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Minnesota-based retailers Target and Best Buy, among others, contributed a combined $250,000 to MN Forward, an independent expenditure committee advocating for the election of a strident opponent of LGBT equality as the state’s next governor. The same candidate sings the praises of a Christian rock band that advocates violence and death to gays. The state’s next governor will have the opportunity to either sign or veto legislation allowing for marriage equality in the North Star State.This is from an article written by Zack Pesavento on the HRC website. What I could not find is this particular politician's views on business and expansion in their state. Perhaps this person wants to pass legislation that would help larger business in the state of Minnesota. We need to keep in mind that Target is first and foremost a business. They need to do what is best for the company and the stockholders They have made a work environment that is obviously outstanding. if it wasn't I doubt they would have gotten that 100% on that CEI rating. There is just one section called GLBT Marketing, sponsorship, or philanthropy that I could tell this donation may fall under. The whole section is just worth 15 points but I would think they would loose only 5 points for this donation. A 95% still seems good to me.
There are two more trophies in Neil Patrick Harris' future -- he and partner David Burtka are expecting twins.
The actor took to Twitter on Saturday to reveal the happy news for him and Burtka, the chef and sometimes-thespian he's been with for about six years.
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Stephanie Miller, a radio talkshow host, came out to her audience on her Friday, Aug. 13, program.
Miller briefly had a TV show on MSNBC before Rachel Maddow, which ran for one month in 2007. The Stephanie Miller Show, which comes out of Los Angeles, is syndicated by Dial Global.
Good morning Michael,
Thank you for sharing your history with me. I was adopted, and only know bits and pieces of my biological heritage, I was told and when in Arizona years ago, did research the Hopi Indians that I have 1/8th of. The other side was a combo of German. My adopted parents were English, Irish and maybe from a good neighborhood, not sure.
Being the melting pot that America is, I like to consider us all Americans once we reach here.
My son has worked in the fast food industry since he was 16. Once in Austin he has worked side by side wit people from every country known to man and God that most speak very little or no English. He came home horrified one day when one of the workers was backing up and he and two others were trying to tell him to watch out and be careful... he backed into a frying vat and was servilely burned. This was not the only time safety issues came up. Thus, if we all knew the English language (which is our National Language) it would be safer for all concerned.
If I were to move to ANY other county in the world, the first things I would learn would be the language, government and money exchange.
The quote is one that brings us all under one umbrella, thus the United States of America. It does not divide us. No where do we disrespect or say anyone can not be all the things that you and I are or support.
I must admit I know very little about Farmers Branch. It sounds like Kingsville where I was raised and yeekers, that was the pits of the pits...
A semester at Baylor University in Waco- White And Closed Opinions as I called it... opened my eyes even more... I hated it.
I was so happy to move to Corpus Christi where it was a little more opened minded, however there if you were not hispanic and wanted to sue someone you were kind of out in the cold.
5 years ago Sunday, I moved to Austin where my sons have been for 8 years. I love Austin, everyone can be who they want to be, do what they want to do and we all co-mingle with each other. I find it to be amazing!
Like I said before, my main goals is, if people like us, are involved in organizations that want to see that compassion and opened minds are kept, we have to be an active part. In the past 3 decades there have been changes where now Girl Scouts are not allowed to even lead us in the Pledge since we are considered a specific political organization. Boy scouts can, but can only go on before the program starts and must leave the stage before the program begins. I thought the purpose of those two organizations were to help young kids learn civic pride, work in the community etc. Because an organization wants to ask them to lead the pledge in my opinion shows that we support our young children that are active in learning civic leadership.
When we walk away and let everyone else take the lead in all of the organizations we are basically giving up and letting the ones that keep the pearly white gates closed in charge. If we take an active roll, then we can negotiate to keep things more open minded.
Again, my major concerns are the human rights violations that occur when people from Mexico want to come here and work. They are being poorly treated by the coyotes and their own people. You nor I would ever consider making another human being go through what they put them through.
Other concerns are the terrorist that are getting into our country to do us harm, and documentation proves that is a reality.
All of our ancestors did come here for a better life, that is what Coming to America is all about!
