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| Weird News | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 1 2007, 10:16 PM (3,394 Views) | |
| Denovissimus | Oct 15 2007, 11:41 PM Post #41 |
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Immortal Heretic
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I know, I say the advertisements looking for gay brothers. My very soul is gay! They'll find no genes for it! |
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| Auntie Maine | Oct 18 2007, 09:55 PM Post #42 |
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Bitchy Witch
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"My very soul is gay! They'll find no genes for it!" I love you Jesse. :hug |
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| Denovissimus | Oct 18 2007, 09:55 PM Post #43 |
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Immortal Heretic
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:hug |
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| Auntie Maine | Oct 18 2007, 10:07 PM Post #44 |
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Bitchy Witch
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I could just die.I am so embarrassed for my city. Maine school to offer contraceptives By JERRY HARKAVY, Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Maine - School officials on Thursday defended a decision to allow children as young as 11 to obtain birth-control pills at a middle-school health center, saying the new policy is aimed at a tiny number of sexually active students. King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine, and apparently one of only a few in the nation, to make a full range of contraception available, including birth-control pills and patches. Students would need parental permission to use the city-run health center in the school, but they wouldn't have to tell them they were seeking birth control. "People I associate with are looking at me like, are you guys crazy? Is this really going to happen in Portland?" said school committee Chairman John Coyne, who opposed the new policy in the 7-2 vote by the Portland School Committee on Wednesday night. There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13. "It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care. This week, the health center asked the committee to make birth-control pills available to high school-aged students who were still in middle school and unable to access the contraception available at the high school, said Portland School Committee member Robert O'Brien. School officials said five of the school's 510 students would have qualified for the birth control under the program last year. O'Brien, whose district includes King Middle School, said the notion that young children can now easily get birth-control pills is flat wrong. "They don't just have a giant punch bowl full of pills," he said, The birth control will be given out only after extensive counseling, and no prepubescent children will get it, O'Brien said. But Coyne said a physically mature, savvy 11-year-old could get the birth control once the permission slip to use the center is signed. "I think she could navigate the system," he said. Portland's three middle schools had seven pregnancies in the last five years, said Douglas Gardner, director of Portland's Health and Human Services Department. He said early reports of 17 pregnancies during the last four years were erroneous. The King Middle School is among Portland's most diverse schools, with 31 languages spoken there and 28 percent of its students foreign-born. The school, located on the same peninsula as downtown Portland, draws from the islands in Casco Bay, wealthier neighborhoods overlooking the bay, and low-income triple deckers. Fifty-four percent of the students are part of the federal free lunch program, which is an indicator of poverty. Principal Michael McCarthy said the school had just one pregnancy last year, but students were reporting they were sexually active. The center has dispensed condoms since 2000, but because it could not prescribe birth-control pills, nurses referred the students to Planned Parenthood or Maine Medical Center. "When they followed up, they found that in many cases, the kids weren't doing that," McCarthy said. The policy raises new legal concerns. Sex with a nonspousal minor under 14 is considered gross sexual assault in Maine, and officials said it was unclear whether nurses at the health center would be required to report such activities. "If we're required to report anything that we think is illegal, we certainly will do that," said Gardner, who said health centers already comply with state law and report cases in which child abuse or sex abuse are suspected. Gov. John Baldacci said he had reservations about the program and was trying to learn more. "I appreciate local officials trying to address a need in a medically appropriate way, but these are children," he said in an interview with the AP. "An appropriate balance must be struck addressing the troubling situation that a small number of students find themselves in and recognizing the important role that parents and other family should play." McCarthy, the principal, said he sympathizes with those who have reservations about the program. "I think it makes people nervous to think middle school students are having sex. Frankly, it makes me nervous. But there's a small population out there that needs protection," he said. Carol Schiller, the mother of a boy and girl who graduated from King, said she was "elated" at the committee's vote. She said critics shocked that 11-year-olds have sex should "get over it." "It's much more important that we reach out to these kids and get them the tools they need to stay safe, stay in school and get an education," she said. Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, said he was concerned that young children would have access to any form of birth control, with adults playing a supportive role. "It's at best troubling, at worst an outrage," he said. |
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| Denovissimus | Oct 18 2007, 11:26 PM Post #45 |
