Merry Marrying Maryland...maybe

The Maryland Senate passed the marriage equality bill today by a vote of 25-23!  Both sides are now gearing up for a referendum fight.  Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends.  Unless you're for state sponsored bigotry, then just go on about your day...nothing to see here. 

source

So I created this handy flowchart

Maryland Marriage Debate

The hearing begins at 1pm EST. You can listen live here.

A Republican with Family Values

New Rules for Women in Combat

New rules formally allow women to serve in more combat roles. 

The Pentagon opened the door for women to serve in combat Thursday, allowing females to serve in thousands of military jobs that inch them closer, if not directly on, the front lines.
The new rules, slated to go in effect this summer, will open up about 14,000 additional jobs to women and reflect the realities of asymmetrical warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan where there are few "safe jobs." In some cases, the Pentagon is simply lifting restrictions on jobs women have already been doing. As ABC News explains, "Typically, these jobs have been made available at the combat brigade level, but not at the lower battalion level, which was deemed too close to combat situation."  Here are some of the positions now formally available to women:

via The Atlantic

Santorum Fapping over Images of Guillotines

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Cancer Fighting Guardsman Meets with Boehner to Discuss DOMA

From the Huffington Post

Charlie Morgan, the lesbian National Guardsman who is battling Stage IV breast cancer and the Defense of Marriage Act that would deny survivor benefits to her wife, had the opportunity to tell her story on Capitol Hill Thursday in a meeting that came about following a Huffington Post report.
Morgan spoke with Katherine Haley, an assistant to House Speaker John Boehner who focuses on social policy, after meeting with her congressman, Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.). A chief warrant officer in the New Hampshire Army National Guard, Morgan told both how DOMA was hurting her family and other married gay and lesbian service members whose spouses are barred from housing, health care and other benefits that straight couples in the military take for granted.

Go read the whole thing. 

Parenting Trophies

Posted by Scott

   Last I checked, there are NO parenting trophies to be won. Generally, I would encourage anyone who wakes up and finds dependant children in their house day after day to have some semblance of pride in their role of provider, nuturer and protector. But boundaries, man....... There's got to be some boundaries.
   The most recent craze since what I like to refer to as the "pet psychosis" epidemic is the overadvertisement by many people that they are parents. It's almost as though these people had kids for no other reason than to draw attention to themselves. I'll be honest - I had kids for the eventual free labor. So goes the cycle of life. If you don't like it, fire your children. But I digress.... When you are referring you yourself as "mommy" or "daddy" and there isn't a child in sight - you are who I am talking about. Stop it. Just stop. How self centered are you that you need even semi-constant recognition for being a parent? "Mommy" and "daddy" posts on Facebook, the formation of "mommy clubs" and those oh-so-annoying family drawing stickers on minivans and SUVs everywhere is getting out of control. Our parents raised us for the most part without soliciting attention for doing so. They did not gloat amongst themselves as to what proud mommies and daddies they are. They did their jobs, many of them stoically in hopes they did it right. They didn't need the approval of their peers for the simple fact that they gave birth to you. Parenting is a noble job. There's nothing noble about using your kids as tools to feed your narcissism.
  Parenting isn't something you do for self-glorification, nitwits. You aren't the first person to pound out some little spore and successfully keep it from dying. Besides, if you're that desperate for validation that you need to point out that you're a "mommmy" or "daddy", you should probably ask yourself - "How inane is my existence?"

One Step Closer in Washington State

Looks like gay marriage may soon be back in style on the West Coast.

Women are Already in Combat

Interesting article in the Boston Globe today about women in combat.
"Over 130 women have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and yet they were not in combat. This paradox - women fight in wars but are not assigned to fighting in wars due to the Pentagon’s exclusionary policy - is at the center of a long-simmering debate that has avoided much of the Lady Gaga-ness surrounding repeal of the military’s ban on homosexuals. But if 2011 was the year of ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ prohibition, 2012 begins with hints about a significant policy transformation regarding women in combat"

SPLC Challenging Doma

The Southern Poverty Law Center just announced the filing of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the cynically named Defense of Marriage Act and the law governing how the Department of Veterans Affairs deals with gay spouses.

 “This discriminatory policy devalues the military service of countless Americans, solely on the basis of their sexual orientation,” said Randall R. Lee, co-counsel in the case and partner-in-charge of WilmerHale’s Los Angeles office, which is working with the SPLC on a pro bono basis. “It sends a disturbing message to gay and lesbian service members that the courage, commitment, and sacrifice they make on behalf of their country are not valued as much as the service of heterosexual military veterans.”

Update...
SLDN's statement on the suit:

"SLDN welcomes today's filing by the Southern Poverty Law Center and looks forward to coordinating in any way they deem appropriate.  We have worked with the plaintiff, Tracey Cooper-Harris, in the past, and we believe the merits of her case are compelling.  This filing today advances the cause of equality for gay and lesbian service members and veterans."