Month: July 2009

Mormons Deny Men in Same-Sex Kiss on Temple Plaza Were Detained, Handcuffed Because They Were Gay

Jon Ponder

George Bush and Saudi prince engage in what Mormons officials deem to be “unwanted” and “unacceptable” behavior

It’s one of the great paradoxes. Despite the fact that the punishment for being gay is death in fundamentalist states like Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is acceptable for men in those countries to kiss and hug each other and even to hold hands in public.

This practice is even legal in Texas. No one alerted police in Crawford a few years ago when macho right-wing icon George W. Bush was photographed hugging, kissing and holding hands with a Saudi Arabian prince.

Earlier this month, however, in the capitol of the American theocratic state of Utah, two men were detained and handcuffed by Mormon Church security guards and then arrested by Salt Lake City police, for doing exactly what Bush and Prince Abdullah did:

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Oh, Those Uncomfortable Social Media Moments

Buck Banks

The new social media environment is rich in opportunities to connect, communicate, create a sense of community and, occasionally, to produce the odd awkward moment. As a marketing communications practitioner, however, I had no choice but to dive into the social media maelstrom.

I admit I did hesitate at first, not because I am averse to new things, but because I could not know the ramifications of putting myself out there on the Internet. If I had known then what I know now, I would have done it anyway, but at least I’d have an idea of what to expect.

Discomfort is inevitable, because social media is changing the way we communicate with and relate to one another.

Yesterday, out of the blue I received an e-mail from a guy who is a contact on LinkedIn. He asked me to “endorse” him. When I clicked the link, it took me to the page where you can post a recommendation for a contact on LinkedIn. Recommendations are important on LinkedIn because they enable you to be listed in business directories, which enhances your business networking possibilities, and the more you have, the higher you’re ranked.

Now I would gladly recommend someone I know well, but I don’t really know this guy at all. We worked together at a the same company in 1992 in different departments. We have both changed jobs since then and have had no contact whatsoever. And now he wants me to recommend him? For what? Based on what?

After a moment’s reflection, I wrote him back explaining that I didn’t feel qualified to recommend him since I don’t really know him and it’s been 16 years since I even said good morning to him at the water cooler. He seemed disappointed: “OK. Thanks for the response anyway. I hope you are well.”

Perhaps if he had established a basis for my recommending him, or at least reached out and asked after my well being before he hit me up for a recommendation, I might have been more receptive rather than just kind of creeped out.

Then there’s the former girlfriend from my college days who friended me on Facebook. I figured that it had been a sufficient number of decades ago and she lives half a continent away, we’re both happily married to other people, so what’s the harm?

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Pandemic Watch: Be Glad You Live in a First-World Country

Buck Banks

Well, maybe “glad” is a little too strong in this case. Looks like there’s not going to be enough H1N1 influenza vaccine to go around, at least not in poorer and developing nations. There are problems with the process of making the vaccine to fight the novel strain of flu, and it appears manufacturers are only getting yields of about half what they get from the manufacture of seasonal flu vaccines. Since most vaccines are manufactured in First World nations, their orders will be filled first, according to the World Health Organization.

From The Canadian Press, Sunday, July 12, via ProMed:

Swine flu vaccine production has hit a snag, with manufacturers reporting a disappointingly low yield when vaccines viruses are grown in eggs. The World Health Organization [WHO] says so far the yield for egg-based production is half or less than what manufacturers get when they make vaccine to protect against seasonal H1N1 viruses. The lion’s share of influenza vaccine is made by companies that grow the viruses in eggs.

New seed strains are being made in the hopes of increasing the vaccine yield, a report by the WHO’s vaccine chief, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, says. But if the yield cannot be increased, it will slow the rate at which pandemic vaccine comes out of the production pipeline, adding to the time it takes to protect populations in countries like Canada that have purchased vaccine. And countries that haven’t preordered pandemic vaccine would face substantial delays before manufacturers have product to sell to them.

“There’s nothing to suggest it will take longer to make vaccine, if in fact everything goes as planned. The question is: How much?” says Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “There is nothing magical about making this virus. The questions will be: How much? When? and Where will it be available?”

