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Keyword: asspress

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  • Bush role in end-of-life dispute as governor now 2016 issue

    02/15/2015 7:25:31 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 16 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Feb. 15, 2015 9:08 AM ET | Michael J. Mischak
    Jeb Bush was preparing to release the emails he sent and received as Florida governor when he was excoriated by a letter-writer to The Miami Herald. The headline: “Don’t trust Jeb Bush with the power of the presidency.” The subject of many of the emails was Terri Schiavo. The letter-writer was her husband, Michael. Bush’s effort to stop Michael Schiavo from removing his brain-damaged wife’s feeding tube was a defining moment of Bush’s time in office. Bush, a devout Catholic, sided with Terri Schiavo’s parents in the end-of-life dispute and reached for unprecedented authority to intervene. Michael Schiavo said his...
  • Baker faces complaint for refusing anti-gay message on cake

    01/22/2015 3:15:49 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 24 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Jan 22, 3:30 AM EST | Ivan Moreno
    A dispute over a cake in Colorado raises a new question about gay rights and religious freedom: If bakers can be fined for refusing to serve married gay couples, can they also be punished for declining to make a cake with anti-gay statements? A baker in suburban Denver who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding is fighting a legal order requiring him to serve gay couples even though he argued that would violate his religious beliefs. But now a separate case puts a twist in the debate over discrimination in public businesses, and it underscores the tensions...
  • 2-year-old accidentally kills his mom in Wal-Mart [media bias]

    12/30/2014 5:15:02 PM PST · by grundle · 44 replies
    yahoo.com ^ | December 30, 2014 | NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
    HAYDEN, Idaho (AP) — A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday. The 29-year-old woman was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller told The Associated Press. Her family had come to the area to visit relatives, he said. The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into the victim's purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which...
  • AP poll: Police killings of blacks voted top story of 2014

    12/22/2014 9:31:53 AM PST · by PROCON · 60 replies
    apnews.myway ^ | dec. 22, 2014 | DAVID CRARY
    NEW YORK (AP) — The police killings of unarmed blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere — and the investigations and tumultuous protests they inspired — was the top news story of 2014, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors. In a year crowded with dramatic and often wrenching news developments around the world, the No. 2 story was the devastating outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, followed by the conflict in Iraq and Syria fueled by the brutal actions of Islamic State militants. Among the 85 voters casting ballots, first-place votes were spread among...
  • Evangelicals with gay children challenging church (AP vs. Christianity)

    11/27/2014 12:19:37 PM PST · by Olog-hai · 90 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Nov 27, 2014 2:00 PM EST | Rachel Zoll
    Rob and Linda Robertson did what they believed was expected of them as good Christians. When their 12-year-old son Ryan said he was gay, they told him they loved him, but he had to change. He entered “reparative therapy,” met regularly with his pastor and immersed himself in Bible study and his church youth group. After six years, nothing changed. A despondent Ryan cut off from his parents and his faith, started taking drugs and in 2009, died of an overdose. “Now we realize we were so wrongly taught,” said Rob Robertson, a firefighter for more than 30 years who...
  • Polish town opposes Pooh Bear for unclear gender

    11/22/2014 10:22:54 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 40 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Nov 22, 2014 2:26 AM EST
    Officials in a Polish town (Tuszyn) have opposed a proposition to name a playground after Winnie-the-Pooh due to the bear’s unclear gender and immodest clothing. […] Voice recordings of the meeting were leaked to the media in which officials complained that Pooh Bear is immodestly dressed and also lacks a clear gender. One called the bear a “hermaphrodite.” …
  • Another top Ohio Republican speaks on gay marriage

    11/14/2014 8:17:12 PM PST · by Olog-hai · 20 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Nov 14, 2014 5:24 PM EST | Julie Carr Smyth
    A Republican justice on the Ohio Supreme Court says the legal obstacles facing his lesbian daughter, her partner and their two children have made him view the state’s protections for same-sex couples and their families as inadequate. The comments by Justice Paul Pfeifer come as the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could settle the issue across the nation once and for all. He said his daughter, Lisa, has a partner and two children, ages 9 and 5, whom he and his wife consider grandchildren. But under Ohio law, his...
  • Germany tops USA as world’s favorite country (per GfK)

