**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
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=
The New York Times
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=808
December 8, 2006, 5:58 pm
Foley Report Finds No Violations
By Kate Phillips
Well, we've read the full Foley folio now, meaning the ethics committee'sreport on the scandal that rocked the House of Representatives in the falland surely caused slippage among some Republican incumbents who lost theirseats in the midterm elections.
The chronology of how former Congressman Mark Foley befriended and wasconsidered by some to be too friendly to the young House pages dates all theway back to 1995, the report seems to suggest.
But the ethics panel found no House member or employee violated thecongressional code of conduct. (Becauses he had resigned, Mr. Foley was notunder the committee's jurisdication. And because of separate criminalinvestigations, he did not testify before the panel.) It said it found noevidence that any House member knew of the extremely explicit instantmessages that Mr. Foley sent to mostly former pages.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=16695&pf=1
Police say gay serial killer confesses to 23 murders
Associated Press
Wednesday Dec 6, 2006
Short, overweight and suffering from a heart condition, Ronald J. Dominiquehardly seemed a threat to anyone, much less a serial killer.
A near-broke nobody who lived with his sister before moving into a homelessshelter, he went willingly, leaning heavily on a cane, when officers came toget him last week.
Even with a meek persona, investigators said, Dominique bound and strangledor smothered 23 men and teenage boys in south Louisiana in what the FBIconsidered its most urgent serial killing case.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.familypride.org/statement.html
Statement from Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of Family Pride,regarding the announcement of Mary Cheney's pregnancy:
"The front page of the Washington Post's website announced today that MaryCheney, Vice-President Dick Cheney's gay daughter, is pregnant. Mary and herpartner of 15 years, Heather Poe, are described as "ecstatic" about thearrival of their first child, due in late spring.
"The news of Mary Cheney's pregnancy exemplifies, once again, how the bestinterests of children are denied when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendercitizens are treated unfairly and accorded different and unequal rights andresponsibilities than other parents. As Mary and Heather enter into thelife-changing roles of parents, they will quickly face the reality that nomatter how loved their child will be - by its mothers and its grandparents,aunts & uncles, cousins and close family friends - he or she will never havethe same protections that other children born to heterosexual couples enjoy.Mary and Heather currently live in Virginia. Unless they move to a handfulof less restrictive states, Heather will never be able to have a legalrelationship with her child.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=1377
Gay PACs see growth in recent elections
by Lisa Keen
[Editor's note: This article is the first of two examining the growth ofLGBT dollars in elections.]
There are two ways to vote for candidates in the United States: through theballot box and through the checkbook. In both, the LGBT community willalways be outnumbered by virtue of the small percentage of the populationthat can be identified as LGBT.
But even so, the gay political dollar is turning up more frequently in moreraces and more arenas than ever before and, this year, it helped improve thepolitical landscape for LGBT people both in Congress and at least two statelegislatures. It also contributed to the first failure of a proposed stateconstitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120800336_pf.html
The Instructive Message of 'History Boys'
By Philip Kennicott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 10, 2006; N01
We may live in a society that eroticizes teenagers, but the question of sexbetween adults and teens is so explosive that it refuses to remain just asubplot of any narrative it appears in. The e-mails and instant messagesthat then-Rep. Mark Foley sent to teenage male pages should have been a veryminor story, when compared with the daily carnage of Iraq or memories ofKatrina or debate about issues such as stem cell research, in the unfoldingof the last election. But the Foley debacle dominated the news coverage andmay have helped bring down the Republican majority.
So too the minor sexual contact between a teacher and his students -- mostof them 17 or 18 years old -- in Alan Bennett's play (and now movie) "TheHistory Boys" is really just a subplot, one thread among many in a play thatis primarily about education. But it's almost inevitable that this subplotwill predominate in the way audiences remember and react to the work. Giventhe climate of fear about adolescent sexuality, the "boys" loom larger thanthe "history" in the reception of Bennett's Tony-winning opus.
The movie arrives on the heels of the play's U.S. premiere on Broadway lastApril and its six Tony Awards in June. And even closer on the heels of theFoley scandal earlier this fall, which involved congressional pages of aboutthe same age as the boys depicted in Bennett's play. The scandal and theplay both focus attention on that fraught period of late adolescence, whenteenagers are sexually aware, often sexually active, but not yet fullyenfranchised members of society.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120800908_pf.html
Committee Says GOP Left Foley Unchecked
Ethics Panel Faults Many, Punishes None
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 9, 2006; A01
The House ethics committee concluded yesterday that House Speaker J. DennisHastert (R-Ill.) and his top staff probably knew for months, if not years,of then-Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate contact with former House pages butdid nothing to protect the teenagers.
Top GOP House leaders also "failed to exercise appropriate diligence" in thematter, the committee's report found, and tried "to remain willfullyignorant of the potential consequences of Foley's conduct." The ensuingscandal contributed to the Republicans' losses in the midterm elections. Thereport speculated that some officials were reluctant to act too aggressivelyfor fear of exposing Foley's homosexuality or for political reasons.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.newswithviews.com/Daubenmire/dave50.htm
DICK CHANEY SHOULD RESIGN
Coach Dave Daubenmire
December 8, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
Is it just me or has anyone else had it up to their ears with this"Christian Administration?" The latest in-your face to faithful Christiansis the news that Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife are expectinganother grandchild. Although we rejoice over all life, it is thecircumstances surrounding the pregnancy that has caused the back of my neckto turn red. You see, VP Cheney's pregnant-daughter is a lesbian, whichmeans she chooses to have sex with women. If my public school education iskicking in properly it seems to me that two women having sex cannot producea child. Only the introduction of sperm, something carried exclusively bymen, uniting with an egg, something carried exclusively by women, can bringabout a pregnancy. Pardon the pun, but there seems to be a fly in the turkeybaster.
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From Marc Adams
HeartStrong
http://heartstrong.org/mailman/listinfo/heartstronglist_heartstrong.org
Dear HeartStrong Friend,
As 2006 draws to a close, we trust that you will keep HeartStrong at thetop of your year end giving list.
Why? Here are ten reasons.
1. HeartStrong has provided outreach and support to gay. lesbian, bisexualand transgendered students from religious schools quietly and consistentlysince 1996.
2. Since 1998, our Outreach Team has driven 331,000 miles around theUnited States by car in efforts to provide outreach & support as well aseducate the public.
3. Since 1998, the Outreach Team has hosted a minimum of 150 educationalforums annually.
4. Religious school enrollment in the United States and around the worldis at an all time high with millions more students in these educationalinstitutions than when the work began in 1996. Our work is more relevantnow than it was when we began ten years ago.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://gaycitynews.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2729&dept_id=568857&newsid=17563590
12/07/2006
First South African Gay Couples Wed
By: ANDY HUMM
Same-sex couples began legally marrying on December 1 as Vernon Gibbs andTony Halls, partners for nine years and both game rangers, were the first todo so in a magistrate's office in the town of George.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=features&sc3=&id=3235&pf=1
Tracing Our Roots
by Scott Darby
EDGE News Contributor
Monday Nov 27, 2006
Pioneering gay historian Jonathan Ned Katz led a panel discussion at HarvardUniversity in November at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of hisgroundbreaking book Gay American History. Later, he spoke with EDGE abouthow he came to specialize in the fascinating subject and some of what he'slearned.
The Nov. 6 event that also featured a book-signing and reception drew a fullhouse. Its sponsors included two Boston GLBT organizations, The HistoryProject (www.historyproject.org) and Stonewall Communities(www.stonewallcommunities.com).
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9608
OPINION | washingtonblade.com
Holy irrelevance!
U.S. Catholic bishops are so out of touch with parishioners that they shouldbe ignored.
By PAUL VARNELL
Dec. 08, 2006
YOU COULD ALMOST feel sorry for U.S. Catholic Bishops. Periodically theygather, issue "tut-tutting" pronouncements and everyone ignores them. Youhave to wonder why they even bother.
Assembling in Baltimore last month, the bishops delivered themselves of anamusing piece of badinage titled "Ministry to Persons with a HomosexualInclination." There they claimed that although a person with a homosexualinclination is not disordered, the inclination is disordered, that suchpersons should not marry each other, adopt children or disclose theirinclination outside a trusted small group.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Eagle County To Offer Same-Sex Benefits
http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_342150812.html
Friday, December 8, 2006
(AP) EAGLE, Colo. Employees of Eagle County will be able to apply forinsurance benefits for same-sex partners next year.
"It had been requested, and the direction came from the county commissionersto do this," County Human Resources Director Nora Fryklund told the VailDaily in Friday's editions.
Same-sex couples who ask for benefits will be treated like heterosexualcouples in common-law marriages and will be interviewed to determine whetherthey qualify, Fryklund said.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061208.wxsamesex08/BNStory/National/home
Same-sex marriage file closed for good, PM says
Tory attempt to restore traditional definition fails in House; socialconservatives cry foul as Harper declares debate over
GLORIA GALLOWAY
From Friday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper has declared the contentiousissue of same-sex marriage to be permanently closed.
After a Conservative motion calling on the government to restore thetraditional definition of marriage was defeated yesterday by aresounding 175 to 123, Mr. Harper said he will not bring the matter backbefore Parliament.
"I don't see reopening this question in the future," he told reporterswho asked whether same-sex marriage would return to the table if theConservatives won a majority government.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Israeli bill reversing ruling passes, but still may fail
By Michael Foust
Southern Baptist Convention Baptist Press
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=24562
JERUSALEM (BP)--An Israeli bill that would reverse a pro-"gay marriage"ruling by that nation's highest court passed the legislature Dec. 6,although it still must pass twice more and apparently faces an uphill climb.
The legislation passed by a vote of 33-31, although several legislators whooppose the bill were absent and pledged to be there during the next vote,The Jerusalem Post reported. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voted against thebill, which would prevent the government from recognizing "gay marriages"from other countries, The Post said. It passed in mid-day during a time whenmany legislators leave for lunch.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Jay Kaplan <kaplan@aclumich.org> wrote:
Michigan Appeals Court Grants ACLU Victory in Gay Second Parent AdoptionCase
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 8, 2006
CONTACT: Jay Kaplan , ACLU of Michigan LGBT Staff Attorney: 313.578.6812
Detroit -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan applauded aMichigan Court of Appeals majority decision today to uphold second parentadoptions within same-sex relationships, a process that allows unmarriedcouples, including lesbian and gay couples, to establish a legalrelationship with the couples' children.
"This is an outstanding victory for Michigan children and a welcomeacknowledgment of hundreds of gay and lesbian parents," said Jay Kaplan ,ACLU of Michigan, LGBT Staff Attorney. "Gay and lesbian families inMichigan can now feel secure in the permanence of the adoptions and knowthat courts cannot separate parents from their children without legal justcause."
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Gay-Rights Legislation: Will the President Use His Veto?
By Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr.
http://www.diversityinc.com/public/983.cfm
Friday, December 8, 2006
Diversity and the Bottom Line
Seven states passed anti-same-sex marriage initiatives during the Novemberelection. There now are only four states-Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Yorkand New Mexico-that do not have either a state constitutional amendment or astate law that restricts marriage to one man and one woman.
That statistic may seem to support the assertion that an overwhelmingmajority of Americans reject civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender (GLBT) people. However, that assertion is far from accurate.
The newly elected Democratic majorities in the House of Representatives andthe Senate next year are expected to approve hate- crimes legislationagainst GLBT victims. Further, Congress may even pass employmentnondiscrimination legislation protecting GLBT employees.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/us/politics/09romney.html?ei=5094&en=1b882f9a7cae6ec8&hp=&ex=1165726800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - Gov. Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Republican who hasbuilt a presidential campaign on a broad appeal for conservative support, isdrawing sharply increased criticism from conservative activists for hisadvocacy of gay rights in a 1994 letter.
Mr. Romney's standing among conservatives is being hurt by a letter he sentto the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts saying that he would be a strongeradvocate for gay rights than Senator Edward M. Kennedy, his opponent in aSenate race, in a position that stands in contrast to his current role as achampion of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
"We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern," Mr.Romney wrote in a detailed plea for the support of the club, a gayRepublican organization.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Judge-Gay-Marriage.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Sen. Brownback May Lift Hold on Nominee
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:46 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a potential presidentialcandidate, said Friday he would lift his hold on a federal judicial nomineeif she agrees to step aside from any case dealing with same-sex unions.
Brownback, a Republican raising money for a possible White House bid, hasstalled the confirmation of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff tothe federal bench because she once attended a lesbian commitment ceremony.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.evolutionpublishing.com.au/sxnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1309&Itemid=41
Youth say no to gay rights
Almost half of the next generation do not believe gay people deserve thesame rights as heterosexuals, a global poll has revealed. A survey for theBBC World Service looked at the views of young people aged 15-17 in keycities on issues such as climate change, terrorism, and homosexuality.
In total 3,050 people were interviewed around the world in ten key citiesincluding London, New York, Rio, Delhi, Moscow, Cairo, Baghdad, Lagos,Nairobi and Jakarta.
In response to the question - Should homosexuals be given the same rights asheterosexuals? - 47 per cent said no, with 37 per cent supporting equalrights. In London, only 36 per cent of 313 young people asked backed rightsfor GLBT people while 39 per cent were against it. Rio had the highestamount of support, with 74 per cent saying yes, followed by New Yorkers with67 per cent, then Delhi with 51 per cent.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, December 09, 2006
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 09, 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/nationworld/ats-ap_top12dec08,0,869492.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines
Panel Blasts Hastert in Foley Scandal
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
December 8, 2006, 11:04 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers and aides failed for a decade to protectmale pages from sexual come-ons by former Rep. Mark Foley -- once describedas a "ticking time bomb" -- but they broke no rules and should not bepunished, the House ethics committee concluded Friday.
The committee harshly criticized Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., saying theevidence showed he was told of the problem months before he acknowledgedlearning of Foley's questionable e-mails to a former Louisiana page. Itrejected Hastert's contention that he couldn't recall separate warnings fromtwo House Republican leaders.
Hastert said he was pleased the committee found "there was no violation ofany House rules by any member or staff."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801535_pf.html
Annan Decries Failure To Halt Darfur Killings
Passivity of Most Governments Faulted
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 9, 2006; A14
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan scoldedgovernments Friday for failing to halt mass murder in Darfur, saying thatthe world has not learned the lessons of Rwanda and Srebrenica, wheregenocidal killings in the early 1990s defied the global ability to stop it.
"Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 yearsafter the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringinghollow," Annan said in his final speech on human rights as the U.N. leader.
Annan said the failure to protect civilians in the Sudanese region marked alow point in recent U.N. history. In a speech organized by Human RightsWatch in honor of International Human Rights Day, he faulted the "shamefulpassivity of most governments" in the face of a government-backed militarycampaign that has driven more than 2 million people from their homes andkilled hundreds of thousands.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/washington/09foley.html?ei=5094&en=0bac0ee6f36f5d66&hp=&ex=1165640400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Panel Finds Negligence in Foley Case
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - House Republican leaders did not break any rules inhandling the case of former Representative Mark Foley, but they werenegligent and in some instances "willfully ignorant" of his improperadvances toward male pages, the House ethics committee said today.
