~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/14/AR2006101400374.html
Studds, 1st Openly Gay Congressman, Dies
By JAY LINDSAY
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 14, 2006; 10:59 AM
BOSTON -- Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay person electedto Congress, died early Saturday at Boston Medical Center, several daysafter he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. He was 69.
Studds fell unconscious Oct. 3 because of what doctors later determined wasa blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said.
Studds regained consciousness, remained in the hospital, and seemed to beimproving. He was scheduled to be transferred to a rehabilitation center,but his condition deteriorated Friday and he died at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Hara said.
Hara, who married Studds shortly after gay marriage was legalized inMassachusetts in 2004, said Studds was a pioneer who gave courage to gaypeople everywhere by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging hishomosexuality.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301442_pf.html
Ex-Pages' Trip With Rep. Kolbe Examined
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A04
The U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix has opened a preliminary investigationof a 1996 camping trip that included Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and two17-year-old boys who had participated in the congressional page program, lawenforcement officials said yesterday.
One official cautioned that the inquiry was based on allegations from oneunidentified source that has not been substantiated. The allegations involveKolbe's behavior toward one of the ex-pages, the official said.
The three-day trip down the Grand Canyon also included several Kolbestaffers and National Park Service employees, according to NBC News, whichfirst reported the investigation. Kolbe's office said in a statement to NBCthat "there is absolutely no basis and no truth" to any allegations ofinappropriate behavior, and that the trip included five Kolbe aides, twoformer pages and Kolbe's sister.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-11-gop-gay-identity-crisis_x.htm?POE=click-refer
Page scandal exposes GOP's gay identity crisis
Updated 10/12/2006 9:51 AM ET
By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - At a State Department ceremony this week, Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice warmly acknowledged the family members of Mark Dybul, whomshe was swearing in as the nation's new global AIDS coordinator.
As first lady Laura Bush looked on, Rice singled out his partner, JasonClaire, and Claire's mother. Rice referred to her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."
The celebratory moment for a gay couple was emblematic of the politicalidentity crisis facing the Republican Party, two years after an election theGOP won in part by making gay marriage an issue and less than two weeksafter revelations about a Republican House member's advances toward teenageboys.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Wow! is the new Fed pobe of Kolbe & pages an anti-gay witch-hunt?
If one reads the preceding NBC story to their "probe" story (both arebelow), this is starting to sound suspiciously like a witch-hunt, because itappears there were too many people on the camping trip for any hanky-pankyto have been going on. Is this somebody's revenge against Kolbe? anti-gayChrister right pressure? some combination of the two? what the hell is goingon here? I don't like the smell of this latest twist in the Foley fallout.-- D.I.
FED PROSECUTORS OPEN PROBE OF KOLBE TRIP WITH PAGES
By Jim Popkin, Aram Roston and the NBC News Investigative Unit
Updated: 1:55 p.m. ET Oct 13, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15249733/
WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminaryinvestigation of a camping trip Congressman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took 10years ago that included two teenage congressional pages, a JusticeDepartment spokesman told NBC News. NBC News first reported on the campingand rafting trip on Tuesday. (SEE THAT STORY BELOW -- D.I.)
A spokesman for the Justice Department in Washington said that the U.S.attorney in Arizona has started a "preliminary assessment" of the trip,after an unidentified source made allegations about the congressman'sbehavior on the expedition.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 13, 2006
Luis Vizcaino | Phone: 202/216.1547 | Cell: 310/869.5700 Brad Luna | Phone:
202/216.1514 | Cell: 202/812.8140
NATIONAL SURVEY RELEASED BY HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN SHOWS
NO IMPACT OF MARK FOLEY SCANDAL ON GLBT ISSUES
Despite Links by Conservative Groups, Majority of Americans
Do Not Link Scandal to Gays
WASHINGTON DC - The Human Rights Campaign today released a new nationwide poll that shows the aggressively coordinated attempts by anti-gay right-wingleaders and anti-gay groups to brand the Mark Foley scandal as a gay issueare a resounding failure.
The new, nationwide poll shows that, by a 2-to-1 margin, voters believe that"this type of behavior is typical of politicians" over "this type ofbehavior is typical of gay men." The poll also showed support for eithercivil unions or marriage for same-sex couples at 66 percent, which isconsistent with other polls on the same question.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Indiana Top 10 State In Same-Sex Couples
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/home.html
Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population:
New Estimates from the American Community Survey
INTRODUCTION
1
The news that same-sex couples lived in nearly every county of the UnitedStates marked one of most reported on statistics from the release of Census2000 data. Since then, policy debates focusing on marriage and partnershiprights for same-sex couples have led academics and policy-makers alike touse these data in hopes of gaining a more complete and accurate understanding of this population (e.g., Gates and Ost 2004; CongressionalBudget Office 2004; Badgett and Sears 2005).
The release of new data from the American Community Survey (ACS) this monthoffers the first opportunity to update what we have learned and to assesspossible changes in the geographic and demographic characteristics ofsame-sex couples.
Analyses of the ACS 2005 data reveal that:
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A note from Michael Emanuel Rajner
National Secretary - Campaign To End AIDS
October 13, 2006
Tonight in Fort Lauderdale, FL we just celebrated National Latino AIDSAwareness Day in Wilton Manors. It was an awesome night to share with acommunity of infected and affected individuals often left behind asstep-children in the fight to End AIDS and service to those in need. Formany that attended, English was a second language. What an amazingexperience it was to witness these people having the opportunity tocelebrate their culture as a true community, being HIV+ and putting asideall the hatred that exists in this world. They embraced the true beautythat exists in one another realizing what united a community of individuals.It made me wish I had a better grasp on the Spanish language after havingtaken Spanish classes over 10 years ago!
Stigma still delivers a mighty blow to the fight to End AIDS. As AIDSactivists; often opinionated, when we attend events, that last thing weexpect to do is say nothing and just sit back. Well, tonight I sort of didjust that, I bartended for the event and watched and listened. It washumbling to watch as others celebrated the end of their struggle to find asafe environment to trust and disclose to others. Tonight was a joyfulcelebration for those that attended. But I could not stop thinking of thosethat still fear to come out of their homes, those that fear to seek care,treatment and support. After 25 years, our work is only beginning!
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.southernvoice.com/2006/10-13/news/localnews/localnews.cfm
LOCAL NEWS | <file://www.sovo.com> www.sovo.com
Atlanta police, trans activists try to 'build bridges'
Meetings focus on trans prostitution, alleged police harassment
By ERIC ERVIN
Oct. 13, 2006
Transgender activists and Atlanta Police Department officials met Oct. 4 toaddress issues of alleged police harassment of transgender residents as wellas to try to build a better understanding between the groups, according toattendees.
The meeting, held at City Hall East, is one of several concerning an AtlantaPolice Department crack down on transgender sex workers. Police haveincreased patrols in Midtown, concentrating on the areas between Ponce DeLeon Avenue and Piedmont Park.
Representatives from LaGender, Inc., Queer Progressive Agenda and the policedepartment's GLBT Advisory Board met for about two hours at City Hall Eastto come up with solutions.
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Irish Independent, 14 October 2006
Court reserves judgment in rights bid by lesbian couple
Judge gives no indication when decision will be ready
JUDGMENT has been reserved in the landmark legal action taken by a lesbian couple seeking to have their Canadian marriage recognised here.
In the High Court yesterday, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said she would be reserving judgment, but gave no indication when that decision would be ready.
Yesterday, evidence concluded in the action taken by Dr Katherine Zappone, a public policy consultant, and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan, an academic, against the Revenue Commissioners and the State.
They claim the failure by the authorities here to recognise their Canadian marriage as valid breaches their right to marry under the Irish Constitution, European Convention on Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Freedoms. They also argue that if their Canadian marriage, obtained in the Province of British Columbia in 2003, is not recognised they should have the right to marry within the State.
The State denies the alleged breaches of rights.
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Ray's Note:
In this interesting, but informal, survey it appears Gore gets the most votes for president, followed by Hillary, next Edwards, followed by Obama, then Clark. A mixture of all of the others combined receives more votes than all but Gore. Kerry received very little mention. Hillary gets the largest number of negative comments.
```
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=63#respond
Ex-Gov. Warner Decides to Forgo White House Run
With Mark Warner dropping out, what ticket has the best shot at winning the White House in 2008?
Related Article
239 comments
J Watson:
Clinton Edwards, of course
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
victor:
Edwards/Obama
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
M. Mitchell, Chicago:
Hilary! Hilary! Hilary!
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
David Fisher:
Gore and Obama. In 2000 the GOP ridiculed Gore as an enviromental nut who was carrying around "a social security lockbox." Who's laughing now. The key states will be Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, maybe Michigan, Nevada. All have sizeable African-American populations who will turn out to vote for the first African-American on a national ticket. And if the GOP tries to prevent them from voting. again. there'll be rioting in the streets. I know, cause I'll be leading 'em.
200+ more.....
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Pages-Kolbe.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Kolbe Camping Trip Being Investigated
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:29 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation into a camping trip that an Arizona lawmaker took with two former pages and others in 1996, according to a law enforcement official.Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took the former pages as well as staff members and National Park Service officials on a Fourth of July rafting trip in the Grand Canyon in 1996, his spokeswoman Korenna Cline said Friday.An allegation related to the trip was given to the U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix, but it was not immediately clear whether it concerned any contention of improper activity by Kolbe.The official described the inquiry as preliminary and far narrower in scope than the federal investigation into former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who resigned two weeks ago amid reports about sexually explicit e-mails he sent to pages.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/nyregion/14attack.html
October 14, 2006
Man Attacked in Possible Hate Crime Dies
By AL BAKER
The victim of what the authorities say was a hate crime died in a Brooklyn hospital yesterday, five days after he was attacked, robbed and forced into roaring traffic on the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
The victim, Michael J. Sandy, turned 29 on Thursday. McCartha L. Lewis, his aunt, said dozens of his friends and relatives gathered at Mr. Sandy's bedside at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center about noon as he was taken off a respirator that was supporting his breathing.
"He was already brain dead," Ms. Lewis said. "He was already gone. Michael is at peace at this moment, resting peacefully right now."
She added, "It was a very sad moment at that time, and up to now it is still a very sad time for us."Three Brooklyn men have been charged with hate crimes in connection with the attack on Mr. Sandy, who grew up on Long Island and worked in the interiors department at the Ikea store in Hicksville.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=12865
Judy Shepard: Carrying the Torch
by Andrew Davis
2006-10-11
If losing a child is the worst thing a parent can experience, then the wayJudy Shepard lost her son had to be even more excruciating, if that ispossible. Her son, of course, is former University of Wyoming studentMatthew Shepard, who, in 1998, was brutally attacked by three men and leftto die-because of his sexual orientation.
Matthew's death spawned an outpouring of grief. However, it also led to aglobal awareness of anti-gay hate crimes as well as the formation oforganizations such as The Matthew Shepard Foundation, which was started byJudy and Dennis Shepard, Matthew's parents.
Judy Shepard will appear at Roosevelt University on Oct. 16 to speak abouther son as well as the foundation and various programs. She briefly tooktime out from her exhausting tour to talk with Windy City Times about whatthe foundation is doing-as well as about Matthew.
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Journal of Homosexuality
Volume 51, Issue 1
Editor(s): John P. De Cecco, PhD
SPECIAL ISSUE:
Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
Guest Editor(s):
Jay Harcourt
This issue is now available online and will soon be mailed to subscribers inapproximately 4-6 weeks.
NOTE: If the URLs in this email are not active hyperlinks, copy and paste the URL into the address/location box in your browser.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
John P. De Cecco
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=71817
Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Health
Introduction
Jay Harcourt
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=71818
Disclosure of Sexual Orientation and Behavior in the Nurses' Health Study II Results from a Pilot Study
Patricia Case, S. Bryn Austin, David J. Hunter, Walter C. Willett, Susan
Malspeis, JoAnn E. Manson, Donna Spiegelman
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=71819
Mental Health Issues A Comparison of Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual Women
Audrey S. Koh, Leslie K. Ross
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=71820
Factors Associated with 'Feeling Suicidal' The Role of Sexual Identity
Jeanne Abelson, Sasho Lambevski, June Crawford, Michael Bartos, Susan Kippax
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=71822
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-12-gay-marriage_x.htm
Same-sex marriage returns to ballot, as voters' moods change
Updated 10/12/2006 11:33 PM ET
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
Two years after voters in 13 states approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, gay rights activists hope to reverse that course next month.
Colorado's first-in-the-nation ballot proposal to create same-sex domesticpartnerships had strong support in a recent poll. At the same time, polls inthree of the eight states that will vote on banning same-sex marriage showthe measures either trailing or leading narrowly.
"It could be a watershed year," said Carrie Evans, state legislativedirector at the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian advocacy group.
Jim Pfaff, state policy director for the conservative group Focus on theFamily, disagrees. He says all same-sex-marriage bans will pass becausevoters "believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101106cameroon.htm
UN Body Condemns Cameroon Imprisonment Of Gay Men
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 11, 2006 - 3:00 pm ET
(New York City) International pressure is mounting on the government ofCameroon to release nearly a dozen men sentenced to prison earlier this yearon charges of being gay.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Wednesdaydeclared that the detentions on the basis of their presumed sexualorientation constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty contrary to theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.dailytrojan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=60c3a68e-6742-49ae-ac37-f890ec438818
Foley scandal elicits age-old homophobia
Stephan Kwok
Posted: 10/12/06
USC has topped many a list in athletics, academics and community service over the years, but this year it adds another title. "The Advocate CollegeGuide for LGBT Students," a new publication from popular gay-rights magazine"The Advocate" has ranked USC in the top 20 "Best of the Best" universitiesfor gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. This week, the USC GayLesbian Bisexual Transgender Assembly launches its part of the annualNational Coming Out Week - one of many "Best of the Best" events - in aneffort to promote gay awareness on campus.
With rainbow banners hung across Trousdale Parkway, it's a worthy questionto ask: Is USC a representative microcosm of advancing views onhomosexuality in America? Or is it more of an unwelcome aberration?
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14marriage.html
October 14, 2006
Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue
By KIRK JOHNSON
DENVER, Oct. 13 - The debate over same-sex marriage was a black-or-white proposition two years ago when voters in 11 states barred gay couples from marrying.
But this year shades of gray are everywhere, as eight more states consider similar ballot measures. Some of the proposed bans are struggling in the polls, and the issue of same-sex marriage itself has largely failed to rouse conservative voters.
In some cases, other issues, like the war in Iraq and ethics in Washington, have seized voters' attention. But the biggest change, people on both sides of the issue say, is that supporters of same-sex marriage this year are likely to be as mobilized as the opponents.
The social conservatives, who focused on marriage in 2004 and helped President Bush gain re-election in some hard-fought states in the Midwest, have been offset by equally committed and organized opposition. Slick advertising, paid staff and get-out-the-vote drives have become a two-way street.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbmail967oct14,0,6436688.story
Homophobia abetted by media
Donald Cavanaugh
Lake Worth
October 14, 2006
Re your Oct. 7 editorial "ISSUE: Foley's excuses are unacceptable": TheSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel is being fatuous purporting that there would havebeen any support for the gay community had Foley been honest about hissexual orientation. You know full well that Foley would never have beenelected if his constituents had known he was gay.
