Saturday, October 21, 2006

GLBT DIGEST - October 21, 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.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Don't miss this YouTube video.

I have two fathers.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-FVitPDJ6o&mode=related&search=

clink the link!



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/us/21priest.html?pagewanted=print


October 21, 2006

Priest Named by Foley Is Barred From All Religious Duties
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
MIAMI, Oct. 20 - The Archdiocese of Miami on Friday barred the Rev. AnthonyMercieca from functioning as a priest anywhere in the world after confirmingthat he was the clergyman who Mark Foley said molested him in the 1960's.

Father Mercieca, who now lives in Malta, can no longer publicly celebrateMass, administer the sacraments or wear priestly clothes, said Mary RossAgosta, a diocesan spokeswoman.

Ms. Agosta apologized to Mr. Foley in a statement and described as repugnantFather Mercieca's intimate contact with him, which the priest disclosed to aFlorida newspaper this week. Father Mercieca, 69, worked in South Floridafor almost 40 years and remains under the auspices of the archdiocese.

"Such behavior is morally reprehensible, canonically criminal andinexcusable," Ms. Agosta said.




=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/10/the_left_versus.html


The Left Versus Gays
18 Oct 2006 01:01 pm


The outing crusade gains momentum. Look: I loathe the closet. I despise thehypocrisy in the Republican party. But a witch-hunt is a witch-hunt. If thegay left thinks it will advance gay dignity by using tactics that depend onhomophobia to work, that violate privacy, that demonizes gay people, thenall I can say is: they are wrong. They will regret it. It will come back tohaunt them. And they should cut it out. The fact that their motives might begood is no excuse. Everybody on a witchhunt believes their motives are good.But the toxins such a witchhunt exposes, the cruelty it requires, and thefanaticism of its adherents are always dangerous to civilized discourse.What you're seeing right now is an alliance of the intolerant: theintolerant on the gay left and the intolerant on the religious right. Thevictims are gay people - flawed, fallible, even pathetic gay people. Butthey are still people. And they deserve better.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.pridesource.com/digestarticle.shtml?article=20638


Protests, talks continue at Affirmations
By Cornelius Fortune and Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
Originally printed 10/19/2006 (Issue 1442 - Between The Lines News)


FERNDALE - Local activists staged numerous protests last week after twoformer employees at Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center saidracism played a part in their departure.

The first demonstration took place Oct. 11 outside Mark Ridley's ComedyCastle in Royal Oak during a coming out day show sponsored by Affirmations,and protests continued later in the week outside the community center. "Whatwe're wanting is a serious discussion and action plan and training onissues of diversity, not just race, but all other issues - what I call truediversity," said Kimya Afi Ayodele, who was fired from her job as communityoutreach coordinator at Affirmationson Oct. 2. "I really need an apology andI need for my reputation and my name to be restored. I think it's alsoimportant to know this is not (just) a black and white issue."

About a half-dozen protestors were present at the protests.

"It was a friendly, peaceful protest," said Kat LaTosch, marketing andspecial events coordinator for Affirmations. "We didn't have any problems atall."

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Detroit Black Pride Society met withAffirmations leadership on Oct. 10 and Oct. 17 "and had talks about how wecan move forward," LaTosch said.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


McCain confused over gay marriage

On the divisive issue of gay marriage, the senior Senator for Arizona isclearly trying to please both sides of the argument.
By Tony Grew

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2788.html

October 20, 2006

With the mid-term elections only weeks away, a leading contender for theRepublican nomination for President has spoken out in favour of gaymarriages - and against them.

Senator John McCain, seen by many gay and lesbians as the most acceptableRepublican candidate for President in 2008, was answering questions at IowaState University on Wednesday, as part of a tour of universities for MSNBC.

McCain, who at 70, is almost certain to be the oldest Presidential hopeful in next year's contest, is seen as the acceptable face of Republicanism.

He was a keynote speaker at the Conservative party conference in Bournemouthat the start of October, and is seen as politcally close to the 'new' conservatism espoused by David Cameron.

On the divisive issue of gay marriage, the senior Senator for Arizona is clearly trying to please both sides of the argument.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org



http://www.washblade.com/2006/10-20/view/actionalert/actionalert.cfm


Outrageous outreach?

'HIV is a gay disease' ad campaign sparks heated controversy

By ZACK HUDSON, Oct. 20, 2006


Despite sharp criticism from some fellow AIDS service organizations, thecreators of an edgy HIV awareness campaign defend their work as needed toshake gay men out of complacency surrounding the disease.

Much of the controversy surrounding the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center'smonth-long campaign is focused on a statement in print advertisements, whichreads, "HIV is a gay disease."

"We tested and it and showed it to a lot of people. And we knew that itwould stimulate a reaction. That was our intent. That was really one of thewhole reasons behind this campaign, is to get gay men thinking and talkingagain about HIV," said Jim Key, chief public affairs officer for the L.A.Gay & Lesbian Center.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickpage.asp?pageid=2892

The World Uncovered: Sex crimes and the Vatican

Saturday 21st October at 1215 GMT

Repeated: Saturday 21st at 1915, Sunday 22nd at 0115, 0715 and 1715 GMT

A secret document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sexabuse scandals within the Catholic Church is examined by Panorama. CrimenSollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzingerbefore he became the Pope. It instructs bishops on how to deal withallegations of child abuse against priests and has been seen by fewoutsiders. Critics say the document has been used to evade prosecution forsex crimes.

Crimen Sollicitationis was written in 1962 in Latin and given to Catholicbishops worldwide who are ordered to keep it locked away in the church safe.It instructs them how to deal with priests who solicit sex from theconfessional. It also deals with "any obscene external act ... with youthsof either sex." It imposes an oath of secrecy on the child victim, thepriest dealing with the allegation and any witnesses. Breaking that oathmeans excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Reporting for Panorama, Colm O'Gorman finds seven priests with child abuse allegations made against them living in and around the Vatican City.



=


Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

James Dobson: "I have never seen such hatred in my life. I am being bludgeoned"

Children Will Be Targeted if States Change Marriage Definition, He Warns

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06102005.html


Lifesite News

By Gudrun Schultz

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, October 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The social
consequences of a liberal victory in the coming elections will be grave,particularly for children, Dr. James Dobson warned in a radio broadcasturging pro-family voters to go to the polls.

Dr. Dobson accused the national media of attempting to influence pro- familyvoters to stay home. Despite media efforts to convince "values voters" thatthe issue of homosexual marriage is no longing of central importance, Dr.Dobson said, activists' push for same-sex "rights" is increasingly focusedon the next generation.

"Children are being targeted," Dr. Dobson stated. "If one of these states donot confirm traditional marriage, adoption laws will change. Those put infoster care will be placed in different kinds of homes, the training foster care parents receive will be consistent with the homosexual perspective."



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


Nissan offering same-sex insurance benefits to Tennessee employees

By SCOTT BRODEN
The Daily News Journal
Friday, 10/20/06

http://www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20061020/BUSINESS01/61020006

Nissan plans to start offering health insurance benefits for same-sex domestic partners it employs in Tennessee, a spokeswoman said.

The company said it wanted one standard plan for its 16,000 employees in theUnited States, which includes about 6,800 at its Smyrna assembly plant, saidVicki Smith, a spokeswoman for Nissan North America. Nissan employees whopreviously worked in California at the North America headquarters werealready offered coverage for legally recognized domestic partners, arequirement of state law there.




=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


http://www.nbjcoalition.org/news/nbjc-commentary-on-hate.html


Thursday Oct. 12, 2006

From the desk of H. Alexander Robinson

Hate Crimes Continue To Plague Black Gay Community:
NBJC Calls for National Mobilization to End the Violence


Hate crimes; they occur more often than many of us would care tobelieve. It can happen anytime, any place and without warning. On Sundayevening Oct. 8, 2006, Michael Sandy of Brooklyn, NY was viciously attackedin a gay related hate crime.

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) extends its deepestprayers of healing and support to Michael Sandy and his family at this verycrucial point in their lives. We must now come together as a community toprovide the emotional, moral, and spiritual support to the Sandy family intheir time of need.

It will take all of us to bring an end to the racism andhomophobia that plagues our communities and threatens our families. For thesake of our children we must create communities where all people are fullyempowered to participate safely, openly and honestly in family, faith andcommunity, regardless of race, gender-identity or sexual orientation.


=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Australian PM Howard swayed on gays by backbenchers

Howard swayed on gays by backbenchers
By Samantha Maiden
21oct06

http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20617470,00.html

The North Queensland Newspaper Company

JOHN Howard has pledged to tackle legal discrimination against gays andlesbians, after a quiet campaign by an alliance of Liberal backbenchers.

The Prime Minister's review will focus on eight areas where the Liberal MPscontend homosexuals are subject to legal discrimination.

The Weekend Australian also understands Attorney-General Philip Ruddock isreviewing commonwealth legislation with a view to reforming areas ofdiscrimination.




=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/oped2.html


From the Editor: I Don't Want to be Tolerated
By Michael James


There was a statement made on a blog on National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11)asking why "these gays" have to rub their sexuality in everybody's face.This is exactly why it is important to continue to educate people in aneffort to inoculate this ignorance.

First, as a gay man, sexuality is a fraction of who I am. I refuse to bedefined solely based on whom I sleep with. Because we are still shunned to acertain degree we are forced to create our own families. Interestingly, mostgay families are more functional that heterosexual families.

I live my life very much the same as anyone else. I wake up, cook breakfast,go to work, watch my diet, cook dinner, watch a little TV, read a good bookevery now and then and call my mother every Sunday. I do not define my totalidentity by sex anymore than others would define theirs by the eye color.



=

The Miami Herald


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15811259.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Melissa Etheridge, partner have twins


Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Melissa Etheridge and her partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, arethe new parents of twins, the couple announced Friday.

