NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST January 9, 2008

**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.

=

NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-election.html?_r=1&sq=gay&oref=slogin&scp=6&pagewanted=print

January 9, 2008
Cable Networks Crowd Campaign Trail
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:31 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Now that the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshireprimary have launched the presidential race, non-news networks are piling onto document an election season seen as just too entertaining to pass up.

While outlets such as MTV and Comedy Central have long been using campaignsfor programming fodder, newcomers to the presidential race are hoping TVviewers will cast their ballots with them -- especially given that thewriters strike has shut down most original TV programming.

"This election is gearing up to be perhaps the most interesting TV series ofthe season, and everyone technically has the rights to it," said RobertThompson, professor of television and popular culture at SyracuseUniversity.

Among the new entrants: the gay-themed Logo, women's cable channel WE tv,the Independent Film Channel (IFC), young men's channel Spike, and countrymusic outlet CMT.

Logo entered the fray in August with a first-of-its-kind on-air forum onissues of importance to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communitywith Democratic presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton, BarackObama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson.

more . . . . .



=

NYTimes.com

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/arts/television/09mart.html?sq=gay&scp=4&pagewanted=print

Television Review | 'The Jewish Americans'
Making Way in America: Jewish Identities and Personal Allegiances

By NED MARTEL
January 9, 2008

Jewish journeys into American society receive an earnest, lively PBStreatment that often seems as all-encompassing as the six million citizenswho share this heritage. Their ancestors may have come from differenthomelands, but their ethnic commonality is considered essential to thedozens who testify in this six-hour sprawl of history. Still, in thesetestimonials, many assert there are competing elements in theirself-definitions.

"Gay American Jewish Socialist" is the term the playwright Tony Kushnerbestows on himself in the first of three two-hour installments of "TheJewish Americans," and others vary the order of their core affiliations. Nomatter how each subject describes himself or herself, there is an exuberanceabout the very ability to choose how to do so - or to have the right toreject labels altogether.

Convincingly, the narration, read by Liev Schreiber, asserts that those whocan link their lives to the 350 years that America has welcomed Jewishimmigrants would rarely have found such freedom anywhere else. Such awelcome came with degrees of difficulty, as bias, even hatred and injusticeoften erupt in the narrative. There are also signs of progress, relative topast turmoil: A viewer can presume that no longer would a bigoted adult aska Jewish boy if he had horns, as Mr. Kushner says happened to him. And nolonger would the nation's highest court include one jurist, James ClarkMcReynolds, who refused to sit beside a Jewish colleague for the officialportrait, as Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Courtrelates was the experience of a Jewish predecessor, Louis D. Brandeis.

Like all public-broadcasting historical documentaries, this one has a goodmeasure of stylistic borrowings from the archival scan-shots and thefirst-person narrations that Ken Burns made famous. This series's creator,David Grubin, also has learned from Mr. Burns when the series needs tolinger a little longer on an emblematic biography, and he chooses wisely.Among his picks is Hank Greenberg, the Detroit Tigers power hitter who satout a crucial game on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The moststartling selection is Judah P. Benjamin, the Zelig-esque United Statessenator from Louisiana who became a Confederate political leader andeventually a British politician after the Civil War didn't go his way.

These six hours introduce many such figures, or dwell in deeper detail onfamiliar names whose life stories may have grown hazy over the decades: thepioneering beauty queen Bess Myerson, for example, and the songwriter IrvingBerlin, who was a cantor's son who became the nation's new standard-bearer,writing "God Bless America" and even "White Christmas." Berlin's story fitswithin the series's echoing refrain: Many children forged their ownidentities separate from those of their parents, but still linked to theJewish struggle.

Over and over during this series, viewers witness this bouncy interplaybetween a rigid faith and the elastic society that was forever changed byits adherents.

THE JEWISH AMERICANS

On most PBS stations Wednesday night and Jan. 16 and 23 (check locallistings).

David Grubin, producer, director and writer; Rachel Buchanan and Amy Brown,co-producers; Don Bernier, Susan Fanshel, George O'Donnell and DeborahPeretz, editors; James Callanan, cinematographer; Liev Schreiber, narrator.Produced by JTN Productions; WETA, Washington, and David Grubin ProductionsInc., in association with WNET, New York.



=

NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Military-Gays.html?sq=gay&scp=3&pagewanted=print

Soldier: Policy on Gays May Be Shifting

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:03 a.m. ET
January 9, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even if no one is asking, Army Sgt. Darren Manzella hasbeen telling anyone who'll listen that he's gay -- without seriousretribution so far from the military. Manzella, a medic who served in Iraqand Kuwait, has acknowledged his sexual orientation in national mediainterviews and again on Tuesday in a Washington news conference.

''This is who I am. This is my life,'' said Manzella, who received a combatmedical badge for his service in Iraq. ''It has never affected my jobperformance before. I don't think it will make a difference now. And to behonest since then, I don't see a difference because of my homosexuality.''

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network,said Manzella's case demonstrates the military is arbitrarily enforcing its''don't ask, don't tell'' policy now that the country is at war.

The ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy prohibits active-duty service membersfrom openly acknowledging whether they are gay or lesbian.

Manzella still could be investigated now that he has left the battlefield.Every time he has said he is gay publicly can be counted as a violation ofthe policy, one of his attorneys said.

more . . . . .




