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To: Ray's List Subscribers,
Thank you for your patience while we have been offline during the past several weeks. We needed to catch up on a backlog of work. We're still not "caught up" but we will try to send Ray's List most days.
Meanwhile - we need some feedback. We don't want to waste any of our time (or yours) sending articles that don't interest you. Please let us know your likes/dislikes - this will help us make Ray's List a more valuable information tool.
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Ray and Michael
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Transgender-Prom-King.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Transgender Student Runs for Prom King
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:51 a.m. ET
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- When school officials announce the name of the FresnoHigh School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing atuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor. Administrators agreed toreverse a district protocol this week that limited males to compete for thetitle after Covarrubias was nominated by her classmates.
''I would never have run for anything if I had to wear a dress,'' saidCovarrubias, who considers herself transgender, an umbrella term that coversall people whose outward appearance and internal identity don't match theirgender at birth.
Gay youth advocates called it a landmark victory for campus genderexpression and said they believe it's the first time in the U.S. that anopenly transgender student has run for prom royalty.
''We are growing as a society to accept much more diversity in genderexpression, and that's a positive thing,'' said Carolyn Laub, director ofthe Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
Covarrubias, who wears black-and-white Vans, baggy shorts and close-croppedbrown hair, sometimes identifies herself as Tony. Her date, a close femalefriend, plans to wear a black dress and red corsage to the prom at anoutdoor reception hall surrounded by man-made waterfalls.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/us/politics/21hillary.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Clinton Promises a Cleanup of Government
By PATRICK HEALY and JON HURDLE
Seeking black and female votes yesterday, first at Rutgers University andthen before the Rev. Al Sharpton's political organization, Senator HillaryRodham Clinton used housecleaning imagery to swipe at President Bush andpraised the Rutgers women's basketball team as teaching her and others alesson.
Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York, criticized President Bush at severalpoints, particularly over Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and Iraq, whichshe called "this war that he deliberately started." But for the most partshe used personal examples and metaphors to advocate for blacks, women, gaymen and women, the poor, the old and the young.
Before Mr. Sharpton's group, the National Action Network, Mrs. Clintonpromised to champion government reform and drew applause by talking aboutwomen's cleaning up messes made by others.
"When I walk into the Oval Office in 2009, I'm afraid I'm going to lift upthe rug and I'm going to see so much stuff under there," she told a fewhundred black political figures and others at a Manhattan hotel.
"You know, what is it about us always having to clean up after people?" sheadded. "But this is not just going to be picking up socks off the floor.This is going to be cleaning up the government."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-TV-Washington-Emmy.html?pagewanted=print
April 20, 2007
No Emmy Try for Isaiah Washington
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:13 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Isaiah Washington has decided this is not a good year totry for an Emmy Award.
The ''Grey's Anatomy'' star, who came under fire after using an anti-gayslur, didn't submit his name for nominations consideration, Washington'spublicist, Howard Bragman, said Friday.
''It's all about the acting, not the awards,'' Bragman said.
Washington ran into trouble at another awards show in January, the GoldenGlobes. He used the epithet during a backstage interview while denying he'dused it previously against castmate T.R. Knight.
After being criticized by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation andthe ABC network, Washington issued an apology and sought counseling.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/us/20civil.html?pagewanted=print
April 20, 2007
Civil Unions Gain Ground as a Governor Vows Action
By PAM BELLUCK
BOSTON, April 19 - New Hampshire's governor said Thursday that he would signa bill legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.
For weeks, the governor, John Lynch, declined to express his views on thecivil union bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives and isexpected to be passed by the Senate next week. Both chambers are controlledby Democrats for the first time in more than a century.
The measure would make New Hampshire the fourth state to allow civil unions,following the lead of Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey. California allowsdomestic partnerships with benefits similar to civil unions. Massachusettsis the only state that allows same-sex marriage.
"It's a matter of conscience, of fairness and preventing discrimination,"the governor, a Democrat, told reporters in Allenstown, N.H., according tohis spokesman, Colin Manning.
Mr. Manning said the governor opposed same-sex marriage, adding that "thecivil unions bill does extend the rights that married couples do enjoy -hospital visitation, crime victims' rights, health insurance - but at thesame time it preserves the distinction of marriage."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/sports/ncaabasketball/19lsu.html?pagewanted=print
April 19, 2007
In Recruiting Season, Mistrust Is Raised at L.S.U.
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Now that the women's college basketball season has ended, many coaches areon the road recruiting through mid-May. And, some said in recent interviews,they could face fallout from last month's resignation of Pokey Chatman fromLouisiana State, following charges of what the university describedyesterday for the first time as inappropriate sexual relationships betweenher and former players.
"This is everyone's worst nightmare," Mary Jo Kane, director of the TuckerCenter for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University ofMinnesota, said during widespread discussion of the Chatman case during the N.C.A.A. tournament.
At its heart, L.S.U. officials said, the Chatman case is about abuse oftrust or power. Yet some coaches, administrators and academics say they fearthat the accusations against Chatman will inflame homophobia; reinforcestereotypes of lesbians as sexual predators; lead to more so-called negativerecruiting, or attempts to steer players away from coaches suspected ofbeing gay; increase skepticism toward the hiring of single women as headcoaches; and scare the parents of potential recruits.
"I think there are coaches who may try to use this against any femalecoaches who are not married and just make innuendo, to put fear in someplayers' minds or parents' minds," said Gail Goestenkors, the former Dukecoach who moved this month to the University of Texas. "That happenssometimes now anyway. I think that will fuel the fire a little bit."
Yesterday, in a telephone interview, Raymond Lamonica, L.S.U.'s general
counsel, said that charges levied by a former assistant coach againstChatman were sexual in nature. He first made similar remarks in Wednesday'seditions of The Advocate, the daily newspaper in Baton Rouge, La. Theuniversity had previously said only that Chatman had inappropriaterelationships with more than one former player.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002054_pf.html
Gay Gains
New Hampshire is poised to join the growing list of states allowing civil
unions.
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A16
GAY AND LESBIAN couples in New Hampshire took a step closer to gainingofficial recognition of their relationships when Gov. John Lynch (D) saidthis week he would sign legislation to establish civil unions in the GraniteState. "I believe it is a matter of conscience, fairness and preventingdiscrimination," he said Thursday.
We agree. Other states should follow suit.
It seems gay marriage and civil unions are taking root in the Northeast.Massachusetts is the only state in the union to make gay marriage legal.Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey have instituted civil unions. NewHampshire will do the sa me next week if its state Senate follows theHouse's approval of legislation that allows homosexual couples "to enterspousal unions and have the same rights, responsibilities, and obligationsas married couples." Limited domestic partnerships are provided for inMaine, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. California has domesticpartnership that offers almost all the state-level benefits of marriage.
As we have said, there is no reason homosexual couples in loving andcommitted relationships should not be recognized by their states and havethe rights and responsibilities that go with that recognition. Gay marriagewould be optimal. But the adoption of civil unions and domestic partnershipsby some states is a good thing.
Good because the experience of those states will show their residents andothers around the country that there is nothing to fear from granting gayand lesbian couples rights such as hospital visitation. Good because -- justmaybe -- opponents will see that gay marriage or similar arrangements are nothreat to heterosexual marriage.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041901615_pf.html
N.J. ex-governor teaches ethics after sex scandal
Reuters
Thursday, April 19, 2007; 4:06 PM
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, whoresigned his post amid a sex scandal, is teaching law and ethics at thestate's Kean University, the school said on Thursday.
McGreevey is being paid $17,500 a year to work 15 hours a week as an"executive in residence," a position that combines teaching and consulting,the university said.
McGreevey has been teaching courses entitled "Ethical and Legal Issues" and"Management and Leadership" to business school students, said spokesmanDaniel Higgins.
McGreevey announced, on a nationally televised news conference in August2004, that he was stepping down as governor because he was "a gay American"and had been having an affair with a man he had hired as a homeland securityadviser.
The man, Golan Cipel, has denied the affair took place and has saidMcGreevey sexually assaulted him.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041901618_pf.html
Foley Paying Bills With Campaign Cash
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 19, 2007; 4:10 PM
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley is using leftovercampaign cash to pay for the huge legal bills he's racking up defendinghimself in the congressional page scandal that led to his resignation.
Foley spent $206,000 in campaign cash on attorneys from November to January,according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. That leftabout $1.7 million in the Florida Republican's campaign account March 31,even after he returned more than $110,000 from donors.
"Many congressmen, when they resign, they keep the money and do good thingswith it. But paying for your legal bills? I don't think so," said RobertStarr, chairman of the Charlotte County Republican Party.
The FEC has ruled in other cases that such expenditures generally arelawful.
"I got my 500 bucks back. ... I gave him money because I believed in him.It's not that way anymore," Starr said.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041801577_pf.html
James Dobson says prefers families to politics
By Ed Stoddard
Reuters
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 3:13 PM
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo (Reuters) - U.S. conservative heavyweight JamesDobson is tired of being asked his preference in the 2008 White House racebut he says two things are for certain.
One is that the Republican Party cannot count on the unequivocal support ofright-wing Christians. The other is that Republican front-runner and formerNew York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is unlikely to inspire the party's conservativebase because of his checkered marital past.
In an interview, the founder and chairman of the influential conservativeadvocacy and counseling group Focus on the Family said that politics was asideline to his real passion: helping families via his books, radio show andcounseling services.
"It's not Focus on Politics, it's Focus on the Family," he told Reuters athis spacious office that offer breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains inColorado.
Dobson, who turns 71 on Saturday, founded Focus 30 years ago to combat whathe regarded as the moral decay of the family, a trend he linked to broadersocial problems.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041802257_pf.html
Former Evangelical Leader Moves to Phoenix
Rev. Ted Haggard will join church that aided televangelist Jim Baker
Eric Gorski
Associated Press
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 8:33 PM
DENVER (AP) -- The Rev. Ted Haggard moved Wednesday from his longtime homein Colorado Springs to Phoenix, where the disgraced minister will join thesame church that helped fallen televangelist Jim Baker.
Haggard, 50, resigned as president of the National Association ofEvangelicals last year, after a former male prostitute alleged a three-yearcash-for-sex relationship. The man also said he saw Haggard usemethamphetamine. Haggard confessed to undisclosed "sexual immorality" andsaid he bought meth but never used it.
As part of his severance package from New Life Church, a 14,000-membercongregation he started in his basement, Haggard agreed to leave ColoradoSprings, a city he helped make an evangelical center.
"When he moved out of town today, there was a kind of relief on the part ofthe church that life can get back to normal," said the Rev. H.B. London, oneof three ministers overseeing what has been called Haggard's "restoration.""For the Haggards, it is the beginning of a huge new chapter. It's a brandnew start for them, the beginning of a new beginning."
Before his fall, Haggard was an emerging voice in evangelical politics. Hetook part in White House conference calls and fought to broaden themovement's agenda to include environmental issues.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041702412_pf.html
Mayor Leads Gay Marriage Ban Protest
By RYAN J. FOLEY
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 17, 2007; 11:53 PM
MADISON, Wis. -- The mayor and half the city council denounced Wisconsin'snew ban on gay marriage Tuesday by adding a strongly worded statement totheir oath of office.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and 20 city council members elected April 3 raisedtheir right hands and vowed to uphold the state and federal constitutionsand the city charter during a midday ceremony at City Hall.
But then Cieslewicz and 10 council members signed a statement saying theytook the oath under protest because the ban approved by 59 percent of votersin November "besmirches our constitution."
They vowed to work to minimize the ban's impact and overturn it in thefuture.
"I cannot in good conscience take office without noting my strong oppositionto the recent amendment that so blatantly discriminates against my fellowWisconsinites who are gay or lesbian," Cieslewicz said to applause afterbeing sworn in to a second four-year term.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701080_pf.html
Bermuda Cut From O'Donnell's Gay Cruise
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 17, 2007; 9:21 PM
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A summer cruise for gay and lesbian familiesorganized by Rosie O'Donnell has cut Bermuda from its planned itinerarybecause of possible protests by church groups in the British islandterritory.
O'Donnell's charter company said it would replace the Bermuda stop with twoother ports of call in Florida. It will also stop at a private island in theBahamas. The tour is scheduled to leave New York in July on a ship owned byMiami-based Norwegian Cruise Line.
