June 28, 2015


News Clips For The Day


GAY ISSUES


https://news.yahoo.com/uniquely-nasty--the-u-s--governments-war-on-gays-191808993.html

Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government's War on Gays
By Michael Isikoff

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, Yahoo News presents a new 30-minute documentary, “Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government’s War on Gays,” reported and narrated by chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff. The film explores a dark and little-known chapter in America’s recent political past, when gays and lesbians were barred from working for the federal government and the FBI, through its“sex deviates” program, secretly collected hundreds of thousands of files on the sex lives of American citizens.

“Uniquely Nasty” includes never-before-seen government memos by legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (read by George Takei) and John Steele, a top lawyer for the U.S. Civil Service Commission (read by Matt Bomer) asserting that gays were “not suitable” for federal employment. “Uniquely Nasty” is divided into three chapters.

Chapter 1 — The Story of Charles Francis

A veteran Republican public relations consultant, Charles Francis was once a close friend of George W. Bush who served as the then Texas governor’s emissary to the gay community during the 2000 election. But Francis grew disillusioned by the Bush re-election campaign’s use of same-sex marriage as a wedge issue in 2004. “You have to be ready to be thrown overboard, and we were,” Francis says in the film. He then launched a new campaign to dig up government files documenting a forgotten history of decades of federal persecution of gays and lesbians.


Chapter 2 — The Story of Lester Hunt

As the FBI was launching its “sex deviates” program aimed at identifying and outing gays and lesbians working for the federal government, Lester Hunt Jr. — the son of Democratic Senator Lester Hunt — was arrested for soliciting gay sex from an undercover police officer in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The arrest triggered a blackmail plot by two allies of Sen. Joe McCarthy, leading to the senator’s suicide — an event that inspired the novel “Advise and Consent” and haunted a generation of gays in politics.

Chapter 3 — The Story of Charlie Baker

In the mid-1960s, after a top aide to President Lyndon Johnson was arrested for having oral sex in a YMCA bathroom, there was a new crackdown to ferret out gays working for the government. The anti-gay campaign continues for years and, in 1971, Charlie Baker was fired from a low-level job at the U.S. Bureau of Standards for engaging in “homosexual activities.” But Baker fought back, enlisting the help of gay activist Frank Kameny, who bombarded government officials with letters accusing them of “entrenched bigotry” and “obscene ideas.” Baker finally goes to court and wins one of the first victories upholding the rights of gays to work for the federal government. In April 2015, he got married to his longtime partner, Rod, on a beach in Florida.

Along with the film, Yahoo News is releasing for the first time in their entirety a cache of long-secret government memos that have been uncovered in recent years by Francis, working with a team of lawyers from the firm of McDermott Will & Emery. Also included in this package are stories about the history of the FBI’s “sex deviates” program; a profile of Robert Gray, a gay Republican lobbyist and Washington powerbroker who secretly lived in fear of the FBI; a story about how Watergate hero Archibald Cox, in his days as John F. Kennedy’s solicitor general, sought to bar gays from federal employment; and the role of “Advise and Consent” in intimidating gays in politics, such as former congressman Barney Frank, from leaving the closet.

We invite you to submit your comments. You can also upload personal testimonials, documents, letters, photographs or other material related to this dark chapter in our history. See our instructions below on how to submit.




“The film explores a dark and little-known chapter in America’s recent political past, when gays and lesbians were barred from working for the federal government and the FBI, through its“sex deviates” program, secretly collected hundreds of thousands of files on the sex lives of American citizens. …. , Lester Hunt Jr. — the son of Democratic Senator Lester Hunt — was arrested for soliciting gay sex from an undercover police officer in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The arrest triggered a blackmail plot by two allies of Sen. Joe McCarthy, leading to the senator’s suicide — an event that inspired the novel “Advise and Consent” and haunted a generation of gays in politics. …. The anti-gay campaign continues for years and, in 1971, Charlie Baker was fired from a low-level job at the U.S. Bureau of Standards for engaging in “homosexual activities.” But Baker fought back, enlisting the help of gay activist Frank Kameny, who bombarded government officials with letters accusing them of “entrenched bigotry” and “obscene ideas.” Baker finally goes to court and wins one of the first victories upholding the rights of gays to work for the federal government.”

I imagine the fear of homosexual activities is one of the most deeply seated of all social viewpoints. Gay behavior has not always been banned in all societies, however. In fact in Ancient Greece and Rome it was often preferred and wasn’t frowned upon, even the use of young children for sexual purposes. Sexual activity of any kind with a child is shocking to them in that they are not emotionally or physically ready to participate in it, and are likely to be mentally disturbed as a result. The rape of anyone, adult or not, is equally damaging in all cases and should certainly be punished strongly under the law.