Although Foley's behavior was reprehensible, and I certainly hope he willget help and try to make amends, I suspect part of the blame lies with thetacit "don't ask/don't tell" policy of most of the media regardingpoliticians' sexual orientation.
The media are not doing anyone a favor by not reporting all the facts -- including sexual orientation. Heterosexual orientation doesn't have to bereported because everyone is assumed to be straight unless declaredotherwise.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101306boston.htm
Evangelicals Bid To Energize The Right Despite Foley Affair
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 14, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) Far right religious groups will attempt to unifytheir base Sunday in what is being described by foes as a gay-baiting to getout the vote.
Called "Liberty Sunday" it is patterned after similar events just prior tothe elections in 2000 and 2004. But this time conservatives are concernedthat evangelical Christians, considered the core of the Republican Party,may stay home on election day to show their disgust over the GOP handing ofthe Mark Foley affair.
Liberty Sunday this year will originate in Boston at the Tremont TempleBaptist Church and be broadcast by satellite to churches across the country.The list of speakers reads like a who's who of gay foes. It includes TonyPerkins, President of the Family Research Council, Alan Chambers, Presidentof the so-called ex gay group Exodus International, and video cutins fromJames Dobson of Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer from American Values, AlanSears of the Alliance Defense Fund and Don Wildmon of the American FamilyAssociation.
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Irish Examiner, 13 October 2006
Activists welcome welfare decision for gay couple
By Caroline O'Doherty
GAY rights campaigners have welcomed a landmark decision by the Government to financially assist a gay man who was refused welfare payments while caring for his terminally-ill partner.
The Equality Authority said the case highlighted the inequities of the welfare system which would automatically have paid the man if he was in a heterosexual relationship.
The payments were made through the Department of Social and Family Affairs on a "ex gratia" basis, meaning it was not legally obliged to do so, and it said the decision would not set a precedent for other same-sex couples in similar situations.
Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, however, said the case showed that the department could use discretion in making payments and he called for the same approach to be taken in similar cases involving same sex couples.
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salam, everyone,
this is from the popular iranian website, iranian.com about a story i wrote on lesbian iranians inparis/tehran. it illustrates how sometimes our worldforces us in situations we really don't have muchchoices in-- between beloved families and a life weknow is possible for us.
http://www.iranian.com/Experimental/2006/October/Paris/index.html
Reading Shahnameh in Paris
Over the years, the two women developed a special bond
Afdhere Jama
October 13, 2006
iranian.com
The Marais district of Paris is full of people somewould not really expect in the heart of Paris, likeIranian lesbians. A traditional neighborhood of Jews,Le Marais is now famous as the "gay" neighborhood ofParis. Many of the gay restaurants, clubs and otherhappenings are found here. But it is because of theatmosphere of this district that attracts them, saythe locals.
A 37-year-old Iranian lesbian named Parvaneh isvisiting a young (man and woman) couple who live in atiny studio on rue Sainte Croix de Bretonnerie.
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http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid37535.asp
Antigay leader claims memo targets closeted Republican staffers
In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, a memo containing the names ofallegedly closeted gay Republican congressional staffers has reportedly beensent to leading antigay Christian groups.
In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, a memo containing the names ofallegedly closeted gay Republican congressional staffers was composed byanti-Republican gay rights activists and sent to leading antigay Christiangroups, according to a report in The Nation. The Reverend Don Wildmon of thenotoriously antigay American Family Association told The Nation's MaxBlumenthal that he had received that memo, which he referred to simply as"the list."
Blumenthal claims that Wildmon told him he's convinced that a secretive gay"clique" within the Republican-controlled Congress was responsible forcovering up Foley's alleged sexual advances toward teenage male House pages.Moreover, Wildmon called on the Republican Party leadership to promptlypurge the "subversive" gay staffers.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301418_pf.html
Cybersexual Revolution
By William Saletan
Sunday, October 15, 2006; B02
Eight years ago, when Bill Clinton was caught lying about his affair with aWhite House intern, Mark Foley voted to impeach him."It's vile," said the congressman. "It's more sad than anything else, to seesomeone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexualaddiction."
As we say on the Internet: LOL. We now know that Clinton and Foley were ondifferent teams, but not in the way Foley pretended.And the irony only begins there. The two men have played similar roles, notonly in their reckless personal lives but in the cultural revolutions oftheir respective decades. Clinton introduced us to the ambiguities of sex.Foley is introducing us to the wilder ambiguities of cybersex.
In his 1998 deposition , Clinton was asked whether he had ever "had sexualrelations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in DepositionExhibit 1." The definition referred to "contact" with the other person'sprivate parts.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/world/africa/14briefs-006.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
World Briefing | Africa
Swaziland: U.S. Circumcision Funds Termed an Error
By SHARON LaFRANIERE
The United States Agency for International Development mistakenly financed aprogram in Swaziland that promoted circumcision to prevent the spread ofH.I.V., a spokesman said. The spokesman, David Snider, said the Family LifeAssociation of Swaziland received about $150,000 in agency funds last yearand circumcised 328 men. Financial support has not been renewed this year.
He said the agency's policy is not to finance circumcisions until resultsare in from two major American-financed studies into whether malecircumcision helps to prevent H.I.V. transmission. World Health Organizationexperts are also awaiting the results of those studies before decidingwhether to recommend circumcision as a way to fight AIDS.
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The New York Times
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301284_pf.html
In Virginia, a Rare Opportunity . . .
Gay Marriage Amendment Offers Moderate Republicans a Chance to Challenge
Extremists
Sunday, October 15, 2006; B08
On Nov. 7, Virginia will experience a Republican Moment.
The election presents the commonwealth's long-neglected moderate andlibertarian Republican voters with a rare opportunity to challenge theparty's religious extremists without supporting a Democrat .
A proposed amendment to Virginia's state constitution theoreticallyaddresses the definition of marriage. In reality, however, the amendmentwould not change the status of marriage. Same-sex marriages have never beenrecognized in Virginia, and they have been prohibited by statute for morethan 30 years. There is no prospect of the situation changing throughlegislative or judicial action. Therefore, thoughtful opponents of gaymarriage have nothing to fear in voting against the amendment. Same-sexmarriage would remain illegal.
#####
Saturday, October 14, 2006
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 14, 2006
IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14beliefs.html?ei=5040&en=3acfa86f487832a8&ex=1161489600&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
Beliefs
Voters' Guides Define Moral Compromises to Take to Polls
By PETER STEINFELS
Voters' guides have gone theological. "Voting God's Politics." "Voter'sGuide for Serious Catholics." "Voting for the Common Good: A Practical Guidefor Conscientious Catholics." "Voting With a Clear Conscience." And more.
These are not the familiar guides that line up candidates by their views orvotes on a list of selected issues and that, in some cases, give themratings, a practice that has migrated from lobbies like those on guncontrol, tax cuts and environmental regulation to religious groups like theChristian Coalition.
No, the new voters' guides try to be mini-manuals of moral theology andchurch-state relations, offering voters a religious framework for makingtheir choices, not endorsements of candidates or parties.
Of course, it isn't that simple. The complex entanglement of theology andpolitics is made clear in the case of competing Roman Catholic guides, amatter of political import in view of the belief that Catholics constitute aswing vote, especially in what are considered swing states.
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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/UPDATE/610130459/1003/rss&template=printart
Poll: Granholm leads by nine points
charlie Cain and Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has surpassed 50 percent support for the first timesince last winter and now leads Republican challengerDick DeVos by nine points, according to a new Detroit News/WXYZ-TV poll.
Granholm leads with 51 percent to 42 percent for DeVos and 5 percentundecided, the poll of 608 likely voters taken Tuesday through Thursday byEPIC/MRA of Lansing shows. The last time Granholm was over the 50-percentmark was in February, when she led DeVos 53-46.
The second gubernatorial debate was Tuesday.
Proposal 2, which would ban some government affirmative action programs,reached 50 percent support, with 41 percent opposed and 9 percent undecided,the survey says.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/editorial/4258287
Drain the swamp
U.S. House Democrats promise to clean up the corruption. If they don't, theycould suffer
Republican Party strategists have been using the specter of "House SpeakerNancy Pelosi" to frighten the party faithful into voting in November. If theopinion polls are any indication, the threatened outcome could become aself-fulfilling prophesy.
In the U.S. House elections, as in baseball, it's not over 'til it's over.But as Yogi Berra remarked in the middle of a losing game, "It's gettinglate early."
Anticipating a Democratic majority in the next session of Congress, MinorityLeader Nancy Pelosi of California promised Thursday to "drain the swamp,"restoring integrity, civility and fiscal discipline to the House ofRepresentatives.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300591_pf.html
Police Find No Report of a Foley Dorm Incident
Witness in Scandal Alleged Then-Congressman Was Detained Outside Pages'
Capitol Hill Residence
By Charles Babington and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A04
U.S. Capitol Police said yesterday that they have no record of an alleged incident in which then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) supposedly tried to enter a Capitol Hill dormitory for teenage pages.
The purported nighttime incident has been cited by lawmakers and a key witness in the scandal that involves Foley's interactions with congressional pages and the House's handling of the matter. Unlike sexually graphic electronic messages that Foley sent to teenage boys, evidence of the alleged dorm incident has proved elusive.
Yesterday, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin said his staff conducted electronic and hand searches of files covering several years but found no record of the alleged incident in which a drunken Foley supposedly was detained outside the pages' dorm in 2003 or earlier.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/education/14gallaudet.html
October 14, 2006
Students Arrested in Third Day of Protest at College for the Deaf
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - The authorities at Gallaudet University, the nation'sonly liberal arts university for the deaf, moved on Friday to end athree-day siege by protesters by arresting the students opposing the board'schoice of the next president.
The campus police went into an area where about 100 protesters sat with armsinterlocked, arresting them one by one and handing them over to Washingtonpolice officers who had blocked off the street along a side entrance to theuniversity where the student protesters had gathered. As organizers hadrehearsed in days leading up to the confrontation on Friday night, studentswent limp when arrested. They were then carried away by three or moreofficers.
Mark Goldstone, a lawyer for the protesters, said the police arrested about60 students in two hours, and arrests continued late into the night.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301583.html
Conservatives Rally Against Bush Aide-Turned-Critic
Exposé of White House Scorn for Evangelicals Is Disputed
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A03
Conservative religious leaders described themselves as shocked yesterday bya new book's charge that Bush administration staffers privately dismissedevangelical Christian political activists as "nuts" and "goofy."
But their dismay was aimed at the book's author, former White House officialDavid Kuo, rather than at President Bush or his senior advisers.
James Dobson, Charles W. Colson and other stalwarts of the conservativeChristian movement defended the Bush administration and questioned thetiming of the book's publication, a month before the midterm elections. Somesuggested that Kuo had betrayed the White House.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/washington/14pot.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Medical Marijuana Advocate Faces New U.S. Indictment
By CAROLYN MARSHALL
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13 - A leading medical marijuana advocate whosuccessfully appealed his federal conviction this year has been indicted onnew criminal charges that include tax evasion and money laundering.
The man, Ed Rosenthal, a well-known spokesman for the movement to legalizemarijuana, was already facing a retrial on federal charges of growingmarijuana for medical use. He is to be arraigned Monday in Federal DistrictCourt here on the new indictment, unsealed late Thursday.
It accuses Mr. Rosenthal, 61, of 14 felony charges that include cultivatingmarijuana plants; laundering $1,850, which the government says he got fromselling the plants to medical dispensaries; and tax evasion. His taxreturns, prosecutors said, omitted income from the sale of the plants.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301459_pf.html
The Identity Theft Scare
By Fred H. Cate
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A21
Identity theft is getting a lot of attention these days -- from news storiesabout missing laptops and lost data to television commercials for fraudprevention and credit monitoring services. Congress has held hearings, andmembers have issued forecasts of an impending plague of identity theft. Rep.Edward Markey (D-Mass.), in a statement typical of many of his congressionalcolleagues, said that "Social Security numbers and date-of-birth informationare pure gold in the hands of identity thieves, who quickly convert theminto credit cards and cash equivalents to perpetrate massive frauds."
When a laptop was stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairsemployee this year, newspapers across the nation editorialized about thedangers facing the people whose data were on the computer. The Post alonepublished more than 40 stories and wrote that "26.5 million veterans wereplaced at risk of identity theft." The VA notified all 26.5 million of themand asked Congress for $160.5 million to cover the cost of one year ofcredit monitoring for the veterans.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/world/asia/14nobel.html
October 14, 2006
Peace Prize to Pioneer of Loans to Poor No Bank Would Touch
By CELIA W. DUGGER
A Bangladeshi economist, Muhammad Yunus, and the bank he founded 30 yearsago won the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for pioneering work in giving tinyloans to millions of poor people no commercial bank would touch - destitutewidows and abandoned wives, landless laborers and rickshaw drivers, sweepersand beggars.
The Nobel Committee praised Mr. Yunus, 66, and the Grameen Bank for makingmicrocredit, as the loans are called, a practical solution to combatingrural poverty in Bangladesh and inspiring similar schemes across thedeveloping world.
"Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force in societieswhere women in particular have to struggle against repressive social andeconomic conditions," the committee said in announcing the prize.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Pages.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Foley Ethics Probe to Enter Its 2nd Week
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:13 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the House page scandal weighing on GOP candidates, an ethics committee investigation will enter its second full week with many important figures still to be interviewed.
The panel has already heard from key figures, including a staff aide to disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley who said he alerted top House aides years ago about inappropriate behavior by Foley toward pages. It also heard from the chairman of the board that oversees the House page program, who conceded Friday that Republicans have mishandled the matter.
But top GOP leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, have yet to testify. Nor have senior Hastert aides who dealt last fall with Foley's inappropriate e-mails to a former page but claim they never told their boss.
The panel is investigating Foley's sexually charged Internet communications with teenage pages. The four-member panel has been hearing witnesses with knowledge of how Republicans handled several alarms raised about Foley's conduct over the past five years.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14ney.html
October 14, 2006
Congressman Pleads Guilty but Won't Resign for Now
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Representative Bob Ney, the first member of Congressto confess to crimes in dealings with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleadedguilty to corruption charges Friday but said he would not immediatelyresign.
Mr. Ney, Republican of Ohio, announced last month that he intended to pleadguilty, admitting that in return for official acts, he had accepted tens ofthousands of dollars' worth of gifts from Mr. Abramoff that included lavishtrips, meals and tickets to concerts and sporting events. He faces a prisonterm of more than two years.
But what had not been expected at Friday's court hearing was Mr. Ney'sdisclosure that he intended to remain in Congress for now. The announcementappeared to surprise and infuriate House Republican leaders, who are tryingto tamp down other scandals that are threatening to damage the party in nextmonth's Congressional elections.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_101206D.shtml
A Call for Progressive Unity
By George Lakoff and the Rockridge Institute
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 12 October 2006
I have long been advocating unity among progressives of all stripes,including those on the Democratic right. The far right's dominance of theRepublican party make it urgent that those who oppose the far right, even onpartially progressive grounds, unite.
Those on the Democratic right break down into a number of types:
1. Progressives who are genuinely pragmatic and adopt right-wing views forreasons of real- world pragmatism: They want things to work and they honestlythink that in certain cases the right's policies may work better.
2. Progressives who are politically pragmatic:
1. They don't think the progressive policies they believe in have a chanceof getting enacted, that there will have to a legislative compromise, andthey are willing to compromise from the beginning.
2. They don't think that progressive views will win elections, and they move to the right for sake of winning.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0610100318oct10,1,1903801.story
What it means to be a liberal
By Geoffrey R. Stone. Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago, is the author of "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime."
October 10, 2006
For most of the past four decades, liberals have been in retreat. Since theelection of Richard Nixon in 1968, Republicans have controlled the WhiteHouse 70 percent of the time and Republican presidents have made 86 percentof the U.S. Supreme Court appointments. In many quarters, the word "liberal"has become a pejorative. Part of the problem is that liberals have failed todefine themselves and to state clearly what they believe. As a liberal, Ifind that appalling.
In that light, I thought it might be interesting to try to articulate 10propositions that seem to me to define "liberal" today. Undoubtedly, not allliberals embrace all of these propositions, and many conservatives embraceat least some of them.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/stories/42880/
Five Scandals that Could Put Republicans in Jail
By James Ridgeway, Mother Jones
Posted on October 12, 2006, Printed on October 13, 2006
The stately Russell Senate Office Building stands at one corner of adomestic Green Zone, just northeast of the Capitol building at theintersection of Delaware and Constitution avenues. In the past few years amaze of blockades has sprouted along the shaded avenues and curving drivesof the Capitol complex. Checkpoints are patrolled by heavily armed police;guards watch for suspicious characters and prohibited items (which nowinclude food and beverages; cans, bottles, and sprays; and bags larger than13 by 14 inches). At the Russell Building, visitors encounter another set ofbarriers and metal detectors before being granted admittance to the elegant structure. Then, at the top of a sweeping staircase, they'll find a roomwalled in white marble, draped in deep red, overhung by a gilded ceiling,and fronted, altarlike, with a raised dais.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301492_pf.html
Many Ways of Being Deaf
By Jane K. Fernandes
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A21
It was 3 a.m. on Tuesday. I had been up all night negotiating with studentprotesters occupying Gallaudet University's Hall Memorial Building, home toclassrooms, department offices and labs. Negotiations had broken down. Theprotesters did not approve of my appointment by the board of trustees to bethe next president of Gallaudet University. How had things at the world's premier university for deaf and hard-of-hearing people come to this?
Our Gallaudet community is varied. There are many kinds of deaf people. Someare born to deaf parents; most are not. Some are lucky enough to grow upusing American Sign Language. Others -- like myself and increasing numbersof Gallaudet's students -- learn and embrace ASL later in life. Some aredeaf from birth; some become deaf later in life. Some benefit from the useof hearing aids or cochlear implants; others don't. Some have visualimpairments or other disabilities.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_101206F.shtml
Violence Against World's Women "Pervasive": UN Report
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday 11 October 2006
Violence against women is "severe and pervasive" worldwide with one in threewomen subjected to intimate partner abuse during her lifetime, according toa UN report.
"There is compelling evidence that violence against women is severe andpervasive throughout the world," said UN chief Kofi Annan's report, titled"Ending Violence Against Women: from Words to Action."
The study cited surveys on violence against women conducted in at least71 countries showing "a significant proportion of women suffer physical,sexual or psychological violence ... On average, at least one in three womenis subjected to intimate partner violence in the course of her lifetime."
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/14hamas.html?pagewanted=print
Leader of a Georgia Mosque Pleads Guilty to Aiding Hamas
By BRENDA GOODMAN
ATLANTA, Oct. 13 - In a case kept secret for nearly two months, thereligious leader of a mosque in Rome, Ga., has pleaded guilty to providingfinancial support to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, federalprosecutors said Friday.
The government said the 42-year-old defendant, Mohamed Shorbagi, a citizenof the Palestinian territories who is living legally in the United Stateswith his wife and young children, was charged on Aug. 28 with providing aidto Hamas through donations he made to the Holy Land Foundation for Reliefand Development, an Islamic charity shut down by federal authorities in2001.
Mr. Shorbagi was also a Georgia representative for the Holy Land Foundationand attended meetings that were addressed by "high level" Hamas officials,said David E. Nahmias, the United States attorney for the Northern Districtof Georgia.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/10/olbermann-why-does-habeas-corpus-hate-america/
Olbermann: "Why does habeas corpus hate America"
By: Jamie Holly on Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at 6:04 PM - PDT
Keith did a great report tonight on what the recently passed Military
Commissions Act of 2006 means to America and our Constitution.
This story has been buried by Foleygate, which is a crime in itself. I hadthe honor of hearing Daniel Ellsberg and John Siegenthaler Sr. speak lastnight and the key subject was journalism in today's political environment.We are one of the only countries in the world without an official secretsact, due in a large part to the uniqueness of our first amendment. Sadlythis very bill puts us even closer to enacting such legislation and puttinga muzzle on the media that would have prevented the extraordinary act ofpatriotism that Ellsberg exhibited, as well as those that followed in theentire Watergate scandal.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/opinion/14sat1.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Editorial
Science Ignored, Again
The Bush administration loves to talk about the virtues of "sound science," by which it usually means science that buttresses its own political agenda. But when some truly independent science comes along to threaten that agenda, the administration often ignores or minimizes it. The latest example involves the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to reject the recommendations of experts inside and outside the government who had urged a significant tightening of federal standards regulating the amount of soot in the air.
At issue were so-called fine particles, tiny specks of soot that are less than one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair. They penetrate deep into the lungs and circulatory system and have been implicated in tens of thousands of deaths annually from both respiratory and coronary disease. The E.P.A., obliged under the Clean Air Act to set new exposure levels every five years, tightened the daily standard. But it left unchanged the annual standard, which affects chronic exposure and which the medical community regards as more important.
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Ray's Note:
In this interesting, but informal, survey it appears Gore gets the most votes for president, followed by Hillary, next Edwards, followed by Obama, then Clark. A mixture of all of the others combined receives more votes than all but Gore. Kerry received very little mention. Hillary gets the largest number of negative comments.
```
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=63#respond
Ex-Gov. Warner Decides to Forgo White House Run
With Mark Warner dropping out, what ticket has the best shot at winning the White House in 2008?
Related Article
239 comments
J Watson:
Clinton Edwards, of course
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
victor:
Edwards/Obama
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
M. Mitchell, Chicago:
Hilary! Hilary! Hilary!
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
David Fisher:
Gore and Obama. In 2000 the GOP ridiculed Gore as an enviromental nut who was carrying around "a social security lockbox." Who's laughing now. The key states will be Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, maybe Michigan, Nevada. All have sizeable African-American populations who will turn out to vote for the first African-American on a national ticket. And if the GOP tries to prevent them from voting. again. there'll be rioting in the streets. I know, cause I'll be leading 'em.
200+ more comments....
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/opinion/14dowd.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Is Chivalry Shivved?
By MAUREEN DOWD
Washington
Hillary Clinton became a senator because men abused her. Her husband humiliated her in public and her opponent, Rick Lazio, hounded her in a debate. She was a sympathetic figure to many voters only after she went from pushy to pushed around.So John McCain must be wary as he figures out how to push her around. He must slide in the shiv chivalrously.
This week, he managed to attack her three ways in one sentence: as a senator, as a wife and as a future opponent. This raises the question: Is it senators palling around, knocking back drinks on an overseas trip? Or is it a misstep, making Mr. McCain look like a sexist bully for pointedly blaming his fellow senator for her husband's old policies - and calling her "Mrs. Clinton" just to rub it in?
On a trip to Detroit to campaign for a Republican Senate candidate, Mr. McCain singled out Hillary for a shellacking on North Korea. "I would remind Senator Clinton and other Democrats critical of Bush administration policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure," he said.
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14beliefs.html?ei=5040&en=3acfa86f487832a8&ex=1161489600&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
Beliefs
Voters' Guides Define Moral Compromises to Take to Polls
By PETER STEINFELS
Voters' guides have gone theological. "Voting God's Politics." "Voter'sGuide for Serious Catholics." "Voting for the Common Good: A Practical Guidefor Conscientious Catholics." "Voting With a Clear Conscience." And more.
These are not the familiar guides that line up candidates by their views orvotes on a list of selected issues and that, in some cases, give themratings, a practice that has migrated from lobbies like those on guncontrol, tax cuts and environmental regulation to religious groups like theChristian Coalition.
No, the new voters' guides try to be mini-manuals of moral theology andchurch-state relations, offering voters a religious framework for makingtheir choices, not endorsements of candidates or parties.
Of course, it isn't that simple. The complex entanglement of theology andpolitics is made clear in the case of competing Roman Catholic guides, amatter of political import in view of the belief that Catholics constitute aswing vote, especially in what are considered swing states.
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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/UPDATE/610130459/1003/rss&template=printart
Poll: Granholm leads by nine points
charlie Cain and Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has surpassed 50 percent support for the first timesince last winter and now leads Republican challengerDick DeVos by nine points, according to a new Detroit News/WXYZ-TV poll.
Granholm leads with 51 percent to 42 percent for DeVos and 5 percentundecided, the poll of 608 likely voters taken Tuesday through Thursday byEPIC/MRA of Lansing shows. The last time Granholm was over the 50-percentmark was in February, when she led DeVos 53-46.
The second gubernatorial debate was Tuesday.
Proposal 2, which would ban some government affirmative action programs,reached 50 percent support, with 41 percent opposed and 9 percent undecided,the survey says.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/editorial/4258287
Drain the swamp
U.S. House Democrats promise to clean up the corruption. If they don't, theycould suffer
Republican Party strategists have been using the specter of "House SpeakerNancy Pelosi" to frighten the party faithful into voting in November. If theopinion polls are any indication, the threatened outcome could become aself-fulfilling prophesy.
In the U.S. House elections, as in baseball, it's not over 'til it's over.But as Yogi Berra remarked in the middle of a losing game, "It's gettinglate early."
Anticipating a Democratic majority in the next session of Congress, MinorityLeader Nancy Pelosi of California promised Thursday to "drain the swamp,"restoring integrity, civility and fiscal discipline to the House ofRepresentatives.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300591_pf.html
Police Find No Report of a Foley Dorm Incident
Witness in Scandal Alleged Then-Congressman Was Detained Outside Pages'
Capitol Hill Residence
By Charles Babington and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A04
U.S. Capitol Police said yesterday that they have no record of an alleged incident in which then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) supposedly tried to enter a Capitol Hill dormitory for teenage pages.
The purported nighttime incident has been cited by lawmakers and a key witness in the scandal that involves Foley's interactions with congressional pages and the House's handling of the matter. Unlike sexually graphic electronic messages that Foley sent to teenage boys, evidence of the alleged dorm incident has proved elusive.
Yesterday, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin said his staff conducted electronic and hand searches of files covering several years but found no record of the alleged incident in which a drunken Foley supposedly was detained outside the pages' dorm in 2003 or earlier.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/education/14gallaudet.html
October 14, 2006
Students Arrested in Third Day of Protest at College for the Deaf
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - The authorities at Gallaudet University, the nation'sonly liberal arts university for the deaf, moved on Friday to end athree-day siege by protesters by arresting the students opposing the board'schoice of the next president.
The campus police went into an area where about 100 protesters sat with armsinterlocked, arresting them one by one and handing them over to Washingtonpolice officers who had blocked off the street along a side entrance to theuniversity where the student protesters had gathered. As organizers hadrehearsed in days leading up to the confrontation on Friday night, studentswent limp when arrested. They were then carried away by three or moreofficers.
Mark Goldstone, a lawyer for the protesters, said the police arrested about60 students in two hours, and arrests continued late into the night.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301583.html
Conservatives Rally Against Bush Aide-Turned-Critic
Exposé of White House Scorn for Evangelicals Is Disputed
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A03
Conservative religious leaders described themselves as shocked yesterday bya new book's charge that Bush administration staffers privately dismissedevangelical Christian political activists as "nuts" and "goofy."
But their dismay was aimed at the book's author, former White House officialDavid Kuo, rather than at President Bush or his senior advisers.
James Dobson, Charles W. Colson and other stalwarts of the conservativeChristian movement defended the Bush administration and questioned thetiming of the book's publication, a month before the midterm elections. Somesuggested that Kuo had betrayed the White House.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/washington/14pot.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Medical Marijuana Advocate Faces New U.S. Indictment
By CAROLYN MARSHALL
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13 - A leading medical marijuana advocate whosuccessfully appealed his federal conviction this year has been indicted onnew criminal charges that include tax evasion and money laundering.
The man, Ed Rosenthal, a well-known spokesman for the movement to legalizemarijuana, was already facing a retrial on federal charges of growingmarijuana for medical use. He is to be arraigned Monday in Federal DistrictCourt here on the new indictment, unsealed late Thursday.
It accuses Mr. Rosenthal, 61, of 14 felony charges that include cultivatingmarijuana plants; laundering $1,850, which the government says he got fromselling the plants to medical dispensaries; and tax evasion. His taxreturns, prosecutors said, omitted income from the sale of the plants.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301459_pf.html
The Identity Theft Scare
By Fred H. Cate
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A21
Identity theft is getting a lot of attention these days -- from news storiesabout missing laptops and lost data to television commercials for fraudprevention and credit monitoring services. Congress has held hearings, andmembers have issued forecasts of an impending plague of identity theft. Rep.Edward Markey (D-Mass.), in a statement typical of many of his congressionalcolleagues, said that "Social Security numbers and date-of-birth informationare pure gold in the hands of identity thieves, who quickly convert theminto credit cards and cash equivalents to perpetrate massive frauds."
When a laptop was stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairsemployee this year, newspapers across the nation editorialized about thedangers facing the people whose data were on the computer. The Post alonepublished more than 40 stories and wrote that "26.5 million veterans wereplaced at risk of identity theft." The VA notified all 26.5 million of themand asked Congress for $160.5 million to cover the cost of one year ofcredit monitoring for the veterans.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/world/asia/14nobel.html
October 14, 2006
Peace Prize to Pioneer of Loans to Poor No Bank Would Touch
By CELIA W. DUGGER
A Bangladeshi economist, Muhammad Yunus, and the bank he founded 30 yearsago won the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for pioneering work in giving tinyloans to millions of poor people no commercial bank would touch - destitutewidows and abandoned wives, landless laborers and rickshaw drivers, sweepersand beggars.
The Nobel Committee praised Mr. Yunus, 66, and the Grameen Bank for makingmicrocredit, as the loans are called, a practical solution to combatingrural poverty in Bangladesh and inspiring similar schemes across thedeveloping world.
"Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force in societieswhere women in particular have to struggle against repressive social andeconomic conditions," the committee said in announcing the prize.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Pages.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Foley Ethics Probe to Enter Its 2nd Week
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:13 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the House page scandal weighing on GOP candidates, an ethics committee investigation will enter its second full week with many important figures still to be interviewed.
The panel has already heard from key figures, including a staff aide to disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley who said he alerted top House aides years ago about inappropriate behavior by Foley toward pages. It also heard from the chairman of the board that oversees the House page program, who conceded Friday that Republicans have mishandled the matter.
But top GOP leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, have yet to testify. Nor have senior Hastert aides who dealt last fall with Foley's inappropriate e-mails to a former page but claim they never told their boss.
The panel is investigating Foley's sexually charged Internet communications with teenage pages. The four-member panel has been hearing witnesses with knowledge of how Republicans handled several alarms raised about Foley's conduct over the past five years.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14ney.html
October 14, 2006
Congressman Pleads Guilty but Won't Resign for Now
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Representative Bob Ney, the first member of Congressto confess to crimes in dealings with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleadedguilty to corruption charges Friday but said he would not immediatelyresign.
Mr. Ney, Republican of Ohio, announced last month that he intended to pleadguilty, admitting that in return for official acts, he had accepted tens ofthousands of dollars' worth of gifts from Mr. Abramoff that included lavishtrips, meals and tickets to concerts and sporting events. He faces a prisonterm of more than two years.
But what had not been expected at Friday's court hearing was Mr. Ney'sdisclosure that he intended to remain in Congress for now. The announcementappeared to surprise and infuriate House Republican leaders, who are tryingto tamp down other scandals that are threatening to damage the party in nextmonth's Congressional elections.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_101206D.shtml
A Call for Progressive Unity
By George Lakoff and the Rockridge Institute
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 12 October 2006
I have long been advocating unity among progressives of all stripes,including those on the Democratic right. The far right's dominance of theRepublican party make it urgent that those who oppose the far right, even onpartially progressive grounds, unite.
Those on the Democratic right break down into a number of types:
1. Progressives who are genuinely pragmatic and adopt right-wing views forreasons of real- world pragmatism: They want things to work and they honestlythink that in certain cases the right's policies may work better.
2. Progressives who are politically pragmatic:
1. They don't think the progressive policies they believe in have a chanceof getting enacted, that there will have to a legislative compromise, andthey are willing to compromise from the beginning.
2. They don't think that progressive views will win elections, and they move to the right for sake of winning.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0610100318oct10,1,1903801.story
What it means to be a liberal
By Geoffrey R. Stone. Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago, is the author of "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime."
October 10, 2006
For most of the past four decades, liberals have been in retreat. Since theelection of Richard Nixon in 1968, Republicans have controlled the WhiteHouse 70 percent of the time and Republican presidents have made 86 percentof the U.S. Supreme Court appointments. In many quarters, the word "liberal"has become a pejorative. Part of the problem is that liberals have failed todefine themselves and to state clearly what they believe. As a liberal, Ifind that appalling.
In that light, I thought it might be interesting to try to articulate 10propositions that seem to me to define "liberal" today. Undoubtedly, not allliberals embrace all of these propositions, and many conservatives embraceat least some of them.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/stories/42880/
Five Scandals that Could Put Republicans in Jail
By James Ridgeway, Mother Jones
Posted on October 12, 2006, Printed on October 13, 2006
The stately Russell Senate Office Building stands at one corner of adomestic Green Zone, just northeast of the Capitol building at theintersection of Delaware and Constitution avenues. In the past few years amaze of blockades has sprouted along the shaded avenues and curving drivesof the Capitol complex. Checkpoints are patrolled by heavily armed police;guards watch for suspicious characters and prohibited items (which nowinclude food and beverages; cans, bottles, and sprays; and bags larger than13 by 14 inches). At the Russell Building, visitors encounter another set ofbarriers and metal detectors before being granted admittance to the elegant structure. Then, at the top of a sweeping staircase, they'll find a roomwalled in white marble, draped in deep red, overhung by a gilded ceiling,and fronted, altarlike, with a raised dais.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301492_pf.html
Many Ways of Being Deaf
By Jane K. Fernandes
Saturday, October 14, 2006; A21
It was 3 a.m. on Tuesday. I had been up all night negotiating with studentprotesters occupying Gallaudet University's Hall Memorial Building, home toclassrooms, department offices and labs. Negotiations had broken down. Theprotesters did not approve of my appointment by the board of trustees to bethe next president of Gallaudet University. How had things at the world's premier university for deaf and hard-of-hearing people come to this?
Our Gallaudet community is varied. There are many kinds of deaf people. Someare born to deaf parents; most are not. Some are lucky enough to grow upusing American Sign Language. Others -- like myself and increasing numbersof Gallaudet's students -- learn and embrace ASL later in life. Some aredeaf from birth; some become deaf later in life. Some benefit from the useof hearing aids or cochlear implants; others don't. Some have visualimpairments or other disabilities.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_101206F.shtml
Violence Against World's Women "Pervasive": UN Report
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday 11 October 2006
Violence against women is "severe and pervasive" worldwide with one in threewomen subjected to intimate partner abuse during her lifetime, according toa UN report.
"There is compelling evidence that violence against women is severe andpervasive throughout the world," said UN chief Kofi Annan's report, titled"Ending Violence Against Women: from Words to Action."
The study cited surveys on violence against women conducted in at least71 countries showing "a significant proportion of women suffer physical,sexual or psychological violence ... On average, at least one in three womenis subjected to intimate partner violence in the course of her lifetime."
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/14hamas.html?pagewanted=print
Leader of a Georgia Mosque Pleads Guilty to Aiding Hamas
By BRENDA GOODMAN
ATLANTA, Oct. 13 - In a case kept secret for nearly two months, thereligious leader of a mosque in Rome, Ga., has pleaded guilty to providingfinancial support to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, federalprosecutors said Friday.
The government said the 42-year-old defendant, Mohamed Shorbagi, a citizenof the Palestinian territories who is living legally in the United Stateswith his wife and young children, was charged on Aug. 28 with providing aidto Hamas through donations he made to the Holy Land Foundation for Reliefand Development, an Islamic charity shut down by federal authorities in2001.
Mr. Shorbagi was also a Georgia representative for the Holy Land Foundationand attended meetings that were addressed by "high level" Hamas officials,said David E. Nahmias, the United States attorney for the Northern Districtof Georgia.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/10/olbermann-why-does-habeas-corpus-hate-america/
Olbermann: "Why does habeas corpus hate America"
By: Jamie Holly on Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at 6:04 PM - PDT
Keith did a great report tonight on what the recently passed Military
Commissions Act of 2006 means to America and our Constitution.
This story has been buried by Foleygate, which is a crime in itself. I hadthe honor of hearing Daniel Ellsberg and John Siegenthaler Sr. speak lastnight and the key subject was journalism in today's political environment.We are one of the only countries in the world without an official secretsact, due in a large part to the uniqueness of our first amendment. Sadlythis very bill puts us even closer to enacting such legislation and puttinga muzzle on the media that would have prevented the extraordinary act ofpatriotism that Ellsberg exhibited, as well as those that followed in theentire Watergate scandal.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/opinion/14sat1.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Editorial
Science Ignored, Again
The Bush administration loves to talk about the virtues of "sound science," by which it usually means science that buttresses its own political agenda. But when some truly independent science comes along to threaten that agenda, the administration often ignores or minimizes it. The latest example involves the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to reject the recommendations of experts inside and outside the government who had urged a significant tightening of federal standards regulating the amount of soot in the air.
At issue were so-called fine particles, tiny specks of soot that are less than one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair. They penetrate deep into the lungs and circulatory system and have been implicated in tens of thousands of deaths annually from both respiratory and coronary disease. The E.P.A., obliged under the Clean Air Act to set new exposure levels every five years, tightened the daily standard. But it left unchanged the annual standard, which affects chronic exposure and which the medical community regards as more important.
=
Ray's Note:
In this interesting, but informal, survey it appears Gore gets the most votes for president, followed by Hillary, next Edwards, followed by Obama, then Clark. A mixture of all of the others combined receives more votes than all but Gore. Kerry received very little mention. Hillary gets the largest number of negative comments.
```
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=63#respond
Ex-Gov. Warner Decides to Forgo White House Run
With Mark Warner dropping out, what ticket has the best shot at winning the White House in 2008?
Related Article
239 comments
J Watson:
Clinton Edwards, of course
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
victor:
Edwards/Obama
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
M. Mitchell, Chicago:
Hilary! Hilary! Hilary!
posted on October 12th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
David Fisher:
Gore and Obama. In 2000 the GOP ridiculed Gore as an enviromental nut who was carrying around "a social security lockbox." Who's laughing now. The key states will be Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, maybe Michigan, Nevada. All have sizeable African-American populations who will turn out to vote for the first African-American on a national ticket. And if the GOP tries to prevent them from voting. again. there'll be rioting in the streets. I know, cause I'll be leading 'em.
200+ more comments....
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/opinion/14dowd.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Is Chivalry Shivved?
By MAUREEN DOWD
Washington
Hillary Clinton became a senator because men abused her. Her husband humiliated her in public and her opponent, Rick Lazio, hounded her in a debate. She was a sympathetic figure to many voters only after she went from pushy to pushed around.So John McCain must be wary as he figures out how to push her around. He must slide in the shiv chivalrously.
This week, he managed to attack her three ways in one sentence: as a senator, as a wife and as a future opponent. This raises the question: Is it senators palling around, knocking back drinks on an overseas trip? Or is it a misstep, making Mr. McCain look like a sexist bully for pointedly blaming his fellow senator for her husband's old policies - and calling her "Mrs. Clinton" just to rub it in?
On a trip to Detroit to campaign for a Republican Senate candidate, Mr. McCain singled out Hillary for a shellacking on North Korea. "I would remind Senator Clinton and other Democrats critical of Bush administration policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure," he said.
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST October 14, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cteeters14oct14,0,5565207.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Four Lauderdale teens to be tried as adults in beating of homeless man
By Tonya Alanez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 14, 2006
Four teenage boys -- three 15-year-olds and a 17-year-old -- will be triedas adults for attempted murder in the beating and stabbing of a homeless man in Esplanade Park last month, a Broward County prosecutor said Friday.
Evidence showing "extreme callousness and recklessness" prompted the stateto upgrade the charges against the Fort Lauderdale teens from aggravatedbattery with a deadly weapon, said Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider.
The attempted murder charge is punishable by life in prison.
Outside the courtroom, the mother of one of the teens blamed society for herson's actions, saying she has sought help from police, schools and socialworkers numerous times, to no avail.
"What do you do when you don't have the resources that you need?" saidTabitha Keels, mother of 15-year-old suspect Patrick Keels.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-hlpmedicare14oct14,0,2449390.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Medicare plans offer dizzying choices, HMOs add incentives as deadline looms
By Diane C. Lade
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 14, 2006
Medicare recipients, it's time again to get out your calculators and sharpenyour pencils.
Companies with Medicare HMOs that include drug coverage released the detailsof their plans Friday, adding it to similar information for stand-alonedrug-only plans issued about two weeks ago. Consumers now have until Nov.15, when enrollment begins, to shop and compare all the 2007 plans, whichtake effect Jan. 1.
The overall picture for HMOs: There are a lot more incentives to join one,aimed at nudging more Medicare participants into managed care.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/10/14/a12a_davisinsurance_edit_1014.html
Davis has serious plan for insurance rate relief
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, October 14, 2006
With less than four weeks until the election for governor, Jim Davis hasbeaten Charlie Crist in the race to offer an insurance proposal that couldbring relief to Florida.
Previously, Rep. Davis had proposed a Policyholders Bill of Rights thatoutlined what Floridians should expect - stable premiums, quick settlementof claims - but not much more. The plan he released Tuesday goes muchfurther.
At its core, the Davis plan is similar to what Democrats in the Legislatureproposed this year - a state-run entity that would collect premiums from allof the state's homeowners and pay claims for hurricane damage, up to between70 percent and 90 percent.
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15755114.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Dems sue to prevent poll officials telling voters of Foley substitute
VANESSA BLUM
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE - The Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday toprevent election supervisors in Mark Foley's district from informing votersthe disgraced Republican congressman has been replaced by another candidate.
Supervisors in most of the affected counties planned to display notices inpolling places stating: "A vote for Mark Foley (Rep.) will be counted forJoe Negron (Rep.), the Republican candidate."
The sheets would also say a vote for Democratic candidate Tim Mahoney countsfor Mahoney and a vote for unaffiliated candidate Emmie Ross counts forRoss.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15756547.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
BROWARD COUNTY BALLOT QUESTIONS
All Broward voters will be asked four questions on the Nov. 7 ballot. Our recommendations on the first two are below. Recommendations for the remaining two will be published Monday.
FUNDING FOR COUNTYWIDE
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
Voters are asked to increase the county's six-cent sales tax by a penny to help pay for expanding the county's abysmal transit system. Given conservative estimates that at least one million more people will be living in Broward County in 20 years, putting some 1.5 million more cars on the roads, voters should take the plunge now and approve the tax increase for their and their children's futures here.
Vociferous critics of this proposal include a few county commissioners who say the county didn't prepare well enough for the referendum. They also say that the plan for spending $260 million in annual tax proceeds is incomplete.
Yet these same commissioners participated in the 2004 land-use policy change that began clustering future growth around existing major roads and rail lines in anticipation of mass transit. Sitting as the Metropolitan Planning Organization, they adopted a long-term transportation plan with the same transit goals as the land-use change. They commissioned a 2005 study to determine the needs of Broward Transit. Also in 2005, VisionBroward, a countywide charette, identified the need for a dedicated-funding source, which would bring state and federal matching funds for rail lines and an expanded bus fleet.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15756503.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
JUVENILE JUSTICE
New claims of abuse at boys camp
As law enforcement investigates allegations of abuse, officials at the governor's office sent a team to a North Florida town to ensure the safety of juvenile delinquents.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER AND MARC CAPUTO
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
GREENVILLE - Three separate state agencies are investigating whether caretakers used banned, excessive and harmful restraints at a camp for delinquent boys, some of whom are mentally retarded or have other special needs.
At least one youth might have suffered a broken collarbone at the Greenville Hills Academy in Greenville just last week, according to records obtained by The Miami Herald. One 16-year-old claimed he was ``choked.''
And in another episode, guards also reported using a technique called a wrist lock that was banned two years ago by Anthony Schembri, secretary of the state Department of Juvenile Justice, an agency still reeling from the death of a 14year-old at another Panhandle facility earlier this year.
The DJJ is investigating Greenville along
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15756714.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
JACKSONVILLE
Captive boy's mother charged
The mother of a 9-year-old who was locked in his bedroom much of his life faces child abuse charges. The boy's father was charged Wednesday.
Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE - The mother of a 9-year-old boy, who authorities say was kept locked in his bedroom for most of the last three years and monitored by a video camera, was arrested Friday, two days after the boy's father was arrested and charged with child abuse.
Michelle Piercy, 37, was arrested Friday afternoon on charges of aggravated child abuse, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said. Her bond was set at $1 million. It was not immediately known if she had an attorney.
ALLEGED ABUSE
Michelle Piercy said earlier this week that her husband, Randall Warren Piercy, locked the boy in the bedroom to protect him because the child had been sexually abused by a relative.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15756544.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
The Miami Herald recommends
FOR BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION
Voters in three Broward County Commission districts will select theirrepresentatives for the nine-member board on Nov. 7. The coming four yearswill decide much for the county, which will continue to confront majorissues such as transportation and finance through pressures of growing needsand growing demands to rein in spending.
DISTRICT 2
In District 2 in the orth-central part of the county, voters have littlechoice. The challenger, Bob Hoffman, 42, an independent who is making hissecond run for the seat, is not campaigning. Fortunately, Kristin Jacobs,46, has served both the district and the county with energy andthoughtfulness.
more....
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-felxed12oct14,0,6171071.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Governor candidates Crist and Davis grade merit of the FCAT differently
By Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
October 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE · Love it or hate it, the FCAT may be the most incendiary issuein this year's race for governor.
When voters pick a successor to Gov. Jeb Bush next month, they will also bedeciding the future of Florida's public school system and the controversialannual exam.
Some of the starkest differences between Republican Charlie Crist andDemocrat Jim Davis revolve around what Bush has done with public schools.Under Bush's guidance, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is used tohand out financial rewards to the best schools and teachers. It can also bethe deciding factor for which students get promoted and graduate.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/14bodies.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Two Adults and Two Children Are Found Shot to Death Alongside a FloridaHighway
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
MIAMI, Oct. 13 - A man, a woman and two small children were found shot todeath early Friday on a lonely stretch of highway in St. Lucie County, about120 miles north of here.
The woman had tried to shield the boy and girl, thought to be 4 and 6, bycradling them under her arms, officials said. But bullets riddled all fourbodies, which were found in the grass alongside the road.
Sheriff Ken J. Mascara of St. Lucie County said a southbound driver onFlorida's Turnpike had spotted the bodies and alerted state troopers justbefore 8 a.m. The victims had probably been traveling with their killer in avan or sport utility vehicle that left tracks along the roadside, SheriffMascara said.
#####
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cteeters14oct14,0,5565207.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Four Lauderdale teens to be tried as adults in beating of homeless man
By Tonya Alanez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 14, 2006
Four teenage boys -- three 15-year-olds and a 17-year-old -- will be triedas adults for attempted murder in the beating and stabbing of a homeless man in Esplanade Park last month, a Broward County prosecutor said Friday.
Evidence showing "extreme callousness and recklessness" prompted the stateto upgrade the charges against the Fort Lauderdale teens from aggravatedbattery with a deadly weapon, said Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider.
The attempted murder charge is punishable by life in prison.
Outside the courtroom, the mother of one of the teens blamed society for herson's actions, saying she has sought help from police, schools and socialworkers numerous times, to no avail.
"What do you do when you don't have the resources that you need?" saidTabitha Keels, mother of 15-year-old suspect Patrick Keels.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-hlpmedicare14oct14,0,2449390.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Medicare plans offer dizzying choices, HMOs add incentives as deadline looms
By Diane C. Lade
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 14, 2006
Medicare recipients, it's time again to get out your calculators and sharpenyour pencils.
Companies with Medicare HMOs that include drug coverage released the detailsof their plans Friday, adding it to similar information for stand-alonedrug-only plans issued about two weeks ago. Consumers now have until Nov.15, when enrollment begins, to shop and compare all the 2007 plans, whichtake effect Jan. 1.
The overall picture for HMOs: There are a lot more incentives to join one,aimed at nudging more Medicare participants into managed care.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/10/14/a12a_davisinsurance_edit_1014.html
Davis has serious plan for insurance rate relief
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, October 14, 2006
With less than four weeks until the election for governor, Jim Davis hasbeaten Charlie Crist in the race to offer an insurance proposal that couldbring relief to Florida.
Previously, Rep. Davis had proposed a Policyholders Bill of Rights thatoutlined what Floridians should expect - stable premiums, quick settlementof claims - but not much more. The plan he released Tuesday goes muchfurther.
At its core, the Davis plan is similar to what Democrats in the Legislatureproposed this year - a state-run entity that would collect premiums from allof the state's homeowners and pay claims for hurricane damage, up to between70 percent and 90 percent.
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15755114.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Dems sue to prevent poll officials telling voters of Foley substitute
VANESSA BLUM
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE - The Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday toprevent election supervisors in Mark Foley's district from informing votersthe disgraced Republican congressman has been replaced by another candidate.
Supervisors in most of the affected counties planned to display notices inpolling places stating: "A vote for Mark Foley (Rep.) will be counted forJoe Negron (Rep.), the Republican candidate."
The sheets would also say a vote for Democratic candidate Tim Mahoney countsfor Mahoney and a vote for unaffiliated candidate Emmie Ross counts forRoss.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15756547.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
BROWARD COUNTY BALLOT QUESTIONS
All Broward voters will be asked four questions on the Nov. 7 ballot. Our recommendations on the first two are below. Recommendations for the remaining two will be published Monday.
FUNDING FOR COUNTYWIDE
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
Voters are asked to increase the county's six-cent sales tax by a penny to help pay for expanding the county's abysmal transit system. Given conservative estimates that at least one million more people will be living in Broward County in 20 years, putting some 1.5 million more cars on the roads, voters should take the plunge now and approve the tax increase for their and their children's futures here.
Vociferous critics of this proposal include a few county commissioners who say the county didn't prepare well enough for the referendum. They also say that the plan for spending $260 million in annual tax proceeds is incomplete.
Yet these same commissioners participated in the 2004 land-use policy change that began clustering future growth around existing major roads and rail lines in anticipation of mass transit. Sitting as the Metropolitan Planning Organization, they adopted a long-term transportation plan with the same transit goals as the land-use change. They commissioned a 2005 study to determine the needs of Broward Transit. Also in 2005, VisionBroward, a countywide charette, identified the need for a dedicated-funding source, which would bring state and federal matching funds for rail lines and an expanded bus fleet.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15756503.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
JUVENILE JUSTICE
New claims of abuse at boys camp
As law enforcement investigates allegations of abuse, officials at the governor's office sent a team to a North Florida town to ensure the safety of juvenile delinquents.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER AND MARC CAPUTO
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
GREENVILLE - Three separate state agencies are investigating whether caretakers used banned, excessive and harmful restraints at a camp for delinquent boys, some of whom are mentally retarded or have other special needs.
At least one youth might have suffered a broken collarbone at the Greenville Hills Academy in Greenville just last week, according to records obtained by The Miami Herald. One 16-year-old claimed he was ``choked.''
And in another episode, guards also reported using a technique called a wrist lock that was banned two years ago by Anthony Schembri, secretary of the state Department of Juvenile Justice, an agency still reeling from the death of a 14year-old at another Panhandle facility earlier this year.
The DJJ is investigating Greenville along
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15756714.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
JACKSONVILLE
Captive boy's mother charged
The mother of a 9-year-old who was locked in his bedroom much of his life faces child abuse charges. The boy's father was charged Wednesday.
Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE - The mother of a 9-year-old boy, who authorities say was kept locked in his bedroom for most of the last three years and monitored by a video camera, was arrested Friday, two days after the boy's father was arrested and charged with child abuse.
Michelle Piercy, 37, was arrested Friday afternoon on charges of aggravated child abuse, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said. Her bond was set at $1 million. It was not immediately known if she had an attorney.
ALLEGED ABUSE
Michelle Piercy said earlier this week that her husband, Randall Warren Piercy, locked the boy in the bedroom to protect him because the child had been sexually abused by a relative.
=
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15756544.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
The Miami Herald recommends
FOR BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION
Voters in three Broward County Commission districts will select theirrepresentatives for the nine-member board on Nov. 7. The coming four yearswill decide much for the county, which will continue to confront majorissues such as transportation and finance through pressures of growing needsand growing demands to rein in spending.
DISTRICT 2
In District 2 in the orth-central part of the county, voters have littlechoice. The challenger, Bob Hoffman, 42, an independent who is making hissecond run for the seat, is not campaigning. Fortunately, Kristin Jacobs,46, has served both the district and the county with energy andthoughtfulness.
more....
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-felxed12oct14,0,6171071.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Governor candidates Crist and Davis grade merit of the FCAT differently
By Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
October 14, 2006
TALLAHASSEE · Love it or hate it, the FCAT may be the most incendiary issuein this year's race for governor.
When voters pick a successor to Gov. Jeb Bush next month, they will also bedeciding the future of Florida's public school system and the controversialannual exam.
Some of the starkest differences between Republican Charlie Crist andDemocrat Jim Davis revolve around what Bush has done with public schools.Under Bush's guidance, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is used tohand out financial rewards to the best schools and teachers. It can also bethe deciding factor for which students get promoted and graduate.
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/14bodies.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2006
Two Adults and Two Children Are Found Shot to Death Alongside a FloridaHighway
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
MIAMI, Oct. 13 - A man, a woman and two small children were found shot todeath early Friday on a lonely stretch of highway in St. Lucie County, about120 miles north of here.
The woman had tried to shield the boy and girl, thought to be 4 and 6, bycradling them under her arms, officials said. But bullets riddled all fourbodies, which were found in the grass alongside the road.
Sheriff Ken J. Mascara of St. Lucie County said a southbound driver onFlorida's Turnpike had spotted the bodies and alerted state troopers justbefore 8 a.m. The victims had probably been traveling with their killer in avan or sport utility vehicle that left tracks along the roadside, SheriffMascara said.
#####
Friday, October 13, 2006
GLBT DIGEST - October 13, 2006
IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
The Express Gay News
Gay Republicans in the hot seat
Closeted members of the GOP are making national news these days, reminding us all of the importance of coming out.
Friday, October 13, 2006
WITH THE MAINSTREAM media engaged in wall-to-wall Mark Foley scandal coverage for a solid week, attention turned awkwardly (and predictably) to the subject of gay Republicans.
Who are these people? How can they work for a party that demonizes them? Is D.C. controlled by a Velvet Mafia? And, most importantly, what about "The List," a compendium of closeted Republicans that is rumored to be circulating on the Hill?
The salacious story of "The List" emerges every year or two, usually before an election, to vex the Hill's closet cases. The ironic twist this time around concerns the strange bedfellows seeking to out those closeted Republicans.
=
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/view/actionalert/actionalert.cfm
Foley blame game
Watchdog group accuses media outlets of bias in coverage
By ERIC ERVIN
Friday, October 13, 2006
A PROGRESSIVE MEDIA WATCHDOG group is alleging conservative news organizations are spinning the congressional page instant message scandal surrounding gay former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley to direct blame away from the GOP congressman and the Republican Party.
"The blame game is in full swing," said David Brock, Media Matters for America president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "Conservatives in the media are going out of their way to place blame on every boogie man they can think of.
Foley resigned his post Sept. 29 after ABC News reported he exchanged sexually explicit instant messages with an underage male congressional page.
MEDIA MATTERS SAID THE MOST glaring reports that lay blame on others come from TV and radio talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin, who have all claimed that Democrats somehow orchestrated the scandal.
The group points to the Fox News show "Hannity and Colmes" in which Hannity repeatedly questions the proximity of ABC's release of Foley's instant messages to midterm elections, suggesting that Democrats held on to the information before releasing it as a strategy to gain more seats in Congress.
=
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/news/national/pundits.cfm
Express Gay News
Activists denounce 'scapegoating' of gays in Foley scandal
But attempts to links gays with pedophilia are not helping Republicans, experts say
By PHIL LAPADULA
Friday, October 13, 2006
As the "Foley fallout" continued to descend on the mid-term elections this week, several national gay activists voiced concerns that some of the toxic political dust from the sex scandal could land on the gay community.
Gay activists of both political parties denounced anti-gay conservatives whom they said were trying to shift the blame for the Congressional page scandal from former Congressman Mark Foley and the House Republican leadership's alleged cover-up, to homosexuality itself.
Foley resigned Sept. 29 after sexually explicit e-mails that he sent to underage male pages surfaced in the media.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, described the response to the Foley scandal as "shockingly homophobic." He objected to what he characterized as anti-gay remarks about the scandal by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.
"The GOP leadership and their supporters trying to deflect blame by making gay people scapegoats," Foreman said. "The media coverage has been not only salacious but completely unbalanced."
=
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid37517.asp
The Advocate
October 13, 2006
Constitutional bans on same-sex marriage may fail at the ballot for first time
Support for same-sex marriage bans is weak in three of the eight states that will vote on them this November, and in one-Colorado-a competing measure to establish domestic partnerships for same-sex couples is currently backed by a majority of voters. The growing sense that key victories will be had this Election Day is in stark contrast to 2004, when constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were approved in 13 states, USA Today reports.
"It could be a watershed year," Carrie Evans, state legislative director at the Human Rights Campaign, told the paper. Indeed, defeat of even one of the proposed marriage bans would be a major triumph, since all 19 state measures that have been voted on to date were overwhelmingly approved, with support averaging 70 percent.
This year, however, opposition to such a measure in Arizona is currently at 51 percent, with only 38 percent of voters supporting it, according to a recent poll, while the proposed marriage ban in South Dakota is opposed by 49 percent of voters, with 41 percent in support. In Colorado, which has ballot measures both to ban same-sex marriage and to create domestic partnerships, a recent poll showed that only 52 percent of voters are in favor of the former, but that 58 percent favored the latter.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_health16oct12,0,5194958.story
New HIV Infections in Australia Surge
By MERAIAH FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
October 12, 2006, 7:30 PM EDT
SYDNEY, Australia -- New HIV cases in Australia surged more than 40 percentfrom 2000 to 2005, according to study results released Thursday, promptingfears that drug treatment advances are making people lax about practicingsafe sex.
The annual survey report, issued by the National Center in HIV Epidemiologyand Clinical Research, found that new HIV infections reported in Australiarose from 656 in 2000 to 930 in 2005 -- a 41 percent leap. HIV is the virusthat causes AIDS.
Gay men accounted for about 70 percent of the new cases. Heterosexuals madeup 19 percent, while intravenous drug users and unknown transmission pathsaccounted for the rest.
According to the report, new infections hit an all-time high of about 1,700in 1984, then declined steadily through the late 1990s. But in 2000, thetrend apparently reversed.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
SAN FRANCISCO
Anchor's comments anger gays, lesbians
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 12, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/12/
BAG61LNN5V1.DTL&type=gaylesbian
San Francisco public officials and leaders of the gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender community are demanding that a prominent radio host andtelevision news anchor apologize for comments he made on the air aboutnontraditional families.
Pete Wilson, the anchor of ABC's local evening news and host of a radio showon KGO 810 AM, criticized Supervisor Bevan Dufty and his friend RebeccaGoldfader, who are sharing a home and co-parenting a newborn, during a radiobroadcast Tuesday.
Their daughter, Sidney, was born last week. Wilson, who said he supportssame-sex marriage and lesbian and gay couples raising children, referred toher as an "experiment" because they're not in a romantic relationship.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Opponent Outs Florida GOP Governor Candidate
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206crist.htm
365Gay.Com
(Fort Lauderdale, Florida) Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has beenthe subject of speculation for several years but on Wednesday a politicalopponent used National Coming Out Day to say he's known for years that Cristis gay.
Appearing on WFTL, a South Florida news-talk station, independentgubernatorial candidate Max Linn said it is common knowledge in Tallahassee that Crist is gay.
