Thursday, November 06, 2008

GLBT DIGEST - November 06, 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.


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage
A giant rainbow-colored flag in the gay-friendly Castro neighborhood of San Francisco was flying at half-staff on Wednesday as social and religious conservatives celebrated the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06marriage.html?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse

-California Voters Ban Gay Marriage
California voters have adopted a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, The Associated Press reported Wednesday, joining voters in two other states who went to the polls Tuesday to overturn such unions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06ballot.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Rural Arkansas championed foster, adoption ban
Rural and evangelical voters propelled Arkansas to adopt one of the nation's few bans against unmarried couples becoming foster or adoptive parents. Championed by religious conservatives and fueled by a pulpit campaign, the ban passed with the endorsement of 56.9 percent of the voters. Major support came from rural counties in southwest Arkansas, where about two-thirds of voters supported the measure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/06/AR2008110600562.html

-California Voters Narrowly Approve Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Limits on Abortion Rejected in Colorado And South Dakota
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504145.html

-Ellen DeGeneres laments gay marriage ban in Calif.
Ellen DeGeneres says she is "saddened beyond belief" by the passage of a constitutional amendment in California banning gay marriage. The talk show host said in a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press that she, "like millions of Americans, felt like we had taken a giant step toward equality" by electing Barack Obama as president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504340.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Can Palin, the comet that ignited social conservatives but left moderates cold, lead the GOP?
Is Sarah Palin the answer for defeated Republicans? After a historic rebuke at the polls, the Republican Party is staggering into an uncertain tomorrow with the White House and Congress in Democratic hands, no certain leader in sight and its membership divided over what it means to be a Republican.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-bc-palin-whatsnext,0,7805044.story

-Rural and Christian voters advanced Arkansas' foster, adoption ban for unmarried couples
Rural and evangelical voters propelled Arkansas to adopt one of the nation's few bans against unmarried couples becoming foster or adoptive parents. Championed by religious conservatives and fueled by a pulpit campaign, the ban passed with the endorsement of 56.9 percent of the voters. Major support came from rural counties in southwest Arkansas, where about two-thirds of voters supported the measure.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-arkansas-adoption,0,225843.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Gay-marriage foes get several victories
Florida was one of three states that approved constitutional amendments invalidating ``all legal unions that are treated as marriage.'' Opponents of gay marriage scored a state-referendum sweep Tuesday, bringing some solace to social conservatives, and anger and sorrow to gay rights activists.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/758798.html

-Time to get rid of the Electoral College
OUR OPINION: Current system violates principle of one man, one vote
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/757502.html

-Election shows Florida voters still unpredictable
Florida lived up to its reputation as a swing state by embracing Democrat Barack Obama as well as a gay marriage ban pushed by conservative Republicans.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/front-page/story/758994.html

-Gay characters no longer a novelty on TV
Berkeley, Calif., resident Leesa Tori has no problem recalling, with vivid clarity, that television moment on April 30, 1997, when Ellen DeGeneres spoke into an airport public-address system and announced to all the world, ``I'm gay.'' The coming-out scene on the ABC sitcom Ellen was a watershed event in television history and left Tori, a lesbian, beaming with pride.
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/people/story/759007.html

-Hundreds of Prop 8 protesters take to L.A. streets
More than 1,000 people who turned up for a rally against the California's newly approved same-sex marriage ban took to the streets of Los Angeles and West Hollywood and blocked traffic. Los Angeles police officer Jason Lee says "the overall indication is that the demonstrators and marchers are peaceful" in the Wednesday night protest against Proposition 8, but says at least four people have been detained.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/759158.html

-AMENDMENTS: Marriage by gays met with a loud no vote
Florida was one of three states that approved constitutional amendments invalidating ``all legal unions that are treated as marriage.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/front-page/story/759000-p2.html


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Equality Florida
http://www.eqfl.org/

-Want some good news? Check out these headlines!
..80% of Equality Florida Action PAC Endorsed Candidates WIN!
..Tampa - Kevin Beckner Elected first Openly LGBT County Commissioner in Hillsborough!
..Florida Keys - Heather Carruthers Elected first Openly LGBT County Commissioner in Monroe!
..Broward County - Wilton Manors elects Openly-gay Mayor and Two Openly-gay Commissioners


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-ON TUESDAY CALIFORNIA saw the very direct effect that anti-gay hate can have on the life choices available, or unavailable, to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.
Hate - especially when broadcast on thousands of media outlets across the country - is not just words, but can be used with devastating effect to promote discriminatory public policy. Focus on the Family's James Dobson put his media empire and $150 million annual budget at the service to defeat equal rights by passing California's Proposition 8, removing equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. Now James Dobson is bringing his hate to Chicago, receiving an award from the Museum of Broadcast Communications at 5:30 PM this Saturday night at the Chicago Renaissance Hotel, 1 W. Wacker (corner of Wacker & State). Let's not take the California defeat sitting down. Send a message to James Dobson and his supporters that hate is NOT welcome in Chicago. Please join us in protest at 5:30 PM this Saturday night at 1 W. Wacker Drive, Chicago. For information on the protest, contact the Gay Liberation Network at LGBTliberation@aol.com or visit our website or the websites of our partners:
www.GayLiberation.net, www.TruthWinsOut.com and www.DumpDobson.com

-London: New test for anal cancer
Breakthrough will save lives
British scientists have developed a new test to detect early signs of anal cancer, which will potentially save thousands of lives. The incidence of anal cancer is estimated as 37 per 100,000 in gay men, which is similar to the rate of cervical cancer in women before the introduction of pap smear screening. For gay men who are HIV-positive, the incidence is about twice as great - around 75 per 100,000. The study, funded by the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) and Cancer Research UK, is published in the American journal, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.


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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-LOG CABIN - NEW YORK CELEBRATES VICTORY OF ENDORSED CANDIDATES
Determined to secure Republican votes necessary to pass marriage equality in the Senate
Log Cabin Republicans of New York is proud to celebrate the re-election of all of the pro-marriage Republican members of the New York State Assembly:
Joel Miller (R-Poughkeepsie), Janet Duprey (R-Peru), Teresa Sayward (R-Willsboro) and Dede Scozzafava (R-Governeur) all won additional terms as inclusive Republican legislators in Albany. "Through this election year, I had a big target painted on my back, and without Log Cabin coordinating broad-based support from the LGBT community, I would not have survived," said Assemblyman Miller. "Log Cabin made the difference in my race. They were there for me and my campaign, and I pledge to be there for them day in and day out in their fight for full equality in Albany."
http://www.logcabin.org/


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gay Republicans 'taken back' by success of Florida's marriage amendment
Here's a statement I received from A. Jay Eddy of the Broward Log Cabin Republican Club: Equality of Rights A Loss and Win
Florida Gold Coast Members and Friends of the Broward Log Cabin Republican Club were taken back by the margin of success and the extreme nature of exclusivity adopted in the Florida Constitutional Marriage Amendment #2. This platform was enthusiastically backed by Attorney John Stemberger, David Caton and their politically-active fundamentalists whose supporters allegedly campaigned within and outside of tax exempt facilities vigorously persuading their household faithful that it's a religious obligation to support this dogmatic legislation .
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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Florida Blade
http://www.floridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Polis becomes 3rd openly gay member of Congress
Musgrave falls to challenger; Dole also ousted
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22220