The charter company, R Family Vacations, said on its Web site that it wantedto avoid the type of protests that greeted passengers when one of itscruises stopped in Nassau, Bahamas, in 2004.
In the statement, the company said Bermuda's prime minister had assured themthey would be welcome astourists and they had also received hundreds of supportive e-mails frompeople who live in the wealthy British enclave.
Still, organizers felt they could not be certain there would be noprotesters greeting them upon arrival. "We feel that our cruise would bemore enjoyable with an alternate itinerary to ports where we know we arewelcome by everyone."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701351_pf.html
Anglican Head Williams Says Anti-Gays Misread Bible
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Reuters
Tuesday, April 17, 2007; 5:47 PM
PARIS - The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has saidconservative Christians who cite the Bible to condemn homosexuality aremisreading a key passage written by Saint Paul almost 2,000 years ago.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing theology students inToronto, said an oft-quoted passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans meant towarn Christians not to be self-righteous when they see others fall into sin.
His comments were an unusually open rebuff to conservative bishops, many ofthem from Africa, who have been citing the Bible to demand that pro-gayAnglican majorities in the United States and Canada be reined in or forcedout of the Communion.
"Many current ways of reading miss the actual direction of the passage,"Williams said on Monday, according to a text of his speech posted on theAnglican Church of Canada's Web site.
"Paul is making a primary point not about homosexuality but about thedelusions of the supposedly law-abiding."
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/772/v-print/story/77803.html
Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007
Gay rights bills pass Oregon House
By BRAD CAIN
Same-sex couples would receive the same benefits as married couples, andgays and lesbians would be protected against discrimination under billsapproved Tuesday by the Oregon House.
The Senate is expected to pass the two bills and Gov. Ted Kulongoski plansto sign both.
The first bill would enable same-sex couples to enter into contractualrelationships that grant them the same benefits offered to married couplesunder state law. The bill refers to the relationships as "domesticpartnerships."
Oregon would join Vermont, Connecticut, California and New Jersey inoffering civil unions or domestic partnerships to same-sex couples.Massachusetts allows gay couples to marry. Hawaii extends certain spousalrights to same-sex couples, along with cohabitating heterosexual pairs. TheWashington Legislature last week approved a limited domestic partnershipbill that's expected to be signed into law soon.
A national gay rights group called the Oregon vote part of a larger movementby state lawmakers to provide recognition for gay and lesbian couples.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/367/v-print/story/75968.html
Posted on Mon, Apr. 16, 2007
Anglican meeting set on gay issue
By CHARMAINE NORONHA
The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans said Monday he has agreed toan urgent request for a meeting with U.S. church leaders as the Anglicanfellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, visiting Canada for a spiritualretreat with the country's Anglican bishops, said he would meet with U.S.Episcopal leaders in the fall.
"My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possibleon this, to understand one another," Williams said at a news conference atthe Anglican Church of Canada headquarters.
Last month, U.S. Episcopal bishops affirmed their support for gays andrejected a compromise plan that would have required the Americans to give upsome authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church.
The Episcopal bishops then implored Williams to meet with them to hear theirviews.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=12450
Longtime leader of SLDN to resign
Osburn co-founded group dedicated to fighting 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Apr 20, 11:03 AM
The longtime executive director for the Servicemembers Legal DefenseNetwork, is resigning this month to pursue new career opportunities, thenational group announced in a news release Friday.
C. Dixon Osburn co-founded the thirteen year-old group whose mission is toend discrimination against and harassment of service members harmed by themilitary's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Osborn said, "It has been an honor, privilege and inspiration to work withour men and women in uniform who fight for our freedom even when deniedtheir own. I am glad that I could do my small part for them, and for allAmericans who believe in equality and our nation's security."
Osburn and Michelle Benecke co-founded the organization in 1993 and servedas co-executive directors until Benecke's departure in 2000, when Osburnbecame SLDN's sole executive director.
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Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/printa-685028~Settlement_near_in_alleged_police_anti-gay_attack.html
Settlement near in alleged police anti-gay attack
Adam Martin and Josh Sabatini, The Examiner
Apr 20, 2007 3:00 AM (1 day ago)
Current rank: # 63 of 7,089
SAN FRANCISCO - After an alleged homophobic attack by San Francisco policeofficers, The City is preparing to settle a lawsuit out of court, but theofficers involved in the case may never be fully investigated.
Andrew Marconi claims that three officers approached him when he wentoutside the Endup nightclub on April 18, 2005, to urinate. In his legalclaim against The City, he states that Sgt. Jason Fox and officers IanFurminger and Simon Chan uttered a series of anti-gay slurs at him.
"You peeing in my streets? Do you think I want your AIDS-infected pee in mystreets, f-----?" one officer allegedly said to Marconi. The officer thenallegedly forced Marconi to his knees in a puddle of urine and used his hairto wipe the urine-soaked wall, according to the complaint.
The officers hit and threatened Marconi, the complaint states, but leftafter Marconi's friend showed them his Stockton Police Department badge.
The Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved an$83,000 settlement for Marconi, but it is unclear whether a complaint wasever filed with the Office of Citizen Complaints, the civilian agencycharged with investigating citizen reports of police misconduct.
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Dayton Daily News
http://daytondaily.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Gay+rights+group+visits+Cedarville&expire=&urlID=22022401&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.daytondailynews.com%2Fn%2Fcontent%2Foh%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Flocal%2F2007%2F04%2F19%2Fddn042007cedarvillefolo.html&partnerID=528
Gay rights group visits Cedarville
Touring activists meet with selected students, highlighting differing waysthat Christians view homosexuality.
By Stephanie Irwin
Staff Writer
Friday, April 20, 2007
CEDARVILLE - - In the student center at Cedarville University on Thursdaymorning, student escorts, administrators and security guards waited formembers of Soulforce, a gay rights activist group on a bus tour to Christiancollege campuses.
"We're excited to meet them and have an opportunity to show them love," saidBrittany Donald, a Cedarville junior.
Soulforce, a nonprofit based in Lynchburg, Va., is touring 40 campuses toprotest homophobic doctrine and school policy that disciplines homosexualbehavior. The group is hoping to increase openness toward gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgendered Christians.
"We think they're trying to change not only policy but views ofhomosexuality in Christian circles," said Lukas Seelye, a junior and studentgovernment president.
Cedarville, a Baptist liberal arts college in Greene County, has along-standing policy on what it considers immoral acts. Students commit to acommunity covenant that requires "correction and confrontation" among themembers to discipline students in support of their spiritual development,according to its handbook.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Special 20/20 with Barbara Walters
Tune into ABC's 20/20 for a very special program with Barbara Walters Friday
Night, April 27th, 2007.
This program will portray the true meaning of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE as Barbaraintimately explores the lives of three incredible families and theirtransgender children.
These pioneering families are members of a support group for families oftransgender children of all ages sponsored by PFLAG affiliate TransFamily ofCleveland. This group currently encompasses nearly 400 families from allover the United States, Canada, England, and Australia. All three havechildren who have been diagnosed by medical professionals as transgendered,and all are under continuous observation by professional family therapistsand medical personnel.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
U.S. Capitol Building
The 2007 Soulforce Equality Ride has been honored by the House ofRepresentatives andwritten into the congressional record. On Monday, April 16, Rep. Jerrold L.Nadler of New York addressed a tribute to the Equality Ride and its Ridersto the Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
"Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an extraordinary group ofyoung adults -- The Equality Riders -- who have dedicated 2 months of theirlives, traveling thousands of miles, visiting 32 colleges and universitiesaround the country and talking to countless students, faculty members andstaff in pursuit of social justice.
The spirit of The Equality Ride was born out of the recognition thathomophobia is globally pervasive and that no country, state, city, communityor school escapes its reach. The Equality Ride offers a unique opportunityfor student activists to dedicate their time and energy in the pursuit ofLesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered equality through the practice ofnonviolent resistance and educational campaigns.
I embrace the spirit of The Equality Ride and these leaders in the fight forsocial justice. The participants of the Equality Ride as well as itssupporters have changed numerous lives, raised awareness and challengednotions regarding homosexuality through both on and off campus activities.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070420/64052905.html
Court denies gay parade claim against Moscow mayor
14:43 | 20/ 04/ 2007
Ria Novosti
MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow's Tverskoi Court has turned down aclaim against Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov by organizers of a gay parade, aspokesman for the court said Friday.
"The court did not find any grounds to meet the claim," the spokesman said.
Last year, Moscow authorities denied an application by organizers to hold agay parade, but the claim was motioned following a negative statement madeby Luzhkov.
Earlier this year the conservative 70-year-old mayor, who has been in officesince 1992, said he would never allow a gay parade to take place in Moscowdespite pressure from the West.
Luzhkov said, "Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure tosanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than asSatanic. We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going toallow it in the future."
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=36855
Are there homosexuals among top politicians or top politicians amonghomosexuals?
Ana Marija Vojkoviæ
Published: April 20, 2007 10:32h
Javno
Being different from others is a thing of prestige and being a homosexual isa modern way of life.
Many famous persons in show business are coming out of the closet withouthesitation, which caters to their image and popularity. But what abouthomosexual politicians? Do those who perform a public service have thecourage to publicly admit to their sexual preferences?
The most famous homosexual politicians are the mayors of Berlin, Hamburg andParis. Some disclosed their sexual orientation during their candidacy andsome were forced to by scandals. It is interesting that all three mayorshave been at the helm of their cities since 2001.
Countries in which homosexuals perform their political duties are certainlyliberal. When will politician in Croatia garner the courage to admit theyare attracted to people of the same sex?
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Forwarded from Marc Adams
HeartStrong Executive Director
http://heartstrong.org/
Over the past six years, HeartStrong has been predicting that manyreligious educational institutions are about to change some of their vagueanti-gay policies and make them more specific. This will be in directresult to public exposure as well as the newly looming threat of highprofile lawsuits against religious schools with vague anti-gay policies.
Like many religious universities, Brigham Young University is no place forsomeone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. However, manystudents are coerced by their own religous beliefs or by their parents toatend this school.
Previously, BYU's Honor Code and rules about homosexuality included thefollowing : "Brigham Young University will respond to student behaviorrather than to feelings or orientation. . . . Advocacy of a homosexuallifestyle (whether implied or explicit) or any behaviors that indicatehomosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, areinappropriate and violate the Honor Code."
Basically they were saying that the school would always look at astudent's behavior as opposed to invoking discipline as a result ofsuspicion or even someone saying that they were gay (without 'practicing'homosexuality).
The revised statement reads as follows: "Brigham Young University willrespond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or orientation andwelcomes as full members of the university community all whose behaviormeets university standards. . . . One's stated sexual orientation is notan Honor Code issue. However, the Honor Code requires all members of theuniversity community to manifest a strict commitment to the law ofchastity."
As you can see, there is very little difference between the twostatements. The newer statement seems to make a statement that one'sadmission of being gay is not grounds for dismissal or even exclusion fromenrollment. HOWEVER, the key statement here is "BYU... welcomes...allwhose behavior meets university standards...the law of chastity."
While this new policy may have prevented the two students from gettingexpelled a couple years ago for watching "Queer as Folk", the policy isstill anti-gay. There are no pro-gay social events at this university,only pro-heterosexual. As well, the only students that are required tolive in chastity are single heterosexual students and those who identifyas gay. Again, heterosexual privilege prevails as usual.
Interestingly but not surprisingly, the rules only speak of homosexualityand not the issue of transgendered students. Or, bisexuality.
This policy also confirms the school's position about homosexuality. Mostpeople in this sect of Christianity don't really believe there is such athing as homosexual people, but rather believe that everyone isheterosexual and some are just prone for falling victim to the "sin" ofhomosexuality. Just like others are prone to falling victim to the "sins"of lying, cheating, stealing, murder, pornography, etc.
This new policy clears up any confusion about the school's position inthis area and confirms their belief in "original sin."
And, nothing is stated about discontinuing the degrading discussion andname calling of those who exhibit homosexual "behavior" as sinners. Thereis also no statement made about the school's rabid history of promotingreparative therapy both passive and extreme.
It is extremely important to note that there is NOT nor will there ever bea non-harassment or non-discrimination policy on the books and enforced atBYU. And those policies are what is necessary for a school to be trulysafe.
As usual, things like this are predictable. We predicted these changesback in 2000. (Yet no one ever seems to believe us.) There will be manyadditional similar changes in hig profile schools as these schoolscontinue to seek to avoid public scrutiny, outrage and potential lawsuits.
