**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/nyregion/16gay.html?adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1166267150-PX6J7ig64mgbibKd18r2SQ&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
In New Jersey, Gay Couples Ponder Nuances of Measure to Allow Civil Unions
By KAREEM FAHIM
HOBOKEN, N.J. Dec. 15 - Away from the loud political arguments over the NewJersey Legislature's vote to establish civil unions for same-sex couples,gays and lesbians across the state have begun to grapple with thepracticalities: What verb to use? Get unified?
After drinks at a bar here Thursday night, hours after the vote, RosannaDurruthy, 44, said she and her partner would soon start planning theceremony they had talked about for years. "This is great," said Ms.Durruthy, a Hoboken resident who has lived with her partner for nine years."Will we have the major event where we get the villa in Tuscany? We're stilldiscussing it." (She favors the Amalfi coast.)
Ms. Durruthy celebrated the news amid laughter and a long embrace with herold friend Bill Carter, 37, who lives in Texas with his partner. Mr. Carterwas happy for his friend and said he considered the law a collective leapforward, but added of his home state: "There are no rights there; sodomyjust came off the books."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501924_pf.html
Washington Archdiocese Settles Sex Suit
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A11
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said yesterday that it hasreached a $1.3 million settlement with 16 men who were sexually abused bypriests between 1962 and 1982.
Both the total dollar figure and the amount per victim -- an average ofabout $81,000 before legal fees -- are small compared with the sumsnegotiated by some other Catholic dioceses, particularly in California,where two recent settlements totaled $160 million and topped $1 million pervictim.
But the victims in the Washington archdiocese were in a weaker legalposition because all of their potential claims were beyond the statute oflimitations for civil lawsuits. In California, the legislature has allowedvictims of child sexual abuse to sue for damages no matter how long ago theabuse occurred.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-agay16dec16,0,423309.story
Bush views on gays and parenting unchanged
By James Gerstenzang
Los Angeles Times
December 16, 2006
WASHINGTON · Although he recently expressed confidence that Mary Cheney willmake a loving parent, President Bush continues to think it is best that achild is raised by a man and woman married to each other, the president'sspokesman said Friday.
The pregnancy of Vice President Dick Cheney's younger daughter, a lesbian,has reignited public discussion of gays becoming parents.
Some social conservatives, who strongly support Bush and the vice presidenton most issues, greeted the news of Mary Cheney's pregnancy with dismay,arguing that it undermined efforts to emphasize the primacy of thetraditional family unit.
Commenting on the controversy, Bush last week told People magazine that MaryCheney would be "a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy for her."
Pressed on whether his remark contradicted views he previously expressedthat being raised by gays falls short of an ideal situation for a child, heavoided a direct response.
=
Forwarded from Ron Mills:
http://Politalk1.blogspot.com
Below is an excerpt of a longer article found at
http://www.washblad e.com/2006/ 12-15/news/ national/ enda.cfm
Top 10 gay bills in Congress
Gay-supportive members of Congress have introduced these bills at therequest of gay rights or AIDS advocacy groups in recent years. All of themhave died in committee after Republican leaders in the House and Senaterefused to bring them up for a vote. The new Democratic-controll ed Congressis expected to be more sympathetic toward the 10 bills, but Democraticleaders chose not to place any of them on their agenda for their first 100days in office.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act: Calls for banning private sectoremployment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act: Calls for giving the federalgovernment authority to prosecute hate crimes based on a victim's sexualorientation, gender identity or disability.
Military Readiness Enhancement Act: Calls for repealing the U.S. military's"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy so that gay male, lesbian and bisexual troopswould be allowed to serve openly.
=
Forwarded from Ron Mills:
http://Politalk1.blogspot.com
WSJ/ABC NEWS POLL REVEALS SHIFTING ATTITUDES ON "NON-TRADITIONAL" PRES
CANDIDATES
In a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll,eight in 10 Americans would be"comfortable" or "enthusiastic" about an African-American or woman runningfor president.
More Americans express doubts about a candidate who served in Bush's cabinet(59%) than one who is gay or lesbian (53%). check page 19 of the polleven Evangelicals did worse than a Gay Candidate
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, December 16, 2006
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 16, 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.
=
Diplomat's Suppressed Document Lays Bare the Lies Behind Iraq War
By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
The Independent UK
Friday 15 December 2006
The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart bythe publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied overSaddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
A devastating attack on Mr Blair's justification for military action byCarne Ross, Britain's key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wrapsuntil now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching theOfficial Secrets Act.
In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiateseveral UN security resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair musthave known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He saidthat during his posting to the UN, "at no time did HMG [Her Majesty'sGovernment] assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threatto the UK or its interests."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16gitmo.html?_r=2&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Military Taking a Tougher Line With Detainees
By TIM GOLDEN
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 10 - As the first detainees began moving lastweek into Guantánamo's modern, new detention facility, Camp 6, the militaryguard commander stood beneath the high, concrete walls of the compound,looking out on a fenced-in athletic yard.
The yard, where the detainees were to have played soccer and other sports,had been part of a plan to ease the conditions under which more than 400 menare imprisoned here, nearly all of them without having been charged. Butthat plan has changed.
"At this point, I just don't see using that," the guard commander, Col. WadeF. Dennis, said.
After two years in which the military sought to manage terrorism suspects atGuantánamo with incentives for good behavior, steady improvements in theirliving conditions and even dialogue with prison leaders, the authoritieshere have clamped down decisively in recent months.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ei=5094&en=827b1e56899bd0e8&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
On the Brink
In Raising the World's I.Q., the Secret's in the Salt
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Valentina Sivryukova knew her public service messageswere hitting the mark when she heard how one Kazakh schoolboy called anotherstupid. "What are you," he sneered, "iodine-deficient or something?"
Ms. Sivryukova, president of the national confederation of Kazakh charities,was delighted. It meant that the years spent trying to raise publicawareness that iodized salt prevents brain damage in infants were working.If the campaign bore fruit, Kazakhstan's national I.Q. would be safeguarded.
In fact, Kazakhstan has become an example of how even a vast andstill-developing nation like this Central Asian country can achieve aremarkable public health success. In 1999, only 29 percent of its householdswere using iodized salt. Now, 94 percent are. Next year, the United Nationsis expected to certify it officially free of iodine deficiency disorders.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/world/europe/16austria.html?ei=5094&en=0460e1224098d5b0&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Global Warming Poses Threat to Ski Resorts in the Alps
By MARK LANDLER
KITZBÜHEL, Austria, Dec. 15 - How balmy has it been in the Alps these lastfew months? At the bottom of the Hahnenkamm, the famously treacherousdownhill course in this Austrian ski resort, the slope peters out into agrassy field. And it's just 10 days before Christmas.
Snow cannons are showering clouds of white crystals over the slopes, but bymidmorning each day, the machines have to be turned off because the mercuryhas risen too far for the fake snow to stick.
"Of course I'm nervous about the snow, but what am I supposed to do?" saidSigne Kramheller-Reisch, as she walked in a field outside her family'shotel, wearing suede shoes and a resigned expression. "We have classicwinters and we have nonclassic winters."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16johnson.html?pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Senator Showing Weakness After Surgery
By KATE ZERNIKE and LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota was showingweakness on his right side on Friday after surgery to relieve bleeding inhis brain, his office said, and will remain in the hospital until theswelling in his brain goes down.
"The surgery was considered a success," the office said in a statement.
Surgeons removed the blood during a procedure late Wednesday and stabilizedthe bleeding, the statement said, relieving the pressure on the brain.
Mr. Johnson, 59, remains in the intensive care unit at George WashingtonUniversity Hospital in critical but stable condition.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/science/space/15comet.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Researchers Find Surprise in Makeup of a Comet
By WARREN E. LEARY
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Comets are not all made of interstellar dust and ice,but instead may contain material shot from the heart of the solar systemduring its tumultuous birth, scientists reported Thursday after examiningpristine particles of a comet that were brought back by the Stardustspacecraft.
The evidence suggests that comets did not form in isolation in the outerparts of the solar system as it coalesced from a swirling mass of primalmaterial, the researchers said. Instead, they said, some of the hot materialthat formed planets around the Sun seems to have spewed off into distantareas and become a component of distant comets.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121502044_pf.html
Testimony Helps Detail CIA's Post-9/11 ReachEuropeans Told of Plans for Abductions
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A01
MILAN -- A few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the CIA station chiefin Rome paid a visit to the head of Italy's military intelligence agency,Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, to float a proposal: Would the Italian secretservices help the CIA kidnap terrorism suspects and fly them out of thecountry?
The CIA man did not identify which targets he had in mind but was "expresslyreferring to the possibility of picking up a suspected terrorist in Italy,bringing him to an airport and sending him from there to a foreign country,"Battelli, now retired, recalled in a deposition.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501744_pf.html
Women Lose Ground in the New Iraq
Once They Were Encouraged to Study and Work; Now Life Is 'Just Like Being inJail'
By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A12
BAGHDAD -- Browsing the shelves of a cosmetics store in the Karrada shoppingdistrict, Zahra Khalid felt giddy at the sight of Alberto shampoo and MissRose eye shadow, blusher and powder.
Before leaving her house, she had covered her body in a billowing blackabaya and wrapped a black head scarf around her thick brown hair. She hadasked her brother to drive. She had done all the things that a woman livingin Baghdad is supposed to do these days to avoid drawing attention toherself.
It was the first time she had left home in two months.
"For a woman, it's just like being in jail," she said. "I can't goanywhere."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501680_pf.html
Incoming Chairmen Ready to Investigate
Democratic-Led Panels to Probe Administration's Actions in War andCounterterrorism
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A05
Incoming Democratic committee chairmen say they will hold a series ofhearings and investigations early next year to build the case for their callfor a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and for possible actionagainst defense contractors found to have wasted billions in federal funds.
The emerging plans to grill administration officials on the conduct of thewar are part of a pledge for more aggressive congressional oversight onissues such as prewar intelligence, prisoner treatment at Abu Ghraib andGuantanamo Bay, and the government's use of warrantless wiretaps.
Among the most eager incoming chairmen is Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), alawyer with a professor's demeanor and a prosecutor's doggedness. As head ofthe Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin, 72, will be his party's pointman on the Iraq war and on the Democrats' call to begin withdrawing troopsin the coming months.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501796_pf.html
Feinstein Criticizes DHS on Foreigner Exit Program
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A09
Supporters of the troubled US-VISIT program warned yesterday that thedecision to suspend a crucial part of the national security program launchedafter the 2001 attacks will leave the nation vulnerable to terrorism.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the government will be left with noway of knowing whether all visitors leave the country after theadministration decided to drop a plan to track departures at land bordersbecause of technical and cost problems.
Feinstein called the decision a "very serious failure" on top of multipledelays since the system was proposed in 1996.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501807_pf.html
Panel Seeks Consensus On U.S. Nuclear Arsenal
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A08
A prestigious Defense Department advisory panel has determined there is nonational agreement on what the nation needs in the way of nuclear weapons inthe post-Cold War period.
In a recently released declassified version of a report on U.S. nuclearcapabilities completed earlier this year, the Defense Science Board reportedthat its task force on the subject concluded "there is a need for a nationalconsensus on the nature and role of nuclear weapons, as well as a newapproach to sustaining a reliable, safe, secure and credible nuclearstockpile."
The task force found "most Americans agree that as long as actual orpotential adversaries possess or actively seek nuclear weapons or otherweapons of mass destruction, the United States must maintain a deterrent tocounter possible threats and support the nation's role as a global power andsecurity partner." Beyond that, however, it found "sharp differences."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501071_pf.html
The Curtain Is Drawn On the Rumsfeld Era
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A08
After a parade of military regalia and a 19-gun salute that echoed acrossthe Potomac, Donald H. Rumsfeld stepped down yesterday as secretary ofdefense, delivering a warning to those who contemplate "graceful exits fromthe agonies and . . . ugliness of combat."
Surrounded on the Pentagon mall by the architects of the Iraq war -- fromPresident Bush and Vice President Cheney to former deputy defense secretaryPaul D. Wolfowitz and former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith --Rumsfeld ended his six years in office with a forceful, even defiant, tone."Our country has taken on a bracing and difficult task. But let there be nodoubt: It is neither hopeless nor without purpose," he said.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501736_pf.html
Redirecting Christmas From North Pole to Bethlehem
By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service
Saturday, December 16, 2006; B09
Standing next to plastic figures of Mary, baby Jesus and Joseph, twoministers and three members of Congress took turns at a microphone thismonth to announce a new initiative called "Project Nativity."
"Our hope and prayer is that over the next three to four years, hundreds ofnativity scenes will begin to dot the landscape of America once again," saidthe Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. Hesaid he hoped the temporary nativity scene on a terrace of the Capitol wouldserve as a "template" for similar efforts.
His project, which encourages Christians to seek permits for nativity scenesin front of public buildings, is just one example of multiple efforts to"take Christmas back." In recent years, there have been rumors of a "War onChristmas" and actual skirmishes over the use of the word in the publicsquare and at the retail counter.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16253130.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
'Compassionate' Christian leaders fight for the religious right
TRAVIS REED
Associated Press
LONGWOOD, Fla. - The Rev. Joel Hunter thinks everyone should replace oldlight bulbs with energy-saving fluorescents, and he's passionate about jobtraining for the poor.
Those aren't revolutionary ideas until you consider the self-identifiedconservative is pastor of a suburban Orlando megachurch, and was untilrecently president-elect of the Christian Coalition.
Hunter, head of Northland, A Church Distributed, is among a handful ofincreasingly high-profile evangelical leaders preaching new politics. Theyare less fire and brimstone than compassion and concern, less interested inconservatism than what they call Jesus Christ's broader message, and utterlytired of partisan name-calling.
They could also be a new force in American politics.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/15/republican_sen_specter_plans_syria_trip?mode=PF
Republican Sen. Specter plans Syria trip
By Anne Plummer Flaherty, Associated Press Writer
December 15, 2006
WASHINGTON --Sen. Arlen Specter, a 26-year Senate Republican, said he willvisit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contendingthe situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to theplate and see what it can do.
Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a tripto the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria. The senator said heand other Republicans are concerned that the administration's policies inthe Middle East are not working and that other GOP members may follow in hisfootsteps.
"I've talked to my Republican colleagues, and there is a disquiet here,"Specter said.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/opinion/16dowd.html?pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Farewell, Dense Prince
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON
James Baker ran after W. with a butterfly net for a while, but it is nowclear that the inmates are still running the asylum.
The Defiant Ones came striding from the Pentagon yesterday, the troika ofwayward warriors marching abreast in their dark suits and power ties. W.,Rummy and Dick Cheney were so full of quick-draw confidence that they mighthave been sauntering down the main drag of Deadwood.
Far from being run out of town, the defense czar who rivals Robert McNamarafor deadly incompetence has been on a victory lap in Baghdad, Mosul andWashington. Yesterday's tribute had full military honors, a color guard, a19-gun salute, an Old Guard performance with marching musicians - includingpiccolo players - in Revolutionary War costumes, John Philip Sousa music andthe chuckleheaded neocons and ex-Rummy deputies who helped screw up theoccupation, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, cheering in the audience.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/opinion/16edsall.html
December 16, 2006
Guest Columnist
Democrats Arrive at the Heart of the Matter
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
Washington
The Democrats are positioned to make a down payment to the voters who gavethem majority control of the House and the Senate. Their ability to pay infull is another question.
House Democrats, more than their Senate colleagues, can set certain partisanmarkers: a minimum-wage hike, ethics reform, reduced student loan interestrates and changes in labor law, which will make union organizing lessdifficult.
