All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: The most difficult thing about predicting the outcome in the case of Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action was never whether the Supreme Court would uphold a Michigan ballot initiative banning racial preferences in college admissions, or by implication also endorse similar laws that have been enacted in seven other states. To paraphrase the late great Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn, you could have “called that one with Braille.”
Even in its long-ago liberal days, the Supreme Court took an ambivalent position on race-based affirmative action. The greater uncertainties in Schuette were always whether the high court, in addition to approving the Michigan measure, would once again embrace the fiction that racial discrimination is a thing of the past, and whether the court would endorse a concept of majority rule or popular sovereignty that could have ripple effects for other constitutional issues, specifically those implicated in statewide bans on same-sex marriage.
Although the court’s 6-2 decision actually consists of five separate opinions—a plurality decision authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, separate concurrences by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, and a lengthy dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, which was joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—the uncertainties to a significant extent have been resolved, and for the worse. A working majority of the court believes that we live in a post-racial world and that in all but the rarest of circumstances, popular majorities should have the last word on defining the constitutional rights of minorities.
True to the fantasy of ethnic harmony, Kennedy’s opinion refers to contemporary America as a society in which the lines of racial division “are becoming more blurred” and efforts to advance the interests of “certain groups” as opposed to others lack “clear legal standards or accepted sources to guide judicial discretion.” The better course on affirmative action, accordingly, is simply to let the voters of each state decide whether to permit the practice or abolish it. In any event, Kennedy concludes, “[t]here is no authority in the Constitution or in this Court’s precedents” to do otherwise.
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Although Kennedy did not cite Shelby v. Holder, last year’s historic decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, his reasoning was strikingly reminiscent of Roberts’ majority opinion in Shelby, which also took the view that racism is a remnant of the past. Joined by Kennedy, Scalia and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, Roberts concocted a novel constitutional doctrine in Shelby—the principle of “equal sovereignty” among the states—to justify the court’s holding that states and localities with histories of racial discrimination in elections could no longer be held to higher levels of legal scrutiny and review than those without such histories.
Sotomayor, by contrast, cited Shelby four times in her impassioned dissenting opinion in Schuette. Emphasizing repeatedly that “race matters,” she castigated the majority for turning its back not only on the Constitution, but on reality itself. Race matters, she wrote, not only because of the nation’s history of denying minorities “access to the political process,” but because of “persistent [present] racial inequality in society—inequality that has produced stark socioeconomic disparities.”
We can see in Shelby and Schuette how the court’s concept of popular sovereignty was utilized to distort reality and undermine voting rights and affirmative action. The big unanswered question now is whether that concept will carry the day if and when the issue of same-sex marriage returns to the court.
Although a growing number of lower courts have invalidated gay marriage bans and recognized the constitutional right of same-sex couples to wed, the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the core constitutional question. Indeed, in its two landmark gay marriage rulings last term—Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry—the court skirted the issue.
In Hollingsworth, the majority dismissed on highly technical federal “standing” grounds the appeal that had been brought by the proponents of California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that voters passed in the 2008 election outlawing gay marriage. In Windsor, the court struck down section three of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman for purposes of federal laws and benefit programs.
But threaded within the majority opinion in Windsor—which was written by none other than Kennedy—was, as I have previously noted on Truthdig, a narrative of states’ rights and popular sovereignty, whereby he and the majority recognized that with few constitutional exceptions (pertaining, for example, to now-defunct state laws prohibiting interracial unions), the definition of marriage traditionally is left to the states and their electorates. The Windsor ruling did not alter that tradition. To the contrary, Kennedy’s Windsor opinion ended with the stark admonition that “its holding [was] confined to those lawful marriages” in states that have opted to recognize same-sex unions.
So will the notion of states’ rights, popular sovereignty and majority rule rippling through Shelby, Windsor and now Schuette ripple further and deal the marriage equality movement a crippling setback? We can be certain only that the legal groundwork has been laid.