Similar to this change, we expect many schools, even k-12 schools tochange their vague policies about homosexuality. Many schools removed theword homosexuality from their student handbooks and replaced it with thehighly subjective term of immorality. Because of recent lawsuits by someof our students, we expect some schools to begin changing their policiesto be more definitive.
Once again, proof that the work of HeartStrong is more important todaythan it was nearly eleven years ago when we first began our outreach.
The HeartStrong board of directors is grateful for the continuousfinancial support from many of you. Without it, HeartStrong would not behere for these students.
OUTREACH TRIP UPDATE:
We are off to Atlanta, and Tennessee and South Carolina over the nextweek. We have already been told by people who don't like HeartStrong thatwe are not welcome where we are going in South Carolina as well asTennessee. Funny how that makes us just do MORE.
Marc Adams
Volunteer Executive Director
http://www.heartstrong.org/
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Yahoo!.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070420/wl_mideast_afp/israelsocietygay&printer=1;_ylt=Ar.dIfXwfg9mO5rqlNJp6dibOrgF
Man hurt by anti-gay bomb in Israel
Fri Apr 20, 2:49 PM ET
A farmer was wounded on Friday when a bomb exploded near Jerusalem at a sitewhere tracts were found denouncing a gay pride parade planned for the HolyCity in June, police said.
The device exploded near a convent in the town of Beit Jamal, west ofJerusalem. The farmer, who was working nearby, was taken to hospital with alight wound to his foot.
The pamphlets denounced the planned June 21 parade being organised by agroup called Jerusalem Open House, which describes itself as a grassroots,activist organisation of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered peopleand allies.
Speaking in New York, Jerusalem Open House executive director Noa Sattahsaid the group "could not more strongly condemn this act of violence andhatred directed at us. This violent act is just one example of the religiousbigotry, prejudice and violence lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderpeople across the world are confronted with every day.
"Morally bankrupt religious bigotry will never deter us from our strugglefor freedom of expression and full and equal civil and religious rights. Weurge the Jerusalem police to find the perpetrators of this despicable actionand bring them to justice.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
The Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists documentary film
Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement is now available throughour website,
www.aglp.org
Amazon.com and CustomFlix, the distributor
(http://www.customflix.com/Store/ShowEStore.jsp?id=226180).
The release of Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement marks theculmination of a three-year effort by the AGLP to counter an increasingamount of misinformation about gay people and homosexuality which is beingput forth in the media.
This documentary is AGLP's professional response to those who have made ittheir mission to pathologize homosexuality to religious communities for anincreasingly political goal.
Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement poignantly illustrateshow these so called "therapies" have left devastated individuals andfamilies in their wake.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2007/04/18/6
Pelosi honors late activist at Capitol ceremony
Planet Out, Wednesday, April 18, 2007
SUMMARY: Bob Hattoy, who devoted his life to gay, Democratic andenvironmental causes, is remembered by the House speaker as "a force ofnature."
Fellow Democrats and others were led Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosias they honored longtime activist Bob Hattoy with a memorial at the U.S.Capitol.
Hattoy, an advocate for gay and environmental issues, in 1992 became thefirst out gay person to speak at a major party's national convention,accusing the first President Bush of doing nothing about AIDS. He died March4 of complications of the disease.
At his death, Hattoy was president of the California Fish and GameCommission.
Here is a transcript of Pelosi's remarks:
"Today we celebrate the life and contributions of Bob Hattoy --environmentalist, activist, and friend. We also pay tribute to the many wholoved him, and grieve his loss.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2007/04/18/2
Vandalized school hews to Day of Silence
Planet Out, Wednesday, April 18, 2007
SUMMARY: South San Francisco High School observes the Day of Silence despitebeing blanketed over spring break with anti-gay and racist graffiti.
Students at South San Francisco High School held their observance ofWednesday's nationwide Day of Silence in a campus that had been blanketedduring spring break with homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist graffiti.
Meanwhile, religious-right opponents of gay rights who have launched a "Dayof Truth" counterprotest got a setback Tuesday from a federal judge inIllinois.
The school in South San Francisco, a small, historically working-class citynow known for its biotech industry, carried out its plans to celebrate GayStraight Alliance Week despite the disturbing and very thorough vandalism,which police called the work of one or two current or former students.
The hate messages included white-power slogans in English and Spanish and a"big hand spray painted with the middle finger sticking up saying, 'Day ofSilence This,' a junior told KCBS reporter Holly Quan.
"I have a teacher, she's a lesbian. Imagine how the teachers feel," a seniortold Quan.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Polish group challenges gay-rights demonstration
Catholic World News
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50586
Krakow, Apr. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A controversial Polish group hasannounced plans to counter a homosexual-rights demonstration in Krakow,raising the prospect of a confrontation between the groups this weekend.
Homosexual activists plan a "March for Tolerance" in Krakow for thisSaturday, April 21. The event has been organized in connection with the 4thKrakow Festival of Gay and Lesbian Culture.
"We will not permit the sodomites to enter the city's main square,"announced representatives of All-Polish Youth. The group-- formerly alignedwith the League of Polish Families, a political party that is part of thecurrent government coalition-- announced that it will organize its own"March for Tradition and Culture" as a counter-demonstration, also onSaturday.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5682181
Senate backs gay-bias ban in workplace
By Jeri Clausing, Denver Post Staff Writer, 04/17/2007
The state Senate voted Monday to prohibit workplace discrimination based ona worker's sexual orientation - a bill Sen. Jennifer Veiga has been tryingto pass for nearly a decade.
With a Democratic governor, she said she hopes the proposal - twice vetoedby former Republican Gov. Bill Owens - will become law.
The Senate gave initial approval to Senate Bill 25 after more than an hourof debate.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to add a number of amendments, including aprovision that would have protected people from being fired for expressingtheir religious beliefs and another that would have allowed school districtsto adopt gender-specific dress codes.
Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said he feared the bill would allow maleteachers to dress as women without consequences.
Opponents also argued that the bill was both unneccessary and an undueburden on business.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Polish group challenges gay-rights demonstration
Catholic World News
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50586
Krakow, Apr. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A controversial Polish group hasannounced plans to counter a homosexual-rights demonstration in Krakow,raising the prospect of a confrontation between the groups this weekend.
Homosexual activists plan a "March for Tolerance" in Krakow for thisSaturday, April 21. The event has been organized in connection with the 4thKrakow Festival of Gay and Lesbian Culture.
"We will not permit the sodomites to enter the city's main square,"announced representatives of All-Polish Youth. The group-- formerly alignedwith the League of Polish Families, a political party that is part of thecurrent government coalition-- announced that it will organize its own"March for Tradition and Culture" as a counter-demonstration, also onSaturday.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5682181
Senate backs gay-bias ban in workplace
By Jeri Clausing, Denver Post Staff Writer, 04/17/2007
The state Senate voted Monday to prohibit workplace discrimination based ona worker's sexual orientation - a bill Sen. Jennifer Veiga has been tryingto pass for nearly a decade.
With a Democratic governor, she said she hopes the proposal - twice vetoedby former Republican Gov. Bill Owens - will become law.
The Senate gave initial approval to Senate Bill 25 after more than an hourof debate.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to add a number of amendments, including aprovision that would have protected people from being fired for expressingtheir religious beliefs and another that would have allowed school districtsto adopt gender-specific dress codes.
Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said he feared the bill would allow maleteachers to dress as women without consequences.
Opponents also argued that the bill was both unneccessary and an undueburden on business.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Polish group challenges gay-rights demonstration
Catholic World News
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50586
Krakow, Apr. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A controversial Polish group hasannounced plans to counter a homosexual-rights demonstration in Krakow,raising the prospect of a confrontation between the groups this weekend.
Homosexual activists plan a "March for Tolerance" in Krakow for thisSaturday, April 21. The event has been organized in connection with the 4thKrakow Festival of Gay and Lesbian Culture.
"We will not permit the sodomites to enter the city's main square,"announced representatives of All-Polish Youth. The group-- formerly alignedwith the League of Polish Families, a political party that is part of thecurrent government coalition-- announced that it will organize its own"March for Tradition and Culture" as a counter-demonstration, also onSaturday.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5682181
Senate backs gay-bias ban in workplace
By Jeri Clausing, Denver Post Staff Writer, 04/17/2007
The state Senate voted Monday to prohibit workplace discrimination based ona worker's sexual orientation - a bill Sen. Jennifer Veiga has been tryingto pass for nearly a decade.
With a Democratic governor, she said she hopes the proposal - twice vetoedby former Republican Gov. Bill Owens - will become law.
The Senate gave initial approval to Senate Bill 25 after more than an hourof debate.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to add a number of amendments, including aprovision that would have protected people from being fired for expressingtheir religious beliefs and another that would have allowed school districtsto adopt gender-specific dress codes.
Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said he feared the bill would allow maleteachers to dress as women without consequences.
Opponents also argued that the bill was both unneccessary and an undueburden on business.
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, April 21, 2007
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST April 21, 2007
**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.
=
To: Ray's List Subscribers,
Thank you for your patience while we have been offline during the past several weeks. We needed to catch up on a backlog of work. We're still not "caught up" but we will try to send Ray's List most days.
Meanwhile - we need some feedback. We don't want to waste any of our time (or yours) sending articles that don't interest you. Please let us know your likes/dislikes - this will help us make Ray's List a more valuable information tool.
Best to you and thanks for your activism on behalf of the GLBT community!
Ray and Michael
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041801901_pf.html
Analysis: Kennedy's Pivotal Vote
By GINA HOLLAND
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 9:25 PM
-- Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling banning a controversial late-termabortion procedure may be as important for who wrote it as for the decisionitself. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, considered the court's crucialmiddleman, came down solidly with conservatives in writing the 5-4 decision.
Abortion cases are difficult for the court, and in the past they've beenparticularly trying for Kennedy. He agonized over his 1992 vote to reaffirma woman's right to abortion. That decision enraged conservatives, who hadexpected the Roman Catholic Reagan nominee to help overturn Roe v. Wade, the1973 case that established a constitutional right to privacy that protectsabortion rights.
On Wednesday, Kennedy led conservatives in the decision that for the firsttime upheld a nationwide ban on a procedure that opponents call"partial-birth abortion." The ruling also opened the way for furtherrestrictions.
"In a way, it's his attempt to redeem himself, at least halfway," saidJoseph Thai, a University of Oklahoma law professor and former Supreme Courtclerk.
The decision does not directly threaten Roe. It does, however, make iteasier for states and the federal government to put limits on abortion,setting up more court fights that will keep the issue before the justices incoming years.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/367/v-print/story/76992.html
Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007
After 2 years, pope turns right
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
As he approaches the third year of his reign, Pope Benedict XVI is hardeninginto the kind of pontiff that liberals feared and conservatives hoped for.
Elected April 19, 2005, to succeed his dear friend John Paul II, the leaderof the world's Roman Catholics slid smoothly into his job as pastor of anenormous flock. He reached out to dissidents, other faiths and countrieslong hostile to the church.
But recently, as his 80th birthday approached, the former Cardinal JosephRatzinger has drawn a tougher line.
He has rebuffed calls, including by bishops in his native Germany, to letdivorced Catholics who remarry participate fully in the church.
He has warned Catholic politicians who must decide on such issues asabortion, euthanasia and marriage that the faith's values are "notnegotiable." And he has closed the door on any relaxation of the celibacyrequirement for priests.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5695766
Utah lawmakers look at blocking online porn
By Glen Warchol, The Salt Lake Tribune, 04/18/2007
Utah lawmakers will begin wrestling with ways to control pornography on theInternet.
Even for the Utah Legislature, which has a track record of passing someconstitutionally questionable laws, controlling smut online is a legal andtechnological challenge - to say the least.
"I'm grasping at this for all I'm worth because I want to understand this,"Sen. Scott Jenkins told the Public Utilities and Technology InterimCommittee after experts explained the intricacies of the Web porno business.
"My brain is on the edge of fry."
Brigham Young University law professor Cheryl Preston and anti-pornographyactivist Ralph Yarro told lawmakers that Internet providers could be offeredincentives to voluntarily aid obscenity law enforcement without violatingfreedom of speech or undermining online commerce. One example was to opentheir customer records when necessary.
One obvious drawback to the proposal is that only Internet providers in Utah- who represent a fraction of the users even in-state - would be subject tostate rules and incentives.