The yield problem is revealed in presentations WHO staff made to last week’s special meeting of the expert panel that advises the Geneva-based global health agency on vaccine issues. The body — called the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization, or SAGE — was convened to give WHO counsel on a variety of questions about pandemic vaccine use. Those include which groups should be given priority when vaccine becomes available and whether the WHO should recommend companies use adjuvants, which are boosting compounds that could help stretch limited supplies.

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Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

The clearance and vetting process is a nightmare, and it takes far longer than any of us would want to see. It is frustrating beyond words. I mean, it is ridiculous. Some very good people just didn’t want to be vetted.

— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, quoted in the Washington Times.

GOP Chose Neo-Confederate Senator to Lead Bogus Charge of Racism against Sotomayor

Jon Ponder

It is no accident that Senate Republicans chose Jeff Sessions of Alabama as ranking member on the Judiciary Committee in advance of hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Sessions was chosen to lead the prosecution of Sotomayor on the charge that she is a racist — a non-starter for regular Americans but may help with fundraising among the GOP’s neo-Confederate base — because of Session’s own record of racism, which led to his losing a nomination before the same committee in 1986.

Sessions was serving as chief prosecutor for the Southern District of Alabama and making a name for himself through his prosecution of drug dealers when President Reagan nominated him to be a federal judge. But according to sworn statements by Justice Department lawyers, Sessions called the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union “communist-inspired” and said they tried to “force civil rights down the throats of people.” Sessions reportedly said of the Ku Klux Klan that he “used to think they’re okay” until he learned that some Klan members were “pot smokers.” Sessions said his words were in jest or had been misrepresented.

Because of these comments, the Judiciary Committee voted 9-9 against sending his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. It was only the second time in 48 years that a judge nominee had been voted out.

How right-wing is Sen. Sessions? In October 2005, he was one of nine senators to vote against an amendment to outlaw torture.

Ralph Reed Returns ‘Like Steve Jobs’ With ‘Younger, Hipper’ GOP Christianist Group

Jon Ponder

GOP operative Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, a Clinton-era political group that lost its tax-exempt status for publishing Republican-only voter guides for distribution in churches, is staging a comeback. He has launched a new group he is calling the Faith and Freedom Coalition:

“Even though I’ve been doing other things, this is kind of like Steve Jobs returning to Apple,” Reed said.

“This is not going to be your daddy’s Christian Coalition,” Reed said… “It has to be younger, hipper, less strident, more inclusive and it has to harness the 21st century that will enable us to win in the future.”

And: “Even though I’ve been doing other things, this is kind of like Steve Jobs returning to Apple,” Reed said.

By “other things,” Reed means resigning in disgrace from the first Christian Coalition, staving off charges of receiving millions of dollars that convicted GOP lobbyist/con man Jack Abramoff bilked from Native Americans and failing in his bid to win the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor of Georgia. More about all that to follow.

What’s new, young and hip about Reed’s Christianist 2.0 organization? It will use the Internet, not a printing press, to spread its moralizing propaganda:

Attracting younger voters and activists, Reed knows, takes a robust Web-based campaign that uses the new gadgets and social networks that dominate young people’s lives.

(Notice how the group’s younger, hipper website has a look and feel similar to the Obama campaign’s.)

Reed faces at least four daunting hurdles:

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Science Holds Cure for Palin Pain Syndrome

Trish

The next time you’re forced to listen to Sarah Palin speak, try this: swear. According to bizarre new research on tolerating pain, it should help.

Researchers from the school of psychology at Britain’s Keele University have found swearing can make you feel better as it can have a “pain-lessening effect,” according to a study published in the journal NeuroReport…

“Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon,” says Stephens.

“It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists.”

How the scientists proved their theory is both novel and ingenious.

Their study involved 64 volunteers who were each asked to put their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice.

They then repeated the experiment using a more commonplace word that they would use to describe a table.

The researchers found the volunteers were able to keep their hands in the ice water for a longer when swearing, establishing a link between swearing and an increase in pain tolerance.

Since listening to Sarah Palin speak can make you feel like your head is submerged in ice water, it’s worth a shot to let loose on her. Try the old standard MF, or for added relief, throw in some more creative variations, possibly involving the C-word. Just don’t call her a table. That doesn’t work.