The panel said that collective failure to probe deeply "is not merely theexercise of poor judgment; it is a present danger to House pages and to theintegrity of the institution of the House."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/print/19573
On Building a Progressive Governing Coalition Around Net Neutrality
From MyDD, December 6, 2006
By Matt Stoller
Last year, we could throw wrenches into the works and call it a victory.This year, we're going to try to govern, and this means that we actuallyhave to accomplish stuff. And based on what I'm seeing on the net neutralityfront, the progressive movement has a lot of work to do. Take net neutralityfor instance.
One would think that net neutrality is a no-brainer for the Democraticcaucus, right? It's not a first 100 hours issue, but surely it'll get donesoon, at least within the next two years. That's what you would think if youread the blogs or the newspaper, or if you assumed that CongressionalDemocrats were savvy about politics and sought to protect the internet,which arguably propelled them into the majority. But that's not the realityof where we are in this fight.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/print/19574
How the 21st Century Robber Barons Operate
From Dana Blankenhorn Blog, December 6, 2006
By Dana Blankenhorn
The Bell monopoly is the most destructive economic roadblock of our time.
It has caused the United States to fall behind the rest of the world inbroadband.
And now these same monopolists are threatening to make things worse byfavoring specific Web providers over others, eliminating the networkneutrality agreement that has allowed the Internet to grow.
They have to be stopped, now.
This monopoly is identical, in its impact, to the robber barons of the 1880swhose depredations gave rise to Populism and the first governmentregulations. (This book on the original robber barons available atAmazon.Com, despite being 44 years old.)
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Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Congress Must Insist Bush Isn't Above Law
By Jesse Jackson
The Chicago Sun-Times
Tuesday 05 December 2006
Should President Bush be impeached? The very idea seems extreme, if notloony. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has explicitly ruled impeachmentoff the Democratic majority's agenda. But activists and legal scholars areorganizing to pressure Democrats to begin impeachment hearings. And theincoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, hasissued two remarkable studies on abuses of presidential authority, raisingthe question of impeachable offenses.
The Gingrich Congress' attempt to railroad President Clinton out ofoffice gave impeachment a bad press. It is scorned as irresponsible,vindictive, partisan spitball politics. Rather than addressing thechallenges the nation faces, impeachment, many pundits argue, wastes monthson harsh, divisive wrangling. And of course, in 1998, the public punishedRepublicans - ultimately leading to the toppling of Gingrich himself.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09edsall.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Guest Columnist
The Rascals on the Right
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
Washington
The early jockeying for the Republican presidential nomination reveals asplit in the G.O.P. between sociocultural conservatives and the economy/national defense wing, a split likely either to expand Democraticopportunities in 2008 or to produce an exceptionally viable Republicannominee.
The most significant development at this stage of the race is the failure ofany G.O.P. candidate to emerge as the consensus conservative, uniting whiteevangelicals, family-values traditionalists, defense hawks, and opponents ofthe tax and regulatory state. "There is a vacuum in the field," says theRepublican pollster Tony Fabrizio, "a big, gaping hole."
The two Republican candidates leading in polls, John McCain and RudyGiuliani, both fail the consensus test. Each stands to the left of theparty - well to the left in Giuliani's case - on the "traditional values"issues: sexual mores, family structure, reproductive choice, gay rights,embryonic stem cell research, and so forth.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09sat2.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Editorial
Back to the Moon, Permanently
Three years after President Bush announced an ambitious long-term goal toreturn astronauts to the Moon and then send them on to Mars, the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration has finally put some flesh on hisnebulous aspirations. This week, the agency announced plans to establish apermanent base on the Moon by 2024, explained why we should want to sendastronauts back to a world they visited repeatedly more than three decadesago, and described what they might do when they get there. It was belatedjustification for a decision that the Bush administration and Congress havealready made. But the payoff is distant and the likely future costs veryhigh, leaving it unclear how realistic these aspirations will prove to be.
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CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/09/ap/politics/mainD8LT3B482.shtml
McKinney Introduces Bill to Impeach Bush
Georgia Rep. McKinney introduces bill to impeach Bush; legislation has nochance of passing
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2006
By BEN EVANS Associated Press Writer
(AP) In what was likely her final legislative act in Congress, outgoingGeorgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney introduced a bill Friday to impeach PresidentBush.
The legislation has no chance of passing and serves as a symbolic partingshot not only at Bush but also at Democratic leaders. Incoming House SpeakerNancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has made clear that she will not entertain proposalsto sanction Bush and has warned the liberal wing of her party against makingpolitical hay of impeachment.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09nadeau.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Op-Ed Contributors
Words Fail Them
By JEAN-BENOIT NADEAU and JULIE BARLOW
Montreal
STEPHEN HARPER, the prime minister of Canada, stunned the country last monthwhen he proposed a resolution recognizing that the seven million "Québécoisform a nation within a united Canada." Anyone who has traveled to Montrealor Quebec City will recognize that Mr. Harper was merely stating theobvious, at least where the term "nation" is concerned. But for Canadians,Mr. Harper's words reopened a long, tortured debate over national identity,and recast it in stronger terms than ever.
The background to his declaration is, of course, Quebec's secessionistmovement - strong enough to have monopolized Canadian politics for the last50 years, but not quite strong enough to actually win a referendum onindependence. The struggle has largely been a war of words.
Since the 1940s, Canadians have been looking for the right word - some sayformula - to answer the question: "What does Quebec want?" For the last 20years, the thinking has been to give Quebec some kind of recognition.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801482_pf.html
Conservatives Attack Use of Koran for Oath
Sacred and Secular Books Have Subbed for Bible
By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
Saturday, December 9, 2006; B09
When Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat whose election last month willmake him the first Muslim in Congress, announced he would take his oath ofoffice on Islam's holy book, the Koran, he provoked sharp criticism fromconservatives and some heated discussion on the blogosphere.
The discussion has revived the debate about whether the nation's values andlegal system are shaped only by Judeo-Christian heritage or if there is roomfor Islamic and other traditions.
"America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable oftaking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress," Dennis Prager, aconservative talk radio host in Los Angeles, wrote on http://TownHall.com.Prager, who is Jewish and serves on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council,said Ellison should not be allowed to take his oath on the Koran.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801306_pf.html
Uploading American Politics
By Raul Fernandez
Saturday, December 9, 2006; A19
Technology won the 2006 elections for the Democrats. No, not electronicvoting machines, but the power of the Internet, fueled by innovativeapplications that let citizens create and publish their own content. TheInternet not only changed the balance of power in the House and Senate, italso helped sack the secretary of defense. Welcome to viral democracy.
In 1994, the last time the House changed hands, the Internet was mainly auniversity and military application. AOL, with its first 1 million members,was an up-and-coming player in the emerging online world. Marc Andreessenwas just leaving school to start Netscape. And Google, eBay and Amazon.comdid not exist, even as business plans.
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boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/09/incoming_democrats_face_fiscal_minefield?mode=PF
Incoming Democrats face fiscal minefield
Funding gaps left in programs
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | December 9, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The outgoing Republican Congress has placed a political timebomb for incoming Democrats: Nearly all domestic programs paid for by thefederal government are level funded through mid-February with no adjustmentsfor inflation, a situation that probably will trigger cuts or reductions insuch popular areas as veterans' affairs, children's healthcare, housingvouchers, and low-income fuel assistance.
Democrats, who take control of Congress in January, will therefore have toimmediately choose between restoring any lost services and their campaignpledge to control government spending. The clash could expose tensionswithin the party in the crucial first weeks of Democrats' leadership -- andthe party's agenda could get sidetracked in a pitched battle over spendingpriorities.
"As the Republicans leave their control of Congress, they've decided to blowup the room," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the assistantDemocratic leader. "They're leaving behind a disaster for us to deal with."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Editorial
Desperately Seeking Ethics
Watching our elected leaders in action, it's not surprising that Americanswonder if there is any limit to the crass misbehavior that members ofCongress are willing to tolerate from their colleagues to protect theirprivileges and hold on to their own jobs. The House ethics committeeanswered that question yesterday with a resounding "No."
Sixty-four days after it promised to find out who knew about RepresentativeMark Foley's wildly inappropriate, sexually predatory behavior with teenageHouse pages, and why they failed to stop it, the bipartisan committeeproduced a report yesterday that was a 91-page exercise in cowardice.
The report's authors were clearly more concerned about protecting themembers of the House than the young men and women under their charge in thepage program. And they made absolutely no effort to define the high standardof behavior that should be required of all members of Congress and theirstaffs.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top12dec08,0,869492.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines
Panel Blasts Hastert in Foley Scandal
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
December 8, 2006, 11:04 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers and aides failed for a decade to protectmale pages from sexual come-ons by former Rep. Mark Foley -- once describedas a "ticking time bomb" -- but they broke no rules and should not bepunished, the House ethics committee concluded Friday.
The committee harshly criticized Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., saying theevidence showed he was told of the problem months before he acknowledgedlearning of Foley's questionable e-mails to a former Louisiana page. Itrejected Hastert's contention that he couldn't recall separate warnings fromtwo House Republican leaders.
Hastert said he was pleased the committee found "there was no violation ofany House rules by any member or staff."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801535_pf.html
Annan Decries Failure To Halt Darfur Killings
Passivity of Most Governments Faulted
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 9, 2006; A14
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan scoldedgovernments Friday for failing to halt mass murder in Darfur, saying thatthe world has not learned the lessons of Rwanda and Srebrenica, wheregenocidal killings in the early 1990s defied the global ability to stop it.
"Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 yearsafter the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringinghollow," Annan said in his final speech on human rights as the U.N. leader.
Annan said the failure to protect civilians in the Sudanese region marked alow point in recent U.N. history. In a speech organized by Human RightsWatch in honor of International Human Rights Day, he faulted the "shamefulpassivity of most governments" in the face of a government-backed militarycampaign that has driven more than 2 million people from their homes andkilled hundreds of thousands.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/washington/09foley.html?ei=5094&en=0bac0ee6f36f5d66&hp=&ex=1165640400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Panel Finds Negligence in Foley Case
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - House Republican leaders did not break any rules inhandling the case of former Representative Mark Foley, but they werenegligent and in some instances "willfully ignorant" of his improperadvances toward male pages, the House ethics committee said today.
The panel said that collective failure to probe deeply "is not merely theexercise of poor judgment; it is a present danger to House pages and to theintegrity of the institution of the House."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/print/19573
On Building a Progressive Governing Coalition Around Net Neutrality
From MyDD, December 6, 2006
By Matt Stoller
Last year, we could throw wrenches into the works and call it a victory.This year, we're going to try to govern, and this means that we actuallyhave to accomplish stuff. And based on what I'm seeing on the net neutralityfront, the progressive movement has a lot of work to do. Take net neutralityfor instance.
One would think that net neutrality is a no-brainer for the Democraticcaucus, right? It's not a first 100 hours issue, but surely it'll get donesoon, at least within the next two years. That's what you would think if youread the blogs or the newspaper, or if you assumed that CongressionalDemocrats were savvy about politics and sought to protect the internet,which arguably propelled them into the majority. But that's not the realityof where we are in this fight.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/print/19574
How the 21st Century Robber Barons Operate
From Dana Blankenhorn Blog, December 6, 2006
By Dana Blankenhorn
The Bell monopoly is the most destructive economic roadblock of our time.
It has caused the United States to fall behind the rest of the world inbroadband.
And now these same monopolists are threatening to make things worse byfavoring specific Web providers over others, eliminating the networkneutrality agreement that has allowed the Internet to grow.
They have to be stopped, now.
This monopoly is identical, in its impact, to the robber barons of the 1880swhose depredations gave rise to Populism and the first governmentregulations. (This book on the original robber barons available atAmazon.Com, despite being 44 years old.)
=
Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Congress Must Insist Bush Isn't Above Law
By Jesse Jackson
The Chicago Sun-Times
Tuesday 05 December 2006
Should President Bush be impeached? The very idea seems extreme, if notloony. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has explicitly ruled impeachmentoff the Democratic majority's agenda. But activists and legal scholars areorganizing to pressure Democrats to begin impeachment hearings. And theincoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, hasissued two remarkable studies on abuses of presidential authority, raisingthe question of impeachable offenses.
The Gingrich Congress' attempt to railroad President Clinton out ofoffice gave impeachment a bad press. It is scorned as irresponsible,vindictive, partisan spitball politics. Rather than addressing thechallenges the nation faces, impeachment, many pundits argue, wastes monthson harsh, divisive wrangling. And of course, in 1998, the public punishedRepublicans - ultimately leading to the toppling of Gingrich himself.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09edsall.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Guest Columnist
The Rascals on the Right
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
Washington
The early jockeying for the Republican presidential nomination reveals asplit in the G.O.P. between sociocultural conservatives and the economy/national defense wing, a split likely either to expand Democraticopportunities in 2008 or to produce an exceptionally viable Republicannominee.
The most significant development at this stage of the race is the failure ofany G.O.P. candidate to emerge as the consensus conservative, uniting whiteevangelicals, family-values traditionalists, defense hawks, and opponents ofthe tax and regulatory state. "There is a vacuum in the field," says theRepublican pollster Tony Fabrizio, "a big, gaping hole."
The two Republican candidates leading in polls, John McCain and RudyGiuliani, both fail the consensus test. Each stands to the left of theparty - well to the left in Giuliani's case - on the "traditional values"issues: sexual mores, family structure, reproductive choice, gay rights,embryonic stem cell research, and so forth.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09sat2.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Editorial
Back to the Moon, Permanently
Three years after President Bush announced an ambitious long-term goal toreturn astronauts to the Moon and then send them on to Mars, the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration has finally put some flesh on hisnebulous aspirations. This week, the agency announced plans to establish apermanent base on the Moon by 2024, explained why we should want to sendastronauts back to a world they visited repeatedly more than three decadesago, and described what they might do when they get there. It was belatedjustification for a decision that the Bush administration and Congress havealready made. But the payoff is distant and the likely future costs veryhigh, leaving it unclear how realistic these aspirations will prove to be.
=
CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/09/ap/politics/mainD8LT3B482.shtml
McKinney Introduces Bill to Impeach Bush
Georgia Rep. McKinney introduces bill to impeach Bush; legislation has nochance of passing
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2006
By BEN EVANS Associated Press Writer
(AP) In what was likely her final legislative act in Congress, outgoingGeorgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney introduced a bill Friday to impeach PresidentBush.
The legislation has no chance of passing and serves as a symbolic partingshot not only at Bush but also at Democratic leaders. Incoming House SpeakerNancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has made clear that she will not entertain proposalsto sanction Bush and has warned the liberal wing of her party against makingpolitical hay of impeachment.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09nadeau.html?pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Op-Ed Contributors
Words Fail Them
By JEAN-BENOIT NADEAU and JULIE BARLOW
Montreal
STEPHEN HARPER, the prime minister of Canada, stunned the country last monthwhen he proposed a resolution recognizing that the seven million "Québécoisform a nation within a united Canada." Anyone who has traveled to Montrealor Quebec City will recognize that Mr. Harper was merely stating theobvious, at least where the term "nation" is concerned. But for Canadians,Mr. Harper's words reopened a long, tortured debate over national identity,and recast it in stronger terms than ever.
The background to his declaration is, of course, Quebec's secessionistmovement - strong enough to have monopolized Canadian politics for the last50 years, but not quite strong enough to actually win a referendum onindependence. The struggle has largely been a war of words.
