Saturday, February 28, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - February 28, 2009

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS - February 28, 2009

**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:

-Democrats Open Arms to Obama's Budget, With Some Caveats
By CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
For years, Congressional Democrats tried to avoid anything that would let Republicans slap the tax-and-spend label on them. But on Friday, they cautiously embraced President Obama's budget, with its ambitious blend of new spending and tax increases, calculating that they could turn the old attack line to their benefit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/us/politics/28web-budget.html

-'Great Society' Plan for the Middle Class
By DAVID E. SANGER
Opponents of President Obama's proposal for a sweeping new government activism in the economy call it a return to a traditional tax-and-spend philosophy, a step back to the era of Lyndon B. Johnson.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/us/politics/28assess.html?_r=1

-Braced for a Higher Tax Bill, Some May Dodge the Bullet
By RON LIEBER and TARA SIEGEL BERNARD
The wealthiest stand to lose the most under President Obama's proposed budget, while individuals with lower incomes could gain in many different ways.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/your-money/28money.html?hp

-Even Worse for Young Workers
By BOB HERBERT
The employment situation in the U.S. is, if anything, worse than most people realize. And huge numbers of young people, ages 16 to 30, are being beaten down in ways that could leave scars for a lifetime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/opinion/28herbert.html?ref=opinion

-Gun Sense and Nonsense
The Supreme Court brushed past flimsy arguments by the gun lobby this week to uphold an important restriction on gun ownership that protects public safety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/opinion/28sat2.html?ref=opinion

-Evidence and Health Care Reform
Medicare has proposed not to pay for so-called virtual colonoscopies becausethere is not enough evidence that they would benefit people aged 65 and older. That may be disappointing for older Americans who would prefer a virtual exam to a real one. But those sort of judgments will be fundamental to any successful health care reform effort. Eliminating unproven procedures and reducing needless costs is necessary if the nation is to improve the quality and lower the cost of care over all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/opinion/28sat3.html?ref=opinion

-The Ape in American Bigotry, From Thomas Jefferson to 2009
By BRENT STAPLES
Hitler found quite a bit to admire about this country during its apartheid period. Writing in the early 1930s, he attributed white domination of North America to the fact that the "Germanic" peoples here had resisted intermarriage with - and held themselves apart from - "inferior" peoples, including the Negroes, whom he described as "half-apes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/opinion/28sat4.html?ref=opinion

-Playing With Fire in Pakistan
Almost no one wants to say it out loud. But between the threats from extremists, an unraveling economy, battling civilian leaders and tensions with its nuclear rival India, Pakistan is edging ever closer to the abyss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/opinion/28sat1.html?ref=opinion

-Saudi Prince Is Humbled by Citigroup
By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and ERIC DASH
LONDON - the bad news arrived by telephone early this week at the Saudi headquarters of Prince Walid bin Talal. Citigroup, the investment that had transformed Prince Walid from an obscure Arabian royal into the Warren E. Buffett of the Middle East, was spiraling down around him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/business/worldbusiness/28prince.html


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

-U.S. Economy Contracts At a Staggering Rate
By Annys Shin and Neil Irwin
Gross domestic product shrank at faster rate than expected in last quarter of 2008, dimming prospects for an economic recovery by year's end.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022700884.html?hpid=topnews

-As Task Force Debuts, Some Ask: Who Is Middle Class?
Definition Will Help Determine Who Benefits From Changes
By Alec MacGillis
Commentators left and right have reacted with awe to the ambition and transformative potential of President Obama's economic blueprint. But the debut of Vice President Biden's Middle Class Task Force here Friday suggested that the administration will be selling its plans in more conventional and reassuring tones -- as a bevy of benefits for the American middle class.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702952.html?hpid=topnews

-Latham & Watkins Cuts 190 Lawyers
Huge Global Firm Lays Off 250 Others
By V. Dion Haynes
In a vivid illustration of how the global recession is battering the legal profession, Latham & Watkins, one of the largest law firms in the nation, announced yesterday that it will let go 190 lawyers and 250 paralegal and support staff.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702751.html?hpid=topnews

-Top Officials Expand The Dialogue on Race
Month's Celebrations Evoke a Mix of Views
By Krissah Thompson
When the country's racial chasms seemed to threaten President Obama's election, his team had to tread carefully. A month into his administration, the tone has changed. Top officials are engaging the subject of race more freely, with a boldness and confidence they once shunned.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022703242.html?hpid=topnews

-U.S. May Boycott U.N. Racism Conference Over Document
By Colum Lynch
The Obama administration has said it will boycott a major U.N. conference on racism scheduled for April unless significant changes are made to the draft outcome document, which U.S. officials say unfairly singles out Israel for censure and could restrict freedom of speech.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702826.html?hpid=topnews

-Netanyahu's Middle East Outlook
Interview by Lally Weymouth
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu sat down last week with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth -- his first interview with foreign media since he was asked by President Shimon Peres to form Israel's next government. Excerpts:
Q. President Peres reportedly believes that you have matured since you served as prime minister in 1996.
A. One would hope. I think time has its uses. One of them is to reflect on your experiences and those of others. I have watched carefully the successes of governments and . . . [seek] to draw from those the elements of policy and leadership that will enable me to move Israel to a better future -- one of peace, security and prosperity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702278.html

-Obama's Intelligence Blunder
By Jon Chait
Most of President Obama's "missteps" to date have been Washington peccadilloes of the "let's find something to complain about" sort. But Obamahas made one major mistake that has attracted little public attention: his appointment of Charles Freeman as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Freeman was attacked by pro-Israel activists, but the contretemps over Freeman's view of Israel misses the broader problem, which is that he's an ideological fanatic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702485.html