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Immortal Heretic
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Um, I think that is way too fucking young and it will fuck up their bodies taking them at that age! Keep your dicks in your own hands you dirty little fucks and you little sluts need to learn to keep your legs closed! |
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| Julesy | Oct 18 2007, 11:57 PM Post #46 |
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deliciously domestic
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what Jesse said. at the very most, sex ed. its not allowed in our schools here. fucking religious cunts. my parents signed a permission slip and allowed me to attend. BABIES DONT COME FROM STORKS, KIDDIES THEY COME FROM FUCKING. SO DONT |
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| Julesy | Oct 19 2007, 12:34 AM Post #47 |
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deliciously domestic
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TRANSGENDER WOMAN SUING IRS A Massachusetts transgender woman is suing the IRS for the right to claim her sex-change operation as a medical deduction on her income taxes. Rhiannon O'Donnabhain says she spent more than $25,000 on sex-reassignment surgery in 2001, and claimed a $5,000 deduction she was entitled to. But the IRS denied the deduction, saying the surgery was essentially cosmetic and therefore not allowed under tax law. The case is now before a federal judge in Boston. Changing a Troubled Life In the trial that began in July, O'Donnabhain, 64, described a lifetime of suffering from Gender Identity Disorder, or GID. She says she never had the words for it as a child, but she always felt that she was born into the wrong body. She described growing up as a young boy, in a conservative, Catholic family and trying to suppress the feelings. She played with boys, worked in construction, married a woman and fathered three children. But O'Donnabhain says she grew increasingly tormented. "It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. I was thinking suicide was probably the only way out of this," she said. Eventually, O'Donnabhain started therapy and began the transition to life as a female. She changed her name, started dressing like a woman and took feminizing hormones to change her body. But O'Donnabhain says it wasn't enough. "I was a male with breasts. I looked like a freak." In 2001, O'Donnabhain underwent sex-change surgery. She had her male genitals removed and received every procedure doctors provided to give her a female body — from vaginal reconstruction to breast augmentation. For the first time in her life, O'Donnabhain says she felt at peace. "I'm just so glad I did this," she said. Battling the IRS While O'Donnabhain believes her sex-change operation literally saved her life, the IRS argues that it falls into the category of "cosmetic surgery" under its tax code and is not allowed as a deduction. Agency officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but in court they argued that sex-reassignment surgery deals with the body's appearance more than function, and that GID is not a "disease" or "illness" as defined by tax laws. "The IRS is arguing that gender-reassignment surgery is really no different, conceptually, than a tummy tuck or a Botox injection," said Theodore Seto, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. "The argument is: 'Look, she is changing her appearance so as to look better, to be happier with herself. It doesn't treat any underlying problem.'" But O'Donnabhain accused the IRS of discrimination. She said her surgery was meant to treat a legitimate and widely recognized medical condition. "It's really astonishing that the IRS is taking a position that they get to second-guess the determinations of a taxpayer's medical care providers," said O'Donnabhain's attorney, Karen Loewy. "The medical community gets to decide what is medical care — not the IRS." But the IRS counters that the medical community is split. While some see sex-reassignment surgery as the closest thing medicine has to a cure for GID, others see the surgery as basically mutilating a person's properly functioning anatomy. "I think the problem doesn't lie in their genitals, it lies in their mind, and we should be working on their mind," says Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. "We don't do liposuction on people with anorexia nervosa to help them to be more thin. We encourage them to see that this is a misdirection of human interest." But O'Donnabhain points out that even the therapy she sought for her GID was rejected by the IRS as a medical expense, proving the agency's bias. A Growing Number of Cases O'Donnabhain's case is the latest in a growing number of legal tangles over transgender rights. Courts around the nation are grappling with a slew of lawsuits — from prisoners demanding sex-change hormones as part of their medical care and kindergarteners asking to be called "she" instead of "he," to transsexuals seeking to marry or use the public restroom of their new gender. "There has been an incredible amount of litigation, but the law is all over the place," said Arthur Leonard, a professor at New York Law School. "It all comes down to the sort of fundamental question of whether the law will accept what transgender people say is their reality. And that requires us to rethink our concept of a dimorphic world where everything is 'x' and 'y.' Here's something that's sort of in the middle." Ultimately, the transgender community faces an irony that is not lost on O'Donnabhain. That is, the fight to be legally accepted and accommodated by the IRS actually depends on being seen as pathologically diseased or ill. "It's a Catch-22," O'Donnabhain said. "I have to accept the stigma of being labeled as having a disorder [or] a mental condition … in order to get benefits. I haven't liked this diagnosis from the very beginning. But I've got to play the game." |
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| Denovissimus | Oct 19 2007, 03:49 AM Post #48 |
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Immortal Heretic
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Um, no.