=

WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010804600_pf.html

The Comeback Grownups
New Hampshire keeps the races nicely unsettled.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A14

FOR ALL THE hoopla over Barack Obama's post-Iowa bounce, in the end theDemocratic voters of New Hampshire buoyed Hillary Rodham Clinton with avictory that confounded the pollsters. This is good news, and not just forthe senator from New York. It's good news for the voters in all the statesthat haven't yet had a chance to express a preference. The situation is muchthe same on the other side: John McCain, whose campaign was written off ashopeless only weeks ago, won a decisive victory in the Republican primarythat could keep the GOP race scrambled for some time to come.

Mr. McCain's win improves the chances that voters in November will have twocredible, thoughtful nominees from whom to choose. In many areas, hisprincipled positions offer a welcome departure from the usual partisanplaybook. In a campaign that has reflected some of the uglier aspects ofAmerican politics, especially when it comes to immigration, Mr. McCainoffers a voice of reason tempered by the knowledge that many voters arefurious about illegal immigration. His deep knowledge of foreign affairs,clearheaded approach to the threat of Islamic extremism and unwillingness toabandon his support for the war in Iraq, even when it threatened to cost himhis bid for the presidency, are admirable, as is his unswerving oppositionto the use of torture by U.S. personnel. Although we disagree with theArizona senator on a host of domestic issues, including tax policy, abortionrights and gay rights, his willingness to take on such issues as climatechange and campaign finance reform -- neither of which were particularlypopular with his party -- reflects well on his character and judgment.

The Republican race remains far from settled, but having Mr. McCain in thefray as a credible candidate is a development to be cheered. As a bonus, Mr.McCain's unexpected rise after an apparent campaign implosion last summer,along with Mike Huckabee's victory in Iowa last week, illustrates that moneycan't buy everything in American politics, at least not always.

The Democratic contest had been threatening to unfold with unsettlingvelocity. But New Hampshire applied a useful brake. The senator fromIllinois is an impressive man whose rhetoric of inclusive post-partisanshiphelped inspire record turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has tapped intoa deep vein of dissatisfaction with the status quo under President Bush, andhis support reflects unease among many over the perceived divisiveness ofMs. Clinton and the restoration of a Clinton presidency.

As the New Hampshire results show, Mr. Obama has a formidable opponent inMs. Clinton, who would bring to the presidency valuable experience, both inthe White House and the Senate, that has given her a sophisticatedunderstanding of the dangers and opportunities the United States faces inthe world. Her policy positions overlap with Mr. Obama's more than theydiffer, but the differences aren't inconsequential, especially in foreignaffairs, where Ms. Clinton has had the more sophisticated approach to how todeal with Iraq and other danger zones. The contrast between her experienceand his inspiration opens a legitimate and important debate. It's good thatmore voters will have a chance to weigh in.

more . . . . .



=

WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010804600_pf.html

The Comeback Grownups
New Hampshire keeps the races nicely unsettled.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A14

FOR ALL THE hoopla over Barack Obama's post-Iowa bounce, in the end theDemocratic voters of New Hampshire buoyed Hillary Rodham Clinton with avictory that confounded the pollsters. This is good news, and not just forthe senator from New York. It's good news for the voters in all the statesthat haven't yet had a chance to express a preference. The situation is muchthe same on the other side: John McCain, whose campaign was written off ashopeless only weeks ago, won a decisive victory in the Republican primarythat could keep the GOP race scrambled for some time to come.

Mr. McCain's win improves the chances that voters in November will have twocredible, thoughtful nominees from whom to choose. In many areas, hisprincipled positions offer a welcome departure from the usual partisanplaybook. In a campaign that has reflected some of the uglier aspects ofAmerican politics, especially when it comes to immigration, Mr. McCainoffers a voice of reason tempered by the knowledge that many voters arefurious about illegal immigration. His deep knowledge of foreign affairs,clearheaded approach to the threat of Islamic extremism and unwillingness toabandon his support for the war in Iraq, even when it threatened to cost himhis bid for the presidency, are admirable, as is his unswerving oppositionto the use of torture by U.S. personnel. Although we disagree with theArizona senator on a host of domestic issues, including tax policy, abortionrights and gay rights, his willingness to take on such issues as climatechange and campaign finance reform -- neither of which were particularlypopular with his party -- reflects well on his character and judgment.

The Republican race remains far from settled, but having Mr. McCain in thefray as a credible candidate is a development to be cheered. As a bonus, Mr.McCain's unexpected rise after an apparent campaign implosion last summer,along with Mike Huckabee's victory in Iowa last week, illustrates that moneycan't buy everything in American politics, at least not always.

The Democratic contest had been threatening to unfold with unsettlingvelocity. But New Hampshire applied a useful brake. The senator fromIllinois is an impressive man whose rhetoric of inclusive post-partisanshiphelped inspire record turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has tapped intoa deep vein of dissatisfaction with the status quo under President Bush, andhis support reflects unease among many over the perceived divisiveness ofMs. Clinton and the restoration of a Clinton presidency.

