Culture ・ Politics ・ Society
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Americans still ignorant about HIV
Bachmann's anti-gay clinic in terrifying glitter attack
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| That shit is hard to get out. |
The group was protesting the publicly funded clinic's practice of offering so-called "reparative therapy," an approach rejected by all mainstream science, to "cure" people of their homosexuality. The clinic has taken in more than $137,000 in government funds despite Bachmann's strong opposition to government involvement in health care.
The group's aim was to glitter "Dr." Marcus Bachmann; since he wasn't available, the "glitterati" glittered the waiting room instead, shouting, “You can’t pray away the gay — baby, I was born this way!”
Update: watch the whole thing on video:
Take the train from 1-800-Got-Junk? Station
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says naming revenue could help play for the $1.4 billion Evergreen Line, and criteria could be set out to keep the names "thoughtful and tasteful." Would those be the same "thoughtful," "tasteful" criteria that gave Victoria the Save On Foods Memorial Centre?
Possibly: "For instance," said Watts, "you look at Stadium Station. The natural fit would be ‘Rogers Stadium Station,' so something as simple as that." Actually, the current name of that station is Stadium–Chinatown Station. So it would be Rogers Stadium–Chinatown Station? The Chinatown Business Improvement Association is going to love that. Watts's response? "I'm sure there are people who aren't going to like this, but they also don't want to pay higher taxes." No, they don't. But they do want a TransLink that isn't a "disaster circus," doesn't mismanage everything it does, and doesn't keep raising fares and taxes and levying additional fees on people who are already struggling in a province with the country's lowest minimum wage, highest cost of living, and largest number of children living in poverty. And they don't want to have to board the train at Jenny Craig Station or get off at Canadian Tire Station either.
And worst of all, even if this terrible idea is approved the two-cents-per-litre gas tax increase proposal approved by the Mayors' Council last week would not be scuppered.
In 2009 it was alleged that Watts's husband was running a business from their home in a residential area without a license.
Japan Times: court translators often lack necessary skills
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| Lindsay Hawker |
Under Japanese law, when a defendant or witness does not speak Japanese, the court is required to hire an interpreter proficient in the language used by the parties involved. In this case, an interpreter was hired for the benefit of the Hawker family, not just to translate their testimony but to translate the entire proceedings.
When Hawker's mother Julia was questioned about the impact of her daughter's death on the family, she said she had been unable to take a bath for two years; the court interpreter translated the phrase as "I cannot take back the two years." Later, a prosecutor asked how coverage of the case has influenced British perceptions of Japan. She testified that many now feel "Japan was a less safe place to come," which was translated as "Japan was the most unsafe place to come."
Because the translator was not being officially monitored most of her mistakes were not corrected, except when Motoyama Naoki, a professor emeritus of Chiba University who testified for the defense, asked the court if he could make a correction in the translation: "I'm not a specialist of fertilizer as the interpreter said. I specialize in pesticides."
A request had been made to the court to appoint two interpreters, which is now becoming the norm in lay judge trials when defendants are non-Japanese, but only one was appointed. There is no professional title or qualification for Japanese court interpreters, and their skills vary widely. According to Japanese research, errors such as differences in nuance can influence the decisions of lay judges, resulting in sentencing differences of up to two to three years.
Quote of the day
"Over the past 50 years, televisions have [become] a lot cheaper and college . . . a lot more expensive. Consequently, even a low income person can reliably obtain a level of television-based entertainment that would blow the mind of a millionaire from 1961. At the same time, if you’re looking to live in a safe [American] neighborhood with good public schools in a metropolitan area with decent job opportunities you’re going to find that this is quite expensive. Health care has become incredibly expensive. The federal poverty line for a family of three is $18,530 a year." -- James Kwak
Ichihashi Tatsuya sentenced to life in prison
Hawker's family, who had flown to Japan from England to attend the sentencing, were satisfied. Her father Bill said
"We've waited a long time for today. We've waited four and a half years to get justice for Lindsay and we have achieved that today, we are very pleased. Lindsay loved Japan and you have not let her down. Thank you"
Ichihashi testified that first saw Hawker at Gyotoku Station in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, a few days before the murder. He followed her to Nishifunabashi Station and then to her apartment, and asked for a private English conversation lesson. After a lesson at a cafe, the two went to his apartment, where he raped her.