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 19 2007, 03:59 AM Post #49 |
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Skittle Skank
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I agree I am all for giving out condoms and doing sex ed in middle schools, but synthetic hormones, not a supporter, especially starting so young. |
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 19 2007, 04:01 AM Post #50 |
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Skittle Skank
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my kids will already know about sex and the responsibilies by age 10, they will be really comfortable and open minded about it probably before they are even taught it in school |
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| Julesy | Oct 19 2007, 04:14 AM Post #51 |
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deliciously domestic
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is anyone gonna post about my story? |
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 19 2007, 04:18 AM Post #52 |
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Skittle Skank
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I'll finish reading it tomm then comment on it then if need be |
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| Julesy | Oct 19 2007, 04:19 AM Post #53 |
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deliciously domestic
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you will ned be..fo sho! |
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 22 2007, 11:18 PM Post #54 |
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Skittle Skank
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Looking for attractive people? Don't go to... Mon Oct 22, 10:55 AM ET PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Philadelphia is home to the least attractive people in the United States, a survey of visitors and residents showed on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The city of more than 1.5 million people was also found to be among the least stylish, least active, least friendly and least worldly, according to the "America's Favorite Cities" survey by Travel & Leisure magazine and CNN Headline News. About 60,000 people responded to the online survey -- at www.travelandleisure.com -- which ranked 25 cities in categories including shopping, food, culture, and cityscape, said Amy Farley, senior editor at the magazine. For unattractiveness, Philadelphia just beat out Washington DC and Dallas/Fort Worth for the bottom spot. Miami and San Diego are home to the most attractive people, the poll found. But Farley pointed out the results don't mean people in Philadelphia are ugly or the city is a bad place to visit. "We were asking people to vote on attractiveness, not unattractiveness. Travel & Leisure editors believe there are a lot of attractive people in Philadelphia," she said. "The relative attractiveness of its residents is only a minuscule factor in evaluating a city's merit." Philadelphians' self-esteem has been undermined by national surveys showing they are among the fattest people in the United States. The American Obesity Association ranked the city in the top 10 for overweight people every year between 2000 and 2005. And sporting pride in a city known for the fierce loyalty of its fans has been hurt by not having had a national champion in any of its four main sports since the 76ers won the National Basketball Association title in 1983. ***************************************************
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| Auntie Maine | Oct 22 2007, 11:24 PM Post #55 |
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Bitchy Witch
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Jimmy and I commented about how frumpy most people looked there and that there weren't that many handsome men for a city of its size.
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 22 2007, 11:32 PM Post #56 |
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Skittle Skank
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really? |
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| Julesy | Oct 22 2007, 11:48 PM Post #57 |
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deliciously domestic
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You arent ugly Michele. What is Arizona ranked? |
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| Julesy | Oct 23 2007, 12:16 AM Post #58 |
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deliciously domestic
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I was gonna start a Political/Environmental thread but didnt know if where to post it, so Ill keep it here. Its not so much weird as it is [size=14]Obama to do gospel tour with radical right singer who crusades against "the curse of homosexuality"!! [/size] As religious conservatives gather in Washington this weekend for the “Values Voters Summit,” Senator Barack Obama’s campaign announced its latest effort to attract people of faith to the campaign: a gospel concert tour. All three of the dates of the “Embrace the Change” tour are in South Carolina, where Mr. Obama is locked in battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for black voters. Gospel acts including Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Byron Cage and the Mighty Clouds of Joy are scheduled to appear. “This is another example of how Barack Obama is defying conventional wisdom about how politics is done and giving new meaning to meeting people at the grassroots level,” Joshua DuBois, the campaign’s religious affairs director, said in a release. Yes, sucking up to anti-gay bigots and joining them on stage - no, giving them a stage - is certainly defying conventional wisdom as to how a Democrat becomes president. Oh, and McClurkin also believes that gays can, and need to, be "cured." Washington Post: Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who has detailed his struggle with gay tendencies and vowed to battle "the curse of homosexuality," said yesterday he'll perform as scheduled at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, despite controversy over his view that sexuality can be changed by religious intervention. "I can't let off. I didn't call myself -- God called me to do what I do," McClurkin told The Post's Hamil R. Harris. The Grammy winner declared, "If this is a war, we are willing to fight. Not a war of violence, but a war of purpose." I dunno, maybe hes just trying to dig up votes/favor dunno, wasnt gonna vote for him anyway.
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| la anaconda de chocolatee | Oct 23 2007, 12:25 AM Post #59 |
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Skittle Skank
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fuck obama! he is a pussy, and a hoe! I am not voting for him. Intially I liked him, but more and more he is giving me reasons not to want to vote for him. But hillary certainly is not getting my vote either |
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| Julesy | Oct 23 2007, 12:28 AM Post #60 |
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deliciously domestic
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damn woman! a pussy and a hoe? lol! is he married? should we start a new thread? |
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Um, no.

6:44 PM Jul 11