-Preemptive Strike
Domestic violence suspects should be forced to relinquish their weapons.
"FIREARMS AND domestic strife are a potentially deadly combination nationwide." So wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this week in an opinion upholding a federal law that bars convicted domestic violence abusers from possessing firearms. Seven justices, including conservatives Clarence Thomasand Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined the opinion. This is the same Supreme Court that held last year that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. If the justices can bless such a law, one wonders why Maryland lawmakers cannot follow suit and embrace an equally sensible measure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022703080.html


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

-Obama's Bush Vindication
The President's good turn on Iraq. It was never very likely that President Obama would come out and praise George W. Bush for the latter's handling of the Iraq war, and in his speech yesterday to the Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., he didn't. Then again, we didn't quite expect to find ourselves praising President Obama for his handling of Iraq.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123578458503498487.html


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

-Welfare workers warn not reporting child abuse can be deadly
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
Welfare workers warn that child sexual abuse flourishes because, far too often, adults fail to act when children cry for help. For half her life, Priscila Amador may have kept a deadly secret. Since she was a small girl, her father had been molesting her, she told classmates, who in turn told their parents. On Wednesday, days after she told friends to ''pray for her,'' Priscila, 14, was shot and killed by her father. Pablo Josue Amador also killed his wife, another daughter and then himself.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/925745.html

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

-GOP policies to blame for country's massive deficit
By FROMA HARROP
How big should government be? The answer is: As big as it has to be - and for small-government types, no bigger than it has to be. The whole debate about the proper size of government is a blind alley leading into a deadend. Government must grow at times of war or collapsing economy. It grows when there are lots of schoolchildren, elderly people or natural disasters. Government provides necessities that the private sector can't. We can argue over what constitutes a necessity.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6283619.html

-Time for Iraq
President Obama's strategy aims at success. Is that a goal congressional Democrats can support?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702556.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-Public support
by Libby Spencer
The media has spent the last five weeks amplifying the Republicans' complaints that the Democrats aren't being bipartisan because they're not caving into their demands. Even Obama seems to think there's some great public hunger for unanimous bipartisan votes in Congress. But if you ask the people what they want, it's leadership. A recent poll shows 56% want Obama to stick to his own policies, while only 39% care at all about bipartisanship. Furthermore, 79% think the GOPers should be more accomodating to the President's agenda and only 17% say the Republicans should be obstructing the process with all these united no votes. In otherwords, the people don't care about bipartisanship, what they want is non-partisanship. Solutions, not politics.
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/politicsblog/index.php?blogid=14293

-Stem cell research supporters offer Senate bill
By Maggie Fox
Two prominent supporters of stem cell research said on Thursday they had reintroduced a Senate bill that would allow federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, in anticipation of President Barack Obama's support for the work. Senators Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, and Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said their bipartisan measure would allow federal funding for research using stem cells taken from human embryos left over from fertility treatments.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2009/02/26/stem_cell_research_supporters_offer_senate_bill/

-Prevent the pregnancies
Publicly financed family planning services prevent nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies and more than 800,000 abortions each year, according to a new Guttmacher Institute report. And for every $1 spent on those services, taxpayers save $4 - $24 in Florida - that would have been spent onthose unintended births.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2009/02/27/a14a_familyplan_edit_0227.html


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

-The 4th Estate Formula Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus
The growth in readership online has not offset the decline in print for newspapers. Read more Economies of Scale

-Harsh Words for Wall Street
An increasing number of Americans say the government's action on the economy is on the right track while Americans remain angry about the financial problems that contributed to the current crisis. Read more

-Supply & Demand: Crisis Eclipses All Other News
With the stimulus passed, the media moved on to other economic horror stories such as the mortgage bailout. Read more

-Budget Busting With Crisis as Catalyst, State Governors Push Big Changes
State executives are using the economic crisis to sell big changes in how jurisdictions operate, promising overhauls that could alter governments around the country. Read more

-Daily Number 86% - Social Segregation
The voluntary social segregation in America, recently commented on by Attorney General Eric Holder, can be seen in Pew Research data showing that while most have a friend of a different race (86%), pluralities of whites, blacks and Hispanics have just a few. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Read more


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST - February 28, 2009

**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~~

From Anthony Niedwiecki Campaign for Oakland Park City Commission
WE NEED YOUR HELP- the $10 challenge in the final two weeks of the Campaign
We are in the final stretch of the campaign to get Anthony Niedwieckielected to the City Commission in Oakland Park, but we need your help! Weare asking all of our online supporters to donate just $10 to the campaignto help with final costs as we move forward to Election Day! Each dollar you give will help reach another voter and make sure we bring real change to Oakland Park and all of Florida!
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://anthony09.com%2Fcontribute


=
Gay & Lesbian Community Center of South Florida
2009 STARS OF THE RAINBOW GALA
Tomorrow! Sunday, March 1 - Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six
Last Chance For Tickets
Saturday, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM at the GLCC
1717 N. Andrews Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale
954-463-9005
Tickets Can Also Be Purchased At The Door
http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001Q2Adiqq9HW_atYxvkN9391iBVpmIJTFGArbK5wF1IAU3rvgVJv5wkeCVNLovy15cS1UfBLc68CWkIiivrOtLaB0khGDRGMBxuNgGKO3n9UQrvPqWyAtApQ%3D%3D