-Update on Prop 8
3 million absentee ballots remain uncounted
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22198


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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-4 major LGBT bills await new Congress
Three key LGBT bills currently before Congress - the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell - are likely to die when the current session ends, leaving it up to the new Congress to take them up.
http://www.365gay.com/news/4-major-lgbt-bills-await-new-congress/

-Gay ally Gregoire re-elected; Foe Musgrave defeated
The architect of two failed attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage was defeated in her bid for re-election on Tuesday.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-ally-gregoire-re-elected-foe-musgrave-defeated/

-New legislatures expected to take up gay marriage bills in 5 states
http://www.365gay.com/news/new-legislatures-expected-to-take-up-gay-marriage-bills-in-5-states/

-Lesbian becomes highest elected LGBT state official in country
http://www.365gay.com/news/lesbian-becomes-highest-elected-lgbt-state-official-in-country/


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Existing Marriages May Still Be Legal if Prop. 8 Passes
California is still counting upward of four million absentee and provisional ballots to determine the outcome of Proposition 8, but marriages performed over the past five months may still be honored if it passes. California Attorney General Jerry Brown said that the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California between June 16 and November 4 will still be recognized as marriages.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid64934.asp

-Prop. 8 Protest Takes Over Los Angeles
"What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!" Reacting to this morning's news that California's Prop. 8 has likely passed and eliminated same-sex marriage in California, a crowd of some 2,000 protesters took to the streets Wednesday evening, marching down West Hollywood's Sunset Strip and backing up traffic for blocks.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid64979.asp

-Barbara Boxer: Marriage Fight Not Over
In a post-Election Day press conference in Los Angeles, California U.S. senator Barbara Boxer said the passage of Proposition 8 by voters was not the end of the civil rights struggle for marriage equality. Boxer said that despite fellow Democrat Barack Obama's historic presidential win and gains in both the U.S. House and Senate for her party, Prop. 8 "put a damper effect" on her election night.
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid64956.asp


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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-The Queer Spirit Will Live On...
Today is a mixed bag of emotions for America's LGBTQ community. We stand in solidarity with our African-American brothers and sisters witnessing the historic occasion of the election of a bi-racial president. We have a president-elect who respects LGBTQ people and even mentioned us in his victory speech. We have also made gains of pro-equality seats throughout the national and state governments. Read More...
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

-South Florida gays disappointed by amendment's passage
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-1105gays,0,4981241.story

-Gay-Rights Advocates to
Challenge Proposition 8 in Court
After losing at the polls, gay-rights advocates filed a legal challenge today in California Supreme Court to Proposition 8, a long-shot effort that the measure's supporters called an attempt to subvert the will of voters. Lawyers for same-sex couples said they will argue that the anti-gay-marriage measure was an illegal constitutional revision -- not a more limited amendment, as backers said. Read More...
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Sweden: Government remains divided over same-sex marriage
Source: The Local
Sweden's Christian Democrats have refused to bend on the question of gender neutral marriage, forcing the government to submit a diluted marriage bill to the Riksdag with hopes that a same-sex marriage amendment will be added. The three other parties that make up the ruling centre-right Alliance government had hoped that their Christian Democratic colleagues would agree to including language regarding gender neutral marriage in a comprehensive marriage bill. [...] more....


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Lesbian sheriffs and gays on the school board - the new face of American politics
A US Congressman, the Oregon Secretary of State, the sheriff of Dallas County and two members of the Orleans Parish School Board are among more than 70 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates who won election to public office in the US yesterday.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9509.html

-Irish Catholic leaders ready for court challenge to civil partnerships
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9503.html

-US TV show Grey's Anatomy drops lesbian character
Actress Brooke Smith has said she is "surprised and disappointed" at the decision of ABC TV executives to axe her character from hit show Grey's Anatomy.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9500.html


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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Fundamental Flaw
By Mike Fleming | Southern Voice
AS GAY-THEMED MOVIES branch increasingly into the multiple experiences that show there is no singular "gay lifestyle," a new film production company led by actors Chad Allen and Robert Gant releases its first project, "Save Me," a fictional narrative about men participating in the "ex-gay" movement. The film opens in Atlanta on Oct. 31. That night, Chuck Bowen of the Atlanta Interfaith Network and Rev. Margaret Aymer of the Interdenominational Theological Center lead a discussion after the 7:05 p.m. screening. "Save Me" follows Mark (Allen), a gay drug addict who suffers an accidental overdose after a cocaine-and-sex binge. Fed up with Mark's self-destructive life and convinced his problems stem from his sexual orientation, his family checks him into a religious retreat for reparative therapy to cure him of his "gay affliction." Gayle (Judith Light), a Christian fundamentalist, runs the retreat with her husband and leads 12-step meetings with the residents. Mark soon takes to heart the group's spiritual message and manages to beat his drug addiction, but he also forms a strong bond with another resident, Scott (Gant). As the men's friendship turns to romance and they struggle to reconcile it with the group's teachings, Gayle notices, and the film's central conflict ensues. Read more


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NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - November 06, 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.


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-For Obama, No Time to Bask in Victory As He Starts to Build a Transition Team
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06elect.html?hp


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Obama Team Shifts to Transition Mode
Bush Extends Invitation, Calls Historic Election 'Uplifting'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504831.html?hpid=topnews

-Democrats Win 18 More House Seats
Party Hoped for Gain of 30 but Will Be Close to 259 Seats It Held in 1994
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504269.html?hpid=topnews

-Morning in America
I almost lost it Tuesday night when television cameras found the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the crowd at Chicago's Grant Park and I saw the tears streaming down his face. His brio and bluster were gone, replaced by what looked like awestruck humility and unrestrained joy. I remembered how young he was in 1968 when he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., moments before King was assassinated and hours before America's cities were set on fire.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110503926.html

-Let the People Choose
California takes a step toward nonpartisan redistricting.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504054.html


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Pew Research center
http://pewresearch.org/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Dissecting the Exit Polls
Inside Obama's Sweeping Victory
Barack Obama captured the White House on the strength of a substantial electoral shift toward the Democratic Party and by winning a number of key groups in the middle of the electorate. In particular, the overwhelming backing of younger voters was a critical factor in Obama's victory, according to an analysis of National Election Pool exit poll data. Read more

-How Hispanics Voted in the 2008 Election
Hispanics voted for Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden over Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin by a margin of more than two-to-one according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center of exit polls, with Latino youth supporting the Democratic ticket by an even wider margin. Read more

-Voting Religiously
President-elect Barack Obama made a concerted effort to reach out to people of faith during the 2008 presidential campaign, and early exit polls show that this outreach may have paid off on Election Day. Read more

-Daily Number
63%-to-42% The "Possessions Perception Gap"
Most Americans tend to over-estimate what most other families have; for example, more than six-in-ten (62%) believe say that most families have a high definition television, whereas just 42% of all adults say that their family has one. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Read more


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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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FLORIDA DIGEST - November 06, 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.