As the majority, Democratic leaders and committee chairs can focus publicattention on job, pension and health care security issues; publicizeevidence of decreased mobility on the economic ladder; and spotlight thegrowing vulnerability of middle-income families to sharp and sudden downwardfinancial swings.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
**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.
=
Diplomat's Suppressed Document Lays Bare the Lies Behind Iraq War
By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
The Independent UK
Friday 15 December 2006
The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart bythe publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied overSaddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
A devastating attack on Mr Blair's justification for military action byCarne Ross, Britain's key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wrapsuntil now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching theOfficial Secrets Act.
In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiateseveral UN security resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair musthave known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He saidthat during his posting to the UN, "at no time did HMG [Her Majesty'sGovernment] assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threatto the UK or its interests."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16gitmo.html?_r=2&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Military Taking a Tougher Line With Detainees
By TIM GOLDEN
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 10 - As the first detainees began moving lastweek into Guantánamo's modern, new detention facility, Camp 6, the militaryguard commander stood beneath the high, concrete walls of the compound,looking out on a fenced-in athletic yard.
The yard, where the detainees were to have played soccer and other sports,had been part of a plan to ease the conditions under which more than 400 menare imprisoned here, nearly all of them without having been charged. Butthat plan has changed.
"At this point, I just don't see using that," the guard commander, Col. WadeF. Dennis, said.
After two years in which the military sought to manage terrorism suspects atGuantánamo with incentives for good behavior, steady improvements in theirliving conditions and even dialogue with prison leaders, the authoritieshere have clamped down decisively in recent months.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ei=5094&en=827b1e56899bd0e8&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
On the Brink
In Raising the World's I.Q., the Secret's in the Salt
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Valentina Sivryukova knew her public service messageswere hitting the mark when she heard how one Kazakh schoolboy called anotherstupid. "What are you," he sneered, "iodine-deficient or something?"
Ms. Sivryukova, president of the national confederation of Kazakh charities,was delighted. It meant that the years spent trying to raise publicawareness that iodized salt prevents brain damage in infants were working.If the campaign bore fruit, Kazakhstan's national I.Q. would be safeguarded.
In fact, Kazakhstan has become an example of how even a vast andstill-developing nation like this Central Asian country can achieve aremarkable public health success. In 1999, only 29 percent of its householdswere using iodized salt. Now, 94 percent are. Next year, the United Nationsis expected to certify it officially free of iodine deficiency disorders.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/world/europe/16austria.html?ei=5094&en=0460e1224098d5b0&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Global Warming Poses Threat to Ski Resorts in the Alps
By MARK LANDLER
KITZBÜHEL, Austria, Dec. 15 - How balmy has it been in the Alps these lastfew months? At the bottom of the Hahnenkamm, the famously treacherousdownhill course in this Austrian ski resort, the slope peters out into agrassy field. And it's just 10 days before Christmas.
Snow cannons are showering clouds of white crystals over the slopes, but bymidmorning each day, the machines have to be turned off because the mercuryhas risen too far for the fake snow to stick.
"Of course I'm nervous about the snow, but what am I supposed to do?" saidSigne Kramheller-Reisch, as she walked in a field outside her family'shotel, wearing suede shoes and a resigned expression. "We have classicwinters and we have nonclassic winters."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16johnson.html?pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Senator Showing Weakness After Surgery
By KATE ZERNIKE and LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota was showingweakness on his right side on Friday after surgery to relieve bleeding inhis brain, his office said, and will remain in the hospital until theswelling in his brain goes down.
"The surgery was considered a success," the office said in a statement.
Surgeons removed the blood during a procedure late Wednesday and stabilizedthe bleeding, the statement said, relieving the pressure on the brain.
Mr. Johnson, 59, remains in the intensive care unit at George WashingtonUniversity Hospital in critical but stable condition.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/science/space/15comet.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Researchers Find Surprise in Makeup of a Comet
By WARREN E. LEARY
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Comets are not all made of interstellar dust and ice,but instead may contain material shot from the heart of the solar systemduring its tumultuous birth, scientists reported Thursday after examiningpristine particles of a comet that were brought back by the Stardustspacecraft.
The evidence suggests that comets did not form in isolation in the outerparts of the solar system as it coalesced from a swirling mass of primalmaterial, the researchers said. Instead, they said, some of the hot materialthat formed planets around the Sun seems to have spewed off into distantareas and become a component of distant comets.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121502044_pf.html
Testimony Helps Detail CIA's Post-9/11 ReachEuropeans Told of Plans for Abductions
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A01
MILAN -- A few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the CIA station chiefin Rome paid a visit to the head of Italy's military intelligence agency,Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, to float a proposal: Would the Italian secretservices help the CIA kidnap terrorism suspects and fly them out of thecountry?
The CIA man did not identify which targets he had in mind but was "expresslyreferring to the possibility of picking up a suspected terrorist in Italy,bringing him to an airport and sending him from there to a foreign country,"Battelli, now retired, recalled in a deposition.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501744_pf.html
Women Lose Ground in the New Iraq
Once They Were Encouraged to Study and Work; Now Life Is 'Just Like Being inJail'
By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A12
BAGHDAD -- Browsing the shelves of a cosmetics store in the Karrada shoppingdistrict, Zahra Khalid felt giddy at the sight of Alberto shampoo and MissRose eye shadow, blusher and powder.
Before leaving her house, she had covered her body in a billowing blackabaya and wrapped a black head scarf around her thick brown hair. She hadasked her brother to drive. She had done all the things that a woman livingin Baghdad is supposed to do these days to avoid drawing attention toherself.
It was the first time she had left home in two months.
"For a woman, it's just like being in jail," she said. "I can't goanywhere."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501680_pf.html
Incoming Chairmen Ready to Investigate
Democratic-Led Panels to Probe Administration's Actions in War andCounterterrorism
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A05
Incoming Democratic committee chairmen say they will hold a series ofhearings and investigations early next year to build the case for their callfor a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and for possible actionagainst defense contractors found to have wasted billions in federal funds.
The emerging plans to grill administration officials on the conduct of thewar are part of a pledge for more aggressive congressional oversight onissues such as prewar intelligence, prisoner treatment at Abu Ghraib andGuantanamo Bay, and the government's use of warrantless wiretaps.
Among the most eager incoming chairmen is Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), alawyer with a professor's demeanor and a prosecutor's doggedness. As head ofthe Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin, 72, will be his party's pointman on the Iraq war and on the Democrats' call to begin withdrawing troopsin the coming months.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501796_pf.html
Feinstein Criticizes DHS on Foreigner Exit Program
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A09
Supporters of the troubled US-VISIT program warned yesterday that thedecision to suspend a crucial part of the national security program launchedafter the 2001 attacks will leave the nation vulnerable to terrorism.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the government will be left with noway of knowing whether all visitors leave the country after theadministration decided to drop a plan to track departures at land bordersbecause of technical and cost problems.
Feinstein called the decision a "very serious failure" on top of multipledelays since the system was proposed in 1996.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501807_pf.html
Panel Seeks Consensus On U.S. Nuclear Arsenal
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A08
A prestigious Defense Department advisory panel has determined there is nonational agreement on what the nation needs in the way of nuclear weapons inthe post-Cold War period.
In a recently released declassified version of a report on U.S. nuclearcapabilities completed earlier this year, the Defense Science Board reportedthat its task force on the subject concluded "there is a need for a nationalconsensus on the nature and role of nuclear weapons, as well as a newapproach to sustaining a reliable, safe, secure and credible nuclearstockpile."
The task force found "most Americans agree that as long as actual orpotential adversaries possess or actively seek nuclear weapons or otherweapons of mass destruction, the United States must maintain a deterrent tocounter possible threats and support the nation's role as a global power andsecurity partner." Beyond that, however, it found "sharp differences."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501071_pf.html
The Curtain Is Drawn On the Rumsfeld Era
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A08
After a parade of military regalia and a 19-gun salute that echoed acrossthe Potomac, Donald H. Rumsfeld stepped down yesterday as secretary ofdefense, delivering a warning to those who contemplate "graceful exits fromthe agonies and . . . ugliness of combat."
Surrounded on the Pentagon mall by the architects of the Iraq war -- fromPresident Bush and Vice President Cheney to former deputy defense secretaryPaul D. Wolfowitz and former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith --Rumsfeld ended his six years in office with a forceful, even defiant, tone."Our country has taken on a bracing and difficult task. But let there be nodoubt: It is neither hopeless nor without purpose," he said.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501736_pf.html
Redirecting Christmas From North Pole to Bethlehem
By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service
Saturday, December 16, 2006; B09
Standing next to plastic figures of Mary, baby Jesus and Joseph, twoministers and three members of Congress took turns at a microphone thismonth to announce a new initiative called "Project Nativity."
"Our hope and prayer is that over the next three to four years, hundreds ofnativity scenes will begin to dot the landscape of America once again," saidthe Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. Hesaid he hoped the temporary nativity scene on a terrace of the Capitol wouldserve as a "template" for similar efforts.
His project, which encourages Christians to seek permits for nativity scenesin front of public buildings, is just one example of multiple efforts to"take Christmas back." In recent years, there have been rumors of a "War onChristmas" and actual skirmishes over the use of the word in the publicsquare and at the retail counter.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16253130.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
'Compassionate' Christian leaders fight for the religious right
TRAVIS REED
Associated Press
LONGWOOD, Fla. - The Rev. Joel Hunter thinks everyone should replace oldlight bulbs with energy-saving fluorescents, and he's passionate about jobtraining for the poor.
Those aren't revolutionary ideas until you consider the self-identifiedconservative is pastor of a suburban Orlando megachurch, and was untilrecently president-elect of the Christian Coalition.
Hunter, head of Northland, A Church Distributed, is among a handful ofincreasingly high-profile evangelical leaders preaching new politics. Theyare less fire and brimstone than compassion and concern, less interested inconservatism than what they call Jesus Christ's broader message, and utterlytired of partisan name-calling.
They could also be a new force in American politics.
=
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/15/republican_sen_specter_plans_syria_trip?mode=PF
Republican Sen. Specter plans Syria trip
By Anne Plummer Flaherty, Associated Press Writer
December 15, 2006
WASHINGTON --Sen. Arlen Specter, a 26-year Senate Republican, said he willvisit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contendingthe situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to theplate and see what it can do.
Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a tripto the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria. The senator said heand other Republicans are concerned that the administration's policies inthe Middle East are not working and that other GOP members may follow in hisfootsteps.
"I've talked to my Republican colleagues, and there is a disquiet here,"Specter said.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/opinion/16dowd.html?pagewanted=print
December 16, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Farewell, Dense Prince
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON
James Baker ran after W. with a butterfly net for a while, but it is nowclear that the inmates are still running the asylum.
The Defiant Ones came striding from the Pentagon yesterday, the troika ofwayward warriors marching abreast in their dark suits and power ties. W.,Rummy and Dick Cheney were so full of quick-draw confidence that they mighthave been sauntering down the main drag of Deadwood.
Far from being run out of town, the defense czar who rivals Robert McNamarafor deadly incompetence has been on a victory lap in Baghdad, Mosul andWashington. Yesterday's tribute had full military honors, a color guard, a19-gun salute, an Old Guard performance with marching musicians - includingpiccolo players - in Revolutionary War costumes, John Philip Sousa music andthe chuckleheaded neocons and ex-Rummy deputies who helped screw up theoccupation, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, cheering in the audience.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/opinion/16edsall.html
December 16, 2006
Guest Columnist
Democrats Arrive at the Heart of the Matter
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
Washington
The Democrats are positioned to make a down payment to the voters who gavethem majority control of the House and the Senate. Their ability to pay infull is another question.
House Democrats, more than their Senate colleagues, can set certain partisanmarkers: a minimum-wage hike, ethics reform, reduced student loan interestrates and changes in labor law, which will make union organizing lessdifficult.
As the majority, Democratic leaders and committee chairs can focus publicattention on job, pension and health care security issues; publicizeevidence of decreased mobility on the economic ladder; and spotlight thegrowing vulnerability of middle-income families to sharp and sudden downwardfinancial swings.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST December 16, 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 Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501499_pf.html
Lethal Injection Is On Hold in 2 States
Florida Governor Suspends Executions; Judge Orders California to AlterMethods
By Peter Whoriskey and Sonya Geis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A01
MIAMI, Dec. 15 -- Executions by lethal injection were suspended in Floridaand ordered revamped in California on Friday, as the chemical method oncebilled as a more humane way of killing the condemned came under mountingscrutiny over the pain it may cause.
Gov. Jeb Bush (R) ordered the suspension in Florida after a botchedexecution in which it took 34 minutes and a second injection to killconvicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz. A state medical examiner said thatneedles used to carry the poison had passed through the prisoner's veins anddelivered the three-chemical mix into the tissues of his arm.
In California, a federal judge ruled that the state must overhaul itslethal-injection procedures, calling its current protocol unconstitutionalbecause it may inflict unacceptable levels of pain.
Judge Jeremy D. Fogel of the U.S. District Court for Northern Californiaordered the state to revise its procedures and consider eliminating the useof two drugs: pancuronium bromide, which causes paralysis, and potassiumchloride, which causes cardiac arrest.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sgraduation16dec16,0,6372361.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Broward dropout rate at highest level since 1999
2,500 students, or 2.7 percent, left high school in '05
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 16, 2006
The dropout rate in Broward County high schools swelled for the thirdstraight time last year, moving the figure to its highest point since 1999,according to state education figures released Friday.
Almost 2,500 students dropped out of Broward high schools last year,compared with 867 students three years ago.
The percentage of Broward dropouts increased from 1.1 percent of all highschool students in 2003-04 to 2.7 percent last year, although the schooldistrict still fares well when compared with similar-sized districts inFlorida.
"Any increase in dropouts is a signal for us to take a look at what ourprograms are doing on a school-by-school basis," said interim SchoolsSuperintendent Jim Notter. "We have to find out why that occurred."
State Education Commissioner John Winn on Friday called the rise inFlorida's overall dropout rate, from 3 percent to 3.5 percent, "ratherremarkable," given that the figure had been trending down.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pdropout16dec16,0,7063341.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Dropout rate in Palm Beach County inches up slightly
But graduation percentage also increases a little
By Rhonda J. Miller
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Education Writer
December 16, 2006
Palm Beach County's graduation rate rose slightly last year, although nearlyone-third of students who entered the class as ninth-graders didn't gettheir diplomas.
The 69.3 percent graduation rate for 2005-2006 increased marginally, from 69percent the previous year, according to figures released Friday by the stateDepartment of Education.
"Our graduation rate is improving, though not as fast as we'd like it to,"said Superintendent Art Johnson. "But our poverty and disadvantaged studentshave also continued to grow. In urban school districts, it's verychallenging."
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-ftax16dec16,0,7969161.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
Group wants to end property tax cap
Panel also urged to back spending cuts
The Associated Press
December 16, 2006
TALLAHASSEE · Cutting back on government spending and repealing a 3 percentcap on the annual increase in taxable value of Floridians' homesteads couldbe among the ways to resolve a property tax crisis, a research group told areview panel Friday.
Floridians already had one of the highest local tax burdens in the nationbefore taxable values skyrocketed another 25 percent this fiscal year.Property taxes now account for $25.7 billion of the state's revenues -- itslargest single source of dollars.
However, Friday's recommendations by the business-backed group TaxWatch tothe Property Tax Reform Committee to end the 3 percent cap and not doublethe existing $25,000 homestead exemption is likely to run into plenty ofopposition.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16252825.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
KROME DETENTION CENTER
Overcrowding, delays fuel tensions at Krome again
Overcrowding and deportation delays upset detainees at Krome where anger andboredom sometimes combine to raise tensions.
BY CASEY WOODS, NICOLE WHITE AND ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
Tensions appear to be rising again at the Krome detention center in WestMiami-Dade, prompting a senior federal immigration official -- escorted byriot-equipped officers -- to meet with angry detainees recently at theovercrowded facility.
Michael Rozos, field office director for U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement's Florida office of detention and removal, went to a Kromedormitory Dec. 8 accompanied by a ''disturbance control team'' and spoke tothe detainees, said agency spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez. She said teammembers were ``dressed appropriately.''