And, Linn said it is time Crist acknowledged it.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/10/11/notes101106.DTL
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (SF Gate)
Gay Republicans? All My Fault/I caused it. I did it. Foley, sex, pedophiles and the implosion of the GOP. And I apologize
By Mark Morford, SF Gate
Columnist
I secretly hoped for it. I secretly prayed for it. Actually, it wasn't asecret at all. I was shouting it from the cosmic rooftops, extolling itsvirtues to anyone who would listen, tossing shiny pennies of burning hopeinto karmic wishing wells. Couldn't help it, really.
And I'm here to say: I'm sorry for it.
See, for years, I've wanted in my heart of hearts for some sort of nastyand riotous and well-deserved scandal to rock the GOP, to shake it to itshomophobic hypocritical core and reveal these jackals and warmongers andabusers of women's rights and gay rights and human rights as what theyreally are, to have their glistening masks of sweat and wax and false pietypeeled away to expose the rashy psoriatic snakeskin underneath.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201587_pf.html
To Curb the Trend, Magic Tells His Story
'In Real Life, I'm Not Supposed to Be Here'
By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; B03
On the basketball court, he was Magic, dribbling past defenders, dishing no-look passes and tossing in three-pointers from beyond the arc.
But yesterday Earvin Johnson Jr. came to the District as a man living with a disease and a mission, testifying before audiences hushed by the power of his grim yet uplifting tale. At a high school and a Baptist church, Johnson recounted how his charmed basketball career ended abruptly in 1991 after a routine blood test revealed that he has HIV.
He quit basketball and was shunned by players who feared they could contract the virus simply by touching him. He stopped counting those who predicted that he would be dead in a year. Not a day goes by when he does not think about how sleeping around changed his life. Johnson said his fame made him the "face of the disease," a mantle that he has embraced and run with."I'm here so that what happened to me will not happen to you," he told an audience of feisty high schoolers, some giving his words rapt attention. "I had your same mindset, your same mentality. But HIV is running through our community in a big way. And sex among teenagers is up."
Johnson's visit to Washington is part of a 10-city tour focused on HIV/AIDS among African Americans, and it comes amid a District campaign urging residents ages 14 to 84 to get tested. In the first three months of the campaign, nearly 3 percent of the more than 7,000 people tested positive -- more than double the national rate.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201576_pf.html
The Abstinence Shtick, Minus Jesus
Assembly Attended by 1,000 Students Watched Warily by ACLU
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; B01
Christian comedian Keith Deltano did a lot of things at Loudoun County High School yesterday to encourage teenagers to stay away from sex. He sang bad hip-hop, told stories about oozing diapers, read from a government report on how condoms can fail and waved a cinder block over one unfortunate male student's genital zone.
But he never once talked about Jesus. Although he often delivers one-liners tailored to his faith, Deltano gave a routine expunged of religion to more than 1,000 students at the public high school in Leesburg.
Some civil liberties advocates, skeptical of such shows, said school officials must enforce a line that is tested by religious performers who are invited into public schools to entertain and educate but not preach.
"Having so-called secular performances or speeches in public schools by Christian evangelists" is a growing trend, said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Schools need to be extremely careful when they tread into these waters."
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13fri4.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Editorial
AIDS Tests, Everywhere
At the beginning of 2004, AIDS treatment in Botswana - a country with theworld's second- highest rate of H.I.V. cases - was stagnating. The countrywas providing free antiretrovirals, but only one in 10 who needed the drugswas taking them.
Then Botswana made a simple change in the rules for AIDS testing thatallowed the program to soar. Previously, Botswanans could get tested onlyafter providing written consent and accepting extensive counseling. Now,unless they object, all patients entering a clinic or hospital are routinelygiven an AIDS test. The rate of testing has quadrupled. A third ofBotswanans now know their H.I.V. status, and 85 percent of those who needtreatment get it.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended latelast month that such routine AIDS testing - called opt-out - become thestandard in the United States. This is an important reform. It is even morecrucial for poor countries, where 90 percent of those infected do not knowit.
=
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206animals.htm
'Gay Animals' Exhibit Angers Conservative Christians
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 1:00 pm ET
(Oslo) Oslo's internationally acclaimed Natural History Museum is beingassailed by Norwegian church groups over an exhibit called "Against Nature"which shows same-sex animal pairs.
The exhibit documents homosexuality among penguins, parrots, giraffes,whales and other animals and insects. A translation fromNorwegian into English of a statement at the exhibit says "We may have opinions on a lot of things, but one thing is clear - homosexuality is found throughout the animal kingdom, it is not against nature."
The exhibit opened Thursday features a photograph that attractedconsiderable attention of two sexually aroused whales rubbing together.
Another shows two male giraffe's engaged in sex.
=
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206arizona.htm
Police, Fire Unions Join Fight Against Arizona Anti-Gay Amendment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Tempe, Arizona) The Tempe Firefighters Association and the Tempe OfficersAssociation Thursday announced their opposition to Prop. 107, a proposedamendment to the Arizona constitution that would ban gay marriage, civilunions and void domestic partner benefits for both gay and non-gay unmarriedcouples.
"Our organization is opposed to Prop. 107 because it puts our candidate poolfor future firefighters at risk," said Rich Woerth, president of the TempeFirefighters Association.
"Domestic partner benefits are an excellent recruitment tool and appeal tomany of our new recruits. This benefit helps us secure the most qualifiedand experienced individuals who will serve Tempe residents. If Prop. 107passes it would eliminate our ability to offer these benefits in the future,as well as impact all of the families of firefighters who are currentlycovered."
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
The Express Gay News
Gay Republicans in the hot seat
Closeted members of the GOP are making national news these days, reminding us all of the importance of coming out.
Friday, October 13, 2006
WITH THE MAINSTREAM media engaged in wall-to-wall Mark Foley scandal coverage for a solid week, attention turned awkwardly (and predictably) to the subject of gay Republicans.
Who are these people? How can they work for a party that demonizes them? Is D.C. controlled by a Velvet Mafia? And, most importantly, what about "The List," a compendium of closeted Republicans that is rumored to be circulating on the Hill?
The salacious story of "The List" emerges every year or two, usually before an election, to vex the Hill's closet cases. The ironic twist this time around concerns the strange bedfellows seeking to out those closeted Republicans.
=
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/view/actionalert/actionalert.cfm
Foley blame game
Watchdog group accuses media outlets of bias in coverage
By ERIC ERVIN
Friday, October 13, 2006
A PROGRESSIVE MEDIA WATCHDOG group is alleging conservative news organizations are spinning the congressional page instant message scandal surrounding gay former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley to direct blame away from the GOP congressman and the Republican Party.
"The blame game is in full swing," said David Brock, Media Matters for America president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "Conservatives in the media are going out of their way to place blame on every boogie man they can think of.
Foley resigned his post Sept. 29 after ABC News reported he exchanged sexually explicit instant messages with an underage male congressional page.
MEDIA MATTERS SAID THE MOST glaring reports that lay blame on others come from TV and radio talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin, who have all claimed that Democrats somehow orchestrated the scandal.
The group points to the Fox News show "Hannity and Colmes" in which Hannity repeatedly questions the proximity of ABC's release of Foley's instant messages to midterm elections, suggesting that Democrats held on to the information before releasing it as a strategy to gain more seats in Congress.
=
http://expressgaynews.com/2006/10-13/news/national/pundits.cfm
Express Gay News
Activists denounce 'scapegoating' of gays in Foley scandal
But attempts to links gays with pedophilia are not helping Republicans, experts say
By PHIL LAPADULA
Friday, October 13, 2006
As the "Foley fallout" continued to descend on the mid-term elections this week, several national gay activists voiced concerns that some of the toxic political dust from the sex scandal could land on the gay community.
Gay activists of both political parties denounced anti-gay conservatives whom they said were trying to shift the blame for the Congressional page scandal from former Congressman Mark Foley and the House Republican leadership's alleged cover-up, to homosexuality itself.
Foley resigned Sept. 29 after sexually explicit e-mails that he sent to underage male pages surfaced in the media.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, described the response to the Foley scandal as "shockingly homophobic." He objected to what he characterized as anti-gay remarks about the scandal by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.
"The GOP leadership and their supporters trying to deflect blame by making gay people scapegoats," Foreman said. "The media coverage has been not only salacious but completely unbalanced."
=
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid37517.asp
The Advocate
October 13, 2006
Constitutional bans on same-sex marriage may fail at the ballot for first time
Support for same-sex marriage bans is weak in three of the eight states that will vote on them this November, and in one-Colorado-a competing measure to establish domestic partnerships for same-sex couples is currently backed by a majority of voters. The growing sense that key victories will be had this Election Day is in stark contrast to 2004, when constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were approved in 13 states, USA Today reports.
"It could be a watershed year," Carrie Evans, state legislative director at the Human Rights Campaign, told the paper. Indeed, defeat of even one of the proposed marriage bans would be a major triumph, since all 19 state measures that have been voted on to date were overwhelmingly approved, with support averaging 70 percent.
This year, however, opposition to such a measure in Arizona is currently at 51 percent, with only 38 percent of voters supporting it, according to a recent poll, while the proposed marriage ban in South Dakota is opposed by 49 percent of voters, with 41 percent in support. In Colorado, which has ballot measures both to ban same-sex marriage and to create domestic partnerships, a recent poll showed that only 52 percent of voters are in favor of the former, but that 58 percent favored the latter.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_health16oct12,0,5194958.story
New HIV Infections in Australia Surge
By MERAIAH FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
October 12, 2006, 7:30 PM EDT
SYDNEY, Australia -- New HIV cases in Australia surged more than 40 percentfrom 2000 to 2005, according to study results released Thursday, promptingfears that drug treatment advances are making people lax about practicingsafe sex.
The annual survey report, issued by the National Center in HIV Epidemiologyand Clinical Research, found that new HIV infections reported in Australiarose from 656 in 2000 to 930 in 2005 -- a 41 percent leap. HIV is the virusthat causes AIDS.
Gay men accounted for about 70 percent of the new cases. Heterosexuals madeup 19 percent, while intravenous drug users and unknown transmission pathsaccounted for the rest.
According to the report, new infections hit an all-time high of about 1,700in 1984, then declined steadily through the late 1990s. But in 2000, thetrend apparently reversed.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
SAN FRANCISCO
Anchor's comments anger gays, lesbians
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 12, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/12/
BAG61LNN5V1.DTL&type=gaylesbian
San Francisco public officials and leaders of the gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender community are demanding that a prominent radio host andtelevision news anchor apologize for comments he made on the air aboutnontraditional families.
Pete Wilson, the anchor of ABC's local evening news and host of a radio showon KGO 810 AM, criticized Supervisor Bevan Dufty and his friend RebeccaGoldfader, who are sharing a home and co-parenting a newborn, during a radiobroadcast Tuesday.
Their daughter, Sidney, was born last week. Wilson, who said he supportssame-sex marriage and lesbian and gay couples raising children, referred toher as an "experiment" because they're not in a romantic relationship.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Opponent Outs Florida GOP Governor Candidate
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206crist.htm
365Gay.Com
(Fort Lauderdale, Florida) Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has beenthe subject of speculation for several years but on Wednesday a politicalopponent used National Coming Out Day to say he's known for years that Cristis gay.
Appearing on WFTL, a South Florida news-talk station, independentgubernatorial candidate Max Linn said it is common knowledge in Tallahassee that Crist is gay.
And, Linn said it is time Crist acknowledged it.
=
Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/10/11/notes101106.DTL
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (SF Gate)
Gay Republicans? All My Fault/I caused it. I did it. Foley, sex, pedophiles and the implosion of the GOP. And I apologize
By Mark Morford, SF Gate
Columnist
I secretly hoped for it. I secretly prayed for it. Actually, it wasn't asecret at all. I was shouting it from the cosmic rooftops, extolling itsvirtues to anyone who would listen, tossing shiny pennies of burning hopeinto karmic wishing wells. Couldn't help it, really.
And I'm here to say: I'm sorry for it.
See, for years, I've wanted in my heart of hearts for some sort of nastyand riotous and well-deserved scandal to rock the GOP, to shake it to itshomophobic hypocritical core and reveal these jackals and warmongers andabusers of women's rights and gay rights and human rights as what theyreally are, to have their glistening masks of sweat and wax and false pietypeeled away to expose the rashy psoriatic snakeskin underneath.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201587_pf.html
To Curb the Trend, Magic Tells His Story
'In Real Life, I'm Not Supposed to Be Here'
By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; B03
On the basketball court, he was Magic, dribbling past defenders, dishing no-look passes and tossing in three-pointers from beyond the arc.
But yesterday Earvin Johnson Jr. came to the District as a man living with a disease and a mission, testifying before audiences hushed by the power of his grim yet uplifting tale. At a high school and a Baptist church, Johnson recounted how his charmed basketball career ended abruptly in 1991 after a routine blood test revealed that he has HIV.
He quit basketball and was shunned by players who feared they could contract the virus simply by touching him. He stopped counting those who predicted that he would be dead in a year. Not a day goes by when he does not think about how sleeping around changed his life. Johnson said his fame made him the "face of the disease," a mantle that he has embraced and run with."I'm here so that what happened to me will not happen to you," he told an audience of feisty high schoolers, some giving his words rapt attention. "I had your same mindset, your same mentality. But HIV is running through our community in a big way. And sex among teenagers is up."
Johnson's visit to Washington is part of a 10-city tour focused on HIV/AIDS among African Americans, and it comes amid a District campaign urging residents ages 14 to 84 to get tested. In the first three months of the campaign, nearly 3 percent of the more than 7,000 people tested positive -- more than double the national rate.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201576_pf.html
The Abstinence Shtick, Minus Jesus
Assembly Attended by 1,000 Students Watched Warily by ACLU
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; B01
Christian comedian Keith Deltano did a lot of things at Loudoun County High School yesterday to encourage teenagers to stay away from sex. He sang bad hip-hop, told stories about oozing diapers, read from a government report on how condoms can fail and waved a cinder block over one unfortunate male student's genital zone.
But he never once talked about Jesus. Although he often delivers one-liners tailored to his faith, Deltano gave a routine expunged of religion to more than 1,000 students at the public high school in Leesburg.
Some civil liberties advocates, skeptical of such shows, said school officials must enforce a line that is tested by religious performers who are invited into public schools to entertain and educate but not preach.
"Having so-called secular performances or speeches in public schools by Christian evangelists" is a growing trend, said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Schools need to be extremely careful when they tread into these waters."
=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13fri4.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Editorial
AIDS Tests, Everywhere
At the beginning of 2004, AIDS treatment in Botswana - a country with theworld's second- highest rate of H.I.V. cases - was stagnating. The countrywas providing free antiretrovirals, but only one in 10 who needed the drugswas taking them.
Then Botswana made a simple change in the rules for AIDS testing thatallowed the program to soar. Previously, Botswanans could get tested onlyafter providing written consent and accepting extensive counseling. Now,unless they object, all patients entering a clinic or hospital are routinelygiven an AIDS test. The rate of testing has quadrupled. A third ofBotswanans now know their H.I.V. status, and 85 percent of those who needtreatment get it.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended latelast month that such routine AIDS testing - called opt-out - become thestandard in the United States. This is an important reform. It is even morecrucial for poor countries, where 90 percent of those infected do not knowit.