=
Equality Florida]
Polk County: Ryan Skipper's Killer Found Guilty
Today, Joseph Bearden, one of the two accused killers of Ryan Skipper, was found guilty of second-degree murder and robbery. On March 15, 2007, Ryan Skipper was stabbed 19 times and left to die on a dirt road in Polk County, Florida. His death is a bloody reminder of the anti-gay hatred faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in our state. Just days ago, a prosecution witness revealed that shortly after the killing, Joseph Bearden, the defendant, said, "He felt he was doing the world a favor by getting rid of one more faggot." The 19 stab wounds that Ryan Skipper suffered are what the FBI calls 'overkill'. That's when the violence in an assault is beyond what would be necessary for a robbery and more than would even be required to take someone's life. [...]
No action. No public acknowledgment of what has happened. No commitment to ensuring this never happens again. Their silence is as terrifying as the violence itself. Take action. Tell Gov Crist and Attorney General McCollum that they must refuse to be the second-step in the cycle of anti-gay hate violence. Tell them to speak out, to turn the tide and declare that gay and transgender people are valued members of our society and that hate violence will not be tolerated against any group.
http://ga4.org/campaign/hate_crimes_2009


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:
-Special magistrate: Broward teacher raises should not be guaranteed
By Kathy Bushouse
The Broward County School District should not have to guarantee teachers a raise for the 2009-10 school year, but should modify contracts for 243 teachers to give them full credit for their teaching experience, according to a special magistrate's recommendations issued Friday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flbsalary0228sbfeb28,0,3424245.story

-A tough task: Legislators seek to fix Florida's property insurance problems during session Legislators seek solutions for property owners
By Julie Patel
A group of leading state legislators is considering a dramatic way to try to fix Florida's property insurance market: have the state cover the hurricane portion of virtually all homeowner policies statewide.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flzinsurance0228sbfeb28,0,3481809.story

-Saturday is deadline to move
Davie mobile home park resident's plight tugs at heartstrings
Public responds to evicted Palma Nova resident
By Susannah Bryan
DAVIE - One of the town's largest mobile home parks is set to close today,forcing hundreds from their homes.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-0227-palma-nova,0,4221029.story


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

-Florida is No. 3 in nation for identity-theft complaints
Florida is a hotbed for identity thieves, according to newly released national statistics. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area ranked 21stin the nation for complaints.
BY NIRVI SHAH
Identity theft continues to be the chief complaint reported to the Federal Trade Commission, data reported this week shows, and identity-theft incidents in Florida climbed about 25 percent in 2008. Overall, the report ranks Florida third in the country for identity-theft complaints per capita.
http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/925526.html

-Miami judge blasted for scolding runaway girl
A Miami judge, trying to scare a neglected child into making better decisions, may have gone too far with his tongue-lashing.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
A Miami child-welfare judge drew the ire of his chief and local children's advocates when he told a 15-year-old runaway foster child she would end up a''toothless, dead crack whore'' if she didn't mend her ways. Exasperated that the girl was refusing to return to a home where she said her caregiver hit and cursed at her, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Spencer Eig lectured the sobbing teen about making bad choices during a hearing Tuesday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/925739.html

-Florida pastor joins Obama's religious advisory council
BY BETH REINHARD
Joel Hunter -- Christian evangelical, pastor of a Central Florida megachurch and lifelong Republican -- gave the benediction at the Democratic National Convention. He prayed with Barack Obama on Election Day, and rode to the inauguration with Oprah. At the swearing in, he sat in the 12th row, next to Muhammad Ali. 'I'm like, `What am I doing here?' '' said Hunter, who recounted his experience before leading his fifth service in three days.``It's surreal.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/front-page/story/925699.html


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

-Alibi's Land Sharks softball opener Sunday in Fort Lauderdale
News release from Adam Sanders:
The Alibi Land Sharks will take the field for a doubleheader this Sunday, March 1 at Fort Lauderdale's Mills Pond Park to begin the South Florida Amateur Athletic Association's (SFAAA) spring season. The Land Sharks will take on Bill's Bombers at 2:00 p.m., and conclude with a 3:00 p.m. game against the Sluggers. Both games are scheduled to take place on Field 2.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/

-Equality Florida bulletin: Ryan Skipper's killer found guilty
Ryan Skipper's Killer Found Guilty Today, Joseph Bearden, one of the two accused killers of Ryan Skipper, was found guilty of second-degree murder and robbery.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


=

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

Friday, February 27, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - February 27, 2009

**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.


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

-NM: Domestic partnership bill fails
Opponents: Bill was 'marriage in disguise'
The state Senate rejected a bill creating domestic partnerships in New Mexico, with opponents contending it was "marriage in disguise." Supporters of the bill did a last-minute rewrite to remove references that could be construed as marriage-related, but that wasn't enough to win the necessary votes.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24241

-Conservatives make appeal during D.C. conference
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Social conservatives are urging the Republican Party to hold firm on social issues positions, such as opposing same-sex marriage, but it's unclear whether GOP followers are hearing the request. During the Conservative Political Action Conference in D.C., speakers Thursday addressed issues of importance to social conservatives during a panel titled, "New Challenges in the Culture War." Marjorie Dannenfelser, panel moderator and president of the Susan B. Anthony List, called on the Republican Party to continue to address social issues in campaigns because the GOP can't win without them.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24235