Since the 1940s, Canadians have been looking for the right word - some sayformula - to answer the question: "What does Quebec want?" For the last 20years, the thinking has been to give Quebec some kind of recognition.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801482_pf.html
Conservatives Attack Use of Koran for Oath
Sacred and Secular Books Have Subbed for Bible
By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
Saturday, December 9, 2006; B09
When Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat whose election last month willmake him the first Muslim in Congress, announced he would take his oath ofoffice on Islam's holy book, the Koran, he provoked sharp criticism fromconservatives and some heated discussion on the blogosphere.
The discussion has revived the debate about whether the nation's values andlegal system are shaped only by Judeo-Christian heritage or if there is roomfor Islamic and other traditions.
"America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable oftaking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress," Dennis Prager, aconservative talk radio host in Los Angeles, wrote on http://TownHall.com.Prager, who is Jewish and serves on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council,said Ellison should not be allowed to take his oath on the Koran.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801306_pf.html
Uploading American Politics
By Raul Fernandez
Saturday, December 9, 2006; A19
Technology won the 2006 elections for the Democrats. No, not electronicvoting machines, but the power of the Internet, fueled by innovativeapplications that let citizens create and publish their own content. TheInternet not only changed the balance of power in the House and Senate, italso helped sack the secretary of defense. Welcome to viral democracy.
In 1994, the last time the House changed hands, the Internet was mainly auniversity and military application. AOL, with its first 1 million members,was an up-and-coming player in the emerging online world. Marc Andreessenwas just leaving school to start Netscape. And Google, eBay and Amazon.comdid not exist, even as business plans.
=
boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/09/incoming_democrats_face_fiscal_minefield?mode=PF
Incoming Democrats face fiscal minefield
Funding gaps left in programs
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | December 9, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The outgoing Republican Congress has placed a political timebomb for incoming Democrats: Nearly all domestic programs paid for by thefederal government are level funded through mid-February with no adjustmentsfor inflation, a situation that probably will trigger cuts or reductions insuch popular areas as veterans' affairs, children's healthcare, housingvouchers, and low-income fuel assistance.
Democrats, who take control of Congress in January, will therefore have toimmediately choose between restoring any lost services and their campaignpledge to control government spending. The clash could expose tensionswithin the party in the crucial first weeks of Democrats' leadership -- andthe party's agenda could get sidetracked in a pitched battle over spendingpriorities.
"As the Republicans leave their control of Congress, they've decided to blowup the room," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the assistantDemocratic leader. "They're leaving behind a disaster for us to deal with."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 9, 2006
Editorial
Desperately Seeking Ethics
Watching our elected leaders in action, it's not surprising that Americanswonder if there is any limit to the crass misbehavior that members ofCongress are willing to tolerate from their colleagues to protect theirprivileges and hold on to their own jobs. The House ethics committeeanswered that question yesterday with a resounding "No."
Sixty-four days after it promised to find out who knew about RepresentativeMark Foley's wildly inappropriate, sexually predatory behavior with teenageHouse pages, and why they failed to stop it, the bipartisan committeeproduced a report yesterday that was a 91-page exercise in cowardice.
The report's authors were clearly more concerned about protecting themembers of the House than the young men and women under their charge in thepage program. And they made absolutely no effort to define the high standardof behavior that should be required of all members of Congress and theirstaffs.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST December 09, 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.
=
Adonis Series Launch Party This Tuesday
Fresh off her recent successful launch of a new series of 'Vargas-inspiredPin-Up Art', Suzanne Weiss has hired internationally acclaimed photo/artistDennis Dean to create a companion collection of art. The first series,entitled 'The Adonis Series', features twelve images selected from Dean'sportfolio of a decade of photographing some of the best looking men in SouthFlorida and major world capitals. Ms. Weiss is CEO of Plush Couture andPlush Publishing.
To launch the series in true 'Plush Style', a holiday party is being held atPlush, 703 East Las Olas Boulevard on Tuesday, December 12th from 7:30 to9:30 p.m. In addition to Dennis being on hand to autograph the artwork andcopies of his book, 'Within Reach', there will be a fashion show featuringthe latest underwear and swimwear from Audace. The fashion show will alsofeature accessories found at Plush Couture, such as their Hoven and SabreSunglasses and a line of men's 'Rock Bands' that are worn on the wrist.
In addition to actual images of Dean's, two of Plush Publishing's leadingartists will 'interpret' several of the Photo/Art images, creating a uniqueart form. Daniel Henigman and 'Pop Artist' Clifton who is best known forhis cultural icons, will be attending the 'Adonis Launch Party'.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Adonis Series art will go toArtsUnited. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on Monday, December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibitionwill bring together over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell theiroriginal works. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixedmedia art make this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
=
The New York Times
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/
The Real Value of Public Preschool
by Judith Warner
The State of Virginia is joining New York, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma inattempting to bring free, voluntary preschool to all 4-year-olds, and in thecase of Illinois, to 3-year-olds as well.
That's good news. But I am finding the rhetoric in the debate over universalpreschool disheartening. It's all the usual stuff about cost-benefit andoutcomes: kids who read the "Bob Books" at age 4 are more likely to bereading The Wall Street Journal at 40; it costs less to send a kid topreschool than to later fund his way through the criminal justice system.("I'd much rather guarantee all kids a place at circle time in ahigh-quality preschool than see some of them serve hard time in prison laterin life," were the exact words of Sutter County Sheriff Jim Denney, aproponent of universal preschool in California.)
These points, I suppose, help convince a tax-averse electorate that fundingpublic schooling for preschoolers will bring them some bang for the buck.But it seems to me that there is a much simpler, more basic and, frankly,more urgently human claim to be made about the importance of universalpublic preschool, and it is much more immediate than those nebulouspredictions about whether preschool will prove to be good for today'schildren 30 years down the line. The argument I would rather hear is:universal preschool is good for today's families right now. Here's why:
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cmoore09dec09,0,3285137.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Bush ends investigation of city commissioner
By Brian Haas and
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 9, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday closed an investigation into a Fort Lauderdalecommissioner's recent traffic stop.
Bush opened the inquiry Thursday to see whether City Commissioner CarltonMoore used his position to influence a deputy who gave him a ticket. Duringthe stop, records show, Moore said he was a city commissioner and producedhis city identification.
"We are satisfied it was nothing more than a routine traffic matter," saidAnthony DeLuise, the governor's spokesman.
Moore was ticketed Dec. 3 by the Broward Sheriff's Office for driving with asuspended license, records show. Moore has knowingly driven without a validlicense since August, records show. The governor's review included Moore'sdriving record.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16199842.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
ENVIRONMENT
South Florida on verge of drought -- and water usage restrictions
A quiet hurricane season and dry fall left South Florida on the vergeof a drought, which could prompt water managers to limit lawn watering, carwashing and commercial water use.
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR
mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com
No one wanted another active hurricane season in 2006, but SouthFlorida's calm tropical summer is having consequences. The lack of seriousrain has left the region on the verge of a drought, and water managers couldbegin imposing mandatory restrictions next month on lawn watering and carwashing.
''We have the looming crisis over us of having a drought,'' said AnaMarÃa Monte Flores, outreach coordinator for the Miami-Dade Water and SewerDepartment.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/16199739.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
BROWARD SCHOOLS
Teachers see many kids as unprepared for school
More Broward kindergartners know their letters this year, but noteveryone is ready for kindergarten.
BY NIRVI SHAH
nshah@MiamiHerald.com
Broward kindergartners this year were more likely to be able toquickly identify their letters, in a first sign that the state's freeprekindergarten classes may be doing some good.
But on a new, less formal measure of school readiness skills, teacherobservations indicate that just 38 percent of Broward kindergartners wereconsistently demonstrating the abilities they need for their first year offormal schooling. That's a bit lower than students statewide: 42 percent ofthe 184,000 kindergartners observed were ready for school.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16200112.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
CONGRESS
Drilling off Fla. coast moves ahead
After years of wrangling, a bill that opens the Gulf of Mexico southof the Panhandle to oil drilling has been passed by the House and heads tothe Senate, where approval is uncertain.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON - Drilling for oil and natural gas in the deepest watersoff Florida's Gulf Coast would be allowed for the first time underlegislation that cleared the House Friday but remained unresolved in theSenate.
The House gave final approval to a measure that allows for energyexploration in a huge swath of the Gulf of Mexico 125 miles south of thePanhandle. Rigs would be barred 235 miles off the coast of Tampa and nearly325 miles from Naples.
The measure must still clear the Senate -- which had not yet actedlate Friday -- but it could mark a victory for industry groups who waged ayearslong battle, and a major setback for environmental groups and someFlorida lawmakers who had long fought efforts to explore Florida waters.
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Adonis Series Launch Party This Tuesday
Fresh off her recent successful launch of a new series of 'Vargas-inspiredPin-Up Art', Suzanne Weiss has hired internationally acclaimed photo/artistDennis Dean to create a companion collection of art. The first series,entitled 'The Adonis Series', features twelve images selected from Dean'sportfolio of a decade of photographing some of the best looking men in SouthFlorida and major world capitals. Ms. Weiss is CEO of Plush Couture andPlush Publishing.
To launch the series in true 'Plush Style', a holiday party is being held atPlush, 703 East Las Olas Boulevard on Tuesday, December 12th from 7:30 to9:30 p.m. In addition to Dennis being on hand to autograph the artwork andcopies of his book, 'Within Reach', there will be a fashion show featuringthe latest underwear and swimwear from Audace. The fashion show will alsofeature accessories found at Plush Couture, such as their Hoven and SabreSunglasses and a line of men's 'Rock Bands' that are worn on the wrist.
In addition to actual images of Dean's, two of Plush Publishing's leadingartists will 'interpret' several of the Photo/Art images, creating a uniqueart form. Daniel Henigman and 'Pop Artist' Clifton who is best known forhis cultural icons, will be attending the 'Adonis Launch Party'.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Adonis Series art will go toArtsUnited. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on Monday, December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibitionwill bring together over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell theiroriginal works. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixedmedia art make this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
=
The New York Times
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/
The Real Value of Public Preschool
by Judith Warner
The State of Virginia is joining New York, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma inattempting to bring free, voluntary preschool to all 4-year-olds, and in thecase of Illinois, to 3-year-olds as well.
That's good news. But I am finding the rhetoric in the debate over universalpreschool disheartening. It's all the usual stuff about cost-benefit andoutcomes: kids who read the "Bob Books" at age 4 are more likely to bereading The Wall Street Journal at 40; it costs less to send a kid topreschool than to later fund his way through the criminal justice system.("I'd much rather guarantee all kids a place at circle time in ahigh-quality preschool than see some of them serve hard time in prison laterin life," were the exact words of Sutter County Sheriff Jim Denney, aproponent of universal preschool in California.)
These points, I suppose, help convince a tax-averse electorate that fundingpublic schooling for preschoolers will bring them some bang for the buck.But it seems to me that there is a much simpler, more basic and, frankly,more urgently human claim to be made about the importance of universalpublic preschool, and it is much more immediate than those nebulouspredictions about whether preschool will prove to be good for today'schildren 30 years down the line. The argument I would rather hear is:universal preschool is good for today's families right now. Here's why:
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cmoore09dec09,0,3285137.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Bush ends investigation of city commissioner
By Brian Haas and
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 9, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday closed an investigation into a Fort Lauderdalecommissioner's recent traffic stop.
Bush opened the inquiry Thursday to see whether City Commissioner CarltonMoore used his position to influence a deputy who gave him a ticket. Duringthe stop, records show, Moore said he was a city commissioner and producedhis city identification.
"We are satisfied it was nothing more than a routine traffic matter," saidAnthony DeLuise, the governor's spokesman.
Moore was ticketed Dec. 3 by the Broward Sheriff's Office for driving with asuspended license, records show. Moore has knowingly driven without a validlicense since August, records show. The governor's review included Moore'sdriving record.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16199842.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
ENVIRONMENT
South Florida on verge of drought -- and water usage restrictions
A quiet hurricane season and dry fall left South Florida on the vergeof a drought, which could prompt water managers to limit lawn watering, carwashing and commercial water use.
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR
mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com
No one wanted another active hurricane season in 2006, but SouthFlorida's calm tropical summer is having consequences. The lack of seriousrain has left the region on the verge of a drought, and water managers couldbegin imposing mandatory restrictions next month on lawn watering and carwashing.
''We have the looming crisis over us of having a drought,'' said AnaMarÃa Monte Flores, outreach coordinator for the Miami-Dade Water and SewerDepartment.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/16199739.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
BROWARD SCHOOLS
Teachers see many kids as unprepared for school
More Broward kindergartners know their letters this year, but noteveryone is ready for kindergarten.
BY NIRVI SHAH
nshah@MiamiHerald.com
Broward kindergartners this year were more likely to be able toquickly identify their letters, in a first sign that the state's freeprekindergarten classes may be doing some good.
But on a new, less formal measure of school readiness skills, teacherobservations indicate that just 38 percent of Broward kindergartners wereconsistently demonstrating the abilities they need for their first year offormal schooling. That's a bit lower than students statewide: 42 percent ofthe 184,000 kindergartners observed were ready for school.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16200112.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006
CONGRESS
Drilling off Fla. coast moves ahead
After years of wrangling, a bill that opens the Gulf of Mexico southof the Panhandle to oil drilling has been passed by the House and heads tothe Senate, where approval is uncertain.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON - Drilling for oil and natural gas in the deepest watersoff Florida's Gulf Coast would be allowed for the first time underlegislation that cleared the House Friday but remained unresolved in theSenate.
The House gave final approval to a measure that allows for energyexploration in a huge swath of the Gulf of Mexico 125 miles south of thePanhandle. Rigs would be barred 235 miles off the coast of Tampa and nearly325 miles from Naples.
The measure must still clear the Senate -- which had not yet actedlate Friday -- but it could mark a victory for industry groups who waged ayearslong battle, and a major setback for environmental groups and someFlorida lawmakers who had long fought efforts to explore Florida waters.
#####
Friday, December 08, 2006
GLBT DIGEST - December 08, 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/reuters/world/international-marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 7, 2006
Canada Upholds Law Allowing Same - Sex Marriage
By REUTERS
Filed at 4:36 p.m. ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament upheld a 2005 law allowing same-sexmarriage on Thursday when it threw out a bid by the minority Conservativegovernment to revisit the contentious issue.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper put forward the motion after promising hissocially conservative backers that he would do so, but most observers hadexpected it to fail.
The Conservatives are set to fight an election next year and had legislatorsbacked the idea of revisiting the law it would have become a campaign issue.
``We made a promise to hold a free vote and we kept that promise. The resultwas decisive and we'll accept the democratic result,'' Harper toldreporters.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/nyregion/08union.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
A Civil Union Bill Advances Amid Criticism by All Involved
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 7 - One man objected to a bill that would give same-sexcouples in New Jersey the same rights as heterosexual spouses because "Idon'twant my grandchildren taught the techniques of homosexuality."
On the other side of the ideological spectrum, a pastor objected to the billbecause she said she thought that establishing civil unions for gay coupleswould amount to "sanctioning bigotry" and create a layer of second-classcitizens.
Even the sponsor of the legislation, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, aDemocrat from Essex County, acknowledged having "mixed feelings," though hesaid he could not "allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good."
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10387
Rosie says she's not leaving 'The View'
Lesbian star's presence boosts ratings
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 8, 8:06 AM
She's only been on "The View" for three months and already there arepublished rumors that Rosie O'Donnell wants out. She tried to shoot themdown on Thursday.