=
PalmBeachPost.com
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/16/a10a_stemcell_edit_1216.html
Get state in stem cell race
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, December 16, 2006
This week, New Jersey became the latest state to invest in embryonic stemcell research. The legislature approved $270 million in bonds for labs andprograms. California voters approved $300 million.
Meanwhile, Florida - which supposedly wants to become the next greatbiotechnology research state - is two years away from what could be twocontradictory constitutional amendments. One would provide money forembryonic stem cell research, while the other would ban such research.
One way to avoid such an embarrassing development would be for the FloridaLegislature to approve money for research this year. Senate President KenPruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, and Gov.-elect Charlie Crist are on record asfavoring such research.
Anything else would look odd, given the public investment in The ScrippsResearch Institute, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies and theBurnham Institute for Medical Research. And now Yale Medical School may opena facility in Palm Beach County.
=
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061216&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=612160372&SectionCat=&Template=printart
Touch-screen critics are concerned with Crist appointment
By JEREMY WALLACE
H-T POLITICAL WRITER
jeremy.wallace@heraldtribune.com
Opponents of touch-screen voting machines are not very happy with Gov.-electCharlie Crist's decision to turn over the Florida Division of Elections to alongtime advocate of the voting system they have been fighting against.
Crist named Kurt Browning, Pasco County elections supervisor, as secretaryof state, a post that includes overseeing state elections.
But citizen groups question the wisdom of selecting Browning, a longtimeadvocate of touch-screen voting. While the state conducted a recount in the13th Congressional District, Browning defended the county's electronicvoting machines against charges that they did not properly record up to18,000 votes in Sarasota.
Republican Vern Buchanan has been declared the winner over DemocratChristine Jennings by 369 votes. But because 13 percent of voters inSarasota County did not register a vote in the race, Jennings has sued,saying the voting machines failed to record votes that would have made herthe winner.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/16/news_pf/News/Paper_vote_trail_IS_c.shtml
Paper vote trail IS coming
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published December 16, 2006
A paper trail on touch screen voting machines is coming to Florida one wayor another.
It's a matter of time.
Even before the meltdown in Sarasota with 18,000 under-votes in an extremelyclose race for Congress, Charlie Crist, our next governor, said he liked theidea of giving voters a piece of paper to verify their choices.
His new secretary of state, Pasco County Elections Supervisor Kurt Browning,who is widely regarded as an expert on voting issues, has never seen theneed for a paper trail.
But he says he will keep an open mind. "I want to do the best thing forFlorida," Browning said.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-dlcol16dec16,0,1497392.column
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE
Dawson can prove her detractors wrong
Douglas C. Lyons
Editorial Writer
December 16, 2006
Opportunity knocks, again, for state Sen. Muriel "Mandy" Dawson, D-FortLauderdale.Dawson now chairs her chamber's Health Policy Committee, perhaps the biggestsurprise in this week's laundry list of committee assignments by Florida'slegislative leaders.
So, now the question is: Will she take full advantage of the appointment, orfind a way to mess up what may be her last shot at reviving a checkeredcareer in the Florida Senate?
Her detractors will be quick to wonder why I even bothered to raise thequestion. In their minds, she's a poster child for term limits -- at best.Their memories of Dawson's, er, "lapses," for lack of a better term --whether it's the public tongue lashing she received from then Senate President Toni Jennings for missing votes or her more recent Senate reprimand after she ran afoul of chamber rules and state law by using herofficial stationery to ask lobbyists to pay for a trip to South Africa forherself and a companion -- run deep.
=
http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ
December 16, 2006
GUEST COLUMN: Let's drop No Child Left Behind
The television news recently captured my attention with iconoclasticfilmmaker Michael Moore blasting the Democrats. Yes, the Democrats.
He was demanding those now in control of the government's budget immediatelyorder a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
While no fan of Moore, it is tantalizing to think of a similar tirade hemight direct toward federal interference in control of education through theNo Child Left Behind Act.
Now that the election has been decided, politicians are talking ofbipartisanship. What we really need is nonpartisanship, not bipartisanship.
We need to find out whether the majority of Democrats really care about theissues facing schools.
Politically informed citizens of either party are displeased with No Child.Conservatives have expressed their displeasure with No Child's federalcontrol.
=
The Miami Herald
Article:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16252893.htm
Section from grand jury report:
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/GJR_schmeer.pdf
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Ex-priest leaves his school post
A counselor at St. Thomas Aquinas High School resigned this week afterThe Miami Herald inquired about his life as a priest in Philadelphia duringthe 1960s.
BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
Ernest Durante kept a low profile as a guidance counselor at St.Thomas Aquinas High School -- until allegations about his priestly pastresurfaced this fall.
A Philadelphia woman who once knew Durante contacted the FortLauderdale school to report that he was an ex-priest who had been identifiedin a 2005 grand jury report on Catholic clergymen accused of sexuallyabusing children.
Send your comments to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ray's List is a news clipping service for the Progressive GLBT and FriendsCommunity.
Ray's List publishes Daily News Digests (GLBT, National/World, Florida) onthe web at http://www.rayslistglbtnews.blogspot.com/
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To subscribe, unsubscribe, or post announcements and articles, to Ray's Listsend a message to Ray Rideout and Michael Cooper at Rays.List@comcast.net
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
**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 Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501499_pf.html
Lethal Injection Is On Hold in 2 States
Florida Governor Suspends Executions; Judge Orders California to AlterMethods
By Peter Whoriskey and Sonya Geis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A01
MIAMI, Dec. 15 -- Executions by lethal injection were suspended in Floridaand ordered revamped in California on Friday, as the chemical method oncebilled as a more humane way of killing the condemned came under mountingscrutiny over the pain it may cause.
Gov. Jeb Bush (R) ordered the suspension in Florida after a botchedexecution in which it took 34 minutes and a second injection to killconvicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz. A state medical examiner said thatneedles used to carry the poison had passed through the prisoner's veins anddelivered the three-chemical mix into the tissues of his arm.
In California, a federal judge ruled that the state must overhaul itslethal-injection procedures, calling its current protocol unconstitutionalbecause it may inflict unacceptable levels of pain.
Judge Jeremy D. Fogel of the U.S. District Court for Northern Californiaordered the state to revise its procedures and consider eliminating the useof two drugs: pancuronium bromide, which causes paralysis, and potassiumchloride, which causes cardiac arrest.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sgraduation16dec16,0,6372361.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Broward dropout rate at highest level since 1999
2,500 students, or 2.7 percent, left high school in '05
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 16, 2006
The dropout rate in Broward County high schools swelled for the thirdstraight time last year, moving the figure to its highest point since 1999,according to state education figures released Friday.
Almost 2,500 students dropped out of Broward high schools last year,compared with 867 students three years ago.
The percentage of Broward dropouts increased from 1.1 percent of all highschool students in 2003-04 to 2.7 percent last year, although the schooldistrict still fares well when compared with similar-sized districts inFlorida.
"Any increase in dropouts is a signal for us to take a look at what ourprograms are doing on a school-by-school basis," said interim SchoolsSuperintendent Jim Notter. "We have to find out why that occurred."
State Education Commissioner John Winn on Friday called the rise inFlorida's overall dropout rate, from 3 percent to 3.5 percent, "ratherremarkable," given that the figure had been trending down.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pdropout16dec16,0,7063341.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Dropout rate in Palm Beach County inches up slightly
But graduation percentage also increases a little
By Rhonda J. Miller
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Education Writer
December 16, 2006
Palm Beach County's graduation rate rose slightly last year, although nearlyone-third of students who entered the class as ninth-graders didn't gettheir diplomas.
The 69.3 percent graduation rate for 2005-2006 increased marginally, from 69percent the previous year, according to figures released Friday by the stateDepartment of Education.
"Our graduation rate is improving, though not as fast as we'd like it to,"said Superintendent Art Johnson. "But our poverty and disadvantaged studentshave also continued to grow. In urban school districts, it's verychallenging."
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-ftax16dec16,0,7969161.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
Group wants to end property tax cap
Panel also urged to back spending cuts
The Associated Press
December 16, 2006
TALLAHASSEE · Cutting back on government spending and repealing a 3 percentcap on the annual increase in taxable value of Floridians' homesteads couldbe among the ways to resolve a property tax crisis, a research group told areview panel Friday.
Floridians already had one of the highest local tax burdens in the nationbefore taxable values skyrocketed another 25 percent this fiscal year.Property taxes now account for $25.7 billion of the state's revenues -- itslargest single source of dollars.
However, Friday's recommendations by the business-backed group TaxWatch tothe Property Tax Reform Committee to end the 3 percent cap and not doublethe existing $25,000 homestead exemption is likely to run into plenty ofopposition.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16252825.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
KROME DETENTION CENTER
Overcrowding, delays fuel tensions at Krome again
Overcrowding and deportation delays upset detainees at Krome where anger andboredom sometimes combine to raise tensions.
BY CASEY WOODS, NICOLE WHITE AND ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
Tensions appear to be rising again at the Krome detention center in WestMiami-Dade, prompting a senior federal immigration official -- escorted byriot-equipped officers -- to meet with angry detainees recently at theovercrowded facility.
Michael Rozos, field office director for U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement's Florida office of detention and removal, went to a Kromedormitory Dec. 8 accompanied by a ''disturbance control team'' and spoke tothe detainees, said agency spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez. She said teammembers were ``dressed appropriately.''
=
PalmBeachPost.com
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/16/a10a_stemcell_edit_1216.html
Get state in stem cell race
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, December 16, 2006
This week, New Jersey became the latest state to invest in embryonic stemcell research. The legislature approved $270 million in bonds for labs andprograms. California voters approved $300 million.
Meanwhile, Florida - which supposedly wants to become the next greatbiotechnology research state - is two years away from what could be twocontradictory constitutional amendments. One would provide money forembryonic stem cell research, while the other would ban such research.
One way to avoid such an embarrassing development would be for the FloridaLegislature to approve money for research this year. Senate President KenPruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, and Gov.-elect Charlie Crist are on record asfavoring such research.
Anything else would look odd, given the public investment in The ScrippsResearch Institute, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies and theBurnham Institute for Medical Research. And now Yale Medical School may opena facility in Palm Beach County.
=
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061216&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=612160372&SectionCat=&Template=printart
Touch-screen critics are concerned with Crist appointment
By JEREMY WALLACE
H-T POLITICAL WRITER
jeremy.wallace@heraldtribune.com
Opponents of touch-screen voting machines are not very happy with Gov.-electCharlie Crist's decision to turn over the Florida Division of Elections to alongtime advocate of the voting system they have been fighting against.
Crist named Kurt Browning, Pasco County elections supervisor, as secretaryof state, a post that includes overseeing state elections.
But citizen groups question the wisdom of selecting Browning, a longtimeadvocate of touch-screen voting. While the state conducted a recount in the13th Congressional District, Browning defended the county's electronicvoting machines against charges that they did not properly record up to18,000 votes in Sarasota.
Republican Vern Buchanan has been declared the winner over DemocratChristine Jennings by 369 votes. But because 13 percent of voters inSarasota County did not register a vote in the race, Jennings has sued,saying the voting machines failed to record votes that would have made herthe winner.
=
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/16/news_pf/News/Paper_vote_trail_IS_c.shtml
Paper vote trail IS coming
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published December 16, 2006
A paper trail on touch screen voting machines is coming to Florida one wayor another.
It's a matter of time.
Even before the meltdown in Sarasota with 18,000 under-votes in an extremelyclose race for Congress, Charlie Crist, our next governor, said he liked theidea of giving voters a piece of paper to verify their choices.
His new secretary of state, Pasco County Elections Supervisor Kurt Browning,who is widely regarded as an expert on voting issues, has never seen theneed for a paper trail.
But he says he will keep an open mind. "I want to do the best thing forFlorida," Browning said.
=
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-dlcol16dec16,0,1497392.column
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE
Dawson can prove her detractors wrong
Douglas C. Lyons
Editorial Writer
December 16, 2006
Opportunity knocks, again, for state Sen. Muriel "Mandy" Dawson, D-FortLauderdale.Dawson now chairs her chamber's Health Policy Committee, perhaps the biggestsurprise in this week's laundry list of committee assignments by Florida'slegislative leaders.
So, now the question is: Will she take full advantage of the appointment, orfind a way to mess up what may be her last shot at reviving a checkeredcareer in the Florida Senate?
Her detractors will be quick to wonder why I even bothered to raise thequestion. In their minds, she's a poster child for term limits -- at best.Their memories of Dawson's, er, "lapses," for lack of a better term --whether it's the public tongue lashing she received from then Senate President Toni Jennings for missing votes or her more recent Senate reprimand after she ran afoul of chamber rules and state law by using herofficial stationery to ask lobbyists to pay for a trip to South Africa forherself and a companion -- run deep.
=
http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ
December 16, 2006
GUEST COLUMN: Let's drop No Child Left Behind
The television news recently captured my attention with iconoclasticfilmmaker Michael Moore blasting the Democrats. Yes, the Democrats.
He was demanding those now in control of the government's budget immediatelyorder a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
While no fan of Moore, it is tantalizing to think of a similar tirade hemight direct toward federal interference in control of education through theNo Child Left Behind Act.
Now that the election has been decided, politicians are talking ofbipartisanship. What we really need is nonpartisanship, not bipartisanship.
We need to find out whether the majority of Democrats really care about theissues facing schools.
Politically informed citizens of either party are displeased with No Child.Conservatives have expressed their displeasure with No Child's federalcontrol.
=
The Miami Herald
Article:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16252893.htm
Section from grand jury report:
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/GJR_schmeer.pdf
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Ex-priest leaves his school post
A counselor at St. Thomas Aquinas High School resigned this week afterThe Miami Herald inquired about his life as a priest in Philadelphia duringthe 1960s.
BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
Ernest Durante kept a low profile as a guidance counselor at St.Thomas Aquinas High School -- until allegations about his priestly pastresurfaced this fall.
A Philadelphia woman who once knew Durante contacted the FortLauderdale school to report that he was an ex-priest who had been identifiedin a 2005 grand jury report on Catholic clergymen accused of sexuallyabusing children.
Send your comments to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Friday, December 15, 2006
GLBT DIGEST - December 15, 2006
**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3298
It takes a village
Report shows that members of Congress, senior aides and reporters were allcomplicit in Mark Foley's stalking of teenage pages.
By KEVIN NAFF
Dec. 15, 2006
THE FINDINGS OF the House subcommittee charged with investigating the MarkFoley page scandal reveal yet another example of how the closet leads peopleinto unethical behavior.
And I'm not talking about Foley, but rather his aides and fellow members ofCongress who repeatedly looked the other way as details about hisinappropriate communications with pages came to light as far back as 10years ago.
Rather than confront Foley or demand to see copies of the much-discussede-mails and IMs, several senior staffers ignored the obviously unethicalbehavior because it seems they feared exposing Foley's sexual orientation,which was widely known on the Hill from the time he was first sworn in in1995.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10480
Report: Homelessness among U.S. gay youth an 'epidemic'
Up to 42 percent of homeless or runaway youth are gay
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 15, 12:01 AM
When Angelika Santiago was 18 and changing her identity from male to female,her mother issued an ultimatum: Cut her hair and dress as a boy or leavetheir apartment.
Santiago left their Manhattan home and ended up in a shelter for lesbian,gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, youths.
"She wanted me to be a boy, deny who I was inside," Santiago recalled.
Santiago eventually gained her independence, landing a receptionist job andrenting a room for $165 a week. But after losing the job and the room a fewweeks ago, she found herself staying at another shelter.
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http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20061215/opinion/143916.shtml
Government shouldn't make our personal decisions for us
I stand corrected. Gays should be allowed to marry. They have that right ascitizens of this country.