=
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206animals.htm
'Gay Animals' Exhibit Angers Conservative Christians
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 1:00 pm ET
(Oslo) Oslo's internationally acclaimed Natural History Museum is beingassailed by Norwegian church groups over an exhibit called "Against Nature"which shows same-sex animal pairs.
The exhibit documents homosexuality among penguins, parrots, giraffes,whales and other animals and insects. A translation fromNorwegian into English of a statement at the exhibit says "We may have opinions on a lot of things, but one thing is clear - homosexuality is found throughout the animal kingdom, it is not against nature."
The exhibit opened Thursday features a photograph that attractedconsiderable attention of two sexually aroused whales rubbing together.
Another shows two male giraffe's engaged in sex.
=
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101206arizona.htm
Police, Fire Unions Join Fight Against Arizona Anti-Gay Amendment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 12, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Tempe, Arizona) The Tempe Firefighters Association and the Tempe OfficersAssociation Thursday announced their opposition to Prop. 107, a proposedamendment to the Arizona constitution that would ban gay marriage, civilunions and void domestic partner benefits for both gay and non-gay unmarriedcouples.
"Our organization is opposed to Prop. 107 because it puts our candidate poolfor future firefighters at risk," said Rich Woerth, president of the TempeFirefighters Association.
"Domestic partner benefits are an excellent recruitment tool and appeal tomany of our new recruits. This benefit helps us secure the most qualifiedand experienced individuals who will serve Tempe residents. If Prop. 107passes it would eliminate our ability to offer these benefits in the future,as well as impact all of the families of firefighters who are currentlycovered."
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 13, 2006
IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/10/13/book_says_bush_aides_derided_evangelists/
Book says Bush aides derided evangelists
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times | October 13, 2006
WASHINGTON -- A new book by a former White House official says President Bush's top political advisers privately ridiculed evangelical supporters as ``nuts" and ``goofy" while embracing them in public and using their votes to help win elections. The former official also writes that the White House office of faith-based initiatives, which Bush promoted as a nonpolitical effort to support religious social service organizations, was told to host preelection events designed to mobilize religious voters who would probably favor Republican candidates.
The assertions by David Kuo, the former number two official in the faith-based initiatives program, have rattled Republican strategists already struggling to persuade evangelical voters to turn out this fall for the GOP.
Some conservatives lamented yesterday that the book, ``Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," also comes in the midst of the scandal involving former representative Mark Foley's interest in male congressional pages, another threat to conservative turnout in competitive House and Senate races.
The book is scheduled to hit stores Monday, but the White House denied some assertions yesterday as excerpts began leaking out.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/13/a_reunified_korea_is_the_solution?mode=PF
The Boston Globe
ROSS TERRILL
A reunified Korea is the solution
By Ross Terrill | October 13, 2006
AFTER North Korea's nuclear test, no good options exist, pundits say. It'sthe present six-party talks or another Korean war, they declare. GiveSeoul's ``sunshine policy" toward Pyongyang more time to mellow Kim Jong-Il.
But a good option does exist that would terminate the Pyongyang regimewithout Washington laying a finger on it. The starting point should be notthe problem of North Korea's nukes, but the challenge of Korea'sreunification. Restoring the unity of a split country raises transforming possibilities; it can be regime change of an attractive kind.
Pyongyang, lost without nukes, has no reason to bargain away its one morselof strength. Nor could any agreement be verified. (Unlike Libya, North Koreahas 8,000 underground tunnels and caves). In the remote chance that aPyongyang abandonment of nuclear stockpiles could be verified, North Koreawould still have missiles that can deliver chemical and biological weaponsto Los Angeles. Do we trust it not to do so?
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201563_pf.html
Pope Poised To Revive Latin Mass, Official Says
Ancient Tridentine Rite Was Replaced in 1960s
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A03
Pope Benedict XVI has drafted a document allowing wider use of the Tridentine Mass, the Latin rite that was largely replaced in the 1960s by Masses in English and other modern languages, a church official said yesterday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the pope told colleagues in September that he was writing the document "motu proprio," a Latin phrase for on his own initiative, and that it was in its third draft.
"There will be a document, it will come out soon, and it will be significant," the official said. Benedict "will not let this be sidetracked," he added.
Wider use of the Tridentine Mass is a cause dear to the hearts of many Catholics, for both esthetic and ideological reasons. It was codified in 1570 and remained the standard Roman Catholic liturgy for nearly four centuries, until the gathering of church leaders known as the Second Vatican Council ushered in major reforms from 1962 to 1965.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201670_pf.html
Counting The Iraqi Dead
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, October 13, 2006; A29
"Not credible" was President Bush's quick verdict on the new study, published this week in the British medical journal the Lancet, calculating that more than 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the U.S. invasion and its ensuing chaos. It is understandable that the president would be quick to dismiss such an explosive claim, but the rest of us should take the time to look a bit more closely.
The number of estimated deaths claimed by the study is inconceivably huge and wildly out of scale with any previous figures we've heard. But it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the human suffering in Iraq has been far beyond our imagining.
The peer-reviewed study's named authors include three researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University -- one of them is Gilbert Burnham, co-director of the school's Center for Refugee and Disaster Response -- and a professor from Baghdad's al-Mustansiriya University. Funding for the project was provided by MIT. These are not shabby credentials.
But academic degrees and prestigious affiliations alone do not establish truth. Bush said the problem is that the study's methodology has been discredited. But the team relied on a "cluster sample survey" technique that is frequently used for public health research, especially in the developing world.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889_pf.html
The Washington Post
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
By James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 13, 2006; 1:32 AM
Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "appear to have perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued yesterday.
The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff funneled money from his clients to the groups. In exchange, the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored the clients' positions.
Officers of the groups "were generally available to carry out Mr. Abramoff's requests for help with his clients in exchange for cash payments," said the report, issued by the Senate Finance Committee. The report was written by the Democratic staff after a yearlong investigation and authorized by the Republican chairman, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy and could go to prison as early as next month. Prosecution and defense lawyers jointly filed papers yesterday asking a judge to recommend that he be sent to a federal facility in Cumberland, Md., to make it easier for him to cooperate with the ongoing probe. The investigation has resulted in one conviction and seven guilty pleas -- including one from a lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), who is to appear today before a federal judge in the District.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201864_pf.html
Events in Arts, Politics Highlight Turkey's Tangled Ties to Europe As Nobel Goes to Turk, France Takes Up Armenian Genocide
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 13, 2006; A20
PARIS, Oct. 12 -- The complex relationship between Turkey and Europe played out Thursday in two European capitals, as Turkey's leading novelist was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature in Stockholm and French lawmakers here passed a bill that would make it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turkey committed genocide against Armenians during and after World War I.
The hotly disputed issue of genocide against the Armenians was bound to explode when Orhan Pamuk -- who has complained that Turkey has refused to admit that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were massacred beginning in 1915 -- became the first Turkish writer to win the Nobel. But the nearly simultaneous vote by France's National Assembly added a political sting that could damage relations between France and Turkey and further weaken Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.
The French bill, approved 106 to 19, provides for up to one year in jail and a fine of about $57,600 for anyone who denies that genocide occurred. The measure faces several hurdles before becoming law.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201962_pf.html
In Key Races, Democrats Look at Rivals' Personal Lives
Amid Voter Disgust Over Foley Scandal, Strategists Believe Attacks on GOP at Local Level Won't Backfire
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A06
In the wake of the Mark Foley page scandal, Democrats are targeting the personal lives of Republicans in numerous key House races as part of a campaign to capitalize on voter disgust with the messy personal lives and alleged character defects among elected officials.
Although Democrats' internal polling shows that the Foley scandal is resonating deeply only in half a dozen races, party operatives are calculating that GOP candidates are now unusually vulnerable to personal attacks, several candidates and strategists said.
In New Jersey, Democratic candidate Linda Stender this week sent voters a two-page brochure accusing Rep. Mike Ferguson (R) of improperly preying on young women in a fashionable D.C. nightclub. Stender, who is shown by polls to be within striking distance of Ferguson, said the Foley affair "opened the door to talk about the ethical challenge of my opponent." Ferguson has denied the allegations, and a spokeswoman last night called the attacks "pathetic and desperate."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201855_pf.html
In China, Children of Inmates Face Hard Time Themselves
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 13, 2006; A01
DALIAN, China -- The children answer to nicknames such as "Seagull," "Brightness," "Summer" and "Ocean," but they come with scars that social workers initially mistake for dirt. When they first arrive at the two-story house here, they hoard toothpaste, or they hide new socks and steamed buns in their bed quilts, as if they were precious gems.
They are the children of prisoners, and in this country, they belong to no one.
The law is unclear on who should provide for the children of China's more than 1.5 million prisoners. No government department is willing to supervise them. Historically, relatives have taken them in, but in practice, many unwanted children are shuffled from family to family. Sometimes, even the families do not want them.
A small number of children, like the 12 at the home here in Dalian, receive care at "Children's Villages," organizations usually run by civic-minded individuals. But there are no more than nine or 10 such organizations nationwide, serving perhaps 1,000 children, experts say. Prisoners have an estimated 600,000 children under the age of 18, according to Justice Ministry statistics; experts argue that the actual figure is higher.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/13/a_reunified_korea_is_the_solution?mode=PF
The Boston Globe
ROSS TERRILL
A reunified Korea is the solution
By Ross Terrill | October 13, 2006
AFTER North Korea's nuclear test, no good options exist, pundits say. It'sthe present six-party talks or another Korean war, they declare. GiveSeoul's ``sunshine policy" toward Pyongyang more time to mellow Kim Jong-Il.
But a good option does exist that would terminate the Pyongyang regimewithout Washington laying a finger on it. The starting point should be notthe problem of North Korea's nukes, but the challenge of Korea'sreunification. Restoring the unity of a split country raises transforming possibilities; it can be regime change of an attractive kind.
Pyongyang, lost without nukes, has no reason to bargain away its one morselof strength. Nor could any agreement be verified. (Unlike Libya, North Koreahas 8,000 underground tunnels and caves). In the remote chance that aPyongyang abandonment of nuclear stockpiles could be verified, North Koreawould still have missiles that can deliver chemical and biological weaponsto Los Angeles. Do we trust it not to do so?
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201585_pf.html
Charge of Treason Difficult to Prove, Legal Experts Say
Al-Qaeda Videos Led to Indictment
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A27
The decision to charge alleged al-Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn with treason is something of a gamble by the U.S. government, which has not pursued such a case in more than 50 years and has a mixed track record for convictions over the course of American history, according to legal experts and historic accounts.
Gadahn, 28, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, Calif., based on his alleged appearance in numerous al-Qaeda videotapes calling for the death of Americans and for attacks on U.S. targets.
Many legal experts said yesterday that although Gadahn may be a suitable candidate for a treason charge, federal prosecutors may face serious difficulties in securing a conviction if he is ever brought to trial.
Gadahn, a fugitive believed to be living in Pakistan, grew up on a Southern California goat farm, converting to Islam as a teenager and later moving overseas. He allegedly says in one video that U.S. "streets will run red with blood" and in another refers to the United States as "enemy soil."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200635_pf.html
Red Cross Meets With 14 Moved to Guantanamo Bay
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A23
An International Committee of the Red Cross delegation that visited the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, met with the 14 detainees who had been held for years in secret CIA custody, the first time the alleged high-value terrorism suspects had contact with the outside world since their initial confinement.
The U.S. military and ICRC officials confirmed yesterday that Red Cross representatives spent time with each of the 14 men in the weeks after they were transferred to Guantanamo, a series of standard meetings during which the detainees were officially registered with the international humanitarian organization and had an opportunity to meet with a doctor.
Among the men is Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Red Cross officials do not comment on the details of such meetings or their recommendations to government captors, citing confidentiality agreements that allow them unfettered access. They also declined to comment on the conditions the detainees faced while in secret U.S. custody and on their mental and physical well-being.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13krugman.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Will the Levee Break?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
The conventional wisdom says that the Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives next month, but only by a small margin. I've been looking at the numbers, however, and I believe this conventional wisdom is almost all wrong.
Here's what's happening: a huge Democratic storm surge is heading toward a high Republican levee. It's still possible that the surge won't overtop the levee - that is, the Democrats could fail by a small margin to take control of Congress. But if the surge does go over the top, the flooding will almost surely reach well inland - that is, if the Democrats win, they'll probably win big.
Let's talk about Congressional arithmetic.
Unless the Bush administration is keeping Osama bin Laden in a freezer somewhere, a majority of Americans will vote Democratic this year. If Congressional seats were allocated in proportion to popular votes, a Democratic House would be a done deal. But they aren't, and the way our electoral system works, combined with the way ethnic groups are distributed, still gives the Republicans some hope of holding on.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13fri1.html
A Growing Free-for-All
Published: October 13, 2006
By approving the merger between AT&T and BellSouth unconditionally, the Bush administration has again abdicated responsibility for protecting consumers when huge companies combine.
Fierce competition between private companies is at the core of the nation's economic strength. But government still has an important role to play as referee, making sure that the rough- and-tumble game of capitalism doesn't become perversely uncompetitive through significant concentrations of market power in the hands of a few companies.
From the very start, the Bush administration's approach to antitrust and merger policy has been much more hands-off than its predecessors'. In an era of rapid consolidation and deregulation, the Justice Department hasn't brought a single major monopoly case under the Sherman Antitrust Act since the Clinton administration went after Microsoft for illegally defending its monopoly for the Windows operating system. The department settled that case during President Bush's first year in office.
That set the tone for a merger policy that often appears to be little more than "anything goes." One gets the impression at times that the referee has left the playing field.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/l13educ.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Wanted: Cookie-Cutter Colleges? (6 Letters)
To the Editor:
From the perspective of someone who teaches at a public university and has two children in public schools, I dispute Eugene Hickok's assertions in "No Undergrad Left Behind" (Op-Ed, Oct. 11).
It would seriously weaken the intellectual quality of universities' curriculums to subject them to the principles of educational administration - restrictive and bureaucratically driven norms and agendas - that have arisen in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act.
I would hate to see universities duplicate the plight of public schools, where determined and creative teachers are hamstrung by a tepid common curriculum designed by a committee insensitive to the needs of any given classroom or the talents of any given teacher.
Is there a parent in America today who hasn't noticed that the schools' mantra has become "teaching to the test"? Mr. Hickok's ideas threaten to stifle the intellectual vitality, for both faculty and students, of American higher education.
Randy Malamud
Atlanta, Oct. 11, 2006
The writer is a professor of English at Georgia State University.
more.....
=
Forwarded from
Paul Harris
Publisher
The Independent
www.OurIndy.com
http://www.harpers.org/sb-republicans-1160492797.html
Tuesday, October 10, 2006.
Republicans Want to Turn Over a New Page
The Foley scandal is no "October Surprise"
Posted on Tuesday, October 10, 2006. By Ken Silverstein.
Sources Leading Republicans, with the support of conservative media outlets,are charging that the Mark Foley scandal was a plot orchestrated byDemocrats to damage the G.O.P.'s electoral prospects this November.According to the Washington Post, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert appearedon Rush Limbaugh's radio show and "agreed when the host said the Foley storywas driven by Democrats 'in some sort of cooperation with some in the media'to suppress turnout of conservative voters" before the midterm elections.
Conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt has said that Hastert had becomethe "target right now of the left-wing media machine," and House MajorityLeader John Boehner has charged that the release of the Foley documents soclose to the elections "is concerning, at a minimum." Meanwhile, accountsI've heard about the FBI's initial inquiries suggest the bureau is asi nterested in uncovering how the story came to public attention as it is ininvestigating Foley's actions.
The Republican leadership is lying when they claim that Democrats haveengineered an "October Surprise"; there was never a plan to undermine theG.O.P. or to destroy Hastert personally, as the speaker has vaingloriouslysuggested. I know this with absolute certainty because Harper's was offeredthe story almost five months ago and decided, after much debate, not to run it here on Washington Babylon.
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/10/13/book_says_bush_aides_derided_evangelists/
Book says Bush aides derided evangelists
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times | October 13, 2006
WASHINGTON -- A new book by a former White House official says President Bush's top political advisers privately ridiculed evangelical supporters as ``nuts" and ``goofy" while embracing them in public and using their votes to help win elections. The former official also writes that the White House office of faith-based initiatives, which Bush promoted as a nonpolitical effort to support religious social service organizations, was told to host preelection events designed to mobilize religious voters who would probably favor Republican candidates.
The assertions by David Kuo, the former number two official in the faith-based initiatives program, have rattled Republican strategists already struggling to persuade evangelical voters to turn out this fall for the GOP.
Some conservatives lamented yesterday that the book, ``Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," also comes in the midst of the scandal involving former representative Mark Foley's interest in male congressional pages, another threat to conservative turnout in competitive House and Senate races.
The book is scheduled to hit stores Monday, but the White House denied some assertions yesterday as excerpts began leaking out.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/13/a_reunified_korea_is_the_solution?mode=PF
The Boston Globe
ROSS TERRILL
A reunified Korea is the solution
By Ross Terrill | October 13, 2006
AFTER North Korea's nuclear test, no good options exist, pundits say. It'sthe present six-party talks or another Korean war, they declare. GiveSeoul's ``sunshine policy" toward Pyongyang more time to mellow Kim Jong-Il.
But a good option does exist that would terminate the Pyongyang regimewithout Washington laying a finger on it. The starting point should be notthe problem of North Korea's nukes, but the challenge of Korea'sreunification. Restoring the unity of a split country raises transforming possibilities; it can be regime change of an attractive kind.
Pyongyang, lost without nukes, has no reason to bargain away its one morselof strength. Nor could any agreement be verified. (Unlike Libya, North Koreahas 8,000 underground tunnels and caves). In the remote chance that aPyongyang abandonment of nuclear stockpiles could be verified, North Koreawould still have missiles that can deliver chemical and biological weaponsto Los Angeles. Do we trust it not to do so?
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201563_pf.html
Pope Poised To Revive Latin Mass, Official Says
Ancient Tridentine Rite Was Replaced in 1960s
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A03
Pope Benedict XVI has drafted a document allowing wider use of the Tridentine Mass, the Latin rite that was largely replaced in the 1960s by Masses in English and other modern languages, a church official said yesterday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the pope told colleagues in September that he was writing the document "motu proprio," a Latin phrase for on his own initiative, and that it was in its third draft.
"There will be a document, it will come out soon, and it will be significant," the official said. Benedict "will not let this be sidetracked," he added.
Wider use of the Tridentine Mass is a cause dear to the hearts of many Catholics, for both esthetic and ideological reasons. It was codified in 1570 and remained the standard Roman Catholic liturgy for nearly four centuries, until the gathering of church leaders known as the Second Vatican Council ushered in major reforms from 1962 to 1965.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201670_pf.html
Counting The Iraqi Dead
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, October 13, 2006; A29
"Not credible" was President Bush's quick verdict on the new study, published this week in the British medical journal the Lancet, calculating that more than 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the U.S. invasion and its ensuing chaos. It is understandable that the president would be quick to dismiss such an explosive claim, but the rest of us should take the time to look a bit more closely.
The number of estimated deaths claimed by the study is inconceivably huge and wildly out of scale with any previous figures we've heard. But it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the human suffering in Iraq has been far beyond our imagining.
The peer-reviewed study's named authors include three researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University -- one of them is Gilbert Burnham, co-director of the school's Center for Refugee and Disaster Response -- and a professor from Baghdad's al-Mustansiriya University. Funding for the project was provided by MIT. These are not shabby credentials.
But academic degrees and prestigious affiliations alone do not establish truth. Bush said the problem is that the study's methodology has been discredited. But the team relied on a "cluster sample survey" technique that is frequently used for public health research, especially in the developing world.
=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889_pf.html
The Washington Post
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
By James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 13, 2006; 1:32 AM
Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "appear to have perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued yesterday.
The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff funneled money from his clients to the groups. In exchange, the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored the clients' positions.
Officers of the groups "were generally available to carry out Mr. Abramoff's requests for help with his clients in exchange for cash payments," said the report, issued by the Senate Finance Committee. The report was written by the Democratic staff after a yearlong investigation and authorized by the Republican chairman, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy and could go to prison as early as next month. Prosecution and defense lawyers jointly filed papers yesterday asking a judge to recommend that he be sent to a federal facility in Cumberland, Md., to make it easier for him to cooperate with the ongoing probe. The investigation has resulted in one conviction and seven guilty pleas -- including one from a lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), who is to appear today before a federal judge in the District.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201864_pf.html
Events in Arts, Politics Highlight Turkey's Tangled Ties to Europe As Nobel Goes to Turk, France Takes Up Armenian Genocide
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 13, 2006; A20
PARIS, Oct. 12 -- The complex relationship between Turkey and Europe played out Thursday in two European capitals, as Turkey's leading novelist was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature in Stockholm and French lawmakers here passed a bill that would make it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turkey committed genocide against Armenians during and after World War I.
The hotly disputed issue of genocide against the Armenians was bound to explode when Orhan Pamuk -- who has complained that Turkey has refused to admit that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were massacred beginning in 1915 -- became the first Turkish writer to win the Nobel. But the nearly simultaneous vote by France's National Assembly added a political sting that could damage relations between France and Turkey and further weaken Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.
The French bill, approved 106 to 19, provides for up to one year in jail and a fine of about $57,600 for anyone who denies that genocide occurred. The measure faces several hurdles before becoming law.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201962_pf.html
In Key Races, Democrats Look at Rivals' Personal Lives
Amid Voter Disgust Over Foley Scandal, Strategists Believe Attacks on GOP at Local Level Won't Backfire
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A06
In the wake of the Mark Foley page scandal, Democrats are targeting the personal lives of Republicans in numerous key House races as part of a campaign to capitalize on voter disgust with the messy personal lives and alleged character defects among elected officials.
Although Democrats' internal polling shows that the Foley scandal is resonating deeply only in half a dozen races, party operatives are calculating that GOP candidates are now unusually vulnerable to personal attacks, several candidates and strategists said.
In New Jersey, Democratic candidate Linda Stender this week sent voters a two-page brochure accusing Rep. Mike Ferguson (R) of improperly preying on young women in a fashionable D.C. nightclub. Stender, who is shown by polls to be within striking distance of Ferguson, said the Foley affair "opened the door to talk about the ethical challenge of my opponent." Ferguson has denied the allegations, and a spokeswoman last night called the attacks "pathetic and desperate."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201855_pf.html
In China, Children of Inmates Face Hard Time Themselves
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 13, 2006; A01
DALIAN, China -- The children answer to nicknames such as "Seagull," "Brightness," "Summer" and "Ocean," but they come with scars that social workers initially mistake for dirt. When they first arrive at the two-story house here, they hoard toothpaste, or they hide new socks and steamed buns in their bed quilts, as if they were precious gems.
They are the children of prisoners, and in this country, they belong to no one.
The law is unclear on who should provide for the children of China's more than 1.5 million prisoners. No government department is willing to supervise them. Historically, relatives have taken them in, but in practice, many unwanted children are shuffled from family to family. Sometimes, even the families do not want them.
A small number of children, like the 12 at the home here in Dalian, receive care at "Children's Villages," organizations usually run by civic-minded individuals. But there are no more than nine or 10 such organizations nationwide, serving perhaps 1,000 children, experts say. Prisoners have an estimated 600,000 children under the age of 18, according to Justice Ministry statistics; experts argue that the actual figure is higher.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/13/a_reunified_korea_is_the_solution?mode=PF
The Boston Globe
ROSS TERRILL
A reunified Korea is the solution
By Ross Terrill | October 13, 2006
AFTER North Korea's nuclear test, no good options exist, pundits say. It'sthe present six-party talks or another Korean war, they declare. GiveSeoul's ``sunshine policy" toward Pyongyang more time to mellow Kim Jong-Il.
But a good option does exist that would terminate the Pyongyang regimewithout Washington laying a finger on it. The starting point should be notthe problem of North Korea's nukes, but the challenge of Korea'sreunification. Restoring the unity of a split country raises transforming possibilities; it can be regime change of an attractive kind.
Pyongyang, lost without nukes, has no reason to bargain away its one morselof strength. Nor could any agreement be verified. (Unlike Libya, North Koreahas 8,000 underground tunnels and caves). In the remote chance that aPyongyang abandonment of nuclear stockpiles could be verified, North Koreawould still have missiles that can deliver chemical and biological weaponsto Los Angeles. Do we trust it not to do so?
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201585_pf.html
Charge of Treason Difficult to Prove, Legal Experts Say
Al-Qaeda Videos Led to Indictment
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A27
The decision to charge alleged al-Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn with treason is something of a gamble by the U.S. government, which has not pursued such a case in more than 50 years and has a mixed track record for convictions over the course of American history, according to legal experts and historic accounts.
Gadahn, 28, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, Calif., based on his alleged appearance in numerous al-Qaeda videotapes calling for the death of Americans and for attacks on U.S. targets.
Many legal experts said yesterday that although Gadahn may be a suitable candidate for a treason charge, federal prosecutors may face serious difficulties in securing a conviction if he is ever brought to trial.
Gadahn, a fugitive believed to be living in Pakistan, grew up on a Southern California goat farm, converting to Islam as a teenager and later moving overseas. He allegedly says in one video that U.S. "streets will run red with blood" and in another refers to the United States as "enemy soil."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200635_pf.html
Red Cross Meets With 14 Moved to Guantanamo Bay
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; A23
An International Committee of the Red Cross delegation that visited the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, met with the 14 detainees who had been held for years in secret CIA custody, the first time the alleged high-value terrorism suspects had contact with the outside world since their initial confinement.
The U.S. military and ICRC officials confirmed yesterday that Red Cross representatives spent time with each of the 14 men in the weeks after they were transferred to Guantanamo, a series of standard meetings during which the detainees were officially registered with the international humanitarian organization and had an opportunity to meet with a doctor.
Among the men is Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Red Cross officials do not comment on the details of such meetings or their recommendations to government captors, citing confidentiality agreements that allow them unfettered access. They also declined to comment on the conditions the detainees faced while in secret U.S. custody and on their mental and physical well-being.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13krugman.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Will the Levee Break?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
The conventional wisdom says that the Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives next month, but only by a small margin. I've been looking at the numbers, however, and I believe this conventional wisdom is almost all wrong.
Here's what's happening: a huge Democratic storm surge is heading toward a high Republican levee. It's still possible that the surge won't overtop the levee - that is, the Democrats could fail by a small margin to take control of Congress. But if the surge does go over the top, the flooding will almost surely reach well inland - that is, if the Democrats win, they'll probably win big.
Let's talk about Congressional arithmetic.
Unless the Bush administration is keeping Osama bin Laden in a freezer somewhere, a majority of Americans will vote Democratic this year. If Congressional seats were allocated in proportion to popular votes, a Democratic House would be a done deal. But they aren't, and the way our electoral system works, combined with the way ethnic groups are distributed, still gives the Republicans some hope of holding on.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13fri1.html
A Growing Free-for-All
Published: October 13, 2006
By approving the merger between AT&T and BellSouth unconditionally, the Bush administration has again abdicated responsibility for protecting consumers when huge companies combine.
Fierce competition between private companies is at the core of the nation's economic strength. But government still has an important role to play as referee, making sure that the rough- and-tumble game of capitalism doesn't become perversely uncompetitive through significant concentrations of market power in the hands of a few companies.
From the very start, the Bush administration's approach to antitrust and merger policy has been much more hands-off than its predecessors'. In an era of rapid consolidation and deregulation, the Justice Department hasn't brought a single major monopoly case under the Sherman Antitrust Act since the Clinton administration went after Microsoft for illegally defending its monopoly for the Windows operating system. The department settled that case during President Bush's first year in office.
That set the tone for a merger policy that often appears to be little more than "anything goes." One gets the impression at times that the referee has left the playing field.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/l13educ.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2006
Wanted: Cookie-Cutter Colleges? (6 Letters)
To the Editor:
From the perspective of someone who teaches at a public university and has two children in public schools, I dispute Eugene Hickok's assertions in "No Undergrad Left Behind" (Op-Ed, Oct. 11).
It would seriously weaken the intellectual quality of universities' curriculums to subject them to the principles of educational administration - restrictive and bureaucratically driven norms and agendas - that have arisen in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act.
I would hate to see universities duplicate the plight of public schools, where determined and creative teachers are hamstrung by a tepid common curriculum designed by a committee insensitive to the needs of any given classroom or the talents of any given teacher.
Is there a parent in America today who hasn't noticed that the schools' mantra has become "teaching to the test"? Mr. Hickok's ideas threaten to stifle the intellectual vitality, for both faculty and students, of American higher education.
Randy Malamud
Atlanta, Oct. 11, 2006
The writer is a professor of English at Georgia State University.
more.....
=
Forwarded from
Paul Harris
Publisher
The Independent
www.OurIndy.com
http://www.harpers.org/sb-republicans-1160492797.html
Tuesday, October 10, 2006.
Republicans Want to Turn Over a New Page
The Foley scandal is no "October Surprise"
Posted on Tuesday, October 10, 2006. By Ken Silverstein.
Sources Leading Republicans, with the support of conservative media outlets,are charging that the Mark Foley scandal was a plot orchestrated byDemocrats to damage the G.O.P.'s electoral prospects this November.According to the Washington Post, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert appearedon Rush Limbaugh's radio show and "agreed when the host said the Foley storywas driven by Democrats 'in some sort of cooperation with some in the media'to suppress turnout of conservative voters" before the midterm elections.
Conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt has said that Hastert had becomethe "target right now of the left-wing media machine," and House MajorityLeader John Boehner has charged that the release of the Foley documents soclose to the elections "is concerning, at a minimum." Meanwhile, accountsI've heard about the FBI's initial inquiries suggest the bureau is asi nterested in uncovering how the story came to public attention as it is ininvestigating Foley's actions.
The Republican leadership is lying when they claim that Democrats haveengineered an "October Surprise"; there was never a plan to undermine theG.O.P. or to destroy Hastert personally, as the speaker has vaingloriouslysuggested. I know this with absolute certainty because Harper's was offeredthe story almost five months ago and decided, after much debate, not to run it here on Washington Babylon.
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