To punish two consenting adults with prison terms merely for engaging in their preferred type of sex is not the same situation, however, and unjustified in my view. Extending from there into present times, we get into cases of persecution by the law and by the public at large. Several years ago a young gay man was found tied to a tree and killed in a rural area, I can’t remember where now. This article above on the government’s denying gays federal jobs is really unfair to me, in that what they are doing is generally speaking a “victimless crime” -- or not even illegal at all. Most gay adults are not rapists.

The occasional school teacher, especially of young children, who molests the kids under his or her care is a case that I would think should be punished severely. Unfortunately, schools oftentimes don’t actually prosecute such teachers, but rather fire them and then, strangely enough, fail to have them arrested or even write the crime into their work record, resulting in that same offender being immediately hired by another school district. Schools are afraid of being sued by the transgressors, and may also fear public comment which could arouse questions about the safety of the school environment.

A case like that came up locally here in the news a year or so ago. The high school was scrambling around to avoid being criticized for the fact that some unspecified type of sexual activity had happened there, and parents were complaining to the School Board when rumors about it came out into the open. Unfortunately a school is not a completely safe and secure environment, and parents often feel panicked when anything like that happens. The result has been more and more often the hiring of armed guards at the school. That may be inevitable, but I don’t like it either, especially if a principal sends in a uniformed and armed guard to break up a simple disagreement between two students. Such a guard was arrested for injuring a student within the last six weeks. I don’t personally believe that most cops are qualified to manage teens, or at least as well as the teachers and principals are. Police have too great a tendency to get rough physically with them.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/conservatives-resist-gay-marriage-ruling-texas-defiant/ar-AAcccqw?ocid=iehp

Conservatives resist gay marriage ruling; Texas defiant
Tribune News Service, by Maria Recio
June 27, 2015

Photograph -- AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez Brad Sanders, right, embraces his partner Michael Perez as they and Kenneth Denson, left rear, and Gabriel Mendez, center rear, learn of the U.S. Supreme Courts news allowing same…
Photograph -- Eric Gay/AP Photo Texas Governor Greg Abbott in Austin, Texas, June 3, 2015.

Conservatives responded forcefully to the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, but nowhere more so than in Texas, which openly defied the ruling.

"No Texan is required by the Supreme Court's decision to act contrary to his or her religious beliefs regarding marriage," said Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Resistance to the ruling was deep-felt across the conservative spectrum and in many of the 14 states, including Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, which have had laws forbidding same sex marriage. To opponents of gay marriage, religious liberty trumps the Supreme Court.

"No court can overturn natural law. Nature and Nature's God, hailed by the signers of our Declaration of Independence as the very source of law, cannot be usurped by the edict of a court, even the United States Supreme Court," said Frank Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

In a directive to all Texas state agencies that he issued after the court's decision, Abbott, who was the state attorney general before being elected governor last year, said that religious liberty would take priority over the legalization of gay marriage — potentially stopping the issuance of same-sex licenses and enabling officials to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies.

"The government must never pressure a person to abandon or violate his or her sincerely held religious beliefs regarding a topic such as marriage," Abbott said.

Texas banned same-sex marriage in a 2005 constitutional amendment.

Abbott's memo forbids retaliation against anyone who refuses to implement the Supreme Court decision, although numerous jurisdictions in urban areas, such as Houston's Harris County and San Antonio's Bexar County began issuing licenses to gay couples.

But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton personified the state's hierarchy in its opposition, saying "no court, no law, no rule, and no words will change the simple truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman."

Matt Angle, executive director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic PAC, said of Texas leaders, "What they're doing now is George Wallace-like. They are intentionally blocking compliance with the law of the land."

The late Alabama Gov. George Wallace famously stood in the schoolhouse door of the University of Alabama in 1963 to keep it segregated, despite the Supreme Court's desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which integrated public schools.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization, wrote the Texas leaders and those of the other states with laws against gay marriage urging immediate implementation of the court's ruling.

"Delaying the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples is not only unlawful, but allows the discriminatory impacts of an unconstitutional law to continue," said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.

But in the Magnolia State, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hunt said, the decision "is not immediately effective in Mississippi." A circuit judge had issued a stay on an order lifting the state's same-sex marriage ban and Hunt said the state cannot proceed until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts it, a process that could take several days or more.

In Louisiana, Attorney General James D. "Buddy" Caldwell said, he was "extremely disappointed" by the ruling.