Scared, no I am concerned, I am pretty hard to scare. A rattle snake corned scares me. It will strike with a venom that can kill in one quick strike. A shark that I can not out swim when in his turf, is scary to me. A lion when I am his cage would be scary to me.
What I do not want to see is my freedoms taken from me. I want to know that it is ok for everyone to be who they are and believe what they want. Communism and socialism concern me because they want us all to walk in the same direction to the same beat, just as Kingsville and Farmers Branch does.
I am curious, why do you stay in Farmers Branch and that area?
As talented as you are, you should be able to do very well anywhere you choose to live!
Sounds like you would love Austin! I know I am not a member of the Chamber etc here, but I just love the whole Austin thing.
You see, I respect you because you are opened minded to have a conversation about our beliefs and ideology. We both have our reason for our beliefs. They are based on our past and what we have learned and see today. If we all felt the way we do, wouldn't it be a lot better place? And only by us being active can we get our voices heard.
Will the rest of the world listen, we can only hope!
I know that our Rally will not have the very best National Anthem sang because you believe we are something that we really are not.
You see, music and smiles are the two things I know we all relate to, they are the two most uniting things all humans can do that we all understand. It is the true Universal language.
I hope you succeed greatly in all of your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Vicki
Vicki,
I can admire you for standing your ground and in this letter it all sounds a bit more personal and not a prepaired speach you have for the masses.
However, I would like to point something out. You said that English is the National Language but it is not. I am sharing with you a section from http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html
Many people are surprised to learn that the United States has no official language. As one of the major centers of commerce and trade, and a major English-speaking country, many assume that English is the country's official language. But despite efforts over the years, the United States has no official language.
Almost every session of Congress, an amendment to the Constitution is proposed in Congress to adopt English as the official language of the United States. Other efforts have attempted to take the easier route of changing the U.S. Code to make English the official language. As of this writing, the efforts have not been successful.
Here is the text of a proposed amendment. This particular bill was introduced in the House of Representatives as H.J. Res. 16 (107th Congress):
The English language shall be the official language of the United States. As the official language, the English language shall be used for all public acts including every order, resolution, vote, or election, and for all records and judicial proceedings of the Government of the United States and the governments of the several States.Also introduced in the 107th Congress was this text from H.R. 3333:
The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the United States of America. Unless specifically stated in applicable law, no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English. If exceptions are made, that does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language or any language other than English.Often these bills are in response to legislation recognizing non-English languages in public discourse of some kind. H.R. 3333, for example, also explicitly repealed the Bilingual Education Act which authorized funds to educate American students if their native tongue as well as to provide specialized training in the learning of English.
The most recent efforts to promote English as the official language has come as more and more immigration from Spanish-speaking and Eastern nations (such as China and Vietnam) has brought an influx of non-English speakers to the United States. According to the 1990 Census, 13.8 percent of U.S. residents speak some non-English language at home. 2.9 percent, or 6.7 million people, did not speak English at all, or could not speak it well.
The ACLU, which is part of a group opposed to establishing a national official language, has published a paper detailing reasons that such a move should be opposed. It starts by mentioning an effort by John Adams, in 1780, to establish an official academy devoted to English, a move which was rejected at the time as undemocratic. The ACLU notes past efforts at English-only laws that abridged the rights of non-English speakers or which generally made life difficult for large non-English speaking populations. One example cited in Dade County, Florida, where, after a 1980 English-only law was passed, Spanish signs on public transportation were removed.
The ACLU believes that English-only laws can violate the U.S. Constitution's protection of due process (especially in courts where no translation service would be offered) and equal protection (for example, where English-only ballots would be used where bilingual ones were available in the past).
It astounds me that someone with a group called Commonsense Americans calls English our national language. I hope you will pass this knowledge along to the rest of your group.
You also talked about your son at the fast food place. It is unfortunate that this happened and I know how frustrating it can be. Time after time I have been in a restaurant or store and the person I was dealing with did not speak English. As a white American your first thought is 'why can't these people learn English!' and there we have the seed of racism and intolerance. I have taught myself to look at "you people" and what I mean when I think or say it.
When I am driving behind an old person who is going too slow and I think 'you people shouldn't be allowed to drive' this in intollerence.