But whether a company selling insurance wants to recognize them as a coupleis that company's prerogative. Whether they will be married by a preacher orpriest is that church's prerogative.
What this argument boils down to in plain English is their rights. I, noranyone else, has the right to decide what is good for them if it in no wayharms us as a collective. Sexual orientation cannot be mandated. Maybe itcan be changed through therapy or drugs at some future date, but as of nowit cannot.
Government does not have the right to decide on issues such as abortion, gaymarriage, smoking or trans fat content in food. These are personal decisionsto be made by the individual. We can seek to educate and assist people tomake informed decisions but to legislate behavior is assuming the role ofGod issuing Commandments.
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The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9641
New Congress expected to consider gay bills in '07
ENDA, hate crimes most likely to see a vote
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Dec. 15, 2006
The Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to take up legislation in2007 aimed at protecting gays and transgender people from job discriminationand hate crimes, but the prospects for bills dealing with other sexualorientation-related issues are less certain, according to activists andCapitol Hill observers.
Supportive members of Congress have introduced at least 10 gay- orAIDS-related bills during the past several years, including a measure torepeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Other bills call forallowing foreign nationals who are domestic partners of U.S. citizens toenjoy the same immigration rights as married spouses and call for domesticpartnership benefits for federal employees.
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Faeroe Islands legislators vote to ban discrimination against homosexuals
December 15, 2006 - 8:50
http://www.680news.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w121525A
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The Faeroe Islands on Friday voted to bandiscrimination against homosexuals on the Danish semi-autonomous territorybetween Scotland and Iceland.
In a 17-15 vote, Faeroese legislators included the words "sexualorientation" in the islands' anti-discrimination law.
The issue had been under heated debate on the islands after the 32-memberLagtinget last year turned down a similar proposal. Those who opposed thebill argued that homosexuality was against the Bible.
"We're very, very happy. To us it has been a matter of human rights," saidAnnita a Fridriksmoerk, who proposed the bill together with a Republicanparty colleague. "The Faeroese law was limping behind other modernsocieties."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.houstonvoice.com/print.cfm?cid=3822
Closet to blame for Foley scandal?
House report suggests aides didn't intervene because they feared outing gaycongressman
By JOSHUA LYNSEN
Dec. 15, 2006
Former Rep. Mark Foley's status as a closeted gay man may have dissuadedaides and fellow members of Congress from confronting him over hisinappropriate contact with teenage male pages, according to a Housesubcommittee report released last week.
The report suggests that those in the know feared an outing "could haveadversely affected him both personally and politically."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9644
Activists to scrutinize impact of Va. amendment
New watchdog group to create legal defense network
By ELIZABETH PERRY
Dec. 15, 2006
With the Marshall-Newman amendment set to go into effect on Jan. 1, aVirginia gay rights organization is hoping the state attorney general isright in his opinion that the gay marriage ban will not undermine the rightsof unmarried same-sex couples.
Just in case, the Equality Virginia Education Fund, which serves as thecharitable research and education arm of Equality Virginia, has launched anew program called "Amendment Watch," designed to keep an eye on the impactof the marriage amendment when it goes into effect. Members are concernedabout the amendment's potential ramifications, which could affect more thana gay or lesbian couple's right to wed.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/15/bush.cheney.reut/index.html
Bush 'happy' for pregnant Mary Cheney
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's pregnant lesbiandaughter Mary will make a "fine mom," President Bush said, sidestepping hispast comment that a child ideally would be raised by a mother and father.
Mary Cheney, 37, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe, are expecting theirfirst child, which would be the sixth grandchild for the vice president.Cheney was hired last year as an executive for America Online -- whoseparent company Time Warner also owns People as well as CNN.
"I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy forher," Bush said in an interview with People magazine.
The Washington Post reported that the baby was due in late spring.
In a 2005 interview with The New York Times, Bush said: "I believe childrencan receive love from gay couples. But the ideal is -- and studies haveshown that --the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with aman and a woman."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/12/el_salvador_new.html
December 14, 2006
EL SALVADOR: NEW ATTACKS UNDERSCORE GAYS' DIRE SITUATION
I wrote the following article for Gay City News -- New York's largest gayweekly:
A vicious and violent police attack a week ago Monday on four transgenderedyouth in El Salvador, which hospitalized one of them with serious injuries,is only the latest in an unending wave of violent attacks that continues toinundate the Central American nation's LGBT community.
"It is almost impossible to describe all the physical attacks on gay peoplehere-both by police and by anti-gay vigilantes and homophobic thugs-becausethere are so many," said William Hernandez (right), the head of thecountry's national gay group, Entre Amigos (Among Friends). As the spokesmanfor Entre Amigos and the most visible gay person in El Salvador, Hernandezis himself the target of constant death threats.
"Every day brings not only abuse and harassment, but killings andbeatings-this year alone four LGBT people have been killed, with the kind ofexcessive force that we have not seen since the civil war here," Hernandeztold Gay City News.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
N.J. Civil Unions Bill Goes to Governor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:15 a.m. ET
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- For more than four years, Saundra Toby-Heath has waitedfor the state of New Jersey to recognize her partner as her wife.
She moved a step closer Thursday when the Legislature approved a bill thatwill create civil unions. Upon the governor's signature, New Jersey willbecome the third state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples.
''We acknowledge this is a huge step forward,'' said Toby-Heath, 53, whoalong with her partner were among seven gay couples who sued the state forthe right to marry.
Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign the measure, which wouldextend to same-sex couples all the rights and privileges available understate law to married people. The bill passed the Assembly 56-19 and theSenate 23-12.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/16243773.htm
The Miami Herald
Posted on Fri, Dec. 15, 2006
At Large
My freedom linked to others -- including gays
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com
This is for a reader who demands to know why I write about gay issues. Hisconclusion is that I must secretly be gay myself.
Actually, he doesn't express himself quite that civilly. To the contrary,his e-mails -- which, until recently, were arriving at the rate of about onea week -- evince a juvenility that would embarrass a reasonably intelligentfifth grader. The most recent one, for example, carried a salutationreading, ``Hi Mrs. Pitts.''
We're talking about the kind of thing for which delete buttons wereinvented. So you may wonder why I bring it to your attention, especiallysince acknowledging a person like this only encourages him. It's simple,actually: He raises an interesting question that deserves an answer.
PROBABLY A GUY
If from that you conclude (or fear) you're about to read a stirring defenseof my manly male masculinity, no. The guy is free to believe what he wishes;I really don't care. And here, let me digress to confess that, though Irefer to him using masculine pronouns, I actually don't know if he's a hebecause his notes have been anonymous. Still, I assume it's a guy becausethe level of sexual insecurity the e-mails suggest strikes me as -- boy, amI going to get in trouble for this -- rather guy-specific.
Anyway, to get back to the point, I'm not here to argue sexuality. I justfind myself intrigued by the idea that if you're not gay, you shouldn't careabout gay rights.
The most concise answer I can give is cribbed from what a white kid saidsome 40 or so years ago, as white college students were risking their livesto travel south and register black people to vote. Somebody asked why. Hesaid he acted from an understanding that his freedom was bound up with thefreedom of every other man.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Free Condoms for Prisoners?
Barrier Contraception Could Stem High Levels of HIV Infection inCorrectional Facilities, Experts Say
By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
Dec. 14, 2006 - - Behind high prison walls, the concept of safe sex may beas foreign as that of freedom.
But some say this situation must change, especially because studies suggestthat the prevalence of HIV infection in U.S. prisons and jails is six to 10times higher than that seen in the general free population.
Recently, the National Minority AIDS Council, an AIDS advocacy group,recommended that prisons curb the spread of the virus by distributingcondoms to prisoners.
The idea is not a new one.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.reuters.com/
12:29 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2006
WARSAW - A Polish political party is severing all ties with its youth wingafter members were alleged to have burned swastika torches and givenNazi-style salutes.
Krzysztof Bosak, a member of parliament for the right-wing League of PolishFamilies, told reporters on Wednesday he had decided to step down aschairman of the party's junior branch, All PolishYouth.
On Tuesday League head Roman Giertych announced his party, a junior memberof the ruling coalition, was breaking its political links with the youthwing. Giertych, a lawyer, had reactivated the organization in 1989.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.soulforce.org/sendstudio/users/link.php?LinkID=333&UserID=1859&Newsletter=120&List=3&LinkType=Send>
www.soulforce.org/petition/2
Sign the Petition Asking TIME Magazine to Check Dobson's Facts About LGBTFamilies
Dobson's Article in TIME Magazine titled Two Mommies is One Too Many
<http://www.soulforce.org/email_campaign/images/time_dobson.jpg> In the
December 18th issue of TIME Magazine, James Dobson responds to the news ofMary Cheney's pregnancy by once again invoking "30 years of social-scienceevidence" to support his claim that children do best "when raised by theirmarried mother and father."
Dobson's views on lesbian and gay parenting do not reflect the mainstream ofAmerican professional organizations concerned with researching and promotingchildren's well-being. In a 2004 policy statement, the American Associationof Marriage and Family Therapy reported "no evidence that same-sex couplesor family units vary significantly from heterosexual couples or family unitsin terms of aspirations, hopes and goals, or in outcomes for children."
In response to Dobson's editorial, Soulforce contacted Dr. Christopher R.Martell, President of the American Psychological Association's Society forthe Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues. According toDr. Martell:
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Ireland: Lesbian couple lose marriage case
Last Updated: 14/12/2006 11:39
Lesbian couple lose marriage case
The High Court has rejected a landmark action by a lesbian couple aimed athaving their marriage in Canada recognised as valid under Irish law orsecuring the right to marry in Ireland.
Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Anne Louise Gilligan were married in Canada inSeptember 2003 and, the following year, began moves to have theirrelationship officially accepted under Irish law.
But Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne today dismissed their case, insisting therewas no provision for same-sex marriage in the Constitution.
Dr Zappone, a public policy consultant, and DrGilligan, an academic, hadtaken the case against the Revenue Commissioners and the State.
The case, which ran for eight days last October, raised significant issuesabout the meaning of marriage under the Constitution and issues concerningthe entitlements of same-sex couples under the tax acts.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Gay couples wonder: Get hitched now or wait for marriage?
By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN
Associated Press Writer
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--
gaymarriage-coupl1214dec14,0,3519503.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
December 14, 2006, 6:28 PM EST
NEWARK, N.J. -- Saundra Toby-Heath has been waiting more than four years forthe state of New Jersey to recognize her partner as her wife.
She moved a step closer Thursday when the state Legislature approved a billthat will create civil unions. Upon the governor's signature, New Jerseywill become the third state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples.
"We acknowledge is a huge step forward," said Toby-Heath, 53, who along withher partner were among seven gay couples who sued the state for the right tomarry.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=70&id=12018
Murders of Gender Non-Conforming Youth Documented in New Report12.13.06
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) Wednesday released a newhuman rights report called "50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War onAmerica's Youth," which documents more than 50 murders of young people under30 who were targeted because they did not fit stereo types of masculinityand femininity. The report reveals a unique vulnerability at theintersection of age, race, and gender non-conformity that makes a fatalassault exponentially more likely.
"While many youth who don't fit gender stereotypes for masculinity orfemininity face harassment or bullying, when it comes to gender-based murderthe victims are specific and consistent," said Riki Wilchins, GenderPACExecutive Director.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Two Mommies or Two Daddies Will Do Fine, Thanks
An advocate for gay families says James Dobson misuses science to discreditsame-sex parenting By JENNIFER CHRISLER
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1569797,00.html
Viewpoint: Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Posted Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006
The strategies of religious and political extremists like James Dobson ofFocus on the Family have become more nuanced of late. They have adjustedtheir language so that it is less vitriolic. They now utilize terms andapproaches that often have a scientific-sounding overlay and are designed toappear more reasonable than those of their earlier efforts. They use thelanguage of "concern" instead of the language of direct condemnation. Theyhave had to make these adjustments because - as the lives of gay people andtheir families have gained visibility - the previous methods of attack losttheir effectiveness. Nevertheless, the science they wield, if not unsound,is misconstrued. Responding to the news of the pregnancy of Mary Cheney, thelesbian daughter of the Vice President, Dobson, writing in a viewpoint inTIME magazine, put to work the time-worn tools of lies and distortion tomake his argument that lesbian and gay parents are not able to provideenvironments for their children comparable in quality to those created byheterosexual parents.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1568485,00.html
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006
Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's hope she doesn't start a trend
By JAMES C. DOBSON
A number of social conservatives, myself included, have recently been askedto respond to the news that Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter, ispregnant with a child she intends to raise with her lesbian partner.Implicit in this issue is an effort to get us to criticize the BushAdministration or the Cheney family. But the concern here has nothing to dowith politics. It is about what kind of family environment is best for thehealth and development of children, and, by extension, the nation at large.
With all due respect to Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, the majority ofmore than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children dobest on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother andfather. That is not to say Cheney and Poe will not love their child. Butlove alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development. Thetwo most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a littleboy--any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for alittle girl.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/16240486.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Thu, Dec. 14, 2006
Evangelist's gay escort signs for explicit tell-all
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Gay ex-escort Mike Jones has signed to write a sexually explicit memoirabout his relationship with fallen evangelist Ted Haggard.
''It's going to review my encounters with Ted and other people who aresimilar,'' Jones told The Miami Herald today from New York.
''It's not a book about bashing Ted at all. It's humanizing him as a personwith feelings and emotions and desires,'' Jones said. ``I'm going to beexplicit as far as what happened in our encounters, but not to rip him apartor be mean to him. He's a man who has faults like all of us.''
Jones, 49, won't say how much the book deal is worth.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10515987/detail.html
Anti-Gay Church Must Pay Marine's Family
POSTED: 10:15 am EST December 12, 2006
BALTIMORE -- A Kansas church has been ordered to pay $3,150 for costs andfees associated with a summons and complaint filed by the father of a Marinewhose funeral was picketed by the extremist group.
Albert Snyder, of York, Pa., is suing the Rev. Fred Phelps and WestboroBaptist Church after church members demonstrated at the funeral of LanceCpl. Matthew Snyder, of Westminster, and posted pictures of the protest ontheir Web site.
Lance Snyder was killed in Iraq in March. Members of the Topeka church claimU.S. soldiers are killed as God's punishment for America's tolerance ofhomosexuality.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/12/121306iran.htm
Extremist Jewish Sect Opposed To Gays Embraces Iran Anti-HolocaustConference
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 14, 2006 12:01 am ET
(Jerusalem) Members of an ultra Orthodox Jewish sect that staged nightlyriots last month in Jerusalem to pressure the government into canceling agay pride march were front and center this week at an Iranian governmentforum sitting side by side with holocaust deniers.
The Haredi believe only in the strict interpretation of the Bible, disputethe authority of the Israeli government and disavow Zionism as anti-Jewish.
This week leaders and members of the sect flew to Tehran to take part in theholocaust conference set up by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whoclaims that the holocaust is a Zionist invention.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nyblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10465
Brownback says room for gay rights backers among GOP
Potential presidential candidate calls Republicans a 'big-tent' party
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) | Dec 13, 8:09 PM
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, among the most conservative of the potentialRepublican presidential candidates, said Tuesday there's room in the GOP forcandidates who favor gay rights, but he warned that such politicianswouldn't be welcomed by the party's conservative base.
"It's a big-tent party and has been for a long period of time, particularlysince Ronald Reagan talked about this being a party of differentviewpoints," said Brownback. "If somebody agrees with you 80 percent of thetime, he's not your enemy."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-aids14dec14,1,891937.story
AIDS group asks Viagra maker to halt ad campaign
Advocacy panel says the marketing effort promotes the drug's recreationaluse. Company denies claim.
By Rong-Gong Lin II
Times Staff Writer
December 14, 2006
A Los Angeles-based AIDS advocacy group is calling for the manufacturer ofViagra to halt a marketing campaign that the group says promotes the drug'srecreational use, increasing the risk of acquiring HIV or other sexuallytransmitted diseases.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation will run advertisements in publications inNew York, San Francisco and South Florida, with the first in SouthernCalifornia to run today in the L.A. Weekly. The group is particularlyconcerned that Viagra, manufactured by Pfizer Inc., has become popular amonggay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine, which has been associated withrisky sexual behavior and HIV infection.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nyblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=4634
Ryan White Deal May Avert AIDS Funding Cut
Bill passes Senate unanimously, held up in house
By KERRY ELEVELD
Dec. 11, 2006
A three-year reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act passed the Senatelast week after a deal was struck that satisfied the concerns of bothbig-city HIV/AIDS epicenters like New York as well as areas with emergingepidemics located mostly in the South. At press time, the bill awaitedapproval from the House.
The Ryan White CARE Act provides funding for local programs and services forpeople living with HIV and AIDS. The bill that passed the Senate extendsRyan White's annual budget of about $2.1 billion for three years and capsthe amount of funding cuts to any city or state currently receiving money at5 percent. The two provisions intended to mitigate cuts include a "holdharmless" clause that prevents any area from receiving less than 95 percentof its previous year's funding level, and an opportunity for areas that dosuffer cuts to apply for supplemental funding the following year.
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$1,000 Scholarship Opportunity for Queer YouthfromQueer Foundation
EFFECTIVE WRITING AND SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAM
The Queer Foundation Effective Writing and Scholarships Program is offeringthree $1,000 scholarships for queer US high school students.
Queer Scholars
Are out, proud, and activist
Have a social conscience
Will fight discrimination against queers
Are committed to social change
Believe in organization
Are of good will
The theme of the 2007 high school English essay contest is pink ink ("Wewrite not only about different things; we also write differently"-Brecht).
The following approaches are suggestions only.
1. We're Here and We're Queer: Interviews with Queer Teenagers and TheirFriends
2. Living Healthy as Queer Teenagers
3. Getting Smart: Education Issues of Queer Teenagers
Judges will award points based on creativity, accuracy, objectivity,effectiveness, and usefulness. Grammar, sentence structure, spelling, andpunctuation count. All entries become the property of the Queer Foundation.Winners must agree to permit the Queer Foundation to use their names,images, and biographical information in promotional efforts related to theQueer Foundation Effective Writing and Scholarships Program.
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MARCH 31, 2007
Click the links below for the application and more information.
http://home.comcast.net/~threepennynovel/queerfoundation/queerscholarsapplication.rtf
http://home.comcast.net/~threepennynovel/queerfoundation/
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
**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.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3298
It takes a village
Report shows that members of Congress, senior aides and reporters were allcomplicit in Mark Foley's stalking of teenage pages.
By KEVIN NAFF
Dec. 15, 2006
THE FINDINGS OF the House subcommittee charged with investigating the MarkFoley page scandal reveal yet another example of how the closet leads peopleinto unethical behavior.
And I'm not talking about Foley, but rather his aides and fellow members ofCongress who repeatedly looked the other way as details about hisinappropriate communications with pages came to light as far back as 10years ago.
Rather than confront Foley or demand to see copies of the much-discussede-mails and IMs, several senior staffers ignored the obviously unethicalbehavior because it seems they feared exposing Foley's sexual orientation,which was widely known on the Hill from the time he was first sworn in in1995.
=
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10480
Report: Homelessness among U.S. gay youth an 'epidemic'
Up to 42 percent of homeless or runaway youth are gay
NEW YORK (AP) | Dec 15, 12:01 AM
When Angelika Santiago was 18 and changing her identity from male to female,her mother issued an ultimatum: Cut her hair and dress as a boy or leavetheir apartment.
Santiago left their Manhattan home and ended up in a shelter for lesbian,gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, youths.
"She wanted me to be a boy, deny who I was inside," Santiago recalled.
Santiago eventually gained her independence, landing a receptionist job andrenting a room for $165 a week. But after losing the job and the room a fewweeks ago, she found herself staying at another shelter.
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http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20061215/opinion/143916.shtml
Government shouldn't make our personal decisions for us
I stand corrected. Gays should be allowed to marry. They have that right ascitizens of this country.
But whether a company selling insurance wants to recognize them as a coupleis that company's prerogative. Whether they will be married by a preacher orpriest is that church's prerogative.
What this argument boils down to in plain English is their rights. I, noranyone else, has the right to decide what is good for them if it in no wayharms us as a collective. Sexual orientation cannot be mandated. Maybe itcan be changed through therapy or drugs at some future date, but as of nowit cannot.
Government does not have the right to decide on issues such as abortion, gaymarriage, smoking or trans fat content in food. These are personal decisionsto be made by the individual. We can seek to educate and assist people tomake informed decisions but to legislate behavior is assuming the role ofGod issuing Commandments.
=
The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com/
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9641
New Congress expected to consider gay bills in '07
ENDA, hate crimes most likely to see a vote
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Dec. 15, 2006
The Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to take up legislation in2007 aimed at protecting gays and transgender people from job discriminationand hate crimes, but the prospects for bills dealing with other sexualorientation-related issues are less certain, according to activists andCapitol Hill observers.
Supportive members of Congress have introduced at least 10 gay- orAIDS-related bills during the past several years, including a measure torepeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Other bills call forallowing foreign nationals who are domestic partners of U.S. citizens toenjoy the same immigration rights as married spouses and call for domesticpartnership benefits for federal employees.
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Faeroe Islands legislators vote to ban discrimination against homosexuals
December 15, 2006 - 8:50
http://www.680news.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w121525A
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The Faeroe Islands on Friday voted to bandiscrimination against homosexuals on the Danish semi-autonomous territorybetween Scotland and Iceland.
In a 17-15 vote, Faeroese legislators included the words "sexualorientation" in the islands' anti-discrimination law.
The issue had been under heated debate on the islands after the 32-memberLagtinget last year turned down a similar proposal. Those who opposed thebill argued that homosexuality was against the Bible.
"We're very, very happy. To us it has been a matter of human rights," saidAnnita a Fridriksmoerk, who proposed the bill together with a Republicanparty colleague. "The Faeroese law was limping behind other modernsocieties."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.houstonvoice.com/print.cfm?cid=3822
Closet to blame for Foley scandal?
House report suggests aides didn't intervene because they feared outing gaycongressman
By JOSHUA LYNSEN
Dec. 15, 2006
Former Rep. Mark Foley's status as a closeted gay man may have dissuadedaides and fellow members of Congress from confronting him over hisinappropriate contact with teenage male pages, according to a Housesubcommittee report released last week.
The report suggests that those in the know feared an outing "could haveadversely affected him both personally and politically."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9644
Activists to scrutinize impact of Va. amendment
New watchdog group to create legal defense network
By ELIZABETH PERRY
Dec. 15, 2006
With the Marshall-Newman amendment set to go into effect on Jan. 1, aVirginia gay rights organization is hoping the state attorney general isright in his opinion that the gay marriage ban will not undermine the rightsof unmarried same-sex couples.
Just in case, the Equality Virginia Education Fund, which serves as thecharitable research and education arm of Equality Virginia, has launched anew program called "Amendment Watch," designed to keep an eye on the impactof the marriage amendment when it goes into effect. Members are concernedabout the amendment's potential ramifications, which could affect more thana gay or lesbian couple's right to wed.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/15/bush.cheney.reut/index.html
Bush 'happy' for pregnant Mary Cheney
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's pregnant lesbiandaughter Mary will make a "fine mom," President Bush said, sidestepping hispast comment that a child ideally would be raised by a mother and father.
Mary Cheney, 37, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe, are expecting theirfirst child, which would be the sixth grandchild for the vice president.Cheney was hired last year as an executive for America Online -- whoseparent company Time Warner also owns People as well as CNN.
"I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy forher," Bush said in an interview with People magazine.
The Washington Post reported that the baby was due in late spring.
In a 2005 interview with The New York Times, Bush said: "I believe childrencan receive love from gay couples. But the ideal is -- and studies haveshown that --the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with aman and a woman."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/12/el_salvador_new.html
December 14, 2006
EL SALVADOR: NEW ATTACKS UNDERSCORE GAYS' DIRE SITUATION
I wrote the following article for Gay City News -- New York's largest gayweekly:
A vicious and violent police attack a week ago Monday on four transgenderedyouth in El Salvador, which hospitalized one of them with serious injuries,is only the latest in an unending wave of violent attacks that continues toinundate the Central American nation's LGBT community.
"It is almost impossible to describe all the physical attacks on gay peoplehere-both by police and by anti-gay vigilantes and homophobic thugs-becausethere are so many," said William Hernandez (right), the head of thecountry's national gay group, Entre Amigos (Among Friends). As the spokesmanfor Entre Amigos and the most visible gay person in El Salvador, Hernandezis himself the target of constant death threats.
"Every day brings not only abuse and harassment, but killings andbeatings-this year alone four LGBT people have been killed, with the kind ofexcessive force that we have not seen since the civil war here," Hernandeztold Gay City News.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
N.J. Civil Unions Bill Goes to Governor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:15 a.m. ET
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- For more than four years, Saundra Toby-Heath has waitedfor the state of New Jersey to recognize her partner as her wife.
She moved a step closer Thursday when the Legislature approved a bill thatwill create civil unions. Upon the governor's signature, New Jersey willbecome the third state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples.
''We acknowledge this is a huge step forward,'' said Toby-Heath, 53, whoalong with her partner were among seven gay couples who sued the state forthe right to marry.
Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign the measure, which wouldextend to same-sex couples all the rights and privileges available understate law to married people. The bill passed the Assembly 56-19 and theSenate 23-12.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/16243773.htm
The Miami Herald
Posted on Fri, Dec. 15, 2006
At Large
My freedom linked to others -- including gays
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com
This is for a reader who demands to know why I write about gay issues. Hisconclusion is that I must secretly be gay myself.
Actually, he doesn't express himself quite that civilly. To the contrary,his e-mails -- which, until recently, were arriving at the rate of about onea week -- evince a juvenility that would embarrass a reasonably intelligentfifth grader. The most recent one, for example, carried a salutationreading, ``Hi Mrs. Pitts.''
We're talking about the kind of thing for which delete buttons wereinvented. So you may wonder why I bring it to your attention, especiallysince acknowledging a person like this only encourages him. It's simple,actually: He raises an interesting question that deserves an answer.
PROBABLY A GUY
If from that you conclude (or fear) you're about to read a stirring defenseof my manly male masculinity, no. The guy is free to believe what he wishes;I really don't care. And here, let me digress to confess that, though Irefer to him using masculine pronouns, I actually don't know if he's a hebecause his notes have been anonymous. Still, I assume it's a guy becausethe level of sexual insecurity the e-mails suggest strikes me as -- boy, amI going to get in trouble for this -- rather guy-specific.
Anyway, to get back to the point, I'm not here to argue sexuality. I justfind myself intrigued by the idea that if you're not gay, you shouldn't careabout gay rights.
The most concise answer I can give is cribbed from what a white kid saidsome 40 or so years ago, as white college students were risking their livesto travel south and register black people to vote. Somebody asked why. Hesaid he acted from an understanding that his freedom was bound up with thefreedom of every other man.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Free Condoms for Prisoners?
Barrier Contraception Could Stem High Levels of HIV Infection inCorrectional Facilities, Experts Say
By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
Dec. 14, 2006 - - Behind high prison walls, the concept of safe sex may beas foreign as that of freedom.
But some say this situation must change, especially because studies suggestthat the prevalence of HIV infection in U.S. prisons and jails is six to 10times higher than that seen in the general free population.
Recently, the National Minority AIDS Council, an AIDS advocacy group,recommended that prisons curb the spread of the virus by distributingcondoms to prisoners.
The idea is not a new one.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.reuters.com/
12:29 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2006
WARSAW - A Polish political party is severing all ties with its youth wingafter members were alleged to have burned swastika torches and givenNazi-style salutes.
Krzysztof Bosak, a member of parliament for the right-wing League of PolishFamilies, told reporters on Wednesday he had decided to step down aschairman of the party's junior branch, All PolishYouth.
On Tuesday League head Roman Giertych announced his party, a junior memberof the ruling coalition, was breaking its political links with the youthwing. Giertych, a lawyer, had reactivated the organization in 1989.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.soulforce.org/sendstudio/users/link.php?LinkID=333&UserID=1859&Newsletter=120&List=3&LinkType=Send>
www.soulforce.org/petition/2
Sign the Petition Asking TIME Magazine to Check Dobson's Facts About LGBTFamilies
Dobson's Article in TIME Magazine titled Two Mommies is One Too Many
<http://www.soulforce.org/email_campaign/images/time_dobson.jpg> In the
December 18th issue of TIME Magazine, James Dobson responds to the news ofMary Cheney's pregnancy by once again invoking "30 years of social-scienceevidence" to support his claim that children do best "when raised by theirmarried mother and father."
Dobson's views on lesbian and gay parenting do not reflect the mainstream ofAmerican professional organizations concerned with researching and promotingchildren's well-being. In a 2004 policy statement, the American Associationof Marriage and Family Therapy reported "no evidence that same-sex couplesor family units vary significantly from heterosexual couples or family unitsin terms of aspirations, hopes and goals, or in outcomes for children."
In response to Dobson's editorial, Soulforce contacted Dr. Christopher R.Martell, President of the American Psychological Association's Society forthe Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues. According toDr. Martell:
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Ireland: Lesbian couple lose marriage case
Last Updated: 14/12/2006 11:39
Lesbian couple lose marriage case
The High Court has rejected a landmark action by a lesbian couple aimed athaving their marriage in Canada recognised as valid under Irish law orsecuring the right to marry in Ireland.
Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Anne Louise Gilligan were married in Canada inSeptember 2003 and, the following year, began moves to have theirrelationship officially accepted under Irish law.
But Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne today dismissed their case, insisting therewas no provision for same-sex marriage in the Constitution.
Dr Zappone, a public policy consultant, and DrGilligan, an academic, hadtaken the case against the Revenue Commissioners and the State.
The case, which ran for eight days last October, raised significant issuesabout the meaning of marriage under the Constitution and issues concerningthe entitlements of same-sex couples under the tax acts.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Gay couples wonder: Get hitched now or wait for marriage?
By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN
Associated Press Writer
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--
gaymarriage-coupl1214dec14,0,3519503.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
December 14, 2006, 6:28 PM EST
NEWARK, N.J. -- Saundra Toby-Heath has been waiting more than four years forthe state of New Jersey to recognize her partner as her wife.
She moved a step closer Thursday when the state Legislature approved a billthat will create civil unions. Upon the governor's signature, New Jerseywill become the third state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples.
"We acknowledge is a huge step forward," said Toby-Heath, 53, who along withher partner were among seven gay couples who sued the state for the right tomarry.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=70&id=12018
Murders of Gender Non-Conforming Youth Documented in New Report12.13.06
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) Wednesday released a newhuman rights report called "50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War onAmerica's Youth," which documents more than 50 murders of young people under30 who were targeted because they did not fit stereo types of masculinityand femininity. The report reveals a unique vulnerability at theintersection of age, race, and gender non-conformity that makes a fatalassault exponentially more likely.
