US: Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas

In a just-released Washington Post poll, members of the Tea Party came in as the lowest supporters of same-sex marriage by a huge margin. The poll overall finds that 53% of all adults (and 52% of registered voters) believe same-sex marriage should be “legal,” while 42% feel it should be “illegal,” maintaining the consistent response rate found by almost every major poll over the past few years, which find that the majority of Americans support extending civil marriage to same-sex couples….

While Democrats came in with 68% support for same-sex marriage, Independents with 57%, and Republicans with only 30%, a mere 6% of Tea Party members said they support same-sex marriage. No other group was close to that low support level. Even Republican religious values voters (along with pro-government conservatives) came in at 11%, almost twice the rate of Tea Party Republicans.

The New Civil Rights Movement

The US Republican party is providing us all with an object lesson in what happens when a political force seeks to embrace a particular religion. Every step that leads to the recruitment of a new fundamentalist leads to the loss of someone bright and well-informed enough to see that issues have two sides. Only the miserable showing of the almost equally dysfunctional Democrats conceals what a poor excuse for a political movement the Republicans have become. By now they can’t even field a credible Presidential candidate. Magic underpants, anyone?

Australia: Another abettor exposed

A senior Catholic official has been called on to stand aside from the board of Daramalan College after revelations he did not report a paedophile priest to law enforcement.

Father Jim Littleton, who sits on the board of Daramalan College, failed to alert police to child abuse allegations involving Melbourne parish priest Peter Chalk in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Fairfax has uncovered evidence that police conducted a secret bugging operation of a meeting between Chalk’s victims and Father Brian Gallagher from Chalk’s order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) in 1994.

During the meeting, victims learned that Father Littleton and other senior figures in the order were aware of the allegations for years but did not tell police.

SMH

Afghanistan: Taliban kill three more NZ soldiers

Three New Zealand soldiers serving with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan have been killed after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

The incident happened in the northeast of Bamyan province about 9.20am on Sunday (local time), the New Zealand Defence Force said.

The last vehicle in a convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, northwest of Do Abe, on the road to Romero.

SMH

Yemen: 20 dead in attack by Islamic terrorists

Suspected al-Qaeda militants have attacked the intelligence headquarters of Yemen’s southern city of Aden, killing at least 20 people.

The attack on Saturday in the heart of the port city of Aden, underscored al-Qaeda’s ability to launch deadly strikes despite a two-month Yemeni military offensive.

The strikes by Yemeni government forces are backed by the US and this year dislodged militants who had taken over a string of southern towns near Aden.

via Sky News