Michaels gave birth to a boy and girl Tuesday: son Miller Steven anddaughter Johnnie Rose.

"Tammy and the babies are in excellent health," Etheridge said on her Website. The babies were conceived using an anonymous donor from a sperm bank.

"The creation of life brings about immeasurable love, and pours hope intothe future. The joy will help carry us through our upcoming sleeplessnights," the couple said in a statement.



=

The current issue of The Independent Gay News is online

http://www.indynews.4t.com/



=

The current issue of The Express Gay News is online

http://expressgaynews.com/



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/world/americas/21mexico.html?ei=5094&en=46d6b33f969d3a71&hp=&ex=1161489600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

[Not Foley Priest]

October 21, 2006

Accused Priest Flees From Law in U.S. and Mexico
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

TEHUACÁN, Mexico - For two decades, dozens of children have accused the Rev. Nicolás Aguilar of molesting or brutally raping them. He faces an indictmentcharging sexual abuse in Los Angeles and at least five formal complaints inMexico. Yet at 65 he remains at large, still working as a priest in villageshere.

Father Aguilar's long flight from the law, critics say, reflects the easewith which priests can avoid prosecution in the United States by hiding inMexico, where judges and prosecutors are reluctant to challenge the enduringpolitical strength of the Roman Catholic Church.

The case has focused attention on a problem that is not limited to FatherAguilar, but rather, critics say, points to a pattern of complicity by highofficials in the church.

In September one of Father Aguilar's accusers filed a lawsuit in southern California alleging that the cardinals of Mexico City and Los Angeles hadconspired to help him escape prosecution by allowing him to slip across theborder.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Campaign-Sex-Scandals.html?pagewanted=print


October 21, 2006
Sex Scandals Dominate Midterm Elections
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cover your eyes, kids, it's time to round up a few ofthis week's headlines from the midterm elections.

''During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer.'' TheWashington Post.

''Gubernatorial race: Gibbons denies doing anything inappropriate,offensive.'' Las Vegas Review- Journal.

''Ellison campaign says woman has blackmail in mind.'' Minneapolis StarTribune.

''Priest offers further details about his relations with Foley.'' SarasotaHerald-Tribune.




=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/101906colorado.htm
Colorado Appeals Court Rules For Gay Partner In Will Dispute
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

October 20, 2006 - 12:01 am ET


(Denver, Colorado) The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed alower court ruling and said the partner of a man who died in 2004 isentitled to his estate.

Before his death Ronald Wiltfong wrote a letter saying he wished to leaveeverything to his partner, Randall Rex, and acknowledged this letter as hiswill in the presence of witnesses.

After his death, a relative took Wiltfong's partner to court to overturnWiltfong's written wishes and demand the estate go to her sons from whom hehad been estranged.

The trial court ruled that the letter was not a legal will and ordered thestate to go to Wiltfong's blood relatives.

Rex appealed and the Appeals Court ruled that the letter was sufficient. Itordered the case back to lower court for reconsideration.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15800181.htm


GOP attack says Democrat backs lesbian; called 'nasty politics'


Associated Press

ANNISTON, Ala. - Recorded messages left by the state Republican chairman ontelephones in a northeast Alabama House district accuse the Democraticincumbent of supporting "an openly lesbian candidate" and urge his defeat tostop "the gay-rights agenda."

The incumbent, Rep. Leah Fite of Jacksonville, on Thursday called the attack"nasty politics" that has angered residents in the district.

The automated message, featuring the voice of Alabama GOP chairman TwinkleAndress Cavanaugh, was left on answering machines in House District 40 inCalhoun County. The message attempts to link Fite with Patricia Todd, who isopenly gay and won the Democratic primary in Birmingham's House District 54.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.pridesource.com/print.shtml?article=20604


The Gay Moralist: Gays and pedophilia
By John Corvino
Originally printed 10/19/2006


The recent scandal involving Rep. Mark Foley sending sexually explicit textmessages to 16- and 17-year-old former congressional pages has resurrectedthe ugly stereotype of gays as pedophiles. I am no longer surprised when Ihear this sort of garbage from the Family Research Council or Paul Cameron.But when the Wall Street Journal links the two by criticizing those "whotell us that the larger society must be tolerant of private lifestylechoices, and certainly must never leap to conclusions about gay men andyoung boys," it makes me nervous - not to mention angry.

First, a little bit of perspective on the scandal driving this. The youngmen whom Foley courted were 16 and 17 - not adults, but not children either.The age of consent in Washington, D.C. (and many other places) is 16. Issuesof potential harassment aside, had Foley had sex with these young men inWashington, it would have been perfectly legal.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com


http://www.dispatch.com/news/news.php?jrl=616053&story=dispatch%2f2006%2f10%2f20%2f20061020-E1-01.html&rfr=nwsl&clk=49157

The Columbus Disptach

Blackwell fans far-right flames
Conservative talk-show hosts' innuendo about Strickland's sexuality may
backfire, experts say
Friday, October 20, 2006
Joe Hallett
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

J. Kenneth Blackwell's Republican campaign for governor used the Internetyesterday to share with thousands of voters the transcript of a nationallytelevised talk show full of innuendo about his opponent's sexuality.

Blackwell, who is trailing Democrat Ted Strickland by double digits in thepolls, is attempting to focus the campaign debate on an issue that has beenused to no avail against Strickland in past congressional campaigns.

Strickland had predicted two months ago that Blackwell would "try to destroyme," and he told about 1,500 supporters at a Columbus rally Wednesday nightthat the GOP nominee should be ashamed.




#####

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 21, 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.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/education/20online.html?pagewanted=print


October 20, 2006

No Test Tubes? Debate on Virtual Science Classes
By SAM DILLON

When the Internet was just beginning to shake up American education, achemistry professor photographed thousands of test tubes holding molecularsolutions and, working with video game designers, created a simulatedlaboratory that allowed students to mix chemicals in virtual beakers andwatch the reactions.

In the years since, that virtual chemistry laboratory - as well as othersimulations allowing students to dissect virtual animals or to peer intotidal pools in search of virtual anemone - has become a widely used scienceteaching tool. The virtual chemistry laboratory alone has some 150,000students seated at computer terminals around the country to try experimentsthat would be too costly or dangerous to do at their local high schools."Some kids figure out how to blow things up in half an hour," said theprofessor, Brian F. Woodfield of Brigham Young University.



=

The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21instincts.html

October 21, 2006

Basic Instincts
Relax, It's Just Preschool

By HILLARY CHURA
DON'T tell anyone, but my husband and I plan to send our toddler to a publicprekindergarten program.

It's not just the outrageous cost - about $17,000 a year for a 4-year-old tolearn his letters, or more on a per-pound basis than Harvard. Ourneighborhood public schools on Manhattan's Upper East Side are some of thefinest in the city (a factor when we relocated) and we just don't thinkexclusive for the sake of exclusive is necessary. Still, the fear is thatyou really do get what you pay for, and no parent wants to gamble with theirchild's future.

With the emphasis on early childhood development, many parents who hear ofour decision, nod, say "ohhh," and position themselves between theirchildren and our son. It's as if we are dooming our first-born and his7-month-old brother to a lifetime of wanton mediocrity instead of pavingtheir way into the joint M.D.-Ph.D.-law programs of their choice.



=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001362_pf.html


'Enemy' Schoolchildren In Moscow

By Masha Lipman
Saturday, October 21, 2006; A19



MOSCOW -- A Georgian migrant worker died at a Moscow airport this week whileawaiting deportation. Tengiz Togonidze, 48, had asthma and was gasping forbreath, but he was reportedly denied permission to get some fresh air eitherduring the five days he was held in a detention center or afterward, duringthe trip to the airport, which took many hours. He was one of some 700ethnic Georgians deported over the past three weeks asthe government'santi- Georgia policies turned into a campaign of harassment of Georgians inRussia. The political conflict between Russia and Georgia has led to an uglyoutburst of political xenophobia here.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Campaign-Sex-Scandals.html?pagewanted=print


October 21, 2006
Sex Scandals Dominate Midterm Elections
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cover your eyes, kids, it's time to round up a few ofthis week's headlines from the midterm elections.

''During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer.'' TheWashington Post.

''Gubernatorial race: Gibbons denies doing anything inappropriate,offensive.'' Las Vegas Review-Journal.

''Ellison campaign says woman has blackmail in mind.'' Minneapolis StarTribune.

''Priest offers further details about his relations with Foley.'' SarasotaHerald-Tribune.



=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901116_pf.html

Has the Right Gone Wrong?
A pundit warns that evangelical Christians have driven the GOP away from itsinherent strengths.

Reviewed by Bryan Burrough
Sunday, October 22, 2006; BW05



THE CONSERVATIVE SOUL

How We Lost It, How to Get It Back

By Andrew Sullivan

HarperCollins. 294 pp. $25.95

I don't spend much time in Washington; maybe it's different down there. Butlet me tell you, out here in the wilds of the New Jersey suburbs, it is purehell being a Republican these days, or a conservative, which used to be thesame thing. The party I grew up in, which stood for fiscal discipline andstrong defense and avoided the sloppiness and stained dresses of so many good- hearted Democratic administrations, seems to have been conquered bypeople who think stem-cell research is murder, who want to ban unpopular sexacts and who have proven incapable of managing such basic government tasksas disaster relief and a war. A war! That used to be the one thing you knewthe GOP could run efficiently. Now, well, now it's gotten to the point whereI'm just too embarrassed to admit that I'm a Republican.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/opinion/21cruickshank.html?pagewanted=print

October 21, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor

Covered Faces, Open Rebellion
By PAUL CRUICKSHANK

ON the streets of London and other cities in Britain, an incongruous sighthas become increasingly common: young Muslim women covered from head to toein black robes, including the niqab, a veil that obscures the face exceptfor the eyes.

