SOURCE:BlueHampshire

200 Years and Counting--Adultery in New Hampshire Still a Crime

by: hannah

Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 07:27:51 AM EST

But, not much longer, if Representatives Horrigan, D-Durham, and McGuire, R-Epsom can get the Legislature to approve the bill they have filed to repeal the criminal statute. The Associated Press story has been picked up coast to coast and border to border. So, in an effort to avoid repetition, let me suggest a slightly different perspective on what's appropriate for the coercive powers of the state to address and what not.

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Dumping of 15 million low-income Americans into a medical ghetto called Medicaid that none of us or any of our families would ever want to be a part of for our health care...

..Moving 15 million Americans into this medical ghetto...

...Moving 15 million low-income Americans into a program called Medicaid which is a medical ghetto is not health care reform.

Tell USDA No More Factory Farms

July 30, 2009

Help protect small farms by saying no to new factory farms!

Small farmers across the country are struggling to make ends meet, yet the USDA is helping new factory farms come on line by encouraging banks to give them guaranteed loans. Family farm groups from across the country are calling on the USDA to stop backing new factory farms. Can you take action to stop new factory farms?

Factory farms have already forced out many small producers by lowering the price that farmers are paid for chickens and pigs. The tough economic times are hitting everyone hard and many farmers are losing their contracts. The USDA has bought up surplus pork, chicken and eggs for nutrition and school lunch programs to absorb some of the over-supply, but still, the agency continues to back loans for new factory farms.

SOURCE: Washington Post

D.C. Council Votes 12-1 to Recognize Other States' Gay Marriages

UPDATE 2: After further debate, a second vote was taken, with D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) deciding to vote against the proposal. The final count is 12-1 in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.

UPDATE: D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) has now asked that the gay marriage bill be reconsidered. He didn't realize what he was voting on before.

He just gave a speech saying he is going to vote against it so it won't be unanimous vote. The council is now debating the bill.

If the plural of mouse is mice, why can't the plural of spouse be spice?

It is possible to make words mean what we want, you know. Republicans do it all the time.

Anyway, what HB 436 is really about is adding more spice to the roster of couples committed to looking after each other, until death do them part. You'd think that the party opposed to selfish individualism would be all enthusiastic about that. If they're not, then not being responsible is really what it's all about, don't you think?

SOURCE:NH Union Leader

Terie Norelli: Discrimination against the transgendered is wrong

By TERIE NORELLI

There are persons in our society who are discriminated against and who deserve our protection. Twelve states, more than 50 cities, and many large corporations have opposed discrimination against transgendered persons.

New Hampshire and the General Court have a long and proud history of standing against discrimination. A few weeks ago, the House once again stood against discrimination. I would urge all citizens of our state and all members of the Senate to stand with us.

SOURCE:New Hampshire Young Democrats

PRESS RELEASE

April 14, 2009

From:Garth Corriveau

It is a privilege to announce that today the New Hampshire Young Democrats Executive Committee, on behalf of its membership (18-35 year olds who account for approximately 25% of the NH Democratic Party), unanimously passed a resolution urging the state senate and Governor Lynch to pass HB 436 and enact marriage equality into law in New Hampshire.

Copies of NHYD's resolution are being sent this week to the state senate, the governor and to our statewide membership. The resolution reads:

SOURCE:Burlington Free Press

PFLAG praises Vermont's passage of same-sex marriage legislation

The Associated Press • April 7, 2009

“From America’s heartland to the hills of Vermont, our country is living up to its promise of equality for everyone as it never has before,“ said Huckaby. “Today, Vermont’s state motto of ’Freedom and Unity’ rings true for the estimated 2,100 same-sex couples who call the state home. The people’s representatives have made history, declaring a separate recognition for some families as being unequal in the eyes of the law. And Vermont’s families have won a joyous victory, gaining the rights, protections and recognition they deserve under the law.“

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SOURCE: United States Department of Health and Human Services

Washington, February 22, 2009

In his address to the nation's governors last evening, President Obama announced that, beginning on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services would begin to release over fifteen billion dollars, as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to qualifying states, insuring that necessary health care needs would continue to be met.

Not in the Teoc Community in Carroll County, Mississippi. That's not one of the places John McCain has bothered to visit in his quest for the Presidency. Brother Joe has. And, according to the Wall Street Journal, there was a time when John Sydney visited there, too.

Sen. McCain's family lived primarily on military installations around the world. But they remained attached to Teoc, visiting repeatedly during Sen. McCain's childhood, often for long periods. When they went to the farm in the 1940s and 1950s, the future Sen. McCain and his brother stayed in the rambling house, now abandoned, of their great-uncle, Joe McCain, who had become the plantation's owner.

