Washington State Bill Would Allow Businesses To Discriminate Against Gays
By Zack Ford on Apr 26, 2013 at 9:00 am
Republicans in Washington state have proposed a bill that would allow businesses to openly discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation if they want to do so because of their religious beliefs. SB 5927 carves out a specific exception to the state’s nondiscrimination law that says only federal protections — which don’t include sexual orientation — apply when a person’s religious belief is “burdened”:
Nothing in this section may burden a person or religious organization’s freedom of religion including, but not limited to, the right of an individual or entity to deny services if providing those goods or services would be contrary to the individual’s or entity owner’s sincerely held religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, or matters of conscience. This subsection does not apply to the denial of services to individuals recognized as a protected class under federal law applicable to the state as of the effective date of this section. The right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, philosophical belief, or matter of conscience may not be burdened unless the government proves that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest.
WTF constitutes a “burden”? This is the kind of legislative vagueness predatory lawyers and their clients love, and defenders of the Bill of Rights hate.
You’re really, truly determined to pick a class of persons as a target for hate, bias, fear, etc.? Well, let’s see how creative your hatred can be! This bill invites you to discriminate against ANY group not explicitly protected by federal law. Doesn’t even bother to offer the pretense of a “wink-wink/nod-nod.”
Oh, another invitation to test your creativity! You’re determined to discriminate? Fair enough. And easy to justify. Is there anything you despise that you can’t shoehorn into the category of religious belief, philosophical belief, or — the wild card! — matter of conscience? If so, you’re pretty damned unimaginative.
GET A FREE COPY OF THE DVD OR ‘DONATE WHAT YOU CAN’!
At Brave New Foundation we create media that makes an impact, but we can’t make an impact without your help. That is why we are offering free copies of our latest film (you don’t even have to pay shipping & handling!) for anyone who will commit to having a house screening with your friends and family —- we even have an Action Guide for you to download so that you and your friends can help make a difference after watching the film. If you are able, you can ‘Donate What You Can’ with the form below which will enable us to continue our work and create more content. If you can’t donate, no pressure, just press the link below that says ‘free copy’ and be sure to take a picture at your screening and let us know how it went!! Thanks as always for your support.
Pre-order is currently available, DVDs will be shipped out in early May.
To get your free copy make sure to schedule a screening at your home for your friends and email us a photo of that screening to outreach@bravenewfoundation.org
Here’s the Trailer:
Here’s a comment I wrote. (I’m seriously pissed at MSNBC right now.)
Does MSNBC have a rule – stated or implied – that one must never, ever mention the name “Bradley Manning”?
Coincidental or not, that’s their de facto practice — a practice that does a profound disservice to our nation as well as others. It exhibits both journalistic malpractice and moral cowardice. It helps strengthen the foundation for a police state.
A lot of people are aware of this nightmare, and are eager to shatter it. The potential for powerful reaction is there, but we really, really need a catalyst, a structure, a powerful megaphone through which we can shout our anguish and warnings.
I hope to goodness this project will help us find a voice, and a way of focusing and amplifying it. Yeah. Hi fallutin’ talk is cheap. So I’ll quit blathering and get real. Yes, I will host a showing and discussion, probably at our house.
As bad as the actual explosion of two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon was, the lies and insanity that were presented as “news” made it even more disgusting. The worst perpetrator had to be the Rupert Murdoch-owned NY Post, Wall Street Journal and Fox “News” Channel:
The “Saudi National” was never officially a “suspect” nor was he arrested, though some “news” organizations and pundits sure made it sound that way. And many were quick to take the information they put out to blame “the Muslims”.
Sound familiar? Remember this? (The guy in the middle is the Erik Rush whose tweet is shown just above.)
HINT! Be sure to look at the bottom 4th of each of the three “screen captures.”
What do you think? Is Rogers really this stupid? Does he assume we’re stupid enough to believe what he’s saying? Is he just slavishly providing his part of the quid pro quo the greedy trans-national demand in return for their campaign contributions?
Rogers stressed that his bill [CISPA] doesn’t extend any extra surveillance powers to the federal government, despite condemnation from critics that say exactly that. “It does something very simple: it allows the government to share zeroes and ones with the private sector,” he said.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R TN) sneers with his contempt for those of us who are stupid enough to think that anything expressed in binary code could possibly rob us of freedom or civil rights. He acknowledges that zeroes and ones are vitally important to companies, but insists they couldn’t possibly mean anything to regular people.
Rather, he called it “a critical bipartisan first step for enabling American’s private sector to defend itself” and “improves cybersecurity without compromising our civil liberties.”
“We have yet to find a single United States company that opposes this bill,” said Rep. Rogers.
No U.S. company opposes the bill. What about real people and real non-corporate organizations?
Rep. Mike Rogers describes himself with “zeroes and ones” (8-bit ASCII).
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
For those who haven’t memorized the code, it says, “I’m an asshole!”
(CISPA = Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act)
April 8, 2013 | By Mark M. Jaycox
Supporters Say All The Wrong Things to Try and Pass CISPA
Ever since reintroducing CISPA, the so-called “cybersecurity bill,” its supporters promote the bill with craftily worded or just plain misleading claims. Such claims have been lobbed over and over again in op-eds, at hearings, and in press materials. One “fact sheet” by Rep. Rogers and Ruppersberger titled “Myth v. Fact” is so dubious that we felt we had to comment. To stop this type of misinformation—and to stop CISPA—we urge you to tell your members of Congress to stand up for privacy.
Here are some of the statements supporters of CISPA are pushing and why they’re false:
