~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-fortlaudstad16sep16,0,3324399.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla
Orioles ask Broward for $30 million toward stadium
Fort Lauderdale, state also being asked to contribute to project.
By Sarah Talalay
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 16, 2006
In their quest for public dollars to overhaul Fort Lauderdale Stadium, theBaltimore Orioles are proposing Broward County kick in $1 million annuallyfor 30 years, with the city, state and team covering the rest of the proposed $38 million project.
County officials said they are willing to consider the request to use $1 million annually in county hotel bed tax dollars at their Sept. 26 meeting.
The project would overhaul the stadium, level neighboring Lockhart Stadiumand add baseball diamonds and soccer fields to the overall site. The stadiumwould include 7,000 fixed seats and berms with room for 2,000 more fans. Thecomplex would accommodate community events and high school football gamescurrently played at Lockhart.
"I don't have a position on it yet myself," Broward Mayor Ben Graber said Friday. "I'm willing to listen to the debate and the argument."
=
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-gov1606sep16,0,3358505.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state
ELECTION 2006
Pick for ticket breaks with white-male history
Daryl Jones would be the 1st black lieutenant governor in Florida if elected.
Mark Hollis
Tallahassee Bureau
September 16, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- The path to the Governor's Mansion has been forged by a longtrail of wealthy white men.
Oil paintings of former governors that hang on the first-floor walls of thestate Capitol tell the story: captains of business, real-estate tycoons.Nearly all white males, including the current governor, Republican Jeb Bush.
It's history quite familiar to Daryl Jones, a black former state senator whoran unsuccessfully for governor four years ago and who has been selected byDemocrat Jim Davis to be his lieutenant governor running mate on November'sstatewide ballot.
''I certainly carry a responsibility to all Floridians, particularly theminority community which has felt so disenfranchised,'' Jones said shortlyafter being named for the job Thursday.
Jones, 51, raised in segregated Mississippi, would be the first blacklieutenant governor in Florida's history. He and Davis will face Republicangovernor's candidate Charlie Crist and his running mate, Jeff Kottkamp, inthe general election on Nov. 7.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15531311.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
BROWARD SCHOOL BOARD
Eight hopefuls set sights on Carole Andrews' seat
Carole Andrews' resignation from the School Board has set off a scramble for her successor -- short- and long-term.
BY NIRVI SHAH
nshah@MiamiHerald.com
Three people have declared plans to run for the Broward District 1 SchoolBoard seat vacated this week by Carole Andrews. And another five want thejob at least through the election.
Andrews resigned Tuesday, a week after being reelected to her third term,citing health problems.
Outgoing state Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said Friday she will file torun for the seat. In November, Sobel will have reached her term limit aftereight years of representing parts of Pembroke Pines, Hollywood and Davie in state House District 99. Sobel, 60, is a former teacher.
''I think there's a great need to help our schools in Broward County,'' said Sobel, who taught students with disabilities in New York and Boston. ``I'vealways had a passion for education.''
=
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060916&Category=APF&ArtNo=609160511&SectionCat=&Template=printart
Gay Realtors band together for support, profit
By STEPHEN FRATER
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
SARASOTA, Fla.
After reading about a secret society of high-end Realtors, anotherunder-the-radar group of real estate industry professionals decided to telltheir story publicly.
The Sarasota-based group is called "Green," an acronym for the "Gay RealEstate Executive Network." Its membership, all gay and lesbian, represents ahalf-dozen brokerages.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, a large group of "Greenies" gathered in ahome near Palmer Ranch. Besides Realtors there are mortgage brokers,contractors, home inspectors, painters and even an architect.
The two-year-old association describes itself as a "family-oriented" groupof friends and colleagues who have banded together in a business network tobetter market real estate and related products.
#####
Saturday, September 16, 2006
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST September 16, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500923_pf.html
The ID Chip You Don't Want in Your Passport
By Bruce Schneier
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A21
If you have a passport, now is the time to renew it -- even if it's not set to expire anytime soon. If you don't have a passport and think you might need one, now is the time to get it. In many countries, including the United States, passports will soon be equipped with RFID chips. And you don't want one of these chips in your passport.
RFID stands for "radio-frequency identification." Passports with RFID chips store an electronic copy of the passport information: your name, a digitized picture, etc. And in the future, the chip might store fingerprints or digital visas from various countries.
By itself, this is no problem. But RFID chips don't have to be plugged in to a reader to operate. Like the chips used for automatic toll collection on roads or automatic fare collection on subways, these chips operate via proximity. The risk to you is the possibility of surreptitious access: Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying to steal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.
At first the State Department belittled those risks, but in response to criticism from experts it has implemented some security features. Passports will come with a shielded cover, making it much harder to read the chip when the passport is closed. And there are now access-control and encryption mechanisms, making it much harder for an unauthorized reader to collect, understand and alter the data.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/business/16auto.html?hp&ex=1158465600&en=609b1e69fb73a348&ei=5094&partner=homepage
September 16, 2006
Detroit Flails in Latest Effort to Reinvent Itself
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
DETROIT, Sept. 15 - Detroit is running low on optimism.
Despite insisting all this year that they had solutions to their financial struggles well in hand, both the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group conceded Friday that the steps they had taken were not working and that more bad news was coming in one of the deepest auto industry crises in Detroit's history.
Ford, which has held second place behind G.M. for 70 years, admitted for the first time that it would inevitably be ceding that spot to Toyota because of slumping sales and its decision Friday to close more factories and cut thousands of additional jobs. It also said it did not expect to make a profit in North America until 2009.
At the same time, the Chrysler Group, also pummeled by the decline in sales of big sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, said it would report a loss for this summer of $1.5 billion, more than double what it had originally anticipated.
Its parent, DaimlerChrysler, also signaled that it did not see how to build a subcompact car profitably in North America, forcing it to turn to China or another Asian carmaker to help build one overseas. [Page B4.]
For its part, G.M., which is cutting 30,000 jobs and closing nearly a dozen plants, is set to decide within a month whether it wanted to link with a Japanese and a French auto company, a prospect that has rattled union members as well as state officials where G.M. employees live and work.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501157_pf.html
For Darfur Women, Survival Means Leaving Camp, Risking Rape
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A12
GRAIDA, Sudan, Sept. 15 -- The tall, light-skinned man reeking of sweat and cigarettes often gallops his horse right into the nightmares of Darelsalam Ahmed Eisa, 18. Each time, she said, he throws her to the ground, pushes up her skirt and forces himself inside her while muttering: " Abdah. Abdah. Abdah ."
Slave woman. Slave woman. Slave woman.
He was in her dreams just last night, she recalled, as real and horrifying in his green camouflage uniform as he was the day he raped her two months ago. But when Eisa awoke this morning, there was no time for terror, no time for tears. She covered herself in an orange and blue cloth, grabbed the family's ax and departed for the perilous Darfur countryside, out of the relative safety of a sprawling camp for people displaced by the violence in this region of western Sudan.
In the wilderness, Eisa can find grass for the donkeys and firewood for cooking. But it is also where government-backed militias known as the Janjaweed roam, terrorizing villagers. Violence and disease in Darfur have killed as many as 450,000 people since 2003, and an estimated 2 million have been forced to flee their homes.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-religion-pope-islam.html?ei=5094&en=f6d5c36719c9cf3a&hp=&ex=1158465600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Pope Expresses Regret for Remarks
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:57 a.m. ET
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Muslims on Saturday he was sorry they had found his speech on Islam offensive, expressing his respect for their faith and hoping they would understand the ``true sense'' of his words.
``The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers,'' Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
The statement came amid mounting anger from Muslims over remarks by the Pope in a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that was seen as critical of their faith. Calls for him to apologize had spread beyond the Islamic world.
In that speech, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence. Islamic fury erupted on Thursday and has cast doubt on a visit the Pope plans to Turkey in November.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-religion-pope-iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Iraq Calls for Calm After Pope's Remarks
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:39 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's government called for calm on Saturday in response to remarks by Pope Benedict that have angered Muslims, saying those offended should not take out their anger on the country's small Christian minority.
The door of a church in Basra was attacked overnight, in what appeared to be the first strike in Iraq since the comments.``We call on all those who love God's prophets not to carry out actions that will harm our Christian brothers here,'' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in an interview with Iraqiya state television.
``The Pope's remarks reflect his misunderstanding of the principles of Islam and its teachings that call for forgiveness, compassion and mercy,'' he added.
``There were kings that carried the cross and committed crimes under the cross. But we do not hold Christianity or its followers responsible for these actions because they are the action of individuals.''
The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry if Muslims were offended by the speech he gave on Tuesday, in which he quoted a medieval scholar who said Islam's Prophet Mohammad had brought no good, and Muslims spread their faith by force. A guard at the church in Basra said unidentified assailants struck the door with either knives or an axe.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/us/16bush.html?pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
The President
Bush Says G.O.P. Rebels Are Putting Nation at Risk
Link to chart showing differences in proposals:
<http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/09/15/washington/16bush_graphic.gif>
By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - President Bush made an impassioned defense on Friday of his proposed rules for the interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects, warning that the nation's ability to defend itself would be undermined if rebellious Republicans in the Senate did not come around to his position.
Speaking at a late-morning news conference in the Rose Garden, Mr. Bush said he would have no choice but to end a C.I.A. program for the interrogation of high-level terrorism suspects if Congress passed an alternate set of rules supported by a group of Senate Republicans.
Those alternate rules were adopted Thursday by the Senate Armed Services Committee in defiance of Mr. Bush. Setting out what he suggested could be dire consequences if that bill became law, Mr. Bush said intelligence officers - he referred to them repeatedly as "professionals" - would no longer be willing and able to conduct interrogations out of concern that the vague standard for acceptable techniques could leave them vulnerable to legal action.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401649_pf.html
Senate Candidate Speaks of Life, Faith
Pa.'s Casey, Hoping to Oust Santorum, Defends Role of Religion in Politics
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006; A03
Robert P. Casey Jr., the Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in one of the country's hottest election campaigns, told a largely Roman Catholic audience yesterday that in his view, "neither party has gotten it right when it comes to life issues."
Casey, a lifelong Catholic who opposes abortion, is the second high-profile
Democrat who has recently given a major address defending the place of religion in politics. In June, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) criticized "liberals who dismiss religion in the public square as inherently irrational or intolerant."
Since the 2004 presidential election, in which voters who attend church weekly voted 2 to 1 for President Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Democrats have sought to close what some call the "God gap" in U.S. politics.
Casey's candidacy is viewed by Democratic strategists not only as one of the party's best opportunities to pick up a Senate seat, but also as an illustration of its growing inclusion of politicians who oppose abortion and of its desire to reach out to religiously motivated voters.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501252.html
Behind the Debate, Controversial CIA Techniques
Interrogation Options Seen as Vital
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A03
President Bush's push this week for legislation that narrowly defines U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions is motivated by his aides' conviction that the CIA must continue using a small number of highly controversial interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, according to current and former U.S. officials. These methods include some that cause extreme discomfort and have been repudiated by other federal agencies.
The nature and legitimacy of these coercive techniques is the largely unpublicized subtext of the legislative dispute that has erupted between the administration and its opponents on Capitol Hill, including lawmakers from both parties who have said privately that they find some of the CIA's past interrogation methods abhorrent.
On the surface, Bush's proposal requires that interrogations in the previously secret CIA prison system comply with legal rules written by Congress last year. Privately, the administration has concluded that doing so would allow the CIA to keep using virtually all the interrogation methods it has employed for the past five years, the officials said.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-hlpsvekis16sep16,0,2512674.column?coll=sfl-consumer-helpteam
Wipe those hard-drives clean
Steve Svekis
Here's the deal
September 16, 2006
Pompano Beach's Cherie Dangerfield sent along an interesting e-mail. Thecrux of it: "I'm hoping you can help me with information about donating acomputer to charity. I am concerned about the personal information currentlystored on the hard drive, and want to find a method for clearing the files."
The safest route involves not donating your hard drive, instead physicallydestroying it or storing it in your home.
Of course, most of us don't want to be storing anything that we don't need.So, how much risk is there to "wiping" the hard drive clean and sending thewhole unit on its way to a recycler?
Representatives from companies savvy on the workings of the computer's inner sanctum all told me that, if employed properly, a reliable wiping program -- Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is a popular free program(http://dban.sourceforge.net) -- can protect you from all but the mostskilled and deep-pocketed thief.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15533906.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
PARTIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Life and hope, or a fate worse than death?
BY ELLEN GOODMAN
ellengoodman@globe.com
Of all the headlines on the story, this one took the prize for provocation:Woman in Vegetative State Plays Tennis in Her Head. I suppose this is whathappens when science throws up a startling piece of new research and themedia slams it into the court of public opinion.
In Britain, researchers have reported that a totally unresponsive23-year-old woman showed signs of awareness on a brain-imaging test. Whenasked to imagine playing tennis, her brain lit up the same neural pathwaysas a healthy brain. When asked to imagine walking through her house, the MRIrevealed changes in specific brain regions that mimicked healthy people.
The exuberant lead researcher, Adrian Owen, said the results ''confirmedbeyond any doubt that she was consciously aware of herself and hersurroundings.'' torial in Science magazine, where the research waspublished, was quick to warn that this case is nothing like that of TerriSchiavo. The British woman has something Terri did not have: a cortex. Shesuffered an injury, not a lack of oxygen. She was in her unresponsivecondition for five months, not 15 years. She was not in a persistentvegetative state.
#####
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500923_pf.html
The ID Chip You Don't Want in Your Passport
By Bruce Schneier
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A21
If you have a passport, now is the time to renew it -- even if it's not set to expire anytime soon. If you don't have a passport and think you might need one, now is the time to get it. In many countries, including the United States, passports will soon be equipped with RFID chips. And you don't want one of these chips in your passport.
RFID stands for "radio-frequency identification." Passports with RFID chips store an electronic copy of the passport information: your name, a digitized picture, etc. And in the future, the chip might store fingerprints or digital visas from various countries.
By itself, this is no problem. But RFID chips don't have to be plugged in to a reader to operate. Like the chips used for automatic toll collection on roads or automatic fare collection on subways, these chips operate via proximity. The risk to you is the possibility of surreptitious access: Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying to steal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.
At first the State Department belittled those risks, but in response to criticism from experts it has implemented some security features. Passports will come with a shielded cover, making it much harder to read the chip when the passport is closed. And there are now access-control and encryption mechanisms, making it much harder for an unauthorized reader to collect, understand and alter the data.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/business/16auto.html?hp&ex=1158465600&en=609b1e69fb73a348&ei=5094&partner=homepage
September 16, 2006
Detroit Flails in Latest Effort to Reinvent Itself
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
DETROIT, Sept. 15 - Detroit is running low on optimism.
Despite insisting all this year that they had solutions to their financial struggles well in hand, both the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group conceded Friday that the steps they had taken were not working and that more bad news was coming in one of the deepest auto industry crises in Detroit's history.
Ford, which has held second place behind G.M. for 70 years, admitted for the first time that it would inevitably be ceding that spot to Toyota because of slumping sales and its decision Friday to close more factories and cut thousands of additional jobs. It also said it did not expect to make a profit in North America until 2009.
At the same time, the Chrysler Group, also pummeled by the decline in sales of big sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, said it would report a loss for this summer of $1.5 billion, more than double what it had originally anticipated.
Its parent, DaimlerChrysler, also signaled that it did not see how to build a subcompact car profitably in North America, forcing it to turn to China or another Asian carmaker to help build one overseas. [Page B4.]
For its part, G.M., which is cutting 30,000 jobs and closing nearly a dozen plants, is set to decide within a month whether it wanted to link with a Japanese and a French auto company, a prospect that has rattled union members as well as state officials where G.M. employees live and work.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501157_pf.html
For Darfur Women, Survival Means Leaving Camp, Risking Rape
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A12
GRAIDA, Sudan, Sept. 15 -- The tall, light-skinned man reeking of sweat and cigarettes often gallops his horse right into the nightmares of Darelsalam Ahmed Eisa, 18. Each time, she said, he throws her to the ground, pushes up her skirt and forces himself inside her while muttering: " Abdah. Abdah. Abdah ."
Slave woman. Slave woman. Slave woman.
He was in her dreams just last night, she recalled, as real and horrifying in his green camouflage uniform as he was the day he raped her two months ago. But when Eisa awoke this morning, there was no time for terror, no time for tears. She covered herself in an orange and blue cloth, grabbed the family's ax and departed for the perilous Darfur countryside, out of the relative safety of a sprawling camp for people displaced by the violence in this region of western Sudan.
In the wilderness, Eisa can find grass for the donkeys and firewood for cooking. But it is also where government-backed militias known as the Janjaweed roam, terrorizing villagers. Violence and disease in Darfur have killed as many as 450,000 people since 2003, and an estimated 2 million have been forced to flee their homes.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-religion-pope-islam.html?ei=5094&en=f6d5c36719c9cf3a&hp=&ex=1158465600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Pope Expresses Regret for Remarks
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:57 a.m. ET
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Muslims on Saturday he was sorry they had found his speech on Islam offensive, expressing his respect for their faith and hoping they would understand the ``true sense'' of his words.
``The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers,'' Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
The statement came amid mounting anger from Muslims over remarks by the Pope in a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that was seen as critical of their faith. Calls for him to apologize had spread beyond the Islamic world.
In that speech, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence. Islamic fury erupted on Thursday and has cast doubt on a visit the Pope plans to Turkey in November.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-religion-pope-iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Iraq Calls for Calm After Pope's Remarks
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:39 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's government called for calm on Saturday in response to remarks by Pope Benedict that have angered Muslims, saying those offended should not take out their anger on the country's small Christian minority.
The door of a church in Basra was attacked overnight, in what appeared to be the first strike in Iraq since the comments.``We call on all those who love God's prophets not to carry out actions that will harm our Christian brothers here,'' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in an interview with Iraqiya state television.
``The Pope's remarks reflect his misunderstanding of the principles of Islam and its teachings that call for forgiveness, compassion and mercy,'' he added.
``There were kings that carried the cross and committed crimes under the cross. But we do not hold Christianity or its followers responsible for these actions because they are the action of individuals.''
The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry if Muslims were offended by the speech he gave on Tuesday, in which he quoted a medieval scholar who said Islam's Prophet Mohammad had brought no good, and Muslims spread their faith by force. A guard at the church in Basra said unidentified assailants struck the door with either knives or an axe.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/us/16bush.html?pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
The President
Bush Says G.O.P. Rebels Are Putting Nation at Risk
Link to chart showing differences in proposals:
<http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/09/15/washington/16bush_graphic.gif>
By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - President Bush made an impassioned defense on Friday of his proposed rules for the interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects, warning that the nation's ability to defend itself would be undermined if rebellious Republicans in the Senate did not come around to his position.
Speaking at a late-morning news conference in the Rose Garden, Mr. Bush said he would have no choice but to end a C.I.A. program for the interrogation of high-level terrorism suspects if Congress passed an alternate set of rules supported by a group of Senate Republicans.
Those alternate rules were adopted Thursday by the Senate Armed Services Committee in defiance of Mr. Bush. Setting out what he suggested could be dire consequences if that bill became law, Mr. Bush said intelligence officers - he referred to them repeatedly as "professionals" - would no longer be willing and able to conduct interrogations out of concern that the vague standard for acceptable techniques could leave them vulnerable to legal action.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401649_pf.html
Senate Candidate Speaks of Life, Faith
Pa.'s Casey, Hoping to Oust Santorum, Defends Role of Religion in Politics
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006; A03
Robert P. Casey Jr., the Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in one of the country's hottest election campaigns, told a largely Roman Catholic audience yesterday that in his view, "neither party has gotten it right when it comes to life issues."
Casey, a lifelong Catholic who opposes abortion, is the second high-profile
Democrat who has recently given a major address defending the place of religion in politics. In June, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) criticized "liberals who dismiss religion in the public square as inherently irrational or intolerant."
Since the 2004 presidential election, in which voters who attend church weekly voted 2 to 1 for President Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Democrats have sought to close what some call the "God gap" in U.S. politics.
Casey's candidacy is viewed by Democratic strategists not only as one of the party's best opportunities to pick up a Senate seat, but also as an illustration of its growing inclusion of politicians who oppose abortion and of its desire to reach out to religiously motivated voters.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501252.html
Behind the Debate, Controversial CIA Techniques
Interrogation Options Seen as Vital
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 16, 2006; A03
President Bush's push this week for legislation that narrowly defines U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions is motivated by his aides' conviction that the CIA must continue using a small number of highly controversial interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, according to current and former U.S. officials. These methods include some that cause extreme discomfort and have been repudiated by other federal agencies.
The nature and legitimacy of these coercive techniques is the largely unpublicized subtext of the legislative dispute that has erupted between the administration and its opponents on Capitol Hill, including lawmakers from both parties who have said privately that they find some of the CIA's past interrogation methods abhorrent.
On the surface, Bush's proposal requires that interrogations in the previously secret CIA prison system comply with legal rules written by Congress last year. Privately, the administration has concluded that doing so would allow the CIA to keep using virtually all the interrogation methods it has employed for the past five years, the officials said.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-hlpsvekis16sep16,0,2512674.column?coll=sfl-consumer-helpteam
Wipe those hard-drives clean
Steve Svekis
Here's the deal
September 16, 2006
Pompano Beach's Cherie Dangerfield sent along an interesting e-mail. Thecrux of it: "I'm hoping you can help me with information about donating acomputer to charity. I am concerned about the personal information currentlystored on the hard drive, and want to find a method for clearing the files."
The safest route involves not donating your hard drive, instead physicallydestroying it or storing it in your home.
Of course, most of us don't want to be storing anything that we don't need.So, how much risk is there to "wiping" the hard drive clean and sending thewhole unit on its way to a recycler?
Representatives from companies savvy on the workings of the computer's inner sanctum all told me that, if employed properly, a reliable wiping program -- Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is a popular free program(http://dban.sourceforge.net) -- can protect you from all but the mostskilled and deep-pocketed thief.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15533906.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
PARTIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Life and hope, or a fate worse than death?
BY ELLEN GOODMAN
ellengoodman@globe.com
Of all the headlines on the story, this one took the prize for provocation:Woman in Vegetative State Plays Tennis in Her Head. I suppose this is whathappens when science throws up a startling piece of new research and themedia slams it into the court of public opinion.
In Britain, researchers have reported that a totally unresponsive23-year-old woman showed signs of awareness on a brain-imaging test. Whenasked to imagine playing tennis, her brain lit up the same neural pathwaysas a healthy brain. When asked to imagine walking through her house, the MRIrevealed changes in specific brain regions that mimicked healthy people.
The exuberant lead researcher, Adrian Owen, said the results ''confirmedbeyond any doubt that she was consciously aware of herself and hersurroundings.'' torial in Science magazine, where the research waspublished, was quick to warn that this case is nothing like that of TerriSchiavo. The British woman has something Terri did not have: a cortex. Shesuffered an injury, not a lack of oxygen. She was in her unresponsivecondition for five months, not 15 years. She was not in a persistentvegetative state.
#####
GLBT DIGEST - September 16, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36511.asp
09/16/06-09/18/06
Lambda Legal comes to defense of gay man denied fertility services
A gay man denied fertility treatments because of his sexual orientationfiled a complaint with the Human Relations Board of Orlando, Fla., onThursday.
Dennis Barros, an Orlando veterinarian, and his partner planned on having a
child with a surrogate mother who agreed to carry an implanted egg. To goforth with the procedure, the men sought fertility services with FrankRiggall, MD, who at first agreed to help the men but then told Barros andhis partner that the procedure would breach U.S. Food and DrugAdministration guidelines.
The FDA does not bar gay men from being sperm donors; they only recommendnot allowing anonymous donors who have had sex with men in the last fiveyears. This restriction does not include "directed donors," which are menwho donate to a consenting woman, as was Barros's case.
"Dr. Barros was denied services not because of any real medical risk butsolely because of his sexual orientation," said Gregory Nevins, senior staffattorney for Lambda Legal, the gay legal advocacy group working on Barros'sbehalf, in a statement. "The FDA's recommendations against sperm donation bymen who have sex with men are scientifically unfounded; furthermore, theyare clearly not applicable in this case." (The Advocate)
=
The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36508.asp
Indiana club cancels performance of homophobic reggae singer
A performance by gay-hating singer Buju Banton that was scheduled to takeplace September 14 at Bloomington, Ind.'s Blue Bird Club was canceled amidprotests by angry gay activists, according to Chicago's Gay LiberationNetwork.
On Wednesday, September 13, activists protested outside a Chicago House ofBlues in advance of a Banton performance there that night. When the managerof the Blue Bird Club became aware of the House of Blues protest and thecommunity's anger over the reggae singer's performances, he canceledThursday night's show at his club.
Morgan Tilleman of the Hoosier Rights Campagin reported that upon Thursday'scanceled performance, gays and their supporters swamped the club to showtheir appreciation for the Blue Bird management.
Banton, along with other reggae entertainers like Beenie Man and Sizzla,advocate the death of gays in many of their lyrics. In Banon's song "BoomBye Bye," Banton urges people to shoot gay men in the head, pour acid over them, and bury them alive. (The Advocate)
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/world/asia/16india.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Notables Urge India to End 145-Year Ban on Gay Sex
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
NEW DELHI, Sept. 15 - A British-era relic is facing a new challenge inIndia, as a growing citizens' movement rallies against a 145-year-old lawstill embedded in the Indian penal code that bans gay sex.
On Saturday an open letter to the government will be officially unveiled,calling for the repeal of what is known by its official moniker, Section377, which makes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man,woman or animal" punishable by 10 years in prison.
The letter is signed by an eclectic list of Indian writers, filmmakers,lawyers and other luminaries, including the author Vikram Seth, the actressSoha Ali Khan and a former attorney general of the Hindu-nationalistBharatiya Janata Party-led government, Soli Sorabjee.
"In independent India, as earlier, this archaic and brutal law has served nogood purpose," the letter argues. "It has been used to systematicallypersecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorize sexual minorities. It has spawnedpublic intolerance and abuse, forcing tens of millions of gay and bisexualmen and women to live in fear and secrecy, at tragic cost to themselves andtheir families."
The letter comes less than two months after a similar plea from thegovernment AIDS agency. In an affidavit to the Delhi High Court calling fora repeal of the law, the National AIDS Control Agency argued in late Julythat Section 377 poses a public health risk by driving gay men undergroundand impeding efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS.
=
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36500.asp
The Advocate
Same-sex marriage not that big an issue for many Americans
A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about PresidentBush, the nation's direction, and the upcoming election included a questionabout the issue of same-sex marriage. The poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, was based on telephone interviews with 1,501 adults, including1,215 registered voters and 661 likely voters, from all states except Alaskaand Hawaii.
When asked how important the issue of same-sex marriage is to them, 22% ofrespondents said it was "extremely important," 15% said it was "veryimportant," 15% said it was "moderately important," 11% said it was only"slightly important," and 36% said it wasn't important "at all." Only 1% of respondents were "not sure."
The poll also asked if, generally speaking, the respondents would say thingsin this country are heading in the right direction or are they off on thewrong track. Thirty-three percent said they thought the country was headingin the "right direction," 63% said it was on the "wrong track," and only 4% were "not sure."
=
The Advocate
I hate being gay
This Washington State teen faces a daily battle between the sexualattraction he feels for other men and his religious convictions that tellhim being gay is against God's word.
By Kyle Rice
An Advocate.com exclusive posted September 15, 2006
In late July the Washington State supreme court upheld a law that limitsmarriage to heterosexual couples. As a gay 19-year-old in Longview, Wash.,my delight with that ruling is probably surprising. However, I'm not youraverage gay person-I'm also a Christian who views living a gay lifestyle asagainst God's word.
And because of my religious beliefs, I hate the fact that I am gay.
About the time I was 12 years old, it became clear to me that I was sexuallyattracted to guys. I assumed these feelings would go away as I got older.People choose to be gay, right? I didn't choose this, so I figured it wouldpass. But it didn't. By age 15 I had my first boyfriend.
At about that time I started to attend a Pentecostal church. I began readingthe Bible, including its many different and powerful passages condemninghomosexual activity. I knew in my heart that being gay was wrong in God'seyes. I decided to devote myself to living a God-filled life and knew I needed to stop being gay so that I could stop being attracted to guys.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/15524518.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
The Miami Herald
Posted on Sat, Sep. 16, 2006
GAY ISSUES
This time they'll go to the prom
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Lynn Bové didn't attend her senior prom when she graduated in 1986 from Miami Beach Senior High. ''I was asked by a guy, but I never went,'' shesaid. ``I was in a new school. I didn't like the guy who asked me. And I wasgay. And the girl I wanted to go with was straight.''
Tonight, 20 years later, Bové will at last go to the prom. And her date'sname is Claudia Perez.
Bové, her pal Perez and several hundred other gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender folks from around South Florida will dress up and dance thenight away at the inaugural GLBT Adult Prom at the JW Marriott Hotel onBrickell Avenue.
''My friend never went to her prom, either, so we're whooping it up,'' saidBové, 37, of icandee productions, which produces lesbian-oriented events.``I'm going to go in a dress and my friend is going to go in a suit. I'mshowing all legs -- my best asset. This is a night to definitely dress up.It will be funny if someone comes in in one of those T-shirts like a tuxedo. Remember those?''
Many gay teens now hold their own proms to celebrate the end of high school. But until a decade or so ago, that just wasn't done. ''Wow, what courage to be able to be out,'' said Bové, who is co-chairingthe event with Miami Beach protocol chief Michael Aller, 67. ``This prom is a celebration of that change. Look how far we've come!''
Many of today's gay teens, however, don't feel comfortable expressing their true selves, Bové said.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
3 religious groups back gay rights
Ballot measure would grant status similar to marriage
Darin McGregor
Rocky Mountain New
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_4994041,00.html
September 15, 2006
Three state religious organizations endorsed a ballot measure Thursday that would grant gay couples many of the legal rights and responsibilities ofmarried couples.
Among the groups backing Referendum I is the Colorado Council of Churches.It is the largest Christian coalition in the state, representing a dozenProtestant denominations and close to 1,000 churches, including the UnitedMethodists, American Baptists and the United Church of Christ, according toCouncil executive the Rev. Jim Ryan.
The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado and Colorado Clergy for Equality inMarriage, representing about 200 clergy statewide, also announced supportfor Referendum I during a news conference on the steps of the Denver City and County Building.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New Bisexual Women's Anthology
Email: heather@heathercassell.com
Please forward this to anyone whom you believe would be interested in writing for this anthology.
Hi!
I'm in the process of having a proposal for a bisexual women's anthology ofpersonal essays accepted by a well known women's publisher. At this point,my editor is requesting a list of names of people who might be interested inwriting an essay and which section their interested in writing a piece forthis anthology. I would like to get this list to my editor early or mid-weeknext week, so please submit your name and the section you are interested inwriting a piece for by, Tuesday, September 19, 2006.
The style and tone of this anthology is intelligent, hip and sassy firstperson narrative essays by a diverse community - ethnically, educationally,and socioeconomically - of bisexual women in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s whoare unapologetic about our sexuality and how we live our lives. It willaddress: coming out; dating and sex; relationships, family and partnerships;education and work; community and politics; and media, image, and the futureof the bisexual movement.
Please see below the subject areas that are currently being proposed to becovered:
Contact us at rays.list@comcast.net if you would like the full article.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Examining the state of gay unions
By Anne Rostow - Contributing Writer
Sep 14, 2006, 18:50
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/printer_3349.php
It has been 10 years since the battle for gay marriage began in earnest in Hawaii. Where do we stand today?
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you.
And then you win."
The quote is from Mahatma Gandhi, but it's been borrowed many times by theleaders in the fight for marriage equality.
Today, 10 years since the issue entered the national consciousness for thefirst time, we are most definitely in the middle of phase three.
Will phase four follow? Yes. When? That's the hard question.
Ten years ago, lawyers from Lambda Legal Defense were poised to win abreakthrough same-sex marriage ruling in Hawaii. The case had developedunder the news radar, but by that summer, its implications had finally drawnthe attention of the U.S. Congress. In July, the Senate began debate on theDefense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and the measure was signed into law in thedead of night by President Bill Clinton on Sept. 21.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/15533890.htm
SPAIN
AIR FORCE PRIVATES' GAY WEDDING A FIRST
SEVILLE -- Two male air force privates were to wed in a ceremony in southern Spain on Friday, the first known marriage of two military servicemen sincethe once-conservative Catholic country's legalization of gay marriage.
Some members of the military may not be happy about the union, but theDefense Ministry has said it considers the wedding apersonal matter and the men will be allowed to continue with their careers.It had no comment Friday on the pending nuptials.
=
Forwarded from Steve Rothaus
srothaus@rothaus.net
http://www.afterelton.com/people/2006/9/roberts.html
Life as an Openly Gay Journalist: CNN's Thomas Roberts
by Christie Keith, September 15, 2006
Rumors that CNN's Thomas Roberts had come out at the National Lesbian andGay Journalists Association conference in Florida last week must have seemeda little puzzling to the Headline News anchor. While Roberts did appear on apanel called "Off Camera: The Challenges for LGBT TV Anchors," it was reallyonly the most recent stage in a seven-year coming out process.
Roberts first came out as a gay journalist to co-workers at NBC affiliateWAVY-TV in Norfolk, VA, in 1999. In an exclusive interview withAfterElton.com, he described those first steps out of the closet: "It'spainful to open up and trust people with something I was guarding witheverything I had. (but) most of my fears have been put aside because of the kindness of the people I work with."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thanhniennews.com/worlds/?catid=9&newsid=20056
Thanh Nien News | World / Region | Japan city's move to change pro-gay law draws ire
Japan city's move to change pro-gay law draws ire
Homosexuality is still widely regarded unnatural
A Japanese city's plan to amend a precedent-setting local law on genderequality and discrimination against homosexuals has set off protests byactivists who say the law is being watered down.
The plan coincides with growing concern among conservatives about abreakdown in traditional values, worries that prompted the government toinclude a caveat against trying to erase all sex-based differences in agender equality plan last year.
The local assembly in Miyakonojo, a city of 171,000 some 900 km (560 miles)southwest of Tokyo, this week began debating a revision to a 2003 city lawthat explicitly bans discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.
Proposed changes to the law, called the "Law for a Gender Equal Society",would revise a sentence that reads: "In a gender-equal society, human rightsshould be respected for all people regardless of gender or sexualorientation."
The new phrasing would be: "In a gender-equal society, human rights should be respected for all people."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pridesource.com/digestarticle.shtml?article=20211
Between The Lines Newspaper
From issue number 1437
Return to PrideSource
House passes bills allowing adoption agencies to practice religious, gay discrimination
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
Originally printed 9/14/2006
LANSING - Sixty-nine members of Michigan's House of Representatives believethat state adoption agencies ought to be allowed to practice religious-baseddiscrimination against prospective adoptive parents, including same-sexparents.
Last week, the State House - in a 69-37 vote - approved House Bills 5908 and5909.
If passed into law, the bills would allow faith-based adoption agencies todiscriminate against same-sex parents if they have a "written religiousmoral conviction or policy" against homosexuality.
#####
The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36511.asp
09/16/06-09/18/06
Lambda Legal comes to defense of gay man denied fertility services
A gay man denied fertility treatments because of his sexual orientationfiled a complaint with the Human Relations Board of Orlando, Fla., onThursday.
Dennis Barros, an Orlando veterinarian, and his partner planned on having a
child with a surrogate mother who agreed to carry an implanted egg. To goforth with the procedure, the men sought fertility services with FrankRiggall, MD, who at first agreed to help the men but then told Barros andhis partner that the procedure would breach U.S. Food and DrugAdministration guidelines.
The FDA does not bar gay men from being sperm donors; they only recommendnot allowing anonymous donors who have had sex with men in the last fiveyears. This restriction does not include "directed donors," which are menwho donate to a consenting woman, as was Barros's case.
"Dr. Barros was denied services not because of any real medical risk butsolely because of his sexual orientation," said Gregory Nevins, senior staffattorney for Lambda Legal, the gay legal advocacy group working on Barros'sbehalf, in a statement. "The FDA's recommendations against sperm donation bymen who have sex with men are scientifically unfounded; furthermore, theyare clearly not applicable in this case." (The Advocate)
=
The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36508.asp
Indiana club cancels performance of homophobic reggae singer
A performance by gay-hating singer Buju Banton that was scheduled to takeplace September 14 at Bloomington, Ind.'s Blue Bird Club was canceled amidprotests by angry gay activists, according to Chicago's Gay LiberationNetwork.
On Wednesday, September 13, activists protested outside a Chicago House ofBlues in advance of a Banton performance there that night. When the managerof the Blue Bird Club became aware of the House of Blues protest and thecommunity's anger over the reggae singer's performances, he canceledThursday night's show at his club.
Morgan Tilleman of the Hoosier Rights Campagin reported that upon Thursday'scanceled performance, gays and their supporters swamped the club to showtheir appreciation for the Blue Bird management.
Banton, along with other reggae entertainers like Beenie Man and Sizzla,advocate the death of gays in many of their lyrics. In Banon's song "BoomBye Bye," Banton urges people to shoot gay men in the head, pour acid over them, and bury them alive. (The Advocate)
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/world/asia/16india.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 16, 2006
Notables Urge India to End 145-Year Ban on Gay Sex
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
NEW DELHI, Sept. 15 - A British-era relic is facing a new challenge inIndia, as a growing citizens' movement rallies against a 145-year-old lawstill embedded in the Indian penal code that bans gay sex.
On Saturday an open letter to the government will be officially unveiled,calling for the repeal of what is known by its official moniker, Section377, which makes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man,woman or animal" punishable by 10 years in prison.
The letter is signed by an eclectic list of Indian writers, filmmakers,lawyers and other luminaries, including the author Vikram Seth, the actressSoha Ali Khan and a former attorney general of the Hindu-nationalistBharatiya Janata Party-led government, Soli Sorabjee.
"In independent India, as earlier, this archaic and brutal law has served nogood purpose," the letter argues. "It has been used to systematicallypersecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorize sexual minorities. It has spawnedpublic intolerance and abuse, forcing tens of millions of gay and bisexualmen and women to live in fear and secrecy, at tragic cost to themselves andtheir families."
The letter comes less than two months after a similar plea from thegovernment AIDS agency. In an affidavit to the Delhi High Court calling fora repeal of the law, the National AIDS Control Agency argued in late Julythat Section 377 poses a public health risk by driving gay men undergroundand impeding efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS.
=
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36500.asp
The Advocate
Same-sex marriage not that big an issue for many Americans
A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about PresidentBush, the nation's direction, and the upcoming election included a questionabout the issue of same-sex marriage. The poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, was based on telephone interviews with 1,501 adults, including1,215 registered voters and 661 likely voters, from all states except Alaskaand Hawaii.
When asked how important the issue of same-sex marriage is to them, 22% ofrespondents said it was "extremely important," 15% said it was "veryimportant," 15% said it was "moderately important," 11% said it was only"slightly important," and 36% said it wasn't important "at all." Only 1% of respondents were "not sure."
The poll also asked if, generally speaking, the respondents would say thingsin this country are heading in the right direction or are they off on thewrong track. Thirty-three percent said they thought the country was headingin the "right direction," 63% said it was on the "wrong track," and only 4% were "not sure."
=
The Advocate
I hate being gay
This Washington State teen faces a daily battle between the sexualattraction he feels for other men and his religious convictions that tellhim being gay is against God's word.
By Kyle Rice
An Advocate.com exclusive posted September 15, 2006
In late July the Washington State supreme court upheld a law that limitsmarriage to heterosexual couples. As a gay 19-year-old in Longview, Wash.,my delight with that ruling is probably surprising. However, I'm not youraverage gay person-I'm also a Christian who views living a gay lifestyle asagainst God's word.
And because of my religious beliefs, I hate the fact that I am gay.
About the time I was 12 years old, it became clear to me that I was sexuallyattracted to guys. I assumed these feelings would go away as I got older.People choose to be gay, right? I didn't choose this, so I figured it wouldpass. But it didn't. By age 15 I had my first boyfriend.
At about that time I started to attend a Pentecostal church. I began readingthe Bible, including its many different and powerful passages condemninghomosexual activity. I knew in my heart that being gay was wrong in God'seyes. I decided to devote myself to living a God-filled life and knew I needed to stop being gay so that I could stop being attracted to guys.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/15524518.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
The Miami Herald
Posted on Sat, Sep. 16, 2006
GAY ISSUES
This time they'll go to the prom
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Lynn Bové didn't attend her senior prom when she graduated in 1986 from Miami Beach Senior High. ''I was asked by a guy, but I never went,'' shesaid. ``I was in a new school. I didn't like the guy who asked me. And I wasgay. And the girl I wanted to go with was straight.''
Tonight, 20 years later, Bové will at last go to the prom. And her date'sname is Claudia Perez.
Bové, her pal Perez and several hundred other gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender folks from around South Florida will dress up and dance thenight away at the inaugural GLBT Adult Prom at the JW Marriott Hotel onBrickell Avenue.
''My friend never went to her prom, either, so we're whooping it up,'' saidBové, 37, of icandee productions, which produces lesbian-oriented events.``I'm going to go in a dress and my friend is going to go in a suit. I'mshowing all legs -- my best asset. This is a night to definitely dress up.It will be funny if someone comes in in one of those T-shirts like a tuxedo. Remember those?''
Many gay teens now hold their own proms to celebrate the end of high school. But until a decade or so ago, that just wasn't done. ''Wow, what courage to be able to be out,'' said Bové, who is co-chairingthe event with Miami Beach protocol chief Michael Aller, 67. ``This prom is a celebration of that change. Look how far we've come!''
Many of today's gay teens, however, don't feel comfortable expressing their true selves, Bové said.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
3 religious groups back gay rights
Ballot measure would grant status similar to marriage
Darin McGregor
Rocky Mountain New
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_4994041,00.html
September 15, 2006
Three state religious organizations endorsed a ballot measure Thursday that would grant gay couples many of the legal rights and responsibilities ofmarried couples.
Among the groups backing Referendum I is the Colorado Council of Churches.It is the largest Christian coalition in the state, representing a dozenProtestant denominations and close to 1,000 churches, including the UnitedMethodists, American Baptists and the United Church of Christ, according toCouncil executive the Rev. Jim Ryan.
The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado and Colorado Clergy for Equality inMarriage, representing about 200 clergy statewide, also announced supportfor Referendum I during a news conference on the steps of the Denver City and County Building.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New Bisexual Women's Anthology
Email: heather@heathercassell.com
Please forward this to anyone whom you believe would be interested in writing for this anthology.
Hi!
I'm in the process of having a proposal for a bisexual women's anthology ofpersonal essays accepted by a well known women's publisher. At this point,my editor is requesting a list of names of people who might be interested inwriting an essay and which section their interested in writing a piece forthis anthology. I would like to get this list to my editor early or mid-weeknext week, so please submit your name and the section you are interested inwriting a piece for by, Tuesday, September 19, 2006.
The style and tone of this anthology is intelligent, hip and sassy firstperson narrative essays by a diverse community - ethnically, educationally,and socioeconomically - of bisexual women in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s whoare unapologetic about our sexuality and how we live our lives. It willaddress: coming out; dating and sex; relationships, family and partnerships;education and work; community and politics; and media, image, and the futureof the bisexual movement.
Please see below the subject areas that are currently being proposed to becovered:
Contact us at rays.list@comcast.net if you would like the full article.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Examining the state of gay unions
By Anne Rostow - Contributing Writer
Sep 14, 2006, 18:50
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/printer_3349.php
It has been 10 years since the battle for gay marriage began in earnest in Hawaii. Where do we stand today?
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you.
And then you win."
The quote is from Mahatma Gandhi, but it's been borrowed many times by theleaders in the fight for marriage equality.
Today, 10 years since the issue entered the national consciousness for thefirst time, we are most definitely in the middle of phase three.
Will phase four follow? Yes. When? That's the hard question.
Ten years ago, lawyers from Lambda Legal Defense were poised to win abreakthrough same-sex marriage ruling in Hawaii. The case had developedunder the news radar, but by that summer, its implications had finally drawnthe attention of the U.S. Congress. In July, the Senate began debate on theDefense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and the measure was signed into law in thedead of night by President Bill Clinton on Sept. 21.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/15533890.htm
SPAIN
AIR FORCE PRIVATES' GAY WEDDING A FIRST
SEVILLE -- Two male air force privates were to wed in a ceremony in southern Spain on Friday, the first known marriage of two military servicemen sincethe once-conservative Catholic country's legalization of gay marriage.
Some members of the military may not be happy about the union, but theDefense Ministry has said it considers the wedding apersonal matter and the men will be allowed to continue with their careers.It had no comment Friday on the pending nuptials.
=
Forwarded from Steve Rothaus
srothaus@rothaus.net
http://www.afterelton.com/people/2006/9/roberts.html
Life as an Openly Gay Journalist: CNN's Thomas Roberts
by Christie Keith, September 15, 2006
Rumors that CNN's Thomas Roberts had come out at the National Lesbian andGay Journalists Association conference in Florida last week must have seemeda little puzzling to the Headline News anchor. While Roberts did appear on apanel called "Off Camera: The Challenges for LGBT TV Anchors," it was reallyonly the most recent stage in a seven-year coming out process.
Roberts first came out as a gay journalist to co-workers at NBC affiliateWAVY-TV in Norfolk, VA, in 1999. In an exclusive interview withAfterElton.com, he described those first steps out of the closet: "It'spainful to open up and trust people with something I was guarding witheverything I had. (but) most of my fears have been put aside because of the kindness of the people I work with."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thanhniennews.com/worlds/?catid=9&newsid=20056
Thanh Nien News | World / Region | Japan city's move to change pro-gay law draws ire
Japan city's move to change pro-gay law draws ire
Homosexuality is still widely regarded unnatural
A Japanese city's plan to amend a precedent-setting local law on genderequality and discrimination against homosexuals has set off protests byactivists who say the law is being watered down.
The plan coincides with growing concern among conservatives about abreakdown in traditional values, worries that prompted the government toinclude a caveat against trying to erase all sex-based differences in agender equality plan last year.
The local assembly in Miyakonojo, a city of 171,000 some 900 km (560 miles)southwest of Tokyo, this week began debating a revision to a 2003 city lawthat explicitly bans discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.
Proposed changes to the law, called the "Law for a Gender Equal Society",would revise a sentence that reads: "In a gender-equal society, human rightsshould be respected for all people regardless of gender or sexualorientation."
The new phrasing would be: "In a gender-equal society, human rights should be respected for all people."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pridesource.com/digestarticle.shtml?article=20211
Between The Lines Newspaper
From issue number 1437
Return to PrideSource
House passes bills allowing adoption agencies to practice religious, gay discrimination
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
Originally printed 9/14/2006
LANSING - Sixty-nine members of Michigan's House of Representatives believethat state adoption agencies ought to be allowed to practice religious-baseddiscrimination against prospective adoptive parents, including same-sexparents.
Last week, the State House - in a 69-37 vote - approved House Bills 5908 and5909.
If passed into law, the bills would allow faith-based adoption agencies todiscriminate against same-sex parents if they have a "written religiousmoral conviction or policy" against homosexuality.
#####
Friday, September 15, 2006
FLORIDA DIGEST September 15, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help Elect Ken Keechl to Broward County Commission - District #4
Fundraiser sponsored by The Dolphkin Democrats
Sunday afternoon - September 24 - 4-6 pm
Georgie's Alibi - 2266 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors
COME AND TOAST KEN KEECHL,
OUR NEXT BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONER
OUR VOICE ON THE BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION
Food and drinks!
Minimum donation $25 - to maximum of $500
Please RSVP TO
robertb954@yahoo.com
or call 954-489-1566
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522333.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
BROWARD SCHOOLS
Decline in enrollment baffles Broward officials
BY HANNAH SAMPSON AND NIRVI SHAH
hsampson@MiamiHerald.com
Faced with the loss of more than 8,300 students this year, Broward school district officials intend to find out who disappeared and why.
Among the questions they will consider: Are the district's poorest studentsfleeing because of high housing costs? And where are they going?
''We're going to take it apart,'' said Broward Schools Superintendent FrankTill. ``We want to look and see: Did the percentage of lower socioeconomickids move? That might say something about your job market. Did the middleclass kids move?''
Fewer students signed up to receive free and reduced-price lunches thisyear, according to a report released Thursday. But it's not clear whetherthat number went down as a result of poor students leaving the district orbecause of some other factor, Till said.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522672.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
CAMPAIGN 2006 | GOVERNOR'S RACE
Davis' pick - Daryl Jones - could make history
The choice of Jim Davis' running mate signals a shift in Democrats' attention -- back to South Florida.
By MARC CAPUTO AND PHIL LONG
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
Challenged by a black congressman to be a ''different white man,''Democratic governor candidate Jim Davis on Thursday picked a Miami runningmate who would be Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor ifelected.
The decision to pick former Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones and to showcase thenew ticket first in Fort Lauderdale also signaled Davis wants to lead adifferent Democratic Party -- and be a different kind of Tampa Democrat.
In the past two elections, the Democrats' U.S. Senate and governor nomineeshailed from Tampa and spent far too little time in vote-rich South Florida,which their Republican opponents won in 2004 and 2002. Many black voters,especially in 2002, simply stayed home.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cjewish15sep15,0,5596192.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Congressional hopeful Klein appeals to Jewish voters to support him
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 15, 2006
Congressional hopeful Ron Klein said Thursday that he's the better candidate for Jewish voters.
Klein, who is Jewish, is hoping to take the District 22 seat in Congressaway from U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, who is Catholic and is in his 13th term.In a conference call set up by the National Jewish Democratic Council onThursday, Klein said he has supported Jewish causes for years as a senatorin Tallahassee. He's also a member of the B'nai Torah congregation in BocaRaton, he said.
"I don't feel I need to wear my religion on my sleeve ... but it's a very important part of our life," Klein said.
=
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/CAPITOLNEWS/609150350&template=printart
Article published Sep 15, 2006
President to headline fundraiser for Crist
By Jim Ash
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU CHIEF
President George W. Bush will headline a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser for theFlorida Republican Party and Attorney General Charlie Crist next week,organizers said Thursday.
''Presidents bring a lot of excitement and a lot of enthusiasm, and they getpeople who might write checks to write bigger checks,'' said Tallahasseelobbyist David Rancourt, who is listed as a statewide chairman for theevent. ''As far as I'm concerned, I will wave signs, I will knock on doors,and I will do everything I can legally to get Charlie Crist elected governorof Florida.''
With two ballrooms of the Ritz Carlton Orlando-Grande Lakes reserved for theSept. 21 reception, organizers expect to raise $4 million, said John Morgan,a partner in the Orlando law firm Morgan and Morgan who is a co-chairman ofthe event. Morgan is a long-time Crist supporter and Crist picked Morganpartner Jeff Kottkamp, a state representative from Fort Myers, as a running mate earlier this week.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcnorth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/09/15/a21a_cong16_0915.html
Foley's numbers in 'free fall,' says Mahoney
By Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006
Democrat Tim Mahoney wants voters to know that polls he paid for show him just 13 percentage points behind 12-year Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Foley.
"This guy is in a free fall," Mahoney said. "He'd love to have George Bush's ratings right now."
Foley's campaign, however, responded that 13 points is a landslide and therace will end the same as their first six U.S. House elections.
"Mahoney has spent his millions running negative, false TV ads againstCongressman Foley for a month, and he's not even close," Foley spokesman Jason Kello said. "Obviously the voters aren't buying it."
=
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB4FJKY3SE.html
Crist's Running Mate Pick Revives Rebel Flag Issue
By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune
Published: Sep 15, 2006
TAMPA - Charlie Crist's emphasis on civil rights in his campaign forgovernor could be hampered by running mate Jeff Kottkamp's support of a 2001bill perceived by some as aimed at preserving Confederate flag displays.
The bill, filed amid controversies in Florida and elsewhere over publicdisplays of the flags, was withdrawn after members of the state House blackcaucus objected. They accused the main sponsor, then-Rep. Bev Kilmer ofQuincy, of deceiving some black legislators into signing on as co-sponsors.
At least two black state representatives who had signed on as sponsorswithdrew.
Kottkamp was one of about 30 white legislators who remained sponsors of thebill, which died in committee.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/09/15/a14a_SAT_edit_0915.html
SAT scores dispel myth of FCAT-based system
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Friday, September 15, 2006
Florida's falling SAT scores are more proof that Gov. Bush's educationagenda has not pushed the state ahead where it matters most: in producinghigh school graduates who are ready to compete on a national and globallevel.
This year, average SAT scores for Florida students fell two points inreading and one point in math. Only South Carolina and Georgia had lowerscores. Many colleges and universities continue to use the newly expandedSAT as one measure of a student's likely success in college. Scores in PalmBeach, Martin and St. Lucie counties declined from last year. Martin County scores, however, exceeded state and national averages, while both Palm Beachand St. Lucie counties fell below national and state marks.
Despite the emphasis on high-stakes testing that began after Gov. Bush tookoffice in 1999, Florida's high school students still are struggling withhigh-stakes tests. Gains made in elementary school, particularly in thethird and fourth grades, are being lost along the way.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/news_pf/Opinion/Advantage__Davis.shtml
Advantage, Davis
Crist plays it safe picking a running mate; Davis makes a bold choice.
A Times Editorial
Published September 15, 2006
The first rule of thumb for candidates for governor is to do no harm totheir campaigns when selecting running mates. Charlie Crist and Jim Davispassed that test, selecting serious men knowledgeable about state issues andshoring up support among key voting blocs. While Crist played it safe as theRepublican front-runner, Davis' decision was uncharacteristically bold andpotentially historic.
The Tampa Democrat selected Daryl Jones of Miami, a former state legislatorwho would become Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor. Jonesran a credible, long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination forgovernor in 2002 and contributed to the discussion with thoughtful ideas about tax policy and education. He was an effective lawmaker and sponsored the bill that compensated survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15522674.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Sep. 15, 2006
CAMPAIGN 2006
Jones has seen political storm
Jim Davis says running mate Daryl Jones, who has handled a rise and fall, is ready for a fierce fight.
By MARY ELLEN KLAS
meklas@MiamiHerald.com
The nation was focused on Monica Lewinsky and Congress was embroiled in thereprisal against President Bill Clinton when Daryl Jones, a Miami statesenator, went from political triumph to his deepest crash.The year was 1998. Clinton had tapped Jones to be secretary of the U.S. AirForce 10 months earlier, only to have the nomination killed on a partisantie vote after a rigorous Senate inquiry and bitter personal attacks.
Jones, a former Air Force fighter pilot and rising political star, washobbled but not felled. Days before the doomed vote, as doubts about himescalated, he filed for reelection to his Miami Senate district, a pragmaticreturn to a friendly province. He previously had been nominated by fellowDemocrats to be Senate president in the hope they would regain the Senate majority.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/news_pf/Opinion/Advantage__Davis.shtml
Advantage, Davis
Crist plays it safe picking a running mate; Davis makes a bold choice.
A Times Editorial
Published September 15, 2006
The first rule of thumb for candidates for governor is to do no harm to their campaigns when selecting running mates. Charlie Crist and Jim Davispassed that test, selecting serious men knowledgeable about state issues andshoring up support among key voting blocs. While Crist played it safe as theRepublican front-runner, Davis' decision was uncharacteristically bold and potentially historic.
The Tampa Democrat selected Daryl Jones of Miami, a former state legislator who would become Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor. Jonesran a credible, long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination forgovernor in 2002 and contributed to the discussion with thoughtful ideasabout tax policy and education. He was an effective lawmaker and sponsored the bill that compensated survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-davis1506sep15,0,2426217.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
ELECTION 2006
State Democrats hope Davis' choice of running mate fires up campaign
Jason Garcia and John Kennedy
Tallahassee Bureau
September 15, 2006
LAKE MARY -- Democratic nominee for governor Jim Davis made a precedent-setting pick in choosing a black running mate Thursday, a movethat Florida Democrats hope will ignite his campaign and help him gain ground on Republican Charlie Crist.
Confirming news that spread late Wednesday night, Davis introduced Daryl Jones as his lieutenant governor in the race to succeed Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
Jones, a 51-year-old former senator from Miami, was once picked by PresidentClinton to lead the Air Force, but his nomination was shot down in Congress.
If elected this fall, Jones would be the first black lieutenant governor inFlorida history.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-creplace15sep15,0,6470012.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
3 ask Gov. Bush for temporary appointment to Broward School Board
By Jean-Paul Renaud
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Education Writer
September 15, 2006
Candidates are lining up to ask Gov. Jeb Bush to appoint them to temporarilyreplace Carole Andrews on the Broward County School Board.
Two days after Andrews suddenly resigned because of failing health, threecandidates have applied: Phyllis Hope, William Davison and Darlene Vlazny.
Bush's appointee will serve the remainder of Andrews' current term, whichends Nov. 20. Bush has ordered a new School Board election on Nov. 7, thesame day voters will be going to the polls to decide other state and localraces.
Andrews had won re-election for four more years Sept. 5.
Qualifying for the open seat begins at 8 a.m. Sept. 27 and ends at noon the following day. Candidates will have about a month to mount their campaign.
#####
Help Elect Ken Keechl to Broward County Commission - District #4
Fundraiser sponsored by The Dolphkin Democrats
Sunday afternoon - September 24 - 4-6 pm
Georgie's Alibi - 2266 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors
COME AND TOAST KEN KEECHL,
OUR NEXT BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONER
OUR VOICE ON THE BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION
Food and drinks!
Minimum donation $25 - to maximum of $500
Please RSVP TO
robertb954@yahoo.com
or call 954-489-1566
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522333.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
BROWARD SCHOOLS
Decline in enrollment baffles Broward officials
BY HANNAH SAMPSON AND NIRVI SHAH
hsampson@MiamiHerald.com
Faced with the loss of more than 8,300 students this year, Broward school district officials intend to find out who disappeared and why.
Among the questions they will consider: Are the district's poorest studentsfleeing because of high housing costs? And where are they going?
''We're going to take it apart,'' said Broward Schools Superintendent FrankTill. ``We want to look and see: Did the percentage of lower socioeconomickids move? That might say something about your job market. Did the middleclass kids move?''
Fewer students signed up to receive free and reduced-price lunches thisyear, according to a report released Thursday. But it's not clear whetherthat number went down as a result of poor students leaving the district orbecause of some other factor, Till said.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522672.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
CAMPAIGN 2006 | GOVERNOR'S RACE
Davis' pick - Daryl Jones - could make history
The choice of Jim Davis' running mate signals a shift in Democrats' attention -- back to South Florida.
By MARC CAPUTO AND PHIL LONG
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
Challenged by a black congressman to be a ''different white man,''Democratic governor candidate Jim Davis on Thursday picked a Miami runningmate who would be Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor ifelected.
The decision to pick former Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones and to showcase thenew ticket first in Fort Lauderdale also signaled Davis wants to lead adifferent Democratic Party -- and be a different kind of Tampa Democrat.
In the past two elections, the Democrats' U.S. Senate and governor nomineeshailed from Tampa and spent far too little time in vote-rich South Florida,which their Republican opponents won in 2004 and 2002. Many black voters,especially in 2002, simply stayed home.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cjewish15sep15,0,5596192.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Congressional hopeful Klein appeals to Jewish voters to support him
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 15, 2006
Congressional hopeful Ron Klein said Thursday that he's the better candidate for Jewish voters.
Klein, who is Jewish, is hoping to take the District 22 seat in Congressaway from U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, who is Catholic and is in his 13th term.In a conference call set up by the National Jewish Democratic Council onThursday, Klein said he has supported Jewish causes for years as a senatorin Tallahassee. He's also a member of the B'nai Torah congregation in BocaRaton, he said.
"I don't feel I need to wear my religion on my sleeve ... but it's a very important part of our life," Klein said.
=
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/CAPITOLNEWS/609150350&template=printart
Article published Sep 15, 2006
President to headline fundraiser for Crist
By Jim Ash
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU CHIEF
President George W. Bush will headline a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser for theFlorida Republican Party and Attorney General Charlie Crist next week,organizers said Thursday.
''Presidents bring a lot of excitement and a lot of enthusiasm, and they getpeople who might write checks to write bigger checks,'' said Tallahasseelobbyist David Rancourt, who is listed as a statewide chairman for theevent. ''As far as I'm concerned, I will wave signs, I will knock on doors,and I will do everything I can legally to get Charlie Crist elected governorof Florida.''
With two ballrooms of the Ritz Carlton Orlando-Grande Lakes reserved for theSept. 21 reception, organizers expect to raise $4 million, said John Morgan,a partner in the Orlando law firm Morgan and Morgan who is a co-chairman ofthe event. Morgan is a long-time Crist supporter and Crist picked Morganpartner Jeff Kottkamp, a state representative from Fort Myers, as a running mate earlier this week.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcnorth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/09/15/a21a_cong16_0915.html
Foley's numbers in 'free fall,' says Mahoney
By Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006
Democrat Tim Mahoney wants voters to know that polls he paid for show him just 13 percentage points behind 12-year Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Foley.