The niqab sets these young women off not just from most passers-by, but evenfrom Muslim women who choose to wear the simple headscarf, or hijab, whichcovers only the hair and neck. And it is causing discomfort even inmulticultural Britain. When Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary,declared earlier this month that the niqab made positive relations betweenMuslims and non-Muslims more difficult because it was "such a visiblestatement of separation and difference," he struck a chord with many Britishvoters, only 22 percent of whom think that Muslims have done enough to fitinto mainstream society.



=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001471_pf.html

The Woman Who Would Be Speaker
Uncompromising Pelosi Set to Seize Opportunity

By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 21, 2006; A01



On election night 2004, Nancy Pelosi faced a painful reality: Her party wasagain a big loser, failing to win the presidency and losing three more Houseseats. Pundits were suggesting Pelosi should accept her fate as the leaderof a permanent House minority.

But the California legislator had a different idea. Instead, she reached outto advertising executives, Internet moguls and language specialists to askhow Democrats could rise from the ashes and challenge President Bush and theRepublicans. The advice that came back was unabashed: "You must take himdown" and then hammer away at the differences between the two parties,Pelosi recalled.




=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001569_pf.html

Veil Debate in Britain Is Also Divisive for Muslims

By Kevin Sullivan and Karla Adam
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 21, 2006; A01



LONDON, Oct. 20 -- Wearing a Muslim veil revealing only her chestnut eyes,Maheesa Razia grabbed two small bundles of coriander and handed them to avegetable vendor at the Whitechapel Street Market in east London.

She passed the man a coin and walked off, quietly completing the mostmundane of daily tasks while wearing a garment -- the full-face veil, orniqab -- that has caused a raging debate about how well Britain's nearly 2million Muslims are integrating into society.

"I feel comfortable wearing the niqab here; there was zero awkwardness,"Razia, 24, said through the flowing fabric of her veil.

After she walked away, the vendor, Mohammad Dehbourzorgi, a Muslim who movedto Britain 22 years ago, sounded almost contemptuous. He said he agreed withJack Straw, a top official in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government andleader of the House of Commons, who started the controversy this month bycomplaining that veils create distance between individuals and cultures.



=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901684.html

Democrats Approach Nov. 7 With a Surge in Fundraising

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006; A04



Democratic fundraising for the midterm elections is ending with a surge.

In September, the Democratic campaign committees for the House and theSenate outraised their counterpart Republican committees, reversinghistorical trends.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $14.4 million and theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee collected $13.6 million last month,they said. In contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committeeraised $12 million and the National Republican Senatorial Committeecollected $5.2 million.

The Republican National Committee, however, continued to outpace theDemocratic National Committee. In September, the RNC raised $13.1 millionand reported total receipts of $14.3 million, while the DNC said itcollected $5.6 million.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congressman-E-mails.html?pagewanted=print



October 20, 2006
Diocese Opens Inquest of Foley Priest
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:09 p.m. ET

ROME (AP) -- A Roman Catholic diocese has opened an investigation of apriest who said he fondled and shared saunas while naked with Mark Foleywhen the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.

In interviews in the past two days, the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, who isnow retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given differentdetails about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.

On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone thathe massaged the boy in the nude, was naked in the same room on overnighttrips with him and had gone skinny dipping with him. On Thursday, he toldThe Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/opinion/21sat1.html?pagewanted=print



October 21, 2006
Editorial

Flexing Our Muscles in Space

The Bush administration has adopted a jingoistic and downright belligerenttone toward space operations. In a new "national space policy" postedwithout fanfare on an obscure government Web site, and in recent speeches,it has signaled its determination to be pre-eminent in space - as it is inair power and sea power - while opposing any treaties that might curtail anyAmerican action there.

This chest-thumping is being portrayed as a modest extension of the Clintonadministration's space policy issued a decade ago. And so far there is nomention of putting American weapons in space. But the more aggressive toneof the Bush policy may undercut international cooperation on civilian spaceprojects - a goal to which the new policy subscribes - or set off aneventual arms race in space.



=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001242_pf.html


The Darkness Spreading Over Russia

By Carl Gershman
Special to washingtonpost.com
Saturday, October 21, 2006; 12:00 AM



Nothing that has happened since the contract-style murder on October 7 ofthe Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya shakes the suspicion that thisheinous act was arranged by people tied to the Kremlin, which despised herrelentless reporting about the brutal war in Chechnya. If Putin's callousdismissal of Politkovskaya as an "extremely insignificant" writer whose work nonetheless damaged Russia's reputation was not enough, the acts of theRussian authorities since the murder all point ominously to an escalation ofattacks on human rights defenders and critics of Russian policies inChechnya.

A report just released by Human Rights First lists a number of these acts:Death threats against Lidia Yusopova, who was nominated for the Nobel PeacePrize for her work on human rights in Chechnya; news reports overstate-controlled television tying Timur Aliev, the editor of the newspaper"Chechen Society," to the terrorist recently killed terrorist ShamilBasayev, thus placing his life in danger; the violent dispersal in Nazran,Ingushetia, of a peaceful vigil memorializing Politkovskaya; and theinvestigation and threatened closure of the Nazran-based NGO Mashr, whichsupports relatives of those who have "disappeared" in the conflict.


=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15321167/

'Beginning of the end of America'
Olbermann addresses the Military Commissions Act in a special comment


SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
Countdown


Updated: 3:00 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2006
We have lived as if in a trance.

We have lived as people in fear.

And now-our rights and our freedoms in peril-we slowly awaken to learn thatwe have been afraid of the wrong thing.

Therefore, tonight have we truly become the inheritors of our Americanlegacy.

For, on this first full day that the Military Commissions Act is in force,we now face what our ancestors faced, at other times of exaggerated crisisand melodramatic fear-mongering:

A government more dangerous to our liberty, than is the enemy it claims toprotect us from.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com



http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_102006Z.shtml


GOP to Air Ad Warning of Terror Attacks
By Jim Kuhnhenn
The Associated Press

Friday 20 October 2006

Washington - The Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting adthis weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S.homeland.

The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. "These are the stakes," the ad concludes. "VoteNovember 7."

Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said thead would run on national cable beginning Sunday, but he declined to discussspecifics of the buy.

The commercial tracks with Republican Party strategy to make the war onterrorism a central theme of this election. It will air as recent polls showRepublicans losing ground as the party best able to combat terrorism.

Last month, President Bush made the war against terrorism a recurrenttopic in public appearances. But his message was drowned out by the e-mailsex scandal involving former Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida and byincreasing fatalities in Iraq.

The ad displays an array of quotes from bin Laden and his toplieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, that include bin Laden's Dec. 26, 2001 vowthat "what is yet to come will be even greater."

The ad also cites al-Zawahri's claim to have obtained "some suitcasebombs," followed by a scene that appears to show a nuclear explosion.

Despite al-Zawahri's claim, portable nuclear devices are believed to beparticularly difficult to produce and elusive to rogue regimes and terrorgroups.

The ad is also featured on the RNC's Web site. The party said the ad,called "The Stakes," will be e-mailed to millions of GOP supporters,activists and the state parties.

Democrats denounced the ad as scaremongering.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_el_ge/clinton_politics&printer=1;_ylt=AkYZmxASF69EnlbTPKpED2Zh24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE


Clinton urges Dems to question criticism
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press WriterWed Oct 18, 6:25 PM ET

Former President Clinton bemoaned ideologues who describe opponents as"running for office on his or her way to hell" and urged Democrats not toshy from fighting back.

Clinton, criticizing Republicans weeks before the midterm elections, told anaudience at Georgetown University on Wednesday that intellectual debateshould trump partisan rancor and either-or choices are false.

"Most of us long for politics where we have genuine arguments, vigorousdisagreements but we don't claim to have the whole truth and we don'tdemonize our opponents and we work for what's best for the American people,"he said.




#####

FLORIDA DIGEST October 21, 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.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-dlcol06oct21,0,7264581.column

JUSTICE

Florida not colorblind in capital cases
Douglas C. Lyons
Editorial Writer

October 21, 2006


The following is not a typo: The state of Florida has never executed a whiteconvict for killing an African-American.

I wish I could say the reason is that whites just aren't into botheringblack people, but to do that I'd have to believe in the reality of the toothfairy or the efficiency of FEMA.

Instead, I'm left reeling from that particular statement and the way thedeath penalty is applied in Florida. A recently released assessment by theAmerican Bar Association doesn't offer much encouragment, particularly whenit comes to the subject of race.

For the record, I don't have a position on whether or not the death penaltyshould be abolished. I firmly believe that it should be fairly andefficiently applied. Unfortunately, there's ample evidence that it's not.



=

The Express Gay News
http://expressgaynews.com/

http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3149


Putting Fort Lauderdale on the map
Richard Gray works to help make Fort Lauderdale a premier gay destination

By JAY BARRY
Oct. 20, 2006


RICHARD GRAY MAY NOT BE THE father of gay tourism in Fort Lauderdale. Butno other single person is probably working harder than Gray to make FortLauderdale one of the premier gay tourist destinations in America.

"Fort Lauderdale has always been a gay destination," Gray himself notesthat. "Wherever you have an airport, a cruise port and jobs in thehospitality industry, you're going to have a hub of gay workers andtravelers."

Gray says he has copies of some of the first Damron gay guide books from theearly '80's.



=

The Express Gay News

http://expressgaynews.com/


http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3146


Political opponent 'outs' Charlie Crist

Fla. GOP gubernatorial candidate has repeatedly denied persistent rumors
By PHIL LAPADULA
Oct. 20, 2006


In 1985, Max Linn took a three-month program called Leadership St.Petersburg that focuses on grooming future leaders in business and politics.One of his classmates in the program was Charlie Crist, who is now Florida'sattorney general and the Republican nominee for governor.

Linn, who is running against Crist on the Reform Party ticket, said therewere only about 20 people in that 1985 class.

"So you got to know everybody," he said.