-NYPD: Arrest in killing of Ecuadorean immigrant
Police looking for second man named Keith Phoenix
Police said Wednesday they arrested one of the attackers who yelled slurs as they beat an Ecuadorean immigrant to death on a city street, and investigators were looking for a second man. Hakim Scott, 25, was arrested in the Dec. 7 attack on real estate broker Jose Sucuzhanay, which ignited outrage from New York to Ecuador. Police and prosecutors said he was beaten with a bat and kicked by men shouting anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs as he walked arm-in-arm with his brother to keep warm.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24230

-Drag Queen Brings Gift to Harvey Milk School
By Jennifer 8. Lee
The emotional speeches by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn that sandwiched Sunday night's Academy Awards spoke to Harvey Milk's impact on the gay political landscape. Another of the legacies in the slain gay activist's honor is a high school in New York City, which was established almost 25 years ago by the Hetrick-Martin Institute to serve gay, lesbian and transgendered students who have a hard time in other schools.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/drag-queen-brings-gift-to-harvey-milk-school/?hp


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

-Gay and straight teens 'Out With It' in moving new book of true-life essays A colleague of mine, journalist Katia Hetter, helped edit a revised version f Out With It: Gay and Straight Teens Write About Homosexuality. The book is published by Youth Communication and sells for $13.95.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-Log Cabin Republicans Did Not 'Congratulate' Michael Steele
A spokesperson for the Log Cabin Republicans said an e-mail that was sent out to members Wednesday taking issue with Republican Party chief's comments on civil unions but with the subject line 'Log Cabin Congratulates Michael Steele' was the result of a clerical error. The e-mail used the same subject line as one sent by the organization on January 30 after Steele became chair.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73942.asp

-Accused Murderers Ran Prostitution Ring
Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes allegedly racked up more than $10,000 per week running a prostitution ring in Virginia Beach, Va., a former employee of the gay-pornography producers testified in court Wednesday. Cuadra, 27, is on trial in Luzerne County, Pa.,l for the murder of rival porn producer Brian Kocis, owner of Cobra Video.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73867.asp

-NYC Gay Bashing Pits Victims Against Theater Chain
Two victims of an alleged hate crime outside a popular New York City movie theater want the theater's staff to accept the blame for ignoring their repeated requests for help.
By Julie Bolcer
Efosa Agbontaen and Branden McGillvery-Dummett expected a good scare when they decided to see a horror film in Manhattan one recent night, but they hardly imagined they would be confronted with the fright of their lives. The couple allege that four male teenagers spewing antigay slurs attacked them with glass bottles and a box cutter on February 15, following harassment that management failed to address during a screening of Friday the 13th at the Regal Union Square Stadium 14.
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid73933.asp


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

-NM partner bill dies in Senate
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
With less than an hour of debate in the New Mexico Senate, legislation that would have created a statewide domestic partnership registry for both same and opposite-sex couples is dead.
http://www.365gay.com/news/nm-partner-bill-dies-in-senate/

-Gay man to direct national AIDS policy
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
President Barrack Obama on Thursday named Jeffrey S. Crowley, Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, to be director of the Office of National AIDS Policy.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-man-to-direct-national-aids-policy/


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

-Irish gay marriage advocates claim massive public support
By Tony Grew
A group campaigning for full marriage rights for gay and lesbian people in Ireland has revealed the results of a new survey suggesting widespread support. MarriagEquality said 81% of those polled believe that all people living in Ireland should receive equal treatment from the state regardless of their sexual orientation.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11357.html

-Comment: Iraq's gays go underground to survive
By Peter Tatchell
In the bad old days of slavery in the United States, there was the "Underground Railroad" - a clandestine network of secret routes and safe houses - which spirited thousands of southern slaves to freedom in the north. Today, 200 years later in Iraq, a modern version of the underground railroad is saving the lives of gay people who are fleeing Islamist death squads. It is providing safe houses in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, and is smuggling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to neighbouring countries, where it helps them apply for United Nations humanitarian protection. This secret network, coordinated by Iraqi LGBT exiles in London, is saving dozens of lives.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11367.html

-Google's blockade of PinkNews.co.uk leaves unanswered questions
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
We are back. After more than 48 hours of being listed by Google as an "attack site," our readers across the world can now access our site. Hundreds of readers from across the world contacted PinkNews.co.uk to express their frustration at not being able to read our regularly updated news.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11372.html

-Brighton council asked to support homeless gay teens
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
The Green party group on Brighton and Hove City Council has proposed measures that would improve support for young LGBT people with housing and homelessness problems in the budget for 2009/10. The Greens have 12 councillors, the Labour party has 13.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11369.html

-Comment: Iraq's gays go underground to survive
By Peter Tatchell
In the bad old days of slavery in the United States, there was the "Underground Railroad" - a clandestine network of secret routes and safe houses - which spirited thousands of southern slaves to freedom in the north. Today, 200 years later in Iraq, a modern version of the underground railroad is saving the lives of gay people who are fleeing Islamist death squads. It is providing safe houses in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, and is smuggling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to neighbouring countries, where it helps them apply for United Nations humanitarian protection. This secret network, coordinated by Iraqi LGBT exiles in London, is saving dozens of lives.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11367.html

-Councillor asks if homophobic attacks are "acceptable" in Merseyside
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
A local councillor has questioned the attitudes of the people of Merseyside after a jury acquitted a man who admitted assaulting a gay teenager. Gavin Alker, 19, was cleared of the murder and manslaugher of Michael Causer at iverpool Crown Court last Friday.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11364.html