As the New Hampshire results show, Mr. Obama has a formidable opponent inMs. Clinton, who would bring to the presidency valuable experience, both inthe White House and the Senate, that has given her a sophisticatedunderstanding of the dangers and opportunities the United States faces inthe world. Her policy positions overlap with Mr. Obama's more than theydiffer, but the differences aren't inconsequential, especially in foreignaffairs, where Ms. Clinton has had the more sophisticated approach to how todeal with Iraq and other danger zones. The contrast between her experienceand his inspiration opens a legitimate and important debate. It's good thatmore voters will have a chance to weigh in.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/politics/09elect.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Clinton Is Victor, Turning Back Obama; McCain Also Triumphs

By PATRICK HEALY and MICHAEL COOPER
January 9, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York rode a wave offemale support to a surprise victory over Senator Barack Obama in the NewHampshire Democratic primary on Tuesday night. In the Republican primary,Senator John McCain of Arizona revived his presidential bid with aLazarus-like victory.

The success of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain followed their third- andfourth-place finishes in the Iowa caucuses last week. Mrs. Clinton's victorycame after her advisers had lowered expectations with talk of missteps instrategy and concern about Mr. Obama's momentum after his first-place finishin Iowa. Her team is now planning to add advisers and undertake a hugefund-raising drive to prepare for a tough and expensive fight with Mr. Obamain the Democratic nominating contests over the next four weeks.

Mr. McCain had pursued a meticulous and dogged turnaround effort: his secondbid for the White House was in tatters last summer because of weakfund-raising and a blurred political message, leading him to fire senioradvisers and refocus his energy on New Hampshire.

Several New Hampshire women, some of them undecided until Tuesday, said thata galvanizing moment for them had been Mrs. Clinton's unusual display ofemotion on Monday as she described the pressures of the race and her goalsfor the nation - a moment Mrs. Clinton herself acknowledged as abreakthrough.

"I come tonight with a very, very full heart, and I want especially to thankNew Hampshire," Mrs. Clinton, who is seeking to become the first woman to beelected president, told supporters in Manchester. "Over the last week, Ilistened to you, and in the process I found my own voice."

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/politics/09assess.html?hp

News Analysis: Clinton Escapes to Fight Another Day

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
January 9, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Hillary Rodham Clinton is back.

With solid support from registered Democrats and the backing of women, whodeserted her in Iowa, Senator Clinton beat Senator Barack Obama of Illinoiswith a margin that - if not particularly wide - was enough for her campaignto claim a resounding victory.

The political intensity of her victory was magnified by a weekend of pollsand rapturous packed rallies for Mr. Obama that suggested Mrs. Clinton wasin dire shape, particularly after Mr. Obama's drubbing of her in Iowa.

Mrs. Clinton won in a state that has always had a warm spot for the Clintonfamily. There was no end to the comparisons to how New Hampshire saved BillClinton's campaign in 1992, when he too seemed on the verge of defeat. (Inthat case, though, Mr. Clinton declared victory after coming in second with25 percent after being as low as 19 percent in polls.)

Political theatrics aside, there were lessons from her victory on Tuesdaythat could prove instructive as Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama head into thisnew phase of the campaign, with 25 states voting in the next four weeks. "Sowe're going to take what we've learned here in New Hampshire and we're goingto rally on and make our case," Mrs. Clinton said.

Mrs. Clinton solidified her position with Democrats, while Mr. Obama enjoyedsupport from independent voters, as he did in Iowa. But many of the stateswhere the Democrats are heading allow only Democrats to vote in their party'sprimary

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/politics/09repubs.html?hp

McCain's Victory Muddles G.O.P. Field as It Looks to Michigan

By MICHAEL LUO
January 9, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - After Senator John McCain's victory here on Tuesday, theRepublican field is more scrambled than ever, with the battleground nowshifting to a series of states where each of the leading candidates believeshe holds certain advantages.

The next showdown will be on Jan. 15 in Michigan, a vast state strugglingwith a recession and the loss of manufacturing jobs. It is where Mitt Romneywas born and reared, and many still fondly remember his late father, George,a three-term governor. Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, will flythere on Wednesday afternoon, with his aides saying the state has become hisfire wall.

But his campaign has clearly been crippled by a second loss, this time in astate where he even has a vacation home.

Mr. McCain, who will also go to Michigan on Wednesday, is looking to finishoff Mr. Romney there. In 2000, Mr. McCain defeated George W. Bush inMichigan, largely on the strength of support from independents and Democratswho switched over to vote for him.

Already, the McCain campaign has seen a tremendous uptick in itsfund-raising, going from $20,000 a day on the Internet to well over$100,000, and raising a million dollars this month alone.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/09wed1.html?ref=opinion

Editorial: Unite, Not Divide, Really This Time

January 9, 2008

The New Hampshire primary has done Americans a service by leaving bothparties' nominating contests open and giving a truly broad range of voters achance to participate in these vitally important choices. The comingcontests will be colored in large part by how the contenders and theirbackers answer a basic question: Just how far are they willing to go to win?

If the Republican fringe plays to type and decides to savage John McCain,the party's winner in New Hampshire, once again, and if the Clinton campcontinues to allow its baser instincts to rule, they will do more harm thangood to themselves, to their parties and to the political process. Thedanger signs are there on both sides, but are glaringly evident among theDemocrats.

Senator Barack Obama did not refrain from dropping cutting comments aboutSenator Hillary Clinton into his speeches. "I'm not running because I thinkit's my turn, that it's somehow owed to me," he would say. But he generallypitched his speeches on notes of inspiration and hope.

Mrs. Clinton ran an angry campaign in New Hampshire, and polls showed thatvoters noticed. She won narrowly, but came perilously close to injectingracial tension into what should have been - and still should be - anuplifting contest between the first major woman candidate and the firstmajor African-American candidate.

