Daily archives: December 5th, 2009

Episcopal Church Elects Second Gay Bishop

December 5, 2009
GLBTReligion
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Bishop V. Gene Robinson is no longer alone. The Episcopal Church has done it again, ordaining another gay bishop. And more power to them.

From the New York Times:

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elected a lesbian as assistant bishop Saturday, the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship, which is already deeply fractured over the first.

The Rev. Mary Glasspool of Baltimore needs approval from a majority of dioceses across the church before she can be consecrated as assistant bishop in the Los Angeles diocese.

Still, her victory underscored a continued Episcopal commitment to accepting same-sex relationships despite enormous pressure from other Anglicans to change their stand.

The head of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is scheduled to consecrate Glasspool on May 15 in Los Angeles, if the church accepts the vote.

”Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one, isolated aspect of their persons yearns for justice and equal rights,” Glasspool said in a statement, thanking the diocese for choosing her.

Some day things like this won’t seem so odd. Today, however, conservatives are livid.

Which is why I’m grateful Jesus is a Liberal.

Want to be a U.S. Attorney? Sleep with Sen. Max Baucus

December 5, 2009
CongressDemocratic NewsEthics
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Right now, the headline is the complete story. But it’s a wicked headline.

From the Associated Press:

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus says the Montana Democrat was in a romantic relationship with the woman he nominated for U.S. attorney.

Spokesman Ty Matsdorf says Baucus and his former state office director Melodee Hanes began the relationship in the summer of 2008. Baucus nominated Hanes for the U.S. attorney post last March, but she later withdrew her name.

I’m remembering the legendary George Costanza from Sienfeld blurting out, "I’m giving you a raise!" in the midst of a liaison with a secretary.

Fort Hood Unit to Deploy Despite Losses and Grief

December 5, 2009
AmericaMilitaryveterans
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Those who suffered only recently are about to be deployed in service to this nation.

From the Sun-Times:

The day after arriving at Fort Hood, Army reservists dedicated to counseling troubled soldiers in war zones were overcome with their own grief.

Nearly a fourth of the Wisconsin-based 467th Medical Detachment’s soldiers died or were injured in the shooting rampage last month at the sprawling Texas post. The accused gunman, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, was supposed to deploy with the unit. Yet the soldiers said they never wavered in their determination to serve. They spent the last month training together, and several soldiers from across the country volunteered to fill the void left by the three soldiers slain and six others seriously wounded.

The 43 members of the Army Reserve combat stress unit were set to deploy to Afghanistan on Friday.

Department of Defense officials decided only recently that the unit would deploy as originally scheduled.

The article isn’t quite formatted correctly at the Sun-Times at this point — it’s two paragraphs, the second very, very long — but you should read it anyhow.

And pray for — and support — our troops.

How A Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

December 5, 2009
Humor
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I’m only writing this post to point you to this glorious post at The Oatmeal.

For those of us who do Web design full-time or on the side, this is wonderful.

Thanks to Aardvark Web Works for being the first to share this with me.

Read the full brilliant post here.

No Bowl for Notre Dame

December 5, 2009
Sports
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Charlie Weis likely put in his last official appearance as Notre Dame’s football coach Friday night. It was the team’s annual football banquet. And, lucky for Irish fans everywhere, there will be no bowl game to suffer through this year.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Notre Dame’s disappointing season arrived at two punctuation marks Friday: Officially, there will be no bowl appearance, and dismissed coach Charlie Weis made what is likely his final appearance with the program in an official capacity.

Weis attended the team banquet Friday night, presenting team awards and speaking to players, coaches, staff, families and guests, according to a release that provided no further detail.

Weis did not address the team in full upon his dismissal Monday.

Earlier in the day, as expected, the Irish pulled themselves out of consideration for a bowl game. It’s the first time a bowl-eligible Notre Dame team hasn’t played in the postseason since 1996, after Lou Holtz resigned.

According to the Trib, Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate shared the MVP award.

I would have given the nod to Golden Tate alone. Jimmy Clausen is overrated. He’ll survive as a backup in the pros, but he won’t start.

Yes, I make predictions on matters relating to sports, which matter next to nothing anyhow.

Golden Tate has potential.

Why Do Republicans Oppose Al Franken’s Anti-Rape Ammendment?

December 5, 2009
CongressDemocratic NewsRepublicansViolence
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I’m trying to figure this one out.

Why, exactly, are Republicans in Congress having such a tough time wrapping their heads around Sen. Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment? Could it be that they have friends at KBR and Halliburton who might suddenly be held accountable for the heinous crime of rape?

From ENEWSPF:

Senate Republicans, who have been taking heat for fighting an amendment to protect rape victims, are now lashing out at Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) for even proposing the measure in the first place.

In October, Franken introduced an amendment that would deny funding to defense contractors that "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." Franken was inspired by the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of KBR (previously a subsidiary of Halliburton), who "was gang raped by her co-workers" while stationed in Iraq.When Jones returned to the U.S., KBR tried to prevent her from taking the case to court. The measure to punish such practices passed, with 30 out of 40 Republicans voting against it.

Today, Politico reports that conservative Senators blame Franken for the backlash they have faced. Apparently, Franken isn’t doing enough to defend those Republicans who fought his proposal to protect women like Jones. Moreover, some of them say, the amendment was really just a "partisan" trap meant to embarrass the Republicans who opposed it:

"I don’t know what his motivation was for taking us on, but I would hope that we won’t see a lot of Daily Kos-inspired amendments in the future coming from him," said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, No. 4 in the Senate Republican leadership. "I think hopefully he’ll settle down and do kind of the serious work of legislating that’s important to Minnesota." […]

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who also voted against the amendment, said, "from what I know of" Franken, he "expected" such tactics. […]

"It was partisan – and he knew it," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). "That’s exactly what I’d expect."

Thune did not elaborate on why protecting victims of sexual assault isn’t "serious work," nor did Coburn explain how a measure that garnered support from 10 Republicans — a quarter of the caucus — was "partisan."

Read more here.

After reading, ask yourself, who would oppose an anti-rape amendment?

Evidence Stolen in Blagojevich Case

December 5, 2009
ChicagoCook CountyDemocratic NewsIllinoisLegalStrange
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I’d like to let this go without comment, but, well, it’s Blagojevich.

Evidence stolen from his attorney’s office?

From the Chicago Tribune:

Chicago police were investigating a burglary at the offices of attorneys for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in which at least one computer containing undercover recordings from the sweeping corruption case was stolen, sources said.

The break-in took place about 4 a.m. at the law offices of Sam Adam and his son, Sam Adam Jr., in the 6100 block of South Ellis Avenue, police and Sam Adam Jr. said.

Contrary to early statements by a police News Affairs officer who referred calls regarding the burglary to the FBI, the FBI is not involved in the investigation, FBI Chicago office spokesman Ross Rice said in a statement.

The burglars set off an alarm but escaped the area. Investigative sources said there are no suspects.

Chicago police said eight computers and a safe were taken from the office, but they could not say what information the computers contained.

"It could be a happenstance burglary. All leads will be followed," said Chicago Police Deputy Supt. Steve Peterson.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago declined to comment on the incident or the theft of evidence in the case.

It is unclear if the burglary could delay Blagojevich’s trial scheduled for June.

This just sounds too convenient.