Michael Savage’s Son And Wife ‘Disavow’ His Hateful Views on Gays, Stave off Boycott

Jon Ponder

Facing a potentially brand-killing boycott of Rockstar Energy Drink by key sectors of its target demos — nightclubbing young gays and their non-gay, socially liberal cohorts — CEO Russ Weiner and his mother, CFO Janet Weiner — issued a statement last week in which they sought to distance themselves from the unabashedly homophobic views of radio ranter Michael Savage, who is their father and husband, respectively:

Savage’s radio sponsors should take note that not only has Savage himself said that associating his persona with a product “smears” it, lawyers representing Savage’s son have said that Savage’s connection to a product “defames” it.

“Some have erroneously associated our company with offensive language directed at LGBT people, specifically statements coming from Michael Savage, who is not and has never been a shareholder or officer of Rockstar Energy Drink. On behalf of our company and directors, including myself and CFO Janet Weiner, I would like to take this opportunity to disavow any offensive statements directed toward LGBT people, including statements from Michael Savage. Rockstar assures our customers and the general public that our brand will never be associated with any language that does not affirm the essential dignity of every person in our diverse national community.”

The Weiners’ statement was prepared as part of a deal with an ad hoc group of gay rights activists and editors of political websites who had advocated boycotting Rockstar because of the connections — familial, ideological and, allegedly, financial — between Savage and the company’s senior management.

The resolution of the conflict — which, in addition to the statement, includes assurances from the Weiners that Rockstar will treat its gay employees fairly, as well as a pledge of $100,000 in contributions to gay-rights groups — also represents a reversal of Rockstar’s hamfisted initial strategy to stifle the boycott: hiring the high-priced law firm of OJ Simpson “dream team” lawyer Robert Shapiro to threaten bloggers and activists with lawsuits.

As a result of this strategy, the Weiners created a bizarre conundrum. Not only did Rockstar’s lawyers assert that bloggers who pointed to the connection between Savage and his family’s energy drink “defame” the product, but Savage himself made a statement revelatory of self-loathing in which he described attempts to tie him to Rockstar as a “McCarthyesque smear campaign.” These assertions prompt a question: Why would Savage’s radio sponsors want to advertise with a host whose association smears and defames their products.

Bullying bloggers and activists — who generally have few resources other their soapboxes and bullhorns — was clearly the wrong strategy. As we suggested in Pensito Review last month, “Paradoxically, the Weiners’ intimidation-by-lawsuit strategy will almost certainly produce the very outcome they seem desperate to avoid: making the Rockstar boycott a headline story and the subject of endless chatter on cable news.” Our take then was that “[instead] of lawyering up, a smarter — and cheaper — strategy would have been to hire a PR firm that specializes in damage control.”

We’re not suggesting the Weiners took our advice, of course, but rather that what needed to be done was so obvious that even a fool could see it.

A broad-strokes timeline of events leading up to the resolution of the boycott follows…

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A First: Florida Democrats Outraised Republicans in Second Quarter

Trish

For the first time in the history of the world, the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) out-fundraised the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) in the second quarter of a year. The FDP shows $1,196,530 while the RPOF had over $35,000 less, with $1,160,064.

How the money was raised tells a more accurate story of the condition of the two parties. The phrase “rich Republican” means something different in Florida than in say, Iowa or Kentucky. That’s clear from the fact that only 224 donors were responsible for the RPOF’s total. A mere 71 donated $100 or less, meaning the bulk of the purse was given by 153 people. By contrast, it took 1,740 Democrats to cough up their nearly $2 million. Of those, 1,371 gave $100 or less, leaving 369 who were able to give larger amounts.

But the real money isn’t flowing to the parties. Gov. Charlie Crist raised $4.3 million, compared with $1.2 million by U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, his Democratic challenger. That’s assuming Crist wins in the primary against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, who raised only $340,000 but is young, handsome, Cuban, not metrosexual, and has the gleam of the zealot in his eye, along with the backing of Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee.

Money, in other words, isn’t everything when it comes to politics — even though most cynics think it is.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn’t say what she read because she didn’t read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn’t thoughtful enough to know she wasn’t thoughtful enough.

— Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, telling what she really thinks of soon-to-be ex-Gov. Sarah Palin.