In the days before the voting, Mrs. Clinton and her team were so intent ontalking about how big a change a woman president would be - and it surelywould - that some of her surrogates even suggested that it would be a morevaluable change than an African-American president. Mrs. Clinton managed toenergize the women's vote in New Hampshire to win the contest, but theDemocratic Party should be celebrating its full diversity, a refreshing andnotable difference from the field of Republican contenders.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/09wed2.html?ref=opinion

Editorial: The Court and Voter ID's

January 9, 2008

From the early indications, Americans are feeling enthusiastic about theirconstitutionally guaranteed right to vote. The Supreme Court shouldencourage, not frustrate, that enthusiasm when it hears a challenge today toa harsh voter identification law adopted by Indiana. The law aims to be ananti-fraud measure, but its main impact will be to disenfranchise largenumbers of registered voters. The court should not let it stand.

The idea of asking voters for ID may not sound unreasonable, but the devilis in the exclusionary details. Before the 2005 law, Indiana voters simplyhad to sign in at the polls and their signatures were compared to the oneson file. Now voters must present a current government-issued photo ID,generally a driver's license.

The impact of that requirement falls unequally. Poor people, racialminorities and the elderly are especially unlikely to have driver's licensesor other forms of ID required under the law. A study in Georgia, whichenacted its own voter ID law, found that black voters were more than 83percent more likely than whites not to have driver's licenses orstate-issued ID. Hispanics were nearly twice as likely not to have them.

Another problem is that such laws are often applied in a discriminatory way.A study in New Mexico found that Hispanic voters were significantly morelikely than non-Hispanics to be asked to show the legally required ID.

In-person voter fraud is extremely rare, and there is no evidence of itoccurring in Indiana. It says a lot about the Legislature's motives that itdid not apply the new ID rules to the kind of voting where there has beendocumented fraud: absentee voting. It is also not a coincidence that thepeople likely to be disenfranchised are from groups that votedisproportionately Democratic. Voter ID laws have been pushed across thecountry by Republicans. Despite the anti-fraud talk, the inescapableconclusion is that the laws are an attempt to shave a few percentage pointsoff of a Democratic turnout.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/09wed3.html?ref=opinion

Editorial: A Dangerous Game in the Strait

January 9, 2008

Iran played a reckless and foolish game in the Strait of Hormuz this weekthat - except for American restraint - could have spun lethally out ofcontrol.

Iranian officials played down Sunday's incident in the narrow opening to thePersian Gulf, insisting that the encounter was a "routine" attempt by boatsoperated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to identify Americanwarships. The American version hardly sounds routine: five Iranianspeedboats charging within striking distance of the United States Navywarships in international waters, radioed warnings that the American shipswould explode, followed by the Iranians' release into the sea of two whiteboxlike objects that could have been explosives.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon released a recording of the interchange thatappears to substantiate Washington's narrative.

It is not clear what game the Iranians were playing or even who was givingthe orders. President Bush's refusal to engage Iran diplomatically makes iteven harder for American officials to deconstruct Iran's motives andincreases the risk of future miscalculation on both sides.

With Mr. Bush on his way to the Middle East this week - an eight-day trip atleast partially aimed at rallying opposition to Iran - Tehran may have beenreminding both the Gulf Arabs and Washington of its capacity to make troublein a waterway crucial to world oil shipping. The Iranians may also betesting America's appetite for confrontation after a new intelligenceestimate concluded that Iran had halted its secret nuclear weapons programin 2003.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/09strauss.html?ref=opinion

Op-Ed Contributor: Too Many Innocents Abroad

By ROBERT L. STRAUSS
January 9, 2008
Antananarivo, Madagascar

THE Peace Corps recently began a laudable initiative to increase the numberof volunteers who are 50 and older. As the Peace Corps' country director inCameroon from 2002 until last February, I observed how many older volunteersbrought something to their service that most young volunteers could not:extensive professional and life experience and the ability to mentor youngervolunteers.

However, even if the Peace Corps reaches its goal of having 15 percent ofits volunteers over 50, the overwhelming majority will remain recentlyminted college graduates. And too often these young volunteers lack thematurity and professional experience to be effective development workers inthe 21st century.

This wasn't the case in 1961 when the Peace Corps sent its first volunteersoverseas. Back then, enthusiastic young Americans offered something thatmany newly independent nations counted in double and even single digits:college graduates. But today, those same nations have millions ofwell-educated citizens of their own desperately in need of work. So it'smuch less clear what inexperienced Americans have to offer.

The Peace Corps has long shipped out well-meaning young people possessinglittle more than good intentions and a college diploma. What the agencyshould begin doing is recruiting only the best of recent graduates - as thetop professional schools do - and only those older people whose skills andpersonal characteristics are a solid fit for the needs of the host country.

The Peace Corps has resisted doing this for fear that it would cause thenumber of volunteers to plummet. The name of the game has been gettingvolunteers into the field, qualified or not.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/world/africa/09kenya.html

Kenya Crisis Worsens as Opposition Cools to Talks

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
January 9, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya - The political mood darkened again in Kenya on Tuesday, withopposition leaders cooling to the idea of negotiations with the governmentafter the president unilaterally made major cabinet appointments, a movethat set off riots across the country almost immediately.

Bonfires burned in Kisumu on Lake Victoria, ethnic clashes erupted in theslums around Nairobi, the capital, and protesters began to mass in the portcity of Mombasa.

The political crisis here, which has claimed at least 486 lives and probablymany more, seems to be raising wider concerns, with President Bush issuing astatement urging "both sides to engage in peaceful dialogue" and SenatorBarack Obama speaking to opposition leaders by telephone.

Mr. Obama, Democrat from Illinois who is running for president, has closeties to Kenya. His father was Kenyan and a member of the same ethnic groupas Kenya's top opposition leader, Raila Odinga. Mr. Obama took a short breakfrom campaigning on Monday and asked Mr. Odinga to meet directly with Kenya's president without preconditions, a spokesman for Mr. Obama said.

John A. Kufuor, the president of Ghana and chairman of the African Union,arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday to help facilitate a truce, but it seemed thathis trip, which had been proposed as mediation between the government andthe opposition, had already begun to resemble an official state visit tohelp the Kenyan government solve this crisis. Opposition leaders say thequestion should be who is the rightful leader. Opposition leaders, withWestern election observers, have said that evidence is widespread that thepresident's party rigged the vote tallying process to stay in power.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/nyregion/09school.html

City Names New Principal for English-Arabic School

By ELISSA GOOTMAN
January 9, 2008

On Tuesday, the New York City Education Department named an educator who hasa "working knowledge" of Arabic as principal of the Khalil GibranInternational Academy, the embattled Brooklyn school whose foundingprincipal resigned under pressure after being quoted as defending the word"intifada" as a T-shirt slogan.

The new principal, Holly Anne Reichert, 42, has worked in the city publicschools for more than nine years, first as an English as a Second Languageteacher and, later, as a teacher mentor.

She has also spent much time in the Arab world, including stints as a PeaceCorps volunteer in Yemen, as a teaching fellow at the American University inCairo, and as head of the English department at an English-Arabic duallanguage school in Bahrain.

She has a bachelor's degree in Arabic Language and Social Anthropology fromthe University of London, and master's degrees from the American Universityin Cairo, Teachers College at Columbia University and Baruch College.

The Khalil Gibran school, which opened in September with about 60 sixthgraders, is the city's first school based on the theme of Arabic languageand culture. It will eventually grow into a 6th-through-12th-grade,dual-language school, in which many classes will be taught in Arabic.

more . . . . .



=

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06mormonism-t.html

What Is It About Mormonism?

By NOAH FELDMAN
January 6, 2008

Our post-denominational age should be the perfect time for a Mormon tobecome president, or at least the Republican nominee. Mormons share nearlyall the conservative commitments so beloved of the evangelicals who wielddisproportionate influence in primary elections. Mormons also embody, intheir efficient organizational style, the managerial competence that theparty's pro-business wing considers attractive. For the last half-century,Mormons have been so committed to the Republican Party that the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once felt the need to clarify thatRepublican affiliation is not an actual condition of church membership.

Yet the Mormons' political loyalty is not fully reciprocated by their fellowRepublicans. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans told the Harris Poll lastyear that they probably or definitely would not vote for a Mormon forpresident. Among evangelicals, some of the discomfort is narrowly religious:Mormon theology is sometimes understood as non-Christian and heretical.Elsewhere, the reasons for the aversion to Mormons are harder to pin down -bigotry can be funny that way - but they are certainly not theological. Amajority of Americans have no idea what Mormons believe.

Mormonism's political problem arises, in large part, from the disconcertingsplit between its public and private faces. The church's most invitingpublic symbols - pairs of clean-cut missionaries in well-pressed whiteshirts - evoke the wholesome success of an all-American denomination with anidealistic commitment to clean living. Yet at the same time, secret, sacredtemple rites and garments call to mind the church's murky past, includingits embrace of polygamy, which has not been the doctrine or practice of themainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS, for acentury. Mormonism, it seems, is extreme in both respects: in itsexaggerated normalcy and its exaggerated oddity. The marriage of theseopposites leaves outsiders uncomfortable, wondering what Mormonism reallyis.


more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010900075.html?hpid=topnews

For Obama's Supporters, Triumph and Then Disaster

By Alec MacGillis and Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A08

NASHUA, N.H., Jan. 8 -- Tobin Van Ostern came here for a party. The19-year-old sophomore at George Washington University had spent three weeksdevoted to Sen. Barack Obama -- in Washington, Des Moines and inLondonderry, N.H., where he knocked on 90 doors Tuesday afternoon. Electionnight was to be his reward, another raucous celebration on behalf of achallenger who seemed poised to deliver a second stinging setback to Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Then, the silence, unlike any the adherents of his boisterous campaign hadyet experienced, as Van Ostern and a huge crowd of perplexed supportersstood in a high school gym with their eyes fixed on a television screen asreturns came in showing Clinton holding onto a lead of several percentagepoints. At 10:10, Van Ostern nervously ticked on his Blackberry. Textmessages flooded in from Students for Barack Obama members across thecountry, in New York, California and Illinois. What the heck is going on?they asked. Why is it so close? Eyes closed, arms folded, Van Ostern sighedagain.

At 10:30, the Associated Press called the race for Clinton (D-N.Y.).. Soonafterward, Obama (D-Ill.) emerged to congratulate Clinton. Van Ostern stoodand stared.

"I'm as good as can be expected," he said.