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

-Justice Department to Stop Medical Marijuana Raids, Attorney General Says
John Byrne and David Edwards | Raw Story
In a little-noticed remark Wednesday, Obama Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries established under state laws but technically prohibited by the federal government. The decision marks a shift from the Bush Administration, which was more draconian in its approach to hunting those who sought to dispense marijuana for medical purposes. Numerous states have decriminalized marijuana in recent years, and new fiscal pressures are turning more states toward being more lenient toward first-time drug offenders as the cost of keeping drug users in jail becomes untenable for state budgets. The remark was caught by The Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm. Read more

-Is the US Changing Its Anti-Gay Stance at the UN?
Patricia Nell | The Bilerico Project
Amid the marriage uproars, many gay media almost lost an important piece of news in the shuffle. We LGBT people had a longstanding grievance against the Bush administration for opposing and undercutting establishment of our rights in the global arena. Now the Obama administration has made a start on reversing that policy. As part of the countdown to the UN's upcoming Durban Review Conference, the U.S. voted with other countries to support language that would outlaw all discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Durban Review Conference will held in Geneva, Switzerland on April 20-24. According to the UN website, "It will evaluate progress towards the goals set by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001." Previously, the U.S. took the opposite positioning, and hung us LGBT people out to dry at the UN. More on this after the jump. Read more

-Log Cabin Under Democratic Control?
CHRIS JOHNSON | Washington Blade
The amount of money that the Gill Action Fund has contributed to the Log Cabin Republicans - about one-third of its total budget in some years - is raising questions about Democratic influence over the GOP organization and its search for a new president. Tim Gill, founder and chair of Gill Action, is widely known for funding the campaigns of pro-gay politicians, many of them Democrats. He's a wealthy entrepreneur and founder of Quark who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to various Democratic causes and candidates, including to the campaigns of Sens. John Kerry, John Edwards and Chris Dodd, as well as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Gill is viewed as publicity shy, but made a rare public appearance at last year's Democratic National Convention in Denver where he lives. Sources familiar with Log Cabin, who spoke to the Blade on the condition of anonymity, said Gill Action's contributions last year comprised $250,000 of Log Cabin's $750,000 budget. The sources said in 2007, Gill Action's donations constituted a similar percentage of Log Cabin's budget. Read more

-Frank Outspoken at CD Event
Geoffrey Middleberg | Hatchet Reporter
One of Congress' most outspoken representatives did not mince words when it came to the state of affairs in Washington at an event in the Marvin Center Monday night. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services committee, spoke to an enthusiastic, standing-room only crowd and made blunt pronouncements on the economy, partisanship and gay rights. "Justice Antonin Scalia is a bigot and an outright homophobe," Frank declared of the conservative Supreme Court justice. One of only a few openly gay members of Congress, Frank said he feared a conservative-leaning Supreme Court would overturn any legislative progress on gay rights. He also discussed the importance of legalizing same-sex marriage and ending discrimination and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military. Read more

-Lesbian couple claim £20,000 damages after NHS refuses them fertility treatment
Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent | Telegraph
Caroline Harris and Julie McMullan claim they are victims of discrimination because they are a same sex couple and have asked a judge to order fertility treatment for Miss Harris. But Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Health Board insists that its expensive "assisted conception service" is for couples who have been trying without success to conceive "in the normal way". There are 460 couples on its list and the waiting time for IVF treatment is currently 95 weeks, according to papers lodged with the court. The health board argues that the two women do not fit the definition of an infertile couple. Miss Harris and Miss McMullan, of Maryhill, Glasgow, have been in a relationship for seven years and have lived together for the past two years. Read More

-NM: Domestice Partner Bill Advances in Legislature
East Park Forest News
Washington, D.C.-(ENEWSPF)- The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights group, today praised New Mexico's state Senate Judiciary Committee for voting 6-5 to advance the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, which would allow gay, lesbian, or straight couples to enter into domestic partnerships and receive the rights, benefits, and responsibilities of marriage under state law. The bill now moves toward a floor vote in the Senate. Similar legislation is pending in the House of Representatives. "The Human Rights Campaign is pleased that the New Mexico Senate has taken this important step toward enacting much-needed protections for all couples in New Mexico, and we're hopeful that this legislation will ultimately pass the Senate and House, and be enacted into law. " said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "This is simply about making sure that all loving, committed couples in New Mexico receive the equal rights that they and their families need and deserve." New Mexico's legislature has considered similar legislation in each of the last two years, and the bill has, in the past, come within a single vote of passing. New Mexico's legislative session runs through March 21, 2009. Read more

-Exodus Shows Change Is Possible-in the Wrong Direction
Dave Rattigan | Ex-Gay Watch
Exodus is changing all right, but hardly in the right direction. Despite hinting numerous times at a more progressive outlook, here comes yet another move to put Exodus firmly in the "What the hell were you thinking of?" category. In March, reports BTB, Exodus board member Don Schmierer (pictured) will be heading for Uganda to share a platform with Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively and Cohen cohort Caleb Lee Brundidge. The embarrassments for Exodus are numerous. Lively is no ordinary revisionist. He doesn't deny 6 million Jews were killed - the author of The Pink Swastika just says that the Nazis responsible were "militant male homosexuals," and uses this theory to dismiss gay victims of the Holocaust and justify discrimination against homosexuals today. Read more

