New Jersey Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors

It becomes the second state to prohibit the practice

A sign protesting gay conversion therapy at a demonstration in Wheaton, Ill. • Image: The Atlantic

 

The controversial practice of "conversion" therapy for gay youth has been banned in New Jersey, under a law signed Monday by Gov. Chris Christie.
New Jersey will now be the second state, after California, to prohibit services from licensed therapists that attempt to change the sexual orientation of minors.
Christie said he is against "government limiting parental choice on the care and treatment of their own children,'' but in this case sided with experts who say conversion therapy doesn't work and is damaging to youth.

The American Psychological Association says the practice can lead to depression, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse in teens.

Via USA TODAY
 

H/T Politixians KnightKore and Dances-Weebles.  Or read it here

 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Seeks $100M From Obamacare Law He Opposes

'It's simply shameful,' one activist said about the move 

 

Image: AP

 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is, shall we say, not exactly a huge fan of Obamacare, is in talks with the Obama administration to accept about $100 million for his state through the health law.

State officials are negotiating the terms for an optional Obamacare program that would fund increased services for care for the elderly and people with disabilities in their homes and communities, Politico reports.

Perry spokesman Josh Havens told Politico that the governor has wanted to provide more aid to people with disabilities.

"Long before Obamacare was forced on the American people, Texas was implementing policies to provide those with intellectual disabilities more community options to enable them to live more independent lives, at a lower cost to taxpayers," the statement read.

But Democrats have accused Perry of hypocrisy.  READ MORE
 

 

Oklahoma Teens Killed Australian Because They Were 'Bored'

Australian leader calls for boycott of US to send a gun control message

Australian baseball player Christopher Lane, shot dead in Duncan, Oklahoma • AP

 

An Australian college baseball player was shot dead while he was out jogging during a visit to his girlfriend in Duncan, Oklahoma. The three suspects, aged 15, 16, and 17, shot Australian student Christopher Lane apparently at random. One of them confessed to the police that "we were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody."

While the US press didn't at first publicly identified the suspects, the Australian media isn't so circumspect and published names and images. Conservative outlets like Drudge and the Daily Caller then picked up on the fact that at least two of the three suspects were black and killed a white man, and are implying that there is a race-based moral lesson to be drawn. It might be more accurate to describe suspect Chancey Luna, accused of pulling the trigger, as mixed race since his mother is white.
READ MORE

Top Roger Ailes Adviser Fired and Escorted From Fox News Building

Brian Lewis and Roger Ailes

UPDATED: Brian Lewis, executive vp corporate communications, was ousted after an investigation found breach of contract and "issues relating to financial irregularities," the network says in a statement.

Brian Lewis, a Fox News Channel veteran executive considered the right-hand man to Roger Ailes, was working on his separation agreement Tuesday after having been fired and escorted from his office last month over what insiders are calling financial issues and other performance problems, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

"After an extensive internal investigation of Brian Lewis' conduct by Fox News, it was determined that he should be terminated for cause, specifically for issues relating to financial irregularities, as well as for multiple, material and significant breaches of his employment contract," a company spokesperson said Tuesday. "He was terminated for cause on July 25."

Lewis, who had been a top executive since Ailes founded the powerful cable news network 17 years ago, was most recently executive vp corporate communications, overseeing public relations not only for Fox News but also the Fox Business Network, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television.
Attempts to reach Lewis were not successful. An e-mail to Lewis at Fox News prompted an "on vacation" auto-reply message.  READ MORE

 