"It fails to respect traditional marriage as defined by Louisiana voters, and is yet another example of the federal government intrusion into what should be a state issue," he said.

Moreover, Caldwell said, "the Attorney General's office said that it has found nothing in today's decision that makes the court's order effective immediately. Therefore, there is not yet a legal requirement for officials to issue marriage licenses or perform marriages for same-sex couples in Louisiana."

Kentucky, by contrast, which has banned gay marriage since 2004, quickly moved to issue licenses. Kentucky Democratic Gov. Steven Beshear sent a letter to all the county clerks in the state, saying that the state "must license and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples."

"Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe," said Beshear. "But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act."




“Conservatives responded forcefully to the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, but nowhere more so than in Texas, which openly defied the ruling. "No Texan is required by the Supreme Court's decision to act contrary to his or her religious beliefs regarding marriage," said Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. …. To opponents of gay marriage, religious liberty trumps the Supreme Court. "No court can overturn natural law. Nature and Nature's God, hailed by the signers of our Declaration of Independence as the very source of law, cannot be usurped by the edict of a court, even the United States Supreme Court," said Frank Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. In a directive to all Texas state agencies that he issued after the court's decision, Abbott, who was the state attorney general before being elected governor last year, said that religious liberty would take priority over the legalization of gay marriage — potentially stopping the issuance of same-sex licenses and enabling officials to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies. …. Abbott's memo forbids retaliation against anyone who refuses to implement the Supreme Court decision, although numerous jurisdictions in urban areas, such as Houston's Harris County and San Antonio's Bexar County began issuing licenses to gay couples. …. "Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe," said Beshear. "But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act."

Changes in laws are rarely simple or clear-cut. One state leader has even said that since there is no date specified in the new decision it is not, therefore, legally binding. The few times I have read the actual text of a law, the wording was convoluted, the paragraphs ran on and on, and many of the words don’t follow standard English usage. As a result law cases follow one another endlessly, especially when there is a group who very much wants to overturn the law. I’m sure this one will be the same.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-companies-are-speaking-up-about-gay-marriage/ar-AAcc2jH?ocid=iehp

Why companies are speaking up about gay marriage
The Washington Post
Jacob Bogage
June 27, 2015

Photograph -- © Ben & Jerry’s Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s

Looking for Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream? The company renamed it, "I dough, I dough," on Friday to celebrate the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage. A bevy of other companies -- like Southwest Airlines and Target -- tweeted their celebrations as well.

We’re renaming Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to “I Dough, I Dough” in our Scoop Shops http://t.co/J8Kd69hr29 #LoveWins pic.twitter.com/5bm2Oa8YTL

AT&T turned its blue globe logo into a rainbow an hour after the ruling was announced. Fast casual chain Chipotle tweeted "Homo estas? Very well, thank you. #LoveWins" to its more than 650,000 followers.

One of the most striking reactions to the high court's historic decision was the overwhelming support from the nation's corporate giants, marking a departure from when American companies shied away from controversial social issues.

The enthusiastic business support for the ruling is a reflection of the popular groundswell of support for gay marriage, analysts said. Companies risked more financial harm if they stayed silent on the issue rather than voicing an opinion that alienated clients who side with the court's dissenters, they said.

"Anytime you take a stand on an issue you will polarize some part of the marketplace," said Allen Adamson, chairman of brand-consulting firm Landor.

The support from some of the country's largest companies raised the ire of some conservatives who threatened to take their business elsewhere.

After Southwest tweeted "#SouthwestHeart beats for love," with the hashtags "MarriageEquality" and "LoveWins," David Lane, founder of the American Renewal Project, threatened to do just that.

"If Southwest Airlines wants to get embroiled in the cultural battle over same-sex marriage -- and alienate 50 percent or so of your customers -- this tweet is a good way to do that," Lane wrote to Southwest in an e-mail he provided to The Washington Post.

"I think the businesses that are doing this are very shortsighted," he said later in an interview. "I think the only way they walk this back is if there’s pain involved."

Southwest, which didn't return requests for comment, operates hubs in the South and Midwest, regions where support for gay marriage is the lowest in the country.

The question for these companies, analysts said, is who do you want to upset? Saying nothing will land businesses in the doghouse with young consumers who want companies to be corporate citizens, not just salesmen, Adamson said. But alienating conservatives comes with its own risks.

Corporations need to build their own identities beyond their product, he said. Those tactics traditionally were reserved for issues where the country's opinion was united, like during times of war or after natural disasters.

Now, if businesses don't say something, consumers -- especially millennials, a demographic companies are desperate to make brand-loyal -- are likely to walk away.