Sen. McCain's younger brother, also named Joe, said that though their father "moved around as the son of a naval officer, he too always thought of Teoc as his 'blood ground' and loved visiting there."

But, no longer.

SOURCE: Moms Rising.org

NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Gretchen Wright

September 24, 2008

Governor Sarah Palin's Office Refuses to Accept Letter from America's Moms

MomsRising.org Attempts to Deliver Letter Asking Governor's Positions on Family-Friendly Issues

Fifteen DC-area moms and MomsRising.org Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner were turned away this afternoon when they attempted to deliver a letter to Governor Sarah Palin asking her to share her positions on issues like health care, paid sick days and flexible work options. The group was attempting to deliver the letter to the State of Alaska office in Washington, DC.

The letter was signed by nearly 22,000 moms, dads and others from across the United States who would like to know what a McCain/Palin administration would do to support America's families.

I'm writing on behalf of the Borgen Project- a seattle based non profit organization working to bring political attention to severe poverty. You can learn more about our organization through theborgenproject.org.

As you will see we have created the Global Poverty Act which has passed in the House and now we're trying to pass in the Senate. The way you can help is severly important and takes only thirty seconds to help pass this act.

We need roughly a dozen people (however the more the merrier) in New Hampshire to call Senator Sununu's office at (603) 647- 7500 and simply tell the staffer on the phone: “I’m a Borgen Project supporter and I would like the Senator to cosponsor the Global Poverty Act.” People can also email his office here:

sununu.senate.gov.

If you and your members can make the call or shoot an email it would greatly help the cause. You can see here (sample call log on right) how political offices tally each call and why it’s so important. Thank you so much for your consideration and let me know if I can answer any questions.
Thank you,

Candice Hays
The Borgen Project
theborgenproject.org

While I don't subscribe to the characterization of political candidates as opponents or contestants, like gladiators in the Roman arena, there's little question that many of the promoters and financial supporters of candidates are basically antagonistic to the interests of the general public the candidates are proposing to serve.

So, as a progressive Democrat, I'm not at all reluctant to consider the Republican proponents of authoritarian, patriarchal dictatorship as my enemies. Moreover, since a significant number of the American people have awakened to the fact that, instead of having their modest expectations and patriotic values honored, the people they elected to represent and serve them have engaged in the grossest deceptions and dishonored the country, it's clear that there's a small class of people who now have a lot to lose. It would be a mistake to think they will give up power easily.

Loser Take All is a wakeup call at 3 a.m. from a screaming relative. Take heed.

SOURCE: InTheseTimes.com

The Great Election Robbery of 2008? By LAURA S. WASHINGTON

Come Nov. 4, the elephant in the polling booth is the possibility that the 2008 presidential election will be stolen - again.

Loser Take All is a new collection of essays edited by Mark Crispin Miller. Subtitled "Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008," the book reviews a contemporary slew of electoral mischief, hubris and thievery.

Miller has been around this block before. A professor of media, culture and communication at New York University, Miller authored the 2007 book, Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform. He is a leading voice on media activism and electoral reform.

Miller wastes no time diving into the gloom and doom. By page three of his wide-ranging, sarcasm-laden introduction, he suggests that the United States is headed toward a fascist state. While "the guardians of the establishment" on both sides of the aisle crow that American Democracy is a shining beacon for the world, Miller writes, our so-called free and fair elections are seriously corrupted. He argues the American media has done its darndest to rewrite history and that the Bush/Cheney "re-election" of 2004 was a "masterpiece of fraud."

Gracie Dodd was worried that Santa would not find her in Iowa. Being only six, she probably didn't remember what else happens in her family on Christmas.

Wonder if Chris bothered to mention that when the baby Jesus was born, His mother and father were far from home, traveling to take part in a political process--the Roman census.

Is the American Dream -- that bedrock belief that if we work hard, we can get ahead and make a better life for ourselves and our children -- alive and well?

It depends on which Americans you have in mind.

A series of studies by The Economic Mobility Project (www.economicmobility.org), a bi-partisan initiative, reveals that while some groups continue to move up the ladder of success, others are facing a tough time. And for two significant groups – children born to low income parents and middle-income African-Americans – the picture appears even bleaker.

What is the Economic Mobility Project?

Funded and directed by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Economic Mobility Project is a consortium of prominent scholars from four public policy institutions that cut across the political spectrum – the American Enterprise Institute, The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, and The Urban Institute.

The Project’s primary goal is to expand the current national economic debate about economic inequality to also include a fundamentally uniting discussion of opportunity and mobility. As such, and particularly in the lead-up to a presidential election, it is critical that candidates and policy makers are informed by the hard facts about mobility in America today.