Posts made by VampArmand

I screenshotted this from Twitter about a month ago. I don't know if it was a retweet or not. Thanks for any help you might give.

Thanks! Hot post!

I'm a guild wars fanboy!! 
Several toons in both.. Mesmer is my main in GW (GWAMM) and Guardian in GW2 (lvl 80).  I don't play GW as much any more, but feel free to add Rose Mayfair for both GW and GW2.

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As many as 12 used enema kits have been sold to unsuspecting customers at a CVS drug store in Florida after a man allegedly bought, used and returned them over a three month period.
On Thursday 34-year-old Ronald Eugene Robinson was indicted by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville for tampering with consumer products.
Police in Jacksonville said a CVS employee grew suspicious of Robinson in June after he was seen continually purchasing and returning the saline laxatives to the store.
After first seen purchasing the enemas in March and returning them in April it wasn't until June 5 that an employee closely examined one of Robinson’s returned boxes and found the products soiled inside.
Employees immediately checked additional boxes on the store shelf and found three more in the same condition.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed the bottles testing positive for faecal matter.
CVS says 21 customers have since been contacted after suspected of purchasing the products believed to have been resealed at the packages’ bottom with glue.
Robinson was arrested on June 15, three days after attempting to return another box of enemas purchased a day before on June 11.

Crime scene: Police say it was at this Jacksonville CVS pharmacy that Robinson purchased and returned the products between April and June

Used: A suspicious employee examined one of the saline laxative boxes returned by Robinson and after finding it used, found three more boxes in the same condition (some of the unused products pictured)
The return was denied by the store's manager who shared a warning with all other CVS stores in the area about their returns.
He was later identified and caught through the use of his credit card as well as an employee marking his vehicle's tag number.
'The health and safety of our customers is our top priority … If a product appears to have been used or noticeably damaged we do not allow it back on the shelf,' CVS spokesperson Mike DeAngelis told First Coast News.

Today the drug store is further warning customers who may have purchased the enemas with a note in place of the shelf’s products, advising them to call a consumer hotline.
'I was just kinda shocked. But in today's economic times, like I said before, people are doing some strange things,' CVS customer Bob Robbins reacted outside the store to First Coast News.
If convicted Robinson faces up to 10 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to Robinson's Facebook profile, he's a mechanic and single father whose favourite movies include Ace Ventura and Step Brothers.
His interests also include 'potty training.'
Any motive for the alleged crime was not immediately released by police.

hxxp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216498/Ronald-Robinson-CVS-sold-dozen-used-enema-kits-man-returned-month-period.html

Thanks Leatherbear!  HOT!! Post  :cheers:

"The stakes were the highest they have ever been in a presidential election, and some viewed the outcome as a matter of life or death. A Key West, Florida man took his own life two days after President Barack Obama won a second term in The White House, having previously warned loved ones of his intentions to kill himself in lieu of an Obama victory.

Henry Hamilton was found dead on Nov. 8, with his home littered with empty pill bottles. According to palmbeachpost.com a suicide note was found that said:

"Do not revive! F*ck Obama!"

Hamilton lived with his partner Michael Cossey, who was the first to find the body after returning home from an evening out with friends.

Cossey says Hamilton told him "If Barack gets re-elected, I'm not going to be around."

Florida officials do not believe Hamilton's death to be anything other than a suicide and will not be investigating the matter further."

hxxp://www.examiner.com/article/gay-republican-commits-suicide-because-of-obama-victory

hxxp://www.palmbeachpost.com/ap/ap/florida/fla-man-distraught-over-election-kills-himself/nS6Nw/

Anyone else playing?

My main is an Asuran Guardian named Mayfair.  I'm usually representing the Gayme0n guild on Crystal Desert.  If you see me in game, HMU.

Yes please!! 

WHOA!!    :afr:

Thanks LBC. I've always been a "sucker" for a happy ending.  :bj2:

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Thanks for the HOT!! Post

Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs is a very conservative judge. He joined a court decision effectively declaring corporations immune to international human rights law — even when they “trade in or exploit slaves, employ mercenary armies to do dirty work for despots, perform genocides or operate torture prisons for a despot’s political opponents, or engage in piracy.” And he once gave a speech to the conservative Federalist Society decrying the “anti-social effects” of attorneys providing free legal services to the less fortunate.
And yet, this severely conservative judge is also the author of an opinion striking down the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act. Even more significantly, Chief Judge Jacobs’ opinion concludes that any law which discriminates against gay men and lesbians should be treated very skeptically under our Constitution:
[W]e conclude that review of Section 3 of DOMA requires heightened scrutiny. The Supreme Court uses certain factors to decide whether a new classification qualifies as a quasi-suspect class. They include: A) whether the class has been historically “subjected to discrimination,”; B) whether the class has a defining characteristic that “frequently bears [a] relation to ability to perform or contribute to society,” C) whether the class exhibits “obvious, immutable, or distinguishing characteristics that define them as a discrete group;” and D) whether the class is “a minority or politically powerless.” Immutability and lack of political power are not strictly necessary factors to identify a suspect class. Nevertheless, immutability and political power are indicative, and we consider them here. In this case, all four factors justify heightened scrutiny: A) homosexuals as a group have historically endured persecution and discrimination; B) homosexuality has no relation to aptitude or ability to contribute to society; C) homosexuals are a discernible group with non-obvious distinguishing characteristics, especially in the subset of those who enter same-sex marriages; and D) the class remains a politically weakened minority.