"If a company doesn’t stand up, customers will vote with their wallet and go elsewhere," Adamson said. "And it's not because there's better coffee or jeans or airplanes."

Levi Strauss & Co. has a history of speaking out on social issues, including being an advocate for HIV/AIDS education, and has not shied away from weighing in on gay marriage.

It was the first company to file a friend of the court brief when the California Supreme Court debated same-sex marriage in 2007. Today, it sent out multiple posts on Twitter in support of the decision and featured a rainbow-themed logo.

"Consumers care about value and they also care about values," said Anna Walker, Levi's senior director of public policy and advocacy.




“The enthusiastic business support for the ruling is a reflection of the popular groundswell of support for gay marriage, analysts said. Companies risked more financial harm if they stayed silent on the issue rather than voicing an opinion that alienated clients who side with the court's dissenters, they said. "Anytime you take a stand on an issue you will polarize some part of the marketplace," said Allen Adamson, chairman of brand-consulting firm Landor. …. "If Southwest Airlines wants to get embroiled in the cultural battle over same-sex marriage -- and alienate 50 percent or so of your customers -- this tweet is a good way to do that," Lane wrote to Southwest in an e-mail he provided to The Washington Post. "I think the businesses that are doing this are very shortsighted," he said later in an interview. "I think the only way they walk this back is if there’s pain involved." …. The question for these companies, analysts said, is who do you want to upset? Saying nothing will land businesses in the doghouse with young consumers who want companies to be corporate citizens, not just salesmen, Adamson said. But alienating conservatives comes with its own risks. …. Now, if businesses don't say something, consumers -- especially millennials, a demographic companies are desperate to make brand-loyal -- are likely to walk away. "If a company doesn’t stand up, customers will vote with their wallet and go elsewhere," Adamson said. "And it's not because there's better coffee or jeans or airplanes."

A case in point here is one which unfolded on Facebook within the last year or so. It concerned the “open carry” laws. Suddenly news articles and photos began to appear on the website showing what I can only call “gangs” of thirty something men parading though places such as Target and Walmart with huge automatic weapons and ammunition containers strapped across their inevitably fat and flabby bodies like a Mexican Bandito in an old movie. They were demonstrating their right to carry the weapons anywhere. Within a month the photos were being copied from one Facebook page to another with derisive comments made by the posters. In addition, thousands of email, tweets, and comments on the Walmart or Target Facebook pages flooded into their corporate offices. It was more effective than I expected, because both stores issued statements that open carry on their premises was absolutely unacceptable. For the last few months I have seen no more of those photos. It seems to be a dead issue now except among the unhappy “rednecks” who were so incensed about their guaranteed freedoms in the first place.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/republican-gov-time-to-move-on-from-same-sex-marriage/

GOP gov.: "Time to move on" from same-sex marriage
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
June 28, 2015

Play VIDEO -- LGBT activist: Fight goes on after landmark marriage ruling Play VIDEO
Video –- Same-sex opponent: conservative beliefs need to be respected

Possible Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich believes it's "time to move on" from the same-sex marriage issue in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling.

"I do believe in traditional marriage and the court has ruled and it's time to move on," Kasich said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, adding that there's "so many other things now that we have to focus on."

Gov. John Kasich talks issues ahead of possible 2016 run
Kasich, who has not yet officially announced a bid for the White House in 2016, believes the country needs to wait and see "how this evolves."

"I think everybody needs to take a deep breath to see how this evolves," the Ohio governor, who was the named defendant in the original lawsuit brought by Jim Obergefell over same-sex marriage, said. "But I know this. Religious institutions, religious entities - you know, like the Catholic church - they need to be honored as well. I think there's an ability to strike a balance."

But while the Republican governor has conceded that "it's the law of the land and we'll abide by it," some in the conservative wing have expressed their willingness to take on the same-sex marriage fight over the long term.

Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention told CBS' "Face the Nation" that people of faith "are not going to simply surrender" their traditional marriage views because of the Supreme Court ruling.

"We didn't make up our views on marriage and sexuality, and we can't unmake them," Moore said Sunday. "We understand that in the short term, things are very stacked against us here, but we ought to have the pluralistic American environment where we can agree to disagree."

Instead, Moore added, "we're going to have to take a page from the pro-life movement and see this as a long-term strategy."

"I don't think that an infinitely elastic view of marriage is sustainable," the evangelical leader said. "I think we have to be the people who keep the light lit to the old ways when it comes to marriage and family and that's going to be a generation-long skirmish."

In a nod to the upcoming 2016 elections, Moore acknowledged that it's "not something that's going to be resolved in a presidential election or two."

