Gay Marriage in Texas

A judge in Texas has ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional while leaving the law in place upon further appeals.  Part of his ruling should be hammered home across the nation in the fight for gay rights:

“Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution,” (Judge Orlando) Garcia wrote. “These Texas laws deny plaintiffs access to the institution of marriage and its numerous rights, privileges and responsibilities for the sole reason that Plaintiffs wish to be married to a person of the same sex.” (Emphasis added)

Gay Adoption in Michigan

Another court case concerning gay rights is currently underway in Michigan and is focusing on the effects of same-sex couples on parenting.  People are allowed their opinions as to what they may think about gay parents but let’s get one thing clear: there is no legitimate scientific research supporting the idea gay parenting is in any way a detriment to children.  As stated in the article:

“The scholarly consensus is that children raised by same-sex couples are in no disadvantage,” said Michael J. Rosenfeld, a Stanford University sociologist…“The consensus (among sociologists) is a consensus opinion that this debate is settled.”

The NSA Will Attack You Personally and Attempt Brainwashing

There appears to be no end as to how shocking and despicable the NSA actions and programs can be.  Glen Greenwald, through Edward Snowden’s whistle-blowing, is now showing us the proof the NSA was/is using covert operations on the Internet to go after political activists and discredit them in any way possible.

As bad as all of these actions are, take a close look at the last bullet point on the slide.  One has to wonder what guidelines were followed and what alleged crime had to be committed for the texts and emails to be sent out to friends and family.  And remember, these actions would have been taken against people who allegedly had done something bad, not criminals convicted in a court of law.

Another slide included in Greenwald’s article is just as astonishing and suggests making attempts at brainwashing people.  In a slide titled “Gambits for Deception”, we see Orwellian phrases such as “Present story fragments”, “Swap the real for the false”, “Repetition reduces vigilance”, “Repetition creates expectancies”, and “Channel behavior”.  How exactly is “swapping the real for the false” construed as being an important part of a democracy?

And let’s not forget there has been no proof any of the NSA’s unwarranted domestic spying activities have produced anything resembling useful actions that have stopped a terrorist, which is the justification for these programs.