Back in the News
While no laws can stop a demented heartless group like the Phelps clan, it's good to see they are being enacted and enforced.
Arrests At Phelps Clan Funeral Demo
by The Associated Press
(Seaford Delaware) Five people face criminal charges after a weekend confrontation with members of a Kansas group that believes U.S. military casualties are God's retribution for America's support of homosexuality, authorities said Monday.
Members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., gathered in Seaford on Sunday for a protest in conjunction with the funeral of Marine Cpl. Cory Palmer, who died earlier this month from injuries suffered in Iraq.
The Kansas group, carrying signs reading "God Hates Fags," "Fags Doom Nations" and "Vengeance is Mine, Sayeth the Lord," was met by a crowd of about 1,000 angry counter-demonstrators shouting "USA! USA!" as well as various taunts and obscenities.
Passing motorists honked their horns and hundreds of motorcycle riders revved their engines in an attempt to drown out the church members" shouts. Some counter-demonstrators hurled eggs, stones and water bottles.....
This next story amazes me. I guess our military isn't stretched too thin. This is so absurd because there are no constitutional grounds for this to stand. Men and women wanting to serve their country, you know like citizens and human beings, are denied. What an outrageous assault on people wanting to serve and are much needed in our militray. Congress needs to get a backbone and for once just do what's right and repeal this ridiculous law.
(Washington) The armed forces discharged an average of two people a day in 2005 for being openly gay a group advocating for LGBTs in the military said on Wednesday.
Citing newly released data for 2005 the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said the rate of discharge has remained relatively consistent each year since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But, it added that the numbers represent a 40% decrease compared with years prior to the attacks.
A total of 742 military personnel were discharged under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" ban on openly gay service members, up from 668 discharges among the services in 2004.
"The time has come for the Pentagon to call on Congress to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,"" said SLDN executive director C. Dixon Osburn.
"The law deprives our nation of thousands of skilled men and women who could be instrumental in fighting the war on terror. Our national security suffers because of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." ......