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin also appeared on "Face the Nation" to praise the ruling, but called for more progress when it came to LGBT rights.

"While this was a monumental leap forward in this country, we still have a long ways to go," Griffin said. "You know, in a majority of states in the country still today, after this ruling, you can be married at 10:00 a.m., fired from your job by noon and evicted from your home by 2:00, simply for posting that wedding photo on Facebook. And so, as you look at the battles ahead, we've got to bring full and comprehensive non-discrimination protections to everyone living in every state in this country and that's the next battle in Congress."

SEE ALSO: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/same-sex-couples-still-cannot-marry-in-louisiana-mississippi/




"I do believe in traditional marriage and the court has ruled and it's time to move on," Kasich said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, adding that there's "so many other things now that we have to focus on." Gov. John Kasich talks issues ahead of possible 2016 run. Kasich, who has not yet officially announced a bid for the White House in 2016, believes the country needs to wait and see "how this evolves." "I think everybody needs to take a deep breath to see how this evolves," the Ohio governor, who was the named defendant in the original lawsuit brought by Jim Obergefell over same-sex marriage, said. "But I know this. Religious institutions, religious entities - you know, like the Catholic church - they need to be honored as well. I think there's an ability to strike a balance." …. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention told CBS' "Face the Nation" that people of faith "are not going to simply surrender" their traditional marriage views because of the Supreme Court ruling. "We didn't make up our views on marriage and sexuality, and we can't unmake them," Moore said Sunday. "We understand that in the short term, things are very stacked against us here, but we ought to have the pluralistic American environment where we can agree to disagree." Instead, Moore added, "we're going to have to take a page from the pro-life movement and see this as a long-term strategy." …. Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin … said "While this was a monumental leap forward in this country, we still have a long ways to go," Griffin said. "You know, in a majority of states in the country still today, after this ruling, you can be married at 10:00 a.m., fired from your job by noon and evicted from your home by 2:00, simply for posting that wedding photo on Facebook.”

Griffin’s wry and wise comment is undoubtedly the truth. It’s too early for fullscale celebrations. The other shoe hasn’t dropped yet! I believe real progress has been made, but just like the black/white social issues feelings on this one are deep and raw. Personally, I’m happy about it. I am prepared for news of another sort, however. I pray it won’t take the form of renewed violence towards gays.





http://news.yahoo.com/python-eats-porcupine-regrets-later-heres-why-114016276.html

Python Eats Porcupine, Regrets It Later (Here's Why)
LiveScience.com By Elizabeth Palermo
June 27, 2015

Ever wonder what might happen if a python ate a porcupine? Well, wonder no more. One of these giant snakes — which kill prey by suffocating it and then consuming it whole — recently dined on a porcupine and didn't live to brag about it.

On June 14, a cyclist riding along one of the mountain bike trails at the Lake Eland Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, spotted a very engorged snake. The cyclist snapped a few photos of the gluttonous python and posted them to social media, where they quickly attracted the attention of locals who wanted to see the python themselves. Lots of people came to the park in the following days just to view the swollen snake, according to Jennifer Fuller, general manager at the game reserve.

At the time the photos were taken, no one knew what the snake had eaten, just that it must have been something fairly large. On the Lake Eland Game Reserve Facebook page, park staff and visitors speculated as to what the snake may have swallowed for dinner, suggesting everything from a small warthog to a baby impala to an errant child (that last one was posted as a joke). [See Images of the Engorged Python Dining on Porcupine]

But on Saturday, June 20, park rangers found the python dead near the bike trail. They decided to cut it open and have a look inside. What they found was one heck of a snack: a 30-lb. (13.8 kilograms) porcupine.

It isn't unusual for pythons to eat porcupines, Fuller told Live Science in an email. In fact, many species of snakes eat porcupines and other horned or quilled animals, according to a study published in 2003 in the Phyllomedusa Journal of Herpetology. And while a 30-lb. meal might sound like too much to digest, it isn't if you're a python.

As Fuller noted, pythons in the Lake Eland Game Reserve have been spotted consuming even larger prey, including adult oribi antelope, which can weigh nearly 50 lbs. (22.7 kg). Pythons possess the incredible ability to alter their metabolism, as well as the size of their organs, after a meal. This allows the a python to digest prey that is much larger than the snake is, according to a study published in 2013 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It still isn't clear if this python's spiky meal was actually responsible for the predator's death. Rangers found the snake underneath a rocky ledge, where it had apparently fallen. On impact, the quills inside its engorged belly may have pierced the python's digestive tract, which could have killed the animal, Fuller said.