According to Linn, during the course of conversations with Crist he learnedthat the future attorney general is gay. The two talked about "what wouldhappen if [Crist's sexual orientation] comes out" during a politicalcampaign, Linn said.



=

The Sun-Sentinel


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-celxshawklein21oct21,0,2977171.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines


Poll shows Shaw-Klein contest is too close to call
Undecided voters appear to hold the key to victory

By Anthony Man
Political Writer

October 21, 2006


The fiercely fought congressional race between Republican Clay Shaw andDemocrat Ron Klein is too close to call. A new South Florida Sun-Sentinelpoll shows incumbent Shaw ahead, but contains ominous signs for his attemptto win a 14th term.

Shaw would get votes from 48 percent of those polled and Klein has 43percent with 21/2 weeks until Election Day. With a margin of error of plusor minus 4 percentage points, the race statistically is a dead heat.

Even though the incumbent is widely known in the Broward-Palm Beach countydistrict, he is being backed by less than 50 percent of likely voters. Eightpercent reported they hadn't made up their minds. Undecided voters oftenmove toward a challenger in the closing days of a campaign.




=

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-poll2106oct21,0,445055.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state


ELECTION 2006
GOP holds slim lead in most statewide races, poll shows
Etan Horowitz
Sentinel Staff Writer

October 21, 2006


The races for the two open seats in Florida's Cabinet are too close to call,with Republican candidates holding slim margins over their Democraticopponents, an Orlando Sentinel poll showed Friday.

Meanwhile, incumbent Charles Bronson increased his lead over Democraticopponent Eric Copeland in the campaign for agriculture commissioner.

The poll also found that two constitutional amendments -- which would makeit harder to amend the state's constitution and limit the use of eminentdomain -- have the support of a majority of voters as the Nov. 7 electiongrows closer.

Pollster Brad Coker of Mason Dixon Polling & Research attributed the tightraces to increased television advertising during the past few weeks.



=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/15812706.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


BROWARD COUNTY
Costs wiping out smaller Broward hotels

Rising property taxes and insurance costs are affecting businesses acrossBroward County, with small hotels and inns taking an especially hard hit.


BY JENNIFER LEBOVICH
jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com

Business has been brisk at Liberty Suites in Dania Beach.

But despite a record number of visitors to the 18-unit hotel this year, theowner predicts that when all his bills are paid he'll barely break even.

''We are seriously thinking about making this our last season,'' said JoeVan Eron, who has owned the hotel with his life partner, Jack Zimmerman, fornine years. ``This is our livelihood. We built our retirement on this. We'regetting to the point where we're constantly working for nothing.''

For years, rising property values and tempting offers from developers haveled dozens of small, relatively inexpensive Broward hotels to close, makingway for new high-rise hotels and condos.



=

The Express Gay News
http://expressgaynews.com/


http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3165


Lt. governor candidate addresses gay crowd

Daryl Jones speaks at opening of Democratic get-out-the-vote center
By
Oct. 20, 2006


On Wednesday, Oct. 11, gay and lesbian Democratic political activists markedNational Coming Out Day by coming out in support of Democratic Partycandidates at the opening of the Democratic Get-Out-the-Vote Center in FortLauderdale. The center, which is sponsored by the Florida GLBT DemocraticPAC and the Dolphin Democrats, is located across the street from the Gay &Lesbian Community Center of South Florida on Andrews Avenue.

Former state Sen. Daryl Jones, the Democratic candidate for lieutenantgovernor, addressed the crowd.

Jones drew applause when he said that he was the only member of thelegislature to introduce a statewide domestic partnership bill.



=

The Express Gay News
http://expressgaynews.com/


http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3155


Negron no supporter of gay rights, activists say

Democrat Mahoney leads in race against Foley's replacement
By PHIL LAPADULA
Oct. 20, 2006


State Rep. Joe Negron, the Republican candidate who replaced former U.S.Rep. Mark Foley in the Florida Dist. 16 Congressional race, is apparentlyfurther to the right on gay rights, according to several Florida gayactivists.

Negron received a 100 percent rating from the Christian Coalition of Floridafor his voting record in the Florida House of Representatives during the2006 legislative session. In contrast, Foley received a 75 percent ratingfrom the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group, for the 2006session of Congress and an 88 percent for the 2005 legislative session.

Foley dropped out of the race and resigned from Congress after it wasdiscovered he sent sexually explicit instant messages to underageCongressional pages. Negron took his place in the Dist. 16 race, but hisname will not appear on the ballot. To register their votes for Negron,voters will have to vote for Foley.



=


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbmail999oct21,0,533850.story?coll=sfla-news-letters

Look at Shaw's votes -- before Nov. 7


Sheila Rothman
Boynton Beach

October 21, 2006


Clay Shaw's negative ad campaign keeps our attention away from his votingrecord. Understandable. Talk about negative. When it comes to supportingcivil liberties, Shaw is nowhere to be found, voting against the interestsof the American Civil Liberties Union, whose mission is to defend theConstitution, all the time.

When it comes to supporting civil rights, Shaw is not much better, votingfor issues important to the NAACP only 22 percent of the time in 2005, downfrom 33 percent for 2003 and 2004. On veterans' issues, he is missing inaction altogether. In 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2001, he supported the interestsof the Disabled American Veterans 0 percent of the time.

He is not a big fan of education for the masses, voting only 22 percent ofthe time for the interests of college admission counselors in 2005 and 0percent of the time for National PTA in 2003 and 2004.

He has not been supportive of women's issues, supporting the NationalOrganization for Women's interests a mere 29 percent of the time in 2005 andthe interests of the Federally Employed Women 10 percent in 2003 and 2004.The National Journal said he was more liberal on social issues than only 28percent of the representatives and this is a man who represents a districtthat splits almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

Clay Shaw's record speaks for itself. Loud and clear it says he has not beenrepresenting voters in District 22.



=

http://www.news-journalonline.com/scripts/printme.asp


Young Floridians could help Davis, if they vote

Associated Press


MIAMI GARDENS -- Reuben Johnson strolled past the line of gray-haired likelyvoters waiting for an appearance at Florida Memorial University byDemocratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Johnson, 21, had no intention of going inside the auditorium. He had notbeen paying attention to the governor's race, and he wasn't going to startby skipping a class weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Why bother, he said, if the candidates were not going mention the only issuethat would pique his interest:

"Money for school. More financial aid, and more money to historically blackschools like FMU -- not just for buildings, but for students."


=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15812740.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


The Miami Herald recommends
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS


Six proposed changes to Florida's Constitution go before voters on Nov. 7.The Legislature put up five, and the sixth is the result of a citizeninitiative. Two other proposed amendments -- Nos. 2 and 5 -- have beenremoved from the ballot. Amendment 2 asked if the two-term limit forlegislators should be extended to three terms.

The Legislature approved the amendment in 2005 but removed it from theballot this year. Amendment 5 was a citizens' initiative proposing that anindependent commission be created to redraw legislative and congressionaldistricts every decade. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that this violatesthe single-subject rule for amendments.

We recommend a NO vote for the six remaining amendments. Here's why:


AMENDMENT 1


more....


=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15812932.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


CAMPAIGN 2006 | MASON-DIXON POLL

Attorney general, CFO races are now tossups Republicans have seen their leads evaporate in Florida's races for attorney general and chief financial officer, a new poll found.

BY AMY DRISCOLL
adriscoll@MiamiHerald.com


The races for two open Cabinet seats tightened in Florida, with Democratsgaining ground as their television ads began airing, though many votersremain undecided three weeks before the election, according to a pollreleased Friday.

In the race for attorney general, Republican Bill McCollum now holds anarrow three-point lead over Democrat Walter ''Skip'' Campbell, with 19percent of those polled still undecided.

And in the chief financial officer's race, Republican Tom Lee's lead hasbeen whittled to one point over Democrat Adelaide ''Alex'' Sink, with 23percent undecided.



=

The Express Gay News
http://expressgaynews.com/


http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3165


Lt. governor candidate addresses gay crowd

Daryl Jones speaks at opening of Democratic get-out-the-vote center
By
Oct. 20, 2006


On Wednesday, Oct. 11, gay and lesbian Democratic political activists markedNational Coming Out Day by coming out in support of Democratic Partycandidates at the opening of the Democratic Get-Out-the-Vote Center in FortLauderdale. The center, which is sponsored by the Florida GLBT DemocraticPAC and the Dolphin Democrats, is located across the street from the Gay &Lesbian Community Center of South Florida on Andrews Avenue.

Former state Sen. Daryl Jones, the Democratic candidate for lieutenantgovernor, addressed the crowd.

Jones drew applause when he said that he was the only member of thelegislature to introduce a statewide domestic partnership bill.



=



The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


Workshop on Living Non-Violently at MCC

By Donald Cavanaugh
DCavanaugh@OurIndy.com


Church of Our Savior, MCC and Sunshine Cathedral, MCC announced thebeginning of a 12 week program in non-violent living starting on SaturdayOct. 21 and continuing on subsequent Saturday mornings form 10 a.m. to 12:30p.m. The program, called Engage, will be held at Sunshine Cathedral (1480 SW9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale) and will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Kathleen Bishopof Sunshine Cathedral and Rev. Renwick Bell from Church of our Savior.

"It's a wonderful program that teaches individuals how to live non-violentlyin day-to-day situations," said Rev. Bell. "If we can learn to livenon-violently ourselves then we can lead the way for others in our communityand elsewhere in our lives."

Engage was created by a group called Pace e Bene which was founded under theauspices of St. Barbara Province of the Franciscan Friars of California. Itis part of a suite of non-violence trainings available from Pace e Bene.




=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/local8.html


Opinions Changing in Florida?

