Tennessee ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay

Tennessee ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay: pTennessee’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ bill died with the adjournment of the state assembly last year. But now the measure is back — with new, harsher requirements. The bill, SB 234, still bars Tennessee teachers from discussing any facet of “non-heterosexual” sexuality with children in grades K-8. But the newest iteration also includes a provision [...]/p

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Missouri Bill Would Require All First Graders To Take NRA-Sponsored Gun Class

Missouri Bill Would Require All First Graders To Take NRA-Sponsored Gun Class: pStudents in Missouri have no sexual education requirement, so there’s a good chance they don’t know how to properly protect themselves from STIs or unintended pregnancy. Soon, though, they may be able to protect themselves from guns. Missouri state Senate is considering a bill that would require all first graders in the state to take [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Nearly Half Of Americans Are One Financial Shock Away From Poverty

Nearly Half Of Americans Are One Financial Shock Away From Poverty: pA new report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development shows that many Americans are just one financial hit away from poverty, as the nation slowly drags itself out of the Great Recession. According to the report, nearly half of Americans lack enough savings to keep themselves out of poverty for more than three months in [...]/p

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Why The Violent Fantasies Of Gun Advocates Are More Dangerous Than Video Games

Why The Violent Fantasies Of Gun Advocates Are More Dangerous Than Video Games: pThere were a lot of things that were ridiculous and offensive about yesterday’s hearings on gun control, from the Independent Women’s Forum Gayle Trotter’s articulation of a fantasy world in which women defend themselves with guns more often than they’re killed by them, to the National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre’s representation of himself as [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Mississippi Tea Partiers Seek To Nullify Any Federal Laws They Don’t Like

Mississippi Tea Partiers Seek To Nullify Any Federal Laws They Don’t Like: pResponding to President Obama’s plan to issue 23 executive orders on gun violence prevention, radical lawmakers in a number of states have re-upped their efforts to exempt their state from federal gun laws through the insidious and unconstitutional practice of nullification. Now, Tea Partiers in Mississippi want to institutionalize the nullification process, with a proposal [...]/p

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Steroids And Major League Baseball: Is More Testing The Answer?

Steroids And Major League Baseball: Is More Testing The Answer?: pThe Miami New Times published a bombshell investigative piece this morning that tied multiple Major League Baseball players, including New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, to a Miami drug company that was supplying them with anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, and other performance enhancing drugs. The story of Biogenesis, the drug firm, and Rodriguez, who [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Michigan Governor Backs Off ‘Unfair’ Electoral Rigging Plan: ‘I Don’t Think This Is The Right Time’

Michigan Governor Backs Off ‘Unfair’ Electoral Rigging Plan: ‘I Don’t Think This Is The Right Time’: pThe prospects of a proposal to rig Michigan’s electoral votes in favor of Republicans took a nosedive on Tuesday as Gov. Rick Snyder (R) came out against the plan this year. Snyder had previously been considering the plan to shift Michigan’s presidential system from a winner-take-all system to divvying electoral votes by congressional district. However, [...]/p

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Before Calling 911, Sheriff Tells Residents To Get ‘In The Game’ With A Gun

Before Calling 911, Sheriff Tells Residents To Get ‘In The Game’ With A Gun: pWisconsin County Sheriff David Clarke is facing backlash for telling Milwaukee, Wisconsin residents to get a gun for emergencies, rather than call 911. In a radio ad, Clarke claims personal and public safety is no longer a “spectator sport,” and urges civilians to “get in the game” before police arrive to a scene: I’m Sheriff [...]/p

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Gun Industry Aims To Sell Youth On Assault Weapons

Gun Industry Aims To Sell Youth On Assault Weapons: pResponding to Americans’ declining interest in shooting sports, gun manufacturers are developing programs to market their products to younger children. The National Shooting Sports Foundation trade association and the industry-funded National Rifle Association spend millions of dollars annually to recruit kids as gun enthusiasts. And those efforts increasingly focus on pushing semi-automatic assault weapons, including [...]/p

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VERY SPECIAL THANKS by Toney Atkins

Hello to all of my favorite people:


I don't send this correspondence with the intent of being maudlin or preachy in any way, but I feel very strongly about letting you know the way I feel.


