Women Born Transsexual

From The Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-schaller-ron-paul-20111227,0,7713781.column

Libertarian candidate tries to duck responsibility for racist, homophobic and conspiratorial writings that bore his name

Thomas F. Schaller
December 27, 2011

To look at him, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul seems harmless. He’s cute and contrarian. He wears poorly fitting suits. He’s decidedly un-slick. You almost want to pat him on the head.

So we’re not supposed to criticize Dr. Paul as a nutjob who subscribes to some rather wacky ideas. And subscribe is the operative word here, folks: The newsletters Dr. Paul published for nearly two decades during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are chock full of racist, homophobic and anti-new world order rants.

From Dr. Paul now comes the nuttiest claim of all. He wants us to believe newsletters published with the titles Ron Paul’s Freedom Report; Ron Paul Political Report; and, weirdest of all, The Ron Paul Survival Report do not reflect the views of, um, Ron Paul. He says he never wrote them, never even read them, and now disavows them. (Question: Why disavow words you neither wrote nor read?)

Nice try, congressman. There’s his name in giant, bold letters at the top of each issue. On some editions his face appears at the top, or his signature at the bottom. The lack of bylines attached to specific articles, his defenders say, means Dr. Paul can’t be held accountable for the words they contain. But the newsletters include first-person, biographical mentions like “my wife Carol” and “my youngest son … starting his fourth year of medical school.” His wife’s name is Carol; his youngest son, Robert, is a physician.

Continue reading at:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-schaller-ron-paul-20111227,0,7713781.column

From Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/story/153579/will_americans_ever_stop_throwing_their_money_at_corporate_crap_and_give_gifts_that_truly_matter_?akid=8059.304909.Mj4BfU&rd=1&t=21

Americans are buying from local artisans, fair-trade merchants, certified sweatshop-free manufacturers and others in the burgeoning non-corporate economy.

By Jim Hightower 
December 27, 2011

It wasn’t that long ago that the act of “gift giving” didn’t require a maddening trip to Walmart or a desperate online search for this season’s must-have toy. Rather, a gift implied something from within, a little piece of yourself, no matter how small, showing you care.

Could that old-fashioned concept possibly become new-fashioned? Yes. With today’s working-class depression severely restricting the ability of most people to splurge on “stuff,” and with the public’s rising unwillingness to keep shoveling their money at narcissistic corporate profiteers, a return to a more modest — but also deeper — spirit of gift-giving seems to be spreading.

Realizing that buying globalized corporate crap is not really a gift, more and more people are putting their money where their values are. They’re buying from local artisans, fair-trade merchants, certified sweatshop-free manufacturers, recycling shops, co-ops, farmers markets, homeless centers, church bazaars, charities and other sources of the burgeoning non-corporate economy.

And what if you used your gifts as a way to inspire the recipients of your presents to tap into their own generosity? This is surprisingly easy to do. As proposed by a Methodist church group in my town of Austin, Texas, just send a bit of cash to that grandson, niece, mother-in-law or whomever — on the condition that they must donate the money to a charitable organization of their choosing.

Continue reading at:   http://www.alternet.org/story/153579/will_americans_ever_stop_throwing_their_money_at_corporate_crap_and_give_gifts_that_truly_matter_?akid=8059.304909.Mj4BfU&rd=1&t=21

From Raw Story:   http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/28/stormfront-founder-ron-pauls-views-coincide-with-ours-on-most-issues/

By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) received an unwanted endorsement on Tuesday when Don Black, the founder of the white nationalist group Stormfront, told The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur that he supported Paul’s presidential candidacy.

Paul has recently been plagued by racist, hate-filled newsletters that were published under his name. The newsletters were published about 20 years ago and contained a number of incendiary comments about African-Americans, gays and Israel. All of the newsletters featured his name, but Paul has said he did not edit or write the controversial language, and disavowed it.

“He’s clearly not a white nationalist, he does not have the same worldview we do,” Black told Cenk. “But we agree with his stand on the issues, which we believe are heartfelt, coincide with ours. I might prefer that he understand the racial issues that we deal with a little more than he does.”

From Frontiers LA: http://www.frontiersla.com/Blog/FrontierBlog/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10330542

By Stephan Horbelt, Editor
12/28/2011

Many people are unaware that Hollywood royalty Warren Beatty and Annette Bening have a transgender son, Stephen, who was previously named Kathlyn. Rumor has it that Beatty was at one time devastated by his then-daughter’s decision to live life as a man, but a recent family dinner at a Hollywood restaurant suggests otherwise!

The UK’s Daily Mail reports that Beatty toasted his “brave son” while the entire family was at dinner last weekend. Of course, this is all according to the National Enquirer, but we hope it’s true!

From DailyMail.co.uk:

[A] source told the tabloid the special family meal at Italian restaurant il Covo was a way to publicly give his support to the 19-year-old, who decided she wanted to switch genders last year, but had been living as a man for at least two years previously.

The person who was most pleased by the Bugsy actor’s new found understanding was his 54-year-old wife Annette Bening. The source added: “Annette was simply glowing. She said the evening was the best Christmas present she’s ever received.”

Continue reading at:   http://www.frontiersla.com/Blog/FrontierBlog/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10330542

From The Orlando Liberal Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/liberal-in-orlando/rick-perry-uses-over-1-million-of-taxpayer-money-to-fund-his-campaign

Robert Sobel, Orlando Liberal Examiner
December 28, 2011

He was once thought of as the man who would stand on top of the Republican mountain and replace President Obama as the most important man in the United States. He has conservative values, has experience in the government, but still supports the Tea Party. He was the most interesting man in the Republican party, then he spoke. The Republican debates showed a lot about each candidate and when the spotlight was on Rick Perry, he couldn’t deliver.

From Talking Points Memo:    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-hired-anti-gay-activist-to-run-iowa-campaign.php

Pema Levy & Benjy Sarlin
December 28, 2011

Ron Paul has faced a torrent of criticism in recent weeks over newsletters printed in his name during the 1980s and 1990s which contained racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic content. He is also on the hook for accepting the support of fringe right-wing groups. While Paul dismisses these concerns, his campaign seems to have no problem working with and enjoying the support of anti-gay extremists, including one supporter who has called for the implementation of the death penalty for homosexual behavior.

Paul’s Iowa chair, Drew Ivers, recently touted the endorsement of Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a pastor at the Dominion Covenant Church in Nebraska who also draws members from Iowa, putting out a press release praising “the enlightening statements he makes on how Ron Paul’s approach to government is consistent with Christian beliefs.” But Kayser’s views on homosexuality go way beyond the bounds of typical anti-gay evangelical politics and into the violent fringe: he recently authored a paper arguing for criminalizing homosexuality and even advocated imposing the death penalty against offenders based on his reading of Biblical law.

“Difficulty in implementing Biblical law does not make non-Biblical penology just,” he argued. “But as we have seen, while many homosexuals would be executed, the threat of capital punishment can be restorative. Biblical law would recognize as a matter of justice that even if this law could be enforced today, homosexuals could not be prosecuted for something that was done before.”

Reached by phone, Kayser confirmed to TPM that he believed in reinstating BIblical punishments for homosexuals — including the death penalty — even if he didn’t see much hope for it happening anytime soon. While he said he and Paul disagree on gay rights, noting that Paul recently voted for repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, he supported the campaign because he believed Paul’s federalist take on the Constitution would allow states more latitude to implement fundamentalist law. Especially since Kayser believes that there is no separation of Church and State under his own interpretation of the Constitution.

Continue reading at:    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-hired-anti-gay-activist-to-run-iowa-campaign.php