When I am ordering a burger and the person can't speak enough English to understand that I want it plain and I think 'If you can't speak the language go back to your own country' this is intolerance.
When a group of Hasidic Jews walking across Preston on the Sabbath to get to temple and in the back of my mind I think 'come on people, this is the twenty first century. Drive your car.' This is both stupid and intolerant.
I could give you hundreds of examples but it all boils down to this. We are uncomfortable with things that are different. We fear what we do not know. We want others to conform to us to make our own lives easier.
You also made the point that if you were to "move to ANY other county in the world, the first things I would learn would be the language, government and money exchange." I have traveled all over Europe and mast of the countries have several different languages from region to region not to mention that they learn the languages of their neighboring countries so they can communicate. Europe is far more advanced than Americans in this regard.
You ask why I live in Farmers Branch. The reason is that my partner bought a house here (even though I told him not to move to Farmers Branch) and later ask me to move in with him. Another reason is that I am an American and have the freedom to live wherever I want. I suppose that as a gay man I should be living down in Cedar Springs with all the rest of my people because that is safe and where I belong but that is not how life works. You find gays living all over just like Mexicans, African Americans, Canadians, Chinese, Indians, Germans, Russians, Koreans, Irish, Italians, Jews, Catholics, Christians, Muslims etc. Kind of like a big....oh my goodness melting pot! Wow...look at the beauty that is America.
As far as the Girl Scouts go I know little to nothing about them. I am aware of the issues people had over the Pledge of Allegiance and if I am not mistaken it was over the line one nation under god. I find this to be totally unnecessary. it is the whole separation of church and state issue that i will not get into with you.
Here is another history lesson in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis BellamyChristian socialist, and the cousin of socialist utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). The original "Pledge of Allegiance" was published in the September 8 issue of the popular children's magazine (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, a The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. The event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, in a campaign to encourage patriotism and the display of the American flag in public schools.
Bellamy's original Pledge read as follows:
- I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. He had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided not to. Louis A. Bowman (1872-1959) was the first to initiate the addition of "under God" to the Pledge. At a meeting on February 12, 1948, Lincoln's Birthday, he led the Society in swearing the Pledge with two words added, "under God." He stated that the words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Though not all manuscript versions of the Gettysburg Address contain the words "under God", all the reporters' transcripts of the speech as delivered do, as perhaps Lincoln may have deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he said "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom." Bowman repeated his revised version of the Pledge at other meetings.As far as the Boy Scouts are concerned, I find them to be a backward, homophobic organization. They prohibit atheist and agnostics. If this group were truly about the boys and their leaders and civic pride it would not matter what their religious background or sexual orientation is. Here again you have shown me a group that promotes intolerance.
in short, I will not be coming to your rally if for no other reason than my partner and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary this weekend.
Hi Michael,
I went to BUY FB site.
It took me to your profile where it has that you are a trained opera singer. I knew you would be able to sing the National Anthem better than anyone else.
Please read our mission statement on our website. We do not support or condone discrimination of any kind. This is a legal issue where we believe the laws must be enforced, or changed.
My Hopi Indian blood kind of feels the same way! My ancestors were here waiting on everyone else.
I am on the Advisory board of Commonsense Americans. We want to offer commonsense solutions to our issues.
What we believe and advocate is we must enforce the laws on the books or let's change the laws. Let's make it where if someone from another country wants to come to America to work, has no criminal history, they are welcomed as a legal worker and can become an American Citizen easier than the laws are now.
If people come through Mexico from terrorist areas with criminal histories and try to cross our borders, we identify them and refuse them entrance. We do not want to see another 911.
From a sense that we can not afford amnesty to everyone now, we have to work to solve those issues. We are advocating commonsense solutions to solve these problems.
I personally was raised in South Texas. I have seen the people from Mexico that have suffered coming into America Illegally. The coyotes violate their human rights horribly. The coyotes do not care, they get the money and haul them in in humane conditions, drop them off south of the border patrol check point, the people from Mexico have to walk through brush, ranch country to get to the north side of the check point to be picked up again, many do not make it in the heat. Bodies are always being found in South Texas of people from Mexico that has died from heat exertion, dehydration and such. The children and Women are even affected worse than the men. I own property in the path of where they have to walk. One night a van was to pick them up, 30 were stuffed into the van, it overturned on our property. Many were hurt but ran and hid, not wanting to be caught. Some just gave up, hoping for a meal, shower and to be sent back home to start the trip again as soon as they could pay the coyote again.