O'Donnell, during Thursday's show, said she had answered an audiencemember's question during a commercial break the day before and mentioned howshe would like to work on FX's "Nip/Tuck." She noted that it filmed duringthe summer, during "The View" vacation break.
"Don't anybody worry where Rosie's going," she said. "She's right here."
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16190143.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Ethics panel could soon issue Foley page report
LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee could be close to finishing itsreport on ex-Rep. Mark Foley's improper conduct with former pages.
Committee members would not comment on when they would issue their findings.Committee leaders said in early October the investigation would be finishedin weeks, not months, and members have said privately they did not want tocarry the matter over until next year.
The findings would have far greater impact if Republicans had retainedcontrol of Congress because questions were raised over the lack of strongaction by Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and his top aides.
Foley, R-Fla., became overly friendly with male pages when they served aserrand-runners for lawmakers and - after they left Congress - sent some ofthem inappropriate e-mails and lurid instant messages.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
'Lance' them all
Celebrities are like companies: If you don't want the scrutiny, then don'tgo public to begin with.
Friday, December 08, 2006
A FEW WEEKS ago, the term "lanced" made the rounds on the internet. "Lanced"refers to when a celebrity or public person is outed as gay or lesbian inthe media. As a public person,I am often asked my opinion on outing.
As a businessperson, I look at the outing debate the way you might look at apublic company versus a private company.
A "public company" is one that has decided to list its shares on the stockexchange, so that the general public can invest and make money as the shareprice rises, the stock splits or the company pays dividends.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701684_pf.html
Canadian Prime Minister Loses Bid to Revisit Gay Marriage Law
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 8, 2006; A23
TORONTO, Dec. 7 -- Canada's House of Commons rejected a move Thursday byConservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reopen debate on a nationallaw permitting same-sex marriages.
The House, by a vote of 175 to 123, defeated the motion brought by Harper tofulfill a campaign promise to opponents of same-sex marriage. Thirteenmembers of his Conservative Party voted against the motion, reflecting adesire by Parliament not to reopen the issue.
"Times have changed. We've moved on. The House has moved on," Bill Graham, aLiberal Party member, said Wednesday in debate on the proposal.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/news/national/taxes.cfm
Former Log Cabin chair admits to tax evasion
Gay GOP figure faces 25 years in prison
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, December 08, 2006
A prominent gay Republican leader who met with George W. Bush during the2000 presidential election campaign faces a possible 25-year prison sentenceafter admitting in federal court on Dec. 1 that he cheated New Jerseytaxpayers and the IRS out of as much as $1 million.
Robert Stears, 51, who served as chair of the national gay group Log CabinRepublicans from 1999 to 2002, pleaded guilty to one count each of mailfraud and tax evasion charges.
"We are saddened and disappointed by this news," said Patrick Sammon,executive vice president of Log Cabin Republicans, based in Washington."Clearly, Mr. Stears will have to take full responsibility for his illegalactions."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS/61207008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON: A state Assembly committee approved a bill Thursday that wouldallow gay couples the benefits of marriage but not the title in a move thatplaces the measure on a fast track for possible approval by the end of theyear.
The 4-2 approval of the civil unions bill came over the objections of everysingle person who testified in an emotional three-hour hearing today beforethe Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Lawmakers see the civil unions as a compromise, which four recentindependent polls have shown the state's voters approve.
The measure comes in reaction to a landmark October state Supreme Courtruling that required lawmakers to grant gay couples access to the samerights as married couples. The court left it up to the Legislature to decidewhether to call the unions marriage.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Baltimore Examiner, MD, December 5, 2006
http://www.examiner.com/a-437407~Kelly_Carson__Why_are_gay_Americans_different_from_others_.html
Why are gay Americans different from others?
Kelly Carson, The Examiner
BALTIMORE - Borrowing words from New Jersey's former governor, JamesMcGreevey, "I am a gay American."
As Maryland's Court of Appeals begins this week to debate the merits of aBaltimore Circuit Court ruling making unconstitutional the state's lawdefining marriage as only between a man and a woman, I believe there aresome issues that readers should consider.
Yes, it's an emotional issue - one that challenges the core belief of somepeople and rattles the faith of others.
My question is simple. Why?
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Catholic archbishop forced us out: gay couple
Thursday, December 7, 2006 | 1:29 PM AT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/12/07/gay-catholic.html
A Roman Catholic couple has joined the United Church after the Catholicarchbishop denied them communion because of their same-sex wedding.
Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy, of Meteghan Centre, were married last springand announced their wedding with a photograph in the newspaper.
Murphy and Poirier, both 69, have been together for seven years. They sayresidents and parishioners at Stella Maris church accept them as a couple.
But that wedding photo caught the attention of Archbishop TerrencePrendergast, who they believe forced them out of the church.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/pressrec.asp?Item=739
COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL AND TOURISM STUDY OF GAYS AND LESBIANSHIGHLIGHTS
LEISURE TRAVEL INSIGHTS
New national survey by Harris Interactive, Travel Industry Association, andWiteck-Combs Communications also includes consumer rankings on gay-friendlydestinations
WASHINGTON, DC -- Nearly half of all gay men (48%) and lesbians (47%)surveyed in the U.S. say that a destination's gay-friendliness is importantto them when making leisure travel choices. In fact, over one-quarter of gaymen (27%) and lesbians (28%) say gay-friendliness is "extremely" or "veryimportant" as a consideration in travel planning, according to a newnational survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association (TIA) inpartnership with Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.and released today at a news conference held in Washington, D.C.'s NationalPress Club.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&amp;AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9&tier=4&id=60847BA086934BC087453584D55A3069
Mitt's secret gay history II
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
Given his recent obsession with fighting marriage equality, slashing fundsfor every LGBT program in the state budget and generally characterizing gaypeople as aliens ("Some of them are even having children born to them," hefretted incredulously last year to a group of South Carolina Republicans),it's kind of funny that back when Mitt Romney was looking to unseat TedKennedy from the U.S. Senate he just loooooved the gays. Or at least hepretended to, since he certainly hasn't shown this side of his personalitysince he collected that endorsement donation from the Log Cabin Republicansback in his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Here are a few excerpts fromRomney's Aug. 25, 1994 interview with Bay Windows.
On how he feels about gays and lesbians:
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/12/120606iraq.htm
Death Squads Rounding Up Baghdad Gays British Rights Monitor Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 6, 2006 5:00 pm ET
(London) The situation for gays in Iraq continues to worsen the British LGBTrights group Outrage, which has has been supporting an underground gay groupin Baghdad, said Wednesday.
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police in Baghdad on9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then, Outrage said. It isfeared they may have been murdered by death squads operating under the coverof the Iraqi police.
The men, ranging in age from 19 to 27 were identified only by their firstnames - Amjad, Rafid, Hassan, Ayman and Ali. All were members of Iraq'sclandestine gay rights movement, Iraqi LGBT.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_wst_education_board.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 ·
Last updated 6:41 p.m. PT
Education board sworn in, includes transgender member
By BRIAN CHARLTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HONOLULU -- Five new state Board of Education members were sworn in onWednesday, including a civil rights lawyer believed to be thehighest-ranking elected transgender official in the country.
Kim Coco Iwamoto, Eileen Clarke, Mary Cochran, Donna Ikeda and JohnPenebacker officially joined the 14-member board, which governs the islands'285 public schools with more than 180,000 students.
None of the new board members spoke at the ceremony in the State SupremeCourt chambers.
But Iwamoto, 38, said, when asked about her achievement, "I've never triedto obtain any highest position. I've always just tried to be the best atwhat I do."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2931/
Outing is In Again
Did Bill Maher break the Barney Frank Rule?
By John Ireland
Over the past year, gay sex scandals have rocked right-wing political andreligious circles in the United States. Jim West (mayor of Spokane, Wash.),Mark Foley (congressman from Florida), and the Rev. Ted Haggard (presidentof the National Association of Evangelicals) all learned the sting of apublic flogging. The first two men were "outed" when their homosexualorientation was involuntarily exposed publicly by investigative journalists,while Haggard was outed by a gay male escort who claimed to have had sexwith him. Historically, the press has been hesitant to give a voice toallegations of hypocrisy if they relate to hidden homosexuality, but thetide is beginning to turn, if only slightly.
On Nov. 8, comedian Bill Maher appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" and toldthe world that Ken Mehlman, head of the Republican National Committee, isgay. Here is what transpired:
=
http://www.pinkpaper.com/pinkpaper/story.asp?aid=350
From the Pink Paper UK - December 5, 2006
Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint
BY Tris Reid-Smith
Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may havebeen murdered.
Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secretmeeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November.
They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim whoheads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights groupOutrage.
Hili said: "For the last few months they had been documenting the killing oflesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our officein London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the deathsquads.
=
Five gay activists kidnapped in Baghdad
Gay fashion store owner disappears
Two lesbians and child murdered in Najaf
Four barbers abducted from shop popular with gays
Fundamentalist death squads target queers
London and Baghdad - 6 December 2006
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police inBaghdad on 9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then. Itis feared they may have been murdered by death squads operating underthe cover of the Iraqi police.
The kidnapped men are Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali21. All were members of Iraq's clandestine gay rights movement, IraqiLGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&amp;mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=2E15F3006AD24375B2841C493AB68A17
Issue Date: 12/07/2006, Posted On: 12/6/2006
Romney is a big fat liar
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
The fact that there's intense interest in a letter Mitt Romney wrote to theMassachusetts Log Cabin Club 12 years ago in which he pledged to be a moreardent advocate for gay rights than U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy isn't a surprise.(See "Follow That Trail," page 15.) Romney is an all-but-declared candidatefor president who's staked his candidacy on social conservatism. Any hint ofhypocrisy on Romney's part with regard to LGBT issues is of great use forpolitical reporters, GOP primary opponents and LGBT activists alike. What issurprising, though, is the depth of Romney's hypocrisy.
In 1994, when Romney was running for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy, heengaged in a lengthy interview with Bay Windows during which he discussedhis views on employment nondiscrimination legislation, the military's "Don'tAsk, Don't Tell" policy - and civil marriage rights for same-sex couples(see "Mitt's secret gay history II," page 10). The interview was publishedAug. 25, 1994. His views on gay issues in 1994 are largely at odds with hisstated views today.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701440_pf.html
It's a Cheney!
Reality Is a Blessed Event
By Ruth Marcus
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
My only regret about Mary Cheney's pregnancy is that it didn't happenearlier -- say, during the 2004 presidential race, when Cheney was workingfor her father's campaign and his running mate was busy trying to writediscrimination against people like her into the Constitution.
Imagine a hugely pregnant Mary Cheney sitting in the vice president's box atthe convention.Imagine Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, cuddling theirnewborn onstage at the victorycelebration.
How perfectly that would have illustrated the clanging disconnect betweenthe RepublicanParty's outmoded intolerance and the benign reality of gayfamilies today.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 7, 2006
Canada Upholds Law Allowing Same - Sex Marriage
By REUTERS
Filed at 4:36 p.m. ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament upheld a 2005 law allowing same-sexmarriage on Thursday when it threw out a bid by the minority Conservativegovernment to revisit the contentious issue.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper put forward the motion after promising hissocially conservative backers that he would do so, but most observers hadexpected it to fail.
The Conservatives are set to fight an election next year and had legislatorsbacked the idea of revisiting the law it would have become a campaign issue.
``We made a promise to hold a free vote and we kept that promise. The resultwas decisive and we'll accept the democratic result,'' Harper toldreporters.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/nyregion/08union.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
A Civil Union Bill Advances Amid Criticism by All Involved
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 7 - One man objected to a bill that would give same-sexcouples in New Jersey the same rights as heterosexual spouses because "Idon'twant my grandchildren taught the techniques of homosexuality."
On the other side of the ideological spectrum, a pastor objected to the billbecause she said she thought that establishing civil unions for gay coupleswould amount to "sanctioning bigotry" and create a layer of second-classcitizens.
Even the sponsor of the legislation, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, aDemocrat from Essex County, acknowledged having "mixed feelings," though hesaid he could not "allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good."
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10387
Rosie says she's not leaving 'The View'
Lesbian star's presence boosts ratings
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 8, 8:06 AM
She's only been on "The View" for three months and already there arepublished rumors that Rosie O'Donnell wants out. She tried to shoot themdown on Thursday.
O'Donnell, during Thursday's show, said she had answered an audiencemember's question during a commercial break the day before and mentioned howshe would like to work on FX's "Nip/Tuck." She noted that it filmed duringthe summer, during "The View" vacation break.
"Don't anybody worry where Rosie's going," she said. "She's right here."
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16190143.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Ethics panel could soon issue Foley page report
LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee could be close to finishing itsreport on ex-Rep. Mark Foley's improper conduct with former pages.
Committee members would not comment on when they would issue their findings.Committee leaders said in early October the investigation would be finishedin weeks, not months, and members have said privately they did not want tocarry the matter over until next year.
The findings would have far greater impact if Republicans had retainedcontrol of Congress because questions were raised over the lack of strongaction by Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and his top aides.
Foley, R-Fla., became overly friendly with male pages when they served aserrand-runners for lawmakers and - after they left Congress - sent some ofthem inappropriate e-mails and lurid instant messages.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
'Lance' them all
Celebrities are like companies: If you don't want the scrutiny, then don'tgo public to begin with.
Friday, December 08, 2006
A FEW WEEKS ago, the term "lanced" made the rounds on the internet. "Lanced"refers to when a celebrity or public person is outed as gay or lesbian inthe media. As a public person,I am often asked my opinion on outing.
As a businessperson, I look at the outing debate the way you might look at apublic company versus a private company.
A "public company" is one that has decided to list its shares on the stockexchange, so that the general public can invest and make money as the shareprice rises, the stock splits or the company pays dividends.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701684_pf.html
Canadian Prime Minister Loses Bid to Revisit Gay Marriage Law
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 8, 2006; A23
TORONTO, Dec. 7 -- Canada's House of Commons rejected a move Thursday byConservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reopen debate on a nationallaw permitting same-sex marriages.
The House, by a vote of 175 to 123, defeated the motion brought by Harper tofulfill a campaign promise to opponents of same-sex marriage. Thirteenmembers of his Conservative Party voted against the motion, reflecting adesire by Parliament not to reopen the issue.
"Times have changed. We've moved on. The House has moved on," Bill Graham, aLiberal Party member, said Wednesday in debate on the proposal.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/news/national/taxes.cfm
Former Log Cabin chair admits to tax evasion
Gay GOP figure faces 25 years in prison
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, December 08, 2006
A prominent gay Republican leader who met with George W. Bush during the2000 presidential election campaign faces a possible 25-year prison sentenceafter admitting in federal court on Dec. 1 that he cheated New Jerseytaxpayers and the IRS out of as much as $1 million.
Robert Stears, 51, who served as chair of the national gay group Log CabinRepublicans from 1999 to 2002, pleaded guilty to one count each of mailfraud and tax evasion charges.
"We are saddened and disappointed by this news," said Patrick Sammon,executive vice president of Log Cabin Republicans, based in Washington."Clearly, Mr. Stears will have to take full responsibility for his illegalactions."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS/61207008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON: A state Assembly committee approved a bill Thursday that wouldallow gay couples the benefits of marriage but not the title in a move thatplaces the measure on a fast track for possible approval by the end of theyear.
The 4-2 approval of the civil unions bill came over the objections of everysingle person who testified in an emotional three-hour hearing today beforethe Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Lawmakers see the civil unions as a compromise, which four recentindependent polls have shown the state's voters approve.