Yarro acknowledged that his ultimate goal is federal law to pursuepornographers.
Jenkins formed a working group on the committee to gather information fromaffected Internet companies.
Utah already has been threatened with lawsuits in its most recent Internetregulation foray - a law that blocks services, such as Google, from keyingsearches to Utah-registered trademarks.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://ncregister.com/site/article/2265
Pornography Crackdown
Critics Say U.S. Attorney Firings Were Linked to Anti-Porn Efforts
BY WAYNE LAUGESEN, National Catholic Register, April 22-28, 2007 Issue,
Posted 4/17/07
WASHINGTON - Is Attorney General Roberto Gonzales under fire for prosecutingpornography?
Some administration critics say Gonzales fired eight U.S. attorneys as partof a Justice Department crackdown on obscenity. The firings sparked apolitical debacle for the Bush administration that has Gonzales fighting tokeep his job.
"In a move popular with anti-porn groups and the religious right, Gonzaleshad made a renewed war on porn one of the top priorities of the Departmentof Justice," wrote Mark Follman, in a Salon.com article that blames thefiring of U.S. attorneys on a new federal crusade against porn.
But lax obscenity enforcement, said a former porn prosecutor for the Reaganadministration, has resulted in unbridled availability of porn - on cellphones, computers, cable TV and in hotel rooms everywhere - that'sfundamentally changing American culture.
"Our children and our college students are consuming a steady diet ofobscene material," says Patrick Truman, an assistant attorney general underRonald Reagan who headed the Child Exploitation and Obscenity section of theDepartment of Justice.
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Gainesville.com
http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/LOCAL/704210366/-1/rss&template=printart
Article published Apr 21, 2007
Apr 21, 2007
Area medical professionals react to ban on 'partial-birth' abortions
DIANE CHUN
Sun staff writer
The Supreme Court, fortified by recent conservative appointments, voted by aslim majority Wednesday to uphold a nationwide ban on so-called"partial-birth" abortions.
In upholding the 2003 law, the 5-4 majority held it didn't violate a woman'sconstitutional right to have an abortion.
Locally, medical professionals showed more concern that the latest rulingwill open the door for legislators to make laws restricting other edicalprocedures. "The precedent is set for our elected officials to begin makingour medical decisions for us," Dr. Karen Harris said Friday. "Do any of ustruly want that? It takes our autonomy away."
Harris, a Gainesville obstetrician in practice with the North FloridaWomen's Physicians, is an officer in the Florida section of the AmericanCollege of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Patrick Duff, professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Universityof Florida's College of Medicine, said in his view, the use of the procedurecalled intact dilation and extraction is "virtually a non-issue."
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/04/21/impeach_bush_says_vermont_senate?mode=PF
Impeach Bush, says Vermont Senate
Constitutionality of actions by him, Cheney questioned
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | April 21, 2007
Declaring that the Bush administration's actions in foreign and domesticaffairs raise "serious questions of constitutionality," Vermont statesenators voted yesterday to call for the impeachment of President Bush andVice President Dick Cheney in what officials say was the first such vote bystate lawmakers in the country.
Without debate, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 16 to 9 in favor ofthe nonbinding resolution, which urges US Representative Peter Welch, aDemocrat, to introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives toinitiate impeachment proceedings.
Vermont's congressional delegation, which includes Welch and SenatorsPatrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, promptly rejected the call.
They issued a statement saying that the three shared the anger of manyVermonters with the Bush administration, "one of the worst and mostdestructive in American history."
But, they said that, for the first time since Bush took office, Congress isinvestigating several of the administration's key actions, ranging from thedecision to invade Iraq to the recent firings of eight US attorneys.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21sat1.html?ei=5040&en=6485c7c2a8f4654f&ex=1177819200&partner=MOREOVERFEATURES&pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Editorial
The Medicare Privatization Scam
If private health plans are supposedly so great at delivering high-qualitycare while holding down costs, why does the government have to keepsubsidizing them so lavishly to participate in the Medicare program?
About a fifth of elderly Americans now belong to private Medicare Advantageplans, which - thanks to government subsidies - often charge less or offermore than traditional Medicare. As Congress struggles to find savings thatcould offset the costs of other important health programs, it should take along and hard look at those subsidies.
The authoritative Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that thegovernment pays private plans 12 percent more, on average, than the sameservices would cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. Theprivate plans use some of this money to make themselves more attractive tobeneficiaries - by reducing premiums or adding benefits not covered by basicMedicare - and siphon off the rest to add to profits and help cover theplans' high administrative costs.
Although the insurance industry insists that the subsidies are much lowerand are warranted by the benefits provided, Thomas Scully, who headed theMedicare program for the Bush administration until 2003, told reportersrecently that the subsidies were too large and ought to be reduced byCongress.
The largest private enrollment is in health maintenance organizations, whichtypically deliver care a bit more cheaply than standard Medicare and shouldnot need their 10 percent subsidies, on average, to compete. The biggestsubsidies - averaging 19 percent above cost - go to private fee-for-serviceplans, which are the fastest-growing part of the Medicare Advantage program.
Unlike the H.M.O.'s, which at least manage a patient's care and bargain hardwith doctors and hospitals, these plans ride on the coattails of standardMedicare, typically providing access to the same doctors and paying them atthe same rates. Thanks to the big subsidies they get, such plans are often agood deal for beneficiaries, charging less for the same benefits or addingbenefits without raising prices.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/21/gonzales_seeks_gop_support_gets_little?mode=PF
Gonzales seeks GOP support, gets little
By David Espo, AP Special Correspondent | April 21, 2007
WASHINGTON --Desperate for support among fellow Republicans, AttorneyGeneral Alberto Gonzales faced grim prospects Friday after a bruising Senatehearing that produced one outright call for resignation and a fistful ofinvitations and hints to quit.
One GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, John Cornyn of Texas,predicted Gonzales would weather the furor and said he should. "Frankly, Idon't think the Democrats are going to be satisfied with the resignation byAl Gonzales," he said.
Gonzales gave no indication Friday that he was leaving.
"Please know that as you continue your work, I am by your side," theattorney general told an audience of crime victims' rights supporters. Hespoke in a gravelly voice the day after his long day of testimony.
Gonzales also called several GOP senators, including Cornyn and ArlenSpecter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, anaide said.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/21/new_jersey_governor_breathing_on_own?mode=PF
New Jersey governor breathing on own
By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Writer | April 21, 2007
CAMDEN, N.J. --Gov. Jon S. Corzine was breathing on his own again Friday
after doctors removed a breathing tube he'd been using since he wascritically injured in an April 12 high-speed crash, his spokesman said.Doctors removed the tube shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday, spokesman AnthonyColey said.
Breathing unassisted moves Corzine closer to having his condition upgraded.He has been listed as critical but stable since he was brought to CooperUniversity Hospital last week.
Corzine broke a leg and several bones in his chest, including 11 ribs, whenthe sport utility vehicle he was riding in wrecked on the Garden StateParkway north of Atlantic City. He was placed on a ventilator to ease thepain of breathing, doctors said.
"His respiratory function will be closely monitored to ensure that he cancontinue to breathe on his own and cough efficiently," Coley said. "Doctorsdo not entirely rule out the possibility that the breathing tube will needto be reinserted."
The SUV, driven by a state trooper with Corzine in the front passenger seat,was traveling 91 mph and the governor was not wearing his seat belt,officials have said.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/21/waxman_threatens_to_subpoena_card_rice?mode=PF
Waxman threatens to subpoena Card, Rice
By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writer | April 21, 2007
WASHINGTON --If President Bush's former chief of staff can chat about theidentifying of CIA agent Valerie Plame on Jon Stewart's comedy show, he cantalk about it to the House oversight committee, the panel's chairman saidFriday. If Andy Card refuses, the panel will vote Wednesday on whether tocompel his testimony with a subpoena, said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
White House Counsel Fred Fielding has declined to let Card testify.
"Mr. Fielding's position appears to be that it is appropriate for you todiscuss these matters on 'The Daily Show' but not before a congressionalcommittee," Waxman wrote to Card on Friday. "You will not be surprised tolearn that I take a different view of this matter."
Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrotethat if Card won't agree to appear voluntarily before Wednesday's meeting,the panel will vote on whether to issue him a subpoena.
Also being considered for a subpoena on a related issue: Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice. Waxman wants to know what Rice knows about theadministration's claim, later discredited, that Iraq sought uranium fromAfrica.
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Chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4735777.html
April 20, 2007, 11:02PM
Giuliani praises Bushes, chides Dems in Congress
He says assertive war on terror has made a difference in prevention
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
COLLEGE STATION - President Bush has brought the same aggressive approach tothe global terrorism struggle his father and Ronald Reagan used to win theCold War, Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani said Friday.
Before Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, "we were on defense againstterrorism," Giuliani told about 1,500 students and other guests at Texas A&MUniversity. "They were setting the agenda."
Giuliani heaped praise on former President Bush, who introduced him Friday,saying the 41st president ushered in the era of globalization after helpingReagan defeat communism. Bush was Reagan's vice president for eight yearsbefore winning the presidency in 1988.
His son has shown the same decisive leadership by confronting radicalIslamic terrorists with military action, rather than treating terrorist actsas a law enforcement problem, said Guiliani, whose national profile is basedlargely on his leadership as New York's mayor during and after the 2001attacks.
After the 1993 attack on New York's World Trade Center, "the people who didit were arrested and convicted of crimes," Giuliani said. "But it wasn'tjust murder. It was an act of war."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002036_pf.html
House Approves Executive-Pay Bill
Shareholders Would Get to Vote on Golden Parachutes
By Jim Abrams
Associated Press
Saturday, April 21, 2007; D02
The House voted yesterday to give shareholders at public corporations avoice in executive pay packages, which on average are vastly more than thesalaries of workers at those companies.
A shareholder vote under the bill would be advisory only. But its Democraticbackers said that investors need a say when companies losing money or layingoff workers give executives compensation and retirement packages in eightand nine figures.
"This is not an aberration, and there is a hue and a cry from the Americanpeople across the American landscape that is saying something must be done,"said Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.).
The bill, which passed 269 to 134 and goes to the Senate, was opposed by theWhite House and most Republicans. They argued that the Securities andExchange Commission has taken steps to make corporate pay packages moretransparent and that Congress should stay out of corporate affairs.
President Bush earlier this year questioned the extravagant pay of somecompany managers and directors but said it was not a matter for governmentinvolvement.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002026_pf.html
State of Black America
The Urban League has some ideas worth pursuing.
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A16
"BLACK AMERICA is at a tipping point," said National Urban League PresidentMarc H. Morial in releasing the organization's annual "State of BlackAmerica" report on Tuesday. "We can celebrate a great deal of success, butwe have a number of struggles to address." Successes include Fortune 100chief executives, a candidate for president with widespread financial andpopular support, and an increasing presence in the middle class. But thestruggles, particularly for black men, require a sense of urgency not onlyfrom government but also from African Americans themselves.
According to the State of Black America, "African American men are more thantwice as likely to be unemployed as white males and make only 75 percent asmuch a year. They're nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated, andtheir average jail sentences are 10 months longer than those of white men[for the same offenses]. In addition, young black males between the ages of15 and 34 years are nine times more likely to die of homicide than theirwhite counterparts and nearly seven times as likely to suffer from AIDS."
Mr. Morial has presented five recommendations worthy of debate, proposalsthat are rooted in education and that seem to strike a balance betweengovernment intervention and community involvement.
Topping his agenda is universal childhood education through public andprivate schools, starting at age 3. We'd worry about a new entitlement opento everyone regardless of income; it would seem logical to target preschooleducation funded with public dollars for those who most need help. As aprovider of Head Start and other early childhood education programsthroughout the country, the Ur ban League stands to benefit. Still, there isno doubt that this would be a worthy investment. Head Start has a proventrack record, and Congress is considering legislation to expand eligibilityand increase funding. Every effort should be made to target the program'sexpansion to those who need it.
The Urban League's report calls for "greater experimentation with all-maleschools and longer school days." While we have some questions aboutsingle-sex education, parents must have more choice in their children'seducation. Having more second-chance programs for high school dropouts andex-offenders would benefit both participants and society.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/washington/21memo.html?ei=5040&en=6608c8a80bf721b0&ex=1177819200&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
White House Memo
Two Cases Are Test for Bush's Unwavering Loyalty
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON, April 20 - Time and time again, President Bush has stood by hismost embattled but loyal lieutenants despite loud calls for their heads, attimes defying the established physics of Washington (rapidly diminishingsupport in one's own party times the number of instances in which one hasfailed to convincingly explain away accusations of incompetence ormalfeasance equals the certainty of rapid resignation).
