Ben & Jerry's celebrates Gay Marriage in Vermont

Ben & Jerry’s is temporarily renaming popular “Chubby Hubby” ice cream “Hubby Hubby” beginning today to celebrate the start of legalized gay marriage in its home state of Vermont.

“The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction, and something worth celebrating with peace, love - and plenty of ice cream,” Ben & Jerry’s CEO Walt Freese said in announcing the sugary switch.

Ben & Jerry’s, which has long backed liberal causes, plans to rebrand “Chubby Hubby” as “Hubby Hubby” for 30 days to show support for Vermont’s new law.

The move is mostly symbolic, as Burlington-based Ben & Jerry’s isn’t changing labels on “Chubby Hubby” pints sold in stores.

Spokesman Sean Greenwood said revising product labels takes 18 months, although he said Ben & Jerry’s hasn’t ruled out retailing “Hubby Hubby” in the future.

Read more at www.bostonherald.com

Read related blog entry here http://zipperdedoodah.blogspot.com/2009/04/vermont-goes-gay.html

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Israeli textbooks to drop 'Nakba'

Israel's education ministry is to drop from an Arabic language textbook a term describing the creation of the state of Israel as "the catastrophe".

The Arabic word "nakba" has been used with Israeli-Arab pupils since 2007. It does not appear in Hebrew textbooks.

Education Minister Gideon Saar said no state could be expected to portray its own foundation as a catastrophe.

Israeli Arab MP Hana Sweid called the move an attack on Palestinian identity and collective memory.

The passage in question, which occurs in one textbook aimed at Arab children aged eight or nine, describes the 1948 war, which resulted in Israel's creation, in the following terms: "The Arabs call the war the Nakba - a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation - and the Jews call it the Independence War."

The sentence was introduced when Yuli Tamir of the centre-left Labour party was education minister.

Please read the entire BBC News article here

Chihuahuas and Cincinnati Police

Cincinnati police used physical means to restrain a small dog after the dog allegedly attacked them and when that attempt failed they then tasered the dog and finally shot it to death with three bullets. The dog was a chihuahua, not unlike the ones in the accompanying picture. Look at the picture on the left and tell me you couldn't control a dog like those without shooting it to death?

The police involved in this incident are complete wusses. No excuse they could offer would be sufficient to justify, tasering or shooting to death, a small chihuahua dog.

They have once again, propped up the image of an american gun culture in which trigger happy cops shoot first and ask questions later. They have now destroyed a five-year-old boys happiness, who continually 'barks' for his lost beloved dog.

Shame on the Cincinatti police who perpetrated this ghastly killing and the Supervisors who defended it.

Source(s): News.com.au


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paltalk chat

Come and join me in a popular paltalk chat room called "Mainstream Politics Returns With LordVoo". Come in and join us sometime. We can be found in the Social Issues and Politics category in the subgroup, Government and Politics. It is an 'A' rated room, so be sure to turn on the adult radio button in the chat room browser which is part of the paltalk chat software program.

Besides chatting on dedicated software, paltalk has developed web based chatting called paltalk express, if downloading software is not your thing.

West Point Goes Gay

The 38-member Knights Out group, graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., came out of the closet with an offer to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender troops.


Source: gay-persons-of-color.blogspot.com

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When is a Terrorist not a Terrorist?

When is terrorism not terrorism?

When you are on the American Government side, you get protection from being prosecuted and detained as a terrorist when you have done the dirty work of the government.

Luis Posada Carriles, who is presently living in the United States as a free person was trained by the CIA at the School of Americas in 1961. He planned the successful 1976 bombing of a civilian Cuban jetliner. Posada later aided Ollie North's illegal efforts to get arms to the Nicaraguan Contras, tried repeatedly to assassinate Fidel Castro and was behind a 1997 string of Havana hotel bombings.

Luis Posada Carriles was charged with immigration charges because he entered the United States illegally in 2005, but the case was thrown out of court by a federal judge and Posada was free to go.

Seems there are double standards being applied here. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Source: New York Times Op-Ed piece by Rosa Brooks

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Sign of Things to Come?

Michelle Obama starts White House vegetable garden

FIRST Lady Michelle Obama broke ground on a new White House vegetable garden yesterday, digging a plot on the mansion's south lawn to help provide her children and visitors with fresh, healthy food.

Source: www.news.com.au

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Vermont Goes Gay

Gay marriage bill is passed in Vermont.

Vermont's Senate has passed a 2009 bill S-115 (An Act to Protect Religious Freedom and Promote Equality in Civil Marriage) by a vote of 26-4, paving the way for gay marriages to be performed and legally recognised in the state of Vermont and will be effective September 1, 2009.

It goes to the full House, where it is expected to pass, although supporters do not believe they have enough votes to override a veto, if Douglas where to veto it. Gov. Douglas has let bills become law without his signature.

It is good to see state legislators with vision and courage.

Source(s): shewired.com, Modern Pharisee blog


Postscript:
29/3/09

Gov. Jim Douglas has since said that he will veto the gay-marriage legislation proposal if it passes the Legislature. This will be the first time he has signaled such an intent before final legislative action on a bill.

It seems that Gov. Jim Douglas is not as progressive as the majority of his colleagues in the Vermont Legislature. The Vermont Legislature and Gov. Jim Douglas have not heard the last of this issue. Pressure will be brought to bare until this legislation has been signed into law.

7/4/09

Governor Vetoes Gay Marriage Bill In Vermont

As promised, Jim Douglas, Governor of Vermont, has vetoed legislation that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the state.

In his veto message to the Senate, Douglas wrote that he didn’t think that the proposed change would provide any additional rights to same-sex couples and that the state’s current civil unions provisions were adequate.

8/4/09

Woohoo ! Lets celebrate! Vermont's House and Senate voted Tuesday to override the governor's veto of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state.

The Senate voted 23-5 to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto, according to the Senate office. Shortly afterward, the House overrode the veto on a 100-49 vote. The votes surpassed the number needed -- two-thirds of those present -- to override the veto.

The action makes Vermont the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriages. The others are Massachusetts, Connecticut and, as of last week, Iowa.

Source(s): The Sacramento Bee online news source, sacbee.com, article on samesame.com.au and CNN article

Also read this related blog article http://zipperdedoodah.blogspot.com/2009/09/ben-jerrys-celebrates-gay-marriage-in.html

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Zimbabwe's Disgrace

This is a disgrace. Zimbabwe has appealed for help for its prisoners after a documentary exposed horrific conditions in the country's jails, the film's producer says.

The documentary went on to say that makeshift mortuaries had been built within the prison grounds of one Zimbabwean prison, where bodies of inmates "rotted on the floor with maggots moving all around". It seems to me that some citizens of Zimbabwe are not much better off than some of its prisoners, with starvation and disease common within the general population also.

Robert Mugabe must be the worst leader of any country in the world, he has single handedly brought Zimbabwe to its knees. This is the cumulative effect of neglect on a grand scale.

Source(s): BBC News, metr zimbabwe

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