    11/12/2014 4:01:26 PM PST · by Olog-hai · 13 replies
    TheLocal.de ^ | 12 Nov 2014 11:17 GMT+01:00
    Market researchers GfK found that Germany has knocked the USA off the top spot for global image for the first time since 2009. The pollsters asked 20,000 people in 20 countries their opinion of 50 leading nations across six categories: exports, government, culture, people, tourism, and immigration and investment. Germany’s biggest gain over 2013 was in the “Top sporting performance” category, as people had become familiar with the grinning faces of the World Cup-winning football team over the summer. But GfK found other key factors helped put Germany on top, including its leading role in European politics, strong economic performance...
  • Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy has died

    09/08/2014 2:29:32 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 85 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Sep 8, 2014 4:40 AM EDT
    S. Truett Cathy, the billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain that famously closes on Sundays but also drew unwanted attention on gay marriage in recent years because of his family’s conservative views, died early Monday, a company spokesman said. He was 93. Chick-fil-A spokesman Mark Baldwin told The Associated Press that Cathy died at home surrounded by members of his family. Funeral plans had not yet been finalized, he said. …
  • No gray area: Beliefs shape views of Brown killing

    09/01/2014 1:10:59 PM PDT · by dirtboy · 21 replies
    msn.com ^ | 9/1/2014 | JESSE WASHINGTON
    ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lamont Jones and Keith Stephens stood 60 feet from each other, separated by four lanes of pavement and a thousand miles of perception. Stephens was wearing a T-shirt printed with a police shield bearing the phrase "OFFICER DARREN WILSON I STAND BY YOU," as part of a rally supporting the white policeman who killed the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Jones was across the street, holding up a sign that said, in blood-red letters: "Darren Wilson is a Murderer." There was no overlap in the facts as seen by Jones and Stephens at the demonstrations staged...
  • Health-care fears loom large in gay marriage cases

    08/25/2014 2:30:07 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 20 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Aug 25, 2014 12:59 AM EDT | Rick Callahan
    When Niki Quasney felt a piercing pain in her ribcage in March, the oncologist treating her advanced ovarian cancer told her to get to an emergency room immediately. But instead of making the short drive to a hospital near her home in Munster, Indiana, she drove alone for more than 40 minutes to one in neighboring Illinois. Quasney said she was “terrified” her local hospital might not allow her and her partner of more than 13 years, whom she wed last year in another state, to be together if she suffered a health emergency. Quasney and her partner, Amy Sandler,...
  • Gay bathhouses nationwide face uncertain future

    08/23/2014 9:34:43 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 51 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Aug 23, 2014 10:33 AM EDT | Matt Hamilton
    Gay bathhouses that once remained in the shadows to stay in business are now seeking attention to keep their doors open. Some are doing aggressive online advertising and community outreach. Others tout their upscale amenities like plush towels and marble baths. A bathhouse in Ohio has even added hotel rooms and a nightclub. […] In the heyday of bathhouses in the late 1970s, there were nearly 200 gay bathhouses in cities across the U.S., but by 1990, the total had dropped to approximately 90, according to Damron, the publisher of an annual gay travel guide. In the last decade, bathhouses,...
  • Obama opens Gay Games with surprise video message

    08/10/2014 8:20:39 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 48 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Aug 10, 2014 10:38 AM EDT
    President Barack Obama has helped kick off the international Gay Games in Cleveland with a surprise video message shown at the opening ceremonies. […] The president said the United States has come a long way in its commitment to equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. He also noted that some athletes come from places where publicly acknowledging their sexual orientation can put them at risk. …
  • Fashion industry, retailers and the gender binary