"This guy is in a free fall," Mahoney said. "He'd love to have George Bush's ratings right now."
Foley's campaign, however, responded that 13 points is a landslide and therace will end the same as their first six U.S. House elections.
"Mahoney has spent his millions running negative, false TV ads againstCongressman Foley for a month, and he's not even close," Foley spokesman Jason Kello said. "Obviously the voters aren't buying it."
=
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB4FJKY3SE.html
Crist's Running Mate Pick Revives Rebel Flag Issue
By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune
Published: Sep 15, 2006
TAMPA - Charlie Crist's emphasis on civil rights in his campaign forgovernor could be hampered by running mate Jeff Kottkamp's support of a 2001bill perceived by some as aimed at preserving Confederate flag displays.
The bill, filed amid controversies in Florida and elsewhere over publicdisplays of the flags, was withdrawn after members of the state House blackcaucus objected. They accused the main sponsor, then-Rep. Bev Kilmer ofQuincy, of deceiving some black legislators into signing on as co-sponsors.
At least two black state representatives who had signed on as sponsorswithdrew.
Kottkamp was one of about 30 white legislators who remained sponsors of thebill, which died in committee.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/09/15/a14a_SAT_edit_0915.html
SAT scores dispel myth of FCAT-based system
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Friday, September 15, 2006
Florida's falling SAT scores are more proof that Gov. Bush's educationagenda has not pushed the state ahead where it matters most: in producinghigh school graduates who are ready to compete on a national and globallevel.
This year, average SAT scores for Florida students fell two points inreading and one point in math. Only South Carolina and Georgia had lowerscores. Many colleges and universities continue to use the newly expandedSAT as one measure of a student's likely success in college. Scores in PalmBeach, Martin and St. Lucie counties declined from last year. Martin County scores, however, exceeded state and national averages, while both Palm Beachand St. Lucie counties fell below national and state marks.
Despite the emphasis on high-stakes testing that began after Gov. Bush tookoffice in 1999, Florida's high school students still are struggling withhigh-stakes tests. Gains made in elementary school, particularly in thethird and fourth grades, are being lost along the way.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/news_pf/Opinion/Advantage__Davis.shtml
Advantage, Davis
Crist plays it safe picking a running mate; Davis makes a bold choice.
A Times Editorial
Published September 15, 2006
The first rule of thumb for candidates for governor is to do no harm totheir campaigns when selecting running mates. Charlie Crist and Jim Davispassed that test, selecting serious men knowledgeable about state issues andshoring up support among key voting blocs. While Crist played it safe as theRepublican front-runner, Davis' decision was uncharacteristically bold andpotentially historic.
The Tampa Democrat selected Daryl Jones of Miami, a former state legislatorwho would become Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor. Jonesran a credible, long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination forgovernor in 2002 and contributed to the discussion with thoughtful ideas about tax policy and education. He was an effective lawmaker and sponsored the bill that compensated survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15522674.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Sep. 15, 2006
CAMPAIGN 2006
Jones has seen political storm
Jim Davis says running mate Daryl Jones, who has handled a rise and fall, is ready for a fierce fight.
By MARY ELLEN KLAS
meklas@MiamiHerald.com
The nation was focused on Monica Lewinsky and Congress was embroiled in thereprisal against President Bill Clinton when Daryl Jones, a Miami statesenator, went from political triumph to his deepest crash.The year was 1998. Clinton had tapped Jones to be secretary of the U.S. AirForce 10 months earlier, only to have the nomination killed on a partisantie vote after a rigorous Senate inquiry and bitter personal attacks.
Jones, a former Air Force fighter pilot and rising political star, washobbled but not felled. Days before the doomed vote, as doubts about himescalated, he filed for reelection to his Miami Senate district, a pragmaticreturn to a friendly province. He previously had been nominated by fellowDemocrats to be Senate president in the hope they would regain the Senate majority.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/news_pf/Opinion/Advantage__Davis.shtml
Advantage, Davis
Crist plays it safe picking a running mate; Davis makes a bold choice.
A Times Editorial
Published September 15, 2006
The first rule of thumb for candidates for governor is to do no harm to their campaigns when selecting running mates. Charlie Crist and Jim Davispassed that test, selecting serious men knowledgeable about state issues andshoring up support among key voting blocs. While Crist played it safe as theRepublican front-runner, Davis' decision was uncharacteristically bold and potentially historic.
The Tampa Democrat selected Daryl Jones of Miami, a former state legislator who would become Florida's first African-American lieutenant governor. Jonesran a credible, long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination forgovernor in 2002 and contributed to the discussion with thoughtful ideasabout tax policy and education. He was an effective lawmaker and sponsored the bill that compensated survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-davis1506sep15,0,2426217.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
ELECTION 2006
State Democrats hope Davis' choice of running mate fires up campaign
Jason Garcia and John Kennedy
Tallahassee Bureau
September 15, 2006
LAKE MARY -- Democratic nominee for governor Jim Davis made a precedent-setting pick in choosing a black running mate Thursday, a movethat Florida Democrats hope will ignite his campaign and help him gain ground on Republican Charlie Crist.
Confirming news that spread late Wednesday night, Davis introduced Daryl Jones as his lieutenant governor in the race to succeed Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
Jones, a 51-year-old former senator from Miami, was once picked by PresidentClinton to lead the Air Force, but his nomination was shot down in Congress.
If elected this fall, Jones would be the first black lieutenant governor inFlorida history.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-creplace15sep15,0,6470012.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
3 ask Gov. Bush for temporary appointment to Broward School Board
By Jean-Paul Renaud
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Education Writer
September 15, 2006
Candidates are lining up to ask Gov. Jeb Bush to appoint them to temporarilyreplace Carole Andrews on the Broward County School Board.
Two days after Andrews suddenly resigned because of failing health, threecandidates have applied: Phyllis Hope, William Davison and Darlene Vlazny.
Bush's appointee will serve the remainder of Andrews' current term, whichends Nov. 20. Bush has ordered a new School Board election on Nov. 7, thesame day voters will be going to the polls to decide other state and localraces.
Andrews had won re-election for four more years Sept. 5.
Qualifying for the open seat begins at 8 a.m. Sept. 27 and ends at noon the following day. Candidates will have about a month to mount their campaign.
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST September 15, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/14/opinion/meyer/printable2011228.shtml
What If You Want To VoteThem All Out?
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2006
(CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.
A truism of election strategy for the past 25 or so years has been that the
smartest thing Republicans do is run against Democrats.
Much of the brilliance attributed to wizards with names like Atwater,Gingrich and Rove may be more properly accrued to the shortcomings of justabout every Democrat not named William Jefferson Clinton. It don't take nogeniuses to whup Democrats.
In 2006, Democrats are hoping that running against a sitting Republicanpresident named George Walker Bush in every single race will be enough totake over the House and maybe the Senate. They are counting on somethingRepublicans used to count on: a divided, disoriented and unattractive enemy.
Many polls point in that direction now. I'm skeptical. And I'm skepticalthat even a change of control on one or both chambers of Congress wouldchange control of the nation's direction.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15522780.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
FOCUS ON ISRAEL
Hezbollah war reveals inequality of Arabs
BY URI DROMI
dromi@idi.org.il
JERUSALEM -- Wars, like hurricanes, tend to expose flaws in societies. InIsrael, the recent war with the Hezbollah revealed lack of preparedness forthis kind of war against an elusive enemy, mediocre conduct of theoperations, deficiencies in equipment, shortages of shelters for thec ivilians and more. The fact that Israel after the war is in a betterstrategic position than the pre-war situation doesn't seem to sweeten thepill. People here are vocally demanding a commission of inquiry, wishing tosee heads rolling.
Hurricane Katrina shed light on flaws both in the preparations for suchdisasters and in the U.S. government response to it. Likewise, in Israel,the recent war has triggered great controversy.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522667.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
IN MY OPINION
Just the facts . . . at least as we know them
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com
beg your pardon.
Apparently I made a major error of fact in a recent column. It turns out,contrary to what I wrote, there never was a Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attackon the United States. It wasn't hijacked airliners that brought down thetwin towers of the World Trade Center. Nor did any airplane plow into thePentagon. Nor did United Flight 93 come to Earth in a field in Shanksville,Pa. Rather, this tragedy was staged by the U.S. government in order to dupethe nation into an oil war in the Middle East.
Or at least so I am told by a surprising plurality of readers. Add to thatHugo Chávez, president of Venezuela and renowned loose cannon, who said in aspeech Tuesday it's possible the U.S. government had a hand in attackingitself on Sept. 11.
IMAGINE THAT
Of course, it's also possible the U.S. government doesn't even exist, thatit and we and Chávez himself are only figments of the imagination of alittle boy staring into a snow globe.
Possible, but not bloody likely.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15fri1.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Editorial
Stampeding Congress
We'll find out in November how well the White House's be-very-afraidcampaign has been working with voters. We already know how it's working inCongress. Stampeded by the fear of looking weak on terrorism, lawmakers arerushing to pass a bill demanded by the president that would have minimalimpact on antiterrorist operations but could cause profound damage tojustice and the American way.
Yesterday, the president himself went to Capitol Hill to lobby for his bill,which would give Congressional approval to the same sort of ad hoc militarycommissions that Mr. Bush created on his own authority after 9/11 and thatthe Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional. It would permit theuse of coerced evidence, secret hearings and other horrific violations ofAmerican justice.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401413_pf.html
The Tehran Calculus
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 15, 2006; A19
In his televised Sept. 11 address, President Bush said that we must not"leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states andradical dictators armed with nuclear weapons." There's only one such currentcandidate: Iran.
The next day, he responded thus (as reported by Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirneof National Review) to a question on Iran: "It's very important for theAmerican people to see the president try to solve problems diplomaticallybefore resorting to military force."
"Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.An aerial attack on Iran's nuclear facilities lies just beyond the horizonof diplomacy. With the crisis advancing and the moment of truth approaching,it is important to begin looking now with unflinching honesty at themilitary option.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15krugman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Progress or Regress?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Is the typical American family better off than it was a generation ago? That'sthe subject of an intense debate these days, as commentators try tounderstand the sour mood of the American public.
But it's the wrong debate. For one thing, there probably isn't a rightanswer. Most Americans are better off in some ways, worse off in others,than they were in the early 1970's. It's a subjective judgment whether thegood outweighs the bad. And as I'll explain, that ambiguity is actually thereal message.
Here's what the numbers say. From the end of World War II until 1973, whenthe first oil crisis brought an end to the postwar boom, the U.S. economydelivered a huge, broad-based rise in living standards: family incomeadjusted for inflation roughly doubled for the poor, the middle class, andthe elite alike. Nobody debated whether families were better off than theyhad been a generation ago; it was obvious that they were, by any measure.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15fri2.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Editorial
Everyday Low Wages
Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago wielded the first veto of his 17-yeartenure this week - and the City Council supported him - striking downChicago's short-lived plan to force behemoth retailers like Wal-Mart to payhigher wages and benefits.
In this round, Mr. Daley, the retailers and local Wal-Mart suppliers arguedthat mandating higher compensation would do more harm than good by drivingbusiness and employment opportunities away from low-income neighborhoods.
But the choice - between no jobs or low-wage jobs - is probably a false one.Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers, like Target and Home Depot, need marketshare. With suburban areas saturated, cities are the logical places to grow.Wal-Mart especially needs more American consumers, having recently pulledthe plug on unsuccessful attempts to expand in Germany and South Korea.It is currently planning to expand in Santa Fe, N.M., where local lawsrequire higher wages than the company normally pays.
=
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0609150316sep15,1,1610793,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Ex-rival Hynes tries to start Obama national bandwagon
Comptroller urges senator to jump into race for president
By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
September 15, 2006
State Comptroller Dan Hynes urged his former opponent, U.S. Sen. BarackObama, to run for president, just days before Obama heads to Iowa for a major political event.
"We are a nation divided like at almost no other time in our history," Hynes said Thursday during a downtown news conference to announce his support forObama. "I believe Barack Obama can change this, that he, and he alone canrestore the hope and optimism that has made this country great."
The comments from Hynes are among the strongest to date from a Democraticofficial about the prospect of an Obama presidential bid.
For months, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has been encouraging Obama to keep anopen mind about his political future, saying earlier this year: "There is aneed for Barack Obama's leadership in America. I hope that he will seriously consider it."
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15friedman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
The Energy Harvest
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
São Paulo, Brazil
Any time that OPEC got a little too overzealous in pushing up oil pricesback in the 1970's, the legendary Saudi oil minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamaniwas fond of telling his colleagues: Remember, the Stone Age didn't endbecause we ran out of stones.
What he meant was that the Stone Age ended because people inventedalternative tools. The oil age is also not going to end because we run outof oil. It will end because the price of oil goes so high that people inventalternatives. Mr. Yamani was warning his colleagues not to get too greedyand stimulate those alternatives.
Too late - oil at $70 a barrel has done just that. One of the most promisingof those alternatives is ethanol, an alcohol fuel made from corn, sugar caneor any biomass. I came to Brazil to try to better grasp what is real andwhat is not in the ethanol story, because no country has done more to pioneer sugar ethanol than Brazil.
My impression, after talking to a range of Brazilian experts, is that not only is ethanol for real, but we have not even begun to tap its fullpotential. With just a few technological breakthroughs, Brazil really couldbe the Saudi Arabia of sugar and we could actually achieve that energy dream of getting "barrels from bushels."
=
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/14/opinion/meyer/main2011228_page2.shtml
What If You Want To VoteThem All Out?
CBS' Meyer: The '06 Elections Unlikely To Really Shake Things Up
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2006
(CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.A truism of election strategy for the past 25 or so years has been that the smartestthing Republicans do is run against Democrats.
Much of the brilliance attributed to wizards with names like Atwater, Gingrich and Rove may be more properly accrued to the shortcomings of justabout every Democrat not named William Jefferson Clinton. It don't take nogeniuses to whup Democrats.
In 2006, Democrats are hoping that running against a sitting Republicanpresident named George Walker Bush in every single race will be enough totake over the House and maybe the Senate. They are counting on somethingRepublicans used to count on: a divided, disoriented and unattractive enemy.Many polls point in that direction now. I'm skeptical. And I'm skepticalthat even a change of control on one or both chambers of Congress wouldchange control of the nation's direction.
It this moment, Democratic optimism is understandable. In the past twopresidential elections, the Democrats seemed to believe that their populistmasses would somehow recognize the fine nobility of the limousine liberalsthey nominated and the crassness of George Bush the Younger. It didn't workout that way.
But 2006 is a midterm election, and the Democrats aren't encumbered by anational punching bag. The Republicans are, though - they're shackled to anunpopular president, one who many candidates don't even care to bephotographed with.
This year, the Democrats have no illusions that voters will affirmativelyembrace their chosen national leaders - Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and HowardDean. This is a sign of reality-based strategy, something the Republicanshaven't had to contend with in a while. They don't seem to have anyillusions that thy have a message or a platform or a "vision thing" that people affirmatively vote for. That is realistic, though pathetic.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Americans believe in four Gods, Baylor religion study finds
http://www.abpnews.com/1361.article
Associated Baptist Press
By Hannah Elliott
Published September 13, 2006
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Americans believe in four different Gods, according to a massive new study from Baylor University.