I keep saying that if people only realized that if we enforce the laws as they are written, change laws to make it where the coyotes do not make money, make it where employers have to pay a decent wage to everyone and can not pay under the table lower wagers as well as have to pay benefits and taxes, we would all benefit from this.
Many times I have tried to get people in the media to do a human interest story about how badly the people are treated, but I suppose that does not sell advertisements and the big businesses are the ones that pay under the table and basically keep the people from Mexico in a modern day slavery, which I am completely and totally opposed to.
Brett Hill is a country singer that does missionary work. He is from Tennessee. I have only listened to a few of his songs, he has written a song for the tour which advocates standing up for America.
I too believe in love and fellowship, I do not take kindly to those that come to our country and take hostages in our planes and dive them into our trade center. My heart goes out to the bravest of the brave the men and women that took down the other plane headed towards Washington DC.
We must do something to identify and know who our enemy is. Terrorist that hate Americans simply because we are free are the racists the ones that discriminate based on a countries freedoms.
The more I learn about the way the terrorist countries treat their children and women, it not only breaks my heart, it sickens me to read about it. Men that believe God says they can have sex with 4 year old children, they can rape their wives and the list goes on.
My son spent a year in Iraq, what he saw was horrible conditions, the day he saw a terrorist strap a bomb onto a child and force him to run into the street toward my son and his battery as the boys mother was watching in horror, then, the terrorist shot the boy causing him to be blown up when it was thought the boy was going to kill the Americans, my son realized then, those are not people, they are worse than animals. He still has nighmares after 5 years.
Those are the people I do not want to see infiltrate our country. I have kind of gotten use to enjoying traveling when and where I want to without worrying about bombings, shootings and such.
I have been de-friending people like crazy in the past few weeks, as they post things I find offensive, off they go! Then I get a blazing email telling me I am thin skinned.. Nope, I just do not like to be called names and I don't think anyone else does either.
My grandmother use to sing Jesus loves all the children to me all the time. I was raised to see the things we all have in common, nose, eyes, toes, fingers, etc... I was the dark child amongst a bunch of blonds... I was always the "black sheep" of the family. I was also over weight when Twiggy was in... So I have been there done that had that done to me and it is not the way to get things done!
I sincerely hope this gives you a better understanding as to why I am a part of Commonsense Americans. Dan Baltes the Executive Director of Commonsense Americans and I are on the same page.
While Texans for Arizona's Law is another sponsor, they have some members that may or may not feel the same way... that is why Dan and I have worked outside of their group to get as many like minded people we can to help us with the rally. We want people with integrity that are not into racism, discrimination, intolerance or hate.
I do believe if you look at the Guest Speaker list it will validate what I am saying.
Our event will be streamed live on the internet as well as Dave Kenoly will be interviewing and broadcasting live for us.
I too have Indian blood running through my vanes. I am part Choctaw, I am also Swiss (they arrived in the 1500s), German (arrived in the early 1800s) and English (1900s). All but my Choctaw relations were at one time immigrants. They came to this country for a better life. They may or may not have actually gotten a better life but they saw America as a beacon of freedom and hope.
I read your website and it has not in any way shape or form changed my mind. In fact, I was taken aback by the following statement;
We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.' [President Theodore Roosevelt, 1907]
I am saddened by this statement because I still think of America as a great melting pot. What made up America in the past, and I hope that it continues to make it in the future is it's immigrants. My great grandmother could speak little English and taught all of her children German. We are proud of our German heritage and I for one do not want to forget it.
Unfortunately, so much of my Swiss heritage was lost that neither I nor my mother knew we were Swiss till I started working on my family tree. Now I am attempting to find out all I can about the ancestors who decided to come here. I enjoy calling myself Swiss, German, English and even on occasion an American. Not to mention a Texan, white, male, gay, bald, short and fat. As you can see, I am many different things, not just one thing.