-Bill Moyers, Gay Baiter
James Kirchick | Independent Gay Forum
First published in Advocate.com on February 25, 2009
Being a homosexual in America in 1964 was not easy, and one of the more difficult places to be one was Washington, D.C. While the nation's capital has long since become the setting for some of the most important gay rights battles (and home to a vibrant gay scene), it was also the site of routine antigay witch hunts. At the time, gays were officially barred from working in government and their livelihood depended on the secreting of their sexuality. Indeed, the mere suspicion of homosexuality could get a person fired, and the consequences of losing one's job due to what was then known as a "morals charge" were long-lasting. It's in this context that recent revelations about Bill Moyers are so disturbing. Before he became the self-righteous scold of the liberal television commentariat, Moyers served as a special assistant to Democratic president Lyndon Johnson. This was at the height of J. Edgar Hoover's reign over the Federal Bureau of Investigation, during which time the FBI director spied on a vast array of public and private citizens in order to gather information for potential blackmail. According to documents obtained last week by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, one of these individuals was former Johnson aide Jack Valenti, later head of the Motion Picture Association of America. Hoover, according to the Post, was "consumed" by the question of whether Valenti was gay, and deployed his agents to investigate the man's sex life. They turned up nothing. Read more

-ME: Innkeepers Lobby for Same-Sex Marriage
Judy Harrison, BDN Staff | Bangor News
Innkeepers and others who make their livings in Maine's tourism and wedding industries headed to the Statehouse today to ask legislators to support a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in Maine. They are expected to take part in a 10:30 a.m. press conference sponsored by the Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition, which is supporting the bill. Jim Davitt, the owner of Nonesuch Farm Bed and Breakfast in Bangor, will be one of them. He and others will present lawmakers with a report estimating that same-sex marriage would boost the state's economy by $60 million over three years. Read more

-Stimulus Bill Discriminates Against Gays
Andoni | Citizen Crain
We are a gay family. I'm the breadwinner and my partner is a full time student. His tuition is one of the biggest items in our family budget, and it certainly is a drag in these tough economic times. So you can imagine my elation when I heard President Obama describe the $2500 tax credit in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the purpose of helping families offset the cost of tuition for education. Then I started looking into this. I contacted my accountant, my Congressman and various gay organizations to see exactly how my family could participate in this provision of the stimulus bill. The answer is, we can't. It appears that the definition of family in this bill is not defined broadly enough to include LGBT families. Without a broader definition of family, the tax credit would have to claimed via the normal mechanism of filing for it on the1040 federal income tax return form. But by law, our relationship is not recognized by the federal government, we cannot file jointly and I cannot claim him as a dependent, even though he really is. This #%@##! Read more

-HI: Senate Committee Deadlock on Same-Sex Unions Bill
MARK NIESSE | Associated Press | Google News
A state Senate committee voted 3-3 early Wednesday on a bill that would allow same-sex civil unions, a split that normally would stall the legislation but in this case was not expected to prevent it from advancing. More than 1,400 people signed up to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which took more than 15 hours of testimony before voting at 3 a.m. It was the largest turnout for a Capitol hearing in years. Democratic Senate leaders have said that if the panel became deadlocked, they would yank the measure from its committee and force a vote before the full Senate. That is allowed under a rarely used provision of the Hawaii Constitution if more than one-third of senators approve. At least 18 of the 25 senators have said they favor civil unions. The measure already has passed the Hawaii House, but with one vote less than would be needed to override a veto. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle has not stated her position on the bill, which would make Hawaii the fifth state to allow same-sex civil unions. Under the state constitution, the earliest the bill can be pulled to the Senate floor is March 10. Read more

-Richard Cohen is Back In the PFOX and Exodus Orbit
Jim Burroway | Box Turtle Bulletin
Richard Cohen is back and he's on tour, with the full blessing of Exodus International member organization PFOX.
Two years ago, the ex-gay movement was widely embarrassed by Richard Cohen when in July 2006 he revealed his "holding" or "touch" techniques before a nationwide audience. It's a controversial techniques that Cohen promotes through his International Healing Foundation. Cohen had also been president of the PFOX, but he was forced out after that CNN episode aired. That embarrassment was compounded when in March 2007 he appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. That prompted PFOX and NARTH to scrub their web sites of all mention of him, and Exodus International publicly distanced themselves from his techniques: Read more

-CA: Marriage Ruling Gave Gay People Legal Protection
Greg Moran | Union-Tribune Staff Writer | SignOnSanDiego
Tucked deep within the state Supreme Court's sweeping decision in May that struck down same-sex-marriage bans for a time is a single sentence that will have a significant effect for years - regardless of any new turns in the same-sex-marriage debate.
On page 100 of the 124-page ruling, in dense legal prose, Chief Justice Ronald George ruled that a special constitutional protection applies to people based on their sexual orientation.
In essence, the court said discrimination against gays and lesbians was equivalent to racial, age or gender discrimination, giving same-sex-rights advocates a powerful legal weapon in the future.
Already the first echoes of that determination are being heard in some of the arguments that will be made in the upcoming challenge to Proposition 8, the voter-approved measure that rebuked the main aspect of the court's May ruling and declared that only marriages between men and women are valid. Read more


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS - February 27, 2009

**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:

-Obama Plans to End Combat Mission in Iraq by August 2010
By PETER BAKER
President Obama heads to one of the nation's most storied military bases Friday morning to unveil plans to pull most troops out of Iraq by August 2010 and he has support from an unlikely quarter - Senator John McCain, the Republican he beat in last year's election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/washington/28troops.html?hp

-Budget Choices Test Obama's Political Skills
By JOHN HARWOOD
Whatever else it is, President Obama's budget is a political gamble of the first order. In his ambition to put his own stamp on liberalism and to move domestic policy leftward, Mr. Obama has much going for him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/us/politics/27assess.html?hp