The crowd -- and the ranks of Obama supporters nationwide -- was sufferingthe shock of the second major turn in five days in the dizzying race for theDemocratic presidential nomination. After struggling for months to prove theviability of his challenge of the Democratic establishment favorite andformer first lady, Obama surged into New Hampshire after his victory in Iowawith the confidence of an overnight front-runner, urging crowds as large as3,000: "New Hampshire, it is your turn to change America."

more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803892.html?hpid=topnews

New York Presses To Deploy More Bioweapons Sensors
DHS Priority Is Development Of Next-Generation Devices

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A03

NEW YORK -- City officials last month quietly activated some of the nation'snewest generation of early warning sensors to detect a biological attack,turning on a limited number of filing-cabinet-size air filters in sensitive,high-volume areas of Manhattan.

But city officials say their effort to expand the program has run intosurprising resistance from the White House, which is not widely deployingthe machines.

Five years ago, officials here note, the Bush administration was proddinglocal authorities to move faster to detect the use of biological weapons andpouring billions into biosecurity-related initiatives. New York's leadersnow say the administration's enthusiasm and sense of urgency has flagged inits final year in office.

The dispute is partly over whether the new sensors -- each with a $100,000price tag -- are reliable and affordable enough for widespread deployment.But it is also about whether Washington's early support for such securityenhancements has been undermined by distraction and competing budgetarydemands.

"We'd like to see a little bit more focus in that area. . . . I think thefederal government could do a better job," New York Police CommissionerRaymond W. Kelly said in an interview this week. He was referring to NewYork City officials' desire for more detectors and enhanced capabilitiesunder a federal government program known as BioWatch, under which airsamplers were installed in 2003 in more than 30 major U.S. cities to detectthe airborne release of biological warfare agents such as anthrax, plagueand smallpox.

more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803752.html?hpid=sec-nation

Bush Signs Bipartisan Gun Legislation

Associated Press
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A02

President Bush signed legislation yesterday aimed at preventing the severelymentally ill from buying guns, a bill backed by both parties after thebloody Virginia Tech University shooting.

The law authorizes as much as $1.3 billion in grant money for states toimprove their ability to track and report individuals who should not qualifyto buy a gun legally, including those involuntarily confined by a mentalinstitution. Much of the money, to be spent over five years, would be usedto increase state feeds to a national system used to run background checkson gun purchases.

Seung Hui Cho was able to pass a background check and buy two handguns, eventhough a Virginia court had deemed him mentally defective. In April, he usedthose guns as he shot and killed 32 people and injured two dozen others atVirginia Tech.

New York Democrats Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Carolyn McCarthyintroduced the bill in 2002 after a shooting that year in a church. But thelegislation did not gain the momentum it needed until after the Aprilshootings, and families of the victims lobbied to strengthen the law.

"Had it become law earlier, it may well have saved the lives of 32 studentswho were killed at Virginia Tech by another mentally ill gunman," Schumersaid.

more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010804437.html

McCain's Family Matters

By Frank Schaeffer
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; 12:00 AM

I don't agree with John McCain on all the issues. But I found his victory inNew Hampshire last night gratifying for one simple reason: Like me, he isthe father of a Marine.

As this campaign has unfolded, I have been thinking about how militaryparents should think about this election and decide which candidate tosupport. I settled on a determining question that may well resonate withother military parents: Where will each potential commander-in-chief'schildren be when our troops are ordered to make additional sacrifices?

This question was inspired, in part, by the resentment I felt while my sonwas deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, and while President Bush'sdaughters -- like many young-adult offspring of our country's elites --seemed to be on a perpetual spring break. (To be fair, after graduating fromcollege, Barbara Bush spent time working with AIDS patients in Africa andJenna Bush worked for UNICEF in Panama and is now employed at a D.C.elementary school.)

But if it's legitimate for candidates to trot out their children for "familyvalues" photo-ops on the campaign trail, it's legitimate to consider thevalues the candidates have, or have not, passed on to their children. And,in a wartime context, attitudes toward military service seem particularlyrelevant.

Of course, we don't have a draft. The freedom not to volunteer for themilitary extends to any president's children. And I don't want to suggestthat politically ambitious parents should push their offspring to serve.Moreover, as a parent I'd hate to be blamed for everything my children do ordon't do

more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803487.html

Can Obama Build a Movement?

By Michael Gerson
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A15

The early predictions about this presidential race were mostly wrong.

Republicans were supposed to return to a miniaturized version ofReaganism -- the narrow box of predictable, anti-government orthodoxy --which would have turned out to be a political coffin. Instead, the twohottest Republican candidates are downright heterodox. Mike Huckabee pushesan unapologetic economic populism. And John McCain -- with his hereticalstands on global warming and immigration -- also presents a conservativemessage that is reformulated, not just reconstituted.

Democrats were supposed to return to the good old days of Clintonism, withits war rooms, relentless partisanship and parsing denials. But Hillary'sversion seems less compelling than her husband's -- a Clintonism withoutcharm. And this has allowed Sen. Barack Obama to turn a coronation into areal race.

As I saw while traveling with the Obama campaign in New Hampshire, some ofthe senator's weaknesses are obvious. As a debater, he can be awkward andrambling. While he promises to get "beyond the partisan food fight," thepolicies featured in his campaign are conventionally liberal.

So far, he has not earned his reputation for post-partisanship by makingcreative, moderate proposals.

more . . . . .