To be more precise, the study found that four different perceptions of Godpervade American thought today. Researchers from the Texas school'ssociology department and Institute for Studies of Religion conducted thesurvey.
Called "American Piety in the 21st Century," it used survey data from1,721 American citizens and was the largest such study conducted to date.Its 350 questions asked Americans their thoughts on a gamut ofreligion-related topics -- from piety to politics to the paranormal.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15krugman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Progress or Regress?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Is the typical American family better off than it was a generation ago? That'sthe subject of an intense debate these days, as commentators try tounderstand the sour mood of the American public.
But it's the wrong debate. For one thing, there probably isn't a rightanswer. Most Americans are better off in some ways, worse off in others,than they were in the early 1970's. It's a subjective judgment whether thegood outweighs the bad. And as I'll explain, that ambiguity is actually thereal message.
Here's what the numbers say. From the end of World War II until 1973, whenthe first oil crisis brought an end to the postwar boom, the U.S. economydelivered a huge, broad-based rise in living standards: family incomeadjusted for inflation roughly doubled for the poor, the middle class, andthe elite alike. Nobody debated whether families were better off than theyhad been a generation ago; it was obvious that they were, by any measure.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/49190.html
Study finds immigrants quick to adopt English print
By BARBARA FERRY | The New Mexican
September 14, 2006
Research shows Spanish dies out within two generations, even in Latino enclaves
People who fear Latin American immigrants don't assimilate well into theUnited States and might threaten the country's English-language culturalidentity should relax.
So says Rubén Rumbaut, a University of California, Irvine sociologist andprincipal author of a new study on the "life expectancy" of Spanish amongLatin American immigrants and their children.
Some scholars, notably Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, have arguedthat Spanish-speaking immigrants are less likely to learn English thanearlier generations of European immigrants.
In his 2004 book Who Are We? The Challenges to American Identity, Huntingtonwrote that large-scale Latino immigration could "divide the United Statesinto two peoples, two cultures, and two languages."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/its_the_system.html
It's the system, stupid
September 14, 2006 6:53 AM
By DOUG THOMPSON
America is in free fall - a failed nation led by failed leaders with failedideas serving a lemming- like populace that views failure as an acceptablealternative.
Today's America is flawed in so many ways that analysis of the complexevents that led us to the precipice is difficult at best.
How did we get here? Can we save what once was a great country built uponnoble notions of freedom? Is redemption possible or even desirable?
It is easy to point blame at George W. Bush. He is a monumental failure as aPresident, a serial liar who led this nation into a war that cannot be won.He and those who both serve and advise him systematically dismantled theConstitution, trampled the freedoms upon which that hallowed document isbased and destroyed a democratic republic that has stood the test of time,bad leaders and assaults for more than two centuries.
Bush, however, capitalized on a system of government that has been failingfor decades, seizing opportunity made possible by an ever-increasing federalbureaucracy, rampaging government waste and corruption and constant,unrelenting assaults upon our individual freedoms and rights.
#####
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/14/opinion/meyer/printable2011228.shtml
What If You Want To VoteThem All Out?
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2006
(CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.
A truism of election strategy for the past 25 or so years has been that the
smartest thing Republicans do is run against Democrats.
Much of the brilliance attributed to wizards with names like Atwater,Gingrich and Rove may be more properly accrued to the shortcomings of justabout every Democrat not named William Jefferson Clinton. It don't take nogeniuses to whup Democrats.
In 2006, Democrats are hoping that running against a sitting Republicanpresident named George Walker Bush in every single race will be enough totake over the House and maybe the Senate. They are counting on somethingRepublicans used to count on: a divided, disoriented and unattractive enemy.
Many polls point in that direction now. I'm skeptical. And I'm skepticalthat even a change of control on one or both chambers of Congress wouldchange control of the nation's direction.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15522780.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
FOCUS ON ISRAEL
Hezbollah war reveals inequality of Arabs
BY URI DROMI
dromi@idi.org.il
JERUSALEM -- Wars, like hurricanes, tend to expose flaws in societies. InIsrael, the recent war with the Hezbollah revealed lack of preparedness forthis kind of war against an elusive enemy, mediocre conduct of theoperations, deficiencies in equipment, shortages of shelters for thec ivilians and more. The fact that Israel after the war is in a betterstrategic position than the pre-war situation doesn't seem to sweeten thepill. People here are vocally demanding a commission of inquiry, wishing tosee heads rolling.
Hurricane Katrina shed light on flaws both in the preparations for suchdisasters and in the U.S. government response to it. Likewise, in Israel,the recent war has triggered great controversy.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15522667.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
IN MY OPINION
Just the facts . . . at least as we know them
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com
beg your pardon.
Apparently I made a major error of fact in a recent column. It turns out,contrary to what I wrote, there never was a Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attackon the United States. It wasn't hijacked airliners that brought down thetwin towers of the World Trade Center. Nor did any airplane plow into thePentagon. Nor did United Flight 93 come to Earth in a field in Shanksville,Pa. Rather, this tragedy was staged by the U.S. government in order to dupethe nation into an oil war in the Middle East.
Or at least so I am told by a surprising plurality of readers. Add to thatHugo Chávez, president of Venezuela and renowned loose cannon, who said in aspeech Tuesday it's possible the U.S. government had a hand in attackingitself on Sept. 11.
IMAGINE THAT
Of course, it's also possible the U.S. government doesn't even exist, thatit and we and Chávez himself are only figments of the imagination of alittle boy staring into a snow globe.
Possible, but not bloody likely.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15fri1.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Editorial
Stampeding Congress
We'll find out in November how well the White House's be-very-afraidcampaign has been working with voters. We already know how it's working inCongress. Stampeded by the fear of looking weak on terrorism, lawmakers arerushing to pass a bill demanded by the president that would have minimalimpact on antiterrorist operations but could cause profound damage tojustice and the American way.
Yesterday, the president himself went to Capitol Hill to lobby for his bill,which would give Congressional approval to the same sort of ad hoc militarycommissions that Mr. Bush created on his own authority after 9/11 and thatthe Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional. It would permit theuse of coerced evidence, secret hearings and other horrific violations ofAmerican justice.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401413_pf.html
The Tehran Calculus
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 15, 2006; A19
In his televised Sept. 11 address, President Bush said that we must not"leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states andradical dictators armed with nuclear weapons." There's only one such currentcandidate: Iran.
The next day, he responded thus (as reported by Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirneof National Review) to a question on Iran: "It's very important for theAmerican people to see the president try to solve problems diplomaticallybefore resorting to military force."
"Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.An aerial attack on Iran's nuclear facilities lies just beyond the horizonof diplomacy. With the crisis advancing and the moment of truth approaching,it is important to begin looking now with unflinching honesty at themilitary option.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15krugman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Progress or Regress?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Is the typical American family better off than it was a generation ago? That'sthe subject of an intense debate these days, as commentators try tounderstand the sour mood of the American public.
But it's the wrong debate. For one thing, there probably isn't a rightanswer. Most Americans are better off in some ways, worse off in others,than they were in the early 1970's. It's a subjective judgment whether thegood outweighs the bad. And as I'll explain, that ambiguity is actually thereal message.
Here's what the numbers say. From the end of World War II until 1973, whenthe first oil crisis brought an end to the postwar boom, the U.S. economydelivered a huge, broad-based rise in living standards: family incomeadjusted for inflation roughly doubled for the poor, the middle class, andthe elite alike. Nobody debated whether families were better off than theyhad been a generation ago; it was obvious that they were, by any measure.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15fri2.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Editorial
Everyday Low Wages
Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago wielded the first veto of his 17-yeartenure this week - and the City Council supported him - striking downChicago's short-lived plan to force behemoth retailers like Wal-Mart to payhigher wages and benefits.
In this round, Mr. Daley, the retailers and local Wal-Mart suppliers arguedthat mandating higher compensation would do more harm than good by drivingbusiness and employment opportunities away from low-income neighborhoods.
But the choice - between no jobs or low-wage jobs - is probably a false one.Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers, like Target and Home Depot, need marketshare. With suburban areas saturated, cities are the logical places to grow.Wal-Mart especially needs more American consumers, having recently pulledthe plug on unsuccessful attempts to expand in Germany and South Korea.It is currently planning to expand in Santa Fe, N.M., where local lawsrequire higher wages than the company normally pays.
=
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0609150316sep15,1,1610793,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Ex-rival Hynes tries to start Obama national bandwagon
Comptroller urges senator to jump into race for president
By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
September 15, 2006
State Comptroller Dan Hynes urged his former opponent, U.S. Sen. BarackObama, to run for president, just days before Obama heads to Iowa for a major political event.
"We are a nation divided like at almost no other time in our history," Hynes said Thursday during a downtown news conference to announce his support forObama. "I believe Barack Obama can change this, that he, and he alone canrestore the hope and optimism that has made this country great."
The comments from Hynes are among the strongest to date from a Democraticofficial about the prospect of an Obama presidential bid.
For months, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has been encouraging Obama to keep anopen mind about his political future, saying earlier this year: "There is aneed for Barack Obama's leadership in America. I hope that he will seriously consider it."
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15friedman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
The Energy Harvest
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
São Paulo, Brazil
Any time that OPEC got a little too overzealous in pushing up oil pricesback in the 1970's, the legendary Saudi oil minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamaniwas fond of telling his colleagues: Remember, the Stone Age didn't endbecause we ran out of stones.
What he meant was that the Stone Age ended because people inventedalternative tools. The oil age is also not going to end because we run outof oil. It will end because the price of oil goes so high that people inventalternatives. Mr. Yamani was warning his colleagues not to get too greedyand stimulate those alternatives.
Too late - oil at $70 a barrel has done just that. One of the most promisingof those alternatives is ethanol, an alcohol fuel made from corn, sugar caneor any biomass. I came to Brazil to try to better grasp what is real andwhat is not in the ethanol story, because no country has done more to pioneer sugar ethanol than Brazil.
My impression, after talking to a range of Brazilian experts, is that not only is ethanol for real, but we have not even begun to tap its fullpotential. With just a few technological breakthroughs, Brazil really couldbe the Saudi Arabia of sugar and we could actually achieve that energy dream of getting "barrels from bushels."
=
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/14/opinion/meyer/main2011228_page2.shtml
What If You Want To VoteThem All Out?
CBS' Meyer: The '06 Elections Unlikely To Really Shake Things Up
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2006
(CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.A truism of election strategy for the past 25 or so years has been that the smartestthing Republicans do is run against Democrats.
Much of the brilliance attributed to wizards with names like Atwater, Gingrich and Rove may be more properly accrued to the shortcomings of justabout every Democrat not named William Jefferson Clinton. It don't take nogeniuses to whup Democrats.
In 2006, Democrats are hoping that running against a sitting Republicanpresident named George Walker Bush in every single race will be enough totake over the House and maybe the Senate. They are counting on somethingRepublicans used to count on: a divided, disoriented and unattractive enemy.Many polls point in that direction now. I'm skeptical. And I'm skepticalthat even a change of control on one or both chambers of Congress wouldchange control of the nation's direction.
It this moment, Democratic optimism is understandable. In the past twopresidential elections, the Democrats seemed to believe that their populistmasses would somehow recognize the fine nobility of the limousine liberalsthey nominated and the crassness of George Bush the Younger. It didn't workout that way.
But 2006 is a midterm election, and the Democrats aren't encumbered by anational punching bag. The Republicans are, though - they're shackled to anunpopular president, one who many candidates don't even care to bephotographed with.
This year, the Democrats have no illusions that voters will affirmativelyembrace their chosen national leaders - Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and HowardDean. This is a sign of reality-based strategy, something the Republicanshaven't had to contend with in a while. They don't seem to have anyillusions that thy have a message or a platform or a "vision thing" that people affirmatively vote for. That is realistic, though pathetic.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Americans believe in four Gods, Baylor religion study finds
http://www.abpnews.com/1361.article
Associated Baptist Press
By Hannah Elliott
Published September 13, 2006
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Americans believe in four different Gods, according to a massive new study from Baylor University.
To be more precise, the study found that four different perceptions of Godpervade American thought today. Researchers from the Texas school'ssociology department and Institute for Studies of Religion conducted thesurvey.
Called "American Piety in the 21st Century," it used survey data from1,721 American citizens and was the largest such study conducted to date.Its 350 questions asked Americans their thoughts on a gamut ofreligion-related topics -- from piety to politics to the paranormal.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15krugman.html?pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Progress or Regress?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Is the typical American family better off than it was a generation ago? That'sthe subject of an intense debate these days, as commentators try tounderstand the sour mood of the American public.
But it's the wrong debate. For one thing, there probably isn't a rightanswer. Most Americans are better off in some ways, worse off in others,than they were in the early 1970's. It's a subjective judgment whether thegood outweighs the bad. And as I'll explain, that ambiguity is actually thereal message.
Here's what the numbers say. From the end of World War II until 1973, whenthe first oil crisis brought an end to the postwar boom, the U.S. economydelivered a huge, broad-based rise in living standards: family incomeadjusted for inflation roughly doubled for the poor, the middle class, andthe elite alike. Nobody debated whether families were better off than theyhad been a generation ago; it was obvious that they were, by any measure.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/49190.html
Study finds immigrants quick to adopt English print
By BARBARA FERRY | The New Mexican
September 14, 2006
Research shows Spanish dies out within two generations, even in Latino enclaves
People who fear Latin American immigrants don't assimilate well into theUnited States and might threaten the country's English-language culturalidentity should relax.
So says Rubén Rumbaut, a University of California, Irvine sociologist andprincipal author of a new study on the "life expectancy" of Spanish amongLatin American immigrants and their children.
Some scholars, notably Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, have arguedthat Spanish-speaking immigrants are less likely to learn English thanearlier generations of European immigrants.
In his 2004 book Who Are We? The Challenges to American Identity, Huntingtonwrote that large-scale Latino immigration could "divide the United Statesinto two peoples, two cultures, and two languages."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/its_the_system.html
It's the system, stupid
September 14, 2006 6:53 AM
By DOUG THOMPSON
America is in free fall - a failed nation led by failed leaders with failedideas serving a lemming- like populace that views failure as an acceptablealternative.
Today's America is flawed in so many ways that analysis of the complexevents that led us to the precipice is difficult at best.
How did we get here? Can we save what once was a great country built uponnoble notions of freedom? Is redemption possible or even desirable?
It is easy to point blame at George W. Bush. He is a monumental failure as aPresident, a serial liar who led this nation into a war that cannot be won.He and those who both serve and advise him systematically dismantled theConstitution, trampled the freedoms upon which that hallowed document isbased and destroyed a democratic republic that has stood the test of time,bad leaders and assaults for more than two centuries.
Bush, however, capitalized on a system of government that has been failingfor decades, seizing opportunity made possible by an ever-increasing federalbureaucracy, rampaging government waste and corruption and constant,unrelenting assaults upon our individual freedoms and rights.
#####
GLBT DIGEST - September 15, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded from EuroQueer
euro-queer@groups.queernet.org
English
15.09.06
Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk
IRAN
AUTHORITIES BOAST OF SUCCESS IN INTERNET FILTERING
Iran is doing its utmost to isolate its citizens from the rest of the worldby purging the Internet of independent content, in the name of 'morality',says Reporters Without Borders, noting that the authorities even brag aboutthe success of their censorship.
"We are filtering more than 10 million websites", boasted the technical headof the Iranian company in charge of Internet censorship, on 11 September2006.