By Paul Harris
PHarris@ourindy.com


The Miami Herald recently published a poll showing that a majority ofFloridians now oppose the antigay Marriage Amendment to the constitutionwhich has been supported by Republican candidate for Governor Charlie Cristand opposed by Democrat Jim Davis. The poll was conducted by the respectedcompany Zogby International.

Asked whether they support amending the state Constitution to ban gaymarriage, which incidentally is already prohibited by state law, 51 percentof likely Florida voters said they oppose such a ban. The telephone surveyspoke with 803 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5percentage points.



=

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061021/NEWS/210210369/1025&template=printpicart


ELECTION 2006
Davis is a fit and frugal candidate for governor

BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
STAR-BANNER



JIM DAVIS

Name: James Oscar Davis
Born: Oct. 11, 1957 in Tampa
Education: Washington & Lee University, bachelor's in English, 1979; law
degree, University of Florida, 1982

Family: Married, Peggy Bessent, 1986. Two sons

Profession: Attorney
Public Office: Elected to the Florida House of Representatives, 1988-1996.

Elected to Congress in 1996, with his current term scheduled to end in
January 2007

Web site: www.jimdavis2006.com nn
JIM DAVIS
James Oscar Davis
Oct. 11, 1957, Tampa

Washington & Lee University, bachelor's in English, 1979; law degree,University of Florida, 1982

Married, Peggy Bessent, 1986. Two sons
Attorney
Elected to the Florida House of Representatives, 1988-1996. Elected toCongress in 1996, with his current term scheduled to end in January 2007

Young voters may benefit Davis, if they vote, 7B


TALLAHASSEE - Jim Davis was born into a wealthy and influential Tampafamily. His grandfather started one of the state's largest law firms. Amajor Tampa thoroughfare is named after his great-grandmother. But Davis haslargely eschewed the life of a Tampa patrician.

Instead, he has pursued a career in law and politics that has led him to theLegislature and to Congress.

His two sons attend the same public school where his wife graduated. Hisonly salary comes from Congress and his net worth is largely based on hismodest home, which he jokes he couldn't afford to buy today.



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/local5.html


Keechl & Scott Run For Commission

By Paul Harris
PHarris@ourindy.com


Ken Keechl is running for the seat currently held on the County Commissionby Republican Jim Scott.

Keechl is best known locally as the recent president of the DolphinDemocrats, the GLBT local Democratic organization. He was also an equitypartner in a local law practice, Brinkley McNerney, which grew exponentiallyin his years with it. He left the firm to run for public office earlier thisyear. In total he has been a lawyer for 19 years. If elected Keechl hasvowed to be a full-time county commissioner living on the $89,000 a yearcommissioner's salary. "I don't intend to have any private legal clientswhen I am elected. I am wrapping up my practice and representing clients ona pro bono basis," he told The Indy. He points out that his opponent, JimScott, has missed as many county commission meetings as all the other eightcommissioners combined. Scott claims that he is representing the people ofBroward County when he is in Tallahassee. Keechl counters that "The peopleelected him to sit in that chair to represent them.

There are staff paid to lobby for us in Tallahassee. It's not the job of aBroward County Commissioner. In any case I don't believe that he's beeneffective at all." The suggestion is also clearly being made that while inTallahassee on the people of Broward County's dime Scott is lobbying onbehalf of his private clients.



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/ae1.html


Laffing Matterz: Independent Theatre Club Offer

By Paul Harris
PHarris@ourindy.com


This is an offer you would be a fool to miss, and that's no joke! LaffingMatterz, the comedy club restaurant, at 219 South Andrews Avenue is offeringa terrific deal to readers of The Independent as they launch their newWednesday night show this Fall. The Independent Theatre Club evening is onWednesday, November 1 at 7pm. Instead of paying the normal $45 for salad,entrée, beverage and show they are offering readers of The Independent ahalf price deal - $22.50 plus tax and gratuity. If you wish to orderappetizers or desserts from the menu in addition you can. There is also afully stocked bar and extensive wine list. You are not going to find abetter deal in town. Trust me.

Earlier this year this newspaper celebrated our second anniversary at therestaurant when we also announced our "People Of The Year Awards." Everyonewho went that night had a great time.. If you don't believe me, simply askanyone who helped make up the sell-out audience that night.



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


Equality Florida Raises Over $30,000 in Hours


Staff Report
News@OurIndy.com


Equality Florida, the statewide GLBT lobbying organization, held afundraiser recently at the home of J. Michael Heider and Tom Carr thatraised over $30,000 for the organization, some of which will be matchedunder the terms of grant made by the John C. Graves Foundation. The eventwas attended by about 150 people. Apart from hearing from Nadine Smith, theorganization's executive director, the gathering had the opportunity ofseeing a video that has been produced by the organization showing what theorganization does.

One of the speakers in the video was a mother of five, one of whom was gay.She talked about how "devastating and hurtful to me as a parent to see myson denied rights." Another person interviewed commented about how there are4,000 children in foster homes in the state of Florida while there are gaysand lesbians prepared to adopt them and offer them long-term homes.



=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15812930.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


CAMPAIGN 2006 | MIAMIHERALD.COM: FULL STORY ONLINE
Crist, Davis quizzed on felon law

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
meklas@MiamiHerald.com


The ACLU challenged Charlie Crist and Jim Davis on Friday, asking themwhether, if elected governor, they would sign an executive order ending theban that keeps felons from automatically receiving their civil rights afterleaving prison.

Both have said the 136-year-old ban should end.

''A change in the rules of executive clemency can be accomplished on thefirst day of your new administration,'' wrote Howard Simon, executivedirector of the Miami-based chapter of the ACLU, in a letter to thecandidates.

Democrat Davis' answer: ''Emphatic yes,'' said spokesman Josh Earnest. ``Hewill change the rules at the first meeting of the Clemency Board. He will dowhatever it takes. He views this as a priority and something that should bedone quickly.''

Republican Crist's answer: ``We're reviewing the letter.''



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/oped1.html


Publisher's Letter: Crist or Davis?

By Paul Harris


The choice for Governor of the state of Florida is nothing to write homeabout. We have a Republican, Charlie Crist who may or may not be bisexual,who seems to change his mind with the breeze. (No, I am NOT suggesting thatall bisexuals change their minds with the breeze!) Earlier this year hesigned a petition for a constitutional amendment calling for the prohibitionof gay marriage, and possibly, depending upon legal interpretation, theoutlawing of domestic partner benefits to be placed inside the state'sconstitution.

He signed this as Attorney General even though he knew full well that thereis already a law on the statute book opposing gay marriage. On otheroccasions he has allegedly said he has nothing against civil unions.

But who knows what he really believes. He also boasts about his achievementsrunning the state's education system even though by almost any measurementout there we rank almost at the bottom in terms of the percentagegraduating, and also in the way that we reward our teachers. All he seems tohave going for him given that he does not seem to be overly attached toprinciples, is a pragmatic nature and a successful manner on the screenmaking one feel that if he lost in November he could always find a lucrativecareer in television.



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/ae3.html


Strike Up The Band!

By Paul Harris
PHarris@ourindy.com


The Flamingo Freedom Band is 20 years old they will be celebrating theiranniversary by hosting a fall concert at the Broward Center's AmaturoTheatre on Sunday, November 5 at 7:30pm. They will be performing withspecial guests The Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus, The RoughRiders ofSouth Florida, and The South Florida Lambda Chorale. The program includesmusical selections from "West Side Story," "Candide," and "Les Miserables."In addition they will be playing the music of Aaron Copland and GeorgeGershwin.

Amongst the items being performed is Gershwin's famous "Rhapsody in Blue"performed on the piano by local favorite Roger Rundle. The Independent gotto speak with Rundle about the work. What is the attraction of the piece forhim as a musician, we asked? "I first played Rhapsody in Blue as a17-year-old with my High School Orchestra in Clay Center, Kansas, a rathersmall farming community. We had an LP made of the performance which servesto keep me humble! I attempted to play everything entirely too fast. Nomatter how many times I play this piece it remains new, as an experience ofdiscovering fresh emotions. It represents for me the most 'American' piecein my repertoire and I experience my roots every time I play it."



=

The Independent Gay News
http://www.indynews.4t.com/


http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/palmbeach1.html


Candidate Endorsements Cause Rift Between Gay Groups in Palm Beach County

By Donald Cavanaugh
Palm Beach County Editor
dcavanaugh@OurIndy.com


Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (the Council) and Equality Floridaare seeking a way to resolve a situation that has caused confusion amongPalm Beach County candidates and gay voters.

The Council has issued endorsements at election time for many years.Candidates are invited to meet with the Council and share their views onissues of concern to the LGBT community in the county. "We know what we'redoing," says Rand Hoch, founder and board member of the Council. "We knowthe incumbents and their records and we know who will and won't work with uson our issues."

Equality Florida, on the other hand, has been issuing a "voters guide" since2003. The guide is created based on candidates responses to questionnairesmailed to them by Equality Florida.



=

http://www.indynews.4t.com/0321/local1.html

Charlie Crist Gay?

The Independent Breaks Stunning Allegations Made by Max Linn

By Michael James
MJames@OurIndy.com

In an interview with The Independent on Tuesday, October 10, third partygubernatorial candidate and self-made millionaire Max Linn made the boldstatement, "Charlie Crist is gay." His statement adds yet more fuel to thefire that rages against the Republican Party that has been plagued withcontroversy and scandal in recent weeks.

Linn said he has known Crist for over twenty years and says, "Charlie is anice guy. But he is gay." He made the revelation just before TheIndependent/GLCC Candidate's Forum that took place at the Gay and LesbianCommunity Center in Fort Lauderdale.

In a call to Crist's office early Wednesday morning, October 11, his DeputyPress Secretary Erin Isaac simply stated, "He is not gay." She made nofurther statement regarding the issue.