In the 2003 study, entitled "Prickly food: snakes preying upon porcupines," researchers found that when a snake eats a porcupine, the animal's quills are left undigested and are easily detectable in the snake's gut. Sometimes, the quills will even pierce all the way through the snake's body, according to the study. But there's no word yet on whether this particular snake died because it was pierced by quills or because it fell off a ledge (or because it was pierced by quills as a result of falling off the ledge), Fuller told the Australian news website News.com.

Rangers at the reserve stripped off the python's skin after removing the porcupine from the predator's digestive track. They also took measurements of the snake's massive body, which was 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) long. Special attention was paid to the animal's head, which features a highly flexible jaw that allows the animal to open its mouth wide to swallow prey whole.

Despite popular belief, a python's jaw does not actually dislocate when the snake is eating. The two lower jaws move independently of one another, and the quadrate bone at the back of the head attaches the jaw loosely to the skull, allowing the jaw to move around freely.




“But on Saturday, June 20, park rangers found the python dead near the bike trail. They decided to cut it open and have a look inside. What they found was one heck of a snack: a 30-lb. (13.8 kilograms) porcupine. It isn't unusual for pythons to eat porcupines, Fuller told Live Science in an email. In fact, many species of snakes eat porcupines and other horned or quilled animals, according to a study published in 2003 in the Phyllomedusa Journal of Herpetology. And while a 30-lb. meal might sound like too much to digest, it isn't if you're a python. As Fuller noted, pythons in the Lake Eland Game Reserve have been spotted consuming even larger prey, including adult oribi antelope, which can weigh nearly 50 lbs. (22.7 kg). Pythons possess the incredible ability to alter their metabolism, as well as the size of their organs, after a meal. This allows the a python to digest prey that is much larger than the snake is …. researchers found that when a snake eats a porcupine, the animal's quills are left undigested and are easily detectable in the snake's gut. Sometimes, the quills will even pierce all the way through the snake's body, according to the study. But there's no word yet on whether this particular snake died because it was pierced by quills or because it fell off a ledge…”

Biology is always interesting to me – the patterns of life are so very varied and unpredictable – but in a few cases it has tended to turn my stomach. This is one of those. A snake, even if it was over 12’ long, eating something bigger than it is, seems very spooky to me, and its having jaws that are so loosely connected in its mouth that they can stretch out like that is not for me. My favorite animals are relatively small and furry, with enough intelligence to communicate on some level with humans. A photograph I saw on the net last month really shocked me. It was of a black animal of some kind hanging upside down by its feet to a fence with a grown man standing beside it to show its size. It looked to be about five feet long, and as you may have guessed, it was of all things a bat. I don’t like any bats at all, and when they are as long as I am tall, the thought of them horrifies me.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elijah-cummings-not-enough-to-take-down-confederate-flag/

Cummings: "Not enough" to take down Confederate flag
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
June 28, 2015

As the debate rages on over the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina's capitol, one Democrat is saying that taking down the "symbol of racial hatred" is only the first step.

"I think it is a major thing that has to happen, and it will happen, I agree. And I applaud the folks in South Carolina for doing that. I also applaud the Governor of Alabama for doing what he's done, taking down the flag," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "But that is simply is not enough. That is simply a symbol of bigotry, a symbol of racial hatred, a symbol of inequality for me and for so many others."

Several Republican leaders have called for the removal of the Confederate flag from where it flies near South Carolina's capitol building, after a gunman with white supremacist ideologies killed nine people at a historic black church in Charleston. Gov. Nikki Haley, joined by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, said Monday that it was "time to move" the Confederate symbol.

"Now we must begin to address racial disparities and inequalities themselves," Cummings added. "And I think that's the most important thing. Again, it's good to take the flag down, but now we have to move beyond that."

On Friday, at the funeral service of pastor and State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the president also threw in his support for the Confederate flag's removal, saying that doing so was not an insult to the South's Confederate ancestors but that it "would simply be an acknowledgment that the cause for which they fought - the cause of slavery - was wrong."

But the president also called for progress beyond taking down the symbol. Cummings said that that he believed Obama wanted the nation to "pull the blinders from over our eyes."

"We don't have the right to remain silent about what we see. In the past, we've put Band-Aids on the symptoms," the Maryland Democrat said. "[We've] said okay we've got a problem here, so we'll do something there and here. But the fact still remains."

Rather than ignore systemic racist practices, Cummings wants the nation to focus on issues like joblessness, healthcare access, education, and the criminal justice system -- "things that go to the quality of life of African Americans and other people."

"Let's begin to act. It's nice to talk. But at some point the talk has to turn into deeds, to actually affect people's lives from day to day," Cummings said.