Hawker's parents both took the witness stand to ask the court to hand down the death penalty and to express disgust at Ichihashi's book Until the Arrest, was published earlier this year. They told the court that they have spent their savings and pension funds to bring Ichihashi to justice. Ichihashi has offered the family the ¥9.1 million he has made from royalties from his book. The family have refused.
Ichihashi's lawyers have indicated that he will not appeal the verdict.
Man banned from donating blood because he looks "too gay"
The Chicago Sun Times reports that Aaron Pace, 22, who says he is heterosexual, “was humiliated and embarrassed.” Pace was rejected by Bio-Blood Components Inc., which pays for blood and plasma donations. During the interview portion of the screening process, Pace said he was told he could not be a blood donor there because he “appears to be a homosexual.”
A nearly 30-year-old federal policy prohibits gay men from donating blood in America. The Food and Drug Administration policy states that men who have had sex with another man even once since 1977 are not allowed to donate blood. Canada has a nearly identical policy. The policies were enacted at a time when little was known about AIDS and HIV screening tests had not yet been developed. Today, all donated blood is tested for HIV along with a myriad of other diseases before it is released, and the lifetime ban on donations from men who have sex with men has been repeatedly criticized as “medically and scientifically unwarranted.” As in Canada, Americans who pay for sex or who have sex with intravenous drug users are only deferred from donating for 12 months.
Japan, Sweden and other countries currently subject sexually active gay men to a one-year ban. Recent research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that if gay men who practised safe sex were allowed to donate, one HIV-postive blood donation would be likely to slip through the clinical screening process once every 5,769 years, or once between now and the year 7778.
Has Ghana minister ordered arrest of all gays?
Allegedly, Aidoo has directed the Bureau of National Investigations and other agencies to find gay people and bring them before the courts, and has called for citizens to inform on those they believe to be gay.
According to Ghanaian news reports, he said:
“All efforts are being made to get rid of these people in the society.”In Ghana, where 69 per cent of the population is Christian, homosexuality is still considered morally wrong. Homophobic violence is common, and most gay people are closeted.
Aidoo's witch hunt, if true, may have been inspired by comments from the general secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana Reverend Fred Deegbe, who said of homosexuality:
“This detestable and abominable act if passed into law in Ghana will bring the wrath of God upon the nation and the consequences will be unbearable.”According to Ghanaian news, Aidoo has said that anyone arrested on suspicion of homosexuality will be tried in court under a law banning “unnatural canal knowledge,” but Ernest Kofi Abotsie, a Lawyer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, says that no person can be arrested for breach of morality, explaining that the law is ambiguous and cannot necessarily be said to cover homosexuality.
Sen Genshitsu donates $30,000 to Pearl Harbor memorial
On Tuesday, Sen, a former member of the Japanese naval airforce, performed a Japanese Tea Ceremony at the USS Arizona Memorial to honor the deceased of the USS Arizona and all Americans who lost their lives and to pray for world peace (see our reports here and here).
The religious test
He suggests a new "talking point":
In New York, you’ve got state employees demanding you pass their personal religious test before they’ll help you. That’s not religious freedom. In fact, it’s the opposite.Go and read the whole thing.
It’s quick, to the point, and true. If I were to point out a key phrase, it would be pass their personal religious test, as in:
* Should you have to pass some bureaucrat’s personal religious test before you get the services your tax dollars paid for?
[snip]
And if you want to take the conversation further, offer hypotheticals that have nothing to do with gays.
* Do you want a Town Clerk refusing a marriage license to an interfaith couple because they don’t pass his personal religious test?
* Do you want a city official turning down your permit for a public gathering because you’ll have dancing and that doesn’t pass her personal religious test?
* Do you want the zoning committee to turn down your church’s building permit because your faith doesn’t pass their personal religious test?
NOM: FCKH8 is "propagandizing children"!!
"We've had the unfortunate duty before of having to inform you about how "F*K H8" tries to propagandize young kids to become activists for gay marriage. We can't underscore how offensive this video is."NOM should know: they're the experts at "propagandizing" children and using them to frighten parents into voting against gay rights.
FCKH8.com: Top 5 Reasons 2 Ban Gay Marriage (LOL, Sarcastic) from FCKH8.com on Vimeo.
World's most expensive
The question is, does anyone who can afford to spend $575 on a toilet brush actually display one in their bathroom?
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