Several of you sent messages of concern and encouragement after I wrote, asking for prayers and positive vibes about the terrifying eye problems that I have been suffering, especially since December. You don't know how much they were appreciated.

I believe in the power of faith, prayer and positive energy on behalf of one's self as well as from others who genuinely care. It is because of you that I humbly say thank you because I give you much of the credit.

While at times that faith is shaken with doubt, fear and frustration, I give the credit to God, as I know Him, and to you for the fact that my eyesight, especially in the eye of special concern, has gotten better and, in some respects, is close to being normal again, or as close to normal as would be expected with progressiving glaucoma in both eyes and a cataract on one. Maybe I'll have a few years of seeing left after all.

This improvement has come without medications or other treatments, so I have to believe that it came from my Higher Power and from friends and correspondents who I may have never met, as well as from those who I know and love from personal and working relationships, past and present.

After all this time, I still have heard nothing from my primary care doctor or the eye surgery specialist about the tests I had after completely losing sight in my right eye, the one on which I had corrective surgery a couple of years ago. I consider that to be positive news since my physicians apparently don't sense a need for urgency, and I suppose I'll finally learn the test results and what, if anything (other than new glasses) has to be done when I go to my appointment with the specialist next Thursday.
My sight is still blurry at times, but hopefully that will only require new eye drops and new glasses. The eye of major concern (the one that went totally blind for several days) has shown major improvement over the past week or so, and I still hope the doctor can give me an explanation as to what might have caused the temporary blindness.


So, I thank you again for your thoughts and prayers, which could have been the medicine I needed. I realize that some of you suffer your own health problems, and I pray that the positive energy you sent my way will return to you a hundred-fold, healing and making you healthy and free of anxiety that can come with such issues. Even if I should go blind tomorrow, I'm grateful for the sight at this moment that allows me to write this to you.

Have and keep the faith. It never ceases to amaze me what it can do.

Wishing you only the best in everything.

Sincerely,

Toney Atkins

************

SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE!
www.toneyatkins.com/

New Mexico Bill Would Imprison Rape Victims Who Receive Abortions

New Mexico Bill Would Imprison Rape Victims Who Receive Abortions: pShould a recently introduced bill in New Mexico become law, rape victims will be required to carry their pregnancies to term during their sexual assault trials or face charges of “tampering with evidence.” Under HB 206, if a woman ended her pregnancy after being raped, both she and her doctor would be charged with a [...]/p

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For The Sixth Time In One Week, Man Shot At Gun Show

For The Sixth Time In One Week, Man Shot At Gun Show: pGun activists designated last Saturday “Gun Appreciation Day” in an attempt to highlight their opposition to gun safety laws. The PR stunt proved to be more of an embarrassment, however, when 5 people were shot at 3 different gun shows on Gun Appreciation Day. On Friday afternoon, an Iowa gun dealer closed out the week [...]/p

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The Rich Are Enjoying The Recovery While Wages Fall For Everyone Else

The Rich Are Enjoying The Recovery While Wages Fall For Everyone Else: pAs income inequality skyrockets, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute finds that the economic downturn and gradual recovery has exacerbated the trend. The wages of the richest Americans are making a dramatic comeback, while the rest of the country has seen its income drop by 1.2 percent since 2007. The wealthiest earners took [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Virginia Advances ‘Gangbanger Bill of Rights’ To Withhold Gun Crime Evidence From Federal Government

Virginia Advances ‘Gangbanger Bill of Rights’ To Withhold Gun Crime Evidence From Federal Government: pA Virginia House of Delegates committee endorsed a controversial bill Friday that would prevent any state or local government entity from providing information about gun crimes based on any federal law enacted after 2012. If enacted, the bill could prevent local police from sharing records with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The bill, authored by [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