To the point you brought up about terrorist. The immigration laws have nothing to do with terrorist. That is just one of those scare tactics that groups like yours use because they have to make people afraid. Fear is always the driving force be it immigration, gay marriage, abortion, etc.
You keep talking about Mexico but terrorist don't just come up from Mexico. Not all of them may have criminal backgrounds either. I have read the law that was passed in Arizona. I have also kept up with the issue in Farmers Branch. This is simply racial profiling. We must keep Farmers Branch and pretty and white and useless as we can.
I encourage people not to move to Farmers Branch because it is run like a police state. This is a land where everyone has to be the same. You can't have too many things in your front yard. You can't have a car in front of your home that doesn't run and so on and so forth. And heaven forbid you be Mexican. I can just imagine what would happen if a group of Muslims wanted to build a Mosque here in Farmers Branch. This is not in any way shape or form a progressive town.
You told the story of your grandmother singing to you about all the children of the world and told me that you were different from other people when you were growing up but it seems to me that instead of feeling compassion and having an open mind you have become one of the bullies.
I would wish you luck on your endeavors but honestly, I hope that this fails miserably.
"I noticed you sing Opera... We are in need of someone to sing our National Anthem at our Rally. Would you be interested in helping us out? Brett Hill the entertainer has said he would do it, but I would like someone local to sing it.
Also:
I am contacting people in the Farmers Branch area to let you know about a sponsor/vendors booth opportunity this Sunday.
Commonsense Americans and Texans For Arizona's New Immigration Law are sponsoring the "Eagle's Fall Tour" Rally in Farmers Branch, Texas THIS SUNDAY, August 15, 2010.
It will be at the Historical Park from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.
We support securing our borders and no amnesty for immigrants.
We are offering commonsense solutions to these problems.
We are contacting Farmers Branch Businesses/civic organizations/youth organizations /church groups with an opportunity to raise money for their cause.
Currently Commonsense Americans have 2900 members and Texans For Arizona's New Immigration Law has over 11300 friends.
For $100.00 donation to sponsor our Rally, You will get your name put on our websites, your business/organization will be announced from the stage as a sponsor to the 2000 to 2500 expected attendees. The rally will be streamed live over the internet where your business will also be mentioned.
We will facilitate permitting, which we must get tomorrow, Friday.
If you are interested please contact Vicki at vicki@xxxxxxxx.com
As soon as possible. Thank you."
Vicki,So...how did I do? when I read the message my first thought was that I wanted to go all Julia Sugarbaker on her ass.
thank you so much for thinking of me. I am very interested in how you were able to find me and am amazed that you saw somewhere on my profile that I was a music major who wanted to be an opera singer (back in the early 90s) but you obviously overlooked the fact that I am very much against discrimination. This includes people who may or may not be here legally. In my opinion, unless you are a native American, you are here illegally.
You would be much better off getting someone like Brett Hill (whoever he is) to sing at your rally. If however you hear of a rally to end the horrible laws in Arizona and, unfortunately here in Farmer's Branch please do let me know. I would be more than happy to support and sing with a group who's message is one of love and fellowship and not one of intolerance and hate.
Thanks again,
Michael
If you have not signed the Prop 8 Thank You Card please let the brave couples and individuals who are leading our battle with Prop 8 know their efforts have not gone unnoticed!
Join us in sending a heartfelt thank you to those defending our rights in California by signing our digital thank you card.A This court case is so incredibly important because of the impact it could ultimately have for the rights of LGBT citizens as well as our allies, all across the nation.
The card will be sent on August 27, 2010
Help spread the word to your friends
Broadway's greatest musical legends meet Broadway's greatest satirist in this hilarious, loving and endlessly entertaining tribute to some of the theatre's greatest stars and songwriters. Created and written by Gerard Alessandrini, the production offers amazingly funny takes on some of your favorite shows.
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Actress Patricia Neal, who won an Oscar in 1964 for "Hud" and later fought back from crippling strokes, has died at age 84.
Neal had lung cancer and died at her home in Edgarton, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard, said longtime friend Bud Albers of Knoxville, Tenn.