~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Voter paradox: Breaking barriers, creating new ones
How is it that a state that embraced Barack Obama and his barrier-busting presidential win could also enshrine exclusion in the state constitution the same day? How is it that a majority of voters in gay-friendly Broward, supposedly the most liberal county in Florida, ended up supporting the amendment banning gay marriage and throwing domestic partnership benefits in doubt?
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol1106sbnov06,0,5094884.column


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Palm Beach Human Rights Council
www.pbchrc.org

-ALL GAY RIGHTS SUPPORTERS IN FLORIDA LEGISLATURE RE-ELECTED
Despite the recent passage of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, all Florida legislators who sponsored or voted for gay rights legislation in 2008 were re-elected, according to Rand Hoch, President of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. The Council is a non-profit organization which, since 1988, has been dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. At the Council's request, legislation was introduced earlier this year in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. The House bill also included gender identity or expression.
"In 2008, Forty-three legislators went on record supporting equal employment and housing rights for gay and lesbian Floridians," said Hoch. "Even though a Florida voted to ban gay marriage on Tuesday, not a single lawmaker who supported equal employment rights for our community was denied re-election to the legislature." The Florida Senate bill, which was sponsored by Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton), had six co-sponsors. Seven senators -- including two of the co-sponsors -- also voted in favor of the bill in the Commerce Committee last April. "Several lawmakers who privately supported the bills last session preferred to stay on the sidelines, fearing it would cost them votes," said Hoch. "Clearly, a candidate's public support of equal employment rights for gays and lesbians for is not a negative factor in the minds of Florida's voters."
In a hotly contested race, one of the co-sponsors, Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach) was re-elected. As a result, Atwater will serve as Senate President for the next two years. In the Florida House of Representatives, thirty-one legislators signed on as co-sponsors to the bill, which was introduced by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton). According to a poll conducted last Spring at the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, 89% of Florida voters believe gay and lesbian Floridians should have the same rights as everyone else with regard to job opportunities, housing and public accommodations. The poll, which was conducted jointly by Keith Frederick and Tony Fabrizio, has a margin of error of 2.7%. Frederick Polls primarily works with Democratic candidates.
Fabrizio McLaughlin & Associates primarily works for Republican candidates.
Both companies are based in Virginia.
"This is consistent with annual polls taken nationally by the Gallup organization," said Hoch. "Nationwide, 89% of Americans feel that gay and lesbian employees should have equal employment rights"
Nationwide, the number of anti-discrimination laws and policies continues to grow. Currently, more than 92 percent of the Fortune 500 companies prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. In the public sector, twenty states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin), the District of Columbia and hundreds of counties and cities have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. While gay people exist in virtually every county in Florida, laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians are in effect only in Broward, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Palm Beach and Pinellas counties, as well as in the cities of Gulfport, Gainesville, Key West, Lake Worth, Miami Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa and West Palm Beach. Since there is no statewide law, most Floridians can be fired simply because of their sexual orientation

-Palm Beach County School Board To Implement Inclusive
Anti-Bullying Policy
At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, the School Board of Palm Beach County unanimously voted this afternoon to include ""sexual orientation" and "gender expression and/or identity" as a protected classes in a omprehensive policy to protect students against bullying and harassment. The Council, a local non-profit organization, is dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The School Board's six nondiscrimination and harassment policies are inconsistent, conflicting, and do not conform to state and local nondiscrimination laws, according to Council President Rand Hoch. As a result, for the past three years, the Council has been asking the School Board for more than three years to bring the policies into compliance and specifically to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. At an October 1 meeting with Superintendent Art Johnson, Hoch again brought up the problems with the six policies. At Johnson's suggestion, Hoch called School Board Associate Counsel Elizabeth McBride, who was in the process of drafting a new policy prohibiting bullying and harassment. Although Hoch requested that all the classifications be included in the School Board's policies, McBride told Hoch that while "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" were both included in the working draft, "gender expression" was not. While the Council expected the request to include "gender expression" would be accepted, on October 25, the Council learned that the draft policy McBride had provided to School Board members did not include "gender expression."
www.pbchrc.org


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Broward Log Cabin Club of Florida
P.O.Box 1281, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33302
(954) LCR-1995

Equality of Rights A Loss and Win
Florida Gold Coast Members and Friends of the Broward Log Cabin Republican Club were taken back by the margin of success and the extreme nature of exclusivity adopted in the Florida Constitutional Marriage Amendment #2. This platform was enthusiastically backed by Attorney John Stemberger, David Caton and their politically-active fundamentalists whose supporters allegedly campaigned within and outside of tax exempt facilities vigorously persuading their household faithful that it's a religious obligation to support this dogmatic legislation .
Florida's Amendment 2 unveiled the reality that David Caton and his supporters have an divisive agenda. Activist Cayton's refusal to pledge that if the Marriage Amendment passed in Florida he and other fundamentalists and evangelicals would not challenge the many Domestic Partnership rights granted in Florida not only from county to county but from business to business unveils the assumed expose.
Unfortunately, if political active judges and lawyers involve themselves in an extensive effort to abolish such domestic partnership rights which include hospital visitation, distribution of assets upon death, etc. it's evident that a plot has been contrived to systematically deceive many Florida voters. These unsuspecting voters included many Blacks and Latinos who have, in the archives of their historical roots and tradition, suffered persecution, death, and imprisonment many times under the guise of religious conversion and convection. Such inhumane treatment against them because of the hue of their skin color, tribal heritage and religious practices, political status and/or political affiliation, etc. mirrors the degradation citizens of the United States now face simply because of their sexual orientation.
It's time for fundamentalist and orthodox leaders to address divorce, out-of-wedlock births, the exploding rate of births by single-parent mothers, condemned Biblical contraception, etc. as it relates to their particular religious dogma. They must cease claiming that the failing of the traditional American family is the end result of adult actions of about 5% of the population seeking equality of benefits between committed partners.
Skeptical Americans should question FL Amendment 2 activists and CA Amendment 8 Mormon, Orthodox and Fundamentalist supporters by asking them to honestly look into their conscience to determine if they have purposely avoided looking in house while casting stones of condemnation. Are they neglecting and camouflaging current day marriage promiscuity relative to indifference to mutual fidelity which could be readily hinged to divorce? Isn't this blindness to reality the real-root cause of the failure of the family and the displacement of children who suffer at the hands of love-lost parents?
The good news about this election is the heightening of educational awareness. Many believe that the reality of such logical enlightenment swimming in the minds of younger people, many besieged with historical inquisitive thinking, will eventually result in a changing realization about those who have misled society. Such righteous enlightenment will transcend harden beliefs often enabling bigotry and hate.
Fair minded Americans will eventually comprehend that the poor treatment and discrimination perpetrated by some against their neighbors, family members, co-workers etc. fail society when people aren't living up to tenants of the Biblical concept of "Brotherly Love," the essence of the Sermon on the Mount, and/or the reasons why our Founding Fathers understood the need of a Constitutional guarantee of "Freedom of Religion" hinged to "Freedom from Religious persecution."