But Mr. Bush's ability to turn aside that kind of pressure is now facing aserious test as he confronts what to do about Attorney General Alberto R.Gonzales and Paul D. Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank.
How Mr. Bush moves to resolve the situations is being watched closely inDemocratic and Republican circles for what it says about his standing in thecapital's new power dynamic, as a late-term president with low approvalratings and a hostile and increasingly assertive Congress.
They are two very different cases in two very different worlds: Mr.Wolfowitz faces questions about favoritism toward his girlfriend; Mr.Gonzales is dealing with bipartisan criticism about his competence andquestions about whether the Justice Department dismissed several federalprosecutors for political reasons.
In each case Mr. Bush is standing by a loyalist with an evaporating base ofsupport and a serious challenge to his credibility even among Republicans.And, two Republicans close to the administration said, in the case of Mr.Gonzales, even some of Mr. Bush's close aides think that his resignationwould best serve the administration but do not find a like-minded view fromthe president, who is personally close to the attorney general.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21garrow.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Don't Assume the Worst
By DAVID J. GARROW
Cambridge, England
THE Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision this week, in Gonzales v. Carhart, touphold the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act will undoubtedly harm thefuture reproductive health of some American women, and Justice Anthony M.Kennedy's majority opinion patronized such women's ability to make the sadand difficult decisions that late-term abortion often entails.
But let's not exaggerate what this ruling means. The Carhart decision is anextremely limited upholding of the federal ban, one that promises to affectvery few abortion providers and only a tiny percentage of their patients.The most recent and reliable national statistics, from the GuttmacherInstitute, show that only about 30 American doctors ever use the "intactdilation and evacuation" method that has now been criminalized. Only some2,200 of the 1.3 million abortions performed annually in the United Statesinvolve the banned procedure.
Moreover, Justice Kennedy explicitly and insistently limited the reach ofthe new prohibition. He emphasized that the ban covers only the relativelyrare intact dilation and evacuation method, and does not in any way apply tostandard dilation and evacuation, the most common method for late-termabortions, in which fetal tissue is removed from the womb piecemeal.Reiterating the standard he embraced 15 years ago in Planned Parenthood v.Casey, Justice Kennedy stated that the ban would impose an undue burden ifit covered standard dilation and evacuation and thus would beunconstitutional.
Justice Kennedy also declared - repeatedly - that only purposeful violationsof the prohibition can be prosecuted. What the law covers is the deliberate,almost-complete delivery of a living fetus, followed by a furtherintentional act that causes its demise. "If either intent is absent, nocrime is committed," Justice Kennedy wrote. On the other hand, "if thedoctor intends to remove the fetus in parts from the outset," he or she willnot be criminally liable even if the procedure unexpectedly proceeds in waysthat physically constitute an "intact" dilation and evacuation.
Writing on behalf of the four dissenters, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgcorrectly emphasized that under Justice Kennedy's holding, "the law savesnot a single fetus from destruction, for it targets only a method ofperforming abortion."
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21wright.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Guest Columnist
Why Darwinism Isn't Depressing
By ROBERT WRIGHT
Scientists have discovered that love is truth.
Granted, no scientist has put it quite like that. In fact, when scientiststalk about love - the neurochemistry, the evolutionary origins - they makeit sound unlovely.
More broadly, our growing grasp of the biology behind our thoughts andfeelings has some people downhearted. One commentator recently acknowledgedthe ascendancy of the Darwinian paradigm with a sigh: "Evolution doesn'treally lead to anything outside itself."
Cheer up! Despair is a plausible response to news that our loftiest feelingsboil down to genetic self-interest, but genetic self-interest actually turnsout to be our salvation. The selfishness of our genes gave us theilluminating power of love and put us on the path to a kind oftranscendence.
Before hiking to the peak, let's pause for some sobering concessions. Yes,love is physically mediated, a product of biochemistry. (Why this wouldsurprise anyone familiar with alcohol and coffee is something that has longbaffled scientists.) And, yes, the biochemistry was built by naturalselection. Like it or not, we are survival machines.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/world/asia/21india.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
India Debates Its Right to Nuclear Testing
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
NEW DELHI, April 20 - A nuclear accord hailed as the centerpiece of India'sdeepening friendship with the United States appears to be in jeopardy, asIndian officials argue about whether its limitations on their nuclearactivities offend the country's sense of sovereignty.
The accord, which was announced by President Bush last year and approved byCongress, is now mired in the swamp of history and complicated politics ofnonproliferation. In effect, the negotiations have been unable to resolve acentral question: should India be treated as a nuclear weapons state, whichretains the right to test its weapons and reprocess spent nuclear fuel?
The issue is proving trickier to sort out than anyone anticipated. Thedispute has come up as the two countries have tried to negotiate an accordknown as a "123 agreement," which could prohibit India from conductingfurther nuclear weapons tests, and put restrictions on whether it canreprocess spent nuclear fuel. The "123" refers to a section of the UnitedStates Atomic Energy Act.
The United States fears that the reprocessed fuel could be used to produceweapons-grade plutonium for a new generation of nuclear weapons, underminingMr. Bush's argument that the unusual deal with India would aidnonproliferation.
The deal is not necessarily doomed. But the sticking points are sopolitically contentious that they make it extremely difficult for eitherPresident Bush or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India to break theimpasse easily.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902548.html
From Clinton, Hip-Hop Hypocrisy
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A17
Put me in the camp of those who implore Sen. Hillary Clinton to give itback -- "it" being the reported $800,000 that's sitting in her presidentialcampaign coffers thanks to a fundraiser hosted in her honor March 31 in thePinecrest, Fla., home of a huge Clinton fan who refers to himself asTimbaland.
In response to my questions, Clinton campaign spokesman Blake Zeff said inan e-mail this week that it cost $1,000 just to get into Timbaland'sfundraiser, that about 200 guests were on hand and that the senator wasaccompanied by former president Bill Clinton.
You would not be reading about Clinton or about Timbaland -- who enteredthis vale of tears 36 years ago in Norfolk under the name Timothy Mosley --were it not for the fact that he is a well-heeled hip-hop producer and notedperformer of the kind of misogynistic and denigrating lyrics that informedDon Imus's derogatory comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Mrs. Clinton, you may recall, took umbrage at Imus's remarks, branding them"small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism." His words, she said in an e-mailto supporters, "showed a disregard for basic decency and were disrespectfuland degrading to African Americans and women everywhere."
Good for her, I say, except it must be asked why she was down in Floridamaking nice to -- and pocketing big bucks from -- a rapper whoseobscenity-laced lyrics praise violence, perpetuate racist stereotypes anddemean black women.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902548_pf.html
Gun Law Pragmatism
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, April 20, 2007; A31
Why do we have the same futile argument every time there is a mass killing?
Advocates of gun control try to open a discussion about whether morereasonable weapons statutes might reduce the number of violent deaths.Opponents of gun control shout "No!" Guns don't kill people, people killpeople, they say, and anyway, if everybody were carrying weapons, someonewould have taken out the murderer and all would have been fine.
And we do nothing.
This is a stupid argument, driven by the stupid politics of gun control inthe United States.
In other spheres, we act reasonably when faced with new problems. WhenRichard Reid showed that nasty things could be done with shoes on airplanes,airport security started examining shoes. When liquids were seen as apotential danger, we regulated the quantity of liquids we could take onflights. We barred people from carrying weapons onto airliners long ago.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042000220_pf.html
Wolfowitz Faces New Inquiry
Board Divided on Whether He Should Continue to Lead Bank
By Krissah Williams and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A02
The World Bank's board said yesterday that it has ordered an ad hoc group ofits members to "urgently" conduct a far-reaching investigation into bankPresident Paul D. Wolfowitz's involvement in arranging the compensation andpromotion package for his companion, who is also a bank employee.
The board did not set a timeframe for the committee's deliberations, butbank officials said an announcement could come as early as next week. Theboard has also postponed a nine-day trip to Mongolia and the Philippines setto start next week, bank officials said.
The directors are divided over whether Wolfowitz should continue to lead theanti-poverty institution. U.S. officials, who hold sway because the UnitedStates is the bank's largest shareholder, have expressed support forWolfowitz. But, in its statement, the board reiterated its "great concern"over the matter.
In a separate statement, Wolfowitz said he "welcomes the decision of theboard to move forward and resolve this very important issue." He said againthat he does not intend to resign.
The board, which met for more than nine hours on Thursday and earlyyesterday, widened the investigation beyond the possible violations of staffrules committed by Wolfowitz when he outlined a transfer and career plan forShaha Riza, a woman to whom he is romantically linked.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042001894_pf.html
Russian Medical School Imposes Curfew for Hitler's Birthday
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A12
MOSCOW, April 20 -- One of Russia's leading medical schools has advised itsmany foreign students to stay in their dormitories for three days, fearingthey could be attacked by neo-Nazis and skinheads marking the anniversary ofAdolf Hitler's birth, which fell on Friday.
The warning issued by the almost 250-year-old IM Sechenov Moscow MedicalAcademy, which suspended classes for its 1,940 foreign students, was areminder of the xenophobic and racist violence here targeting students andmigrant workers.
On Monday, a street cleaner from Tajikistan was stabbed 35 times outside anapartment building in eastern Moscow. Surveillance cameras on a nearbybuilding captured two skinheads carrying out the murder, according to newsreports here. Five suspects have been arrested. On the same day a46-year-old Armenian businessman was stabbed 20 times and later died inhospital. Three men were later arrested.
"It's no secret that some extremist young people, and not just in Russia,try to celebrate the 20th of April by attacking others," said SergeiBaranov, acting dean of the Sechenov Academy department that deals withforeign students. "For us, it's better to take preventative measures thandeal with the consequences." The curfew ends Saturday.
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Moyers Documentary Blasts Bush Lies, Media Complicity
By David Swanson
Bill Moyers has put together an amazing 90-minute video documenting the liesthat the Bush administration told to sell the Iraq war to the Americanpublic, with a special focus on how the media led the charge.
I've watched an advance copy and read a transcript, and the most importantthing I can say about it is: Watch PBS from 9:00 to 10:30 PM on Wednesday,April 25. Spending that 90 minutes will actually save you time becauseyou'll never watch television news again - not even on PBS, which comes infor its own share of criticism.
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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To: Ray's List Subscribers,
Thank you for your patience while we have been offline during the past several weeks. We needed to catch up on a backlog of work. We're still not "caught up" but we will try to send Ray's List most days.
Meanwhile - we need some feedback. We don't want to waste any of our time (or yours) sending articles that don't interest you. Please let us know your likes/dislikes - this will help us make Ray's List a more valuable information tool.
Best to you and thanks for your activism on behalf of the GLBT community!
Ray and Michael
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041801901_pf.html
Analysis: Kennedy's Pivotal Vote
By GINA HOLLAND
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 9:25 PM
-- Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling banning a controversial late-termabortion procedure may be as important for who wrote it as for the decisionitself. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, considered the court's crucialmiddleman, came down solidly with conservatives in writing the 5-4 decision.
Abortion cases are difficult for the court, and in the past they've beenparticularly trying for Kennedy. He agonized over his 1992 vote to reaffirma woman's right to abortion. That decision enraged conservatives, who hadexpected the Roman Catholic Reagan nominee to help overturn Roe v. Wade, the1973 case that established a constitutional right to privacy that protectsabortion rights.
On Wednesday, Kennedy led conservatives in the decision that for the firsttime upheld a nationwide ban on a procedure that opponents call"partial-birth abortion." The ruling also opened the way for furtherrestrictions.
"In a way, it's his attempt to redeem himself, at least halfway," saidJoseph Thai, a University of Oklahoma law professor and former Supreme Courtclerk.
The decision does not directly threaten Roe. It does, however, make iteasier for states and the federal government to put limits on abortion,setting up more court fights that will keep the issue before the justices incoming years.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/367/v-print/story/76992.html
Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007
After 2 years, pope turns right
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
As he approaches the third year of his reign, Pope Benedict XVI is hardeninginto the kind of pontiff that liberals feared and conservatives hoped for.
