Gay Malawi Couple Gets Maximum Jail Sentence

     A very sad day in Malawi for human rights.

     The BBC reports:

     A judge in Malawi has imposed a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison with hard labour on a gay couple convicted of gross indecency and unnatural acts.  The judge said he wanted to protect the public from "people like you".

     Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been in jail since they were arrested in December after holding an engagement ceremony.   The case has sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.

     The case has ignited debate over homosexuality in Malawi, a conservative country where religious leaders equate same-sex liaisons with Satanism.

     The Guardian reports:

     Peter Tatchell, the veteran British gay rights campaigner, has maintained contact with the pair at the maximum security Chichiri prison...Tatchell told the Guardian he received a defiant message from Chimbalanga that said: "I love Steven so much. If people or the world cannot give me the chance and freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless."

Look at the smiling faces in the crowd.

They are 55% Protestant , 20% Roman Catholic , 20% Muslim.
What happened to love thy neighbor?

Neo-Segregationist Rand Paul Isn't a Racist But Thinks Private Businesses Should Have the Right to Discriminate

     Tea Party candidate, Rand Paul, who just won the Republican primary in Kentucky, is causing an uproar, by making statements hinting that parts of the Civil Rights Act need to be repealed, but he doesn't support racism.  Seriously.

     The New York Times reports:

     Mr. Paul said in an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC on Wednesday night that he supported the sections of the Civil Rights Act that applied to public accommodations but had concerns when it came to its applicability to private business; he raised similar concerns earlier in the day about the Americans with Disabilities Act in an interview on National Public Radio.

     Asked by Ms. Maddow if a private business had the right to refuse to serve black people, Mr. Paul replied, “Yes.”

     “I’m not in favor of any discrimination of any form,” Mr. Paul continued. “I would never belong to any club that excluded anybody for race."

     But Paul had no problem holding his election night celebration at a a private country club.

     Mr. Paul also found himself on the defensive on Thursday when he sought to justify his decision to hold his election night celebration at a country club in Bowling Green, arguing that was not in any way at variance with the grass-roots movement he has come to epitomize.  “I think at one time, people used to think of golf and golf clubs and golf courses as being exclusive,” Mr. Paul said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” adding, “Tiger Woods has helped to broaden that, in the sense that he’s brought golf to a lot of the cities and to city youth.”

     Yes, but Tiger Woods and those "city youth" that Mr. Paul is aggrandizing would not be able to eat in the same Southern restaurants and play on the same Southern golf courses as Mr. Paul were the sections of the Civil Rights Acts that he's questioning were to be revoked.

     You either fight racism and discrimination or you don't, Mr. Paul.  

     You either stand for minorities' rights or you stand against them.

     You can't have your KKKake and eat it, too.

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Image and video ideas from my buddy Russ at BlueTruckRedState.

Los Angeles' Boycott v. Arizona's Papers-Please Immigration Law Drama Update

The battle over Arizona's papers-please immigration law continues. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has responded to Arizona's daring L.A. to live without power that comes from the paper-please state.

L.A. v. Arizona: a Drama

Arizona: Look out, people who look like Mexicans or terrorists, show us your papers or we'll deport you.

The World:  WTF?

Glenn Beck:  Aryanzona?  Palease!  The Nazis didn't ask people for their papers.

The World:  WTF?

John, the Baptist, McCain:  I blame President Obama and Democrats in Washington for the passage of Arizona's necessary law that I support the passage of, but may or may not personally support, but now I support the danged fence, but I'm not a racist, and furthermore, my Republican colleagues in the Senate and I will filibuster any attempt by the Democrats to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The World:  WTF?

Los Angeles: Seriously, Arizona? We are so boycotting everything Arizona.

AriZona Iced Tea:  We're f---ing based out of f---ing Long Island, f---ing New York.  FFF!

Arizona: Oh you puny minded Angelenos, you get 25% of your power from us.  If you don't give that up, you're hypocrites! Your government is full of morons, who don't think things through.  Come on over, LA Board of Supervisors and Mayor Villaraigosa, and fight us like real men, and don't forget to bring your proof of insurance, passport, birth certificate, proof of English proficiency, and tea bags.

Los Angeles: Correction, Arizona.  We get 20-25% of our power from two plants located in Arizona that we own.  So, who didn't think things through?

Arizona:  Oh yeah?  Well...at least the Suns beat the Lakers and evened the series.

Los Angeles:  WTF?

Here is the response that LADWP had for Arizona's "try living without 25% of your power" taunt.

General Manager's Statement Regarding LADWP Power Generation Assets in Arizona

"I want to make clear that we support the City position regarding the recent law enacted in Arizona and the resolution adopted by the Los Angeles City Council.

On any given day, we receive 20 – 25% of our power from two power plants located in Arizona: Navajo, a coal-fired plant, and Palo Verde, a nuclear plant.

We are part owner of both power plants, which are generating assets of the Department. As such, nothing in the City’s resolution is inconsistent with our continuing to receive power from those LADWP-owned assets.

I might add that, as the City’s Job Czar, I certainly would welcome any conventions or meetings that were going to be held in Arizona to come to Los Angeles. We have fantastic facilities and incomparable weather and we’d welcome them to the City of Angels."

- Austin Beutner, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

All images in this post came from AriZona Iced Tea's website.