It's an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread... 
Well, it's shopping day today...buying the last accoutrements for my relatively new laptop, and doing some grocery shopping. On the computer front, buying a new computer bag, a portable printer, some small travel speakers, a spare lithium battery, and some spare cordage. On the grocery shopping front, I'm going to buy ingredients for a tofu chili recipe, as well a meatless loaf recipe -- both recipes from Taste & See: American Orthodox Cooking (a collection of recipes by St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church) that my Mom bought for me a few years back.
So, this is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob have been looking at since our last This & That post this past Thursday. I meant to get a This & That post this weekend...enh. Sometimes we get busy.
• WWOI's San Antonio police officer charged with sexually assaulting transgender man:
A San Antonio Police officer was arrested and is accused of sexually assaulting a transgender man.
The man claims officer Craig Nash picked him just south of Downtown early Thursday morning, handcuffed him, and told him to lay down in the back seat of a patrol car. He told investigators Nash then drove to a nearby location, un-handcuffed him, and sexually assaulted him.
The alleged victim said after the assault, Nash dropped him off at a nearby school. He then took a bus to a police station to report the assault. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by News 4 WOAI, the alleged victim told officers Nash "wasn't going to get away with this"
Police arrested Nash after the alleged victim identified him in a photo line-up, and police linked his patrol car to the alleged scene using a GPS tracking system...
There is a video attached to this story that one can watch at the webpage for this story.
That said, this is gender and pronoun misidentification of a trans victim by a local TV station...again. It seems to never stop.
See the article below a discussion about misidentification related to this story...
• Examiner.com's Media misidentification: San Antonio sex-assault victim is trans woman:
A trans woman who was sexually assaulted on February 25 by San Antonio police officer Craig Nash was incorrectly identified as a "transgender man" by several media outlets.
The Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) of Houston reports that TFA director Cristan Williams contacted the San Antonio Police Department and discovered that the victim was, in fact, a trans woman.
TFA has a report on this at the link above, as well as contact information for several news outlets for those who want to call or e-mail to express concern about the misidentification of the victim and to remind these outlets about both the Associated Press (AP) and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) guidelines on reporting stories involving trans people.
Both AP and GLAAD media guidelines recommend the use of the name, pronouns, and gender references that reflect the correct gender identity of any trans person referred to in a news story...
Local televison news programs have a long running problem with not sticking to journalism standards when it comes to reporting on trans people. They need to do their homework better.
The bottom line though is we're talking about an alleged rape by an on-duty police officer. One would think, from some of the comments of the first story, that this was about trans people being evil. A sampling these kind of comments:
• I wish to publicly rebuke the author of this article for her portrayal of a cross dressing, transvestite homosexual pervert as "transgender". Presumably from your politically correct speech on this matter you find such behavior acceptable and worthy of being spoken of as if there is some sort of normality involved; as if it is not perverted and twisted and vulgar. Shame on you and your house! I think all these people should be put into jails and re-education camps. They are all sick and they need a good dose of plain old fashioned religion administered with a switch; a thin one from an ash tree. It is important for Christian virtue and normal behavior to be held up to the public as admirable, while wicked deviltry ought be exposed for what it is. Reject the work of the liberals who seek to destroy America and exhalt homosexuality and all sorts of perversions. Rather, seek Jesus, the Son of God. Praise God... jesus-is-lord.com
• Any guy dressed up like a girl wants to get rammed in the butt. He got what he wanted.
• I will wait until the investigation is complete. These homosexuals make up this kind of crime all the time.
By the way, this isn't the first San Antonio police officer who has been accused of this kind of sexual assault...this kind of rape. Does anyone remember Dean Gutierrez, who was sentenced to 24-years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a trans woman?
• The Los Angels Times' A stink in Central California over converting cow manure to electricity; Air-quality rules in the region leave dairy farmers facing costly changes to generators used to burn methane to produce power. Some have put their renewable-energy plans on hold:
Reporting from Stanislaus County, Calif. - Central California is home to nearly 1.6 million dairy cows and their manure -- up to 192 million pounds per day. It's a mountain of waste and a potential environmental hazard.
But for dairyman John Fiscalini, the dung on his farm is renewable gold: He's converting it into electricity.