Elected April 19, 2005, to succeed his dear friend John Paul II, the leaderof the world's Roman Catholics slid smoothly into his job as pastor of anenormous flock. He reached out to dissidents, other faiths and countrieslong hostile to the church.
But recently, as his 80th birthday approached, the former Cardinal JosephRatzinger has drawn a tougher line.
He has rebuffed calls, including by bishops in his native Germany, to letdivorced Catholics who remarry participate fully in the church.
He has warned Catholic politicians who must decide on such issues asabortion, euthanasia and marriage that the faith's values are "notnegotiable." And he has closed the door on any relaxation of the celibacyrequirement for priests.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5695766
Utah lawmakers look at blocking online porn
By Glen Warchol, The Salt Lake Tribune, 04/18/2007
Utah lawmakers will begin wrestling with ways to control pornography on theInternet.
Even for the Utah Legislature, which has a track record of passing someconstitutionally questionable laws, controlling smut online is a legal andtechnological challenge - to say the least.
"I'm grasping at this for all I'm worth because I want to understand this,"Sen. Scott Jenkins told the Public Utilities and Technology InterimCommittee after experts explained the intricacies of the Web porno business.
"My brain is on the edge of fry."
Brigham Young University law professor Cheryl Preston and anti-pornographyactivist Ralph Yarro told lawmakers that Internet providers could be offeredincentives to voluntarily aid obscenity law enforcement without violatingfreedom of speech or undermining online commerce. One example was to opentheir customer records when necessary.
One obvious drawback to the proposal is that only Internet providers in Utah- who represent a fraction of the users even in-state - would be subject tostate rules and incentives.
Yarro acknowledged that his ultimate goal is federal law to pursuepornographers.
Jenkins formed a working group on the committee to gather information fromaffected Internet companies.
Utah already has been threatened with lawsuits in its most recent Internetregulation foray - a law that blocks services, such as Google, from keyingsearches to Utah-registered trademarks.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://ncregister.com/site/article/2265
Pornography Crackdown
Critics Say U.S. Attorney Firings Were Linked to Anti-Porn Efforts
BY WAYNE LAUGESEN, National Catholic Register, April 22-28, 2007 Issue,
Posted 4/17/07
WASHINGTON - Is Attorney General Roberto Gonzales under fire for prosecutingpornography?
Some administration critics say Gonzales fired eight U.S. attorneys as partof a Justice Department crackdown on obscenity. The firings sparked apolitical debacle for the Bush administration that has Gonzales fighting tokeep his job.
"In a move popular with anti-porn groups and the religious right, Gonzaleshad made a renewed war on porn one of the top priorities of the Departmentof Justice," wrote Mark Follman, in a Salon.com article that blames thefiring of U.S. attorneys on a new federal crusade against porn.
But lax obscenity enforcement, said a former porn prosecutor for the Reaganadministration, has resulted in unbridled availability of porn - on cellphones, computers, cable TV and in hotel rooms everywhere - that'sfundamentally changing American culture.
"Our children and our college students are consuming a steady diet ofobscene material," says Patrick Truman, an assistant attorney general underRonald Reagan who headed the Child Exploitation and Obscenity section of theDepartment of Justice.
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Gainesville.com
http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/LOCAL/704210366/-1/rss&template=printart
Article published Apr 21, 2007
Apr 21, 2007
Area medical professionals react to ban on 'partial-birth' abortions
DIANE CHUN
Sun staff writer
The Supreme Court, fortified by recent conservative appointments, voted by aslim majority Wednesday to uphold a nationwide ban on so-called"partial-birth" abortions.
In upholding the 2003 law, the 5-4 majority held it didn't violate a woman'sconstitutional right to have an abortion.
Locally, medical professionals showed more concern that the latest rulingwill open the door for legislators to make laws restricting other edicalprocedures. "The precedent is set for our elected officials to begin makingour medical decisions for us," Dr. Karen Harris said Friday. "Do any of ustruly want that? It takes our autonomy away."
Harris, a Gainesville obstetrician in practice with the North FloridaWomen's Physicians, is an officer in the Florida section of the AmericanCollege of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Patrick Duff, professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Universityof Florida's College of Medicine, said in his view, the use of the procedurecalled intact dilation and extraction is "virtually a non-issue."
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/04/21/impeach_bush_says_vermont_senate?mode=PF
Impeach Bush, says Vermont Senate
Constitutionality of actions by him, Cheney questioned
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | April 21, 2007
Declaring that the Bush administration's actions in foreign and domesticaffairs raise "serious questions of constitutionality," Vermont statesenators voted yesterday to call for the impeachment of President Bush andVice President Dick Cheney in what officials say was the first such vote bystate lawmakers in the country.
Without debate, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 16 to 9 in favor ofthe nonbinding resolution, which urges US Representative Peter Welch, aDemocrat, to introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives toinitiate impeachment proceedings.
Vermont's congressional delegation, which includes Welch and SenatorsPatrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, promptly rejected the call.
They issued a statement saying that the three shared the anger of manyVermonters with the Bush administration, "one of the worst and mostdestructive in American history."
But, they said that, for the first time since Bush took office, Congress isinvestigating several of the administration's key actions, ranging from thedecision to invade Iraq to the recent firings of eight US attorneys.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21sat1.html?ei=5040&en=6485c7c2a8f4654f&ex=1177819200&partner=MOREOVERFEATURES&pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Editorial
The Medicare Privatization Scam
If private health plans are supposedly so great at delivering high-qualitycare while holding down costs, why does the government have to keepsubsidizing them so lavishly to participate in the Medicare program?
About a fifth of elderly Americans now belong to private Medicare Advantageplans, which - thanks to government subsidies - often charge less or offermore than traditional Medicare. As Congress struggles to find savings thatcould offset the costs of other important health programs, it should take along and hard look at those subsidies.
The authoritative Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that thegovernment pays private plans 12 percent more, on average, than the sameservices would cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. Theprivate plans use some of this money to make themselves more attractive tobeneficiaries - by reducing premiums or adding benefits not covered by basicMedicare - and siphon off the rest to add to profits and help cover theplans' high administrative costs.
Although the insurance industry insists that the subsidies are much lowerand are warranted by the benefits provided, Thomas Scully, who headed theMedicare program for the Bush administration until 2003, told reportersrecently that the subsidies were too large and ought to be reduced byCongress.
The largest private enrollment is in health maintenance organizations, whichtypically deliver care a bit more cheaply than standard Medicare and shouldnot need their 10 percent subsidies, on average, to compete. The biggestsubsidies - averaging 19 percent above cost - go to private fee-for-serviceplans, which are the fastest-growing part of the Medicare Advantage program.
Unlike the H.M.O.'s, which at least manage a patient's care and bargain hardwith doctors and hospitals, these plans ride on the coattails of standardMedicare, typically providing access to the same doctors and paying them atthe same rates. Thanks to the big subsidies they get, such plans are often agood deal for beneficiaries, charging less for the same benefits or addingbenefits without raising prices.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/21/gonzales_seeks_gop_support_gets_little?mode=PF
Gonzales seeks GOP support, gets little
By David Espo, AP Special Correspondent | April 21, 2007
WASHINGTON --Desperate for support among fellow Republicans, AttorneyGeneral Alberto Gonzales faced grim prospects Friday after a bruising Senatehearing that produced one outright call for resignation and a fistful ofinvitations and hints to quit.
One GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, John Cornyn of Texas,predicted Gonzales would weather the furor and said he should. "Frankly, Idon't think the Democrats are going to be satisfied with the resignation byAl Gonzales," he said.
Gonzales gave no indication Friday that he was leaving.
"Please know that as you continue your work, I am by your side," theattorney general told an audience of crime victims' rights supporters. Hespoke in a gravelly voice the day after his long day of testimony.
Gonzales also called several GOP senators, including Cornyn and ArlenSpecter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, anaide said.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/21/new_jersey_governor_breathing_on_own?mode=PF
New Jersey governor breathing on own
By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Writer | April 21, 2007
CAMDEN, N.J. --Gov. Jon S. Corzine was breathing on his own again Friday
after doctors removed a breathing tube he'd been using since he wascritically injured in an April 12 high-speed crash, his spokesman said.Doctors removed the tube shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday, spokesman AnthonyColey said.
Breathing unassisted moves Corzine closer to having his condition upgraded.He has been listed as critical but stable since he was brought to CooperUniversity Hospital last week.
Corzine broke a leg and several bones in his chest, including 11 ribs, whenthe sport utility vehicle he was riding in wrecked on the Garden StateParkway north of Atlantic City. He was placed on a ventilator to ease thepain of breathing, doctors said.
"His respiratory function will be closely monitored to ensure that he cancontinue to breathe on his own and cough efficiently," Coley said. "Doctorsdo not entirely rule out the possibility that the breathing tube will needto be reinserted."
The SUV, driven by a state trooper with Corzine in the front passenger seat,was traveling 91 mph and the governor was not wearing his seat belt,officials have said.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/21/waxman_threatens_to_subpoena_card_rice?mode=PF
Waxman threatens to subpoena Card, Rice
By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writer | April 21, 2007
WASHINGTON --If President Bush's former chief of staff can chat about theidentifying of CIA agent Valerie Plame on Jon Stewart's comedy show, he cantalk about it to the House oversight committee, the panel's chairman saidFriday. If Andy Card refuses, the panel will vote Wednesday on whether tocompel his testimony with a subpoena, said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
White House Counsel Fred Fielding has declined to let Card testify.
"Mr. Fielding's position appears to be that it is appropriate for you todiscuss these matters on 'The Daily Show' but not before a congressionalcommittee," Waxman wrote to Card on Friday. "You will not be surprised tolearn that I take a different view of this matter."
Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrotethat if Card won't agree to appear voluntarily before Wednesday's meeting,the panel will vote on whether to issue him a subpoena.
Also being considered for a subpoena on a related issue: Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice. Waxman wants to know what Rice knows about theadministration's claim, later discredited, that Iraq sought uranium fromAfrica.
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Chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4735777.html
April 20, 2007, 11:02PM
Giuliani praises Bushes, chides Dems in Congress
He says assertive war on terror has made a difference in prevention
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
COLLEGE STATION - President Bush has brought the same aggressive approach tothe global terrorism struggle his father and Ronald Reagan used to win theCold War, Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani said Friday.
Before Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, "we were on defense againstterrorism," Giuliani told about 1,500 students and other guests at Texas A&MUniversity. "They were setting the agenda."
Giuliani heaped praise on former President Bush, who introduced him Friday,saying the 41st president ushered in the era of globalization after helpingReagan defeat communism. Bush was Reagan's vice president for eight yearsbefore winning the presidency in 1988.
His son has shown the same decisive leadership by confronting radicalIslamic terrorists with military action, rather than treating terrorist actsas a law enforcement problem, said Guiliani, whose national profile is basedlargely on his leadership as New York's mayor during and after the 2001attacks.
After the 1993 attack on New York's World Trade Center, "the people who didit were arrested and convicted of crimes," Giuliani said. "But it wasn'tjust murder. It was an act of war."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002036_pf.html
House Approves Executive-Pay Bill
Shareholders Would Get to Vote on Golden Parachutes
By Jim Abrams
Associated Press
Saturday, April 21, 2007; D02
The House voted yesterday to give shareholders at public corporations avoice in executive pay packages, which on average are vastly more than thesalaries of workers at those companies.
A shareholder vote under the bill would be advisory only. But its Democraticbackers said that investors need a say when companies losing money or layingoff workers give executives compensation and retirement packages in eightand nine figures.
"This is not an aberration, and there is a hue and a cry from the Americanpeople across the American landscape that is saying something must be done,"said Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.).
The bill, which passed 269 to 134 and goes to the Senate, was opposed by theWhite House and most Republicans. They argued that the Securities andExchange Commission has taken steps to make corporate pay packages moretransparent and that Congress should stay out of corporate affairs.
President Bush earlier this year questioned the extravagant pay of somecompany managers and directors but said it was not a matter for governmentinvolvement.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002026_pf.html
State of Black America
The Urban League has some ideas worth pursuing.
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A16
"BLACK AMERICA is at a tipping point," said National Urban League PresidentMarc H. Morial in releasing the organization's annual "State of BlackAmerica" report on Tuesday. "We can celebrate a great deal of success, butwe have a number of struggles to address." Successes include Fortune 100chief executives, a candidate for president with widespread financial andpopular support, and an increasing presence in the middle class. But thestruggles, particularly for black men, require a sense of urgency not onlyfrom government but also from African Americans themselves.