The measure comes in reaction to a landmark October state Supreme Courtruling that required lawmakers to grant gay couples access to the samerights as married couples. The court left it up to the Legislature to decidewhether to call the unions marriage.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Baltimore Examiner, MD, December 5, 2006
http://www.examiner.com/a-437407~Kelly_Carson__Why_are_gay_Americans_different_from_others_.html
Why are gay Americans different from others?
Kelly Carson, The Examiner
BALTIMORE - Borrowing words from New Jersey's former governor, JamesMcGreevey, "I am a gay American."
As Maryland's Court of Appeals begins this week to debate the merits of aBaltimore Circuit Court ruling making unconstitutional the state's lawdefining marriage as only between a man and a woman, I believe there aresome issues that readers should consider.
Yes, it's an emotional issue - one that challenges the core belief of somepeople and rattles the faith of others.
My question is simple. Why?
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Catholic archbishop forced us out: gay couple
Thursday, December 7, 2006 | 1:29 PM AT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/12/07/gay-catholic.html
A Roman Catholic couple has joined the United Church after the Catholicarchbishop denied them communion because of their same-sex wedding.
Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy, of Meteghan Centre, were married last springand announced their wedding with a photograph in the newspaper.
Murphy and Poirier, both 69, have been together for seven years. They sayresidents and parishioners at Stella Maris church accept them as a couple.
But that wedding photo caught the attention of Archbishop TerrencePrendergast, who they believe forced them out of the church.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/pressrec.asp?Item=739
COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL AND TOURISM STUDY OF GAYS AND LESBIANSHIGHLIGHTS
LEISURE TRAVEL INSIGHTS
New national survey by Harris Interactive, Travel Industry Association, andWiteck-Combs Communications also includes consumer rankings on gay-friendlydestinations
WASHINGTON, DC -- Nearly half of all gay men (48%) and lesbians (47%)surveyed in the U.S. say that a destination's gay-friendliness is importantto them when making leisure travel choices. In fact, over one-quarter of gaymen (27%) and lesbians (28%) say gay-friendliness is "extremely" or "veryimportant" as a consideration in travel planning, according to a newnational survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association (TIA) inpartnership with Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.and released today at a news conference held in Washington, D.C.'s NationalPress Club.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&amp;AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9&tier=4&id=60847BA086934BC087453584D55A3069
Mitt's secret gay history II
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
Given his recent obsession with fighting marriage equality, slashing fundsfor every LGBT program in the state budget and generally characterizing gaypeople as aliens ("Some of them are even having children born to them," hefretted incredulously last year to a group of South Carolina Republicans),it's kind of funny that back when Mitt Romney was looking to unseat TedKennedy from the U.S. Senate he just loooooved the gays. Or at least hepretended to, since he certainly hasn't shown this side of his personalitysince he collected that endorsement donation from the Log Cabin Republicansback in his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Here are a few excerpts fromRomney's Aug. 25, 1994 interview with Bay Windows.
On how he feels about gays and lesbians:
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/12/120606iraq.htm
Death Squads Rounding Up Baghdad Gays British Rights Monitor Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 6, 2006 5:00 pm ET
(London) The situation for gays in Iraq continues to worsen the British LGBTrights group Outrage, which has has been supporting an underground gay groupin Baghdad, said Wednesday.
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police in Baghdad on9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then, Outrage said. It isfeared they may have been murdered by death squads operating under the coverof the Iraqi police.
The men, ranging in age from 19 to 27 were identified only by their firstnames - Amjad, Rafid, Hassan, Ayman and Ali. All were members of Iraq'sclandestine gay rights movement, Iraqi LGBT.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_wst_education_board.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 ·
Last updated 6:41 p.m. PT
Education board sworn in, includes transgender member
By BRIAN CHARLTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HONOLULU -- Five new state Board of Education members were sworn in onWednesday, including a civil rights lawyer believed to be thehighest-ranking elected transgender official in the country.
Kim Coco Iwamoto, Eileen Clarke, Mary Cochran, Donna Ikeda and JohnPenebacker officially joined the 14-member board, which governs the islands'285 public schools with more than 180,000 students.
None of the new board members spoke at the ceremony in the State SupremeCourt chambers.
But Iwamoto, 38, said, when asked about her achievement, "I've never triedto obtain any highest position. I've always just tried to be the best atwhat I do."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2931/
Outing is In Again
Did Bill Maher break the Barney Frank Rule?
By John Ireland
Over the past year, gay sex scandals have rocked right-wing political andreligious circles in the United States. Jim West (mayor of Spokane, Wash.),Mark Foley (congressman from Florida), and the Rev. Ted Haggard (presidentof the National Association of Evangelicals) all learned the sting of apublic flogging. The first two men were "outed" when their homosexualorientation was involuntarily exposed publicly by investigative journalists,while Haggard was outed by a gay male escort who claimed to have had sexwith him. Historically, the press has been hesitant to give a voice toallegations of hypocrisy if they relate to hidden homosexuality, but thetide is beginning to turn, if only slightly.
On Nov. 8, comedian Bill Maher appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" and toldthe world that Ken Mehlman, head of the Republican National Committee, isgay. Here is what transpired:
=
http://www.pinkpaper.com/pinkpaper/story.asp?aid=350
From the Pink Paper UK - December 5, 2006
Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint
BY Tris Reid-Smith
Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may havebeen murdered.
Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secretmeeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November.
They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim whoheads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights groupOutrage.
Hili said: "For the last few months they had been documenting the killing oflesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our officein London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the deathsquads.
=
Five gay activists kidnapped in Baghdad
Gay fashion store owner disappears
Two lesbians and child murdered in Najaf
Four barbers abducted from shop popular with gays
Fundamentalist death squads target queers
London and Baghdad - 6 December 2006
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police inBaghdad on 9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then. Itis feared they may have been murdered by death squads operating underthe cover of the Iraqi police.
The kidnapped men are Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali21. All were members of Iraq's clandestine gay rights movement, IraqiLGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&amp;mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=2E15F3006AD24375B2841C493AB68A17
Issue Date: 12/07/2006, Posted On: 12/6/2006
Romney is a big fat liar
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
The fact that there's intense interest in a letter Mitt Romney wrote to theMassachusetts Log Cabin Club 12 years ago in which he pledged to be a moreardent advocate for gay rights than U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy isn't a surprise.(See "Follow That Trail," page 15.) Romney is an all-but-declared candidatefor president who's staked his candidacy on social conservatism. Any hint ofhypocrisy on Romney's part with regard to LGBT issues is of great use forpolitical reporters, GOP primary opponents and LGBT activists alike. What issurprising, though, is the depth of Romney's hypocrisy.
In 1994, when Romney was running for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy, heengaged in a lengthy interview with Bay Windows during which he discussedhis views on employment nondiscrimination legislation, the military's "Don'tAsk, Don't Tell" policy - and civil marriage rights for same-sex couples(see "Mitt's secret gay history II," page 10). The interview was publishedAug. 25, 1994. His views on gay issues in 1994 are largely at odds with hisstated views today.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701440_pf.html
It's a Cheney!
Reality Is a Blessed Event
By Ruth Marcus
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
My only regret about Mary Cheney's pregnancy is that it didn't happenearlier -- say, during the 2004 presidential race, when Cheney was workingfor her father's campaign and his running mate was busy trying to writediscrimination against people like her into the Constitution.
Imagine a hugely pregnant Mary Cheney sitting in the vice president's box atthe convention.Imagine Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, cuddling theirnewborn onstage at the victorycelebration.
How perfectly that would have illustrated the clanging disconnect betweenthe RepublicanParty's outmoded intolerance and the benign reality of gayfamilies today.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
GLBT DIGEST - December 08, 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/reuters/world/international-marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 7, 2006
Canada Upholds Law Allowing Same - Sex Marriage
By REUTERS
Filed at 4:36 p.m. ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament upheld a 2005 law allowing same-sexmarriage on Thursday when it threw out a bid by the minority Conservativegovernment to revisit the contentious issue.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper put forward the motion after promising hissocially conservative backers that he would do so, but most observers hadexpected it to fail.
The Conservatives are set to fight an election next year and had legislatorsbacked the idea of revisiting the law it would have become a campaign issue.
``We made a promise to hold a free vote and we kept that promise. The resultwas decisive and we'll accept the democratic result,'' Harper toldreporters.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/nyregion/08union.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
A Civil Union Bill Advances Amid Criticism by All Involved
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 7 - One man objected to a bill that would give same-sexcouples in New Jersey the same rights as heterosexual spouses because "Idon'twant my grandchildren taught the techniques of homosexuality."
On the other side of the ideological spectrum, a pastor objected to the billbecause she said she thought that establishing civil unions for gay coupleswould amount to "sanctioning bigotry" and create a layer of second-classcitizens.
Even the sponsor of the legislation, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, aDemocrat from Essex County, acknowledged having "mixed feelings," though hesaid he could not "allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good."
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10387
Rosie says she's not leaving 'The View'
Lesbian star's presence boosts ratings
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 8, 8:06 AM
She's only been on "The View" for three months and already there arepublished rumors that Rosie O'Donnell wants out. She tried to shoot themdown on Thursday.
O'Donnell, during Thursday's show, said she had answered an audiencemember's question during a commercial break the day before and mentioned howshe would like to work on FX's "Nip/Tuck." She noted that it filmed duringthe summer, during "The View" vacation break.
"Don't anybody worry where Rosie's going," she said. "She's right here."
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16190143.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Ethics panel could soon issue Foley page report
LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee could be close to finishing itsreport on ex-Rep. Mark Foley's improper conduct with former pages.
Committee members would not comment on when they would issue their findings.Committee leaders said in early October the investigation would be finishedin weeks, not months, and members have said privately they did not want tocarry the matter over until next year.
The findings would have far greater impact if Republicans had retainedcontrol of Congress because questions were raised over the lack of strongaction by Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and his top aides.
Foley, R-Fla., became overly friendly with male pages when they served aserrand-runners for lawmakers and - after they left Congress - sent some ofthem inappropriate e-mails and lurid instant messages.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
'Lance' them all
Celebrities are like companies: If you don't want the scrutiny, then don'tgo public to begin with.
Friday, December 08, 2006
A FEW WEEKS ago, the term "lanced" made the rounds on the internet. "Lanced"refers to when a celebrity or public person is outed as gay or lesbian inthe media. As a public person,I am often asked my opinion on outing.
As a businessperson, I look at the outing debate the way you might look at apublic company versus a private company.
A "public company" is one that has decided to list its shares on the stockexchange, so that the general public can invest and make money as the shareprice rises, the stock splits or the company pays dividends.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701684_pf.html
Canadian Prime Minister Loses Bid to Revisit Gay Marriage Law
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 8, 2006; A23
TORONTO, Dec. 7 -- Canada's House of Commons rejected a move Thursday byConservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reopen debate on a nationallaw permitting same-sex marriages.
The House, by a vote of 175 to 123, defeated the motion brought by Harper tofulfill a campaign promise to opponents of same-sex marriage. Thirteenmembers of his Conservative Party voted against the motion, reflecting adesire by Parliament not to reopen the issue.
"Times have changed. We've moved on. The House has moved on," Bill Graham, aLiberal Party member, said Wednesday in debate on the proposal.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/news/national/taxes.cfm
Former Log Cabin chair admits to tax evasion
Gay GOP figure faces 25 years in prison
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, December 08, 2006
A prominent gay Republican leader who met with George W. Bush during the2000 presidential election campaign faces a possible 25-year prison sentenceafter admitting in federal court on Dec. 1 that he cheated New Jerseytaxpayers and the IRS out of as much as $1 million.
Robert Stears, 51, who served as chair of the national gay group Log CabinRepublicans from 1999 to 2002, pleaded guilty to one count each of mailfraud and tax evasion charges.
"We are saddened and disappointed by this news," said Patrick Sammon,executive vice president of Log Cabin Republicans, based in Washington."Clearly, Mr. Stears will have to take full responsibility for his illegalactions."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS/61207008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON: A state Assembly committee approved a bill Thursday that wouldallow gay couples the benefits of marriage but not the title in a move thatplaces the measure on a fast track for possible approval by the end of theyear.
The 4-2 approval of the civil unions bill came over the objections of everysingle person who testified in an emotional three-hour hearing today beforethe Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Lawmakers see the civil unions as a compromise, which four recentindependent polls have shown the state's voters approve.
The measure comes in reaction to a landmark October state Supreme Courtruling that required lawmakers to grant gay couples access to the samerights as married couples. The court left it up to the Legislature to decidewhether to call the unions marriage.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Baltimore Examiner, MD, December 5, 2006
http://www.examiner.com/a-437407~Kelly_Carson__Why_are_gay_Americans_different_from_others_.html
Why are gay Americans different from others?
Kelly Carson, The Examiner
BALTIMORE - Borrowing words from New Jersey's former governor, JamesMcGreevey, "I am a gay American."
As Maryland's Court of Appeals begins this week to debate the merits of aBaltimore Circuit Court ruling making unconstitutional the state's lawdefining marriage as only between a man and a woman, I believe there aresome issues that readers should consider.
Yes, it's an emotional issue - one that challenges the core belief of somepeople and rattles the faith of others.
My question is simple. Why?
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Catholic archbishop forced us out: gay couple
Thursday, December 7, 2006 | 1:29 PM AT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/12/07/gay-catholic.html
A Roman Catholic couple has joined the United Church after the Catholicarchbishop denied them communion because of their same-sex wedding.
Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy, of Meteghan Centre, were married last springand announced their wedding with a photograph in the newspaper.
Murphy and Poirier, both 69, have been together for seven years. They sayresidents and parishioners at Stella Maris church accept them as a couple.
But that wedding photo caught the attention of Archbishop TerrencePrendergast, who they believe forced them out of the church.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/pressrec.asp?Item=739
COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL AND TOURISM STUDY OF GAYS AND LESBIANSHIGHLIGHTS
LEISURE TRAVEL INSIGHTS
New national survey by Harris Interactive, Travel Industry Association, andWiteck-Combs Communications also includes consumer rankings on gay-friendlydestinations
WASHINGTON, DC -- Nearly half of all gay men (48%) and lesbians (47%)surveyed in the U.S. say that a destination's gay-friendliness is importantto them when making leisure travel choices. In fact, over one-quarter of gaymen (27%) and lesbians (28%) say gay-friendliness is "extremely" or "veryimportant" as a consideration in travel planning, according to a newnational survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association (TIA) inpartnership with Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.and released today at a news conference held in Washington, D.C.'s NationalPress Club.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9&tier=4&id=60847BA086934BC087453584D55A3069
Mitt's secret gay history II
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
Given his recent obsession with fighting marriage equality, slashing fundsfor every LGBT program in the state budget and generally characterizing gaypeople as aliens ("Some of them are even having children born to them," hefretted incredulously last year to a group of South Carolina Republicans),it's kind of funny that back when Mitt Romney was looking to unseat TedKennedy from the U.S. Senate he just loooooved the gays. Or at least hepretended to, since he certainly hasn't shown this side of his personalitysince he collected that endorsement donation from the Log Cabin Republicansback in his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Here are a few excerpts fromRomney's Aug. 25, 1994 interview with Bay Windows.
On how he feels about gays and lesbians:
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/12/120606iraq.htm
Death Squads Rounding Up Baghdad Gays British Rights Monitor Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 6, 2006 5:00 pm ET
(London) The situation for gays in Iraq continues to worsen the British LGBTrights group Outrage, which has has been supporting an underground gay groupin Baghdad, said Wednesday.