New York Judge Halts Stop and Frisk

New York Judge Halts Stop and Frisk
Posted: 12 Aug 2013 04:54 PM PDT

On Monday, July 12, a New York judge put a halt to stop and frisk laws which disproportionately discriminate against Blacks and Latinos.  While the law is not always perfect, the issues of liberty and justice for all must co-exist with the right to fight crime. And in the New York laws of stop and frisk, the liberty and justice for all got lost in the process of stopping and frisking over 4 million persons with the vast majority being black ( 53%) and well over 20% being Latino.
And the city’s argument failed before  Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court in Manhattan.  The case will not end stop and frisk which is legal when applied legally and under the law. New York’s law failed in that regard.   The Court held that New York’s stop and frisk  law violated the constitutional rights of minorities.  Judge Scheindlin in a 195  page opinion, at times, scolded the police and senior management for failing to even discuss at meetings the disparity in the application of the law which affected approximately 80% of minorities among those who were stopped.
The judge scathingly wrote that the  Deputy Police Commissioner for New York City looked with a blind eye at the application of the law towards minorities.  Judge Scheindlin concluded her opinion by stating that  the idea of universal suspicion is what American abhor and what Black men in America must fight constantly. In a separate opinion, Judge Scheindlin will order measures to change the practices, including a monitor to  oversee changes including cameras to be used by the police.
In an earlier post, I discussed how Stop and Frisk practices in New York affected black men.

 In 2010, the NYPD recorded over 600,000 stops with 84% of them being black or Latino.  And the argument of reducing the crime rate while harassing and targeting innocent persons does not hold water or statistics.  Today Judge Scheindlin did not address the issue of reducing crime but only the unconstitutionality of the statute.

The statistics do not really get to the heart of the real problem.  They don’t tell the whole story. The problem is how young blacks and Latinos routinely feel humiliated, degraded and embarrassed at times for doing daily everyday tasks like coming out of their homes, walking in their neighborhood, going to work,  going to church, the gym, visiting family and friends and God forbid standing in groups of two or more.   And Judge Scheindlin did address the effect of these unconstitutional laws on black men who  she says must universally face unreasonable stops by police and be subjected to frisks, humiliation and embarrassment. READ MORE

ALEC wants Wisconsin lawmakers to bail out private bondsmen

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a way of trying to "solve" problems where none exist. Right now in Wisconsin, the group is dipping its fetid toe into the issue of bail bonding. It's supporting an effort to have the state move away from its publicly-run system to one that relies on private bail bondsmen.

Why does ALEC care, you may ask? Surely it has nothing to do with its 20-year relationship with the private bail bond industry, right? Wrong. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) is carrying ALEC's water on the issue after a similar effort in the state failed two years ago. The end goal is more dollars for private bail bondsmen.

The big losers with this legislation are everyone else.  First, there are the impoverished low-level offenders who will not be able to afford even minimal bail amounts. Under the current system, they pay 10 percent of the bail amount to be let free before their court date, but receive that money back if they show up. Under a private system, however, they will not be reimbursed. So while they might be able to borrow their bail amount from someone for a short period of time, they may not be able to get someone to permanently cover those costs.

There is also the issue of the taxpayer. More jail time means more dollars needed to cover the housing and food costs of those behind bars. And it may even result in needing to have more cells built to house them. Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee fills us in:

The return of commercial bail bonds, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has stated, “will primarily benefit out-of-state interests, the large bail-bond corporations” motivated “purely by financial interests” at the expense of public safety.

Chisholm said that bail bond agents often set up payment plans with high interest rates that “resemble the predatory practices of the cash loan industry” and trap low-income individuals into a cycle of debt. READ MORE

Immigrants Have Cantaloupe Calves, and 4 Other Unhinged Comments from America’s Lunatic Right-Wing Fringe This Week

We hope Rep. Steve King likes cantaloupe, because his office received hundreds from the immigrants and supporters he offended.

Rep. Steve King (R – Iowa)

July 27, 2013  |  

 

You know you’re pretty far out on the rightward flank of the right wing, when Speaker of the House John “repeal all laws” Boehner and Rep. Paul “slash all social programs” Ryan (R-Wisc.) publicly denounce your comments, but such was the accomplishment of Iowa Rep. Steve King this week. In the past, King has compared immigrants to both dogs and livestock, but this week he went with a fruit metaphor. You see he is just really tired of all the claims that sometimes undocumented immigrants and especially their children achieve things, contribute to and are actually good for a country founded by, well, undocumented immigrants.
“For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,” King notoriously said.READ MORE