According to the State of Black America, "African American men are more thantwice as likely to be unemployed as white males and make only 75 percent asmuch a year. They're nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated, andtheir average jail sentences are 10 months longer than those of white men[for the same offenses]. In addition, young black males between the ages of15 and 34 years are nine times more likely to die of homicide than theirwhite counterparts and nearly seven times as likely to suffer from AIDS."
Mr. Morial has presented five recommendations worthy of debate, proposalsthat are rooted in education and that seem to strike a balance betweengovernment intervention and community involvement.
Topping his agenda is universal childhood education through public andprivate schools, starting at age 3. We'd worry about a new entitlement opento everyone regardless of income; it would seem logical to target preschooleducation funded with public dollars for those who most need help. As aprovider of Head Start and other early childhood education programsthroughout the country, the Ur ban League stands to benefit. Still, there isno doubt that this would be a worthy investment. Head Start has a proventrack record, and Congress is considering legislation to expand eligibilityand increase funding. Every effort should be made to target the program'sexpansion to those who need it.
The Urban League's report calls for "greater experimentation with all-maleschools and longer school days." While we have some questions aboutsingle-sex education, parents must have more choice in their children'seducation. Having more second-chance programs for high school dropouts andex-offenders would benefit both participants and society.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/washington/21memo.html?ei=5040&en=6608c8a80bf721b0&ex=1177819200&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
White House Memo
Two Cases Are Test for Bush's Unwavering Loyalty
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON, April 20 - Time and time again, President Bush has stood by hismost embattled but loyal lieutenants despite loud calls for their heads, attimes defying the established physics of Washington (rapidly diminishingsupport in one's own party times the number of instances in which one hasfailed to convincingly explain away accusations of incompetence ormalfeasance equals the certainty of rapid resignation).
But Mr. Bush's ability to turn aside that kind of pressure is now facing aserious test as he confronts what to do about Attorney General Alberto R.Gonzales and Paul D. Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank.
How Mr. Bush moves to resolve the situations is being watched closely inDemocratic and Republican circles for what it says about his standing in thecapital's new power dynamic, as a late-term president with low approvalratings and a hostile and increasingly assertive Congress.
They are two very different cases in two very different worlds: Mr.Wolfowitz faces questions about favoritism toward his girlfriend; Mr.Gonzales is dealing with bipartisan criticism about his competence andquestions about whether the Justice Department dismissed several federalprosecutors for political reasons.
In each case Mr. Bush is standing by a loyalist with an evaporating base ofsupport and a serious challenge to his credibility even among Republicans.And, two Republicans close to the administration said, in the case of Mr.Gonzales, even some of Mr. Bush's close aides think that his resignationwould best serve the administration but do not find a like-minded view fromthe president, who is personally close to the attorney general.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21garrow.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Don't Assume the Worst
By DAVID J. GARROW
Cambridge, England
THE Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision this week, in Gonzales v. Carhart, touphold the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act will undoubtedly harm thefuture reproductive health of some American women, and Justice Anthony M.Kennedy's majority opinion patronized such women's ability to make the sadand difficult decisions that late-term abortion often entails.
But let's not exaggerate what this ruling means. The Carhart decision is anextremely limited upholding of the federal ban, one that promises to affectvery few abortion providers and only a tiny percentage of their patients.The most recent and reliable national statistics, from the GuttmacherInstitute, show that only about 30 American doctors ever use the "intactdilation and evacuation" method that has now been criminalized. Only some2,200 of the 1.3 million abortions performed annually in the United Statesinvolve the banned procedure.
Moreover, Justice Kennedy explicitly and insistently limited the reach ofthe new prohibition. He emphasized that the ban covers only the relativelyrare intact dilation and evacuation method, and does not in any way apply tostandard dilation and evacuation, the most common method for late-termabortions, in which fetal tissue is removed from the womb piecemeal.Reiterating the standard he embraced 15 years ago in Planned Parenthood v.Casey, Justice Kennedy stated that the ban would impose an undue burden ifit covered standard dilation and evacuation and thus would beunconstitutional.
Justice Kennedy also declared - repeatedly - that only purposeful violationsof the prohibition can be prosecuted. What the law covers is the deliberate,almost-complete delivery of a living fetus, followed by a furtherintentional act that causes its demise. "If either intent is absent, nocrime is committed," Justice Kennedy wrote. On the other hand, "if thedoctor intends to remove the fetus in parts from the outset," he or she willnot be criminally liable even if the procedure unexpectedly proceeds in waysthat physically constitute an "intact" dilation and evacuation.
Writing on behalf of the four dissenters, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgcorrectly emphasized that under Justice Kennedy's holding, "the law savesnot a single fetus from destruction, for it targets only a method ofperforming abortion."
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/opinion/21wright.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
Guest Columnist
Why Darwinism Isn't Depressing
By ROBERT WRIGHT
Scientists have discovered that love is truth.
Granted, no scientist has put it quite like that. In fact, when scientiststalk about love - the neurochemistry, the evolutionary origins - they makeit sound unlovely.
More broadly, our growing grasp of the biology behind our thoughts andfeelings has some people downhearted. One commentator recently acknowledgedthe ascendancy of the Darwinian paradigm with a sigh: "Evolution doesn'treally lead to anything outside itself."
Cheer up! Despair is a plausible response to news that our loftiest feelingsboil down to genetic self-interest, but genetic self-interest actually turnsout to be our salvation. The selfishness of our genes gave us theilluminating power of love and put us on the path to a kind oftranscendence.
Before hiking to the peak, let's pause for some sobering concessions. Yes,love is physically mediated, a product of biochemistry. (Why this wouldsurprise anyone familiar with alcohol and coffee is something that has longbaffled scientists.) And, yes, the biochemistry was built by naturalselection. Like it or not, we are survival machines.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/world/asia/21india.html?pagewanted=print
April 21, 2007
India Debates Its Right to Nuclear Testing
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
NEW DELHI, April 20 - A nuclear accord hailed as the centerpiece of India'sdeepening friendship with the United States appears to be in jeopardy, asIndian officials argue about whether its limitations on their nuclearactivities offend the country's sense of sovereignty.
The accord, which was announced by President Bush last year and approved byCongress, is now mired in the swamp of history and complicated politics ofnonproliferation. In effect, the negotiations have been unable to resolve acentral question: should India be treated as a nuclear weapons state, whichretains the right to test its weapons and reprocess spent nuclear fuel?
The issue is proving trickier to sort out than anyone anticipated. Thedispute has come up as the two countries have tried to negotiate an accordknown as a "123 agreement," which could prohibit India from conductingfurther nuclear weapons tests, and put restrictions on whether it canreprocess spent nuclear fuel. The "123" refers to a section of the UnitedStates Atomic Energy Act.
The United States fears that the reprocessed fuel could be used to produceweapons-grade plutonium for a new generation of nuclear weapons, underminingMr. Bush's argument that the unusual deal with India would aidnonproliferation.
The deal is not necessarily doomed. But the sticking points are sopolitically contentious that they make it extremely difficult for eitherPresident Bush or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India to break theimpasse easily.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902548.html
From Clinton, Hip-Hop Hypocrisy
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A17
Put me in the camp of those who implore Sen. Hillary Clinton to give itback -- "it" being the reported $800,000 that's sitting in her presidentialcampaign coffers thanks to a fundraiser hosted in her honor March 31 in thePinecrest, Fla., home of a huge Clinton fan who refers to himself asTimbaland.
In response to my questions, Clinton campaign spokesman Blake Zeff said inan e-mail this week that it cost $1,000 just to get into Timbaland'sfundraiser, that about 200 guests were on hand and that the senator wasaccompanied by former president Bill Clinton.
You would not be reading about Clinton or about Timbaland -- who enteredthis vale of tears 36 years ago in Norfolk under the name Timothy Mosley --were it not for the fact that he is a well-heeled hip-hop producer and notedperformer of the kind of misogynistic and denigrating lyrics that informedDon Imus's derogatory comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Mrs. Clinton, you may recall, took umbrage at Imus's remarks, branding them"small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism." His words, she said in an e-mailto supporters, "showed a disregard for basic decency and were disrespectfuland degrading to African Americans and women everywhere."
Good for her, I say, except it must be asked why she was down in Floridamaking nice to -- and pocketing big bucks from -- a rapper whoseobscenity-laced lyrics praise violence, perpetuate racist stereotypes anddemean black women.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902548_pf.html
Gun Law Pragmatism
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, April 20, 2007; A31
Why do we have the same futile argument every time there is a mass killing?
Advocates of gun control try to open a discussion about whether morereasonable weapons statutes might reduce the number of violent deaths.Opponents of gun control shout "No!" Guns don't kill people, people killpeople, they say, and anyway, if everybody were carrying weapons, someonewould have taken out the murderer and all would have been fine.
And we do nothing.
This is a stupid argument, driven by the stupid politics of gun control inthe United States.
In other spheres, we act reasonably when faced with new problems. WhenRichard Reid showed that nasty things could be done with shoes on airplanes,airport security started examining shoes. When liquids were seen as apotential danger, we regulated the quantity of liquids we could take onflights. We barred people from carrying weapons onto airliners long ago.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042000220_pf.html
Wolfowitz Faces New Inquiry
Board Divided on Whether He Should Continue to Lead Bank
By Krissah Williams and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A02
The World Bank's board said yesterday that it has ordered an ad hoc group ofits members to "urgently" conduct a far-reaching investigation into bankPresident Paul D. Wolfowitz's involvement in arranging the compensation andpromotion package for his companion, who is also a bank employee.
The board did not set a timeframe for the committee's deliberations, butbank officials said an announcement could come as early as next week. Theboard has also postponed a nine-day trip to Mongolia and the Philippines setto start next week, bank officials said.
The directors are divided over whether Wolfowitz should continue to lead theanti-poverty institution. U.S. officials, who hold sway because the UnitedStates is the bank's largest shareholder, have expressed support forWolfowitz. But, in its statement, the board reiterated its "great concern"over the matter.
In a separate statement, Wolfowitz said he "welcomes the decision of theboard to move forward and resolve this very important issue." He said againthat he does not intend to resign.
The board, which met for more than nine hours on Thursday and earlyyesterday, widened the investigation beyond the possible violations of staffrules committed by Wolfowitz when he outlined a transfer and career plan forShaha Riza, a woman to whom he is romantically linked.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042001894_pf.html
Russian Medical School Imposes Curfew for Hitler's Birthday
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A12
MOSCOW, April 20 -- One of Russia's leading medical schools has advised itsmany foreign students to stay in their dormitories for three days, fearingthey could be attacked by neo-Nazis and skinheads marking the anniversary ofAdolf Hitler's birth, which fell on Friday.
The warning issued by the almost 250-year-old IM Sechenov Moscow MedicalAcademy, which suspended classes for its 1,940 foreign students, was areminder of the xenophobic and racist violence here targeting students andmigrant workers.
On Monday, a street cleaner from Tajikistan was stabbed 35 times outside anapartment building in eastern Moscow. Surveillance cameras on a nearbybuilding captured two skinheads carrying out the murder, according to newsreports here. Five suspects have been arrested. On the same day a46-year-old Armenian businessman was stabbed 20 times and later died inhospital. Three men were later arrested.
"It's no secret that some extremist young people, and not just in Russia,try to celebrate the 20th of April by attacking others," said SergeiBaranov, acting dean of the Sechenov Academy department that deals withforeign students. "For us, it's better to take preventative measures thandeal with the consequences." The curfew ends Saturday.
=
Moyers Documentary Blasts Bush Lies, Media Complicity
By David Swanson
Bill Moyers has put together an amazing 90-minute video documenting the liesthat the Bush administration told to sell the Iraq war to the Americanpublic, with a special focus on how the media led the charge.
I've watched an advance copy and read a transcript, and the most importantthing I can say about it is: Watch PBS from 9:00 to 10:30 PM on Wednesday,April 25. Spending that 90 minutes will actually save you time becauseyou'll never watch television news again - not even on PBS, which comes infor its own share of criticism.
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST April 21, 2007
**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.
=
To: Ray's List Subscribers,
Thank you for your patience while we have been offline during the past several weeks. We needed to catch up on a backlog of work. We're still not "caught up" but we will try to send Ray's List most days.