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Anthony Niedwiecki Campaign for Oakland Park City Commission
Join me, Anthony Niedwiecki, for food, drinks and friends at our "Open House for an Open Door Commissioner" Event! This is an event where I will open my home to my friends, fellow residents, and supporters to celebrate the open door policy I will always have as a comissioner for Oakland Park! The Home of Anthony Niedwiecki & Waymon Hudson
Friday, November 7th, 2008
6:00 PM - 8:00PM
5280 NE 1st Terrace
Oakland Park, Forida 33334
(suggested campaign donation of $20 to $250)
RSVP at 954-319-5249 or email Anthony@anthony09.com


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CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF TO ELECT STEVE GLASSMAN TO THE FORT LAUDERDALE CITY
COMMISSION FOR DISTRICT TWO
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"
YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF TO ELECT STEVE GLASSMAN TO
THE FORT LAUDERDALE CITY COMMISSION FOR DISTRICT TWO
LEADERSHIP FOR A CHANGE!
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
SHERATON YANKEE CLIPPER HOTEL
1140 SEABREEZE BOULEVARD
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
$2 Self-Parking available in the garage across the street
MUSIC BY THE PHENOMENAL EYENITY REGGAE BAND
Minimum Contribution Suggested at $25.00; Maximum Contribution Allowed is
$250.00 per person.


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Tropical Storm Paloma takes aim at Cuba
Now we have Tropical Storm Paloma, and it's expected to sprout into a Category 2 hurricane by Sunday. Florida doesn't appear to be its target.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/blog/2008/11/tropical_storm_paloma_takes_ai.html

-Al Lamberti holds lead in Broward County sheriff race, but count continues
Absentee and provisional ballots remain to be tallied in close contest Al Lamberti apparently beat Scott Israel in the race for Broward County sheriff, according to election results updated Wednesday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbsheriff1106sbnov06,0,4204965.story

-Pay raise approved for 260 Fort Lauderdale employees
4 Lauderdale staff forgo hike
A controversial 5 percent raise for 264 city employees was approved by city commissioners late Tuesday night with one slight change: Now there are only 260 employees getting the extra money. Four of the highest-compensated city officials - the city manager, attorney, clerk and auditor, who together make $766,394 plus benefits - agreed to give up the cost-of-living bump so commissioners would approve the raises.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/fort_lauderdale/sfl-flbpayhike1106sbnov06,0,5809994.story


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#####

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

GLBT DIGEST - November 05, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-California Gay Marriage Ban Too Close to Call
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Ballot-Measures.html


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-California gay marriage vote still undecided
Even without the wait, gay rights activists had a rough day Tuesday. Ban-gay-marriage amendments were approved in Arizona and Florida, and gay rights forces suffered a loss in Arkansas, where voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target. Elsewhere, voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected measures that could have led to sweeping bans of abortion, and Washington became only the second state _ after Oregon _ to offer terminally ill people the option of physician-assisted suicide.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500949.html

-Florida voters pass amendment banning gay marriage
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500981.html

-Arizona voters OK amendment banning gay marriage
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500181.html

-Ark. voters OK unmarried foster, adoption bans
Aimed primarily at keeping gays from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500142.html


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Los Angles Times
Gay marriage ban - Yes 51.9% No 48.1%
[Ray's note: Not yet decided - but trend is not good]
Precincts reporting 92.3%
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory?view=8&tab=0&fnum=0


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Florida Blade
http://www.floridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Obama beats McCain, but all anti-gay measures pass
Bittersweet victory in 2008 election
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22200


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-AZ: Prop. 102 legislator loses seat
Source: Box Turtle Bulletin
As we continue to watch California's results trickle in, there are some silver linings to report. Arizona State Sen. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) lost his congressional race against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 55% to 43%, with 73% of precincts reporting. Bee is the guy responsible for casting the crucial sixteenth vote which put Prop 102 onto the Arizona ballot. His political career is now, fittingly, over. [.]

-CO: Marilyn Musgrave unseated; was prime sponsor of Federal Marriage Amendment
Source: Denver Post
GOP Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave was unseated tonight by Democratic challenger Betsy Markey after another intense campaign that blasted voters with nasty attack ads. Musgrave first won the 4th Congressional District in 2002 and has fought bitter campaigns to hang onto it ever since. The race, considered one of the most important in the country, was eyed by Democrats as key to expanding their control in Congress. Republicans have had control of the seat since 1972. [.]


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Update 2: gay marriage ban supported by 51.7% of Californians
Proposition 8, the voter initiative ballot that seeks to make a constitutional change to effectively ban gay marriage in California, defining marriage as an act of union between a man and woman, currently looks likely to pass.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9499.html

-President-elect Obama mentions gays in his first speech to the nation
Change has come to America - that was the message from the next President of the United States. Barack Obama appealed for unity and paid tribute to his Republican opponent Senator John McCain.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9495.html

-Scottish blood service defends ban on gay donations
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has said that the rise in gay men becoming infected with the HIV virus meant the ban on blood donations from that group was justified. In a letter to the Scottish Parliament's petitions committee, the service claimed that some gay men are giving blood despite the ban and 86% of all new HIV infections occurring last year in Scotland were in gay men.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9487.html


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Detroit News
http://detnews.com/

-Government shouldn't box out gay couples
by Deb Price
Curling up with a 28-page questionnaire from the U.S. Census Bureau isn't my fantasy of how to relax after work. But Joyce and I recently were picked along with 3 million other "housing unit addresses" to complete the annual American Community Survey. This nationwide survey, an upgrade from the Census long form, provides a snapshot of how folks live in America. Census says the chore takes about 38 minutes. In case you've got other plans for your time, Census mentions that federal law "requires that you provide the information asked in this survey to the best of your knowledge." That got our attention. So, Joyce and I began our journey into the sherbet green pages.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081103/OPINION03/811030322


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-Gay Refugee Will Be Deported From Greek Cypriot (November 02, 08)
We just received an urgent email from one of our alliances regarding to deportation of an Iranian queer asylum seeker from Cyprus to Iran. We call an "Urgent Action" to support him and stop his deportation by sending letters to Member of Parliament, European Member of Parliament or directly to Government of Cyprus.


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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-The Supreme Court specializes in law, not lexicography. But it will soon have to consider the meaning of that most versatile of four-letter words. The Oxford English Dictionary's three core entries on the word - noun, verb and interjection - are about six times as long as this article. That doesn't count about 30 derivations and compounds, all colorful and many recent. The nimble word, the dictionary tells us, can help express that a person is incompetent; that another is not be meddled with; that a situation has been botched; that one does not have the slightest clue; and, in a recent addition, that someone has enough money to be able to quit an unpleasantjob. You know the word I mean. A central question in the case of Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, to be argued Tuesday, is whether every permutation of the word evokes sex and thus runs afoul of indecency regulations, which prohibit the broadcasting of material that "depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities or organs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/weekinreview/02liptak.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y


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Mark's List
http://frontpage.jumponmarkslist.com/MSFL/2008/052908.htm

-Halloween Photos! Hundreds of pics shot all over Florida!
http://frontpage.jumponmarkslist.com/MSFL/2008/110408.htm


=

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#####

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - November 05, 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.


Today's edition is in celebration of President-Elect Barack Obama!