"While many youth who don't fit gender stereotypes for masculinity orfemininity face harassment or bullying, when it comes to gender-based murderthe victims are specific and consistent," said Riki Wilchins, GenderPACExecutive Director.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Two Mommies or Two Daddies Will Do Fine, Thanks
An advocate for gay families says James Dobson misuses science to discreditsame-sex parenting By JENNIFER CHRISLER
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1569797,00.html
Viewpoint: Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Posted Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006
The strategies of religious and political extremists like James Dobson ofFocus on the Family have become more nuanced of late. They have adjustedtheir language so that it is less vitriolic. They now utilize terms andapproaches that often have a scientific-sounding overlay and are designed toappear more reasonable than those of their earlier efforts. They use thelanguage of "concern" instead of the language of direct condemnation. Theyhave had to make these adjustments because - as the lives of gay people andtheir families have gained visibility - the previous methods of attack losttheir effectiveness. Nevertheless, the science they wield, if not unsound,is misconstrued. Responding to the news of the pregnancy of Mary Cheney, thelesbian daughter of the Vice President, Dobson, writing in a viewpoint inTIME magazine, put to work the time-worn tools of lies and distortion tomake his argument that lesbian and gay parents are not able to provideenvironments for their children comparable in quality to those created byheterosexual parents.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1568485,00.html
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006
Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's hope she doesn't start a trend
By JAMES C. DOBSON
A number of social conservatives, myself included, have recently been askedto respond to the news that Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter, ispregnant with a child she intends to raise with her lesbian partner.Implicit in this issue is an effort to get us to criticize the BushAdministration or the Cheney family. But the concern here has nothing to dowith politics. It is about what kind of family environment is best for thehealth and development of children, and, by extension, the nation at large.
With all due respect to Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, the majority ofmore than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children dobest on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother andfather. That is not to say Cheney and Poe will not love their child. Butlove alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development. Thetwo most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a littleboy--any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for alittle girl.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/16240486.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Thu, Dec. 14, 2006
Evangelist's gay escort signs for explicit tell-all
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Gay ex-escort Mike Jones has signed to write a sexually explicit memoirabout his relationship with fallen evangelist Ted Haggard.
''It's going to review my encounters with Ted and other people who aresimilar,'' Jones told The Miami Herald today from New York.
''It's not a book about bashing Ted at all. It's humanizing him as a personwith feelings and emotions and desires,'' Jones said. ``I'm going to beexplicit as far as what happened in our encounters, but not to rip him apartor be mean to him. He's a man who has faults like all of us.''
Jones, 49, won't say how much the book deal is worth.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10515987/detail.html
Anti-Gay Church Must Pay Marine's Family
POSTED: 10:15 am EST December 12, 2006
BALTIMORE -- A Kansas church has been ordered to pay $3,150 for costs andfees associated with a summons and complaint filed by the father of a Marinewhose funeral was picketed by the extremist group.
Albert Snyder, of York, Pa., is suing the Rev. Fred Phelps and WestboroBaptist Church after church members demonstrated at the funeral of LanceCpl. Matthew Snyder, of Westminster, and posted pictures of the protest ontheir Web site.
Lance Snyder was killed in Iraq in March. Members of the Topeka church claimU.S. soldiers are killed as God's punishment for America's tolerance ofhomosexuality.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/12/121306iran.htm
Extremist Jewish Sect Opposed To Gays Embraces Iran Anti-HolocaustConference
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: December 14, 2006 12:01 am ET
(Jerusalem) Members of an ultra Orthodox Jewish sect that staged nightlyriots last month in Jerusalem to pressure the government into canceling agay pride march were front and center this week at an Iranian governmentforum sitting side by side with holocaust deniers.
The Haredi believe only in the strict interpretation of the Bible, disputethe authority of the Israeli government and disavow Zionism as anti-Jewish.
This week leaders and members of the sect flew to Tehran to take part in theholocaust conference set up by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whoclaims that the holocaust is a Zionist invention.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nyblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10465
Brownback says room for gay rights backers among GOP
Potential presidential candidate calls Republicans a 'big-tent' party
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) | Dec 13, 8:09 PM
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, among the most conservative of the potentialRepublican presidential candidates, said Tuesday there's room in the GOP forcandidates who favor gay rights, but he warned that such politicianswouldn't be welcomed by the party's conservative base.
"It's a big-tent party and has been for a long period of time, particularlysince Ronald Reagan talked about this being a party of differentviewpoints," said Brownback. "If somebody agrees with you 80 percent of thetime, he's not your enemy."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-aids14dec14,1,891937.story
AIDS group asks Viagra maker to halt ad campaign
Advocacy panel says the marketing effort promotes the drug's recreationaluse. Company denies claim.
By Rong-Gong Lin II
Times Staff Writer
December 14, 2006
A Los Angeles-based AIDS advocacy group is calling for the manufacturer ofViagra to halt a marketing campaign that the group says promotes the drug'srecreational use, increasing the risk of acquiring HIV or other sexuallytransmitted diseases.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation will run advertisements in publications inNew York, San Francisco and South Florida, with the first in SouthernCalifornia to run today in the L.A. Weekly. The group is particularlyconcerned that Viagra, manufactured by Pfizer Inc., has become popular amonggay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine, which has been associated withrisky sexual behavior and HIV infection.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nyblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=4634
Ryan White Deal May Avert AIDS Funding Cut
Bill passes Senate unanimously, held up in house
By KERRY ELEVELD
Dec. 11, 2006
A three-year reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act passed the Senatelast week after a deal was struck that satisfied the concerns of bothbig-city HIV/AIDS epicenters like New York as well as areas with emergingepidemics located mostly in the South. At press time, the bill awaitedapproval from the House.
The Ryan White CARE Act provides funding for local programs and services forpeople living with HIV and AIDS. The bill that passed the Senate extendsRyan White's annual budget of about $2.1 billion for three years and capsthe amount of funding cuts to any city or state currently receiving money at5 percent. The two provisions intended to mitigate cuts include a "holdharmless" clause that prevents any area from receiving less than 95 percentof its previous year's funding level, and an opportunity for areas that dosuffer cuts to apply for supplemental funding the following year.
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$1,000 Scholarship Opportunity for Queer YouthfromQueer Foundation
EFFECTIVE WRITING AND SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAM
The Queer Foundation Effective Writing and Scholarships Program is offeringthree $1,000 scholarships for queer US high school students.
Queer Scholars
Are out, proud, and activist
Have a social conscience
Will fight discrimination against queers
Are committed to social change
Believe in organization
Are of good will
The theme of the 2007 high school English essay contest is pink ink ("Wewrite not only about different things; we also write differently"-Brecht).
The following approaches are suggestions only.
1. We're Here and We're Queer: Interviews with Queer Teenagers and TheirFriends
2. Living Healthy as Queer Teenagers
3. Getting Smart: Education Issues of Queer Teenagers
Judges will award points based on creativity, accuracy, objectivity,effectiveness, and usefulness. Grammar, sentence structure, spelling, andpunctuation count. All entries become the property of the Queer Foundation.Winners must agree to permit the Queer Foundation to use their names,images, and biographical information in promotional efforts related to theQueer Foundation Effective Writing and Scholarships Program.
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MARCH 31, 2007
Click the links below for the application and more information.
http://home.comcast.net/~threepennynovel/queerfoundation/queerscholarsapplication.rtf
http://home.comcast.net/~threepennynovel/queerfoundation/
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 15, 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.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/12/15/white_house_criticizes_senators_trip_to_syria?mode=PF
White House criticizes senator's trip to Syria
By Lesley Clark, Mcclatchy Newspapers | December 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The White House escalated its criticism yesterday of SenatorBill Nelson's defiant diplomacy trip to Syria as a parade of other senatorsprepared to meet with the president of the country.
At a press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow repeated his contentionthat the Florida Democrat's trip was "not helpful" and "not appropriate." Hecharged that "lending a further specter of legitimacy to that governmentundermines the cause of democracy in the region."
President Bush has accused Syria of backing the insurgents fighting in Iraq.
Nelson, on what he described as a fact-finding tour of the Middle East, toldreporters on a conference call Wednesday that he met for an hour with BasharAssad. He said the Syrian president "clearly indicated the willingness tocooperate" with the US or Iraqi Army to secure the border between the twocountries.
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Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17722
Mnday, November 13, 2006
Part I: Philanthropy's New Prototype
The cofounder of MIT's Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte, wants to make $100laptops available to poor children throughout the world. The next few monthswill be critical in determining whether the One Laptop per Child projectsucceeds.
By James Surowiecki
In the decades after the Civil War, libraries were scarce in much of theUnited States. Many towns had no library at all, and those libraries thatdid exist were typically small and private, run by clubs or lodges that hadscraped together collections of books to lend to their members or, onoccasion, to outsiders who paid a fee for borrowing privileges. For the mostpart, towns did not have library buildings; book collections were housedinstead in cheap offices or in unused space in public buildings. Even inbigger cities, it was often difficult to borrow books. Until the very end ofthe 19th century, Pittsburgh, for instance, had just one private lendinglibrary, and it struggled to stay afloat. And few people, if any, tookseriously the idea that every town in the country should have a publiclibrary where citizens would have free and equal access to books.
Andrew Carnegie changed all that. Carnegie was an embodiment of the AmericanDream; born poor in Scotland, he had emigrated to the United States andbuilt a fortune in the steel industry, turning himself into one of thecountry's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/stories/45277/
Jon Tester: A New Kind of Populist
By Joshua Frank, AlterNet
Posted on December 15, 2006, Printed on December 15, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/45277/
He's not exactly the type of Democrat you'd be likely to see backslappingNew York City fat cats on their way into an elaborate fund raiser forHillary Clinton. In fact, Jon Tester, the senator-elect from Montana, isn'tyour typical Democrat. He's almost not a Democrat at all, or at least notthe kind we're used to seeing run around Washington these days. In factTester ran his campaign against Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) on just thatplatform. He was tired of the scandals and dishonesty that engulf ournational politics and professed that the polluted Beltway could use a littleMontana house cleanin'. Voters agreed, and Burns, who had ties to the nowincarcerated power broker Jack Abramoff, was defeated in one of the tightestraces in state history.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/12/14/federal-court-rules-that-establishment-clause-allows-government-to-run-religions/print/
Federal Court Rules that Establishment Clause Allows Government to RunReligions
Source: John Bambenek | Published 14th December 2006 @ 22:16 In Vox Populi,Current Events, Politics, Religion | 1 Comment
The City of San Francisco recently labeled the Catholic Church to be a [1]hateful organization and engaged in a tirade of anti-Catholic rhetoric. It'snot surprising that the City of San Francisco would engage in a childishrant because the Catholic Church reiterated a theological position that hasbeen held for thousands of years, after all, they same council expressedsupport [2] convicted cop-killers. What is surprising is that the attempt ofthe City to intervene in a purely ecclesiastical matter was ruled [3]"constitutional" by a Carter-appointed federal judge.
In writing on the case, the federal judge states:
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/opinion/15fri1.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Editorial
A Gag on Free Speech
The Bush administration is trampling on the First Amendment andwell-established criminal law by trying to use a subpoena to force theAmerican Civil Liberties Union to hand over a classified document in itspossession. The dispute is shrouded in secrecy, and very little has beenmade public about the document, but we do not need to know what's in it toknow what's at stake: if the government prevails, it will have engaged inprior restraint - almost always a serious infringement on free speech - andit could start using subpoenas to block reporting on matters of vital publicconcern.
Justice Department lawyers have issued a grand jury subpoena to the A.C.L.U.demanding that it hand over "any and all copies" of thethree-and-a-half-page government document, which was recently leaked to thegroup. The A.C.L.U. is asking a Federal District Court judge in Manhattan toquash the subpoena.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2076137.ece
Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war
By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
Published: 15 December 2006
The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by thepublication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied overSaddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
A devastating attack on Mr Blair's justification for military action byCarne Ross, Britain's key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wrapsuntil now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching theOfficial Secrets Act.
In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiate several UNsecurity resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair must have knownSaddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He said that duringhis posting to the UN, "at no time did HMG [Her Majesty's Government] assessthat Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or itsinterests."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/washington/15senate.html?ei=5094&en=ad6dfb721843ef06&hp=&ex=1166245200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Ill Senator Is Called Responsive; Capital Is Riveted
By KATE ZERNIKE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat of South Dakota, wassaid to be in critical condition but "responsive" Thursday after anoperation to stop bleeding in his brain, and Democrats declared that hiscondition would not imperil the narrow majority they will carry into theSenate next month.
The attending physician of the Capitol, Adm. John F. Eisold, who examinedMr. Johnson before he was sent to the hospital Wednesday, said the bleedingwas caused by a rare tangling of the blood vessels in the brain, known as acongenital arteriovenous malformation, that physicians say often goesundetected. The operation successfully drained the blood and stabilized theproblem, Admiral Eisold said in a statement released by Mr. Johnson'soffice.
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The LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks15dec15,0,6240143,print.column?coll=la-home-commentary
ROSA BROOKS
Barack's ready
Look beyond Obama's two years in the Senate and you'll see that he's wellprepared to run for president.
Rosa Brooks
December 15, 2006
SO WHY not Barack Obama?
On his swing through New Hampshire last weekend, Obama drew rapturouscrowds. But many pundits continue to assume that he'll be just a flash inthe pan, sharing the fate of Howard Dean, the one-time Democratic hottie whoflamed out before the campaign season ended.
Sure, say his detractors, Obama is a symbol of hope to Americans desperatefor politics that transcend barriers of race, class and ethnicity. Butcharisma isn't everything - it can't make up for lack of experience. Obamahas never been "tested." Can he withstand the rigors of the campaign trail?When the ads go negative (start looking now for sly insinuations that a mannamed Barack Hussein Obama can't be trusted!), will he fall apart? Can hehandle the challenges of leading the world's last limping superpower throughan era fraught with conflict and danger?
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/nyregion/15legis.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Borrowing $270 Million for Stem-Cell Research
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 14 - In an end to a two-year journey that was as much aboutpolitics as it was about science, legislators on Thursday approved NewJersey's most sweeping and financially ambitious effort to take a lead rolein stem-cell research.
By comfortable margins, the State Senate and the General Assembly authorizedborrowing $270 million to build the state's first stem-cell research centersin New Brunswick, Newark and Camden. Gov. Jon S. Corzine said on Thursdaythat he would enthusiastically sign it.
"It's, I think, one of the great initiatives that this state has taken on,"Mr. Corzine said. "I think it really does sustain our leadership as therecognized medicine chest of certainly the country, and probably the globe."
Approval of the stem-cell measures came on a madcap final session of theyear in which the calendar was crammed with several pieces of majorlegislation.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/us/15execute.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Death Sentences Decline, and Experts Offer Reasons
By NEIL A. LEWIS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - The number of death sentences in the United States hasdropped to its lowest level in decades, according to recent studies,including one released Thursday that predicts the trend will continuebecause of publicity about cases in which people are wrongly accused ofcrimes.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a group based in Washington, reportedthat the number of death sentences, which had remained at about 300 a yearin the 1990s, began to drop steadily in 1999 and has declined almost 60percent since then.
At the Justice Department, the Bureau of Statistics reported last week thatthere were 128 death sentences in 2005, down from 138 the year before. Whilethe department study does not include an estimate for 2006, the DeathPenalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty and tracks casesclosely, says the number for this year will be about 114.
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The Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0612150327dec15,1,7823782.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Obama on Obama
In a wide-ranging talk, the senator discusses how he stacks up againstClinton and McCain and reveals what's factoring into his decision
By Rick Pearson
Tribune political reporter
December 15, 2006
On the cusp of a historic decision over whether to run for the White House,Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that he believed he would be a "viablecandidate" for president who could move the nation beyond the generationalpolitics that have defined the last 40 years.
"I wouldn't run if I didn't think I could win," Obama (D-Ill.) said in awide-ranging, hour-long interview with the Tribune editorial board in whichthe senator articulated a rationale for his potential candidacy, confidencein his ability to win and an assessment of potential opponents--bothDemocratic and Republican.
Obama said he would reveal his decision in January, after a two-week familyvacation that returns him to his roots in Hawaii, setting an extraordinaryarc for a politician who a little more than two years ago was a statesenator toiling in Springfield.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/opinion/15fri3.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Editorial
Rogues and Fools
This week's conference in Iran of Holocaust deniers and racists was,predictably, a circus of Holocaust denial and racism argued by discreditedscholars and even the former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke. But one shouldnever underestimate the political power of these vicious ideas, even amongsupposedly respectable people across the Middle East and beyond.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran apparently believes his claims thatthe murder of six million Jews by the Nazis is a myth ginned up to justifythe creation of the state of Israel. That is frightening enough. Couple thatwith his calls to wipe Israel off the map and his government's - so farunrestrained - drive to develop the technology needed to build a nuclearweapon, and you have even more reasons to keep yourself up at night.
