Tuesday This & That: Open Thread

It's an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread...

So, this is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob have been looking at since our last This & That post -- which was a heck of a long time ago!

• San Francisco Chronicle's UCSF's support group for parents of intersex kids:

[Jeanne Nollman, who has a rare condition called Swyer syndrome] hopes that's the message parents get out of the support group starting this week.

While social acceptance and medical care have improved dramatically since she was a child, Nollman knows firsthand that there is still a long way to go. She was featured on a short television show last year, and the comments people made online after it aired were mostly cruel.

"People are going to say negative things, and how does a family cope with that and get past it?" Nollman said. "Because of the shame and secrecy that surrounds this, parents often don't get the support they need for themselves or their children. I hope we can provide them with a supportive atmosphere, so they can help their child be healthy and strong."

...Nollman hopes that's the message parents get out of the support group starting this week.

Information on the support group is included at the end of the article.

• OneNewsNow's (the American Family Association's) President's pro-Islam course not altered:

...[M]any critics think Obama is trying to use bin Laden's demise as a way to prop up his credibility in the foreign policy arena.

"He's certainly going to try," notes Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer. "He's already taken credit for it, even though a series of revelations [has] come out now that indicates that he was quite reluctant to do it and that it was other people on his team, notably Leon Panetta, who were ultimately responsible for it. Nonetheless, he's been taking credit for it and [will] continue to do so."

And the critic of Islam says Obama's decision to take down bin Laden does not erase the perception that he favors Islam. "It doesn't change the fact that all his foreign policy has been oriented in the direction of Islamic supremacism, allowing for this kind of advance of Islamic law and Islamic prerogatives," Spencer contends.

However, he points out that though Obama may have Islamic leanings, that does not mean he favors terrorism, as he may oppose it as a matter of principle.

We can just about be assured that next week he'll be a secret Muslim again, and not just Pro-Islamic.

• Harvard Crimson's Due to Ban, Trans Man at Harvard Law School Cannot Serve in U.S. Military:

Jack K., a third year student at Harvard Law School, dreams of serving in the military again.

One week each fall, members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps visit Harvard Law School to recruit its next crop of military lawyers. For Jack, it's one of the most difficult weeks of the year.

Despite his past military service, Jack is not eligible for JAG because he is a trans man. Since his honorable discharge in 2007, Jack, who insisted on his last name not being included in this story to prevent potential workplace discrimination, has undergone  sex-change surgery, having had top surgery to remove his breasts.

...Despite this landmark advance in gay rights, transgender men and women like Jack are still ineligible for military service as their exclusion is based on the Department of Defense's medical policy. Meanwhile at Harvard, the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has brought about the return of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, but the University has been largely deaf to arguments that while the military continues to prevent trans-identified men and women, the program's presence on campus violates its non-discrimination policy.

• U.S. Politics Today's Attack on a Transgender Woman at McDonald's Should be Investigated as a Hate Crime, Says New York Civil Rights Violation Lawyer:

NEW YORK, NY, May 08, 2011 24-7PressRelease -- Authorities have yet to determine if the brutal assault of a transgender woman at a McDonald's was a hate crime.

After examining the initial evidence, New York civil rights violation lawyer David Perecman believes that the violent attack may be classified as a hate crime.

...It is essential to prevent hate crimes and other civil rights violations in New York. Civil rights violation lawyers at The Perecman Firm encourage victims of gender harassment and hate crimes to contact them.

"Hate crimes against all community members in New York, including LGBT members, will be investigated and prosecuted as hate crimes," said New York civil rights violation lawyer Perecman. "No person ever deserves to be a victim of gender harassment or violence regardless of their gender identity or personal presentation."

• Our Wiener Story Of The Day: PR Newswire's Pat Boone All-American Meats Introduces New Gourmet Burgers and Hot Dogs, Sampler Packs; Premium Quality Mail-Order "Meats with a Mission" Expands Product Line Just in Time for Summer Barbeque Season:

As always, "The weenie tempts you!" -- well, except Pat Boone's hot dogs. Y'know, because Pat Boone has .

So anywho...It's an open thread! What are you thinking about today, or what books or articles have you been reading the past few days? Wanna share?

And again, please feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread because...it's an open thread! Woo-hoo!