=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-OBAMA
Racial Barrier Falls as Voters Embrace Cal
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05elect.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Democrats Widen Senate Edge to Solid Majority
Democrats expanded their slim control of the Senate to a solid majority when they picked up at least five seats. The Democrats appeared to fall short of the 60-vote majority that would enable them to push bills to a vote by overcoming filibusters.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05senate.html?hp

-For Many Abroad, an Ideal Renewed
It's hard to overstate how fervently vast stretches of the globe wanted the election to turn out as it did.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05global.html?hp

-Finishing Our Work
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Let every child and every citizen and every new immigrant know that from this day forward: Everything really is possible in America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/opinion/05friedman.html?ref=opinion

-Video: President-Elect Obama
http://www.nytimes.com/


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-History Gives Way to Its Future
Magnitude of win suggests the country might be in a gravitational pull toward a rebirth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500148.html?hpid=topnews

-Sen. Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech in Chicago, Ill.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110500013.html

-For Once, Ahead of the Curve
A Victory for America, and the World
Jonathan Zimmerman
We just became the first majority-white democracy to elect a black leader.
There will be jubilation in the streets of London and Berlin this morning.
Likewise in Lagos and Bamako, Lahore and Bangkok, Lima and Bogota.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110403726.html

-President Obama
A new direction in challenging times, a new dawn in the nation's long struggle to bridge its racial divide
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110404508.html

-Election Day in Photos
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/photos/?hpid=topnews


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Le Potentiel, Congo The Democratic Republic
Obama Saves America
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10845/barack-obama-saves-america/

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The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
America has Hoped, Voted and Taken the Leap
http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/us-votes-to-reject-bush-nightmare/2008/11/05/1225560910018.html

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Pravda, Russia
Welcome Back Friends!
"Yet in choosing Obama, the people of America have opted to come back into the international fold. Welcome back, friends! "
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/04-11-2008/106660-changebetter-0

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Daily Nation, Kenya
Kenya: A Holiday, Song and Dance For Obama
http://www.nation.co.ke/InDepth/AmericaVotes/-/464300/487378/-/nxol7xz/-/index.html

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China Daily, China
We Wish Obama Well
http://www.china.org.cn/international/opinion/2008-11/05/content_16716237.htm

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The Sophia Echo, Bulgaria
A 'Dear John' Letter to Sarah Palin
"I know that perhaps now you are feeling some sense of rejection. Or at least, most of us hope that you are. "
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/a-dear-john-letter-to-sarah-palin/id_32781/catid_102

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Financial Times, U.K.
America's Chance to Re-engage the World
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7688a426-aa7a-11dd-897c-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

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Spiegel Online, Germany
The Serenity of Obama
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,588447,00.html

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New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
America on Edge of Transformation
http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/america-decides/2008/11/5/so-it-over/?c_id=1502780&objectid=10541248

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Middle East Times, Egypt
Pride and Shame in American Politics
"The new president will inherit this world where racism against Arabs and Muslims is the last permissible form of wholesale slander and denigration. "
http://www.metimes.com/Opinion/2008/11/04/pride_and_shame_in_american_politics/5082/

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ADDOSTOR, Egypt
Obama Unites the First and Third Worlds,
Christianity and Islam, the Poor and the Rich
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10656/obama-is-a-universal-citizen-who-unite-the-first-world-with-the-third-world-christianity-with-islam-the-poor-with-the-rich/

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Nu.nl, The Netherlands
Will We Miss Bush?
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10913/phenomenal-victory-obama/

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Die Welt, Germany
America Storms The Polls,
Markets Celebrate In Advance
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10881/america-storms-the-polls-markets-celebrate-in-advance/

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Folha, Brazil
Obama Wave Reaches Brazil
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10735/obama-wave-reaches-brazil-hear-eliane-cantanhede/

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Aftenposten, Norway
The Most Important Election in the World
http://watchingamerica.com/News/10717/the-most-important-election-in-the-world/

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Guardian - UK
What Obama's victory means for US foreign policy
The president-elect faces stiff challenges in reshaping America's relationship with the rest of the world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/uselections2008-barackobama6

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The Independent - UK
The new President faces huge challenge
It is a devastating inheritance for the 44th president of the United States
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-the-new-president-has-a-huge-challenge-ahead-of-him-992010.html

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Toronto Star
World waits for Obama to realize his promise
A black man in the White House. And it only took 232 years. America feels a lot different this morning. The view of America is a lot different
http://www.thestar.com/news/columnist/article/530758


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Leonard Pitts: 'We' are finally part of 'We the People'
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
"For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change." -- Michelle Obama, Feb. 18, 2008
I always thought I understood what Michelle Obama was trying to say. You are familiar, of course, with what she actually did say, which is quoted above. It provided weeks of red meat for her husband's opponents, who took to making ostentatious proclamations of their own unwavering pride in country. But again, I think I know what the lady meant to say. Namely, that with her husband, this brown-skinned guy with the funny name, making a credible run for the highest office in the land, she could believe, for the first time, that "we the people'' included her.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/breaking-news/story/757163.html


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#####

FLORIDA DIGEST - November 05, 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.


=
~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Amendment banning same-sex marriage passes
An amendment banning same-sex marriage in Florida will be enshrined in the state's Constitution after winning overwhelming support from voters. [...] Monroe County -- home to a large gay and lesbian population -- was the only county statewide where more people voted against the amendment than those who voted for it.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/757704.html


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Congrats to Wilton Manors Winners:
Gary Resnick - Mayor
Justin Flippen - City Commission
Tom Green - City Commission


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Elections Results from Broward County Supervisor of Elections
http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/FL/Broward/8512/13161/en/summary.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Election results across Broward County
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-2008broward-city-elections,0,2812757.story

-Republicans keep control of Florida Legislature
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/sfl-flproundup1105pnnov05,0,6168856.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage headed for the books
Voters largely approved a constitutional ban on same-sex and domestic partnerships, but amendments to help local schools raise money and to strike racist language from state law failed.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/757450.html

-Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balarts keep seats in Congress
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/757468.html


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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-State becomes 27th to ban gay marriage
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/state/epaper/2008/11/04/1104amends.html

-Florida cast ballots for Obama by wide margins
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/state/epaper/2008/11/04/1104flaprez.html

-Hastings, Klein, Wexler win re-election to Congress
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2008/11/05/1104cong.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=76

-PB County vote counting stalls
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2008/11/05/1105stillcounting.html


=

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#####

Monday, November 03, 2008

GLBT DIGEST - November 03, 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.