What is also frightening is that Mr. Ahmadinejad believes there is politicalbenefit in these hate-filled lies and may well be right.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401364_pf.html
A War Bush Wouldn't Pay For
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
Believe it or not, winning the war in Iraq was never the Bushadministration's highest priority. Saving its tax cuts was more important.That was once spoken of as a moral problem. Now it's a practical barrier toa successful outcome.
Until recently President Bush's refusal to scale back any of his tax cutswas discussed as the question of shared sacrifice: How could we ask so muchfrom a courageous group of Americans fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan butnot ask even the wealthiest of their fellow citizens to part with a fewextra dollars to support an endeavor supposedly central to our nation'ssecurity? On the contrary, even after we committed to war in Iraq, theadministration pushed for yet more tax cuts in dividends and capital gains.
Now we know that the decision to put the war on a credit card is not simplya moral question. The administration's failure to acknowledge the real costsof the war -- and to pay them -- has put it in a corner.
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USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2006-12-14-americans-media_x.htm
Americans will devote half their lives to forms of media next year
Posted 12/14/2006 8:27 PM ET
By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY
Americans love their media - so much that next year they'll spend nearlyhalf their lives watching TV, going online, listening to the radio (ormusic) and reading. That's what the U.S. Census Bureau is predicting in its"Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007," out Friday.The annual report uses data from several sources, including private industryand non-profits. It has statistics on everything from elections totransportation to finances.
In 2000, Americans spent 3,333 hours consuming media - and most of that time(1,467 hours) was spent in front of the TV, according to Veronis SuhlerStevenson, a media-oriented money management company that supplied much ofthe media data used in the report.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401363_pf.html
What Syria Would Say
By David Ignatius
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
DAMASCUS, Syria -- What positions would Syria take if it entered a dialoguewith the United States about Iraq and other Middle East issues? I put thatquestion Thursday to Walid Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, and he offeredsurprisingly strong support for the recommendations made last week in theBaker-Hamilton report.
"We are not against the U.S.," Moallem said. "To the contrary, we want to bepart of a regional dialogue that, in our opinion, serves American interestsin the region." He described America and the region as being at a"crossroads" and said: "Either we go for stability, or the region will fall,and religious civil wars and the extremists behind them will take over."
Moallem's comments are the most detailed Syrian response to therecommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by formersecretary of state James A. Baker III and former representative Lee H.Hamilton.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/nyregion/15union.html?_r=1&ei=5094&en=45097b0a49c69563&hp=&ex=1166158800&oref=slogin&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Legislators Vote for Gay Unions in N.J.
By LAURA MANSNERUS
TRENTON, Dec. 14 - The Legislature voted on Thursday to make New Jersey thethird state in the nation to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples. Indoing so, it moved quickly to fulfill a court mandate to provide equalrights to gay couples but frustrated people on both sides of the emotionalissue.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who is expected to sign the measure into law, said, "Ithink we're doing the right thing."
In joining Vermont and Connecticut in establishing the parallel institutionof civil unions, New Jersey shunned the option of opening marriage tosame-sex couples. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriage,and it has a residency requirement; some same-sex couples have married inCanada.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/washington/15medicare.html?ei=5094&en=797e8e88f34c1627&hp=&ex=1166245200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Last-Minute Inserts Offer Benefits in Medicare Bill
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - By slipping four sentences into a big bill passed lastweek, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert secured a major change in Medicare policyavidly sought by a few health insurers, in particular a multinationalcompany with headquarters in his home state, Illinois.
In the final hours of the 109th Congress, the Senate Democratic leader,Harry Reid of Nevada, also got special treatment for a hospice in his state.The bill did not name the hospice, but specified the Medicare providernumber for the intended beneficiary, the Nathan Adelson Hospice in ruralPahrump, Nev.
Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California, inserted a provisionearmarking $40 million for a valley fever vaccine sought by hisconstituents, while the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee,obtained tens of millions of dollars for hospitals in his state.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401367_pf.html
In Baker's Blunder, A Chance For Bush
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
As a result of the Iraq Study Group, President Bush has been given one lastchance to alter course on Iraq. This did not, however, come about the wayJames Baker intended. It came about because the long-anticipated reportturned out to be, as is widely agreed, a farce. From its wildly hyped,multiple magazine-cover rollout (Annie Leibovitz in Men's Vogue, no less) toits mishmash of 79 (no less) recommendations, the report has fallen so flatthat the field is now clear for the president to recommend to a war-wearycountry something new and bold.
The study group has not just been attacked by left and right, Democrat andRepublican. It has invited ridicule. Seventy-nine recommendations.Interdependent, insists Baker. They should be taken as a whole. "I hope wedon't treat this like a fruit salad and say, 'I like this but I don't likethat.' " On the basis of what grand unifying vision? On the authority ofwhat superior wisdom? A 10-person commission including such Middle Eastexperts as Sandra Day O'Connor, Alan Simpson and Vernon Jordan?
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401816_pf.html
Executive Compensation Comes Into The Clear
By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 15, 2006; D01
Shareholders can expect a clearer picture of how much top executives arepaid as new rules go into effect today, requiring companies to clearlyexplain their compensation practices.
The new regulations mark the biggest change to corporate pay disclosure in25 years. They will force companies to release more information aboutdifferent kinds of compensation and to more clearly justify those payments.
The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the changes this year inresponse to a rising backlash against annual double-digit percentageincreases in executive pay. The Corporate Library said this year that payfor chief executives at more than 1,700 public companies grew 16 percent in2005, down from 30 percent in 2004.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301907_pf.html
Farewell to Pax Americana
By Robert J. Samuelson
Thursday, December 14, 2006; A31
With hindsight we may see 2006 as the end of Pax Americana. Ever since WorldWar II, the United States has used its military and economic superiority topromote a stable world order that has, on the whole, kept the peace andspread prosperity. But the United States increasingly lacks both the powerand the will to play this role. It isn't just Iraq, though Iraq has beenprofoundly destabilizing and demoralizing. Many other factors erode U.S.power: China's rise; probable nuclear proliferation; shrinking support foropen trade; higher spending for Social Security and Medicare that squeezesthe military; the weakness of traditional U.S. allies -- Europe and Japan.
By objective measures, Pax Americana's legacy is enormous. Since Hiroshimaand Nagasaki, no nuclear device has been used in anger. In World War II anestimated 60 million people died. Only four subsequent conflicts have hadmore than a million deaths (the Congo civil war, 3 million; Vietnam, 1.9million; Korea, 1.3 million; China's civil war, 1.2 million), reports theCenter for International Development and Conflict Management at theUniversity of Maryland.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121300452_pf.html
Antidepressants a Suicide Risk for Young Adults
Study Says Cases Double for Those 18 to 25 Using Medicine to ControlDepression
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 14, 2006; A16
Widely used antidepressants double the risk of suicidal behavior in youngadults, from around three cases per thousand to seven cases per thousand,according to a huge federal analysis of hundreds of clinical trials. Itmarks the first time regulators have acknowledged that the drugs can triggersuicidal behavior among patients older than 18.
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that the higherrisk was found in patients 18 to 25 and that the risk faded among olderpatients. The finding comes two years after the agency ordered a "black box"warning on the drug labels following the discovery of a heightened risk ofsuicidal behavior among children taking the pills.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/opinion/13talkingpoints.html
December 12, 2006
Talking Points
Judges for Sale
By DOROTHY SAMUELS
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Special interests have long targetedcandidates for executive offices, like president and governor, andlegislative offices, like Congress and state legislatures. It was just amatter of time before well-heeled business and other interests would expandtheir influence-peddling efforts, and begin pouring large amounts of moneyinto previously sleepy judicial campaigns.
Several years ago, it started happening - first in just a few states, thenspreading to a lot more. The unwholesome result is the dawn of a new era ofraucous million dollar-plus campaigns for key state judgeships that isforcing more and more would-be jurists to bond with special interestbackers, and invest in cheesy 15- and 30-second TV spots, if they want toget on the bench, and stay there.
As spending by special interests in state judicial elections soars into thestratosphere, something very precious to Americans is being grievouslycompromised. And in certain pockets of the country, it seems well on the wayto being lost altogether. That precious something is the integrity andimpartiality of the nation's courts.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Lawrence Spohn: 14th Amendment protection
By Larry Spohn
Thursday, December 14, 2006
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/dec/14/lawrence-spohn-14th-amendment-protection/
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges orimmunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive anyperson of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny toany person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
That's the essence of the 14th Amendment, appended to the greatest politicaldocument ever written, the Constitution of the United States of America. Itspeaks to our equality under law and guarantees it. No exceptions. Noexcuses. No end runs.
It's the law of the land, down to the state and hamlet level; yet, it is notbeing followed. And so far, politicians, governments and the courts haveallowed that to stand.
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http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20061214/a_fecfines14.art.htm
3 '527' political groups penalized for roles in 2004 election
By Fredreka Schouten
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - Three independent political groups paid six-figure settlementsto resolve charges that they broke campaign-finance laws in the 2004presidential election, the Federal Election Commission said Wednesday.
The action is the first clampdown on outside political groups, FEC ChairmanMichael Toner said, and could diminish the role of such organizations.
Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth paid $299,500 in penalties; theMoveOn.org Voter Fund paid $150,000; and the League of Conservation Voters527 and 527 II paid $180,000.
The groups stepped over the line by either raising funds or by paying foractivities that called for the election or defeat of the presidentialcontenders, Toner said.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/johnson&printer=1
Sen. Johnson 'recovering' after surgery
By MARY CLARE JALONICK and TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writers 18 minutes ago
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) lay in criticalcondition but was described as recovering Thursday after emergency overnightsurgery to repair bleeding inside his brain. His illness raised questionsover whether the Democrats would hold their newly won control of the Senate.
The South Dakota lawmaker, 59, was on "an uncomplicated post-operativecourse," the U.S. Capitol physician said after visiting him Thursdayafternoon. Johnson suffered a hemorrhage in his brain caused by a rare andsometimes fatal condition.
"He has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No furthersurgical intervention has been required," said the physician, Adm. JohnEisold. He had said earlier, "The senator is recovering withoutcomplication."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20061214/pl_cq_politics/democratsstillweighingwheretohold08convention&printer=1
Democrats Still Weighing Where to Hold '08 Convention
By Rachel KapochunasWed Dec 13, 7:25 PM ET
Democrats with 2008 on their minds will have to wait a bit longer to learnwhether their party will hold its presidential nominating convention inDenver or in New York City. While a site selection announcement was widelyexpected to have been made by now, DNC spokesman Damien LaVera saidWednesday that "a final decision has not been made."
But LaVera added that party officials likely are not going to put thatdecision off much longer, stating that the choice of which city will hostthe convention - to be held Aug. 25-28 in 2008 - is likely to come beforeJan. 1.
The Republican National Convention got the jump in the conventionsweepstakes in September by naming the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolis asthe location for its 2008 convention, to be held Sept. 1-4.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
**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.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/12/15/white_house_criticizes_senators_trip_to_syria?mode=PF
White House criticizes senator's trip to Syria
By Lesley Clark, Mcclatchy Newspapers | December 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The White House escalated its criticism yesterday of SenatorBill Nelson's defiant diplomacy trip to Syria as a parade of other senatorsprepared to meet with the president of the country.
At a press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow repeated his contentionthat the Florida Democrat's trip was "not helpful" and "not appropriate." Hecharged that "lending a further specter of legitimacy to that governmentundermines the cause of democracy in the region."
President Bush has accused Syria of backing the insurgents fighting in Iraq.
Nelson, on what he described as a fact-finding tour of the Middle East, toldreporters on a conference call Wednesday that he met for an hour with BasharAssad. He said the Syrian president "clearly indicated the willingness tocooperate" with the US or Iraqi Army to secure the border between the twocountries.
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Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17722
Mnday, November 13, 2006
Part I: Philanthropy's New Prototype
The cofounder of MIT's Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte, wants to make $100laptops available to poor children throughout the world. The next few monthswill be critical in determining whether the One Laptop per Child projectsucceeds.
By James Surowiecki
In the decades after the Civil War, libraries were scarce in much of theUnited States. Many towns had no library at all, and those libraries thatdid exist were typically small and private, run by clubs or lodges that hadscraped together collections of books to lend to their members or, onoccasion, to outsiders who paid a fee for borrowing privileges. For the mostpart, towns did not have library buildings; book collections were housedinstead in cheap offices or in unused space in public buildings. Even inbigger cities, it was often difficult to borrow books. Until the very end ofthe 19th century, Pittsburgh, for instance, had just one private lendinglibrary, and it struggled to stay afloat. And few people, if any, tookseriously the idea that every town in the country should have a publiclibrary where citizens would have free and equal access to books.
Andrew Carnegie changed all that. Carnegie was an embodiment of the AmericanDream; born poor in Scotland, he had emigrated to the United States andbuilt a fortune in the steel industry, turning himself into one of thecountry's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/stories/45277/
Jon Tester: A New Kind of Populist
By Joshua Frank, AlterNet
Posted on December 15, 2006, Printed on December 15, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/45277/
He's not exactly the type of Democrat you'd be likely to see backslappingNew York City fat cats on their way into an elaborate fund raiser forHillary Clinton. In fact, Jon Tester, the senator-elect from Montana, isn'tyour typical Democrat. He's almost not a Democrat at all, or at least notthe kind we're used to seeing run around Washington these days. In factTester ran his campaign against Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) on just thatplatform. He was tired of the scandals and dishonesty that engulf ournational politics and professed that the polluted Beltway could use a littleMontana house cleanin'. Voters agreed, and Burns, who had ties to the nowincarcerated power broker Jack Abramoff, was defeated in one of the tightestraces in state history.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/12/14/federal-court-rules-that-establishment-clause-allows-government-to-run-religions/print/
Federal Court Rules that Establishment Clause Allows Government to RunReligions
Source: John Bambenek | Published 14th December 2006 @ 22:16 In Vox Populi,Current Events, Politics, Religion | 1 Comment
The City of San Francisco recently labeled the Catholic Church to be a [1]hateful organization and engaged in a tirade of anti-Catholic rhetoric. It'snot surprising that the City of San Francisco would engage in a childishrant because the Catholic Church reiterated a theological position that hasbeen held for thousands of years, after all, they same council expressedsupport [2] convicted cop-killers. What is surprising is that the attempt ofthe City to intervene in a purely ecclesiastical matter was ruled [3]"constitutional" by a Carter-appointed federal judge.
In writing on the case, the federal judge states:
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/opinion/15fri1.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Editorial
A Gag on Free Speech
The Bush administration is trampling on the First Amendment andwell-established criminal law by trying to use a subpoena to force theAmerican Civil Liberties Union to hand over a classified document in itspossession. The dispute is shrouded in secrecy, and very little has beenmade public about the document, but we do not need to know what's in it toknow what's at stake: if the government prevails, it will have engaged inprior restraint - almost always a serious infringement on free speech - andit could start using subpoenas to block reporting on matters of vital publicconcern.
Justice Department lawyers have issued a grand jury subpoena to the A.C.L.U.demanding that it hand over "any and all copies" of thethree-and-a-half-page government document, which was recently leaked to thegroup. The A.C.L.U. is asking a Federal District Court judge in Manhattan toquash the subpoena.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2076137.ece
Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war
By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
Published: 15 December 2006
The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by thepublication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied overSaddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
A devastating attack on Mr Blair's justification for military action byCarne Ross, Britain's key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wrapsuntil now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching theOfficial Secrets Act.