#####

Friday, October 20, 2006

GLBT DIGEST - October 20, 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.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killing gays is OK, says Muslim Imam
Manchester Imam defends execution of gay people

Manchester, England - 20 October 2006

Manchester's leading Imam has confirmed that he thinks the executionof sexually active gay men is justified. Mr. Arshad Misbahi, who isbased at the Manchester Central Mosque, confirmed his views in aconversation to Dr John Casson, a local psychotherapist.

Dr Casson said: "I asked him if the execution of gay Muslims in Iranand Iraq was an acceptable punishment in Sharia law, or the result ofculture, not religion. He told me that in a true Islamic state, suchpunishments were part of Islam: if the person had had a trial, atwhich four witnesses testified that they had seen the actualhomosexual acts."

"I asked him what would be the British Muslim view? He repeated thatin an Islamic state these punishments were justified. They mightresult in the deaths of thousands but if this deterred millions fromhaving sex, and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protectthe wider community."



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Pope urges Italians to oppose "deviant" love

By Philip Pullella

Reuters

October 19, 2006

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1551482006&format=print

VERONA, Italy (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Thursday urged Italian Catholics to defend the traditional family and in an apparent reference to gaymarriage, said they should oppose any moves to legalise "weak and deviant"
unions.

The Pope made his comments in a long, wide-ranging speech to a nationalconvention of Italy's politically powerful Roman Catholic Church in thenorthern Italian city of Verona, famous as the setting for Shakespeare's"Romeo and Juliet".

While he did not specifically mention gay marriage, thousands of listenersat the fairgrounds in Verona's outskirts strongly applauded the two parts ofhis speech about the family and "other forms of unions".

He urged them to fight "with determination ... the risk of political andlegislative decisions that contradict fundamental values and anthropologicaland ethical principles rooted in human nature".



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Ohio Republican Governor Candidate raises
the specter of NAMBLA in televised debate



Candidate raises the
specter of NAMBLA in televised debate

by Eric Resnick

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories06/october/1020061.htm

October 20, 2006

Columbus--In what is being viewed as a desperate move from someone trailingby double digits in the polls, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwellaccused his Democratic opponent Ted Strickland of being supported by theNorth American Man-Boy Love Association.

Blackwell threw the bomb on October 16 at the fourth candidate debatebetween the men, at WBNS Channel 10 in Columbus.

NAMBLA is a mostly defunct organization that tried to legalize sex betweenmen and boys in the 1970s. It is denounced by every LGBT advocacy group, andis no longer incorporated.

Since 1995, its only presence has been a barely maintained website and a boxat a private San Francisco mail service. The organization no longer hasmeetings. Its founders and membership base are mostly deceased.



=

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6066606.stm

Curators say a Norwegian exhibition on homosexuality among animals has beenwell received, despite initial indications of strong opposition.

The Oslo Natural History Museum opened the show last week and says it hasbeen well attended, not least by families.

Organisers reported early criticism of the project, and being told by oneopponent they would "burn in hell".

But there has been strong interest in an aspect of animal behaviour themuseum says is quite common.

It says homosexuality has been observed among 1,500 species, and that in 500of those it is well documented.

The exhibition - entitled Against Nature? - includes photographs of one malegiraffe mounting another, of apes stimulating others of the same sex, andtwo aroused male right whales rubbing against each other.




=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Same-Sex Marriage in New Jersey May Soon Be Legal

By Gena Hymowech

October 19, 2006

http://www.247gay.com/article.cfm?section=66&id=11157

The [New Jersey] Supreme Court is expected to rule in favor of same- sexmarriage in New Jersey by October 25.

"Several legal scholars and political insiders expect the court-known to beamong the more activist in the country on social issues and individualrights-to find that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry inthe state," writes Katherine Hamilton in the Daily Princetonian.

Furthermore, she quotes Tom Bohnett, president of the Princeton JusticeProject, as noting that "The New Jersey State Supreme has a history oftaking risks in line with what they understand to be in the stateconstitution, and so one could very plausibly imagine that the case would bedecided in favor of the seven gay and lesbian couples seeking to marry."


=



The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901114_pf.html

'Anatomy' Star T.R. Knight Says He's Gay

The Associated Press
Thursday, October 19, 2006; 8:06 PM



NEW YORK -- "Grey's Anatomy" star T.R. Knight says he's gay, but hopespeople don't consider that "the most interesting part of me." The33-year-old actor addressed rumors of his sexuality in a statement to Peoplemagazine Thursday.

"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like toquiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there," Knight's statementread. "While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact thatI'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

Knight plays Dr. George O'Malley on the popular ABC drama. A former stageactor, his television credits also include "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."


=

Salon

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/10/20/outing/index_np.html


The glass closet

As Foleygate shows, Washington has a unique definition of what it means tobe "openly gay." Should the media keep playing along?
By Alex Koppelman

Oct. 20, 2006 | In 2003, the Washington Blade was preparing a story on thesexual orientation of Florida congressman Mark Foley. By then, Foley'shomosexuality was an open secret -- he had been outed by journalist KurtWolfe on a New York radio show in 1996.

What was not widely known was that Kirk Fordham, Foley's then-chief ofstaff, was also gay. The Blade knew it, however, and so editor Chris Crainasked Fordham how, and whether, he wanted his sexual orientation identifiedin the paper. Fordham's response was that he was "out in the community butnot in the press," and so the Blade refrained, for a time, from printinganything about Fordham's life as an openly gay man.

This situation is one now faced on a regular basis by reporters and editorsin Washington, forcing them to ask questions about how and when they shouldreport on sexual orientation. In an era in which the closet is no longerwhat it once was, when supposedly closeted individuals may be out to nearlyeveryone in their life, is it the media's responsibility to help publicfigures hide the truth from voters? And in the wake of the Foley scandal,does the press need to reevaluate how it deals with the issue?



=

The Miami Herald
October 20, 2006

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/15802460.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Surrender your identity at gate to GOP's big tent

By Leonard Pitts Jr.
LPitts@MiamiHerald.com

I guess the tent wasn't big enough after all.

Meaning the ''big tent'' strategy dreamy-eyed Republicans have been toutingsince the 1990s. Theirs was, they said, a party big enough to encompasspeople from all walks of life. Now we learn they meant all walks except thegay walk.

If this wasn't clear before (and it was), it sure is now, in the wake ofrevelations that Mark Foley, former congressman from Florida, wasnot-so-secretly gay and not-so-secretly sending explicit e-mails to teenagepages. For at least some in the GOP, the former seems the greater sin.Indeed, the party has responded to news of gays in its midst with anuncoordinated clunkiness fascinating to those of us who have grown used to aGOP machine that hums along like a new car.



=

http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/10/polands_antigay.html

Posted by Doug Ireland
October 19, 2006

POLAND'S ANTI-GAY PRIME MINISTER OUTED
as the government continues to spew homo-hate

I wrote the following article for Gay City News, New York City's largestgay weekly, which published it today:

Poland's homophobic Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski-the identical twinbrother of Polish President Lech Kaczynski-was outed as a homosexual inmajor Polish media last week in the midst of a political crisis thatthreatened to cause his government's downfall.

Poland's second-most important newspaper, Rzeczpolita, published documents- some only recently declassified, and some that were leaked-from the files ofthe Polish Secret Service that discussed Prime Minister Kaczynski'shomosexuality.

As part of an investigation, begun in 1992, of right-wingpolitical parties that, the documents said, "could threaten democracy," aSecret Service department then headed by Colonel Jan Lesiak reported, "It isadvisable to establish if Jaroslaw Kaczynski remains in a long-termhomosexual relationship and, if so, who his partner is." (Photo above right:the Kaczynski Twins, Prime Minister Jaroslaw on the right)

Jaroslaw Kaczynski was appointed prime minister in July 2006 by his brother,the president. Both Kaczynski brothers, known as the "Terrible Twins," arenotorious for their public homophobia, and Jaroslaw has proposed banninggays from teaching in the schools.




=

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901931_pf.html

The Washington Post

Hill Republicans Air Out the Closet
Foley Scandal Points Up Acceptance And Anxieties of Gay Staffers

By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006; C01



In October 1993, after the ban on gays in the military was replaced with a"don't ask, don't tell" policy, three Oklahoma congressmen said theywouldn't hire an openly gay person onto their staffs. Then-Rep. Jim Inhofe(R) told the Tulsa World: "I would not appoint a gay person in that type ofleadership position."

That declaration sent a ripple of fear across a certain set on Capitol Hill.A small, bipartisan group of staffers huddled and formed the Lesbian and GayCongressional Staff Association, which now has a confidential e-mail list ofmore than 200. And a frustrated aide contacted the Tulsa World and gave ananonymous interview.



=

Netherlands: Asylum Rights Granted to Lesbian and Gay Iranians

(New York, October 20, 2006) In a major policy shift, the Dutch government's recognition that lesbian and gay Iranians are a "special group" facing persecution at home and deserving protection in the Netherlands sets an example for other European states of their legal responsibility not to return people to the risk of torture, ill-treatment or execution, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch, which worked closely with the Dutch lesbian and gay organization COC on the issue, applauded this change in policy by the Dutch government.

"The Dutch government has affirmed its international legal obligations in asserting that it will not send gay and lesbian Iranian asylum seekers to a country where they face the risk of torture or execution," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "The priority now is to ensure that this policy is implemented fully and fairly, and that no one in the Netherlands is sent back to face torture."



=

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061013&Category=NEWS08&ArtNo=610130344&SectionCat=&Template=printart


More admit same-sex relations
Survey: Number of gays reporting ties on rise in Ohio, Mich.

By KARAMAGI RUJUMBA
BLADE STAFF WRITER


Not only are Ohioans increasingly identifying their same-sex relationshipstatus, but so are gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples in the Midwest andother parts of the country, according to a study by the Williams Instituteon Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of Californiaat Los Angeles' school of law.