The worldwide press freedom organisation said it was difficult to check thisstatement but it had monitored an increase in filtering since the start ofsummer 2006. Censorship seems particularly targeted against sites dealingwith the condition of women, it noted.
=
Stacy Lienemann
Direct Response and Scholarly Promotions Manager
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
612-627-1934
http://www.upress.umn.edu
The first comprehensive work on the transgender civil rights movement.
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter, editors
University of Minnesota Press | 400 pages | 2006
ISBN 0-8166-4311-3 | hardcover | $60.00
ISBN 0-8166-4312-1 | paperback | $19.95
With analysis from legal and policy experts, activists and advocates,Transgender Rights assesses the movement's achievements, challenges, and opportunities for future action. Examining crucial topics like family law,employment policies, public health, economics, and grassroots organizing,this groundbreaking book is an indispensable resource in the fight for thefreedom and equality of those who cross gender boundaries. Moving beyondmedia representations to grapple with the real lives and issues oftransgender people,Transgender Rights will launch a new moment for humanrights activism in America.
"This is a cutting-edge book full of new information and newideas." -Patrick Califia
"At last! Transgender Rights is the only book any activist, ally, or familymember should really need to figure out the tactics of most if not allgender bullies and stop them dead in their tracks. Yippee for the goodguys, the good grrls, and all the rest of us good folks." -Kate Bornstein"A valuable contribution to understanding this evolving edge of humanexperience." -Susan Stryker
"This book introduces transgender/transsexual/intersex social, political,and legal issues to a broad audience. I think this is an urgently importantconfiguration of concerns, and was moved, grateful, and profoundly excitedto find that the editors have brought into being a collection that presentsthem so well." -Janet Halley, Harvard Law School
Contributors: Kylar W. Broadus, Judith Butler, Mauro Cabral, Dallas Denny,Taylor Flynn, Phyllis Randolph Frye, Julie A. Greenberg, Morgan Holmes,Bennett H. Klein, Jennifer L. Levi, Ruthann Robson, NohemySolórzano-Thompson, Dean Spade, Kendall Thomas, Paula Viturro, WillyWilkinson.
For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/C/currah_transgender.html
Sign up to receive news on the latest releases from University of Minnesota Press:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/eform.html
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401556_pf.html
Kaine Says He Will Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage Ban
By Chris L. Jenkins and Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 15, 2006; B06
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) urged Virginians to vote against a proposedconstitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, sayingthe ballot question puts thousands of unmarried couples at risk of losing aslew of benefits.
Kaine's comments, as well as his pledge to campaign vigorously against themeasure, came just hours after Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell(R) issued a legal opinion arguing just the opposite. McDonnell said therights of unwed couples to sign over property, develop wills and make othercontracts will not be threatened by the proposed amendment on the Novemberballot.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/nyregion/15mcgreevey.html
September 15, 2006
McGreevey Finds Revising an Image Is Not So Easy
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and ANDREW JACOBS
As a politician, former Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey was a masterof message discipline, a candidate with an uncanny ability to restrict hispublic statements to preordained talking points.
But as an author, Mr. McGreevey's attempts to orchestrate a publicitycampaign for his autobiography appear to be suffering from the literaryequivalent of opening-night jitters.
After months of trying to ensure that his forthcoming book is viewed as astory of redemption and the torturous spiritual journey that led him topublicly admit that he was the nation's first openly gay governor, Mr.McGreevey instead finds himself cast as a prime example of the irresponsibleexpectant father.
And the book, "The Confession," is not even scheduled to be on the shelvesuntil next week.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-john.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Elton John Ends Spat with George Michael
By REUTERS
Filed at 5:27 a.m. ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Elton John has put an end to his feud with fellow Britishpop star George Michael, declaring ``we're fine.''
The row erupted two years ago when John said Michael appeared to be in a``strange place,'' wasting his talent by staying at home and shunning thelimelight.
Michael later complained that harsh media treatment of his private lifestarted after John's adverse comments.
But Elton John was all sweetness and light on Friday, telling ITV hostMichael Parkinson: ``George and I are fine. He came and stayed down my houselast year. We're fine.''
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_us13sep14,0,7986464.story
Colo. Worker Wins Transgender Bias Case
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
September 15, 2006, 12:14 AM EDT
DENVER -- A woman who was fired while preparing to undergo sex-change surgery was let go in violation of state anti-discrimination law, the headof Colorado's civil rights agency has ruled.
Advocates praised the ruling, saying it was the first of its kind inColorado and a sign that society has begun to better understand transgenderpeople.
Danielle Cornwell, 54, claimed in a complaint filed in April with the CivilRights Division that she was fired in July 2005 because she was a woman andbecause she had recently told the company she planned to undergo gender-reassignment surgery.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15519219.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Gay lawyers protest honor for Bowers
DOUG GROSS
Associated Press
ATLANTA - A planned honor for former state Attorney General Mike Bowers has raised the ire of gay lawyers in Georgia, who say his defense of the state'snow-defunct anti-sodomy law makes him undeserving of the award.
The Atlanta Bar Association plans to give Bowers its Leadership Award at anOctober banquet.
The Stonewall Bar Association, a group that supports gay and lesbianattorneys in the state, responded with a letter to the Atlanta bar this weeksaying Bowers left a "discriminatory and hypocritical legacy."
In the mid-1980s, Bowers, acting in his role as attorney general, went allthe way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Georgia's anti-sodomy law from achallenge by the American Civil Liberties Union
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/09/acceptable_nudity.html
When is nudity acceptable on the news?
Ever since the infamous "nipplegate" incident involving Janet Jackson'scostume malfunction, television channels in America have been especiallysensitive to any bare flesh.
So Allan Little's piece from Swaziland on Friday (watch it here) saw a groupof BBC World producers studying the US rule book very carefully... since webroadcast on American cable networks, and have to respect "local" laws.
Allan reported on the "Ceremony of the Reed" - where the King of Swazilandchooses a wife from a parade of women dressed in traditional costume. Thatis, they weren't wearing anything on top. There wasn't really any way ofavoiding the issue - that's how they were dressed, and to have edited outany toplessness would have been bizarre.
But talking to colleagues in the US, it's pretty clear that American TVchannels have become cautious to the extreme on any issues involving eithernudity or swearing. One channel reportedly re-edited a cartoon because itshowed a bare bottom.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36466.asp
The Advocate
September 15, 2006
Openly gay woman tries to enlist in Army as protest of policy
The possibility of arrest served to curtail a protest against the U.S. military's policy on gay soldiers. Nichole Rawls, 27, tried to enlist at an Army recruiting office in northwest Norman, Okla., on Wednesday, but a police officer who arrived there told Rawls and others participating in the demonstration that they could be arrested if they stayed at the office after being asked to leave.
"I am aware of the Army's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, but I don't agree with it. I want to serve my country, but I am not willing to hide who I am in order to do so," said Rawls, a Shawnee resident who is openly lesbian.
Rawls said she and her supporters chose the Norman recruiting station because they thought University of Oklahoma students might join a planned protest. "We were treated with respect, but I was saddened that the recruitment officer didn't know about the Military Readiness Enhancement Bill, a bill now in Congress," said supporter Pamela Disel, also of Shawnee. If approved, the measure would replace the present "don't ask, don't tell" policy with one of nondiscrimination.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nerve.in/news:25350015638
Nepal government begins crackdown on gays
Thursday, 14 September 2006
"In Nepal's conservative society, where the son is valued much more than the daughter, homosexuals are regarded as freaks and homosexuality is a punishable offence. The gay community has been urging the new government to end homophobic laws and incorporate gay rights in the new constitution that is to be implemented soon."
By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 14 - Nepal's vulnerable gay community, who had taken part in the popular protests against King Gyanendra's regime, are now being targeted by the new 'democratic' government they supported to power, a gay rights organisation said.
The new government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, that was sworn in May and pledged to uphold democracy and human rights, has now started a cleansing drive against homosexuals in the capital, arbitrarily arresting them, detaining them illegally and beating them up in police lock-ups, according to the Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's most prominent gay rights organisation.
Sunil Pant, president of Blue Diamond Society, says the new drive against metis - homosexual men who dress up as women - began about a month ago.
=
MEDIA RELEASE
14 September 2006
For immediate release
European Parliament puts homophobic bullying on its agenda
On 13 September 2006 a Report on Social Exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender (LGBT) young people was launched in the European Parliament.
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) taking part at the launch agreed todraw up a declaration to stop homophobic behaviour in schools. MEPs from theIntergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights committed to take a lead on thisinitiative.
The launch of ILGA-Europe's and IGLYO's joint publication on socialexclusion of LGBT young people led to these and other concrete promisescoming from the European Parliament. The Intergroup together with IGLYO andILGA-Europe shall develop an agenda on how young LGBT people in Europeshould be protected against discrimination occurring in different spheres oflife.
#####
Forwarded from EuroQueer
euro-queer@groups.queernet.org
English
15.09.06
Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk
IRAN
AUTHORITIES BOAST OF SUCCESS IN INTERNET FILTERING
Iran is doing its utmost to isolate its citizens from the rest of the worldby purging the Internet of independent content, in the name of 'morality',says Reporters Without Borders, noting that the authorities even brag aboutthe success of their censorship.
"We are filtering more than 10 million websites", boasted the technical headof the Iranian company in charge of Internet censorship, on 11 September2006.
The worldwide press freedom organisation said it was difficult to check thisstatement but it had monitored an increase in filtering since the start ofsummer 2006. Censorship seems particularly targeted against sites dealingwith the condition of women, it noted.
=
Stacy Lienemann
Direct Response and Scholarly Promotions Manager
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
612-627-1934
http://www.upress.umn.edu
The first comprehensive work on the transgender civil rights movement.
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter, editors
University of Minnesota Press | 400 pages | 2006
ISBN 0-8166-4311-3 | hardcover | $60.00
ISBN 0-8166-4312-1 | paperback | $19.95
With analysis from legal and policy experts, activists and advocates,Transgender Rights assesses the movement's achievements, challenges, and opportunities for future action. Examining crucial topics like family law,employment policies, public health, economics, and grassroots organizing,this groundbreaking book is an indispensable resource in the fight for thefreedom and equality of those who cross gender boundaries. Moving beyondmedia representations to grapple with the real lives and issues oftransgender people,Transgender Rights will launch a new moment for humanrights activism in America.
"This is a cutting-edge book full of new information and newideas." -Patrick Califia
"At last! Transgender Rights is the only book any activist, ally, or familymember should really need to figure out the tactics of most if not allgender bullies and stop them dead in their tracks. Yippee for the goodguys, the good grrls, and all the rest of us good folks." -Kate Bornstein"A valuable contribution to understanding this evolving edge of humanexperience." -Susan Stryker
"This book introduces transgender/transsexual/intersex social, political,and legal issues to a broad audience. I think this is an urgently importantconfiguration of concerns, and was moved, grateful, and profoundly excitedto find that the editors have brought into being a collection that presentsthem so well." -Janet Halley, Harvard Law School
Contributors: Kylar W. Broadus, Judith Butler, Mauro Cabral, Dallas Denny,Taylor Flynn, Phyllis Randolph Frye, Julie A. Greenberg, Morgan Holmes,Bennett H. Klein, Jennifer L. Levi, Ruthann Robson, NohemySolórzano-Thompson, Dean Spade, Kendall Thomas, Paula Viturro, WillyWilkinson.
For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/C/currah_transgender.html
Sign up to receive news on the latest releases from University of Minnesota Press:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/eform.html
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401556_pf.html
Kaine Says He Will Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage Ban
By Chris L. Jenkins and Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 15, 2006; B06
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) urged Virginians to vote against a proposedconstitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, sayingthe ballot question puts thousands of unmarried couples at risk of losing aslew of benefits.
Kaine's comments, as well as his pledge to campaign vigorously against themeasure, came just hours after Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell(R) issued a legal opinion arguing just the opposite. McDonnell said therights of unwed couples to sign over property, develop wills and make othercontracts will not be threatened by the proposed amendment on the Novemberballot.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/nyregion/15mcgreevey.html
September 15, 2006
McGreevey Finds Revising an Image Is Not So Easy
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and ANDREW JACOBS
As a politician, former Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey was a masterof message discipline, a candidate with an uncanny ability to restrict hispublic statements to preordained talking points.
But as an author, Mr. McGreevey's attempts to orchestrate a publicitycampaign for his autobiography appear to be suffering from the literaryequivalent of opening-night jitters.
After months of trying to ensure that his forthcoming book is viewed as astory of redemption and the torturous spiritual journey that led him topublicly admit that he was the nation's first openly gay governor, Mr.McGreevey instead finds himself cast as a prime example of the irresponsibleexpectant father.
And the book, "The Confession," is not even scheduled to be on the shelvesuntil next week.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-john.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
September 15, 2006
Elton John Ends Spat with George Michael
By REUTERS
Filed at 5:27 a.m. ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Elton John has put an end to his feud with fellow Britishpop star George Michael, declaring ``we're fine.''
The row erupted two years ago when John said Michael appeared to be in a``strange place,'' wasting his talent by staying at home and shunning thelimelight.
Michael later complained that harsh media treatment of his private lifestarted after John's adverse comments.
But Elton John was all sweetness and light on Friday, telling ITV hostMichael Parkinson: ``George and I are fine. He came and stayed down my houselast year. We're fine.''
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_us13sep14,0,7986464.story
Colo. Worker Wins Transgender Bias Case
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
September 15, 2006, 12:14 AM EDT
DENVER -- A woman who was fired while preparing to undergo sex-change surgery was let go in violation of state anti-discrimination law, the headof Colorado's civil rights agency has ruled.
Advocates praised the ruling, saying it was the first of its kind inColorado and a sign that society has begun to better understand transgenderpeople.
Danielle Cornwell, 54, claimed in a complaint filed in April with the CivilRights Division that she was fired in July 2005 because she was a woman andbecause she had recently told the company she planned to undergo gender-reassignment surgery.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15519219.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Gay lawyers protest honor for Bowers
DOUG GROSS
Associated Press
ATLANTA - A planned honor for former state Attorney General Mike Bowers has raised the ire of gay lawyers in Georgia, who say his defense of the state'snow-defunct anti-sodomy law makes him undeserving of the award.
The Atlanta Bar Association plans to give Bowers its Leadership Award at anOctober banquet.
The Stonewall Bar Association, a group that supports gay and lesbianattorneys in the state, responded with a letter to the Atlanta bar this weeksaying Bowers left a "discriminatory and hypocritical legacy."
In the mid-1980s, Bowers, acting in his role as attorney general, went allthe way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Georgia's anti-sodomy law from achallenge by the American Civil Liberties Union
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/09/acceptable_nudity.html
When is nudity acceptable on the news?
Ever since the infamous "nipplegate" incident involving Janet Jackson'scostume malfunction, television channels in America have been especiallysensitive to any bare flesh.
So Allan Little's piece from Swaziland on Friday (watch it here) saw a groupof BBC World producers studying the US rule book very carefully... since webroadcast on American cable networks, and have to respect "local" laws.
Allan reported on the "Ceremony of the Reed" - where the King of Swazilandchooses a wife from a parade of women dressed in traditional costume. Thatis, they weren't wearing anything on top. There wasn't really any way ofavoiding the issue - that's how they were dressed, and to have edited outany toplessness would have been bizarre.