=
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Teen Pregnancies Tied to TV Sex
Study says teens who watch a lot of sexual content on TV are more likely than peers to get pregnant.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110202592.html?hpid=topnews


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Sacha Baron Cohen crashes LA rally as 'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen went undercover as his alter ego Bruno on Sunday by crashing a rally in support of a ballot measure that would ban gay marriage in California. The British comedian is working on a film based on the fictional character Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter who conducted gag interviews on HBO's "Da Ali G Show."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/sfl-borat-1103,0,557653.story


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Father and son have double wedding Sunday in California
This photo and news release were sent to me Monday from Damon Romine, entertainment media director for GLAAD:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Malaysian police target gay people in Saturday afternoon raids
More than 70 men were arrested in a series of raids by police in Malaysia. It is reported that Chinese, US and European citizens are among them.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9470.html


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Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Gay and Republican: Caught Between Two Stereotypes
By LUKE GILSON - WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | Politico
Drew Harper sits on the fence between what is stereotypical and what is not. He is a Tisch freshman who styles his hair in a faux-hawk. He is also a gay Republican.He supports the party's principles and is distrustful of Big Government. He also believes in gay marriage, though he thinks the issue should be left to individual states. "I believe in states' rights," he says. Were his home state of Washington to vote on gay marriage, he says it would pass easily. He admits that this wouldn't help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens who live in South Dakota. But it's a conservative ideology he shares: localized government and personal liberty. Harper is not alone. The gay political group Log Cabin Republicans says that about one in four members of the gay community is a registered Republican. A national grass-roots movement, Log Cabin works within the Republican Party to promote unity among its members. On its website, the organization's mission statement parallels gay and lesbian equality with the GOP's "core principles of smaller government and personal freedom." Read more

-Expose on the Pro-Homosexual Gill Action Fund
Dakota Voice
This video report (below) has a lot of good information about the very active and very radical Gill Action Fund, a pro-homosexual funding group founded by homosexual activist Tim Gill. The Atlantic also has a lengthy report on Tim Gill and the Gill Action Fund from March 2007. Focus on the Family Action has a comprehensive report on Tim Gill here. Here is a list of people who are working with Tim Gill across the country to push the homosexual agenda and hijack marriage in states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin. Read more

-Transsexualism Caused by Genes?
By Rachel Cook | MCV
The research conducted by Australian and American scientists from the Prince Henry Institute, Melbourne University, Monash University and the University of California found a significant link between gender identity and a gene involved in testosterone action. Saliva samples were taken from 76 male to female transsexuals in Australia and 36 from America. The samples were then compared with 258 non-transsexual males. Scientists say the data showed that male to female transsexuals are more likely to have a longer version of a receptor gene for the sex hormones androgen or testosterone. It is believed a longer version of the receptor gene cannot effectively translate the testosterone message to cells. "We think that these genetic differences might reduce testosterone action and under masculinise the brain during foetal development," said Prince Henry Institute researcher Lauren Hare.
Read more

-Religious Voters Disagree on Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Brian Watt | 89.3 KPCC
More than 14,000 people have signed a petition scheduled for delivery today to the Mormon temple in West Los Angeles. The letter asks the president-prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to stop the church's fundraising and organizing efforts in support of Proposition 8. The proposed statewide ban on same-sex marriage has engaged religious believers on both sides of the debate. KPCC's Brian Watt talked with active members of two faiths, who hold different opinions on the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Read more

=

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#####

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - November 03, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Editorial: The Soiled Envelope, Please
There are no awards for the season's slimiest political messages (Swift Boat statuettes?), but two deserve consideration in the character assassination category.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/opinion/03mon3.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

-New Beltway Debate: What to Do About Iran
Americans are largely unaware of the serious discussions among policy experts about a military option to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/opinion/03mon4.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: The Republican Rump
Maybe the polls are wrong, and John McCain is about to pull off the biggest election upset in American history. But right now the Democrats seem poised both to win the White House and to greatly expand their majorities in both houses of Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/opinion/03krugman.html?ref=opinion

-Interactive map - The Electoral Map: Key States
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/whos-ahead/key-states/map.html

-Even Keel for Obama in Final Turn to Election
A cellphone was pressed to Senator Barack Obama's ear as he slouched down in a black leather chair in the front cabin of his campaign airplane. He leaned away from the headrest, where his name is spelled out in blue stitching.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/us/politics/03obama.html?hp


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-The End of the Report Card?
Online grades allow students -- and their parents -- to keep track of their performance in real time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110202054.html?hpid=topnews

-Unstoppable
E. J. Dionne Jr.
Obama is the kind of politician who anticipates openings others don't see and creates possibilities that weren't there before.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110201719.html

-Poll Shows Obama Deflected Recent Attacks
Republicans Challenged Democrat on Taxes, Readiness and Crisis Management
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110202426.html?hpid=topnews

-Last of the Culture Warriors
Why has America turned on Sarah Palin? Obviously, her wobbly television interviews haven't helped. Nor have the drip, drip of scandals from Alaska, which have tarnished her reformist image. But Palin's problems run deeper, and they say something fundamental about the political age being born. Palin's brand is culture war, and in America today culture war no longer sells. The struggle that began in the 1960s -- which put questions of racial, sexual and religious identity at the forefront of American politics -- may be ending. Palin is the end of the line.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110201718.html?hpid=opinionsbox1


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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

-Poll: Obama Leads In Home Stretch
Obama has a solid, though narrowing, lead over McCain as both men sprint to the finish line. A new WSJ/NBC News poll gives the Democrat a 51% to 43% advantage, down from a 10-point edge last week. Six percent remain undecided.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122567494708692025.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Obama leads McCain in 6 of 8 key states
Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in six of eight key battleground states one day before the U.S. election, including the big prizes of Florida and Ohio, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Monday. Obama holds a 7-point edge over McCain among likely U.S. voters in a separate Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby national tracking poll, up 1 percentage point from Sunday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/11/03/obama_leads_mccain_in_6_of_8_key_states/

-Sen. Reid says Stevens cannot stay in Senate
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday that Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska cannot remain a senator even if he's re-elected Tuesday because he's a convicted felon. Stevens, 84, was convicted last week in federal court on seven felony counts of failing to report gifts and services, including renovations that doubled the size of his Alaska home. Since his conviction, Stevens has continued to campaign for re-election, even as he maintains his innocence and says he "has not been convicted of anything." Stevens, who is appealing the jury verdict, has been relying on the technical definition of "conviction," which doesn't take effect until sentencing. His sentencing has been postponed pending his appeal.
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/753486.html


=

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#####

FLORIDA DIGEST - November 03, 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.


=
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Marriage amendment heads to court over donations
Opponents of a Florida constitutional amendment that would define marriage are headed to court demanding to know who is paying for the supporters' campaign.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/753825.html

-Apartment research for Broward county
http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2008/11/03/06/ftlauderdaleapt.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf

-Apartment research for Miami-Dade county
http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2008/11/03/06/miamiApt.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-John McCain holds midnight rally at UM campus
Coral Gables - With less than 31 hours before the polls open in an historic presidential election, John McCain held a night-owl rally on the University of Miami campus early today, telling a crowd of several thousands supporters, "With your help, we will win." "We've got one day left, one day left until we take America in a new direction," he said to fans who stayed up well past bedtime to greet him at the BankUnited Center.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/sfl-mccain1103,0,7856606.story

-Residents object to Fort Lauderdale's proposed 5 percent pay raises
Salaries topping $100,000 may be among those raised
Now is not a good time to be up for a raise, some City Hall employees have learned. Critics immediately pounced on a proposed 5 percent cost-of-living pay bump for some non-union City Hall employees, saying taxpayers can't afford to give raises now.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/fort_lauderdale/sfl-flbsalaries1103sbnov03,0,3455285.story

-Broward County's new administrator hired to stabilize government
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhenry1103sbnov03,0,7493238.story


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Sunday, November 02, 2008

GLBT DIGEST - November 02, 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.