At his farm outside Modesto, a torrent of water washes across the barn's concrete floor several times a day, flushing tons of manure away from his herd of fuzzy-faced Holsteins and into nearby tanks. There, bacteria consume the waste and release methane, which is then burned in a generator capable of producing enough power to run Fiscalini's 530-acre farm, his cheese factory and 200 additional homes.
Fiscalini's resourcefulness should be drawing accolades, considering that state mandates are requiring California industries to boost renewable energy use and slash greenhouse gas emissions sharply over the next 10 years.
But efforts to convert cow pies into power have sparked controversy. State air quality control regulators say these "dairy digester" systems can generate pollution themselves and, unless the devices are overhauled, are refusing to issue permits for them...
Ah, problems with power poops. Whaddoya'do. 
• Opposition news from the Alliance Defense Fund's posting of Protect Marriage Washington's press release, entitled Protect Marriage Washington Files Supreme Court Brief to Protect Privacy of Petition Signers:
Protect Marriage Washington filed its opening brief today in the United States Supreme Court case of Doe #1 v. Reed. Protect Marriage Washington sponsored a referendum in Washington and is asking the Supreme Court to prevent the state from releasing the names, addresses, and other personal information of more than 138,000 individuals that signed the petition.
The effort to place the names of the petition signers on the internet is the latest example of the campaign to harass and intimidate anyone supporting traditional marriage by making personal information available on the internet. Their efforts have resulted in death threats, physical violence, and property damage directed at individuals supporting a traditional definition of marriage.
James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel for Protect Marriage Washington, stated that "Public disclosure laws have been used to harass and intimidate voters. The First Amendment protects citizens engaged in political speech from being forced to reveal their identity to ensure that intimidation does not makes its way into the campaign toolbox. No one should have to endure death threats in order to stand up for what they believe in."
On September 10, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued an order preventing the release of the names of the petition signers. On October 15, 2009, the Ninth Circuit issued a single page order allowing the release of the names. On October 20, 2009, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order preventing the release of the names until the appeal is decided.
The case is Doe #1 v. Reed. It will be argued before the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Protect Marriage Washington's opening brief, along with the prior orders in the case, are available on the website of the James Madison Center for Free Speech, http://www.jamesmadisoncenter.org/WA/Ref71/Index.html under the "Washington Referendum 71 Petition Suit" heading.
James Bopp, Jr. has a national federal and state election law practice. He is General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech and former Co-Chairman of the Election Law Subcommittee of the Federalist Society.
Egads! Nebulous death threats by evil homosexuals!! Of course!! 
Let's go to my home state of California to see where one can go as a "conservative Christian" congressional candidate with these nebulous death threats from "homosexual society"...
• Our Wiener Story Of The Day: Rosemary Welch for Congress 2010 CA-37's Sacred Matrimony is Between One Man and One Woman:
It seems as though it doesn't take much to anger this gentle soul anymore. With the homosexual society always in our faces trying to push their agenda on us and claiming it is the opposite, I've had it. There is no reason to speak with them because they are unreasable (I know not most of them!).
I do not bother anyone for what or who they are. I never have. When you cross the line and tell me that I have to accept your behavior or else, that's where we cannot go. This is America. Matrimony has been the rule for millennia, and you are not going to change it now...
...That is, however, not the reason I bring this to your attention. They are at it again (still) in Washington, just as they are here in California. Please read below to see how 'nice' some of these homosexuals truly are.
[Autumn note: She includes this press release: Protect Marriage Washington Files Supreme Court Brief to Protect Privacy of Petition Signers]
...It is indefensible to me that someone would send a death threat for ALLOWING YOU TO LIVE YOUR LIFE, yet that's not good enough for you. I know for a fact that isn't everyone. I am angry over this. Take that whichever way you want. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Then again, you have forgotten what shame is a long time ago, eh? Yeah, I said it, I meant it, and I'm here to represent it. Now what?
Some people you just shouldn't ever make angry. Especially sweet little ladies. It isn't nice. Have a day.
Her self-description says a lot:
I am a Christian Conservative who loves our country dearly. We deserve to be represented responsibly. I believe I can do a much better job listening to us, and that is why I would be honored to represent us.
Yes, Christian Dominionism. Super-swell.
That candidate deserves the second "Egads!" of this diary ...So, Egads!
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! 