This is a really big deal. Jacobs is not simply saying that DOMA imposes unique and unconstitutional burdens on gay couples, he is saying that any attempt by government to discriminate against gay people must have an “exceedingly persuasive” justification. This is the same very skeptical standard afforded to laws that discriminate against women. If Jacobs’ reasoning is adopted by the Supreme Court, it will be a sweeping victory for gay rights, likely causing state discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to be virtually eliminated. And the fact that this decision came from such a conservative judge makes it all the more likely that DOMA will ultimately be struck down by the Supreme Court.

One unfortunate caveat is necessary: Judge Chester Straub, a Clinton-appointee, dissented. Nevertheless, this marks the second time that a prominent conservative court of appeals judge declared DOMA unconstitutional, and it relies on a sweeping rationale in doing so. Supporters of equality have a great deal to celebrate today.

hxxp://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/10/18/1040901/breaking-federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-doma-in-opinion-by-republican-appointed-judge/

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California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a historic bill that will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) minors from "reparative" therapies administered by mental health professionals aimed at altering sexual orientation or gender identities and expressions.

Senate Bill 1172, which the National Center for Lesbian Rights notes was co-sponsored by the NCLR, Equality California, Gaylesta, Courage Campaign, Lambda Legal, and Mental Health America of Northern California, and supported by dozens of organizations, is the first law of its kind in the United States and will become effective on January 1, 2013.

"Conversion" or "reparative" therapies include a wide variety of techniques from counseling to shock therapy to – in extreme cases -- exorcism, used in an attempt to "cure" individuals of their homosexual and transgender orientations and identities. However, in recent years, even those who once championed the idea that someone can convert to heterosexuality have admitted that viewpoint is flawed.

In April, Dr. Robert Spitzer, author of a landmark 2001 study that claimed gay people could be alleviated of their homosexuality, admitted that, "In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques [of my study] are largely correct… The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.”

As SFGate.com reported, Brown said, "This bill bans non-scientific 'therapies' that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery."

In a press release, the Human Rights Campaign responded to Brown's signing of the bill:

"We're grateful to Governor Brown for standing with California's children. LGBT youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being. We commend Governor Brown for putting children first, and call on all states to take California’s lead on this issue. We will continue our fight against this kind of child abuse, which has been deemed harmful to children by all major mental health, medical, and child welfare organizations."
According to HRC, over 50,000 people had signed a petition urging the governor to sign the bill n the past week.
hxxp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/30/jerry-brown-sb-1172-gay-conversion-therapy-california_n_1926855.html

Complete bill can be found here: hxxp://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1172

:cheers: Same-Sex Couples Granted Protection in Deportations :cheers:

The Department of Homeland Security has stated in writing that foreigners who are same-sex partners of American citizens can be included under an Obama administration policy suspending deportations of some immigrants who pose no security risk.

In letters sent late Wednesday to several Democratic lawmakers, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was clarifying guidelines that enforcement officers had used when applying a policy of prosecutorial discretion in cases of illegal immigrants with no criminal convictions.

Under the guidelines, which were first issued in June 2011, officers can consider “ties and contributions to the community, including family relationships” when deciding whether to halt a deportation.

Ms. Napolitano wrote that she had ordered her department to issue written instructions specifying that those “family relationships” include “long-term same-sex partners.”

Gay rights groups hailed the letter as a small change with large implications for foreigners in same-sex relationships who were facing deportation.

“This is the first time the government has recognized in writing that the relationship between a gay American and a gay immigrant is a real and positive factor in an immigration case,” said Rachel B. Tiven, the executive director of Immigration Equality, a group that supports gay immigrants’ causes.

Homeland Security officials have long said that gay partners will be considered family members under the prosecutorial discretion policy. Under that policy, Obama administration officials say they are focusing enforcement resources on deporting convicts and foreigners who pose threats to national security.

“This written guidance will simply reiterate existing policy,” said Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

But Ms. Tiven said the policy had remained ambiguous, and gay organizations and Democratic lawmakers had been pressing Ms. Napolitano since last year to put something in writing.

In a letter to the secretary on July 31, more than 80 Democrats from the House of Representatives wrote, “It would be beyond senseless to see L.G.B.T. persons with family ties here in the United States deported” because immigration officers were unaware of the policy on gay families. Signers included the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and Michael B. Honda, both of California. Mr. Honda was one of the lead organizers of the effort.

Under prosecutorial discretion, many thousands of deportation cases have been closed, allowing the immigrants to remain in the United States indefinitely. But they do not gain any legal status.

Ms. Napolitano’s clarification does not have any impact on the more difficult issue of allowing immigrants in same-sex marriages with American citizens to obtain permanent resident visas, known as green cards. Under current law, same-sex immigrant spouses cannot apply for those visas and they can face deportation.

hxxp://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/us/homeland-security-puts-it-in-writing-on-immigration-policy-and-gay-couples.html?_r=0