The study says Ohio had a 62 percent growth in the number of people who saidthey were in same-sex relationships between 2000 and 2005, from 18,937couples in the 2000 census to 30,669 couples in last year's AmericanCommunity Survey. Michigan had a 48 percent increase from 15,368 in 2000 to22,701 in 2005.



=

http://www.local10.com/news/10110212/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_9am&tmi=mia_9am_1_08000210192006&ts=H


Child Porn Sting Nets Bible Camp, Boy Scout Leaders

Videos Show Infants Engaged In Sex Acts
POSTED: 7:49 am EDT October 19, 2006


NEWARK, N.J. -- A Bible camp counselor and a Boy Scout leader were among 125people arrested nationwide in an Internet child pornography case in whichsubscribers purchased photos and videos of children engaged in sex acts withadults, federal authorities said Wednesday.

The case originated in New Jersey, but quickly spread to 22 states. Thedefendants were charged with either possession or receipt of childpornography. Additional arrests were expected.

Prosecutors said the Web site alerted subscribers that its content wasillegal and urged them to be discreet about their purchases.




#####

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 20, 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://insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2006/10/20/marriage

Inside Higher Education

Want to Get Ahead? Get Hitched
A year ago, a graduate student in economics at Cornell University released astudy showing that men who are married are more likely to finish doctoralprograms than are single men. When Inside Higher Ed wrote about the study,the graduate student, Joseph Price, received numerous questions from readerswanting to know just how far the marriage advantage took men in academe, and where it applied to women as well.

Price went back to his data and now is out with a new study. This one showsthat married men do better than single men in academe not only in finishingtheir Ph.D.'s, but in publishing and landing a first tenure-track job.

Married women have some advantages over their single counterparts, but notas many as married men do. And students with domestic partners are somewhere in the middle.


=


The Guardian - UK


http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329604507-103681,00.html

Published on Thursday, October 19, 2006 by the Guardian/UK

Bush Issues Doctrine for US Control of Space
by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington

George Bush has staked out a bold claim to the final frontier,asserting vigorously America's right to deny access to space to anyadversary hostile to US interests, it emerged yesterday.

In a muscular overhaul of policy, the US president outlines theimportance of space to the national interest, saying its domination is ascrucial to America's defences as air or sea power.

The order also opposes the establishment of arms control treaties thatwould restrict US access to space, or set limits on its use of space. Itcalls for the development of space capabilities to support US intelligenceand defence initiatives.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/world/europe/20germany.html?pagewanted=print

October 20, 2006

Seeking Quality, German Universities Scrap Equality
By MARK LANDLER


KARLSRUHE, Germany, Oct. 18 - At the university in this humdrum German town,there are no decorous strands of ivy on the 1960's buildings, nor is therethe kind of scholarly patina that blankets Heidelberg, the older, morecelebrated university just up the road.

Yet last week, when a German government committee anointed threeinstitutions as elite universities - a sort of Teutonic Ivy League -Karlsruhe made the cut while Heidelberg did not. The other winners were theUniversity of Munich and the Technical University, also in Munich.

The much anticipated decision, which entitles the schools to more than $100million each over the next five years, sent spirits soaring at Karlsruhe andswooning at Heidelberg. It also set off a national discussion about thenature of excellence, the necessity of focusing on science and technologyand the wisdom of culling the great from the merely good.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/washington/20miers.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1161342495-7cA0FEe9sPPeZcToq5SmFQ&pagewanted=print

October 20, 2006

Ruling Is Due for Justice Who Lobbied for Bush Pick
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

HOUSTON, Oct. 18 - A year after the Bush administration enlisted a TexasSupreme Court justice in its unsuccessful bid to put Harriet E. Miers on theUnited States Supreme Court, a special state court is to announce Fridaywhether the judge was guilty of "willful and persistent" violations ofjudicial ethics for his role in that effort.

The justice, Nathan L. Hecht, 57, the longest-serving member of the Texashigh court and a friend of Ms. Miers for 30 years, testified before theState Commission on Judicial Conduct that he had given about 120 interviewsto reporters in which he promoted her nomination.

Justice Hecht, a Republican who is running for re-election, also said he hadreported back to the White House on questions he was asked about Ms. Miers,President Bush's longtime counsel.




=

The Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901659_pf.html

Skilling's Last Stand

Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006; D01

Carrie Johnson former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling standsto face a judge and a possible decades-long prison sentence Monday, he willbe -- as usual -- alone.

The death of company founder Kenneth L. Lay weeks after a jury convictedboth men of fraud and conspiracy charges for misleading investors aboutEnron's financial health means that Skilling, 52, is the last personstanding from the energy company's top ranks. It is a familiar position fora man painted by the government as both unusually self-reliant andoccasionally self-destructive.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/us/politics/20conserve.html?ei=5094&en=f75af82c63e1ce7e&hp=&ex=1161403200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print


October 20, 2006

Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - Tax-cutters are calling evangelicals bullies.Christian conservatives say Republicans in Congress have let them down.Hawks say President Bush is bungling the war in Iraq. And many conservativesblame Representative Mark Foley's sexual messages to teenage pages.

With polls showing Republican control of Congress in jeopardy, conservativeleaders are pointing fingers at one other in an increasingly testy circle ofblame for potential Republican losses this fall.

"It is one of those rare defeats that will have many fathers," said DavidKeene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, expressing the gloomyview of many conservatives about the outcome on Election Day. "And they willall be somebody else."



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-White-House-Logs.html?pagewanted=print


October 20, 2006

Judge Orders Cheney Visitor Logs Opened
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:25 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President Dick Cheney's officeand personal residence, an order that could spark a late election-seasondebate over lobbyists' White House access.

While researching the access lobbyists and others had on the White House,The Washington Post asked in June for two years of White House visitor logs.The Secret Service refused to process the request, which governmentattorneys called ''a fishing expedition into the most sensitive details ofthe vice presidency.''




=

The Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901174_pf.html

Folier Than Thou

By Michael Kinsley
Friday, October 20, 2006; A21

Here in Washington, we're all competing to see who can be more po-facedabout Mark Foley and the congressional pages. Who can deplore Foley'sbehavior the most?

Democrats, sensing a deeply wounded Republican Party, are going in for thekill. It's the final evidence that the GOP is terminally corrupt: Acongressman was cyber-molesting teenage boys and his party leaders evidentlydidn't even care.

Republicans answer: Hey, we invented child molesting! As an issue, that is.We own family values, and we're not about to let the party of MonicaLewinsky and Heather Has Two Mommies outflank us on the sexual moralityfront.




=

The New York Times

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/opinion/20krugman.html?pagewanted=print

October 20, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist

Incentives for the Dead
By PAUL KRUGMAN

I don't know about you, but I need a break from political scandals. So let'stalk about private-sector scandals instead - specifically, the growingscandal involving backdated stock options, which this week led to theresignation of William McGuire, the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group.

To understand the issue, we need to go back to the original ideologicaljustification for giant executive paychecks.

In the 1960's and 1970's, C.E.O.'s of the largest firms were paid, onaverage, about 40 times as much as the average worker. But executives wantedmore - and professors at business schools provided a theory that justifiedmuch higher pay.

They argued that a chief executive who expects to receive the same salary ifhis company is highly profitable that he will receive if it just muddlesalong won't be willing to take risks and make hard decisions. "CorporateAmerica," declared an influential 1990 article by Michael Jensen of theHarvard Business School and Kevin Murphy of the University of Southern California, "pays its most important leaders like bureaucrats. Is it anywonder then that so many C.E.O.'s act like bureaucrats?"



=

The New York Times

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/opinion/20friedman.html?pagewanted=print

October 20, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist

Make History, Arnold!
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Governors don't often get a chance to make big-time history, but Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger of California has that opportunity now - if he's ready to getoff the fence. With one move, Governor Schwarzenegger could make CaliforniaAmerica's hub for developing "green" clean-power technologies - which aregoing to be the growth industry of the 21st century - and do something thatPresident Bush has only paid lip service to: really help to end America'soil addiction.

Do it, Arnold. C'mon, just do it.

Here's the basic story: This Nov. 7, Californians will be asked to vote yesor no on Proposition 87, a ballot initiative that would impose a higherextraction fee on oil pumped in California. (Up to now, oil companies inCalifornia have paid a very low extraction fee compared with those in otherstates - a rip-off they want to keep.)




=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/business/20nyse.html?ei=5094&en=a6f93d391af0c6f5&hp=&ex=1161403200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

October 20, 2006

Ex-Stock Exchange Chief Told to Return Millions
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.

A New York judge ruled yesterday that Richard A. Grasso, a former chairmanof the New York Stock Exchange, would have to return as much as $100 millionhe received as part of a fiercely contested $139.5 million payout.

The judge, Justice Charles E. Ramos of State Supreme Court in Manhattan,said that Mr. Grasso did not disclose to his fellow directors on the boardof the exchange the extent to which his soaring compensation had caused hispension and savings to balloon in size and that he violated his contract bywithdrawing $87 million before his retirement. Interest and money from aseparate retirement account would raise the total.

The ruling was not the judge's final word on the dispute - he did notdirectly address the central claim in the lawsuit brought by Eliot Spitzer,the New York attorney general, that Mr. Grasso's compensation was unreasonable under the state's not-for-profit law.


=

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901274_pf.html

Material Mom

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, October 20, 2006; A21

It would be easy to ridicule Madonna for her "I'll take that one over there"adoption of a baby from an orphanage in Malawi. But it would be wrong.

No, really, it would be wrong.

Granted, the Material Girl makes it hard to take her side. For those whohaven't been following the story, Madonna has ostentatiously joined the rushof Beautiful People to the villages and shantytowns of Africa, where thereis a wealth of poverty and suffering to bemoan. She picked Malawi, a small,impoverished, AIDS-stricken nation in southern Africa and has pledged todonate $3 million for programs to help poor children.