And for cities like Baltimore, where racial tensions flared after the death of a young black man in police custody, there's still "a long way to go."

Cummings, who represents a large swath of Baltimore County in the House of Representatives, has a lot of hope for the progress made since violent protests rocked the city in April. Baltimore hasn't, he said, "slipped back to business as usual."

"I don't think Baltimore will ever be the same," Cummings said. "Is it going to be easy? No, it's not going to be easy. Dealing with problems that have been systemic for so long. It's going to be very difficult."




“Gov. Nikki Haley, joined by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, said Monday that it was "time to move" the Confederate symbol. "Now we must begin to address racial disparities and inequalities themselves," Cummings added. "And I think that's the most important thing. Again, it's good to take the flag down, but now we have to move beyond that." …. But the president also called for progress beyond taking down the symbol. Cummings said that that he believed Obama wanted the nation to "pull the blinders from over our eyes." "We don't have the right to remain silent about what we see. In the past, we've put Band-Aids on the symptoms," the Maryland Democrat said. "[We've] said okay we've got a problem here, so we'll do something there and here. But the fact still remains." Rather than ignore systemic racist practices, Cummings wants the nation to focus on issues like joblessness, healthcare access, education, and the criminal justice system -- "things that go to the quality of life of African Americans and other people." …. And for cities like Baltimore, where racial tensions flared after the death of a young black man in police custody, there's still "a long way to go." Cummings, who represents a large swath of Baltimore County in the House of Representatives, has a lot of hope for the progress made since violent protests rocked the city in April. Baltimore hasn't, he said, "slipped back to business as usual." "I don't think Baltimore will ever be the same," Cummings said. "Is it going to be easy? No, it's not going to be easy. Dealing with problems that have been systemic for so long. It's going to be very difficult."

Progress and action. I think the average US citizen now is more aware of a need for that than a year ago. The term “before Ferguson” will be used fairly often, I think. At least I think of it that way. The way the racist incidents have popped up across the country in the last six months with each incident having eerie similarities like the killer declaring “I feared for my life.” It is becoming clear to the observer that the racism we are fighting is indeed “systemic.” It isn’t “a few bad apples.”

We need to sniff out and identify enclaves of the White Supremacy belief system and check them out to see how active they are, as it is from such groups that Roof the SC killer latched onto their website’s propaganda and decided to “take action” because he thought that most people just weren’t brave enough to do it. Neighbor talks this mantra to neighbor and sometimes religious leaders preach it, because he thought that most people just weren’t brave enough to do it. Neighbor talks this mantra to neighbor and sometimes religious leaders preach it in the pulpit. There is at least one group of churches called “Christian Identity” churches and they preach against both Jews and blacks. It’s a lack of good mental health that causes this, but it is also what I have to call “evil,” and “the God of my understanding” is surely not in support of these things. I am trying to see that I don’t enter into rancorous interactions with people of any other race of religion, because I believe that doing good actually counteracts evil. I also believe, however, that as white citizens, we have to speak up for fairness, opportunity and freedom for all. I try to do that with this blog, and I am finding no lack of grist for the mill in the daily news reports.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/benghazi-committee-chair-wants-john-kerry-to-testify-on-clinton-emails/

Benghazi Committee Chair wants John Kerry to testify
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
June 28, 2015

After recent revelations that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not turn over all her email records relating to Libya, the top Republican on the Benghazi committee says he intends to take the issue all way to the current State Department head.

"I have met with Secretary Kerry's chief of staff privately. We've talked on the phone last week. Our next interaction will be public," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "If I don't get satisfaction from that public interaction with his chief of staff, the next person to come explain to Congress why he has been so recalcitrant in turning over documents will be the secretary himself."

The Republican congressman, who has spearheaded efforts to recover Clinton's private emails relating to Benghazi, says that while he understands Secretary Kerry's schedule can be demanding, "he is the only thing standing between me and a completed investigation."

Gowdy said that he will call on Clinton herself to testify "just as soon as the Department of State decides to give me the documents that I need."

The State Department said that only 15 emails were missing in their records handed over from Clinton's private server -- all of them predating the 2012 assault on the U.S. diplomatic facility.

On the heels of Gowdy's scathing statement Thursday on the latest email revelations, the Clinton camp responded with criticism that the Republicans on the Benghazi committee were "clinging to their invented scandal, one that's on life-support."

"Their latest witch-hunt is based on the testimony of a non-government employee and a set of documents he turned over," Clinton campaign John Podesta said in a statement to CBS News. "That leaves one question that prominently remains: What, if anything at all, does this have to do with Benghazi?"