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-The Nation: Back to the Ramparts in California
Some audiences for the upcoming film "Milk," about the slain San Francisco supervisor and gay politician Harvey Milk, will certainly be inspired by his fight against Proposition 6, a 1978 California ballot measure that would have expelled gay teachers from the state's public schools. Others less entranced with Mr. Milk's politics will, no doubt, be less impressed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/weekinreview/02mckinley.html?scp=2&sq=GAY&st=cse


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Florida Blade
http://www.floridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Murder-suicide in Boynton Beach
Carol Ann Burger kills ex-partner Jessica Kalish
Boynton Beach Police say Carol Anne Burger murdered her former wife Jessica Kalish in the garage of the house the two women shared Oct. 22. According to police Burger, stabbed Kalish more than 222 times with a screwdriver and then abandoned the body in Kalish's BMW about two miles away from the home. Burger--who had a history of clinical depression, yet refused to take medication, "obviously was out of her mind," according to police. Well, yes, that would be true. Obviously.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22111


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Bill Clinton Gets on the Phone to California Voters
If you live in California, former president Bill Clinton may be giving you a ring. The 42nd president's voice can be heard on robocalls made to California voters urging them to vote no on Proposition 8: "This is Bill Clinton calling to ask you to vote 'no' on Proposition 8 on Tuesday, November 4th. Proposition 8 would use state law to single out one group of Californians to be treated differently -- discriminating against members of our family, our friends, and our coworkers.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid64748.asp


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Obama featured in deceptive Yes on 8 ad
Source: Pam's House Blend
You knew this was coming. The well-known position of all the top-tier Democrats in 2008 regarding marriage equality has been 1) leave it to the states and 2) they personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. While we all know these positions are clearly a nod to the nationwide polls that show the numbers out there do not yet support extending the right to marry to gays and lesbians, these nonsensical positions (#1 will be decided by SCOTUS, and #2 conflates religious and civil marriage) leave Obama/Biden open to this sort of message hijacking. (Michael Petrelis):

-Canadian Anglicans to keep blessing gays despite schism threat
Source: PageOneQ
Canada's Anglican bishops sidestepped a request from the worldwide Anglican Communion to stop blessing gay marriages for now, despite warnings that failure to do so would imperil Anglican unity. The bishops issued a statement Friday saying "a large majority" of them could affirm "a continued commitment to the greatest extent possible" to a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions until the Canadian church's general synod in 2010. But the statement did not commit the entire Anglican Church of Canada to agreeing to the request made in August by the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference of global Anglican leaders.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Analysis: The complex system that elects a US President
In most democratic countries, the people vote and either through first past the post or a form of proportional representation, a government or leader is elected. The United States has an Electoral College, established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the President by Congress and election by popular vote.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9460.html


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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES RESEARCH IN HIV INFECTION:
Positions will open as of July 2009 in a NIMH-funded institutional research training program at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Our program is an innovative research fellowship in human sexuality as applied to HIV-related risk, health and prevention. The HIV Center is a large interdisciplinary research program on behavioral aspects of HIV (and other sexually transmitted infections) with a special emphasis on sexuality and gender. Among the many ongoing projects are studies on the determinants and contexts of sexual behavior in various adolescent and adult populations, on the prevention of sexual risk behavior, and on HIV treatment adherence. Both qualitative/ethnographic and quantitative methodologies are being applied.
http://www.hivcenternyc.org/training/nrsa.html

-This week's Gay City News features an op-ed on the Republican fight for marriage and safe schools by Log Cabin's Legislative Advisor, Jeff Cook.
Click here to view the piece.
http://www.logcabin.org/ct/KdBmeI11WRNp/

-White House Challenges Validity of 200,000 Registered Voters In Ohio
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey this week the ACLU demanded the Department of Justice (DOJ) reject a White House request to challenge 200,000 registered voters in Ohio.
http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/gen/37407lgl20081028.html

-The capital and largest city of the Czech Republic, Prague is the seat of the country's legislative, administrative, business, and cultural institutions, as well as the hub of its gay and lesbian life and the center of its glbtq political movement.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/prague.html

-Women who Cross-Dress generally do so for reasons quite different from those that motivate men to cross-dress. These historically and culturally significant women have worn male attire to accomplish many different goals.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/cross_dressing_ssh.html

-Butch-femme identities are controversial and difficult to define with precision, but both roles subvert prescribed gender and sexual expectations; ultimately, the butch-femme dynamic is a unique way of living and loving.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/butch_femme_ssh.html

-Yes on 8's Obama mailer
This direct mail piece hit my mailbox yesterday, along with lots of other mailboxes around CA, and the piece is generating some buzz on the web
http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3450

-Virginia: The Gay Mafia That's Redefining Politics
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1854884,00.html


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NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - November 02, 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.


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Vote for ( )
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The presidential candidates have broad ideas about how to restore the nation's financial health. But what they are not saying is that we are all going to have to pay for it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/opinion/02friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

-Rejoin the World
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
As president, George W. Bush's cowboy diplomacy wrenched the United States out of the international community. We must rejoin the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/opinion/02kristof.html?ref=opinion

-What I Will Miss About President Bush
By ROBERT DRAPER, ARI FLEISCHER, CURTIS SITTENFELD, JACOB WEISBERG, SCOTT McCLELLAN and PAUL BURKA
This is George W. Bush's last Sunday to hold the presidential stage to himself. Six writers reflect on what they have most admired about him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/opinion/02bush.html?ref=opinion

-As Taliban Overwhelm Police, Pakistanis Hit Back
Citizens have been encouraged to form posses of their own in a sign of the shortcomings of Pakistan's police forces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/asia/02pstan.html?hp

-Obama Unaware of Status of Aunt, Campaign Says
Responding to a report that a Kenyan relative of Senator Barack Obama was living in the United States illegally, his campaign said Saturday that he had no knowledge of her immigration status and that "any and all appropriate laws" should be followed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/us/politics/02campaign.html?hp


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Pundit Predictions for Election 2008
What qualified as "new school" in politics in 1982? Angry attack-faxes? One thing was brand new: Outlook's Crystal Ball, an election prediction contest now on its 14th go-round. In 2008, a lot has seemed new school. The political blogosphere exploded. Sen. Barack Obama sent text messages. So, to update Outlook's venerable tradition, we've pitted new school against old. "Old school" here is both a term of art and an honorific. The contestants in that category are veteran political observers. "New school," meanwhile, doesn't mean total novice. (At least one "new schooler" competed before. Hint: She also once ran for governor of California.) Those contestants are from a new sphere of political analysis that didn't exist before George W. Bush won in 2000.
...12of14 think Obama will take the White House
...7of14 think McCain will win North Carolina
...14of14 think the GOP will dash Dem hopes of 60-seat Senate majority
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/pages/pundit-predictions/index.html