=

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803571.html

Mr. Bush in the Middle East
The president should make the rescue of Iraq the diplomatic focus of hislast year.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A14

AYEAR AGO, the Bush administration introduced a new policy in the MiddleEast aimed at aligning "moderate" Arab states against Iran whilesimultaneously promoting the revival of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. AsPresident Bush begins a tour of the region today, both ends of that strategyare in danger of unraveling. Never entirely in sync with theadministration's concept of isolating Tehran, Arab states have been givenfurther second thoughts by the recently released National IntelligenceEstimate, which reported that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was recently invited to a meeting ofthe Gulf Arab alliance meant to contain his regional ambitions.

The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Mr. Bush inaugurated in Annapolisin November have, meanwhile, sunk into the quicksand that has swallowed mostprevious "peace processes" -- a sticky mix of ruthless negotiating tactics,the failure to carry out confidence-building measures and provocations fromhard-liners. Most of the news from the region in the days before Mr. Bush'svisit has been about violence: Katyusha rockets launched at Israel from theGaza Strip and Lebanon; raids and airstrikes by Israel; and an apparentattempt by Iranian patrol boats to provoke a confrontation with U.S.warships in the Persian Gulf.

Mr. Bush won't abandon his regional strategy: He made clear before leavingWashington that he intended to use the trip to push Israeli-Arab talksforward and bolster the would-be alliance against Iran. One way to advanceboth goals may be to press Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalemtoday to fulfill his promise in Annapolis to take the opening steps in theU.S.-sponsored Middle East road map, which include dismantling dozens ofillegal West Bank settlements. Both Mr. Olmert and Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas, whom Mr. Bush is due to meet tomorrow, could use apresidential shove toward the serious bargaining on "core issues" theypromised in Annapolis and again yesterday.

The patrol boat incident was part of a confusing mix of signals from Iran,where Mr. Ahmadinejad's hard-line position may be weakening even asIranian-sponsored violence against American forces in Iraq has diminished.Mr. Bush's confrontational regional strategy may make it difficult toexploit these conditions. That's one reason the president would be betteroff to return to the themes of Middle East policy he pursued before lastyear: the stabilization of Iraq and the promotion of democratic reforms. Thefocus on Iran and the peace process has stripped energy and attention fromthese causes; Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been allowed to continueboycotting the Iraqi government and jailing their own proponents ofliberalization. Iraq's own political leaders still dither on desperatelyneeded political accords. There is speculation that Mr. Bush will make asurprise stop in Baghdad; whether or not he does, the stabilization of Iraqshould be his top Middle East priority during his last year in office.



=

Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editgsevolutionsbjan08,0,2487473.story

Let's use 'evolution' and get on with it

January 8, 2008

ISSUE: Origin of life still being debated.

If evolution, creationism and intelligent design are controversial andworthy of debate, that's fine. Debate 'em.

Debate them in philosophy class. Debate them in theology class. Even debatethem in debate class.

But they shouldn't be debated in science class. Evolution isn't debatable inmany parts of the world, and among a majority of scientists, but somehowFlorida hasn't fully gotten the message.

In an attempt to reach the 21st century, revisions are being considered tothe state science standards. Among the changes, the word "evolution" wouldfinally be substituted for the more generic "biological changes over time."

And it's about time.

more . . . . .



=

Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/418/story/372304.html

We've come a very long way

By LEONARD PITTS JR.
Posted on Wed, Jan. 09, 2008

These things happened last week in America.
. Federal officials were quoted as saying Latino street gangs in Los Angeleshave been killing people at random because they are black.

. A new study found that ER doctors are less likely to prescribe strong painmedication for black and brown patients.

. Barack Obama won Iowa's Democratic caucus.

If the first two events are more of the same old same old, if they speak yetone more time to the wearying intransigence of American tribalism,chauvinism and prejudgement, what shall we say about the third? Not aboutits portent for politics, but about the simple fact that a black man,running for the nation's highest office, went into one of its whitest statesand came out triumphant.

Maybe you think the answer is simple, and in one sense it is. What else isObama's win if not graphic evidence that we have made racial progress?

Still, it's been my experience that we -- meaning African Americans -- aresometimes loath to concede the reality of progress. Who can blame us? Thatsame wearying intransigence, its tendency to play out in violence, poverty,discrimination and insult that delimit and deform our very perception ofself, leaves little time or inclination for the counting of blessings. Itdoesn't help that white people -- again, in my experience -- oftencheerfully overestimate the amount and meaning of progress.

And yet . . . hello? Barack Obama just won Iowa. And the ongoing argumentover the volume of water in the proverbial glass -- half empty? halffull? -- fades behind a simple realization and celebration that we have, infact, come a very long way.

In April, it will be 40 years since Martin Luther King told us he had seenthe Promised Land. ''I may not get there with you,'' he warned, ``but I wantyou to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.''

We are not there yet. Forty years later, the destination remains elusive.But at the same time, we have certainly moved somewhere. No one could haveconceived of a Barack Obama, a Michael Jordan, a Condoleezza Rice, a DenzelWashington, a Shonda Rhimes, a Douglas Wilder, a Bob Johnson, an OprahWinfrey, a Colin Powell or a me on the night Dr. King spoke.

The challenge facing African Americans is whether we can build upon theprogress we have made. But before you can build upon a thing, you have totrust it, and that's not always a simple thing. I was talking the other daywith a black preacher who said he's heard some black folks say they won'tvote for Obama because they like him -- and don't want to see him shot.