In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiate several UNsecurity resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair must have knownSaddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He said that duringhis posting to the UN, "at no time did HMG [Her Majesty's Government] assessthat Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or itsinterests."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/washington/15senate.html?ei=5094&en=ad6dfb721843ef06&hp=&ex=1166245200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Ill Senator Is Called Responsive; Capital Is Riveted
By KATE ZERNIKE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat of South Dakota, wassaid to be in critical condition but "responsive" Thursday after anoperation to stop bleeding in his brain, and Democrats declared that hiscondition would not imperil the narrow majority they will carry into theSenate next month.
The attending physician of the Capitol, Adm. John F. Eisold, who examinedMr. Johnson before he was sent to the hospital Wednesday, said the bleedingwas caused by a rare tangling of the blood vessels in the brain, known as acongenital arteriovenous malformation, that physicians say often goesundetected. The operation successfully drained the blood and stabilized theproblem, Admiral Eisold said in a statement released by Mr. Johnson'soffice.
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The LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks15dec15,0,6240143,print.column?coll=la-home-commentary
ROSA BROOKS
Barack's ready
Look beyond Obama's two years in the Senate and you'll see that he's wellprepared to run for president.
Rosa Brooks
December 15, 2006
SO WHY not Barack Obama?
On his swing through New Hampshire last weekend, Obama drew rapturouscrowds. But many pundits continue to assume that he'll be just a flash inthe pan, sharing the fate of Howard Dean, the one-time Democratic hottie whoflamed out before the campaign season ended.
Sure, say his detractors, Obama is a symbol of hope to Americans desperatefor politics that transcend barriers of race, class and ethnicity. Butcharisma isn't everything - it can't make up for lack of experience. Obamahas never been "tested." Can he withstand the rigors of the campaign trail?When the ads go negative (start looking now for sly insinuations that a mannamed Barack Hussein Obama can't be trusted!), will he fall apart? Can hehandle the challenges of leading the world's last limping superpower throughan era fraught with conflict and danger?
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/nyregion/15legis.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Borrowing $270 Million for Stem-Cell Research
By DAVID W. CHEN
TRENTON, Dec. 14 - In an end to a two-year journey that was as much aboutpolitics as it was about science, legislators on Thursday approved NewJersey's most sweeping and financially ambitious effort to take a lead rolein stem-cell research.
By comfortable margins, the State Senate and the General Assembly authorizedborrowing $270 million to build the state's first stem-cell research centersin New Brunswick, Newark and Camden. Gov. Jon S. Corzine said on Thursdaythat he would enthusiastically sign it.
"It's, I think, one of the great initiatives that this state has taken on,"Mr. Corzine said. "I think it really does sustain our leadership as therecognized medicine chest of certainly the country, and probably the globe."
Approval of the stem-cell measures came on a madcap final session of theyear in which the calendar was crammed with several pieces of majorlegislation.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/us/15execute.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Death Sentences Decline, and Experts Offer Reasons
By NEIL A. LEWIS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - The number of death sentences in the United States hasdropped to its lowest level in decades, according to recent studies,including one released Thursday that predicts the trend will continuebecause of publicity about cases in which people are wrongly accused ofcrimes.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a group based in Washington, reportedthat the number of death sentences, which had remained at about 300 a yearin the 1990s, began to drop steadily in 1999 and has declined almost 60percent since then.
At the Justice Department, the Bureau of Statistics reported last week thatthere were 128 death sentences in 2005, down from 138 the year before. Whilethe department study does not include an estimate for 2006, the DeathPenalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty and tracks casesclosely, says the number for this year will be about 114.
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The Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0612150327dec15,1,7823782.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Obama on Obama
In a wide-ranging talk, the senator discusses how he stacks up againstClinton and McCain and reveals what's factoring into his decision
By Rick Pearson
Tribune political reporter
December 15, 2006
On the cusp of a historic decision over whether to run for the White House,Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that he believed he would be a "viablecandidate" for president who could move the nation beyond the generationalpolitics that have defined the last 40 years.
"I wouldn't run if I didn't think I could win," Obama (D-Ill.) said in awide-ranging, hour-long interview with the Tribune editorial board in whichthe senator articulated a rationale for his potential candidacy, confidencein his ability to win and an assessment of potential opponents--bothDemocratic and Republican.
Obama said he would reveal his decision in January, after a two-week familyvacation that returns him to his roots in Hawaii, setting an extraordinaryarc for a politician who a little more than two years ago was a statesenator toiling in Springfield.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/opinion/15fri3.html?pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Editorial
Rogues and Fools
This week's conference in Iran of Holocaust deniers and racists was,predictably, a circus of Holocaust denial and racism argued by discreditedscholars and even the former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke. But one shouldnever underestimate the political power of these vicious ideas, even amongsupposedly respectable people across the Middle East and beyond.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran apparently believes his claims thatthe murder of six million Jews by the Nazis is a myth ginned up to justifythe creation of the state of Israel. That is frightening enough. Couple thatwith his calls to wipe Israel off the map and his government's - so farunrestrained - drive to develop the technology needed to build a nuclearweapon, and you have even more reasons to keep yourself up at night.
What is also frightening is that Mr. Ahmadinejad believes there is politicalbenefit in these hate-filled lies and may well be right.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401364_pf.html
A War Bush Wouldn't Pay For
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
Believe it or not, winning the war in Iraq was never the Bushadministration's highest priority. Saving its tax cuts was more important.That was once spoken of as a moral problem. Now it's a practical barrier toa successful outcome.
Until recently President Bush's refusal to scale back any of his tax cutswas discussed as the question of shared sacrifice: How could we ask so muchfrom a courageous group of Americans fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan butnot ask even the wealthiest of their fellow citizens to part with a fewextra dollars to support an endeavor supposedly central to our nation'ssecurity? On the contrary, even after we committed to war in Iraq, theadministration pushed for yet more tax cuts in dividends and capital gains.
Now we know that the decision to put the war on a credit card is not simplya moral question. The administration's failure to acknowledge the real costsof the war -- and to pay them -- has put it in a corner.
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USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2006-12-14-americans-media_x.htm
Americans will devote half their lives to forms of media next year
Posted 12/14/2006 8:27 PM ET
By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY
Americans love their media - so much that next year they'll spend nearlyhalf their lives watching TV, going online, listening to the radio (ormusic) and reading. That's what the U.S. Census Bureau is predicting in its"Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007," out Friday.The annual report uses data from several sources, including private industryand non-profits. It has statistics on everything from elections totransportation to finances.
In 2000, Americans spent 3,333 hours consuming media - and most of that time(1,467 hours) was spent in front of the TV, according to Veronis SuhlerStevenson, a media-oriented money management company that supplied much ofthe media data used in the report.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401363_pf.html
What Syria Would Say
By David Ignatius
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
DAMASCUS, Syria -- What positions would Syria take if it entered a dialoguewith the United States about Iraq and other Middle East issues? I put thatquestion Thursday to Walid Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, and he offeredsurprisingly strong support for the recommendations made last week in theBaker-Hamilton report.
"We are not against the U.S.," Moallem said. "To the contrary, we want to bepart of a regional dialogue that, in our opinion, serves American interestsin the region." He described America and the region as being at a"crossroads" and said: "Either we go for stability, or the region will fall,and religious civil wars and the extremists behind them will take over."
Moallem's comments are the most detailed Syrian response to therecommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by formersecretary of state James A. Baker III and former representative Lee H.Hamilton.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/nyregion/15union.html?_r=1&ei=5094&en=45097b0a49c69563&hp=&ex=1166158800&oref=slogin&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Legislators Vote for Gay Unions in N.J.
By LAURA MANSNERUS
TRENTON, Dec. 14 - The Legislature voted on Thursday to make New Jersey thethird state in the nation to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples. Indoing so, it moved quickly to fulfill a court mandate to provide equalrights to gay couples but frustrated people on both sides of the emotionalissue.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who is expected to sign the measure into law, said, "Ithink we're doing the right thing."
In joining Vermont and Connecticut in establishing the parallel institutionof civil unions, New Jersey shunned the option of opening marriage tosame-sex couples. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriage,and it has a residency requirement; some same-sex couples have married inCanada.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/washington/15medicare.html?ei=5094&en=797e8e88f34c1627&hp=&ex=1166245200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 15, 2006
Last-Minute Inserts Offer Benefits in Medicare Bill
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - By slipping four sentences into a big bill passed lastweek, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert secured a major change in Medicare policyavidly sought by a few health insurers, in particular a multinationalcompany with headquarters in his home state, Illinois.
In the final hours of the 109th Congress, the Senate Democratic leader,Harry Reid of Nevada, also got special treatment for a hospice in his state.The bill did not name the hospice, but specified the Medicare providernumber for the intended beneficiary, the Nathan Adelson Hospice in ruralPahrump, Nev.
Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California, inserted a provisionearmarking $40 million for a valley fever vaccine sought by hisconstituents, while the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee,obtained tens of millions of dollars for hospitals in his state.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401367_pf.html
In Baker's Blunder, A Chance For Bush
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, December 15, 2006; A35
As a result of the Iraq Study Group, President Bush has been given one lastchance to alter course on Iraq. This did not, however, come about the wayJames Baker intended. It came about because the long-anticipated reportturned out to be, as is widely agreed, a farce. From its wildly hyped,multiple magazine-cover rollout (Annie Leibovitz in Men's Vogue, no less) toits mishmash of 79 (no less) recommendations, the report has fallen so flatthat the field is now clear for the president to recommend to a war-wearycountry something new and bold.
The study group has not just been attacked by left and right, Democrat andRepublican. It has invited ridicule. Seventy-nine recommendations.Interdependent, insists Baker. They should be taken as a whole. "I hope wedon't treat this like a fruit salad and say, 'I like this but I don't likethat.' " On the basis of what grand unifying vision? On the authority ofwhat superior wisdom? A 10-person commission including such Middle Eastexperts as Sandra Day O'Connor, Alan Simpson and Vernon Jordan?
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401816_pf.html
Executive Compensation Comes Into The Clear
By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 15, 2006; D01
Shareholders can expect a clearer picture of how much top executives arepaid as new rules go into effect today, requiring companies to clearlyexplain their compensation practices.
The new regulations mark the biggest change to corporate pay disclosure in25 years. They will force companies to release more information aboutdifferent kinds of compensation and to more clearly justify those payments.
The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the changes this year inresponse to a rising backlash against annual double-digit percentageincreases in executive pay. The Corporate Library said this year that payfor chief executives at more than 1,700 public companies grew 16 percent in2005, down from 30 percent in 2004.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301907_pf.html
Farewell to Pax Americana
By Robert J. Samuelson
Thursday, December 14, 2006; A31
With hindsight we may see 2006 as the end of Pax Americana. Ever since WorldWar II, the United States has used its military and economic superiority topromote a stable world order that has, on the whole, kept the peace andspread prosperity. But the United States increasingly lacks both the powerand the will to play this role. It isn't just Iraq, though Iraq has beenprofoundly destabilizing and demoralizing. Many other factors erode U.S.power: China's rise; probable nuclear proliferation; shrinking support foropen trade; higher spending for Social Security and Medicare that squeezesthe military; the weakness of traditional U.S. allies -- Europe and Japan.
By objective measures, Pax Americana's legacy is enormous. Since Hiroshimaand Nagasaki, no nuclear device has been used in anger. In World War II anestimated 60 million people died. Only four subsequent conflicts have hadmore than a million deaths (the Congo civil war, 3 million; Vietnam, 1.9million; Korea, 1.3 million; China's civil war, 1.2 million), reports theCenter for International Development and Conflict Management at theUniversity of Maryland.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121300452_pf.html
Antidepressants a Suicide Risk for Young Adults
Study Says Cases Double for Those 18 to 25 Using Medicine to ControlDepression
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 14, 2006; A16
Widely used antidepressants double the risk of suicidal behavior in youngadults, from around three cases per thousand to seven cases per thousand,according to a huge federal analysis of hundreds of clinical trials. Itmarks the first time regulators have acknowledged that the drugs can triggersuicidal behavior among patients older than 18.
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that the higherrisk was found in patients 18 to 25 and that the risk faded among olderpatients. The finding comes two years after the agency ordered a "black box"warning on the drug labels following the discovery of a heightened risk ofsuicidal behavior among children taking the pills.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/opinion/13talkingpoints.html
December 12, 2006
Talking Points
Judges for Sale
By DOROTHY SAMUELS
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Special interests have long targetedcandidates for executive offices, like president and governor, andlegislative offices, like Congress and state legislatures. It was just amatter of time before well-heeled business and other interests would expandtheir influence-peddling efforts, and begin pouring large amounts of moneyinto previously sleepy judicial campaigns.
Several years ago, it started happening - first in just a few states, thenspreading to a lot more. The unwholesome result is the dawn of a new era ofraucous million dollar-plus campaigns for key state judgeships that isforcing more and more would-be jurists to bond with special interestbackers, and invest in cheesy 15- and 30-second TV spots, if they want toget on the bench, and stay there.
As spending by special interests in state judicial elections soars into thestratosphere, something very precious to Americans is being grievouslycompromised. And in certain pockets of the country, it seems well on the wayto being lost altogether. That precious something is the integrity andimpartiality of the nation's courts.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Lawrence Spohn: 14th Amendment protection
By Larry Spohn
Thursday, December 14, 2006
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/dec/14/lawrence-spohn-14th-amendment-protection/
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges orimmunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive anyperson of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny toany person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
That's the essence of the 14th Amendment, appended to the greatest politicaldocument ever written, the Constitution of the United States of America. Itspeaks to our equality under law and guarantees it. No exceptions. Noexcuses. No end runs.
It's the law of the land, down to the state and hamlet level; yet, it is notbeing followed. And so far, politicians, governments and the courts haveallowed that to stand.
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http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20061214/a_fecfines14.art.htm
3 '527' political groups penalized for roles in 2004 election
By Fredreka Schouten
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - Three independent political groups paid six-figure settlementsto resolve charges that they broke campaign-finance laws in the 2004presidential election, the Federal Election Commission said Wednesday.
The action is the first clampdown on outside political groups, FEC ChairmanMichael Toner said, and could diminish the role of such organizations.
Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth paid $299,500 in penalties; theMoveOn.org Voter Fund paid $150,000; and the League of Conservation Voters527 and 527 II paid $180,000.
The groups stepped over the line by either raising funds or by paying foractivities that called for the election or defeat of the presidentialcontenders, Toner said.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/johnson&printer=1
Sen. Johnson 'recovering' after surgery
By MARY CLARE JALONICK and TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writers 18 minutes ago
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) lay in criticalcondition but was described as recovering Thursday after emergency overnightsurgery to repair bleeding inside his brain. His illness raised questionsover whether the Democrats would hold their newly won control of the Senate.
The South Dakota lawmaker, 59, was on "an uncomplicated post-operativecourse," the U.S. Capitol physician said after visiting him Thursdayafternoon. Johnson suffered a hemorrhage in his brain caused by a rare andsometimes fatal condition.
"He has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No furthersurgical intervention has been required," said the physician, Adm. JohnEisold. He had said earlier, "The senator is recovering withoutcomplication."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20061214/pl_cq_politics/democratsstillweighingwheretohold08convention&printer=1
Democrats Still Weighing Where to Hold '08 Convention
By Rachel KapochunasWed Dec 13, 7:25 PM ET
Democrats with 2008 on their minds will have to wait a bit longer to learnwhether their party will hold its presidential nominating convention inDenver or in New York City. While a site selection announcement was widelyexpected to have been made by now, DNC spokesman Damien LaVera saidWednesday that "a final decision has not been made."
But LaVera added that party officials likely are not going to put thatdecision off much longer, stating that the choice of which city will hostthe convention - to be held Aug. 25-28 in 2008 - is likely to come beforeJan. 1.
The Republican National Convention got the jump in the conventionsweepstakes in September by naming the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolis asthe location for its 2008 convention, to be held Sept. 1-4.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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