Sourcewww.truthdig.comreportitemunsurprising_affirmative_action_decision_is_bad_news_for_gay_marriage_20140
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Friday, April 25, 2014
Gay Roulette
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: Gay chat sites online that are similar to chatroulette.com. Random chat roulette sites for men seeking men.
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Gay Roulette
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: Gay chat sites online that are similar to chatroulette.com. Random chat roulette sites for men seeking men.
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Monday, April 21, 2014
Boy Scouts revoke Seattle church charter over gay scoutmaster
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: (CNN) -- The Boy Scouts of America has revoked the charter of a Seattle church that refused to fire its pack's gay scoutmaster, according to a letter written by the organization's general counsel and provided to CNN by the church.
Pack and Troop 98 is composed of about 15 boys, and according to attorney Steven McGowan's letter, they will have an opportunity to transfer to another troop.
"As you are aware the policy of the Boy Scouts of America does not allow open or avowed homosexuals to serve as volunteer adult leaders," read McGowan's letter to an attorney representing Rainier Beach United Methodist Church.
The church received its charter in November and hired Geoff McGrath, a 49-year-old Eagle Scout, to lead the troop. The Rev. Monica Corsaro said she knew McGrath was gay, and she wasn't trying to make any political statement by hiring him.
"We were not hiding," she said. "We are talking about real people that are being effected by a policy of discrimination ... by a policy that BSA teaches, so we are just calling it out."
Disney to pull funding to Boy Scouts Obese kids banned from Boy Scout outing Pastors differ on Boy Scouts' decision Scouts defy leaders at gay pride parade.
She further said all the boys in the troop were aware of McGrath's sexuality and that his hiring was in line with the church's philosophy of being "open to all people." Corsaro has even performed same-sex marriages at the church, she said.
McGrath could not be reached for comment because he is out of the country, celebrating an anniversary with his partner of 20 years, Corsaro said. But he provided a statement to Scouts for Equality, a group that aims to end the BSA ban on gay scout leaders.
"I'm stunned and disappointed to hear the news," he told Scouts for Equality. "Pastor Corsaro specifically sought out someone with my Scouting background to help get these units off the ground, and her church is now being told to violate their religious convictions. It's unconscionable and irreverent."
According to Scouts for Equality, BSA questioned McGrath's sexuality after an NBC News report last month.
"McGrath, abiding by the Scout's commitment to trustworthiness, acknowledged his sexual orientation to the BSA, which in turn, responded by revoking McGrath's status as Scoutmaster," the group said on its website.
Corsaro refused to remove McGrath from his post, resulting in last week's letter from McGowan stating, "As a result of this refusal to comply with the policies, guidelines, rules and regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Rainier Beach United Methodist Church is hereby advised that it is no longer an authorized chartered organization and may no longer use the Scouting program or any of its registered marks or brands."
BSA spokesman Deron Smith added in a statement to CNN, "We are saddened by this development, but remain committed to providing all youth with the best possible Scouting experience where the Scouting program is the main focus."
In May, the group's 1,400-member national council voted to allow gay scouts into its troops, saying no youth would be denied membership "based on sexual orientation or preference alone." The group maintained its ban on gay scout leaders, however.
Because of that ban, Disney announced last month it would end a program allowing its employees to steer corporate donations to the Boy Scouts. Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, Major League Soccer, Merck, Intel, UPS, Alcoa and AT&T have also ended partnerships with the Scouts because of its policy, according to Scouts for Equality and the Human Rights Campaign.
In a Monday statement to CNN, the BSA said it doesn't believe "the topic of sexual orientation has a role in Scouting and it is not discussed unless it is deliberately injected into Scouting."
The organization also said it "does not have an agenda on the matter of sexual orientation; we remain focused on working together to deliver the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training."
The United Methodist Church is the BSA's second-largest chartered organization, accounting for more than 10,700 packs and almost 350,000 members, according to the Boy Scouts website.