You wish you could simply dismiss that fear, but you can't: African-Americanprogress has too often been thwarted by gunfire. Indeed, King himself waskilled less than a day after he issued his famous prophecy. So the danger isfrighteningly real.

Still, grounded as the fear is in reality, I tend to think it also isgrounded to some lesser degree in the fact that our history has conditionedus to wait for the other shoe to drop, to regard apparent progress warily,to look for the dark cloud behind the silver lining. I submit that inObama's victory there is none. I submit that black people should see this,and use this, as a building stone. I submit that what Obama accomplishedshould warm all of us -- black, white, brown, liberal, conservative -- forit speaks well of all of us and our progress in the journey to the kind ofnation we want to, and ought to, be.

Last week, Barack Obama won Iowa. What should we say about that? Maybe weshould just say that Sam Cooke was right: A change is gonna come.

And the fact that we have a long way yet to go should not blind us to thelong way we have already traveled.



=

Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/09/white_house_told_to_check_its_e_mail/

White House told to check its e-mail
Law says records must be preserved

By Pete Yost, Associated Press | January 9, 2008

WASHINGTON - A federal magistrate ordered the White House yesterday toreveal whether copies of possibly millions of missing e-mails are stored incomputer backup files.

The order by US Magistrate Judge John Facciola comes amid an effort by theWhite House to scuttle two lawsuits that could force the Executive Office ofthe President to recover any e-mail that has disappeared from computerservers where electronic documents are automatically archived.

Two federal laws require the White House to preserve all records, includinge-mail.

Facciola gave the White House five business days to report whether e-mailswritten between 2003 and 2005 are stored.

The time period covers the Valerie Plame Wilson affair, in which at leastthree presidential aides were found to have leaked her CIA identity to the
more . . . . .



=

A note from Ray,

If you apprecite the work we provide with Ray's List, we hope you willsupport this appeal [below] from Roger Klorese of Online Policy Group - thefree server that allows Ray's List to be distributed to you without hasslesfrom AOL and some of the other internet providers. Certainly, without OPG,we would have given up on Ray's List several years ago. Please do yourpart - a small contribution to OPG will be very helpful!

--
From Roger B.A. Klorese
Executive Director, Online Policy Group, Inc.

http://onlinepolicy.org/donate/ - QueerNet

Since it's almost exactly a month since we started our fundraising drive, Iwanted to update you on the progress we've made, and let you know some ofthe things that are in the works.

1.. Fundraising Update: Since December 9, we have received $5813 indonations; while a small portion of this is from ongoing subscriptions, themajority is from new contributions. Our network services monthly billaverages just under $850, so you can see that we aren't in immediatedesperate straits. However, it's desirable for us to have six months ofoperating padding, and you really don't want to see mail like this from meevery month, remember that we still need donations -- information about howto do so can be found at http://onlinepolicy.org/donate/

2.. Fundraising Update, Part 2: If your employer offers matching funds or
your organization supports non-profits via its fundraising efforts, pleaseremember OPG. Our tax ID and address for completion of matching funds formsor grant applications can be found on the same page.

3.. Fundraising Update, Part 3: Especially gratifying is that we've gotten8 new subscriptions for a total of $150 per month; we now receive $435 permonth, more than half our base monthly costs, in subscription payments.Subscriptions, or recurring donations, make it possible for us to have apredictable income stream, helping us to plan operations and growth (as wellas further reducing the begging frequency).

4.. Technology Update: As part of the donation appeal last month, I talkedabout replacing our primary server, and estimated the cost at about $5k --which was what I thought was an optimistic reduction from the $6k+ we spenton each of the previous systems. We have now ordered a new system for $3500which should be more powerful than the existing machine with greater storagecapacity, which should eliminate the recurring downtime issues, and withwhich we will be able to use virtualization again to make it serve thepurpose of more than one server. Which is especially good, because...

5.. Technology Update, Part 2: Believe it or not, we've been using thecurrent Majordomo 2 software for almost six years now. And while it'sserved us much better than its predecessor Majordomo 1 did, and offered usfeatures that the easier-to-use Mailman still does not, the complexity ofuse and administration still proved daunting for many users and list-owners.There has also not been any significant development effort for about threeof those years, leading me to believe that things were not going to getbetter unless we did it ourselves, and our attempt to address that via aproject to duplicate some of the Yahoo Groups functionality petered outafter a couple of years without producing anything. Luckily, there is anewer list manager called Sympa that offers many of the capabilities weneed, with a much simpler user and administrator interface. It also has afeature that can be extremely valuable: the ability to use list membershipto authenticate a website login. So if you have a list here, you could alsoset up a website (here or, perhaps, elsewhere) that allows users in based ontheir being subscribers to your list. Given that, you could have photoalbums, file areas, chat sessions, etc. all secured by your subscriptioninfo. I'm very excited about or ability to implement this -- we should beable to set up a pilot by March. And maybe...

6.. Technology Update, Part 3: There is a project that is underway toimplement full Yahoo Groups functionality, one that uses Sympa. I'm notsure if it can serve multiple domains, so we may only set it up forgroups.onlinepolicy.net and groups.queernet.org if it's very complex. Sofar, they only have message posting/delivery and file areas implemented, andit may turn out to be too slow to use as well, but it's a promising start.You can try it yourself at http://sandwich.bellanet.org/

Thanks for your support. Please continue to help us continue and update ourservices!

Roger B.A. Klorese
Executive Director, Online Policy Group, Inc.
Founder, QueerNet


=


[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####