Meanwhile - we need some feedback. We don't want to waste any of our time (or yours) sending articles that don't interest you. Please let us know your likes/dislikes - this will help us make Ray's List a more valuable information tool.
Best to you and thanks for your activism on behalf of the GLBT community!
Ray and Michael
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/569/v-print/story/81829.html
Posted on Fri, Apr. 20, 2007
Plan to take tax savings with you is revived
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
For Erik Bjorkman of Doral, the decision by a House council Friday tobreathe new life into a bill to allow homeowners to take their property-taxsavings with them when they move ``is huge.''
The House Policy and Budget Committee voted 29-1 to give homeowners likeBjorkman the freedom to buy a new principal home without being suffocated bya spike in his tax bill. The solution: Let him and others in his situationapply his accumulated savings from the Save Our Homes Act to his new taxbill.
A similar so-called ''portability'' bill has already passed the Senate andwill be pivotal to the negotiations over property-tax reform that beginbetween the House and Senate next week.
Bjorkman and his wife are selling their home after nine years and have acontract to buy a larger home near Pinecrest, despite the annual tax hike ofmore than $5,000, he said. Now the 40-year-old finance executive forAutoNation in Fort Lauderdale is counting on the Legislature to put aconstitutional amendment on the November ballot -- and voters to approve it.
''It's the same situation you find over and over,'' he said. 'For the lastseveral years, we could move but didn't, because we would be getting 5percent more house and paying 50 percent more in taxes. This year I said,`We can't sit here forever.' ''
=
The St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/21/news_pf/Business/Florida_continues_to_.shtml
Florida continues to add jobs
Construction falters and Florida is no longer No. 1 in job creation.
By CHRISTINA REXRODE
Published April 21, 2007
Just as Coca-Cola Enterprises this week said it will hire another 200 peoplein Brandon, Home Depot laid off about 10 people in its Tampa At-HomeServices unit ecause of declining sales of windows, roofing and sidingwork.
Jobs come and go, but new federal and state numbers released Friday showFlorida in the month of March continued to add new jobs -- 16,400 statewide.Even though the state's pace of job growth is slowing, Florida still addedmore jobs last month than any other state but California.
Not all industries fared well. For example, the bottom finally fell out forFlorida's construction workers.
After months of tepid job creation, construction employment moved intonegative territory in March. The sector lost 3,000 jobs over the year,according to data released Friday by the state Agency for Workforcennovation. That's a decline of 0.5 percent -- and quite a different tunefrom the construction industry's peak September 2005 performance, when itadded jobs at a rate of 14.3 percent.
It's the first time the construction industry has lost jobs on an annualbasis since July 2002.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/277/v-print/story/80634.html
Posted on Sat, Apr. 21, 2007
PROTECTION VS. PRIVACY: Colleges caught between guarding the rights of oneand securing the safety of all
By FRED TASKER, JANE STANCILL AND LESLEY CLARK
It seemed like everyone who knew Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech witnessedhis odd, disturbing behavior -- professors, classmates, roommates and twowomen he stalked.
Now, the question is, with all the warning signs, should the university haveacted more aggressively to deal with the troubled student? Could somethinghave been done to prevent Monday's massacre?
At some universities, programs are in place to catch such behavior early.The University of Miami, for example, set up a faculty-run StudentAssessment Committee 10 years ago. It handles about 20 cases per year,requiring the most troubled students to get counseling or withdraw from theuniversity.
''Occasionally, we have taken that action,'' says Patricia Whitley, Ph.D.psychologist and vice president of student affairs at UM.
But she couldn't guarantee the committee would have prevented a tragedy likeVirginia Tech's. University officials say they're caught between federalprivacy and disability laws that limit their options when working with atroubled student and the fear of lawsuits from removing a student -- orfailing to remove one.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwaterresults21apr21,0,6340272,print.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Restrictions on water have little impact
Reductions appear far below 15% goal
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
April 21, 2007
Water restrictions triggered by one of the worst droughts in history haven'tresulted in dramatic drops in the amount of water the public has consumed, aSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel review of utility pumping records shows.
A sampling of water providers in Broward and Palm Beach counties shows mostfalling well short of an overall 15 percent reduction goal the South FloridaWater Management District proposed to achieve by imposing water restrictionson March 22.
Comparing daily water totals during a three-week period before restrictionswith a three-week period after restrictions, Broward County's waterdepartment saw a 7 percent reduction in the water it provides customers.Palm Beach County's water utilities department saw a 3 percent reductionduring the same time periods.
People ignoring the new watering rules, lax enforcement by localgovernments, and homeowners and businesses watering more than usual on thedays they are allowed were among reasons cited for the limited drop in dailywater use.
"I can't say people are unaware of this, I just don't think they care," saidParkland resident Gail Platt, who said she sees plenty of illegal wateringon morning walks through her neighborhood but has trouble gettingauthorities to respond.
=
MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/569/v-print/story/81833.html
Posted on Sat, Apr. 21, 2007
Scientists: Climate clock is ticking in South Florida
BY GEORGIA TASKER
Pine trees, coral reefs, tourism and our drinking water supply are under thegun of climate change.
The warming of the planet means Florida, with 1,200 miles of heavilypopulated and vulnerable coastline, is feeling real-time effects that areforeshadowing bigger consequences:
. Sea levels are rising twice as fast as once predicted, eroding shorelines.
. Higher temperatures are shifting tropical conditions farther north.
. Oceans are more acidic.
. Seas are hotter.
=
Are you ready South Florida?
Because We Are!!!!!
The 19th Annual AIDS Walk Miami benefiting Care Resource kicks off from theMiami Beach Botanical Gardens, 2000 Convention Center Drive, precisely at9:00 am this coming Sunday morning, April 22.
All participants should be there by 8:00 am to get registered or checked inand get their commemorative AIDS Walk Miami T-Shirt before heading out.
There is still time to register and collect donations, just click here
Http://www.aidswalkmiami.org now for information and look for a special AIDSWalk Miami report on NBC Channel 6 and on Telemundo this coming Saturdaymorning.
AS OF TODAY, INTERNET DONATIONS HAVE TOPPED $160,000
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
To: Ray's List Subscribers,
Thank you for your patience while we have been offline during the past several weeks. We needed to catch up on a backlog of work. We're still not "caught up" but we will try to send Ray's List most days.
Meanwhile - we need some feedback. We don't want to waste any of our time (or yours) sending articles that don't interest you. Please let us know your likes/dislikes - this will help us make Ray's List a more valuable information tool.
Best to you and thanks for your activism on behalf of the GLBT community!
Ray and Michael
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/569/v-print/story/81829.html
Posted on Fri, Apr. 20, 2007
Plan to take tax savings with you is revived
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
For Erik Bjorkman of Doral, the decision by a House council Friday tobreathe new life into a bill to allow homeowners to take their property-taxsavings with them when they move ``is huge.''
The House Policy and Budget Committee voted 29-1 to give homeowners likeBjorkman the freedom to buy a new principal home without being suffocated bya spike in his tax bill. The solution: Let him and others in his situationapply his accumulated savings from the Save Our Homes Act to his new taxbill.
A similar so-called ''portability'' bill has already passed the Senate andwill be pivotal to the negotiations over property-tax reform that beginbetween the House and Senate next week.
Bjorkman and his wife are selling their home after nine years and have acontract to buy a larger home near Pinecrest, despite the annual tax hike ofmore than $5,000, he said. Now the 40-year-old finance executive forAutoNation in Fort Lauderdale is counting on the Legislature to put aconstitutional amendment on the November ballot -- and voters to approve it.
''It's the same situation you find over and over,'' he said. 'For the lastseveral years, we could move but didn't, because we would be getting 5percent more house and paying 50 percent more in taxes. This year I said,`We can't sit here forever.' ''
=
The St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/21/news_pf/Business/Florida_continues_to_.shtml
Florida continues to add jobs
Construction falters and Florida is no longer No. 1 in job creation.
By CHRISTINA REXRODE
Published April 21, 2007
Just as Coca-Cola Enterprises this week said it will hire another 200 peoplein Brandon, Home Depot laid off about 10 people in its Tampa At-HomeServices unit ecause of declining sales of windows, roofing and sidingwork.
Jobs come and go, but new federal and state numbers released Friday showFlorida in the month of March continued to add new jobs -- 16,400 statewide.Even though the state's pace of job growth is slowing, Florida still addedmore jobs last month than any other state but California.
Not all industries fared well. For example, the bottom finally fell out forFlorida's construction workers.
After months of tepid job creation, construction employment moved intonegative territory in March. The sector lost 3,000 jobs over the year,according to data released Friday by the state Agency for Workforcennovation. That's a decline of 0.5 percent -- and quite a different tunefrom the construction industry's peak September 2005 performance, when itadded jobs at a rate of 14.3 percent.
It's the first time the construction industry has lost jobs on an annualbasis since July 2002.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/277/v-print/story/80634.html
Posted on Sat, Apr. 21, 2007
PROTECTION VS. PRIVACY: Colleges caught between guarding the rights of oneand securing the safety of all
By FRED TASKER, JANE STANCILL AND LESLEY CLARK
It seemed like everyone who knew Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech witnessedhis odd, disturbing behavior -- professors, classmates, roommates and twowomen he stalked.
Now, the question is, with all the warning signs, should the university haveacted more aggressively to deal with the troubled student? Could somethinghave been done to prevent Monday's massacre?
At some universities, programs are in place to catch such behavior early.The University of Miami, for example, set up a faculty-run StudentAssessment Committee 10 years ago. It handles about 20 cases per year,requiring the most troubled students to get counseling or withdraw from theuniversity.
''Occasionally, we have taken that action,'' says Patricia Whitley, Ph.D.psychologist and vice president of student affairs at UM.
But she couldn't guarantee the committee would have prevented a tragedy likeVirginia Tech's. University officials say they're caught between federalprivacy and disability laws that limit their options when working with atroubled student and the fear of lawsuits from removing a student -- orfailing to remove one.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwaterresults21apr21,0,6340272,print.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Restrictions on water have little impact
Reductions appear far below 15% goal
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
April 21, 2007
Water restrictions triggered by one of the worst droughts in history haven'tresulted in dramatic drops in the amount of water the public has consumed, aSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel review of utility pumping records shows.
A sampling of water providers in Broward and Palm Beach counties shows mostfalling well short of an overall 15 percent reduction goal the South FloridaWater Management District proposed to achieve by imposing water restrictionson March 22.
Comparing daily water totals during a three-week period before restrictionswith a three-week period after restrictions, Broward County's waterdepartment saw a 7 percent reduction in the water it provides customers.Palm Beach County's water utilities department saw a 3 percent reductionduring the same time periods.
People ignoring the new watering rules, lax enforcement by localgovernments, and homeowners and businesses watering more than usual on thedays they are allowed were among reasons cited for the limited drop in dailywater use.
"I can't say people are unaware of this, I just don't think they care," saidParkland resident Gail Platt, who said she sees plenty of illegal wateringon morning walks through her neighborhood but has trouble gettingauthorities to respond.
=
MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/569/v-print/story/81833.html
Posted on Sat, Apr. 21, 2007
Scientists: Climate clock is ticking in South Florida
BY GEORGIA TASKER
Pine trees, coral reefs, tourism and our drinking water supply are under thegun of climate change.
The warming of the planet means Florida, with 1,200 miles of heavilypopulated and vulnerable coastline, is feeling real-time effects that areforeshadowing bigger consequences:
. Sea levels are rising twice as fast as once predicted, eroding shorelines.
. Higher temperatures are shifting tropical conditions farther north.
. Oceans are more acidic.
. Seas are hotter.
=
Are you ready South Florida?
Because We Are!!!!!
The 19th Annual AIDS Walk Miami benefiting Care Resource kicks off from theMiami Beach Botanical Gardens, 2000 Convention Center Drive, precisely at9:00 am this coming Sunday morning, April 22.
All participants should be there by 8:00 am to get registered or checked inand get their commemorative AIDS Walk Miami T-Shirt before heading out.
There is still time to register and collect donations, just click here
Http://www.aidswalkmiami.org now for information and look for a special AIDSWalk Miami report on NBC Channel 6 and on Telemundo this coming Saturdaymorning.
AS OF TODAY, INTERNET DONATIONS HAVE TOPPED $160,000
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
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