But talking to colleagues in the US, it's pretty clear that American TVchannels have become cautious to the extreme on any issues involving eithernudity or swearing. One channel reportedly re-edited a cartoon because itshowed a bare bottom.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid36466.asp
The Advocate
September 15, 2006
Openly gay woman tries to enlist in Army as protest of policy
The possibility of arrest served to curtail a protest against the U.S. military's policy on gay soldiers. Nichole Rawls, 27, tried to enlist at an Army recruiting office in northwest Norman, Okla., on Wednesday, but a police officer who arrived there told Rawls and others participating in the demonstration that they could be arrested if they stayed at the office after being asked to leave.
"I am aware of the Army's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, but I don't agree with it. I want to serve my country, but I am not willing to hide who I am in order to do so," said Rawls, a Shawnee resident who is openly lesbian.
Rawls said she and her supporters chose the Norman recruiting station because they thought University of Oklahoma students might join a planned protest. "We were treated with respect, but I was saddened that the recruitment officer didn't know about the Military Readiness Enhancement Bill, a bill now in Congress," said supporter Pamela Disel, also of Shawnee. If approved, the measure would replace the present "don't ask, don't tell" policy with one of nondiscrimination.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nerve.in/news:25350015638
Nepal government begins crackdown on gays
Thursday, 14 September 2006
"In Nepal's conservative society, where the son is valued much more than the daughter, homosexuals are regarded as freaks and homosexuality is a punishable offence. The gay community has been urging the new government to end homophobic laws and incorporate gay rights in the new constitution that is to be implemented soon."
By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 14 - Nepal's vulnerable gay community, who had taken part in the popular protests against King Gyanendra's regime, are now being targeted by the new 'democratic' government they supported to power, a gay rights organisation said.
The new government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, that was sworn in May and pledged to uphold democracy and human rights, has now started a cleansing drive against homosexuals in the capital, arbitrarily arresting them, detaining them illegally and beating them up in police lock-ups, according to the Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's most prominent gay rights organisation.
Sunil Pant, president of Blue Diamond Society, says the new drive against metis - homosexual men who dress up as women - began about a month ago.
=
MEDIA RELEASE
14 September 2006
For immediate release
European Parliament puts homophobic bullying on its agenda
On 13 September 2006 a Report on Social Exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender (LGBT) young people was launched in the European Parliament.
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) taking part at the launch agreed todraw up a declaration to stop homophobic behaviour in schools. MEPs from theIntergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights committed to take a lead on thisinitiative.
The launch of ILGA-Europe's and IGLYO's joint publication on socialexclusion of LGBT young people led to these and other concrete promisescoming from the European Parliament. The Intergroup together with IGLYO andILGA-Europe shall develop an agenda on how young LGBT people in Europeshould be protected against discrimination occurring in different spheres oflife.
#####
Thursday, September 14, 2006
FLORIDA DIGEST September 14, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/Opinion/A_welcome_apology.shtml
A welcome apology
A Times Editorial
Published September 14, 2006
It was a long time coming, but Jim Davis did the right thing when he personally apologized to Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee, two black men whowere wrongly convicted of murder and spent 12 years in prison - includingnine on death row - before they were pardoned. The Democratic nominee forgovernor voted against compensating them 16 years ago as a state legislator,and he finally acknowledged he made a mistake and focused too much ontechnicalities at the time.
The Jim Davis who appeared with Pitts and Lee on Tuesday in Miami spoke more from the heart. His candor and humility better reflected his overall record as a state legislator and member of Congress from Tampa than this oneinexplicable lapse in judgment.
And there was more to this than one news conference; Davis spoke several times recently to Pitts and Lee by phone, and he met with Pitts privately onSunday.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/State/Proponents_of_paper_v.shtml
Proponents of paper voting trail win ruling
A judge says Sarasota County voters have a right to decide Nov. 7 whether toswitch from touch screen to paper ballots.
By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2006
A controversial charter amendment that would resurrect the paper ballot inSarasota County must be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot, a judge ruledWednesday.
The amendment, drafted by a group that distrusts the electronic, touchscreen machines used by Sarasota and 14 other counties - including Pinellas,Hillsborough and Pasco - is constitutional and has met all ballotrequirements, Circuit Judge Robert B. Bennett Jr. said in his ruling.
County commissioners, who feared the measure was unconstitutional and sought a judge's opinion, relented and voted Wednesday
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/State/Crist_nod_for_No_2_go.shtml
Crist nod for No. 2 goes to a 'fighter'
His selection of state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp - a friend, trial lawyer and family man - gets mixed reviews.
STEVE BOUSQUET and DEIRDRE MORROW
Published September 14, 2006
CAPE CORAL - Republican nominee for governor Charlie Crist on Wednesdaychose as his running mate state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp of Cape Coral, asoft-spoken trial lawyer with deep roots in conservative southwest Florida.
Kottkamp, 45, has been in the House since 2000, and has been a reliableRepublican vote on such issues as higher phone rates and state interventionin the Terri Schiavo case, both of which Crist has criticized.
Kottkamp also survived a major health scare two years ago, when an infectionafter five heart bypasses left him in an induced coma for several weekswhile his wife was pregnant.
=
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-davis1406sep14,0,4810707.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state
Democratic nominee Davis selects Jones, sources say - The '02 gubernatorial candidate from Miami spent 10 years serving in the state Senate.
Linda Kleindienst and Bill Hirschman
Tallahassee Bureau
September 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jim Davis today will nameformer Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones as his running mate, sources said late Wednesday.
Davis spent much of Wednesday mulling over five choices for his runningmate. Sources said that Jones, who made his own bid for governor in 2002, got the call late Wednesday.
Davis, a congressman from Tampa, narrowed his selection to South Florida Democrats in an effort to mine the area's voter-rich counties. More than onein four of the state's 10.4 million voters live in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
Other finalists were House Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale;Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle; incoming HouseDemocratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach; and former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jimmy Morales.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/sfl-edittdandrewssep14,0,653590.story?coll=sfla-news-editorial
School Board
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
September 14, 2006
ISSUE: Carole Andrews resigns seat because of poor health.
Carole Andrews has served with dedication on the Broward County School Board, but failing health has forced her to resign. It's sad to see her go.
Andrews, re-elected on Sept. 5 to serve a third term, helped create theLeadership Academy for at-risk students. She also created and supervised theSchool Resource Officer Program. She represented the School Board on thecounty's Children's Services Council and several other boards. Her concernfor the welfare of children will be sorely missed.
Andrews also performed a valuable public service by running for re-electiondespite her illness. Her only opponent had two DUI convictions and ano-contest plea in a cocaine possession case on his record, and is currentlyfacing a third DUI charge. His election would have been a disaster.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-celxdavis14sep14,0,2015928.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Davis expected to name Daryl Jones as running mate
By Linda Kleindienst and Bill Hirschman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE--Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jim Davis today will nameformer Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones as his running mate during a FortLauderdale campaign stop, the first in a two-day statewide tour to introducethe new team to voters.
Davis spent much of Wednesday mulling over five choices from South Florida.Sources said that Jones, an African-American who made his own bid forgovernor in 2002, got the call late Wednesday night.
Davis, a congressman from Tampa, narrowed his selection to South Florida inan apparent effort to mine the area's voter-rich counties. More thanone-in-four of the state's 10.4 million voters live in Broward, Palm Beachand Miami-Dade counties.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15512655.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Crist taps Cape Coral lawmaker for his running mate
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
meklas@MiamiHerald.com
CAPE CORAL - State Attorney General Charlie Crist rounded out his ticket for governor Wednesday, tapping a state legislator who brings with him what Crist doesn't have: a wife, a child, home ownership and a solid conservative pedigree that appeals to the Republican Party's traditional base.
Jeff Kottkamp, a Cape Coral state representative and trial lawyer, is the right choice for lieutenant governor, Crist said, because ``he's a great man, a great leader, a man of great integrity.''
The camera-friendly pair said they have been friends since 1998, but first worked together in 2003, when Kottkamp sponsored a Crist-backed measure to increase the attorney general's ability to file civil rights complaints.
Kottkamp, 45, is a rising star in the House who has made his name as a staunch defender of the courts and an opponent of radical litigation reforms. But Kottkamp's legislative record also includes one item that may complicate his civil rights stance: In 2001, he co-sponsored a bill designed to make it illegal to remove the Confederate flag from flying above public buildings.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15513435.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR CHOICE
Kottkamp's life takes a remarkable turn
Charlie Crist's running mate brings solid conservative credentials and his own compelling story to the state race.
BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@MiamiHerald.com
At a time when his neighbors were dealing with the fury and aftermath ofHurricane Charley in 2004, state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp was in a coma in aSouthwest Florida hospital, struggling to overcome a heart infection.
The Cape Coral Republican was just 43 years old, but he had gone to thehospital in July of that year for bypass surgery. The infection put his lifein peril, forcing doctors to place him in a medically induced coma. Kottkampdidn't recover until after Charley tore through the region. Kottkamp wouldrecall later that he missed a lot that summer, although he awoke just beforethe birth of his son.
''It was a month where I'm in a coma and hurricanes are happening. I missedthe Republican National Convention. I missed the Olympics, the elections. Imissed all of that,'' Kottkamp was quoted by his hometown newspaper thatfall.
#####
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/Opinion/A_welcome_apology.shtml
A welcome apology
A Times Editorial
Published September 14, 2006
It was a long time coming, but Jim Davis did the right thing when he personally apologized to Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee, two black men whowere wrongly convicted of murder and spent 12 years in prison - includingnine on death row - before they were pardoned. The Democratic nominee forgovernor voted against compensating them 16 years ago as a state legislator,and he finally acknowledged he made a mistake and focused too much ontechnicalities at the time.
The Jim Davis who appeared with Pitts and Lee on Tuesday in Miami spoke more from the heart. His candor and humility better reflected his overall record as a state legislator and member of Congress from Tampa than this oneinexplicable lapse in judgment.
And there was more to this than one news conference; Davis spoke several times recently to Pitts and Lee by phone, and he met with Pitts privately onSunday.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/State/Proponents_of_paper_v.shtml
Proponents of paper voting trail win ruling
A judge says Sarasota County voters have a right to decide Nov. 7 whether toswitch from touch screen to paper ballots.
By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2006
A controversial charter amendment that would resurrect the paper ballot inSarasota County must be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot, a judge ruledWednesday.
The amendment, drafted by a group that distrusts the electronic, touchscreen machines used by Sarasota and 14 other counties - including Pinellas,Hillsborough and Pasco - is constitutional and has met all ballotrequirements, Circuit Judge Robert B. Bennett Jr. said in his ruling.
County commissioners, who feared the measure was unconstitutional and sought a judge's opinion, relented and voted Wednesday
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/14/news_pf/State/Crist_nod_for_No_2_go.shtml
Crist nod for No. 2 goes to a 'fighter'
His selection of state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp - a friend, trial lawyer and family man - gets mixed reviews.
STEVE BOUSQUET and DEIRDRE MORROW
Published September 14, 2006
CAPE CORAL - Republican nominee for governor Charlie Crist on Wednesdaychose as his running mate state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp of Cape Coral, asoft-spoken trial lawyer with deep roots in conservative southwest Florida.
Kottkamp, 45, has been in the House since 2000, and has been a reliableRepublican vote on such issues as higher phone rates and state interventionin the Terri Schiavo case, both of which Crist has criticized.
Kottkamp also survived a major health scare two years ago, when an infectionafter five heart bypasses left him in an induced coma for several weekswhile his wife was pregnant.
=
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-davis1406sep14,0,4810707.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state
Democratic nominee Davis selects Jones, sources say - The '02 gubernatorial candidate from Miami spent 10 years serving in the state Senate.
Linda Kleindienst and Bill Hirschman
Tallahassee Bureau
September 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jim Davis today will nameformer Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones as his running mate, sources said late Wednesday.
Davis spent much of Wednesday mulling over five choices for his runningmate. Sources said that Jones, who made his own bid for governor in 2002, got the call late Wednesday.
Davis, a congressman from Tampa, narrowed his selection to South Florida Democrats in an effort to mine the area's voter-rich counties. More than onein four of the state's 10.4 million voters live in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
Other finalists were House Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale;Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle; incoming HouseDemocratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach; and former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jimmy Morales.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/sfl-edittdandrewssep14,0,653590.story?coll=sfla-news-editorial
School Board
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
September 14, 2006
ISSUE: Carole Andrews resigns seat because of poor health.
Carole Andrews has served with dedication on the Broward County School Board, but failing health has forced her to resign. It's sad to see her go.
Andrews, re-elected on Sept. 5 to serve a third term, helped create theLeadership Academy for at-risk students. She also created and supervised theSchool Resource Officer Program. She represented the School Board on thecounty's Children's Services Council and several other boards. Her concernfor the welfare of children will be sorely missed.
Andrews also performed a valuable public service by running for re-electiondespite her illness. Her only opponent had two DUI convictions and ano-contest plea in a cocaine possession case on his record, and is currentlyfacing a third DUI charge. His election would have been a disaster.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-celxdavis14sep14,0,2015928.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Davis expected to name Daryl Jones as running mate
By Linda Kleindienst and Bill Hirschman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE--Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jim Davis today will nameformer Miami state Sen. Daryl Jones as his running mate during a FortLauderdale campaign stop, the first in a two-day statewide tour to introducethe new team to voters.
Davis spent much of Wednesday mulling over five choices from South Florida.Sources said that Jones, an African-American who made his own bid forgovernor in 2002, got the call late Wednesday night.
Davis, a congressman from Tampa, narrowed his selection to South Florida inan apparent effort to mine the area's voter-rich counties. More thanone-in-four of the state's 10.4 million voters live in Broward, Palm Beachand Miami-Dade counties.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15512655.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Crist taps Cape Coral lawmaker for his running mate
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
meklas@MiamiHerald.com
CAPE CORAL - State Attorney General Charlie Crist rounded out his ticket for governor Wednesday, tapping a state legislator who brings with him what Crist doesn't have: a wife, a child, home ownership and a solid conservative pedigree that appeals to the Republican Party's traditional base.
Jeff Kottkamp, a Cape Coral state representative and trial lawyer, is the right choice for lieutenant governor, Crist said, because ``he's a great man, a great leader, a man of great integrity.''
The camera-friendly pair said they have been friends since 1998, but first worked together in 2003, when Kottkamp sponsored a Crist-backed measure to increase the attorney general's ability to file civil rights complaints.
Kottkamp, 45, is a rising star in the House who has made his name as a staunch defender of the courts and an opponent of radical litigation reforms. But Kottkamp's legislative record also includes one item that may complicate his civil rights stance: In 2001, he co-sponsored a bill designed to make it illegal to remove the Confederate flag from flying above public buildings.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15513435.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR CHOICE
Kottkamp's life takes a remarkable turn
Charlie Crist's running mate brings solid conservative credentials and his own compelling story to the state race.
BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@MiamiHerald.com
At a time when his neighbors were dealing with the fury and aftermath ofHurricane Charley in 2004, state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp was in a coma in aSouthwest Florida hospital, struggling to overcome a heart infection.
The Cape Coral Republican was just 43 years old, but he had gone to thehospital in July of that year for bypass surgery. The infection put his lifein peril, forcing doctors to place him in a medically induced coma. Kottkampdidn't recover until after Charley tore through the region. Kottkamp wouldrecall later that he missed a lot that summer, although he awoke just beforethe birth of his son.
''It was a month where I'm in a coma and hurricanes are happening. I missedthe Republican National Convention. I missed the Olympics, the elections. Imissed all of that,'' Kottkamp was quoted by his hometown newspaper thatfall.
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