-U.S. Is Said to Agree to Raise Stake in Citigroup
By ERIC DASH
The Treasury Department reached a deal late Thursday to take a stake of 30 to 40 percent in Citigroup as part of a third bailout of the embattled bank, according to several people close to the deal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/business/27deal.html?hp

-U.S. Will Give Qaeda Suspect a Civilian Trial
By DAVID JOHNSTON and NEIL A. LEWIS
The Justice Department, in an abrupt change in policy from the Bush administration, is preparing to bring terrorism-related charges against a man identified as an operative of Al Qaeda who has been held in a military brig for more than five years, government officials said Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27detain.html?hp

-Palestinian Rivals Announce Steps Toward Healing Rift
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
CAIRO - Leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah declared Thursday a "historic day" at the conclusion of a meeting here aimed at healing a 20-month schism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.html

-U.S. Is Arms Bazaar for Mexican Cartels
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
The Mexican agents who moved in on a safe house full of drug dealers last May were not prepared for the fire power that greeted them. When the shooting was over, eight agents were dead. Among the guns the police recovered was an assault rifle traced back across the border to a dingy gun store here called X-Caliber Guns.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/us/26borders.html

-The Drug Cartels' Right to Bear Arms
The hypocrisy grows all too gruesome: The Justice Department pronounced the Mexican drug cartels "a national security threat" this week, even as American gun dealers along the border were busily arming the cartels' murderous gangs. Mexico complains that American dealers supplied most of the 20,000 weapons seized last year in drug wars in which 6,000 Mexicans died.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27fri3.html?ref=opinion

-President Obama's Budget: Some Honesty About Taxes - Finally
President Obama's first budget recognizes what most of Washington has been too scared or ideologically blind to admit: to recover from George W. Bush's reckless economic policies, taxes must go up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27fri1.html?ref=opinion

-Climate of Change
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Elections have consequences. President Obama's new budget represents a huge break, not just with the policies of the past eight years, but with policy trends over the past 30 years. If he can get anything like the plan he announced on Thursday through Congress, he will set America on a fundamentally new course.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?ref=opinion

-The Uncertain Trumpet
By DAVID BROOKS
On Tuesday night, President Obama talked about a national culture of irresponsibility. He talked about the way Americans have sacrificed the long term for the short term, spent more than they could afford, and how the country's leaders have broken promises and delayed reform. Obama described a rot that was ingrained and pervasive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27brooks.html?ref=opinion

-President Obama's Budget: Progress on Health Care
Mr. Obama's budget plan makes a bold and long overdue commitment to overhaul the dysfunctional and far-too-costly American health care system. The plan will not guarantee affordable health coverage for all Americans, the ultimate goal, and it contains no blueprint for comprehensive reform of the system. Those issues will have to be thrashed out with Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27fri2.html?ref=opinion


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

-D.C. Rights, With a Bullet
The Senate offers the city a vote in the House -- at a cost. THE SENATE voted yesterday to give the people of Washington, D.C., a voting representative in Congress. It was a historic moment and should have been a moment for pure celebration. But both moment and measure were tarnished by a dangerous amendment that would strip D.C. officials of their rightful authority to regulate guns. Senators, perversely, offered the District a taste of democracy while at the same time not trusting it to run its own affairs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022603249.html\

-Israel's Netanyahu Meets With Envoy Mitchell
By Aron Heller
JERUSALEM, Feb. 26 -- Israel's next leader sat face-to-face Thursday with a man whose vision of Israeli-Palestinian relations is radically different from his own: the Obama administration's new Middle East envoy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022603327.html?hpid=sec-world


=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Senate Panel to Probe CIA Interrogations
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
The Senate intelligence committee is expected to open a new probe into the Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation program as soon as Friday, congressional aides said, signaling a desire in Congress to examine Bush-era policies, even as President Barack Obama talks of looking to the future rather than the past.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568730332987225.html


=
Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gulf Withdrawal
United Arab Emirates: It's the kind of story that could have come straight out of Peter Stearns' new book. Discussing the potential pitfalls of setting up branch campuses in foreign lands, the George Mason University provost strikes a sober tone: "This is difficult terrain, with a shaky past; caution is abundantly justified," Stearns writes in Educating Global Citizens in Colleges and Universities: Challenges and Opportunities. The challenges presented by international branch campuses are now all too familiar for Stearns and his colleagues at George Mason. After three years developing a full degree-granting campus in the United Arab Emirates, the university is pulling out without producing a single graduate. Plagued by slow enrollment growth, funding problems and disagreements with the Emirates government organization that bankrolled the project, the model is no longer viable, Stearns said Thursday.
http://news.insidehighered.com/track?type=click&enid=bWFpbGluZ2lkPTU0MTAmbWVzc2FnZWlkPTM2MDEmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD00OTAyJnNlcmlhbD0xMjIzOTE4OTk3JmVtYWlsaWQ9cmF5cmlkZW91dEBjb21jYXN0Lm5ldCZ1c2VyaWQ9NTY2NjImZXh0cmE9JiYm&&&http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/27/mason


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

-The 4th Estate Formula
Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus
The growth in readership online has not offset the decline in print for newspapers. Read more

-Economies of Scale
Harsh Words for Wall Street
An increasing number of Americans say the government's action on the economy is on the right track while Americans remain angry about the financial problems that contributed to the current crisis. Read more

-Supply & Demand: Crisis Eclipses All Other News
With the stimulus passed, the media moved on to other economic horror stories such as the mortgage bailout. Read more

-Budget Busting
With Crisis as Catalyst, State Governors Push Big Changes
State executives are using the economic crisis to sell big changes in how jurisdictions operate, promising overhauls that could alter governments around the country. Read more