New Mexico Bill Would Imprison Rape Victims Who Receive Abortions

New Mexico Bill Would Imprison Rape Victims Who Receive Abortions: pShould a recently introduced bill in New Mexico become law, rape victims will be required to carry their pregnancies to term during their sexual assault trials or face charges of “tampering with evidence.” Under HB 206, if a woman ended her pregnancy after being raped, both she and her doctor would be charged with a [...]/p

Three Winners And Three Losers In Filibuster Deal

Three Winners And Three Losers In Today’s Filibuster Deal: pThe Huffington Post reports that Senate Leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reached a deal today to support minor — and in some cases, temporary — changes to the Senate Rules, rather than push through the more robust reforms championed by many Democratic senators. The language of the deal, which is divided into [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Kentucky Minister Arrested After Trying To Marry His Same-Sex Partner

Kentucky Minister Arrested After Trying To Marry His Same-Sex Partner: pA Kentucky Baptist minister protested on behalf of same-sex marriage by refusing to leave the county clerk’s office until he and his partner received a marriage license. Rev. Maurice “Bojangles” Blanchard and Dominique James walked in — already knowing they would be refused — and were later arrested when the office closed. Blanchard said the [...]/p

FROM THINKPROGRESS.ORG

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election: pEarlier this week, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus endorsed a Republican plan to rig the next presidential election to make it nearly impossible for the Democratic candidate to win the White House, no matter who the American people vote for. The election-rigging plan, which would allocate electoral votes by congressional district rather than by [...]/p

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Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP’s Racism Problem: There Is ‘A Dark Vein Of Intolerance’

Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP’s Racism Problem: There Is ‘A Dark Vein Of Intolerance’: pOn Sunday, during an appearance on Meet The Press, Colin Powell condemned the GOP’s “dark vein of intolerance” and the party’s repeated use of racial code words to oppose President Obama and rally white conservative voters. Without mentioning names, Powell singled out former Mitt Romney surrogate and New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu for calling Obama [...]/p

What Everyone Should Know About New York’s New Gun Law

What Everyone Should Know About New York’s New Gun Law: pThe New York State legislature has passed a piece of gun legislation called the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or NYSAFE. The comprehensive measure makes sweeping changes to how the state approaches firearms and mental health. Here’s everything you need to know about the measure: 1. New York is the first state [...]/p

Common Sense

Common Sense: pWhat We Can Do to Help Prevent Gun Violence It’s been a month and a day since the tragic gun massacre in Newtown. What has been less remarked upon is the slow-motion tragedy that unfolds on the streets of America each and every day. On average, 33 people are murdered with guns every day. In [...]/p

Fiscal Cliff Deal Doesn’t Include Long-Term Solutions To Address Health Care Costs

Fiscal Cliff Deal Doesn’t Include Long-Term Solutions To Address Health Care Costs: pThe last-minute compromise negotiated to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” provides some immediate solutions for enacting tax policies, but simply punts other fiscal questions — most notably, an agreement on raising the national debt limit — further down the line. The deal also prioritizes short-term fixes for cutting health care spending over more permanent solutions [...]/p

Lindsay Graham: I Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless The Social Security Retirement Age Is Raised

Lindsay Graham: I Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless The Social Security Retirement Age Is Raised: pAlthough official Washington is currently fixated on the so-called “Fiscal Cliff,” the biggest threat to American prosperity is the debt ceiling, which must be raised in February to prevent economic catastrophe. If Republicans refuse to reach a deal on the so-called cliff, the Congressional Budget Office predicts that they will spark a new recession in [...]/p

John McCain: GOP Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless Entitlements Are Cut Drastically

John McCain: GOP Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless Entitlements Are Cut Drastically: pIn an interview Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) confirmed that Congressional Republicans plan again to use the upcoming debt limit to hold the nation hostage to their demands for massive cuts to Medicare and Social Security. His comments echoed earlier remarks by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and anti-government activist Grover Norquist. Raising the debt ceiling [...]/p

Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’

Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’: pNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) — a rising star within the GOP — tore into the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for failing to vote on a Hurricane Sandy aid package before the end of the 112th Congress on Tuesday night. “Our people were played last night as a pawn,” Christie said, adding that residents [...]/p