Gowdy fired back at Podesta's biting remarks on Sunday, saying "the murder of four of my fellow Americans is not an invented scandal."

"We were asked by our colleagues in the House to look at all policies, all activities, all decisions that led up to the attacks in Benghazi, the patency of the attacks themselves, the administration's response and the aftermath," Gowdy said.

The email revelation, the Republican congressman asserted, "undercuts" the arguments Clinton had made when she said that she had turned over all word-related emails to the State Department.

"I have met with Secretary Kerry's chief of staff privately. We've talked on the phone last week. Our next interaction will be public," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "If I don't get satisfaction from that public interaction with his chief of staff, the next person to come explain to Congress why he has been so recalcitrant in turning over documents will be the secretary himself."




“…. the top Republican on the Benghazi committee says he intends to take the issue all way to the current State Department head. "I have met with Secretary Kerry's chief of staff privately. We've talked on the phone last week. Our next interaction will be public," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "If I don't get satisfaction from that public interaction with his chief of staff, the next person to come explain to Congress why he has been so recalcitrant in turning over documents will be the secretary himself." …. Gowdy said that he will call on Clinton herself to testify "just as soon as the Department of State decides to give me the documents that I need." The State Department said that only 15 emails were missing in their records handed over from Clinton's private server -- all of them predating the 2012 assault on the U.S. diplomatic facility. …. "Their latest witch-hunt is based on the testimony of a non-government employee and a set of documents he turned over," Clinton campaign John Podesta said in a statement to CBS News. "That leaves one question that prominently remains: What, if anything at all, does this have to do with Benghazi?" Gowdy fired back at Podesta's biting remarks on Sunday, saying "the murder of four of my fellow Americans is not an invented scandal." "We were asked by our colleagues in the House to look at all policies, all activities, all decisions that led up to the attacks in Benghazi, the patency of the attacks themselves, the administration's response and the aftermath," Gowdy said.”

I wonder if anybody really knows whether or not they have all the emails. It is clear that the Republicans want to continue to attack Dems over a matter that has never been sufficiently well explained in the first place. It seems they think somebody (who??) told the marines to “stand down” and left the embassy without protection. Now that would be a real scandal if it isn’t actually an error by the chain of command, but I question whether or not it is true. I wonder if Wikipedia has any comments on it? See the “Factcheck” article below.


NOTE: For complete Factcheck timeline on the events on the ground, see my “Thoughts and Researches” blog collection on website: “manessmorrison2.blogspot.com” for this whole article on the events at the embassy.


http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/benghazi-timeline/
Benghazi Timeline

The long road from "spontaneous protest" to premeditated terrorist attack.
Posted on October 26, 2012 | Updated on May 2, 2014

Summary

The question won’t go away: Did President Obama and administration officials mislead the public when they initially claimed that the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi began “spontaneously” in response to an anti-Muslim video?

The question surfaced again on Oct. 25 — more than six weeks after the incident — when government emails showed the White House and the State Department were told even as the attack was going on that Ansar al-Sharia, a little-known militant group, had claimed credit for it.
We cannot say whether the administration was intentionally misleading the public. We cannot prove intent. There is also more information to come — both from the FBI, which is conducting an investigation, and Congress, which has been holding hearings.

But, at this point, we do know that Obama and others in the administration were quick to cite the anti-Muslim video as the underlying cause for the attack in Benghazi that killed four U.S. diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. And they were slow to acknowledge it was a premeditated terrorist attack, and they downplayed reports that it might have been.
What follows is a timeline of events that we hope will help put the incident into perspective. We call attention in particular to these key facts:

There were no protesters at the Benghazi consulate prior to the attack, even though Obama and others repeatedly said the attackers joined an angry mob that had formed in opposition to the anti-Muslim film that had triggered protests in Egypt and elsewhere. The State Department disclosed this fact Oct. 9 — nearly a month after the attack.

Libya President Mohamed Magariaf insisted on Sept. 16 — five days after the attack — that it was a planned terrorist attack, but administration officials continued for days later to say there was no evidence of a planned attack.

Magariaf also said the idea that the attack was a “spontaneous protest that just spun out of control is completely unfounded and preposterous.” This, too, was on Sept. 16. Yet, Obama and others continued to describe the incident in exactly those terms — including during the president’s Sept. 18 appearance on the “Late Show With David Letterman.”
Matt Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was the first administration official to call it “a terrorist attack” during a Sept. 19 congressional hearing. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did the same on Sept. 20. Even so, Obama declined opportunities to call it a terrorist attack when asked at a town hall meeting on Sept. 20 and during a taping of “The View” on Sept. 24.”