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police in Baghdad on9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then, Outrage said. It isfeared they may have been murdered by death squads operating under the coverof the Iraqi police.
The men, ranging in age from 19 to 27 were identified only by their firstnames - Amjad, Rafid, Hassan, Ayman and Ali. All were members of Iraq'sclandestine gay rights movement, Iraqi LGBT.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_wst_education_board.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 ·
Last updated 6:41 p.m. PT
Education board sworn in, includes transgender member
By BRIAN CHARLTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HONOLULU -- Five new state Board of Education members were sworn in onWednesday, including a civil rights lawyer believed to be thehighest-ranking elected transgender official in the country.
Kim Coco Iwamoto, Eileen Clarke, Mary Cochran, Donna Ikeda and JohnPenebacker officially joined the 14-member board, which governs the islands'285 public schools with more than 180,000 students.
None of the new board members spoke at the ceremony in the State SupremeCourt chambers.
But Iwamoto, 38, said, when asked about her achievement, "I've never triedto obtain any highest position. I've always just tried to be the best atwhat I do."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2931/
Outing is In Again
Did Bill Maher break the Barney Frank Rule?
By John Ireland
Over the past year, gay sex scandals have rocked right-wing political andreligious circles in the United States. Jim West (mayor of Spokane, Wash.),Mark Foley (congressman from Florida), and the Rev. Ted Haggard (presidentof the National Association of Evangelicals) all learned the sting of apublic flogging. The first two men were "outed" when their homosexualorientation was involuntarily exposed publicly by investigative journalists,while Haggard was outed by a gay male escort who claimed to have had sexwith him. Historically, the press has been hesitant to give a voice toallegations of hypocrisy if they relate to hidden homosexuality, but thetide is beginning to turn, if only slightly.
On Nov. 8, comedian Bill Maher appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" and toldthe world that Ken Mehlman, head of the Republican National Committee, isgay. Here is what transpired:
=
http://www.pinkpaper.com/pinkpaper/story.asp?aid=350
From the Pink Paper UK - December 5, 2006
Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint
BY Tris Reid-Smith
Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may havebeen murdered.
Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secretmeeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November.
They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim whoheads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights groupOutrage.
Hili said: "For the last few months they had been documenting the killing oflesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our officein London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the deathsquads.
=
Five gay activists kidnapped in Baghdad
Gay fashion store owner disappears
Two lesbians and child murdered in Najaf
Four barbers abducted from shop popular with gays
Fundamentalist death squads target queers
London and Baghdad - 6 December 2006
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police inBaghdad on 9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then. Itis feared they may have been murdered by death squads operating underthe cover of the Iraqi police.
The kidnapped men are Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali21. All were members of Iraq's clandestine gay rights movement, IraqiLGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=2E15F3006AD24375B2841C493AB68A17
Issue Date: 12/07/2006, Posted On: 12/6/2006
Romney is a big fat liar
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
The fact that there's intense interest in a letter Mitt Romney wrote to theMassachusetts Log Cabin Club 12 years ago in which he pledged to be a moreardent advocate for gay rights than U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy isn't a surprise.(See "Follow That Trail," page 15.) Romney is an all-but-declared candidatefor president who's staked his candidacy on social conservatism. Any hint ofhypocrisy on Romney's part with regard to LGBT issues is of great use forpolitical reporters, GOP primary opponents and LGBT activists alike. What issurprising, though, is the depth of Romney's hypocrisy.
In 1994, when Romney was running for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy, heengaged in a lengthy interview with Bay Windows during which he discussedhis views on employment nondiscrimination legislation, the military's "Don'tAsk, Don't Tell" policy - and civil marriage rights for same-sex couples(see "Mitt's secret gay history II," page 10). The interview was publishedAug. 25, 1994. His views on gay issues in 1994 are largely at odds with hisstated views today.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701440_pf.html
It's a Cheney!
Reality Is a Blessed Event
By Ruth Marcus
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
My only regret about Mary Cheney's pregnancy is that it didn't happenearlier -- say, during the 2004 presidential race, when Cheney was workingfor her father's campaign and his running mate was busy trying to writediscrimination against people like her into the Constitution.
Imagine a hugely pregnant Mary Cheney sitting in the vice president's box atthe convention. Imagine Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, cuddling theirnewborn onstage at the victory celebration.
How perfectly that would have illustrated the clanging disconnect betweenthe Republican Party's outmoded intolerance and the benign reality of gayfamilies today.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 7, 2006
Canada Upholds Law Allowing Same - Sex Marriage
By REUTERS
Filed at 4:36 p.m. ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament upheld a 2005 law allowing same-sexmarriage on Thursday when it threw out a bid by the minority Conservativegovernment to revisit the contentious issue.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper put forward the motion after promising hissocially conservative backers that he would do so, but most observers hadexpected it to fail.
The Conservatives are set to fight an election next year and had legislatorsbacked the idea of revisiting the law it would have become a campaign issue.
``We made a promise to hold a free vote and we kept that promise. The resultwas decisive and we'll accept the democratic result,'' Harper toldreporters.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/nyregion/08union.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
A Civil Union Bill Advances Amid Criticism by All Involved
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 7 - One man objected to a bill that would give same-sexcouples in New Jersey the same rights as heterosexual spouses because "Idon'twant my grandchildren taught the techniques of homosexuality."
On the other side of the ideological spectrum, a pastor objected to the billbecause she said she thought that establishing civil unions for gay coupleswould amount to "sanctioning bigotry" and create a layer of second-classcitizens.
Even the sponsor of the legislation, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, aDemocrat from Essex County, acknowledged having "mixed feelings," though hesaid he could not "allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good."
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10387
Rosie says she's not leaving 'The View'
Lesbian star's presence boosts ratings
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 8, 8:06 AM
She's only been on "The View" for three months and already there arepublished rumors that Rosie O'Donnell wants out. She tried to shoot themdown on Thursday.
O'Donnell, during Thursday's show, said she had answered an audiencemember's question during a commercial break the day before and mentioned howshe would like to work on FX's "Nip/Tuck." She noted that it filmed duringthe summer, during "The View" vacation break.
"Don't anybody worry where Rosie's going," she said. "She's right here."
=
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16190143.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Ethics panel could soon issue Foley page report
LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee could be close to finishing itsreport on ex-Rep. Mark Foley's improper conduct with former pages.
Committee members would not comment on when they would issue their findings.Committee leaders said in early October the investigation would be finishedin weeks, not months, and members have said privately they did not want tocarry the matter over until next year.
The findings would have far greater impact if Republicans had retainedcontrol of Congress because questions were raised over the lack of strongaction by Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and his top aides.
Foley, R-Fla., became overly friendly with male pages when they served aserrand-runners for lawmakers and - after they left Congress - sent some ofthem inappropriate e-mails and lurid instant messages.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/view/editorial/editorial.cfm
'Lance' them all
Celebrities are like companies: If you don't want the scrutiny, then don'tgo public to begin with.
Friday, December 08, 2006
A FEW WEEKS ago, the term "lanced" made the rounds on the internet. "Lanced"refers to when a celebrity or public person is outed as gay or lesbian inthe media. As a public person,I am often asked my opinion on outing.
As a businessperson, I look at the outing debate the way you might look at apublic company versus a private company.
A "public company" is one that has decided to list its shares on the stockexchange, so that the general public can invest and make money as the shareprice rises, the stock splits or the company pays dividends.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701684_pf.html
Canadian Prime Minister Loses Bid to Revisit Gay Marriage Law
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 8, 2006; A23
TORONTO, Dec. 7 -- Canada's House of Commons rejected a move Thursday byConservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reopen debate on a nationallaw permitting same-sex marriages.
The House, by a vote of 175 to 123, defeated the motion brought by Harper tofulfill a campaign promise to opponents of same-sex marriage. Thirteenmembers of his Conservative Party voted against the motion, reflecting adesire by Parliament not to reopen the issue.
"Times have changed. We've moved on. The House has moved on," Bill Graham, aLiberal Party member, said Wednesday in debate on the proposal.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/12-8/news/national/taxes.cfm
Former Log Cabin chair admits to tax evasion
Gay GOP figure faces 25 years in prison
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, December 08, 2006
A prominent gay Republican leader who met with George W. Bush during the2000 presidential election campaign faces a possible 25-year prison sentenceafter admitting in federal court on Dec. 1 that he cheated New Jerseytaxpayers and the IRS out of as much as $1 million.
Robert Stears, 51, who served as chair of the national gay group Log CabinRepublicans from 1999 to 2002, pleaded guilty to one count each of mailfraud and tax evasion charges.
"We are saddened and disappointed by this news," said Patrick Sammon,executive vice president of Log Cabin Republicans, based in Washington."Clearly, Mr. Stears will have to take full responsibility for his illegalactions."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS/61207008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON: A state Assembly committee approved a bill Thursday that wouldallow gay couples the benefits of marriage but not the title in a move thatplaces the measure on a fast track for possible approval by the end of theyear.
The 4-2 approval of the civil unions bill came over the objections of everysingle person who testified in an emotional three-hour hearing today beforethe Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Lawmakers see the civil unions as a compromise, which four recentindependent polls have shown the state's voters approve.
The measure comes in reaction to a landmark October state Supreme Courtruling that required lawmakers to grant gay couples access to the samerights as married couples. The court left it up to the Legislature to decidewhether to call the unions marriage.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Baltimore Examiner, MD, December 5, 2006
http://www.examiner.com/a-437407~Kelly_Carson__Why_are_gay_Americans_different_from_others_.html
Why are gay Americans different from others?
Kelly Carson, The Examiner
BALTIMORE - Borrowing words from New Jersey's former governor, JamesMcGreevey, "I am a gay American."
As Maryland's Court of Appeals begins this week to debate the merits of aBaltimore Circuit Court ruling making unconstitutional the state's lawdefining marriage as only between a man and a woman, I believe there aresome issues that readers should consider.
Yes, it's an emotional issue - one that challenges the core belief of somepeople and rattles the faith of others.
My question is simple. Why?
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Catholic archbishop forced us out: gay couple
Thursday, December 7, 2006 | 1:29 PM AT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/12/07/gay-catholic.html
A Roman Catholic couple has joined the United Church after the Catholicarchbishop denied them communion because of their same-sex wedding.
Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy, of Meteghan Centre, were married last springand announced their wedding with a photograph in the newspaper.
Murphy and Poirier, both 69, have been together for seven years. They sayresidents and parishioners at Stella Maris church accept them as a couple.
But that wedding photo caught the attention of Archbishop TerrencePrendergast, who they believe forced them out of the church.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/pressrec.asp?Item=739
COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL AND TOURISM STUDY OF GAYS AND LESBIANSHIGHLIGHTS
LEISURE TRAVEL INSIGHTS
New national survey by Harris Interactive, Travel Industry Association, andWiteck-Combs Communications also includes consumer rankings on gay-friendlydestinations
WASHINGTON, DC -- Nearly half of all gay men (48%) and lesbians (47%)surveyed in the U.S. say that a destination's gay-friendliness is importantto them when making leisure travel choices. In fact, over one-quarter of gaymen (27%) and lesbians (28%) say gay-friendliness is "extremely" or "veryimportant" as a consideration in travel planning, according to a newnational survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association (TIA) inpartnership with Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.and released today at a news conference held in Washington, D.C.'s NationalPress Club.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9&tier=4&id=60847BA086934BC087453584D55A3069
Mitt's secret gay history II
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
Given his recent obsession with fighting marriage equality, slashing fundsfor every LGBT program in the state budget and generally characterizing gaypeople as aliens ("Some of them are even having children born to them," hefretted incredulously last year to a group of South Carolina Republicans),it's kind of funny that back when Mitt Romney was looking to unseat TedKennedy from the U.S. Senate he just loooooved the gays. Or at least hepretended to, since he certainly hasn't shown this side of his personalitysince he collected that endorsement donation from the Log Cabin Republicansback in his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Here are a few excerpts fromRomney's Aug. 25, 1994 interview with Bay Windows.
On how he feels about gays and lesbians:
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/12/120606iraq.htm
Death Squads Rounding Up Baghdad Gays British Rights Monitor Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 6, 2006 5:00 pm ET
(London) The situation for gays in Iraq continues to worsen the British LGBTrights group Outrage, which has has been supporting an underground gay groupin Baghdad, said Wednesday.
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police in Baghdad on9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then, Outrage said. It isfeared they may have been murdered by death squads operating under the coverof the Iraqi police.
The men, ranging in age from 19 to 27 were identified only by their firstnames - Amjad, Rafid, Hassan, Ayman and Ali. All were members of Iraq'sclandestine gay rights movement, Iraqi LGBT.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_wst_education_board.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 ·
Last updated 6:41 p.m. PT
Education board sworn in, includes transgender member
By BRIAN CHARLTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HONOLULU -- Five new state Board of Education members were sworn in onWednesday, including a civil rights lawyer believed to be thehighest-ranking elected transgender official in the country.
Kim Coco Iwamoto, Eileen Clarke, Mary Cochran, Donna Ikeda and JohnPenebacker officially joined the 14-member board, which governs the islands'285 public schools with more than 180,000 students.
None of the new board members spoke at the ceremony in the State SupremeCourt chambers.
But Iwamoto, 38, said, when asked about her achievement, "I've never triedto obtain any highest position. I've always just tried to be the best atwhat I do."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2931/
Outing is In Again
Did Bill Maher break the Barney Frank Rule?
By John Ireland
Over the past year, gay sex scandals have rocked right-wing political andreligious circles in the United States. Jim West (mayor of Spokane, Wash.),Mark Foley (congressman from Florida), and the Rev. Ted Haggard (presidentof the National Association of Evangelicals) all learned the sting of apublic flogging. The first two men were "outed" when their homosexualorientation was involuntarily exposed publicly by investigative journalists,while Haggard was outed by a gay male escort who claimed to have had sexwith him. Historically, the press has been hesitant to give a voice toallegations of hypocrisy if they relate to hidden homosexuality, but thetide is beginning to turn, if only slightly.
On Nov. 8, comedian Bill Maher appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" and toldthe world that Ken Mehlman, head of the Republican National Committee, isgay. Here is what transpired:
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http://www.pinkpaper.com/pinkpaper/story.asp?aid=350
From the Pink Paper UK - December 5, 2006
Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint
BY Tris Reid-Smith
Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may havebeen murdered.
Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secretmeeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November.
They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim whoheads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights groupOutrage.
Hili said: "For the last few months they had been documenting the killing oflesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our officein London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the deathsquads.
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Five gay activists kidnapped in Baghdad
Gay fashion store owner disappears
Two lesbians and child murdered in Najaf
Four barbers abducted from shop popular with gays
Fundamentalist death squads target queers
London and Baghdad - 6 December 2006
Five gay activists were abducted at gun-point by Iraqi police inBaghdad on 9 November. Nothing has been heard of them since then. Itis feared they may have been murdered by death squads operating underthe cover of the Iraqi police.
The kidnapped men are Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali21. All were members of Iraq's clandestine gay rights movement, IraqiLGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=2E15F3006AD24375B2841C493AB68A17
Issue Date: 12/07/2006, Posted On: 12/6/2006
Romney is a big fat liar
Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com
The fact that there's intense interest in a letter Mitt Romney wrote to theMassachusetts Log Cabin Club 12 years ago in which he pledged to be a moreardent advocate for gay rights than U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy isn't a surprise.(See "Follow That Trail," page 15.) Romney is an all-but-declared candidatefor president who's staked his candidacy on social conservatism. Any hint ofhypocrisy on Romney's part with regard to LGBT issues is of great use forpolitical reporters, GOP primary opponents and LGBT activists alike. What issurprising, though, is the depth of Romney's hypocrisy.