Source www.cnn.com20140421uswashington-boy-scouts-revoke-charter-gay-scoutmaster
We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments. You can read more on this topic by vising www.conversionjunction.com.
Don't just visit us here...get sociable with us at: www.gay-omegle.com
Pack and Troop 98 is composed of about 15 boys, and according to attorney Steven McGowan's letter, they will have an opportunity to transfer to another troop.
"As you are aware the policy of the Boy Scouts of America does not allow open or avowed homosexuals to serve as volunteer adult leaders," read McGowan's letter to an attorney representing Rainier Beach United Methodist Church.
The church received its charter in November and hired Geoff McGrath, a 49-year-old Eagle Scout, to lead the troop. The Rev. Monica Corsaro said she knew McGrath was gay, and she wasn't trying to make any political statement by hiring him.
"We were not hiding," she said. "We are talking about real people that are being effected by a policy of discrimination ... by a policy that BSA teaches, so we are just calling it out."
Disney to pull funding to Boy Scouts Obese kids banned from Boy Scout outing Pastors differ on Boy Scouts' decision Scouts defy leaders at gay pride parade.
She further said all the boys in the troop were aware of McGrath's sexuality and that his hiring was in line with the church's philosophy of being "open to all people." Corsaro has even performed same-sex marriages at the church, she said.
McGrath could not be reached for comment because he is out of the country, celebrating an anniversary with his partner of 20 years, Corsaro said. But he provided a statement to Scouts for Equality, a group that aims to end the BSA ban on gay scout leaders.
"I'm stunned and disappointed to hear the news," he told Scouts for Equality. "Pastor Corsaro specifically sought out someone with my Scouting background to help get these units off the ground, and her church is now being told to violate their religious convictions. It's unconscionable and irreverent."
According to Scouts for Equality, BSA questioned McGrath's sexuality after an NBC News report last month.
"McGrath, abiding by the Scout's commitment to trustworthiness, acknowledged his sexual orientation to the BSA, which in turn, responded by revoking McGrath's status as Scoutmaster," the group said on its website.
Corsaro refused to remove McGrath from his post, resulting in last week's letter from McGowan stating, "As a result of this refusal to comply with the policies, guidelines, rules and regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Rainier Beach United Methodist Church is hereby advised that it is no longer an authorized chartered organization and may no longer use the Scouting program or any of its registered marks or brands."
BSA spokesman Deron Smith added in a statement to CNN, "We are saddened by this development, but remain committed to providing all youth with the best possible Scouting experience where the Scouting program is the main focus."
In May, the group's 1,400-member national council voted to allow gay scouts into its troops, saying no youth would be denied membership "based on sexual orientation or preference alone." The group maintained its ban on gay scout leaders, however.
Because of that ban, Disney announced last month it would end a program allowing its employees to steer corporate donations to the Boy Scouts. Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, Major League Soccer, Merck, Intel, UPS, Alcoa and AT&T have also ended partnerships with the Scouts because of its policy, according to Scouts for Equality and the Human Rights Campaign.
In a Monday statement to CNN, the BSA said it doesn't believe "the topic of sexual orientation has a role in Scouting and it is not discussed unless it is deliberately injected into Scouting."
The organization also said it "does not have an agenda on the matter of sexual orientation; we remain focused on working together to deliver the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training."
The United Methodist Church is the BSA's second-largest chartered organization, accounting for more than 10,700 packs and almost 350,000 members, according to the Boy Scouts website.
Source www.cnn.com20140421uswashington-boy-scouts-revoke-charter-gay-scoutmaster
We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments. You can read more on this topic by vising www.conversionjunction.com.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Is Man Boobs Surgery The Only Answer For Gynecomastia
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: The development of male breast is something that many young men will go through during the stages of puberty. Some of these young men will still suffer from this unflattering condition into their manhood. Often the only answer to solving this problem is surgery; But is surgery the only solution?
