Day: January 6, 2006

Ski Resort Fires Women Because They Got Married

Jon Ponder

You’re fired: Yes, Dorothy, you can be fired for being gay in George Bush’s America. It happened to a lesbian couple from gay-friendly Asheville, N.C., who got married in Massachusetts – only to be fired forthwith by Wolf Laurel Slopes, a ski resort in nearby Mars Hill. Pam’s House Blend, based in even-gay-friendlier Durham, is on it:

This kind of hatred and bigotry has no place in my state. While I am not surprised at the depth of contempt some have for gay and lesbian citizens, this story is a reminder that you can be fired simply for being gay.

Here’s how the couple described what happened on their website:

We at All Terrain Images, Inc., are sorry to say that we will not be able to provide photography services for skiers and snowboarders at Wolf Laurel this year.

Just before opening day, the owners of Wolf Laurel Slopes, Orville English and Rick Bussey, informed us that we were not welcome back, despite the excellent service we have provided for the past two years. The owners of Wolf Laurel Slopes have both admitted that one of the reasons they will not have us back is because All Terrain Images, Inc., is owned and operated by a lesbian couple whose wedding announcement was placed in the local Asheville newspaper. We believe this is the only reason for termination of our agreement.

Tell Wolf Laurel Slopes how you feel about workplace discrimination: marketing@skiwolflaurel.com.

Anti-Gay Pastor Arrested for Soliciting Male Undercover Officer

Buck Banks

Better to be known as a sinner than a hypocrite: Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at the South Tulsa Baptist Church and member of the executuve board of the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.), was arrested Tuesday night for “offering to engage in an act of lewdness” with an undercover police officer. According to the Associated Press report, Latham propositioned the officer, asking him to return with Latham to his Oklahoma City hotel room for oral sex.

The arrest was in a section of Oklahoma City where residents had complained of male prostitutes flagging down drivers and propositioning them.

When he left jail after posting $500 bond, Latham reportedly said: “I was set up. I was in the area pastoring to police.”

So that’s what they call oral sex in South Tulsa, huh?

According to the AP:

[Latham] has also spoken out against same-sex marriage and in support of a Southern Baptist Convention directive urging its 42,000 churches to befriend gays and lesbians and try to convince them that they can become heterosexual “if they accept Jesus Christ as their savior and reject their ‘sinful, destructive lifestyle.”‘

Florida Supreme Court Kills Jeb’s Voucher Scheme

Trish

The sweet smell of defeat: Gov. Jeb Bush’s devious plan to privatize Florida schools took a major hit yesterday. His cornerstone voucher system — the nation’s first to be used statewide — was ruled unconstitutional by Florida’s Supreme Court.

“What we must do to is to stop hair-brained schemes of funding (private) schools and focus on adequately funding the public schools”

The elaborate scheme involved first grading schools according to Jeb’s Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), and then punishing “failing” schools by cutting their funding and offering their students vouchers for tuition at private schools.

Chief Justice Barbara Pariente, writing for the majority, said the program “diverts public dollars into separate private systems parallel to and in competition with the free public schools,” which are the sole means set out in the state constitution for educating Florida children.

Private schools also are not uniform when compared with each other or the public system and they are exempt from many standards imposed by law on public schools, such as mandatory testing, she added.

The system has been marked by fraud, including recipients taking kickbacks to funnel the vouchers to schools which are actually post office boxes or strip center offices. The vast majority of real private schools receiving money are religious in nature, and had the court ruled other than it did, the ACLU, League of Women Votes, NAACP, and others were prepared to challenge it for violating separation of church and state.

Only two justices dissented from the majority opinion, and — surprise –” they were both appointed by Jeb.

State Sen. Rod Smith, a Democratic candidate for governor, said he was certain from the beginning that the voucher program eventually would be struck down.

“What we must do to is to stop hair-brained schemes of funding (private) schools and focus on adequately funding the public schools,” Smith said. “That’s what our constitution requires of us and our taxpayers expect of us.”

But Jeb is nothing if not a sore loser and this time is no exception . “I’m disappointed,” Bush said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

If only.

Jeb is already plotting a way around the legal decision, with a new plan that would make Tom DeLay proud — laundering the money for private schools through corporations. Jeb wants to provide voucher money to big business through tax breaks which will, in turn, pass it on to private schools.

Recess Appointment Just Another Example of Bush’s Cronyism

Buck Banks

Heckuva job: George Bush’s appointment of 36-year-old Julie Myers to the post of head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is another example of his penchant for appointing unqualified cronies. And, the fact that it was a recess appointment, and thereby skirts the Senate confirmation process, indicates that his advisors recognized that Myers likely wouldn’t have made the cut.

According to GovExec.com, Myers has some good connections — her daddy is former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers and her husband is chief of staff for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

So what qualifies her to head the second-largest federal law enforcement agency with 15,000 employees and an annual budget of $4 billion? She previously worked in the departments of Treasury, Commerce and Justice, and — here’s the ghost of Harriet Meiers — most recently served as a special assistant to Bush.

To try and combat appointments of incompetent political cronies (remeber Michael Brown aka Brownie?), Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) has introduced legislation that sets standards of experience for high-level appointees to positions requiring Senate confirmation.

That’s all well and good, but when the incompetence starts at the top with the president, it’s going to be nigh on impossible to keep it out of the lower ranks.