    07/28/2014 10:40:58 PM PDT · by Olog-hai · 35 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Jul 28, 2014 8:59 PM EDT | Leanne Italie
    As a transgender woman who began her transition about a year ago, Kylie Jack is still figuring out her fashion style, but she wanted one thing right away: well-fitting bras. Friends recommended Petticoat Fair in Austin, Texas, where she lives. The lingerie shop is known for one-on-one fittings, but Jack was denied access to the area where professionals work privately with customers after being asked if she was an anatomical female. […] A gender binary exists in fashion, and that’s a challenge for those who don’t conform. Masculine-presenting women are often destined for boys’ departments or bad fits, while people...
  • Republican governors’ words shift on gay marriage

    07/12/2014 9:40:31 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 5 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Jul 12, 2014 12:18 PM EDT | Steve Peoples and Erik Schelzig
    Deep in the nation’s Bible Belt, new signs emerged this weekend of an evolution among Republican governors on gay marriage, an explosive social issue that has divided America’s families and politics for years. While the Republican Party’s religious conservatives continue to fight against same-sex marriage, its governors appear to be backing off their opposition- in their rhetoric, at least. For some, the shift may be more a matter of tone than substance as the GOP tries to attract new voters ahead of the midterm elections. Nonetheless, it is a dramatic turn for a party that has long been defined by...
  • Texas GOP advances ‘reparative therapy’ for gays

    06/06/2014 2:49:58 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 58 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Jun 6, 2014 2:51 AM EDT | Paul J. Weber and Will Weissert
    The Texas Republican Party would endorse psychological treatment that seeks to turn gay people straight under a new platform partly aimed at rebuking laws in California and New Jersey that ban so-called “reparative therapy” on minors. A push to include the new anti-gay language survived a key vote late Thursday in Fort Worth at the Texas Republican Convention where, across the street, tea party star U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz fired up attendees at a rally to defend marriage as between a man and a woman. Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP will “recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of...
  • As hate mail pours in to Hailey, Idaho, hometown cancels celebration for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

    06/05/2014 12:40:17 AM PDT · by DallasBiff · 50 replies
    AP, MassLive ^ | June 4,2014
    HAILEY, Idaho — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds — both for and against the soldier. The town of 8,000 has been swamped with hate mail and angry calls over Bergdahl, whose release after five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan has touched off a debate over whether the 28-year-old should be given a hero's welcome or punished as a deserter.
  • Pope gives Palestinians boost of support

    05/26/2014 1:53:32 AM PDT · by Slings and Arrows · 32 replies
    AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 5/25/14 | JOSEF FEDERMAN and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
    JERUSALEM (AP) — Pope Francis delivered a powerful boost of support to the Palestinians during a Holy Land pilgrimage Sunday, repeatedly backing their statehood aspirations, praying solemnly at Israel's controversial separation barrier and calling the stalemate in peace efforts "unacceptable." -snip- Palestinian officials hailed Francis' decision to refer to the "state of Palestine." In its official program, the Vatican referred to President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace." He pointedly called Abbas a "man of peace." -snip-
  • Nintendo life-simulation game doesn’t allow same-sex couples

    05/07/2014 5:50:10 PM PDT · by PaulCruz2016 · 22 replies
    CBS News ^ | 05-07-2014 | The Associated Press
    The publisher of such gaming franchises as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Mario Bros." said Tuesday it wouldn't bow to pressure to allow players to engage in romantic activities with characters of the same sex in English editions of "Tomodachi Life." This follows a social media campaign launched by fans last month seeking virtual equality for the game's characters, which are modeled after real people. "Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of 'Tomodachi Life,'" Nintendo of America Inc. said in a statement. "The relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate world...
  • AP Impact: Deadly side effect to fracking boom (really tenuous)

    05/05/2014 9:30:44 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 16 replies
    Associated Press ^ | May. 5, 2014 12:09 PM EDT | Kevin Begos and Jonathan Fahey
    Booming production of oil and natural gas has exacted a little-known price on some of the nation’s roads, contributing to a spike in traffic fatalities in states where many streets and highways are choked with large trucks and heavy drilling equipment. An Associated Press analysis of traffic deaths and U.S. census data in six drilling states shows that in some places, fatalities have more than quadrupled since 2004—a period when most American roads have become much safer even as the population has grown. “We are just so swamped,” said Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva of Karnes County, Texas, where authorities have been...