-The Wurzelbacher Effect
Government has been spreading the wealth for many decades. WHATEVER
Tuesday's voting brings, the national conversation sparked by the driveway encounter between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber seems likely to have a lingering, and potentially destructive, effect. Consider: Eight years ago, George W. Bush was selling himself to the country as a compassionate conservative. Today, it is hard to detect even the faintest note of compassion in John McCain's railing against Mr. Obama as "redistributionist in chief."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110101797.html

-Cases Against Detainees Have Thinned
Algerians' Habeas Corpus Hearings Will Begin With Fewer and Lesser Charges
The six Algerians were scooped up in Bosnia and shuttled to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in early 2002. Days later, President Bush proclaimed in his State of the Union address that the men had been plotting to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110102018.html?hpid=topnews

-Hoping for a Green Renewal, Michigan City Will Turn Sewage to Fuel
Flint, Mich., has been famously decimated by the devastation of the auto industry. Now, even as automotive fortunes look worse than ever, the city of 115,000 northwest of Detroit is seeking to recast itself as a hub of green transportation. Starting with sewage. The city and local Kettering University have teamed up with a Swedish company to turn Flint's municipal sewage into fuel for its bus fleet while reducing or ending the need to incinerate sewage sludge.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110101815.html?hpid=sec-nation

-Rabbis' ruling puts thousands of converts in limbo
JERUSALEM -- Raised without religion in Maryland, Shannon sought to make a new life for herself as a Jew in Israel. In a rigorous conversion process, she studied religious law for a year, took a Hebrew name and changed her wardrobe to long skirts and sleeves as dictated by Orthodox Jewish custom. Finally, a panel of rabbis pronounced her Jewish. But five years later, she and some 40,000 like her have suddenly had their conversions annulled by Israel's Rabbinical High Court. The court says the rabbi who heads a government authority set up to oversee conversions is too liberal in approving them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110100975.html?hpid=sec-religion


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Airlines launch fare sale for holiday season
DALLAS - When it comes to holiday travel plans, good things may come to those who waited. The major U.S. airlines have cut many fares for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. The airlines, in the midst of their worst year since at least 2005, may see the price-cutting as necessary in the face of a slumping economy that could cut into both leisure and business travel. Airfare experts say they typically don't see this kind of price-cutting until the last couple of weeks before big holidays. Northwest Airlines started the rush Tuesday night with a broad holiday fare sale, and most other major carriers matched the prices Wednesday, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of the travel website FareCompare.com.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/sfl-airfare-sale-1031,0,4409260.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Unity, hope must conquer division, hate
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
The killers would have worn top hats. Having already murdered 102 African Americans, 14 by beheading, they would have driven at top speed toward Barack Obama, leaning from the windows of their vehicle, dressed in top hats and white tuxedoes, firing guns. That was the plan, according to law enforcement officials who disrupted it a few days ago. Now the alleged conspirators -- white supremacists Paul Schlesselman, 18, and Daniel Cowart, 20 -- are in federal custody, an appropriately bizarre coda for the presidential campaign of 2008. I mean, it's fitting, isn't it, that the campaign end with yet another appeal to fear, yet another portrayal of the Illinois senator as Not One of Us? It makes sense, after two years of viral e-mails, blog postings, talk radio rants and Fox News reports depicting Obama as a Communist socialist radical Christian secret Muslim black militant-marrying atheist-raised terrorist fist-bumping America-hating Manchurian candidate trained to subvert the United States from within.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/750521.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Barack Obama is a President for modern times
The 21st century began late for America, on 11 September 2001. Before that day, the US still defined its role in the world with reference to ideological triumph in the Cold War that had dominated the century just passed. It was the planet's only superpower and saw itself as a popular champion of global democracy. Few expected the nation to come under attack, least of all the man who had been installed in the White House a year earlier. In 2000, George W Bush was uninterested in foreign affairs. He was ill-equipped to be the first US President of the new millennium.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/02/us-elections-2008-barack-obama

-Obama's winning argument
The U.S. economy has prospered under Democratic policies, and the candidate knows it. But the real battle begins once Obama takes the White House.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/11/01/obama_closing_argument/


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FLORIDA DIGEST - November 02, 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.


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-In Florida, Organizing and Fighting for Every Last Vote
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/us/politics/02repub.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Palm Beach: Record-breaking early voting turnout continues
Thousands flocked to the polls Saturday, enduring rain and waits up to four hours, as Palm Beach County continued a record-setting pace headed into today's final day of early voting. Almost 15,000 people voted early during 12 hours of voting on Friday and elections officials expected to have at least that many after eight hours of voting on Saturday. That pushed early voting totals past 124,000 by Saturday morning, eclipsing the just over 50,000 who voted early in 2004. That doesn't include absentee ballots.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/sfl-earlyvoting1101,0,280940.story

-Michael Mayo: Early returns: Broward vote cause for pride, not shame
Something remarkable is happening this Election Fortnight in Broward. Between early voting and absentee ballots, more people might vote before Tuesday than on Election Day itself.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol1102sbnov02,0,2735580.column


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Deliver us from scandal, Lord
By CARL HIAASEN
An Election Day prayer for the Sunshine State: Dear Lord, have mercy on Florida. Please don't let it happen again here. Not that we're blaming You for the voting debacle back in 2000. You're not the one who designed the ridiculous butterfly ballots that started the whole mess. It wasn't You who put Katherine Harris in charge, and it certainly wasn't You who caused all those silly chads to hang.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/750517.html

-Miami goes a month without murder
For the first time in 42 years, the city of Miami did not record a homicide over a month's period. But even with the quiet October, police detectives have been busy.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/752405.html

-Florida could have history making role in 2008 election
Florida could put Obama over the top Tuesday night -- or complete a stunning comeback by McCain.
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/752469.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Blige, 'Diddy,' Giuliani in Broward on Sunday
Another round of celebrities from both parties will be in South Florida on Sunday, campaigning for their candidates. Recording artists Mary J. Blige, Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter and Sean "Diddy" Combs will headline rallies in Fort Lauderdale to support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/11/blige_diddy_giuliani_in_browar.html

-Early/absentee voting on track to top 4 million
More than 3.8 million Floridians had cast either absentee or early ballots by the end of the day Friday.
Party breakdown continued the trend we've seen since early voting began onOct. 20:
Among early voters, 52 percent (1,185,232) were Democrats, compared to about 31 percent (701,246) Republicans. Roughly 17 percent (392,702) were independent/third party/no party affiliate. Of those who sent in absentee ballots, roughly 36 percent (561,957) were Democrats, 49 percent (760,500) were Republicans and just under 16 percent (243,104) were independent. That's a total of 3,844,741 ballots cast -- which means the total by the end of today -- when early voting closes -- will almost certainly exceed 4 million, or more than double the roughly 1.9 people who voted early in 2006. Put another way, that means more than one-third of the total Florida electorate will have voted before the polls even open on Nov. 4. And right now, Democrats have turned out 285,443 more voters than the Republicans.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/11/earlyabsentee-v.html

-Crist swaying with the winds
If John McCain pulls off a victory in Florida Tuesday, he can thank Gov. Charlie Crist. He delivered a timely endorsement just before the Florida primary that McCain won, giving him the Republican nomination. If Barack Obama pulls off a victory in Florida Tuesday, he too can thank Charlie Crist.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article885884.ece


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