Archive for the ‘internet/free speech’ Category

FATV of the Planned Parenthood meeting is now up

Posted: February 4, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news
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It is in two parts the “pre-meeting” and the Meeting itself

The pre-meeting is here (part 2)

The regular meeting is here (part 3)

Planned parenthood at the City Council summary pt 3

Posted: February 3, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news
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After a brief recess and regular City Council meeting began. Under the rules of the City council any person can speak for up to 2 minutes on a measure.

The first speaker was Representative DiNatale who re-iterated the argument concerning both redundant services and how well Fitchburg had done without them.

At this point the officials from Planned Parenthood had already left so now a plethora of pro life speakers came to the fore.

The first was Dr. Mark Rollo:

Doctor Rollo was forceful and direct. When describing planned parenthood he bluntly declared “Their mission is killing!” He further argued that they separating children from their parents advice and fear, instead of discouraging teenage pregnancy propagates it. He declared unequivocally that if Planned Parenthood opens on main street protesters will follow and he will be leading them.

Several citizens people yielded their time to both Doctor Rollo and some of those who followed. Their second big gun was Dr. Mildred Jefferson.

With a quiet and calm demeanor she made the case that Fitchburg would be a less pleasant place with Planned parenthood. Her best argument however was the description of Planned Parenthood in terms of practices and their use of organizations that they fund to support their positions as if they were independent.

The third big gun was developer Roderick P. Murphy from the group problem pregnancy. His argument was that planned parenthood would retard development in Fitchburg, both he and Dr. Jefferson had the disadvantage of making the case as non residents.

After this several citizens came up with various arguments primarily concerning the wrongness of abortion, the origins of planned parenthood and how all of this makes Fitchburg a less desirable place to live. Unfortunately a lot of the presentations were, in my opinion and judging from the reactions of counselors, less than effective. One particular example being Kylie Gordon a 19 year old girl who was passionate in her attacks on planned parenthood but disorganized in her presentation.

Two speakers spoke up for planned parenthood. A teacher from Fitchburg state suggested than their presence might help in terms of counseling for college students in weak or potentially harmful relationships reflecting on the Allison Myrick case, it was a point that hadn’t been considered. A Worcester Fitchburg podcaster (Chris’ site is here). came up next vowing that he and members of his group ( Greater Worcester Humanists) would be escorting clients in through any protests held.

Christine Hanley of Mass. Citizens for Life made the final “official” case. Her presentation while strong factually was more about the general faults of Planned Parenthood and less about why they are a bad fit for Fitchburg.

The final speaker was, well me. After Ms Hanley spoke I approached the chair removing my “blogging” hat to speak as a lifelong Fitchburg resident. I pointed out that Ms Luby of Planned Parenthood didn’t deny the question of chemical abortion. I pointed out that City Solicitor, Michael Ciota argument concerning constitutionally of zoning ordinances didn’t hold water as Leominster had enacted such ordinances almost 30 years ago and was unchallenged (explaining why Fitchburg has been the magnet of social services rather than Leominster). I argued that the reason Planned Parenthood wanted main street was to access students of Arthur J. Longsjo middle school . I referenced the both the Washington Post abstinence story and the argument of my own post concerning pill resales. I’ll let others decide how effective I was, but when I was done Counselor Marcus DiNatale questioned the solicitor concerning Leominster’s laws, and Mr. Costa plead ignorance of them.

For a brief time other business came up and the Mayor briefly turned up for that but she was not to be seen when when the Rosemary Reynolds brought up her two zoning resolutions. As they were late resolutions a vote to suspend the rules would be necessary for them to be considered. That vote failed 10-1 thus they have been added to the agenda of the next meeting on the 16th.

And so around 11:00 p.m. things finally closed. It’s fair to say that Planned Parenthood had won the argument this day as the Germans did at Kasserine but the final result of the campaign remains to be seen.

Update: Per Chris’ comment I corrected his location and added a link to his group both in his comment and on this page.

Because of the local stuff…

Posted: February 3, 2010 by datechguy in elections, internet/free speech, oddities, opinion/news
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…I haven’t touched the national news today.

Lucky for you the other blogs are on the ball:

Robert Stacy give the Port-Mortem on the Illinois results that were less than what might be desired:

Second-guessing campaign strategies is a fascinating sport. However, if there is any New Media takeaway from the Illinois gubernatorial primary, it is this: Campaigns would be wise to engage the blogosphere early in the election cycle, rather than to treat online outreach as an afterthought.

Mark Hemmingway touches on Excitable Andy’s latest foray into Bloggers Alzheimer’s on the subject of Sarah Palin:

At what point does Andrew Sullivan’s derangement over Sarah Palin and his bizarre conspiracy theories about how her son was really birthed by her daughter become an issue for an otherwise respectable publication such as The Atlantic? If his employers don’t take action over this blog post of his, then we’re totally through the looking glass:

RSM recommends Ace of Spades on the subject is a tad vulgar for my taste.

The lonely conservative notes that if there is one thing you can say about this administration is they are consistent.

President Obama can’t stop pointing his finger at George Bush for his troubles. It’s getting so old. Every president faces challenges, Bush did. But Bush didn’t have a filibuster proof majority to work with, the way Obama’s had for the past year.

I think the reason he might not go for a 2nd term is he will have nobody else to blame.

Dan Riehl notes that Scott Brown is a real equal opportunity employer.

“I just go — I don’t care who they are as long as they’re good people and they’ll be trustworthy and loyal and they’ll do their jobs, I don’t care. Kennedy had some of the best people in the country and I’m honored to have some of them

Well we know these guys are discreet.