In 1994, when Romney was running for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy, heengaged in a lengthy interview with Bay Windows during which he discussedhis views on employment nondiscrimination legislation, the military's "Don'tAsk, Don't Tell" policy - and civil marriage rights for same-sex couples(see "Mitt's secret gay history II," page 10). The interview was publishedAug. 25, 1994. His views on gay issues in 1994 are largely at odds with hisstated views today.
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The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701440_pf.html
It's a Cheney!
Reality Is a Blessed Event
By Ruth Marcus
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
My only regret about Mary Cheney's pregnancy is that it didn't happenearlier -- say, during the 2004 presidential race, when Cheney was workingfor her father's campaign and his running mate was busy trying to writediscrimination against people like her into the Constitution.
Imagine a hugely pregnant Mary Cheney sitting in the vice president's box atthe convention. Imagine Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, cuddling theirnewborn onstage at the victory celebration.
How perfectly that would have illustrated the clanging disconnect betweenthe Republican Party's outmoded intolerance and the benign reality of gayfamilies today.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 08, 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.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=REE20061119&articleId=3915
Al-Jazeera and the Truth
By Charley Reese
Global Research, November 19, 2006
Antiwar.com
Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hatesso passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, ofcourse, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willingto carry it.
The British Broadcasting Corp. had a man watch the first day's broadcast(it's being distributed in Europe) and gave it a rave review: accurate, butgrim.
Since American politicians have involved us so deeply in the Middle East,the American public is entitled to see the truth of what's going on overthere. The public can't get that from American television, which sanitizesits reports. Al-Jazeera shows you the grim reality. When the Israelis killchildren, they show you the bodies and the weeping mothers. They show youall the ugly truth about Israeli and American policies and actions in theMiddle East. They show you what war looks like.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/12/06/1207metuga.html?imw=Y
Christian fraternity sues UGA
By BY ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/07/06
A Christian fraternity filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against theUniversity of Georgia and the Board of Regents Wednesday, claiming UGArefuses to recognize the organization because it requires all its membersand officers to be Christians.
University officials have held the fraternity's membership rules violateUGA's non-discrimination policies for student groups.
Lawyers with the national Christian Legal Society and the Alliance DefenseFund, the same group that filed a discrimination suit against Georgia Techin the spring, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Athens Wednesday onbehalf of Beta Upsilon Chi, which goes by the Greek letters BYX.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2006/12/report_notes_bu.html
Report notes Bush's complete failure in Iraq
December 6, 2006 8:19 PM | Bush Leagues
By ANNE GEARAN
President Bush's war policies have failed in almost every regard, thebipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded Wednesday, and it warned of dwindlingchances to change course before crisis turns to chaos.
Nearly four years, $400 billion and more than 2,900 U.S. deaths into adeeply unpopular war, violence is bad and getting worse, there is noguarantee of success and the consequences of failure are great, the panel offive Republicans and five Democrats said in a bleak accounting of U.S. andIraqi shortcomings. The implications, they warned, are dire for terrorism,war in the Middle East and higher oil prices around the world.
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Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17867
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Using Bees to Detect Bombs
Honeybees might one day join the front line of national security.
By Stephen Ornes
Last week, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico,buzzed with the results of a rigorous study on sophisticated bomb detectors.Their research suggests that bees can be used to identify volatile compoundslike TATP, the primary charge associated with last summer's terrorist plot.Highly reliable and precise, these next-wave detectors are cheap to produceand easy to train.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/12/07/news/politics/doc457331e818acc394994756.prt
Breyer: Courts should look after minorities' political rights
BY HOPE YEN / Lincoln Journal Star
Sunday, Dec 03, 2006 - 10:12:23 pm CST
WASHINGTON - Justice Stephen G. Breyer says the Supreme Court must promotethe political rights of minorities and look beyond the Constitution's textwhen necessary to ensure that "no one gets too powerful."
Breyer, a Clinton appointee who has brokered many of the high court's 5-4rulings, spoke in a televised interview that aired one day before justiceshear a key case on race in schools. He said judges must consider thepractical impact of a decision to ensure democratic participation.
"We're the boundary patrol," Breyer said, reiterating themes in his 2005book that argue in favor of race preferences in university admissionsbecause they would lead to diverse workplaces and leadership.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601221_pf.html
Stevens: Flag Burning Change Not Needed
By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 2:58 PM
WASHINGTON -- Justice John Paul Stevens twice voted to outlaw burning theU.S. flag, in memorable dissents that emphasized the flag's great symbolicvalue. Now, however, the 86-year-old justice says there is no need to amendthe Constitution to protect Old Glory.
In 5-4 decisions in 1989 and 1990, the Supreme Court held that burning theflag is protected by the First Amendment.
"Ironically, those decisions seem to have solved the problem because no oneburns flags anymore," Stevens said in a speech to the Chicago BarAssociation in September. The justice's speech was recently aired on C-SPAN.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/163809,CST-NWS-cit07.articleprint
Citizen test worries immigrants: 'Why make it even harder?'
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/163809,CST-NWS-cit07.article)
December 7, 2006
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Staff Reporter
The tangle of red tape on the path to U.S. citizenship soon will be evenstickier due to pending changes to the naturalization process.
A lengthier test with more thorough questions, along with electronic filingrequirements and increased fees, are in the works for 2008, pending theresults of a pilot program in 10 cities that will analyze new test questionsand procedures.
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Forwarded from Rusty Gordon and Davy Whims
The Whimsy Loops
twpchwpb@BellSouth.Net
www.theledger.com
THE LEDGER
December 6, 2006
The High Cost Of Electioneering
In Illinois, two candidates spent a combined $3 million in an effort to getelected. In Georgia, spending for the same type of office hit a new recordof more than $1.1 million.
But these weren't congressional or gubernatorial races.
Nor were they even common hotly contested legislative seats.
They were for judgeships.
Big money from out-of-state special-interest groups have come to judicialpolitics. Those sleepy, low-profile elections aren't sleepy-and-low-profileany more.
The voters are worse off for it.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701438_pf.html
Bush Listened, but Did He Hear?
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
I've been in this business long enough to recognize journalism when I seeit. The first tip-off was the way the canny old pros in the Iraq Study Group(not one of whom I'd play poker with for money) studded their report's briefexecutive summary with explosive phrases -- a "grave and deteriorating"situation, a looming "humanitarian catastrophe," withdrawal of combat troopsby "the first quarter of 2008." As an old editor once told me, hit thereaders hard at the top of the story before they yawn and turn the page.
It turns out that James Baker, Lee Hamilton and the other members of thegroup didn't have to worry about holding readers' attention. The 96-pagemain report -- an attempt to find a way for George W. Bush to get us out ofhis Iraq debacle without provoking World War III -- is full of solidreporting and analysis, with surprises along the way that make your jawdrop.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08fri3.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Editorial
Blood, Toil, Tears and Nukes
When Tony Blair asked Parliament this week to approve a new generation ofnuclear-armed submarines, he was asking the lawmakers to reaffirm Britain asa nuclear power far into the 21st century.
The prime minister argued that Britain needs its nuclear weapons to deternew threats from terrorists and rogue states. But we suspect that what isreally driving Mr. Blair and his military planners is concern about oldthreats: the thousands of nuclear weapons still in Russia's arsenal and thehundreds in China's. The fact that France is holding on to its nukes - andits seat at the table of "world powers" - is likely encouraging him as well.
Frankly, we would like to see more from Mr. Blair, who has shown a flair fordefining new-think issues, as he did with his government's global-warmingreport and its call to reduce poverty.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08krugman.html
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
They Told You So
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Shortly after U.S. forces marched into Baghdad in 2003, The Weekly Standardpublished a jeering article titled, "The Cassandra Chronicles: The stupidityof the antiwar doomsayers." Among those the article mocked was a "warnovelist" named James Webb, who is now the senator-elect from Virginia.
The article's title was more revealing than its authors knew. People forgetthe nature of Cassandra's curse: although nobody would believe her, all herprophecies came true.
And so it was with those who warned against invading Iraq. At best, theywere ignored. A recent article in The Washington Post ruefully conceded thatthe paper's account of the debate in the House of Representatives over theresolution authorizing the Iraq war - a resolution opposed by a majority ofthe Democrats - gave no coverage at all to those antiwar arguments that nowseem prescient.
At worst, those who were skeptical about the case for war had theirpatriotism and/or their sanity questioned. The New Republic now says that it"deeply regrets its early support for this war." Does it also deeply regretaccusing those who opposed rushing into war of "abject pacifism?"
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08friedman.html
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Set a Date and Buy Some Leverage
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The brutally honest Baker-Hamilton assessment of the Iraq morass impliesthat we need to leave Iraq if the factions there don't get their acttogether, but it also urges a last-ditch effort to enlist the help of Syriaand Iran to salvage something decent. Both are good suggestions, but theywill only have a chance of being effective if we go one notch further andset a fixed date - now - for America to leave Iraq.
The only hope of moving the factions inside Iraq, not to mention Syria andIran, toward reconciliation is if we have leverage over them, which we nowlack. The currency of Middle East politics is pain. And right now, all thepain is being inflicted on us and on Iraqi civilians. Only if we tell allthe players that we are leaving might we create a different balance of painand therefore some hope for a diplomatic deal. Trying to do diplomacywithout the threat of pain is like trying to play baseball without a bat.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08pollack.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Don't Count on Iran to Pick Up the Pieces
By KENNETH M. POLLACK
Washington
AS anticipated, the Iraq Study Group has recommended that the United Statesbegin talks with Iran to solicit its assistance in stabilizing Iraq. Thisrecommendation seems so sensible that the Bush administration's pastreluctance to follow it is hard to fathom. Still, administration officialsare right to counter that talking to Iran is not a policy, let alone asolution to our problems in Iraq.
The real questions are these: What do we say to the Iranians if we can getthem to the table? What can they do in Iraq? What would they be willing todo in Iraq? And what will they want in return?
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701439_pf.html
That Murder in London
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, renegade Russian spy and fiercecritic of Vladimir Putin's government, is everywhere being called a mystery.There is dark speculation about unnamed "rogue elements" either in theRussian secret services or among ultranationalists acting independently ofthe government. There are whispers about the indeterminacy of things in theshadowy netherworld of Russian exile politics, crime and espionage.
Well, you can believe in indeterminacy. Or you can believe the testimonydelivered on the only reliable lie detector ever invented -- the deathbed --by the victim himself. Litvinenko directly accused Putin of killing him.
Litvinenko knew more about his circumstances than anyone else. And on theirdeathbeds, people don't lie. As Machiavelli said (some attribute this toVoltaire), after thrice refusing the entreaties of a priest to repent hissins and renounce Satan, "At a time like this, Father, one tries not to makenew enemies."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/world/middleeast/08prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Bush Backs Away From 2 Key Ideas of Panel on Iraq
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and KATE ZERNIKE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - President Bush moved quickly to distance himself onThursday from the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq StudyGroup, even as the panel's co-chairmen opened an intensive lobbying efforton Capitol Hill to press Mr. Bush to adopt their report wholesale.
One day after the study group rattled Washington with its bleak assessmentof conditions in Iraq, its Republican co-chairman, James A. Baker III, saidthe White House must not treat the report "like a fruit salad," while theDemocratic co-chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, called on Congress to abandon its"extremely timid" approach to overseeing the war.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/world/middleeast/08diplo.html?ei=5094&en=a5150650f3246c14&hp=&ex=1165640400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
News Analysis
Dueling Views on Diplomacy Pit Baker Against Rice
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - Many of the blistering critiques of the Bushadministration contained in the Iraq Study Group's report boil down to this:the differing worldviews of Baker versus Rice.
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III was the architect of the "newdiplomatic offensive" in the Middle East that the commission recommendedWednesday as one of its main prescriptions for extracting the country fromthe mess in Iraq. Ever since, he has been talking on television, to Congressand to Iraqis and foreign diplomats about how he would conduct Americanforeign policy differently. Very differently.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701437_pf.html
An Ideal In Need Of Rescue
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
One of the many disastrous consequences of President Bush's botched policyin Iraq is that it has given the promotion of democracy a bad name.
If the report of the Iraq Study Group is nothing else, it is a devastatingdeclaration that the administration's approach is an abject failure and thatthe United States needs to scale back its goals. Grand dreams of Iraqidemocracy and a transformed Middle East are out. The best we can hope fornow is an Iraq that can "govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself."
Cleverly, the report cited those words because they were spoken by Bushhimself in one of his least expansive descriptions of the mission. Thepresident is now stuck with a minimalist definition of what can beaccomplished in Iraq, because everything he has done since 2003 has madebroader achievement impossible.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601670_pf.html
Go Long? Go Big? Go Back To Congress
By Michael J. Glennon
Thursday, December 7, 2006; A31
With President Bush apparently inclined to accept some of therecommendations released by the Iraq Study Group yesterday and rejectothers, there's an important consideration to keep in mind. Although it'swidely assumed that the president alone is empowered to decide what militaryoption the United States should pursue in Iraq, that is not the case.Congress did not, as many believe, write the president a blank check in 2002with regard to the use of force in Iraq. It still has a lot to say on thesubject.
Since its earliest days, the Supreme Court has recognized a president'sobligation to respect congressional restrictions when Congress hasauthorized "imperfect war" -- a war fought for limited purposes. In animperfect war, Justice Bushrod Washington said in Bas v. Tingy (1800), those"who are authorized to commit hostilities . . . can go no farther than tothe extent of their commission."
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The Fort Report
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4387915.html
Dec. 8, 2006, 2:12AM
Frist leaves politics behind to return to medicine
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Their farewell hug was awkward at best.
When Democratic leader Harry Reid held open his arms to the man he battledand will replace, retiring Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Tennessee doctorhesitated before returning the embrace.
Loosely.
Frist, serving the last days of a self-imposed two-term limit, held theSenate itself at a bit of a distance during four years as majority leader.The Tennessee Republican made no secret of the fact that his firstoccupational love was heart transplant surgery and practicing medicine ingeneral - fields in which he had already made a name before defeatingDemocratic Sen. Jim Sasser in 1994.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16189834.htm
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Guantanamo detainees going to new prison
MICHAEL MELIA
Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The U.S. military transferred the firstgroup of detainees on Thursday to a new maximum-security prison atGuantanamo Bay designed to restrict contact among the prisoners and preventattacks on guards.
More than 40 detainees were brought to the $37 million prison perched on aplateau overlooking the Caribbean Sea from another maximum-security facilityat the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand.
The 178-cell prison, constructed beside another maximum-security prisonbuilt in 2004, will allow the base to phase out an older facility, Durandsaid.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701979_pf.html
Ex-Detainees Seek to Sue U.S. Officials
9 Former Prisoners Want Rumsfeld and Others Held Responsible for Torture
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 8, 2006; A10
In a federal courtroom today, nine former prisoners at U.S. military prisonsin Iraq and Afghanistan will seek through an unusual lawsuit to holdoutgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and top military commanderspersonally responsible for the torture they say they endured.