-86% - Social Segregation
The voluntary social segregation in America, recently commented on by Attorney General Eric Holder, can be seen in Pew Research data showing that while most have a friend of a different race (86%), pluralities of whites, blacks and Hispanics have just a few. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Read more


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

-The GOP's New Colors
Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal don't look like the vast majority of Republicans. But do new faces mean new ideas?
By John Heilemann
Not long after Barack Obama delivers his pseudo-State of the Union on February 24, the official televised Republican riposte will be uncorked by a guy who violates almost every prevailing liberal stereotype of the contemporary GOP: the governor of Louisiana, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. At 37, Jindal is the nation's youngest governor and the first Indian-American to win statewide office in U.S. history. The son of Punjabi immigrants, he's an Ivy League-educated Rhodes scholar and an unrepentant policy wonk, with heterodox views on his specialty, which is health care, and a reputation for competence as much as ideology. For all these reasons and others, Jindal strikes many savvy conservatives as the answer to their party's prayers: a brainy, precocious, multiculti change agent-a Republican Obama.
http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/54691/

-Governor Jindal, Rising G.O.P. Star, Plummets After Speech
By SHAILA DEWAN
Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has been a rising star in the Republican Party, but his stock took a hit as he was roundly panned for his televised response to President Obama's first speech to Congress on Tuesday night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/us/politics/26jindal.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS&ei=5040

-Poll: Do you support raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care for the uninsured?
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/feb/25/poll-do-you-support-raising-taxes-wealthy-pay-heal/


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST - February 27, 2009

**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:

-Florida ranks third in number of hate groups
Four operate in Broward, three in Palm Beach County, report says
By Alexia Campbell and Dana Williams
A "perfect storm" of factors fueled a spike in hate groups across the country and the state last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The tanking economy, heated immigration debate and the election of the country's first black president likely pushed up the number of groups, the report said. Florida follows California and Texas with the highest number of hate groups - 56 in 2008 compared to 39 in 2000.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhate0227sbfeb27,0,2219333.story


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

-Winter Party Schedule at a Glance
http://winterparty.org/schedule/schedule.pdf


=
Lavender Writes - Ft. Lauderdale
Laugh it Off: an Open Mic Reading
Saturday, March 14, 2009, 1 p.m.
Broward Main Library
100 S. Andrews Avenue, 6th Floor Bienes Center
The economy getting you down? Your ex has a hot new number? You don't even want to think about doing your taxes? You need a laugh but can't afford to go to a comedy club? Lavender Writes will entertain you for free at this Open Mic Reading of some of the funniest writing to hit South Florida this week. Use this as an excuse to write that funny/absurd/silly story that's been rattling around in your head forever or pull an old story off the hard drive, read it to people, make them laugh and bask in the applause. Or sit back and relax as other people entertain you. It won't cost you a dime. Fiction writers and poets are all welcome. Evan J. Peterson will MC just a week after he finishes writing his thesis and figures he deserves some laughs. Writers should sign-up at LWrites@mindspring.com. Audience members can just show up.
Lwrites@mindspring.com


=
AIDS Walk Miami - April 19
http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=276703


=
1,000 HOMOSEXUALS
a comedy by Michael Yawney
COME OUT AND SUPPORT GLBT HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!!!
COLONY THEATER - MIAMI BEACH
February 26, 27 & 28, 2009 at 8PM
Tickets: $35
http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/106597


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

-DJs Oren Nizri, Maximus 3000 at Living Room on Friday night
From George Maiko Coronado:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/

-Women's Latin Winter Party event Saturday at The Fifth
From Lynn Bove':
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

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

-With Downturn, Calls to Florida Help Line Grow
By DAMIEN CAVE
The syncopated rhythm of recession plays on repeat in a downtown Miami office building, on high-tech headsets in a room with only one window, among the voices of those seeking help.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/us/26foodstamp.html


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

-Reject Crist's selfish budget
On Friday, Gov. Crist released what he called his proposed 2009-2010 state budget. In fact, it was the first Charlie Crist for Senate in 2010 commercial. At a time when Tallahassee needs to think years ahead, Gov. Crist is focused on his next office. He would use the federal stimulus money not to position Florida for the future but to position Charlie Crist in Washington, where he would think about running for president while those back home deal with the budget mess he left behind.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2009/02/25/a10a_leadedit_cristbud_0225.html


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

-Warm early weekend; cooling on Sunday
By Doug Phillips
South Florida's weather will cool slightly during the weekend after a partly sunny Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Today's high temperatures will be in the upper 70s with winds out of the east at 10 to 15 mph. Some clouds are forecast to move in this evening as the winds decrease to 5 to 10 mph and low temperatures hover around the upper 60s. It will be partly cloudy and warm on Saturday with a high of about 80 and winds 5 to 10 mph in the morning, increasing to 10 to 15 in the afternoon.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-bn-0227fri-weather-forecast,0,6319373.story


=
JustNews.com
http://www.justnews.com
Go to this link for the following articles:

-First Vote Passes New School Boundaries
The Broward County School Board has taken the first step to change the school boundaries in several communities. The board voted 7-2 Wednesday to give the initial approval. The board agreed to change the boundaries at seven schools, including Atlantic West Elementary, Cooper City Elementary, Coral Grove Elementary, Riverglades Elementary, Margate Middle, Lyons Creek Middle and Walter C. Young Middle.
http://www.justnews.com/news/18800002/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_9am&tmi=mia_9am_1_08000102262009&ts=H


=

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