The camp of the Saints crowns a new leader of the free world:

Israel has no choice: The United States and the other nations of The West will not act to protect the Free World against the threat of a nuclear Islam, so it must bear the burden. Benjamin Netanyahu IS the leader of the Free World.

I still think it might be a bluff.

Don Surber sees projection on the left:

As Obamania winds down and it inevitably was fated to do — taking with it the hopes for a Europeanized America complete with socialized medicine, leaders on the left will ratchet up their rhetoric.

It is a sign of a political moment dying.

Legal Insurrection approves:

Keep calling the majority of Americans crazy and dangerous and extremists and “teabaggers.” Every time you do it we gain votes.

They are not called the angry left for nothing.

The Libertarian Popinjay notes a pet that you don’t want to own.

Meanwhile Peg agrees declares Global Warming a religion:

Arguing with people who exhibit this sort of behavior is like arguing with those who have strong religious beliefs. Their beliefs are rooted in faith; not hard evidence.

In a free nation, they are surely entitled to believe what they wish. But, the rest of us should not be held hostage to their religious beliefs. Let’s not twist our economy and freedoms to align with faith. Let the rest of us to be free to act on what many of us believe: that the earth’s atmosphere and temperature is the result of many factors, and that it is unclear that man has more than a tiny impact on what happens to them

Where have I heard this before?

American Freedom likes Vernon Parker for Az 3rd and unlike Chris Matthews doesn’t forget his race…

You don’t need to forget with Mayor Parker you never notice the color of his skin and he shouldn’t be stereotyped by it. What you do pay attention to his belief in the American people, Love of Family and Country. His belief in a smaller government, creating jobs, reviving the economy, not raising taxes, lowing the deficit and giving those less fortunate a hand up not a handout.

Will the media even notice?

Ruby Slippers is feeling VERY optimistic:

Momentum has a way of shaking stronger candidates out of the trees. The Senate may still be a long shot but it is looking less like a long shot than it did before Massachusetts. There is a lifetime politically between now and November, but as of now, the ball is clearly in our court

What’s that line from the Patriot? Aim Small Miss Small.

And finally American Glob is sick of all the bowing by the president:

Weasel Zippers caught this photo of Obama bowing to… The mayor of Tampa, Florida.

Does President Obama have a single advisor smart enough to tell him to stop bowing to people? Can you picture Reagan doing this? Washington? Lincoln? JFK? Carter???

I don’t know looking at the picture I think it was just an excuse to check out her legs.

Planned parenthood at the City Counsel summary pt 2

Posted: February 3, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news
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The city counselors seemed very nervous before the meeting particularly with an overflow crowd that reached down the entire hallway, but nobody seemed more nervous than the counselors who had supported the initial petition. That was a bad sign.


Once things were gaveled open the first speaker was the City Solicitor, Michael Ciota. A legal opinion on the various resolutions had been asked of him. He maintained that any resolution disapproving planned parenthood or any attempt to zone them out of main street was unconstitutional. When he spoke it became very clear that not only was the fix in, but that he had talked to the counselors before the meeting and put the fear of God litigation into them.

With the exception of Rosemary Reynolds nobody challenged said opinion, in fact as she pressed him on his basis counsel president Hay restrained the questions. Planned Parenthood with the wind now behind them was invited to make their presentation:

Ms Dianne Luby (right) made her case, detailing the government grant that they obtained and why Planned Parenthood demographic studies suggested that their services would be useful for Fitchburg. There is no question that this woman was well practiced for such an event and was ready for whatever the counsel was prepared to ask.

After her presentation the questions began with Ward 4 Counselor Kevin Starr

Starr’s questions were primarily concerning the location. Specifically why not use the open space at the Burbank Campus (formally Burbank Hospital) rather than downtown Fitchburg? The question was asked by several counselors and was ducked effectively with “That is not our Model”. (nobody asked about the Model or why “their model” should be the city’s model.

When asked why Fitchburg, a city that had notable success in dropping it’s teen pregnancy rate with a high school using an abstinence model. they continued to stressed demographics and a desire to be “part of the solution”

Counselor Tran stressed the proximity of Worcester in his argument against PP but underestimated the driving time to the (accurate) hoots of local PP supporters. The most amazing statement came from Counselor Kaddy suggesting that PP would attract “Bad” people to main street. PP suggested that their customers were the families of the people in the room and that PP would attract foot traffic to Main Street. When Counselor Joseph challenged it saying that a Methadone clinic would also attract foot traffic she parried it effortlessly and without challenge.

The majority of the arguments made was “Why Fitchburg” and “Why main Street” but Rosemary Reynolds pressed them concerning what would take place on main street. Luby stressed that no surgical abortions would take place and the federal grant prevented them from doing them. Reynolds pressed her about the length of the grant and what happens then, Luby answered that they would re-apply for the grant. Reynolds then asked about chemical abortions but could not remember the name of the abortion pill. (Ru486)

Luby incredibly maintained she had no idea what Reynolds was talking about. (perhaps the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts should consult PP’s own web site.) When Ms. Reynolds asked permission to consult Dr. Mark Rollo (sitting behind her) for the exact name, Mr. Hay disallowed it and the question concerning chemical abortions remained unanswered.

Much to the surprise of the assembled audience no other people were allowed to speak. (They were unaware that the counsel was meeting as a “committee of the whole”) and when the vote to table the resolution disapproving planned parenthood the vote was 8-1 with only Counselor Reynolds voting against, counselors Tran and Conry abstaining.

At this point the bulk of the Planned Parenthood supporters their victory supposedly won, and a large amount of the people waiting outside who opposed them began to leave not realizing that there was a lot more to come.

(Part 3 later today)

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