Actually there are several alternatives to surgery that have been known to work for reducing the man breast condition. Most cases of man breast medically knowns as gynecomastia is can be cured
through exercise and a proper diet. The reason for this is the majority of man boobs development derive from obesity.
The rare cases where a man that suffers from this condition would need surgery is when all other measures has rendered ineffective. Extreme cases of gynecomastia is caused by the lack of testosterones and the formation of the female hormone estrogen. Regular high intensity chest exercises with a proper diet will not only burn fat but increase testosterone levels.
Additional causes of the development of man breast occur from excessive drug use. Marijuana has been linked as one of the causes but it has never been officially confirmed by the medical community. The theory is that some chemicals in marijuana have been linked to lowering testosterone levels therefore causing this condition.
While marijuana is still just a theory, steroids on the hand has been linked directly to causing man breast. Excess use of alcohol is another contributing factor to man boobs. If drugs and alcohol are
the reasons for your man boobs then surgery would not be an option. One of the requirements to qualify for surgery stipulates that you would need to rid the drugs from your lifestyle that cause the
man boobs. Failure to change your bad lifestyle would cause any progress gained from surgery to be reverses.
When someone suffering from gynecomastia has implement all the natural solutions possible without any results, then and only then can surgery be an option. Bear in mind that the exercise option is not a quick fix. A realistic time frame for getting rid of man breast through exercise is 6 to 8 months. So in essence, before you throw in the towel and settle for painful breast reduction surgery, you should make sure you give your best effort with the natural cures.
We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments. You can read more on this topic by vising www.conversionjunction.com.
This post was contributed by Conversion Junction. You can read more on his subject a content at: www.conversionjunction.com
Actually there are several alternatives to surgery that have been known to work for reducing the man breast condition. Most cases of man breast medically knowns as gynecomastia is can be cured
through exercise and a proper diet. The reason for this is the majority of man boobs development derive from obesity.
The rare cases where a man that suffers from this condition would need surgery is when all other measures has rendered ineffective. Extreme cases of gynecomastia is caused by the lack of testosterones and the formation of the female hormone estrogen. Regular high intensity chest exercises with a proper diet will not only burn fat but increase testosterone levels.
Additional causes of the development of man breast occur from excessive drug use. Marijuana has been linked as one of the causes but it has never been officially confirmed by the medical community. The theory is that some chemicals in marijuana have been linked to lowering testosterone levels therefore causing this condition.
While marijuana is still just a theory, steroids on the hand has been linked directly to causing man breast. Excess use of alcohol is another contributing factor to man boobs. If drugs and alcohol are
the reasons for your man boobs then surgery would not be an option. One of the requirements to qualify for surgery stipulates that you would need to rid the drugs from your lifestyle that cause the
man boobs. Failure to change your bad lifestyle would cause any progress gained from surgery to be reverses.
When someone suffering from gynecomastia has implement all the natural solutions possible without any results, then and only then can surgery be an option. Bear in mind that the exercise option is not a quick fix. A realistic time frame for getting rid of man breast through exercise is 6 to 8 months. So in essence, before you throw in the towel and settle for painful breast reduction surgery, you should make sure you give your best effort with the natural cures.
We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments. You can read more on this topic by vising www.conversionjunction.com.
This post was contributed by Conversion Junction. You can read more on his subject a content at: www.conversionjunction.com
Sunday, April 13, 2014
TV Installation Service
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: Home theater installation service near Atlanta for surround sound installation and flat screen tv wall install.
We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments.
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We Thank you for frequenting our blog. We hope that you enjoyed our post today and look forward to your opinions. Don't be shy about leaving your comments.
Don't just visit us here...we also post content at: http://www.delicious.com/gaychatroom
TV Installation Atlanta
All Opinions expressed on this report is from the perspective of the Author: Over the fireplace tv installation company in the metro atlanta area that also installs home theater audio systems.
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