Rumsfeld's lawyers will argue that he cannot be held legally responsiblebecause anything he may have done -- including authorizing harshinterrogations at the Abu Ghraib and Bagram detention facilities -- waswithin the scope of his job as defense secretary to combat terrorists andprevent future attacks.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=WfZrHSgpRyRpfnxNjsf2dCk3cH2gfXn2
Campus Speech Codes Often Violate Constitutional Rights, Watchdog Group Says
By SARA LIPKA
Most college and university speech codes would not survive a legalchallenge, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Foundation forIndividual Rights in Education, a watchdog group for free speech oncampuses.
The group examined publicly available policies at more than 300institutions -- those highly ranked in U.S. News & World Report, as well asother big public universities -- and concluded that 93 percent of themprohibit speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
####
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=REE20061119&articleId=3915
Al-Jazeera and the Truth
By Charley Reese
Global Research, November 19, 2006
Antiwar.com
Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hatesso passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, ofcourse, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willingto carry it.
The British Broadcasting Corp. had a man watch the first day's broadcast(it's being distributed in Europe) and gave it a rave review: accurate, butgrim.
Since American politicians have involved us so deeply in the Middle East,the American public is entitled to see the truth of what's going on overthere. The public can't get that from American television, which sanitizesits reports. Al-Jazeera shows you the grim reality. When the Israelis killchildren, they show you the bodies and the weeping mothers. They show youall the ugly truth about Israeli and American policies and actions in theMiddle East. They show you what war looks like.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/12/06/1207metuga.html?imw=Y
Christian fraternity sues UGA
By BY ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/07/06
A Christian fraternity filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against theUniversity of Georgia and the Board of Regents Wednesday, claiming UGArefuses to recognize the organization because it requires all its membersand officers to be Christians.
University officials have held the fraternity's membership rules violateUGA's non-discrimination policies for student groups.
Lawyers with the national Christian Legal Society and the Alliance DefenseFund, the same group that filed a discrimination suit against Georgia Techin the spring, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Athens Wednesday onbehalf of Beta Upsilon Chi, which goes by the Greek letters BYX.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2006/12/report_notes_bu.html
Report notes Bush's complete failure in Iraq
December 6, 2006 8:19 PM | Bush Leagues
By ANNE GEARAN
President Bush's war policies have failed in almost every regard, thebipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded Wednesday, and it warned of dwindlingchances to change course before crisis turns to chaos.
Nearly four years, $400 billion and more than 2,900 U.S. deaths into adeeply unpopular war, violence is bad and getting worse, there is noguarantee of success and the consequences of failure are great, the panel offive Republicans and five Democrats said in a bleak accounting of U.S. andIraqi shortcomings. The implications, they warned, are dire for terrorism,war in the Middle East and higher oil prices around the world.
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Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17867
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Using Bees to Detect Bombs
Honeybees might one day join the front line of national security.
By Stephen Ornes
Last week, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico,buzzed with the results of a rigorous study on sophisticated bomb detectors.Their research suggests that bees can be used to identify volatile compoundslike TATP, the primary charge associated with last summer's terrorist plot.Highly reliable and precise, these next-wave detectors are cheap to produceand easy to train.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/12/07/news/politics/doc457331e818acc394994756.prt
Breyer: Courts should look after minorities' political rights
BY HOPE YEN / Lincoln Journal Star
Sunday, Dec 03, 2006 - 10:12:23 pm CST
WASHINGTON - Justice Stephen G. Breyer says the Supreme Court must promotethe political rights of minorities and look beyond the Constitution's textwhen necessary to ensure that "no one gets too powerful."
Breyer, a Clinton appointee who has brokered many of the high court's 5-4rulings, spoke in a televised interview that aired one day before justiceshear a key case on race in schools. He said judges must consider thepractical impact of a decision to ensure democratic participation.
"We're the boundary patrol," Breyer said, reiterating themes in his 2005book that argue in favor of race preferences in university admissionsbecause they would lead to diverse workplaces and leadership.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601221_pf.html
Stevens: Flag Burning Change Not Needed
By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 2:58 PM
WASHINGTON -- Justice John Paul Stevens twice voted to outlaw burning theU.S. flag, in memorable dissents that emphasized the flag's great symbolicvalue. Now, however, the 86-year-old justice says there is no need to amendthe Constitution to protect Old Glory.
In 5-4 decisions in 1989 and 1990, the Supreme Court held that burning theflag is protected by the First Amendment.
"Ironically, those decisions seem to have solved the problem because no oneburns flags anymore," Stevens said in a speech to the Chicago BarAssociation in September. The justice's speech was recently aired on C-SPAN.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/163809,CST-NWS-cit07.articleprint
Citizen test worries immigrants: 'Why make it even harder?'
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/163809,CST-NWS-cit07.article)
December 7, 2006
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Staff Reporter
The tangle of red tape on the path to U.S. citizenship soon will be evenstickier due to pending changes to the naturalization process.
A lengthier test with more thorough questions, along with electronic filingrequirements and increased fees, are in the works for 2008, pending theresults of a pilot program in 10 cities that will analyze new test questionsand procedures.
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Forwarded from Rusty Gordon and Davy Whims
The Whimsy Loops
twpchwpb@BellSouth.Net
www.theledger.com
THE LEDGER
December 6, 2006
The High Cost Of Electioneering
In Illinois, two candidates spent a combined $3 million in an effort to getelected. In Georgia, spending for the same type of office hit a new recordof more than $1.1 million.
But these weren't congressional or gubernatorial races.
Nor were they even common hotly contested legislative seats.
They were for judgeships.
Big money from out-of-state special-interest groups have come to judicialpolitics. Those sleepy, low-profile elections aren't sleepy-and-low-profileany more.
The voters are worse off for it.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701438_pf.html
Bush Listened, but Did He Hear?
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
I've been in this business long enough to recognize journalism when I seeit. The first tip-off was the way the canny old pros in the Iraq Study Group(not one of whom I'd play poker with for money) studded their report's briefexecutive summary with explosive phrases -- a "grave and deteriorating"situation, a looming "humanitarian catastrophe," withdrawal of combat troopsby "the first quarter of 2008." As an old editor once told me, hit thereaders hard at the top of the story before they yawn and turn the page.
It turns out that James Baker, Lee Hamilton and the other members of thegroup didn't have to worry about holding readers' attention. The 96-pagemain report -- an attempt to find a way for George W. Bush to get us out ofhis Iraq debacle without provoking World War III -- is full of solidreporting and analysis, with surprises along the way that make your jawdrop.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08fri3.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Editorial
Blood, Toil, Tears and Nukes
When Tony Blair asked Parliament this week to approve a new generation ofnuclear-armed submarines, he was asking the lawmakers to reaffirm Britain asa nuclear power far into the 21st century.
The prime minister argued that Britain needs its nuclear weapons to deternew threats from terrorists and rogue states. But we suspect that what isreally driving Mr. Blair and his military planners is concern about oldthreats: the thousands of nuclear weapons still in Russia's arsenal and thehundreds in China's. The fact that France is holding on to its nukes - andits seat at the table of "world powers" - is likely encouraging him as well.
Frankly, we would like to see more from Mr. Blair, who has shown a flair fordefining new-think issues, as he did with his government's global-warmingreport and its call to reduce poverty.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08krugman.html
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
They Told You So
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Shortly after U.S. forces marched into Baghdad in 2003, The Weekly Standardpublished a jeering article titled, "The Cassandra Chronicles: The stupidityof the antiwar doomsayers." Among those the article mocked was a "warnovelist" named James Webb, who is now the senator-elect from Virginia.
The article's title was more revealing than its authors knew. People forgetthe nature of Cassandra's curse: although nobody would believe her, all herprophecies came true.
And so it was with those who warned against invading Iraq. At best, theywere ignored. A recent article in The Washington Post ruefully conceded thatthe paper's account of the debate in the House of Representatives over theresolution authorizing the Iraq war - a resolution opposed by a majority ofthe Democrats - gave no coverage at all to those antiwar arguments that nowseem prescient.
At worst, those who were skeptical about the case for war had theirpatriotism and/or their sanity questioned. The New Republic now says that it"deeply regrets its early support for this war." Does it also deeply regretaccusing those who opposed rushing into war of "abject pacifism?"
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08friedman.html
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Set a Date and Buy Some Leverage
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The brutally honest Baker-Hamilton assessment of the Iraq morass impliesthat we need to leave Iraq if the factions there don't get their acttogether, but it also urges a last-ditch effort to enlist the help of Syriaand Iran to salvage something decent. Both are good suggestions, but theywill only have a chance of being effective if we go one notch further andset a fixed date - now - for America to leave Iraq.
The only hope of moving the factions inside Iraq, not to mention Syria andIran, toward reconciliation is if we have leverage over them, which we nowlack. The currency of Middle East politics is pain. And right now, all thepain is being inflicted on us and on Iraqi civilians. Only if we tell allthe players that we are leaving might we create a different balance of painand therefore some hope for a diplomatic deal. Trying to do diplomacywithout the threat of pain is like trying to play baseball without a bat.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08pollack.html?pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Don't Count on Iran to Pick Up the Pieces
By KENNETH M. POLLACK
Washington
AS anticipated, the Iraq Study Group has recommended that the United Statesbegin talks with Iran to solicit its assistance in stabilizing Iraq. Thisrecommendation seems so sensible that the Bush administration's pastreluctance to follow it is hard to fathom. Still, administration officialsare right to counter that talking to Iran is not a policy, let alone asolution to our problems in Iraq.
The real questions are these: What do we say to the Iranians if we can getthem to the table? What can they do in Iraq? What would they be willing todo in Iraq? And what will they want in return?
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701439_pf.html
That Murder in London
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, renegade Russian spy and fiercecritic of Vladimir Putin's government, is everywhere being called a mystery.There is dark speculation about unnamed "rogue elements" either in theRussian secret services or among ultranationalists acting independently ofthe government. There are whispers about the indeterminacy of things in theshadowy netherworld of Russian exile politics, crime and espionage.
Well, you can believe in indeterminacy. Or you can believe the testimonydelivered on the only reliable lie detector ever invented -- the deathbed --by the victim himself. Litvinenko directly accused Putin of killing him.
Litvinenko knew more about his circumstances than anyone else. And on theirdeathbeds, people don't lie. As Machiavelli said (some attribute this toVoltaire), after thrice refusing the entreaties of a priest to repent hissins and renounce Satan, "At a time like this, Father, one tries not to makenew enemies."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/world/middleeast/08prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
Bush Backs Away From 2 Key Ideas of Panel on Iraq
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and KATE ZERNIKE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - President Bush moved quickly to distance himself onThursday from the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq StudyGroup, even as the panel's co-chairmen opened an intensive lobbying efforton Capitol Hill to press Mr. Bush to adopt their report wholesale.
One day after the study group rattled Washington with its bleak assessmentof conditions in Iraq, its Republican co-chairman, James A. Baker III, saidthe White House must not treat the report "like a fruit salad," while theDemocratic co-chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, called on Congress to abandon its"extremely timid" approach to overseeing the war.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/world/middleeast/08diplo.html?ei=5094&en=a5150650f3246c14&hp=&ex=1165640400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 8, 2006
News Analysis
Dueling Views on Diplomacy Pit Baker Against Rice
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - Many of the blistering critiques of the Bushadministration contained in the Iraq Study Group's report boil down to this:the differing worldviews of Baker versus Rice.
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III was the architect of the "newdiplomatic offensive" in the Middle East that the commission recommendedWednesday as one of its main prescriptions for extracting the country fromthe mess in Iraq. Ever since, he has been talking on television, to Congressand to Iraqis and foreign diplomats about how he would conduct Americanforeign policy differently. Very differently.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701437_pf.html
An Ideal In Need Of Rescue
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, December 8, 2006; A39
One of the many disastrous consequences of President Bush's botched policyin Iraq is that it has given the promotion of democracy a bad name.
If the report of the Iraq Study Group is nothing else, it is a devastatingdeclaration that the administration's approach is an abject failure and thatthe United States needs to scale back its goals. Grand dreams of Iraqidemocracy and a transformed Middle East are out. The best we can hope fornow is an Iraq that can "govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself."
Cleverly, the report cited those words because they were spoken by Bushhimself in one of his least expansive descriptions of the mission. Thepresident is now stuck with a minimalist definition of what can beaccomplished in Iraq, because everything he has done since 2003 has madebroader achievement impossible.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601670_pf.html
Go Long? Go Big? Go Back To Congress
By Michael J. Glennon
Thursday, December 7, 2006; A31
With President Bush apparently inclined to accept some of therecommendations released by the Iraq Study Group yesterday and rejectothers, there's an important consideration to keep in mind. Although it'swidely assumed that the president alone is empowered to decide what militaryoption the United States should pursue in Iraq, that is not the case.Congress did not, as many believe, write the president a blank check in 2002with regard to the use of force in Iraq. It still has a lot to say on thesubject.
Since its earliest days, the Supreme Court has recognized a president'sobligation to respect congressional restrictions when Congress hasauthorized "imperfect war" -- a war fought for limited purposes. In animperfect war, Justice Bushrod Washington said in Bas v. Tingy (1800), those"who are authorized to commit hostilities . . . can go no farther than tothe extent of their commission."
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The Fort Report
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4387915.html
Dec. 8, 2006, 2:12AM
Frist leaves politics behind to return to medicine
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Their farewell hug was awkward at best.
When Democratic leader Harry Reid held open his arms to the man he battledand will replace, retiring Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Tennessee doctorhesitated before returning the embrace.
Loosely.
Frist, serving the last days of a self-imposed two-term limit, held theSenate itself at a bit of a distance during four years as majority leader.The Tennessee Republican made no secret of the fact that his firstoccupational love was heart transplant surgery and practicing medicine ingeneral - fields in which he had already made a name before defeatingDemocratic Sen. Jim Sasser in 1994.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16189834.htm
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006
Guantanamo detainees going to new prison
MICHAEL MELIA
Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The U.S. military transferred the firstgroup of detainees on Thursday to a new maximum-security prison atGuantanamo Bay designed to restrict contact among the prisoners and preventattacks on guards.
More than 40 detainees were brought to the $37 million prison perched on aplateau overlooking the Caribbean Sea from another maximum-security facilityat the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand.
The 178-cell prison, constructed beside another maximum-security prisonbuilt in 2004, will allow the base to phase out an older facility, Durandsaid.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701979_pf.html
Ex-Detainees Seek to Sue U.S. Officials
9 Former Prisoners Want Rumsfeld and Others Held Responsible for Torture
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 8, 2006; A10
In a federal courtroom today, nine former prisoners at U.S. military prisonsin Iraq and Afghanistan will seek through an unusual lawsuit to holdoutgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and top military commanderspersonally responsible for the torture they say they endured.
Rumsfeld's lawyers will argue that he cannot be held legally responsiblebecause anything he may have done -- including authorizing harshinterrogations at the Abu Ghraib and Bagram detention facilities -- waswithin the scope of his job as defense secretary to combat terrorists andprevent future attacks.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=WfZrHSgpRyRpfnxNjsf2dCk3cH2gfXn2
Campus Speech Codes Often Violate Constitutional Rights, Watchdog Group Says
By SARA LIPKA
Most college and university speech codes would not survive a legalchallenge, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Foundation forIndividual Rights in Education, a watchdog group for free speech oncampuses.
The group examined publicly available policies at more than 300institutions -- those highly ranked in U.S. News & World Report, as well asother big public universities -- and concluded that 93 percent of themprohibit speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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