While visiting Malawi last week, Madonna and her husband, British filmdirector Guy Ritchie, adopted a baby boy. The 13-month-old child, DavidBanda, was living in an orphanage but is not in fact an orphan -- his motherdied, and his father, Yohane Banda, felt he was too poor to take care ofhim.




=

The Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901572_pf.html

VP Bill? Depends on Meaning of 'Elected'

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006; A19



The prospective presidential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton has givenrise to plenty of speculation about the notion of Bill Clinton as thenation's first gentleman. But what about another role? How about, say, vicepresident?

Politically, of course, the idea is a non-starter for all sorts of reasons.But that doesn't stop the parlor games, especially on the Internet. Theissue came up last week during a chat on washingtonpost.com: What if Hillarypicked Bill as her running mate? A Post reporter rashly dismissed the ideaas unconstitutional. But that only proved the dangers of uneditedjournalism. The answer, it turns out, is not so simple.



=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15802912.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

How Bush might save face on Iraq

BY PETER S. CANELLOS
canellos@globe.com

The courtly former Secretary of State James A. Baker III has always beenless of a policymaker than a strategist -- an advisor to those in powerabout how to pursue their aims.

He has often played that role with the Bush family, with varying degrees ofcomfort. He was George H.W. Bush's tennis partner and political muse datingto the 1960s. But in 1992, after Bush called Baker out of the StateDepartment to oversee his faltering reelection campaign, the liberal writerSidney Blumenthal detected a ''mutual suspicion'' behind the friendship.

'Every morning Jim Baker looks in the mirror and says: `You'rebetter-looking than George Bush. You're smarter. Why aren't you president?''' said a GOP consultant quoted by Blumenthal.




=


The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/washington/20health.html?ex=1162008000&en=4c5210ab0e16cec1&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERFEATURES

October 20, 2006

Confident Democrats Draft Broad Health Care Agenda
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - Expecting to gain seats in Congress, Democrats aredrafting an ambitious health care agenda to carry out their campaignpromises with legislation to lower drug costs for older Americans, providemore money for children's health insurance and expand research usingembryonic stem cells.

Many Democrats in the House and the Senate say they want federal officialsto negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower pricesfor Medicare beneficiaries. The 2003 Medicare law explicitly prohibits suchnegotiations.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, saidthat if Democrats were in control, they would try to repeal that ban in thefirst 100 hours after the House convenes.



=

http://www.alternet.org/rights/43085/


Pentagon Monitoring Peace Activists' E-Mails
By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive

Posted on October 19, 2006, Printed on October 19, 2006


More information keeps coming out, thanks to the ACLU, about the BushAdministration's equation of protest with terrorism -- and the snooping itthen engages in.

Homeland Security is monitoring peace groups and even peering at theire-mails. "This information is being provided only to alert commanders andstaff to potential terrorist activity or apprise them of other force protection issues."

It then shares that information with Joint Terrorism Task Forces, whichinclude the FBI and state and local law enforcement, as well as with thePentagon's notorious Talon (Threat and Local Observation Notice) program.




=

http://www.local10.com/technology/10111398/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_digs&tmi=mia_digs_1_02150210192006&ts=H


Microsoft Releases Web Browser Update
POSTED: 10:30 am EDT October 19, 2006


REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft is upgrading its Web browser software.

The software giant hasn't done that in years and some observers believe theupdate comes amid signs that Internet Explorer's market share is eroding.

Released late Wednesday, the upgraded browser will compete with productssuch as Opera Software ASA's Opera and Mozilla Firefox.

Internet Explorer 7.0, or IE7, adds features such as tabbed browsing, whichlets people open several Web pages without cluttering their desktop withmultiple open browser windows.

A lag of more than five years between official releases has cost the companymarket share. One Web analysis firm estimates IE's share is about 86percent, down from 93 percent two years ago.




=

http://www.military.com/Content/Printer_Friendly_Version/1,11491,,00.html?passfile=&page_url=%2Ffeatures%2F0%2C15240%2C116550%2C00%2Ehtml&passdirectory_file=%2Fnewsfiles%2F116550%2Ehtm


Fearing Cuts, Army Pushes for More Money

InsideDefense.com NewsStand | Jason Sherman | October 12, 2006


Army weapon system acquisition accounts may be raided to finance a $2billion shortfall in other critical accounts in 2007, with money needed forsoldiers' paychecks, retention bonuses, health care services and otherballooning personnel costs, according to service officials.

Army leaders are hoping to limit such fiscal management practices in thefuture -- which officials say breeds instability that ultimately hurts thereadiness of the force and results in short-term contracts that erode theArmy's spending power -- with a significant boost from the White House toincrease the size of its fiscal year 2008 budget.

An FY-07 cut to the modernization accounts would be the second consecutiveyear the Army has siphoned substantial sums from procurement coffers to paypersonnel costs that were not properly priced in its budget submission;service officials began FY-06 by raiding acquisition accounts to pay $1.2billion in fixed personnel costs.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003311951_virginiamason19m.html


Life-or-death question, but debate was hidden for years

By Steve Miletich, Ken Armstrong and Justin Mayo
Seattle Times staff reporters

Five years ago in King County, an important and novel question loomed over awrongful-death lawsuit against Virginia Mason Medical Center:

If you're almost certain to inherit a deadly cancer but can cheat fate byhaving a healthy organ removed now, are doctors required to alert you to thelife-saving surgery?

In the Virginia Mason case, the family of a Bainbridge Island woman,described as a "walking time bomb" for cancer, argued that the answer isyes.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/18/85915/109

For full article go to link, above.

Blackwell Purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st-Vote Early

By KStreetProjector

Daily Kos

www.dailykos.com

Oct 18, 2006

A friend, in a position to be present at lunches of GOP insiders here in DCcalled me on Thursday, they know of my ongoing efforts to make hackablevoting end.

My friend was present as a group of Moderate GOP members with Ohio tieslamented how far the party had strayed. There was consensus at the tablethere was no way they should retain control. The table conversation beganwith the assumption they party would lose control in this election. Themoderates started planning how to take back control of the GOP from theextremists.

Then, one insider, probably an extremist, but certainly very close to Mr.Ken Mehlman abruptly stopped the conversation. He told table that it wasimpossible they would lose either house. He also predicts an Ohio GOP sweep.



=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com


http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2006-10-18-end-of-life-costs_x.htm


Debate surrounds end-of-life health care costs
By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
Updated 10/19/2006 3:55 AM ET

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY

If you are dying in Miami, the last six months of your life might well looklike this: You'll see doctors, mostly specialists, 46 times; spend more thansix days in an intensive care unit and stand a 27% chance of dying in ahospital ICU. The tab for your doctor and hospital care will run just over$23,000.

But spend those last six months in Portland, Ore., and you'll go to thedoctor 18 times, half of those visits with your primary care doctor, spendone day in intensive care and stand a 13% chance of dying in an ICU. You'lllikely die at home, with the support of a hospice program. Total tab: slightly more than $14,000.




=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/editorial/stories/10/19/19farmer_edit.html9httpFarmer

Evangelicals' faith in White House misplaced

John Farmer,

NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICEThursday,

October 19, 2006

'Never give a sucker an even break," W.C. Fields, the comical con man ofsomany old films, was famous for saying. He'd be right at home in theBushWhite House.For we now have it on fairly good authority that the Bush team, led byKarlRove, exploited the gullibility of Christian evangelicals tofurtherRepublican political ambitions while privately scorning them as"nuts" or"ridiculous" or "boorish" or worse.They mocked and laughed at their Christian shock troops, which is shabbilycynical but understandable.It must be hard for experienced con artists tofeel anything but contemptfor the suckers, or the marks as they're known onthe street. Indeed, evenonlookers feel little sympathy for marks, many ofwhom, maybe most, getscammed because they're promised something theyshouldn't ha ve in the firstplace.


=

Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News

dailyqueernews@yahoo.comhttp://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610190347

Mass. elementary school bans tag

October 19, 2006

The Associated PressATTLEBORO, Mass. -

Tag, you're out!

Officials at the Willett Elementary School in Attleboro have bannedplayground tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chasing games overconcerns about the risk of injury and liability for the school."It's a time when accidents can happen," Principal Gaylene Heppe said.Heppe included the new rule as part of a standardized set of playgroundrules.While no district-wide policies banning contact sports at recess appear tohave been put in place locally, many principals are making up new rules inan atmosphere reflecting society's increasingly cautious and litigiousnature.


=

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003311889&slug=gays19&date=20061019

Immigrant groups fear dual-citizenship reviewPETTI FONG

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

VANCOUVER - A number of Canadian immigrant groups say fear is building in their communities over whether a federal review of dual citizenship willlead to people having to choose which passport to keep.They say Canadians with dual citizenship will face excruciating personaldecisions if the government revokes the practice."I think the majority of the members of our community are very concerned,"said Svetlana Litvin, a leader with the Russian-speaking community inMontreal.Some of these members are business owners who travel back and forth fromCanada to Russia and neighbouring countries, said Ms. Litvin, director ofprojects for the Russian-speaking community reference centre in Montreal.The organization represents about 55,000 Quebeckers originally from 15former Soviet bloc countries.


=

The MiamiHerald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15790754.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Republicans uncover campaign playbook of Senate DemocratsRYAN J. FOLEYAssociated PressMADISON, Wis. - Republicans obtained a copy of strategic campaign plans forSenate Democrats four months ago and released them Wednesday as they accusedtheir rivals of illegal campaigning.Republicans said a Capitol aide discovered the State SenateDemocraticCommittee's playbook on a copy machine in the Capitol in June.

But Democratssaid the documents were apparently stolen from a state Sen.'spersonalbelongings.One of the documents was a memo marked confidential dated May 23 andprepared by SSDC director Matt Swentkofske. It outlines strategy for thecampaign in which Democrats are trying to pick up three seats to win backcontrol of the Senate, currently controlled 19-14 by Republicans.


#####