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Mike Reid's daughter wants to fight for the BNP Thugs
Fresh from the shocking recent revelation that the brother of former England footballer Stuart Pearce is an active member of the British National Party, there is worrying news that the party can now boast another relative of a national treasure within its unseemly ranks.
To the noise of collective jaw-dropping among EastEnders fans everywhere, it transpires Angela Reid, the youngest daughter of the late but much-loved stand-up Mike Reid, was due to stand on behalf of the BNP as a candidate at next month's council by-election in Braintree, Essex. The election has come up after the Conservative councillor Bill Rose recently decided to stand down.
Reid was apparently all set to contest the seat until the weekend, when I'm told she decided to withdraw from the race for "personal reasons".
"She would have been an excellent candidate for us and it's a terrible shame that she won't be running this time but we've got plenty of candidates for the future elsewhere," says a BNP spokesman, hastily adding that her U-turn had nothing to do with any political misgivings she may be feeling.
"Not at all, she is 100 per cent behind the party," he insisted. "Her withdrawal is purely personal.
"In fact, she is one of our loyalist members and strongest supporters."
For all their words of support, party activists must secretly be seething.
Since Reid's withdrawal has occurred after the deadline for candidate applications, the party will now not be able to run a replacement. Fresh from the shocking recent revelation that the brother of former England footballer Stuart Pearce is an active member of the Briti... more -
Who is the Handler? (Palin's, of course)
Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bring their aw-shucks, folksy Gomer Pyles out in front of the klieg lights, it's time to suspend disbelief. And that's especially true when the Republicans, party of corporate America and Big Oil, are casting the show.
Yes, Governor Palin was born and raised in a town called Wasilla, hunts caribou, married "her guy" from high school who races, in her words, "snow machines" (when did they graduate from being snow-mobiles?) and apparently knows how to load and shoot a gun. She also really is a mother, a mother of a hockey player too, and a member of the PTA.
However, one need only check out Jim Yardley's enlightening reportage from Wasilla in yesterday's New York Times to smell the rat. Sarah Palin is no average Jane, much as she looks and sounds like one. On the contrary, Sarah Palin's entry into politics and subsequent rise has all the hallmarks of having been engineered, coached and groomed by bigger outside forces with a bigger plan.
Her first election to mayor in 1996 was based on "wedge Issues" - abortion, gun control, and proof of hard-core religiosity - issues that had never been discussed before in the town of 7,000, where politicians had run on where they stood on bingo revenue and fixing muddy roads.
Listen to the shell-shocked fellow she beat in that first election, the three term incumbent Mayor of Wasilla, John C. Stein. "Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, 'Whoa. But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I'm not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: 'We will have our first Christian mayor.'"
There was a time when America's small town governments were about local civics and its churches really were mainly about spirituality. That quaint era vanished, within living memory, with the rise of the "Christian right" which literally infected mainstream American Christianity with hateful brochures about gays, guns, and abortion.
For the rest of this story & more on Palin, please visit:
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2008/09/wi... Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bri... more -
Anti-gay slurs painted on houses and cars in South Florida's gayest neighborh...
"Three homes and five vehicles were sprayed with anti-gay slogans in the 2800 block of NW 7th Ave in Wilton Manors early Friday morning.
One resident was using soap and water to wash out the anti-gay messages sprayed on his property that said "fag".
He explained to CBS4 Reporter Ted Scouten that he's not gay, which is all the more worrying why he was a target.
Another resident, Ron Helfrich, said his home and car were defaced, "They wrote gay on the door, in the living room, and on the couch."
''There's no reason for this to happen,'' Aaron Challancin said. ``We didn't do anything to anyone. We're normal people trying to live normal lives.
The incidents are being investigated by the Wilton Manors police department." "Three homes and five vehicles were sprayed with anti-gay slogans in the 2800 block of NW 7th Ave in Wilton Manors early Friday m... more -
Westboro Baptist Church strikes again
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church stopped by Schofield Barracks, an Army post in Hawaii, for crumpets and tea. Actually, they came to spread hate and hurt whomever they could with nasty words and ugly signs. It's astonishing that these are actually REAL people. Their message is sickening: God hates America, homosexuals, and the military. What is wrong with them?! Members of the Westboro Baptist Church stopped by Schofield Barracks, an Army post in Hawaii, for crumpets and tea. Actually, they ca... more
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California's gay marriage law revives religious debate over homosexuality - L...
With same-sex marriage now legal in California, people of faith are renewing a passionate debate over whether homosexuality is sanctioned by God.
Christians, Jews and Muslims on both sides of the issue cite the holy writings of their religions. Some note that the Bible depicts man-lying-with-man as an "abomination," while others say it speaks of God's love for all people created in his image.
Both sides defend their positions with the zeal of the biblical warriors who inhabit their scriptures. With same-sex marriage now legal in California, people of faith are renewing a passionate debate over whether homosexuality is sanctio... more -
Homophobia is costing some California taxpayers big dollars
It is estimated that approximately 51,320 of California's same-sex couples are planning to marry now that the California state Supreme Court has ruled that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to civil marriage in that state.
Another 68,000 out-of-state couples are likely to travel to California to tie the knot generating anywhere between $437.5 million and $683.6 million over the next three years, and creating 2,178 jobs in California, particularly in the travel-related business.
Yet some counties in California are going to be missing out on the expected financial windfall created by gay marriage as projected by a resent study because of some official homophobia in those counties. It is estimated that approximately 51,320 of California's same-sex couples are planning to marry now that the California state Su... more -
Toddlers can wed in state that bans gay marriage
(Little Rock, Arkansas) Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has signed legislation erasing an error that allowed anyone except gay couples to marry - even toddlers - as long as they had parental permission.
The original law was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry but also allow pregnant teenagers to marry with parental consent.
An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allowed anyone who is not pregnant to marry at any age if the parents allow it.
The original law read: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."
Although the law does not specifically exclude same-sex pairs, Arkansas' constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples would apply. (Little Rock, Arkansas) Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has signed legislation erasing an error that allowed anyone except gay couples to mar... more -
Boy Scouts Lose Lease in Gay-Rights Fight
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 4 ? For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city?s request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928.
Hailed as the birthplace of the Boy Scouts, the Beaux Arts building is the seat of the seventh-largest chapter of the organization and the first of the more than 300 council service centers built by the Scouts around the country over the past century. PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 4 ? For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city?s r... more
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