law would complete the gutting of a measure that was a documented success before state lawmakers began chipping away at it.”
• Virginia Lawmakers Want Ignition Interlocks Installed For First-Time DUI Offenders “Opponents argued that poor people would have a tough time coming up with several hundred dollars to pay to use the device for a minimum of six months.”
• Virginia school district ponders banning cross-gender dress “A Virginia school district is considering banning cross-gender dressing in a move proponents said aims to protect students from harassment, but which civil liberties and gay rights groups said would amount to an assault on free speech.”

With human abuse linked to animal abuse, we need to make Mitt Romney’s dog abuse relevant

Some people don’t think what someone does to their dog is relevant to whether or not they’d make a good President. I take issue with that in and of itself; treatment of animals it is completely relevant to one’s morality, integrity, and ability to lead. However, even if you disagree with me there, animal abuse has been linked time and time again to human abuse. We cannot have an abuser in the oval office, period. 

• Romney’s Cruel Canine Vacation
• Romney’s in the doghouse with some voters
• Mitt Romney and the dog on the car roof: one columnist’s obsession
• Snopes: Dog Carrier
• Picture of the Day: The Past Dogs Mitt Romney
• Mitt Romney Admits He Tied Family Dog To The Roof of His Car [Video]
• Mitt Romney’s Dog Incident Comes Back To Haunt Him (PHOTO)

Dear @LiveAction and others waging war against Planned Parenthood: Meet My @PPact

Dear Live Action and others waging war against Planned Parenthood:

Meet my PP. This is the closest PP to where I live. These are the services offered. Yup, abortion is in there! They do abortions and will take care of the women before and after; I certainly won’t argue that they do abortions – it’s simply true that they do. Then, however, the list goes on.

What about the rest of these services offered by PP? If you shut down PP, you shut down health care for women, men, and children across the nation who cannot get health care otherwise because they are uninsured or underinsured. Please don’t let the privilege of having health care coverage blind you from the need of others to have access to PP.

It’s a fact that millions are uninsured. It’s a fact that the human right to health care is not yet honored by this country. Until it is, we need places like PP to go to insure that people are as healthy as they can be, even if they can’t afford health care.

Richmond Health Center offers the following services:

• abortion pill (medication abortion)
• in-clinic abortion
• sedation options (medication to make the abortion more comfortable)
• pre- and post-abortion patient education
• post-abortion follow-up exams
• referrals for abortion services
• referrals for abortion-related counseling

Richmond Health Center offers the following birth control methods:

• birth control pill
• birth control shot
• birth control vaginal ring (NuvaRing)
• diaphragm
• condom
• emergency contraception (morning after pill)
• IUD (Mirena)
• IUD (ParaGard)

Richmond Health Center offers the following services:

• HIV testing

Richmond Health Center offers the following men’s health services:

• urinary tract infections — testing and treatment

Richmond Health Center offers the following emergency contraception (morning after pill) and related services:

• emergency contraception

Richmond Health Center offers the following pregnancy related services:

• pregnancy testing
• abortion services
• adoption referrals
• prenatal services
• trained staff to discuss your options with you if you are pregnant

Richmond Health Center offers the following services related to the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs):

• STD testing, diagnosis and treatment, including:
  • bacterial vaginosis (BV)
  • chlamydia
  • genital warts
  • gonorrhea
  • herpes
  • HIV (testing and diagnosis only)
  • syphilis
  • trichomoniasis (trich)
  • Other STD testing, diagnosis and treatment services are also available. Please ask our staff for more information.

Richmond Health Center offers the following women’s health services:

• breast exams
• cervical cancer screening
• colposcopy
• cryotherapy
• LEEP (treatment of abnormal pap)
• mammogram referrals
• Pap test
• urinary tract infections — testing and treatment
• vaginal infections — testing and treatment

If you’re against abortion, fight abortion. If you’re not against access to low-cost health care, don’t fight PP as a whole.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

A Kiss for the History Books

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/21/144076413/for-first

When Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta kissed Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell today in Virginia Beach, a little bit of history was made.

Navy first: Same-sex couple share homecoming first kiss

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta won a raffle on the dock landing ship Oak Hill to be the first to kiss a loved one on its return to Virginia Beach. Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell was waiting. Story: http://pilotonline.com/2011/12/two-womens-first-kiss-homecoming-first-navy-too

United Nations’ landmark report calls for worldwide decriminalization of same-sex relations

Source: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/12/united-nations-landmark-report-calls-for-worldwide-decriminalization-of-same-sex-relations/

The United Nations has produced its first ever report on LGBT rights, calling for the decriminalization of same-sex relations between consenting adults, and includes a call for protection and recognition of the self-identified gender of transgender persons.

The report comes following a request by the UN Human Rights Council’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, following an historic resolution in June of this year.

According to the report, “In all regions, people experience violence and discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

In many cases, even the perception of homosexuality or transgender identity puts people at risk. Violations include – but are not limited to – killings, rape and physical attacks, torture, arbitrary detention, the denial of rights to assembly, expression and information, and discrimination in employment, health and education.

United Nations mechanisms, including human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, have documented such violations for close to two decades.

[...]

While not addressing all violations perpetrated in relation to sexual orientation or gender identity, the present report highlights critical human rights concerns that States have an obligation to address, and highlights emerging responses. It draws on United Nations sources, and includes data and findings from regional organizations, some national authorities and non-governmental organizations.

A copy of the full report is her (PDF).

“The report is a tribute to all of the activists who have fought for recognition of homophobic violence and transphobic discrimination over decades, often in the face of extreme hostility,” said Jessica Stern, Acting Executive Director of The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

“It will serve as an invaluable aid to each one of us who seeks to advance LGBT rights – not only at the United Nations but in cities and towns around the world,” Stern said.

The release of Pillay’s report follows another landmark at the United Nations, which was the Dec. 10 international consultation organized by UNESCO to address bullying against LGBT students in educational institutions — the conference in Rio de Janeiro brought together experts from UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, ministries of education and academia from more than 25 countries around the world.

The findings of the report are due to be presented and discussed by governments at the Human Rights Council in March 2012.

Paul Canning contributed to this report.